Black Friday sales up 7 pct; retailers look ahead (AP)

The holiday shopping season got off to a strong start on Black Friday, with retail sales up 7 percent over last year, according to the most recent survey. Now stores just have to keep buyers coming back without the promise of door-buster savings.

Buyers spent $11.4 billion at retail stores and malls, up nearly $1 billion from last year, according to a Saturday report from ShopperTrak. It was the largest amount ever spent on the day that marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and the biggest year-over-year increase since 2007. Chicago-based ShopperTrak gathers data from 25,000 outlets across the U.S., including individual stores and shopping centers.

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. broke its Black Friday record for shoppers, thanks to a decision to open at midnight for the first time. Around 210,000 visitors came to the mall on Friday, up from 200,000 last year, according to mall spokeswoman Bridget Jewell.

Online shopping was strong as well, with a 24.3 percent increase in online spending on Black Friday, according to IBM, which tracks sales at 500 online retailers.

Bill Martin, who founded ShopperTrak, said he was surprised by the strong showing. He had expected the weak economy to dent consumer confidence and keep more shoppers out of the stores, or at least from spending much. Instead, he said, they responded to a blanket of promotions, from 60- and 70-percent off deals to door-buster savings on electronics.

"I'm pleased to see it. You can't have a great season without having a good Black Friday," Martin told The Associated Press in an interview.

Sales were also up 4 percent each in the two weeks leading up to Black Friday, as retailers started their promotions earlier than usual or extended their hours.

Still, he suspects things will quiet down this weekend, as promotions end and the buying frenzy subsides. ShopperTrak is expecting holiday sales to be up 3.3 percent this season. Retailers generally rely on sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make up 20 percent of their annual take.

There weren't many shoppers at Pioneer Place Mall in Portland, Ore., on Saturday.

"This is great, I'm glad I waited," said MaryJane Danan, who drove two hours from Corvallis, Ore., to go shopping with her teenage daughters. She stayed home on Black Friday because she thought the crowds would be huge. But she was surprised by how few people were out Saturday.

At Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, N.C., Mary Aker was forced to use valet parking Friday because she couldn't find a parking spot. But on Saturday, the pace had let up a little, so she and her husband came back to do some more shopping.

Aker, 58, a retired librarian, said she's spending about as much as she usually does for Christmas. But she's asking people what they want ahead of time to make sure everyone is happy.

At the same mall, sisters Patricia Harrington, Betty Thomas and Laverne Kelly had been shopping all weekend, starting with an all-nighter Thursday after Thanksgiving dinner. The sisters said things calmed down considerably by Friday and Saturday. They suspected a lot of people were shopping online, but they were also underwhelmed by the discounts.

"People are losing their jobs. They should have better deals," said Kelly, 50 and a customer service agent at FedEx.

"There are a lot of people out here but fewer bags," added Thomas, 52 and a health coordinator at a Raleigh hospital.

Thanksgiving weekend, particularly Black Friday, is huge for retailers. Over the past six years, Black Friday was the biggest sales day of the year, and it is expected to keep that crown this year, though shoppers seem to be procrastinating more every year and the fate of the holiday season is increasingly coming down to the last few days before Christmas.

Last year, the Thanksgiving shopping weekend accounted for 12.1 percent of overall holiday sales. Black Friday made up about half of that.

___

AP Business Writer Sarah Skidmore contributed from Portland, Ore. AP Business Writer Christina Rexrode contributed from Raleigh, N.C.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_bi_ge/us_holiday_shopping

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UNLV knocks off No. 1 North Carolina, 90-80 (AP)

LAS VEGAS ? Chace Stanback had a career-high 28 and added 10 rebounds to help UNLV beat top-ranked North Carolina 90-80 on Saturday night in the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Mike Moser added 16 points and 18 rebounds, Oscar Bellfield had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Anthony Marshall finished with 13 points for the Rebels (7-0).

P.J. Hairston and John Henson each had 15 points for North Carolina (5-1).

After North Carolina took a 42-38 halftime lead, UNLV opened the second half with a 14-0 run as the Tar Heels missed their first 10 shots. The Rebels built a 77-63 lead on Lopez's basket off a rebound with 5:39 left.

Rebels fans stormed the Orleans Arena court after the victory.

The Tar Heels shot 31 percent in the second half.

The Rebels gambled early, shooting their first 10 of 15 shots from 3-point and converting four. But the strategy paid off as the Rebels jumped to a 17-9 advantage.

The Tar Heels then held UNLV scoreless for the next 4 minutes and took their first lead, at 18-17, on Barnes' baseline jumper with 10:30 left in the half.

North Carolina then pushed the advantage to 32-27.

Bellfield had 13 first-half points, hitting 3 of 6 3-pointers.

Even though the game was played at the Orleans Arena, five miles from the UNLV campus, there seemed to be just slightly more UNLV fans as Tar Heels supporters in the 8,000-seat arena.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkc_t25_north_carolina_unlv

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Lachlan Murdoch Charged With Involvement In News Corp. Bribery Of Australian Politicians

CANBERRA, Australia ? A former Australian senator said Friday that Rupert Murdoch's eldest son was present when a News Corp. executive allegedly offered him favorable newspaper coverage and "a special relationship" in return for voting against government legislation.

The Australian Federal Police are investigating former Sen. Bill O'Chee's allegations about Murdoch's media empire, which has been shaken for months by a separate British scandal over hacked cellphone messages.

O'Chee told The Associated Press on Friday that Lachlan Murdoch, then a senior News Corp. executive, was at the table during crucial parts of his discussion with Malcolm Colless, then director of corporate development for News Ltd., News Corp.'s Australian subsidiary.

O'Chee alleges that Colless offered him inducements during a lunch on June 13, 1998, to vote against his conservative government's legislation on the creation of digital TV in Australia. News Corp. stood to profit from the legislation failing.

Lachlan Murdoch, now a board member of an Australian television network, had no recollection of the lunch, his spokesman John Connolly said Friday.

John Hartigan, chairman and chief executive of News Ltd., denied allegations of improper conduct.

Details of O'Chee's allegations, in the form of a nine-page sworn statement, were first published Wednesday by Fairfax Media newspapers, rivals of News Corp.

"This is a very, very serious matter that goes right to the heart of government and something that I'm sure would concern every thinking person," O'Chee told the AP.

"I'm glad that the AFP is going to investigate it and I hope they investigate it extremely thoroughly," he said.

