Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/180879497?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Italy Remains Under Debt Cost Pressure
Italy's borrowing costs have fallen slightly from recent peaks, but have remained at an unsustainable level close to 7% in the latest auction of 10-year government debt.
The high cost keeps intense pressure on the eurozone's third largest economy as the new Prime Minister Mario Monti attempts to tackle the country's debt crisis.
Mr Monti said Italy had more to do to convince the financial markets it can manage its loans, but he said he was encouraged by the outcome of the latest debt auctions.
"We can be a bit relieved," he said, holding up a graph of recent borrowing costs at a news conference.
But he added: "We absolutely don't consider the market turbulence to be over."
Greece, Ireland and Portugal all had to request financial bailouts after their 10-year bond yields pushed above 7%, and next year alone, Italy has some 330bn euros (?277bn) of debt to refinance.
That means it faces an uphill struggle to convince investors it can avoid a disastrous default that could cause another banking crisis.
"You lose market confidence easily; you get it back with constant and continuous efforts," said Mr Monti, quoting Italy's central bank chief.
The Italian leader, who has been in office for just a month and a half following the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi, said his cabinet was preparing a package of measures to get the Italian economy moving again.
It will include efforts to increase competitiveness and flexibility in Italy's labour market, while cracking down on people who avoid paying property taxes.
Meanwhile, the UK's borrowing costs have continued to slide down - at one point reaching below 1.96% on 10-year bonds - as investors view the debt as relatively safe compared to that held by countries in continental Europe.
Source: http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news/italy_remains_under_debt_cost_pressure
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Republicans battle over undecided voters in Iowa (AP)
DES MOINES, Iowa ? With time running short, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich battled Thursday to win over a pivotal crop of undecided conservative voters. Of all the candidates, only Mitt Romney seemed to largely escape attack as he worked to win a state that long seemed out of reach until this week.
"Don't settle for what's not good enough to save the country," the newly ascendant Santorum implored Iowans at city hall in Coralville, urging voters to put conservative principles above everything else and suggesting that his rivals, and specifically Ron Paul, lacked them.
For the first time, though, the former Pennsylvania senator became a target.
"When he talks about fiscal conservatism, every now and then it leaves me scratching my head because he was a prolific earmarker," Perry, the Texas governor, said of Santorum as the day began, referring to special spending projects members of Congress seek. "He loaded up his bill with Pennsylvania pork.'"
Santorum defended the practice as part of lawmakers' constitutional role as appropriators, telling CNBC that he owed it to Pennsylvanians to bring money to the state. He said earmarking became abused and that he would support a ban on them if he were president.
Perry also slapped at Santorum in a radio ad and in a new TV commercial that lumps him in with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Paul and says: "The fox guarding the henhouse is like asking a congressman to fix Washington: bad idea."
The maneuvering underscored the fluid ? if not convoluted ? state of the GOP presidential race as Tuesday's caucuses loom while cultural conservatives and evangelical Republicans, who make up the base of the electorate here, continue to be divided. That lack of unity paves the way for someone who is seen as less consistently conservative.
Five days out, public and private polling show Romney and Paul in strong contention to win the caucuses, with coalitions of support cobbled together from across the Republican political spectrum and their get-out-the-vote operations ? beefed up from their failed 2008 bids ? at the ready. They're the only two with the money and the organizations necessary to ensure big turnouts on Tuesday.
Three others ? Santorum, Perry and Gingrich ? will have to rely largely on momentum to carry supporters to precinct caucuses. Each was working to convince fickle conservatives that he alone would satisfy those who yearn for a nominee who would adhere strictly to GOP orthodoxy.
Bachmann, meanwhile, worked to convince backers that her cash-strapped campaign was not in disarray after a top supporter in Iowa abandoned her to back Paul.
After state Sen. Kent Sorenson bolted as her Iowa campaign chairman, Bachmann continued to bleed staff, losing her Iowa political director, Wes Enos, on Thursday. Some evangelical pastors have said they've urged her to quit the race.
Bachmann condemned Sorenson for quitting, and defiantly vowed to continue in the race.
"Iowans aren't told who to vote for. Iowans are independent and they're going to make their decisions," Bachmann said in Des Moines, on the last day of a 10-day tour of Iowa's 99 counties.
Ads, mostly negative, flooded television and radio. They filled mailboxes, too.
No less than five new TV ads were rolled out Thursday, with Romney, for one, releasing a 60-second, optimistic commercial promoting his vision for America and illustrating his confidence with his standing in the primary race. He was staying far from the fray and looking toward the general election.
"In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense. And I intend to make it because I have lived it," Romney says in the commercial that includes patriotic images and scenes from his June campaign announcement in New Hampshire.
He's in the midst of a four-day trek that he hopes will seal victory here and give him momentum heading into the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary, the closest thing to a must-win state for the former Massachusetts governor.
On the second day of his bus tour, Romney turned out big crowds at stops in northern and eastern Iowa, focusing on more populous areas and counties he won four years ago.
"We have a choice in this coming election of what kind of America we're going to have," Romney said at J's Home Cooking in Cedar Falls, before meeting a crowd of 500 in Mason City. "It's not just about replacing a president. It's about saving the soul of America."
He didn't acknowledge his rivals but an outside group aligned with him rolled out a new ad against Gingrich that asks, "Haven't we had enough mistakes?" and notes the former House speaker's past admissions of judgment lapses.
As Romney sailed above it all, the fight raged among his rivals elsewhere in the state, where all six candidates competing in the caucuses are spending almost all their time for the next five days.
Looking to capitalize on his burst of support in new polls, Santorum made a play for tea party backers lining up behind Paul by arguing that the Texas congressman is longer on promising sweeping change than enacting it. "The guy has passed one bill in 20 years. What makes you think he can do any of these things?" Santorum said.
