A different holiday perspective: It's the little things that matter most ...

(ARA) ? The ?magic? of the holiday season across the U.S. seems to arrive earlier and earlier each year, and so by late October, many store shelves are already stocked and awaiting excited shoppers. Families snap up Rudolph figures with light-up noses, jolly Santas for front porch displays, and whimsical decorations with which to deck the halls. About that same time, giddy children begin contemplating their gift lists, trying to decide which technology gadget or must-have pair of shoes should go on top. Menus are set, families plan travel and the expectation of a prosperous New Year looms.

And although the holidays are undoubtedly a meaningful and special occasions for those in fortunate situations, it?s easy to take for granted that family, gifts and a warm meal will be a part of the celebration.

Chicago-based charitable organization Friends of the Orphans, which supports the network of Nuestros Peque?os Hermanos (NPH, Spanish for ?Our Little Brothers and Sisters?) homes in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries, knows that for the 3,700 children currently in the NPH family, the holidays have a deeper meaning not rooted in extravagant material gifts. Because of all they have endured, these kids have unique perspectives on what the simple pleasures of celebrating the holidays, and every day, mean.

Sadrak, a 6-year-old boy from Haiti who is now a part of NPH?s Angels of Light program which helps disadvantaged children through day camps and food programs, says, ?I am from a very poor family so my parents couldn?t afford gifts. But, my parents never wanted me to know that, so they helped me make my own toys ? like a car from a tomato sauce can.? This year, however, he is excited about the NPH celebration planned and said, ?I can?t wait for Christmas to arrive, and to see what Santa Claus might bring!?

Silvia, 18, lost her mother at age 12, and due to her father?s extreme poverty, came to NPH Peru to live soon after her mother?s death. In the past, Silvia often ate only a single, sparse meal a day, but her years at NPH have transformed her. ?There is nothing that we lack. We are supported and helped in every aspect of life.?

She adds, ?My hope for Christmas is to be able to finish high school and start university so I can have a good profession.?

Mabelyn, an 11-year-old girl from Guatemala, has been at NPH since age 6. And while she vaguely remembers holiday celebrations at home before circumstances dictated that her father send her to NPH, her holidays with her new family have been memorable. ?When I think of gifts, I would give a gift to my best friend Lupe, who lives at NPH with me. My wish for Christmas would be to do well in school and complete middle school.?

Probably the most poignant wish and one that demonstrates the perspective many of these children have about the holiday comes from 10-year-old Esmeralda from NPH Mexico. She simply said, ?My wish would be to help the little children in the world that don?t have a home.?

?The biggest lesson we all can learn from these children is how to take a deep breath and express simple gratitude, especially around Christmas, for even the smallest things,? says John Iberle, interim executive director of Friends of the Orphans. ?As a prosperous country with so much at our fingertips, many of us tend to take things for granted. These children don?t. To them, being able to help others, the potential to better themselves in school, or just the arrival of the holiday and the promise of Santa Claus fills them with joy and appreciation.?

Friends of the Orphans is quick to point out that the love and support they provide these children to make their holidays memorable is due to the generosity of supporters from around the world. This year, they have created a unique and memorable way donors can help children in need, especially during the holiday season. The 2011 Gift Catalog, at www.friendsoftheorphans.org/GiftCatalog, allows visitors to learn about the special celebrations in each NPH home, and through donations either in their own names or on behalf of others, provides useful and appreciated gifts to the children.

For more information about Friends of the Orphans, please visit www.friendsoftheorphans.org.

