Monday, January 30, 2012

British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe (AP)

LONDON ? British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing ? which has already shut down one paper, the News of the World ? to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees. The BBC and other British media identified them as former managing editor Graham Dudman, former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, current head of news Chris Pharo and crime editor Mike Sullivan.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

Officers searched the men's homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.

Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp., the internal body tasked with rooting out wrongdoing.

News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," it said in a statement.

Thirteen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International; ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ? who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief; and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.

Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid amid a wave of public revulsion, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence that hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, who were both jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on the phones of royal staff.

But News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

The furor that consumed the News of the World continues to rattle other parts of Murdoch's media empire.

As well as investigating phone hacking and allegations that journalists paid police for information, detectives are looking into claims of computer hacking by Murdoch papers.

News Corp. has admitted that the News of the World hacked the emails as well as the phone of Chris Shipman, the son of serial killer Harold Shipman. And The Times of London has acknowledged that a former reporter tried to intercept emails to unmask an anonymous blogger.

News Corp. is preparing to launch a new Sunday newspaper ? likely called the Sunday Sun ? to replace the News of the World.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Gingrich Spokesman Confronts Romney Surrogate (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192259102?client_source=feed&format=rss

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British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe (AP)

LONDON ? British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing ? which has already caused the closure of one tabloid, the News of the World ? to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.

Officers were searching the men's homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.

Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp.

News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," it said in a statement.

A dozen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include former Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ? who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief ? and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.

Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, but News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Obama downplays Brewer tiff (Politico)

President Barack Obama on Thursday downplayed his tarmac tiff with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, saying that media coverage has blown the tense moment out of proportion.

?This is not a big deal,? Obama said in an interview with ABC News?s Diane Sawyer. Brewer, a Republican, greeted the president as he landed in Arizona on Wednesday and the two appeared to have a brief, strained conversation.

Continue Reading

The brief to-do was all over network and cable news Thursday, and was the subject of the first question White House press secretary Jay Carney got from reporters traveling with the president ? all distracting from the White House?s efforts to draw attention to the proposals for economic growth that Obama is rolling out in his post-State of the Union trip to five states this week.

Obama said he thought Brewer may have been seeking out media attention. ?It?s always good publicity for a Republican if they?re in an argument with me,? he said. ?I think this is a classic example of things getting blown out of proportion.?

After the conversation, Brewer told reporters that Obama had indicated he was ?a little disturbed? by her description of an Oval Office meeting they?d had in her book, ?Scorpions for Breakfast.?

Brewer?s response, she told POLITICO?s Carrie Budoff Brown, who was the pool reporter that day, was that she has ?all the respect in the world for the office of the president. The book is what the book is.? She also gave Obama a handwritten note asking him to visit Arizona again so that the two could meet.

Obama said ?he didn?t feel that I had treated him cordially? in the book, Brewer recalled. ?I said I was sorry he felt that way but I didn?t get my sentence finished. Anyway, we?re glad he?s here. I?ll regroup.?

In a gaggle aboard Air Force One on Thursday afternoon, Carney offered his own readout of the conversation, saying that Obama had noted to Brewer that her book had gotten ?a lot of attention? when it came out and that ?their last meeting, which was very cordial, was reported differently in her book.?

Carney also echoed the president?s words, saying that the incident has been ?overblown? and is ?not a very big deal at all.?

?I really assume you guys have more important issues to cover than this,? he added.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_72047_html/44320276/SIG=11mn3o9pv/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/72047.html

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How To Find A New Nuclear Waste Site? Woo A Town

Without a centralized national repository for nuclear waste, the radioactive material is currently being kept at various sites across the country. Above, large concrete canisters, each holding 14 55-gallon drums of waste, are loaded on a truck in Richland, Wash., in June 2005 where they were later shipped to a facility in New Mexico. Jeff T. Green/Getty Images

Without a centralized national repository for nuclear waste, the radioactive material is currently being kept at various sites across the country. Above, large concrete canisters, each holding 14 55-gallon drums of waste, are loaded on a truck in Richland, Wash., in June 2005 where they were later shipped to a facility in New Mexico.

A panel of experts today set forth a plan for getting rid of thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste.

Most of it is spent fuel from nuclear power reactors. It was supposed to go to a repository in Nevada called Yucca Mountain, but the government has abandoned that plan.

Yucca Mountain was largely done-in by Nevadans, led by powerful Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who didn't want their state to be the country's nuclear waste dump. Some also questioned how geologically secure the underground storage site would be, especially environmental groups.

An underground train emerges from the entrance to the planned Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in this April 13, 2006, file photo. The government has since abandoned the site as a location for the long-term storage of nuclear waste. Enlarge Isaac Breekken/AP

An underground train emerges from the entrance to the planned Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in this April 13, 2006, file photo. The government has since abandoned the site as a location for the long-term storage of nuclear waste.

Isaac Breekken/AP

An underground train emerges from the entrance to the planned Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in this April 13, 2006, file photo. The government has since abandoned the site as a location for the long-term storage of nuclear waste.

Now the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future has a new plan to find another site. The Obama administration set up the commission after dropping Yucca Mountain.

Commission member Gen. Brent Scowcroft says the new plan should be "consent-based" ? it must hinge on convincing the public that a new site will be safe.

"It's psychological," says Scowcroft, who spent two years with the commission working on a solution. "People don't understand nuclear waste. The problem itself is solvable." He notes that other countries, such as Sweden and Finland, have won local approval for permanent waste dumps as well as found safe geological sites.

Scowcroft says this worked for the military's dump site in New Mexico's salt caverns, near the city of Carlsbad. "Salt is one of the most attractive mediums for permanent disposal," says Scowcroft. "And we found in visiting there that the people of the region generally are supportive of taking on additional burden."

The commission, however, wasn't asked to pick a site, just to set up a process to find one. For decades, the country's commercial waste has been sitting in "temporary" steel and concrete casks at nuclear power plants. The new plan would finally gather all that waste into interim holding sites while a permanent geological dump is built.

That would require moving lots of radioactive waste around the country. Commission member Lee Hamilton, a former congressman from Indiana, says that's already being done safely with military waste, but he says people will still be anxious. "When I was in the Congress and the prospect of transporting nuclear waste across southern Indiana came up, it just struck fear into people," Hamilton recalls.

