County Executive and County Council President Statement on PSC $1 Million Fine

The following information was sent to us by Neil H. Greenberger:

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Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and County Council President Roger Berliner said today that the County supports the $1 million initial fine issued to Pepco by the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) and that Montgomery County will continue to advocate on behalf of ratepayers.

County Executive Leggett and Council President Berliner said in a joint statement that the PSC made critical findings that Pepco?s service has been unreliable, that larger fines or penalties would be justifiable and that customers should not bear the cost of the improvements that Pepco needs to make because of its imprudence.

They went on to say the following:

?Montgomery County was instrumental in prompting the Public Service Commission to initiate this investigation into Pepco?s reliability. The Commission appears to have clearly heard the outcry from Montgomery County?s elected officials and customers and ruled in our favor on virtually every key finding.

?This was the first time Montgomery County provided extensive intervention in a case before the Public Service Commission. The PSC?s ruling in this case was clearly influenced by Montgomery County retaining a Special Counsel, establishing a Work Group to prepare recommendations and having County staff testify at a hearing.

?In issuing a $1 million fine, the PSC rejected Pepco?s excuses and stated that a larger fine or other additional penalties may be justifiable. More importantly, the PSC stated that it will not allow Pepco to charge customers for Pepco?s ?imprudence? in future rate setting cases. The Commission also stated that additional penalties may be imposed if Pepco does not improve its reliability.?

Montgomery County?s Work Group submitted a comprehensive report and the PSC adopted most of the Work Group?s recommendations including:

?????????Require Pepco to execute a multi-year plan for inspecting its distribution system.

?????????Create an ombudsman within Pepco to create a more customer-oriented culture and improve its pure communication with customers.

?????????Impose penalties to send a message to Pepco.

?We are grateful for the work of the Maryland People?s Counsel,? County Executive Leggett and Council President Berliner went on to say, ?and we believe the direct input from Montgomery County in this case was critical given the gravity of the situation.

"Our County has been asking the Commission to hold Pepco accountable?financially and in terms of service quality. ?We believe that this order represents a major step in that direction and commend the Commission for doing so.?

?

?The Commission has stated that it would not put the burden of Pepco's reliability expenses solely on the shoulders of ratepayers. ?That was a key request of the County, and we will expect the Commission to honor that pledge in Pepco's recently filed rate case.

?

?On almost every key recommendation made by the County?on finding Pepco imprudent for allowing its system to deteriorate to this state; on holding that Pepco failed to perform vegetation management properly; and in ruling that Pepco's communications with customers was inadequate, the Commission ruled in favor of the County and against Pepco. ?

?While we expect Pepco will continue its efforts to improve service, we are gratified that the Commission has made it clear that further fines will be forthcoming if they fail to do so.??

Source: http://chevychase.wusa9.com/news/news/86541-county-executive-and-county-council-president-statement-psc-1-million-fine

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Conisderations To Remember Before Buying Insurance ...

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Source: http://www.irvinemocktrial.com/conisderations-to-remember-before-buying-insurance/

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Director Baz Luhrmann Suffers Head Injury on The Great Gatsby Set (omg!)

Director Baz Luhrmann was forced to get three stitches to his head after bumping into a camera crane on the set of The Great Gatsby, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Moulin Rouge filmmaker was directing a scene at the time. ''We were on quite a cramped set and he was ducking under the crane," co-producer Anton Monsted told the newspaper. "He struck his head on the weights on the end of the camera crane. He split open his head and we had to get the doctor.''

Watch videos of Baz Luhrmann

Filming was forced to wrap early following Luhrmann's injury, allowing the cast and crew to travel one day early for the holiday. Filming will resume in the new year. Aside from Luhrmann's injury and bad weather, Monsted said "filming has gone extremely well. The only obstacle we've really faced has been bad weather.''

