It's Romney versus Gingrich in South Carolina, and it's close, according to a POLITICO survey taken by the Tarrance Group:
A POLITICO Poll of likely voters shows the former Massachusetts governor atop the GOP field with 37 percent and the former House speaker at 30 percent.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul trails with 11 percent, followed by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum at 10 percent and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who barely registers at four percent. Just eight percent remain undecided.
“You really have a two-man race, with Paul and Santorum battling back and forth for number three and four and Perry out of the mix,” said Ed Goeas, a Republican pollster whose firm, the Tarrance Group, conducted the survey on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Gingrich has momentum: When voters are asked to volunteer the name of the candidate they plan to vote for without being prompted by a list of names to choose from, Romney’s lead over Gingrich slips to 31-29. Among those who say they will “definitely” support their candidate of choice, the two are essentially tied, with Romney at 23 percent and Gingrich at 22 percent.
One reason the former House speaker is pressing Romney: his consistently strong debate performances. Among those who claim they’ve watched all or almost all of the 16 debates so far, 49 percent support Gingrich compared to 23 percent who back Romney. Gingrich ranks fourth, at 11 percent, among Republicans who did not catch any of the debates.
Whether tonight's debate, or Marianne Gingrich's "Nightline" interview, dominates the closing hours of the South Carolina race could have a good bit of influence over the final outcome.
Read more about: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, South Carolina, 2012 Elections
Thursday, January 19, 2012
POLITICO poll: Newt closing in S.C.
Feds shut down file-sharing website
APNewsBreak: Feds shut down file-sharing websiteBy MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press – 9 minutes ago
McLEAN, Virginia (AP) — One of the world's largest file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said.
An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart online piracy.
The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, and three others were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Two other defendants are at large.
Megaupload was unique not only because of its massive size and the volume of downloaded content, but also because it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy. Before the website was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.
The Hong Kong-based company listed Swizz Beatz, a musician who married Keys in 2010, as its CEO.
Before the site was taken down, it posted a statement saying allegations that it facilitated massive breaches of copyright laws were "grotesquely overblown."
"The fact is that the vast majority of Mega's Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch," the statement said.
A lawyer who represented the company in a lawsuit last year declined comment Thursday.
Megaupload is considered a "cyberlocker," in which users can upload and transfer files that are too large to send by email. Such sites can have perfectly legitimate uses. But the Motion Picture Association of America, which has campaigned for a crackdown on piracy, estimated that the vast majority of content being shared on Megaupload was in violation of copyright laws.
The website allowed users to download films, TV shows, games, music and other content for free, but made money by charging subscriptions to people who wanted access to faster download speeds or extra content. The website also sold advertising.
The indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, which claimed jurisdiction in part because some of the alleged pirated materials were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Virginia.
Dotcom, a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany, made more than $42 million from the conspiracy in 2010 alone, according to the indictment.
Dotcom is founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Obama's Keystone Denial Prompts Canada to Focus on China
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama's decision yesterday to reject a permit for TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL oil pipeline may prompt Canada to turn to China for oil exports.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday, told Obama "Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports," according to details provided by Harper's office. Canadian Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said relying less on the U.S. would help strengthen the country's "financial security."
Former Gingrich Wife Says He Asked for 'Open Marriage'
Former Gingrich Wife Says He Asked for ‘Open Marriage’
In an interview to be broadcast Thursday night, a former wife of Newt Gingrich says he asked for an "open marriage" to continue his affair with the woman who is his current wife, according to the ABC News correspondent who conducted the interview.
GOP officials: Santorum edges Romney in Iowa count
Republican officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to pre-empt the announcement , said Santorum would end up with 29,839 votes to Romney's 29,805.
Eastman Kodak Files for Bankruptcy
Eastman Kodak said early Thursday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection, as the 131-year-old film pioneer struggled to adapt to an increasingly digital world.
As part of its filing, made in the federal bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York, Kodak will seek to continue selling a portfolio of 1,100 digital imaging patents to raise cash for its loss-making operations.
The company plans to continue operating normally as it reorganizes under Chapter 11 protection.
“Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation,” said Antonio M. Perez, the company’s chief executive, said in a news release. “At the same time as we have created our digital business, we have also already effectively exited certain traditional operations, closing 13 manufacturing plants and 130 processing labs, and reducing our workforce by 47,000 since 2003. Now we must complete the transformation by further addressing our cost structure and effectively monetizing non-core I.P. assets.”
The company said it obtained $950 million debtor-in-possession from Citigroup to provide it liquidity to operate during bankruptcy. Kodak said that its non-American subsidiaries are not part of the filing.
Kodak has become the latest giant to falter in the face of advancing technology. The Borders Group liquidated last year after having failed to gain a toehold in e-books, while Blockbuster sold itself to Dish Network last year as its retail outlets lost ground to online competitors like Netflix.
Founded in 1880 by George Eastman, Kodak became one of America’s most notable companies, helping establish the market for camera film and then dominating the field. But it has suffered from a variety of problems over the past four decades.
First came foreign competitors, notably Fujifilm of Japan, which undercut Kodak’s prices. Then the onset of digital photography eroded demand for traditional film, squeezing Kodak’s business so much that in 2003 the company said that it would halt investing in its longtime product.
Under Mr. Perez, Kodak has bet on inkjet printers. That strategy has yet to bear fruit, however: the company has made money in only one year since 2004.
It has also turned to patent lawsuits to generate revenue, winning settlements from the likes of LG of South Korea.
Jonathan Fickies/Bloomberg NewsAntonio M. Perez, chief executive of Kodak.
The company has burned through its cash reserves, stoking concerns that it may run out of money. As of Sept. 30, Kodak reported having $900 million in cash and short-term investments.
Its bankruptcy petition on Thursday listed $5.1 billion in assets and $6.75 billion in liabilities as of Sept. 30.
As a last-ditch effort to raise cash, Kodak announced last July that it had hired Lazard to sell its digital imaging patents, hoping to cash in on a frenzy for intellectual property that drove Google‘s $12.5 billion takeover of Motorola Mobility. But the company had failed to garner enough interest among potential buyers.
But by the fall, it became apparent that Kodak was also preparing for a potential Chapter 11 filing, hiring advisers who could help with a court-supervised restructuring. Besides potentially aiding in the patent sale, bankruptcy protection could also allow Kodak to shed hundreds of millions of dollars in pension obligations.
Earlier this month, Kodak announced a corporate reorganization that split its businesses into consumer and commercial segments, which some analysts said may aid in the sale of parts of the business.
The company has also filed new patent infringement suits against a number of competitors, including Fujifilm and Apple Inc., an effort to shore up the value of the patents it hopes to sell.
Kodak is being advised by Lazard, FTI Consulting and the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell. The company said that Dominic DiNapoli, vice chairman of FTI Consulting, would serve as chief restructuring officer during Chapter 11.
Eastman Kodak’s Chapter 11 petitionscribd.asscribd.srhttp://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.jsdocument.ges.parentNode.in
Oil Gains in New York on Shrinking Stockpiles, Iranian Risks - Businessweek
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose in New York on signs that the U.S. economic recovery is reducing the nation’s crude inventories, and on concern that tensions with Iran may lead to disruptions in exports from the Middle East.
Futures advanced as much as 1.2 percent after the American Petroleum Institute said crude inventories slid the most in six weeks in the seven days ended Jan. 13. Energy Department data today may show supplies climbed for a fourth week, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts before the API numbers were released. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday that closing the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for about a fifth of the world’s oil trade, is an option if his country’s security is endangered.