World Championships: CLG fall to iG in the second game of Group A

The second game in group A saw iG play against CLG.P. Coming off a loss vs Azubu Frost, iG had a lot on the line coming into this match; another loss here would have put them in a terrible position. CLG wanted to get off to a good start to give themselves some breathing space in a group as stacked as this.

Invictus Gaming Lineup: XiaoXiao (support), kid (ad), illuSioN (jungle), (ap), Pdd (top).

Counter Logic Gaming Prime Lineup: Bigfatlp (ap), Chauster (support), HotshotGG (jungle), Doublelift(ad), Voyboy (top).

Bans

iG: Sivir, Olaf, Draven.

CLG.P: Ezreal, Jayce, Shen

Picks

iG: Alistar, Skarner, Yorick, Vladimir, Corki.

CLG.P Mundo, Diana, Lulu, Cassiopeia, Graves

There was some very aggressive posturing at level one, with Mundo charging into a bush that was full of iG. Some blows were traded and two CLG flashes were burned but no blood was spilt. iG chilled out in a river bush for a bit and then slipped into the CLG jungle to steal their blue while Yorick took the iG blue by himself. A Yorick with a level one blue buff is not something anyone wants to deal with and he began zoning Diana.

First blood fell to iG when Skarner took a stroll down to botlane just after Alistar had traded flashes with Graves. With no escape and an aggressively Valking Corki in his face Doublelift fell and iG walked out without a scratch. Perhaps a little over-confident, Alistar got caught in CLG’s jungle and was quickly butchered, bringing the score back to even. iG almost took out Cass, dropping her to less than one auto-attacks worth of health, but a moment of hesitation cost them the kill and jiji returned to base with less than a hair’s breadth of a bar sbetween him and death.

Denying Cass blue buff and providing their own blue for Yorick seemed to be a key part of iG strategy. They kept CLG’s blue warded and just as Cass was about to claim her first buff of the game, Skarner pulled off the cheekiest of drive-bys and smote it over the wall before skittering cheerfully out of the CLG jungle. There was a short pause in action while iG pulled slowly ahead from farm alone, winning in CS in every lane. The Blue buffs for Yorick, the level one ward deny for Corki and the blue denial for Cass all combining into iG creating advantages for themselves all over the map.

A skirmish near iG’s blue buff ended the bloodless five minutes. Manly flashes were blown, including a very clutch one from Mundo, saving him from certain death. However, when the dust settled only Diana had died and iG had pulled that little bit more ahead. CLG answered back quickly though and caught Ali out of position again, giving him his second death. A short burst of action later iG picked up another kill, Graves falling once more, but a really nice teleport gank from Diana allowed CLG to pick up two kills in response. At 20 minutes CLG had a one kill lead but were still 4000g behind. The farm difference had extended even further in mid and bot lanes, though top had drawn almost even.

Mundo was caught terribly out of place and got turned in purple mulch. This allowed iG to take an easy Baron and while CLG tried to fight and Cass picked up her fourth kill, iG took two more scalps in exchange for their 0/4 support- not a trade they would regret. With Baron and a gold lead that had stretched to nearly 10,000g, iG started to really set the course of the game. Picking up another kill by making great use of Ali’s CC, taking Dragon and starting to move steadily towards CLG’s base.

With momentum as strong as iG had at this point, the game was nearly over and CLG knew it. The GGWPs came out shortly after the surrender vote went through. While the kills stayed quite even until the midgame, iG always looked comfortably ahead. Their three early game successes, despite being bloodless, gave all of their lanes a lead. A team as strong as iG with a lead in every lane is something near impossible to overcome even with a throw of Herculean proportions and iG were resting their arm after their game vs Frost.

A somewhat one-sided game, but still very enjoyable. iG looked great, everyone on their team looked strong. The one thing that was a slight red flag was the number of deaths XiaoXiao had. He plays his supports totally aggressive, always going for blood. This is usually very effective and he sets up a large number of his teams successful kills. However, in both the first two iG games it did lead to him getting caught and dying several times, and the teams they will play later on will be watching and taking notes. CLG’s botlane never seemed to be able to recover from a bad early game but Voyboy and jiji played well. iG went 1-1 in the group and CLG started 0-1, but so had iG and they brought it back. All hope is not lost but what a brutal start for CLG, and what a statement from iG. Be afraid NA, be very afraid.

- Jaszon ‘Lightblind’ Alexzander

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AARP objects to Obama invoking group's support during debate

The AARP, which put itself in the middle of the health care debate by endorsing ObamaCare, now is telling President Obama to keep the group out of his political talking points. 

