Romney Campaign Buys Twitter Trend

This week at the Republican National Convention the GOP trotted out their new slogan like one of Romney's pampered dressage horses: "We Built It." But I suggest the more appropriate slogan: "We Bought It" in light of the recent news that the Romney campaign purchased the right to sponsor a trending topic on Twitter.

Normally, topics being discussed on Twitter become trends when they are popularized organically by Tweeters using hashtags. For example, #NBCFail was quite popular during the Olympics.?

But as we all know, democracy can be bought. Mitt Romney's campaign proved this by buying #BelieveInAmerica and #RomneyRyan2012, which looks like any other trending topic on Twitter on the left side of the page, except that it's followed by a "promoted" icon. And if you until you place your cursor over it, reads "Paid for by Mitt Romney for President, Inc."

Twitter confirmed this will be the first time a Presidential campaign has bought a Twitter trending topic.

For a candidate who was not widely popular with his party's electorate during the primaries and for one who people still claim they don't know well, buying a little popularity can't hurt.

BLOG: Robot Prostitutes, the Future of Sex Tourism

Usually, the realm of promoted Twitter trends is reserved for commercial brands and the cost of purchase isn't cheap...unless you're flush with Bain Capital money. If that's the case, then the promoted trend's $120,000 price tag is just horse feed.

Compared with other ways to spend money on Twitter,? "to trend for a day is a far more significant investment in resources," Zac Moffatt, digital director for the Romney campaign, told ClickZ.

While Moffatt said the campaign isn't shovelling out more than $120,000, he declined to say how much the campaign was spending on the trend.

While time will tell if the Democrats decide to take out their wallets and fork over any greenbacks for a Twitter trend, the Republicans can lay claim to planting their flag first.

"It's an opportunity for us to be the first Presidential campaign to use a Promoted Trend," said Moffatt.

BLOG: RNC Fortified By Behavior-Recognizing Cameras

He added: "The convention is one of those transformative moments when the entire country takes time to reflect."

Well bust my buttons, those are horsefeathers of a different color. That kind of reflection is too bright for my eyes. Better put on my black sunglasses like Patti Smith and have her ride me out of here on her Horses. They're the only ones I ride.

via ClickZ, Wall Street Journal

Credit: Rick Friedman/Corbis

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DiscoveryNews-Tech-News/~3/rrjZY0Ft4zw/romney-campaign-buys-twitter-trend-120830.html

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In defense of Clint Eastwood: He was weird, but fantastic

Go ahead. Vet my day. A fistful of incoherence. High slurs rambler. Every which way and loose.

Clint Eastwood, the 82-year-old movie star and director, inspired what seemed like enthusiasm inside the Republican National Convention's Tampa Bay Times Forum?and disbelief outside it and on Twitter. He also spawned puns, based on the titles of Eastwood's movies?a filmography that runs from 1955 ("Revenge of the Creature") to the present ("Trouble with the Curve").

But in Tampa tonight he may have hit on the performance that will live on forever, as long (at least) as YouTube bloopers endure.

Eastwood took on a role made famous by Jack Palance in 1992: geriatric tough guy freestyles surreally on live TV. At that time?during the Oscars broadcast?Billy Crystal chastened Palance, who was determined to show Crystal up by doing a one-armed pushup on stage, by saying, "Decaf, Jack, Decaf."

If Palance needed less caffeine, it wasn't clear what Eastwood needed. A script? A director? Red Bull?

Eastwood seemed to speak without notes, without a Tele-Prom-Ter and without a clue of what he wanted to say. He shadow-boxed with Obama in a bizarre piece of stagecraft that involved an empty chair. He rambled about how America needed a businessman in charge. He came very close to using the f-word, making several feints at it. And he ran some ongoing gag about how he'd talk as long as he wanted to.

The weirdness seemed to discomfit the audience, but also charged them with adrenaline. Weirdness, maybe, was just what this convention needed?a reminder that, however closely choreographed, the conventions are still live events.

When Eastwood finally made it off stage?as Twitter called for a hook or a gong to hasten his exit?it seemed he'd gone over time. That might push Romney past 11 pm, which would be disastrous. (The Republican nominee is on as I type.)

Commenters initially called it a catastrophe for Romney. But for decades voters have complained that there's no spontaneity at the conventions. Eastwood brought the spontaneity, with the crazy. Who vetted his speech?or failed to? Who cares? He woke up a flagging crowd just in time for Romney's acceptance speech.

He may have been incoherent. But live TV is set up exactly for the Good, the Bad and the Spacey. And Eastwood knows how to win attention Every Which You Can.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/defense-clint-eastwood-weird-fantastic-025825753--election.html

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China's Huawei unveils 6 Android devices

BERLIN (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies, China's top telecom equipment maker, on Thursday unveiled four new smartphone models and two tablets, all using Google's Android software.

"We have made our choice," Vice President Lars-Christian Weisswange told Reuters when asked about the software choice in the light of the latest legal challenges against the Android platform.

At a trade show in Berlin, Huawei also demonstrated Emotion software, its new user interface, which aims to offer a better user experience to consumers on top of the Android platform.

The high-end smartphone and tablet will use Huawei's own processors, while cheaper models use Qualcomm's.

