Sony Ericsson Plans To Release Android 4.0 To The Xperia Line In 2012

SE FacebookSony Ericsson has joined HTC in offering up a general plan for pushing the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich updates to existing handsets. In a message on its Dutch Facebook page, the company has said it will roll out Ice Cream Sandwich to all 2011 Xperia handsets. Phones that should receive the update include the Xperia Play, Xperia neo and neo V, Mini Pro, Xperia Ray, and the Xperia arc.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8Yvp5083icw/

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Cain's 9-9-9 Tax Plan -- Making Certain 84 Percent Remain the '99' (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Shortly after everyone began taking presidential hopeful Herman Cain seriously (just after the Florida Straw Poll) as a viable Republican Party nominee for 2012, his 9-9-9 tax plan became headline news as questions were raised about what it proposed as opposed to what the candidate said it was designed to do.

According to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington think tank that had initially noted the tax plan looked like a regressive tax system, it does not lower taxes for most Americans. In fact, under the Cain 9-9-9 tax plan, which would eliminate the current tax code, taxes would increase for 84 percent of Americans.

As incongruous as it might seem, Rep. Michele Bachmann had been correct in her assessment that the "devil is in the details" of the 9-9-9 plan. But, then, she was a federal tax lawyer.

"It's very, very regressive compared to the current system, and that's largely because we're exempting capital gains, and we're taxing your spending with the sales tax," Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said of Cain's proposal. "People at the top end don't spend all their money and they get a lot of capital gains, so they are doing pretty well here."

And those hit hardest? Those that could least afford it, according to the study. Households making $10,000 to $20,000 (below the poverty level of $22,350 annual income for a household of four) would see their tax burden rise by 950 percent.

"You're talking a $2,700 tax increase for people with incomes between $10,000 and $20,000," Williams told the Associated Press. "That's huge."

And what about the wealthy, the so-called 1 percent? According to the Tax Policy Center, they would receive enormous tax cuts from the 9-9-9 tax plan. Those enjoying $1 million or more in income per year would see their tax burden eased by half.

In fact, overall taxes would begin to go down (on average) at the $50,000 to $70,000 income level, where the average household would pay $4,326 per year, while those making less, from $40,000 to $50,000, would pay $4,400 per year.

Bear in mind a large proportion of these families pay only payroll taxes, nothing in income taxes and even receive an income tax return check from the government. Part of Cain's proposal, the 9 percent consumption tax, would be flat, nonreturnable. Taking away tax deductions would further impact the gross income amount.

For a family of four with a household income of $20,000, where most of its expenditures will be for services and goods, that $2,700 tax burden just dropped their expendable income to $17,300 -- some of which will go toward property taxes, state taxes, federal taxes not eliminated by Cain's plan like the federal gas tax, universal phone taxes and the luxury taxes on alcohol, tobacco and firearms.

The burden on the poor would suddenly get a lot heavier. The plan, which is also a proposal for "economic growth," would actually leave wage earners with less money to spend, less money to expand the economy.

Which is not what Cain has been saying about his plan. He has touted the plan as fairer than the current tax code, where most will pay less than now, including the wealthy. But many have challenged his claims and with the Tax Policy Center's study findings, he will have a more difficult time selling his simple flat tax plan.

Called out by his fellow Republican presidential contenders at the presidential debate on Tuesday, Cain defended by saying, "The reason our plan is being attacked so much is because lobbyists, accountants, politicians, they don't want to throw out the current tax code and put in something that's simple and fair. They want to continue to be able to manipulate the American people with a 10 million-word mess."

Still, the current tax code -- the "10 million-word mess" he was referring to -- is far less onerous on the nonwealthy and relatively more fair in its progressive structure. It is the basis for so many "lobbyists, accountants, politicians" defense of the tax code in comparison to the 9-9-9 plan. Even the leader of conservative Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist, who has called for the elimination of taxes and has had hundreds of congressional legislators sign a pledge promising they will do nothing to raise taxes, told ABC's "Top Line" that Cain's tax plan was "a very dangerous project" due to a fair tax implementation that Norquist believes is too open-ended and would allow for additional taxation.

Ultimately, with so many saying the plan is burdensome on the poor, a windfall for the wealthy, there seems to be little to commend the proposal. When 84 percent of Americans would pay more taxes, it would appear Cain was telling the truth about those demonstrators of Occupy Wall Street that he said he did not understand. For they are the 99 percent of Americans who are on the disproportionate end of the income scale. The Cain plan would ensure at least 84 percent of them remained as part of that 99 percent.

