Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190971861?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Craig Crawford: GOP Chaos [VIDEO]
Could Newt Gingrich's humiliation of Mitt Romney in South Carolina, if repeated in Florida, lead to a brokered convention? Chatting here with Keith Olbermann about the possibilities.
(Current TV, 1/21)
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Follow Craig Crawford on Twitter: www.twitter.com/craig_crawford
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-crawford/gop-chaos-video_b_1221736.html
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GOP race turns to new terrain in Florida
Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, greets supporters at a campaign rally in Coral Springs, Fla. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)
Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, greets supporters at a campaign rally in Coral Springs, Fla. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)
Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, is joined by wife Ann, following his speech during the South Carolina Primary night rally Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is greeted by supporters after Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Now it's Florida's turn.
And Republican presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have just 10 days to navigate a state unlike any they've competed in so far. Florida is six times larger than New Hampshire, has almost five times more Hispanics than Iowa, and, with numerous media markets, is much more expensive for candidates than South Carolina. That's where Gingrich trounced Romney on Saturday night, suddenly scrambling the GOP presidential race ahead of Florida's Jan. 31 primary.
"It's been fascinating spectator sport so far," Beth Schiller, 48, said inside Buddy Brew Coffee shop the next morning. "But it's coming here now. They're all coming."
Indeed, the remaining candidates in a shrunken field ? Romney, Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul ? planned to be in the state Monday for the first of two presidential debates this week.
All eyes were certain to be on what's essentially a two-man race.
After a crushing South Carolina defeat, Romney no longer faces the prospect of wrapping up the nomination quickly and now is forced to regroup. He has spent months planning for the Florida campaign, essentially building a firewall in the state. He has the largest organization of any candidate. And he and his allies combined have had the TV airwaves all to themselves for weeks, already spending roughly $6 million combined. The former Massachusetts governor's areas of strength in the diverse state may be with the transplanted Northeasterners and snowbirds along the Gold Coast.
But now there are doubts about whether he can knit together the broad cross-section of Republican voters he'd need to win in this state, much less the nomination.
"I'm looking forward to a long campaign," Romney said on "Fox News Sunday," an acknowledgment that he wouldn't sew up the nomination with a Florida victory as aides once had hoped.
Gingrich, for his part, will work to keep his momentum going despite continued division among tea party and religious activists who, to a certain degree, continue to divide their support between him and Santorum. The state's conservative panhandle may be fertile ground for the former Georgia lawmaker who talks of his Southern roots often. His team also is working hard to court evangelicals, who vote in droves in the state's GOP primaries and who tend to look skeptically on Romney.
He dramatically trails Romney in fundraising and organization in the state, underscored by his launching of an online "money bomb" Saturday night to try to raise $1 million to help fund his efforts in Florida.
"My job in Florida is to convince people that I am the one candidate who can clearly defeat Obama in a series of debates and the one candidate who has big enough solutions that they would really get America back on track," Gingrich told CNN's "State of the Union."
His South Carolina victory is certain to change the dynamics in a state where Romney has led in polls for weeks.
"People want to get behind a winner," said Tom Gaitens, co-founder of the Tampa Tea Party and state director for the conservative organization FreedomWorks. "People will be drawn to Newt like a magnet."
Florida's size and diversity creates challenges for all the candidates. And the issues may be far different than those in the previous states.
There are 10 distinct media markets in Florida, which helps explain the tremendous cost of running a statewide campaign here.
And the voters are anything but homogenous.
Northern Florida along the panhandle is as close to the South as the state offers. It's the least populated and considered the most culturally conservative. Southeastern Florida, including the Miami area, is traditionally not as conservative as the rest of the state, offering a large Latino population and many Northeastern transplants and Jewish voters. The bulk of the state's Republicans, including a significant collection of evangelicals, live along central Florida's Interstate 4 corridor, including Tampa and Orlando.
Exit polling from the 2008 GOP primary shows that approximately 39 percent of voters identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians. That's a significant voting bloc Gingrich has been targeting. He won evangelicals soundly in South Carolina, where they constituted roughly 65 percent of the electorate.
Hispanics are also key.
Romney is already on television running an advertisement in Spanish. Gingrich plans to do the same. The Gingrich team is based in the Miami area, the epicenter of the state's considerable Cuban population. Cubans make up roughly a third of the state's Hispanic population and figure to play prominently.
Romney's team is based in Tampa, and it has spent weeks working to woo the 200,000 people who already have cast ballots through absentee and early voting.
Like everywhere else, the economy is certain to dominate the race in Florida. The unemployment rate here is 10 percent, much higher than the national 8.5 percent jobless figure. And more than 2 percent of all Florida housing units were involved in foreclosure last year, according to the RealtyTrac foreclosure listing service. Florida also is third in the number of homes with "upside down" mortgages, at 44 percent of all mortgaged properties, according to the CoreLogic real estate data firm.
But other topics also will dominate.
Florida is a retirement mecca, so expect discussion about Social Security. It's also home to a number of environmentalists working to protect the coastline and fight drilling, so those topics are all but certain to be touched on. And with a heavy influx of Hispanics, immigration is certain to be raised.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
I'm new. Hi!
Well, here I am. Hoping to become a part of this community, but to be quite honest I'm feeling quite dizzy with the website as I'm not sure where to begin. I've been role playing for several years and want something different than the sites I had been using. So yeah, I'm afraid I really don't know where to start. Anybody have any tips or pointers so I can be on my merry way?
Thanks!
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/RjIxNpO-0qA/viewtopic.php
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Video: Hidden danger for women
>>> we're back now with the important health news that affects millions of women who face a hidden danger as they age. doctors are sounding the alarm about osteoporosis, urging more older will to be screened. at the same time, there are concerns the tests are done too often. at least for some women . we get our report from our chief science correspondent robert bazell .
>> reporter: a bone density test usually done on older women measures the risk of getting osteoporosis and dangerous fractures that often follow. but women with healthy bones do not need to be tested as often as they have been because few will actually develop osteoporosis.
>> it is unnecessary to keep screening every two or three years.
>> reporter: dr. ethel cyrus, an osteoporosis specialist, agrees with the study's results, but emphasizes the importance of getting an initial test at age 65.
>> medicare says when you're 65, if you haven't had a bone density , you should have one. and yet only about 20% of general medicare recipients do the test. it should be probably 95%.
>> reporter: and what about younger women ? well, the bone starts to thin after menopause, usually around age 50. experts say it is not worth the money to test most women at that age, because there is not much risk.
