Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167089253?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Aruba to free suspect in Md. woman's death
A judge in Aruba on Friday ordered the release of U.S. businessman Gary Giordano, who was detained in connection with the August death of his traveling companion.
The judge said Giordano, a 50-year-old employment agency owner from Gaithersburg, Maryland,? must be freed on Tuesday without any conditions.
He has been in jail since Aug. 5 while investigators sought more time to gather and evaluate evidence in the death of 35-year-old Robyn Gardner, of Frederick, Md.
Aruban Solicitor General Taco Stein said that an appeal was filed later Friday and that a hearing could take place Monday.
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"If you file a charge then you have to write the suspicions you have, and that means you have to be clear about what exactly has happened," Stein told NBC Washington.
"As long as we don't have the body or we don't have trace evidence or we don't have the material to bring us to a conclusion on that, it's very difficult to make a charge, because the only thing at this point in time you can say is she went missing on the second of August and we presume she's dead but we don't have evidence to that effect," he added.
"We feel that a crime has been committed," Stein said. "We still see Mr. Giordano as the main suspect in that."
Stein added that Giordano could be extradited back to Aruba if prosecutors felt they had enough evidence to go to court.
Video: Surveillance video shows ?carefree? Robyn Gardner (on this page)Giordano has said that Gardner was swept out to sea on Aug. 2 while snorkeling. Her body has not been found.
Investigators developed Giordano as a suspect because he tried to cash in on a travel insurance policy he took out on Gardner and there were inconsistencies in his story, authorities have said.
Giordano was initially detained Aug. 5 at the airport before he could leave the island and his detention has been extended several times since then.
"It's our intention and our determination to continue this investigation and to see to it to bring about the truth, not only for the island but especially for the relatives of Robyn, especially this time of year with the holidays coming up," Stein told NBC Washington. "It must be very hard on them that this situation still exists."
The Associated Press and NBC News' Jeff Rossen contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45436559/ns/world_news-americas/
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Pope calls for responsible, credible climate deal (AP)
VATICAN CITY ? Pope Benedict XVI called Sunday for delegates attending this week's U.N. climate change conference in South Africa to craft a responsible and credible deal to cut greenhouse gases that takes into account the needs of the poor.
Some 25,000 government officials, lobbyists and scientists are expected to attend the two-week conference that opens Monday in Durban. The immediate focus is the pending expiration of the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 agreement requiring 37 industrialized countries to slash carbon emissions to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Western governments are expected to try to get China and other growing economies to accept legally binding curbs on greenhouse gases, as well. Poor countries want the signatories to accept further reductions in a second commitment period up to at least 2017.
Benedict, who has been dubbed the "green pope" for his environmental concerns, launched an appeal Sunday to government representatives attending the Durban conference to craft a responsible revised Kyoto deal.
"I hope that all members of the international community agree on a responsible and credible response to this worrisome and complex phenomenon, taking into account the needs of the poorest and future generations," he said during his traditional Sunday blessing from his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square.
Benedict denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a successor treaty to Kyoto during a 2009 U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. He said then that world peace depends on safeguarding God's creation.
The 84-year-old German pope has voiced increasing concern about protecting the environment in his encyclicals, during foreign trips, speeches to diplomats and in his annual peace message. Under Benedict's watch, the Vatican has installed photovoltaic cells on its main auditorium to convert sunlight into electricity and has joined a reforestation project aimed at offsetting its CO2 emissions.
For the pontiff, it's a moral issue: Church teaching holds that man must respect creation because it's destined for the benefit of humanity's future. He has argued that climate change and natural catastrophes threaten people's rights to life, food, health and ultimately peace.
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Packers: Suh explanation is 'crap'
APWe handle the biggest injury news all day in the rumor mill.?
The rest goes right here, in America?s most popular injury segment that always listens to the National Anthem.
1. Kevin Kolb is officially questionable after being limited in practice all week with his toe injury. ?We won?t know his status until gametime, but signs are pointing towards Kolb playing.
2. The Rams? two best defenders are questionable.?Linebacker James Laurinaitis (foot) and defensive end Chris Long (ankle) practiced in a limited fashion during the week, so they should play.
3. The Bills have a sadly big list of starters that are out this week. Some of the players are already on injured reserve, but we?ll reprint here: Running back?Fred Jackson (fibula), wideout Donald Jones (ankle), kicker Rian Lindell (shoulder), cornerback Terrence McGee (knee), and safety George Wilson (neck) are out. ?Backup wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt (shoulder) is also out.
4. The Jets are healthy, with the exception of kick returner?Jeremy Kerley (knee) and running back LaDainian Tomlinson (knee). Both are questionable, but they didn?t practice all week.
5. Tight end Dallas Clark (fibula) is out once again. Running back Joseph Addai (hamstring) should be back after practicing fully all week.
6. The Raiders will be without?wide receiver Jacoby Ford (foot), running back Darren McFadden (foot), and defensive end Jarvis Moss (hamstring). ?Half the team is questionable, including two players that didn?t practice all week: running back?Taiwan Jones (hamstring) and wide receiver Denarius Moore (foot).
