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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46202439#46202439
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Israeli settler seeks to beat Netanyahu in primary (AP)
JERUSALEM ? A hard-line Jewish settler who wants to pay Palestinians to leave the West Bank and Gaza is running against Israel's prime minister in Tuesday's ruling party primary election.
Moshe Feiglin has little chance of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he could deliver an embarrassing blow to the country's leader in his fourth try for leadership of the Likud, none of which have had a realistic shot at success.
Experts say Feiglin could get a third of the vote in the closed party primary, reflecting the view of hard-liners that Netanyahu, despite his uncompromising worldview, is not hawkish enough.
"I am providing an alternative," said Feiglin, 49. "The world expects ... much more than creating a terrorist country right in the heart of the land of the Bible," referring to a Palestinian state in the West Bank.
Israeli nationalists believe the West Bank must remain under Israeli control for religious and security reasons. Though Netanyahu backed that view for years, his movement has edged toward compromise in recent years, and Netanyahu himself has accepted the concept of creating a Palestinian state.
Feiglin founded a nationalist movement that blocked highway intersections around the country in 1995 to protest partial peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians, and he opposes further peace talks.
Feiglin proposes annexing the West Bank, retaking Gaza ? Israel withdrew in 2005 ? and bolstering a Jewish majority by offering emigration incentive packages of $350,000 to each Arab family in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Such extreme positions have the backing of a small but noisy minority of Israelis.
Netanyahu called the snap leadership primary in his Likud Party a year ahead of schedule, raising the possibility of an early general election later this year.
Netanyahu is so popular that no Likud Cabinet ministers or lawmakers dared challenge him, leaving Feiglin as the only other candidate.
Feiglin has steadily gained support over the last three times he has run for Likud party leadership ? from winning 3.5 percent of the vote in his first campaign nine years ago, to scooping up nearly a quarter of the vote in 2007.
Analysts are divided about how the underdog would affect the ruling party.
Avraham Diskin, a Hebrew University political scientist, said the stronger Feiglin performs in the primaries, the more Netanyahu will strive to portray a moderate face to the party by endorsing less hawkish lawmakers around him, he said.
"It doesn't look like (Netanyahu) will give in to the extremists," Diskin said.
Analyst Yaron Ezrahi says if Feiglin wins more than 30 percent of the votes in the primaries, it could push the Likud party's base further right politically and weaken Netanyahu's claim that the ruling party represents the majority of the nation.
"It's very serious. It hurts the Likud's image," Ezrahi said. He called Feiglin's camp an "embarrassing minority" for Netanyahu.
Feiglin's expected gains in Tuesday's primaries come as religious nationalists are preparing for a showdown with the government over plans to evict the unauthorized Migron settlement, which the government says was built on unlawfully seized land from private Palestinian landowners in 2001.
Hard-line lawmakers are threatening to bolt Netanyahu's coalition if Migron is dismantled, and Feiglin's campaign could add more pressure to Netanyahu to find a solution that will satisfy the settlers.
"Netanyahu is fighting a war of survival. But there is no survival without a vision," said Feiglin. "He is losing credit."
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Madonna says charity plans 10 schools in Malawi (omg!)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Nearly six years after it was created, Madonna's Raising Malawi charity is set to break ground on the construction of schools in the impoverished country, but they will be run by the local community, not the superstar's organization.
According to organizers, work on the first school will start on March 30 in the Kasungu area, about 80 miles from the capital of Lilongwe, and all of the schools should be built by June 2013. Raising Malawi is providing $300,000 to the non-governmental organization buildOn to develop the schools. They'll serve about 1,000 boys and girls in the southern African nation.
"This remains a very big priority in my life and I am excited that with the help of buildOn we can maintain our ongoing commitment to move forward efficiently," Madonna said in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
Raising Malawi had originally intended to build all-girls schools that the organization would run. But it faced several obstacles in its goal, including complaints from some local farmers that they had been moved off land that Raising Malawi intended to use for its mission. Raising Malawi also had difficulty getting title to the land and there were concerns about the high costs of construction.
The new plan calls for "simple structures" that will be more practical and better serve Raising Malawi's original mission, said Trevor Neilson, who is helping to direct the project as partner of the Global Philanthropy Group. The approach will allow the program to serve twice as many children as before, Madonna said.
"I have learned a great deal over the last few years and feel so much more confident that we can reach out goals to educate children in Malawi, especially young girls, in a much more efficient and practical way," she said. Madonna has adopted two children from Malawi.
BuildOn has already built more than 50 schools in Malawi and 427 schools worldwide.
"For schools to be successful, they need to have community ownership and leadership," Neilson said in an interview Friday. "Raising Malawi shouldn't be running schools in Malawi. Local communities in Malawi should be running those schools, so that's a big part of the shift."
BuildOn has been working in Malawi for almost 20 years, said spokeswoman Carrie Pena. The organization works closely with the community, and locals even volunteer the labor to build the schools, according to Pena.
"It's absolutely a community-owned school," she said.
Neilson praised Madonna for sticking with her plan to build schools for Malawi's children despite several setbacks for the star, who is the director of the new movie "W.E.," out next week, and is this year's Super Bowl performer. Madonna brought in Global Philanthropy to work with Raising Malawi more than a year ago and removed the involvement of the Kabbalah Centre. She has practiced Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism.
"When the previous management team had those problems, I think a lot of people thought Madonna would give up," Neilson said "It would have been understandable, but instead she's going to reaching twice as many kids."
___
Online:
http://www.raisingmalawi.org
http://www.buildon.org/
___
Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Lungs infected with plague bacteria also become playgrounds for other microbes
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 30-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Les Lang
llang@med.unc.edu
919-966-9366
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Among medical mysteries baffling many infectious disease experts is exactly how the deadly pneumonic plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, goes undetected in the first few day of lung infection, often until it's too late for medical treatment.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has opened a door to the answer. Researchers led by William E. Goldman, PhD, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hilland a leading authority on Y. pestis, show that the plague bacteria transform the lungs from a nasty place for microbes into a playground for them to flourish.
The research appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of Monday Jan. 30, 2012.
Goldman notes that most other microbes that infect the lungs trigger an antimicrobial response within a few hours after infection. This early inflammatory response is generally sufficient to eliminate microorganisms with no more than mild respiratory symptoms. Not so with Y. pestis; for about 36 hours, the lungs are "quiet," not inflamed, and symptoms are completely absent.