"It would just be helpful to all concerned if Lachlan Murdoch now admitted the fact that he was present during that lunch, or portions of that lunch, when pay TV was discussed," he said.

Offering a senator a bribe or inducement to influence a vote is an offense punishable by up to seven years in prison.

O'Chee's allegations were reported to police by Rob Oakeshott, an independent federal lawmaker whose support is crucial to Prime Minister Julia Gillard's minority government's survival.

"I emphasize that this is not passing judgment on the veracity of the allegations," Oakeshott told the AP in a statement. The allegations were reported "to make sure the right people could test the truth or otherwise of the serious allegations being made," Oakeshott said.

News Ltd. newspaper The Australian reported Thursday that its editor-in-chief, Chris Mitchell, had by coincidence had lunch that day with Lachlan Murdoch in the same restaurant in Brisbane city, but at a separate table from O'Chee and Colless.

Mitchell spoke briefly to Colless and his party as he was leaving the restaurant, but was unaware of any attempts to lobby for O'Chee's vote, the newspaper reported.

O'Chee, a former senator for Queensland state with a track record of voting against his National Party's wishes, alleged that Colless told him that while voting against the legislation would be criticized, "we will take care of you."

Colless "also told me we would have a 'special relationship,' where I would have editorial support from News Corp.'s newspapers, not only with respect to the ... legislation, but for 'any other issues' too," O'Chee alleged in his statement.

O'Chee said that a week after the lunch, he called Colless to say he had decided to vote for the legislation. It then became "almost impossible" to attract News Corp. coverage, O'Chee said in his statement.

He lost his Senate seat at elections four months after the lunch.

Hartigan's statement said Colless "has confirmed that no improper conversation took place during the 1998 lunch."

"Two other guests at the lunch with Mr. Colless and Mr. O'Chee have said they did not hear any improper conversations," he said.

The allegations are embarrassing for News Corp., whose ownership of 70 percent of Australia's newspapers has raised criticism from within the government that Murdoch's empire has too much control over Australian media.

The government has opened an inquiry into potentially increasing newspaper regulation in Australia after News Corp. closed its top-selling British tabloid News of the World in July over illegal phone hacking allegations.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/26/lachlan-murdoch-australia-bribes-news-corp_n_1114335.html

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Video: Europe?s economic crisis hits US

>> head into the holiday season with the economy still struggling to get going and an economic crisis in europe that could have a serious ripple effect here at home. for insight on that we turn to cnbc's chief international correspondent, michelle caruso-cabrera. there was talk not that long ago of a double-dip recession. nothing is making a dent in this unemployment. we saw a bad week in the market so what's the big picture on the u.s. economy .

>> reporter: back in august we got some data that really frightened people and we wondered if we were going to have a second recession. however, recently when it comes to consumer spending action even the weekly unemployment data, it's gotten better. it's not great, but it's better. in fact even some economists this week said maybe the economy could grow as much as 3% this quarter. the one caveat is what happens in europe with their debt crisis, and do they resolve it in some way.

>> and you put your finger on it because we've seen this movie before. their economic problems can easily become ours. a bad day in the markets over there, so what's happening?

>> reporter: there was a big meeting today once again between the leaders of france, germany and italy. the leader of germany once again said a big no to two ideas that a lot of economists think europe should do to solve the problem, either to allow the central bank of europe to do what the u.s. central bank did during our crisis and flood a lot of money and liquidity into the system or do a set of bonds that puts all of europe 's debts into one big pile so collectively they can pay for that. germany is still against both of those ideas, so so far no resolution.

>> michelle, thanks.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45431369/

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Portugal lowered to junk status as big strike hits (AP)

LISBON, Portugal ? Portugal's efforts to climb out of its economic crisis suffered a double setback Thursday as its credit rating was downgraded to junk status and a major strike gave voice to broad public outrage over austerity measures that have squeezed living standards.

Portugal's deepening plight underlined Europe's difficulties in finding a way out of the continent's government debt crisis which has recently shown alarming signs of spreading to bigger nations, most notably Italy.

Like others in the 17-country eurozone, Portugal has embarked on a big austerity program to make its debts sustainable. Earlier this year, Portugal followed Greece and Ireland in taking a bailout to avert bankruptcy.

As in Greece, though, the government's tough medicine, which is required by international creditors in return for the euro78 billion ($104 billion) in bailout money, is unpopular. The strike had a huge turnout, making it possibly the biggest walkout in more than 20 years.

Police detained three demonstrators who scuffled with police outside Parliament after a protest march, Associated Press Television News reported.

"They are trying to destroy the national health service, and salaries haven't gone up since 2004," striking Dr. Pilar Vicente told APTN.

International ratings agency Fitch blamed Portugal's "large fiscal imbalances, high indebtedness across all sectors, and adverse macroeconomic outlook" for its decision to cut the country's rating by one notch to BB+. Rival Moody's already rates Portuguese bonds as junk, but Standard & Poor's rates them one notch above.

Fitch's decision to cut Portugal to a non-investment grade will likely mean it's even more difficult for the country, which is already mired in a deep recession and is witnessing rising levels of unemployment, to return to bond markets by its 2013 goal. That raises the unappetizing prospect that Portugal, like Greece, may need a second bailout.

"Portugal's downgrade goes to show how hard it will be for troubled economies to pull themselves out of the crisis and how long this will take," said Sony Kapoor, managing director of Re-Define, an economic think tank. "The Portuguese downgrade highlights the limits of austerity policies both domestically in Portugal and in the wider euro area."

The 24-hour walkout came as Portugal, one of western Europe's smallest and frailest economies, endures increasing hardship as it tries to get its borrowing levels down.

The strike was called by Portugal's two largest trade union confederations, representing more than 1 million mostly blue-collar workers. Much of the private sector remained open for business, but a huge Volkswagen car plant south of Lisbon, which accounts for 10 percent of Portuguese exports, decided to shut down production for the day because of problems facing its suppliers.

Much of the disruption was centered on the transport sector. Airlines canceled hundreds of international flights, and the airports of Lisbon, Porto and Faro were mostly empty as tens of thousands of workers walked off the job. Commuters had to get to work without regular bus or train services. The Lisbon subway was shut, and police said roads into the capital were more congested than normal.

Few staff were working at government offices, local media reported. Many medical appointments, school classes and court hearings were canceled, while mail deliveries and trash collection were said to be severely disrupted.

An unsustainable debt load and feeble economic growth over the past 10 years pushed Portugal toward bankruptcy earlier this year, forcing it to ask for a financial rescue.