Source: http://prohandsatwork.com/?p=53254

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All's Well End's Well 2012 Movie Review ???? - A Growing ...

today i woke up at 10.30am.
actually i had set my alarm since 9am to wake up but did not wake up at the time because today my friend from Kepong will come to visits me.
anyways, i just quickly prepared myself and wait for his arrival.
after some moment passed, my friend arrived at 1pm and i also don't know got other classmate came too when meet them at another place.
i was not well dressed because i thought at first it was just me and him hang out today.
anyways, we went to the "Shun Chen Bah Kut Teh" (?????) to have our lunch because Klang was famous for Bah Kut Teh.
after that, we went to fetch one of my secondary close friend that long time did not meet.

somehow i did feel a little shy because it has been a long time i did not find him after the graduation at secondary school.
then we decided to go to Jusco Bukit Tinggi shopping center for watching movie at TGV cinema and arrived at 1.40pm.
the movie that we choose was "All?s Well End's Well 2012 ????" which start at 3.30pm.
while waiting for the movie to start, we went to Mill Wheel Ice Cafe to have dessert.
honestly, that place did remind me of "her" because last time saw she went there before with friends.
until now it seems that my "disease" of passing some place will somehow remembering someone still exists.

after having the dessert, we went back to the cinema at 3.30pm.
below was the synopsis of the All?s Well End's Well 2012 Movie Review (????)
_________________________________________
Network tycoon Maximilian established an all weather female support site.
Men come to bat and the only remuneration for them is one grateful embrace.
On quest in helping the female protagonists, the heroic mission of these four men turns to be a journey discovering their self significant and values.
And their embrace resembles the blossom of a beautiful relationship.
_________________________________________
after watching the movie, i feel it was quite touching in a love story way.
the sentence i feel most touching which is the "????????????????????????????" at the "Love Story Book Author" scene.

it means that "when woman meet their most happiness love relationship, they will eventually drop down their tears".
anyways, i would like to rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars and strongly recommend anyone to watch this movie if you like love and touching story.
well, you can have a look on the movie trailer at the link >>> .
on the other hand, this movie did remind me that it was a continue episode of last year "All's Well End's Well 2011 ????" movie at the link >>> Here.
while looking back the old post, i just feel so "funny" about myself because still talking "her" until now like reporting every financial year. (=.=)

after that, we fetch my friend house before having lunch.
around 8pm we went to the Lucky 10 western food to have our dinner.
somehow i did have some though running in my mind when looking a friend's boyfriend smoking.
until now i somehow don't understand whether a smoking guy will look attractive to girl because i saw many example of smoking people having girlfriend.
around 9.20pm we make a move from there and rush back to the place my friend park his car.
then we went to fetch another friend for a small Klang's friend gathering.
honestly, i did think of "her" because the friend we fetching used to be go out with her.
moreover, i do have a though of want to go and don't feel to go but still go in the end.
however, "she" did not follow and i also never ask too.

we went to the Centro Starbuck but finally decided to go for Shepherdoo Klang.
somehow just feel the price of the drink was quite expensive which ranged at minimum RM13+.
during the moment at there, i do heard a lot of different kind of story.
seriously the feeling of "struggling" came back because it was mostly related with "chasing girl" or relationship things.
well, i did feel that no matter who you are, you will be the target of being "gossiped" at the back.
on the other hand, i feel quite pity to hear a friend's friend's who is so coincidence a waiter at there had lost a brother which just age 19 due to an accident.
moreover, i also feel that it is proven that your successful in life will be judge based on your richness instead of other things.

honestly, it was quite "sucks" because i know most of this "real life world game" playing is about earning money > having own car to chase the girl you like > buy house > marry > having children > educate next generation and etc but ownself did not put much effort in earning $.
around 12.20am we make a move from there and fetch my friend back home.
during the moment on the car, i just listen some of friends story.
suddenly, somehow i did listen some story seems saying "her" break up with "EX" and get back with "EX" moment really make my tears almost come out although i just started to train myself for having a positive mindset in mind weeks ago.
it was because i don't even know anymore news about "her" after changed class.
after fetched all friend back and left a friend, i asked him whether had heard it or not.

then he say they was just mentioning another person instead of "her".
although i don't know whether real or not, but that moment is truly having a hurt hard like being stabbed by a knife in heart although i keep say it had passed so long and can handle last time.
one thing that i feel my friend was quite true was you also never hold her hand, officially in a relationship, how can you be so sad after so long had passed?
actually this did have helped me to feel a bit better but too much other's people story somehow can make yourself in a stress mode.
for example, you listened so much of other people chasing girls experience which sounds so easy and yet they keep changing relationship over the time but myself just failed to chase only one and feel so down till now?