But in the first 36 hours of infection, plague bacteria are having a field day, growing and reproducing rapidly 2-fold, 100-fold, 100,000-fold and all of that without outward disease symptoms or measurable changes in lung tissue.
"And then, rather abruptly, symptoms start to appear," Goldman says. "They progress rapidly to the point where you realize this is not just a cold, this is not just the flu. But by then the disease has progressed too far for effective medical intervention, and death is likely within the next day or two."
And once people have pneumonic plague, the bacteria can spread via respiratory droplets to others who have close contact with them. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that during the delay between being exposed to Y. pestis and becoming seriously sick, people could travel over a large area, possibly infecting others, which could make the infection more difficult to control.
"Here's the question we wanted to answer: Is the organism avoiding detection or is it actually suppressing the immune responses of the lung?" Goldman said. "The paper is really about the experiments designed to distinguish between these possibilities. And the answer we found suggests the latter."
In their "co-infection" experiments, the UNC study team mixed together a fully virulent Y. pestis strain and a mutant strain known not to be infectious in that it lacked the components essential for it to be a pathogen. The mix was then given to a single laboratory animal.
"The expectation would be that the virulent strain would do an excellent job of infecting the host. And the non-virulent strain would get killed by the host," Goldman said. "But in our experiments, the non-virulent strain would actually grow very well, almost as well as the virulent strain, and we would see this with any non-virulent strain of Y. pestis."
And then the study team tried other microbes, different lung pathogens and an assortment of random microbes - "including the sort of organisms you inhale all the time and that are disposed of easily by the lungs' standard defense mechanisms. But as long as the virulent bacteria were present, the non-virulent organisms would grow," Goldman said.
"There is no other microbe that does that, no other inhaled organism that in a matter of minutes or hours transforms the lung into such a permissive environment for microbial proliferation," he added.
Goldman points out that not much evolutionary distance exists between Yersinia pestis and its closest ancestor, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, which causes a much milder disease.
"Our work shows that of these two species, only Y. pestis has the ability to transform the lung into an environment that permits an extended period of unrestricted microbial proliferation with no symptoms. Looking at the genetic differences between these two species may reveal the mechanism responsible for this phenomenon exclusive to Y. pestis, and that may lead to new therapeutic strategies for pneumonic plague."
###
UNC study coauthors were graduate student Paul A. Price, and Jianping Jin, PhD, of the UNC Center for Bioinformatics.
Support for the research came from a National Institutes of Health grant to the Southeastern Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 30-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Les Lang
llang@med.unc.edu
919-966-9366
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Among medical mysteries baffling many infectious disease experts is exactly how the deadly pneumonic plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, goes undetected in the first few day of lung infection, often until it's too late for medical treatment.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has opened a door to the answer. Researchers led by William E. Goldman, PhD, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hilland a leading authority on Y. pestis, show that the plague bacteria transform the lungs from a nasty place for microbes into a playground for them to flourish.
The research appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of Monday Jan. 30, 2012.
Goldman notes that most other microbes that infect the lungs trigger an antimicrobial response within a few hours after infection. This early inflammatory response is generally sufficient to eliminate microorganisms with no more than mild respiratory symptoms. Not so with Y. pestis; for about 36 hours, the lungs are "quiet," not inflamed, and symptoms are completely absent.
But in the first 36 hours of infection, plague bacteria are having a field day, growing and reproducing rapidly 2-fold, 100-fold, 100,000-fold and all of that without outward disease symptoms or measurable changes in lung tissue.
"And then, rather abruptly, symptoms start to appear," Goldman says. "They progress rapidly to the point where you realize this is not just a cold, this is not just the flu. But by then the disease has progressed too far for effective medical intervention, and death is likely within the next day or two."
And once people have pneumonic plague, the bacteria can spread via respiratory droplets to others who have close contact with them. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that during the delay between being exposed to Y. pestis and becoming seriously sick, people could travel over a large area, possibly infecting others, which could make the infection more difficult to control.
"Here's the question we wanted to answer: Is the organism avoiding detection or is it actually suppressing the immune responses of the lung?" Goldman said. "The paper is really about the experiments designed to distinguish between these possibilities. And the answer we found suggests the latter."
In their "co-infection" experiments, the UNC study team mixed together a fully virulent Y. pestis strain and a mutant strain known not to be infectious in that it lacked the components essential for it to be a pathogen. The mix was then given to a single laboratory animal.
"The expectation would be that the virulent strain would do an excellent job of infecting the host. And the non-virulent strain would get killed by the host," Goldman said. "But in our experiments, the non-virulent strain would actually grow very well, almost as well as the virulent strain, and we would see this with any non-virulent strain of Y. pestis."
And then the study team tried other microbes, different lung pathogens and an assortment of random microbes - "including the sort of organisms you inhale all the time and that are disposed of easily by the lungs' standard defense mechanisms. But as long as the virulent bacteria were present, the non-virulent organisms would grow," Goldman said.
"There is no other microbe that does that, no other inhaled organism that in a matter of minutes or hours transforms the lung into such a permissive environment for microbial proliferation," he added.
Goldman points out that not much evolutionary distance exists between Yersinia pestis and its closest ancestor, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, which causes a much milder disease.
"Our work shows that of these two species, only Y. pestis has the ability to transform the lung into an environment that permits an extended period of unrestricted microbial proliferation with no symptoms. Looking at the genetic differences between these two species may reveal the mechanism responsible for this phenomenon exclusive to Y. pestis, and that may lead to new therapeutic strategies for pneumonic plague."
###
UNC study coauthors were graduate student Paul A. Price, and Jianping Jin, PhD, of the UNC Center for Bioinformatics.
Support for the research came from a National Institutes of Health grant to the Southeastern Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uonc-liw013012.php
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No charges for airmen who posed around casket
Air Force Times
In an August photo, airmen surround an open casket with another airman posed with a noose around his neck and chains across his body.
By Jeff Black, msnbc.com
The Air Force has concluded there was ?no criminal conduct? by airmen who posed around an open casket with another airman inside pretending to be dead.
The photo, which first came to light on Dec. 13 in the Air Force Times, drew outrage from military commanders, military wives, widows and others who saw it as mocking deceased service members.
