Rep. Barney Frank announced retirement (AP)

NEWTON, Mass. ? Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts says he does not intend to seek re-election in 2012.

Frank spoke Monday at a news conference in his hometown of Newton

Frank said he originally intended to run for one more term, but that his decision was partially due to the fact that the state's new redistricting map will include many people he has never represented before.

Frank said he has had a "busy and stressful" four years dealing with financial reform after the recession.

He says he plans to write and stay involved in public policy decisions.

The 71-year-old Frank, and a lifelong liberal, won a House seat in 1980 was one of the first lawmakers to announce that he is gay.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts does not intend to seek re-election in 2012, his office said Monday, closing out a career of more than three decades in Congress capped by last year's passage of legislation imposing new regulations on Wall Street.

Frank, 71 and a lifelong liberal, won a House seat in 1980 was one of the first lawmakers to announce that he is gay.

He scheduled an early afternoon news conference in Newton, Mass., to make a formal announcement of his retirement plans.

Sixteen other Democrats have announced plans not to seek new House terms in 2012, compared with six Republicans.

As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank was instrumental in passage of the Dodd-Frank bill, which contained the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the Great Depression. The measure clamped down on lending practices and expanded consumer protections to prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that knocked the economy to its knees.

Over the years, Frank consistently came down on the liberal side of public issues, opposing the war in Iraq and bills to cover its expenses.

More than two decades ago, Frank was reprimanded by the House for using his congressional status on behalf of a male prostitute whom he had employed as a personal aide, including seeking dismissal of 33 parking tickets.

"I should have known better. I do now, but it's a little too late," Frank said at the time.

Democrats rebuffed Republican calls for Frank's expulsion, and instead, the Massachusetts Democrat resumed a career that far outlasted many of those who had sought his ouster.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_el_ho/us_frank_retiring

melanie iglesias catherine tate theo epstein theo epstein darknet james ray williston nd

Watch: Barney Frank Won't Seek 2012 Re-Election (ABC News)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167366263?client_source=feed&format=rss

kody brown transylvania terrell owens terrell owens carrie ann inaba california earthquake california earthquake

HBT: Funeral for slain Mariner will be Tuesday

According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, the funeral service for Greg Halman will be held Tuesday in the Netherlands. The family is also having a public viewing?Sunday in the Kinheim gym in Haarlem, where Halman played baseball growing up.

The Mariners plan to send?vice president of international operations?Bob Engle,?coordinator of European scouting Wayne Norton and?and Peter Van Dalen, an associate scout in the Netherlands.

Halman, who played in 44 games with the Mariners over the past two seasons, died Monday morning when he was stabbed?at an apartment in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. According to the Associated Press, a judge has ordered Greg?s 22-year-old brother Jason to be detained for two more weeks on suspicion of murder or manslaughter. Police believe the incident may have followed an argument over loud music. Just tragic.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/26/greg-halmans-funeral-scheduled-for-tuesday-in-netherlands/related

angela davis angela davis zombie apocalypse matt moore matt moore national grid andrew luck

?Promising Unlock? For The iPhone 4S Discovered

Most folks spent their Thanksgiving weekend ensuring that every inch of their intestinal track was thoroughly covered in gravy. Others spent it trying to get just drunk enough that their relative's worst habits were bearable. Some, however, spent the weekend doing something pretty much only they can do: hacking the heck out of the iPhone. As a result, everyone waitin' and wishin' for an iPhone 4S carrier unlock has something to be thankful for.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/AgJoSqdb5ZM/

happy veterans day brian eno tomb of the unknown soldier tomb of the unknown soldier marlins marlins reo

Diabetes drug shows promise in reducing risk of cancer

Thursday, November 24, 2011

An inexpensive drug that treats Type-2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a newly published study by a Michigan State University researcher.

The research, led by pediatrics professor James Trosko and colleagues from South Korea's Seoul National University, provides biological evidence for previously reported epidemiological surveys that long-term use of the drug metformin for Type-2 diabetes reduces the risk of diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast cancers.

The research appears in the current edition of PLoS One.

"People with Type-2 diabetes are known to be at high risk for several diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast, liver and pancreatic cancers," said Trosko, a professor in the College of Human Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. "While metformin has been shown in population studies to reduce the risk of these cancers, there was no evidence of how it worked."

For the study, Trosko and colleagues focused on the concept that cancers originate from adult human stem cells and that there are many natural and man-made chemicals that enhance the growth of breast cancer cells.

Using culture dishes, they grew miniature human breast tumors, or mammospheres, that activated a certain stem cell gene (Oct4A). Then the mammospheres were exposed to natural estrogen ? a known growth factor and potential breast tumor promoter ? and man-made chemicals that are known to promote tumors or disrupt the endocrine system.

The team found that estrogen and the chemicals caused the mammospheres to increase in numbers and size. However, with metformin added, the numbers and size of the mammospheres were dramatically reduced. While each of the chemicals enhanced growth by different means, metformin seemed to be able to inhibit their stimulated growth in all cases.

"While future studies are needed to understand the exact mechanism by which metformin works to reduce the growth of breast cancers, this study reveals the need to determine if the drug might be used as a preventive drug and for individuals who have no indication of any existing cancers," he said.

"Though we still do not know the exact molecular mechanism by which it works, metformin seems to dramatically affect how estrogen and endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause the pre-existing breast cancers to grow."

In addition, further research needs to be done with human cultures to see if metformin can reduce the risk of pancreatic and liver cancers in Type-2 diabetics as well, he said.

