Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166715366?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Mayor: Occupy LA must leave City Hall camp Monday (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a lengthy tribute to Occupy LA protesters on Friday before telling them they must leave their encampment on the lawn of City Hall by 12:01 a.m. Monday, citing public health and safety concerns.
Villaraigosa, who has expressed sympathy for the protest's aims from its beginning seven weeks ago, announced the ouster at an afternoon news conference with police Chief Charlie Beck. He said the movement that has spread in two months from New York to numerous other U.S. cities has "awakened the country's conscience" ? but also trampled grass at City Hall that must be restored.
"The movement is at a crossroads," the mayor said. "It is time for Occupy LA to move from holding a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society."
The camp of about 485 tents was unsustainable because public health and safety could not be maintained, and the park had to be cleared, cleaned and restored for the public's access, he said.
Outside City Hall, Occupy LA protester Opamago Casciani, 20, said he found the Mayor's priorities insulting, and he intends to continue demonstrating peacefully through the deadline.
In response to the Mayor's comments, Casciani said "What I got from it is `I value grass more than the people.'"
Immediately after the mayor announced the deadline, protester Jeremy Rothe-Kushel who was in the audience among the reporters, interrupted him, shouting that the group would not obey the order.
"As a collective, Occupy Los Angeles would like to express their rejection of the city of Los Angeles's alleged proposal that we leave City Hall," said Jeremy Rothe-Kushel, who said he represented the general assembly of Occupy LA and interrupted both Villaraigosa and Beck throughout the news conference.
It was not clear how much of the camp Rothe-Kushel spoke for, but the group issued a statement Thursday expressing the same sentiment.
Villaraigosa told campers to start packing up their tents and said he believed the move would be peaceful, unlike some of the tumult other cities have seen.
"I'm proud of the fact that this has been a peaceful, non-violent protest," he said. "I trust that we can manage the closure of City Hall Park in the same spirit of cooperation."
The mayor said in hopes of keeping the peace, social workers will begin walking through the camp offering help to protesters, 50 shelter beds will be made available for campers who are homeless, and special parking will be set aside to facilitate the exit.
"50 beds? There are at least 300 of us," said Casciani. "I personally plan to stay and stand my ground."
Villaraigosa added that City Hall's Spring Street steps ? a traditional protest site ? will remain open during the park restoration so Occupy LA or any other group can exercise free speech rights.
Protester Stephanie Lopez, 18, was sitting on those steps Friday evening after the announcement. Surveying the tent city below her and looking back on the 400-square-foot mezzanine where protesters would have to stand, she shook her head and said "that's ridiculous."
Lopez has been living at City Hall Park since Oct. 2, when there were only a handful of tents, and plans to stay through the deadline.
"It's a complete offense to us ? this grass isn't even good for the environment," said Lopez.
If the movement has to move, Lopez hopes occupiers will take over an abandoned building somewhere downtown.
Beck said police will be patient with laggards who were still packing belongings and working to leave at the time of the deadline ? but said the city's law enforcement will no longer look the other way.
"After 56 days of not enforcing three city laws that prohibit the use of that park, the time is now," said Beck.
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Dutch terrorism suspect fights extradition to US (AP)
AMSTERDAM ? A lawyer for a Dutch man wanted by the U.S. on suspicion of trying to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan and for allegedly aiding al-Qaida said Friday he has appealed to the Netherlands' Supreme Court to prevent his client's extradition.
The 24-year-old suspect, identified under Dutch privacy laws only as "Sabir K.," was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on June 22. But his extradition case was held behind closed doors in the Netherlands and no information about it was released until his lawyer Andre Seebregts sought publicity.
He said Sabir K. is invoking his right to remain silent about his guilt or innocence.
"He's not talking. He may if it ever gets that far," Seebregts said.
Sabir K., a citizen of both the Netherlands and Pakistan, claims he was tortured for months in Pakistan before being deported to the Netherlands in April. He was arrested upon arrival and has been held in a high-security detention center since then.
Seebregts' Supreme Court appeal points to rulings by Canadian courts in a case he says is similar. The courts ruled that suspect Abdullah Khadr cannot be extradited to face charges in the U.S. because the most important evidence against him was a confession obtained under torture in Pakistan.
Seebregts said he is attempting to gather evidence to back Sabir K.'s assertions. The court won't rule until sometime next year.
In an unusual move, the Dutch Foreign Ministry has released a statement saying that the Dutch consul in Pakistan visited Sabir K. twice while he was in detention and saw no signs of abuse, though it noted he was blindfolded coming and going to the visits.
The foreign ministry rejected claims by Sabir K. that the Dutch government assisted U.S. authorities by luring him to the Netherlands with false promises he would be freed once he left Pakistani soil. A Dutch consular worker accompanied him to the airplane.
"Warning people who are suspected of criminal acts that they may be prosecuted is not part of consular assistance," the ministry said in a statement.
The actual charges against Sabir K. are summarized in Dutch in an Oct. 3 ruling by the Rotterdam District Court that was made available to The Associated Press upon request. A spokeswoman for the court could not say why the ruling was not published on the court's website, as is standard practice.
According to the Dutch summary, the indictment issued by U.S. attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York said Sabir K. worked for and with al-Qaida between 2004 and 2010. It says he tried to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, including planning a suicide attack on a U.S. military base in Kunar province in 2010. He was also charged with possession and use of guns and "destructive material," presumably explosives, during attacks on U.S. troops.
The summarized indictment does not say whether any of Sabir K.'s alleged attacks actually succeeded.
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thousands queue in Indonesia to buy new Blackberry (AP)
JAKARTA, Indonesia ? Thousands of Indonesians jammed into a glitzy shopping mall Friday to get hold of the first BlackBerry Bold 9790s being sold worldwide.
Fearing a riot, hundreds of police were deployed outside, tying up traffic in the heart of the capital for hours.
With a 50 percent discount on the $540 phone for the first 1,000 buyers, lines started forming in front of Pacific Place mall on Thursday night. By daybreak, impatient shoppers started rattling the gates.
And when rumors spread that the new smartphones ? commonly known as Bellagio ? had already sold out, the crowd of 3,000 went crazy. Several people fainted in the crush.
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has experienced a come-from-nowhere tech frenzy in recent years.
With 6 million users, BlackBerry dominates the smartphone market.
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Friday, November 25, 2011
Michelle Williams talks Marilyn, Matilda and musicals (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Michelle Williams takes on the iconic role of Marilyn Monroe in the indie film "My Week with Marilyn." Currently in theaters, the film is based on Colin Clark's book of the same name and chronicles his time spent working with Monroe while she was in England shooting the romantic comedy "The Prince and the Showgirl" in 1956.
