Murder-suicide involving Chiefs' player stuns team

FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2012 file photo, Kansas City Chiefs inside linebacker Jovan Belcher (59) gestures at the line of scrimmage during an NFL football game against the San Diego Chargers in Kansas City, Mo. Police say Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo., then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2012 file photo, Kansas City Chiefs inside linebacker Jovan Belcher (59) gestures at the line of scrimmage during an NFL football game against the San Diego Chargers in Kansas City, Mo. Police say Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo., then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2010, file photo, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher (59) walks off the field during the third quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. Police say Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo., then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

A police car leaves the training facility for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football team on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. A 25-year-old Chiefs player fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of two team officials, police said. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A security guard stands outside the training facility for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football team on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. A 25-year-old Chiefs player fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of two team officials, police said. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

FILE - In this Oct. 7, 2012, file photo, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, left, and general manager Scott Pioli watch the team warm up prior to an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Kansas City, Mo. Police say Chiefs player Javon Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend early Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo., then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of his coach and general manager. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? It began like any other Saturday for the Kansas City Chiefs during the NFL season, their general manager and coach at work early to put final touches on this weekend's gameplan. Then they got a call to hurry to the parking lot.

The two men rushed through the glass doors of Chiefs headquarters and came face-to-face with linebacker Jovan Belcher, holding a handgun to his head.

Belcher had already killed his girlfriend and sped the short distance to Arrowhead Stadium, right past a security checkpoint guarding the entrance. Upon finding his bosses, Belcher thanked general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel for giving him a chance in the NFL. Then he turned away and pulled the trigger.

The murder-suicide shocked a franchise that has been dealing with controversies now made trivial by comparison: eight consecutive losses, injuries too numerous to count, discontent among fans and the prospect that Pioli and Crennel could be fired at season's end.

Authorities did not release a possible motive while piecing together the case, other than to note that Belcher and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra M. Perkins, had been arguing frequently.

The two of them left behind a 3-month-old girl. She was being cared for by family.

The Chiefs issued a statement that said their game Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Panthers would go on as scheduled, even as the franchise tried to come to grips with the awfulness of Belcher's death.

"The entire Chiefs family is deeply saddened by today's events, and our collective hearts are heavy with sympathy, thoughts and prayers for the families and friends affected by this unthinkable tragedy," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in brief a statement.

A spokesman for the team told The Associated Press that Crennel plans to coach on Sunday.

"I can tell you that you have absolutely no idea what it's like to see someone kill themselves," said Kansas City Mayor Sly James, who spoke to Pioli shortly after the shootings.

"You can take your worst nightmare and put someone you know and love in that situation, and give them a gun and stand three feet away and watch them kill themselves. That's what it's like," James said. "It's unfathomable."

Chiefs quarterback Brady Quinn told The Kansas City Star that when the team met later Saturday morning, Crennel broke the news to them.

"It was obviously tough for coach to have to tell us that," Quinn said. "He really wasn't able to finish talking to us. We got together and prayed and then we moved on."

But Quinn said the team was so stunned, it was hard to digest what had happened.

"It's hard mostly because I keep thinking about what I could have done to stop this," he said. "I think everyone is wondering whether we would have done something to prevent this from happening."

The 25-year-old Belcher was from West Babylon, N.Y., and played college football at Maine. He signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent, made the team and hung around the past four years, eventually moving into the starting lineup. He played in all 11 games this season.

The NFL released a statement expressing sympathy and pledging "to provide assistance in any way that we can." The players' association has also been in touch with members of the Chiefs.

"We sincerely appreciate the expressions of sympathy and support we have received from so many in the Kansas City and NFL communities, and ask for continued prayers for the loved ones of those impacted," Hunt said. "We will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities and work to ensure that the appropriate counseling resources are available to all members of the organization."

The drama unfolded early Saturday when authorities received a call from a woman who said her daughter had been shot multiple times at a residence about five miles from the Arrowhead complex. The call came from Belcher's mother, who referred to the victim as her daughter.

"She treated Kasandra like a daughter," Kansas City police spokesman Darin Snapp said, adding that the woman had recently moved in with the couple, "probably to help out with the baby."

Police then got a phone call from the Chiefs' training facility, and Belcher's description matched the suspect description from the initial address. Snapp said officers pulled into the practice facility parking lot in a matter of minutes, in time to witness the suicide.

"Pioli and Crennel and another coach or employee was standing outside and appeared to be talking to him," Snapp said. "The suspect began to walk in the opposite direction of the coaches and the officers and that's when they heard the gunshot. It appears he took his own life."

