Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Glam Slam: Get Sofia Vergara's Sexy SAG Awards Look! (omg!)

Sofia Vergara sparkles at the 2012 SAG Awards -- Getty Images

Sofia Vergara has the whole red carpet thing down to a science.

Her formula -- sexy dress that shows off her awesome shape -- paired with flattering hair and makeup that is never too over-the-top or over-done. She knows how to play up her natural beauty (and her God-given assets) and here's how you can achieve her look from Sunday's SAG Awards.

PLAY IT NOW: 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards Backstage: ?Modern Family? Wins Again!

SOFIA'S MAKEUP WHO: Kayleen McAdams INSPIRATION: Sofia's jewelry had purple tones, in both the bracelet and earrings, so I wanted to subtly bring that out in the eye with a plum shadow. To bring the whole look together, I used a mauve lipstick as it complemented the eye and also accented the jewelry.

HOW TO: FACE I applied COVERGIRL TRUconceal Concealer #4 under the eyes and around the nose first, and then applied COVERGIRL NatureLuxe Silk Foundation in Nutmeg #360 using a sponge starting at the center of the face and then blending outwards. To set these creamy products, I used a good, fluffy brush and COVERGIRL Clean Pressed Powder in Soft Honey. To brighten the face, I applied COVERGIRL Cheekers Blush in Classic Pink along the cheekbones.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: ?Modern Family?s? Beautiful Brunette Sofia Vergara

EYES I started with COVERGIRL Liquiline Blast Eyeliner in Brown Blaze at the outer corner of the upper lash line and all the way along the bottom. I applied COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers 1-Kit Shadows in Forever Fig over the entire lid starting at the outer corners and blending towards the center. I then used COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers 1-Kit Shadows in Brown Smolder at the outer corners and along the bottom lash line. I finished the eyes with two coats of COVERGIRL LashBlast Volume Blasting Mascara in Very Black on both the top and bottom lashes.

LIPS I started with COVERGIRL LipPerfection Lipcolor in Eternal to fill in Sofia's entire lip. To add dimension to the lip, I used new COVERGIRL Blast Flipstick Lipcolor in Vixen in the center to give it a little shimmer.

Additional beauty prep: At the last minute, I decided to add a little more brown liner to the upper lash line to give it further depth. Other than that, the look was all set!

VIEW THE PHOTOS: 2012 SAG Awards: Red Carpet Stars

I gave Sofia the lip products I used as well as a pressed powder to combat any potential shine throughout the night.

SOFIA'S HAIR WHO: Jen Atkin INSPIRATION: "We wanted to do something that complemented her dress and earrings and went for a pulled back low pony with a '60s feel to it."

VIEW THE PHOTOS: 2012 SAG Awards: Inside The Show

HOW TO: "I used Leonor Greyl Volumizing Mousse all over Sofia's towel-dried hair. Once the hair was blow-dried, I used Fekkai Dry Shampoo at the roots. I curled her ends with a T-3 1 1/2-inch curling iron, and pulled back into a long smooth ponytail. Then I used Phytologie Strong Hold Hairspray for fly-aways and on her ponytail. Finally, Fekkai Gloss sprayed all over for a smooth finish."

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Trying to read between the lines of the Fed rate message (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? For a central bank that wants to make transparency its hallmark, the Federal Reserve's new forecast of nearly three more years of super-low rates has left room for a few doubts.

The Fed surprised markets last Wednesday when it extended its previous forecast for keeping its key interest rate "exceptionally low" until at least late 2014, more than a year longer than its previous guidance.

Ninety minutes later, the U.S. central bank published charts showing that more than a third of its policymakers expected a rate rise before 2014, whiplashing bond markets.

The difference in tone between the dovish statement of the Fed's policy-setting committee and the somewhat more hawkish-looking projections of its 17 individual members, has left some economists unsure as to when the Fed will start to reverse its historic, all-out support of the U.S. economy.

Some are re-examining the Fed's choice of language and questioning whether the term "exceptionally low" really means the current level of the Fed funds rate of zero to 0.25 percent.

Others are asking what the phrase "late 2014" means more precisely as they try to decipher the nuances of a central bank that is taking bold steps to support the economic recovery while at the same time stressing transparency into its inner workings.

"You can't possibly know with any degree of confidence what will unfold given this degree of uncertainty," said Michael Moran, chief economist at Daiwa Capital Markets, in New York, referring to the wide range of views on where rates are headed. "You just have to keep an open mind on monetary policy."

The Fed has kept short-term rates below 0.25 percent for more than three years already and purchased some $2.3 trillion in long-term securities to help the U.S. economy claw its way back from a brutal recession.

With the recovery still fragile and at risk from fallout from Europe's crisis, the Fed is running out of tools and has turned to making statements about its intentions over the coming years in the hope of assuring skittish markets that it is committed to sticking with its super-loose monetary policy.

That could keep longer-term rates low in the open market. Low rates usually encourage economic activity and boost hiring.

This delicate management of expectations is playing out just as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is shining a light on what in the past were the central bank's opaque internal deliberations.

The first-ever release last week of projections by Fed policymakers of where they expect interest rates to be over the next few years revealed a remarkably wide range of views.

Three officials expected a rate rise as soon as this year. Two others did not see that happening until 2016.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Economic, rate projections: http://link.reuters.com/zud36s

FOMC statement from Jan 24-25 meeting: FED/FOMC

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

CONFUSION

In an early sign of confusion, yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped after the Fed's late-2014 comment on Wednesday and fell to as low as 1.92 percent. They bounced back to 2 percent after the rate projections were revealed.