###

Michigan State University: http://www.newsroom.msu.edu

Thanks to Michigan State University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 164 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115463/Diabetes_drug_shows_promise_in_reducing_risk_of_cancer

tigers rangers nlcs nlcs josh beckett 999 plan the village

New bodies could bring Ohio Craigslist toll to 3

Law enforcement officials work at a crime scene on Harlem Road in Akron, Ohio, where a body was found on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. The FBI is investigating whether the body found Friday in a shallow grave is a second killing connected to a phony Craigslist job ad that authorities say lured victims into a deadly robbery scheme. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Ed Suba Jr.) MANDATORY CREDIT

Law enforcement officials work at a crime scene on Harlem Road in Akron, Ohio, where a body was found on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. The FBI is investigating whether the body found Friday in a shallow grave is a second killing connected to a phony Craigslist job ad that authorities say lured victims into a deadly robbery scheme. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Ed Suba Jr.) MANDATORY CREDIT

Law enforcement officials work at a crime scene on Harlem Road in Akron, Ohio, where a body was found on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. The FBI is investigating whether the body found Friday in a shallow grave is a second killing connected to a phony Craigslist job ad that authorities say lured victims into a deadly robbery scheme. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Ed Suba Jr.) MANDATORY CREDIT

This is an undated hand out photo of Timothy Kern of Massillon, Ohio provided by the FBI. Kern, missing since Nov. 13, interviewed for a Craigslist help-wanted ad that police say was actually a deadly robbery scheme that lured people to a nonexistent farm job in southern Ohio, according to the man?s father, who called the outlook for his son ?pretty grim.? (AP Photo/The FBI)

This undated photo provided by the Summit County Sheriff Department in Ohio shows Richard J. Beasley. Beasley's mother, Carol Beasley, said Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, her son has "a very caring heart" and was a mentor to a teenager charged in a deadly robbery scheme in which police say victims were lured with bogus help-wanted ads on Craigslist. Carol Beasley told The Associated Press that she spoke to her son Richard and she prays that a newspaper report that he is a suspect is not true. (AP Photo/Summit County Sheriff Department)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? The discoveries of two new bodies could bring to three the death toll from a Craigslist ad that police say lured victims into a lethal robbery scheme.

A body found Friday in a shallow grave near a mall in Akron may be that of a missing man who answered the ad, the FBI said. And a sheriff in a rural county said later in the day that the body of a white male without identification was found in a shallow grave about 90 miles away.

The FBI is working on the supposition that the body found near the Rolling Acres shopping mall in Akron may be that of 47-year-old Timothy Kern, who hasn't been seen in more than a week, agency spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said.

"Do we think it might be? Maybe," Anderson said. "He's missing. We haven't been able to find him. It could possibly be, but we just don't know that yet."

Anderson declined to specify how authorities discovered the body.

Kern, of Massillon, answered the same ad for a farm hand that authorities say led to the shooting death of Norfolk, Va., resident David Pauley, 51, in a rural area of Nobel County 90 miles south of Akron. A South Carolina man reported answering the ad and being shot Nov. 6 but escaping.

Noble County Sheriff Steve Hannum is under a judge's gag order and can't comment on the case, but the title of his emailed announcement late Friday ? "second body" ? implied the discovery was connected with Pauley's death.

Neighbors where Pauley's body was found last week and the second body was found Friday said police had been in the area and a helicopter had been overhead most of the day but the scene was quiet late in the day.

Two people from the Akron area are in custody: a high school student who has been charged with attempted murder and 52-year-old Richard Beasley, who is in jail on unrelated charges.

Beasley's mother has said he has "a very caring heart" and she prays that newspaper reports he is a suspect are wrong.

FBI agents have contacted people to check on their well-being, FBI spokesman Harry Trombitas said Friday in an email.

One was Heather Tuttle, of Ravenna, who applied for the job Oct. 7 but never got a response. She had forgotten about the posting until an FBI agent called and left a message for her Monday.

When she called back, she was stunned at what the agent told her.

"It could have been me," said Tuttle, 27, who has since taken work as an assistant manager at a gas station.

"When the situation was explained to me, it just instantly made me sick and made me realize how lucky I am that I didn't get a response back," she said.

Another man who responded to the ad has said he met Beasley at a food court at a different mall in the Akron area on Oct. 10. Ron Sanson, of Stow, was told the man was looking for an older, single or divorced person to watch over a 688-acre farm in southeast Ohio ? the kind of man, Sanson said, whose disappearance might not be quickly noticed.

Sanson and Kern are both divorced. So was Pauley.

Sanson, 58, said he filled out an application and talked for about 20 minutes with Beasley about a $300-a-week job overseeing a swath of land a mile from the nearest neighbor and living rent-free in a two-bedroom trailer with opportunities to hunt and fish and free access to ATVs and snowmobiles.

The farm advertised on Craigslist does not exist; the area where the bodies were found in Noble County is property owned by a coal company and often leased to hunters.

Law enforcement officials have released few details because of the gag order. Hannum, the sheriff in Noble County where Pauley and the South Carolina man were shot, previously said it was unclear how long the ad was online or whether there were other victims.

___

Sheeran reported from Cleveland. Associated Press writer JoAnne Viviano in Columbus contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-25-Craigslist-Jobseeker%20Killed/id-0aac00e5e6654d149d1772e1a1fbab18

50 50 50 50 gene simmons family jewels dream house dream house the patriot taylor martinez

Protesters dig in to keep pressure on Egypt army (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Protesters demanding an end to army rule in Egypt sought on Saturday to build on momentum from a mass protest, bedding down in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a ninth day just two days before the first free parliamentary polls in living memory.

Thousands stayed in the square late into the night on Friday, aiming to keep up pressure on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to further speed up a transition to democracy which they believe requires the generals to leave power now.

The political turmoil and violence - 41 people were killed this week - are compounding the economic woes of a country where livelihoods have been battered by a year of turmoil that started with the toppling of Hosni Mubarak in February by mass protests.

The generals have shown no sign of giving way to the demand to quit now. Instead, they have responded by promising that a new president would be elected by mid-2012, sooner than previously announced, and appointing a new prime minister to head a "national salvation government."

Kamal Ganzouri, the new prime minister, held the same post under Mubarak. Speaking to the media on Friday, he described his task as thankless and "extremely difficult" and listed his priorities as securing the streets and reviving the economy. Egypt's pound has weakened to its lowest level in seven years.

The Tahrir protesters have dismissed Ganzouri, 78, as yet another face from the past whose appointment reflects the generals' resistance to change.

"Why are they picking Ganzouri now? This shows that the army is unwilling to let go of any power by recycling a former ally. This government won't have any powers, why else pick someone that is loyal to them," said protester Mohamed El Meligy, 20.

DIVIDE

Tahrir Square and the surrounding streets were relatively calm on Friday after the deployment of extra security forces in areas where youths had clashed with police earlier this week.