>> i think the issue has to do with resources, health care resources and how we spend our money.
>> reporter: she says a woman at age 50 should get the test, because she had a fracture since age 45. a parent who fractured a hip, takes certain medications, or has certain diseases that cause bone thinning. she reiterates that all women should get the test at age 65. the latest study finds that if their bones are strong, they don't need another test for 15 years.
>> be grateful you had good genes, continue to do the good things everybody should do for bone health, get enough calcium, enough vitamin d , be physically acti active. as you grow older, be aware if something changes, you need to revisit the whole question.
>> reporter: if the test finds thinning bones, she and many experts say the woman needs treatment with medication and frequent follow-up scans to reduce the risk of fractures that can be dangerous, even deadly. robert bazell , nbc news, new york.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Legendary blues singer Etta James dies in Calif. (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? Etta James' performance of the enduring classic "At Last" was the embodiment of refined soul: Angelic-sounding strings harkened the arrival of her passionate yet measured vocals as she sang tenderly about a love finally realized after a long and patient wait.
In real life, little about James was as genteel as that song. The platinum blonde's first hit was a saucy R&B number about sex, and she was known as a hell-raiser who had tempestuous relationships with her family, her men and the music industry. Then she spent years battling a drug addiction that she admitted sapped away at her great talents.
The 73-year-old died on Friday at Riverside Community Hospital from complications of leukemia, with her husband and sons at her side, her manager, Lupe De Leon said.
"It's a tremendous loss for her fans around the world," he said. "She'll be missed. A great American singer. Her music defied category."
James' spirit could not be contained ? perhaps that's what made her so magnetic in music; it is surely what made her so dynamic as one of R&B, blues and rock `n' roll's underrated legends.
"The bad girls ... had the look that I liked," she wrote in her 1995 autobiography, "Rage to Survive." `'I wanted to be rare, I wanted to be noticed, I wanted to be exotic as a Cotton Club chorus girl, and I wanted to be obvious as the most flamboyant hooker on the street. I just wanted to be."
"Etta James was a pioneer. Her ever-changing sound has influenced rock and roll, rhythm and blues, pop, soul and jazz artists, marking her place as one of the most important female artists of our time," said Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Terry Stewart. "From Janis Joplin to Joss Stone, an incredible number of performers owe their debts to her. There is no mistaking the voice of Etta James, and it will live forever."
Despite the reputation she cultivated, she would always be remembered best for "At Last." The jazz-inflected rendition wasn't the original, but it would become the most famous and the song that would define her as a legendary singer. Over the decades, brides used it as their song down the aisle and car companies to hawk their wares, and it filtered from one generation to the next through its inclusion in movies like "American Pie." Perhaps most famously, President Obama and the first lady danced to a version at his inauguration ball.
The tender, sweet song belied the turmoil in her personal life. James ? born Jamesetta Hawkins ? was born in Los Angeles to a mother whom she described as a scam artist, a substance abuser and a fleeting presence during her youth. She never knew her father, although she was told and had believed, that he was the famous billiards player Minnesota Fats. He neither confirmed nor denied it: when they met, he simply told her: "I don't remember everything. I wish I did, but I don't."
She was raised by Lula and Jesse Rogers, who owned the rooming house where her mother once lived in. The pair brought up James in the Christian faith, and as a young girl, her voice stood out in the church choir. James landed the solos in the choir and became so well known, she said that Hollywood stars would come to see her perform.
But she wouldn't stay a gospel singer for long. Rhythm and blues lured her away from the church, and she found herself drawn to the grittiness of the music.
"My mother always wanted me to be a jazz singer, but I always wanted to be raunchy," she recalled in her book.
She was doing just that when bandleader Johnny Otis found her singing on San Francisco street corners with some girlfriends in the early 1950s. Otis, a legend in his own right, died on Tuesday.
"At the time, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters had a hit with `Work With Me, Annie,' and we decided to do an answer. We didn't think we would get in show business, we were just running around making up answers to songs," James told The Associated Press in 1987.
And so they replied with the song, "Roll With Me, Henry."
When Otis heard it, he told James to get her mother's permission to accompany him to Los Angeles to make a recording. Instead, the 15-year-old singer forged her mother's name on a note claiming she was 18.
"At that time, you weren't allowed to say `roll' because it was considered vulgar. So when Georgia Gibbs did her version, she renamed it `Dance With Me, Henry' and it went to No. 1 on the pop charts," the singer recalled. The Gibbs song was one of several in the early rock era when white singers got hits by covering songs by black artists, often with sanitized lyrics.
After her 1955 debut, James toured with Otis' revue, sometimes earning only $10 a night. In 1959, she signed with Chicago's legendary Chess label, began cranking out the hits and going on tours with performers such as Bobby Vinton, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Everly Brothers.
"We would travel on four buses to all the big auditoriums. And we had a lot of fun," she recalled in 1987.
James recorded a string of hits in the late 1950s and `60s including "Trust In Me," `'Something's Got a Hold On Me," `'Sunday Kind of Love," `'All I Could Do Was Cry," and of course, "At Last."
"(Chess Records founder) Leonard Chess was the most aware of anyone. He went up and down the halls of Chess announcing, `Etta's crossed over! Etta's crossed over!' I still didn't know exactly what that meant, except that maybe more white people were listening to me. The Chess brothers kept saying how I was their first soul singer, that I was taking their label out of the old Delta blues, out of rock and into the modern era. Soul was the new direction," she wrote in her autobiography. "But in my mind, I was singing old style, not new."
In 1967, she cut one of the most highly regarded soul albums of all time, "Tell Mama," an earthy fusion of rock and gospel music featuring blistering horn arrangements, funky rhythms and a churchy chorus. A song from the album, "Security," was a top 40 single in 1968.
Her professional success, however, was balanced against personal demons, namely a drug addiction.
"I was trying to be cool," she told the AP in 1995, explaining what had led her to try heroin.
"I hung out in Harlem and saw Miles Davis and all the jazz cats," she continued. "At one time, my heavy role models were all druggies. Billie Holiday sang so groovy. Is that because she's on drugs? It was in my mind as a young person. I probably thought I was a young Billie Holiday, doing whatever came with that."
She was addicted to the drug for years, beginning in 1960, and it led to a harrowing existence that included time behind bars. It sapped her singing abilities and her money, eventually, almost destroying her career.
It would take her at least two decades to beat her drug problem. Her husband, Artis Mills, even went to prison for years, taking full responsibility for drugs during an arrest even though James was culpable.
