Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/193375357?client_source=feed&format=rss
izon gaddafi dead steve wynn lytro camera lytro camera st. louis cardinals gaddafi bodyguards
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Rough seas still delay work on grounded liner (AP)
GIGLIO, Italy ? Rough seas off the Tuscan coast have delayed for a second day the start of operations to remove half a million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia.
Officials called off both the fuel removal and search operations Sunday after determining the ship had moved 4 centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours.
University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, or slipping into the seabed.
Recovery operations Saturday yielded a 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina. Fifteen crew and passengers remain missing.
The Concordia, with 4,200 people aboard, ran aground on Jan. 13 after the captain deviated from his planned route and gashed the hull of the ship on a reef.
when does ios 5 come out christopher columbus trina the green mile the green mile james whitey bulger coptic church
US Sen. Brown releases military service record (AP)
BOSTON ? U.S. Sen. Scott Brown released his military service record Saturday documenting the more than three decades he has served in the Army National Guard.
The records include his promotions, awards and officer evaluation reports, which offer high praise of Brown's service during the Massachusetts Republican's years in the military.
An officer evaluation report from 1985 was typical, describing Brown as "a young and aggressive officer."
"He is self-motivated and learns very fast. He has the potential to be promoted to a position with greater responsibilities," the report said.
Brown, a member of the Armed Services Committee, is facing a tough re-election campaign.
His office said the documents show the reason he was passed up for a Guard promotion to lieutenant colonel in the Judge Advocate General Corps in 2003 and 2004 was due to a missing document in his file.
Brown's office described the failure to include the document ? which showed that he had completed the necessary Command and General Staff Office Course ? as an administrative oversight. They noted that after Brown appealed to show that he had completed the required military education, he received the promotion in 2006.
The same oversight caused the Army National Guard to place Brown into the Retired Reserve from July 2005 through December 2005, his office said.
Brown first enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard in 1979.
"I am proud of my 32 years of service in the Army National Guard," he said in a statement accompanying the documents. "The Guard has profoundly impacted my life, and I credit those I have served with for inspiring me to be a better man, and a better servant of my country."
The documents did not include Brown's military medical records, which he said he plans to release when the military provides a copy.
Brown's office said he has never requested a transfer during his military service and that every transfer he received was ordered by the Massachusetts National Guard Adjutant General.
The awards Brown received include a Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal and Army Parachutist Badge.
Brown, who also serves on the Senate Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs committees, has said his service in the military has helped inform his work as an elected official.
He pointed to a recent proposal he sponsored that he said was designed to protect housing benefits for National Guard members deployed overseas.
Brown recently hosted a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee of Veterans Affairs to address what he said was the unprecedented claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the difficulty that returning veterans face as they try to enter to the workforce.
Last August, Brown participated in a weeklong training session in Afghanistan, spending most of his time in Kabul, where he lived, ate and trained with other troops, according to his office. It was his first time serving in a combat zone.
He was a key vote to end the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy that had prevented gay soldiers from serving openly in the military.
Brown won a special election in 2010 to fill the seat held for nearly half a century by Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy until his death from brain cancer.
His chief Democratic rival this year is Harvard professor and consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren. Polls show the two locked in a tight race.
The two recently signed an agreement designed to discourage outside, third-party groups from running attack ads in the race, which could end up being the most expensive campaign in Massachusetts history.
bethany hamilton after christmas sales macys stratfor bears vs packers after christmas sales 2011 tyson chandler
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Romney would rank among richest presidents ever (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Just how rich is Mitt Romney? Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you're in Romney territory.
He would be among the richest presidents in American history if elected ? probably in the top four.
He couldn't top George Washington who, with nearly 60,000 acres and more than 300 slaves, is considered the big daddy of presidential wealth. After that, it gets complicated, depending how you rate Thomas Jefferson's plantation, Herbert Hoover's millions from mining or John F. Kennedy's share of the vast family fortune, as well as the finer points of factors like inflation adjustment.
But it's safe to say the Roosevelts had nothing on Romney, and the Bushes are nowhere close.
The former Massachusetts governor has disclosed only the broad outlines of his wealth, putting it somewhere from $190 million to $250 million. That easily could make him 50 times richer than Obama, who falls in the still-impressive-to-most-of-us range of $2.2 million to $7.5 million.
"I think it's almost hard to conceptualize what $250 million means," said Shamus Khan, a Columbia University sociologist who studies the wealthy. "People say Romney made $50,000 a day while not working last year. What do you do with all that money? I can't even imagine spending it. Well, maybe ..."
Of course, an unbelievable boatload of bucks is just one way to think of Romney's net worth, and the 44 U.S. presidents make up a pretty small pond for him to swim in. Put alongside America's 400 or so billionaires, Romney wouldn't make a ripple.
So here's a look where Romney's riches rank ? among the most flush Americans, the White House contenders, and the rest of us:
_Within the 1 percent:
"Romney is small potatoes compared with the ultra-wealthy," said Jeffrey Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University who studies the nation's elites.
After all, even in the rarefied world of the top 1 percent, there's a big difference between life at the top and at the bottom.
A household needs to bring in roughly $400,000 per year to make the cut. Romney and his wife, Ann, have been making 50 times that ? more than $20 million a year. In 2009, only 8,274 federal tax filers had income above $10 million. Romney is solidly within that elite 0.006 percent of all U.S. taxpayers.
Congress is flush with millionaires. Only a few are in the Romney realm, including Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004. Kerry's ranking would climb much higher if the fortune of his wife, Teresa Heinz, were counted. She is the widow of Sen. John Heinz, heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune.
Further up the ladder, top hedge fund managers can pocket $1 billion or more in a single year.
At the top of the wealth pile sits Bill Gates, worth $59 billion, according to Forbes magazine's estimates.
_As a potential president:
Romney clearly stands out here. America's super rich generally don't jockey to live in the White House. A few have toyed with the idea, most notably New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom Forbes ranks as the 12th richest American, worth $19.5 billion. A lesser billionaire, Ross Perot, bankrolled his own third-party campaigns in 1992 and 1996.
Many presidents weren't particularly well-off, especially 19th century leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, James Buchanan and Ulysses S. Grant. Nor was the 33rd president, Harry Truman.
