Gingrich campaign raises about $9 million (AP)

LE MARS, Iowa ? Newt Gingrich has raked in roughly $9 million for the last three months of the year, far more than the former House speaker has been able to collect in any previous quarter, his presidential campaign said Wednesday.

Gingrich has paid off some ? but not all ? of the more than $1 million in debt it had accumulated earlier this year, campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond told reporters.

Gingrich has been sliding in new polls with the leadoff Iowa caucuses just six days away. A new Time-CNN poll had him tumbling 19 percentage points in Iowa from a survey conducted earlier in the month.

The fundraising announcement Wednesday ? weeks before the Jan. 15 deadline to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission ? seemed designed to counter signs that his campaign is in freefall.

Hammond said the campaign had shelled out about $500,000 for television ads in Iowa running this week. And that was only part of its ad buy, he said.

"Any good campaign would make sure they spend their money before the Iowa caucuses," he said.

Hammond noted that Gingrich's fourth quarter haul was "in the neighborhood" of the amount John McCain raised in the same quarter in 2007. He went on to become the party's nominee and then lost to Democrat Barack Obama.

Gingrich has been outraised by rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

Earlier Wednesday, Gingrich answered questions about a luxury cruise he took through the Greek Isles last spring that prompted top aides to flee his campaign. He said the vacation, which came just days after he formally announced in May he would seek the presidency, had always been planned to give him time to think and showed he was "a different kind of candidate.".

"I think you need to pace yourself. You need to get a sense of distance," he told reporters following a campaign event in Mason City.

And Gingrich said being in Greece during that country's financial crisis was helpful.

At the time, however, Gingrich's Greek cruise was seen by many political observers as evidence that he wasn't serious about pursuing the White House. Shortly after he returned, the entire top echelon of his fledgling presidential campaign resigned. An aide said at the time there was a question of Gingrich's commitment as well as a path to victory.

Gingrich said Wednesday that from the beginning he wanted to run a different campaign focused on big ideas

"The consultants found this very mystifying, very strange," he said. The trip with his wife, Callista, forced the issue, making clear that he would call the shots, he said.

"Either they wanted to be the advisers to my campaign or they needed to leave because I couldn't be the candidate to their campaign," he said.

The former House speaker distanced himself from a mailer circulating in Iowa and paid for by a political action committee that supports him. The mailer says Romney is the "second most dangerous man in America."

Gingrich had previously pledged to disavow any independent political action committee working on his behalf that went negative.

"I would discourage them from sending out that kind of negative information. I think that's wrong," Gingrich said Wednesday.

He said all of his ads in advance of next week's leadoff Iowa caucuses will be positive.

"You can fight in a positive way. You can be very strong in a positive way," he said.

______

Follow Shannon McCaffrey: http://www.twitter.com/smccaffrey13

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich

portlandia diverticulitis rose bowl julia child clippers haywire ufc 141

Syrians fire on protesters near monitors, kill 4

In this photo taken on Monday Dec. 19, 2011, defected Syrian soldiers position their rifles as they take cover behind a the wall of a damaged house in the Baba Amr area, in Homs province, Syria. Arab League monitors kicked off their one month mission in Syria with a visit on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 to Homs, the first time Syria has allowed outside monitors to the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising. Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued to work in Homs on Wednesday. The monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa on Thursday, Dec. 29, all centers of the uprising. (AP Photo)

In this photo taken on Monday Dec. 19, 2011, defected Syrian soldiers position their rifles as they take cover behind a the wall of a damaged house in the Baba Amr area, in Homs province, Syria. Arab League monitors kicked off their one month mission in Syria with a visit on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 to Homs, the first time Syria has allowed outside monitors to the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising. Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued to work in Homs on Wednesday. The monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa on Thursday, Dec. 29, all centers of the uprising. (AP Photo)

In this photo taken on Wednesday Dec. 21, 2011, anti-Syrian regime protesters, some wearing Syrian revolution flags, gather during a night demonstration in the Baba Amr area, in Homs province, Syria. Arab League monitors kicked off their one month mission in Syria with a visit on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 to Homs, the first time Syria has allowed outside monitors to the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising. Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued to work in Homs on Wednesday. The monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa on Thursday, Dec. 29, all centers of the uprising. The large Arabic banner hanging to the right reads, "all the doors closed, except your door God." (AP Photo)

In this photo taken on Monday Dec. 26, 2011, a Syrian doctor, left, treats civilians wounded by Syrian army shelling in the Baba Amr area, in Homs province, Syria. Arab League monitors kicked off their one month mission in Syria with a visit on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 to Homs, the first time Syria has allowed outside monitors to the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising. Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued to work in Homs on Wednesday. The monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa on Thursday, Dec. 29, all centers of the uprising. (AP Photo)

In this photo taken on Monday Dec. 26, 2011, a Syrian man walks in an alley shelled by the Syrian army forces in the Baba Amr area, in Homs province, Syria. Arab League monitors kicked off their one month mission in Syria with a visit on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 to Homs, the first time Syria has allowed outside monitors to the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising. Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued to work in Homs on Wednesday. The monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa on Thursday, Dec. 29, all centers of the uprising. (AP Photo)

In this photo taken on Monday Dec. 19, 2011, defected Syrian soldiers position their rifles as they take cover behind a the wall of a damaged house in the Baba Amr area, in Homs province, Syria. Arab League monitors kicked off their one month mission in Syria with a visit on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 to Homs, the first time Syria has allowed outside monitors to the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising. Several from the team of 12 stayed in the city overnight, and the team continued to work in Homs on Wednesday. The monitors are expected to visit Hama, Idlib and Daraa on Thursday, Dec. 29, all centers of the uprising. (AP Photo)

HOMS, Syria (AP) ? Syrian security forces opened fire Thursday on tens of thousands protesting outside a mosque in a Damascus suburb, close to a municipal building that members of the Arab League monitoring mission were visiting. Activists said at least four people were killed.

The ongoing violence, and new questions about the human rights record of the head of the Arab League monitors, are reinforcing the opposition's view that Syria's limited cooperation with the observers is nothing more than a farce for President Bashar Assad's regime to buy time and forestall more international condemnation and sanctions.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said about 20,000 people were protesting outside the Grand Mosque in the Damascus suburb of Douma when troops opened fire. Some Arab League monitors were visiting a municipal building close to the mosque, he said.

The 60 Arab League monitors, who began work Tuesday, are the first Syria has allowed in during the nine-month anti-government uprising. They are supposed to ensure the regime complies with terms of the Arab League plan to end Assad's nine-month crackdown on dissent. The U.N. says more than 5,000 people have died in the uprising since March.

The plan, which Syria agreed to on Dec. 19, demands that the government remove its security forces and heavy weapons from cities, start talks with the opposition and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country. It also calls for the release of all political prisoners.

Syria has allowed the monitors in, released about 800 prisoners and pulled some of its tanks from the city of Homs. But it has continued to shoot and kill unarmed protesters and has not lived up to any other terms of the agreement.