"My management was suffering. My career was in the toilet. People tried to help, but I was hell-bent on getting high," she wrote of her drug habit in 1980.
She finally quit the habit and managed herself for a while, calling up small clubs and asking them, "Have you ever heard of Etta James?" in order to get gigs. Eventually, she got regular bookings ? even drawing Elizabeth Taylor as an audience member. In 1984, she was tapped to sing the national anthem at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and her career got the resurgent boost it needed, though she fought addiction again when she got hooked on painkillers in the late 1980s.
Drug addiction wasn't her only problem. She struggled with her weight, and often performed from a wheelchair as she got older and heavier. In the early 2000s, she had weight-loss surgery and shed some 200 pounds.
James performed well into her senior years, and it was "At Last" that kept bringing her the biggest ovations. The song was a perennial that never aged, and on Jan. 20, 2009, as crowds celebrated that ? at last ? an African-American had become president of the United States, the song played as the first couple danced.
But it was superstar Beyonce who serenaded the Obamas, not the legendary singer. Beyonce had portrayed James in "Cadillac Records," a big-screen retelling of Chess Records' heyday, and had started to claim "At Last" as her own.
An audio clip surfaced of James at a concert shortly after the inauguration, saying she couldn't stand the younger singer and that Beyonce had "no business singing my song." But she told the New York Daily News later that she was joking, even though she had been hurt that she did not get the chance to participate in the inauguration.
Upon hearing of her death, Beyonce released a statement on her website that read: "This is a huge loss. Etta James was one of the greatest vocalists of our time. I am so fortunate to have met such a queen. Her musical contributions will last a lifetime. Playing Etta James taught me so much about myself, and singing her music inspired me to be a stronger artist. When she effortlessly opened her mouth, you could hear her pain and triumph. Her deeply emotional way of delivering a song told her story with no filter. She was fearless, and had guts. She will be missed."
James did get her accolades over the years. She was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1993, captured a Grammy in 2003 for best contemporary blues album for "Let's Roll," one in 2004 for best traditional blues album for "Blues to the Bone" and one for best jazz vocal performance for 1994's "Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday." She was also awarded a special Grammy in 2003 for lifetime achievement and got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her health went into decline, however, and by 2011, she was being cared for at home by a personal doctor.
She suffered from dementia, kidney problems and leukemia. Her husband and her two sons fought over control of her $1 million estate, though a deal was later struck keeping Mills as the conservator and capping the singer's expenses at $350,000. In December 2011, her physician announced that her leukemia was terminal, and asked for prayers for the singer.
In October 2011, it was announced that James was retiring from recording, and a final studio recording, "The Dreamer," was released, featuring the singer taking on classic songs, from Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Dreamer" to Guns N' Roses "Welcome To the Jungle" ? still rocking, and a fitting end to her storied career.
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Camera-less iPhone 4S now available in Singapore, military approves
Rhyming schemes aside, it's hard to imagine why anyone would want a camera-less iPhone 4S. But that's exactly what Singaporean operator M1 is offering today, with the launch of a new line of "non-camera" iPhones. As it turns out, Singapore's military prohibits its soldiers from owning camera-equipped cellphones, which presents problems for the many men who have to serve a mandatory two-year term. With M1's new modified iPhone 4 and 4S, though, they'll be in the clear, since both devices have been approved by no less an authority than Singapore's Ministry of Defense, or MINDEF. According to the provider, both front- and rear-facing cameras have been completely removed from the devices, and "may not be reinstalled." They're all available now on a two-year plan, for about $38 more than their fully-outfitted counterparts. Singapore's two other operators, SingTel and StarHub, tell CNET that they're also looking to roll out a line of MINDEF-approved iPhones, though neither could offer a timeline for their release.
Camera-less iPhone 4S now available in Singapore, military approves originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Italian Nanni Moretti to head Cannes jury (Reuters)
PARIS (Reuters) ? Acclaimed Italian actor and director Nanni Moretti will head the jury at the 2012 Cannes film festival in May, organizers said on Friday.
The 58-year-old has had a long association with the world's most important cinema showcase, appearing in competition in 1978 with "Ecce Bombo."
He was back in 1994 with "Caro Diario" (Dear Diary), for which he won the best director award, and in 2001 with "La Stanza del figlio" (The Son's Room), which won the coveted Palme d'Or for best picture.
Five years later came "Il Caimano" (The Caiman), a film that criticized aspects of Italian political life in the era of Silvio Berlusconi.
"This is a real joy, an honor and a tremendous responsibility to preside over the jury of the most prestigious festival of cinematography in the world," said Moretti, who served on the Cannes jury in 1997.
"As a spectator, fortunately I still have the same curiosity that I had in my youth and so it is a great privilege for me to embark on this voyage into the world of contemporary international film," he added in a statement.
The 2012 festival runs from May 16-27.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Mark Zuckerberg Posts Against SOPA, Suddenly Remembers Twitter Account
Facebook may not be opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act as prominently as some other websites ? it's not blacking out the site today, or even posting an anti-SOPA/PIPA message on its homepage ? but CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke out against the legislation in a post on his Facebook account.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XmhgrbxhnKY/
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EU states still divided over details of Iran oil (Reuters)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? European Union envoys failed to agree details of a planned embargo on Iranian crude on Thursday, but diplomats said governments still sought to finalize the ban at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.
The bloc's 27 countries have agreed in principle to ban oil imports from Iran in order to put more pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.
But they remain divided over several issues, primarily the length of a planned grace period that would allow states heavily dependent on Iranian oil to fulfill existing contracts for a period after the ban went into place.
At a meeting on Thursday, senior EU diplomats had been expected to agree to a plan allowing for a grace period until the end of June.
Under this compromise proposal, EU governments would be prohibited from making new contracts with Iran from the time the embargo was imposed, but could purchase crude previously contracted. This exemption would end on July 1.
"No agreement was reached today but we are confident it will be reached on Monday. Not everybody agreed to the compromise," one EU diplomat said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomat said some EU states continued to push for a shorter grace period while others wanted more time to secure alternative supplies of crude.
Tehran denies wanting bombs, as the West alleges, saying it is refining uranium only for electricity generation and medical applications.
EU governments are divided between the desire to ratchet up pressure on Tehran quickly and economic considerations. States such as Greece are concerned about financial costs at a time when Europe is struggling with a two-year debt crisis.
Athens depends heavily on Iranian supplies because Tehran has been offering it preferential credit terms for its crude.
