Kim Clijsters, Rafael Nadal reach third round at Australian Open

As expected, both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer advanced in their Round 2 matches on Day 3 of the 2012 Australian Open in Melbourne, although Federer's victory was in a slightly different form than anticipated.


The No. 2-ranked Nadal defeated German-born Tommy Haas in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Nadal has been dealing with a nagging knee injury, but won the match handily. Haas did take an early lead in the final set, but Nadal battled back and closed out the win during his opponent's serve.


Federer, currently ranked as the No. 3 men's tennis player in the world, advanced to the third round when his Day 3 opponent, Andreas Beck of Germany, withdrew due to injury. There was a note of bittersweet irony here, as Federer was forced to pull out of his semifinal match due to a back injury in the last tournament he participated in, at the Qatar Open in early January. It is not yet determined who Federer or Nadal will face in Round 3.


No. 11 Juan Martin del Potro also advanced, defeating Blaz Kavcik in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.


For complete updates and coverage of the 2012 Autralian Open, please stay tuned to SB Nation's tennis hub.


Clijsters needed only 47 minutes to beat Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France, 6-0, 6-1, on Wednesday, conceding just 10 points in the first set and showing no signs of a hip problem that forced her to retire during a semifinal against Daniela Hantuchova at a warmup tournament two weeks ago.


She will meet Hantuchova in the next round, and has a potential rematch of the 2011 Australian Open final with Li Na in the fourth round.


Roger Federer, who has won four of his 16 Grand Slam titles in Australia, got a walkover into the third round when Andreas Beck of Germany withdrew because of a lower back injury. The third-seeded Federer will next meet either Ivo Karlovic of Croatia or Carlos Berlocq of Argentina.


Mardy Fish, at No. 8 the highest-ranked American, became the first top-10 player on the men's side to lose, falling, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (6), to Colombia's Alejandro Falla.


Rafael Nadal, seeded No. 2 in the men's draw, had no problems getting past Tommy Haas of Germany, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.


No. 7 Tomas Berdych advanced with a 6-1, 6-0, 7-6 (4) win over Olivier Rochus of Belgium and Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany was leading 6-0, 4-0 when Spain's Pere Riba retired with an injured left foot. No. 30 Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-3.


Clijsters and No. 20 Hantuchova, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Lesia Tsurenko, have been playing each other for years.


"When the injury happened, it happened against Daniela," Clijsters said of the hip muscle spasms she had at the Brisbane International. "She's been playing well this season so far.


"We both go back a long way — we grew up playing under-14s together. Now almost 30 — still battling it out."


This is Clijsters' best run at a major since the 2011 Australian Open — she lost in the second round at the French Open and didn't play Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.


Li also is returning to form, going further than she has at a Grand Slam tournament since her breakthrough win at the French Open last year. She next plays No. 26 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, who beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus, 6-1, 6-0.


Clijsters still clearly feels at home on a court where she's still known as "Aussie Kim" long after her relationship with Australian star Lleyton Hewitt ended.

Risk for Airbus A350 program

DOHA --Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad Airways said Tuesday it has reduced firm orders for Airbus A350-1000 jetliners, but is retaining options to buy more of the aircraft. Etihad was confirming an earlier report it had cut its firm orders to 19 aircraft from 25.


"Etihad Airways has a great deal of confidence in the A350 XWB program and we are delighted we have been able to retain attractive delivery positions for the (A350-)1000 derivative," an Etihad spokesman said.


"While we will be reducing our firm orders, our 25 options and purchase rights for this fleet remain in place and will no doubt play a crucial role in the airline's growth," the spokesman added.


A spokesman for Airbus confirmed Etihad had canceled some planes. "Yes, linked to their fleet requirements which evolve over time and can change," the spokesman said in an emailed statement.


In June, Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV (EAD.FR), or EADS, said it would increase the size and power of the A350-1000, delaying the aircraft's launch to 2017 from 2015. Chief Executive Tom Enders has said there may be "short-term" issues regarding discussions with existing A350-1000 customers.


To help out some that are struggling, Airbus is providing them with teams of engineers and technicians to provide technical advice to minimize delays that might create bottlenecks in the program.


The first version of the A350 is slated to enter into service with customer airlines in 2014. Airbus already has been obliged to push back the entry into service date by up to six months to ensure that the project is mature before it gets to the industrial stage, unlike the A380 superjumbo program in which errors weren't fixed before they reached the final assembly stage. Final assembly of the A350 is slated to start before the end of this year.


"We learned our lessons from the A380, and from Boeing Co.," which also ran into costly delays with its 787 Dreamliner program, Bregier said.


Airbus's chief salesman, John Leahy, said Tuesday that airlines are clamoring for earlier delivery slots for a later, stretched derivative of the A350 called the A350-1000, but none are available before 2019 or 2020. Airbus has decided to delay that program to allow it to be equipped with more powerful Rolls-Royce engines. "There's no way we can accelerate the A350-1000 program because we need to get feedback from flight testing of the smaller A350-900 to fine-tune the design in terms of weight reduction, and to allow time for Rolls-Royce to develop the engine," he said. Airbus has said that it sees the A350-1000 as the plane in its catalog that will kill the Boeing 777.


Airbus disclosed earlier Tuesday that Etihad Airways has canceled firm orders for six A350-1000s.

Airbus is No. 1 jet-maker in 2011

EU aircraft maker Airbus captured a record number of orders for new commercial jets last year, taking in 1,419 orders, worth $140 billion.


Airbus soared past Chicago-based rival Boeing Co.'s total of 805 aircraft in 2011 and its previous record of 1,413 net orders in 2007.


The big seller for Airbus with 1,226 bookings was the upcoming A320neo, which is a new fuel-sipping version of its bestselling jet, the A320. Airbus plans on delivering the first one in 2015.


In 2011, Airbus said it delivered a total of 534 aircraft.


The company plans on hitting a target of 570 deliveries during 2012 but expects commercial orders to drop more than 50% to between 600 and 650.


Even so, Airbus wants to hit an all-time production high of 42 aircraft a month in 2012 of the single-aisle A320. It also wants to meet a monthly goal of 9.5 wide-body twin-engine A330s and produce three of its double-decker A380 super jumbo jets each month.


First, the 2011 results: In a record sales year, Airbus delivered 534 airplanes to Boeing's 477, mostly due to faster production of its smaller, single-aisle A320 jets.


