NATO attack allegedly kills 24 Pakistani troops (AP)

ISLAMABAD ? Pakistan on Saturday blocked vital supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan and demanded Washington vacate a base used by American drones after coalition aircraft allegedly killed 24 Pakistani troops at two posts along a mountainous frontier that serves as a safe haven for militants.

The incident was a major blow to American efforts to rebuild an already tattered alliance vital to winding down the 10-year-old Afghan war. Islamabad called the bloodshed in one of its tribal areas a "grave infringement" of the country's sovereignty, and it could make it even more difficult for the U.S. to enlist Pakistan's help in pushing Afghan insurgents to engage in peace talks.

A NATO spokesman said it was likely that coalition airstrikes caused Pakistani casualties, but an investigation was being conducted to determine the details. If confirmed, it would be the deadliest friendly fire incident by NATO against Pakistani troops since the Afghan war began a decade ago.

A prolonged closure of Pakistan's two Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies could cause serious problems for the coalition. The U.S., which is the largest member of the NATO force in Afghanistan, ships more than 30 percent of its non-lethal supplies through Pakistan. The coalition has alternative routes through Central Asia into northern Afghanistan, but they are costlier and less efficient.

Pakistan temporarily closed one of its Afghan crossings to NATO supplies last year after U.S. helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers. Suspected militants took advantage of the impasse to launch attacks against stranded or rerouted trucks carrying NATO supplies. The government reopened the border after about 10 days when the U.S. apologized. NATO said at the time the relatively short closure did not significantly affect its ability to keep its troops supplied.

But the reported casualties are much greater this time, and the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. has severely deteriorated over the last year, especially following the covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. Islamabad was outraged it wasn't told about the operation beforehand.

The government announced it closed its border crossings to NATO in a statement issued after an emergency meeting of the Cabinet's defense committee chaired by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

It also said that within 15 days the U.S. must vacate Shamsi Air Base, which is located in southwestern Baluchistan province. The U.S. uses the base to service drones that target al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region when they cannot return to their bases inside Afghanistan because of weather conditions or mechanical difficulty, said U.S. and Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic matters.

The government also plans to review all diplomatic, military and intelligence cooperation with the U.S. and other NATO forces, according to the statement issued after the defense committee meeting.

The Pakistani army said Saturday that NATO helicopters and fighter jets carried out an "unprovoked" attack on two of its border posts in the Mohmand tribal area before dawn, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others. The troops responded in self-defense "with all available weapons," an army statement said.

Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani condemned the attack, calling it a "blatant and unacceptable act," according to the statement.

A spokesman for NATO forces, Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, said Afghan and coalition troops were operating in the border area of eastern Afghanistan when "a tactical situation" prompted them to call in close air support. It is "highly likely" that the airstrikes caused Pakistani casualties, he told BBC television.

"My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan security forces who may have been killed or injured," said Gen. John Allen, the top overall commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, in a statement.

The border issue is a major source of tension between Islamabad and Washington, which is committed to withdrawing its combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Much of the violence in Afghanistan is carried out by insurgents who are based just across the border in Pakistan. Coalition forces are not allowed to cross the frontier to attack the militants. However, the militants sometimes fire artillery and rockets across the line, reportedly from locations close to Pakistani army posts.

American officials have repeatedly accused Pakistani forces of supporting ? or turning a blind eye ? to militants using its territory for cross-border attacks. But militants based in Afghanistan have also been attacking Pakistan recently, prompting complaints from Islamabad.

The two posts that were attacked Saturday were located about 1,000 feet apart on a mountain top and were set up recently to stop Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan from crossing the border and staging attacks, said local government and security officials.

There was no militant activity in the area when the alleged NATO attack occurred, local officials said. Some of the soldiers were standing guard, while others were asleep, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said map references of all of the force's border posts have been given to NATO several times.

Pakistan's prime minister summoned U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter to protest the alleged NATO strike, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. It said the attack was a "grave infringement of Pakistan's sovereignty" and could have serious repercussions on Pakistan's cooperation with NATO.

Munter said in a statement that he regretted any Pakistani deaths and promised to work closely with Islamabad to investigate the incident.

The U.S., Pakistan, and Afghan militaries have long wrestled with the technical difficulties of patrolling a border that in many places is disputed or poorly marked. Saturday's incident took place a day after a meeting between NATO's Gen. Allen and Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad to discuss border operations.

The meeting tackled "coordination, communication and procedures ... aimed at enhancing border control on both sides," according to a statement from the Pakistani side.

The U.S. helicopter attack that killed two Pakistani soldiers on Sept. 30 of last year took place south of Mohmand in the Kurram tribal area. A joint U.S.-Pakistan investigation found that Pakistani soldiers fired at the two U.S. helicopters prior to the attack, a move the investigation team said was likely meant to notify the aircraft of their presence after they passed into Pakistani airspace several times.

A U.S. airstrike in June 2008 reportedly killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops during a clash between militants and coalition forces in the tribal region.

____

Associated Press writers Anwarullah Khan in Khar, Pakistan, Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

wale weather denver weather denver ambition dorothy rodham rick hendrick plane crash marco rubio

Congo vote begins despite delay fears, violence (Reuters)

KINSHASA (Reuters) ? Voting began in Congo's second-post war election Monday after poll organizers defied fears that a delay would be needed to deal with logistical problems and critics who called for a review because of irregularities.

After repeated delays, the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary vote turned violent in the capital at the weekend. Final rallies were canceled due to clashes between rival supporters, security forces opened fire on crowds and the main presidential challenger was prevented from campaigning.

The polls - which pit President Joseph Kabila against 10 rivals while more than 18,500 candidates compete for 500 seats in parliament - will test the central African nation's progress toward stability after decades of misrule and two wars in the last 15 years.

In the eastern lakeside town of Goma, which has seen some of the worst violence, polls opened slightly late but thousands of people lined up to cast their ballots.

"I am happy to have voted. I want change so I hope those that lose accept the results. We don't want trouble," Joel Mweso, a student, told Reuters.

A Reuters witness also saw residents in the capital, Kinshasa, voting after initial delays.

The last conflict in the mineral-rich state officially ended in 2003 but Congo remains plagued by pockets of instability and many people have yet to reap the dividends of eight years of relative peace.

In parts of the east, the vote will take place in areas still run by a plethora of local and foreign rebel groups.

Election commission chief Daniel Ngoy Mulunda said Sunday the country would prove critics wrong by holding credible and peaceful elections.

"Everyone's going to vote tomorrow, it's going to be a celebration of democracy. The Congolese people are going to take the second step in the consolidation of their democracy. We have kept our promise," he said on the eve of the vote.

The first post-war election in 2006 was seen as broadly free and fair but gunbattles erupted after the voting.

Doubts over the election have stemmed from delays throughout the process, which meant that preparations for the poll have been last-minute and, at times, chaotic.

United Nations troops and helicopters from Angola and South Africa have been called on to ferry election material to 60,000 polling stations across a nation the size of Western Europe with little infrastructure so some 32 million people can vote.

Provisional results are due on December 6.

