Dems: Romney is easier jobs target than Gingrich

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives for a taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman," in New York, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives for a taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman," in New York, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney signs autographs after taping an episode of the "Late Show with David Letterman," in New York, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Conventional wisdom, supported by polls, maintains that Mitt Romney would be a tougher opponent than Newt Gingrich against President Barack Obama.

But one factor keeps Democrats from salivating over Gingrich's rise in the Republican presidential race: Romney may present a fatter target on jobs, the issue expected to dominate the 2012 contest.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, says his greatest asset is his understanding of business and job creation. Obama's team has compiled a thick file to rebut that claim, based mainly on Romney's time as head of the private equity firm Bain Capital in the 1980s and 1990s. Bain made hefty profits for Romney and other officials and investors. But hundreds of workers sometimes lost their jobs in the process.

Considerable research already exists for Obama. When Romney unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., in 1994, Democrats ran attack ads featuring laid-off workers from American Pad & Paper, or Ampad. After Bain acquired the company in 1992, it cut 385 jobs and closed two U.S. plants. Ampad sought bankruptcy protection in 2000, shortly after Romney had left Bain.

A few other Bain reorganization projects met similar fates, although some prospered and grew.

The Obama camp has no comparable jobs "opposition research" on Gingrich. The former House speaker spent his career as a college instructor, lawmaker and Washington-based consultant, none of which involved hiring or firing large numbers of people.

"Romney's record is a target-rich environment, since he threw people out of jobs to make a lot of money," said Doug Hattaway, a Democratic strategist. "Gingrich is harder to paint as a job-destroyer."

In some ways, it would make sense for Obama supporters to root for Gingrich. He has charmed and alienated people about equally, at best, during his long up-and-down career.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll found Romney and Obama essentially tied when Americans were asked their voting intentions for 2012. But Obama led Gingrich, 51 percent to 42 percent.

Nonetheless, some Obama advisers seem eager to take on Romney, saying the line of attack on jobs is much clearer than it is for Gingrich.

When Romney was endorsed by Delaware tea party activist Christine O'Donnell ? she once declared "I'm not a witch" in a Senate race ad ? Obama strategist David Axelrod jumped in. "If Christine O'Donnell really wants to help Mitt, maybe she can cast a spell and make his MA and Bain records disappear," Axelrod said via Twitter.

Romney is trying to inoculate himself.

During last Thursday's GOP debate in Iowa, Romney predicted Obama will "go after me and say: 'You know, in businesses that you've invested in, they didn't all succeed. Some failed. Some laid people off.' And he'll be absolutely right. But if you look at all the businesses we invested in, over a hundred different businesses, they added tens of thousands of jobs."

Reviews of Bain's history by the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and others have concluded it's difficult to prove or disprove the thrust of Romney's claim. There's ample evidence of jobs lost, and jobs gained, by companies reorganized by Bain during Romney's leadership.

Bain often borrowed heavily against the companies' assets, then restructured the firms and sold them, sometimes for big profits. A 2000 prospectus touting Bain's work under Romney, first reported by the Times, estimated a remarkable 88 percent average annual internal rate of return from 1984 to 1999.

Politico reported in 2008 that Dade International, acquired by Bain in 1994, laid off more than 1,800 workers during Romney's time there. And LIVE Entertainment laid off 40 of 166 workers following a Bain buyout.

The Associated Press reported Monday that a South Carolina photo album manufacturer controlled by Bain flourished for a while but eventually laid off about 150 workers.

The Romney campaign says some of the companies badly needed to become more efficient, and layoffs were an inevitable part of the process. The campaign points to success stories at some companies reorganized by Bain. Staples has 89,000 workers, the Sports Authority 15,000 and Domino's pizza 7,900, the campaign says.

Democrats differ on whether Romney's record at Bain is enough to render him a weaker nominee than Gingrich, who left Congress in 1998 under an ethics cloud and after suffering from run-ins with fellow Republicans.

"I'd definitely say that not having Bain is a plus for Gingrich," said Robert Gibbs, a former top Obama aide. "However, I'm not sure what Gingrich's positive jobs agenda would be."

Gibbs said Gingrich's tax proposals would hurt the economy.

Romney's history with Bain has emerged at times in the Republican primary contest. After Romney said Gingrich should return the $1.6 million he made as a consultant to mortgage giant Freddie Mac, Gingrich fired back.

"If Gov. Romney would like to give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years at Bain, then I would be glad to listen to him," Gingrich said.

He slightly backed away from the remarks after some conservatives accused him of being anti-capitalism.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-20-Romney-Jobs/id-a1272c690d9a4b778535b09b446dbb27

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Meet London's new Eco-Routemaster, same as the old Routemaster (video)

The English can't resist a good retro revival: we fell back in love with the new Mini and Doctor Who, so now it's time to do the same with the eco-friendly revamp of the Routemaster bus. Packed with a hybrid engine that doubles the fuel efficiency of a standard diesel (at 11.6mpg -- but it's a bus, so that's a lot) but producing only half the emissions. It'll carry 87 passengers and the vehicle heralds the return of the rear-door, so when it's stuck in traffic, you can safely hop-off and walk the rest of the way. A fleet of eight buses will run London's "38" route from early next year and you can watch the prototype being hand-built in the video we've got for you after the interval.

Continue reading Meet London's new Eco-Routemaster, same as the old Routemaster (video)

Meet London's new Eco-Routemaster, same as the old Routemaster (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I wanna talk like you (oo)

Friday, December 16, 2011

The role of social structure in animal communication is hotly debated. Non-human primates seem to be born with a range of calls and sounds which is dependent upon their species. But overlying this there seems to be some flexibility - you can tell where a gibbon lives by its accent. New research published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology used Campbell's monkeys to look in detail at the nature versus nurture question and showed that non-human primate 'language', like humans, is learnt.