Syria's top opposition leader, Burhan Ghalioun, told reporters in Cairo after meeting Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby that the aim of the mission is not only to observe, but to make sure that the Syrian government is "stopping the killing and shooting." He added that the Syrian government is holding more than 100,000 detainees, "some of them held in military barracks and aboard ships off the Syrian coast." He added: "There is real danger that the regime might kill them to say there are no prisoners."

State-run TV said monitors also visited the Damascus suburb of Harasta, the central city of Hama and the southern province of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad began in March.

The Observatory said a total of 16 people have been shot by security forces and killed so far on Thursday, most of them in several suburbs of Damascus. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said 28 people were killed. The differing death tolls could not be immediately reconciled as Syria bans most foreign journalists and keeps tight restrictions on the local media.

Leading opposition members are calling on the Cairo-based Arab League to remove the Sudanese head of the monitoring mission because he was a senior official in the "oppressive regime" of President Omar al-Bashir, who is under an international arrest warrant on charges of committing genocide in Darfur.

The head of the mission, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, is a longtime loyalist of al-Bashir and once served as his head of Sudanese military intelligence.

Amnesty International said under al-Dabi's command, military intelligence in the early 1990s "was responsible for the arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, and torture or other ill-treatment of numerous people in Sudan."

In Germany, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle demanded "unhindered access" for the Arab League observers to all key points in Syria, his ministry said Thursday. That includes not just cities such as Homs, but "also the possibility to speak unhindered with representatives of the opposition, civil society and with prisoners of the regime," a ministry statement said.

Westerwelle "expects from the observer mission a thorough approach and a clear, unvarnished picture of the situation," it added.

The Syrian government organized a tour to the restive central city of Homs, where one team of monitors has been working for the last three days. A Syrian official in Homs said six observers were there on Thursday.

At the entrance to the city, which witnessed much of the violence in the past months, two checkpoints were stopping cars and asking for people's identity cards. Inside, most shops were closed and streets had few people and cars as sporadic gunfire rang out. Most main streets were clean, but sidestreets were lined with dozens of garbage bags.

At the military hospital, one of the largest in the city, a large number of civilians and members of the military were receiving treatment. One of them was a soldier who was shot in the stomach while in a Homs street Thursday morning. He was undergoing an operation, his mother said.

"My son did not harm anyone. He is a soldier to protect the country," said his mother, Zeinab Jaroud, as she stood holding back here tears outside the operating room.

Brig. Gen. Ali Assi, head of the Military Hospital in Homs, told The Associated Press that in the past months, they have treated civilians, members of the military and police as well as gunmen. He said the between March 25 and Nov. 11, the hospital treated 1,819 soldiers, 251 policemen and 232 civilians. He added that 557 people, mostly soldiers, either died in the hospital or were brought dead.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-29-ML-Syria/id-9c93137f31304951ab17f77d4e9b8ce3

malawi angela davis angela davis zombie apocalypse matt moore matt moore national grid

GoDaddy Officially Removed From The House?s List Of SOPA Supporters

When GoDaddy publicly recanted their support of SOPA last week, many were quick to point out that such an act didn't really mean much. As far as the Judiciary Committee overseeing SOPA was concerned, GoDaddy was still a supporter. That's been changed, it seems. In the latest version of the US House Of Representatives' SOPA Supporters list (heads up: it's a PDF), GoDaddy's name is nowhere to be found.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/sYjNBqK5euw/

hanukkah gpa calculator menorah snooki chanukah chanukah david archuleta

'New Year's Eve' Stars Reveal How Not To Ring In 2012

'Don't be the first one on the dance floor,' Zac Efron tells MTV News.
By Christina Garibaldi

Zac Efron
Photo: MTV News

New Year's Eve is a night of celebration with family and friends, but it can also be one of the most-stressful nights of the year. Tough questions must be answered about what to do and what to wear in order to have a memorable end to the year.

Well, we at MTV News can't give you those answers, but with help from the stars of this year's box office hit "New Year's Eve," we can tell you what not to do in order to avoid disaster as you ring in 2012.

"[Don't] plan an important evening," Jessica Biel told us at the New York City premiere of "New Year's Eve." "Don't do that, because it's too much pressure. If you're planning on having the best night of the year, you will have the worst night of the year. Do nothing, and then see what happens."

And it seems like co-star Abigail Breslin agrees that you can't plan to have the perfect night. "[Don't] put too much pressure on it; just let things happen, kind of like fate," Breslin said. "Just let things go how they're meant to go."

Director Garry Marshall has some advice for all those girls who are waiting for their New Year's kiss: "Don't wear a lot of lipstick, because with a little luck, they're gonna kiss you, and you may kiss more than one guy!" Marshall said, laughing.

If your plans entail heading out on the town, make sure you take Zac Efron's advice before you bust out those dance moves. "Don't be the first one on the dance floor — wait," Efron said. "Let two people get out there, and then go get a circle going, then get it going, pop it out, Michael Jackson moves."

Still haven't figured out your New Year's plans? Check out MTV's "NYE in NYC 2012" airing live at 11 p.m. ET/PT (10 Central) Saturday from Times Square. The event will be hosted by Demi Lovato and Tyler Posey with performances by Mac Miller, Selena Gomez, J. Cole and Jason Derülo.

What are your New Year's Eve plans? Let us know in the comments!

Related Videos

• Don't Do That!

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676530/new-years-eve-celebration.jhtml

snow white and the huntsman philip rivers 11 11 11 meaning miracle berry billy crystal veterans day thank you veterans day thank you

As Obesity Rises, More Suffer From Acid Reflux (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- As the obesity epidemic spreads around the world more people are suffering from acid reflux, likely increasing the number of those who will develop esophageal cancer, a new study suggests.

In Norway, the prevalence of acid reflux, also called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), has risen almost 50 percent in the past 10 years, say researchers led by Dr. Eivind Ness-Jensen, from the HUNT Research Center's Department of Public Health and General Practice at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Levanger.

The increasing number of people who are obese is "the main attributable factor," he said.

Ness-Jensen said the same trend of rising GERD symptoms is happening in the United States and all Western countries.

"The problem is that these symptoms are associated with adenocarcinoma of the lower esophagus," Ness-Jensen said. "What we are afraid of is increasing incidence of this cancer, which is increasing already. It might get worse in the future."

There are few treatments for this cancer and the prognosis is "very poor," Ness-Jensen said. "Luckily, very few people get it, but it is increasing quite rapidly."

It is possible that losing weight could reduce the risk of developing GERD and esophageal cancer, Ness-Jensen added. "That's our next study," he said.

The study appears in the Dec. 21 online edition of the medical journal Gut.

The team collected data on almost 30,000 people who took part in the Norwegian Nord-Trondelag Health Study from 1995 to 2009.

Over that time, the prevalence of those with GERD symptoms increased 30 percent and the number of those with severe symptoms increased 24 percent, the researchers found.

Those who had GERD symptoms at least once a week went up 47 percent, they add.

Both men and women of all ages experienced an increase in GERD. However, the most severe symptoms were mostly among middle-aged people, Ness-Jensen's group found.

Among those with the most severe symptoms, 98 percent took medicine to suppress the symptoms, compared with 31 percent of those with mild symptoms, the researchers noted.

