Source: http://www.computerchem.com/?p=41464
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Three Common Contrarian Investing Strategies | Computer AND ...
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Once you learn how to make money with contrarian investing you'll wonder why you hadn't tried it before. Start by watching for a reversal in the short term. The first thing you will see is a volume that is quite a bit higher than ...
Bronx Woman Dead After Ventilator Knocked Out By Power Outage
Power outages swept through the Bronx early Sunday morning affecting more than 4,000 customers after a transformer exploded in the Gun Hill area, reports The New York Post.
The outage took the life of a 49-year-old Bronx woman after her ventilator stopped working due to a failed backup generator, reports The Daily News.
The woman, who was on a do not resuscitate order, was among the 37 patients on ventilators from the Eastchester Rehabilitation and Health Care Center affected by the outage.
The FDNY and EMS helped in transferring the patients to hospital, notes New York CBS Local.
Consolidated Edison is investigating the outage and said that the incident happened after an electric phaser came down, according to New York 1.
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Feedback: Keeping up the alchemist tradition
Keeping up the alchemist tradition
ALCHEMY lives! True, its heirs are deeply split. Some moved on to the actual chemistry that grew out of the workshop technologies alchemists developed. Others chose to build on the business model, and can now be found marketing tachyon-enhanced quantum pentawater.
Phil and Jane Hodgson wonder what goes on behind a door on the first floor of the new wing at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Aylesbury, UK. It is labelled "Regeneration Kitchen"
Paul Moran of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, UK, prefers to stick with the original concept, whatever the cost. On 20 October he was sentenced to three months in jail for starting a fire in his apartment. TheBelfast Telegraph reports His Honour Judge McFarland drily summing up: "Rather bizarrely you were attempting to make gold from human faeces and waste products. It was an interesting experiment to fulfil the alchemist's dream, ...
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Michael Buble?s Sexy Wife Luisana Lopilato Strips Down For Ultimo
Michael Buble’s Sexy Wife Luisana Lopilato Strips Down For Ultimo
Michael Buble‘s new bride Luisana Lopilato has stripped down to model lingerie for a sexy new ad campaign. The Argentinian model, who married singer Michael [...]
Michael Buble’s Sexy Wife Luisana Lopilato Strips Down For Ultimo Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
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JK Rowling: UK press left me feeling under siege
In this image made from television, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who has campaigned to keep her children out of the media glare, gives evidence about media intrusion during a media ethics inquiry in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to media regulation in Britain. (AP Photo/Parliamentary Recording Unit via APTN) NO ARCHIVES
In this image made from television, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who has campaigned to keep her children out of the media glare, gives evidence about media intrusion during a media ethics inquiry in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to media regulation in Britain. (AP Photo/Parliamentary Recording Unit via APTN) NO ARCHIVES
British actress Sienna Miller, arrives to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
British actress Sienna Miller, center, arrives to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
British actress Sienna Miller, center, arrives to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
British actress Sienna Miller, center, arrives to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
LONDON (AP) ? Writer J.K. Rowling and actress Sienna Miller gave a London courtroom a vivid picture on Thursday of the anxiety, anger and fear produced by living in the glare of Britain's tabloid media, describing how press intrusion made them feel like prisoners in their own homes.
The creator of boy wizard Harry Potter told Britain's media ethics inquiry that having journalists camped on her doorstep was "like being under siege and like being a hostage." Miller said years of car chases, midnight pursuits and intimate revelations had left her feeling violated, paranoid and anxious.
"The attitude seems to be absolutely cavalier," Rowling said. "You're famous, you're asking for it."
The pair were among a diverse cast of witnesses ? Hollywood star Hugh Grant, a former soccer player, a former aide to supermodel Elle Macpherson and the parents of missing and murdered children ? who have described how becoming the focus of Britain's tabloid press wreaked havoc on their lives.
Rowling said she was completely unprepared for the media attention she began to receive when her first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," became a sensation. The seven Potter books have sold more than 450 million copies, spawned a hit movie series and propelled Rowling from struggling single mother to one of Britain's richest people.
"When you become well-known ... no one gives you a guidebook," she said.
Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry amid a still-unfolding scandal over illegal eavesdropping by the News of the World tabloid. Owner Rupert Murdoch closed down the newspaper in July after evidence emerged that it had illegally accessed the mobile phone voice mails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims in its search of scoops.
More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested, and the scandal has also claimed the jobs of two top London police officers, Cameron's media adviser and several senior Murdoch executives.
It has also set off national soul-searching about the balance between press freedom and individual privacy.
Rowling, 46, said media interest in her began shortly after the publication of her first novel in 1997 and soon escalated, with photographers and reporters frequently stationed outside her home. She eventually moved after stories and photographs revealed the location of her house.
"I can't put an invisibility cloaking device over myself or my house, nor would I want to," Rowling said. But, she added, "it feels threatening to have people watching you."
Rowling said she had always tried to keep her three children out of the media glare, and was outraged when her eldest daughter came home from primary school with a letter from a journalist in her backpack.
"I felt such a sense of invasion," Rowling said. "It's very difficult to say how angry I felt that my 5-year-old daughter's school was no longer a place of complete security from journalists."
By the time her younger children were born in 2003 and 2005, Rowling said, the scrutiny was "like being under siege and like being a hostage."
She also described how, early on in their relationship, her now-husband Neil Murray gave personal details over the phone to a reporter who was pretending to be a tax official. An article about him duly appeared in a tabloid paper.
"That was a not-very-nice introduction to being involved with someone famous," Rowling said.