The violence had fueled public anger at the military council and drawn more protesters to Tahrir Square.

If maintained, the calm will deflate the arguments of those who argue that the first phase of the three-stage parliamentary vote should be postponed because of this week's turmoil.

In a further boost to the military council, several thousand protesters demonstrated in support of the generals' role in another Cairo square on Friday -- a further echo from the last days of Mubarak's rule when loyalists took to the streets.

Though smaller than the "Last Chance Friday" protest in Tahrir Square, the demonstration highlighted the division between revolutionary youths wanting to overhaul the whole system and more cautious Egyptians keen to restore normality.

The appointment of Ganzouri, who was prime minister from 1996 to 1999, has also drawn attention to the division.

"I favor him. He is a very good man, he did a lot of good things. If he had continued in his role (in 1999) the situation would have stayed much better," said restaurant worker Osama Amara, 22.

The military council announced on Friday that each round of voting would be held over two days instead of one to give everyone the chance to cast their vote.

In Tahrir, where the main political groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party have avoided demonstrating this week, some protesters said the vote should still be delayed.

The Brotherhood, Egypt's best organized political force, wants the election to go ahead as scheduled.

"Believe me, I don't know who I am going to vote for," said Hoda Ragab, a 55-year-old woman at Friday's protest in Tahrir.

"In all sincerity, it's because I don't have any program for any party in these conditions. It would be better for the elections to be delayed a week or two, so we can get over these problems," she said.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Abdellah and Marwa Awad; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/wl_nm/us_egypt_protests

coco rocha al sharpton izon heart attack grill gaddafi dead steve wynn lytro camera

Italy's borrowing rates skyrocket, Monti scrambles

European Commissioner for the Economy Olli Rehn, left, is greeted by Italian Premier Mario Monti as they meet at Chigi's Premier palace in Rome, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. Italy had to pay sharply higher borrowing rates to entice investors to part with their cash during a couple of auctions Friday, in an acute sign that Europe's crippling debt crisis is laying siege to the eurozone's third-largest economy. The auction results are another sign that the country's new technocratic government, faces a big battle to convince that it has a strategy to get a grip on the country's massive debts. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

European Commissioner for the Economy Olli Rehn, left, is greeted by Italian Premier Mario Monti as they meet at Chigi's Premier palace in Rome, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. Italy had to pay sharply higher borrowing rates to entice investors to part with their cash during a couple of auctions Friday, in an acute sign that Europe's crippling debt crisis is laying siege to the eurozone's third-largest economy. The auction results are another sign that the country's new technocratic government, faces a big battle to convince that it has a strategy to get a grip on the country's massive debts. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

European Commissioner for the Economy Olli Rehn, left, shakes hands with Italian Premier Mario Monti as they meet at Chigi's Premier palace in Rome, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. Italy had to pay sharply higher borrowing rates to entice investors to part with their cash during a couple of auctions Friday, in an acute sign that Europe's crippling debt crisis is laying siege to the eurozone's third-largest economy. The auction results are another sign that the country's new technocratic government, faces a big battle to convince that it has a strategy to get a grip on the country's massive debts. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, center, and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti, shake hands at the end of a press conference in Strasbourg, eastern France, Thursday, Nov 24, 2011. The leaders of Germany, France and Italy are set for debate on the European Central Bank's role in the region's debt crisis and on how to align eurozone economic policies. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

MILAN (AP) ? Italy's borrowing rates skyrocketed during bond auctions Friday, temporarily battering stock markets in Europe as the continent's escalating debt crisis laid siege to the eurozone's third-largest economy.

The auction results are another sign that Italy's new technocratic government under economist Mario Monti faces a battle to convince investors it has a strategy to cut down the country's euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) debt. They are also likely to fuel calls for the European Central Bank to use more firepower to cool down a rapidly escalating debt crisis.

Driving market fears is the knowledge that Italy is too big for Europe to bail out, like it has done with smaller nations Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Given the size of its debts ? Italy must refinance $300 billion next year alone ? the government has to continually tap investors for money. But when borrowing rates get too high, that can fuel a potentially devastating debt spiral which could bankrupt the country.

Friday's auctions showed that investors see Italian debt as increasingly risky. The country had to pay an average yield of 7.814 percent to raise euro2 billion ($2.7 billion) in two-year bills ? sharply higher than the 4.628 percent it paid in the previous auction in October. And even raising euro8 billion ($10.7 billion) for six months proved exorbitantly expensive, as the yield for that spiked to 6.504 percent, nearly double the 3.535 percent rate last month.

Following the grim auction news, Italy's borrowing rates in the markets shot higher, with the ten-year yield spiking 0.34 percentage point to 7.30 percent ? above the 7 percent threshold that forced other nations into bailouts.

Markets so far appeared to be giving Monti no honeymoon since he took power a week ago.

"Mario Monti has failed so far to impress bond markets he has the power and authority to do what is required," said Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners.

Solid returns on Wall Street helped European markets recover from earlier losses Friday fueled by fears over Italy.

Italy was not the only country in the 17-nation eurozone to have a disappointing auction this week. Even Germany ? the region's strongest economy and the main funder of eurozone bailouts ? suffered a shock Wednesday when it failed to raise all the money it sought, its worst auction result in decades. Spain also saw its borrowing rates ratchet sharply higher even after a landslide election victory for the conservative Popular Party, which has made getting Spain's borrowing levels down its top priority.

Monti, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's leader, has pledged to quickly implement new austerity measures followed by deeper reforms. He spent much of his first week in office meeting with European Union officials and the leaders of France and Germany laying out his plans.

During the meetings, Monti emphasized his intention to balance the budget by 2013 and to introduce "fair but incisive" structural reforms," his office said in a statement following a Cabinet meeting Friday.

Monti also has pledged to reform the pension system, re-impose a tax on homes annulled by Berlusconi's government, reduce tax evasion, streamline civil court proceedings, get more women and youths into the work force and cut political costs.

EU monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn told the Italian Parliament that "full and effective implementation will be key."

He urged a "clear and ambitious roadmap for reform and an ambitious timeline" and expressed particular concern about low employment among Italian youth.

