Saturday, December 31, 2011

Romney says Paul doesn't represent mainstream

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is greeted by supporters during a campaign appearance at a Hy-Vee grocery store, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is greeted by supporters during a campaign appearance at a Hy-Vee grocery store, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, campaigns at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? An Iowa victory within reach, an increasingly confident Mitt Romney on Friday cast chief GOP presidential rival Ron Paul as a fringe candidate and said: "I'm working harder than anyone to make sure he's not the nominee."

"I don't think Ron Paul represents the mainstream," Romney added, criticism that illustrates an attempt to bloody the Texas congressman who, like Romney, is in strong contention to win Tuesday's lead-off caucuses.

The libertarian-leaning Paul, campaigning on the western side of the state, didn't respond.

Romney commented on Paul's candidacy during morning television interviews after appearing with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie before several hundred people outside a grocery store near Des Moines.

Mindful not to ignore another key state, Romney was dashing to New Hampshire later in the day for more appearances and also rolled out a fresh TV ad there. He returns to Iowa on Saturday afternoon and plans to remain in the state through caucus night. It's an indication of just how confident his team has become about possible victory in a state that derailed his candidacy four years ago.

There's reason for that optimism.

A new NBC-Marist poll shows Romney and Paul virtually tied for the lead among likely caucus-goers, with Rick Santorum surging into third, Rick Perry inching up to fourth and Newt Gingrich sliding to fifth. Michele Bachmann was at the back of the pack. Perhaps more striking, tea party supporters are essentially divided evenly across the Republican field.

The race, to be sure, remains fluid and many Iowans still are undecided.

But Romney was expressing increasing optimism as his rivals scrambled to win over cultural conservatives and religious voters who haven't rallied behind one candidate, possibly paving the way for a victory by the former Massachusetts governor seen by some as less consistent on issues this bloc holds dear.

"I'm not planning on being disappointed," Romney said, speaking about Tuesday's caucuses. "No thing is a sure thing at this stage, but it feels terrific."

He also defended negative ads by his allies that have pounded Gingrich and argued that the former House speaker has done more damage to himself than any ads have.

"Speaker Gingrich's numbers have gone down more in New Hampshire than they have here," Romney said.

Gingrich, meanwhile, showed a little emotion at an event in Des Moines with mothers. Recalling his late mother's struggle with depression and mental illness, Gingrich choked and wiped away tears. He allowed the he does "policy much easier than I do personal."

The moment was reminiscent of Hillary Rodham Clinton's teary-eyed response to a question just before the 2008 Democratic primary in New Hampshire. The episode was credited with humanizing her in the eyes of voters. She won the primary.

Romney also refused anew to commit to releasing his income tax returns, saying: "If I become president, why, then I can decide that."

Illustrating an all-out effort to win the caucuses, Romney implored Iowans in a video to show up at precinct caucuses Tuesday and vote for him.

At the early morning event, he appeared energized by the crowd as he delivered his standard campaign speech focused on President Barack Obama. "He just played his 90th round of golf," Romney said, knocking the president for vacationing in Hawaii as the crowd stood on cold, light rain.

Christie, a Republican backed by the conservative and tea party wings of the GOP, playfully told the crowd to vote for Romney or "I will be back, Jersey style."

With four days to go, public and private polling show Romney and Paul in strong contention to win the caucuses, with coalitions of support cobbled together from across the Republican political spectrum and their get-out-the-vote operations ? beefed up from their failed 2008 bids ? at the ready. They're the only two with the money and the organizations necessary to ensure big turnouts on Tuesday.

Three others ? Santorum, Perry and Gingrich ? will have to rely largely on momentum to carry supporters to the caucuses. Each was working to convince fickle conservatives that he alone would satisfy those who yearn for a nominee who would adhere strictly to GOP orthodoxy.

Bachmann was working to convince backers that her cash-strapped campaign was not in disarray after a top Iowa supporter abandoned her to back Paul.

She appeared Friday with Iowa Rep. Steve King, her closest congressional ally, at a caf? in his district. But he offered only kind words for the congressman and not the endorsement that she and some of her rivals have so eagerly sought.

___

Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont, Mike Glover, Kasie Hunt, Brian Bakst and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-30-GOP%20Campaign/id-5383dcde343b491fa86930fa92c2310f

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Twin NASA Probes Have New Year's Date with the Moon (SPACE.com)

No matter how exciting your plans are for New Year's, two NASA spacecraft have you beat ? they've got a date with the moon.

