People Undergoing Extreme Body Modifications - Fox Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC- Forget tattoos and nose piercings - more people are taking body modifications to the extreme.

"Once you are heavily modified or extremely modified... you find a whole community who are doing the same thing," said Michael Ridenhour, a Plaza Midwood resident.

For Ridenhour, it's scarification. To some, the ancient form of tribal art signifies courage or warding off evil.

"It was kind of like a walking on hot coals moment where once I sat through it, everything else becomes a little bit easier," said Ridenhour.

But pain is inevitable in procedures like corset piercings when metal rings are inserted and joined with ribbon. It's considered decorative and personal.

"It's a spirtual piercing for a woman that needed to let go of some negativity," said Corinna Arlington, owner of SADU Body Piercings & Body Modifications.

For some who get their skin stretched or get other body modifications, it's about standing out and being different.? But for others, it's beyond skin deep.

"People hang from hooks, and when you're hanging from that hook, you reach a higher level of consciousness. You almost go into a transcendental state," said Arlington.

Other extreme modifications include saline injections, forked tongues, implanted horns and elf shaped ears.

"You bring in ancient rituals with body modification into modern day American audiences so they can see things that are going on that they would have never been exposed to," said Collette Ellis.

While the underground trends grows, doctors warn the procedures can be dangerous.

"When you do this to your body, it something that potentially becomes irreversible and in a different phase of your life, that may become hurtful or very painful," said Dr. Felmont Eaves, a plastic surgeon at Charlotte Plastic Surgery.

"It's going to continue to grow and it's going to be more accepted. You're going to see more and more people in years to come," said Arlington.

Some of the extreme body modifications are illegal in North Carolina.

People often travel to other states that allow procedures with scalpels or razors to alter deeper layers of the skin.
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Source: http://www.foxcharlotte.com/news/local/185181082.html

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U.S. Debt Now over 72% of GDP (We're BROKE FOLKS)

The Congressional Budget Office predicted 10 years ago that the U.S. national debt in 2012 would be approximately 7.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a measurement of the value of a nation?s total output of goods and services.

However, two wars, a recession, economic downturns, and unchecked government spending have changed things significantly. Quite simply, U.S. debt as a percentage of GDP is much, much more than 7.4 percent.

Here?s the CBO?s 10-year budget forecast from 2002 (courtesy AEI?s James Pethokoukis):

And here?s what actually happened:

?Instead of publicly-held debt as a share of GDP being a microscopic 7.4% this year, it was closer to 74% ? or 72.8% to be specific (as of the August update from the CBO),? Pethokoukis explains.

Yes, our national debt as a share of GDP is approximately 74 percent. This is absolutely unsustainable.

?In 2007 ? the Great Recession is officially dated as starting in December of that year ? the debt-GDP ratio was 37%,? Pethokoukis adds. ?So a doubling of debt due to the Great Slump ? the recession and its slow-growth aftermath.?

Speaking of a ?doubling of debt,? we know we included this clip in another article this morning, but perhaps it?s worth repeating. Here?s Texas congressman Ron Paul explaining how Washington?s failure to address its spending problem has put us down the path of ?no return?:

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Source: http://teapartyorg.ning.com/xn/detail/4301673%3ABlogPost%3A1201659

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Eagles coach Andy Reid preparing to coach elsewhere

Eagles coach Andy Reid preparing to coach elsewhere By The Sports Xchange

Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, who is likely to be let go of his duties, is assembling a coaching staff for next season, ESPN.com reported Sunday.

Reid reportedly wants to coach next season and is preparing for 2013.

Several coaching jobs are expected to open up with the end of the season coming. Some of those rumored destinations include the San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals.

Reid, 54, is 130-92-1 in 14 seasons with Philadelphia, including nine playoff appearances, six NFC East division titles, four NFC championship games and a one Super Bowl appearance.

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Source: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/NFL/2012/12/30/20460941.html?cid=rsssportsnfl

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Haiti's president performed a duet with Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias in a cele...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/haitinews/posts/531098356910146

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Five Titles that Rock on the JXD S601 Android Hand Held Device

The JXD S601 is essentially, a sub $75 Android hand held manufactured by JXD of China. What you get under the hood is an ARM A9 CPU, a Mali400 3D chip and 4 gigs of memory total powered by 512 megs of RAM on a 4:3 resistive touch screen (for dual touch check out the S602 but be warned, it has a different 3D chip so games may look different on it).

Five Titles that Rock on the JXD S601 Android Hand Held Device Continued ?

Source: http://www.gamekicker.com/mobile/five-titles-that-rock-on-the-jxd-s601-android-hand-held-device

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Ebooks PLR Weight Loss Sport Health Fitness - 1.000 eBooks ...

Private Label Articles - Get More Useful Content At Low Cost and Effort

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Many of the writers who offer articles with PLR are professionals and have access to the latest information regarding your field of interest. By acquiring the rights from them, you avail yourself of their professional results without having to retain their services regularly.

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Resell the articles as they are, create brand new Ebooks, special reports, eCourses or add them to your web site or newsletters.

Source: http://articulosdesociedad.blogspot.com/2012/12/ebooks-plr-weight-loss-sport-health.html

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Windows Phone Store doubled in size this year

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The FBI is still searching for one of two convicted bank robbers who escaped last week from a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago by lowering themselves on a makeshift rope nearly 20 stories to the street. Kenneth Conley, 38, and his cellmate, Joseph Jose Banks, 37, escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center early on the morning of December 18. The pair apparently broke a window in the cell they shared, squeezed through the opening and lowered themselves to the street. They then hailed a cab to make their getaway. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/windows-phone-store-doubled-size-013503838.html

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Wannabe policeman is illegally ripping off London comedy show posters

The bike, after the attack by the representative of ?The Law?

In joke-telling, there is ?The Rule of Three?.

Sometimes, this spills over into real life and overlaps with the saying ?It never rains but it pours?.

In my blog three days ago, I mentioned that comedian Martin Soan had broken a rib in a bicycle accident and that a comedian who double-booked himself for two simultaneous shows had caused problems for Martin?s Pull The Other One comedy club in January.

In the last year, Pull The Other one has featured top comedy acts like Omid Djalili, Stewart Lee and Arthur Smith.

On Friday, as an end-of-year thankyou to locals, Pull The Other One staged a free comedy show in Nunhead, Peckham. As normal, Martin and Vivienne Soan publicised it widely locally ? as they have done for over five years ? with flyers and posters. Some of the posters were on bicycles which were ridden round the area.

The show was a success ? despite what appear to be illegal actions by a local wanna policeman.

To save money on paying the police, England and Wales are now blessed with cheaper ?Community Support Officers? to back-up the ?real? police. I suspect (with no evidence, m?lud) that these are often wanna policemen and wannabe policewomen with over-developed superiority complexes.

?It seems we now have a special constable,? Martin Soan told me yesterday, ?who has taken it upon himself to tear down our posters and most disturbingly rip them off our bikes? I?m not sure that?s within his powers or even if it?s legal.?

I would have thought it was most definitely not legal. This guardian of ?The Law? appears to have decided to remove a piece of private property attached to a private vehicle without the owner?s permission which I would think, in legal terms, must be pure vandalism and damaging private property ? perhaps even theft.