However, Boeing delivered 82 of its more valuable very large jets, compared with 26 superjumbo jets for Airbus.


As a result of that imbalance, a Seattle Times analysis using market-pricing data provided by aircraft-valuation firm Avitas estimates Boeing's total revenue from its deliveries at $33 billion, compared with an estimated $32 billion in Airbus revenue.


Looking at the value of the jets also considerably narrows the gap in sales.


The Seattle Times analysis pegs the value of the 2011 Airbus orders at $70 billion, compared with $66 billion for Boeing.


That's a 51.5 percent market share for Airbus, far less than the 64 percent share in units sold.


And what are the prospects for the year ahead?


Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with the Teal Group, said jet sales in 2011 were skewed by the eight-month gap between the launch of Airbus' new single-aisle jet, the A320neo, and Boeing's response, the 737 MAX.


That gap meant the Airbus neo had phenomenal sales last year, with 1,226 firm orders, while the MAX barely got off the ground, with 150 firm orders.


Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell acknowledged this year's sales must come down from last year's high.


"Clearly, the neo is what drove that," he said. "No one expects us to have another year in 2012 like we had in 2011.

Jerry Yang, ‘Chief Yahoo,’ Steps Down From Board

Jerry Yang rode Yahoo Inc.'s swift rise and subsequent decline over 17 years. Now the co-founder of the onetime dominant Internet company has decided to stop hanging on.


Mr. Yang, 43 years old, said Tuesday he was resigning from Yahoo's board, severing ties to the company he co-founded with David Filo in 1995 while both were Stanford University graduate students. Mr. Yang also said he would leave the boards of Yahoo Japan Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., in which Yahoo owns significant stakes.
Mr. Yang has been under pressure for weeks, grappling with criticism over his multiple roles at the Sunnyvale, Calif., company—including co-founder, director, former chief executive and large shareholder. Some investors questioned whether Mr. Yang had conflicts of interest as Yahoo in recent months explored its strategic options, including whether to sell all or part of the company.
Yahoo analysts and company insiders say that Mr. Yang’s departure has cleared the way for the sale of its assets abroad. The company has been in negotiations with Alibaba and Softbank — a potential acquirer of Yahoo’s share in Yahoo Japan — on a proposed sale of its stakes valued at approximately $17 billion. “Arguably Jerry Yang is the person best known and associated with Yahoo,” says Scott Kessler, an analyst at Standard and Poor’s. “It is fair to say that, whether in terms of reality or perception, he has detracted from the company’s ability to realize shareholder value.”


Mr. Yang played a heavy hand in discussions about Yahoo’s future, according to people close to the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were private. At times, Mr. Yang’s opinions seemed to diverge from the board’s consensus, these people said, creating a tense — and occasionally confusing — backdrop for negotiations.


Mr. Yang, along with other board members, also faced mounting pressure from activist investors, like Daniel Loeb of Third Point, who has called for the dismissal of both Mr. Yang and Mr. Bostock. Two other people close to board, who requested anonymity in order to maintain business relationships, said that the board was discussing the addition of new directors and several current board members are expected to depart. Yahoo refused to comment.


Shares of Yahoo gained more than 3 percent in after-hours trading after the announcement Tuesday.

Jerry Yang

Jerry Yang, a Taiwanese native raised in San Jose, Calif., co-created the Yahoo Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with David Filo and co-founded Yahoo Inc. in April 1995. He was appointed chief executive officer of the company in June 2007, and stepped down in November 2008.


42 Years Old Mr. Yang, a founder of Yahoo! and Chief Yahoo, has served as a member of our Board since March 1995. He served as our Chief Executive Officer from June 2007 to January 2009. Mr. Yang co-developed Yahoo! in 1994 while he was working towards his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford University. Currently, Mr. Yang also serves as a director of Cisco Systems, Inc., Yahoo Japan Corporation, Alibaba Group Holding Limited, a privately-held company which manages investments in several Asia-based Internet businesses (?Alibaba?) and DotCloud, Inc., a privately-held company that provides application platform software. Mr. Yang is also a trustee of Stanford University. Mr. Yang holds Bachelor?s and Master?s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University.


Mr. Yang, a leading force in the Internet media industry, has been instrumental in building Yahoo into the world’s most highly trafficked Web site and one of the world’s most recognized brands. Since the company’s founding, Mr. Yang has been a key member of the executive management team. His focus at Yahoo over the years has included corporate strategy, Yahoo’s technology vision, strategic business partnerships and international joint ventures, and recruiting key talent. In addition to serving on the Yahoo Board of Directors, Mr. Yang currently serves on the board of directors of Cisco Systems, Yahoo Japan, and Alibaba, and is also on the Stanford University Board of Trustees. Mr. Yang holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University and is currently on a leave of absence from Stanford’s electrical engineering Ph.D.

Putin’s new ideology: Developing Russian civilization

Sergei Mironov, the ousted speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament who’s challenging his long-time ally Vladimir Putin for the Kremlin, said it’s time for the prime minister to relinquish his 12-year rule.


“Putin must go,” said Mironov, who leads the Just Russia opposition party and plans to join a protesters’ march for the first time in downtown Moscow on Feb. 4. “I don’t see any willingness by Putin to change the political system. He believes monopoly of power is good.”


Speaking in an interview in his office in the State Duma, where he leads the party’s parliamentary faction, the former paratrooper pledged to put up a “very serious fight” in the March 4 presidential election.


Putin, 59, is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since he replaced the ailing President Boris Yeltsin on Dec. 31, 1999. Major challengers in the presidential race are backing demands for new parliamentary elections after allegations of fraud in Dec. 4 legislative polls sparked mass protests in Russian cities.


Russian stocks gained for the first time in four days yesterday, with the Micex Index adding 0.1 percent to 1,464.42 in Moscow. Stocks fell during the previous session after Fitch Ratings cut its outlook on Russia’s BBB credit grade to stable from positive, citing an increase in “political uncertainty.


