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An archaeological excavation in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem has uncovered a centuries-old clay pipe inscribed with the phrase "Love is the language for lovers."
Literally translated, the inscription reads "Heart is language for the lover." And, not surprisingly, it was most likely a gift to a lover, according to Shahar Puni, of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
"Clay pipes of this kind were very common in the Ottoman period, were mostly used for smoking tobacco, and some were even used to smoke hashish," Puni said in a statement. Hashish comes from the cannabis plant, like marijuana.
During this period, from the 16th to the 19th century, Jerusalem was part of the vast Ottoman Empire, a Turkish state that reached into Asia, Africa and Europe.
"The Ottoman authorities tried to combat this practice [smoking] but failed when it became clear that smoking was firmly entrenched in all levels of society. Pipes were also used as a piece of jewelry that could be worn on a garment, and smoking itself was popular amongst both men and women," Puni said.
Jerusalemite women are shown smoking clay pipes similar to this one in 19th-century drawings. Smoking was often done in cafes and with groups of friends, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
You can follow LiveScience writer Wynne Parry on Twitter @Wynne_Parry. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.
? 2011 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45819301/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Kumar Sangakkara leads the charge of Sri Lanka's resurgent cricket team against a rattled South Africa on day 3 of the second Test match.
At long last, Sri Lanka had reason to smile, as Chanaka Welegedera and Rangana Herath did the unthinkable and bundled South Africa out for a measly 168. It secured a vital 170-run lead over South Africa going into the second innings, but the hosts were not far behind, with Dale Steyn snapping up the big wicket of Tillekeratne Dilshan to leave Sri Lanka at 7/1 - effectively 177/1 - when stumps were drawn.
Day 3 started with clouds over the ground, and clouds over South Africa, as Mark Boucher dropped Kumar Sangakkara (on nought) off Morne Morkel from just the fourth ball of the day. Morkel had his revenge, snaring an edge off Tharanga Paranavitana to leave Sri Lanka in familiar trouble at 20/2. Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene stitched a brief recovery before falling LBW to Marchant de Lange. Sri Lanka 44/3, but Sangakkara, aided by Thilan Samaraweera, fought back to score quick runs and finish the truncated session at 64/3.
The two batsmen were bullish in the second session, bringing up the 50 partnership off just 82 balls, then taking the score past 100 in the same over. Sangakkara reached his half-century shortly after, and even the reintroduction of the fearsome Dale Steyn into the attack couldn't stop the Sri Lankans from dictating terms. Runs and boundaries flowed as the lead passed 300, but just as South Africa seemed to have settled for defensive play, Imran Tahir forced Samaraweera to play on to his stumps. Samaraweera gone for 43, and South Africa finally had a breakthrough at 138/4, ending a vital 94-run partnership.
The second breakthrough came in the next over, as Angelo Mathews threw his wicket away with a wild slog against Dale Steyn. 141/5, with the hosts back in the fight now. But they ran into Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal, continuing his impressive debut. The two distanced Sri Lanka from the brace of wickets, as Sangakkara raced through the 90s to reach three figures and score his first Test century in South Africa. And to think, he was dropped before he had even scored. Sri Lanka went to tea sitting very nicely at 207/5.
The runs continued to pile on in the final session. When Sri Lanka passed 230/5, the lead crossed 400. Sangakkara's century led the way as he became the highest Sri Lankan run scorer in South Africa, his 105* making his the highest individual Sri Lankan score in the country. Chandimal soon reached his second half-century of the game, becoming the first Sri Lankan debutante to do so, before Steyn finally snapped the 104-run stand, finding Chandimal's edge for 54. 245/6, but the game well and truly with Sri Lanka.
South Africa gained some momentum with Kumar Sangakkara's wicket the next over, but his stellar 108 ensured it was too little, too late for the hosts. Decaying light led to stumps being called at 256/7, with the visitors ahead by an unreachable 426.
The job is not yet over for Sri Lanka; they still have to bowl South Africa out again, and the chances of two poor South African batting displays in one game is very slim. That said, after the Lankans were rolled over for under 200 in both innings in the previous game, this is a markedly better showing. The batting needs more work - lots of batsmen threw their wickets away - but the displays of Sangakkara, Samaraweera and especially Dinesh Chandimal are reassuring. Now the question is, can Welegedera and Herath turn it on again.
It was a disappointing day for South Africa's bowlers. They did work hard to prize out some wickets, but a lot of that also came from the Sri Lankans' poor technique and shot selection. Once Sangakkara, Samaraweera and Chandimal settled in, there was no fight or drive from the host team. It will be interesting to see what their strategy is, with a possible target of 450 to get in two days, with the memory of being bundled out for 168 still fresh on their minds.
Scorecard at Cricinfo
Copyright Michael Perera. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.Michael Perera - The only rule in writing is honesty. If you're honest, the words will write themselves.
Source: http://michaelperera.suite101.com/sri-lanka-in-south-africa-2011-test-series-2nd-test-day-3-a399855
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LONDONDERRY, N.H. ? Republicans have yet to cast a single vote but Mitt Romney is starting to sound like he's already won his party's presidential nomination.
