Obama, top lawmakers meet on cliff edge

Label:





WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama Friday sought a late deal to stop the US economy tumbling off a "fiscal cliff" next week, gathering top congressional leaders for crunch White House talks.

Obama is trying to broker a deal to avert huge tax increases and spending cuts due to come into force as the year turns on Tuesday, as dysfunctional Washington reluctantly works through a disrupted holiday period.

A sense of building crisis was exacerbated by sliding stock prices on Wall Street as the political stalemate threatened a set off chain reactions that could drive America back into recession and rattle the global economy.

Obama met top Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and top Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in the Oval Office.

But with time so short, the last-ditch talks to head off a $500 billion fiscal time bomb due to detonate on January 1 appeared unlikely to forge a permanent solution on a long-term deficit reduction deal.

Instead, Obama, now banking on a stopgap solution after talks on a grand debt and tax bargain with Boehner failed, wants taxes on American families earning more than $250,000 a year to go up but to spare the middle class.

Obama will not make a new offer to Republicans, a source familiar with the meeting said, adding that the president would ask for an extension of expiring unemployment insurance for two million people.

He will also tell Republicans that if they cannot come up with a counter-proposal to avert the fiscal cliff they must allow his plan to come up for a vote in both chambers of Congress, the source said.

Such a scenario would leave Republicans in a tough political spot as if they refuse, it would be easy for the White House to blame them for the economy toppling over the cliff.

It is not clear whether the Obama plan would avert massive spending cuts due to come into force on January 1, and does not deal with his request to raise the $16 trillion ceiling on government borrowing.

Republicans want to extend George W. Bush-era tax cuts due to expire on Tuesday for everyone and accuse the president of failing to offer meaningful spending cuts in a bargain in return for them agreeing to raise revenues.

Some top lawmakers clung to hope.

"Sometimes, it's darkest before the dawn," said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer on NBC, saying McConnell's role could be a catalyst for action.

But Republican Senator Bob Corker complained Obama and Democrats in Congress had balked at cutting spending on key social programs weighing on the budget, and inflating the deficit, accusing them of a "total dereliction of duty."

"We're going to end up with a small, kick-the-can-down-the-road bill that creates another fiscal cliff to deal with this fiscal cliff. How irresponsible is that?" Corker told reporters.

Retiring Democratic Senator Ben Nelson warned: "If this meeting is not successful in achieving a proposal, I think you need to get a parachute."

Obama broke off his vacation in Hawaii in search of a last-minute deal and Boehner called the House back to work on Sunday.

The president's scaled-down solution calls for an extension of tax cuts for people earning less than $250,000, and an extension of unemployment benefits before a wider effort to trim the deficit next year.

But it is doubtful the package could pass the House as restive conservatives last week rebuked Boehner by rejecting his fallback plan which would have raised taxes on people earning $1 million.

While each side must for the sake of appearances be seen to be seeking a deal, the easiest way out of the mess might be to allow the economy to go over the cliff, but to fix the problem in the first few days of next year.

In that scenario, Republicans, who are philosophically opposed to raising taxes, could back a bill to lower the newly raised rates on almost all Americans, thus sidestepping the stigma of raising taxes.

Recent polls show a majority of Americans back Obama's handling of the crisis, and would blame Republicans for a failure to fix it, so the president could get a short-term political boost from an early deal next year.

Should the stalemate linger however, the crisis would cloud the early months of Obama's second term, would dent his popularity and could detract from his key political goals like immigration reform and gun control.

-AFP/ac



Read More..

Park Street case no rape, but ‘deal’ gone sour: MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar

Label:
KOLKATA: How many times must a rape victim be humiliated when she sticks to her complaint? In Bengal, it is as many times as it suits the politicians. Or, so it seems, given the way Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar hit out at the Park Street rape victim yet again on Friday.

Not only did Ghosh Dastidar rubbish the rape complaint, in a crass attempt at character assassination she dubbed the case a misunderstanding between a "woman and her client".

"They (the Park Street rape and Delhi gang rape) are totally different. The incident at Park Street was not a rape at all. It was a misunderstanding between two parties involved in professional dealing — a woman and her client," Ghosh Dastidar told a private television channel on Friday.

The derogatory comment left the victim appalled and civil society disgusted. "I am shocked and pained at such a statement from an educated, polished public representative, that too a woman. I thought the Delhi gang rape would be an eye-opener for all of us, including politicians. But this kind of insensitivity has saddened me," the victim said.

"I went to the night club on my own. How did the MP know that I went there to strike a deal? Is it because the rapists left me alive? And what sort of a message is she trying to send out? Does she mean to say that sex workers can be raped?" she asked.

The victim was taken aback at the humiliation that continues even after the police had submitted the chargesheet and urged a collective statement from women slamming such a disparaging comment.

Writer-social activist Mahasweta Devi termed the remark "improper". "Such a comment should not have co-me from a woman. It reflects how insensitive she is. This is not expected from an educated lady and a public representative like her. So what if the victim is a 'public woman'? One should not even make such a remark against a sex worker," she said.

The Barasat MP is the new member of the club of irresponsible politicians after CPM's Anisur Rehman and Congress' Abhijeet Mukherjee who have drawn flak for maligning women in the past few days. While chief minister Mamata Banerjee had termed the Park Stree rape case a "sajano galpo (concocted story)", never before had any of her Trinamool colleagues raised questions about the victim's character in such blatant and gross terms. Immediately after the incident, transport minister Madan Mitra had questioned why a mother had to go to a night club.

Senior Trinamool leader Subrata Mukherjee, who was quick to condemn Anisur Rehman's sexist comment against the chief minister, was not so forthcoming when asked for his reaction on Ghosh Dastidar's insensitive remark. "You ask the person who made the comment," the minister said.

Read More..

Body Under British Parking Lot May Be King Richard III

Label:

For centuries, William Shakespeare seemed to have the last word. His Richard III glowered and leered from the stage, a monster in human form and a character so repugnant "that dogs bark at me as I halt by them." In Shakespeare's famous play, the hunchbacked king claws his way to the throne and methodically murders most of his immediate family—his wife, older brother, and two young nephews—until he suffers defeat and death on the battlefield at the hands of a young Tudor hero, Henry VII.

(Related: "Shakespeare's Coined Words Now Common Currency.")

To shed new light on the long vilified king, a British scientific team has tracked down and excavated his reputed burial spot and exhumed skeletal remains that may well belong to the long-lost monarch. The team is conducting a CSI-style investigation of the body in hopes of conclusively identifying Richard III, a medieval king who ruled England for two brief years before perishing at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Results on the investigation are expected in January.