honestly, i do like some other girl during my secondary or college and just keep inside my heart but this "girl" is the only and first girl i ever take my first step to chase "her" in real life.
maybe it was because a peer pressure that i am 22 years old guy and i never hold a girl hand that i like, never have sweet feelings before in real relationship?
however, the failure sounds so hard to overcome till now although listen SO MUCH of information, story and advice in my life.
you yourself also know money can play a lot of role but myself did not take any effort and say so much of "her" got use?
ownself also said finally awakens in life but when meet in real say this kind of things in blog?
f*ck you la lonelyreload !!! (talking to myself again)

furthermore, i did have a strong believes that blogging every details about my life everyday might help me to recover some memory because it will automatically dissapear when i growing old one day which i believe i will able to retrive back since the blogger function allow user to download whole blog entry in the computer yet i have double backup with online and offline.
anyways, i had decided to went downstair to drink some red wine to go into "alcohol" mode for not thinking so much things whenever it reached my stress limits.
or maybe think lesser and don't blog so much might can help?
besides keep talking about love and relationship in life not "sienz" meh and don't have others things to say?
stay positive and stay happy smiling?
goodbye and see ya while i "enjoying" my red wine.
=)

Source: http://www.lonelyreload.com/2012/02/alls-well-ends-well-2012-movie-review.html

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Correction: BC-AF--Nigeria-Radical Sect story (AP)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria ? In a story Feb. 1 about the arrest of a purported spokesman of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Ahmed Abdullahi, the Borno state director of the State Security Service, confirmed the man's capture. Another official in the state, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed it to local journalists.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120202/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_radical_sect_corrective

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Seized cash triggers political furor in Mexico (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? The discovery in Mexico of almost $2 million cash in the luggage of a state government official has triggered a round of mud-slinging in the run-up to the presidential election in July.

Mexico has very strict campaign financing rules with presidential candidates restricted to spending less than 495 million pesos ($38 million) on campaigning before the July 1 vote, which the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, is favored to win.

That contrasts sharply with the huge amounts being raised now in the U.S. election race north of the border. President Barack Obama's team raised $130 million last year alone.

The bundles of notes discovered in the luggage amounted to 25 million pesos ($1.9 million). Much of the cash was in fresh 1,000 peso bills and it was seized from a Veracruz state official disembarking from a private flight at Toluca airport, capital of the State of Mexico. Both states are governed by the PRI.

The official said he was making a legitimate payment to a company - but the ruling conservative National Action Party, or PAN, said that was an "insult to the intelligence of Mexicans."

"Cleanliness in the management of political campaign funds is a pressing need that shows the difference in the behavior of parties and candidates who want to rule this country," the PAN said in a statement.

The saga is reminiscent of the "Pemexgate" scandal in 2000, when the oil workers' union was accused of funneling tens of millions of dollars from the state oil company to a presidential candidate's campaign. No one was punished in that case.

"Of course it's suspicious that in an election year the Veracruz government found it so important to send 25 million pesos in cash to Toluca to cover expenses in Veracruz," said political analyst Sergio Sarmiento.

"It was so urgent that instead of making an electronic transfer, which would be instantaneous, they preferred to send the money in two suitcases in a private plane."

Toluca is capital of the home state of the PRI's presidential candidate and the clear front-runner, Enrique Pena Nieto. His party reacted angrily to the suggestion Veracruz state funds were being diverted to bankroll PRI campaigns.

'NO COINCIDENCE'

"This is absolutely false. We demand the accusers present proof," the PRI said in a statement. "Enough already with the use of the instruments of justice for electoral purposes."

The saga has underlined the fears of some Mexicans that illicit revenue, including from powerful drug trafficking cartels, could find its way into political pockets, although there is no suggestion that the cash seized in this case was illegally acquired.