But others say a grace period would significantly blunt the initial impact of sanctions, because some three quarters of EU purchases are covered by long-term contracts.
GREEK CONCERNS
Diplomats said Greece is urging its EU peers to guarantee they will help it if Athens fails to secure sufficient alternative supply of crude, before it agrees to a date ending the grace period.
"Everybody understands Greece's reservations and the fact that it wants a discussion to take place with a political commitment from all 27 that we won't let them down if they fail to secure alternative supplies when the embargo is fully implemented," said one EU diplomat.
"It's true some states pushed for a shorter grace period, but it's mostly tactical and ... I am sure we will agree on July 1," the diplomat said.
One solution that could assuage Greek concerns is to introduce a review clause that would allow EU states to assess the economic costs of a full embargo shortly before it is introduced.
The EU embargo follows stringent new U.S. sanctions signed into law by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve, which are being gradually implemented but if fully enforced would make it impossible for most countries to pay for Iranian oil.
The unprecedented effort to take Iran's 2.6 million barrels of oil per day off international markets has kept global prices higher and helped cause a sharp fall in Iran's rial currency and a surge in the cost of basic goods for Iranians.
EU diplomats said more discussions would be held in Brussels in coming days, in time for the foreign ministers of the EU's 27 states to make a formal decision. EU policies such as sanctions require unanimity and have to be finalized by ministers.
Other details remain outstanding. EU envoys reaffirmed a commitment on Thursday to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank, but diplomats say details of how this would be done still have to ironed out, possibly later next week.
Some EU governments want to ensure trade in allowed goods can continue after the freeze, which can amount to a prohibition for EU companies to do business with the bank, is put in place.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Feng shui investing: year of the dragon | beyondbrics | News and ...
With the year of the rabbit drawing to a close, thoughts turn to the prospects for the year of the dragon. Dragons are said to be highly auspicious, provided their natural ferocity can be kept in check.
Should investors be scared? Or do the soaring wings of the mythical beast offer equity markets a flight into the stratosphere?
CLSA?s?Philip Chow, shipping analyst and occasional feng shui master, offered up his findings after a look into the crystal ball using the ancient Chinese art of feng shui.
As a quick reminder, last year was tough. Few investors will miss the timidity of the rabbit ? an easily frightened animal, who bolted underground at the very mention of the letters EFSF. The year was also burdened by elemental imbalance, with a dangerous excess of fire and metal. Chinese markets performed poorly.
But the dragon ? the only mythical beast among the 12 zodiac signs ? is made of sterner stuff.?What?s more, 2012 in has no fire in its charts at all, and only a touch of metal, making it a generally smoother ride.
However, the first half of the year looks troubling, with the dragon ? a black water dragon to be precise ? keeping its head firmly underwater.
The summer months will suffer from a scorching amount of heat, meaning the market is set for a lacklustre first six months, and July could see the worst of it. Sell in May and go away.
Another worrisome reading comes for Angela Merkel. The German chancellor is (zodiac-wise) a wooden horse, and is thus unsuited to a water dragon year. In fact, Chow says Merkel?s charts predict a ?shocker of a year?. Assume the eurozone crisis continues throughout, perhaps escalating in the summer.
The dragon, however, is essentially a gamechanger, and is characterised by both dramatic turns of direction, and extreme speed.
August should see an inflection point, with the dragon bursting out of the sea and soaring into the sky. The third quarter rally should be a powerful one.
The reading for heir-apparent Xi Jinping offers further hope. Dragons herald a change in emperor. Historically, new leaders would often ?see dragons? just before assuming power, and thus have the blessing of the gods. Xi?s charts look fine ? if somewhat unspectacular. If China is about to crash, it won?t be this year.
The flow of money is set to head from east to west. Expect China to keep snapping up eurozone bonds and European assets, and expect capital outflows to continue making their way into Manhattan penthouses. Treasury yields will remain low.
As for sectors, it?s all about water and wood. That means load up on water-related sectors like Macao gaming, shipping, tourism, and woody plays in agriculture and fashion.?Of particular interest should be cement ? a neat mixture of water and earth.
There?s a saying in Chinese ? you can never see the dragon?s head and tail at the same time. That?s because it moves so fast. The rally will run out of steam by December, and dragon is likely to rest for the remainder of the lunar year.
The silk-clad Chow is keen to stress that CLSA?s feng shui index is presented with tongue firmly in cheek. Indeed, last year?s predictions were somewhat off.
But those pondering an August inflection point would do well to mark the Jackson Hole address in the diaries. Any announcement of QE3 from Ben Bernanke could be just the catalyst needed to turn things around.
Related reading:
The big questions for 2012, FT
12 for 2012: a beyondbrics series
Source: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/01/18/feng-shui-investing-in-the-year-of-the-dragon/
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US wants effective Alzheimer's treatment by 2025 (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The government is setting what it calls an ambitious goal for Alzheimer's disease: Development of effective ways to treat and prevent the mind-destroying illness by 2025.
The Obama administration is developing the first National Alzheimer's Plan to find better treatments for the disease and offer better day-to-day care for those afflicted.
A newly released draft of the overall goals for that plan sets the 2025 deadline, but doesn't provide details of how to fund the necessary research to meet that target date. Today's treatments only temporarily ease some dementia symptoms, and work to find better ones has been frustratingly slow.
A committee of Alzheimer's experts began a two-day meeting Tuesday to help advise the government on how the eventual plan, expected by spring, could meet those goals.
Families have been "reminding us of the enormity of our task, perhaps most important the meaningfulness of it," said Dr. Ron Petersen, an Alzheimer's specialist at the Mayo Clinic, who chairs the committee.
But hanging over the meeting is the reality of a budget crunch. It's not clear how much money the federal government will be able to devote to Alzheimer's, and states have seen their Alzheimer's budgets cut.
"We're not going to fix this without substantial resources," said David Hoffman of the New York State Department of Health, who oversees that state's Alzheimer's programs. "In New York, we're hanging on by our nails."
An estimated 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer's or similar dementias. It's the sixth-leading killer, and is steadily growing as the population rapidly ages. By 2050, 13 million to 16 million Americans are projected to have Alzheimer's, costing $1 trillion in medical and nursing home expenditures.
The national plan is supposed to tackle both the medical and social aspects of dementia, and advocacy groups had urged that it set a deadline for progress.