Asked for clarity by reporters, Bernanke made it clear that the statement from the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets rates and currently has 10 voting members, prevailed over the 17 individual projections.

"The FOMC will always, in some sense, trump the projections of forward interest rates," he said.

But Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Fed and among the most hawkish of the Fed's top officials, acknowledged on Monday that the FOMC's statement was "not as clear as it could have been."

Having low rates until late 2014 is "conditional on the evolution of the economy. I think that we don't make that clear enough," Plosser told CNBC television.

"A lot of people have been reading the statement as if it was a commitment and it is not a commitment."

ALL EYES ON 2014

Plosser, who has focused more on keeping a lid on inflation than lowering the 8.5-percent U.S. unemployment rate, confirmed that he was one of the three officials forecasting a rate rise this year. He is among those skeptical of the Fed's ultra-easy policy and its talk of standing pat for some time to come.

Six of the FOMC's 17 policymakers saw rates rising to between 0.25 percent and 2 percent by the end of 2013. By the end of 2014 they were joined by a further five who expected increases in borrowing costs and as a group they saw rates between 0.25 and 2.75 percent, with a median of 0.75 percent.

The other six projected no change until after 2014.

Adding to intrigue over the path ahead for rates, Plosser, fellow hawk Richard Fisher of Dallas, and Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, a moderate hawk, all regain positions on the FOMC in the critical year of 2014.

Bernanke, along with vice chair Janet Yellen and William Dudley, the influential head of the New York Fed, has steered the Fed's policy moves. But the chairman's current term expires in early 2014, adding to the uncertainty on the horizon.

Since August, when Bernanke clearly implied in a speech that "exceptionally low" rates meant zero to 0.25 percent, Wall Street has run with that assumption.

Now some economists are reading between the lines.

"There are different definitions of 'exceptionally low' levels of the federal funds rate. Perhaps one could think of any rate below 1 percent as exceptionally low," said Thomas Simons, money market economist at Jefferies & Co, who co-published a note to clients on the topic.

"What is your definition of late 2014? Maybe it's September," Simons said.

Accordingly, futures traders are hedging their bets over what the Fed will actually do.

According to rates contracts at exchange operator CME Group Inc, traders are pricing in a 48 percent chance that the first rate hike will occur in June, 2014. There is a 62 percent chance that it comes in July, 2014.

Economists at FTN Financial argued the Fed's statement was intended to reinforce the primacy of the FOMC over the broader group. "The unspoken message is that there are enough voting members at or near zero to keep rates unchanged even if others at the Fed disagree," they wrote last week in a note to clients.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Additional reporting by Ann Saphir in Chicago; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/bs_nm/us_usa_fed_interest_rates

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Power paradox: Clean might not be green forever

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As energy demand grows, even alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and nuclear fusion could begin to affect the climate

"A better, richer and happier life for all our citizens." That's the American dream. In practice, it means living in a spacious, air-conditioned house, owning a car or three and maybe a boat or a holiday home, not to mention flying off to exotic destinations.

The trouble with this lifestyle is that it consumes a lot of power. If everyone in the world started living like wealthy Americans, we'd need to generate more than 10 times as much energy each year. And if, in a century or three, we all expect to be looked after by an army of robots and zoom up into space on holidays, we are going to need a vast amount more. Where are we going to get so much power from?

It is clear that continuing to rely on fossil fuels will have catastrophic results, because of the dramatic warming effect of carbon dioxide. But alternative power sources will affect the climate too. For now, the climatic effects of "clean energy" sources are trivial compared with those that spew out greenhouse gases, but if we keep on using ever more power over the coming centuries, they will become ever more significant.

While this kind of work is still at an early stage, some startling conclusions are already beginning to emerge. Nuclear power - including fusion - is not the long-term answer to our energy problems. Even renewable energies such as wind power will have to be used with caution, because large-scale extraction could have both local and global effects. These effects are not necessarily a bad thing, though. We might be able to exploit them to geoengineer the climate and combat global warming.

There is a fundamental problem facing any planet-bound civilisation, as Eric Chaisson of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, points out. Whatever you use energy for, it almost all ends up as waste heat.

Much of the electrical energy that powers your mobile phone or computer ends up heating the circuitry, for instance. The rest gets turned into radio waves or light, which turn into heat when they are absorbed by other surfaces. The same is true when you use a mixer in the kitchen, or a drill, or turn on a fan - unless you're trying to beam radio signals to aliens, pretty much all of the energy you use will end up heating the Earth.

We humans use a little over 16 terawatts (TW) of power at any one moment, which is nothing compared with the 120,000 TW of solar power absorbed by the Earth at the same time. What matters, though, is the balance between how much heat arrives and how much leaves (see "Earth's energy budget"). If as much heat leaves the top of the atmosphere as enters, a planet's temperature remains the same. If more heat arrives, or less is lost, the planet will warm. As it does so, it will begin to emit more and more heat until equilibrium is re-established at a higher temperature.

See diagramm: "Earth's energy budget"

Over the past few thousand years, Earth was roughly in equilibrium and the climate changed little. Now levels of greenhouse gases are rising, and roughly 380 TW less heat is escaping. Result: the planet is warming.

The warming due to the 16 TW or so of waste heat produced by humans is tiny in comparison. However, if humanity manages to thrive despite the immense challenges we face, and keeps on using more and more power, waste heat will become a huge problem in the future. If the demand for power grew to 5000 TW, Chaisson has calculated, it would warm the planet by 3 ?C.

