NKorea calls Kim Jong Un 'supreme leader' (AP)

PYONGYANG, North Korea ? North Korea declared Kim Jong Il's son and successor "supreme leader" of the ruling party, military and the people during a memorial Thursday for his father in the government's first public endorsement of his leadership.

Kim Jong Un ? head bowed and somber in a dark overcoat ? stood watching from a balcony at the Grand People's Study House overlooking Kim Il Sung Square, flanked by the top party and military officials. Also on the balcony was Kim Jong Il's younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, who is expected to play a guardian role for her young nephew.

Given Kim Jong Un's inexperience and age ? he is in his late 20s ? there are questions outside North Korea about whether he is equipped to lead a nation engaged in sensitive negotiations over its nuclear program and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages.

But support among North Korea's power brokers was unequivocal at the memorial service, attended by hundreds of thousands of people filling Kim Il Sung Square and other plazas in central Pyongyang.

"The fact that he completely resolved the succession matter is Great Comrade Kim Jong Il's most noble achievement," Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, told the massive audience at the Kim Il Sung Square.

"Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is our party, military and country's supreme leader who inherits great comrade Kim Jong Il's ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage," said Kim, considered North Korea's ceremonial head of state.

Life in Pyongyang came to a standstill as mourners packed the plaza from the Grand People's Study to the Taedong River for the second day of funeral ceremonies for the late leader.

Kim Jong Il, who led his 24 million people with absolute power for 17 years, died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69, according to state media. He inherited power from his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, who died of a heart attack in 1994, in what was the communist world's first hereditary succession.

Attention turned to Kim Jong Un after he was revealed last year as his father's choice among three sons to carry the Kim dynasty into a third generation.

The process to groom him was rushed compared to the 20 years Kim Jong Il had to prepare to take over from his father, and relied heavily on Kim family legacy as guerrilla fighters and the nation's founders.

Kim Jong Un was made a four-star general last year and appointed a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party. Since his father's death, state media have bestowed on him a series of new titles signifying that his succession campaign was gaining momentum: Great Successor, Supreme Leader and Sagacious Leader.

Kim Jong Un's leadership is not expected to become formal until top party, parliamentary and government representatives convene to confirm his ascension.

He is expected to formally assume command of the 1.2 million-strong military, and become general secretary of the Workers' Party and chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University in South Korea.

In a speech during the memorial, Gen. Kim Jong Gak, a top political officer in the Korean People's Army, said the military will dedicate itself to protecting Kim Jong Un, calling him the "supreme leader of our revolutionary armed forces."

This week's events have been watched closely for clues to who in the military and Workers' Party will form Kim's inner circle of trusted aides during the sensitive transition to leadership.

During the mourning period, Kim made at least five visits to his father's begonia-bedecked bier when the late leader was lying in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, accompanied at times by the old guard that is expected to support him.

At Wednesday's funeral procession, he was accompanied by Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, who has family ties to the military and is expected to be crucial in giving his nephew guidance.

On Thursday, North Koreans packed the main square as well as the plaza in front of a Workers' Party monument of a hammer, sickle and writing brush.

They bowed their heads as eight artillery guns fired; military officers removed their hats while the booms resonated across the square.

North Korea's senior officials, including Kim Jong Il's sister, Kim Kyong Hui, stood in silence on the platform during the gun salute.

Workers, citizens, children and soldiers across the country then bowed for three minutes of tribute to Kim Jong Il as trains and boats blew their sirens.

State TV showed people lined up neatly in rows, or outside their places of work, on sidewalks, in squares, beneath giant portraits of Kim Jong Il.

His two other sons, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chol, were not spotted at either the funeral or memorial.

___

Associated Press Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee and writers Hyung-jin Kim, Foster Klug and Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. Follow AP's North Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean, twitter.com/APKlug and twitter.com/samkim_ap.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_re_as/as_kim_jong_il_the_funeral

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Football in Brief: Sion mount legal move against Fifa

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Source: http://www.scotsman.com/football_in_brief_sion_mount_legal_move_against_fifa_1_2030378

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Euro drops below ?100 for first time since 2001 | The Japan Times Online

Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011

The euro weakened for a sixth day against the yen on Friday, dropping below 100 for the first time since June 2001, on concern Europe's debt crisis will weigh on the region's economic growth.

The 17-nation currency also fell against the dollar, setting it up for its first back-to-back annual decline versus the greenback since 2001, before a report next week that economists say will confirm European manufacturing shrank for a fifth month.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose as stocks gained before reports expected to show the U.S. economy is recovering. China's yuan hit a 17-year high on signs the central bank favors the currency's appreciation to prevent capital outflows.

"The euro is weaker as the focus is very much on Europe," said Peter Rosenstreich, chief currency analyst at Swissquote Bank SA in Geneva. "The backdrop is still the eurozone debt crisis and concerns about growth. The dark clouds are getting darker. We're seeing a death by a thousand cuts."

The euro fell 0.5 percent to ?100.12 at 6:12 a.m. in New York, after dropping to ?99.97, the weakest level since Dec. 19, 2000. The euro has lost 7.8 percent versus the yen this year.

The common currency weakened 0.2 percent to $1.2937, extending this year's decline to 3.4 percent. The yen gained 0.3 percent to 77.41 per dollar.

Two years of summits have failed to contain a European debt crisis that has led to bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal and now threatens Italy and Spain.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will go to Berlin on Jan. 9 to resume talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on ending the debt crisis, an official familiar with the matter said. The leaders aim to complete revisions to Europe's fiscal rule book by March, following decisions made at a Dec. 9 summit and are reassessing plans to cap the overall lending of their permanent rescue facility at ?500 billion.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111231n1.html

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Fisker Automotive Recalls Karma Over Battery Issue | EarthTechling

by Nino Marchetti, December 29th, 2011

Green car manufacturer Fisker Automotive has had its share of challenges on the way to introducing the Karma to the American market, including criticism and delays in delivery. Now, in light of a recent problem from its battery supplier, a recall is thrown into the mix.

Fisker?s battery supplier for the Karma, A123, recently said that it found a potential safety issue in which the hose clamps that are part of the battery?s internal cooling system were misaligned, being positioned in such a way that it could potentially cause a coolant leak that could cause an electrical short circuit. Initially it was said only 50 or so vehicles were impacted by this, but now, in a recall filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that number has jumped to 239 models (less than 40 are ?believed to have been delivered to consumers? though, with the remaining still in dealer inventory).

image via Fisker Automotive

Fisker said in this filing that certain model 2012 Karmas manufactured from July 1 through November 3 of this year are impacted by the issue which, if a short occurs, could potentially start a fire. The auto manufacturer noted it plans to notify owners that its dealers will replace the high-voltage battery at no cost to the owner, and that the safety recall is expected to commence in January 2012.

The over $100,000 luxury green car from Fisker is certainly not the first of its kind this year to have this type of high profile safety issue. GM?s Chevy Volt, for example, is being looked at for potential fire issues related to its battery packs that could occur a short time after an accident in the vehicle happens. Nissan, for its part, says its growing in popularity Leaf electric vehicle?s batteries were ?tsunami tested? and quite safe.

Related Stories

Tags a123 systems, fisker, karma, plug-in hybrids, recalls

Posted in Electric Vehicles, Hybrids, Transportation

Source: http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/12/fisker-automotive-recalls-karma-over-battery-issue/

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Republicans battle over undecided voters in Iowa

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney arrives at a campaign stop at the Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney arrives at a campaign stop at the Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a campaign stop at the Coralville City Hall, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Coralville, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry greets local residents during a campaign stop at the Blue Strawberry Coffee Company, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate, former House speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a campaign stop, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Storm Lake, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? With time running short, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich battled Thursday to win over a pivotal crop of undecided conservative voters. Of all the candidates, only Mitt Romney seemed to largely escape attack as he worked to win a state that long seemed out of reach until this week.