(Reporting By Tarmo Virki and Harro ten Wolde)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-huawei-unveils-6-android-devices-130210708--finance.html

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Jennifer Lawrence In 'House': 'This Generation's Meryl Streep'

'I seriously think she's that good. She's an incredible actress,' director Mark Tonderai tells MTV News of Lawrence as Fall Movie Preview week continues.
By Josh Wigler

Jennifer Lawrence in "The House at the End of the Street"
Photo: Relativity Media

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1692760/jennifer-lawrence-house-at-end-of-street.jhtml

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NASA sees Hurricane Isaac make double landfall in Louisiana

ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2012) ? Hurricane Isaac is continuing to drop heavy rainfall over Louisiana and Mississippi, and NASA's TRMM satellite identified that rainfall as the storm was making landfall.

On Aug. 29, 2012 at 1 p.m. EDT, Isaac was still a hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph (120 kmh). Isaac was located about 10 miles northwest (15 km) of Houma, Louisiana and moving slowly. It is moving to the northwest near 6 mph (9 km). Isaac continued bringing heavy rainfall to southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. The threat for dangerous coastal storm surge and inland flooding are expected to continue overnight.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over Hurricane Isaac twice on the night that Isaac made landfall in Louisiana and headed for New Orleans. TRMM is a joint mission managed by both NASA and JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency.

In the first of the two overflights, the TRMM radar saw two hot towers in the eyewall of Hurricane Isaac just hours before landfall. While hot towers were shooting up in the eyewall over the ocean, Isaac's inner rainband was already lashing Louisiana with heavy rain. Hot towers are common in intensifying tropical cyclones are are a sign that energy is being pumped into the hurricane from the ocean's surface. A "hot tower" is a tall cumulonimbus cloud that reaches at least to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately nine miles (14.5 km) high in the tropics.

Two images were created by Owen Kelley, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The background of the first image showed TRMM infrared observations that give a sense of the height of the cloud cover the hides the heavy precipitation inside of of the hurricane. The blue-gray 3D volume contains the light precipitation inside the hurricane, using a 20 dBZ radar-reflectivity threshold.

In the image, an insert reveals details at the center of the hurricane. Two hot towers are indicated by the yellow and orange colors. They are locations where strong updrafts are lifting frozen precipitation above a 14.5 km (9.1 mile) threshold. Water that condenses in updrafts will soon freeze if updrafts lift it above the zero-degree isotherm near 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) altitude. The freezing releases another boost of latent heat, the fuel of hurricanes, following the initial release of latent heat when the water vapor condenses into liquid.

The TRMM radar happened to overfly Hurricane Isaac again just five hours later, shortly after the eyewall made landfall. Robbed of its oceanic source of energy, the eyewall hot towers are gone in this later overflight. Instead of reaching 14.5 km (9.1 mile) altitude, the eyewall merely reaches a 10 km (6.2 mile) altitude, which is indicated by the light green shading at the top of the blue-green volume of light precipitation.

Unfortunately for New Orleans and surrounding areas, TRMM sees that Hurricane Isaac's eyewall was remarkably well organized at that time, despite having made landfall. The insert shows a ring of very intense radar echos in red, echos that exceed 40 dBZ radar reflectivity. The northwest quadrant of his ring of heavy precipitation is almost on top of New Orleans at the time of observation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. The original article was written by Owen Kelley, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/fiNnunTS3GY/120829172111.htm

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Death To The Restaurant Buzzer: NoWait Raises $2 Million For iOS-Based Waitlisting System

NoWait, a mobile waitlisting management service based in Pittsburgh, is announcing today it has closed on a $2 million Series A round of funding led by Birchmere Ventures. Sand Hill Angels and previous investors also participated in the round. The idea to digitize waitlisting is not a new one, and it's becoming an increasingly crowded market. But in NoWait's case, it's a combination of old school mobile support (SMS text messaging) and modern flair (an iOS software application that runs on iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/eLkJibIEw5M/

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Motivational Team Building - Business Growth Strategies

?

Giving back ? Motivational Team Building

Every successful entrepreneur knows that a strong team makes it possible to accomplish great results, while providing employee satisfaction that is key to retention.? But dream teams don?t just happen, they are developed over time and require commitment at all levels ? starting with you, the owner, CEO and leader of your company.

Remember?strong teams are committed to the success of the business and each other.? Commitment comes from participation and understanding.? The more we involve our team in the business, the more committed they are to its success.? And since some of the best ideas for business growth and improvement come from employees, it?s time to get them engaged.??

Team building activities such as volunteering are just one way you can?unify the team.? Don?t forget that you also need to?involve the team not only in the community, but also your business goals.?

Team building can bring colleagues who work together every day an opportunity to interact informally and learn more about each other personally. Team building activities enable teams to practice communication skills, learn and practice decision-making and problem-solving.

Working?together toward a cause allows us to?remember that as a team we can make anything happen.? There are so many opportunities ? Habitat for Humanity, Race for a Cure, Connecticut Food Bank, Rotary Club of Trumbull?are just a few?that come to mind, but?find a cause that you and your company can be passionate about and support it. ?You?ll be amazed at how good you will feel and how supporting causes can motivate and unify your team.?

We should be working?to help each other to accomplish our business goals in the office everyday and building a stronger team will help you accomplish the goals for the company.

Whatever your business challenge is, we can help you starting today.

Simply click the link below to schedule your free 30 minute, no obligation, phone consultation. We?ll focus on your #1 challenge, and at the end of the call we?ll give you at least one practical strategy so that you can move forward immediately.

Schedule your free 30 minute
business assessment?session today!

Or you can follow the link?and our business experts can provide a?Complimentary Business Evaluation for?your business.

Start increasing your bottom line today.