This waste-heat warming would be in addition to the warming due to rising CO2 levels. What's more, since this calculation does not take into account any of the feedbacks likely to amplify the effect, well under 5000 TW may produce this degree of warming.

Such colossal power use might seem implausible. Yet if our consumption continues to grow exponentially - it has been increasing by around 2 per cent per year this century despite rising prices - we could reach this point around 2300.

Chaisson describes his work as a "back of the envelope" calculation done in the hope someone would prove him wrong. So far no one has. On the contrary, preliminary modelling by Mark Flanner of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, suggests that waste heat would cause large industrialised regions to warm by between 0.4 ?C and 0.9 ?C by 2100, in agreement with Chaisson's estimates (Geophysical Research Letters, vol 36, p L02801). Normal climate models do not include the waste-heat effect.

Does this mean human civilisation has to restrict itself to using no more than a few hundred terawatts of energy? Not necessarily. It depends on where the energy comes from. If you turn the sun's energy into electricity and use it to boil your kettle, it won't make the planet any warmer than if that same energy had instead gone into heating up the tiles on your roof. But if you boil your kettle using energy from fossil fuels or a nuclear power plant, you are adding extra heat. "The only energy that is not going to additionally heat the Earth is solar and its derivatives," says Chaisson, referring to sources driven by the sun's heat - wind, hydro and waves.

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80 percent of 'irreplaceable' habitats in Andes unprotected

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Hundreds of rare, endemic species in the Central Andes remain unprotected and are increasingly under threat from development and climate change, according to a Duke University-led international study.

"These species require unique ecological conditions and are particularly vulnerable to changes in the environment or climate. Yet our analysis shows that region-wide, about 80 percent of the areas with high numbers of these species lack any protection," said Jennifer Swenson, assistant professor of the practice of geospatial analysis at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

The study, published today in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal BMC Ecology, identifies and maps the geographic ranges of hundreds of species of plants and animals ? including mammals, birds and amphibians ? that are found nowhere in the world outside the Andes-Amazon basin in Peru and Bolivia.

The threat to these species has become especially severe in recent years, Swenson said, as oil and gold mining, infrastructure projects, agriculture and other human activities encroach farther into the region's biologically rich landscapes.

"This is one of Earth's most rapidly changing areas," she said.

To conduct their study, Swenson and her colleagues collected more than 7,000 individual records of endemic species locations for 115 species of birds, 55 mammals, 177 amphibians and 435 plants. They combined these with satellite images and climate, topography and vegetation data to create models, detailed to one kilometer, that mapped endemic species distributions across the entire basin ? from the forested slopes and dry inter-mountain valleys of the Andes all the way to the low-lying Amazonian wetlands and savannas.

By overlaying this data with maps showing modern political boundaries in the Andes-Amazon basin, the researchers found that only about 20 percent of the areas with high numbers of endemic species or high levels of irreplaceability fell within national parks or protected areas, and that 226 rare endemic species lacked any national-level protection at all. Irreplaceability is a term used by conservationists to denote biodiversity hotspots where high numbers of endemic species with very small ranges live. These are often among the most vital ? and vulnerable ? habitats in a region.

"Interestingly, one of the areas we identified with the highest number of bird and mammal species and one of the highest levels of irreplaceability was an unprotected region surrounding the World Heritage Site of Machu Picchu, one of the most heavily visited tourist destinations in the region," Swenson noted.

As the effects of development and climate change continue to shrink or shift geographic ranges in coming decades, some species may literally be running out of ground, she said.

"Conservation strategies across the Andes urgently need revising," she said. "There is already evidence of species migrating upslope to keep up with climate change. We hope our data will help protect this incredibly unique region."

Bruce E. Young, director of species science at the nonprofit conservation organization NatureServe, was principal co-author of the study. Twenty additional collaborators from conservation agencies and organizations in Peru and Bolivia helped gather data.

###

Duke University: http://www.duke.edu

Thanks to Duke University for this article.

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Real Estate Investing Forum | 84 Thousand

A real estate investing forum ?? a communications program f?r real estate matters ?nd ?t ?? intended t? suggest recommendation, ?????t?n??, data, resources ?nd tools associated t? knowing h?w t? m?k? ??? ?f real estate t? one?s top advantage. Whether purchasing, selling, assessing, rehabilitating, settling, contracting ?r merely seeking guidelines, opinion, forms, agreements ?r networking prospects ?m?ng ?th?r real estate minded persons, a forum ?? th? best form ?f aid. Fr?m private chat, bulletin boards, listings, acquiring property ?nd networking w?th experts fr?m ?ll over th? world, members ?f forums w?ll h?l? each ?th?r t? keep up t? date ?n wh?t ?? taking ?l??? ?n real estate.

A real estate investing forum ?? f?r conferring real estate investments, n? initial payment ?nd inventive real estate ???r???h??, ?nd ???r? ?th?r real estate investing linked issues.

A forum ?? ?n area t? impart w?th th? community a deal th?t h?? b??n lately done ?? investors globally ??n perceive wh?t deliver f?r a bargain ?n different markets. One ?h??ld b? ?bl? t? authenticate a deal w?th proof ?r verification links t? pertinent documents. Th??? forums present ???r? ingenious ways t? g?t th? funds t? carry out ?n? transaction ?nd th? m??t recent local market setting, laws, ?nd everything th?t needs t? b? known ?n th? investing arena th?t h??? ?n effect ?n a business.