"Don't settle for what's not good enough to save the country," the newly ascendant Santorum implored Iowans at city hall in Coralville, urging voters to put conservative principles above everything else and suggesting that his rivals, and specifically Ron Paul, lacked them.

For the first time, though, the former Pennsylvania senator became a target.

"When he talks about fiscal conservatism, every now and then it leaves me scratching my head because he was a prolific earmarker," Perry, the Texas governor, said of Santorum as the day began, referring to special spending projects members of Congress seek. "He loaded up his bill with Pennsylvania pork.'"

Santorum defended the practice as part of lawmakers' constitutional role as appropriators, telling CNBC that he owed it to Pennsylvanians to bring money to the state. He said earmarking became abused and that he would support a ban on them if he were president.

Perry also slapped at Santorum in a radio ad and in a new TV commercial that lumps him in with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Paul and says: "The fox guarding the henhouse is like asking a congressman to fix Washington: bad idea."

The maneuvering underscored the fluid ? if not convoluted ? state of the GOP presidential race as Tuesday's caucuses loom while cultural conservatives and evangelical Republicans, who make up the base of the electorate here, continue to be divided. That lack of unity paves the way for someone who is seen as less consistently conservative.

Five days out, 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 precinct 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, meanwhile, worked to convince backers that her cash-strapped campaign was not in disarray after a top supporter in Iowa abandoned her to back Paul.

After state Sen. Kent Sorenson bolted as her Iowa campaign chairman, Bachmann continued to bleed staff, losing her Iowa political director, Wes Enos, on Thursday. Some evangelical pastors have said they've urged her to quit the race.

Bachmann condemned Sorenson for quitting, and defiantly vowed to continue in the race.

"Iowans aren't told who to vote for. Iowans are independent and they're going to make their decisions," Bachmann said in Des Moines, on the last day of a 10-day tour of Iowa's 99 counties.

Ads, mostly negative, flooded television and radio. They filled mailboxes, too.

No less than five new TV ads were rolled out Thursday, with Romney, for one, releasing a 60-second, optimistic commercial promoting his vision for America and illustrating his confidence with his standing in the primary race. He was staying far from the fray and looking toward the general election.

"In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense. And I intend to make it because I have lived it," Romney says in the commercial that includes patriotic images and scenes from his June campaign announcement in New Hampshire.

He's in the midst of a four-day trek that he hopes will seal victory here and give him momentum heading into the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary, the closest thing to a must-win state for the former Massachusetts governor.

On the second day of his bus tour, Romney turned out big crowds at stops in northern and eastern Iowa, focusing on more populous areas and counties he won four years ago.

"We have a choice in this coming election of what kind of America we're going to have," Romney said at J's Home Cooking in Cedar Falls, before meeting a crowd of 500 in Mason City. "It's not just about replacing a president. It's about saving the soul of America."

He didn't acknowledge his rivals but an outside group aligned with him rolled out a new ad against Gingrich that asks, "Haven't we had enough mistakes?" and notes the former House speaker's past admissions of judgment lapses.

As Romney sailed above it all, the fight raged among his rivals elsewhere in the state, where all six candidates competing in the caucuses are spending almost all their time for the next five days.

Looking to capitalize on his burst of support in new polls, Santorum made a play for tea party backers lining up behind Paul by arguing that the Texas congressman is longer on promising sweeping change than enacting it. "The guy has passed one bill in 20 years. What makes you think he can do any of these things?" Santorum said.

He added: "We need someone who has the bold, sharp contrast not just to win the election but govern the country, not somebody who is just a little better."

And, Bachmann castigated Paul's opposition to military intervention in Iran as "dangerous." She also suggested that his opposition to the federal war on drugs amounted to supporting the legalization of cocaine and heroin.

Perry focused his criticism on all the others on the right, saying: "There are other conservatives in this contest. I readily agree. But their records don't always square with the rhetoric." And, as he argued that he was the only true outsider in the race, Perry noted that four of his rivals ? Gingrich, Paul, Santorum and Bachmann ? have a combined 63 years of experience in Washington.

"I am asking you to vote your conservative values," Perry implored.

The closest anyone got to criticizing Romney directly was when Perry was asked in Cedar Rapids about family dynasties and cited, among other families, the Romneys.

In response, Perry mentioned his own modest upbringing and said: "I'm glad you gave me the opportunity to reflect my differences with Mitt."

The worst Romney faced from his rivals were veiled shots.

Santorum said Republicans must draw a clear contrast with Obama, rather than nominate a Republican with moderate tendencies out of political expedience.

"We need someone who has the bold, sharp contrasts, not just to win the election but to govern the country. Not just someone who is a little bit better," Santorum told supporters.

Perry was asked about family dynasties and the questioner cited, among other families, the Romneys. Perry stopped short of criticizing Romney's privileged upbringing. He mentioned his own humble beginning in small-town Texas before adding: "I'm glad you gave me the opportunity to reflect my differences with Mitt."

Gingrich, for his part, spent the day trying to wrap himself in President Ronald Reagan's cloak, announcing the backing of the late president's son, Michael, and, a day earlier, support from Reagan economic adviser Arthur Laffer.

Even as the polls show him sliding, Gingrich projected an upbeat image.

"The strategy of focusing on jobs and economic growth, staying positive and being pretty relentless in answering questions at every meeting is working," he insisted.

___

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

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-29-US-GOP-Campaign/id-304e6b75564e4509a97bf776088ddee6

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Editor's Choice: Dell KACE Rocks for Windows 7 Deployment

An appliance is just a cinderblock unless it delivers useful features and functions. InformationWeek put the Dell KACE? 1000 and 2000 series appliances to the test as part of their Microsoft? Windows? 7 deployment rolling review. The review showed the following highlights:

• The Dell KACE appliance turbo-boosted Windows 7 deployment efforts in the InformationWeek Labs.
• With separate appliances for OS deployment and client management, IT was able to pick which appliance suited their needs ? or combine both for full functionality range.
• The Dell KACE 2000 ease of use and feature set made it an early front-runner.

Source: http://content.dell.com/uk/en/business/d/business~smb~sb360~en/Documents~kace-infoweek.pdf.aspx?ref=rss

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Lost iPhone audio books in iOs 5 update?

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Source: http://www.macforum.biz/apple-rumors-reports/284861-lost-iphone-audio-books-ios-5-update.html

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When will Israel come to terms with its extremism?

Israel has not only been tolerating its extremism, but abetting and encouraging it. In light of the Naama Margolese story, will it finally wake up?

Rather than thinking aptly and correctly by seeing a fair peace deal with the Palestinians, whose land it has usurped, as fundamental to the security and stability of both the Palestinians and Israelis, Israel has, in a very manipulative and perverse way, been doing its best to deprive the Palestinians of both peace and their inalienable rights.

Towards this malicious end, the Israeli government ? in addition to its mighty military machine, the swallowing of Palestinian lands through illegal settlements, demolition of Palestinian homes, indiscriminate imprisonment of Palestinian demonstrators, the countless checkpoints it erects between Palestinian towns, etc. ? has not only been turning a blind eye to continuous provocative and criminal acts committed by Jewish extremists against Palestinian civilians, but also encouraging such acts for the purpose of further uprooting the Palestinian people.