The former Massachusetts governor largely ignored his GOP rivals while speaking to New Hampshire voters Tuesday. With Iowa Republicans set to begin voting in exactly one week, Romney focused instead on President Barack Obama.
And he sounded increasingly optimistic about his chances.
"I'm not exactly sure how all this is going to work, but I think I'm going to get the nomination if we do our job right," Romney said inside the packed dining room of the Coach Stop restaurant, hours before he was to arrive in Iowa to spend the next several days campaigning across that state by bus. "What this president is doing is trying to turn us into an entitlement nation. That's a deadening approach to a nation that has always been powered by the pursuit of happiness."
As he has done consistently, Romney played down his expectations for the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, the first stop on the path to the GOP nomination.
"I'd like to win in every state, but I'm really not going to get into the expectations business," he said after a subsequent campaign stop. "What I know I have to do is get about 1,150 delegates and that's going to take time in a lot of states, and I hope to get off to a good start."
Romney dinged his chief rival, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, very briefly only when prompted by a reporter.
Republican Party officials in Virginia announced over the weekend that Gingrich had failed to submit enough signatures to get on the ballot for the state's March 6 primary. Campaign Manager Michael Krull compared the situation to the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Asked about Gingrich's Virginia ballot problem, Romney referenced a famous "I Love Lucy" episode.
"I think he compared that to ... what was it, Pearl Harbor? I think it's more like Lucille Ball at the chocolate factory," Romney said, referring to the episode where Lucy is humorously overwhelmed by her job. "You've got to get it organized."
It was Romney's first direct criticism of Gingrich on a day when he otherwise ignored his Republican rivals.
Romney focused instead on broad issues likely to win over independents, a voting bloc that's expected to play a critical role in next fall's general election. He promised to reach across the aisle to Democrats if elected.
"I'm not going to spend my time bashing the Democrats and attacking them day in and day out, because that makes it impossible to sit down and work together," he said.
And in a nod toward the country's surging Latino population, Romney added that he's open to expanding legal immigration.
"It is a great source of vitality," he said. "And to protect legal immigration, and potentially make it larger, we want to stop illegal immigration."
Romney also teased a hypothetical general election sales pitch against Obama in which he'd ask voters, "Do you think you're better off than you were four years ago?"
"We know the answer to that one," he said with a smile.
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MASON CITY, Iowa ? Iowa Republicans may be starting to choose with their heads rather than their hearts as the Jan. 3 caucuses approach.
The ascent of libertarian-leaning Ron Paul and the lack of an ideologically pure consensus conservative seem to be awakening a new sense of pragmatism in some Iowa Republicans. That bodes well for Mitt Romney, as a large chunk of undecided voters continues the search for someone capable of defeating President Barack Obama.
"A lot of the people I'm around are not Romney fans, but they are kind of acknowledging they think he's going to be the nominee, and that they'll plug their nose and vote for him," said Gwen Ecklund, Republican chairwoman in GOP-heavy Crawford County in conservative western Iowa.
A week before voting begins in the fluid Republican race, interviews with a dozen Iowa political operatives and party activists ? as well as internal polling by rival campaigns ? suggest that some Iowans are increasingly concerned about Paul, whose views often stray from GOP orthodoxy, and have begun to fall in line behind Romney instead of another candidate seen as more devoutly conservative but weaker against Obama.
Unlike Paul and his other opponents, there's room for Romney's support to grow. Public and private polling suggests he's more often the second choice of Republican caucus-goers than any other candidate, indicating that Republicans could be swayed in the coming week to support him over others.
Conversely, few see Paul, the ideological libertarian, as a substitute for their first choice of a hardline conservative. In a sign of Newt Gingrich's slide, Texas Gov. Rick Perry ? who is seeing a slight bump as the Iowa campaign nears its end ? is more often identified as a second choice than is Gingrich.
"When you have a race this fluid, second choices, I think, if you have good surrogates standing up and making the pitch for you in the caucuses, you may be able to dislodge people from their first choice," said John Stineman, a West Des Moines Republican and former caucus campaign manager for Steve Forbes.
Public polls show that at least half of caucus-goers are undecided or could still change their mind, meaning Romney, the former Massachusetts governor whose Mormon faith and reversals on social issues have left influential Iowa Christian conservatives feeling skeptical, now has an opportunity to try to seal the deal.
Mindful of that, Romney is entering the final phase of the Iowa campaign with a confident air ? and a push to win the contest after trying to lower expectations. He spent heavily here in 2008 only to lose big.
Romney was launching a bus tour of Iowa Tuesday and starting to make his closing argument ? essentially the same as his opening argument ? that he is the strongest Republican to take on Obama on the No. 1 issue, the economy. Romney also was dispatching surrogates from nearby states, including South Dakota Sen. John Thune, former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent, to campaign in Iowa. His campaign also urged supporters during a conference call Monday to sign up to represent Romney at the caucuses ? essentially meetings of GOP activists in the state's 1,774 precincts ? and to stand up to speak on behalf of the campaign.
