'Fiscal cliff' or not, tax reform is easier said than done

As part of any deal on the 'fiscal cliff,' Congress will likely take up comprehensive tax?reform. That's a worthy goal, but it will involve more political and economic pain than most would like to admit.?Every line in the tax code has its own constituency and rationale.

By John J. Pitney Jr. / December 10, 2012

House Speaker John Boehner speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Dec. 7 to discuss the pending 'fiscal cliff.' Op-ed contributor John J. Pitney Jr. writes: 'Lawmakers who back tax reform should speak with those who went through the 1986 debate [that produced the last tax overhaul]....Then they should fasten their seatbelts. It?s going to be a bumpy year.'

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

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As part of any ?fiscal cliff? bargain, Congress will probably take up comprehensive tax reform next year. At first, its benefits seem almost magical. Just scrap the loopholes that benefit special interests, and ? presto! ? we can ease burdens on the middle class, toss out tons of paperwork, and raise revenue for the government.?

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Alas, Congress isn?t Hogwarts, and tax legislation isn?t sorcery. Reform is a worthy goal, but it will involve more political and economic pain than lawmakers would like to admit.

A misunderstanding tends to warp discussions of the federal tax code. Because of billionaire Warren Buffett?s claim that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, many people think that the rich pay little tax and that working people carry the lion?s share of the load. Wrong.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the top one-fifth of households contributed about two-thirds of total federal taxes in 2009, the latest year for which data are available. This group paid an effective rate of 23.2 percent, while lower-income groups paid progressively lower rates, down to just one percent for the bottom one-fifth.

Some argue that, as a matter of fairness, we should make the affluent pay an even higher rate than they already do. Fine, but we can?t squeeze them for enough additional revenue to balance the budget.

That?s where ?loopholes? come in. By ending a number of deductions or credits, Congress would enable the government to collect more money, at least in principle. There?s just one problem: Every line in the tax code has its own constituency and rationale.

For example, the mortgage-interest deduction costs the Treasury more than $80 billion a year, but it has succeeded at fostering home ownership, and few politicians would dare to cross all the millions of taxpayers who use it. Congress could limit the political risk by reducing the deduction only for top earners. Yet even that modest step could hurt the housing market, incurring the wrath not only of the affected taxpayers, but also realtors and construction workers.

Likewise, curbing the deduction for charitable contributions would be a blow to churches and other nonprofits. Go down the list of ?loopholes,? and you will see a comparable story every time.

Despite such obstacles, Congress did pass a 1986 law that eliminated numerous tax shelters while lowering rates and simplifying the tax code. That measure proved that reform is possible, but its enactment hinged on circumstances that are hard to repeat.

The first was an intellectual consensus that bridged ideological lines: Supporters of reform ranged from Rep. Jack Kemp (R) of New York on the right to Sen. Bill Bradley (D) of New Jersey on the left. They agreed that the tax code rewarded individuals and businesses for gaming the system rather than contributing to economic growth and job creation.

Moreover, key leaders had unusually strong motives to move the bill. President Reagan had believed in tax reform ever since paying exorbitant rates at the peak of his movie career. Dan Rostenkowski (D) of Illinois, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, wanted to prove that he was a statesman, not just a Chicago hack. Bob Packwood (R) of Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, initially undercut the reform effort but turned around after enduring brutal criticism from the press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/gTlDZTxM1A8/Fiscal-cliff-or-not-tax-reform-is-easier-said-than-done

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Jenni Rivera, soulful, troubled Mexican music star

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2012, file photo, Jenni Rivera, from the film "Filly Brown," poses for a portrait during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The wreckage of a small plane believed to be carrying Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera was found in northern Mexico on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, and there are no apparent survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2012, file photo, Jenni Rivera, from the film "Filly Brown," poses for a portrait during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The wreckage of a small plane believed to be carrying Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera was found in northern Mexico on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, and there are no apparent survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, file)

In this picture taken March 8, 2012, Mexican-American singer and reality TV star Jenni Rivera poses during an interview in Los Angeles. The California-born singer who rose through personal adversity to become a superstar adored by millions in a male-dominated genre of Mexican-American music, was confirmed dead in a plane crash in northern Mexico, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

In this picture taken March 8, 2012, Mexican-American singer and reality TV star Jenni Rivera poses during an interview in Los Angeles. The California-born singer who rose through personal adversity to become a superstar adored by millions in a male-dominated genre of Mexican-American music, was confirmed dead in a plane crash in northern Mexico, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Jenni Rivera launched her career hawking cassette recordings of her songs at flea markets, but a powerful voice, soulful singing style and frank discussion of personal troubles powered her to the heights of a male-dominated industry, transforming her into the one of the biggest stars of the genre known as grupero.

Her life was cut short at its peak on Sunday by an airplane crash in northern Mexico that also killed six friends and co-workers.

The 43-year-old mother of five and grandmother of two became a symbol of resilience for millions of fans on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. Her fame grew as she branched out into acting, appearing in independent film, reality TV and the televised singing competition "La Voz Mexico."

She had recently filed for divorce from her third husband, was once detained at a Mexico City airport with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, and publicly apologized after her brother assaulted a drunken fan who verbally attacked her in 2011.

"I am the same as the public, as my fans," she told The Associated Press in an interview last March.

Rivera sold more than 15 million copies of her 12 major-label albums and won a string of Latin music awards. Her shows filled both the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Mexico's National Auditorium, a feat few male singers in her industry achieved.

Many of her songs dealt with themes of dignity in the face of heartbreak, and her shows were known for their festive atmosphere and her intimate interactions with her fans. She would fill song requests from fans who had suffered heartbreak and setbacks, and would often pull women and girls onto stage to personally tell them to keep moving forward.

