Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/169645015?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Romney says Attorney General Holder should quit
Attorney General Eric Holder shakes hands with Daily Caller reporter Neil Munro, left, as Munro asks him about calls for Holder's resignation over an investigation of arms traffickers called Operation Fast and Furious after an event on counterfeit goods at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across from the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Attorney General Eric Holder shakes hands with Daily Caller reporter Neil Munro, left, as Munro asks him about calls for Holder's resignation over an investigation of arms traffickers called Operation Fast and Furious after an event on counterfeit goods at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across from the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is calling on President Barack Obama's attorney general to resign because of the flawed law enforcement initiative aimed at dismantling major arms trafficking networks on the Southwest border.
Romney tells reporters after a rally in New Hampshire that Eric Holder has misled Congress and has "brought shame" on the Justice Department through his handling of Operation Fast and Furious.
Operation Fast and Furious involved more than 2,000 weapons purchased by straw buyers at Phoenix-area gun stores. Nearly 700 of those guns have been recovered ? 276 in Mexico and 389 in the United States, according to ATF data as of Oct. 20.
Controversy erupted over the intitiative after two assault rifles turned up at an Arizona shootout where border agent Brian Terry was killed.
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US official: American drone in Iranian hands
By NBC News and wire reports
Iran's military has recovered an super-secret American stealth drone after the unmanned vehicle flew out of control and crashed inside Iran, NBC News reported Monday, citing a senior U.S. official.
According to the official, the RQ-170 drone was flying inside Afghanistan along the Iranian border, when ground commanders "lost control" of the aircraft. It took a "hard turn" into Iran and ultimately crashed, the source said.
Iranian media reported on Sunday that their country's military had shot down a U.S. reconnaissance drone in eastern Iran, but a U.S. official said there was no indication the aircraft had been shot down.
The incident comes at a time when Tehran is trying to contain foreign outrage at the storming of the British embassy on Tuesday, after London announced sanctions on Iran's central bank in connection with Iran's nuclear enrichment program.
Iran has announced several times in the past that it shot down U.S., Israeli or British drones, in incidents that did not provoke high-profile responses.
"Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran," Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam state television network on Sunday quoted a military source as saying.
"The spy drone, which has been downed with little damage, was seized by the Iranian armed forces," the source said. "The Iranian military's response to the American spy drone's violation of our airspace will not be limited to Iran's borders."
Iranian officials were not available to comment further.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said in a statement: "The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to which the Iranians are referring may be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Monday, December 5, 2011
Obama prods GOP on payroll tax cut (AP)
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama accepted a move by Senate Democrats to scale back his Social Security payroll tax cut extension on Monday, then prodded Republicans to support it despite a requirement for the very wealthy to pay more taxes.
Obama also called on lawmakers to renew a program of extended unemployment benefits due to expire on Dec. 31. He said the checks, which kick in after six months of joblessness, are "the last line of defense between hardship and catastrophe" for some victims of the recession and a painfully slow recovery.
The president made his remarks at the White House as Republicans and Democrats in Congress said a holiday-season package was beginning to come into focus that could cost $180 billion or more over a decade. Elements include not only the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefit renewals, but also a provision to avert a threatened 27 percent reduction in fees to doctors who treat Medicare patients.
While there are differences over the details of the three principal components ? many Republicans are reluctant to extend the tax cut ? there is at least as much disagreement between senior lawmakers in the two political parties over ways to cover the cost so deficits don't rise.
Officials said that to offset the two-year, $38 billion price tag of the Medicare provision, House Republicans want to cut funds from the year-old health care legislation that stands as Obama's signature domestic policy accomplishment. Some Democrats want instead to count defense funds approved but unspent for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ? a proposal that many GOP lawmakers deem an accounting gimmick.
The Medicare proposal enjoys strong popularity among lawmakers in both parties. House Republican leaders signaled last week they intend to include it in the overall package as a sweetener for members of the party's rank and file who are unhappy at the prospect of extending the payroll tax cut.
GOP critics say there is no evidence that the current tax cut has helped create jobs, and also say they fear the impact of a renewal on the deficit and on the fund that pays Social Security benefits. A majority of Republican senators voted last week against a plan backed by their own leadership to extend the cut.
But Obama noted House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said that the renewal would help the economy, and said the party's Senate leaders had made similar comments.
"I couldn't agree more. And I hope that the rest of their Republican colleagues come around and join Democrats to pass these tax cuts and put money back into the pockets of working Americans," the president said.
Obama also added, "I know many Republicans have sworn an oath never to raise taxes as long as they live. How could it be that the only time there's a catch is when it comes to raising taxes on middle-class families? How can you fight tooth and nail to protect high-end tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, and yet barely lift a finger to prevent taxes going up for 160 million Americans who really need the help?"
He spoke as Senate Democrats unveiled revisions that cut the cost of the administration's proposal by one-third, to an estimated $179 billion. As rewritten, it deepens the current Social Security payroll tax cut and extends it until the end of 2012, but jettisons Obama's request to give businesses relief at the same time.