Forums h??? turned out t? b? a trendy tool f?r finding n?w t? th? job business partners ?nd keeping shoulder t? shoulder ?f market developments. Whether one m?? b? starting out ?r ?n experienced professional, taking ??rt ?n ?l??? social groups lets investors t? gain knowledge ?f innovative strategies ?nd take ?n ?n discussions w?th similar-minded individuals globally. Edifying event issues concentrate ?n ?m??rt?nt topics th?t ???r? investor ?h??ld take ?nt? account wh?n putting together ?n acquisition d??????n counting asset distribution, risk management range ???r???h??, global trends, insurance ?nd ?th?r investment medium such ?? circumvent finances, real estate resources ?nd ?? well ?? private equity partnerships.

A real estate investing forum provides th? capital management ?nd funds manager community b? presenting a quality learning recommendation channel f?r clients involved ?n reviewing ?th?r investment mediums ?? a means ?f further expanding th??r case risk ?nd improving th??r earnings ?? a component ?f ?n general case ???r???h.? Customarily, th??? kinds ?f investment choices ?r? remote th? range ?f advice th?t ?? capable ?f providing b? means ?f accredited capital managers.? Thus, th? means t? thriving investing ?? t? b? well-informed, invest ?n mediums th?t offer first-rate management proficiency ?nd ?n partnership w?th n?w investors t? lay out risk.

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Jeb Bush: Gingrich efforts to tie Romney to Crist "ridiculous" (Washington Bureau)

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Arsenal relies on patched up defense in FA Cup

By STUART CONDIE

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 3:01 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2012

LONDON (AP) -Arsenal needs a swift turnaround against Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Sunday to get fans back on side.

For so long a hero to Arsenal fans, manager Arsene Wenger was jeered during last weekend's 2-1 Premier League defeat against Manchester United.

Wenger said he has nothing to prove after leading the Gunners to three Premier League titles but knows the only way to get supporters cheering again is for the team to start picking up positive results.

"I always believe the fans' reaction depends on us," Wenger said Friday. "It is the team which has to get the fans behind them and the fans have to be proud of the team. The vibes have to come from us."

But Wenger will again be relying on a patched up defense against a Villa side that has scored nine goals in its last three away games.

Out of contention for the Premier League title, Arsenal's injury problems mean it has been playing without specialist fullbacks since early December. Now it needs the likes of teenagers Nico Yennaris and Ignasi Miquel to plug the gaps at the back against Villa to prolong its interest in England's premier cup competition.

The 18-year-old Yennaris has started only once for Arsenal and made two more appearances as a substitute but knows how important the FA Cup is.

As an Arsenal fan, Yennaris is steeped in the club's history and watched his team win three of four finals between 2001 and 2005.

And this season's tournament represents arguably the club's best chance of ending a near seven-year streak without a trophy.

"I remember going to those four finals with my dad," Yennaris said. "Some were good, some not so good. The Liverpool one was the first I went to at the Millennium Stadium and we lost that game, Michael Owen scored in the last 10 minutes.

"Then there was Chelsea where Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg scored a couple of screamers, Southampton where Pires scored and then Man United where Vieira scored the winning penalty."

Yennaris made his Premier League debut as a halftime substitute for Johan Djourou in last weekend's 2-1 defeat against Manchester United. With Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos, Carl Jenkinson and Bacary Sagna all injured, he and the 19-year-old Miguel could be the fullbacks against Villa - even though Yennaris isn't a full-time fullback himself.

"When I came to Arsenal I was actually a striker and then I went to right back," Yennaris said. "Through the ranks I was playing at center back and then in central midfield but I probably wasn't tall enough for center back.

"(But) I'm quite quick. I can move up and down the line quite well so I think I probably am quite suited."

Villa is struggling to make an impression in the Premier League but manager Alex McLeish knows how to beat Arsenal, having led Birmingham to a shock victory over the Gunners in last season's League Cup final.

"We'd like to climb the table as high as we can," McLeish said. "But the magic of the FA Cup dictates you can't leave anything to chance and you have to go and do your utmost to get through to the next round. We have a tough away tie, we know that, but the top clubs have proven this season that they are not unbeatable."

Villa will be without winger Charles N'Zogbia, defender Carlos Cuellar and midfielder Chris Herd, but striker Gabriel Agbonlahor has recovered from illness. Forward Emile Heskey and midfielder Stephen Ireland are also back in contention after recovering from injury.

Also Sunday, Sunderland hosts local rival Middlesbrough.

Liverpool hosts record 11-time FA Cup champion Manchester United in the pick of Saturday's 12 matches, with United missing as many as 11 players because of injury.

Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young, Michael Owen, Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic were already out before Rio Ferdinand missed last weekend's win over Arsenal because of a back problem. Phil Jones and Nani were substituted because of injury, while Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick also picked up knocks.

"Hopefully we'll have two or three training this morning and we'll be better by tomorrow," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "It is not the best situation for us."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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'Bad losers' and?'animals'

Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has labeled Real Madrid's players bad losers and animals after his club won their latest ill-tempered matchup.

Hope for Solo

Ailing U.S. goalie Hope Solo practices ahead of Friday's do-or-die game vs. Costa Rica.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44031201/ns/sports-soccer/

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MacJordaN: BBC Africa Debate: Is an ?African Spring? Looming on the 2012 Horizon? - http://t.co/yFWLQsd8 | www.macjordangh.com #BBCAfricaDebate #Ghana

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Remarry Your Ex: Tweeters Weigh In

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Would you remarry your ex?