??Da Dumpt, Da Dumpt ? Sucks 2 Be U? was scribbled at the bottom of the photo.
Rather than criminal charges, the airmen involved in the picture received administrative punishment because their conduct ?brought discredit to both the military and themselves,? Col. Gregory Reese, commander of the 37th Training Group, said in news release sent to msnbc.com. The Air Force said it does not disclose details of administrative actions due to privacy concerns.
Read Monday?s Air Force Times story
??The investigation indicated that the photo was intended by those who took it to remind the students that they could be killed if they failed to pay attention while loading and unloading aircraft,? Reese said.
The service members in the picture were airmen with the 345th Training Squadron at Fort Lee, Va., where they learn to load and unload aircraft. Their unit is a detachment from a command at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, which issued the news release about the punishment.
The photo, it turned out, was a sort of unofficial class picture in which ?creativity got ahead of common sense,? Gerry Proctor, 37thTraining Wing spokesman, told msnbc.com.
After the photo became public, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, expressed concern that the photo might cause more turmoil for families of fallen troops.
"Such behavior is not consistent with our core values, and it is not representative of the Airmen I know. It saddens me that this may cause additional grief to the families of our fallen warriors,? Donley told? the Air Force Times.
In response to the photo, 37th Training Wing commander, Col. Eric Axelbank issued a wing-wide policy that requires all class photography and memorabilia?to be?reviewed by squadron commanders.
Proctor told msnbc.com that with the investigation complete and administrative punishment handed out, the Air Force considers the case closed.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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Jennifer Aniston Chows Down on Short Ribs in Front of Justin Theroux (omg!)
Justin Theroux is getting a taste of the good life -- thanks to Jennifer Aniston.
The 42-year-old actress brought her boyfriend to the 64th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards in Hollywood Saturday, where Aniston was nominated alongside Demi Moore, Penelope Spheeris, Alicia Keys and Patty Jenkins for co-directing Lifetime's Five.
PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston's on-set PDA
Aniston wore a strapless black Dolce & Gabbana mini, highlighting her toned physique. Theroux, 40, wore a matching black suit.
"Jen and Justin talked to each other quite a bit," an onlooker tells Us Weekly. "They would turn to each other and talk, and they took turns putting their arms on the backs of each other's chairs."
PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston's best hairstyles
The actress isn't afraid to chow down in front of Theroux, either: she polished off the lobster and artichoke salad, followed by short ribs and steamed vegetables.
VIDEO: Jennifer Aniston mocks Chelsea Handler's hygiene
"During the actual show, Jennifer seemed really interested," the onlooker says. "She'd refer to her program and clap for the various winners, and occasionally comment to Patty and Justin about whatever was going on onstage."
PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux's matching outfits
Though Aniston and her pals lost to The Kennedy's Jon Cassar, that didn't stop her and Theroux from having a good time. Post-show, the Wanderlust costars hit up a private members' club in West Hollywood, where Theroux was spotted "continuously putting his arm around her or touching her in some way."
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Pardoned by Haley Barbour, a 'free man' is on the run
Convicted for killing a convenience store clerk in 1994, Joseph Ozment walked out of the Governor's Mansion after being pardoned by Gov. Haley Barbour on Jan. 8 and hasn't been seen since.
Declaring Joseph Ozment ?rehabilitated,? Gov. Haley Barbour included the convicted killer among over 200 pardons he issued in his last days as governor of Mississippi.
Skip to next paragraphMr. Ozment was last seen leaving the Governor's Mansion, where he was a convict ?trusty,? on Jan. 8 when he got into a car driven by his grandmother.
Ozment, whom Barbour described Friday as a ?free man,? is now being sought by Mississippi authorities investigating the constitutionality of Barbour's mass pardons, which shocked many Mississippians, including victims and law enforcement. The list included over 40 murderers, rapists and others convicted of violent crimes.
OPINION:?Congress must allow ex-prisoners to vote
The unusual manhunt is the latest twist in a peculiar tale of Southern patriarchy and redemption that has dogged Mr. Barbour since he left office earlier this month. The governor has defended his actions, saying the state pardon board had already freed most of the people, and that the clemency was mainly designed to give worthy ex-convicts the right to vote and hunt.
But national scrutiny has revealed that those pardoned were both disproportionately white and many had access to powerful interests in the state. In the aftermath, the state ended its mansion ?trusty? program, a judge is deciding the constitutionality of the majority, and the legislature is weighing several bills to curtail the pardon process.
At the same time, the pardons also touched on deeper issues around the nature of redemption and mercy for a country that has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
?While his timing and transparency are in question, he has at least reopened a needed national discussion on how justice must be tempered by mercy,? wrote the Monitor's editorial board last week.
But in Mississippi, that debate has taken backseat to concerns about Ozment's whereabouts. While four other former mansion ?trusties? that were released have checked back in with the judge, and vowed to maintain daily contact, Ozment has disappeared.
Attorney General Jim Hood, who called Barbour's mass pardons ?a slap to the face? of victims and the judicial system, said Ozment was last seen in northwest Mississippi, from where he hails.
A CNN crew trying to track him down also traveled to Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala., where Ozment has family, but have so far come up short. On Jan. 17, the network carried an interview with Anthony McCray, one of the five former mansion ?trusties? pardoned by Barbour. Mr. McCray called Ozment and the other trusties ?nice guys,? and suggested that ?God touched Haley Barbour's heart? as the reason why Barbour signed the pardons.
The search has raised unprecedented issues, including the extent to which the state can legally force Ozment, who's not wanted for any crime and now has a clean criminal record, to report to a judge.
The issue became only murkier on Friday when Attorney General Jim Hood hinted that there could be a financial reward for information on his whereabouts. Mr. Hood has said he may begin a criminal investigation if Ozment continues to refuse to surface.
The fact that Ozment hasn't abided by a judge's order to report for a hearing suggests to Hood that he may be a threat to public safety.
?He doesn't have a lot to lose if he thinks he's going back to prison for life," Hood said Friday. "That's what concerns me about the public safety."
OPINION:?Congress must allow ex-prisoners to vote
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Tiger Woods shoots 66 to share lead in Abu Dhabi (AP)
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates ? Tiger Woods shot a 6-under 66 Saturday to grab a share of the lead at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the latest sign that the 14-time major winner is returning to form after ending a two-year victory drought.
