jamespolace: January 2012

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

TPG, News Corp, Time Warner bid for Turkey's Calik media:sources (Reuters)

ISTANBUL (Reuters) ? News Corp, Time Warner and TPG Capital have placed bids of up to around $1 billion for the ATV-Sabah media unit of Turkey's Calik Holding, three sources close to the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Calik Holding, which also has interests in energy and finance, paid $1.1 billion in 2007 for ATV-Sabah, one of Turkey's largest media groups, and two of the sources said the company did not want to make a loss on the deal.

Chairman Ahmet Calik was regarded as close to the ruling AK party's leadership, and that deal gave the socially conservative, economically liberal government an influential friend in the media.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak is the chief executive of Calik Holding, and his brother Serhat Albayrak is the general manager of the media unit.

"TPG, (News Corp's Rupert) Murdoch and Time Warner placed bids. I know TPG is very aggressive," said a source close to the process, adding the submitted bids were around $1 billion.

He said the sale process could be completed in February.

Calik hired Goldman Sachs this month to steer the sale of ATV and Sabah, according to sources close to the matter. They said the deadline for bidding had been pushed back to the end of January, having been earlier set for January 18.

"Bids were placed last week. Today or tomorrow we expect feedback," another source close to the deal told Reuters. "It is a short list."

Earlier this month, sources had listed private quity funds including TPG Capital and KKR & Co, along with Time Warner and RTL Group -- Europe's biggest commercial broadcaster -- among the potential bidders.

"KKR withdrew from the process, Time Warner placed a bid but we know its interest is on the decline. TPG and News Corp are more interested," said another source close to the matter.

"EBITDA was adjusted and the valuation was down," another source close to the matter said. "Murdoch was said to have placed a bid of $1 billion, but this figure is less than Calik's expectations. Calik may prefer to cool the process," he said.

Earlier this month credit rating agency Fitch placed Calik on a watch list due to refinancing concerns earlier this month.

Fitch said the Sabah and ATV media assets were thinly capitalized, considering the competitive market they were in and the current and projected working capital needs.

Calik took on $750 million of bank debt in April 2008 to finance the acquisition of ATV-Sabah from the Savings, Deposits and Insurance Fund (TMSF).

While analysts say Calik has found the media business unprofitable and wants to sell it to cut its debts, international investors have been lured by the attractions of Turkey's young, large population and rapid economic growth.

Several of the bidders for ATV-Sabah made the shortlist when Dogan Yayin Holding sought buyers last year for its media assets. But Dogan opted to sell its assets to Turkish groups, and held onto its flagship Hurriyet newspaper.

(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Will Waterman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/media_nm/us_calik_bids

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Occupy protest resurfaces in Oakland after lull

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan surveys damage to City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Oakland, Calif., following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

A defaced bust of former city councilmember Frank Ogawa sits outside Oakland, Calif., City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Police officers stand near graffiti while guarding Oakland, Calif., City Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, following an Occupy Oakland protest Saturday. After a confrontation with police, demonstrators gained entrance to City Hall where they burned an American flag, broke glass and toppled a model of City Hall. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Police move in on Occupy Oakland protesters on Oak Street and 12th Street as tear gas gets blown back on them in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An unlawful assembly was declared as occupiers planned to take over an undisclosed building. (AP Photo/The Tribune, Bay Area News Group) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? It started peacefully enough: A midday rally at City Hall and a march. But as the day wore on, Oakland was hit by the most turbulent protests in weeks as Occupy demonstrators clashed repeatedly with police, leaving more than 400 people arrested.

The demonstrations in downtown Oakland broke a lull that had seen just a smattering of people taking to Oakland's streets in recent weeks for occasional marches that bore little resemblance to the headline-grabbing Occupy demonstrations of last fall.

That all changed Saturday with clashes punctuated by rock and bottle throwing by protesters and volleys of tear gas from police, and a City Hall break-in that left glass cases smashed, graffiti spray-painted on walls and an American flag burned.

AP photos showing the flag burning ? including images of masked protesters touching off the blaze, a woman urging protesters not to burn it, and another of an officer stomping out the fire ? drew attention on social networking sites.

At least three officers and one protester were injured. Police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Thomason said there were more than 400 arrests on charges ranging from failure to disperse to vandalism,

On Sunday, Oakland officials vowed to be ready if Occupy protesters try to mount another large-scale demonstration. Protesters, meanwhile, decried Saturday's police tactics as illegal and threatened to sue.

Mayor Jean Quan personally inspected damage caused by dozens of people who broke into City Hall, which reopened Monday. She said she wants a court order to keep Occupy protesters who have been arrested several times out of Oakland, which has been hit repeatedly by demonstrations that have cost the financially troubled city about $5 million.

Quan also called on the loosely organized movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

"People in the community and people in the Occupy movement have to stop making excuses for this behavior," she said.

Saturday's protests ? the most convulsive since Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment in November ? came just days after the announcement of a new round of actions. The group said it planned to use a vacant building as a social center and political hub and threatened to try to shut down the Port of Oakland for a third time, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

After the mass arrests, the Occupy Oakland Media Committee criticized the police's conduct, saying that most of the arrests were made illegally because police failed to allow protesters to disperse. It threatened legal action.

"Contrary to their own policy, the OPD gave no option of leaving or instruction on how to depart. These arrests are completely illegal, and this will probably result in another class action lawsuit against the OPD," a release from the group said.

Deputy Police Chief Jeff Israel told reporters late Saturday that protesters gathered unlawfully and police gave them multiple verbal warnings to disband.

Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests. Police officials say they were in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the protests.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately. Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

Caitlin Manning, an Occupy Oakland member, believes that Saturday's protest caught the world's attention.

"The Occupy movement is back on the map," Manning said Sunday. "We think those who have been involved in movements elsewhere should be heartened."

In Oakland, social activism and civic unrest have long marked this rough-edged city of nearly 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco. Beset by poverty, crime and a decades-long tense relationship between the police and the community, its streets have seen clashes between officers and protesters, including anti-draft protests in the 1960s that spilled into town from neighboring Berkeley.

Dozens of officers, who maintained guard at City Hall overnight, were also on the scene Sunday.

"They were never able to occupy a building outside of City Hall," Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said Sunday. "We suspect they will try to go to the convention center again. They will not get in."

Jordan defended his officers' response to the protesters on Saturday.

"No we have not changed our tactics," Jordan said. "The demonstrators have changed their tactics, which forces us to respond differently."