Source: http://strategiesforbusinessgrowth.com/giving-back-boosts-team-moral/

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Obama team launches critique of Ryan before speech

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) ? Even before Paul Ryan takes the stage at the Republican convention, President Barack Obama's campaign is seeking to cast the GOP running mate as "out of step" with American voters.

The Obama campaign released an online video Wednesday targeting Ryan as a politician from a "bygone era." The video criticizes Ryan for being the architect of a budget that would overhaul Medicare and for seeking to defund Planned Parenthood.

Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman, is due to address the GOP convention Wednesday night. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will speak to delegates in Tampa, Fla., and a prime-time audience across the country, on Thursday.

Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said the video was a "tired and misleading" attack by Obama "in an attempt to divert attention away from his failed record."

Ryan is considered a hero of conservatives. His addition to the Republican ticket has energized voters and even Romney himself. The buttoned-up GOP presidential nominee often appears more at ease when campaigning alongside the youthful Ryan.

Obama is traveling Wednesday to Charlottesville, Va., the last stop on his two-day trip to counter the GOP convention message and to appeal to younger voters in college towns.

Both parties were pushing forward with their political plans while closely monitoring Hurricane Isaac, which arrived in Louisiana late Tuesday. Republicans had largely canceled the first day of their convention as Isaac appeared bound for Tampa. White House officials said they were monitoring the storm but, as of early Wednesday, had no plans to adjust the president's travel plans.

Obama on Tuesday made stops at Iowa State University and Colorado State University, where he reminded students returning to class that they hold a unique power to determine the election.

"I just want all of you to understand your power. Don't give it away ? not when you're young," Obama told about 13,000 people gathered in Colorado. "Right now, America is counting on you. And I'm counting on you."

In Colorado and Iowa, Obama told the students they had much at stake in the Nov. 6 presidential election, panning Romney as a candidate without a plan to move the country forward. "Last week my opponents' campaign went so far as to write you off as a lost generation. That's you according to them," the president said in Iowa, referring to a Romney news release last week that referred to college students as the "Obama Economy's Lost Generation."

"What they hope is that by telling you these things, you'll get discouraged and you'll just stay home this time," Obama said in Ames, Iowa. "But you can't believe it. I don't believe it."

Romney's campaign dismissed Obama's remarks, saying he had "brought the same policies to Iowa that have failed to help young Americans across the country" and left many of them "facing higher unemployment, mounting debt, rising costs and fewer opportunities."

Obama's campaign had hoped the president would speak Wednesday at the University of Virginia. But the school rejected their request, saying it would disrupt classes on the second day of the semester. Obama was instead scheduled to speak in a public area near the university.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-team-launches-critique-ryan-speech-100305426--election.html

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Leg compressions may enhance stroke recovery

Monday, August 27, 2012

Successive, vigorous bouts of leg compressions following a stroke appear to trigger natural protective mechanisms that reduce damage, researchers report.

Compressing then releasing the leg for several five-minute intervals used in conjunction with the clot-buster tPA, essentially doubles efficacy, said Dr. David Hess, a stroke specialist who chairs the Medical College of Georgia Department of Neurology at Georgia Health Sciences University.

"This is potentially a very cheap, usable and safe ? other than the temporary discomfort ? therapy for stroke," said Hess, an author of the study in the journal Stroke. The compressions can be administered with a blood pressure cuff in the emergency room during preparation for tPA, or tissue plasminogen activator, currently the only Food and Drug Administration-approved stroke therapy.

"Much like preparation to run a marathon, you are getting yourself ready, you are conditioning your body to survive a stroke," Hess said of a technique that could also be used in an ambulance or at a small, rural hospital.

For the studies Dr. Nasrul Hoda, an MCG research scientist and the study's corresponding author, developed an animal model with a clot in the internal carotid artery, the most common cause of stroke.

The compression technique called remote ischemic perconditioning ? "per" meaning "during" ?reduced stroke size in the animals by 25.7 percent, slightly better than tPA's results. Together, the therapies reduced stroke size by 50 percent and expanded the treatment window during which tPA is safe and effective.

Next steps include looking for biomarkers that will enable researchers to easily measure effectiveness in humans, Hess said. One marker may be increased blood flow to the brain, which occurred in the treated animals. The first clinical trial likely will include putting a blood pressure cuff on the legs of a small number of stroke patients to see if the finding holds. The researchers also have plans to analyze the blood of healthy individuals, before and after compression, seeking mediators that stand out as clear markers of change. They also want to go back to the animal model to see if applying the technique after giving tPA works even better.

Clinical evidence already suggests that remote ischemic perconditioning can aid heart attack recovery, including a 2010 study in the journal Lancet in which the technique, used in conjunction with angioplasty to intervene in a heart attack, reduced heart damage.

Nature seems to support it as well since people who experience short periods of inadequate blood flow ? angina in the case of heart disease and transient ischemic attacks in the brain ? before having a major event tend to recover better than patients who have a full-blown stroke or heart attack out of the blue.

"Small episodes of ischemia seem to protect our organs ? not just our brains ? from major ischemia," said Hess, although the researchers are just starting to learn why. Theories include that leg muscles, in response to the temporary loss of blood and oxygen, somehow stimulate nerves to protect the brain and/or that the muscles themselves release the protection. They also suspect the vagus nerve, which delivers information to the brain about how other organs are doing and helps regulate inflammation, is a player.

