Suh says actions 'unacceptable' (AP)

DETROIT ? For the first season-and-a-half of his young career, Ndamukong Suh could almost brush off talk about his penalties and fines, saying he would keep doing what was needed to help his Detroit Lions.

After hurting the team with a penalty and ejection on Thanksgiving, Suh now says he has learned his lesson.

"My reaction on Thursday was unacceptable," the star defensive tackle said in a statement on his Facebook page Friday night. "I made a mistake, and have learned from it. I hope to direct the focus back to the task at hand ? by winning."

The statement appeared on Suh's page around the same time he was publically chastised by the Lions, one night after being ejected Thursday in a loss to Green Bay for stomping at an opposing player.

"The on-field conduct exhibited by Ndamukong Suh that led to his ejection from yesterday's game was unacceptable and failed to meet the high level of sportsmanship we expect from our players," the team said. "Ndamukong has made many positive contributions to the Lions on and off the field. We expect his behavior going forward to consistently reflect that high standard of professionalism."

It could be several days before Suh finds out the true cost of his third-quarter stomp in Detroit's 27-15 loss to the Packers on Thursday. An NFL spokesman said Friday that plays from Week 12 looked at for potential discipline won't be reviewed until all games are completed.

Detroit coach Jim Schwartz was curt after Thursday's defeat when asked if he was worried about a possible suspension.

"I'm worried about losing this game," Schwartz said.

Suh was dismissed after tangling with Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith. After being pushed off Dietrich-Smith, Suh stepped down hard with his right foot, appearing to make contact with Dietrich-Smith's right arm.

Immediately after the game, Suh defended himself, saying he was trying to keep his balance while freeing himself from the brief scuffle. He publically apologized to teammates, coaches and fans Thursday for "allowing the refs to have an opportunity to take me out of this game," but he insisted he didn't intentionally step on anyone.

"People are going to have their own opinions ? that's fine," he said after the game. "The only (people) that I really care about are my teammates, my true fans and my coaches and their opinions, and that's where it lies. And honestly, the most important person in this whole thing that I have to deal with is the man upstairs."

In his Friday statement on Facebook, he said he'd had more time to reflect.

"Playing professional sports is not a game," he said. "It is a profession with great responsibility, and where performance on and off the field should never be compromised. It requires a calm and determined demeanor, which cannot be derailed by the game, referee calls, fans or other players."

In less than two seasons as a pro, Suh has established himself as one of the game's strongest and most athletic defensive linemen, but he's also received his share of fines.

Suh requested and received a meeting earlier this month with Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his play. He said that dialogue was helpful, but now the league will have to decide whether more discipline is merited after he was ejected on national television.

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan came up with one tongue-in-cheek solution Friday.

"I'll be honest with you, I think the young man, he should be released ... and come to the Jets," Ryan joked. "I'm just throwing that out there. I don't think he's that good of a player. I don't know about the incident and all that jazz, but we'll take him. We'll sacrifice that way."

Ryan then turned a little more serious.

"I don't even know what to say on it," Ryan said. "You've seen things like that happen on the field before. It's an emotional game."

Jets offensive lineman Matt Slauson, who played with Suh at Nebraska, sounded off on the topic Friday.

"Somebody needs to get him under control, because he's trying to hurt people," Slauson told the New York Post. "It's one thing to be an incredibly physical player and a tenacious player, but it's another thing to set out to end that guy's career."

Slauson said last year that he and Suh used to mix it up in practice while in college.

"There were times we got into fights, during spring ball, during camp, but I kind of fought everyone," Slauson said then.

In 2006, Albert Haynesworth, then with the Tennessee Titans, was suspended five games after swiping his cleats across the head of helmetless Dallas center Andre Gurode. Suh's stomp wasn't toward Dietrich-Smith's head, and the Green Bay player didn't seem too much worse for wear.

When asked afterward where Suh stepped on him, Dietrich-Smith sounded like he didn't want to stir the pot.

"I have no idea," he said. "I have to watch the tape."

If Suh is suspended early next week, he would have a chance to keep playing pending any appeal ? but that appeals process can be expedited. Detroit plays at New Orleans on Dec. 4.

The NFL moved that game to prime time, a reflection of the buzz surrounding the improved Lions this season. Led by young stars Suh, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, Detroit won its first five games, but the Lions have since lost four of six.

Defensive backs Louis Delmas, Chris Houston and Brandon McDonald went down with injuries against the Packers, and so did running back Kevin Smith. If the Lions are without Suh for an extended period, it could hurt them in the playoff race.

