Romney credits change in tactics for Florida surge (AP)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Looking for a convincing win, a confident Mitt Romney said Monday the Florida primary is breaking his way and urged voters to send Newt Gingrich "to the moon." Gingrich claimed he's gaining ground and will stay in the race until summer.

"You can sense that it's coming our way," Romney told reporters. The former Massachusetts governor was already looking ahead, making plans to stop in Minnesota on his way to Nevada on Wednesday, the day after Florida votes.

A day before the voting, Romney ridiculed Gingrich, his chief rival here: "Send him to the moon," Romney said at a rally early Monday, repeating an audience member's comment and using it to poke fun at Gingrich's claim to build a moon colony as president. Romney also scoffed at "the idea of the moon as the 51st state" as "not one that's come to my mind."

Gingrich countered that Romney is "pretending he's somebody he's not" and linked Romney to Obama, calling them the "twins of the establishment." Gingrich's allies, meanwhile, urged Rick Santorum to get out of the race to clear the way for conservatives to consolidate support behind the former House speaker.

In the final hours before Tuesday's critical primary, Romney sustained his barrage against Gingrich. He said he believes he bounced back from a tough South Carolina loss by aggressively answering Gingrich's attacks and hitting him for his ties to the government-backed, mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Gingrich threatened a long slog. "I think he's going to find this a long campaign," Gingrich said.

"That's why they're trying to carpet-bomb us here in Florida," said former Gingrich aide Rick Tyler, who runs the pro-Gingrich political action committee Winning Our Future. "They're trying to end this thing. But it's not going to end."

Tyler visited the first of three rallies Romney had planned Monday to rail against Romney and urge Santorum to leave the race.

"I'm here to get as many cameras and microphones so I can talk about Mitt Romney's incessant failure to tell the truth," Tyler said, echoing Gingrich's recent claims about Romney's character. Tyler called Romney "despicable" and "disgraceful."

He also called on Santorum to leave the race to clear the way for Gingrich. "I think it would give us Mitt Romney, and I think Rick would hurt himself" by staying in, Tyler said.

Speaking to reporters, Romney said Gingrich's threats indicated desperation. "That's usually the case when you think you're going to lose," he said. "Everybody has a right to stay in as long as they think" they should, Romney said.

Gingrich kept up his attacks, saying Monday that on the big, philosophical issues, Romney "is for all practical purposes a liberal. I am a conservative."

"It's closing here in Florida," Gingrich said, "and I think the next 24 hours in going to make a big difference."

Gingrich also defended his ties to President Ronald Reagan after Romney supporters questioned Reagan's rapport with the former speaker. "Mitt Romney may not know about the Reagan years because he was not there," Gingrich told supporters in Pensacola.

Polls showed Romney running ahead of Gingrich in the state. Romney earned positive reviews after two debates last week and has put the former House speaker on the defensive over his ethics and ties to Freddie Mac.

But instead of stepping back and refocusing on President Barack Obama ? as he did in Iowa when it became clear that Gingrich had lost ? Romney is ratcheting up his rhetoric and attacking until the very end. He hopes to close the Florida campaign strongly to push Gingrich as far back as possible.

Gingrich said Monday he was closing the gap with Romney in Florida. He said the Republican Party needed a "clear conservative" to run against Obama in the fall, and that there was very little difference between Obama and Romney when it came to their policies and politics, such as health care.

"Mitt Romney will have a very, very hard time trying to differentiate himself," Gingrich said.

In what has become a wildly unpredictable race, the momentum has swung back to Romney, who was staggered by Gingrich's victory in South Carolina on Jan. 21. Romney has begun advertising in Nevada ahead of caucuses there next Saturday, illustrating the challenge ahead for Gingrich.

An NBC News/Marist poll published Sunday showed Romney with support from 42 percent of likely Florida primary voters, compared with 27 percent for Gingrich.

Santorum, trailing in Florida by a wide margin, skipped campaigning to be with his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, who was hospitalized. He planned to campaign Monday in Missouri and Minnesota.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who has invested little in Florida, also looked to Nevada. The libertarian-leaning Paul is focusing more on gathering delegates in caucus states, where it's less expensive to campaign. But securing the nomination only through caucus states is a hard task.

__

Associated Press writer Shannon McCaffrey in Pensacola, Fla., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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'Runway' designers show good taste in challenge

David M. Russell / AETN

Jerell Scott and Mondo Guerra try to get in the mood for designing on "Project Runway All Stars."

By Liane Bonin Starr , HitFix.com

We're down to the last ten designers on "Project Runway All Stars," though I'm sure we're not down to our last wacky design challenge. It seems that each week the designers are put through the paces for our amusement, but with little opportunity to highlight their actual skills.

I guess making these guys show us how they can create evening gowns for Muppets or constructed from plastic knives or while wearing blindfolds makes things easier for the judges (she sent a model down the runway naked -- she's out!), I'm not sure it's determining who's the best designer. But then, I guess reality TV doesn't really care about that, anyway.?

This week's challenge is all about taste. Literally. They must create a tasteful outfit inspired by gelato.?

Michael nabs grapefruit.

Mondo picks cantaloupe.

Mila selects milk and sour cherries.

April chooses blueberry.

Jerell picks fruits of the forest.