But the much maligned monarch is not the only historical heavyweight to be exhumed.  Since the 1980s, forensic experts have dug up the remains of many famous people—from Christopher Columbus (video) and Simón Bolívar to Jesse James, Marie Cure, Lee Harvey Oswald, Nicolae Ceausescu, and Bobby Fischer. Just last month, researchers in Ramallah (map) disinterred the body of Yasser Arafat, hoping to new glean clues to his death in 2004. Rumors long suggested that Israeli agents poisoned the Palestinian leader with a fatal dose of radioactive polonium-210.

(Read more about poisoning from National Geographic magazine's "Pick Your Poison—12 Toxic Tales.")

Indeed, forensic experts have disinterred the legendary dead for a wide range of reasons—including to move their remains to grander tombs befitting their growing fame, collect DNA samples for legal cases, and obtain data on the medical conditions that afflicted them. Such exhumations, says anatomist Frank Rühli at the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, always raise delicate ethical issues. But in the case of early historical figures, scientists can learn much that is of value to society. "Research on ancient samples provides enormous potential for understanding [questions concerning our] cultural heritage and the evolution of disease," Rühli notes in an emailed response.

Franciscan Resting Place?

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester began actively searching for the burial place of Richard III this past August. According to historical accounts, Tudor troops carried Richard's battered corpse from the Bosworth battlefield and displayed it in the nearby town of Leicester before local Franciscan fathers buried the body in their friary choir. With clues from historic maps, the archaeological team located foundations of the now vanished friary beneath a modern parking lot, and during excavation, the team discovered the skeleton of an adult male interred under the choir floor—exactly where Richard III was reportedly buried.

The newly discovered skeleton has scoliosis, a curvature of the spine that may have resulted in a slightly lopsided appearance, and this may have inspired Shakespeare's exaggerated depiction of Richard as a Quasimodo-like figure. Moreover, the body bears clear signs of battle trauma, including a fractured skull and a barbed metal arrowhead embedded in the vertebrae. And even the burial place points strongly to Richard. English armies at the time simply left their dead on the field of battle, but someone carted this body off and interred it in a place of honor.

Taken together, these early clues, says Jo Appleby, the University of Leicester bioarchaeologist studying the remains, strongly suggest that the team has found the legendary king. Otherwise, she observes, "I think we'd have a hard time explaining how a skeleton with those characteristics got buried there."

But much work remains to clinch the case. Geneticists are now comparing DNA sequences from the skeleton to those obtained from a modern-day Londoner, Michael Ibsen, who is believed to be a descendant of Richard III's sister. In addition, forensic pathologists and medieval-weapons scholars are poring over signs of trauma on the skeleton to determine cause of death, while a radiocarbon-dating lab is helping to pin down the date. And at the University of Dundee in Scotland, craniofacial identification expert Caroline Wilkinson is now working on a reconstruction of the dead man's face for a possible match with historic portraits of Richard III.  All this, says Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist on the project, "will help us put flesh on the bones, so to speak."

Digging Up History

Elsewhere, teams digging up the historic dead have contented themselves with more modest goals. In Texas, for example, forensic experts opened the grave of Lee Harvey Oswald in October 1981 to identify beyond doubt the man who shot President John F. Kennedy. A British lawyer and author had claimed that a Soviet agent impersonated Oswald and assassinated the American president. To clarify the situation, the forensic experts compared dental x-rays taken during Oswald's stint in the United States Marine Corps to a record they made of the body's teeth. The two matched well, prompting the team to announce publicly that "the remains in the grave marked as Lee Harvey Oswald are indeed Lee Harvey Oswald."

More recently, in 2010, Iceland's supreme court ordered forensic experts to exhume the body of the late world chess champion Bobby Fischer from his grave in Iceland in order to obtain DNA samples to determine whether Fischer was the father of one of the claimants to his estate. (The tests ruled this out.) And that same year, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez ordered forensic experts to open the casket of Simón Bolívar, the renowned 19th century Venezuelan military leader who fought for the independence of Spanish America from colonial rule. Chavez believes that Bolívar died not from tuberculosis, as historians have long maintained, but of arsenic poisoning, and has launched an investigation into the cause of his death.

For some researchers, this recent spate of exhumations has raised a key question: Who should have a say in the decision to disinter or not? In the view of Guido Lombardi, a paleopathologist at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, investigators should make every effort to consult descendants or family members before proceeding. "Although each case should be addressed individually," notes Lombardi by email. "I think the surviving relatives of a historical figure should approve any studies first."

But tracking down the descendants of someone who died many centuries ago is no easy matter. Back in Leicester, research on the remains found beneath the friary floor is proceeding. If all goes according to plan, the team hopes to announce the results sometime in January. And if the ancient remains prove to be those of Richard III, the city of Leicester could be in for a major royal event in 2013: The British government has signalled its intention to inter the long-maligned king in Leicester Cathedral.


Read More..

Obama reaches out to congressional leaders on ‘fiscal cliff’ talks

Label:

With just five days left before the year-end “fiscal cliff” and pessimism mounting that a deal to avert it can be reached, President Obama returned to Washington on Thursday in an effort to jump-start talks after placing late-night calls to Congress’s four top leaders.


Obama made calls from Hawaii late Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said. She said Obama was seeking an update on the state of fiscal cliff talks before departing on an overnight flight back to Washington.


The White House provided no details about the conversations. The House is in recess pending action in the Senate, which convened Thursday amid a sense of gloom about chances for a deal to avert more than $500 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes set to hit in January.

McConnell “is happy to review what the president has in mind, but to date, the Senate Democrat majority has not put forward a plan,” a spokesman for the Republican leader said. “When they do, members on both sides of the aisle will review the legislation and make decisions on how best to proceed.”

Obama landed aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews late Thursday morning Eastern time.

Earlier, Reid opened the Senate’s session with a scathing floor speech castigating Republican leaders in the House for not calling their members back to Washington to restart negotiations. He called the chances of going over the cliff increasingly likely.

Reid accused Boehner of putting a higher priority on keeping his job as leader of the House than on securing the nation’s economy. He said the only “escape hatch” out of the stalemate would be for Boehner to allow the House the vote on a measure adopted by the Senate over the summer to extend tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year.

Boehner has said the Senate must move first, and he has asked Democrats to take up a bill passed by the House in August to extend the rate cuts for Americans at all income levels. He has put the House on 48 hours notice to return to Washington but has indicated he has no plans to ask members to return without Senate action.

“Nothing can move forward in regards to our budget crisis unless Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell are willing to participate in coming up with a bipartisan plan,” Reid said. “So far, they are radio silent.”

As a result, Reid said, the nation is increasingly unlikely to forestall tax hikes on nearly every American and deep automatic spending cuts on Jan. 1 — provisions that Congress approved in 2011 as a way to force compromise on a deficit-reduction deal. “It looks like that’s where we’re headed,” the Senate Democratic leader said.