He added: "We need someone who has the bold, sharp contrast not just to win the election but govern the country, not somebody who is just a little better."
And, Bachmann castigated Paul's opposition to military intervention in Iran as "dangerous." She also suggested that his opposition to the federal war on drugs amounted to supporting the legalization of cocaine and heroin.
Perry focused his criticism on all the others on the right, saying: "There are other conservatives in this contest. I readily agree. But their records don't always square with the rhetoric." And, as he argued that he was the only true outsider in the race, Perry noted that four of his rivals ? Gingrich, Paul, Santorum and Bachmann ? have a combined 63 years of experience in Washington.
"I am asking you to vote your conservative values," Perry implored.
The closest anyone got to criticizing Romney directly was when Perry was asked in Cedar Rapids about family dynasties and cited, among other families, the Romneys.
In response, Perry mentioned his own modest upbringing and said: "I'm glad you gave me the opportunity to reflect my differences with Mitt."
The worst Romney faced from his rivals were veiled shots.
Santorum said Republicans must draw a clear contrast with Obama, rather than nominate a Republican with moderate tendencies out of political expedience.
"We need someone who has the bold, sharp contrasts, not just to win the election but to govern the country. Not just someone who is a little bit better," Santorum told supporters.
Perry was asked about family dynasties and the questioner cited, among other families, the Romneys. Perry stopped short of criticizing Romney's privileged upbringing. He mentioned his own humble beginning in small-town Texas before adding: "I'm glad you gave me the opportunity to reflect my differences with Mitt."
Gingrich, for his part, spent the day trying to wrap himself in President Ronald Reagan's cloak, announcing the backing of the late president's son, Michael, and, a day earlier, support from Reagan economic adviser Arthur Laffer.
Even as the polls show him sliding, Gingrich projected an upbeat image.
"The strategy of focusing on jobs and economic growth, staying positive and being pretty relentless in answering questions at every meeting is working," he insisted.
___
Associated Press writers Philip Elliott, Mike Glover, Kasie Hunt, Brian Bakst and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.
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Thursday, December 29, 2011
Waterfox is a Faster, 64-Bit Optimized Version of Firefox for Windows PCs [Firefox]
Mozilla still hasn't officially released any 64-bit builds for Firefox, and Waterfox aims to fill that void. It has one main goal: speed. They've tweaked a lot of Firefox's codebase to work better with 64-bit processors, so if you're running a 64-bit version of Windows, it should give you a solid speed boost. It also updates whenever Firefox does, so you're never behind, and uses your current Firefox profile, so you don't have to do any extra setup. All of your add-ons should work out of the box, too.
If you don't like Waterfox for any reason, you might also check out previously mentioned Pale Moon, another Windows-optimized Firefox build. It updates a bit less quickly than Waterfox, and lots of users find Waterfox to be faster, but Pale Moon also has a few other UI tweaks. Hit the link to check out Waterfox.
Waterfox is a free download for Windows only.
Waterfox | via PC World
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Winfield Community Theatre asking for proposals for the season
The Winfield Community Theatre is calling for play and musical show proposals for the 2012-2013 season.
Presentations will be made at 6 p.m. Jan. 12 in the downstairs conference room in Meyer Hall at Baden Square.
If unable to attend the meeting, or if you aren?t interested in directing, but have a favorite play you would like to see WCT produce, contact the community theater at wct67156@winfieldcommtheatre.com or call David Andreas at (620) 221-1610.
For more of this story, see Saturday's Action! or subscribe to the e-edition.
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of arkcity.net.
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
Source: http://www.arkcity.net/articles/2011/12/27/features/action/doc4ef95529aadaf158777451.txt
Street fights hit Yemen as U.S. mulls letting in Saleh (Reuters)
SANAA (Reuters) ? Foes and backers of a plan to ease Yemen's president out of power fought each other with stones and clubs on Tuesday, deepening the country's chaos as Washington said it was considering a request from the leader to fly to the United States.
Youth activists, who have led months of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule, were split on him leaving the country - saying it might ease the conflict but could also let him escape justice.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh bowed to months of protests and international pressure by agreeing last month to a deal that would grant him immunity from prosecution over his violent crackdown on the uprising but see him hand over power to his deputy.
Far from resolving the crisis, the settlement has sparked further tension between groups who opposed the immunity deal, and groups who backed it - many of whom have since joined an interim government.
Activists said least 20 people were injured in the clashes in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday between supporters of the Islah party, which backed the immunity deal, and the Houthi movement, a Shi'ite rebel grouping in the north of the country.
Washington and top oil producer Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, both fear continued chaos would allow al Qaeda to build on its already strong presence in the country, which lies close to key oil shipping lanes.
After another bout of violence on Saturday - when protesters said Saleh's forces killed nine people who had joined a mass march against the immunity deal - the president vowed to give way to a successor and go to the United States.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday Washington was still weighing Saleh's travel request.
"We're continuing to consider President Saleh's request to enter the country for the sole purpose of seeking medical treatment. But contrary to some reports that we've seen, that permission has not been granted yet," Toner told a news briefing.
Anti-Saleh protesters said they were in two minds about the possible U.S. trip.
"We are at a loss, between our desire to see Saleh go and avoid Yemen sliding into civil war, and the desire to see him tried for his crimes," said Samia al-Aghbari, a protest leader who was detained briefly after Saturday's violence.
"If he (Saleh) is away and forbidden from being part of the political atmosphere in Yemen, it may help, I see the point of that. But he still has money and weapons in the country and if this doesn't change, nothing will change at any level in Yemen," said activist Hamza Shargabi.
OVERLAPPING CONFLICTS
Any suggestion that Saleh is taking up sanctuary in the United States would be highly controversial among activists and opposition figures who have accused Washington of backing Saleh as an ally in the campaign against al Qaeda.
