Saturday, December 31, 2011

Romney Leads, Bachmann Reels, Billion Dollar Obama is 'BullS$#@', and the Boy with the Bumper Sticker Forehead (ABC News)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/180738166?client_source=feed&format=rss

conrad murray jack del rio jack del rio heaven is for real chapter 11 bankruptcy chapter 11 bankruptcy big ten acc challenge 2011

lvgolfblogger: Whitsett shoots 64 for two-shot Patriot lead http://t.co/sW1O5HkF #Golf

  • Passer la navigation
  • Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
  • Passer cette ?tape
  • Connexion
Loader Twitter.com
  • Connexion
Whitsett shoots 64 for two-shot Patriot lead bit.ly/w2hE7J #Golf lvgolfblogger

Pied de page

Source: http://twitter.com/lvgolfblogger/statuses/152561095285018624

cowboys slim dunkin slim dunkin will rogers ohio university ohio university etta james

Demi Lovato: A Look Back At Her Big 2011

This year saw the Disney star experiencing professional and personal breakthroughs.
By Jocelyn Vena


Demi Lovato
Photo: Denise Truscello/ Getty Images

Demi Lovato will be on hand for MTV's New Year's Eve festivities to rock the night with a performance. But before the party kicks off, it seems fitting to look back on her big 2011, which wasn't just a banner year for Lovato's career, but also her personal life.

After leaving treatment in January, Lovato opened up about her issues (which included eating disorders and self-mutilation) and was on the mend. She thanked her fans for standing by her while she sought treatment and focused on getting healthy. "I can't tell you how much light you brought into my life in probably the darkest time of my life," Lovato said shortly after being released. "Without you guys I wouldn't be here today."

The former Disney princess decided to step away from her Hollywood career to focus on her pop career when she left her hit Disney show "Sonny With a Chance." " 'Sonny' was a chapter in my life I will be forever grateful for," she said in April. "Thank you all for watching."

By July, she was fully in pop-star mode, dropping not only the single for "Skyscraper" but also the equally empowering video for the stirring ballad. "I've been pretty honest," Lovato told MTV News about the track. "My whole journey has been about telling my story and hoping that when I share my story, it inspires somebody. So when I decided to come out with a single that was honest and about my journey and about standing strong and tall like a skyscraper, I hope that it inspired people.

"I thought that there was a bigger opportunity for me to come out with a song that would inspire people, rather than it be just another dance song on the radio," she added.

The song was the lead single off Unbroken, which she dropped in September. "I think it's grown-up, but it's not too grown-up," Lovato explained about the album. "It's not tasteless. It's growing up with my fans. It's [like] I'm not a kid anymore, but I'm also not a full-grown woman either. So I'm in that in-between stage, trying to figure out where that is. So I'm figuring it out, just like my fans are."

In addition to causing a stir with her own music, Lovato had everyone going crazy over her cover of Lil Wayne's "How to Love." She also performed a heartfelt rendition of the national anthem at the World Series and recently returned to the Illinois treatment center where she spent time as a guest speaker.

As the year wraps up, Lovato's fans will have a new single to look forward to, the feel-good track "Give Your Heart a Break."

Related Videos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676516/demi-lovato-big-2011.jhtml

rick perry gaffe rick perry gaffe graham spanier graham spanier penn state board of trustees joe pa joe pa

Facebook Files Updated PAC Form, Launches PAC Website

Facebook is getting political. Really political.

The company, which in September confirmed it was forming a political action committee, ?FB PAC,? on Wednesday filed an update to its documentation with the Federal Election Commission in order to report that it switched its corporate headquarters to Menlo Park, California from its previous location in Palo Alto.

The document, a standard statement of organization, also provides a link to the official website of the Facebook PAC, fbpac.org, which went live back in September, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

Currently, the Facebook PAC website is blocked from public view, containing only entry fields for employees to privately log in.

A Facebook spokesperson also reiterated to TPM the goals of the PAC: ?FB PAC will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.?

Facebook first announced it had completed its move to the sprawling, 1-million-square-foot, former campus of Sun Microsystems on Monday, December 19. The updated PAC form declaring the new headquarters is just another piece of good housekeeping.

But the updated statement of organization also provides a glimpse of just who will be pulling the strings behind Facebook?s newly concerted effort to raise money and influence politics by backing specific candidates.

FB PAC names as its treasurer Joel Kaplan, President George W. Bush?s former deputy chief of staff, who was in May recruited away from his post-political job as an executive at Texas utility Energy Future Holdings to join Facebook as VP of U.S. public policy.

The treasurer of a PAC is responsible for authorizing all of the PAC?s expenditures, or appointing someone to authorize the expenditures, as well as depositing all of the PAC?s receipts within 10 days, among other duties, according to the FEC. The FEC also notes that the treasurer can be held personally liable for violating federal election law.

But already, Kaplan has shifted his expenditures-reporting duties to assistant treasurer Corey Owens, also named in the FB PAC filing as the ?custodian of records,? whom the FEC notes is responsible for maintaining a record of the PAC?s financial activities for the past three years running.

Owens previously served as press secretary at the Constitution Project, a bipartisan think tank dedicated to safeguarding the Constitution, and as a spokesperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union International, according to AllFacebook.com.

As previously noted, Facebook joins a shortlist of large tech companies to have formed PACs in order to sway Washington in their favor ? among them Microsoft, with its high-spending MSPAC ($6.8 million in expenditures in 2011), while Google?s PAC has been ramping up in advance of the 2012 election, raising $570,000 in the first six-months of 2011 but spending only $70,000 of it so far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Facebook, by contrast, spent $910,000 on lobbying in 2011, according to the Center, and that was well before and separate from its PAC, which has yet to report any expenditures. How Facebook plans to raise and spend its PAC money remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

Congress, Facebook, Political Action Committee (PAC), Politics, Social Media, Social Networking
Carl Franzen

Carl Franzen is TPM Idea Lab's tech reporter. He used to work for The Daily, AOL and The Atlantic Wire (though not simultaneously, thankfully). He's never met a button that didn't need to be pressed. He can be reached at carl@talkingpointsmemo.com.

