Naama Margolese, 8, sits with her mother Hadassa in their home in the central Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, Monday, Dec 26, 2011. The story of Naama Margolese, an 8-year-old American girl that has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel's latest religious war, drew new attention to the religious tensions in Beit Shemesh, a city of some 100,000 just outside Jerusalem, which has become a symbol of the growing violence of Jewish extremists in Israel in recent years. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Naama Margolese, 8, sits with her mother Hadassa in their home in the central Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, Monday, Dec 26, 2011. The story of Naama Margolese, an 8-year-old American girl that has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel's latest religious war, drew new attention to the religious tensions in Beit Shemesh, a city of some 100,000 just outside Jerusalem, which has become a symbol of the growing violence of Jewish extremists in Israel in recent years. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Two Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys cover their faces as a man passes by a fence covered with torn posters, in a street in the central Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. The story of an 8-year-old American girl that has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel's latest religious war, drew new attention to the religious tensions in Beit Shemesh, a city of some 100,000 just outside Jerusalem, which has become a symbol of the growing violence of Jewish extremists in Israel in recent years. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish schoolboys gather on the roof of a building to look down at Israeli police trying to remove a sign asking women not to walk in that area, near a synagogue in the central Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. The story of an 8-year-old American girl that has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel's latest religious war, drew new attention to the religious tensions in Beit Shemesh, a city of some 100,000 just outside Jerusalem, which has become a symbol of the growing violence of Jewish extremists in Israel in recent years. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Naama Margolese, 8, sits in her family home in the central Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. The story of Naama Margolese, an 8-year-old American girl that has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel's latest religious war, drew new attention to the religious tensions in Beit Shemesh, a city of some 100,000 just outside Jerusalem, which has become a symbol of the growing violence of Jewish extremists in Israel in recent years. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
BEIT SHEMESH, Israel (AP) ? A shy 8-year-old schoolgirl has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel's latest religious war.
Naama Margolese is a ponytailed, bespectacled second-grader who is afraid of walking to her religious Jewish girls school for fear of ultra-Orthodox extremists who have spat on her and called her a whore for dressing "immodestly."
Her plight has drawn new attention to the simmering issue of religious coercion in Israel, and the increasing brazenness of extremists in the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
"When I walk to school in the morning I used to get a tummy ache because I was so scared ... that they were going to stand and start yelling and spitting," the pale, blue-eyed girl said softly in an interview with The Associated Press Monday. "They were scary. They don't want us to go to the school."
The girls school that Naama attends in the city of Beit Shemesh, to the west of Jerusalem, is on the border between an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood and a community of modern Orthodox Jewish residents, many of them American immigrants.
The ultra-Orthodox consider the school, which moved to its present site at the beginning of the school year, an encroachment on their territory. Dozens of black-hatted men jeer and physically accost the girls almost daily, claiming their very presence is a provocation.
Beit Shemesh has long experienced friction between the ultra-Orthodox, who make up about half the city's population, and other residents. And residents say the attacks at the girls' school, attended by about 400 students, have been going on for months. Last week, after a local TV channel reported about the school and interviewed Naama's family, a national uproar ensued.
The televised images of Naama sobbing as she walked to school shocked many Israelis, elicited statements of outrage from the country's leadership, sparked a Facebook page with nearly 10,000 followers dedicated to "protecting little Naama" and plans for a demonstration later Tuesday in her honor. As the case has attracted attention, extremists have heckled and thrown eggs and rocks at journalists descending on town.
"Who's afraid of an 8-year-old student?" said Sunday's main headline in the leading Yediot Ahronot daily.
Beit Shemesh's growing ultra-Orthodox population has erected street signs calling for the separation of sexes on the sidewalks, dispatched "modesty patrols" to enforce a chaste female appearance and hurled stones at offenders and outsiders. Walls of the neighborhood are plastered with signs exhorting women to dress modestly in closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts.
Naama's case has been especially shocking because of her young age and because she attends a religious school and dresses with long sleeves and a skirt. Extremists, however, consider even that outfit, standard in mainstream Jewish religious schools, to be immodest.
Thousands of people were expected at Tuesday evening's demonstration. Ahead of the gathering, President Shimon Peres urged the public to attend.
"The demonstration today is a test for the people and not just the police," Peres told a gathering of Israeli ambassadors. "All of us ... must defend the image of the state of Israel from a minority that is destroying national solidarity and expressing itself in an infuriating way."
The abuse and segregation of women in Israel in ultra-Orthodox areas is nothing new, and critics accuse the government of turning a blind eye.
The ultra-Orthodox are perennial king-makers in Israeli coalition politics ? two such parties serve as key members of the ruling coalition. They receive generous government subsidies, and police have traditionally been reluctant to enter their communities.
The ultra-Orthodox Jews make up 10 percent of Israel's population and are its fastest growing sector because of a high birth rate. In the past, they have generally confined their strict lifestyle to their own neighborhoods. But they have become increasingly aggressive in trying to impose their ways on others, as their population has grown and spread to new areas.
"It is clear that Israeli society is faced with a challenge that I am not sure it can handle," said Menachem Friedman, a professor emeritus of Bar Ilan University and expert on the ultra-Orthodox, "a challenge that is no less and no more than an existential challenge."
Most of Israel's secular majority, in cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa, is not directly affected, but in a few places like Beit Shemesh ? a city of 100,000 people that include ultra-Orthodox, modern Orthodox and secular Jews ? tensions have erupted into the open.