"These things ebb and flow," said sociologist Khan. "It's not the case that all presidents were always rich."
A few former chief executives died in debt, including Thomas Jefferson, ranked in a Forbes study as the third-wealthiest president.
Comparing the landlocked wealth of early Americans such as Washington, Jefferson and James Madison, with today's millionaires is tricky, even setting aside the lack of documentation and economic changes over two centuries.
Research by 24/7 Wall St., a news and analysis website, estimated Washington's wealth at the equivalent of $525 million in 2010 dollars.
Yet Washington had to borrow money to pay for his trip to New York for his inauguration in 1789, according to Dennis Pogue, vice president for preservation at Mount Vernon, Washington's Virginia estate. His money was tied up in land, reaping only a modest cash income after farm expenses.
"He was a wealthy guy, there's no doubt about it," Pogue said, and probably among the dozen richest Virginians of his time. But, "the wealthiest person in America then was nothing in comparison to what these folks are today."
_How does Romney stand next to a regular Joe?
He's roughly 1,800 times richer.
The typical U.S. household was worth $120,300 in 2007, according to the Census Bureau's most recent data, although that number is sure to have dropped since the recession. A typical family's income is $50,000.
Calculations from 24/7 Wall St. of the peak lifetime wealth (or peak so far) of Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama add up to a total $118 million ? while Romney reports assets of up to $250 million.
If you consider only those presidents' assets while in office, without millions earned later from speeches and books, their combined total would be substantially lower, and Romney's riches would leave the pack even further behind.
___
Online:
Forbes' richest presidents list: http://tinyurl.com/82erdyb
24/7 Wall St. on presidents' net worth: http://tinyurl.com/328qyu2
___
Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.
occupy philadelphia conrad murray conrad murray jack del rio jack del rio heaven is for real chapter 11 bankruptcy
Ship carrying rocket parts, hits Ky. bridge
BENTON, Ky.?? Kentucky's governor on Friday promised speedy work to begin replacing a bridge that partially collapsed when it was struck by a cargo ship hauling parts for a space rocket.
-
Only on msnbc.com
- Meet 'Rosie' and 'Ken': 2 chimps, 100 experiments
- Gingrich funder brings additional baggage
- The twisty road to US-Pakistan re-engagement
- Sources: No rescue planned for kidnapped American
- Domestic abuse charges dog new SF sheriff
- School bans Locks of Love teen for too-long hair
- Spinner of romantic lies, 'Rockefeller' set for murder trial
Two spans of the Eggner Ferry Bridge at US 68 and Kentucky 80 were destroyed Thursday night by the Delta Mariner, which was too tall to pass beneath the structure. No injuries were reported on the bridge or in the boat, which was carrying rocket components from Decatur, Ala., to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The ship was traveling on the Tennessee River on its typical route to Florida's Atlantic coast when it hit the aging steel bridge, which was built in the 1930s and handles about 2,800 vehicles a day.
The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the collision. And it's too early to speculate on exactly what caused the wreck until that probe is done, said Sam Sacco, a spokesman for ship owner and operator Foss Marine.
Sacco said the boat was not severely damaged, and some of the crew remained on the ship Friday afternoon to make sure the cargo is safe.
Gov. Steve Beshear on Friday said an immediate review of options to restore the bridge would take place.
"We'll turn our attention to a full inspection of the bridge and determine what steps we can take next to speed up the replacement of that important artery," Beshear said.
The 312-foot Delta Mariner hauls rocket parts for the Delta and Atlas systems to launch stations in Florida and California, according to a statement from United Launch Alliance, which builds the rocket parts in Alabama. The cargo was not damaged in the collision with the bridge, the company said.
The rocket parts are used by the Air Force, NASA and private companies to send satellites into space, said Jessica Frye, a spokeswoman with United Launch Alliance.
Sacco said the ship's typical route to Florida takes it along the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, then onto the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and on to Florida's east coast.
Robert Parker was on the bridge Thursday night and said he had to slam on his brakes when he saw a section missing ahead of him.
'I see the road's gone'
"All of a sudden I see the road's gone and I hit the brakes," said Parker, who lives in Cadiz. "It got close."
Parker said he stopped his pickup within five feet of the missing section. He said he didn't feel the vessel strike the bridge but "felt the bridge was kind of weak."
Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson and Transportation Cabinet Secretary Mike Hancock were visiting the crash area Friday, officials said.
Transportation Cabinet spokesman Keith Todd told The Paducah Sun he believes most of the navigational lights were functioning on the bridge at the time of the impact.
The bridge opened in 1932, connecting Trigg County and Marshall County at the western entrance to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. The transportation cabinet said the bridge was in the process of being replaced, and preconstruction work began months ago.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46164194/ns/us_news-life/
diners drive ins and dives hangover cure lebron james engaged auld lang syne end of the world 2012 leap year pink martini
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Samsung Earnings Beat Expectations Even As Legal Battle With ...
Steven Kovach, Business Insider |
Samsung said Friday in a regulatory filing that its net profit reached 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in the three months that ended in December. The company earned 3.4 trillion won in the same quarter a year earlier.
The Suwon, South Korea-based company said its operating profit jumped 75.8 percent to 5.3 trillion won in the fourth quarter. The figure was closely in line with the company's estimate earlier this month of a 73 percent rise.
Samsung, the world's biggest manufacturer of memory chips and liquid crystal displays, said demand for semiconductors in mobile products and servers remained solid despite weakness in personal computers, which face stiff competition from the rising popularity of tablets.
Samsung has over the decades grown into a key global manufacturer of components that let PCs, digital music players and handsets store data and display it on flat, high-resolution screens. The company has recently been stepping up its challenge against Apple Inc. in the global smartphone business, releasing models such as the Galaxy S II.
Cupertino, California-based Apple, which spurred the smartphone boom with the launch of its iPhone in 2007, has accused Samsung of "slavishly" copying its smartphone and iPad in design, user interface and packaging. Apple sued Samsung in April last year in the United States.
The legal battle has now spilled into 10 countries, according to Samsung officials. Court rulings so far have tended to side with Apple.