Republicans were critical despite the changes.
"Frankly, the only thing bipartisan about this latest political gambit is opposition to the permanent tax hike on small businesses to pay for temporary one-year tax policy," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. Republicans often refer to the proposal as a tax increase on small business owners in hopes of recasting Democratic claims that it would fall on "millionaires and billionaires."
Advanced by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., the revised proposal also scales back the surtax on seven-figure earners that Democrats had originally proposed to cover the bill's entire cost, from 3.25 percent to 1.9 percent.
Also included are higher fees for consumers whose mortgages are from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as a GOP proposal from last week to make sure millionaires don't receive unemployment benefits or food stamps.
___
Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this story.
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December Religious Holidays: It's the Most Wonderfully Holy Time of the Year
By Nancy Haught
Religion News Service
(RNS) A quick glimpse at a calendar is one way to see how religiously diverse the United States has become.
This year, December, a month that encompasses the Christian and Jewish celebrations of Christmas and Hanukkah, includes spiritually significant days for Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans and Zoroastrians.
Yes, Zoroastrians: Scholars estimate there are 6,000 followers of the centuries-old tradition in North America.
Here's a quick look at some of the sacred days that illuminate the last month of 2011.
Dec. 5, Ashura, the 10th day of the first month on the Islamic calendar. Sunnis, the largest group of Muslims, remember that the Prophet Muhammad fasted in solidarity with Jews who were observing Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Shiites recall the death of Muhammad's grandson in battle, an event that led to their differences with the Sunnis.
Dec. 6, the feast of St. Nicholas. Some Christians revere the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a Greek province in Asia Minor. His reputation for piety may have inspired the legend of Santa Claus. The tradition of leaving gifts for children on St. Nicholas Day began in the Low Countries and spread to North America with Dutch immigrants.
Dec. 8, Bodhi Day. Buddhists recall that Siddhartha Gautama vowed to sit under a tree in what is now Bodhgaya, India, and not to rise until he was enlightened. The title Buddha means "awakened one."
Roman Catholics observe this day as the feast of the Immaculate Conception, believing that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born without sin.
Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Observed by Catholics, especially those of Hispanic descent, the story of Guadalupe recounts a 16th-century apparition of Mary to Juan Diego, a poor Indian, on a hillside near what is now Mexico City.
Dec. 20, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins at sunset on this date and continues for seven more nights. It is a remembrance of an effort to restore the Temple in Jerusalem after a period of desecration. Faithful Jews found only enough oil to light the temple lamp for one day, but the flame burned for eight.
Dec. 21, Yalda, the Zoroastrian celebration of the winter solstice.
Dec. 22, Yule or winter solstice, the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere. Juul, a pre-Christian festival observed in Scandinavia, featured fires lit to symbolize the heat, light and life-giving properties of the returning sun. Wiccans and other pagan groups celebrate Yule.
Dec. 25, Christmas, observed by Christians since the Middle Ages as the birth of Jesus. Some Orthodox Christians follow a different calendar, and Christmas may fall on a different date.
Dec. 26, Zoroastrians observe the death of the prophet Zarathushtra, known in the West as Zoroaster. Tradition says he lived in what is now Iran in about 1200 B.C. His teachings include the idea of one eternal God; seven powerful creations: sky, water, earth, plants, animals, humans and fire; and that life is a struggle between good and evil.
This is also the starting date for Kwanzaa, a weeklong, modern African-American and pan-African celebration of family, community and culture. For some people who keep Kwanzaa, the festival has spiritual overtones in its emphasis on imani, Swahili for "faith."
(Nancy Haught writes for The Oregonian in Portland, Ore.)
'; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/december-religious-holidays_n_1126507.html
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Sunday, December 4, 2011
Russians vote in election test for Vladimir Putin (Reuters)
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) ? Vladimir Putin's ruling party could see its vast parliamentary majority cut back in elections that began Sunday in the icy tundra and sparsely-populated swathes of Russia's far east.
At polling stations from the Arctic to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the election will indicate the scope of fatigue with Putin's 12-year rule just three months before he asks voters to endorse his return to the Kremlin as president.
Russians interviewed by Reuters across the world's biggest country gave a mixed picture. Some expressed disgust with a parliamentary election they said was likely to be rigged while others said they supported Putin and his United Russia party.
"I support United Russia. I like Putin. He is the strong leader we need in our country," said Nikolai, a 33-year-old customs officer in Vladivostok, a port city of 600,000 people on the Pacific and the biggest city in Russia's Far East.
Some voters said they would vote for Just Russia or the Communists because they were disillusioned with Putin and his party, a trend that could cost United Russia dearly.
Polls show Putin's party is likely to win a majority but less than the 315 seats it currently has in the 450-seat lower house of parliament, known as the Duma.
If it gets less than two-thirds of seats, Putin's party would be stripped of its so called constitutional majority which allows it to change the constitution and even approve the impeachment of the president.
Opposition parties say the election is unfair because the authorities support United Russia with cash and television air time while they say vote rigging will be employed to boost United Russia's result.