?This bloke,? says Martin, ?rides around on a bike with a ?Comunity Warden? sticker on it?. Am I within my rights to rip that off?? Or deface a Sainsbury?s lorry?? Or paint over shop signs?? He also told me that he would remove my bike if I put a poster on it again.?

The offensive poster for a free comedy show

Martin?s wife Vivienne, who co-runs Pull The Other One, says: ?The community policeman has systematically taken down all our publicity, telling us that we are making money from free advertising at the council?s expense. He says we are no longer allowed to put our poster on local notice boards and even took down a poster from British Rail property on which we have placed posters over the last five years!?

To my mind, this seems to be, again, a case of the ?Community? wannabe policeman damaging private property which stands on private land and removing property without the owner?s permission.

An interesting mindset for a guardian of ?The Law?.

?Mind you,? Vivienne told me yesterday, ?it has saved Martin a job, as he usually takes down all the posters the day after the show. And Martin?s rib is obviously greatly improved, as he wants to punch the guy in the face !!!!!?

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Source: http://thejohnfleming.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/wannabe-policeman-is-illegally-ripping-off-london-comedy-show-posters/

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Obama ?optimistic? Senate leaders will reach fiscal cliff deal this weekend

(Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Following talks with congressional leaders that yielded no news of ?a "fiscal cliff" agreement, President Barack Obama on Friday evening pressured lawmakers to reach a deal this weekend as the public's patience wears thin.

"America wonders why it is that in this town for some reason they can't get stuff done in an organized timetable, why everything always has to wait for the last minute," Obama said during a statement delivered in the White House briefing room. "The American people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy, not right now."

The president confirmed that following his Friday afternoon meeting with congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and?Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have been tasked to reach an agreement to reduce the deficit and avoid the "fiscal cliff"?automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to go into effect Jan. 1.

But in the absence of a deal, Obama said he will "urge" Reid to "bring to the floor a basic package for an up-or-down vote" that would increase taxes on households earning more than $250,000, extend unemployment insurance and disarm a sequestration?provisions the president has supported.

But Republicans have been rejecting any tax increases, even for the wealthiest earners.

"If members of the House or Senate want to vote 'no,' they can," Obama said of his plan. "But we should let everybody vote. That's the way this is supposed to work."

The president referred to Friday's meeting, which also included House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, as "good and constructive" and said he remained "modestly optimistic" about Congress' ability to reach a deal.

But he blamed Congress for the 11th-hour holdup.

"The economy is growing, but sustaining that trend is going to require elected officials to do their jobs," Obama said.

No details on the proposals offered Friday were released by the White House or the lawmakers present.

According to a readout from the speaker's office, Boehner began the meeting by reminding those gathered "that the House has already acted to avert the entire fiscal cliff and is awaiting Senate action." Plan options were discussed and the speaker said the House will consider Senate-amended, House-passed legislation.

Following the meeting, McConnell said on the Senate floor that he was "hopeful and optimistic" about a deal.

"We had a good meeting down at the White House. We are engaged in discussions?the majority leader and myself and the White House?in the hopes that we can come forward as early as Sunday and have a recommendation that I can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference," McConnell said. "And so we?ll be working hard to try to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-modestly-optimistic-senate-leaders-reach-fiscal-cliff-235659761--politics.html

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Poorer School Districts Tend to Have Higher Portions of Kids in ...

ANNAPOLIS ? In poorer public school districts in Maryland, the percentage of students receiving special education is disproportionately higher than in wealthier districts, and has been since early 2000.

It?s a nationwide trend that experts say isn?t necessarily a bad thing, since schools in low-income areas have few other ways to address poverty-related disadvantages that affect students? learning abilities.

About 15 percent of students in Maryland?s top five poorest school districts received special education services last year, compared to about 10 percent in the five wealthiest districts, according to a Capital News Service analysis of the most recent Maryland Department of Education data.

Unlike labeling a child blind or deaf, other special education codes ? particularly ?learning disabled? and ?emotionally disturbed? ? aren?t as clearly defined and involve ?some judgment and subjectivity,? said Michael Petrilli, executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit educational organization.

Kids in poor areas struggle or act out in class ?because of the challenges of poverty,? he said, and are more likely to get labeled.

Baltimore, the second poorest district in the state according to U.S. Census data, has nearly double the percentage of students ? 16 percent ? in special education than Howard County, the wealthiest district, with 8.6 percent.

Low-income kids enter kindergarten already behind, said Abigail Thernstrom, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit public-policy research group.

?Social class is a reality. There are student differences tied to social-class differences,? she said.

Parents reading to their children, making sure they eat a healthy breakfast and get enough sleep all affect a child?s learning ability, experts said.

?If you have a hungry kid in the classroom they can actually test for having a disability,? said Andrea Kalvesmaki, a medical anthropologist specializing in mental health disability at the Education Policy Institute, a nonprofit educational research and public policy group.

With less community support and fundraising power, schools in low-income areas shouldn?t be blamed for ?flagging problems they see ? That is their only means for helping,? she said. Placing a student in special education because of poverty-related challenges ?can actually help them so they can get extra services.?

Thernstrom said this doesn?t mean students are being mislabeled.

?These kids come in way behind,? and schools are responding to that, she said.

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990, last amended in 2004, governs special education and states a child cannot be deemed disabled if the ?determinant factor is lack of proper reading instruction, lack of math instruction or limited English fluency.?

There?s no way to tell if a school is unfairly labeling students, said Debra Gardner, communications specialist for the Maryland State Education Association, a union that lobbies for teacher and student needs. ?But it does raise a red flag when you see a trend in a specific area, school or neighborhood.?

The root problem is that poverty-related disadvantages are complex and hard to correct, especially through school systems.

?The important variables here are social class and parental education,? Thernstrom said. ?Is the state working with parents in charge to create a better environment for academic learning??

Staff commonly visit families? homes and make suggestions, sometimes on ?very basic parenting skills in combination with? special education, but they can?t force a family to comply, said Judy Pattik, special education coordinator for Howard County Public Schools.

Pattik doesn?t know why her district?s numbers are so low, but speculates the county?s strong early intervention program ? beginning special education as soon as possible, ideally before kids are even in school ? and extra help in regular classes, keeps kids from struggling.

Howard County resident Kim McKay has a 16-year-old son with autism enrolled in public high school. He?s received special education through the Howard County Public School System since he was 15 months old.

McKay said her son now takes all of his classes in regular classrooms with regular students where teachers adjust lessons for him as needed.

She said she was lucky to already live in a district with ?one of the best? public special education systems in the state. If she didn?t, she would have sought services elsewhere.

?There are a couple counties where I feel like the system is set up not against families, but not about families ? There seems to be more concern about budget than about what kids need,? she said.

Some counties have worked to change their numbers.

About 10 years ago, Allegany County, Maryland?s third poorest district at the time, had the highest proportion of special education students in the state ? 18 percent.

Concerned Allegany school officials went to the Maryland Department of Education, which contracted a consulting firm to analyze the school system, as well as those in Washington and Garrett counties that sit on either side of Allegany.

