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Monday, November 28, 2011
Gingrich coup: Endorsement from NH's largest paper (AP)
WASHINGTON ? New Hampshire's largest newspaper on Sunday endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the 2012 GOP presidential race, signaling that rival Mitt Romney isn't the universal favorite and potentially resetting the contest before the state's lead-off primary Jan. 10.
"We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing," The New Hampshire Union Leader said in its front-page editorial, which was as much a promotion of Gingrich as a discreet rebuke of Romney.
"We don't back candidates based on popularity polls or big-shot backers. We look for conservatives of courage and conviction who are independent-minded, grounded in their core beliefs about this nation and its people, and best equipped for the job," the editorial said.
Romney enjoys solid leads in New Hampshire polls and remains at the front of the pack nationally. A poll released last week showed him with 42 percent support among likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire. Gingrich followed with 15 percent in the WMUR-University of New Hampshire Granite State poll.
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas posted 12 percent support and former Utah Gov. John Huntsman found 8 percent support in that survey.
Those numbers could shift based on the backing of The Union Leader, a newspaper with a conservative editorial stance that proudly works to influence elections, from school boards to the White House, in the politically savvy state.
The endorsement, signed by publisher Joseph W. McQuaid, suggested that the only state-wide newspaper in New Hampshire was ready to again assert itself as a player in the GOP primary.
"We don't have to agree with them on every issue," the newspaper wrote in an editorial that ran across the width of the front page. "We would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear."
While Romney enjoys solid support in national polls, the large pack of Republicans has shifted all year from candidate to candidate in search of an alternative to the former Massachusetts governor. That led to the rise, and fall, of potential challengers such as Huntsman, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Yet with six weeks until the primary, The Union Leader's move could shuffle the race and further boost Gingrich. In recent weeks, he has seen a surge in some polls as Republicans focus more closely on deciding which candidate they consider best positioned to take on President Barack Obama.
But a Gingrich rival, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, said the endorsement points to how changeable the New Hampshire contest is.
"A month ago for Newt Gingrich to have been in the running to capture the Manchester Union Leader endorsement would have been unthinkable," Huntsman told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." "I think it reflects, more than anything else, the fluidity, the unpredictability of the race right now."
As voters started focusing more on the race, Gingrich has turned in solid debate performances and found his stride on a national stage. He has rebuilt his campaign after a disastrous summer that saw many of his top aides resign en masse and fundraising summaries report million in debt.
In New Hampshire, he brought on respected tea party leader Andrew Hemingway to lead his efforts and his team has been contacting almost 1,000 voters each day.
Hemingway's team of eight paid staffers in New Hampshire has been adding more than 100 volunteers each day, campaign officials said. Gingrich's team has lined up leaders in the major cities and has started identifying representatives in each ward in the state.
Gingrich has opened offices in Manchester, New Hampshire's biggest city, along with Dover in the eastern part of the state and in the North Country's Littleton. He plans two more.
Gingrich hasn't begun television advertising and has refused to go negative on his opponents.
Yet The Union Leader's backing could give him a nudge in New Hampshire and provide a steady stream of criticism.
Four years earlier, the newspaper threw its support to Arizona Sen. John McCain's bid and used front page opinion columns and editorials to boost him and criticize chief rival Romney. In the time since, Romney has worked to court Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid, who often runs columns on the newspaper's front page under his signature.
"The Union Leader's style is we don't just endorse once," McQuaid told The Washington Post in 1999. "We endorse every damn day. We started endorsing Reagan in 1975 and never stopped."
Romney and his wife, Ann, had dinner with the McQuaids at the Bedford Village Inn near Manchester, hoping to reset the relationship earlier this year. Yet it didn't prove enough and McQuaid's newspaper seemed not to appreciate the outreach.
"Newt Gingrich is by no means the perfect candidate," McQuaid wrote. "But Republican primary voters too often make the mistake of preferring an unattainable ideal to the best candidate who is actually running."
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
UK's Ministry of Defence loses a ton of tech (Digital Trends)
From time to time, employees lose company laptops, accidentally leaving them in a bar or on a train. USB sticks go missing too, slipping out of pockets or sliding down the back of sofas, never to be seen again. And of course, some equipment gets stolen.
Workers at the UK?s Ministry of Defence, however, appear to be a particularly lax bunch, having lost possession of 287 computers, 72 hard disks, 73 USB sticks, 28 mobile phones and 194 CDs and DVDs in the last 18 months alone.
If this happened in any government department it would be bad enough, but the fact that it?s the Ministry of Defence, which of course deals with highly sensitive information, is sure to raise eyebrows among the British public.
The UK???s under-secretary of state for defence Andrew Robathan said that in Germany 21 laptops were stolen in a single incident. Another 20 laptops went missing in another incident but were later recovered.
Radios, 3G cards and cameras have also gone missing since the Conservative-led coalition government took office in 2009.
Robathan tried to calm fears that confidential material on the computers and storage devices could be accessed, saying that all data was encrypted.
In a parliamentary written answer, Robathan said, ?The MoD [Ministry of Defence] takes any loss and theft of communications and information systems and associated media storage devices very seriously. We have robust procedures in place to mitigate against such occurrences and to manage such losses when they do occur.?
He goes on to say that with a global workforce of more than a quarter of a million individuals and with devices being frequently on the move, ???it is almost inevitable that equipment will go missing.??
Despite constant reviews of ?processes, instructions and technological aids? to prevent the losses, it seems the MoD has made little progress in getting on top of the situation ? a report in 2008 said that over a four-year period more than 700 laptops had been lost or stolen at the MoD.
[Source: Daily Mail] [Image: bodhihillillustration / Shutterstock]
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
More from Digital Trends
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Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR wheel and Elite pedals review
If you'll recall, it was back in March that we checked some of this kit out, and now with Forza 4 here, we hooked this mashup of gear up with our Playseat Evolution for a massive amount of virtual spins. So, did this combination help speed past the checkerboard with a respectable feel? Shift past the break find out in our full review.
