Statue of famed Penn St. coach Paterno taken down

A statue of famed Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been removed following the report that he knew Jerry Sandusky was being investigated for child sex abuse. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.

By NBC News staff and wire services

Updated at 6:44 p.m. ET: STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The famed statue of Joe Paterno was taken down from outside the Penn State football stadium Sunday, eliminating a key piece of the iconography surrounding the once-sainted football coach accused of burying child sex abuse allegations against a retired assistant.

Workers lifted the statue off its base and used a forklift to move it into Beaver Stadium as the 100 to 150 students watching chanted, "We are Penn State."

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Construction vehicles and police arrived shortly after dawn Sunday, barricading the street and sidewalks near the statue, erecting a chain-link fence then concealing the statue with a blue tarp.

Read the latest on the story on NBCSports: Paterno statue removed

The statue, nearly?7 feet tall and weighing more than 900 pounds, was built in 2001 in honor of Paterno's record-setting 324th Division 1 coaching victory and his "contributions to the university."?

CFT: 'Take (Paterno) statue down or we will,' banner says

The university said it would take down the larger-than-life monument in the face of an investigative report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that found the late coach, along with three top Penn State administrators, concealed the abuse claims against Jerry Sandusky more than a decade ago in order to shield the university and its football program from negative publicity.

Pat Little / Reuters; Patrick Smith / Getty Images

The site outside Beaver Stadium before and after the statue's removal.

Penn State President Rodney Erickson explained? the decision to remove the statue in a statement that read in part:

With the release of Judge Freeh's Report of the Special Investigative Counsel, we as a community have had to confront a failure of leadership at many levels. The statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium has become a lightning rod of controversy and national debate, including the role of big time sports in university life. The Freeh Report has given us a great deal to reflect upon and to consider, including Coach Paterno's legacy.

Throughout Penn State, the two most visible memorials to Coach Paterno are the statue at Beaver Stadium and the Paterno Library. The future of these two landmarks has been the topic of heated debate and many messages have been received in various University offices, including my own. We have heard from numerous segments of the Penn State community and others, many of whom have differing opinions. These are particularly important decisions when considering things that memorialize such a revered figure.

I now believe that, contrary to its original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our University and beyond. For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location. I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse.

The family of Paterno said the statue's removal "does not serve the victims" of the abuse scandal. A family statement issued Sunday said the only way to help the victims was? to "uncover the full truth." The family has previously said they do not agree with the conclusions of the Freeh report and planed to commission their own investigation.

Presideent Barack Obama feels the removal of the statue is "the right decision," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Meanwhile, the National Collegiate Athletic Association said it would announce "corrective and punitive measures" for Penn State on Monday in the aftermath of the child sex abuse scandal. NCAA President Mark Emmert hasn't ruled out the possibility of shutting down the Penn State football program for a year or more in the wake of the scandal, adding that he had "never seen anything as egregious."

Target for critics
The bronze sculpture outside Beaver Stadium has been a rallying point for students and alumni outraged over Paterno's firing four days after Sandusky's Nov. 5 arrest -- and grief-stricken over the Hall of Fame coach's Jan. 22 death at age 85.

MSNBC's Thomas Roberts talks to Michael McCann, Legal Analyst and Columnist at Sports Illustrated, about the deal Joe Paterno worked about with Penn State prior to his departure from the University.

But it turned into a target for critics after the Freeh report's stunning allegation of a cover-up by Paterno, ousted President Graham Spanier and two Penn State officials, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz. Their failure to report Sandusky to child-welfare authorities in 2001 allowed him to continue molesting boys, the report found.

Erickson admitted that the school had made mistakes in its handling of the affair, and said the university had become more aware of the issues of child abuse as a result of the scandal that engulfed the school.?

CFT: Penn State to respond to NCAA, statue issues

Paterno's family, along with attorneys for Spanier, Curley and Schultz, vehemently deny any suggestion they protected a pedophile. Curley and Schultz await trial on charges of failing to report child abuse and lying to a grand jury but maintain their innocence. Spanier hasn't been charged. Sandusky was convicted last month of 45 counts of sexual abuse of 10 boys.

NBC's Bob Costas says Joe Paterno's reputation can never fully recover from the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, and now the NCAA plans to step up their investigation.

Some newspaper columnists and former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden have said the statue should be taken down, while a small plane pulled a banner over State College reading, "Take the statue down or we will."