Today, two months ahead of the presidential election scheduled for 4 March 2012, Vladimir Putin is an undisputed frontrunner. Polls conducted by Russia’s leading public opinion research institutions, the Levada Center and the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), give Putin an approval rating of 44 and 48 per cent respectively. According to VCIOM’s poll of January 7—8th, 2012, 48 per cent of Russians plan to vote for him in March. This is 6 per cent more than Putin’s own approval rating right after the parliamentary election last December, and 3 per cent more than his rating on New Year’s Eve.
Putin’s closest competitors for the coming election are Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov (10 per cent) and the notorious Vladimir Zhirinovsky (9 per cent).
This explains the enormous popular interest enjoyed by Putin’s draft election agenda, titled Program 2012—2018, which was published at http://www.putin2012.ru on January 12th. The draft was developed by the Institute for Social-Economic and Political Research, which was established specially for this purpose and is headed by the former long-time President of the Chuvash Republic, Nikolay Fedorov.
Of course, Mr. Putin’s real action plan as president will only be revealed after his inauguration, given that he wins the election. That said, the already disclosed draft agenda and his latest article in Izvestia provide a certain insight into Putin’s new ideology: a Development Strategy for Russian Civilization.

Sergei Mironov

Sergei Mironov was born February 14, 1953 in Leningrad. A Russian politician, he is the chairman of the Federation Council and until mid April 2011 headed the Just Russia party.
In the early 1970s Mironov served in the Soviet airforce before going on to work as a geophysicist from 1978 to 1986.
Mironov completed his first degree at the Leningrad Mining Institute in 1980. He later completed further study at the St Petersburg State Technical University, the Academy of State Service of the Russian President and St Petersburg State University.
In 1993 he secured a license from the Russian Ministry of Finance of Russia to deal in securities. In the mid 1990s Mironov was executive director of the Renaissance of St. Petersburg construction firm.
Mironov entered politics in 1994 when he was elected deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. He served various positions within the assembly before being elected a member of Russia's Federation Council in 2001, as a St. Petersburg representative. In the same year Mironov was elected speaker of the Federation Council, a post he continues to serve today. Since February 2002 Mironov has been a member of the Security Council.
Mironov ran for president in 2004, but managed to gain less than one percent of the vote. The seriousness of his attempt to win the contest was cast in doubt by his open support for then-President Vladimir Putin serving another term. Mironov has also backed changing the constitution to extend presidential terms of office.


The blow could relieve him of his position as the chairman of the Federation Council, a role which makes him the fourth most influential person in the Russian government. Despite citing official reasons behind the petition to have Mironov recalled from the Federation Council, however, United Russia’s motives are more political than procedural. Having already ceded his official position as party head, Mironov may now lose his most important position in Russian national politics.

Billionaire Putin challenger declares

MOSCOW — Mikhail Prokhorov, a super-rich tycoon challenging Vladimir Putin for Russia’s presidency in March, said his country faced the danger of violent revolution if it did not break conservative resistance and move quickly to democracy.


Prokhorov, a billionaire bachelor long seen more as playboy than politician, told The Freeland File on reuters.com Russians had shaken off a post-Soviet apathy and were now “just crazy about politics.” He denied accusations he was a Kremlin tool, let into the race to split the opposition and lend democratic legitimacy to a vote Putin seems almost certain to win.


Putin is seeking to return to the Kremlin and rule until at least 2018, but protests against alleged fraud in a December 4 parliamentary vote have exposed growing discontent with the system he has dominated for 12 years.


“What worked before does not work now. Look in the streets. People are not happy,” Prokhorov, 46, said in the interview beneath the windowed dome that soars above his spacious office on a central Moscow boulevard close to the Kremlin.


The 46-year-old metals magnate is Russia’s third richest man, with a reported fortune of $US18-billion. He is described as the country’s most eligible bachelor, and is known for his taste for lavish parties and beautiful women. He also owns the New Jersey Nets NBA basketball team, which he is moving to Brooklyn and hoping to make into New York’s new sports darling. His other ambitions include building Russia’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicles — painted outrageous fluorescent colours and branded the Yo-Mobiles — and helping the biathlon team train for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.


He graduated from the Russian Government Finance University in 1989, joined the International Bank for Economic Cooperation, and went on to manage the acquisition of Norilsk Nickel by Onexim Bank, of which he was then chairman. He overhauled the company and in May 2007, Mr. Prokohorov launched a $US17-billion private investment fund, Onexim Group, focused on the development of nanotechnology. Also in 2007, Mr. Prokohorov was detained by French authorities in a prostitution probe in the ski resort Courcheval. Prosecutors dropped the case in 2009.

Mikhail Prokhorov

Mikhail Dmitrievitch Prokhorov, Михаил Дмитриевич Прохоров, born 3 May 1965 is a Russian billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the American basketball team, the New Jersey Nets. After graduating from the Moscow Finance Institute he made his name in the financial sector and went on to become one of Russia's leading industrialists in the precious metals sector. While he was running Norilsk Nickel, the company became the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium. He is currently chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, and President of ONEXIM Group.

In 2011, Prokhorov capped a year of higher-profile political activity in Russia with the December declaration that he would run as an independent in the 2012 presidential elections. Russian prime minister and former president Vladimir Putin was the favorite in the race at the time of Prokhorov's announcement.

Prokhorov is the third richest man from Russia and the 39th richest man in the world according to the 2010 Forbes list with a fortune estimated at $18 billion as per the Forbes Billionaire List.

Born in Moscow to Dmitry and Tamara Prokhorov, he has one sibling, an elder sister, Irina. His paternal grandparents were impoverished kulaks. His maternal grandmother, Anna Belkina, was a microbiologist. His father was the head of the international department of the Soviet Sports Committee, which gave him the rare privilege of traveling abroad. His mother grew up in Moscow and worked as an engineer for a university research group specializing in plastics. Prokhorov's father and mother died within a year of each other from heart disease; both were in their late 50s.

In 1989, he graduated with honors from the Finance University under the Government of the Russian Federation, known at the time as the Moscow Finance Institute. From 1989 to 1992, Prokhorov worked in a management position at the International Bank for Economic Cooperation, and afterwards shortly served as head of Management Board of the International Finance Company (MFK). In 1993, aged 28, during the largely un-regulated privatization of former state-controlled industries after the collapse of the USSR, Prokhorov (together with Vladimir Potanin) engineered the acquisition of Norilsk Nickel by Onexim Bank, of which he was then chairman of the board.

After selling off most of Norilsk's non-mining assets, Prokhorov moved to modernize a complicated, expensive business venture which required icebreakers to transport metal over the frozen Arctic region. Prokhorov invested in an innovative Finnish freighter that did not require icebreakers. Norilsk Nickel is headquartered in the Siberian city of the same name. Environmental and labor conditions are harsh there, and pollution remains a problem; Prokhorov has invested heavily in pollution control. He converted Norilsk Nickel's gold-mining interests into the $8.5 billion corporation Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, of which he is chairman of the board.