Researchers studied free-living Campbell's monkeys (Cercopithecus campbelli campbelli) from the Ta? National Park, Ivory Coast. They observed social interactions (time spent grooming) and recorded 'contact calls' made while the females were travelling, foraging or resting. Genetic similarity (family relationships) was determined by microsatellite analysis of DNA isolated from droppings. These monkeys have lived close to the Ta? Monkey Project Research Station for more than 10 years so their social structure and family groups are well known. Groups consisted of one male, four or six females, along with their offspring.

Dr Alban Lemasson who led the multi centre team explained, "Each female has its own distinctive vocalisation but they appear to pick up habits from each other. Similarities between 'contact calls' were dependent on the length of time adult females spent grooming each other (and who their grooming partner was) rather than genetic relatedness. This means that while the general call repertoire of non-human primates is dependent on genetic factors, the fine structure within this is influenced by the company they kept. This behaviour also fits with the theory that human speech has evolved gradually from ancestral primate vocalisations and social patterns."

###

Social learning of vocal structure in a nonhuman primate?
Alban Lemasson, Karim Ouattara, Eric J Petit and Klaus Zuberb?hler
BMC Evolutionary Biology (in press)

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central 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/116104/I_wanna_talk_like_you__oo_

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Movie review: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is incredibly shallow (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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Friday Miscellany (Prospect)

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Court tells UK to release Pakistani in US custody (AP)

LONDON ? An appeals court issued a landmark ruling Wednesday ordering the British government to free a Pakistani detainee who has been held in U.S. custody for nearly eight years without charge.

It was unclear whether Yunus Rahmatullah would be released as required, however, because the U.S. government is not bound by the ruling. It announced that it was reviewing the ruling.

Britain has seven days to produce Yunus Rahmatullah, who is being held by American forces in Afghanistan, according to the Appeals Court's ruling.

Although Rahmatullah, 29, is not a British national, the UK-legal charity Reprieve filed a habeas corpus petition claiming that his detention lacked sufficient cause or evidence, and that British forces violated international law when they rendered him to U.S. custody.

British forces in Iraq seized Rahmatullah in 2004, but then handed him over to the Americans who sent him to the U.S. Air Base in Bagram, Afghanistan ? a sprawling base that includes the Parwan detention facility where just under 3,000 detainees are being held.

Wednesday's ruling marks one of the first times that a habeas corpus petition has been successful for a detainee at the U.S. base. It puts the United States and Britain in an awkward position ? Britain is bound by the ruling, but the United States is not because the decision was handed down by a foreign court.

Britain's Foreign Office and the Pentagon both said they were reviewing the court's decision.

"We are aware of the opinion and are reviewing the decision by the Court of Appeal (Civil Division)," said U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Defense Todd Breasseale.

Reprieve first sued the British government to formally identify Rahmatullah. It then filed a habeas petition asking for his release. Wednesday's ruling reversed an earlier decision by the High Court, which refused to grant habeas relief ? a principle enshrined in English law for centuries.

"The court is quite right ? once the U.K. takes a prisoner it cannot simply wash its hands of him, or of the Geneva Conventions," said Cori Crider, Legal Director of Reprieve. "The (British) government stands warned: failure to get Yunus out of Bagram now may be to aid and abet a war crime."

The appeals court found that the British government has to take action.

"On the face of it (Rahmatullah) is being unlawfully detained and (British ministers) have procedures at their disposal ... to enable them to take steps which could bring the unlawful detention to an end," said one of the three appeal judges, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, in the ruling on Wednesday.

James Eadie, the attorney representing the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence, said it wouldn't be appropriate for a British court to make a judgment on the lawfulness of U.S. detention and said ordering British ministers to demand Rahmatullah's freedom could affect Britain's relationship with America.

Unlike the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, detainees have no access to lawyers at Parwan.

The detention facility is slated to be turned over to Afghan authorities in the future.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_bagram_lawsuit

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Stocks, euro slide as worries about Europe persist (AP)

NEW YORK ? Stocks and the euro sank Wednesday as worries about Europe hang over financial markets. Energy companies fell hard as the price of crude oil plunged 4 percent. The dollar and Treasury prices rose as traders shifted money into lower-risk assets.

Italy's borrowing rates ratcheted higher and the euro slid below $1.30 for the first time since January, two signs that the debt crisis continues to pressure Europe's governments. The euro has now lost more than 3 percent in three days.

Italy had to pay higher borrowing rates in its last bond auction of the year Wednesday. The euro zone's third-largest economy paid 6.47 percent interest to borrow euro3 billion ($3.95 billion) for five years, up from 6.30 percent just a month ago. The higher rates make it more expensive for Italy to borrow money and reflect doubts that the country will be able to repay its debts.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 111 points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,843 as of 2 p.m. Eastern time. Caterpillar Inc. fell 3.7 percent, the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow. The Dow is headed for its third day of losses in a row after closing at its lowest level in two weeks Tuesday.

The market appears to be in "sell now and ask questions later mode," said John Canally, investment strategist at LPL Financial. The fear that another bank failure will lead to a wider financial crisis like Lehman Brothers did in 2008 overshadows everything else, he said. Markets are so jittery now that traders see a slight drop in the euro or a small rise in Italian government bond yields a step toward a wider collapse.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,215. The Nasdaq fell 35, or 1.4 percent to 2,543.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank to 1.92 percent from 1.96 percent late Tuesday as demand increased for ultrasafe assets. The dollar also rose against other currencies. The euro lost about a penny against the dollar to $1.29.

European markets were widely lower. Germany's DAX dropped 1.7 percent; France's main stock index lost 3.3 percent.

Energy stocks led the U.S. stock market lower after the price of crude oil plunged $4 to $96 a barrel. Apache Corp. and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. both fell 4 percent.

Other commodities prices also dropped as investors shed assets seen as risky. Commodity prices also tend to fall when the dollar gains strength, since a stronger dollar makes it more expensive for investors using other currencies to buy commodities, which are priced in dollars. Gold and platinum sank 4 percent.

Health care, utilities and consumer staples companies ? all considered relatively resistant to economic downturns ? were little changed. Technology, materials and industrial companies dropped the most.