7. A few extra days off did the Broncos some good. The entire active roster should be available to face San Diego.
8. The Chargers got some good news on Friday. Running back Ryan Mathews (knee) is probable despite missing practice Thursday, and their best pass rusher Shaun Phillips (foot) was upgraded to questionable this week.
The bad news:?Defensive end Luis Castillo (tibia), wideout Malcom Floyd (hip), and tackle Marcus McNeill (neck) are all still out. Two other guards are doubtful. The offensive line is in bad shape.
9. Andre Johnson (hamstring) is officially probable as he returns from his lengthy injury. ?He should be happy about his matchup with Jacksonville because . . .
10. The Jaguars defense is banged up. Cornerback Derek Cox went on injured reserve Friday. Fellow starter Rashean Mathis is already there. Defensive line starters?Terrance Knighton (ankle) and Matt Roth (concussion) are both out.
11. The Falcons will be short in the secondary. Luckily, they are playing the Vikings. ?Cornerback Kelvin Hayden (toe) is out and cornerback Brent Grimes (knee)?is questionable despite not practicing all week.
12. Patriots wideout?Chad Ochocinco (hamstring) is officially questionable after missing practice Friday. There are nine other Patriots that are questionable, but they all practiced in a limited fashion during the week. Linebacker Brandon Spikes (knee) remains out.
13. Redskins receiver Santana Moss (hand) is back in the mix. He?s probable.
14. The Steelers list linebacker?LaMarr Woodley (hamstring) as questionable, but there is doubt locally that he?ll suit up.
Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/25/packers-on-suh-his-explanation-is-crap/related
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Maggie Daley dies; wife of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley had long bout with cancer (Washington Post)
Friday, November 25, 2011
Obama thanks military, volunteers on Thanksgiving (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States was grateful to military service members and soup kitchen volunteers alike and the holiday displayed American unity despite Washington's political gridlock.
In his weekly radio address, Obama wished Americans a happy Thanksgiving and said the holiday was a celebration of national community.
"We're especially grateful for the Americans who defend our country overseas. To all the service members eating Thanksgiving dinner far from your families, the American people are thinking of you today," he said.
"We're also grateful for the Americans who are taking time out of their holiday to serve in soup kitchens and shelters making sure their neighbors have a hot meal and a place to stay."
Obama said political partisanship and gridlock in Washington made it easy to wonder if U.S. unity was possible.
"But think about what's happening at this very moment. Americans from all walks of life are coming together as one people, grateful for the blessings of family, community and country," he said.
Obama telephoned 10 servicemen deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan on Thursday to wish them and their families a happy Thanksgiving and to thank them for their sacrifice, the White House said.
The White House said Obama talked to two servicemen each from the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy.
Obama planned to have a quiet Thanksgiving with friends, family and staff in the White House.
The White House said the Obamas' Thanksgiving dinner menu was:
Turkey
Ham
Cornbread Stuffing
Oyster Stuffing
Greens
Macaroni and cheese
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Dinner Rolls
Dessert:
Banana Cream Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Huckleberry Pie
Cherry Pie
(Writing by Ian Simpson; Editing by Barbara Goldberg)
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Court upholds Yellowstone grizzly protections (Reuters)
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) ? Endangered Species Act protections, including habitat safeguards, should remain intact for some 600 grizzly bears roaming the area around Yellowstone National Park, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the bulk of a lower-court ruling in 2009 that required the federal government to restore the status of the iconic bear as a threatened species.
Conservationists had successfully argued then that the government failed to analyze the impact of climate change on grizzlies in the Yellowstone area when Endangered Species Act protections were lifted in 2007.
Hunting, trapping and poisoning of grizzlies in the lower 48 states had cut grizzly numbers from tens of thousands in the 19th century to several hundred in 1975, when they were listed as threatened with extinction.
But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has asserted that the population of out-sized, hump-shouldered bears roaming parts of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming had made a healthy comeback in the past three decades.
Environmentalists pointed to a dwindling supply of whitebark pines, high-elevation trees whose seeds provide a crucial food source for grizzlies. Scientists say a warming climate in the West was the chief culprit in the decline of whitebarks, which are under assault from diseases and pests.
The government appealed the U.S. district judge's decision that ordered re-listing of the grizzly.
But a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit unanimously sided on Tuesday with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition on the question of whitebark pines, finding that the trees' decline was reason enough to keep the bears protected.
Two of the three judges embraced the Fish and Wildlife Service's blueprint for the long-term management of a sustainable grizzly population, but the panel concluded that was not sufficient to deny the bears protection.
BEAR ENCOUNTERS
The ruling comes as the number of grizzly encounters with humans in the Northern Rockies has been running above average, including two fatal maulings in Yellowstone National Park that marked the first such deaths there since 1986.
Scientists said the shortage in the high country of whitebark seeds forces the bears to seek food in areas they once colonized but are now inhabited by humans.
Writing for the majority in Tuesday's ruling, Judge Richard Tallman said the grizzly delisting process had been well under way before whitebark pine losses emerged as a problem.
"But now that this threat has emerged, the service cannot take a full-speed ahead, damn-the-torpedoes approach to delisting," he wrote.