Rowling told the inquiry she had gone to court or to Britain's press watchdog more than 50 times over pictures of her children or false stories, which included a claim by the Daily Express that unpleasant fictional wizard Gilderoy Lockhart had been based on her first husband.
Before the final Potter book appeared in 2007, a reporter even phoned the head teacher of her daughter's school, falsely claiming the child had revealed that Harry Potter died at the end, in an apparent bid to learn secrets of the plot.
Miller, who became a tabloid staple when she dated fellow actor Jude Law, said the constant scrutiny left her feeling "very violated and very paranoid and anxious, constantly."
"I felt like I was living in some sort of video game," she said.
"For a number of years I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily," she said. "Spat at, verbally abused.
"I would often find myself, at the age of 21, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me. And the fact they had cameras in their hands made that legal."
The 29-year-old actress told the inquiry that a stream of personal stories about her in the tabloids led her to accuse friends and family of leaking information to the media. In fact, her cell phone voice mails had been hacked by the News of the World.
Miller, the star of "Layer Cake" and "Alfie," was one of the first celebrities to take the Murdoch tabloid to court over illegal eavesdropping. In May, the newspaper agreed to pay her 100,000 pounds ($160,000) to settle claims her phone had been hacked.
The newspaper's parent company now faces dozens of lawsuits from alleged hacking victims.
Also testifying Thursday was former Formula One boss Max Mosley, who has campaigned for a privacy law since his interest in sadomasochistic sex was exposed in the News of the World.
Mosley successfully sued the News of the World over a 2008 story headlined "Formula One boss has sick Nazi orgy with five hookers." Mosley has acknowledged the orgy, but argued that the story ? obtained with a hidden camera ? was an "outrageous" invasion of privacy. He said the Nazi allegation was damaging and "completely untrue."
Mosley said he has had stories about the incident removed from 193 websites around the world, and is currently taking legal action "in 22 or 23 different countries," including proceedings against search engine Google in France and Germany.
"Invasion of privacy is worse than burglary," Mosley said. "Because if somebody burgles your house ... you can replace the things that have been taken."
High-profile witnesses still to come include CNN celebrity interviewer Piers Morgan, who has denied using phone hacking while he was editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper.
The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to Britain's system of media self regulation.
Rowling said that she supported freedom the press, but that a new body was needed to replace the "toothless" Press Complaints Commission.
"I can't pretend that I have a magical answer," she said. "No Harry Potter joke intended."
___
Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/
Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless
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Friday, November 25, 2011
5 Things to Know about Martin Scorsese's Hugo
Martin Scorsese's Hugo, in theaters November 23, is not just about a boy who must unravel a secret left to him by his father, but an ode to the very first filmmaker to use narrative and special effects: Georges M?li?s. It's also Scorsese's first stereoscopic film. At a press conference, the stars, writer and producer of Hugo talked filming in 3D, the amazing sets, and the research Scorsese asked them to do to prepare for their roles. Spoilers below! By Erin McCarthy
1 of 5
Scorsese Has Always Wanted to Do a 3D Film
Martin Scorsese saw his first stereoscopic film in 1953?Andre de Toth's House of Wax. One year later, he saw Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder; the 3D in that film, which enhanced the narrative, left a lasting impression on the filmmaker. So it was natural that Scorsese would use 3D to that effect in Hugo: In one scene, where Sacha Baron Cohen's Station Inspector is interrogating Hugo (Asa Butterfield), a wide interocular setting makes him seem more menacing and intimidating; likewise, 3D is used to create a feeling of vertigo during a chase sequence up a staircase in the walls of the station. "There's something about Scorsese using the latest 3D technology to push the boundaries of filmmaking in 2011 to make a film about the very first technology ever used to put magic on the screen over a hundred years ago," Emily Mortimer, who played flower shop owner Lisette, said. Baron Cohen agreed. "It felt like it was the logical extension of filmmaking?that if M?li?s was alive, he would have definitely been using 3D," he said. "That was the interesting thing?the whole debate in cinema about whether 3D is a gimmick or not. Scorsese really showed that it was a logical development of the filmmaking process, and that was fascinating. 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Abnormal levels of caffeine in water indicate human contamination
ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2011) ? Researchers led by Prof. S?bastien Sauv? of the University of Montreal's Department of Chemistry have discovered that traces of caffeine are a useful indicator of the contamination of our water by sewers. "E coli bacteria is commonly used to evaluate and regulate the levels of fecal pollution of our water from storm water discharge, but because storm sewers systems collect surface runoff, non-human sources can contribute significantly to the levels that are observed," Sauv? explained.
"Our study has determined that there is a strong correlation between the levels of caffeine in water and the level of bacteria, and that chemists can therefore use caffeine levels as an indicator of pollution due to sewerage systems."
The researchers took water samples from streams, brooks and storm sewer outfall pipes that collect storm waters across the Island of Montreal, and analyzed them for caffeine, fecal coliforms, and a third suspected indicator, carbamazepine. Shockingly, all the samples contained various concentrations of these contaminants, which would suggest that contamination is widespread in urban environments. Carbamazepine is an anti-seizure drug which is also increasingly used for various psychiatric treatments, and the researchers thought it might be a useful indicator because it degrades very slowly. However, unlike with caffeine, no correlation was found.
