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Friday, November 30, 2012
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Sandy recovery claims mount. How much will a divided Congress pay?
Congress may be wrangling over the 'fiscal cliff,' but budget experts are confident that both parties will agree to provide billions in Sandy recovery aid sought by Northeastern governors.
A swan swims past a home washed into the bay at the foot of the Mantoloking Bridge in Mantoloking, New Jersey, November 21. Recovery efforts continue on this narrow barrier island in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Tom Mihalek/Reuters
EnlargeThe US may be perched on the edge of the ?fiscal cliff,? with Republicans demanding spending cuts and Democrats clamoring for tax hikes to reduce the budget deficit.
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But, one thing both parties are likely to agree on: spending billions and billions of dollars to help New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and other states recover from superstorm Sandy.
Within the last two days, the governors of New York and New Jersey have released estimates that they will need a combined $79 billion ($42 billion for New York and $37 billion for New Jersey) to pay for repairs, restoration, and mitigation against future storms. Connecticut expects to send its request in shortly.
On Wednesday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg flew to Washington for meetings just about every thirty minutes with congressional leaders. On Monday, he said the city would like an additional $9.8 billion for storm damage on top of $5.4 billion that they have already submitted to FEMA.
He probably could have saved the airfare because budget experts think Congress is likely to open up the checkbook for this disaster.
?They will pretty much get what they ask for,? says Stan Collender, a budget authority and a partner at Qorvis Communications in Washington.
?Historically, Congress has been quite generous when there are disasters,? says Pete Davis of Davis Capital Investment Ideas in Washington, which advises Wall Street clients. ?It won?t be in the lame duck session, it will be next year.?
The money will likely come in the form of an emergency supplemental spending bill that will go through Congress once it resolves its current differences over spending and taxes. ?If it weren?t for the fiscal cliff this would get done really quickly,? says Mr. Davis.
But, won?t spending another $80 billion to $100 billion throw those calculations out of line?
?It will expand the deficit,? agrees Mr. Collender. But, that is not likely to matter, he and others say.
?Traditionally, supplemental spending bills are not paid for,? explains Davis. For example, the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been funded by supplemental spending bills.
One of the reasons Congress is so generous is that every senator and representative is keenly aware that a disaster can take place in their district at any time. In the West, wildfires can destroy communities. In the Midwest a drought can hurt farmers. Along the Gulf Coast, there could be another big oil spill.
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Suspect in string of ecoterrorism fires surrenders
One of the three remaining fugitives in a string of high-profile fires across the West that focused national attention on a group of environmental radicals surrendered to authorities Thursday after spending years in hiding in Canada.
The U.S. attorney's office in Portland, Ore., said Rebecca Jeanette Rubin, 39, a Canadian citizen, turned herself in to the FBI at the Canadian border in Blaine, Wash.
Rubin was arrested after spending a decade as an international fugitive from the largest ecoterrorism investigation in U.S. history, the U.S. attorney's office said. The former wildlife researcher was part of a cell of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front known as The Family, based in Eugene, Ore.
Rubin was sought on conspiracy and arson indictments dating to 2006 alleging she helped set fires at the Vail ski resort in Colorado and at federal wild horse corrals in Eastern Oregon and Northern California, and that she tried to set fire to a lumber mill office in Medford, Ore.
Defense attorney Richard Roberman said Rubin wanted to get the case behind her, and was dropped off at the border by her mother. She tried to surrender earlier, but tentative deals fell through with three different U.S. attorney districts.
Rubin wore a white cardigan for her appearance in federal court in Seattle. She breathed deeply as a prosecutor read the indictment and smiled briefly as the judge greeted her.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer in Portland, Ore., said Rubin would be kept in custody and transported to Eugene, Ore., for trial.
Rubin is not specifically charged with terrorism, but the indictment alleges she and the other members of The Family tried to influence businesses and the government and tried to retaliate against the government. Prosecutors won terrorism enhancements at sentencing for some of the others in the case.
Ten people pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy and arson in the case, and were sentenced to prison. Two others remain at large.
At the time, the FBI characterized the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front as the top domestic terrorism threats in the nation.
Authorities have said the Earth Liberation Front cell was responsible for 20 arsons around the West from 1996 to 2001 that did $40 million in damage.
The highest-profile case was the 1998 fire that destroyed a restaurant and other facilities at the Vail Ski Resort in Colorado. Other targets included a plant research facility at the University of Washington and several businesses and other structures in Oregon ? a horse slaughterhouse, U.S. Forest Service ranger stations, a power transmission tower, a tree farm and an SUV dealership.
The group disbanded in 2001, but a federal taskforce known as Operation Backfire turned an informant and broke open the cell in 2005.
By then, the group's leader, William C. Rodgers, was running a bookstore in Prescott, Ariz. After his arrest, Rodgers committed suicide in jail. Authorities described him as a Svengali-like guru and sexual predator who liked to call himself Avalon, after an island from the legend of King Arthur.
The informant was Jacob Ferguson, a local environmental activist who once had a pentagram tattooed on his forehead and studied diesel mechanics at a community college. Prosecutors said he agreed to take a recorder into Family meetings around the country to break through their code of silence. Originally sentenced to probation, Ferguson was sent to prison after authorities found him selling heroin.
In a 2009 paper on environmental terrorism, sociologists Brent L. Smith of University of Arkansas and Kelly R. Damphousse of University of Oklahoma wrote that The Family members were mostly from middle-class backgrounds, though a few, like Ferguson, had a criminal history. The group developed from the environmental activist and anarchist community of Eugene, Ore.
In the Vail arson, the group issued a communique saying the buildings were burned as retribution for the Forest Service allowing the resort to expand into critical habitat for the Canada lynx, a threatened species. The attack focused national attention on the idea of ecoterrorism.
However, by the time they were sentenced, members of The Family expressed regret and frustration that after all their hardships, they had accomplished practically nothing.
A horse slaughterhouse in Redmond, Ore., was never rebuilt, but the ski resort and ranger stations were reconstructed, timber companies stayed in business, and wild horses were still rounded up and removed from federal lands.
The two remaining fugitives are Joseph Mahmoud Dibee and Josephine Sunshine Overaker, Ferguson's former girlfriend. Dibee is believed to be in Syria, where he has family, and Overaker is believed to be in Europe, Peifer said.
Animal rights activist Peter Young spent eight years as a fugitive before officers stumbled upon him in 2005 at a Santa Cruz, Calif., Starbucks. He eventually served two years in prison for freeing thousands of mink from Midwest fur farms in the name of the Animal Liberation Front in 1997.
"There are two rules to being a good fugitive," he told The Associated Press on Thursday. "If you have an ID under a different name and don't call your parents, you can live free for a very long time."
Young added there is a benefit to staying on the run for a long time, as Rubin did: "The lawyers all told me at different times as I was preparing to turn myself in, but never did ? they said, 'You stay away for a long time, the feds usually get to the point they're not so zealous about your case anymore.'"