First Solar Inc. plunged 19 percent, the biggest drop in the S&P 500, after the country's largest solar company slashed its earnings estimate for the year. The solar industry has been hit hard by slower economic growth around the world and as government funding for alternative energy projects has dried up.

Avon jumped 6.7 percent, the largest gain in the S&P 500. The company announced late Tuesday that its CEO, Andrea Jung, will step down. The cosmetics company has been struggling with erratic financial results and is under scrutiny by regulators.

The Dow is now down 2.4 percent for the week, while S&P has lost 2.8 percent. The Nasdaq is down 3.6 percent.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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Austerity should not be done too fast: IMF (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? The International Monetary Fund's chief economist cautioned on Wednesday against imposing tough austerity measures too quickly and instead favors a longer process as countries around the world grapple with high debt levels.

The IMF's Olivier Blanchard said he was surprised over the debate over whether the best way forward was more stimulus to boost economic growth or tighter measures to deal with deficits, saying in most circumstances austerity would lead to contraction.

"The hope that fiscal consolidation will make people optimistic about the future and lead to a boom in the economy next year I think is something we should give up," said Blanchard, speaking on a panel at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Blanchard noted that there are some dire situations that have been improved by greater government responsibility, but the United States and most of Europe are not in such bad shape as to warrant that.

"It seems to me everybody should agree that the fiscal adjustment should be a long, drawn out, credible, medium-term process," said Blanchard, who also said austerity was clearly needed.

He said he was worried that governments feel pressure to satisfy markets through very strong and very fast fiscal consolidation.

The debate over whether economic policy should focus on spending more or spending less has been a heated one, particularly in the United States ahead of next year's presidential elections.

Wrangling over the budget has seen U.S. lawmakers gridlocked this year and the latest issue being debated is whether to extend a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Asked about the debt crisis in the euro zone, Blanchard said that if Europe does not contain its short-run crisis, clearly the world will be affected in major ways.

But even assuming the region is able to get its debt problems under control, next year "is not going to be nice" for Europe as bank deleveraging and fiscal consolidation will be a major drag on the economy.

As to the impact of the crisis on the rest of the world, "There is enormous ambiguity," said Blanchard.

Last week, European leaders agreed to draft a new treaty for deeper euro zone economic integration as policymakers try to put a fence around the region's debt crisis to stop it from spreading.

Under the new treaty plan, the leaders agreed to pursue a tougher budget discipline regime with automatic sanctions for deficit sinners in the single currency area, though Britain refused to join in.

On Wednesday, Germany's chancellor and central banker rebuffed calls for greater intervention from the European Central Bank in dealing with the crisis, urging Europe to stick to stricter budget discipline.

Asked about how to address financial regulation, Blanchard characterized the subject as "terrifying", adding there is a deep question as to whether good financial regulation can be designed.

"Regulation of the financial system is a game in which you have people on the other side who are as quick or quicker than you are, and the system is constantly changing, partly on its own and partly because of the regulation," Blanchard said.

"Whether you can ever solve it is a question I have."

(Reporting By Leah Schnurr; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111214/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_blanchard

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Dems: US Chamber altered Ohio sen's photo in ads (AP)

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Ohio Democrats are accusing a leading national business federation of altering a photo of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and misrepresenting one of his votes in TV attack ads airing statewide.

Brown, the state's senior senator, has been targeted by several national groups heading into his re-election bid next year. Democrats say the latest round of ads, paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, altered a photo taken by The Associated Press from color to black-and-white in a way that makes Brown look unshaven and haggard.

The party has dubbed the issue "Picturegate" and is seeking to link it to what they say has been a pattern of deception by Brown's likely Republican opponent, state Treasurer Josh Mandel.

"The countless false and misleading claims made by Josh Mandel and his special-interest friends have repeatedly been debunked by numerous non-partisan organizations, and apparently not just content with distorting his record they've now taken to distorting his picture," said Justin Barasky, a party spokesman. "Instead of repeated efforts to mislead the public, (they) should explain why he refuses to stand up for Ohio's middle class against bad trade deals and China's unfair currency manipulation which hurts our economy and costs jobs."

Mandel campaign spokesman Joe Aquilino declined to respond to the criticism. But he said the ad's message regarding Brown "appears to be spot-on accurate."

"Sherrod Brown's hyper-partisan attitude and refusal to work across party lines has caused failure in Washington and massive job loss in Ohio," he said. "Even though the vast majority of Ohioans opposed the government's takeover of health care, Sherrod Brown just trampled over the will of the people by casting the deciding vote on this ultra-partisan, job-killing legislation."

Chamber spokesman J.P. Fielder says the organization didn't doctor the photo. A message seeking comment was left with Revolution Agency, the Washington, D.C.-based firm that produced it.

"By the reaction of the Brown campaign and his Democrat allies, it's pretty clear what they don't want to discuss. They're running away from his record in Washington," Fielder said. Brown has only rarely supported the chamber's economic agenda in his voting record, he said.

He said Democrats are lobbing their attacks to distract from the message of the ad, titled "Stop Hiding." The TV spot says Brown "supports raising energy taxes" in policy positions that are killing Ohio jobs.

Brown has called the ad cynical, and its contents "outright lies."

Brown spokeswoman Meghan Dubyak said the ad references his vote to end subsidies for oil companies, which was not the same as raising taxes on energy. The companies ? BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell ? made a combined $101 billion in profits during the first nine months of 2011, she said.

Fielder said there is more to Brown's record on energy taxes than the subsidy vote. He also opposed a budget resolution that would have prevented the Senate from passing any legislation that would increase energy taxes on individuals earning less than $200,000.

The photo of a wind-blown Brown squinting in the sun was taken on July 7, 2006. It pictured Brown ? then an Ohio congressman running for Senate ? outside AK Steel in Middletown, Ohio, alongside two picketing union workers.

"AP licensed the photo, but did not give permission to alter it," AP spokesman Paul Colford said.

