Kerry takes case on Syria to Europe, Mideast

WASHINGTON (AP) ? John Kerry embarked Sunday on his first official overseas trip as secretary of state, hoping to bring new ideas to Europe and the Mideast about how to end nearly two years of violence in Syria.

Kerry's nine-nation, 10-day trip will take him to America's traditional European allies of Britain, Germany, France and Italy, along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan, and on Iran's nuclear program.

Kerry has said he is eager to discuss new ways of persuading Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and usher in a democratic transition in the country that wracked by escalating violence that has killed at least 70,000 people.

Kerry, a former Democratic senator from Massachusetts who succeeded Hillary Rodham Clinton in President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet, has not offered details of his ideas but officials say they revolve around increasing pressure on Assad and his inner circle.

Kerry's first stop is London, where he will hold talks with British officials on a range of issues, from Afghanistan to the status of the Falkland Islands. Britain is in a major dispute with Argentina over the Falklands.

In German, Kerry will discuss trans-Atlantic issues with German youth in Berlin, where he spent time as a child as the son of an American diplomat posted to the divided Cold War city. He also will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital.

In Paris, Kerry plans to discuss France's intervention in Mali, while in Rome he'll attend a meeting with Syrian opposition leaders.

U.S. officials have said the trip will be primarily a "listening tour" when it comes to Syria and won't result in immediate shifts in U.S. policy that has until now stayed clear of military support for the rebels fighting Assad.

Despite the numerous Middle East stops. Kerry will not travel to Israel or the Palestinian territories. He will wait to visit them when he accompanies Obama there in March.

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Online:

Trip details: http://www.state.gov/secretary/travel/2013/205086.htm

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-takes-case-syria-europe-mideast-081440189.html

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?Top GOP Voter ID Crusader Loses Virginia Election Panel Post?

Big Money Lost, But Don't Be Relieved, CNN Opinion, Nov. 9, 2012

A Better Way to Vote: Nationalize Oversight and Control, NY Times, "Room for Debate" blog, Nov. 9, 2012

Election Day Dispatches Entry 5: Black Panthers, Navy Seals, and Mysterious Voting Machines, Slate, Nov. 6, 2012

Behind the Voting Wars, A Clash of Philosophies, Sacramento Bee, Nov. 4, 2012

How Many More Near-Election Disasters Before Congress Wakes Up?, The Daily Beast, Oct. 30, 2012

Will Bush v. Gore Save Barack Obama? If Obama Narrowly Wins Ohio, He Can Thank Scalia and the Court's Conservatives, Slate, Oct. 26, 2012

Will Voter Suppression and Dirty Tricks Swing the Election?, Salon, Oct. 22, 2012

Is the Supreme Court About to Swing Another Presidential Election? If the Court Cuts Early Voting in Ohio, It Could Be a Difference Maker in the Buckeye State, Slate, Oct. 15, 2012

Election Truthers: Will Republicans Accept an Obama Election Victory?, Slate, Oct. 9, 2012

Wrong Number: The Crucial Ohio Voting Battle You Haven't Heard About, Slate, Oct. 1, 2012

Litigating the Vote, National Law Journal, Aug. 27, 2012

Military Voters as Political Pawns, San Diego Union-Tribune, August 19, 2012

Tweeting the Next Election Meltdown: If the Next Presidential Election Goes into Overtime, Heaven Help Us. It?s Gonna Get Ugly, Slate, Aug. 14, 2012

A Detente Before the Election, New York Times, August 5, 2012

Worse Than Watergate: The New Campaign Finance Order Puts the Corruption of the 1970s to Shame, Slate, July 19, 2012

Has SCOTUS OK'd Campaign Dirty Tricks?, Politico, July 10, 2012

End the Voting Wars: Take our elections out of the hands of the partisan and the incompetent, Slate, June 13, 2012

Citizens: Speech, No Consequences, Politico, May 31, 2012

Is Campaign Disclosure Heading Back to the Supreme Court? Don?t expect to see Karl Rove?s Rolodex just yet, Slate, May 16, 2012