Among the draft's other goals:
_Improve timely diagnosis. A recent report found as many as half of today's Alzheimer's sufferers haven't been formally diagnosed, in part because of stigma and the belief that nothing can be done. Symptomatic treatment aside, a diagnosis lets families plan, and catching the disease earlier would be crucial if scientists ever found ways to slow the disease's progress.
To do that, the draft suggests starting with a national public awareness campaign so more people know the early warning signs of dementia ? and to include memory assessment tools in the annual Medicare wellness visit.
_Improve support and training for families so they know what resources are available for patients and what to expect as dementia worsens.
A caregiver-training program in New York has shown that families taught how to handle common dementia problems, and given support, are able to keep their loved ones at home for longer. Hoffman said such training programs are far cheaper than nursing homes.
Alzheimer's sufferers gradually lose the ability to do the simplest activities of daily life and can survive that way for a decade or more. In meetings around the country last summer and fall, families urged federal health officials to make sure the national plan addresses how to help patients live their last years at home without ruining their caregivers' own health and finances.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Britain urges tougher Syria sanctions (Reuters)
BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Britain called on Wednesday for harsher sanctions on Syria, where an Arab monitoring mission has failed to halt bloodshed in a 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria may let the monitors stay on after their mandate expires on Thursday, but Assad's foes say the Arab League peace effort has failed and the U.N. Security Council should step in.
Arab foreign ministers, due to consider their next step at the weekend, are split over how to handle Syria, as is the Security Council, which has failed to adopt any position.
U.S. President Barack Obama has again called for a change of government, saying the violence in Syria was unacceptable.
British Prime Minister David Cameron accused Iran and Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement of helping to prop up Assad, whom he described as "a wretched tyrant."
"Britain needs to lead the way in making sure we tighten the sanctions, the travel bans, the asset freezes, on Syria," Cameron told parliament in London.
European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss extra EU sanctions at a meeting on Monday.
Hundreds of killings on both sides have been reported since the Arab League sent observers last month to see whether Damascus was respecting a peace plan it accepted on November 2.
An Arab League source said Damascus would accept a one-month extension of the monitoring mission, but no broadening of its mandate. Critics say the observers have only provided Assad with diplomatic cover and more time to crush his opponents.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed a civilian in a village in the northwestern province of Idlib on Wednesday and the body of a youth detained nearly two weeks ago turned up in Homs.
It said a soldier had been killed and five wounded in clashes between troops and army deserters in the Idlib village of Khaf Takharim. Three rebel soldiers were also wounded.
Syria's state news agency SANA said the strangled body of a veterinarian doctor was found in Homs bearing marks of torture four days after he was kidnapped by an "armed terrorist group."
The United Nations said on December 13 that Assad's security forces had killed more than 5,000 people since the unrest erupted in mid-March. Nine days later, the government said "armed terrorist groups" had killed 2,000 security personnel.
FEARS OF CIVIL WAR
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who has distanced himself from Damascus in recent months, said the Arab monitors had failed to staunch the bloodletting and that Syrians wanted freedom, like other Arabs who have revolted in the past year.
"I am more and more concerned about the possibility that Syria will plunge into more violence and ... maybe civil war," he told Reuters in an interview.
The Arab plan required Syria to halt the bloodshed, withdraw troops from cities, free detainees, provide access for the monitors and the media and open talks with opposition forces.
A tenuous truce was holding on Wednesday in Zabadani, near the Lebanese border, where troops had been fighting anti-Assad rebels, residents said. But heavy machinegun fire and explosions rocked the troubled city of Homs, an opposition group said.
"As of now there is no shelling and no gunfire. It is quiet. But the army is still surrounding the area," said one Zabadani resident who gave her name as Rita.
Syrian forces backed by tanks attacked the hill resort on Friday in the biggest military offensive against insurgents since the Arab monitors began work on December 26.
Michel Kilo, a dissident Syrian writer who spent six years in jail, said the struggle in Syria was at an impasse.
"The regime can't stop people protesting and the people can't bring the regime down," he told France's Le Figaro daily, adding that Assad wanted to "bring in Iran, Hezbollah, Iraq and to threaten Gulf countries with a long war."
Riad al-Asaad, a leader of the rebel Free Syrian Army, told Reuters on Tuesday the Arab League's efforts had failed.
"We call on them to turn the issue over to the U.N. Security Council and we ask that the international community intervene because they are more capable of protecting Syrians at this stage than our Arab brothers," the former army colonel said.
The Arab League source said China and Russia, which have blocked Security Council action so far, had urged President Assad to accept an extension of the monitoring mission to avert an escalation at the international level.
Qatar has proposed sending in Arab troops, an idea rejected by Syria and one likely to be resisted by its Arab allies.
(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir in Cairo, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Mariam Karouny and Dominic Evans in Beirut and Keith Weir in London)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_nm/us_syria
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The rationality and repercussions of Instinct
Calla Cofield, contributor
(Image: Matthew Maguire)
Four scientists, forced to come together to stop a deadly viral outbreak, find their personal lives put in jeopardy in Matthew Maguire?s new play, Instinct, which opened at the Lion Theatre in New York City on January 13.
?The common misconception, in my mind, of scientists is that they are completely rational beings, which I think is absurd,? said Maguire, in an interview. ?And the non-science audience seems to be pleasantly surprised that these are full-blooded people.?
Instinct?s four scientists certainly aren?t stereotypically nerdy, robotic or cold. Mara and Daniel, two epidemiologists, watch as their marriage begins to unravel over the issue of whether or not to have a child. Mara swims naked in rivers, embraces her maternal instincts, and craves the experience of pregnancy. Daniel sees instinct as something modern humans can overcome, and won?t agree to bring a child into a world full of so much cruelty. When the epidemic breaks out in his hometown, Daniel confronts his Evangelical upbringing and the ways it has altered his own instincts. Even though his scientific mind tells him otherwise, a childhood experience causes him to associate what his parents told him was an act of God, with his brother?s cerebral palsy.
Forced to come together with Mara and Daniel are Fermina and Lydia, vaccinologists who have lived together for 16 years. As the outbreak unfolds, Lydia confronts the rejection she suffered from her parents for her sexuality. Her instincts tell her to act rationally in the face of emotions she can?t control, and she finds conviction in this logical approach. Not long into the play Lydia lashes out at Mara, who attends Catholic mass, berating her for joining an institution that sees homosexuality as an abomination, and for believing in a ?sky God.?