"Over the longer term, productivity will depend on a well-educated labor force," Rehn said. "I am particularly concerned about high unemployment, which is a tremendous waste of talent that Europe simply cannot afford."

Rehn was in Rome to monitor Italy's compliance with promises to liberalize its labor market, reduce the bloated public sector and sell off some state assets.

There were also signs that contagion over Europe's debt crisis was moving eastward. Moody's downgraded Hungary's sovereign debt to junk status ? from Baa3 to Ba1 with a negative outlook ? a decision Hungary hotly criticized. Hungary is not a member of the eurozone, but trades with many eurozone members.

This week's developments have ratcheted up the pressure on the European Central Bank to step up its bond purchases in the markets, though Germany remains adamantly opposed. The current program is designed to support bond prices in the markets, thereby keeping a lid on the borrowing rates.

So far, the ECB has been buying limited amounts of bonds and has to sell an equivalent amount of assets. The ECB said Monday it bought bonds worth only euro4.5 billion ($6 billion)last week, down from euro9.5 billion ($12.7 billion) a week earlier.

Potentially, the ECB has unlimited financial firepower through its ability to print money and many countries in the eurozone, including France, want the bank to act more decisively to solve the debt crisis.

However, Germany finds the idea of monetizing debts unappealing, warning that it lets the more profligate countries off the hook for their bad practices.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-25-EU-Italy-Financial-Crisis/id-ca838354d3344cc899141c31888b9dad

much ado about nothing sean hayes caroline manzo caroline manzo the haunting in connecticut drew brees drew brees

The Challenge of Legal Form at the Durban Climate Talks | WRI ...

The first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end in 2012, and the negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have yet to reach an ?agreed outcome? to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions post-2012. This impasse raises the prospect that in a year?s time ? even as the scientific evidence mounts that human impact on the climate system is veering out of control ? there will be no internationally agreed legally binding commitments regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

For some observers of the climate regime this gap in the legal regime is a welcome development. They argue that by side-stepping the issue of legal form, the two previous UN climate conferences in Copenhagen (2009) and Cancun (2010) were able to generate unilateral, non-binding ?pledges? from 90 countries that for the first time give a sense of what the bulk of the international community might do to move economies toward a low-carbon path.

However, if you scrape beneath the surface of many of these pledges, you will discover a high degree of imprecision and conditionality that could be expected from a series of unilateral declarations. Even taken at face value, collectively the Cancun pledges fall well short of the level of effort necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming.

For these reasons, most countries continue to recognize that, in principle, the climate challenge merits a legally binding response, and the seriousness of purpose that only the process of negotiating and concluding a legally binding agreement can bring. But they have yet to agree on which countries should be bound by what specific commitments, and by when. For these reasons, the issue of ?legal form? of the future climate regime is likely to dominate discussion at the Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Durban.

In particular, the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) are called upon to decide whether to adopt a legally binding second commitment period and the parties to the UNFCCC must decide whether to adopt a mandate to conclude their negotiations with new legally binding commitments. To appreciate why everyone is calling in their lawyers, the legal form of a future climate change regime needs to be understood on at least three levels: the technical, the political, and the symbolic.

The legal form of a future climate change regime needs to be understood on at least three levels: the technical, the political, and the symbolic.

The Legal Technicalities

Under international law, countries become legally bound when they formally convey their consent to be bound, most typically by becoming parties to a legally binding agreement such as a treaty or a protocol to a treaty. Typically the agreement is then ratified through passage of legislation by a national parliament, which makes the agreement legally binding under each country?s domestic law as well. The UNFCCC and the KP are both legally binding agreements.

Importantly, a legally binding agreement may (or may not) contain legally binding commitments for some or all of its parties. The Kyoto Protocol, for example, contains legally binding targets and timetables for GHG emissions reductions by all industrialized countries that ratified it (i.e., all but the United States), but contains no such commitments for emerging economies (e.g., China, India, Brazil, and South Africa).

The differences in commitments between and among developed and developing countries in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol reflect the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, acknowledging the historical responsibility and greater financial and technological capacities of countries that industrialized in the last century. Any future set of legally binding commitments will also need to reflect this principle, but in a way that recognizes how dramatically patterns of emissions and capabilities have shifted since 1997.

The Political Realities

The European Union has signaled that it is open to binding itself to a second commitment period if it is joined by other industrialized country parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and if other major economies that don?t currently have legally binding emissions reduction commitments under the KP (including China, India, and Brazil, as well as the U.S.) agree in Durban to a mandate to negotiate these commitments in the near future.

The United States has also indicated that while it will not join a Kyoto Protocol second commitment period, the UNFCCC negotiations should aspire to reach a legally binding agreement. But at the same time the U.S. insists that there must be ?symmetry? between the legal form of commitments it undertakes and the commitments undertaken by all other major economies ? in particular China. In other words, while the U.S. is prepared to acknowledge that emerging economies will undertake less ambitious commitments than industrialized countries, the legal character of the commitments of all major economies should be the same.

The BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India, and China) representing the major economies support adoption of a legally binding second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol for industrialized countries. They have also acknowledged the importance of a legally binding agreement under the UNFCCC (at the very least to cover U.S. emissions), but have stated, with varying degrees of insistence, that any commitments within that agreement need to respect the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in both legal form and their content. In other words, as a group the BASIC countries remain reluctant to sign up to legally binding commitments.

Most of the remaining governments, including least developed countries, small island and low-lying developing countries, which are most concerned about ? and least responsible for ? the impact of global warming, insist on a both a second commitment period to the KP, as well as a more comprehensive agreement with legally binding commitments covering the emissions of all major emitters.

More Than Symbolic Virtues

The gap in country positions will not be bridged in time to reach agreement in Durban on the details of legally binding commitments for all major emitters. However, the fact that most governments continue to associate the importance of climate change with the need for a legally binding response must be captured and codified in Durban. Preferably this would come via the adoption by the Kyoto Parties of a Kyoto Protocol amendment creating a second commitment period for themselves, and adoption by the COP of a mandate to negotiate a comprehensive, ambitious, and equitable set of legally binding commitments applicable to all major economies as soon as possible.