Reid said Boehner will not bring up the Senate’s bill because he knows it would pass on the votes of Democrats and a handful of Republicans. He charged that the House is now run as Boehner’s own “dictatorship.”

Read More..

Oil prices decline on 'fiscal cliff' deal doubts

Label:





NEW YORK: Oil prices declined Thursday amid doubts that an 11th-hour deal on the "fiscal cliff" crisis could be reached by a rapidly approaching end-of-year deadline.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery, slipped 11 cents to settle at $90.87 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for February delivery dipped 27 cents to $110.80 a barrel in London trade.

With the clock ticking, the White House and Republican lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to keep the United States from falling off the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of steep tax hikes and drastic spending cuts set to kick in next month.

President Barack Obama cut short his family Christmas break in Hawaii to return to Washington in a last-ditch attempt at reaching a compromise.

But the situation remained tense, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, saying Thursday "it looks like" the US economy will hurtle over the fiscal cliff because House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were stalling.

Crude oil prices were "being taken down on what appears to be the growing eventuality that the US is going to go over the fiscal cliff," said analyst John Kilduff of Again Capital.

There was "no doubt that the tax hikes and the spending cuts that will roll automatically will be a real drag on the economy for the us," he added.

Experts warn that going over the "fiscal cliff" could take the United States back into recession. And that could hurt oil demand in the world's biggest consumer of crude.

-AFP/ac



Read More..

Oriya author Prathiba Ray to get 47th Jnanpith award

Label:
NEW DELHI: The Jnanpith Selection Board (JSB) on Thursday announced Oriya author Prathiba Ray's name for the 47th Jnanpith award for 2011.

The decision was announced after a JSB meeting that noted scholar, writer and Jnanpith award winner Sitakant Mahapatra chaired.

Born in 1943, Ray is one of the widely-read Oriya novelists and short story writers, a JSB communique said. "Her novels and stories are deeply and persuasively grounded in the great tradition of story-telling which brings characters and situations alive. She has a unique skill in developing the themes without being pretentious,'' it said.
Ray, who got Padma Shri in 2007, has 20 novels, 24 short stories' collections, 10 travelogues, two poetry collections besides a number of essays to her credit.

Read More..

Utah Teachers Flock to Gun Training

Label:












The perception of schools as sanctuaries from violence has been "blown up" by recent events and some believe it's time for educators to literally take the situation into their own hands and carry guns.


"We've had this unwritten code, even among criminals, that schools are off limits. Those are our kids. You don't mess with that," Utah Shooting Sports Council (USSC) Chairman Clark Aposhian told ABCNews.com today.


"That perception has been blown away now," he said. "It's been shattered and if there's one thing that parents across the country are united on, it's that they are committed to and serious about protecting their kids."


Aposhian spoke shortly before opening a weapons training class for teachers and school employees that drew more than 200 Utah educators organized by the USSC, a leading gun lobby group that believes that teachers should be able to fight back when faced with an armed intruder.


"One firearm in the hands of one teacher could have made the difference at Sandy Hook or Columbine, but they weren't allowed to carry in those schools," Aposhian said.


The USSC is waiving its normal $50 training fee today for teachers who wish to attend. Aposhian said the 200 person course was filled to capacity and said he plans on holding another session for people he may have to turn away today.


INFOGRAPHIC: Gun in America: By The Numbers


"We trust these teachers to be with our kids for 8 to 10 hours a day every day," Aposhian said. "I don't think it's a far reach to think that we could think that they would act responsibly and with decorum in protecting their own lives and the lives of the kids under their care."












Gun Owners Give Back: LA Residents Return Guns After Newtown Tragedy Watch Video





The idea of armed teachers has been part of a fiery debate on gun control following the rampage at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 children and six adults dead on Dec. 14.


Utah is one of only a handful of states, including Oregon, Hawaii and New Hampshire, that allow people to carry licensed concealed weapons into public schools. It is not known how many Utah teachers carry guns in public schools because the records are not public.


But Aposhian said that he tells detractors that Utah has not had any school shootings or accidental shootings in the approximately 12 years the law has been in effect.


In Ohio, the Buckeye Firearms Association is launching a pilot armed teacher training program in which 24 teachers will be selected to attend a three-day training class.


Arizona's Attorney General Tom Horne has proposed a state law amendment that would allow one educator in each school to carry a gun.


During today's six-hour training session, the educators will be taught about gun safety, loading and unloading, manipulating the firearm, how to clear malfunctions, use of force laws and state and federal firearm laws.


The training sessions normally draw about 15 to 20 people, Aposhian said, but many of the teachers who have signed up for today have expressed strong feelings about attending the class.


"I think it runs the gamut from passive desire to get a permit because they thought about it here and there to a fervor given the recent events," Aposhian said. "Perhaps they've had an epiphany of sorts and realized that that sanctuary they work in, or at least the perceived sanctuary, isn't all that safe."


The Utah State Board of Education Chair Debra Roberts released the following statement today on the matter:


"The Utah State Board of Education expresses sympathy to all involved in the recent school shooting in Connecticut. In the face of this terrible tragedy, as schools move forward in taking measures to ensure the safety of students and school personnel, we urge caution and thoughtful consideration."


The statement noted that its schools have emergency plans to handle such situations.


Carol Lear, the board's director of school law and legislation, was more blunt about Aposhian's gun training, telling the Associated Press, "It's a terrible idea...It's a horrible, no-good, rotten idea."






Read More..

How to Live to a Ripe Old Age

Label:

Cento di questi giorni. May you have a hundred birthdays, the Italians say, and some of them do.

So do other people in various spots around the world—in Blue Zones, so named by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner for the blue ink that outlines these special areas on maps developed over more than a decade. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)

In his second edition of his book The Blue Zones, Buettner writes about a newly identified Blue Zone: the Greek island of Ikaria (map). National Geographic magazine Editor at Large Cathy Newman interviewed him about the art of living long and well. (Watch Buettner talk about how to live to a hundred.)

Q. You've written about Blue Zones in Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California; Nicoa, Costa Rica and Okinawa, Japan. How did you find your way to Ikaria?

A. Michel Poulain, a demographer on the project, and I are always on the lookout for new Blue Zones. This one popped up in 2008. We got a lead from a Greek foundation looking for biological markers in aging people. The census data showed clusters of villages there with a striking proportion of people 85 or older. (Also see blog: "Secrets of the Happiest Places on Earth.")

In the course of your quest you've been introduced to remarkable individuals like 100-year-old Marge Jetton of Loma Linda, California, who starts the day with a mile-long [0.6-kilometer] walk, 6 to 8 miles [10 to 13 kilometers] on a stationary bike, and weight lifting. Who is the most memorable Blue Zoner you've met?