___
Associated Press writer Manuel Valdes in Seattle contributed to this report.
___
Jeff Barnard can be reached at ?https://twitter.com/JeffBarnardAP
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suspect-string-ecoterrorism-fires-surrenders-184252860.html
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
Mediators fail to help in NHL labor fight
In this picture, made available Sunday Nov. 18, 2012 Rapperswil's Michael Del Zotto, right, challenges Zug's goalie Jussi Markkanen, during their Swiss League A hockey match between Rapperswil Jona Lakers and EV Zug, in Rapperswil, Switzerland Saturday Nov. 17, 2012. Del Zotto is a NHL player of the New York Rangers, who, due to the NHL lockout, plays in Switzerland. (AP photo/Keystone/Thomas Oswald)
In this picture, made available Sunday Nov. 18, 2012 Rapperswil's Michael Del Zotto, right, challenges Zug's goalie Jussi Markkanen, during their Swiss League A hockey match between Rapperswil Jona Lakers and EV Zug, in Rapperswil, Switzerland Saturday Nov. 17, 2012. Del Zotto is a NHL player of the New York Rangers, who, due to the NHL lockout, plays in Switzerland. (AP photo/Keystone/Thomas Oswald)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The NHL, the players' association and now even federal mediators agree on one thing: the bickering sides are nowhere near a deal that would put hockey back on the ice.
The league and the union wrapped up two days of talks on Thursday in New Jersey, with help from mediators, but moved no closer to a solution to save the hockey season that has already been delayed and shortened.
Two members from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service joined the discussions on Wednesday AND Thursday but couldn't bring the sides any closer.
"After spending several hours with both sides over two days, the presiding mediators concluded that the parties remained far apart, and that no progress toward a resolution could be made through further mediation at this point in time," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. "We are disappointed that the mediation process was not successful."
Players' association executive director Donald Fehr echoed Daly's remarks on Thursday night without offering insight where the process might head next.
"This afternoon, the mediators informed the parties that they did not think it was productive to continue the discussions further today," Fehr said in a statement. "The mediators indicated that they would stay in contact with the league and the NHLPA, and would call the parties back together when they thought the time was right."
The bottom line is that, 75 days into the owners' lockout of players, there is no end in sight. The lockout has already forced the cancellation of games through Dec. 14, the New Year's Day Winter Classic, and the All-Star weekend in January.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman offered the union a meeting that would consist of only owners and players ? without the presence of leaders on both sides of the dispute ? Daly told The Associated Press in an email. He added that the union was considering the proposal and would get back to the league.
After agreeing to help from mediators on Monday, the league and the union returned to the bargaining table on Wednesday for their first face-to-face talks in a week. Those discussions lasted for about six hours.
They met again Thursday morning until late afternoon before breaking off.
The next sure thing on the hockey calendar is the NHL board of governors, scheduled next Wednesday in New York. Meanwhile, the players could seek to decertify the union and challenge the lockout in court.
Either way, the sides are getting close to losing another season to labor strife. The NHL is already the only major North American sports league to cancel a season because of such a dispute ? when the 2004-05 schedule was wiped out.
Mediation didn't work back then, either, though the collective bargaining agreement that recently expired was ultimately hammered out. Mediators were summoned in February, shortly before the season was canceled.
In discussions last week, the players' association made a new comprehensive proposal that was quickly rejected by the NHL.
George Cohen, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service director, assigned deputy director Scot Beckenbaugh and director of mediation services John Sweeney to the negotiations on Monday.
Last week, Fehr said the sides were $182 million apart on a five-year deal, which comes to $1.2 million annually for each of the 30 teams.
The NHL wants to increase eligibility for free agency to 28 years of age or eight seasons of service, up from 27 years or seven seasons. The league has also proposed adding a year of service for salary arbitration eligibility, hiking it from 1-4 to 2-5 years of service, depending on the age a player signs.
On Oct. 16, the NHL proposed a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue, down from the players' 57 percent portion of $3.3 billion last season. With guaranteed contracts likely to push the players' share over the halfway mark at the start of the next deal, management wants that money to come out of future years to bring the overall percentage down to an even split over the length of an agreement.
Players previously had proposed they receive a guaranteed amount of income each year.
Owners want a seven-year deal, which the union says is too long because less than half the current players will be active by the last season.
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Researchers synthesize new kind of silk fiber, and use music to fine-tune material's properties
ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? Pound for pound, spider silk is one of the strongest materials known: Research by MIT's Markus Buehler has helped explain that this strength arises from silk's unusual hierarchical arrangement of protein building blocks.
Now Buehler -- together with David Kaplan of Tufts University and Joyce Wong of Boston University -- has synthesized new variants on silk's natural structure, and found a method for making further improvements in the synthetic material.
And an ear for music, it turns out, might be a key to making those structural improvements.
The work stems from a collaboration of civil and environmental engineers, mathematicians, biomedical engineers and musical composers.?
"We're trying to approach making materials in a different way," Buehler explains, "starting from the building blocks" -- in this case, the protein molecules that form the structure of silk. "It's very hard to do this; proteins are very complex."
Other groups have tried to construct such protein-based fibers using a trial-and-error approach, Buehler says. But this team has approached the problem systematically, starting with computer modeling of the underlying structures that give the natural silk its unusual combination of strength, flexibility and stretchiness.
Buehler's previous research has determined that fibers with a particular structure -- highly ordered, layered protein structures alternating with densely packed, tangled clumps of proteins (ABABAB) -- help to give silk its exceptional properties. For this initial attempt at synthesizing a new material, the team chose to look instead at patterns in which one of the structures occurred in triplets (AAAB and BBBA).
Making such structures is no simple task. Kaplan, a chemical and biomedical engineer, modified silk-producing genes to produce these new sequences of proteins. Then Wong, a bioengineer and materials scientist, created a microfluidic device that mimicked the spider's silk-spinning organ, which is called a spinneret.
Even after the detailed computer modeling that went into it, the outcome came as a bit of a surprise, Buehler says. One of the new materials produced very strong protein molecules -- but these did not stick together as a thread. The other produced weaker protein molecules that adhered well and formed a good thread. "This taught us that it's not sufficient to consider the properties of the protein molecules alone," he says. "Rather, [one must] think about how they can combine to form a well-connected network at a larger scale."
The results are reported in a paper published in the journal Nano Today.
The team is now producing several more variants of the material to further improve and test its properties. But one wrinkle in their process may provide a significant advantage in figuring out which materials will be useful and which ones won't -- and perhaps even which might be more advantageous for specific uses. That new and highly unusual wrinkle is music.
The different levels of silk's structure, Buehler says, are analogous to the hierarchical elements that make up a musical composition -- including pitch, range, dynamics and tempo. The team enlisted the help of composer John McDonald, a professor of music at Tufts, and MIT postdoc David Spivak, a mathematician who specializes in a field called category theory. Together, using analytical tools derived from category theory to describe the protein structures, the team figured out how to translate the details of the artificial silk's structure into musical compositions.
