Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/us/texas-much-needed-downpour-comes-with-a-downside.html

Ryan Seacrest hosted the last Microsoft CES keynote, speaking to CEO Steve Ballmer in Last Vegas. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

LAS VEGAS — We expected great things from Microsoft. After the company announced that this would be its last keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show — that would say goodbye to fifteen years of speeches at the annual gadget-fest — we assumed it would go out with a bang.

Instead, we were greeted with a bid for attention from a company struggling to stay relevant in an industry increasingly infatuated with newcomers like Facebook, Google, and Amazon.

Yes, Microsoft gave us a retrospective of its keynote performances over the past 15 years — a nice bit of nostalgia — but with a who’s who of the tech industry waiting intently to see what the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant has planned for the coming year, the speech from CEO Steve Ballmer failed to deliver.

Over the past decade, big-name companies are scaling back their use of trade shows for major product release announcements. Apple even departed Macworld, the show that grew up around its products in particular. Apple instead hosts launch events at its own Cupertino HQ, as well as its developer conference held in downtown San Francisco. Google followed suit, now hosting its own events at its Mountain View campus, while hosting its own developer conference at the same San Francisco conference center.

Microsoft’s continued participation at CES — a trade show that has been around for over forty years — was somewhat analogous to Microsoft’s own position in the market at the moment: Out of touch. Antiquated. Lacking innovation.

So it’s only right that the company should step aside from CES. But it could have done so with more style.

At least Microsoft wants to change. The company has rededicated its efforts in mobile in 2011, fostering a strong partnership with Finnish mobile giant Nokia, which will produce the next wave of Microsoft-powered mobile devices. Or, as Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said on Monday, “the first real Windows Phones.”

The latest initiative in mobile for Microsoft. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The company’s effort to change is exemplified by the user interface that Windows Phone pioneered: The Metro UI. And Ballmer certainly talked it up. But that was about it.

Based on Seattle’s King County Metro system typeface, the Metro UI includes bright, varied colors, interactive tile icons lining menu screens in a live action mosaic, and a uniform, crisp font selection. By most critical accounts (including ours), it’s gorgeous — a truly impressive departure from lookalikes Android and iOS. It’s the “heart and soul” of Windows Phone, according to Ballmer says.

“You saw Metro in the phone, in Windows, in Xbox. it’s everywhere,” Ballmer said. “Metro will drive the new magic across all of our user experiences.”
As we’ve been reminded numerous times now, the Metro UI will also spill over into the next iteration of the Windows PC OS, Windows 8.

The UI has been hinted at and previewed too many times to count, and during its keynote, Microsoft pulled back the curtain again ever so slightly, showing the tiniest bit of the much-awaited operating system’s skin. For one thing, there’s a clever picture-based lock-screen, which unlocks based on touching pre-determined areas of a pic of your choosing (though it sounds silly, it’s rather charming).

What’s more, Windows 8 will run on both ARM and X86 processors — and Microsoft demoed the software using a prototype Samsung tablet powered by NVidia’s new Tegra 3 quad-core chip. And finally — and most compellingly — every PC currently running Windows 7 will be able to upgrade to Windows 8. (It’s a good thing, considering over half a billion Windows 7 licenses have sold to date).

Still, we’ll have to wait for more on the new OS — Microsoft says we’ll see “the next milestone” in Windows 8 come late February, then a launch to follow at a later (as yet unspecified) date.

In the meantime, however, the company will try and jazz up PCs by bringing some of its newest and most innovative technology to them. The company’s Kinect camera technology — the popular, inexpensive motion-sensitive camera that Microsoft has sold to accompany their XBox gaming consoles — will debut for Windows PCs this February 1.

Like Metro, Ballmer said, Kinect is “a leading example of what we like to call a natural user interface.”

A Microsoft VP shows off the latest Kinect features. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Bridging that gap makes sense. Xbox and Kinect have been two of Microsoft’s popular products, having sold over 66 million XBox consoles worldwide, and over 18 million Kinects since its launch last year.
It’s brought the company back into the innovative limelight, a space it has long since occupied.