After more than three months of spaceflight, NASA's twin Grail probes are set to start orbiting the moon this weekend, with Grail-A arriving Saturday (Dec. 31) and Grail-B following on Sunday (Jan. 1). The spacecraft are on a mission to map lunar gravity in unprecedented detail, shedding light on the moon's composition, formation and evolution.

"Our team may not get to partake in a traditional New Year's celebration, but I expect seeing our two spacecraft safely in lunar orbit should give us all the excitement and feeling of euphoria anyone in this line of work would ever need," said Grail project manager David Lehman, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in a statement.

An anxious New Year's Eve

The $496 million Grail mission (short for Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory) launched on Sept. 10 and took a circuitous, and energy-efficient, route to the moon. Earth's nearest neighbor is just 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometers) away, but the two spacecraft will have put about 2.5 million miles (4 million km) on their odometers when they finally arrive.

The long journey has given the mission team plenty of time to assess the probes' health and to power up their science gear, researchers said.

Both spacecraft will make their orbital-insertion maneuvers automatically. Still, about 40 members of the Grail team will be monitoring the action over the weekend to make sure everything goes according to plan ? and to jump in if it doesn't, Lehman told reporters Wednesday (Dec. 28).

Orbital insertion is a nerve-wracking part of any space mission, and Grail gives scientists and engineers twice as much to worry about.

"The anxiety level is heightened right now, and it is more so than with other missions, because we do have two spacecraft to go into lunar orbit," Lehman said. "But we've been studying and working on this for three or four years ? four years ? and we're well-prepared for that."

The fact that Grail-B will arrive about 24 hours after Grail-A should help streamline the process and calm some nerves.

"The team will have time to rest between each event," Lehman said.

Mapping lunar gravity

Once they arrive at the moon, the Grail spacecraft will perform a series of additional burns to get closer and closer. By early March, they should be just 34 miles (55 km) above the lunar surface, and that's when the probes' science campaign will begin. [Video: Grail's Mission to Map Moon Gravity]

Grail-A and Grail-B will chase each other around the moon for 82 days, staying 75 to 225 miles (121 to 362 km) apart.

Regional differences in the moon's gravity will cause the two spacecraft to speed up or slow down slightly, changing the distance between them as they fly. Using microwave signals that they bounce back and forth to each other, Grail-A and Grail-B will gauge these distance variations constantly ? and with incredible precision.

The Grail probes will be able to determine how far apart they are to within a few microns, less than the width of a human red blood cell, researchers have said.

Scientists will use the twin probes' measurements to construct extremely accurate maps of the lunar gravity field. These maps, in turn, should reveal the moon's structure in great detail, allowing scientists to draw insights about how the rocky body formed and how it has changed over time.

So the Grail team is hoping that the two spacecraft's arrival at the moon heralds many exciting discoveries to come in 2012.

Having "a great set of technological accomplishments, I think, is a great way both to end the year and start the new year," said Grail principal investigator Maria Zuber, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111230/sc_space/twinnasaprobeshavenewyearsdatewiththemoon

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Friday, December 30, 2011

New Year's resolution (and modern fable): Spend more!

In Aesop's ancient Greek fable of the ant and the grasshopper, the ant was right: Save for a rainy day. New Year's resolution for America in 2012: We need more grasshoppers.?

Perhaps you remember Aesop?s fable about the ant and the grasshopper. The diligent ant works tirelessly through the summer, storing food for the winter, while the grasshopper lays about munching on grass, and worse, making fun of the ant for his work ethic. When winter comes, the ant survives on his stores, and the grasshopper starves to death, having learned the lesson we now translate as ?saving for a rainy day.? But that 6th century BC fable from Greece doesn?t fit the 21st century AD economy in the United States. My research, encapsulated in a new book ?Against Thrift,? suggests we need to spend our way out of the current slump. If the ant and the grasshopper compared New Year's resolutions today, say, in a New York coffee shop, their conversation might go like this:

Skip to next paragraph

Grasshopper: You going to sell the brownstone?

Ant: You know I can?t, the housing market is that bad. And I?m close to underwater, anyway. I can?t retire on debt. How about you?

G: There?s not much in my retirement account, not enough to live on, even with Social Security. I?m still in debt, too. Borrowed to send the boys to school.

A: I saved and you spent, and here we are. It?s nearly winter and we?re both broke.