Without question it's Stamatis Moraitis, who lives in Ikaria. I believe he's 102. He's famous for partying. He makes 400 liters [100 gallons] of wine from his vineyards each year, which he drinks with his friends. His house is the social hot spot of the island. (See "Longevity Genes Found; Predict Chances of Reaching 100.")

He's also the Ikarian who emigrated to the United States, was diagnosed with lung cancer in his 60s, given less then a year to live, and who returned to Ikaria to die. Instead, he recovered.

Yes, he never went through chemotherapy or treatment. He just moved back to Ikaria.

Did anyone figure out how he survived?

Nope. He told me he returned to the U.S. ten years after he left to see if the American doctors could explain it. I asked him what happened. "My doctors were all dead," he said.

One of the common factors that seem to link all Blue Zone people you've spoken with is a life of hard work—and sometimes hardship. Your thoughts?

I think we live in a culture that relentlessly pursues comfort. Ease is related to disease. We shouldn't always be fleeing hardship. Hardship also brings people together. We should welcome it.

Sounds like another version of the fable of the grasshopper and the ant?

You rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. If you work in a garden on the other hand, and it yields beautiful tomatoes, that's a good feeling.

Can you talk about diet? Not all of us have access to goat milk, for example, which you say is typically part of an Ikarian breakfast.

There is nothing exotic about their diet, which is a version of a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes vegetables, beans, fruit, olive oil, and moderate amounts of alcohol. (Read more about Buettner's work in Ikaria in National Geographic Adventure.)

All things in moderation?

Not all things. Socializing is something we should not do in moderation. The happiest Americans socialize six hours a day.

The people you hang out with help you hang on to life?

Yes, you have to pay attention to your friends. Health habits are contagious. Hanging out with unhappy people who drink and smoke is hazardous to your health.

So how has what you've learned influenced your own lifestyle?

One of the big things I've learned is that there's an advantage to regular low-intensity activity. My previous life was setting records on my bike. [Buettner holds three world records in distance cycling.] Now I use my bike to commute. I only eat meat once a week, and I always keep nuts in my office: Those who eat nuts live two to three more years than those who don't.

You also write about having a purpose in life.

Purpose is huge. I know exactly what my values are and what I love to do. That's worth additional years right there. I say no to a lot of stuff that would be easy money but deviates from my meaning of life.

The Japanese you met in Okinawa have a word for that?

Yes. Ikigai: "The reason for which I wake in the morning."

Do you have a non-longevity-enhancing guilty pleasure?

Tequila is my weakness.

And how long would you like to live?

I'd like to live to be 200.


Read More..

U.S. will hit debt limit on Dec. 31, Treasury Department says

Label:

The U.S. government will hit the $16.4 trillion federal debt limit on Monday and turn to “extraordinary measures” to continue borrowing, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, beginning a countdown until Congress either passes legislation to allow for more borrowing or the government defaults on its debt.


Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a letter to senior lawmakers that the Treasury would begin to undertake “extraordinary measures” in order to forestall default. Geithner said the measures could create about $200 billion in additional funding available to the government – giving Congress two months before it must raise the debt limit.


To begin conserving money, Treasury will suspend a program on Friday that helps states and localities manage their borrowing. In subsequent weeks, Treasury will start to tap the federal worker pension fund for additional financial resources. (The pension fund will be made whole once the debt limit impasse is resolved.) Geithner added that the resolution of the fiscal cliff could affect these estimates. In particular, he wrote, “the expiring tax provisions and automatic spending cuts, as well as the attendant delays in filing of tax returns, would have the effect of adding some additional time to the duration of the extraordinary measures.”

President Obama has insisted that the debt limit be taken off the table in negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over the fiscal cliff. But Republicans have insisted that the debt limit provides an important point of leverage to force spending cuts.

Read More..

Pakistan to mark five years since Bhutto murder

Label:





LARKANA, Pakistan: Pakistan Thursday marks the fifth anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, with her son expected to launch his political career with a speech in the family's ancestral home town.

Bhutto, twice elected prime minister, was killed in a gun and suicide attack after an election rally in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan's army, on December 27, 2007. No one has ever been convicted of her murder.

Thousands are expected to gather at the Bhutto family mausoleum at Larkana in the southern province of Sindh and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Benazir and of President Asif Ali Zardari, is to make his first major public speech.

The Bhutto family has been a force in Pakistani politics for almost all of the country's 65-year history.

Benazir's father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto led the country from 1971 until he was ousted in a military coup in 1977. He was hanged in 1979 after being convicted of authorising the murder of a political opponent.

With a general election due in the spring, analysts say the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is eager to introduce a third generation of the dynasty to the public.

"It appears to be the formal launching of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari into politics," political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.

"Bilawal has symbolic value in the Bhutto family and Zardari would like this link to be used as symbolism in the election."

As head of state President Zardari, who came to power in elections held a month after his wife's murder, is barred from leading the PPP election campaign. He is also hugely unpopular, tainted by years of corruption allegations.

Though the 24-year-old Bilawal will be too young to stand if elections go ahead as expected in the spring -- the lower age limit is 25 -- Askari said he could provide a fresh new figurehead for the PPP campaign.

Bilawal, co-chairman of the PPP with his father, in May accused former military ruler Pervez Musharraf of "murdering" his mother by deliberately sabotaging her security.

A UN report in 2010 also said the murder could have been prevented and accused Musharraf's government of failing to protect Bhutto properly.

The Musharraf regime blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a US drone attack in August 2009.

There has been a surge in terror attacks in Pakistan in the past weeks. Brigadier Saad Khan, a former officer with the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, warned the Taliban may continue their campaign with an attack on events marking the anniversary.

-AFP/ac



Read More..

Manmohan congratulates Japan's new PM Shinzo Abe

Label:
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday congratulated Shinzo Abe, the new PM of Japan, on the victory of his Liberal Democratic Party in the general elections recently held in Japan. The PM underlined the importance of the strategic and global partnership between India and Japan and noted that Abe has been a key architect of this partnership, sources said.

He emphasized that the bilateral relationship between the two countries is of immense importance to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world. He also noted that the rapid growth in the bilateral economic engagement (through trade, investment and flagship projects) has brought rich dividends to both the countries.

Singh expressed confidence that Japan's economy will further prosper and Japan will play an important role in the world affairs under his leadership and emphasized on working with him for further strengthening India's relations with Japan.