Prokhorov resigned as Norilsk CEO in February 2007 and declared his intention to separate his assets from those of long-time partner Vladimir Potanin. The two engaged in protracted negotiations to separate the conglomerate Interros, co-owned by the two, into separate holdings. By the end of 2009, the only major asset jointly owned by the two remains the development company JSC Open Investments, which is hard to value due to a volatile situation on the Moscow real estate market.

In May 2007, following the decision to exit Interros, Prokhorov launched the private investment fund ONEXIM Group, with assets valued at $17 billion at the time. As the de-merger from Interros proceeded, and as other industries caught Prokhorov's attention, the group rapidly changed its investment profile. In April 2008, Prokhorov sold his most valuable asset - a 25% plus two shares stake in Norilsk Nickel - to United Company RUSAL, another mining conglomerate controlled by fellow billionaire Oleg Deripaska, in exchange for some 14% of Rusal stock, about $5 billion in cash and an obligation to pay over $2 billion more. The deal has been singled out as a major success for Prokhorov as only three months later, following a dip in oil prices, a disastrous stock market crash halved the value of most Russian companies, including Norilsk. He emerged as one of the very few businessmen to have cashed out in time. However, his wealth has also been affected, as the value of his remaining interests in various companies (including Rusal and Open Investments) declined sharply, and as the remaining payment from Rusal had to be postponed.

In September 2008, ONEXIM Group acquired 50% of Renaissance Capital, a major Russian investment bank which has reportedly encountered liquidity problems. ONEXIM also purchased a small bank, renaming it IFC (for the bank which Prokhorov had run in the early 1990s).

One of ONEXIM Group's divisions focuses on the development of nanotechnology investing in high-technology projects such as white LEDs. One of the key areas of development is the production of materials with ultra–tiny structures used in energy generation and medicine. In that purpose in 2008 ONEXIM purchased Optogan.

In June 2007, then-Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov announced the formation of the Government Council for Nanotechnology, to oversee the development of nanotechnology in the country. Prokhorov was one of 15 individuals appointed to the council, which was to be chaired by then-First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.

A high-profile media venture is JV!, a media group led by the publisher of Kommersant, Vladimir Yakovlev; the group publishes, among other things, such magazines targeted at the wealthy as Snob and Russian Pioneer.

In July 2009, the shareholders of RBC Information Systems agreed with ONEXIM Group of Mikhail Prokhorov to sell the latest issue of the additional 51% stake for $80 million, half of which went to pay off debts. The deal was closed in 2010. Prokhorov has business interests in mining and metallurgy (Polyus Gold, stake in Rusal), financial services (IFC-Bank, Soglassye insurance company, half of Renaissance Capital), utilities (stake in Quadra), nanotech, media (JV!) and real estate development (stake in Open Investments).

In March 2004 he founded the Cultural Initiatives Foundation (as part of the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation). It is headed by Prokhorov's elder sister, Irina, a prominent Russian publisher. At one time, he financially supported CSKA Moscow's basketball, hockey and football clubs, and is a member of the Supreme Council of the Sport Russia organization.[citation needed] Prokhorov currently serves as president of the Russian Biathlon Union.

In September 2009 he made an offer to buy a controlling interest in the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association and half of a project to build a new arena in Brooklyn.  On 11 May 2010, the NBA approved the sale of the Nets to Prokhorov, making him majority owner of the team with an 80% stake, as well as a 45% interest in their new Barclays Center. He thus became the first non-North American and tallest (he stands 6'8") NBA owner.

A martial arts enthusiast, Prokhorov is, as of 2011, an Ambassador for Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization, committed to serving peace in the world through sport.

At a Christmas party for the Russian rich at the French Alpine resort of Courchevel in January 2007, he was arrested for allegedly arranging prostitutes for his guests. After four days he was released without charge. In September 2009, Prokhorov was officially cleared from this charge and the judicial case was dismissed. According to his blog, he even received apologies from French officials during his visit to France in November 2009.

Prokhorov made headlines in early March 2010 when he was forced to forfeit a £36 million deposit he placed on the £360 million Villa Leopolda in the French Riviera in 2008. Under French property law, once an initial sale contract has been signed, a deposit can only be refunded during a seven day cooling-off period. On 2 March 2010, a court in Nice, France ruled that the villa's owner, 71-year-old Lily Safra, widow of deceased billionaire banker Edmond Safra, could keep the £36 million deposit, plus £1 million in interest.

Regarding Prokhorov's political efforts and the Right Cause party, critical commentators claim that the entire endeavor is just a project of the Kremlin closely curated by Vladislav Surkov and that Prokorov was effectively appointed a party leader. According to them, the "puppet party" was designed to divert opposition voters by using liberal rhetoric.

In August 2006 he was awarded the Order of Friendship for his significant contribution to the growth of Russia’s economic potential, when the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed an order for the granting of state honours on 18 August 2006. In March 2011, he was bestowed with the French Legion of Honour. France's ambassador to Moscow, Jean de Gliniastrance, presented it at the French embassy in Moscow.

In May, 2011, Prokhorov announced a plan to join the leadership of the Russian pro-business political party Right Cause. While not antagonistic to the Kremlin, the party was seen as likely to support President Dmitry Medvedev rather than Prime Minister Vladimir Putin if the latter entered the 2012 presidential race. In June, Prokhorov was elected to the leadership of the party at the Right Cause Party Congress of 2011. At the acceptance ceremony, Prokhorov officially criticized the present ruling tandem of Medvedev-Putin, the structure of Russia, and vowed to bring Russia back to a stable development course. However, in September, Prokhorov reversed course and resigned from Right Cause, "condemning it as a 'puppet Kremlin party' micromanaged by a 'puppet master' in the president’s office ..., Vladislav Y. Surkov". 

In December 2011 after the legislative elections, Prokhorov announced that he would contest the 2012 presidential election against Vladimir Putin as an independent. Prokhorov called it at the time "the most important decision of my life.

Tags:  Vladimir Putin, Occupy Moscow, Putin Russia's nomination,  Putin accuses Clinton, Moscow Anti-Putin, Russia's losing battle, Russia vote watchdog,

Russian Biggest protests, Boris Nemtsov ,  Dmitry Medvedev

Steven Tyler Gives Away His Secret to Cocaine

It wasn't a skin-baring top or a hip-hugging dress that won Steven Tyler over when he met his fiancée.