The coaches told police they never felt in any danger.

"They said the player was actually thanking them for everything they'd done for him," Snapp said. "He was thanking them and everything. That's when he walked away and shot himself."

Members of the Chiefs mostly laid low Saturday, but a few reacted on Twitter.

"I am devastated by this mornings events," Pro Bowl linebacker Tamba Hali wrote. "I want to send my thoughts and prayers out to everyone effected by this tragedy."

A large group of Belcher's friends and relatives gathered Saturday at his boyhood home on Long Island.

His family turned the front yard into a shrine, with a large poster of Belcher, an array of his trophies, and jerseys and jackets from Kansas City, Maine and West Babylon High.

"He was a good, good person ... a family man. A loving guy," said family friend Ruben Marshall, who said he coached Belcher in youth football. "You couldn't be around a better person."

At least 20 people gathered for a large group hug in the driveway.

"He was a tremendous player and all those things, and his accolades speak for themselves, but he lit up when he spoke about his mom, or when he hugged his family after games," said Dwayne Wilmot, who was Belcher's position coach at Maine and is now an assistant coach at Yale.

"It's difficult to talk about Jovan in the past tense," he told the AP. "There's going to be unanswered questions, the why's of this tragedy. It'll never be truly known to us."

Wilmot said he'd stayed in touch with Belcher the past few years through social media.

"He was someone who took genuine pleasure in bringing happiness to others," Wilmot said. "I was so excited when he became a father, because I knew he'd be a great father."

His girlfriend's Facebook page shows the couple smiling and holding the baby.

Belcher is the latest among several players and NFL retirees to die from self-inflicted gunshot wounds during the past few years. The death of star linebacker Junior Seau, who shot himself in the chest in at his California home last May, sent shockwaves around the league.

Seau's family, like those of other suicide victims, donated his brain tissue to medical authorities to determine if head injuries he sustained playing football might be linked to his death. That report has not been released, although an autopsy showed no underlying hemorrhaging or bruises on Seau's brain.

Belcher did not have an extensive injury history, though he was listed as having a head injury on a report from Nov. 11, 2009. Belcher played four days later against the Oakland Raiders.

Earlier this year, the NFL provided a grant to help establish an independently operated phone service that connects players, coaches, team officials and other staff with counselors trained to work through personal and emotional crises. The NFL Life Line is available 24 hours a day.

The season has been a massive disappointment for the Chiefs, who were expected to contend for the AFC West title. They're 1-10 and mired in an eight-game skid marked by injuries, poor play and fan upheaval. During the past few weeks there have been constant calls for Pioli and Crennel to be fired.

It's unknown how the Chiefs plan to pay tribute to Belcher during Sunday's game.

"His move to the NFL was in keeping with his dreams," said Jack Cosgrove, who coached Belcher at Maine. "This is an indescribably horrible tragedy."

___

Associated Press Writers Heather Hollingsworth and Frank Eltman contributed to this report.

__

Online: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-02-FBN-Chiefs-Player-Shooting/id-a57c49d60b8343df89f5d55af413a232

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People Are Losing Hope For Green Energy - Business Insider

On the surface, green energy sounds like a great idea.

Unfortunately, it is extremely costly and requires heavy government subsidies.

Last year, the epic downfall of Solyndra ? the former solar cell manufacturer backed by the Obama administration ? was one of the most notorious blows to the industry.

As with most young industries, experts argue that green energy just needs time before it can reach economies of scale and become cost effective.

But lately, those time frames have become extended.? Meanwhile, fossil fuels like coal and natural gas continue to be devastatingly cheap.

We pulled together key charts from the studies that are causing people to lose hope in green energy.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/people-are-losing-hope-for-green-energy-2012-11

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2 Burnett INTs key Green Bay's 23-14 win

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) ? If any more Green Bay receivers go down, the Packers could always use Morgan Burnett.

With Minnesota rolling behind Adrian Peterson, the Green Bay safety picked off Christian Ponder twice in the red zone in the second half Sunday. Mason Crosby converted the miscues into a pair of field goals, James Starks gave Green Bay its first touchdown on the ground in almost two months and the Packers overcame Peterson's monster day for a 23-14 win.

"I thought Morgan Burnett's interception in the third quarter in the end zone was the key play of game," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "It shifted the momentum."