Those least likely to have GERD were women under 40, but women were more likely to develop the condition as they aged. Severe symptoms were seen mostly in those aged 60 to 69.

About 2 percent of those with GERD saw their symptoms spontaneously disappear. This occurred mostly among women younger than 40, the researchers noted.

Dr. Daniel Sussman, an assistant professor of gastroenterology at the University of Miami School of Medicine, commented that "symptoms of reflux are increasing in the United States, partly because patients notice it more and doctors are better at noticing it and treating it."

Most important, lifestyle, diet and obesity are causing the increase in reflux symptoms, he said. "My suspicion is that obesity is the biggest contributor to that," Sussman said.

The biggest side effect of GERD is its effect on the patient's quality of life, Sussman said. He said that of course, it's also a risk factor for esophageal cancer.

Sussman said that there is evidence that losing weight will help improve reflux symptoms and lower the risk for cancer.

More information

For more information on acid reflux, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weightloss/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111222/hl_hsn/asobesityrisesmoresufferfromacidreflux

theo epstein theo epstein darknet james ray williston nd williston nd mists of pandaria

NASA revamps, delays commercial space taxi work

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:09am EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Budget cuts in a program to spur commercial space taxis will likely keep the United States dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the International Space Station until 2017, NASA's head of space operations said on Thursday.

But the newly revamped program, intended to provide a commercial alternative following the recent retirement of NASA's space shuttles, comes with a silver lining: NASA is abandoning plans for traditional fixed-price contracts and instead will use less expensive and more flexible partnering agreements.

"It's one small step for Commercial Crew," said Bigelow Aerospace attorney Michael Gold, referring to NASA's space taxi development program. "And one giant leap for common sense."

The switch was spurred by the halving of NASA's $850 million Commercial Crew program budget request for the year that began October 1 and by NASA's determination to keep at least two space taxi designs in the running for the agency's future business.

"We would like to carry two providers at a minimum, actually more," NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier said during a conference call with reporters. "We think competition is a key piece."

Currently the agency is funding work at four firms: Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies, Sierra Nevada Corp., and Blue Origin, a start-up owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Other aspiring space transportation companies, including Stratolaunch Systems, the recently announced start-up backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, are not seeking or have not been awarded NASA funds to assist with spaceship development.

"Our investment helps to ensure that this capability gets done in as timely a manner as we can actually make it occur," Gerstenmaier said.

A solicitation for the next phase of the program was due to be released on Monday, but will be delayed until the first quarter of 2012, Gerstenmaier said. The selection of companies, however, should remain on schedule for next summer.

NASA, which has $406 million to spend on the program this year, is uncertain how much money it will receive to see the development effort through the planned 21-month period.

"We want to get enough work behind us that we've got a very solid design that we can then start taking into a certification," Gerstenmaier said.

The agency had hoped to have an alternative by 2016 to sending its astronauts into space aboard the Russian Soyuz capsule, which costs more than $60 million per person per ride.

"We got an increase in the budget in fiscal year '12, which was a good thing, but it wasn't quite the funding level that we anticipated. That moved the potential service capability at least into 2017," Gerstenmaier said.

MORE LAUNCHES, LESS LAWYERING

The alternative contracting arrangement, called Space Act Agreements, has been used in a related program to develop commercial U.S. cargo ships to fly to the space station, a $100 billion research laboratory built in partnership with Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada that flies about 240 miles above Earth.

Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, is preparing for its trial cargo run to the station in February, launching a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule. A second company, Orbital Sciences Corp. is expected to follow suit with its cargo craft later in 2012.

"Space Act Agreements yield amazing results, we need only look at the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket," SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, wrote in an email to Reuters.

"We applaud NASA's decision to use Space Act Agreements for the next round of Commercial Crew and look forward to the competition," she said.

The difference between traditional government contracting and Space Act Agreements is night and day, added Gold, who oversees business growth for Bigelow Aerospace, which is developing commercial orbital habitats for research, government and business lease.

"It's the difference between a 30-page contract and one that could involve 3,000 pages of regulations," Gold said. "Even understanding what you're up against can take months of review by lawyers. If you want to spend more money on lawyers and less on launches, FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) is a terrific way to proceed."

Gerstenmaier said the alternative partnering arrangement would not allow NASA to get as involved technically in the space taxis' design, but "essentially we can enable them."

(Editing by Jane Sutton and Anthony Boadle)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/qOcErI2ioYQ/us-space-business-idUSTRE7BE21820111216

zombie boy harvard yale julia child the descendants the descendants joe paterno lung cancer joe paterno lung cancer

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

In 2011, is proper anymore to ask which card you're more excited to see?

Is it only hardcore UFC haters who'll say DREAM's 2011 card is better than UFC 144?

Above are the competing posters. Below is DREAM's attempt at getting people fired up for its card headlined by the Fedor Emelianenko fight against Satoshi Ishii.

Personally, I'm stoked to see the fight. What does Fedor have left and is Ishii ready to compete against the top level of MMA just six fights into his MMA career?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/MMA-posters-from-Japan-Fedor-fight-card-compete?urn=mma-wp10820

nhl realignment nhl realignment kristin chenoweth country music awards new earth light year light year

Video: Lowe's CEO Responds to All-American Muslim Controversy (Funny or Die) (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/175697771?client_source=feed&format=rss

ryan torain world series game 3 sign language alphabet texas tech texas tech notre dame football wisconsin badgers football

Global stocks mixed, euro flat on downgrade fears (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? World stocks were mixed and the euro was flat on Friday as worries about downgrades of weaker euro zone countries curbed risk appetite, pushing aside an improved outlook on the U.S. economy.

Volume was below average across financial markets heading into the weekend. Trading was choppy as perceived risky assets gave up much of their initial gains.

Anxiety over potential ratings downgrades in European sovereign debt and their repercussion on the region's banks underpinned safety bids for U.S. and German government bonds.

Fitch Ratings on Friday placed Belgium, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia and Spain on watch for possible downgrade and warned that a comprehensive solution to this festering problem is "technically and politically beyond reach".

It affirmed France's AAA-rating but could strip the second-biggest euro zone economy of its top-notch rating in two years.

Fitch's rating move and dire warning about Europe trumped optimism about the U.S. economy following recent upbeat data.

Government data released on Friday showed U.S. inflation pressure waning, fanning expectations the Federal Reserve could do more to boost economic growth. The latest consumer price report followed data on Thursday suggesting a possible pick-up in job growth, which has been meager during the current recovery.

Investor fears about the euro zone debt crisis persist as European leaders have not delivered more measures to contain the crisis after promising increased fiscal disciple at a summit in Brussels last week.

"There remains a great deal of concern about the direction of the euro zone," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at BNY Mellon in New York. "We're still not trading on fundamentals and haven't been for some time."

The MSCI world equity index rose 0.3 percent after hitting a three-week low on Thursday. The index is still down 3.5 percent on the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) closed down 2.42 points, or 0.02 percent, at 11,866.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 3.91 points, or 0.32 percent, at 1,219.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 14.32 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,555.33.