Last week, a young Israeli woman caused a nationwide uproar when she refused a religious man's order to move to the back of a bus.
In Beit Shemesh, parents in Naama's school take turns escorting their daughters into school property to protect them. The parents, too, have been cursed and spat upon.
Hadassa Margolese, Naama's 30-year-old Chicago-born mother, an Orthodox Jew who covers her hair and wears long sleeves and a long skirt, says, "It shouldn't matter what I look like. Someone should be allowed to walk around in sleeveless shirts and pants and not be harassed."
City spokesman Matityahu Rosenzweig condemned the violence but said it is the work of a small minority and has been taken out of proportion. "Every society has its fringes, and the police should take action on this," he said.
For Margolese, the recent clashes ? and the price of exposing her young daughter ? boil down to a fight over her very home.
"They want to push us out of Beit Shemesh. They want to take over the city," said Margolese.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? Marcus Thornton scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Sacramento Kings opened the season in grand fashion, beating the Los Angeles Lakers at home for the first time in more than three years, 100-91 on Monday night.
Tyreke Evans added 20 points, John Salmons had 13 and DeMarcus Cousins had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who had lost nine of 10 to the Lakers and five straight at home.
Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Metta World Peace added 19 for the Lakers, who opened the season with consecutive losses for the first time since 2002-03, putting a damper on the start of new coach Mike Brown's tenure.
Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette entered to a loud ovation midway through the first quarter and then committed a double dribble the first time he touched the ball.
Otherwise, it was nothing but a positive start to the season for the Kings, who didn't even know if they would be in Sacramento after ending last season with an overtime loss at home to the Lakers.
But the city got a reprieve when the team decided to stay for at least one more season instead of moving to Anaheim. That has led to newfound optimism that an emerging roster of young and athletic playmakers can return the Kings to prominence and the city can build a new arena to keep the team in California's capital city for the long term.
That roster gave the fans plenty to cheer about in the Kings' first season opener at home in eight years. They went on an 11-0 run around halftime and then put together a strong finish to the third quarter led by Cousins. Playing with four fouls, Cousins scored eight points in the final 3:20 of the third to give Sacramento a 78-64 lead heading into the fourth.
Thornton scored seven of the Kings' first nine points of the fourth as Sacramento maintained its lead. But six straight points by World Peace helped the Lakers cut it to 89-87 with 4:24 to play.
Thornton hit a 3-pointer to give the Kings some breathing room and Chuck Hayes had a key block on Pau Gasol leading to two free throws by Evans. The Lakers never got the deficit to less than five points after that. Thornton's jumper made it 99-89 with 1:10 to go, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Los Angeles doesn't have to wait long to get a chance for its first win in this lockout-compacted season, as the Lakers host Utah on Tuesday night with their third game in three nights to open the season.
The Kings took a 49-40 halftime lead, giving the sellout crowd even more to cheer about than just the fact that the Kings are still in town. Sacramento scored the final seven points of the half, capped by Evans' drive for a one-handed scoop with 5.9 seconds remaining.
The Kings frustrated the Lakers at the other end of the court all half, holding them to 36.4 percent shooting including an uncharacteristic 4-for-13 performance from Bryant.
Sacramento even had success matching 5-foot-9 rookie Isaiah Thomas on Bryant on a few possessions in the second quarter despite a 9-inch height disadvantage. After missing a turnaround jumper over the shorter Thomas, Bryant could only manage to chuckle on his way back down the court.
Notes: The Kings have won six straight home openers. ... Mayor Kevin Johnson, who helped keep the Kings in Sacramento this season, was presented a jersey from owners Joe and Gavin Maloof. ... Bryant got called for a technical foul in the third quarter when he threw his hands in frustration after being fouled on a dunk attempt by J.J. Hickson.
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WASHINGTON ? After 10 years of war in Afghanistan, a persistent lack of trust between the U.S. and Pakistan still complicates operations along the critical Afghanistan border and was a key factor in the errant American airstrikes late last month that killed 24 Pakistani troops.
U.S. officials on Thursday accepted some blame for the deadly incident that infuriated Pakistani leaders, prompting Pakistan to shut down key supply routes for the war and further eroding America's already rocky relations with Islamabad. The Defense Department briefed reporters Thursday on the conclusions reached in its investigation into the November incident.
But the U.S. did not apologize, despite the embarrassing series of communications and coordination errors. Pentagon officials said Thursday that military leaders had spoken by phone to Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani about the report's conclusions, but have not yet given him a detailed briefing.
Pakistan refused to cooperate in the investigation. And the U.S. report ? placing some of the blame on Islamabad ? is likely to only increase their fury, hamper any hope of rebuilding the relationship and delay the opening of the supply routes.
In a Pentagon briefing, Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark, an Air Force special operations officer who led the investigation, made it clear that U.S. forces were fired on first and acted in self-defense.
But he acknowledged that efforts to determine who was firing on the U.S troops and whether there were friendly Pakistani forces in the area ? the primary questions in any cross-border incident ? failed because U.S. forces used inaccurate maps, were unaware of Pakistani border post locations and mistakenly provided the wrong location for the troops.
There is "an overarching lack of trust between the two sides" that keeps them from giving each other specific details on troops or combat outpost locations, Clark said as he went through a blow-by-blow account of the events that began late on Nov. 25 and continued overnight.
U.S. and NATO commanders, Clark said, believe that some of their military operations have been compromised when they've given details and locations to the Pakistanis.
