Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/XwHeAiT6pBE/
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Fitness Wearables: Only 4 Percent of U.S. Adults Actually Want ?Em
Kerry wins confirmation as secretary of state
Sen. John Kerry walks past reporters after Tuesday's committee vote (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
The Senate on Tuesday easily confirmed one of its own -- Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts -- to be the next secretary of state, ending a largely non-controversial process and kicking off what is expected to be a hotly contested special election for the seat Kerry has held since 1985.
The vote was 94-3 for Kerry at a time when bipartisanship is rarely on display in Washington. Just 3 Republicans voted against his nomination -- Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe.
Kerry voted "present" on his confirmation. He is set to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is stepping down after four years of service.
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and the 2004 Democratic nominee for president, has served on the Foreign Relations Committee since his arrival in the Senate and has chaired the committee for the last 4 years.
Kerry began the hearing process with the backing of senators of both parties, many of whom came together Tuesday to publicly laud his service.
"Sen. Kerry is uniquely qualified to serve as the next secretary of state," Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said on the Senate floor prior to the vote, noting that Kerry's personal history as the son of a diplomat as well as his deep knowledge of international affairs as well as his relationships with diplomats.
Menendez is on tap to succeed Kerry as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Earlier Tuesday, that committee unanimously voted to send Kerry's nomination to the full Senate.
Kerry's departure from the Senate is expected to spark a major political fight for his vacant seat in Massachusetts.
Democratic Rep. Ed Markey has already announced his intention to seek Kerry's seat in the special election. Markey has won solid Democratic support from party leaders?and Kerry himself?for his campaign. The party has hoped to coalesce around Markey's candidacy in hopes of avoiding a bitter primary fight ahead of what's expected to be a competitive general special election.
But wide support from Markey may not be enough to keep interested Democrats out of the race. Fellow Rep. Stephen Lynch has long indicated interest in the seat but has yet to reveal his plans.
Lynch's spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday following Kerry's confirmation.
Democrats in Massachusetts scored a major victory in 2012 when Democrat Elizabeth Warren ousted Republican Sen. Scott Brown. That race was devoid of major outside spending as both candidates had agreed to a ban on third-party spending. Markey on Monday called on his potential challengers to agree to the same type of ban.
That is likely to happen if Brown enters the race, as Brown introduced the "People's Pledge" to ban outside spending in 2012 and has expressed interest in running for Kerry's seat.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin on Monday revealed plans to set the special election to choose Kerry's successor for June 25 after an April 30 primary.
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013
How Should We Write about Statistics in Public?
A member of the order Lepidoptera enjoys my favorite green space in Chicago, Garfield Park Conservatory. There's a 50 percent chance that this is a below-average lepidopteran. Image: Evelyn Lamb.
I am exited to be attending ScienceOnline in Raleigh, North Carolina later this week. And I?m even more excited to be co-moderating two sessions! One of them, at noon on Thursday, will be about Public Statistics.?Hilda Bastian, my partner in crime, has written a?cartoon introduction to our session, and?I?ve been trying to think of what to write here about it. There have been a lot of statistics in the news this year, from Nate Silver to the ?five-sigma? discovery of a Higgs-like particle to every health story ever. Where to start?
Last week I was flipping through the Chicago Reader over breakfast one morning and came upon the article ?A greener Chicago would be a safer Chicago.? In my sleepy morning state, my eyes glossed over the page a bit, but they latched onto a paragraph with several numbers in it. Numbers are important and objective (right?), so the part with the most numbers in it must make a clear, convincing argument for the author?s main point.
Before I share and critique this excerpt, please know that I love community gardens, and I think it would be good if there were more of them. The thesis of this article is that urban vegetation provides many benefits to a community, including lower crime rates. I am not arguing for or against this position; I am stepping back and thinking about the way statistics are used in this paragraph and whether we should take them as supporting evidence for the article?s conclusion. I also don?t intend to insult or malign the author. I don?t think he is stupid or dishonest, and the online version of the article does provide links to summaries of some of the studies he cites, which can help readers evaluate the claims themselves. I just think he might not have turned a skeptical eye to the statistics he quoted in the article and how they might be interpreted.