On the week, the Dow fell 2.7 percent; the S&P lost 2.9 percent and the Nasdaq declined 3.5 percent. (.N)

European stocks (.FTEU3) ended down 0.5 percent, erasing earlier gains on selling tied to expiration of options contracts. They finished 2.9 percent lower on the week.

Tokyo's Nikkei (.N225) ended up 0.3 percent, reducing its weekly drop to 1.6 percent.

The euro clung to the $1.30 area versus the dollar after falling to 11-month lows on Wednesday. The 17-nation common currency was poised to close up 0.1 percent against the greenback after touching a high of $1.3084. It lost 2.6 percent against the dollar on the week.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For full multimedia coverage: http://r.reuters.com/xyt94s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

PERIPHERAL YIELDS STAY HIGH

Long-term borrowing costs for Italy and Spain, whose heavy debt loads have worried investors and rating agencies, fell early in the trading day. That helped to steady the euro and briefly boosted European shares.

But they ratcheted back up to alarmingly high levels, with the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds creeping back above 7 percent, which analysts deem unsustainable for the euro zone's third-biggest economy to pay.

Italy faces a confidence vote in parliament, called to speed up approval of a 33 billion euro ($43 billion) austerity package aimed at restoring investor confidence.

Amid these political developments, worries linger about the euro zone debt crisis and have supported U.S. Treasuries and German Bunds. They pushed aside optimism about the U.S. economy and hopes the European Central Bank will ultimately step in to buy bonds of troubled euro zone peripheral countries.

Bund futures ended up 1 point at 138.66 at their highest in four weeks. Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were up 17/32 in price for a yield of 1.85 percent, touching their lowest levels in early October.

Gold, another traditional safehaven asset, snapped a four-day losing streak tied to fund liquidation.

Spot bullion in London ended up 1.5 percent at $1,593.68 an ounce after touching the lowest level since late September on Thursday. For the week, gold fell 6.8 percent, the biggest weekly decline since late September.

The oil market struggled to hold early gains on nagging worries about the euro zone crisis causing a global economic slowdown. February Brent crude futures settled down 25 cents at $103.35 a barrel, while spot U.S. oil futures settled down 34 cents at $93.53, briefly falling below their 300-day moving average.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111217/bs_nm/us_markets_global

boston news matilda new jersey weather halloween movies halloween movies new york snow new york snow

Founder of famous Paris bookstore dies at 98

FILE - This Wednesday, June 1, 2011, file photo shows the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris. Shakespeare & Company says, George Whitman, the founder of the iconic English-language Paris bookshop, has died. He was 98 years old. Nestled on the left bank of the Seine River, Shakespeare & Company is a veritable warren of books, stacked with volumes from floor to ceiling. It has long been known as a haven for writers and would-be writers, whom Whitman often allowed to crash in the store. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File)

FILE - This Wednesday, June 1, 2011, file photo shows the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris. Shakespeare & Company says, George Whitman, the founder of the iconic English-language Paris bookshop, has died. He was 98 years old. Nestled on the left bank of the Seine River, Shakespeare & Company is a veritable warren of books, stacked with volumes from floor to ceiling. It has long been known as a haven for writers and would-be writers, whom Whitman often allowed to crash in the store. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File)

PARIS (AP) ? George Whitman's life was packed with the type of adventures that filled every nook and cranny of his bookshop, Paris' iconic English-language Shakespeare and Company.

A bohemian traveler, Whitman was once nursed to health by Mayans in the Yucatan during a 3,000-mile (5000-kilometer) trek across Latin America and sometimes bragged that he had lived in Greenland with a beautiful Eskimo woman.

At home, Whitman was best known as a pillar of Paris' literary scene. For more than half century, his eclectic Left Bank shop was a beacon for readers, who spent long hours browsing its overflowing shelves or curling up with a good book next to a drowsy cat.

Shakespeare and Company was also a haven for every author or would-be writer passing through the City of Light.

For them, Whitman reserved a welcome that turned Yeats' famous verse ? "Be not inhospitable to strangers / Lest they be angels in disguise" ? into deed: He took in aspiring writers as boarders in exchange for a helping hand in the store.

Whitman died Wednesday in his apartment above the bookstore, two days after his 98th birthday and two months after suffering a stroke, the store announced on its website.

He "showed incredible strength and determination up to the end" and read every day with his daughter, his friends and his cat and dog, according to the statement. "Nicknamed the Don Quixote of the Latin Quarter, George will be remembered for his free spirit, his eccentricity and his generosity."

The store was shuttered Wednesday, and longtime customers, students and anonymous book-lovers lit candles on its stoop to pay their respects.

The store will live on under the management of Whitman's daughter, Sylvia Whitman. In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this year, she summed up the unique store this way: "My father says it's a Socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore."

Whitman was born on Dec. 12, 1913, in East Orange, New Jersey, although he grew up in Massachusetts.

His twin loves of the written word and foreign travel were nurtured early on, when his father, a physics professor who authored several science books, took the family along for a yearlong sabbatical at a Chinese university in 1925.

That was the first of a series of adventures that later saw Whitman wander Latin America, sail to Hawaii and hitch his way across the United States.

After graduating from Boston University with a degree in journalism in 1935, Whitman enlisted in the U.S. Army. During World War II, he was trained as a Medical Warrant Officer and treated the wounded at hospitals across Europe, according to the store's statement.

Whitman moved to Paris permanently under the GI Bill in 1948. Three years later, he founded his bookshop in a rickety old building directly across the Seine River from Notre Dame cathedral. Initially baptized "Le Mistral" after the blustering winds that blow in off the Mediterranean, the shop's name was later changed.

The original Shakespeare and Company bookstore came from legendary literary matron Sylvia Beach, and the place was a magnet for English-speaking expats like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. She opened that store in the early 1920s in a Left Bank district not far from its current home, on the rue de l'Odeon. The shop gained fame by publishing Irish writer James Joyce's banned book "Ulysses."

World War II forced it to close, and Whitman gave Shakespeare and Company a new life in new digs in 1951.

Over the decades, Whitman's refuge for literary souls from far and wide became a Paris institution. It's widely regarded as an honor for authors to give a reading at the store, where eager listeners jostle for a spot among the stacks of first, second- and thirdhand books lining the walls and floors.

Whitman was made an officer of arts and letters by the French Culture Ministry in 2006.

He is to be buried in the city's venerable Pere Lachaise cemetery, where the remains of literary giants including Oscar Wilde, Balzac and French poet Guillaume Apollinaire rest, the posting said. The date of the funeral has not yet been set.

__

Associated Press writer Elaine Ganley contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-14-France-Obit-Whitman/id-5047e4ba45664ec8ae46de2bcf958873

oregon football lana turner donald glover julio cesar chavez jr jason segel turducken power rangers jungle fury

Thousands of Poles protest against new EU treaty (Reuters)

WARSAW (Reuters) ? About 5,000 Poles protested in Warsaw on Tuesday against closer European integration after the government agreed to a new EU treaty for closer fiscal cooperation to tackle economic crisis.

The protesters waved Polish flags and at one point chanted "Disgrace!" during the rally organized by the main opposition, the conservative, euro-skeptic Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The peaceful demonstration took place on the 30th anniversary of a crackdown by communist authorities against the pro-democratic opposition lead by the Solidarity trade union.