When the American Idol judge first fell for Erin Brady, it was a hair accessory that caught his eye.


"She had on this hair band on around her head," he says on Tuesday's The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "She looked really old-fashioned, so I took her back in the room and she tied me up with it and I thought, 'I'm marrying this girl.' "


He adds of the attraction: It was "the imagery" of the scarf-like wrap – "and how deep one can get into it."


Despite that physical connection, it wasn't love at first sight for Tyler, 63, whose engagement news was revealed in December when Brady, 38, was photographed with some new bling. After all, the very first time he saw Brady, just before her hair band piqued his interest, she was a Clear Channel Communications employee paying the band.


"I didn't notice her," he tells Ellen DeGeneres. Before Brady, his wife was clothing designer Teresa Barrick; their marriage ended in 2006. (He was also married to Cyrinda Foxe, an ex-Warhol model, from 1978 to 1987.)


Now, after five years of dating Brady and two years of sobriety, the once-troubled Aerosmith frontman says he's not living his life for drugs anymore. He's been to rehab five or six times, he says – and he doesn't want to go back.


To tell you the truth, he makes it sound, well, rock and roll... But, that’s not the message he wants to put out there. Rockers, listen up: He reels it back in saying, “It’s what we did, but you know there is no end to that. It’s death, jail, or insanity for real reals.”


He says that he initially went sober in 1988 (one of the first for rock and roll stars at the time, he points out), but he apparently relapsed. Yet now, he has two years of sobriety to celebrate.
“I want to be in touch with what it means to be in this band and stand for something in the rock and roll community or you fall for anything,” he says. “I don’t want to do drugs anymore for that reason… That place lost me my kids, a marriage, a band, a lot of things and it’s for real. That’s how dangerous that is. So, I take it serious.”
Tyler says he’s working on a new album from his sober view on life. American Idol returns to Fox on Wednesday.

Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler, born Steven Victor Tallarico; March 26, 1948 is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams and his wide vocal range. He is also known for his on-stage acrobatics. During his high-energy performances, he usually dresses in bright, colorful outfits with his trademark scarves hanging from his microphone stand. In the 1970s, Tyler rose to prominence as the frontman of Aerosmith, which released such milestone hard rock albums as Toys in the Attic and Rocks. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Tyler had a heavy drug and alcohol addiction, and the band's popularity waned.
He completed drug rehabilitation in 1986 and subsequently maintained sobriety for 12 years, but had a relapse with prescription painkillers in the late 2000s, for which he successfully received treatment in 2009. After Aerosmith launched a remarkable comeback in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the albums Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, Tyler became a household name and has remained a relevant rock icon. As a result, he has since embarked on several solo endeavors including guest appearances on other artists' music, film and TV roles (including as a judge on American Idol), authoring a bestselling book, and solo work (including a Top 40 hit single in 2011). However, he has continued to record music and perform with Aerosmith, after more than 41 years in the band. He is included among Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers. He was also ranked 3rd on Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. In 2001 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Aerosmith, and he was the presenter when AC/DC was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.


On August 5, 2009, while on the Guitar Hero Aerosmith Tour, Tyler fell off a stage near Sturgis, South Dakota, injuring his head and neck and breaking his shoulder. He was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital. Aerosmith was forced to cancel the rest of their 2009 tour, except for two shows in Hawaii in October. Back in 2007, Aerosmith had to cancel their first concert in Maui, which resulted in a class action lawsuit involving 8,000 plaintiffs. Attendees received tickets and, in some cases, reimbursements for out of pocket expenses. The band also performed in early November at an auto race in Abu Dhabi.
On November 9, 2009, it was reported that Steven Tyler had no contact with the other members of Aerosmith and that they were unsure if he was still in the band. On November 10, 2009, Joe Perry confirmed that Steven Tyler had quit Aerosmith to pursue a solo career and was unsure whether the move was indefinite. No replacement was announced. Despite rumors of leaving the band, and notwithstanding Perry's comment as reported earlier the same day, Tyler joined The Joe Perry Project onstage November 10, 2009, at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza and performed "Walk This Way." According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that despite rumors to the contrary, he is "not quitting Aerosmith. On December 22, 2009, Rolling Stone reported that Tyler had checked into rehab for pain management.
In 2010, Steven Tyler embarked on the Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour with Aerosmith, which saw them perform over 40 concerts in 18 countries. On September 16, 2010, it was reported that Tyler would have his first solo project. He wrote "Love Lives", which serves as a theme song for the Japanese sci-fi movie Space Battleship Yamato. The song was based on the English translated script, as well as on some clips of the film itself. The single was released on November 24, a week before the movie was released. A preview of the single can be heard in the movie's trailers.[21] On September 22, 2010, Fox confirmed that Tyler would join American Idol as a member of the judging panel for the program's tenth season, alongside Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez. It has been stated that former Idol judge Kara DioGuardi helped Tyler get his judging position on the show. In December 2010, Tyler performed at the Kennedy Center Honors, honoring Paul McCartney by performing several tracks from Abbey Road.


On September 15, 2007, at New Hampshire International Speedway, Steven announced the launch of Dirico Motorcycles. Dirico's bikes are designed by Steven Tyler, engineered by Mark Dirico, and built by AC Custom Motorcycles in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Steven has been a long time motorcycle fan and riding enthusiast. About the new Dirico Motorcycles, Tyler said, “You get on one of these bikes and you can ride for days. These bikes are slick, rugged, and just damn cool. And they’re amazing to look at.”
Steven Tyler also participates in a variety of charity auctions involving motorcycles, including the Ride for Children charity.
Steven is also friends with Paul Teutul from American Chopper fame.


Tyler had a brief relationship with fashion model Bebe Buell, during which he fathered actress Liv Tyler, born in 1977. Buell initially claimed that the father was Todd Rundgren to protect her daughter from Tyler's drug addiction. Through Liv's marriage to British musician Royston Langdon, Tyler has one grandson, Milo William Langdon (born December 14, 2004, in New York City).
In 1978, he married Cyrinda Foxe, an ex-Warhol model, and the former wife of New York Dolls' lead singer David Johansen, and fathered model Mia Tyler. He and Foxe divorced in 1987; in 1997, she published Dream On: Livin' on the Edge With Steven Tyler and Aerosmith, a memoir of her life with Tyler. Foxe died from brain cancer in 2002.
On May 28, 1988, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tyler married his second wife, clothing designer Teresa Barrick. With Barrick, he fathered a daughter, Chelsea Anna Tallarico (born March 6, 1989), and a son, Taj Monroe Tallarico (born January 31, 1992). In February 2005, the couple announced that they were separating due to personal problems. In January 2006 the divorce was official.
Tyler has been in a relationship with Erin Brady since 2006. He became engaged to Brady in December 2011.