Source: http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/facebook-files-updated-pac-form-launches-pac-website.php

freedom writers lemony snicket lemony snicket jim thome jim thome fun fun fun fest fun fun fun fest

Afghanistan, China sign first oil contract (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? Afghanistan's government signed a deal Wednesday with China's state-owned National Petroleum Corporation, allowing it to become the first foreign company to exploit the country's oil and natural gas reserves.

The contract, which covers the northeastern provinces of Sari Pul and Faryab, is the first of several such blocks to be put on the market in coming months, Afghan Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani said during the signing ceremony.

Bidding information for blocks in neighboring Balkh province will be released at end of February, and for the western Herat province by next summer, he said.

The ministry listed the initial value of the project with CNPC as $700 million. But the total could be ten times greater if more reserves are found and developed, and if international oil prices remain at today's levels, Shahrani said.

The fuel pact allows the Chinese firm to research oil and natural gas blocks in Sari Pul and Faryab, an area known as the Amu Darya River Basin that was first explored by Soviet engineers in the 1960s. The Soviets estimated the reserves at about 87 million barrels, but both the Afghan and Chinese partners believe they will prove to be much larger.

CNPC will also build a refinery ? Afghanistan's first ? within the next three years, after the real size of the reserves is established with greater accuracy, said Lu Gong Xun, president of CNPC's international branch.

Shahrani said the deal calls for the Afghan government to receive 70 percent of the profits from the sale of the oil and natural gas. CNPC will also pay 15 percent in royalties, as well as corporate taxes and rent for the land used for its operations.

Afghanistan's army and police will set up special units to guard the project, Shahrani said.

The provinces of Sari Pul and Faryab are located hundreds of miles from the centers of fighting in the east and southeast and are considered relatively safe. As a result, the U.S.-led NATO force has already transferred or is turning over responsibility for security in large parts of the region to the Afghan army and police.

Surveys conducted by the Soviets have shown that Afghanistan sits on vast mineral wealth. Afghan and foreign companies already have shown interest, notably in its untapped copper, iron and oil deposits. But with poor infrastructure and security problems stemming from the 10-year war, most Western mining companies have shied away from firm commitments.

So far, companies from China ? with which Afghanistan shares a small stretch of border in its east ? have been in the forefront of investments in the nation.

Three years ago the China Metallurgical Construction Co. signed a contract to develop the Aynak copper mine in Logar province. Beijing's $3.5 billion stake in the mine is the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan so far.

___

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_bi_ge/as_afghanistan_china_oil

oregon stanford oregon stanford jon huntsman darrell hammond darrell hammond boxer rebellion boxer rebellion

Friday, December 30, 2011

For Iran, cost of closing strait may outweigh gain (AP)

CAIRO ? With missile batteries, fleets of attack boats and stocks of naval mines, Iran can disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz but probably cannot completely shut down the world's most important oil route, military analysts say. The question for Iran's leadership is whether it is worth the heavy price.

Trying to close the strait would bring down a powerful military response on Iran's head from U.S. forces in the Gulf and turn Tehran's few remaining international allies against it.

That Iran is making such dire threats at all illustrates its alarm over new sanctions planned by the U.S. that will target oil exports ? the most vital source of revenue for its economy. Iran's leaders shrugged off years of past sanctions by the U.S. and United Nations, mocking them as ineffective. But if it cannot sell its oil, its already-suffering economy will be sent into a tailspin.

"It would be very, very difficult for Iran even to impede traffic for a significant period of time," said Jonathan Rue, a senior research analyst at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. "They don't have the ability to effectively block the strait."

What the Iranians can do, Rue and other analysts say, is harass traffic through the Gulf ? anything from stopping tankers to outright attacks. The goal would be to panic markets, drive up shipping insurance rates and spark a rise in world oil prices enough to pressure the United States to back down on sanctions.

The strait would seem to be an easy target, a bottleneck only about 30 miles (50 kilometers) across at its narrowest point between Iran and Oman.

Tankers carrying one-sixth of the world's oil supply pass through it, from the fields of petrogiants Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbors, exiting the Persian Gulf into the Arabian Sea and on to market. They move through two two-mile-wide shipping lanes, one entering the Gulf, one exiting.

In recent years, Iran has dramatically ramped up its navy, increasing its arsenal of fast-attack ships, anti-ship missiles and mine-laying vessels. Its elite Revolutionary Guards boasts the most powerful naval forces, with approximately 20,000 men, with at least 10 missile patrol boats boasting C-802 missiles with a range of 70 miles (120 kilometers) and a large number of smaller patrol boats with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns, according to a recent report by Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The navy has three submarines and an unknown number of midget subs, capable of firing "smart" torpedoes or laying mines. It also has a large scale capability for laying mines using both small craft and commercial boats, according to the report.

The Revolutionary Guard has also deployed a heavy array of anti-ship Seersucker missiles with a range of up to 60 miles (100 kilometers) along its coast overlooking the strait, on mobile platforms that make them harder to hit.

The Guard's naval forces and the regular navy "have been the most favored service. The Iranian air force and ground forces have not seen the same level of attention in domestic procurement and weapons systems," Rue said. "They realize their navies are the best options for inflicting casualties" on the U.S. or Arab Gulf nations.

Still, those forces would not likely be enough to outright seal the strait, given the presence of the U.S. 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain. On Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman George Little warned that any "Interference with the transit or passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated."

Laying minefields in the Hormuz waters would in theory be the most effective action, forcing time-consuming clearing by U.S. forces and their allies before tankers could move through.

But particularly strong currents in the strait make such mining difficult. Moreover, the U.S. and its Gulf allies have extensive surveillance in the area, meaning the Iranians would have little time to set an effective minefield, Rue said. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have both extensively increased their anti-mining capabilities.

Iran's anti-ship missile batteries on the coast are another major threat. But while the missile platforms are mobile, the radar facilities that enable them to target shipping largely are not, making them vulnerable to U.S. strikes.

"It wouldn't be a cakewalk" for U.S. and other forces to push back an Iranian attempt to close the strait, Rue said. But in the end, "their capabilities are not great and ours overwhelmingly outmatch theirs."

The closest parallel may be the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, when each side attacked shipping in the Gulf, trying to cut off the other's vital oil revenues. More than 500 ships were damaged in attacks, and Iranian mining and assaults prompted a U.S. operation escorting Kuwaiti tankers. But while oil shipments from the Gulf slowed, they came nowhere close to stopping.