"He has this relation with the U.S., its war on terror, and torturing people in the name of that war, and putting people in prison," said Shargabi. "Anything can happen in the name of the war on terror."
Hostility against the United States was fanned by Yemeni media reports that Washington's envoy in Sanaa described Saturday's march as a provocative act, shortly before Saleh's forces cracked down on the protest.
In a statement on Monday, a group of protest organizers demanded Washington recall Gerald Feierstein, whom they called an "advocate and defender of Saleh's ruthless oppression of his people, almost from the start of his assignment in Yemen."
Al Masdar Online, one of the publications which attended a briefing with Feierstein, cited him as saying, in Arabic translation: "Being peaceful isn't just about not carrying weapons. If 2,000 people decided to march on the White House, we wouldn't consider it peaceful and we wouldn't permit it."
The U.S. embassy in Sanaa did not respond to requests for comment on the remarks.
The top "counter-terrorism" official in Washington - which wages a campaign of drone strikes against alleged al Qaeda members in Yemen and assassinated Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, that way earlier this year - urged Saleh's deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Sunday to show restraint with protests.
Any successor to Saleh would face multiple, overlapping conflicts including renewed separatist sentiment in the south, which fought a civil war with Saleh's north in 1994 after four turbulent years of formal union.
Islamist fighters have seized chunks of territory in the southern Abyan province. Fighting there has forced tens of thousands of people to flee, compounding a humanitarian crisis in a country where about half a million people are displaced.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Joseph Logan; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/wl_nm/us_yemen
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
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Apple?s late boss Steve Jobs to receive Grammy
By Associated Press ??|??Music News??|??December 23, 2011
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is receiving a posthumous Grammy for his technological innovations in the arts.
Jobs is among a dozen people, music groups or companies receiving honorary awards Feb. 11, the day before the Grammys. He died of cancer in October.
The Grammys are honoring Jobs with one of the group?s Trustees Awards, citing the late Apple boss? advancements that ?transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books.?
Grammy organizers called him a ?creative visionary? for Apple Inc. innovations that include the iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Others receiving honorary awards the day before the Grammys include Diana Ross, the Allman Brothers, Glen Campbell, Antonio Carlos Jobim, George Jones, the Memphis Horns and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder.
Source: http://www.pbpulse.com/music/music-news/2011/12/23/apples-late-boss-steve-jobs-to-receive-grammy/
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Monday, December 26, 2011
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Japan quake debris a jurisdictional mess for B.C.
The B.C. government says it will begin working with national and municipal officials this January to prepare for the massive wave of debris heading to Pacific Northwest shores because of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Meanwhile, residents in the B.C. coastal community of Tofino are bracing themselves for the sad arrival of detritus from the devastating disaster, even while they debate amongst themselves whether the ruins have already started reaching the shore.
Julianne McCaffrey, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Management B.C., part of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, has confirmed the government is creating a Provincial Tsunami Debris Working Group.
She said the arrival of the debris, which some experts have argued covers an area the size of California, has raised some "complex jurisdictional issues," which the working group will clarify, so officials hope to identify key members by Jan. 6
"In most cases, the federal government has authority in the water and immediate shorelines, and in most cases the local authority becomes the lead if the debris washes ashore in areas above the high tide line," McCaffrey said in an email to The Canadian Press.
"Occasionally, in the case of hazardous or human remains, it becomes provincial jurisdiction ? which has not happened, so we cannot speak to hazards or issues that do not exist."
The provincial government's announcement comes as one U.S. expert confirms some flotsam, like 250-litre Japanese fishing buoys, has already landed on Pacific Northwest shores between Oregon and Alaska.
Computer models produced by the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii had predicted that by the end ofSeptember, the debris field was still about 483 kilometres northwest of the Midway Islands, but scientists confirmed in a December website posting that some objects, like the fishing floats, could have already arrived in Washington state.
Community divided
Meantime, locals in Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, wonder whether or not flotsam ? like plastic water bottles with Japanese writing, toothbrushes and even socks tied to the tsunami ? has already arrived.
Debris float in the harbour near Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan a day after the earthquake, which killed more than 20,000 people. (Kyodo/Reuters)The massive flotsam field is tied to the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan March 11, a double disaster that left as many as 21,000 people dead and washed millions of tonnes of debris into the Pacific ocean.
The tsunami also swamped the Fukushima nuclear-power plant, leading to fears that some of the debris could be contaminated by radioactive material.
Perry Schmunk, mayor of Tofino, B.C., said he has no doubt that some of the debris he found on a recent beach walk with his family is tied to the tsunami. He plans to introduce a resolution to council this January calling for support from more senior levels of government.
Schmunk said everything he has found has Japanese writing on it.
"The most alarming thing is in 10 minutes I saw more debris than I've seen in four years total," he said.
Schmunk said a town like Tofino is not equipped to deal with such a massive influx of flotsam, noting it doesn't have enough staff nor enough space in the local landfill.
"I am . . . of the opinion that we need to be prepared for the worst," he said.
Debris not always from earthquake
Yet others in town are not entirely convinced flotsam from the tsunami has arrived.
Jeff Mikus, a commercial fisherman for more than 20 years, said he's definitely not convinced the flotsam is from the tsunami, saying he hasn't seen any more debris on the shores or in the water than normal.
"I think people are just looking more now because, you know, it's coming," he said. "People are more aware of it so they start seeing stuff on the beach and they think, 'oh, God,' and they see a little bit of, you know, some kind of Asian writing of some sort," he said.
Mikus said he regularly finds plastic floats, corks, water bottles and shampoo bottles, and added that most of the fishing gear he buys in B.C. is made in Japan and has Japanese markings on it.
Mikus also said people forget how many ships pass Vancouver Island and some of the debris could be coming from them.
