Hundreds of Iraqis cheer departure of US forces (AP)

BAGHDAD ? Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gathered in Baghdad Friday to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces, but in a sign of the sectarian divisions that re-emerged immediately after their departure, Shiite Muslims did not join the event.

The celebration took place near the Abu Hanifa mosque, the main house of worship in the primarily Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah in northern Baghdad. To secure the event, Iraqi troops blocked traffic on roads leading to the mosque and searched people approaching the area.

During the rally, men and children waved Iraqi flags and raised banners praising those who resisted the U.S. presence in Iraq.

"Baghdad is the castle of resistance," one banner read. "The deeds of the heroes are stronger than the weapons of the occupiers," read another banner. Women threw chocolates to the crowd as a sign of joy.

In his sermon, the mosque's preacher, Sheik Ahmed al-Taha, accused the Americans of stirring up sectarian tension among Iraqis.

"The occupiers created the sectarian conflict as an exit from the quagmire they found themselves in when they were facing 200 military operations against them every day. By dividing Iraqis, the Americans made Iraqis attack each other instead of attacking them," al-Taha told worshippers.

The preacher also called on the government to demand compensation from the Americans for the loss of lives and damage caused during the occupation.

The lingering sectarian divisions Iraq faces was clear during the prayer service and rally, which was almost entirely Sunni. Shiites had been invited to join the celebration but did not show up.

Shiites have even given the departure of the U.S. forces a different name than the Sunnis have. Sunnis generally call it the "evacuation day," whereas Shiites often refer to it as the "fulfillment day" as a way to show that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who leads a Shiite-dominated government, fulfilled his promise to get all the troops out of the country.

Tensions between Sunnis and Shiites have deepened since al-Maliki's government issued an arrest warrant for the country's top Sunni politician. The government is also trying to push out another member of his government, leaving many Sunnis to question whether they will ever have a place in the Iraqi power structure.

In spite of the problems, some Sunnis were optimistic.

Omar Abdul-Aziz, 28, said the sectarian conflicts Iraq experienced just a few years ago "won't be repeated because Iraqis now understand that sectarianism was planned by the occupiers."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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Verizon data network down. Again. Again.

For the third time in almost as many weeks, Verizon seems to be having data network issues. We haven’t gotten that many reports from iPhone users this time,...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/tsI2FG1bfkQ/story01.htm

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Constitutionality of home insurance laws questioned | House Keys ...

A local public insurance adjuster and the president of a home inspectors group allege that parts of property insurance laws passed this year and last hurt their industries and are unconstitutional.

Public adjuster restrictions

In a lawsuit filed this month in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, Eduardo Rodriguez is suing the state over changes made by a a sweeping law this year that prevent public adjusters who represent state-backed Citizens Property Insurance policyholders from getting paid for their services until the insurer makes an offer. The law also limits what they can charge after that.

Public adjusters are hired by policyholders to prepare, file or complete claims. The new law restricts fees for public adjusters representing Citizens policyholders to 10 percent over the original amount the insurer offered for a claim.

Rodriguez, president of Expert Claims Adjusters in Miami, notes in the suit that the law doesn't define an original offer but documents from Citizens imply it's a written offer after the insurer has adjusted and investigated the claim. He said the time before that is critical because a policyholder may make decisions that affect how much money they'll receive such as finding all the damages and preserving evidence.

The law "does not allow a public adjuster remuneration for performing inherent and necessary tasks until Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has made a nebulous, vague and undefined 'original offer,'" according to the suit. That violates a public adjuster's "right to contract and [other rights] such as the right to be rewarded for industry."

The same restriction doesn't apply to private insurers' policyholders: State law caps their public adjusters' fees at 10 percent for hurricane claims made during the first year and 20 percent for all other claims.

Home inspector restrictions

Steve Taylor, president of the Florida chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors, wrote a letter to state officials recently saying changes that allow licensed contractors or engineering firms to hire unlicensed people to do inspections to verify hurricane insurance discounts but bar home inspection firms from doing the same violate unfair trade practice regulations.

"The contractor and engineer business owner can hire a non-licensed individual at a much lower wage than the other business entities who can only hire licensed individuals...As a result, the contractor and engineer business owner can deliver the wind mitigation service to the consumer at a much lower fee than the other business entities, thus creating an unfair market advantage," Taylor wrote to the Financial Services Commission, which is made up of the Cabinet.

Regulators made changes to a form used to verify hurricane insurance discounts based on changes required by a 2010 law. Despite the letter from Taylor, the Florida Cabinet approved the new form this month.

