Putin loyalist resigns as parliament speaker (AP)

MOSCOW ? A loyalist to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who served as the speaker of Russia's parliament resigned Wednesday in a move that appeared to be part of the government's effort to stem public anger over alleged fraud in this month's parliamentary election.

Boris Gryzlov had served as speaker of the State Duma for eight years and helped make it a reliable rubber stamper of Putin's decisions.

Putin has ruled Russia for nearly 12 years as president, then prime minister, and he is now campaigning to reclaim the presidency in March.

However, Putin's authority has been hurt by the Dec. 4 parliamentary election, which saw his United Russia party lose about 20 percent of its parliament seats and barely retain its majority. Reports of widespread fraud in the voting also led to widespread anti-government protests across Russia last weekend, the largest the nation had seen since its Communist days.

Another large anti-Kremlin protest is scheduled late this month, and that has left authorities scrambling for ways to stem the tide of discontent.

Putin has promised a government reshuffle, and President Dmitry Medvedev said that their United Russia should share senior positions in parliament with other parties.

The dour Gryzlov, who served as chairman of United Russia and the speaker of the State Duma, announced Wednesday that he will not seek speaker's job but will keep his party post.

Putin is the leader of United Russia, but not a member of it, in a thinly-veiled attempt to maintain his distance from the increasingly unpopular party, which has been dubbed the "party of crooks and thieves."

Gryzlov, who was evidently asked to step down, had become an emblematic figure in Putin's "managed democracy" system, which envisaged tight control over political life. Gryzlov's famous statement that "parliament isn't a place for discussion" reflected United Russia's domination of parliament and its marginalization of opposition forces.

The December election stripped Putin's party of the two-thirds majority it needed to modify the constitution, and it will now lose control of some parliamentary committees to other parties.

"Gryzlov was serving as the speaker in a predictable and comfortable situation, when United Russia had a constitutional majority," Alexei Makarkin, the deputy head of the Center for Political Technologies think-tank, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. "The new speaker must be able to conduct a dialogue with the opposition."

Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst who had close links to the Kremlin in the past, told Interfax that "Gryzlov has become a problem for United Russia."

Valery Khomyakov, the head of the Council for National Strategy think-tank, said Gryzlov's lack of charisma made him a liability for the party. "The speaker's job requires a more charismatic politician," he said, according to RIA Novosti news agency.

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

how to cook a turkey ucla basketball walmart black friday sales walmart black friday sales michelle obama booed at nascar polio cutler

Sharpening the lines: Advance could lead to smaller features in the quest for more compact, faster microchips

ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2011) ? The microchip revolution has seen a steady shrinking of features on silicon chips, packing in more transistors and wires to boost chips' speed and data capacity. But in recent years, the technologies behind these chips have begun to bump up against fundamental limits, such as the wavelengths of light used for critical steps in chip manufacturing.

Now, a new technique developed by researchers at MIT and the University of Utah offers a way to break through one of these limits, possibly enabling further leaps in the computational power packed into a tiny sliver of silicon. A paper describing the process was published in the journal Physical Review Letters in November.

Postdoc Trisha Andrew PhD '10 of MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics, a co-author of this paper as well as a 2009 paper that described a way of creating finer lines on chips, says this work builds on that earlier method. But unlike the earlier technique, called absorbance modulation, this one allows the production of complex shapes rather than just lines, and can be carried out using less expensive light sources and conventional chip-manufacturing equipment. "The whole optical setup is on a par with what's out there" in chip-making plants, she says. "We've demonstrated a way to make everything cheaper."

As in the earlier work, this new system relies on a combination of approaches: namely, interference patterns between two light sources and a photochromic material that changes color when illuminated by a beam of light. But, Andrew says, a new step is the addition of a material called a photoresist, used to produce a pattern on a chip via a chemical change following exposure to light. The pattern transferred to the chip can then be etched away with a chemical called a developer, leaving a mask that can in turn control where light passes through that layer.

While traditional photolithography is limited to producing chip features larger than the wavelength of the light used, the method devised by Andrew and her colleagues has now been shown to produce features one-eighth that size. Others have achieved similar sizes before, Andrew says, but only with equipment whose complexity is incompatible with quick, inexpensive manufacturing processes.