"He plays aggressive. All of us, sometimes, might overreact in certain situations," Detroit defensive lineman Cliff Avril said. "We've got to play real smart."

___

AP Sports Writer Dennis Waszak Jr., in Florham Park, N.J., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_suh_s_stomp

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Brian Greene Talks FTL Neutrinos

Science TalkScience Talk | More Science

Physicist Brian Greene, host of the NOVA series the Fabric of the Cosmos, addresses the question of faster-than-light neutrinos at a Q&A session after the debut of the PBS series.

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Physicist Brian Greene, host of the NOVA series the Fabric of the Cosmos, addresses the question of faster-than-light neutrinos at a Q&A session after the debut of the PBS series.???


Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1d1726828063c7e5c8ab1cb1ab47291b

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All About Angel Investing, Part III | the Frank Peters Show

By Frank. Filed in Angel Investing, Interview/podcast? | ??
Tags: Best Practices, How To, Training

David Barach and Gary Philips

We?re back for Part III of this mini-series on angel investing. David Barach, Gary Phillips and I discuss what every angel investor should know.

We begin with a discussion of deal-killers. What craters a deal in due diligence?

And when we get to deal structure, Gary and David are of different opinions on Convertible Notes versus equity.

If you haven?t already, start with Part I, or Part II.

Show #357 Listen

Source: http://thefrankpetersshow.com/2011/angel-investing-part-iii/

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Stocks plunge as debt talks near collapse

Traders Richard Cohen, left, and Lewis Vande-Pallen, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Stocks are taking a sharp fall in early trading Monday amid reports that a congressional committee will fail to agree on a plan to cut the U.S. government's budget deficit.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders Richard Cohen, left, and Lewis Vande-Pallen, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Stocks are taking a sharp fall in early trading Monday amid reports that a congressional committee will fail to agree on a plan to cut the U.S. government's budget deficit.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialists James Denaro, Christopher Culhane, and Glenn Carell, left to right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Stocks are taking a sharp fall in early trading Monday amid reports that a congressional committee will fail to agree on a plan to cut the U.S. government's budget deficit.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Stocks are taking a sharp fall in early trading Monday amid reports that a congressional committee will fail to agree on a plan to cut the U.S. government's budget deficit.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

(AP) ? Stocks are plunging at midday after Congress' latest bid to resolve the federal budget gridlock appeared to fail.

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 327 points, or 2.8 percent, at 11,469 shortly before noon Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 31, or 2.5 percent, at 1,185. The Nasdaq composite index is down 67, or 2.6 percent, at 2,506.

A 12-member bipartisan panel was assigned to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit by Wednesday. The panel appeared ready to admit failure on Monday. That could lead to broad, automatic cuts from military and social spending.

Uncertainty about government spending drags on the economy because the private sector is growing so slowly. Traders also fear that Europe's debt crisis might spill over, disrupting the fragile U.S. recovery.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-21-Wall%20Street/id-8b7aa450b43f4d0d9e6d265fdd299c97

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Office holiday parties 2011: Tamer, less booze

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For some workers, the office holiday party is a scaled-back affair.

By Martha C. White

The company holiday party is slowly returning, but its new incarnation reflects the lingering effects of the recession on corporate America: This year's parties will be smaller, more casual and less boozy.

"There used to be a lot more lavish alcohol displays ? things like martini luges where you would pour alcohol into the top of an elaborate ice carving and it would land in your glass," said Todd Fiscus, owner of Todd Events, which has produced events for clients ranging from Gatorade to Jay-Z. In a sign of the times, he says, companies today are more likely to?host a Western-themed "hoedown" instead of a black-tie blowout.?

According to outplacement consultancy?Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 68 percent of companies will hold a holiday party this year, roughly flat with last year and up six percentage points from 2009, when the economy and holiday party bookings were at a trough.

As 2011 winds down, companies have more reason to celebrate: Most have come through the worst of the economic downturn and are setting their sights on 2012. They're shifting their focus from survival to motivating and retaining their remaining employees.?

"Companies in the recession were fighting for survival, and they cut back on a lot of things," said Challenger CEO John Challenger. "That loosened the ties that people have to the company. Now they're in the process of carefully trying to win back some of that loyalty or at least commitment they lost when times were tough."

The financial crisis that began in September 2008 brought many companies' holiday party plans to a screeching halt. Many canceled because they couldn't afford a bash or because layoffs and other austerity measures made the prospect of a party look unseemly or irresponsible.