Continue reading Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR wheel and Elite pedals review
Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR wheel and Elite pedals review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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NATO attack allegedly kills 24 Pakistani troops
Trucks are parked at a road as authorities closed the Torkham border for NATO supply trucks at Pakistani border town of Torkham on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)
Trucks are parked at a road as authorities closed the Torkham border for NATO supply trucks at Pakistani border town of Torkham on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)
Soldiers of the Pakistani militia force stand guard at the Pakistani border post of Torkham as it is closed for NATO trucks carrying supplies to neighboring Afghanistan, on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)
Pakistani security personnel stop trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan at Takhtabeg check post in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan, on their way to Torkham border post on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Pakistani security personnel stop trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan at Takhtabeg check post in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan, on their way to Torkham border post on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. Pakistan, on Saturday, accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Trucks carry supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan are halt at Takhtabeg check post in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan, on their way to Torkham border post on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)
ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Pakistan has blocked vital supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan and demanded Washington vacate a base used by American drones after coalition aircraft allegedly killed 24 Pakistani troops at two posts along a mountainous frontier that serves as a safe haven for militants.
The incident Saturday was a major blow to American efforts to rebuild an already tattered alliance vital to winding down the 10-year-old Afghan war. Islamabad called the bloodshed in one of its tribal areas a "grave infringement" of the country's sovereignty, and it could make it even more difficult for the U.S. to enlist Pakistan's help in pushing Afghan insurgents to engage in peace talks.
A NATO spokesman said it was likely that coalition airstrikes caused Pakistani casualties, but an investigation was being conducted to determine the details. If confirmed, it would be the deadliest friendly fire incident by NATO against Pakistani troops since the Afghan war began a decade ago.
A prolonged closure of Pakistan's two Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies could cause serious problems for the coalition. The U.S., which is the largest member of the NATO force in Afghanistan, ships more than 30 percent of its non-lethal supplies through Pakistan. The coalition has alternative routes through Central Asia into northern Afghanistan, but they are costlier and less efficient.
Pakistan temporarily closed one of its Afghan crossings to NATO supplies last year after U.S. helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers. Suspected militants took advantage of the impasse to launch attacks against stranded or rerouted trucks carrying NATO supplies. The government reopened the border after about 10 days when the U.S. apologized. NATO said at the time the relatively short closure did not significantly affect its ability to keep its troops supplied.
But the reported casualties are much greater this time, and the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. has severely deteriorated over the last year, especially following the covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. Islamabad was outraged that it wasn't told about the operation beforehand.
The government announced it closed its border crossings to NATO in a statement issued after an emergency meeting of the Cabinet's defense committee chaired by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
It also said that within 15 days the U.S. must vacate Shamsi Air Base, which is located in southwestern Baluchistan province. The U.S. uses the base to service drones that target al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region when they cannot return to their bases inside Afghanistan because of weather conditions or mechanical difficulty, said U.S. and Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic matters.
The government also plans to review all diplomatic, military and intelligence cooperation with the U.S. and other NATO forces, according to the statement issued after the defense committee meeting.
The White House said that senior U.S. civilian and military officials had expressed their condolences to their Pakistani counterparts.
The White House statement said the officials expressed "our desire to work together to determine what took place, and our commitment to the U.S.-Pakistan partnership which advances our shared interests, including fighting terrorism in the region."
The White House statement did not address Pakistan's decision to block supply routes for the war in Afghanistan or its demand that the U.S. vacate the drone base.
The Pakistani army said Saturday that NATO helicopters and fighter jets carried out an "unprovoked" attack on two of its border posts in the Mohmand tribal area before dawn, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others. The troops responded in self-defense "with all available weapons," an army statement said.
Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani condemned the attack, calling it a "blatant and unacceptable act," according to the statement.
A spokesman for NATO forces, Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, said Afghan and coalition troops were operating in the border area of eastern Afghanistan when "a tactical situation" prompted them to call in close air support. It is "highly likely" that the airstrikes caused Pakistani casualties, he told BBC television.
"My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan security forces who may have been killed or injured," Gen. John Allen, the top overall commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
The border issue is a major source of tension between Islamabad and Washington, which is committed to withdrawing its combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Much of the violence in Afghanistan is carried out by insurgents who are based just across the border in Pakistan. Coalition forces are not allowed to cross the frontier to attack the militants. However, the militants sometimes fire artillery and rockets across the line, reportedly from locations close to Pakistani army posts.
American officials have repeatedly accused Pakistani forces of supporting ? or turning a blind eye ? to militants using its territory for cross-border attacks. But militants based in Afghanistan have also been attacking Pakistan recently, prompting complaints from Islamabad.
The two posts that were attacked Saturday were located about 1,000 feet (300 meters) apart on a mountain top and were set up recently to stop Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan from crossing the border and staging attacks, said local government and security officials.
There was no militant activity in the area when the alleged NATO attack occurred, local officials said. Some of the soldiers were standing guard, while others were asleep, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said map references of all of the force's border posts have been given to NATO several times.
Pakistan's prime minister summoned U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter to protest the alleged NATO strike, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. It said the attack was a "grave infringement of Pakistan's sovereignty" and could have serious repercussions on Pakistan's cooperation with NATO.
Munter said in a statement that he regretted any Pakistani deaths and promised to work closely with Islamabad to investigate the incident.
The U.S., Pakistan, and Afghan militaries have long wrestled with the technical difficulties of patrolling a border that in many places is disputed or poorly marked. Saturday's incident took place a day after a meeting between NATO's Gen. Allen and Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad to discuss border operations.
The meeting tackled "coordination, communication and procedures ... aimed at enhancing border control on both sides," according to a statement from the Pakistani side.