These acts, which have escalated both systematically and dramatically over the years, include, but are not limited to: the burning of mosques, the cutting of olive trees, the shooting of Palestinians going to work in their fields, the forced possession of some houses in Palestinian neighbourhoods, etc.

In the vast majority of these acts, the Israeli police or army ?fails? to do anything to protect the Palestinian victims. When the Palestinians seek justice and retribution from Israeli courts, they get nowhere, as Israeli courts often turn down Palestinians petitions, for all kinds of pretexts, or legalise what the extremists commit.

All of this is part and parcel of Israel?s depopulation policies. When the Israelis were ?establishing? their ?home? on Palestinian lands in the 1930s and 1940s, they used not only violence but terrorism against the Palestinian owners and inhabitants of the land. The massacres of Deir Yassin, Qibya, and others speak louder than words. And so does the total demolition of the three Latrun villages of Amwas, Yalu, and Beit Nouba ? in addition to others ? in 1967.

The Israeli occupation machine has always relied, in dispossessing Palestinians and expanding its ?homeland? into Palestine, on the various monsters and devils that it created.

The current extremists ? religious as well as secular ? are serving Israel?s selfish and narrow-minded interests, no doubt. However, what will Israel do when these extremists start harming Israelis directly? What should it do when the monsters it has created start backfiring?

It is these same extremists who assassinated former Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin, the only true Israeli peacemaker. Where would the Palestinians and Israelis be today had Rabin?s life been spared? Where would the region be? In a much better position.

And yet, Israel ? which, like the Palestinians, has lost a lot as a result of the demise of Rabin ? did nothing to combat its extremists. As a matter of fact, such extremism has not only grown, and grown more aggressive, but has become more widespread. The entire Israeli society has become more extreme and controlled by extremists: their current prime minister and the vast majority of his ministers included.

What the ultra-orthodox Jews of Israel ? who, according to some estimates, constitute 10 per cent of the entire Israeli population ? did to Margolese comes as a vivid reminder of the dangerous path Israel is following by either failing to curb, or nourishing, its extremism.

Margolese, a second-grader who was going to her religious school dressed modestly, was harassed and terrorised by a group of ultra-religious Jews, who called her a ?whore? for dressing ?immodestly.?

Should not this incident call for some soul-searching on the part of Israel, and some reconsideration of how it has been dealing with its own extremism? Shouldn?t it be a wake-up call for Israeli society?

What the extremist did to Margolese is a metaphor ? though a small, tiny one ? of what the Israeli extremists have been doing to the Palestinians for more than 80 years.

(The writer is a columist and political commentator. This article first appeared in The Jordan Times on Dec. 30, 2011)

Source: http://www.foa.org.uk/news/when-will-israel-come-to-terms-with-its-extremism

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US weighs travel request for Yemen's president

HONOLULU (AP) ? The Obama administration is considering whether to allow Yemen's outgoing president into the United States for medical treatment.

A senior administration official says President Ali Abdullah Saleh's office requested that he be allowed to receive specialized treatment in the U.S. for injuries sustained in a June attack on his compound.

Saleh announced Saturday that he was leaving for the U.S. in order to help calm tensions in his country following a fresh wave of violence. But he said his travel was not for medical treatment.

Saleh's presence in Yemen has angered many there, who say he wants to continue to wield his influence despite agreeing to transfer power following months of protests.

The official requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-26-US-Yemen/id-9a3a692ea7474f088cc048fb9a03a2f2

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Video: Teen girl with alopecia regrows hair

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45790238#45790238

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Jared Leto on His Third Album, ?This Is War?

In this week?s New York magazine, contributing writer Lizzy Goodman talks to Jared Leto about 30 Seconds to Mars?s new album, and about being a sort of self-help rock messiah. Says Leto: ?I have this drive to help deliver all of us?me included?to a place where we can feel free. We spent time in art [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/jared-leto-on-his-third-album-this-is-war/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jared-leto-on-his-third-album-this-is-war

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Roy E. "Red" Hollenbach, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Roy E. "Red" Hollenbach, age 88, a resident of Albuquerque since 1945, passed away December 24, 2011. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Jean, and his daughter, Jeri Sue Bauman. He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Jean Stebner Hollenbach; his brother, George Hollenbach of Arcadia, CA; his sisters, Virginia Barta of Fort Mohave, AZ and Betty Lozano and husband Trinny of Killeen, TX; his step daughter Randee Flowers and husband Alan of Moseley VA; stepson, Keith Cooper and wife Donna of Rio Rancho, NM; step grand children Eric and Tieler Cooper, Casi Cooper Foster and husband Justin of Rio Rancho, John Flowers and wife Tami and Alanna Ballard and husband Michael of Richmond, VA..; and great grandchildren Taryn and Logan Foster of Rio Rancho, NM. An Air Force veteran of World War II, he was stationed at Iwo Jima. He received his amateur radio license in 1940 (WK5KZU). Red was a member of the original technical crew of Albuquerque's first television station, KOB, in 1948. Red retired from Sandia Laboratory. A charter member of the New Mexico Woodturners and a life member of the Rio Grande Carvers, he won numerous ribbons at the New Mexico State Fair for his woodturnings and carvings. He was a member of the Del Norte Baptist church and a charter member of the church when it was Bel Air Baptist church in 1950. He also attended services at Carlisle Plaza United Methodist Church. A memorial service will be held at the Carlisle Plaza Methodist Church, 3023 Montclaire, N.E., Albuquerque, NM at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 29, 2011. Pastor Cheri Lyon and Dr. Robert Meyer will officiate. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the building fund at Del Norte Baptist Church, 5800 Montgomery Blvd., Albuquerque, NM, or Carlisle Plaza Methodist Church.

Source: http://krqe.tributes.com/show/Roy-E.-Red-Hollenbach-93013716

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BroadBand Nation: What Is Unified Communications?

Wikipedia gives good definition .....

"Unified communications (UC) is the integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, telephony (including IP telephony), video conferencing, data sharing (including web connected electronic whiteboards aka IWB's or Interactive White Boards), call control and speech recognition with non-real-time communication services such as unified messaging (integrated voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax). UC is not a single product, but a set of products that provides a consistent unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types".

UC goes beyond integrating real-time communications with non-real-time communications to integrating business processes and applications, such as databases e.g., customer data or the kind of things the likes of SAP offer - or it should - such that the business gets a fundamental benefit from all aspects of communications being 'joined up'. It's about being able to communicate with pertinent information at your fingertips, when and where you need it.

Unified Communications is a set of infrstructure and application technology components that work in a connected eco-system - to enable people to give and receive messages and information in a manner of their choosing .... on a platform of their choosing.

It's people centric! All we're doing is helping people have conversations and exchange information in differnt ways.

Source: http://broadband-nation.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-is-unified-communications.html

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Paul Kleyman: Media Fail to Tell Full "Tax Holiday" Story

Democratic leaders and the White House are congratulating themselves as they depart for the holiday weekend about their tax-holiday victory -- but only until the Feb. 29 leap-of-faith day -- over GOP hardliners. But the payroll tax holiday, like most vacations, will have its bill to pay.

The national media have been playing the bipartisan shuffle in terms of Democratic stimulus versus GOP stinginess. But such major media as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal have largely abrogated their responsibility to report another viewpoint that multiple progressive experts and commentators have argued for since the essentially Republic tax-cut idea was put forward and accepted last year by the Obama White House.