The differences were quite distinct: The strong but useless protein molecules translated into music that was aggressive and harsh, Buehler says, while the ones that formed usable fibers sound much softer and more fluid.
Buehler hopes this can be taken a step further, using the musical compositions to predict how well new variations of the material might perform. "We're looking for radically new ways of designing materials," he says.
Combining materials modeling with mathematical and musical tools, Buehler says, could provide a much faster way of designing new biosynthesized materials, replacing the trial-and-error approach that prevails today. Genetically engineering organisms to produce materials is a long, painstaking process, he says, but this work "has taught us a new approach, a fundamental lesson" in combining experiment, theory and simulation to speed up the discovery process.
Materials produced this way -- which can be done under environmentally benign, room-temperature conditions -- could lead to new building blocks for tissue engineering or other uses, Buehler says: scaffolds for replacement organs, skin, blood vessels, or even new materials for use in civil engineering.
Elliott Schwartz, professor emeritus of music at Bowdoin College, says: "For centuries, mathematics, logic and science have provided important models for musical structures, processes, and our understanding of sonic materials. The present research may well lead to one more important chapter in this ongoing story of mutual interaction."
It may be that the complex structures of music can reveal the underlying complex structures of biomaterials found in nature, Buehler says. "There might be an underlying structural expression in music that tells us more about the proteins that make up our bodies. After all, our organs -- including the brain -- are made from these building blocks, and humans' expression of music may inadvertently include more information that we are aware of."
"Nobody has tapped into this," he says, adding that with the breadth of his multidisciplinary team, "We could do this -- making better bio-inspired materials by using music, and using music to better understand biology."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Journal Reference:
- Joyce Y. Wong, John McDonald, Micki Taylor-Pinney, David I. Spivak, David L. Kaplan, Markus J. Buehler. Materials by design: Merging proteins and music. Nano Today, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2012.09.001
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/JH39QKo8_v8/121128112157.htm
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Palestinians win support from Swiss, Danes for U.N. vote
GENEVA/RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Switzerland and Denmark on Wednesday joined a growing list of European countries that back an upgrade for Palestinians to non-member status at the United Nations, a victory that would be a diplomatic boost to their aspirations for statehood.
With overwhelming support from the developing world, the Palestinians appear certain to earn approval in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly for a status upgrade to "observer state" on Thursday.
Israel and its main ally the United States oppose the move, which would implicitly recognize Palestinian statehood.
France said on Tuesday it would vote in favor of non-member status and Switzerland and Denmark have now followed suit.
"The decision to support the resolution is in accordance with Switzerland's policy to seek a negotiated, just, and durable peace between Israel and an independent and viable Palestinian state within secure and internationally recognized borders," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Swiss decision followed a visit to Berne by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this month as the country hesitated between voting in favor of the resolution or abstaining.
A positive vote would make it possible to "revitalize the concept of a two-state solution by placing Israel and Palestine on an equal footing in future peace negotiations", the Swiss ministry said.
Abbas had reiterated his commitment to relaunch the peace process immediately following the U.N. vote, it said.
In Copenhagen, the Danish foreign minister said Denmark would also vote "yes".
"It is a moderate text which clearly highlights the need for peace negotiations and negotiations for a two-state solution that can secure Palestinians a safe and sustainable state side by side with Israel, minister Villy Sovndal said.
Britain, which has been cool on the idea, was due to announce its decision later in the day.
Israel and the United States condemn the U.N. bid, saying the only genuine route to statehood for the Palestinians is via a peace agreement made in direct talks with Israel.
Talks however have been stalled for two years, mainly over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have expanded despite being deemed illegal by most of the world.
TURNING POINT
In Ramallah in the West Bank, senior Palestine Liberation Organization official Hanan Ashrawi said the response was encouraging and sent a message of hope to all Palestinians.
"This constitutes a historical turning point and opportunity for the world to rectify a grave historical injustice that the Palestinians have undergone since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948."
"Now the people of this land, with enormous solidarity, is telling the whole world not only that we exist, but we are on our land and we have a right to self-determination and statehood," she said.
European countries are eager to bolster moderates such as Abbas after an eight-day conflict this month between Israel and Gaza-based Islamists estranged from more moderate West Bank compatriots and opposed to Israel's very existence.
Israel and the United States have mooted withholding aid and tax revenue that the Palestinian government in the West Bank needs to survive. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has also viewed options that include bringing down Abbas.
The change would allow the Palestinian territories to access bodies like the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes people for genocide, war crimes and other human rights violations.
After Israeli, British and U.S. diplomats unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Palestinians to drop their upgrade bid, they focused on trying to get the Palestinians to guarantee that they would forego complaining about Israel to the ICC.
Britain, which had pushed European countries to abstain on the U.N. vote, has asked the Palestinians to forego joining the ICC in return for its vote. Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said London had not yet decided how to vote.
"We have made consistently clear that it is wrong for the Palestinians to bring this resolution to a vote at this time and that it isn't likely to be a helpful contribution to the peace process in the Middle East," Lyall said in New York on Tuesday.
The Palestinian U.N. observer, Riyad Mansour, said the Palestinians would not rush to sign up to the ICC if they win the U.N. status upgrade. But seeking action against Israel in the court would remain an option, he told a news conference at the United Nations on Tuesday.
Mansour said that if Israel continued to violate international law, particularly by building settlements in the West Bank - territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War - then the Palestinians would consult with friends, including Europe, on what to do next.
The United States has suggested aid for the Palestinians - and possibly some funding for the United Nations - could also be at risk if the Palestinians win the U.N. upgrade. Israel has said it may cancel the Paris Protocol, an economic accord it maintains with the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.
