Twitter, NBC Form Partnership

By SHIRA OVIDE

As athletes parade into London's Olympic Stadium this Friday, Twitter Inc.'s Olympic hopes will play out in a spartan office in Boulder, Colo.

Twitter and NBC are forming a partnership for the Olympics, as the microblogging site hopes to use the Games as a way to build its following and prove itself as a money-making, sustainable business. Shara Tibken reports on digits. Photo: Getty Images.

There, a handful of people will spend 20 hours a day to help corral millions of Twitter messages from Olympic athletes, their families, fans and NBC television personalities into a single page on Twitter.com.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The London Eye Ferris wheel will light up each night based on tweets.

Twitter's Olympics hub, part of a partnership between the San Francisco company and Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal that will be announced as early as Monday, is one of the first times Twitter will serve as an official narrator for a live event. NBC will tout the website with on-air promotions and links to athlete interviews or video clips.

With the partnership, Twitter hopes to use the Olympics as a launch pad into a more sustainable business. Twitter, which allows people to post 140-character messages called tweets, has built up more than 140 million monthly users and has become a go-to resource for people to find news or to gab about "American Idol."

But executives want the six-year-old service to find a larger audience, especially amid doubts about Twitter's ability to become a serious money maker.

Research firm eMarketer Inc. estimates Twitter will generate $259.9 million from advertising this year?far less than Facebook Inc.'s $3.15 billion in 2011 revenue. Wider adoption can help Twitter expand its ad business, justify its $8.4 billion valuation and eventually pave the way for an initial public offering.

As a result, Twitter's Olympics bet is crucial. "This is a way for new users to sample Twitter," said Chloe Sladden, Twitter's vice president of media.

NBC said no money is changing hands in its Twitter partnership and that it won't share in revenue from ads that Twitter is selling to Olympics sponsors for its Games website. Brands such as General Electric Co. and Procter & Gamble Co. already have bought ads on Twitter to promote their association with the Olympics.

Tweet Peaks

A look at select peak moments for Twitter messages, or tweets.

Reuters

Michael Jackson's death, June 2009: 493 tweets per second

The White House/Getty Images

Announcement of the killing of Osama bin Laden, May 2011: 5,106 tweets per second.

Associated Press

Super Bowl, February 2012: 12,230 tweets per second

Twitter declined to comment on the money it hopes to generate from the Games. P&G didn't return a request for comment. GE said it expects "the 2012 Games to be a pinnacle of social activity."

"There's no way of knowing exactly how much advertisers will spend on Twitter during the Olympics, but there is no doubt they will be jockeying for ad space during some of the key events of the Games, when traffic on Twitter will explode," eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson said.

Twitter has prepared for the Games for months. The company has hosted dozens of sessions with athletes and national sports associations to pitch them on using its service. Twitter has courted companies to buy ads on Twitter to spread their Olympics marketing messages. The International Olympic Committee said well over 1,000 current and former Olympians are using Twitter or Facebook for the Games.

Advertisers said Twitter has pushed itself to them as an effective marketing vehicle. Athletes and Olympics organizations said that ever since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, there has been an explosion of athletes embracing Twitter to talk to fans and occasionally trash talk to rivals.

During the Games, Twitter will use its Olympics events page to highlight insiders' views, and to encourage people to watch NBC's on-air and online coverage. Twitter will embed its own staffer with NBC's social media team in London to ensure fresh news, interviews and links to TV highlights will show up on Twitter. The Olympics "hashtag"?a way for Twitter to organize tweets about a single topic?will pop up on screen during television coverage, NBC said.

Twitter will be visible offline as well, not just on TV or online. The London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel dominating the skyline, will light up each night based on the sentiment of Olympic tweets, although Twitter said that isn't part of its campaign.

Some research shows social media is fueling viewership of live TV, as people want to interact over Kobe Bryant's dunk or Angelina Jolie's Oscar dress. Social-media analysis firm Trendrr said Twitter accounted for an average of three quarters of the "social activity" around broadcast TV programs in the first quarter of this year, vs. 16% for Facebook. For sports or other major televised events, Trendrr found Twitter has a near-lock on digital conversations.

Twitter believes the Olympics partnership with NBC is a chance to cement that status. It means "Twitter is really where the party is," Ms. Sladden said.

Facebook, which has a similar events page launched in conjunction with NBC, isn't selling ads there tied to the Olympics. Facebook declined to comment.

It is unclear if the interests of Twitter and NBC will always align during the Games. NBC plans to contain highlight clips and other Olympics video on its own websites and mobile applications, which won't necessarily appear on other digital services. Twitter also may tread on NBC's turf by essentially programming the Olympics on its events page.

Twitter and NBC said they aren't in competition. NBC's Olympics president, Gary Zenkel, said Olympics coverage anywhere helps NBC by stoking viewer interest.

"We're quite aware of and comfortable with the fact that [Twitter] is a place where news will surface, and in some cases the news will be made," said Mr. Zenkel. "At the end of the day, the only place you can watch the Olympics?which is what people crave?is NBC."

Meanwhile, Ms. Sladden said she would be in Twitter's San Francisco headquarters during the Games, closely watching the coverage. "I'll be consuming tweets and tweeting?and maybe trying to get some work done," Ms. Sladden said.

Write to Shira Ovide at shira.ovide@wsj.com

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444025204577543313839816248.html?mod=rss_Technology

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Ghana's President Atta Mills died at age 68

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) ? President John Atta Mills vowed to help spread the wealth from Ghana's newly discovered offshore oil fields, though his death Tuesday came before the 68-year-old could even finish his first term in this West African nation long held up as a model of democracy.

Ghanaian state-run television stations GTV and TV3 broke into their regular programming to announce the president's death, which comes three days after his 68th birthday.

Chief of Staff John Henry Martey Newman told the nation that Atta Mills had died Tuesday afternoon at the 37th Military Hospital in Accra but gave no details about the cause.

