Ryan throws 3 TDs, Falcons hold off Vikings

Roddy White

By PAUL NEWBERRY

updated 5:43 p.m. ET Nov. 27, 2011

ATLANTA - Mike Smith cracked a joke after the Falcons held on for another win that was probably closer than it should've been.

"We make it exciting enough for you?" the Atlanta coach said, managing a smile.

Then he took a swig of water and breathed a sigh of relief. His team held on in a game it absolutely couldn't afford to lose.

Matt Ryan tossed three touchdown passes and the Falcons came through with a goal-line stand after Percy Harvin's 104-yard kickoff return, preserving a 24-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Atlanta (7-4) had to beat the lowly Vikings to maintain its spot in a tight NFC playoff race. Minnesota (2-9) didn't appear much of a threat without star running back Adrian Peterson, who was sidelined by a sprained left ankle. To make matter worse for the visiting team, three more players went down to injuries in the first half.

The game started according to plan for the Falcons, who raced to a 17-0 lead by halftime. Ryan hooked up with Harry Douglas on a 27-yard touchdown and Roddy White on a 6-yarder. The Vikings had only two first downs and 38 yards until their final possession of the first half, when they padded their numbers a bit against the prevent defense. Even then, Minnesota went to the locker room with five first downs and 97 yards.

Instead of putting the Vikings away, the Falcons let them back in the game.

"We know we're a lot better than that," tight end Tony Gonzalez said. "Sooner or later we're going to hit our stride."

Toby Gerhart, filling in for Peterson, scored on a 1-yard run late in the third quarter. Then, after Dominique Franks inadvertently touched a punt the Falcons were trying to run away from, allowing the Vikings to recover, Christian Ponder went to Harvin for a 39-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-13 to make it 17-14.

Ryan responded with two long completions to White before hitting backup tight end Michael Palmer with a 3-yard touchdown that extended the lead with 6:40 remaining.

Still, the Vikings wouldn't go away.

Harvin took the ensuing kickoff 7 yards deep in the end zone, found a wall of blockers to the right and took off right in front of the Falcons bench. Christopher Owens made a diving tackle at the 3, and that might've saved the Falcons.

"That was the most pivotal play of the game," Smith said. "We were able to put our defense out there and live to play another play."

The Vikings got it to the 1 and decided to go for the touchdown on fourth down. But Sean Weatherspoon burst into the backfield and stuffed Gerhart right after he took the handoff, throwing him for a 2-yard loss. The Falcons ran out the clock.

"When the guy comes screaming off the edge like that, you have no chance," Gerhart said.

The game was a near repeat of Atlanta's performance the previous week against Tennessee, and doesn't bode well for this team ? considered a Super Bowl contender before the season ? making a long run in the playoffs even if they do get in.

The Falcons built a 20-point lead on the Titans but staggered to the finish, barely preserving a 23-17 win.

Now, another close call.

"At the end of the day, we had more points than they did," Smith said. "That's the most important stat."

Vikings rookie coach Leslie Frazier admitted it was mistake to go for a touchdown on fourth down, instead of kicking a chip-shot field goal that would've made it a one-score game.

"That's purely on me," he said. "I let my emotions get the best of me."

The Vikings looked a lot better over the final two quarters than they did in the first two, though they were still outgained 335-226 in total yards.

"The first half was ugly," Gerhart said. "There's no rhythm. We came back after halftime and wanted to get the ball back and wanted to get a little momentum. Unfortunately, they stopped that momentum at the end of the game."

Ryan completed 27 of 34 for 262 yards and had his best efficiency rating of the season. White, showing signs of turning around a disappointing season, had his second straight big game with 10 catches for 120 yards.

"It's kind of the nature of NFL. Teams execute at a high level and things are going exactly as planned. Then there are times where you don't execute as well as you would like," Ryan said. "The most important thing is how we responded to that and played in the fourth quarter. We did a great job when we needed to score."

Ponder was 17 of 25 for 186 yards but was sacked four times and had to scramble away from pressure several more times. Gerhart managed only 44 yards rushing, while Harvin had eight catches for 95 yards to go along with his big play on the kickoff, which was the longest non-scoring return in the NFL since at least 1991.

Since then, according to STATS LLC, Kevin Faulk in 1999 and Eddie Royal three seasons ago had the longest returns that failed to reach the end zone, each covering 95 yards.