Cain has stated the demonstrators had misplaced their blame. Instead of blaming Wall Street, they should blame themselves for being jobless and poor. Attempting to shift at least some of the blame at the debate, Cain said he would stand by his statement.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul quickly disagreed with Cain. "I think Mr. Cain has blamed the victims," he said. "There's a lot of people that are victims of this business cycle. We can't blame the victims. But we also have to point -- I'd go to Washington as well as Wall Street, but I'd go over to the Federal Reserve. They create the financial bubbles."

But Cain's plan would do more than just blame the victims, regardless of the fault of Wall Street, Washington or the Federal Reserve. At least for 84 percent of those victims of the financial crisis, the current economy, the mortgage meltdown and other recession-caused problems, it would increase their taxes.

And the only "economic growth" the plan would see would be the tax savings incurred by those that have the least to lose.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111020/bs_ac/10243033_cains_999_tax_plan__making_certain_84_percent_remain_the99

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Whooping Cough Vaccine Protection Fades After 3 Years (LiveScience.com)

Young children who receive vaccinations against whopping cough are not fully protected against the disease three to six years after their shots, a new study suggests.

Currently, kids receive five doses of the pertussis vaccine, with the final injection given between ages four and six. A pertussis booster shot is recommended for adolescents.

In the new study, a small number of vaccinated kids developed pertussis anyway ? and the number of pertussis cases progressively increased each year following the kids' final vaccination. Children were seven times more likely to develop pertussis six years after vaccination than one year after vaccination.

Researchers knew that pertussis vaccine protection waned with time. But studies had not looked cases of pertussis in vaccinated children this young before, said study researcher Sara Tartof, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

The new findings underscore the importance of the booster shot for adolescents.

"It's really important for kids to get that booster at 11 or 12 years of age," Tartof said.

The new findings are not enough to warrant a change in children's vaccination schedules, Tartof said. However, future studies should examine factors that may affect how much protection the vaccine gives, including the age at which it is given, Tartof said.

Pertussis risk

The first version of the whooping cough vaccine, known as the whole cell pertussis vaccine, had long lasting immunity. Its protection was thought to last much of life, said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. However, this vaccination often caused reactions at the injection site, such as redness and swelling.

Because of concerns about safety, a new, more purified version of the vaccine was created. Childhood vaccination with the acellular pertussis vaccines began in 1997, Schaffner said. Researchers are still studying how long immunity lasts with this vaccine.

The vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis are given to children together in a single injection, nicknamed DTaP. Tartof and colleagues examined the immunization records of more than 220,000 children born in Minnesota between 1998 and 2003.

Information from the state's pertussis surveillance system was used to determine which kids came down with pertussis. Children were included in the study only if they received all five doses of the pertussis vaccine. They were followed for up to six years after their final shot.

Between 2004 and 2010, 521 cases of pertussis were identified in these kids (or 0.23 percent of the children studied).

A child's risk of pertussis increased each year after their final shot.

Children were 1.6 times more likely to develop pertussis two years after vaccination than in the first year after vaccination. That risk increased to 2 times more likely during year three, and 2.6 times more likely over year four, compared with the risk at year 1.

By six years after vaccination, the risk had increased to 7 times what it was in the first year.

Tartof noted that if vaccinated children develop pertussis, their condition is less severe if they have received all five shots.

Outbreaks

The finding "highlights the fact that pertussis immunity can be short lived," said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not involved in the study.

And the results suggest that it is not unreasonable to consider more frequent booster vaccinations among teens and adults, Offit said.

Technically a person's last pertussis vaccination may be when they receive their booster at age 11 or 12 years old, Offit said. However, it's important that people in older age groups have immunity against pertussis because of the risk they may transmit the disease to infants.

Babies less than 6 months old are at greater risk of dying from pertussis, and they cannot begin to be vaccinated until they are two months old. Doctors want to "cocoon" infants by vaccinating all the adults and teens around them, Offit said.

The outbreaks of pertussis that have occurred in recent years are likely due to people deciding to forego vaccination, Offit said.

"When you make a choice not to vaccinate, then you are in trouble," Offit said. "Because the disease is always going to be around."

The study results argue for the enforcement of pertussis boosters in middle school children, Schaffner said. Without booster shots, there may be outbreaks of pertussis among this young population, he said.