Caffeine degrades within a few weeks to 2-3 months in the environment and is very widely consumed. The presence of caffeine is also a sure indicator of human sewage contamination, as agriculture and industry do not tend to release caffeine into the environment. The team also noted that the data suggest that Montreal's storm water collection system is widely contaminated by domestic sewers. On the other hand, the researchers observed high levels of fecal coliforms but little or no caffeine in some of the samples, which they attribute to urban wildlife. "This data reveals that any water sample containing more than the equivalent of ten cups of coffee diluted in an Olympic-size swimming pool is definitely contaminated with fecal coliforms," Sauv? said. "A caffeine sampling program would be relatively easy to implement and might provide a useful tool to identify sanitary contamination sources and help reduce surface water contamination within an urban watershed."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit? de Montr?al.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- S?bastien Sauv?, Khadija Aboulfadl, Sarah Dorner, Pierre Payment, Guy Deschamps, Mich?le Pr?vost. Fecal coliforms, caffeine and carbamazepine in stormwater collection systems in a large urban area. Chemosphere, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.09.033
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111122112023.htm
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Sennheiser launches X320 gaming headset | Ubergizmo
Heads up gamers, if you?re looking for a new set of headphones to communicate with your team mates or taunt enemy players during your Xbox Live sessions, Sennheiser has launched the X320 gaming headset that you might want to take a look at.
The X320 will come with a variety of features, such as XL designed ear cups for that added comfort, noise canceling microphones that won?t pick up unnecessary background noise, dual game/chat volume control that will let you control either the sound coming from the game or the chatter coming from your team mates. It will also come with a pretty cool feature that lets you mute the microphone simply by swiveling it back up to its resting position.
If the Sennheiser X320 sounds like a pair of gaming headphones you wouldn?t mind getting your hands on, it is currently retailing for $150. Head on down to Sennheiser?s website for more information.
Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/11/sennheiser-launches-x320-gaming-headset/
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Microsoft Looking to Buy a Piece of Yahoo, Again [REPORT] (Mashable)
In what could be the first sign of a potential buyout, Microsoft has signed a confidentiality agreement with Yahoo to get access to the company?s financial information, Reuters reported Wednesday. Citing a ?source familiar with the matter,? the report says Microsoft is one of many companies now combing through Yahoo?s business. Private equity firms KKR, TPG Capital, and Silver Lake Partners are also said to be interested in buying minority stakes of up to 20 percent, with plans to eventually own controlling interest in the company.
[More from Mashable: Yahoo Debuts ?Living Ad? Format in iPad App]
KKR and Silver Lake recently invested a substantial amount of money into domain registrar GoDaddy, a deal reported worth $2.25 billion.
The interest from Microsoft is especially notable since the software giant once before tried to buy the company back in 2008. The offered price was reported to be almost $45 billion, or $33 a share. Today Yahoo trades for about $15 a share. Commenting on the failure to work out a deal three years ago, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said: ?Sometimes you?re lucky.?
[More from Mashable: Windows 8 Will Make Automatic Updates Far Less Painful]
Now it seems Microsoft is once again looking a buying Yahoo, or at least a sizable chunk of it. Why the renewed interest? Microsoft wouldn?t comment to Mashable on the matter, but it appears the company is interested in preserving its partnership with Yahoo on search.
The two worked out an agreement in 2009 where Yahoo would use comScore, so Microsoft has good reason to keep that partnership alive.
Yahoo has been struggling for years. Although its search and email services were once dominant, the company has failed to respond credibly as Google and other competitors gained market share. The company fired its CEO, Carol Bartz, in September. Former CFO Tim Morse is the current interim CEO.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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Officials say plan on al Qaeda detainees would harm probes (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A Senate plan requiring that all foreign al Qaeda suspects found in the United States be turned over to the military instead of civilian law enforcement could gravely damage counter-terrorism investigations, the Obama administration warned.
Top administration officials charged that the plan would set up new hurdles for investigators - particularly at the FBI and the Justice Department - and would raise questions as to how and when they must involve the military.
Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a rare display of bipartisanship, approved the provision earlier this month as part of an important defense bill. It could be voted on by the full Senate early next week.
Officials said that if the current plan is approved by both the House and Senate, Obama aides will recommend a presidential veto of the entire defense bill, which contains many other vital defense-related provisions.
"Agents and prosecutors should not have to spend their time worrying about citizenship status and whether and how to get a waiver signed by the Secretary of Defense in order to thwart an al Qaeda plot against the homeland," Lisa Monaco, assistant attorney general for national security, told Reuters.
"Rather than provide new tools and flexibility for FBI operators and our intelligence professionals, this legislation creates new procedures and paperwork for FBI agents, intelligence lawyers and counter-terrorism prosecutors," she said.
Currently, suspects detained in the United States normally go into the civilian justice system, while those caught overseas are held under U.S. military jurisdiction.
The dispute appears to be about more than just bureaucratic turf battles, and risks reopening bitter disputes over handling militant suspects that in some cases have taken a decade to resolve.
NO 'MIRANDA' REQUIRED
One prominent Republican backer of the plan, Senator Lindsay Graham, said that in his view, the Obama administration has been too eager to process al Qaeda suspects caught in the United States through the civilian criminal justice system.
This usually involves them quickly being given the mandatory "Miranda" warnings about their rights to legal counsel and to remain silent, he said.
Requiring that the administration transfer foreign al Qaeda suspects into military custody, Graham said in an interview on Wednesday, would give investigators time to interrogate suspects and gather intelligence about potential plots without giving them warnings which might cause them to stop talking.
"Military custody is the best place for intelligence gathering," Graham said, adding that Congress was "fed up" with administration moves to "civilianize" what some legislators still regard principally as a war against militants.
A congressional aide close to backers of the committee plan insisted that it gives the administration the freedom to make a determination on military custody.
