lunar islamist: December 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Frankincense production 'doomed' warn ecologists

Public release date: 20-Dec-2011
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Contact: Becky Allen
beckyallen@ntlworld.com
44-012-235-70016
Wiley-Blackwell

Trees that produce frankincense used in incense and perfumes across the world and a key part of the Christmas story are declining so dramatically that production of the fragrant resin could be halved over the next 15 years, according to a new study published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology.

Ecologists from the Netherlands and Ethiopia say tree numbers could decline by 90% in the next 50 years. If fire, grazing and insect attack the most likely causes of the decline remain unchecked frankincense production could be doomed, they warn. Their predications are based on large-scale field studies the first to monitor the fate of the frankincense-producing tree.

Frankincense is obtained by tapping various species of Boswellia, a tree that grows in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Yet despite its economic importance incense has been traded internationally for thousands of years little is known about how tapping affects Boswellia populations.

Working in an isolated part of north-west Ethiopia near the source of the Blue Nile the team, led by Dr Frans Bongers of Wageningen University, studied 13 two-hectare plots, some where trees were tapped for frankincense and some where they were untapped. Over two years, they monitored survival, growth and seed production of more than 6,000 Boswellia trees, collecting over 20,000 individual measurements.

They then used this data to construct demographic models capable of predicting the fate of Boswellia populations in coming years. Alarmingly, the model shows Boswellia populations are declining so dramatically that frankincense production could be halved in the next 15 years.

According to Dr Bongers: "Current management of Boswellia populations is clearly unsustainable. Our models show that within 50 years populations of Boswellia will be decimated, and the declining populations mean frankincense production is doomed. This is a rather alarming message for the incense industry and conservation organisations."

Crucially, the researchers found all populations they studied are declining, not only those from tapped stands of trees, suggesting that factors other than tapping are at the root of the problem.

"Frankincense extraction is unlikely to be the main cause of population decline, which is likely to be caused by burning, grazing and attack by the long-horn beetle, which lays its eggs under the bark of the tree," says Dr Bongers.

In the areas they studied, the team found that as well as high levels of mortality among adult trees, the older trees in the population were not being replaced because few Boswellia seedlings survived to become saplings.

"The number of fires and intensity of grazing in our study area has increased over recent decades as a result of a large increase in the number of cattle, and this could be why seedlings fail to grow into saplings. At the same time, a large proportion of trees we studied died after being attacked by the long-horn beetle," Dr Bongers explains.

He says strong and far-reaching management incentives need to be introduced if Boswellia populations and future frankincense production are to be preserved.

In the short term this involves preventing fires and beetle attack, although the latter is difficult because scientists know little about its lifecycle. In the long-term, Dr Bongers says areas should be set aside and protected from fire and grazing for 5-10 years to allow Boswellia saplings to become established.

###

Peter Groenendijk, Abeje Eshete, Frank Sterck, Pieter Zuidema and Frans Bongers (2011). 'Limitations to sustainable frankincense production: blocked regeneration, high adult mortality and declining populations', doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.02078.x, is published in the Journal of Applied Ecology on Wednesday 21 December 2011.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Frankincense production 'doomed' warn ecologists Public release date: 20-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Becky Allen
beckyallen@ntlworld.com
44-012-235-70016
Wiley-Blackwell

Trees that produce frankincense used in incense and perfumes across the world and a key part of the Christmas story are declining so dramatically that production of the fragrant resin could be halved over the next 15 years, according to a new study published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology.

Ecologists from the Netherlands and Ethiopia say tree numbers could decline by 90% in the next 50 years. If fire, grazing and insect attack the most likely causes of the decline remain unchecked frankincense production could be doomed, they warn. Their predications are based on large-scale field studies the first to monitor the fate of the frankincense-producing tree.

Frankincense is obtained by tapping various species of Boswellia, a tree that grows in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Yet despite its economic importance incense has been traded internationally for thousands of years little is known about how tapping affects Boswellia populations.

Working in an isolated part of north-west Ethiopia near the source of the Blue Nile the team, led by Dr Frans Bongers of Wageningen University, studied 13 two-hectare plots, some where trees were tapped for frankincense and some where they were untapped. Over two years, they monitored survival, growth and seed production of more than 6,000 Boswellia trees, collecting over 20,000 individual measurements.

They then used this data to construct demographic models capable of predicting the fate of Boswellia populations in coming years. Alarmingly, the model shows Boswellia populations are declining so dramatically that frankincense production could be halved in the next 15 years.

According to Dr Bongers: "Current management of Boswellia populations is clearly unsustainable. Our models show that within 50 years populations of Boswellia will be decimated, and the declining populations mean frankincense production is doomed. This is a rather alarming message for the incense industry and conservation organisations."

Crucially, the researchers found all populations they studied are declining, not only those from tapped stands of trees, suggesting that factors other than tapping are at the root of the problem.

"Frankincense extraction is unlikely to be the main cause of population decline, which is likely to be caused by burning, grazing and attack by the long-horn beetle, which lays its eggs under the bark of the tree," says Dr Bongers.

In the areas they studied, the team found that as well as high levels of mortality among adult trees, the older trees in the population were not being replaced because few Boswellia seedlings survived to become saplings.

"The number of fires and intensity of grazing in our study area has increased over recent decades as a result of a large increase in the number of cattle, and this could be why seedlings fail to grow into saplings. At the same time, a large proportion of trees we studied died after being attacked by the long-horn beetle," Dr Bongers explains.

He says strong and far-reaching management incentives need to be introduced if Boswellia populations and future frankincense production are to be preserved.

In the short term this involves preventing fires and beetle attack, although the latter is difficult because scientists know little about its lifecycle. In the long-term, Dr Bongers says areas should be set aside and protected from fire and grazing for 5-10 years to allow Boswellia saplings to become established.

###

Peter Groenendijk, Abeje Eshete, Frank Sterck, Pieter Zuidema and Frans Bongers (2011). 'Limitations to sustainable frankincense production: blocked regeneration, high adult mortality and declining populations', doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.02078.x, is published in the Journal of Applied Ecology on Wednesday 21 December 2011.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/w-fp121911.php
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Monday, December 19, 2011

Britney Spears Fans, Friends Celebrate Engagement

Ryan Seacrest tweets he 'can't think of a better guy' for the pop star than fiancé Jason Trawick.
By Kara Klenk

Jason Trawick and Britney Spears in the "Criminal" music video
Photo: Jive

Britney Spears is officially off the market. Reports were confirmed Friday (December 16) that the singer is engaged to Jason Trawick, her boyfriend of two years and "Criminal" video co-star.