Brown was among Democratic senators in five states targeted by Crossroads GPS, a Republican super PAC with ties to former George W. Bush political director Karl Rove, in a $1.6 million ad campaign in July. The 60 Plus Association, a conservative rival to the AARP, aired $750,000 in ads last month targeting Brown's positions on Medicare.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_el_se/us_ohio_senate_altered_photo

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EU seeks to save the euro, but S&P isn't convinced (AP)

PARIS ? Seeking to restore confidence in the euro, the leaders of France and Germany jointly called on Monday for changes to the European Union treaty so that countries using the euro would face automatic penalities if budget deficits ran too high.

But not everyone on Wall Street was reassured that Europe would get control of its 2-year-old debt crisis.

Stock prices rose and borrowing costs for European governments dropped sharply in response to the changes proposed by French President Nikolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But some of the optimism faded late Monday when Standard and Poor's threatened to cut its credit ratings on 15 eurozone countries, including the likes of Germany, France and Austria which have been considered Europe's safest government debt issuers.

The announcement came only hours after Sarkozy and Merkel revealed sweeping plans to change the EU treaty in an effort to keep tighter checks on overspending nations. The proposal is set to form the basis of discussions at a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday that is expected to provide a blueprint for an exit from the crisis.

While the Franco-German plan would tie the 17-eurozone nations closer together, a tighter union would likely also result in heavier financial burdens for the region's stronger economies, which have already put up billions of euros to rescue Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Analysts noted that the proposals did not foresee a clear roadmap on how to get the eurozone economies growing again and to reduce funding costs for struggling nations in the longterm.

"If this is all we get it's really very bad news for the future of the euro," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at London's Centre for European Reform.

Many analysts have called on the European Central Bank to intervene in debt markets to lower struggling countries' borrowing costs or the creation of eurobonds ? debt backed by all 17 euro countries.

"The onus is still on the ECB to print money to make huge loans or bond purchases and draw a line under the crisis," said Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics.

The euro fell after the S&P announcement, trading down 0.1 percent at $1.339, and trading in futures on the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average turned negative.

After the New York markets closed, S&P confirmed that it had placed 15 nations on notice for possible downgrades. Only two countries that use the euro weren't affected: Cyprus already had that designation and Greece already has ratings low enough to suggest that it's likely to default soon anyway.

France and Germany, the eurozone's two largest economies which currently both have a AAA-rating, quickly came out against the S&P move.

"Germany and France reaffirm that the proposals they made jointly today will reinforce the governance of the euro area in order to foster stability, competitiveness and growth," they said in a joint statement. "France and Germany, in full solidarity, confirm their determination to take all the necessary measures, in liaison with their partners and the European institutions to ensure the stability of the euro area."

Stocks had risen after the leaders of France and Germany called for a new treaty to impose greater fiscal discipline on European countries. Yields on Italian government bonds receded sharply after the new premier Mario Monti introduced sweeping austerity measures over the weekend. That suggests traders believe Italy is less likely to default.

Investors are hoping that the summit of European leaders on Thursday and Friday will produce concrete measures to prevent a messy breakup of the euro currency, which is shared by 17 nations. Markets have been jittery because of fears that the euro might disintegrate, causing a sharp recession in Europe that would spread through the world economy.

"Our wish is to go on a forced march toward re-establishing confidence in the eurozone," Sarkozy said at a news conference in Paris on Monday, with Merkel at his side. "We are conscious of the gravity of the situation and of the responsibility that rests on our shoulders."

EU treaty changes could take months, if not years, to implement and don't wipe away the mountains of government debt dragging down Europe's economy. But preliminary buy-in Friday from the 17 countries that use the euro could set the stage for further emergency aid from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund or some combination.

"The onus is still on the ECB to print money to make huge loans or bond purchases and draw a line under the crisis," said Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics. "Perhaps if other member states sign up to Merkel's and Sarkozy's proposals this week the (ECB) will step in."

Sarkozy pledged to have a revised EU treaty ready for signing by March. It would then need to be ratified in each country, which could mean lengthy parliamentary debates or national referendums in some cases.

"A lot depends on the specifics and how these are going to be framed by lawyers," said Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, an expert on EU constitutional issues at the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels.

At the very least, it could take at least 18 months to ratify a new treaty once it has been signed by all heads of state, said Kaczynski. "That is a much longer timeline than what markets might want," he said.

Bond-market analysts said they remain skeptical of Europe's ability to prevent future profligacy. "If you say it strong enough and often enough maybe people will believe it," said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. "But I don't think the markets believe 'Merkozy' at this point."

EU governments reacted with caution.

No other EU leaders came out against the Franco-German proposals, but no strong statements in favor were immediately forthcoming. The reaction from Austrain Finance Minister Harald Waiglein was fairly typical: "There is nothing here that contradicts our position," although more details are needed, he said.

The modern EU is based on a set of treaties, dating as far back as the 1950s, when the project of consolidating the continent began. The treaties detail the rules that countries must follow and outline the mandates of institutions like the ECB. The most recent was the Lisbon Treaty, which was ratified in 2009, giving additional powers to the European Commission and European Parliament.

Sarkozy said he and Merkel would prefer that the treaty changes they're proposing be agreed to by all 27 members of the EU. But he left the door open to an agreement only among the 17 euro countries and anyone else "who wants to join us."

Sarkozy and Merkel discussed several broad changes for the EU treaty, but failed to provide much detail. The changes they outlined included:

? Introducing an automatic penalty for any government that allows its deficit to exceed 3 percent of GDP. A majority of nations would need to oppose automatic sanctions for a country to avoid them.

Governments are supposed to abide by the deficit limit under existing rules, but many, including France, have flouted it. Further, punishment only occurs after a majority of euro countries votes to impose them.

? Requiring countries to enshrine in law a promise to balance their budgets.

A key issue for the proposal's final approval will be how much flexibility countries can have to run temporary deficits during economic downturns.