Williams sat down with Reuters to talk about portraying Monroe, the film, shooting her current role of Glinda the good witch in Sam Raimi's "Oz: The Great and Powerful" and her six-year-old daughter Matilda with late actor Heath Ledger.
Q: Did you have an awareness of Marilyn Monroe and her starpower when you were younger?
A: "I was interested in her, but then I kind of lost track of her over the last 10 years or so. I had a poster of her up in my room. It wasn't a picture of her as the icon, it was a picture of her looking like an ordinary joyful girl. So I definitely had some kind of connection. (Working on this film) reignited whatever initial, sort of, attraction I had to her when I was a teenager."
Q: Did you do your own singing in the film?
A: "Yes and my mother is going to be so excited when she sees this. She always wanted me to sing and dance. I had so much fun doing that!"
Q: So doing a musical could be in the cards for you?
A: "I would love to. What's so liberating about singing and dancing is that it turns your head off. You coast on this wave of muscle memory. You literally can't think while you're performing. There's a kind of transcendence to it. I think maybe that's why Marilyn was so especially talented at it. Her singing and dancing are unparalleled and her musical numbers are just breathtaking."
Q: The film used many of the same locations in shooting "Prince and the Showgirl." Did that add to the production?
A: "There was a lot of synchronicity. We shot in the actual Parkside house (that Marilyn lived in). My dressing room at Pinewood was Marilyn's actual dressing room. That was so special. The stage where she shot that song and dance number was the stage where I shot mine. So many of the props in our movie were in the original 'Prince and the Showgirl' movie."
Q: Did it ever feel ghostly?
A: "Well, it's all energy. And it's what you make of it. I like to make things out of nothing! (laughs) I like to spin things out of thin air, so that stuff works for me."
Q: Did you wear wigs for the part, or grow out your hair?
A: "I wore wigs, but I had to keep my hair really bleached underneath because it would show through the wigs. My eyebrows had to be dark and they were reshaped. You go through so many grotesque phases making movies (laughs). I never really feel quite like myself. I just feel like a mutant -- always halfway in between some other person and myself. I don't know what belongs to me and what doesn't!"
Q: After filming ended was it hard to let go of Marilyn?
A: "I think when you work in a way that really gets under your skin, its not an easy break. You make a little extra room for these people that you play and then they leave. You're left with this hollow space. I wish I could play her again."
Q: Does your daughter Matilda come to set?
A: "She comes with me everywhere."
Q: How do you balance getting into character and then going home at the end of the day to be a mom?
A: "What works for me is to have a commute from where we live to where I work. So that in the morning, I leave the house behind and walk clean and fresh into my professional life. And then the same thing on the way home. I find that a 20 or 30 minute commute makes a kind of passageway for me that I need."
Q: You're currently shooting "OZ," playing Glinda. Matilda must love coming to that set.
A: "It's the best thing professionally that's happened to us. It has brought her on board my work in a way that wasn't possible in a movie like 'Marilyn' or 'Blue Valentine.' On those, there was no space for a kid to come visit and be a kid. (With 'Oz') she comes every single day after school because it's like a playground. She says, 'There's only one good witch and it's my mom.' She's very excited about it."
Q: It's interesting that you said the project was the best thing to happen professionally to "us" not "me."
A: "Definitely. Every choice that I make is about how it's going to affect our life -- where it films, how long it is, what else is going on in her year, what's the last job I did, how much time I've had off in between, how much time we had to really deeply connect and how long can we sustain a period of time where I'm working. So when 'Oz' came along, it was very clear to me that it was the right decision for us."
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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Nuclear waste shipment to Germany draws protests (AP)
BERLIN ? Police in northern Germany have used water cannons against demonstrators gearing up for the arrival of a shipment of nuclear waste from France.
News agency dapd reported that police said they used water cannons Thursday after fireworks and paint were thrown at officers. Protesters had previously blocked a crossroads at Metzingen, near the shipment's destination.
The trainload of waste set off from northwestern France on Wednesday. It wasn't immediately clear when it would cross into Germany.
The waste shipment to Germany is the first since Berlin decided after Japan's nuclear disaster to shut all its nuclear plants by 2022.
But officials haven't resolved where waste should be stored permanently. Activists argue the Gorleben storage site, where the waste is headed, is unsafe.
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Will Frontier Communications Be Able to Reverse Its Decline? (The Motley Fool)
Frontier Communications (NYSE: FTR - News) reported a steep 30% fall in third-quarter net income, to $20.4 million, mainly due to a decrease in its subscriber base. Let's take a closer, Foolish look at Frontier's problems.
The numbers
The company's total revenues fell by 8%, to $1.3 billion. The reason for this drop was the fall in the number of subscribers across various segments, including business and residential customers, video, switched access, and directory. The drop in net income came from acquisition expenses and reduced operating incomes that were in part offset by lower taxes.
Local and long distance service revenues fell sequentially and year-over-year, dropping by 12%, to $605 million, from last year's third quarter. Data and Internet service revenues remained relatively flat from the previous year's quarter at $457 million.
The sky is falling!
The previous year saw Frontier virtually triple its revenues after gaining 4.8 million rural landlines from Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News). This reversed the trend of falling revenues as the company saw its top line jump after the acquisition. But that was just temporary.
The company continues to bleed both customers and revenues mainly because of the increasing obsolescence of landline telephones. A look at sequential and year-over-year data shows this trend. Residential customer count fell sequentially by 2.3%, as well as from the previous year's quarter by 10.2%, to 3.1 million subscribers. Business customers also dropped, sequentially by 2.2% and 9.8% from the previous year, to 319,379 subscribers. But Frontier has made sure that it's able to compensate for this and trim costs as much as possible.
Shaving off unprofitability
Some of the subscriber cuts were due to the company's efforts to reduce the number of customers for the unprofitable FiOS offering that was inadvertently acquired through its Verizon acquisition. FiOS is Verizon's bundled fiber optic offering that combines television, Internet, and telephone services.
So far, the company has been successful in shaving off 9,900 FiOS TV subscribers and 3,100 FiOS Internet subscribers. It has also discouraged customers from ordering the new service, using tactics like raising the installation fee to $500 in Oregon. Having done that, the company wants to shift focus to providing telephone and high-speed Internet services in Oregon and other markets that it got hold of through the Verizon deal. Frontier has also entered into tie-ups with Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH - News) and DIRECTV (Nasdaq: DTV - News) to resell their satellite TV packages to its customers.