But sadly, we’re left wanting for more with this, Microsoft’s grand finale as the CES headliner. We wanted that Oprah moment, that pop of surprise when a host pulls an ace from his sleeve. We wanted our “one more thing.”

Ballmer and company left it back in Washington, where the company remains hard at work on the OS it hopes will change its image in consumers’ eyes and minds.

Instead, much like other exhibitors at CES press conferences on Monday, Microsoft resorted to carting out celebrities like Ryan Seacrest, and parlor tricks like a tweet-singing choral ensemble. As for our one more thing — it looks like we’ll have to wait till February.

A choir sings tweets at the Microsoft keynote. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Article source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/01/microsoft-keynote-ces/

BEIRUT—Iran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced a 28-year-old American and former Marine to death on charges of spying for the Central Intelligence Agency, adding another point of conflict to heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, who was born in Arizona to Iranian parents and raised in Michigan, is the first American to be sentenced to death in the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to Iranian human-rights groups.

The Obama administration denied Mr. Hekmati worked for the CIA and criticized Tehran for what it called a pattern of arresting innocent people for political reasons. Iran had spurned earlier calls by …

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204124204577150093452170330.html

 

Roethlisberger was one tough SOB in Denver, driving the Steelers into OT on a bum ankle.

(AP)

 

DENVER — I’m not comfortable with the deification of Tim Tebow, but I’m much more troubled by the demonization of Ben Roethlisberger.

And right there, I lost you. Right there, you’re mad at me. Disgusted with me. The mere mention of Roethlisberger causes a visceral reaction in lots of people, and up to a point, I get it. He has been accused of sexual assault by two women in two states. That’s ugly, and it has led to one of the ugliest nicknames in sports: Ben Rapelisberger. You can find T-shirts and even faux Steelers jerseys with that name on it, if you’re so inclined. Lots of you are, and I’m not telling you that you’re wrong.

Well, I’m not. But I am telling you — asking you — to not make me feel like I’m wrong if I decline to go along.

Where this story idea comes from is the playoff game Sunday. Broncos vs. Steelers. Christian soldier Tim Tebow vs. accused rapist Ben Roethlisberger.

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Good vs. evil.

Where this comes from, also, is where so many of my story ideas come from nowadays. It comes from Twitter. Specifically, it comes from a Tweet I sent during the game Sunday, as I watched Roethlisberger limp along on a badly sprained ankle, willing his team from a 14-point deficit, forcing a tie in the fourth quarter. As the Steelers were rallying, and as I was Tweeting my thoughts on the game, it occurred to me:

Ben Roethlisberger is a tough SOB.

But I couldn’t Tweet that. You’d have crucified me for that. A compliment of Ben Roethlisberger? Can’t happen. Not when he’s playing Denver, not when he’s playing Tebow, not when he’s playing anybody. So I didn’t write that. I wrote this, where I basically apologized in advance for daring to compliment any aspect of Ben Roethlisberger:

“You don’t have to like Roethlisberger, and lots don’t, but on the football field that guy is a tough SOB.”

See what I did there? I watered down that whole Tweet. I acknowledged you don’t like him, and then I clarified I was complimenting Roethlisberger only “on the field.” Then I went ahead and complimented him, though I’m not sure why I bothered. By the time I’d apologized for saying something nice, and weakened my premise by noting I was talking only about what happens on the field, I’d ruined the whole thing.

After sending out that Tweet last night, I lost the next five minutes reading your backlash. You called him “Rapelisberger.” You noted that he was awfully tough on coeds. You said you hated him, refused to concede anything positive about him. You said you were going to stop following me on Twitter. All because I dared to say:

“You don’t have to like Roethlisberger, and lots don’t, but on the football field that guy is a tough SOB.”

So enough about you. And enough about me. Let’s talk for a minute about Roethlisberger, and the presumption of innocence. Granted, this is not a court of law, and Roethlisberger isn’t entitled to your presumption of innocence. You’re allowed to think what you want, and that’s fine. But so am I. And here I am again, talking about us even as I’m trying to talk about Roethlisberger. But that’s where we are with Big Ben, because he’s such a galvanizing figure. He’s a wedge between some folks, and he always will be.