Fans of the pop princess sent their love and congratulatory wishes online shortly after the story surfaced. Everyone loves a comeback, and Britney Spears' fans are no exception. After a rough period in 2007 that included losing custody of her children and an infamous public head-shaving, Spears has spent the past three years getting her life together, and fans have taken notice.

Take a walk down memory lane with this timeline of Britney and Jason's relationship!

Facebook user Rosanna Principessa Fabbro wrote, "So happy for her. She really nailed it, turned her life way around, and look — now with a good man :)" Other fans gushed, while Zakir Khan wrote simply on Facebook, "Best of luck."

On Twitter, @Elina_BS made a Twitpic card for the singer wishing her and Jason well.

Many of Britney's fans have been listening to her music for almost their entire lives, so news of her engagement felt especially personal for them. @mollypannell1 tweeted, "Is it weird how happy I am for @britneyspears? So cuuute. I still remember when her first video came out. I was 7!"

Celebs also took to Twitter to send their love. Ryan Seacrest tweeted his approval of the union, "I used to work w/ Jason Trawick and can't think of a better guy and more perfect match for @BritneySpears. Congrats guys." Nick Cannon also tweeted "Congrats @BritneySpears is engaged" and included a link to a post from his website that included a family photo of Britney, Jason and her two sons.

If nothing else, this milestone in Britney's personal life has renewed her fans' love. @Mae_tweet wrote, "You can't help liking @britneyspears! With Britney's infectious, resilience & strength. Born survivor. Credits to her X."

Share your well-wishes for the newly engaged couple in the comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676171/britney-spears-engagement-fan-reaction.jhtml

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Child endangerment appears to be TV's hottest trend (Reuters)

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) ? The biggest trend in finales this year is -- ulp! -- child endangerment.

Shows from "Dexter" to "The Walking Dead" have made kids in danger the dramatic thrust of their finale storylines. "The Walking Dead" even killed a child -- not once but twice -- and had another suffer a ghastly, near-fatal shotgun wound to the gut.

FX's new "American Horror Story" didn't even wait for its finale to start dispatching kids, violently offing a pair of young twins in its first minutes.

Viewers will find out on Sunday's "Dexter" season finale whether Dexter's son, Harrison, will also perish at the altar of TV drama. Previews of the episode show bad guy Colin Hanks threatening to stab the toddler in the neck with a wooden sword.

No harm, of course, came to any actual children in the making of the shows. But whether harm could come to kids who watch them is an open question. (Assuming any parents are clueless enough to let their kids watch surefire nightmare-inducers.)

Many studies have linked violence on TV to actual aggression in children. But violence against children -- or at least so much of it at once -- is new territory.

Thou Shalt Not Kill a Child has long been one of the unspoken commandments of horror movies, to say nothing of TV shows. (Teenagers, especially sexually active ones, are fair game, as Wes Craven spelled out in 1996's "Scream.") Putting young people in danger is one of the cheapest ways to shock an audience -- but can also be a legitimate way to explore serious ethical questions.

Child deaths also play heavily into the plot of Showtime's "Homeland," which concludes its first season after the "Dexter" finale Sunday.

Freshman ethics classes love to pose questions about children in danger to explore the concept of utilitarianism -- the idea that the right course of action is the one that brings about the most overall happiness and the least overall pain. Students are asked to ponder (and sometimes do, for the rest of their lives) whether they would let one child die to save a train full of people, or kill the infant Hitler if it would prevent the Holocaust.

Walt's "Breaking Bad" dilemma fits in cozily alongside those questions: Would you risk a child's life to save yourself and your family?

Shane's decision to kill the hunter in "The Walking Dead" is another utilitarian calculation brought on by child endangerment: He decides the hunter's life is worth less than his own, and that of the boy the hunter shot. The entire search for Sophia also comes down to a cold calculation: Should all the survivors risk their lives to look for one little girl?

Her discovery as a zombie barn leads to another ethical debate about who deserves our empathy. The survivors take a fairly strict us vs. them approach to zombies -- until the most vulnerable of "us" becomes one of "them."

Horror aficionado Eli Roth cleverly riffed on the no-killing-kids rule in his 2005 "Hostel," the extreme 2005 film that helped inspire the phrase "torture porn." The climax of the film includes a moment when a villain seems prepared to run over a pack of children. It seems like the most grueling possible coup de grace to a film filled with grotesqueries.

But ultimately Roth lets the kids win, by swarming their would-be killer. That's right: This is the year basic cable dramas crossed a line that "Hostel" wouldn't.

FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which also toys with audiences' boundaries, played with the no-harm to children rule this season in an episode in which a character pretended, for tax purposes, that her baby had died.

"I will say this," show creator Rob McElhenney told TheWrap in a recent interview. "That there has never been, nor will there ever be, a sitcom on television where they have a baby funeral. We're the only one."

The only sitcom, sure. But not the only show, the way things are going.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/tv_nm/us_childendangerment

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FACT CHECK: Gingrich off on his budget history (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Newt Gingrich overlooked a couple of years of red ink when he asserted Thursday night that he balanced the budget for four years as House speaker. And in claiming sole credit for the achievement, he glossed over the fact that budgets are not a one-man show: There was a Democratic president in town, too.

In the last debate before the leadoff Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Gingrich persisted in repeating a claim he has made often in the campaign, sometimes more accurately than others. Here and there, other candidates, too, reprised misstatements or partial truths from the string of debates and from the stump. Mitt Romney once again declared he has spent his life in the private sector, once again ignoring his years as governor and political candidate.

A look at some of the claims in the debate and how they compare with the facts:

GINGRICH: "I balanced the budget for four straight years, paid off $405 billion in debt ? pretty conservative."

THE FACTS: In the 1996 and 1997 budget years, the first two years he shaped as speaker of the House of Representatives, the government actually ran deficits. In 1998 and 1999, the government ran surpluses. Two more years of surpluses followed, but Gingrich was gone from politics by then and had nothing to do with them.