The firm concluded that while there was ?insufficient conclusive evidence? the county was over-identifying students, certain factors contributed to the high percentage.

These included a continuing decline in overall school enrollment, which, when the number of kids receiving special education isn?t declining, makes it hard to keep percentages down. They also pointed to ?several social and economic factors,? like high drug use and low median incomes, as well as other factors.

Allegany schools made changes in special and general education, such as enhancing pre-school programs and offering extra help in regular classes.

Since then, the percentage of special education students has declined to about 13 percent, the fourth highest percentage in the state. Allegany is Maryland?s poorest district.

?Funding does not drive services. Anything a child needs ? we must deliver,? said Marcella Franczkowski, assistant state superintendent of the division of special education and early intervention services at the Maryland Department of Education.

Schools must meet the same federal and state standards, but counties can deliver services in ways that best fit their demographics, which could account for disparities across the state, she said.

?You could not possibly expect services to be delivered the same way in Allegany County as in Baltimore County,? she said. ?With the distance between schools and homes, things are very different.?

Educators and analysts agree early intervention and mainstreaming are the best routes to ensure kids get help and eventually don?t need extra services.

Maryland is one of six states that provide special education from birth to 21 years old, and has been focusing on mainstreaming and early intervention over the past several years, Franczkowski said.

Statewide, the number of special education students has declined from 12.2 percent in 2003 to 11.4 percent in 2011, below the national average of 13 percent, which, Franczkowski said, ?reflects our work.?

But to shrink the disparity, people must talk about learning disability and poverty together, Kalvesmaki said. We ?can?t take poverty out of the equation.?

By SOPHIE PETIT

Source: http://talbotspy.com/poorer-school-districts-tend-to-have-higher-portions-of-kids-in-special-ed/

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NCAA Bowls: Holiday Bowl Blowout Down Big; Belk Bowl Up

For the fourth straight year, viewership dropped for the Holiday Bowl.

Thursday?s Baylor/UCLA Holiday Bowl drew 2.9 million viewers on ESPN, down 31% from Texas/California last year (4.2M), and down 48% from Washington/Nebraska in 2010 (5.7M).

The telecast ranks as the least-watched Holiday Bowl since at least 2007 (viewership prior to 2008 was not available). Since earning 6.2 million viewers in 2008, the Holiday Bowl has suffered a decline in viewership each year.

Earlier Thursday, the Cincinnati/Duke Belk Bowl earned 3.9 million viewers ? up 12% from North Carolina State/Louisville last year (3.5M), and up 33% from South Florida/Clemson in 2010 (2.9M).

The game ranks as the most-viewed edition of the bowl (previously the Meineke Car Care Bowl) since Pittsburgh/North Carolina in 2009 (6.1M), and the second-most viewed game of the 2012-13 bowl season.

Wrapping up Thursday?s action, the San Jose State/Bowing Green Military Bowl drew 1.9 million viewers ? down 17% from Toledo/Air Force last year (2.3M), down 11% from Maryland/ECU in 2010 (2.1M), and a record-low for the five-year old game.

(Thursday?s numbers from TV By the Numbers)

Source: http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2012/12/ncaa-bowls-holiday-bowl-blowout-down-big-belk-bowl-up/

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Ouya releases SDK for $99 game console, shows off developer ...

Now that Ouya is shipping the first developer kits?of its upcoming $99 Android-based video game console, the company has opened a software developer portal, launched a software developer kit, and shown off an early preview of the user interface.

The Ouya team has also posted an unboxing video, giving us a good look at the first developer consoles.

What we?re looking at isn?t the finished hardware. While the developer kits have the same basic specs as the units that will ship to customers in April (including an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage), these special edition models have clear plastic cases.

That means you can see the guts of the Ouya game console without even opening it up ? and the same goes for the 2 wireless controllers that come with the kits.

Unfortunately the game controllers are still works in progress, and the team is still working out some of the kinks.

The developer kits also include microUSB ports that let you connect the system to a computer for Android programming and debugging. It?s not clear if the final product will have that port ? but one of the key goals of the Ouya project is to create an open platform, so I can?t see why the consumer device would ship without a microUSB port.

Meanwhile, folks interested in developing games for the Ouya who haven?t been able to snag one of the limited edition developer kits can check out the Developer Portal for details on coding for the Ouya using off-the-shelf hardware to test their games.

The Ouya is available for pre-order for $99 plus shipping, and it?s expected to ship in April, 2013.

via Hacker News

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• key specs
• reviews ? 0
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• Game formatDownloadable
• Drive capacity8 GB
• Controller typeWireless
• Video outputsHDMI
• Released04/01/2013

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Source: http://liliputing.com/2012/12/ouya-releases-sdk-for-99-game-console-shows-off-developer-edition-hardware.html

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Small business? Get Online! | CEED

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For anyone starting out in business these days, the internet is one of the first things that you must think about. I don?t mean to sound like a broken record, but the internet has so much potential ready for you to utilise, and if you do it well, you?ll soon see your small idea turn into big business.

Creating a powerful website is step one, without this you have no real presence on the internet. You must provide all of the relevant information for your customers, but you must do it in an elegant and organised way; reducing bounce rate is the aim of the game here. You want people on your site for as long as possible, this way they will remember the page and ergo the organisation. It also shows that your page is an authority page, and will bump you up the search engine results page, meaning more potential customers. If you allow space for advertisements on your page, you may even be able to make a pretty penny from it.

Another great way to promote your business and attract potential customers is through the use of social media. What is social media? Why should I use it? I imagine you may be asking these questions. For businesses, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are great spaces to introduce your brand to people and also gauge their feedback meaning that you are able to tailor your business to your customers; good things. You can also link social networking sites and with the use of clever software are able to use as little time on this medium as possible while still reaping the benefits! There are many great blogs and websites offering help with this.

Optimising your website for access on mobile devices is also something to think about. There are many people predicting that mobile searches will surpass that of searches from a desktop in the next few years. If you can stay ahead of the curve, you will be in prime position when this happens. Perhaps consider using apps, and competitions, as these are relatively easy to do and can be done out of house if you do not have the time.

Finally, in terms of outreach, email is a popular option. It is a great way to get your name out there without hassling potential clients, they can choose to take or leave you email, unlike a phone call. It?s also a great way to suggest visiting your website and social media pages.

For any business starting out, these are arguably the initial steps that must be taken to ensure survival in the digital age.

Source: http://www.ceed.info/small-business-get-online/

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Top 25 Best Xbox 360 Games of 2012 - Video Games Blogger

The Top 25 best Xbox 360 games of 2012 have been revealed! Is your favorite Xbox 360 game part of the list of the greatest the Xbox 360 console had to offer in 2012? The year is almost over, so we?ve compiled this list of the top-quality AAA must-own titles of the year!

Is there a game that didn?t make the list, that you think deserves a spot? Leave a comment and let us know your own list!

Runners-Up:

Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Sine Mora, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, The Pinball Arcade, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, SSX, and Joe Danger 2: The Movie.