Romney planned to spend four full days in the state, by far his longest trip in four years, to woo a fickle GOP electorate that hasn't settled on a front-runner.
Of all the candidates, only former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has been denied a moment in the spotlight ? even though he's scoured every corner of the state and, in recent days, has collected endorsements from key leaders in Iowa's influential social conservative movement. He urged more than 100 people in the ballroom of Mason City's historic Park Hotel on Tuesday to stick to their principles, saying: "We need this election to be about someone who is a conservative, and proud of it."
In a race with no shortage of leaders this year, Paul has been the latest to become a leading, non-establishment alternative to Romney. But the newfound status has brought new scrutiny over Paul's unorthodox, non-interventionist foreign policy views and statements that appeared in newsletters he published in the early 1990s when he was not serving in Congress.
Among the statements: "Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities." Another newsletter passage said "if you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be." Paul previously said such material was the work of ghostwriters, while acknowledging he bore "some moral responsibility" for it.
It's all enough to worry some Iowa Republicans that Paul could marginalize the caucuses' impact should he win.
"The moderate and establishment Republicans are scared Ron Paul is going to have a good showing. If he wins Iowa, it's going to diminish the clout Iowa has," said Mark Greenfield, chairman of the Hamilton County GOP who initially backed Perry but switched to Romney within the last two weeks, describing him as an "electable leader."
Santorum put it this way: "The things most Iowans like about Ron Paul are the things he's least likely to accomplish," like Paul's plan to cut the deficit by $1 trillion in his first year, "and the things most Iowans are worried about about Ron Paul are the things he can accomplish."
Before Paul, Gingrich was at the top of the heap but he has slid in the wake of an onslaught of negative TV and radio ads ? from both Paul and allies of Romney's ? highlighting his collaboration on climate change with Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi and his consulting work for the federally backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac after he left the House. Leaflets noting his two divorces and acknowledged marital infidelity also have popped up across the state. Combined the attacks have damaged him ? perhaps irreversibly so.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann experienced a burst in popularity several months ago but wasn't able to sustain it.
Perry, however, seems to be running slightly stronger than he has in months. He's drawn large, enthusiastic crowds during a bus tour and aides to rival candidates say favorability toward Perry is rising, though probably not enough to give him the late-game burst of momentum he'd need to win in Iowa. It's a sign that the roughly $5 million Perry has spent on advertising since late October, combined with more than $1 million from a super PAC that supports his candidacy, may be paying dividends.
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STAMFORD, Conn.?? Investigators were talking to a New York City advertising executive and an acquaintance who survived a Christmas morning house fire that killed her three daughters and her parents to try to determine what caused the blaze.
Madonna Badger, who was having work done on the home she bought for $1.7 million last year, was released from hospital Monday.
The home was demolished Monday due to the fire damage and safety concerns.
Badger's three daughters ? a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins ? and her parents, who were visiting for the holiday, died.
Badger's father, Lomer Johnson, had worked as a Santa at Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store in Manhattan. "Mr. Johnson was Saks Fifth Avenue's beloved Santa, and we are heartbroken about this terrible tragedy," spokeswoman Julia Bently said.
Neighbors said they awoke to the sound of screaming shortly before 5 a.m. on Christmas morning and rushed outside to help, but they could only watch in horror as flames devoured the grand home and the shocked, injured survivors were led away from the house.
Badger, an ad executive in the fashion industry, is the founder of New York City-based Badger & Winters Group. A supervisor at Stamford Hospital said she was treated and discharged by Sunday evening.
The fire might have been related to a fireplace on the first floor, a source familiar with the case told NBCNewYork.com.
Property records show she bought the five-bedroom, waterfront home for $1.7 million last year. The house is situated in Shippan Point, a wealthy neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound.
The male acquaintance who also escaped the blaze was a contractor who was doing work on the home, Stamford police Sgt. Paul Guzda said. He was also hospitalized but his condition was not released.
"It is a terrible, terrible day," Mayor Michael Pavia told reporters at the scene of the fire on Sunday. "There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford."
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The Stamford Advocate identified the contractor as a male friend named Michael Borcina.
Police officers drove Badger's husband, Matthew Badger, from New York City to Stamford on Sunday morning. The Badgers reportedly are separated.
Firefighters knew there were other people in the home but could not get to them because the flames were too large and the heat too intense, said Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte, his voice cracking with emotion.
"It's never easy. That's for sure," he said. "I've been on this job 38 years ... not an easy day."
A neighbor who lives across the street, Sam Cingari Jr., said he was awakened by the sound of screaming and saw that the house was engulfed by flames.
"We heard this screaming at 5 in the morning," he said. "The whole house was ablaze and I mean ablaze."
He told The Advocate that he later learned the screams were coming from Madonna Badger.
"The reason she was screaming, of course, was because her family was inside the house," he said.
Cingari said he did not know his neighbors, who he said bought the house last year and were renovating it.
Charles Mangano, who lives nearby, said his wife woke him up and alerted him to the fire. He ran outside to see if he could help and saw fire trucks in front of the house.