Doug Honnold, a lawyer representing the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said the opinion was a wake-up call for government agencies weighing threats to imperiled species in a vacuum.
"It's a precedent-setting case on the ravages of global warming that are being documented on the ground in the Yellowstone ecosystem," he said.
Interior Department spokesman Adam Fetcher said in an e-mail that the government was reviewing the decision.
The decision dealt a blow to sportsmen who were eager to hunt the trophy animals once they were delisted. The National Wildlife Federation, whose state and local chapters are often dominated by hunters and anglers, sided with the government.
"We've seen the grizzly population increase dramatically. The success on the ground seems clear to us," federation attorney Thomas France said.
He added that the appeals court's analysis of the whitebark pine issue gave too little deference to federal and state agencies' expertise.
Hannold, however, said state agencies had a financial incentive to eliminate the grizzly protections. "The states want to hunt grizzly bears, pure and simple," he said.
Earlier this year, the Fish and Wildlife Service found that whitebark pines were themselves at risk of extinction due to climate change. But the agency said the trees must wait behind more imperiled species before being considered for listing.
(Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Johnston)
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus review (international version)
Our GSM Galaxy Nexus review finds a great platform for the next version of Android -- Ice Cream Sandwich
The past year, like the year before it, has been huge for Android. We’ve seen headlines boasting increasingly ridiculous daily activation numbers and market-share figures, not to mention the platform’s (slightly bumpy) foray into the tablet space. It’s no exaggeration to say that new Android smartphones are arriving on an almost a weekly basis. If you’re a regular visitor, you’ll certainly have noticed that each month seems to bring more reviews and product launches than the last. On phones at least, Android is booming.
As 2011 draws to a close, Google has yet another tasty treat prepared for Android devotees -- the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, powered by the freshly-minted Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS. Nexus devices have always been highly desirable objects for fans of Google and its mobile platform -- the Nexus One and Nexus S both featured attractive, powerful hardware that was open to development and hacking (of the original, good kind). But both failed to catch on with "regular" consumers, mainly due to a lack of marketing or widespread on-contract availability, and the fact that until recently, stock Android was very much the ugly duckling of smartphone operating systems.
This is what Google, along with its partners at Samsung, has tried to fix with the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0. The aim was to build a high-end device with an all-new stock Android user experience, and create not just a great smartphone for developers and enthusiasts, but a great smartphone, period. Read on for our full Galaxy Nexus review to find out whether they’ve succeeded.
  Thin and light, with a gorgeous screen. Ice Cream Sandwich delivers on the promise of a faster, prettier, more usable Android. |  Performance issues with some live wallpapers, camera is decent but not great, no Flash support out of the box. Inconsistent availability worldwide. |
  If, like many of us, you’ve been constantly holding out for that “next big thing” in the Android world, this is your signal to stop waiting and reach for your wallet. The Galaxy Nexus is the Android phone you want to own in 2012. | |
Inside this review | More info |
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/zV_tCPVDu-g/story01.htm
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
HGH tests, restraints on amateur bonuses for MLB (AP)
NEW YORK ? Baseball has labor peace while the NBA is stopped and the NFL nearly came to a standstill.
"We've learned," baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Tuesday after players and owners signed an agreement for a five-year contract running until December 2016. "Nobody back in the `70s, `80s and the early `90s, 1994, would ever believe that we would have 21 years of labor peace."
The agreement makes MLB the first pro major league in North America to conduct blood tests for human growth hormone, allowing it during spring training and future offseasons but for now only studying whether it will be implemented during the regular season.
"MLB and the players union should be applauded for taking the strong step to implement the HGH test at the major league level to protect clean athletes," said Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "This is great progress in MLB's effort to protect the integrity of baseball at every level."
The deal, which must be ratified by both sides and drafted into a formal contract, expands the playoffs from eight to 10 teams by 2013, lessens draft-pick compensation to teams for losing free agents, expands salary arbitration by a few players and for the first time allows teams to trade some draft selections.
It also adds unprecedented restraints on signing bonuses for amateur players coming to the major leagues from high school, college and overseas, perhaps hurting MLB as it competes with the NFL and NBA for multisport talent.
"If I've got a great athlete, why am I going to go to baseball? I'm going to focus on the other sports," said agent Scott Boras, who has negotiated baseball's highest signing bonuses.
Following eight work stoppages from 1972-95, baseball reached its third consecutive agreement without an interruption of play. The agreement was signed three weeks before the current deal was to expire Dec. 11, the second straight time the sides reached a deal early.
Baseball seems to have learned the lessons of the 1994-95 strike, which wiped out the World Series for the first time in nine decades.
"I think our history is more important than what's happening in other sports," said Michael Weiner, who took over from Donald Fehr as union head last year. "It took a while for the owners to appreciate that the union is not only here to stay, but that the union and its members can contribute positively to a discussion about the game ? about its economics, about the nature of the competition, about how it's marketed in every way."
Other highlights included: requiring players to play in the All-Star game unless injured or excused; expanding instant replay to include decisions on foul lines and traps, subject to an agreement with umpires; banning smokeless tobacco products during televised interviews by players, managers and coaches; requiring players arrested for DWI to undergo mandatory evaluation; and wearing improved batting helmets manufactured by Rawlings by 2013.