But Paterno still has plenty of fans, and Penn State's decision to remove the monument won't sit well with them. One student even vowed to "chain myself to that statue" if there was an attempt to remove it.

Three men claim abuse by Sandusky in '70s or '80s

University officials had called the issue a sensitive one in light of Paterno's enormous contributions to the school over a 61-year coaching career. The Paterno family is well-known in the community for philanthropic efforts, including the millions of dollars they've donated to the university to help build a library and fund endowments and scholarships.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Health fair - HEALTH, BEAUTY & FITNESS

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The Dark Knight Rises (for iPad)

The Dark Knight Rises iOS game, Gameloft's official action tie-in with Christopher Nolan's smash hit conclusion to Warner Bros.' Batman trilogy, brings hard-hitting street justice to the iPad and iPhone. The $6.99 game lacks Nolan's strong narrative, but captures the look and feel of The Dark Knight movies while delivering what's importanta fun, engaging video game experience that stretches from Gotham City's rooftops to its underbelly.

Batman Begins
Spoiler alert: See the movie before playing the game because the game features not only Bane and Selina Kyle, but also some of the dialogue from the trailers and TV spots. I haven't seen the film yet, so I'm not sure how much of the movie is spoiled in the game. Tread carefully if you want to go into the film fresh. The game spans six chapters (with multiple missions per section) that take place in well-rendered indoor and outdoor settings. You bash baddies in diverse locations ranging from rooftops to subway stations to skyscraper interiors to Gotham's streets.

Gameloft, thankfully, mixes up the action so that gameplay never gets repetitive. You glide from rooftop to rooftop, hop on the Bat-Pod, and fight foes mano-a-mano. The familiar Batman themes accentuate the action, adding a sense of drama and peril. The game saves frequently, so if you blow a mission, you're not set back too far back. That's a welcome touch, especially in a mobile game that you may play in short sessions on a commute or in a waiting room.

The Dark Knight
Combat consists of striking, evading, and countering?each action's mapped to an individual virtual button when you're in close proximity to an enemy. You as the Caped Crusader can can stun enemies from a distance with the Batarang or drag them toward you after ensnaring them with your grapnel gun's cable. You can unleash some truly impressive combo strings (highlighted by very cool slow-motion effects) that are reminiscent of Rocksteady's critically acclaimed Arkham Asylum and Arkham City games.

The Tech Shop is where Batman powers up his abilities and related gadgetry. You can increase weapon potency, Bat-Pod capabilities, and also outfit Master Wayne with abilities that make him even more bad ass. These upgrades, naturally, are earned; some are unlocked when you reach a certain level (Bat-Pod weapons are available at level 26), and there is also a system for outright purchase with credits. Yes, credits. You earn them in-game by bringing sweet street justice to urban vermin, but you can also purchase them with real-life cash. The base purchase is 2,000 credits for $1.99.

Knightfall
The Dark Knight Rises does a lot right in capturing the feel of Nolan's movies, but there are a few quibbles to address. Although The Dark Knight Rises features a beautifully rendered Gotham City, the streets are surprisingly barren for a city that's modeled, according to various DC Comics sources, on either Chicago or New York City. It's a mausoleum of a city that could have benefitted from citizens simply strolling down the street.

The camera can prove troublesome, too, which is a direct consequence of having touchscreen controls. As there's no physical button to let you know when your finger has slipped off of it, you can accidentally swipe the screen, which shifts the camera. It took me a bit of time to acclimate to the tap controls so that I wouldn't be fighting villains blind.

Holy Quality, Batman!
The Dark Knight Rises is another extremely solid game from Gameloft, a company that has mastered bringing near-console quality games to the mobile space. It's a tight movie tie-in that manages to avoid disappointment?a rarity in the video-game industry. If you're looking for iOS Bat-action after seeing the film, The Dark Knight Returns is worth a download.

More Mobile Games Reviews:
??? Amazing Alex (for iPhone)
??? Amazing Alex (for Android)
??? Symphony of Eternity (for Android)
??? RPG Aeon Avenger (for Android)
??? Crow (for iPad)
?? more

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Canon Pixma PRO-1

The Canon Pixma PRO-1 ($1,000 street) is Canon?s new flagship A3+ photo printer, capable of producing high-quality prints at up to 13 by 19 inches. It is a step up from the Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mark II ($849.99 direct, 4 stars), employing more and larger ink tanks and clocking faster photo-printing speeds. In my testing, this massive printer consistently delivered magnificent, gallery-quality prints, and did particularly well in printing monochrome images and ones with very dark backgrounds.