G: We gotta spend more. I mean the government should tax the rich and the corporations, and use it to create jobs and increase social spending.

A: You?re kidding, right?? We need more personal saving and more private investment to get us out of this hole, not more government spending. That?s goofy.

G: Funny you use that word, because in the Disney short, the guy who does the Grasshopper is the voice of Goofy. You, I don't know who did your voice, probably Lawrence Olivier. But yeah, all the econ textbooks are going to tell you that private investment is the key to growth. In theory, they?re right ? or they were right until about 1910, and then the economy went in another direction.

A: I don?t get it.

G:?Nobody does. After 1910, outputs started increasing without any increase in the quantity of inputs, whether capital or labor. Lots of economists, and some of them won Nobel Prizes, have said, ?Yeah, technological progress made it possible.? Cheaper and better machines allowed output to go up. Others chalk it up to an organizational revolution: The new large corporations made for unbelievable labor productivity. Either way, private investment as a share of the overall economy has been dwindling ever since.

A: So all those conservatives who want to cut taxes to get more money in the hands of the private sector ?

G: ? are wrong. Think about it. The banks don?t need your savings. They?re already sitting on a trillion dollars they don?t know what to do with. Businesses don?t borrow it because consumers aren?t buying. But they would borrow and expand if we got more money in the hands of big-spending consumers. Investment follows the consumer demand curve, not the other way around.

A: But didn?t we try that with the stimulus?

G: The stimulus wasn't big enough to pull us out of a really big ditch. That?s why we need to tax the rich, help the poor, and boost spending now.

A: I have to be more like you? That is scary.?

G: That?s just the economics. There?s a moral component. We can afford to be our brother?s keeper, expand the welfare state, increase entitlements. We?ve already figured out how to pay people who don?t produce anything: transfer payments, entitlements, even Wall Street bonuses (because the financial sector really doesn?t produce that much). We have to live up to the promise of abundance and live by the ancient Judeo-Christian criterion of need: from each according to her abilities, to each according to his needs.

A: Our brother?s keeper??

G:?Think of it as a New Year's resolution. You can start by buying this round.

???James Livingston, a history professor at Rutgers University, is author of the new book "Against Thrift: Why Consumer Culture is Good for the Economy, the Environment, and Your Soul."??

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/l_rHn09o-iw/New-Year-s-resolution-and-modern-fable-Spend-more

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Riot fear over Charles and Diana's wedding

Margaret Thatcher secretly discussed issuing firearms to the police amid fears riots could disrupt the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

Files released by the National Archives in Kew, west London, under the 30-year rule, show the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was so concerned about the security situation he even raised it with the Queen.

In 1981, Mrs Thatcher's Conservative Government was rocked by the worst outbreak of civil unrest since Victorian times as rampaging youths battled the police in cities across England.

During the spring and summer, an explosive cocktail of inner city deprivation, rising unemployment, racial tensions and resentment at police tactics reached boiling point.

After riots erupted in Brixton, south London, in April, a fresh wave of disturbances broke out at the beginning of July - the month of the royal wedding - centred on Toxteth in Liverpool.

Further riots broke out in other cities, prompting fears of a breakdown of law and order.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/845/f/464365/s/1b612c2a/l/0L0Sbelfasttelegraph0O0Cnews0Clocal0Enational0Cuk0Criot0Efear0Eover0Echarles0Eand0Edianas0Ewedding0E160A969840Bhtml0Dr0FRSS/story01.htm

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LG Prada 3.0 sashays over to South Korea because Android phones are so hot right now

Do you take your Android phones with an extra dose of designer? Then LG's Prada 3.0 is probably already on your radar, ready to mix and match with your walk-in closet of wardrobe options. This respectably specced, luxe update is right on target to hit South Koreans' manicured mitts tomorrow, with first dibs going to SK Telecom and a release on KT to follow on January 5th. The usual two-year contract pricing applies for both operators, but contract-averse users can also snag the stylish handset for 899,900 won (about $778) outright. That's the high price you pay for fashion (and a minimalist UI overlay), but at least this forward-looking device is set to fatten its figure with Ice Cream Sandwich in Q2 of next year. Of course, by then, it'll already be terribly gauche to own one anyway.

Continue reading LG Prada 3.0 sashays over to South Korea because Android phones are so hot right now

LG Prada 3.0 sashays over to South Korea because Android phones are so hot right now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Rita Hayworth's grandson found dead in home

A grandson of the late screen actress Rita Hayworth has been found dead in an apparent suicide in New York City.