"I heard someone yell 'Help, help, help me!' and I started sprinting up my driveway," Mangano told The Advocate.
He told the newspaper he saw a barefoot man wearing boxers and a T-shirt with no shoes and a woman being taken out of the house.
Video: Conn. house fire kills 5 on Christmas (on this page)The woman said, "My whole life is in there," Mangano said. "They were both obviously in a state of shock."
The house was undergoing heavy construction last summer, he told The Advocate.
Badger's father known as 'Happy Santa'
Badger's parents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson, were going to celebrate their 49th anniversary on Monday, a family member told The New York Times. Lomer Johnson, 71, had spent Saturday working as Santa Claus at Saks Fifth Avenue, a gig he had been doing since retiring as a safety director for the parent company of Jack Daniels.
The man with the long white beard loved posing as Santa, said the relative, who asked not to be named.
?That?s all he ever wanted to be,? the family member told The Times. ?He stopped shaving the day he retired.?
He advertised his services through a site called gigmasters.com, where he referred to himself as "Happy Santa." His profile reads "I am now a santa because my oldest granddaughter asked me to be a pretend Santa Claus. I have enjoyed it more than any job I've ever had."
Stamford, a city of 117,000 residents, is about 25 miles northeast of New York City.
Badger was the creative mind behind major advertising campaigns for leading fashion brands, including the iconic Mark Wahlberg underwear ads for Calvin Klein.
Raised in Kentucky, Badger began her career working as a graphic designer in the art department of Esquire magazine. Before starting her own company, she worked as an art director for several magazines and CRK, the in-house advertising agency for designer Calvin Klein.
Badger & Winters has worked with Proctor & Gamble, CoverGirl, A/X Armani Exchange, Emanuel Ungaro and Vera Wang, among other high-profile corporations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45787994/ns/us_news-life/
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The recent sharp depreciation isn't a sign of "helplessness in dealing with the kind of global turbulence we are seeing," central bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said in Mumbai on Dec. 3. "We do have the instruments to do this in the form of strategic capital controls, which can be used to enhance the supply of foreign exchange."
The rupee has fallen 13 per cent this year as investors sold emerging-market assets on concern Europe's debt crisis will lead to a global recession. India's economy expanded last quarter at the slowest pace since 2009 after the central bank raised interest rates by a record to tame inflation, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's efforts to stimulate growth were hamstrung by corruption scandals that have stalled legislation.
"The central bank is trying to manage expectations right now having given an impression that they don't have the tools to control rupee weakness earlier," said Ramya Suryanarayanan, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore. While it would be pointless to fight the trend, "there are negative consequences, in the short term, given the speed of the fall."
Asian currencies from Indonesia to India have fallen this year as policy makers grapple with Europe's protracted sovereign-debt crisis, which has hurt demand for the region's exports and prompted nations from Australia to Thailand to lower borrowing costs.
Asian stocks rose for a sixth day today, with Asia's benchmark index headed for its longest winning streak since Oct. 13, as Italy took steps to trim its debt before European Union leaders meet this week to tackle the region's crisis. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) advanced 0.4 percent. Gains were limited as Chinese stocks fell, with the Shanghai Composite Index sliding 1.2 percent.
A China purchasing managers' index for non-manufacturing industries fell to 49.7 in November from 57.7 the previous month, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on its website Dec. 3. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. A services index issued by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics today fell to 52.5, the lowest level in three months.
Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, reports today showed Australian business profits advanced 4.8 per cent in the third quarter from the previous three months, more than economists estimated, while inventories declined, as high commodity prices boosted earnings in mining.
Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=158477&date=2011-12-06
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Continue reading Swype gets a new beta, adopts Dragon Dictation for speech to text (video)
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Source: www.nytimes.com --- Friday, December 23, 2011
As the offseason trudges on, one fan?s thoughts turn to scripted television appearances by Baseball players, from Nolan Ryan to Ken Griffey Jr. ...
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YANJI, China?When North Korea closed its frontier with China to visitors and trade after the death of Kim Jong Il, people here braced for a long wait: Tourists were stranded, business trips canceled, food and oil deliveries frozen.
Within 48 hours, however, many border crossings sprang open again, underlining the reality facing Mr. Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong Eun: The impoverished country can ill afford to close itself off for long from China?which has long been its economic lifeline.
But the swiftness with which the border was reopened highlighted a more recent dynamic: A variety of North Korean agencies and individuals have vested interests in expanding commercial links with China and have become an interest group among the country's elite, analysts say. They point to such ties as the strongest impetus for change within the world's most isolated country.
As the world scrutinizes North Korea for the slightest signal of what lies ahead, the activity along the 885-mile border with China provides some telling clues to the politics playing out in Pyongyang.
China's trade with North Korea has more than doubled since 2006, and Beijing's investment in North Korea and in Chinese border infrastructure has been rising, too, although official statistics on both are somewhat unreliable, analysts say. China exports mainly food and oil to North Korea, and is also the conduit for luxury goods from elsewhere for Pyongyang's elite, while the North sells commodities such as copper, coal and iron ore to China. By some estimates, China now accounts for more than 70% of North Korea's foreign trade, with Russia believed to account for most of the rest.
