Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/180409141?client_source=feed&format=rss
roy orbison red solo cup xbox live update new planet new planet green bay packers stock jeff garcia
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Harrisburg council approves budget, mayor ponders veto (Reuters)
HARRISBURG, Pa (Reuters) ? Harrisburg's city council, at odds with the mayor over how to dig out of a financial hole, approved a budget on Thursday that contains a slight tax increase but cuts the mayor's allotted tax dollars.
Mayor Linda Thompson, with the end of the calendar year approaching, responded by promising to use every day of her 10-day window to decide whether to veto the $54.3 million budget for Pennsylvania's state capital.
"This is no more than council being spiteful," Thompson told a news conference, describing the move as a cowardly act.
Harrisburg is in a $317 million hole due largely to the expensive repairs and upgrading of its trash incinerator. The city council filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, but the case was dismissed by a federal judge last month, paving the way for a state takeover of the city's finances.
The city council's 2012 spending plan eliminates 10 vacant positions plus the jobs of Thompson's communications director and ombudsman. It also raises the council's line item while decreasing the mayor's allotted tax dollars.
The city council voted 4-1 to adopt the budget and a real estate tax increase that, on average, will cost residents with homes valued at $100,000 an extra $100 a year. David Unkovic, appointed by the governor as receiver to guide the city toward solvency, observed the proceedings but did not take part.
Council member Susan Brown-Wilson said the cut to Thompson's line item should not be misconstrued as a shot across the bow.
"Hopefully, if they've got some issues with what we've done, they'll come down and discuss it with us," Wilson said.
The 2012 budget the city council adopted is $1.9 million less than what Thompson proposed in November and contains the same tax increase. The council said it was likely there would be more budget cuts included in a recovery plan Unkovic submits to Commonwealth Court in February.
"We may eliminate departments in his plan. (City council's) plan may actually look good compared to what may happen in the near future," council member Patty Kim said, adding that the increase in the council's budget was necessary to help an overworked staff and pay court expenses.
The council and the mayor have been at odds over how to lift the city out of its debt. A majority of the city council attempted to enter Harrisburg into Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy protection while the mayor favored entering the city into a state program called Act 47.
Should Thompson take the entire 10 days to decide if she will veto council's newly adopted budget, the city will operate under the terms of its 2011 budget until both parties agree in a new spending plan that, ultimately, will be decided by Unkovic and Commonwealth Court.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
pacquiao blanche blanche gloria allred black friday ads 2011 black friday ads 2011 pacquiao vs marquez
Friday, December 30, 2011
Italy short-term debt costs halve at auction (Reuters)
MILAN (Reuters) ? Italy's short-term debt costs halved at auction Wednesday as a new package of budget austerity and an injection of cheap long-term money from the European Central Bank won Rome some respite in thin year-end markets.
Analysts warned market nerves could easily reignite and pointed to a tougher test Thursday when Italy will sell up to 8.5 billion euros ($11.1 bln) of longer-term bonds, including three- and ten-year paper.
But the lowest six-month auction yield and strongest bid-to-cover ratio since September added to a sense that some of the tension around the countries now at the center of Europe's debt problems had eased for a moment.
European stocks (.EU) rose and the euro edged up in response.
"This is the first piece of good news for Italy's bond market since the crisis erupted (for Rome) in July," said Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategy.
"While today's auction was supposed to be the less challenging of this week's two sales given the shorter maturity of the debt on offer and the predominantly domestic buyer base, it's still a success."
Italy paid an average rate of 3.25 percent to sell 9 billion euros of six-month BOT bills, down from a euro lifetime record of 6.50 percent just a month earlier. It also sold 1.7 billion euros of 24-month, zero-coupon bonds at a yield of 4.85 percent, down from 7.8 percent a month ago.
Since then the ECB has flooded euro zone banks with almost 500 billion euros of longer-term liquidity and the Rome government has overcome internal opposition to a radical pension reform as part of Italy's third budget package since the summer.
Spain's six-month debt costs also more than halved to 2.4 percent at an auction on the eve of the ECB's bumper tender for three-year money on December 21.
"Many things have changed from a month ago," an Italian bill trader said. "This doesn't mean we can rule out further problematic auctions. Markets are easily unnerved."
PREMIUM
Doubts about how much of the ECB money would find its way to troubled government bonds have weighed on Italian and Spanish yields and investors are mindful that Rome must refinance some 91 billion euros in bonds in the first four months of next year.
Italian ten-year yields briefly climbed back above 7 percent this week, pushing the premium over the equivalent German benchmark above 500 basis points. Wednesday, the yield was just above 6.8 percent and the premium around 489 basis points over Germany.
While Rome can count on healthy appetite from domestic retail investors for short-term bonds and bills, longer-term debt sales are a better measure of underlying interest from external buyers.
"Demand for short term paper is good. It remains to be seen whether this extends to the longer maturities," said Credit Agricole strategist Peter Chatwell.
Italy paid a euro lifetime record high yield of 7.56 percent to sell ten-year bonds at the end of November.
Traders say that the ECB targets maturities only up to 10-years in its bond buying program, further limiting the appeal of longer term Italian issues for primary dealers.
TESTING START
Standard & Poor's -- which is expected to release its eagerly awaited verdict on debt ratings for 15 euro zone countries in January -- has warned the first quarter of next year will be "tough," especially for Italy.
In a push to regain market confidence, Italy's parliament gave the final seal in the run-up to Christmas to an emergency austerity budget rushed through by a new technocrat government.
Market attention has now turned to the reform agenda of Prime Minister Mario Monti who has promised to tackle Italy's chronic low-growth problems -- after inaction by former PM Silvio Berlusconi pushed the country to the brink of financial disaster.
"Italy needs some breathing space to implement its reforms. Yet market pressures are set to intensify in the coming weeks given the large amount of debt falling due in the first quarter alone," Spiro said.
Monti has convened a cabinet meeting Wednesday to outline his plans and he could provide some indications to investors in his traditional year-end press conference Thursday.
Analysts expect Monti's 33 billion euro austerity package to further harm Italy's weak internal demand, making efforts to revive growth through a series of long-delayed liberalisations even more crucial.
Totaling more than 15 billion euros, demand for the BOT bills equalled nearly 1.7 times the amount of offer and was also much larger than BOT redemptions Totaling 8.8 billion euros.
