heller yowl: 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Cast your vote for the year's weirdest science

Kyoto U. / INAH / The Daily Citizen / NBC

The weirdest science stories of 2011 include (clockwise from top left) the one about the game-playing chimps, the update on the 2012 Maya apocalypse, a bird-death epidemic and the zodiac debate.

By Alan Boyle

Even with the supposed Mayan doomsday coming up, it's going to be hard for?2012 to match 2011 when it comes to weird science: What other year can boast a bird-killing?"aflockalypse," a chupacabra prowling around?the nation's capital, two Loch Ness-type monster sightings and two doomsday predictions. (News flash: The predictions?were wrong.)

That's why the Weird Science Awards exist: To pay tribute to the strange but scientific (or pseudo-scientific) tales of each year. This year's?winners of the fifth annual Weirdies will take their place alongside glow-in-the-dark cats and dogs, reattached rabbit penises, the 2,700-year-old marijuana stash and the Stone Age sex toy as talismans of this wacky age.

We're offering 30 nominees from the past year, and it's up to you to pick the top 10 award-winners. One of the nominees ? the one about pee pressure ? is a?laureate from this year's Ig Nobel award ceremony, which honors "research that makes people laugh and then think." You can use that as your judging criterion, or you can go for the article that makes you laugh, and then ask, "What on earth?were they thinking?"

Write-in votes and second-guessing are encouraged;?you can register them in your comments below.

The 10 nominees that get the most votes as of noon ET on Jan. 3 will be recognized as the 2012 Weirdy winners, and to mark the occasion, we'll review the year in weird science on Wednesday with Ig Nobel creator Marc Abrahams.

Live Poll

Weirdest story of 2011?

171809
Animals die in 'Aflockalypse'
7%
171810
Pole-shift makeover
5%
171811
13th zodiac sign
4%
171812
Tiny periodic table
2%
171813
Gorilla walks like human
3%
171814
Zombie ants
17%
171815
'Bownessie' pictures
0%
171819
Weird-life debate
1%
171820
Flies on meth
5%
171821
Chimps play games
2%
171822
He-she birds
1%
171823
Nessie in Alaska?
3%
171824
Cryonics founder frozen
1%
171825
Dog's off-and-on glow
4%
171826
Undersea anomaly
1%
171827
Orange goo in Alaska
3%
171828
Chupacabra or fox?
1%
171829
Rock, paper ... win!
2%
171830
Tool-using dolphins
3%
171831
Corpse-dissolving machine
4%
171832
Cleverbot passes test
0%
171833
Tool-using fish
2%
171834
Pee pressure
4%
171835
Doomsayer doubly wrong
6%
171836
Holding hands for 1,500 years
2%
171837
The devil in the fresco
0%
171838
New brick in Maya legend
3%
171839
77,000-year-old beds
0%
171840
Shroud made in a flash?
3%
171841
Samoa skips Friday
3%
171842
None of the above
9%

VoteTotal Votes: 278

Here are the nominees from the past year, in chronological order:

Review the nominees, then cast your vote. We'll?talk about the winners?next Wednesday on "Virtually Speaking Science." In the meantime, take a walk down memory lane with these Weirdies from past years:

More year-end reviews:

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.?

Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/28/9779631-its-boom-time-for-weird-science

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Baby Turns President Obama Picture Into Pure Comedy! [Video]

During a photo in which President Obama is holding a baby, the child digs his fingers into Obama?s mouth, spurring some laughter from the President. The rest of CNN?s video clip shows Obama mingling with Marines and their family members in Hawaii. Michelle Obama also attends.

Tags: Barack Obama, funny, News, obama, President

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bossiprss/~3/JIZivdD_mLA/

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Florida Panthers stars of future on display

As much fun as Panthers management is having watching their team lead the Southeast Division and compete for their first playoff berth since 2000, they really can?t wait for their future.

A good number of players who will likely star for the Panthers in the coming years will be on display starting Monday in the World Junior Hockey Championships being held in Alberta, Canada.

?This has always been the plan,?? assistant general manager Mike Santos said. ?I?m glad we?re having success this year, and a lot of that comes from the players we signed last summer. But the plan is to draft well and then develop them. And that comes by not rushing them, leaving them in college or junior hockey. We don?t want to rush players into the NHL. This is still a three-, four-year plan. We think we have a real good organization, especially when those players are developed.??

Florida has five players competing for the United States and Canada alone. All five of those players ? led by Canada?s Jonathan Huberdeau and Quinton Howden, as well as center Nick Bjugstad of Team USA ? could be on the Panthers roster within the next two seasons.

The Panthers have a total of seven top prospects competing in the 10-day tournament. Erik Gudbranson would have played for Canada as well, but he has played in 27 games with the Panthers.

?If you have seven guys in that tournament, it means your scouts did a pretty good job,?? general manager Dale Tallon said. ?Our future looks very bright. These are all very good players who are playing on the world stage. This is good for them. It?s a tough tournament to play in, and it?s tough to make these teams. We?re real pleased with the development process and our depth chart.??

