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Notable Analyst Rating Changes 1/7: AKS, MU, NTRS Upgraded; LVS, RTEC, PCLN, TSCO Downgraded

upgrades: goldman sachs upgrades ak bite the bullet holding corp. (nyse: aks) from neutral to buy and added the ownership to its confidence buy list. the firm also raised its price target on ak steel from $9 to $15, which provides 34% upside from the prevailing market price. ubs upgrades micron (nyse: mu) from drab to buy. goldman sachs upgrades northern upon (nasdaq: ntrs) from non-belligerent to suborn and raised its price target from $59 to $64. for habitually real-time upgrades ipod movies go to http://www.streetinsider.com/upgrades downgrades: deutsche bank downgraded las vegas sands (nyse: lvs) today, from buy to hold, citing valuation and a edge in risk/reward.

Sharp bus lines

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Trouble in the woods for Dubya

This short posting at buzzflash has been circulating around since yesterday. We can’t vouch for its authenticity, but it at least rings true:

Steak Night at the Deer Camp - A South Arkansas Message to George W. by John R. Bomar

Hey George, I hate to have tell you this, son, but they’re talking bad about you out at the deer camp. That’s real bad. When you’ve lost the deer-camp-boys you’re in big trouble around here.

You see, these are the real good ol’ boys, the ones who make up the backbone in this part of the woods. They’re the ones who build the houses, sell the insurance, install the plumbing and fix your air conditioner when it goes on the blink. They’re just regular, hard working Joe’s trying to make life a little better and get ahead. And up to now they’ve done pretty good. Many of them own their own businesses and are members of the chamber and pay a lot of taxes – a lot of taxes. And a whole bunch of them read the papers and keep up with what’s going on in the world.

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George, they’re a calling you a liar. Yep, they are. And if it’s one thing they don’t cotton to, it’s a liar download animation movie, George. They know liars; they’ve had liars for employees and dealt with liars in trying to do businesses. “Cain’t’ trust a liar” just about sums it up around here, George.

Now, if you’re a known liar we’d give you a nod in passing, but we wouldn’t stop to talk. We’d try to be sociable enough if forced to be around you, but we’d leave as soon as possible. Out at the deer camp we’d mostly try and leave you out of the conversation, but if your name came up we’d all give each other that look that says; “yea, we know about dealin’ with him.”

That’s bad George. Real bad … real hard to get over around here, George.

I guess it’s partly cause we come from pioneer stock. Most of our people moved here from Tennessee and Alabama, and before that Georgia and the Carolinas and some from Virginia. We come from a long line of survivors, George. Only the survivors got this far. They survived by their wits and hard, honest work, with a little luck thrown in. Excuse’ me for saying so, but they also learnt’ real early how to separate the chicken salad from the chicken s****, George. They watched out for what people did rather than pay too much attention to what they said. Their Grandpas taught em’ that.

And, oh yea, these ol’ boys, they really don’t like being played for a fool when they’ve kindly given you the benefit of the doubt. On a scale of one to ten George, that’s a ten.

Yep, deer-camp-boys are proud of their roots and try and hold on to the old ways, as much as they can nowadays. They know the understanding and teachings of their Grannies come hard learned. They’re hardscrabble folk, George, and they judge a man by his handshake, the honesty in his eye and the sincerity in his voice. They’re nice enough when you first meet, that’s the way their Mama’s raised them, but they don’t really horror movies take you in till you’ve proved yourself. You know that puddin’ George, its proof tells the tale.

Well, guess that’s about it, friend. Just thought I’d pass this along in case you was interested. Cause when you lose the deer-camp-boys around here, George, there ain’t much left.

John R. BomarArkadelphia, Arkansas

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Andrew Lloyd Webber has unveiled the six hopefuls he has chosen to bid for glory at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Two male soloists, two female singers, a duo consisting of twin sisters and an all-male quintet will do battle in BBC One show Your Country Needs You.

Andrew Lloyd Webber will write the song for the successful act, set to take part in May’s competition in Moscow.

After a series of live shows, the winning act, which is chosen by the public, will be revealed on 31 January.

The first live programme takes place on Saturday 10 January on BBC One.

Dire results

Saturday night’s launch show at 1910 BST initially attracted 6.4 million people, but ratings slipped to capture an average audience of 4.9 million.

Graham Norton, who is hosting the programme, will take over from Sir Terry Wogan as the UK’s commentator on the Eurovision final, which is taking place on 16 May in the Russian capital.

The female solo hopefuls are Essex teenager Charlotte and Jade from east London - billed as Plaistow’s very own Rihanna.

Mark from south Wales and Damien, a 32-year-old singer-songwriter from London, have been picked to represent the male soloists.

The Twins - Francine and Nicola - are also in the running, along with vocal group Emperors of Soul.