The PAN said it was "no coincidence" the money was taken to Toluca, the base of Pena Nieto's campaign. It posed a laundry list of questions about the payment, including why such a large sum was to be handed over in cash.

The PRI ruled Mexico for seven decades before being toppled in 2000 by the PAN. Pena Nieto, 45, hopes his youthful, energetic image will win over voters who are wary of returning the PRI's old guard to power.

President Felipe Calderon's PAN has not yet picked its candidate, but leading in the polls is the only woman in the race, former education minister Josefina Vazquez Mota, 51.

Whoever wins the election in July will have to tackle widespread poverty, increase weak tax revenue and improve a failing education system. About half of Mexico's population lives below the poverty line, so the photos of stacks of pink 1,000 peso bills seized in Toluca grabbed the public's attention.

The explanation given by the Veracruz authorities was largely derided, with one commentator questioning why the state's governor would send a functionary carrying so much cash.

"Who believes him? No one. And then the PRI complains they are mistaken for drug traffickers," wrote Ricardo Aleman.

($1=12.9 pesos)

(Reporting by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Kieran Murray)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120202/wl_nm/us_mexico_election_cash

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Manufacturing expands at fastest pace since June

In this Jan. 11, 2012 photo, Deris Medina works on a sold Seahunter 40' at SeaHunter Boats Inc., in Princeton, Fla. U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. The report bolsters other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

In this Jan. 11, 2012 photo, Deris Medina works on a sold Seahunter 40' at SeaHunter Boats Inc., in Princeton, Fla. U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. The report bolsters other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

In this Jan. 11, 2012 photo, Angel Chivas prepares a console for a new SeaHunter boat on order at SeaHunter Boats Inc., in Princeton, Fla. U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. The report bolsters other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong.(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

In this Jan. 11, 2012 photo, workers at SeaHunter Boats Inc, prepare the keel and hull for mould creation on a SeaHunter boat that has been ordered in Princeton, Fla. U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. The report bolsters other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

In this Jan. 11, 2012 photo, Raul Pena sandpapers a non-skid part for a new deck at SeaHunter Boats Inc., in Princeton, Fla. U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. The report bolsters other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

In this Jan. 25, 2012 photo, keys and cylinders are seen in a box inside Master Lock company in Milwaukee, Wis. U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. The report bolsters other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

(AP) ? U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. And builders ended a poor year for construction by spending more on homes and projects for the fifth straight month.

The reports bolster other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Wednesday that its manufacturing index rose last month to 54.1 from 53.1 in December. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

Consumers are buying more cars and trucks, while businesses ordered more machinery and other equipment. That has driven manufacturing, which expanded for the 30th straight month.

Both new orders and order backlogs rose to nine-month highs. Increasing order backlogs suggest manufacturers are lacking the capacity to meet demand. That could mean more growth in production and employment in the near future, economists said.

Export orders also rose, a sign that U.S. manufacturers haven't yet been affected by Europe's slowing economy.

"This is a very encouraging report on manufacturing activity that shows particular strength in leading indicators," said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ Economics.

The report followed other healthy readings on manufacturing in China, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Growing global demand for factory goods sent markets higher. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 141 points in morning trading. Broader indexes also rose.

"A raft of business surveys around the world ... have signaled a better than expected start to 2012 for many countries," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, a financial information provider.

Separately, the Commerce Department said spending on construction projects rose 1.5 percent in December, the fifth straight monthly gain. That pushed spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $816.4 billion, the highest level in 20 months.

The gains coincide with other signs that show the troubled housing industry may be improving. Builders are more confident after seeing more interest in homes, and single-family home construction rose in the final three months of last year.

Still, the construction industry remains weak. Spending on all building projects in 2011 was just $787.4 billion. That's 2 percent lower than the previous year and roughly half the level economists consider healthy.

The best indication of the U.S. economy's health will come Friday, when the government reports on January hiring and unemployment.

Economists expect the economy added 155,000 net jobs, the seventh straight month of solid hiring. The unemployment rate is expected stay for the second month at 8.5 percent, near a three-year low.

