After crime, punishment awaits ex-Gov. Blagojevich (AP)

CHICAGO ? Rod Blagojevich was clearly the ringleader of the schemes for which he was convicted, a federal judge said Tuesday at the sentencing hearing for the ousted Illinois governor on corruption charges that include trying to sell an appointment to President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel also said he believed there was ample evidence Blagojevich wanted $1.5 million in campaign contributions for the seat ? comments that could signal a harsher sentence.

Calling "absurd" a defense suggestion that Blagojevich was being manipulated by staffers and advisers, Zagel said it was apparent from secretly made FBI recordings that Blagojevich relentlessly worked to use his authority to benefit himself.

"There is no question from his tone of voice that he was demanding," said Zagel, who added that he did not believe Blagojevich when he testified that he planned to name Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the Senate. "His role as leader is clearly shown by his actions."

Blagojevich, who sat at a defense table in a dark pinstripe suit, was expected to address Zagel later in the day. Before proceedings began, he stood, rubbing his hands and occasionally biting his lip. His wife Patti sat behind him on a spectators' bench, and her brother put his arm around her. Blagojevich's two daughters were not present.

The impeached state executive-turned-reality TV star has good reason to feel anxious at the two-day hearing. He faces the prospect of 10 or more years behind bars. If Zagel settles on a sentence of more than a decade, that would make it one of the stiffest penalties imposed for corruption in a state with a long history of crooked politics.

Prosecutors want the twice-elected governor sentenced to 15 to 20 years, arguing that he has not only shirked all responsibility for his crimes but repeatedly thumbed his nose at the U.S. justice system.

Blagojevich's attorneys have said he has already paid a price in public ridicule and financial ruin, and propose a term of just a few years. They have also taken an approach judges often frown upon at the sentencing stage: Continuing to insist their client is innocent.

Legal experts have said Blagojevich needs to display some remorse when he addresses Zagel. But the big unknown is whether the often cocksure ex-governor will beg for mercy or yet again protest his innocence.

A flat-out apology isn't always considered a must. If it isn't sincere, it could only anger a judge.

Defense attorney Carolyn Gurland told the judge that it isn't true Blagojevich hasn't grasped the severity of his legal plight, but she seemed to stop short of saying he accepted responsibility, saying only "Mr. Blagojevich has faced up to the fact of his conviction."

But she also argued that the case was exceptional, saying the public wasn't harmed. Gurland said Zagel should take into account the fact that Blagojevich did not "receive a single penny" in ill-gotten gains ? unlike other cases in which politicians were convicted of public corruption.

"Rod Blagojevich received nothing," she said, adding that Blagojevich was doing what politicians do ? seeking campaign contributions, not "money stuffed into envelopes."

Both sides could finish their pitches to Zagel during Tuesday's hearing, which was moved to a large ceremonial courtroom to accommodate expected crowds. Among the attendees were more than a dozen jurors from both trials, including both foremen. Zagel says he'll wait until Wednesday to pronounce a sentence.

The 70-year-old judge must answer nuanced questions according to complex sentencing considerations, including whether any good Blagojevich accomplished as governor counterbalances the bad.

The first person to testify on Blagojevich's behalf was Dr. Deanna Monroe. The Chicago pediatrician praised Blagojevich for creating the "All Kids" health insurance program, saying many children wouldn't be treated without it.

Also among those in attendance at court was Sister Susanne Kullowitch, 78, who said she believed Blagojevich deserved mercy, noting the good she said he had done as governor for the elderly.

"I was here to tell the governor I was praying for him," she said during a break. She said she went up to Blagojevich before proceedings began, and she said he responded, `Keep praying."

In describing the humiliation his family has faced, the defense cited Blagojevich's appearances on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice," where he struggled to use a cell phone, and his wife, Patti, eating a tarantula on the reality show, "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!"

After sentencing, Zagel will likely give Blagojevich weeks before he must report to prison. Once there, the man heard scoffing on FBI wiretaps about earning a low six-figure salary would have to take a prison job ? possibly scrubbing toilets ? at just 12 cents an hour.