One other thing: The commission would fire the Department of Energy ? they say that this time, an independent organization should be in charge of picking a permanent dump site. Says Hamilton: "They have a record of not dealing with the problem successfully. They have lost credibility to do it."

The nuclear industry definitely wants a permanent dump-site.

"As we go out and talk in communities about building plants and relicensing new plants, one of the principal issues they have is, 'What are you going to do with the used fuel?' " says Alex Flint, vice president of the Nuclear Energy Institute. "And we feel an obligation to solve that."

Utilities and their customers have been paying a fee for years to the government that's meant to pay for a waste site. The federal government has reneged on its promise to use that money to take care of the waste. Flint says that's one reason they're happy to see the recommendation that DOE bow out.

"Our experience over several decades has simply been that the Department of Energy, because of changes in management, because of the disparate interests of its programs, is not well suited to run this program," Flint says.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear has weighed in as well, arguing that the interim storage site is a bad idea because it may just become a permanent site.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/26/145912986/panel-charts-path-to-new-home-for-nuclear-waste?ft=1&f=1007

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Selena Gomez to Visit the Congo on UNICEF Mission


Move over, Justin Bieber. You aren't the only charitable individual in your relationship.

Following past trips to Ghana and Chile as an ambassador for UNICEF, Selena Gomez is now planning an even more dangerous trek, telling E! News last Friday night:

"In April, we're going to go somewhere a little harder, the Congo... I was talking to Joel Madden and he works with UNICEF and he went... and he said it was the most intense thing he had ever done in his entire life - and the best thing he had ever done."

Selena Gomez in Europe

Gomez has served as a UNICEF ambassador for approximately two years, raising over $200,000 for the cause last week during an event at The House of Blues.

"We're helping to save the lives of children all over the world," Selena wrote on her Facebook page.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/selena-gomez-to-visit-the-congo-on-unicef-mission/

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After 17 seasons and 5 titles, Posada retires (AP)

NEW YORK ? Flanked by his wife and children, with five World Series trophies sitting on a table to his right, Jorge Posada announced his retirement Tuesday.

The five-time All-Star catcher ends his major league career after 17 seasons, all with the New York Yankees.

The 40-year-old Posada finished with a .273 career batting average, 275 home runs and 1,065 RBIs. Shifted to designated hitter last year, his playing time diminished.

Posada joins Bernie Williams and Andy Pettitte in retirement, leaving only 37-year-old Derek Jeter and 42-year-old Mariano Rivera from the core group that led the Yankees to four World Series titles in five years from 1996-2000.

With Jeter, Rivera and CC Sabathia looking on, Posada began by quoting Joe DiMaggio: "I want to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee."

"I could never wear another uniform," he said. "I will forever be a Yankee."

Posada's voice broke up, especially when he spoke in Spanish. He thanked his teammates, rubbing his chin three times and wiping his eyes.

"Hopefully you won't miss me that much," he said.

Diana Munson, wife of the late Yankees catcher Thurman Munson, spoke about how Posada helped revive her interest in baseball, which had disappeared after her husband's death.

"I think he and Thurman definitely would have been best buds," she said.

Posada said he made the decision to retire during last season, which turned tumultuous May 14 when he was dropped to No. 9 in the batting order against Boston. He asked to be taken out of the lineup, saying he wasn't ready to play.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi and GM Brian Cashman said that was just a blip in his career ? part of Posada's fiery nature, the one that drew fans to him. Jeter said that emotion can't be faked, that it comes from a drive to win.

"I feel the same way," Jeter said. "I'm just better at hiding it."

Jeter and Rivera talked about how their days for retirement would come.

"Mo's going to be here longer than all of us," Jeter said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_yankees_posada_retires

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

You Call That Evil?

maj15There's a nice little insider quarrel going on over Google's just-announced privacy policy changes. A number of sites and commentators have let their fingers jump up mechanically in accusatory fashion. Google, caught red-handed being evil! Here, I think, is a time when the word "bias" is actually warranted. Everyone wants so badly for Google to do something truly evil (instead of just questionable or inconvenient) that their perceptions of Google actions are actually being affected. Casting events systematically in a non-objective light is the exhibition of bias, and the continual presentation of policies one disagrees with as evidence of "evil" seems to fall under that category. Google going evil has become the Godwin's Law of tech commentary.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yB5OZRwBMCg/

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Cancer Grows: Livetweeting #SOTU - Atlas Shrugs

UPDATE: Livetweeting the Statist of the Union address? Join me here.

Politico is reporting Obama will announce another behemoth government agency, calling it the "mortgage crisis unit." It will? be headed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, his office confirmed to POLITICO. The unit will criminalize and prosecute 'mortgage misconduct' and 'illegal activities."

More criminalization of the businessman.

It will be announced in tonight in Obama's Statist of the Union address.

In other news of government skulduggery: Spirit Airlines sent this to their customers (hat tip Sean):

WARNING:
New government regulations require us to HIDE taxes in your fares.

This is not consumer-friendly or in your best interest. It's wrong and you shouldn't stand for it.
Starting January 24, 2012, fares are distorted.
Why?
Thanks to the U.S. Department of Transportation's latest fare rules, Spirit must now HIDE the government's taxes and fees in your fares.
If the government can hide taxes in your airfares, then they can carry out their hidden agenda and quietly increase their taxes. (Yes, such talks are already underway.)
And if they can do it to the airline industry, what's next?
As the transparency leader and most consumer-friendly airline, Spirit DOES NOT support this new USDOT mandate. We believe the better form of transparency is to break out costs so customers know exactly what they're buying.
What can you do to help stop this injustice?
Join us in keeping government taxes and fees low and transparent by contacting your elected officials.

And a word from Ayn Rand: Businessmen vs. Bureaucrats

A businessman?s success depends on his intelligence, his knowledge, his productive ability, his economic judgment?and on the voluntary agreement of all those he deals with: his customers, his suppliers, his employees, his creditors or investors. A bureaucrat?s success depends on his political pull. A businessman cannot force you to buy his product; if he makes a mistake, he suffers the consequences; if he fails, he takes the loss. A bureaucrat forces you to obey his decisions, whether you agree with him or not?and the more advanced the stage of a country?s statism, the wider and more discretionary the powers wielded by a bureaucrat. If he makes a mistake, you suffer the consequences; if he fails, he passes the loss on to you, in the form of heavier taxes.