"It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana," Newman said.

Information Minister Fritz Baffour later confirmed that Atta Mills had died but also declined to comment further.

Louis Agbo, a university student in Accra, said the television stations interrupted regular programming to announce Atta Mills' death and he was shocked by the news.

"I could not even shout or cry," Agbo said. "I rushed outside and saw people crying and wailing on the street."

The nation stood by for a speech by Vice President John Mahama, who will become president under the nation's laws.

Chris Fomunyoh, the senior director for Africa for the Washington-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, said that Ghana's democracy could weather the death of a president.

In other nations in West Africa, the death of a ruler usually spells a coup, as it did in neighboring Guinea following the 2008 death of longtime dictator Lansana Conte, and Togo, where the military seized power after the president's death in 2005 in order to install the leader's son.

"Ghanaian democracy has been tested and its institutions function well," said Fomunyoh. "There's no reason to think that Ghana and its democracy will not handle this event properly."

Ghana, whose economy has been fueled by gold, cocoa and timber exports in the past, hopes to put its oil money to good use, mindful of how nearby Nigeria suffered through military dictatorships and widespread corruption over its oil wealth.

Atta Mills was elected in a 2008 runoff vote ? his third presidential bid ? after campaigning on a platform of change, arguing that the country's growth had not been felt in people's wallets.

"People are complaining. They're saying that their standard of living has deteriorated these past eight years," he told The Associated Press in 2008. "So if Ghana is a model of growth, it's not translating into something people can feel."

Atta Mills even put up campaign posters of himself standing next to a cutout of U.S. President Barack Obama in an effort to emphasize that he too stood for change.

Atta Mills had traveled to the United States in March where he met with Obama. The Ghanaian leader also traveled to the U.S. in April as well, as rumors about his health began to circulate Ghana. Opposition newspapers had recently reported that he was not well enough to run for a second term.

A government official in neighboring Ivory Coast said that he saw Atta Mills around six months ago in Ethiopia during an African Union meeting.

"We are hearing that he died of cancer of the throat. I saw him in Addis Ababa ? not this meeting, but the one maybe six months ago," said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. "He was walking slowly. I am surprised to learn that he is only 68. He looked much older."

Still, the official said no one suspected he was gravely ill. "Yes, his death is a surprise ? it's six months before the election, and he was a candidate."

Atta Mills won the 2008 second round ballot capturing a razor-thin victory with 50.23 percent of the vote ? or 4,521,032 ballots. His opponent, Nana Akufo-Addo, garnered 49.77 percent ? or 4,480,446 votes.

Atta Mills also served as vice president under Jerry Rawlings, a coup leader who was later elected president by popular vote and surprised the world by stepping down after losing the 2000 election.

Atta Mills spent much of his career teaching at the University of Ghana. He earned a doctorate from London's School of Oriental and African Studies before becoming a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

___

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Sammy Ajei and Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria; Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal; and Laura Burke in Cape Coast, Ghana contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ghanas-president-atta-mills-died-age-68-173016672.html

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Audit says Bin Hammam enriched himself

FILE - A Tuesday, May 10, 2011 photo from files shows Mohamed bin Hammam, chief of the Asian Football Confederation, as he talks to local media in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. Former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam has won his case against a life ban from football for allegedly bribing voters during his challenge to Sepp Blatter. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport says its panel upheld bin Hammam's appeal because of lack of evidence _ and was not convinced he is innocent of corruption. Still, the CAS ruling overturns FIFA verdicts which had exiled the 63-year-old Qatari. (AP Photo/Shirley Bahadur, File)

FILE - A Tuesday, May 10, 2011 photo from files shows Mohamed bin Hammam, chief of the Asian Football Confederation, as he talks to local media in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. Former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam has won his case against a life ban from football for allegedly bribing voters during his challenge to Sepp Blatter. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport says its panel upheld bin Hammam's appeal because of lack of evidence _ and was not convinced he is innocent of corruption. Still, the CAS ruling overturns FIFA verdicts which had exiled the 63-year-old Qatari. (AP Photo/Shirley Bahadur, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? The man in charge of Asian soccer, once a candidate to oust FIFA President Sepp Blatter as the sport's leader, enriched himself and handed out hundreds of thousands of dollars to friends and relatives, according to an audit obtained by The Associated Press.

Mohamed bin Hammam, a 63-year-old Qatari whose life ban from soccer was overturned in a sports court this week, is accused of using the Asian Football Confederation bank accounts to conduct his private affairs.

The audit was prepared by the international accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and dated July 13. A copy of the report was obtained by the AP. Its contents were confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of the report who spoke on condition of anonymity because it hasn't been made public.

The report offered rare details of the usually secretive accounts of not-for-profit football bodies handling hundreds of millions of dollars. And it portrayed a man who was running Asian soccer like a family business, negotiating contracts on his own and mingling his personal and AFC bank accounts.

The audit was especially critical of bin Hammam's use of AFC accounts for personal expenses, although there was no evidence of direct payments to bin Hammam.

"It is highly unusual for funds (especially in the amounts detailed here) that appear to be for the benefit of Mr. Hammam personally, to be deposited to an organization's bank account," the audit said.

He received millions of dollars from individuals linked to AFC contracts, according to the audit, and spent tens of thousands of dollars on items like a honeymoon for his son and dental work, haircuts and cash payments for his family.

It found he spent $700,000 from AFC coffers on himself and his family, including $100,000 for his wife, $10,000 on a Bulgari watch for himself and nearly $5,000 for his daughter's cosmetic dentistry.

Payments were also made to Asian, African and Caribbean soccer officials, including $250,000 to Jack Warner, the longtime strongman of Caribbean soccer.