Blagojevich's sentencing comes just days before his 55th birthday and three years to the week of his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest. The jury deadlocked in his first trial, agreeing on just one of 24 counts ? that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his recent retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery.

___

Michael Tarm can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/mtarm

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_re_us/us_blagojevich_sentencing

college football bowl schedule bcs double mastectomy 2011 bowl schedule bcs games bowl games bowl schedule

96% The Artist

I really wanted to like this film more than I did (a black and white silent film being released in today's climate? How great is that?), but I found it to be oddly derivative. To me, The Artist felt like nothing more than a never-ending onslaught of references and homages -- a neat pastiche of familiarity. Sure, it's charming, and Jean Dujardin is outstanding as fictitious silent film star George Valentin, but it was tough to get immersed in the film thanks to poor character development, a stale narrative, and a little too much over-sentimentality. Also, for such an intriguing premise, there was a surprising lack of creativity (did Dujardin really need to be a stand-in for Fairbanks in The Mask of Zorro? Directed Michael Hazanavicus couldn't have made up his own silent "film within a film?" Not to mention the painfully obvious Citizen Kane, Modern Times, Thin Man, and A Star is Born references).It's not all bad: the cinematography was stunning, I loved how they shot it in the old 4:3 aspect ratio, it stayed very true to the 20s/30s versions of lighting and production design, and Hazanavicus played with sound in clever ways. Sadly, that's about it. No doubt this film will garner plenty of critical acclaim and will be a sure fire Oscar contender, but from my perspective, I was let down by a film that could have been a great love letter to a bygone era if it hadn't gotten lost in its tribute.

December 4, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_artist/

ufc 139 fight card cloudy with a chance of meatballs houston nutt houston nutt peter marshall peter marshall zombie boy

Xbox 360 Dashboard update review (fall 2011)

Kiss that old "New Xbox Experience" goodbye -- the Xbox Dashboard just went full Metro. Microsoft teased the console's latest overhaul back at E3, promising to "change living room entertainment forever." The following months saw leaks, previews and betas, all leading up to today, the eve of the Xbox 360's Fall Dashboard update. Is the new dash the game-changer it hopes to be? Hit the break, and we'll find out together.

Gallery: Xbox Live 2011 Fall Dashboard update

Continue reading Xbox 360 Dashboard update review (fall 2011)

Xbox 360 Dashboard update review (fall 2011) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

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

enews mona simpson mona simpson grady sizemore grady sizemore samhain great pumpkin charlie brown

Is Rihanna on 24-Hour Health Watch?

Rihanna might be too busy to be dating right now, but is she too busy even to rest? According to U.K. tabloid The Mirror (via Huffington Post), executives at the R&B singer's Mercury record label have reportedly put her on a 24-hour health watch and even given her a curfew, after she allegedly had a backstage meltdown and nearly canceled a Nov. 25 concert in Dublin, Ireland.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/rihanna-24-hour-health-watch/1-a-407451?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Arihanna-24-hour-health-watch-407451

conrad murray sentencing conrad murray sentencing sopa urban meyer adam shulman adam shulman nfl power rankings week 13

Kroger 3Q profit dips but tops Wall Street's view

In this photo made Nov. 28, 2011, a shopper pushes a cart into a Kroger grocery story in Richardson, Texas. Kroger Co.?s third-quarter net income slipped 2 percent, hurt by a higher LIFO charge. But the performance beat analysts? expectations and the nation?s largest grocery chain raised its full-year earnings forecast. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

In this photo made Nov. 28, 2011, a shopper pushes a cart into a Kroger grocery story in Richardson, Texas. Kroger Co.?s third-quarter net income slipped 2 percent, hurt by a higher LIFO charge. But the performance beat analysts? expectations and the nation?s largest grocery chain raised its full-year earnings forecast. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

In this photo made Nov. 28, 2011, a deli worker wears the Kroger logo on her shirt sleeve, at the grocery story in Richardson, Texas. Kroger Co.?s third-quarter net income slipped 2 percent, hurt by a higher LIFO charge. But the performance beat analysts? expectations and the nation?s largest grocery chain raised its full-year earnings forecast. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Kroger Co. says its customers are feeling increasingly stressed as they face pressure from both the weak economy and higher food costs.