"You'd think you'd see a lot of stuff that would have a lot more growth on it, algae and barnacles and whatnot after floating around in the ocean that long," he added. "The few pictures I've seen of stuff doesn't look like it's been in the water that long."
Mikus said he believes the bulk of the flotsam is still a long way away.
"There might be a massive cleanup going on here in a year or two."
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/12/25/bc-japan-debris.html?cmp=rss
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
A service-oriented scholar: Student from Leavenworth named one of new faces of college engineering
Sources: DeeAnn Turpin, turpind@k-state.edu;
and LaVerne Bitsie-Baldwin, lbaldwin@k-state.edu, 785-532-5949
Hometown interest: Leavenworth
Photo available: http://www.k-state.edu/media/images/dec11/turpin122211.jpg
Cutline: DeeAnnTurpin helps distribute parasitic worm prevention medication to Guatemalan schoolchildren in March 2011.
News release prepared by: Tyler Sharp, 785-532-2535, tmsharp@k-state.edu
Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011
A service-oriented scholar: Senior from Leavenworth named one of new faces of college engineering
MANHATTAN -- DeeAnn Turpin is passionate about creating a more sustainable environment.
For Turpin, a Kansas State University senior in biological systems engineering from Leavenworth, this passion began early. From a young age she sought out opportunities to reduce waste and to assist others in doing the same. When she arrived at the university that passion translated into an active involvement with the student chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Trips with the organization to India, Guatemala and Ecuador to aid in the development of sustainable water systems have been coupled with a myriad of volunteer projects at the university.
These efforts and Turpin's scholastic achievements are drawing a special recognition.
Turpin has been honored by the inaugural New Faces of Engineering College Edition program. This recognition program is led by the National Engineers Week Foundation. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the National Council of Examiners provide funding for the honor.
The New Faces of Engineering College Edition program promotes the accomplishments of third-, fourth- and fifth-year engineering students by highlighting their academic success and student contributions to the industry and participating engineering society. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers honored Turpin.
The society highlighted Turpin's work with the university's student chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a nonprofit organization committed to humanitarian efforts around the world. Turpin traveled with the organization to India in 2009 to help develop a sustainable, electricity-free rainwater harvesting system, among other services. In 2011 she helped distribute and install water filters in Panajachel, Guatemala. The organization will travel to Yakunay, Ecuador, in 2012 for the design of a new water system, installation of water filters and other tasks aimed at reducing the waste and improving health and nutrition.
Turpin calls the recognition a huge honor.
"I'm very, very proud to represent Kansas State University and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Engineers Without Borders," she said. "This is a great school and a great opportunity for not only my accomplishments to be recognized, but what great opportunities and organizations are available at K-State."
Along with Engineers Without Borders, Turpin also has been active with the Students for Environmental Action and created Give It Up For Good, a campuswide program aimed at reusing items. As part of the program, areas are provided in the lobby of each residence hall floor for students to donate reusable, unwanted items. The items are then sold, and the money is donated to local charities. In May 2011, $2,500 was raised, and the remaining items were recycled. The Give It Up for Good program includes a partnership with the Manhattan United Way and Habitat for Humanity.
In addition to her frequent volunteerism, Turpin is an accomplished student. She is a member of the Multicultural Engineering Program and Alpha Epsilon, an engineering honor society reserved for the top 30 percent of engineering students.
LaVerne Bitsie-Baldwin, director of the university's Multicultural Engineering Program, says Turpin's success and achievements are tied to her passion for bettering the environment and helping others.
"She is focused, enthusiastic, strategic and has great skills in engaging others in the initiatives that she supports," Bitsie-Baldwin said. "DeeAnn is one to watch as she continues through her engineering career, and that is what makes the New Faces of Engineering Award especially fitting of her achievements."
After graduating from K-State, Turpin plans to earn a master's degree. She hopes to work in industry on renewable energy or on sustainability-based projects.
Source: http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/dec11/turpin122211.html
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Pompeii column collapse revives concerns over site
ROME?? A courtyard column of a Roman house in Pompeii collapsed on Thursday, renewing concerns about the state of the site which was frozen in time when Mount Vesuvius erupted 2,000 years ago, burying inhabitants alive and preserving their homes.
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Last year the Italian government was accused of neglecting the UNESCO World Heritage site near Naples in southern Italy when part of the "House of the Gladiators" fell down.
That collapse, along with three others in 2010, and the subsequent accusations of neglect and mismanagement, helped trigger a no-confidence vote against former culture minister Sandro Bondi in January.
Slideshow: World Heritage Sites (on this page)Bondi, a member of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government, survived the vote but quit in March.
Officials said the latest part of the site to crumble was one of several columns that once held up wooden trellises in the house where Loreio Tiburtino, a Roman nobleman, lived.
Built in the second century BC, the house was renovated in 62 AD, 17 years before the cataclysmic eruption.
"This is a torment without end," said Luisa Bossa, a lawmaker from the leftist opposition Democratic Party and former mayor of the Naples-area town of Herculaneum, also a major Roman-era archeological site.
"We have been complaining for three years but the country's most important archeological area continues to fall apart. The truth is that the site has been left alone for years and now, a bit at a time, we are paying the price," she said.
She called on Italy's culture minister, Lorenzo Ornaghi, to "take stock of the gravity of the situation and confront it with determination and speed."
Italy's archaeologists also voiced their concerns.
Slideshow: Italian dreams (on this page)"To overcome the emergency created by these collapses, we need to hire specialized maintenance workers straight away. That is the only possible cure for Pompeii," Tsao Cevoli, head of the National Archaeologists Association, told news agency Ansa.
Pompeii was home to about 13,000 people when it was buried under ash, pumice pebbles and dust in 79 AD as it endured the force of an eruption equivalent to 40 atomic bombs.