"The arrangement with Mr Hammam's use of the sundry debtors account is, in our view, highly unusual and reflects poor governance," the audit said. "This use by Mr Hammam of the sundry debtors account continued even after the external auditor's recommended that it be stopped. Our review indicates that it was common belief that this account was for Mr Hammam personally and all funds flowing through it were his personal monies.

"We question why Mr Hammam would conduct his personal financial transactions through the AFC's bank accounts when the documents we have seen indicate that he already has several personal bank accounts in various countries," the audit said.

The Asian governing body, which he has led since 2002 was advised to seek "legal advice in respect of ... whether the actions of Mr. Hammam, and other parties identified in this report, constitute criminal and/or civil breaches." Bin Hammam was suspended for 30 days by the AFC following receipt of the report last week.

Bin Hammam was not available for comment. His U.S. lawyer said the allegations were a FIFA tactic to block his return to world soccer.

"If there were ever any question about the political motives behind FIFA's vendetta against Mr. Bin Hammam, it has been answered by the outrageous and baseless new charges that FIFA and AFC are bringing against him," lawyer Eugene Gulland said in a statement.

The audit found that a contract for commercial rights with World Sports Group and its subsidiary World Sports Football were no-bid contracts that were "considerably undervalued." A $14 million payment from companies with stakes in WSG, Al Baraka Investment and Development Co. and International Sports Events Company, was made to the AFC for the "personal use of its president," the report said.

Bin Hammam also approved several lucrative, no-bid contracts for commercial rights, including one for Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera Satellite Network.

The audit said its review of the AFC accounts found that it routinely handed out tens of thousands of dollars in cash to federation presidents and their relatives. Most of it went to their personal bank accounts and none of it was for soccer-related expenses, it said.

Gaurav Thapa, whose father heads the Nepalese federation, received $100,000 while Filipino soccer official Jose Mari Martinez received $60,000 and had $11,226 in hospital expenses paid. Another $50,000 went to East Timorese soccer official Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, the audit found.

Another $25,000 went for tuition expenses for a Bangladesh soccer federation spokesman and $20,000 to cover the cost of cancer treatment for the federation's general secretary.

Also, nearly $2,000 was spent by Bin Hammam to buy 14 shirts for Blatter and nearly $5,000 went toward the purchase of suits for Issa Hayatou, the CAF president.

The acting head of the AFC called for an end to spending abuses.

"I think this development also makes one thing very clear to all of us ? there is no place for unethical practices anymore in AFC," Zhang Jilong said in his opening address Thursday to an executive committee meeting. "I ask this (committee) to prevent any abuse of power and misuse of privileges by any office bearer."

__

Dunbar contributed to this report from Switzerland.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects amount of hospital expenses.)

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-20-SOC-Asian-Soccer-Audit/id-59cbeb2ae4a747fab7451998c5ab075e

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Some of the deadliest mass shootings around world

Some of world's worst mass shootings:

__ July 20, 2012: At least 12 people are killed when a gunman enters an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, releases a canister of gas and then opens fire during opening night of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises."

? July 22, 2011: At least 80 people are killed at a summer camp on the Norwegian island of Utoya. A man arrested also is suspected in a blast earlier the same day in downtown Oslo that killed seven. Anders Behring Breivik, 33, has admitted to carrying out both attacks. He awaits sentencing on Aug. 24.

? Nov. 5, 2009: Thirteen soldiers and civilians were killed and more than two dozen wounded when a gunman walked into the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas, and opened fire. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

? April 30, 2009: Farda Gadyrov, 29, enters the prestigious Azerbaijan State Oil Academy in the capital, Baku, armed with an automatic pistol and clips. He kills 12 people before killing himself as police close in.

? March 10, 2009: Michael McLendon, 28, killed 10 people ? including his mother, four other relatives, and the wife and child of a local sheriff's deputy ? across two rural Alabama counties. He then killed himself.

? Sept. 23, 2008: Matti Saari, 22, walks into a vocational college in Kauhajoki, Finland, and opens fire, killing 10 people and burning their bodies with firebombs before shooting himself fatally in the head.

? Nov. 7, 2007: After revealing plans for his attack in YouTube postings, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen fires kills eight people at his high school in Tuusula, Finland.

? April 16, 2007: Seung-Hui Cho, 23, kills 32 people and himself on Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va.

? April 26, 2002: Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, who had been expelled from school in Erfurt, Germany, kills 13 teachers, two former classmates and policeman, before committing suicide.

? April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school's library.

? April 28, 1996: Martin Bryant, 29, bursts into cafeteria in seaside resort of Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia, shooting 20 people to death. Driving away, he kills 15 others. He was captured and imprisoned.

? March 13, 1996: Thomas Hamilton, 43, kills 16 kindergarten children and their teacher in elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and then kills himself.

? Oct. 16, 1991: A deadly shooting rampage took place in Killeen, Texas, as George Hennard opened fire at a Luby's Cafeteria, killing 23 people before taking his own life. 20 others were wounded in the attack.

? June 18, 1990: James Edward Pough shoots people at random in a General Motors Acceptance Corp. office in Jacksonville, Fla., killing 10 and wounding four, before killing himself.

? Dec. 6, 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, bursts into Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college, shooting at women he encounters, killing nine and then himself.

? Aug. 19, 1987: Michael Ryan, 27, kills 16 people in small market town of Hungerford, England, and then shoots himself dead after being cornered by police.

? July 12, 1976: Edward Charles Allaway, a custodian in the library of California State University, Fullerton, fatally shot seven fellow employees and wounded two others.

? Aug. 20, 1986: Pat Sherrill, 44, a postal worker who was about to be fired, shoots 14 people at a post office in Edmond, Okla. He then kills himself.

? July 18, 1984: James Oliver Huberty, an out-of-work security guard, kills 21 people in a McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif. A police sharpshooter kills Huberty.