Kenley grabs passionfruit.

Austin picks vanilla Madagascar.

Anthony selects green tea.

Rami wanted kiwi.

Kara gets chocolate with cayenne pepper. She feels like the little kid in the park whose ice cream fell off. Because she has to use chocolate brown? Boo-hoo! I'd rather get stuck with chocolate than kiwi, honestly. But go ahead and cry over your spilt ice cream, Kara.

Diane Von Furstenberg will be guest judging. Michael is about to pee himself he's SUCH a fan. I could do without the hyperventilating, Michael. We get it. You LOVE her.?And if seeing Diane in the flesh isn't enough to make Michael need a fresh pair of underwear, the revelation that the designers only have six hours to create a design should. Yet another challenge that just can't yield great results. What are we going to see? A bunch of shift dresses, muumuus and nighties?

Our poor designers don't even get a chance to go to Mood -- instead MiniMood is set up in their lounge. This means they also don't have access to everything they want. April can't find black jersey and has to re-imagine her whole outfit.

Michael thinks Mila's decision to work in red and white instead of black and white is really refreshing. Wow, I think that's pretty pathetic. She added a color to her design aesthetic! Call a medic!?

The designers work frantically until it's time for Joanna Coles to visit. She brings gelato to each designer in the flavor that's their inspiration. She asks Kara if she thinks she has it right. Wow, that's so not helpful. She asks April how she can have a fashion moment if she's working within her comfort zone. She has six hours! Hey, Joanna, instead of playing therapist, why not GIVE ADVICE? I have never missed Tim Gunn so much. Dump "The Revolution" and come back, Tim! We need you!

Read the full recap at HitFix.com.

Are you happy with the wacky design challenges, or should they better reflect the designers' abilities on "Project Runway All Stars"? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Related content:

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10250628-runway-designers-show-good-taste-with-gelato-inspired-challenge

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Russia launches cargo spaceship (AP)

MOSCOW ? Russia's space agency says an unmanned cargo ship carrying 2.6 tons of supplies and equipment has lifted off for the International Space Station.

Roskosmos says the Progress M-14M blasted off early Thursday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz-U booster rocket.

The ship is scheduled to dock at the space station early Saturday with a cargo of oxygen, food, scientific equipment and gifts for the crew.

The space station's six members include three Russians, two Americans and a Dutchman.

The decade-old station is orbiting about 225 miles (360 kilometers) above Earth and consists of 13 modules.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_space_station

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Limiting protein or certain amino acids before surgery may reduce risk of surgical complications

Limiting protein or certain amino acids before surgery may reduce risk of surgical complications

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Limiting certain essential nutrients for several days before surgery?either protein or amino acids?may reduce the risk of serious surgical complications such as heart attack or stroke, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study.

The study appears in the January 25, 2012 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

"Food restriction as a way to increase stress resistance may seem counterintuitive, but in fact our data indicate that the well-fed state is the one more susceptible to this kind of injury," said James Mitchell, assistant professor of genetics and complex diseases at HSPH.

The researchers, led by Mitchell and Wei Peng, a former HSPH postdoctoral fellow, analyzed two groups of mice. One group was allowed to eat normally for 6 to 14 days; the other group was given a diet free of protein or lacking a single amino acid (amino acids are the building blocks of proteins). Both groups were then subjected to surgical stress that could potentially harm the kidneys or liver. In the mice that were allowed to eat as usual, about 40 percent died. The protein- and amino acid-free mice all survived.

The researchers also found that removing the gene that senses levels of any type of amino acid eliminated the protective effect. This suggests that the pathway activated by amino acid deficiency?rather than the absence of any particular amino acid?is responsible for the observed benefits, and opens up the potential for targeting drugs toward that pathway.

The results are significant because they pinpoint protein as an important substance to eliminate from the diet before surgery to avoid complications. Stroke risk related to cardiovascular surgery ranges from 0.8% to 9.7%, depending on the procedure. Heart attack risk is 3% to 4%.

In numerous animal studies over the past few decades, scientists have found that long-term dietary restriction can improve health and lengthen life. Benefits include increased stress resistance, reduced inflammation, improved blood sugar regulation, and better cardiovascular health?and many of these benefits extend to humans. There is debate, however, about whether the benefits stem from the source of the calories (fat, sugar, or protein) or simply the total calories. Recent research on fruit flies demonstrated the benefits of restricting protein. The HSPH study aimed to provide further clarity by determining the benefits of protein or amino acid restriction in rodents.

As a next step, Mitchell and his colleagues will try to determine whether dietary preconditioning works as well lowering surgery-related risk in humans as it did in mice. They have taken early planning steps with colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on a clinical trial of patients on protein-free diets before surgery. If the benefits are confirmed in humans, it may be possible to perform surgeries with significantly reduced risk of complications.

###

Harvard School of Public Health: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu

Thanks to Harvard School of Public Health 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 61 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117090/Limiting_protein_or_certain_amino_acids_before_surgery_may_reduce_risk_of_surgical_complications

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Term 'states' rights' heard anew in election cycle

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, gestures during a Republican Presidential debate Monday Jan. 23, 2012, at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, gestures during a Republican Presidential debate Monday Jan. 23, 2012, at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accompanied by his wife Callista speaks during an event at a Holiday Inn, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, in Cocoa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gives a autograph at the First Baptist Church in Naples, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? Pop singer Kelly Clarkson wasn't expecting such a harsh response when she tweeted her endorsement in the Republican presidential race.