"It's?really hard to justify a holiday event in the aftermath of layoffs," said Richard Coughlan, associate professor of management at the University of Richmond. "The remaining employees will think, 'What are the priorities of the firm?'"

Even companies where lavish events were the norm bowed to the pressure. Investment bank Goldman Sachs, which canceled its holiday party in 2008, upped the ante in 2009 with an edict that employees were not allowed to gather in groups of a dozen or more for dinner on the company dime.

Coughlan said cost is still the main consideration that dictates the where, when and whether-or-not of a corporate holiday party. "We're seeing a lot more companies deciding to hold the parties not at some ritzy venue, but many of them are doing them at their headquarters," which can save a lot of money, he said.

Some businesses?are switching from nighttime to daytime events and forgoing a band or DJ in favor of a school band or choir performing Christmas carols. Fiscus said some companies are bringing back the holiday party ? but only for top executives. ?

Alcohol is another area targeted by still-frugal managers. According to a survey conducted by outplacement consulting firm?Amrop Battalia Winston, nearly a quarter of all holiday parties this year won't include anything stronger than soft drinks. That's down three percentage points from last year and is a far cry from 2000, when 90 percent of holiday parties featured booze. At parties where employees can still get their drink on, they may have to choose from only beer and wine or a limited selection of cocktails rather than a full bar.?

Some companies are spending as much as they were before the recession, but these expenditures are camouflaged.?Conspicuous consumption is still out of favor, which means jettisoning the champagne bar and crystal-studded decor, Fiscus said. The menu might be enchiladas and chicken-fried steak instead of filet mignon and shrimp,?but the company might make up for that by booking a terrific band.

"Instead of making it a winter fantasy party ? they might make it a party where everybody could wear jeans," he said. "It's not that they necessarily spent less, but the party feels different."?

"There's no flowing champagne and caviar," said?Dale Winston, Amrop's chairwoman and CEO.?"Even the companies that are doing well are sensitive to the period of austerity that's going on in the country. It's a sign of the times."

Is your employer throwing a holiday party this year?

?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/18/8882286-ho-ho-ho-hum-companies-throwing-cheaper-tamer-holiday-parties

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AP sources: FBI declined to pursue NYC bomb plot (AP)

NEW YORK ? Federal authorities declined to pursue a case against an "al-Qaida sympathizer" accused of plotting to bomb police stations and post offices in the New York area because they believed he was mentally unstable and incapable of pulling it off, two law enforcement officials said Monday.

New York Police Department investigators sought to get the FBI involved at least twice as their undercover investigation of Jose Pimentel unfolded, the officials said. Both times, the FBI concluded that he wasn't a serious threat, they said.

The FBI concluded that Pimentel "didn't have the predisposition or the ability to do anything on his own," one of the officials said.

The officials were not authorized to speak about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI's New York office declined to comment Monday.

New York authorities said Pimentel is an "al-Qaida sympathizer" motivated by terrorist propaganda and resentment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said police had to move quickly to arrest Pimentel on Saturday because he was ready to carry out his plan.

He also talked of bombing a police station in Bayonne, N.J., Kelly said.

"He was in fact putting this bomb together," Kelly said. "He was drilling holes and it would have been not appropriate for us to let him walk out the door with that bomb."

The 27-year-old suspect was being held after his arraignment Sunday on terrorism-related charges.

His lawyer Joseph Zablocki said his client's behavior leading up to the arrest was not that of a conspirator trying to conceal some violent scheme. Zablocki said Pimentel was public about his activities and was not trying to hide anything.

"I don't believe that this case is nearly as strong as the people believe," Zablocki said. "He (Pimentel) has this very public online profile. ... This is not the way you go about committing a terrorist attack."

New York City authorities said that the FBI was involved in the case but did not specifically say it declined to pursue the charges.

Kelly said the NYPD worked very closely with federal authorities on the case.

"We just believed that we couldn't let it go any further," he said. "We had to act."

___

Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_bomb_plot

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Nokia's latest EDoF camera demonstrates improvement with macro shots

Nokia's second generation Extended Depth of Field (EDoF) camera was recently put through the wringer by the folks at All About Symbian, and for a technology that traditionally fails at macro shots, we're happy to see that the engineers in Espoo have made dramatic advances with this second go-around. Using the same lens and sensor as before, we're told the improvements come from a refined image processor alone. In a side-by-side comparison, this business was card snapped from 12-inches (30cm) away, first with a C7 and then a 701. While the new setup isn't perfect, the difference is certainly appreciable. Of course, Nokia has all but ditched EDoF in its high end smartphones -- as evidenced by our reviews of the N9 and Lumia 800 -- but the technology remains very much alive within its lower-end affairs, and really, who doesn't like to see improvement? For a complete breakdown of the new technology, be sure to hit up the source link below.