Factories are still adding jobs but at a slower pace than in December, according to the ISM report.

Manufacturing output has jumped in recent months. Auto sales have rebounded from the spring, when Japan's earthquake disrupted supply chains and fewer cars were available on dealer lots.

Businesses also ordered more big-ticket manufactured items in December, the government said last week. And orders for so-called core capital goods, which are a good measure of businesses' investment plans, reached an all-time high last month.

Factory output rose in December by the most in a year, according to the Federal Reserve. Production rose for goods used in the early stages of manufacturing, such as metals, wood products and construction materials. That suggests the output of finished goods will pick up.

Still, economists are concerned that a key source of factory growth could wither in the coming months.

They note that a key reason the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the final three months of last year was that was companies restocked their supplies at a robust pace. That restocking is likely to slow in the first three months of this year.

Unless consumer spending picks up, businesses won't be able to sell off that extra inventory, and may have to cut back on future orders.

Consumers have been weighed down by wages that haven't kept pace with inflation.

Most economists expected the combination of weaker inventory growth and tepid consumer spending will lead to slower growth in the January-March quarter. Many are predicting just 2 percent annualized growth in that stretch.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-02-01-Economy-Manufacturing/id-880e20bbb03e4d629d0d3f74f15dfa24

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Cynthia Nixon Amends Statements on Homosexuality, Classifies Self as "Bisexual"


Cynthia Nixon is trying to dig herself out of the hole she created with comments last week to The New York Times.

A few days after stating that, for her, homosexuality is a choice and that she did does care for the term "bisexual," the former Sex and the City star has given a new interview to The Advocate. In it, she clarifies that her initial statements referred solely her story and added:

Cynthia Nixon Image

"I believe we all have different ways we came to the gay community and we can't and shouldn't be pigeon-holed into one cultural narrative which can be uninclusive and disempowering. However, to the extent that anyone wishes to interpret my words in a strictly legal context I would like to clarify:

"While I don't often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have 'chosen' is to be in a gay relationship."

Nixon concludes: "Our community is not a monolith, thank goodness, any more than America itself is. I look forward to and will continue to work toward the day when America recognizes all of us as full and equal citizens."

The star's original classification of homosexuality as merely an option created quite an uproar, with gay celebrity chef Cat Cora labeling the claim "dangerous" and asking for Nixon to address the younger members of this community in a more thoughtful, responsible manner.

She now appears to have done so.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/cynthia-nixon-amends-statements-on-homosexuality-classifies-self/

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Economy more worrying than Mideast for Florida Jews (Reuters)

AVENTURA, Florida (Reuters) ? Newt Gingrich describes the Palestinians as an invented people and seeks covert action against Iran, while Mitt Romney accuses President Barack Obama of throwing Israel under a bus.

But the Republican presidential candidates' tough talk on the Middle East in Florida before Tuesday's primary is doing little to sway the state's large Jewish population from its longstanding support for the Democrats.

If anything, it's Republican arguments on the U.S. economy - not Israel - that might win more favor with Jewish voters here come the general election in November.

"There has been, particularly among younger voters, a small shift toward the Republican Party in general," said Terri Susan Fine, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

She said there was some concern about Israel, but the larger reason was because some Jews see the Republican Party as more friendly to business.

"Economic conservativism is what is shifting their focus toward the Republican Party," she said. "Younger Jewish voters are very secure in Israel's stability."

Rabbi David Kaye of Congregation Ohev Shalom, a conservative temple north of Orlando, said members of his congregation were more concerned with economic issues in a state hard-hit by the housing crisis and one of the nation's highest unemployment rates.

"We still see that there's a lot of folks hurting," he said.

Jewish voters are also generally more liberal on social issues than the Republican candidates.

President Barack Obama received almost eight out of every 10 votes cast by Jewish voters in 2008. That overwhelming support among Florida's 640,000-member Jewish community, half of whom are over 65, was a key component in his narrow 3 percentage point victory in the swing state.