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Police say 25-year-old Andrew Embiricos was discovered in his Manhattan apartment Sunday night with a bag over his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No crime is suspected.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office says the cause of his death is pending autopsy results.

Embiricos was the son of Hayworth's daughter Yasmin Aga Khan, a philanthropist known for publicizing the plight of those suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Hayworth was a legendary beauty who rose to fame in the 1940s and '50s in movies such as "Cover Girl" and "Gilda." She died in 1987 of Alzheimer's disease at age 68.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45566333/ns/today-entertainment/

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Despite attacks, pilgrims in Iraq mark holy day (AP)

BAGHDAD ? Iraqi police boosted security as hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims converged Tuesday on the holy city of Karbala for a 10-day religious ritual that regularly draws deadly attacks by Sunni extremists.

On Monday, five bomb attacks against the Shiite pilgrims killed 21 people, revealing the troubling gaps that remain in Iraq's security just weeks before all American forces must be out of the country under a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline.

The violence continued for a second day Tuesday as a mortar shell struck near a Shiite mosque in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing one person and wounding four others.

In Karbala, south of the capital, rituals went peacefully due to the tight security measures taken by local authorities, said provincial council member Iftkhar Hadi.

Around 33,000 Iraqi troops were protecting the 1 million worshippers in Karbala, said provincial police spokesman Maj. Alaa Abbas.

"Until now, there is no security breach in Karbala and it is a message to the terrorist groups that our security forces are now able to preserve stability and to defend our people," he said.

During the Ashoura ritual, Shiites seek to cleanse the spirit and scourge the body in honor of their founding saint.

Ashoura marks the anniversary of the death in the seventh century of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein. His death in a battle outside Karbala sealed Islam's historic Sunni-Shiite split, which still bedevils the Middle East.

In Karbala, men wearing black or white robes pounded their chests, slashed their heads and beat their bloodied foreheads with the flat sides of swords and knives. Also, mourners were waving Shiite religious red and green flags as they were running toward the Imam Hussein holy shrine.

Karbala is 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad.

Shiite religious holidays like Ahsoura are routinely targeted by Sunni extremists who do not believe Shiites are true Muslims. Trying to stop those attacks remains especially difficult for the U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces, still struggling to protect their citizens more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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Abuse in Childhood May Alter Teen Brain (HealthDay)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]HealthDay - MONDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds abuse in
childhood may be associated with changes in the teenage brain.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111206/hl_hsn/abuseinchildhoodmayalterteenbrain

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Will Herman Cain become the GOP's 'kingmaker'? (The Week)

New York ? Cain's campaign is over, but his supporters could still potentially tip the balance in a close GOP race

Herman Cain ended his presidential run on Saturday, citing the damage inflicted on him by "false and untrue" allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity. By Sunday, most of Cain's former rivals were scrambling for his supporters ? or, in Rep. Michele Bachmann's case, already claiming many of them as her own. Cain, who says he'll continue to push his 9-9-9 tax plan, intends to endorse one of the GOP candidates soon ? reportedly,?Cain might throw his support behind Newt Gingrich as early as Monday afternoon. Will a nod from the scandal-tainted Cain really influence the GOP race?

Yes. Cain wields a lot of power: It's clear from his defiant exit speech that Cain "wants to stay in the spotlight," says Dan Farber at CBS News. And this Plan B, pushing his supporters toward a preferred candidate, is a pretty good way to "make lemonade out of lemons." After all, "if he can't continue his run for president, at least he can play the role of a kingmaker."
"Herman Cain tries to make lemonade from lemons"

But who would want Cain's blessing? The king Cain is trying to anoint is apparently Gingrich, says Jennifer Rubin at?The Washington Post. But if the tainted Cain endorses the "clownish" Newt, it will probably "only raise eyebrows and cackles about [Newt's] own infidelity." Some interested party, perhaps a political action group, "will want to tie Cain and Gingrich at the hip."
"Is there a not-Romney and not-Gingrich for Iowans?"

Cain's supporters matter, even if his support doesn't: The one-time frontrunner doesn't have "a huge base of support any more, but it's still significant," says Jazz Shaw at?Hot Air. Cain diehards might not follow Herman's advice ? I think they're more likely to back a "consummate Washington outsider" than Newt ? but?regardless, it's critical "where Cain's hardcore fans migrate." His "sizable 8 percent" in Iowa, for instance, could seal a win for Rep. Ron Paul, or boost Rick Perry back into the running.
"Where to now for Cain's supporters?"