The Great Gatsby, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel, has been shooting in Australia for almost three months. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan, the film is set to hit theaters on Christmas 2012.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_director_baz_luhrmann_suffers_head_injury_great_gatsby160800673/43999006/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/director-baz-luhrmann-suffers-head-injury-great-gatsby-160800673.html

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Royal grandkids visit Prince Philip in hospital (omg!)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, center, receives flowers from children after she and other members of the royal family attended a Christmas Service at St Mary's church in the grounds of Sandringham Estate, the Queen's Norfolk retreat, England, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

LONDON (AP) ? Queen Elizabeth II emphasized the importance of family in her Christmas message this year and her grandchildren brought some Christmas cheer to her husband, Prince Philip, as he recovered in a hospital after a heart procedure.

The 90-year-old prince was forced to miss the royal family's traditional Christmas festivities ? opening presents together, going to a morning church service and viewing the Queen's Christmas broadcast ? after doctors put a coronary stent in. Philip had gone to the hospital on Friday complaining of chest pains, which doctors determined were caused by a blocked coronary artery.

Buckingham Palace said it does not know yet when Philip will be released.

"The Duke is in good spirits and will remain in hospital under observation for a short period," the palace said.

Prince William and his brother Prince Harry drove in separate cars to Papworth Hospital from Sandringham, Elizabeth's sprawling estate where the royal family gathered to celebrate Christmas.

Prince Andrew's daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, also came to the hospital, along with Princess Anne's children, Zara and Peter.

The 45-minute visit from the royal grandchildren came after Elizabeth's annual, pre-recorded Christmas message to the nation aired. The royal family reportedly watches the broadcast together every year.

The theme of her broadcast ? family ? was especially poignant with Philip in the hospital recovering. The message was recorded Dec. 9, before Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, went into the hospital.

Wearing a festive red dress, the Queen said the importance of family was driven home by the marriages of two of her grandchildren this year ? William and Zara. William's royal wedding at Westminster Abbey captivated the world in April, and Zara had a quiet but elegant celebration in July.

The 85-year-old queen has made a prerecorded Christmas broadcast on radio since 1952 and on television since 1957. She writes the speeches herself, and the broadcasts mark the rare occasion on which the queen voices her own opinion without government consultation.

Elizabeth spoke of the strength family can provide during times of hardship and how friendships are often formed in difficult times.

She pointed to the Commonwealth nations as an example that family "does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community."

With one notable absence ? Philip's ? the royal family kicked off their Christmas earlier Sunday with a traditional morning service at St. Mary Magdelene Church, on the Sandringham Estate.

The huge crowds that gathered outside the church to catch a glimpse of the Queen got an early peek when the royals made a quick private visit to the church ahead of the services. Less than two hours later, they were back ? in different clothes ? for the Christmas service.

The Queen arrived first ? dressed in a lavender-colored coat and hat ? in a royal limousine, leading the way into the church. Her oldest son, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, trailed behind.

Harry walked in with his brother William and new sister-in-law Kate ? now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Kate, whose style is closely watched around the world and who sends any dress she wears flying off the shelves in Britain, wore an eggplant-colored coat and matching hat.

Among the other royals, Zara was joined by her new husband Mike Tindall, an English rugby player.

After the service, local children lined up to give bouquets of flowers to the queen. Thanking each well-wisher, the queen then handed the bouquets to granddaughters Beatrice and Eugenie.

Well-wisher Camilla Fitt, 71, said Charles told her that his father was "very determined" to get well.

"Charles said he is coming on," said Fitt.

The royal family then traveled back to the house for lunch, an integral part of their celebration.

___

Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, right, leaves after she and other members of the royal family attended a Christmas Service at St. Mary's church on the grounds of Sandringham Estate, the Queen's Norfolk retreat, England, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_royal_grandkids_visit_prince_philip_hospital165300768/44003188/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/royal-grandkids-visit-prince-philip-hospital-165300768.html

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ECB's Visco hints at lower rates if economy worsens (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) ? European Central Bank Governing Council Member Ignazio Visco said in a newspaper interview on Saturday that the bank will be attentive to the economic cycle when setting monetary policy, suggesting rates could fall more if the euro zone economy worsens.

