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Italy's Innerhofer eyes third Ski Worlds medal

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (AFP) – Italy's Christof Innerhofer will be chasing his third straight medal of these world ski championships when the super combined takes place on Monday.

Innerhofer backed up Wednesday's super-G gold when he claimed bronze in the men's downhill on Saturday and the 26-year-old is aiming to keep his purple patch running until the championships end with the men's slalom on February 20.

With only one previous World Cup downhill win under his belt, from back in December 2008, Innerhofer has peaked at just the right time and says any more success here will be just a bonus.

"I am happy with the two medals, I will start the super combined, I just want to enjoy it," he said.

"After the gold medal, everything else is just the icing on the cake.

"I haven't done slalom for quite a long time, so I will need to practise."

The super combined involves the morning's downhill race at the Kandahar course followed by the slalom down the Gudiberg course in the afternoon and the winner will have the fastest combined time.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal will be eager to defend his title after coming fifth in the downhill on Saturday.

Warm temperatures in the Bavarian Alps have softened the Kandahar course significantly and the wet snow is making things less dangerous, but no less demanding for racers.

"It is a really hard course here, particularly with the long jump at the end," said Svindal, who had to be helped out of the finish area at the end of the downhill as he crashed into safety barriers after his run.

Bode Miller of the United States, who won the super combined gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games last February, will be wanting to make up for what has been a disappointing championships so far for him.

The 33-year-old was 15th in the downhill and 12th in the super-G and 12th in the super-G, having lost a pole halfway down the course.

Parent Tested Parent Approved Announces Latest and Greatest 2011 Family Products

PTPA Media, North America's leading parent testing community, is proud to announce the most recent award recipients for 2011.

Toronto, Ontario (Vocus/PRWEB) February 08, 2011

A fun and educational way to get children introduced to yoga; A newly designed backpack that makes travel easier and entertaining;An eco-themed playmat for tummy time and a natural anti inflammatory nursing buddy for nursing moms;These are just some of the submissions fromStafford House, Myrna J Gamesand who have recently been awarded the PTPA Seal of Approval.

PTPA Media is North America’s largest parent tester community – a credible third party resource for parents with over 40,000 volunteer parent testers.“Seeing the PTPA Winner's Seal on a product package or website helps parents identify products that have been tested and recommended by other parents.It's like shopping with your best friend,” says PTPA Founder and CEO, Sharon Vinderine.

Since 2008, PTPA has evaluated thousands of products and services from leading manufacturers and emerging brands. Because independent parents evaluate these products in their own homes, PTPA winners are chosen based on merit and consumer experience – not on commercial considerations.

PTPA Media has become a recognized source by the media for credible and reliable recommendations for the audience.PTPA Founder Sharon Vinderine has presented PTPA winners on over 40 morning shows including the Rachael Ray Show, Fox and Friends and Canada AM.Here are just a few of the innovative new products to receive the PTPA Winner’s Seal of Approval for Winter 2011:

Boom Boom! Cards – Family Edition – It may look like its only a deck of cards, but it helps inspire kindness, compassion and a sense of community within your family. Inspire every member of your family with 26 acts of kindness then pass on the revolution!

– Listen to cheerful and whimsical songs and get up and strut your stuff to the Pinkelmeyer Dance. You can also purchase a plush version Mrs. P and her adorable dog to snuggle with while you read.

– With added vitamin D, these specially formulated vitamins will help your little one grow up strong and healthy. Unflavoured, they contain no sugar coating, are lactose-free, and contain no artificial sweeteners, flavours, or colours.

Before They Know It All… - This book was designed to help you guide your teen or tween towards healthy relationships and sexuality in light of today’s social culture.

– Here’s an alternative solution to falling asleep and staying asleep, naturally. This innovative sleep aid aims to help you relax and replenish your mind as you work on stabilizing your sleeping patterns.For a complete list of award winners, visit the newly updated

About PTPA Media Inc.PTPA Media provides an objective framework for appraising and promoting new products designed to enrich family living. The company's mission is to marry innovative companies with discerning consumers, to improve consumer access to quality products and services for their families and homes.

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Sharon@ptpamedia.comPTPA Media Inc.9057381447 x.224Email Information

Former St. Louis Cardinal given Medal of Freedom

ST. LOUIS – Baseball great Stan Musial already has a statue outside of Busch Stadium and a plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y. On Tuesday, the former St. Louis Cardinal received the nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential Medal of Freedom.

Musial was among 15 recipients honored during a ceremony at the White House. President Barack Obama called the Hall-of-Famer "a gentleman you would want your kids to emulate."

Musial, 90, wore his familiar Cardinals-red sports coat during the ceremony shown on St. Louis television and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website. He beamed as the president placed the medal around his neck.

Missouri politicians said the honor was appropriate for the baseball immortal whose nickname, "The Man," was as appropriate for his philanthropy and kindness as for his on-the-field success.

U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, a St. Louis Democrat, recalled watching Musial from the stands of Sportsman's Park as a boy, then getting to know him as an adult. He said Musial showed great courage in 1947 by welcoming Jackie Robinson, baseball's first black player, into the National League.