Ironically, Lydia?s worship of science and its institutions is essentially religious. At the heart of her devotion is a desire to push science forward and make the world a better place, but she prioritises that devotion above all else, closing herself off to Fermina and putting her own health in jeopardy. In an argument with Fermina from which she attempts to remove all emotion, Lydia grimly quotes Emmanuel Levinas: ?Faith is not about the existence of God; faith is believing that love without reward is valuable.?
The four need to find a vaccine for the virus, and pressure mounts as the fatalities rise. Prior to creating a test vaccine they discuss whether or not they should give a placebo to a control group, ultimately leaving those people untreated. But the details of the science and the situation going on outside their living quarters play second fiddle to the personal struggles of the group. In the first five days, the tense moments pile up: Fermina and Daniel are caught flirting, Lydia confesses that she heard of her mother's death but did not tell Fermina, Daniel accuses Mara of lying about taking her birth control and threatens to get a vasectomy without her consent.
The tension set, the play then skips ahead to day 28, when no resolutions have been reached. Ultimately, Daniel must decide if he will accept change or lose his marriage, Fermina must lose herself in her work or open herself up to emotional vulnerability, and the group, now armed with a vaccine, must decide if they should create a control group, or distribute it to the entire population.
Maguire was given a special commission by a program called the Wild Project, to attend a meeting on evolution, talk with a scientist, and produce a play. He worked closely with molecular biologist Leslie Real, who led an effort to save populations of African Great Apes from being wiped out by the Ebola virus.
?[The meeting] was in celebration of Darwin, so everybody was tying in their work to the key concept of evolution. And I began to look for the dramatic analogue to change, but I also wanted to know what was happening personally with these scientists,? said Maguire. ?I began to be really interested in these ideas of instinct, and the enormous powers of the unconscious.?
Maguire skillfully addresses ethical questions, be they specific topics, such as the pros and cons of genetic testing, or broader philosophy, such as how much science can hope to control nature.
The risk Maguire takes is in trying to use the play to discuss conflicts that arise in science, without turning his characters into mouthpieces for those debates. With so much going on, his success in walking such a fine line varies, and there are times when the larger issues at hand become louder than the individual characters. But over the course of the play, the complexity and depth of the characters becomes apparent, and Maguire throws in a few curve balls to keep them from being predictable.
He might have created his characters in order to discuss larger issues, but Maguire?s finished product does something better: it illustrates those issues with believable human stories. This is what makes the play engrossing and valuable. Scientific studies have shown, and every good writer knows, it is in our human make-up to remember things and empathise with people when we are told a story, more so than when we are given a list of facts. With Mara, Daniel, Lydia and Fermina, Maguire takes advantage of that instinct.
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Globes: Comedy vies with drama this awards season (AP)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ? The Golden Globes have equally good comedy and drama masks this year.
Alongside heavyweight dramas, the category for best musical or comedy at the Globes usually is more of a lark, with nominees rarely emerging with best-picture prospects for Hollywood's top prize, the Academy Awards.
Yet Sunday's musical or comedy contenders make up a strong bunch that could give their best-drama cousins at the Globes a run for their money come Oscar time.
Expected to make the most noise at the Globes ceremony, to be carried live on NBC from 8-11 p.m. EST, is the silent film "The Artist," with six nominations, including best musical or comedy, directing and writing honors for Michel Havanavicius, and acting slots for Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.
Tied for second with five nominations each are the Deep South tale "The Help" and George Clooney's Hawaiian family story "The Descendants," both of them among best-drama contenders.
With the Oscars choosing up to 10 best-picture contenders when nominations come out Jan. 24, "The Artist" could have some other lighter fare as company there. Globe musical or comedy nominees "Midnight in Paris" and "Bridesmaids" have solid Oscar nomination prospects, along with the weighty dramas academy voters historically prefer.
Most years, the musical or comedy category is filled with nominees that have little or no chance at the Oscars, such as last year's Globe nominees "The Tourist" and "Burlesque." The last time a musical or comedy Globe winner earned the best-picture Oscar was nine years ago, when "Chicago" triumphed at both shows.
This time, the dual categories at the Globes could create an Oscar showdown between the dramatic and musical-comedy winners.
Along with "The Artist," Kristen Wiig's wedding romp "Bridesmaids" and Woody Allen's romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris," Globe nominees for best musical or comedy are Joseph Gordon-Levitt's cancer tale "50/50" and Michelle Williams' Marilyn Monroe story "My Week with Marilyn."
Besides "The Descendants" and "The Help," best-drama contenders are Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo," Clooney's political thriller "The Ides of March," Brad Pitt's sports tale "Moneyball" and Steven Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse."
Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of 89 entertainment reporters for overseas outlets, the Globes used to have a strong record predicting the films that would go on to win best-picture at the Oscars. But lately, a best-picture win at the Globes has not translated into victory on Oscar night.
Over the last seven years, only one Globe best-picture winner ? 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire" ? has gone on to claim the top Oscar trophy. Before that stretch, the Globes had been on an eight-year streak in which one of its two best-picture recipients also won the main prize at the Academy Awards.
Last year, "The Social Network" won best-drama at the Globes and looked like the early Oscar favorite. But momentum later swung to eventual Oscar best-picture winner "The King's Speech." The year before, "Avatar" was named best drama at the Globes, while "The Hurt Locker" took best picture at the Oscars.
The Globes have a better track record predicting who will win Oscars for acting. A year ago, all four actors who won Oscars earned Globes first ? lead players Colin Firth for "The King's Speech" and Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and "The Fighter" supporting stars Christian Bale and Melissa Leo.
This time, "The Help" leads the acting categories with three nominations, for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain. Along with Clooney, Pitt and Williams, other nominees include Meryl Streep for the Margaret Thatcher story "The Iron Lady," Leonardo DiCaprio for the J. Edgar Hoover biography "J. Edgar," Christopher Plummer for the father-son tale "Beginners" and Glenn Close and Janet McTeer for the Irish drama "Albert Nobbs."
Ryan Gosling has two nominations, as dramatic actor for "The Ides of March" and actor in a musical or comedy for the romance "Crazy, Stupid, Love."
Morgan Freeman will receive the Globes' Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement at Sunday's Beverly Hilton Hotel ceremony.
Ricky Gervais, who has ruffled feathers with sharp wisecracks aimed at celebrities and also the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, returns as host of the Globes for the third-straight time.
If the caustic comedian decides to again bite the hand that feeds him, a case working its way through federal court in Los Angeles might provide some of his material: the HFPA is fighting for the right to dump longtime Globes broadcaster NBC if it can get a better deal with another network.