According to Clark, U.S. troops were climbing up rugged terrain toward a village just west of the border when they began to receive machine gun and mortar fire very close to their positions. The U.S. ground commander requested a show of force, so an F-15 fighter jet and an AC-130 gunship flew over, shooting flares to signal the presence of American or NATO troops.
Clark said the gunfire and mortars continued. And in the first serious miscommunication, the troops on the ground were told that no Pakistani troops were in the area. Commanders then called for airstrikes.
In a confusing series of communications, U.S. officials gave Pakistan liaison officers the wrong location of the firefight and were told again that no Pakistani troops were in that region. The U.S. launched another round of airstrikes until around 1 a.m., when officials confirmed that there were friendly troops there and the firing stopped.
A key failing, Clark said, was that U.S. troops did not know that two relatively new and spare Pakistani outposts ? reportedly called Volcano and Boulder ? were just over the border from the village that was the target of the operation.
"They didn't have coordinates on the border posts to begin with because they didn't know they were there," Clark said. "The border was not considered a factor to the operation because everything was intended to remain within a kilometer, kilometer and a half inside of Afghanistan. So they never anticipated taking fire from the ridgeline, nor anticipated the idea that it might be Pakistan military there." A kilometer is about 0.62 miles.
He said that as a result the U.S. troops believed enemy insurgents were firing at them. He added that U.S. commanders in Afghanistan will make any decisions on whether anyone should be punished for the mistakes.
"For the loss of life and for the lack of proper coordination between U.S. and Pakistani forces that contributed to those losses, we express our deepest regret," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
Little said the U.S wants to learn from the mistakes and take any corrective measures needed to make sure such mistakes aren't repeated.
NATO, Afghanistan and Pakistani forces use the joint border control centers to share information and coordinate security operations.
Pakistani officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. Afghan officials also had no immediate comment.
The Pakistani military has said it provided NATO with maps that clearly showed where the border posts were located.
Since the attack, a furious Pakistani government has shut down NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and thrown the U.S. out of its Shamsi Air Base in southwestern Baluchistan province. The base was used to maintain drones deployed in strikes against insurgents hiding in safe havens in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan frontier.
The Pakistani border closure forced the U.S. and NATO to reorient their entire logistics chains to the so-called Northern Distribution Network through Russia and Central Asia.
For most of the 10-year war in Afghanistan, 90 percent of supplies shipped to the international force came through Pakistan, via the port of Karachi. But over the past three years, road and rail shipments from NATO's European members via Russia and the Central Asian nations have expanded, and before the border incident accounted for more than half of all overland deliveries.
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Australia recall Hilfenhaus for first India test
CRICKET-AUSTRALIA:Australia recall Hilfenhaus for first India test
By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia have brought back workhorse paceman Ben Hilfenhaus into the test fold in place of youngster Mitchell Starc for the first test against India, which starts on Monday.
Hilfenhaus, a natural swing bowler, was dropped after a poor series against England earlier this year, but has worked his way back into the side with strong form in domestic cricket.
He will join a pace attack that features Peter Siddle and James Pattinson, with Nathan Lyon the lone specialist spinner.
Top order batsman Shaun Marsh has been recalled after recovering from a back strain suffered in South Africa, while former captain Ricky Ponting and middle order batsman Mike Hussey have retained their places.
All rounder Shane Watson has yet to shake off an injury while Starc has been named as the 12th man.
Skipper Michael Clarke will lead Australia into the first match of a four-test series, with his counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni hoping to guide India to their first test series win on Australian soil. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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WASHINGTON ? If President Barack Obama, the House and the Senate all want to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits through next year, why are they fighting so bitterly over doing it?
Obama, House Democrats and lopsided majorities of both parties in the Senate want to immediately renew the tax cut and jobless benefits for the next two months, and find a way later to extend them through 2012. House Republicans want to do it for a full year right away.
That doesn't sound like an unbridgeable gap. Yet the fight has evolved into a year-end partisan grudge match with no clear resolution in sight and with huge political and economic stakes.
Without action, the payroll tax paid by 160 million workers will rise by 2 percentage points to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1. That would mean $1,000 a year less in the pockets of people making $50,000, or about $19 weekly. In addition, 3 million people currently receiving long-term jobless benefits will begin to lose weekly payments that average under $300 ? for many, their only support.
Following is a guided tour, in question and answer form, through the dispute.
Q: Why do Obama and the Senate want to extend the tax cut and jobless benefits by only two months?
A: Actually, they don't. When the Senate voted overwhelmingly last weekend for a two-month bill backed by Obama, it was a fallback position after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., disagreed over ways to pay for a yearlong extension. Both sides agreed they would not let the bill increase long-term deficits.
The Senate's two-month version continues the payroll tax and jobless benefits at this year's levels and costs $33 billion. The bargainers agreed to pay for that by raising fees people pay for new mortgages or refinancing insured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage companies. For a $200,000 mortgage, the fee increase would raise a borrower's cost about $17 a month.
A full-year extension would cost around $200 billion, and the two sides couldn't agree on how to pay for that. So they agreed on a bill extending the tax cuts and jobless benefits through February, and then they would return early next year to resolve their differences over a yearlong measure.
Q: The government spends over $3.5 trillion every year. How hard can it be to find another $170 billion or so in savings?
A: It's been tough because of the math and the ways each side would do it.
The two parties seemed to agree that additional savings could come from a federal sale of parts of the broadcast spectrum, and by requiring government workers to contribute more to their pensions. Beyond that are vast differences, substantive and political.