But here’s what I know. I know Roethlisberger has been accused twice of sexual assault, but has never been convicted. Hell, he’s never been charged. One of the accusations, I’m dismissing outright. The one in Nevada from 2008. No need to go into it in detail — if you want to read more, I wrote about it here, in 2010 — but police in Nevada declined to pursue charges against Roethlisberger after they were told by friends of the alleged victim that she was bragging about the possibility of giving birth to “a little Roethlisberger.”

So that one, I dismiss outright. And I’m comfortable doing so. The other accusation, the one in Georgia from 2010? I’m not comfortable dismissing that one. Not even close. I don’t have the vaguest idea of what happened between Roethlisberger and the alleged victim in that incident, but police investigated it thoroughly and declined to press charges. Cynics assume it’s another example of a famous person getting preferential treatment, and that’s one way of looking at it. I see it from another angle: Cops in Georgia would do anything to protect one of their own from some rich football player from Pittsburgh. If there was enough there to charge him, cops in Georgia would have done it. They didn’t.

So there we stand. Lots of you on one side of this story, assuming Roethlisberger’s guilt, and some of us on the other. And by “other,” I don’t mean people like me assume Roethlisberger’s innocence. What I mean is, I don’t know. I don’t have any idea. But it feels wrong, given what I wrote in the previous paragraph, to turn an allegation that never reached the court system into an assumption of guilt.

This isn’t Jerry Sandusky, is one way of looking at it. That guy deserves the presumption of innocence from just 12 people on the face of this Earth, the jurors who someday will hear his case, and thank God I’m not one of those jurors. Because I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t presume that man’s innocence, not with the mountain of information available on those allegations.

There’s not a mountain of information available regarding Roethlisberger and Georgia. There’s a small pile, shrouded in darkness and alcohol and confusion. Maybe something criminal happened that night in Georgia. Maybe not. I don’t know.

If it’s all the same with you, I’ll continue to write about Roethlisberger with that thought in my mind:

I don’t know.

Article source: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/16796428/big-bens-no-angel-for-sure-but-theres-no-certainty-hes-a-demon

Each received two votes apiece, with one vote each for Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.

President Obama won all three votes cast in the Democratic primary.

There are a total of nine registered voters in the tiny North Country village, and just three who are registered Republicans. Four more undeclared voters were eligible to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary. There were two registered Democrats.

Dixville Notch has been voting just after midnight in presidential races since the 1960 election. The polling is held at the Balsams Resort, even though it is now closed for renovation.

In the 2008 Republican primary, Dixville voters cast four votes for John McCain, two votes for Romney and one vote for Rudy Giuliani.

At another remote polling place, Hart’s Location, Romney won five votes, Paul won four, Huntsman two, Gingrich one and Rick Perry one, according to New Hampshire’s WMUR-TV.

Polls open in much of the rest of New Hampshire at 8 a.m.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

Article source: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-dixville-notch-new-hampshire-primary-20120109,0,4386289.story

“The fact is, even Obama’s point man to the business community knew (the president’s) policies were too wrought with liberal activism and stifling regulation to create jobs,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said of Bill Daley’s resignation. “If nothing else, (the) White House shake-up makes it even more clear —every decision is being made through the lens of re-election.”

Daley said he was stepping down to spend more time with his family and return to his hometown of Chicago. He will be replaced by Office of Management and budget director Jacob Lew, a former aide to late U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill.

“Bill has been an outstanding chief of staff,” Obama said yesterday. “No one in my administration has had to make more important decisions more quickly than Bill.”

Daley, who chaired Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, will reportedly serve as a national co-chairman of the president’s re-election campaign. A former JP Morgan Chase executive, Daley was brought on to smooth over relations between the White House and businesses, as well as reach across the aisle to Republicans.

Carrie Giddins, a political science professor at American University, said the move smacks of election-year politics.

“Obviously, the president is reading the polls and sees the important thing is to turn the economy around,” Giddins said. “It’s the beginning of the year. If you’re going to make a change, why not make it now? The election is 10 months away.”

Article source: http://bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/20220110prezs_chief_of_staff_is_out

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO, AP Education Writer
–
30 minutes ago 

MIAMI (AP) — Several states that won a slice of the U.S. Department of Education’s $4.3 billion Race to the Top competition have had to delay plans to implement ambitious reforms and two could possibly lose money if they don’t get back on track.