However, even in the capital voters complained of last-minute confusion over where they were meant to be voting due to polling stations being moved and errors with voter lists.

The opposition has also protested that election lists were not properly vetted, leading to potential fraud. After outbursts of violence during the campaign, there are also fears of a contested result.

"COME A LONG WAY"

Addressing the nation Sunday evening, Kabila said the security forces had taken all measures possible to protect the population and warned against a return to widespread violence.

"Our country has come a long way, from war and conflict of every type. We must take care not to go back to that," he said.

A European Union observer mission Sunday condemned moves by the police Saturday to prevent Kabila's rival, veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, from campaigning.

Kabila, who came to power when his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001 and then won the 2006 poll, has been seen by many as the favorite due to the advantages of incumbency.

The failure of the opposition to unite behind a single candidate - after Kabila's camp pushed through a law scrapping the need for a run-off if no candidate secures a majority in the first round of voting - also bolstered his chances.

But Tshisekedi, who has spent decades in opposition and boycotted the last poll due to complaints of fraud, has drawn increasingly large crowds as his campaign, which started late, picked up momentum in the anti-Kabila West.

Peter Pham, director of the U.S.-based Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, said it appeared that Tshisekedi had cemented himself as the anti-Kabila vote amid frustrations at the slow pace of progress, even if no formal alliance was in place.

"Ironically, the government's ham-fisted attempts to obstruct his campaign have only served to enhance his stature," he said.

(Additional reporting by Kenny Katombe in Goma; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by David Stamp and Elizabeth Piper)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/wl_nm/us_congo_democratic_election

paranormal activity 3 trailer oomph oomph cmj olin kreutz olin kreutz au pair

Amazon: Pillow Pets As Low As $10.80! | Fabulessly Frugal ...

November 26, 2011

Welcome to Fabulessly Frugal! ?Three steps to help you SAVE BIG. ?#1: subscribe to our free?daily newsletter!? #2: ?learn how to?efficiently?navigate our coupon blog. ?#3: start here to?learn how to coupon. ? Want the pros to teach you couponing from start to finish? ?Buy our coupon class on DVD?and learn?the secrets of Extreme Couponing... done right!

Amazon has super cuddly pillow pets on sale!

Here is just a sample? to see all the Pillow Pets on sale head on over HERE.

My Pillow Pet Dalmatian? $12.99.

My Pillow Pets Miss Lady Bug 18? $10.80.

My Pillow Pet Friendly Frog $12.99.
My Pillow Pets Buzzy Bumble Bee 11? $12.05

?

by Mavis ? Leave a Comment
Filed under: Amazon, Christmas, Online Deals?

Tags: Amazon, Christmas, online deal

Source: http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/2011/11/amazon-pillow-pets-as-low-as-10-80.html

powerball winning numbers uc davis pepper spray uc davis pepper spray usc oregon breaking dawn part 2 breaking dawn part 2 big game

40 years later, skyjacker's identity a mystery (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166201536?client_source=feed&format=rss

brooklyn bridge lady antebellum marques colston dez bryant listeria listeria kendall hunter

Arab League to vote on Syria sanctions (AP)

BEIRUT ? The Arab League was to vote Sunday on sweeping sanctions against Syria to pressure the regime to end its deadly, eight-month crackdown on dissent. Damascus slammed the move as a betrayal of Arab solidarity.

Syria is facing mounting international pressure to end its violent suppression of protests against President Bashar Assad, which the U.N. says has killed more than 3,500 people since March. The European Union and the United States have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Assad and his regime, including a ban on the import of Syrian oil.

The 22-nation Arab League will vote Sunday in Cairo on whether to impose its own sanctions, which could include halting cooperation with Syria's central bank and stopping flights to the country. If the Arab League goes ahead with the sanctions, it will be a huge blow for a regime that considers itself a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.

The state-owned Al-Thawra newspaper ran a front-page headline Sunday saying the Arab League is calling for "economic and commercial sanctions targeting the Syrian people." Is said the measure is "unprecedented and contradicts the rules of Arab cooperation."

Since the revolt began, the regime has blamed armed gangs acting out a foreign conspiracy for the bloodshed.

It is not clear whether Arab sanctions would succeed in pressuring the Syrian regime into putting an end to the violence that has killed dozens of Syrians, week after week. Many fear the violence is pushing the country toward civil war.

Until recently, most of the bloodshed was caused by security forces firing on mainly peaceful protests. But there have been growing reports of army defectors and armed civilians fighting Assad's forces ? a development that some say plays into the regime's hands by giving government troops a pretext to crack down with overwhelming force.

On Sunday, activists reported fierce clashes in the flashpoint city of Homs, in central Syria, pitting soldiers against army defectors.

Violence in Homs and elsewhere across the country killed at least eight people Sunday, according to the Local Coordinating Committees, a coalition of Syrian activist groups.

Many of the attacks against Syrian security forces are believed to be carried out by a group of army defectors known as the Free Syrian Army.

The Arab League's recommendations for sanctions specified that the Arab bloc will assist Syria with emergency aid through the help of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, working with local civilian groups to deliver goods.

Syrian neighbors Iraq and Lebanon already have expressed reservations about the sanctions.

On Sunday, an Arab League official said at least two Arab countries warned against adopting these sanctions, saying they would hurt the Syrian people rather than the regime. The official asked that his name not be published because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Syria is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East, bordering five countries with whom it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel's case, a fragile truce. Its web of allegiances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy.

Also Sunday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh acknowledged that 100 Syrian military and police deserters have taken refuge in the kingdom throughout the uprising. It was the first official public confirmation that Jordan hosts Syrian defectors.

In September, officials said privately that Jordan had received 60 Syrian army and police deserters, who ranged in rank from corporal to colonel.

Judeh told The Associated Press that the Syrian soldiers and policemen, whom he claimed were conscripts rather than officers, had arrived in batches over the last eight months.

Many Syrians fleeing Assad's crackdown have also sought refuge in neighboring Turkey.

The Gulf nations of Qatar and Bahrain on Sunday warned their citizens to avoid travel to Syria and called on those already there to leave immediately. The foreign affairs ministries of both countries cited concerns about the security situation in issuing the travel alerts. They did not mention the planned Arab League vote.

The calls come two days after the United Arab Emirates issued a similar warning to its citizens.

The embassies of the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were targeted by pro-Assad regime demonstrators in Damascus earlier this month.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

order of operations carrie underwood eric church martina mcbride sara evans lionel richie cma awards

Black Friday draws crowds, but spending in doubt (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Retailers were hoping for more shoppers like Shawn Elzia as the annual Black Friday bargain stampede marked the unofficial start of what is widely expected to be a middling holiday shopping season.

The Brooklyn, New York teacher, one of hundreds of thousands of shoppers jostling for deals around the country, said he ended up spending about 25 percent more than he planned, even while worrying about the state of the economy.

"I did not expect such deals," the 33-year old said as he left a Macy's store in Jersey City, New Jersey clutching bags full of clothing for himself and his family.

"It's slashed down to the bones," he said. "There were some great discounts if you showed up early."