There wasn't a lot of fist pumping from Woods, who traded drama for consistency in racking up six birdies in a bogey-free round.
It was a memorable performance by the American, mostly for his ability to hit the fairways, tame the par 5s and sink clutch putts ? including a six-footer for birdie on the final hole.
"It just seemed like I didn't do a lot of things right but I didn't do a lot of things wrong today, it was just very consistent," Woods said. "You know, made a couple putts here and there ... I stayed away from trouble and tried to keep the ball towards the fat side of some of these pins and I think I did a pretty good job."
Woods moved to 11 under for the tournament and is tied with newcomer Robert Rock, who birdied his final two holes to earn the 117th-ranked Englishman a first-ever pairing with Woods for Sunday's finale.
Rory McIlroy (68), Peter Hanson (64), Francesco Molinari (66) and Paul Lawrie (68) were two shots back, with George Coetzee (65), James Kingston (67), overnight leader Thorbjorn Olesen (71) and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (69) all a shot further back.
Woods is attempting to follow his season-ending victory at the Chevron World Challenge with another win here. He was two shots off the pace after the second round but started climbing the leaderboard Saturday with an opening birdie, followed by another on No. 7.
He stepped up his game on the back nine and grabbed a share of the lead after he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 10th and settled for birdie. He briefly took the outright lead with a birdie on 14.
The crowd of several hundred cheered every birdie, with some yelling "Tiger's back."
Woods refused to talk about his victory chances, acknowledging too many players remain within striking distance.
"There's a ton of guys with a chance to win," Woods said. "You know, we have not separated ourselves from the field. The field is very bunched. I need to go out there and put together a solid round of golf, and I can't go out there and shoot even par and expect to win. I've got to go out there and go get it."
Rock, who got his first European Tour win last year in Italy in a playoff with Sergio Garcia, admitted he was star-struck at the prospect of teeing off alongside Woods, calling him "the best guy I've ever seen play golf."
The 34-year-old journeyman is relishing the chance to go head-to-head with one of golf's all-time greats.
"There's quite a lot of people out there (today) obviously following Tiger in the group in front of us. Hopefully we've got the same amount of people watching tomorrow, and we'll see how I cope with it," Rock said. "I just want to experience it. How many chances I'll get to do that, it's not clear."
Rock was one of several players who challenged Woods for the lead after overnight leader Olesen fell back.
Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, showed some of the form he displayed at the Dubai World Championship in December, where he finished second. He made birdie on 10 and 11 to tie Woods for the lead, fell back with bogeys on 14 and 17 and then recovered to birdie the 18th.
Molinari and Hanson also bounced back from opening round 74s to move into contention. Molinari had five birdies on his back nine, while the 47th-ranked Swede had eight birdies in his round ? including three on the last five holes ? in a bogey-free round to finish with the lowest score of the day.
"It was one of those days where you have the best job in the world," Hanson said. "Struck it nice, made four easy birdies on the par 5s and then a few more, and it felt pretty easy somehow."
U.S. Open champion McIlroy also is still in the mix, a day after he had two double bogeys, including on the 9th when he was penalized for brushing away sand in front of his ball. He only had one bogey to go with five birdies Saturday, but the 22-year-old Northern Irishman was forced to scramble several times to save par, including on the 18th when an errant drive went into nearby rocks and almost into a pond.
"I definitely felt today was a lot better than yesterday," McIlroy said. "I felt like I hit the ball a lot better. I feel that I made a couple of loose swings off the tee and obviously one on the last, and a couple others, but it's getting there. So hopefully I can just keep that going tomorrow and maybe get off to a fast start and put pressure on the guys in front of me."
Top-ranked Luke Donald (73) is 11 shots behind Woods, with No. 2-ranked Lee Westwood (68) seven off the lead.
___
Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1
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S. Sudan holds firm on oil production stoppage (AP)
JUBA, South Sudan ? South Sudan's minister of petroleum and mining says the nation will not restart oil production unless Sudan accepts a list of demands.
Stephen Dhieu Dau said Sunday that South Sudan was "committed to negotiations" but that Khartoum would have to accept their offer of paying $1 per barrel for using Sudan's pipelines for export and $2.4 billion dollar financial assistance package before South Sudan turns on production again.
He also says Sudan must withdraw troops from the disputed border region of Abyei and stop funding rebel groups in South Sudan. He says South Sudan wants an international treaty guaranteed by "international superpowers" to guarantee the agreement.
South Sudan shut down oil production Saturday after it accused Sudan of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Insight: How Allen Stanford kept the SEC at bay (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? In 2009, federal investigators finally arrested Houston financier R. Allen Stanford. For twenty years, Stanford allegedly had run a $7 billion Ponzi scheme from his offshore bank on the Caribbean island of Antigua. U.S. authorities had been nosing around Stanford's empire for longer than a decade but hesitated to open a full-blown probe.
As Stanford's trial began this week, one question left unanswered was: How did he keep authorities at bay for so long? A Reuters examination of his case finds that the answer lay in part in the legal advice he obtained from former SEC officials and other ex-regulators and law-enforcement officials.
Among those Stanford sought help from was famed securities lawyer Thomas Sjoblom. Then a partner at the international law firm of Proskauer Rose and chair of its securities practice, Sjoblom also was a former 20-year veteran of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division.
What Sjoblom allegedly did next for Stanford has drawn the scrutiny of federal prosecutors. The Justice Department has been investigating Sjoblom for possible obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and conspiracy related to his efforts to persuade the SEC to stand down from its investigation of Stanford, according to people familiar with the probe.
Sjoblom is one of the most senior attorneys ever to be investigated for allegedly crossing the line from legal advocacy on behalf of a client to violating the law. He hasn't been charged, however, and it is possible he never will be.
Stanford went on trial on Monday in federal court in Houston on charges that he defrauded more than 30,000 investors from more than 113 countries, and also obstructed the SEC's investigation of him. Only Bernard Madoff is alleged to have stolen more. Stanford has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors are likely, in making the obstruction portion of their case against Stanford, to detail Sjoblom's alleged role in assisting Stanford in that effort. Attorneys began their opening arguments on Tuesday.