"I love Ron Paul," she wrote late last month. Later, in a radio interview, she elaborated, "He believes in states having their rights, and I think that that's very important."

Clarkson received hundreds of replies, some lambasting Paul and at least one suggesting that the "American Idol" winner choose her words more carefully.

In particular, two words: "states" and "rights."

As the Republican presidential campaign has turned south, into the region that seceded from the Union 150 years ago, old debates about state and federal authority echo anew in phrases used by candidates, their supporters and the news media.

Even before the Civil War, "states' rights" had become a byword for the protection of black slavery. And since the late Sen. Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948 as a States' Rights Democrat, or "Dixiecrat," the phrase has sometimes been labeled a "dog whistle" for racist elements in the electorate.

None of that was on Clarkson's mind. After a barrage of responses to her Dec. 29 tweet, the 29-year-old Texan told fans, "My eyes have been opened to so much hate." And she emphasized, "I do not support racism."

Sociologist and author John Shelton Reed, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was not surprised that someone of Clarkson's youth would fail to recognize the "baggage that 'states' rights' carries."

Still, he says, hearing the term employed by people like Paul ? and also by Texas Gov. Rick Perry before he quit the race ? "it's clear that we've turned some kind of page."

Paul, Perry and others referred to the Constitution's 10th Amendment, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The shorthand "states' rights" came later.

"Any time I hear it, I get this sort of little twitch, because I associate it with Ross Barnett or George Wallace," says University of Georgia historian James Cobb, referring to the governors of Mississippi and Alabama who, five decades ago, defied efforts to integrate their states' flagship universities. "But members of the younger generation, it doesn't have that kind of connotation to them at all. And whether this is to some extent the fault of those of us who are supposed to be educating the younger generations about their past, I can't say."

As Republicans prepared for the primary season, writer David Azerrad drafted a list of "New Year's Resolutions for Conservatives." No. 1 was "Speak of Federalism, not 'States' Rights.'"

"Not only is it incorrect to speak of states' rights, but the expression has more baggage than Samsonite and Louis Vuitton combined," Azerrad, assistant director of The Heritage Foundation's B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics, wrote on the organization's "Foundry" blog. "In case you didn't know, 'states' rights' was the rallying cry of segregationists. Since no right-thinking conservative will keep company with such people, let's just drop the term states' rights once and for all."

In a speech before the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas last April, Perry warned that the idea behind the term was in danger: "Over the years and decades, Washington has extended its reach bit by bit, until the sound concepts behind the 10th Amendment were blurred and lost and the idea of states' rights has become increasingly disregarded."

In an October candidates' debate in Las Vegas, Paul, a 12-term congressman from Texas who ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988, used the term to describe his position on the proposed national nuclear waste disposal facility at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

"I approach it from a states' rights position," he said. "What right does 49 states have to punish one state and say, 'We're going to put our garbage in your state?' I think that's wrong."

Others in the GOP field make a point of supporting the 10th Amendment while avoiding the sensitive language. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won last week's South Carolina primary, is a case in point.

Back in 2005, when blogger John Hawkins asked him about a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, Gingrich replied, "Well, I think that the question is whether or not the Congress could pass a law which protected marriage or whether, because of states' rights, Congress does not have the ability to then enforce that without a constitutional amendment."

More recently, Gingrich appears to have dumped the loaded term. For example, in announcing the formation of Team 10, his Facebook page described it as an effort to work with Americans "to develop ideas for enforcing the 10th Amendment and returning power back home."

Asked at a recent candidate event whether he thought states had the right to nullify a law under the 10th Amendment if they believed it to be unconstitutional, former Sen. Rick Santorum answered carefully. "We had a war about nullification," he said, adding that states could instead litigate such an issue in federal court.

Paul, appearing last month on "The Tonight Show," parsed the concept, too. "Well, you know, we all use the word 'states' rights,'" he said. "But in a way, states don't have rights. Only individuals have rights. But the authority and the power goes to the states."

In a Jan. 4 column on STLtoday.com, former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith, a Democrat, called the "exaltation" of states' rights a "dog whistle to Republican voters conditioned by a generation of Republican politicians and operatives before them who exploited racial fears for personal and partisan advancement."

Candidates denied any such hidden agenda or secret coding.

Whatever reaction it evokes, Cobb, the Georgia historian, said the term has clearly lost much of its sting.

"It's just become part of the lexicon, without any particular meaning," he says. "It's been historically decontextualized to the point that it can be thrown around by a lot of people without a second thought."

Reed, the UNC professor, said that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"I do believe states' rights was a sound doctrine that got hijacked by some unsavory customers for a while ? like, 150 years or so," he said. "I'm professionally obliged to believe that knowledge is better than ignorance, but some kinds of forgetting are OK with me."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. He can be reached at features(at)ap.org.

Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/(hash)!/AllenGBreed

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-26-Campaign-States'%20Rights/id-61b2094a082b410bbdd389bdda28c7af

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Sabine Hervy: A French President Not Born in France? Possible, But Not Likely in 2012!