#25 ? Street Fighter X Tekken
#24 ? Persona 4 Arena
#23 ? Darksiders II
#22 ? NHL 13
#21 ? F1 2012
#20 ? Assassin?s Creed III
#19 ? Need for Speed: Most Wanted
#18 ? UFC Undisputed 3
#17 ? Forza Horizon (Xbox 360 Exclusive)
#16 ? Max Payne 3
#15 ? Dance Central 3 (Xbox 360 Kinect Exclusive)
#14 ? Spelunky
#13 ? Halo 4 (Xbox 360 Exclusive)
#12 ? NBA 2K13
#11 ? The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (Xbox 360 Version)

#10 ? Dishonored

#9 ? Fez (Xbox 360 Exclusive)

#8 ? Borderlands 2

#7 ? XCOM: Enemy Unknown

#6 ? FIFA Soccer 13

Find out which Xbox 360 game is #1 in 2012 as our countdown continues on the next page?

Continue Reading on: Page 1 Page 2

About the author

By Ferry Groenendijk: He is the founder and editor of Video Games Blogger. He loved gaming from the moment he got a Nintendo with Super Mario Bros. on his 8th birthday. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and at Google+.

Source: http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2012/12/27/top-25-best-xbox-360-games-of-2012.htm

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Indian rape victim dies in hospital

FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2012 file photo, Indians participate in a candle light vigil to seek a quick recovery of the young victim of the recent brutal gang-rape in a bus in New Delhi, India. A statement by Singapore?s Mount Elizabeth hospital, where the 23-year-old victim was being treated, said she died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2012 file photo, Indians participate in a candle light vigil to seek a quick recovery of the young victim of the recent brutal gang-rape in a bus in New Delhi, India. A statement by Singapore?s Mount Elizabeth hospital, where the 23-year-old victim was being treated, said she died Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)

SINGAPORE (AP) ? A young Indian woman who was gang-raped and severely beaten on a bus in New Delhi died early Saturday at a hospital in Singapore, the hospital said.

The 23-year-old victim "died peacefully," according to a statement by Singapore's Mount Elizabeth hospital where she was being treated.

The woman's horrific ordeal galvanized Indians, who have held almost daily demonstrations to demand greater protection from sexual violence, from groping to rape, which impacts thousands of women every day, but which often goes unreported.

She and a male friend were traveling in a public bus on Dec. 16 evening when they were attacked by six men who raped her and beat them both. They also stripped both naked and threw them off the bus on a road.

The attack two weeks ago brought new focus on police and community attitudes toward woman in India. Demonstrators in New Delhi have demanded stronger protections for women and stronger punishment for rapists.

Indian authorities have been accused of belittling rape victims and refusing to file cases against their attackers, further deterring victims ? already under societal pressure to keep the assaults quiet ? from reporting the crimes.

After 10 days at a New Delhi hospital, the victim was flown to Singapore on Thursday for treatment at the Mount Elizabeth hospital, which specializes in multi-organ transplant. Media reports have said that her assailants beat her and inserted an iron rod into her body during the assault, resulting in severe organ damage.

But by late Friday, the young woman's condition had "taken a turn for the worse" and her vital signs had deteriorated with indications of severe organ failure, said Dr. Kelvin Loh, the chief executive officer of Singapore's Mount Elizabeth hospital.

"This is despite doctors fighting for her life including putting her on maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which maximize her body's capability to fight infections," he said, adding that family members are by her side.

She had earlier suffered a heart attack, a lung and abdominal infection and "significant" brain injury, according to the hospital.

Police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, which left the victim with severe internal injuries. She was traveling in the virtually empty bus with a male friend when they were attacked.

Some politicians have come under fire for comments insulting the protesters and diminishing the crime.

On Friday, Abhijit Mukherjee, a national lawmaker and the son of India's president, apologized for calling the protesters "highly dented and painted" women, who go from discos to demonstrations.

"I tender my unconditional apology to all the people whose sentiments got hurt," he told NDTV news.

Separately, authorities in Punjab took action Thursday when an 18-year-old woman killed herself by drinking poison a month after she told police she was gang-raped.

State authorities suspended one police officer and fired two others on accusations they delayed investigating and taking action in the case. The three accused in the rape were only arrested Thursday night, a month after the crime was reported.

"This is a very sensitive crime, I have taken it very seriously," said Paramjit Singh Gill, a top police officer in the city of Patiala.

The Press Trust of India reported that the woman was raped Nov. 13 and reported the attack to police Nov. 27. But police harassed the girl, asked her embarrassing questions and took no action against the accused, PTI reported, citing police sources.

Authorities in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh also suspended a police officer on accusations he refused to register a rape complaint from a woman who said she had been attacked by a driver.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-28-Singapore-India-Gang%20Rape/id-d05bab4f261345a483ed94222ba84533

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What happens to you if we go over the fiscal cliff

18 hrs.

Allison Linn , NBC News

Some lawmakers are back in Washington hoping to hammer out a last-minute deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, but so far it seems that there?s more name-calling than deal-making going on.

If no deal is ever reached, it will be more than just a political headache. Americans also could feel considerable pocketbook pain as taxes rise, unemployment benefits are cut off and an array of smaller changes take effect.

The cumulative effect on Americans? wallets could be enough to dent?significantly the already weak economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the combination of tax increases and spending cuts could be enough to send the nation back into recession.

That?s the worst-case scenario, and despite the considerable gridlock, most experts expect that Congress and the president will eventually come to some sort of deal. Experts also say that even if no deal is reached by Jan. 1, retroactive fixes and other dealmaking could prevent the most harmful effects from ever hitting most Americans.

Related: Consumers, businesses brace for fiscal cliff impact

Still, the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank, says that nearly 90 percent of households?would be affected if we go over the fiscal cliff completely and no deal is reached.

A stalemate would have very specific effects on certain groups of taxpayers, such as students, parents and married couples who have benefited over the past decade?from certain tax law changes passed under the Bush and Obama administrations.

But the Tax Policy Center says that on average, taxes would go up for every income group, from the poorest taxpayers to the most wealthy:

• Americans in the lowest 20 percent of the income scale could pay an average of about $400 more in taxes.
  
• Middle-income households could pay about $2,000 more in taxes, on average.
  
• The top 20 percent of taxpayers could pay about $14,000 more a year in taxes, on average.
  
• The 1 percenters could pay an average of $120,000 more in taxes.
  

Here?s a look at some of the biggest issues likely to affect the largest groups of taxpayers if Congress cannot make a deal.

Tax rates will go up: If no deal is made, taxpayers can expect their tax rate to rise no matter what income group they fall in, said?Roberton Williams, senior fellow with the Tax Policy Institute. That?s because previously passed rate cuts would expire.

?Everyone who has taxable income will see a tax increase because of the rates,? Williams said.

Payroll taxes: For the past two years, the employee?s share of taxes paid for Social Security has been set at 4.2 percent instead of the previous level of 6.2 percent. That temporary tax cut would expire without a new deal, meaning almost everyone?s taxes would rise by 2 percentage points.

Translation: Your paycheck would be a little bit smaller.

?That?s the thing that people will see first,? Williams said.

