Fukushima pets in no-go zone face harsh winter (Reuters)

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) ? Dogs and cats that were abandoned in the Fukushima exclusion zone after last year's nuclear crisis have had to survive high radiation and a lack of food, and they are now struggling with the region's freezing winter weather.

"If left alone, tens of them will die everyday. Unlike well-fed animals that can keep themselves warm with their own body fat, starving ones will just shrivel up and die," said Yasunori Hoso, who runs a shelter for about 350 dogs and cats rescued from the 20-km evacuation zone around the crippled nuclear plant.

The government let animal welfare groups enter the evacuation zone temporarily in December to rescue surviving pets before the severe winter weather set in, but Hoso said there were still many more dogs and cats left in the area.

"If we cannot go in to take them out, I hope the government will at least let us go there and leave food for them," he said.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11 triggered the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years and forced residents around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to flee, with many of them having to leave behind their pets.

More than 150,000 people from Fukushima prefecture still cannot return to their homes, with nearly half of them from the exclusion zone.

While Japan focuses on containing the nuclear accident and protecting people from radiation, Hoso, representative director of United Kennel Club Japan, has been trying to save as many dogs and cats from the no-go zone as possible, or keep pets for those who are living in shelters where pets are not allowed.

Toru Akama, an engineer working at the Fukushima nuclear plant, asked Hoso to look after his 14 dogs when an entry ban was imposed on his town.

"I was really happy for my dogs. They are part of my family. There was no way I could abandon them," Akama said.

Hoso said he aims to carry on until the last dog in his shelter is returned to its owner or finds a new home.

"When dogs are returned, many owners are really grateful and a limited few are not so grateful. But when it comes to dogs, all of them, without exception, become really ecstatic when they get reunited with their owners," Hoso said.

"That is what keeps me going, what makes me determined that I have to push ahead until the last one goes back to its owner."

(Reporting by Issei Kato and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/lf_nm_life/us_japan_nuclear_pets

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Uproar over rightist leader's comments about Jews

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2011, leader of the Austrian right-wing Freedom Party, FPOE, Heinz-Christian Strache delivers a speech during a parliament session in Vienna, Austria. Senior members of the country's far-right party were widely cited Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, as comparing protests against a ball that attracts extremists to the Nazi persecution of Jews. Vienna's Jewish community demanded an investigation but the party insisted no harm was meant. The comments by Freedom Party leader Strache and an associate were first reported on the website of the daily Der Standard Sunday, two days after the event. But they drew little attention until until they were picked up by other news outlets Monday. (AP Photo/dapd, Hans Punz, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2011, leader of the Austrian right-wing Freedom Party, FPOE, Heinz-Christian Strache delivers a speech during a parliament session in Vienna, Austria. Senior members of the country's far-right party were widely cited Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, as comparing protests against a ball that attracts extremists to the Nazi persecution of Jews. Vienna's Jewish community demanded an investigation but the party insisted no harm was meant. The comments by Freedom Party leader Strache and an associate were first reported on the website of the daily Der Standard Sunday, two days after the event. But they drew little attention until until they were picked up by other news outlets Monday. (AP Photo/dapd, Hans Punz, File)

A woman in the ball gown passes a police woman during protest against the rightist fraternity WKR-Ball in downtown Vienna, Austria, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. About 3,000 guests are expected at the ball that will take place at Vienna's Hofburg palace. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

Demonstrators protest against the rightist fraternity WKR-Ball in downtown Vienna, Austria, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. About 3,000 guests are expected at the ball that will take place at Vienna's Hofburg palace. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

VIENNA (AP) ? Far-right Austrian politicians were widely criticized Monday for comparing protests against a fancy ball that attracts extremists to the Nazis' persecution of Jews.

Vienna's Jewish community demanded an investigation into the remarks but the Freedom Pary insisted no harm was meant.

The comments by Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache and an associate were first reported Sunday on the website of the daily Der Standard, but they drew little attention until Monday.

The furor extended the controversy over Friday's far-right ball, which attracts guests who include the neo-Nazi fringe and was held this year on the same day the world pays tribute to victims of the Holocaust.

Police recorded only isolated violent incidents Friday from demonstrators outside the Viennese palace where the ball was being held. But Strache was quoted as saying the violence was "like Kristallnacht," referring to the 1938 anti-Semitic riots across Germany and parts of Austria that left streets strewn with broken glass from the windows of Jewish-owned property and synagogues. Kristallnacht was an ominous sign of the Holocaust to follow.

"We are the new Jews," Strache declared to other ball guests, according to Austrian media.

Strache associate Klaus Nittmann, meanwhile, was quoted as saying "whoever works for this ball immediately gets a Jew star pinned on him" ? a reference to the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear under Nazi rule.

Austria's Jewish community demanded that the state prosecutor investigate the comments and urged Strache to give up his parliamentary immunity from legal action.

Karl Oelligner of the opposition Green Party suggested that such comments can only come from someone who "has either lost his marbles or is trying to trivialize the horrors of Nazi rule."

Hannes Rauch, whose centrist People's Party is in the government coalition, called Strache's words "an open slap in the face for all those who were victims of the criminal National Socialist regime."

Freedom Party officials dismissed the criticism. Spokesman Harald Vilimsky spoke of "artificial and ridiculous outrage," adding that Strache only meant the denunciations of ball supporters and attacks on their property are reminiscent of "the horrible reports about the sinister era of National Socialism."

Strache, he said, did not intend to play down "the agony that was forced upon the Jews."

Austria has moved from its postwar portrayal of being Nazi Germany's first victim to acknowledging that it was Hitler's willing partner. Most young Austrians reject Nazi ideology and condemn the part their parents might have played in the Holocaust.

At the same time, the rightist-populist Freedom Party ? whose supporters range from those disillusioned with more traditional parties to Islamophobes and Holocaust deniers ? has become Austria's second-strongest political force.