? Pledging that any future bailouts would not require private bond investors to absorb a part of the costs, as was the case for the Greek bailout.

Germany had earlier insisted that Europe's permanent bailout fund would demand private investors take losses if a country in the future needs rescuing.

? Promising to not criticize or otherwise comment on the work of the ECB.

This is intended to ensure the bank's independence and its ability to act without pressure from European leaders.

Sarkozy said more details would be included in a letter sent Wednesday to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

After Sarkozy and Merkel spoke, stocks rose and borrowing rates for governments across Europe plunged, indicating a sharp rise in investor confidence in the continent's ability to resolve the crisis.

France's CAC-40 index climbed 1.2 percent, Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent and markets outside of Europe also pushed higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 1.2 percent.

French banks, which have been hit hard this year over fears about their large exposure to the government bonds of financially weak countries like Greece, saw some of the biggest gains.

Societe Generale's stock price climbed 6.2 percent while BNP Paribas rose 4.9 percent. In Italy, shares of Unicredit rose 5.4 percent while Spain's Santander rose 3.6 percent.

Worries about the stability of the euro reached a fever pitch in recent weeks as the yields on Italy's bonds ? in a nutshell, its borrowing costs ? jumped above 7 percent. That is the level that eventually forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to require bailouts. By comparison, bond yields in Germany, Europe's largest and most stable economy, are roughly 2 percent.

Italian and Spanish bond yields fell sharply on Monday, an indication of growing investor confidence in their financial future. The yield on Italy's benchmark 10-year bond fell from 6.65 percent to 5.93 percent.

Italy, whose government debt is equivalent to 120 percent of the country's annual economic output, needs to refinance $270 billion of its $2.6 trillion of outstanding debt by the end of April.

The size of the problems facing Italy and Spain are considered too large for the existing funds available to the European Financial Stability Facility ($590 billion) and the IMF ($389 billion.) To boost the firepower of the IMF, several economists have proposed that the ECB lend to it.

The big threat to the global financial system is that Europe's debt crisis could spiral out of control.

If governments default on their bonds, banks that own them could take a significant hit. It could become very difficult for these banks to borrow and nervous depositors could flee with their cash. In the worst case, a global financial panic could be triggered, in which banks all over are too skittish to lend to each other. That would cause a credit crunch that deprives businesses of the short-term financing they depend on for day-to-day operations.

With such fears in the air, the United States is ratcheting up its involvement.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Geithner will meet Tuesday in Germany with ECB President Mario Draghi and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble. On Wednesday, he travels to France for talks with Sarkozy and the prime minister-elect of Spain, Mariano Rajoy Brey.

___

Pan Pylas in London, Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris and Raf Casert in Brussels also contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Contrite Boeheim commits to child abuse awareness

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim reacts after apologizing for statements he made earlier about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim apologizes for statements he made previously about the Bernie Fine sexual abuse case after Syracuse defeated Florida 72-68 in an NCAA college basketball game in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) ? Two weeks after vilifying two former ballboys who accused his longtime assistant of child molestation, Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim said Saturday he'll campaign against child abuse even though he knows his motives will be questioned.

"We believed in helping kids long before this. I'm sure people are always going to question why you do something, but we're going to do this and continue to do it," Boeheim said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "We don't do it for what people might say."

The comments came a day after a postgame press conference in which a drawn-looking Boeheim apologized in a halting voice for initially disparaging the men who accused Bernie Fine of molesting them as minors. Fine has denied the allegations.

A few people had called on Boeheim to resign or be fired when the accusations first surfaced, and he was criticized as callous for saying the accusations were lies motivated by money.

Boeheim first softened his stance earlier this week. After Fine was fired Sunday, Boeheim released a statement saying he regretted any statements he made that might have been "insensitive to victims of abuse." Then on Tuesday, Boeheim apologized but said again he didn't regret defending his old friend based on the information he had at the time and said he had never worried about his job status in 36 years.

By Friday, he was far more contrite.

"I believe I misspoke very badly in my response to the allegations that have been made," said Boeheim, who paused frequently during a postgame press conference. "I shouldn't have questioned what the accusers expressed or their motives. I am really sorry that I did that, and I regret any harm that I caused."

Boeheim and his wife, Juli, spent time Thursday at the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center in Syracuse. He said they want to raise awareness about the pervasiveness of child abuse.

"We're going to try to do this because it's our community, and that's what we're going to continue to do," Boeheim told the AP.

He insists the marked shift in his public statements over two weeks is real and not being scripted by the university's chancellor or other outside forces.

"I think in some ways it definitely is genuine," said Nick Caneo, a 19-year-old sophomore studying economics, said of the center visit. "But on top of it, it definitely is a PR thing,"

Mark Grimm, an adjunct media professor at Siena College, said he was shocked by how unprepared Boeheim was Tuesday night.

"Clearly, he took a radical turn between the Tuesday and Friday press conferences. There's no question. He was in over his head there for a while," Grimm said. "They give him a standing ovation when he walks in the Carrier Dome, but remember, these are hard-core Syracuse fans. The whole other community ? many of them are appalled."

University spokesman Kevin Quinn declined comment.

Boeheim is easily the most recognized person in this upstate New York city of 145,000 and the public face of Syracuse University. Forbes magazine puts the worth of Boeheim's squad at $17 million, eighth best in the NCAA, while the industry research group SportsOneSourceGroup says the team probably accounts for $40 million a year in merchandise sales.

And in a city where the economy has faltered along with the rest of the Rust Belt, and where headlines often involve the words, "record-setting snow," there's another reason to support the coach: Basketball is a balm.

Not anymore.

That changed Nov. 17, when the allegations against Fine were made public.

One of Fine's accusers, Bobby Davis, now 39, told ESPN that Fine molested him beginning in 1984 and that the sexual contact continued until he was around 27. A ball boy for six years, Davis said the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips, including the 1987 Final Four. Davis' stepbrother, Mike Lang, 45, who also was a ball boy, told ESPN that Fine began molesting him while he was in the fifth or sixth grade.