An initial positive test for HGH would result in a 50-game suspension, the same as a first positive urine test for a performance-enhancing substance. HGH testing in the minor leagues started late in the 2010 season.
"It meant a great deal to me personally, and a great deal to our sport," Selig said.
Random testing for HGH will take place during spring training and the offseason, but there is no agreement yet on random testing in-season. There can be testing at any time for cause.
Although the NFL has wanted to start HGH blood tests, its players' union has thus far resisted.
"The agreement to begin testing puts baseball ahead of other American professional sports leagues and is a credit to their leadership," Rep. Henry Waxman said. "It will be important that the testing be extended to the regular season to avoid creating a loophole in the new policy."
The sides will explore in-season testing, but the union wants to make sure it's done in a way that doesn't interfere with players' health and safety. In addition, the number of offseason urine tests will increase gradually from 125 currently to 250 before the 2015 season.
As for the playoffs, there will be an additional two teams that will give baseball 10 of 30 clubs in the postseason. In the NFL, 12 of 32 teams make the playoffs. In the NBA and NHL, 16 of 30 advance.
The wild-card teams in each league ? the non-first place teams with the best records ? will meet in a one-game playoff, with the winners advancing to the division series. Manfred said a decision on whether the expanded playoffs would start next year likely will be made by the January owners' meeting.
"I think having a second wild-card team is great for the game," said NL MVP Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. "I think it adds intrigue, it adds excitement. If you look at what the wild card, the first wild card, has done for baseball over the last few years, it's made games late in the season relevant for everybody."
This agreement also calls for the Houston Astros to switch from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013, leaving each league with three five-team divisions and a new schedule format that's still being determined. It's baseball's first realignment since the Brewers went to the NL after the 1997 season.
___
AP National Writer Eddie Pells, AP Sports Writer Howie Rumberg and Associated Press writer Frederic J. Frommer contributed to this report.
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Penn St. taps ex-FBI director for investigation
Former FBI director Louis Freeh, speaks after it was announced by Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, that Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Former FBI director Louis Freeh, speaks after it was announced by Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, that Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ken Frazier, right, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, speaks during a press availability to announce former FBI director Louis Freeh, left, will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Former FBI director Louis Freeh, left, answers questions as Ron Tomalis, vice chairman of the Penn State special committee, center, and Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, stand nearby during a press availability to announce Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Former FBI director Louis Freeh, pauses while speaking after it was announced by Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, that Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, speaks during a press availability to announce former FBI director Louis Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Former FBI director Louis Freeh, tapped to lead Penn State's investigation into the child sex abuse allegations against a former assistant football coach, said his inquiry will go as far back as 1975, a much longer period than a grand jury report issued earlier this month.
Freeh was named Monday to oversee the university board of trustees' internal investigation into the abuse allegations that ultimately led to the ouster of longtime football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier.
Freeh said his goal was to conduct a comprehensive, fair and quick review. His team of former FBI agents, federal prosecutors and others has already begun the process of reading the grand jury report and looking at records.
"We will immediately report any evidence of criminality to law enforcement authorities," said Freeh, who has no direct connection to Penn State.
Penn State has faced criticism since announcing that its internal investigation would be led by two university trustees, Merck pharmaceutical company CEO Kenneth Frazier and state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis.
Faculty members on Friday called for an independent investigation of how the university handled abuse allegations, and the faculty senate endorsed a resolution asking for an independent investigation.
In announcing Freeh's appointment, Frazier stressed the former FBI director's independence. Freeh will be empowered to investigate employees up to and including the board of trustees itself, Frazier said.
"No one is above scrutiny," Frazier said. "He has complete rein to follow any lead, to look into every corner of the university to get to the bottom of what happened and then to make recommendations that will help ensure that it never happens again."
Freeh said he had been assured there would be "no favoritism." He called that assurance "the main condition of my engagement."
Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is accused of molesting eight boys over a 15-year period beginning in the mid-1990s. Authorities say some assaults happened on campus and were reported to administrators but not to police.
Authorities say Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999, met the children through The Second Mile, a youth charity that he started in 1977. By going back as far as 1975, Freeh's investigation would cover the entire time The Second Mile has existed and 24 of the 30 years that Sandusky worked at Penn State.
Amid the scandal, Penn State's trustees ousted Spanier and Paterno. The trustees said Spanier and Paterno failed to act after a graduate assistant claimed he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in a campus shower in 2002.
Paterno, who has the most wins of any major college football coach, has conceded he should have done more. Spanier has said he would have reported a crime if he had suspected one had been committed.
Sandusky has said he is innocent. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but said he never molested them.
Former school administrators Tim Curley ? who is on administrative leave ? and Gary Schultz are charged with not properly alerting authorities to suspected abuse and with perjury. They maintain their innocence.
Freeh founded an investigation firm, Freeh Group International Solutions, after leading the FBI from 1993 to 2001. He previously served six years as a special agent.