Although the annual ball regularly comes under criticism, its overlap this year with worldwide commemorations of the Holocaust had increased the pressure on organizers and attendees.

Because it was listed among other champagne-laced Viennese balls, an Austrian committee reporting to UNESCO, the U.N.'s culture organization, struck all the balls from its list of Austria's noteworthy traditions earlier this month.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-30-EU-Austria-Rightist-Ball/id-0e8253fcf784470886fe27251f1e8736

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'Take both arms' blood pressure'

29 January 2012 Last updated at 21:40 ET

Measuring blood pressure in both arms should be routine because the difference between left and right arm could indicate underlying health problems, says a study review.

The Lancet research found that a large difference could mean an increased risk of vascular disease and death.

Although existing guidelines state that blood pressure should be measured in both arms, it is not often done.

But a heart charity said it was too early to judge the findings.

The arm with the higher pressure can vary between individuals, but it is the difference between arms that counts, the study suggests.

Dr Christopher Clark and colleagues, from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Exeter, reviewed 28 previous study papers looking at this area.

Most people in the study had an elevated blood pressure risk and about one-third had a normal level of risk.

The study concluded that a difference in systolic blood pressure of 10 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) between arms could identify patients at high risk of asymptomatic peripheral vascular disease.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

It's too early to say whether this idea could become part of standard healthcare practice.?

End Quote Natasha Stewart British Heart Foundation

A difference of 15mg Hg would also indicate an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease, a 70% increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and 60% increased risk of death from all causes, the authors said.

Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is the narrowing and hardening of the arteries that supply blood to the legs and feet. There are often no symptoms.

The UK vascular check programme for over-40s which includes a test for hypertension, advises that blood pressure measurements be taken in both arms.

"But surveys have shown that the average GP doesn't do it," said Dr Clark.

'Routine care'

Early detection of PVD is important because these patients could then benefit from stopping smoking, lowering their blood pressure or being offered statin therapy.

Dr Clark said the findings supported the need for blood pressure checks in both arms to be the norm.

Writing in The Lancet, Prof Richard J McManus, department of primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford and Prof Jonathan Mant, from the department of public health and primary care at the University of Cambridge, said the review supports existing guidelines.

"Further research is needed to clarify whether substantial differences between arms should prompt aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors.

"Ascertainment of differences should become part of routine care, as opposed to a guideline recommendation that is mostly ignored."

Natasha Stewart, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said measuring blood pressure on both arms to assess vascular disease is, theoretically, a quick and simple task.

"But it's too early to say whether this idea could become part of standard healthcare practice and so we need more research to confirm the findings."

Prof Bryan Williams, from the Blood Pressure Association and the University of Leicester, said the study reinforced the message already in the guidelines from health watchdog NICE.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-16739682

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UFC on Fox 2 opener: Camozzi takes out Jacoby

CHICAGO --Chris Camozzi is one tough guy.

The veteran fighter dislocated a finger in the second and fought through it by only throwing jabs and hooks. In the final round, he dropped Justin Jacoby with great outside leg kick.

Camozzi pounced to go for the kill and worked a guillotine choke. Jacoby backed up to the cage where he tapped just seconds later at the 1:08 mark of the third.

"A little into the third round, I heard my coach tell me to 'go for the kick'. I did and that allowed me to setup the ten-finger guillotine to put him out. A win like that feels great," said Camozzi.

Camozzi (16-5, 4-2 UFC) came out guns-a-blazing throwing big shot landing his best at the end of the first. With less than 10 seconds left, he dropped Jacoby right a big right. Jacoby scrambled well to survive. At some point in the second, Camozzi had a finger on his left hand pop out of place. It stunted his attack as Jacoby landed the better shots and took the round. All three judges had it 19-19 after two. Between the second and third round, Camozzi was able to pop the finger back into place.

"This one sucks. You really hate to lose like this. I felt like I was doing alright and getting good back-and-forth with him. I felt like I had him, but I flat out got caught on this one," said Jacoby.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-2-opener-camozzi-takes-jacoby-215638663.html

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The Emergence Of The Content Creation Class

The content creation class shall inherit the Internet. Richard Florida coined the expression the Creative Class, his belief being that these 30 to 40 million would be the driving force for economic development in a postindustrial world. Instead of driving the macro economy the Content Creation Class refers to the group of people who drive content on the internet those that write blogs, those that upload video to YouTube, and those that upload pictures to share with the world.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/n4sjVohgzUc/

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TV show choreographer gets 10 years for rape (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? A salsa dance instructor who worked on the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance" has been sentenced in Los Angeles to 10 years in prison for raping one woman and assaulting another.

Prosecutors say Alex Da Silva gave dance lessons at salsa clubs where he met aspiring dancers he assaulted. The assaults were not related to the TV show.

Da Silva was convicted of raping a 22-year-old woman in 2002 and attacking another woman with intent to commit rape in 2009.

The jury deadlocked on four other counts, including two more alleged rapes. Those counts were dismissed.

A defense attorney says the women who accused Da Silva were not telling the truth.

Da Silva will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_en_tv/us_salsa_instructor_charged

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Sarah Palin: ?this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing ...

Wow.

Sarah Palin just launched a thousand points of?fright at Team Romney and the Republican establishment who have been going after Newt?s relationship with Ronald Reagan, via Facebook:

We have witnessed something very disturbing this week. The Republican establishment which fought Ronald Reagan in the 1970s and which continues to fight the grassroots Tea Party movement today has adopted the tactics of the left in using the media and the politics of personal destruction to attack an opponent?.

I am sadly too familiar with these tactics because they were used against the GOP ticket in 2008?.

But this week a few handpicked and selectively edited comments which Newt made during his 40-year career were used to claim that Newt was somehow anti-Reagan and isn?t conservative enough to go against the accepted moderate in the primary race. (I know, it makes no sense, and the GOP establishment hopes you won?t stop and think about this nonsense. Mark Levin and others have shown the ridiculousness of this.) To add insult to injury, this ?anti-Reagan? claim was made by a candidate who admitted to not even supporting or voting for Reagan. He actually was against the Reagan movement, donated to liberal candidates, and said he didn?t want to go back to the Reagan days. You can?t change history?.