Eva Joly, presidential candidate for the green party in France, was born in Norway. ?She has been attacked by the right wing for her strong Norwegian accent and her foreign origins.

"I don't think this lady has a very far-reaching culture of French traditions, of French history and of French values." Last summer, this critical statement by the French Prime Minister Fran?ois Fillon triggered a controversy on the dual citizenship of Eva Joly, presidential candidate for the Green party in France. The prime minister had touched a nerve. There is a paradox here. In France, a foreign born citizen can stand for president. But when it happens, it's not all plain sailing. Eva Joly, 69, is the elected candidate for the Green party and she was born in Norway. She came to live in France when she was 20, married a Frenchman, had her children in France and worked almost all her life as a magistrate in our country. But people still doubt her capacity to lead France.

The very terms of this debate probably sound weird for an American audience. A French presidential candidate, not born in France? Yet, it's true: Unlike America, our Constitution allows naturalized citizens to run for president. In fact, having been brought up in France, I was a bit surprised to learn that the United States, considered here as a model of multiculturalism, still forbids "former foreigners" to run for the presidential election. I read some articles about Governor Schwarzenegger's "case." In spite of his amazing American career, he'll never be able to run for president of the U.S.A. Why? Because his parents were Austrian. And I thought "poor him" -- "Schwarzy" is probably as American as one can be.

This difference between our constitutions can easily be explained. The American one, (which states in its article 2, section 1 that "no person except a natural born citizen, or a Citizen of the United States at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President") was drawn up at the end of the 18th century. Our Constitution is younger - it only dates back to the 1950s -- and it has evolved a lot to reflect new political and social realities. Indeed, many politicians in France were born in former colonies: S?gol?ne Royal, the unlucky Socialist candidate in the 2007 election, was born in Senegal; two current presidential candidates were born in Morocco.

But behind this window dressing of open-mindedness, France remains ambivalent about the question of nationality. This is exactly why we're currently having this debate about Eva Joly, the first presidential candidate in French history to possess dual citizenship. On the 14th of July, our National Day, she put forward the outrageous idea that maybe -- maybe -- the military parade had become a little bit out of date... This was a proposition voted on and agreed by all the members of her party. Yet, she was the one attacked on her supposed "francophobia."

There are many other examples. When French President Sarkozy married the Franco-Italian model Carla Bruni, some people asked the first lady to give up her Italian citizenship. When he was elected, some media even reported Nicolas Sarkozy as the first president of "foreign origins" -- his father was Hungarian... But he himself was born in Paris.

Yet, French people could -- and may one day -- elect a president born outside France. With Eva Joly, some proud defenders of our language feel threatened by her accent. However, it's likely the real objections about her abilities lie elsewhere. Many people voted for her green party in previous elections. In the 2009 European elections, the Ecologists even polled 3.63 percent of the vote in France and won the same number of European parliament seats as the Socialists. But in 2012, there's no way these people will vote for Eva Joly. This has nothing to do with her Norwegian origins. It has to do with her radical and very different view of ecology, her strange position about alliances with the other left-wing parties and her uptight personality. Even in her own party, some members said they would vote for the Socialist candidate instead of her.

The "Joly case" doesn't mean French people will never vote for a naturalized citizen. It just means they need to find a competent one to vote for.

?

Follow Sabine Hervy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sabinehervy

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sabine-hervy/eva-joly-elections_b_1231820.html

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Weather Channel names Yahoo director Kenny as CEO (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Weather Channel said on Tuesday it has appointed David Kenny, a Yahoo Inc director, as its new chairman and chief executive, taking over from Mike Kelly.

The cable channel, which is jointly owned by Comcast Corp's NBC Universal and private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital, will be looking to Kenny's digital experience as president of Akamai Technologies Inc and managing partner of VivaKi, a digital advertising unit of Publicis Groupe.

Weather Channel is very popular across the Web and mobile devices. Former CEO Kelly will serve as a special adviser to the CEO, Weather Channel board and Bain Capital.

Kenny's decision to leave Akamai unexpectedly last October led to wide speculation that he would take over as chief executive of Yahoo after former CEO Carol Bartz left the company a month earlier. But Yahoo opted to appoint former PayPal executive Scott Thompson as CEO earlier this month.

(Reporting By Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/media_nm/us_weatherchannel_ceo

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Super Bowl XLVI: Latest news, features, more

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Source: http://www.nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46096311

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Marine to serve no jail time in Iraqi killings

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for a court session at Camp Pendleton in Camp Pendleton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for a court session at Camp Pendleton in Camp Pendleton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, left, arrives with his attorney for a court session at Camp Pendleton in Camp Pendleton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Defense attorney Haytham Faraj, a member of the defense team for Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich leaves the court room at Camp Pendleton following a hearing where Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty in his Haditha court martial trial Monday Jan.23, 2012 in Camp Pendeton. Wuterich led the squad that killed 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich leaves after a court session at Camp Pendleton in Camp Pendleton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich leaves after a court session at Camp Pendleton in Camp Pendleton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

CAMP PENDLETON, California (AP) ? The lone Marine to face sentencing for the killing of two dozen unarmed Iraqis in one of the Iraq War's defining moments walked away with no jail time Tuesday after defending his squad's storming of the homes of Haditha as a necessary act "to keep the rest of my Marines alive."