A yearlong extension that the GOP-run House passed this month would make higher-income seniors pay more for Medicare coverage and cut spending for parts of Obama's health care overhaul law enacted last year. Democrats oppose both those provisions.
Democrats have proposed paying for a one-year extension of the payroll tax and federal unemployment benefits by imposing a 1.9 percent surtax on income above $1 million a year, a non-starter with Republicans. During talks between top Senate Democrats and Republicans, Democrats also proposed other ways of boosting levies on the wealthy, but those were rejected.
Q: Are there any other differences?
A: They're also fighting over the jobless benefits taxpayers should provide as the economy slowly improves.
Democrats want to keep the current structure. Most states provide 26 weeks of unemployment coverage, and federal programs enacted since the recession boost the eligibility up to 99 weeks in some states.
The House-passed bill would pare that total coverage to a maximum 79 weeks. That probably would fall even further in some states as employment improves. The House bill also requires benefit recipients without high school diplomas to pursue education alternatives and lets states test recipients for drug use.
Q: While they work through these differences, why the fuss over whether Congress first approves a two-month or a one-year plan?
A: For one thing, many freshman and conservative House Republicans are tired of compromising with the Senate and want their leaders to take a stand. They also say a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut would create uncertainty for taxpayers and businesses and problems for employers' payroll systems.
Many House Republicans hate the idea of keeping the issue alive until March 1, when the two-month bill would expire. Democrats have damaged Republicans politically with proposals to pay for the payroll tax cut by boosting levies on the rich. GOP lawmakers solidly oppose that approach, saying it would discourage job creation, and Democrats have used that to argue that Republicans are defending the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
That's not an argument Republicans want to spend the 2012 election year having. As a result, many want to avoid additional votes on the matter next year, and they don't want to let Obama spend next month's State of the Union address discussing it. They would rather spend 2012 voting on issues they feel are on their terrain, like blocking Obama administration regulations, reducing the size of government and cutting its spending.
Q: What about Democrats?
A: They say the tax cut and unemployment coverage must be renewed to protect the millions who would be hurt Jan. 1. They also have no desire to surrender leverage by abandoning the two-month deal negotiated by the Senate's Reid and McConnell.
But they, too, have political motivations.
Democrats cite economists who say the payroll tax would pump enough money into the economy to help it grow slightly next year. Knowing that the 2012 presidential and congressional races are likely to hinge on the economy's performance, they want to take no chances with anything that might tip the economy in the wrong direction. To them, that means the payroll tax cut and extra jobless coverage must be extended.
Q: Wouldn't these bills also prevent a scheduled cut in reimbursements to doctors who treat Medicare patients?
A: Yes, a 27 percent reduction takes effect next month unless Congress acts. Doctors say that cut would discourage physicians from treating the elderly people served by Medicare. Neither party wants to anger older voters by limiting their access to doctors.
The scrappage scheme that the UK government introduced earlier this year was created to breathe new life into the motor industry, to create far more motor industry jobs and to get rid of older, a lot more polluting cars from UK roads. Even so, as the government only offers ?1,000 for cars older than ten years as component of the scheme, when the motor industry wanted it to give much more and a similar scheme in Germany presents more, UK motorists haven?t greeted the scheme with as significantly enthusiasm as they otherwise possibly may well have.
Despite the initial scepticism to the scheme nevertheless, it is still becoming utilised by numerous UK motorists who wish to trade in their old cars for new ones and receive a substantial discount on the retail value, as the manufacturer is encouraged to match the government?s ?1,000 for the old automobile.
The present marketplace scenario, with car business jobs being lost in a lot of plants all through the country, is likely to turn around when the take-up of the scrappage scheme becomes much more common and the recession begins to ease. Automotive jobs will commence to pick up once again due to the fact people will always need cars.
1 advantage for those looking for engineering jobs is since more people are holding onto their existing cars at the moment, rather than acquiring new ones, garages are finding a lot more work requirements to be completed on people?s current vehicles.
One benefit for those searching for engineering jobs is due to the fact more men and women are holding onto their existing cars at the moment, rather than acquiring new ones, garages are discovering more work wants to be completed on people?s present vehicles.
SAN FRANCISCO ? Apple Inc is famous for relying on low-cost Asian manufacturers to both source and assemble its popular gadgets, but the consumer device giant recently started receiving a critical component in its iPad and iPhones from closer to home - Texas.
The A5 processor - the brain in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 - is now made in a sprawling 1.6 million square feet factory in Austin owned by Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics, according to people familiar with the operation.
One of the few major components to be sourced from within the United States, the A5 processor is built by Samsung in a newly constructed $3.6 billion non-memory chip production line that reached full production in early December.
Nearly all of the output of the non-memory chip production from the factory - which is the size of about nine football fields - is dedicated to producing Apple chips, one of the people said. Samsung also produces NAND flash memory chips in Austin.
The South Korean giant began supplying the A5 processors to Apple this year from the Austin plant, the people said.
Apple declined to comment, saying it does not detail supplier relationships. A Samsung spokeswoman declined to comment on its customers and the specification of the chips made in its Austin plant.
But she said the company expanded the Austin factory to include a production line to make logic chips. The A5 is one such chip.
The powerful A5 processor, which uses technology licensed from Britain's ARM Holdings, is designed by Apple in California.
The A5 chip debuted in Apple's iPad 2 in March and now also powers the new iPhone 4S. The 120 square millimeter chip is twice as fast as its predecessor, the A4, which is also made by Samsung, according to reports from teardown firms that have taken Apple's devices apart.