Jewish voters historically have been concerned with social justice and older voters especially have deep ties to the Democratic Party and labor movement going back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency during the 1930s and earlier.

"It's part of our being - we are our brother's keeper," said Sydelle Sher, 79, of Delray Beach, a retired schoolteacher.

IRAN TENSIONS

But Sher, who attended a Gingrich rally last week, described herself as a fiscal conservative worried about the direction the country is going in under Obama.

"I fear the European-style socialism trend," she said, although she added that Israel policy is very important in her decision.

With tensions in the Middle East rising over Iran's nuclear ambitions, some Jewish Republicans wonder if the United States will stick by Israel.

Gloria Winton, 75, had harsh words for Obama on Israel as she headed into Mo's Bagels and Deli, near her home in Aventura, Florida. "I never thought before that Israel couldn't trust the United States. Now, I don't think that they can trust us," she said.

But she said she was leaning toward Romney, not Gingrich, because of Romney's more moderate tone. "I think (Gingrich is) very smart but I don't know if the independent voter would accept him," she said.

As they fight for their party's nomination, Romney and Gingrich have often seemed to compete over who can take the strongest pro-Israel line.

Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, drew 700 people to a rally on Friday sponsored by a Jewish Republican group, and both he and Romney count pro-Israel businessmen among their financial supporters.

Gingrich dismisses the Palestinians as an "invented people," and promises he would move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv as soon as he takes office.

Despite years of U.S.-led negotiations toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Romney insists the Palestinians are not interested in living in their own nation alongside Israel, saying they want to destroy the Jewish state.

The former Massachusetts governor says Obama "threw Israel under the bus" for suggesting negotiations start with borders as they were before the 1967 Middle East war.

Democrats insist that Obama is not hostile to Israel, and call the Republicans' campaign a misleading and desperate attempt to make headway with an overwhelmingly Democratic voter bloc.

"Our ironclad commitment - and I meant ironclad - to Israel's security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history," Obama said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Jewish voters typically account for 6-8 percent of turnout in Florida elections, and a lower percentage in Republican-only contests like Tuesday's primary, but they can make a difference if the vote is close.

Ira Sheskin, who runs the University of Miami's Jewish Demography Project, said statements like Gingrich's denial of the Palestinians' national identity could alienate the many Jewish voters whose main goal is Middle East peace.

"It was really not good for Gingrich to say that," Sheskin said. "Because if he becomes president, you want him to act as an honest broker in the Middle East. You don't do that if you've told one of the sides that they are an invented people."

"You won't advance the cause of peace."

(Additional reporting by Ros Krasny in Delray Beach; Editing by Alistair Bell and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/us_nm/us_usa_campaign_jews

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Cars circle central Moscow in anti-Putin protest (AP)

MOSCOW ? Thousands of cars flying white ribbons or white balloons circled central Moscow on Sunday in a show of protest against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The cars ? ranging from luxury sedans and sporty convertibles to old, exhaust-spewing Soviet models ? jammed the inner lanes all along the 16-kilometer (nearly 10-mile) Garden Ring, which has as many as 16 lanes of traffic at its widest points.

More protesters stood along the side of the road waving white ribbons and flags as the vehicles passed, their horns blaring.

White ribbons became an opposition symbol during protests that broke out after a fraud-tainted Dec. 4 parliamentary election won by Putin's party.

Tens of thousands turned out for two mass protests last month to demand free and fair elections, and protest organizers are now preparing for a third big demonstration on Saturday.

Putin is running in a March 4 presidential election to reclaim the post he held from 2000 to 2008. He is expected to win, but is under pressure to show he can win fairly.

Sunday's action was aimed at helping to build momentum for the protest movement and it provided another outlet for the creativity that has been a defining feature of the demonstrations.

While most drivers were content to tie white ribbons and balloons to their cars' antennas, sideview mirrors and door handles, some decorated their vehicles with original signs and banners.

Opposition activist Alexei Navalny said the traveling protest action was a "wonderful advertisement" for Saturday's rally.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_opposition

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