?From My ?Future File,??
The Ayn?Rand Letter, III, 26, 5

link to this entry

A businessman cannot force you to work for him or to accept the wages he offers; you are free to seek employment elsewhere and to accept a better offer, if you can find it. (Remember, in this context, that jobs do not exist ?in nature,? that they do not grow on trees, that someone has to create the job you need, and that that someone, the businessman, will go out of business if he pays you more than the market permits him to pay you.) A bureaucrat can force you to work for him, when he achieves the totalitarian power he seeks; he can force you to accept any payment he offers?or none, as witness the forced labor camps in the countries of full statism.

The businessman?s tool is values; the bureaucrat?s tool is fear.

?America?s Persecuted Minority: Big Business,?
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 48

Source: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/01/the-cancer-grows.html

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South Sudan to shut oil production over thefts (AP)

JUBA, South Sudan ? A South Sudan official says the country is shutting down its oil production because Sudan is stealing its oil.

South Sudan Minister of Information Barnaba Marial Benjamin said Monday that oil companies operating in the country were instructed to begin shutting down operations in the country's oil fields as of Sunday.

Benjamin said oil production cannot be easily stopped, so companies have been given two weeks to carry out the order.

South Sudan's oil flows through pipelines in Sudan. South Sudan has accused Sudan of stealing its oil.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_ge/af_south_sudan_oil

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Multiple partners not the only way for corals to stay cool

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Recent experiments conducted at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) produced striking results, showing for the first time that corals hosting a single type of "zooxanthellae" can have different levels of thermal tolerance ? a feature that was only known previously for corals with a mix of zooxanthellae.

Zooxanthellae are algal cells that live within the tissue of living coral and provide the coral host with energy; the relationship is crucial for the coral's survival. Rising ocean temperatures can lead to the loss of zooxanthellae from the coral host, as a consequence the coral loses its tissue colour and its primary source of energy, a process known as 'coral bleaching'. Globally, coral bleaching has led to significant loss of coral, and with rising ocean temperatures, poses a major threat to coral reefs.

It was previously known that corals hosting more than one type of zooxanthellae could better cope with temperature changes by favouring types of zooxanthellae that have greater thermal tolerance. However, until now it was not known if corals hosting a single type of zooxanthellae could have different levels of thermal tolerance.

Results recently published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature Climate Change, showed corals that only host a single type of zooxanthellae may in fact differ in their thermal tolerance. This finding is important because many species of coral are dominated by a single type of zooxanthellae.

PhD student, Ms Emily Howells from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) at James Cook University, Townsville, together with scientists from AIMS and CoECRS, collected two populations of a single type of zooxanthellae (known as C1) from two locations on the Great Barrier Reef. The population collected from Magnetic Island near Townsville experiences average ocean temperatures 2?C higher than the population collected from the Whitsunday Islands. In experiments at AIMS, young corals were treated with one or other of the two different populations of zooxanthellae, and exposed to elevated water temperatures, as might occur during bleaching events.

The results were striking. Corals with zooxanthellae from the warmer region coped well with higher temperatures, staying healthy and growing rapidly, whilst corals with zooxanthellae from the cooler region suffered severe bleaching (loss of the zooxanthellae) and actually reduced in size as they partly died off.

Madeleine van Oppen, ARC Future Fellow at AIMS, says the research results will likely have a major impact on the field, as until now corals associating with the same type of zooxanthellae have been viewed as physiologically similar, irrespective of their geographical location.

"Our research suggests that populations of a single type of zooxanthellae have adapted to local conditions as can be seen from the remarkably different results of the two populations used in this study. If zooxanthellae populations are able to further adapt to increases in temperature at the pace at which oceans warm, they may assist corals to increase their thermal tolerance and survive into the future." says Emily Howells.

"However, we do not yet know how fast zooxanthellae can adapt, highlighting an important area of future research", says Bette Willis, Professor from the CoECRS at James Cook University.

Research at AIMS is therefore currently assessing whether zooxanthellae can continue to adapt to increasing temperatures and at what rate. This work in progress will provide insights into the capacity of zooxanthellae to adapt to future climate change.

###

ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies: http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

Thanks to ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies 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 104 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116912/Multiple_partners_not_the_only_way_for_corals_to_stay_cool_

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Obama's State of the Union: Jobs, re-election time (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Vilified by the Republicans who want his job, President Barack Obama will stand before the nation Tuesday night determined to frame the election-year debate on his terms, using his State of the Union address to outline a lasting economic recovery that will "work for everyone, not just a wealthy few."

As his most powerful chance to make a case for a second term, the prime-time speech carries enormous political stakes for the Democratic incumbent who presides over a country divided about his performance and pessimistic about the nation's direction. He will try to offer a stark contrast with his opponents by offering a vision of fairness and opportunity for everyone.

In a preview Saturday, Obama said in a video to supporters that the speech will be an economic blueprint built around manufacturing, energy, education and American values.

He is expected to announce ideas to make college more affordable and to address the housing crisis still hampering the economy three years into his term, people familiar with the speech said. Obama will also propose fresh ideas to ensure that the wealthy pay more in taxes, reiterating what he considers a matter of basic fairness, the officials said.

His policy proposals will be less important than what Obama hopes they all add up to: a narrative of renewed American security with him at the center, leading the fight.

"We can go in two directions," Obama said in the campaign video. "One is toward less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few."

That line of argument is intended to tap directly into concerns of voters who think America has become a nation of income inequality, with rules rigged to help the rich. The degree to which Obama or his eventual Republican opponent can better connect with millions of hurting Americans is expected to determine November's presidential election.

Obama released his video hours ahead of the South Carolina primary, where Republican candidates fought in the latest fierce contest to become his general election rival.

The White House knows Obama is about to get his own stage to outline a re-election vision, but carefully. The speech is supposed to an American moment, not a campaign event.

Obama didn't mention national security or foreign policy in his preview, and he is not expected to break ground on either one in his speech.

He will focus on the economy and is expected to promote unfinished parts of his jobs plan, including the extension of a payroll tax cut that is soon to expire.

Whatever Obama proposes is likely to face long odds in a deeply divided Congress.