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's sentence ends a six-year prosecution for the 2005 attack that failed to win any manslaughter convictions. Eight Marines were initially charged; one was acquitted and six others had their cases dropped.

Wuterich, who admitted ordering his squad to "shoot first, ask questions later" after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine, ended his manslaughter trial by pleading guilty on Monday to a single count of negligent dereliction of duty.

The deal that dropped nine counts of manslaughter sparked outrage in the besieged Iraqi town and claims that the U.S. didn't hold the military accountable.

"I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair," said survivor Awis Fahmi Hussein, showing his scars from a bullet wound to the back.

Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones initially recommended the maximum sentence of three months for Wuterich, saying: "It's difficult for the court to fathom negligent dereliction of duty worse than the facts in this case."

But after opening an envelope to look at the terms of the plea agreement as is procedure in military court, Jones announced the deal prevented any jail time for the Marine.

"That's very good for you obviously," Jones said tersely to Wuterich.

Jones did recommend that the sergeant's rank be reduced to private, but decided not to cut two-thirds of his pay because the divorced father has sole custody of his three daughters. The rank reduction has to be approved by a Marine general, who already signed off on the plea deal.

Wuterich read a statement apologizing to the victims' families and said he never fired on or intended to harm innocent women and children. But he said his plea shouldn't be seen as a statement that he believes his squad dishonored their country.

"When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive," he said. "So when I told my team to shoot first and ask questions later, the intent wasn't that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy."

"The truth is I never fired my weapon at any women or children that day," Wuterich told Jones.

The contention by Wuterich, 31, contradicts prosecutors and counters testimony from a former squad mate who said he joined Wuterich in firing in a dark back bedroom where a woman and children were killed.

Prosecutors argued that Wuterich's knee-jerk reaction of sending the squad to assault nearby homes without positively identifying a threat went against his training and caused the needless deaths of 10 women and children.

"That is a horrific result from that derelict order of shoot first, ask questions later," said Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan.

Defense attorney Neal Puckett said Wuterich has been falsely labeled a killer who carried out a massacre in Iraq and insisted he only intended to protect his Marines in an "honorable and noble" act.

"The appropriate punishment in this case, your honor, is no punishment," Puckett said.

Wuterich directly addressed family members of the Iraqi victims, saying there were no words to ease their pain.

"I wish to assure you that on that day, it was never my intention to harm you or your families. I know that you are the real victims of Nov. 19, 2005," he said.

Wuterich, who hugged his parents after he spoke, declined comment on Jones' decision. His attorneys, Neal Puckett and Haytham Faraj, said in a statement: "We believe justice prevailed for Staff Sgt. Wuterich and in turn, he wishes it was within his power to impart the same measure of justice to the families of the victims of Haditha."

Military prosecutors worked for more than six years to bring Wuterich to trial on manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life. But only weeks after the long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich the deal that stopped the proceedings.

It was a stunning outcome for the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

The Haditha attack is considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

During the trial before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq, prosecutors argued Wuterich lost control after seeing his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a man in a wheelchair.

Faraj said the deal was reached last week when the government recognized its case was falling apart with contradictory testimony from witnesses who had lied to investigators. Many of the squad members had their cases dropped in exchange for testifying. Prosecutors have declined to comment.

Wuterich was also seen as taking the fall for senior leaders and more seasoned combat veterans in his squad, analysts said. It was his first time in combat.

Brian Rooney, an attorney who represented a former defendant, said cases like Haditha are difficult to prosecute because a military jury is unlikely to question decisions made in combat unless wrongdoing is clear-cut and egregious, like rape.

"If it's a gray area, fog-of-war, you can't put yourself in a Marine's situation where he's legitimately trying to do the best he can," said Rooney, who represented Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the case. "

Many of his squad mates testified that they do not believe to this day that they did anything wrong because they feared insurgents were inside hiding.

Wuterich plans to leave the Marine Corps and start a new career in informational technology. His lawyers said they plan to petition for clemency.

? ___

?? Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Raquel Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-24-Marines-Haditha/id-2ff168a68a9c48a8b34c95b68114f3ef

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Euro zone ministers reject private bondholders' Greece offer (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) ? Euro zone finance ministers Monday rejected as insufficient an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default.

At a meeting in Brussels, ministers said they could not accept bondholders' demands for a coupon of four percent on new, longer-dated bonds that are expected be issued in exchange for their existing Greek holdings.

Banks and other private institutions represented by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) say a 4.0 percent coupon is the least they can accept if they are going to write down the nominal value of the debt they hold by 50 percent.

Greece says it is not prepared to pay a coupon of more than 3.5 percent, and euro zone finance ministers effectively backed the Greek government's position at Monday's meeting, a position that the International Monetary Fund also supports.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the Eurogroup countries, said Greece needed to pursue a deal with private bondholders where the interest rate on the replacement bonds was "clearly" below 4.0 percent, stating:

"Ministers asked their Greek colleagues to pursue negotiations to bring the interest rates on the new bonds to below 4 percent for the total period, which implies the interest comes down to well below 3.5 percent before 2020."