Quan, who faces two mayoral recall attempts, has been criticized for past police tear-gassing, though she said she was not aware of the plans. On Saturday, she thought the police response was measured.

She also said she hopes prosecutors will seek a stay-away order against protesters who have been arrested multiple times.

"It appears that most of them constantly come from outside of Oakland," Quan said. "I think a lot of the young people who come to these demonstrations think they're being revolutionary when they're really hurting the people they claim that they are representing."

Saturday's events began when a group assembled outside City Hall and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over a vacant convention center.

The protesters then walked to the convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said. The number of demonstrators swelled as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging up to 2,000 people, although city leaders say that figure was much closer to several hundred.

A majority of the arrests came after police took scores of protesters into custody as they marched through downtown, with some entering a YMCA building, Thomason said.

One of those taken into custody at the facility was KGO radio reporter Kristin Hanes.

Though she was released after about 25 minutes, Hanes said she was "angry that they put a reporter in zip-tie handcuffs."

Oakland police didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about her arrest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-30-Occupy%20Oakland/id-eb6f9ca7cee749edadae39dd333e9517

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Monday, 30 January 2012

Hillary Clinton to step down from 'high wire' of US diplomacy

It's too early to talk of her legacy, or to grade the Obama administration's foreign policy, but four years of repairing relationships and defending US interests have taken a physical toll.?

No matter what happens in the 2012 US presidential elections, Hillary Clinton will not be America?s chief diplomat for much longer.

Skip to next paragraph

At a State Department press conference yesterday, she announced that she would be stepping down from the ?high wire of American politics? after 20 years, as first lady, as a senator from New York, and finally as US Secretary of State. At the press conference, she told reporters that ?it would be a good idea to find out how tired I really am.?

Diplomacy is a largely thankless task in America. In France, diplomats are practically rock stars, and the actions and speeches of senior French diplomats abroad are noted closely as to whether they match the standards of French diplomats of the past. Not so in the US. Newspapers like the New York Times may have front-page articles about the US secretary of State?s latest foreign trip to Myanmar, for instance, but the vast majority of Americans are blissfully unaware of what their government is doing overseas. ?

Ms. Clinton inherited a job when American diplomacy was every bit as messy as the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Many nations that initially felt sympathy for the US after the Sept. 11 attacks had grown quickly tired of American statements such as, ?You?re either with us or against us.? Changing the tone of American foreign policy meant bringing back a level of trust, and to do that meant thousands of foreign trips.

Here?s the US State Department's interactive map showing Hillary Clinton?s hundreds of foreign and domestic trips.

Rumors have been flying around for weeks that Hillary Clinton was planning to bow out.

Chris McGreal, the Guardian?s man in Washington, quoted a keen diplomacy-watcher, John Norris of the Center for American Progress, as saying that Clinton?s legacy abroad will be her dogged attempts to reverse hostility.

"I have a hard time thinking of a secretary of state in recent memory who inherited a portfolio that was more of a mess. She had wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a very troubled relationship with Pakistan, and a full-blown economic crisis on her watch," he said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/ZdOZfIIKyR8/Hillary-Clinton-to-step-down-from-high-wire-of-US-diplomacy

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Syrian troops storm areas near capital of Damascus (AP)

BEIRUT ? In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops stormed rebellious areas near the capital Sunday, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The widescale offensive near the capital suggested the regime is worried that military defectors could close in on Damascus, which has remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities descended into chaos after the uprising began in March.

The rising bloodshed added urgency to Arab and Western diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month conflict.

The violence has gradually approached the capital. In the past two weeks, army dissidents have become more visible, seizing several suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus and setting up checkpoints where masked men wearing military attire and wielding assault rifles stop motorists and protect anti-regime protests.

Their presence so close to the capital is astonishing in tightly controlled Syria and suggests the Assad regime may either be losing control or setting up a trap for the fighters before going on the offensive.

Residents of Damascus reported hearing clashes in the nearby suburbs, particularly at night, shattering the city's calm.

"The current battles taking place in and around Damascus may not yet lead to the unraveling of the regime, but the illusion of normalcy that the Assads have sought hard to maintain in the capital since the beginning of the revolution has surely unraveled," said Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based Syrian dissident.

"Once illusions unravel, reality soon follows," he wrote in his blog Sunday.

Soldiers riding some 50 tanks and dozens of armored vehicles stormed a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus known as al-Ghouta Sunday, a predominantly Sunni Muslim agricultural area where large anti-regime protests have been held.

Some of the fighting on Sunday was less than three miles (four kilometers) from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital.

"There are heavy clashes going on in all of the Damascus suburbs," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who relies on a network of activists on the ground. "Troops were able to enter some areas but are still facing stiff resistance in others."

The fighting using mortars and machine guns sent entire families fleeing, some of them on foot carrying bags of belongings, to the capital.

"The shelling and bullets have not stopped since yesterday," said a man who left his home in Ein Tarma with his family Sunday. "It's terrifying, there's no electricity or water, it's a real war," he said by telephone on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals.

The uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms.

In a bid to stamp out resistance in the capital's outskirts, the military has responded with a withering assault on a string of suburbs, leading to a spike in violence that has killed at least 150 people since Thursday.

The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of violence.

The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus' rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters Sunday in Egypt that contacts were under way with China and Russia.

"I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution," he told reporters before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.

The two will seek U.N. support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria's crisis. The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.

Because of the escalating violence, the Arab League on Saturday halted the work of its observer mission in Syria at least until the League's council can meet. Arab foreign ministers were to meet Sunday in Cairo to discuss the Syrian crisis in light of the suspension of the observers' work and Damascus' refusal to agree to the transition timetable, the League said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "concerned" about the League's decision to suspend its monitoring mission and called on Assad to "immediately stop the bloodshed." He spoke Sunday at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

While the international community scrambles to find a resolution to the crisis, the violence on the ground in Syria has continued unabated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians were killed Sunday in Syria, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. Twenty-six soldiers and nine defectors were also killed, it said. The soldiers were killed in ambushes that targeted military vehicles near the capital and in the northern province of Idlib.

The Local Coordination Committees' activist network said 50 people were killed Sunday, including 13 who were killed in the suburbs of the capital and two defectors. That count excluded soldiers killed Sunday.

The differing counts could not be reconciled, and the reports could not be independently confirmed. Syrian authorities keep tight control on the media and have banned many foreign journalists from entering the country.