Two-thirds of the 66-hectare (165-acre) town has since been uncovered. Pompeii attracts some 2.5 million tourists each year, making it one of Italy's most popular attractions.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45767162/ns/travel-destination_travel/
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Review: Mustela?s New Baby Skin Care Products
Dermatologist Dr. Mona Gohara reviews Mustela's Dermo-Soothing Wipes and Stelatria cream.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/o6QNowuyGVI/
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Fairfax merges Vic community papers arm
Fairfax Media has moved to recapture some recently lost real estate advertising revenue in Victoria through a merger with Metro Media Publishing (MMP).
MMP was founded by Antony Catalano and publishes The Weekly Review, which successfully took large real estate advertising dollars away from Fairfax's Melbourne Weekly when it launched in 2010.
Industry estimates suggest The Weekly Review took about $20 million in advertising revenue away from Fairfax.
Under the deal, which still requires Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval, Fairfax would pay $35 million and fold its Fairfax Community Newspapers in Victoria into MMP.
Fairfax said it would own 50 per cent voting and economic interest in MMP after the transaction was completed.
Fairfax's statement on Friday said The Weekly Review was delivered to about 220,000 households.
MMP managing director Antony Catalano, a former senior executive at Fairfax's The Age newspaper in Melbourne, would continue in his current role, Fairfax said.
"This merger provides the opportunity to roll out Fairfax Media's Domain brand across the MMP titles, and to build a stronger internet and app presence for the local real estate industry," he said in a statement.
"Both MMP and Fairfax Media see a bright future for high-quality local print publications working closely with real estate agents, and an improved digital presence will only enhance this offering."
At 1214 AEDT Fairfax was up one cent, or 1.41 per cent, at 72 cents.
Keep reading - next articleSource: http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/aap/8394298/fairfax-merges-vic-community-papers-arm
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Philippines sends coffins as toll nears 1,000 dead (AP)
ILIGAN, Philippines ? The government shipped more than 400 coffins to two flood-stricken cities in the southern Philippines on Tuesday as the death toll neared 1,000 and President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity.
The latest count listed 957 dead and 49 missing and is expected to climb further as additional bodies are recovered from the sea and mud in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities.
A handful of morgues are overwhelmed and running out of coffins and formaldehyde for embalming. Aid workers appealed for bottled water, blankets, tents and clothes for many of 45,000 in crowded evacuation centers.
Navy sailors in Manila loaded a ship with 437 white wooden coffins to help local authorities handle the staggering number of dead. Also on the way were containers with thousands of water bottles.
Most of the dead were women and children who drowned Friday night when flash floods triggered by a tropical storm gushed into homes while people were asleep.
Dozens of grieving relatives of at least 38 victims wept openly during funeral rites at the Iligan city cemetery. Many wore masks to try to block the stench of decomposing bodies.
"We have to give the dead a decent burial," Mayor Lawrence Cruz said. He said authorities were using part of the cemetery's passageway to build tombs.
A Briton was the first foreigner reported dead in the flooding, according to the British Embassy in Manila. It didn't provide details.
Aquino, on a visit to Cagayan de Oro on Tuesday, said the declaration of a national calamity will help local authorities gain quick access to recovery funds and keep prices of basic goods stable.
"Our national government will do its best to prevent a repeat of this tragedy," Aquino told residents who came to greet him.
He said there would be an assessment of why so many people died, if there was ample warning that a storm would sweep through the area, and why people living along riverbanks and close to the coast had not been moved to safety.
"I do not accept that everything had been done. I know that we can do more. We must determine what really happened," Aquino said. "Must this end in tragedy? We knew that (storm) was coming. There should have been efforts to avoid the destruction."
The U.N. food agency flew in 3 tons of high-protein biscuits together with water tanks, blankets, tarpaulins and tents for some 75,000 people. Shortage of water was still a major problem in the two cities.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
"The United Nations and its partners stand ready to support the government in responding to this disaster," the deputy spokesman added.
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Sinaloa cartel OK's Mexico's newest drug ballads (AP)
NAUCALPAN, Mexico ? Trumpets and trombones blast across a rodeo ring where women in miniskirts dance with men in cowboy hats and gold chains. Some fans try to climb onto the stage while others whoop to the deafening music and sing along to an outlaw ballad about one of the most-wanted criminal suspects in North America, an alleged drug kingpin.
"We take care of El Mayo
"Here no one betrays him...
"We stay tough with AK-47s and bazookas at the neck
"Chopping heads off as they come
"We're bloody-thirsty crazy men
"Who like to kill."
At the microphone is Alfredo Rios, whose stage name is "The Komander." He's a singer of Movimiento Alterado ? "Altered Movement" in English ? a new commercial brand of "narcocorrido" ballads that bluntly describe drug violence to the oompah beat of Mexico's norteno music.
The songs are filled with unusually explicit lyrics about decapitations and torture, and praise for one drug gang in particular: the Sinaloa cartel and its bosses, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
The increasingly popular music is banned on radio stations in parts of Mexico but is heavily promoted over the Internet. It is the brainchild of twin brothers based in Burbank, California, who have long turned to the Sinaloa cartel for artistic inspiration. They won a Grammy award in 2008 for producing an artist who goes by the name of "El Chapo de Sinaloa."
Omar Valenzuela says the music not only tells of the violent world of the Sinaloa cartel, but has received its blessing at least once, when the producers worried about the group's reaction to a song about Manuel Torres, allegedly a top hit man for Zambada.
"We looked for them and asked for permission," Valenzuela said. "We sent them the song and they told us it was OK to release the song. We were afraid. They told us through their people that we were authorized to release any song. Sometimes people can get offended. We didn't want any problems."
The song since then has been downloaded 5 million times from the company website, Valenzuela said, and the accompanying video, which tells of how much gunmen working for Torres enjoy killing, has been watched more than 13 million times on YouTube.