The victory was Green Bay's 10th straight over an NFC North opponent and gave the Packers (8-4) a share of the division lead after Chicago lost to Seattle in overtime. The Packers and Bears play at Soldier Field on Dec. 16.

"I can't say there are many Seattle fans in the locker room," Aaron Rodgers said, "but we appreciate the help."

The Packers lost in Seattle earlier this year on the Inaccurate Reception.

Peterson finished with 210 yards rushing, the most he's had since blowing out his ACL and MCL last December. That included a career-long 82-yard touchdown that gave Minnesota a 14-10 lead at halftime.

But his big numbers weren't enough to make up for the absence of Percy Harvin, who missed his third straight game with a sprained ankle. Ponder didn't help matters with his interceptions, one in the end zone and the other around the Green Bay 10.

"As we walked into the tunnel, Everson Griffen was behind me talking. He was like, 'Why does it feel like we won? But we're leaving here with a loss,'" Peterson said. "That's the type of feeling it was. We know that it's things that we did that cost us the game."

The loss won't cost Ponder his job, however. Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said he didn't consider switching quarterbacks during the game and won't consider such a move this week.

The Vikings (6-6) fell a game behind Seattle in the race for the second NFC wild card.

"We can win with the personnel that we have," Frazier said. "We've shown that we can. We just have to do a few things better. There's no reason to panic."

The Packers didn't panic despite injuries to Jordy Nelson (hamstring) and T.J. Lang (ankle) leaving the offense scrambling and Peterson almost single-handedly wiping out Green Bay's early 10-0 lead. He put the Vikings in great position to pad that lead, ripping off a 48-yarder on the first play of the second half that gave Minnesota the ball at the Green Bay 12.

But two plays later, Ponder got flushed out of the pocket. Rather than take the sack or run out of bounds, he heaved the ball into the end zone ? and right into Burnett's hands.

"I'd seen it was a pretty spiral, and I made sure I got my paws on it," Burnett said.

Rodgers overthrew Jarrett Boykin in the end zone on third-and-7 from the 29, and the Packers looked as if they were going to go for it. But after a Minnesota timeout, McCarthy sent out Crosby, who had missed six of his last 11, including one from 53 yards just before the half.

This one was good, however, the kick wobbling through the uprights for a 47-yard field goal.

Rodgers was picked off on a trick play, but the Packers defense bailed him out, stuffing Peterson for no gain on third-and-1. A bad Chris Kluwe punt gave the Packers the ball at their own 49 and, four plays later, Starks bolted 22 yards for the score and Green Bay's first lead since the second quarter.

It was Green Bay's first rushing touchdown since Oct. 7.

A 15-yard unnecessary roughness call on Tramon Williams gave Minnesota the ball on the Green Bay 25. But once again, Burnett was there, stepping in front of Kyle Rudolph and snatching the ball at the 13.

"This one definitely hurts," Ponder said. "For what this game means to the team, to this state, it's disappointing ? especially with the way Adrian played ? to go out and throw two interceptions."

The Packers ground out an 11-minute drive before Crosby sealed the win with his third field goal of the day, a 31-yarder. Rodgers made three big third-down conversions to keep the drive alive, running for one and finding Jennings (8 yards) and Randall Cobb (33 yards) on the others.

Rodgers, who turned 29 Sunday, finished 27 of 35 for 286 yards.

"Everything's right in front of us," Rodgers said. "We've got to go win our home games and get a couple wins on the road."

NOTES: Burnett's two interceptions matched his single-game career high. He also had two last year against the Bears. ... Peterson is the second player to gain 100 yards rushing against the Packers this year, and first since San Francisco's Frank Gore in the season opener. ... The 11-minute scoring drive was Green Bay's longest of the season. ... With 1? sacks Sunday, Jared Allen now has 14 of Rodgers. ... Peterson's 21 carries gives him 1,640 for his career, topping the previous Vikings record of 1,627. ... Green Bay has won 24 of its last 26 regular-season games at home.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-burnett-ints-key-green-bays-23-14-210630975--spt.html

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Auto Accidents and Insurance Authority : General Talk

Insurance companies are overseen by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. They set the rules that Insurance companies must follow within the Province.

I'm not familiar with the contents of OAP1, but any charges laid by police would be based on the Highway Traffic Act, not insurance regulations. Insurance companies determine fault based on the Fault Determination Rules regulation of the Insurance Act. Link: http://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/r ... g-668.html

While the rules are typically consistent with the Highway Traffic Act, sometimes the driver who gets charges will not the one who's found to be at fault by the insurance company.