A third accuser, 23-year-old Zach Tomaselli of Lewiston, Maine, came forward last Sunday. He said he told police that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room after a game. He said Fine touched him "multiple" times in that one incident.

The allegations have rattled the Syracuse community, especially so soon after the Penn State child sex abuse case in which former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is accused in a grand jury indictment of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.

Chancellor Nancy Cantor immediately made it clear in an e-mail to the Syracuse community that the school would not tolerate abuse: "We know that many question whether or not a university in today's world can shine a harsh light on its athletics programs. We are aware that many wonder if university administrations are willing to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing that may disrupt a successful sports program. I can assure you I am not, and my fellow administrators are not. We hold everyone in our community to high standards and we don't tolerate illegal, abusive or unethical behavior ?no matter who you are."

Boeheim, who's paid a salary around $1.5 million, is a lifer.

Born and raised in nearby Lyons, Boeheim enrolled at Syracuse in 1962, was a walk-on with the basketball team that year, and by his senior season was a team captain along with Dave Bing. After graduating, Boeheim played pro ball in Scranton, Pa., then returned to Syracuse as a graduate assistant in 1969. He's been there ever since.

For the city and the university, there are plenty of reasons to protect Boeheim's reputation and the basketball program:

? The Syracuse Convention and Tourism estimates the university pumps $179 million in travel-related spending into the region every year.

? Just two NCAA teams, Syracuse and Kentucky, have drawn an average of more than 20,000 fans per game in each of the past 10 seasons.

? In his 36th season, there have been eight Big East titles, 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, three title games and a national championship in 2003.

Now, Boeheim's trying to shift the focus from his program to child abuse awareness.

Although he and his wife previously raised money for the McMahon/Ryan center, Boeheim said they want to raise awareness.

"We started working with them last summer," he said Saturday. "We met with them the other day, not just to be fundraisers but to bring more awareness to people in this area. In our area there's not as much awareness as there needs to be."

Julie Cecile, director of the McMahon/Ryan Center, said Boeheim spent about an hour at the facility Thursday.

"He was really sincere. He really was," Cecile said. "He's been with us since last year, and I think it's an ongoing education. We just have to really use this as a teachable moment, make people realize that there is a problem, and I think that he's going to be able to do that."

The center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending child abuse through intervention and education.

Boeheim said he was surprised to learn how many child abuse victims don't come forward.

"I don't think people realize how much abuse there is and how much work needs to be done," Boeheim said. "That's what I think I learned from talking to people at McMahon/Ryan house; people don't realize the magnitude of this problem. I really don't, and it's something that needs to be addressed in this community. We have started to now realize we need to do more than ever."

___

AP Basketball Writer Jim O'Connell in New York and AP Writers John Kekis, Meghan Barr and Ben Dobbin in Syracuse contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-03-Syracuse-Fine%20Investigation-Boeheim/id-ef7b0e78a4e54724a4886518315ad59f

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Brooke Shields Considering Adopting A Third Child

Brooke Shields Considering Adopting A Third Child

Actress Brooke Shields is considering adoption in order to have a third child because her husband thinks two is just enough! Shields and screenwriter Chris [...]

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2011/12/04/brooke-shields-considering-adopting-a-third-child/

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Cain: 'I'm suspending my presidential campaign'

Herman Cain announced Saturday he is suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. This suspension comes after weeks of scrutiny over alleged sexual misconduct and accusations of an extramarital affair.

By msnbc.com's Michael O'Brien

?

Herman Cain said Saturday that he is suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, choosing to end his campaign after weathering weeks of scrutiny over alleged sexual misconduct and accusations of an extramarital affair.

"As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign," Cain said at an appearance outside his campaign headquarters in Atlanta. "I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family. Not because we are not fighters."

Cain said he's launching a "plan B" of his public career, a new policy-oriented website called TheCainSolutions.com. He said he will endorse a Republican candidate for president "in the near future." His announcement could lead to the effective end to his campaign, but technically leaves open the option of reviving his bid for the presidency.

"I am not going to be silenced, and I am not going away," he defiantly told disappointed supporters.

SLIDESHOW: Herman Cain

Cain's announcement nodded to the continued scrutiny that's surrounded his campaign since a media storm that began on Oct. 31, when POLITICO reported that the National Restaurant Association had settled sexual harassment claims brought by two women against Cain. The former Godfather?s Pizza CEO steadfastly denied the allegations, even as other women ? some anonymously ? emerged to make similar allegations against Cain. ?The charges and the accusations I absolutely reject. They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen,? the candidate said at a Nov. 8 press conference after Sharon Bialek, a former restaurant association official, publicly detailed harassment claims against Cain.

---

?As far as these accusations causing me to back off and maybe withdraw from this presidential primary race ? ain?t gonna happen,? declared Cain during that address.

VIDEO: Cain denies allegations of sexual harassment

On Nov. 28, an Atlanta woman told a FOX affiliate that she had engaged in a 13-year-long affair with Cain. Ginger White said their relationship had ended only recently, when Cain started to pursue the GOP nomination. Her claims took on an added degree of gravity after Cain acknowledged sending money, without his wife?s knowledge, to White. He maintained the two were merely friends, and had never engaged in a romantic relationship.

Those allegations prompted Cain, who had defiantly pledged to stay in the race and had continually denied any wrongdoing, to take a breath and reflect on the direction of his campaign. He told senior staff on Tuesday that he was taking time to ?reassess.? During that ?reassessment? period, Cain and his top staffers sent mixed messages about whether that meant the candidate would drop out. The Cain camp then revealed a Friday meeting between the candidate and his wife, Gloria, the first since White made her allegations.

Ahead of that meeting, Cain made this statement during a campaign stop: ?Tomorrow in Atlanta I will be making an announcement. But nobody?s gonna get me to make that prematurely ? Tomorrow we will be opening our headquarters in northwest Georgia where we will also clarify ? there?s that word again, clarify ? exactly what the next steps are.?