"If the FBI is investigating, they investigate. No ongoing surveillance, intelligence gathering or interrogation is interrupted" under the bill's provisions, the aide insisted.
Under the plan, unanimously approved by the committee, military custody requirements would apply both to suspects detained by U.S. forces overseas, and to suspects alleged to be connected to al Qaeda or an "associated force" of foreign nationality who are detained on U.S. soil.
Al Qaeda suspects of U.S. nationality or residency arrested in the United States. would still be processed through the civilian court system.
After complaints from the White House, the Armed Services Committee tweaked its proposal to include a provision authorizing the administration to formally waive the military custody provisions in cases where it deems that national security would benefit from such a move.
As an example of how military handling of detainees is not an intelligence-producing panacea, law enforcement officials cited the case of an alleged al Qaeda "sleeper agent" of Saudi and Qatari nationality who was picked up in the United States after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
According to the officials, Ali al-Marri was initially arrested as a material witness, then charged in civilian courts with credit card and identity fraud violations. But in 2003, President George W. Bush designated al-Marri as an "enemy combatant" and had him transferred to a military brig in South Carolina.
Instead of being treated harshly, U.S. officials said, al Marri was given a suite of cells at the military prison, complete with his own Islamic library and exercise equipment. Despite repeated questioning by military interrogators over several years, the officials said, al Marri never provided them with any information.
However, the officials said, after President Obama in 2009 ordered that al Marri's case be reviewed, he was subsequently transferred back into the civilian court system.
He eventually pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge after giving prosecutors and civilian investigators extensive descriptions of his involvement with al Qaeda, including his dealings with alleged top al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his involvement in alleged research into chemical weapons on al Qaeda's behalf.
(Editing by Warren Strobel and Jackie Frank)
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GOP's Romney defends ad's use of Obama 2008 line (AP)
DES MOINES, Iowa ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is defending a TV ad that quotes President Barack Obama out of context, signaling he's ready for bare-knuckled campaigning despite sharp complaints from Democrats and some neutral observers.
Romney said while campaigning in Iowa Wednesday that the ad is fair game, and underscores how the former Massachusetts governor stressing his decades in the private sector intends to confront the president if Romney is the GOP nominee next year.
The ad which began airing in New Hampshire Tuesday uses audio of then-Sen. Obama campaigning in the state in 2008, saying: "If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose.
The ad omits any acknowledgement that Obama was quoting the campaign of his opponent, 2008 GOP nominee John McCain. Instead, the ad leaves the impression that it is Obama who does not want to discuss the economy.
Romney told reporters in Des Moines his campaign distributed the ad with a press release noting the words were originally from Obama's opponent.
"There was no hidden effort on the part of our campaign. It was instead to point out that what's sauce for the goose is now sauce for the gander," Romney said, after addressing more than 300 employees of a downtown insurance company. "This ad points out, now, guess what, it's your turn. The same lines used on John McCain are now going to be used on you, which is that this economy is going to be your albatross."
It's a more aggressive tone for Romney, who all along in his second bid for the GOP nomination has cast himself as the field's most prepared candidate to tackle the economy. Now, he is signaling that he'll pull no punches with Obama.
"How we will beat President Obama is by speaking day in and day out about the one topic he does not want to talk about. And that's the economy," Romney said, with U.S. Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who endorsed him Wednesday, by his side. "If I'm the nominee, he'll be trying to take me apart."
Democrats roundly criticized the ad as misleading.
PolitiFact, a non-partisan campaign watchdog, referred to the ad's use of Obama's past comment as "ridiculously misleading," and noted the campaign could have conveyed the point that the tables had turned on Obama "without distorting Obama's words."
Romney's appearances in Iowa Wednesday reflect his recent stepped-up his activity in the state that will hold the first caucuses on Jan 3.
While just his fifth visit to the state this year, it was his third in about a month.
In the meantime, his small campaign staff has grown modestly, been in regular touch with the statewide network of supporters he has held onto since his second-place finish in the 2008 caucuses. He is organizing a series of telephone question-and-answer sessions with thousands of Iowans, and is planning to unveil campaign ads in Iowa soon.
He still has not appeared with his Republican competitors in the state, having skipped three events over the past month.
Romney has said he plans to debate his GOP rivals in Iowa. There are debates scheduled December 10 in Des Moines and five days later in Sioux City.
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Griffin O'Neal pleads guilty to DUI (AP)
SAN DIEGO ? Griffin O'Neal, the son of actor Ryan O'Neal, has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs stemming from a head-on crash that injured another motorist.
The San Diego Union-Tribune ( http://bit.ly/tHTGso) says O'Neal pleaded guilty Tuesday to driving under the influence and possession of a firearm by a felon, both felonies. He also acknowledged he has a 1992 conviction for shooting into an unoccupied vehicle.
Prosecutors say O'Neal was on drugs Aug. 2 when he veered into oncoming traffic and collided with another vehicle in San Diego County.
Defense attorney Heather Boxeth said at a previous hearing that her client had been trying to help his half-brother Redmond O'Neal, who had been arrested on suspicion of heroin possession the same day.
Griffin O'Neal faces up to four years in prison.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
NASA launching 'dream machine' to explore Mars
In this 2011 artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools at the end of its arm, which extends about 2 meters (7 feet). The mobile robot is designed to investigate Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
In this 2011 artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools at the end of its arm, which extends about 2 meters (7 feet). The mobile robot is designed to investigate Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
In this 2011 artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, a "sky crane" lowers the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover onto the surface of Mars. The mobile robot is designed to investigate Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) ? As big as a car and as well-equipped as a laboratory, NASA's newest Mars rover blows away its predecessors in size and skill.