(Additional reporting by William James in London; editing by Patrick Graham)
tucson weather tucson weather peyton hillis cl p cl p andy rooney andy rooney
US teen, 2 others found dead in western Mexico (AP)
MEXICO CITY ? The body of a U.S. teenager was found in the trunk of a burned-out car in western Mexico along with the bodies of two other youths, prosecutors said Tuesday.
An employee of the state prosecutors' office in Michoacan state said the car holding the remains of the three young men was found on the side of a rural road on Christmas Eve. The young men had last been seen on the night of Dec. 23.
The employee, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, identified the dead American as 18-year-old Alexis Uriel Marron.
Prosecutors are looking into robbery as a possible motive because none of the men's possessions were found in the car. But the area has also been the scene of bloody turf battles between drug gangs. The Knights Templar and Jalisco New Generation cartels are believed to be active in the area.
Marron was a student at Rolling Meadows High School in suburban Chicago and had relatives throughout the area. Marron's cousin, Danila Zendejas, told Chicago television station WLS that she considered him to be a brother.
"He loved his nieces," she said. "And he didn't have time to get to know one of them, to see her grow."
U.S. State Department spokesman Noel Clay said the agency was working with embassy officials to get more information. Mexican Consulate officials in Chicago said they were aware of reports of Marron's death and were ready to help family if requested.
A memorial service for Marron was planned Tuesday evening in his home town of Rolling Meadows.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said in an email message that it was aware of reports that Marron had been killed, but was working to get more information.
The other two victims were identified as Mexican men aged 21 and 24. All three were from, or had family in, the nearby village of Quiringuicharo, Michoacan. Their bodies were found on a two-lane road near the border with Jalisco state.
Earlier in December, two other bodies were found in a burned-out vehicle on the same stretch of road. The victims have been identified as two Mexico City residents, but there was no immediate information on the motive in those killings either.
dan quayle brett favre packers stock packers stock mastectomy st. nicholas st. nicholas
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Today on New Scientist: 28 December 2011
Death-defying comet lights up huge desert telescope
The newly discovered comet Lovejoy has been caught streaking across the southern skies over the Atacama desert following a close shave with the sun
Best videos of 2011: Magnet turns off speech
In at number 5, see how a powerful magnet interferes with words when applied to the scalp
'Opt-in' settings don't absolve internet companies
Google, Facebook, and other tech companies are hiding behind "opt-in" policies, says Evgeny Morozov
I'm a neo-Luddite and anti-technology
The Luddite spirit lives on in people like Kirkpatrick Sale, who thinks we are on a collision course with technology - although he now uses a computer
2011 review: The year in environment
Explore the biggest environment stories of 2011, including: the Japanese megaquake, Earth's ticking time bombs, and the first field tests of geoengineering
Smart Guide to 2012: Neutrinos may be tachyons
Next year, experiments will test claims of particles breaking the cosmic speed limit - but how to meld these misbehaving particles with the rest of physics?
Robot videojournalist uses cuteness to get vox pops
Boxie is a doe-eyed cardboard robot that elicits conversations from passers-by to gather material for a documentary
Beat the salad bar: Build the ultimate food tower
Watch a time-lapse that shows how to pack a bowl to make the most of a one-take salad buffet
Best videos of 2011: Zap your arm to learn guitar
At number 6, watch an electrical device hack a hand to play the strings
Miscarriage of justice points to fingerprint flaws
A miscarriage of justice has renewed pressure on print examiners to improve their methods, and two new studies reveal the extent of their fallibility
Spot of Culture: Tim Hunt loves...
Nobel prizewinning biochemist Tim Hunt tells CultureLab about a haven for the higgledy-piggledy
How the world might end in 2012 (or maybe later)
Is doomsday coming in 2012? Well, the world has got to end some time, says David Darling
Apps for apes: Orang-utans want iPads for Christmas
Forget bananas. The biggest hit in zoos this year is an Apple, though orangs have more of a geek streak than gorillas
matt schaub fire island fire island diaspora social network diaspora breaking dawn premiere rock center
Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit happy to be playing near home
DETROIT ? Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit was thrilled after he found out his team would be playing in a bowl close to home.
The Broncos don?t even have to leave the state to play in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Tuesday against Purdue at Detroit?s Ford Field.
?It?s a perfect situation for us as a university,? Cubit said. ?Our alumni can get to the game. Our student body can get to the game. Our fans will be able to travel, a lot more families can be at the game than if we went somewhere else.?
If last weekend was any indication, Cubit can expect a friendly reception. A contingent from Purdue?s team was shown taking in Saturday?s Lions-Chargers game at Ford Field and greeted with plenty of boos. Then a group from Western Michigan was introduced to loud cheers.
Still, the Broncos (7-5) will need more than supportive fans to beat Purdue. Western Michigan hasn?t beaten a Big Ten team since 2008, although the Broncos did play Illinois tough in a 23-20 defeat in September.
Purdue is returning to a bowl for the first time since 2007, when the Boilermakers beat Central Michigan 51-48 in this same bowl. Another shootout is certainly possible. Western Michigan has scored at least 38 points seven times this season, including a 66-63 loss to Toledo last month.
?Looking at Western Michigan on film, they can score some points,? Purdue coach Danny Hope said. ?They?re obviously on the cutting edge of the spread offense. It?s very similar to what we ran at Purdue when I coached there before, and we had Drew Brees. ? It?s very similar in a lot of ways ? the play calling, the styles, the protections. They?re a high-scoring football team, so we?d better be ready to score some points.?
Hope is in his third season at the helm for the Boilermakers (6-6) and is taking them to a bowl for the first time. He was rewarded recently with a two-year contract extension through the end of 2016.
Purdue won two of its last three regular-season games, including a victory over Ohio State, to become bowl eligible.
(Page 2 of 2)
?I think it?s a great opportunity for our football team to take another step in our development,? Hope said earlier this month. ?I hope and anticipate we?ll play the best game we?ve played all year.?
Western Michigan is led by wide receiver Jordan White, a third-team All-American who has 127 catches for 1,646 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season. Although he?s played in relative obscurity in the Mid-American Conference, this will be a chance for White to shine on a bigger stage.
?We played Michigan and we played Illinois, and we really should have won down there at Illinois. Unfortunately, we came up short down there,? White said. ?Everybody?s happy with where we?re at. When we have that kind of confidence, we can take down big-time teams.?