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Georgia Health Sciences University: http://www.georgiahealth.edu

Thanks to Georgia Health Sciences University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/122946/Leg_compressions_may_enhance_stroke_recovery

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Enlisting the AIDS virus to fight cancer

ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2012) ? Can HIV be transformed into a biotechnological tool for improving human health? According to a CNRS team at the Architecture et R?activit? de l'ARN (RNA Architecture and Reactivity) laboratory, the answer is yes. Taking advantage of the HIV replication machinery, the researchers have been able to select a specific mutant protein. Added to a culture of tumor cells in combination with an anticancer drug, this protein improves the effectiveness of the treatment at 1/300 the normal dosage levels.

Published in PLoS Genetics on 23 August 2012, these findings could lead to long-term therapeutic applications in the treatment of cancer and other pathologies.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, uses human cell material to multiply, primarily by inserting its genetic material into the host cells' genome. The distinctive characteristic of HIV is that it mutates constantly, and consequently generates several mutant proteins (or variants) in the course of its successive multiplications. This phenomenon allows the virus to adapt to repeated environmental changes and resist the antiviral treatments that have been developed so far.

At the IBMC (Institut de Biologie Mol?culaire et Cellulaire) in Strasbourg, the researchers of the CNRS Architecture et R?activit? de l'ARN laboratory had the idea of using this multiplication strategy to rechannel the effects of the virus for therapeutic purposes, in particular the treatment of cancer.

They first altered the HIV genome by introducing a human gene that is found in all cells: the gene for deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), a protein that activates anticancer drugs (2). Researchers have been trying to produce a more effective form of dCK for several years. Through HIV multiplication, the CNRS team has selected a "library" of nearly 80 mutant proteins and tested them on tumor cells in the presence of an anticancer drug. The results have enabled them to identify a dCK variant that is more effective than the wild-type (non-mutated) protein, inducing the death of tumor cells in culture. In combination with this protein, the anticancer drugs showed identical effectiveness at 1/300 the dose. The possibility of reducing the doses of anticancer drugs would palliate the problems posed by their components' toxicity, reduce their side effects and, most importantly, improve their effectiveness.

One advantage of this experimental technique is that the mutant proteins were tested directly on cells in culture. The next step in the years to come will be preclinical (animal) studies on the isolated mutant protein. In addition, this experimental system using a normally life-threatening virus is likely to lead to a great many other therapeutic applications.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Paola Rossolillo, Flore Winter, Etienne Simon-Loriere, Sarah Gallois-Montbrun, Matteo Negroni. Retrovolution: HIV?Driven Evolution of Cellular Genes and Improvement of Anticancer Drug Activation. PLoS Genetics, 2012; 8 (8): e1002904 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002904

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/mV4X5-v8v7o/120828073304.htm

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European snooker: Advani beats English veteran Mark King

Furth (Germany), Aug 26

Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani continued his winning streak on the Professional Snooker Tour, beating Mark King 4-3 in the fourth round of qualifiers for the Paul Hunter Classic event.

Following a fabulous show on Friday when Advani won all his three matches, he carried thie momentum into the match against the English veteran Saturday.

In a closely fought match, Pankaj produced a brilliant display of snooker to emerge victorious.

World No. 35 Mark King took a 2-0 lead, but Advani stormed back into the match winning the next two frames, with a 60 points break in the fourth. With the match evenly poised, Mark took the fifth frame to gain a slight edge, but Pankaj won the sixth to level the contest. Thriving under pressure, Pankaj was unstoppable in the seventh frame, opening with a 44 points break to pocket the game and match.

Pankaj will now face another Englishman, Ryan Day, in the quarterfinals.

He had defeated former World No. 1 John Higgins earlier in the competition.

Source: http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a323395.html

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Storm Isaac moves near Puerto Rico, seen becoming hurricane

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Isaac unleashed heavy rain and winds off Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Thursday and was expected to strengthen into a hurricane before tearing across the Dominican Republic and Haiti, U.S. forecasters said.

Isaac also posed a big threat to Florida, where it could make landfall on Monday as the Republican National Convention is due to start in Tampa.

Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of postponing or relocating the Republican convention if the storm takes direct aim at the city on Florida's central Gulf Coast. But Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the convention was not his biggest concern, at least for now.

"People are spending a lot of time talking about that," Fugate said of the convention. "I wish they'd be talking about making sure people in the (Florida) Keys are getting ready and that people in southwest Florida are getting ready," he told CNN.

The storm could also affect U.S. energy interests in the Gulf of Mexico, with analysts at Weather Insight, a Thomson Reuters company, giving it a 50 percent probability of moving into the heart of the oil and gas production region.

Isaac is forecast to approach Florida on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, but some computer models show it may swing farther west into the Gulf of Mexico. "Significant uncertainty remains about the threat Isaac poses to Florida," the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

It said Isaac was centered about 165 miles south of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday afternoon and was moving westward at 15 miles per hour.

The storm's top sustained winds dropped to 40 mph overnight, but the Miami-based NHC said re-strengthening was forecast over the next 48 hours and Isaac could become a hurricane on Friday before it reaches Hispaniola.

"The structure of Isaac suggests that only slow strengthening is likely. However, environmental conditions are favorable for rapid intensification, which could occur if the cyclone develops a well-defined inner core," the NHC said.

Hispaniola is the island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the latter of which is highly prone to flooding due to deforestation and mountainous terrain.

Isaac was expected to dump between 8 and 12 inches of rain over some parts of Hispaniola, with total accumulations up to 20 inches in some areas, the NHC said.