The new system uses "a materials approach, combined with sophisticated optics, to get large-scale patterning," she says. And the technique should make it possible to reduce the size of the lines even further, she says.

The key to beating the limits usually imposed by the wavelength of light and the size of the optical system is an effect called stimulated emission depletion imaging, or STED, which uses fluorescent materials that emit light when illuminated by a laser beam. If the power of the laser falls below a certain level, the fluorescence stops, leaving a dark patch. It turns out that by carefully controlling the laser's power, it's possible to leave a dark patch much smaller than the wavelength of the laser light itself. By using the dark areas as a mask, and sweeping the beam across the chip surface to create a pattern, these smaller sizes can be "locked in" to the surface.

That process has previously been used to improve the resolution of optical microscopes, but researchers had thought it inapplicable to photolithographic chip making. The innovation by this MIT and Utah team was to combine STED with the earlier absorbance-modulation technique, replacing the fluorescent materials with a special polymer whose molecules change shape in response to specific wavelengths of light.

In addition to enabling the manufacture of chips with finer features, the technique could also be used in other advanced technologies, such as the production of photonic devices, which use patterns to control the flow of light rather than the flow of electricity. "It can be used for any process that uses optical lithography," Andrew says.

Professor Stefan Hell, head of the Department of NanoBiophotonics at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in G?ttingen, Germany, calls this work "strikingly simple and elegant" and "a most impressive demonstration of the idea of using photochromic molecules to create features that are both finer and closer together than half the wavelength of the light."

"The work shows a concrete pathway to creating tiny and dense features at the nanoscale." he adds. "Because of its future potential it needs to be actively pursued. ... These methods have the potential of shifting the paradigm of what we think that focused light can do for making nanosized features and hence mastering the nanoworld."

In addition to Andrew, the paper's authors include Rajesh Menon, formerly a research engineer at MIT and now an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Utah, and Utah postdoc Nicole Brimhall and graduate student Rajakumar Varma Manthena. The work was supported in part by grants from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The original article was written by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Nicole Brimhall, Trisha Andrew, Rajakumar Manthena, Rajesh Menon. Breaking the Far-Field Diffraction Limit in Optical Nanopatterning via Repeated Photochemical and Electrochemical Transitions in Photochromic Molecules. Physical Review Letters, 2011; 107 (20) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.205501

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111214105613.htm

atomic clock earthquake map geoffrey mutai wes welker brandon jacobs brandon jacobs fred davis

EPA report on WY water doesn't end fracking debate

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2009 photo, Louis Meeks holds a jar filled with water from a contaminated well on his property near in Pavillion, Wyo. The ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is asking the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more information about an EPA investigation into groundwater contamination in a Wyoming gas field. Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a letter Tuesday to explain a recent comment she made about the contamination in the Pavillion area in central Wyoming. Jackson told a Bloomberg news program last month that a petroleum industry practice called hydraulic fracturing could have affected nearby areas containing groundwater. (AP Photo/Casper Star-Tribune, Kerry Huller,)

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2009 photo, Louis Meeks holds a jar filled with water from a contaminated well on his property near in Pavillion, Wyo. The ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is asking the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more information about an EPA investigation into groundwater contamination in a Wyoming gas field. Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a letter Tuesday to explain a recent comment she made about the contamination in the Pavillion area in central Wyoming. Jackson told a Bloomberg news program last month that a petroleum industry practice called hydraulic fracturing could have affected nearby areas containing groundwater. (AP Photo/Casper Star-Tribune, Kerry Huller,)

In this 2007 file photo, natural gas wellheads and other production facilities are shown around the rural community of Pavillion, Wyo. The ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is asking the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more information about an EPA investigation into groundwater contamination in a Wyoming gas field. Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a letter Tuesday to explain a recent comment she made about the contamination in the Pavillion area in central Wyoming. Jackson told a Bloomberg news program last month that a petroleum industry practice called hydraulic fracturing could have affected nearby areas containing groundwater. (AP Photo/ Casper Star-Tribune, Dustin Bleizeffer)