A legally binding agreement is the highest form of expression of political will that the international community can bestow.

To balance concerns about common but differentiated responsibilities and legal symmetry, the Kyoto Protocol?s second commitment period could continue to cover industrialized country emissions, and be designed to enter into force or merge into a new agreement when the more comprehensive commitments being negotiated under the UNFCCC are concludedsuccessfully. Furthermore, the relative ambition of the commitments contained in a new legally binding agreement could be highly differentiated among countries.

A legally binding agreement is the highest form of expression of political will that the international community can bestow. Such agreements have been shown to bring a range of benefits through domestic ratification, the creation of international institutions, and the attention of high-level government officials, civil society, businesses, the media, and the broader public. Legally binding commitments within those agreements, such as specific targets and timetables, can create the confidence necessary to drive regulation, send clear market signals, and channel investments for a low-carbon future.

Leaving Durban without a mandate to negotiate a comprehensive, ambitious, equitable, and legally binding agreement containing legally binding commitments would risk signaling a loss of confidence in international law as the means by which countries set and perform against mutually-agreed expectations.

Read more posts from Jacob Werksman on legal form in the UNFCCC:

Source: http://insights.wri.org/news/2011/11/challenge-legal-form-durban-climate-talks

bubba smith bubba smith oakland strike new gmail new gmail oakland general strike oakland general strike

Cadillac seeks to regain lost luxury turf

Rebecca Cook / Reuters

Cadillac is betting that it can regain its once-lofty standing with the launch of a series of new products that includes the big XTS sedan that made its debut earlier this month at the annual Los Angeles auto show.

By Paul A. Eisenstein

Once known as the ?standard of the world,? Cadillac has been anything but a benchmark for carmakers in recent years as imported brands such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have dominated the U.S. luxury market.

But now Cadillac is fighting back, betting that it can regain its once-lofty standing with the launch of a series of new products that includes the big XTS sedan that made its debut earlier this month at the annual Los Angeles auto show.

Cadillac will follow up next year with the addition of the compact ATS, and it has more new models on the drawing board.

A few years ago it might have seemed ?a stretch? for Cadillac to even imagine a comeback in the U.S., admits Don Butler, general marketing manager for the?General Motors division.

In the ?new (luxury) world old formulas don?t apply, so we had to start over? with the XTS, a premium luxury sedan that replaces two slow-selling Cadillac models, the STS and DTS, Butler said.

Caddy isn?t the only upscale domestic car brand that?s hoping to convince car show visitors in Los Angeles -- the nation's largest luxury car market -- that it can become relevant again.

Slide show: Images from the 2011 Los Angeles auto show

At this year?s show, Ford?s Lincoln division showed off updates to two of its own products, the big MKS sedan and MKT crossover. The two 2013 models get revised fascias and grilles, new wheels and modest improvements in performance and fuel economy. They?re also getting the updated version of the MyLincolnTouch systems designed to address recent criticism of the brand?s infotainment technology.

?This is truly marking the beginning? of Lincoln?s design renaissance, said Max Wolff, the brand?s chief designer, although he also hinted that the big news for Lincoln won?t be revealed until January when Detroit plays host to the North American International Auto Show -- generally thought to be the most important show in the auto show calendar.

There, the automaker plans to unveil a concept version of its next-generation Lincoln MKZ, the most popular sedan in its portfolio. The concept vehicle will introduce an all-new ?face? for the luxury brand that will abandon Lincoln?s time-tested ?waterfall grille? and move to a series of horizontal slats that are almost wing-like in appearance. The show car version will also feature an all-glass roof that will be able to open like a hard-top convertible.

The revised grille will reappear on a production version of the MKZ debuting at the New York auto show next April, although it?s not clear if the glass roof idea will be carried into production.

But the dramatic changes coming to Lincoln underscore the concerns Ford has for the Lincoln division, which has become little more than an also-ran in a market where it once vied with Cadillac for dominance.

Cadillac hasn?t stumbled quite so badly, but it has been struggling in recent years after what appeared to be a significant turnaround early in the new millennium. The maker scored big with the first generation of the compact CTS sedan, which introduced Caddy?s distinctively edgy ?art and science? design theme.

In a segment of the car market where manufacturers have traditionally opted for softer designs, the ?art and science? design ?language? was a bold standout. But after hitting a market home run with the CTS, Cadillac failed to score with the next run of offerings, like the STS, the DTS and the XLR sports coupe.

The products simply fell short of the competition in terms of interior refinement, ride and features, analysts contend.

Cadillac won?t make those mistakes again, insists Mark Reuss, president of GM?s North American operations. The goal, he insists, ?is to win in the intensely competitive luxury market, not just compete.?

Besides offering a striking exterior shape and a much more refined interior, the new XTS will introduce Cadillac?s new CUE -- an infotainment system that can be programmed using normal speech rather than requiring users to learn a complex and often confusing series of rigid commands.

These high-tech features have become a critical differentiator in the luxury market, notes Derek Kuzak, Ford?s global product development czar.

Lincoln thought it had a leg up on the competition with the MyLincolnTouch infotainment system, but, underscoring the risks of relying on high technology, the Ford luxury brand was slammed for problems with the touch-sensitive system. Indeed, influential Consumer Reports magazine lifted its sought-after ?Recommended Buy? rating from several Lincoln products this year.

The carmaker hopes to win back that endorsement with the updated MyLincolnTouch, and then show that its styling and performance are also relevant with the product offensive it is kicking off in Los Angeles this month.

But both Lincoln and Cadillac won?t have an easy time of it. Even established luxury brands such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes are ramping up their own efforts. Lexus, in particular, is expected to be especially aggressive in the months ahead, hoping to recover the momentum it lost due to product shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March.

And second-tier players such as Audi, and also Nissan?s Infiniti brand, are hoping to gain ground with their own expanding line-ups.

Then there?s the Koreans, and Hyundai in particular.

It scored an unexpected coup a few years back when its first luxury offering, the Genesis sedan, was named North American Car of the Year. The even bigger and more lavish Equus has so far this year handily beaten the company?s sales expectations, and Hyundai?s own new offering at the Los Angeles show, the big Azera, will target entry-luxury buyers who might have gone for more traditional offerings like the Lexus ES350.