The plane, being flown by two pilots, was taking her and her publicist, Arturo Rivera, her makeup artist, Jacob Yebale, and two friends, one named Mario Macias and another who was only identified as Gerardo, to the central Mexican city of Toluca after a Saturday night concert before thousands in the northern city of Monterrey. All were killed.

After the concert she gave a press conference during which she spoke of her emotional state following her recent move to divorce former Major League Baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza, who played for teams including the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rivera announced in October that she was divorcing Loaiza after two years of marriage.

"I can't get caught up in the negative because that destroys you. Perhaps trying to move away from my problems and focus on the positive is the best I can do. I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other woman," she said Saturday night. "The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up."

Rivera's parents migrated from Mexico to California and founded the label that also propelled two of her five brothers, Lupillo and Juan Rivera, to careers as well-known singers of grupero music.

Born on July 2, 1969 in Los Angeles, California, Dolores Janney Rivera Savedra studied business administration and often said with pride that she started her singing career in flea markets in the Los Angeles area, selling cassette tapes to fans.

She formally debuted on the music scene in 1995 with the release of her album "Chacalosa".

That successful album was followed with two other independent albums, one a tribute to slain Mexican-American singer Selena that helped Rivera expand her following. By the end of the 90s, she won a major-label contract, and built a loyal following that knew her as the "Diva de la Banda."

At the end of the 1990s, Rivera was signed by Sony Music and released two more albums, "If You Want to See Me Crying," and "Queen of Queens."

In 2002, she received her first Latin Grammy nomination, for best album in the band music category.

Even more widespread success came when she joined Fonovisa and released her 2005 album titled "Partier, Rebellious and Daring," which positioned her as one of the most renowned grupero singers and songwriters.

She was also nominated for Latin Grammys in 2008 and 2011.

She was also an actress, appearing in the indie film "Filly Brown," which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, as the incarcerated mother of character Filly Brown.

"Though she'll be remembered as an iconic singer, she was also a powerful actress whose full range of talents the world was just beginning to discover," the directors, producers, cast and crew of "Filly Brown" said in a statement.

Her most recent album, "Joyas Prestadas," or "Borrowed Jewels," won widespread praise and awards and helped cement her status as one of the brightest stars of Mexican-American music.

She was also filming the third season of "I Love Jenni," which followed her as she interacted with her family and toured through Mexico and the United States. She also played a key role in the reality shows: "Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis and Raq-C" and her daughter's "Chiquis 'n Control."

In 2009, she was detained at the Mexico City airport when she declared $20,000 in cash but was really carrying $52,167. She was taken into custody. She said it was an innocent mistake and authorities gave her the benefit of the doubt and released her.

In 2011, her brother Juan assaulted a drunken fan at a popular fair in Guanajuato. In the face of heavy criticism among her fans and on social networks, Rivera publicly apologized for the incident during a concert in Mexico City, telling her fans: "Thank you for accepting me as I am, with my virtues and defects."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-10-Mexico-Obit-Rivera/id-6157c36b97044cda93808309d81ecb15

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Colorado students accused of sickening class with pot-laced brownies

BOULDER, Colo (Reuters) - Two University of Colorado at Boulder students are accused of bringing marijuana-laced brownies to a college class, sickening their unsuspecting professor and five classmates, police said on Sunday.

Thomas Cunningham, 21, and Mary Essa, 19, were arrested Saturday on suspicion of second-degree assault, fraudulently inducing the consumption of a controlled substance and conspiracy charges, university police spokesman Ryan Huff said.

Huff said three of those who ate the brownies were hospitalized, suffering from the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active property in marijuana.

"If someone views this as a prank, it's no laughing matter," Huff told Reuters. "These (charges) are all felonies which carry potential prison time."

According to Huff, police were summoned to a classroom building Friday morning on a report that a female professor was complaining of dizziness and was drifting in and out of consciousness. The instructor, who was not identified, was transported to a hospital.

Later Friday, the mother of a student in the class notified police that her daughter also was hospitalized after suffering "an anxiety attack."

The family of a third student also notified police that their daughter felt like she was going to black out after attending the class, and that they took her to a hospital.

All three have since been released from the hospital.

Huff said the students brought the brownies to class as part of a "bring food to class" day, and those who ate the brownies were unaware that they were laced with pot. Five students and the instructor fell ill after eating the brownies, police said.

[Related: Wash. state bar owner tells pot smokers to light up]

Investigators questioned the instructor and 11 of the 12 students who attended the class and determined that Cunningham and Essa baked the brownies and served them to the unsuspecting class, Huff said. Both remain in the Boulder County jail pending a bond hearing.

Last month, Colorado voters approved the recreational use and possession of small amounts of marijuana.

In response to the legalization vote, University of Colorado president Bruce Benson sent a message to college alumni last week, saying that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and its use on the university's campuses could jeopardize research grant money.

"Marijuana threatens to cost the university nearly a billion dollars annually in federal revenue, money we can ill afford to lose," Benson said.

(Editing by Mary Slosson and Mary Wisniewski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colorado-students-accused-sickening-class-pot-laced-brownies-010104636.html

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New Plymouth Weather Spoils View Of Partial Eclipse... | Stuff.co.nz

New Plymouth cloud and rain spoil the show

ISOBEL EWING

ROBERT CHARLES/Fairfax NZ

SPACE GAZERS: Rebecca, 4, and Alison Greenfield, 6, from New Plymouth, view Wednesday?s eclipse through solar viewers provided by the New Plymouth Astronomy Society.

Eager Taranaki space gazers made the most of a rare solar eclipse yesterday, even though cloud and rain in New Plymouth spoiled the show.

About 30 people turned up at the New Plymouth observatory to peer through telescopes as the Moon passed between Earth and the Sun.

The Moon could be seen partially obscuring the Sun for about half an hour, but viewing was then disrupted as the rain set in. However, away from the coastal cloud, inland Taranaki had a much better view.