Syria's state-run news agency said "terrorists" detonated a roadside bomb by remote control near a bus carrying soldiers in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya, killing six soldiers and wounding six others. Among those killed in the attack some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the capital were two first lieutenants, SANA said.

In Irbil, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq, about 200 members of Syria's Kurdish parties were holding two days of meetings to explore ways of supporting efforts to topple Assad.

Abdul-Baqi Youssef, a member of the Syrian Kurdish Union Party, said representatives of 11 Kurdish parties formed the Syrian Kurdish National Council that will coordinate anti-government activities with Syria's opposition.

Kurds make up 15 percent of Syria's 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo; Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq; and Luc van Kemenade in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Sunday, 29 January 2012

UK police arrest Murdoch tabloid staff, raid offices (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? British police arrested four current and former staff of Rupert Murdoch's best-selling Sun tabloid plus a policeman on Saturday as part of an investigation into suspected payments by journalists to officers, police and the newspaper's publisher said.

Police also searched the paper's London offices at publisher News International, News Corp's British arm, in a corruption probe linked to a continuing investigation into phone hacking at its now closed News of the World weekly tabloid.

News Corp's Management and Standards Committee, set up in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, said Saturday's operation was the result of information it had passed to police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," the committee said in a statement confirming the arrests of four "current and former employees" of the Sun.

The committee is conducting a lawyer-led internal review of News International's remaining titles, which also include The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers, as part of a drive to mend the reputational damage done by the phone hacking scandal.

The committee's investigation into The Sun was "well advanced," News International chief executive Tom Mockridge said in an email sent to staff.

"News International is confronting past mistakes and is making fundamental changes about how we operate which are essential for our business.

"Despite this very difficult news, we are determined that News International will emerge a stronger and more trusted organization," he added.

News International was providing legal support for the four arrested "colleagues," Mockridge said.

The arrests included The Sun's crime editor Mike Sullivan, its head of news Chris Pharo, and former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Also arrested was the paper's former managing editor Graham Dudman, now a training director at News International, the source said.

Police said a 48-year-old man from north London and two other men from Essex, east of London, aged 48 and 56, were arrested at their homes. The fourth man, aged 42, was arrested after reporting to an east London police station.

A Sun reporter, who asked not to be named, said: "Everyone is a bit shocked, there is disbelief really. But there is a big difference between phone hacking and payments to the police."

A 29-year-old policeman serving with the Met Police's Territorial Policing Command, was arrested at the central London police station where he worked.

All five were being questioned on suspicion of corruption.

OPERATION ELVEDEN

Police searched the arrested men's homes as well as The Sun's offices in Wapping, east London.

Thirteen people have now been arrested over allegations that journalists paid police in return for information.

Their detentions are part of Operation Elveden - one of three criminal investigations into news-gathering practices.

Last week, News International settled a string of legal claims after it admitted that people working for the tabloid had hacked in to the private phones of celebrities and others to find stories.

The phone hacking scandal drew attention to the level of political influence held by editors and executives at News International, and other newspapers in Britain.

It embarrassed British politicians for their close ties with newspaper executives and also the police, who repeatedly failed to investigate allegations of illegal phone hacking.

(Additional reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Ben Harding)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_newscorp_arrests

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Obama urges Congress to act in election year (AP)

CAMBRIDGE, Md. ? President Barack Obama rallied House Democrats for an election-year fight, urging them to work with Republicans if they show some willingness to put politics aside but telling the rank and file to call them out if they stand in the way.

Addressing Democrats on the final day of their three-day annual retreat, Obama outlined the political stakes over the next few months as congressional Democrats try to push his agenda in the face of Republican opposition, the GOP choses its nominee and signs of recovery in a fragile economy go a long way to determining his re-election chances and the party's fate.

Obama said Democrats should seize the opportunity "whenever there is a possibility that the other side is putting some politics aside for just a nanosecond in order to get something done for the American people, we've got to be right there ready to meet them," the president told the sometimes raucous crowd.

However, "where they obstruct, where they're unwilling to act, where they're more interested in party than they are in country, more interested in the next election than the next generation, then we've got to call them out on it," the president said. "We've got to push. We can't wait; we can't be held back."

Coming off a three-day tour to promote his State of the Union message, Obama promised a "robust debate about whose vision is more promising" when Republicans choose their nominee.

On a day when reports showed the economy picking up late in 2011 but still considered "fragile" by the White House, Obama told Democrats wondering about their re-election prospects: "It's going to be a tough election because a lot of people are still hurting out there and a lot of people have lost faith generally about the capacity of Washington to get anything done."

House Republicans, who held their retreat in Baltimore last week, have repeatedly said the election will be a referendum on Obama's policies, especially his handling of the economy.

The president acknowledged that Democrats have embraced parts of his agenda when it was politically difficult and in some cases costly. The party took a drubbing in the midterm elections, losing control of the House and seeing their ranks diminished in the Senate.

And despite some past clashes with House Democrats over his willingness to compromise with Republicans, Obama was warmly received and was introduced as "our champion" by Rep. John Larson of Connecticut.

The president returned the warmth with a vote of confidence that Democrats would win back the House in November, making a nod to their leader as "soon-to-be once-again Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi."

"I believe in you guys. You guys have had my back through some very tough times," said the president, who received a small gift ? a DVD of House Democrats singing Rev. Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."

Last week, at a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in New York, Obama stood on the stage and crooned a line from the Green classic.

Democrats were upbeat at their three-day session, energized by Obama's State of the Union address and its populist themes as well as recent polls showing more Americans say the country is on the right track and approve of Obama's handling of the economy. Divisions in the Republican ranks that were on full display last year in the fight over extending the payroll tax cut and the bitter battle between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for the GOP presidential nomination also lifted Democratic spirits.

But the relationship with the White House hasn't always been cordial. Vice President Joe Biden, who addressed the Democrats prior to Obama's speech, described some of the rough patches.

He noted that several members in the room were mad at him in December 2010 after Obama negotiated an extension of President George W. Bush's tax cuts over the objections of some House Democrats. Last year, frustrated Democrats complained the Obama gave away too much in negotiating a spending bill and an agreement to raise the government's borrowing authority.

Biden said Pelosi told him at the last conference to "get tough. Enough is enough." He said the "message was heard. The message was heard. And I think we've delivered."

Biden said Democrats would reclaim the House and he would help candidates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida. Those states also are critical to Obama's hopes of winning another term.

"We cannot succeed unless you all come back," Biden told House Democrats.

The vice president was more pointed in his political remarks than Obama and called out some Republicans by name. He said the American people will reject GOP unwillingness to compromise and its blatant determination to make Obama a one-term president.