Alternative Minimum Tax:? The Alternative Minimum Tax? was originally designed so that wealthy taxpayers would be forced to pay a minimum level of taxes no matter what. But because it was not created to account for inflation, over the years it has threatened to affect an ever-bigger group of people.

Congress has previously passed temporary ?patches? to keep lower-income households from having to pay more taxes. If no deal is reached this year, the latest patch would expire and the Internal Revenue Service says around 30 million additional taxpayers would become subject to the AMT.

Of course, every taxpayer?s individual circumstances are different. To see how your family?s tax rates could be affected, you can check out the Tax Policy Center?s individualized tax?calculator.

Taxes aren?t the only pocketbook problem Americans could face if a deal isn?t reached, because so much government spending is tied up in reaching a deal. But the most widespread effect would probably be on people who have been unemployed for a long time.

Unemployment benefits: About 2.1 million unemployed Americans are scheduled to lose federally funded unemployment compensation if Congress can?t reach a deal to extend the benefits plan by the end of the year. President Obama has said he?d like to see those benefits extended as part of a fiscal cliff deal.

The federally funded unemployment benefit extensions were introduced in 2008 while the country was in the depths of the recession. The extended benefits kick in after an unemployed person has exhausted his or her 26 weeks of state benefits. The exact amount of additional compensation depends on the unemployment rate in the person?s home state.

The unemployment rate has fallen sharply in recent months, but long-term unemployment remains a major?problem. About 4.8 million people, or 40 percent of the total number of people who were unemployed in November, had been jobless for 27 weeks or more.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/heres-what-happens-you-if-we-go-over-fiscal-cliff-1C7753059

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Mental Illness & Violence: We Need to Step Up | World of Psychology

It?s impossible to write a blog post about mental illness without confronting the violence that has descended on this country all too often. Too many innocent victims have fallen at the hands of too many offenders to set the issue aside.

My heart bleeds for the victims lost and the loved ones remaining. Nothing written can take away the pain of the survivors. But a call to action may help to prevent such crimes from continuing.

The offenders in these incidents are often troubled and plagued by recurrent mental illness. The tragedy begins when our mental health system fails these individuals and their families as they seek help that is sometimes unavailable.

It layers as so many people who do not have direct experience with mental illness find their only exposure to people with serious mental illness in these stories. This adds to an already daunting stigma against those with psychiatric disease, and too many of those who need help avoid it for fear of being labeled or ostracized.

Every incidence of violence leaves me heartbroken, and waiting for the inevitable story about someone with mental illness gone wrong.

The result of a broken mental health system and the stigma that drives people with serious mental illness into the shadows is fewer people getting treated than need treatment. Some people (a very small percentage of the population with mental illness, but a disturbingly real number) with untreated mental illness act out and sometimes violence occurs. In addition to the senseless tragedy that results, this adds to the stigma placed on those with psychiatric challenges as the general population hears the stories of mentally ill offenders who were ?off their meds,? refusing treatment, or being refused treatment.

In truth, even though sensationalized in the media, very few people know anyone with mental illness and violent tendencies. However, almost everyone knows someone with mental illness who is managing life well. Yet because of the stigma, more often than not few know that those managing well have a mental illness at all. There is so much to risk in stepping from the shadows and saying ?I have bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, or anxiety disorder, or major depression or?? Jobs and relationships could become tenuous.

Still, until those of us who have a mental illness and do cope well stand up and act as role models for those who are not currently able to deal with disease, the stigma will hold, people will avoid treatment, and society will view the mentally ill as disturbed, demented, or violent. Those of us who do well owe it to those who are suffering to light a path toward recovery. Only we can testify that treatment often works, and only we can tell our stories and reveal to the larger population that those with mental illness are not miscreants, vagrants, and criminals. We are your teachers, your accountants, your child?s playdate?s parents, your boss, your mechanic, your kid?s soccer coach, your favorite musician, actor, or writer, your doctor, your councilperson.

Treatment is difficult and access is often limited. But there is no denying that even when treatment is readily available, many refuse it for fear of the stigma. These same people often get worse. Some do stupid or reprehensible things. This can be avoided if we can chip away at the stigma. And we can chip away at the stigma by taking a stand and showing our neighbors that mental illness does not mean maladaptation. There is much pain in knowing that in all of these incidents of violence we could not be there to intervene or help.

But we can help avoid the next one by testifying to the very ill that: ?I did it. I overcame this. You can, too, and I can help show you how.?

If more of us act as responsible role models the stigma will erode. As the stigma falls away, more people will seek help. Examples of people who have been successfully treated may open up access to treatment for others, as policymakers see that dollars spent on psychiatric care are well spent. As more people seek and receive care, fewer incidences of mindless violence will occur.

It?s our responsibility to let society know that those with mental illness can lead peaceful, productive, creative, and meaningful lives. We are examples of this. The stigma against people with mental illness is one factor that leads to so many bad outcomes. We owe it to those who have lost loved ones, and to those suffering from illness as we surely once did, to stand up and be seen as examples of how things can turn out well.

George Hofmann is a mindfulness meditation instructor teaching people with mental illness how to manage stress. He also has bipolar disorder 1. He writes about these topics at http://practicingmentalllness.blogspot.com.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by George Hofmann (or subscribe to their feed).

????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 27 Dec 2012
????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Hofmann, G. (2012). Mental Illness & Violence: We Need to Step Up. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 28, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/12/27/mental-illness-violence-we-need-to-step-up/

?

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/12/27/mental-illness-violence-we-need-to-step-up/

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PayDay Loans Online Mag For ProAdvice and Finance News | White ...

With just a few days left to come up with an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff, the White House said congressional stupidity was damaging the economy and that an agreement could be reached if Republican leaders don?t get in the way. President Barack Obama cut his Hawaiian vacation short and went back to Washington.

Senate will reconvene on Thursday. House Speaker John Boehner said that he would give House members a 48 hour notice of upcoming vote. This could mean that the soonest the House could consider a bill is on Saturday. It would be two days before the deadline to come up with a compromise or else tax increases and large budget cuts would take effect on January 1.

Speaker Boehner and other GOP leaders said that the House has acted on two bills that would avert the fiscal cliff when enacted. The bills are still awaiting action by Senate. If the Senate doesn?t approve them and send them to the president to be signed into law in the present form, they must be amended and returned to the House.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid?s plan is the Democratic counterpart to Boehner?s plan B that failed to get enough support for a vote late week. Boehner left it to the Senate after withdrawing the plan Thursday.

Democrats believe that lower and middle class families should keep their Bush-era tax cuts and allow it to expire for households earning more than $250,000. Republicans said that Americans should not have to pay higher taxes in 2013 but Boehner?s plan would have made those earning more than $1 million to pay higher taxes. Reid?s plan also includes limits to tax deductions to generate more revenue for the federal government.

It seems like Boehner doesn?t have any control over the right wing faction in Congress. Critics have questioned his ability to bring his own party together.

Source: http://www.paydayloansmag.com/white-house-criticizes-congress-stupidity-as-fiscal-cliff-nears/

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Kids: Afghan policewoman who killed was mentally ill

Mohammad Ismail / Reuters

Fatima, 13, holds a picture of her mother, Narges Rezaeimomenabad, at her home in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday. Her mother is suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at a police headquarters in Kabul.