IMMUNITY SOUGHT, AND REJECTED
People with first-hand knowledge of the matter say that Sjoblom had offered the Justice Department his testimony against Stanford in exchange for a grant of immunity from prosecution for himself - an offer rejected by the Justice Department. Prosecutors demanded a formal acknowledgment by Sjoblom of his own alleged criminal participation in an attempt by Stanford to derail investigations by the SEC, according to people involved in the discussions.
Sjoblom declined to answer questions when reached by telephone as well as inquiries submitted to him by email.
Ordinarily, attorneys are precluded from being witnesses against former clients because of the attorney-client privilege.
But under a legal doctrine known as the crime-fraud exception, an attorney can tell what he knows if his client has sought advice that would abet the commission of that fraud or some other criminal act - or in rare instances, if the attorney himself aided a crime. The crime or fraud disclosed or discussed must also then occur for the attorney to be able to testify. If Sjoblom had testified against Stanford, he would have been one of the most prominent attorneys to turn against such a client.
THE STANFORD EIGHT
The trials could cast light on the broader mystery of how the alleged Stanford fraud could have gone on so long even though federal regulators were examining the Texas financier for years. The case has put the SEC and other federal agencies in an embarrassing light, creating fresh fodder for critics of the revolving door between government and the private sector.
Stanford, Reuters has found, paid at least eight former senior U.S. and foreign regulators and law-enforcement officials for legal advice or investigative services.
Among the former government figures who worked for Stanford is Spencer C. Barasch, who headed the enforcement division of the SEC's office in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Barasch agreed this month to pay a $50,000 fine for allegedly violating federal ethics laws by representing Stanford after overseeing regulation of Stanford's U.S. brokerage businesses. It is illegal for many former federal regulators, including those at the SEC, to represent private clients if they have "personally and substantially" participated in any matters related to those clients during the course of their government employment.
Examiners at the SEC had suspected as early as 1997 that Stanford was engaged in a Ponzi scheme and felt the SEC should investigate. But year after year, until 2005, their warnings and calls for investigation were ignored by higher-ups.
A FRIEND IN FT. WORTH
In January 2009, the SEC was seeking the sworn testimony of both Stanford and James Davis, the chief financial officer for Stanford International Bank. Davis, Stanford's top deputy, has since pled guilty to securities-fraud and mail-fraud charges and has become a government witness against Stanford and others.
Stanford sought to delay and wear down regulators and investigators, Davis and other witnesses told the government, according to a 2009 plea agreement between Davis and federal prosecutors filed in federal court in Houston.
In 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, and 2005, according to internal agency records seen by Reuters, examiners for the SEC recommended that the agency investigate Stanford. In three of those instances, Barasch, at the time an SEC official in Ft. Worth, personally overruled the examiners' recommendations, according to those records. Those decisions helped the Ponzi scheme to continue unabated for several additional years, costing investors additional billions of dollars, according to a report by the SEC's Inspector General.
Barasch told the SEC Inspector General that he made those decisions because he was not sure the SEC had the statutory authority or jurisdiction to investigate. He blamed his superiors and a broader culture within the SEC for pressuring the staff not to pursue complex and difficult cases, according to the Inspector General report.
In his final days at the SEC in 2005, Barasch overruled examiners one last time on a request to investigate Stanford, according to the Inspector General report and interviews with SEC officials. The SEC's formal investigation of Stanford began exactly one day after Barasch left the agency.
Barasch referred questions to his lawyer; his attorney didn't respond to requests for comment.
'I HATED BEING ON THE SIDELINES'
Barasch was told at the time by an SEC ethics officer that he was legally precluded from representing Stanford. Barasch went to work for Stanford anyway. In a later investigation of the failure to catch Stanford earlier, the SEC Inspector General asked Barasch why he did so. His reply, according to the Inspector General's report: "Every lawyer in Texas and beyond is going to get rich over this case. Okay? And I hated being on the sidelines."
FBI agents and prosecutors also uncovered evidence that on at least two occasions Barasch sought confidential information regarding the SEC's probe of Stanford during his brief representation of the banker, Justice Department officials said in court records and a press release.
In agreeing to pay the fine, Barasch denied any misconduct, settling the matter "to avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation," his attorney, Paul Coggins said.
In a related action, the commissioners of the SEC rejected a settlement negotiated between Barasch and SEC staff under which Barasch would have agreed to an order barring him from practicing before the agency for six months. The commissioners rejected the proposed settlement as too lenient, to send a message that its former staff should abide by its rules and federal laws regarding the revolving door.
'REVOLVING DOOR'
"This misconduct highlights the dangers of a 'revolving door' environment between the SEC and the private securities law bar," outgoing SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz said in statement about the Barasch case.
The Justice Department's agreement with Barasch was reported by Reuters earlier this month. The SEC, which has the authority to bar professionals from practicing before the agency, has not announced any disciplinary action.
The SEC is also preparing a separate civil case against another former regulator, Bernerd Young, who worked as a compliance officer for Stanford's bank, said a person familiar with the matter. Before he worked for Stanford, from 1999 to 2003, Young was a district director of the Dallas office of the National Association of Securities Dealers, which was then the brokerage industry's self-regulator. Regulation of the industry has since been taken on by a successor agency, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Young was notified by the SEC staff last June that they were preparing a civil complaint against him for securities-law and other violations and seeking a lifetime ban on his employment in the securities industry, according to a person who reviewed the SEC's notification to Young. Young hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing.
In November 2007, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charged that Stanford had used "misleading, unfair and unbalanced information" and fined him $10,000, but with no admission of guilt. Young was central to decisions by the NASD not to take tougher action against Stanford, according to government officials involved in the matter.
Randle Henderson, an attorney for Young, said Young had "done absolutely nothing wrong" and that he and Young had been cooperating with SEC investigators. If an enforcement action was brought, Henderson said, he and his client would engaged in a "full and complete and aggressive defense" of the allegations.
THE AIRCRAFT HANGAR SESSION
Sjoblom began work for Stanford as early as 2005, as the SEC began a formal investigation. Barasch began representing Stanford in September 2006.
Barasch's successor at the SEC had reversed course and given a green light for the SEC to investigate. Stanford believed that hiring former SEC officials was the best course to thwart the agency, according to emails written by Stanford to subordinates and later cited by the SEC's Inspector General.