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2009 photo, Encana Corp. placed two 2400 gallon water containers inside this unit on Louis Meeks' property in Pavillion, Wyo. The ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is asking the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more information about an EPA investigation into groundwater contamination in a Wyoming gas field. Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a letter Tuesday to explain a recent comment she made about the contamination in the Pavillion area in central Wyoming. Jackson told a Bloomberg news program last month that a petroleum industry practice called hydraulic fracturing could have affected nearby areas containing groundwater. (AP Photo/Casper Star-Tribune, Kerry Huller)

FILE- In this photograph taken April 15, 2009, an unidentified worker steps through the maze of hoses being used at a remote fracking site being run by Halliburton for natural-gas producer Williams in Rulison, Colo. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday Dec. 8, 2011 in Wyoming, for the first time that fracking - a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells - may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

FILE - This May 22, 2009 picture shows John Fenton, a farmer who lives near Pavillion in central Wyoming, near a tank used in natural gas extraction, in background. Fenton and some of his neighbors blame hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a common technique used in drilling new oil and gas wells, for fouling their well water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday Dec. 8, 2011 in Wyoming, for the first time that fracking may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution. The EPA also emphasized that the findings are specific to the Pavillion area. The agency said the fracking that occurred in Pavillion differed from fracking methods used elsewhere in regions with different geological characteristics. (AP Photo/Bob Moen, File)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ? A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft finding that it may have detected groundwater pollution resulting from a controversial technique that plays a huge role in modern oil and gas development isn't settled science yet.

Nor is it settled politics, especially where hydraulic fracturing has been opening up vast new oil and gas reserves and creating economic opportunities that might not otherwise exist.

And so the debate over fracking is likely to continue.

Environmentalists have been sounding the alarm about fracking in Pennsylvania, New York State and other places with new gas drilling. They lauded Thursday's announcement concerning pollution in a central Wyoming community as a long time coming.

"In Wyoming, EPA is recognizing what experts ? along with families in fracking communities across the country ? have known for some time," Kate Sinding, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City, said in an e-mail Thursday. "Fracking poses serious threats to safe drinking water."

Jan Jarrett, president of the environmental group PennFuture, said the news underscores the need for more research and protections in Pennsylvania.

"It really highlights the importance of getting the best possible safeguards in place," he said, adding that the report also shows that hydraulic fracking is not foolproof, as some in the industry have claimed.

The EPA emphasized that its announcement that it had found chemicals likely associated with gas production practices, including fracking, was just the first step in a review of its science. The draft report opens up a 45-day public comment period and a 30-day peer review process by independent scientists.

Even so, the oil and gas industry and its allies blasted the announcement as premature.

"Unsubstantiated statements coming from the EPA today stretch the data and cause unwarranted alarm and concern about a proven technology that allows our industry to safely extract oil and natural gas. The EPA's announcement is irresponsible and leads us to call into question its motives," said Bruce Hinchey, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

The practice called hydraulic fracturing is aimed at improving the productivity of oil and gas wells. It involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas to the surface.

Sen. James Inhofe called the study "not based on sound science but rather on political science."

"Its findings are premature, given that the Agency has not gone through the necessary peer-review process, and there are still serious outstanding questions regarding EPA's data and methodology," the Oklahoma Republican said.

Residents of Pavillion long have said their drinking water stinks of chemicals and is giving them health problems. Health officials last year recommended that they not drink their water and ventilate their bathrooms while showering.

Industry officials pointed out that the EPA announcement didn't focus on those domestic water wells but two wells drilled somewhat deeper into the aquifer specifically to test for pollution.

Moreover, the compounds could have had other origins not related to gas development, said Doug Hock, spokesman for Calgary, Alberta-based Encana, owner of the Pavillion gas field.

"Those could just have likely been brought about by contamination in their sampling process or construction of their well," Hock said.

An announced $45 million sale of the Pavillion field to Midland, Texas-based Legacy Reserves fell through last month amid what Encana said were Legacy's concerns about the EPA investigation.

The EPA, which has been studying the groundwater in Pavillion for more than two years, also emphasized that the preliminary findings are specific to the Pavillion area, not necessarily anywhere else in the U.S. The agency said the fracking that occurred in Pavillion differed from fracking methods used in regions with different geological characteristics.