Of the presidential candidates, Biden said Romney's criticism of the auto bailout and a host of positions stated by rival Newt Gingrich on government intervention will create a clear contrast for voters.

"These guys are helping us by saying what they believe," Biden said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_go_co/us_house_democrats

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Justice unit to probe mortgage-backed securities (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Federal and state law enforcement officials announced Friday that they have launched a fraud-fighting initiative to root out wrongdoing in the market for residential mortgage-backed securities.

Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference that bringing full enforcement resources to bear will help expose abuses and hold violators accountable.

Residential mortgage-backed securities are the huge investment packages of what turned out to be near-worthless mortgages that bankrupted many investors and contributed to the nation's financial crisis.

Appearing with Holder, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a co-chair of the initiative, said the effort will link state and federal probes of the mortgage-backed securities bubble.

The collapse in value of mortgage-backed securities resulted in unprecedented losses and "all of us" in law enforcement are dedicated to holding accountable financial institutions that lied and cheated and misled investors, said Robert Khuzami, director of the enforcement division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

President Barack Obama disclosed the effort in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_financial_probers

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Saturday, 28 January 2012

Paul braves snowy Maine in hunt for GOP delegates (AP)

WATERVILLE, Maine ? Ron Paul braved Maine's snow and ice Friday in a quest to pick up delegates, vowing he and his loyal band of supporters would be a factor in the Republican nominating contest for weeks to come.

The Texas congressman attracted a packed house in Bangor despite a powerful winter storm that shuttered schools and brought traffic to a virtual standstill.

Feisty and defiant, Paul said he had watched a television segment that morning in which pundits debated how Republicans should try to manage Paul and his fervent backers.

"They want us to go away, but they don't want to offend us. How are they going to manage that?" Paul said to boos. "I'll tell you what ? we'll just hang around for a while longer."

Paul is all but skipping Florida, whose primary is Jan. 31, to focus on Maine and other states holding caucuses, including Nevada, Colorado and Minnesota. Nevada's caucuses are Feb. 4 and Colorado and Minnesota's follow on Feb. 7.

Paul's campaign is following President Barack Obama's 2008 model, hoping a similarly young, Internet-savvy fan base will organize themselves and attend caucuses for Paul. The caucus states also yield a large number of delegates for far less money than many primary states.

The comparison to Obama's 2008 campaign has its limits, however. Obama had racked up at least one major victory ? a huge win in the Iowa caucuses ? before turning to the smaller-state caucus strategy. Paul has yet to win a single contest.

His best showing was in the New Hampshire primary, where he placed second behind Mitt Romney. But he came in third in Iowa behind Romney and Rick Santorum and placed a dismal fourth last Saturday in South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary.

Paul was spending two days in Maine, campaigning on or near college campuses, which have typically been receptive to his libertarian-leaning message.

At Colby College in Waterville, he emphasized his support for bringing U.S. troops home from overseas engagements and railed against what he called government's efforts to regulate lifestyle choices.

"When it comes to putting anything into your body, or your mouth, in your lungs, you can't do it without permission of the government," Paul said.

Maine's caucuses begin Feb. 4 and wrapping up on Feb. 11, when the GOP will announce the results of what is essentially a nonbinding straw poll.

The gatherings in schools, Grange halls, fire stations and town halls are the first step to selecting 24 delegates from the state to the Republican National Convention in Tampa next summer.

Charles Welles, 34, a Waterville resident and Navy veteran, said he supports Paul's views on ending military engagements and wants to vote for him. But Welles said he was still a bit confused by the caucus process.

"I'm from Ohio, so this is all new to me," Welles said.

Paul and Romney were both on the ballot in Maine's 2008 caucuses and have maintained active organizations in the state. The former Massachusetts governor finished first that year. Paul came in third, behind Arizona Sen. John McCain, who went on to win the GOP nomination.

Maine, often an afterthought compared to its next-door neighbor, New Hampshire, tends to reward candidates who are organized and make an effort to show up to court voters, Colby political science professor Sandy Maisel said.

Maisel noted that Gov. Jerry Brown of California, who was out of office at the time, won Maine's Democratic caucuses in 1992 after making frequent trips to the state.

The enthusiasm among Paul's supporters could help him prevail in Maine, Maisel added.

"The GOP has a very low turnout and it tends to be the most ideological people, which favors Ron Paul," he said.

Paul state chairman Paul Madore was guarded about setting expectations, saying GOP officials in the state would press for a more traditional candidate like Romney.

We have a rank-and-file Republican leadership in Maine, and they don't budge easily," Madore said. "We have to get in there and make our presence heard."

___

Sharp reported from Portland, Maine.

___

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bfouhy

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_el_pr/us_paul

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Colts owner wishes Manning kept comments in-house

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2012, file photo, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning watches from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla. Shortly after introducing Chuck Pagano as Indianapolis' new coach, team owner Jim Irsay responded to the comments Manning made earlier this week about the Colts by referring to the only four-time league MVP as a "politician." (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

Indianapolis Colts new head coach Chuck Pagano, left, and owner Jim Irsay greet each after Pagano was introduced during a news conference at the NFL football team's headquarters in Indianapolis, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indianapolis Colts new head coach Chuck Pagano talks about joking with Colts wide receiver Reggie Wanye during a game at a news conference at the NFL football team's headquarters in Indianapolis, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indianapolis Colts new head coach Chuck Pagano speaks during a news conference at the NFL football team's headquarters in Indianapolis, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? The NFL's most watched offseason drama has turned stunningly ugly.

Two days after Peyton Manning complained about the dour atmosphere around the Colts' complex, team owner Jim Irsay called his four-time league MVP a "politician" and said he didn't appreciate Manning's public campaign.

The comments upstaged the introduction of Irsay's new coach, Chuck Pagano, and came six weeks before Irsay must decide whether to pay the still-recovering Manning a $28 million bonus. Manning missed the entire 2011 season after having his third neck surgery in September.

"I don't think it's in the best interest to paint the horseshoe in a negative light, I really don't," Irsay told reporters following Pagano's introduction. "The horseshoe always comes first, and I think one thing he's always known, because he's been around it so long, is that, you know, you keep it in the family. If you've got a problem you talk to each other, it's not about campaigning or anything like that."

Apparently, Manning got the message.

Just a few hours after Irsay responded to questions from reporters, Manning tried to dial things back by telling The Indianapolis Star that he didn't intend to create a public spat. Instead, Manning said he was speaking from the heart after watching so many of his friends lose their jobs.