Moreover, the national debt went up during the four years Gingrich was speaker. In January 1995, when he became speaker, the gross national debt was $4.8 trillion. When he left four years later, it was $5.6 trillion, an increase of $800 billion.

To be sure, Gingrich did not single-handedly deepen America's debt, just as he didn't balance any budgets on his own. He was a driving force along with Democratic President Bill Clinton and figures in both houses of Congress in the economic setbacks and advancements of that time.

___

ROMNEY: "I spent my life, my career, in the private sector."

THE FACTS: Except, that is, for four years as Massachusetts governor, recent years running for president in the 2008 and 2012 elections, a few years running the Olympics, and the time he put into his failed run for a Senate seat in 1994.

In essence, Romney has devoted himself to political endeavors since his successful run for governor in 2002, and has been pursuing the presidency for five years.

The month after his term as governor ended in 2007, he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. After John McCain defeated him for the nomination, Romney devoted himself to building a political network, helping Republican candidates raise money, and writing a book that set the stage for his second run for president.

Indeed, Romney, who made his fortune as founder of the investment firm Bain Capital, has not held a private-sector job with a regular paycheck in more than a decade.

___

MICHELE BACHMANN: "We have an IAEA report that just recently came out that said literally Iran is within just months of being able to obtain that (a nuclear) weapon."

RON PAUL: "There is no U.N. report that said that. It's totally wrong, what you just said."

Bachmann: "It's the IAEA report."

THE FACTS: As Paul said, the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency does not state that Iran is within months of having nuclear arms. The U.N. agency report does suggest that Iran conducted secret experiments whose sole purpose is the development of nuclear weapons but did not put a time frame on when Iran might succeed in building a bomb, and it made no final conclusion on Tehran's intent.

Bachmann also erred by arguing that Iran has "stated they will use it (a nuclear weapon) against the United States."

Iran vehemently rejects that it is developing a nuclear bomb, let alone that it plans to drop one on the U.S.

___

ROMNEY: "I'm firmly in support of people not being discriminated against based upon their sexual orientation. At the same time, I oppose same-sex marriage. That's been my position from the beginning."

THE FACTS: In large measure, Romney has been consistent in those two positions, despite accusations of flip-flopping on gay rights.

He walked a fine line back in his failed 1994 Senate campaign, vowing to fight for equality but stopping short of endorsing gay marriage. That's the same line he walked Thursday night.

He has changed, though, on whether gay marriage should be addressed at the state or federal level. He has favored a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage at least since the beginning of his 2008 presidential bid, when he was the only major Republican candidate to do so. In 1994, he had said the matter should be decided by individual states. That was before the idea of a constitutional ban had gained traction in politics.

___

BACHMANN: "After the debates that we had last week, PolitiFact came out and said that everything I said was true."

THE FACTS: Not true.

For the second debate in a row, Gingrich complained that Bachmann wasn't getting her facts straight, this time when she went after him for the big money he made from Freddie Mac. In her own defense, Bachmann cited ratings from PolitiFact, a fact-checking organization that ranks statements on a scale from true to false, with the worst offender being "Pants on Fire" false.

PolitiFact rated two Bachmann statements from last week's debate. One, claiming Gingrich once believed in an individual health care mandate, was ranked mostly true. The other, that Romney introduced "socialized medicine" in his state, was judged burning-pants false.

Indeed, Bachmann has the worst record of accuracy in the Republican field, as rated by that organization and traced by others. Fully 73 percent of her statements checked by PolitiFact were judged mostly false or worse. Gingrich was wrong the next most often, 59 percent of the time.

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples, Bradley Klapper, Douglass K. Daniel and Jim Drinkard contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_el_pr/us_republicans_debate_fact_check

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Sony's PlayStation Vita hits stores in Japan (AP)

TOKYO ? Sony's long-awaited PlayStation Vita portable game machine hit stores in Japan on Saturday as thousands of game enthusiasts lined up early in the morning to be among the first to buy it.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is predicting brisk sales, even though the launch may have missed some holiday shoppers. A successful debut would help the company offset the rest of its struggling business. Sony projects a loss of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year through March 2012, which would be its fourth straight annual loss.

In Tokyo's Ikebukuro shopping district, some 300 game enthusiasts lined up outside a major electronics chain that opened a few hours earlier than usual for the event. Many of the purchasers had made advance orders on the Internet so they could start playing immediately.

The device is a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld seen as a successor to the PlayStation Portable. Gamers can connect over cellphone networks and Wi-Fi hotspots, and use GPS location-tracking technology.

Television footage showed some shoppers unwrapping their new purchases and starting to try them out at the store.

"I'm so happy to see so many people lining up for PS Vita so early in the morning," Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kono wrote in his official blog after touring several Tokyo stores. "I can tell they had anxiously waited for today's launch."

For the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment giant, the Vita is the biggest product launch since the PlayStation 3 console five years ago. It's also accompanied by two dozen software products ? the largest number of launch titles in PlayStation history.

The Vita has front and back cameras, a touchscreen in front, a touch pad on the back and two knob-like joysticks. It will enable gamers to play against each other using PlayStation 3 consoles over the Internet-based PlayStation Network, a system that was hit with a massive hacking attack earlier this year.

Vita's launch will heat up competition with rival Nintendo Co.'s 3DS. Nintendo Co.'s 3DS had a disappointing start despite the company's efforts to market its 3-D technology, with critics complaining about a lack of interesting games. Nintendo ended up slashing prices on the 3DS within six months.

The companies are challenged by the rise of smartphones and tablets, through which casual gamers play inexpensive and simple games like the mega-hit "Angry Birds."

The PS Vita goes on sale in North America and Europe on Feb. 22.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_hi_te/as_japan_sony_playstation

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German reactivates bank rescue fund (AP)

BERLIN ? Germany is reactivating its financial sector rescue fund as the eurozone debt crisis raises increasing questions about how banks can cover their capital needs.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the Cabinet decided Wednesday to reopen the euro360 billion ($474 billion) fund, first established at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

The fund closed to new applications at the end of 2010. But much of the money ? which totaled euro60 billion for potential capital injections and euro300 billion for loan guarantees ? remains untapped.