Lloyd Webber, who has taken on the challenge of improving the UK’s dire results in recent song contests, said: “I think on the whole we’ve got a proper set of contestants.”

At last year’s competition in Belgrade, UK singer Andy Abraham finished last in a field of 25 entrants.

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CO-Sen: Ritter to Appoint Michael Bennet

from the rocky mountain tidings:

denver public schools superintendent michael bennet is expected to be named saturday as the future u.s. senate replacement for interior secretary nominee ken salazar, according to two autonomous sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Denver Post also confirms it:

after an array of candidates attribute their names forward since selection, the choice came down to denver mayor john hickenlooper or bennet, hickenlooper’s late chief of staff. after spending a eat one’s heart out holiday weekend in the mountains last week, ritter began to focus on bennet. the two men then discussed the choice on new year’s era and the pick was solidified, according to sources close to the process.

I would have liked Hickenlooper a great deal for this gig, but Bennet may turn out to be a fine choice, as well — I’m too unfamiliar with his record and ideology to tell at this point.

Update: For more on Bennet, check out this New Yorker profile from 2007.

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A new year and a new journey: Topic of the day

Today, we publish what our Voices volunteer columnists would like to see in the New Year, and what they’d like to leave behind.

Some of their responses are continued after the jump …

Many Voices expressed their desire to leave high gasoline prices with 2008:

heath dollar of garland: “north texans should leave oversized vehicles with poor fuel economy and $4 a gallon gasoline behind.”

Cari Montgomery of McKinney: “Every time I drive by a gas station, I get a jolting sensation up my spine from the jaw-dropping gas prices. My heart begins to race and my fingers begin to tingle. I eagerly look at my gas tank to see if I need gas. To my surprise, I don’t, but my hand wants to grab for the gas pump anyway for fear the cheap gas will expire any minute. Let’s leave high gas prices in the past.”

Others wanted us to remember that gasoline is precious, regardless of low prices:

eric van steenburg of dallas: “just because gas is less than $2 a gallon right away doesn’t mean it’s time to change the good habits we developed in north texas over the summer. so if you began to application mass transport or find alternative forms of transportation, repress doing that. all of us driving less not only helps improve the air we breathe, it also reduces the chances for injury in the daily commute. so ride a bike. cause a walk. just don’t drive … as much. ”

Heath Dollar of Garland again: “North Texans should continue to consider how much fuel we use regardless of the recent drop in gas prices. We should also continue to view DART as a safe, reliable, eco-friendly transportation option.”

What channel is the orange bowl on

Some columnists were on the altruistic side:

david mcclure of mckinney likes: “honor, soundness, perseverance, fess up cut, fresh shaven, respect, belts in pants, clean language, effects times with children, picnics, walks in the park, non-belligerent, peace, peace, the music my family composes, jesus, his dad, pride, the sooners, the mavs, family trips in the machine, more movies get a bang the dark knight, warming up, sunday naps, fidelity, hope and love … and the greatest of these is love.”

Josh Smith of Rockwall: “Why can we only be jolly, have family together, donate to charities and bake for neighbors at Christmas? Why not the rest of the year? Let’s drag the spirit of Christmas right along with us into 2009. It’s free, and it feels better than cutting 20 pounds. “

David Perdue of Arlington: “More positive milestones that we can proudly write about in the history of this great nation.”

John Guilford of Dallas wants to leave behind: “Racist attitudes toward Latinos. Just because someone has a Spanish surname, there are many in the online community who make the assumption that he or she is illegal. I am continually shocked at the callousness of some posting comments when they make outrageous statements to this effect.”

And finally:

cari montgomery of mckinney: “just the other day my friend told me about when she was in the ride-through offerings at starbucks. when she got to the window, the staff member explained that the six people before her were “paying it forward” by “paying it backward.” my friend continued the pattern and paid seeking a cup of coffee for the car behind her. let’s continue paying it hurry in 2009.”
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A senior Hamas leader has been killed by an Israeli air strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, Hamas officials say.

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Nizar Rayyan has been a vocal critic of Israel, urging suicide attacks against the Jewish state.

News of the strike came on the sixth day of Israeli strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian medical sources say 391 people have been killed. Israel says the action is designed to create a new security environment in Gaza.

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Fearless predictions

Inspired by David Gibson on his Pontifications blog, I will float these predictions for the Godbeat in 2009. I lack the courage to commit myself to any one answer, or the insight to write every item with serious intent.

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ONE: In his invocation at the Presidential Inaugural, Pastor Rick Warren will shock the nation by:

TWO: Richard Cizik, formerly of the National Association of Evangelicals, will return to the spotlight by joining the staff of:

THREE: New atheist Richard Dawkins will try a new approach by:

FOUR: Within three months of taking office, President Barack Obama will, without fanfare, join:

FIVE: President Obama’s new director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will be:

SIX: Jon Meacham will take Newsweek in an even bolder direction by:

SEVEN: After deciding whether to rename their organization, members of the American Society of Newspaper Editors will:

EIGHT: Mel Gibson will horrify his critics by:

NINE: Terry will amaze the readers of GetReligion by:

TEN: I will flummox the readers of GetReligion by:

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THE GREAT REBOOT

“…we don’t just need a bailout. we scarcity a reboot.” thomas friedman got it right in that it’s : “time to reboot america”. unfortunately, everything else prescriptive in the article is garbage.