The ECB has cut interest rates for two months in a row and this month unveiled a raft of measures to support Europe's cash-starved banks to counter a forecast recession brought on by widespread austerity measures.

"Monetary policy will be attentive to the (economic) cycle. It is thus that we defend monetary stability in the medium-term," the governor of the Bank of Italy, said in the interview in Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

Visco also said the upward trend in Italian bond yields has been stopped and turned around, even if financial markets remain very volatile.

On Friday, the yield on the 10-year Italian government bond rose above 7 percent, the highest since December 16, and the spread over the equivalent German Bund was more than 500 basis points on worries about the euro zone in 2012.

"All the same the trend for higher yields is stopped and turned around, and today we are well below the highs registered in the last few months," Visco said in the interview in Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

"Certainly there is a lot of volatility, but we know that confidence on the markets is lost quickly and regained only slowly and with a constant and continuous commitment," said Visco, who is also governor of the Bank of Italy.

Visco said that the Italian government's 33 billion euro ($43 billion) austerity package, approved definitively by the Senate on Thursday, was "indispensable," but he added that structural measures to boost growth and create jobs and wealth should be accelerated.

"It is with policies that sustain growth in a credible way that it will be possible to convince the rest of the world that - as our analyses clearly confirm - our public debt is sustainable," he said.

In an interview on Friday, Standard & Poor's top executives said the first quarter of 2012 will be a test for Italy because of the huge amount of sovereign debt it has to refinance.

The record-high yields Italy has paid at recent sales have led to concerns the euro zone's third-largest economy may have trouble refinancing the more than 150 billion euros of debt coming due between February and April next year.

The spread between the 10-year Italian bond and the equivalent Bund can fall if the growth capacity of national economies is judged favourably, on prospects for political integration in the euro zone, and international cooperation, he said.

BANK FUNDING, CAPITAL

Asked about growth and the problem of the economic cycle, Visco said: "This is the reason for which, with the last decisions of the governing board, we have made monetary policy still more accommodating than it was already before."

He added that the ECB does not only respond to short-term inflation trends when setting policy.

A year of complete stagnation awaits the euro zone economy in 2012, according to a recent Reuters poll of economists, who said a recession has already started that will last until the second quarter of next year.

European banks gobbled up nearly 490 billion euros in three-year cut-price loans from the ECB on Wednesday, easing immediate fears of a credit crunch but leaving unresolved how much will flow to needy euro zone economies.

More than a dozen Italian banks, including top lenders UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), tapped 116 billion euros ($143.5 billion) of the three-year loans - about a quarter of the total.

"Bank liquidity is suffering strong pressure because of the difficulty in renewing wholesale funding, which is determined by the strong increase in sovereign risks in the euro zone," Visco said in the paper.

Visco said the European Banking Authority's demand for higher capital buffers, which has come under fire in Italy, is a one-off exercise and is not aimed at deleveraging or reducing lending to the economy.

"I understand that (raising capital on the market) is not easy, but we are not talking about extraordinary figures," he said, adding that other options include cutting dividends and bonuses, and selling non-strategic assets.

(Writing by Nigel Tutt and Philip Pullella)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111224/bs_nm/us_ecb_visco

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December 29th Is Leave GoDaddy Day [Sopa]

Congress pitches awful bill. Dozens of companies support awful bill. One of those companies is the reviled, asshole-ish GoDaddy. GoDaddy dismisses criticism. Internet decides it doesn't need GoDaddy. Let's do this. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/78fk7oTa6ZA/december-29th-is-leave-godaddy-day

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Mayor, PG&E: No repeat of Candlestick blackouts

SAN FRANCISCO ? City and utility officials vowed Friday to prevent a recurrence of two blackouts that struck Candlestick Park during a nationally televised Monday night football game.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the initial blackout that delayed the start of the game by about 20 minutes occurred when a wire that carries the stadium?s main power supply broke, creating a display of sparks shown during the ESPN broadcast.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said the second blackout that stopped play for about 15 minutes in the second quarter was caused by a malfunctioning switch involving the backup power supply.