(Additional reporting by Mette Fraende in Copenhagen; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-win-support-swiss-danes-u-n-vote-113331896.html
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Global High Fructose Corn Syrup Use May Be Fueling Diabetes Increase
[caption id="attachment_10014" align="alignleft" width="275" caption="Image courtesy of iStockphoto/TheCrimsonMonkey"] [/caption]
It doesn't matter where you look: the U.S., Mexico, Malaysia or Portugal, the more high fructose corn syrup consumption, on average, the more diabetes. A new study of 43 countries in Global Public Health, published online November 27, found that adult type-2 diabetes is 20 percent higher in countries that consume large quantities of high fructose corn syrup. "The study adds to a growing body of scientific literature that indicates HFCS consumption may result in negative health consequences distinct from and more deleterious than natural sugar," Michael Goran, of the University of Southern California Department of Preventive Medicine and co-author of the new study, said in a prepared statement. Countries in which per person annual high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) consumption was less than 0.5 kg had similar BMIs, daily calorie intake and total sugar intake as did countries in which HFCS was higher. The big difference in these two groups of countries was diabetes prevalence. The link between HFCS and poor health outcomes--such as obesity or diabetes-has often been speculated, but it has been difficult to prove. The availability of the cheaper-than-sugar sweeteners starting in the U.S. in the 1970s appears to have helped boost the number of overall calories people imbibe. In the U.S. today, for example, high fructose corn syrup is in everything from sodas to ketchup. In fact, we each consume, on average, some 24.8 kilograms of this processed corn sweetener every year. With the extra calories, weight gain has quickened, leading to more obesity, one of the strongest risk factors for type-2 diabetes. HFCS may also pose a greater risk for diabetes greater than pure sugar alone. Instead of a composition evenly divided between fructose and glucose like table sugar, HFCS contains as much as 30 percent more fructose. (The exact quantities are unknown because manufacturers are not required to disclose the amount on food and beverage packages.) Glucose is metabolized quickly and used as energy or retained as fat. But fructose processing is more complex. It is broken down primarily in the liver and seems to induce less leptin production (a hormone that signals fullness to the body) and less insulin (which is why sweeteners composed primarily of fructose are sometimes recommended for people who already have diabetes). Some studies have also found fructose consumption increases the types of fats that are linked to insulin resistance, a hallmark of diabetes. These scattered findings suggest that "our metabolism has not evolved sufficiently to be able to process the fructose from high fructose corn syrup in the quantities that some people are consuming it," Stanly Ulijaszek, of the University of Oxford and study co-author, said in a prepared statement. Some illuminating international differences emerged during the course of the study. For example, the European Union imposes production quotas for HFCS for member countries. Those countries, such as Sweden, that do not use the sweetener in their own food supply can export it to countries, such as Hungary, that are willing to buy more for residents. This distribution imbalance allowed the researchers to compare countries that were similar in other respects (BMI, gross national product, etc.) but different in HFCS consumption. While the U.S. is the largest producer--and consumer--of HFCS and has been for decades (thanks in large part to farm subsidies), other countries are just beginning to experience high amounts of HFCS in the food system. Mexico, for example, long limited imports of HFCS to protect their own sugar market. In 2008, however, those barriers were removed, and for the past few years, HFCS has been flooding in from the U.S. The authors of the study argue that with the new findings, perhaps some of these policies should be revisited. Further research into the mechanisms for the possible link between HFCS consumption and diabetes risk remains to be done. But, "if HFCS is a risk factor for diabetes--one of the world's most serious chronic diseases--then we need to rewrite national dietary guidelines and review agricultural trade policies," Tim Lobstein, director of policy at the International Association for the Study of Obesity, said in a prepared statement.
It doesn't matter where you look: the U.S., Mexico, Malaysia or Portugal, the more high fructose corn syrup consumption, on average, the more diabetes. A new study of 43 countries in Global Public Health, published online November 27, found that adult type-2 diabetes is 20 percent higher in countries that consume large quantities of high fructose corn syrup. "The study adds to a growing body of scientific literature that indicates HFCS consumption may result in negative health consequences distinct from and more deleterious than natural sugar," Michael Goran, of the University of Southern California Department of Preventive Medicine and co-author of the new study, said in a prepared statement. Countries in which per person annual high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) consumption was less than 0.5 kg had similar BMIs, daily calorie intake and total sugar intake as did countries in which HFCS was higher. The big difference in these two groups of countries was diabetes prevalence. The link between HFCS and poor health outcomes--such as obesity or diabetes-has often been speculated, but it has been difficult to prove. The availability of the cheaper-than-sugar sweeteners starting in the U.S. in the 1970s appears to have helped boost the number of overall calories people imbibe. In the U.S. today, for example, high fructose corn syrup is in everything from sodas to ketchup. In fact, we each consume, on average, some 24.8 kilograms of this processed corn sweetener every year. With the extra calories, weight gain has quickened, leading to more obesity, one of the strongest risk factors for type-2 diabetes. HFCS may also pose a greater risk for diabetes greater than pure sugar alone. Instead of a composition evenly divided between fructose and glucose like table sugar, HFCS contains as much as 30 percent more fructose. (The exact quantities are unknown because manufacturers are not required to disclose the amount on food and beverage packages.) Glucose is metabolized quickly and used as energy or retained as fat. But fructose processing is more complex. It is broken down primarily in the liver and seems to induce less leptin production (a hormone that signals fullness to the body) and less insulin (which is why sweeteners composed primarily of fructose are sometimes recommended for people who already have diabetes). Some studies have also found fructose consumption increases the types of fats that are linked to insulin resistance, a hallmark of diabetes. These scattered findings suggest that "our metabolism has not evolved sufficiently to be able to process the fructose from high fructose corn syrup in the quantities that some people are consuming it," Stanly Ulijaszek, of the University of Oxford and study co-author, said in a prepared statement. Some illuminating international differences emerged during the course of the study. For example, the European Union imposes production quotas for HFCS for member countries. Those countries, such as Sweden, that do not use the sweetener in their own food supply can export it to countries, such as Hungary, that are willing to buy more for residents. This distribution imbalance allowed the researchers to compare countries that were similar in other respects (BMI, gross national product, etc.) but different in HFCS consumption. While the U.S. is the largest producer--and consumer--of HFCS and has been for decades (thanks in large part to farm subsidies), other countries are just beginning to experience high amounts of HFCS in the food system. Mexico, for example, long limited imports of HFCS to protect their own sugar market. In 2008, however, those barriers were removed, and for the past few years, HFCS has been flooding in from the U.S. The authors of the study argue that with the new findings, perhaps some of these policies should be revisited. Further research into the mechanisms for the possible link between HFCS consumption and diabetes risk remains to be done. But, "if HFCS is a risk factor for diabetes--one of the world's most serious chronic diseases--then we need to rewrite national dietary guidelines and review agricultural trade policies," Tim Lobstein, director of policy at the International Association for the Study of Obesity, said in a prepared statement.
Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/global-high-fructose-corn-syrup-may-fueling-diabetes-160000070.html
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100% How to Survive a Plague
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (0)
A raw history, often cluttered and sometimes repetitive but, when strategies fail along with immune systems, deeply affecting.
Presents a valuable template for how grassroots activism can temper societal prejudice and challenge governmental indifference in the face of a mysterious and remorseless killer.
[A] powerful, messy and tremendously moving documentary ...
"How to Survive a Plague" captures a saddening, maddening era that seems like far too many lifetimes ago.
It can feel inchoate, dropping the viewer in the middle of events without much context, and it exacts an emotional toll. But its raw quality also makes it compelling viewing.
Plague isn't the history of a disease so much as the history of a movement, and a portrait of those who refused to suffer passively.
Beautifully inspiring and, obviously, also a great cautionary tale.
A riveting look at LGBT protesters during the AIDS crisis - and an object lesson that if the revolution is going to be televised, it's good to have the revolutionaries holding the cameras.
This is a moving documentary, as hopeful as it is tragic.
A serious, moving and sometimes astonishingly well-organized documentary about the history of AIDS activism.
The title doesn't necessarily convey this, but "How to Survive a Plague" is an inspiring and hopeful documentary.
[An] unflinching look at the activists' mistakes and acheivements, their regrets, their very solemn pride at a victory attained at so high a cost.