Without further ado, here?s the paragraph that jumped out at me:
?A recent mapping of gardens [in Chicago] by University of Illinois researchers showed that the vast majority of Chicago residents?2.4 million out of 2.7 million?live in census tracts with no community gardens; that nearly half of these tracts have a poverty rate above the city average of 21 percent; and that most of these low-income tracts are on the south and west sides. These are areas with many sprawling vacant lots that would benefit from farming.?
What do these numbers mean? The author is clearly trying to make a point, but to me, it?s a bit confused and even somewhat contradictory. Almost 90 percent of Chicago residents don?t live in a census tract with a community garden. But how big are census tracts? If a census tract is only a few square blocks, you could be quite close to a community garden and not get counted. Perhaps a better measure would be living in a tract adjacent to a tract with a community garden, or within two tracts. From the article, it is unclear. (For what it?s worth, I looked it up, and it looks like my neighborhood, which is about 1.65 square miles, has 14 census tracts in it. My census tract does not have a community garden in it, but at least one adjacent tract does, and I think I?m a four-minute walk from that garden.)
The article continues, ?nearly half of these tracts have a poverty rate above the city average of 21 percent.? Is that good or bad? Put another way, ?more than half of these tracts have a poverty rate at or below the city average of 21 percent.? That sounds like a different story. But beyond the ?nearly half? vs ?more than half? issue, how should we assume poverty is distributed in the city? Do the tracts have very similar populations, or do affluent areas have more census tracts per capita? Overall, how many tracts have above- and below-average poverty? I honestly don?t know what we should assume about this distribution, but on first reading, it doesn?t sound too bad for about half of the census tracts to have above-average poverty. It sounds about as bad as ?half of our students are below average,? a fairly meaningless but generally true statement.?Furthermore, in a sample of 2.4 million out of 2.7 million citizens, we would expect the statistics to be very close to the statistics for the city as a whole; only a large deviation from those numbers would be remarkable. Without information about the percentage and location of high-poverty census tracts in the city in general, we are unable to make a meaningful comparison of the areas with urban gardens to those without.
Doing some research for this post, it became clear to me that the author took these numbers almost word for word from the research paper (sorry, it?s Elsevier, and there?s a paywall) he mentioned, which includes the figures somewhat in passing and does not editorialize about the south and west sides benefitting from urban farming. The paper is about using Google Earth to track urban farming and get a more accurate idea of the numbers and types of urban gardens in Chicago. Why does the author of the Chicago Reader piece feel the need to quote these statistics? Clearly, using numbers seems to give the argument more credibility, and his readers may well respond to numbers this way.
This article is not an isolated incident. Statistics are used and misused all over newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. And they?re necessary. Without them, science papers can?t accurately describe the size of an effect or the probability that it was due purely to chance, and reporters can?t let people know what a new study means. How can we, as bloggers, reporters, and editors, increase the quality of statistics reporting in the media? And what should the media consumer look out for when reading these stories?
If you?re going to ScienceOnline, I cordially invite you to come talk about statistics with us. We?ll be talking about our statistics reporting pet peeves, how to write about statistics responsibly without boring our readers, and resources for those of us who would like a refresher course in what all those numbers in science papers mean. We?ll also talk about some of the biggest stories in statistics from the past year and where the media got statistics right and wrong.
Whether you?ll be at the session or not, feel free to share your public statistics pet peeves, resources, and requests for resources in the comments. You can follow along with our session on Twitter on Thursday. We?ll be using the hashtag #PublicStats. The hashtag for the (un)conference itself is #scio13.
Finally, if you have access to some data about the distribution of poverty in Chicago census tracts, I would love to learn about it!