The New Plymouth Astronomical Society collected gold coin donations and sold solar viewers for $3 to raise money for a new telescope.

Secretary of the New Plymouth Astronomical Society Danielle Billing said it was a pretty good turnout considering it was cloudy.

The eclipse was less of an event than the Transit of Venus earlier in the year because they happened far more often, she said.

"But we haven't had one in New Zealand for quite a few years."

Budding astronomer Alison Greenfield, 6, got a telescope for her birthday and regularly gets space books out from the library.

"I want to learn about space because I want to be a scientist when I grow up," she said.

"I like planets because I like how some you can live on and some you can't."

She said she preferred lunar eclipses because they were more exciting.

"If it was lunar it would be red and that would be cooler."

Visitor John Barton said it was great the astronomical society arranged the viewing for the public.

Mr Barton said he used to be a member of the society and had always been keen on astronomy.

"I've got the oldest astronomy book in Taranaki."

Director of the New Plymouth Astronomy Society, John Calcott, warned visitors against looking directly at the sun because it can cause permanent blindness.

The New Plymouth Astronomical Society holds educational evenings for the public every Tuesday at 8.30pm at the observatory on Marsland Hill.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/7951691/Sun-show-draws-eager-crowds

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Google touts improved Flash Player security in Chrome for Mac, says it's safer than ever

Needless to say, Adobe hasn't had the best of times when it comes to the overall reliability of its Flash Player on Apple-made devices -- so much so that Steve Jobs took it upon himself to write some thoughts about it a couple of years ago. Thanks to Google, though, Adobe can proudly say it's famed Flash Player is now more secure than it's ever been -- well, at least on Chrome. According to Google, both companies have been working closely since 2010 to find ways to improve the security aspects of the famed plug-in, noting that some of the most recent enhancements can now be found in the latest Stable release of the browser -- in which a novel plug-in architecture is used, allowing Flash to run "inside a sandbox that's as strong as Chrome's native sandbox." The Flash plug-in improvements within Chrome aren't just for Mac users, however, as Google has said Adobe's Player is now fully sandboxed on Windows, Linux and, of course, its own Chrome OS as well.

Filed under: Software, Google

Google touts improved Flash Player security in Chrome for Mac, says it's safer than ever originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 02:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/-MRuk793z6E/

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ESEA News - Content - TF2 LAN Preview: Leviathan Gaming

---

(ESEAnews) - Three down, one to go. The time until LAN is tick tock on the clock but the party don't stop make it pop DJ blow my speakers up and with only five days to go until game time, it's time to take a look at Leviathan Gaming!

---

LEVIATHAN GAMING

Grant ?b4nny? Vincent
Dante ?shade? f
Tyrone ?enoryt? Wang
Andrew ?Dave__AC? Cook
Chad ?hero1? Holstein
Paul ?cyzer? S

THE DYING DAYS OF THE WANG DYNASTY

Mao Zedong. Sun Yat-sen. Deng Xiaoping. Chiang Kai-shek. Lee Kuan Yew.

Perhaps on November 18th, the list of greatest Chinese leaders will add the name ?Tyrone Wang.? Uniting the country, contributing to the state of Singapore, raising the employment rates... can any of it truly compare to winning a fourth LAN title? That is precisely what Chairman Wang will attempt to do this coming weekend in Dallas. It used to be that if you mentioned eMazing Gaming, Quantic Gaming, or Leviathan Gaming, everyone in TF2 knew who you meant: Tyrone, b4nny, and Mackey. That group would team up with players like Yz50, Clockwork, Reptile, Raf ? some of the greatest to ever play the game. And unfortunately, it looks like that group will meet its end after season twelve. Mackey has already gone, making a brief comeback to travel to Europe and defend our nation's honor on the virtual battlefield. Now b4nny and Tyrone are all but certain to part ways, the obvious tensions in the team growing and bulging over this past season. For b4nny, the future seems to hold young Lansky as his pocket, with long-time teammates Cyzer and Shade walking beside him hand-in-hand. Nobody really knows where Tyrone will go: is he going to continue playing in UGC 6v6 as ?Tofu,? will he band together with the Spacewhales after having played for them in several scrims using an alternate Steam account? It seems like this is one union that just will not hold, with Tyrone's increasing amount of real life duties infringing on the rest of Leviathan Gaming's dreams of victory. The future seems to be lacking in certainty, but the present is certainly not.

Leviathan Gaming will field a stronger six at Dallas than anyone could have imagined possible when Clockwork left the team during the middle of the season. People were looking at the available scouts and imagining a world where LG | flame was a reality, until Hero showed up. Everyone knows what to expect out of Shade, b4nny, Cyzer, Dave__AC but nobody has a clue what Mad Chad will bring to the table. The last time I saw him play at a LAN, he was dancing around in PYYYOUR's face at Atlanta LANfest and earning himself some TF2 swag, but that's a different environment and a different skill level and a level of seriousness that cannot rival the grand finals of ESEA. But the fact is that a man who sings ?Relax, Take Your Queef? over Mumble while playing is probably not too concerned with the field of spectators behind him. His match performances have been rather whelming, but he was thrown into the fire pretty quickly as he went against Classic Mixup in his second match of the season. In scrims, Hero looks pretty damn good, often top fragging while maintaining good aggressive positioning. Since Clockwork's departure, Cyzer has stepped his game up more than a few notches, and he even outplayed Ruwin in that last match with Mixup. Hero took some time to get his wrist back into gaming shape, but he and the Brown Bomber's reunion makes LG look just as strong as they were with Clockwork.