After his time at the FBI, Freeh also did work for credit card giant MBNA, which has business relationships with Penn State and its alumni association. But a spokeswoman for Freeh's investigation said in a statement that it would not compromise the probe. The statement said Freeh has "no previous personal connection to Penn State" and had no role in negotiating MBNA's longstanding business deal with the school.
Freeh's law firm was hired to look into the bribery case involving FIFA's presidential election. Soccer's governing body banned candidate Mohamed bin Hammam for life for bribing voters. The ruling body also banned 11 Caribbean soccer leaders and disciplined others in the corruption scandal.
Freeh said he spoke with Attorney General Linda Kelly on Sunday night and was determined not to interfere with the ongoing criminal case. A spokesman for Kelly said she was aware of the Penn State trustees' special committee but declined to comment on it.
Gov. Tom Corbett called Freeh's selection "a good one," noting his familiarity with grand juries and the role of prosecutors.
Rod Erickson, Penn State's new president, also lauded the selection. He vowed complete cooperation and said Freeh's findings "will prompt immediate actions for which I will remain responsible."
Freeh will report to a special committee comprised of six university trustees; Dan Hagen, chair of the university's faculty senate; Rodney Hughes, a doctoral student in higher education at Penn State; and retired Air Force Col. and astronaut Guion Bluford, a 1964 Penn State graduate.
Officials also announced that anyone who has information related to the probe can contact investigators at a telephone hotline ? 855-290-3382 ? and a special email, PSUhelp(at)freehgroup.com.
Meanwhile, Penn State police have referred a report of an indecent assault at an outdoor swimming pool building to the attorney general's office.
A police log noted the report referred to an incident that occurred between June 1, 2000, and Aug. 30, 2000. The report was made to campus police Wednesday and was noted on Thursday's police log.
When asked if the report was related to allegations against Sandusky, Penn State Police Chief Tyrone Parham said Monday: "We can never describe anything related to a victim or suspect."
State open records laws don't require Penn State to release the full police report.
A state lawmaker who represents the State College area said he was sponsoring a bill that would reverse the exemption ? which applies to Penn State and three other universities that rely heavily on state funding but are independently run.
Rep. Kerry Benninghoff said a "more open climate" might prevent future scandals.
___
Associated Press writers Genaro C. Armas in State College, Pa.; Marc Levy and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pa.; and Fred Lief in New York contributed to this report.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Walmart selling Limited Edition Blue Wii for $99.96 on Black Friday
P.S. - Black Thursday is the new Black Friday.
Walmart selling Limited Edition Blue Wii for $99.96 on Black Friday originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/20/walmart-selling-limited-edition-blue-wii-for-99-96-on-black-fri/
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Faster-than-light claims face new challenge
GENEVA?? Scientists studying the same neutrino particles that colleagues say appear to have traveled faster than light rejected the startling finding this weekend, saying their tests had shown it must be wrong.
The September announcement of the faster-than-light finding, backed up last week after new studies, caused a furor in the scientific world, as it seemed to suggest that Albert Einstein's ideas on relativity, and much of modern physics, were based on a mistaken premise.
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The first team, collaborating on the OPERA experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory south of Rome, said they recorded neutrinos beamed to them from the CERN research center in Switzerland as arriving 60 nanoseconds before light would have done.
But colleagues involved in ICARUS, another experiment at Gran Sasso, now argues that their measurements of the neutrinos energy on arrival contradict that reading.
In a paper posted Saturday on the same ArXiv preprint website as the OPERA results, the ICARUS team says their findings "refute a superluminal [faster than light] interpretation of the OPERA result."
They argue, on the basis of recently published studies by two top U.S. physicists, that the neutrinos pumped down from CERN should have lost most of their energy if they had traveled at even a tiny fraction faster than light.
But in fact, the ICARUS scientists say, the neutrino beam as tested in their equipment registered an energy spectrum fully corresponding with what it should be for particles traveling at the speed of light and no more.
Physicist Tomasso Dorigo, who works at CERN as well as Fermilab near Chicago, said in a post on the website Scientific Blogging that the ICARUS paper was "very simple and definitive."
He said the paper asserted "that the difference between the speed of neutrinos and the speed of light cannot be as large as that seen by OPERA, and is certainly smaller than that by three orders of magnitude, and compatible with zero."
Under Einstein's 1905 theory of special relativity, nothing can be accelerated to a speed faster than light. That idea lies at the heart of all current science of the cosmos and of how the vast variety of particles that make it up behave.
There was widespread skepticism when the OPERA findings were first revealed, and even the leaders of the experiment insisted that they were not announcing a discovery but simply recording measurements they had made and carefully checked.
Last week, the OPERA researchers said a new experiment with shorter neutrino beams from CERN and much larger gaps between them had produced the same result. Independent scientists said, however, this was not conclusive.
Other experiments are being prepared ? at Fermilab and at the KEK laboratory in Japan ? to try to replicate OPERA's findings. Only confirmation from one of these would open the way for a full scientific discovery to be declared.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45381655/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Defense hawks insist on sparing military from cuts (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Congress' defense hawks insist the military should be spared from automatic cuts triggered by the failure of the supercommittee to reach a deal on reducing the deficit.