Frontier's efforts seem to be paying off, as it has witnessed the strongest broadband growth rate since the acquisition. The company has been able to bring broadband access to 592,000 new homes and has managed a net addition of 16,200 high-speed Internet subscribers while removing almost $500 million in annual costs.
The Foolish bottom line
With the industrywide trend of shrinking landline subscribers, Frontier has not made the mistake of hard-selling the obsolete technology. Instead, it has shifted focus to promoting its high-speed broadband services in order to retain and grow its precious customer base. This could very well be the solution to the company's falling revenues. However, until Frontier begins to show some improvement at least in terms of top-line numbers, I'd rather stay on the sidelines.
To stay up-to-speed with Frontier's progress, feel free to add it to your very own personalized watchlist. It's free and helps you to stay up-to-date with the latest news and analysis for your favorite companies.
Keki Fatakia does not hold shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Gates back on stand in Utah in $1B antitrust trial
Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates leaves the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Gates testified in a $1 billion anti-trust lawsuit brought by Novell Inc. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)
Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates leaves the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Gates testified in a $1 billion anti-trust lawsuit brought by Novell Inc. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)
Microsoft founder Bill Gates arrives at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Gates was scheduled to testify in a one billion dollar antitrust lawsuit brought by Novell Inc. Gates, wearing a gray suit and a yellow tie, was the first witness to testify as Microsoft lawyers presented their case in the trial that's been ongoing in federal court in Salt Lake City for about a month.(AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)
John Pinette, left, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates arrives at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Microsoft's Windows 95 rollout presented the most challenges in the company's history, leading to several last-minute changes to technical features that would no longer support a rival software maker's word processor, Bill Gates testified Monday in a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit filed by the creator of WordPerfect. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Microsoft's Bill Gates insisted that changes to Windows 95 that undermined a rival word processor were meant to protect the Windows operating system from crashing and not to hurt a competitor.
Gates completed a second day of testimony Tuesday defending his company against a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit filed by Novell Inc. The Utah-based company claims Microsoft Corp. enticed it to work on a new version of the WordPerfect writing program only to withdraw support months before Windows 95 was released.
Gates said he had no idea his decision to drop a tool for outside developers would sidetrack Novell and that the company never complained. WordPerfect's market share rapidly declined to less than 10 percent from nearly 50 percent as Microsoft's own office programs took hold.
"Whether or not our products get market share ? that was completely up to the market," said Gates, who argued Novell could have worked around the problem but failed to react quickly.
Microsoft, he said, was under no obligation to help Novell, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group as a result of a merger earlier this year.
Novell said it was forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss. It sued Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft in 2004, claiming Gates ordered engineers to withdraw support for WordPerfect because he feared it was too good.
On Tuesday, Gates shot back that Word was "far superior" to WordPerfect, which was a "bulky, slow, buggy product" that did not integrate well with Windows 95. Gates said his engineers warned it threatened the reliability of future Windows versions.
For hours Tuesday, Gates sparred with Novell's trial attorney over software terms as jury members yawned in boredom.
"He's not an easy witness," said Novell attorney Jeffrey Johnson.
Gates insisted there was no viable alternative to the Windows operating system in the market at the time, which would mean Novell does not have an antitrust case.
Other systems lacked enough applications to be a "reasonable choice in the marketplace," he said.
Gates testified that Microsoft was racing to put out a new generation of Windows when he dropped a tool Novell said it needed to piggyback on the Windows 95 juggernaut. While some executives opposed his decision ? Microsoft traditionally gave the keys to outside developers ? other company developers warned it threatened the stability of new Windows technology.
Gates described his decision as a minor technical matter as he grappled with larger issues. He was betting on a revolutionary operating system code-named Cairo ? an alternative so ambitious that Gates said it hasn't been achieved 20 years later. Cairo would have allowed multiple applications to run seamlessly inside an operating system, rather than as an adjunct to it.
Gates advanced Windows 95 to the forefront and called it a worthy successor.
"We worked super hard. It was the most challenging, trying project we had ever done," the Microsoft co-founder said. "It was a ground-breaking piece of work, and it was very well received when we got it done."
Gates was the first witness to testify in his company's defense after a monthlong case by Novell.
Asked outside of court to characterize Novell's case, he said, "I'll leave that to the lawyers."
Microsoft attorney David Tulchin said, "We think we're way ahead and that Bill Gates did a great job."
The trial resumes Monday with Microsoft calling other witnesses.
U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz said he expects to send the case to a seven-woman, five-man jury the week before Christmas.
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George W. Bush to raise cancer awareness in Africa (AP)
DALLAS ? Former President George W. Bush will travel next month to Africa to raise awareness about cervical and breast cancer, an effort he calls a "natural extension" of a program launched during his presidency that helps fight AIDS on the continent.
Bush, former first lady Laura Bush and officials with the George W. Bush Institute are heading to Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia, where they'll visit clinics and meet with governmental and health care leaders.
"We believe it's in our nation's interest to deal with disease and set priorities and save lives," Bush told The Associated Press.
In 2003, Bush launched the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, to expand AIDS prevention, treatment and support programs in countries hit hard by the epidemic.
The new program, called the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative, seeks to expand the availability of cervical cancer screening and treatment and breast care education in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Bush said existing AIDS clinics will be used to screen and treat cervical cancer, which is four to five times more common among those living with HIV than those who don't have the virus. Last year, 3.2 million people received antiretroviral treatments as a result of PEPFAR.
The initiative is a partnership among several organizations, including the Bush Institute, PEPFAR and the United Nations' program on HIV and AIDS. Its goal is to reduce deaths by 25 percent in five years among women screened and treated through the initiative.
"We want to show what works and hopefully others across the continent of Africa will join us,'" Bush said.
Dr. Eric G. Bing, director of global health at the Bush Institute, said it's often more difficult for African women to reveal they have cancer of the reproductive organs than to reveal they have HIV. There are more support groups and treatment available for HIV than cancer, he said.
"There's silence around cancer for many of these communities and in many of these nations. And that's one of the things that we hope to change," Bing said.
Bush moved to Dallas after leaving office in 2009. The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which is set to be completed in 2013 on the campus of Southern Methodist University, will include his presidential library and the already-operating policy institute. Besides global health, it focuses on education reform, human freedom and economic growth.
Bush said he and the former first lady will be "pouring our hearts" into the Bush presidential center as it grows.