Alireza Nader, an analyst at the RAND Corp., said Iran could start with lower-level moves short of outright attacks.

"It could harass shipping, stopping and searching ships. We could see those kind of provocative steps," he said.

But turning to military moves raises the danger for Iran of retaliation. And trying to close the strait could be disastrous for Tehran.

"If the benefits are higher than the costs, it could take that action, but it's difficult to see how that could be because of how bad the fallout would be," Nader said. "It's economic self-sabotage."

Hormuz is in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman, but it is considered an international strait where free passage is guaranteed, meaning that under international law, closing it by any nation would be considered an act of war. Russia and China, Iran's main allies that have protected it from stronger U.N. sanctions, would have little choice but to respond. Russia, which now has oil production contracts in Iraq, and China, which relies on the region for its supplies, also have no interest in seeing traffic stop, said Olivier Jakob of the Switzerland-based oil monitor Petromatrix.

Hormuz's closure would also be a heavier blow to Iran than any sanctions hitting the approximately 2.5 billion barrels a day of oil it exports, which provide some 80 percent of its revenue. Not only do all of its oil exports go through the strait, but also most of its imports, including vital gasoline supplies.

"A full shutdown would really be the worse case for Iran. That's their last bullet," Jakob said.

Given that, U.S. officials have expressed doubts Iran would carry out the threat. State Department spokesman Mark Toner called Iran's warnings merely "more rhetoric."

Iran has threatened to close the strait in the past, but in response to a U.S. or Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities. Now it has stepped it up a notch as a possible retaliation to sanctions, reflecting the degree of worry over the planned U.S. sanctions aimed at stopping its nuclear program,

The sanctions would ban transactions with the Iranian Central Bank. Countries and companies around the world use the bank to finance purchases of Iranian oil, meaning they would either have to stop buying it or face action from Washington.

Halting ? or even denting ? oil income would be devastating to an economy that is already struggling amid its international isolation. The value of Iran's riyal is now 15,200 to the dollar, from 10,500 a year ago. Cash withdrawals from banks have been restricted.

Prices of food and grocery items like milk have increased up to 20 percent in recent months. In an attempt to cut its budget, the government recently ended subsidies on fuel and some foods, sending gas prices up sevenfold and quadrupling bread prices. In place of subsidies, the government gives direct payments of $40 a month to poor families to pay for necessities.

The threats also reflect a worry among Iran's leaders that its oil can be replaced on the market by Arab producers, particularly Saudi Arabia, without too great an increase in world prices, said Mustafa Alani, a Geneva-based analyst with the Gulf Research Center. That makes a cutoff a viable option for the U.S., and if that happens "the economy will collapse."

"All the noise about Hormuz is linked to the feeling that it is possible, and they say, 'if we go down, we will take everyone with us.' If Iranian oil stops, then all the oil stops," he said.

But in the end, "I don't think they are willing to do it because the consequences would cost them too much," Alani said. "I don't think they are so stupid."

___

AP correspondents Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Sinan Salaheddin and Rebecca Santana in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_iran_shutting_hormuz

van halen pro bowl sinead oconnor celtics braylon edwards jimmer fredette mall of america

NKoreans salute, cry for late leader Kim Jong Il

In this image made from KRT video, Kim Jong Un, center, Kim Jong Il's youngest son and successor, walks next to his father's hearse during a funeral procession for the late North Korean leader in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, Kim Jong Un, center, Kim Jong Il's youngest son and successor, walks next to his father's hearse during a funeral procession for the late North Korean leader in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, Kim Jong Un, foreground, Kim Jong Il's youngest son and successor, salutes as he walks next to his father's hearse during a funeral procession for the late North Korean leader in snowy Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. Walking behind Kim Jong Un is Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, Kim Jong Un, third from left, Kim Jong Il's youngest son and successor, walks with Jang Song Thaek, second from left, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, next to his father's hearse during a funeral procession for the late North Korean leader in snowy Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, a huge portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is carried during his funeral procession in snowy Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, a huge portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is carried during his funeral procession in snowy Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

(AP) ? Tens of thousands of North Koreans lined the snowy streets of Pyongyang on Wednesday, wailing and clutching their chests as a black hearse carried late leader Kim Jong Il's body through the capital for a final farewell.

The procession also put his young son and successor, Kim Jong Un, on center stage. He was head mourner on a gray and freezing day, walking with one hand on the hearse, the other raised in salute, his head somberly bowed against the wind.

At the end of the 2 1/2-hour procession, Kim Jong Un stood flanked by the top party and military officials who are expected to be his inner circle of advisers as rifles fired 21 times, then saluted again as goose-stepping soldiers carrying flags and rifles marched by.

Kim Jong Il ? who led the nation with absolute rule after father Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, through a devastating famine that killed hundreds of thousands and a controversial drive to build up nuclear and missile programs that earned North Korea international sanctions and condemnation ? died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69.

Mourners in parkas lined the streets of Pyongyang, waving, stamping and crying as the convoy bearing his coffin passed by. Some struggled to get past police holding back the crowd.

"How can the sky not cry?" a weeping soldier standing in the snow said to state TV. "The people ... are all crying tears of blood."

The dramatic scenes of grief showed how effectively North Korea has built a personality cult around Kim Jong Il despite chronic food shortages and decades of economic hardship.

Even as North Koreans mourned the loss of the second leader the nation has known, the transition of power to Kim Jong Un was well under way. The young man, who is in late 20s, is already being hailed by state media as the "supreme leader" of the party, state and army.

Kim was somber in a long, dark overcoat as he strode alongside his father's hearse accompanied by top party officials behind him and key military leaders on the other side of the limousine ? a lineup that provided a good look at who will make up the core leadership in North Korea.

Behind him was Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission who is expected to play a crucial role in helping Kim Jong Un take power.

Also escorting the limousine were military chief Ri Yong Ho and People's Armed Forces Minster Kim Yong Chun. Their presence indicates they will be important players as the younger Kim consolidates his leadership.

Top Workers' Party officials Choe Thae Bok and Kim Ki Nam and senior military officer Kim Jong Gak also took prominent positions.