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

Label:








































































































');

























































































































 $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_saleprice_t +'';
} else {
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
}
html += '
';

$("#ecom_43331 ul.ecommerce_all_img").append(html);




o.totItems++;

}// end for loop
} // end if data.response.numFound != 0

if(o.totItems != o.maxItems){
if(o.defaultItems.length > 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage && !o.searchComplete){
o.doSearchPage();
} else if(!o.searchComplete) {
o.byID = false;
o.doSearch();
}
}// end if
}// end parseResults function

o.trim = function(str) {
return str.replace(/^\s\s*/, '').replace(/\s\s*$/, '');
}

o.doSearchPage = function(){
o.byID = false;

var tempSearch = window.location.search;
var searchTerms ="default";
var temp;

if( tempSearch.substr(0,7) == "?search"){
temp = tempSearch.substr(7).split("&");
searchTerms = temp[0];
} else {
temp = tempSearch.split("&");
for(var j=0;j 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage){
o.doSearchPage();
} else {
o.doSearch();
}

}// end init function

}// end ecommerce object

var store_43331 = new ecommerce_43331();





store_43331.init();









































































































































































Read More..

Weather Death Toll Up to 6 as Storm Churns North

Label:












A killer Christmas storm is churning its way north leaving hundreds of thousands without power and snarling travel plans for people trying to get home after the holiday.


Six people have died, mostly in weather related car crashes, as the South was hammered by as many as 34 tornadoes and a lethal coating of sleet and snow that spread from the South into the Midwest.


Over 280,000 customers are without across the South today with 100,000 without power in Little Rock, Ark. alone.


The wild weather isn't over. Eighteen states from Tennessee to Maine are under winter storm warnings, blizzard warnings and advisories. Between one and two feet of snow is expected from Indianapolis to Cleveland to Syracuse, N.Y. and into Maine.


The number of flight cancellations nationwide is growing by the hour on one of the busiest travel days of the holiday season. But by 2 p.m. more than 1,000 flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.com.


"Traveling will definitely be affected as people go home for the holidays," Bob Oravec, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service, told ABC News. "Anywhere from the Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and the Northeast, there's definitely going to be travel issues as we have heavy snow and some very high winds."


Flights were disrupted in traffic hubs like Indianapolis International Airport because of heavy snowfall as well as Dallas/Fort Worth which was hit with five inches of snow on Christmas, a rarity for the city.


PHOTOS: Christmas Storms






Joe Harpring/The Republic/AP Photo













Cancellations and delays are expected to ripple into the Northeast today where high winds, flooding and more than a foot of snow in some areas is expected.


Heavy winds could further complicate matters for travelers. According to Flightaware.com, fliers are experiencing delays up to an hour in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C.


Some airlines are issuing flexible travel policies for travelers holding airline tickets today and tomorrow. Delta Airlines is allowing travelers to change their flights through Jan. 2 with no penalty. United Airlines has enacted a similar policy, as has Southwest. Policies vary slightly from airline to airline, travelers should check their carrier's web site for specifics. JetBlue, which has a major presence in New York, has not yet issued a policy but warned travelers via its web site to be prepared for delays.


Wild Holiday Weather


Severe weather on Christmas day spawned 34 tornado reports from Texas to Alabama.


In Mobile, Ala., a wide funnel cloud was barreled across the city as lightning flashed inside like giant Christmas ornaments.


The punishing winds mangled Mobile's graceful ante-bellum homes, and today, dazed residents are picking through debris while rescue crews search for people trapped in the rubble.


Teresa Mason told ABC News that she and her boyfriend panicked when they saw the tornado heading toward them in Stone County, in southern Mississippi, but she says they were actually saved when a tree fell onto the truck.


"[We] got in the truck and made it out there to the road. And that's when the tornado was over us. And it started jerking us and spinning us, "she said."This tree got us in the truck and kept us from being sucked up into the tornado."


The last time a number of tornadoes hit the Gulf Coast area around Christmas Day was in 2009, when 22 tornadoes struck on Christmas Eve morning, National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro told ABC News.






Read More..

Federal workers feel unease over potential layoffs, furloughs unleashed by ‘fiscal cliff’

Label:

Federal employees have been skeptical for months that the biggest cuts to government spending in history could really happen. But with the “fiscal cliff” a week away, workers are now growing increasingly alarmed that their jobs and their missions could be on the line.


President Obama and members of Congress headed out of town late last week for a Christmas break without reaching a deal to avoid $110 billion in automatic across-the-board spending cuts, which would hamstring operations ranging from weather forecasting and air traffic control to the purchase of spare parts for weapons systems. So civil servants are bracing for the blow, wondering whether their work will be upended — and whether they may be forced to take unpaid days off.


“This could change day by day,” said Antonio Webb, 25, who works in the mail service that handles correspondence for the Department of Homeland Security. “You could come into work and the next day they say, ‘We don’t need you because we have to cut so much.’ ”

Many federal workers have become jaded after a two-year pay freeze and congressional fights over spending that keep agencies lurching from one stopgap budget to another. Until recently, few employees thought it could come to this: Budget cuts of 8 to 10 percent divided equally between military and domestic agencies. Only a few programs, like Social Security, veterans benefits and some services for the poor, are exempted.

“Sure, we continue to do our jobs,” said Carl Eichenwald, who works in enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency. “But all of this uncertainty is disruptive for our mission. A lot of time gets spent spinning wheels. We won’t know whether we can do inspections. Do we have 100 percent of our budget, or 85 percent?”

Top congressional aides said Monday that discussions of how to avert the fiscal cliff had come to a virtual standstill. Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) had not spoken since Friday.

Each side in the negotiations urged the other to come up with a way around the impasse. A senior Democratic aide said Boehner needs to return from the holiday with a “cleared head and a readiness to deal.” The aide said that there is no time for Democrats to unilaterally advance a bill in the Senate, adding that they can press forward with legislation only if they are assured by Republican leaders of GOP support.

A senior Senate Republican aide insisted, however, that it is now up to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and his fellow Democrats to figure out what they can pass in the Senate without worrying about the Republican-controlled House.

As the year-end deadline approaches, federal employees have been told very little by their bosses about how their agencies are preparing to carry out huge spending reductions.

“It seemed like we were almost immune to thinking that something real was going to come of it,” said Fernando Cutz, an analyst for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Then came an e-mailed memo on Thursday from agency heads to employees. The cuts would be “significant and harmful to our collective mission.” Furloughs “or other personnel actions” — layoffs — remain a real possibility.

Read More..

Russia's brutal early winter claims 123 lives

Label:





MOSCOW: A bitter cold snap in Russia has claimed 123 lives in the past 10 days, an official said Tuesday, with the early freeze testing authorities in a country used to notoriously tough winters.

Temperatures have plunged as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Moscow region and minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit) in Eastern Siberia.