? Aug. 1, 1966: Charles Whitman opened fire from the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, killing 16 people and wounding 31.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-20-Mass%20Shootings-Glance/id-6a4d6c9158bd4a449f06ece80c476cc3

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Instagram's first photo was of this puppy

12 hrs.

Helen A.S. Popkin

From an old-timey looking?picture of a puppy to a $1 billion buyout by Facebook, Instagram's come a long way from its first photo upload on July 16, 2010. The free photo-sharing program, originally called Codename, when public three months later, in October, recalls an Instagram blog post commemorating the anniversary.?

Now, "1 year and 9 months later, over 50 million people have shared more than 1 billion photos on Instagram," the post continues. "We?re humbled by the amazing photos shared every day on Instagram and the incredible community that?s formed around the application."?

That's a lot of pictures of food people are fixing to eat, along with everything else we now upload, with a vintage feel.?

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job? on? Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/instagrams-first-photo-was-puppy-889450

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Thousands Protest Nuclear Power in Japan (Voice Of America)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/237799174?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Late wrestling coach Joseph Gicobbe leaves long legacy

Back in the 1980s, the wrestlers of North Miami High School squeezed into Joseph Gicobbe?s office at lunchtime. They didn?t visit for drills or discipline from their coach, but wanted to spend time with a man who never put them down.

?He had nicknames for half the guys on the team,? said Juan Reyneri, Gicobbe?s assistant coach in the 1994-95 season. ?All the guys just loved coming to practice. They loved wrestling for him. I?ve seen coaches, who have yelled and cursed and berated and belittled their wrestlers. Joe was not like that. Joe expected a lot from his wrestlers, demanded a lot from his wrestlers, and he was able to get the very best out of of them.?

Gicobbe passed away in the final days of June at age 58, leaving behind a long legacy of wrestling excellence.

He wrestled at North Miami and UCF and then returned to coach at his Miami alma mater from the early 1980s through 1998. He then moved to North Miami Beach High School until he put down the clipboard in 2007. Gicobbe became an official until a heart attack in 2010 forced him to stop.

He was inducted into the Florida Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005.

Gicobbe loved to read novels, had a great laugh and was always telling jokes. They weren?t always funny Reyneri said, but that never stopped Gicobee.

Rick Tucci, head of officials for USA Wrestling, knew Gicobbe for more than 30 years. Tucci said they went for chicken wings after matches and Gicobbe was always telling him about new Italian restaurants he found since they shared the heritage.

?If you didn?t know him you?d think he was tough,? Tucci said. ?He was always bam, bam, bam, let?s go, let?s go. Once he started he wanted to finish it. That?s the way he was.?

Tucci added that even while Gicobbe was in hospice, he held strong to optimism. He never acknowledged his sickness.

?At the funeral so many of his former wrestlers were there,? Reyneri said. ?A number of them spoke and there was this recurring theme that this was a great guy who inspired me and made a positive difference in my life, helped to shape me into the man that I am today.?

Steven Montero

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/14/2894853/late-wrestling-coach-joseph-gicobbe.html

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Video: KLG says she?s OK with hugging coworkers

Kathie Lee and Hoda put a Spanx on a dude (Would you?)

For the fourth hour's very special Guy Episode,??a group of men were given series of all-bro makeovers. Among them was Matt, a construction worker who has trouble taking his look from day to night. Eve Michaels, a beauty expert fixed him right up ? by highlighting his hair and putting him in Spanx.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29054368/vp/48165084#48165084

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Over a hundred Mormons gathered to quit the LDS church

By: Anugrah Kumar
Christian Post

Thursday, 5 July 2012, 8:16 (EST)

Bountiful LDS Temple in Utah, the headquarter of the LDS church and where the mass resignation took place.
(Mike Nielsen/msn678 via Flickr) The group of Mormons, from Utah, Arizona, Idaho and a few other states, flashed signs saying, "Finally ExMormon," "Research the church" and "Transcend Mormonism," as they hiked Ensign Peak in Salt Lake City.

"This feels awesome," Reuters quoted Alison Lucas, from West Jordan, Utah, as saying. "I don't know if I would have had the courage except in a group."

The reasons behind the Mormons' exit included doctrines, inconsistencies in how the LDS narrates its own history, and its rejection of gay marriage. They hiked a peak where former church president Brigham Young once surveyed the spot where his Latter-day Saints would build a city in 1847.

"It's been a hard journey and this is a symbolic end," event organizer Zilpha Larsen was quoted as saying. "I just hope that it boosts people up and helps them feel more comfortable in their decision."

Michelle Hobbs, a 40-year-old Salt Lake City resident, told The Salt Lake Tribune she had been "very faithful" all her life but after she researched on the church, she began to doubt the timeline of events in the Book of Mormon. "It's just all man-made. It's very disappointing," she said.

Some feared their decision could cost them social or business connections they got through the LDS. "It's hard, so we have to be very careful," participant Robin Hansen was quoted as saying. He said he was leaving over a "culture of abuse" Mormons promote by stressing on obedience.

Michael Purdy, an LDS spokesman, responded to the mass resignation, saying, "People make their own decisions about the direction they will follow in life." There are very few who take this action, he told Reuters, but "it is sad to see someone choose to leave. We wish them well."

Mormons deviate from Christianity's central tenets ? the Trinity, the belief in one God in three Persons. They also believe Joseph Smith Jr. is the first latter-day prophet who restored the original Christian church in the 19th century in America. They believe the entire structure of Christian orthodoxy affirmed by the post-apostolic church is corrupt and false. Additionally, Latter-day Saints are often criticized for their belief in "divine" books of scripture, aside from the Bible, including the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.