"Stan Musial is a national treasure," Clay said. "His remarkable life represents the very best of America."

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said Musial was not only the greatest Cardinal ever "but a great philanthropist who's used his notoriety to help others in need."

Gov. Jay Nixon said the medal was "appropriate for a man who is both a baseball immortal and an extraordinary American and gentleman."

Musial, a native of Donora, Pa., was signed by the Cardinals as a pitcher but converted to the outfield after a shoulder injury in the minor leagues. It worked out well.

He was a 24-time All-Star who retired after the 1963 season with a .331 batting average and 475 home runs. Of his 3,630 career hits, exactly half came at home and half on the road.

He earned the nickname "The Man" in 1946, when Post-Dispatch sportswriter Bob Broeg heard fans at Ebbets Field welcome Musial to the plate by saying, "Here comes the man."

Musial was the general manager of the 1967 Cardinals team that won the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

He has remained a beloved figure in St. Louis. In fact, it was a grassroots "Stand for Stan" campaign that helped convince the White House to honor Musial with the Medal of Freedom. The Cardinals promoted the idea through Facebook, Twitter and other social media, and politicians quickly joined in letter-writing campaigns.

Musial is held in such high regard by the team and its players that current Cardinals star Albert Pujols agreed to extend to Wednesday his deadline to sign a contract extension or test free agency after the 2011 season. The previous deadline was Tuesday, but Pujols and the Cardinals didn't want to distract from Musial's honor.

The Medal of Freedom is given to those who have made important contributions to U.S. national security, world peace, culture or other significant public or private endeavors. Other recipients on Tuesday included former President George H.W. Bush, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, basketball great Bill Russell and businessman Warren Buffett.

Mubarak's men key to US reform hopes in Egypt

WASHINGTON – Seeking reform in Egypt, the U.S. increasingly is counting on a small cadre of President Hosni Mubarak's closest advisers to guide a hoped-for transition from autocracy to democracy.

It's a plan that relies on long relationships with military men and bureaucrats who owe their professional success to Mubarak's iron rule. To the regret of some U.S. diplomats, it's also a plan that steers around the Muslim Brotherhood, the powerful Islamist political movement that almost surely would play a central role in any future popularly chosen government.

Not that Washington has much choice.

Mubarak has so smothered potential political opposition that there is no clear alternative for the U.S. as a bargaining partner, even if dealing with aging Mubarak stalwarts reduces U.S. credibility with Egyptians fed up with the Mubarak era.

The Obama administration's telephone diplomacy this past week was indicative of the American strategy to keep Egypt from tearing itself apart.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden spoke to Omar Suleiman, Egypt's 74-year-old intelligence chief who became vice president last week and Biden talked with him again Saturday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates chatted with his 85-year-old counterpart, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen discussed the situation with Egypt's top military official, Lt. Gen. Sami Anan, 62. Another key figure is Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, a 69-year-old former Air Force chief.

U.S. diplomatic cables released by the WikiLeaks website encapsulate part of the problem with trusting these men to be the head ushers of democratic and economic change.

Beyond the generational split with young protesters disgruntled by years of harsh unemployment, inequality and political repression, the Mubarak men belong to a military elite whose wealth and power are inextricably linked to the 82-year-old president.

"Egypt's military is in decline," a 2008 U.S. cable says, summarizing a series of conversations with academics and analysts. The memo cites a professor in Egypt as saying "the sole criteria for promotion is loyalty and the ... leadership does not hesitate to fire officers it perceives as being `too competent' and who therefore potentially pose a threat to the regime."

Yet the military's authority remains strong and its interests in Egypt vast. Mubarak built an army of almost a half-million men that holds large stakes in the water, olive oil, cement, construction, hotel and gasoline industries.

A diplomatic cable also describes large land holdings of the military along the Nile Delta and the Red Sea, and suggests that the top brass would not be served by important change toward democracy and freer markets.

Most analysts agree that the military "generally opposes economic reforms," according to the U.S. diplomatic correspondence.

The exchanges describe an Egypt ripe for political unrest. A 2007 note from the U.S. ambassador at time, Francis J. Ricciardone, said Mubarak's "reluctance to lead more boldly" was hurting his effectiveness.

Ricciardone singled out Egypt's elite 40,000-member counterterror police as he described a "culture of impunity." The ambassador noted that the Egyptian government shut down a human rights group that had helped the family of a detainee killed in 2003. The officers were exonerated of torture and murder charges.

The cables also provide glimpses of the difficult environment for Egypt's bloggers and journalists. During protests in Cairo this past week, pro-government mobs beat, threatened and intimidated reporters attempting to inform the world of the unfolding events in the country.

In one cable, an Egyptian blogger complained to the U.S. Embassy after YouTube and Google removed videos from his blog apparently showing a Bedouin shot by Egyptian police and thrown on a garbage dump, and another one of a woman being tortured in a police station.

The cables contain mixed assessments of some of those being counted on to lead Egypt's transition after six decades when the country's four presidents all came from the officer corps.