European authorities have determined that German banks require a total of euro13.1 billion in new capital to comply with tougher new requirements. The country's second-biggest bank, Commerzbank AG, has been told it needs euro5.3 billion.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_germany_bank_fund

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Dems drop millionaires tax in year-end dispute

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, joined by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, at right, talks to reporters after passage of legislation to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, joined by, from left, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters just after House passage of legislation to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Following the Democrats' weekly strategy session, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011, about pending House legislation that includes the extension of the payroll-tax cut and a provision to speed up approval of the controversial Keystone pipeline . (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Chart explains the 2011 payroll tax cut

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democrats backed away from their demand for higher taxes on millionaires as part of legislation to extend Social Security tax cuts for most Americans on Wednesday as Congress struggled to clear critical year-end bills without triggering a partial government shutdown.

Republicans, too, signaled an eagerness to avoid gridlock and adjourn for the holidays. With a bipartisan $1 trillion funding bill blocked at the last minute by Democrats, GOP lawmakers and aides floated the possibility of a backup measure to run the government for as long as two months after the money runs out Friday at midnight.

In a written statement late Wednesday, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said the administration objected to several environmental, financial and other provisions in the mammoth spending bill and said Congress should approve a short-term spending measure to avoid a federal shutdown and give lawmakers time to iron out their final disputes.

With time beginning to run short, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., met with President Barack Obama at the White House, then returned to the Capitol and sat down with the two top Republicans in Congress, Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Taken together, the developments signaled the end game for a year of divided government ? with a tea party-flavored majority in the House and Obama's allies in the Senate ? that has veered from near-catastrophe to last-minute compromise repeatedly since last January.

The rhetoric was biting at times.

"We have fiddled all year long, all year," McConnell complained in a less-than-harmonious exchange on the Senate floor with Reid. He accused Democrats of "routinely setting up votes designed to divide us ... to give the president a talking point out on the campaign trail."

Reid shot back that McConnell had long ago declared Obama's defeat to be his top priority. And he warned that unless Republicans show a willingness to bend, the country faces a government shutdown "that will be just as unpopular" as the two that occurred when Newt Gingrich was House speaker more than a decade ago.

It was a reminder ? as if McConnell and current Speaker John Boehner of Ohio needed one ? of the political debacle that ensued for Republicans when Gingrich was outmaneuvered in a showdown with former President Bill Clinton.

At issue now are three year-end bills that Obama and leaders in both parties in Congress say they want. One would extend expiring Social Security payroll tax cuts and benefits for the long-term unemployed, provisions at the heart of Obama's jobs program. Another is the $1 trillion spending measure that would lock in cuts that Republicans won earlier in the year. The third measure is a $662 billion defense bill setting policy for military personnel, weapons systems and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus national security programs in the Energy Department.

After a two-day silence, the White House said Obama would sign the measure despite initial concern over a provision requiring military custody of certain terror suspects linked to al-Qaida or its affiliates. U.S. citizens would be exempt.

The measure cleared the House, 283-136, with a final vote expected Thursday in the Senate.

Officials said Democrats were drafting a new proposal to extend the payroll tax that likely would not include the millionaires' surtax that Republicans opposed almost unanimously.

Republicans minimized the significance of the move. "They're not giving up a whole lot. The tax they wanted to implement on business owners was something that couldn't pass the House and couldn't pass the Senate," McConnell said in a CNBC interview.

Jettisoning the tax could also require Democrats to agree to politically painful savings elsewhere in the budget to replace the estimated $140 billion the tax would have raised over a decade.

In its most recent form, the surtax would have slapped a 1.9 percent tax on income in excess of $1 million, with the proceeds helping pay for the extension of tax cuts for 160 million workers. Senate Democrats have twice forced votes on the proposal in what officials have described as a political maneuver designed to force GOP lawmakers to choose between protecting the wealthy on the one hand and extending tax cuts for millions on the other.

The spending bill was hung up ? and there was no agreement why.

Republicans and at least one Democrat said agreement had been reached earlier in the week, but Reid disputed that and pointed to provisions relating to travel to Cuba and funding for the Commodities Future Trading Commission as examples.

"It's pretty clear to all of us that President Obama and Sen. Reid want to threaten a government shutdown so they can get leverage" on the payroll tax bill, said Boehner, noting that so far, the Senate has failed to pass legislation on the issue.

Wednesday's maneuvering occurred the day after the House passed a payroll tax extension that contained no higher taxes. That House measure drew a veto threat from Obama that cited spending cuts the White House said would harm the middle class without requiring a sacrifice from the wealthy.

The bill would extract nearly $43 billion from the year-old health care bill; extend a pay freeze on federal employees while also increasing their pension contributions and raise Medicare premiums on seniors with incomes over $80,000 beginning in 2017. It also would raise a fee that is charged to banks whose mortgages are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Obama's veto message also alluded to a requirement for the construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas that Republicans said would create 20,000 jobs. The provision is designed to force the administration's hand, since Obama announced recently that despite three years of review under two administrations, he was putting off a decision until after the election.

The measure would permit Obama to block the Keystone XL project if he deemed its construction to be not in the national interest.

The House-passed bill also includes an extension of unemployment benefits that would scale back what is currently in place. The White House said 3.3 million people would be cut off under its terms. Another part of the bill, to block proposed regulations limiting toxic emissions from industrial incinerators, drew objections from the White House.

The legislation would avert a threatened 27 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, and Obama and Democrats are willing to accept that.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Alan Fram and Andrew Taylor contributed to this story

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-14-US-Congress-Rdp/id-4e86be4b1d004b61896799476d09fc31

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Rick Perry rebound in Iowa: Assisted by veterans?

Polls show Rick Perry gaining ground and Newt Gingrich weakening in Iowa. Why Rick Perry may be picking up the vet vote.

Lots of news stories today about how the race to win Iowa is still wide open. The New York Times? Nate Silver takes a whirl through the polling data and says any of five candidates could plausibly win. And Politico?s Maggie Haberman reports that internal poll numbers from the Mitt Romney and Rick Perry camps show Newt Gingrich?s lead in Iowa is indeed slipping.