Based on initial reviews, Cadillac and Lincoln are gaining visibility and credibility. But whether they can win back luxury car buyers is another matter entirely.

{"contentId":"8952609","totalVotes":"5229"}

What is your favorite luxury nameplate?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/22/8952609-after-losing-ground-american-luxury-carmakers-fighting-back

tuscaloosa earthquake california earthquake california crimson tide crimson tide wake forest wake forest

Mom of kids killed in Ariz. crash drawing support

A floodlight illuminates a fire from a small plane crash in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction east of Phoenix, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Authorities said there was no apparent sign of survivors in the small twin-engine plane crash. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Schennum) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO SALES

A floodlight illuminates a fire from a small plane crash in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction east of Phoenix, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Authorities said there was no apparent sign of survivors in the small twin-engine plane crash. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Schennum) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO SALES

A helicopter search light looks over the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. [AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

A search and rescue team helicopter carries out the body of a victim in the plane crash at the Superstition Mountains east of Apache Junction, Ariz, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. A small plane crashed there on Wednesday evening, killing all passengers on board, including a pilot father and his three children traveling for Thanksgiving. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Nick Oza)

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu speaks at a news conference in Apache Junction, Ariz., Thursday Nov 24, 2011. A small airplane slammed into a sheer cliff in the mile-high mountains east of Phoenix and exploded, killing the six people onboard, including the pilot and his three young children who were to spend the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with him, authorities said. Babeu says the body of one child has been recovered and searchers are working to recover the remains of the other victims. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Nick Oza)

A twin-engine plane crashes into the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix killing six.

PHOENIX (AP) ? Friends and acquaintances are lending support to an Arizona mother who lost her three children and her ex-husband in a plane crash in the Superstition Mountains.

Karen Perry, of Apache Junction, Ariz., has experienced a series of struggles in recent years and is described as a selfless woman trying to raise her three children. Morgan Perry, 9, was diagnosed with epilepsy and faced multiple brain surgeries. Luke Perry, 6, had autism. Perry's third child, Logan Perry, was 8.

"They were just great kids," said Mark Blomgren, principal at Peralta Trail Elementary in Apache Junction, where the two oldest children attended. "All the teachers were naturally shocked. They cared about them and wondered how their mom was doing and they were just hit pretty hard. Logan and Morgan were just special kids that the teachers really bonded with."

Crews continue hunting through crags and outcroppings of the mountaintop area just east of Phoenix, searching for victims of the fiery crash that killed all six people aboard, including Perry's ex-husband, Shawn Perry, 39, who was the pilot.

He lived in Safford, Ariz., where he owned a small aviation business, and had flown to the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, Ariz., with another pilot who co-owned the company and a company mechanic to pick up the children for Thanksgiving. The plane was headed back to Safford when it crashed.

The other pilot was identified as Russell Hardy, 31, of Thatcher, Ariz., and the mechanic was Joseph Hardwick, 22, of Safford.

The twin-engine plane was traveling about 200 mph when it slammed into a sheer cliff in the mile-high Superstition Mountains an hour after sundown Wednesday, authorities said.

The aircraft exploded in flames, split apart and scattered burning debris.

"No one could have survived that crash," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Thursday.

The body of one child was recovered and dozens of sheriff's search and rescue personnel worked Thursday to recover the remains of the other victims.

"This is their entire family ? it's terrible," Babeu said. "Our hearts go out to the mom and the (families) of all the crash victims. We have had so many people that are working this day, and we just want to support them and embrace them and try to bring closure to this tragedy."

Karen Perry is also a pilot.

Video from news helicopters Thursday showed the wreckage strewn at the bottom of a blackened cliff.

"This is not a rescue mission, but that of recovery," Babeu said.

There was no word on what caused the crash but the sheriff said there was no indication the plane was in distress or that the pilot had radioed controllers about any problem.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

It was very dark at the time, and the plane missed clearing the peak by only several hundred feet. The aircraft crashed about 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Some witnesses told Phoenix-area television stations they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains.

The mountains are filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and reach an elevation of about 5,000 feet at the highest point.

Part of the recovery operation was in such dangerous terrain that only teams well trained in using ropes could maneuver, Babeu said.

"Regular deputies and even myself would not go into this exact area," he said.

The plane was a Rockwell AC-690A and was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. in Safford, which Babeu said was co-owned by Shawn Perry.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-25-Arizona%20Plane%20Crash/id-7a1f4405aa9f4449816f3580b0ff5c43

election results 2011 election results 2011 board of elections board of elections senate bill 5 senate bill 5 joe paterno press conference

Las Vegas charities ask needy for IDs before giveaways (Reuters)

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) ? Some Las Vegas charities giving away turkeys and toys this season have started asking families to show state identification cards to get a slice of holiday cheer.

The charities say the controversial move to require Social Security, state identification cards, or birth certificates, was needed to prevent fraud born of desperation in a state at the centre of the country's financial crisis.

"If you would take a look at the number of kids that got toys (at charities during Christmas) in this valley, it would exceed the number of kids in the valley," said Major Robert Lloyd, director of the Salvation Army of Clark County.

"We're really anxious to preserve the magic of Christmas for children, but we need to screen the adults," Lloyd said, adding that some families were either "double dipping" or coming in from out of state to get donations.

Charities cited instances of parents reselling donated bicycles blocks from a charity that gave them away, or families getting several holiday turkeys. Some adults, they said, were showing up for handouts with children from other families.

These are some of the issues Las Vegas-area nonprofit organizations said they were trying to avoid as they geared up for the holiday season in a state especially hard hit by the bursting of the housing bubble.

Unemployment in the state was the highest in the nation in October at 13.4 percent, and Nevada continued to have the country's highest state foreclosure rate.

Critics of the ID policy say undocumented immigrants, as well as some homeless people who may be less likely to have identification on hand, and who may be needy, may be left out.

The critics, fearing the rules could have an exclusionary effect, noted immigration laws such as one passed in Alabama they said could unintentionally limit city parks or pools to those who can prove they are legally in the United States.

But the nonprofits said charities must adopt such practices in response to the unexpected results of an ailing economy, and that overall giving still outweighed any unintended consequences.