TEXAS APPLE
Apart from Austin, Samsung has only one other non-memory logic chip factory, in South Korea.
Apple relies on its main contract manufacturer for gadgets, Foxconn, to assemble them, mainly in its factories in China and Taiwan.
The roaring success of both the iPad and iPhone has helped the city of Austin, where Freescale Semiconductor is based and other chip companies, like ARM, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, also have operations.
Semiconductor companies are attracted to Austin because of a steady supply of educated employees from the University of Texas' engineering school.
Samsung has added about 1,100 jobs to support the new non-memory chip production in the factory, which produces 40,000 silicon wafers every month, a Samsung spokeswoman said.
The rest of Samsung's total 2,400 employees in Austin work in its NAND flash memory factory by the logic chip factory, she added.
The Korean company, which began the U.S. plant in 1996 to make its NAND flash memory chips, continues to produce them there in addition to the A5.
Samsung's factory is the largest foreign investment in Texas with a total investment of about $9 billion, according to Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Austin is also home to an Apple customer call center that deals with customer complaints in North America, Apple's biggest market. The Cupertino company employs thousands in that facility, who deal with calls ranging from complaints to support.
While Apple is one of Samsung's largest customers, both are arch-rivals in the smartphone and tablet marketplace. The two companies are also locked in an acrimonious patent infringement battle that spans multiple countries and products.
(Additional reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; Editing by Gary Hill)
SIOUX CITY, Iowa ? Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich describes some government-sponsored enterprises as valuable entities that can help people.
Gingrich on Thursday night defended his time working with Freddie Mac, the quasi-government home mortgage agency. Gingrich made more than $1.6 million working with it.
Gingrich says at the latest GOP debate that some public-private partnerships ? institutions like credit unions and electricity cooperatives ? are important and do a good job.
His Republican rivals criticized him. Texas Rep. Ron Paul says those are the "worst kind" of economic entity because they mix free enterprise with the government.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann says Freddie Mac and a similar entity, Fannie Mae, "need to go away."
"How did a drug-taking college dropout create one of the largest companies of the world?" That's the question that this one-hour documentary on Steve Jobs by the BBC. I just saw it and it's nice. More »
Mitt Romney?s aiming to topple Newt Gingrich with a media blitz that goes deeper with every cut.
Already this week, Romney sat with POLITICO, the Washington Post, the New York Times, CBS, Sean Hannity?s radio show and Fox News twice. In each, he?s taken a swipe that?s lit up the news for the few hours until his next appearance, when he?s expanded just a little more.
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Romney began Monday morning, telling Fox News that Gingrich should return the $1.6 million he was paid by Freddie Mac. Then he told POLITICO that Gingrich is the front-runner, but he?s in for the long haul of an extended primary season, which he believes his campaign will be able to sustain.
Then Tuesday, on a day otherwise devoted to fundraising, Romney told the Post that Gingrich is an ?extremely unreliable leader in the conservative world.?
A sharper knife came out Wednesday, with Romney expanding his personal attacks on Gingrich. He started with the New York Times, saying of Gingrich, ?zany is not what we need in a president.?
He taped an interview Wednesday morning for the CBS Evening News accusing Gingrich of becoming rich because of his prominence in Washington while hitting him for the $500,000 line of credit from Tiffany?s.
?Newt Gingrich has wealth from having worked in government,? Romney said. ?He?s a wealthy man, a very wealthy man. If you have a half a million dollar purchase from Tiffany?s, you?re not a middle class American.?
Two hours before the CBS interview aired, but after he recorded it, Romney laid the groundwork with a reference to the Tiffany?s credit line on Sean Hannity?s radio show, saying Gingrich shouldn?t call him out of touch for offering a $10,000 bet to Rick Perry during Saturday night?s debate ?given a $500,000 bill at Tiffany?s.?
Romney also built up the attack on Gingrich?s conservative credentials during the CBS interview. When Gingrich responded to his calls to return his Freddie Mac earnings by calling for Romney to return his profits from running Bain capital, he said, ?frankly, [I?m] very surprised that he would attack conservatism, he would attack free enterprise, he would attack capitalism,? Romney said. ?This is a party that believes in free enterprise.?
Asked by Jan Crawford if Gingrich is ?in the wrong party,? Romney replied: ?Well, it depends on the day. I just think he?s been unreliable in his support of conservative principles.?
Falling in the polls again Gingrich, Romney?s reverted a policy of inaccessibility ? a low-profile strategy of avoiding reporters, rarely taking questions from crowds and 21 months without doing a Sunday morning talk show.
On the offensive, Romney?s avoided interviews like his much-panned Nov. 29 sit-down with Fox?s Bret Baier, when he appeared brittle and uneasy while answering questions.
Gingrich and Romney are set to be face-to-face and side-by-side at the debate in Sioux City Thursday night, but as of Wednesday, Gingrich?s spokesman declined to respond to the new Romney attacks.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? AT&T Inc. and two of its rivals have agreed to postpone their lawsuits over AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile USA now that the $39 billion deal is in jeopardy.
A federal judge quickly approved motions filed jointly Tuesday morning by AT&T and Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest U.S. cell phone company, and a smaller phone company, C Spire Wireless, to cancel proceedings in their suits to stop the T-Mobile deal.
On Monday, AT&T and the Justice Department agreed to cancel the antitrust trial scheduled for February while the wireless carriers determine the fate of their proposed merger, which has come under increasing government criticism that it would reduce competition and raise consumer prices.