"These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," it warned in an advisory.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, still has 400,000 people living in tents or makeshift shelters more than 2 1/2 years after a devastating earthquake that took more than a quarter of a million lives.

In the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, authorities also braced for flooding as Isaac slowed down but swung farther south of the island than initially predicted.

"Our big worry is flooding," said Governor Luis Fortuno, who ordered schools and government offices to remain closed for a second day.

"We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best," he said.

PANHANDLE LANDFALL?

Some computer forecast models on Thursday shifted west, while others showed Isaac skirting across the north coast of Cuba before cutting across the Keys island chain and southern tip of Florida on Monday.

Several forecast a final landfall in the Florida Panhandle, in the northwest corner of the state, although one model put the storm moving almost directly over Tampa.

Jeff Masters, a hurricane expert at private forecaster Weather Underground, said that if Isaac tracked west through the Gulf of Mexico en route to the Florida Panhandle, there was a chance the storm could become a Category 2 hurricane.

"The storm would probably have an extra day over water, increasing the odds that it will become a Category 2 or stronger hurricane," he wrote in his blog at www.wunderground.com.

At the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in southeast Cuba, Isaac forced the postponement of pretrial hearings that were to begin on Thursday for five prisoners accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Florida has not been hit by a major hurricane since 2005 and forecasts showed Isaac was not expected to strengthen beyond a weak Category 1, with top sustained wind speeds of about 80 mph.

The threat to Florida triggered a 14-percent rally in orange juice prices in trading in New York earlier this week. Prices pulled back on Thursday as panic buying over the previous two days subsided.

Florida accounts for most U.S. orange juice output, which is about 700,000 tonnes a year. "As long as it's Category 1 coming into Florida, it lessens the chances of it being destructive," said James Cordier, founder and president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa.

In addition to Isaac, the NHC said Tropical Storm Joyce formed on Thursday over the open Atlantic.

The 10th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Joyce formed about 1,305 miles east of the Caribbean's Leeward Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was not forecast to gain hurricane strength.

(Additional reporting by Josephine Mason in New York, Kevin Gray in Miami; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/storm-isaac-threatens-caribbean-republican-convention-000751324.html

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Samuel Colt and the Devil's Gate

The original gate to hell is a natural rock formation, a gorge on the Sweetwater River in Wyoming. A powerful demon had been locked hehind this Devil's Gate, and now it wants out.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

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Organizers meet to create $100b climate fund

GENEVA (AP) ? A new global fund on climate change that aims to channel $100 billion a year in aid to poor countries selected officials from South Africa and Australia as its leaders at its first meeting Thursday.

The Green Climate Fund, created as part of a deal struck in December 2011 at the 194-nation climate talks in Durban, South Africa, will be led by Zaheer Fakir, head of international relations for South Africa's environment agency, and Ewen McDonald, deputy head of Australia's international development agency, the fund said in a statement.

It would receive and distribute $100 billion that rich nations have pledged annually by 2020 to help poorer countries adapt to changing climate conditions and to move toward low-carbon economic growth. The commitment to provide those billions in climate aid through the new "green" fund came as part of a hard-fought agreement in Durban that was meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change for the coming decades.

But the agreement did not specify how that money would be mobilized, and a series of technical decisions on how and where it should be run and even how it could raise those funds were put off for later.

Its 24-member board began by organizing itself, setting rules and hearing offers from six nations that would like to host the fund's operations: Germany, Mexico, Namibia, Poland, South Korea and Switzerland.

Swiss Cabinet member Doris Leuthard, who directs the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, welcomed the board to Geneva for the fund's inaugural three-day meeting, which runs through Saturday. She also began pressing the Swiss case for serving as the fund's long-range hosts.

The fund was created in addition to the $30 billion in "fast-track financing" for poor countries that rich nations agreed to provide at the December 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, since the Green Climate Fund is envisioned as the world's biggest financier for helping the developing world mitigate and adapt to climate change from 2020 onwards.

The board's members include a Chinese assistant finance minister, U.S. deputy assistant treasury secretary, Russian deputy chief in the president's office, Danish central banker, Czech deputy finance minister, Bangladeshi environment minister and Pakistani U.N. ambassador.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/organizers-meet-create-100b-climate-fund-122350895--finance.html

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Facebook employees asked to use only Android Smartphones to drive home the poor quality of their Mobile App

If you are a smartphone or even a tablet user who is using Facebook on the Android OS, then you would be well aware of the quality it offers, or rather the lack of it. And the top brass have decided to convey this message to those probably working on the development of the app and everyone close to it by forcing them to use Android mobiles alone. While it is not official and the extent to which the company is forcing its employees to use mobile phone is still not certain, all rumors indicate that the idea is generally to show the developers how bad the existing app is and probably get them to refine it and make it a whole lot better, sooner than later.

Looking For Personal Finance Tips? Check These Out!

You really don?t want to take all your hard earned money and just throw it away. Perhaps you are unaware of the most effective ways to save money. Maybe you don?t feel comfortable talking about your financial situation with people you know because you don?t want to look irresponsible. Despite the fact they may be dealing with the same types of problems. This article can help give you some excellent financial advice.

Learning how to cook your own meals, rather than relying on restaurants and take-out food, can save you a lot of money over time. It is easy to fix a tasty, filling dinner for your entire family, spending less than $30. Even grabbing pizza and soda for four is a bigger expense than that.

You may not be satisfied with your job and your income at this point, but having some income is better than having nothing at all. Understand that maintaining any form of income is very important in the current state of the economy.