The grocery store operator managed to post a profit Thursday that beat Wall Street's expectations and it raised its full-year forecast. However, Kroger said cost inflation and the economy have had a harsher impact on the overall operating environment than it expected. Some shoppers are struggling to stretch their limited grocery budget further and as a result, are buying less each visit, opting for smaller packages and switching to store brands.

"When you consider that household income has remained stagnant for the past year ? in fact for the last several years ? some shifting in purchasing behavior is understandable," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's president and chief operating officer. "This is one of the reasons we embarked upon the strategy we did several years ago."

Kroger has managed to maintain its popularity and profitability amid this pressure by increasing its emphasis on low prices and loyalty programs, which offer its most frequent shoppers discounts on fuel and their favorite items. It also has put a heavy emphasis on cost-control in its operations.

The company, which operates Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer and other grocery chains, reported that its net income dipped to $195.9 million, or 33 cents per share, for the period ended Nov. 5 as it struggled with some higher costs of its own. That's down from $202.2 million, or 32 cents per share, a year ago.

The quarter included an inventory accounting charge of $61.6 million, which is much higher than a similar $11.5 million charge it incurred a year earlier. There were fewer shares outstanding in the current quarter.

Kroger's revenue increased 10 percent to $20.59 billion. Excluding fuel, revenue increased 5.1 percent from the prior-year period.

The results beat analysts' expectations for earnings of 31 cents per share on revenue of $20.4 billion, according to a FactSet survey.

Like many grocers, Kroger has been dealing with rising costs that it has passed along to consumers as suppliers have increased prices for meat, product and other goods. Kroger said costs rose 6 percent for the quarter on food and other items in its stores excluding fuel.

Consumers across the board are struggling with these increases but have adapted, being more cost-conscious in their shopping by sticking to lists, using coupons and more.

Kroger has put a heavy emphasis on everyday low prices to attract these shoppers but says it will continue to pass along higher costs as needed.

The company's popularity has remained strong as it saw the number of shoppers in its stores grow during the period. Kroger reported that revenue at supermarkets open at least a year gained 5 percent, taking out fuel. The company said that it is the 32nd straight quarter that the figure has increased. This metric is a key measure of a retailer's performance because it excludes results from supermarkets recently opened or closed.

Kroger said that based on its consistent growth, it now expects full-year earnings of $1.95 to $2 per share, up from a previous outlook for earnings between $1.85 and $1.95 per share. Analysts predict earnings of $1.95 per share for the year.

The company also boosted the low end of its guidance for revenue from supermarkets open at least a year. Kroger now anticipates a 4.5 percent to 5 percent increase for the year, excluding fuel. Its prior forecast called for the figure to rise 4 percent to 5 percent.

Its shares rose 13 cents to $23.31 in midday trading amid a broader market dip.

Kroger, based in Cincinnati, operates more than 2,000 supermarkets and multi-department stores nationwide as well as a chain of convenience stores, jewelry stores, fuel centers and 40 food processing plants.

___

Skidmore contributed to this report from Portland, Ore. Chapman contributed from New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-01-Earns-Kroger/id-865b3d8b68fc40bd8355662464871420

colorado avalanche colorado avalanche bass lake michael jackson kids michael jackson kids father of the bride father of the bride

Clinton, Suu Kyi vow to promote Myanmar reforms (AP)

YANGON, Myanmar ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, two of the world's most recognizable women leaders, pledged on Friday to work together to bring democracy to Suu Kyi's long isolated and repressive nation.

Wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Myanmar, Clinton held hands with Suu Kyi on the porch of the Nobel peace laureate's lakeside home where she spent much of the past two decades under house arrest and thanked her for a her "steadfast and very clear leadership." The meeting was the second in as many days for the pair who appeared to have bonded almost as sisters after a private, one-on-one dinner in Yangon on Thursday.

"You have been an inspiration but I know that you feel you are standing for all the people of your country who deserve the same rights and freedoms as people everywhere," Clinton told Suu Kyi. "The people have been courageous and strong in the face of great difficulty over too many years. We want to see this country take its rightful place in the world."