CHANGE HIT AS RECESSION KICKED IN

Fuilala Riley, chief operations officer for HELP of Southern Nevada, one of the key nonprofits involved in holiday season giveaways, said she and other colleagues started noticing a change in the crowds seeking help about four years ago, just as the recession kicked in.

She said charities began seeing cars arriving for giveaways with licence plates from neighbouring California, and "hundreds of families" came with larger than usual numbers of children.

"There is so much more need than ever before," Riley said. "Unfortunately ... people are desperate and are doing things they wouldn't normally do."

Her agency started asking families for Social Security cards and birth certificates for their children about four years ago to prove they were related. The Nevada ID was added this year. The goal was "to circumvent what we saw as fraud," she said.

But the policy has come under criticism, especially after an e-mail sent to members of a local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association detailed information on the holiday giveaways, including the ID policy.

"I've never seen nonprofits asking for papers to give out a turkey. Am I over-reacting?" one association member wrote to her colleagues, adding she was appalled by the requirement.

Peter Ashman, a former head of the chapter, said he had called the county representative who circulated this season's charity information and requirements, and was told the ID rule was the policy of the charity groups, not the county.

"She hadn't thought about the consequences of the policy," he said of the representative. A county spokesman confirmed the policy had been decided by the charities.

The nonprofits involved -- the Salvation Army, HELP of Southern Nevada and Lutheran Social Services -- said they could be flexible if a needy family or person came to their doorsteps without identification during the holiday season.

They said they would help those who had lost their IDs, a common problem among the homeless, to obtain replacements.

(Reporting by Timothy Pratt; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_charities_nevada_fraud

x factor results x factor results do a barrel roll jimmy kimmel tilt do a barrel roll. florida state football

EU Court Rules ISPs Can?t Be Forced To Filter Out Illegal Content

The European Court of Justice this morning ruled that content owners can not strong-arm Internet service providers (ISPs) into filtering out copyright-infringing content. This case has its origin in a dispute between ISP Scarlet and SABAM, a Belgian management company responsible for authorizing the use by third parties of the musical works of authors, composers and editors. In 2004, the right-holders group established that users of Scarlet's services were downloading such musical works from its catalogue by means of peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing networks.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/iSIVLXk78U4/

shannon tweed don lapre aladdin weird al yankovic cowboys cowboys bling ring

Dan Miller?s family would like your help for son?s surgery

UFC middleweight Dan Miller's son Danny was born with a kidney disease that requires the child to get daily kidney dialysis. He can have a normal life with a kidney transplant, but insurance won't pay for the entire surgery. This is where the MMA family has stepped in, and they could use your help.

AMA Fight Club in Whippany, NJ, will host a fundraising seminar on Dec. 3. Jim Miller, Danny's uncle, will lead the day. He'll be helped out by UFC fighters Dan, Charlie Brenneman and Andy Main. Their coach, Mike Constantino, will also lend a hand. The cost of the seminar ranges from $100-$175, with all proceeds going to the Daniel James Miller Foundation.

If you can't make it to Whippany, which is about 45 minutes outside of New York City, for the seminar, you can still make a donation. If you can, spare a few dollars to help the baby who Uncle Jim called "the toughest Miller."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Dan-Miller-8217-s-family-would-like-your-help-f?urn=mma-wp9882

williams syndrome jay leno machine gun kelly lindsey lohan reed hastings cujo hpv vaccine

'Idol' producer: No major changes for new season (AP)

NEW YORK ? "American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe (NY'-juhl LIHTH'-goh) says don't expect any major changes when the hit Fox TV show returns in January.

Lythgoe returned as "Idol's" executive producer last season to usher in the post-Simon Cowell era with new judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez and a new mentor for contestants, veteran music producer Jimmy Iovine. He says all of them are back for the new season.

Lythgoe says he's "not sure" the show wants to make too many more tweaks this year.

Lythgoe says the most significant change introduced last year was to allow the contestants to sing in their own styles rather than force them to perform styles unsuited for them. He says that opened the door for last season's winner, teenage country singer Scotty McCreery.

____

Online:

http://www.americanidol.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_en_tv/us_tv_american_idol

black friday sales 2011 black friday sales 2011 whitney duncan bradley cooper elisabeth hasselbeck roger craig roger craig

Plane with 6 crashes in AZ, no sign of survivors

A helicopter search light looks over the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. [AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

A helicopter search light looks over the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. [AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

A floodlight illuminates a fire from a small plane crash in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction east of Phoenix, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Authorities said there was no apparent sign of survivors in the small twin-engine plane crash. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Schennum) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO SALES

A brush fire burns at the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, Ariz., on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

A twin-engine plane crashes into the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix killing six.

A helicopter search light looks over the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

PHOENIX (AP) ? A small plane with six people aboard, including three children, crashed in flames in mile-high mountains on Phoenix's eastern outskirts, leaving one child confirmed dead and no signs of any survivors, authorities said.

Preliminary reports indicate the two-engine aircraft flew from Safford to Mesa's Falcon Field to pick up three children for the Thanksgiving holiday and was headed back to Safford in southeastern Arizona, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said.

The aircraft slammed into an area of rugged peaks and outcroppings in the Superstition Mountains, 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix, at about 6:30 p.m. MST. authorities said.

Callers reported hearing an explosion near a peak known as the Flat Iron, close to Lost Dutchman State Park, Sheriff's spokeswoman Angelique Graham said.

Witnesses reported a fireball and an explosion.

"I looked up and saw this fireball and it rose up," Dave Dibble told KPHO-TV . "All of a sudden, boom."

Sheriff's spokesman Elias Johnson said the body of one child was recovered late Wednesday night from the crash scene, but additional details weren't released.

No names were immediately released. The children reportedly were between the ages of 5 and 9. A pilot, a mechanic and another adult were also on board, Babeu said.

Rescue personnel used infrared devices to search for bodies, but had not been able to detect any sign of movement, according to Johnson.

"It does not look promising," Babeu said at a news conference. "We will search throughout the night."

Rescue crews flown in by helicopter to reach the crash site reported finding two debris field on fire, suggesting that the plane broke apart on impact.