The nation's leading senior advocacy organization objected after the president during Wednesday's debate twice mentioned the AARP while defending his health care plan and attacking Mitt Romney's plans for Medicare. 

The AARP posted a blog saying that while the group is "grateful" the candidates had a "robust" debate on health care, the organization is not aligned with either candidate. 

"While we respect the rights of each campaign to make its case to voters, AARP has never consented to the use of its name by any candidate or political campaign. AARP is a nonpartisan organization and we do not endorse political candidates nor coordinate with any candidate or political party," the group said. 

Obama invoked the AARP during the Denver debate because the group had endorsed his health care overhaul earlier in his term. He used that endorsement to challenge Romney's claims that the law's cuts to Medicare would weaken the health care system. 

"And this is not my own -- only my opinion. AARP thinks that the savings that we obtained from Medicare bolster the system, lengthen the Medicare trust fund by eight years. Benefits were not affected at all," Obama said. 

He went on to say that Romney's plan, which he describes as a "voucher system," would put seniors "at the mercy" of insurance companies. 

"And this is the reason why AARP has said that your plan would weaken Medicare substantially. And that's why they were supportive of the approach that we took," Obama said. 

The AARP, while having gotten involved in the health care debate, stressed that it is trying not to take sides in the presidential race itself. 

Some, though, have questioned the AARP's objectivity. 

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., in a recent op-ed in Politico, said the group "poses as a disinterested senior advocate" while taking positions that "just happen to coincide with its financial interests." 

He claimed that group's support of the health care law could yield "windfall profits" by forcing seniors off Medicare Advantage and into a separate supplemental coverage program. 

"AARP knows it can protect its financial interests by aligning with Democrats, no matter what its members think," DeMint wrote. 

Romney said during Wednesday's debate that his plan for overhauling Medicare would give seniors a decade from now a choice between traditional Medicare and private insurance. 

"And by the way, if the government can be as efficient as the private sector and offer premiums that are as low as the private sector, people will be happy to get traditional Medicare or they'll be able to get a private plan," Romney said.

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Colorado city urged to stand firm against anti-prayer campaign

After one Colorado city council canceled opening prayers at public meetings under pressure from a Wisconsin-based atheist group, at least one other community is being urged to draw a line in the sand.

The Pueblo City Council dropped opening prayers after the city received a letter from the Freedom of Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., arguing it is unconstitutional to coerce people at a government meeting to participate in what is typically a Christian prayer. That prompted a bitter outcry in Colorado Springs, 45 miles to the north. In a forceful editorial in the Colorado Springs Gazette, columnist Wayne Laugesen urged that community to stand up to the atheist group and blasted Pueblo for caving in.

"As its name implies, this confused organization believes we have government-protected freedom from religion in addition to our freedom to pick and choose religious beliefs or to ignore and avoid them all," conservative columnist Wayne Laugesen wrote in an editorial posted Thursday on the Colorado Springs Gazette website. 

"While we have a right to shun religion, we do not have a right to government protection from the sights and sounds of religion in public — even on government property," Laugesen wrote. 

"As such, one might expect Pueblo politicians to ignore the foundation’s threat," he said. "Instead, they fell over without putting up a fight. We expect a more vigorous defense of our most basic freedoms — religious liberty and free speech."

So far Colorado Springs plans to keep the opening invocation at public meetings and not cancel prayers under pressure from the foundation

According to the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper, Pueblo has tried to include prayers from every faith, but council members now say a moment of silence will serve the same purpose.

"Regarding the moment of silence, I actually find it to be more fair because it gives people who want to pray the option to do so but those who don't want to, no longer have to," resident George Starkgraf told local news station KKTV.

"While we have a right to shun religion, we do not have a right to government protection from the sights and sounds of religion in public — even on government property."

- Wayne Laugesen, Colorado Springs Gazette

But some in Pueblo agree with Laugesen and say the long-standing practice should remain.

"I'm really sad that they made that decision, because for those of us who believe in God and the power of prayer...I think prayer is very important,” another local resident, Mary Beth Netherton, told the station.

KKTV reports that someone in Pueblo complained to the Wisconsin-based group, which then issued a letter to the city council, asking them to remove the prayer. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Ex-Rare Devs Planning Banjo-Tooie Spiritual Successor

Ex-Rare employees have apparently reunited to try and create a spiritual successor to Banjo-Tooie.

The group, which includes series composer Grant Kirkhope and artist Steven Hurst, have set up a new Twitter account under the handle Mingy Jongo to gauge support.

“

That same kind of humour, silly characters, fun game play, great tunes and all that stuff.