The U.S. helicopter attack that killed two Pakistani soldiers on Sept. 30 of last year took place south of Mohmand in the Kurram tribal area. A joint U.S.-Pakistan investigation found that Pakistani soldiers fired at the two U.S. helicopters prior to the attack, a move the investigation team said was likely meant to notify the aircraft of their presence after they passed into Pakistani airspace several times.
A U.S. airstrike in June 2008 reportedly killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops during a clash between militants and coalition forces in the tribal region.
____
Associated Press writers Anwarullah Khan in Khar, Pakistan, Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Santos: 4 slain were longest-held rebel captives
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ? Colombia's president says the four security force members found slain during a military operation were the longest-held captives of the country's main rebel group.
President Juan Manuel Santos says all four were killed execution-style, three with shots to the head and one with two shots to the back.
Santos said the three police officers and a soldier whose bodies were found Saturday morning after combat in the southern state of Caqueta had been held between 12 and 13 years.
He called the killings "a crime against humanity."
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ? Four security force members held by Colombia's main rebel group were found slain Saturday, the defense minister said.
All four were killed execution-style, three with shots to the head and one with a shot to the back, Juan Carlos Pinzon told reporters in a brief appearance.
He said the bodies were found following combat in the country's south between troops and rebels.
He did not name the four or take questions, but blamed the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
"They were cruelly murdered with coups de grace," Pinzon said. He said that chains were found with the bodies.
The FARC is known to hold about 20 security force members, some for more than 13 years, and typically binds them with chains.
It would not be the first time the FARC has slain captives when under military pressure.
In June 2007, FARC fighters killed 11 regional lawmakers they had been holding for five years, apparently under the mistaken belief they were under attack by government forces.
In 2003, FARC fighters killed 10 captives, including a former defense minister and governor, during an attempted rescue when they heard approaching military helicopters.
Latin America's last remaining rebel army, the FARC took up arms in 1964 and has suffered a series of recent setbacks including the combat death earlier this month of its leader, Alfonso Cano.
It is believed to comprise about 9,000 fighters.
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Thanksgiving Google doodle turkey lays 12 Easter eggs
Looking for some Thanksgiving magic? Head to Google's special turkey-themed homepage and start clicking. Tap each feather until you have a full set of purple plumage. Click its feet for a pair of matching slippers. Finally, cycle through the headgear until you find the wizard's cap.
Presto! You have yourself the first of (at least) 12 secret turkey outfits.
With each matching combination, there will be a puff of smoke and your snazzy-looking bird will magically get some new gear. For example, the wizard suit comes with a white rabbit and a wand.
Encore magic trick: Click on the turkey's wing at any time to randomize the outfit.
Google loves hiding these digital "Easter eggs" ? a term for little surprises tucked into websites, movies, and video games. There was the dizzying barrel roll gag, the requisite 42 spoof, and Google's secret language options. (Klingon, anyone? How about an Elmer Fudd "Seawch"?)
But the search engine giant rarely packs so many Easter eggs into one feature. We found 12 special outfits for the Thanksgiving doodle. Getting there took a bunch of good guesses and a lot of feverish clicking. Now we've bundled them together into a single gallery, saving you from annoying family members or coworkers with all that incessant mouse clicking. (Speaking of which: Schulyer, I'm sorry. It was in the name of science!)
Click through to see disco turkey, geek turkey, and our favorite, tofu turkey.
For more on how technology intersects daily life, follow Chris on Twitter @venturenaut.
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Occupy Wall Street: Will the crackdown end the movement? (The Week)
New York ? As the police continue to dismantle the tent cities of the Occupy movement, its future as a political force is in question.
Is there ?life after occupation?? said Arun Gupta in Salon?.com. In cities and at colleges across the nation this week, authorities continued to clear and dismantle the camps and tent cities of the Occupy movement, which began two months ago in New York City to protest inequality, corruption, and corporate greed. At the University of California at Davis, a campus policeman was filmed pepper-spraying a line of seated, peaceful protesters, sparking widespread outrage and an apology from university officials. The images of ?crowds of everyday people confronting legions of cops protecting the conclaves of the rich and the powerful? can only help the movement. But with police cracking down hard, the question becomes: Can ?an occupation movement survive if it no longer occupies a space??
I seriously doubt it, said L. Gordon Crovitz in The Wall Street Journal. From Oakland, Calif., to Portland, Ore., to New York City, this so-called movement of entitled and sometimes violent young people ?has worn out the patience of even the most liberal cities.? Local residents and businesses have wearied of the tent cities and their all-night drumming, people defecating into buckets, drug use, and crime. Free speech is one thing; sleeping in parks and downtowns is another, and defying the law and police is yet another. If these protesters can?t get attention without disrupting law-abiding citizens, ?their message must not be very persuasive.? Actually, the authorities just ?did the movement a huge favor,? said Laura Washington in the Chicago Sun-Times. The camps that grabbed the world?s attention so effectively in September were becoming ?known more for disruption and squalor than results.? Now, however, with the ?dangerous disarray? of the camps out of the picture, the Occupiers have no choice but ?to get off their air mattresses and get something done.?
Don?t count on it, said Mike Gavin in WSJ?.com. Many optimistic liberals are predicting that the Occupiers, like the conservative Tea Partiers before them, will now focus their energies on getting candidates elected to Congress. But ?that will be impossible unless somebody takes charge, narrows the focus, and identifies what exactly they want changed.? The Occupy movement had two long months to come up with an agenda, said the New York Post in an editorial, but all it offered was ?resentment, envy, and entitlement.? Having worn out everyone?s patience, the movement has irrevocably ?passed its sell-by date.?