Deals are always part of the picture on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year was notable for an earlier opening for some retailers and possibly for the one shopper using pepper spray to make sure she could get a popular video game system.

The early start by stores brought out younger shoppers such as Alina Ybarra, who spent the wee hours of the morning with her friends as they all looked for items for themselves.

"It's really chaotic," Ybarra, 17, said of her first Black Friday outing as she finished her shopping in Santa Monica, California. She said that she liked the deals at stores such as Gap Inc's Old Navy and Urban Outfitters.

"It seems like a lot of teenagers were the primary shoppers, maybe because of the hour, but I think net-net it's not really going to result in an incremental positive for retailers," Ed Yruma, senior equity analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, said after checking out crowds at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. He said shoppers were not carrying a lot of shopping bags.

Leon Clare, 24, and Shawn Sykes, 27, both U.S. Navy Corpsmen, drove about 125 miles from 29 Palms Marine Base to Santa Monica so they each could spend close to $175 on a pair of Air Jordan Retro 3 shoes in "Black Cement," popular new sneakers from Nike Inc.

"This is for me," said Clare, who plans to spend more on holiday gifts later on in the season.

"I'm leaving for Afghanistan in March. I'm getting something for everyone, just in case I don't come back."

WORRIED... AGAIN

More than 120 stores at the Mall of America opened at midnight. The crowd at that point was about 15,000 people. Mall operators estimated that it was the largest crowd ever at the mall, which is big enough to hold seven Yankee Stadiums.

While eager shoppers emerged from stores around the country lugging big-screen TVs and bags full of video games and toys, it was far from certain that people will pull out their wallets for much more than the best deals this year. Shoppers with limited budgets started using layaway at chains such as Walmart as early as October.

Retail shares fell more than the overall market on Friday.

"Americans are still worried about jobs, still worried about the economy," said Mike Thielmann, group executive vice president at J.C. Penney, who noted that shoppers were buying gifts and for themselves, and said jewelry was selling well.

In Houston, Rico Salvosa, 60, bought two cameras at Best Buy and said he had saved about $170.

"It's worse than before because business is slow," Salvosa, who wholesales stone countertops, said as he left the store with his daughters. "I don't have a lot of savings for holiday shopping. I told them, 'I cannot buy everything that you'd like.'"

Competition among the retailers was fierce as it was among shoppers, as some stores opened hours earlier than before.

Outside Macy's flagship store in New York, some Occupy Wall Street activists chanted "boycott Macy's" and "stop supporting big corporations" even as about 9,000 people lined up to shop when the store opened at midnight.

Opening early appeared to work, judging from the long lines at stores such as Macy's, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Walmart and Target.

"It was crazy around midnight and one in the morning," said a Target employee at the chain's East Harlem, New York store, where the crowd thinned out later on Friday morning.

Even after a Toys R Us in New Jersey had been open for nearly an hour, at 9:50 p.m. EST on Thursday night, there was still a line of about 300 people waiting to get inside.

The 24 hours that started at 9 p.m. Thursday will be the biggest in retail history, with sales estimated at $27 billion, according to Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, one of the few experts predicting a strong season.

The term "Black Friday" commonly refers to the day after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the busy holiday shopping season when retailers do brisk business. (See related story: Spirited 'Black Friday' has dark roots.

While it is the busiest day of the year in terms of store traffic, it does not always mean that sales will soar for the season.

Despite brisk sales right after Thanksgiving in 2008 and 2009, total holiday season sales fell as the recession gripped the country.

The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, expects 152 million people to hit stores this weekend, up 10.1 percent from last year. Yet it expects sales for the full November-December holiday season to rise just 2.8 percent, well below the pace of last year when sales rose 5.2 percent.

Luxury chains such as Saks Inc and those catering to lower-income shoppers, such as dollar stores, are expected to do well this shopping season.

"For our products that are $25,000 and up, growth is phenomenal," said Mark Vadon, founder of online jewelry retailer Blue Nile. "Price points under $100 are also doing really well. For the mass part of the market, consumers are strapped and being a lot more wary."

Overall, retail executives and analysts expect a more competitive shopping season than in 2010. Unemployment remains at 9 percent, European debt woes are weighing on the stock market, and consumer confidence remains spotty.

Online sales on Thursday and Friday surpassed last year, and more shoppers used their mobile devices to buy, according to IBM data. The amount U.S. shoppers spent via eBay Mobile more than doubled on Thanksgiving, while eBay's PayPal Mobile unit saw a five-fold increase in global mobile payment volume versus last Thanksgiving.

The online push put pressure on some companies. Walmart.com saw some very high traffic, so some customers may have experienced delays as they tried to check out, it said.

Even Apple Inc gets into the Christmas spirit on Black Friday, the only day that it usually offers discounts. This year it offered its typical $101 discount on its $900-plus Mac laptops and $41 or more off its $499-plus iPads.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan, Liana B. Baker and Phil Wahba in New York, Mihir Dalal in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jessica Wohl in Chicago, Diane Bartz in Hyattsville, Maryland, Lisa Baertlein and Edwin Chan in Los Angeles, Alistair Barr in San Francisco and Bruce Nichols in Houston. Editing by Jon Loades-Carter, Phil Berlowitz and Robert MacMillan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111126/bs_nm/us_usa_retail_thanksgiving

itunes match itunes match walmart black friday 2011 walmart black friday 2011 packers vikings bob costas jerry sandusky chelsea clinton

'Amateur' Astronomer Snaps Pic of Planet-Forming Disk

I mean, if he really isn't an 'amateur,' then maybe he should have been referred to as a 'professional' astronomer (sans quotes)?

Oh wait...the Bad Astronomer makes an error that's common to the rest of the population: He believes 'amateur' means "one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science." In fact, in this context 'amateur' means "not compensated," "not for hire," or "one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession."

Perhaps the/. editors could help fight this common misunderstanding by dropping the superfluous quotes. It's too bad the grandeur of Rolf's contribution to science is sullied by other's ignorance. How many of you all thought to yourselves "Why the hell is 'amateur' in quotes?" C'mon...I know you did.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/webfbm8mg0w/amateur-astronomer-snaps-pic-of-planet-forming-disk

jr martinez megyn kelly green bean casserole sweet potato recipes green bean casserole recipe ryan braun karina smirnoff

NBC apologizes to Bachmann (Politico)

ST. PAUL, Minn. - GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann received an apology from an NBC executive after an off-color song was played during her appearance on Jimmy Fallon?s ?Late Night,? her spokeswoman said late Wednesday.

The Minnesota congresswoman received a letter from NBC?s vice president for late night programming, Doug Vaughan, a day after she appeared on the show. As Bachmann walked onstage, the show?s band had played a snippet of a 1985 Fishbone song entitled ?Lyin? Ass B??.?

Continue Reading

Vaughan wrote that the incident was ?not only unfortunate but also unacceptable,? Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told The Associated Press. She said Vaughn offered his sincerest apologies and said the band had been ?severely reprimanded.?

Fallon also apologized to Bachmann when they spoke earlier Wednesday, she said. He?d tweeted earlier, saying he was ?so sorry about the intro mess.?