"This is where we will spend the rest of our lives in the sense of being involved with public policy," Bush said.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Exclusive: The capture of Gaddafi's son (Reuters)
OBARI, Libya (Reuters) ? The chic black sweater and jeans were gone. So too the combat khaki T-shirt of his televised last stand in Tripoli. Designer stubble had become bushy black beard after months on the run.
But the rimless glasses, framing those piercing eyes above that straight fine nose, gave him away despite the flowing nomad robes held close across his face.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, doctor of the London School of Economics, one-time reformer turned scourge of the rebels against his dictator father, was now a prisoner, bundled aboard an old Libyan air force transport plane near the oil-drilling outpost of Obari, deep in the Sahara desert.
The interim government's spokesman billed it as the "final act of the Libyan drama." But there would be no closing soliloquy from the lead player, scion of the dynasty that Muammar Gaddafi, self-styled "king of kings," had once hoped might rule Africa.
A Reuters reporter aboard the flight approached the 39-year-old prisoner as he huddled on a bench at the rear of the growling, Soviet-era Antonov. The man who held court to the world's media in the early months of the Arab Spring was now on a 90-minute flight bound for the town of Zintan near Tripoli.
He sat frowning, silent and seemingly lost in thought for part of the way, nursing his right hand, bandaged around the thumb and two fingers. At other times he chatted calmly with his captors and even posed for a picture.
IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT
Gaddafi's run had come to an end just a few hours earlier, at dead of night on a desert track, as he and a handful of trusted companions tried to thread their way through patrols of former rebel fighters intent on blocking their escape over the border.
"At the beginning he was very scared. He thought we would kill him," said Ahmed Ammar, one of the 15 fighters who captured Gaddafi. The fighters, from Zintan's Khaled bin al-Waleed Brigade, intercepted the fugitives' two 4x4 vehicles 40 miles out in the desert.
"But we talked to him in a friendly way and made him more relaxed and we said, 'We won't hurt you'."
The capture of Saif al-Islam is the latest dramatic chapter in the series of revolts that have swept the Arab world. The first uprising toppled the Ben Ali government in Tunisia early this year.
The upheaval spread to Egypt, forcing out long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak in February; swept Libya, where the capital Tripoli fell to rebels this summer and Muammar Gaddafi died after being beaten and abused by captors last month; and is now threatening the Assad family's four-decade grip on Syria.
Saif al-Islam was the smiling face of the Muammar Gaddafi's power structure. He won personal credibility at the highest echelons of international society, especially in London, where he helped tidy up the reputation of Libya via a personal charitable foundation. He threw that reputation away in the uprising, emerging as one of the hardest of hard-liners against the rebels.
This account of his capture and his final month on the run is based on interviews with the younger Gaddafi's captors and the prisoner himself. The scenes of his flight into captivity were witnessed by the Reuters reporter and a Reuters cameraman and photographer who were also aboard the plane.
FACING DEATH PENALTY
Caught exactly a month after his father met a violent end, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is wanted by the International Criminal Court at The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity - specifically for allegedly ordering the killing of unarmed protesters last spring. Libya's interim leaders want him to stand trial at home and say they won't extradite him; the justice minister said he faces the death penalty.
His attempt to flee began on October 19, under NATO fire from the tribal bastion of Bani Walid, 100 miles from the capital. Ammar and his fellow fighters said they believed he had been hiding since then in the desolate tracts of the mountainous Brak al-Shati region.
Aides who were captured at Bani Walid said Saif al-Islam's convoy had been hit by a NATO air strike in a place nearby called Wadi Zamzam - "Holy Water River." Since then, there had been speculation that nomadic tribesmen once lionized by his father might have been working to spirit him across Libya's southern borders - perhaps, like his surviving brothers, sister and mother, into Niger or Algeria.
He did not get that far. Obari is a good 200 miles from either. But his captors believe he was headed for Niger, once a beneficiary of Muammar Gaddafi's oil-fueled largesse, which has granted asylum to Saif al-Islam's brother Saadi.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
Ammar said his unit, scouring the desert for weeks, received a tip-off that a small group of Gaddafi loyalists - they did not know who - would be heading on a certain route toward Obari. Lying in wait, they spotted two all-terrain vehicles grinding through the darkness.
"We fired in the air and into the ground in front of them," Ammar said. The small convoy pulled up, perhaps hoping to brazen it out.
"Who are you?" Adeljwani Ali Ahmed, the leader of the squad, demanded to know of the man he took to be the main passenger in the group.
"Abdelsalam," came the reply.
It's a common enough name, though it means "servant of peace" in Arabic; Saif al-Islam's real name means "Sword of Islam."
Ahmed, sizing the man up, took Ammar aside and whispered: "I think that's Saif."
Turning back to the car, a Toyota Land cruiser of a type favored on these rugged desert tracks, Ammar said: "I know who you are. I know you."
CASH AND KALASHNIKOVS
The game was up. The militiamen retrieved several Kalashnikov rifles, a hand grenade and, one of the Zintani fighters said, some $4,000 in cash from the vehicles.
It was a tiny haul from a man whose father commanded one of the best-equipped armies in Africa and who is suspected by many of holding the keys - in his head - to billions stolen from the Libyan state and stashed in secret bank accounts abroad.
"He didn't say anything," Ammar said. "He was very scared and then eventually he asked where we are from, and we said we are Libyans. He asked from which city and we said Zintan."
Zintan sits far from the spot of Gaddafi's capture in the Western, or Nafusa, Mountains, just a couple of hours drive south of the capital. The people of Zintan put together an effective militia in the uprising, and they are seeking to parlay their military prowess into political clout as new leaders in Tripoli try to form a government.
At Obari, a fly-speck of a place dominated by the oil operations of a Spanish company, Zintan fighters have extended their writ since the war deep into traditionally pro-Gaddafi country peopled by Tuaregs, nomadic tribes who recognize no borders.
The Zintanis are also a force in the capital. On Saturday morning, the Antonov flew to Obari from Tripoli, bearing the new tricolor flag of "Free Libya" - and piloted by a former air force colonel turned Zintan rebel. Just a few minutes after it landed, the purpose of the flight became clear.
FLIGHT TO CAPTIVITY
Five prisoners, escorted by about 10 fighters in an array of desert camouflage, piled aboard, ranging themselves on benches along the sides of the spartan hold of the Antonov An-32, which is designed to carry four dozen paratroopers.