The fracking occurred below the level of the drinking water aquifer and close to water wells, the EPA said. Elsewhere, drilling is more remote and fracking occurs much deeper than the level of groundwater that would normally be used.

"EPA's highest priority remains ensuring that Pavillion residents have access to safe drinking water," said Jim Martin, EPA regional administrator in Denver. "We look forward to having these findings in the draft report informed by a transparent and public review process."

The draft EPA report and the upcoming critiques of it come as states and the federal government continue to ponder whether and how to regulate fracking.

Last year, Wyoming became one of the first states to require oil and gas companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in fracking. Colorado regulators are considering doing the same.

The public and industry representatives packed an 11-hour hearing on the issue in Denver on Monday. They all generally supported the proposal but the sticking point is whether trade secrets would have to be disclosed and how quickly the information would have to be turned over.

______

Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin in Denver, Mary Esch in Albany, N.Y., and Kevin Begos in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2011-12-09-Fracking-Groundwater%20Pollution/id-b28c91587fc84a6fbd465b56c51abffa

powerball winner powerball winner narwhals narwhals gmail app gmail app phentermine

More Children Using Preventive Asthma Drugs: Study (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) -- About one in three children with asthma is currently using a preventive medication, according to new research. That number is up from about 18 percent of kids during the late 1980s.

Preventive asthma medications help control the airway disease before symptoms flare up, and guidelines from the U.S. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program recommend their use.

"The main finding from our study was that over 20 years, the use of medicines to prevent asthma has increased among children with asthma," said the study's lead author, Dr. Brian Kit, a medical epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

Commenting on the study, Dr. Shean Aujla, a pediatric pulmonologist at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said, "I think it's encouraging that there's been an increase in the use of preventive medications, but it's still only about one-third of kids with asthma using these drugs. I still think there's underdiagnosis and undertreatment of asthma."

Results of the study were released online Dec. 5, and will be published in the January 2012 issue of Pediatrics.

Preventive medications for asthma include inhaled corticosteroids, such as Pulmicort (budesonide) and Flovent (fluticasone); leukotriene-receptor antagonists, such as Singulair and Accolate; long-acting beta agonists, such as Serevent and Foradil; mast-cell stabilizers, such as Intal; and methylxanthines, such as Theo-Dur, according to the study.

Not everyone with asthma needs to take a daily preventive medication, Aujla noted. For example, youngsters with exercise-induced asthma often don't need to take a medication every day, just when they might have symptoms. But, many children with asthma can benefit from daily preventive medications, she said.

For the study, Kit and his colleagues used data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They used information collected during three time periods: 1988 to 1994, 1999 to 2002 and 2005 to 2008.

The survey included data from nearly 2,500 children from across the United States, who were between the ages of 1 and 19 years. All of these children reported having asthma currently.

During 1988 to 1994, about 18 percent of children and teens with asthma used a preventive medication. By 1999 to 2002, that number had risen to 21 percent, and by 2005 to 2008, nearly 35 percent of children and teens were using a preventive asthma medication.

The researchers found that preteens and teenagers had the lowest use of preventive medications. In 2005 to 2008, about 43 percent of kids between the ages of 1 and 5 years old used preventive drugs. In kids from 6 to 11 years old, about 45 percent used a preventive medication. But, in 12 to 19 year olds, the use of preventive medication dropped to less than 25 percent.

"Teens may be 'under-perceivers.' They may have severe asthma, but if they can still do activities, they may not report it. And, while families may think their teen is responsible enough to take care of their medications, they're often not," Aujla said.

She said she tells the parents of her patients to be sure they watch their teen taking his or her preventive medications to be sure it's getting done. She added that it's especially important to do this even in times of good control, because that's often when kids may get more lax about using their medications.

Kit's study also found that black children and Mexican American children were significantly less likely to use preventive medications for asthma, as were uninsured people.

Aujla said part of it may be the cost of these medications, or it could be a lack of access to health care. She also said that trust may be an issue in the minority population. And, that's especially concerning because blacks have higher rates of asthma, have more severe asthma and are more likely to die from asthma, she said.

Kit said the take-away message from this study is that parents should discuss their child's asthma symptoms with their child's doctor to make sure he or she is on the right medication.