In terms of legal standing, what type of proceeding are you referring to? An HTA matter? Civil matter?

Source: http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic4940.html

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US struggles to get Israel, Palestinians to talks

(AP) ? The Obama administration sought Friday to direct Israel and the Palestinians back toward direct peace talks, even as the two sides and much of the world seemed to be ignoring the U.S. attempts at leadership on a Mideast peace strategy.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met senior Israeli and Palestinian officials Friday, with each side locked in a pattern of actions that the United States had expressly warned against: the Palestinians winning U.N. recognition of their claim to a state on Thursday and the Israelis retaliating Friday by approving 3,000 new homes on Israeli-occupied territory.

The administration has campaigned for nearly two years to prevent the Palestinian action at the United Nations, fearful it would anger Israel so much that the resumption of direct talks between the Jewish state and Palestinians would be impossible. The administration remains concerned as well that statehood could mean International Criminal Court action against Israeli soldiers for their conduct in Palestinian or disputed territory ? a scenario Washington believes would greatly debilitate peace hopes.

"We have to convince Palestinians that direct negotiations with Israel represent not just the best but the only path to the independent state they deserve," Clinton said Friday night in a speech at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington. "America supports the goal of a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security with Israel. But this week's vote at the U.N. won't bring Palestinians any closer, and it may bring new challenges for the United Nations system and for Israel."

Most of the world's governments brushed aside Israeli and American concerns, with U.N. member states voting 138-9 to recognize Palestine as a nonmember observer state and grant it the most significant upgrade in diplomatic status in its more than six-decades of conflict with Israel. The United States insists that the result has changed nothing on the ground, but it is struggling to shift the focus to where it believes progress on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is possible.

Clinton said Israel, too, needed to reach out to moderate Palestinians and "help those committed to peace to deliver for their people in the here and now" at a time when the U.S. is hoping that a fragile cease-fire Egypt sealed last week between the Jewish state and Hamas will prove durable. On Israel's settlement announcement Friday, she said "these activities set back the cause of a negotiated peace."

The Obama administration has almost nothing to show for four years of mediation efforts. Israeli-Palestinian talks have been mostly dormant since the failure of the last high-level U.S. engagement to produce an agreement, when President George W. Bush brought leaders to Annapolis, Md., with the goal of a treaty by the end of 2008. After a two-year hiatus, talks begun under the Obama administration's guidance in 2010 quickly fizzled out.

The rough contours of any agreement are clear. The two sides would have borders based on Israel's boundaries before the 1967 Mideast war, with agreed land swaps for Israeli security, to take into account population movements on the ground and ensure that Palestinian lands are connected. The two sides would also have to reach long-sought understandings on water supplies, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem ? which both Jews and Muslims consider to be their holy cities and which both sides claim as their capital.

But American efforts have been continuously stymied. The Palestinians won't enter direct talks until Israel halts the construction of new Jewish homes on lands they claim for their state; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government says there can be no preconditions on negotiations. And despite repeated pleas from Washington, both sides have pressed on with actions that have only made peace less likely and arguably strengthened the position of hardliners on both sides.

Hoping to steer the diplomacy back toward a path to peace talks, and away from the world spotlight of the U.N., Clinton met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Washington on Friday. She also spoke to Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, a key mediator.

Clinton reiterated strong U.S. support for Israel, while also reassuring the Palestinians that Washington remains engaged in peace efforts. The Obama administration doesn't want to shut out the Western-backed government of President Mahmoud Abbas despite its disagreements, especially after Hamas gained wider legitimacy in the Arab world after its recent weeklong war with the Jewish state.

Unlike Hamas, Abbas' government publicly supports a two-state agreement with Israel. Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip have fired thousands of rockets at Israel in recent years.

"A lasting ceasefire is essential for the people of Israel, whose communities lie in the path of these rockets," Clinton said. But she added that Gazans deserve better, too. "Just as Israel cannot accept the threat of rockets, none of us can be satisfied with a situation that condemns people on both sides to conflict every few years. Those who fire the rockets are responsible for the violence that follows, but all parties in the region have a role to play in keeping the peace."

Clinton called on Egypt, specifically, to prevent new weapons from being smuggled into Gaza. And she demanded that U.S. allies that have grown closer to Hamas, such as Turkey and Qatar, make clear to Gaza's rulers that confrontation is no one's interest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-30-US-US-Israel/id-090089b34bea41e6a5bcf941c3c0fcae

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Chocolate Baked French Toast Breakfast Pudding Recipe with ...