Purdue, however, will look at this matchup as a challenge. Cornerback Ricardo Allen and the rest of the defensive backfield will try to stop White. Hope said defensive backs Taylor Richards and Landon Feichter could play more than usual because of Western Michigan?s offensive style.
On offense, Caleb TerBush has handled most of the passing this season for the Boilermakers. Third on the depth chart at the beginning of the season, he earned Hope?s confidence as the two players ahead of him recovered from injuries.
?He has done a fantastic job,? Hope said. ?He?s really grown and developed through the course of the season.?
jerry sandusky interview white house shooting internet censorship sveum benetton ads cornucopia best buy black friday deals
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Vote: Should Kevin Garnett Have Been Punished by NBA for Postgame Scuffle With Bill Walker?
Kevin Garnett's an intense fellow, so don't mess with him immediately after he misses a would-be game-tying shot at the buzzer. Or else he might shove you in the throat.
That's what KG did to former teammate Bill Walker?on national television on Christmas Day, leading to some debate as to whether he should be disciplined by the NBA. According to CSNNE.com, however, the NBA will not suspend Garnett for his actions.
The question is, is that the right call?
daylight savings bobolink bobolink breeders cup hamilton park brian wilson freedom writers
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Christmas with Faraday: The Chemical History of a Candle
?There is not a law under which any part of this universe is governed which does not come into play and is touched upon in these phenomena. There is no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomena of a candle.?
? Michael Faraday, The Chemical History of a Candle
Who would you cite as your favorite physicist? The field has a long, rich history filled with colorful characters and undisputed genius, so it would be a most difficult choice. But Michael Faraday would certainly be near the top of my list of serious contenders for the title.
Faraday was a 19th century British scientist, the son of a blacksmith, who started out as a? bookbinder?s apprentice and took advantage of that position to read voraciously. His favorite subjects were the natural sciences.
Serendipitously, as his apprenticeship was ending, a friend gave him a ticket to a lecture on electrochemistry by the eminent scientist Humphrey Davey, at the Royal Institution ? not a venue where the young humble-born Faraday would normally be welcomed.
Faraday was entranced, and after the lecture he asked Davy for a job. There wasn?t a position available, Davy gently told the young man, but shortly thereafter he sacked his assistant for brawling and hired Faraday in his stead.
It has famously been said that Michael Faraday was Davy?s greatest discovery; considering that Davy discovered the elements barium, strontium, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, that is no mean compliment. Faraday went on to make conduct a series of seminal experiments in electromagnetism, among other contributions.
He also quickly gained recognition as an excellent public speaker. People in early Victorian England were highly interested in the latest scientific discoveries of the day. (They were also just as prone to superstition, though, and Faraday was a staunch opponent to things like table-turning, seances, and mesmerism.) Fellow naturalist William Crookes described Faraday?s lectures thusly: ?All is a sparking stream of eloquence and experimental illustration.?
One of his favorite demonstrations is now a simple experiment repeated by schoolchildren everywhere. You can see magnetic field lines ? what Faraday called lines of force ? by sprinkling iron filings onto a sheet of paper held over a bar magnet. The filings align themselves within the magnetic field, so we can ?see? the patten normally invisible to us.
In particular, Faraday gave a series of famous Christmas lectures each year at the Royal Institution ? a tradition that continues today. One of the earliest, on the chemistry and physics of flames, became a popular book: The Chemical History of a Candle.
These lectures were a gift that Faraday gave year after year to those who showed up to receive it: the gift of wonder at the natural world that continues to surprise us, even today, with its mysterious workings.
Faraday opened with a discussion of how candles were made, from naturally occurring candles like the paraffin and bits of candlewood found in Irish bogs ? ?a hard, strong, excellent wood? ?to manmade dipped tallow candles, beeswax candles, and something called a? sperm candle, ?which comes from the purified oil of the spermaceti whale.? He even displayed a candle salvaged from the wreck of the Royal George, which sunk at Spithead on the 29th of August, 1782; yet the candle still burned brightly when lit.
As Faraday described the process:
?The fat or tallow is first boiled with quick-lime, and made into a soap, and then the soap is decomposed by sulphuric acid, which takes away the lime, and leaves the fat rearranged as stearic acid, while a quantity of glycerin is produced at the same time. Glycerin?absolutely a sugar, or a substance similar to sugar?comes out of the tallow in this chemical change. The oil is then pressed out of it; and you see here this series of pressed cakes, showing how beautifully the impurities are carried out by the oily part as the pressure goes on increasing, and at last you have left that substance, which is melted, and cast into candles as here represented.?
But the bulk of Faraday?s lecture focused on the science relating to the actual flame of a burning candle. First, Faraday demonstrated a simple experiment, placing a candle inside a lampglass to block out any breezes and achieve ?a quiet flame.? He showed how important a well-made candle could be, demonstrating that ?a beautiful cup is formed? as a result of a ?regular ascending current of air playing upon all sides, which keeps the exterior of the candle cool?:
As the air comes to the candle, it moves upward by the force of the current which the heat of the candle produces, and it so cools all the sides of the wax, tallow, or fuel as to keep the edge much cooler than the part within; the part within melts by the flame that runs down the wick as far as it can go before it is extinguished, but the part on the outside does not melt. If I made a current in one direction, my cup would be lop-sided, and the fluid would consequently run over; for the same force of gravity which holds worlds together holds this fluid in a horizontal position, and if the cup be not horizontal, of course the fluid will run away in guttering. You see, therefore, that the cup is formed by this beautifully.
Next, Faraday asked (rhetorically), how is it that a candle burns so steadily, when the it is impossible for a solid fuel to ?flow? up to the wick to feed the flame at the top, as in an oil lamp? The oil in the lamp flows upward thanks to something called capillary action: ?the ability of a substance to draw another substance into it.? (It?s also behind the so-called ?wick effect? explanation for cases of suspected spontaneous human combustion.) Basically, it?s the same thing that causes a sponge (a porous material) to soak up liquids from a surface.
You can witness capillary action for yourself with a simple vertical glass tube open at either end. Place the lower end in a glass of water, you?ll notice that the water rises up to a certain point and then stops. Surface tension basically pulls the liquid column up until the mass of the liquid is large enough so that gravity can overcome the intramolecular forces. You know when a drop of water forms on the spigot of your tap and suspends there until you touch it? Capillary forces hold it there.