As he addressed the crowd, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski drew a parallel between the 1981 Poland's subjugation under the Martial Law to the Soviet Union and the current government's support for deeper EU integration.

"PiS will lead the fight for a truly sovereign Poland where Poles themselves can decide on what is most important for them, can build their prosperity on their own, because we can afford that," he said.

Poland, the largest former communist state in the EU, is still outside the euro zone and has so far avoided the recession engulfing much of the 27-nation bloc.

Kaczynski accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government of betraying the nation's interests by giving Germany whip hand in the EU, to the cheers of the crowd.

Tusk, at the helm of a centrist, pro-business party, believes deeper EU integration is essential to Poland's security and prosperity. PiS and other euro-skeptic parties have accused him of surrendering the country's hard-won independence.

But, partially thanks to Poland's still-resilient economy, PiS and other euro-skeptic parties have, until now, failed to make political capital from the current European malaise.

"This is not the appropriate time for some Poles to play people off against each other," Tusk told a news conference on Tuesday, referring to the still-divisive Martial Law issue.

Some 44 percent of Poles believe declaring the state of emergency was right, while 34 percent believe it was wrong, according to a recent survey by CBOS pollster.

"This is an anniversary that should make us reflect on the obligations and the limits of power, both in the communist times as well as today," he said. "The memory of these events should unite us."

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111213/wl_nm/us_poland_protest

gmail app gmail app phentermine port of oakland grand theft auto 5 grand theft auto 5 kris jenner

Colo. judge allows Sheen's ex-wife to return home

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) ? A Colorado judge will let actor Charlie Sheen's ex-wife, Brooke Mueller, to return to California following her arrest in Aspen on assault and drug charges.

A Pitkin County judge on Monday approved a request by Mueller's attorney to allow Mueller to go back home so she can care for her children.

According to the Aspen Daily News (http://bit.ly/sbsuw9 ), officers arrested Mueller Saturday at a nightclub after a woman reported being assault by Mueller. Authorities released Mueller after she posted $11,000 bond. She is due back in court Dec. 19.

Sheen and Mueller divorced earlier this year, citing Christmas Day 2009 as the day of their breakup. Sheen was arrested in Aspen that day on suspicion of assaulting Mueller. He completed his probation in that case last November.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-12-06-People-Brooke%20Mueller/id-7c5202c8b03f420aa5f215d116afa704

guy fawkes day jesse ventura stevie williams steve williams mike wallace mike wallace koch brothers

SC primary up for grabs, Gingrich making big play (AP)

NEWBERRY, S.C. ? For three decades, the Republican who won South Carolina's presidential primary has also won the GOP nomination.

That record helps explain why Newt Gingrich, a self-described lover of history, is working more aggressively than any of his competitors to organize activists and volunteers ahead of the Jan. 21 primary, essentially pinning his candidacy on a state filled with Christian conservatives.

His chief rival, Mitt Romney, is approaching South Carolina tentatively. He invested huge sums in the state in the 2008 presidential race only to bail just days before the vote when it became clear he would lose big to Arizona Sen. John McCain. Many voters couldn't overlook their skepticism of Romney's Mormon faith and his reversals on some cultural issues.

The others in the 2012 race are treating South Carolina as an afterthought while they bank their candidacies on one of the two states that vote first, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Enter Gingrich, who's enjoying a burst of momentum after a summer campaign meltdown.

"I do believe South Carolina will be the decisive primary," the former House speaker from Georgia told Republicans who packed a theater in Newberry last week. "If we win here, I believe I will be the nominee."

But victory in the state won't come easy for the thrice-married Gingrich.

He has acknowledged having an extramarital affair, an issue that may turn off Christian conservatives who hold great sway in South Carolina. Gingrich, a recent convert to Catholicism, frequently makes a point of talking about his close partnership with third wife Callista.

He has advocated a "humane" approach to immigration that would let longtime residents work toward citizenship. Critics have labeled that as "amnesty" for millions of foreigners who are illegally in the United States, and that's another potent issue in the state.

Winning in South Carolina would be even more difficult if he were to come in with a 0-2 record, losing in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Perhaps for all those reasons, if not in spite of them, Gingrich is building the largest presidential organization in the state. He's sinking more into South Carolina than he has in any other early voting state as he seeks to capitalize on his rebound after a troubled campaign start when virtually his entire staff quit.

He has opened five offices and hired nine people, the most of any of the Republicans.

In early nominating states like South Carolina, Gingrich's campaign was meeting with former aides and advisers to Herman Cain, who dropped out of the GOP race Saturday. While Cain's endorsement remains up for grabs, Gingrich and his rivals were looking to schedule one-on-one meetings this week with the former pizza executive.

South Carolina voters are starting to notice Gingrich, and at least some like what they see.

Virginia Coker of Hartsville attended a town hall-style meeting Wednesday night at the Newberry Opera House that doubled as a fundraiser for the state party. She was hardly a fan before Gingrich took the stage and answered more than a dozen questions from the party faithful. She left a convert.

"He's going to be the nominee," Coker predicted.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor in his second presidential bid, is working quietly to build an organization in the state. He hasn't visited much and has only three paid workers in South Carolina. But Romney has done the groundwork for a campaign that could quickly be up and running if he chooses to compete in the state. Unlike Gingrich, Romney has millions in the bank to start airing television ads that could affect the race.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas are the only candidates who have aired television ads in the state, though that was expected to change in the coming weeks.

GOP activists have yet to fall in line behind a single candidate, giving hope to candidates languishing at the back of the pack, such as Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Bachmann has a lean operation and is keeping much of her focus on Iowa. She could tap into a network of evangelical Christians, if she performs well in Iowa first.

To some, Santorum appears to be the candidate most likely to engineer a surprise.

"Crisis pregnancy centers are strongly behind Senator Santorum," said Karen Floyd, a former South Carolina GOP chairwoman, noting this powerful and wide network of anti-abortion voters who show up on Election Day.

Alexia Newman, who runs a Spartanburg pregnancy center, has been rounding up Santorum support for months because of his strong conservative positions on social issues, even though the economy is taking center stage in the race.

"There's really only one or two candidates really bringing up the debate," Newman said.

Still, the hurdles are high for those candidates.

Consider that conservative Christians who talk kindly of Santorum also finish their sentences with doubt about his ability to capture the nomination.

"There's probably as much of a chance of the Rapture happening by election time as there is for Rick to win the nomination," said Harry Kibler an activist who runs RINO Hunt, a group that criticizes "Republicans in Name Only."

As for Gingrich, the next two months will tell whether he can overcome his hurdles ? and make history himself.

___

Davenport reported from Columbia.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_el_pr/us_republicans_south_carolina

acrylamide advent calendar adobe air 2005yu55 advanced search personhood amendment haynesworth

Dickins of a Christmas breeds business for downtown stores | WLFI ...

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - In its 15th year Lafayette's Dickens of a Christmas continues to bring hundreds to Main Street, and hundreds of dollars? to Main Street retailers.

For most on Main Street, the sound of Christmas carols is often coupled with the sound of the cash register, which is music to the ears of small business owners.