"Since the start of the cold, 123 people have died of exposure and frostbite," a medical source was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Another 833 people had to be hospitalised to be treated for hypothermia and frostbite, including 123 over the past 24 hours, of whom 14 were children, the source added.

Since the start of the cold snap, 1,745 people were affected, and more than 800 had to be hospitalised, the source said.

State television reports Tuesday focused on the village of Khovu Aksy in Tyva, one of Russia's poorest regions in southern Siberia. A state of emergency was declared there after the local power station failed with temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius, hitting 4,000 residents.

With repair work on the power station hampered by the sub-zero conditions, some local people were given shelter at schools that had emergency heating systems.

"There is nothing, not even water, we have to melt snow, and the temperature at home is below zero," one bundled-up resident told Vesti-24 channel.

Some residents, including children, have been lifted by helicopter to the regional centre of Kyzyl, the report said.

Temperatures have been about 12 degrees Celsius lower than seasonal norms in Russia, where the coldest weather usually does not arrive until January or February.

In the Moscow region, Monday saw an all-time record for electricity consumption, Russia's power operator said on Tuesday, blaming the unusually cold temperatures.

But Russia's weather service is predicting a drastic temperature hike in the European parts of Russia later this week, with 0 degrees Celsius expected in Moscow.

The emergency ministry warned however that the warming would be accompanied by strong winds and freezing rain that would likely damage communications and slow down traffic.

In neighbouring Ukraine last week, the cold claimed 83 lives, new data showed.

On Tuesday the health ministry said no new figures would be released until next Friday.

-AFP/ac



Read More..

i-age protests rob govt comfort zone

Label:
NEW DELHI: Frequent street mobilization with participation of politically non-aligned public has left parties and governments bereft of the comfort of not being seriously questioned or held to account in between elections when voters express their anger through the ballot.

Activists and opposition leaders argue that the response of the government to a swiftly developing situation like the one that unfolded in Delhi over the past week shows that the Centre announced a slew of measures only after being brought under intense pressure.

Although the government appeared to be reactive rather than proactive, it has had to respond in a manner that its predecessors did not consider necessary. The trigger for this was the toll the protests took of government's credibility.

Aam Aadmi Party member Yogendra Yadav hit out at the government accusing it of lacking political skills to respond to the public's anger and disappointment. "The government has shown itself to be particularly short-sighted. The people in the political establishment lack political skills. They should have anticipated the people's emotion much earlier and responded to it," he said.

I&B minister Manish Tewari defended the government, saying, "We understand the anguish and concern of the protestors. However, violence is neither a solution nor an end in itself. It is indeed unfortunate that a law enforcement officer succumbed to the depredations of the protest. The government has taken a series of measures for the quick prosecution of the crime which no civilized society countenances or tolerates as well as measures to address the systemic problem of the security and safety of women."

Yadav also found PM Manmohan Singh's speech wanting on several fronts. "If you say on Day 1 that you have three daughters, it has some meaning. But to say it Day 8, it is just a joke. The government has state power and they have used it to put down a peaceful protest," he added.

CPM leader Brinda Karat said the incident had only demonstrated the lack of political will on the part of the government. "There is total drift and lack of political direction on the part of the government whether it is PM's ineffectual speech or home minister's remarks," she said.

Karat, who led a delegation of women's groups to meet President Pranab Mukherjee a day earlier, said there were small but critical steps like taking action against buses with tinted glasses that the government had not done so far. "This was an occasion when the top cop should have taken responsibility," she added.

Read More..

Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

Label:

Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography

“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)

Humboldt squid are typically found in warmer waters farther south in theGulf of California (map) and off the coast ofPeru. “[But] we find them up north here during warmer water time periods,” said ocean sciences researcherKenneth Bruland with the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).

Coastal upwelling—when winds blowing south drive ocean circulation to bring cold, nutrient-rich waters up from the deep—ceases during the fall and winter and warmer water is found closer to shore. Bruland noted that climate change, and the resulting areas of low oxygen, “could be a major factor” in drawing jumbo squid north.

Published December 24, 2012

Read More..

Gunman Killed Firemen With Bushmaster, Left Note

Label:











A convicted killer, who shot dead two firefighters with a Bushmaster assault rifle after leading them into an ambush when they responded to a house fire he set in Western New York, left behind a typewritten note saying he wanted to "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said.


William Spengler, 62, set his home and a car on fire early Monday morning with the intention of setting a trap to kill firefighters and to see "how much of the neighborhood I can burn down," according to the note he wrote and which police found at the scene. The note did not give a reason for his actions.


Spengler, who served 18 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981, hid Monday morning in a small ditch beside a tree overlooking the sleepy lakeside street in Webster, N.Y., where he lived with his sister, police said today in a news conference.


Police said they found remains in the house, believed to be that of the sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67.


As firefighters arrived on the scene after a 5:30 a.m. 911 call on the morning of Christmas Eve, Spengler opened fire on them with the Bushmaster, the same semi-automatic, military-style weapon used in the Dec. 14 rampage killing of 20 children in Newtown, Conn.




"This was a clear ambush on first responders… Spengler had armed himself heavily and taken area of cover," said Gerald Pickering, the chief of the Webster Police Department.


Armed with a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver, a Mossman 12-gauge shotgun, and the Bushmaster, Spengler killed two firefighters, and injured two more as well as an off-duty police officer at the scene.


As a convicted felon, Spengler could not legally own a firearm and police are investigating how he obtained the weapons.


One firefighter tried to take cover in his fire engine and was killed with a gunshot through the windshield, Pickering said.


Responding police engaged in a gunfight with Spengler, who ultimately died, likely by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.


As police engaged the gunman, more houses along Lake Ontario were engulfed, ultimately razing seven of them. Some 33 people in adjoining homes were displaced by the fire.


SWAT teams were forced to evacuate residents using armored vehicles.


Police identified the two slain firefighter as Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering, and Tomasz Kaczowka, who also worked as a 911 dispatcher.


Two other firefighters were wounded and remain the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y.


Joseph Hofsetter was shot once. He sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.


The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee.



Read More..

Yen down against dollar, euro on Abe comments

Label:





NEW YORK: The yen dipped against the dollar and the euro Monday after Japan's incoming prime minister Shinzo Abe renewed calls on the central bank to take further steps to ease monetary policy.

At about 1900 GMT in quiet Christmas Eve trade, the dollar stood at 84.83 yen, compared to 84.25 yen late Friday. The common European currency reached 111.87 yen, up from 110.05 yen Friday.

Abe has also warned he would change the law to make sure it followed his instructions.

"The potential for continued and increasing government pressure on the Bank of Japan is unambiguously negative for the yen and should keep its longer-term weakening trend intact," wrote Omer Esiner of Commonwealth Foreign Exchange, Inc. in an analysis.

