Howard, Gasol, Hill all sidelined for Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, of Spain, goes down after being hit in the face by Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee during the second half of their NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, in Los Angeles. The Nuggets won 112-105. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, of Spain, goes down after being hit in the face by Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee during the second half of their NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, in Los Angeles. The Nuggets won 112-105. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee, left, knocks the ball from the hands of Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard during the second half of their NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, in Los Angeles. The Nuggets won 112-105. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, of Spain, is tended to by trainer Gary Vitti after being hit in the face by Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee during the second half of their NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, in Los Angeles. The Nuggets won 112-105. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, left, goes up for a shot as Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard defends during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard, right, shoots over Denver Nuggets' Kosta Koufos during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) ? Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill all will miss the Los Angeles Lakers' upcoming road trip with injuries, leaving the struggling club without its top three big men indefinitely.

Howard has a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and Gasol has a concussion after taking an elbow in the face late in Sunday night's loss to Denver. Hill, a key backup to both starting big men, has a right hip injury.

The three injuries are the latest blows for the Lakers (15-18), who still haven't meshed despite a star-studded roster, a bulging payroll and an early-season coaching change. Los Angeles has lost three straight and four of five since beating the Knicks on Christmas, falling to 11th place in the Western Conference.

"The NBA is unforgiving, and nobody is feeling sorry for us," Los Angeles coach Mike D'Antoni said. "There's 29 other teams that are happy, and we've got to do the best we can do. It's kind of weird coming to work thinking you have three centers, and all three of them are hurt on the same day."

The Lakers' biggest concern is Howard, who hurt his shoulder in last Friday's loss to the Clippers and aggravated it in Sunday's loss to the Nuggets while grabbing a career high-tying 26 rebounds. The six-time All-Star center said he won't need surgery, but he'll sit out for at least a week before his injury is re-evaluated.

"It depends on how fast I heal up," said Howard, who had a bulky wrap on his shoulder Monday at the Lakers' training complex. "I was in pain (Sunday night), and the biggest thing right now is I have to make sure I'm 100 percent. I don't want to play with my shoulder weak. I'd have a chance for more injuries. I've got to let it heal up."

After canceling practice Monday, the Lakers announced Gasol and Howard are both out indefinitely. Hill will be examined by team doctors later Monday before getting a prognosis.

When the Lakers open a stretch of four games in six days starting Tuesday in Houston, rookie Robert Sacre is likely to be their starting center. The final pick in last June's draft has been playing for the Lakers' affiliate in the D-League.

D'Antoni will be forced to improvise with his three best post players sidelined from an already top-heavy roster. The coach said 6-foot-7 Metta World Peace could play center at times as part of the small lineups he'll be forced to use.

"We'll go small a lot, and we'll just have to spread the floor and get things done," D'Antoni said. "Some guys are going to have to step up and put some superhuman effort into it. We'll have some little guys guarding big guys, and we'll have to be quick. We'll have to take advantage of other situations."

He won't have much choice: The 7-foot Sacre and 6-foot-9 Antawn Jamison are his only players taller than World Peace, unless the Lakers sign a temporary big man. Los Angeles cleared a roster spot by waiving rookie Darius Johnson-Odom on Monday, three days before his contract would have been guaranteed for the season.

Although their wealth of problems can hardly be attributed to injuries, the Lakers haven't been fully healthy for any significant stretch of the season. After Howard missed their first five preseason games while recovering from offseason back surgery, new point guard Steve Nash got a small fracture in his leg in their second game of the season, keeping the two-time NBA MVP out for seven weeks.

Add in the difficulties of learning a new offense with no training camp for an older roster struggling to keep up with faster teams, and the preseason title contenders realize why they're looking up at the likes of Golden State, Minnesota and the Pacific Division-leading Clippers in the standings.

"It's almost like ? what's that game where you pop one of those things in the head and another one pops up?" D'Antoni said. "Whac-a-Mole? That's what we seem to be doing right now."

Gasol got a concussion and an injured nose when Denver's JaVale McGee accidentally clobbered him under the basket with 1:05 to play. The four-time All-Star 7-footer has been struggling both with plantar fasciitis and the difficulty of adapting his game to D'Antoni's offense, averaging just 12.2 points and 8.4 rebounds in a trying season.

Hill had been struggling with a sprained right ankle and a herniated disc in his back even before injuring his hip Sunday. He has been a consistent contributor off the bench in his second season in Los Angeles, averaging 6.7 points and 5.7 rebounds.