The quarterly profit brought the 2011 net profit to 13.7 trillion won, down 15 percent from the previous year, Samsung said.
"If profit in handsets continues to stream in, this year will also likely be a solid one for Samsung," said Jae Lee, an analyst at Daiwa Securities in Seoul. "The biggest threat would be if the global economy worsens."
Lee said legal battles with Apple would start weighing less on Samsung this year as the South Korean company is expected to release models with new designs.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-earnings-q4-2012-1
remember me anniversary god bless america flight 93 flight 93 al qaeda infiniti
Dr. Jon LaPook: Finally, a Spectacular Example of Progress in Haiti
On April 8th, 2010, I watched helplessly as the only oxygen machine in a poorly equipped Haitian clinic was taken from a premature baby and given to a woman struggling in labor. The woman gave birth to a healthy girl named Rodsandy. The premature baby died; he had no name.
Now, almost two years later, a stunning, modern teaching hospital with oxygen outlets in the walls is about to open in the town of Mirebalais thanks to a joint effort between Partners In Health, the government of Haiti, and donors from all over the world. Earlier this month, Dr. Paul Farmer (co-founder of Partners In Health) and Dr. David Walton (director of the hospital) took me on a tour of the 320-bed facility. At the very end of this video, Paul pours out his heart in the most succinct, passionate vision of health care equity I have ever heard.
?
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jon-lapook/finally-a-spectacular-exa_b_1233396.html
brian van gorder blazing saddles lsu alabama national championship cordova beezow doo doo zopittybop bop bop lsu game
Friday, January 27, 2012
Jon Stewart's Rare Show of Hypocrisy Lights Up Cable TV (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | I am a huge fan of comedian Jon Stewart. I think he should run for president. He'd make a great one. That said, I am an equal opportunity commentator, and as such it would be unconscionable for me to allow Stewart a free pass after Tuesday evening's blatant hypocrisy regarding former Massachusetts governor and likely also-ran Mitt Romney.
According to the Huffington Post, Stewart blasted Romney, (who according to CBC earned $21.7 million in 2010) for his earnings and his low tax rate. "How in the world do you, Mitt Romney, justify making more in one day than the median American family makes in a year -- while paying the same tax rate as the guy who scans shoes at the airport?" asked Stewart. Romney's effective earnings, all from investments, as he is per his own words according to the New York Times, unemployed work out to about $57,000 per day in fiscal year 2010.
Here's the problem: According to celebritynetworth.com, Stewart earns $15 million per year as his salary on "The Daily Show." We can assume, because that is a job, he pays closer to the 30 percent rate than Romney's 13.9 percent.
However, that's only part of the picture. Stewart is also estimated to have a net worth of $80 million. Depending on how he is invested, he is also earning a substantial income from his $80 million nest egg. Even if he is invested conservatively, he's likely earning investment income of $4 million per year, which would be taxed at a rate equal to Romney's. Indeed, between investment income and book royalties, and his salary, more than likely Stewart earns more money in the fiscal year than Romney despite paying a marginally higher tax rate.
Stewart goes on to blast Romney for having lobbied against tax reform that would have been detrimental to his personal holdings, but the fact is Stewart benefits from the tax laws too, and as such should have disclosed the same.
Of course, rich men don't want to pay more taxes than they currently do. But what I can't figure out is why anyone thinks the rich man should like taxation any more than the poor man does. That's just insane. I love "The Daily Show" and its contribution to the national dialog, but that bit was just plain hypocritical. Come on, Jon. You're better than that.
spear of destiny rock hill sc kate middleton pregnant national book awards jessica sutta sexiest man alive 2011 ruben studdard
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Your One-Minute Guide To SOPA And PIPA, Who's Protesting And Why
Link Information - Click to View
Your One-Minute Guide To SOPA And PIPA, Who's Protesting And WhyLove acronyms? Then this post is for you! SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith to prevent theft of American-produced content (and, notionally, other nations' content) via any of the classic means of accessing paid movies, music, and so on online--without paying for it.
Source: FastCompany
Posted on:
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012, 8:48am
Views: 28
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116805/Your_One_Minute_Guide_To_SOPA_And_PIPA__Who_s_Protesting_And_Why
brownback brownback salvia cybermonday deals cybermonday deals steve johnson norman reedus
Clinton takes democratic push to unlikely corner of West Africa (Reuters)
LOME (Reuters) ? Secretary of Hillary Clinton started her West Africa trip celebrating democracy, swooping in for the inauguration of Liberia's democratically re-elected president and promising help to Ivory Coast as it recovers from a bloody post-election civil war.
She wound up the trip on Tuesday sitting in a grandiose presidential palace in the impoverished nation of Togo, talking U.N. Security Council politics with a young leader making his own tentative democratic steps after taking over from his father, once one of Africa's longest-ruling strongman.
Clinton's whirlwind trip - four countries in two days - highlighted what U.S. officials say has been a resurgence of democracy in West Africa, long seen as lagging other parts of the continent as it struggles to free itself of military coups and ethnic violence.
But it also showed that the United States is determined to step up its engagement with the region, hoping to counter growing Chinese influence across Africa, shore up ties with important oil suppliers and build tighter security ties with governments targeted by both Islamic militant groups and narcotics trafficking networks.
Clinton's stops in Liberia and Ivory Coast allowed her to both congratulate them and to urge sustained efforts to consolidate democratic gains across West Africa where Nigeria, Niger and Guinea have all held elections since 2010.
"It is important to continue the democratic process that you have embarked on, to include all voices, even dissenting ones, in dialogue," Clinton said in a news conference with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara on Tuesday, summing up her message to the resource-rich region.
Ouattara won a disputed November 2010 vote but faced months of violent resistance from his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo. Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won a second term in November elections despite political tensions.
Both exemplify the kind of leader Washington likes in Africa: Western-oriented, committed to economic development, and firmly behind the institutions of democracy.
And both are also eager to expand security ties with the United States, part of the broader set of partnerships that Washington is laboring to build across the world and particularly in Africa, where it sees Beijing taking a more assertive role.
Clinton opened the gleaming new U.S. embassy complex in Liberia's capital Monrovia, and then drove out to the airport past the equally gleaming and arguably larger new Chinese embassy complex, a stark visual symbol of the tightening competition for influence.