More information

Learn more about asthma medications from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111206/hl_hsn/morechildrenusingpreventiveasthmadrugsstudy

anna chapman kim kardashian ghost hunters honda generator honda generator cc sabathia ruth madoff

Leaders at Americas talks: world economy top worry

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is seen on a large TV screen, flanked by paintings of Latin America Independence heros Simon Bolivar, left, and Antonio Jose de Sucre, while speaking at the second working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Bolivia's President Evo Morales gestures during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Uruguay's President Jose Mujica looks on during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar speaks during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean pledged closer ties to safeguard their economies from the world financial crisis as they formed a new bloc on Saturday including every nation in the hemisphere except the U.S. and Canada.

Several presidents stressed during the two-day summit that they hope to ride out turbulent times by boosting local industries and increasing trade within the region.

"It seems it's a terminal, structural crisis of capitalism," Bolivian President Evo Morales said in a speech Saturday. "I feel we're meeting at a good moment to debate ... the great unity of the countries of America, without the United States."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and some of his closest allies called the new regional bloc a tool for standing up to U.S. influence. But other leaders focused more on economic concerns and on working together to confront issues such as drug trafficking and the effects of climate change.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that if the nations are to keep thriving they will need to look more to their neighbors.

"The economic, financial crisis should be at the center of our concerns," Rousseff said Friday night. She said Latin America should "realize that to guarantee its current cycle of development despite the international economic turbulence, it means that every politician must be aware that each one needs the others."

The region has so far weathered the economic woes better than the U.S. or Europe, achieving economic growth of more than 5 percent last year.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the region has immense potential while "there's a hurricane that's hitting the so-called industrialized economies hard." He said Colombia's current trade with Brazil, for instance, is minimal and could grow significantly.

Chavez read aloud a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao congratulating the leaders on forming a new 33-nation regional bloc, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Hu pledged to deepen cooperation with the new group.

The U.S. remains the top trading partner of many countries in the region, with exceptions including Brazil and Chile, where China has recently taken the place of the U.S. as the biggest trading partner.

The leaders formally launched the new bloc, known by its Spanish initials CELAC, by approving a declaration of shared principles as well as a clause dealing with democratic norms. Chavez said leaders had not agreed on whether to make decisions by consensus or by vote, and as a result would reach decisions by consensus for the time being and take up the matter again later.

Chavez pounded a gavel on his desk as he read out several statements approved by the leaders, including one opposing the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, a conservative who took over the new group's rotating presidency, touted it a forum to build regional cooperation in spite of political differences. Pinera said the group would hold its next summit in Santiago in 2012.

Venezuela's government celebrated the gathering at a Caracas military base with bursts of fireworks that could be heard from the session. Other events included an orchestral performance led by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and a post-summit concert headlined by Puerto Rican hip-hop duo Calle 13.

Both Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said they hope the bloc eventually overshadows the importance of the Washington-based Organization of American States. Unlike the OAS, the new group will have Cuba as a full member and exclude the U.S. and Canada.

"We need a new inter-American system and, more specifically, a new system to guarantee human rights," Correa said Friday, referring to the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which has received complaints from Ecuadorean newspapers and television channels that accuse his government of trying to silence critics.

Chavez called the OAS "obsolete." Bolivia's Morales strongly criticized the International Monetary Fund, saying "they've just pillaged us and led us to poverty."

Several other presidents said they see CELAC as a forum to resolve conflicts and build closer ties, but not as an alternative to existing bodies such as the OAS.

On other issues, Morales appealed for strong steps at this month's climate change conference in South Africa, saying it's critical that developed nations renew pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

"If they kill the protocol, they kill the planet," Morales said.

Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, also expressed concerns about changing weather patterns and said nations should work together to better plan for disasters.

Several leaders called for closer cooperation to fight criminals and drug trafficking.

Colombia's Santos said the new bloc could help in re-examining whether current counter-drug efforts are the right approach.

Chavez criticized past U.S. interventions in Latin America, and said the region must "demand respect."

He recalled shaking President Barack Obama's hand at a 2009 summit and giving him a copy of the book "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Eduardo Galeano.

"I think President Obama hasn't had time to read that book," said Chavez, whose relations with Washington have been tense for much of his nearly 13-year-old presidency.