And the same is true of candles. To demonstrate this, Faraday showed a ?vessel made of wire gauze filled with water.? It was porous, since water poured into the top would run out at the bottom, and yet the vessel remained filled with water. Faraday compared the wire gauze to a candle?s wick, and explained:
?the wire, being once wetted, remains wet; the meshes are so small that the fluid is attracted so strongly from the one side to the other, as to remain in the vessel, although it is porous. In like manner, the particles of melted tallow ascend the cotton and get to the top: other particles then follow by their mutual attraction for each other, and as they reach the flame they are gradually burned.?
Faraday went on to muse upon the connection between the burning candle and the formation of soot and smoke, as well as air currents and how they influence the shapes of flames. He illustrated this last point with an impromptu version of ?snapdragon?: he took a warmed dish, poured in some brandy (the fuel), then lit it. Then he dropped in some plums (which served as a wick) and pointed out how ?beautiful tongues of flame? were formed.
?You have the air creeping in over the edge of the dish forming these tongues. Why? Because, through the force of the current and the irregularity of the action of the flame, it can not flow in one uniform stream. The air flows in so irregularly that you have what would otherwise be a single image broken up into a variety of forms, and each of these little tongues has an independent existence of its own.
?Indeed, I might say, you have here a multitude of independent candles. You must not imagine, because you see these tongues all at once, that the flame is of this particular shape. A flame of that shape is never so at any one time. Never is a body of flame, like that which you just saw rising from the ball, of the shape it appears to you. It consists of a multitude of different shapes, succeeding each other so fast that the eye is only able to take cognizance of them all at once.?
It?s a wonderful lecture, and worth reading in its entirety. For all our technological advancement, I find it charming that, even today, scientists still find much to puzzle about when it comes to burning candles. ?There are literally thousands of reactions that go on from the moment the fuel vapor is produced and leaves the wick to the time it actually burns and produces Co2 and water,? NASA researcher Howard Ross told Discover in 2001.
This is why I love Faraday so much. No matter how accomplished he became in the world of science, no matter how much he learned through his experiments (which gave us the dynamo, among other things), he never lost the ability to keenly observe even the simplest things around him, noting tiny details and reveling in the intricacy of Nature. He closed his candle lecture by telling his audience,
?Indeed, all I can say to you at the end of these lectures (for we must come to an end at one time or other) is to express a wish that you may, in your generation, be fit to compare to a candle; that, in all your actions, you may justify the beauty of the taper by making your deeds honourable and effectual in the discharge of your duty to your fellow-men.?
On August 25, 1867, the flame of Faraday?s life was snuffed out; his (physical and mental) health had been deteriorating for a good 20 years by then. But his gifts keep on giving, all these years later. And Christmas seems a particularly apt time to honor the man.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=815f28817721d7527decbf55a2b18fb0
disturbia ufc results nick diaz michael myers power outage snow storm snow storm
DaveKerpen: Great Google Plus tips! http://t.co/nuQT0nPe
- Passer la navigation
- Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
- Passer cette ?tape
- Connexion
Great Google Plus tips! lnkd.in/Ev-uzW 
DaveKerpen Dave Kerpen
Pied de page
Source: http://twitter.com/DaveKerpen/statuses/151498417561026561
blagojevich sentence mythbusters cannonball uss arizona myth busters tracy mcgrady tracy mcgrady mash
Monday, December 26, 2011
Electric Power - Uruguay - UTE sees renewable energy offering greater price stability
The incorporation of new renewable capacity on Uruguay's SIN power grid will allow state power company UTE to reduce volatile generation costs, a comp...
Free trial ended?Ask for your subscription.
Contact UsIf you have any questions or need aditionalinformation, please write to us.
cheesecake recipe leona lewis rodney atkins carlos beltran francesca woodman air jordan 11 concord unemployment extension
Breaking News: Charity hails East Africa appeal
Dec 26 2011
Save the Children said its East Africa emergency appeal has become the most successful in the charity's history after Britons donated more than ?7 million in six months.
The appeal, which was launched in July, has surpassed the previous record of ?6.8 million raised for Asian tsunami victims.
Save the Children's chief executive Justin Forsyth said the money was spent on providing food, clean water and healthcare to 1.7 million children affected by the drought in East Africa.
"Even when times are tough at home, this shows that British people care deeply about the world's most vulnerable children," Mr Forsyth said.
"They know that their help - however small - can be the difference between life and death for children facing unimaginable suffering."
One such child is Umi, a baby girl found by Save the Children outreach staff in a remote village in rural Kenya. Mr Forsyth said Umi had life-threatening malnutrition but made a full recovery after the charity intervened.
But he said the scale of the food crisis was enormous and thousands of other children, particularly in Somalia, urgently needed help.
An estimated 250,000 people are in urgent need of assistance in Somalia, he said, just days after International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell announced Britain was providing more than 9,000 tonnes of food supplies and medicines to drought-ravaged regions in the Horn of Africa.
Mr Mitchell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Somalia was a direct threat to the UK's security because it was one of the "most dysfunctional countries in the world". He said aid made "the difference between life and death" as millions across the region "face a fight for life".
The Government will host a conference on Somalia in London on February 23, Prime Minister David Cameron announced last month. Mr Cameron said Somalia was a failed state during a speech at the Lord Mayor's banquet on November 14.
snow white and the huntsman snow white and the huntsman philip rivers 11 11 11 meaning miracle berry billy crystal veterans day thank you
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal attends Christmas celebrations at the Church of Nativity, believed by many to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal attends Christmas celebrations at the Church of Nativity, believed by many to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
A Franciscan monk attends Christmas celebrations at the Church of Nativity, believed by many to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Palestinian Christians attend Christmas celebrations at the Church of Nativity, believed by many to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Two Palestinian Muslim women pose for a snapshot in front a nativity scene inside the Church of Nativity, believed by many to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Pakistani Christians walk around an illuminated display of nativity scenes specially set up on the eve of Christmas celebrations, at a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) ? Tens of thousands of tourists and Christian pilgrims packed the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Saturday, bringing warm holiday cheer to the traditional birthplace of Jesus on a raw, breezy and rainy night.