Ultimately, the story presented by the former reporter for Boston's defunct Gay Community News is one of hope.
At once a fascinating history and a compelling call to action.
This amazingly well-done, admirably dry-eyed documentary about a true human victory over what was once a universal death sentence might well be the year's finest.
... compelling as a recent historical document, but also has contemporary resonance in its depiction of the influence of activism on social causes.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Cliff Notes
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and House Speaker John Boehner: Who is willing to accept tax increases and does it even matter?
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
President Obama is adamant that he will only agree to a ?fiscal cliff? solution that raises tax rates on those making over $250,000. The Republicans in the majority in the House of Representatives are adamant that they will not vote for those tax increases. I asked a senior House leadership aide the chances were that Speaker John Boehner would be able to get a majority of Republicans to vote for a tax increase of any kind: ?pretty close to zero.?
If you get busy mailing your holiday cards, this issue of tax rates is the only one you need to check in on from time to time to earn your citizenship merit badge. Did Republicans in the House of Representatives agree to increase marginal tax rates? That would be news indeed. Just two years ago, the anti-tax Tea Party reinvigorated the GOP, but now its members would be voting for a tax hike. Or, if you hear the president has backed off his demand that taxes must be increased, that would be worth a Facebook posting, too. This was an election that President Obama says gave him a mandate to raise this specific tax: How could he give up so easily? Of course, if there?s no movement on either side, you can return to your more fruitful personal pursuits free from worry that a resolution is aborning.
Using this three-part filter, we can examine recent news that Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Lindsey Graham have expressed support for raising revenue through the tax code as a part of a deal that would avoid the automatic spending cuts and tax increases that will come after Jan. 1. Our model tells us that the first relevant fact is that they are senators. In this drama, being a senator is not very important. Democrats control the Senate, and the majority will go along with the president. The real action of the day is between Barack Obama and John Boehner. Is there a majority of votes for a tax increase in the House of Representatives? Senators can comment on that; they can send helpful memos; they can hand out mixed nuts during negotiations; but they are in the chorus, not on stage. A few select GOP senators ?Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, conservative leader Jim DeMint?might influence House Republicans, but those men are also likely to be on the same page as House Speaker John Boehner.
The second problem our model points out for us is that Graham and Chambliss are not talking about tax rates. They?re talking about revenue increases, which is quite a different thing. They?d consider closing loopholes and limiting deductions, which would increase the share of taxes paid by the wealthy but would not raise their marginal tax rates. This puts them a bit to the left of anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist but still much farther to the right than Barack Obama, who wants marginal rates to increase at the end of the year for those making over $250,000 as they are scheduled to. Sen. John McCain, who has also indicated he is open to revenue increases through the tax code, has also said he would not support a tax increase. Sen. Bob Corker is in this camp, too, but he wants to cut tax rates.
Still, isn?t it a good sign for the president and an ultimate deal that Norquist is angry with Graham and Chambliss? Maybe, but not necessarily. Chambliss and Graham have clashed with Norquist before without corralling a host of followers in the GOP ranks. Plus, if a Republican says he is open to using the tax code to bring in revenue, they may very well hope that doing so helps them duck the accusation that they are ideologically immovable on taxes. Removed of that particular pressure, they can feel more free to ignore the president?s entreaties to embrace the more politically painful increase in tax rates.
Norquist wants any loophole closures offset with a reduction in marginal rates. That?s also John Boehner?s position. If you?re interested in the GOP vs. Grover Norquist Civil War, this is where the action is on the House side: Will a Republican member sign up for revenue increases that are not paired with a reduction in marginal tax rates? That too would put them at war with Norquist, but it still wouldn?t put that Republican in the president?s camp. It?s a sign of how far apart the president and House Republicans are that the mark of GOP apostasy is closing loopholes without cutting taxes. Obama wants Republicans to close loopholes and raise taxes.
How is this all going to get solved? Our model tells us that House Republicans have to either get their way or be bought off. The president either has to cave, allowing the Bush-era tax cuts to stay the same for the wealthy, or offer something to sweeten the deal. House Republicans owe their majority to the Tea Party. Getting them to vote for a tax-rate increase is not going to come cheap. One solution is a promise from the president and Democrats to reduce tax rates at some future date when paired with comprehensive tax reform. (Obama wants taxes to go up on those making over $250,000 now but is open to having those rates come back down as a part of reform.)
Would Republicans buy such a promise about the future? ?Why on earth would they trust that these lower rates would ever come to pass? One possible offering the president could make would be a major concession on Medicare and Medicaid. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president was committed to hard choices. If he?s not going to bend on tax rates and has ruled out touching Social Security (as he essentially has), then there?s only one place left where the president can find real money in the budget-cutting game: health care entitlements. That would show that he was serious about shared sacrifice, and if the changes the president agrees to are large enough, they?d give Republicans cover to accept tough tax changes.
It would also be pretty big news. So let?s amend our model. If the president agrees to change the eligibility requirements for Medicare, that would be worth pausing during the office party. Then we?d have to see if House Republicans would buy it.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=5f6a4cea89aeb61b9779bbb59dcbfe83
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ICE Shuts Down 2 SoCal Internet Businesses For Selling Fake Goods
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) ? Two Southern California Internet-based business were among several shut down by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ?in a Cyber Monday crackdown on counterfeit goods sold online, officials announced Monday.
Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations in Ventura served seizure warrants for two domain names linked to www.autoforms8m.com.
The website claims to offer easy and affordable access to legal forms online and is suspected of selling counterfeit Adobe software, officials said.
?Preliminarily, federal investigators estimate the loss of revenue to Adobe at more than $3 million,? ICE agents said in a news release.
The second seizure involved the San Diego-based website, Staxxs on Deck, which sold counterfeit Nike footwear, officials said.
?In addition to selling counterfeit merchandise at its El Cajon storefront location, the company also operated a website ? www.23isking.com ? that offered knockoff Nike shoes online,? ICE said.
According to an affidavit, the company?s website made approximately $1.5 million in proceeds from the fake goods.
The annual crackdown, which began in 2010, resulted in the seizure of 132 domain names that sold fake goods.
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Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson Get Wet On 'Catching Fire' Set
The 'Hunger Games' stars were spotted in Hawaii to film scenes for the November 2013 release.