Pass it on: A child's risk of whooping cough increases progressively each year following their final vaccination with the pertussis vaccine.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner on Twitter @Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111020/sc_livescience/whoopingcoughvaccineprotectionfadesafter3years

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Spiral arms hint at presence of planets: High resolution image of young star with circumstellar disks verifies predictions

ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2011) ? A new image of the disk of gas and dust around a sun-like star has spiral-arm-like structures. These features may provide clues to the presence of embedded but as-yet-unseen planets.

"Detailed computer simulations have shown us that the gravitational pull of a planet inside a circumstellar disk can perturb gas and dust, creating spiral arms. Now, for the first time, we're seeing these features," said Carol Grady, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported astronomer with Eureka Scientific, Inc.

The newly imaged disk surrounds SAO 206462, a star located about 456 light-years away in the constellation Lupus. Astronomers estimate that the system is only about 9 million years old. The gas-rich disk spans some 14 billion miles, which is more than twice the size of Pluto's orbit in our own solar system.

"The surprise," said Grady, "was that we caught a glimpse of this stage of planet formation. This is a relatively short-lived phase."

A near-infrared image from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan shows a pair of spiral features arcing along the outer disk. Theoretical models show that a single embedded planet may produce a spiral arm on each side of a disk. The structures around SAO 206462 do not form a matched pair, suggesting the presence of two unseen worlds, one for each arm. However, the research team cautions that processes unrelated to planets may also give rise to these structures.

"What we're finding is that once these systems reach ages of a few million years, their disks begin to show a wealth of structure--rings, divots, gaps and now spiral features," said John Wisniewski, a collaborator at the University of Washington in Seattle. "Many of these structures could be caused by planets within the disks."

Grady's research is part of the Strategic Exploration of Exoplanets and Disks with Subaru (SEEDS), a five-year-long near-infrared study of young stars and their surrounding dust disks using the Subaru Telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The international consortium of researchers now includes more than 100 scientists at 25 institutions.

"These arm-like structures have been predicted by models, but have never before been seen," said Maria Womack, program director for the division of Astronomical Sciences at NSF. "It is the first observation of spiral arms in a circumstellar disk, and an important test for models of planetary formation."

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111019170256.htm

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U.S. charges two suspected accomplices of "Jihad Jane" (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? U.S. law enforcement authorities in Pennsylvania announced on Thursday terrorism-related charges against two men for conspiring with others to receive military-style training in South Asia and plotting to wage holy war in Europe.

Ali Charaf Damache, 46, an Algerian residing in Ireland, and Mohammad Hassan Khalid, 18, a Pakistani U.S. resident, were charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

They were charged as part of the same conspiracy as two American women, Jamie Paulin Ramirez and Colleen LaRose, who both pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this year in Philadelphia federal court.

LaRose, who used the Internet pseudonym "Jihad Jane," admitted in February to plotting to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks for depicting the Prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog.

Ramirez, a former resident of Colorado, married Damache in September 2009 upon arriving in Europe, the indictment said.

Damache, Khalid and others "devised and coordinated a violent-jihad organization consisting of men and women from Europe and the United States divided into a planning team, a research team, an action team, a recruitment team, and a finance team, some of whom would travel to South Asia for explosives training and return to Europe to wage violent jihad," the indictment said.

Damache, who used the Internet username "Theblackflag," faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted. Khalid, who was arrested in July in Maryland and is in custody, faces a 15-year term.

Federal prosecutors said the United States would ask Ireland to extradite Damache so he could face charges.

U.S. District Judge Petrese Tucker is overseeing the case.

(Reporting by Basil Katz; editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111020/ts_nm/us_usa_security

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Deal of the Day ? 33% Coupon for 24? Dell Professional P2411H 1080p Monitor

Today?s LogicBUY Deal is 24? Dell Professional LED-backlit LCD monitor for $200.33.? Features:? EPEAT Gold rating, 1080p, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 250nit brightness, 5ms response time, 2-port USB 2.0 high-speed hub, VGA + DVI connectivity, height-adjustable stand with tilt, pivot, and swivel movements, 3-year Premium Panel limited warranty, 3-year Advanced Exchange. $299 ? 33% coupon = [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/10/20/deal-of-the-day-%e2%80%93-33-coupon-for-24%e2%80%9d-dell-professional-p2411h-1080p-monitor/

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Pentagon to resume NKorea talks on war remains

(AP) ? After a six-year hiatus, the Pentagon has agreed to negotiate with North Korea on resuming an effort to recover remains of an estimated 5,500 U.S. service members unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War.