"It shows they will be core powers in North Korea," said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University in South Korea. "Particularly, Jang Song Thaek and Ri Yong Ho will be key to Kim Jong Un's leadership."

The early part of the funeral ceremony was shrouded in secrecy, as in 1994, when Kim Il Sung died. Back then, Kim Jong Il and top officials held a private, hourlong ceremony inside the Kumsusan palace before the procession through the city, according to his official biography.

Pyongyang's foreign diplomats were invited to attend the procession, though few other outsiders appeared to be allowed into the country for the funeral.

After showing taped footage of mourners and documentaries of Kim Jong Il, state TV began airing the procession, showing cars moving slowly through the snowy city, led by a limousine carrying a huge portrait of a smiling Kim Jong Il.

His father's Lincoln Continental followed bearing Kim Jong Il's coffin, wrapped in a red flag.

A national memorial service will take place at noon Thursday, state media said.

Wednesday's procession had a stronger military presence than 1994.

Kim Jong Il, who ushered in a "military first" era when he took power, celebrated major occasions with lavish, meticulously choreographed parades designed to show off the nation's military might, such as the October 2010 display when he introduced his son to the world.

The strong military presence suggests Kim will uphold his father's military-first policy, Yoo said.

Kim Jong Un was made a four-star general and appointed a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party last year.

After the funeral, the young Kim is expected to cement his power by formally assuming command of the 1.2 million-strong military, and becoming general secretary of the Workers' Party and chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, Yoo said.

Kim Jong Il's two other sons, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chol, were not spotted at the procession.

___

Associated Press Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee and writers Hyung-jin Kim, Foster Klug, Scott McDonald and Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. Follow AP's North Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean, twitter.com/APKlug and twitter.com/samkim_ap.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-28-AS-Kim-Jong-Il-The-Funeral/id-0c96a6cbd1ae4e9a8033d9780dce4277

new air jordans the patriot jeff dunham night at the museum young guns concord billy the kid

Resisting the spinach (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/180197660?client_source=feed&format=rss

christmas tree tax cmas cmas world series of poker joe walsh zsa zsa gabor heavy d dead

IRL: Pioneer Kuro PDP-6010FD, Tonium Pacemaker and the Samsung Galaxy Note

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

For those of you who think all we do in IRL is wax nostalgic about gadgets we've owned for years, you'd be... mostly right. Indeed, this week we've got Mr. Ben Drawbaugh talking up the HDTV he owns (as opposed to the one he wants), and James is here to break down the limitations of his discontinued Tonium Pacemaker. We've got one happy new gadget owner, though, and that would be Zach Honig, who recently traded his iPhone 4 for a Samsung Galaxy Note. So how's that S-Pen working out for him? Head past the break to find out.

Continue reading IRL: Pioneer Kuro PDP-6010FD, Tonium Pacemaker and the Samsung Galaxy Note

IRL: Pioneer Kuro PDP-6010FD, Tonium Pacemaker and the Samsung Galaxy Note originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/dvB7fMTrCLk/

happy halloween happy halloween history of halloween eagles cowboys eagles cowboys trick or treat times trick or treat times

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Obama would trounce Romney, Perry among Latino voters, survey finds (The Christian Science Monitor)

Washington ? Most Latinos in the United States disapprove of the rise in deportations of illegal immigrants under the Obama administration. But in hypothetical matchups with two Republican presidential candidates, President Obama wins handily, according to a new survey by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Mr. Obama wins 68 percent to 23 percent among Latino registered voters. Obama also beats Texas Gov. Rick Perry, 69 percent to 23 percent.  

The fast-growing Hispanic population represents a crucial voting bloc next November. Republicans acknowledge that their nominee must do better against Obama in 2012 than John McCain did in 2008, when Obama won 67 percent of the Hispanic vote, versus 31 percent for Senator McCain. In 2004, when President George W. Bush was reelected, he won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote.

RECOMMENDED: Mitt Romney gaffes - 8 times the button-down candidate should have buttoned up

The Pew Hispanic Center survey demonstrates how steep the challenge is for the eventual Republican nominee.

?Even among those who disapprove of the way Obama is handling the issue of deportations, a majority support his reelection over either of these two potential Republican challengers,? the Pew center reports. ?Obama would carry this group by 57 percent to 34 percent against Romney and 61 percent  to 31 percent against Perry.?

As for Newt Gingrich, a separate survey in early November by the Pew Research Center showed Obama beating the former House speaker among Hispanic voters, 61 percent to 36 percent.

Latinos disapprove of Obama?s immigration policy 57 percent to 27 percent, according to the new Pew Hispanic Center survey. Under Obama, deportations have risen to record levels. Since 2009, the annual average is near 400,000, 30 percent higher than the annual average of George W. Bush?s second term and about double the annual average of his first term. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 81 percent of undocumented immigrants in the United States are of Hispanic origin. Among deportees in 2010, 97 percent were Hispanic, according to figures cited by Pew from the Department of Homeland Security.

Democrats have historically performed better than Republicans among Latinos, except for those of Cuban descent. In the survey, Latinos reported that jobs, education, and health care were the top issues in next year???s election. One-third of registered Latino voters said immigration was extremely important to them.

But the optics of the immigration debate have weighed heavily against the GOP. Republicans tend to favor a ?secure the border first? approach to immigration, while Democrats are more inclined toward comprehensive immigration reform, which would establish a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants while also addressing border security. Critics call the citizenship provision amnesty.

In addition, 90 percent of Latinos support the DREAM Act, legislation that provides legal status to young illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the US military for two years. The Obama administration backs the DREAM Act, while Republicans tend to oppose it.

In 2012, several swing states have fast-growing Hispanic communities, including Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico. The Obama campaign and state Democratic parties already have extensive outreach programs in place, while the Republican Party is embroiled in its nomination process. Still, Republicans believe the struggling economy ? which has hit minorities harder than other Americans ? gives them an inroad into the Hispanic community. Republicans also argue that Hispanics? entrepreneurial culture and emphasis on family values make their party a natural home for Latinos. 