It's unclear what format the game would be released on, though as Rare was bought by Microsoft and is currently helming its Kinect Sports series, it's not unreasonable to think it'll be an Xbox exclusive.

Not much is known about the project as yet, but we can glean some information from the account's tweets.

As regards to what engine will be used in the new game, it seems the team is interested in using Unity as they've tweeted, "#unity will probably be perfect for our spiritual successor. I'm thinking keeping level of detail and googly eyes close to the original..."

There are also mutterings of a Kickstarter project, as well as the clarification that the game wouldn't be a new title in the Banjo-Kazooie series, but rather a brand new IP that shares " that same kind of humour, silly characters, fun game play, great tunes and all that stuff."

The original Banjo-Kazooie released on N64 in 1998 and a sequel, Banjo-Tooie, followed in 2000. Both of these games were later re-released via XBLA in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

If you're interested in supporting the team in their endeavours, make sure to follow their Twitter account to show your support.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant, and was a great fan of getting Jiggy with it. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Voter watchdog says it's uncovered absentee ballot fraud in Florida, New York

A national voter fraud watchdog group announced Tuesday that it has uncovered at least 31 cases of absentee ballot fraud in New York and Florida -- a finding the group claims is "just the tip of the iceberg."

True the Vote, a group that focuses on voter fraud, said it turned over 31 cases to state and federal election authorities in which individuals cast their votes in two states in the same federal election -- which is a felony.

Logan Churchwell, a spokesman for the group, told FoxNews.com that the organization accessed Florida's complete voter registration roll and cross-referenced it against 10 percent of New York's list. It identified more than 1,700 people with voter registrations in both states. Of that number, 31 people allegedly voted in both states during the same federal election cycle.

Both Florida and New York require voters to cast ballots that correspond with their permanent home addresses. Under federal law, voters are prohibited from casting more than one ballot in the same election.

"This is further evidence of just how susceptible our election system is to voter fraud," the group's president, Catherine Engelbrecht, said in a statement.

The group said it has alerted the Office of Florida Secretary of State, the New York State Board of Elections and the U.S. Department of Justice of its finding.

"This should serve as a warning to any individual considering committing voter fraud in this year’s election," Engelbrecht said. "These findings are only the beginning of our effort. As today is National Voter Registration Day, it's important to remember that no candidate or cause is worth a felony conviction."

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Californians flee for better-run states, study finds

Californians are fleeing in droves to live in better-managed states, according to a conservative research group.

The long-running exodus from the cash-strapped Golden State is an old story, but a new study by The Manhattan Institute finds that the biggest beneficiaries of the population drain are Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Georgia and South Carolina. Lower cost of living, less government debt and a more business-friendly culture are the main drivers, according to the study. 

"States that have gained the most at California’s expense are rated as having better business climates," the study concluded. "The data suggest that many cost drivers —taxes, regulations, the high price of housing and commercial real estate, costly electricity, union power, and high labor costs — are prompting businesses to locate outside California, thus helping to drive the exodus."

Census data shows that more Americans have left California since 2005 than have come to live in it. The finding is a sharp contrast to earlier decades -- 4.2 million Americans moved to California from other states between 1960 and 1990. 

The report found that since 1990, the state has lost nearly 3.4 million residents through migration to other states, like Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Georgia and South Carolina. The average number of residents leaving the state each year over the last decade is 225,000, the report found.

"States that have gained the most at California’s expense are rated as having better business climates."

- Manhattan Institute study

 

There are many reasons for the exodus, including economic hardship and population density, according to the study, titled "The Great California Exodus: A Closer Look." 

Many people are driven out of the state in search of work in states with lower unemployment rates, like Texas. The data also found high housing prices and high business taxes in the state to be factors. 

But Dowell Myers, a pubic policy professor at the University of Southern California, calls this "a very confused report." He said the authors overlook the root of the 1980s boom in the defense industry buildup and how that factored into the decline in the 1990s.

"They paint a negative picture of California growth, when all it has done is settle to the national average," Myers said. "And they totally miss that California natives are less like to leave than almost any others." Most of the people leaving are people originally from somewhere else, he said.

The U.S. Census reported last year that residents of California are fleeing the state at a faster rate than people leaving any other state. The most common state-to-state move in 2010 was California to Texas, according to the Census. 

A study earlier this year by the University of Southern California found that California's population growth has slowed to about 1 percent annually, mainly due to fewer immigrants and an increasing number of Californians heading to other states. 

Demographer Joel Kotkin told The Wall Street Journal that a major problem is that parts of the state are out of reach for the middle class.  