"No one is going to feel sorry for us," said Nash, who is five assists shy of 10,000 for his career. "We've got to take the challenge, embrace it, and no matter how many lumps we take, you can't feel sorry for yourself. You've got to keep battling, and if you keep battling, you give yourself a chance for good things to happen."

The injuries were the most concrete news on yet another ridiculously busy day for the 16-time champions. Lakers great Magic Johnson launched yet another barrage of Twitter criticism of the franchise, while Howard and NBA scoring leader Kobe Bryant both flatly denied a report of friction between them, with Bryant tweeting a photo mocking the idea they had nearly come to blows.

"You feel like at some point, you hit rock-bottom, and the only place you can go is up," Bryant said. "It's just been a tough year for everybody ... but when you go through a lot of adversity, it challenges you, and then it's on you, whether or not you choose to fight, or whether you choose to run away from it. I think we'll choose to fight it."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-07-BKN-Injured-Lakers/id-bc84f93af4184f74ab7e7ee0f761bb3e

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RPG Knight of the Earthends (for Android)

Knight of the Earthends is the latest RPG from Kemco, which churns out decent-quality Android and iOS RPG games at a fearsome pace. This one falls in the middle of Kemco's quality lineup; it's more diverting than DarkGate, but nowhere near as good as Symphony of Eternity. Still, for classic RPG fans, it's worth a look.

Kemco's secret looks to be that it's building a lot of these games on the same engine. So, like in other Kemco games, your party is made up of 16-bit sprites who wander through a relatively open overworld and a series of towns and dungeons. The game is relatively linear, using cut-scenes to push you from each town-dungeon combo to the next. Each new town has better equipment to buy, of course, and dungeons are very easily mastered because of an extremely revealing mini-map mode. There are no in-app purchases, which I absolutely love.

Moving around maps is very easy thanks to a tap-to-move system which does away with virtual D-pads. In battles, you can go purely turn-based or auto-fight; if you choose auto-fight you won't get to use spells or special attacks, though.

Spend a Few Hours With Friends
The company's specialties, story and character, buoy you along through the relatively short 10-hour main plot. (After you complete the plot, some bonus dunegons appear to hack your way through.) Knight of the Earthends is easier than some other RPGs I've played recently; I didn't find any hitches or need to grind levels as long as I played my battles smartly.

The characters in this case are Reiya, a very businesslike knight; Raud, a cranky android, and Yuinika, a kind of elflike creature with a horn. Yuinika is both literally and figuratively horny, and keeps hitting on Reiya; the banter never gets R-rated, but it's probably PG-13. The three start out defeating demons, and end up embroiled in global politics. Naturally, along the way they become friends.?

The English-language translation is clunky at times. It never quite reaches "all your base are belong to us" levels, but you're very conscious that you're playing a translated game. Still, though, the characters have strong personalities.

The actual adventure also suffers a little bit from being too predictably structured: it's never a JRPG spoiler to tell you that our heroes are going to have to defeat two essentially concentric sets of four main dungeons each before killing the big boss and saving the world. That said, Kemco has offered more complex plots such as in Aeon Avenger, and I hope they do so again.

A Classy System
Knight of the Earthends' creativity comes in its level and class system. Each of the characters is essentially a different, fixed class. Reiya buys "skill books" which give her individual skills that can then be combined into custom, special combo attacks. Raud levels up by buying him parts and upgrades, which have various attacks and powers attached to them.?

Yuinika's skill is the most brilliant. The horn-girl levels up in "styles" acquired by killing batches of various kinds of monsters; Demon, Golem, Beast, Slime, and Mimic are five of the 14 styles Yuinika can pick up, and each style has different stats, spells and attacks.?

The styles approach makes you want to "collect them all," hunting down different categories of monsters so you can find out what that mysterious level six spell is for each style. Since wandering monsters are invisible here until they attack you, that takes luck and patience. Not too much patience, though; as I said, this is a relatively short game.

Knight of the Earthends costs anywhere between $1 and $8 depending on what kind of a sale Kemco is running at the time. If you've already played through the deeper and better Symphony of Eternity and Final Fantasy III and you enjoy some frisky inter-character banter, this can be your next stop on the Google Play market.