"At this point, Mr. Irsay and I owe it to each other and to the fans of the organization to handle this appropriately and professionally, and I think we will. I've already reached out to Mr. Irsay," Manning said. "I wasn't trying to paint the Colts in a bad light, but it's tough when so many people you've known for so long are suddenly leaving. I feel very close to a lot of these guys and we've done great things together. It's hard to watch an old friend clean out his office. That's all I was trying to say.

"I just want to keep rehabbing and working hard, and when the time is right for Mr. Irsay and I to sit down, I look forward to a healthy conversation about my future. I've worked too hard and have such great respect and have so many great relationships inside the building and out, and it's incredibly important that those remain."

Clearly, Irsay wants the same kind of relationship.

But over the past month, the Colts have been as dysfunctional as a Hollywood marriage.

Irsay, the team owner, has fired vice chairman Bill Polian, general manager Chris Polian, coach Jim Caldwell and most of his staff over the last three weeks. Social media has suddenly become the platform of choice to update fans on pending decisions, to shoot down rumors or fan the speculation.

Last week, actor Rob Lowe caused a media frenzy by tweeting that Manning was about to retire. The story got so much attention even Pagano, who was busy preparing for the Ravens' AFC title game against New England, noticed.

"You know, I've got a text or a call out to Rob Lowe and I haven't heard back yet, so I'm going to have get back to you on that one," Pagano said when asked if he expected to be coaching Manning next season.

The newest twist could be the most damaging.

On Tuesday, Manning told The Star that his only really conversation with the first-time general manager Ryan Grigson had come in passing and the flurry of moves had those around the team complex walking on "eggshells."

Many believe Manning's comments indicated how unhappy he was in Indianapolis, prompting speculation he was looking for a way out.

Irsay didn't like it that Manning went public with his frustrations.

"I have so much affection and appreciation for Peyton. I mean we're family. We always will be and we are," Irsay said. "He's a politician. I mean look at, when it comes to being competitive, let's just say on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, we're both 11s, OK? So there's been plenty of egg shells scattered around this building by him with his competitive desire to win."

The drama may only be beginning.

With Irsay's men in place in the front office and on the coaching staff, Pagano can focus his attention on selecting a staff. Grigson said Pagano will make those choices.

Irsay's decisions will become much more difficult.

Indy's horrendous 2-14 season has given it the No. 1 overall pick, which Irsay has said they will use for their quarterback of the future ? presumably Stanford's Andrew Luck.

If so, Irsay must decide how much money he wants to invest in one position. Manning signed a five-year, $90 million contract in July and is due the bonus in March. Soon to be 36, the perennial Pro Bowler is also coming off his third neck surgery in less than two years.

Irsay reiterated Thursday that his choice will come down to Manning's health, not money.

"I think fans already understand that," Irsay said when asked whether Manning may have played his final game in Colts' blue. "This isn't an ankle, it isn't a shoulder. Often times the NFL is criticized for putting someone out there at risk, and I'm not going to doing that. I think he and I just need to see where his health is because this isn't about money or anything else. It's about his life and his long-term health."

Those answers still may not be determined by the March 8 deadline.

That's only the start of the Colts' questions.

Grigson and Irsay must figure out how to free up salary cap space and what to do with a group of high-priced veterans such as Gary Brackett and Melvin Bullitt, and whether they want to bring back some of their key free agents such as Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne.

Not surprisingly, Pagano wants as many of those guys back as he can get, including Manning.

"I just came from a great organization and just spent some time with one of the greatest leaders (Ray Lewis) to ever play this game," Pagano said. "And there's one of those leaders right here (Manning) and those are the types of individuals and people that you have to surround yourself with."

But it's Irsay who must make that decision, and it's obvious that the two haven't been talking much lately ? something Irsay acknowledged will change between now and March 8.

"It's a very simple issue, it's a health issue," the owner said.

"It's one of those things where just when you think it's going in the right direction, things change," he said, explaining later there was no indication Manning had had a setback over the last month. "It's been very hard on everyone around here, and it's been very hard on Peyton, too."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-27-FBN-Colts-Manning/id-130ddb4d02ae45c0b7605e1086747814

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Feisty Gingrich stakes campaign on electability

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks in Delray Beach, Fla., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Lanco Paint Company in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Romney and Gingrich square off over immigration and other issues as they look to woo Hispanics a day after a feisty, final debate before Tuesday?s Florida primary. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) ? Newt Gingrich has staked his presidential bid on one idea: that he is best positioned to defeat President Barack Obama. Even some of his supporters seem to be struggling to buy the former House speaker's claim, an indication that chief rival Mitt Romney's efforts to undercut him may be working.

"Beating Obama is more important than everything else," Patrick Roehl, a 51-year-old computer software engineer, said in the midst of a packed Gingrich rally inside a Sarasota airport hangar this week. "Can Newt win? I'm not sure. He's got a lot of high negatives. The elections are won and lost in the middle. I'm not sure he appeals to the middle."

John Grainger, a 44-year-old assistant golf pro, doesn't like Romney. But he's having trouble shaking skepticism about Gingrich.

"I want to be a Newt supporter," he said. "This guy's going to have the guts to stand up and speak his piece ? no holds barred." But Grainger said he wasn't quite ready to back the former House speaker.

Interviews with more than a dozen Republican voters at Gingrich's overflowing rallies this week suggest that while many Florida voters love his brash style as they look for someone to take it to Obama, they also have lingering doubts about whether the Republican's intellectual bomb-throwing alone will make him the strongest Obama opponent.

Romney and his allies have spent a week working to stoke those doubts with Florida Republicans ahead of Tuesday's primary. And the GOP's establishment wing has started to help the former Massachusetts governor make that case by castigating Gingrich at every turn.

On television and on the campaign trail, Romney and his allies have steadily highlighted Gingrich's liabilities ? consulting contracts and ethics investigations among them. And they've suggested that more baggage could emerge in the fall, when the Republican nominee would be at the height of a general election battle against Obama.

"In the case of the speaker, he's got some records which could represent an October surprise," Romney said this week, referring to Gingrich's consulting work and ethics allegations when he was in the House. "We could see an October surprise a day from Newt Gingrich."

An outside group dedicated to helping Romney has spent almost $9 million on Florida television advertising, including a massive $4 million investment this week alone, to make the case even more explicitly.