"Basically, if you don’t own a piece of Facebook or Google and you haven’t robbed a bank and don't have rich parents, then your chances of being able to buy a house or raise a family in the Bay Area or in most of coastal California is pretty weak," Kotkin told the paper, adding that in his estimation, the state is run for the benefit of the very rich, the very poor, and public employees.

The Manhattan Institute says it based its findings on recent data from the U.S. Census, the IRS, California’s Department of Finance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

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Private city in Honduras will have minimal taxes, government

Small government and free-market capitalism are about to get put to the test in Honduras, where the government has agreed to let an investment group build an experimental city with no taxes on income, capital gains or sales.

Proponents say the tiny, as-yet unnamed town will become a Central American beacon of job creation and investment, by combining secure property rights with minimal government interference. 

“Once we provide a sound legal system within which to do business, the whole job creation machine – the miracle of capitalism – will get going,” Michael Strong,  CEO of the MKG Group, which will build the city and set its laws, told FoxNews.com.

Strong said that the agreement with the Honduran government states that the only tax will be on property.

“Our goal is to be the most economically free entity on Earth,” Strong said.

“Our goal is to be the most economically free entity on Earth.”

- Michael Strong, CEO of MKG Group

Honduran leaders hope that the city will lead to an economic boom for the poverty-stricken country south of Mexico. The average income in Honduras is $4,400 a year.

“[It] will bring a lot of investment into the country [and be] a center for many employment opportunities for our people,” Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa has said.

The laws in the city will be separate from those in the rest of Honduras. Strong said that the default law that will be enforced in the city will actually be based on Texas state law, which has relatively few regulations.

“It will be Texas law with more freedom of contract. Texas scores well on state economic freedom rankings,” he explained.

“Texas law is also very familiar to American business people, and it is very familiar to Hondurans, because a lot of Hondurans have gone there or have family there.”

Investors who think the city will do well will also be able to buy land there.

“There will be a free market in land,” Strong said.

The rules for immigrating to the city have yet to be finalized, but are expected to be loose.

“It will be designed to be very welcoming to those with a minimum threshold of skills or capital,” Strong said. However, businesses in the city will be required to employ a minimum proportion of native Hondurans – a requirement imposed at the outset by the Honduran government to ensure that the city’s benefits largely go to Hondurans.

To insure the city against political change, the Honduran Legislature has agreed that a two-thirds majority will be required to interfere with the city.

MKG will invest $15 million to begin building basic infrastructure for the first model city near Puerto Castilla on the Caribbean coast, said Juan Hernandez, president of the Honduran Congress. That first city would create 5,000 jobs over the next six months and up to 200,000 jobs in the future, Hernandez said.

Strong said construction could begin in months.

“First, we will build the critical infrastructure -- roads, water, power, sewers," Strong said. "In collaboration with the [Honduran] government, we will then create the city’s government system and the security, and 3 to 6 months after that we will build the first factories.”

The MKG Group city is the first to get approval, but Honduras plans to create other “free cities” as well.

The bill to allow the creation of such cities passed the Honduran Legislature nearly unanimously, by a vote of 126 to 1. But not everyone is on board with the project. Left-wing Hondurans have filed a complaint before the Honduran Supreme Court, arguing that the free cities project violates their constitution and treats “national territory as a commodity.”

The indigenous Garifuna people in Honduras also have protested the creation of free cities, saying that they are worried the cities will be built on their land.

Strong said that they need not worry.

“The media reports are full of inaccuracies. We're not even remotely close to [the Garifuna]. We're literally hundreds of miles away,” he said.

Additionally, the new city will be built on unoccupied land.

“We will be selecting unoccupied land so that everyone will be opting in by choice,” Strong said.

But some oppose the project being built anywhere in Honduras.

“I can't help but suspect that the promise of plenty of jobs is nothing but a Trojan horse,” Teofilo Colon Jr., who runs the Garifuna cultural group Being Garifuna, told FoxNews.com.

“The prospect of setting up a charter city, with its own laws, [that] is sovereign to itself and doesn't have to pay taxes, is a dubious one at best. It'd be tantamount to inviting pirates to come in and have free reign to essentially raid the country's resources/riches.”

The MKG Group says its plan, however, is not to take advantage of natural resources, but rather to attract entrepreneurs using good laws and low taxes.

Strong cited Hong Kong as a city that prospered under that model.

“Hong Kong’s poverty once was roughly on the level of Africa. Today it is one of the wealthiest places.”

Strong says that the same could happen in Honduras.

“We'll see Hondurans having more jobs, higher income, and more security than they've ever had.”

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