RECOMMENDED: Four reasons illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border has dropped 

Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to your inbox. Sign up today.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111228/ts_csm/442446

dark knight rises trailer latkes ohio state football kathy griffin how to make it in america how to make it in america schweddy balls

The Best Rants of the Year [Best Of 2011]

We really hated hated hated these things. Like, almost as much as we hate Nazis. That's a lot of HATE. So we ranted about them. You should read these because... well, because these aggressions shall not stand, man. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/rEY8wb_RM14/the-best-rants-of-the-year

grammy nominations philadelphia eagles vince young vince young john carter trans siberian orchestra trans siberian orchestra

Mexican army: Ally's arrest is blow to 'El Chapo' (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? The Mexican army says it has dealt a significant blow to the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel with the arrest of the cartel leader's security chief.

The army says special military forces seized computer files and other data when they detained Felipe Cabrera Sarabia. But Chief Army spokesman Gen. Ricardo Trevillo offered few details about the hunt for cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Trevillo told a news conference Monday that Cabrera was captured without a shot being fired Friday in the capital of Sinaloa state, headquarters of the cartel allegedly run by Guzman. Cabrera's nickname is "The Engineer."

Guzman is considered to be Mexico's top drug lord and is one of the world's richest men. He has eluded authorities since his 2001 escape from prison in a laundry truck.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico

nook tablet eagles magic johnson involuntary manslaughter stevens johnson syndrome verdict in michael jackson trial verdict in michael jackson trial

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

NHL roundup: Rangers blank Islanders in Big Apple clash

Published: Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 1:29 a.m. MST

NEW YORK ? Carl Hagelin scored twice for his second multigoal game in the NHL and Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 28 shots he faced as the New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders 3-0 on Monday night for their fifth straight victory.

Hagelin, in just his 16th career game, scored in the second and third periods for the surging Rangers (22-8-4). The Atlantic Division leaders who leapfrogged defending Stanley Cup champion Boston into first place in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers finished a 3-0 homestand that included a pair of victories over the Islanders in a five-day span. New York's past four victories have been against division rivals.

Lundqvist improved to 23-11-5 against the Islanders with four shutouts. He has three shutouts overall this season and 38 in seven NHL seasons.

Marian Gaborik sealed the win with his league-leading 22nd goal ? an empty-netter with 2:28 left. Gaborik scored for the fifth straight game, netting seven in the span, and matched his goal total for all of last season.

BLACKHAWKS 4, BLUE JACKETS 1: At Chicago, Viktor Stalberg scored two goals and Corey Crawford made 37 saves as Chicago topped Columbus. Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist, and Patrick Sharp also connected for the Blackhawks, who are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games and lead the NHL with 50 points. Crawford lost a bid for his first shutout this season when Columbus defenseman James Wisniewski scored at 3:09 of the third period.

AVALANCHE 4, WILD 2: At St. Paul, Minn., Jan Hejda scored the go-ahead goal at 10:20 of the third period and Colorado snapped a nine-game road losing skid by beating Minnesota. The Avalanche won on the road for the first time since Oct. 22 and extended Minnesota's winless streak to seven games. Ryan O'Reilly, Gabriel Landeskog and TJ Galiardi also scored for Colorado.

CANUCKS 5, OILERS 3: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Andrew Ebbett scored twice to lead Vancouver over Edmonton. Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler also scored for Vancouver, which won for the 13th time in 17 games to move ahead of Minnesota for the Northwest division lead.

SABRES 4, CAPITALS 2: At Buffalo, N.Y., Brayden McNabb capped Buffalo's four-goal first period with his first NHL goal and the Sabres cruised past Washington. Jason Pominville, Matt Ellis and Christian Ehrhoff also scored in the first period for the Sabres, who snapped a three-game skid to improve to 4-6-2 in their last 12 games. Ryan Miller, making his sixth straight start, finished with 20 saves.

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700210334/NHL-roundup-Rangers-blank-Islanders-in-Big-Apple-clash.html?s_cid=rss-38

juan manuel marquez penn state stanford oregon joe paterno velasquez vs dos santos velasquez vs dos santos manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez

Russia slams US for its human rights record (AP)

MOSCOW ? Russia's Foreign Ministry has attacked America's human rights record in its first report on injustice elsewhere in the world, offering examples such as the Guantanamo Bay prison and wrongful death row convictions to paint the U.S. as hypocritical for lecturing other nations on the subject of rights.

"The situation in the United States is a far cry from the ideals that Washington proclaims," says the report released Wednesday.

Moscow has previously reacted angrily to the accusations of human rights breaches that the U.S. State Department has leveled at Russia in its annual reports. The State Department has expressed concern about the violent attacks on rights activists and journalists in Russia, most of which go unpunished. It also has criticized abuses in Russia's Caucasus, including extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and torture.

The 90-page Russian report slams EU nations, Canada and Georgia, but reserves its longest section of 20 pages for what it says are violations by the United States. The report does not cover Asia, Africa or the Middle East, other than a five-page section criticizing the NATO operation in Libya.

Moscow laments the ongoing operation of the "notorious" prison in Guantanamo Bay, where terrorism suspects have been held since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and criticizes President Barack Obama for "legalizing indefinite and extrajudicial custody and the return of court martials."

The report accuses the U.S. of prying into citizens' personal lives and violating the rights of Muslim Americans in the fight against terrorism. It also points to errors made by American courts.

"Judicial errors are the Achilles heel of American justice as concerns capital punishment," the report argues. It notes the roughly 130 people sentenced to death in the past 30 years who were later cleared of the charges, some after they were executed.

The Foreign Ministry also struck back at international criticism of Russia's recent parliamentary election, which independent observers said involved widespread fraud. Outrage over the vote set off a spate of protests led by citizens unhappy with Vladimir Putin's rule.

The report accuses the U.S. of blocking independent candidates from elections and criticizes the practice of allowing governors to nominate senators when a Senate seat is vacated, as when Obama became president. It refers to the conviction this year of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was accused of trying to auction off Obama's Senate seat.

The State Department is reviewing the Russian report, spokesman Mark Toner said. He said such reports can be a "useful mechanism provided that they are produced using objective methodology."