A long list of prominent policy experts and advocates have contended for over a year that although the economy likely needs the tax cut's modest economic transfusion, President Obama could have accomplished the same thing even more effectively -- and without breaching the firewall between the Social Security Trust Fund and general U.S. tax dollars -- by fighting for his own Making Work Pay program.

Although Making Work Pay wasn't as politically catchy as Payroll Tax Holiday -- it was an effective tax credit of up to $400 passed as part of Obama's 2008 stimulus measure. It lasted two years and lapsed with Obama's judgment on this issue.

Not Much of a "Middle-Class" Tax Break

With Making Work Pay, the government could have set the tax credit at, say $800 for the year, about the "average" amount saved under the payroll tax. With the payroll tax cut, the ?ber Percent pay the FICA payroll tax on their earnings up to about $110,000. But if everyone had been limited to $800 or so, then much more of the $112 billion payroll tax cut from 2011 would have gone to people who could really use it and would get into the economy.

In other words, by giving everyone a 2 percent cut, Washington has gifted more money to wealthier people, those apt to salt the savings away in their banks, and less to middle and working class people, who would be more likely to spend it on rent, groceries and maybe a few holiday gifts.

In fact, the number crunchers at Sentier Research released their analysis this week casting doubt on whether the tax holiday is really a "middle-class tax cut" at all.

Sentier showed that compared to how much people at different income levels would have received under the Making Work Pay tax credit, under the payroll tax reduction, "The largest tax savings went to households in the highest income" brackets. The bottom 30 percent of Americans actually lost money.

What's more, "Households in the middle-income deciles gained very little, casting doubt on the often-heard assertion that this was a 'middle-class tax cut,'" says Sentier Research.
Even without the tax-credit comparison, says Sentier, the tax savings that went to the nation's richest 10 percent in 2011 was $2,990, quadruple the savings for workers in the middle -- and 25 times higher than the mere $122 amount -- about $10 a month -- saved by the bottom 10 percent.

That total bill the federal government needs to pay the Social Security Trust Fund back ($112 billion in 2011) won't much affect the long-term solvency of Social Security -- unless the holiday becomes permanent. And therein lies the national rub, which mainstream media seems to have shrugged off as hardly worth a mention in most news reports.

The Nation's Retirement Nest Egg

Now, don't get me wrong: The billions from the payroll tax holiday, now that we're stuck with this vehicle, should be renewed for now. But it was a dangerous way to go. Republicans originally proposed this approach years ago knowing it would break the barrier between the nation's retirement nest egg and general U.S. tax revenue. That barrier guards against short-term pressures, just as private pensions are separate from family cash flow, or from corporate budgets with penalties for withdrawal except in certain cases.

Here's why that division between the nation's pension plan and annual political wrangling over our tax dollars is so important. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had Social Security designed to stand independently from any other part of the federal budget. Liberal factions of the 1930s actually opposed his approach because they thought Congress should cover the program's costs annually through general taxes, as other countries did at the time. Liberals thought doing so would remind Congress of its duty to the public welfare annually. Yeah, that was going to work really well.

FDR tied Social Security to workers' wages, with an equal contribution from their employers, so everyone would feel it was his or her money. Conservatives contend that the payroll tax contributions are not really yours, but the refrain heard in today's town hall meetings and echoed in national polls has been, "It's our money. Keep your hands off of it." And truth be told, the program has been paying retirees (and later family survivors and those who become disabled) steadily for most of its 76 years of operation).

Now, though, the government needs to pay back the payroll tax cut -- through general taxes. A temporary boost to the working stiff in tough times? As predicted by media-ignored national experts and economists on the left, GOP leaders have been saying since its passage last year that they plan to attack any future Democratic effort to restore the 2 percentage point reduction by screaming bloody murder that Democrats want to raise your taxes. As seen this week, of course, the donkeys are grinning over extending it themselves.

The unreported concern is that once the prophylactic wall between Social Security and overall taxpayer dollars is punched, although just a little, it will be like a puncturing a vacuum-packed can. Longstanding conservative arguments that Social Security really isn't in a family and retirement lockbox, but is only sealed from other federal spending by worthless promises, could become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

?

Follow Paul Kleyman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@genbeatonline

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-kleyman/media-fail-to-tell-full-t_b_1168358.html

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NCAA Basketball: Illinois vs. Missouri Preview & Free Pick

9:00 PM EST

College Basketball Gambling Odds from Bookmaker

NCAA Basketball Betting Favorite: Missouri -7

Over/Under: 139.5

?The border battle between Illinois and Missouri will take place again tonight. Illinois had dominated this series for years, but the Tigers have won the last two meetings. Both teams come into this game ranked in the top 25. Illinois is 11-1 and ranked number 24. Missouri is unbeaten and in the eighth spot in this week?s polls. Expect a hard fought game here.

Bruce Weber?s Fighting Illini have struggled to find consistency on the offensive end this year. Illinois is shooting just 44.5% from the floor. The three-point line has been a real thorn in this team?s side. The Fighting Illini try quite a few three?s, but they are knocking down just 32.5%. D.J. Richardson is the team?s leading scorer this year at 14.4 points per game. Sophomore Meyers Leonard is the most improved player on the team, and his presence inside has helped this team a ton this season. He averages 13 points and eight boards per game, and he also has 29 blocks on the year. The Fighting Illini allow just 57 points per contest.

Many people thought Missouri would be down this year after Mike Anderson left the school, but Frank Haith is doing a great job with this team. They are still pressing and making life miserable for the opponent, but they are also playing great half court defense this year. Missouri is first in the nation in field goal percentage at 52.6%. They are second in all of basketball in points per game at 87.9 points per contest. The Tigers have four players averaging at least 12.6 points per game this year. Marcus Denmon and Kim English are the team?s best shooters, but Michael Dixon is a great slasher.

Missouri is a better team than Illinois at this point because of all their options offensively. Look for the Tigers to win a third straight game in this rivalry.

Prediction: Missouri 74 Illinois 65

Source: http://www.capperspicks.com/blog/ncaa-basketball/gambling-odds-illinois-vs-missouri-preview-prediction/

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ROME SNOWBOARDS x NEW ERA?Logo?59Fifty Fitted Cap

Keep it simple, keep it fresh. I?m all for the crazy all over print designs that drop throughout the year but I have to admit there is something special about the quiet understated cap releases too. That?s the beauty of the fitted game, there?s something out there for every cap collector / lover / novice. ROME SNOWBOARDS knows this well because many of their designs range from the colorful allover prints to the minimalist essentials. This NEW ERA 59Fifty fitted cap features a Black crown with the Rome name and logo embroidered on the front panel in White. Available now at Dogfunk.

Source: http://www.strictlyfitteds.com/blog/2011/12/rome-snowboards-x-new-era%E3%80%8Clogo%E3%80%8D59fifty-fitted-cap/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rome-snowboards-x-new-era%25e3%2580%258clogo%25e3%2580%258d59fifty-fitted-cap

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Chavez appoints new military intelligence chief

(AP)? CARACAS, Venezuela ? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has replaced his military intelligence chief.

Chavez says he is appointing Gen. Wilfredo Figueroa Chacin as the new chief of the country's military intelligence agency.

The new appointee replaces Gen. Hugo Carvajal, one of the president's most trusted security chiefs.

Carvajal was one of three close Chavez allies who in 2008 were accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of helping Colombian rebels by supplying arms and aiding drug-trafficking operations.

Chavez has denied those accusations.