One player the Panthers have extreme interest in watching is Bjugstad, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota. Florida took the 6-4 center with the 19th overall pick in 2010 and is expecting him to become a top-two-line player for the Panthers in the next couple of seasons.

Bjugstad, 19, has 16 goals and 11 assists for the Gophers this season but has been slowed by an undisclosed injury and missed the first two exhibition games for Team USA leading into Monday?s opening game against Denmark. Bjugstad is expected to be paired with Minnesota linemate Kyle Rau ? whom Florida took in 2011.

Florida fans may have the most interest in watching Huberdeau, the third overall pick in the 2011 draft.

Huberdeau, 18, led the Panthers in scoring during the preseason ? although, to be fair, he played in more games than most of the regulars.

Florida management said Huberdeau played well enough to make the Panthers out of training camp this summer, but they sent him back to his junior team in Quebec for not only more seasoning but physical maturity.

Huberdeau has missed time this season with a broken foot but has been medically cleared to play.

Howden missed all of Panthers training camp after sustaining a concussion in a rookie game against Nashville and has been out after having similar symptoms after being hit by Team Canada teammate Brett Connolly during a scrimmage. Like Huberdeau, Howden has also been cleared to play.

The Panthers don?t plan on doing much scouting at the tournament since most of the players have already been drafted. Director of amateur scouting Scott Luce and a number of his scouts will be there, although Santos and Tallon don?t plan on attending. ?It?s more of a place to be seen than anything else,?? Santos said.

That doesn?t mean Tallon and Santos won?t be watching. The tournament is now televised in the U.S. on NHL Network where in years past, the tournament could only be seen in Canada ? where it is as revered as the NCAA basketball tournament is in the States.

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5663407292

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Cranky croc steals Aussie zoo worker's lawn mower

Elvis, a giant saltwater crocodile swims next to a lawnmower in his pool at the Australian Reptile Park at Gosford, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The 16-foot (5-meter), 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) crocodile lunged out of its lagoon at a park worker tending to the lawn before stealing his lawn mower. (AP Photo/Libby Bain) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Visitors watch as Elvis, a giant saltwater crocodile swims next to a lawnmower in his pool at the Australian Reptile Park at Gosford, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. The 16-foot (5-meter), 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) crocodile lunged out of its lagoon at a park worker tending to the lawn before stealing his lawn mower. (AP Photo/Libby Bain) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

SYDNEY (AP) ? A giant saltwater crocodile named Elvis with an apparent affinity for household machinery charged at an Australian reptile park worker Wednesday before stealing his lawn mower.

Tim Faulkner, operations manager at the Australian Reptile Park, north of Sydney, was one of three workers tending to the lawn in Elvis' enclosure when he heard reptile keeper Billy Collett yelp. Faulkner looked up to see the 16-foot (5-meter), 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) crocodile lunging out of its lagoon at Collett, who warded the creature off with his mower.

"Before we knew it, the croc had the mower above his head," Faulkner said. "He got his jaws around the top of the mower and picked it up and took it underwater with him."

The workers quickly left the enclosure. Elvis, meanwhile, showed no signs of relinquishing his new toy and guarded it closely all morning.

Eventually, Faulkner realized he had no other choice but to go back for the mower.

Collett lured Elvis to the opposite end of the lagoon with a heaping helping of kangaroo meat while Faulkner plunged, fully clothed, into the water. Before grabbing the mower, however, he had to search the bottom of the lagoon for two 3-inch (7-centimeter) teeth Elvis lost during the encounter. He quickly found them and escaped from the pool, unharmed and with mower in tow.

Though many may question the wisdom of going after a couple of teeth with a massive crocodile lurking just feet away, Faulkner said finding them was critical. "They clog up the filter systems," he said.

And, he said, "They're a nice souvenir."

Elvis has a history of crankiness and has lunged at staff before, though this is the first time he has stolen something from one of the workers. The croc was initially captured in the northern Australian city of Darwin, where he had been attacking fishing boats. He was then moved to a crocodile farm, where he proceeded to kill his two crocodile girlfriends.

In 2008, he was moved to the reptile park, where he has enjoyed solitary confinement in his own enclosure.

"When they are the dominant croc, they're just full of testosterone," Faulkner said. "He's got his beautiful own yard, he wants to be a solitary creature. He's happy."

Despite having to give up the lawn mower, Elvis was clearly pleased with himself, Faulkner said.

"He's beaten us today ... he's kingpin," Faulkner said. "He's going to be walking around with his chest puffed out all day."

As for the staff at the reptile park?

"I can't lie, the bosses are not going to be happy about the cost of a new lawn mower," Faulkner said with a laugh. "(But) we love it. No one's injured ... and when you get scared and it all turns out to be good, it's actually quite enjoyable."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2011-12-28-AS-Australia-Klepto-Crocodile/id-6d5f8f601bde4394b82ce38572fc1d68

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Back in campaign mode, presidential hopefuls focus (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? Republicans in search of their party's presidential nomination are returning to campaign mode after a brief Christmas respite, with Rick Santorum planning a hunting trip with conservatives in Iowa and Mitt Romney phoning supporters.

