San Francisco 49ers, after a decade of irrelevance, are in the NFC championship game, on the brink of the Super Bowl. Welcome back, San Francisco 49ers.
This playoff season seems bent on chucking every story line the NFL had going in 2011.
Skip to next paragraphThe Packers? perfect season? Out. Tebow magic? Done, for now. The firing of Tom Coughlin?? We can definitely count that out, at least for another year (New York fans have a short memory, but beating the mighty Packers in Lambeau field at least ensures the Giants head coach gets to show up for work again in August).? Peyton Manning?s position at the top of the Manning hierarchy?? Even that?s in question, as a slew of analysts are now suggesting that little brother Eli might have been the best Manning all along.
Meanwhile, the barely noticed San Francisco 49ers had their best season in over a decade and emerged victorious from perhaps the best game of the playoffs against the Saints. The team by the bay has made it to the NFC championship, one win away from the Super Bowl.
Safe to say, no one really saw the 49ers coming. Why would they? San Francisco hadn?t had a winning record since 2002. Their biggest roster change from 2010?s 6-10 season was at head coach. Jim Harbaugh was an NFL coaching rookie, too, fresh from Stanford University. Given the team he was inheriting, a ?rebuilding year? would have been reasonable.
The 49ers most recognizable player? Quarterback Alex Smith, who has had a fraught relationship with the 49ers since the team drafted him first overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.? He?s been booed and benched constantly throughout his seven seasons; until last week, the highest praise anyone could muster for Smith concerned his ?game management? skills. But he clinched the NFC Championship for San Francisco last Saturday, with a game-winning touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with nine seconds left.
The rest of the 49ers roster has blossomed in the same way. Bucking the trend of most offense-heavy playoff squads this year, the 49ers have the best rush defense in the league, as well as a dangerous running game led by running back Frank Gore. The New York Giants are playing like a dream, but it will take their best to beat San Francisco at Candlestick Park.
Even if they do, the 49ers are beginning to look like their old selves again. There was a time, not so very long ago, when the franchise?s storied tradition and decades of domination garnered the same fear and respect as, say, the Patriots or the Packers do now. ?With five winning Super Bowl appearances, 16 consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins, and two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in a row (Joe Montana and Steve Young), the 49ers dynasty of the 1980s and '90s was so dominant that it has little chance of being duplicated anytime soon.
Their reign at the top of the NFL seemed endless in both directions: If you grew up in the 1990?s, Joe Montana was a word problem in your math workbook. Steve Young and wide receiver Jerry Rice were doing a funny Visa commercial on your television.
These 49ers aren?t quite there yet. But other teams are justifiably scared of the red and gold again, and that?s a good place to start.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/1WzE9cP_hSY/San-Francisco-49ers-Win-or-lose-they-re-back
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Police have released video footage of mother Michelle Parker taken on the day she went missing.
The video shows Parker on Nov. 17 at a KFC restaurant in Casselberry, Fla., three hours before she dropped her kids off at the house of her ex-husband Dale Smith, a suspect in the disappearance.
Though police say the video has already been scrutinized for clues into Parker's possible whereabouts, they released the video on her 34th birthday to keep her name in the headlines as the search for the mother of three continues.
Last Friday, Parker's family celebrated her birthday in Orlando.
Brad Parker, Michelle's father, told WKMG he's hopeful his daughter will be found.
"I hope we find Michelle, it'd be a good birthday present," Parker told the station. "Every time the phone rings, I think she's coming home or they found her."
Parker was last seen by Smith on the day an episode of the "People's Court" aired in which Parker and Smith argued about an engagement ring she lost.
Orlando police, made Smith the only suspect in the case, saying he had been violent towards her in the past.
Michelle Parker
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Michelle Parker (WESH.com) More pictures from WESH.com.MORE SLIDESHOWS
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FILE - This Jan. 8, 2012 file photo shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords waving at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords announced, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 she will resign from Congress this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)
FILE - This Jan. 8, 2012 file photo shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords waving at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords announced, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 she will resign from Congress this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)
FILE - In this Jan. 2, 2012, file photo Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, accompanied by her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, reacts after leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six othersin Tucson, Ariz. Giffords said Sunday Jan, 22, 2012, that she will resign from Congress this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
This video image provided by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shows Giffords announcing her plans to resign, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Office of Gabrielle Giffords)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona announced Sunday she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt a little more than a year ago.