Officials released state reports Tuesday detailing the progress of all 12 winners in the first year of implementation and found only three are on schedule with their plans. Another six states are headed in the right direction but facing delays and three — New York, Florida and Hawaii — are reported to have significant issues.

“New York made significant progress through Race to the Top over the last year but has recently hit a roadblock that not only impedes Race to the Top but could threaten other key reform initiatives,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday in a statement. “Backtracking on reform commitments could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars for improving New York schools.”

It was the second time in weeks the department warned a state could lose money for not fulfilling its Race to the Top proposal. In December, officials admonished Hawaii for “unsatisfactory” performance, placing that state under “high risk” status. Hawaii has requested amendments for all projects that are part of their Race to the Top plan. The state also delayed implementation of a new evaluation system.

New York and Florida are not yet considered “high risk,” but Education Department officials are concerned. In New York, the state has held back millions in federal grants to 10 districts that haven’t reached an agreement with unions on teacher and principal evaluations, including in New York City, the largest U.S. school district. Negotiations between New York City education officials and the United Federation of Teachers fell apart in late December.

Federal grants in jeopardy include not just Race to the Top funds, but also School Improvement Grants, which are aimed at lifting the lowest performing schools. Other education reform projects within New York’s Race to the Top plans are dependent upon having the teacher evaluation system in place. In the report released Tuesday, Education Department officials note the large number and variety of school districts within the state have made executing Race to the Top plans especially difficult.

In Florida, officials have struggled to issue contracts in a timely manner. Ninety-eight percent of Florida’s state-level Race to the Top funds has been budgeted for contracts ranging from data system implementation to intervention in failing schools. The report cites leadership changes, legal challenges and lack of staff among problems there.

Pam Stewart, chancellor for K-12 education in Florida, said the state is back on track, meeting all contract deadlines that were due by Dec. 31. She said Florida’s system of issuing competitive bids may have slowed some projects, but officials feel it will ultimately strengthen the state’s Race to the Top goals.

She also highlighted a law passed last year that eliminates tenure for new teachers, links instructor evaluations to student test scores, and sets a new compensation system to reward those whose students achieve the highest gains.

“I think Florida feels very good about the progress we have made,” Stewart said.

Duncan praised the states for making “tremendous strides” in the first year. Maryland, Massachusetts and Ohio are all on schedule, and the District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Tennessee are all considered to be moving in the right direction with plans.

“These twelve states created aggressive plans that set a high bar for reform, setting out to accomplish extraordinarily tough work that comes with its share of challenges,” Duncan said. “We are supporting states to help them achieve their goals. At the same time, we will hold them accountable for those commitments.”

Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, said states overpromised on what they could do and how fast.

“I don’t think the states will fully achieve what they promised to do but they will make progress toward those goals,” he said, noting “these are very difficult problems to solve.”

Two upcoming surveys from the center show Race to the Top states are in better shape in implementing common core standards, setting uniform benchmarks approved in most states compared to those that didn’t win.

The reports released Tuesday come four months after Chiefs for Change, a coalition of education leaders, wrote a letter encouraging Duncan to hold all winners accountable for improving achievement and implementing proposals.

“I think what you’re seeing now is implementation challenges,” said Eric Smith, Florida’s former education commissioner. “As with any reform effort .. as you get into the weeds on some very challenging issues there are adjustments that need to be made.”

The Race to the Top competition sought to award states for agreeing to undertake ambitious education reforms. Dozens changed laws, introduced new teacher evaluation systems and lifted caps on charter schools in order to compete for the funds. The National Council on Teacher Quality issued a report in October that noted even several states that didn’t win funds have moved forward with reforms. It also noted that some Race to the Top states have not succeeded with legislative or regulatory changes to improve teacher effectiveness.

“In terms of teacher evaluations, I think most of the Race to the Top states really have their noses to the ground and are really moving ahead,” Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the Washington-based research and policy groups said. “There are certainly challenges. It’s a very heavy list they are trying to undertake.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest education union, said the delays aren’t surprising.