More people than not disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy, and he is showing real vulnerability among the independent voters who could swing the election. Yet he will step into the moment just as the economy is showing life. The unemployment rate is still at a troubling 8.5 percent, but at its lowest rate in nearly three years. Consumer confidence is up.

By giving a sneak peek to millions of supporters on his email list, Obama played to his Democratic base and sought to generate an even larger audience for Tuesday's address. He is unlikely to getter a bigger stage all year.

More people watched last year's State of the Union than tuned in to see Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver in 2008.

The foundation of Obama's speech is the one he gave in Kansas last month, when he declared that the middle class was at a make-or-break moment and he railed against "you're on your own" economics of the Republican Party. His theme then was about a government that ensures people get a fair shot to succeed.

The State of the Union will be the details to back that up.

But even so, the speech will still be a framework ? part governing, part inspiration.

The details will be rolled out in full over the next several weeks, as part of Obama's next budget proposal and during his travels, which will allow him more media coverage.

On national security, Obama will ask the nation to reflect with him on a momentous year of change, including the end of the war in Iraq, the killing of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and the Arab Spring protests, with people clamoring for freedom. He is expected to note the troubles posed by Iran and Syria without offering new positions about them.

Despite low expectations for legislation this year, Obama will offer short-term ideas that would require action from Congress. For now, the main looming to-do item is an extension of a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, both due to expire by March.

His travel schedule following his speech, to politically important regions, offers clues to the policies he was expected to unveil.

Both Phoenix and Las Vegas have been hard hit by foreclosures. Denver is where Obama outlined ways of helping college students deal with school loan debt. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Detroit are home to a number of manufacturers. And Michigan was a major beneficiary of the president's decision to intervene to rescue the American auto industry.

Republican leaders in Congress say Obama has made the chances of cooperation even dimmer just over the last several days. He enraged Republicans by installing a consumer watchdog chief by going around the Senate, which had blocked him, and then rejected a major oil pipeline project the GOP has embraced.

Obama is likely, once again, to offer ways in which a broken Washington must work together. Yet that theme seems but a dream given the gridlock he has been unable to change.

The address remains an old-fashioned moment of national attention; 43 million people watched it on TV last year. The White House website will offer a live stream of the speech, promising extra wrinkles for people who watch it there, and then invite people to send in questions to administration officials through social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Obama's campaign is also organizing and promoting parties around the nation for people to watch the speech.

__

AP deputy director of polling Jennifer Agiesta and Associated Press writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report.

__

Online:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov

___

Follow Ben Feller at http://twitter.com/BenFellerDC

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_state_of_the_union

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Europe exhales after another good week (AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany ? Europe has taken a step back from the brink.

Three weeks into the year, borrowing rates for debt-saddled countries have fallen to more manageable levels. Auctions of government debt have gone better, a sign of increased investor confidence.

And while it may have been an embarrassment, especially to France, the recent downgrade of nine European countries by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has been met with a shrug in financial markets.

All this is in stark contrast to the final weeks of last year, when countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece watched helplessly as the costs of managing their debt spiraled ever higher, and governments fell in Athens and Rome.

High hurdles remain: Greece must still cut a deal with its private creditors, to say nothing of the long-term problems ? massive debt, uncompetitive economies and the prospect of years of cutbacks in public spending.

But for the moment, the continent is exhaling.

Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, after his country successfully sold euro2.5 billion of its national debt on Thursday, ventured that it was "a sign that we may be coming to a turning point."

Among other good news in the past week:

? Despite now having an AA+ credit rating, France easily sold euro9.5 billion, or about $12.2 billion, in bonds at interest rates lower than in previous auctions when its rating was AAA. The sale eased fears that S&P's downgrade of France would hurt the finances of the continent's No. 2 economy. France sold four-year bonds at 1.89 percent, down from 2.32 percent in November, and 10-year, inflation-linked bonds at 1.07 percent, also down from 2.32 percent.

? Spain raised euro6.6 billion ($8.5 billion), far more than its initial target of euro3.5 billion to euro4.5 billion. It agreed to pay 5.4 percent on its bonds, down from 5.54 percent in the last such auction in December. Demand was twice what was being offered.

? Stock indexes in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain ? plus the Dow Jones industrial average in the United States ? have climbed back close to their levels from last August, when the crisis spread to Italy and took a turn for the worse.

The European Central Bank, chief monetary authority for the 17 countries that use the euro currency, gets some of the credit for sending cash flowing to banks ? and through them, it appears, to troubled countries.

In December, the ECB said it would lend banks unlimited amounts of money to stabilize them. It also said it would lower the interest rate on the loans to 1 percent, extend the maximum term from one year to three and accept collateral of lower quality. The banks responded by borrowing euro489 billion ($632.6 billion) in three-year loans at a low interest rate, currently 1 percent.

The banks appear to have used at least some of that money to buy the bonds that governments have been selling almost daily. The extra demand at the bond auctions also helps bring down the interest rates on the bonds.

Stefan Schneider, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, says the ECB "is now the main source of financing" for the troubled countries' banks "and gives these banks the opportunity to invest in the government bonds of their own countries."

Another ECB all-you-can-eat credit offering is slated for Feb. 28.

The central bank has refused pleas to expand its limited program and buy government bonds itself on the open market. It says countries need to cut debt themselves and not expect a central bank bailout.

Members of the ECB governing council have cited law that prohibits the bank from financing governments. Some analysts say the massive bank loans appear to be doing exactly that, just indirectly.

Schneider, though, cautioned that there is no "magic bullet" to solve the crisis.

"I think we will not be able, even with the advantage of hindsight, to indicate the point in time when the crisis ended," he said.

On Friday, stocks in Europe mostly held their gains for the week, waiting for the outcome of Greece's negotiations with its creditors on a deal to cut the face value of up to euro200 billion in debt by 50 percent.

A deal in Athens would allow the country to receive a second bailout package from other European governments and the International Monetary Fund, and cut Greece's debt from an estimated 160 percent of its annual economic output to 120 percent by 2020.

That is still painfully high, but without the help, Greece will not be able to pay euro14.5 billion ($18.8 billion) in debt due March 20. A Greek default would send borrowing costs higher across Europe and could trigger chaos in the global financial system.

Even with a deal, Greece could default in coming years. An IMF review in December conceded that 120 percent is at the upper end of what is sustainable, and only if Greece's economy starts growing again after five years of recession.