The aim of the restructuring is to reduce Greece's debts by around 100 billion euros ($129 billion), cutting them from 160 percent of GDP to 120 percent by 2020, a level EU and IMF officials think will be more manageable for the growth-less Greek economy.

But with Greece off-track in its efforts to get its budget deficit in shape, the 2020 goal looks a long shot at best.

The disagreement increases the risk that it will prove impossible to strike a voluntary restructuring deal between Greece's creditors and the Greek government - an outcome that would have severe repercussions for financial markets.

Negotiations over what's called 'private sector involvement' (PSI) have been going on for nearly seven months without a concrete breakthrough. Failure to reach a deal by March, when Athens must repay 14.5 billion euros of maturing debt, could result in a disorderly default.

Despite the disagreement, Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of economic and monetary affairs, said he expected a deal on PSI to be struck "within days."

PERMANENT BAILOUT FUND

As well as assessing Greece's debt restructuring, euro zone ministers discussed efforts to enforce stricter budget rules for EU states via a "fiscal compact," and steps to finalize the structure of a permanent euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is due to operate from July.

The ESM will have an effective lending capacity of 500 billion euros and replace the European Financial Stability Facility, a temporary fund that has so far been used to bail out Ireland and Portugal and which will be used to provide part of a second, 130 billion euro package for Greece.

Germany has insisted that once the ESM is up and running, the combined potential outlay of the EFSF and ESM should not exceed 500 billion euros.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and IMF chief Christine Lagarde have said the ceiling should be raised, possibly up to 1 trillion euros, so it has more than enough capacity to handle any problems in major economies such as Spain or Italy.

The Financial Times reported Monday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was ready to see the ceiling of the combined firewall raised to 750 billion euros in exchange for agreement on tighter euro zone budget rules, but the report was immediately denied by her chief spokesman.

"It is not true. There is no such decision," Steffen Seibert told Reuters.

Monti told reporters after Monday's meeting that no conclusions had been reached on the ESM, which all 17 euro zone countries must back in a new treaty. Officials said the details would have to be finalized by an EU summit on January 30.

It was a similar situation for the "fiscal compact," which also involves a new treaty and which EU leaders are expected to agree at the summit next week.

"We have had an extremely constructive meeting on the fiscal compact and this text is a good basis for the discussions for the heads of government at the end of the month," said Juncker, sidestepping concerns about the text raised by the European Central Bank.

DEBT SUSTAINABILITY

Despite the continued deep differences, Greece and its private creditors do appear to be slowly converging on a deal in which private bondholders would take a real loss of 65 to 70 percent on their Greek bonds - giving a nominal reduction of 50 percent - officials close to the negotiations say.

Sources close to the talks told Reuters Monday that the impasse centered on questions of whether the deal would return Greece's debt mountain, currently over 350 billion euros, to levels that European governments believe are sustainable.

"There will likely be an updated debt sustainability analysis that will be discussed at the Eurogroup," a banking source in Athens said, requesting anonymity. "Talks will continue this week. The aim is to have an agreement by late next Monday."

Speaking in Berlin, Lagarde called on European leaders to complement the "fiscal compact" they agreed last month with some form of financial risk-sharing, mentioning euro zone bonds or bills, or a debt redemption fund as possible options.

Merkel told a news conference it was not the time to debate an increase in the euro zone's bailout funds.

"I don't think it is right to do one new thing then do another, let's get the ESM working," Merkel said, reiterating that Germany was prepared to accelerate the flow of capital into the ESM ahead of its planned introduction in mid-2012.

Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the second bailout would total 130 billion euros, if private bondholders forgave half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.

But Greek economic prospects have deteriorated since then, which means either euro zone governments or investors will have to contribute more than thought.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Brown and Alexandra Hudson in Berlin, Leigh Thomas in Paris, Lefteris Papadimas and Ingrid Melander in Athens; Writing by Noah Barkin and Luke Baker, editing by Mike Peacock/Jeremy Gaunt/Rex Merrifield.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_eurozone_ministers

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Libertarian Catnip, Ron Paul Edition (talking-points-memo)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190586851?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Tribe of Newt

Who were these crazy people? They were Gingrich voters, Frankensteins stitched together from the parts of other, extinct conservatives. Some of them used to be Herman Cain backers?look, there?s the ?Black Hawk Down? hero Mike Steele, a Cain supporter who used to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at Cain rallies. Some were Michele Bachmann fans?look, there?s 20-year-old Taylor Mason, who jumped right from Bachmann?s campaign to Gingrich?s and spent three weeks setting up events in the Low Country. Perhaps they were like the Sciolaros, a family from Kansas who trekked across the country for Rick Perry, frowned when he quit, then signed up with Newt.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=160d2656524de3a0ee0a01bceeaf3539

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German court shoots down Samsung's 3G patent lawsuit against Apple

Germany's Mannheim Regional Court has just issued a decision on one front of the ongoing dispute between Apple and Samsung, ruling against one of the Korean manufacturer's several patent infringement claims. At issue is a Samsung patent pertaining to the 3G / UMTS standard -- one of seven that Apple has been accused of infringing. Today, Judge Andreas Voss rejected Samsung's claim, though the reasoning behind this decision remains somewhat murky. According to FOSS Patents, however, the validity of the patent itself probably wasn't the driver behind Voss' ruling, since any doubts would have resulted in a stay, rather than an outright rejection. FOSS speculates that the court determined either that Apple wasn't infringing upon Samsung's patent, or that Samsung has simply exhausted its IP rights.