China has been pouring money into the border area over the past two years in a bid to encourage North Korea to launch Chinese-style market reforms, analysts say.
ReutersArmed North Korean soldiers walk by the border of China and North Korea on the banks of Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju on Thursday.
The impact of those economic ties are evident in the Chinese border town of Yanji. Older people here remark on the different atmosphere this week compared with after the death of Kim Il Sung in 1994, when North Korea came to a standstill as people there were ordered to show "total grief."
"This time, their slogan is 'Turn grief to strength' and they're paying much more attention to business and the economy," said a veteran official at one of the biggest Chinese cross-border trade companies. "Stores and businesses in North Korea have mostly resumed production," said the official, who is in regular contact with North Korean counterparts.
China's strategy to ramp up commercial links has so far failed to elicit meaningful reform, and analysts say the new regime will be equally wary of introducing economic freedoms that could undermine a state policy of "juche" (self-reliance), and total control over its citizens' lives.
But the expansion of Chinese trade and investment has bound North Korea more closely to China?its only military ally and main aid donor?and unleashed economic forces, at least in border areas, that some experts believe could encourage change over the longer term.
The official at the trading company said the number of North Korean officials living on the Chinese side had increased significantly in recent years and border trade is now being conducted by companies set up by a wider variety of North Korean agencies, including the security forces.
Although these companies still pass most of their revenue to the government, they can keep a commission of 4%-5%, and staff appear to receive generous gifts from the growing number of Chinese companies competing for their business, she said.
She and several other local people also said that many North Korean officials are now living with their families?a significant change from the past, when North Koreans posted abroad usually had to leave families behind to prevent defections.
"That's new," said one long-term foreign resident of the Yanji area, who declined to be identified. "They seem to be living pretty well, too."
A handful of well-dressed North Korean officials were seen by a reporter paying their respects to their deceased leader at the Liujing Hotel in Yanji, a modern high-rise in the city center, outside which several black Audi sedans with tinted windows were parked. They declined to answer questions.
Analysts caution that the benefits of commercial ties are limited to North Korea's border areas, and to its elite officials, and there are no signs yet of them being spread more broadly.
On Friday, North Korea said it would open its border near the South Korean town of Kaesong, clearing the path for a delegation led by the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and another by the head of Hyundai Group to visit the North. Kim Dae-jung, who died in 2009, and the Hyundai conglomerate were key players in the so-called Sunshine Policy years from 1998 to 2008, during which South Korea attempted to improve relations with Pyongyang through political engagement and financial support.
Kim Jong Il often appeared to toy with the idea of Chinese-style market reforms?usually after visiting China?and set up several "special economic zones" in the border area, but repeatedly balked at introducing the necessary reforms to allow private enterprise to flourish.
One of the only apparent success stories in the earliest such zone, Rason, which was established in 1992, is a casino that attracts visitors mainly from China, where gambling is forbidden.
"It's OK to go over there to gamble, or to buy and sell things," said one 41-year-old Chinese businessman, who regularly visits Rason. "But if you invest in anything there, you'll lose it. It's like before China began reform and opening up."
Another North Korean economic zone, set up at Sinuiju in 2002, ground to a halt after a Chinese-born Dutch flower tycoon was appointed its governor, then promptly arrested by authorities in China for corruption before he could take up his post.
Nonetheless, Beijing has invested heavily on both sides of the border and has pledged to back a plan to revamp the Rason special economic zone, and to build a new one on an island near Sinuiju.
Whether these trends continue will depend to a large extent on the balance of power in Pyongyang, analysts say.
The younger Mr. Kim is too young, and was anointed heir too recently, to wield the same power as his father. So he is likely to rule as the figurehead of a collective leadership alongside his aunt's husband and several powerful generals, analysts say.
The aunt's husband, Jang Song Thaek, is thought by many experts to be an economic specialist who oversaw the establishment of the special economic zones on the Chinese border and is responsible for the commercial ties with China. An early indicator of Mr. Jang's influence could be whether, or how fast, North Korea resumes talks over that and other ongoing projects.
He accompanied the late North Korean leader on recent trips to China and attended a ground-breaking ceremony in June for the new special economic zone on the island of Hwanggumpyong, analysts say.
North Korea has leased China a pier at a port in Rason, and a Chinese company signed an agreement last year to invest $2 billion in more infrastructure there. China has also started building a $250 million border bridge at Dandong, another frontier city. Analysts say Chinese firms have been negotiating with North Korea on developing its substantial mineral deposits.
"I think the new leadership [in Pyongyang] will continue along this path because North Korea has gained such benefits from it," said Yang Xiyu, a senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies who has taken part in nuclear talks with North Korea.
"I don't expect any sudden changes, but I think they understand that they key for sustainable economic recovery is making use of external markets and resources."