In a brief announcement Monday, the Pentagon said the negotiations would begin Tuesday in Bangkok. It offered no explanation for seeking to resume a recovery operation that Washington suspended in May 2005.

The Pentagon statement said the talks will address a "stand-alone humanitarian matter" and are not linked to other issues, which include most prominently the North Korean nuclear program and U.S.-supported international sanctions aimed at stopping North Korean weapon proliferation.

The U.S. and North Korea have no formal diplomatic ties, and relations have been especially rocky in recent years. During a state visit to Washington last week by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, President Barack Obama had strong words for communist-governed North Korea, saying that "if Pyongyang continues to ignore its international obligations it will invite even more pressure and isolation."

Leading the U.S. delegation to Bangkok will be Robert J. Newberry, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/MIA affairs.

When the administration of President George W. Bush suspended recovery operations in 2005 amid rising tensions with North Korea, it said it was concerned about the safety of U.S. recovery teams in North Korea. Among the concerns cited then was a ban on U.S. personnel making phone calls outside the country.

The remains recovery program had been suspended once before, from October 2002 to June 2003, after the North Koreans disclosed to a State Department envoy that they had been secretly running an active nuclear weapons program.

U.S. veterans organizations have long advocated an aggressive U.S. effort to recover remains from the 1950-53 war. Many U.S. war dead were left behind when Chinese forces overran U.S. positions in North Korea in late 1950.

Joint recovery missions began in 1996 and are the only form of U.S.-North Korean military cooperation.

Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte said she was pleased that the Pentagon was making a renewed effort to recover war remains in North Korea. In August, she wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging a relaunching of recovery missions as soon as possible.

"Most Korean War veterans are in their 80s," she said in a statement Monday. "And the U.S. Veterans Administration says close to 1,000 Korean War veterans die each day. We cannot wait any longer to resume this critical work."

Before the 2005 suspension of recovery efforts, the U.S. paid the North Koreans hundreds of millions of dollars for their support of the effort each year.

Under previous arrangements, two U.S. teams of up to 13 people each entered North Korea on a mission. Two other people were stationed in Pyongyang, the capital, to provide logistical and communications support. The arrangements included helicopters for use in the event of medical emergency.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-17-US-North%20Korea/id-f897a6ab433b45c6b6d440ac367b0c70

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Homeless Wisconsin man accused of robbing bank to get shelter (Reuters)

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) ? A homeless man robbed a Wisconsin bank before immediately turning himself in, police said on Tuesday, apparently because he needed a place to stay.

Rahn Gearhart, 53, handed a teller at the Johnson Bank in Janesville a note demanding money on Monday, and was given an undisclosed amount, Janesville Police Lt. Tim Hiers said.

The man then walked across the street to the Janesville Gazette newspaper in the southern Wisconsin town and asked the receptionist to call police, Hiers said.

Gearhart waited for police in a conference room, where employees said they saw money on the table, the Gazette said, and police took him away in handcuffs.

A police officer told the Gazette the man was homeless and looking for a place to stay. Hiers said the man asked for an attorney and stopped talking after being taken into custody.

Gearhart, who is unemployed and has been in Janesville for about six months, is now at Rock County Jail, and his case was being reviewed by prosecutors, Hiers said. He has not yet been charged.

A spokesperson for the Gazette was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by John Rondy; Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111018/us_nm/us_crime_homeless_robbery

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DeLorean DMC-12 EV announced for 2013 production, Doc Brown's whip gets real... electric

An electric-powered, production DeLorean? Believe it. It's in part thanks to the eponymously dubbed DeLorean Motor Company of Texas (not to be confused with long defunct DMC), which is known for its modernized restorations of the famed auto -- using original parts with slight modifications incorporating newer accoutrement. The automaker took to its blog this weekend announcing a partnership with Epic EV to make this "all-electric" DMC-12 a reality. Your Houston New reports that it's rated for 260 horsepower with a maximum speed of 125MPH -- although, we all know there's no need to go past 88MPH. It's expected to cost about six-figures, which sadly won't include a Flux Capacitor, but you could always run the app for that with its in-console iPhone holster. The DMC-12 EV is set to be released in 2013, and should be an excellent match for anyone who secured some of those Marty McFly-approved Nike Air Mags a few weeks ago. You'll find full details in the links below.

DeLorean DMC-12 EV announced for 2013 production, Doc Brown's whip gets real... electric originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/17/delorean-dmc-12-ev-announced-for-2013-production-doc-browns-wh/

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