"I'm convinced that we're missing an important strategic opportunity for the United States. China is taking advantage of our absence as a major funder of infrastructure and is advancing their economic and I think policy agendas across the continent," said Senator Christopher Coons, a Delaware Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who accompanied Clinton to Liberia.
SMALL, POOR - AND ON THE SECURITY COUNCIL
China's influence was also clear in Togo, where Clinton held talks with President Faure Gnassingbe in an ultramodern Beijing-built presidential palace, so new the artwork was still sitting on the floor, waiting to be hung on marble walls.
U.S. officials said Clinton's trip was spurred in part by Togo's election to the U.N. Security Council, where Washington is looking for votes as it demands a tougher response to Syria's violent political crackdown and new steps against Iran over its nuclear program.
But despite plentiful trappings of dictatorship - red-caped guards wielding swords, military brass dripping with braid and tireless women carefully arrayed in rows to ululate and cheer outside - U.S. officials said Gnassingbe, too, appears moving toward reform.
After first taking control in flawed and violent 2005 elections following the death of his father, Gnassingbe was re-elected in a March 2010 poll that U.S. officials said showed some improvement.
Since then, they say, the U.S.-educated president has promised to keep pushing for more change in the country to move it out of isolation, encourage investment and win more international friends - especially the United States.
"He is determined to put in place a strong reform-minded government - one that is democratic, multiparty, and which opens up the country," said Johnnie Carson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs
Clinton - the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Togo - discussed Syria and other international issues with Gnassingbe before emerging on the palace's imposing granite entrance to wave to the drummers, dancers and military band assembled to perform for her under hazy skies.
Clinton "made clear that the visit was indeed designed to strengthen them on the path that they're on, and try to do more together", one senior administration official said after her talks.
(Writing by Andrew Quinn)
visionary guy kawasaki jani lane the exorcism of emily rose the exorcism of emily rose fort knox quarry
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Jewish man arrested for swastikas, anti-Semitic calls (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? A Jewish man was under arrest on hate-crime charges on Monday, accused of making anti-Semitic telephone calls to his mother and other elderly women and putting swastikas on apartment doors, police said.
A family business dispute drove David Haddad, 56, of Manhattan, who is Jewish, to make threatening phone calls to his mother, 80, and two other women, ages 87 and 78, a police source said.
"He threatened to kill the other individual on the phone as well as her relatives," said a police spokesman. "He said basically that all Jews should die and go to hell."
Haddad, who was charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime, also was accused of taping notes with anti-Semitic symbols including swastikas on five apartment doors and in the hallway of a building in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
Haddad lives in Chelsea but police declined to say whether he targeted his own building.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)
fred davis fracking fracking drosselmeyer drosselmeyer pacific standard time local time
Outrage at Video of Marines Urinating on Taliban Corpses: A Veteran's View (Time.com)
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
bill obrien epiphany exorcism jersey shore season 5 mark driscoll brandi glanville unemployment rate
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
U.N.'s Ban tells Assad "repression is dead end" (Reuters)
BEIRUT (Reuters) ? United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday to halt violence against a 10-month uprising and said the "old order" of dynasties and one-man rule in the Arab world was coming to an end.
"Today, I say again to President Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people. The path of repression is a dead end," Ban told a conference in Lebanon on political reform.
The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on protests which erupted against Assad in March, inspired by uprisings that toppled three Arab leaders last year.
Syria says 2,000 members of the government forces have been killed by "armed terrorists."
"From the very beginning of the ... revolutions, from Tunisia through Egypt and beyond, I called on leaders to listen to their people," Ban said. "Some did, and benefited. Others did not, and today they are reaping the whirlwind."
The conflict in Syria has become one of the bloodiest and enduring confrontations of the "Arab Spring." An escalating armed insurgency, driven by army defectors and gunmen, has raised fears of civil war.
The deployment of Arab League monitors in Syria has failed to stem the bloodshed and Assad, facing sanctions, increasing isolation and a crumbling economy, has vowed to crush what he says is a foreign-backed conspiracy.
The 46-year-old president, who inherited power when his father died in 2000, also promised a parliamentary election under a new constitution later this year, and on Sunday declared a general amnesty for crimes committed during the uprising.
OLD ORDER CRUMBLES
"The old way, the old order, is crumbling," Ban said.
"One-man rule and the perpetuation of family dynasties, monopolies of wealth and power, the silencing of the media, the deprivation of fundamental freedoms... To all of this, the people say: Enough."
But he also said that the transition to democracy in the region would be hard and drawn out, requiring genuine reform, inclusive dialogue, a proper role for women and a solution for millions of young people seeking work.
In the short term, the instability created by the uprisings had exacerbated economic difficulties. Unemployment was rising, along with food and fuel prices, while commerce suffered.
"Meanwhile, old elites remain entrenched. The levers of coercion remain in their hands," Ban said. "...We have reached a sober moment."
Where authoritarian rulers had been toppled, there was no guarantee that their successors would uphold human rights.
"The new regimes must not elevate certain religious or ethnic communities at the expense of others," he said in apparent reference to fears that newly empowered Sunni Islamist movements could marginalize minorities.
Acknowledging that the United Nations itself needed to "update its approach" to address the region's problems, Ban said it was supporting change in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen.
"We are firmly committed to help Arab countries through this transition, by every means," he said.
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Ralph Gowling and Matthew Jones)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120115/wl_nm/us_syria_ban
new air jordans the patriot jeff dunham night at the museum young guns concord safe and sound
Does Tim Tebow really worry Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots?
Tim Tebow unexpectedly picked apart the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday. But this Saturday's game against a vulnerable New England Patriots defense might actually be more of a measuring stick for how far Tim Tebow has progressed.
In Sunday's wild card game, the Pittsburgh Steelers basically dared Tim Tebow to beat them with his arm.?
Skip to next paragraphHe did.?
Now comes a game Saturday night against the New England Patriots, whose pass defense has been only somewhat more resilient than a soggy roll of Charmin.?
Can Tebow do it again?