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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? The U.N. General Assembly granted a request from North Korea and held a few moments of silence on Thursday for Kim Jong-il, the country's former leader who died on Saturday, though Western delegations boycotted it.
Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the 193-nation assembly, called for a "minute of silence" before the start of a routine meeting at 3:00 p.m. EST in the half-empty U.N. General Assembly hall.
"It is my sad duty to pay tribute to the memory of the late Kim Jong-il, Secretary-General of the Workers Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, who passed away on Saturday, December 17," he said.
The minute of silence lasted for 25 seconds before Nasser proceeded with the scheduled meeting. The United States, European Union member states and Japan were among the countries that boycotted the tribute to Kim Jong-il.
North Korea's U.N. mission made a similar request to the Security Council, but Western diplomats said it was rejected.
"We didn't think it would be appropriate," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Several Western diplomats said Pyongyang's request for Kim to be honored was highly unusual. They voiced surprise that Nassir had granted it and added that their delegations would most likely boycott the moment of silence in the assembly.
Speaking at a news conference, Nasser cited "protocol" as the reason for agreeing to the request from North Korea, a full U.N. member. One diplomat said the reason for granting the request was probably because Kim was an acting head of state.
Pyongyang is under Security Council sanctions due to Kim Jong-il's nuclear weapons program, which Western officials say ate up huge sums of money that could have been used to help feed North Korea's starving population.
An official at the Czech Republic's U.N. mission said the Czechs did not request a similar moment of silence for Vaclav Havel, the playwright-turned-dissident who died on Sunday.
The former Czech president was the leader of Czechoslovakia's 1989 "Velvet Revolution," in which he oversaw the peaceful transition from communism to democracy.
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Eric Walsh)
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. Partisan to the core, Congress careened toward a holiday-season standoff on legislation to prevent a Social Security payroll tax increase for 160 million workers on Jan. 1. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. Partisan to the core, Congress careened toward a holiday-season standoff on legislation to prevent a Social Security payroll tax increase for 160 million workers on Jan. 1. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, surrounded by his colleagues, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. The House Tuesday rejected a plan backed by President Barack Obama to extend a 2 percentage point payroll tax cut for two months to buy time for talks on a full-year renewal. Republicans controlling the chamber are instead demanding immediate talks with the Senate on a year-long plan. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, surrounded by Republican House members speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. The House rejected a plan backed by President Barack Obama to extend a 2 percentage point payroll tax cut for two months to buy time for talks on a full-year renewal. Republicans controlling the chamber are instead demanding immediate talks with the Senate on a year-long plan. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Barack Obama speaks during the news briefing at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011, in Washington. In a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room on Tuesday, the president said a "faction" of Republicans in the House is refusing to vote on a Senate bill that would extend a payroll tax cut for two months. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks during the news briefing at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011, in Washington. In a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room on Tuesday, the president said a "faction" of Republicans in the House is refusing to vote on a Senate bill that would extend a payroll tax cut for two months. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The House Tuesday rejected legislation to extend a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for two months, drawing a swift rebuke from President Barack Obama that Republicans were threatening higher taxes on 160 million workers on Jan. 1.
Obama, in an appearance in the White House briefing room after the House vote, said the two-month compromise is the only way to stop payroll taxes from going up by two percentage points.
"Now let's be clear," Obama said in a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room. "The bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on January 1st. The only one."
Obama said failure to pass the Senate version of the payroll tax cut extension could endanger the U.S. economic recovery, which he described as "fragile but moving in the right direction."
House Republicans controlling the chamber want instead immediate negotiations on a year-long plan with the Senate ? where the top Democrat again ruled out talks until the House passes the stopgap measure.
"President Obama needs to call on Senate Democrats to go back into session ... and resolve this bill as soon as possible," said House Speaker Boehner, R-Ohio. "I need the president to help out."
If Congress doesn't break the stalemate and pass a bill by the end of the year, payroll taxes will go up by 2 percentage points for 160 million workers on Jan. 1. Almost 2 million people could lose unemployment benefits in January as well, and doctors would bear big cuts in Medicare payments.
The House vote, 229-193, kicks the measure back to the Senate, where the bipartisan two-month measure passed on Saturday by a sweeping 89-10 vote. The Senate then promptly left Washington for the holidays. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says he won't allow bargaining until the House approves the Senate's short-term measure.
"I have been trying to negotiate a yearlong extension with Republicans for weeks, and I am happy to continue doing so as soon as the House of Representatives passes the bipartisan compromise to protect middle-class families, but not before then," said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
The House vote caps a partisan debate on Obama's jobs agenda, which has featured numerous campaign-style appearances but little real bipartisan negotiation, other than Senate talks last week that produced the two-month extension.
The Senate's short-term, lowest-common-denominator approach would renew a 2 percentage point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, plus jobless benefits averaging about $300 a week for the long-term unemployed, and would prevent a 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors. The $33 billion cost would be financed by a .10 percentage point hike in home loan guarantee fees charged by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the administration says would raise the monthly payment on a typical $210,000 loan by about $15 a month.