The Pixma PRO-1 measures 9.5 by 18.2 by 27.4 inches and weighs 61 pounds. Although large and heavy, it's not unattractive, with a matte-black finish and rounded corners. It has only 3 buttons: On, Cancel/Resume, and a button to open the ink compartment. The PRO-1 can print on cut paper sheets up to 13 by 19 inches. It has a rear tray that fits up to 150 sheets, as well as a single-sheet manual feeder, also in back, that supports thicker paper. In addition, it can print on optical discs, using an included tray.

The PRO-1 sports a whopping 12 ink tanks, each with more than twice the volume and a lower cost per milliliter than one of the Mark II's 10 ink tanks. Five of the PRO-1's ink tanks are black or shades of gray; not surprisingly, in my testing the PRO-1 did particularly well in rendering black and near-black shades. The tanks are located in two compartments, one on either side of the output tray. (It's easy to know if the tanks are seated correctly, because each tank has a light on top that will go in when properly installed, and will blink when the tank is drained.)

Colors for the pigment inks include red; yellow; cyan; magenta; photo cyan; photo magenta; matte black; photo black; light gray; gray; dark gray. The twelfth tank is a Chroma Optimizer, a coating that according to Canon covers the bumps between ink droplets to achieve uniform glossiness in dark areas and smooth tonal gradation in colors, increasing the color gamut.

Each of the ink tanks has a 36ml capacity, and Canon sells them for $35.99 each for an even $1 per milliliter. (The Chroma Optimizer tank costs slightly less, $29.99 for the same capacity.) This compares with $1.14 per ml for the Pixma Pro9500 Mark II?s smaller (14ml) tanks, and $1.21 per ml for the Editors' Choice Epson Stylus Photo R3000 ?($849 direct, 4.5 stars), whose 8 ink tanks each have a 25.9-ml capacity. ?

However, cost per ink volume may not translate directly into cost per print, for which neither Canon nor Epson give a figure (and which would be tricky to quantify for printers with so many ink tanks, as it largely depends on what's being printed). Also, Canon doesn't give a rated duty cycle for the PRO-1, so there's no way of knowing how much you can print per month without shortening the life of the printer.

Canon has geared the PRO-1 to professional photographers, but it's also suitable for photo enthusiasts (in which category I number myself) who want to get the best out of their photos?particularly ones who do a lot of black-and-white printing. It's less expensive than most DSLRs, and it's easy to set up and use; the trickiest thing about it may be finding a place to fit its hulking frame.

The Canon Pixma PRO-1 offers USB and Ethernet connectivity, whereas the Pro9500 Mark II is limited to USB connectivity. The Editors' Choice Epson Stylus Photo R3000 ($849 direct, 4.5 stars) can connect via USB, Ethernet, or WiFi.

Printing Speed, Text, and Graphics
Print quality is paramount for this class of photo printer, but photo printing speed is also important, especially to a busy pro. In our testing using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing, the PRO-1 took an average of 2 minutes 14 seconds to print out a 4-by-6 photo, faster than the Pixma Pro9500 Mark II's 2:35 but much slower than the Epson Stylus Photo R3000's average of 53 seconds per 4-by-6 print. In fact, the R3000's average of 1 minute 41 seconds per 8-by-10 print is actually faster than it took for the PRO-1 to print out a 4-by-6. The PRO-1 averaged 3 minutes 53 seconds per 8-by-10, a step up from the Pro9500's 4:31.

Using a near-dedicated photo printer like the PRO-1 to print text documents is a bit like using a Maserati for grocery runs, but it still prints out excellent text for an inkjet, easily good enough for elegant documents like resumes or for basic marketing materials. Its graphics are also above par, suitable for marketing materials; the worst I could say about them is that some backgrounds could have been darker and some thin, colored lines bolder.

Photo Quality
Photos, of course, are this machine's raison d'etre, and in printing them out the PRO-1 excels. Print quality is exquisite, perhaps the best I've seen on an inkjet. Our monochrome test print was tint-less, with great contrast and a smooth, even background. With other prints, colors seemed true, and the printer did well in capturing subtle gradations in skin tones. There were no flaws worth mention.