Source: http://au.christiantoday.com/article/over-a-hundred-mormons-gathered-to-quit-the-lds-church/13634.htm

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These Chinese Frauds Could Be Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

The Fall of the Communist Dynasty and The Looting of China touched on the widespread fraud that has become apparent, both in mainland and US listed Chinese companies. I also showed that an extraordinary number of the Communist Party and the military cadre ?had massive unexplained wealth, with the Top 70 recording a net collective worth of over $80 billion. This week Bloomberg ?was banned by the Chinese government for reporting the incoming presidents families assets at over $367M.

As Xi climbed the Communist Party ranks, his extended family expanded their business interests to include minerals, real estate and mobile-phone equipment, according to public documents compiled by Bloomberg.

Those interests include investments in companies with total assets of $376 million; an 18 percent indirect stake in a rare- earths company with $1.73 billion in assets; and a $20.2 million holding in a publicly traded technology company. The figures don?t account for liabilities and thus don?t reflect the family?s net worth.

I explained how this net worth had come about by the implementation of the Cadre capitalist system by Deng in the early 90s and how that evolved into a kleptorcacy.

To this we add the standoff between the China and the US over accounting standards. This issue has been going on for a few years and there looks to be no resolution in sight. Chinese firms could be cut off from US capital markets by the end of the year says Patrick Chovanec ?a professor at Tsinghua University?s School of Economics and Management in Beijing, China:

unless a compromise can be reached, there is a very real chance that U.S. securities regulators may end up employing the ?nuclear option?:? forcibly delisting every Chinese company currently listed on a U.S. stock exchange ? such as Sinopec, Sina.com, China Life, and China Unicom.?? It?s a potential catastrophe-in-the-making that few investors or politicians have given any serious thought to.

There is a high probability ?that the Chinese simply cannot comply with US requirements because Chinese politicians and princelings would be implicated in these massive frauds , with over 200 companies having listed in the US this would result in a massive dislocation of capital when these companies are forced to relist in Hong Kong. If as Paul Gillis , a Professor at Peking University?s Guanghua School of Management contends the

PCAOB and the SEC make no progress. The issue becomes political and widely known. Deregistration becomes the only option and it is the PCAOB that pulls the plug. That then forces the exchanges to decide how to enforce their rules that require companies to have auditors and audited financial statements in order to be listed. I expect in this scenario that the exchanges are forced to delist the companies, and the scramble to Hong Kong begins.

On the 20^th June, the SEC served formal requests on ?the Chinese arms of all of the Big Four audit firms China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) warned ?the Big Four global accounting firms not to provide audit records to overseas regulators. Currently, Mainland Chinese affiliates of the international audit firms have 130 clients listed on US stock exchanges with Deloitte (48 clients), PwC and KPMG (28 clients each) topping the list.

The reality is that Hong Kong hasn?t the capacity to re-register this amount of capital, so the issue is likely to become a powder keg in a US election run up. ?Will Obama or Mitt be willing to stare down China on accounting and audit standards?

John Hempton?s ABC of Chinese Kleptocracy leads us to only one conclusion

(a). The children and relatives of CPC Central Committee members are amongst the beneficiaries of the wave of stock fraud in the US,

(b). The response to the wave of stock fraud in the US and Hong Kong has not been to crack down on the perpetrators of the stock fraud (so to make markets work better). It has been tomake Chinese statutory accounts less available to make it harder to detect stock fraud.

(c). When given direct evidence of fraudulent accounts in the US filed by a large company with CPC family members as beneficiaries or?management?a big 4 audit firm will (possibly at the risk to their global franchise) sign the accounts knowing full well that they are fraudulent. The auditors (including and arguably especially the big four) are co-opted for the benefit of Chinese kleptocrats.

The Chinese are refusing because they are protecting Kleptocrat racketeers.

The problem maybe that neither side has room to move, US regulators and the ?get tough with China brigade? must move to protect the viability of US capital markets , while western style audits may expose far to ?many politically connected kleptocrats behind the Chinese audit curtain for them to give way. The Chinese reluctance to provide information may indicate that the frauds that have been uncovered to date are merely the tip of a big Red Iceberg of Chinese cadre fraud.

Craig Tindale is the Vice President of the Centre for Economic Stability, Professor Steve Keen?s non-profit research initiative.

Twitter @ctindale

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheMoneyGame/~3/4_f3ABm2g_E/the-chinese-frauds-uncovered-so-far-are-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-2012-7

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Citi Cardholders Get a Shot at Sports Stardom

This summer, Citi cardholders and their kids have a chance to attend a baseball camp with Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz, play tennis with the Bryan Brothers, caddie for golfers Carl Pettersson and Robert Garrigus, or get basketball coaching from the legendary John Calipari, University of Kentucky head basketball coach.

The Private Pass program from Citi is open to all Citi cardholders with a Citi American Express, MasterCard or Visa, and lets customers buy exclusive event tickets available only to Citi card holders. It also gives Citi customers the chance to purchase special VIP access, preferred seating, and presale tickets. Events include concerts, sporting events, and more - like these sports camps for kids and adults.

Major League Opportunities

Girls and boys ages 6-14 can register for the David Ortiz Baseball Clinic in West Roxbury, Massachusetts on August 6^th, where they will get baseball instruction from the pros, plus the opportunity to meet David Ortiz of the Red Sox and get an autographed baseball. Tickets are just $125 for Citi card holders, and baseball-loving kids will likely never forget their chance to hit a ball with a major league player.

Says David Ortiz, "I'm excited to partner with Citi Private Pass to create a unique baseball training experience for families in Boston this summer. From practicing, hitting and fielding, I hope it will be an experience they remember as long as they play."

The July camp with Cal Ripken, Jr. is already sold out, but lucky kids whose parents are Citi card members will spend the day pitching with Cal and Bill Ripken at Camden Yards, having a private lunch with them, and attending an Orioles game.

"Our camps allow kids to learn the game at a wonderful facility while having a great time. We really want kids to love the game and keeping it fun is an important part of our teaching philosophy," Ripken Jr. said. "We are confident that the Citi customers who have their kids attend the camps will learn terrific fundamentals, meet new friends and enjoy themselves."