The House passed a separate plan last week that would have extended the payroll tax cut for one year. But that version also contained spending cuts opposed by Democrats and tighter rules for jobless benefits.
Both the House and Senate bills included a provision designed to force Obama to make a decision on construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would deliver up to 700,000 barrels of oil daily from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas. The provision requires him to issue the needed permit unless he declares the pipeline would not serve the national interest.
Democrats and the White House had reversed course and accepted GOP demands on Keystone, which contributed to sweeping GOP support for the Senate measure. The White House signaled that Obama would block the project.
Until this weekend, it was assumed that Boehner had signed off on the Senate measure. After all, it was agreed to by Boehner's trusted confidante, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Boehner declined on several occasions Friday to reject the idea.
But rank-and-file House Republicans erupted in frustration at the Senate measure, which drops changes to the unemployment insurance system pressed by conservatives, a freeze in the salaries of federal workers and cuts to President Barack Obama's health care law.
Also driving their frustration was that the Senate, as it so often does, appeared intent on leaving the House holding the bag ? pressuring House lawmakers to go along with its plan. Tuesday's vote technically puts the onus back on the Senate ? but also invites a full-blown battle with Obama, whose poll numbers have inched up during the battling over his jobs initiative.
Both sides were eager to position themselves as the strongest advocates of the payroll tax cut, with House Republicans accusing the Senate of lollygagging on vacation and Senate Democrats countering that the House was seeking a partisan battle rather than taking the obvious route of approving the stopgap bill to buy more time for negotiations.
"If you say you want to do this for a year, put your vote where your rhetoric is," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, a member of the House GOP leadership. "If you're not willing to work over the holidays, admit to the American people that you're not willing to work over the holidays."
"Right now Americans want two things from their Congress: middle class tax relief and compromise," said Rep. Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the House Democrats' fundraising committee. "House Republican partisanship failed on both counts."
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Inhabitat's Week in Green: Flaming turbines, seven eco-chic gifts and a winter wonderland of LED originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ron Paul?is known for his libertarian views, and he's drawing lots of people in this week's swing through New Hampshire.
Republican presidential candidate?Ron?Paul?wants the federal government out of the health care business.
Skip to next paragraphPaul?is known for his libertarian views, and he's drawing lots of people in this week's swing through New Hampshire.
He told an overflow crowd of about 500 at an event Tuesday night that there's no provision in the Constitution for Medicare and Medicaid, the federal programs that cover millions of seniors and children.
The congressman from Texas says individual states should be left to provide whatever health care coverage they want.
Paul?says he doesn't want to throw seniors and children off federal health care programs. But he says a free society shouldn't let government meddle in important services like health care.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/WDdRUWaf16A/Ron-Paul-Medicare-in-Constitution
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Jacques?Chirac, a savvy world diplomat and icon of France's ruling establishment for decades, will not go behind bars but was handed a two-year suspended sentence that goes on his criminal record. Anti-corruption crusaders, long frustrated by dirty dealings in the French political machine, rejoiced at the conviction.
A French court found former President Jacques?Chirac?guilty of embezzling public funds to illegally finance the conservative party he long led, in a historic verdict Thursday with repercussions for his legacy and France's political elite.
Skip to next paragraphChirac, a savvy world diplomat and icon of France's ruling establishment for decades, will not go behind bars but was handed a two-year suspended sentence that goes on his criminal record. Anti-corruption crusaders, long frustrated by dirty dealings in the French political machine, rejoiced at the conviction.
He's the first former French head of state to face prosecution since the World War II era. But the 79-year-old former leader did not take part in the trial, after doctors determined that he suffers severe memory lapses.
The court said Thursday it had found?Chirac?guilty in two related cases involving fake jobs created at the RPR party, which he led during his 1977-1995 tenure as Paris mayor. He was convicted of embezzling public funds, abuse of trust, and illegal conflict of interest.
Chirac?repeatedly denied wrongdoing. It took years to get him to trial because he enjoyed immunity from prosecution during his 1995-2007 presidential tenure, during which he led France into the shared euro currency and became the global champion of opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
The court said it took into account his age, health and status as a former head of state when determining the light sentence.
Unusually, the prosecutor had requested that?Chirac?and the nine other defendants in the complex two-part case be acquitted, saying not enough evidence proved intentional corruption. The court disagreed, saying his guilt results "from long-standing and reiterated practices" of illegal party financing.
Chirac's?adopted daughter fought back tears as she lamented the ruling.
"The justice system has been very severe, but this is a fair and independent justice system. For the family, it's a great pain we have to accept," said?Chirac's?adopted daughter Anh Dao Traxel, her voice cracking with emotion as she spoke to reporters outside the courtroom.
"I think this decision is too, too severe for him and our family has more than ever to show solidarity and be supportive, for his health for the rest of his life," said Traxel, a former Vietnamese boat person.?Chirac?and his wife formally adopted Traxel after she came to Paris in 1979.
Chirac?spokeswoman Benedicte Brissart declined to comment immediately, saying time was needed to go over the decision.