Barasch worked on the case until December 2006, dropping out after SEC ethics officers warned him that any further involvement would violate a federal law.
On January 21, 2009, Stanford, his deputy Davis and other senior executives of the Stanford International Bank met Sjoblom in an aircraft hangar in Miami, Florida, to devise a strategy for fending off the SEC, according to the Davis plea agreement entered in Houston federal court.
Stanford, a bulky man with a thick mustache, paced nervously in the aircraft hangar, according to an account one of the attendees gave to federal investigators. In contrast, Sjoblom appeared calm and collected as they discussed their next move, the attendee told federal investigators.
The group allegedly agreed on a strategy: Sjoblom would go to the SEC and tell officials that both Stanford and Davis knew very little about the business they ran. Instead, he would tell them, two other, lower-ranking executives of the Stanford International Bank understood much better how the bank invested customers' money. He would then propose that they testify in place of Stanford and Davis, according to the plea filed in federal court in Houston.
SJOBLOM'S STRATEGY
Sjoblom knew that these assertions were false, and was also by then aware that Stanford had engaged in a massive financial fraud, according to the Davis plea. Still, Sjoblom moved forward with the effort to obstruct the SEC investigation, the Justice Department alleged in the Davis plea.
Early the next morning, on Jan 22, 2009, Sjoblom met in Houston with attorneys for the SEC, according to the Davis plea. There, Sjoblom told the SEC staff that Stanford and Davis did not "micro-manage" clients' portfolios. Taking Sjoblom's word, the SEC agreed to delay the testimony of Stanford and Davis, according to the plea filed in Houston federal court.
The Justice Department has since alleged that Sjoblom's actions constituted an obstruction of their investigation. Based in part on information given them by Davis, federal prosecutors alleged that Sjoblom continued trying to prevent the SEC from learning the truth even after Sjoblom learned about Stanford's massive fraud.
After convincing the SEC to forego Stanford's and Davis's testimony, Sjoblom allegedly helped prepare Laura Pendergest-Holt, Stanford International's chief investment officer, to testify in their absence, according to the Davis plea and an indictment against Pendergest-Holt in federal court in Houston.
Prosecutors allege that in reality, Stanford and Davis were the only two Stanford executives intimately familiar with the finances of the company. Pendergest-Holt only learned the full extent of the fraud around the same time that Sjoblom did, when the two were preparing her to testify before the SEC, federal prosecutors assert. Pendergest-Holt and Sjoblom learned then that the firm was insolvent and most of its financial claims fictional, prosecutors allege in the Pendergest-Holt indictment and the Davis plea.
On February 5, Stanford admitted to Davis and Sjoblom that his bank's "assets and financial health had been misrepresented to investors, and were overstated," according to Davis's plea agreement with prosecutors.
$4 MILLION MORE?
Instead of dropping Stanford as a client and setting the record straight with the SEC, Sjoblom went back to Davis and Stanford with an offer, Davis told the FBI, according to a person familiar with the case. Sjoblom told the pair that they both faced serious criminal jeopardy and asked each to pay him a retainer of $2 million to represent them personally, for a total of $4 million, this person said. That money would have been in addition to what Stanford's firm had already paid Sjoblom's firm. It is not clear whether the additional money was paid.
On February 10, Pendergest-Holt gave testimony to SEC officials. That morning, Davis admitted in his guilty plea, he phoned Pendergest-Holt and encouraged her to lie to "continue to obstruct the SEC investigation," according to the Davis plea agreement.
During her testimony, Pendergest-Holt said she knew little about the assets the SEC wanted to know about. All during her testimony, Sjoblom sat at her side, as five attorneys from the SEC's enforcement division fired away questions.
A federal grand jury later indicted her on obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges related to her allegedly false testimony. She is currently awaiting trial. Her lawyer declined to comment.
The indictment of Pendergest-Holt also implicated Sjoblom. "Holt, Attorney A and others would make false and misleading statements to the SEC staff attorneys in order to persuade them to delay" Stanford's testimony while Pendergest-Holt would "provide false testimony," the indictment alleged.
Days after Pendergest-Holt's testimony, on February 14, Sjoblom resigned as a lawyer for Stanford and wrote to the SEC: "I disaffirm all prior oral and written representations made by me and my associates to the SEC staff."
Federal prosecutors are looking to Pendergest-Holt to see if she corroborates Davis' testimony regarding Sjoblom, and will then decide whether to charge Sjoblom, according to sources close to the case. (editing by Martin Howell and Michael Williams)
(Reporting By Murray Waas)
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Mitch Daniels??? Moment? (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | In the aftermath of the Republican Party response to the president's State of the Union address, an exasperated GOP had a sudden revelation. As if proclaiming 'what if?', the enamored party hopefuls (Rush Limbaugh included) gave high marks to Governor Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.) and began advocating his 12th-hour run for the presidency.
In many ways, Daniels is an ideal candidate for a party searching for unity and identity. A fiscal conservative, he possesses a unique combination of experience in government and private enterprise. The once Senior Vice President at Eli Lilly is credited with a keen understanding of finances and once served as director of the Office of Management and Budget under George Bush. Nicknamed "the blade" for his ability to crunch numbers and spending, many credit him as the catalyst for Indiana's solid economic standing and improved unemployment rate.
A social conservative, Daniels cut all funding for Planned Parenthood in Indiana. He has taken a hard stand on illegal immigrants, denying them in-state tuition rates. Daniels has also been the proponent of hefty fines for employers who hire illegals. He is a Christian who has attended Tabernacle Presbyterian Church for close to fifty years. He is a harsh critic of atheists.
However, what most entices Republicans is Daniels record on shrinking government. For many, he is the anti-Obama and boasts that Indiana has the smallest of all state governments.
Does all this make him a better candidate than Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney, the current Republican frontrunners?
The short answer is, yes. Lacking the liberal label of Romney and the baggage of Gingrich, Daniels is representative of the party moderates. Daniels is conservative enough, particularly on the economy, to satisfy the tea party. Additionally, his history of calmly delivering concise, reasonable solutions may be exactly what those undecided in the party and independents may be craving for.