Business owners say the flow of customers at most downtown stores can sometimes be less than ideal.? That's why special events like Saturday's Dickens of a Christmas are key for downtown business.

"There's a lot of people every year that tell us they come one day to downtown. And they pick Dickens because there are so many events, and because there are so many things they can get done in one day down here," said Traci Bratton, owner of Walnut Street Traditions in Lafayette.

In its fifteenth year, the event has gained such popularity that groups are even making it a point to visit the shopping destination from out of town.

"Actually it was a park district advertisement from LaPorte, my sister lives there, and we went on a bus trip with a bunch of other people for the day," said Joan Braun, a customer visiting especially for the Dickins event.

It's certainly a plus for local business owners that out-of-towners make the trip to Lafayette. Many small business owners feel Saturday is one of the bigger holiday shopping days of the season.

"We all agree, it's a big day for all of us," said Bratton.

And those patronizing local stores are happy to help in their small part, especially if it means finding unique and fun gifts for family and friends.

"You can see how they need these types of days to help their businesses," said Leeann Grabon, another out-of-town patron.

Special downtown events also included a farmers market, and a traveling version of a Christmas Carol.

Source: http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local/dickens-of-a-christmas-breeds-business-for-downtown-stores

kmart urban meyer ohio state traffic report traffic report opensky dia frampton dia frampton

"Tyrannosaur" named top British indie film (omg!)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Paddy Considine's wrenching character study "Tyrannosaur" has been named the year's best feature at the Moet British Independent Film Awards, which took place on Sunday night in London.

The film topped a field that included Steve McQueen's sexually explicit drama "Shame" and Tomas Alfredson's subtle espionage thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." The three films had tied for the most nominations, with seven.

Other movies nominated for the top award were the documentary "Senna" and Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin."

Ramsay won the award for Best Director.

"Tyrannosaur" won three awards, more than any other film. The film's Olivia Colman was named Best Actress, and actor-turned-director Considine won the award for the best debut by a British director.

The other lead acting award went to Michael Fassbender for "Shame." Vanessa Redgrave won the Supporting Actress award for "Coriolanus," while Michael Smiley was named Best Supporting Actor for "Kill List."

The Most Promising Newcomer award went to Tom Cullen for "Weekend."

As it has at most awards announced this year, the Iranian film "A Separation" was named Best Foreign Independent Film. "Senna" won for Best Documentary.

Honorary awards went to actor/directors Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes and financier Graham Easton.

The awards were spread out among a varied and almost uniformly strong group of nominees, none of whom are considered Oscar favorites but many of whom -- including Fassbender, Colman and Redgrave -- are at least in the running.

The show took place at Old Billingsgate in London. It was hosted by Irish actor/comedian Chris O'Dowd ("Bridesmaids"), who appeared to be thoroughly drunk by about the halfway point.

The winners were selected by a jury that was chaired by producer Andrew Eaton ("The Killer Inside Me") and included actress Gemma Arterton ("Tamara Drewe"), actor David Thewlis ("War Horse," "The Lady"), casting director Lucy Bevan ("An Education") and producer Tracey Seaward ("The Queen").

Past BIFA winners include Oscar Best Picture champs "The King's Speech" and "Slumdog Millionaire," as well as "Moon," "Control," "This Is England," "The Constant Gardener" and "Vera Drake."

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM:

"Tyrannosaur"

BEST DIRECTOR:

Lynne Ramsay, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

BEST ACTOR:

Michael Fassbender, "Shame"

BEST ACTRESS:

Olivia Colman, "Tyrannosaur"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Michael Smiley, "Kill List"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Vanessa Redgrave, "Coriolanus"

BEST SCREENPLAY:

Richard Ayoade, "Submarine"

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION:

"Weekend"

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT:

Maria Djurkovic (production design), "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

BEST FOREIGN INDEPENDENT FILM:

"A Separation"

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

"Senna"

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (Best Debut Director):

Paddy Considine, "Tyrannosaur"

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER:

Tom Cullen, "Weekend"

THE RAINDANCE AWARD:

"Leaving Baghdad"

BEST BRITISH SHORT:

"Chalk"

RICHARD HARRIS AWARD:

Ralph Fiennes

VARIETY AWARD:

Kenneth Branagh

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE:

Graham Easton

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_tyrannosaur_named_top_british_indie_film233028884/43803843/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/tyrannosaur-named-top-british-indie-film-233028884.html

risky business weather nj weather nj nyc weather nyc weather philadelphia weather chris carpenter

Singer Mindy McCready refuses to return son

FILE - In this undated file photo, country singer Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn. A missing persons report has been filed for McCready and her 5-year-old son Zander. The Department of Children and Families says the report was filed with Cape Coral Police Tuesday night after McCready took Zander from McCready's father's home. McCready doesn't have custody of her son ? her mother does ? and was allowed to visit the boy at her father's home. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this undated file photo, country singer Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn. A missing persons report has been filed for McCready and her 5-year-old son Zander. The Department of Children and Families says the report was filed with Cape Coral Police Tuesday night after McCready took Zander from McCready's father's home. McCready doesn't have custody of her son ? her mother does ? and was allowed to visit the boy at her father's home. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) ? Country singer Mindy McCready said Thursday she would not bring her 5-year-old son back from Tennessee to Florida, despite violating a custody arrangement and a judge's order.

McCready took the boy during a recent visit at her father's Florida home, and a judge signed an order Thursday ordering authorities to take the boy into custody and return him. It's not yet clear whether the singer could face criminal charges.

"I'm doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble," McCready wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday. "I don't think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place."

McCready says she is in Tennessee and cannot travel because she's nearly seven months pregnant with twins.

The judge's order means law enforcement anywhere can pick up the boy and bring him back to Florida.

McCready and her mother have had a long custody battle over the boy. Until recently, the boy was living with McCready's mother. Her mother was awarded guardianship in 2007. McCready says her son has suffered abuse at her mother's house; her mother, Gayle Inge, denies the abuse allegations.

"Once the child is located, we will pick him up and bring him back to Florida," said Terri Durdaller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children and Families. "Although these circumstances are unfortunate for a young child, his safety and well-being are our number one priority."

McCready provided a series of emails to the AP with Lee County Judge James Seals' ruling to return the boy.

"Mom has violated the court's custody order and we are simply restoring the child back into our custody," the judge wrote. "Nothing more. Nothing less. The court makes no judgment about whether Mom will or will not competently care for the child while in her custody. It only wants the child back where the court placed him."

McCready found fame in the mid-1990s and has lived a complicated life in recent years.

In August, she filed a libel suit against her mother and the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., over a story published in the tabloid newspaper that quoted Inge.

And in 2008, McCready was admitted to a hospital after police said she cut her wrists and took several pills in a suicide attempt.

During the TV show "Celebrity Rehab 3" in 2010, McCready came off as a sympathetic figure, and host Dr. Drew Pinsky called her an angel in the season finale.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-12-01-People-McCready/id-ec71225a42e3469b8e790118ddffe61f

sweet potato casserole super committee walmart black friday ad 2011 nl mvp nl mvp verlander verlander

Violent wind storm leaves path of destruction (AP)

PASADENA, Calif. ? Several overturned semis on a Utah highway. Hundreds of thousands without power in California. A wind gust reaching 123-mph in Colorado.