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Bhopal disaster protesters block India trains

A survivor of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the world's worst industrial disaster in India, dances on burning effigies of London Olympic organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe and Indian Olympic Association's Vijay K. Malhotra to protest a sponsorship deal with Dow Chemicals for the 2012 Olympics, in Bhopal, India, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Friday's protests come on the eve of the 27th anniversary of a lethal gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal where an estimated 15,000 people died and tens of thousands were maimed in 1984. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 but denies responsibility for Carbide's Bhopal liabilities. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A survivor of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the world's worst industrial disaster in India, dances on burning effigies of London Olympic organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe and Indian Olympic Association's Vijay K. Malhotra to protest a sponsorship deal with Dow Chemicals for the 2012 Olympics, in Bhopal, India, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Friday's protests come on the eve of the 27th anniversary of a lethal gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal where an estimated 15,000 people died and tens of thousands were maimed in 1984. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 but denies responsibility for Carbide's Bhopal liabilities. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the world's worst industrial disaster in India, and other supporters stand near burning effigies of London Olympic organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe and Indian Olympic Association's Vijay K. Malhotra to protest a sponsorship deal with Dow Chemicals for the 2012 Olympics, in Bhopal, India, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Friday's protests come on the eve of the 27th anniversary of a lethal gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal where an estimated 15,000 people died and tens of thousands were maimed in 1984. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 but denies responsibility for Carbide's Bhopal liabilities. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the world's worst industrial disaster in India, and other supporters participate in a protest against a sponsorship deal with Dow Chemicals for the 2012 Olympics, in Bhopal, India, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Friday's protests come on the eve of the 27th anniversary of a lethal gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal where an estimated 15,000 people died and tens of thousands were maimed in 1984. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 but denies responsibility for Carbide's Bhopal liabilities. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

(AP) ? Thousands of survivors of the world's worst industrial accident blocked trains through a central Indian city on Saturday to demand more compensation for the 1984 disaster.

The protest came on the 27th anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal, where a Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked gas that killed some 15,000 people and maimed tens of thousands of others.

Activist Rachna Dhingra said that police charged the protesters with sticks to try to stop them from occupying Bhopal's five train lines, and that three people were hospitalized with injuries.

The protesters vowed to block the trains indefinitely. They have demanded that Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, pay $8.1 billion in compensation for more than 500,000 people exposed to the leak.

They say India's government accepted far too little in a 1985 settlement for $470 million, after initially asking for $3.3 billion.

Meanwhile, Dow has maintained that the issue was resolved by the settlement.

Bhopal activists and survivors are also calling for Dow Chemicals to be dropped as a sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics, with some 200 protesters burning effigies of two Olympic officials on Friday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-03-AS-India-Dow-Protest/id-33fe51efe09442b19d13d0cf18be9368

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Clinton speaks with Pakistan PM on NATO strikes (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday, again offering U.S. condolences over the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in NATO air strikes last week, the State Department said in a statement.

The attack sparked fury in Pakistan and complicated U.S.-led efforts to ease a crisis in relations with Islamabad, still seething at a secret U.S. raid in May that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and stabilize the region before foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan in 2014.

Clinton "once again expressed condolences to the families of the soldiers and to the Pakistani people for the tragic and unintended loss of life in Mohmand last weekend," the State Department said in a brief statement.

"She reiterated America's respect for Pakistan's sovereignty and commitment to working together in pursuit of shared objectives on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect."

Clinton's phone call came two days before an international conference in Germany on the future of Afghanistan - a conference Pakistan is boycotting because of the incident.

The United States and NATO have promised to investigate the incident, expressing regret at the deaths of Pakistani soldiers. But the White House has said it was premature to consider an apology when an investigation was still in its early stages.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/pl_nm/us_usa_pakistan

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

George McGovern hospitalized after falling (cbsnews)

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Baker Institute research indicates China's demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040

Baker Institute research indicates China's demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040 [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 1-Dec-2011
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Contact: David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University

Despite aggressive demand-management policies announced in recent years, China's oil use could easily reach levels comparable to today's U.S. levels by 2040, according to a new energy study by the Baker Institute.

The study's authors said this finding has timely significance because China's growing energy use could continue to pose a major challenge for global climate deliberations in South Africa this week.