Post image for Chocolate Baked French Toast Breakfast Bread Pudding Recipe using Muffin Tops & Gluten Free Holiday Entertaining Tips

Before hosting Thanksgiving dinner, I, as many of you, went grocery shopping.

I picked up some Udi?s Gluten Free items for those on a gluten free diet and the most popular item I brought home was the Chocolate Chia Muffin Tops.

At breakfast time a few days later, I stared at another box of the muffin tops and wondered ?What else could I make with these muffin tops?? and a french toast?bread pudding came to mind.

Try it. Love it. Dream of it.

????Print This!????

Gluten Free Chocolate Baked French Toast Breakfast Pudding Recipe (Serves 4)
adapted from Simply Gluten Free
Ingredients:
4 Udi?s gluten free chocolate chia muffin tops
2 large eggs
1/2 cup half and half ( or 1 cup if you do not have almond milk)
1/2 cup Silk PureAlmond dark chocolate milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Roughly chop the muffin tops into cubes and evenly distribute the pieces into the 4 ramekins (If the ramekins are not non-stick, lightly spray with baking spray.)

3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and then mix in the half and half, almond milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour over the muffins cubes and allow to absorb for about 15 minutes.

4. Place the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve with maple syrup on the side.

A few tips for entertaining gluten free:

1. Ask your guests what their favorite foods or product lines are.

2. Better yet: take them shopping with you once they arrive.

3. Keep your utensils, cutting surfaces etc. separate when you prepare food so you avoid any cross-contamination.

4. For snacks, keep plenty of fruits and veggies around as they are easy to grab and naturally gluten free!

5. There are many gluten free recipe sites so use their menu suggestions.

Disclosure: I was sent a few coupons to purchase the muffin tops at no cost.

Source: http://www.savoringthethyme.com/2012/11/chocolate-baked-french-toast-breakfast-pudding-recipe-with-muffin-tops-gluten-free-holiday-entertaining-tips/

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As ?Standards-Essential? Patent Debate Expands ... - The Legal Pulse

PodiumPic1Last month, a Legal Pulse post discussed some important courtroom developments involving disputes over so-called standards-essential patents (?SEPs?). We noted in the post?that federal agencies and elected officials were also expressing interest in and concern over SEPs. Since that post there has been a flurry of activity. In just the past week, we have seen:

  • A proposed settlement?from the Federal Trade Commission in the context of a merger affecting automobile air conditioning equipment makers where the company being acquired, SPX?Services, was a holder of SEPs?and had been seeking injunctions against allegedly willing licensees of the patents.
  • Ericsson filing?a patent infringement and breach of contract lawsuit?against Samsung in the Eastern District of Texas where SEPs and alleged failure to offer a license on RAND terms is involved.
  • The U.S. International Trade Commission announcing?it will review a USITC?s?judge?s decision that Apple did not infringe Samsung patents. In the announcement, the Commission seeks public comment on several questions related to SEPs.

At a Washington Legal Foundation Media Briefing program yesterday, Standards-Essential Patents: Where Do IP Protections End and Antitrust Concerns Begin?,?two?academic experts on patents and antitrust, as well as a leading patent pool and standards practitioner, addressed these?developments and the larger question of what role government can and should play in SEP controversies.

Speaker Professor Adam Mossoff referenced research on America?s first ?patent war?, involving sewing machines, which led to an Arizona Law Review article. Professor Contreras based his presentation on a research paper available here.

Those attending the program in person?also received copies of past WLF publications relevant to the topic being discussed.? Links to those papers appear below.

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Source: http://wlflegalpulse.com/2012/11/30/as-standards-essential-patent-debate-expands-wlf-web-seminar-offers-some-perspective/

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AP source: Rivera, Yanks agree to $10 million deal

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2011, file photo, New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera clutches a baseball in his glove as he leaves the field after the Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners in a baseball game in Seattle. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Rivera and the Yankees have agreed to a $10 million, one-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, because the deal had not yet been announced. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2011, file photo, New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera clutches a baseball in his glove as he leaves the field after the Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners in a baseball game in Seattle. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Rivera and the Yankees have agreed to a $10 million, one-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, because the deal had not yet been announced. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

(AP) ? Mariano Rivera and the New York Yankees agreed Thursday to a $10 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced. The person said the deal includes additional bonus opportunities, as did the team's agreement with Andy Pettitte earlier in the week.