Dallas-based AT&T says it is considering along with T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany whether to revise the plan to win regulatory approval.
Russian police block a road to prevent opposition rallies against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election, as the monument of the heroes of the Revolution of 1905 is seen in the background, in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian police block a road to prevent opposition rallies against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election, as the monument of the heroes of the Revolution of 1905 is seen in the background, in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian police gather to prevent an opposition rally against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in an apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Opposition leader Ilya Yashin is escorted by police from a court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Yashin was sentenced Tuesday to a 15-day arrest for disobeying police after he was detained Monday along with some 300 protesters who rallied against what they called vote rigging during Sunday's parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Red lights of police cars are reflected on the wet asphalt where police officers block the road after a political rally in downtown Moscow, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Several thousand people have protested in Moscow against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election that observers said was rigged. A group of several hundred then marched toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, but were stopped by riot police and taken away in buses. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian Communist Party supporters hold flags with the color and emblem of the Communist Party during a protest against the official results of the parliamentary elections in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. The Communist Party appeared to benefit most from the protest vote, getting nearly 20 percent, up from less than 12 percent four years ago. The socialist Just Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party led by mercurial nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky are also expected to increase their representation in the Duma; both have generally voted with United Russia, and the Communists pose only token opposition. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
MOSCOW (AP) ? Thousands of police and Interior Ministry troops patrolled central Moscow on Tuesday, an apparent attempt to deter any further protests day after a rally against vote fraud and corruption caught Russian authorities by surprise.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, called his party's reduced number of seats in Sunday's parliamentary election an "inevitable" result of voters always being dissatisfied with the party in power. Putin also dismissed allegations of corruption among his United Russia party members, calling it a "cliche" that the party had to fight.
In neighboring Lithuania, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton again criticized the Russian election and urged that widespread reports of voting fraud be investigated.
United Russia party won slightly less than 50 percent of Sunday's vote, according to nearly complete preliminary results. Although that gives the party an absolute majority in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, it is a significant drop from the 2007 election when the party got a two-thirds majority, enough to change the constitution unchallenged.
Even that smaller majority is seen as questionable in the wake of numerous reports of voting fraud to inflate United Russia's total. Russian officials, however, have denied any significant vote violations.
Still, the election results reflected public fatigue with Putin's authoritarian streak and with official corruption in Russia, signaling that his return to the presidency in next March's election may not be as trouble-free as he expected.
Russia's beleaguered opposition has been energized by the vote. Late Monday, thousands marched in Moscow chanting "Russia without Putin!"
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of police cordoned off Triumphal Square, adjacent to the capital's main boulevard, after reports that anti-Putin demonstrators would try to gather there. Hundreds of young men, some wearing emblems of the Young Guards, United Russia's youth wing, also were seen at the square.
Police also cordoned off a monument to the 1905 Revolution, which also has been the site of demonstrations.
Police detained about 300 protesters in Moscow on Monday and 120 participants in a similar rally in St. Petersburg. One of the leaders, Ilya Yashin, who was among those arrested, was sentenced to 15 days in jail Tuesday for disobeying police.
Security forces already had been beefed up in the capital ahead of the election. Moscow police said 51,500 Interior Ministry personnel were involved and it was all part of increased security for the election period.
Putin's comments Tuesday appeared aimed at saving face and discouraging the opposition from seeing United Russia as vulnerable.
"Yes, there were losses, but they were inevitable," Putin said. "They are inevitable for any political force, particularly for the one which has been carrying the burden of responsibility for the situation in the country."
Putin also addressed the popular characterization of United Russia as "the party of crooks and thieves," saying corruption was a widespread problem not limited to a single party.
"They say that the ruling party is associated with theft, with corruption, but it's a cliche related not to a certain political force, it's a cliche related to power," he said during a meeting with provincial officials.
"What's important, however, is how the ruling government is fighting these negative things," he said.
Clinton criticized the Russian vote for a second straight day, saying Tuesday that "Russian voters deserve a full investigation of electoral fraud and manipulation."
Konstantin Kosachev, a senior United Russia member, described Clinton's statement as "one of the darkest pages in the Russian-U.S. relations" and warned Washington against supporting the opposition.
Russia's only independent election monitoring group, Golos, which is funded by U.S. and European grants, came under heavy official pressure ahead of Sunday's vote after Putin likened Russian recipients of foreign support to Judas. Golos' website was incapacitated by hackers on election day, and its director Lilya Shibanova and her deputy had their cell phone numbers, email and social media accounts hacked.
The Russian election even drew criticism from one of Putin's predecessors.
"There is no real democracy here and there won't be any, if the government is afraid of the people," former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
Global winds could explain record rains, tornadoes Public release date: 5-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jonathan Martin jemarti1@wisc.edu 608-772-9477 University of Wisconsin-Madison
MADISON Two talks at a scientific conference this week will propose a common root for an enormous deluge in western Tennessee in May 2010, and a historic outbreak of tornadoes centered on Alabama in April 2011.
Both events seem to be linked to a relatively rare coupling between the polar and the subtropical jet streams, says Jonathan Martin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
But the fascinating part is that the change originates in the western Pacific, about 9,000 miles away from the intense storms in the U.S. midsection, Martin says.
The mechanism that causes the storms originates during spring or fall when organized complexes of tropical thunderstorms over Indonesia push the subtropical jet stream north, causing it to merge with the polar jet stream.