What definitely helps with that is the presence of b4nny. Not sure what I can ultimately say about him that I and every other TF2 caster has not said before ? he does more damage than anyone, he dies less than anyone except for the rare medic performance out of Shade and PYYYOUR, and he keeps LG dangerous even when nobody else in the game is playing well. It is kind of a joke that he is this good at the game. The truly great players in TF2 are capable of making everyone around them better, and b4nny is definitely of that ilk. Doling out the heals to that trio of players is Team Fortress 2's number one lady killer, Shade. He had precisely one bad game this season, and while it was a pretty bad game with four uber drops, it was a blip on the radar that is now long out of range. He surfs out of danger while keeping himself engaged in the fight and his healbeam active, his uber management is pretty much built around the roster LG has (strategy: ignore Tyrone, win game), and Shade gets probably the biggest benefit of any player going to LAN in that he goes from having twenty FPS to two hundred.

Dave__AC is his usual roamer self; during most LG games I got to watch/cast, it honestly felt like he was carrying harder than anyone on the team. He has the most varied set of roamer mids in the game, with most revolving around getting in behind the enemy team and building up a nice pincer attack. All of his plays are so precise and crisp, too, probably due in part to the fact that once TF2 loads up all of his internal systems seem to shut down and he becomes dead inside, functioning purely on gamer fuel. Whatever the hell he does, more roamers should emulate it. As for his soldier partner, Tyrone... Shade was on Fully Charged last week and was basically calling Tyrone a bitch for not being around to scrim more, the team has said in many places that they had more fun playing with Lansky than Tyrone, and all indications are that at season's end, the lovable master Wang will be made into chop suey and kicked to the curb while LG moves on without him. As life has taken a stronger grip on Tyrone, and he spends most of his time reminiscing with his girlfriend about how they fuuuuuuuuucked and the rest of his time trying to get fat stacks of cash, his TF2 ability has just fallen to the wayside. His aim is not quite what it used to be, and he was never known for his aim in the first place. B4nny has taken a stronger hold on the team's calls and direction and all Tyrone really does now is defend Shade and keep the Mumble atmosphere light. Last season, he showed up to LAN and brought as much of an A-game as he could. This season, knowing that his time in this team is done ? how much game does he have left?

Source: http://news.esea.net/tf2/index.php?s=news&d=comments&id=12023

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Skype Launches Online Platform SITW For Entrpreneurs, Startups ...

Skype?launched today a new online platform that promotes the products and services of small businesses to new networks and connections worldwide, including potential customers, partners and suppliers.

Dubbed as Skype in the workspace?(SITW), the complimentary tool takes advantage of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and chat service?s huge network. For small businesses, it improves existing connections and creates new ones through instant messages (IMs) and talking to or meeting face-to-face with peers and business prospects.

The SITW community has already established itself because today?s launch picks up from where the six-month beta left off. The trial period allowed half a thousand businesses that offer over 140 different services to test the online platform.

?With more than 280 million connected users each month, Skype offers a huge range of contacts for the small-business community,? said Ural Cebeci, head of SMB Marketing at Skype. ?We aim to connect millions of small businesses with Skype in the workspace and believe that, by taking advantage of this shared network, businesses can develop the range of tools they need to grow, regardless of location or industry. From the designer in San Francisco looking to source textile suppliers in Thailand to the London consultant connecting with clients in Milan, the possibilities are endless.?

SITW will provide a central hub for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses to connect with experts, coaches and consultants who can help them develop their businesses.

Users join the community using their existing Skype accounts, then through a series of promotional tools can create public ?offers? or ?opportunities? inviting community members to live sessions on Skype to demonstrate services or products to a wider audience.

Users can also book appointments with potential customers or suppliers and keep track of them with a meeting notification service. When an opportunity is over, users can instantly give testimonials on the product or service offered.

?Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy,? Cebeci said. ?For these businesses to survive and grow in what is still a tough economic climate, we understand that good communication and connections are key to their success.

?This is why today we are opening the Skype in the workspace platform to the public,? Cebeci said. ?We feel we?re helping connect businesses face-to-face with their customers and prospects, no matter where they are located. It opens up a world of opportunity for them.?

Starting today, Skype users can opt to join SITW, and those who want to sign up for the community can register here.

?

Image: Beatrice Murch, via Flickr (CC)

Source: http://socialbarrel.com/skype-launches-sitw-for-small-businesses/46058/

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It Will Live ... 4evah! (talking-points-memo)

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Mitt Romney Concession Speech: Congratulations, Prayers For President Obama

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/11/mitt-romney-concession-speech-congratulations-prayers-for-presid/

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Florida still counting votes but not crucial this election (tbo)

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Turkey conducts ground raid against Kurd militants in Northern Iraq: TV

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-conducts-ground-raid-against-kurd-militants-northern-134510304.html

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kathyburkeyx: Department of Sport and Recreation | Martial Arts

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As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Source: http://riddlemonte45.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/department-of-sport-and-recreation-martial-arts-expo-this-weekend.html

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Source: http://kathyburkeyx.blogspot.com/2012/11/department-of-sport-and-recreation.html

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Source: http://kipyme.posterous.com/kathyburkeyx-department-of-sport-and-recreati

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Source: http://thomasrobinns.blogspot.com/2012/11/kathyburkeyx-department-of-sport-and.html

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What's at Stake: Rural Economic Development ? NSAC

November 6th, 2012

Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place.? In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without mandatory funding.? This is the sixth post in our 10-week ?What?s at Stake?? series that highlights expired farm bill programs and what that means for farmers and communities throughout the country.

Science Hill Tool Works in Kentucky, a recipient of an RMAP microloan for rural business development.
Photo credit: Wayne Patrick.

Entrepreneur Wayne Patrick, owner of Science Hill Tool Works.

Co-written by NSAC Policy Associate Helen Dombalis and Evan Pollitt, Rural Organizing Intern with the Center for Rural Affairs.