Hooping it Up

For kids who are more interested in basketball hoops than pitchers' mounds, the John Calipari Instructional Basketball ProCamp runs August 1-4 and gives kids ages 7-18 the chance to brush up their basketball skills with the help of the legendary University of Kentucky coach.

Coach Calipari said, "I'm thrilled to share the excitement and passion I have for basketball with fans. For Citi customers that share my love for the game and have always wanted to experience basketball at a high-level, this camp is a unique weekend of championship-level fun here in Kentucky."

There are only 25 spots in each of two camps, and those lucky enough to score a ticket will get a camp T-shirt, an autographed photo of Coach Calipari, and the chance to compete in contests and win prizes. The camps will feature players Anthony Davis, Doron Lamb, Darius Miller, Terrence Jones, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Maquis Teague, and Eloy Vargas.

Tickets are $199 and space is limited.

Coming Soon

Also this summer, more great Citi Private Pass sporting events include World Team Tennis with identical tennis twins Bob and Mike Bryan and "Caddie for a Pro" - in which a lucky golf fan gets to be a caddie for a pro golfer ($250 a ticket). That VIP caddie experience is a little pricier than the camps for kids, though ?- tickets run about $7,000 for that one.

Whichever sporting event is your passion, having a Citi card can give you up-close access to your idols. "Whether our customers want their kids to get coached by champs or to play alongside the pros, we're giving them more ways to enjoy the game,"says Ralph Andretta, Head of Co-Brands and Loyalty at Citi Cards. "Citi Private Pass delivers exclusive experiences and access to the heroes of sports."

Bryant Park

Bryant Park is a financial consultant for one of the companies listed on Wall Street. He writes on a variety of topics ranging from credit cards to different loans that can be availed by consumers. He holds a bachelor degree in Financial Services from Dartmouth College.

Source: http://www.credit-land.com/news/citi-cardholders-get-a-shot-at-sports-stardom-1458.php

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Serena tops defending champ Kvitova at Wimbledon

Serena Williams of the United States plays a shot to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during a quarterfinals match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Serena Williams of the United States plays a shot to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during a quarterfinals match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reacts during a quarterfinals match against Serena Williams of the United States at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Serena Williams of the United States, right, is congratulated by Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic after a quarterfinals match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Serena Williams of the United States reacts winning against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during a quarterfinals match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic waits between sets during a quarterfinals match against Serena Williams of the United States at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) ? Serena Williams reached her eighth Wimbledon semifinal by knocking out defending champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets with another commanding serving performance on Tuesday.

Playing underneath the closed roof on Centre Court while rain halted play elsewhere at the All England Club, Williams hit 13 aces ? including three in the last game ? to beat the fourth-seeded Czech 6-3, 7-5.

Kvitova was on an 11-match winning streak at Wimbledon and had not lost here since Williams beat her in the 2010 semifinals en route to her fourth title.

"She's been playing so well on grass," Williams said. "I had absolutely nothing to lose."

The American four-time champion seized control by breaking Kvitova for a 4-2 lead in the first set and then never gave her opponent a chance to get back in the match. She saved a set point when trailing 5-4 in the second with a hard serve down the middle that Kvitova could return only into the net. That was the only break point the defending champion earned, as Williams won 86 percent of the points on her first serve.

Kvitova then led 30-0 in the next game but made four straight mistakes ? including netting an easy forehand on break point ? to give Williams the opening she needed.

Williams, who hit a Wimbledon-record 23 aces in a fourth-round win over Zheng Jie of China, is trying to become the first woman over 30 to win a Grand Slam title since Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon in 1990.

Outside Centre Court, it was a start-and-stop day at Wimbledon, as showers continued to cause headaches for organizers.

Play was delayed for about 30 minutes on the outside courts in the morning, although Andy Murray and Florian Mayer found enough time between the showers to wrap up suspended matches and reach the quarterfinals.

David Ferrer also advanced in the first match on Centre Court, where organizers again came under scrutiny for their use of the retractable roof. Their decision to open and then close it caused the start of Ferrer's match against Juan Martin del Potro to be delayed by about 40 minutes.

Murray made the last eight for the fifth straight year by beating the 16th-seeded Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-2, 6-3, while Mayer ousted Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. American qualifier Brian Baker's remarkable run ended with a 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3 loss to 27th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

Rain had prevented five of the men's fourth-round matches from being completed on Monday. The weather continued to cause headaches as the start of play on outside courts was delayed for about 30 minutes because of light showers. When matches started, they were quickly halted again for another rain delay of about an hour.

"We stopped, obviously, a lot," Murray said. "You're always a little bit edgy when you come out after a rain delay when you have the momentum with you. You stop, and then you come back out, and it feels a bit like you start from scratch again. I needed to serve well today and I got a lot of free points that helped me out."

Play on Centre Court didn't even have time to start at all before the rain came. Organizers had closed the roof because of earlier showers in the morning but then decided to open it during a dry spell just before Ferrer's match against del Potro. When the showers resumed, they promptly had to close it again and keep the players waiting.

When the match began, Ferrer needed less than two hours to beat del Potro 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Another rain delay then forced the suspension of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's match against Mardy Fish, with the fifth-seeded Frenchman leading 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 4-2.

Murray's match was halted on Monday with the Briton leading 3-1, 40-0 in the second set. He had time to play one point on Court 1 ? clinching that game ? before rain started falling again. One game later, the match was suspended once more. After the second resumption, there was another slight break early in the third set as the players remained in their chairs for about five minutes under umbrellas as officials waited for a light shower to subside.

The Briton's victory never looked in doubt, though, and he served out the match to love when the Croat netted a backhand. Murray will next play Ferrer as he tries to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936 ? a task that looks easier after Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the second round last week.