With just a week until Iowa holds its leadoff caucuses and many caucus-goers undecided, the final push ahead of the Jan. 3 contests was heading into a critical time. Campaigns planned new television ads and phone calls to persuade holdouts still weighing their options.

Romney, who kept this state at arm's length for most of the year, seemed to increase his efforts in Iowa as polls found him in a stronger position. He planned to talk with supporters in a series of telephone calls here and to New Hampshire and Florida on Monday between working on a speech that aides described as his final pitch to Iowans. Romney planned to deliver that speech Tuesday evening and then set out on a bus tour of Iowa.

However, he was to share the highways with Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. All scheduled bus tours to start then, too.

Each is running out of time and looking to derail Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who seems to have the most sophisticated network of volunteers ready to organize for the caucuses. Paul was to return to Iowa this week to meet with supporters he has kept in touch with since his unsuccessful run in 2008.

Others, too, were ready to turn on their own political machines and put fresh ads on the air.

Gingrich, who last week criticized the negative tone of the campaign, was preparing to directly challenge Romney on the economy, an issue Romney has made central to his campaign. Gingrich's standing in public and private polls has slipped as he faced unrelenting criticism from the candidates and their allies.

Gingrich was expected to use clips from Romney's previous campaigns distancing himself from President Ronald Reagan and pitch his own economic plan as "Reaganomics 2.0." Gingrich also was expected to compare Romney's tax plan with his own.

Romney released a new TV ad in Iowa on Monday that touts him as a conservative businessman and in which he says "it is a moral imperative for America to stop spending more money than we take in."

"It's killing jobs and it's keeping our kids from having the bright prospects they deserve," he says in the spot. "The experience of balancing budgets is desperately needed in Washington and I will take it there."

Santorum, meanwhile, planned to announce support from another wave of Iowa conservatives. He scheduled a pheasant hunting trip in Adel for Monday afternoon. While he trails in polls and has not spent significant money on ads, Santorum is hoping his nonstop courtship of Iowans yields a late surge. He visited all 99 of Iowa's counties during the summer ? an accomplishment Bachmann has feverishly tried to replicate.

Bachmann, a congresswoman from Minnesota, last week darted through small towns, reminding voters that Santorum lost his 2006 re-election bid in a blowout and that Paul's foreign policy views were outside the party's orthodoxy.

Looking to recapture voters' interest, her plan was to return to hand-to-hand campaigning Tuesday and paint herself as the only acceptable conservative in the race.

"You can always count on me to stay true to my word and put America and Americans first," she said in a fundraising email sent Monday. "I am the consistent conservative who will put our nation back on a path towards prosperity and restore our values to government."

Perry, too, was looking to keep up the message that his rivals are insiders unable to change Washington. He planned to resume his tour bus on Tuesday.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman kept his focus on New Hampshire. Huntsman said early in the campaign that he would not compete in Iowa and instead make his start in New Hampshire, which comes second on the nominating calendar with a Jan. 10 primary.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_el_ge/us_gop_campaign

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Biden calls Iraqi leaders amid concerns over violence, sectarian strife in government (Star Tribune)

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Simpcw First Nation and District of Barriere join together for Chinese Consulate and investor tour

Published: December 23, 2011 1:00 PM

There was just enough snow to make it look like Christmas last Thursday when the Simpcw First Nation bus picked up seven? Chinese dignitaries and businessmen from the Kamloops airport. ? Escorting the visitors for a two day tour of the North Thompson Valley from Louis Creek to Blue River was Simpcw Band Councillor Tina Donald (who also drove the bus) and District of Barriere Economic Development Officer Andrew Hayward.

The two-day tour itinerary included a number of stops including; the Wildfire Monument Site at Louis Creek, a tour of Barriere Southgate Industrial Park, a stop at the future site of the Simpcw First Nation planned Eco Heritage Park in Barriere, a tour of Gilbert Smith Forest Products, a tour of Barriere Industrial Park, lunch at the District Office, a stop at the North Thompson Agriplex and Fall Fair facility, a stop in Vavenby at the Yellowhead Mining office, a tour of Blue River, and a helicopter tour of Blue River Peaks and Saddle Mountain.

Lunch at the District office was an informal affair which gave the visitors an opportunity to meet other community members including; Acting Mayor Bill Kershaw (Mayor Humphreys being unable to attend due to a prior commitment), councillors Virginia Smith and Amanda Sabyan, Thompson-Okanagan Regional manager Myles Bruns, Chamber of Commerce president Scott Kershaw and vice-president Kevin Bryant, and TNRD Director Bonnie CruzelleMyram,

The visitors thanked the District, Chamber and Simpcw for their hospitality and said they were very impressed with what the area had to offer, and though some had never been here before they would most certainly return.