With turnout at its highest in more than a decade, proud Palestinian officials said they were praying the celebrations would bring them closer to their dream of independence.
Bethlehem, like the rest of the West Bank, fell onto hard times after the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation broke out in late 2000. As the fighting has subsided in recent years, the tourists have returned in large numbers.
By late night, the Israeli military, which controls movement in and out of town, said some 100,000 visitors, including foreigners and Arab Christians from Israel, had reached Bethlehem, up from 70,000 the previous year.
Thousands of Palestinians from inside West Bank also converged on the town.
"It's wonderful to be where Jesus was born," said Irma Goldsmith, 68, of Suffolk, Virginia. "I watch Christmas in Bethlehem each year on TV, but to be here in person is different. To be in the spot where our savior was born is amazing."
After nightfall, a packed Manger Square, along with a 50-foot-tall (15-meter-tall) Christmas tree, was awash in Christmas lights, and the town took on a festival-like atmosphere.
Vendors hawked balloons and corn on the cob, and bands played Christmas songs and tourists packed cafes that are sleepy the rest of the year. As rain began falling in the early evening, many people cleared out of the square and raced to nearby restaurants.
Festivities were to culminate with Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born.
Among the visitors were a surprisingly large number of veiled Muslim women with their families, out to enjoy an evening out in what is normally a quiet town.
"We love to share this holiday with our Christian brothers," said Amal Ayash, 46, who came to Manger Square with her three daughters, all of them covered in veils. "It is a Palestinian holiday and we love to come here and watch."
Israel turned Bethlehem over to Palestinian civil control a few days before Christmas in 1995, and since then, residents have been celebrating the holiday regardless of their religion.
Pilgrims from around the world also wandered the streets, singing Christmas carols and visiting churches.
"It's a real treat to come here," said John Houston, 58, a restaurant owner from Long Beach, California. "It makes me feel really good to see what I have been learning from the time I was a kid in Sunday school until today."
Houston said he was surprised by Bethlehem's appearance, which is a far cry from the pastoral village of biblical times. Today, it is a sprawling town of cement apartment blocs and narrow streets that combined with several surrounding communities has a population of some 50,000 people.
Located on the southeastern outskirts of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is surrounded on three sides by a barrier Israel built to stop Palestinian militants from attacking last decade.
Palestinians say the barrier has damaged their economy by constricting movement in and out of town. Twenty-two percent of Bethlehem residents are unemployed, the Palestinian Authority says. Israeli settlements surrounding Bethlehem have added to the sense of confinement.
The Christmas season is essential for Bethlehem's economy, which depends heavily on tourism.
Most visitors entering Bethlehem, including the top Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, had to cross through an Israeli-controlled checkpoint to reach town.
Twal, a Palestinian citizen of Jordan, arrived in a traditional midday procession from Jerusalem, and later, celebrated Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity.
In his homily, he referred to the Arab Spring, imploring Arab leaders to have "wisdom, insight and a spirit of selflessness toward their countrymen" and praying for reconciliation in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and North Africa.
He also noted the Palestinian campaign to join the United Nations, and complained that the U.N. was "less than united" in its support for the now-stalled initiative. He also criticized the international community for pushing the Palestinians to "re-engage in a failed peace process" which has "left a bitter taste of broken promises and of mistrust."
The patriarch lamented the Israeli barrier enveloping Bethlehem ? "let us tear down the walls of our hearts in order to tear down the walls of concrete" ? and prayed for peace for both Palestinians and Israelis
The Palestinians have subtly tried to draw attention to their plight with this year's Christmas slogan, "Palestine celebrating hope," a veiled reference to their bid to win U.N. recognition. With peace talks at a standstill, the Palestinians are seeking membership as a state in the United Nations and recently gained admission to UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency.
"We are celebrating this Christmas hoping that in the near future we'll get our right to self-determination, our right to establish our own democratic, secular Palestinian state on the Palestinian land. That is why this Christmas is unique," said Mayor Victor Batarseh, who is Christian.
Late Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a meeting of Christian leaders that he is committed to reaching peace with Israel, despite a three-year standstill in negotiations.
"I hope they will come back to their senses and understand that we are seekers of peace, not seekers of war or terrorism," said Abbas, a Muslim. "The mosque, church and synagogue stand side by side in this Holy Land."
Today, only about one-third of Bethlehem's residents are Christian, reflecting a broader exodus of Christians from the Middle East in recent decades. Overall, just 60,000 Christians live in the Palestinian territories, making up less than 2 percent of the population, according to Palestinian officials.
As Christians throughout the world prepared to celebrate, Pope Benedict XVI began a busy two weeks of celebrations at the Vatican with an evening Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Midnight Mass was moved up to 10 p.m. a few years ago to spare the 84-year-old pontiff such a late night.
After a few hours rest, Benedict will deliver his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" speech ? Latin for "to the city and the world," where the pope usually reflects on the hardships facing the world, and ends with Christmas greetings delivered in dozens of languages.
President Barack Obama was spending the holiday with his family in Hawaii. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama wished all Americans a merry Christmas and happy holidays, with a special message of thanks to U.S. troops, especially those serving in Afghanistan.
"Let's take a moment to give thanks for their service; for their families' service; for our veterans' service," the president said Saturday. Obama noted that with the Iraq war over, the last troops from that conflict are home for the holidays.
Associated Presssag nominations sag nominations derek jeter time magazine person of the year time magazine person of the year la clippers verizon galaxy nexus
No Ice Cream Sandwich For Galaxy S And Galaxy Tab
Galaxy S owners will be disappointed to hear that despite being having a device nearly alike to the ICS-friendly specs like Nexus S, the Korean electronics giant has said on official blog that the company?s first Galaxy device won?t be receiving the official upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Along with the original Galaxy S, the 7-inch Galaxy Tab too won?t be able to join the party along with ?the ICS-upgradable devices, including Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy Note, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.?
Samsung Tomorrow states that the TouchWiz is the major obstacle here as none of the device has enough RAM and/or ROM to host it and the whole of its Samsung-designed accessories without lacking the quality. Taking into consideration the countless US versions of the Galaxy S running with similar hardware specs, it is not clear whether your Captivates and Epic4Gs would be able to get Ice Cream Sandwich or you need to have your hand on any new device.