?He was extremely nice and friendly and offered his apology, and she accepted it,? Stewart said, adding that the comedian said he was unaware the band planned to play the song. ?It?s just unfortunate that someone had to do something so disrespectful.?

Bachmann lashed out earlier Wednesday at NBC for not apologizing or taking immediate disciplinary action. In her first comments on the flap, Bachmann said on the Fox News Channel that the Fallon show band displayed sexism and bias by playing the song.

?This is clearly a form of bias on the part of the Hollywood entertainment elite,? Bachmann said. She added, ?This wouldn?t be tolerated if this was Michelle Obama. It shouldn?t be tolerated if it?s a conservative woman, either.?

She went further on a national radio conservative radio show hosted by Michael Medved, calling the incident ?inappropriate, outrageous and disrespectful.?

On Fox, Bachmann expressed surprise that she?s heard nothing from the TV network. She suggested that discipline for the show?s band, The Roots, was in order. She said she believed Fallon?s comments to be sincere.

One of Bachmann?s congressional colleagues, New York Democrat Nita Lowey, had called on NBC to apologize for its ?insulting and inappropriate? treatment of its guest.

The Roots? bandleader, Ahmir ?Questlove? Thompson, has said the song was a ?tongue-in-cheek and spur-of-the-moment decision.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1111_69085_html/43702008/SIG=11mgo5utk/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69085.html

waldorf school new orleans saints world series game 4 world series game 4 indianapolis colts colts colts

Opera soprano Sena Jurinac dies aged 90 (omg!)

LONDON (Reuters) - Bosnian-born soprano Sena Jurinac, who made her name at the Vienna State Opera in the 1940s and 50s, has died aged 90, the opera house said on Wednesday.

She passed away on Tuesday at her home near Augsburg in southern Germany, it added in a statement.

"We mourn the passing of a legendary artist who not only had a lasting influence on the Vienna State Opera but on the entire opera world as well," said Dominique Meyer, director of the company.

Jurinac was born in Travnik in 1921, and after training and singing in Zagreb signed up to the Vienna State Opera.

Her debut there came in 1945, in the opera's first performance after the end of World War Two, as Cherubino in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro."

Among her most-performed roles in Vienna were Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier," Mimi in "La Boheme," Donna Elvira in "Don Giovanni" and Elisabeth in "Don Carlos." She retired from the opera house in 1982.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_opera_soprano_sena_jurinac_dies_aged90_150457459/43694403/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/opera-soprano-sena-jurinac-dies-aged-90-150457459.html

dippin dots lindsey vonn lindsey vonn triumph the insult comic dog tucson weather tucson weather peyton hillis

Jury hears testimony of Conn. killer's daughter, 9 (AP)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. ? Defense attorneys played a videotaped interview of a 9-year-old girl whose father is facing a possible death sentence for a home invasion that killed three people even though their client objected, saying he didn't want his daughter to feel compelled to help "one of the most hated people in America."

Joshua Komisarjevsky's daughter giggles a lot in the video as she talks to a child welfare expert about her dogs and other animals and her toys. At one point, she says she used to play with "Nana's son Josh" and says he went to jail for something.

Komisarjevsky's attorneys played the video Wednesday as they try to persuade the jury to spare him the death penalty. Komisarjevsky and his co-defendant, Steven Hayes, were convicted of murder in the killing of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela, at their Cheshire home. Hayes is on death row.

The girl, who has brown hair parted in the middle and wore a pink striped sweater, swivels in her chair and looks up at the ceiling as she talks to the expert while doing a puzzle, drawing and looking at family photos. Asked her favorite color, she says, "It depends on my mood. I'm kind of like in a lime mood."

The girl describes a movie about a baby zebra that gets separated from his family at the circus and goes on to live at a farm raised by horses and become a racehorse. "It's funny and sad and cool," she says.

Caroline Long Burry, a child welfare expert who interviewed the girl last weekend, said she believes the child recognizes the story is an analogy to her own life.

The girl calls Komisarjevsky him "Daddy Josh" when she's with his family, but refers to him as the son of her grandparents when with her maternal relatives, Burry said.

Burry described the girl as bright and engaging and expressed concerns that if Komisarjevsky is sentenced to death "she would have to live on a daily basis with being labeled and quite possibly stigmatized with the fact her father is on death row and there is an execution coming up." Burry, a death penalty opponent, also said the girl is known to withdraw and has a lot of anxiety.

Prosecutor Michael Dearington reminded jurors under cross-examination that Komisarjevsky was convicted of sexually assaulting and killing a girl less than two years older than his daughter. Dearington also noted that those sentenced to death spend many years on death row and asked Burry about the last execution, which was in 2005 and was the only one since 1960 in Connecticut.

Komisarjevsky, speaking for the first time in his trial other than a taped confession, told the trial judge earlier Wednesday that his daughter was coached, an allegation denied by an attorney for the girl's guardian.

"I've carefully come to the overwhelming opinion that I am not at all comfortable putting my daughter in a position wherein she may feel that she has to explain or justify herself to anyone who perceives her statements to somehow help one of the most hated people in America," Komisarjevsky said.

"She's 9 years old. Had this interview been her decision to make and she was old enough to understand that decision that would be one thing. However, that is not the case in this situation. The decision has been made for her," he said.

Komisarjevsky noted his life is on the line. He said the negative consequences to his daughter outweigh the benefits of helping to save his life.

"I will not beg for my life," he said. "I will humbly request in earnest that your honor please uphold the thoughtfully weighed decision of defendant over the wish of the defense team."

Komisarjevsky's lawyers played the videotape of the girl in hopes of persuading jurors to spare him the death penalty. New Haven Superior Court Judge Jon Blue agreed with the attorneys that they have the final say.

The attorney for the girl's guardian said the interview with the girl was done carefully in a nonconfrontational way.

Komisarjevsky has been behind bars for nearly his daughter's entire life. He served more than four years for nighttime residential burglaries and also has been imprisoned since the killings four years ago. She visited him in prison 55 times during the earlier stint but hasn't seen him there since the home invasion killings.

Komisarjevsky said his daughter has been told by her guardian not to talk about him.

"It should also be considered how her memorialized words will affect her emotionally and psychologically in the future if she believes she's party to assisting the effort to put me to death," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_re_us/us_home_invasion

adobe air 2005yu55 advanced search a christmas carol personhood amendment haynesworth haynesworth

Gambia incumbent wins re-election, commission says (AP)

BANJUL, Gambia ? Gambia's electoral commission says that Gambia's president of 17 years has won re-election after a poll that critics say was unfair.

The chairman of the electoral commission says President Yahya Jammeh won with 72 percent of the vote, and leading opposition candidate Ousainou Darboe came in second with nearly 17 percent of the vote.

The regional bloc ECOWAS said Thursday's vote in this tiny country on Africa's western coast was marred by repression and intimidation.

Jammeh has rejected the idea of a unity government, saying: "I don't have an opposition. What we have is people who hate this country and I will not work with them."