Eight years ago Wayne Patrick was operating Science Hill Tool Works out of a 1,000 square foot, three-car garage. ?Science Hill Tool Works provides tools to and manufactures replacement parts for businesses in the area. ?As the company grew, Wayne relied on Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation (KHIC) not only as a lender, but also for business support and guidance. ?KHIC helped him consolidate his business and provided valuable business advice.

With the support of funding from the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP), KHIC?s microloan program allowed Wayne?s business to expand from that 1,000 square foot garage to a 30,000 square foot facility. ?Science Hill Tool Works has also been able to hire seven additional employees.? Along with financing, the staff at KHIC provides financial counseling and business support to Wayne and other microloan recipients.? Says Wayne of KHIC, ?it?s hard to put into words everything [they] taught me.?

The economic recession has exacerbated depopulation and declining family income trends in rural America, including communities like Wayne?s.? Small-scale entrepreneurship is the one development strategy that consistently works in rural communities.? Over half of all new jobs created in the most rural areas come from small, non-farm business ventures.? Rural development programs targeted at small business development have contributed to this job creation in rural areas.? Despite being a key part of proven job-creation strategies, these programs have experienced disproportionate budget cuts for over a decade.

How the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program Drives Economic Growth

Created in the 2008 Farm Bill, the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistant Program (RMAP) is part of the solution.? RMAP provides entrepreneurs in rural areas with the skills necessary to establish new businesses and to continue operation of existing small businesses.? The program provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) like KHIC, which in turn provide training and technical assistant and distribute microloans to rural microentrepreneurs like Wayne.

Microenterprises may be, but do not have to be, food or agriculture-related.? MDOs can include nonprofit entities, Indian tribes, or public institutions of higher education; they must facilitate access to capital and have a demonstrated record or future plan of delivering vital services to rural microentrepreneurs.

Examples of Success in the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program

Through public investments, RMAP ensures rural entrepreneurs gain access to important seed capital, enterprise financing, and technical assistance.? These investments in small business development in turn drive economic growth in rural communities.? Since 2008, RMAP has funded 125 MDOs in 40 states for a total of $39.5 million.

A few program highlights include:

• In Nebraska, the Center for Rural Affairs operates a microloan program called the Rural Enterprise Assistance Project.? After unsuccessfully trying to secure traditional bank financing, Guy and Jennifer Lewis received an RMAP microloan for their startup business Valley Fire Pottery in Ord, which has created new jobs and filled an empty main street building.
• In Arizona, Nogales Community Development provided an RMAP microloan for TelCel, which provides cellular coverage for its rural area.? When TelCel had an opportunity to expand, traditional lending sources were scarce.? Their RMAP loan helped them open a new office and hire five new employees.
• In Wisconsin, CAP Services provided a microloan and business services to River West Motor Werks to expand their auto repair and dog grooming business and to hire three new employees.? Flavor8 Soda Pop also received a microloan, which enabled the company to create new jobs and increase production.? The business is now on track to produce 90,000 cases of handcrafted soda a year.
• In Pennsylvania, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council?s RMAP microlending enabled Zachary Marella to purchase needed equipment for his startup machine production company, ZRM Enterprises.? Zachary now employs three people in addition to himself.
• In South Dakota, DeAnn Reif used a microloan from Northeast South Dakota Economic Corporation (NESDEC) to open up Ultimate Kitchen and Bath, a one-stop kitchen, bath, plumbing, and design store. ?NESDEC also helped DeAnn develop a business plan and financial management strategy.

Status of Funding for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program

RMAP was created in the 2008 Farm Bill and received an investment of $15 million over four years in mandatory funding: $4 million per year in 2009, 2010, and 2011 and $3 million in 2012.? Additionally, the 2008 Farm Bill authorized RMAP to receive up to $40 million per year in discretionary funds. ?President Obama requested $22 million for the program, but congressional appropriators provided the program only $5 million in 2010 and no funding in 2009, 2011, and 2012.

Unfortunately, up to this point during the 2012 Farm Bill authorization, Congress has not fully recognized the importance of assisting rural microentepreneurs in fostering nationwide economic development.? The Senate-passed bill provides a total of $15 million in mandatory funding over the life of the entire bill while the House Agriculture Committee-passed bill does not provide any mandatory funding at all.

RMAP is a comparably small, new program.? Given the current fiscal climate, it is easiest for Congress to follow the employment mantra ?last hired, first fired? and simply reduce or cut funding entirely for the most recently created programs.? However, the easiest path is not always the best path.? Not only does leaving a tiny program like RMAP with little or no funding not generate the kind of large-scale budgetary savings we need, but it also demonstrates a counterintuitive approach to economic recovery.? Why not make small investments in programs that generate big economic returns?? Economic growth will help buck depopulation and declining income trends in rural America and revitalize communities.

What?s Next for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program?

While Congress debates the new farm bill, like the other programs in our 10-week blog series, RMAP has been put on hold.? The question is, for how long?? Until the farm bill reauthorization is complete or unless funding for the program is part of a farm bill extension, there will be no more RMAP grant and loan cycles.? Rural entrepreneurs and their communities will have to wait to get the small investments they need to generate the economic stimulus we all need.? It?s not worth the wait.? Congress should adopt a new farm bill this year and include at least $5 million a year in mandatory funding for RMAP.

Related posts:

1. House Holds Appropriations Hearing on Rural Development
2. Vilsack Announces Funding for Rural Micro-Enterprise Programs
3. Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Holds Hearing on Rural Development Programs
4. Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup ? Local Food and Rural Development
5. RCDG and RBOG Accepting Applications for Rural Development Grants

2012 Farm Bill, Grants and Programs, Rural Development | | Trackback

Source: http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/whats-at-stake-rmap/

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Get into the Brotherhood with Assassin's Creed Anthology | Video ...