Cain's wife appeared with him at the announcement, receiving chants of "Glo-ri-a!" from the crowd. Herman Cain said he was "at peace" with his wife, his family, and himself.?

"I have made many mistakes in life -- everybody has. I made mistakes professionally, personally, as a candidate, in terms of how I run my campaign. And I take responsibility or the mistakes that I have made," he said. "But because of these false and unproved accusations, it has ? had a tremendous painful price on my family."

Cain spoke of his campaign mostly in the past tense throughout his speech, lashing out at the media for fueling the frenzy that became associated with his campaign.

Cain?s decision to abandon his campaign marks a somewhat remarkable reversal of fortunes for what was, by all accounts, an unconventional campaign. Having never been previously elected to office, Cain surged to prominence in a fluid GOP primary season in part due to the strength of his ?9-9-9? economic plan. The plan, which calls for a nine percent national sales tax along with nine percent flat taxes on personal and corporate income, became the cornerstone of his campaign.

CARTOON SLIDESHOW: Herman Cain

Texas Gov. Rick Perry?s stumbles in Republican debates this fall helped create an opening for Cain, who ascended to nominal frontrunner status by mid-October, when an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found him leading the Republican field nationally, as the choice of 27 percent of Republicans. Cain?s national success appeared to translate to key primary states, too; a late October Iowa Poll conducted by the Des Moines Register found Cain vying for the lead in the state?s caucuses. (By comparison, a late November poll conducted for the Register found Cain?s support had plummeted to eight percent.)

Cain?s rise had seemingly defied conventional political wisdom, considering the unusual way in which he managed his campaign. The candidate spent little time in traditional primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Instead, Cain traveled across the U.S., making stops in states like Wisconsin or Ohio, which don?t host meaningful primary contests. And Cain?s decision to effectively put his campaign on hold this fall to pursue a book tour in the thick of the campaign raised eyebrows among political observers.

VIDEO: Cain on "Meet the Press"

During those trips, Cain committed other errors that contributed to rising doubts about the viability of his campaign. Iowa Rep. Steve King, an influential conservative in his state's Jan. 3 caucus, expressed that sentiment on Twitter: "Virtuous or not, declaring in or out, however we feel for him, Herman Cain's campaign is over."

Cain had rather cavalierly said that he didn?t feel the need to understand the intricacies of foreign policy. (?We need a leader, not a reader,? he declared at a mid-November campaign stop.)? One particular meeting, with the editors of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, helped cement growing concerns about Cain when he awkwardly stumbled for an answer to a question about how he would assess President Barack Obama?s policy toward Libya.

"President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of (Moammar) Gadhafi. I just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say, 'Yes, I agreed' or 'No I didn't agree,'" he said, before stopping himself and reconsidering his answer.?

"I got all this stuff twirling around in my head," he explained.

This post was last updated at 2:14 p.m.

Source: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/03/9190219-cain-suspends-campaign

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Gingrich's unpredictability raises concerns (The Arizona Republic)

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Walgreen, others sue Pfizer over depression drug (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Pfizer Inc and Teva Pharmceutical Industries Ltd were sued by Walgreen Co and four other large retailers, accused of violating U.S. antitrust law by conspiring to keep generic versions of a popular antidepressant off the shelves.

Walgreen, Kroger Co, Safeway Inc, Supervalu Inc and HEB Grocery Co accused Pfizer's Wyeth unit of conducting an "overarching anticompetitive scheme" to prevent and delay the approval and marketing of generic versions of the prescription drug Effexor XR, causing them to overpay.

In a complaint made public on Thursday by the U.S. District Court in Trenton, New Jersey, the retailers said Wyeth kept generic equivalents off the market for at least two years after its marketing exclusivity for the original Effexor compound patent lapsed in June 2008.

They said Wyeth did this by obtaining fraudulent patents, engaging in sham litigation, and entering a price-fixing agreement with Teva to delay cheaper generic equivalents from reaching the market.

"As a result of defendants' exclusionary conduct, generic versions of Effexor XR were illegally blocked from the marketplace from June 2008 through at least June 2010," when U.S. sales of the drug topped $2.5 billion, the 78-page complaint said. Pfizer bought Wyeth in 2009.

Some of the retailers' claims had been assigned to them by three large drug wholesalers: AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp. A sixth plaintiff is American Sales Co, another wholesaler.

Effexor XR is used to treat depression and three anxiety disorders. Its chemical name is venlafaxine hydrochloride.

"Pfizer categorically denies the claims asserted in the plaintiffs' complaints," spokesman Christopher Loder said in an emailed statement. "Wyeth obtained its patents protecting Effexor XR lawfully, and the company intends to defend itself vigorously against these claims."

Teva spokeswoman Denise Bradley said that company believes the lawsuit has no merit.

Pfizer's global sales of Effexor XR totaled $537 million from January to September, down 64 percent from a year earlier, reflecting increased generic competition.

Pfizer is based in New York, while Wyeth has operations in Madison, New Jersey. Walgreen is based in Deerfield, Illinois; Kroger in Cincinnati; Safeway in Pleasanton, California; Supervalu in Eden Prairie, Minnesota; independently-owned HEB in San Antonio; and American Sales in Lancaster, New York.

The case is Walgreen Co et al v. Wyeth Inc et al, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 11-06958.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/hl_nm/us_walgreen_pfizer

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NATO attack could hurt war on terror: Pakistan (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? Pakistan, enraged by a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 soldiers, could withdraw its support for the U.S.-led war on militancy if its sovereignty is violated again, the foreign minister suggested in comments published on Thursday.

The South Asian nation has already shown its anger over the weekend strike by pulling out of an international conference in Germany next week on Afghanistan. It stood by that decision on Wednesday, depriving the talks of a central player in efforts to bring peace to its neighbor.

"Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling even a single drop of any civilian or soldier's blood," The News newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar as telling a Senate committee on foreign affairs.