He has drawn international criticism for his claim he can cure AIDS with an herbal body rub and bananas. He first took power after a 1994 coup.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_af/af_gambia_election

post office hours coptic coptic breaking bad season finale breaking bad season finale jets patriots breaking bad

Republicans Debate Foreign Policy Tonight (The Atlantic Wire)

The Republican presidential primary debates have shaped the race a lot this year, but mostly in one way: making candidates not named Mitt Romney look bad. Herman Cain and the other two ex-frontrunners -- Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry -- will try to get voters to love them again, while the three remaining not-Romneys -- Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul -- will ask to have their turn. But the topic of tonight's debate -- foreign policy -- might make that tricky. The subject has made Cain look bad?several times already, but he's only the guy who's had the hardest time with it. We'll be liveblogging the debate, which starts at 8p.m. on CNN, right here.

Related: Debate Liveblog: Romney, Perry Attack Each Other

Bachmann said this month the U.S. economy could grow faster if it became less socialist like China, which is a communist country. Paul was booed at an earlier debate for suggesting American foreign policy encouraged terrorists to attack us. Huntsman says he was merely doing his duty to serve the country when he took a job as ambassador to China under President Obama, even though he quit that job to run for Obama's.?Santorum has been the most open about begging for love. When Hot Air's Ed Morrissey asked him if he deserved a "second look" from Republicans, Santorum shot back, "They haven?t really taken a first look." All that time in the wilderness has made the former frat guy introspective. Noting that Saturday Night Live portrays him as "Angry Santorum," he told ABC News' Shushannah Walshe, "I?m not angry. Do you think I?m angry? I?m not an angry guy. I get wound up and passionate about things, but I?m not angry." Still, he's taken apologizing for sounding angry at campaign events, explaining that he's just "passionate." It will be interesting to see how he balances that tonight when talking about Israel, an issue he's shown quite a bit of passion about in previous debates.

Related: GOP Debate: Perry Forgets Things

CNN's Todd Graham sums up their positions like this:

• Negotiating with the Taliban: Yes = Gingrich; No = Romney.
• If needed, going to war with Iran: Yes = Romney, Gingrich, Santorum; No = Cain, Paul.
• Use of waterboarding: Yes = Cain, Bachmann, Perry; No = Huntsman, Paul.
• Quickly pulling out of Afghanistan: Yes = Huntsman, Paul; No = Perry, Romney.
• Giving foreign aid without preconditions (especially to countries like Pakistan): Yes = Bachmann, Santorum; No = Perry, Gingrich.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/20111122/pl_atlantic/republicansdebateforeignpolicytonight45328

mark kelly john hughes jeff goldblum uc berkeley ohio state basketball annie annie

China factory sector shrinks most in 32 months (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China's factory sector shrank the most in 32 months in November on signs of domestic economic weakness, a preliminary PMI survey showed, reviving worries that China may be slipping toward a hard landing and fuelling fears of a global recession.

The steep fall in the HSBC flash purchasing managers' index (PMI) to 48 in November from 51 in October largely reflected domestic weakness as both output and new orders shrank even as export orders continued to grow.

The flash PMI, the earliest readout of China's industrial activity, was the lowest since March 2009 and suggests the factory sector contracted during the month. A PMI reading of 50 demarcates expansion from contraction.

The PMI unnerved financial markets already roiled by the euro zone debt crisis and a downward revision in U.S. economic growth and underscored expectations that Beijing will lean more on policies to support growth than ones to fight inflation.

"They are not going to want this to go too far," said Tim Condon, head of Asia research at ING in Singapore. "I'm not sure if it (PMI) is a tipping point but I think it adds to the evidence."

Beijing has already announced some selective steps, geared to small business, to support the economy. HSBC said evidence in the PMI of a sharp drop in inflationary pressures meant Beijing had room for more selective measures if need be.

"There remains no need to panic," HSBC economist Qu Hongbin said. "Easing inflation provides room for more easing measures, which will keep China on track for a soft landing."

The sub-indexes for input and output prices dropped around 10 points each to below 50 to lows last seen in April 2009.

HSBC said the output sub-index tumbled to a 32-month low of 46.7, a steep drop from October's final reading of 51.4 and new orders suffered the biggest drop in 1-1/2 years to sink well below 50.

Qu said the PMI data suggested industrial output growth in China will moderate in coming months to an annual rate of 11-12 percent, a pace not seen since 2009 when China was pulling out of the global financial crisis. Output has averaged close to 14 percent this year.

The final PMI reading for November may be slightly higher than the flash number, a comparison of the data shows.

HSBC has reported a flash PMI, which captures up to 90 percent of total responses, since February.

On five occasions, the final PMI reading was higher than the flash reading; twice it was lower and the other two months it was unchanged.

Kevin Lai, senior economist at Daiwa in Hong Kong, said the PMI data showed China's industrial production had started to contract on a month-on-month basis.

"We see a 25 percent probability of a hard landing in the first quarter of next year," he said, meaning growth of less than 8 percent.

GLOBAL GROWTH COOLS

The Australian dollar fell to a six-week low after the data on concern that demand growth from Australia's biggest trading partner and export market will ease.

Asia shares outside of Japan dropped more than 2 percent and U.S. S&P stock futures lost further ground as China's PMI added to the risk of a global recession.

A downward revision to U.S. third-quarter growth data on Tuesday had already put markets under pressure.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan is convinced the world is heading into a major downturn, saying at the weekend that a "chronic" global recession was "certain", the most dire reading from a senior Chinese policymaker to date.

Similar flash PMI surveys for the euro zone released later on Wednesday reinforced recession fears by showing the bloc's private sector contracted for a third month in November.

The World Bank forecast on Tuesday that growth in the world's biggest economy after the United States would slip to 9.0 percent in 2011 and then to 8.4 percent in 2012, adding "the risks are tilted to the downside.

China's export growth hit an eight-month low in October as industrial output grew at its weakest in a year. Up to a third of Hong Kong's 50,000 or so factories in China could downsize of shut by the end of this year, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries said this month.

The exuberant Chinese property market is also coming off the boil, a factor HSBC said had weighed on the PMI. Average home prices ticked lower in October for the first time this year and property sales fell.

"Worse is yet to come," Conita Hung, head of equity research of Delta Asia Financial Group, said after the data. "Companies involved in shipping, exports and even banking and finance will be affected."

Most analysts argue that China will keep to a policy Beijing has dubbed "fine tuning", under which it offers support to parts of the economy.

These measures have included support for small businesses. In the latest move, the central bank effectively cut reserve requirements for five rural banks in eastern Zhejiang province -- a cradle of private enterprise -- sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Broader measures, such as a rate cut, are not warranted unless the downturn becomes much more serious.

"We're not witnessing a collapse yet," said Connie Tse, an economist at Forecast in Singapore. "Policymakers are going to rely on selective fine-tuning measures."

BANK RESERVE CUT POSSIBLE

More aggressive policy easing measures are not needed because China's exposure to western demand is less now than it was during the 2008-2009 downturn and its dependence on exports for growth is lower, Qu at HSBC said.

The underlying strength of the industrial sector is also stronger, he suggested.

"It's not like 2008," Ting Lu of Bank of America/Merrill Lynch said.