NOTES: Falcons CB Brent Grimes (right knee) went out in the first half and didn't return. ... The Vikings lost S Tyrell Johnson (hamstring), CB Asher Allen (shoulder) and deep snapper Cullen Loeffler (back). DE Jared Allen took over the snapping duties from Loeffler. ... Harvin took advantage when the Falcons dropped linebacker Curtis Lofton into coverage on the fourth-and-13. He had no chance of keeping up with the speedy receiver. "We'll take that matchup every day," Ponder said.

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Clinton condemns Iranian mob attack (AP)

BUSAN, South Korea ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States strongly condemns an Iranian mob attack on British diplomatic compounds in Tehran.

Clinton says that the United States expects Iran's government to protect the lives and property of diplomats. She spoke Wednesday at a global aid development forum in South Korea.

She calls the attack an affront against the British people and the international community.

Hard-line Iranian protesters stormed the British compounds Tuesday. They hauled down the British flag, torched an embassy vehicle and pelted buildings with petrol bombs.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_re_as/as_us_iran_britain

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New handle makes lifting infant car seats safer, easier

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2011) ? Engineers at North Carolina State University have developed a new handle for infant car seats (ICSs) that makes it easier for parents to lift the seat out of a car -- while retaining a firmer grip on the handle -- making it less likely that the seat will be dropped.

"Many products that are designed for parents don't take ergonomics into account, and the instructions are usually not very helpful," says Michael Clamann, a Ph.D. student at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the research. "We wanted to see whether, by changing the angle of the ICS handle, we could make it easier on parents and safer for the baby. Our idea was that it would be easier to hold on to the seat, minimizing the risk of dropping it." The idea was inspired by Clamann's experiences as a parent.

The researchers based their new handle design on existing research that details which angles reduce "ulnar deviation," or how much your wrist bends, and associated pressure in the carpal tunnel. This is important in terms of lifting tasks, because the further you bend your wrist, the weaker your grip.

The researchers tested the new design versus the traditional ICS handle with 10 different women of similar height (5th to 20th percentile in height). Participants were asked to lift the car seat out of a mock-up midsize sedan and place it into a stroller.

The team used sensors to measure muscular activity at the forearm and biceps and the wrist angle of the participants as they lifted the ICSs with different handle designs.

"Our angled handle lets people better position themselves over the car seat," Clamann says, "and allowed them to use their biceps more than their forearm muscles. That's an improvement, because our biceps are stronger than our forearms, and so are better able to bear weight. This is particularly important for smaller females lifting ICSs." The participants also told researchers that the angled handle design was easier to lift.

The team also tested to see how foot placement -- in the car or on the ground -- affected the participants' posture -- and therefore their wrist angle. Such foot placement was previously recommended in the popular press literature regarding ICS handling.

"We found that placing your foot in the car to help lift the ICS allowed participants to use their biceps more and reduced how much they bent their wrists -- giving them a firmer grip on the ICS," says Kinley Taylor, an NC State graduate student and co-author of the paper. "However," adds Clamann, "putting your foot in the car also increased the likelihood of hitting your head on the doorframe."

The researchers plan to move forward with additional efforts to see how variations on the angled handle design affect ergonomics when used in different car designs, such as minivans, and for people who are significantly taller than the participants in this study.

The paper, "Comparison of infant car seat grip orientations and lift strategies," is published online in Applied Ergonomics. The paper was co-authored by: Clamann; Taylor; Dr. David Kaber, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at NC State and director of the Occupational Safety & Ergonomics Program; and former NC State students Leah Beaver and Dr. Biwen Zhu. The research was supported, in part, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

NC State's Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering is part of the university's College of Engineering.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111128120130.htm

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Dr. Conrad Murray Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

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Source: http://www.ivillage.com/conrad-murray-sentenced-four-years-prison/1-a-406424?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aconrad-murray-sentenced-four-years-prison-406424

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Ex-CEO wants Olympus to come clean on scandal (AP)

TOKYO ? The former chief executive of Olympus Corp. spoke with Japanese investigators Thursday, reiterating his determination to get to the bottom of one of Japan's biggest financial scandals involving a cover-up of massive investment losses.