By Michael Georgy and Mirwais Harooni, Reuters

KABUL ? The Afghan policewoman suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at police headquarters in Kabul suffered from mental illness and was driven to suicidal despair by poverty, her children told Reuters on Wednesday.

The woman was identified by authorities as Narges Rezaeimomenabad, a 40-year-old grandmother and mother of three who moved here from Iran 10 years ago and married an Afghan man.

On Monday morning, she loaded a pistol in a bathroom at the police compound, hid it in her long scarf and shot an American police trainer, apparently becoming the first Afghan woman to carry out such an attack.

---

?Narges also tried to shoot police officials after killing the American. Luckily for them, her pistol jammed. Her husband is also under investigation.

Her son Sayed, 16, and daughter Fatima, 13, described how they tried to call their parents after news broke of the shooting, then waited in vain for them to come home.

They recalled Narges's severe mood swings, and how at times she beat them and even pulled out a knife. But the children said she was consistent in bemoaning poverty.

"She was usually complaining about poverty. She was complaining to my father about our conditions. She was saying that my father was poor," Sayid said in an interview in their damp, cold two-room cement house.

On the floor beside him were his mother's prescriptions and a thick plastic bag filled with pills she tried to swallow to end the misery about a month ago. On another occasion, she cut her wrist with a razor, Sayed said.

US civilian killed by Afghan policewoman in Kabul

"My father was usually calm and sometimes would say that she was guilty too because it wasn't a forced marriage. They fell in love and got married."

There was no sign in their neighbourhood of the billions of dollars of Western aid that have poured into Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, or of government investment.

Raw sewage, dirt roads
The lane outside their home stank of raw sewage.

Dirty, stagnant water filled holes in dirt roads nearby, where children in tattered clothes played and butchers stood by cow's hooves in shops choked by dust.

Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest nations, with a third of its 30 million residents living under the poverty line.

The sole distractions from the daily grind appeared to be a deck of playing cards and a compact disc with songs from Iranian pop singers, scattered on the floor of a room where Narges would lock herself in and weep, or sit in silence.

At times, Narges would try to focus on building her children's confidence, telling them to be guided by the Muslim holy book, the Koran, to tackle life's problems.

Taliban says US base targeted in Afghan blast

Sayed and Fatima said she never spoke badly of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan or of President Hamid Karzai's government.

Neighbour Mohammad Ismail Kohistani was dumbfounded to hear on the radio that Afghan officials were combing Narges' phone records to try to determine whether al Qaeda or the Taliban could have brainwashed her into carrying out a mission.

But he was acutely aware of her mental problems and often heard her scream at her husband, whose low-level job in the crime investigation unit of the police brought home little cash.

Kohistani, who operates a small sewing shop with battered machines, never imagined his neighbour could be accused of a high-profile attack that raised new questions about the direction of an unpopular war.

"I became very depressed and sad," said Kohistani, sitting on the floor few feet from a tiny wood-burning stove in Narges'shome, alongside family photographs and a police training manual.

Fatima would often seek refuge in Kohistani's house when her mother's behaviour became unbearable. "She did not hate us, but usually she was angry and would not talk to us," said Fatima, her eyes moist with tears.

Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com

Nevertheless, she missed her mother. The children were staying with a cousin.

"I ask the government to free my mother, otherwise our future will be destroyed," said Fatima.

Officials described it as another "insider shooting", in which Afghan forces turn on Westerners they are meant to be working with to stabilize the country. There have been over 52 such attacks so far this year.

The shooting at the police headquarters may have alarmed Afghanistan's Western allies. But some Afghans have grown numb to the violence.

Kohistani's 70-year-old father, Omara Khan, who sports a white beard, sat twirling prayer beads beneath a photograph of Narges in a black veil beside one of her husband.

Asked what he thought of the attack, he laughed.

"This is common in Afghanistan," said Khan, who lived through decades of upheaval, including the 10-year Soviet occupation and a civil war that destroyed half of Kabul and killed some 50,000 civilians.

"People are killed every day."?

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Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16173931-mental-illness-poverty-drove-afghan-policewoman-to-kill-us-contractor-her-children-say?lite

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Calvin Ayre's Predictions For The Gambling World in 2013 - Online ...

Greetings again from sunny Antigua! Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. Now that I?ve finished looking back at the year that was, it?s once again time for the annual predictions. Here?s how my crystal balls foresee 2013 shaking out?

Buy TWO coffees and you can be gaming commissioner!

THE AMERICAS
? The state in which Las Vegas resides will vainly keep faith with Harry Reid?s Nevada Brick & Mortar Casino Bottom Line Restoration Act of 2012/2013early into the new year, right up to the point in the first week of February when Gov. Chris Christie signs New Jersey?s online gambling legislation into law. That will prompt some Hitler-in-the-bunker meltdowns in Nevada casino boardrooms, but to save face and salvage some pride, the state will go ahead and launch its intrastate offering, just so it can claim to have been first. This launch will cause a temporary spike in the share prices of the casino companies and their (mostly) European technology partners. However, this spike will be brief and prices will soon sink below their previous levels once investors realize Nevada?s total population is less than some New York suburbs, leaving an almost 1:1 ratio of online poker operators to players. Seriously, short Bwin.party, Zynga and Caesars Entertainment stock now, then buy me a beer later as a ?thank you.?

? New Jersey?s new regulated market won?t actually take its first bet in 2013, but in the meantime, the state gaming board will approve PokerStars? purchase of the Atlantic Club and it will also approve Stars? online poker ? and online casino ? license. After which, Pansy Ho will justifiably sue the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for defamation.

? In California, Rod Wright?s reintroduced online poker bill will be dismissed by everybody except the horseracing operations (aka Betfair) in his home riding, but the tribes will eventually coalesce around a bill of their own. That said, they also won?t be ready to take bets in 2013.

Hollywood execs were divided as to which posed the greater threat.

? The World Trade Organization will allow Antiguato impose intellectual property sanctions against the US, which will lead the powerful US entertainment lobby to bring pressure on the US government to (a) anchor an aircraft carrier group in English Harbour or (b) finally honor its WTO obligations. The latter option will earn the US some grudging respect from the international community, and it will also have ramifications for present and future improper applications of the US criminal justice system against online gambling companies with Antiguan licenses. Operators in other jurisdictions will be hit with another round of attacks this year.

? The judge presiding over the fight between New Jersey and the continent?s sports leagues will declare PASPA unconstitutional, but instead of allowing New Jersey to offer sports betting, the judge will go on to declare all sports betting illegal, even in Nevada. (Just kidding about that last part, but man, would William Hill be pissed.)

? Canada will eventually pass its single-game sports betting legislation, but the resulting revenue stream won?t be the windfall the provincial lottery corporations are expecting. Holding a monopoly on scratch-and-win tickets at the local convenience store is one thing; competing with the deposit bonuses and breadth of betting options available via international online sportsbooks is a beaver of a different color.

? Amaya Gaming will use the brief euphoria surrounding online poker going live in Nevada to offload its new Ongame Network at a tidy profit, which Amaya will then apply to help pay off its patch work quilt of an acquisition spree of the past couple years.