Gifts were exchanged.? The guests presented Acting Mayor Bill Kershaw with a traditional Chinese art book, and the District presented all the visitors with a Barriere pin and information book.

Economic Development Officer Andrew Hayward said he felt the visit was very positive and was most encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by their guests.

? Jill Hayward

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Israel Sells US Military Tech To China Again (Last post on 12/26/2011 at 05:33 AM PST)

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Monday, December 26, 2011

AP Enterprise: Paul's nonprofits push law's limit (Star Tribune)

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PASTOR BEATS WOMAN AT CHURCH - Claims he was exorcising demons within her

Members of a church in northern St Catherine say they are very upset about an incident last Sunday when their pastor beat a church member with a macka stick to exorcise demons.

The woman, a teacher, is said to have been beaten with the stick and a Bible after the pastor began walking up and down and then decided to exorcise the demons within her.

A member of the church told THE WEEKEND STAR that the pastor came from the altar with other elders and first began beating the woman in the face with the Bible.

It is alleged that the woman normally suffers from depression and was receiving counselling for her problems.

One member said, "Mi cah believe how the woman get beat suh bad, and the pastor deh nuh easy. A Bellevue him fi guh, cause a him mad."

The source further said that the pastor had commented before the incident that; "I plan to beat someone in church today. Me a bad man fi God and mi nuh fraid a nobody."

He is said to have then pro-ceeded to beat her in the face with the Bible and the stick.

Attempts by THE WEEKEND STAR to speak to the woman proved futile and we were told by a friend that she was too embarrassed to speak about the incident

An ordained minister, however, when questioned about such incidents said that it's not usually done in the church denomination in which it occurred; "But this has happened before. There was a case that I am aware of, where a leader used a piece of board to beat one member said to be demon possessed unconscious and the person actually died."

He further said, "However, the persons intentions were possibly honourable but it can still end badly. These things come out of rivalist traditions, but human interest must always be protected."

Source: http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20111223/news/news1.html

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

China film stirs passions anew before Japan PM visit

By Sally Huang and Ben Blanchard

BEIJING | Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:28am IST

BEIJING (Reuters) - When Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda arrives in China on Sunday, a new blockbuster movie will ensure that the foremost image of the Japanese in many Chinese people's minds will once again be of the country's brutal wartime misdeeds.

The story of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, around which Zhang Yimou's "The Flowers of War" is set, is taught from a young age in China, and countless television serials, documentaries and books ensure the topic is never out of the public eye for long.

Since going on wide release last week, the film, which stars Hollywood actor Christian Bale, has played to sell-out audiences who weep openly during its more disturbing scenes, and has taken 200 million yuan ($31.6 million) at the box office to date.

The film has won top-level political support. Its opening night was held in a government building and it is China's Oscar entry for best foreign language film, though it has received rather tepid reviews in the United States.

And director Zhang, who once made edgy films that challenged conventions, has since gone mainstream. He is now firmly viewed as a national hero after orchestrating the dazzling opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"The Flowers of War", with its dark hints of necrophilia and male rape and scenes of graphic violence, resembles in parts Chinese government-made anti-Japanese propaganda films, and it is certainly having that effect on many in the audience.

"What horrible people the Japanese are," said student Zhao Lan, after going to a packed showing at a Beijing cinema. "How can they be that crazy and mad!"

"The Japanese soldiers are terrible, and I cannot understand why they still do not want to apologize for their wrongdoings," added a man who gave his surname as Sun.

China says invading Japanese troops slaughtered 300,000 men, women and children in Nanjing, then known as Nanking. An Allied tribunal after World War Two put the death toll at about 142,000.

The film has also triggered a surge of anti-Japanese comments on China's popular Twitter-like microblogs.

"After watching that film, my hatred of Japan has suddenly deepened!" wrote "Ruruzh" on Sina's Weibo.

"We should take action now and boycott all Japanese products!" added "De Meigao".

Some web users suggested Noda see the film when he is in China on his two-day visit, his first since taking office in September.

"I suggest Premier Wen invite Noda to watch the film, and take history as a mirror," wrote "Chen YumoOOOOOO" on portal sina.com.

Both Zhang and Bale have said they did not intend to make a film to whip up anti-Japanese sentiment or hatred.

"I do not think people will be so narrow-minded as to hate someone just after watching a film," Zhang told Reuters this month. "Today's world is somewhere people all wish for peace, and want to live happily with others. Art is only art."

Bale, who landed himself in the government's bad books by trying to visit a detained rights lawyer before leaving China, said that if the film ended up promoting hate, "that would be the worst outcome for me".

"Any war movie that intended that, clearly should not be made. Any movie concerning war should have its aim to be the opposite of that -- it should be reconciliation, it should be understanding," he told Reuters.

Sino-Japanese ties have been shadowed for years by what Beijing says has been Tokyo's refusal to admit to atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in the country between 1931 and 1945.