“States that applied for Race to the Top did so because they were cash strapped and looking for money anywhere, from any source to help kids,” she said. “And then what they tried to do is try to figure out how to take that money and apply it for the purposes intended and realize it’s a lot more complicated.”

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Article source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gb-rUuYU0QSGcUodgOMfEzNuLjQQ?docId=be032d639f554fca96c8b84f3f4bd0e9

“I have no problem with the game coming down to our foot,” Shelley said about the rematch.

• PHOTOS: Scenes from the BCS title game

• MORE: What is the future of the BCS?

• BOX SCORE: Alabama 21, LSU 0

As it turned out, Shelley’s foot was the difference. His five field goals led Alabama to a 21-0 win and its second national championship in three years. Alabama’s Nick Saban became first coach with three BCS titles, with Alabama in 2009 and LSU in 2003. He’s the only coach with BCS crowns at different schools.

Just like the first meeting, the title game was a defensive affair that came down to field goals. But Deja Deux wasn’t nearly as compelling.

It was the first shutout in BCS history, spanning 62 games, and the first shutout in any bowl since the 2009 Holiday Bowl.

Though the defenses shined, LSU (13-1) looked hapless on offense. Tigers quarterback Jordan Jefferson threw for 53 yards, was sacked four times, intercepted once and lost a fumble. LSU crossed midfield just once, with 7:58 remaining in the game.

“We couldn’t sustain any consistency,” LSU coach Les Miles said.

Though LSU fans booed Jefferson in the third quarter, Miles never turned to quarterback Jarrett Lee, who started the first nine games of the season. “We felt like with Jordan’s ability to get out of the rush that it was fair that he finish,” Miles said.

Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron was named offensive MVP, going 23-for-34 passing for 234 yards.

Linebacker Courtney Upshaw was named the game’s defensive MVP with seven tackles, including a sack.

“We wanted to come out and show the world that we really beat ourselves the first game,” Upshaw said. “We wanted to dominate from start to finish and that’s what we did.”

Alabama running back Trent Richardson had the game’s only touchdown, a 34-yard run with 4:36 remaining. The Heisman Trophy finalist ran for 96 yards on 20 carries.

Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-01-10/alabama-blanks-lsu-for-bcs-championship/52475006/1

Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) — It’s Round 2 in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Republicans and independents in New Hampshire are voting in the state’s first-in-the-nation primary, and while there’s little drama over which candidate will win, there’s plenty of interest in which candidates come in second and third and gain momentum moving forward towards South Carolina’s January 21 contest.

Mitt Romney is the long-time front-runner in Granite State polls, and his lead over the rest of the field ranges from 13 to 24 points, according to the latest surveys. New Hampshire’s home field for Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, who also owns a vacation home here and has spent lots of time the past six years campaigning for himself and fellow Republicans in the state.

But Romney remains modest, telling reporters Monday in Hudson, New Hampshire, that, “right now what I’m worried about is winning in New Hampshire and hopefully having a margin larger than Iowa. I don’t think I can handle another night like that.”

Romney got eight more votes than former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in last week’s Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the presidential primary and caucus calendar.

While Romney weathered attacks from rivals, the candidates fighting for second and third place criss-crossed the state maing pitches to voters.

In one of the latest polls, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is in the second spot. On Monday, the longtime congressman, who’s making his third run for the White House and had a strong third place finish in Iowa, touted his plan to downsize government.

“In my first year what I would do is cut spending at a federal level by one trillion dollars and that to show it’s the spending that counts and it’s very important that we cut spending,” Paul told voters in Stratham, New Hampshire.

Another new survey indicates Paul basically tied with former Utah. Gov. and former ambassador to China Jon Huntsman for second place. Huntsman, who has staked his White House ambitions on a strong showing in the state, told a packed town hall in Exeter on Monday that he has become a “shameless salesman” on behalf of his candidacy.

“Can you feel a little bit of momentum in the air?” Huntsman asked the crowd. “We’re going to surprise a whole lot of people in this country tomorrow night.”

Santorum’s seen his poll numbers in New Hampshire surge from single digits to the low double-digits, thanks to near-win in Iowa. But Santorum’s downplaying expectations.