"The fuselage is stuck down into some of the crevices of this rough terrain, and we're doing our best at this point in the darkness," Babeu said. "This is not a flat area, this is jagged peaks, almost like a cliff-type rugged terrain."

Video showed several fires burning on the mountainside, where heavy brush is common. Flames could still be seen from the suburban communities of Mesa and Apache Junction hours after the crash.

The region is filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and cactus. Treasure hunters who frequent the area have been looking for the legendary Lost Dutchman mine for more than a century.

Some witnesses told Phoenix-area television stations they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains. The elevation is about 5,000 feet at the Superstition Mountains' highest point.

Calls to Falcon Field, which mostly serves small, private planes, weren't immediately returned Wednesday night.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Rockwell AC-69 was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. in Safford. A man who answered the phone Wednesday night at Ponderosa Aviation declined comment.

Kenitzer said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board would be investigating the cause of the crash.

___

AP writer Michelle Price in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-24-Arizona%20Plane%20Crash/id-6712169c168140768162dda9e512f516

annie zuccotti park leymah gbowee will rogers gabby giffords gabby giffords hunger games trailer

AP source: BYU, Big East end negotiations

A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that negotiations between the Big East and Brigham Young have broken off and the school will not be joining the conference.

The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the conference and school have not been making their talks public.

The Big East was trying to add BYU as part of its plan to expand westward and become a 12-team football league.

At issue are television rights. The person says BYU wanted to retain the rights to its home football games and the league could not agree to that.

No other school in major college football playing in a conference has such a deal.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-22-Big%20East-BYU/id-31eecbd66ef34b2e95969ceb864fe9de

enews mona simpson mona simpson grady sizemore grady sizemore samhain great pumpkin charlie brown

Bill Robinson: High-Tech Startup Focus: iZettle -- the New, Better Square -- Coming Soon to America? (Huffington post)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/164453513?client_source=feed&format=rss

boo at the zoo when is daylight savings time 2011 when is daylight savings time 2011 renaissance festival melanie iglesias catherine tate clemson

Higher prices don't deter Thanksgiving travelers

With the terminal decorated for the holidays, travelers carry their luggage as they walk toward Terminal C in John Wayne Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011, in Orange County, Calif. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire)

With the terminal decorated for the holidays, travelers carry their luggage as they walk toward Terminal C in John Wayne Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011, in Orange County, Calif. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire)

Victoia Puerto checks her flight information and tickets while waiting for her flight at the Miami International Airport in Miami, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. She was traveling today to avoid the Thanksgiving holiday rush later in the week. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Cars fill the highway, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011, in San Diego. About 42.5 million people are expected to travel over Thanksgiving, the highest number since the start of the recession, according to a recent study. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Travelers check in for their flights at the United Airlines ticket counter at John Wayne Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011, in Orange County, Calif. Thursday marks the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the busiest travel days of the year. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire)

Graphic shows number of Americans who will travel during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and average October fuel prices.

CHICAGO (AP) ? Whether on the highway or at home, Americans will pay more to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. But higher gas prices and costlier airfare are not stopping millions of people from traveling for the holiday.

About 42.5 million people are expected to drive, fly or ride trains to their Thanksgiving destinations, according to travel tracker AAA. That's the highest number since the start of the recession.

Ninety percent of them will drive. It won't be cheap. Drivers will pay almost 20 percent more for gas, which has reached an average of $3.42 a gallon.

Air travelers will get hit, too. The average round-trip airfare for the top 40 U.S. routes is $212, up 20 percent from last year. Rail tickets on most one-way Amtrak trips have climbed 2 to 5 percent. Hotel and motel rates are also up slightly.

But George Gorham and his fianc?, Patricia Horner, weren't deterred. They flew across the country to visit Gorham's son at North Carolina's Fort Bragg. They used frequent-flier miles and planned to visit tourist attractions in the nation's capital along the way.

Horner said they still would have made the trip without the miles, but "it would have been more painful."

Travelers were also at the mercy of the weather. The East Coast was expecting rain and scattered thunderstorms Wednesday. Parts of upstate New York and upper New England could see a mix of snow and freezing rain. The National Weather Service predicted showers in the Pacific Northwest and northern California as well.

Plenty of people were staying home.

Damian Buchwald of Buffalo, N.Y., picked up a second job earlier this year. His new work schedule has helped pay the bills but leaves him without time to travel to Connecticut to spend the holiday with his wife's family.

This year, the couple and their teenage son, Raven, will celebrate Thanksgiving with his mother, neighbors and friends in town.

"When you can't travel and people can't travel to you, you gather your closest friends. And that way nobody has to pay an arm and a leg, and everyone can eat well," Buchwald said.

But having relatives over for dinner is becoming more expensive, too.

A 16-pound turkey and all the trimmings will cost an average of $49.20, a 13 percent jump from last year, or about $5.73 more, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, which says grocers have raised prices to keep pace with higher-priced commodities.

In Pawtucket, R.I., Jackie Galinis was among those looking for help to put a proper meal on the table. She stopped at a community center this week seeking a donated food basket. But by the time she arrived, all 300 turkeys had been claimed.

So Galinis, an unemployed retail worker, will make do with what's in her apartment. "We'll have to eat whatever I've got, so I'm thinking chicken," she said.

Then her eyes lit up. "Actually, I think I've got red meat in the freezer, some corned beef. We could do a boiled dinner."

Carole Goldsmith of Fresno, Calif., decided she didn't need to have a feast, even if she could still afford it.

Goldsmith, an administrator at a community college in Coalinga, Calif., said she typically hosts an "over-the-top meal" for friends and family. This year, she canceled the meal and donated a dozen turkeys to two homeless shelters. She plans to spend Thursday volunteering before holding a small celebration Friday with soup, bread "and lots of gratitude."

"I think everybody is OK with it," she said. "They understand. Everybody is in a different place than they were a year ago."

___

Associated Press writers David Klepper in Pawtucket, R.I.; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y.; Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C.; and Gosia Wozniacka in Fresno, Calif., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-23-Thanksgiving%20Travel/id-96f9890bce514a80a303423f7b357cdb

byu football delonte west bank of america black eyed peas central park occupy wallstreet occupy wallstreet tony bennett