Some Japanese historians say the Nanjing Massacre has been exaggerated and some conservatives deny there was even a massacre at all, prompting howls of complaints from China.

($1 = 6.3387 Chinese yuan)

(Additional reporting by Reuters Television; editing by Elaine Lies and Ron Popeski)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INhollywood/~3/w0RqgYda_h8/film-us-china-japan-movie-idINTRE7BM0A420111223

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

StormTrack9Dave: Blog Update: An update of storm damage reports from Calhoun & Rome #CHAwx http://t.co/w7rNTzFi

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Tired of your face? Use Face Swap to try your friend's on for size

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find your face on somebody else's body, or vice versa? Microsoft Research has finally addressed that oh-so-critical need with a Windows Phone app called Face Swap. Essentially, the free app can take an image of multiple people and trade faces with the others in the group, and then let you share the new photo on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, we're not sure the person you swapped faces with will enjoy it as much as you did, but that's the downfall of social networks, right?

Tired of your face? Use Face Swap to try your friend's on for size originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Firefighters union resumes federal contributions (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The International Association of Firefighters union said Monday it would resume making federal campaign contributions after seeing lawmakers commit new resources to public safety and speak out more forcefully against anti-union measures in Ohio, Wisconsin and other states.

The announcement should come as welcome news to Democrats, who will need strong union support if they want to hold on to their majority in the Senate and have a chance at retaking the House.

The firefighters union ? a reliable supporter of mostly Democratic candidates ? made a splash in April when it stopped donating cash to congressional campaigns and redirected resources to state fights. At the time, union officials said lawmakers were taking firefighters' support for granted.

"Our frustration was a lack of voice on the battles that we're facing out across the states," union president Harold Schaitberger said in an interview. "We wanted them to at least step up, use their political standing and ability to help us fight back."

Schaitberger praised Democratic House and Senate lawmakers for spending time and money to help overturn an Ohio law last month that restricted collective bargaining rights for public employees. Democratic leaders in the House are also helping with union efforts to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who pushed his own measure limiting union rights.

On the federal agenda, Schaitberger said he was pleased that part of the massive spending bill Congress passed over the weekend that includes $730 million in grants for local fire departments. The money will translate into jobs for about 7,000 firefighters and paramedics who were laid off or waiting to fill posts that were vacant due to budget cuts.

The 300,000-member union is an influential force in politics. Candidates seek out the union's valuable endorsement so they can use it in campaign ads and hold press events where they are flanked by uniformed firefighters.

The union spent nearly $15 million on behalf of federal candidates in 2010, including nearly $2.4 million in direct contributions. Its political action committee, known as FIREPAC, was ranked 10th out of more than 7,100 such groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Halting federal contributions for nine months allowed the union to target more resources to the states, where a number of state legislatures moved to curb collective bargaining rights for public employees. Many GOP officials ? and even some Democrats ? blamed generous wage and pension benefits in union contracts for creating budget shortfalls.

The move to cut off federal contributions apparently got the attention of congressional leaders. Soon after that, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi organized a rally against the state actions and encouraged Democrats to go out into their districts and speak out against measures limiting union rights.

Schaitberger said contributions would flow again, but warned that it wouldn't be "business as usual." He said the union would hold lawmakers accountable and make sure that support is earned.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111219/ap_on_go_co/us_unions_campaign_cash

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Monday, December 19, 2011

AP-GfK Poll: More than half say Obama should lose (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Entering 2012, President Barack Obama's re-election prospects are essentially a 50-50 proposition, with a majority saying the president deserves to be voted out of office despite concerns about the Republican alternatives, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Obama's overall poll numbers suggest he's in jeopardy of losing, even as the public's outlook on the economy appears to be improving, the AP-GfK poll found. For the first time since spring, more said the economy got better in the past month than said it got worse.

The president's approval rating on unemployment shifted upward ? from 40 percent in October to 45 percent in the latest poll ? as the jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent last month, its lowest level since March 2009.

But Obama's approval rating on his handling of the economy overall remains stagnant: 39 percent approve and 60 percent disapprove.

Heading into his re-election campaign, the president faces a conflicted public that does not support his steering of the economy, the most dominant issue for Americans, or his reforms to health care, one of his signature accomplishments. Yet they are grappling with whether to replace him with Republican contenders Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich.

The poll found an even divide on whether Americans expect Obama to be re-elected next year.

For the first time, the poll found that a majority of adults, 52 percent, said Obama should be voted out of office while 43 percent said he deserves another term. The numbers mark a reversal since last May, when 53 percent said Obama should be re-elected while 43 percent said he didn't deserve four more years.

Obama's overall job approval stands at a new low: 44 percent approve while 54 percent disapprove. The president's standing among independents is worse: 38 percent approve while 59 percent disapprove. Among Democrats, the president holds steady with an approval rating of 78 percent while only 12 percent of Republicans approve of the job he's doing.