In a letter to the 49ers, PG&E President Anthony Earley said the company was fixing the failed line and installing monitoring equipment, and will perform a test to ensure the lights stay on if it is necessary to switch to backup power.

Technicians also are performing tests on the splice sleeve that failed and caused the line to break in two, Earley said.

In a separate letter to the 49ers, the San Francisco mayor said crews were replacing the switch that caused the second blackout and would perform tests to ensure it functions properly.

The blackouts overshadowed the 49ers dominating 20-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers that preceded the 49ers return to the post-season for the first time since 2002 under rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh.

The power failure also brought renewed attention to the 49ers? intention to move the team out of 51-year-old Candlestick to a new stadium outside city limits in nearby Santa Clara, which has secured most of the financing needed to build a new venue.

The 49ers are on the road for their last two regular season games but are assured of playing at least one playoff contest at Candlestick.

Team officials said they were confident the blackouts, which Lee called a ?national embarrassment,? won?t recur.

Source: http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=225304

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PlayStation Vita launch day lineup and accessory pricing revealed (Yahoo! News)

Sony's new handheld gets its ducks in a row ahead of its February debut

While?Nintendo's 3DS will have the 2011 holiday season to itself in the?portable gaming market, many gamers are eagerly anticipating the February 22, 2012 launch of Sony's new PlayStation Vita. Now, almost as if to say "Save those gift cards until February," the company has shed some light on the games and accessories we can expect to see alongside the new system when it finally debuts.

One of the biggest complaints consumers had when the 3DS launched was the lack of quality titles. Sony hopes to capitalize on Nintendo's misstep ? and?subsequent drop in sales ? by offering a ridiculously beefy game lineup available from day one. So far, a total of 25 games ? priced between $9.99 and $49.99, though each title wasn't specifically tagged ? are slated for a launch day release. And these aren't just throwaway, I'd-rather-be-playing-Angry-Birds titles either; names like?Uncharted,?Wipeout, and?Rayman are sure to pique the interest of the gaming populous. Check out the full list of launch day titles below.

  • Army Corps of Hell
  • Asphalt Injection
  • BEN10 GALACTIC RACING
  • Blazblue: Continuum Shift EXTEND
  • Dungeon Hunter Alliance
  • Dynasty Warriors Next
  • EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer
  • Escape Plan (PSN downloadable titles)
  • F1 2011
  • Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
  • Hustle Kings (PSN downloadable titles)
  • Little Deviants
  • Lumines Electronic Symphony
  • Michael Jackson The Experience
  • ModNation Racers: Road Trip
  • Plants vs. Zombies (PSN downloadable title)
  • Rayman Origins
  • Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen
  • Super StarDust Delta (PSN downloadable title)
  • Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (PSN downloadable title)
  • Touch My Katamari
  • Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
  • UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss
  • Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
  • wipEout 2048

On top of that already impressive list, a further 10 titles are on deck for a "launch window" release, which means they should appear on store shelves in the days immediately following launch. Browse that list below.

  • Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention
  • Gravity Rush
  • LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
  • MLB 12 The Show
  • NINJA GAIDEN ? PLUS
  • Reality Fighters
  • Ridge Racer
  • Silent Hill Book of Memories
  • Supremacy MMA: Unrestricted
  • Unit 13

As?we already knew, the system itself will carry a $250 price tag, but up until now the pricing of its storage cards and other accessories were a mystery. Many thought the system's memory cards would cost upwards of $130 for 32GB, but thankfully that's not the case. The official list of release dates and pricing for PS Vita add-ons can be seen below.