"We certainly don't regard it as interference in our internal affairs when foreign governments, individuals or organizations comment on or criticize U.S. human rights practices," he said, adding later, "In terms of our human rights record, we're an open book."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_us_human_rights

pau gasol virginia tech va tech duggar miscarriage dan gilbert david stern david stern

2010 FORD ESCAPE LIMITED 4X4 SUV FOR SALE!

'10 FORD ESCAPE LIMITED 4X4 SUV

Left Side and RR Quarter Panel damage, Lot Drives, Fully Loaded, Heated Leather, MP3 CD, Sync by Microsoft, Ipod and USB Ports, Good Dash Bags, Blown Curtain and Seat Bags.

Price: $6,500.
Call T&T Repairables
812-876-0781 ?SPENCER, IN

Source: http://www.autabuy.com/Vehicles/Details.cfm?VID=614173&Year=2010&Make=Ford&Model=Escape%20Limited%204X4

standing rib roast powerball rajon rondo its a wonderful life its a wonderful life rex ryan yule log

Tourist center planned at sensitive Jerusalem site

A hard-line Israeli group said Tuesday it was launching plans for a new tourist center at the site of a politically sensitive archaeological dig in a largely Arab neighborhood outside Jerusalem's Old City, drawing fire from Palestinian officials.

The project's sponsor, the Elad Foundation, said the new visitors center and parking garage will be built above a section of the excavation area known as the City of David, leaving the ruins below accessible. The foundation said no additional land beyond the current excavation site would be used and that construction, which must pass several zoning committees, was still several years away.

Israeli archaeologists at the City of David, named for the biblical monarch thought to have ruled from the spot 3,000 years ago, are investigating the oldest part of Jerusalem. Finds there linked to life and ritual in ancient Jerusalem regularly make international headlines, and the dig has become one of Jerusalem's most popular tourist attractions.

The site is just outside the Old City walls at the edge of the neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem, the part of the city the Palestinian Authority says it wants as the capital of a hoped-for state.

Israeli construction in east Jerusalem is regularly subject to international criticism. Critics say the new plan will cement Israel's hold on Silwan and could destabilize the volatile neighborhood, where Palestinian residents clash on occasion with Jewish residents and police.

"This is dangerous and the Israeli government should understand that," said Adnan Husseini, the Palestinian Authority official responsible for Jerusalem.

Danny Seidemann, an expert on east Jerusalem who is critical of Israel's policies in the city, said the plan would result in "a pseudo-Biblical theme park which radically changes the fabric of an existing Palestinian neighborhood."

The Elad Foundation, which funds the dig, is associated with Israel's settlement movement and also brings Jewish families into Silwan, whose population is overwhelmingly Arab. The effort is intended to assert what the group sees as Israel's historic rights to the city and to keep it unified under Israeli control.

"The new center will serve tourists and visitors, Jews, Arabs, and anyone else coming to the City of David and the Western Wall," said Udi Ragones, a spokesman for the Elad Foundation.

A spokesman for Jerusalem City Hall, Stephan Miller, said the plans would be discussed in a committee Wednesday and would then be open to public objections as part of the standard zoning process. That process typically takes between several months and several years.

"The city of Jerusalem accords great importance to the development of the tourist and archaeology site in the City of David, where hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists visit yearly," Miller said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45794905/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

houston astros matt barnes sexiest man alive 2011 ruben studdard ruben studdard black friday sales 2011 black friday sales 2011

@@@@ FREE @@ New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards Live Stream NBA Online Video 26

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: androidcommunity.com --- Monday, December 26, 2011
New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards Live Stream Free Online NBA HD Video on PC. Welcome to everyone to watch this exciting Game Match between New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards. CLICK HERE TO WATCH FREE It' very easy if you want to watch New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live stream NBA game online. This great match between New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizardswill on today. Who will be the winner in this match? Find your answer and watch New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live tv online here. The Game is Scheduled on 26 Dec 2011.So guys If you cannot Game Live from your TV, dont worry, you still can watch via internet feed on broadcast online TV New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live Stream online from your PC for free only on here. New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live online, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live on internet tv, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live webcast, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live sopcast, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live podcast, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live p2p streaming, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live streaming free, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live feed, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live coverage, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live telecast, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live broadcast New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live now, New Jersey Nets vs Washington Wizards live video,watch ...

Source: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f190/free-new-jersey-nets-vs-washington-wizards-live-stream-nba-online-video-26-a-83728-new/

nicki minaj barbie doll black dahlia drew drew lady gaga marry the night video lady gaga marry the night video pac 12 championship game

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Doctors split on vaccine strategy to shield babies (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? A large group of U.S. doctors on Monday gave the green light for pediatricians to offer vaccines to close family members of babies who are too young to get shots themselves.

The strategy, known as cocooning, is meant to block diseases from reaching the infant in the first place and is backed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But earlier this month, Canadian government researchers suggested that at least for whooping cough, a major infectious disease worldwide, cocooning comes with a hefty price tag.

They estimated that to prevent one infant death from the disease in Quebec or British Columbia, at least one million parents would have to be vaccinated -- at a cost of some 20 Canadian dollars per shot.

"This program appears inefficient," said Dr. Danuta Skowronski, of the British Columbia Center for Disease Control in Vancouver.

"In fact, the criteria for this to be successful are almost impossible," she told Reuters Health. "We're not saying that babies are not important -- of course they are -- but we have to be wise about how we use our finite resources."

The new American Academy of Pediatrics' report on cocooning, released in the journal Pediatrics, is not directly recommending that pediatricians start offering parents shots -- a practice that has been controversial.

"What it says is, if you choose to do it, this is ok," said the AAP's Dr. Herschel R. Lessin, who worked on the report. "They give flu shots in airports and pharmacies. There is really no reason why a licensed doctor can't give them also."

SHIELDING THE BABY

Lessin said the main focus is on flu shots and the TDaP vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (pertussis).

There is already a national U.S. mandate to give these vaccines to everybody, he added, including pregnant women. But babies have to be at least six weeks old to get the TDaP vaccine and six months old to get a flu shot.

In the meantime, their only protection is through antibodies they get from their mother in the womb and in breast milk if she has been vaccinated or has natural immunity against the infections.

Lessin said that because not all pregnant women get vaccinated, cocooning is still a reasonable strategy to shield infants.

People with whooping cough typically cough uncontrollably and may have trouble breathing. The disease is especially dangerous for newborns, whose immune systems are still not fully mature.

According to the CDC, more than half of babies under one year who get whooping cough need to go to the hospital.