The president announced the change during a speech Saturday. He did not say why he made it or what plans he has for Carvajal.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsTheEarlyShowBoxOffice/~3/Kh77bibrBiM/

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Obamas spending low-key Christmas Eve in Hawaii

President Barack Obama walks with Donna Willard, wife of Admiral Robert Willard, to greet people waiting for him on the tarmac as he arrives on Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama walks with Donna Willard, wife of Admiral Robert Willard, to greet people waiting for him on the tarmac as he arrives on Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama salutes as he steps off of Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama, right, is greeted by from left, Admiral Robert Willard, Commander U.S. Pacific Command, Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and Hawaii Lt. Gov. Brian Schata after arriving at Hickam Air Force Base for his holiday vacation in Honolulu, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

President Barack Obama shakes hands with people waiting to greet him on the tarmac as he steps off of Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama walks with Donna Willard, wife of Admiral Robert Willard, to greet people waiting for him on the tarmac as he arrives on Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

HONOLULU (AP) ? President Barack Obama and his family are easing into vacation mode, spending a low-key Christmas Eve out of the spotlight.

The president spent his first morning in Hawaii at a multimillion-dollar vacation home his family rents in the Kailua Beach area, near Honolulu. He skipped his standard early morning gym workout, and headed to the golf course later Saturday.

First lady Michelle Obama, meanwhile, got into the Christmas spirit by helping track Santa for NORAD. The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955.

The White House said Mrs. Obama answered several calls from children around the country who wanted to know how close Santa was to their homes.

The Obamas were to spend Christmas Eve at home with a close circle of family and friends that typically joins the president for his annual Hawaiian vacation. They include Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives in the state with her family, and several friends the president has known since high school.

The president's annual December trip to the state where he was born and mostly raised almost didn't happen. He had planned to arrive in Hawaii on Dec. 17, but delayed his departure while Congress worked its way through a stalemate over extending payroll tax cuts.

A deal was finalized Friday morning. Hours later, the president boarded Air Force One for Hawaii to meet his wife and daughters, who traveled ahead of him.

Obama's first order of business when he arrived was taking his wife out to dinner. The couple joined a few friends at Morimoto restaurant, one of their favorite dining spots on the island of Oahu.

The president has no public events planned in Hawaii. A small group of advisers accompanied him to brief him on domestic and international developments.

The Obamas are expected to return to Washington shortly after New Year's Day.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-24-Obama-Hawaii/id-1576e2b0794b40e78edc152dbf254642

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Financial Aid Changes Game as Sports Teams in Ivies Rise

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Source: www.nytimes.com --- Thursday, December 22, 2011
New and substantially enhanced financial aid policies aimed at all admitted students have made it easier to recruit elite athletes to the Ivy League. ...

Source: http://feeds1.nytimes.com/~r/nyt/rss/Sports/~3/21yQuOV_qf0/financial-aid-changes-game-as-sports-teams-in-ivies-rise.html

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Riot police fire teargas to disperse protesters in China

HONG KONG | Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:03pm EST

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese riot police fired teargas to disperse a throng of protesters in a small town in southern China on Friday, the fourth day of demonstrations against the construction of a power station.

Footage from Hong Kong's Cable TV showed police firing several rounds of teargas in Haimen town, in the southern boom province of Guangdong, sending hundreds of people scuttling away.

The protests in Haimen intensified this week just as people about 130 km (80 miles) further along the coast, in Wukan village, called off a 10-day blockade of their village in a protest against what they said was a land grab by officials.

Protests in China have become relatively common over issues such as corruption, pollution, wages, and land grabs that local-level officials justify in the name of development.

Chinese experts put the number of "mass incidents," as such protests are known, at about 90,000 a year in recent years.

While Communist Party rule is not directly threatened by such incidents of unrest, officials fear they could coalesce into broader, more organized challenges to their power.

Residents of Haimen, a coastal town of about 120,000 people, took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against plans to build a coal-fired power plant after what they complain has been years of heavy air and water pollution from existing power plants in the town.

They rejected an offer to suspend the project late on Wednesday, demanding it be scrapped altogether, and Hong Kong's Mingpao newspaper reported on Friday that they pledged to keep up their action if police did not release detained protesters.

China's state news agency Xinhua had reported that police had detained five people for vandalism on Wednesday evening.

People in China are increasingly unwilling to accept the relentless speed of urbanization and industrialization and the impact on the environment and health.

(Reporting By Sisi Tang; Writing by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/23/us-china-protest-power-idUSTRE7BM08M20111223?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=true

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Elburn church gives surprise gifts to 'miracle baby'

Article updated: 12/23/2011 9:17 PM

	Luellen Seals tears up as she opens her door Friday afternoon to find about 60 members of her local church with a surprise gift for her 2-year-old daughter, Meagan. ? Photo Courtesy of Mike Kinyon/caffiend247@aol.com
	Luellen and Scott Seals have Meagan try out her new wheelchair for the first time. The wheelchair will allow Meagan to sit up and see the world while traveling with her family. ? Photo Courtesy of Mike Kinyon/caffiend247@aol.com
	The Rev. Phil Ressler said Meagan is a living symbol of Christmas because her brain formed outside her skull and she?s lived despite negative expectations from all her doctors. ? Photo Courtesy of Mike Kineyon/caffiend247@aol.com

In the womb, Meagan Seals was the baby no doctor believed could or should be born. On Friday, the two-year-old became the recipient of a dose of some Elburn-area Christmas cheer that might help her keep beating the odds.

Luellen and Scott Seals learned just 14 weeks after conceiving Meagan that the odds were against her. Tests revealed Meagan's skull was not fully forming. Eventually, a clementine-sized portion of her brain would develop outside the back of her head.

?We were asked to terminate our pregnancy quite a few times,? Luellen said. ?Doctors just kept telling us she would have zero quality of life, and if she'd even be born breathing it would be a miracle. We kind of decided just to take our chances.?

The gamble paid off. Meagan was indeed born alive. But the news didn't get any better. She needed help breathing and wasn't expected to live more than two weeks.

The couple called in the Rev. Phil Ressler at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church in La Fox to baptize her before she was removed from all the medical equipment she was on. But when all the plugs were pulled, Meagan continued to live.

?I've had a doctor tell me she's got two years to live,? Luellen said. ?Now it's past two years. I've had another doctor tell me five years, and another said 10 years.?

Besides the odds and gloom and doom from the doctors, Meagan has ongoing challenges. Her head is smaller than normal because her brain didn't grow to full size. What brain she does have is totally smooth, indicating it will never develop. But that's where Meagan defies the standard diagnosis yet again.

?We were told she'd be a vegetable and wouldn't know anything,? Luellen said. ?But she does know. She recognizes when someone says her name. She responds to music. Yes, she is very mentally handicapped, but she does know a lot.?

Unexpected gifts delivered to their door on Friday now have Meagan's parents hoping she'll soon know a lot more. Members of the Lord of Life Lutheran Church teamed up with Lutheran Church Charities to purchase a special chair to assist with Meagan's feedings, a second wheelchair that will allow her to sit up and see her surroundings when traveling with her family, and an iPad with special software designed to stimulate Meagan's brain through visuals. The couple also received a check for more than $9,000 to help with their $800 a month in out-of-pocket medical bills for Meagan.

About 60 members of the church family lined up outside the Seals' home to sing Christmas carols while delivering the gifts Friday afternoon. As the chairs appeared, so did tears in Luellen's eyes.

?This is so wonderful,? Luellen told the crowd. ?I don't know how you guys did it.?

The Rev. Ressler said church members wanted to help the family, especially during Christmas, because Meagan is a symbol to them about what the holiday really signifies.