"Newt Gingrich's tough talk sounds good, but Newt has tons of baggage. How will he ever beat Obama?" says the new ad from the so-called super PAC, Restore Our Future.

Gingrich, to be sure, is not letting such criticism go unanswered. He's telling everyone ? on the trail, in television interviews, on conference calls and in fundraising messages ? that he alone can defeat Obama. He points to his 12 percentage point victory in the South Carolina primary as proof.

Exit polling there showed that the majority of Republican voters, 51 percent, said that Gingrich was better suited to defeat the Democratic president.

"Their highest value was beating Obama," Gingrich told evangelical voters this week. "And if they thought Romney was the only person who could beat Obama, then they would swallow a lie. But the minute they thought there were two people who could beat Obama, they suddenly turned and said, Well, you know, maybe we should be for Newt."

Polls suggest that Gingrich could defeat Romney in Florida, a surge fueled partly by growing support from the tea party movement and continued anti-Romney sentiment. Gingrich drew massive crowds at venues across Florida this week.

But in those swelling crowds were conservatives who said they were drawn less by Gingrich's electability than his fiery rhetoric.

"He's a fighter. Mitt, I think, is too wishy-washy," said Dominique Boscia, a 43-year-old unemployed woman from Lakewood Ranch. "I like feisty people. I like people who have spunk."

That's certainly Gingrich. For months, he has used aggressive debate performances to fuel his underdog candidacy. He has consistently thrilled conservatives by promising to take the fight directly to Obama in a series of free-form debates modeled after the 1860 meetings between Illinois Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas.

Should Obama refuse, Gingrich says he'll follow the president on the campaign trail until he agrees.

That gets good applause lines at rallies. But a closer look at polling suggests that a debate beat down doesn't necessarily mean Gingrich can beat the president in an election that will include independents and Democrats.

Gingrich struggled among independents in a recent Washington Post-ABC News national poll, in which 53 percent gave him unfavorable marks and just 22 percent had a favorable opinion of the former House speaker. While Romney has typically polled better among independents, the poll ? conducted between Jan. 18 and 22 ? found virtually no difference: 51 percent of independents viewed him unfavorably, compared with 23 with favorable views.

But when all Florida voters, including independents and Democrats, are asked to weigh in, Romney appears to have a strong advantage over Gingrich, according to a poll conducted by Suffolk University-WSVN-TV Miami. Romney would defeat Obama here 47 percent to 42 percent; Gingrich would lose, earning just 40 percent to Obama's 49 percent of likely Florida general election voters.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-Gingrich-Electability/id-65b11f70056243b1929924bec3d559e2

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Unemployment claims increase this week

Seasonally adjusted ?initial? unemployment increased 21,000 to 377,000 claims from last week, while seasonally adjusted ?continued? claims increased by 88,000.

Today?s jobless claims report showed notable increases to both initial and continued unemployment claims as seasonally adjusted remained below the closely watched 400K level.

Skip to next paragraph SoldAtTheTop

'SoldAtTheTop' is not a pessimist by nature but a true skeptic and realist who prefers solid and sustained evidence of fundamental economic recovery to 'Goldilocks,' 'Green Shoots,' 'Mustard Seeds,' and wholesale speculation.

Friday, 27 January 2012

China says EU ban on Iran oil not "constructive" (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China on Thursday criticized the European Union for banning oil imports from Iran, Beijing's third biggest crude supplier and a major trading partner.

The European Union agreed on Monday to ban imports of oil from Iran and imposed a number of other economic sanctions, joining the United States in a new round of measures aimed at pushing Iran into reining in its nuclear activities that Tehran says are for peaceful purposes.

China, the world's second largest crude consumer, has long opposed unilateral sanctions that target Iran's energy sector and has tried to reduce tensions that could threaten its oil supply.

Last week, Beijing told a visiting Iranian delegation that returning to nuclear talks was a "top priority." During a tour to Arab states earlier this month, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao also made a strong statement opposing Iran developing and possessing nuclear weapons, but defended China's right to buy Iranian crude oil as normal trade activity.

Asked about the EU embargo, China's Foreign Ministry said in a faxed statement: "It is not a constructive approach to simply pile up the pressure and impose sanctions."

"China hopes relevant parties to resort to measures conducive to regional peace and stability," the statement added.

China is the largest buyer of Iranian crude oil, importing 30 percent more from Iran in 2011 compared to the previous year. But China halved its purchases from Iran in January and February, following a dispute over the terms of payment.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Tracy Zheng; editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/wl_nm/us_china_iran

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Francine Shapiro, Ph.D.: Post-War Fatigue: The Psychological Price We're All Paying

The tragic story involving the Iraq War veteran accused of killing five homeless people could have been averted. According to his family, his war experiences caused him to come home a changed man. It also set me thinking about how many casualties of war there really are, with tragedies that play out silently all around us every day.

As a psychologist for more than 20 years, and after having given hundreds of presentations worldwide, I've been continually struck by the commonalities we all share. No one has ever come in for therapy saying, "I'm here because my father didn't love me." It's rather because people feel internally pushed into doing things they don't want to do or prevented from doing things they want to do. They know that something is holding them back in life, but can't quite get a handle on what that is.

As psychologists, we are trained to look at how people were raised to help identify the source of their problems. Of course each person is unique, with a particular set of issues and experiences. But general context is also important -- meaning that it often helps to look at when someone was raised. And what recently struck me was how we have a new generation of children being raised by parents who have returned from military combat. After 10 years of war and counting, how does this stack up against the Baby Boomer generation that came into being just a few years after World War II? More importantly, is there anything we can learn from it?

In those days, the moms stayed home to take care of the children and the fathers were the providers. Two-parent families definitely can have their advantages. However, over the years, I've treated many clients who were raised by fathers who worked long hours to put food on the table but were absent when it came to expressing love and affection. Many of my clients described fathers who were disciplinarians, who maintained a firm sense of control in the household, but were often either silent and emotionally withdrawn or angry.

If we look carefully, we can see that many of these fathers displayed signs of what we know now is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It didn't help that PTSD wasn't even listed as a diagnosis until 1980. But the fact that war experiences were common didn't make them any less impactful. From personal experience in treating veterans from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, it's clear that there is no difference in the pain and sorrow from those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. So often their emotional burden is caused by the feelings that they were powerless to save someone. This can be even more devastating than being in danger yourself. Those who were support personnel often carry the same feelings of anger, guilt and lack of control. Who couldn't they save?