When trying to save, use an automatic transfer to deduct money from your primary account on payday and deposit it in a high-yield savings account. This might make you feel like you are out of your comfort zone, but soon you will think of it as a bill and you will not notice it but it will be growing.

To save money on food in foreign countries, try to eat like a local. Restaurants in popular tourist areas and hotels will overcharge you, so look into where the locals go out to eat. You can find tastier food for less.

If you often find yourself barely making it from one paycheck to the next, you might be better served by signing up for overdraft protection from your bank or credit union. Although some institutions charge a minimal fee for the service, it can save a lot of money if you mistakenly overdraw your account.

Pay the utility bills for your home on time each and every month. Paying them late can damage your credit rating. Additionally, many places charge late fees, which cost you even more. You will lose money by making late payments, so pay your bill in a timely manner.

Think about a home-based job that can help save your money. The truth is that working in an office can be expensive. The cost of parking, lunches and gas will often cut your paycheck in half before you get it!

Though it may seem counter-intuitive, purchasing a home can result in significant financial savings. While you will incur the additional monthly cost of a mortgage and utilities, you will have paid the home off within a few decades. When you rent, you are just spending money for a property you will never actually own.

If you want a mortgage, you should have a credit score of 740. When you have great credit, you can expect lowers interest rates on your mortgage. Wait until your score has risen, if necessary. It will be beneficial to your finances to wait on getting a mortgage if you have a poor credit score.

Use what you learned from this article to make a few changes and start putting your money aside. Should you find yourself still trying to make sense of some of the above tips, conduct a little additional research, and you will grasp the idea in no time

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Source: http://news1800.com/2012/08/finance/looking-for-personal-finance-tips-check-these-out/

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Google Chrome for iOS update brings sharing to G+, Facebook and Twitter

We've had Google's Chrome browser on iPad and iPhone since June and now it has received its first update. After a recent update for the Google+ iOS app added sharing of links to Chrome, the lead feature in the new version is the ability to share from Chrome to "your favorite social network" (Google+, Facebook or Twitter). There have been a few other tweaks that the team says are in response to user reports including better sync sign in error messages, language detection and a fix for blank pages in incognito mode. While a share function that's limited to just a few apps and not being able to use it as the default browser still doesn't quite match the Android edition, users who prefer it to Safari can snag Chrome 21.0.1180.77 free in the usual place.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

Google Chrome for iOS update brings sharing to G+, Facebook and Twitter originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Google Chrome Releases, iTunes  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/22/google-chrome-iphone-ipad-update-sharing/

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KWAPT: Quick heads-up for C's fans in Boston: Paul Pierce will be at Microsoft Store at the Pru. tomorrow at 6pm. You can start lining-up at 2pm...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://twitter.com/KWAPT/statuses/238471039582081024

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Georgia latest state seeking to end U.S. ethanol rule

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Georgia, the center of U.S. poultry production, is adding its voice to a string of states asking Washington to help ease pressure on corn prices by suspending rules that send a large share of the crop to produce ethanol.

Ethanol fuel made from corn is blended with gasoline under a federal program meant to encourage domestic energy sources, but the rules can be waived under a formal appeal from a state.

Livestock farmers complain that demand for ethanol wrongly diverts a large share of the feed corn they need and drives up prices already inflated by a long dry season.

"The unprecedented drought experienced in major crop areas of the country, especially throughout extensive areas of the Midwest and South, has significantly decreased crop yields," Georgia Governor Nathan Deal wrote in a letter seen by Reuters that seeks a waiver of the ethanol mandate.

Poultry farmers in Georgia are spending about $1.4 million more in feed costs per day due to the drought and ethanol rules, the governor said, and those higher costs are causing dire economic harm.

In recent weeks, five states have urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to suspend the ethanol mandate, which would require that 13.2 billion gallons (50.3 billion liters) of ethanol be made from corn this year. The agency said on Monday that it would consider that request.

Ethanol, however, is strongly supported by the renewable-fuels lobby and by lawmakers and farmers in the U.S. corn belt.

The EPA has until around mid-November to decide on the waiver requests, meaning the agency could wait to rule on the contentious issue after national elections on November 6.

Congressman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia who has called for a waiver of ethanol requirements, said the EPA should make a decision as soon as possible.

"Time is of the essence in this effort, and farmers and consumers alike need answers and relief sooner rather than later, not long after the growing season is over and the damage has been done," Goodlatte said.

The agency will collect comments from the public for 30 days, as it attempts to gauge what effects the mandate will have on the economy.

After rejecting a petition from Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2008, the EPA said waiver requests have to prove that the mandate itself is the cause of severe economic harm to a region and not just a contributing factor.

(Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Dale Hudson, Lisa Von Ahn and Russ Blinch)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/georgia-latest-state-seeking-end-u-ethanol-rule-154448474.html

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Why Curiosity zaps Mars rock with 30 laser blasts (+video)

Curiosity fired the first laser gun ever on Mars Sunday. Curiosity fires laser pulses that turn solid rock into an ionized plasma in order to analyze its composition.

By Staff,?Space.com / August 20, 2012

This image, taken prior to Sunday's laser test, shows the rock chosen as the first target for NASA's Curiosity rover to zap with its Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, on Mars.

REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/LANL

Enlarge

A NASA rover has fired the first laser gun on Mars to take a peek inside a small Martian rock.