?Jesus brings hope and light into this world,? Ressler said. ?Meagan is our little miracle. She reminds us that no matter how dark it might seem, there is that hope that Jesus gives us.?

To learn more about Meagan and track her progress, visit her Facebook page by searching Meagan Seals Miracle Baby. People interested in helping Meagan can send donations to Lutheran Church Charities at 333 West Lake Street, Addison, IL. 60101, attention: Meagan Seals Fund.

Source: http://dailyherald.com/article/20111223/news/712239687/

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Aid agencies appeal for Philippine typhoon victims (Reuters)

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (Reuters) ? Aid agencies appealed Thursday for money to ease overcrowding at evacuation centers and find housing for thousands made homeless by flash floods and mudslides which devastated parts of a Philippine island.

Typhoon Washi, the worst typhoon to hit the north of Mindanao island in more than five decades, sent torrents of water, mud and logs cascading through riverside and coastal villages, killing 1,010 people. Dozens are missing.

The United Nations has appealed to countries to provide an additional $28.6 million assistance to typhoon victims over the next three months as authorities relocate residents of high-risk areas.

"Poor water, sanitation and hygiene conditions pose a health concern," Soe Nyunt-U, acting U.N. humanitarian coordinator, told reporters in Manila after touring flood-stricken areas.

"We must improve this situation at the soonest possible time to avoid disease outbreaks that will further compound the hardships of the people already weakened by hunger, and grief from loss of family and friends."

More than 640,000 people in 13 provinces were affected by the typhoon and nearly 44,000 have been placed in overcrowded and ill-equipped shelters -- mostly in schools, gymnasiums, churches and other public buildings.

Cagayan de Oro town, worst hit by Washi with 650 dead, has sent more medical teams to evacuation centers to prevent outbreaks of disease.

"It is way too crowded here, people are sitting or lying down like at a rally -- side by side," Aaron Neri, 59, a village chief whose house was damaged, told Reuters in one center.

Officials have told him and his neighbors that they were to be relocated permanently because their village is in a high-risk area.

"It's smelly and dirty because there's so much waste," he said of the evacuation center. "We will spend Christmas and celebrate New Year here, possibly until Christmas 2013."

Officials were jolted by the extent of damage and said the risk of water-borne disease extended far beyond the evacuation centers to all areas in the two worst-affected towns -- Cagayan de Oro and Iligann.

"I was shocked by the scale of the destruction I saw," Soe Nyunt-U said. "It was as if the cities were hit by an inland tsunami. Entire areas were completely flattened."

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said his office had received pledges of assistance from a long list of countries, as well as the Organization of Islamic Conference and Association of South East Asian Nations.

Monsoon rain since the weekend also caused flash floods in the country's northeast, killing three people with seven missing.

(Additional reporting by Manny Mogato in Manila; Writing by Rosemarie Francisco; Editing by Ron Popeski and Robert Birsel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/wl_nm/us_philippines_typhoon

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A real sea change

International diplomats met two weeks ago at the UN Durban Climate Change Conference in South Africa to discuss a greenhouse gas reduction plan?displaying no urgency to reach any meaningful agreement. Meanwhile, researchers at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco are reporting what many scientists have suspected for a long time but have been thus far not been able to prove convincingly?that the world?s sea level is likely to rise by at least 3 feet in the next 100 years.

The vast Greenland ice sheet is melting at an increasingly rapid rate?much faster than most conservative estimates made by, among other authorities, the UN?s own Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In the last decade, scientific technologies have made fast advances toward more confident and precise measurements of the complex changes in the Greenland ice sheet.

Previous estimates by the IPCC were kept low because there was so much uncertainty in the measurements. Many suspected it was melting faster, but at best could only support such claims anecdotally. This scientific uncertainty has been cast erroneously by some as evidence that the risk of glacial melting was being exaggerated. It was always a distinct possibility that the ice sheets were melting more rapidly.

What?s more worrying is the range of possibilities is growing larger. Due to the nonlinear behavior of melting ice, a slight increase in the rate of melting now would result in an enormous difference in how much ice melts over the next 100 years. You can relate this powerful effect to how much a homeowner saves from a 1-2% drop in interest rates over the life of a 30-year mortgage.

Think of it this way?if sea level is forecast to rise 1 foot, it is really a mid-range estimate between 0.5 feet and 2 feet. If the mid-range estimate is now 2 feet or even 3 feet, the possible range suddenly expands from 1.5 to 6 feet. Our coastal inhabitants and managers must be able to comprehend the scope of what such a change would mean for us.

We can look to Louisiana to see a parallel. The Louisiana coast, made up of the expansive Mississippi Delta, has been ground zero for an ongoing coastal catastrophe for decades. Due to numerous man-made alterations, the delta is sinking, that is the sea level is rising, as much as 3 feet per century (leaving some portions of New Orleans 10 feet below sea level). As a result, one football field-sized area drowns on the Mississippi Delta every hour, 15 square miles every year.

At one time Louisiana had numerous strings of sandy barrier islands along the delta, some having served as popular resorts as far back as the mid- 1800?s. Those that remain today are shifting landward and shrinking in size faster than any other barrier islands in the lower US. Hurricanes have finished off most of the Chandelier Islands, Timbalier Island, and Isles Dernieres?and the remaining ones will eventually suffer the same fate.

The Chesapeake and the Albemarle-Pamlico estuaries are the next largest coastal wetland systems in the US. If the Mississippi Delta barrier islands and wetlands give us any insight about the future of the Outer Banks and the Albemarle-Pamlico system, they don?t stand a chance facing 3 feet of sea level rise.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina differ significantly from Louisiana?s barrier islands. Louisiana never had one continuous unbroken line of islands; the Outer Banks are wider and higher in many places. We may not see a total collapse of the entire Outer Banks but it is a virtual certainty that we will see the islands migrating toward the mainland. Patch-up jobs will not suffice. Within the sounds, the marsh and swamplands will disappear in a similar fashion to the Louisiana marshes.

There is no credible reason to believe that sea level will not continue to rise indefinitely. The year 2100 is not the end of time. Will 3 feet become 6 feet or 10 feet? There is enough ice in the Greenland ice cap to raise sea level by 20 feet, and Antarctica has 10 times more ice than Greenland. Whatever happens centuries from now, the immediate future has enough potential for catastrophic change that we can?t just bury our proverbial heads in the sand and hope that we can patch up our beaches or stick our fingers in the dike.

It is time to make bold and innovative changes to our future economic and environmental planning for our coast. In the past we worried about saving a few beach houses; we must see that the news we are receiving now threatens our entire coastal economy.

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina area as seen from Apollo 9

?

This imagery was acquired by the NOAA Remote Sensing Division to support NOAA national security and emergency response requirements. In addition, it will be used for ongoing research efforts for testing and developing standards for airborne digital imagery.? Individual images have been combined into a larger mosaic and tiled for distribution. The approximate ground sample distance (GSD) for each pixel is 50 cm (1.64 feet). Image file size is between 1 MB and 6 MB and covers 2.5 by 2.5 kilometers (1.55 miles.). NASA JSC Digital Image Collection

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f143c9a41c461c7ef11212a74938dca2

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Cell membrane proteins could provide targets for broader vaccines

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Vaccines with broader reach might be made by stimulating specialized immune cells to recognize foreign cell membrane proteins that are shared across bacterial species, say researchers from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a report published online today in Immunity. The approach could be particularly beneficial in preventing infection by multi-drug resistant organisms.