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=424bcc5ed4b214aa3fe0983df09e80cc
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E-Commerce Ideas for Small Business - Jason Tweed, the million ...
E-Commerce Ideas for Small Business
Is your business an e-business?
It should be, regardless of what type of business you operate.E-commerce for Retailers
Some businesses make a logical connection to e-commerce. Retail and specialty stores are an obvious example. One of my first clients was a camera shop that sold high-end cameras and photo developing. In the 80s her business thrived with a downtown location and same day film developing, however she ran on hard times in the 90s when Wal-Mart and other stores started offering one-hour developing at dirt cheap prices. Wal-Mart would develop your film at cost because you would kill an hour shopping in their store. The impending digital revolution looked like it was going to be the nail in the coffin of the local camera shop. However, it was a unique time on the Internet. Many suppliers were reluctant to sell inventory to Internet-only businesses, and this is particularly true with high-end camera equipment. Professional photographers still had to special order merchandise locally. Man my client realized he wasn't going to make a living developing film, he focused his efforts on professionals. He started selling camera equipment on eBay, and developed a loyal following which translated into one of the first online camera shops. My client is retired now, however, she survived the transition from bricks and mortar to e-commerce, and thrived during the period when professionals moved from film to digital. Her loyal following came to her when they were replacing 100% of their gear. She sold the business to an e-commerce company and her day job became her nest egg.E-commerce for B2B
Today most transactions happen online. At one time wholesalers and manufacturers got the bright idea to sell direct to consumers, but many of them found their best customers walk away when faced with online competition. Today smart manufacturers and distributors don't compete with their own customers. That doesn't mean, however, they don't sell online. Small manufacturers can sell products in bulk and create a website with detailed product descriptions, marketing resources and much more to help retailers maximize their profits. Furthermore, using the right e-commerce system, they can keep proprietary information out of the public eye and away from competitors. Even information such as tiered pricing for different types of customers can remain private except to the end-user. E-commerce shouldn't be a new way of doing business. A good e-commerce system focuses on extending the reach of your current business and empowering your marketing engine and customer service capabilities.E-commerce for service businesses
Service businesses have an advantage in the digital world. A local camera store that moves to the Web is suddenly competing against thousands of other websites, some of them with very deep pockets and amazing logistics. Service businesses, however, have the advantage of a limited amount of local competition. If you're searching for carpet cleaners, IT companies, a chiropractor or a landscaper you're probably going to search locally using the web. You'll find half a dozen websites, and make the decision based on what you see and read. It's kind of like the Yellow Pages used to be; whoever had the largest ad wins most of the business. But what if your Yellow Pages ad could accept payments, schedule appointments, and even deliver a certain level of service in real-time? But then it wouldn't matter the size of your ad, it would be about the quality of your service. Service companies have the opportunity today to develop unique solutions for their e-businesses. Massage therapists can schedule appointments without answering the telephone. Cleaning services can quote a job based on square footage and other factors, schedule the work and collect payment immediately. Health clubs can schedule personal trainers, track membership dues and even sell products.E-commerce for hospitality
Restaurants can't sell dinners online (yet), but they can generate huge revenues with printable, e-mailable gift cards. Do you have a secret sauce? Package it and sell it online. Do you require reservations? Your customers can reserve a table online, with a text, or by telephone and have them all work together. Hotels and resorts can take reservations and cross promote events with their other facilities, even before the customer arrives. Small jazz clubs can create an intimate atmosphere in the club, while simulcasting to thousands over the web, and both groups are paying customers. Your performers can sell CDs or MP3s to your audience, even after they've left, and you can collect the commission.E-commerce for consultants, experts, and people who's product is their time
Maximize your revenue from your expertise. Consultants can create project quotes. Experts can sell e-books. Market your seminars and deliver them over the web, live and worldwide. When there's only 24 hours in the day, make sure you're maximizing the value from each of those hours, and still have time to get some sleep.Every business is an e-business, but not every website generates real sales.
