Apple may be hard at work creating the one phone to rule them all (around the world), if this latest patent application is any indication. The filing, first submitted in April of last year, describes a software-based method of determining carrier rankings, allowing owners to browse through a database of network-specific features, such as voice and data, to determine their best fit and sign-up for service. Ideally, this future iPhone set-up would come courtesy of a truly global phone, packing all the necessary radios and software to surf along the globe’s wireless frequencies sans extra SIM cards. Rumors of an open handset have been circling Cupertino for a bit, much to the dismay of operators who fear the move would diminish their function as the industry’s gatekeeper, shifting power to consumers. Certainly, Jobs and co. have a high hurdle to overcome if this purported world phone is to ever become a reality. In the meantime, why not just snag an unlocked device? [Thanks, Neil] Apple’s carrier ranking patent application hints at global iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Police in London and other English cities were continuing to arrest suspects linked to rioting and looting Thursday, as Britain’s prime minister promised wide-ranging measures to restore order. (Aug. 11)
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Debris remains at the site where a US helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing 38 people. (11 August)
Continue reading …Just now on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney bear hugged his beloved Citizens United decision by informing voters that “corporations are people, too!” Here’s the video: ROMNEY: Corporations are people, my friend. We could raise taxes and — [unintelligible crosstalk] ROMNEY: Of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. So — [audience laughter] where do you think it goes? [shouts] Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People’s pockets. He so reminded me of Professor Harold Hill conning the town in The Music Man . I almost wanted to hear him say there was trouble in River City, my friends. Snark aside, there is no stronger indictment of Romney than what he just said. Sure, he’ll walk it back in the days to come, try to tell everyone he meant that corporations employ people who get paychecks and so they are people. But we all know that’s not what he meant. Not at all. After Romney’s firm Bain Capital laid off thousands of employees to raise profit margins, he didn’t care much about those people, but he definitely cared about a “person” in the form of Bain Capital. And then there’s the matter of the dummy corporation created solely to donate $1 million to him before it was dissolved. That corporation was created solely for the purpose of laundering a huge campaign contribution with no accountability. It was a person under the definition provided by the Supreme Court, but certainly not “people.” No, Mitt Romney just told us all where he comes from, and it’s not a place where people matter at all.
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About the only “good” thing you can say about the Associated Press's coverage of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella is that they have been consistent. That is, the wire service, led by reporter Michael Rubinkam, up to and including today , has consistently and disgracefully failed to tag the infamous “Kids for Cash” jurist and his judicial colleague in crime Michael Conahan as a Democrat. The consistent failure is all the more unforgivable because, as shown here , one the earliest AP reports on the topic clearly stated that “Both are Democrats.” Shortly thereafter, the sentence disappeared. Since then, to my knowledge ( shown here and here ), in the 2-1/2 years since the story first broke, no AP report on what the it has described as “one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record” has tagged either judge as a Democrat. What follows are excerpts from Rubinkam's report on Ciavarella's sentencing. Those who are unfamiliar with the case should brace themselves for the scope of the cruelty inflicted on juvenile first-time and light offenders: Pa. judge gets 28 years in 'kids for cash' case A longtime northeastern Pennsylvania judge was ordered to spend nearly three decades in prison for his role in a massive juvenile justice bribery scandal that prompted the state's high court to toss thousands of convictions. Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in federal prison for taking $1 million in bribes from the builder of a pair of juvenile detention centers in a case that became known as “kids for cash.” … In the wake of the scandal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed about 4,000 convictions issued by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, saying he violated the constitutional rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea. Ciavarella, 61, was tried and convicted of racketeering charges earlier this year. His attorneys had asked for a “reasonable” sentence in court papers, saying, in effect, that he'd already been punished enough. “The media attention to this matter has exceeded coverage given to many and almost all capital murders, and despite protestation, he will forever be unjustly branded as the 'Kids for Cash' judge,” their sentencing memo said. … Ciavarella, speaking before the sentence was handed down, apologized to the community and to those juveniles that appeared before him in his court. “I blame no one but myself for what happened,” he said, and then denied he had ever incarcerated any juveniles in exchange for money. … Federal prosecutors accused Ciavarella and a second judge, Michael Conahan, of taking more than $2 million in bribes from the builder of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers and extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the facilities' co-owner. Ciavarella, known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom demeanor, filled the beds of the private lockups with children as young as 10, many of them first-time offenders convicted of petty theft and other minor crimes. Short of doing things to him that would themselves be illegal and therefore out of bounds, I don't see how this man or his colleague can ever be “punished enough.” That the AP has been “successful” in its party-ID coverup is pretty clear. An August 10-11 Google News search done at 12:40 PM ET today on Ciavarella's last name (sorted by date with duplicates) returned 590 items (the first page says it's 615 , but it's really 590 . The number will likely grow throughout the next couple days, as the sentence story is only about 2 hours old. An identically designed search done at the same time on “Ciavarella Democrat” (not in quotes) came back empty . Don't try to tell me the judicial pair's party affiliation is irrelevant. There's little doubt that a pair of Republican judges engaged in such a pervasive, corrupt, and cruel conspiracy would have been properly tagged as GOP members all along. And besides, as noted earlier, AP did the right thing in its earliest report(s), and then stopped. The burden of proof is on AP, especially in light of its clear policy on party identification which would dictate that it should have been happening all along, as to why it didn't. “Because we could” is not an answer. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .
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Most Hated Person In America : Casey Anthony ? Casey Anthony Named The Most Hated Person In America Casey Anthony is creepy. NelsonSweeting says: Casey Anthony is the most hated person in American right now. Wow
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burquedesign says: #burque #news A dancing carrot proposes marriage : If your girlfriend’s favorite color is orang… http://bit.ly/oB5zV2 #albuquerque #now
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Sarah Palin and Rick Perry still not formally seeking presidential nomination, so Romney and Bachmann will vie for spotlight • In pictures: Republican contenders in Iowa The Republican race for the White House heats up over the next three days, beginning on Thursday night with a nationally televised debate where some contestants will be vying to become the frontrunner and others trying to avoid being knocked out. With eight declared candidates on stage, it is already a crowded field. But a lot of the focus in the hall will be on two absent Republicans: Texas governor Rick Perry, who is expected to announce on Saturday that he is planning to join the race, which is likely to see him move into first position; and Sarah Palin, who has not declared but will continue her tease of supporters with a visit to Iowa. The event at Iowa state university in Ames is the biggest of the presidential debates so far as Republicans battle it out to take on Barack Obama for the White House in 2012. Mitt Romney, who lost out to John McCain for the Republican nomination in 2008, is the current frontrunner nationwide, while congresswoman Michele Bachmann is, according to polls, the frontrunner in Iowa, where the first caucus is scheduled to be held in February. For other candidates such as businessman Herman Cain, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former senator Rick Santorum, the debate may be a last chance to prevent their campaigns running out of financial backers and volunteers. The debate, sponsored by Fox News and the Washington Examiner, will see the debut of Jon Huntsman, former US ambassador to Beijing in the Obama administration. Huntsman has positioned himself more to the centre than others on the stage. He has failed to make any impression so far on the campaign. The debate comes two days before the Iowa straw poll. A good performance could help push a candidate into the top spot. “It puts so much pressure on these candidates to perform well,” Chuck Laudner, a former executive director of the Republican party of Iowa, told the Des Moines Register. “A bad performance has the real chance of sinking their straw poll numbers.” Romney failed to connect with voters in Iowa in 2008. He is not officially standing in the straw poll on Saturday, mainly because he knows he would lose it. Huntsman is not standing either for the same reason. It is a traditionally important election event in which campaign teams invest lots of money and energy; a piece of old-fashioned theatre in which candidates occupy tent space and are available for most of the day to the electorate. As an added attraction Bachmann is offering live music, provided by a country and western band. Laudner told the Des Moines Register the best strategy for those taking part in the debate would be to ignore Romney. “They’re speaking to the straw poll crowd and they’ve got him beat at the straw poll already,” he said. “If anybody they’d probably take a shot or two at Rick Perry.” The candidate under the most pressure in the debate is Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, who is basing his campaign on winning Iowa but has seen Bachmann pull ahead after a strong performance in the last debate in New Hampshire. Pawlenty was widely viewed as being too cautious in that debate, unwilling to take on Romney on issues such as health. Ron Paul, an outsider, commands a fervant band of supporters and is good at fundraising, both of which should ensure he does well in the straw poll. Although much time is devoted to the poll, past results have proved to be a poor indicator of the eventual winner in Iowa, never mind the eventual Republican nominee. Perry is scheduled to visit Iowa on Sunday after trips on Saturday to South Carolina and New Hampshire, other early voting states in the Republican nomination battle. Palin’s supporters in Iowa say they expect her to make an appearance on Friday at the Iowa state fair. She sent an email out on Wednesday that she would be heading to Iowa with her bus tour, which began on the East Coast in May. The next big debate is scheduled for September, in California, and Perry is likely to be in the race by then. Republican presidential nomination 2012 United States Republicans US elections 2012 US politics Sarah Palin Rick Perry Mitt Romney Ron Paul Michele Bachmann Tim Pawlenty Jon