The genetic heritage of organisms such as oysters, frogs and fish indicate that a family of cell-signaling molecules called interleukin-17 (IL-17) arose in evolution before the advent of T cells, one of the main arms of the immune system in humans. The human IL-17 gene is turned on in a specialized group of immune cells in the T helper-cell lineage, known as Th17 cells, explained senior author Jay K. Kolls, M.D., professor of pediatrics and immunology, Pitt School of Medicine, and vice chair for translational research, Department of Pediatrics, and director, Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

"That development led us to think that perhaps Th17 cells confer some immunological advantage for eliminating infectious organisms beyond the antibody strategy that we typically employ when we make vaccines," he explained. "We wanted to better understand what role Th17 cells play."

The research team exposed mice to Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, a common cause of lung infection, and re-exposed them several weeks after they recovered from the first pneumonia. They found that the presence of the germ in both instances led to increased numbers of Th17 cells in the lungs and spleen. But when they blocked IL-17, they found the mice still developed immunity to infection. The antibody response, which is controlled by B cells, did not require IL-17 to become established.

Next, they infected mice bred to lack B cells, which make antibodies, with the bacteria. They found that the animals could become immunized against repeat infection as long as IL-17 was unblocked, allowing Th17 cells to develop an immunological memory of the Klebsiella bacteria.

The researchers determined also that while antibodies react to sugar complexes called polysaccharides in the bacterial coat or capsule, Th17 cells respond to protein complexes in the cell membrane. Those proteins, which are integral to the structure of the cell membrane, tend to be similar across bacterial strains, unlike the capsular polysaccharides, which are variable, Dr. Kolls said.

"Some current vaccines require generating a response to a number of these capsular sugars for effective immunization," he said. "An approach that harnesses the stability of the Th17 cell response to common proteins has the potential to simplify vaccination and provide a broader spectrum of coverage. This strategy may be particularly useful against bacteria that have diverse capsular sugars or multi-drug resistant organisms."

###

University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences: http://www.upmc.com/Pages/default.aspx

Thanks to University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116287/Cell_membrane_proteins_could_provide_targets_for_broader_vaccines

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Satellite Images Create Real Snow Globe (SPACE.com)

Snow globes, those favorite vacation souvenirs, let even those who live in warm climates see snow fall. From their vantage point in space, NASA satellites get to see a real snow globe, as they observe the seasonal falls that cover portions of the planet with the white stuff.

A set of observations collected between February 2000 and November 2011 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite has been stitched together to create an animation of Earth's snow cover over the past decade.

Areas in medium blue have a snow cover of more than zero percent and white areas are covered 100 percent, with other colors ranging in between. Land that appears gray either had no snow cover or was an area not covered by MODIS data. Because MODIS relies on visible light to assess snow cover, the sensor cannot collect data over the highest latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere during winter when no sunlight reaches those regions.

Snow and ice cover most of the Earth's polar regions throughout the year, but the coverage at lower latitudes depends on season and elevation. High-altitude landscapes such as the Tibetan Plateau and the Andes and Rocky Mountains maintain some amount of snow cover almost year round.

Land area is larger and snow cover is more variable in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere.

This article was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site of SPACE.com.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111222/sc_space/satelliteimagescreaterealsnowglobe

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Jacob E. Goldman, Founder of Xerox Lab, Dies at 90

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Mr. Goldman, a physicist, persuaded Xerox to build a research center in Palo Alto, Calif., where significant computing technologies were invented.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=276f23220c3e61ae815f0d3356aecc31

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Key Iowa paper backs Romney for president (Reuters)

DES MOINES (Reuters) ? The main newspaper in Iowa, the Des Moines Register, Saturday endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race, less than three weeks before the state holds the first nominating contest for the 2012 election on January 3.

The newspaper said Romney stands out in the field of Republican candidates who are trying to become their party's nominee who will attempt to stop Democratic President Barack Obama's re-election bid.

"Mitt Romney is making his second bid for Iowans' support after an unsuccessful run in 2008," the newspaper said on its website in an editorial that will run in Sunday's newspapers.

"We did not endorse him then, but this is a different field, and he has matured as a candidate. Rebuilding the economy is the nation's top priority, and Romney makes the best case among the Republicans that he could do that."

In an editorial entitled "Mitt Romney is the best to lead" the newspaper said the former Massachusetts governor possessed the qualities of wisdom, sobriety and judgment.

"Those are qualities Mitt Romney said he looks for in a leader. Those are qualities Romney himself has demonstrated in his career in business, public service and government," the editorial said. "Those qualities help the former Massachusetts governor stand out as the most qualified Republican candidate competing in the Iowa caucuses."

Viewed early on as the likely front-runner, Romney has played second fiddle in popularity to several of the other Republican candidates.

But public opinion polls have shown that support for the latest front-runner in Iowa, former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, seemed to be fading as Romney's firmed.

A Rasmussen poll showed Romney with a slight lead over Gingrich in Iowa. Two other polls show Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican congressman, moving into second place behind Gingrich in Iowa and gunning for an upset that would almost certainly help Romney by stopping Gingrich's rise.

The Des Moines Register made a few comments about the other top candidates that it did not choose.

"He stands out especially among candidates now in the top tier: Newt Gingrich is an undisciplined partisan who would alienate, not unite, if he reverts to mean-spirited attacks on display as House speaker.

"Ron Paul's libertarian ideology would lead to economic chaos and isolationism, neither of which this nation can afford."

(Reporting by Deborah Charles; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111218/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_iowa_endorsement

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HBT: Bonds gets 30 days house arrest, probation

The Barry Bonds case is over. Bonds, as we speak, is being sentenced. The penalty: 30 days of house arrest, two years of?probation?and?250 hours of community service. ?This, by the way, is what the probation office recommended. Prosecutors were seeking a 15 month jail term.

In handing out her sentence, the judge observed that she agreed with the jury that Bonds tried to obstruct justice. Just that he failed. She noted that he did not threaten witnesses, for example. ?When I first read his grand jury testimony three and a half years ago I observed the same thing. You can tell Barry wanted to perjure himself. He just was pretty damn bad at it.

The judge also noted that the sentence took into account that Bonds has a strong record of philanthropy, much of which is unpublicized. Weighing against that, I presume, is that he is a lousy stinkin? cheater who robbed some sportswriters of their childhood memories.

Of course, there was some pathetic desperation on the part of the prosecution during the hearing. When trying to argue against the light sentence, the prosecutor said that Bonds planned to lie ahead of time and that he kept mistresses and lived a double life for years. The judge, not having it, noted that Bonds wasn?t convicted of any of that. ?It?s something the prosecution and most of the people sitting in moral judgment of Barry Bonds have never quite gotten their minds around, but there you go.

I don?t know about you, but I would feel more secure walking the mean streets of Los Altos Hills tonight, knowing that Barry Bonds is secure behind the bars of the home security system that cost more than many public schools.

UPDATE: ?Bonds won?t even have to serve any of that now. The judge has stayed (delayed) the sentence until after Bonds? appeal of his conviction is heard. Which will take some time. And, in my opinion, may very well prevail.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/16/barry-bonds-gets-30-days-house-arrest-two-years-probation/related/

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Elated, last US troops leave Iraq, ending war (AP)

KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait ? The last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border into neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday, whooping, fist bumping and hugging each other in a burst of joy and relief. Their convoy's exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered and struggling to recover.

The war cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The question of whether it was worth it all ? or whether the new government the Americans leave behind will remain a steadfast U.S. ally ? is yet unanswered.