Caribbean leaders including Haitian President Michel Martelly thanked Chavez for selling their nations oil on preferential terms including long-term, low interest loans.

"The people of Haiti love you with all their hearts," Martelly told Chavez during his speech, saying "south-south cooperation" is key to the future of his impoverished country.

Chavez assured leaders he will survive cancer, reiterating that he underwent recent tests in Cuba after finishing chemotherapy and they found no "malignant cells in any part of my body, thanks to God."

Trinidad's prime minister gave Chavez a little bottle of what she described as holy water, and Chavez thanked her saying: "Soon we will have a summit of those of us who've beaten cancer."

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-03-LT-Venezuela-Summit/id-4d9d593c764242008d20478d334eca92

tony stewart amas music awards 2011 music awards 2011 jill biden jill biden al mvp

Jay-Z Hasn't Given Astro A 'Check Or A Contract'

'I have never met anyone from Roc Nation,' 'X Factor' whiz kid tells MTV News. 'I'd love to, but I'm not signed right now.'
By Rob Markman

Astro
Photo: MTV News

Yes, they both rep Brooklyn to the fullest, but Jay-Z has not signed "X Factor"'s rap wunderkind Astro.

"I don't have a check or a contract, so as far as I know, I'm not signed," the 15-year-old MC told MTV News when he stopped by our newsroom on Monday (December 5).

Last week, rumors that Hov signed the L.A. Reid-backed Astronomical Kid began to swirl online but the upstart rapper shot down the buzz. "I have never met anyone from Roc Nation. I'd love to, but I'm not signed right now to anyone," he said. "Nobody ever hit me up about that — just go on the Internet and it's up there. But I'm not signed as far as I know."

On last Thursday's episode, after giving a Michael Jackson-themed performance the night before, Astro was eliminated from the competition. Not that he was sweating it.

"Hey, man, it's for the better," the MC told "X Factor" host Steve Jones during his exit interview. "The only reason I'm mad is 'cause I don't get to see my girl that lives in Cali, but I will be back. ... I love my time. I've gained a lot of fans. People got picket signs tonight. I wish y'all the best of luck."

Astro wowed judges with his initial audition for the show when he rapped his own original composition, the viral hit "Stop Looking at My Mom." And during his "X Factor" run, he took hip-hop hits like Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got," effectively making them his own by adding new lyrics to the already popular beats.

Now that he is off the show, the Brooklyn whiz kid is looking forward to getting back into the studio and eventually signing a deal. "I just want to be in a place where I'm comfortable 100 percent. I just want to be able to release my music, do my movies, [and] everything is fair," he said of his dream deal. "I just want to be able to have fun doing it. I don't want music to be a job for me; I want it to be something I'm doing for fun. As long it's not a job then you're straight."

Related Artists

• Jay-Z

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1675412/jay-z-astro-record-deal.jhtml

packers stock sale broncos broncos jason mayhem miller denver broncos newt gingrich houston texans

Iran says it shot down US spy drone

TEHRAN, Iran?? Iran's armed forces have shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that violated Iranian airspace along the country's eastern border, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Inside the drug tunnels
   2. 84-year-old woman: I was strip searched at JFK
   3. Gingrich accepts Trump debate invitation
   4. A jazzy life
   5. Holiday calendar: Santa's shrinking domain
   6. Next 'Occupy' targets: foreclosed homes, vacant lots
   7. Top beefs against credit card issuers listed

An unidentified military official quoted in the report warned of a strong and crushing response to any violations of the country's airspace by American drone aircraft.

"An advanced RQ-170 unmanned American spy plane was shot down by Iran's armed forces. It suffered minor damage and is now in possession of Iran's armed forces," IRNA quoted the official as saying.

No further details were published.

Iran is locked in a dispute with the U.S. and its allies over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusations, saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and that it seeks to generate electricity and produce isotopes to treat medical patients.

The type of aircraft Iran says it downed, an RQ-170 Sentinel, is made by Lockheed Martin and was reportedly used to keep watch on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan as the raid that killed him was taking place earlier this year.

The surveillance aircraft is equipped with stealth technology, but the U.S. Air Force has not made public any specifics about the drone.

Iran said in January that two pilotless spy planes it had shot down over its airspace were operated by the United States and offered to put them on public display.