On March 22, 2006, the Washington Post reported that Tyler would undergo surgery for an "undisclosed medical condition".[32] A statement from Tyler's publicist read in part, "Despite Aerosmith's desire to keep the tour going as long as possible, [Tyler's] doctors advised him not to continue performing to give his voice time to recover." Aerosmith's remaining North American tour dates in 2006 on the Rockin' the Joint Tour were subsequently canceled.
The surgery, to correct a ruptured blood vessel in his throat, was a success. In the words of Tyler: "He just took a laser and zapped the blood vessel."[citation needed] After a few weeks of rest, Tyler and the rest of Aerosmith entered the studio on May 20, 2006 to begin work on their new album.
On July 3–4, 2006, Tyler and Joe Perry performed at the Boston Waterfront with the Boston Pops Orchestra and sang the songs "Dream On", "Walk This Way", and "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" as part of the Boston July 4 Fireworks Spectacular. The concert was notable as Tyler's first public performance since the surgery. A tour launched later in fall 2006 with Mötley Crüe, titled the Route of All Evil Tour.
Steven Tyler's throat surgery was featured in 2007 on an episode of the National Geographic Channel series, Incredible Human Machine.


In a September 2006 interview with Access Hollywood, Steven Tyler revealed that he had been suffering from Hepatitis C for the past 11 years. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2003 and had undergone extensive treatment from 2003–2006, including 11 months of interferon therapy, which he said was "agony".

Obesity rate inches up for males, but levels off overall

After a 30-year, record-shattering rise, U.S. obesity rates appear to be stabilizing.


New statistics cited in two papers report only a slight uptick since 2005 — leaving public health experts tentatively optimistic that they may be gaining some ground in their efforts to slim down the nation.


Many obesity specialists say the new data, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are a sign that efforts to address the obesity problem — such as placing nutritional information on food packaging and revising school lunch menus — are beginning to have an effect in a country where two-thirds of adults and one-third of children and teens are overweight or obese.


"A good first step is to stop the increase, so I think this is very positive news," said James O. Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. "It may suggest our efforts are starting to make a difference. The bad news is we still have obesity rates that are just astronomical.


By contrast women tend to carry excess weight in their hips and thighs which is associated with less risk to their health, Foster says.
However, the high obesity rate "will continue to confer significant medical, psychosocial and economic consequences for our country," he says.
O'Neil agrees. Obesity is taking a toll on the health of millions of people, he says. "The flood tide of obesity shows no signs of receding, and continues to threaten to engulf the health care system."
Among the other findings released online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association:
•About 69% of adults in the USA are either overweight or obese; that's up from 64.5% in 2000.
•About 42% of women over 60 were obese in 2010 vs. about 32% of women 20 to 39.
•31.8% of kids and adolescents, ages 2 to 19, were obese or overweight.
•The average body mass index (BMI) of men rose to 28.7 in 2010 up from 27.7 in 2000. For women the average BMI remained unchanged at about 28.5.
Body mass is a number that takes into account height and weight. Adults are considered overweight if they have a BMI of 25 to 29.9. Obesity in adults is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. Children are classified as overweight or obese based on where they fall on BMI growth charts.
This new analysis is based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is considered the gold standard for evaluating the obesity problem in the USA because it is an extensive survey of people whose weight and height are actually measured rather than being self-reported.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a survey research program conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) to asses the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States, and to track changes over time. The survey combines interviews and physical examinations. The NHANES interview includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component consists of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as laboratory tests administered by medical personnel.
The first NHANES was conducted in 1971. Findings from the survey are used to determine the prevalence of major diseases and risk factors for diseases. Information is used to assess nutritional status and its association with health promotion and disease prevention. NHANES findings are also the basis for national standards for such measurements as height, weight, and blood pressure. Data from this survey are used in epidemiological studies and health sciences research, which help develop sound public health policy, direct and design health programs and services, and expand the health knowledge.

Derrick Rose sits out vs. Suns

CHICAGO — Bulls guard Derrick Rose was held out of the starting lineup for Chicago’s game against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night because of a sprained left big toe.


Rose has now missed three of Chicago’s last five games because of the injury, suffered last Tuesday at Minnesota.


“It was a collective decision,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We gathered the information, looked at where we were in the schedule and we decided it was in the best interest of everyone to have him sit this one out.”


Chicago, playing its league-high 16th game in the season’s 24 days, is off the next two days, giving Rose five days of rest since he played Saturday against Toronto.


He's usually a pretty quick healer so he'll get his treatment, then we have a couple days off, so we'll see where he is after that," Thibodeau said. "He usually responds well to treatment."


Thibodeau also said he had no regrets about playing Rose in the previous two games.


"You base your decisions on the information you have at that particular time," Thibodeau said. "So he felt that he was feeling better. We've played a number of games in a short amount of time so we just want to be smart. A lot of guys are hurting right now, but we don't want to take any chances."


Rose, who did not participate in the Bulls' late afternoon shootaround at the United Center and was still wearing a walking boot, said Monday the pain was a "six or seven" on a scale of 1-10.


Rose injured his left big toe during the first quarter of last Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves when Anthony Tolliver fell on him and jammed it into the floor.


Rose is averaging 20.8 points and 8.7 assists per game, pushing the Bulls to a league-best 12-3 start.

Derrick Rose

Derrick Martell Rose, born October 4, 1988 is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Born in Chicago, Rose learned the game of basketball from his three older brothers. In high school, he won two state championships and was rated by scouts as the top point guard prospect in the country after graduation.  He played for the University of Memphis Tigers and reached the NCAA national championship game in 2008. Shortly after, Rose declared for the 2008 NBA Draft and was selected first overall by the Chicago Bulls. In his first year of professional basketball, Rose was voted the Rookie of the Year and was selected to the All-Rookie Team. In his second season, Rose was selected as an NBA All-Star for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game; he was also named a starter for the U.S. team at the 2010 FIBA World Championships. Since being drafted, Rose has led the Bulls to the NBA Playoffs every year. In 2011, he received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the youngest player ever to win this award. He joined Michael Jordan as the only Chicago Bulls players to win the honor.
In 2009, an NCAA investigation revealed that Rose's SAT scores had been invalidated, making him retroactively ineligible to play for Memphis. As a result, the NCAA vacated Memphis's entire 2007–08 season.