By Francesco De MeoPublished: 06 November 2012 4:03 AM UTC

Posted in: News, Playstation News, Xbox News

Tags: 2, 3, Assassin's Creed, boxset, brotherhood, DLC, PS3, Revelations, season pass, xbox360

Not happy enough with the great Assassin?s Creed 3 sales numbers, it seems like Ubisoft has something else planned for the very near future for its Assassin?s Creed series.

A new retail listing on Amazon France suggests that a box set dubbed Assassin?s Creed Anthology is going to be released on November 29 in Europe, containing Assassin?s Creed, Assassin?s Creed 2, Assassin?c Creed Brotherhood, Assassin?s Creed Revelations and Assassin?s Creed 3 including all DLC released, both single player and multi player for Assassin?s Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations. Most likely the Assassin?s Creed 3 Season Pass covering all coming Assassin?s Creed 3 DLC will be included as well.
The games will come with an exclusive Steel Box and five lithographs, one for each game.

Ubisoft still has to confirm the special Box Set, more info will surely come in the next few hours.

?

?

Article from Gamersyndrome.com

Related posts:

1. Assassin?s Creed Brotherhood First Details
2. Assassin?s Creed Revelations
3. Assassins Creed Brotherhood ? Preview
4. Assassin?s Creed Brotherhood Announced
5. Assassin?s Creed: Brotherhood Beta Exclusive to Sony

Source: http://gamersyndrome.com/2012/news/get-into-the-brotherhood-with-assassins-creed-anthology/

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iGo EcoBoomer ? Another Segway alternative

Last week I told you about the SBU (Self Balancing Unicycle) which was featured on the TV show Shark Tank. Now I give you yet another unicycle style urban vehicle. The iGo EcoBoomer?features?a max speed of 13.5MPH and 19 miles per charge. Priced at $1,895.00, the iGo looks easier to ride than the SBU as [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/11/05/igo-ecoboomer-another-segway-alternative/

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New fusion cuisine flourishes in Baja California

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) ? Until recently, Baja California's culinary contribution to the world amounted to the Caesar salad, a dish hardly associated with Mexican food. Beyond that, this long, thin peninsula was known more for its Chinese food and pizza thanks to the thousands of migrants from all over the world who began to settle the Mexican state south of California in the 19th century.

Now a group of chefs wants to change that, working to create a unique cuisine largely based on fresh seafood caught in the seas flanking Baja and the produce from its fertile valley. The new culinary craze, known as Baja Med, is a fusion of Mexican food with influences from the Mediterranean and Asia.

The movement has resulted in dozens of restaurants that are helping to pull a new kind of tourist to the beleaguered border city ? one who enjoys great food and art rather than a brothel and a cheap drunk. People attending conventions in San Diego think of crossing the border for dinner in Tijuana, said Javier Plascencia, the chef of Mision 19, whose quest to put his city on the culinary map was the subject of a New Yorker magazine profile earlier this year.

Baja Med mixes uniquely Mexican ingredients such as chicharron and cotija cheese with lemon grass and olive oil. Signature dishes include tempura fish tacos and deep sea shrimp served with fried marlin, baby farm tomatoes, scallions and a sauce made with local cheeses.

"What Baja Med proposes is for the ingredient to be the main actor in the kitchen," said Miguel Angel Guerrero, chef of La Querencia, a Tijuana restaurant serving such dishes as beet carpaccio with blue cheese and mint vinaigrette. "Geographically, we are privileged because throughout the year we have a variety of products available. And yet, many generations have passed, and we still don't have a regional cuisine."

The port of Ensenada, 40 miles south of Tijuana, is one of the country's largest for mussels, oysters, clams and shrimp, as well as a hotbed of blue tuna sea farming. Baja California is the fourth largest producing vegetables in Mexico, according to the state government.

To come up with the right taste, chefs also bring in red lobster, manta rays, sea cucumbers and salicornia, a succulent that grows in sand dunes. They incorporate miniature vegetables from the fields south of Ensenada, olives from the winemaking region of the Guadalupe Valley just northeast of Ensenada, dates from San Ignacio and tomatoes and strawberries from the San Quintin Valley.

"Many of us were working on our own for some time but things fell into place for us to work together, while keeping our individual style," said Marcelo Castro, a leading producer of cheese in Real del Castillo and great-grandson of a Swiss immigrant who came to Ensenada in the late 19th century.

Area chefs conceived the movement eight years ago when they formed the Baja California Chef's Association. It's been boosted in the last three years by the state government, which has organized and promoted food festivals.

Now the 22 Baja Med chefs work with the state's wine and beer producers and the vegetable growers, fishermen and shellfish farmers. Another boost came this year after international culinary specialists started to visit some of the restaurants.

"Tijuana is one of the most interesting Mexican kitchens today. It's one of the great cities to eat across North America," international chef Rick Bayless said while taping a Tijuana segment for his PBS series "One Plate at a Time."

Great food is not the first thing that comes to mind when people think of the sprawling, dusty border city of 1.6 million people across from San Diego. Tijuana was once known for its souvenir shopping and cheap good times in border bars, then more recently for gruesome drug violence among cartels warring for the lucrative transport route at the busiest U.S.-Mexico border crossing.

Many of its restaurants had closed as the killings escalated, hitting 800 murders in the year 2007 and making Tijuana one of Mexico's most dangerous cities. That all but shut down cross-border tourism and forced the closure of restaurants including the famous Caesar's, where restaurateur and Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini invented the salad of whole romaine leaves, garlic, Worcestershire sauces, raw eggs and parmesan cheese back in the 1920s.

The violence has since subsided ? some say because of a police purge, others say because one cartel managed to dominate the region. Either way, tourism is starting to return and even Caesar's reopened in 2010.

The mix of people who live in the state also accounts for the fusion of flavors. Half of the 3.5 million there are natives of other states of Mexico, where they mix with first- and second-generation families from Asia, Europe and the U.S.