Now the question arises what actually the Galaxy S users do. If you are one of those who don?t want to switch to other handsets and really don?t like the TouchWiz, there is always a custom ROM route. If the TouchWiz has been removed from the update, the Galaxy S will become capable of running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with no trouble at all. GSMArena states, while the experience is certainly not smooth, but it is also not despicable.
Follow us on 
Twitter and join our 
Facebook Fan Page or 
Subscribe to Our RSS Feed
Related Posts
Filed in: Android, News
Source: http://www.techreaders.com/2011/12/no-ice-cream-sandwich-for-galaxy-s-and-galaxy-tab/
pandaria pandaria artie lange baby lisa irwin baby lisa irwin pearl jam 20 martha marcy may marlene
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Taco Bell? Taco 12 Pack Helps College Football Fans Claim MVP of Bowl Championship Series Parties
Easy-to-Carry Box Includes QR Code for Exclusive ESPN Content
IRVINE, Calif.--()--Looking for the perfect game day food to bring to your friend?s place for this year?s Bowl Championship Series (BCS) parties? Make the right call: steer clear of grocery stores, go up the middle, straight to Taco Bell? ? an official BCS sponsor ? and pick up the crowd-friendly Taco 12 Pack, available at participating locations starting Dec. 22 for a suggested price of $10. Prices may vary and exclude tax. This special limited time BCS box includes a dozen of Taco Bell?s classic, crunchy tacos boxed up and in-hand, and also features a unique QR code that gives fans exclusive ESPN video content and game analysis.
?his mom probably just dropped him off.?
Available through a unique QR code, ESPN college football analyst Mark May breaks down each BCS bowl game (Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl, Discover Orange Bowl, Allstate BCS National Championship Game), as well as giving fans past BCS bowl game highlights plus current season highlights. Anybody picking up the meal will be able to go toe-to-toe with the guys in the booth ? and no doubt be the best couch analyst at any gathering.
Taco Bell?s Taco 12 Pack will be featured in advertising on ESPN in the weeks before the game, and during the matchup itself ? including a mini-mercial with May. The meal will be promoted in an integrated campaign that includes TV, radio advertising, in-store promotions, Web site and social media activity as well as public relations. The TV advertising, handled through Draftfcb, Orange County and beginning today, will include a 30-second spot called ?Make an Entrance,? with a voiceover saying that you can tell a lot about a guy by what they bring to a party. The first guy: a bag of chips (?lazy,? ?woke up late?). The second guy: a bag of ice (?I?m cheap, too?). Third: seven-layer dip (?his mom probably just dropped him off.?). The hero enters with a Taco Bell Taco 12 Pack, telling the party he?s ?confident, original ? and has at least 11 friends.?
About Taco Bell Corp.
Taco Bell Corp. ("Taco Bell"), a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), is the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, signature quesadillas, XXL Grilled Stuft Burritos, nachos, and other specialty items such as Crunchwrap Supreme?, in addition to the Why Pay More!? Value Menu. Taco Bell serves more than 36.8 million consumers each week in nearly 5,600 restaurants in the U.S.
Source: http://feeds.businesswire.com/click.phdo?i=44a8f1bc9bd775cca723fb018dd2593b
best buy black friday frys ad a very gaga thanksgiving black friday walmart 2011 sams club dancing with the stars winner too short
'The Iron Lady' shows Thatcher still divides Brits (AP)
LONDON ? With hairdo, handbag and hubris, she dominated ? and divided ? Britain for a decade. Now a film about Margaret Thatcher is doing it all over again.
"The Iron Lady" stars Meryl Streep as Britain's first female prime minister, whose neo-Victorian values and free-market ideology helped transform a battered post-imperial country into an economically dynamic but industrially depleted and increasingly unequal society.
But it's the film's focus on the personal, rather than the political, that has made Thatcher's enemies apprehensive and her allies unhappy.
"The Iron Lady" depicts Thatcher, now 86, as a frail, elderly figure with dementia, holding imaginary conversations with her dead husband Denis (a genial Jim Broadbent) as she looks back on her life as a double outsider ? both a woman and a lowly grocer's daughter in a male-dominated, patrician Conservative Party.
Streep's eerily evocative, pitch-perfect performance looks likely to earn her a 17th Academy Award nomination and possibly a third acting Oscar. But the intimacy of the movie's portrait has led some Conservatives to accuse it of being disrespectful, distasteful, even faintly idolatrous. One lawmaker has demanded a parliamentary debate, telling the House of Commons he was disturbed by the film.
"I just wonder why the filmmakers had to go so heavily on the mental illness, the dementia side, when Baroness Thatcher has had a very important life in the politics of this country and the world," said Conservative legislator Rob Wilson.
"It left me wondering about the humanity of the filmmakers who are very subtly denigrating someone who was a great prime minister."
Thatcher rarely appears in public these days, and her inner circle releases little information about her health. But her daughter Carol ? sympathetically portrayed in the film by Olivia Colman ? wrote about her mother's dementia in a 2008 book.
Conservative grandee Norman Tebbit, a government minister under Thatcher, also criticized the film, saying the former prime minister was nothing like the "half-hysterical, overemotional, overacting woman portrayed by Meryl Streep" ? though he admitted he was basing that judgment on the movie's trailer.
The film's director rejects the criticisms, but says she's not surprised by them.
"Those two words ? Margaret Thatcher ? are provocative in this country," said Phyllida Lloyd, a Briton who also directed Streep in the frothy Abba musical "Mamma Mia!"
"She still has the ability to set people on one another. People think of her either as St. Margaret who saved the nation, or the she-devil who ruined the lives of millions and bred a culture of greed."
Both sides may find their conceptions challenged by the film, which opens in Australia and New Zealand on Monday, in the U.S. Dec. 30 and in Britain on Jan. 6.
"The left wing are nervous about being asked to feel compassion for someone they think they are supposed to hate," Lloyd said. "But all we are doing is making her human.
"And the right are questioning whether there is something shameful about putting her on the screen with this frailty. But that's if you feel frailty is shameful ? and we don't."
Lloyd said she initially hesitated to take on such a polarizing figure. Then she read the script by Abi Morgan ("Brick Lane," "Shame"), and "realized it was not a political film at all."
She says it is something much more subversive ? a film about an elderly woman.
"If the film is political it's in wanting to put an old lady at the center of a film," she said.