Source: http://www.jasonsmillion.com/2013/01/e-commerce-ideas-for-small-business.html
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Monday, January 28, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Dempsey saves the day for Spurs
By ROB HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 2:17 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2013
LONDON (AP) -LONDON (AP) - Clint Dempsey scored a second crucial goal of the season for Tottenham against Manchester United on Sunday, striking deep into stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw against the Premier League leaders.
The United States forward, who gave Tottenham its first win at Old Trafford in 23 years in September, gave the hosts something to show for their dominance by canceling out Robin van Persie's first-half header.
"It looked like it was going to be one of those days but I am happy we got a point," said Dempsey, who joined from Fulham in August.
Dempsey swept the ball home in the third minute of stoppage time after being set up by Aaron Lennon, who had pounced after goalkeeper David de Gea only punched a shot by Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
The game was played under a steady snowfall and was in danger of being postponed before officials determined that the pitch was playable.
The four points Spurs have claimed off United this season is the most since beating them twice in the 1989-90 campaign.
Despite salvaging a point, Tottenham fell four points behind third-place Chelsea after its London rival beat Arsenal 2-1 earlier in the day.
United remains top but its lead has been trimmed to five points this weekend after second-place Manchester City beat Fulham 2-0 on Saturday.
"We should have killed them off on the counter-attack in the second half," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "It was the final ball that was letting us down. It was a difficult tie, teams will drop points here, there is no doubt about that."
United, though, rarely threatened Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris after Van Persie rose to meet Tom Cleverley's cross and head in his 22nd goal of the season in the 25th minute.
As well as ruing his team's lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, Ferguson turned his fury on assistant referee Simon Beck for not awarding a penalty after substitute Wayne Rooney was caught by Steven Caulker in the second half.
"It was definitely a penalty - he has put his leg right in there," Ferguson said. "The linesman is facing it. I thought he had a very poor game, the linesman. I thought he was disappointing.
"We have got that history with him. He never gave offside with (then-Chelsea striker Didier) Drogba at Old Trafford (in 2010) when he was three yards offside. Everyone remembers that. I certainly do."
But United had been heavily reliant on center backs Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, as well as De Gea's blocks, to protect its lead.
"We dominated the whole game, played well and deserved to win to be fair," Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said. "We had 60 per cent possession against United, 15 shots against four and should have won.
"Champions like United have to go through moments like this but I think we deserved this last-minute goal."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsGetty ImagesDempsey saves the day for Spurs
Clint Dempsey scored a second crucial goal of the season for Tottenham against Manchester United on Sunday, striking deep into stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw against the Premier League leaders.
AFP - Getty ImagesChelsea holds off?Arsenal, wins 2-1
Chelsea held off a stirring second-half fightback by London rival Arsenal to claim a 2-1 win on Sunday, tightening its grip on third place in the Premier League.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46620194/ns/sports-soccer/
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Thursday, January 17, 2013
Asus says it's interested in making a Windows Phone, maybe even a Windows-based Padfone (Engadget Mobile)
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Source: http://ebz.by/info/US/368912368
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This Is the Chemical Weapon Reportedly Used by Syria Against its Own People (Updated)
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Top commercial, residential real estate deals of the week | TribLIVE
By Sam Spatter
Published: Saturday, January 12, 2013, 8:56?p.m.
Updated 1 hour ago
DEALSOF THE WEEK
$37 million
Properties sold: 2000 Park Lane Dr., North Fayette.
Seller: Wells REIT II Park Lane Business and Wells REIT II 2000 Park Lane Parcel 19, Norcross, Ga.
Buyer: IX WR 2000 Park Lane Drive LP, (Starwood Capital), Washington DC
Details: Seven-story, 231,213-square-foot office building, in which Cigna Corp. leases 132,985 square feet, plus adjacent vacant 16-acre parcel.