Rios and Valenzuela deny any direct relationship with any cartel, and say they don't receive any money from the gangs. "I wish they were putting in money to promote (the music)," Valenzuela said with a laugh.
For Jose Manuel Valenzuela, an expert on narcocorridos at Mexico's College of the Northern Border, the success of the Movimiento Alterado's music shows that drug traffickers have become more socially acceptable in many circles.
"The social presence of drug trafficking helps this music circulate, and this is also made easier by the easy access to it through the Internet," said Valenzuela, who is not related to the twins.
The new music was born in Culiacan, capital of the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. The fact that the bands Valenzuela promotes sing exclusively about the Sinaloa cartel has mostly to do with geography, he said.
"In Culiacan, you can't sing about anyone else because they are from here," he said referring to the Sinaloa cartel. "Singing about the Zetas it's not even something you think about. Someone could complain. Nobody wants any trouble."
The Zetas gang, which had its beginning in the border state of Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas, is fighting the Sinaloa cartel for control of drug traffic routes. The battle has caused many of the roughly 40,000 drug war deaths since Mexican President Felipe Calderon ramped up the military offensive on cartels as he took office in 2006.
Some Movimiento Alterado musicians wear camouflage and bulletproof vests on stage and some have names clearly alluding to the Sinaloa cartel, such as Los Mayitos, referring to Zambada's nickname, or The Buchones, as the new rich who made their fortunes in drug trafficking are called in Sinaloa.
That identification can bring dangers.
Gunmen attacked the car of one of the Movimiento's singers, Gerardo Ortiz, in March in the western state of Colima. He survived but his representative and driver were killed.
Valenzuela said the violent lyrics merely describe the times.
The narcos "are cutting heads, and they are more bloodthirsty," he said. "It's in the news every day. If (the ballads) didn't speak about that, they would sound false. If a ballad doesn't express today's language it sounds old."
That's not a new phenomenon: Popular singers from early English troubadours to American gangsta rappers have treated violent outlaws sympathetically.
Movimiento Alterado's boom began in 2009 when the Valenzuela brothers recorded songs by two bands and released them on the Internet because radio stations wouldn't play them. In the states of Sinaloa and Baja California, it's illegal to play songs that advocate drug trafficking on the radio. In May, Sinaloa state Gov. Mario Lopez Valdez went further and banned them at bars and public places. In Chihuahua state, radio stations agreed not to play them.
But on the Internet, the songs are downloaded by the tens of thousands and Movimiento Alterado bands fill dirt-floor rodeo rings and swanky auditoriums across Mexico and the United States.
"The biggest market for this music is in Los Angeles because there we still sell CDs," Valenzuela said.
They also have greater media exposure there. The bilingual Mun2 cable channel of NBCUniversal Inc. ran a reality series, Los Twiins, about the brothers last year. It showed them developing new artists, such as Rios, and featured a guest appearance by Snoop Dogg.
Most of the albums are recorded in Los Angeles at Twiins Enterprises studios, though the Valenzuelas say some are recorded in Culiacan.
Back at the rodeo ring in Naucalpan, on the northwest edge of Mexico City, it was 3 a.m. and the crowd was getting impatient waiting for the star of the night. Finally, the MC announced "the king of the Movimiento Alterado."
Dressed in a black shirt and black pants, Rios looked the part of a pop singer. He invited the audience "to drink solid." The women cheered, and men offered him a drink from their whiskey bottles. The music went on until close to dawn.
Rios doesn't sing about drug traffickers. He sings as if he is one.
"Honestly, I don't like guns, in the first place because I'm not very good at using them," he said. "What I like is playing a role, like in a video game called 'The Executioner.' I play the executioner."
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Failed Mars Probe's Fall From Space May Help Re-Entry Predictions (SPACE.com)
Russia?s troubled Phobos-Grunt probe, stuck in the wrong orbit for more than a month, appears to be headed for a fiery and uncontrolled fall back to Earth early next month.
Tracking experts are predicting that Phobos-Grunt will re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Jan. 9, 2012, but at present, the forecast includes an uncertainty of plus or minus 5 1/2 days. Some analysts are even suggesting that the spacecraft could see its demise as early as Jan. 1 or 2.
Meanwhile, the uncontrolled tumble of Phobos-Grunt into Earth's atmosphere is being eyed as a possible way to sharpen computer tools to more accurately calculate re-entry predictions.
That option would fall under the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. The IADC is an intergovernmental agency that coordinates research related to orbital debris in space, as well as man-made objects that re-enter the atmosphere.
The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), the European Space Agency, NASA and the German Aerospace Center are among the members of the IADC. [Photos: Russia's Mars Moon Mission]
"IADC is considering to adopt Phobos-Grunt as an IADC re-entry test object," said Heiner Klinkrad, ESA?s senior space debris expert and head of the European Space Operations Center?s Space Debris Office in Darmstadt, Germany. "A final decision, in accordance with IADC?s terms of reference, still needs to be taken," he told SPACE.com.
Since 1998, the IADC has performed re-entry prediction tests. Data-sharing between countries has helped hone skills to more precisely calculate the re-entries of spacecraft, rocket stages and even discarded hardware from the International Space Station.
Over the years, a number of targets have been used for IADC re-entry campaigns.
If Phobos-Grunt is a new target, it will be the third tracking campaign in 12 months ? a record for the IADC. This year the agency monitored the uncontrolled re-entry of NASA?s defunct Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite on Sept. 24, followed by the downfall of Germany?s dead Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT) on Oct. 23.
Go-getting mission
The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft tips the scale at nearly 14 tons. The probe is full of several tons of propellant ? a hefty load of toxic hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide fuel. This propellant, which would have sent Phobos-Grunt toward Mars, was left unused after a malfunction with the probe's engines stranded it in Earth orbit instead.