"This is not as bad. There's no need for China to be in a hurry to roll out measures. The central bank needs to become more flexible and watch the unfolding crisis. It's not the time for them to change policy stance."

Still, like some other analysts, Condon said the selective measures could spread to broader measures in the months ahead as the economy weakens, so a cut in nationwide bank reserve requirements, currently a record high of 21.5 percent for big banks, may be on the cards within three months.

Wang Hu, an economist of Guotai Junan Securities in Shanghai, agreed but said a bank reserve cut could come by the end of the year.

Chinese policymakers will also be wary of easing policy too quickly for fear of reigniting inflation after a long battle.

Consumer inflation dropped from a three-year high in July of 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent in October, raising hopes the peak has passed.

"Inflation risks are still on the radar," said Tse. "It'll be premature for the PBOC to loosen on the macro front."

(Additional reporting by Kevin Yao and Langi Chiang in Beijing, Donny Kwok in Hong Kong, Masayuki Kitano in Singapore, Cecile Lefort in Sydney; Writing by Neil Fullick; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111123/ts_nm/us_china_pmi_hsbc

chris cook nest williams syndrome jay leno machine gun kelly lindsey lohan reed hastings

Gingrich Not Crazy Enough for the GOP? (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/165641776?client_source=feed&format=rss

talladega broncos broncos pumpkin carving texas tech football michigan state michigan state

US diplomat accuses Uruguay major of assault (AP)

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay ? An Uruguayan official says a U.S. embassy official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has accused an Uruguayan army major stationed in the country with assault.

The South American country has sent more than a thousand troops to Congo as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Uruguayan Col. Mario Stevenazzi says the United Nations and the Uruguayan government are investigating the alleged assault, which he says doesn't appear to be sexual in nature.

Stevenazzi didn't identify either the Uruguayan army major or the female U.S. embassy official involved in the alleged assault, which occurred at least two weeks ago.

Uruguayan soldiers serving in another U.N. force in Haiti are also being investigated for an alleged assault involving a young Haitian man.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_uruguay_congo_us_diplomat

saving private ryan world series tickets world series tickets nelson cruz nelson cruz michael young war of the worlds

Proposal to tax Jack Daniel's whiskey derailed (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The makers of Jack Daniel's whiskey can take a victory sip after a proposal by local officials to tax its barrels of booze was derailed before it could reach the Tennessee Legislature.

The Moore County Council in Lynchburg voted 10-5 Monday evening to rescind a vote asking lawmakers to authorize a local referendum on the proposal, which would have taxed Jack Daniel's up to $5 million annually with the revenue going to local coffers.

Charles Rogers of Lynchburg, who had spearheaded the effort, said the issue "is now on life support."

Jack Daniel's is the world's top-selling whiskey, distilled in the tiny town which has been celebrated in folksy, black-and-white advertisements for years.

State Rep. David Alexander, who represents Lynchburg and attended the meeting, said he considers the issue dead.

"It's the will of the people," he said of the council vote. "They have spoken."

A distillery spokesman did not return an after-hours call Monday for comment.

A previous vote was 9-5 to send the proposal to the legislature, and Rogers said he was told the town had been depicted as greedy in worldwide news reports about the proposal since the first vote.

The 145-year-old distillery, owned by Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman Corp., now pays $1.5 million in local property taxes. Distillery officials had opposed the measure, saying Jack Daniel's is already paying its fair share.

Members of the legislature had said the proposal had little chance of passing.

The distillery, tucked away on 1,700 hilly acres in south-central Tennessee, has 450 employees, making it the largest industry in the small county. About 210,000 people visit the distillery annually, qualifying it as a top tourist draw in Tennessee.

Ironically, Moore County is dry, meaning the iconic Old No. 7 cannot be legally sold in the county, just distilled.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_re_us/us_taxing_jack

x factor results x factor results do a barrel roll jimmy kimmel tilt do a barrel roll. florida state football

93% Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

As a young child, my best friend was my stuffed Elmo toy. I took him everywhere and told him everything. My friends loved him, my family did, we all just loved Elmo. But until now, I never thought about why. Why did I love Elmo so much? Why is he so instantly lovable, and how was he created? What brilliant performer created the best friend of billions of children? Well my friends, be ready to be answered and moved by this lovely documentary.Being Elmo follows the career of Kevin Clash: a kid from Baltimore who loved puppets. When he got older, Kevin started to build his own muppets and was featured on local TV. As Kevin got better and better, he felt limited by his position. Then he met muppet builder Kermit Love (creator of Big bird, Snuffy, and Ms. Piggy), who taught Kevin everything he knew. After meeting Jim Henson, Kevin was well on his way to becoming the legend he is. And of course, the rest is history.Ok, I know that it looks like I gave the whole movie away, but I only outlined it. Kevin's journey through the world of puppeteering is so deep and interesting that there's no way I could cover it in a paragraph. Anyway, part of what makes the story so great is that Kevin is one of the best examples of someone who followed their dreams. He had real talent in a weird field and he made it through 100% pure hard work. He's never arrogant, never outspoken, and always thankful. Kevin is such a good person, you can see Elmo in him.Now, I don't consider myself a super macho dude, but I have my pride. And I am discarding that right now because I'm admitting that this movie made me cry. It wasn't sad, and I didn't cry a lot, but I cried. I remembered how much Sesame Street meant to me, and how amazing it is that Kevin Clash makes millions of kids believe they are loved by Elmo. Then there's the scene where all the muppets, including Elmo and friends, sing "Saying Goodbye" at Jim Henson's funeral. I dare you not to choke up.Being Elmo is special. It is a rare documentary that doesn't uncover political corruption or be pro environmentalism that isn't about a historical figure. Like Anvil last year, Being Elmo tells a story about someone who never, ever gave up. It's effective, informative, interesting, touching, and of course inspiring. Why does it work so well? To paraphrase one of the interviewed puppeteers: Elmo is love, and he loves you unconditionally. And you know what, I love him right back. Always.

November 17, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_elmo_a_puppeteers_journey/

osu football osu football christopher walken ok state ok state kurt budke regis philbin

3 police officers found dead in Mexico border city

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico?? Assailants kidnapped and killed three police officers in the Mexican border city of Acuna, authorities said Monday.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Chinese activist Ai Weiwei answers reader questions
   2. US retirement out of reach, couple heads to Panama
   3. Former Sandusky mentee: He was ?clingy?
   4. Office holiday parties 2011: Tamer, less booze
   5. Charla Nash reveals ?beautiful? new face
   6. How Huguette Clark's millions were spent
   7. GIs reward their best friends, the dogs of war

Acuna Public Safety Department said in a statement that the three were on patrol in the same unit when gunmen kidnapped them early Monday.

The officer's bodies were found an hour later in a residential area of Acuna, which is across the border from Del Rio, Texas. They had been shot and their hands were handcuffed, the police department said.

Authorities say the Zetas and the Sinaloa drug cartels are fighting each other to control smuggling routes in the state of Coahuila, where Acuna is located.

Last week, gunmen killed a federal prosecutor for the state of Coahuila when he was about to leave his home in the city of Torreon.