That's the question blogger Ed Housewright asked in his HuffPost blog post Thursday, weighing the pros and cons of re-tying the knot.

Housewright argued that under no circumstances would he re-marry his two exes, nor does he think they would remarry him. We posed the question to the Twitterverse, which almost universally agreed.

Here are some of our favorite responses:

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Filed by Brittany Wong ?|?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/remarry-your-ex_n_1235265.html

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UNH research: US hospitality industry often reluctant to hire people with disabilities

UNH research: US hospitality industry often reluctant to hire people with disabilities [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
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Contact: Lori Wright
lori.wright@unh.edu
603-862-0574
University of New Hampshire

DURHAM, N.H. People with disabilities trying to find employment in the U.S. hospitality industry face employers who are often reluctant to hire them because of preconceived notions that they cannot do the job and that they are more costly to employ that people without disabilities, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire.

UNH researchers Andrew Houtenville, associate professor of economics and research director of the UNH Institute on Disability, and Valentini Kalargyrou, assistant professor of hospitality management, analyzed data from 320 hospitality companies in the United States, and found similar concerns and challenges regarding employment of people with disabilities. The researchers used the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) Employer's Survey as their data source.

The research is presented in the journal Cornell Hospitality Quarterly in the article "People with Disabilities: Employers' Perspectives on Recruitment Practices, Strategies, and Challenges in Leisure and Hospitality."

"We found prejudice, stereotyping, and limited choices in employment as employment barriers for people with disabilities, but the chief concern among those in this survey involved the bottom line," said the researchers, who are both professors at the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

"The most frequently cited challenge or concern among hospitality and leisure companies is that the nature of the work is such that it cannot be effectively performed by people with disabilities, even though workplace accommodations are a tried-and-true method for addressing the nature of the work," the researchers said. "The cost of accommodation is the second most frequently cited challenge or concern, even among companies that are proactive in employing people with disabilities."

Employers also cited the cost of workers' compensation, the nature of work, coworkers' attitudes, discomfort and unfamiliarity, and lack of knowledge of the effectiveness of people with disabilities as employment barriers.

The researchers said offering tax credits to offset accommodation costs and productivity differences may encourage companies to employ people with disabilities.

"In addition, disability awareness training is frequently cited as a useful tool to facilitate the employment of people with disabilities. Such training would address and correct misconceptions such as the concern that those with disabilities lack the appropriate competencies to be effective in their jobs, are less productive, and are more accident-prone," the researchers said.

"Preconceived notions about the nature of the work that people with disabilities can do and how to accommodate workers with disabilities is a major challenge, even among companies that actively recruit people with disabilities. Creating a disability-friendly culture that is favorable and supportive of employees with disabilities is paramount in overcoming biases and stereotypes. Leadership must invest in managerial training to improve the workplace culture and inform the workforce on benefits when working with people with disabilities," they said.

###

The UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics offers a full complement of high-quality programs in business, economics, accounting, finance, information systems management, marketing, and hospitality management. Programs are offered at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive development levels. The school is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the premier accrediting agency for business schools worldwide.

The Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire was established in 1987 to provide a coherent university-based focus for the improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. Its mission is to strengthen communities to ensure full access, equal opportunities, and participation for all persons.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.


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UNH research: US hospitality industry often reluctant to hire people with disabilities [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
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Contact: Lori Wright
lori.wright@unh.edu
603-862-0574
University of New Hampshire

DURHAM, N.H. People with disabilities trying to find employment in the U.S. hospitality industry face employers who are often reluctant to hire them because of preconceived notions that they cannot do the job and that they are more costly to employ that people without disabilities, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire.

UNH researchers Andrew Houtenville, associate professor of economics and research director of the UNH Institute on Disability, and Valentini Kalargyrou, assistant professor of hospitality management, analyzed data from 320 hospitality companies in the United States, and found similar concerns and challenges regarding employment of people with disabilities. The researchers used the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) Employer's Survey as their data source.

The research is presented in the journal Cornell Hospitality Quarterly in the article "People with Disabilities: Employers' Perspectives on Recruitment Practices, Strategies, and Challenges in Leisure and Hospitality."

"We found prejudice, stereotyping, and limited choices in employment as employment barriers for people with disabilities, but the chief concern among those in this survey involved the bottom line," said the researchers, who are both professors at the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

"The most frequently cited challenge or concern among hospitality and leisure companies is that the nature of the work is such that it cannot be effectively performed by people with disabilities, even though workplace accommodations are a tried-and-true method for addressing the nature of the work," the researchers said. "The cost of accommodation is the second most frequently cited challenge or concern, even among companies that are proactive in employing people with disabilities."

Employers also cited the cost of workers' compensation, the nature of work, coworkers' attitudes, discomfort and unfamiliarity, and lack of knowledge of the effectiveness of people with disabilities as employment barriers.

The researchers said offering tax credits to offset accommodation costs and productivity differences may encourage companies to employ people with disabilities.

"In addition, disability awareness training is frequently cited as a useful tool to facilitate the employment of people with disabilities. Such training would address and correct misconceptions such as the concern that those with disabilities lack the appropriate competencies to be effective in their jobs, are less productive, and are more accident-prone," the researchers said.

"Preconceived notions about the nature of the work that people with disabilities can do and how to accommodate workers with disabilities is a major challenge, even among companies that actively recruit people with disabilities. Creating a disability-friendly culture that is favorable and supportive of employees with disabilities is paramount in overcoming biases and stereotypes. Leadership must invest in managerial training to improve the workplace culture and inform the workforce on benefits when working with people with disabilities," they said.