While rates of the infection have dropped fast over the past half century, they have begun to climb again over the past few years. About one in 1,000 U.S. infants caught the pertussis bug last year, the CDC says, although these are only the reported cases.

"The goal here is to get everyone immunized," said Lessin. "As pediatricians, we think immunization is the greatest thing in the history of mankind."

Because it's a "hassle" for pediatricians to bill parents' insurance for the shots, he said the most practical thing is to have people pay out of pocket for the vaccines -- in the case of a flu shot, around $30.

LACK OF EVIDENCE

Lessin acknowledged that there isn't much evidence on how effective cocooning really is.

"It's a relatively new concept," he said. "I don't know that anyone has looked at whether it works."

The Canadian study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, takes a stab at that, although it's based on calculations instead of an actual experiment.

From past research, Skowronski and her colleagues estimated that whooping cough in infants could be blamed on parents passing the disease along some 35 percent of the time.

Given rates of the disease in Quebec and British Columbia from 2005 to 2009, which were about the same as in the U.S., the researchers found that to prevent one baby from being hospitalized, between 10,000 and 20,000 people would need to be vaccinated.

To prevent a baby from landing in an intensive care unit, the number rose to about 100,000. To stave off a death, 1 million parents would have to get the vaccine -- at a total price of some 20 million Canadian dollars.

"Basically what we're calling for is that regions that are considering the cocoon program take into account what the risks are for parents passing pertussis to their infant," said Skowronski.

A 'SUCCESS STORY'

An editorial published along with the Canadian study notes that the results don't necessarily apply to areas with high rates of whooping cough or recent outbreaks.

Dr. C. Mary Healy, who co-wrote the editorial, added that, "in the overall cost of having a baby, the cost of a vaccine is not huge."

Healy, of Texas Children's Hospital's Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research in Houston, helped launched a campaign in 2008 to vaccinate new mothers before they left the hospital. In 2009, it was expanded to any family members who would be near the baby.

"In Houston, what drove us was that nationally there was an unacceptable level of death," she said.

The U.S. CDC has called the program a "success story."

Dr. Tom Clark, a researcher at the CDC, told Reuters Health the government published an updated cocooning recommendation in October.

It now urges expectant mothers to get the vaccine against whooping cough late in pregnancy, and recommends that other people in contact with the baby get vaccinated as well.

Healy said the main problem is access. Not all fathers go to prenatal visits, for instance, and not all grandparents or people coming to visit the baby are accessible.

She acknowledged that money is not a concern with her program.

"Our program is funded from foundation grants and donated vaccines," said Healy. "We don't have cost barriers."

SOURCES: http://bit.ly/cxXOG Pediatrics, online December 26, 2011, and http://bit.ly/unGnjD Clinical Infectious Diseases, online December 8, 2011.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/hl_nm/us_vaccines

la galaxy la galaxy david blaine jordy nelson hot chelle rae guile alton brown

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.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

free shipping day golden globe nominations 2012 war in iraq war in iraq barbara walters government shutdown sofia vergara

Cuba wraps up dramatic year of economic change (AP)

HAVANA ? A year at the vanguard of Cuba's economic revival has not brought Julio Cesar Hidalgo riches. The fledgling pizzeria owner has had his good months, but the restaurant he opened with his girlfriend often runs at a loss. At times, they can't afford to buy basic ingredients.

Yet the wide-faced 31-year-old says he is grateful to be in business at all. A year ago, Hidalgo was concocting chalky pastries in a Spartan state-run bakery where employees and managers competed to pilfer eggs, flour and olive oil, the only way to make ends meet on salaries of just $15 a month. Today, he is his own boss, a taxpayer, employer and entrepreneur.

"I think my expectations were met because in Cuba today I couldn't have hoped for anything more," he said one recent December afternoon as his girlfriend, Giselle de la Noval, served customers. "We survived."

Hidalgo's story is mirrored by many of the entrepreneurs The Associated Press has followed since January in a yearlong effort to document Communist Cuba's awkward embrace of free-market reforms.

Their experiences ? like the reforms themselves ? cannot be described as an unmitigated success. Of the dozen fledgling business owners, including restaurateurs, a DVD salesman, two cafe owners, a seamstress, a manicurist and a gymnasium operator, three have closed down or begun working for someone else, and one has been harassed by her former state employers. None could be considered successful by non-Cuban standards.

But despite their struggles, many tell of lives transformed, dreams realized, attitudes changed, and doors opened that had been closed for more than half a century.

For Hidalgo, personal hardships have added to the challenges of starting a business on a Marxist island that has looked askance at entrepreneurship since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution turned a one-time capitalist playground into a Soviet satellite.

After suffering through a slow, hot, summer when nobody wanted a pizza, Hidalgo had to close for two months to care for his grandmother, who has Alzheimer's disease. Even while the business was shuttered, he and de la Noval had to make tax and social security payments, wiping out the few hundred dollars they had saved.

They reopened in late November with so little money they can't always afford to serve their house special.

"We've had to start from scratch, but the only reason we didn't lose the business altogether is because we were disciplined," said de la Noval, 23. "Before we did anything, we always put away the money we needed to pay the state."

A year that President Raul Castro described as make or break for the revolution is ending after a dramatic flurry of once-unthinkable reforms that are transforming economic and social life.

In October, the government legalized a used car market, and a month later extended it to real estate, sweeping away decades of prohibitions. On Tuesday, the state began extending bank credits to new business owners and those hoping to repair their homes.

But one of the most powerful reforms was Castro's decision last year to greatly expand the ranks of the self-employed, part of a somewhat unsuccessful effort to trim bloated state-payrolls.

Some 338,000 people have received licenses to start their own businesses, and the results can be seen and heard everywhere. On nearly every street in Havana and in thousands of hamlets and towns across Cuba, makeshift signs and bright parasols mark the entrances of new businesses, and the long-lost cries of curbside vendors hawking everything from fruit and vegetables to mops and household repair services fill the warm Caribbean air.

"The reforms have advanced, perhaps not quickly enough considering the problems that have accumulated, but they have advanced, one after another, and there is no sign that they will stop or be rolled back," said Omar Everleny Perez, the head of Havana University's Center for Cuban Economic Studies

The government has declined to release any statistics on tax revenue or payroll savings from the reforms, except for an October report in the Communist Party newspaper Granma that said tax revenue from new businesses had tripled.