Skip to next paragraph

Interestingly, she also quotes a ?veteran GOP caucus-watcher? as saying:

?Watch Rick Perry. He?s going for a top three finish, and that could be to Romney?s expense.?

We?ve found ourselves wondering about Perry, who?s kicking off a 42-city Iowa bus tour today. Notably, two recent Iowa polls have shown a slight uptick in Perry?s support. In particular, an American Research Group (ARG) poll released yesterday (Tuesday)? showed him gaining 8 points (though he?s still in fourth place).?

What?s behind this movement? Clearly, some of it is Gingrich starting to come back to Earth. In the ARG poll, Gingrich was down 5 percentage points from the previous poll - and Perry seemed to be the clear beneficiary.?

And despite some intense Internet mockery, Perry?s ?Strong? ad - where he criticizes the fact that gay soldiers can serve openly in the military while children can?t celebrate Christmas in school - may be generating some traction in the state.

In particular, Decoder is now wondering if the ad?s appeal was actually two-fold - going beyond Christian conservatives to another potentially powerful voting bloc: veterans.?

Remember, aside from Ron Paul, Perry is the only candidate who actually served in the US military. And in 2004, veterans were absolutely key to Sen. John Kerry?s come-from-behind win in Iowa.

Decoder just watched a live stream of an Iowa town hall event, where Perry was introduced by a?veteran with who?d suffered serious third degree burns on 50 percent of his body. He gave a powerful introduction on behalf of Perry, hammering the issue of American exceptionalism.

If Perry can marshall the veteran community behind him, a campaign that not so long ago was universally seen as dead could conceivably come back to life.?

Want more??

Like your politics unscrambled? Check out DCDecoder.com

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/pbR9ufD_s8g/Rick-Perry-rebound-in-Iowa-Assisted-by-veterans

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Steelers?rout Bengals

Roethlisberger throws 2 TDs as Pittsburgh (9-3) sweeps season series with 35-7 win

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger celebrates a touchdown against the Bengals.

By WILL GRAVES

updated 6:11 p.m. ET Dec. 4, 2011

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Steelers needed just 15 minutes to provide the Cincinnati Bengals a refresher course on what it takes to win in December.

Run the ball. Create turnovers. A big play or two on special teams helps. So does having a quarterback who knows what he's doing when the games dwindle to a precious few.

It's a formula the defending AFC champions have used for years. It has rarely looked as effective as it did in a 35-7 win Sunday.

Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes to Mike Wallace, Rashard Mendenhall ran for two more and the Steelers used an explosive second quarter to crush error-prone Cincinnati.

"We're in it now," linebacker James Farrior said. "Right now is our time. ... We already started our playoffs."

It certainly looked like it as Pittsburgh (9-3) swept the season series from Cincinnati (7-5) for the second straight year to end any realistic hopes the Bengals have of winning the AFC North.

"It's tough," said Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. Green, who caught an 11-yard touchdown pass but also committed a false start penalty that wiped out another score. "We shot ourselves in the foot sometimes. Being the veteran team they are, they capitalized on everything we did."

It's what the Steelers do this time of year.

Pittsburgh has been a mixed bag at times this season, often playing to the level of the competition, regardless of who it is.

The same team that handled New England with ease six weeks ago is the same one that barely escaped woeful Kansas City with a win last Sunday night, raising concerns about Roethlisberger's fractured right thumb, the running game and a defense nursing injuries to safety Troy Polamalu (concussion) and LaMarr Woodley (hamstring).

There were no anxious final moments against the Bengals. Pittsburgh's best quarter of the season left little room for doubt, scoring four touchdowns in a span of less than 12 minutes to break it open.

"Finally," Wallace said. "We always make it harder than it has to be. Today, we came out with a lot of emotion and a lot of energy. The guys just wanted to win. We knew what we had to do. It's getting closer to the playoffs and it's time for us to get better."

While the Bengals appear to be getting worse.

Rookie quarterback Andy Dalton passed for just 135 yards, was sacked three times by Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison and spent the fourth quarter on the bench as a preventative measure with the game out of reach.

"We can't let this hurt us," Dalton said. "We can't let this affect the next four."

Blocking it out might be tough.

Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis did little to downplay the game's importance, practically admitting his team's hopes for an outside shot at a divisional title would all but disappear if his surprising team couldn't earn a split with the Steelers.

The Bengals hung tough in a 24-17 loss to Pittsburgh three weeks ago, the kind of gritty performance that gave them hope they could earn a split with their division rivals and stay alive in their quest for a second division title in three seasons.

No chance.

Thrust into the role of contender, the Bengals wilted in the spotlight, reverting back to the kind of mistakes they've avoided while rebuilding on the fly behind the tandem of Dalton and Green. Cincinnati committed 10 penalties for 109 yards and offered little resistance to lose for the third time in four games.

"They beat us in every area today ? beat us on offense, beat us on defense, beat us in special teams," Lewis said.

Roethlisberger, who aggravated his injured thumb in practice during the week, overcame a slow start to complete 15 of 23 passes for 176 yards and the two scores to Wallace. His final completion, a 9-yard toss to tight end David Johnson in the fourth quarter, was the 2,026th of his career, breaking Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw's club record.

"It's obviously an awesome honor," Roethlisberger said. "Anytime you break a guy like that's record, it's a great thing."

It was that kind of day for Pittsburgh. Wide receiver Hines Ward became the 19th player in NFL history to eclipse 12,000 career yards while Harrison joined Chad Brown and Mike Merriweather as the only players in team history to record at least two three-sack games in the same season.

"You have to start playing good, all-around football," Ward said. "Today, we displayed that."

The Bengals did not.

Cincinnati's miscues started early. Green flinched ever so slightly just before the snap to negate a 4-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Jermaine Gresham on the Bengals' opening possession.

Mike Nugent came out to kick a short field goal only to have it called back after being flagged for delay of game. Nugent's kick never had a shot the second time around. Rookie Cam Heyward swatted it out of harm's way to record Pittsburgh's first blocked kick in more than two years.

It's as close as the Bengals would get to making it interesting.

Mendenhall, who has been erratic, gave the Steelers the lead with a 3-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. He upped the lead to 14-0 with a nifty 5-yard cutback run.