By Jocelyn Vena
Jennifer Lawrence on the set of "Catching Fire" on Monday
Photo: Fame FlyNet
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Monday, November 26, 2012
Embree suggests he would have needed shortcuts
In this Sept. 1, 2012, photo, Colorado coach Jon Embree, right, walks the sidelines during an NCAA college football game in Denver. Embree told The Associated Press he was heading into a meeting with his players Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012, and didn't want to comment on his firing other than to confirm he'd been let go by athletic director Mike Bohn earlier in the day. Embree, who had three years left on his contract, said he would talk at a news conference Monday. (AP Photo/The Daily Camera, Cliff Grassmick) NO SALES
In this Sept. 1, 2012, photo, Colorado coach Jon Embree, right, walks the sidelines during an NCAA college football game in Denver. Embree told The Associated Press he was heading into a meeting with his players Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012, and didn't want to comment on his firing other than to confirm he'd been let go by athletic director Mike Bohn earlier in the day. Embree, who had three years left on his contract, said he would talk at a news conference Monday. (AP Photo/The Daily Camera, Cliff Grassmick) NO SALES
Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn, left, shakes hands with defensive lineman De'Jon Wilson, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012, after an NCAA college football team meeting in which players learned that head coach Jon Embree had been fired in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/The Daily Camera, Paul Aiken) NO SALES; MAGS OUT; TV OUT
University of Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn, left, shakes hands with freshman defensive lineman De'Jon Wilson outside the Dal Ward Center on the university's campus, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012, in Boulder, Colo., after team meeting. The team learned that NCAA college football head coach Jon Embree had been fired. Embree had been with the team two seasons. (AP Photo/The Boulder Camera, Paul Aiken)
FILE - In this file photo taken on Nov. 23, 2012, Colorado head coach Jon Embree, right, greets a player as he leaves the field in the fourth quarter of Utah's 42-35 victory of an NCAA football game in Boulder, Colo. Embree tells The Associated Press he has been fired as coach of the University of Colorado football team. He was fired on Sunday, Nov. 25 by Colorado after two seasons. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ? A choked-up Jon Embree suggested Monday that the only way he could have turned around the University of Colorado's flailing football program in his two years as head coach was to take shortcuts in the classroom and on the recruiting trail.
"If you just hire the next guy and say you've got two years, keep your fingers crossed," Embree said at his farewell news conference a day after being fired.
Athletic director Mike Bohn, who fired Embree less than two years after he signed him to a five-year deal, said, "Shortcuts are not going to be an answer and we're not going to hire a coach that expects to use shortcuts."
What he does expect is a quick turnaround from a free-fall that saw the Buffaloes thumped by an average score of 48-17 in the Pac-12 during a 1-11 season that was the worst in the program's 123-year history.
In some ways, Embree's quick hook might have had a lot to do with the administration patiently sticking with his predecessor, Dan Hawkins, through five losing seasons, resulting in the proverbial bare cupboard.
Bohn bristled at that notion.
"Jon's results were extremely revealing in a very short period of time, and the prowess of the Pac-12 conference revealed it a lot faster," Bohn said.
Embree, who gets a $1.625 million buyout, suggested he got a raw deal, pointing out he only got 1? recruiting classes to turn around a program that had been down on its luck for several years.
Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano said he appreciated Embree's passion for the program but said it just wasn't working out.
"It's performance and progress. And unfortunately, this year, we didn't see either," he said.
Bohn pointed to a program that was headed in the wrong direction both on and off the field, going 4-21 under Embree, with so many blowouts leading to too many empty seats, though he insisted boosters had nothing to do with this decision.
"Our boosters' resources have never been a factor in my tenure," Bohn said. "Although the erosion of our fan base and the ticket sales certainly doesn't help."
Bohn said he had no preferred candidate in mind but acknowledged the school would have to pay more than Embree's incentive-laden deal that was worth $741,000 annually plus bonuses of up to $200,000 for reaching off-the-field goals and up to $1 million for meeting on-the-field benchmarks.
Bohn said he was still forming a search committee but wanted to make a hire as soon as possible.
Embree, a star tight end for the Buffs in the 1980s, was fired Sunday night, 48 hours after a 42-35 loss to Utah left them without a home win for the first time since 1920.
In a news conference at Folsom Field that lasted more than an hour, Embree began by addressing players who had packed the Varsity Room at the Dal Ward Center and telling them to keep up the good fight without him.
"You had the highest GPA the last three semesters that this school has ever had in the football program. You stayed out of trouble. You guys represented yourselves well," Embree said. "You set a legacy and a standard, and as I told you guys when we're going through tough times, you're not judged by the scoreboard at the end of the day.
"I was. But you won't be."
Even though he'd been stripped of his powers, Embree was still coaching his kids, using the first seven minutes of the news conference to speak directly to them.
Asked if the next coach can win in Boulder, Embree retorted, "How long does he have?"
Embree embraced dozens of his players on his way out of the room and was followed at the microphone by Bohn and DiStefano with university President Bruce Benson listening in on speaker phone while on vacation.
"Jon is a dedicated alum of the university and the Colorado Buffaloes with a passion for his students and the athletic program as a whole," DiStefano said. "And if this decision were based on passion for CU and dedication, there's no doubt that Jon would be coach for life.
"But it also has to be based on progress and results, which we simply did not see enough this year," DiStefano continued. "And so we looked at the performance on the field and did not see the development and the cohesion nor progressive strategy that gave us confidence in the future, and that's why this decision was made."
Embree said six of his coaches offered to resign in order for him to keep his job.
He said he was disappointed because had been given assurances when he was hired that he'd be given the time needed to turn around a downtrodden program. He said that support changed suddenly Saturday night in a phone call with Bohn.
"All I was told (Sunday) was the trajectory of the program wasn't what they wanted. And my response was, 'Well, what was the trajectory of the program before I was hired?'" Embree said.
Defensive end Will Pericak said the players are angry over Embree's dismissal.
"Not a fair chance at all," Pericak said. "Embree needed another year, absolutely."
Most players filed out after Embree left, but kicker Will Oliver stuck around and didn't like what he heard when Bohn spoke about the importance of a third year in turning things around, a chance he didn't afford Embree.
"It seemed like a lot of political jabber," Oliver said. "I don't know what I just listened to for 30 minutes, to be completely honest. He might figure this out. I guess we'll find out soon."
Embree had just eight seniors on this year's team, and in addition to a staff makeover, he was planning to switch to a spread offense and tweak his defense next year.
"We went up against some really good teams that we weren't quite able to match up with," Embree said. "And some of it was just physical differences. We were young. Some of it, we had injuries. But at the end of the day, there was never any quit. They fought to the last play. They did a good job of not looking at the scoreboard."
The administration, though, sure did.
___
AP freelancer Monica Costello contributed.
___
Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton
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A Timeline of GOP Snubs of the Grover Norquist No-Tax-Raise Pledge
Just a few months back, Grover Norquist was routinely being called "the most powerful man in Washington" ? or even America. But now the Americans for Tax Reform impresario seems to be in one of the tighter spots of his storied career as a campaigner for "starving the beast." As "fiscal-cliff" negotiations continue, with President Obama and Democrats holding a strong hand, more and more Republicans have announced their willingness to break the Norquist-sponsored pledge not to raise taxes that many have signed.
While there were several high-profile defections this weekend, the strife between ATR and elected GOP officials has been progressing in slow motion for months. Here's a timeline:
Nov. 3, 2011: Setting the tone for the year ahead, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, shruged off a question about Norquist's influence in the GOP caucus. "Our focus here is on jobs," Boehner said. "We're doing anything we can to get our economy moving again and get people back to work. It's not often I'm asked about some random person in America."