What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stalin-esque re-writing of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst.

But this whole thing isn?t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties? operatives with a complicit media egging it on. In fact, the establishment has been just as dismissive of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Newt is an imperfect vessel for Tea Party support, but in South Carolina the Tea Party chose to get behind him instead of the old guard?s choice.? ?In response, the GOP establishment voices denounced South Carolinian voters with the same vitriol we usually see from the left when they spew hatred at everyday Americans ?bitterly clinging? to their faith and their Second Amendment rights. The Tea Party was once again told to sit down and shut up and listen to the ?wisdom? of their betters. We were reminded of the litany of Tea Party endorsed candidates in 2010 that didn?t win. Well, here?s a little newsflash to the establishment: without the Tea Party there would have been no historic 2010 victory at all?.

Now, I respect Governor Romney and his success. But there are serious concerns about his record and whether as a politician he consistently applied conservative principles and how this impacts the agenda moving forward. The questions need answers now. That is why this primary should not be rushed to an end.

And I question whether the GOP establishment would ever employ the same harsh tactics they used on Newt against Obama. I didn?t see it in 2008. Many of these same characters sat on their thumbs in ?08 and let Obama escape unvetted. Oddly, they?re now using every available microscope and endoscope ? along with rewriting history ? in attempts to character assassinate anyone challenging their chosen one in their own party?s primary. So, one must ask, who are they really running against?

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Source: http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/01/sarah-palin-this-ridiculous-opposition-dump-on-newt-was-nothing-short-of-stanlin-esque-re-writing-of-history/

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Santorum defends Romney, Gingrich on wealth attack (AP)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Presidential candidate Rick Santorum is defending rival Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on attacks from each other on their wealth.

Santorum says Romney is, in his words, "a wealthy guy because he worked hard." He is also defending Gingrich by saying Gingrich's work advising companies after leaving government is not the worst thing in the world.

Santorum says Romney's and Gingrich's attacks on each other distract from bigger issues and that they should focus on policy differences.

Gingrich says he believe his wealth should be a non-issue but says he must defend himself from attacks.

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

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Life beyond Earth? Underwater caves in Bahamas could give clues

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2012) ? Discoveries made in some underwater caves by Texas &M University at Galveston researchers in the Bahamas could provide clues about how ocean life formed on Earth millions of years ago, and perhaps give hints of what types of marine life could be found on distant planets and moons.

Tom Iliffe, professor of marine biology at the Texas A&M-Galveston campus, and graduate student Brett Gonzalez of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., examined three "blue holes" in the Bahamas and found that layers of bacterial microbes exists in all three, but each cave had specialized forms of such life and at different depths, suggesting that microbial life in such caves is continually adapting to changes in available light, water chemistry and food sources. Their work, also done in conjunction with researchers from Penn State University, has been published in Hydrobiologia.

"Blue holes" are so named because from an aerial view, they appear circular in shape with different shades of blue in and around their entrances. There are estimated to be more than 1,000 such caves in the Bahamas, the largest concentration of blue holes in the world.

'We examined two caves on Abaco Island and one on Andros Island," Iliffe explains. "One on Abaco, at a depth of about 100 feet, had sheets of bacteria that were attached to the walls of the caves, almost one inch thick. Another cave on the same island had bacteria living within poisonous clouds of hydrogen sulfide at the boundary between fresh and salt water. These caves had different forms of bacteria, with the types and density changing as the light source from above grew dimmer and dimmer.

"In the cave on Andros, we expected to find something similar, but the hydrogen sulfide layer there contained different types of bacteria," he adds. "It shows that the caves tend to have life forms that adapt to that particular habitat, and we found that some types of the bacteria could live in environments where no other forms of life could survive. This research shows how these bacteria have evolved over millions of years and have found a way to live under these extreme conditions."

Iliffe says the microbes change where the salt water meets fresh water within the caves and use chemical energy to produce their food. They can survive in environments with very low amounts of oxygen and light.

There are tens of thousands of underwater caves scattered around the world, but less than 5 percent of these have ever been explored and scientifically investigated, Iliffe notes.

"These bacterial forms of life may be similar to microbes that existed on early Earth and thus provide a glimpse of how life evolved on this planet," he adds. "These caves are natural laboratories where we can study life existing under conditions analogous to what was present many millions of years ago.

"We know more about the far side of the moon than we do about these caves right here on Earth," he adds. "There is no telling what remains to be discovered in the many thousands of caves that no one has ever entered. If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it most likely would be found in water-filled subterranean environments, perhaps equivalent to those we are studying in the Bahamas."

Over the past 30 years, Iliffe has discovered several hundred species of marine life, and has probably explored more underwater caves -- at least 1,500 -- than anyone in the world, examining such caves in Australia, the Caribbean, Mediterranean and North Atlantic regions of the world.

More can be learned from his website at http://www.cavebiology.com .

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Texas A&M University, via Newswise.

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

---

Journal References:

1. Thomas M. Iliffe, Rikk Kvitek, Steve Blasco, Katie Blasco, Robert Covill. Search for Bermuda?s deep water caves. Hydrobiologia, 2011; 677 (1): 157 DOI: 10.1007/s10750-011-0883-1
2. Brett C. Gonzalez, Thomas M. Iliffe, Jennifer L. Macalady, Irene Schaperdoth, Brian Kakuk. Microbial hotspots in anchialine blue holes: initial discoveries from the Bahamas. Hydrobiologia, 2011; 677 (1): 149 DOI: 10.1007/s10750-011-0932-9

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120126131511.htm

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Nintendo posts loss on strong yen, weak sales (AP)

TOKYO ? Nintendo Co. sank to losses for the April-December period, battered by a price cut for its 3DS handheld, a strong yen that erodes overseas earnings and competition from mobile devices such as the iPhone that offer games-on-the-go.