No way, says President Barack Obama, who Monday vowed to veto any effort to undo the roughly $1 trillion in across-the-board cuts, half from domestic programs and half from defense.
"There will be no easy off-ramps on this one. We need to keep the pressure up to compromise, not turn off the pressure," the president said. "The only way these spending cuts will not take place is if Congress gets back to work and agrees to a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion."
The confrontation will play out in a politically charged atmosphere, with Obama's Republican presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Perry already criticizing the commander in chief for the looming defense cuts.
Actually, those big federal deficit reductions wouldn't begin until January 2013. That allows plenty of time for lawmakers to try again to produce a debt plan, rework the cuts or hope that a new post-election cast of characters ? with possibly a different president ? will reverse them.
Protectors of the Pentagon budget argue that last summer's debt accord between Obama and congressional Republicans already inflicted enough damage. That law set in motion some $450 billion in cuts to Pentagon accounts over the next decade.
Defense hawks are backed up in part by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who warned of a hollow fighting force but implored Congress to produce a debt plan avoiding "cuts that will tear a seam in the nation's defense."
Now the supercommittee's failure sets the stage for the automatic cuts Panetta had feared. Combined with the earlier reductions, the Pentagon would be looking at nearly $1 trillion in cuts in projected spending levels over 10 years.
"Those who have given us so much have nothing more to give," said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., promising to introduce legislation to prevent the cuts.
Sens. John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the panel, said they would "pursue all options" to avoid deeper defense cuts.
"As every military and civilian defense official has stated, these cuts represent a threat to the national security interests of the United States, and cannot be allowed to occur," the two said in a joint statement.
But there's hardly unanimity in Congress. Deficit-cutting tea partyers in the GOP are siding with liberal Democrats in signaling they're ready to allow military reductions. In addition, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said they would abide by the consequences of last summer's deficit-fighting law ? and they control what legislation moves forward.
Freshman Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a tea party favorite, even questioned the legitimacy of the outcry over the military reductions.
"I think we need to be honest about it," Paul said in an interview on CNN Sunday. "The interesting thing is there will be no cuts in military spending. This may surprise some people, but there will be no cuts in military spending because we're only cutting proposed increases. If we do nothing, military spending goes up 23 percent over 10 years. If we sequester the money, it will still go up 16 percent. So spending is still rising under any of these plans."
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the planned Pentagon budget for 2021 would be some $700 billion, an increase over the current level of about $520 billion. The cuts already in the works plus the automatic reductions would trim the projected budget by about $110 billion.
If the automatic cuts go through, the Pentagon would face a 10 percent cut in its $550 billion budget in 2013. On the domestic side, education, agriculture and environmental programs would face cuts of around 8 percent.
Social Security, Medicaid and many veterans' benefits and low-income programs are exempt from automatic cuts. Medicare is limited to a 2 percent reduction.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it is imperative for Obama "to ensure that the defense cuts he insisted upon do not undermine national security," as Panetta has warned.
McCain and Graham have been working on legislation that would undo the automatic defense reductions and instead impose a 5 percent across-the-board reduction in government spending combined with a 10 percent cut in pay for members of Congress.
The Senate resumes work next week on a massive defense bill, a possible vehicle for any effort to rework or undo the cuts. Prospects are still unclear.
"Flat out repeal of sequester? No," said G. William Hoagland, a former top GOP Senate budget aide.
Instead, Hoagland suggested that Obama could use Republican demands for an extension of the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush as leverage in negotiations to soften the automatic spending cuts. Congress must decide by the end of next year whether to extend the Bush tax cuts. Democrats want to allow them to expire for wealthy Americans.
Congressional Republicans and Democrats must also decide in the coming weeks whether to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and leave in place a payroll tax cut enacted last year to prop up the economy.
Another costly question is whether to fix Medicare's payment formula to prevent a 27 percent cut in doctors' pay starting Jan. 1.
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Canada joins US and Britain on new Iran sanctions (AP)
TORONTO ? Canada is announcing additional sanctions against Iran in tandem with the U.S. and Britain to pressure Tehran to halt its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement Monday that the expanded sanctions prohibit almost all financial transactions with the Iranian government. They also add individuals and entities to the list of designated persons and expand the list of prohibited goods.
Baird says Canada is deeply disturbed by the information contained in the most recent International Atomic Energy Agency report suggesting Iranian work toward the development of atomic weapons.
Baird says the regime in Tehran poses the most significant threats to global peace and security today.
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Monday, November 21, 2011
Rihanna Causes Stir In U.K., France
Singer, whose Talk That Talk is out this week, offended audience with what she wore on Britain's 'X Factor.'
By Jocelyn Vena
Rihanna performs on "X Factor UK"
Photo: itv
Rihanna seems to be making trouble everywhere she goes these days. On Sunday night, she accepted her American Music Award for Favorite R&B/Soul Album remotely from the U.K., where she was performing on "The X Factor." And part of her ensemble for that performance had heads turning.