The powerful winds that tore across Western states Thursday created a path destruction that closed schools, left neighborhoods with a snarl of downed trees and power lines, and prompted some communities to declare emergencies.

The storms, described as a once-in-a-decade event, were the result of a dramatic difference in pressure between a strong, high-pressure system and a cold, low-pressure system, meteorologists said. This funnels strong winds down mountain canyons and slopes.

The system brought high wind warnings and advisories for California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. The blustery weather is expected to eventually hit Oklahoma, Missouri and Indiana.

The violent winds eased but strong gusts still blew through the region Thursday night, at times reaching 60 mph in some California mountains. Forecasters said the winds would continue to diminish through Friday.

The winds were fanning fires in northern California.

The Sacramento Bee reported that as of Thursday evening, seven fires had burned more than 130 acres in El Dorado County. Five fires had also burned more than 250 acres in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.

In Southern California, the storm knocked out electricity to more than 350,000 utility customers. By early Friday, 270,000 of them were still without power.

Gusts, which reached 80 mph, were blamed for toppling semitrailers and causing trees to fall on homes, apartment complexes and cars.

A state of emergency was declared in Los Angeles County, where schools in a dozen communities were closed.

In some neighborhoods, concrete light poles cracked in half. Darkened traffic signals and fallen palm tree fronds and branches snarled traffic. At a Shell station, the roof collapsed into a heap of twisted metal.

In heavily damaged Pasadena, schools and libraries closed and a local emergency, the first since 2004, was declared. Officials said 40 people were evacuated from an apartment building after a tree smashed part of the roof.

Pasadena is known for its historic homes and wide oak-lined streets that are frequently depicted in films.

Many residents Thursday blamed the city for protecting its old trees from over-trimming to such an extent that they have now become a public safety hazard.

Vince Mehrabian, the general manager at A&B Motor Cars, estimated eight Lexus, Cadillac and other luxury cars had been destroyed by fallen limbs. He said he'd been asking the city for four years to trim the trees more.

On a street around the corner, almost every tree was either cracked in half or missing limbs.

Elsewhere, Daphne Bell, a 30-year Pasadena resident, said she was kept awake by howling wind. "This is the worst, the absolute worst. There were times it sounded like a freight train was roaring down my driveway," she said.

Similar stories of downed trees and power lines echoed across the West, where winds in some areas ripped storefront awnings, filled gutters with debris and forced school closures.

In Utah, about 50,000 customers lost power along the state's 120-mile Wasatch Front as high winds took down power lines, but service was restored to more than half of them by Thursday night.

On Interstate 15, strong gusts blew more than 10 semi-trucks onto their sides, prompting authorities to temporarily close the highway to trucks. Commuter train travel was also interrupted after debris covered the tracks.

Schools closed in Centerville, where a 102-mph gust was reported. Mail delivery and trash pickup were canceled.

Davis County issued a disaster declaration to request state assistance, citing more than $3.5 million in estimated damage to infrastructure.

The Red Cross opened three centers to provide food and aid to people affected by the storm, and opened one overnight shelter in Ogden.

In Nevada, weather officials warned that blowing dust was creating visibility problems on a highway between Reno and Las Vegas.

In Steamboat Springs, Colo., the roof of a four-story condominium complex was blown off and about 100 trees were knocked over, some landing on homes. A ski area shut down its lifts after a gust of 123 mph.

Even some weather experts were surprised by the wind's force.

"It's one of the strongest events that I can remember," said Brian Edwards, a meteorologist with Accuweather. "It's rather rare."

___

Associated Press writers John Rogers and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles, Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City, and Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_us/us_western_winds

syracuse shonn greene oklahoma state plane crash syracuse university oklahoma state best buy black friday 2011 ads broncos jets

The 'epic' John Carter trailer: 6 talking points (The Week)

New York ? Beloved Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch swaps his football jersey for a loincloth in Disney's upcoming $300 million action flick

With 2011 winding down, cinephiles are already looking toward 2012's most anticipated films. Near the top of the list is Disney's high-risk sci-fi epic John Carter, with its rumored?$300 million budget.?Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch plays the title character, a Civil War vet who is inexplicably transported to Mars, where he finds himself in the midst of all-out alien warfare ? which, of course, only he can end.?The film hits theaters in March 2012 and is based on classic Edgar Rice Burroughs novels.?The first full-length trailer was released Wednesday night. (Watch it below.) Here, six things people are talking about:

1. The visual effects look great
"If this film isn't amazing, we'll be truly shocked," says John Hill at Holy Moly. The trailer is a mesmerizing "sensory explosion," says Matt Patches at Hollywood. The "ridiculous spectrum" of four-armed aliens, monkey beasts, crazy martian dogs, and incredible stuntwork is exactly the "sci-fi whiz bang pow that I'd expect from a John Carter movie."

SEE ALSO: 9 TV show products you can actually buy: A slideshow

?

2. And so does Taylor Kitsch
One of the key takeaways here, says Jenna Busch at Zap2it, is that star Taylor Kitsch "rarely wears a shirt." That's reason alone to see this film. But sadly, the talented Friday Nights Lights alum, for all his ab-flaunting and high-flying stunts, "doesn't appear to have anything terribly interesting to do," says Angie Han at Slash Film, and the dialogue is "painfully generic."

3. Andrew Stanton's directing will be compelling
John Carter is a "coming out party of sorts for director Andrew Stanton," says Melissa Locker at TIME. It's the first-live action flick from the Academy Award-winning writer and director, best known for his Pixar hits Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Considering Stanton's grooming in the world of Pixar, "where story comes before everything," says Eric Eisenberg at Cinema Blend, I think he'll produce a quality film.

SEE ALSO: Jack and Jill's 'perfect 0' Rotten Tomatoes score: The nastiest pans

?

4. But the movie looks awfully familiar
"It's not hard to draw comparisons between Avatar and John Carter,"?says The HD Room. This trailer is a "visual effects showpiece not unlike the first trailer" for Cameron's 2010 film, just swapping the "lush forests of Pandora with the barren deserts of Mars." Even though this looks like an "amalgam of Prince of Persia, Return of the Jedi, Avatar, Wild Wild West, and Braveheart," says Christopher Rosen at Moviefone, "it works."

5. And where's the story?
Sure, "the movie does look epic," says Eisenberg. "But I'm not just seeing the substance." The trailer appears to be more concerned with "mood than plot," agrees James White at Empire, as there's "not a lot of story on show here."

SEE ALSO: Regis Philbin's 'emotional' farewell

?

6. All in all,?John Carter is a huge risk for Disney
Judging from the trailer, the film hardly looks like it cost $300 million,?says?Geeks of Doom. But regardless, it's a huge financial risk for Disney. This movie could be a "good pulpy space opera" if done right. Or it could go the way and?Green Lantern?and?Tron: Legacy, and fail to resonate with moviegoers, ending up a box-office disappointment.

?

SEE ALSO: The 'intense' Hunger Games trailer: 5 talking points

?