Comment: ?Wells had filed plans to build about a 200-car parking area on the vacant parcel, but has not followed through because of the sale,? said Laura Ludwig, North Fayette community development director.
$1.5 million
Property sold: 7670 McKnight Rd., Ross
Seller: Michael A. Wolcott, Pittsburgh
Buyer: McDonalds USA LLC,, Oak Brook, Ill.
Details: Existing McDonald?s restaurant on a 4.6-acre site.
Comment: ?McDonald?s Corp. had been leasing the property and decided it was time to buy the site,? said Kerry Ford, a McDonald?s spokeswoman.
$4,000 monthly (est.)
Property leased: 2225 Mary St., South Side
Landlord: Berger Investment Group, Pittsburgh
Tenant: Clear Story Inc., Pittsburgh
Details: Leased most of a 30,000-square-foot industrial building.
Comment: ?Clear Story, which has another facility on the South Side, wanted to be closer to that and consolidated its other locations in the region at the new location,? said Ned Shekels of Pennsylvania Commercial Real Estate Inc, who represented the landlord.
TOP DOLLAR HOMES
$1 million
Property: Adams
Seller: Barefoot Qualified Personal Residence
Buyer: Donald and Bonita Melonio
Details: Two-story Provincial with five bedrooms 4 1/2 baths, air-conditioning, on cul de sac, has soaring ceilings, four fireplaces, pool area, custom natural hot tub located in lush landscaping.
Comment: ?Buyers purchased home because it was like truly living at a resort. It has neo-classical design, recognized quality and workmanship, beautiful marble and stunning fixtures throughout,? said Kim Marie Angiulli, Coldwell Banker Real Estate.
$590,000
Property: Cranberry
Seller: Denise Novak
Buyer: Latricia and John Heagy
Details: Two-story all-brick Provincial wwith first-floor master bedroom built by the Phillips Builders at Ehrman Farms. Home has covered rear and front porch, heated floors, stainless appliances and wine cooler, three-car garage.
Comment: ?Buyers liked first-floor master bedroom, two-story family room, large breakfast area that opens onto a rear brick covered porch, and its location on cul de sac with view of a lake and wooded common area,? said Maureen Fullerton, Howard Hanna Real Estate.
$575,000
Property: Adams
Seller: John and Susan Foley
Buyer: Brad and Rebecca Mueller
Details: Brick Provincial with hardwood floors, open floor plan with kitchen, dining room, french doors, family room, fireplace, first floor office, finished lower level with exercise room, game room and full bath.
Comment: ?Buyers liked the amenities of Treesdale golf community, the floor plan and room sizes and the backyard,? said Lorraine Easton, Coldwell Banker Real Estate.
Sam Spatter is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7843 or sspatter@tribweb.com.
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Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.Source: http://triblive.com/business/realestate/3251704-74/comment-details-property
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Thursday, January 10, 2013
Well, That's Insulting: This Technology Wants You to Read Less
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Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Top Online Security Tips that Must Be Followed While Using Internet
Increasing use of the internet have changed the living style of the people and now, the majority of the folks depends on the internet for various personal and professional needs. It is obvious that people get online for at least half an hour every day. These days infinite number of people have to remain online all day long because of their business needs, some get online for educational needs while other come online to enjoy tweeting, Facebook or YouTube. The advance gadgets like tablets, Smartphones and iPads have improved the connectivity between people and made the internet accessibility easier and hassle free. Though internet has made life easier and smooth but have exposed several security threats as well. Protecting your gadgets, data and information while working online should be your first priority to assure that you are safe from malware and virus attacks.
Research has made it clear that the majority of the people ignored the security measures when working online. It is especially necessary for the people using internet from mobile devices. No cyber security efforts or measures are like poison that may give birth to complexities and pose threat to your sensitive data or personal information.