Two of the men were handcuffed together. A third had his arms cuffed in front of him. A dozen or so bulky black bags were carried in, and some thin mattresses - the scant belongings of the prisoners, their captors said.
All wore casual, modern dress - with the exception of Saif al-Islam.
His brown robe, turban and face scarf, open sandals on his feet, were typical of the Tuaregs of the region. The choice of costume offered concealment for a man more commonly seen in sharp suits and smart casual wear, and a visual echo of his late father's penchant for dressing up.
As they shuffled on the benches, rifle butts scraping on the metal floor, one of the guards said: "He is afraid now."
The pilot, though, said that he had had a paternal word with the 39-year-old captive and put him at ease before he was brought on board.
"LIKE A SMALL CHILD"
"I spoke to him like he was a small child," said Abdullah al-Mehdi, a diminutive, heavily mustachioed ball of energy in a green jumpsuit. His ambition - typical of Zintanis in these anarchic days in Libya - is to start up a whole new air force.
"I told him he would not be beaten and he wouldn't be hurt and I gave my word," said Mehdi.
He and the other two crew in the cockpit chain-smoked their way through the flight, navigating over the barren wastes the old-fashioned way, on analog instruments, with just occasional help from a new GPS device clamped awkwardly to the windshield.
The howl of the propellers was numbing, and there was little conversation during the flight.
Saif al-Islam by turns stared ahead or turned back to crane his neck out at the land he once was in line to rule. Every so often, holding his scarf across his mouth Tuareg-fashion, he would say a few words to a guard.
The calm was in stark contrast to the frenzy that greeted the capture of Muammar Gaddafi on October 20 as he tried to flee the siege of his hometown of Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast.
Fighters from the long embattled city of Misrata filmed themselves on cellphones hammering the fallen leader, howling for revenge and inflicting a series of indignities on him before his body was displayed to crowds of sightseers for several days.
SURROUNDED
The reporter caught Saif al-Islam's eye a few times, but on each occasion he looked away. At one point he asked for water, and a bottle from the journalist's pack was passed up to him. The other prisoners, too, did not want to speak.
After the plane bumped down on the tarmac in the mountains at Zintan, it was surrounded within minutes by hundreds of people - some cheering, some clearly angry, many shouting the rebels' Islamic battle cry, "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest).
Some held up cellphones to the few windows in the cargo hold, hoping to catch a snap of the most wanted man in Libya. At one point others were rattling the catches of the doors, intent it seemed on storming inside.
While his companions, clearly nervous, huddled together, Saif al-Islam seemed calm. He sat back and waited. The plane rocked gently as crowds clambered over the wings. The prisoners talked a little to each other and the guards.
Asked about The Hague court's statement that he was in touch through intermediaries about turning himself in to the international judges - who cannot impose the death penalty - he seemed to take offence: "It's all lies. I've never been in touch with them."
After more than an hour, the fighters decided they could get the other four captives off. They were helped out of the front door. Gaddafi remained where he was, on his own at the back, silent and aloof.
INJURED HAND
A further hour went by, the crowds still idling on the runway. The guards suggested it was time for the journalists to leave.
Moving back to speak to the solitary Gaddafi, the reporter asked, in English: "Are you OK?"
"Yes," he replied, looking up.
The reporter pointed to his injured hand. He said simply: "Air force, air force."
"NATO?"
"Yes. One month ago."
The reporter moved past him to the aircraft steps. Gaddafi looked up and, without a word, briefly took her hand.
Later, television footage showed him being helped off the plane as people among the crowd on the tarmac tried to slap him. His captors shoved him into a car and sped off for a hiding place somewhere in town.
(Additional reporting by Mahmoud al-Farjani in Obari and Oliver Holmes in Zintan; Writing by Alastair Macdonald in Tripoli; Editing by Michael Williams)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111120/wl_nm/us_libya
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Monday, November 21, 2011
Samsung Galaxy Tab Review
The Samsung Galaxy Tab has become recommended as a genuine competitor for the Apple iPad. The tablet computer is operating the newest edition of the Google Android Operating system, which is continuously increasing in acceptance, and contains most of the advantages in its favor. It?s a substantial improvement on the newest generation of Galaxy tablet computer, but could it truly give the all-pervasive iPad a rival? Samsung Galaxy Tab – Great Points Battery: The publicised battery on this tablet pc [...]
Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-review/
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Hamm hails GQ "Bro of the Year" Kristen Wiig (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? GQ has named "Bridesmaids" star and co-writer Kristen Wiig "Bro the Year" in its annual Men of the Year issue -- and enlisted her "Bridesmaids" co-star, Jon Hamm, to pay tribute to the "Saturday Night Live" star.
Hamm says in GQ's December issue how impressed he is that the shy Wiig can play such outrageous characters.
"For a lot of comics, there's a persona they're not comfortable revealing unless they're performing. Kristen is incredibly shy; she has her hoodie pulled up and her sleeves pulled over her hands," Hamm writes. "But this is a woman who wore coconuts on her tits on 'SNL'; she can go to the craziest, most grotesque places on the planet in character."
Hamm, one of the best guest hosts in recent "SNL" seasons, continues, "The first time I noticed her was watching the 'SNL' sketch 'Lady Business.' Kristen's line was 'I'm a bitch in the boardroom, a bore in the bedroom, and I'm a bear on the toilet,' which she delivered with over-the-top seriousness. I thought, 'My God, this girl is funny.'"
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Chicago mayor rallies Obama support in Iowa (AP)
DES MOINES, Iowa ? Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel launched an ardent defense of President Barack Obama in Iowa on Saturday, telling local Democrats that in order to create security for the middle class, "we just can't cut our way to prosperity."
Obama's former chief of staff rallied about 1,300 people during the Iowa Democratic Party's largest annual fundraiser in Des Moines. Emanuel told the crowd that Republicans want to solve the nation's debt problem only through spending cuts, while Obama favors a balanced approach of cuts and tax increases.
"To create true middle-class security, we can't just cut our way to prosperity," Emanuel said. "We must out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the world."
Emanuel said Obama has made crucial, tough decisions based on his principles to help the country ? and not in an attempt to lay the groundwork for a second term in the White House. And he asked the crowd whose judgment they wanted leading the country during such a critical economic time.
"In the next four years, there will be more challenges and more crises that will determine the economic vitality of the middle class and the economic future of this country," Emanuel said. "Whose character, whose judgment do you want in that office?"
Obama has a solid history in Iowa. His surprising win in the state's precinct caucuses four years ago launched him on the road to the White House, and he easily carried the state in the 2008 general election.