All these events can be locked in the brain as unprocessed memories and carry the emotions and feelings that were present at the time of the event. So when the young men of WWII came marching home again, they carried with them memories that were ready to be triggered at home. Since they often blamed themselves for what had happened, they were too ashamed to talk about it to anyone. But pressures at home or work could easily stir up the feelings they'd tried to ignore. Even simple things like a baby crying or a burnt dinner could trigger emotions connected with long-ago firefights they both couldn't control and didn't understand. And the ones that took the brunt of the pain were the children who were raised by fathers who could not easily communicate, or express love -- and perhaps lashed out when they were angry. As is usually the case, children take on the blame for their parents' "flaws" and think, "There must be something wrong with me/I'm not good enough." How many baby boomers still carry the wounds even though now entering retirement age? Is it any wonder that antidepressants are about as prevalent as aspirin in our culture?

Now, a new generation comes home from wars that have gone on for a decade, often with no clear sense of victory. As we see in the news, homelessness and drug use is rampant among veterans. And for those who have managed to return physically unscathed, how many carry memories of pain that also leave them feeling alienated and unable to communicate? Irritability, withdrawal, impatience and anger are potential warning signs of unprocessed memories that need to be addressed. Soldiers are trained to be stoic, but how much have they changed since the war? My bottom line here is to remind the families and friends of veterans that each generation has its silent heroes and it is our job to make sure they get the help they need. I also want to remind veterans that they should get help not only for their own sake, but for their children's sake as well.

And for those baby boomers still carrying the scars of childhood: It's never too late to get the help you need to release the past. It's all stored in memory, which can be processed and transformed into a source of resilience. Basically, you may never have been in combat, but there's no reason to stay a prisoner of your father's war.

For more information on the EMDR Institute, visit http://www.emdr.com.

For more about the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs, visit http://www.emdrhap.org.

For more by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., click here.

For more on PTSD, click here.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francine-shapiro-phd/ptsd-veterans_b_1228542.html

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Nigeria sect leader threatens president in message (AP)

LAGOS, Nigeria ? An audio message allegedly posted to the Internet by the leader of a radical Islamist sect in Nigeria threatens the oil-rich nation's president and denies its members killed Muslim civilians in an attack last week that left at least 185 people dead.

Meanwhile, unrest continued across the north with the kidnapping of a German on Thursday and the killing of 15 traders in a daylight attack by apparent armed robbers.

The video posted to YouTube on Wednesday, shows a still image of Imam Abubakar Shekau sitting on a beige sofa, a Kalashnikov rifle at his back. Speaking at times in Arabic, English and the Hausa language of Nigeria's Muslim north, Shekau said negotiations suggested by President Goodluck Jonathan between the sect and the government will not happen.

"He's lying. He cannot do it," Shekau said. "If Jonathan does not repent as a Muslim, even if I die myself, Jonathan's going to see. He's looking at me like I'm nobody, but he'll see."

In the message, Shekau acknowledged that Boko Haram carried out the Jan. 20 attacks in Kano, Nigeria's second-largest city, that killed at least 185 people. Gunmen from the sect armed with explosives and assault rifles, some wearing army and police uniforms, others suicide car bombers, attacked police stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria' secret police.

However, Shekau denied killing civilians in the attack, claiming the sect's gunmen tried to protect the more than 9 million people who live in the important city in Nigeria's north.

"We're killing police officers, we're killing soldiers and other government people who are fighting Allah and Christians who are killing Muslims and talking badly about our Islamic religion," Shekau said. "I am not against anyone, but if Allah asks me to kill someone, I will kill him and I will enjoy killing him like I am killing a chicken."

Boko Haram wants to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslims in communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people split largely into a Christian south and Muslim north. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has now killed at least 262 people in 2012, more than half of the at least 510 people the sect killed in all of 2011, according to an Associated Press count.

The attack by Boko Haram comes during continued unrest across Nigeria's north. In Kano, gunmen kidnapped a German citizen Thursday working for Dantata & Sawoe Construction Company Ltd.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told journalists Friday that the embassy and a ministry crisis unit were working hard to resolve the case.

"I can't yet report any substantial progress," Peschke said.

Meanwhile, Zamfara state spokesman Ibrahim Muhammad Birnin Magaji said Friday that gunmen killed 15 Muslim traders on their way to market. Birnin Magaji said the gunmen burned the bodies of their victims in a rural village in Katsina state on Thursday, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Kano.

He said authorities suspect an armed robbery attack, but no goods were reported missing.

___

Associated Press writers Ibrahim Garba in Kano, Nigeria; Yinka Ibukun in Lagos, Nigeria and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence

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With little to show in Syria, Arab League turns to UN

The Arab League wants to raise Syria's violent crisis at the United Nations?? but it faces Russian reluctance.

? A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

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Frustrated by months of failed efforts to mediate an end to Syria's violent crisis on its own, the Arab League is turning to the United Nations for help.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon requesting a meeting to discuss UN Security Council support for their peace plan, Reuters reports.?The Arab League's various efforts to mediate in Syria, including a monitoring mission that has been abandoned by six member states, have had little impact.

On Sunday, the Arab League leaders presented a peace plan to Damascus that called on President Bashar al-Assad to step down, transfer power to his deputy, and permit the formation of a unity government. Syrian Foreign Minister?Walid al Moualem responded that Syria rejected the plan and lambasted the league for "abandoning their role as the Arab League."

"We no longer want Arab solutions to the crisis," he said Tuesday, according to a separate Reuters report.?"Heading to the Security Council will be the third stage in their plan, and the only thing left is the last step of internationalization.??They can head to New York or to the moon. So long as we are not paying for their tickets it is none of our concern."

The observer mission, sent to Syria to monitor its implementation of a peace plan agreed to in November, was controversial from the start because of its leader's poor human rights record and its tight control by the Syrian government, which largely prevented observers from interacting with the opposition. Yesterday the six Gulf states began removing their 55 observers, saying the mission had been ineffective. Violence has continued since their arrival, with dozens of deaths.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Syria agreed to extend the mission by another month. The observers who left will be replaced by additional observers from the countries still participating.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/JYF_ylPyZTk/With-little-to-show-in-Syria-Arab-League-turns-to-UN

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Thursday, 26 January 2012

Let's Play 'History As A List'

A bunch of you have sent me this list. It comes from Drew Breunig, a New Yorker who apparently works in the computer business, in advertising.

It's a short history of "Frontiers" ? territories that he says have challenged humans over the centuries, arranged in roughly chronological order. Drew calls it "Frontiers Through The Ages."