4 GB Memory Card February 15, 2012 $19.99
8 GB Memory Card February 15, 2012 $29.99
16 GB Memory Card February 15, 2012 $59.99
32 GB Memory Card February 15, 2012 $99.99
Starter Kit with Memory Card February 15, 2012 $39.99
In-Ear Headset February 15, 2012 $19.99
Carrying Case February 15, 2012 $19.99
Travel Pouch February 15, 2012 $19.99
Protective Film (2 pack) February 15, 2012 $9.99
Card Case February 15, 2012 $5.99
Cradle February 15, 2012 $19.99
Portable Charger Spring 2012 $49.99
AC Adaptor February 15, 2012 $14.99
Car Adaptor Spring 2012 $14.99
USB Cable February 15, 2012 $14.99

We went?hands-on with the Vita during?E3, and were mighty pleased with what we saw. While Sony's pricing scheme for memory ? crucial when downloading games, movies, and music ? is a bit higher than we had hoped, it's not entirely unreasonable, and we're still very much looking forward to February 22.

This article originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111223/tc_yblog_technews/playstation-vita-launch-day-lineup-and-accessory-pricing-revealed

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Hamas leader to AP: New focus on popular protests

In this Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011 photo, Khaled Mashaal, political leader of Hamas, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo Egypt. (AP Photo/Office of Khaled Mashaal, HO)EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

In this Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011 photo, Khaled Mashaal, political leader of Hamas, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo Egypt. (AP Photo/Office of Khaled Mashaal, HO)EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

(AP) ? Hamas will focus on a strategy of holding mass protests against Israel in the style of the Arab Spring, although it is not renouncing the use of violence against the Jewish state, the Islamic group's leader, Khaled Mashaal, told The Associated Press late Thursday.

Mashaal was in Cairo for reconciliation talks with Hamas' rival, President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. The sides agreed that Hamas would join the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Abbas, and allow elections to go ahead in Gaza and the West Bank in 2012.

Popular protests have "the power of a tsunami," Mashaal said, pointing to the recent waves of demonstrations across the Arab world.

"Now we have a common ground that we can work on ? the popular resistance, which presents the power of people," he said. The idea for the protests originated with the Palestinians themselves and the uprising they launched against Israel in 1987, he said, typified by crowds of rock-throwing Palestinian youths confronting heavily armed Israeli soldiers.

Mashaal also gave rare Hamas public support to the idea of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Hamas ideology does not accept the presence of a Jewish state in an Islamic Middle East.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev dismissed Mashaal's statements, noting Friday that Hamas has repeatedly said it seeks Israel's destruction.

"Hamas is very open and public about its position ? it believes the Jewish state should be obliterated, it fundamentally opposes peace and reconciliation, and it sees every Israeli civilian as a legitimate target," he said. "One cannot build policy upon wishful thinking."

During the AP interview in Cairo after his meeting with Abbas, Mashaal said Hamas would not renounce its own armed fight against Israel. The group has killed hundreds of Israelis, most of them civilians, in suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks since the Islamist group was formed in 1987.

"As long as there is an occupation on our land, we have the right to defend our land by all means, including military resistance," he said.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for Gaza militants firing hundreds of rockets at Israel in recent months, as Hamas rules Gaza. Hamas blames splinter groups for the rocket attacks and has mostly kept a cease-fire that followed a three-week war three years ago, an Israeli attempt to stop the rocket barrages.

Hamas considers all of Israel to be occupied land. Abbas and his Palestinian Authority, in contrast, say they would accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, inside what are known as the "1967 borders."

Mashaal told the AP his group, too, would be prepared to accept those borders.

"We have political differences, but the common ground is the state on the '67 borders. Why don't we work in this common area," he said.

Hamas has said in the past that it would accept such a state as a temporary measure as a stage toward destroying Israel, which remains the group's stated goal. Mashaal did not repeat that in the interview.

The split between Hamas and Fatah, he said, "is not a normal thing, and it should be ended and will be ended."

"The nation is bigger than the party," he said.

The two Palestinian factions have been at odds since Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006, defeating Fatah. The differences spiraled into violence that claimed hundreds of lives and resulted in Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007.

That left Abbas in charge only in the West Bank, where he governs Palestinian cities under Israel's overall security control.

Hamas is considered by the U.S. and EU to be a terror organization. Abbas' Palestinian Authority is funded largely by Western countries, including the U.S., and has close security ties with Israel.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-23-ML-Palestinians-Hamas/id-5ce6cd02da9f4aa5834ad15860ade215

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