The Japanese video game machine maker behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises said Thursday it now expects to sell far fewer of its 3DS machines, which feature three-dimensional images. It is forecasting sales of 14 million machines for the fiscal year through March 2012, down from an earlier 16 million. That's despite a price cut for the 3DS in August.

Nintendo, which also makes the Wii home console, posted a loss of 48.35 billion yen ($627.9 million) for the first nine months through December. That was a reversal from a 49.56 billion yen profit the same period in 2010. Nintendo did not break down quarterly numbers.

The company said it will have Wii U, the successor to the Wii, ready in time for the year-end holiday season. Earlier, it had said the machine, which has a touch-screen controller, will go on sale in the latter half of this year. But some had been skeptical whether it would be ready. Nintendo hasn't announced prices.

Kyoto-based Nintendo also lowered its annual earnings forecast to a 65 billion yen ($844 million) loss, much larger than the 20 billion yen ($260 million) loss projected earlier. It posted a 77.62 billion yen profit the previous fiscal year.

Nintendo's past success has come from the appeal of its products to so-called casual gamers ? people who now turn to smartphones and tablet devices such as the iPad from Apple Inc. to enjoy games.

The demand for the Wii has also diminished in recent months.

Nintendo is now expecting to sell 10 million Wii machines in the year ending March, down from an initial estimate of 13 million, which was revised lower to 12 million in July.

Nintendo's nine-month sales dropped 31.2 percent to 556.17 billion yen from the same period the previous year.

The numbers are a disappointment as they include the key year-end holiday season.

"Sales of the 3DS were strong in Japan, but Christmas shopping got to a late start overall in the U.S. and Europe," said Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa. "But we are upbeat about hardware and software sales for next fiscal year."

Worldwide sales of the 3DS for the nine months totaled 11.43 million, the company said. Game software for the 3DS like "Super Mario 3D Land" became million sellers, but games from outside companies did not fare as well, it said.

Competition in portable gaming is heating up with the arrival of the PlayStation Vita from Japanese electronics and entertainment company Sony Corp. Vita went on sale in Japan in December and next month in the U.S. and Europe.

Nintendo has continuously outpaced Sony in portable game sales with its hit DS machines.

The strong yen has also hurt Nintendo's bottom line. The dollar has been trading at about 77 yen lately, down from about 83 yen a year earlier.

Nintendo stock slid 0.6 percent to 10,790 yen in Tokyo.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_hi_te/as_japan_earns_nintendo

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Video: First Read Minute

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46116546/

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Turkey's Erdogan lambasts France on genocide law (Reuters)

ANKARA (Reuters) ? Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attacked the French parliament on Tuesday for passing a "discriminatory and racist" bill which makes it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago was genocide.

With passions running high in Turkey on Monday's Senate vote, one newspaper denounced the French president as "Satan Sarkozy" and some politicians have already suggested dredging up France's own colonial history.

However, Erdogan appeared keen to avoid an immediate rupture with Paris, saying there was still hope that NATO ally France "would correct its mistake" and that any retaliatory measures would be held back, depending on French actions.

"We will not allow anyone to gain political benefit at the expense of Turkey; the bill which was passed in France is clearly discriminatory, racist," Erdogan said.

"We will adopt a rational and dignified stance, we will implement our measures step by step. Right now we are still in a period of patience," he told parliamentary deputies of his AK Party.

Encouraged by their success in Paris, the influential Armenian diaspora is expected to re-double its efforts in the United States, which like France is in a presidential election year, to have Washington call what happened a genocide.

Many Turks see the French bill, which the lower house of parliament also backed in December, as an insult to their nation, a travesty of history and an infringement on free speech.

As Erdogan spoke, a couple of hundred protesters gathered outside the French embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul in peaceful demonstrations.

The bill now goes to President Nicolas Sarkozy to be ratified. Mostly Muslim Turkey accuses Sarkozy of trying to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France in the two-round presidential vote on April 22 and May 6.

KEEP CALM

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who was personally against the bill proposed by Sarkozy's party, said the new law was "ill-timed," but called on Ankara to remain calm.

"We need good relations with it and we need to get through this excessive phase," Juppe said on Canal+ television. "We have very important economic and trade ties. I hope the reality of the situation will not be usurped by emotions."

Turkey, a member of NATO and the World Trade Organization, may be limited in its response by its international obligations. However, newspapers listed possible measures that Ankara might take against France.

These included recalling its ambassador from Paris and telling the French ambassador to go home, reducing diplomatic ties to charge d'affaires level, and closing Turkish airspace and waters to French military aircraft and vessels.

Speaking shortly before Monday's Senate vote, Erdogan said the issue of future official visits to France would be thrown into uncertainty if it passed the bill.

French firms stand to lose out in bids for defense contracts and other mega-projects such as nuclear power stations.

Turkey may also seek to press allegations that French actions in Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s during the North African country's independence struggle, amounted to genocide.

However, Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan sent a grateful letter to Sarkozy.

"This is a historic day for the Armenians all over the world - in Armenia, in France, everywhere," he wrote. "This is an unforgettable day, and it will be inscribed in gold into the centuries-long history of the Armenian and French peoples."

"SATAN SARKOZY"

Morning headlines in Turkish newspapers were anything but calm. "A guillotine to free thought" said Star, while Aksam described the French move as "A guillotine to history."

"Shame on France" cried the Vatan daily. While Sozcu, a small newspaper that usually directs its scorn at Erdogan, found a new target with "Satan Sarkozy."

In contrast, most French newspapers carried small stories of the Senate vote in their inside pages.

Ankara's mayor has spoken of renaming the road where the French embassy is located to Algeria Street and erecting a memorial to Algerian victims of French colonial oppression in front of the embassy.