The Occupy movement does indeed have a central idea?and a powerful one at that, said Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post. It?s ?that our financial system has been warped to serve the interests of a privileged few at the expense of everyone else.? To be more specific, the 1 percent who control much of the nation?s wealth have rigged the game, using campaign contributions to buy tax loopholes and relaxed regulation from Washington, and awarding themselves monstrous bonuses while laying off vast armies of the middle class. The protesters may not have supplied a point-by-point political agenda to redress that unfairness. ?But they?ve done something more important.? They?ve gotten the 1 percent vs. 99 percent idea ?into people?s heads.? Thanks to the Occupiers, said David Carr in The New York Times, the 2012 election may well be fought over the issue of economic fairness. If so, those who slept in parks, sat through endless ?general assembly? meetings, and got roughed up by cops will know that ?though their tents are gone, their footprint remains.?
View this article on TheWeek.com
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Thanksgiving's 'massive' calorie count: By the numbers (The Week)
New York ? Just how many calories are there in that heaping helping of stuffing? Read on, if you dare
It might be wise not to count your calories too closely on Thanksgiving. The average American consumes approximately three times the recommended daily dose of calories on the nation's favorite turkey-stuffed holiday. Just how does that break down? If you can stomach it, here's a look at our "massive" Thanksgiving eating, by the numbers:
1,500
The amount of calories an average woman needs each day
2,000
The amount of calories an average man needs each day
SEE MORE: Burger King's 'pizza-sized' burger monstrosity
?
3,000
The estimated amount of calories in a?typical Thanksgiving meal, including turkey, side dishes, and dessert
5,000 to 6,000
The estimated amount of calories people consume throughout Thanksgiving Day ? roughly triple the recommended daily intake
590
The amount of calories in an average serving of a traditionally prepared Thanksgiving turkey
SEE MORE: Do unhealthy foods need warning labels?
?
30
Grams of fat in an average serving of a traditionally prepared Thanksgiving turkey
400
The amount of calories in a softball-sized serving of stuffing
SEE MORE: An obesity drug that 'kills' fat cells
?
25
Grams of fat in a softball-sized serving of stuffing, or "the amount of fat you'd gobble up in a large, fast food serving of french fries," says Darlene Zimmerman at the?Detroit Free Press
323
The amount of calories in a small, lightbulb-sized slice of pumpkin pie
SEE MORE: Should doctors avoid calling children 'fat'?
?
456
The amount of calories in a small, lightbulb-sized slice of pecan pie
90
Calories in a typical three-ounce glass of red wine
SEE MORE: Denmark?s fat tax: Could it happen in the U.S.?
?
3,500
The amount of calories needed for the body to create?one extra pound of fat?
500 to 700
Calories that healthy dieters should aim for in their Thanksgiving meal, as recommended by health experts at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
60
The number of minutes it takes for a 150-pound person to burn 500 calories by jogging at a moderate pace, according to Livestrong.com
Sources:?Boston Globe,?Detroit Free Press,?Livestrong.com, LA Times, Las Vegas Review Journal, Naturally Savvy, Shape
View this article on TheWeek.com
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Friday, November 25, 2011
Coffee May Keep Uterine Cancer At Bay
Researchers have discovered that women who regularly drink coffee may be less likely to develop cancer in the lining of their uterus. Possibly. But don't start drinking it if you aren't already! And definitely don't make it taste good.
CNN reports that a study by Harvard University researchers found that women who drink several cups of coffee per day over a long period of time have a reduced risk of developing cancer in their uterus. The study, which included data on 67,470 women between 34 and 59 collected over the course of 26 years, found that compared to women who aren't coffee drinkers, those who down four or more cups per day have a 25% lower risk of developing endometrial cancer. The women who drink two or three cups have a 7% lower risk.
Doctors believe this may be because coffee has been shown to lower levels of insulin and estrogen, which at high levels are linked to endometrial cancer. However, they haven't proven that coffee is reducing women's cancer risk. The researchers say the take away here is that it's okay to drink coffee in moderation ? as long as you don't load it up with sugar and cream. Shockingly, drinking a beverage that tastes like melted coffee ice cream won't ward off any diseases. The calories and fat in such a drink would negate andy positive effect on insulin levels. Though we can't prove the link yet, our researchers have found a strong correlation between foods that taste delicious and those that are bad for your health.
Coffee May Reduce Women's Cancer Risk [CNN]
Image via imagesolutions/Shutterstock.
Source: http://jezebel.com/5862139/coffee-may-keep-uterine-cancer-at-bay
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Josh Krajcik X Factor Performance: Wild, Awesome Horses
Move over, Susan Boyle. We have a new favorite cover of "Wild Horses."
On last night's two-hour edition of The X Factor, Josh Krajcik delivered his best audition yet, showcasing his versatility with a restrained, piano-based version of this classic single. It was a 180 from last week's rock 'n roll performance and made it clear that Melanie Amaro won't simply waltz to this year's title.
"You have the right amount of everything," L.A. Reid said, while Simon Cowell simply praised Josh for having a "great voice" and Nicole Scherzinger? She cried.
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/11/josh-krajcik-x-factor-performance-wild-awesome-horses/
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'Die Hard' star Willis selling Idaho home for $15M (AP)
HAILEY, Idaho ? "Die Hard" movie star Bruce Willis is asking $15 million for his Idaho home complete with a guesthouse, gym and pool with water slides.
The Idaho Mountain Express ( http://bit.ly/upNUKX) reports Willis' property in Hailey's Flying Heart subdivision is up for sale because he hasn't been able to spend much time in the area.
This is just part of Willis' plans to pare his ties to the region.
He's also trying to unload The Mint bar and nightclub on Hailey's Main Street after dropping the price to $4.5 million, from $6 million when it went on the market last year.
Willis and former wife, Demi Moore, became part of the celebrity scene in the Sun Valley area during the 1990s.
Willis still owns a ski area, Soldier Mountain, west of Hailey.