The study, "The Rise of China and Its Energy Implications," finds that China's recent efforts at centralizing energy policy do not appear to be significantly more successful than the makeshift patchwork of energy initiatives devised by the United States. In fact, the study said, the U.S. system of open and competitive private sector investment is stimulating more innovation in the American energy sector than in the Chinese energy industry, especially in the area of unconventional oil and gas.

That, ironically, is attracting Chinese state investment to U.S. shores and prompting Beijing to consider further opening of its oil and gas exploration activities to partnerships with U.S. firms, the study said.

China, like the United States, has substantial potential shale gas resources but faces technical, regulatory and market infrastructure challenges that are likely to delay rapid development. Were China to mobilize investments in shale gas more quickly, the study said, it could greatly reduce the country's expected large import needs for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia and the Middle East and contribute to a future glut in global natural gas markets.

Despite sporadic government policies to discourage private car ownership, the growth in the number of vehicles on the road in China has more than quadrupled in recent years to more than 50 million. The Baker Institute report projects that this number could increase to more than 200 million vehicles by 2020 and 770 million by 2040 under a scenario where China's real gross domestic product growth averages 6 percent between now and 2030. Even under a scenario where the number of electric cars rises to 5 million a year by 2030, which is in line with ambitious targets announced by China's National Development and Reform Commission, China's oil use from the transportation sector will grow significantly, the Baker Institute study said.

"Given the scale of vehicle stock growth in China, it is going to be extremely difficult to move the needle of the country's rising transport fuel outlook," said Kenneth Medlock, a study author and the James A. Baker III and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute.

The study noted that China's "going abroad" strategy has also encountered recent difficulties in light of geopolitical events and rising global political risks in oil-producing regions.

"China is learning that owning equity oil in risky regions may not be as effective an energy security strategy as it had previously imagined," said Amy Myers Jaffe, an author of the study and the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at the Baker Institute. "China is now finding itself mired in more energy-related foreign diplomacy than it bargained for.

"But this could be good news for the United States," Jaffe said. "It may mean China will be more inclined to act in concert with other members of the international community in conflict-prone regions."

The study noted that China has tried to offset some of this risk by increasing investments in the United States and Canada, which gives the U.S. more leverage in seeking China's collaboration in international diplomatic matters.

###

More findings from the energy study will be publicly released ahead of a daylong conference at the Baker Institute Dec. 2. To view the study, go to www.bakerinstitute.org/riseofchina.

Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston ranks among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks globally and top 30 think tanks in the United States. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute sponsors more than 20 programs that conduct research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute's strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows and Rice University scholars. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute's blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.


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Baker Institute research indicates China's demand for oil will equal US demand by 2040 [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 1-Dec-2011
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Contact: David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University

Despite aggressive demand-management policies announced in recent years, China's oil use could easily reach levels comparable to today's U.S. levels by 2040, according to a new energy study by the Baker Institute.

The study's authors said this finding has timely significance because China's growing energy use could continue to pose a major challenge for global climate deliberations in South Africa this week.

The study, "The Rise of China and Its Energy Implications," finds that China's recent efforts at centralizing energy policy do not appear to be significantly more successful than the makeshift patchwork of energy initiatives devised by the United States. In fact, the study said, the U.S. system of open and competitive private sector investment is stimulating more innovation in the American energy sector than in the Chinese energy industry, especially in the area of unconventional oil and gas.

That, ironically, is attracting Chinese state investment to U.S. shores and prompting Beijing to consider further opening of its oil and gas exploration activities to partnerships with U.S. firms, the study said.

China, like the United States, has substantial potential shale gas resources but faces technical, regulatory and market infrastructure challenges that are likely to delay rapid development. Were China to mobilize investments in shale gas more quickly, the study said, it could greatly reduce the country's expected large import needs for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia and the Middle East and contribute to a future glut in global natural gas markets.

Despite sporadic government policies to discourage private car ownership, the growth in the number of vehicles on the road in China has more than quadrupled in recent years to more than 50 million. The Baker Institute report projects that this number could increase to more than 200 million vehicles by 2020 and 770 million by 2040 under a scenario where China's real gross domestic product growth averages 6 percent between now and 2030. Even under a scenario where the number of electric cars rises to 5 million a year by 2030, which is in line with ambitious targets announced by China's National Development and Reform Commission, China's oil use from the transportation sector will grow significantly, the Baker Institute study said.