###

The UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics offers a full complement of high-quality programs in business, economics, accounting, finance, information systems management, marketing, and hospitality management. Programs are offered at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive development levels. The school is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the premier accrediting agency for business schools worldwide.

The Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire was established in 1987 to provide a coherent university-based focus for the improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. Its mission is to strengthen communities to ensure full access, equal opportunities, and participation for all persons.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uonh-uru012612.php

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Foreclosures pushing house prices lower

By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer

The ongoing wave of foreclosures continues to drag home prices lower.

Foreclosure-related properties, which made up roughly one in five home sales in the third quarter of ?last year, sold for an average 34 percent less than homes that were not ??distressed sales,? according to the latest data from RealtyTrac, a housing data research firm.

Foreclosures accounted for a smaller share of total sales as banks already glutted with properties slowed the pace of new seizures until they could unload the houses they already owned. The share of distressed sales also slowed last year following a slowdown in new foreclosures after consumer complaints and lawsuits challenging seizures that resulted from ?robo-signing? and other questionable document practices

?The sooner the market gets more clarity about accepted foreclosure procedures, primarily through the long-promised settlement between multiple states attorneys general and major lenders, the sooner the market can more efficiently dispose of these distressed properties. said Brandon Moore, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac

Reforms of those procedures are part of a recently-proposed, comprehensive settlement with lenders over abusive foreclosure practices. But the settlement, which is being touted as a program to save homes from the sheriff?s sale, could have the perverse effect to increasing the pace of foreclosures if it helps insulate bankers from potential lawsuits.

Even with the slowdown in home seizures and the legal complications often involved in buying those properties, foreclosure sales represent a historically high percentage of all sales, according to RealtyTrac. During the housing boom years of 2005 and 2006, less than five percent of all home sales were foreclosure. In the third quarter, the share reached 20 percent, down from 22 percent in the second quarter and 30 percent in the third quarter of 2010.

Those percentages are much higher in the states hardest hit by the housing collapse. In Nevada, foreclosure-related sales accounted for nearly 57 percent of all residential sales during the third quarter, the highest percentage of any state. ?In California 44 percent of the sales were foreclosure related, followed by Arizona (43 percent) Georgia (34 percent), Colorado (26 percent) and Michigan (23 percent).

Some sellers and real estate agents have tried to draw a?distinction?between foreclosure related truncations and ?non-distressed? sales in determining the price of the next sale of a comparable home. But just as the latest sale of a share of stock determines the starting point for the next transaction, b home buyers are using those distressed sales as a benchmark when making their bid.

The result is that sellers have been marking down their asking prices to match those distressed sales, according to separate research by FNC, another housing research firm. The company found that price cuts in December rose to their highest levels in nearly a near. The average markdown for non-distressed properties rose in the fourth quarter to 4 percent by December. Discounts were higher in the weakest local markets; one in four ?non-distressed? houses was marked down by more than 16.2 percent from the initial asking price.

Distressed sales fall into roughly two categories: properties already owned by banks and those at various stages of foreclosures, some of which may be sold in a ?short sale? before the foreclosure is final. Once owners have moved out, bankers who own the property are much more willing to cut prices because they now bear the cost of maintaining it. Compared to a non-distressed sale, the average discount for a bank-owned property was nearly 42 percent in the third quarter of 2011, according to RealtyTrac. That compares with a discount of just 24 percent for properties earlier in the foreclosure pipeline.

Some local markets are seeing much bigger price cutting. The Trenton-Ewing, N.J., metro area posted the biggest foreclosure discount of 68 percent below the average sales price of homes not in foreclosure. Discounts were also steeper than average in St. Louis (55 percent) Milwaukee (53 percent) Springfield, Mass. (52 percent), Saginaw, Mich. (52 percent), New Haven-Milford, Conn. (51 percent), Memphis (51 percent), San Francisco (51 percent), Toledo, Ohio (50 percent), Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. (50 percent), and Atlanta (50 percent).

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10237449-foreclosures-keep-pushing-house-prices-lower

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Bachmann says she'll seek 4th term in Congress

FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2011, file photo Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., expresses appreciation as she puts on a gift from a supporter during the book-signing event in Aiken, S.C. Bachmann told The Associated Press Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, that she'll seek a 4th term in Congress following her failed presidential bid. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2011, file photo Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., expresses appreciation as she puts on a gift from a supporter during the book-signing event in Aiken, S.C. Bachmann told The Associated Press Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, that she'll seek a 4th term in Congress following her failed presidential bid. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann swept aside doubts about her political future Wednesday, declaring less than a month after ending her presidential bid that she will seek a fourth term in Congress.

Bachmann's decision ended speculation she might be ready to move on from the House, perhaps leveraging her popularity among some conservatives into a career in talk media. Despite her high profile, Bachmann has been only a marginal player in Congress.

"I'm looking forward to coming back and bringing a strong, powerful voice to Washington, D.C.," Bachmann said in an interview with The Associated Press. She said a formal announcement would come later.

Unless redistricting radically changes Minnesota's Republican-leaning 6th District, Bachmann figures to be a heavy favorite. Other Republican hopefuls had stood aside awaiting her decision. No Democrats have yet declared for the race.

Bachmann is a potent fundraiser who brought in $13.5 million in her last House race, but she likely would start from scratch after the presidential campaign. A campaign finance report that would show how much money she can bring to the race isn't due until the end of the month.