In a statement, Samsung said it has yet to decide whether it will appeal today's ruling. "We are disappointed that the court did not share our views regarding the infringement by Apple of this specific patent in Germany," spokesman Nam Ki-yung said. "It should be noted that today's ruling relates to only one of several patents asserted by Samsung in the Mannheim court." We're still awaiting official documentation, and will update this post as soon as we hear more.

German court shoots down Samsung's 3G patent lawsuit against Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/RudrCfJ8mew/

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Track Sharks, Paint With Light, Get Organized, and Stream Video [Iphone Apps Of The Week]

Start streaming all your videos to your iPhone, Not just those fancy h.264 videos. Start painting with light. Organize your life, and start tracking the elusive Great White shark.

More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/isspoNWinSo/

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Play a Mario Kart Ripoff, Scan Your Business Cards, and Defend ...

There are games we really want on the iPhone but we know we'll probably never get. Actually anything Nintendo makes would be great as an iPhone app. But there is one app in particular that would really make me happy: Mario Kart. Lucky for me, there's a complete ripoff of the game in the App Store right now. Plus, another tower defense game and a way to organize all those business cards, all in today's app deals.

iOS: Mole Kart - Free

If you're looking for a Mario Kart ripoff, here it is. The sounds, tracks, music, they're all pretty much what you would expect if Nintendo decided to port its racing game to the iPhone. But it won't, so you might as well download Mole Kart before the Nintendo lawyers realize what's going on. Dropped from $3 to Free.[Apps-aholic]

iOS: Business Card Reader - $1

Why are we still using business cards? I have hundreds of business cards I pass out to people almost every day. Or year, maybe. They in turn give me their business cards. Now I have a giant pile of other people's business cards. Business Card Reader scans the cards from a photo and automatically adds them to your contacts. Awesome. Dropped from $6 to $1. [AppShopper]

iOS: Tower Defense: Lost Earth HD - $3

I do love tower defense games. I can't be the only one, the app store is full of them. Today's game involves defending your mining company against hostile creatures on an alien planet. Actually, this might be the one tower game where I'm rooting for the attackers. Dropped from $5 to $3. [Appsylum]

Android: Lame Castle - Free

Mount your toy horse and race through this odd game. In Lame Castle, you're a knight running through the countryside kicking chickens, smashing through objects and destroying castles. What's not to like? Dropped from $1.50 to Free. [Apps-aholic]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5877953/play-a-mario-kart-ripoff-scan-your-business-cards-and-defend-your-miners

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AP sources: Perry abandoning bid, backing Gingrich (AP)

CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Texas Gov. Rick Perry will abandon his presidential bid and endorse Newt Gingrich, two Republican officials said Thursday, a move coming just two days before the pivotal South Carolina primary as Republican front-runner Mitt Romney struggles to fend off a challenge from the former House speaker.

Perry scheduled a news conference Thursday morning at a hotel in North Charleston to announce his decision.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the announcement.

Adding to the intrigue in the last hours of the South Carolina campaign, a bus emblazoned with Herman Cain's name sat in the hotel parking lot where Perry was to speak. Cain, a tea party favorite, dropped out of the race late last year.

Perry has faced calls in recent days to drop out of the race in hopes of compelling conservative voters, whose support has been divided among several like-minded candidates, to rally behind Gingrich in hopes of stopping Romney.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor considered the more moderate candidate in the race, has benefited thus far from having several conservative challengers competing for the same segment of voters. New polls show Romney leading in South Carolina but Gingrich gaining steam heading into Saturday's contest in a state where conservatives hold great sway in choosing the GOP nominee.

Perry's decision to endorse Gingrich does not necessarily mean conservatives will rally behind the former House speaker. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a champion of the anti-abortion issue, is still in the race and over the weekend was endorsed by a group of evangelical leaders.

And there's no guarantee that the Texas donors who fueled Perry's bid will shift to Gingrich, even if the governor asks them to.

Romney has been working to court them in recent weeks, having made repeated visits to Texas to meet with major Republican donors. He also won the backing of former President George H.W. Bush. Several Perry supporters, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid publicly discussing their next steps before Perry's announcement, said they have been approached by Romney's campaign and will support him as the most-likely candidate to face President Barack Obama in November.

At least three so-called "super" political action committees have sprung up since early 2011 supporting Perry. One, Americans for Rick Perry, raised about $193,000 during the first half of 2011, federal election records show.

But none of the groups has been more prominent than Make Us Great Again, which aired more than $3.3 million worth of ads in Iowa and South Carolina supporting the Texas governor. A spokesman for the group did not immediately return calls from the AP seeking comment about whom, if anyone, the PAC would support after Perry drops out.

Perry entered the race last August to great fanfare and high numbers in polls. But his standing quickly fell after a series of gaffes and other verbal missteps. Those errors called into question whether the Texas politician who had never lost a race during his three-decade career in elected office was ready for the national stage.

His biggest flub came in a nationally televised debate in early November, when he could not remember the name of the third Cabinet department he pledged to eliminate.