And Greece is just one potential problem. Many countries are either headed for recession or stuck in deep ones, which will make debt reduction even tougher.

While Portugal, Greece and Ireland could be bailed out by the other euro countries and the IMF, Italy is considered much too big to rescue for any substantial length of time.

The new prime minister, Mario Monti, has promised to shake up what he calls an over-regulated, underperforming economy, accelerate economic growth and reduce the country's debt burden, which is also 120 percent of its annual economic output. But he faces tough political opposition.

Spain has taken some steps to loosen regulations on hiring and firing but has no clear growth model after the collapse of its real estate bubble. Unemployment is 22.9 percent, and for people under 25, it's a staggering 49.6 percent.

Bank stocks got a big bounce Thursday after stronger-than-expected bank earnings in the United States and word that Germany's Commerzbank could meet new requirements to boost its capital buffers without needing government help.

This week's stock rally across Europe left Germany's DAX 30 9.5 percent higher over the past month, France's CAC up 8.7 percent and the FTSE 100 in London up 5.9 percent.

Investors are all too aware that previous respites from market turmoil have turned out to be temporary.

For now, investors can increase their holdings of risky assets, says Joerg Kraemer, chief economist at Commerzbank. But he had an ominous warning this week in a note to investors.

"The ECB can only buy time," he said. "With many problems still unresolved in Spain and Italy, the sovereign debt crisis is likely to continue, and the economic recovery following the recession is likely to be lackluster."

___

Associated Press writer Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_europe_financial_crisis

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Financials, Europe debt auctions lift Wall Street (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? U.S. stocks rose early Thursday, putting the S&P on track for its third straight advance after Bank of America and Morgan Stanley earnings lifted financials and strong demand at European bond auctions eased euro zone debt concerns.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) climbed 4.4 percent to $7.10 as the top boost to the benchmark S&P. The bank reported a fourth-quarter profit, reversing a year-earlier loss, boosted by one-time items and lower expenses for bad loans.

Fellow financial Morgan Stanley (MS.N) jumped 4.6 percent to $18.15 after the Wall Street bank posted a quarterly loss but still managed to top analysts' expectations.

"It's the reaction to Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, to their earnings reports. People were expecting absolute disaster, it wasn't an absolute disaster and people looked at those numbers and walked away thinking both those companies wouldn't need to raise more capital," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

Financial shares have rallied since the start of the year. The S&P financial index (.GSPF) is up 8 percent for 2012, helping to push the S&P 500 up more than 4 percent. The financial index was up 0.8 percent for the session.

But gains were muted as investors showed some cautiousness after a rally that has sent the S&P 500 to levels not seen since late July.

"We are due for at least some consolidation. We had a pretty good rally here and we broke out above the old October high so it's only natural that we get some backing and filling here," said Massocca.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 28.91 points, or 0.23 percent, at 12,607.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 5.33 points, or 0.41 percent, at 1,313.37. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) put on 18.74 points, or 0.68 percent, at 2,788.45.

In a sign that investor nervousness over the euro zone's debt crisis was easing, Spain and France both drew strong demand at government debt auctions.

The Nasdaq got a boost from eBay Inc (EBAY.O), which reported better-than-expected results after the close on Wednesday. The stock was up 4.8 percent to $31.80.

Transportation stocks moved higher after Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) reported higher quarterly profit and revenue that beat estimates. Union Pacific was up 3.8 percent to $114.02, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average (.DJT) gained 1.4 percent.

New data generally supported the view the U.S. economy continued to improve at a moderate pace. Weekly jobless claims dropped to a near four-year low, consumer prices showed inflation remained in check, while factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region edged up, but less than expected.

However, housing starts dipped, suggesting the sector was still a ways from strengthening.

After the close, quarterly reports are due from technology bellwethers Google Inc (GOOG.O), International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), Intel Corp (INTC.O) as well as Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Report: PSU fired Paterno over lack of action

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2011, file photo, Penn State head coach Joe Paterno watches warm ups before an NCAA college football game against Purdue in State College, Pa. In his first public comments since being fired two months ago, former Penn State coach Paterno told the Washington Post he "didn't know which way to go" after an assistant coach came to him in 2002 saying he had seen retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing a boy, the Post reported on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2011, file photo, Penn State head coach Joe Paterno watches warm ups before an NCAA college football game against Purdue in State College, Pa. In his first public comments since being fired two months ago, former Penn State coach Paterno told the Washington Post he "didn't know which way to go" after an assistant coach came to him in 2002 saying he had seen retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing a boy, the Post reported on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

(AP) ? Penn State's trustees agonized over the future of legendary football coach Joe Paterno but ultimately decided to fire the Hall of Famer in part over what they said was his failure to go to authorities with a report of alleged sexual assault of a child by an assistant coach nearly a decade ago, according to a report published Thursday in The New York Times.

Some of the 13 trustees interviewed by the Times (http://nyti.ms/AcHOxv ) said they were also troubled by Paterno greeting fans and supporters on his front lawn ? and leading them in school cheers ? just after the release of a scathing grand jury report detailing child sex abuse allegations against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

The trustees said they were also concerned about Paterno's ability to lead the team during the scandal that also resulted in the ouster of university President Graham Spanier, but most jarring was the feeling the coach had failed to do enough after learning of a 2002 incident involving Sandusky and a boy in an on-campus shower.

"Every adult has a responsibility for every other child in our community. ...We have a responsibility for ensuring that we can take every effort that's within our power not only to prevent further harm to that child, but to every other child," said trustee Kenneth Frazier.

The alleged 2002 shower assault ultimately resulted in charges against two university officials, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. They're charged with failing to report suspected child abuse and perjury related to their testimony before the grand jury.

Paterno's attorney defended the coach's actions in a statement, saying Paterno passed on a report about an alleged assault to his superiors at the university believing they would investigate and act appropriately.

Sandusky is charged with sexually assaulting 10 young boys he met through The Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977. He denies the allegations.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-19-Penn%20State%20Trustees-Paterno/id-a1f2e64f5b7d4333890ae73330291594

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BP seen agreeing $20-25 billion oil spill deal with DoJ (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Oil giant BP will likely agree to pay the U.S. Department of Justice $20-$25 billion next month to settle all civil and criminal charges around the Deepwater Horizon rig blast and Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a leading industry analyst predicted on Thursday.