Nicknamed Curiosity and scheduled for launch on Saturday, the rover has a 7-foot arm tipped with a jackhammer and a laser to break through the Martian red rock. What really makes it stand out: It can analyze rocks and soil with unprecedented accuracy.
"This is a Mars scientist's dream machine," said NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Ashwin Vasavada, the deputy project scientist.
Once on the red planet, Curiosity will be on the lookout for organic, carbon-containing compounds. While the rover can't actually detect the presence of living organisms, scientists hope to learn from the $2.5 billion, nuclear-powered mission whether Mars has ? or ever had ? what it takes to nurture microbial life.
Curiosity will be "the largest and most complex piece of equipment ever placed on the surface of another planet," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars exploration program.
Ten feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall at its mast, Curiosity is about twice the size of previous rovers Spirit and Opportunity, weighs 1 ton and is loaded with 10 science instruments. Its formal name: Mars Science Laboratory, or MSL.
In a spacecraft first, Curiosity will be lowered to Mars' surface via a jet pack and a tether system similar to the sky cranes used by helicopters to insert heavy equipment in inaccessible spots on Earth. No bouncing air bags like those used for the Mars Pathfinder lander and rover in 1997 and for Spirit and Opportunity in 2004 ? Curiosity is too heavy for that.
It is the kind of precision landing that officials said will benefit future human explorers on Mars.
The rover is scheduled to arrive at the mineral-rich Gale Crater next August, 8? months after embarking on the 354-million-mile voyage aboard an Atlas V rocket.
It's a treacherous journey to Mars, and the road is littered with failures. In all, more than three dozen missions have aimed over the decades at the most Earth-like planet known, and fewer than half have succeeded. Of this flotilla, only one lander is still working on the dry, barren, cold surface ? Opportunity ? and only three craft still are observing the planet from orbit.
In fact, Russia's latest Mars probe remains stuck in orbit around Earth two weeks after its botched launch. NASA has had better luck at Mars, although it has lost a few spacecraft there.
"Mars is difficult, and so many things have to go right for a mission to work," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars exploration program.
Curiosity is the capstone of what NASA calls the year of the solar system. A spacecraft is en route to Jupiter after lifting off last August from Cape Canaveral, and twin lunar probes launched in September will arrive at the moon New Year's weekend.
A huge crowd ? 13,500 invited guests ? is expected for Curiosity's Thanksgiving weekend send-off.
There will be more anxiety than usual over the launch. Curiosity holds 10.6 pounds of plutonium, more than enough to power the rover on the Martian surface for two years. A nuclear generator won out over solar energy because it allows for a bigger workload and more flexibility. The plutonium is encased in several protective layers in case of a launch accident.
Once safely down on Mars, the rover will survey the landscape with high-definition and laser cameras mounted like eyes atop its mast. The laser will aim at soil and rocks as far as 23 feet away to gauge their chemical composition.
The rover also has a weather station for updates on Martian temperature, humidity and wind, as well as a radiation detector that will be especially useful for planning human expeditions.
Despite all its fancy upgrades, Curiosity will go no faster than the one-tenth-mile-per-hour logged by past Martian rovers. But it is expected to venture more than 12 miles during its two-year mission. If it's still working after that, it will keep on trucking, possibly all the way up the crater's 3-mile peak.
This mountain is composed of geologic layers similar to what one might find in the Grand Canyon, said project scientist John Grotzinger, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology.
"Our rover is going to be like John Wesley Powell going down the Grand Canyon," Grotzinger said, referring to the 19th-century explorer who led an expedition down the Colorado River.
The next logical step in Mars exploration, said Cornell University's Steve Squyres, who led the science team for Spirit and Opportunity, would be a robotic mission to deliver Mars samples to Earth for analysis. NASA hopes to pull that off later this decade, but the project is on Congress' chopping block.
Squyres warned that without such missions, U.S. leadership in science won't just be challenged ? "it's going to go away."
___
Online:
NASA: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
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Blago ally Rezko gets 10 1/2 years, minus time served (AP)
CHICAGO ? A former top fundraiser for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, convicted of pressuring firms for kickbacks as part of a political pay-to-play scheme, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 1/2 years in prison but will get credit for time served.
Antoin "Tony" Rezko spent 3 1/2 years in custody awaiting sentencing on his 2008 convictions for fraud, money laundering and plotting to squeeze $7 million in kickbacks from companies that wanted to do business with the state during Blagojevich's tenure
Attorneys for the former Chicago real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur had asked that he be set free, arguing that he had served more time than others who were convicted as part of the federal investigation of Blagojevich have or are expected to.
But U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve told Rezko that his "selfish and corrupt actions" had damaged the trust people have in their government.
"You defrauded the people of Illinois, you engaged in extensive corruption throughout the state of Illinois," the judge said, adding that she hoped other politicians would take note of the penalty for corruption.
"This sentence must send a message that enough is enough," she said.
Rezko asked St. Eve for mercy and apologized to the court, his friends and family.
"I deeply regret my conduct," he said. "I take full responsibility for my actions."
Rezko told the judge his brother, sister and favorite cousin passed away during his incarceration, and no punishment could be greater than the guilt he feels for not being with them when they were dying.
A gaunt Rezko, clad in a prison uniform and shackled at the ankles, bore little resemblance to the robust millionaire whose trial was held more than three years ago, a transformation even St. Eve mentioned.
"Just looking at you physically is evidence of the great fall that you have had," she said to Rezko, who stood before her with his arms crossed.