The statistics would suggest that the Patriots could be in a heap of trouble. On Sunday, Tebow posted a career-best 316 passing yards against a team that, during the regular season, gave up a league-stingiest average of 172. The Patriots, by contrast, gave up 294 passing yards a game ? good for second-worst in the league.
Tebow, we're guessing, is not sweating in his Lycra stretch pants.
What's more, Tebow's Denver Broncos managed to reel off an unseemly 176 yards rushing in the first quarter?of a regular-season loss to the Patriots before they were undone by turnovers.?
With an improving Tebow in the pocket and the Broncos' league-best rushing attack preparing to chew the Patriots into tiny Tebow flakes, how can the Patriots defense hope to cope?
Certainly, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had the customary nimbus clouds brewing overhead in a press conference Thursday.
"You have to worry about everything with Denver's offense," Belichick said. "You have to worry about the running game, the passing game, the backs, the receivers, the quarterback, the offensive line, they're a well-balanced unit.... If you just load up on one thing then, you pay the price somewhere else."
Then again, Bill Belichick, it would seem, exists to serve as a cosmic counterbalance for rainbows, unicorns, and fluffy clouds. His scowl is Botox-proof.
So Patriots fans might not want to go Y2K just yet.
In fact, there is some suggestion that the Pats' relatively patsy secondary might be more problematic for Tebow than the Steelers' iron fist.?
The reason: The Steelers, perhaps, indulged in a little hubris in their 29-23 overtime loss Sunday.?
Repeatedly, the Steelers moved as many defensive players as close to the line of scrimmage as possible in order to stop Denver's potent rushing attack. In doing so, they were banking on the fact that Tebow, the most inaccurate passer in the National Football League, would fail to hit open receivers ? as he has all year.?
The problem with this scheme is that it also simplified matters for Tebow. The best pro football defenses essentially force quarterbacks to work out the calculus of their complex schemes as they send Visigoths to pound at the gate of the pocket.
For the Steelers Sunday, it was all Visigoths and precious little calculus.?
That meant Tebow could determine relatively easily where he needed to throw the ball. And that made life easier for him.?
The Patriots are unlikely to follow that strategy. By mixing coverages and trying to confuse Tebow, who is still only in his first year as a pro starter, the Patriots defense could actually pose a greater challenge to Tebow than the Steelers' unit did.
Moreover, given that the Patriots' grandest defensive hopes are a collective desire to not be embarrassed, they will guard against giving up the big play. The Steelers virtually invited the big play by taking big defensive risks.?
Certainly, Tebow can take advantage of a Patriots defensive secondary filled with weaknesses. But strangely, a good game Saturday might be a more impressive achievement for Tebow than his game-winning performance against the mighty Steelers last Sunday.
joe paterno velasquez vs dos santos velasquez vs dos santos manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez cain velasquez vs dos santos cain velasquez vs dos santos
Monday, January 16, 2012
Two more bodies found on Italian cruise ship (Reuters)
GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) ? Divers found the bodies of two elderly men inside a capsized cruiseliner on Sunday, raising to five the death toll after the luxury vessel foundered and dramatically keeled over off Italy's coast.
Teams were painstakingly checking the interior spaces of the partly submerged Italian liner Costa Concordia for 15 people still unaccounted for after the huge ship, with 4,229 passengers and crew on board, was holed by a rock Friday night.
A day after the disaster, rescuers plucked a South Korean honeymoon couple and an injured crewmember alive from the wreck, lying on its side close to the beautiful island of Giglio off Italy's west coast.
The captain of the 114,500-tonne ship, Francesco Schettino, was arrested on charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, Italian police said. Some 64 people were injured in the accident.
Investigators were working through evidence from the equivalent of the "black boxes" carried on aeroplanes, to try to establish the precise sequence of events behind the accident, which occurred in calm seas and shallow waters.
Searching the vast ship for survivors was like combing through a small town - but one tilted on its side, largely in darkness, partly underwater and full of floating debris.
In the early afternoon, scuba divers looking for survivors found the bodies of two men at an evacuation assembly point in the submerged part of the ship, coastguard officials said.
The bodies of two French tourists and a Peruvian crew member were found Saturday.
The discovery of the bodies Sunday dampened earlier euphoria when a helicopter lifted off injured chief purser Manrico Gianpetroni, hours after rescuers made voice contact with him deep inside the stricken, multi-storey vessel.
Gianpetroni, who had a broken leg, was winched up from the ship on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
"I never lost hope of being saved. It was a 36-hour nightmare," he told reporters.
TITANIC
Passengers compared the disaster to the sinking of the Titanic, and described people leaping into the sea and fighting over lifejackets in panic when the ship hit a rock and ran aground as they sat down for dinner Friday night.
The vast hulk of the 290-metre-long ship loomed over the little port of Giglio, a picturesque island in a maritime nature reserve off the Tuscan coast. There was large gash in its side and divers were able to swim into the wreck through the hole.
The specialist diving teams faced a complex task as they worked their way through the warren of cabins on the ship - a floating resort that boasted a huge spa, seven restaurants, bars, cinemas and discotheques.
"Getting inside the ship is really difficult and dangerous," said Majko Aldone, a one of the specialist team of divers who have been entering cabins through open portholes or by smashing through the glass.
"There are various obstacles, sheets, mattresses, nets which have broken free and are spread out all over the areas we're searching," he said.
Paolo Tronca, a local fire department official, said the search would go on "for 24 hours a day as long as we have to" and that rescue workers were using sniffer dogs in the section of the ship above water.
As the search continued, there were demands for explanations of why the vessel had come so close to the shore and bitter complaints about how long it took to evacuate the terrified passengers.
State prosecutor Francesco Verusio said investigations might go beyond the captain.
"We are investigating the possible responsibility of other people for such a dangerous maneuver," he told SkyTG24 television. "Command systems did not function as they should."
He said the ship had come within 150 metres (yards) of the coast, which he called "incredibly close."
Agnese Stella, a 72-year-old housewife who has lived on Giglio for 50 years told Reuters: "It came much too close (to shore), it never comes this close normally."
"UNMARKED" ROCK
Magistrates said Schettino abandoned the vessel not long after midnight, well before all the passengers were taken off.