Supporters say the former-KGB spy saved Russia during his 2000-08 presidency from the chaos of the immediate post-Soviet era and supplied the longest and steepest economic boom in a generation. He also crushed a rebellion in the southern region of Chechnya that tested the fabric of a federation spanning 9,000 Km (5,600 miles) from the Baltic to the Pacific.
Russian customs officers held the director of an independent election watchdog for 12 hours at a Moscow airport Saturday. The United States said it was concerned by "a pattern of harassment" against the watchdog.
PUTIN'S PARTY
Putin remains by far Russia's most popular politician and the 59-year old leader is the ultimate arbiter between the clans which control the world's biggest energy producer.
But his party has had to fight against opponents who have branded it as a collection "swindlers and thieves" and a growing sense of unease among voters at Putin's grip on power.
"I shall not vote. I shall cross out all the parties on the list and write: 'Down with the party of swindlers and thieves,'" said Nikolai Markovtsev, an independent deputy in the Vladivostok city legislature.
"These are not elections: this is sacrilege," he said, adding that the biggest liberal opposition bloc had been barred from the vote by the authorities.
Opponents say Putin has crafted a brittle political system which excludes independent voices and that Russians are growing tired of Putin's cultivated tough man image.
An outburst of boos and whistling at Putin by fans at a Moscow martial arts fight and a sharp fall in opinion poll ratings during the election campaign had raised concerns Putin may be losing his legendary political touch.
FAR EAST
Putin is almost certain to win the March 4 presidential election but signs of disenchantment are extremely worrying for the Kremlin's political managers. Putin's self-portrayal as the anchor of Russian stability hinges on his popularity.
In an attempt to reinvigorate his party, which President Dmitry Medvedev is leading into the election as part of a job swap announced in September, Putin has sent his closest allies to lead United Russia in some of Russia's 83 regions.
Conquered by the Eastern Slavs under the tsars in the 18th and 19th centuries, Russia's far east covers an area almost twice the size of India but has just 6.3 million inhabitants.
Russians in the region braved temperatures as low as minus 41 degrees Celsius (minus 42 Fahrenheit) to vote eight hours before polls opened in Moscow.
Chukchi reindeer herders living across the Bering Sea from Alaska began voting in late November as did some oil workers on rigs pumping the lifeblood of Russia's $1.9 trillion economy.
Putin sent First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov to his native Far East to lead the ruling party's campaign in an area where one local journalist angered Medvedev during the campaign by appearing to imply the Far East was not even part of Russia. ($1 = 30.8947 Russian roubles)
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Cobra Tool Takes Tires Off in Seconds
Yes, you can rip a bike tire from a rim with nothing but your bare, gnarled hands, but a lever makes things a lot easier. I use two (from a set of three) and keep them in my toolbag at all times. If even that is too much for you (and you haven’t yet mastered [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/vpMyIdBH96o/
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Video: Herb's Top Predictions for 2012
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45527703/
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Friday, December 2, 2011
Serendipitous news reading online is gaining prominence
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Traditional media, such as newspapers and television news, require readers and viewers to intentionally seek out news by picking up a newspaper or turning on the television. The Internet and new technologies now are changing the way readers consume online news. New research from the University of Missouri shows that Internet users often do not make the conscious decision to read news online, but they come across news when they are searching for other information or doing non-news related activities online, such as shopping or visiting social networking sites.
Borchuluun Yadamsuren, a post-doctoral fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found a shift in the way people have begun to perceive online news. She says that while some people still have the perception of news as tied to traditional media, others now hold a much broader perception of news that goes beyond what is reported by professional journalists. Yadamsuren attributes this to the wide array of information available online.
"Incidental exposure to online news is becoming a major way for many people to receive information about news events," Yadamsuren said. "However, many people don't realize how their news reading behavior is shifting to more serendipitous discovery."
Using mixed method approach, Yadamsuren surveyed nearly 150 respondents with further interviews of 20 of those respondents to understand their incidental exposure to online news. She found that respondents experience incidental exposure to online news in three different contexts. The first group of respondents reported that they come across interesting news stories while they visit online news sites. Others report incidental exposure to online news in the context of non-news related activities such as checking email and visiting Facebook and other social networking sites. The third group of respondents reported that they stumble upon "unusual," "weird," "interesting," "bizarre," unexpected," "outrageous," or "off the wall" news stories while they are conducting their normal Internet searches.
Currently, Yadamsuren is studying the relationship between incidental exposure to online news and different demographic and technology-access related factors. Yadamsuren believes it is important for media organizations to place links to their news stories on different sites throughout the Internet to take advantage of serendipitious news consuming behavior to expand their readership.
Yadamsuren's study was presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) 2011 and American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) 2011 Annual Meetings. Her research was also published in Information Research. Her current research at RJI involves developing strategies for news organizations to engage younger generations with online news based on incidental exposure.
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University of Missouri-Columbia: http://www.missouri.edu
Thanks to University of Missouri-Columbia for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115649/Serendipitous_news_reading_online_is_gaining_prominence
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