Ken Martin, chairman of Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer Labor Party, said Bachmann's announcement wasn't a surprise. He said Democrats would attack Bachmann for being absent from the district and for missing votes in Washington during months chasing the presidential nomination.

"Anyone who thinks that they're unbeatable is fooling themselves, and particularly once you hand us these issues on a silver platter," Martin said.

Martin said he's talked with several potential candidates who were waiting for a special redistricting panel to issue new maps late next month. He said some also were waiting for Bachmann's decision.

David Fitzsimmons, 6th District chairman for Minnesota's Republican Party, said Democrats "put a lot of resources and a lot of energy" into three previous high-profile candidates against Bachmann without seeming to make much of a dent.

"We're very happy and excited in the 6th to have her running again as congresswoman," Fitzsimmons said.

Bachmann captured some early momentum in the chase for the GOP presidential nomination by winning the Iowa straw poll in midsummer, but she eventually faded. Bachmann said she will not be working for any GOP candidate still in the race ahead of Minnesota's caucuses Feb. 7.

Bachmann also addressed President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech. As she did on the campaign trail, Bachmann criticized Obama for "doubling down on failures that didn't work."

She said she "chose to lay everything on the line this last year" because she saw a better way.

"I know how to create jobs and I am a job creator," Bachmann said. "I do have a formula for success. I have lived that formula. ... We need that voice here in Congress."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-25-Bachmann-House/id-af8d942db7354373986a1dc5b79c8ac2

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Segel is Harvard Hasty Pudding Man of the Year (AP)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ? Actor Jason Segel can add a Hasty Pudding pot award to his career highlights.

Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals on Monday named Segel its Man of Year.

The student group is the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe. It'll host a parade and roast for Segel on Feb. 3.

Segel got his start in the short-lived but critically acclaimed television series "Freaks and Geeks."

He later wrote and starred in the 2008 movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which earned more than $100 million worldwide. And he co-wrote and starred in last year's "The Muppets."

He plays Marshall Eriksen on the CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother."

Last year, Jay Leno won the Hasty Pudding award, which recognizes outstanding entertainers.

Actress Claire Danes has been named this year's Woman of the Year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_en_ot/us_people_hasty_pudding_segel

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Android Central weekly photo contest: Transportation

Transportation

We're back for the second weekly Android Central photo contest, and this week's theme is transportation.  Anything that you use to get from point A to point B is fair game (see our example photo above), and we're looking forward to seeing another round of great pictures from you guys and gals.  Come Sunday, we'll pick the cream of the crop and show them all off (check out last week's finalists, they're amazing) -- and the winner this week get's an extended battery from ShopAndroid.com for his or her phone so they can carry a bit of extra juice and take a few more pictures.  We've also adjusted the rules a little, so read the next bit carefully:

  • Pictures must be taken with an Android device.  Yes, your iPhone or DSLR takes great pictures, but we're all about Android here.
  • Only one picture per person.  If you send in more than one, even if it's the best one, you're disqualified.
  • Entries must be accompanied by the name of the phone (or tablet) used to take them, and the name you want used for photo credit should you make the final cut. In other words, we want to know which phone you used!
  • Photos must be sent as an attachement.  With so many entries, we just don't have time to visit your Picasa or Flickr album.

Pick out your best photo, and send it to pics@androidcentral.com.  Good luck to everyone!



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ZZEscq7aKWA/story01.htm

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Patriots in Super Bowl, beat Ravens 23-20

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft holds up the championship trophy after their AFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft holds up the championship trophy after their AFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Members of the New England Patriots hold up the championship trophy after the AFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

New England Patriots defensive tackle Gerard Warren celebrates after the Baltimore Ravens missed a 32-yard field goal attempt during the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) looks at the championship trophy after the AFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

New England Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork (75) celebrates during the closing seconds of the AFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

(AP) ? Tom Brady got all the help he needed to get the New England Patriots into the Super Bowl.

Thank you, Billy Cundiff.

The Baltimore Ravens kicker shanked a 32-yard field goal with 11 seconds left and the Patriots escaped with a 23-20 victory in the AFC championship game on Sunday.

Usually, vintage Brady doesn't need much assistance in championship settings, but the Patriots much-maligned defense came through, and Brady's 1-yard touchdown dive with 11:29 left proved to be the winning points.

"Well, I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us," Brady said after throwing for 239 yards, with two interceptions and, for the first time in 36 games, no TD passes. "I'm going to try to go out and do a better job in a couple of weeks, but I'm proud of this team, my teammates."

Brady waited out the final tense minutes on the sideline, and then celebrated with the rest of his team when Cundiff's attempt went wide left. The Ravens looked on in stunned horror.

Cundiff had no excuse.

"It's a kick I've kicked probably a thousand times in my career," Cundiff said. "I went out there and didn't convert. That's the way things go."

Next up as the Patriots chase their fourth Super Bowl trophy in Brady and coach Bill Belichick's tenure in New England is the New York Giants, who beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime Sunday night.

The Patriots were installed as 3-point favorites for the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis.

In their last trip to the big game, the Patriots had an 18-0 record when they were stunned by the Giants four years ago. They won the NFL championship for the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons. This time, they head to the Super Bowl with a 10-game winning streak.

Before Cundiff missed, the Ravens had a chance to go ahead two plays earlier, but wide receiver Lee Evans was stripped of the ball in the end zone by backup cornerback Sterling Moore, who earlier was victimized for a touchdown that gave Baltimore (13-5) the lead 17-16.