Rezko showed no initial reaction when the sentence was handed down, but several relatives began crying. As he was led out of the courtroom, family members called out, "We love you," and "You're the best."
Defense attorney Joe Duffy called the sentence disappointing but said he was not sure yet about appealing.
"We think this sentence is harsh. I understand why the judge wants to send a message, and a message should be sent to the community," he said, but added that the message and punishment "should go to the public officials who have abused the public trust."
Prosecutors had asked that Rezko get between 11 and 15 years, and said prisoners generally serve 85 percent of their full sentences.
U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called Rezko sentence "stiff and appropriate." He said it is unusual to see such a long sentence for corruption and said it appeared the sentences are getting longer.
He would not say what he thought Rezko's penalty might mean for Blagojevich's sentence.
The former governor is set to be sentenced next month and had been expected to get about 10 years. He was convicted this year on charges that included trying to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat.
Rezko, 56, also was a political fundraiser for Obama during his campaigns for Illinois senator, though not for his presidential campaign. Obama has not been accused of wrongdoing in the case, but his relationship with Rezko became an issue during the 2008 election.
Rezko's sentencing was delayed after he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating Blagojevich and others. He also offered to testify at the corruption trials of Blagojevich and millionaire businessman William Cellini, who was convicted Nov. 1 of conspiring with Rezko and others to shake down the Oscar-winning producer of "Million Dollar Baby."
But the government said he ultimately did not yield any useful information, and prosecutors said they eventually concluded Rezko's persistent lies long after he was charged would have made him a vulnerable, ineffective witness.
St. Eve noted he had even lied to her, once insisting in a letter that prosecutors were "overzealous" and trying to get him to make up allegations about Blagojevich that weren't true. In the letter, he also said he had never engaged in illegal conduct with Blagojevich, she said.
Rezko's lawyers had offered a picture of the Syrian immigrant as an eager philanthropist who was "shocked" by Blagojevich's proposed brainstorming on ways to profit from his gubernatorial decisions.
Duffy also noted Rezko's anonymous contributions to his church, his participation on charity boards and his financial support to relatives.
The government countered that his generosity came at taxpayers' expense as he schemed with Blagojevich and others to put the state up for sale.
Prosecutor Chris Niewoehner again described Rezko standing before the then-governor and other confidants at an office chalkboard, diagramming various scams.
During Rezko's trial, prosecutors said he raised over $1 million for Blagojevich and got so much clout in return he could control two powerful state boards. They accused him of plotting with admitted political fixer Stuart Levine to squeeze payoffs from money management firms that sought to invest the assets of the $40 billion state Teachers Retirement System and said he plotted with Levine to get a $1.5 million bribe from a contractor who sought state approval to build a hospital.
Levine pleaded guilty and was the government's star witness at the Rezko and Cellini trials. Rezko's lawyers complained that, in exchange for Levine's cooperation, prosecutors had recommended a prison term of just 5 1/2 years. But prosecutors say Levine's cooperation with the government started sooner, lasted longer and reaped more dramatic results.
Rezko spent nine months in solitary confinement in the federal holding center in Chicago, rarely getting fresh air. After his lawyers complained, he was moved to the jail in Dodge County, which wasn't equipped to house him for so long. He's lost 80 pounds, according to a recent defense filing.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
No. 2 Kentucky beats Old Dominion 62-52
Old Dominion's Chris Cooper, right, shoots over Kentucky's Eloy Vargas during the first half of their NCAA college basketball game at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Uncasville, Conn., on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
Old Dominion's Chris Cooper, right, shoots over Kentucky's Eloy Vargas during the first half of their NCAA college basketball game at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Uncasville, Conn., on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
Old Dominion's Chris Cooper, left, and South Florida's Augustus Gilchrist watch Cooper's shot during the second half of their NCAA college basketball game at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Uncasville, Conn., on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. Old Dominion won the game in overtime 68-66. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
Old Dominion coach Blaine Taylor reacts during the first half of his team's 62-52 loss to Kentucky in an NCAA college basketball game at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Uncasville, Conn., on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) ? Old Dominion coach Blaine Taylor says he's not much into moral victories.
But he wasn't completely unhappy Sunday after his team hung with No.2 Kentucky through most of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off championship, before falling to the Wildcats 62-52.
The Monarchs trailed 50-49 with seven minutes to go, before Kentucky went on a late 12-1 run to put the game away.
"I thought we belonged in this game," Taylor said. "We thought we could play against this opponent and I think our kids did."
Chris Cooper had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Old Dominion (3-2). Trian Iliadis added 11 points and Kent Bazemore had 10 for the Monarchs, who were coming off a 68-66 overtime win against South Florida.
Darius Miller came off the bench to score 13 points and dish out five assists to lead the Wildcats (4-0)
"We got out of here alive somehow, and the reason we got out of alive is because Darius played," Calipari said. "If he didn't play, we'd probably get beat by 10 or 12."
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also scored 13 points and fellow freshman Anthony Davis added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Kentucky, which beat Penn State 85-47 on Saturday.
ODU took an early 18-11 lead behind the shooting and rebounding of Cooper, who had six points and four rebounds during that stretch, while Bazemore added seven points.
The deficit matched Kentucky's largest of the season. They also trailed Kansas by seven points in the first half on Tuesday.
"We were just scrapping," Taylor said. "I kind of jokingly said let's make him call the first timeout, and I think he called the first three. But we just scrapped around. It thought we were pretty good with loose balls and we came up with some boards."
After a timeout, Kentucky went on a 7-0 run to tie it. But Old Dominion would not go away. A steal and layup by Iliadis put ODU back up by five.