The 126th-ranked Baker was trying to become the third American qualifier to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club. He was playing in Wimbledon's main draw for the first time after being off the tour for more than five years because of a series of operations, one on his right elbow. He was ranked 458th at the start of 2012 but now will rise inside the top 100.

On Monday, top-ranked Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Mikhail Youzhny were the only men to complete their round of 16 matches.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-03-TEN-Wimbledon/id-7b14d4931152481991f91c7aeda9ecc3

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Did Elvis have the best rock hair ever?

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Which musician has (or had) the greatest hair? Was it Elvis? slick pompadour? George Clinton?s rainbow extensions? Justin Bieber?s modern moptop?

Depending on when you grew up, you may have been reprimanded by your World War II vet dad for growing out your hair like The Beatles, or for shaving stripes into the sides like Vanilla Ice. Even if you didn't experiment with your own locks, you surely knew what Jules was talking about in "Pulp Fiction" when he called one of the guys in the Big Kahuna burger scene "Flock of Seagulls."

Country artists sported memorable hairdos, too. Has anyone ever pulled off long, long hair better than Crystal Gayle, or managed the braids-on-a-guy look like Willie Nelson?

Take a nostalgic walk down musical memory lane with our slideshow, and vote in our poll as to which musician has the most distinctive hair.

{"contentId":"12523420","totalVotes":"242"}

Which musician or group had/has the most distinctive hair?

Which musician's hair is the most memorable? Tell us on Facebook.

Elvis	? 53.3% (129 votes)
The Beatles	? 22.7% (55 votes)
Flock of Seagulls	? 6.2% (15 votes)
Hair metal bands like Poison	? 3.7% (9 votes)
David Bowie	? 3.7% (9 votes)
George Clinton	? 2.5% (6 votes)
Crystal Gayle	? 2.5% (6 votes)
Cher	? 2.5% (6 votes)
Other	? 2.1% (5 votes)
Justin Bieber	? 0.8% (2 votes)
Vanilla Ice	? 0% (0 votes)

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/02/12523420-did-elvis-have-the-best-rock-hair-ever?lite

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Syria strikes Damascus suburb; U.N. decries arms flow

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian helicopters bombarded a Damascus suburb on Monday and Turkey scrambled warplanes near the border in the north, as the U.N. human rights chief warned that arms supplies to both the government and rebels were deepening the 16-month conflict.

Fighting has come to the gates of the capital in recent weeks and is also raging throughout the country as the battle to unseat President Bashar al-Assad increasingly takes on the character of an all-out civil war, fuelled by sectarian hatred.

Syrian government forces have launched an assault on Douma, a city on the edge of Damascus where they stormed a rebel stronghold two days ago, leaving bodies rotting in the streets of the nearly abandoned town.

"The bombardment of Douma continued today using helicopters. Some activists entered the city today and they saw at least seven decaying bodies in the streets under the sun. One man had been executed inside his house," said Mohamed Doumany, an activist who fled the city two days ago and was now nearby.

"There is huge destruction in the city, which is almost empty. Only a few of its people remain inside," he told Reuters by Skype.

The bitterness of the struggle has seen the rebel ranks swollen by defections among troops. Dozens more, including a general, fled into Turkey on Monday, sources in the Free Syrian Army there said. Turkish media said 85 soldiers had deserted.

United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay decried the flow of weapons to both sides. "The ongoing provision of arms to the Syrian government and to its opponents feeds additional violence," she said in the text of remarks made to the Security Council, obtained by Reuters. "Any further militarization of the conflict must be avoided at all costs."

Pillay did not say where the weapons were coming from, though Russia and Iran are the government's main suppliers. U.N. diplomats say Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been transferring arms to the increasingly militarized opposition while the United States says it is supplying only "non lethal" aid to the rebels.

Diplomats from the West and Arab states who oppose Assad met the Syrian leader's allies Russia and China on Saturday in Geneva under the auspices of peace envoy Kofi Annan. However, they made no progress in persuading Moscow and Beijing to sign up to a statement calling for Assad to give up power, leaving the effort to forge an international consensus in tatters.

The failure of diplomacy to have any measurable effect on a conflict that the United Nations says has killed more than 13,000 people is testing the patience of countries in the region, especially Turkey, which reacted with fury 10 days ago when Syria shot down one of its warplanes.

FIGHTERS SCRAMBLED

Turkey said on Monday it had scrambled six F-16 fighters in response to three separate incidents of Syrian helicopters approaching the border. Turkey also scrambled fighters on Saturday and has moved guns and soldiers toward the frontier.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Syrian opposition figures gathered in Cairo that their struggle to unseat Assad would end in victory.

"The Assad regime's guns, tanks, weapons have no meaning in the face of the will of the Syrian people. Sooner or later the will of the Syrian people shall reign supreme. And you will lead this process," he said.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a former ally of Assad who has turned decisively against him, says Turkish military rules of engagement have been changed and any Syrian forces approaching the border and deemed threatening will be targeted.

The Syrian government tightly controls access, making it difficult to verify accounts of fighting on the ground.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen played down concerns about the military buildup by Turkey, a member of the alliance. Asked whether there was a risk it could lead to a confrontation with Syria, Rasmussen told a news conference in Brussels: "No, on the contrary. I commend Turkey for having shown restraint despite the very tragic aircraft incident."

"I find it quite normal that Turkey takes necessary steps to protect its population and its territory," he said.

UNITY CALL

At the Cairo talks, Turkey and anti-Assad Arab states urged the divided opposition to unite and form a credible alternative to the government.

The unity calls were made at the opening of a two-day meeting organized by the Arab League to try to rally Syria's opposition, which has been beset by in-fighting that diplomats say has made it tougher for the world to respond to the crisis.

"It is not acceptable to waste this opportunity in any way. The sacrifices of the Syrian people are bigger than us all and more precious than any differences or individual and party interests," Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said, addressing the roughly 200 Syrian politicians and activists.