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
It doesn?t get better than this
Feast on this holiday lineup: Packers-Lions, Dolphins-Cowboys, 49ers-Ravens
ANALYSIS
updated 9:43 a.m. ET Nov. 23, 2011
|
Six teams, all of them coming off a victory. Five of them with winning records, four of them in first place. The only team with a losing record is on a three-game winning streak.
Thanksgiving football doesn?t get any better than this.
Let?s get right to the good stuff: fast facts about each of the teams playing on Thursday, appetite whetting tidbits to get you ready for a good gorging.
Ranking Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers showed signs of mortality against the Lions, though it is telling that a 299-yard, three-touchdown performance in a win can now be considered an ?off day? for him. Rodgers is on pace to shatter the single-season quarterback rating record: he currently has a 128.8 efficiency rating, 7.7 points above Peyton Manning?s 2004 season.
Yes, efficiency rating is a flawed, confusing, messy stat. We?re just having some fun here. And despite the stat?s shortcomings, there is no way to ?fluke? a rating in the 120?s over a full season.
How amazing is Rodgers? rating? Imagine him throwing 50 straight incomplete passes: no catches, no touchdowns, just a string of ugly throws lasting about two games. At the end of that historically terrible slump, Rodgers would still have a rating of 112.1: fifth on the all-time single season list, just above Tom Brady?s rating from last year, when he threw 36 touchdowns and just four interceptions!
A 50-pass incompletion streak is not going to happen, so let?s project a more realistic slump. Let?s say Rodgers turns into a mediocre quarterback and goes 15-of-30 for 150 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in every game for the rest of the year. That would leave him with season statistics of 4,068 yards, 41 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a 64.4 percent completion rate. His efficiency rating would be 105.1. That may not sound as historic, but it would still rank 17th all time, ahead of Rodgers? already impressive ratings in 2009 and 2010.
So while Rodgers? statistics may well settle down as the season winds down and cold weather hits, it will take a lot of settling before his numbers are anything short of ?epic.? Rodgers is making a case for all-time greatness, and that case keeps getting stronger.
Lions roar!
The Lions enter Thanksgiving this season with seven or more wins for just the fourth time since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
That?s an amazing four decades of futility, especially when you realize that during the 1980s and early 1990s, the season started promptly on Labor Day, and there were no bye weeks. The Lions Thanksgiving game was often the team?s 13th game of the season, not the 11th like this year, and you would think that parity and dumb luck would result in a 7-5 record every couple of years or so. Instead, it has been a pretty reliable once-per-decade event: the Lions were 7-5 in 1980, 8-4 in 1991, 7-4 in 2000, and are 7-3 right now. It is due to happen again around 2020.
Jokes about how irrelevant the Lions are on Thanksgiving have become clich?s, but the team has earned the abuse. Since 2001, the average Lions record on Thanksgiving has been three wins and 7.2 losses. The Lions have been over .500 just 12 times since the merger. Five of those winning records occurred between 1970 and 1975, so the Lions have been realistically in the playoff hunt for their traditional holiday appearance just five times since I learned to ride a bicycle.
Here is a rundown of the five Lions teams with the best Thanksgiving winning percentages in modern NFL history. Prepare to be underwhelmed:
1) 2011 Lions (7-3): You know these guys, and you were probably ready to count them out around halftime of Sunday?s Panthers game. Warts and all, they are easily the best Lions team since Barry Sanders retired.
2) 1991 Lions (8-4): A vintage Barry Sanders run ?n? shoot team. These Lions finished 12-4 and beat the Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs. It was the last Lions' playoff victory. It was one-fifth of a century ago.
3) 1981 Lions (2-1): A strike ate up most of the September and October schedule in 1982. Led by running back Billy Sims and pass rusher Bubba Baker, these Lions not only had a .667 winning percentage by technicality on Turkey Day, but backed into a modified playoff tournament with a 4-5 record, losing 31-7 in the first round.
4) 2000 Lions (7-4): Gritty, forgettable team coached by arch-conservative Bobby Ross, who never met an off-tackle run he didn?t like. Charlie Batch was the quarterback, and the Lions eventually finished 9-7 but out of the playoffs.
5) 1971 Lions (6-3-1): The Lions spent the early 1970s hanging around .500 or just above it. Greg Landry was the quarterback, Lem Barney the star defender, and cigarettes cost four cents per pack and were sold in junior high cafeterias, or something like that.
Only two of those teams made the playoffs, one on a technicality, which reminds us what an uphill battle against history these Lions are battling. What?s worse, the next team on our winning percentage list is one all of us can remember: the 2007 Lions, who were 6-4 before losing to the Packers on Thanksgiving. That team finished 7-9 and went 0-16 the following year. Who are the Lions facing Thursday? Oh yeah. Maybe this year will be different from most of the last 40.
Dolphins resurface
The Dolphins have won their last three games by a combined score of 86-20 after losing their first seven games. The primary reason for their turnaround is simple: the Dolphins have fixed their red zone offense.
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The Dolphins reached the red zone about 3.5 times per game in their first six games and 3.25 times per game in the last four, so their open field offense has not changed much. They have just traded in many, many field goals (and some critical turnovers) for touchdowns.
The Dolphins have become more effective in the red zone because they have stopped trying to force the ball to Brandon Marshall. They have gotten creative about using end-arounds to Reggie Bush and Brian Hartline when close to paydirt. Big targets like Anthony Fasano and fullback Charles Clay have gotten involved over the middle. The Dolphins are no longer predictable at the goal line, and with their offense just as good inside the 20 as everywhere else (not great, mind you, but good enough), the Dolphins are officially off laughingstock life support.
Dallas difference maker
Those of us who tuned in for the DeMarco Murray Show against the Redskins were disappointed: Murray gained just 73 yards on 25 carries and was frequently stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
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How important is Fiametta? The table shows the Cowboys rushing stats in the six games Fiametta played and the four games he missed. It?s true that the Cowboys faced some great defenses like the Lions and Jets without Fiametta, and weak defenses like the Rams with him. There is also a 91-yard Murray run in the mix that skews the data. Still, when yards and yards per rush nearly double with one player in the lineup, it says something.