Miller, Kentucky's only senior, brought the Wildcats back, scoring seven points on a 9-0 run to close the half. Miller had nine points, topping his season high in the first 20 minutes, and Kentucky led 32-27 at halftime.
Calipari said Miller was only Wildcat who had success penetrating the ODU zone defense.
"I just try to take what they give me," Miller said. "So I was just driving the gaps."
The Wildcats extended that to 40-31 after Doron Lamb was fouled after hitting a 3-point shot, and made the free throw.
Old Dominion went without a field goal for five minutes before Cooper powered into the lane with 10:23 left. But a basket by Wright brought the Monarchs back to within five at 46-41.
Iliadis hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close the gap to 50-49 with seven minutes remaining, while the Wildcats missed free throws on three consecutive 3-point play opportunities to help ODU hang around.
But Kidd-Gilchrist's layup began the run that put the game away and his dunk on an assist by Miller made it 60-49.
Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo was at the game to watch his Wildcats and freshman point guard Marquis Teague, who had another tough game. He had six turnovers to go with his six points and just two assists. For the season, Teague has 18 turnovers and just 11 assists.
"We're a good team," Calipari said "But we have a long way to go. And we want to be special, guys have got to start making incremental steps."
Lamb, who had 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting in Saturday's 85-47 win over Penn State, had eight points on Sunday.
Bazmore, who broke a bone in his left foot over the summer and had surgery in August, made his first start of the season for ODU. He had been coming off the bench as he allows the bone to heal.
Nick Wright, who served a three-game suspension to start the season, had nine points and six rebounds for the Monarchs.
"We got Nick Wright back and we have our other post players, so that just helped me a lot," Cooper said.
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Haiti official denies knowledge of prison killings (AP)
LES CAYES, Haiti ? One of 13 Haitian police officers being tried in the killings of inmates during a prison riot in the chaotic aftermath of the 2010 earthquake testified Monday that he doesn't know who caused the deaths.
The assertion by Sylvestre Larack, who oversaw the prison, seemed to stun many in the crowded courtroom.
"You were responsible for the prison that day, and you don't know anything?" Judge Ezekiel Vaval asked the defendant. "How can that be? How did they die?"
"I don't know exactly who has the responsibility for the deaths," Larack said.
Larack and 12 other officers are charged with murder, attempted murder and other crimes for allegedly opening fire during a prison uprising one week after the earthquake.
It's not clear how many inmates were slain during the unrest on Jan. 19, 2010, but United Nations police reported seeing 10 dead prisoners. Investigators believe other bodies may have removed. Dozens of inmates were wounded.
Now in its sixth week, the trial has captivated the coastal town of Les Cayes. Dozens of people with no connection to the defendants or lawyers jam into the courtroom just to watch what is an unusual proceeding for Haiti.
The country's justice system is widely considered corrupt and dysfunctional, and few cases make their way to trial. About three-quarters of the 5,000 people imprisoned in Haiti have never even been charged with a crime.
The more than 20 defense lawyers have argued that the real architects of the prison riot aren't present to testify. One attorney, Jean Renel Senatus, said a prisoner nicknamed "Ti Mousson" started the riot and the leader of the police riot unit, Olritch Beaubrun, have both left Haiti.
"We've only heard from people who don't know anything," Senatus said. "The commander Beaubrun has escaped, along with the man who started the riot. Among my accused men, I can't say if there are any who are responsible."
In statements to a joint United Nations-Haitian government commission after the bloodshed, both Larack and Beaubrun said that prisoners had attacked each other.
Prosecutor Jean-Marie Salamon said Larack's statement Monday contradicted his pre-trial statements.
"When you were interviewed before, you said there was a fight between police officers and prisoners," Salamon said. "Now you say you don't know anything. Why are you changing your story?"
Larack didn't have a chance to respond as defense and prosecution lawyers began arguing over whether pre-trial statements could be used in court. The judge said was important to focus on testimony used in the court.
If convicted, the defendants could face life in prison with hard labor.
Twenty-one other people also are being tried in absentia because they have fled. Even if convicted, they would be entitled under Haitian law to a new trial if they returened to face the charges.
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US budget woes could hit European missile defense (AP)
WASHINGTON ? A breakdown in high-stakes budget talks in Congress could threaten plans for a missile defense shield in Europe.
Congressional negotiators have shown little sign they will be able to meet Wednesday's deadline for reducing the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. If they fail to agree, a new law mandates cuts throughout the federal government, including a big slice of the defense budget.
While it is not known what military spending would be cut, an expensive program aimed primarily at defending Europe is unlikely to be spared.
The U.S. sees the missile defense system, aimed at countering a threat from Iran, as part of its contribution to the NATO military alliance. With the United States often complaining that it makes a disproportionately large contribution to NATO, missile defense could be especially vulnerable to budget-cutters.
"A missile defense system for NATO? It's going to be hard to keep people committed if they think the U.S. is picking up the tab for Europe," says Kurt Volker, who was ambassador to NATO at the end of the George W. Bush administration.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that the European missile defense program could be threatened if the special deficit reduction committee should fail to work out a deal. That suggestion, though, may have been intended mostly to nudge lawmakers to resolve their differences and avoid the automatic cuts to one of their favorite programs.
It is still possible that committee members could set aside intense partisan differences and reach a deal by Wednesday. If they do not, Congress might find a way to cancel the cuts before they take effect in 2013.
That may only delay the scaling back of the U.S. military role in Europe. A decade-long expansion of military spending appears to be coming to an end, and the Obama administration has indicated it is shifting its foreign policy toward Asia, where it sees the greatest opportunities and threats of coming decades.