When the lower house backed the bill in December, Ankara cancelled all economic, political and military meetings with Paris and briefly recalled its ambassador for consultations.

Sarkozy is expected to ratify the bill before parliament is suspended in February before the presidential election.

However, it could still be rejected if about 60 lawmakers agree to appeal the decision at France's highest court and this body considers the text unconstitutional. The Constitutional Council would have one month to make its decision.

Turkish President Abudullah Gul urged French lawmakers to apply to the council to quash the bill. "They should not forget that this will leave a lasting mark on the Turkish people. If this (bill) becomes final, relations will certainly take a very different course," Gul said.

Relations between Ankara and Paris have been testy largely due to Sarkozy's opposition to Turkey's bid to join the EU, and the latest row further clouded Turkish relations with the bloc.

"It will blur their ties with Europe Union," said Doroth?e Schmid, head of the contemporary Turkey department at the Paris-based International Institute for Foreign Relations

(IFRI).

Turkey cannot impose economic sanctions on France, given its membership of the World Trade Organization and its customs union accord with Europe, but French firms could lose out on state-to-state-contracts, notably in the defense sector.

France is Turkey's fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest supplier of imports of goods and services, and bilateral

trade was $13.5 billion in the first 10 months of last year.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

The Ottoman empire was dissolved after the end of the war, but Turkish governments and most Turks feel the charge of genocide is an insult to their nation. Ankara argues there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the area.

A French Muslim businessman said on Tuesday that he had set up a 1 million euro fund to pay for any fines imposed as a result of the new genocide law.

Property dealer Rachid Nekkaz already set up a similar fund to cover fines for women who wear Muslim niqabs and burkas despite laws banning them in France and Belgium.

Some ethnic Armenians in Turkey saw the French move as unhelpful. "This only will provide more grounds to nationalism and reactions in Turkey," said Robert Koptas, editor of Agos, a Turkish-Armenian newspaper.

(Additional reporting By John Irish in Paris and Hasmik Mkrtchyan in Yerevan; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; editing by David Stamp)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_france_turkey

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Tesla is racing to the finish line for Model S prep, talks up 'Supercharging'

Despite losing two of its big kahunas, electric car maker Tesla is stepping on the throttle of its new Model S project like a battery-powered bat out of hell. While recently doing some 'splainin with Autoblog, Tesla Vice President of Communications Ricardo Reyes confirmed that initial deliveries of the four-door sedan are still on track for mid-2012 in the United States, followed by a European launch six months later. Reyes also talked up the creation of Supercharging locations to help long-driving Model S users with higher-capacity 60kWh and 85kWh batteries charge their car from 10 percent to 90 percent in 45 minutes -- Model S cars with the lower-end 40kWh battery won't be able to Supercharge, though. Tesla already announced a tax-credit fueled $49,900 price tag for the base model in December. Folks who prefer their electric vehicle to come with some more chest hair will be happy to know that the Feb. 9 unveiling of the seven-seat Model X SUV is still on track.

Tesla is racing to the finish line for Model S prep, talks up 'Supercharging' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mykonos Helps Companies Battle Hackers, Raises $4 Million

Mykonos (the security software company, not the lovely Greek island) has secured $4 million in a Series A funding round led by previous backer Tom Golisano, founder and chairman of Paychex.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/i1sCVJ9Fsmc/

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Oh look, more Angry Birds stuff?

This is for the 5 people out there that are not completely sick of seeing new Angry Birds merchandise. Feast your eyes on these cute USB 2.0 8GB flash drives in the shapes of your favorite video game characters. They are priced at $19.99 from Staples.

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/24/oh-look-more-angry-birds-stuff/

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Auroras spark awe across the north

AuroraMAX / Canadian Space Agency

The northern lights take on a weird, rippling shape in a super-wide-angle view captured Sunday night by the Canadian Space Agency's AuroraMAX webcam in Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories. There's more from AuroraMAX at the project's website and on Twitpic.

By Alan Boyle

Is it "auroras" or "aurorae"? The dictionary?prefers the former, but either way, there was a multiplicity of auroral awesomeness this weekend ? thanks to a solar storm that swept past Earth's magnetic field over the weekend. During the past few days, we've shown off a few stunning images from Norway and Canada, and there's a new crop to share today.

First, a little explanation for what you're looking at:

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Auroral lights arise when electrically charged particles from the sun interact with atoms and ions high up in Earth's atmosphere, 60 to 200 miles up. The interaction sets off?emissions in wavelengths ranging from blue, to green (the most common color), to red. The?colors depend on the energy of the?particles in question. To get the full story on that, check out the explanations from the "Causes of Color" website and the?University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

This weekend's auroras were particularly bright because of a strong solar outburst that occurred on Thursday. There's an interval between the outburst and the displays because the particles that are ejected from the sun travel at far less than the speed of light. But they're still pretty speedy ? the velocity?is on the order of a million miles an hour.

Solar outbursts, known more formally as coronal mass ejections or CMEs, have the potential to disrupt electrical grids or satellite communications. There could be radiation effects on astronauts in orbit or passengers on high-altitude, pole-traversing airplane flights. Thursday's outburst dealt Earth's magnetic field a glancing blow, and no significant negative impact has been reported. However, an even stronger CME is currently on its way toward Earth and may force the?rerouting of polar flights.?Once again, electric-grid managers and satellite operators will be on alert, as will aurora-watchers.

Observers in northern latitudes can look forward to enhanced auroras over the next couple of nights ? and the rest of us can look forward to more images like these:

Chad Blakley / Lights Over Lapland

Chad Blakley said on Sunday that he had "an unbelievable night" at Sweden's Abisko National Park. "As soon as the sun went down I realized that we were about to experience something special," he told SpaceWeather.com. "The auroras have been dancing all night long and show no sign of stopping! I only came in because 32 gigabytes of memory cards were full and all three batteries were dead!" Click on over to Blakley's Vimeo page for a time-lapse video version of this imagery, and check out SpaceWeather.com for more from Abisko.