Fiametta missed Sunday?s game with an undisclosed illness, and early in the week he was still suffering from unexplained nausea. If he returns to the lineup Thursday, you will notice the difference, and so will DeMarco Murray.
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Getty ImagesCSN: Get ready for the big Har-Bowl
CSN: John Harbaugh faces brother Jim on Thursday in the NFL's first game between brothers as head coaches. CSNBayArea.com and CSNBaltimore.com team on a Har-bro guide.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45401088/ns/sports-nfl/
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Syria faces Arab sanctions deadline over monitors (Reuters)
BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Syria faces a Friday deadline to sign an Arab deal allowing monitors into the country or incur sanctions over its crackdown on protests including halting flights, curbing trade and stopping deals with the central bank.
Arab foreign ministers warned in Cairo that unless Syria agreed to let the monitors in to assess progress of an Arab League plan to end eight months of bloodshed, officials would consider imposing sanctions on Saturday.
Under a November 2 Arab League initiative, Syria agreed to withdraw troops from urban centers, release political prisoners, start a dialogue with the opposition and allow monitors and international media into the country.
Since then hundreds of people, including civilians, security forces and army deserters, have been killed as the unrest which the United Nations says has claimed at least 3,500 lives since March continued unabated.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition group, said at least 47 people were killed in Syria on Thursday, including 16 soldiers and 17 army deserters, mostly around the rebellious city of Homs and near the town of Rastan to the north.
The violence has prompted former ally Turkey to bluntly tell President Bashar al-Assad to step down and led France to propose "humanitarian corridors" in Syria to help transport medicines or other supplies to civilians in need.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he would discuss the idea with the Arab League but a source at the 22-member body said the proposal was not brought up at the Cairo meeting.
"In the case that Syria does not sign the protocol ... or that it later violates the commitments that it entails, and does not stop the killing or does not release the detainees ... (Arab League officials) will meet on Saturday to consider sanctions on Syria," the Arab ministers said in a statement.
They said possible sanctions, which were not intended to affect ordinary Syrians, included suspending flights to Syria, stopping dealings with the central bank, freezing Syrian government bank accounts and halting financial dealings.
They could also decide to stop commercial trade with the Syrian government "with the exception of strategic commodities so as not to impact the Syrian people," the statement said.
Syria's economy is already reeling from the eight months of unrest, aggravated by U.S. and European sanctions on oil exports and several state businesses.
"HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS"
After months in which the international community has seemed determined to avoid direct entanglement in a core Middle East country, the diplomatic consensus seems to be changing.
The Arab League suspended Syria's membership two weeks ago, while this week the prime minister of neighboring Turkey - a NATO member with the military wherewithal to mount a cross-border operation - told Assad to quit and said he should be mindful of the fate of fallen dictators such as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Libya's deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.
France became the first major power to seek international intervention in Syria when it called for "humanitarian corridors" in Syria to alleviate civilian suffering.
A Western diplomatic source said the French plan, with or without approval from Damascus, could link Syrian civilian centers to the frontiers of Turkey and Lebanon, to the Mediterranean coast or to an airport.
Its aim would enable transport of humanitarian supplies or medicines to a population that is suffering.
Juppe insisted the plan fell short of a military intervention, but acknowledged that humanitarian convoys would need armed protection.
"There are two possible ways: That the international community, Arab League and the United Nations can get the regime to allow these humanitarian corridors," he told French radio. "But if that isn't the case we'd have to look at other solutions ... with international observers."
Asked if humanitarian convoys would need military protection, he said: "Of course... by international observers, but there is no question of military intervention in Syria."
"MOST DANGEROUS PHASE"
The Syrian Observatory said 15 army deserters were killed in clashes with the military west of Rastan and in raids by security forces. Eleven military and security personnel were killed by army deserters in the city of Houla, it said.
Alongside the mainly peaceful protests, armed insurgents have increasingly attacked military targets in recent weeks.
State media have reported the funerals of 34 soldiers and police in the last four days. Since the outbreak of the uprising officials have blamed armed groups for the violence and say 1,100 members of the security forces have been killed.
"The Syrian crisis may or may not have entered its final phase, but it undoubtedly has entered its most dangerous one to date," the International Crisis Group said.
"Many in Syria and abroad are now banking on the regime's imminent collapse and wagering that all then will be for the better. That is a luxury and optimism they cannot afford."
Washington repeated an appeal on Wednesday for U.S. citizens to leave Syria: "The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," the embassy said on its website.
Assad, 46, seems prepared to fight it out, playing on fears of a sectarian war if Syria's complex ethno-sectarian mosaic shatters and relying on support of senior officials and the military to suppress the protests, inspired by Arab uprisings which toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
However many experts say Assad, who can depend mainly on the loyalty of two elite units dominated by his Alawite minority community, cannot maintain current military operations without cracks emerging in the mainly Sunni Muslim army.
(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad and Ayman Samir in Cairo, John Irish in Paris; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/wl_nm/us_syria
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Lisa Firestone: Real Love or a Fantasy Bond? The Appeal of the 'Twilight' Saga
The latest "Twilight" movie, "Breaking Dawn," is already breaking records. Young fans clamored and camped out on dirty sidewalks for hours (even days) to make it to last week's midnight premiere. Walking past one such line, I noticed a father dropping off a shrieking group of dressed up 15-year-old girls from a stretched hummer, rented just for the occasion. For many, the anticipation of attending a "Twilight" premiere is likened to that of preparing for a high school prom. But teens aren't the only ones captivated. Audiences of all ages are hooked, guiltily or not, to the fanatical, addictive, and utterly over-the-top love between the film's lead characters. So what is it about this solemn, interspecies affair that so appeals to the masses?