Michael Woodford, 51, plans to confront the board of the Japanese camera and medical equipment maker at a meeting Friday ? a day after speaking with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission.

Woodford, who was fired last month after questioning dubious accounting at Olympus, remains on the board and can only be removed by shareholders. He declined comment on what he was going to tell prosecutors. He returned to Japan on Wednesday.

Under intense pressure, the embattled company has admitted that a $687 million payment to an obscure Wall Street firm for financial advice and expensive acquisitions were used to cover up investment losses dating to the 1990s.

The board abruptly ousted Woodford last month for questioning the deals and payment. At the time, Olympus said Woodford was sacked because his management style was incompatible with the company's culture.

The scandal has cast a harsh light on corporate governance in Japan, which has been repeatedly criticized as falling behind global standards. Recent media reports have also pointed to possible ties between Tokyo-based Olympus and organized crime.

A third-party panel created by Olympus to investigate its accounting has said it has so far found no evidence of any ties with the underworld.

Woodford told the throngs of media gathered at Narita International on Wednesday that he is not afraid to be back in Japan and would press for answers during his stay.

"This isn't going to go away, the truth will come out," he said. "Please now have the dignity, at least the dignity, to accept that the game is up."

Woodford went public with his concerns after his sacking, and has become a hero among circles hopeful for better corporate governance in Japan.

Tsuyoshi Kikukawa resigned as president on Oct. 26 and was replaced by Shuichi Takayama. The company blamed the accounting scheme on Kikukawa, former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and ex-auditor Hideo Yamada.

Prosecutors are questioning the executives, according to Kyodo news agency.

Olympus now risks being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange unless it can rectify past filings with regulators by reporting revised earnings by Dec. 14.

The company's shares lost four-fifths of their value after the scandal erupted in mid-October, but have since recovered on optimism that Olympus will avoid removal from the stock exchange.

The issue gained 17 percent Thursday, its maximum gain allowed for a single day, to finish at 1,019 yen.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed Wednesday for a national holiday. Olympus shares surged 20 percent Tuesday after the panel said it had found no evidence of links to organized crime.

The practice of hiding investment losses through funny bookkeeping and paper companies has surfaced before in Japan, especially in the 1990s, when mergers and acquisitions became a way for companies to survive in the depressed economy that followed the bursting of Japan's real estate bubble.

Such scandals have previously ensnared other major names in Japan Inc., such as Yamaichi Securities Co., which went bankrupt in 1997, and cosmetics maker Kanebo, which was forced to undergo a government-backed bailout in 2005.

Woodford is speaking on a panel and with reporters Thursday evening, and has a press conference Friday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_olympus

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Add one more to the mix: Small Business Saturday.

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Small businesses that accept American Express saw an average of 28-percent increase in sales over the same day in 2009, according to a survey completed by the credit card issuer.

Why are small businesses important to the economy of the United States?

* The United States government recognizes companies with 500 or fewer employees as a small business.

* Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employers in the U.S., according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

* U.S. Census data shows that small businesses with 500 or fewer employees make up 99.9 percent of the 27.5 million businesses in the United States, as of 2009.

* Fifty-two percent of the 27.5-million businesses are home-based, with another two percent in franchises.

* Half of all private sector employees are employed by small business. These types of firms are also responsible for 44 percent of private firm payroll and create more than 50 percent of the non-farm GDP of the U.S.

* Forty-three percent of workers in high-tech industries like engineering and computer programming are employed by small businesses. Small firms are also responsible for 13 times more patents per employee than large firms.

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* Nearly 70 percent of small businesses are still open after two years; half are open at least five years and about 25 percent remain in business for 15 or more years.

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* Small businesses increase home values, according to the American Express OPEN Independent Retail Index published in October. Home values in 27 studied neighborhoods with a large number of independent businesses were four percent higher than the value of homes in broader markets.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111122/bs_ac/10372197_the_importance_of_small_businesses_to_the_american_economy

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93% 50/50

All Critics (148) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (138) | Rotten (10)

Still, it's Gordon-Levitt's choices that continue to impress. Sure, he owned one of the most jaw-dropping sequences in last summer's blockbuster Inception. But the actor remains drawn to profoundly human-scale hurts and quiet triumphs.

Gordon-Levitt is an agreeably undemonstrative actor who plays well opposite the burbly Rogen.