The state Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a lawsuit alleging a 2009 law barring public adjusters from soliciting business right after a disaster violates free speech.

Photo: An employee of Category 5 Hurricane Shutters installs shutters on a home in Delray Beach. (Jim Rassol, Sun Sentinel)

Source: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2011/12/public_adjusters_and_home_insp.html

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Photos | Best Couples Of 2011

Best Couples Of 2011

Related Artists

• Britney Spears
• Justin Bieber
• Selena Gomez
• Jay-Z
• Beyoncé

Source: http://www.mtv.com/photos/best-couples-of-2011/1676483/6801328/photo.jhtml

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NHL players may be at risk for concussions more than other sports

PHILADELPHIA -- As with football, the hitting of opponents - both legally and otherwise - is seen as being part of the game in ice hockey.

So it comes as no surprise that players suffer concussions, as Flyers Claude Giroux, Chris Pronger and Brayden Schenn have this season.

But head-injury experts suspect that the true number of concussions is far greater than what is reported, both in hockey and other sports, both in professional and youth leagues.

And in some respects, hockey players may be at greater risk than athletes in other sports, said Douglas H. Smith, director of the University of Pennsylvania?s Center for Brain Injury and Repair.

Concussions occur when the head comes to a sudden stop and the brain keeps moving inside it -- a phenomenon that is all too prevalent in a fast-moving game with a hard playing surface surrounded by rigid walls.

"You have a skimpy helmet and a bunch of hard surfaces," Smith said. "It?s not a good combination. And you?re on ice."

The true scope of the problem is hard to grasp. Many past studies have relied on players or team officials to report the number of concussions. Both groups may underreport the incidence of these head injuries, either because they don?t want players to come out of a game, or because they do not realize what symptoms constitute a concussion, physicians say.

A more rigorous approach was used in a 2010 study published in the journal Neurosurgical Focus. Physicians observed junior-hockey games in Canada, in which the players? average age was 18, and evaluated players with suspected concussions on the spot.

A concussion was diagnosed by a physician in 19 of the 52 games observed -- or 36.5 percent of the games -- whereas a previous study of NHL games found concussions in just 3 percent of games.

The authors also looked at concussions as a function of "athlete exposures," defined as one player playing one game.

The 2010 study found 21.52 concussions per 1,000 athlete exposures - seven times the highest rate that had previously been reported for ice hockey.

Of the hits that caused concussions in the study, 80 percent occurred on purpose, said lead author Paul Echlin, a sports-medicine physician in Canada whose coauthors included Boston University physician Robert Cantu, one of the top sports-concussion specialists in the United States.

In an interview, Echlin said he used to be a team physician for junior-level hockey but stopped because he felt that in the culture of the sport, there was too little concern for the gravity of the injury.

"I just couldn?t accept it anymore," said Echlin, who is a physician at the Elliott Sports Medicine Clinic in Burlington, Ontario.

He has since devoted himself to education, helping to set up an online library - www.sportconcussionlibrary.com _ for parents seeking information.

___

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/hockey/other_nhl/view.bg?articleid=1391321&srvc=rss

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Brees sets passing mark, Saints top Falcons 45-16 (AP)

NEW ORLEANS ? After Drew Brees broke an NFL passing record that stood for nearly three decades, his teammates called on him to make a speech in the Saints' locker room.

"This record isn't about one person. There might be just one name that goes in ledger under the record, but it's really about the team," Brees told his teammates. "I want everyone to feel a huge part of this, that this record would not have been possible without them."

It was quite a night for Brees and the Saints ? a record and a rout.

Brees set the NFL mark for yards passing in a season, breaking a record Dan Marino held for 27 years, and New Orleans wrapped up the NFC South title with a 45-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.

Brees nearly topped Marino three years ago, finishing with 5,069 yards passing. But that pursuit rang a little hollow because the Saints were 8-8.

This time, Brees' prolific passing has led New Orleans (12-3) to the playoffs and a legitimate shot at its second Super Bowl in three seasons.

"We all want this (record) very badly," Brees began, "but it's all about winning and we know if we just focus on that, all that other stuff will take care of itself."

Brees threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, the last a 9-yard strike to Darren Sproles that set the record with 2:51 to go.

It was Brees' final pass of the game and it gave him 5,087 yards passing ? with one game left. Marino finished with 5,084 yards for the Miami Dolphins in 1984.

Minutes after Brees broke the record, Marino offered congratulations on Twitter.