"Given the scale of vehicle stock growth in China, it is going to be extremely difficult to move the needle of the country's rising transport fuel outlook," said Kenneth Medlock, a study author and the James A. Baker III and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute.

The study noted that China's "going abroad" strategy has also encountered recent difficulties in light of geopolitical events and rising global political risks in oil-producing regions.

"China is learning that owning equity oil in risky regions may not be as effective an energy security strategy as it had previously imagined," said Amy Myers Jaffe, an author of the study and the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at the Baker Institute. "China is now finding itself mired in more energy-related foreign diplomacy than it bargained for.

"But this could be good news for the United States," Jaffe said. "It may mean China will be more inclined to act in concert with other members of the international community in conflict-prone regions."

The study noted that China has tried to offset some of this risk by increasing investments in the United States and Canada, which gives the U.S. more leverage in seeking China's collaboration in international diplomatic matters.

###

More findings from the energy study will be publicly released ahead of a daylong conference at the Baker Institute Dec. 2. To view the study, go to www.bakerinstitute.org/riseofchina.

Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston ranks among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks globally and top 30 think tanks in the United States. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute sponsors more than 20 programs that conduct research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute's strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows and Rice University scholars. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute's blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/ru-bir120111.php

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Friday, December 2, 2011

Can Male Circumcision Stem the AIDS Epidemic in Africa?

News | Health

As a preventive measure, voluntary male circumcision is gaining favor as a large-scale attack against HIV's spread. But scaling it up will cost billions of dollars


hiv cell in bloodCUTTING RISK: Is investing in an imperfect prevention method a wise attack on HIV/AIDS in Africa? Image: iStockphoto/muzon

For the Xhosa in South Africa, a boy's coming of age is often marked by an elaborate and lengthy set of rituals. One of the ordeals is circumcision, which is traditionally performed by a healer and occasionally leads to an ineffective cut, infection or even death. The young men who emerge from the ceremony healthy, however, achieve not only new social status but are also much less likely to become infected with HIV.

Adult male circumcision, in which the foreskin of the penis is surgically removed, has emerged as one of the more powerful reducers of infection risk. Some studies are finding that it decreases the odds that a heterosexual man will contract HIV by 57 percent or more. With HIV vaccine research still limping along, condoms being underused and the large-scale vaginal gel trial Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE) just called off early last week after disappointing results, the operation has been gaining ground.

For the past three years 13 countries in southern and eastern Africa at the heart of the HIV/AIDS epidemic have been on a mission to circumcise 80 percent of their men by 2015 in an effort to cut in half the rate of sexual transmission of the disease from 2011 levels. And a new series of nine papers, published online Tuesday in PLoS Medicine, assesses whether the ambitious goals could work?and whether they are worth it.

The analyses "give a pretty optimistic assessment," says Atheendar Venkataramani, a resident physician and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, who was not involved in the new papers. But from his own research in the field, he says, he is inclined to share the optimism.

Cutting costs
Because HIV and AIDS are still incurable, infection means a lifetime of antiretroviral therapy. So with more people getting infected every day, the cost of treatment for the ever growing global HIV population is increasing. A surgical procedure, such as a circumcision, is not cheap either, but when compared with indefinite treatment, the one-time cut is poised to be a cost saver.

The estimated price tag for all of the 13 countries (Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to reach the 80 percent male circumcision rate by 2015 would be somewhere on the order of $1.5 billion, the authors of one of the papers suggest. To keep that saturation constant for another 10 years would cost a further $500 million. These 20.3 million circumcisions, however, could prevent some 3.4 million new HIV infections in both men and women, according to the new findings. From 2016 to 2025, after accounting for the initial expenditures, the programs would save some $16.5 billion.

Previous research had concluded that male circumcision programs would be cost-effective, but this is some of the first large-scale work to incorporate information specific to country?and in some cases, region?to assess costs and savings. The recent data can go straight to the countries' respective ministers of health and, perhaps even more important, to the countries' ministers of finance, points out Emmanuel Njeuhmeli of the U.S. Agency for International Development, who is a co-author of several of the papers. "Understanding the science is not enough?they need to have the resources," he says of the countries' health ministries. And that can be a lot to ask of a sub-Saharan African country such as Lesotho, which has a GDP of $2.1 billion and where much of the population lacks even basic medical care.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9182285fe0b91463326bbc1f0dd911f6

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