The auroral lights in Sweden were so bright that Chad Blakley could capture this view from the street. Blakley says his pictures were shot with a Nikon D7000 and a Tokina 11/16 lens at 2.8 with a 1600 ISO six-second exposure. For more of Blakley's images, check out the Lights Over Lapland website.

Bjorn Jorgensen

Bjorn Jorgensen's view of the aurora was captured on Sunday at Grotfjord, close to Tromso in north Norway. "This was amazing," he told SpaceWeather.com. "It was a wonderful experience to see these stunning auroras." The bird-of-prey picture was taken with a Nikon D3S camera equipped with a Nikkor 14-24mm lens. Exposure for the pictures in Jorgenson's set was ISO 2200 at five and six seconds. Check out SpaceWeather.com and ArcticPhoto.no for more views.

Gregory Clarke

The green glow of the aurora is reflected in a rock pool on the Emerald Isle, in Ireland's County Donegal. "The photo was taken at the end of my shoot as a last grab before heading home," photographer Gregory Clarke said in an email. "I climbed over some rocks to get to a rock pool, took a few test shots and then was treated to what I photographed. The photo was taken at Malin Head, County Donegal, using a Canon EOS Mk3. For that shot I bumped up the ISO to 1600 at f4, shot in RAW, and it seems to be the settings that worked for that shot." You'll find many more shots in Clarke's Flickr photostream.

Jason Ahrns

The red and green auroral lights look like glowing curtains in Jason Ahrns' photo, captured near Fairbanks, Alaska, using a Nikon D5000 camera and an all-sky lens. You can see a time-lapse video that includes this still at Ahrns' Flickr gallery.

Marketa Stanczykova

Marketa Stanczykova said she used a Canon 5D camera with a 17-40mm lens to take this picture of the northern lights dancing over Chatanika in Alaska. "I recently moved to Fairbanks," she said in an email. "My friends, photographers Ronn Murray and Casey Thompson (aurora chasers) took me close to Chatanika. It was an amazing night." For more of her pictures, check out this SpaceWeather.com page and this gallery from 500px.

More great auroral views:

---

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.

Source: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10217788-auroras-spark-awe-across-the-north

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Love hits 3 at buzzer, Timberwolves top Clippers

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) hits a three point shot to win the game as Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, center, defends during the second half of their NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Los Angeles. The Timberwolves won 101-98. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) hits a three point shot to win the game as Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, center, defends during the second half of their NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Los Angeles. The Timberwolves won 101-98. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) reacts with guard Wayne Ellington (22) after hitting a three point shot to win the game during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Los Angeles. The Timberwolves won 101-98. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) reacts along with guard Luke Ridnour (13) and guard Wayne Ellington (22) after hitting a three point shot to win the game during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Los Angeles. The Timberwolves won 101-98. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, left, tries to pass the ball as Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin defends during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Clippers guard Mo Williams, center, puts up a shot as Minnesota Timberwolves center Darko Milicic, left, of Serbia and forward Kevin Love defend during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Now that they are on their first three-game winning streak in almost two years, Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves are enjoying the ride.

Love hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer after Ricky Rubio's tying 3 with 20 seconds to play, lifting the Timberwolves to a pulsating 101-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

The Timberwolves, coming off consecutive home wins over Sacramento and Detroit, have won three straight for the first time since a four-game stretch from Jan. 29 to Feb. 6, 2010. After that, they lost 29 of their final 31 games.

"In the last two games we've missed a ton of shots, but our defense has picked up and we've executed down the stretch and we've given ourselves a chance to win," Love said. "So if we can continue to do that, eventually our offense will pick up and we'll be able to win a lot of ballgames."

Darko Milicic had 22 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota before fouling out with 1:01 left, and Love had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Rubio, Minnesota's rookie point guard, missed his first 10 field goal attempts before draining a clutch 3 from in front of the Clippers' bench. He finished with nine points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals.

"He is unflappable. He missed every shot, and then he makes a big 3 to tie it," coach Rick Adelman said. "The thing I like about him is that he's a competitor. He doesn't back down from anybody and he keeps an even keel. He doesn't get too high or too low. He just plays. He's been very good all year. He's played in the fourth quarter of every game, even when he wasn't starting.

"He's got a real gift. He's a great passer in the open court and he's just a smart player. You've got to give him rope and let him go because he's got that ability. And because of him, we've really kind of changed and simplified things we've done just to put the ball in his hands. He's been better than I thought he was going to be."

Chauncey Billups missed a driving layup against Rubio coming out of a timeout, and Love got the rebound before Minnesota called a timeout with 1.5 seconds on the clock.

Luke Ridnour inbounded the ball in front of the midcourt line to a wide-open Love, whose only option was to catch and shoot from a few feet beyond the arc. The ball hit nothing but net as the sellout crowd groaned.

"Coach set up a great play for us. How I was that open, I don't really know, but I got a good look at it and I hit it," Love said. "I tried to hold up my hands as soon as I shot it, because it felt great when it left my hands. I knew it was in. For us to do that, especially out here in L.A., it's a big deal. The Clippers are a good team, and we just want to catch up and try to get back to .500."

Love's shot snapped the Clippers' seven-game home winning streak.

"I got triple-screened and he made the shot," Clippers center DeAndre Jordan said. "He's a great player and he's going to make shots. I have to try to keep a hand in his face and make it tough on him. We didn't finish the game like we were supposed to. We let them hang around, and we got beat."

Mo Williams scored 21 of his 25 points off the bench in the first half for the Clippers before getting ejected midway through the fourth quarter. Blake Griffin had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Billups finished with 20 points after getting into early foul trouble. Point guard Chris Paul missed his fourth straight game because of a left hamstring strain.

Williams received his second technical foul with 6:21 remaining, after he was called for fouling Rubio on a drive to the basket as Rubio lost his footing.