Huntsman Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Sarah Palin and Rick Perry still not formally seeking presidential nomination, so Romney and Bachmann will vie for spotlight • In pictures: Republican contenders in Iowa The Republican race for the White House heats up over the next three days, beginning on Thursday night with a nationally televised debate where some contestants will be vying to become the frontrunner and others trying to avoid being knocked out. With eight declared candidates on stage, it is already a crowded field. But a lot of the focus in the hall will be on two absent Republicans: Texas governor Rick Perry, who is expected to announce on Saturday that he is planning to join the race, which is likely to see him move into first position; and Sarah Palin, who has not declared but will continue her tease of supporters with a visit to Iowa. The event at Iowa state university in Ames is the biggest of the presidential debates so far as Republicans battle it out to take on Barack Obama for the White House in 2012. Mitt Romney, who lost out to John McCain for the Republican nomination in 2008, is the current frontrunner nationwide, while congresswoman Michele Bachmann is, according to polls, the frontrunner in Iowa, where the first caucus is scheduled to be held in February. For other candidates such as businessman Herman Cain, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former senator Rick Santorum, the debate may be a last chance to prevent their campaigns running out of financial backers and volunteers. The debate, sponsored by Fox News and the Washington Examiner, will see the debut of Jon Huntsman, former US ambassador to Beijing in the Obama administration. Huntsman has positioned himself more to the centre than others on the stage. He has failed to make any impression so far on the campaign. The debate comes two days before the Iowa straw poll. A good performance could help push a candidate into the top spot. “It puts so much pressure on these candidates to perform well,” Chuck Laudner, a former executive director of the Republican party of Iowa, told the Des Moines Register. “A bad performance has the real chance of sinking their straw poll numbers.” Romney failed to connect with voters in Iowa in 2008. He is not officially standing in the straw poll on Saturday, mainly because he knows he would lose it. Huntsman is not standing either for the same reason. It is a traditionally important election event in which campaign teams invest lots of money and energy; a piece of old-fashioned theatre in which candidates occupy tent space and are available for most of the day to the electorate. As an added attraction Bachmann is offering live music, provided by a country and western band. Laudner told the Des Moines Register the best strategy for those taking part in the debate would be to ignore Romney. “They’re speaking to the straw poll crowd and they’ve got him beat at the straw poll already,” he said. “If anybody they’d probably take a shot or two at Rick Perry.” The candidate under the most pressure in the debate is Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, who is basing his campaign on winning Iowa but has seen Bachmann pull ahead after a strong performance in the last debate in New Hampshire. Pawlenty was widely viewed as being too cautious in that debate, unwilling to take on Romney on issues such as health. Ron Paul, an outsider, commands a fervant band of supporters and is good at fundraising, both of which should ensure he does well in the straw poll. Although much time is devoted to the poll, past results have proved to be a poor indicator of the eventual winner in Iowa, never mind the eventual Republican nominee. Perry is scheduled to visit Iowa on Sunday after trips on Saturday to South Carolina and New Hampshire, other early voting states in the Republican nomination battle. Palin’s supporters in Iowa say they expect her to make an appearance on Friday at the Iowa state fair. She sent an email out on Wednesday that she would be heading to Iowa with her bus tour, which began on the East Coast in May. The next big debate is scheduled for September, in California, and Perry is likely to be in the race by then. Republican presidential nomination 2012 United States Republicans US elections 2012 US politics Sarah Palin Rick Perry Mitt Romney Ron Paul Michele Bachmann Tim Pawlenty Jon Huntsman Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Bet that a lot was able to see Old Navy’s ad featuring Melissa Molinaro. The music video-inspired campaign has been out since February and since then people has been looking for the model as she has a great resemblance with the Reality-TV star Kim Kardashian. Because of this, the latter filed a lawsuit against the Kim Kardashian Sued Old Navy For Using Look-Alike Model is a post from: Daily World Buzz
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