No doubt, online security measure calls for some personal efforts. The user must have to complete few things to make certain that s/he is completely shielded from all types of threats and viruses. Below are some of the imperative tips that guarantees online security for the users. These tips enable you to browse, shop, socialize and promote business online without any threat of virus attack or malware.
- The very first thing is the consideration of the basics like the OS and the software that is used on the system must be upgraded. It is true for the anti-virus software installed on your system. You can automatically configure the updates but, keep an eye that your security software is working aptly.
- Pay attention to your online activities and its changes that affects various other platforms that you may visit. Don?t get excited to click on the links because the majority of these links are from the malicious websites and their target is to steal the data or money from the user?s computer. Make sure that your privacy settings accurate and you have a latest version of firewall and antivirus.
- Have a unique and strong password to your online accounts as it lowers the chances of becoming a victim of hacking or brute attacks. Every account or website must have a unique password and it must be alphanumeric i.e. numbers and alphabets. You can add symbols as well and remember, your password should not be less than 8 characters.
- Make friends and connection wisely on the social sites. You don?t know everyone and there are the chances they may hack your account or trap you in some other way.? Take care of the network security measures as well.
- Wi-Fi hotspots are the latest method to trap people over the internet. People use to connect the public networks and become victim of viruses and their information gets stolen. So, while using public Wi-Fi make sure that it is legitimate and is fully secure.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Legal bills, PR for Jerry Sandusky scandal cost Penn State $26 ...
Mike Dawson
Centre Daily Times
Centre Daily Times
Updated: 2013-01-08T17:18:39Z
UNIVERSITY PARK ? The cost for Penn State?s response to the Jerry Sandusky scandal fallout is now nearly $26 million, according to figures the university updated this week.
The $25,926,451 is from invoices the university has received as of Oct. 31. The money is for legal fees and public relations consultants.That means the scandal has Penn State on the hook for more than $88.4 million, including the $60 million NCAA fine and $2.5 million in severance pay to former Penn State President Graham Spanier that was triggered after his dismissal in November 2011.About half of the price tag for legal and PR bills is the university?s board of trustees? internal investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh and public relations work. That total is $12.7 million ? up nearly $500,000 from the last update last month.The university has been billed $7 million for its own legal needs or defense and nearly $1 million for work done for outside investigations, such as the U.S. Department of Education and the work of former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, who is the NCAA?s assigned athletics integrity monitor.Penn State has been billed almost $3.7 million by lawyers representing former Penn State officials like Spanier, former athletic director Tim Curley, retired administrator Gary Schultz and former university counsel Cynthia Baldwin.Penn State President Rodney Erickson has said the university has insurance policies that will cover the legal bills for the former university officials. The PR work, though, will be paid out of pocket.The athletic department will pay the $60 million fine, university officials have said. The university loaned the athletic department the money to make the first payment of $12 million, which was put into an escrow account last month.Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett sued the NCAA last week and hopes to have a federal judge reverse the $60 million fine as well as the other sanctions, like a post-season bowl ban, imposed on Penn State. The university has said it will continue to pay the fine and abide by the agreement it signed with the NCAA.Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/01/08/4000048/legal-bills-pr-for-jerry-sandusky.html
Friday, January 4, 2013
AP Source: Reid, Chiefs nearing deal to be coach
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid, right, shakes hands with New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin after an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Giants won 42-7. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid, right, shakes hands with New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin after an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Giants won 42-7. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
FILE - Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 in East Rutherford, N.J. Reid has been fired after 14 seasons coaching the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles made the announcement Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid walks on the field before an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs should be quite familiar by now.
The two sides spent much of Thursday in negotiations for Reid to become the Chiefs' coach, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the situation.
The discussions followed nine hours of talks Wednesday that went well enough that Reid canceled plans to interview for other openings, the person told the AP. It was unclear which details were preventing the two sides from reaching an agreement.
