Convicted evangelist Alamo no longer hospitalized (AP)

TEXARKANA, Ark. ? The lawyer for an Arkansas evangelist convicted of taking young girls across state lines for sex says his client was hospitalized for about two weeks but has since been released.

Defense attorney John Wesley Hall says Tony Alamo told his family that he was suffering from double pneumonia, liver problems and other ailments.

Hall also told The Associated Press on Saturday that he believed Almo was hospitalized for about two weeks up until a week ago.

The 77-year-old Alamo is serving a 175-year-prison sentence in Indiana.

His hospitalization was first disclosed Friday during a court hearing for a lawsuit filed by six women who say Alamo took them as child "brides." A seventh plaintiff says she was being groomed as his bride before she escaped his ministry in southwest Arkansas.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111120/ap_on_re_us/us_evangelist_child_abuse

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Hearing airs tribes' issues with Internet gambling (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Native Americans say they want the ability to compete for money and jobs generated by Internet gambling if Congress legalizes it. But they don't want to lose their sovereignty to get it.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing Thursday about tribes' concerns over Internet gambling, which has been banned in the U.S. since 2006. Many people have been playing at offshore sites anyway.

Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka of Hawaii says Internet gambling is getting more attention as Congress seeks more revenue sources and looks for ways to create more jobs. Some bills have been proposed in the House, but tribes say no legislation protects their interests so far, including protecting any money they make from being taxed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111117/ap_on_go_co/us_native_americans_internet_gambling

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Biscotti TV Phone goes on sale today for $199, assumes everyone you know uses Google Talk

Feel the need to video chat in higher resolution? Or maybe just take a break from the PC while you talk to your long-distance girlfriend you met at Comic Con? Well, we just got word that Biscotti, that TV phone we demoed last week, is on sale in the US and Canada for a princely $199. To recap, it's a camera that sits discreetly atop your TV and is, indeed, about as small and lightweight as that crunchy Italian cookie. The idea is pretty simple: it plugs into both your TV and set-top box, and makes free calls to other Biscotti owners, along with anyone using Google Talk. After our brief demo we were impressed enough with the easy setup and simple menus that layer on top of whatever you're watching, but then again, we were unaware of the price. So, is two hundred bucks worth a lifetime of seeing grandma in 1080p? That, friends, is a decision you'll have to make for yourself.

Continue reading Biscotti TV Phone goes on sale today for $199, assumes everyone you know uses Google Talk

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/15/biscotti-tv-phone-goes-on-sale-today-for-199-assumes-everyone/

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Oil price again flirting with $100 per barrel (AP)

NEW YORK ? Oil prices climbed to near $100 per barrel Tuesday on encouraging news about the U.S. economy.

Benchmark crude rose $1.23 to end the day at $99.37 per barrel in New York. The benchmark price hasn't been that high since July 26. Brent crude, which is used to price many foreign oil varieties, climbed 50 cents to finish at $112.39 per barrel in London.

Prices jumped after the Commerce Department said that retail sales rose in October for the fifth straight month. Consumer spending increased for electronics, appliances, hardware and building supplies. Sales also rose at grocery stores, bars and restaurants and health care stores.

"If people are opening their pocket books again, it's good for the economy. Maybe you'll see gasoline demand go up," said Phil Flynn, an oil analyst at PFGBest.

Inflation also eased last month, as companies paid less for gas, new cars and other goods.

The European Union also said that the 17-nation bloc avoided recession in the third quarter. The eurozone economy grew by 0.2 percent in the July-September period. However, it's still expected to shrink as countries like Italy and Greece cut spending to reduce debt.

A stalled European economy means that world energy demand could drift lower. But analysts say that most oil traders have already priced in the potential for a slowdown in the eurozone.

Meanwhile, retail gasoline prices in the U.S. slipped less than a penny to a national average of $3.41 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline prices are about 52 cents higher than the same time last year.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose less than a penny to end at $3.1713 per gallon, and gasoline futures rose 5.04 cents to finish at $2.5857 per gallon. Natural gas gave up 5.4 cents to finish at $3.4040 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111115/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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Giant DIY Lomo Captures Every Drunken Wedding Photo Op [DIY]

Instead of having an obnoxious wedding photographer trying to grab candid shots of the guests during the reception, Instructables user letMeBeFranks built this gigantic Lomo that served as a private photobooth. At $150, constructed from scrounged parts and equipment from around his home, it was a lot cheaper than renting one too. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/R0e7T8rRh5k/giant-diy-lomo-captures-every-drunken-wedding-photo-op

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'Breaking Dawn' Red Carpet: We're Live!

We already brought you an exclusive chat with "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner during "MTV First: 'Breaking Dawn,'" but that's simply not enough "Twilight" goodness for the MTV Movies team. The first half of the vampire saga's epic finale hits theaters this week, and right now, we're live on the red [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/11/14/breaking-dawn-red-carpet-were-live/

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Ala. county files for largest municipal bankruptcy (AP)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ? Alabama's most populous county filed what became the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in an effort to retake control of its beleaguered sewer system and wipe away as much of its whopping $4.15 billion in debt as possible.

Jefferson County's Chapter 9 filing on Wednesday gives it protection from creditors while it develops and negotiates a plan for adjusting its debts. It could accomplish that by extending debt maturities, reducing the amount of principal or interest, or refinancing the debt by obtaining a new loan.

But there are risks. Perhaps the biggest is the potential impact on the county's 658,000 residents, who could be asked to endure even higher sewer rates than were contemplated under the deal with creditors that fell through. That's because the sewer debt, which represents the bulk of what the county owes, is secured against net revenues from the sewer system, and the court will determine how much of that debt remains on the books and how the county will repay it. Unrestricted revenue in the county's general fund totaled only $152.5 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

The problems were years in the making.