In addition to our normal test suite, I printed out some ad-hoc 13-by-19-inch images on Canon's semi-gloss paper with the PRO-1. I shoot a lot of night scenes and have a particular interest in astrophotography, and photos of the night sky proved a perfect venue for testing its ability to handle black and near-black shades. I was particularly impressed with its ability to print even, dark shades with uniform ink density. (It seems that the Chroma Optimizer was working as billed, not to mention the five black or gray ink tanks.)

The near-dedicated photo printers from Canon and Epson both produce magnificent prints, though they have slightly different qualities, and those in the market for a professional-grade photo printer will want to compare output from models from each brand to see which they prefer.

The Canon Pixma PRO-1 is a formidable A3+ professional-grade photo printer, capable of consistently printing out exquisite, gallery-quality prints at up to 13-by-19-inch size. It does particularly well in printing out monochrome or nearly black output, as befitting its multiple black and gray ink tanks. Although a good professional-grade printer, it should also appeal to advanced amateurs who want to get the most out of their images. I can strongly recommend it for its superb output.

In our review of the Pixma Pro9500 Mark II, we lauded it for its top-notch black-and-white output, and the PRO-1 does at least as well. The PRO-1 is faster at printing than the Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mark II. It also offers larger and more ink tanks, and a lower cost per milliliter of ink than either the Pro9500 Mark II or the Editors' Choice Epson Stylus Photo R3000, though that doesn't necessarily translate directly into lower cost per page.

The R3000 is smaller, lighter, and faster than the PRO-1, has a lower price tag, and adds the ability to print from paper rolls in sizes up to 13 by 44 inches as well as WiFi connectivity and a color LCD control panel. Both printers produce exquisite, top-tier prints, and the Canon Pixma PRO-1's masterful handling of monochrome printing should make it attractive to professionals and photo enthusiasts alike.

More Ink Jet Printer Reviews:

??? Canon Pixma PRO-1
??? Epson Expression Home XP-400 Small-in-One Printer
??? Epson Email Print
??? Epson WorkForce WF-7520
??? Kodak ESP 3.2 All-in-One Printer
?? more

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Bombs kill 20 and wound 80 across Iraq

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bombs-kill-11-wound-38-town-near-baghdad-172718877.html

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The health care challenge for small business ? Business ? Bangor ...

The National Federation of Independent Business recently reported that small businesses identified increasing health care costs as their No. 1 problem. While escalating costs hurt all employers, small business has been particularly disadvantaged by the way health insurance is paid for in this country. Short of more dramatic reform, Maine?s small businesses and their employees would benefit by gaining access to larger insurance pools and an opportunity to participate in Accountable Care Organizations.

Let?s face it ? the United States health insurance system was not created with small business in mind. In fact, employers became the primary providers of health insurance only by an accident of history, when the federal government initiated a wage freeze during World War II and businesses competed for skilled workers by offering the additional benefit of health insurance.

The federal government encouraged businesses to include health insurance as a benefit by making employer-paid health insurance tax-free to employees. But what started as a fairly modest expenditure has become an unsustainable cost for small business.

Even though providing health care to the citizens of the richest country in the world ought to be a national priority, placing the cost of health care on the backs of business has been too much for many small businesses to bear. It has become a financial burden for many small businesses to provide health insurance but also a significant challenge for small businesses to attract employees without providing health insurance. Tying health insurance to employment creates a disincentive to start a business and a difficulty for small businesses to recruit and retain high-quality employees.

To compound the problem, many small businesses that offer health insurance to their employees end up paying more than larger companies because small groups have a higher risk pool with higher premium costs per employee. Insurance works most effectively when there is a large pool of participants but only a small number who make a claim against the premiums collected.

Small businesses have ended up in insurance rate setting pools with the least optimal characteristics and that historically have large claims. These out-sized claims drive up insurance premiums for the business and increase deductibles for employees. With higher insurance premiums, small businesses tend to shift more of the costs to employees and those employees also tend to have higher co-pays and larger deductibles than those in larger organizations. As their out-of-pocket costs increase, young and healthy employees often decline the insurance offered, which only exacerbates the situation by creating a vicious cycle that leaves only those people more likely to make large claims left in these high-risk pools.