A day earlier, gunmen set a fire at the office of the Torreon newspaper El Siglo and fired shots at it. No injuries were reported.

Authorities in the neighboring state of Durango said soldiers dug up the remains of seven people from a pit.

Durango state prosecutors said troops found the remains in the town of San Juan del Rio, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the state capital, the city of Durango. They gave no other details.

More than 400 bodies have been found in a series of clandestine graves in Tamaulipas and Durango states since April. They are believed to be a result of turf battles between drug cartels.

In Hidalgo, the home state of Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, state police chief Damian Canales said authorities detained eight local police officers for allegedly working for the Zetas.

Canales said six of those detained were officers for the town of Actopan and two for the state capital of Pachuca. He said they were detained after the arrest of the former police chief in the town of Arenal, who authorities allege was in charge of recruiting police officers to work for the Zetas.

Canales said the Pachuca city police officers told investigators the Zetas paid them about $360 a month.

Also on Monday, military authorities said soldiers in the border state of Chihuahua detained two police chiefs while they were meeting with an alleged drug trafficker.

Soldiers detained the police chief and a police officer for the town of Gran Morelos and the police chief for the town of Belisario Dominguez while they met with a boss for La Linea, a gang of hit men for the Juarez Cartel, the Defense Department said in a statement.

It said an anonymous phone call led the troops to the meeting in the town of Belisario Dominguez. Soldiers arrested two other men and seized three handguns and four automatic rifles, the statement added.

President Felipe Calderon has been pushing to clean up local and state police forces, whose officers are often corrupt or are coerced by threats into helping drug gangs.

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/45389100/ns/world_news-americas/

mike quade mike quade sticks and stones sticks and stones top chef powerball winner powerball winner

Toy safety report find some dangers

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Shoppers awaiting this week's traditional kick-off of the holiday shopping season should find plenty of safe toys for children, but consumer advocates say some dangers still lurk.

A report released Tuesday from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found just over a dozen toys on store shelves that violate federal safety standards for lead and chemicals called phthalates or could present a choking hazard to small children. The toys deemed potentially dangerous included a whirly wheel, a plastic book for babies, a wooden blocks set and a Sesame Street Oscar doll.

PIRG also warned about toys that are too loud and could lead to hearing damage as well as balloons, which cause more choking deaths than any other children's product. About 40 percent of the choking fatalities reported to the government between 1990 and 2010 involved balloons.

The toy industry downplayed the report and pointed to government figures showing sharp declines in national toy recalls.

"All eyes have been on toy safety for several years now," says Joan Lawrence, the Toy Industry Association's vice president for toy safety standards. "I am confident that the toys on store shelves are safe. The toy industry works year-round on this."

Government figures show a continued decline in toy recalls, with 34 in fiscal year 2011 ? down from 46 recalls the previous year; 50 in 2009 and 172 in 2008.

Recalls related to lead were down from 19 in 2008 to just 4 this past year.

PIRG credited a 2008 law that set stronger standards for children's products ? including strict limits on lead ? for helping to make many of the products on store shelves safer for youngsters. The law was passed in the wake of a wave of recalls of lead-tainted toys.

PIRG tested toys and other children's products from major retailers and dollar stores for its 26th annual "Trouble in Toyland" report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-22-US-Dangerous-Toys/id-19847099d2a74701a87a01d0d0293891

nick diaz michael myers power outage snow storm snow storm reggie bush ufc 137

Investing Tips For Beginners : 31Night.com, A World of Entertainment

Posted by PikkarainenScarduzio669 | November - 22 - 2011 | Comments Off

Investing can be confusing, especially for the beginner. Getting some basic tips can help a beginning investor to make informed choices that fit their needs. Each person has a different goal when investing and that plays a big impact on how you invest. The following list explains some things beginners should know before investing.

1. Understand that there are no set rules for investing. There are no guarantees and no perfect way to invest.

2. Make informed choices. Before investing in any way you should completely understand how your investment will work and all of the details of the transaction.

3. Make a simple plan to determine your goals and needs. This will help you to determine what investments to make and how much money to invest.

These three tips are great for general investing, but many people are looking to invest in the fast paced world of the stock market. The above tips are a good beginning, but the following tips will further help those interested in investing in stocks.

1. Look at the value of the stock instead of the price. Low cost stocks may be low for a reason. Look at the whole picture. See why the price is low and if there is a possibility it may rise.

2. Check the companies return on net worth. This is the profit after taxes divided by the net worth. It is important to see a trend of growing return on net worth.

3. Spread out your risk. You should not put all your money in high risk stocks. Try some lower risks and some higher risks. This is the best way to protect your money.

4. Understand the basics of stock prices. Prices move up or down depending on future projections.

These four tips can help a beginning investor start investing in the stock market.

No matter what type of investment you are looking into, knowledge will be the key to success. These short tip lists are just the beginning to understanding investing and how to maximize your return. Keep learning and trying.

If you want added information about signs of pregnancy there is plenty of points not covered in this post, go to Author?s web blog to locate supplementary details.There is more information available about caravans for sale there?s a lot of details not outlined in this post, go to Author?s web blog to uncover more.

Source: http://www.31night.com/2011/11/investing-tips-for-beginners/

ows kindle fire review community newt gingrich matt schaub fire island fire island

Chevron takes blame for Brazil oil spill (AP)

SAO PAULO ? An ongoing oil spill off the Brazilian coast occurred because Chevron underestimated the pressure in an underwater reservoir, the head of the company's Brazil operations said Sunday.

George Buck, chief operating officer for the Brazilian division of the San Ramon, California-based company, told foreign journalists that Chevron "takes full responsibility for this incident," and that "any oil on the surface of the ocean is unacceptable to Chevron."

But Buck rejected accusations the company did not notify authorities quickly enough after the leak was detected and that it did not properly manage cleanup operations.

Chevron was drilling an appraisal well about 230 miles (370 kilometers) off the northeastern coast of Rio de Janeiro when the leak began Nov. 7.

The drilling fluid that is pumped down the center of the drill as it works, lubricating and stabilizing the pressure of the bore hole, was not heavy enough to counter the pressure coming from the oil reservoir, Buck said.

That caused crude to rush upward and eventually escape through a breach in the bore hole and leak into the surrounding seabed.

The oil then made its way to the ocean floor and has since leaked through at least seven narrow fissures, all within 160 feet (50 meters) of the well head on the ocean floor, Buck said.

Brazil's National Petroleum Agency has said it's possible more than 110,000 gallons of oil have spilled into the Atlantic Ocean. Buck would not provide an estimate on the total size of the leak, but said the agency figure was "in the ballpark."

He added that the slick currently contains about 756 gallons (2,860 liters) of oil, a figure not confirmed by Brazilian regulators, though they have said it has been significantly reduced since Chevron successfully carried out the first stage of capping the well Thursday.

Buck estimated that 420 gallons to 4,200 gallons (1,590 liters to 15,900 liters) a day are still leaking from the seabed cracks. He declined to guess when the leaks would stop, saying it was hard to predict how long it would take the oil that rushed up the bore hole to make its way to the ocean floor, or even how much of it eventually would.