Chances are about 90/10 that you'll enjoy 50/50.

Scene by scene, 50/50 can be both amusing and moving, with the tightly wound Gordon-Levitt and the boundaryless Rogen forming an oddly complementary pair. But as a whole the movie never quite coheres.

In other hands, Adam might well be hard to take. But as the comedy in 50/50 turns darker, Gordon-Levitt, who's maybe the most natural, least affected actor of his generation, makes prickly plenty engaging.

An everyman tale with plenty of heart and honesty, the serious subject matter is regularly enlivened with jolts of genuine hilarity, some of it in delightfully questionable taste.

This is the terminal illness weepie for people who don't watch terminal illness weepies, and it's much the better for it.

It's refreshing to see a movie that embraces the ugly side of what happens to complicated personal relationships. Its quite uncomfortable at times, and the frank exploration of the cancer patient journey makes the comedy even funnier.

It is tough to make a comedy about cancer, since it touches us all. It is not funny. When you have Seth Rogen in a film, however, anything can be funny.

The elements of 50/50 that do work are strong enough to carry the film along and affecting enough to bring losers like me to tears in their cinema seats.

Tackles a distressing subject with a healthy dose of humour, thanks to a sharply observed script, well-rounded, likeable characters, astute direction and a trio of terrific performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick.

There couldn't be a more serious subject, yet Gordon-Levitt and especially Rogen (who co-produced the movie) make the comedy seem both spontaneous and organic.

Nimbly switching gears between heartful drama and uproarious comedy, 50/50 tackles the near-impossible and makes a film about cancer that'll have you crying like a baby one minute and laughing so hard your sides hurt the next.

Jonathan Levine directs a film that may be one of the year's best but still makes one yearn for the serious and uncompromising films of the 1950s and 1960s.

Yes, cancer can be funny. Sort of.

Films about cancer aren't generally this funny. And while this movie isn't a comedy, beyond its generous dose of realistic humour, it has a smart, personal script that dares to face a difficult situation head on.

Life is hard. Cancer is hard. Relationships are hard. Family is hard. '50/50' managed to find the power in all of those things and give us plenty of laughs so we're not simply in a ball crying.

A near-great movie made out of the hardest-to-thread, most oxymoronic genre imaginable - "cancer comedy."

a good movie with a moderate sense of daring that ultimately spends too much time telling the wrong story

With its excellent cast and emotionally intelligent script, 50/50 isn't necessarily a feel good movie about cancer, but is an exceptional telling of one man's story, mixed with a perfect balance of sympathy and laughs.

Interesting commentary on how we deal with difficult situations, and makes a strong case for our desperate need for each other -- especially when the odds are stacked against us.

... surprisingly funny, while also honestly poignant and dramatic.

...one of the unexpected pleasures of the fall movie season.

"50/50" is a tear jerker film that has me calling it one of the best films of 2011.

Add 50/50 to your want to see list. And then make an appointment for your annual physical with your doctor.

Even with its flaws and age limits, 50/50 isn't half bad.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to create music with a tax on ISPs

Nicolas Sarkozy is worried about the future of his country's music industry, and he's turning to French ISPs for help. Speaking alongside other G8 and G20 delegates at the Forum d'Avignon this weekend, Sarko affirmed his commitment to setting up a "national music center" within France, in the hopes of spurring artistic creativity amid a rather dour industrial climate. Modeled on France's National Cinema Center, the system was first proposed back in September by Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand, and, if launched, would be funded by a tax on ISPs. According to Sarkozy, taxing service providers in the name of protecting French art is only fair game. "Globalization [has allowed] the giants of the Internet to make a lot of money on the French market," Sarkozy explained, echoing familiar Gallic attitudes toward online protectionism. "Good for them, but they do not pay a penny in tax to France." He went on to praise his country's Hadopi copyright law for reducing internet privacy by 35 percent, but stressed that the government must do more to protect what could be a dying French commodity: "The day when there is no more music, the day when there is no longer a cinema, the day when there are no writers, what will your generation search for on the internet?" Other things, probably.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to create music with a tax on ISPs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/french-president-nicolas-sarkozy-wants-to-create-beautiful-music/

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Walking Dead Nerds Will Actually Want to Buy This Official Apocalypse Kit [Zombies]

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