Emanuel's appearance in the key early-caucus state was a chance for Democrats to grab attention from several Republican presidential candidates making their case to social conservatives across town. Emanuel used the opportunity to criticize GOP candidate Mitt Romney, even though Romney wasn't in Iowa.
The mayor cited the sharply different views that Obama and Romney had on rescuing the auto industry and propping up the nation's financial system. He argued that Obama's views have been proven right, while Romney's stance to not offer federal financial assistance would have destroyed the two key industries.
Emanuel also said Romney has flip-flopped in his political views, such as taking a more conservative stance on abortion and gun control.
"Mitt Romney says he's a man of steadiness and consistency. If that's true, then I'm a linebacker for the Chicago Bears," said the slim, 5-foot-8 1/2 mayor.
In an interview before the event, Emanuel said he was looking forward to the prospect of a lengthy, heated Republican primary race ? and the exposure it gives to the GOP candidates.
"I think a lot of people want to see it over quickly, and I don't think they're going to get that," he said.
Sounding the populist theme that Obama has been offering in recent weeks, Emanuel also said the president is focused less on the difficulty of his tasks as president and more on the struggles of the American middle class.
"He continues to help them try to get their feet back on the ground. That's the struggle he's worried about, not his struggle," Emanuel said.
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Sunday, November 20, 2011
Video: Jeremy Renner proves nothing is ?Impossible?
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45354304#45354304
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Saturday, November 19, 2011
NCBI ROFL: Nintendo Wii video-gaming ability predicts ...
?BACKGROUND: Studies using conventional consoles have suggested a possible link between video-gaming and laparoscopic skill. The authors hypothesized that the Nintendo Wii, with its motion-sensing interface, would provide a better model for laparoscopic tasks. This study investigated the relationship between Nintendo Wii skill, prior gaming experience, and laparoscopic skill. METHODS: In this study, 20 participants who had minimal experience with either laparoscopic surgery or Nintendo Wii performed three tasks on a Webcam-based laparoscopic simulator and were assessed on three games on the Wii. The participants completed a questionnaire assessing prior gaming experience. RESULTS: The score for each of the three Wii games correlated positively with the laparoscopic score (r = 0.78, 0.63, 0.77; P < 0.001), as did the combined Wii score (r = 0.82; P < 0.001). The participants in the top tertile of Wii performance scored 60.3% higher on the laparoscopic tasks than those in the bottom tertile (P < 0.01). Partial correlation analysis with control for the effect of prior gaming experience showed a significant positive correlation between the Wii score and the laparoscopic score (r = 0.713; P < 0.001). Prior gaming experience also correlated positively with the laparoscopic score (r = 0.578; P < 0.01), but no significant difference in the laparoscopic score was observed when the participants in the top tertile of experience were compared with those in the bottom tertile (P = 0.26). CONCLUSIONS: The study findings suggest a skill overlap between the Nintendo Wii and basic laparoscopic tasks. Surgical candidates with advanced Nintendo Wii ability may possess higher baseline laparoscopic ability.?
Bonus quote (description of Figure 1, above): ?For task 3, a shoelace knotted at one end and 25 Polo Nestle Co Ltd (Croydon, UK) mints were placed in the working area. The participants were given 10 min to thread as many mints as possible onto the shoelace using two grasper tools. The score was the number of mints added to the shoelace at the end of the task.?
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Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Sex differences in Nintendo Wii performance as expected from hunter-gatherer selection.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Beware of Wii tennis.
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Effects of playing video games on pain response during a cold pressor task.
WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!
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Friday, November 18, 2011
Tough questions on auto insurance fraud legislation | House Keys ...
Despite support from Florida?s top leaders for new laws to fight automobile insurance fraud, the proposals faced intense scrutiny at House and Senate insurance committee meetings today.
Several Senators demanded insurers and others provide better data and Democrats at the House insurance meeting had tough questions about a bill the committee is drafting.
Some insurance representatives couldn?t answer questions related to claims and lawsuits from Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who is drafting the Senate bill, because they said it could violate anti-trust laws.
Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, suggested putting people under oath, saying that?s what the state did during the second week of hearings on medical malpractice. He said that?s when the answers changed. ?It?s very embarrassing that the insurance industry would stand up there? and say there aren?t figures available, he said. ?They are number freaks.?
Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, asked the insurers, health care providers and attorneys on both sides of the fence on PIP legislation to create reports with detailed figures to back up their points. ?We get a lot of anecdotal testimony,? he said.
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater urged lawmakers to approve legislation based on policyholders' "painful" stories about auto insurance rates, but he said they should demand concrete data from groups involved in the debate and require savings from the law to be passed to consumers. He said if the companies don't, they should have to testify at public hearings about why.
Rep. Mack Bernard, D-West Palm Beach, asked how much rates are expected to decrease if there's reform and was told that the information isn?t available.
?I feel very worried about that?when you tell me you can?t provide that,? said Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, who noted that supporters of PIP reform are quick to estimate how much it costs policyholders.
A Farmers Insurance representative described a set of policyholders filing claims and said only three percent asked for lost wages, an indication that claims payouts aren't going to them directly: "Policyholders are not claiming the [the money] due to them because providers are claiming the benefit."
Other questions raised by legislators include:
What?s the definition of a ?suspicious? claim? The legislation extends the time insurer have to pay claims if they are suspicious. Cruz said lawmakers should define it or else ?we?re going to see an industry that defines everything as suspicious.?
Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, who is sponsoring a PIP bill and is helping with the committee?s bill, said he believes the data would show that insurers don?t investigate most claims. ?Most insurance companies want to pay claims fairly and quickly. To do anything else costs them money? and time. He added that consumers can get help from state regulators if an insurer is unfairly delaying, denying or lowballing a claim.
A hospital representative told the Senate panel that large insurers pay almost every claim it submits ? but only after they?re threatened with a possible lawsuit.
Would insurers? claims costs outpace premiums if you excluded overhead costs? Monte Stevens, a legislative director with the Office of Insurance Regulation, answered Rep. Richard Steinberg?s question: The costs equal premiums coming in if you exclude administrative expenses.
Would the legislation cap fees for insurers? attorneys in addition to those of policyholders?? No, Boyd said, prompting Steinberg, a Democrat from Miami Beach, to ask: ?Why would it be appropriate for us to limit the fees on one side and not on the other??
Boyd said most insurers have lawyers on staff that help with a variety of legal issues so the cost is ?embedded in their cost of doing business.?