She donned a demure plaid dress and clunky punk shoes with writing scrawled all over them, and one phrase on the footwear had some people up in arms. According to The Telegraph, the words "F--- Off" were written on Ri's shoes. While the offensive statement may have left audiences a bit shocked, a spokesperson for the show played down the controversy.
"There were no close-up shots of Rihanna's shoes," the spokesperson said. "We believe the performance was suitable."
Rihanna caused a similar stir last December when she appeared on the British reality program scantily clad in a provocative outfit.
It's not just the Brits that Rihanna is making blush. According to Pressparty, Rihanna's "We Found Love" video has been banned from being played before 10 p.m. in France. The Officials at the Supreme Audiovisual Council of France have deemed the video, which includes drug use, sex and domestic violence, inappropriate for viewing before that hour.
The video's director, Melina Matsoukas, recently defended the video's imagery when she spoke to MTV News. "We love, obviously, to do provocative imagery ... we always try to definitely push the limits," Matsoukas said. "I think because, in the end, it's not really at all about domestic violence. It's really just about it being toxic, and they're on this drug trip and that definitely plays a part, but I think it's also about being triumphant over those weaknesses, and she leaves him. It's not trying to glorify that type of relationship. The bad parts of it, that's what you don't want. In the end, her leaving, it represents her getting that out of her life. The drugs and the addiction and the toxic — that's what brings her downfall and brings a lot of harm."
Rihanna's video for "S&M," also directed by Matsoukas, was banned for using provocative imagery when it was released back in February.
Rihanna drops her new album, Talk That Talk, a grinding party record full of provocative lyrics, this week. "We Found Love" is the first single off the record.
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674742/rihanna-x-factor-uk-shoe.jhtml
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Pakistani businessman says "coup" memo was dictated (Reuters)
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? A Pakistani-American businessman said on Friday that Pakistan's ambassador to the United States had asked him in May to appeal to the Pentagon to help the civilian government ward off a coup by Pakistan's powerful military.
Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, an American of Pakistani origin based in Zurich, said in a column in the Financial Times last month that a senior Pakistani diplomat asked for assistance in getting a message from President Asif Ali Zardari to Admiral Mike Mullen, then chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Ijaz told Reuters on Friday he wrote a memo outlining the civilian government's fears of military intervention and sent it to the Pentagon on the instructions of Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani.
The affair highlights the fundamental tension in Pakistani politics since the nation was founded in 1947 -- competition for power between civilian politicians and military commanders.
That Zardari wants to exert greater civilian control over the powerful military is an open secret in the capital, Islamabad.
But the memo, which the Pakistan ambassador denies writing, would appear to show the civilian government trying to bring the United States in on its side in the struggle with the military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half its history.
The memo requested Mullen's intercession to stave off any coup but added that with the military on the defensive after the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid on his Pakistani hideout, there was an opportunity to bring it to heel.
Ijaz said Haqqani called him on May 9, one week after the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, to help get a message to the Americans.
"The memo's content in its entirety originated from him," Ijaz told Reuters, referring to Haqqani.
"At a certain point he started talking so fast, I opened up my computer and I started typing the basic outline of the verbal message he wanted me to transmit.
"He was originally asking me to deliver a verbal message. And when I went back to my U.S. interlocutors -- all three of them -- said they wouldn't touch this unless it was in writing."
Haqqani has denied any connection with the memo.
"I refuse to accept Mr Ijaz's claims and assertions," he said in a statement on Thursday. "I did not write or deliver the memo he describes, nor did I authorize anyone including Mr Ijaz to do so."
On Wednesday, Haqqani offered his resignation to Zardari, but it has not been accepted. He has, however, been summoned to Islamabad.
"HARD PRESSURE"
Copies of the memo have been published in Pakistan with the controversy stoked by anti-American and anti-government media speculating whether it was authorized by Zardari or if Haqqani was acting on his own. Ijaz says he doesn't know.
Haqqani has said: "Zardari doesn't even know this guy."
Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the matter on Friday.
The memo's contents are likely to anger Pakistan's military, which sets foreign and security policies. In recent months, there has been sharp tension between the weak civilian government and the military leadership.
Ijaz wrote in the newspaper column that Zardari feared a military takeover following the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, which brought intense pressure on the army.
He told Reuters that Haqqani approached him in the days immediately after the raid, asking for help against what he feared was an imminent coup.
"Civilians cannot withstand much more of the hard pressure being delivered from the army to succumb to wholesale changes," the memo states according to published reports, which Ijaz confirmed matched the document he sent to Mullen.
"I don't know if Haqqani had a blanket power of attorney with Zardari, whether he ever discussed this with Zardari or whether he was acting on his own," he said.
In the memo, the military and intelligence agencies are accused of being complicit in aiding bin Laden. The military has repeatedly said it had no links to bin Laden.
Mullen has said he received the note, but his staff said he took no action.
"Neither the contents of the memo nor the proof of its existence altered or affected in any way the manner in which Adm. Mullen conducted himself in his relationship with Gen. Kayani and the Pakistani government," said Captain John Kirby, who was his spokesman when he was in office.
"He did not find it at all credible and took no note of it."
(This story is corrected to make clear in the first two paragraphs that businessman is
American of Pakistani origin, not Pakistani.)