"Pakistan's role in the war on terror must not be overlooked," Khar said, suggesting Pakistan could end its support for the U.S. war on militancy. Despite opposition at home, Islamabad backed Washington after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Pakistan military sources also said it had cancelled a visit by a 15-member delegation, led by the Director General of the Joint Staff, Lieutenant-General Mohammad Asif, to the United States that was to have taken place this week.

NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military border posts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday in the worst incident of its kind since 2001.

Details are still sketchy about what happened in the early morning hours, but Pakistani military sources said the attack came in two waves.

"The attack began at around 12:05 a.m. and lasted for about 30 minutes, when the contacts were made and it was discontinued," said one source.

The source said NATO helicopter gunships and jet fighters came back after 35 minutes. The Pakistanis returned fire in a battle that lasted for another 45 minutes.

When it was over, 24 Pakistani soldiers were dead and 13 wounded.

The two posts in question -- Volcano and Boulder -- are perched about 8,000 feet high on a ridgeline near the Afghan border. They are among about 28 such posts in Mohmand Agency set up to prevent cross-border movements by Taliban militants, another military source said.

The source said that there were no militants in the area, however, because they had been flushed out by a Pakistani military operation conducted over the year.

The top U.S. military officer denied allegations by a senior Pakistani army official that the NATO attack was a deliberate act of aggression.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Reuters in an interview: "The one thing I will say publicly and categorically is that this was not a deliberate attack.

The army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history and sets security and foreign policy, faced strong criticism from both the Pakistani public and the United States after Osama bin Laden was killed in a secret raid by U.S. special forces in May.

The al Qaeda leader had apparently been living in a Pakistani garrison town for years.

Pakistanis criticized the military for failing to protect their sovereignty and U.S. officials wondered whether some members of military intelligence had sheltered him. Pakistan's government and military said they had no idea bin Laden was in the country.

The army seems to have regained its confidence and won the support of the public and the government in a country where anti-American sentiment often runs high.

Protests have taken place in several cities every day since the NATO strike along the poorly-defined border, where militants often plan and stage attacks.

In an apparently unrelated attack, a bomb blew out a wall of a government official's office in Peshawar, the last big city on the route to Afghanistan, early on Thursday, police said. There were no reports of casualties.

The United States has long wanted Pakistan, whose military and economy depend heavily on billions of dollars in American aid, to crack down on militant groups that cross its unruly border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan.

More recently, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Pakistan to bring all militant groups to the negotiating table in order to stabilize Afghanistan.

The NATO attack makes Pakistani cooperation less likely.

NATO hopes an investigation it promised will defuse the crisis and that confidence-building measures can repair ties.

But the army is firmly focused on the NATO attack, and analysts say it is likely to take advantage of the widespread anger to press its interests in any future peace talks on Afghanistan.

Pakistan says it has paid the highest price of any country engaged in the war on militancy. Thousands of soldiers and police have been killed.

Critics allege Pakistan has created a deadly regional mess by supporting militants like the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network to act as proxies in Afghanistan and other groups to fight Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region.

"The sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war on terror are more than any other country," Khar was quoted as saying. "But that does not mean we will compromise on our sovereignty."

(Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR; Writing by Michael Georgy and Chris Allbritton; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/wl_nm/us_pakistan_nato3

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FLEX-ible insight into flame behavior

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2011) ? Whether free-burning or smoldering, uncontrolled fire can threaten life and destroy property. On Earth, a little water, maybe some chemicals, and the fire is smothered.

In space, where there is no up or down, flames behave in unconventional ways. And when your entire world is the size of a five-bedroom home like the International Space Station, putting out even a small fire quickly is a life-and-death matter.

Since March 2009, NASA's Flame Extinguishment Experiment, or FLEX, has conducted more than 200 tests to better understand the fundamentals of flames and how best to suppress fire in space. The investigation is currently ongoing aboard the space station.

"We hope to gain a better knowledge of droplet burning, improved spacecraft fire safety and ideas for more efficient utilization of liquid fuels on earth," Principal Investigator Forman Williams, University of California, San Diego, said. "The experiments will be used to verify numerical models that calculate droplet burning under different conditions."

When a flame burns on Earth, heated gases rise from the fire creating a buoyant flow that draws oxygen into the flame and combustion products away from it. In space, warm gases do not rise, and molecular diffusion drives flame behavior.

"In space molecular diffusion draws oxygen to the flame and combustion products away from the flame at a rate 100x slower than the buoyant flow on Earth," Dan Dietrich, project scientist, NASA's Glenn Research Center, said.

Flames in space burn with a lower temperature, at a lower rate, and with less oxygen than in normal gravity. This means that materials used to extinguish the fire must be present in higher concentrations. The slow flow of air from the fans mixing the air in a spacecraft can make the flames burn even faster.

To help understand how flames behave and burn in space, FLEX researchers ignite a small drop of either heptane or methanol. As this little sphere of fuel burns for about 20 seconds, it is engulfed by a spherically symmetric flame. The droplet shrinks until either the flame extinguishes or the fuel runs out.

"Thus far the most surprising thing we've observed is continued apparent burning of heptane droplets after flame extinction under certain conditions; currently, this is entirely unexplained," said Williams, who has studied combustion for more than 50 years.

From ignition to extinguishment, the entire event is recorded by cameras housed in the NASA Glenn-designed-and-built Combustion Integrated Rack, or CIR, which is located inside the U.S. Destiny Laboratory module of the space station.

"You have both elements being represented in the FLEX experiment. Both the exploration-driven fire safety research and the more fundamental science research," Dietrich said.

As for the fundamental science of combustion, there are still many discoveries to be made, even for an experienced professor who has studied the subject since college.

"As a Princeton undergrad, I saw in a graduate course the conservation equations of combustion and realized that those equations were complex enough to occupy me for the rest of my life; they contained so much interesting physics," Williams said. "There are many currently unknown things about combustion processes waiting to be revealed by future scientific experiments."

The better we understand the physics of combustion, the better we can control it and design energy-efficient processes.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111129182908.htm

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