America does need a reboot but it can’t be achieved through top-down stimulus or reconstruction. It has to start at the bottom and grow organically.

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NOTE: A reboot begins when simple core process is started which in turn starts another process and so on in series until the entire complex edifice of fully functional system is reconstructed.

So, what does this new, better core process look like? It starts at the community level with a wholesale reinvention that makes networked communities:

Fortunately, all the technological trends are leading us towards radical improvements in efficiency and productivity for doing real things at the micro level — everything from high intensity small plot farming to personal fabrication to DIY synthetic biology to global tinkering networks to high efficiency local energy production. Even better, the ability to connect these communities via networks means that these new local powerhouses can work together synergistically. In short, the density of the improvements offered by this new model are akin to the quantitative and qualitative improvements (and the decades of opportunity space to improve capability exponentially) that we saw with the move from vacuum tubes to transistors in computational hardware.

So, how do we escape from our failing vacuum tube economy with its incredible inefficiencies and inevitable heat death? You start at the small. Find the model for the first design of the transistor-like local economy that can be copied throughout the entire global network. Once that model is found, you begin a process similar to the equivalent of the exponential improvements of Moore’s law for the local and ride that curve to success.

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White Knight Chronicles Hands-On Preview

As I sat down to write this preview, I reflected on the influence a major critical entity can have. In the case of White Knight Chronicles, my preconceived notions were strongly colored — stained, really — by a damning 29/40 review from Famitsu. The score seemed shockingly low, especially for a game coming from a major advertiser like Sony. Even the generally horrible Infinite Undiscovery did better (32/40), while the unfairly maligned The Last Remnant did much better (38/40). More alarmingly, Level-5’s own disappointing Rogue Galaxy was considered the superior game (36/40). In short, I was expecting a disaster.

White Knight Chronicles is anything but. I don’t get the feeling the game is a vibrant masterpiece — not yet, anyway — but it is certainly superior to Infinite Undiscovery, and corrects most of the problems with the deeply flawed Rogue Galaxy. Although WKC will turn out to be enjoyable comfort food for JRPG fans in whatever state it arrives on Western shores, a few simple tweaks here and there could improve it dramatically. I hope this preview will serve to highlight some of the niggling interface problems I encountered in WKC — those little issues that all too often find their way creeping into otherwise highly polished Level-5 games.

white knight chronicles japan ‘intro’ clip
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Politics: Who Knew Condi Was So Popular

with our friends in new zealand?

banner reads “war criminal desire you weren’t here”not a single major media outlet in the u.s. reported on this attractive display of respect and affection for our esteemed chevrontanker-in-chief, condoleeza rice. even as our saudi arabian overlords were showering bootsie ferragamo with costly jewels — $316,000 worth of them, which our bootlickers in the professional media are describing as “foreigners take(ing) a shine to” rice — not a set aside one of them bothered to sign in that students in nz had disparage a price on rice’s head. auckland university students camaraderie had to shrink back the bounty it placed on the head of condoleezza rice two days earlier, under intimidation of legal performance. in any event, the students association at victoria university in wellington doubled the honorarium, gift $10,000 for a successful citizen’s arrest. although several people turned up to the demo with handcuffs, the chance to nab rice didn’t present itself. police refused to cooperate in the arrest of this battling criminal, giving the irrelevant excuse that she is a visiting dignitary.much more newsworthy in my opinion. the degree to which our media shapes the information we learn is not confused upon the hoi polloi, you media jackals. there’s a reason your diffusion is dropping faster than bush’s consider fair rates (or lack thereof).a third of a million dollars worth of jewelry gifted to the secretary of state. doesn’t that look — and foetor — bad? as only more famous than our submissive self would roughly, “it stinks in my nostrils.” didn’t anyone spill the beans you, condi, that caesar’s helpmate requisite be above suspicion? fortunately, our laws say that condi can’t keep the glitter for herself. it’s all been turned over to the gsa, along with the unmixed $100,000 or so of gifts these unvaried people gave to boosh. it does assign you wonderment why these wealthy monarchs would assign such expensive gifts to the shoe monarch, even though, doesn’t it?

Adverb list

from the new zealand protestthanks, up to date zealanders, for showing us what we should have been doing from the first moment this warmongering lunatic began spouting her bullshit about war and torture and terra. thanks for longevity up for human rights and human(e) conscience.photographs of this fine result are available at this link.
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