Suu Kyi has welcomed Clinton's visit and tentatively embraced reforms enacted by Myanmar's new civilian government. She thanked the secretary and U.S. President Barack Obama for their "careful and calibrated" engagement that has seen the U.S. take some modest steps to improve ties.

"We are happy with the way in which the United States is engaging with us," she said. "It is through engagement that we hope to promote the process of democratization. Because of this engagement, I think our way ahead will be clearer and we will be able to trust that the process of democratization will go forward."

As she did in the capital of Naypyidaw on Thursday, Clinton said more significant incentives will be offered but only if the government releases all political prisoners, ends brutal campaigns against ethnic minorities, respects the rule of law and improves human rights conditions.

Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won 1990 elections that were ignored by the then-military junta but now plans to run in upcoming parliamentary elections, endorsed that approach and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners and cease-fires to end the ethnic conflicts..

"If we move forward together I am confident there will be no turning back on the road to democracy," Suu Kyi said, referring to her party, the government, the United States and other countries, including Myanmar's giant neighbor China. "We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with the help and understanding of our friends."

Suu Kyi, a heroine for pro-democracy advocates around the world, said Clinton's visit, the first by a secretary of state to Myanmar in more than half a century, represented "a historical moment for both our countries."

With U.S. assistance and pressure on the government, which is still backed by the military, she said she believed change was on the horizon for Myanmar

"There have been times that Naypyidaw has weakened but I don't think it has ever really broken," she said.

Clinton's meetings with Suu Kyi were the highlight of the U.S. secretary of state's visit to the long-isolated country known as Burma and forcefully underscored a U.S. challenge to Myanmar's leaders: The new civilian government must expand recent reforms, including the release of political prisoners, to improve relations as it emerges from more than a half-century of repressive military rule.

"We believe that any political prisoner anywhere should be released," the Clinton told reporters on Thursday. "One political prisoner is one too many in our view."

U.S. officials warned that even the modest incentives Clinton offered to Myanmar's new, military-backed leaders this week would come off the table if the country fails the political-prisoners and other tests of reform.

In meetings with top Myanmar officials in the capital of Naypyidaw and then with Suu Kyi in the commercial hub of Yangon, Clinton said the country's leaders must end violent campaigns against ethnic minorities and break military ties with North Korea

Clinton offered a small package of rewards for steps President Thein Sein and other leaders have already taken but said the U.S. was not ready to lift tough sanctions on the country. Removing some of those sanctions would require approval by Congress, where many lawmakers have criticized the Obama administration for rewarding Myanmar too quickly without enough evidence of change.

The modest first steps Clinton announced include Washington no longer blocking enhanced cooperation between Myanmar and the International Monetary Fund that could lead to the approval of much-needed loans and support for the poorest nation in the region. Also, the U.S. would support intensified U.N. health and microfinance programs and resume bilateral counternarcotics efforts.

Those steps could be followed by an upgrade in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Myanmar, Clinton said, although U.S. officials stressed that concrete action on American concerns must be completed first. The U.S. has not had an ambassador in Myanmar since the early 1990s and is represented now by a charge d'affaires.

___

Associated Press writer Aye Aye Win in Yangon contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_as/as_clinton_myanmar

martin luther king memorial walking dead season 2 walking dead season 2 saving private ryan world series tickets world series tickets nelson cruz

Craigslist suspect was wanted as Texas parolee (AP)

AKRON, Ohio ? A Texas parolee now linked to a deadly Craigslist robbery scheme was in an Ohio jail and poised to stay there but was released after Texas officials said they only wanted him extradited if he were convicted on a drug charge, according to court records and a sheriff's office.

Richard Beasley, released in July on a judge's order, is now linked to an autumn plot in which, authorities say, someone tried to lure robbery victims by posting a bogus ad touting a cattle farm job in southeast Ohio.

Authorities have connected two bodies and the shooting of a man who survived to the scheme, which targeted single, out-of-work men in their late 40s or early 50s. The investigators heading up the Craigslist inquiry also found a third body but have yet to link it to the case.