After missing most of the season because of a knee injury, Rivera accepted a cut in guaranteed money from his $30 million, two-year deal that had covered the last two years.

Rivera, who turned 43 on Thursday, was limited to nine games this year after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while tracking down a fly ball during batting practice in Kansas City on May 3. He is baseball's career leader with 608 saves.

With deals for Pettitte, Rivera and Hiroki Kuroda in place, the Yankees will turn their attention to position players. Steady catcher Russell Martin departed Thursday, agreeing to a $17 million, two-year contract with Pittsburgh, a person familiar with those talks said.

___

AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-11-29-BBA-Yankees-Rivera/id-131cf2eb39914d32a6e2230161b781de

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Small Business: If Not Facebook, Then Who? | Social Media Today

After my article "Is Facebook Losing Small Business?" this question came in via Twitter: "What are your thoughts on alternate?SM Networks? Google+?"

Here's an expanded version of my response:

I don?t think there are any true alternative social media networks to Facebook, at this time, including Google+. This is largely due to the numbers of fans in the Facebook network, how entrenched those fans are, the diversity of the fans in the network (demographics), etc.

That said, the one possible contender for the ?alternative SM networks? role is Pinterest.

Why Pinterest?

Here's a few reasons:

A?June article in Forbes magazine?"Why Pinterest Could Be The Next Social Media Giant"?included this information from "recently released data by Modea" about the demographics of Pinterest users.

68% of Pinterest users are? women, and 28.1% of users have an average household income of over $100,000. Furthermore, about half of the users have children and more than 27% are between the ages of 25 and 34.

According to the CNBC article?mentioned above, Pinterest's "rapid growth has drawn businesses, especially retailers, to expand their presence on the site."

In fact, in mid-November Pinterest announced?Pinterest for business. ?Some small businesses, and many larger ones, had already discovered the benefits of having an active presence on Pinterest. Pinterest has now opened the doors wider by creating a Pinterest for Business option.

Pinterest for Business

Many small business owners wonder how they can make it work on Pinterest, especially when what they are selling doesn't easily translate into a visual.?

First, like most social networks it's not all about me or you. It's about our fans, followers, connections, clients, potential clients. Pinterest, as with other top networks, provides a way for you to build your brand and image as well as sell your products, by sharing content that others will find interesting, helpful, valuable and/or shareable - make that 'likable' or 'Repinnable'.

The best way to see this in action is to check out and get a sense for Pinterest before you get too far down the road. Check out a few of the brand pages already active on Pinterest: Martha Stewart, Starbucks,?Lamborghini,?Walmart,?Amazon - there are many more!

Pinterest URLs are branded so if you have a name you really want, grab it now. Big brands like CocaCola, Pepsi, Mazda and Toyota don't seem to have gotten on the bandwagon soon enough as typing in these URLs brings up individuals not the brands. Ouch!

Pinterest users, according to the Forbes article mentioned above, spend more time on the network than on Facebook and Twitter. This is good news for business because Pinterest (at least right now) let's the user decide what they would like to view.

These are the options:

  • Everything being pinned by those you are 'Following'
  • Everything being pinned in certain 'Categories' by everyone
  • Everything - really, everything!
  • Everything that is 'Popular'
  • 'Gift' ideas by price groupings - or EVERY 'Gift' idea unsorted

YOU choose - Pinterest doesn't choose for you. (Yes, that was a bit of a dig at Facebook.)

Anything that can be shared using a visually appealing image is ripe for Pinterest. And, you can add text too, up to 500 characters, and a clickable link (URL) back to your website, or your e-commerce site (to make a purchase), etc. You can also pin saleable products from your website to show up on Pinterest.

From a small business point of view, Facebook is losing some of its luster as a place to invest a lot of time and energy for meager results. Social networks like Pinterest are opening up new opportunities for them.

Pinterest is gaining traction with users and with businesses, assuming they don?t mess too much with the way things are, other than improvements of course.

Google+ is a different animal compared to Facebook and Pinterest. It doesn?t seem to have the huge buy-in, usage and time spend that Facebook does. It does have large fan numbers, considering the relatively short time it's been around, but the amount of time users spend on the network isn?t impressive.

An?article in Search Engine Journal earlier this year, reported the average number of minutes users spent on Google+ was 3 minutes. I'm sure it's more now but not enough to make it any kind of a threat to Facebook or Pinterest, at least right now.

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Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/suecockburn/1042666/small-business-if-not-facebook-then-who

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