Water, 1400
Land, 1840
Gold, 1850
Wire, 1880
Air, 1900
Celluloid, 1920
Plastic, 1950
Space, 1960
Silicon, 1980
Networks, 1990
Data, 2000

I know, I know, it's much too American and very arbitrary (Christopher Columbus didn't exactly "open" the oceans for exploration; Egyptian sailors, Minoans, Phoenicians did that, and much earlier), but still, Drew is playing a game here that's fun, if you keep at it.

Suppose I wanted to think about power, how sources of power have multiplied over time. I could write a list like this:

gravity
muscle
horses
wind
steam
internal combustion
oil
gas
nuclear

With each new chapter, we get more power, plus more risk . Not a bad trade off, almost like a formula for what we call "progress." But not always. There are some lists I can imagine that don't flatter us at all. My friend the mathematician Steven Strogatz, a music lover, sent me this: it's a small idea, but faithfully chronological...

vinyl
8-track
cassette
CD
iTunes

"Pretty uneven progress there!" he says.

We could make lists that, viewed a certain way, would be very depressing. This "list," found all over the Internet and attributed to "Anonymous," says a lot about our notion of "progress:"

But the more you do this exercise, the more you will find a consistent pattern that peeps through, says Kevin Kelly, first editor of Wired Magazine. Notice, he says, in many of these lists ? including Breunig's ? "there is decreasing mass in it. It gets lighter as it goes along, from Gold to Data."

Indeed.

Here's a similar list:

stone
bronze
iron
plastic
bits

And another:

blood
chromosomes
genes
DNA

This, said Peter Drucker, the business guru from Claremont College, is the real story of human innovation, that over the eons we seem to move from heavy to light, from thick to fine, from muscle to thought.

The first chair, he once said, was probably a tree stump, created by a guy (or gal) who had to hack and hack or push a load of lumber to the ground. The work was, he imagined, sweaty and very physical.

A modern chair, on the other hand, comes from people who sit in studios with pencils or computers, fashioning in their heads while the muscle part, the manufacture, is probably done by cleverly designed robots, using materials created in laboratories. In other words, a modern chair is mostly thought, barely muscle.

I think there's a prediction, a foretelling, in all this. In his new book of essays, the science fiction writer William Gibson considers how our new communication networks look more and more like the superfine, delicate wirings of a mind...

"...the texture of these more recent technologies, the grain of them, becomes progressively finer, progressively more divorced from Newtonian mechanics. In terms of scale, they are more akin to the workings of the brain itself...the ongoing manifestation of some very ancient and extraordinary weirdness; our gradual spinning of a sort of extended prosthetic mass nervous-system..."

Wouldn't that be nice? If we big galumphing mammals drop our axes, trade our stones and heavy tools for highways made of dancing filaments of light that connect us, move us, do our bidding, making our cities, factories, vehicles lighter and lighter and lighter? We'd work in our heads, have the rest of the day for play, and live like lords and ladies. Sounds like a dream, at least till the newest edition of Stalin or Hitler figures out how to slip into that network and turn out all those lights.

And, by the way, those bad guys? They keep showing up.

Cain
Caligula
Attila the Hun
Ghenghis Khan
Vlad the Impaler
Robespierre
Stalin
Hitler
Pol Pot

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/01/25/145854740/lets-play-history-as-a-list?ft=1&f=1007

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5 police shot dead in town outside Mexico City (AP)

VALLE DE BRAVO, Mexico ? Five police officers were fatally shot after they stopped a vehicle in a town outside Mexico City, authorities said Tuesday.

Mexico State prosecutor Alfredo Castillo Cervantes said the municipal officers from the town of Ixtapaluca had stopped the vehicle when a taxi and a van pulled up and a group of attackers opened fire with high-powered weapons.

A member of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel who police say was responsible for collecting extortion money from bars in the area was killed in the Monday attack. Another man was shot in the head and is at a hospital under police guard, Castillo said.

Investigators think the men may be the suspects originally stopped by the officers.

Police are still trying to determine why the officers stopped the vehicle and whether they were in a negotiation with the men in the car when they were attacked. Witnesses told investigators the officers talked for several minutes with the pair before the assailants arrived, Castillo said.

La Familia, based in Michoacan state, has been spreading to Mexico state and neighboring areas as they wage a turf battle with former allies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_police_killed

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Leftists suggest legal cannabis clubs - The Local

Germany?s socialist Left party is calling an expert hearing on ?legalizing cannabis through the introduction of cannabis clubs? in the German parliament on Wednesday. The idea has met widespread rejection.

The Left party?s proposal is to allow Germans to open exclusive cannabis clubs, where members will be able to grow marijuana plants. They also recommend that consumers be allowed to own 30 grams of the drug for personal consumption ? double the current limit.

The proposal was put together by Frank Tempel, former director of an anti-drug group that worked with police in the eastern German state of Thuringia.

Tempel, who is now the Left party?s advisor on drug policy, believes there needs to be a sea-change in the state?s attitude to drugs. ?A cannabis ban is the legal model that has the least acceptance,? he said.

He estimates that between 3.5 and 4 million Germans consume cannabis, and that the ban has no influence on the decision to take the drug. The German Cannabis Association (DHV) says there are around 100,000 cannabis-related criminal cases every year.

Tempel believes that the ban actually encourages drug abuse, because it curtails public education. He says the state should prioritize prevention, youth protection and controlling the drug market over criminalization, which is why young people would not be allowed in the proposed cannabis clubs.

The Left party proposal also suggests that local health ministries and public order offices would be able to cooperate with the clubs.

The response from Germany?s conservative coalition government has been predictably negative.

?A cannabis club could be understood as an encouragement to drug consumption by young people,? said Karin Maag, parliamentarian for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, drug policy spokesman for the junior coalition partner the Free Democratic Party (FDP), bluntly dismissed the idea as ?well-meaning intoxication socialism.?

The centre-left opposition Social Democrats (SPD) also came out against the idea, but said that cannabis laws needed to be unified nationwide. At the moment, each German state has a different legal limit ? of between 6 and 15 grams ? for personal use.

SPD spokeswoman Angelika Graf called for more a single legal possession limit for the whole country.

But the Left party?s scheme has met no major support. Even the Green party, which favours a limited legalization of cannabis, spoke out against the idea of opening cannabis clubs.

In the face of this broadside, Tempel has revised his goals, saying simply, ?The main thing is to move the whole issue forward in society.?

DPA/The Local/bk

Source: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120125-40315.html

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