The 5-hour drive by the last convoy of MRAPS, heavily armored personnel carriers, took place under cover of darkness and under strict secrecy to prevent any final attacks on the withdrawing troops. The 500 soldiers didn't even tell their Iraqi partners they were leaving before they slipped out of the last American base and started down the barren desert highway to the Kuwaiti border before dawn Sunday.

The atmosphere was subdued inside one of the vehicles as it streamed down the highway, with little visible in the blackness outside through the MRAP's small windows. Along the road, a small group of Iraqi soldiers waved to the departing American troops.

"My heart goes out to the Iraqis," said Warrant Officer John Jewell, acknowledging the challenges ahead. "The innocent always pay the bill."

But after crossing the berm at the Kuwaiti border, lit with floodlights and ringed with barbed wire, the troops from the 3rd brigade of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division were elated. They cheered, pumped fists in the air and gave each other chest bumps and bear hugs. "We're on top of the world!" shouted one soldier from the turret of his vehicle.

"It's just an honor to be able to serve your country and say that you helped close out the war in Iraq," said Spc. Jesse Jones, a 23-year-old who volunteered to be in the last convoy. "Not a lot of people can say that they did huge things like that that will probably be in the history books."

Spc. Brittany Hampton joked that no one was going to believe her back home when she told them she was in the very last of the 110 vehicles in the convoy to exit.

"But we really truly were the last soldiers in Iraq. So it's pretty awesome," she said.

The quiet withdrawal was a stark contrast to the high-octane start of the war, which began before dawn on March 20, 2003, with an airstrike in southern Baghdad where Saddam Hussein was believed to be hiding, the opening shot in the famed "shock and awe" bombardment. U.S. and allied ground forces then stormed from Kuwait across the featureless deserts of southern Iraq toward the capital.

Saddam and his regime fell within weeks, and the dictator was captured by the end of the year ? to be executed by Iraq's new Shiite rulers in 2006. But Saddam's end only opened the door to years more of conflict as Iraq was plunged into a vicious sectarian war between its Shiite and Sunni communities. The near civil war devastated the country, and its legacy includes thousands of widows and orphans, a people deeply divided along sectarian lines and infrastructure that remains largely in ruins.

In the past two years, violence has dropped dramatically, and Iraqi security forces that U.S. troops struggled for years to train have improved. But the sectarian wounds remain unhealed. Even as U.S. troops were leaving, the main Sunni-backed political bloc announced Sunday it was suspending its participation in parliament to protest the monopoly on government posts by Shiite allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

President Barack Obama stopped short of calling the U.S. effort in Iraq a victory in an interview taped Thursday with ABC News' Barbara Walters.

"I would describe our troops as having succeeded in the mission of giving to the Iraqis their country in a way that gives them a chance for a successful future," Obama said.

In the final days, U.S. officials acknowledged the cost in blood and dollars was high, but tried to paint a picture of victory ? for both the troops and the Iraqi people now freed of a dictator and on a path to democracy. But gnawing questions remain: Will Iraqis be able to forge their new government amid the still stubborn sectarian clashes? And will Iraq be able to defend itself and remain independent in a region fraught with turmoil and still steeped in insurgent threats?

"We are glad to see the last U.S. soldier leaving the country today. It is an important day in Iraq's history, but the most important thing now is the future of Iraq," said 25-year-old Said Hassan, the owner of money exchange shop in Baghdad.

"The Americans have left behind them a country that is falling apart and an Iraqi army and security forces that have a long way ahead to be able to defend the nation and the people."

Some Iraqis celebrated the exit of what they called American occupiers, neither invited nor welcome in a proud country. Others said that while grateful for U.S. help ousting Saddam, the war went on too long. A majority of Americans would agree, according to opinion polls.

Iraq's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Babaker Zebari said Sunday that his troops were up to the task of uprooting militant groups. Sunni militants continue to carry out bombing and shooting against police, soldiers and civilians, and Shiite militias continue to operate.

"There are only scattered terrorists hiding here and there and we are seeking intelligence information to eliminate them," Zebari said. "We are confident that there will be no danger."

The U.S. convoys Sunday were the last of a massive operation pulling out American forces that has lasted for months to meet the end-of-the-year deadline agreed with the Iraqis during the administration of President George W. Bush.

As of Thursday, there were two U.S. bases and less than 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq ? a dramatic drop from the roughly 500 military installations and as many as 170,000 troops during the surge ordered by Bush in 2007, when violence was at its worst. As of Saturday night, that was down to one base ? Camp Adder ? and the final 500 soldiers.

On Saturday evening at Camp Adder, near Nasiriyah, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, the vehicles lined up in an open field to prepare and soldiers went through last-minute equipment checks to make sure radios, weapons and other gear were working.

Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commanding general for Iraq, walked through the rows of vehicles, talking to soldiers over the low hum of the engines. He thanked them for their service and reminded them to stay vigilant on their final mission.

"I wanted to remind them that we have an important mission left in the country of Iraq. We want to stay focused and we want to make sure that we're doing the right things to protect ourselves," Austin said.

The commander of the Special Troops Battalion, Lt. Col. Jack Vantress told his soldiers, "We are closing the book on an operation that has brought freedom to a country that was repressed. When the sun comes up, we'll be across the berm."

He added a warning to watch out for any final attacks. "Laser focus. Laser focus. You've got time, hours of road to go. There are people out there who still want to hurt you."

Early Saturday morning, the brigade's remaining interpreters made their routine calls to the local tribal sheiks and government leaders that the troops deal with, so that they would assume that it was just a normal day.

"The Iraqis are going to wake up in the morning and nobody will be there," said Spc. Joseph, an Iraqi American who emigrated from Iraq in 2009 and enlisted. He asked that his full name be withheld to protect his family.

In a guard tower overlooking a now empty checkpoint at the base, Sgt. Ashley Vorhees and another soldier talked about what they looked forward to most in getting home. The 29-year-old Vorhees planned to go for Mexican food at Rosa's, a restaurant in Killeen, Texas. Another joy of home, she said: you don't have to bring your weapon when you go to the bathroom.

At its height, Camp Adder boasted a Taco Bell, a KFC, an Italian restaurant and two Green Beans coffee shops. On Saturday, it felt empty, with abandoned volleyball and basketball courts and a gym called "House of Pain." Hundreds of vehicles ? trucks, buses ? waited in a lot to be handed over to the Iraqi military, which is taking over the site. With the Americans gone, the base reverts to its former name, Imam Ali Air Base.

Despite Obama's earlier contention that all American troops would be home for Christmas, at least 4,000 forces will remain in Kuwait for some months. The troops could also be used as a quick reaction force if needed.

The U.S. plans to keep a robust diplomatic presence in Iraq, hoping to foster a lasting relationship with the nation and maintain a strong military force in the region. Obama met in Washington with Prime Minister al-Maliki last week, vowing to remain committed to Iraq as the two countries struggle to define their new relationship.

U.S. officials were unable to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on legal issues and troop immunity that would have allowed a small training and counterterrorism force to remain. U.S. defense officials said they expect there will be no movement on that issue until sometime next year.

Capt. Mark Askew, a 28-year-old from Tampa, Florida who was among the last soldiers to leave, said the answer to the question of whether the Iraq war was worth the cost will depend on what type of country and government Iraq ends up with years from now, whether they are democratic, respect human rights and are considered an American ally.

"It depends on what Iraq does after we leave," he said, speaking before the final convoy departed. "I don't expect them to turn into South Korea or Japan overnight."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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