May 27, 2012: Professional maverick and former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, cochair of the president's debt-reduction commission, kicked the door open on CNN with characteristic panache. "For heaven's sake, you have Grover Norquist wandering the earth in his white robes saying that if you raise taxes one penny, he'll defeat you," he said. "He can't murder you. He can't burn your house. The only thing he can do to you, as an elected official, is defeat you for reelection. And if that means more to you than your country when we need patriots to come out in a situation when we're in extremity, you shouldn't even be in Congress."
June 1, 2012: Testifying before the House Budget Committee, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush blasted the pledge. "I ran for office three times. The pledge was presented to me three times. I never signed the pledge," he said. "I cut taxes every year I was governor. I don't believe you outsource your principles and convictions to people. I respect Grover's political involvement. He has every right to do it, but I never signed any pledge." Norquist called Bush's comments "humiliating, embarrassing."
June 12, 2012: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told ABC he believed lawmakers require more flexibility than the pledge provides, saying increased revenue is essential to paying down the national debt. "When you eliminate a deduction, it's OK with me to use some of that money to get us out of debt. That's where I disagree with the pledge," he said. "And if I'm willing to do that as a Republican, I've crossed a rubicon.??We're so far in debt, that if you don't give up some ideological ground, the country sinks."
July 13, 2012: Jeb Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush complained about unwillingness to raises taxes among his own party in an interview with Parade magazine: "The rigidity of those pledges is something I don't like. The circumstances change and you can't be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It's ? who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway?" In August, Norquist fired back at Bush, who lost his 1992 reelection bid after raising taxes, despite his memorable campaign pledge "Read my lips: no new taxes." Bush "lied" in doing so, Norquist said.
July 15, 2012: Tom Coburn, the staunchly fiscally conservative Oklahoma senator known as "Dr. No," took to The New York Times editorial pages (of all places!) to argue that Norquist is "increasingly isolated politically." Coburn says Democrats have used the ATR pledge as a political tool, claiming that congressional Republicans refuse to compromise because their hands are tied, when in fact Norquist has little influence inside the caucus.
Oct. 10, 2012: Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, then engaged in a tight race for Senate, claimed during a debate that he had not signed the ATR pledge. "The only pledge I'd sign is a pledge to sign no more pledges," Flake said. "We've got to ensure that we go back and represent our constituents in a way ? I believe in limited government, economic freedom, individual responsibility. I don't want higher taxes. But no more pledges." A spokesman later clarified that while Flake signed an earlier version of the pledge, the wording has since changed in such way as to invalidate his previous support. Flake went on to win the Senate seat.
Nov. 11, 2012: While he didn't mention Norquist by name, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol effectively called for demolishing the ATR pledge on Fox News Sunday. "The leadership of the Republican Party and the leadership of the conservative movement has to pull back, let people float new ideas. Let's have a serious debate," Kristol said. "Don't scream and yell if one person says 'You know what? It won't kill the country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires.' It really won't, I don't think."
Nov. 20, 2012: New York Rep. Peter King told The New York Times he regards his long-ago support for the pledge as no longer binding. "A pledge is good at the time you sign it," he said. "In 1941, I would have voted to declare war on Japan. But each Congress is a new Congress. And I don't think you can have a rule that you're never going to raise taxes or that you're never going to lower taxes. I don't want to rule anything out." Meanwhile, Rep.-Elect Ted Yoho of Florida explained why he refused to sign the pledge, likening it to an easily broken New Year's resolution.
Nov. 22, 2012: Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a member of the "Gang of Six" moderate senators who tried to negotiate a grand bargain on spending, told a local television station he was ready to violate the pledge. "I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," Chambliss said. "If we do it his way, then we'll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that." Asked whether he was concerned that his moderation would come back to bite him in the form of a primary challenge when his term ends in 2014, he said he knew it was likely but added, "I care too much about my country. I care a lot more about it than I do Grover Norquist."
Nov. 25, 2012: A trickle became ??well, not quite a gusher, but a clear trend on the weekend after Thanksgiving. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. John McCain of Arizona called for new revenues through closing loopholes. "When you're $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming Greece, and Republicans should put revenue on the table," he said. "I agree with Grover, we shouldn't raise rates, but I think Grover is wrong when it comes to we can't cap deductions and buy down debt." On Meet the Press, Peter King repeated his criticism, saying, "I agree entirely with Saxby Chambliss." (Norquist's reply: "Congressman Peter King of New York knows full well that the pledge that he signed and others have, is for while you're in Congress. It's not for a two-year period." On ABC's This Week, Graham also reiterated his willingness to drop the pledge, while former George W. Bush strategist Matthew Dowd quipped, nonsensically, "the only good thing about Grover Norquist is that he was named after a character from Sesame Street."
Nov. 26, 2012:?Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, also considered a moderate and leading GOP voice on fiscal matters, told CBS's Charlie Rose he would not be bound by his promise. "I'm not obligated on the pledge," he said. "I made Tennesseans aware, I was just elected, the only thing I'm honoring is the oath I take when I serve, when I'm sworn in this January."
So what does this all mean? The names of those who have come out against the pledge ? from the old-line, moderate Republican Poppy Bush to the quintessentially heterdox McCain ? are hardly surprises, and they're not enough to declare Norquist's influence dead. There are still 217 members of the House and 39 members of the Senate who are signatories. But Norquist may indeed lose this battle. He's already struggling with messaging. During an appearance at the Washington Ideas Forum on Nov. 15, MSNBC's Chuck Todd repeatedly pressed Norquist on why there was no mandate to raise taxes on the wealthy. After all, President Obama had campaigned and won on raising taxes for the wealthy; a majority of respondents in exit polls and other surveys say they back the move. The normally pithy Norquist seemed to have no answer.
Some of these disavowals may be more bark than bite. Norquist, publicly at least, isn't sweating it. "I don't think between now and 2014 that either the South Carolina senator or the Georgia senator will vote for a tax increase," he told The Washington Post. While the lawmakers make great show of trampling on the pledge, few of them have expressly avowed their support for a tax increase. McCain, for example, said he favored closing loopholes. Norquist, at WIF, argued that lowering taxes was actually the way to meet moderate Republican desires and raise revenue ? although that relies on an economic theory that is disputed at best. And many of these dissenters have premised their willingness to violate the pledge on major reforms to entitlement programs, a vague and high bar that may be tough to achieve.
It's worth looking at these developments through a 2016 prism, too. Jeb Bush is already making noises about a run for president in four years. His family's past relationship with taxes is complicated. His father raised them in the name of fiscal discipline, and paid the political price. His brother, President George W. Bush, introduced the cuts that are due to expire at year's end, at the expense of greatly expanding the deficit. That deficit expansion makes the Bush name somewhat tarnished on fiscal matters; by disavowing the pledge, Jeb Bush can position himself as a pragmatic budget thinker, ready to reduce the national debt by all means necessary.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/timeline-gop-snubs-grover-norquist-no-tax-raise-153026890--politics.html
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Sunday, November 25, 2012
Palermo beats Catania 3-1 in Sicilian derby
Associated Press Sports
updated 5:36 p.m. ET Nov. 24, 2012
PALERMO, Sicily (AP) -Fabrizio Miccoli marked his return from injury with his 100th Serie A goal as Palermo beat archrivals Catania 3-1 in the Sicilian derby on Saturday.