The slick has never threatened the coastline or Rio de Janeiro's world-famous beaches, instead floating toward the southeast, away from land.

The leak is one of the first major tests of offshore drilling safety for Brazil since massive offshore oil finds that are estimated to hold at least 50 billion barrels of oil. Brazilian officials are counting on their country being one of the globe's top oil-producing nations before this decade is out, and politicians are locked in heated battles about how to divide the future royalties.

Unlike in the U.S., the offshore drilling has produced little debate over safety within Brazil, where most citizens see the oil as key to the nation's economic future and its emergence as a global power. The government is even working on a nuclear-powered submarine, which it says it wants to use to patrol and protect the finds.

But both the lead Brazilian Federal Police investigator looking into the spill and the environment minister for Rio de Janeiro state have harshly criticized Chevron, saying the company was not prepared to handle the incident.

Investigator Fabio Scliar said Chevron had to be told about the leak by Brazil's state-controlled oil company, Petrobras, which operates a rig in the area where the leak occurred.

He also has accused the company of not using proper methods for cleaning up the spill. He says Chevron is putting sand on the slick to make the oil sink to the ocean floor, and that the company is not using enough manpower or boats in the cleanup.

Buck, however, said Chevron has not used sand or any chemical agents on the oil slick. Instead, he said, boats are driving through the slick to break it up while others skim the ocean surface to collect oil.

Eighteen boats work on a rotating basis on the slick, with a varying number of vessels working simultaneously, Buck said. He said that in the first days after the leak, a storm and ocean swells of 20 feet (6 meters) prevented the boats from safely working.

Carlos Minc, the Rio de Janeiro state environment minister, said that Chevron, which is a partner with Petrobras on the well, likely faces fines of at least $5.5 million.

"We're going to show this gang that they can't come here and create whatever environmental mess they want," Minc was quoted by the O Globo newspaper as saying in its Sunday edition. "I want to see the CEO of Chevron swim in that oil."

The drilling contractor for the Chevron Corp. well is Transocean Ltd., the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that oil company BP PLC was leasing at the time of last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest in U.S. history and one that dwarfs this Brazilian leak. At its peak, BP's Macondo well was spewing more than 2 million gallons (7.5 million liters) a day.

Brazil itself has had bigger oil spills than this one.

In 2000, crude spewed from a broken pipeline at the Reduc refinery in Rio de Janeiro's scenic Guanabara Bay, spewing at least 344,400 gallons (1.3 million liters) into the water. Just a few months later, more than 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) of crude burst from a pipeline operated by state-controlled oil company Petrobras into a river in southern Brazil.

Brazil's worst oil disaster was in 1975, when an oil tanker from Iraq dumped more than 8 million gallons of crude into the bay and caused Rio's famous beaches to be closed for nearly three weeks.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111120/ap_on_bi_ge/lt_brazil_oil_spill

andy rooney groupon ipo groupon ipo breeders cup 2011 gwar gwar san diego weather

Exclusive: Taliban, Pakistan said to have started peace talks (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? Pakistan's Taliban movement, a major security threat to the country, is holding exploratory peace talks with the government, a senior Taliban commander and mediators told Reuters on Monday.

The United States, the source of billions of dollars of aid vital for Pakistan's military and feeble economy, is unlikely to look kindly on peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it has labeled a terrorist group.

Past peace pacts with the TTP have failed to bring stability, and merely gave the umbrella group time and space to consolidate, launch fresh attacks and impose their austere version of Islam on segments of the population.

The discussions are focused on the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border and could be expanded to try to reach a comprehensive deal if progress is made.

The Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, made several demands, including the release of prisoners and the withdrawal of Pakistani forces from South Waziristan, said the commander.

An ethnic Pashtun tribal mediator described the talks as "very difficult." Pakistani military and government officials were not immediately available for comment.

"Yes, we have been holding talks, but this is just an initial phase. We will see if there is a breakthrough," said the senior Taliban commander, who asked not to be identified.

"Right now, this is at the South Waziristan level. If successful, we can talk about a deal for all the tribal areas," he said, referring to Pashtun lands along the Afghan border.

The TTP, allied with the Afghan Taliban movement fighting U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, is entrenched in the unruly areas along the porous frontier.

Pakistan has come under pressure to eradicate militancy since U.S. special forces in May killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town, where he had apparently been living for years.

Pakistan's government and military have said they had no idea bin Laden was in Pakistan and have yet to explain the intelligence gap.

The operation enraged Pakistan's military, which branded it a violation of sovereignty and then reduced cooperation on intelligence critical for U.S. efforts to stabilize the region as it winds down combat operations in Afghanistan.

"The U.S. won't be happy," said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a Pakistani expert on the Taliban. "If there is less pressure from Pakistan on the militants then they (the Pakistani Taliban) will turn their attention to Afghanistan."

Speculation on peace talks has been rife since the government said in a September all-party conference on a crisis in relations with the United States that it would attempt negotiations with militants to bring peace.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a visit to Islamabad last month that Washington and Pakistan should focus on getting all militants to pursue peace in Afghanistan.

Because Pakistan has a long history of ties to militants in Afghanistan, it is seen as critical to the U.S. bid to pacify the nation after ten years of war.

"The timing is linked to the change in approach in Afghanistan, where there is now a willingness to negotiate," Mansur Khan Mehsud, of Pakistan's FATA Research Center think tank, said of the preliminary talks in Pakistan.

"The thinking here is, if it can happen in Afghanistan, why can't we talk peace with the Taliban here in Pakistan?"

Since bin Laden's death, the TTP has vowed to attack Western targets abroad.

"We never wanted to fight to begin with," said the senior Taliban commander. "Our aim was to rid Afghanistan of foreign forces. But the Pakistani government, by supporting America, left us no choice but to fight."

One of the tribal elders involved in the talks said they were at a "very difficult" stage.

"We have had three rounds in the last two months, but there seems to be no result," he said. "It is too difficult to say if there will be a breakthrough, but we are moving in the right direction."

OVERSEAS AMBITIONS

The TTP was formed in 2007 and is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across nuclear-armed Pakistan, one of the world's most unstable but strategically important countries.

Its founder, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed by a U.S. drone aircraft missile strike in northwest Pakistan in 2009.

The group has staged audacious attacks on government installations, even army headquarters near the capital, and the violence has also killed many civilians.

While its activities have been almost entirely confined to Pakistan, the TTP has shown an interest in expanding its range under the banner of al Qaeda.

A suicide bombing at a U.S. base in Afghanistan's Khost province in 2009 killed seven Central Intelligence Agency employees. In video footage released after the attack, the bomber was shown sitting with TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

A Pakistani-born American who tried to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square last year told a U.S. court he got bomb-making training and funding from the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan's government reached a widely criticised peace deal with the Taliban in Swat Valley in 2009 which Washington called an abdication to the group.

(Additional reporting by Rebecca Conway; Writing by Michael Georgy)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111121/wl_nm/us_pakistan_taliban_talks

jack wagner matt jones snow white and the huntsman trailer snow white and the huntsman trailer sexiest man alive kentucky basketball heather locklear