GOP picks new party leader; next task: resolve debt

MARSHALL - The Republican Party of Minnesota has moved forward in mending its wounds by replacing Amy Koch with Dave Senjem as Senate Majority Leader and electing a new party chairman in political consultant Pat Shortridge to replace Tony Sutton.

The Central Committee met Saturday to elect its new leader, and Secretary-Treasurer David Sturrock of Marshall said Shortridge brings a combination of tested experience, as well as a fresh face to the beleaguered party.

"We need both of those right now," said Sturrock. "We're very fortunate he's willing to offer himself to lead the party at this time."

Shortridge will serve out the remainer of the current term before the party elects a new leader in April 2013.

Now comes some more heavy lifting.

The party, besides having to fill those key positions, is also looking at nearly $1.3 million in debt, with another potential $719,000 in legal expenses.

Part of Shortidge's task is to let potential donors to the party know "their money's going to be spent wisely," he said at Saturday's meeting. He said the party must "walk and chew gum," meaning it must begin to retire the debt while raising money for the upcoming 2012 elections. "We have to pay down our debt at the same time as we invest in critical programs."

"What he meant by saying 'walk and chew gum,'" Sturrock said, "is we need to deal with the financial picture and carry on our political mission at the same time. Both are important. With our financial situation we need to develop an orderly plan to pay off our debts, and that will require various steps."

One of those steps was to figure out what the real financial picture is, Sturrock said. That became clear last week when officials revealed the Minnesota Republican Party is nearly $1.3 million in debt, plus the additional $719,000. Next, Sturrock said, is for the party to develop a process to work through its debt issues - a process he said could take "a couple of years." Sturrock also said the party needs to investigate some possible internal reforms.

"We need to understand what our true financial picture is and what our obligations are in real time," Sturrock said. "We need to have some careful, thorough discussions about what kind of internal reform we need."

After his election, Shortridge said fixing the debt was "pretty simple - raise more, spend less," the Star Tribune said.

Shortridge said his top priorities will be retaining Republican control of the Legislature and protecting the party's four U.S. House incumbents. Republicans in 2010 captured both the Minnesota House and Senate for the first time since 1971. Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is up for re-election in November and Shortridge, who managed former U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy's losing campaign against Klobuchar in 2006, has reportedly not emphasized that race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.marshallindependent.com/page/content.detail/id/531742.html

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College football results, Dec. 31

Monday 2nd January, 2012

College football results, Dec. 31 ??

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?????Monday 2nd January, 2012??Source: San Francisco Chronicle ??

John White plowed into the end zone from 8 yards out to give Utah a 30-27 overtime victory against Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl on Saturday in El Paso, Texas. Justin Moore kicked a 34-yard field goal in Georgia Tech's overtime possession to give the Yellow Jackets a 27-24 lead, but White finished a 115-yard rushing day with the game-winning score ...

Breaking News Monday 2nd January, 2012

Our network flyer service provides a medium for putting your important news into a flyer on the web. Whether it be a new product launch, announcing a community event, promoting a Web site, or advertising your business, then our Network Flyers service is for you. Click here for more details

Source: http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?rid=202306990&cat=15360451341a5c70

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Sarkozy vows reforms in austere New Year's speech (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged in a grave New Year's message to find ways to pull the economy out of stagnation in the four months left before a presidential election and vowed no further public spending cuts.

Sarkozy told the nation that the worst economic crisis since World War Two would continue to hurt households in 2012 and urged people to be stoical.

He said he was intent on agreeing reforms at a January 18 meeting with unions that could bolster employment and economic competitiveness. He also said he wanted taxes on imported goods to help fund France's cherished welfare state, currently financed by company and income taxes.

"I know that the lives of many of you, already tested by two difficult years, have been put to the test once more. You are ending the year more worried about yourselves and your children," Sarkozy said in a 10-minute televised speech.

"The only way to preserve our sovereignty, to control our destiny, is to choose ... the route of structural reforms rather than that of impulsive actions which only add to confusion and chaos without restoring confidence."

The conservative leader is heading toward April's election trailing Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in opinion polls and with rampant unemployment, the euro zone crisis and the prospect of a sovereign debt downgrade hanging heavy over him.

Many French resent the fact that his campaign pledges of five years ago to bolster employment have come to little.

Some feel Sarkozy's past tax reforms have over-favoured the wealthy and many also dislike what they see as an impulsive and brash manner that stands out from the more austere and erudite personalities of past presidents.

UNION OPPOSITION

Sarkozy, who is expected to confirm in late February that he will run for a second term, risks a clash in his talks with unions, who are angry they lost a 2010 fight over his reform to raise the minimum pensionable age to 62.

He hopes to agree ways to have unions and management cooperate on bringing more flexibility to the job market to stem rising unemployment, much as Germany did from 2003, but union leaders may oppose any cuts in wages.

"I will listen to everyone's proposals and, before the end of January, we will take and carry out important decisions, because the stakes are high," Sarkozy said of the talks.

The president's most pressing headache remains the euro zone debt crisis, and he is due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in early January to push forward a European Union agreement earlier this month for a new fiscal compact.