? At least one major casino company will follow Penn National?s lead by spinning off assets into a real estate investment trust (REIT). Likely lads include Pinnacle Entertainment, which could use some quick cash following its $2.8b acquisition of Ameristar Casinos, or Las Vegas Sands, which is sitting on some prime hotel and retail holdings in Asia.

Norbert makes it rain, shareholders feel the pain.

EUROPE
? Early in 2013, before its online poker service provider license comes up for discussion in Nevada, Bwin.party will make a multi-million dollar payout to the US Department of Justice in order for the Bwin half of the company to buy the same kind of immunity PartyGaming received via its $105m make-good payment in 2009 (which former CEO Jim Ryan referred to at the time as its ?ticket back into the US?). Bwin?s ?make-good? payment will be smaller, reflecting its comparatively smaller dealings with US customers pre-UIGEA, but with margins tight in Bwin.party?s primary European markets ? and about to get tighter in the UK under its new licensing regime ? it will be money Bwin.party can?t afford to throw away. There might not even be enough left to afford the bodyguards Norbert Teufelberger plans to bring to Bwin.party?s annual general meeting.

? Playtech will disengage from its kiosk business in Malaysia and similar ventures after shareholders and market regulators grow more curious about ? and less comfortable with ? Playtech?s dealings in Asian black/grey markets. The ?we?re not breaking the law, we?re just helping others to break the law? defense won?t cut the mustard for long on Playtech?s new LSE home.

? European public companies will be vulnerable to another crisis of confidence in the Euro currency. Germany almost singlehandedly brought the Euro back from the brink during the last crisis, but the Bundesbank is now slashing growth projections for the German economy, suggesting Der Deutschen could be entering a full-blown recession in 2013. If another bankrupt country comes looking for a bailout, it may find the German tit is bone dry. Without the ability to kick that debt can down the road a little further, the Euro crisis of 2008 could look like a walk in the park; the entire European economy could contract and gambling spending would plunge.

? As a result, I expect at least one European publicly traded company will take itself private in order to make a concerted effort in penetrating the Asian market to help wean itself off this dependency on Europe?s regulation-heavy, profit-thin markets.

? I also expect the depressed share prices of these companies may lead one of the cash-rich Asian operators to contemplate acquiring a European foothold on the cheap, with operators like 888, 32Red, mobile specialists Probability, software outfit Openbet and even the (not so) mighty Ladbrokes being likely acquisition targets.

? Similarly, while PokerStars takes the lead in America on the online/land-based convergence front, at least one major Asian online gambling operator will ink a live-dealer technology deal with a European brick-and-mortar casino, probably in London. They?ll beam the feed from the floor of the casino to sportsbooks around the globe, and make a pretty penny in the process.

ASIA
? I could make the same prediction year-in/year-out regarding Asia. It represents the gambling world?s future, but increasingly its present, as well. You either target Asia or you target irrelevancy. It?s the last great gold rush this industry will see in our life times.

? Japan will finally legalize casinos, Vietnam will legalize sports betting, and Australia will regulate online poker. I expect Genting to acquire a controlling interest in the Star Casino, outmaneuvering James Packer?s bid to dominate the Sydney casino market. I also believe the region will host the year?s biggest high-roller poker tournament.

? Bodog will announce that it is once again entering the Bodog Conference game ? including the resurrection of full-on annual Bodog Parties, but this time in Asia (okay, I know this for a fact). The Las Vegas Bodog conferences and accompanying parties are still legend, and European public companies will ban their employees from attending on account of not being sure they will come home after getting ?Asian fever.?

The Minnow?s fearless crew wondered how Mr. Howell managed to escape any and all blame for the shipwreck.

POKER
? Asia is the only place this sector will expand in 2013, but even here, growth will be slow. With opportunities for growth at a premium, more networks will seek to protect and nurture their net-depositing players by adopting an approach that mimics the fish-friendly Bodog recreational model.

? With the minor Chinese poker boom now creating more players per year than America creates lawyers, I believe an Asian poker player will hoist the World Series of Poker main event bracelet. Also, Howard Lederer will play at this year?s WSOP main event, but he will be subjected to constant heckling and (at least the threat of) the occasional physical attack, leaving him sufficiently rattled to bust out on Day 1, after which he?ll slink back to his non-forfeited Vegas hideaway to lick his wounds and lament his devolution from The Professor to Gilligan. (Which would make Ray Bitar the Skipper, and Phil Ivey? er? Thurston Howell III?)

SOCIAL GAMING/CASINO CONVERSION
? This may be the single biggest factor driving innovation in the gambling industry, in that it is changing our definition of what is gambling. While gambling made the transition from casino floor to website close to two decades ago, the games remain the same ones gamblers have enjoyed for a century or more. But social gaming companies are looking to further monetize their product, and while most of them are making their initial moves into real-money play via social casino games, there are a lot more non-casino titles in their portfolio. We?ve already seen head-to-head video games go the poker route by offering peer-to-peer betting. Social games can pit groups of friends against other groups of players for more than just nerdy bragging rights, but the fact that real-money will be on the line will hopefully discourage the Leroy Jenkins of your group from going rogue.

SPORTS BETTING
? Sports betting is going to show continued slow improvements in video streaming and in game wagering, a much more rapid shift to mobile than ever and an ever expanding range of things to bet on. However, this year is not expected to have any big changes. Again, most growth in Asia. There is going to be some integration of sports and social also this year.

Using a desktop computer to wager on Rooney scoring is illogical.

TECHNOLOGY
? It has only been five years since the iPhonemade its debut, but smartphone and tablet sales have already outstripped sales of PCs, and comScore data says more Google maps searches are now coming from mobile devices than PCs. In a few more years, 80% of online gambling play will be via mobile, with the remaining 20% consisting of power users (multi-table poker grinders), bettors with poor eyesight and Luddites. Sports betting products will lead the mobile charge, but casino and poker will soon catch up.

? As last fall?s Playtech v. William Hill tussle in Tel Aviv demonstrated, any online gambling company that doesn?t own its own technology is vulnerable to upheavals and/or outright blackmail at the worst possible moments. Companies can either choose to make the long-term investment to become their own master, or they can opt to save a few bucks and run the risk of becoming someone else?s bitch. That said, tech providers with battle-tested Asian-facing product are going to make a killing off the Johnny-come-lately operators desperate to tap into this market.

? Though many have heard the name ?middleware,? few know what it really is. But this is the year that online gaming middleware will burst onto the scene in our industry and everyone will be looking for the right supplier. In a nutshell, middleware gives operators freedom from any one technology supplier ? a nice bonus given the state of the technology provider companies in the industry today. You just plug in all the games from any supplier on standard APIs to one dedicated back end that controls the money. This lowers the cost of operations, lowers cost and time of integration of new games from any supplier and makes it a lot easier to train entry-level customer service staff. There are some great options out there, but beware the snake oil salesmen type that are telling you their middleware does it all. In an attempt to control this space, Playtech has been trying to buy up the major developers, which, as always, creates opportunity for other developers.