The vessel's operator, Costa Crociere, a unit of Carnival Corp & Plc, the world's largest cruise company, said the Costa Concordia had been sailing on its regular course when it struck a submerged rock.
In a television interview, Schettino said the rock was not marked on any maritime charts of the area.
After an massive rescue operation throughout the weekend, involving helicopters, ships and lifeboats, many passengers had already left the area and returned home and attention began to turn to the cleanup.
Local officials expressed concern the ship's fuel, at full load as it had just begun the cruise, could spill into pristine waters off Giglio. So far there was no sign of pollution. Dutch maritime services company SMIT said it had been hired to pump fuel off the ship once the rescue was over.
The coast guard says the removal of the 2,380 tonnes of fuel cannot begin until the rescue is complete because the operation could cause the vessel to move or sink further into the water.
(Additional reporting by Silvia Ognibene, Edward Taylor and Joern Poltz; Writing by Philip Pullella and James Mackenzie; Editing by Barry Moody)
sandusky interview with bob costas live oak mark kelly mark kelly jeff goldblum uc berkeley ohio state basketball
China foreign trade growth to slow, exports 'grim' (AP)
BEIJING ? China is expecting foreign trade growth to slow this year to around 10 percent amid a grim outlook for exports, a state news agency reported Saturday.
The world's second-largest economy's foreign trade will be hurt by weak external demand, increasing trade competition, a stronger Chinese currency and other factors, the official Xinhua News Agency cited an official from the country's top economic planning agency as saying.
"We expect more difficulties in foreign trade and the export situation will be grim in 2012, especially in the first half of the year," said Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, according to Xinhua.
Last year, China's foreign trade grew 22.5 percent to $3.6 trillion, according to data from the official General Administration of Customs released earlier in the week.
The data also showed that exports in December rose 13.4 percent, down slightly from November's growth rate. In a new that sign the economy is slowing, import growth showed an unexpectedly sharp drop, falling to 11.8 percent, barely above half the previous month's gain.
On Saturday, Zhang told a forum in Beijing that improving tax and insurance policies and providing financial support for small trading companies could help stabilize export growth, Xinhua said.
China's relatively robust growth has been a rare bright spot for a struggling global economy. But growth has slowed in recent months after Beijing tightened lending and investment curbs to prevent overheating.
A slump in demand for Chinese goods abroad has prompted the government to reverse course and promise to help struggling exporters and shore up growth with more bank lending and other measures. It is unclear what impact the measures will have.
Chinese export growth has fallen steadily since August as Europe's debt crisis and high U.S. unemployment hurt demand. But it has stayed in double digits, showing the competitive strength of Chinese exporters in global markets.
gpa calculator menorah chanukah chanukah david archuleta david archuleta hobbit trailer
Verizon FiOS: to beat 'em, first join 'em (Reuters)
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) ? Verizon Communications Inc is pushing hard to move its "FiOS" TV service beyond the set-top box and onto the latest gadgets - from TVs and tablets to gaming consoles - to fend off competition from online video services such as Netflix Inc, Amazon Inc and Apple's Inc iTunes.
Verizon plans to extend its service to "dozens and dozens" of devices in connections that let users stream Web video alongside FiOS content.the next 12 to 24 months, Joe Ambeault, director of product management for FiOS TV, told Reuters in an intereview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The company announced deals this week to get its service onto "smart" TVs from LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics Co. Unlike traditional televisions, these sets - which Verizon is testing - have Internet
Verizon, which had already forged a FiOS deal with Microsoft Corp for its Xbox gaming console, is also negotiating with content providers to allow consumers to access its TV service on devices such as tablets outside the home.
Such partnerships could encourage cost-conscious consumers to end their FiOS TV subscriptions, but Ambeault noted he had no choice, but to compete with Web-based services.
"I've a whole new set of competitors," Ambeault said, adding that his embrace of these devices is proactive. "It's too late after people are already fleeing."
Another big source of competition could be iTunes. Apple is widely expected to launch a living-room television as soon as this year. Ambeault does not know if or when that might happen, but if it does, he hopes to make sure FiOS content is available on such a product.
"We would love to integrate our content onto the Apple TV," he said. "My alternative is to do nothing and ignore the device, and you go there anyway as a consumer ... or be on that device and have a fighting chance and keep your business."
Ambeault also noted that, if FiOS is associated with innovative hardware, it can help keep consumers interested. He cited a feature on the upcoming LG TV, which allows the user to control the TV by waving a "magic wand" remote control instead of using traditional controls.
To help ensure FiOS is the service consumers associate with such innovation, Ambeault is planning joint advertising with LG, similar to the way Verizon Wireless features its latest phones in advertisements for its wireless service.
"If I'm there first, I've a higher likelihood of winning. If I'm not on that device, I'm out of here," he added.
(Reporting By Sinead Carew; editing by Andre Grenon)
unemployment rate stephen hawking keri russell drew barrymore jesse ventura casey anthony portland trailblazers
Google: Sorry, Twitter, We Don't Index the @ Symbol (Mashable)
If you haven't noticed that Google+ pages are increasingly becoming a part of Google search results, you may have noticed Google and Twitter's increasingly public spat about it. Twitter argues that by promoting Google+ in search results, Google isn't providing the most relevant social results. Meanwhile, Google has implied it would promote more pages from Twitter if it had adequate permission to do so. Twitter general council Alex Macgillivray then tweeted an example of why he thought Google's new results were inefficient: Google search results for the search term ?@WWE? -- yes, with the "@" symbol -- that did not include the organization?s Twitter page.
[More from Mashable: How the Australian Open Is Acing Digital Media]
Now Google has confirmed to Mashable that it has never indexed the "@" symbol. In other words, the search engine has never recognized a Twitter handle when it was formatted that way.
So while a search for "WWE Twitter" still returns the organization's Twitter feed before its Google+ page, "@WWE" returns the same results as "WWE" -- in this case, with Google+ results first. Somehow a search for "+WWE" succeeds in returning a Google+ profile.
[More from Mashable: The Best Airports and Airlines for Tech-Dependent Travelers [INFOGRAPHIC]]
But really, Google? The company with a car that drives itself? In more than five years of people searching for Twitter handles, you never got around to adding the @ symbol to your index?