According to officials in Washington, her resignation, first disclosed on the congresswoman's Facebook page, is expected to take effect on Monday.
The Democratic congresswoman was shot in the head last January as she was meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. While her progress has seemed remarkable, she said she has more work to do to recover, and it is best for her state if she resigns her seat in the House.
Her shooting prompted an agonizing national debate about super-charged rhetoric in political campaigns.
In a two-minute video posted to her Facebook page, Giffords says: "I don't remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice."
She says, "I'm getting better. Every day my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country."
Under state law, a special election will be called to fill out the remainder of Giffords' term.
In a statement, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said that "since the tragic events one year ago, Gabby has been an inspiring symbol of determination and courage to millions of Americans."
Democratic officials had held out hope for months that the congresswoman might recover sufficiently to run for re-election or even become a candidate to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jon Kyl.
The shooting on Jan. 8, 2011, left 6 victims dead, a federal judge and a Giffords staffer among them. Twelve others were wounded.
A 23-year-old man, Jared Lee Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in the shooting. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and is being forcibly medicated at a Missouri prison facility in an effort by authorities to make him mentally ready for trial.
In the months since she was shot, Giffords has been treated in Houston as well as Arizona as she re-learned how to walk and speak.
She made a dramatic appearance on the House floor Aug. 2, when she unexpectedly walked in to vote for an increase in the debt limit. Lawmakers from both parties cheered her presence, and she was enveloped in hugs.
More recently, she participated in an observance of the anniversary of the shooting in Arizona.
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BERLIN (Reuters) ? The head of the IMF called on European governments to boost the size of their rescue fund and consider financial risk-sharing steps like common euro zone bonds as a way out of their sovereign debt crisis.
In a speech at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin on Monday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the world economy faced a "defining moment" that required quick, collective action.
To help meet the challenge, she urged leading powers to back an increase in resources for the Washington-based lender to help fill a global financing hole that the IMF believes could reach $1 trillion over the coming years.
"The longer we wait, the worse it will get. The only solution is to move forward together," Lagarde said, according to an embargoed copy of her remarks provided by the IMF before delivery.
"We must all understand that this is a defining moment. It is not about saving any one country or region. It is about saving the world from a downward economic spiral."
The IMF has helped fund a series of euro zone bailouts over the past two years, but with big European countries like Italy now under threat, it wants to boost its lending capacity, currently estimated at around $380 billion.
Members of the single currency bloc have agreed to inject close to $200 billion, but countries like the United States, Canada, China and Japan have been cool on channeling more funds to the IMF. Many are keen for Europe to take more decisive steps to resolve its debt crisis first.
Lagarde said the IMF was seeking to increase its lending resources by up to $500 billion, including the funds already pledged by Europe. The Fund estimates that up to $1 trillion in global financing could be needed over the coming years.
"I am convinced that we must step up the Fund's lending capacity," Lagarde said.
SOLVENCY CRISIS RISK
She praised decisions by euro zone governments to enforce stricter fiscal discipline and a move by the European Central Bank to provide long-term liquidity to banks, but said these steps formed mere "pieces" of a comprehensive crisis solution.
Lagarde warned specifically about the risks that higher funding costs for Italy and Spain lead to a solvency crisis, saying this would have disastrous consequences for systemic stability.
"Adding substantial real resources to what is currently available by folding the EFSF into the ESM, increasing the size of the ESM, and identifying a clear and credible timetable for making it operational would help greatly," Lagarde said, referring to the euro zone's current and future rescue funds.
She urged European leaders to complement the "fiscal compact" they agreed last month with some form of financial risk-sharing, mentioning euro zone bonds or bills, or a debt redemption fund as possible options.
Lagarde also called for bolder steps from countries outside of Europe, saying the United States had a special responsibility as the world's largest economy.
She said emerging and advanced countries with large current account surpluses should take steps to encourage domestic demand as a way to support global growth.
In an apparent reference to Germany, she said there was a "large core" in Europe where fiscal consolidation could be more gradual. Lagarde also stressed the need for timely easing of monetary policy as euro zone economies and inflation fall.