Perry could only manage to say, "Oops." Making fun of himself afterward, he told reporters: "I stepped in it."

It was a cringe-inducing moment replayed more than a million times on YouTube. The memory lapse not only solidified Perry's reputation for weak debate performances, it gave the impression that he couldn't articulate his own policies. The stumble further tamped down his already faltering poll numbers.

Perry, 61, was relatively unknown outside of Texas until he succeeded George W. Bush as governor after Bush was elected president in 2000. A former Democrat, Perry had already spent about 15 years in state government when he became governor. He went on to win election to the office three times ? the most recent was in 2010 ? to become the state's longest-serving chief executive.

Part of Perry's appeal came from his humble beginnings as a native of tiny Paint Creek, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University and was a pilot in the Air Force before winning election in 1984 to the Texas House of Representatives. He switched to the GOP in 1989, and served as the state's agriculture commissioner before his election as lieutenant governor in 1998.

Perry's success as a politician suggested he would be a strong competitor to Obama. He had never lost a race in Texas, and his fight against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2010 showed how tough he could be on a rival.

Perry picked Aug. 13 for his official announcement speech, the same day as the Iowa Straw Poll. While rival Michele Bachmann won that poll, the Texas governor cast a shadow over her victory by challenging her as conservatives' best hope for winning the nomination and defeating Obama.

He entered near the top of some polls. But his support of a Texas policy to allow children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates soon proved to be problematic with conservatives nationwide. So, too, did his 2007 order that would have required schoolgirls in Texas to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus. Although state lawmakers overturned the order, Perry defended the vaccination as necessary to combatting the sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer.

His performance on the campaign trail also led to concerns about how his rhetoric would sound to a national audience. During a campaign stop in Iowa in August, he suggested that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be practically committing treason if he were to print more money and said, "I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas."

A Perry speech to a New Hampshire audience in October led to a damaging video, during which he appeared unusually animated ? "loopy" to some observers ? a stark contrast to the image of the serious, starchy governor he had projected. Amid questions, Perry later told reporters that he hadn't been drinking or taking medication at the time and called it "a pretty typical speech for me."

More flubs followed. While criticizing the nine-member Supreme Court to a newspaper editorial board, he referred to "eight unelected and frankly unaccountable judges" and struggled to come up with the name of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, then called her "Montemayor." He urged college students in New Hampshire to support his candidacy, "those of you that will be 21" on Election Day, though the voting age is 18.

The widespread criticism of those performances and his rivals' attacks on his immigration and vaccination policies led to a significant drop in support.

___

AP Special Correspondent David Espo in North Charleston and Associated Press writer Chris Tomlinson in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_el_pr/us_perry

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Always Find Your Way When You're Lost by Facing North [Macgyver Tips]

Even if you have lived in a city for a few years you're bound to get lost or disoriented now and again. A new study in Psychological Science reveals the easiest way to reorient yourself and find your way is to face north and visualize the map.

When it comes to understanding environments, our brains refer back to what they know. Western maps are always oriented toward the north so our spatial memory does the same thing. When you face your body north, you visualize a map and can navigate based on memory. Even when you're visiting a new city you should be able to recreate a map you've only glanced at. One of the studies authors, Dr. Julia Frankenstein, suggests using the north trick to learn new cities:

Look at maps before you start your trip, keep them at hand, but navigate yourself, and try to rely on your memory- it will work better than you expect! Give your brain the chance to train its spatial abilities ? use them or lose them.

Of course, you need to know which direction north is for this to work. Thankfully, you can quickly find north using shadows or your wristwatch. It's also worth noting this is a great trick for when people ask you for directions. If you're stopped on the street in your hometown, orient yourself north before offering up direction advice. Photo by Ram Karthik.

Which Direction Now? Just Ask the North-Facing Map in Your Head | ScienceDaily

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/qui-PY3Ylbg/always-find-your-way-when-your-lost-by-facing-north

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South Whidbey Little League baseball, softball clinics begin soon

Registration is open for South Whidbey Little League?s winter baseball and softball clinics.

The sessions are designed for boys and girls between 5 and 14 years old. No previous baseball or softball experience is needed to attend the clinics.

All sessions will be at the Langley Middle School gym on Saturdays from Jan. 21 to Feb. 11. The time the training begins depends on the player?s age: 5 to 8 year olds practice from noon to 1 p.m.; and 9 to 14 year olds play from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

The cost is $20 for all four clinics, and counts toward registration fees for the 2012 Little League season.

Registration forms will be available at the clinics and can be printed from SWLL?s website at www.eteamz.com/swllb.

Forms can be mailed to SWLL, PO Box 1431, Freeland, WA 98249.

To play in the 2012 season, player fees are $100, with a $250 maximum per family. Forms can be mailed to SWLL, PO Box 1431, Freeland, WA 98249.

Anyone interested in coaching is invited to attend the clinics, regardless of experience. Volunteer forms will be required, however, which can be found on the league?s website. Helpers must also supply a copy of a valid driver?s license.

For more information, call or text SWLL president Jeff Daly at 360-661-6025 or email swllpresident@gmail.com.

Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/whidbeysports/~3/NmjB3K7OAYg/137051338.html

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