Unleash the Hounds Why Justice Souter should publish his secret dissent in Citizens United, Slate, May 16, 2012

Why Washington Can?t Be Fixed; And is about to get a lot worse, Slate, May 9, 2012

Let John Edwards Go! Edwards may be a liar and a philanderer, but his conviction will do more harm than good, Slate, April 23, 2012

The Real Loser of the Scott Walker Recall? The State of Wisconsin, The New Republic, April 13, 2012

A Court of Radicals: If the justices strike down Obamacare, it may have grave political implications for the court itself, Slate, March 30, 2012

Of Super PACs and Corruption, Politico, March 22, 2012

Texas Voter ID Law May Be Headed to the Supreme Court, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Mar. 13, 2012

?The Numbers Don?t Lie: If you aren?t sure Citizens United gave rise to the Super PACs, just follow the money, Slate, Mar. 9, 2012

Stephen Colbert: Presidential Kingmaker?, Politico, Mar. 5 2012

Occupy the Super PACs; Justice Ginsburg knows the Citizens United decision was a mistake. Now she appears to be ready to speak truth to power, Slate, Feb. 20, 2012

Kill the Caucuses! Maine, Nevada, and Iowa were embarrassing. It?s time to make primaries the rule, Slate, Feb. 15, 2012

The Biggest Danger of Super PACs, CNN Politics, Jan. 9, 2012

This Case is a Trojan Horse, New York Times "Room for Debate" blog, Jan. 6, 2012 (forum on Bluman v. FEC)

Holder's Voting Rights Gamble: The Supreme Court's Voter ID Showdown, Slate, Dec. 30, 2011

Will Foreigners Decide the 2012 Election? The Extreme Unintended Consequences of Citizens United, The New Republic (online), Dec. 6, 2011

Disenfranchise No More, New York Times, Nov. 17, 2011

A Democracy Deficit at Americans Elect?, Politico, Nov. 9, 2011

Super-Soft Money: How Justice Kennedy paved the way for ?SuperPACS? and the return of soft money, Slate, Oct. 25, 2012

The Arizona Campaign Finance Law: The Surprisingly Good News in the Supreme Court?s New Decision, The New Republic (online), June 27, 2011

New York City as a Model?, New York Times Room for Debate, June 27, 2011

A Cover-Up, Not a Crime. Why the Case Against John Edwards May Be Hard to Prove, Slate, Jun. 3, 2011

Wisconsin Court Election Courts Disaster, Politico, Apr. 11, 2011

Rich Candidate Expected to Win Again, Slate, Mar. 25, 2011

Health Care and the Voting Rights Act, Politico, Feb. 4, 2011

The FEC is as Good as Dead, Slate, Jan. 25, 2011

Let Rahm Run!, Slate, Jan. 24, 2011

Lobbypalooza,The American Interest, Jan-Feb. 2011(with Ellen P. Aprill)

Election Hangover: The Real Legacy of Bush v. Gore, Slate, Dec. 3, 2010

Alaska's Big Spelling Test: How strong is Joe Miller's argument against the Leeza Markovsky vote?, Slate, Nov. 11, 2010

Kirk Offers Hope vs. Secret Donors, Politico, November 5, 2010

Evil Men in Black Robes: Slate's Judicial Election Campaign Ad Spooktackular!, Slate, October 26, 2010 (with Dahlia Lithwick)

Show Me the Donors: What's the point of disclosing campaign donations? Let's review, Slate, October 14, 2010

Un-American Influence: Could Foreign Spending on Elections Really Be Legal?, Slate, October 11, 2010

Toppled Castle: The real loser in the Tea Party wins is election reform, Slate, Sept. 16, 2010

Citizens United: What the Court Did--and Why, American Interest, July/August 2010

The Big Ban Theory: Does Elena Kagan Want to Ban Books? No, and She Might Even Be a Free Speech Zealot", Slate, May 24, 2010

Crush Democracy But Save the Kittens: Justice Alito's Double Standard for the First Amendment, Slate, Apr. 30, 2010