The Islamic Republic holds frequent military drills, primarily to assert an ability to defend against a potential U.S. or Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities.

Tehran has focused part of its military strategy on producing drones for reconnaissance and attacking purposes.

Iran announced three years ago it had built an unmanned aircraft with a range of more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers), far enough to reach Israel.

Ahmadinejad unveiled Iran's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft in August 2010, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45541622/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

avastin avastin robert wagner robert wagner live with regis and kelly heavy d funeral oklahoma state university

Iranian diplomats leave UK after expulsion (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran prepared a high-profile welcome for its diplomats expelled Friday from London in retaliation for attacks on British compounds in Tehran that Western leaders claim were sanctioned by Tehran's ruling elite.

The official reception planned for the roughly two dozen diplomats and their families ? including a rare invitation to foreign media to cover the airport event ? apparently was designed to send a message that Iran will not seek quick measures to heal the most serious diplomatic fallout with the West since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy after the Islamic Revolution.

Germany, France and the Netherlands have recalled their ambassadors, and Italy and Spain summoned Iranian envoys to condemn Tuesday's storming of the British Embassy and residential complex.

Britain withdrew its diplomatic staff and their families, shuttered its ransacked embassy and ordered the Iranian diplomats expelled by Friday afternoon.

The larger blow may be to Iran's relations with the West and others. The diplomatic freeze from Europe, including key trading partner Germany, further isolates Iran just weeks after a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency that alleged Iran was making strides toward mastering critical elements for atomic weapons.

Iran claims its nuclear program only seeks reactors for power and research. But the current breakdown in relations with the West could embolden hard-liners who want a tougher stance against the International Atomic Energy Agency, which they accuse of being manipulated by the U.S. and allies.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran will certainly "retaliate" for the British expulsions.

The British Foreign Office said "all diplomatic staff of the Iranian Embassy in London took off from Heathrow airport" on Friday afternoon. They were to be welcomed back by a group of Iranians early Saturday at the Tehran airport, Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

The offer for foreign media to cover their arrival stands in sharp counterpoint to an order Thursday banning non-Iranian outlets from reporting on rallies in front of the now-vacant British diplomatic sites in the capital without specific permission.

Britain's ambassador to Iran, Dominick Chilcott ? now back in Britain ? offered new details about the attacks, saying the experience had been "frightening."

"We had no idea how it was going to end," he said, describing how the mob trashed rooms, damaged furniture, scrawled graffiti and tore up a portrait of Queen Victoria, as staff took shelter in a secure area of the embassy.

"It felt like very spiteful, mindless vandalism, but it wasn't quite mindless," Chilcott said. "They removed anything that was electronic ? mobile telephones, personal computers ? anything that might give information about who you were talking to or what you were doing."

He said seven staff at a separate residential compound that was also attacked were seized and "quite roughly handled" by the invaders.

Hard-liners in Iran have said the attack was an outpouring of the wrath of the Iranian people who believe Britain is a hostile country seeking to damage and weaken the Islamic Republic. Mohammad Mohammadian, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praised the attackers, saying they had targeted the "epicenter of sedition."

Iranian government officials, meanwhile, said the storming of the embassy by angry protesters was unexpected and Iranian police intervened to protect the British diplomats and get the attackers out of the buildings.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has led the accusations that the rioters had a green light from Iranian authorities, including the powerful Revolutionary Guard. On Thursday, he said the attacks were "clearly premeditated" by high-ranking officials.

The demonstrations had been organized by hard-line groups on university campuses and Islamic seminaries and included denunciations of the latest sanctions on Iran over its nuclear efforts. Such major anti-Western rallies are rarely allowed to occur without official approval and often include state-backed forces including a paramilitary group known as the Basij, which is part of the vast security network controlled by the Revolutionary Guard.

Images broadcast around the world showed demonstrators tearing down Union Jack flags, brandishing a looted picture of Queen Elizabeth II and tossing out looted documents.

The deepening tensions with Britain and others may also trigger further rifts within Iran.

For months, Iran's ruling system has ordered arrests and intimidation against political allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has sharply fallen from favor after challenging decisions by the head of the theocracy, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad has remained silent since the attacks, but his supporters have raised questions about whether Iran's interests are served by a diplomatic battle with the West.