Suleiman, referred to as the "Mubarak consigliere," comes out better than others. He is described as disappointed as far back as 2007 that he had yet to be named vice president. Yet on first glance, he seems an ideal candidate to guide Egypt through an unstable period.

At a time when Mubarak's son Gamal was being promoted as a future president, a U.S. cable says Suleiman "would at the least have to figure in any succession scenario."

"He could be attractive to the ruling apparatus and the public at large as a reliable figure unlikely to harbor ambitions for another multi-decade presidency," according to the cable.

But it is unclear what that will mean now as thousands of Egyptians demand Mubarak's immediate resignation.

There's little indication Suleiman will show his longtime boss the door, even if Obama administration officials are discussing options that include having Mubarak step aside now for a transitional government headed by Suleiman.

"His loyalty to Mubarak seems rock-solid," a cable written four years ago concludes.

Under one proposal, Mubarak would hand his powers to his vice president, though not his title immediately, to give the ruler a graceful exit.

Suleiman has offered negotiations with all political forces, including protest leaders and the regime's top foe, the Muslim Brotherhood. He's spoken of independent supervision of elections, loosening restrictions on who can run for president and term limits for leaders.

He has some support.

Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a former U.N. atomic energy chief and Nobel peace laureate, said he respects Suleiman as a possible negotiating partner. Some protesters have backed the idea of Suleiman playing a leading role in the transition; others see him too much of a Mubarak government figure and want him out, along with the president.

Then there's Tantawi, known among younger servicemen as "Mubarak's poodle," according to one informant. His unbending support for Mubarak is described in worse terms.

"`This incompetent defense minister'" who reached his position only because of unwavering loyalty to Mubarak is `running the military into the ground,'" a U.S. diplomat wrote, relaying the assessment of an unidentified professor in Egypt.

Tantawi reached out to the demonstrators Friday by visiting the square that has been the rallying point for Cairo's protests. He held friendly but heated discussions, telling people that most of their demands have been met and they should go home. "The people and the army are one hand!" they chanted during Tantawi's brief stop.

Anan is largely respected among U.S. officials. The cables spare him the harsh criticism doled out to Tantawi, who is lambasted in various memos as the chief impediment to modernizing Egypt's military.

But the fear of American officials illustrated throughout the notes — and offered by the Mubarak government as its main excuse for resisting democracy — is the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood.

U.S. officials say there have been no contacts with the hardline Islamist movement. It has formed the most organized opposition to Mubarak's three-decade autocracy but opposes much of the U.S. agenda in the region, such as Arab-Israeli peace efforts.

"The specter of an MB presidency haunts secular Egyptians," a cable noted. Still, it said such a development was "highly unlikely" and that the military wouldn't support an extremist takeover.

But avoiding talks with the group could be a mistake for the U.S., if it means a missed opportunity for some influence with a group that could become a dominant force in Egypt's future.

The United States has confirmed discussions with ElBaradei, who has "captured the imagination of some section of the secular elite that wants democracy but is wary of the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood," according to a February 2010 cable.

ElBaradei's biggest challenge would be mustering credibility among Egyptians on the streets, it predicted. The jury is still out on that question, even if the Muslim Brotherhood has expressed support for ElBaradei as an acceptable point-man for leading the pro-democracy movement. The military's view of him hasn't really been made clear.

Ultimately, the protests haven't made Egypt's post-Mubarak future any clearer. What's obvious now is that neither Mubarak will run in September elections. But no one knows how the military will react to possibly months more of instability.

"In a messier succession scenario," a 2008 cable noted, "it becomes more difficult to predict the military's actions."

"While midlevel officers do not necessarily share their superiors' fealty to the regime," it is "unlikely that these officers could independently install a new leader."

They military won't have to act alone, and no officials are warning of a military coup. But the military elite's reticence for change could prove a hindrance to democratic transformation.

U.S. officials consistently have criticized the government's response to the crisis, and officials say Suleiman's outreach efforts have been too narrow and not credible enough to gain widespread support and usher in real democracy.

As for Mubarak, who said in an ABC interview Thursday that Egypt would slip into chaos if he didn't serve out his remaining seven months, the cables suggest he never really had a succession plan — long "the elephant in the room of Egyptian politics."

"Mubarak himself seems to be trusting to God and the inertia of the military and civilian security services to ensure an orderly transition," a 2007 cable said.

___

Associated Press writer Douglas Birch contributed to this report.

Microsoft's Got H.264's Back, Releases Plug-in for Chrome Users

Google made waves in the Web geek community last month when it announced that it would bein its Chrome Web browser. While some supported the move, others were concerned that it . But Microsoft hasthat will give you H.264 video support even after Google pulls the plug.

The , as Microsoft calls it, will work with Chrome on Windows 7, though this means that users of older versions of Windows, or Chrome on Linux or Mac OS X, will still be out of luck, but it's better than nothing.

If you're game, hit up Microsoft's site and .

The HTML5 video format situation is still a mess, and it'll be a while until it's all sorted out. But hopefully the main browser vendors can get together and agree on a single format sooner rather than later.

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