The subtropical jet stream is a high-altitude band of wind that is normally located around 30 degrees north latitude. The polar jet stream is normally hundreds of miles to the north.
Martin calls the resulting band of wind a "superjet."
Jet streams in the northern hemisphere blow from the west at roughly 140 miles per hour, and are surrounded by a circular whirlwind that looks something like a tornado pushed on its side. The circulating wind at the bottom of the jet stream blows from the south. On the north side, the circulating winds turn vertical, lifting and cooling the air until the water vapor condenses and feeds precipitation.
A superjet and its circulating winds carry roughly twice as much energy as a typical jet stream, Martin says. "When these usually separate jet streams sit atop one another, there tends to be a very strong vertical circulation, which produces clouds, precipitation and tornadoes under the right conditions."
And because the circulating wind in a superjet moving across the U.S. south picks up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, "the superjet gives a double-whammy more moisture, and more lifting, producing that intense rain."
That was the case in May 2010, when 10 to 20 inches of rain fell around Nashville.
Andrew Winters, who is now a graduate student studying with Martin, latched onto the Tennessee flood as the topic of his senior undergraduate thesis in 2010. "It had a lot of interesting aspects, brought an anomalous amount of moisture into the southeast, and that hefty amount of rain," Winters says.
And that super-strong jet stream "could be traced back to conditions in the western Pacific, almost a week earlier," Winters says.
Martin and Winters describe their work in talks Dec. 6 and 7 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Studies of the Tennessee floods, the Alabama tornados, and an odd October storm in Wisconsin showed "that when the subtropical jet is pushed poleward under the influence of strong thunderstorms in the western Pacific, it seems to result in these intense storms in the U.S. midsection," Martin says. "It's a really fascinating global connection that occurs seven to 10 days later."
Martin also suggests the altered position of the subtropical jet stream may be linked to global warming.
"There is reason to believe that in a warmer climate, this kind of overlapping of the jet streams that can lead to high-impact weather may be more frequent," Martin says.
That idea can be tested, Martin adds.
"Historic weather data should tell us whether there has been a change in the frequency of these overlapping events, and whether that might be linked to a change in high impact-weather events. It's an interesting lead that could help us understand one possible mechanism by which a warmer climate could lead to an increase in severe weather," he says.
Although hurricanes can be tracked for a week or more as they cross the Atlantic Ocean, weather phenomena seldom last so long, Martin says. "If the subtropical jet stream is rearranged and superposed on top of the polar jet stream, it might be the mechanism that allows for this very long delay, a disturbance that can have discernible effect on severe weather thousands of miles downstream, and a week or more later."
Martin says that if the new analysis survives further study, it could contribute to severe weather forecasting. Though severe weather was forecast a day or two in advance of the deadly tornado outbreak in the Southeast this April, "most tornado forecasts are made 12 or at most 24 hours in advance. That saves lives. But if we get the idea five or six days in advance that we should watch the position of the jet streams, we could say, 'Hey, we have a pretty exciting week coming up, we have to be on high alert.'"
###
David Tenenbaum, (608) 265-8549, djtenenb@wisc.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Global winds could explain record rains, tornadoes Public release date: 5-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jonathan Martin jemarti1@wisc.edu 608-772-9477 University of Wisconsin-Madison
MADISON Two talks at a scientific conference this week will propose a common root for an enormous deluge in western Tennessee in May 2010, and a historic outbreak of tornadoes centered on Alabama in April 2011.
Both events seem to be linked to a relatively rare coupling between the polar and the subtropical jet streams, says Jonathan Martin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
But the fascinating part is that the change originates in the western Pacific, about 9,000 miles away from the intense storms in the U.S. midsection, Martin says.
The mechanism that causes the storms originates during spring or fall when organized complexes of tropical thunderstorms over Indonesia push the subtropical jet stream north, causing it to merge with the polar jet stream.
The subtropical jet stream is a high-altitude band of wind that is normally located around 30 degrees north latitude. The polar jet stream is normally hundreds of miles to the north.
Martin calls the resulting band of wind a "superjet."
Jet streams in the northern hemisphere blow from the west at roughly 140 miles per hour, and are surrounded by a circular whirlwind that looks something like a tornado pushed on its side. The circulating wind at the bottom of the jet stream blows from the south. On the north side, the circulating winds turn vertical, lifting and cooling the air until the water vapor condenses and feeds precipitation.
A superjet and its circulating winds carry roughly twice as much energy as a typical jet stream, Martin says. "When these usually separate jet streams sit atop one another, there tends to be a very strong vertical circulation, which produces clouds, precipitation and tornadoes under the right conditions."
And because the circulating wind in a superjet moving across the U.S. south picks up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, "the superjet gives a double-whammy more moisture, and more lifting, producing that intense rain."
That was the case in May 2010, when 10 to 20 inches of rain fell around Nashville.
Andrew Winters, who is now a graduate student studying with Martin, latched onto the Tennessee flood as the topic of his senior undergraduate thesis in 2010. "It had a lot of interesting aspects, brought an anomalous amount of moisture into the southeast, and that hefty amount of rain," Winters says.
And that super-strong jet stream "could be traced back to conditions in the western Pacific, almost a week earlier," Winters says.
Martin and Winters describe their work in talks Dec. 6 and 7 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Studies of the Tennessee floods, the Alabama tornados, and an odd October storm in Wisconsin showed "that when the subtropical jet is pushed poleward under the influence of strong thunderstorms in the western Pacific, it seems to result in these intense storms in the U.S. midsection," Martin says. "It's a really fascinating global connection that occurs seven to 10 days later."