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Curiosity's latest images from the surface of Mars include an image of a rock which will be the first target to be analysed by the rover.

The Mars rover Curiosity zapped a rock scientists are now calling "Coronation" on Sunday (Aug. 19) to test an instrument that measures the composition of targets hit by its powerful laser beam. The rover fired 30 laser pulses in 10 seconds at the fist-size Coronation rock in order to analyze the results.

"We got a great spectrum of Coronation ? lots of signal," said Roger Wiens, lead scientist for the rover's laser-wielding instrument at the Los Almos National Laboratory in New Mexico, in a statement. "Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it's payoff time!"

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

Curiosity's Chemical and Camera instrument, or ChemCam, fires laser pulses that last just five one-billionths of a second but deliver more than a million watts of power, enough to turn solid rock into an ionized plasma. A trio of spectrometers in the tool then studies the sparks from the laser fire on 6,144 different wavelengths of ultraviolet, visible and infrared light to determine the composition of the vaporized rock.

?Sunday's laser firing was primarily target practice for Curiosity, but early results suggest the high-tech instrument is working well, mission managers said. Data from the test showed ChemCam is performing even better than in ground tests on Earth, they added.

"It's so rich, we can expect great science from investigating what might be thousands of targets with ChemCam in the next two years," said instrument deputy project scientist Sylvestre Maurice of the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Plan?tologie (IRAP) in Toulouse, France.

ChemCam is one of 10 instruments packed on Curiosity that rely on the rover's plutonium power source to study Mars. The $2.5 billion rover landed on the Red Planet on Aug. 5 and is expected to explore its Gale Crater landing site for the next two years to determine if the region could have ever supported microbial life.

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

You can SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/dTOakwmd130/Why-Curiosity-zaps-Mars-rock-with-30-laser-blasts-video

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AP-GfK poll shows most expect Obama to win

President Barack Obama arrives to speak at a campaign event at Canyon Springs High School, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, in North Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama arrives to speak at a campaign event at Canyon Springs High School, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, in North Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop at LeClaire Manufacturing on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012 in Bettendorf, Iowa (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Most Americans expect President Barack Obama to win a second term ? including more than a quarter of Republican Mitt Romney's supporters, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows. Still, the race remains a dead heat less than three months out from Election Day.

Overall, registered voters are about evenly split, with 47 percent saying they plan to back Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and 46 percent favoring Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. About one in four voters say they are undecided or could change their minds between now and Nov. 6.

The contours of the race are little changed from June, when an AP-GfK survey showed 47 percent of voters backing Obama and 44 percent siding with Romney, suggesting Romney's decision earlier in August to tap Ryan as his running mate was not the game-changing event he may have desired.

Both campaigns have been competing fiercely for a small sweet spot in the middle of the electorate: Independent voters who say they don't lean toward either party. Romney holds a narrow lead among that group with 41 percent, compared to 30 percent for Obama.

But few think the Romney-Ryan ticket will win in the end.

Asked to predict the race's outcome, 58 percent of adults say they expect Obama to be re-elected, whereas just 32 percent say he will be voted out of office.

Even among those who say they have a great deal of interest in following the campaigns' bitter back and forth, a majority expect Obama to win.

Partisans generally expect their own candidate to win, though Republicans are less sure about Romney than Democrats are about Obama ? 83 percent of Democrats say Obama will be re-elected while 57 percent of Republicans think he'll be voted out of office.

Among those Republicans who think Obama may pull out a victory is Catherine Shappard, a 78-year-old from Dallas. Shappard said all of her friends agree that Romney would be a better president, yet she's alarmed to hear even conservative commenters say Obama has a good shot at re-election.

"I think it's close," Shappard said. "A lot closer than I'd like it to be."

The perception that Obama has the advantage could cut both ways. On the one hand, people like to vote for a winner, so if voters think Obama will win, they may be more inclined to cast their lot with him.

On the other hand, it could backfire for Obama and help Romney if it drives down turnout among Democrats. If Obama's supporters think the race is in the bag and their vote isn't necessary, they may stay home.

But if, like Shappard, voters suspect the race is close, they'll be more likely to cast a ballot, said Patrick Murray, a political analyst at Monmouth University. "It's less important who people think will win than if they think it's a close race," said Murray.

After just over one week on the campaign trail, Romney's running mate remains unknown to about a quarter of voters. Ryan is viewed favorably by 40 percent of registered voters, while 34 percent see him unfavorably.

Romney put the 42-year-old conservative chairman of the House Budget Committee on the ticket Aug. 11. The AP-GfK Poll was conducted Aug. 16-20.

A ready-made opportunity to introduce their ticket to voters on the national stage awaits Romney and Ryan next week in Tampa, Fla., where the pair will formally accept the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention. Obama and Biden will receive their party's blessing the following week in Charlotte, N.C.

One independent voter, Frank Nugent, a 76-year-old retired sales manager from Pittsburg, Calif., said he always gives both parties a chance to win him over ? but not this time.

"Considering what the opposition is like, I can do nothing else but vote for Obama," he said. Part of his dislike for the GOP ticket is due to Ryan, he said, describing Romney's ticket-mate as "further right that the bulk of the Republican Party."

Ivan Tello, 39, from Tampa, is going the other way. A native of Columbia, Tello would have supported Obama in 2008 but wasn't eligible to vote. This election ? his first as a naturalized citizen ? Tello is leaning toward Romney.

"It's mainly because Obama didn't get the bipartisan support he wanted. That really created a lot of obstacles," Tello said. "I don't think that's going to change."