Cuban leaders this month lowered their forecast for economic growth for 2011 to just 2.7 percent ? from the 3 percent originally hoped for ? an extremely poor showing for a developing country. By contrast, China is forecast to grow by about 9 percent in 2011, Vietnam by between 6 and 6.5 percent and Brazil by 3.8 percent.

Private business owners have complained about the high taxes they must pay, the lack of raw materials and the fact they are suddenly surrounded by competitors. Because most entrepreneurs don't have the capital to start innovative businesses, many have opened cafeterias, nail parlors, small roadside kiosks and the like.

Anisia Cardenas, a seamstress, is among more than 100,000 Cubans who have held private business licenses since the 1990s, the island's last experiment with the free market. In the latest reform, she decided to expand, paying $2 a day to rent the front porch space of a neighbor's house to set up her sewing machine.

But business was slow ? and competition from new license holders fierce. Within a few months she had to retreat to her tiny apartment. By the summer, she began to wonder if she might have to close down, unable to meet the $19 monthly tax payments. By December, she had gone to work as an employee for another seamstress.

"Things are hard," said Cardenas, who is trying to save money for her daughter's 15th birthday party in January. "Everything is very expensive."

Others complain of rules that are often illogical, and state employers who still view entrepreneurship with suspicion.

Maria Regla Saldivar is a black belt in taekwondo who got a license to give private lessons to neighborhood kids in a scruffy park across the street from her job. She began the year with dreams of persuading the government to let her turn an abandoned dry-cleaning warehouse into a private recreation center.

But the government refused to grant her a lease. Then her bosses at Cuba's National Sports Institute docked her pay because they said her outside work was affecting her performance. She quit. Finally, her former boss prohibited her from using the park for martial arts lessons, which are technically prohibited. The government considers it potentially deadly training, even though most of Saldivar's students are not even teenagers yet.

"It's called envy," Saldivar said of her boss.

She insists she is not teaching taekwondo, slyly calling the discipline "Quimbumbia" ? a word of her own invention. She has moved classes for her 14 students into the tiny covered patio in the back of the apartment she shares with her teenage daughter.

But Saldivar says she has no regrets about how the year has unfolded. She says making business decisions for herself has increased her self-esteem, and she is thrilled that she's managed to put away 2,000 pesos ($80), about four months salary at an average state job.

"You may laugh, but for me it's a lot of money," she said, running her coarse fingers over the stripes on a pair of sky-blue track suit bottoms she bought. "I've wanted these for so long and now I have them. I look like a proper trainer now, not someone out picking mangoes from a tree."

Rafael Romeu, the head of the Washington, D.C.-based Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, said Castro has "changed the conversation" since taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, pushing the leadership to get the island's economic house in order rather than blaming external factors like the 49-year U.S. travel and trade embargo.

But so far, the changes don't go far enough to revive Cuba's moribund economy.

"These are positive steps but when you say them out loud, just think about it ... You are allowed to have a cell phone, you are allowed to buy a home, you are allowed to buy a car or have a microenterprise. This is not the fall of the Berlin Wall. These are not major changes," he said. "Cuba has tremendous difficulties. This is a marathon, and they are taking baby steps."

Romeu, who has worked around the world studying emerging economies, said that Cuba is moving much more deliberately than the Chinese did when they began opening their economy in the late 1970s, or the Vietnamese a decade later.

Cuba's predicament is somewhat different, as well. Both China and Vietnam were deeply agrarian economies whose challenge was lifting tens of millions out of crushing poverty, Romeu said. Cuba is a more urban country with an aging population whose citizens have gotten used to benefits like health care and education, but who have grown accustomed to a system that doesn't make them work for such middle class perks.

"In Cuba, the challenge is sustaining the middle class, not creating one," Romeu said.

Still, some reforms seem to be moving along more quickly than many analysts had hoped.

Business is booming at a street corner long known as the center of Havana's informal real estate market. Only now, the handwritten listings on trees openly advertise legal home sales, instead of disguising them as property "swaps."

Mendez Rodriguez, an unofficial real estate broker, said the buying and selling is aboveboard, controlled by a relatively untangled bureaucracy.

"Everything is by the law now," said Rodriguez, even if his profession is not officially licensed. He and other so-called facilitators work for "gifts" left to the discretion of their clients, he said.

Rumors that real estate brokers would be the latest addition to the list of 181 licensed entrepreneurial activities have not come to pass, but there's still hope the profession will be added in 2012. Rodriguez said the opening seems to have led to a steep increase in prices, with a home worth $20,000 a couple of months ago going for 50 percent more today.

That's the kind of price jump many of the new struggling business owners say they could use.

Javier Acosta has sunk more than $30,000 he saved as a waiter into his own upscale establishment, and says business is far from booming.

"This has been a hard year, a year of sacrifice," he said. "There are days when nobody comes, or when I have just one or two tables, and then there are days when the place is filled."

He said his costs run to about $1,000 a month, and when business is slow he struggles to break even.

Yet the reforms, he says, have changed the face of Cuba, and cynical countrymen who doubt the opening will be lasting must wake up to a new reality.

"After 50 years where everything was prohibited it takes time to change people's minds and make them understand that this time is different," he said, sitting in his empty second-floor restaurant one recent afternoon. "If you don't work, you don't eat."

Despite his struggles, Acosta says he would take the risk again if given the chance, a sentiment shared by Hidalgo and de la Noval. They had hoped to close on New Year's Eve, which Cubans of means celebrate with a traditional feast of pork leg, yucca, black beans and sweets.

Hidalgo said the family simply doesn't have enough saved to take the night off after its year of trials and tribulations. Instead, he's planning to keep the pizzeria open late and celebrate on the job with his girlfriend and his aunt at his side.

"We're thinking of making a small meal for the three of us," he said. "If we can afford a leg of pork it'll be to sell, not to eat ourselves."

___

Associated Press writers Peter Orsi, Andrea Rodriguez and Anne-Marie Garcia contributed to this report.

___

Paul Haven can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111225/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_s_year_of_change

colt mccoy vt vt cleveland browns fred thompson fred thompson los angeles angels