Miccoli, who was making his first appearance after three weeks out, gave Palermo the lead in the 10th minute. Josip Ilicic scored twice after the break to all but seal the match for Palermo.
Ilicic's second was a stunner after the Slovenia midfielder had run over half the length of the pitch.
Francesco Lodi grabbed a consolation for Catania with a brilliant free kick.
It was only Palermo's second victory in the last eight Sicilian derby matches against Catania in the top flight. It last won two years ago, by the same scoreline.
Catania has not won away from home since February.
Palermo was missing the suspended Samir Ujkani, Edgar Barreto and Carlos Labrin following their red cards against Bologna last weekend, but welcomed back Miccoli.
And it was Miccoli who gave it the lead when he gathered a cross on the edge of the area and fired into the top right corner.
Franco Brienza thought he had doubled its lead in the 22nd minute after he forced his way into the area with a series of dribbles past Nicolas Spolli but Catania goalkeeper Mariano Andujar did brilliantly to palm his effort onto the crossbar from close range.
Palermo counterpart Francesco Benussi did well at the other end to palm away Lodi's fierce free kick in first-half stoppage time.
The home side doubled its lead four minutes after the break following some good work by Brienza on the right of the area. He was tripped but the ball rolled to Ilicic who smashed it home.
Ilicic grabbed his second of the game on the hour mark, racing downfield from inside his own half before bamboozling Lodi and beating Andujar at his near post.
Lodi atoned for his error moments later, curling in a stunning free kick.
Palermo could have extended its advantage several times in the closing stages. Brienza raced into the area, drawing Andujar to him before slotting across to Michel Morganella, whose shot was cleared off the line by a lunging Spolli.
Teenager Paulo Dybala also had a late chance following a counterattack as he dribbled his way into the area, past Giovanni Marchese, but Andujar pulled off a fantastic save.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsMan United back on top
Manchester United fought back to beat Queens Park Rangers 3-1 on Saturday, provisionally reclaiming top spot while condemning the bottom-placed team to the worst start any Premier League side has made after 13 games.
Arsenal held to 0-0 draw at Aston Villa
??BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -Arsenal endured its third 0-0 draw of the English Premier League season, allowing Aston Villa to climb out of the relegation zone on Saturday.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44461168/ns/sports-soccer/
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Steelers turn ball and game over to Browns
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 3:52 p.m. ET Nov. 25, 2012
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Pittsburgh Steelers have more to worry about than starting a 37-year-old, third-string quarterback.
Their playoff lives are in peril.
Chris Rainey's fumble with 2:25 left - Pittsburgh's seventh turnover - was recovered by Cleveland's Phil Taylor and the Browns handed their hated rivals a potentially devastating loss, 20-14 on Sunday.
Charlie Batch, forced to start at quarterback for Pittsburgh because of injuries to Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich, was picked off three times and the Steelers (6-5) lost five fumbles, the last on a final-play lateral to help the Browns (3-8) beat Pittsburgh for just the second time in 18 games.
Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden sustained a head injury in the final minutes, allowing backup Colt McCoy to come in and finish off a victory that Cleveland fans will savor long after this season ends.
Rookie Trent Richardson rushed for 85 yards, scoring the go-ahead touchdown for the Browns on a 15-yard run in the third.
Batch finished 20 of 34 for 199 yards.
For one of the few times in recent years, the Browns were finally able to win a close game. And this one had to please new owner Jimmy Haslam, who had a minority share of the Steelers before buying the Browns for $1.05 billion in August.
One of his goals was to revive one of the NFL's fiercest rivalries, which has been shaded in yellow and black for most of the past decade. Even with the loss, Pittsburgh is 23-5 against Cleveland since 1999, but in each of the seasons they lost one game to the Browns, the Steelers missed the playoffs.
That could happen again. Pittsburgh came in trailing first-place Baltimore by two games in the AFC North, and will visit the Ravens next week.
Coach Mike Tomlin has a lot to work on before then.
All four Pittsburgh running backs fumbled and while Batch didn't necessarily hurt the Steelers, he didn't make enough big plays either. The Steelers were also called for several holding penalties that slowed drives.
Wide receiver Plaxico Burress, re-signed by the Steelers during the week, did not have a reception but did draw an interference penalty in the end zone.
Weeden finished 17 of 26 for 158 yards, but the 29-year-old was taken to the locker room in the closing minutes. He banged his head on the leg of teammate Joe Thomas as he fell to the ground and got up groggily. The Browns then turned to McCoy, their former starter who sustained a concussion the last time the Browns faced the Steelers on a vicious hit by James Harrison.
Pittsburgh lost linebacker LaMarr Woodley in the first half with a left ankle injury.
Phil Dawson kicked field goals of 28 and 32 yards for the Browns.
Cleveland's fourth takeaway set up Richardson's TD run.
Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown, picked on during the Steelers' late scoring drive in the first half, intercepted Batch at Pittsburgh's 31.
Two completions by Weeden got it to the 10, and after a false-start penalty, Richardson burst up the middle, ran through some arm tackles and scored to make it 20-14.
The Steelers led 14-13 at halftime despite losing three fumbles, converting just one third down and keeping Batch under wraps.
One play after Brown was called for pushing Burress in the end zone, Rainey, on the field only because the three Pittsburgh running backs ahead of him fumbled, scored on a 1-yard TD run after being stopped for no gain.
Rainey was stuffed on a carry over center by several Browns, who knocked him backward. Rainey, though, kept his legs moving and ran untouched into the end zone with 1 second left before halftime.
The Browns capitalized on a fumble by Isaac Redman when Weeden hit tight end Jordan Cameron for a 5-yard TD, giving Cleveland a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
Redman fumbled at Pittsburgh's 10 and when he came to the sideline, he and Rashard Mendenhall, who coughed the ball up earlier to set up a field goal for the Browns, got an earful from running backs coach Kirby Wilson.
Weeden had been struggling in the red zone of late, but he hooked with Cameron, who scored his first career TD.
Cleveland was winning the battle of field position, pinning Pittsburgh deep and daring Batch to try and throw and beat them. He had little success, and the Browns took a 13-7 lead on Dawson's 32-yarder, making him 21 of 21 this season.
It took the Steelers just 71 seconds to take a 7-0 lead.
On Cleveland's third play, Weeden's pass to Greg Little was tipped at the line by Steelers end Brett Keisel and caught on the fly by Lawrence Timmons, who took it back 53 yards.
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? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Peyton's 2 TDs lead Broncos to 6th straight win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Peyton Manning threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns, and the Denver Broncos rallied to beat the woeful Kansas City Chiefs 17-9 on Sunday for their sixth straight win.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49957847/ns/sports-nfl/
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