The impediment for a Daniels run is all in the timing. At this late stage of debates, funding, attaining an organization, and legal restrictions, Governor Daniels would be hard-pressed to make a serious run. Then there is the history of those who made these 12th-hour charges at the presidency. Consider Fred Thompson and the sudden jolt in popularity he received entering the 2008 elections only to be dismissed virtually weeks later.
For now, the GOP can only hope and dream. Unfortunately that may mean waiting until 2016.
sources: Yahoo! News
nytimes.com
Bureau of Labor and Statistics
keeping-the-republic.com
Robert Watkins is former investment professional and partner. He lives with his family in Glen Mills, Pa., and is a frequent contributor to Yahoo! News.
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Open WebOS 1.0 Coming in September [WebOS]
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fDl9h-bKLTk/open-webos-10-coming-in-september
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Research shows genes influence criminal behavior
Public release date: 25-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Marissa Alanis
mxa117530@utdallas.edu
972-883-4463
University of Texas at Dallas
Your genes could be a strong predictor of whether you stray into a life of crime, according to a research paper co-written by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes.
"Examining the Genetic Underpinnings to Moffitt's Developmental Taxonomy: A Behavior Genetic Analysis" detailed the study's findings in a recent issue of Criminology. The paper was written with Dr. Kevin M. Beaver from Florida State University and Dr. Brian B. Boutwell at Sam Houston State University.
The study focused on whether genes are likely to cause a person to become a life-course persistent offender, which is characterized by antisocial behavior during childhood that can later progress to violent or serious criminal acts later in life.
The framework for the research was based on the developmental taxonomy of anti-social behavior, a theory derived by Dr. Terri Moffitt, who identified three groups, or pathways, found in the population: life-course persistent offenders, adolescent-limited offenders and abstainers. Moffitt suggested that environmental, biological and, perhaps, genetic factors could cause a person to fall into one of the paths.
"That was the motivation for this paper. No one had actually considered the possibility that genetic factors could be a strong predictor of which path you end up on," said Barnes, who is an assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at UT Dallas. "In her (Moffitt's) theory, she seems to highlight and suggest that genetic factors will play a larger role for the life-course persistent offender pathway as compared to the adolescence-limited pathway."
Adolescent-limited offenders exhibit behaviors such as alcohol and drug use and minor property crime during adolescence. Abstainers represent a smaller number of people who don't engage in any deviant behavior.
Barnes and his co-researchers relied on data from 4,000 people drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to identify how people fell into each of the three groups. The researchers then compared the information using what is known as the twin methodology, a study design that analyzed to what extent genetic and environmental factors influenced a trait.
"The overarching conclusions were that genetic influences in life-course persistent offending were larger than environmental influences," he said. "For abstainers, it was roughly an equal split: genetic factors played a large role and so too did the environment. For adolescent-limited offenders, the environment appeared to be most important."
The analysis doesn't identify the specific genes that underlie the different pathways, which Barnes said would be an interesting area for further research.
"If we're showing that genes have an overwhelming influence on who gets put onto the life-course persistent pathway, then that would suggest we need to know which genes are involved and at the same time, how they're interacting with the environment so we can tailor interventions," he said.
Barnes said there is no gene for criminal behavior. He said crime is a learned behavior.
"But there are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of genes that will incrementally increase your likelihood of being involved in a crime even if it only ratchets that probability by 1 percent," he said. "It still is a genetic effect. And it's still important."
The link between genes and crime is a divisive issue in the criminology discipline, which has primarily focused on environmental and social factors that cause or influence deviant behavior.
"Honestly, I hope people when they read this, take issue and start to debate it and raise criticisms because that means people are considering it and people are thinking about it," Barnes said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 25-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Marissa Alanis
mxa117530@utdallas.edu
972-883-4463
University of Texas at Dallas
Your genes could be a strong predictor of whether you stray into a life of crime, according to a research paper co-written by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes.
"Examining the Genetic Underpinnings to Moffitt's Developmental Taxonomy: A Behavior Genetic Analysis" detailed the study's findings in a recent issue of Criminology. The paper was written with Dr. Kevin M. Beaver from Florida State University and Dr. Brian B. Boutwell at Sam Houston State University.
The study focused on whether genes are likely to cause a person to become a life-course persistent offender, which is characterized by antisocial behavior during childhood that can later progress to violent or serious criminal acts later in life.
The framework for the research was based on the developmental taxonomy of anti-social behavior, a theory derived by Dr. Terri Moffitt, who identified three groups, or pathways, found in the population: life-course persistent offenders, adolescent-limited offenders and abstainers. Moffitt suggested that environmental, biological and, perhaps, genetic factors could cause a person to fall into one of the paths.
"That was the motivation for this paper. No one had actually considered the possibility that genetic factors could be a strong predictor of which path you end up on," said Barnes, who is an assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at UT Dallas. "In her (Moffitt's) theory, she seems to highlight and suggest that genetic factors will play a larger role for the life-course persistent offender pathway as compared to the adolescence-limited pathway."
Adolescent-limited offenders exhibit behaviors such as alcohol and drug use and minor property crime during adolescence. Abstainers represent a smaller number of people who don't engage in any deviant behavior.
Barnes and his co-researchers relied on data from 4,000 people drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to identify how people fell into each of the three groups. The researchers then compared the information using what is known as the twin methodology, a study design that analyzed to what extent genetic and environmental factors influenced a trait.
"The overarching conclusions were that genetic influences in life-course persistent offending were larger than environmental influences," he said. "For abstainers, it was roughly an equal split: genetic factors played a large role and so too did the environment. For adolescent-limited offenders, the environment appeared to be most important."
The analysis doesn't identify the specific genes that underlie the different pathways, which Barnes said would be an interesting area for further research.
"If we're showing that genes have an overwhelming influence on who gets put onto the life-course persistent pathway, then that would suggest we need to know which genes are involved and at the same time, how they're interacting with the environment so we can tailor interventions," he said.
Barnes said there is no gene for criminal behavior. He said crime is a learned behavior.
"But there are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of genes that will incrementally increase your likelihood of being involved in a crime even if it only ratchets that probability by 1 percent," he said. "It still is a genetic effect. And it's still important."
The link between genes and crime is a divisive issue in the criminology discipline, which has primarily focused on environmental and social factors that cause or influence deviant behavior.