Phobos-Grunt was designed to land on Phobos, one of two moons circling the Red Planet. The ambitious mission was slated to gather rock and soil samples from Phobos and return them to Earth in 2014.
But after being boosted into space on Nov. 8 (Nov. 9 in Moscow), the craft failed to send itself toward Mars. Russian, European and U.S. space network antennas were mobilized in hopes of salvaging the marooned ?probe, but flight controllers have struggled to regain control of Phobos-Grunt.?
These rescue attempts now seem to be solely the responsibility of the Russians as they continue to try to communicate with Phobos-Grunt.
In a Dec. 8 open letter to Phobos-Grunt colleagues, Lev Zelenyi, director of the Space Research Institute in Moscow and chairman of the Russian Academy of Sciences? Solar System Exploration Board, said:
"Lavochkin Association specialists will continue their attempts to establish connection with the spacecraft and send commands until the very end of its existence. We are working nevertheless on the issue of reentry and probability of where and which fragments may hit the ground (if any.)"
Debris analysts in the U.S. point to Russian statements that the propellant tanks onboard Phobos-Grunt are made of aluminum, not heat-resistant titanium. As such, any propellant ? frozen or unfrozen ? should "burn up" or dissipate during the re-entry process.
But according to comments from Viktor Khartov, the head and chief designer of NPO Lavochkin, the Russian aerospace company that designed and manufactured Phobos-Grunt, components of the spacecraft are expected to reach the Earth?s surface ? including the probe?s sample-return capsule.
The nose cone-shaped hardware was designed to transport specimens of Phobos to Earth, and it was built to speed through Earth?s atmosphere and make a crash- landing at a recovery site, without a parachute.
Lessons from ROSAT
Still to be seen is how Russian space officials plan to advise the public regarding the death throes of Phobos-Grunt and what leftovers might reach Earth?s surface.
"After ROSAT came down over the Indian Ocean ? there was widespread relief," said Johann-Dietrich W?rner, chairman of the executive board of the German Aerospace Center, which is headquartered in Bonn.
In a recent blog entry, W?rner noted that ROSAT carried an X-ray telescope with heat-resistant components. This encouraged the view that larger parts could survive re-entry, he said, and might pose a risk to people and objects on the ground.
W?rner added that he personally drew a number of lessons from the conclusion of the ROSAT mission:
- Responsibility for a project must encompass the entire lifespan and take every eventuality into consideration.
- National and international collaboration, regardless of whether personal or institutional, has now achieved a level that is marked by a very engaging, positive attitude and mutual trust, which must be used accordingly.
- Communication concerning projects should be as transparent as possible, but always reliable and correct in every respect. In this regard, successes and potential risks must be communicated equally.
Death watch
"It seems unlikely that Phobos-Grunt will somehow be rescued at this point," said T.S. Kelso, a senior research astrodynamicist for the Colorado Springs-based Center for Space Standards & Innovation, a research arm of Analytical Graphics Inc.
"The last efforts were tied to a period where the orbit [of Phobos-Grunt] would have the spacecraft in sunlight throughout its orbit, raising hopes that it might have the power necessary to establish communications," Kelso told SPACE.com. "But given the large dishes they've used in this effort and the lack of communications, we're left to await yet another re-entry."
"I hate to say it, but we're already working the 'death' watch here," he said. "The bottom line is that there is very little chance of anything reaching the ground and even if it did, it would likely do so over some ocean."
Risk to the public?
So, with the prospect of a third large spacecraft falling to Earth within the span of about four months, should the public be concerned?
"People should not panic. Space debris is re-entering all the time, including fairly large rocket bodies," said Michael Listner, a space law attorney based in New Hampshire. "However, the public should not be completely dismissive of the threat that space debris poses, either."?
Listner observed that ROSAT, for example, fell just short of the Asian continent and landed in the Bay of Bengal. He also recalled the incident in 1978 involving the former Soviet Union's nuclear-energized Cosmos 954 that hurtled into a wilderness area of Canada. [Worst Space Debris Events of All Time]
The clean-up operation from that fall was a coordinated event between the United States and Canada, with an estimated recovery of about 0.1 percent of Cosmos 954's power source.
"If that spacecraft had completed just a couple of more orbits it may have landed in the continental United States," Listner said. "There was also the incident with [NASA?s] Skylab where debris from the falling space station fell onto the Australian town of Esperance."
What we don't know
"One of the uncertainties surrounding Phobos-Grunt is the lack of hard technical information about the spacecraft," Listner said. "If Roscosmos provided hard data about the construction of the spacecraft, including the construction of the propellant tanks, it might allay concerns about the danger the spacecraft poses."
There is some question about the Chinese orbiter Yinghou 1 ? a hitchhiking payload attached to Phobos-Grunt. There is little, if any, technical data about its construction and composition, including any potentially hazardous materials that might survive re-entry, Listner said.?
"There is a lot of talk about international cooperation, and, in fact, the U.S. Strategic Command?s Joint Space Operations Center is providing Roscosmos with orbital information via a transparency and confidence-building measure signed by the United States and the Russian federation specifically for the purpose of providing such information for space situational awareness," Listner said.?
The signed measure was a result of discussions that arose following the collision of a U.S. satellite and Russian satellite in February 2009, Listner said.
"It would stand to reason that a situation such as the Phobos-Grunt re-entry would call for further transparency between the nations involved, including technical data/assurances relating to the spacecraft," Listner concluded.
Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of this year's National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for SPACE.com since 1999.
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
'Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows' Cheat Sheet
We have everything you need to know about the Guy Ritchie sequel.