Nokia's latest EDoF camera demonstrates improvement with macro shots originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink My Nokia Blog  |  sourceAll About Symbian  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/20/nokias-latest-edof-camera-demonstrates-improvement-with-macro-s/

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Will Obama Back Down On Birth Control?

Top White House officials held a private call with lawmakers of the Pro Choice Caucus on Friday for advice on how to deal with the religious exemption to universal birth control coverage. The move comes amid heavy pressure from the Catholic bishop lobby, and lawmakers have expressed frustration that Obama has granted more face time to the bishops on the issue than to them so far.

The Department of Health and Human Services is currently considering a rule that would require all private health insurance plans to cover contraception at no cost for women. Churches, HHS initially proposed, would be exempt from having to cover birth control for their employees if it conflicts with their teachings and beliefs.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and other religious groups have been aggressively lobbying HHS, Congress and the White House since September to expand the religious exemption to include hospitals, schools, non-profits and any other religious-affiliated organization that would pay for their employees' contraception, which the Church opposes. Women's health advocates argue that expanding the religious exemption would unfairly block access to contraception coverage for the millions of women who work for those employers.

The lingering question is whether Obama, who supports reproductive rights and has a strong record of protecting women's health, will cave to the opposition lobby on the birth control issue.

"Politically, it would be disastrous for the President and the White House to back off on this issue and take away this very popular benefit that improves women's health," Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), a member of the Pro Choice Caucus, told HuffPost Friday. "It's going to be tough to ask for women's votes in 2012 if their last impression of him is his willingness to trade their health coverage options for politics."

Obama met privately with Archbishop Timothy Dolan recently to discuss the exemption.

"I found the president of the United States to be very open to the sensitivities of the Catholic community," Dolan said in a news conference Monday. "I left there feeling a bit more at peace about this issue than when I entered."

White House legislative affairs director Rob Nabors told lawmakers in the conference call on Friday that President Obama has not even been briefed on the issue yet, as HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebellius is still sifting through all the public comments. But Nabors promised lawmakers that the President would meet with members of the Pro Choice Caucus before he makes his final decision, a Democratic aide on the call told HuffPost later Friday.

Friday's conference call was the first opportunity the lawmakers have had to talk to the White House about their concerns, said the staffer, who did not want to be named for professional reasons. The aide said Pro Choice members are frustrated that the White House has repeatedly refused to grant them an in-person meeting, despite having granted one to Nolan.

"Members are so nervous that the White House is going to expand the religious exemption that they demanded to have a conference call, but even getting that was a very heavy lift," the staffer told HuffPost. "It's never been more clear to me than today that the primary element of pressure on the White House is being orchestrated by the bishops. I don't know if they're meeting with the White House, I don't know what kind of access they have, but I do find it troubling that the Pro Choice Caucus hasn't been able to meet with the White House yet."

Lowey said that the fact that Obama would have any trouble deciding on a rule that affects millions of women's birth control coverage speaks to the power of the opposition lobby.

"Let me say this: I don't have first hand information that the lobby is stronger on the other side," she said, "but the fact that the White House is asking for opinions and advice makes it clear to me they've been very powerful."

HHS held an open comment period in September during which various advocacy groups could express their opinions on the interim guidelines before the final version is released, but the bishops went further. The day the comment period ended, the USCCB established a major new political arm -- the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty -- to convince the Obama administration either to entirely remove the coverage of birth control from the guidelines, or to give all religious-related organizations a free pass.

The bishops have also worked with House Republicans to draft and push a bill that would preempt the Obama Administration's decision by imposing a giant religious exemption onto the new HHS recommendation through legislative means.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said if the Obama Administration chooses not to expand the religious exemption, he will be trampling on the First Amendment rights of the Catholic Church.

"A Catholic organization cannot be forced to pay for services that go against its teaching," she said. "It's just untenable. We're hoping for a decision which respects religious freedom."

Senior White House advisor Valerie Jarrett predicted on Friday that Obama will announce a final decision on the rule in late December or early January.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/18/lawmakers-worry-obama-will-cave-to-bishops-on-birth-control_n_1102077.html

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