Some Skepticism About the "Separable Preferences" Approach to the Single Subject Rule: A Comment on Cooter & Gilbert, Columbia Law Review Sidebar, Apr. 19, 2010

Scalia's Retirement Party: Looking ahead to a conservative vacancy can help the Democrats at the polls, Slate, Apr. 12, 2010

Hushed Money: Could Karl Rove's New 527 Avoid Campaign-Finance Disclosure Requirements?, Slate, Apr. 6, 2010

Money Grubbers: The Supreme Court Kills Campaign Finance Reform, Slate, Jan. 21, 2010

Bad News for Judicial Elections, N.Y. Times "Room for Debate" Blog, Jan., 21, 2010

Read more opeds from 2006-2009

Source: http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47627

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news Art and Entertainment: Music Industry Is About To Change !

At the beginning of 2000's, the music business, in particular the communities of hiphop and rnb, resulted in the rise of what we now call the "super music producers", accounting for frontrunners: Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins or even The Neptunes.

What is meant by a "super producer"? So, the most reliable interpretation of their distinction with a "simple" producer would take the demonstration of what we call a "supermodel" in fashion, for instance Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer or Naomi Campbell. You know these prominent fashion models as well as anybody else and you can see them on almost all the catwalks. To be brief: safe values.

This was the very same thing in the music industry: there have been "big" producers, risk free, that driven entirely the projects and were needed by the most well-known singers or rappers. It was really less hazardous for record labels to use a popular music producer in contrast to a novice. The known one produced a more than a few of triumphant singles, in theory. Given that right at that time ordinarily big names sold discs.

However, the music business, since the start of the decade has totally changed. First, many people don't actually buy cd nowadays.

Consequently the record labels offer less budget for a project. And of course, record companies will no longer be willing to put in money between $ 100 000 to $ 300 000 for just one single beat, as was the case through the golden years of music producers. The cd not sell and the internet grows. To surmount not legal downloading of their artists, record companies develop or merge with statutory download applications and just try to force their presence on the cyberspace, that has been escaping their control for so long.

But the rise up of the web in addition has permitted the ascent of many of unknown producers as good as, if not superior to, "Super Producers".

Those producers have paying attention to the developments of the Internet, that has facilitated these to sell their beats online. Giving them to reach and work with performers on a local scale as well as a worldwide one. A producer from New york city can advertise beats to any one in Japan. It is now more easier for them to obtain a good recognition or have a career. For the artists, this makes a big difference! They can buy beats online at home for their album, EP and also mixtape for reasonable prices; far from those practiced by the "super producers".

Record labels pay a specific attention to this modern business. They buy beats online as well. And nowadays we can notice that a few internet based producers are getting signed by majors.

The golden time period of super producers such as the era of super model fades away slowly and gradually, allowing way to this brand new sector driven by producers who, often, have not a single thing to envy to the "super producers".

Source: http://newsartentertainment.blogspot.com/2013/02/music-industry-is-about-to-change.html

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Bidding is at $2500 for Johnny Manziel football - bid to help a sick ETX student

Van Jr. High School student Byron Jones found out in January that he had leukemia and had to leave school. Now he has to get regular costly chemotherapy, bone marrow and blood transfusions.

"I drive to Dallas every Thursday to get chemotherapy, and if I need blood or anything, I do that," he said.

Van Jr. High School has rallied behind Byron. The students started collecting donations, selling t-shirts and bracelets, and now they're having a silent auction, and they invite everyone to be a part!

?

If you are interested in bidding on an autographed Jonny Manziel football,? the? silent auction is occurring this week, Feb. 18-22.

The bidding will start at $2500.00 and the auction will end at 3:00pm, Friday, February 22, 2013.? You will need to email Paige Redmond your bid at redmondp@van.sprnet.org to place your bid.

An email to each bidder will go out daily at 3:00pm to give them an update on the highest bid and bidder. On the final day Paige will send an email out at 12:00pm stating who is currently in the lead and at what amount.?

In the event of a tie bid at the deadline on Friday, February 22, 2013, she will notify the parties involved with the tie to give them an opportunity to place one final bid.? If the winning bidder cannot follow through on the promise to pay, then the second place bidder will be notified.?