"I think he's doing the best he can. The problem is the Congress won't help at all," said Rosario Navarro, a Democrat and a 44-year-old truck driver from Fresno, Calif., who voted for Obama in 2008 and intends to support him again.

Robin Dein, a 54-year-old homemaker from Villanova, Pa., who is an independent, said she supported Republican John McCain in 2008 and has not been impressed with Obama's economic policies. She intends to support Romney if he wins the GOP nomination.

"(Obama) spent the first part of his presidency blaming Bush for everything, not that he was innocent, and now his way of solving anything is by spending more money," she said.

Despite the soft level of support, many are uncertain whether a Republican president would be a better choice. Asked whom they would support next November, 47 percent of adults favored Obama compared with 46 percent for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. Against Gingrich, the president holds a solid advantage, receiving 51 percent compared with 42 percent for the former House speaker.

The potential matchups paint a better picture for the president among independents. Obama receives 45 percent of non-aligned adults compared with 41 percent for Romney. Against Gingrich, Obama holds a wide lead among independents, with 54 percent supporting the president and 31 percent backing the former Georgia congressman.

Another piece of good news for Obama: people generally like him personally. Obama's personal favorability rating held steady at 53 percent, with 46 percent viewing him unfavorably. About three-quarters called him likable.

The economy remains a source of pessimism, though the poll suggests the first positive movement in public opinion on the economy in months. One in five said the economy improved in the last month, double the share saying so in October. Still most expect it to stay the same or get worse.

"I suppose you could make some sort of argument that it's getting better, but I'm not sure I even see that," said independent voter John Bailey, a 61-year-old education consultant from East Jordan, Mich. "I think it's bad and it's gotten worse under (Obama's) policies. At best, it's going to stay bad."

Despite the high rate of joblessness, the poll found some optimism on the economy. Although 80 percent described the economy as "poor," respondents describing it "very poor" fell from 43 percent in October to 34 percent in the latest poll, the lowest since May. Twenty percent said the economy got better in the past month while 37 percent said they expected the economy to improve next year.

Yet plenty of warning signs remain for Obama. Only 26 percent said the United States is headed in the right direction while 70 percent said the country was moving in the wrong direction.

The president won a substantial number of women voters in 2008 yet there does not appear to be a significant tilt toward Obama among women now. The poll found 44 percent of women say Obama deserves a second term, down from 51 percent in October, while 43 percent of men say the president should be re-elected.

About two-thirds of white voters without college degrees say Obama should be a one-term president, while 33 percent of those voters say he should get another four years. Among white voters with a college degree, 57 percent said Obama should be voted out of office.

The poll found unpopularity for last year's health care reform bill, one of Obama's major accomplishments. About half of the respondents oppose the health care law and support for it dipped to 29 percent from 36 percent in June. Just 15 percent said the federal government should have the power to require all Americans to buy health insurance.

Even among Democrats, the health care law has tepid support. Fifty percent of Democrats supported the health care law, compared with 59 percent of Democrats last June. Only about a quarter of independents back the law.

The president has taken a more populist tone in his handling of the economy, arguing that the wealthy should pay more in taxes to help pay for the extension of a payroll tax cut that would provide about $1,000 in tax cuts to a family earning about $50,000 a year. Among those with annual household incomes of $50,000 or less, Obama's approval rating on unemployment climbed to 53 percent, from 43 percent in October.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted December 8-12 2011 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

___

Associated Press writer Stacy A. Anderson and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

___

Online: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_poll

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Stocks higher amid upbeat euro outlook

By msnbc.com news services

Wall Street moved higher Friday as investors were attracted to risk assets, with the euro higher and key euro zone bond yields down.

Reflecting improved investor confidence, benchmark Italian bond yields stabilized below 7 percent and Spanish yields also fell. Still, worries persisted over possible sovereign credit downgrades to the euro zone members.

European shares were slightly lower, but mining stocks rose, tracking metals. Copper prices added nearly 2.3 percent.

The euro rose against the U.S. dollar in a rebound from recent losses.

Stocks continued to be supported by strong U.S. data from Thursday, according to Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis.

"The reality is this morning, (jobless) claims are still way down, manufacturing sectors had a nice pop and that provides a nice floor to the market," he said.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to a 3-1/2-year low last week and factory activity in parts of the Northeast picked up in December, data showed Thursday.

Online gamesmaker Zynga Inc was expected to make a strong debut on the Nasdaq Friday after it priced its initial public offering at $10 per share, the top end of its range.

U.S. consumer prices were flat in November as Americans paid less for cars and gasoline, while the 12-month inflation reading fell for the second straight month, which could give the Federal Reserve more room to help a still-weak economy.

Paulsen said that subdued inflation will be a long-term positive as consumers benefit from contained prices.

"That's one of the reasons you're seeing better consumer (confidence) of late," he said.