On his touchdown, Brady took a huge hit from Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis, then emphatically spiked the ball as he walked away. Earlier, Brady showed his fire by barking at Lewis following a hard tackle on a 4-yard run.

"It's a pretty mentally tough team," said Brady, whose fifth trip to the Super Bowl will equal John Elway's achievement with Denver. "There's really some resiliency. We've shown that all season. Even in the games we've lost, the three games we lost, we fought until the end. We're always going to fight to the end. It's great to be a part of a team like this."

Baltimore had the touted defense in this matchup, but New England's unit, ranked 31st overall, was just as powerful.

"We stepped up," Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. "We all stepped up big time. Being in this situation is a great moment. You have to cherish this moment."

The Patriots shut down Ray Rice, the league's total yardage leader, who was limited to 78 yards. Brandon Spikes made a fourth-quarter interception of Joe Flacco, who played well before that and threw for two touchdowns. And when the Ravens were threatening to score a late touchdown to win their first conference title in 11 years, New England clamped down.

"It's two great football teams, two gladiators, I guess, just kind of going at each other at the end, and I'm proud of our guys," Harbaugh said. "You know, we've got 53 guys, mighty men, as we like to call them ? and they fought, and we came up a little bit short, as 53. You know, 53 win and 53 lose."

With Rice a nonfactor, Baltimore had to rely on Flacco, and he delivered one of his best performances. Flacco has led the Ravens into the playoffs in all four of his pro seasons, but not to the Super Bowl. He was 22 for 36 for 306 yards and touchdowns of 6 yards to Dennis Pitta and 29 to rookie Torrey Smith.

The loss hardly could be blamed on Flacco.

"I don't know if I ever will prove anything," he said. "I just play the same way. We lost; someone has to. But we laid it all out on the field."

Operating against a porous secondary missing its top cornerback, Kyle Arrington, who left in the second quarter with an eye injury, Flacco gave Baltimore its first lead. His short pass on third down to explosive receiver Smith turned into a 29-yard scamper down the right sideline after Moore completely whiffed on the tackle.

Danny Woodhead's fumble on the ensuing kickoff set up Baltimore at the Patriots 28, but a third-down sack forced Cundiff to kick a 39-yard field goal, making it 20-16.

New England didn't flinch.

Brady took the Patriots 63 yards in 11 plays, and seemed to score on a 1-yard run. The call was overruled by replay, though, and on fourth-down, he dived just high enough over the line for the winning points.

"Every inch counts in this game and every foot counts in this game," said 12-year veteran guard Brian Waters, who joined the Patriots this year and is headed to his first Super Bowl.

Defense was particularly dominant early on. The Patriots held Baltimore to minus-4 yards on its first three first-down runs and forced the Ravens to go three-and-out each time. Meanwhile, the Patriots put together a methodical 13-play, 50-yard drive helped greatly by an illegal contact penalty on Lardarius Webb that negated a tipped interception by Bernard Pollard.

But Brady was sacked for the first time by Paul Kruger and Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 29-yard field goal.

Late in the first quarter, the Ravens changed tactics after Webb picked off a pass intended for Julian Edelman at the Baltimore 30. Flacco rolled right on first down and threw deep down the sideline to a wide-open Smith. Had the pass not been short, Smith likely would have sprinted into the end zone. Instead, it was a 42-yard gain, not bad at all given Baltimore's previous ineptitude with the ball.

Cundiff's 20-yard field goal momentarily tied it.

Brady, perhaps peeved by his poor throw that Webb picked off, hit two passes for 29 yards on a 75-yard drive to make it 10-3. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 36 yards on that series, and also drew a personal foul against Webb, who ripped off the running back's helmet on a short rush. Green-Ellis surged into the end zone from the 7, then pointed to the patch on his jersey honoring Myra Kraft, the late wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

In the locker room afterward, Kraft was asked about the motivation the team got from dedicating the season to his wife of 48 years. Kraft tapped an MHK pin on his left lapel and kissed his fingers before pointing upward.

"They're an amazing team, they're a great brotherhood, they're a family," Kraft said.

Going back to the pass, the Ravens tied it on a 6-yard throw to Pitta ? yes, Baltimore has some dangerous tight ends, too ? that concluded an 80-yard march. Flacco opened the drive with a 20-yard completion to Evans and then Anquan Boldin escaped Arrington's attempted tackle to gain 37 more yards on a reception. Flacco was finding holes in New England's coverage, particularly when he moved out of the pocket.

New England's All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski made an error at the end of a 63-yard drive, failing to keep two feet in bounds on a catch. Gostkowski's 35-yard field goal made it 13-10.

Gronkowski left for a while with a left leg problem, but soon returned.

"It doesn't even feel right, especially playing with the veterans here," Gronkowski said. "I watched them go to the Super Bowl as I was growing up and now I'm part of it? It is an unreal moment."

Notes: Brady won his 16th career postseason game to tie Joe Montana for most in NFL history. ... New England's seventh Super Bowl appearance puts it one behind Pittsburgh and Dallas. ... The Patriots are 7-1 in AFC title games, 4-0 at home. ... Brady and Belichick are the first QB-coach combination to win five conference championships in the Super Bowl era. ... Baltimore was 7-0 against playoff teams this season before Sunday's loss. ... The Ravens finished 4-5 on the road. ... In three career games against the Patriots, Rice averaged 145.7 yards, nearly double what he managed Sunday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-23-FBN-AFC-Championship/id-cb3b202e89a040a08eb6d2a48a3ed720

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