By Kara Warner
Robert Downey Jr. in "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"
After the spectacular success of "Sherlock Holmes" — $515 million in worldwide ticket sales, a Best Actor Golden Globe win for Robert Downey Jr., both of which were unpredictable accomplishments given the fact that the film arrived in theaters at the same time as James Cameron's "Avatar" — it was no surprise when Warner Bros. announced plans for a sequel.
To celebrate the arrival of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," in theaters Friday (December 16), here's our comprehensive cheat sheet of everything you need to know about the action-packed, Guy Ritchie-directed sequel.
A New World of Possibilities
Amazingly enough, talk of a "Sherlock" sequel began three months prior to the original's release, when Brad Pitt was rumored to be joining the cast as Moriarty and there were rumblings that it would be shot in 3-D. Neither of those things panned out, but we did eventually learn that the sequel would be filmed in Paris and London and that instead of "Sherlock Holmes 2," the film's title would be "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows."
Fresh Meat
Early on, we learned that Rachel McAdams' return as Irene Adler was trimmed to a "very small part," which made way for the addition of a new female lead, Noomi Rapace, who originated the role of Lisbeth Salander in Sweden's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Ritchie summed up her character thusly: "She's a gypsy princess with balls," he told us when we visited the set. "That's what Noomi brings to the table."
The other new addition was "Mad Men" actor Jared Harris who won the coveted role of the villainous Professor Moriarty. Harris couldn't give us many details about the role when we caught up with him in early '11, but he did gush about the "great fun" he had on set.
Setting the Shadowy Tone
As we started to inch closer to the film's release, we started to see that the sequel was going to be a bit darker via the first official posters, photos and the first full-length trailer. It's not all dark and stormy, of course, since a lot of the fun of the first film was in the whimsical moments between Downey and Law, and Holmes' various disguises, as revealed in this funny clip featuring more of RDG in drag.
When MTV News caught up with the main players recently, Downey assured us the film is a "superior product" and that everyone had gone to great lengths to make it bigger and better. Perhaps Ritchie summed it up best: "All in all, we tried to basically put this film on 'roids."
Check out everything we've got on "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676169/sherlock-holmes-game-of-shadows.jhtml
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Microsoft Is Nuking Internet Explorer 6 With Worldwide Automatic Upgrade [Microsoft]
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Early rally fades; stock market down for the week (AP)
An early rally faded on the stock market Friday, leaving indexes down about 3 percent for the week as worries resurfaced about a breakup of the euro.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion plunged after slashing its forecast for holiday sales. The IPO of online game maker Zynga Inc. didn't live up to its lofty expectations. The stock lost 5 percent on its first day of trading
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2 points. It was up as many as 99 points in the morning after the Italian government won a confidence vote on austerity measures. That gain evaporated around midday after Fitch warned that it might downgrade the debt of Italy, Spain and four other countries that use the euro. After markets closed, Moody's downgraded Belgium's debt two notches and said more cuts were possible.
Materials and industrial companies rose, signaling that traders expect the U.S. economic recovery to remain on track. Utilities, health care and consumer staples companies lagged the market as traders sold stocks that are considered to be safer when the economy is weak.
The Dow Jones industrial average broke a three-day slump Thursday on news that claims for unemployment benefits plunged last week and measures of manufacturing in the Northeast improved dramatically. The Dow lost 360 points over the first three days of the week as investors questioned whether Europe's agreement to closer coordinate fiscal policy would be enough to save the euro from a catastrophic breakup.
Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors, said investors are holding back until they get a "firmer resolution" to Europe's debt morass and more progress in Washington on reforming entitlements, balancing the budget and getting the country growing again. "Right, now we don't have anything to offer them," he said.
Some analysts believe nervousness about Europe this fall and winter pushed stock prices too far. Investment adviser Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, expects stocks to rise into next year because of the growing likelihood that economic news and European headlines will remain positive.
"The odds are, the news is going to be better than the market is discounting," Landesman said. He said the market is near the low end of its recent trading range, and a dose of positive news could set off a mini-rally. Any market moves next week could be sharp as trading volume thins out before the Christmas holiday, Landesman said.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2.42 points at 11,866.93.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.91, or 0.3 percent, to 1,219.66. The Nasdaq composite index rose 14.32, or 0.6 percent, to 2,555.33 The Dow is down 2.6 percent for the week; the S&P 2.8 percent. The Nasdaq lost 3.5 percent.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note plunged to 1.85 percent from 1.93 percent earlier Friday after the government said consumer prices were unchanged last month, suggesting that inflation remains low. Low inflation makes bonds more attractive because it doesn't diminish the buying power of the fixed return a bond provides over time.
Seven of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index rose, with the only declines showing up in health care, consumer staples, and utilities. The biggest gains were in energy, materials and industrial companies. U.S. factories in some regions have had higher shipments and orders month, according to two surveys released Thursday. Materials companies are benefiting from soaring commodity prices.
Research In Motion Ltd. plummeted 11 percent after the company said late Thursday that new phones seen as critical to its future will be delayed until late next year. RIM also is taking a big loss on unsold tablet computers and predicted that its BlackBerry sales will fall sharply during the holiday sales season.
Zynga, which makes "Farmville" and other popular games, fell 5 percent to $9.50 in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq. The initial public offering was priced late Thursday at $10 per share, raising $1 billion. That means the San Francisco company can boast the biggest Internet IPO since Google Inc. first offered shares in 2004.
Among the other companies making big moves:
? New York-area cable TV provider Cablevision Systems Corp. plunged 9 percent following the sudden departure of its chief operating officer, Tom Rutledge.
? Adobe Systems Inc. jumped 6.6 percent after the software maker reported earnings and revenues that were far better than what analysts had expected. Analyst Walter Pritchard at Citigroup said the quarter was a "blow-out when most expected weakness."
___
AP Business Writer Joshua Freed contributed to this story.
Follow Daniel Wagner at http://www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.
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