"Baja Med cuisine is a mix of the cultures that all came with the intention of crossing to the other side, but they stayed," Plascencia said. "There were Italian and French restaurants established here because of Prohibition in the United States, and their principle clients were North Americans who came to have a good time at the border."

That's translated into local demand for products grown in the state, said Hector Gonzalez, manager of the Ensenada-based company Max Sea, which is dedicated to Manila clam cultivation and Kumamoto oysters, since 1999. Before, most of Baja California's products were being exported to the United States and Japan.

"What is happening in restaurants is a synthesis of all this," Gonzalez said.

One of those producers is David Martinez, owner of the farm Rancho Martinez e Hijos, who has grown vegetables and mini-vegetables for 25 years.

He first began experimenting with small vegetables that were more colorful and had better taste and texture. Soon, he was selling baby carrots without skin and small green-and-yellow squashes to meet demand from Los Angeles County chefs.

"There was not a market for these products in the United States, much less in Mexico," Martinez said. "We had to go to California to offer it. My idea was to take an old product and modify it and with that get the attention of the restaurants and the housewives."

"In the United States they started calling those vegetables gourmet products," he said. "I had no idea what they were referring to."

Like Martinez, about 80 wine producers of the Ensenada valleys and 20 artisan cheese producers in Real de Castillo, a town southeast of Ensenada, are helping fuel the new cuisine after growing the products for years.

There's no limit, said Plascencia, given the countless ingredients: "It all depends on the creativity of the chef."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fusion-cuisine-flourishes-baja-california-143453106.html

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Microsoft Is Working On A 7-Inch Xbox Surface - Business Insider

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Microsoft is working on its own smaller tablet, Tom Warren at The Verge reports.

The Xbox Surface, as Warren calls it, will be a seven-inch gaming focused tablet.

Surprisingly, though, it won't be a Surface Mini. It will run on a version of Windows, but not the full-on Windows operating system.

We're a little surprised that Microsoft is going to go this direction. Apple has gotten plenty of games for the iPhone and iPad without trying to brand it as a gaming device.

It seems like it would make sense to just put out a Surface Mini that runs Windows 8 and then push developers to make lots of games for it.

Either way, it makes sense for Microsoft to release a smaller tablet. Early reviews of the iPad Mini suggest it's going to be a monster hit. If Microsoft wants to play in this market it's going to need something to compete with the Mini, as well as the regular iPad.

Don't Miss: Apple Only Has 50% Of The Tablet Market

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-is-working-on-a-7-inch-xbox-surface-2012-11

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$1 Memory Games & Toys R Us Deals ? Tip Resource

Toys R Us has some great Hasbro game sales right now! And stack several deals to get some rock bottom priced Christmas gifts and don?t forget to buy some games for birthdays coming over the next 6-8 months too.

FREE? Toys R Us Gift Cards:? through 11/10
Get $10 gift card when you spend $35 on Hasbro Games before coupons
Get $15 gift card when you spend $50 on Hasbro Games before coupons

Hasbaro Rebate:?? Valid 11/1 ? 12/25
Hasbro Rebate* you can send away for and get up to $40 back.

Hasbro Game Coupon:
Get $2 off Jenga or Yatzee printable coupon (log in to print the coupon)

?

GAMES ON SALE at Toys R Us:?

Only $1! Memory Game, Toy Story 3 for $1 (limit 2 per guest)

$5 Game deals: Candy Land, Lucky Ducks, Cranium for Kids, Monopoly for Kids, Chutes and Ladders, Barrel of Monkeys and Cootie

$10 Game Deals: Sorry, Life*, Scrabble*, Trouble, Jenga* and Cars Monopoly

$15 Game Deals: BopIt XY, CatchPhrase, Words with Friends, Scrabble Flash, Loopz and classic Monopoly*

$20 Game Deals: Twister Dance, Electronic Battleship, City Ville Monopoly, Taboo, Angry Birds and Draw Something

Deal Scenario Idea:
Buy 2 Jenga ($10 ea = $20)
Buy 1 Life ($10)
Buy 1 Scrabble ($10)
Total $40
Use 2 $2 off Jenga coupons
Pay out of pocket (OOP) $36
Get $10 Toys R Us gift card for spending $35+
Send away for rebate (qualified for $10 back when you buy 4 games)
Total After All Deals:? $16 or only $4 each!

Plan a fun frugal family night with board games. We have a blast doing this in our house. We make several different kinds of popcorn and snacks and have a night of playing games. Simple fun it a great time to reconnect as a family.

Tagged as: frugal family fun, Hasbro Toy Coupons, hot deals, toys R Us

Source: http://www.tipresource.com/family-fun/1-memory-games-toys-r-us-deals/

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Soundtrack: Dinosaur Jr. - Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know I hadn’t thought much...

Soundtrack: Dinosaur Jr. - Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know

I hadn’t thought much about Dinosaur Jr. since the mid-90s. Why would I have? They broke up in 1997, and got back together without much fanfare in 2005. But the group’s latest album, and particularly this lead track, hits me with a jolt. It belongs in 2012, but feels like 1994. It’s a thread strung through a wormhole, a reminder that even as you get older (and older), you haven’t changed as dramatically as you might think. And neither has the world around you.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ozBRiZa4lMs/35016570712

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At the end, Romney, Obama spar over voter revenge

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, speaks during a campaign event at Portsmouth International Airport as his wife Ann looks on before departing for Iowa, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in Newington, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, speaks during a campaign event at Portsmouth International Airport as his wife Ann looks on before departing for Iowa, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in Newington, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

President Barack Obama speaks to supporters during a campaign event at Mentor High School, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, in Mentor, Ohio. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama visits the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for an update on the recovery from Hurricane Sandy that hit New York and New Jersey especially hard earlier this week, Saturday morning, Nov. 3, 2012, in Washington. He is flanked by FEMA chief Craig Fugate, left, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, right. Next to Napolitano is Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, far right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama arrives at Mentor High School in Mentor, Ohio, Saturday Nov. 3, 2012 for a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

The crowd cheers as Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and wife Ann Romney campaign at Portsmouth International Airport, in Newington, N.H., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

MENTOR, Ohio (AP) ? Reaching for the finish line, Republican Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama embarked Saturday on the final 72-hour haul of their long, grinding quest for victory, swatting at one another over what should motivate Americans to vote, which candidate they can trust and offering dueling pictures of what the next four years should bring.