Texas issued a warrant in February when Beasley was arrested on drug charges and confirmed the existence of the warrant with Ohio officials in June when Beasley was arrested again on a separate drug-dealing charge. The Texas warrant asked that Beasley be held for violating parole on a burglary conviction there.

Beasley asked to be released on bond, and on July 12, Akron Municipal Judge John Murphy granted his request. "Texas authorities are only interested in extradition if there is a conviction in Ohio," Murphy wrote.

Texas says it never authorized Beasley's release and filed two additional warrants for his arrest after the Texas Parole Authority learned he'd been freed. Beasley was released "despite the existence of the Texas warrant and detainer," Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Thursday.

"That doesn't say to me we were OK with him being free from custody," Clark said. "At no point did anyone from our agency, parole division, ask that that warrant be waived."

Bill Holland, a spokesman for the Summit Count Sheriff's Office, said Texas officials said they wanted to wait until the outcome of the Akron drug case, "because if he was found not guilty, then there would be no parole violation."

On Thursday, Beasley was wheeled into court in Akron on the drug charge, accusing him of illegally dealing prescription painkillers in November 2010. Beasley's head bobbed rhythmically, and he later ignored questions about the mounting body count and his relationship with a teen murder suspect.

Beasley, unshaved and dressed in a white and gray striped jail outfit, didn't speak and kept his head down as a Summit County Common Pleas judge revoked his bond on the drug-trafficking charge.

The legal problems faced by Beasley, a 52-year-old self-styled chaplain and youth mentor, are mounting: His attorney said a prostitution case involving Beasley and a 17-year-old boy would be upgraded with a racketeering charge Friday.

The drug and prostitution cases in Akron are unrelated to a widening Craigslist homicide investigation.

In that case, 16-year-old Brogan Rafferty, of nearby Stow, faces juvenile charges of aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated murder, attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder in the death of one man and the shooting of another.

The complaint against Rafferty says he participated in the crimes with Beasley, who hasn't been charged in the Craigslist case.

Rafferty made his first public court appearance in the case Tuesday, appearing dazed as a judge postponed a hearing on whether he should be tried as an adult. He didn't speak during the hearing. His mother, Yvette Rafferty, said she was "praying for the families and the victims."

Beasley walked into court Thursday but later complained that he felt ill, and he was wheeled by deputies before the judge. He ignored reporters' questions outside court on whether there are more buried bodies and about his relationship with Rafferty.

His attorney, Rhonda Kotnik, said later that Beasley's mother is worried that he has displayed symptoms of a stroke. Beasley is taking medication for back pain, Kotnik said.

His emotional state "is distraught. He's alert, he's in pain because of his issues, his back issues," she said.

Kotnik said earlier this week that Texas had wanted Beasley held regardless of his circumstances.

"They said we don't want to waste our gas to come down there if he hasn't been convicted of anything," she said Tuesday. "So Texas wanted him held, but you can't do that, you can't hold somebody indefinitely in a jail if they post bond."

Beasley, in a four-page handwritten letter to the Akron Beacon Journal, said he has been miscast as a con man when he had helped feed, house and counsel scores of needy families, drunks, drug addicts, the mentally ill and crime suspects for years.

"To call me a con man when I sacrificed for others is wrong," wrote Beasley, who didn't mention the Craigslist investigation or Rafferty. "To turn their back on me is not following Christ's example. I gave three full years of my life to that ministry and what I got out of it was the satisfaction of doing the right thing. There was no `con' to it."

The bond revocation in the drug case for failing to appear for a Sept. 6 trial and the $1 million bond in the prostitution case allow authorities to hold Beasley as the Craigslist investigation continues.

A 15-count count indictment returned Wednesday charges Beasley with promoting prostitution and, in the case of a 17-year-old boy, compelling prostitution. The teen's involvement occurred from early November 2009 through late December 2010, the indictment said.

Kotnik said Beasley would fight the drug charge. He claims he was entrapped by an informant who was involved in a drug deal.

___

Welsh-Huggins, who reported from Columbus, can be reached at http://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_us/us_craigslist_jobseekers_killed

apple juice apple juice jay cutler carole king katharine mcphee neil diamond phoebe prince