To put it simply, vampires and werewolves aren't the only element of fantasy we are taken with. It is the instant and eternal attraction between Edward and Bella, two somber teens, one human and one vampire, pulled together inexplicably against all forces of danger and all rules of logic. Edward's desire for Bella is so ravenous in nature that he literally craves her blood above that of any other, while after a fleeting encounter, Bella is so taken with Edward that she can't imagine her existence without him.
Is this the model of love we should teach our kids to strive for? Maybe not, but its appeal is closer to home than we may think. Fantasy and fairy tales tell us stories of the perfect love, the flawless soul mate, and the uncontrollable wave of desire that never seems to ride out. While the thought of happily ever after with someone you'll love forever isn't a bad goal to strive for, the trouble comes when we start putting all our security and identity into that person. Making ourselves vulnerable to love is one thing, but losing ourselves in fantasy is another.
Falling in love can mean opening yourself up to new experiences, feeling free, spontaneous, generous and differentiated from your past. Falling into fantasy can mean forming a connection that isn't based on real substance. The instant and addictive attractions like that depicted so intensely in "Twilight" are not always based on the qualities and reality about a person or the connections that would lead to a real and lasting relationship. Instead, they may be based on a draw toward fantasy, a false sense of being completed or an innate desire to merge one's identity with another. They can also be based on emotional hunger toward a partner, or the illusion of getting safety and immortality through "love" and walking off into the sunset together forever.
So why are we drawn to fantasy over reality when it comes to intimacy? Real relationships show us that human beings are well, human. They carry battle wounds and emotional baggage that heavily weigh on their closest relationships. Even when we do find someone with whom we share a deep and meaningful connection, we tend to struggle through real issues. Serious relationships challenge us. The closer we get to someone, the more we can expect to face our own defenses, an inner resistance we have to getting too close or caring too much. Feeling love from someone else can be the best feeling in the world, but it can also challenge us on a deeper level, going against negative beliefs about ourselves we hold at our core and forcing us to face the pain of feeling deeply for someone else.
What we often do to protect ourselves against the challenges that arise with real love is form what my father psychologist Robert Firestone termed a "Fantasy Bond." The fantasy bond is a connection built out of fears from danger and even from death that we often experience at an unconscious level. This bond substitutes real feelings of love, respect, and spontaneity with an illusion of connection, a focus on form over substance, and a false sense of security and completion by another person.
When we form a fantasy bond, we become less and less like two independent individuals who feel genuine attraction to each other. Instead, we start to fuse our identity with the person we care for, relying on them to give us value and make us feel safe. Take "Twilight"'s Bella, for example. This teenage heroine doesn't believe life holds any meaning without vampire Edward. He is her protector from danger, her companion against isolation and her ticket to literal immortality.
The main characters in the film will go to any end for each other. When separated, Bella even repeatedly cheats death in hopes that Edward will appear to save her. Most of us hold parts of us that want to be saved in a relationship, rescued from past hurts, protected from feeling alone, and even saved from death symbolically, or at least dying alone. The trouble is that projecting these qualities onto our partner distorts them in a way that often leads to destructive outcomes.
Moreover, in order to live in fantasy, we have to suspend reality and give up the positive aspects of our relationship that we value but that cause us real pain. Unlike the immortal Edward Cullen, our partners can neither save nor protect us from inevitabilities like our past, our humanity, or our mortality. Because of this, we tend to turn the relationship itself into a source of security, while simultaneously creating emotional (or even physical) distance between ourselves and our partners. We do this because, being close to someone stirs us up on a deep level that most of us don't expect. It challenges us to face our old patterns of defense, insecurities, and fears involving love and loss. When we experience deep loving feelings, it makes us value our life and that of our loved one. These sweet poignant emotions raise our anxiety about death. We begin to value a life we will surely lose. Often following experiences that engender these feelings, we unconsciously create distance between ourselves and our partner.
Living a life in which we are truly loved and loving toward another person is not as easy as it is assumed to be. To maintain a fulfilling relationship means having to put up a fight. This fight won't involve facing evil mythical creatures like bloodthirsty vampires, yet it will involve facing our own internal demons that limit us when it comes to forming a real loving relationship.
The love depicted in "Twilight" is a figment of fantasy -- a co-dependent, hungry union in which two people expect to be mutually rescued and bound for eternity. In real life, the most we can and should hope for is finding someone to be kind to who is kind to us, someone who we feel respect for, attraction to, and admiration of, someone who encourages us to challenge our own defenses and limitations, and who helps us to become our best selves. Then, we can work together to enjoy whatever amount of eternity we are lucky enough to share.
To read more from Dr. Lisa Firestone on relationships click here.
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Follow Lisa Firestone on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PsychAlive
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-firestone/twilight-fantasy-love_b_1108133.html
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Belgian king rejects coalition broker resignation (AP)
BRUSSELS ? King Albert II on Wednesday rejected a resignation offer by the negotiator seeking to end Belgium's world-record government stalemate and urged all six parties seeking a coalition to speed up work to conclude talks.
Early this week, Elio Di Rupo's request to resign had plunged talks between the nation's Dutch and French speakers to new depths.
A statement from the Royal Palace said that before committing to an extension of his job, Francophone socialist Di Rupo had "asked a short time of reflection to consider the possibilities of a new accord."
On Wednesday, King Albert II insisted on renewed efforts to agree on a 2012 budget, an unexpected stumbling bloc which has focused financial markets on Belgium.
Belgium's major parties have been trying to form a government since the June 13, 2010 election ? but fears are growing that the 528-day-long impasse needs to end soon to keep financial markets at bay.
King Albert has become increasingly vocal about the need for haste.
"The King asks with insistence that each of the parties make the additional efforts to conclude budgetary and social economic negotiations and form a government as quickly as possible," the statement said.