The euro inched slightly higher against the dollar to stand at $1.3183 around 1900 GMT, compared to $1.3181 around 2200 GMT Friday.

But "the single currency remains vulnerable to further signs of breakdown in America's fiscal cliff talks," Esiner said, referencing a stalemate in talks to keep the United States from falling off the so-called fiscal cliff -- a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect on January 1.

Experts say going over the "cliff" could take the world's biggest economy back into recession. According to Esiner, the dollar could benefit from further signs of breakdown in the talks as investors lose their appetite for risk.

In other currencies, the dollar slipped to 0.9154 Swiss francs, while the pound fell to $1.6123.

-AFP/ac



Read More..

Govt draws up plan to revamp cyber security of critical sectors

Label:
NEW DELHI: In its bid to meet the challenge of ever increasing cyber attacks and security in the virtual world, the government has set in motion a five-year project to revamp the entire cyber security apparatus of critical sectors in the country. In the past one year, India has suffered 13,000 cyber incidents.

The responsibility for the job has been vested in National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), the nodal agency to coordinate cyber security operations for critical infrastructures across the country. NCIIPC has prepared a five-year plan to completely revamp and integrate the cyber security apparatus of all critical infrastructure such as power, transportation, water, telecommunication and defence.

The agency, which is soon to be notified, further plans to set up sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) that will be connected to it. It will install sensors on all critical systems to give real-time information to its command and control centre about any cyber attack to formulate quick response.

The government has also defined clear mandates for NCIIPC and CERT-IN, which is also engaged in cyber security of national infrastructure. NCIIPC will only look after absolutely critical sectors that have high threat perception coupled with greater dependence on computer and information technology (CIT), while other sectors will be with CERT-IN. These sectors (with NCIIPC) have been identified as energy (power, coal, oil and natural gas), transportation (railways and civil aviation), banking and finance, telecom, defence, space, law enforcement and security.

Functioning under the aegis of National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), NCIIPC last Monday also organized the first national conference of chief information security officers (CISO) of critical sectors of the government.

Sources said this is part of the step to first create awareness and ensure setting up of a robust security system in all critical government agencies at their own level. The task has been divided into five phases. Once agencies set up their security infrastructure, it will be connected to NCIIPC.

"There are plans to open a Cyber Security Operation Centre, a 24/7 control room for real-time information and response and a National Institute of Critical Information Infrastructure Protection for training of CISOs. We will also issue daily cyber alerts," said NCIIPC director Muktesh Chander in a presentation.

Sources said this infrastructure will ensure that NCIIPC gets real-time information as soon as a cyber attack happens on any network, can quickly analyze different attacks and provide immediate response. "If the same virus attacks different systems, we will not have to analyze them separately and formulate different responses," said an official.

National security advisor Shivshankar Menon, who addressed the gathering, stressed on participation of the private sector and said, "The NCIIPC is setting up a joint working group with representatives of industry associations to bring out guidelines for protection of critical information infrastructure in India."

Read More..

Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Label:


Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter Institute

Mounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.

Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to.

"You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations," she said.

For example, the A. flavus fungi that she used to write this message from Santa grows very quickly. "The next day, after looking at this plate, it didn't say 'Ho Ho Ho.' It said 'blah blah blah,'" Mounaud said.

The message also eventually turned green, which was the color she was initially after. "It was a really nice green, which is what I was hoping for. But yellow will do," she said.

The hat was particularly challenging. The fungus used to create it "was troubling because at different temperatures it grows differently. The pigment in this one forms at room temperature but this type of growth needed higher temperatures," Mounaud said.

Not all fungus will grow nicely together. For example, in the hat, "N. fischeri [the brim and ball] did not want to play nice with the P. marneffei [red part of hat] ... so they remained slightly separated."

Published December 21, 2012

Read More..

4 Firefighters Shot, 2 Killed in NY 'Trap'

Label:












A man who served nearly 17 years in jail for killing his grandmother set a house and car on fire this morning in upstate New York and then began shooting at emergency personnel who showed up, killing two firefighters, police said.


In all, William Spengler, 62, shot four firefighters, killing two and severely injuring two more after setting his "trap," police said.


An off-duty police officer from Greece, N.Y., who responded to the scene early in the morning of Christmas Eve also was injured today.


"It was a trap," said Webster, N.Y., Police Chief Gerald L. Pickering, "set by Mr. Spengler who laid in wait and shot first responders."


Spengler, who was released from prison in 1998, was found dead at the scene following a shootout with police. He was believed to have killed himself with a bullet to the head.


As a convicted felon, Spengler would not have been allowed to own guns legally. Police were working to determine the types of weapons he used and how he obtained them, Pickering said.


Spengler was convicted of manslaughter in 1981 for "beating his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer," according to state prison documents.


Several weapons were used, Pickering said, and, "probably a rifle was used to inflict wounds of the first responders.


"I know many people are going to be asking if they were assault rifles," Pickering said


There has been a week-long national debate about such weapons after one was used in a tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14.










Four firefighters, two on a ladder truck and two more in their own vehicles, responded to 911 calls around 5:30 a.m. Monday morning. Spengler is believed to have hidden behind an elevated berm, shooting down on the firefighters and later police.


"Upon arrival, all [the firefighters] drew fire. All four were shot on the scene," Pickering said. "One was able to flee the scene. The other three were pinned down."


Police believe Spengler's sister may have been inside the home, and that he set it on fire.


The blaze spread, engulfing three nearby homes and damaging three more on a sleepy street next to Lake Ontario that police described as a quiet vacation community. The fire was not put under control until late this afternoon.


SWAT team officers used an armored personnel carrier to evacuate 33 residents from homes in the area.


Among the dead firefighters was Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering. Chiapperini was a spokesman for the police department, ABC News affiliate WHAM reported.


Police identified the other firefighter killed as Tomasz Kaczowka, who also worked as a 911 dispatcher.


The chief, choking up, called the incident that shattered the quiet before 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning "terrible."


"People get up in the middle of the night to fight fires," he said. "They don't expect to get shot and killed."


Two surviving firefighters were in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. Both men were awake and breathing on their own after surgery and were in what doctors are calling "guarded condition."


Joseph Hofsetter was shot once. He sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.


The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee.


New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement calling the attack a "senseless act of violence" and the first responders "true heroes."



Read More..

Cycling: British paper sues Armstrong over libel payment

Label:





LONDON: British newspaper The Sunday Times said on Sunday that it is suing Lance Armstrong for over £1 million over a libel payment made to the disgraced cyclist in 2006.

The newspaper paid Armstrong £300,000 to settle a libel case after previously suggesting that he may have cheated.