Cashier checks and money orders are the only forms of payment that can be accepted.?

The monies received will go directly to the family to help pay cover costs incurred from weekly medical treatments.

You can also donate in any amount to Byron at Texas Bank and Trust. Just go to any Texas Bank and Trust and donate to the Byron Jones fund.

There will be a blood drive for Byron at the Van Jr. High gymnasium on February 26 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Copyright 2013 KLTV. All rights reserved.

Source: http://canton.kltv.com/news/community-spirit/97718-bidding-2500-johnny-manziel-football-bid-help-sick-etx-student

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Is Cadbury India a victim of identity theft?

Mondelez India, confectionery brand, is waiting to legally challenge the global company from registering a similar name.

MUMBAI: Mondelez International, the new identity of Kraft Foods' snacks and confectionery business, has run into perhaps its hardest hurdle in changing the name of Cadbury India - a brand squatter.

Mondelez India, a Delhi-based company selling Kennyzone brand of confectionery, is waiting to legally challenge the global company from registering a similar name.

"We are seeking legal advice on the matter and will take actions accordingly," said an official spokesperson of Cadbury India, which is treading very carefully in migrating to the new identity in India where Cadbury has massive brand equity. Now, when branding experts all over the world have found the Mondelez name strange and confusing, how come an Indian entrepreneur came up with the same moniker?

Well, Mondelez India Pvt Ltd was registered in September last, well after Kraft decided to split its business and call the snack business Mondelez - a made-up name selected from 1,700 staff suggestions in March - from October 1, 2012.

The Delhi firm was earlier called Non Stop Logistics.

One of the directors of Mondelez India said company promoter SK Sharma is seeking legal advise on the matter and would challenge any attempt from the multinational to call itself Mondelez India.

"Maybe they can stick to being Mondelez International. We are open to discussions on the subject but any other means to register themselves will be challenged legally by us," the person said.

On its website Mondelez India states, "We are confident that the quality of Kennyzone candies matches, and in some cases is better than many major renowned international brands."

Anuradha Salhotra, managing partner at Lall, Lahiri & Salhotra, a law firm specialising in intellectual property, said creation of Mondelez India is a deliberate attempt to make a quick buck.

"These are deliberate and planned moves by some people to make a quick buck out of it. Many a times they are more than willing to sell it back to the rightful name owner," she said. "If it is just a domain name then there could be arbitration but if it is a company name, trademark and domain name, then Mondelez International will have to go in for injunction," she added.

Meanwhile, Mondelez International has registered a company, Mondelez Foods, in India although it does not use the 'foods' tag in any other markets.

In early 2010, Kraft Foods acquired British candy maker Cadbury in a deal worth close to $19 billion. And in October last, Kraft's snacks business that includes brands such as Cadbury, Oreo, Tang and Trident was spun off into Mondelez. Kraft is left with the grocery portfolio, which includes Philadelphia cream cheese and Maxwell House coffee.

Mondelez derives some 45% of its sales from developing markets. Its CEO Irene Rosenfeld is reported to have said that the priority in India will be to drive chocolate penetration by increasing marketing support and strengthening distribution.

But the chocolate maker has started 2013 on a rocky note in India with authorities looking into possible tax evasion. Last year, an investigation was launched to determine whether Kraft Foods Inc needed to pay taxes arising from its $19 billion takeover of Cadbury. Another case involves alleged evasion of central excise duty, or factory gate tax at a company facility in Himachal Pradesh.

The name change, from a highly popular one to a name that can be pronounced in several ways, and dealing with a brand squatter too have now become part of the not-so-sweet tasks of Cadbury India.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/cons-products/food/cadbury-india-runs-into-brand-squatter-with-delhis-confectionery-mondelez-india/articleshow/18635858.cms

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Survey says: US Catholics like Pope but ready for new direction

Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images

Pope Benedict XVI gets favorable marks from three-fourths of his U.S. flock, even though many of them want to see the next pope move in new directions.

By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

Roughly one in two American Catholics believes the next pope should take the church in a new direction and supports the idea of married priests, a new survey has found.