In return for the aid, Portugal agreed to cut its debt burden to a manageable level by 2013. That goal requires it to enact deep spending cuts and hike taxes. Income tax, sales tax, corporate tax and property tax are all being increased. At the same time, welfare entitlements are being curtailed. Falling living standards have stoked outrage at the austerity measures.

"All the sacrifices the Portuguese are making today will prove worthwhile in the future," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Miguel Relvas told reporters.

A key difference from Greece is that the markets have not given up completely on Portugal. Though Portugal's key 10-year borrowing rate in the market stands at a still-exorbitant 12 percent, it's way below the 30 percent or so Greek equivalent. The aim is to eventually get that rate down below the 7 percent threshold that eventually proved to be the trigger for this year's bailout.

The Portuguese government, which came to power in June, has already conceded that its deficit reduction efforts have gone "off track" this year but says one-off measures, such as a 50 percent tax on Christmas bonuses and transferring banks' pension funds to the Treasury, will ensure Portugal achieves its 2011 budget deficit goal of 5.9 percent. That is down from 9.8 percent in 2010.

Debt is also expected to surpass 100 percent of GDP this year and peak at 106 percent in 2013 before retreating.

The austerity drive is hitting the real economy hard. Unemployment is up to 12.4 percent and is forecast to hit 13.4 percent next year. The European Commission predicts the Portuguese economy will contract by 3 percent in 2012 ? the worst performance in the eurozone.

Fitch said the recession is making it more "challenging" for the government to achieve its deficit-reduction plan and will negatively impact bank asset quality. However, Fitch said the center-right government's commitment to the debt-reduction program is "strong."

Portugal has so far witnessed none of the violent demonstrations seen in Greece, though police said three Lisbon tax offices were vandalized Wednesday night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_re_eu/eu_portugal_financial_crisis

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Lessons for Washington state from the Penn State child-abuse case (Seattle Times)

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Proposal to tax Jack Daniel's whiskey derailed (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? Jack Daniel's officials are toasting the defeat of a proposal to tax whiskey at its celebrated Tennessee distillery.

The Moore County Council in Lynchburg, Tenn., voted 10-5 Monday evening to kill a proposal that could have taxed Jack Daniel's up to $5 million annually, with all the revenue going to local coffers.

"We hope we've been able to demonstrate that the distillery pays more than its fair share of taxes and that we've contributed to our way of life in Lynchburg," said Tom Beam, senior vice president and general manager of production at the facility.

The vote reversed an earlier one that had asked the Tennessee legislature to authorize a local referendum on the per-barrel tax proposal.

"We've educated the community a little more," Beam said Tuesday in a telephone interview from the distillery, located in the hills of south-central Tennessee. "They realized after we got our side of the story out how much we do."

The 145-year-old distillery and its employees, along with Lynchburg, have been the focus of Jack Daniel's folksy advertising for years. Bottles of the charcoal mellowed sippin' whiskey list Lynchburg's population as 361, but the town and county really have about 6,400.

The distillery, owned by Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman, now pays $1.5 million in local property taxes.

"We hated to see this drive a wedge through our family here," Beam said. "This is our home and we'll try to do the right thing."

The Jack Daniel Distillery, with about 450 employees, is the largest employer in Moore County. The local Chamber of Commerce came out against the proposal at the meeting.

Supporters of the proposal said the issue is dead for now and they may quit trying.

"That's democracy in action, I suppose," Charles Rogers said of the vote after spearheading the proposal.

"I may bow out of this," he added. "But I still think people ought to have the right to vote on it (in a referendum)."

Ten million cases of the sour mash whiskey, led by Old No. 7, are sold worldwide every year, making it the No. 1 brand in sales globally.

"Our friends and neighbors around Moore County, the state, the country and even globally have been supportive," Beam said.

Company spokesmen never said whether the tax would have meant higher prices at the retail level.

Ironically, Moore County is dry, meaning Jack Daniel's cannot be sold legally in the county.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_re_us/us_taxing_jack

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'Dancing's' mirror ball trophy goes to ...

It was practically a tie as "Dancing With the Stars" prepared to reveal its winner for the 13th season of the ballroom competition on Tuesday night.

Going into the final minutes of the show, war hero J.R. Martinez had a total score of 112 from the judges, while reality personality Rob Kardashian was one point ahead with 113. Both men tied in the final dance of the night, the instant samba. The judges awarded them a perfect 30 despite flaws in the performances.

But it was fan favorite J.R. who was triumphant after the judges' scores were combined with viewer votes.

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      Blame the bickering. Blame the reality TV stars. Blame the judges (and then some). The truth is this isn?t the first time ...

   2. 'Dancing's' mirror ball trophy goes to ...
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Does 'DWTS' need a complete ballroom reboot?

"First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who voted for us for 10 weeks," he said. Then he told his pro partner, Karina Smirnoff, "You are amazing, and I'm so grateful I could be a part of your first mirror ball trophy."

The shimmery victory was the pro's first in 10 tries.

But after the show, even J.R. admitted to New York's WABC that he hadn't been at the top of his game at the end. (He received a lowly 7 from head judge Len Goodman for his first dance on Monday night, and was outscored by everyone except Hope Solo the week before, thanks to an ankle injury.)

Story: You be the judge! Rate the 'Dancing' contestants

"Thank you guys so much for week in week out, for voting for us," J.R. told WABC's cameras. "Even when I had a bad week, you still put us through and gave us an opportunity to step up and show you what we're capable of doing."

Talk show host Ricki Lake was eliminated in third place after performing her favorite dance of the season, the tango to the "Psycho" theme.

What did you think of the season? Share your thoughts on the Facebook page for our TV blog, The Clicker.

? 2011 MSNBC Interactive.? Reprints

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45410952/ns/today-entertainment/

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Google Gives Up On Green Tech Investment Initiative RE

Among yesterday's service shutdowns at Google, which included underperforming and deprecated Web properties like Knol, Wave and Gears, there was also news of the end of RE<C. What's RE<C? Just one of those ambitious "we can save the world with Google money!" type projects that gave the search giant the appearance for caring about more than the influx of ad dollars. In this case, RE<C was focused on lowering the cost of renewable energy. Or, as the acronym indicates, to make "renewable energy" (RE) less than (cheaper than) coal (C). As it turns out, that was easier said than done.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CUy6hSBRhBo/

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Stock Market To Cast Confidence Vote On Eurozone Monday After Disastrous German Debt Auction

The eurozone will face a vote of confidence on Monday by the U.S. stock market.

Heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, the U.S. stock market plunged after Germany, Europe's largest -- and arguably most secure -- economy, found it surprisingly difficult to sell its government bonds or sovereign debt Wednesday. It's a sign that private investors are fleeing Europe and exacerbating the sovereign debt crisis there.

With the stock market closed Thursday and open for just a half a day on Friday, it likely won't be clear until Monday if the crisis is starting to spread to the United States. U.S. stocks may plunge on Monday if the situation in Europe deteriorates, some economists said.

"The markets are exaggerating the situation," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. "But by the same token, they're sending a message, and that strikes a cautious note."

By avoiding Germany's sovereign bond auction, private investors signaled that they have lost patience with European leaders and confidence that the eurozone will be able to avoid a breakup and a deep recession. The impact of investors' skittishness is growing. If they don't buy government bonds, interest rates on European sovereign debt spike, making it harder for countries to finance their debt pushing them closer to default.

In other words, investors fearing the worst could actually be making their fears come true.

The German central bank was forced to buy 39 percent of the 10-year sovereign bonds that Germany issued today, in a clear rebuke by private investors. The U.S. stock market plunged in response, as the S&P 500 fell 2.21 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 236 points to 11,257.55. European stocks also took a beating. The DAX index in Germany fell 1.44 percent and the CAC 40 in France fell 1.68 percent, and the value of the euro fell one percent against the dollar.

"This auction was disastrous for Germany, and one can easily conclude that this is one of the first concrete signs that the eurozone is in the process of breaking up, that investors have just about given up," Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group, said.

Germany almost set itself up for an unsuccessful bond auction though, said Jay Bryson, global economist at Wells Fargo Securities. He noted that the interest rate that Germany was offering on its new 10-year bonds -- just 2 percent -- was lower than the 2.25 percent interest rate offered last month and 3.25 percent interest rate during the summer. The lower returns simply were not as appealing, Bryson said.

If Germany, Europe's safe haven, can't sell off its debt to private investors, then more troubled countries such as Italy and Spain may find it difficult to avoid insolvency. And if those countries default, it could spell the end for the euro.

Investors are at this point afraid of nearly all European bonds. Interest rates on French and Austrian sovereign debt are approaching four percent, indicating that investors are increasingly eager to sell any European sovereign debt, no matter how well the country's fiscal house has been put in order nor how strong the economy is. Bryson noted that European banks also have been less willing to lend to large corporations in a sign that credit is tightening.

"The markets seem to think that euro is on the edge, ready to fall off the cliff," Cardillo said. "The message is loud and clear that the markets are basically going to force the Germans to compromise."

Germany, the most powerful country in the eurozone, has largely stood in the way of a rescue by the European Central Bank. The president of Germany's influential central bank recently said that the ECB must not violate its charter, which prevents it from buying sovereign debt directly from European governments.

But if the markets continue to inflict harm on Germany as well as the rest of the eurozone, Cardillo said, Germany eventually may relent and allow the ECB to buy large amounts of sovereign debt and issue euro bonds, driving down borrowing costs and ending the short-term crisis.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/23/stock-market-german-debt_n_1110636.html

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Google+ quietly gets trending topics, dares you to search for it

Did the addition of "What's Hot" not satiate your burning desire for real-time happenings on Google's social network? You're in luck, as Mountain View's quietly added another way to aggregate popular content on Google+. Upon initiating a search, a list of trending topics appears to the right, exposing what's currently en vogue on Mountain View's social network. Functionally, it's a dead ringer for Twitter's trending topics and unlike "What's Hot," won't bombard you with random unrelated, but popular, posts. Will it pass muster as an official feature, or will it be left to linger in the ether? We'll find out, but Google if you're listening, we're watchin'.

Google+ quietly gets trending topics, dares you to search for it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anything can-happen feel in Iowa's 2012 vote (AP)

ANAMOSA, Iowa ? The race for the Republican presidential nomination is deeply unsettled with an anything-can-happen feel six weeks before Iowans start the state-by-state process of choosing a GOP challenger for President Barack Obama.

Hoping to sway the many voters who are still undecided, most of the contenders visited the state in the past week and the pace of campaigning is certain to accelerate after Thanksgiving, when the monthlong sprint to the Jan. 3 caucuses begins. A crush of new TV ads is certain. Expect mailboxes filled with brochures and repeated visits by candidates to diners, town squares and other must-stop venues.

"People are getting close to decision time," former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, one of several candidates whose bids depend on a strong Iowa showing, told The Associated Press. "You're going to see some coalescing in the next couple of weeks."

A recent poll found that 60 percent of Republicans who plan to participate in the caucuses are willing to change their minds and 10 percent are fully undecided. That Bloomberg News survey showed a four-way race: Clustered at the top were Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Ron Paul, candidates whose positions, backgrounds and personalities run the gamut. Languishing far behind were Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, who at one point enjoyed huge bursts of support.

Iowa's outcome matters because it will shape the contest in New Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan. 10, and in states beyond.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has started stepping up his efforts in Iowa after playing it cautiously all year. He plans to return to the state Wednesday after skipping a multi-candidate forum in Des Moines on Saturday night.

Nearly all his rivals, promoting themselves as a viable alternative to Romney, gathered on one stage to discuss how their religious faith influences their public life before a large and influential audience of social conservatives.

Considered the one to beat because of his strength on several fronts, Romney spent the weekend in New Hampshire.

In Iowa, he's hoping that social conservatives who make up the GOP's base will splinter their support among the crowded field of candidates who are considered more conservative than Romney. No one has emerged as the consensus choice of those conservatives, though many are trying.

They include Cain, a Georgia businessman, and Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker, who seem just as poised to break out of the pack as they are to fade. Both are seen as attractive for a Republican electorate craving a candidate who will take it to Obama in a no-holds-barred style. But both also are trying hard to weather increased scrutiny.

Cain continues to fight decade-old sexual harassment allegations, along with questions about his grasp of an array of policies. Iowans don't seem to be punishing him for any of it, so far. He cheerfully greeted a crowd of more than 200 at a Dubuque restaurant Tuesday on just his second trip to Iowa in the past three months.

"Herman Cain's support at this point has intensified," Johnson County GOP Chairman Bob Anderson said. "There's been no decrease in his level of support based on the controversy that's erupted."