For more Android App Reviews, see:
??? RPG Knight of the Earthends (for Android)
??? Google+ Mobile App (for iPhone)
??? Snapseed (for Android)
??? Asphalt 7: Heat (for Android)
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/MizxEkkXZAc/0,2817,2413652,00.asp

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Alabama's Saban, ex-Dolphins coach, back in Miami

Alabama head coach Nick Saban speaks during Media Day for the BCS National Championship college football game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Miami. Alabama faces Notre Dame in Monday's championship game. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Alabama head coach Nick Saban speaks during Media Day for the BCS National Championship college football game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Miami. Alabama faces Notre Dame in Monday's championship game. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Alabama head coach Nick Saban makes his way to a microphone as workers paint the field at Sun Life Stadium during Media Day for the BCS National Championship college football game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Miami. Alabama faces Notre Dame in Monday's championship game. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Alabama head coach Nick Saban answers questions during Media Day for the BCS National Championship college football game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Miami. Alabama faces Notre Dame in Monday's championship game. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

MIAMI (AP) ? Nick Saban returned to his former NFL home and insisted he's not looking for another one.

The Alabama coach was back at Sun Life Stadium ? where he coached the Miami Dolphins in 2005 and 2006 ? for the BCS title game media day event Saturday. The second-ranked Crimson Tide (12-1) faces No. 1 Notre Dame (12-0) on Monday night there for the national title.

Saban said he wasn't feeling nostalgic by being back on the Dolphins' turf, further adding that a return to the NFL is not tempting to him.

"I don't have any unfinished business in the NFL," Saban said. "I have a job right now and I want to do the best job that I possibly can for this team, right now. ... That's not something that I'm concerned about. It's not something I'm thinking about; it's not even something that I want to do. I want to be a college coach."

Of course, Saban sometimes changes his mind.

And nowhere has that been more chronicled than Miami.

It was Dec. 21, 2006, when Saban spoke at the Dolphins' facility after his team practiced and, after weeks of trying to denounce reports that Alabama intrigued him as "rumor and innuendo," he offered his most emphatic denial of the entire process.

"I guess I have to say it. I'm not going to be the Alabama coach," Saban said that day, an oft-repeated quote.

Less than two weeks later, Saban was the Alabama coach.

So when he returned Saturday ? the first time he was on the field at Sun Life in a working capacity since Christmas 2006 ? Saban was predictably all about what's looming for Alabama on Monday night.

"I'm kind of excited for the opportunity that our team has," Saban said. "It's really about our team and this game. We're always happy to come back to South Florida. We have some great relationships here and some very fond memories of being here. But right now, we've recruited and worked to develop this team for a long, long time, and it's really a lot more about them being here ... than it is anything that's happened in my past."

Saban walked onto the field about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, not even seeming to take a look around at the facility where he went 9-7 in home games with the Dolphins. He walked down the visitors' sideline to his assigned booth, shook a couple hands with game staff and spoke with reporters for an hour.

"It's good to be back," said Alabama assistant coach Jeff Stoutland, a former coach at the University of Miami ? which also uses Sun Life as its home field. "But it's a business trip for us. We've got a schedule and we're sticking to that schedule."

The Dolphins went 6-10 in Saban's final season in Miami, the only sub-.500 record that one of his teams has posted in his 19 seasons as a head coach. He lost 17 games in two seasons with the Dolphins; he's lost 13 in nearly six full seasons with the Crimson Tide and is now trying for his third BCS national title in four seasons.

"I'm not looking for new challenges," Saban said. "I'm just trying to take advantage of helping the challenging situation that we have and continue to be successful."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-05-T25-BCS-Alabama-Saban/id-45db2327a90748858c282e0748fe864e

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Internet Market For The Savvy Business Owner - Maynas Eric

Using the Internet to promote a product or service is seeing increasing popularity. It may seem simple, but you need to learn as much as you can. This article will give you the information that you need to know in order to be successful with Internet promotion.

You should survey your customers on your site?s content, so you will know what appeals to users the most. This will make visitors feel that they are a part of your decisions, and will help keep your website loaded with appealing content.

Make sure you don?t overspend on advertising. You shouldn?t spend your dollars on services that won?t properly benefit your business. If you do have to spend a lot of money, make sure you?re getting the most for it.

TIP! Being listed with Google is vital to achieve successful internet marketing. Many people use Google each day to search, and it is very important you get your product and business front and center on the search rankings of Google.

Let customers comment on your website?s product. Savvy consumers read the comments posted by other users and use those comments to help them make decisions about purchasing certain products. Having honest comments from existing customers on your site makes potential customers feel at ease in purchasing products from you.