Chirac?lawyer Georges Kiejman called the ruling disappointing and said he expected a decision later Thursday on whether?Chirac?would appeal.
"We have to take a step back and read this ruling, we have to speak of course with the main person involved (Chirac), and we will know tonight if he accepts this decision," Kiejman said. "What I hope is that this ruling doesn't change in any way the deep affection the French feel legitimately for Jacques?Chirac."
The ruling is certain to bruise?Chirac's?public image. Leaving office in 2007 did wonders for his popularity: while polls showed that he was unpopular in his final years as president, those numbers soared afterward ? and even today, the avuncular former leader, who now focuses on charitable work, has been one of France's most popular public figures.
Critics had pushed for years to see?Chirac?answer charges of illegal party financing, frustrated by his presidential immunity and a sense that the political machine would never let the sensitive trial come to pass.
Jerome Karsenti, a lawyer for the anti-corruption group Anticor, which had argued against?Chirac?as a civil party to the case, said the reverberations could be widespread for France's political elites.
"This is a strong message from the court ? a message to all politicians of responsibility. It's also proof of a mature and transparent democracy that is today able to make a distinction and try a former president," Karsenti said.
"I see it as a historic and very important decision for the future of French democracy," he said.
The latest baring of France's underworld of back-room cronyism, corruption and political wrongdoing could loom large in voters minds as the French cast ballots in presidential and legislative elections next year.
The party that succeeded the RPR, President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, and the opposition Socialist Party have seen their share of scandal recently. Two longtime Sarkozy allies have been targeted since September in a case of suspected kickbacks in a 1990s French defense deal with Pakistan. Sarkozy served as budget minister at the time, but his office and allies insist he was not involved.
In Thursday's ruling, the court found that 19 totally or partially fake jobs were created to benefit?Chirac. "The case and the debates established that Jacques?Chirac?was the initiator and principal author of crimes of abuse of trust, embezzling and illegal conflict of interest," the ruling said.
A career politician,?Chirac?was a debonair master of the workings of public office. He modeled himself after longtime French leader Charles de Gaulle and was nicknamed "Le Bulldozer" early in his career for his determination and ambition.
France's last leader with memories of World War II,?Chirac?was the first to acknowledge the nation's responsibility for the deportation of Jews during the Holocaust. But he struggled to achieve reforms to the regulated economy and failed to defuse tensions between police and minority youth that exploded into riots in 2005.
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Scientists study the widespread impacts of tremors east of the Rockies
Web edition : 10:52 am
The most dangerous type of natural disaster, and also the most unpredictable, is the earthquake.?In the first week of November 2011, people in central Oklahoma experienced more than two dozen earthquakes. The largest, a magnitude 5.6 quake, shook thousands of fans in a college football stadium, caused cracks in a few buildings and rattled the nerves of many people who had never felt a quake before. Oklahoma is not an area of the country famous for its quakes.
Although less expected than quakes in California and Alaska, these ?mid-plate? tremors can do substantial damage. Some of the biggest known examples, centered over Missouri,?rattled the eastern half of the United States two centuries ago. Today, scientists are still puzzling over what triggered past quakes in these places?? and when similar ones might strike again.
Visit the new?Science News for Kids?
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Posted on December 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM
Updated today at 5:42 PM
Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- For the first time since the BP oil spill, the federal government held a Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease auction in New Orleans on Wednesday. It came on the same day as an announcement on the first phase of oil spill restoration projects.
At P&J Oyster Company in the French Quarter, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar learned the fine art of shucking oysters, just minutes after announcing a major oyster restoration project for Louisiana.
"We need to make sure that we move forward with the restoration of the Gulf of Mexico in a way that supports the oyster industry and its future," Salazar said.
It is an industry spanning five generations of Al Sunseri's family at P&J. A year and half later, the oil spill is still a part of their lives.
"We're a week before Christmas now and this place would normally be filled with people, lots of noise, processing oysters. It's not been the same," Sunseri said.
Change could be on the horizon, though. Louisiana is now one of the four Gulf states slated for early coastal restoration projects, pending public comment.
Two Louisiana projects take up about half of the initial $57 million. The first is a $13 million plan to restore the 555 acres of marsh in Lake Hermitage, on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish.
The second project calls for nearly $15 million to plant oyster cultch in five southeast Louisiana parishes: Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Jefferson, Lafourche and Terrebonne.
"An oyster takes two, three years to grow to marketable size, so it's appropriate that this is the first thing that we're doing, the first project we're doing," said Garret Graves of the state's Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority.
At the same time the restoration projects were unveiled, Salazar announced the results of a major oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico -- the first since the oil spill.
The total for all of the winning bids: $337 million.
During a news conference, Salazar addressed critics of the Obama administration's handling of the oil and gas industry.
"We have lived through what was one of the most significant national crises that we have faced in the last century," Salazar said. "We have stood the oil and gas industry back up here in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is back to work."
Also on Wednesday, the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council released an independent report, which focused on the lessons learned from the oil spill. The report made multiple recommendations, including calling for a redesign of blowout preventers.
To see the report in its entirety, click here.
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