On October 30, 2010, in the Bulls' second game of the season, Rose scored 39 points in a 101–91 win against the Detroit Pistons. Two days after, Rose contributed 13 assists, helping Luol Deng score his career high 40 points in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
On December 10, 2010, Rose scored 29 points and had 9 assists, leading the Bulls to their first victory over the Los Angeles Lakers since December 19, 2006.
On January 17, 2011, Derrick Rose finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists recording his first career triple-double against the Memphis Grizzlies.
On January 27, 2011, Rose was announced as a starting guard on the 2011 NBA All-Star Team for the East squad.
On February 17, 2011, in the Bulls' last game before the All-Star break, Derrick Rose recorded a regular-season career high 42 points, along with 8 assists and 5 rebounds, as the Bulls beat the San Antonio Spurs 109–99.
On March 26, 2011, Rose had a career high 17 assists, along with 30 points, and 3 rebounds, in a 95–87 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
At the end of the 2010–11 NBA season the Bulls finished with a league leading record of 62–20. Their 60+ wins was the Bulls' first since the 1997-98 season and sixth 60+ win in franchise history.
At season's end, Rose became only the third player in the past thirty years of the NBA to record 2,000 points and 600 assists in a single season. The other two players were LeBron James and Michael Jordan.


After being drafted by the Bulls in 2008, Rose signed a shoe deal with Adidas for $1 million per year.[94][95] He has also signed with Wilson Sporting Goods. Other endorsement deals include Skullcandy headphones, Powerade, Force Factor sports drinks and a suburban Chicago Nissan dealership. His agent is former Bulls guard B. J. Armstrong.
Rose was announced as the cover athlete for the 2K Sports Downloadable Content game, NBA 2K10 Draft Combine, which was released on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3.
In 2011, Rose was estimated by Crain's Chicago Business to earn $1.5-$2.5 million annually in endorsements, ranking just outside the top 10 NBA players in that category.[99] In December 2011, it was reported that Rose was nearing a contract extension with Adidas, worth $250 million over 10 years.

Tim Lincecum shatters Derek Jeter’s record, $21.5 million salary in 2012

NEW YORK — Tim Lincecum asked San Francisco for $21.5 million in arbitration, just shy of the record for a player, and the Giants offered him a club-record $17 million Tuesday on a dizzying day when 80 players agreed to contracts.


The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner was among 54 players who exchanged figures with their teams, and his request fell short of the record $22 million requested by Roger Clemens from Houston when he became a free agent and accepted the Astros’ arbitration offer before the 2005 season.


Interrupting the frenzied focus on money, there were two notable injury announcements.


Detroit said star slugger Victor Martinez could miss the entire season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament last week during offseason conditioning.


“After you feel sorry for yourself for a day or so, you move on,” general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “We have a good club. We’ve got a lot of players who will step up.”


Boston outfielder Carl Crawford had surgery on his left wrist Tuesday and could miss opening day. He was bothered by the wrist last season, and felt discomfort as he intensified pre-spring training workouts.


Case in point: Tim Lincecum's reps and the San Francisco Giants were required to submit their suggested salaries for the pitcher's services in 2012 on Tuesday afternoon. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that Tiny Tim's guys said they felt the two-time Cy Young Award winner should be paid $21.5 million to throw a baseball next season. The Giants said they felt that $17 million was more of a fair figure. Either one would count as a very nice raise, of course: Lincecum made $13 million in 2011.
Now, don't get me wrong here. The above details do make for a worthwhile headline. Both amounts shatter the figures that were requested by Derek Jeter ($18.5 million) and the New York Yankees ($14.25 million) in 2001.
But just like the Captain and the Yanks — who settled on a 10-year, $189 million extension 11 years ago — it looks like Lincecum and the Giants will settle long before an arbitrator is ever forced to pick one number or the other. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants are comfortable with both numbers and confident that they can find a resolution before an arbitration hearing in February. Both sides were able to avoid arbitration the first time Lincecum was eligible, settling on a two-year, $21 million deal in 2010, just minutes before the arbitrator showed up to hear their cases.
Now it looks like history is repeating itself with the Giants already open to hammering out a one- or two-year deal in the coming weeks. Lincecum will hit the free agent market after the 2013 season.

Tim Lincecum

Timothy Leroy Lincecum,  born June 15, 1984 is an American professional baseball starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He was nicknamed "The Freak" and "The Franchise. Because of these nicknames, he was also nicknamed "The Freaky Franchise" and also "Big Time Timmy Jim". He throws right-handed and bats left-handed.
Lincecum was known for his long stride, unorthodox mechanics, and ability to generate high velocity despite his slight build: originally listed as 5'11 and 165 pounds, Lincecum put on about 15 pounds prior to the 2011 season.
His repertoire included a two-seam fastball that he throws at 91–95 mph, a changeup that he gripped like a split-fingered fastball (his "out pitch" against left handers), a curveball, notable for its sharp 12–6 action, a slider (his "out pitch" against right handers), and a power four-seam fastball that ranged between 93–97 mph.


Lincecum was selected by the Chicago Cubs of the NL in the forty-eighth round (1,408th overall) of the 2003 MLB Draft, but did not sign. He decided to attend college instead, and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the forty-second round (1,261st overall) upon re-entering the draft in 2005, but once again failed to sign. The next year, he was drafted tenth overall by the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first player from the University of Washington to be taken in the first round. He signed for a $2.025 million signing bonus on June 30, which at the time was the highest amount the organization had ever paid to any amateur player (until they gave $2.1 million to Angel Villalona a little over a month later).
During his brief minor league career he was frequently named as the top pitching prospect in the Giants organization.
Lincecum made his professional debut on July 26, 2006, with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (the Giants' Class A Short Season affiliate) against the Vancouver Canadians, pitching one inning and striking out all three batters he faced. After his second outing on July 31 against the Boise Hawks, in which he pitched three innings, striking out seven and allowing just one baserunner, he was promoted to the High Class-A San Jose Giants.
On August 5, in his first start in San Jose against the Bakersfield Blaze, he pitched 2⅔ innings, allowing three runs (two earned), and striking out five. Lincecum finished the year 2–0 with a 1.95 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 27⅔ innings pitched. He also got the victory in the opening game of the California League playoffs, giving up one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out ten and walking one against the Visalia Oaks. Visalia would win the series 3–2.