(Additional reporting by Qasim Nauman; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Robert Birsel and Kevin Liffey)
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Sveum introduced as Cubs' 52nd manager
Chicago Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer, left, and president Theo Epstein, right, help new manager Dale Sveum put on Cubs jersey as he is introduced during a baseball news conference, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Chicago Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer, left, and president Theo Epstein, right, help new manager Dale Sveum put on Cubs jersey as he is introduced during a baseball news conference, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Dale Sevum addresses the media after being introduced as the new manager of the Chicago Cubs baseball club during a news conference, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, in Chicago. AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Chicago Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer, left, and president Theo Epstein, right, introduce new manager Dale Svem during a baseball news conference, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Dale Sveum addresses the media after being introduced as the new manager of the Chicago Cubs baseball club during a news conference, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, in Chicago. AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Dale Sevum dons a Chicago Cubs jersey after being introduced as the new manager of the baseball club during a news conference, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, in Chicago. AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Dale Sveum's approach is low-key and universal. He can converse with the clubhouse attendant, relate to the 25th man on the roster and chat up the multimillionaire-dollar star.
He'll demand as much accountability from the Chicago Cubs' veterans as he will from the younger ones. Whining will not be tolerated. Ground balls will be run out at full speed. And he'll address problems directly ? face-to-face.
"We wouldn't have brought him into the interview if he wasn't so well-respected by all the players he's been around," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said when Sveum was introduced Friday as the team's new manager.
Now, of course, the big question: Can he win?
Sveum was courted by two teams with great traditions, and he landed with the one with the current long championship drought.
He was interviewed twice by both the Red Sox and the Cubs. When Chicago made an offer two days ago at the owners/GM meetings in Milwaukee, he was finally in reach of the managerial job he'd been thinking about since his playing days were winding down in the late 1990s.
"I think the arrow fell in the right spot. Whenever you got two places like that and you're in the running, your head is spinning a little bit," Sveum said. "I think what it came down to (is) this was just the better fit."
Sveum will be staying in the NL Central. He has been Milwaukee's hitting coach the last three seasons and also served as bench and third base coach with the Brewers, the team that launched his 12-year major league career in 1986. And he's had a strong relationship with Brewers star Prince Fielder, one of the biggest free agents this offseason.
Sveum's lone big league managerial experience lasted 16 games ? 12 at the end of the regular season in 2008 after Ned Yost was fired and four in the playoffs after the Brewers captured that wild card that season. But he was passed up twice for the full-time job as Milwaukee went with Ken Macha, then Ron Roenicke.
Sveum also managed the Pirates' Double-A team before he became Boston's third base coach in 2004, the year it ended an 86-year championship drought by taking the World Series.
The Cubs haven't won one since 1918.
"The past is the past no matter where you are," Sveum said during an introductory news conference at Wrigley Field. "You're only as good as you are right now. It doesn't really matter what happened in the past. ... The 103, 104 years blah, blah. It was that way in Boston, it was 86 years. We all know that, but the fact of the matter is when take the field the first day of spring training, it's a whole new year."
Sveum received a three-year deal with an option for 2015 as the Cubs continue to revamp their operation. Theo Epstein was Boston's general manager before he left last month to become the Cubs' president of baseball operations, and Hoyer and scouting director Jason McLeod also worked for the Red Sox.
"Dale won't get caught up in the trappings of the job," Epstein said. "He's very comfortable in his own skin."
Sveum replaces the fired Mike Quade. Also interviewed were Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin and Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr.
This past season under first-year manager Roenicke, the Brewers won 96 games and the NL Central as Sveum supervised one of the best offenses in the National League. With Ryan Braun and Fielder leading the way, the Brewers hit an NL-high 185 homers and were third with a .261 batting average on their way to the NL Central title ? well ahead of the fifth-place Cubs.
The switch-hitting Sveum was an infielder during a long major league career that included 25 homers and 95 RBIs in 1987. He was injured in an outfield collision the following season, then missed the 1989 season and was never the same player.
Sveum got to play under some of the marquee managers in the game, including Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland. Each had an effect on how he plans to approach his new job.
"I think the one common thread is the ability to motivate and none of them were screamers or yellers," Sveum said.
"Their ability on the bench to never show any emotion or body language ? bad body language or good body language ? I think that's a big asset to show players. That even though it might be crunch time or whatever, they still seemed to be calm and bring an ease to the team."
Even though he says he hasn't read the book, "Moneyball," or seen the movie, Sveum is a proponent of statistical analysis favored by Epstein during his years in Boston, saying it gives the manager options when studying matchups and filling out lineups. And he'll talk baseball for hours.
Sveum was ready to start meeting with coaching staff holdovers after his news conference on a cold morning at Wrigley Field.
He's promised to improve the defense ? the Cubs made 134 errors while losing 91 games last season ? and baserunning Like everyone else, he was impressed with the offensive skills of 21-year old Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, who had 207 hits a year ago.
He wants a bench coach whom he knows well because they are bound to tangle during the season. But it won't be former Brewers Hall of Famer Robin Yount, whom he calls his best friend.
"That's not going to happen," Sveum said.
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