But Cain has little campaign structure in the state and a tiny staff. Despite the upbeat tone of his visit, he did little outreach to influential Republican activists. He took no audience questions in Dubuque, spent most of his time in Iowa recording a campaign advertisement and headlined a five-minute news conference spent primarily defending an awkward response to an interview question about Libya a day earlier.

Like Cain, Gingrich returned to Iowa last week to find himself on the defensive over a number of issues, including the roughly $1.6 million he received as a consultant to Freddie Mac, the federally backed mortgage giant detested by conservatives. He found himself spending the bulk of his three-day trip trying to portray his history with the company as a sign of valuable experience.

"It reminds people that I know a great deal about Washington," Gingrich said. "We just tried four years of amateur ignorance, and it didn't work very well. So having someone who actually knows Washington might be a really good thing."

As the week ended, Gingrich introduced a website that collects, and provides answers for, what he long has claimed are myths about his background and explanations for policy position changes throughout the years. Among the issues Gingrich addresses are his admissions of adultery and divorce, topics likely to rile cultural conservatives in Iowa.

Paul, a Texas congressman, returned to the state at week's end to find that he was steadily drawing sizable crowds to restaurants and community centers in small towns such as Vinton and Anamosa, where audiences applauded his proposal to cut $1 trillion from the federal deficit his first year in office, primarily by vastly reducing U.S. foreign aid.

Long dismissed by the GOP establishment, the libertarian-leaning candidate is now turning heads beyond his hard-core followers four years since his failed 2008 bid. This year, he's running a more mature Iowa campaign and it's showing. He finished a close second to Minnesota Rep. Bachmann in August test vote, an indication of his stronger organization.

Texas Gov. Perry, trying to get back on track after a damaging few weeks that has affected his once-robust fundraising, is accelerating his already aggressive TV advertising schedule in Iowa and is making government reform, as well as assailing Obama, the cornerstone of his campaign in hopes of rebounding.

"Washington's broken, and needs a complete overhaul," Perry says in a new ad. "Replacing one Washington insider with another won't change a thing. If you want an outsider who'll overhaul Washington, then I'm your guy."

It's a message that has some sticking with Perry, despite his troubles.

"I haven't given up on Rick Perry, personally," said Hamilton County Republican Chairman Mark Greenfield, who supports Perry. "He's a lower-tier candidate now. But he's the one person who can turn the economy around if he can only clarify his message."

Bachmann, too, is fighting to come back with a second act after a blazing hot summer and a victory in the Iowa GOP straw poll. Some of her evangelical base has drifted elsewhere, but she's still focused on trying to get them to rally behind her like they did former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the Iowa caucus winner in 2008.

"It is amazing to me how God uses those challenges to shape your life," Bachmann said of her parents' divorce, noting during the Saturday forum how it influenced her decision to be a foster parent to more than 20 children in addition to her five biological children.

The candidate who may stand to gain from Bachmann's inability to wrap up the evangelical vote is Santorum. The former Pennsylvania senator is the only Republican with staunch socially conservative credentials competing hard in Iowa who hasn't enjoyed a burst of support this year.

That's not for lack of trying.

He's essentially camped out in the state for months and has campaigned in all 99 Iowa counties on a shoestring budget.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_wide_open_iowa

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Parents "losing traditional values": top UK teacher (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Parents who allow their children to dress in provocative clothing, wear make-up and high heels have lost their sense of traditional values, according to a leading British school headmistress.

"Some parents have been so deprived in their own lives of education and values, that they no longer know right from wrong," said Helen Wright, headmistress of St Mary's Calne, a private girls' boarding school in England.

"They are as a result, unwittingly 'indulging' children in some parallel universe where it is acceptable to let young children wear make-up and provocative clothing."

The 41-year-old -- who is also president of the Girls' Schools Association -- said that if parents can't see anything wrong in allowing their children to wear make-up, high heels and "mini-me" sexy clothing, then something is intensely wrong in our society.

Her comments, to an educational conference Monday, come as Britain prepares to clamp down on the use of sexualized imagery in music videos and advertising campaigns.

The mother of three young children criticized popular British television talent shows such as the X Factor where contestants are catapulted into a spotlight which can be far too much for them and said she was shocked by the sexual imagery used by advertisers in magazines for very young children.

"What hope have we got of safeguarding our children's sacred childhood if they are knocked off their feet on the nursery slopes of life by an avalanche of images and malign influences?" she said. "And make no mistake, this is what is happening."

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111121/lf_nm_life/us_britain_parents_traditional

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Video: Study: Spacing siblings makes them smarter

A new study determined that the ideal spacing between an older and younger sibling is at least two years. NBC?s Brian Williams reports.

Related Links:

http://www.facebook.com/nbcnightlynews

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45393908/

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Sri Lanka war probe report delivered to president (Reuters)

COLOMBO (Reuters) ? The Sri Lankan panel investigating the end of a quarter-century war with Tamil Tiger separatists delivered its report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday, a step awaited by Western nations urging investigations into war crimes allegations.

Rajapaksa has said he will make public the findings of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Sri Lanka's answer to calls from some Western governments, overseas Tamil Tiger supporters and rights groups for an independent investigation.

"The final report was handed over to the president by its chairman. The president will now study the report," Bandula Jayasekara, the president's director general of media, said.

It is expected to be presented to parliament in December, officials have said, but the government has yet to give a date.

Many Western nations, India and others have said a credible report by the LLRC would, in conjunction with political concessions to minority Tamils, obviate the need for an outside inquiry.

The report says there appears to be enough evidence to warrant the government investigating incidents that may have occurred in the last months of the war, which ended in May 2009, the Sri Lankan weekly Sunday Times reported.

"However, the Commission has neither named the specific incidents nor identified the persons responsible for them," the newspaper said.

The U.N.-sponsored report on Sri Lanka says there is "credible evidence" the military killed thousands of civilians at the climax of the war, which ended in Sri Lankan victory.

The government has said civilians were killed but rejects the bulk of the U.N. report as a regurgitation of allegations "fabricated" by the Tamil Tigers' overseas propaganda network, and says its soldiers acted in accordance with international law.

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Bryson Hull and Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/india/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111120/india_nm/india606271

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Official: Drug cartel tried to skew Mexico vote (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? A Mexican official said Friday that drug traffickers tried to influence elections in the western state of Michoacan, a charge already made before the voting by some of the candidates and party leaders.

Juan Marcos Gutierrez, the outgoing acting interior secretary, said a drug cartel conducted "boldfaced interference" in last Sunday's state elections. Though he did not name the gang, a single cartel, The Knights Templar, dominates most of Michoacan.