Martijn Rats, head of European oil research at Morgan Stanley said in a research note that he saw a 70-80 percent chance that the two sides would agree a deal sometime between BP's full year results on February 7, and the scheduled start of legal hearings in New Orleans on February 27.

BP sources have told Reuters that talks are ongoing with the Department of Justice about a possible settlement and that the London-based company's board has shifted to weekly meetings to discuss progress.

Chief Executive Bob Dudley has previously said BP would like to settle, although not at any price. When asked about the matter by reporters on Wednesday, he declined to make any comment, saying it was a sensitive time to be discussing it.

When contacted by Reuters, BP had no comment to make over the likelihood or size of a settlement.

BP senses the U.S. administration would like to settle the matter, not least because it is a U.S. presidential election year, the sources said but any outcome is still seen as uncertain.

The estimated level of settlement in the Morgan Stanley note - the most detailed analysis Reuters has seen on the potential cost of the spill - is much higher than other analysts have predicted, and around double the amount BP has taken a provision for.

Senior company sources last year told Reuters that the company was prepared for a massive payout. One source predicted BP would offer "the mother of all settlements."

Another said the settlement would likely be the second-largest in U.S. legal history, putting it between the $206 billion the tobacco industry agreed to pay U.S. states for treating smoking-related illnesses and the $7.2 billion banks agreed to pay to settle litigation related to Enron's collapse.

SHARES LAG

BP has the money to pay a $20-25 billion settlement - it is sitting on cash pile of more than $20 billion and has billions of dollars worth of assets on the block as part of its restructuring.

Nonetheless, Morgan Stanley predicts the larger-than- expected size of the payout will weigh on BP's shares. It rates the shares "underweight" and has a target price of 435 pence, against a Wednesday close of 481 pence.

The shares traded down 0.6 percent at 0905 GMT, against a flat STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index.

BP investors are expecting the company to announce a dividend hike at its full year results, after Dudley said late last year that it had reached a turning point after the oil spill and was now returning to growth mode.

A big settlement would limit BP's ability to lift the shareholder payout.

Morgan Stanley believes the DoJ deal will cover all criminal and civil proceedings being pursued by the government against BP under the Clean Water Act, Alternative Fines Act, other laws and BP's obligation to make good any natural resources damages.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters and Mike Nesbit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/ts_nm/us_bp

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Best Car Insurance An Evaluation - Illinois State Insurance

by Illinois State Insurance ? January 15th, 2012

Most drivers and owners of cars want to know what is the best car insurance.? This article will discuss some options and recommend some ways you can best answer that question.

When it comes right down to it, the best car insurance for one driver may be different for another.? Each driver and car owner has a different set of requirements.? Car insurance policies therefore contain a great deal of variability and flexibility to best serve the needs of the customers.

In a given state, there are usually many insurance companies which can offer car insurance.? They offer different kinds of coverage and have different amounts which can be purchased.

What you will find is that even for the same coverage for the same vehicle and driver, the cost can vary depending on the insurance company chosen.? Not every insurance company charges the same prices and some companies are better suited for different kinds of drivers than others.

For example there may be an insurance company which caters primarily to safe drivers.? If the driver meets their requirements, the policy rates may be very attractive.? But if the driver is unable to meet the stringent requirements, the rates may be substantially higher because the company really doesn?t want to service drivers who may some problems with their driving skills or other factors.

On the other hand there may be companies which focus on higher risk drivers and have policies which can be quite cost effective.? There are many other factors involved which can vary quite a bit what the insurance will charge for their policies.

It should also be noted that some companies have attractive rates for certain kinds of coverage like collision or comprehensive.? Or they may have special rates for members of the military or other special circumstances.

It is therefore very important to keep these in mind when trying to determine the best car insurance company.? As indicated, it can vary widely and what may be right for one person is not right for another.

So when you decide to consider getting new insurance, it recommended that you get quotes from more than one company.? You will most likely find out that one company has more attractive rates than another for certain kinds of coverage.? Or they may offer discounts that another company doesn?t make available.

So the simple answer to which is the best car insurance is this.? It depends.? So do your due diligence and evaluate things very carefully.? By doing so, you?ll be able to get good insurance coverage at a fair price from a top rated company.

Source: http://illinoisstateinsurance.com/best-car-insurance-an-evaluation/

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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Video: Plunging U.S.-Iran relations



>>> now to the rising tensions overseas with iran , over that country's threat to close a vital oil- shipping lane in international waters in retaliation for sanctions over its nuclear program . the u.s. is warning iran now publically and through back channels privately, not to try anything. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more on this high-stakes dangerous standoff.

>> reporter: today in tehran, the funeral of a nuclear scientist assassinated this week, and everyone knows who to blame. death to israel, death to america they shout. u.s./ iran relations are plunging fast and military analysts warn this could escalate well beyond angry rhetoric. the likely slash point, the strait of hormuz , the most important waterway on earth. 1/5 of the world's oil moves through the strait, 21 miles at its narrowest and it crosses right through iranian waters. tensions escalated dramatically in recent days. first, washington imposed harsh sanctions on iran and pressured the world to follow suit. iran staged a show of force. threatening to close the strait. that would send oil prices skyrocketing. the logic for iran if we suffer with sanctions, so will everyone else. it is a risky move. the u.s. fifth fleet is within striking distance.

>> we cannot tolerate iran blocking the straits of hormuz. that's a red line .

>> reporter: just last week threes iranian speed boats approached a navy ship. they dismissed it as routine. nbc's top military analysts both warn a conflict is now a dangerous possibility.

>> these new economic sanctions actually start to strangle the iranian economy . the regime barely has control today, that the economy collapses, then they are going to take some action.

>> there is liable to be, if not likely to be, a confrontation of some kind.

>> reporter: with so much tension and military hardware in a tiny stretch of water, clashes can start by accident. it's happened before.

>> good evening, it was not supposed to happen, but it did.

>> reporter: in 1988 , tensions were also high. the u.s. thought it was under attack from iranian jets. what is wrong. the american warship shot down an iranian passenger jet over the strait of hormuz killing all 290 people onboard.

>> i think probably both of us agree, military confrontation in the gulf would be a disaster for everybody involved.