“We haven’t spent a of penny on broadcast television here in New Hampshire. We’ve only spent five days campaigning here in the last month. We just came here starting at two or three points pretty much tied with Rick Perry in New Hampshire. We’ve been working hard and now into the double digits. Hopefully we can finish well,” said Santorum. “If we do better than these other two conservative alternatives, if you will, I’m hopeful that they’ll take a look at making sure we don’t keep dividing the vote and we can line up behind another candidate. But that’s their decision to make.”

Romney tops most national polling and is ahead in the latest surveys in South Carolina and Florida, the next two states to hold contests following New Hampshire. But being the front-runner invites attacks from those chasing the leader and Romney has had a bull’s eye on his back long before his rivals took shots at him in back-to-back debates over the weekend.

The attacks continued Monday after Romney, in a speech to the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, said he wanted Americans who were unhappy with their health care coverage to be able to switch insurance companies.

“I like being able to fire people who provide services to me,” he said. “You know, if someone doesn’t give me the good service I need, I want to say, ‘You know, I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.’ “

The first seven words of that sentence, “I like being able to fire people,” dangled like low-hanging fruit and some of Romney’s rivals pounced.

“It has become abundantly clear over the last couple of days what differentiates Gov. Romney and me,” said Huntsman, at a campaign stop in Concord. “I will always put my country first. It seems that Gov. Romney believes in putting politics first. Gov. Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs.”

“Our opponents are taking Gov. Romney’s comments completely out of context,” said Romney Communications Director Gail Gitcho. “Gov. Romney was talking about firing insurance companies if you don’t like their service. That is something that most Americans agree with.”

But the controversy fed the image of Romney that his GOP opponents and Democrats have pushed: That he’s a wealthy businessman who can’t connect to average Americans.

Rival candidates Monday also stepped up their attacks by questioning the former Massachusetts governor’s business background. In Manchester, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tore into Romney’s record in the private sector at the helm of Bain Capital.

Though Romney has said his work at the Boston-based private equity firm ultimately led to the creation of 100,000 jobs, Gingrich said Romney’s pursuit of wealth exacted a huge cost.

“What you have to raise questions about is, somebody goes out, invests a certain amount of money, say $30 million, takes out an amount, say $180 million — six to one return — and then the company goes bankrupt,” Gingrich said. “Now, you have to ask a question: Is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money? Or is that, in fact, a little bit of a flawed system? And so I do draw a distinction between looting a company, leaving behind broken families and broken neighbors, and leaving behind a factory that should be there.”

Romney fired back that Gingrich and others were joining President Barack Obama in attacking the free enterprise system.

“As we’ll find out, free enterprise will be on trial,” Romney said. “I thought it was going to come from the president, from the Democrats, from the left, but instead it’s coming from Speaker Gingrich and apparently others.”

Gingrich, who has seen his front-runner status collapse and who finished a disappointing fourth in Iowa, is increasing his efforts to take on Romney. And an independent pro-Gingrich super PAC says it will spend $3.4 million starting Wednesday to flood South Carolina airwaves with ads that include clips from a film that attacks Romney’s record at Bain Capital.

Perry, the longtime Texas governor, was in New Hampshire for the weekend debates, but left Sunday afternoon for South Carolina, where he hopes to jump start his now longshot bid for the nomination. Perry quickly jumped to front-runner status after entering the race in August, but his poll numbers quickly collapsed after stumbles in debates in the fall.

He, too, was taking shots at Romney from South Carolina, where he tried to portray Romney as an out-of-touch corporate raider with a long record of hurting workers.

Perry seized on a remark Romney made to voters in New Hampshire that he knows what it’s like to worry about getting a pink slip.

“I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips, whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company Bain Capital with all the jobs that they killed, I’m sure he was worried that he’d run out of pink slips,” he continued.

Perry brought Bain Capital’s takeover efforts home to South Carolina, saying that Bain “looted” a photo company in Gaffney and a steel company in Georgetown.

The results in South Carolina could be crucial in determining which Republican will win the GOP nomination, and the results in New Hampshire could have an impact on the battle for South Carolina.

Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/10/politics/new-hampshire-main/