"We cannot allow this participation by organized crime to even start trying to influence (election) results," he said. "We have the obligation to bulletproof ourselves against this kind of bold-faced interference."

Gutierrez said traffickers tried to intimidate voters to cast ballots a certain way. He also referred to a local newspaper in a city whose mayor was shot to death shortly before the elections being forced to run an ad that threatened to kill anyone who voted for the mayor's party.

The mayor, like President Felipe Calderon, is a member of the conservative National Action Party. Calderon's sister ran for governor in the Michoacan elections, but lost narrowly to the candidate of the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Gutierrez called the threats and pressure used by traffickers "extremely worrisome."

Gutierrez served about a week as interim interior secretary, before handing over the post to Alejandro Poire on Thursday. In Mexico, the interior department oversees domestic security and political negotiations with congress and also helps organize elections.

In a speech upon taking office, Poire said, "We will not permit criminals of any kind to interfere with our right to freely elect our representatives."

Also Friday, the Mexican army said it had seized a $350,000 radio communications network that was purportedly operated by the Zetas drug cartel in the northern state of Coahuila. The Defense Department said the system consisted of 122 radio sets, mostly hand-held, and was used by the Zetas to conduct internal communications and monitor law enforcement agencies.

The Mexican navy reported it had detained 14 alleged Zetas members in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where drug gang violence has worsened in recent months. The navy said the 14 were stopped late Wednesday in suspicious vehicles along a road.

The Veracruz state government reported that four people were killed in a shootout with law enforcement officers near the state capital. The statement did not say which law enforcement agency was involved or whether those killed in the confrontation belonged to any drug gang.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111119/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico

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ReCell Kit Grows Spray On Skin At Your Bedside In Just Half an Hour [Medical]

While skin grafts are an essential tool for treating severe burns, Avita Medical has developed a compact kit that grows replacement skin that can be sprayed on. Which has resulted in faster healing and better cosmetic results in patient testing. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KZnK9L0gxHk/recell-kit-grows-spray-on-skin-at-your-bedside-in-just-half-an-hour

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Focus returns to Gingrich?s failed marriages (The Ticket)

(Stephen Morton/AP)

Newt Gingrich's rise in the polls is again attracting scrutiny to a subject that could potentially hurt his Republican presidential bid with some GOP primary voters: His two failed marriages that ended, in part, because of his infidelity.

Earlier this week, a flier was slipped under the doors of guests at the Des Moines Marriott calling attention to the candidate's checkered martial past--and to his cheating on his second wife, Marianne, with his current wife, Callista. First reported by Politico, the flier was distributed by a group identifying itself as "Iowans for Christian Leaders in Government."

"If Newt Gingrich can't be faithful to his wife, how can we trust him to be faithful to conservative voters," the flier read.

Gingrich dismissed the flier, suggesting it was too "badly" done to have been distributed by one of his Republican campaign rivals. But it hints at what could be a dangerous issue for Gingrich, as he casts himself as a chief rival to Mitt Romney for the nomination.

For months, Gingrich has been taking on the issue of his failed marriages head on, playing up his role as a happy husband and grandfather and admitting his personal shortcomings. In March, the former House speaker told the Christian Broadcasting Network that his infidelities were fueled, in part, because of he was consumed with political ambitions and "worked too hard" in Congress.

"I found that I felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness. Not God's understanding, but God's forgiveness," Gingrich said at the time, adding that he believes in a "forgiving God."

But for some social conservatives, that's still not enough. Richard Land, head of policy at the Southern Baptist Convention, is insisting--as he has for months--that Gingrich needs to give a major speech addressing his failed marriages, likening it to John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech about Catholicism.

"He needs to make the speech of his life, and in his mind, his target has got to be 40- to 60-year-old evangelical women," Land tells National Review's Katrina Trinko. "And he's got to convince them that he's sorry, he regrets it, he would do anything he could to undo the pain and the hurt that he's caused, he understands the pain and the hurt that he's caused, and he has learned his lesson. That he has thrown himself on the grace of Jesus, and that if they elect him president, he will not let them down--that there will be no moral scandal in a Gingrich White House."

Many Gingrich advisers believe the former speaker has already done this, via interviews with CBN and other outlets, and Gingrich himself has given no hints that he plans to address the issue in a more prominent way. But the subject could be particularly damaging in Iowa, where social conservatives have major influence over the state's Jan. 3 GOP caucuses.

Other popular Yahoo! News stories:

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20111118/el_yblog_theticket/focus-returns-to-gingrichs-failed-marriages

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Dr. Boyce Watkins: Sorry Chris Rock, but President Obama is Nobody's "Gangsta"

Comedian Chris Rock made some interesting comments this week about President Barack Obama. Rock, who is a strong supporter of the president, felt compelled to argue that none of us should be fooled by the relatively passive, less-than-impressive first term of Obama. Instead, Rock says that we should look forward to the fact that having a second term is going to lead President Obama to start doing "gangsta sh*t."

"There's a f------ art to the first term because you're always running for a second term the whole time. It's like Clinton's first term. You can't really do your gangsta sh-- until your second term... Even Bush couldn't really f--- up the world until his second term. That's when he put the hammer down," said Rock.

Rock is the latest in a slew of black comedians and public figures who've come out to support the president. Steve Harvey regularly uses his radio show to argue that anyone who doesn't support President Obama is selling out the race, and Tom Joyner went as far as stating that we should support President Obama solely because he's black.

Rock's comments reflect his comedic brilliance, but also display a disturbing habit of millions of other African Americans who tend to make President Obama into the man they hope he is, rather than the man he has proven himself to be. President Obama is not a "gangsta" politician. He is a deliberate, calculated, (somewhat) inexperienced, highly-intelligent, non-confrontational, relatively self-serving man who sometimes gets things done. Most interestingly (and perhaps sadly), he's probably the best candidate that either of the two major parties has been able to produce in a decade.

President Obama, by working to find common ground with his fellow politicians, is exactly what our dysfunctional government needs. Unfortunately, he's become the man carrying a peace treaty to the middle of a war zone, and it's simply not working out very well. Republicans have certainly been "gangsta" with President Obama, but his decision to back down in numerous showdowns with the opposition have left even his most enthusiastic supporters disillusioned.