Marketing online is like other markets in some ways; however, in other ways, it is very different. For example, what if search engines stopped emphasizing title keywords in their ranking systems? If this happens, you will have to shift your focus to other attention seeking behaviors, such as video marketing.

Advertising is your best avenue to making your online business successful. Although the initial investment may be costly, getting your company?s name out there is important if you wish to succeed. This can help you generate more traffic than any other tactic you might employ.

TIP! Post new content to your site every week if possible. When people come to your website and see information that is dated, they think that the business is not performing and may be leery of initiating contact with you.

Observe what words were used in conversations so you can use them in other Internet marketing campaigns. This will enable you to connect more deeply with people by using terms they are familiar and comfortable with. You need to use wordage that your readers are familiar with to more effectively promote your brand.

In order to increase your credibility and cement your business standing, aim to give large companies a chance to advertise on your website. People tend to trust you more when you associate yourself with well known companies. This will also increase traffic and make it more of a go to site, rather than just another business listing.

Take the time to learn how to do internet promotion on your own before giving in and using a service. Once you understand how the process works, it becomes simple to use bulk mailing lists, auto responders and mass mailers. The added bonus is that you will have the knowledge, so it will be easier and easier, each time you do it.

TIP! Use the word ?fast? often in your marketing campaigns. Tie it to products or purchases.

To turn your visitors into customers, give them an easy content page that will show them how good the product is, and what it will do for them ? a simple video works great. They will feel like they know more about what they are buying. This shows them you want them to know as much as they can about your products, and also lets them decide whether to buy or not.

If you want your PageRank to skyrocket, put a limited-time offer on your site. If you offer a great deal, sites focused on hot deals will put your links on their sites. This process works for the same reason that selling loss-leaders can help stores turn profits later on.

You are fully capable of having a successful website marketing business right now. All that is required to be successful is you, not pricey software or get rich quick schemes. Simply work diligently, and think before you act on a decision.

TIP! Offer electronic freebies that have branding that includes your site, and then submit it to sites that list free items. If it?s an e-book that?s free, submit it to sites that provide free e-books.

Are you searching for some way to do online marketing? If your customers have a viable reason to give their email, they will. This in turn will grow your email list. How will you get people to use this feature? Well, the list is endless. You could offer a slew of freebies, contests and prize drawings, or anything else you can think of. A customer will provide their email if they get something in return for it.

Choose a domain name that is easy for people to remember. Possibly use your business name as the website URL. Of course, customers can always Google you, but you don?t want them to have to. Make it easier for them by using a website address that is simple to remember and type.

Your web marketing can be in places other than the internet. You could attend conferences, trade shows and other events for instance. This helps build a sense of community between the bloggers and your brand, helping the bloggers feel more enthusiastic about continuing to write about your brand.

TIP! Make sure you advertise your business on many popular sites. If you spend this money, you will notice how much your traffic improves.

The more ways they can pay, the better your business might do. While you may think their is nothing wrong with credit cards being the only payment option, you should let people pay with their checking account or payment systems such as Paypal.

Create a list of FAQs about your product. Given that you want to sell your products, you should aim to make them the right answers to the questions whenever possible. Write the questions down in a way that you have an opportunity to mention specific products without actually making it appear that way.

What is your goal? Keep it in the front of your mind and stick with it. Determine the type of content you would like to write as well as the directories you want to submit to. There are various directories that highlight different articles, so make sure you submit to the ones that work best for yours. With these goals and guidelines, you will be able to have excellent submissions.

TIP! Always do your best not to spam. While it might seem like a good way to reach many people, they are not nearly as effective as you think.

Using Affiliate marketing can be a great way build product and brand recognition for your business. To market your products successfully, you need to know the tips and tricks successful Internet marketers use. The advice in this article is provided to help you find success with Internet marketing.

Join me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/maynaseric

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/internet-market-for-the-savvy-business-owner

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Scientists discover how deadly skin cancer spreads into other parts ...

Friday, January 4, 2013

After recently announcing success in eliminating melanoma metastasis in laboratory experiments, scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have made another important discovery in understanding the process by which the gene mda-9/syntenin contributes to metastasis in melanoma (the spread of skin cancer) and possibly a variety of other cancers.