Diplomats and officials at the talks, which are being boycotted by the Free Syrian Army which is leading the armed struggle against Assad's forces, said they did not expect a major agreement to emerge but hoped for some progress.

Anti-Assad activists said there were heavy clashes in Deir Ezzor province near the Iraqi border where villages were under army fire. Rebels destroyed two tanks, they said.

In rural areas near Aleppo south of the Turkish border there were clashes following explosions inside the city overnight. Forested areas near the border were on fire, activists said.

Syrian artillery pounded the village of Talbiseh near Homs on Monday, targeting an area near the mosque. Video footage posted on YouTube showed a blast hitting the mosque's slender minaret, engulfing it in a cloud of grey smoke and dust.

Other footage showed high explosive rounds slamming into an unseen target behind the mosque every minute.

Security forces were also shelling towns in the province of Deraa, near the Jordan border, activists said.

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon and Douglas Hamilton in Beirut, Jonathon Burch in Ankara, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Antakya, Turkey, Yasmine Saleh and Edmund Blair in Cairo, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations and Adrian Croft in Brussels; Writing by Peter Graff and David Stamp; Editing by Peter Millership and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-strikes-damascus-suburb-u-n-decries-arms-051823389.html

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IBM?s Augmented Reality App Exposes the Sugary Sins of Breakfast Cereal

As shoppers become more and more concerned with what they are putting into their bodies, the ritual of standing in the aisle staring at the ingredients of an item is common place in grocery stores. It doesn?t help that the ingredients are printed with a teeny tiny typeface.

To help combat shopping eye-fatigue, IBM is developing an augmented reality shopping app that speeds up the process of determining if a product meets a shoppers criteria of ingredients or features by displaying product information that?s relevant to their interests.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/ATdFW-8_X7s/

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New Vilma lawsuit asks for quick appeal ruling

New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma arrives at the National Football League's headquarters, Monday, June 18, 2012 in New York. Vilma and three other players are appealing their suspensions for their role in the Saints bounty program. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma arrives at the National Football League's headquarters, Monday, June 18, 2012 in New York. Vilma and three other players are appealing their suspensions for their role in the Saints bounty program. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma is suing the NFL in federal court, claiming Commissioner Roger Goodell failed to make a timely appeal ruling regarding Vilma's season-long suspension in connection with the league's bounty investigation.

The lawsuit filed Saturday night in U.S. District Court in New Orleans also asks for a temporary restraining order to allow Vilma to continue working if Goodell upholds the suspension.

The suit contends Goodell has undermined "the integrity of the NFL and the Commissioner's office" by handing down punishments to Vilma and others based on evidence that is either flawed or cannot be substantiated.

It is the second lawsuit Vilma has filed in the matter. The first, filed in May and also in federal court in New Orleans, seeks unspecified damages from Goodell for defamation of character.

In his latest filing, Vilma claims that the NFL's collective bargaining agreement required Goodell to rule as soon as was practical following a June 18 appeal hearing. Because players, in protest, declined to present new evidence or argue their case in the hearing, Goodell should have been able to rule by June 25, the first business day after the record was closed in the matter, the lawsuit argues.

"We have not yet had an opportunity to review Mr. Vilma's improper effort to litigate a matter that is committed to a collectively bargained process," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "There is no basis for asking a federal court to substitute its judgment for the procedures agreed upon by the NFL and NFLPA, procedures that have been in place, and have served the game well, for decades."

In his latest attack on the NFL's handling of the bounty probe, Vilma contends punished players have only been able to see less than 1 percent of 50,000 pages of documents the league said it has compiled. His suit also claims that the few key pieces of evidence the league shared are flawed, including printed reproductions of handwritten notes.

"The NFL's alteration of other documents evidences that the NFL cannot substantiate the suspension, and undermines the integrity of the process," Vilma's lawsuit states.

The lawsuit seeks to discredit a key piece of evidence outlining bounty pledges from before the NFC championship game against Minnesota in January 2010, and also takes aim at fired assistant coach Mike Cerullo, who, according to Vilma, produced the document for the league.

Cerullo had a vendetta against the Saints after his firing following the 2009 season, and resented that the Super Bowl ring he received had been made with imitation (cubic zirconia) diamonds, the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit claims Cerullo created the document "well after the 2009 NFC Championship game and in an effort to gain revenge against the Saints."

The suit further contends that a "close associate" of Cerullo has confirmed that Cerullo retracted his previous claims about the bounty program "in a communication directly with Goodell that occurred in April 2012."

The lawsuit notes that Goodell has not shared notes from interviews with Cerullo. Goodell also did not produce Cerullo as a witness at the appeal hearing or acknowledge Cerullo's retraction.

However, Aiello has denied that key witnesses in the bounty probe have retracted statements.

Aiello also has said the NFL has not issued any gag orders. Vilma's latest lawsuit, however, claims the NFL has ordered suspended former Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams not to speak with suspended Saints players, coaches or officials as a condition for his reinstatement.

The NFL has said that Williams, who is suspended indefinitely, organized a bounty system that offered cash for hits that injured opponents, and which ran during his three seasons as defensive coordinator in New Orleans from 2009-11.

A close friend and associate of Williams, who was present for at least one discussion Williams had with Goodell, contends Williams never acknowledged the existence of a bounty program, Vilma's lawsuit said.

Williams' associate also contends that Williams has no information corroborating NFL findings that Vilma offered a $10,000 bounty for knocking quarterbacks Kurt Warner or Brett Favre out of 2009-10 playoff games.

The same associate confirmed that Goodell ordered Williams not to speak about the bounty matter with other punished individuals, the lawsuit said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-01-Saints-Bounties-Vilma/id-6ae014b95e634c0abf0fc1d6efc9949b

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