On May 4, he struck out twelve Mets becoming the Giants franchise record holder for the number of games pitched with 10 or more strikeouts with 29, surpassing Hall of Fame "first five" inaugural member Christy Mathewson. Mathewson accumulated his 28 ten-plus-strikeout games in 551 starts over seventeen seasons of pitching for the Giants; Lincecum collected his 29 in 129 starts over five seasons. On May 21, he threw his 8th career complete game and his 5th career shutout, which he threw against the Oakland Athletics. On June 6, he recorded his 1,000th career strikeout against the Washington Nationals, striking out Jerry Hairston, Jr.. He accomplished this during his fifth year in the Major Leagues, becoming only the eighth pitcher in history to do so. He is now the second player ever to have 1,113 strikeouts by his 5th season in the Major Leagues. In 2011, Los Angeles Dodgers ace, Clayton Kershaw and Lincecum matched up four times, evoking fans of both teams memories of the days Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal traded zeroes in the 1960s. In those four games the scores were 2-1, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1, all going in the Dodgers favor. On September 10, 2011, both men struck out a combined 20 batters.
Lincecum finished the 2011 season 13–14, despite a top-tier ERA of 2.74 (4th in the NL) and a stellar second half ERA of 2.31. Lincecum's win-loss record was largely due to low run support, receiving the worst run support in all of Major League Baseball. Lincecum received 0 runs of support in 10 of his outings and 2 runs or fewer in 21 of them, becoming one of just 6 pitchers in modern major league history to have at least 200 strikeouts, an ERA of below 2.75, and a losing record.


Lincecum threw a four-seam fastball at 93–97 mph, but mostly used a two-seam fastball grip which he threw around 90–93 mph for more sinking movement to get more ground balls. This pitch had little lateral movement, due to his overhand delivery and the speed at which the pitch is thrown. He had a big breaking curveball that was thrown at a range of 77–81 mph and broke away from a right-handed hitter. Lincecum used a changeup that he gripped similar to a splitter with sinking two-seam action. His changeup appears similar to his fastball for the first 30 feet (9.1 m), but then dives down sharply tailing away from a left handed batter, with a difference of 10 mph (16 km/h) or more in velocity from his fastball (82–85 mph). The majority of his strikeouts were recorded with this pitch. Lincecum also had a hard slider that breaks down and away from a right-handed hitter at a speed slightly higher than his changeup (84–88 mph). With his power fastball and strong secondary pitches, he had established himself as one of the elite pitchers in the game.


Records


His bench was tested at 400 lbs.
MLB record-holder for most strikeouts thrown in the first four seasons of a career
Giants franchise leader for wins in a single post-season – 4, set in 2010
Giants franchise record holder for the number of games pitched with 10 or more strikeouts −31, May 4, 2011, surpassing Christy Mathewson
2008–2011: Third Giant ever to have four straight seasons with at least 200 strikeouts


Lincecum's father, Chris Lincecum, was largely responsible for his son's interest in baseball at a young age, and is the origin of his unique and extravagant windup.
Lincecum is part Filipino. His mother, Rebecca Asis, is a daughter of Filipino immigrants.
Tim used MGMT's song "Electric Feel" and The Doors song "Light My Fire" as his walk-up music during every game.

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (abbreviated PIPEDA or PIPED Act) is a Canadian law relating to data privacy. It governs how private sector organizations collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of commercial business. In addition, the Act contains various provisions to facilitate the use of electronic documents. PIPEDA became law on 13 April 2000 to promote consumer trust in electronic commerce. The act was also intended to reassure the European Union that the Canadian privacy law was adequate to protect the personal information of European citizens. In accordance with section 29 of PIPEDA, Part I of the Act ("Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector") must be reviewed by Parliament every five years. The first Parliamentary review occurred in 2007.
PIPEDA incorporates and makes mandatory provisions of the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, developed in 1995. However, there are a number of exceptions to the Code where information can be collected, used and disclosed without the consent of the individual. Examples include reasons of national security, international affairs, and emergencies. Under the act, personal information can also be disclosed without knowledge or consent to investigations related to law enforcement, whether federal, provincial or foreign. There are also exceptions to the general rule that an individual shall be given access to his or her personal information. Exceptions may include information that would likely reveal personal information about a third party, information that cannot be disclosed for certain legal, security, or commercial proprietary reasons, and information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.


Consent must be garnered for collection of personal information
Collection of personal information limited to reasonable purposes
Limits use and disclosure of personal information
Limits access to personal information
Stored personal information must be accurate and complete
Designates the role of the Privacy Officer
Policies and procedures for breaches of privacy
Measures for resolution of complaints
Special rules for employment relationships


The Personal Health Information Protection Act, known by its acronym PHIPA (typically pronounced 'pee-hip-ah'), established in 2004, outlines privacy regulations for health information custodians in Ontario, Canada. Breaches of PHIPA are directed to the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner.
The Personal Health Information Protection Act serves three important functions:
To govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information by health information custodians".
To provide patients with a right to request access to and correction of their records of personal health information held by health information custodians.
To impose administrative requirements (regulations) on custodians with respect to records of personal health information.


PIPEDA does not create an automatic right to sue for violations of the law's obligations. Instead, PIPEDA follows an ombudsman model in which complaints are taken to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. The Commissioner is required to investigate the complaint and to produce a report at its conclusion. The report is not binding on the parties, but is more of a recommendation. The Commissioner does not have any powers to order compliance, award damages or levy penalties. The organization complained about does not have to follow the recommendations. The complainant, with the report in hand, can then take the matter to the Federal Court of Canada. The responding organization cannot take the matter to the Courts, because the report is not a decision and PIPEDA does not explicitly grant the responding organization the right to do so.
PIPEDA provides, at section 14, the complainant the right to apply to the Federal Court of Canada for a hearing with respect to the subject matter of the complaint. The Court has the power to order the organization to correct its practices, to publicise the steps it will take to correct its practices and to award damages.