"Great job by such a special player," Marino wrote.

As Sproles spiked the ball, Brees thrust his fist triumphantly in the air and started walking toward the sideline while the Superdome crowd went wild and his teammates chased him down. Offensive guard Carl Nicks was the first one to get there and tried to lift Brees onto his shoulder, but couldn't do it as teammates swarmed around.

"If I could have put him on my shoulders and paraded him around the whole stadium I would have done that. He deserves it," Nicks said. "It's like a movie, man. Just a movie ending. It's beautiful. ... You could tell by everyone's reaction after he did it how much people care about that guy. We all love him."

Brees pushed his touchdown total to 276, moving him ahead of Joe Montana (273) and Vinny Testaverde (275) for ninth on the career list. The former Purdue star is the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 5,000 yards twice.

Brees' first scoring pass went for 8 yards to Marques Colston and the second for 9 yards to Jimmy Graham. Graham's TD catch was his 10th of the season, a franchise high for a tight end. In the third quarter, Brees hit Robert Meachem for a score from 24 yards to make it 28-10.

The Saints (12-3) also had 463 total yards, giving them 6,857 offensive yards for the season, breaking the 2008 club record of 6,571. New Orleans continues to close in on the NFL record of 7,075 offensive yards set by the 2000 St. Louis Rams.

Brees might have broken the record in the third quarter if not for Sproles' 92-yard kickoff return, which set up John Kasay's 29-yard field goal. Brees also threw two interceptions, but New Orleans was still dominant enough to take a big lead.

The game became a romp when Julio Jones was stripped by Scott Shanle and Malcolm Jenkins returned it 30 yards for a score to make it 38-16 in the fourth quarter. The Superdome crowd was in full celebration by then, but the play also meant fans would have to wait until later in the fourth quarter before Brees finally got his chance to break the passing record.

The Saints can earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round playoff bye with a win Sunday over Carolina and a San Francisco loss at St. Louis, which is 2-13.

Atlanta (9-6) is headed to the playoffs as a wild card.

Uncharacteristically, Brees had only a yard passing during a span of a little more than 18 minutes in the second half. Fans howled, "Drehttp://wwww!" each time he took the field, and he finally gave them what they wanted after Atlanta failed on a fourth-down try at its own 33. That gave Brees, who needed only 30 yards for the record at that point, just enough space to work with.

The Saints didn't need another score, but Saints coach Sean Payton said he thought giving Brees a chance to go for the record was "appropriate."

Falcons coach Mike Smith diplomatically deflected questions about that, saying only, "It is our job to go out there and stop them. It doesn't matter if they are running the ball or throwing the ball."

Matt Ryan had 373 yards passing and one TD, including an early 21-yard scoring strike to Jones.

"We didn't really play well enough in any phase of the game to give ourselves a chance," said Smith, whose team came in with a chance to stay in the hunt for the division title. "It's not the type of effort that you want to have with so much on the line with what the outcome could have meant to our team."

Pierre Thomas scored New Orleans' first touchdown on a 4-yard run, after which he pulled a bow from his uniform pants, put it on the football and offered it as a gift to a woman with a parasol in the front row behind the end zone.

The referees weren't cutting Thomas any slack on his Christmas-themed celebration, flagging him for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Notes: Brees has passed for 300 yards or more an NFL-record 12 times this season. ... New England quarterback Tom Brady could also pass Marino next week ? and maybe even Brees, too. Brady has thrown for 4,897 yards. ... The Saints are 7-0 at home and never have gone undefeated at home in a full season.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_falcons_saints

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Driver Profile and Cheap Car Insurance - Guitars are my Passion

By admin on December 27, 2011

Cheap car insurance will disappear during the quote process if you the driver doesn?t have a perfect driving record. Each insurance company will compare risk factors related to driving habits and then give you a price on a policy. Some of the best car insurance companies will refuse to cover a driver with multiple traffic violations and accidents in order to obtain cheap car insurance. The driver?s record has a greater influence on car insurance premiums than anything else.

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Although some may differ in price; every car insurance company looks favorably on good credit ratings. The company will award a discount to what they see as mature behavior. The actual percentage of discounts is different with each car insurance company. Staying focused on good credit practices and let those practices be your guide to cheap car insurance.

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Most car insurance carriers will reward drivers that take training courses to develop their driving skills. A number of cheap car insurance companies may offer a 20 percent discount for attending a class.

Source: http://learntoplayguitarshop.com/driver-profile-and-cheap-car-insurance

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