(Reporting by Noah Barkin)
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BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq's Shiite-led government cracked down harshly on dissent during the past year of Arab Spring uprisings, turning the country into a "budding police state" as autocratic regimes crumbled elsewhere in the region, an international rights groups said Sunday.
Security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, torture detainees and intimidate activists, Human Rights Watch said in the Iraq chapter of its annual report.
"Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for the New York-based group. "Despite U.S. government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy (in Iraq), the reality is that it left behind a budding police state," she said.
Protests against Iraq's U.S.-backed and democratically elected government erupted around the country in February 2011, alongside other demonstrations in the Arab world.
While protests in other countries demanded the downfall of autocratic regimes, most of the demonstrations in Iraq pushed for improved services like reliable electricity and water, and an end to corruption.
The government clamped down, sometimes sparking bloody clashes ? as when 14 were killed in confrontations between security forces and civilians across the country during the Feb. 25 protests billed as the "Day of Rage."
A year later, with U.S. troops withdrawn and Iraq's government mired in a political crisis, the protest movement has all but died out. Demonstrators who gather in Baghdad's central Tahrir Square are usually outnumbered by the security forces watching over them.
"Iraqis are quickly losing ground on the most basic of rights, including the right to free speech and assembly," said Samer Muscati, an Iraq researcher for the group. "Nowadays, every time someone attends a peaceful protest, they put themselves at risk of attack and abuse by security forces or their proxies," he said.
Prison brutality, including torture in detention facilities, was a major problem throughout the year, the group's annual report said.
In February 2011 Human Rights Watch uncovered a secret detention center, controlled by elite forces who report to the prime minister's military office.
The group claimed authorities transferred more than 280 detainees to the facility since the beginning of 2010 and charged detainees were tortured there with impunity. Government officials denied the facility's existence and alleged abuses.
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This undated photo provided by Wal-Mart, shows Sam's Club President and CEO Rosalind Brewer. Brewer was named Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 as President CEO of Sam's Club _ the first woman and the first African-American to hold a CEO position at one of the company's business units. She will report to CEO Mike Duke. The moves are effective Feb. 1, 2012.(AP Photo/Wal-Mart Strores Inc.)
This undated photo provided by Wal-Mart, shows Sam's Club President and CEO Rosalind Brewer. Brewer was named Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 as President CEO of Sam's Club _ the first woman and the first African-American to hold a CEO position at one of the company's business units. She will report to CEO Mike Duke. The moves are effective Feb. 1, 2012.(AP Photo/Wal-Mart Strores Inc.)
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) ? Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, said Friday that it has named Rosalind Brewer as CEO of Sam's Club ? the first woman and the first African-American to hold a CEO position at one of the company's business units.
Brewer, 49, is replacing Brian Cornell, 52, who is leaving the company so he can return to the Northeast for family reasons. He had served in the role since 2009.
Brewer, who will also be president of Sam's Club, was previously president of the retailer's U.S. East business unit. She will report to CEO Mike Duke. The moves are effective Feb. 1.
Wal-Mart has in recent years has been battered by a combination of the slow-growing economy and its own decisions that caused U.S. customers to flee to competitors. But it has refocused on offering the lowest prices and shoppers' favorite goods and that strategy has been paying off. In its third fiscal quarter ended Oct. 28, its net income fell 2.9 percent but it reversed a slump in U.S. namesake business.
Its Sam's Club warehouse club business ? which accounts for about 12 percent of Wal-Mart's annual sales ? has outperformed its namesake stores. Revenue in stores open at least one year rose 5.7 percent at Sam's Club and 1.3 percent at Walmart U.S. stores in its third quarter. The measure is a key gauge of a retailer's financial health.
In its most recent fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2011, Wal-Mart Stores operated 609 Sam's Clubs in 48 states and Puerto Rico with 47 million members.
Prior to joining Wal-Mart, Brewer held a number of executive positions at Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Wal-Mart also said Friday that it is promoting Gisel Ruiz, 41, to executive vice president and chief operating officer for its U.S. operations. Ruiz has been an executive vice president working on human relations and store innovation issues.
Wal-Mart is also promoting Rollin Ford, 49, to chief administrative officer. Ford was chief information officer. He will be replaced as CIO by Karenann Terrell, 50.
Wal-Mart shares rose 40 cents to $61.01 in afternoon trading Friday.
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