? Watch for the evolution of live video streaming gambling out of casino games. We know there will be some super sexy dancing keno girls operating this year. This will cause lurking management issues given how cute this product is and the cost of the bandwidth. We expect this to trend to continue to pick up speed.

ANONYMOUS PAYMENTS (BITCOIN)
? I?ve been making this prediction for a few years now, but anonymous payments will continue to make inroads into the public consciousness as people become increasingly enamored with the concept of deciding for themselves how to spend their hard-earned discretionary income. This concept ? if it cannot be controlled by governments ? will have far reaching implications outside the industry we all love. I personally think it?s already out of the bottle. In general, fortune will favor those companies that focus on excellence and controlling their own direct relationships with banks. In this business, processors are (unfortunately) notoriously slimy, so if you can cut them out, so much the better for you.

THE ?IT?S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE? FORMULA FOR ONLINE GAMBLING SUCCESS IN 2013
Keep your company away from public markets, move your head office to Manila, geographically focus your business on Asian markets, keep your platform emphasis on mobile, control your own technology and invest like hell in R&D. In the Darwinian world of online gambling, inventors and innovators will drink everyone?s milkshake.

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Source: http://calvinayre.com/2012/12/28/business/calvin-ayre-predictions-for-gambling-world-in-2013/

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Donald Blood III Gets DUI After Allegedly Driving On AA Co-founder's Lawn

Jana Lawrence

Jana Lawrence, 46, of Dacula, Ga., is accused of wreaking havoc at two restaurants Saturday, by groping, licking and flashing fellow patrons before being arrested.

Vanessa Robinson

Vanessa Robinson was charged with aggravated assult after she allegedly cut up her boyfriend after he tried leaving her apartment with the last beer -- a Colt 45 to be specific.

Niles Gammons

Ohio man <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/niles-gammons_n_2100591.html?1352482434" target="_hplink">Niles Gammons</a> found himself in a bit of double trouble when -- thanks to daylight savings -- authorities busted him twice in one day, at the exact same time.

Justina Laniewski

Laniewski, 41, was arrested for allegedly endangering her child, among other charges, when she ran in to a raging creek to "save" ducks during Hurricane Sandy's onslaught on Oct. 30, 2012. Police say that Laniewski left her 4-year-old unattended while she plunged into neck-high waters in Glen Rock, Pa. It took 8 firefighters to rescue the woman, who allegedly had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for driving.

Patricia Libby

Police say that Patricia Libby was under the influence when repeatedly crashed her car into another vehicle in the parking lot of a Marco Island, Fla. elementary school where her children are enrolled.

William Liddell

William Liddell is accused of <a href="http://www.marconews.com/news/2012/oct/17/reports-man-fought-with-officers-defecated-in/" target="_hplink">getting into a tussle</a> with cops after they tried to arrest him for a hit and run. During the altercation, a police report said Liddell defecated in his pants.

Ty Alsop

Ty Alsop was allegedly found passed out in a car with pants soaked in urine. He was taken to an Evansville, Ind. hospital to detoxify. Instead of staying put, he sneaked out past the staff. Witnesses saw him in the parking lot wearing a hospital gown that exposed his backside. Alsop asked police for a second chance, claiming "I'm not really a bad guy. I've just been a drunken a-----e tonight," according to the police report.

Alison Whelan

This 51-year-old Brit hijacked a ferry in September 2011, reportedly yelling to police officers that she was Jack Sparrow. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/alison-whelan-jack-sparrow-steals-ferry_n_1901200.html?1348169718" target="_hplink">Read the whole story here.</a>

Eugene Carl Kotelman

Largo (Fla.) Police pulled over Kotelman allegedly for speeding and driving drunk on May 3. Cops checked the trunk and say they found a small monkey tucked inside. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/04/a-man-and-his-monkey-pull_0_n_1477674.html" target="_hplink">Read more.</a>

Coley Mitchell

Coley Mitchell, a lab tech at Georgia Health Sciences University, was arrested for public drunkenness after being found in a locker room intoxicated with his pants down halfway his legs surrounded by two lab monkeys that had been let out of their cages.

Jesse James Thomas

Jesse James Thomas, arrested March 28 for public drunkenness, Thomas was wearing a sombrero when he jumped on an officer's parked patrol car screaming his name, according to an account in the <em>Sacramento Bee</em>. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/30/jesse-james-thomas-sombrero-jumps-on-cop-car_n_1392754.html" target="_hplink">Read more. </a>

Olivia Ornelas

Police in Illinois say that Olivia Ornelas blamed her DUI and crashed vehicle on her boyfriend's failure to take her, as he promised, to the new "Twilight" movie. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/illinois-twilight-fan-arrested_n_1105740.html" target="_hplink">Read more.</a>

Man Charged with DWI for Driving Motorized Cooler

An Australian man caught driving a motorized cooler box through a beachside resort town appeared in court charged with drunk driving, The Courier Mail reported Monday. Christopher Ian Petrie, 23, faces charges of driving under the influence and driving without a license after police caught him on the makeshift vehicle, which was powered by a 50cc engine.

Randon Reid

Police in Phoenix, Ariz., have accused Randon Reid of the crime of flight -- and a crime against flight. Investigators say the 26-year-old suspect opened fire on an airplane parked at Deer Valley Airport, then fled from authorities who tried to pull him over. He has reportedly been charged with felony flight and driving under the influence.

Debra Oberlin

It's always best to practice what you preach. Police in Florida say they arrested the former president of a local chapter of Mother's Against Drunk Driving for driving under the influence. Debra Oberlin has been charged with drunk driving for the Feb. 18 incident.

Andrei Bibbs

Andrei Bibbs, 54, of the 3000 block of Coopers Grove Court, was arrested Jan. 7 Illinois State Police and charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol. He <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/andrei-bibbs-blue-island-_n_1201547.html" target="_hplink">was clearly shocked by the change. </a>

Bradley Pope

Pope was arrested for DUI. He allegedly told police that he was a "covert agent" and that he had drank 100 beers.

David Caruso

In early August 2012, David Caruso was busted for allegedly deciding to grab a beer while driving through a sobriety checkpoint in Connecticut. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/david-caruso-sobriety-checkpoint_n_1726754.html" target="_hplink"> Read more.</a>

Garrett Stauber

Garrett Stauber, 24, allegedly drunkenly stole kitchen utensils -- including a potato peeler and a knife -- as well as a puppy in Pittsburgh.

Samuel Phipps

Phipps was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after he got into a car accident that he allegedly <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/weird/Man-Arrested-for-7th-DUI-Claims-Elephant-Caused-Accident-Cops---172153931.html" target="_hplink">blamed on an elephant.</a>

Sherri Wilkins

Sherri Wilkins, a drug and alcohol counselor, was arrested after allegedly fatally hitting pedestrian Philip Moreno with her car while driving under the influence. Police say Wilkins then drove over two miles with Moreno partially through her windshield. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/sherri-wilkins-philip-moreno-windshield-_n_2191482.html?utm_hp_ref=crime" target="_hplink">Read the whole story here.</a>

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/donald-blood-dui-aa-cofounders-lawn_n_2370750.html

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