Even without the @ sign being indexed, however, the concern over the results for "@WWE" are valid: About 24,900 people have +1ed or added WWE to their circles on Google+ ? but 792,642 people follow WWE on Twitter. In this case, and many others, the Twitter page is a more relevant social result than the Google+ page. Twitter ranks higher than Google+ for the WWE in Yahoo, AOL and Bing results.
On the other hand, Twitter and Facebook haven't necessarily made it easy for the search engine to feature them in results. Facebook denies Google's crawlers access to its private pages, for one obvious reason -- they're private. Twitter includes "nofollow" links on its pages that make it hard for Google's crawlers to index them.
As Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan has pointed out, Google has indexed at least 3 billion pages. But Twitter users create 200 million Tweets every day that would be hard to index without access to the network's firehose -- access to which Google lost with expiration of an agreement last July.
In the end, exactly how Google search results came to be dominated by Google+ pages -- either as a result of having little access to other social networks or by intentionally ignoring them -- isn't that important. The important question is whether or not this domination is good for consumers. An issue which, if a complaint from privacy watchdog EPIC is effective, could be settled by the FTC.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
weight watchers timberwolves steven tyler office space rawhide bigfoot tony romo
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Hands on with the Invisible Keypad for iPhone prototype
At CES 2012, we encountered the Invisible Keypad, an iPhone case that allows you to “feel” your keyboard. The screen protector part of the case has ridges strategically placed
 |  |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/MfcLNSOHi3Q/story01.htm
neil degrasse tyson bears lions bears lions heavy d heavy d taser gun patriots vs jets
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Justice Dept says recent recess appointments legal (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The Justice Department is publicly rebutting Republican criticism of the legality of President Barack Obama's recent recess appointments of a national consumer watchdog and other officials.
The department released a 23-page legal opinion Thursday summarizing the advice it gave the White House before the Jan. 4 appointments. GOP leaders have argued the Senate was not technically in recess when Obama acted so the regular Senate confirmation process should have been followed.
Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz wrote that the president has authority to make such appointments because the Senate is on a 20-day recess, even though it has held periodic pro forma sessions in which no business is conducted. Seitz argued the pro forma sessions ? some with as few as one member present ? have not been sufficient for the chamber to exercise its constitutional authority to advise and consent to normal presidential nominations.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has said Obama has endangered the nation's systems of checks and balances, and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch says the appointments are a very grave decision by an autocratic White House.
Senate Republicans have been using their ability to block or stall Senate confirmation of some regular nominees as a way to curb agencies they believe have taken or are poised to take actions they disagree with.
On Jan. 4, Obama appointed Richard Cordray, a former attorney general of Ohio, to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Obama also appointed three members to the National Labor Relations Board that day. There was stiff Republican opposition to creating the new consumer agency, which was authorized in the financial regulation law, and Republicans have argued that the labor board has tilted toward unions under Obama's Democratic administration.
The Justice official who wrote the opinion, Seitz, heads the department's Office of Legal Counsel, which is empowered to provide binding legal opinions to the executive branch.
Her new memo cites a Justice Department legal opinion from President George W. Bush's Republican administration in justifying Obama's recent appointments. The Bush administration opinion from 2004 says that a recess during a session of the Senate can meet constitutional requirements for permitting the president to make recess appointments as long as the recess is of sufficient length. Seitz noted that the last five presidents have made recess appointments during recesses of 14 days or less.
In December, the Senate agreed to adjourn until Jan. 23 but to convene pro forma sessions in which no business was to be conducted every Tuesday and Friday.
The Senate pro forma sessions in which no business was conducted, do not "in our opinion" interrupt the recess "in a manner that would preclude the president" from acting, Seitz wrote in her Jan. 6 opinion.
Beginning in late 2007, the Senate has frequently conducted pro forma sessions that typically last only a few seconds and that "apparently require the presence of only one senator," Seitz wrote. Under a legal framework dating back nearly a century, recess appointments have been permitted when the Senate cannot receive communications from the president or participate as a body in confirming nominees.
In an op-ed article in the Washington Post, Edwin Meese, who served as attorney general under Republican President Ronald Reagan, and Todd Gaziano, a former Office of Legal Counsel attorney who is now a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, called Obama's actions "a breathtaking violation of the separation of powers."
The GOP's unsuccessful opposition to creating the consumer watchdog agency has turned into opposition to potential nominees to lead the office. Stiff Republican opposition headed Obama off from even nominating Elizabeth Warren, the interim official who helped set up the office, to be its permanent chief.
There is GOP resistance as well to filling slots on the National Labor Relations Board that Republicans feel has become pro-labor under Obama. If Republicans keep enough slots vacant on the labor board, they can prevent it from acting at all.
The pro forma sessions have been used by both Democratic and Republican senators in an effort to stave off recess appointments.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in 2008 that the pro forma sessions were designed to prevent the president ? at that time Bush ? from exercising his constitutional power to make recess appointments.
Last year with Obama in the White House, some Republican senators urged House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, not to pass any resolution that would allow the Senate to recess or adjourn for more than three days. The Constitution provides that neither the House nor the Senate shall adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other. No concurrent resolution of adjournment has been introduced in either chamber since May of last year.
small business saturday small business saturday hank baskett beyonce dance for you beyonce dance for you nba lockout over gone with the wind
Apparently, Hipsters Are Taking Hints From the Amish Now (Time.com)
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
cloudy with a chance of meatballs the hobbit movie orcl hanukkah gpa calculator menorah chanukah
Friday, January 13, 2012
These Should Be the Real Logos Of Nokia, Starbucks, Playboy, Apple and Dunkin' Donuts [Design]
school cancellations bald barbie friends with kids peoples choice awards andy cohen andy cohen weather radar
Thursday, January 12, 2012
el_pais: Steve Ballmer: "Para Microsoft nada es m?s importante que Windows" http://t.co/NIS9bxDK @petezin @elpais_tec #CES2012 #CES
- Passer la navigation
- Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
- Passer cette ?tape
- Connexion
Steve Ballmer: "Para Microsoft nada es m?s importante que Windows" bit.ly/xWHcEC @petezin @elpais_tec #CES2012 #CES 
el_pais EL PAIS
Pied de page
Source: http://twitter.com/el_pais/statuses/156657795972857856
jon bon jovi jon bon jovi kim jong il died warren hellman survivor south pacific survivor south pacific house of wax
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Ohio charity accused by US of Hamas ties disbands (AP)
TOLEDO, Ohio ? A charity that the government suspected of having ties to the militant Islamic group Hamas has shut down but is still negotiating a settlement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury over its frozen assets.