Research In Motion Ltd posted a sharp drop in profit on Thursday, offered a dismal outlook for BlackBerry shipments during the holidays and delayed an overhaul of its smartphones. The stock dropped nearly 10 percent to $13.64 in premarket trading.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/16/9493790-stocks-higher-amid-upbeat-euro-outlook

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Philippines storm, floods kill more than 250

MANILA, Philippines?? More than 250 people were killed and almost twice that number were missing after a typhoon hit the southern Philippines, officials said on Saturday, triggering flash floods and landslides and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

Typhoon Washi, with winds gusting up to 56 mph, hit the resource-rich island of Mindanao late on Friday, bringing heavy rain that also grounded some domestic flights and left wide areas without power.

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) said 256 people were killed in flash floods in Mindanao and another island. Soldiers and police were recovering more bodies washed ashore in nearby towns.

"The death toll might still rise because there are still a lot of missing people," said Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the PNRC.

Photoblog: Storm, floods hits south Philippines

She said the hardest-hit areas were in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.

Almost 400 people were unaccounted for, most of them from a coastal village in Iligan. Houses were swept into the sea by floodwaters while people were sleeping inside late on Friday.

The latest Red Cross figures put the death toll in Iligan at 144. Another 86 were killed in Cagayan de Oro, many of them children.

Five miners were killed in a landslide in Monkayo on Mindanao and another 21 people drowned on the central island of Negros, the PNRC said.

The national disaster agency put the death toll at 131, but other government officials also said at least 256 people had been killed.

The Philippines social welfare department said about 100,000 people were displaced and brought to more than a dozen shelters in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.??

Villages 'swept to the sea'
Teddy Sabuga-a, a disaster officer in Misamis Oriental province, said 60 people were rescued in waters off El Salvador city, about 6 miles northwest of Cagayan de Oro, after they were swept to the sea by a raging river, and about 120 more were rescued off Opol township, closer to the city.

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He said an island in the middle of the Cagayan de Oro river was inundated, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or people missing.

Cruz said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river.

The floodwaters were waist-high in some neighborhoods that do not usually experience flooding. Scores of residents escaped the floods by climbing onto the roofs of their homes, Cruz said.

Army spokesman Colonel Leopoldo Galon said search and rescue operations would continue along the shorelines in Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte provinces.

"I can't explain how these things happened, entire villages were swept to the sea by flash floods," Galon told Reuters, saying the death toll could rise as hundreds of people were unaccounted for.

"I have not seen anything like this before. This could be worse than Ondoy," he said, referring to a 2009 storm that inundated the capital, Manila, killing hundreds of people.

Prominent radio broadcaster missing
Television images showed bodies covered in mud, cars piled on top of each other and wrecked homes. Helicopters and boats searched the sea for survivors and victims.

Those missing included prominent radio broadcaster Enie Alsonado, who was swept away while trying to save his neighbors, Cruz said.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro said that about 20,000 residents of the city had been affected and that evacuees were packed in temporary shelters.

Television footage showed muddy water rushing in the streets, sweeping away all sorts of debris. Thick layers of mud coated streets where the waters had subsided. One car was shown to have been carried over a concrete fence.

The chief of the national disaster agency, Benito Ramos, said that officials were still getting reports from the field and that the number of casualties would likely rise.

"Massive flooding had been reported over the region, especially in Iligan city and Cagayan de Oro city," Ramos said, adding that tens of thousands of people sought shelter on high ground.

Strong winds toppled trees onto the rain-saturated ground in Polanco township in Zamboanga del Norte province. An 80-year-old woman drowned after being trapped in the first floor of her flooded home. A 30-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy also drowned, said provincial disaster officer Dennis Tenorio.

Washi, the 19th storm to hit the Philippines this year, came ashore in eastern Mindanao and blanketed the region with thick rain clouds 250 miles in diameter.

It quickly cut across the region overnight and was over the Sulu Sea by midmorning Saturday, packing maximum winds of 47 miles per hour and gusts of up to 56 mph. It is expected to blow out of the country late Sunday, forecaster Raymond Ordinario said.

Back-to-back typhoons in September left more than 100 people dead in the northern Philippines.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45705894/ns/weather/

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2011 Gift Guide: Best Stuff For Luddites

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Not everyone needs a Google Nexus. Some of you - and your friends - are happy to exist in a plane without technology, a world dedicated to quiet reflection and acoustic jamming. Here are some of our picks for the Luddites on your list this year. There are no hand-hewn axes in this list - this is gear that will keep you living in the Hipster Age while still maintaining a connection to the past.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/inz4zVjnEZs/

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Egypt Protests: New Clashes Between Military Police And Demonstrators

CAIRO -- Witnesses say protesters and security forces are clashing near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square.

Hundreds of protesters threw rocks and firebombs at military police. Activist Hussein Hammouda says security forces responded by throwing rocks and aiming water cannons from inside the gates of the nearby parliament building.

Activists say the clashes began after soldiers severely beat a young man who was part of a sit-in outside the Cabinet building.

Online video and photos of the wounded man showed protesters carrying him, accusing military police of beating him.