>> reporter: the good news, brian, is that both the u.s. and iran seem to recognize the danger of all this and are communicating and trying to back away from any potential conflict. there is, of course, another wild card , that american who was recently sentenced to death in iran for spying. some analysts are suggesting he could end up being a bargaining chip.

>> what a dangerous neighborhood. richard engel , thanks for your reporting tonight.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45992630/

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Calculating what's in the universe from the biggest color 3-D map

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Since 2000, the three Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS I, II, III) have surveyed well over a quarter of the night sky and produced the biggest color map of the universe in three dimensions ever. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and their SDSS colleagues, working with DOE's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) based at Berkeley Lab, have used this visual information for the most accurate calculation yet of how matter clumps together ? from a time when the universe was only half its present age until now.

"The way galaxies cluster together over vast expanses of the sky tells us how both ordinary visible matter and underlying invisible dark matter are distributed, across space and back in time," says Shirley Ho, an astrophysicist at Berkeley Lab and Carnegie Mellon University, who led the work. "The distribution gives us cosmic rulers to measure how the universe has expanded, and a basis for calculating what's in it: how much dark matter, how much dark energy, even the mass of the hard-to-see neutrinos it contains. What's left over is the ordinary matter and energy we're familiar with."

For the present study Ho and her colleagues first selected 900,000 luminous galaxies from among over 1.5 million such galaxies gathered by the Baryon Oscillation Spectrographic Survey, or BOSS, the largest component of the still-ongoing SDSS III. Most of these are ancient red galaxies, which contain only red stars because all their faster-burning stars are long gone, and which are exceptionally bright and visible at great distances. The galaxies chosen for this study populate the largest volume of space ever used for galaxy clustering measurements. Their brightness was measured in five different colors, allowing the redshift of each to be estimated.

"By covering such a large area of sky and working at such large distances, these measurements are able to probe the clustering of galaxies on incredibly vast scales, giving us unprecedented constraints on the expansion history, contents, and evolution of the universe," says Martin White of Berkeley Lab's Physics Division, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley and chair of the BOSS science survey teams. "The clustering we're now measuring on the largest scales also contains vital information about the origin of the structure we see in our maps, all the way back to the epoch of inflation, and it helps us to constrain ? or rule out ? models of the very early universe."

After augmenting their study with information from other data sets, the team derived a number of such cosmological constraints, measurements of the universe's contents based on different cosmological models. Among the results: in the most widely accepted model, the researchers found ? to less than two percent uncertainty ? that dark energy accounts for 73 percent of the density of the universe.

The team's results are presented January 11 at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas, and have been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal. They are currently available online at http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.2137.

The power of the universe

"The way mass clusters on the largest scales is graphed in an angular power spectrum, which shows how matter statistically varies in density across the sky," says Ho. "The power spectrum gives a wealth of information, much of which is yet to be exploited." For example, information about inflation ? how the universe rapidly expanded shortly after the big bang ? can be derived from the power spectrum.

Closely related to the power spectrum are two "standard rulers," which can be used to measure the history of the expansion of the universe. One ruler has only a single mark ? the time when matter and radiation were exactly equal in density.

"In the very early universe, shortly after the big bang, the universe was hot and dominated by photons, the fundamental particles of radiation," Ho explains. "But as it expanded, it began the transition to a universe dominated by matter. By about 50,000 years after the big bang, the density of matter and radiation were equal. Only when matter dominated could structure form."

The other cosmic ruler is also big, but it has many more than one mark in the power spectrum; this ruler is called BAO, for baryon acoustic oscillations. (Here, baryon is shorthand for ordinary matter.) Baryon acoustic oscillations are relics of the sound waves that traveled through the early universe when it was a hot, liquid-like soup of matter and photons. After about 50,000 years the matter began to dominate, and by about 300,000 years after the big bang the soup was finally cool enough for matter and light to go their separate ways.

Differences in density that the sound waves had created in the hot soup, however, left their signatures as statistical variations in the distribution of light, detectable as temperature variations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and in the distribution of baryons. The CMB is a kind of snapshot that can still be read today, almost 14 billion years later. Baryon oscillations ? variations in galactic density peaking every 450 million light-years or so ? descend directly from these fluctuations in the density of the early universe.

BAO is the target of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. By the time it's completed, BOSS will have measured the individual spectra of 1.5 million galaxies, a highly precise way of measuring their redshifts. The first BOSS spectroscopic results are expected to be announced early in 2012.

Meanwhile the photometric study by Ho and her colleagues deliberately uses many of the same luminous galaxies but derives redshifts from their brightnesses in different colors, extending the BAO ruler back over a previously inaccessible redshift range, from z = 0.45 to z = 0.65 (z stands for redshift).

"As an oscillatory feature in the power spectrum, not many things can corrupt or confuse BAO, which is why it is considered one of the most trustworthy ways to measure dark energy," says Hee-Jong Seo of the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics at Berkeley Lab and the UC Berkeley Department of Physics, who led BAO measurement for the project. "We call BAO a standard ruler for a good reason. As dark energy stretches the universe against the gravity of dark matter, more dark energy places galaxies at a larger distance from us, and the BAO imprinted in their distribution looks smaller. As a standard ruler the true size of BAO is fixed, however. Thus the apparent size of BAO gives us an estimate of the cosmological distance to our target galaxies ? which in turn depends on the properties of dark energy."

Says Ho, "Our study has produced the most precise photometric measurement of BAO. Using data from the newly accessible redshift range, we have traced these wiggles back to when the universe was about half its present age, all the way back to z = 0.54."

Seo adds, "And that's to an accuracy within 4.5 percent."

Reining in the systematics

"With such a large volume of the universe forming the basis of our study, precision cosmology was only possible if we could control for large-scale systematics," says Ho. Systematic errors are those with a physical basis, including differences in the brightness of the sky, or stars that mimic the colors of distant galaxies, or variations in weather affecting "seeing" at the SDSS's Sloan Telescope ? a dedicated 2.5 meter telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in southern New Mexico.

After applying individual corrections to these and other systematics, the team cross-correlated the effects on the data and developed a novel procedure for deriving the best angular power-spectrum of the universe with the lowest statistical and systematic errors.

With the help of 40,000 central-processing-unit (CPU) hours at NERSC and another 20,000 CPU hours on the Riemann computer cluster at Berkeley Lab, NERSC's powerful computers and algorithms enabled the team to use all the information from galactic clustering in a huge volume of sky, including the full shape of the power spectrum and, independently, BAO, to get excellent cosmological constraints. The data as well as the analysis output are stored at NERSC.