But the push toward modernization hasn't made the current, very traditional pontiff unpopular.

Three-fourths of U.S. Catholics have a favorable view of outgoing Pope Benedict XVI in the survey from the Pew Research Center released Thursday.

Still, Pope Benedict, who will resign next week, has seen his favorability ratings dip from a high of 83% in April 2008, just after he visited the United States, and his numbers have always been lower than those of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

The sexual-abuse scandal that has roiled the church hasn't helped. The survey found only a third think he has done a good or excellent job of handling the crisis, down from almost half in 2008.

With the College of Cardinals poised to select a new pope, Pew found Americans deeply divided about whether he should hew to the traditional positions (51 percent) or "move in new directions" (46 percent). Those who went to Mass once a week were more likely to skew traditional, while college graduates were more likely to support change.

Married priests, women in the priesthood, and acceptance of contraception and same sex-marriage were named more often as desirable new directions than relaxing church strictures against divorce or abortion.

A majority of Catholics are also ready for a pope from outside of Europe, saying it would be welcome if he hailed from a developing region of the world such as South America, Asia or Africa.?

The results were based on two national surveys conducted between Feb. 13 and Feb. 18 that included a total of 2,507 people.

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/21/17047673-us-catholics-like-pope-benedict-but-many-ready-for-new-direction-married-priests?lite

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Manhunt underway for suspects in fatal Las Vegas Strip shooting

(Reuters) - A multi-state manhunt was under way on Friday for the men who shot dead an aspiring rapper as he drove on the Las Vegas Strip in a Maserati, touching off a fiery crash that killed a cab driver and his passenger.

Las Vegas police have not named any suspects in the dramatic pre-dawn shooting in the heart of the desert resort city on Thursday, but said they were still hunting for a black Range Rover used in the incident.

One or more gunmen in the apparently brand-new luxury sport utility vehicle opened fire on a silver Maserati being driven by 27-year-old Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. at the busy intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road.

Cherry, who performed under the name "Kenny Clutch," was slain and his car veered out of control before smashing into a taxicab. Killed in the cab were driver Michael Bolden, 62, and a passenger who has not been identified by authorities.

Las Vegas television station KTNV reported that the taxi passenger killed in the incident was identified by her family as Sandi Sutton, a Washington state woman who worked for a Seattle-area chamber of commerce.

The gunfire and collision in the busy intersection near the Bellagio and Caesars Palace hotels triggered another crash involving four other vehicles. At least four people were hurt.

"As you can imagine our detectives are working non-stop," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Officer Jose Hernandez said. "There's lots of information coming in, lots of leads being generated that we're sifting through, and our investigation is moving forward."

Hernandez said Las Vegas police had asked authorities in neighboring states to assist in the manhunt and to be on the lookout for the black Range Rover, which was described as carrying paper dealer plates.

He said a passenger in Cherry's car, who suffered a minor injury, had spoken to police.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie told a Thursday news conference that the shooting may have stemmed from an altercation between Cherry and the suspects in the valet area of the Aria Resort and Casino on the Strip.

Hernandez declined to elaborate on that incident, saying that it was part of the ongoing investigation.

Attorney Vicki Greco, who has represented Cherry for what she described as minor traffic issues and in a civil case, told Reuters that his family was "devastated."

"I can tell you this, the world has lost a good man," Cherry's aunt, Pat Sims, told the San Jose Mercury News for a story on its website.

"I'm not saying he didn't have his faults, but he was very kind, especially to older people," Sims, 75, told the paper. "Whatever happened in Vegas, I don't know about, but he was a very kind soul."

The incident occurred less than a mile from where rapper Tupac Shakur was shot in September 1996 while riding in a BMW with Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight after the two men had attended a Mike Tyson boxing match.

Shakur, 25, was hit by gunfire from at least one assailant in a Cadillac while sitting in Knight's car at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane and died six days later at a hospital. His murder remains unsolved.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bernard Orr and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/manhunt-underway-suspects-fatal-las-vegas-strip-shooting-044450137.html

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