Protester Mostafa Sheshtawy says security forces burned protesters' tents and ended the nearly three week-long sit-in calling for an end to military rule.

Protesters say the clashes began late Thursday night and continued Friday morning.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) ? Islamists and liberals accused election officials Thursday of filling out ballot forms for elderly or confused voters at some polling stations during the second round of parliamentary elections. If confirmed as a pattern, the reports could chip away at the credibility of what has so far been the freest and fairest vote in Egypt's modern history.

Under Hosni Mubarak's 30-year regime, elections were systemically rigged and the corruption was a major impetus behind the popular uprising that ousted the authoritarian leader in February. But as the polls closed, it was still unclear how widespread the problems were.

The head of the election commission, Abdel-Moez Ibrahim, described the allegations of wrongdoing as "a strong wave of rumors which aimed at driving wedge between the judges and the people." He said he investigated some incidents and found out that judges overseeing the voting were helping disabled, illiterate voters. But because of the accusations, judges now tell voters asking for help that this is not their role.

"If people lose confidence in their judges, this will lead to a state collapse," he said.

It was difficult to say how widespread any abuses or irregularities were, but more allegations surfaced in this round than in the previous one in November as competition heats up.

Casting his vote for the first time in his life, 68-year-old reform leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei responded to fears of a parliament dominated by Islamists by saying that a new constitution might also mean new elections.

"This is the first step toward democracy," he said. Commenting on alleged violations, he said: "This is nothing compared to before."

The second round of voting in nine of the country's 27 provinces covered vast rural areas where the two Islamist blocs that dominated in the first round look poised to cement and probably even bolster their already overwhelming majority.

These elections are the first test of the strength of political forces that have emerged in the 10 months since the uprising. The political forces are roughly divided into two camps ? the Islamists on one side and on the other, secular and liberal groups that largely drove the uprising but failed to turn their achievement into a victory at the polls.

The crux of power in Egypt remains in the hands of the ruling military council that took power from Mubarak. It is the ultimate authority on all matters of state in absence of a president.

The most immediate concern for the liberal and secular groups is the drafting of the country's new constitution. The new parliament will be in charge of picking the 100-member constituent assembly to draft the constitution and many fear an Islamist-dominated parliament may lead to a document guided by strict religious principles.

The two leading Islamist alliances ? the front-running Muslim Brotherhood and second-place Al-Nour representing ultraconservative Salafi Muslims ? won close to 70 percent of seats in the first round on Nov. 28-29, according to an AP tally compiled from official results.

This round and a third and final vote in January are expected to solidify those gains because they are concentrated in rural areas that are traditionally more conservative.

The biggest surprise of the first round of voting was the strength of the Salafis, with their Al-Nour alliance winning a fifth of all seats contested. The Salafis want to strictly impose Islamic law, or Shariah, and have been railing against tourists drinking alcohol or wearing skimpy bathing suits at beach resorts.

"Al-Nour will sweep the vote here for sure," said Ali Abdel-Ghaffar, a Salafi party member standing inside a polling center in Giza province on the western outskirts of Cairo illegally campaigning. "People are Salafi (puritans) by nature. For them even sitting in a coffee shop is improper," he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and an alliance of liberal youth parties have filed complaints, saying officials at several stations were telling voters whom to choose.

The party issued a report Thursday accusing supervising judges in the province of Beheira, 112 miles (180 kilometers) north of Cairo, of guiding voters to choose Al-Nour, the Brotherhood's key Islamist rival.

In another polling center, two judges, a school administrator and a village mayor filled in ballots for candidates who were members of Mubarak's dissolved ruling party and are now running as independents or members of new parties, the Brotherhood said.

At one station near Cairo, a liberal party representative accused volunteers of paying voters to choose Islamist candidates, and complained to the military officer guarding the station.

Competition between Islamist parties was fierce. Hundreds of voters in a Salafi stronghold rushed to a polling station in Al-Haram district, near the Giza Pyramids, demanding their right to vote even after the polls closed. The angry voters besieged the polling station for more than two hours, refusing to go or let the ballot boxes be transported to counting station.

"We are afraid they would storm the place and sabotage the ballot boxes," said Lobna el-Feeky, a liberal party representative locked inside the station. Security officers were unable to disperse the crowd.

Judge Ahmed Helal, who was monitoring a polling station in Shebein el-Kom in Menoufia province, said it was his legal duty to assist people who cannot mark ballots on their own. According to an official Cabinet report in June, nearly 27 percent of the 85 million Egyptians are illiterate.

"It's the law that we have to help the voter to vote in case they are incapable or cannot see," he said.

____

Batrawy reported from Menoufia, Egypt.

Egyptian protesters break the windows of the Shura Council near the parliament in Cairo on December 16, 2011. Egyptian soldiers charged at protesters outside the cabinet's offices on Friday, breaking up a sit-in after the demonstrators threw petrol bombs and set fire to furniture in front of the nearby parliament. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)