That approach makes "The Iron Lady" more a character study than a political or historical drama. It touches on a handful of episodes from her 1979-1990 tenure ? the 1982 Falklands War, the 1984-85 miners' strike, the 1984 IRA bombing of the Conservative Party conference hotel in which five people died, and her eventual ousting after a rebellion by browbeaten Cabinet colleagues.
But this is not a film that makes viewers feel they are learning something new about recent and well-remembered events, in the way "The Queen" did with the aftermath of Princess Diana's death.
It is, instead, a portrait of aging and regret whose depiction of personal triumph and tragedy against a backdrop of state power has Shakespearean overtones.
Streep has called the film "Lear for girls" ? foundering ruler, faithful daughter, false friends ? and there's also a touch of "Julius Caesar" in the story of a leader brought down by conspiring colleagues.
"It's a film about power and the loss of power," Lloyd said. "The cost of a huge life to oneself, one's family, one's colleagues" ? and about how "our great strengths ? conviction, certainty ? can become our greatest flaws: hubris, inflexibility."
The filmmakers' approach may be a canny box office move, allowing viewers to embrace the movie whether or not they support Thatcher's politics.
Initial reactions have been good. Several critics with no love for the Iron Lady say they were moved to tears.
There have not even been the expected howls of outrage at the casting of an American in the role of a British icon.
"I think Meryl has special rights in the U.K.," Lloyd said. "And there is almost a subconscious acknowledgment that to play someone of the magnitude of Thatcher you need a megastar."
Journalist Charles Moore, who is writing Thatcher's authorized biography, predicted the movie would upset Thatcher's friends and family, but said they could take comfort in the fact that it shows her in a positive light.
"The effect of the film is to dramatize very successfully many of the things that made Lady Thatcher so remarkable," Moore said.
"It is an extraordinary story of somebody who comes from outside the establishment by sex and by class. It's a great tale of achievement, of sacrifices made and difficulties overcome."
He also thinks it marks a turning point, an end to the days when Britons had to choose sides on Thatcher ? love her or hate her.
"You have to be over 40 to hate Mrs. Thatcher," Moore said. "Young people just want to know about her."
Still, some of the Thatcherite faithful say they will be staying away from the film.
"There must be something wrong with it if it's converting all these lefty women to the view that she was something rather good," said Bernard Ingham, Thatcher's long-serving press secretary.
He says that if people "want to know what Margaret Thatcher was like they shouldn't go anywhere near it."
"Meryl Streep may be a good actress," he said, "but she ain't Thatcher."
_______
Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless
amityville horror puss in boots the rum diary trailer the rum diary trailer nor easter nor easter st.louis cardinals
Friday, December 23, 2011
Video: EU Banks & ECB Cheap Money: Will It Work?
Will cheap loans from the ECB rescue Europe's bank from its mounting debt problems? David Goldman, Macrostrategy.com, weighs in.
Related Links:
Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45759052/
chris cook nest williams syndrome jay leno machine gun kelly lindsey lohan reed hastings
First Earth-sized planets found
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Astronomers using NASA's Kepler mission have detected two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star. This discovery marks a milestone in the hunt for alien worlds, since it brings scientists one step closer to their ultimate goal of finding a twin Earth.
"The goal of Kepler is to find Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone. Proving the existence of Earth-sized exoplanets is a major step toward achieving that goal," said Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).
The paper describing the finding will be published in the journal Nature.
The two planets, dubbed Kepler-20e and 20f, are the smallest planets found to date. They have diameters of 6,900 miles and 8,200 miles - equivalent to 0.87 times Earth (slightly smaller than Venus) and 1.03 times Earth. These worlds are expected to have rocky compositions, so their masses should be less than 1.7 and 3 times Earth's.
Both worlds circle Kepler-20: a G-type star slightly cooler than the Sun and located 950 light-years from Earth. (It would take the space shuttle 36 million years to travel to Kepler-20.)
Kepler-20e orbits every 6.1 days at a distance of 4.7 million miles. Kepler-20f orbits every 19.6 days at a distance of 10.3 million miles. Due to their tight orbits, they are heated to temperatures of 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit and 800 degrees F.
In addition to the two Earth-sized worlds, the Kepler-20 system contains three larger planets. All five have orbits closer than Mercury in our solar system.
They also show an unexpected arrangement. In our solar system small, rocky worlds orbit close to the Sun and large, gas giant worlds orbit farther out. In contrast, the planets of Kepler-20 are organized in alternating size: big, little, big, little, big.
"We were surprised to find this system of flip-flopping planets," said co-author David Charbonneau of the CfA. "It's very different than our solar system."
The three largest planets are designated Kepler-20b, 20c, and 20d. They have diameters of 15,000, 24,600, and 22,000 miles and orbit once every 3.7, 10.9, and 77.6 days, respectively. Kepler-20b has 8.7 times the mass of Earth; Kepler-20c has 16.1 times Earth's mass. Kepler-20d weighs less than 20 times Earth.
The planets of Kepler-20 could not have formed in their current locations. Instead, they must have formed farther from their star and then migrated inward, probably through interactions with the disk of material from which they all formed. This allowed the worlds to maintain their regular spacing despite alternating sizes.
Kepler identifies "objects of interest" by looking for stars that dim slightly, which can occur when a planet crosses the star's face. To confirm a transiting planet, astronomers look for the star to wobble as it is gravitationally tugged by its orbiting companion (a method known as radial velocity).
The radial velocity signal for planets weighing one to a few Earth masses is too small to detect with current technology. Therefore, other techniques must be used to validate that an object of interest is truly a planet.
A variety of situations could mimic the dimming from a transiting planet. For example, an eclipsing binary-star system whose light blends with the star Kepler-20 would create a similar signal. To rule out such imposters, the team simulated millions of possible scenarios with Blender - custom software developed by Fressin and Willie Torres of CfA. They concluded that the odds are strongly in favor of Kepler-20e and 20f being planets.
Fressin and Torres also used Blender to confirm the existence of Kepler-22b, a planet in the habitable zone of its star that was announced by NASA earlier this month. However, that world was much larger than Earth.
"These new planets are significantly smaller than any planet found up till now orbiting a Sun-like star," added Fressin.
###
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu
Thanks to Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
This press release has been viewed 46 time(s).