The Philadelphia Eagles fired Reid after 14 seasons on Monday, the same day the Chiefs parted ways with coach Romeo Crennel after the worst season in franchise history.
The search for Crennel's replacement has been led by Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, who intends to take on more responsibility in the day-to-day operation of the franchise. Also on hand was team president Mark Donovan, who has a connection to Reid after spending six seasons as the Eagles' senior vice president of business operations.
Reid had been linked to the opening in Arizona before the Chiefs put on the press.
The Cardinals now intend to interview former Chiefs coach Todd Haley, a person familiar with their plans told the AP. Haley led the Chiefs to the AFC West title in 2010, but was fired in December 2011 and spent this past season as the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh.
Hunt told the AP in an interview Monday that he would have final say on the next Chiefs coach, rather than embattled general manager Scott Pioli. Hunt has not said whether Pioli will be back next season, but indicated that his future could be determined by the next coach.
Various reports have indicated that Reid would be open to working with Pioli, while other reports have said he would prefer to build his own front office. If Pioli is not retained, the top candidates to replace him include former Browns GM Tom Heckert and John Dorsey, who has been integral in building the Green Bay Packers into a perennial contender.
The opening in Kansas City is attractive on several levels: The Chiefs had five Pro Bowl players and two others chosen as alternates, despite their 2-14 record, and they have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft for the first time in franchise history.
That selection could help the Chiefs fill a gaping void at quarterback.
Matt Cassel was benched midway through the season and Brady Quinn, who was playing on a one-year deal, struggled as his replacement. Reid has had success at developing quarterbacks in the past, working with Donovan McNabb ? whom he helped draft with the No. 2 pick ? during his time in Philadelphia and Brett Favre earlier in his career in Green Bay.
"What I am confident in is we'll have dramatically better play from the quarterback position in 2013," Hunt said. "I don't know whether it'll be the ultimate, long-term solution or not. We'll just have to see how it plays out."
Hunt refused to get into the details of his coaching search, a responsibility that he'd delegated to the general manager in the past. But Hunt did say that he had surrounded himself with the right "resources" to make a thorough, informed hiring.
The new coach will also report directly to Hunt, a departure from the previous 53 years of franchise history. The coach is also expected to have more say over personnel matters.
When asked to describe his ideal candidate, Hunt said: "Somebody who has demonstrated the ability to build a successful program, or been part of building a successful program. Somebody of high integrity, somebody who is a successful teacher and communicator. Somebody who has a high football IQ, but at the same time likes to roll up their sleeves and work hard."
Reid appears to fit most of those qualifications.
The Eagles were just 12-20 the past two seasons, but Reid's overall record of 130-93-1 represents the most wins in franchise history. The franchise was just 3-13 the year before he arrived, and two years later it went to the playoffs at 11-5 and second in the NFC East.
That was the first of five straight years in which the Eagles won at least 11 games, and included a trip to the Super Bowl after the 2004 season.
"He had the love and respect of every individual in this organization," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said upon firing him. "This man is amazing to work with, smart and dedicated, and the record will speak for itself."
The past couple of years have been difficult for Reid, whose oldest son, Garrett, died at training camp after a long battle with drug addiction. Reid fired close friend and longtime assistant Juan Castillo in October and later fired defensive line coach Jim Washburn.
Now, it appears that Reid is about to get a fresh start.
"Overall the job is still attractive," Hunt said of the Chiefs, who have not won a playoff game since 1993. "The franchise remains very well respected around the league."
___
AP Sports Writers John Wawrow in Buffalo, N.Y., and Bob Baum in Tempe, Ariz., contributed to this report.
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Associated PressWednesday, January 2, 2013
Congress tightens belt, trims spy budget for 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress has drastically trimmed the budget for U.S. spies and satellites for 2013, though not quite as deeply as the White House wanted.