___
Online:
http://www.goldenglobes.org
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Monday, January 16, 2012
Video: 100 years since Titanic, cruise ships still vulnerable
>> said, this behemothessel with 17 decks, longer than the titanic, has ever modern convenience, every luxury and all the right electronics like most modern cruise ships . but now this. soou can't blame people for asking today if this is a safe way to go. nbc tom costello has been looking into the safety aspect for us tonight. law, cruise ships muste able n to evacuate their passengers within 30 minutes of an abandon ship order. but getting 4,200 people off europe's biggest cruise ship tookar longer.
>> five hours. five hours of struggling while this ship is sinking and trying to go against gravity and ying to pull ourselves up. ying to get away from breaking glass , bodies flying.
>> reporter: a potentially deadly mistake, the crew hadn't yet prided passengers with evacuation training. under maritime law , ships have 24 hou to provide evacuation training on lasting seven days or less. most do so befe ever leaving port. drills like this one that include learning how to put on a life vest and finding the nearest life boat . industry analysts are concerned by reports the crew seemed disoriented.
>> the crew forgot their training. they didn't seem to provide e direction, the support.
>> reporter: in statement, the crse line injury says accidents such as this one are an extremely raroccuence in the cruise industry and it insis uising is safe. roughly 16 million people took cruise vacations in 2011 on the most established lin. up from 15 million in 2010 . and the industry is growing. building 26 new ships in the last two years. whilcruise ships fly many flags, international standards dictate everything from ew competence and safety training to rese ocedures.
>> i think it's very safe.
>>reporter: coast guard lieutenant is liaison to the cruise indtry.
>> we evaluate how the ships and the crews respond to emergencies, including instructing passengers where they have to go for safety.
>>eporter: 100 years since "titanic", cruise ships are still vulnerable. in this case, to rocky reefs and bad decisions. tom coello, nbc news, washington.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46017207/
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Sunday, January 15, 2012
Keith Harrington: Offshore Wind Activists an Unmatched Force at Maryland General Assembly Opener
If measured by the turnout at the rally at the Annapolis state house yesterday, of all the issues confronting the Maryland General Assembly as it reconvenes this week, offshore wind power enjoys the most energetic public support.
Maintaining the grassroots momentum from a statewide series of packed "Wind Works" town hall forums, over 100 citizen clean energy advocates from across Maryland descended on Lawyers' Mall on Wednesday morning to greet returning state lawmakers with an unequivocal message: "Get it done in 2012! Wind works for Marylanders' health, jobs, climate and energy costs!"
Decked out in blue campaign T-shirts, wind advocates were the most visible activist presence on the opening morning of the 2012 legislative session. The impressive show of support for a cold weekday morning jibed with recent statewide poll results which showed that nearly two-thirds of Marylanders support developing the state's robust offshore wind energy resources, even if it means a small initial bump in energy costs.
Speaking to the rally crowd, state Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola scoffed at charges from critics that Marylanders can't afford to invest in offshore wind: "The price of coal goes up; the price of gas goes up. Does the price of wind ever go up?"
The crowd responded with a resounding, "No!"
"That's right," Garagiola continued, "It doesn't go up. This is going to save ratepayers money."
Other speakers included the state House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, climate justice and health advocate Vernice Miller Travis, Chesapeake Climate Action Network Director Mike Tidwell, MD Delegate Tom Hucker, business innovator Joe Gaskins, Johns Hopkins student Tippy Patrinos and state Senator Paul Pinsky.
After the rally, the sea of blue shirts shifted from the mall to the inside of the state house and the legislative office buildings where activists took the wind works message to legislators and other dignitaries.
On his way to address the opening session, Governor Martin O'Malley stopped to greet wind activists distributing fliers on the mall, and reiterated his support for passing the bill through the Assembly this year. The Governor's new offshore-wind energy bill is expected to drop in the next few weeks along with the rest of his ambitious legislative package. With other big ticket issues like same-sex marriage, a proposed sales or gas tax increase on the agenda, clean energy advocates certainly have their work cut out for them in keeping wind at the top of the priority list. But if advocates keep bringing the same grassroots energy they brought to Annapolis on Wednesday, that shouldn't be a problem.
Learn more about the "Wind Works for Maryland" campaign and get involved at www.marylandoffshorewind.org.
Crossposted from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network blog.
Photo Credit: Abhik Saha
?
Follow Keith Harrington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kharring
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-harrington/offshore-wind-power_b_1202446.html
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Saturday, January 14, 2012
Crapgadgets at CES 2012: the best of the worst
Continue reading Crapgadgets at CES 2012: the best of the worst
Crapgadgets at CES 2012: the best of the worst originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I Just Controlled Windows 8 With My Eyes and It Made Me Believe in Technology Again [Video]
Windows 8 has a gorgeous Metro and finger friendly swipe-y interface that's perfectly fine but so 2011. All I want in my life in 2012 is Tobii, a company that's made the future possible: you control Windows 8 with your eyes. Seriously, it knows exactly what you're looking at when you're looking at it. It's instantaneous, it's ah-mazing and I haven't been this excited about technology since well, ever.
When I first saw Tobii, I didn't believe it would work well. You just look at it? And it does whatever you want? And that's how you control Windows 8? And... that's it? Yes! That's why it's so amazing. It's as natural as seeing, as normal as looking at somebody when you talk.
Tobii's eye control device, which looks like a horizontal rectangle glass obelisk attached to the hinge of the laptop, is incredibly accurate. The system requires a personal calibration test before you use it and some unique finger movements (akin to a smartphone), but once you get settled in, it's simply stunning. It's sniper accurate, Tobii never missed my target by more than a few pixels. It's lightning quick, I couldn't even say my next move fast enough because Tobii had recognized my eyesight already glanced away. And it can control all the swipe gestures available in Windows 8.
There was also an option to play an Asteroids-like game with Tobii and everything that's impressive about Tobii translates there too. The head movement tracking aspect of the game was a little odd but I can't get over how accurate its eye tracking ability was. Look and zap. Look and zap.
Tobii is as amazing as multitouch once was, as impressive as the Wii once was and the Kinect is now and a natural evolution of "the future". I felt like I was using fairy tale tech in a generation defining sci-fi movie rather than sitting in a plastic chair next to smelly people in a hall riddled with crappy gadgets that have no reason to exist. I don't know how successful Tobii will be in the mainstream market but it's this kind of technology that reminds me why I loved technology in the first place.