Rock's comment reminds us of exactly what happened in 2008, when African Americans tried so hard to read between the lines of the Obama presidency. Barack promised us almost nothing, but we believed he would give us everything. We were like the woman who sleeps with the perpetual playboy over and over again, assuming that he'll one day change his mind about marriage. President Obama can't be blamed for the na?ve expectations of the African-American community, but he can certainly be held accountable for doing nothing to dispel those expectations.

On one hand, should President Obama become the "gangsta" that Rock wants to believe that he is, he would be a perfect fit in the destructive political climate created by his peers in Washington. The only way to respond to a gun fight is to bring a bigger gun, but at the end of the day, everyone ends up getting shot. The inability of our political leaders to work out their differences productively may serve to be the downfall of our great nation.

Chris Rock and others who wish to give President Obama credit for things that he has not yet done would be best served to provide evidence of their assertions. The president has a three-year track record for us to observe, and every intelligent voter should simply check the record to decide what kind of president he is. Most of us know scores of people who want you to believe that they are going to engage in progressive action once their chains have been lifted, but in the end, we usually find that the chains are psychological constraints of their own creation.

President Obama is an amazing man, but he is certainly not anyone's "gangsta." Chris Rock is a great man and an amazing comedian, but like Steve Harvey, his political analysis is a bit of a joke. The last thing we need to do is allow public figures to do our thinking for us, for the proof of Obama's qualifications is in the political pudding. ?At the end of the day, our trusted public figures and celebrities should just stop playing with our heads. The only thing that's been "gangsta" about the last three ?years is the terroristic manner by which self-serving black celebrities have tried to convince us to check our brains at the door. ? People can make their own decisions about Obama, and we don't need anyone to tell us how to perceive his presidency.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and national spokesperson for the Ujamaa Deals Initiative, advocating for black consumers to support black-owned businesses.? To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.?

?

Follow Dr. Boyce Watkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrBoyceWatkins1

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-boyce-watkins/chris-rock-barack-obama-gangsta_b_1089977.html

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Sorry Kids, Here?s Why I Don?t Have 5000 Free #FacebookCredits For You

Hi children of the world, I actually don?t have 5000 Facebook Credits to give to each of you. I?m sorry about that, I wish I did. But before you get upset, let me explain. A few years ago, back when I was at VentureBeat, I wrote a post about an early version of Credits that Facebook had been testing out. It wasn't the virtual currency payment system that you use in FarmVille today, it was an experimental social reputation currency. You could do things like give people Credits for status update that you thought were smart or useful. Accumulating lots of Credits indicated you had a good reputation with your Facebook friends.at you thought were smart or useful. Accumulating lots of Credits indicated you had a good reputation with your Facebook friends. Fast forward to this past August. My long-forgotten Facebook author page started getting dozens of Wall posts from Facebook users -- mostly children -- from around the world. Every one of them was pleading with me to provide the 5000 free Facebook Credits that they claimed I'd promised them. Annoyed, I turned off Wall posts. They resorted to commenting on my profile picture.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CElT1nUAxMM/

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Obama: Human rights violations persist in Myanmar (AP)

CANBERRA, Australia ? President Barack Obama says violations of human rights persist in Myanmar (mee-an-MAWR') and nations must build support for the fundamental rights of every human being.

Obama notes in a speech to the Australian Parliament on Thursday that democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (ahng sahn soo chee) is currently free from house arrest and some political prisoners have been released.

But he says violations of human rights persist in Myanmar. He says the United States will "continue to speak clearly" about steps that must be taken by Myanmar "to have a better relationship with the United States."

The U.S. has called for release of all political prisoners, an end to conflict in minority areas and greater transparency regarding Myanmar's relations with North Korea.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111117/ap_on_re_as/as_obama_myanmar

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HBT: Brewers eye extensions for Greinke, Marcum

Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports that the Brewers expect to explore contract extensions with Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum.

Call it the Fielder Dividend, as Doug Melvin seems content to spread out the money that might have been used to pay for Prince, using it to lock up the pitchers who ? Marcum?s postseason follies notwithstanding ? helped turn the Brewers around in 2011.

Greinke will make $13.5 million in 2012, the last year of his current $38 million deal. ?Marcum has one more go-around in arbitration and should make somewhere around $7 million if no extension is reached.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/17/brewers-looking-into-contract-extensions-for-greinke-marcum/related/

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Google Music hands on: Better than beta, still no iTunes (Digital Trends)

Google announced late Wednesday the public release of Google Music, a cloud-based service that allows users to upload up to 20,000 songs to the cloud, giving them access to their library from any PC or Android handset. In addition, the Android Market now carries music. Obviously, Google Music takes direct aim at Apple?s iTunes, which has dominated the digital music market since it was released in mid-2001, and has only recently begun to loose its prominence to streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, MOG and Grooveshark.

Google Music is completely free, and has some interesting sharing features. But is this where you want to plant down your musical roots? We?ve gone hands-on with the beta version of Google Music before, but we dove in yet again to give its final, polished form a fair shake, and browse the store. Check out our quick hands-on run-through with the Web-based version of Google Music to find out.

Getting started

First, simply visit music.google.com, where you?ll be asked to sign in and download Google?s Music Manager. The download is quick and straightforward ? nothing remarkable to see here. Once downloaded, sign in (again) using your Google account, and Music Manager will scan your computer (you have to specify which folder for it to scan). You can then begin uploading your music files to your Google Music cloud.

Uploading music

I wasn?t able to pick and choose which songs I wanted individually ? I could only upload all the songs it detected in the folder I selected it to scan. Music Manager also gives you the ability to have new music placed in a specified folder automatically uploaded to your Google Music account. I chose ?Yes.? Why not? You can also have a Music Manager icon installed in your task bar for easy access to your controls.

This whole process went OK ? Music Manager spent about five minutes ?preparing? my music for upload. Then, at 99 percent complete, it said that an error had occurred for no apparent reason. Still, it managed to upload two of the 160 or so songs I selected it to upload. And I was quickly able to resume the uploading process.

Unfortunately, uploading songs to Google Music is very slow. Part of this is because it uploads two songs at a time. But it?s still significantly slower than I?ve experienced with other cloud services, like Amazon Cloud, and much, much slower than uploading tracks to Spotify. DT?s Jeffrey Van Camp, who has been using Google Music since it launched in beta months ago, and he said he?s experienced the same sluggish upload time. In fact, to date, he only has 7,000 songs from his library uploaded because it takes so frustratingly long.