The filing made last week comes nearly six years after the Treasury Department essentially closed the charity's operation when it ordered U.S. banks to freeze the group's assets, saying it was funneling money to a terrorist organization.
The leaders of KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development in Toledo denied being connected to any terrorist group and sued the government after it refused to say why the charity's money was frozen.
The two sides are working to finalize a settlement in the case after reaching a preliminary agreement, according to court filings over the last few months. The government expects a deal to be completed by early July.
A federal judge sided with the charity in 2009, ruling that the government violated the Constitution because it did not tell the organization why it was freezing its assets or give it a chance to respond. The judge later told the government to halt the investigation because its actions could cause KindHearts to lose its attorneys and harm its reputation.
"KindHearts not only is blindfolded, but also has its hands tied behind its back," U.S. District Judge James Carr said in his ruling.
The government argued that the judge didn't have the authority to issue an order stopping the investigation.
Carr's ruling marked the first time a federal court has said the Treasury Department should get a judge's permission before putting a hold on an organization's funds under terror-financing laws.
KindHearts attorney Fritz Byers declined to comment Monday about the charity's decision to go out of business or a potential settlement in its lawsuit with the government.
The Treasury Department in 2006 said KindHearts was connected with the Hamas-affiliated Holy Land Foundation and the al-Qaida-affiliated Global Relief Foundation. KindHearts leaders have said it is a nonprofit charitable organization, providing up to $6 million a year in humanitarian aid to the world's poor.
apple cup jewelry stores sleep no more cyber monday deals war eagle war eagle pawn stars
Penn State president to face alumni in Pittsburgh
FILE - In this Friday, Nov.11, 2011 file photo, Penn State University President Rodney Erickson answers a question at a press conference with student leaders in State College, Pa. Erickson will be paid $515,000 annually through June 2014 and then step down from the position, the school's Board of Trustees announced. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
FILE - In this Friday, Nov.11, 2011 file photo, Penn State University President Rodney Erickson answers a question at a press conference with student leaders in State College, Pa. Erickson will be paid $515,000 annually through June 2014 and then step down from the position, the school's Board of Trustees announced. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Penn State University President Rodney Erickson faces a crowd of alumni Wednesday in Pittsburgh, some of whom aren't happy about the way the school handled the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, the firing of football coach Joe Paterno and a lack of transparency over the case.
Erickson is attempting to repair the school's image with alumni, faculty, staff, and students, more than two months since Sandusky was arrested, bringing with it controversy, criticism and contemplation.
Some alumni have criticized the school failing to conduct a complete investigation before firing Paterno and ousting Erickson's predecessor, Graham Spanier, while decrying the school's leadership as secretive and slow to act.
Erickson told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday that former president Spanier informed members of the board of trustees about the Sandusky grand jury investigation months before he was charged in November.
He said he did not know details of what was discussed when Spanier met with board members in May or July when Erickson was the university's provost.
"I have no idea, because I wasn't there," the paper quoted Erickson as saying. "Nor did I know it was taking place."
Spanier was ousted amid the scandal and replaced by Erickson, who said Tuesday he will step down when his contract ends in 2014.
The sessions in the three cities are being sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association, which has received and responded to thousands of emails and phone calls about the scandal, association president Roger Williams said.
Some attending are eager for answers and explanations about the university's actions since early November.
Monica Thomas, who graduated with an architectural engineering degree in 1985 and has two children enrolled at Penn State, will attend the Pittsburgh town hall but has low expectations. She watched a similar event in State College for students and staff and was not impressed.
"I don't think they really gave any answers," Thomas said. "But we shall see ? you're allowed to submit questions. They're reaching out, but I don't think it's going to do much."
Alumni want transparency, said Virginia A. Feinman, a television news assignment editor who plans to attend the New York forum.
"I hope that they listen to us," said Feinman, a 2003 college graduate with a degree in English and journalism. "I hope that they come in with an open mind and actually listen to what the students and alumni have to say and truly hear why we are so upset. It has nothing to do with football ? it has to do with the veil of secrecy that's been operated under for what appears to be numerous years."
Thomas and Feinman are both members of Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, a group that believes Paterno's firing and the ouster of Spanier were mishandled. The organization hopes to back candidates to run for elected alumni seats on the Board of Trustees.
Some university trustees like the meetings.
Trustee Marianne Alexander said it's good that Erickson is providing an opportunity for alumni to weigh in on the scandal and give their opinion on the university's response to it.
"It's important for President Erickson to be able to hear what they have to say and also to explain his point of view," said Alexander, president emerita of the Public Leadership Education Network and a resident of the Washington area. "So I think it's very healthy. I'm glad he's doing it."
Sandusky faces 52 criminal counts that involve 10 alleged victims over 15 years. Gary Schultz, a former vice president, and Tim Curley, the athletic director, are charged with perjury and failure to report suspected child abuse. All three have denied the allegations and await trial.
Longtime football coach Paterno was fired amid the scandal. He was replaced last week by New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien.
Trustee Linda B. Strumpf of New York, retired chief investment officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust, praised Erickson's handling of the scandal.
"I guess what you don't want to see is people taking out their frustrations or whatever on him," Strumpf said. "He was not part of the investigation ? he's not part of the problem, he's part of the solution. So I just hope those people will be civil and treat him with the respect he deserves."
Strumpf said the focus at the meetings should be on plans for the future, and not on past events such as Paterno's firing.
"If people ask (Erickson) about it, he wasn't in the room and wasn't really involved," Strumpf said. "They're not going to get much out of him on that subject."
___
AP Writer Genaro C. Armas in State College contributed to this report.
Associated Pressjoe frazier dead topamax lexapro trazodone voting sharon bialek call of duty elite
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)