Martin also suggests the altered position of the subtropical jet stream may be linked to global warming.
"There is reason to believe that in a warmer climate, this kind of overlapping of the jet streams that can lead to high-impact weather may be more frequent," Martin says.
That idea can be tested, Martin adds.
"Historic weather data should tell us whether there has been a change in the frequency of these overlapping events, and whether that might be linked to a change in high impact-weather events. It's an interesting lead that could help us understand one possible mechanism by which a warmer climate could lead to an increase in severe weather," he says.
Although hurricanes can be tracked for a week or more as they cross the Atlantic Ocean, weather phenomena seldom last so long, Martin says. "If the subtropical jet stream is rearranged and superposed on top of the polar jet stream, it might be the mechanism that allows for this very long delay, a disturbance that can have discernible effect on severe weather thousands of miles downstream, and a week or more later."
Martin says that if the new analysis survives further study, it could contribute to severe weather forecasting. Though severe weather was forecast a day or two in advance of the deadly tornado outbreak in the Southeast this April, "most tornado forecasts are made 12 or at most 24 hours in advance. That saves lives. But if we get the idea five or six days in advance that we should watch the position of the jet streams, we could say, 'Hey, we have a pretty exciting week coming up, we have to be on high alert.'"
###
David Tenenbaum, (608) 265-8549, djtenenb@wisc.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
?ETHICS STATEMENT: This is a blatant attempt at me trying to raise money to fund Prostate Cancer research (something very important to me as it claimed my grandfather) by giving away prizes.?
EDIT: Here are the winners. You will be contacted shortly!!
We raised an astonishing ?23,186 which equals $36,500. Fantastic. Thanks to everyone who donated!!
Adobe CS5.5 ? Will Stockwell
Magic Bullet Suite ? Benjamin Tucker
Rode Video Mic Pro ? Jon Minnihan
Zacuto EVF ? Nathaniel MacDonald
Kessler Shuttle Pod ? Dustin Deen
Jag 35 Straight Rig ? Andrew Dempsey
Lens Skirt ? Matthew Leigh, Samuel Olley, Neil Coldrick, Curtis Searle.
Canon S100 ? Adam Nichols
Switchtronics Torch LED ? David Atkinson
A Day with Philip Bloom ? Michelle Murtha
EDIT: I will be doing the live draw a bit later than planned. I wanted to do it on the 1st December but I will be in Ireland and hotel internet generally SUCKS so best to wait until I get home on Sunday. So it will be on Sunday the 4th of December at 2000 (8 PM) GMT. It?s not too late to donate. We have, at the time I right this, raised over ?18,000 which is amazing! More than many huge corporations. Way to go filmmakers!!
I will also be doing a live Q&A so ask away!!
My live broadcast is?on my Justin.TV channel which you can access by clicking here or the image below?
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In the UK alone 1 person every hour dies from Prostate Cancer. That is a pretty scary figure
The lovely people at Switronix have given me two of their new lights. One to try out and the other to give away. Like in previous giveaways, I want to try and raise money for charity with it and as I will be raising money for Prostate Cancer research all November with ?Movemeber? it makes perfect sense to tie them together!
So just donate at least ?10 via this link and I will add you to a draw and pick the winner on the 30th of November. The very last day of Movember!
There may be issues donating via Paypal if not in UK, but credit card works fine. Ignore the fact that the country is UK when you start putting in details ? it gives you a drop down to select country later.
Donate to me or my time, makes no difference! All goes to the same cause and all goes into the draw!
There will be more and more companies adding stuff to this giveaway so stay tuned!
Here are some photos and specs of the lights. I have only had a little play with it and it?s pretty sweet. I am shooting a mini doc tomorrow on the Sony NEX5N with this light as my main light so I can report back on how good it is. Lovely having mixed temperature available and it?s very well made, bright and with a nice even light!
Adobe have incredibly generously donated a full copy of CS5.5 Production Premium worth around ?1900! This consists of Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop and so much more. This is an amazing package!!!
The ever generous Red Giant Software have donated the INCREDIBLE Magic Bullet Suite 11 package worth almost $800!!
If you don?t win don?t forget you can get any ?Magic Bullet? software from Redgiantsoftware.com for 20% off with code bloom20 !!
Rode Microphones have generously donated two Rode Video Mic Pros!!
Zacuto have been incredibly generous, donating the amazing EVF!!
Kessler Crane have generously donated a huge prize: either a Cineslider or a 4 foot Shuttle Pod system! The choice is yours (shipping outside of the USA is responsibility of winner)
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More gear still coming through! Jag35 have donated their ?Straight Rig? worth $500 and Aaron Pinto has donated 4 of his amazing lens skirts for shooting through glass!!
Guy Thatcher has incredibly generously donated the Canon Powershot S100 that he has pre-ordered. An amazing point and shoot camera. This is worth ?439! Guy owns and runs Hireacamera.com which rents out DSLRs, camcorders and even my Kessler Crane pocket dolly!
I myself am giving away a one on one tutoring day with me. We go out and we shoot something and I help and show you my techniques. Unfortunately I cannot fly to you as you could be anywhere, but I will arrange it close to where you are as I travel a lot!
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This entry was posted on Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 09:23 and is filed under Competitions, featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
If the NBA isn't your thing, maybe this college football brawl will get you going. sportsgrid.com/malkd 
SportsGrid 
jacopodonati 
cooperhewitt 
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Public release date: 5-Dec-2011
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