The Bengals continued to self-destruct on the ensuing kickoff when Brandon Tate fumbled and the Steelers recovered at the Cincinnati 23. Roethlisberger needed just three plays to hit Wallace for a 12-yard score to make it 21-0.

Dalton found Green for an 11-yard score to briefly give the Bengals life, but Brown extinguished any momentum with a scintillating 60-yard punt return just before the half that gave the Steelers a 28-7 lead at the break.

The Bengals came in with an NFL-record three double-digit second half rallies, but not this time. Playing with a lead Pittsburgh's defense teed off on Dalton and sent fans sprinting to the exits early with victory in hand.

"It's just embarrassing," Cincinnati defensive back Chris Crocker said. "You don't feel good at all. When they're beating you so bad that their fans leave, that's just a bad feeling."

Notes: The Steelers have swept the Bengals seven times in the last 11 seasons. ... Woodley started for the first time since getting hurt against New England on Oct. 30, but left in the first half after "tweaking" his left hamstring according to Tomlin. ... Pittsburgh hosts Cleveland on Thursday night, while the Bengals host Houston on Sunday.

More news

Can Bears overcome Forte injury?

??Chicago's playoff hopes appear dim, though Rodney Harrison and Mike Florio also discuss the Giants' confidence and the Broncos' potential.

PFT's 10-pack: Packers are closing in on 16-0

??PFT's 10-pack: Many believed that, if the Packers could get past the giant-killing Giants in Week 13, the defending Super Bowl champs would be virtually guaranteed a perfect regular season. Given the current state of the four remaining opponents, that outcome is looking more and more likely.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45543602/ns/sports-nfl/

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

GOP rivals hope to court Cain supporters

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks at a town hall style event in the Staten Island borough of New York Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. Gingrich praised GOP presidential rival Herman Cain for bringing optimism and big ideas to the 2012 campaign on Saturday. Polls show that Gingrich's candidacy has surged in recent weeks, with many showing him topping the Republican field. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks to supporters and volunteers during a rally Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul has his microphone attached before he appears on the Republican Presidential Forum on "Huckabee," the Fox News program hosted by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

Republican 2012 presidential candidate, Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum at a Toys-for-Tots drive at his headquarters in Bedford, N.H., Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. To some, Santorum appears to be the candidate most likely to engineer a surprise. ?Crisis pregnancy centers are strongly behind Sen. Santorum,? said Karen Floyd, a former South Carolina GOP chairwoman, noting this powerful and wide network of anti-abortion voters who show up on Election Day. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks at the book-signing event for her book "Core of Conviction" Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Aiken, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt))

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A day after Herman Cain shuttered his Republican candidacy for president, struggling GOP hopefuls looked to pick up the fallen candidate's tea party following and upset a primary dynamic that has pushed Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich to the forefront.

Reps. Ron Paul of Texas and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said Sunday they expected Cain supporters would fall in line behind them because of their messages on limited government, despite their low standing in the polls. Meanwhile, last-place rival Rick Santorum predicted he now had a good chance of winning the Iowa caucus.

While such brazen predictions are likely overstated, the 11th-hour press comes at a crucial time and could upset an already volatile race for the GOP endorsement. A month before the first vote is cast in the Iowa caucus and five weeks before the New Hampshire primary, most GOP candidates were looking to a week of heavy campaigning in Iowa ahead of the next debate, scheduled for Saturday. The stakes are possibly the highest for Mitt Romney, who could be hurt the worst if Cain supporters rally behind Gingrich.

"A lot of Herman Cain supporters have been calling our office and they've been coming over to our side," said Bachmann. "They saw Herman Cain as an outsider and I think they see that my voice would be the one that would be most reflective of his."

Likewise, Paul said he was optimistic that Cain's departure would reinvigorate his campaign.

"We're paying a lot of attention to that, because obviously they're going to go somewhere in the next week or so," Paul said of Cain's supporters.

Santorum predicted that his campaign would pick up steam in coming days.

"We have a very strong, consistent conservative message that matches up better with Iowans than anybody else. And we think we're going to surprise a lot of people," he said.

Once surging in the polls, Cain dropped out of the race Saturday after battling allegations of sexual harassment and a claim that he had a 13-year extramarital affair. The Georgia businessman has denied the accusations.

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker from Georgia, has so far been the biggest beneficiary of Cain's slide. A Des Moines Register poll conducted Nov. 27-30 and released late Saturday found the former House speaker leading the GOP field with 25 percent support, ahead of Paul at 18 percent and Romney at 16.

A separate NBC News/Marist poll showed Gingrich beating Romney, 26 percent to 18 percent, among Republican caucus attendees in Iowa.

Gingrich also is enjoying national popularity that could give him the momentum he needs to overcome deficiencies in the organization of his campaign. At the same time, Gingrich says he knows his surge in the polls could disappear if his opponents stage a comeback.

"I'm not going to say that any of my friends can't suddenly surprise us," Gingrich said at a recent town hall meeting in New York sponsored by tea party supporters.

Meanwhile, Romney is running strong in New Hampshire, which holds the nation's first primary on Jan. 10. Romney is also seen by most conservatives at this point as having the greatest chance of defeating President Barack Obama next year.

But Romney continues to be viewed with suspicion by many conservatives who say he has changed his stance on such critical issues as abortion and health care. Santorum acknowledged Sunday that Romney has embraced more conservative positions on issues.

"The question is, you know, what's the sincerity of the move and whether he can be trusted," said Santorum.

Bachmann said it was too soon to declare anyone a true front-runner because the dynamic in the race was constantly changing.

"We've got 30 days," she said. "That's an eternity in this race."

Reince Priebus, the Republican Party chairman, said Sunday that he was indifferent to Cain's departure and that it was "only natural" in the face of falling poll numbers and trouble raising money.

This week's agenda for the primary candidates included a stop in Arizona by Romney and a forum Wednesday by the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington, which is expected to attract Bachmann, Gingrich, Huntsman, Perry, Romney and Santorum. Gingrich was scheduled to meet Monday with real-estate mogul Donald Trump at Trump's New York offices. Trump, who briefly entered the primary race in the spring and drew considerable publicity when he questioned the validity of Obama's birth certificate, said he would moderate a Republican presidential debate in Iowa on Dec. 27.

Paul, who has clashed publicly with Trump, said he thought the GOP was making a mistake in giving Trump so much credibility.