Have any of the top ten auto insurance providers gone out of business the past ten years? Bernard asked.
Stevens said he?s not aware of any.
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David Moshman: Compulsory Patriotism: Requiring the Pledge of Allegiance
On November 10, the Michigan Senate passed a bill directing every school board to "ensure that each pupil in each public school it operates is required to recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States each school day." A separate section clarifies that pupils "shall not be compelled" to recite the pledge against pupil or parental objections.
The Michigan House of Representatives has yet to act. Meanwhile, a Nebraska state senator plans to introduce a similar bill when the Nebraska legislature convenes in January. Most states already have such laws.
Should the pledge be required? Should patriotism be compulsory? Can it be? The Supreme Court, it turns out, has already addressed these questions in a classic statement of American liberty and intellectual freedom in education: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943).
"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation," ruled the Court, "it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."
The case that led to this ruling came out of West Virginia but reflected a national crisis over compulsory patriotism. In January 1942, seeking to foster "the ideals, principles, and spirit of Americanism," the state Board of Education mandated that teachers and pupils in public schools regularly salute the flag and pledge their allegiance.
Jehovah's Witnesses nationwide refused to participate in such rituals. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," God had commanded in Exodus. "Thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them."
In Barnette, wary of governmental indoctrination, the Supreme Court found the mandatory flag rituals to violate the constitutional requirements of democratic self-government. Democracy requires free minds and is thus inconsistent with forms of schooling that "strangle the free mind at its source."
"There is no mysticism in the American concept of the State or of the nature or origin of its authority," wrote the court. "We set up government by consent of the governed, and the Bill of Rights denies those in power any legal opportunity to coerce that consent. Authority here is to be controlled by public opinion, not public opinion by authority."
Without questioning that "national unity is the basis of national security," the opinion by Justice Robert Jackson observed that the promotion of national unity could proceed via "persuasion and example" rather than "compulsion." Efforts to "coerce uniformity of sentiment" were deemed needless and dangerous.
"As governmental pressure toward unity becomes greater, so strife becomes more bitter as to whose unity it shall be," the court said. "Probably no deeper division of our people could proceed from any provocation than from finding it necessary to choose what doctrine and whose program public educational officials shall compel youth to unite in embracing."
Coercive efforts to achieve unity, the court warned, would undermine the legitimacy of schools. Instead, public schools must respect democratic principles of intellectual freedom. "Free public education, if faithful to the ideal of secular instruction and political neutrality, will not be partisan or enemy of any class, creed, party or faction."
What about the community interest in social cohesion and patriotic commitment? Diversity and liberty pose no threat. "We apply the limitations of the Constitution," insisted the court, "with no fear that freedom to be intellectually and spiritually diverse or even contrary will disintegrate the social organization."
Patriotic ceremonies, then, must be "voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine." To doubt that American patriotism can flourish under such conditions, the court observed, "is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds."
Nearly 70 years later, we should not forget that one of the Supreme Court's most rigorous and stirring defenses of liberty came in the middle of World War II in a case involving children pledging their allegiance in school. Compulsory patriotism defies the First Amendment.
"Freedom to differ," proclaimed the court, "is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-moshman/pledge-of-allegiance_b_1098584.html
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Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wall Street lower after new warnings on Europe (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks fell early Wednesday as policymakers warned Europe's debt crisis posed dangers to the global economy and on signs the contagion was starting to spread to larger European nations.
The yield spread of 10-year French government bonds over their German equivalents widened to a euro-era high on fears the crisis was moving to economies that had been considered more isolated from the problems.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the crisis was already affecting emerging nations and Japan in multiple ways, while the Bank of England forecast Britain was on the brink of a contraction and warned against inaction.
In what has become a familiar "risk off" trade, cyclical sectors of the stock market that are more sensitive to signs of economic weakness were among the worst performers. The S&P materials sector fell 1.1 percent.
But reflecting a belief by some U.S. investors that equities may be able to weather the storm, Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston, said while the crisis would affect some U.S. companies he believed it would be slight.
"I believe that market participants are really overreacting to the turmoil in Europe," he said. "The impact of the euro zone will have some effect on U.S. corporations, particularly S&P 500 companies with respect to their exports."
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 116.40 points, or 0.96 percent, to 11,979.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 12.24 points, or 0.97 percent, to 1,245.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 25.10 points, or 0.93 percent, to 2,661.10.
The European Central Bank bought euro zone government bonds to stop a selloff, traders said. European equities rose on the move, then lost ground as the yield on Italian 10-year bonds continued to hover near 7 percent.
U.S. equity investors have closely watched European sovereign debt prices and the euro currency, which are currently barometers of risk aversion for the wider market. Trading has been volatile, with large intraday swings as sentiment oscillates with developments is Europe.
Still, U.S. stocks have shown resilience, clinging to the higher end of their recent trading range at around 1,250 on the S&P 500. Traders watched for a break below 1,230 as a potential warning sign.
In U.S. company news, Dell Inc, the computer maker, missed quarterly revenue estimates, and said full-year revenues could be hurt by an industrywide shortage of hard drives. The shares fell 1.9 percent to $15.34.
Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co slumped 12.6 percent to $48.72 after the teen clothing retailer's quarterly profit missed estimates by a huge margin.
Target Corp posted higher quarterly profit on higher food sales and as a 5 percent discount to cardholders drew shoppers. The shares rose 2.1 percent to $54.33.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Sandusky says he only 'horsed around' with boys (AP)
NEW YORK ? The former Penn State assistant football coach at the heart of a massive sex scandal said he showered with young boys and hugged them but called the allegedly criminal contact "horseplay."
Jerry Sandusky told NBC News' "Rock Center" on Monday night that he was not a pedophile but, in retrospect, should not have showered with the boys he's charged with sexually assaulting.
In an interview with Bob Costas, Sandusky, once considered the heir apparent to coaching legend Joe Paterno, proclaimed his innocence in the face of a series of startling allegations detailed in a grand jury report issued last week.
"I am innocent of those charges," Sandusky said. "... I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact."
Sandusky is accused of sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year span, with some of the alleged crimes happening at Penn State, where he had access to campus as an emeritus professor following his 1999 retirement as Paterno's top defensive assistant.
Asked whether he was sexually attracted to underage boys, he said "sexually attracted, no. I enjoy young people, I love to be around them, but, no, I'm not sexually attracted to young boys."
Asked if there was anything he had done wrong, Sandusky said, "I shouldn't have showered with those kids."