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116188/First_Earth_sized_planets_found
bil keane storm in alaska storm in alaska asteroid eric johnson eric johnson russell pearce
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Researchers use mummy DNA to differentiate croc species
Monday, December 19, 2011
The Nile crocodile is a species that was identified by ancient Egyptians. Genetic analysis done by a group of geneticists using samples taken from species throughout the animal's range and including DNA from mummified crocodile remains indicates that more than one species is known by this name.
"This paper provides a remarkable surprise: the Nile crocodile is not a single species, as previously thought, but instead demonstrates two species - living side-by side - constitute what has been called the Nile croc." Said Marlys Houck, geneticist with San Diego Zoo Global's Institute of Conservation Research. "Even more remarkably, they are not each other's closest relatives; one is more closely related to New World crocodilians. The cryptic Crocodylus suchus is a unique entity worthy of a conservation strategy separate from the Nile crocodile populations of East and southern Africa."
The study, published in the October issue of Molecular Ecology, provides important information about a species that is not only an important historical icon but also critically endangered. Recent survey efforts indicate that Crocodylus suchus is declining or extirpated throughout much of its distribution. Conservationists feel that without proper recognition of this species, current sustainable use-based management policies for the Nile crocodile may do more harm than good.
###
Zoological Society of San Diego: http://www.sandiegozoo.org
Thanks to Zoological Society of San Diego for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
This press release has been viewed 62 time(s).
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116139/Researchers_use_mummy_DNA_to_differentiate_croc_species
Monday, December 19, 2011
Iraqis celebrate US exit, but worry for future
BAGHDAD?? Even as Iraqis celebrated the departure of the last American troops Sunday, the dangers left behind after nearly nine years of war were on full display. Politicians feuded along the country's potentially explosive sectarian lines and the drumbeat of deadly violence went on.
The last U.S. convoy rumbled out of Iraq across the border into Kuwait around sunrise under a shroud of secrecy to prevent attacks on the departing troops. When news reached a waking Iraqi public, there was joy at the end of a presence that many Iraqis resented as a foreign occupation.
In the northern city of Mosul, pastry shop owner Muhannad Adnan said he had a swell of orders for cakes ? up to 110 from the usual 70 or so a day ? as families threw parties at home. Some asked him to ice the cakes with inscriptions of "congratulations for the end of occupation," he said.
'The war is over': Last US soldiers leave Iraq-
Only on msnbc.com
- Who's in charge? Mixed signals from Egypt's rulers
- Death penalty dying out
- Romney snags key newspaper endorsement in Iowa
- iPhone case gift guide, from wonderful to weird
- Rumors swirl over Gobi Desert's mysterious patterns
- Bachmann in Iowa: 'I don't hate Muslims'
- Mobile chapels to soothe truckers' souls
But the happiness was shot through with worries over the future.
"Nobody here wants occupation. This withdrawal marks a new stage in Iraq's history," said Karim al-Rubaie, a Shiite shopowner in the southern city of Basra. But, he said, "the politicians who are running this country are just a group of thieves."
"These politicians will lead the country into sedition and civil war. Iraq now is like a weak prey among neighboring beasts."
In the morning, a bomb hidden under a pile of trash exploded on a street of spare car parts stores in a mainly Shiite district of eastern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding four others. It was the latest in the near daily shootings and bombings ? low-level but still deadly ? that continue to bleed the country and that many fear will increase with the Americans gone.
Story: 'It feels good to be home safe and sound': 300 troops arrive at Fort HoodViolence is far lower than it was at the worst of the Iraq War, in 2006 and 2007, when Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias preyed on Iraqis around the country in a vicious sectarian conflict that nearly turned into complete civil war. But those armed groups still remain, and there are deep concerns whether Iraqi security forces are capable of keeping them in check without the help of U.S. troops.
Iraq's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Babaker Zebari said Sunday that his troops were up to the task of uprooting militant groups.
"There are only scattered terrorists hiding here and there and we are seeking intelligence information to eliminate them," Zebari said. "We are confident that there will be no danger."
Equally worrying, the resentments and bitterness between the Shiite majority and Sunni minority in this country of 31 million remain unhealed. The fear is that without the hand of American forces, the fragile attempts to get the two sides to work together could collapse and even turn to greater violence.
In an escalation of the rivalry, the main Sunni-backed political bloc on Sunday announced it was boycotting parliament to protest what they called Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's attempts to monopolize government positions ? particularly those overseeing the powerful security forces. The bloc has complained of security forces' recent arrests of Sunnis that it says are "unjustified."
The Iraqiya bloc warned that it could take the further step of pulling its seven ministers out of al-Maliki's coalition government.
Story: 'Iraq War Ledger': The conflict by the numbers"We are against the concentration of security powers in the hands of one person, that is the prime minister," said Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq, a member of the bloc.
Sunnis have long feared domination by the country's Shiites, who vaulted to power after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein at the hands of the Americans. The rivalry was exacerbated by the years of sectarian killing.
The Iraqiya bloc narrowly won the most seats in last year's parliamentary election. But its leader Ayad Allawi was unable to become prime minister, outmaneuvered by al-Maliki, who kept the premier's post after cobbling together key support from Shiite parties.
That has left al-Maliki beholden to Shiite factions, including those led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militiamen were blamed for sectarian killings during the worst of Iraq's violence. Since forming his new government, al-Maliki has effectively controlled the Interior and Defense Ministries, which oversee the police and military, while conflicts between Sunni and Shiite politicians have delayed the appointment of permanent ministers.
Many on both sides of the sectarian divide also worry that neighboring Shiite-led powerhouse Iran will now increase its influence in their country. Al-Maliki's party and other Shiite blocs have close ties to Tehran. But even some in the Shiite public resent the idea of Iranian domination.
"I am afraid that this occupation will be replaced by indirect occupation by some neighboring countries," said Ali Rahim, a 40-year-old Shiite who works for the Electricity Ministry.
Omar Waadalla Younis, a senior at Mosul University, said at first he was happy to hear the last Americans were gone and thought the city government should hold celebrations in the streets. Then he thought of the possible threat from Iran.
"Now that the Americans have left, Iraq is more vulnerable than before."
___
AP correspondent Bushra Juhi in Baghdad contributed to this report.
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/45715184/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
nfl power rankings week 12 nfl power rankings week 12 brine turkey brine turkey uc davis sweet potato casserole super committee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)