In one of the last votes of the year, House lawmakers voted Monday 373-29 in favor of a Senate-passed bill to slightly boost the president's $72 billion budget request for intelligence agencies including the CIA, adding extra cash for the counterterrorism fight against al-Qaida, and the counterintelligence fight against foreign governments trying to spy on the U.S.
That's down sharply from roughly $80 billion in 2012, which marked the peak of intelligence spending since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"The bill holds personnel levels, one of the biggest cost drivers, generally at last year's levels," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich. "Even so, the bill adds a limited number of new personnel positions for select, high-priority positions, such as FBI surveillance officers to keep watch on terrorists."
The House Intelligence Committee's ranking member, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., said the bill "invests in personnel and programs that are working and cuts things that aren't."
The bill was stripped of several measures meant to block the leaking of classified information, including a provision that would have limited which government officials could brief journalists on intelligence. The measures had been drafted after lawmakers objected to a series of news stories that anonymously quoted senior administration sources describing sensitive intelligence programs, such as the process by which targets are chosen for lethal drone strikes overseas.
The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says the measures were taken out to get the bill passed but that the issue remains a problem.
"Unfortunately, I am certain that damaging leaks of classified information will continue, and so the committee will need to continue to look for acceptable ways to address this problem," Feinstein said Friday after the Senate version of the bill passed.
The legislation, if signed into law by President Barack Obama, will require the White House to inform Congress when it decides to share classified information with reporters, giving lawmakers a heads-up before they read about it in the media.
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Dozier can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KimberlyDozier
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Senate's "fiscal cliff" bill adds $4 trillion to deficits: CBO
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said Senate-passed legislation to avert the "fiscal cliff" would add nearly $4 trillion to federal deficits over a decade, largely because it would extend low tax rates for almost all Americans.
The congressional scorekeeper's analysis was released as a number of Republicans in the House of Representatives voiced opposition to the bill, and considered amending it with deeper spending cuts.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and others complained the bill's spending cuts would do little to curb trillion-dollar deficits.
Senate-passed plan extends decade-old Bush-era tax rates for individuals earning up to $400,000 and couples earning up to $450,000 - nearly 99 percent of U.S. taxpayers.
But the non-partisan CBO compared the Senate plan's revenue and expenditure changes to laws that are currently in force, which call for $600 billion in tax hikes and automatic spending cuts in 2013 alone - effectively a dive off the fiscal cliff.
With Congress feverishly working to avoid the fiscal cliff in recent weeks, many Washington policymakers had viewed the current-law budget "baseline" as unlikely to be maintained.
Compared to an alternative CBO scenario in which Congress extends all expiring tax provisions and turns off automatic spending cuts slated to start taking effect this week, the Senate plan achieves minimal deficit reduction in the early years.
Over 10 years, deficits under the Senate plan would be $3.75 trillion less than permanently extending all of the tax and spending policies in the alternative scenario. That is largely because the CBO expects that remaining on an unsustainable fiscal path would severely constrict economic growth later in the decade, holding back revenue growth and keeping outlays higher.
FISCAL 2013 EFFECTS
By going over the fiscal cliff, the CBO had previously forecast that the higher taxes and lower spending would slash the fiscal 2013 U.S. budget deficit by more than half, to $641 billion from $1.1 trillion the prior year.
But in its analysis of the Senate-passed plan, the CBO said fiscal 2013 revenues would be $280 billion lower and spending $50 billion higher, resulting in a $330 billion deficit increase, for a total deficit of around $971 billion.
Under the CBO's keep-taxes-unchanged scenario, the deficit would be $1.04 trillion for fiscal 2013.
None of the CBO's analyses takes into consideration possible future spending cuts and reforms to federal health care and retirement programs that Congress might make in a new budget battle emerging around mid-February over the next increase in the U.S. debt limit.
(Reporting By Kim Dixon and David Lawder; Editing by David Gregorio and Vicki Allen)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cbo-says-senates-fiscal-cliff-bill-adds-4-193928294.html
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