But even if these insurance pools can be structured with a larger, more representative population, which is the hope of the Affordable Care Act in creating exchanges for small businesses and individuals, they will still have to overcome other weaknesses in our health care system to prevent costs from escalating. Health care costs rise for good reasons such as breakthroughs in medical technology and pharmaceuticals, as well as the simple fact that the population is getting older and requires more care. Insurance premiums also increase because the commercial sector is indirectly picking up costs for both the uninsured and the inadequate payments for care covered by Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, we can point to overuse of medical services, an abuse attributed to having third-party payers, and inefficiencies that arise in a system with fee-for-service payment methods that compensate physicians for the amount of services provided rather than hold them accountable for improving the health of their patients.

Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs, such as Kaiser Permanente and those now forming in MaineHealth and Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems are trying to overcome these weaknesses in our current health care system. These organizations link patients, providers and payers in a system of mutual cooperation. Under ACOs, these plans provide incentives for patients to take greater responsibility for their own health with proper diet and exercise, physicians are rewarded by patient outcomes rather than fees for the amount of service provided and office visits, hospital stays and post-acute care are seamlessly linked to achieve greater efficiencies.

As health care costs continue to rise, there will be an increased outcry for solutions. Providing small businesses and individuals with opportunities to participate in larger insurance pools and in Accountable Care Organizations will be steps in the right direction.

Joseph McDonnell is dean of the College of Management and Human Service at the University of Southern Maine, and faculty member in the Muskie School of Public Service. He formerly served as dean of the College of Business at Stony Brook University in New York, and has held executive management positions within both Fortune 500s and start-ups.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/20/business/the-health-care-challenge-for-small-business/

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TaxProf Blog: IRS Bogarts Medical Marijuana Pharmacy's ...

? Top 5 Tax Paper Downloads | Main

July 15, 2012

IRS Bogarts Medical Marijuana Pharmacy's Deductions, Drives Founder Into Bankruptcy

Following up on my earlier post:? Forbes: Owner of Nation's First Marijuana Pharmacy Now Broke and Fighting IRS, by Janet Novack:

Lynnette M. Shaw, the colorful pot activist who opened the first licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the United States, is fighting an IRS bill for $1.27 million in back income taxes and penalties and has filed for personal bankruptcy, listing $276,000 in state sales taxes among her debts.

Shaw was forced to shut her Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, Ca. late last year, after U.S. Attorney for Northern California Melinda Haag wrote a letter to her landlord threatening to seize the building that housed her operation. The letter was part of a coordinated crackdown by four U.S. Attorneys in California on marijuana dispensaries. ...

Shaw?s personal income tax troubles stem from an IRS decision to deny business expense deductions to marijuana dispensaries under a provision Congress passed in 1982 (? 280E) that disallows deductions for ?trafficking in controlled substances? as ?prohibited by Federal law or the law of any State in which such trade or business is conducted.? Surprisingly, Shaw never incorporated the dispensary?as either a for-profit or not-for-profit corporation. Instead, she ran it as a sole-proprietorship, reporting its $1 million plus in annual sales and all its expenses on Schedule C of her individual 1040 tax return.

Shaw?s previously unreported lawsuit filed in U.S. Tax Court late last month, shows that rather than reporting profits, she reported losses totaling $186,826 in 2008 and 2009. After denying all her expenses for everything from cannabis to utilities, IRS auditors calculated Shaw had taxable income of $2.83 million for those years. This past March it sent her a bill for $1.27 million n back taxes and penalties, plus an as yet uncalculated amount of interest. Shaw says she owes nothing. (Harborside, which is incorporated, has reportedly been hit with a $2.5 million IRS bill; according to the U.S. Tax Court docket, it filed suit challenging the assessment in December.)

Shaw?s suit argues that the IRS is ignoring state laws legalizing medical marijuana as well as a 2007 U.S. Tax Court decision (Californians Helping To Alleviate Medical Problems, Inc.) that was decided largely in favor of another, now closed, marijuana dispensary. In the CHAMP case, the IRS conceded that 280E doesn?t preclude deducting the cost of goods sold (i.e. the cost of the cannabis). The court also ruled that CHAMP could deduct the cost of providing extensive counseling and caregiving services to its members, although not the cost of actually distributing the marijuana.

The title of this blog post is courtesy of Country Joe and the Fish:

Don't bogart that joint, my friend
Pass it over to me.
Don't bogart that joint, my friend
Pass it over to me.

July 15, 2012 in Celebrity Tax Lore, Tax | Permalink

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