Its debt ballooned after a federally mandated sewer project was beset with corruption, court rulings that didn't go its way and rising interest rates when global markets struggled.

Since 2008, Jefferson County tried to save itself the cost and embarrassment of filing for bankruptcy. But after three years, commissioners voted 4-1 to bring the issue to an end.

"Jefferson County has, in effect, been in bankruptcy for three years," said Commissioner Jimmie Stephens, who made the motion to file for protection in federal bankruptcy court in northern Alabama.

Just two months ago, the county seemed to strike a deal with creditors that would let it avoid making history.

But the sides couldn't come together on how to pay about $140 million of the total, Stephens said. Also weighing heavily in the decision, according to the filing, were the actions of a receiver appointed for the sewer system as part of the settlement efforts. The county's lawyers say the receiver wanted to raise sewer rates 25 percent and demanded the county immediately pay him $75 million in cash from its general funds.

Ben Brooks, a professor of finance at the University of Alabama, said bankruptcy would give the county a chance to move past the financial problems. The fallout from the fraud and corruption in the sewer program had been hanging over Jefferson County for years.

"The level of uncertainty has been holding back economic development for far too long," Brooks said.

The settlement proposal with Wall Street investors led by JPMorgan Chase & Co included the lenders agreeing to forgive about $1 billion in debt, the county refinancing about $2 billion, and a series of sewer rate increases. JP Morgan said it had worked hard to avoid a bankruptcy filing and was disappointed by the decision.

"We offered very substantial financial concessions to make the deal happen while keeping sewer rates within the parameters proposed by the county," the company said in a statement.

Commission president David Carrington said the filing was not a negotiation ploy.

The size of Jefferson County's bankruptcy overshadows the one filed by record-holder Orange County, Calif., in 1994 over debts totaling $1.7 billion.

Pennsylvania's capital city of Harrisburg recently sought bankruptcy protection under similar circumstances as it struggled with about $300 million in debt from a trash incinerator that began operating in 1972.

In the 1990s, a federal court forced Jefferson County ? home to Alabama's medical and financial centers and the state's largest city, Birmingham ? to begin a huge upgrade of its outdated and overwhelmed sewer system to meet federal clean-water standards. Officials used bonds to finance the improvements.

Outside advisers suggested a series of complex deals with variable-rate interest that were later shown to be laced with bribes and influence-peddling. Besides the sewer debt of $3.14 billion, the county faces a separate shortfall of more than $50 million in its operating budget because courts struck down a major local tax as unconstitutional. It listed other debts in its bankruptcy petition of $1.01 billion.

The bankruptcy filing likely won't affect other municipal bond rates much, if at all, said Matt Fabian, managing director at research firm Municipal Market Advisors.

"Big investors ? mutual funds, insurers, banks_ have been assuming the worst all along," he said. "If another county had filed, that would be a different story."

The market has been on edge for a while, with investors worried about rising defaults from local governments borrowing more to maintain services because of plunging tax receipts. The doomsayers have been wrong ? so far. Widespread defaults never materialized.

Still, for individual investors, the default could make them want to stay away from the bonds in general, he said.

Jefferson County's problems multiplied when loan payments rose quickly because of increasing interest rates as global credit markets struggled. Soon the county could no longer afford its payments. Meanwhile, a string of elected officials, public employees and business people were convicted of rigging the transactions that helped put the county in so much trouble.

One benefit for the county: Chapter 9 is different than other chapters in the bankruptcy code in that the law does not allow the court to order the municipality's assets be liquidated and distributed to creditors. The court's functions are generally limited to approving the petition, confirming a plan of debt adjustment, and ensuring implementation of the plan.

A big negative will be the millions of dollars in legal fees the county could incur. A municipality has authority to borrow money during a Chapter 9 case as an administrative expense, and it can employ professionals without court approval.

___

Associated Press writers Harry R. Weber in Atlanta, Jim Van Anglen in Montgomery and AP Business Writer Bernard Condon in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111110/ap_on_go_ot/us_alabama_county_bankruptcy

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Oil rises as Greece moves to salvage bailout (AP)

SINGAPORE ? Oil prices hovered above $94 a barrel Monday in Asia after Greek leaders agreed to a coalition government that will likely approve an European Union-led bailout package.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was up 5 cents at $94.31 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 19 cents to settle at $94.26 in New York on Friday.

Brent crude was up 53 cents at $112.50 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

Greece's embattled prime minister and main opposition leader agreed Sunday to form an interim government to ensure the country's new European debt deal, capping a week of political turmoil that saw Greece face a catastrophic default that threatened its euro membership and roiled international markets.

Prime Minister George Papandreou also agreed to step down halfway through his four-year term. Any interim government that is formed with the support of both major parties will be almost guaranteed to push the European rescue package through parliament, which would provide Greece with an additional $179 billion (euro 130 billion) in rescue loans and bank support.

Crude has jumped about 25 percent from $75 on Oct. 4 amid growing investor optimism that Europe will be able to at least temporarily contain its sovereign debt crisis. However, some analysts say the crisis has already undermined economic growth.

"Even if a reasonable temporary solution is achieved (in Greece), debt problems in Italy will continue to provide an obstacle to sustainable European economic growth," energy consultant Ritterbusch and Associates in a report. "We look for the eurozone to continue to provide a mix of headlines that will keep trading quite volatile."

In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 1.4 cents to $3.08 per gallon and gasoline futures jumped 2.2 cents to $2.69 per gallon. Natural gas slid 4.4 cents at $3.74 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111107/ap_on_re_as/oil_prices

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