"I don't understand the marching to his office. I mean I didn't know that he had an ability to lay on hands, you know, and anoint people," Paul said.

Paul and Bachmann spoke on CNN's "State of the Union." Santorum spoke on ABC's "This Week." Priebus spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-04-US-GOP-Campaign/id-d64a35bebcb94c17b9e97ff0258e5ebb

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Monday, December 5, 2011

84-year-old woman: I was strip searched at JFK

By msnbc.com staff and news service reports

An 84-year-old New York grandmother said Saturday she was injured and humiliated when she was strip searched at an airport after she asked to be patted down instead of going through a body scanner.

Lenore Zimmerman said she was whisked away to a private room and made to take off her pants and other clothes after she asked to forgo the screening because she worried it would interfere with her defibrillator. She missed her flight and had to take one two-and-a-half hours later, she said.

?I walk with a walker ? I really look like a terrorist,? she told The New York Daily News. ?I?m tiny. I weigh 110 pounds, 107 without clothes, and I was strip-searched.?

?I was outraged,? said Zimmerman, a retired receptionist.

As she tried to lift a lightweight walker off her lap, she said the metal bars hit her leg, causing blood to flow from her?a gash, the newspaper reported.

?My sock was soaked with blood,? she said. ?I was bleeding like a pig."

But the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement Saturday no strip search was conducted.

"While we regret that the passenger feels she had an unpleasant screening experience, TSA does not include strip searches as part of our security protocols and one was not conducted in this case," the statement read.

Zimmerman was dropped off by her son at Kennedy Airport for a 1 p.m. flight Tuesday to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on JetBlue, she said. She arrived to the ticket counter around 12:20 p.m. and headed for security in a wheelchair, her small, metal walker in her lap.

She's been traveling to Florida for at least a decade and has never had a problem being patted down until now, she said. "I worry about my heart, so I don't want to go through those things," she said referring to the advanced image technology screening machines now in place at the airport.

Private screening
As a result, she said she was taken into the private screening room by one agent and made to strip.

A review of closed-circuit television at the airport showed proper procedures were followed, Jonathan Allen, a TSA spokesman, said in a statement.

"Private screening was requested by the passenger, it was granted and lasted approximately 11 minutes," the statement read. "TSA screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy and that occurred in this instance."

The private screening was not recorded.

Zimmerman, who spends half the year in Long Beach, N.Y., said she banged her shin during the process and it bled "like a pig," partly because she is on blood-thinning medication. She said an emergency medical technician patched her up, but she was told to see a doctor when she arrived in Florida to make sure the wound didn't get infected. There are no records indicating medical attention was called on her behalf.

"I don't know what triggered this. I don't know why they singled me out," she said.

Her son Bruce Zimmerman said he'd like to see someone fired, and screeners re-trained after his mother's ordeal.

"My mother is a little old woman. She's not disruptive or uncooperative," he said Saturday. "I don't understand how this happened."

He said she's had an increasingly difficult time traveling, especially since her husband died a few years ago. She has two grandchildren, and her older son, a doctor, died in 2007.

Meanwhile, Lenore Zimmerman said she was healing, planned to go to the grocery store on Saturday and take it easy. Weather was about 76 and sunny, and she's not headed back to an airport until April when she returns to New York.

"Thank goodness," she said. "It will give me some time to brace myself for the return flight."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More news and feature stories from msnbc.com:

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/03/9191260-84-year-old-woman-i-was-strip-searched-at-jfk

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Assange to fight extradition in top UK court (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is fighting extradition to Sweden, won the right on Monday to ask Britain's Supreme Court to hear his case, prolonging his stay in Britain.

Swedish authorities want to question the 40-year-old Australian over accusations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers in August 2010.

Assange, who has been living in Britain since his arrest here in December last year, denies wrongdoing.

Monday, two High Court judges ruled that he could ask the Supreme Court to look at his case. However, the ruling does not guarantee him a hearing. The Supreme Court, Britain's highest, can decide to hear his case, or reject his petition.

Assange now has 14 days in which to formally lodge an appeal, meaning his stay in Britain is certain to stretch into 2012.

Asked by Reuters as he left the court if he thought the ruling was a victory, the silver-haired Assange said "Yes" before he was whisked away through a crowd of reporters and supporters.

Dressed in a dark grey suit, Assange embraced his lawyer Gareth Peirce after the hearing in London.

The two judges ruled that Assange's case raised a question "of general public importance" that should be decided by the Supreme Court "as quickly as possible."

Assange argues that the European arrest warrant on which he is being held is invalid because it was issued by a prosecutor in Sweden rather than by a court or a judge.

"I am a bit surprised," said Swedish Prosecution Authority spokeswoman Karin Rosander, reacting to the ruling. She maintained the prosecution authority has the right to issue an arrest warrant.

Assange spent nine days in London's Wandsworth prison after his arrest last year. He was freed a week before Christmas on bail and has since been living at the country house of a wealthy supporter in eastern England.

His arrest came shortly after WikiLeaks published thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that included unflattering views of world leaders and candid assessments of security threats.

Assange says the allegations against him are politically motivated and has fought a complex and expensive legal battle to avoid being sent back to Sweden.

In 2010, WikiLeaks posted 391,832 secret papers on the Iraq war and 77,000 classified Pentagon documents on the Afghan conflict. It has also made available about 250,000 individual cables, daily traffic between the State Department and more than 270 American diplomatic outposts around the world.

(Additional reporting by Keith Weir in London and Patrick Lannin in Stockholm; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/wl_nm/us_britain_assange

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6 Chinese arrested for turtle catch in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Six Chinese fishermen have been arrested in western Philippine waters for catching endangered sea turtles, officials said Sunday.

The fishermen, from China's southern island province of Hainan, were arrested Friday in waters off western Palawan province's Balabac township, said Maj. Niel Estrella, a Philippine military spokesman.

They are expected to be charged in court Monday for violating the Philippines' wildlife act and fisheries code provisions against catching endangered animals, said Adelina Villena, chief lawyer at the government's Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.

The fishermen's speedboat was intercepted by a joint team from the navy, coast guard and environment department.

Glenda Cadigal, a wildlife specialist at the Palawan Council, said the catch included 12 green sea turtles. Three turtles were alive and have been released, while nine were dead.