Published in the journal Cancer Research, the study demonstrated that mda-9/syntenin is a key regulator of angiogenesis, the process responsible for the formation of new blood vessels in tumors. Mda-9/syntenin was originally cloned in the laboratory of the study's lead author Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D., Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and program co-leader of Cancer Molecular Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, chairman of VCU's Department of Human and Molecular Genetics and director of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine.

"Our research brings us one step closer to understanding precisely how metastatic melanoma, a highly aggressive and therapy-resistant cancer, spreads throughout the body," says Fisher. "Additionally, analysis of the human genome has indicated that mda-9/syntenin is elevated in the majority of cancers, which means novel drugs that target this gene could potentially be applicable to a broad spectrum of other deadly cancers."

Fisher's team discovered that mda-9/syntenin regulates the expression of several proteins responsible for promoting angiogenesis, including insulin growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) and interleukin-8 (IL-8). The study is the first to provide proof of the pro-angiogenic functions of IGFBP-2 in human melanoma.

In in vivo and in vitro experiments, the scientists confirmed that mda-9/syntenin binds with the extracellular matrix (ECM) to start a series of biological processes that eventually cause endothelial cells to secrete IGFBP-2. The ECM is the substance that cells secrete and in which they are embedded. Endothelial cells are the cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels throughout the entire circulatory system. The secretion of IGFBP-2, in turn, caused the endothelial cells to produce and secrete vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), a protein that mediates the development of and formation of new blood vessels.

The researchers also noted that IGFBP-2 could potentially serve as a novel biomarker to monitor for disease progression in melanoma patients.

"This is a major breakthrough in understanding angiogenesis and its impact in melanoma metastasis," says Fisher. "We are now focusing on developing novel small molecules that specifically target mda-9/syntenin and IGFBP-2, which could be used as drugs to treat melanoma and potentially many other cancers."

###

Virginia Commonwealth University: http://www.vcu.edu

Thanks to Virginia Commonwealth University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126128/Scientists_discover_how_deadly_skin_cancer_spreads_into_other_parts_of_the_body

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Tsunami warning canceled for Alaska, Canada

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) ? A powerful earthquake sparked a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles of Alaskan and Canadian coastline, but the alert was canceled when no damaging waves were generated.

The magnitude 7.5 quake did generate a tsunami, but the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said the waves didn't pose a threat.

The temblor struck at midnight Friday (1 a.m. PST Saturday) and was centered about 60 miles west of Craig, Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The tsunami followed minutes later and was eventually expanded to include coastal areas from Cape Fairweather, Alaska, to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada ? an area extending more than 700 miles.

A center had warned that "significant widespread inundation of land is expected," adding that dangerous coastal flooding was possible.

In its cancellation statement, the center said that some areas were seeing just small sea level changes.

"A tsunami was generated during this event but no longer poses a threat," the center said.

After one community reported seeing just a small wave, the police in the coastal town of Cordova said they had no reports of any problems.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center said the quake was widely felt but it received no reports of any damage.

In addition to the warning, a tsunami advisory was briefly in effect for some Alaska coastal areas to the north of the warning zone, as well as to the south of the zone, from the Washington state border to the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

A tsunami warning means an area is likely to be hit by a wave, while an advisory means there may be strong currents, but that widespread inundation is not expected to occur.

____

AP writers Bob Seavey in Phoenix and Bob Lentz in Philadelphia contributed to this article.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-05-Alaska%20Earthquake/id-62ca2306dbe9423e90faba13adc41a6a

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Despite deal, taxes to rise for most Americans

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden make a statement regarding the passage of the fiscal cliff bill in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden make a statement regarding the passage of the fiscal cliff bill in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

As an evening haze lights the sky with a reddish glow, the lights of the U.S. Capitol burn into the night as the House continues to work on the "fiscal cliff" legislation proposed by the Senate, in Washington, on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.

That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.

The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans. High-income families will feel the biggest tax increases, but many middle- and low-income families will pay higher taxes too.

Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.

"For most people, it's just the payroll tax," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the "fiscal cliff." The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.

The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.

Obama said the deal "protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country."

The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama's claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.

Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.

Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.

The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.

High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama's 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.

Together, the new tax package and Obama's health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.

For 2013, households making between $500,000 and $1 million would get an average tax increase of $14,812, according to the Tax Policy Center analysis. Households making more than $1 million would get an average tax increase of $170,341.

"If you're rich, you're almost certain to get a big tax increase," Williams said.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-02-Fiscal%20Cliff-Tax%20Impact/id-5de1868c32c54e4bbea6199c8c339e50

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