"Honestly, I hope people when they read this, take issue and start to debate it and raise criticisms because that means people are considering it and people are thinking about it," Barnes said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uota-rsg012512.php
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Actor Armie Hammer nabbed in Texas for marijuana (AP)
SIERRA BLANCA, Texas ? Authorities say Hollywood actor Armie Hammer was arrested at a border patrol checkpoint in West Texas after a drug sniffing dog discovered marijuana in his car.
The 25-year-old, who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar," spent about a day in jail before paying a $1,000 bond.
Arrest records show he had 0.02 ounces of marijuana, three medicinal marijuana cookies and one brownie when arrested Nov. 20 in Sierra Blanca, a few miles from the Mexican border.
El Paso's district attorney declined to prosecute because a felony requires more than 4 ounces of actual marijuana. The county attorney could pursue lesser charges since the case is going back to the local sheriff, but Hammer's lawyer Kent Schaffer says no charges have been presented.
Hammer also starred in "The Social Network."
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
NASA still not hiding aliens: Triangular 'UFO' debunked (+video)
Footage captured by NASA shows Venus, Earth and, on the opposite side of the field-of-view, a?briefly?mysterious triangular object headed our way.
Once again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. And, once again, they've been foiled by the laws of physics.
Skip to next paragraphThis time, they called attention to?peculiar new footage?captured by a telescope onboard NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft ? one of a pair of probes parked on either side of the sun which, together, provide a 360-degree view of the inner solar system. The footage shows Venus, Earth and, on the opposite side of the field-of-view, a mysterious triangular object headed our way.
"Comparing it for size to the planetary objects that are seen in this telescope, if my calculations are correct, that thing is enormous," said YouTube user "BeePeeOilDisaster" in his video commentary on the footage, which was captured Dec. 27 -29. Talk of a cover-up quickly followed when, a few days later, NASA scientists updated the STEREO website to display newer images.?
This is not the first time?alien hunters?have found what they believe to be enormous UFOs in images captured by the STEREO probes. [Mysterious Planet-Size Object Spotted Near Mercury]
But this time, the team of scientists who work with data from the probes decided to address the claim directly. In?a post on the STEREO website, the researchers offered up an explanation of the triangular feature in the December footage. The researchers say it's no more than a trick of the light.
"The answer lies on the exact opposite side of the image," the scientists wrote. "At the same time as this strange-looking feature starts being visible, the very bright planet Venus enters the [telescopic camera's] field-of-view from the lower left."
The scientists note that Venus and the triangle, opposite each other across the middle of the camera plane, stay in step as they move. "This is not a coincidence. The strange-looking geometrical 'object' is actually an internal reflection of?the planet Venus?within the telescope optics. This effect has been seen many times before."
In this optical effect, incoming light reflects back and forth off lenses and mirrors inside the telescope; the shape of artifacts produced by this scattered light ? usually triangles and circles of various sizes ? depends on the relative orientations of those lenses and mirrors.?
Another example of internal reflection, this time of light from planet Earth, can be seen in?a STEREO-B image from May 2007. More examples of internal reflection and other optical and data-processing artifacts are displayed on the scientists' "Image Artifacts" Web page, along with explanations of the various effects.
Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on?Facebook.
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Gingrich Declares Himself the Anti-Establishment Candidate (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | As was seen and heard on NBC's "Meet The Press" Sunday, presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich sees himself as anti-establishment. His rival, Mitt Romney, is an establishment candidate, he says. But how can that be when Newt Gingrich worked in Washington for 20 years as a congressman, including six as the House Minority Whip and four as Speaker of the House? He also worked for over a decade after resigning from Congress as a top-billing consultant and advisor to corporations and federal agencies looking to shore their particular positions in political circles. And that's anti-establishment?
But that is what he said.
"In Florida my case is going to be very simple," Gingrich said. "You have a clear establishment candidate in Mitt Romney. ? And you have somebody whose entire career has been a Reagan populist conservative."
But Gingrich projects so as to distract the Republican electorate: If there has been a candidate more indicative of the establishment Americans have been railing against for years, it is Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich. He is, if anything, the walking epitome of political establishment and non-populist governance.
To further establish his anti-establishment credentials, Gingrich spoke to the mortgage crisis that had hit Florida especially hard. "As they look at the big boys on Wall Street they look at the guys in Washington," he told "Meet The Press, "they know none of that help got down to average everyday Floridians. And I think that gap creates a real anger against the national establishment."
But some of that popular anger might be well spent directed at "national establishment" representatives and spokespeople like Newt Gingrich. The former Speaker of the House was part of the Republican-majority Congress that in the late 90s pushed legislation that weakened and/or eliminated regulatory provisions of the Glass-Steagal Act that had stood since 1932 against banks and financial speculatory organizations (from combining their financial houses). Although he left before the last major block was eliminated in late 1999, he helped forge the deregulatory policies that would allow financial dealings that ultimately resulted in the subprime mortgage crisis. He later wrote a position paper supporting Freddie Mac, an independent federally funded financial agency whose lending practices were at the center of the mortgage crisis.
Sure, Romney might be part of the financial establishment, but he used his business acumen and lax regulations to make his fortune (something which, oddly enough, Gingrich said in an interview on CNBC that he, as a congressman when the favorable legislation passed, should be thanked for). But he certainly is no Washington insider, no matter how much Gingrich would like to make him one. And yet, thirty years inside the Beltway and dealing with those that do business in the nation's capital seem to indicate that Gingrich is exactly what he maintains he is not.
Moreover, it is the influence on Congress from "outside" parties like Gingrich's consulting firm that has helped Congress to its lowest job approval ratings in history (11 percent, per Gallup). In a poll conducted in April, Gallup found that 71 percent of Americans surveyed said that they believed lobbyists had too much power.
Gingrich's words can be explained by his desire to continue the momentum shift experienced by his campaign for the GOP nomination. Fresh off of a victory in the South Carolina Primary, the former Speaker has become intent on erasing Romney's poll lead in Florida by the time that state's primary is held (Jan. 31). Counting on the general ignorance of the electorate, not to mention time's ability to make past actions easily dismissible, Gingrich has gone on the offensive.
He's done it by describing a politician that the electorate would take a quick dislike toward.
And that politician -- save for the Wall Street reference -- is him.
Newt Gingrich might argue that he is many things, but anti-establishment is one that stretches credulity to the breaking point.
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