"Where does that leave Europe? Lower down the list," says Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Beyond missile defense, the automatic cuts could prompt the U.S. to save money by shifting some warships away from Europe but probably would not lead to fewer U.S. troops there.
The United States has already reduced its presence in Europe from more than 200,000 in 1989 to slightly more than 40,000 today. It has plans for a further pullback by 2015 but is unlikely to accelerate that simply because there are no short-term savings to be had from moving troops out of their European bases.
"We can't take the remaining bases with us," says Christopher Wiley, an analyst with the trans-Atlantic relations program at the Bertelsmann Foundation who is preparing a report on the impact of budget cuts on U.S. policy in Europe. "It's not a good place to save cash."
___
Online:
U.S. Missile Defense Agency: http://www.mda.mil
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Monday, November 21, 2011
Video: House rejects proposed constitutional amendment
The House has rejected a balanced budget amendment proposal on Friday, which was a measure that was reported to be a major sticking point among many Republicans . NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/45359039/
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House says no to mandating balanced federal budget (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Rejecting the idea Congress can't control its spending impulses, the House turned back a Republican proposal Friday to amend the Constitution to dam the rising flood of federal red ink. Democrats ? and a few GOP lawmakers ? said damage from the balanced-budget mandate would outweigh any benefits.
The first House vote in 16 years on making federal deficits unconstitutional came as the separate bipartisan "supercommittee" appeared to be sputtering in its attempt to find at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions to head off major automatic cuts. The lead Republican on that panel said members were "painfully, painfully aware" of its Wednesday deadline for action and would work through the weekend.
The House voted 261-165 in favor of the measure to require annual balanced budgets, but that was 23 short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance a constitutional amendment.
Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the proposal, arguing that such a requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs.
Most Republicans favored the measure, but there were prominent exceptions.
Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the party's point man on budgetary matters, agreed with GOP colleagues that "spending is the problem." But he added that "this version of the balanced budget amendment makes it more likely taxes will be raised, government will grow and economic freedom will be diminished."
Likewise, Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., said lawmakers should be able to find common ground without changing the Constitution, and he expressed concern that lawsuits filed if Congress failed to balance the budget could result in courts making decisions on cutting spending or raising taxes.
In all, 235 Republicans and 25 Democrats voted for the amendment, four Republicans and 161 Democrats opposed it. The other two Republicans voting no were Justin Amash of Michigan and Louie Gohmert of Texas.
Later in the day, the top Republican on the deficit-reduction supercommittee indicated no deal was near but efforts would continue through the last weekend before Wednesday's deadline.
"We are painfully, painfully aware of the deadline that is staring us in the face," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. "When we have something more to report, we will report."
With the national debt now topping $15 trillion and the deficit for the just-ended fiscal year passing $1 trillion, supporters of the constitutional amendment declared it the only way to stop out-of-control spending. The government now must borrow 36 cents for every dollar it spends.
"It is our last line of defense against Congress' unending desire to overspend and overtax," Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said as the House debated the measure.
But Democratic leaders worked aggressively to defeat it, saying that such a requirement could force Congress to cut billions from social programs during times of economic downturn and that disputes over what to cut could result in Congress ceding its power of the purse to the courts.
Even had it passed, the measure would have faced an uphill fight in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The House passed a similar measure in 1995, with the help of 72 Democrats. That year, the measure fell one vote short of passing the Senate.
Constitutional amendments must get two-thirds majorities in both houses and be ratified by three-fourths of the states to take effect. The last constitutional amendment ratified, in 1992, concerned lawmaker pay increases.
The second-ranking Democrat, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, voted for the amendment in 1995 but said the situation has vastly changed since then. "Republicans have been fiscally reckless," he asserted, saying the George W. Bush administration would not cut spending elsewhere to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, major tax cuts and a Medicare prescription drug benefit.
"A constitutional amendment is not a path to a balanced budget," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. "It is only an excuse for members of this body failing to cast votes to achieve one."
The measure on the floor Friday, sponsored by Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., mirrored the 1995 resolution in stating that federal spending could not exceed revenues in any one year. It would have required a three-fifths majority to raise the debt ceiling or waive the balanced budget requirement in any year. But Congress would be able to let the budget go into deficit with a simple majority if there was a serious military conflict.
The Republicans' hope was that the Goodlatte version would attract more Democratic supporters, and the "Blue Dogs," a group of fiscally conservative Democrats, said they were on board. But there are now only 25 Blue Dogs, half the number of several years ago when there were more moderate Democrats, mainly from rural areas, in the House.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat who is not a Blue Dog member, said he was supporting the amendment because "there's an infinite capacity in this Congress to kick the can down the road. ... We are going to have to force people to make tough decisions."
But other Democrats pointed to a letter from some 275 labor and other mostly liberal groups saying that forcing spending cuts or higher taxes to balance the budget when the economy was slow "would risk tipping a faltering economy into recession or worsening an ongoing downturn, costing large numbers of jobs."
Democrats also cited a report by the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimating that, if there is not an increase in revenues, the amendment could force Congress to cut all programs by an average of 17.3 percent by 2018.
The amendment would not have gone into effect until 2017, or two years after it was ratified, and supporters said that would give Congress time to avoid dramatic spending cuts.
Forty-nine states have some sort of balanced budget requirement, although opponents note that states do not have national security and defense costs. States also can still borrow for their capital-spending budgets for long-term infrastructure projects.
The federal government has balanced its budget only six times in the past half-century, four times during Bill Clinton's presidency.
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