The country's yields on long-term bonds have risen like many other eurozone countries, but at around 5.5 percent Belgium is quickly getting into the financial danger zone which pushes borrowing rates to unsustainable levels.
"Our country is facing an extra piece of mistrust," said caretaker Prime Minister Yves Leterme, adding he would prepare work on a budget in case the negotiations continue to stall.
"It is important we get a budget," he told VRT network. The negotiators need to find some euro11 billion ($14.8 billion) more in austerity measures.
Belgium is facing increasing pressure from the markets to come up with more spending cuts, and without a government investors are worried that long-term reforms will not be enacted.
Leterme has committed himself to getting the budget deficit down to 2.8 percent of GDP in 2012, but the EU is far from convinced, forecasting a wider shortfall of 4.6 percent for the country. It is also forecasting that Belgium's debt to GDP ratio will break through the 100 percent barrier in 2013 without big budget reforms.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Palestinian rivals to hold rare working meeting (AP)
RAMALLAH, West Bank ? The upcoming meeting of President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, the rival Palestinian leaders, will signal whether they're truly ready to share power or largely going through the motions for political gains.
Thursday's talks in Cairo will be their first serious sitdown since the Palestinians' corrosive split of 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Abbas, leaving him with only the West Bank. Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed, and a power-sharing deal the leaders signed in principle in May has stalled, mainly over who would head an interim unity government.
Hamas adamantly opposes Abbas' long-standing choice, West Bank-based Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and the only way forward Thursday would be to resolve this dispute.
Even if Abbas were to sacrifice the internationally backed Fayyad ? as some aides say he is willing to do ? it's far from certain the two sides are ready to go through with the other elements of the unity deal. As part of the agreement, legislative and presidential elections would be held in the West Bank and Gaza within a year of the formation of an interim government, and the rivals' security forces would be merged.
Abbas risks a Western backlash for getting too close to the militant Hamas, and faces a possible election defeat for his Fatah movement, trounced by Hamas at the polls five years ago.
Hamas, in turn, would have to dismantle its empire in Gaza in exchange for uncertain election prospects, including the arresting of its West Bank candidates by Israel, as happened in the past.
The most it seems the two leaders can hope for Thursday is to resolve the dispute over the prime minister and to start talking about a shared political program, said those involved in preparing the meeting. They will not discuss election dates or details of the composition of the interim government, which is to be made up of experts without clear political affiliation, said Abbas' envoy to the talks, Azzam al-Ahmed.
The political split has been deeply unpopular among Palestinians, and public pressure is a key reason why Abbas and Mashaal are trying to heal it. Regionwide changes over the past few months have given both men an additional push.
Earlier this year, Abbas abandoned his long-standing strategy of trying to negotiate the terms of Palestinian statehood with Israel, arguing that a deal is not possible with Israel's current hard-line government. As part of his strategic shift, he's been trying to build Palestinian leverage, including by seeking U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine.
A unity deal would be part of that approach. The split has deprived him of stature, since he cannot claim to speak for all Palestinians, and even the U.N. committee reviewing the Palestinian membership application noted as a negative point that Abbas does not control Gaza.
Hamas, meanwhile, has benefited from the anti-government uprisings of the Arab Spring. The toppling of pro-Western dictators in the region, including Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, have strengthened Hamas' parent movement, the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood. Some argue that the initial reconciliation deal of May would not have been possible without the ouster of Mubarak who was suspected, at least by Hamas, of blocking any progress on the issue.
The United States and much of Europe oppose an Abbas partnership with an unreformed Hamas, which has rejected international demands that it recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous Palestinian interim agreements with the Jewish state.
On Wednesday, Hamas leaders reiterated that there's no chance for compromise. "Hamas' attitude toward so-called Israel remains unchanged," said Salah Bardawil, a Hamas official. "We will not recognize the enemy."
Abbas hopes to find common ground based on Mashaal suggestions that the movement could accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Hamas refuses to say, though, if it would consider the 1967 borders the final ones, or a stepping stone to the destruction of Israel.
It's not clear if and how the West would punish Abbas for an alliance with Hamas, but options include political isolation and a cut in vital financial support. The Fayyad government receives hundreds of millions of dollars a year in budget support and development aid.
___
Barzak reported from Gaza City, Gaza. Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Ramallah contributed.
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Summary Box: Growth downgrade pushes stocks down (AP)
THE S&P 500: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5 points to 1,188. It was the fifth straight decline for the S&P 500, the longest losing streak since August.
SLOWER GROWTH: Investors were disappointed that the Commerce Department downgraded its estimate of third-quarter economic growth in the U.S. to 2 percent from its previous estimate of 2.5 percent.
DEBT WORRIES: The S&P has lost 5.5 percent over the past week on worries that Spain could get dragged into Europe's debt crisis and as Congress neared a deadlock over cutting the U.S. budget deficit.
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Monday, November 21, 2011
Legal Theory Blog: Legal Theory Bookworm
The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Backlash by Gerard N. Magliocca. Here is a description:
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Although Populist candidate William Jennings Bryan lost the presidential elections of 1896, 1900, and 1908, he was the most influential political figure of his era. In this astutely argued book, Gerard N. Magliocca explores how Bryan's effort to reach the White House energized conservatives across the nation and caused a transformation in constitutional law.
Responding negatively to the Populist agenda, the Supreme Court established a host of new constitutional principles during the 1890s. Many of them proved long-lasting and highly consequential, including the "separate but equal" doctrine supporting racial segregation, the authorization of the use of force against striking workers, and the creation of the liberty of contract. The judicial backlash of the 1890s?the most powerful the United States has ever experienced?illustrates vividly the risks of seeking fundamental social change. Magliocca concludes by examining the lessons of the Populist experience for advocates of change in our own divisive times.
Source: http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2011/11/legal-theory-bookworm-1.html
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