"Our dataset is purely imaging data, but our results are competitive with the latest large-scale spectroscopic surveys," Ho says. "What we lack in redshift precision, we make up in sheer volume. This is good news for future imaging surveys like the Dark Energy Survey and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, suggesting they can achieve significant cosmological constraints even compared to future spectroscopy surveys."

###

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: http://www.lbl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 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.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116670/Calculating_what_s_in_the_universe_from_the_biggest_color___D_map

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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Obama promotes 'insourcing,' government reorg

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on government reform, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, in the East Room of the White House in Washington.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on government reform, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, in the East Room of the White House in Washington.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is promoting new initiatives to make the government leaner and more efficient and bring jobs back to the U.S. from overseas.

He rolled out both election-year ideas this past week and used his radio and Internet address Saturday to talk them up and call on Congress and the private sector to get on board.

"Right now, we have a 21st century economy, but we've still got a government organized for the 20th century," Obama said. "Over the years, the needs of Americans have changed, but our government has not. In fact, it's gotten even more complex. And that has to change."

On government reorganization, Obama wants a guarantee from Congress that he could get a vote within 90 days on any idea to consolidate federal agencies, provided it saves money and cuts the government. His first order of business would be to merge six major trade and commerce agencies into one ? eliminating, among others, the Commerce Department.

The proposal is in part a challenge to congressional Republicans since it embraces the traditional GOP goal of smaller government, and Obama called on Congress to back him.

"These changes will make it easier for small-business owners to get the loans and support they need to sell their products around the world," he said.

Obama is also promising new tax incentives for businesses that bring jobs to the U.S. instead of shipping them overseas, and he wants to eliminate tax breaks for companies that outsource.

"You've heard of outsourcing - well, this is insourcing," said Obama. "And in this make or break moment for the middle class and those working to get into the middle class, that's exactly the kind of commitment to country that we need."

Obama went so far as to bring several U.S.-made products to display in his weekly video ? a padlock, a candle, some socks and a pair of boots ? to demonstrate his commitment to made-in-America manufacturing.

Republicans used their weekly address to promote the Keystone XL project to carry oil from Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. Under a GOP-written provision Obama signed into law just before Christmas as part of an unrelated tax bill, the president faces a Feb. 21 deadline to decide whether the $7 billion pipeline is in the national interest.

The GOP is pounding Obama over the issue, saying it's a question of whether he wants to create jobs and import energy from a close friend and ally ? or lose jobs and see Canadian oil go to Asia instead.

"If the Keystone XL pipeline isn't built, Canadian oil will still be produced and transported," said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. "But instead of coming to our refineries in the United States, instead of creating jobs for our people, instead of reducing our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and keeping down the cost of fuel for American consumers ? that oil will be sent to China."

Obama had sought to delay the project and the State Department has warned the deadline doesn't leave it enough time for necessary reviews. Hoeven accused Obama of turning his back on American workers if he fails to approve it.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/gopweeklyaddress

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-14-Obama/id-096bbc8582d54e3f836cf6ca8a286d1b

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Custody banks net short-selling gains from EU crisis (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? A group of specialist banks are profiting from Europe's financial crisis, thanks to a surge in demand for securities which allow traders to bet against bank stocks and government bonds.

The so-called custody banks that administer securities, a normally unglamorous and low-margin business, include BNY Mellon, JP Morgan (JPM.N) and State Street (STT.N).

The banks, as well as loan specialist Equilend, take a fee for linking lenders with surplus stock -- typically pension funds -- with borrowers such as hedge funds and banks, who want to position themselves in markets by short-selling.

Pension funds and insurers have become increasingly attracted to lending by the fees they accrue from the borrowers at a time when equity returns are off.

The latter want stocks or bonds to sell them in the hope that their price will fall over time. They can then buy back the securities at a lower rate and pocket the difference before returning them to the lender.

"There were many trading opportunities in 2011," said James Slater, global head of securities lending at BNY Mellon.

"Activity in the second half was driven by (hedge) funds, reacting to global events like the euro zone crisis."

JP Morgan and State Street both saw lending levels rise in 2011, while Equilend, whose electronic systems match firms wanting to lend with prospective borrowers, saw its trading levels spike in August.

"Clearly volatility is a part of that but we've added more new clients this year than any other and they are using more of our services," said Equilend Chief Executive Brian Lamb.

The peak activity in August, when Equilend trading hit 27,770 loans worth $21.3 billion in one day, was partly driven by the worsening Euro zone crisis, during which traders borrowed assets to bet on falling markets.

Equilend is owned by 10 large financial firms including Credit Suisse (MLPN.P), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and UBS (UBSN.VX), custodians Northern Trust (NTRS.O) and State Street, and fund manager Blackrock.

GAME OF TWO HALVES

The world's top stock lending houses may have ended 2011 up on previous years but sustained volatility and a drop in demand towards the end of the year have raised questions over the outlook for 2012.

Lending rates in the latter part of the year were also affected by bans on the short-selling of some European bank stocks, which were introduced in August and still hold.

"The extreme volatility in equity markets coupled with the continuation of short sell bans across many European countries contributed to a decrease in trading opportunities for much of the second half of the year," said Don D'Eramo, senior managing director, securities finance, EMEA, at State Street.

Some volatility tends to help boost trading and stock lending in the short-term but prolonged volatility breeds uncertainty which depresses the markets and, therefore, the ability to make money short-selling.

"I suspect 2012 is going to remain challenging, without a speedy resolution to the Euro zone situation and a generally more positive market outlook," said Paul Wilson, global head of client management and sales at JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services.

But the stock lending agents could benefit from regulatory efforts to force over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trading to go via clearing houses, known as central counterparties (CCPs), in order to improve transparency.

Cash-strapped banks and brokers are already struggling for collateral to support their trading units and this situation will be compounded when regulators start to demand extra collateral from banks trading in the lucrative OTC markets.

"(This) will increase the demand from trading firms and other derivative users for eligible collateral," said JP Morgan's Wilson. "Derivatives users will look to borrow credit-worthy fixed income securities."

(Editing by Sophie Walker)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120110/bs_nm/us_lending_eurozone

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