As I write this, only 22 of the 159 songs I chose to upload are still making their way into my Google Music account, and I started this process about an hour ago. I?m counting my lucky stars right now that I only choose a few tracks to upload. I?d recommend doing this process in small batches, unless you?ve really got nothing to do for the next, oh, three months.

Google Music Web interface

Fortunately, you don?t have to wait until all your music is uploaded to start listening. As each song is uploaded, it instantly appears (along with album cover art) in your Google Music dashboard, which can be accessed online through your browser. Right now, I am using two computers ? one Mac, one PC ? and I can see new albums showing up on my Mac while they are being uploaded from my PC ? pretty cool.

The Web-based UI is surprisingly snappy. Click an album, and you can view each song. Double-click a song, and it plays. The next song in the album will automatically play, unless you press pause. All controls, including progress bar, shuffle, loop and volume are accessible via a control panel that sits at the bottom of your browser screen. With this, you can pause, skip and adjust the volume of the currently-playing song from any screen within the Google Music interface.

You can view your music organized on the ?home? screen, which shows all your music organized by either album or playlist. Or, as with iTunes, you can view it organized by song, artist, album or genre, all of which is determined automatically by Google Music, by selecting from options on the left-hand sidebar.

Listening

I was able to listen to music and upload at the same time (something I only did this for a short period) without experiencing any interruption to either playback or upload. I could also browse all over the Web, and visit data-hungry sites without interruption. The music sounded great, too.

In short: All good here.

Playlists

Song titles and lengths are all clearly displayed. Each song can be given a thumbs up or thumbs down. All songs you upvote are automatically added to a ?Thumbs up? playlist, which is accessible from the sidebar menu. This is nice, useful feature, since it will automatically put all your favorite songs in one place. Other ?auto playlists? include ?last added? and ?free and purchased.?

?Instant Mixes? is one unique feature of Google Music. Just click on a song, the click the ?+? button next to ?instant mixes? on the left, and Google Music will automatically assemble a playlist with similar music. Unfortunately, I hadn?t yet uploaded enough music when I tried this for it to work ? I?m not sure how much music it takes ? so we?ll have to wait for Google to kick its servers into gear before that becomes an option.

Of course, you can make playlists in the normal way. Just click the ?+? button next to ?playlists? on the left. You can then give your new playlist a name. To add tracks, simply click the drop-down menu on the left of the track name, and click ?add to playlist.? (This menu also allows you to edit album info, buy more music from that particular artist from the Android Market, or delete the entire album.)

You can also just click and drag a track onto the appropriate playlist. Clicking the name also allows you to edit the playlist name, play the playlist, or delete it.

Android Market

As of Wednesday, Google currently has a selection of 8 million songs available from the Android Market, thanks to partnerships with ?more than 1,000? labels, which include the likes of Sony, Universal, EMI, and a slew of indie labels. Google made a big deal during the Google Music announcement about the music tastes of its staffers, and ?Staff Picks? displays prominently on the music section of the Android Market.

Users can buy individual tracks for 99 cents or $1.29. (Some tracks you can get for free, too, but probably not the ones you?re looking for.) Google gives 90 seconds of sample listening time for each song. To purchase, just click on the price of the song, and it is automatically downloaded to your Google Music account.

Obviously, if you don?t already have a Google Wallet account, you?ll have to go through setting up payment before you can purchase a song. Google makes this as easy as possible, though, allowing you to enter credit card info via a pop-up screen. I had to update my account, and it only took about two minutes from start to download.

To test things out, I went with a track from Florence + The Machine for $1.29. You have the option to either download the song straight to your Android device, which allows for offline listening, or to add it to your Google Music account. Since I?m testing Google Music on the Web here, I went with the Google Music-only option.

Once the music you purchase on the Android Market is in your Google Music account, you can download it to your computer, as well. It?s also possible to share the song or album with your Google+ friends straight from the Android Market, or from within your Google Music dashboard. Which brings us to?

Sharing

One of the most significant updates from beta to full release of Google Music is the addition of sharing features. Users can share music they buy from the Android Market with their friends on Google+, who can then listen to entire single tracks or full albums for free (but only once).

Like I said, sharing only works with music you?ve downloaded from the Android Market. You cannot share music you upload from your computer. Lame.

Sharing purchased music on Google+ is exactly as simple as it is to share articles using the +1 Button ? click the drop-down menu, click on ?share song? under ?purchase options,? and a screen pops up that allows you to add a comment to go with the song, and edit who you share the song with. The song or album then appears on your Google+ stream, and everyone you shared with can the music ? but just once, remember.

Despite the limitations set on sharing ? which, as far as I can tell, are done simply for greedy reasons, since the real purpose of sharing is to get people to buy more music via Android Market ? I can see how this could have real benefits for music discovery. After all, we all trust our friends? taste in music more than strangers (like Google?s staffers, for instance). Also, the sharing process is about as simply and straightforward as you can get.

Conclusion

Google Music is most similar to Amazon Cloud, but with greater storage space, and far more polish. In fact, the UI for Google Music is so buffed, you can see yourself in it. Overall, everything worked as advertised, and it?s a solid cloud music service ??one of the best available, functionality-wise.

That said, there are a number of obnoxious limitations, like the fact that you can?t share your own music to your Google+ friends that you didn?t buy through Android Market. That?s a major Apple move right there, and one Google should backtrack on. (It won?t, I?m guessing.) Another major downfall: Once your music is uploaded to Google Music, it?s difficult to get it out again; you have to do it one track at a time. That basically eliminates the usefulness of Google Music as a cloud storage locker, which you can use if you computer crashes and you lose your entire music collection.

Lastly, I don?t really see any reason to switch to Google Music if you?re already devoted to another service. If you mostly use Apple iDevices, the combination of iTunes and now iCloud have you fully covered. And if you?re already neck-deep into Spotify, well, you might as well just stay there. You?re not going to have to buy music to discover something new, either.

That is all very shortsighted, however. Google is obviously working hard to build its infrastructure, especially on the social front. And Google Music takes that an important step forward. Will Google Music become the next iTunes? Not likely. At this early stage, I don?t see it becoming the next Spotify or MOG, either. But it?s useful, and works well. And if you?re bored, looking for something to do online, you might as well give it a go.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

The music industry reacts to Google Music

Microsoft Ventura project to bring multimedia discovery

Google may debut new music service with Honeycomb

Spotify music download service launches in Europe with iPod support, free playlist syncing

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111116/tc_digitaltrends/googlemusichandsonbetterthanbetastillnoitunes

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