But the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) subsequently found that he had led the "most sophisticated" doping programme in sporting history, leading to a life ban for the Texan, who was also stripped of his seven Tour de France wins.

The Sunday Times is reportedly demanding the return of the original settlement payment, along with interest and legal costs.

In a letter to Armstrong's lawyers, the paper said: "It is clear that the proceedings were baseless and fraudulent. Your representations that you had never taken performance-enhancing drugs were deliberately false."

The newspaper had long questioned Armstrong's achievements and in 2004 it published an article stating that it was appropriate for questions about his success to be "posed and answered".

After Armstrong's lawyers issued a writ, the newspaper settled with him in June 2006.

- AFP/jc



Read More..

Haryana politicians, bureaucrats using front men to buy land

Label:
NEW DELHI: Haryana politicians and bureaucrats have been allegedly putting their front men to buy property, which are often parts of common land or of panchayats. Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who hit the headlines after ordering a probe into Robert Vadra's land deals, had exposed this during his brief tenure in the land consolidation department.

Khemka's two orders and a particular noting on the flawed consolidation process accessed by TOI show that he had pointed out the politician-bureaucrat-property dealer nexus to usurp common and non-agriculture land in villages falling under and around Aravalis — Kot (Ballabhgarh), Anangpur (Faridabad), Bandhwari (Sohna) and Rozka-Gujar (Sohna).

On August 27, Khemka noted, "It was observed that some senior public servants misused their position for a favourable exchange for themselves or their relatives or their companies floated for this purpose. Huge investments of black money and ill-gotten money have been made through companies in the purchase of land of some villages in Gurgaon-Faridabad districts to benefit from the consolidation scheme."

These are the villages which have been brought under the Master Plan of Sohna in Gurgaon and Manger in Faridabad. The land ownership changed hands and big players got large chunks within years before the state government came out with new development plans.

The IAS officer had also recommended that huge investments made in the purchase of land in these villages through companies must be investigated to find out their actual owners and interests behind these investing companies. "It seems that huge amounts of black money have been invested in the purchase of land in these villages through companies. Their real owners need to be disclosed through an independent investigation," his note had recommended to the government.

Some of the land records accessed by TOI showed that a Haryana MP bought 20 acres of Gair Mumkin Pahar (uncultivable hill) in Roz-ka-Gujjar, family members of a mining baron owned 860 acres, wife and son of a top ranking police officer bought 16 acres, to mention a few. Moreover, several property dealers have bought huge chunks of land for political families and even serving officers in the state. In the case of Roz-ka-Gujjar village, over 1,685 acres went to influential people and companies.

When TOI contacted Khemka, he said, "Only after observing the trend and after getting enough input I had put my views on record and these are with the department. I won't comment anything on these issues since I have a different responsibility now." The officer has been shifted to the seed development department.

Read More..

NRA Chief LaPierre: 'Call Me Crazy'

Label:












National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre fired back at his critics today, defending his proposal to put armed guards in every school in the country as a way to prevent future tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six adults.


"If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy," the head of the powerful gun lobby said today on NBC's "Meet the Press."


LaPierre and the NRA came under harsh criticism this week for their response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.


After keeping silent for a week, except for a release announcing that the organization would make "meaningful contributions" to the search for answers to the problem of gun violence, LaPierre held what critics described as a "tone deaf" press conference in which he blamed the media, video games and Hollywood for the recent shootings, and suggested that the answer to gun violence was more guns.


Gun control advocates argue that a federal assault weapons ban is necessary to curbing gun violence. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who helped pass an assault weapons ban in 1996 is renewing efforts to pass similar legislation as the original ban expired in 2004.


"I think that is a phony piece of legislation and I do not believe it will pass for this reason: it's all built on lies," LaPierre said today.


LaPierre and many pro-gun advocates like him argue that assault weapons bans aren't effective and that violent criminals are solely to blame.






PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images











National Rifle Association News Conference Interrupted by Protesters Watch Video











Critics Slam NRA for Proposing Armed School Guards Watch Video





INFOGRAPHIC: Guns in America: By The Numbers


In today's interview, LaPierre pointed out that the Columbine High School shooting occurred after the assault weapons ban passed, but he failed to mention that the shooters obtained the guns they used illegally though a gun show.


He also did not discuss the fact that there was an armed guard on duty at the school when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people there before killing themselves.


Several senators watching LaPierre's interview had strong reactions.


"He says the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. What about stopping the bad guy from getting the gun in the first place?" said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on NBC's "Meet the Press."


Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was also on the show, said that he open to discussing increased school security but warned against a quick rush to ban assault weapons.


"I don't suggest we ban every movie with a gun in it and every video that's violent and I don't suggest that you take my right buy an AR-15 away from me because I don't think it will work," Graham said on NBC's "Meet the Press."


Earlier this week protesters from the group "Code Pink" snuck into the NRA press conference and held up a sign that read "NRA Blood on Your Hand."


Gun-control advocates like the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence have long been critical of the NRA, but some lawmakers who also back more stringent gun control have been reluctant to lash out at the NRA until the recent shootings at Newtown, Conn.


After the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting, when a gunman armed with an AR-15, two Glock pistols and a shotgun, killed 12 and wounded 70 others, even Feinstein lamented that it was a "bad time" to press for gun control.


She has since changed her tone, but her previous reluctance to tackle the issue shows just how powerful the NRA is in derailing any opposition gun ownership.


President Obama announced last week that he was creating a task force headed by Vice President Biden to offer workable policy solutions to the problem of gun violence by the end of January.


The president will likely face an uphill battle, as any proposed legislation will have to make its way through the House of Representatives, which is currently controlled by Republicans.


Many lawmakers, the president and the NRA have discussed a holistic solution that includes the examination potential problems with the mental health system in this country.


Mental health services have come under a great strain as local governments are forced to cut their budgets. As a result, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors has estimated a loss of $4.35 billion to state funded mental health services.



Read More..

Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Label:


Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter Institute

Mounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.

Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to.

"You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations," she said.

For example, the A. flavus fungi that she used to write this message from Santa grows very quickly. "The next day, after looking at this plate, it didn't say 'Ho Ho Ho.' It said 'blah blah blah,'" Mounaud said.

The message also eventually turned green, which was the color she was initially after. "It was a really nice green, which is what I was hoping for. But yellow will do," she said.

The hat was particularly challenging. The fungus used to create it "was troubling because at different temperatures it grows differently. The pigment in this one forms at room temperature but this type of growth needed higher temperatures," Mounaud said.

Not all fungus will grow nicely together. For example, in the hat, "N. fischeri [the brim and ball] did not want to play nice with the P. marneffei [red part of hat] ... so they remained slightly separated."

Published December 21, 2012

Read More..

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)