Having pushed through a rash of spending cuts to try to avoid slowing growth derailing deficit targets and ward off a cut to France's AAA credit rating that many now be seen as inevitable, Sarkozy said no further budget cuts were needed. "The government has done what it needed to do," he said.

Sarkozy said he was convinced Europe would emerge stronger for dealing with its sovereign debt crisis, echoing remarks by Merkel in her own New Year's speech. Merkel also said EU states needed to cooperate more closely and learn from their mistakes to safeguard the euro.

Sarkozy's popularity ratings have inched up as he has shown leadership over the euro zone crisis but still stand at 34 percent in recent polls, and some two-thirds of French are unhappy with his performance.

Recent surveys show Hollande could beat him by as much as 10 percentage points in a deciding second-round in May.

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111231/wl_nm/us_france_sarkozy

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Afghan president welcomes US remarks on Taliban

(AP)? KABUL, Afghanistan ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday welcomed remarks from the Obama administration saying that Taliban insurgents were not America's enemies.

Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with Newsweek magazine that the Islamist militants did not represent a threat to U.S. interests unless they continued to shelter al-Qaida.

Biden's comments came amid reports that the Obama administration and other governments are trying to establish a peace process with the Taliban to help end the 10-year war.

"I am very happy that the American government has announced that the Taliban are not their enemies," Karzai said in a speech to the Afghan Academy of Sciences. "We hope that this message will help the Afghans reach peace and stability."

A senior U.S. official has told The Associated Press that Washington plans to continue a series of secret meetings with Taliban representatives in Europe and the Persian Gulf region next year.

The U.S. outreach this year had progressed to the point that there was active discussion of two steps the Taliban seeks as precursors to negotiations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Trust-building measures under discussion involve setting up a Taliban headquarters office and the release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of about five Afghan prisoners believed affiliated with the Taliban.

On Tuesday, Karzai said his government would accept the Taliban establishing a liaison office in Turkey, Qatar or Saudi Arabia for the purpose of holding peace talks.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsGamecore/~3/9k_RBn2FHDI/

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8 Hilarious Internet Jokes, Memes and Parody Accounts of 2011 (Mashable)

Whenever one of us here at Mashable finds a new joke, meme or parody account, it quickly makes its way around the office. We really get a kick out of hilarious Tumblrs, fake Twitter accounts and memes. They're a type of humor that brings digital geeks like us together for a laugh whether we're Apple fans or Windows users, Android owners or iPhone addicts. Internet humor bridges these gaps and unites all of us for a smirk, giggle or full-on laugh.

[More from Mashable: The Very Best of YouTube in 2011 [VIDEOS]]

In the past year, we've seen so many great jokes pop up online. They're often a response to something happening in the news, like the Pepper Spraying Cop, or in pop culture, like the Ryan Gosling Hey Girl meme. They can also be a way for the digitally-savvy among us to have fun at the expense of others less familiar with technology, like Sexy Sax Man.

We thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite web funnies we've come across this year. Here's to a great 2012 in web humor!

[More from Mashable: Meet the Writer Being Sued for His 17,000 Twitter Followers]

What were your favorite Internet memes or parodies this past year? Share them in the comments below.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111230/tc_mashable/8_hilarious_internet_jokes_memes_and_parody_accounts_of2011

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Victory Energy completes Uno Mas No. 1 prospect well in New Mexico

Thales - Integrated Security, Safety, Communications and Control Solutions The energy and utility industries are facing new security challenges to protect people, critical infrastructure assets and information. To support energy and utility operators meeting their HSSE and processing requirements as well as optimising their profitability and efficiency, Thales provides turnkey integrated COTS and bespoke solutions spanning security, safety, communication and control. Oil & Gas > Drilling & Production > Suppliers Royal Academy of Engineering - Britain's National Academy for Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering is Britain's national academy for engineering, bringing together the country's most eminent engineers from all disciplines to promote excellence in the science, art and practice of engineering. Oil & Gas > Drilling & Production > Suppliers Roodhart Group - Reconditioning of Fluid Flow Equipment Established in 1982 Roodhart engages in the reconditioning, modification and sales of mechanical seals, pumps and various types of valves. Roodhart is a corporate group of companies located in the Netherlands and UK. The Roodhart group is dedicated to providing both products and services to industrial and marine industries. Oil & Gas > Drilling & Production > Suppliers Applus RTD - Non-Destructive Testing, Inspections and Asset Integrity Management A global leader in non-destructive testing and inspection (NDT&I), Applus RTD provides highly trained specialists that deliver technically advanced solutions for compliance and quality testing through to integrity management for onshore and offshore installations. Oil & Gas > Drilling & Production > Suppliers

Source: http://drillingandproduction.energy-business-review.com/news/victory-energy-completes-uno-mas-no-1-prospect-well-in-new-mexico-301211

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FinalFantasy1026 commented on Prosthetics's post about re: Anonymous Threatens Sony With Robotic Voice On YouTube .

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Source: http://www.gameinformer.com/members/GIBertz/activities/default.aspx?ActivityMessageID=c81b9578-9a52-4c29-b908-b8ade8c227ff

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