Villena said that if found guilty, the fishermen face a jail term of up to four years for violating the country's wildlife act, and up to 20 years for violating the fisheries code.

Estrella said the arresting team suspects that the Chinese fishermen's mother ship may have escaped when the speedboat was intercepted.

Palawan is the nearest Philippine province to the disputed Spratly Islands, which are claimed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.

Endangered sea turtles are often caught for food and for use in traditional medicine.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2011-12-04-AS-Philippines-Chinese-Fishermen/id-517700a5022c473cac7abb258326cd85

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Iraq: Key figures since the war began (AP)

CASUALTIES:

_U.S. deaths as of Nov. 30, 2011: 4,485.

_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (hostile) as of Nov. 29, 2011: 31,921.

_Confirmed U.S. military wounded (non-hostile, using medical air transport) as of Oct. 31, 2011: 40,350

_Deaths of civilian employees of U.S. government contractors as of Sept. 30, 2011: More than 2,097.

_Iraqi deaths as of Nov. 30, 2011, from war-related violence, according to Iraq Body Count: At least 103,775.

_Assassinated Iraqi academics as of Aug. 25, 2011: 464.

_Journalists killed on assignment as of Nov. 30, 2011: 174.

COST:

_More than $805 billion as of Nov. 30, 2011, according to the National Priorities Project.

OIL PRODUCTION:

_Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.

_July 29, 2011: 2.37 million barrels per day.

ELECTRICITY:

_Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 4-8.

_July 29, 2011: Nationwide: 6,990 megawatts. Hours per day: not available.

TELEPHONES:

_Prewar cell phones: 80,000.

_October 2011: An estimated 23 million, served by three carriers.

WATER:

Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.

Sept. 22, 2011: Approximately 24 million people have potable water (majority in urban areas).

SEWERAGE:

_Prewar: 6.2 million people served.

_Sept. 22, 2011: Approximately 20 million people served (majority in urban areas).

INTERNAL REFUGEES:

_Prewar: 1,021,962.

_August 2011: Approximately 1.3 million people are currently displaced inside Iraq.

EMIGRANTS:

_Prewar: 500,000 Iraqis living abroad.

_July 2011: Approximately 1 million Iraqis, mainly in Syria and Jordan.

___

Sources: Associated Press, U.S. State Department, U.S. Defense Department, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, The Brookings Institution, Iraq Body Count, U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, U.N. High Commission for Refugees, Committee to Protect Journalists, National Priorities Project.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_by_the_numbers

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Is this the world's biggest bug? That depends...

Mark Moffett / Minden / Solent

Entomologist Mark Moffett found this carrot-eating giant weta in a tree on New Zealand's Little Barrier Island. The cricketlike critter weighs 2.5 ounces (71 grams) and has a length of 7 inches (17.8 centimeters).

Alan Boyle writes

Is this the world's biggest bug? As with all superlatives, it depends on your definition.?But?the sight of a New Zealand giant weta chomping down on a carrot surely has to give you the creeps, even if it's rivaled by other giant creepy crawlies.

This particular species of the cricketlike creature ??known as a giant weta or wetapunga to the Maori, and as Deinacrida heteracantha to scientists ??is found only in protected areas such as?New Zealand's Little Barrier Island. That's where Mark ("Doctor Bugs") Moffett, an entomologist and explorer at the Smithsonian Institution,?found?the specimen?after two?nights of searching.

"The giant weta is the largest insect in the world, and this is the biggest one ever found," Britain's Daily Mail quoted Moffett as saying. "She weighs the equivalent to three mice. ... She enjoyed the carrot so much she seemed to ignore the fact she was resting on our hands and carried on munching away. She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species, and we didn't want to risk indigestion."

The carrot-crunching cricket went viral today, and now questions are starting to emerge about the "biggest bug" label. The information accompanying the picture lists the insect's weight at 2.5 ounces (71 grams) and its length at 7 inches (17.8 centimeters, supposedly for wingspan, but keep reading).

The New Zealand-based news site Stuff.co.nz checked that with Landcare Research entomologist Thomas Buckley. "From the picture, it's a female,?but it just looks like an average-sized one of that species," Buckley said.

Even the biggest giant weta has its rivals in the insect world. By some accounts,?goliath beetles can reach a weight of 100 grams (3.5 ounces)?during their larval stage?and achieve a wingspan of?nearly 10 inches (25 centimeters). The White Witch moth, meanwhile,?has a wingspan of up to 12 inches (31 centimeters), which is wider than?the wings of a sparrow.

But if you confine yourself strictly to adult insects, and define "big" in terms of weight, Moffett appears to have a good case. He told me in an email that the?giant weta?he found counts as the "largest one weighed, as far as I have seen recorded anywhere."

Now, if your definition of a "bug"?takes in more than insects ? say, the giant crustaceans known as isopods, which are super-sized versions of rolypoly bugs ? then you're talking about bugs of truly horrific proportions. Do you have tales of monster bugs to share? Add them as comments below.

Update for 9:30 p.m. ET: Some of the reports about this giant weta make it sound as if the darn thing might bite somebody's finger off, but that's bogus. This?CafeTerra posting describes the?bug as a vegetarian and "the gentle giant of the insect world."?They survive only in protected environments because they've been driven to near-extinction by rats and other invasive predators on New Zealand's main islands. The Kiwi Conservation Club says the bug is a "docile creature and does not kick or bite." Some reports have referred to the giant weta as having a 7-inch?wingspan, but Moffett told me that the insect is "wingless, or virtually so."?It's so heavy that it can't jump. It's so big that it can't easily hide from predators. And yes, it's edible.

Update for 11:30 p.m. ET: Moffett shed more light on the "biggest bug" question in a follow-up email: "I did not measure anything but the weight (one should correctly call it the 'world's heaviest adult insect'), but a rough estimate from the picture suggests an outstretched leg might be 7 inches. The weta is essentially wingless: no wings to see at all, let alone a seven-inch wing. [As to size:] I've seen a walking stick nearly 19 inches long in Sarawak, Malaysia, but it weighs next to nothing!"

More weird tales of the insect world:

Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.?

Source: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/01/9150501-worlds-biggest-bug-that-depends

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