___

Associated Press writers David Stringer, Jill Lawless and Cassandra Vinograd in London contributed to this report. Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_britain

bishop eddie long baylor art basel 2011 art basel 2011 straight no chaser straight no chaser bcs standings

Former Wisconsin governor Thompson launches Senate run (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/168868673?client_source=feed&format=rss

maurice jones drew bf3 craigslist nc chronicle baked alaska baked alaska battlefield 3 release

Sarkozy: Paris, Berlin to push for treaty changes (AP)

PARIS ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he and the German chancellor will push for European treaty changes to "rethink the organization of Europe" in order to protect the euro.

Sarkozy said in a speech on Thursday that he and Angela Merkel would unveil proposals at a meeting on Monday in Paris.

But he provided few details about what the changes would entail.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PARIS (AP) ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he and the German chancellor will meet in Paris on Monday to unveil proposals that he said will "guarantee the future of Europe."

Sarkozy, who was speaking in Toulon in southern France on Thursday, did not specify what he and Angela Merkel might propose to help alleviate Europe's financial crisis.

The two countries are the powerhouses of the European economy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_france_financial_crisis

occupy los angeles occupy los angeles jim boeheim jim boeheim comedian patrice o neal ndamukong suh ndamukong suh

Penn State officials say applications up despite scandal (Reuters)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa (Reuters) ? Penn State officials on Wednesday said applications to attend the university that has been rocked by a sex abuse scandal are ahead of last year and reassured students worried about the school's reputation.

"Prospective students are saying, 'I really want to come to Penn State. I understand this isn't something that represents the whole university,'" Penn State President Rodney Ericksontold more than 400 students in a packed university auditorium who gathered for an evening question and answer session.

Of the 40,000 undergraduate applications received, only eight have withdrawn their applications, Erickson said, adding that applications are about 4 percent ahead of "last year's record rate."

Student questions were polite but often anxious following the shock news on November 5 that Jerry Sandusky, longtime former assistant to legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, had been charged with sexually abusing eight boys over more than a decade.

The allegations forced the firing of Paterno and dismissal of university President Graham Spanier. Athletic Director Tim Curley and finance official Gary Schultz were also charged with perjury by the grand jury, with investigations continuing.

Paterno has not been charged and lawyers for all three accused have said they are innocent of the charges.

On Wednesday none of the students, who were joined by students watching via satellite at Penn State's many branch campuses, mentioned Sandusky, Curley or Schultz by name.

One student asked if there was a "rush to judgment" by the Penn State Board of Administrators in firing Paterno, while another student asked if the school was planning to take down the bronze Paterno statue outside of Beaver Stadium and to rename the library that now bears his name.

Erickson simply said "no" when a student asked if the university was bullied by national media into firing Paterno. There were no plans to remove the statue or change the library name, he said.

But students wondered how the scandal might affect tuition next school year and some worried that state lawmakers would punish Penn State by slashing its state aid.

"A lot of us are worried how the scandal is going to affect us after graduation," one student, a junior, asked Erickson and the seven other school administrators who joined him to answer questions during the two-hour forum.

Damon Sims, Penn State's vice president for student affairs, said students "don't have to worry about that" because many of the school's alumni are "re-emphasizing their commitment" for new graduates.

"Alumni want to open doors for you," Commonwealth Campuses Vice President Madlyn Hanes said. "Employers are still very, very interested in our students. I hope you have solace with that," she said.

"Perhaps this experience will make you a better person; a better employee," said Terrell Jones, PSU's vice provost for educational equity.

Henry Foley, Penn State's dean of graduate school, said the immediate task at hand for the university is to regain student trust and prepare them for the end of the fall semester.

"None of you are guilty," Foley told the students. "You may feel shame, but none of you are guilty of anything."

(Editing by Peter Bohan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/us_nm/us_crime_coach_students

fall back time change when does daylight savings start when does daylight savings start earthquake in texas earthquake in texas official time

TiPb Picks of the Week for November 26, 2011

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they?re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related,...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/3_XTPJEJivo/story01.htm

livestand power ball kelly slater kelly slater palindrome palindrome asana