"I felt like it was a questionable call," Williams said. "I didn't say anything. I just reacted to it ? not in the direction of the referee, but towards our bench. I was surprised the technical was called, and it was at a crucial point in the game."

The Timberwolves closed to 91-90 with 4:37 remaining after four consecutive free throws by Rubio. Billups responded with a 3-pointer and two free throws for a 98-94 Clippers lead.

Clippers forward Caron Butler, who shot a career-worst 1 for 12 on Wednesday night in a 91-89 win over Dallas after hyperextending his right knee the previous night at Utah, did not play against the Timberwolves.

"Obviously, they were a different team tonight because they didn't have Chris or Caron," Love said. "It was a big break for us when Mo got ejected because he was really on a roll."

Michael Beasley missed his eighth straight game for the Timberwolves due to a sprained right foot. Reserve guard JJ Barea was back in Minnesota nursing a sprained ankle that also will keep him out of Saturday night's game at Utah. Center Brad Miller and guard Martell Webster, both of whom resumed practice this week, also didn't dress.

The Timberwolves, whose only other lead came after Milicic's game-opening basket, opened the third quarter with a 12-1 run that sliced an 11-point deficit to 62-60.

Notes: Billups overtook Peja Stojakovic for fourth place in career 3-pointers (1,762). Ahead of him are Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and Jason Kidd. ... An MRI taken Thursday on Butler's knee revealed no structural damage. It was the same knee he had surgery on last January, which sidelined him for the rest of the season, but coach Vinny Del Negro said this injury was not related. ... Adelman's teams are 61-20 against the Clippers, his best mark against any club.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-21-Timberwolves-Clippers/id-4f48fb004985422ca200bae8e3951aa9

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Analysis: Italy disaster shows Titanic lifeboat issues linger (Reuters)

LONDON/BOSTON (Reuters) ? The capsizing of the Costa Concordia will pressure the cruise industry to address a safety question that has lingered since the Titanic disaster almost 100 years ago - how to get thousands of people off a giant cruise ship into lifeboats quickly.

Carnival Corp, owner of the Concordia, conceded on Thursday that the accident, which has led to the deaths of at least 11 people with another 24 unaccounted for out of its 4,200 passengers and crew, "has called into question our company's safety and emergency response procedures." A Carnival spokesman could not immediately comment on whether the company's safety review would include the lifeboats.

Veteran mariners say the Concordia wreck - particularly the problems the passengers encountered in launching lifeboats as the ship listed to one side - proves there are problems the industry, try though it might, still has not solved.

"The regulations rely on untrained and frightened passengers being able to deal with life rafts in the absence of trained crew members - including having to board them from the water," said John Dalby, a former oil tanker captain who now runs maritime security firm Marine Risk Management.

"The whole point of the Titanic regulations was to avoid what happened with her, and it has now happened again with Costa - that is, the difficulty, if not impossibility, of launching lifeboats from the 'high side,'" Dalby said, referring to the side of the boat tipped into the air.

In the wake of the Titanic disaster, maritime regulations make it mandatory for all ships to have a minimum of 125 percent lifeboat and life raft capacity, comprising 50 percent on each side of the ship plus an additional 25 percent available. According to the International Chamber of Shipping, they are designed to be ready for use within 5 minutes and to be filled as quickly as needed.

But all of that is for naught if the lifeboats cannot get into the water, or if the ship finds itself in distress in adverse conditions - late at night, in a storm or far from land, for example.

That was the lesson the Titanic first taught in 1912, when - besides not having enough lifeboats on board - some lifeboats did not launch properly in the ship's final, harried minutes.

"The frightening thing is how quickly the ship went on its side. If it had been out to sea there would have been a massive loss of life," said one marine underwriter at the Lloyd's of London insurance market.

"It's very similar to the Titanic disaster. The Titanic hit an iceberg and opened up like a can of sardines."

SHIPBUILDING CHALLENGE

One veteran mariner said in a dire situation, there are certain judgment calls the ship's captain has to make.

"The requirement for lifeboats is that they should be capable of being launched from a ship with a list of up to 20 degrees," said Tom Allan, a naval architect and expert on maritime safety who has held senior positions in several regulatory bodies including the International Maritime Organisation.

"If it gets to more than 20 degrees, I would suggest that a lot of lifeboats could still be launched, but then it gets to a stage where the master has to make a decision as to whether it's safe to launch them."

Yet the question of the lifeboats aside, Allan and others in the industry generally believe that not only are large cruise liners safe, in some ways they offer more safety than older, smaller ships.

"Ships grew in average size over the past 10 years, but of course safety measures were adjusted accordingly," said a spokesman for Meyer Werft, the German shipyard that has been building cruise liners for more than 30 years.

Considered one of the industry's "big three," the German yard has built ships for nine different lines, including Carnival units Holland America and P&O.

"Aviation and shipping are very different from, for instance, the automotive sector. There is a lot more redundancy in safety systems," the spokesman said. "We don't see any major impact (from Costa Concordia) on the industry because we do not have a fundamental crisis on our hands."

OPEN QUESTIONS

One European regulator acknowledged that in extreme cases of distress, there are still questions for which the cruising industry has no answers.

"If a great number of people fall into the water, it is challenging to pick them up," said Tuomas Routa, maritime safety director for the Finnish Transport Safety Agency. "I'm sure the next new ships will be different in some way, more safe."

That could require new training in addition to design changes. One legal and maritime expert said the passenger ship industry lacked the precise training the military has, as well as the will to institute that training.

"The cruise industry is slightly unto itself," said David Loh, a maritime lawyer with Cozen O'Connor in New York and former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.

"Their training and certification is different than other vessels."

Loh and others have said there may be gaps in the way training is administered and enforced worldwide. But training aside, expert sailors say in many ways the problems still come back to inexorable issues of design.