When pressed about how two people could claim to have witnessed Sandusky engaged in sexual contact with boys on two different occasions, Sandusky replied that "you'd have to ask" them.
The scandal has hit hard the community called Happy Valley, where "success with honor" is the motto. Paterno and University President Graham Spanier have lost their jobs and Athletic Director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz face perjury charges.
The interview with Costas was Sandusky's first public comment on the charges. He had previously maintained his innocence through his attorney, Joe Amendola.
"We anticipate we're going to have at least several of those kids come forward and say `This never happened. This is me. This is the allegation. It never occurred,'" Amendola said on the NBC broadcast.
The New York Times reported on its website late Monday that close to 10 additional suspected victims have come forward to authorities since Sandusky's arrest, according to people close to the investigation. The paper said police were working to confirm the new allegations.
A spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly declined to comment on the interview, citing the active investigation.
Amendola earlier told CNN that his client was just behaving like "a jock."
"Jerry Sandusky is a big overgrown kid," Amendola said. "He's a jock, and for anybody who's ever played sports, you get showers after you work out."
Wide receivers coach Mike McQueary told a grand jury that in March 2001 when he was a graduate assistant, he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy about 10 years old in a shower at the Nittany Lions' practice center. McQueary did not go to police but instead told Paterno, Curley and Schultz, although it is unclear how detailed a description he gave. Schultz, in turn, notified Spanier.
Sandusky told NBC there was no sexual contact.
"We were showering and horsing around, and he actually turned all the showers on and was actually sliding across the floor, and we were, as I recall, possibly like snapping a towel ? horseplay," he said.
Amendola accused the attorney general's office of having "thrown everything they can throw up against the wall." He said some of the allegations, such as putting a hand on a boy's knee, do not constitute criminal conduct and other cases include no direct complaint by the boy.
"They have other people who are saying they saw something, but they don't have actual people saying, `This is what Jerry did to me,'" Amendola said. "We're working to find those people, and when the time comes, and if we are able to do that, we think this whole case will change dramatically."
The Associated Press has made several efforts to reach Sandusky by phone and through Amendola, but messages haven't been returned. The AP also knocked on Sandusky's door and left messages at least three times over the past week.
When Sandusky retired in 1999, at just 55, he cited his desire to devote more time to The Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk kids. According to the grand jury report, however, Sandusky was a sexual predator who used the charity and his Penn State connections to prey on young boys.
Though he was not particularly close with Paterno, he remained a familiar sight around the Penn State football complex. He was given an office in the East Area Locker building, across the street from the football building, as part of his retirement package, and would take Second Mile kids around the football facilities.
The Sandusky interview came on the day when it was announced the president of The Second Mile had resigned. Jack Raykovitz, a practicing psychologist who had led the group for 28 years, said he hoped his resignation, accepted Sunday, would help restore faith in the group's mission. The Second Mile also announced it had hired Philadelphia's former longtime district attorney Lynne Abraham as its new general counsel.
Separately, the Big Ten has decided to take Paterno's name off its championship trophy. League commissioner Jim Delany said that it is "inappropriate" to keep Paterno's name on the trophy that will be awarded Dec. 3 to the winner of the conference's first title game.
The trophy had been named the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy. Paterno had more wins, 409, than any other major college coach while football pioneer Amos Alonzo Stagg won 319 games in 57 years at the University of Chicago.
The trophy will now be called the Stagg Championship Trophy.
Metal futures fall on Europe worries (AP)
Metals prices closed lower Wednesday on worries that the European financial crisis could deepen and slow global economic growth.
Copper for December delivery dropped 1.7 cents, or less than 1 percent, to close at $3.4845 per pound. December palladium fell $12.60, or nearly 2 percent to close at $654.45 an ounce. January platinum fell $11.50, or nearly 1 percent, to $1,631.20 an ounce.
Traders worried that higher borrowing rates for Italy, Spain and France will mean that those countries will have trouble repaying their debt. If European countries can't stem the financial crisis there, it could hinder economic growth. That would cut demand for metals like copper and palladium, which are used as raw materials in manufacturing.
On Wednesday, the yield on Italy's 10-year bond was just below 7 percent. When Greece's interest payments reached that level, it had to seek a bailout from lenders. Borrowing rates for Spain and France are above 6 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
Corn for December delivery fell 2.75 cents to settle at $6.4275 per bushel Tuesday. December soybeans lost 12.5 cents, or 1 percent, to $11.8775 a bushel. December wheat fell 16 cents, or 2.5 percent, to finish at $6.1675 per bushel.
Precious metals were also down. Gold for December delivery lost $7.90, or less than 1 percent, to settle at $1,774.30 per ounce. December silver fell 63.4 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to close at $33.822 an ounce.
In energy trading, oil prices shot past $100 per barrel for the first time since July. Oil is up 26 percent since the end of September. The price jumped Wednesday after a Canadian pipeline company announced it would ship crude away from a key delivery point in the Midwest.
Benchmark crude oil rose $3.22, or more than 3 percent, to end at $102.59 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Heating oil lost 3.67 cents to finish at $3.1346 per gallon. Gasoline futures rose 4.16 cents to close at $2.6273 per gallon and natural gas fell 5.9 cents to close at $3.483 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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Apple launches iTunes Match a couple weeks late (AP)
CUPERTINO, Calif. ? Apple has turned on its iTunes Match service ? although it's two weeks late.
The $25-a-year subscription promises to match every song on a person's computer and store the tunes in an online account on distant servers known as the "cloud."
The songs can then be downloaded or streamed to other Apple devices without needing to physically connect them to the computer.
Songs that are not recognized can be uploaded automatically. The service promises to function with multiple computers used by the same person by eliminating duplicates.
Apple Inc. declined to comment on the delay. Earlier it had said iTunes Match would be available by the end of October.
An earlier message on iTunes saying new accounts were not being accepted was posted in error and has since been removed.
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Stocks slip as Italian borrowing rates jump again (AP)
NEW YORK ? Stocks are lower in midday trading as concerns about Italy's financial crisis overshadow an increase in U.S. retail spending.
The market rate for Italy's 10-year bond jumped back above 7 percent Tuesday, reigniting fears of a financial crisis. Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to seek lifelines when their borrowing rates crossed the same mark.
The Commerce Department said early Tuesday that Americans spent more on autos, electronics and building supplies in October. Sales increased 0.5 percent from the previous month, better than forecasts.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,012 as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern. The S&P 500 lost 6, or 0.5 percent, to 1,245. The Nasdaq composite slid 10, or 0.4 percent, to 2,647.
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