Romney sprinted through a New Hampshire-to-Iowa-to-Colorado day faulting Obama for telling supporters a day earlier that voting would be their "best revenge."

"Vote for 'revenge?'" the GOP candidate asked in New Hampshire, oozing incredulity. "Let me tell you what I'd like to tell you: Vote for love of country. It is time we lead America to a better place."

The Republican nominee sounded the same message in Iowa and released a TV ad carrying the same message.

Obama, campaigning in the uber-battleground of Ohio, countered with a final reminder that Tuesday's election is "not just a choice between two candidates or two parties, it's a choice between two different visions for America." The president offered himself as the candidate voters can trust, renewing his criticism of Romney for what he said were misleading ads suggesting that automakers were shifting U.S. jobs to China.

"You want to know that your president means what he says and says what he means," Obama told a 4,000-person crowd in northeast Ohio. "And after four years as president, you know me."

The president urged voters in an overflow room to shepherd their friends, neighbors and girlfriends to the polls to vote early, tacking on this very practical caveat: "You should convince them to vote for me before you drag them off to the polls."

Campaign spokesman Jennifer Psaki said the president's revenge comment was nothing more than a reminder that if voters think Romney's policies are "a bad deal for the middle class, then you have power, you can go to the voting booth and cast your ballot."

Whatever their motivation, 27 million Americans already have cast ballots around the country.

On the last day of early voting in Florida, voters at some sites in Miami-Dade and Broward counties were waiting up to four hours to cast ballots. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., asked his state's Republican governor to extend early voting at least through Sunday, citing "an untold number of voters being turned away or becoming too discouraged to vote."

Vice President Joe Biden spoke for all sides when he told a crowd in Arvada, Colo.: "Man, I'm so ready to win this election."

Before leaving Washington, Obama tended to presidential business as he led a briefing at the government's disaster relief agency on the federal response to Superstorm Sandy. He said the recovery effort still has a long way to go but pledged a "120 percent effort" by all those involved.

"There's nothing more important than us getting this right," Obama said, keenly aware that a spot-on government response to the storm also was important to his political prospects. Then he began his own three-state campaign day.

After holding mostly small and midsize rallies for much of the campaign, Obama's team is holding a series of larger events this weekend aimed at drawing big crowds in battleground states. Still, the campaign isn't expecting to draw the massive audiences Obama had in the closing days of the 2008 race, when his rallies drew more than 50,000.

In a whiff of 2008 nostalgia, some of Obama's traveling companions from his campaign four years ago joined him on the road for the final days of his last campaign. Among them are Robert Gibbs, who served as Obama's first White House press secretary, and Reggie Love, Obama's former personal aide who left the White House earlier this year.

Likewise, virtually Romney's entire senior team left the campaign's Boston headquarters to travel with Romney for the contest's final three days. Their presence for the campaign's waning hours is an admission that the strategy and planning is largely complete. His schedule has been set, the ads have been placed and Romney's message has been decided.

The tight inner circle that has worked with him for several years in most cases plan to enjoy the final moments on the campaign trail at Romney's side.

"It's been a long road," Ann Romney told reporters aboard the campaign plane, offering breakfast pastries to Secret Service agents and reporters alike. After campaigning on her own for the past month, she joined her husband for the final swing.

After his Saturday morning rally on the New Hampshire seacoast, Romney targeted Iowa and then Colorado. He shifted an original plan to campaign in Nevada on Sunday in favor of a schedule likely to bring him back to Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Obama's Saturday itinerary had him heading from Ohio to Milwaukee and Dubuque, Iowa, and ending the day in Bristow, Va. On Sunday, he was taking his campaign to New Hampshire, Florida, Colorado and Ohio.

GOP running mate Paul Ryan was in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where he, too, took issue with Obama's "revenge" comment.

"We don't believe in revenge; we believe in change and hope," he said in Ohio. "We actually do."

Biden, in Colorado, worked in a new dig at Romney tied to this weekend's shift back to standard time: "It's Mitt Romney's favorite time of year, because he gets to turn the clock back. He wants to turn that clock back so desperately. This time he can really do it."

Polling shows the race remains a tossup heading into the final days. But Romney still has the tougher path; he must win more of the nine most-contested states to reach 270 electoral votes: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Romney has added Pennsylvania to the mix, hoping to end a streak of five presidential contests where the Democratic candidate prevailed in the state. Obama won Pennsylvania by more than 10 percentage points in 2008; the latest polls in the state give him a 4- to 5-point margin.

After months of attack ads, the Obama and Romney campaigns both closed out their campaigns with some upbeat new messages while their allied independent groups continued on a largely negative note.

Obama's campaign was airing a 1-minute ad, "Determination," in all the major battleground states. Obama ticks through his plans to boost manufacturing, invest in education and job training, and bring down the deficit in part by asking wealthy people to "pay a little bit more."

Romney's campaign was running an ad across the battleground states titled "Clear Path," which pulled clips from the third presidential debate where Romney laid out how his presidency would differ from Obama's.

___

Benac reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Beth Fouhy and Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington, Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples in Iowa, Philip Elliott and Julie Pace in Ohio, Matthew Daly in Colorado and Suzette Laboy in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-11-03-Presidential%20Campaign/id-2881cb66683a4aa9903578edb50742f0

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