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Friday, January 13, 2012
China warns US on new military refocus on Asia
BEIJING?? China's Ministry of defense warned the United States on Monday to be "careful in its words and actions" after announcing a defense rethink that stresses responding to China's rise by shoring up U.S. alliances and bases across Asia.
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The statement from the ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng was Beijing's fullest reaction so far to the new U.S. strategy unveiled last week. It echoed the mix of wariness and outward restraint that has marked China's response to the Obama administration's "pivot" to Asia since late last year.
"We have noted that the United States issued this guide to its defense strategy, and we will closely observe the impact that U.S. military strategic adjustment has on the Asia-Pacific region and on global security developments," Geng said in a statement issued on the ministry's website.
"The accusations leveled at China by the U.S. side in this document are totally baseless," said Geng.
"We hope that the United States will flow with the tide of the era, and deal with China and the Chinese military in an objective and rational way, will be careful in its words and actions, and do more that is beneficial to the development of relations between the two countries and their militaries."
President Barack Obama's vowed on Thursday to look beyond the wars he inherited to focus on Asian security risks ? like China and North Korea ? that took a back seat to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Video: Obama reveals plan to cut Pentagon budget (on this page)It marked a turning point not only for the U.S. military but also for Obama, entering the final year of his White House term.
Facing a re-election battle, the president declared success in Iraq and Afghanistan and took a forward-looking stance on the how to preserve American military pre-eminence.
"The tide of war is receding but the question that this strategy answers is what kind of military will we need long after the wars of the last decade are over," Obama told a Pentagon news conference alongside Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday.
Under the new strategy, the United States will maintain large bases in Japan and South Korea and deploy U.S. Marines, navy ships and aircraft to Australia's Northern Territory.
Meanwhile, troop- and time-intensive counter-insurgency operations, a staple of U.S. military strategy since the 2007 "surge" of extra troops to Iraq, would be far more limited.
The strategy calls for countering potential attempts by China and Iran to block U.S. capabilities in areas like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
China has sought to balance voicing its wariness about the U.S. moves with its desire for steady relations with Washington, especially as both sides grapple with domestic politics this year, when China's ruling Communist Party undergoes a leadership handover and Obama faces a re-election fight.
Obama vows US will stay world's top military power
So far, Beijing officials have avoided the usual high-pitched assertions that Washington is bent on encircling China, a view widely echoed by popular Chinese newspapers and websites.
Growing concern
The expanded U.S. military presence in Asia is based on a miscalculation of Beijing's intent to modernize its military defenses, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"The accusation targeting China in the document has no basis, and is fundamentally unrealistic," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular news conference, in response to a question from state media about whether China poses a threat to U.S. security.
"China adheres to the path of peaceful development, an independent and peaceful foreign policy and a defensive national defense policy," Liu added.
Still, there is growing concern in the United States and Asia about China's military developments in recent years.
Video: Anxiety grows as China expands military (on this page)China has been expanding its naval might, with submarines and a maiden aircraft carrier, and has also increased its missile and surveillance capabilities, extending its offensive reach in the region and unnerving its neighbors.
The disputed ownership of oil-rich reefs and islands in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion dollars in trade sails annually, is one of the biggest security threats in Asia.
China is seen by many neighbors as increasingly assertive on the high seas, with several incidents in the past year in the South China Sea, waters claimed wholly or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
But Chinese President Hu Jintao has made clear he wants to avoid repeating the rifts that soured ties with Washington in the first half of 2011. Hu retires from power late in 2012 and his almost-certain successor, Vice President Xi Jinping, is likely to visit the United States in coming months.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45926054/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Stock futures signal early dip; Chevron eyed (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? Stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with S&P 500 futures down 0.14 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.10 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.01 percent at 0925 GMT.
Chevron Corp (CVX.N) will be in the spotlight after it warned that fourth-quarter profit would be significantly below the previous quarter, with production still falling short of prior expectations. Shares of the group trading in Frankfurt (CVX.F) were down 2.1 percent.
Nervous investors kept the euro currency and European stocks within narrow ranges on Thursday morning with the markets focused on any signal from the European Central Bank's rate meeting about a policy easing and a Spanish bond sale that will test demand for Europe's debt.
The ECB was seen taking a breather this month after cutting interest rates, pausing to assess the impact of a series of measures it took in late 2011. In a Reuters poll, 56 out of 66 economists expected rates to remain at the current level, with investor focus on a news conference with ECB President Mario Draghi, starting at 1330 GMT.
Greece may need more funds from European partners bailing out the country if not enough private creditors sign up for a voluntary swap of bonds to cut the country's debt burden, its deputy finance minister said on Thursday.
China's inflation rate eased to a 15-month low in December, though food prices are a reminder of the risks the government is weighing as it tilts policy towards boosting growth as internal and external demand for Chinese goods falters.
Car sales in China climbed 5.2 percent in 2011, the slowest pace since the nation's car culture took off at the turn of the century, as consumers shunned local brands after Beijing scrapped tax incentives for small cars.
China's economy is being weighed down by slowing growth in the United States and the European Union, but the possibility of a hard landing should be ruled out, said David Lipton, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) is to axe 3,500 investment bank jobs and sell or shut equities and advisory business under a 3-year plan to further reduce risk and focus more on domestic retail and corporate banking.
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp (BGFV.O) cut its quarterly earnings forecast and posted weak sales, as a warmer-than-expected weather hurt demand for winter merchandise, sending shares down 13 percent in after-hours trading.
Infosys Ltd (INFY.NS), the No.2 Indian software exporter, trimmed its full-year revenue growth outlook for a second time and warned of lower client spending due to the debt crisis in Europe, sending its shares down nearly 8 percent to their lowest in more than a month.
Raymond James Financial Inc (RJF.N) said on Wednesday it agreed to acquire Southeast investment bank and brokerage Morgan Keegan from Regions Financial Corp (RF.N) for $930 million in stock, concluding a drawn-out auction.
Morgan Stanley has cut 10 fixed-income jobs, mainly in sales and trading, in Singapore and Hong Kong, as competition from Asian banks heats up in that asset class and traditional markets shrink.
On the macro front, investors awaited weekly jobless claims and December retail sales as well as business inventories for November.
U.S. stocks held firm near recent five-month highs on Wednesday as investors awaited key bond market tests for Europe in the next two days that could determine the direction of the euro zone crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) slipped 13.02 points, or 0.10 percent, to 12,449.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX)(.INX) gained 0.40 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,292.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) gained 8.26 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,710.76.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)
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