The frail economy remains the No. 1 issue more than three years after the deep recession officially ended. Nine in 10 call it important for them and half of voters say it is "extremely important," outpacing all other issues tested by at least 10 percentage points.

Registered voters split about evenly between the two candidates on whom they trust more to handle the economy, with 48 percent favoring Romney and 44 percent Obama. They are also about evenly divided on who would do more to create jobs, 47 percent for Romney to 43 percent for Obama. Among independent voters, Romney has a big lead over the president on handling the economy ? 46 percent to 27 percent.

The election is all about the economy for Mattise Fraser, a 52-year-old Democrat from Charlotte, where Democrats gather in early September. "We're in a crisis situation now," said Fraser, who said she plans to vote for Obama. She says she's a homemaker ? but not by choice. "The economy is crazy. There's no jobs."

Obama's approval rating held steady in the poll at about an even split, with 49 percent saying they approve of the way he's handling his job and another 49 percent saying they disapprove.

The president continues to be seen as more empathetic, and also held a commanding lead among voters as the candidate who better "understands the problems of people like you," 51 percent to 36 percent for Romney.

"For Romney to even say that he has four cars when I don't have one, and I'm struggling, and every time I turn around, something else is costing me more, I just don't feel he has any concept whatsoever," said Suzanne Ayer, a 69-year-old independent from West Deptford, N.J.

Some 50 percent see Obama as a stronger leader than Romney; 41 percent say Romney is stronger. And 35 percent overall say things in the nation are heading in the "right direction," up from 31 percent in June.

The poll involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,006 adults nationwide, including 885 registered voters. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9, while it's 4.1 points for registered voters.

___

AP Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed this report.

___

Online:

http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-08-22-US-Presidential-Campaign-AP-Poll/id-621ebbc97a8f4a6eaf2b3b86dbac8257

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Senate candidate apologizes but won't abandon race

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Missouri Rep. Todd Akin apologized Monday for his televised comments that women's bodies are able to prevent pregnancies if they are victims of "a legitimate rape," but he refused to heed calls to abandon his bid for the Senate.

Appearing on former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's radio show, Akin said rape is "never legitimate."

"It's an evil act. It's committed by violent predators," Akin said. "I used the wrong words the wrong way."

Calls for Akin's exit from the race grew Monday, with at least two Republican senators ? Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin ? saying he should resign the party's nomination.

But Akin, who has served six terms, pledged to continue the race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill.

"The good people of Missouri nominated me, and I'm not a quitter," he said. "And my belief is we're going to take this thing forward and by the grace of God, we're going to win this race."

Asked in an interview Sunday on KTVI-TV if he would support abortions for women who have been raped, Akin said: "It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Later Sunday, Akin released a statement saying that he "misspoke" during the interview, though the statement did not say specifically which points were in error.

"In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview, and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year," Akin's statement said.

Akin also said he believes "deeply in the protection of all life" and does "not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action."

Brown, considered to be one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans in the November election, said Akin's comments were "outrageous, inappropriate and wrong."

"There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking," said Brown, who is locked in a tight race with Elizabeth Warren.

Brown said Akin should apologize and resign the Senate nomination.

Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said in a tweet that Akin "should step aside today for the good of the nation."

As his political support waned, Akin also confronted problems paying for his campaign.

An official with the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee said the group's head, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, called Akin on Monday to tell him that the committee had withdrawn $5 million in advertising planned for the Missouri race.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the conversation was private.

Publicly, Cornyn called Akin's comments "indefensible" and suggested he take 24 hours to consider "what is best for him, his family, the Republican Party and the values that he cares about and has fought for."

Moments after Akin's apology, President Barack Obama said Akin's remarks underscore why politicians ? most of whom are men? should not make health decisions on behalf of women.

"Rape is rape" Obama said. And said the idea of distinguishing among types of rape "doesn't make sense to the American people and certainly doesn't make sense to me."

Akin also drew a swift rebuke from the campaign of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Romney and Ryan "disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said.

Romney went further in an interview with National Review Online, calling Akin's comments "insulting, inexcusable and frankly wrong."

"Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive," Romney said.

In an emailed statement Sunday, McCaskill said it was "beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape."

This month, the 65-year-old congressman won the state's Republican Senate primary by a comfortable margin.

During the primary campaign, Akin enhanced his standing with TV ads in which former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee praised him as "a courageous conservative" and "a Bible-based Christian" who "supports traditional marriage" and "defends the unborn."

Ushering Akin from the race is complicated by the fact that he has never been a candidate beholden to the party establishment. Since being elected to Congress in 2000, Akin has relied on a grassroots network of supporters. His Senate campaign is being run by his son.

Behind the scenes, Republican officials were looking for intermediaries trusted by Akin to try to coax him from the race.

Missouri election law allows candidates to withdraw 11 weeks before Election Day. That means the deadline to exit the Nov. 6 election would be 5 p.m. Tuesday. Otherwise, a court order would be needed to remove a candidate's name from the ballot.

If Akin were to leave, state law holds that the Republican state committee has two weeks to name a replacement. The candidate would be required to file within 28 days of Akin's exit.

Akin, a former state lawmaker who was first elected to the House in 2000, has a long-established base among evangelical Christians and was endorsed in the primary by more than 100 pastors.

___

Associated Press writers Henry C. Jackson in Washington and Chris Blank in Jefferson City, Mo., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-candidate-apologizes-wont-abandon-race-173129981.html

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