View this article on TheWeek.com
Get New Moon: Is Twilight's Bella Swan a bad role model?

What 'New Moon' taught Hollywood

The Vatican vs. 'New Moon'

Like on Facebook?-?Follow on Twitter?-?Sign-up for Daily Newsletter

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111201/cm_theweek/222014

bcs bcs standings 2011 rhodes scholarship rhodes scholarship ufc 139 results adrian peterson lee corso

Inside Gaming Real Estate Edition: Hooters for Sale, Hilton ...

November 30 2011, Elissa Harwood

Where can you find gaming stories with more zeros than the Ivey/Laliberate Macau cash games? In the casino operations industry, of course. Lately, the Las Vegas market has produced more suicide kings than bankers or professors. This week, the owners of Hooters Las Vegas finally accepted that it's beyond saving and agreed to auction the property to the highest bidder. The bankrupt Hilton Las Vegas made public its new name ??LVH-Las Vegas. Even if it weren't redundant, we'd be underwhelmed. And the company that owns the giant empty lot between the Trump and the Wynn said it's going to stay a dusty wasteland for the foreseeable future. We're sure there's good news to be had in Las Vegas. But this week you won't find much of it here.

Hooters Casino: The Ultimate Stocking Stuffer?

Love gambling, chicken wings, and well-endowed women? We have the ultimate Christmas list addition for you! Hooters Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas will be sold at auction according to a deal agreed to in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday. For between $50 and $80 million, you could be the proud new owner of a 696-room property only a few blocks off of the Las Vegas Strip. OK, a 696-room property and a boatload of debt, but just ask Santa to pay that off next year.

Hooters' management tried for several months to hold off a foreclosure attempt by the property's largest debt creditor, Canyon Capital Reality Advisors. But after outside experts determined that no investors would be willing to sink more money into the project without a change in ownership, Hooters and Canyon Capital agreed to the auction plan. Canyon Capital holds debt officially listed at $176.6 million but says the casino is worth no more than $80 million.

"There is no question that no one out there will pay in excess of $175 million," said Hooters attorney Gerald Gordon. "But there are buyers prepared to step up for somewhat less."

Since Canyon Capital's subsidiary, Canpartners Realty Holding Company IV, bought the majority of Hooters' debt at 22 cents on the dollar six years ago, the investment firm appears willing to dispose of the casino for much less than the original value of the debt.

In a written statement for Canyon Capital published on Nov. 1, John Knott, an executive vice president of CB Richard Ellis, said a sale price of $70 million was "achievable" but cautioned that renovations costing as much as $50 million would be necessary to make Hooters competitive with the surrounding hotels that have rolled out major renovations in the past several years.

In the three months ending Oct. 31, Hooters lost $111,000 on net revenues of $11.3 million. The exact auction date and procedures have not yet been set, but the deadline for the auction's completion is currently Feb. 17.

For more information on the terms of the sale and all kinds of fun debt valuation discussions, read VegasInc.com and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Las Vegas Hilton Renamed LVH as Foreclosure Battle Continues

And you thought Paris had problems. After 40 years as the Las Vegas Hilton, the hotel and casino will change its name to the not-exactly-inspiring LVH-Las Vegas Hotel & Casino on Jan. 3. The resort's owner, Colony Resorts LVH Acquisitions LLC, made the name public in a Las Vegas advertising section published in the Los Angeles Times.

The property's franchise rights to the Hilton name expire at the start of the year. Hilton Worldwide decided not to renew the rights to attach the Hilton name to the bankrupt casino. According to a federal trademark application filed by Colony Resorts in September, the new name will be used for hotel, restaurant, gaming, and entertainment activities on the property.

Colony Resorts has its hands full with the property at the moment. In August, the company made public news that it had defaulted on a $252 million term loan from Goldman Sachs Mortgage Co. Now the Hilton's owners are contesting an attempt by Goldman to foreclose on the Hilton. In October, a judge gave Colony Resorts more time to fight Goldman's bid to forcibly replace the current management with receiver Ronald Paul Johnson. The next court date is set for Dec. 13. With all of the uncertainty about the location's future, Colony Resorts got Securities and Exchange Commission permission not to file a third-quarter financial report on time.

In a statement, Colony Resorts said, "Colony Resorts LVH Acquisitions LLC is not able to file its quarterly report?for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2011. on or prior to Nov. 15, 2011, without unreasonable effort or expense due to the company's inability to determine the fair value of the company's assets."

The property formerly known as the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, owned by Colony Capital LLC, already lost its right to use the Hilton name. The bankrupt casino is going by the name ACH as it searches for a buyer. In a strategy recently written about in the Press of Atlantic City, the heavily leveraged property is trying to stay open by transforming itself into a low-cost local casino.

Analysts are skeptical about the viability of the Las Vegas Hilton's new name. David Schwartz, director of UNLV's center for gaming research, told the Casino City Times, "If LVH-Las Vegas Hotel & Casino is the new name, it can't be anything but a placeholder. It's not a viable name for a property. The only options are to revert back to the Hilton name or you sell it to somebody that can invest in a real name change."

More Emptiness for the Strip as New Frontier Site Plans Fail

While the barren sandy lot between the Trump International, the Fashion Show Mall, and the Wynn Las Vegas already looked like it had been long forgotten, it's status as a dust bowl is now official. The former site of the flattened New Frontier casino was supposed to be the new location of a Las Vegas version of New York's Plaza Hotel. But Elad Group, the Israeli company that bought the land, made it clear that the project is dead, announcing on Monday that it had written off $500 million of its $1.24 billion investment.

Elad Group, which also owns the Plaza in New York, planned to build a $5.7 billion version of its East Coast gem, but the market crash intervened. Elad bought the New Frontier and the land under it in May 2007 from then owner Phil Ruffin for about $34 million an acre at the very peak of the land's value. Ruffin had paid $167 million for the entire New Frontier casino and the land less than 10 years earlier. Elad demolished the casino in Nov. 2007, and the land has been empty since.

Executives at Elad cited "developments in international capital markets" as the reason the company couldn't obtain financing for the project. The land is now valued at about half of what Elad paid. Now that Elad wrote down $500 million of its value, when the loans are up for renewal in six months, no one would be surprised to see the banks as proud owners of an empty lot on the Strip.

Steve Wynn offered to landscape the eyesore across from his flagship casino at his own expense several years ago and says he has been repeatedly approached by Elad to develop the site. But Wynn says he cannot determine the return on investment he would get from such a project and used the opportunity to engage in one of his favorite pastimes, railing against the economic policies of the U.S. government.

Wynn said that the land is "owned by two Israeli gents, that are friends of mine, that bought it at a very high price and are sort of in a difficult position now." But he does not want to use the land to build a new Strip resort because of the federal government's "insatiable appetite for money."

The Las Vegas Review-Journal puts it all in context.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

_{*Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun}

Follow Elissa Harwood on Twitter ? @ebhizzle

Comments

Source: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2011/11/inside-gaming-real-estate-hooters-for-sale-hilton-renamed-11520.htm

walter isaacson zodiac killer battlefield 3 review battlefield 3 review real housewives of new jersey coraline coraline