"The immediate aftermath of the Titanic was to increase lifeboat capacity to enable all people to be disembarked into boats ... and to look again at the heights of watertight bulkheads. This has been a difficult area as designs and tonnage rules have changed over the years," said Mike Smith, a retired master mariner with 45 ship commands under his belt.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Ben Berkowitz; Additional reporting by Myles Neligan and Estelle Shirbon in London, Maria Sheahan in Frankfurt and Jussi Rosendahl in Helsinki; Editing by Martin Howell, Gary Hill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wl_nm/us_italy_ship_lifeboats

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GOP field feeds South Carolina's anti-federal mood

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, accompanied by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, throws an apple out to the audience as he campaigns at Harmon Tree Farm in Gilbert, S.C., Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, accompanied by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, throws an apple out to the audience as he campaigns at Harmon Tree Farm in Gilbert, S.C., Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich exits after a visit to Children's Hospital, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at Hudson's BBQ in Lexington, S.C., Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas speaks during a campaign rally in an airplane hanger, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) ? South Carolina is the land of Revolutionary War heroes and was the first state to secede from the union. But its suspicion of federal government intrusion is hardly part of its storied past.

It's a sentiment that all the Republican presidential candidates are playing to as they court GOP voters with this argument: that President Barack Obama has eroded individual rights by stretching the federal government's reach and that only they can get Washington to back off. This pitch resonates strongly in a state where the Confederate Flag still flies in front of the state Capitol.

"We're tired of having the feds tell us what to do here. It's part of who we are," says Cole Naus, a 32-year-old Republican from Florence who heard Rick Santorum speak in the run-up to Saturday's primary. "We know we can do it better here. We know what's best for our kids, our families and our workers."

There's a historical suspicion, even hostility, here when it comes to the federal government. Experts say those feelings are aggravated further by a president who is unpopular in the state.

"All that presents a potent cocktail of anger and frustration," said Jon Lerner, a Republican strategist who has advised South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Rep. Tim Scott.

Indeed, feelings are raw among many in Republican-leaning South Carolina over three recent Obama administration policies or actions. And all the candidates, from Mitt Romney on down, have stoked the anger.

"Most of the things the federal government could do to get us back to work is get out of the way," Texas Rep. Ron Paul said Thursday during a debate in Charleston. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, added: "Let's not have the federal government extend its tentacles into every area of this country."

The candidates universally blame the Democratic administration for threatening 1,000 jobs at a Boeing Co. plant in North Charleston.

"The National Labor Relations Board, now stacked with union stooges selected by the president, says to a free enterprise like Boeing, 'You can't build a factory in South Carolina because South Carolina is a right-to-work state,'" Romney, the GOP front-runner, says in a television ad airing here.

The White House hopefuls rail against the Justice Department's decision to block the state's get-tough voter ID law.

"They pursue common-sense, anti-fraud measures that states have put in place all because they believe it's a partisan advantage," Santorum tells audiences here.

The candidates also seethe over a federal court's ruling against the state's new hardline immigration law.

As Gingrich recently argued: "It's pretty outrageous when the federal government fails to do its job and then attacks the states for trying to fill the gap created by the federal government."

These are sure-fire applause lines as they court GOP loyalists who vote in the primary. But the issues have little to do with the state's No. 1 concern ? jobs.

And in some cases, the candidates stretch the facts of the three direct confrontations between South Carolina and the Obama administration.

All have weighed in loudly on what until recently was a long dispute with the National Labor Relations Board over the Boeing Co. plant. The board charged that the aircraft maker was building the facility in South Carolina in retaliation over past contract disputes because South Carolina's right-to-work law means employees are not required to join labor unions.

The GOP candidates commonly re-interpret that argument as punishment for choosing a weak union state. They still bring up the issue even though it was resolved last month when Boeing and the Machinists union reached a contract extension and the labor board dropped its legal action. With South Carolina's unemployment approaching 10 percent, the candidates have stoked fears that the NLRB's actions are prompting companies to look overseas instead of at right-to-work states when they want to open new plants or expand operations.

Another issue is a federal judge's decision last month blocking several provisions of the state's new immigration law from taking effect this month. It includes the requirement that police check the immigration status of people pulled over for speeding if officers also suspect they are in the country illegally.

Candidates often assail the U.S. Justice Department's move as they work to convince a conservative Republican electorate that they're tough on border security.

The Justice Department also blocked the state's new voter ID law from going into effect.

Haley also has fueled sentiment against the federal government. She has described the decision to block the voter ID law as part of "the continued war on South Carolina" and has vowed to fight the federal government in court over the issue.

Her state is among at least a half-dozen that passed similar laws last year.

A tea party favorite, Haley also has said that dealing with federal regulations is the chief burden and top frustration of her job as governor.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said his department is committed to fighting laws that create barriers to voting. He reinforced the point on Monday, the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., as he stood on the north steps of the Capitol in Columbia.

"Let me be very, very clear ? the arc of American history has bent toward the inclusion, not the exclusion, of more of our fellow citizens in the electoral process," Holder said. "We must ensure that this continues."

But the arc in South Carolina plays out in a state whose Statehouse is packed with reminders of glorified federal fights: secession chiseled in marble; its heroes of civil war and segregation glaring from statues and paintings throughout.

__

Associated Press writer Jim Davenport contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-20-South%20Carolina-Federal%20Furor/id-e687b89615a34e458b360d66c14e8c77

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Wagner Measure to Protect Pets During Domestic Disputes Signed ...

Legislation sponsored by Assembly members Connie Wagner and Reed Gusciora to protect pets during domestic disputes has been signed into law.

"We've heard so many stories of pets being abused or even killed as retaliation against a partner when a relationship goes sour," said Wagner (D-Bergen). "Often times it's done without thinking as an attempt to hurt the other partner, but whether it's intentional or not, animals should not have to suffer. This is a humane measure designed to protect innocent pets from being the victim of a domestic dispute."

"For many pet owners, a pet is a member of their family. To harm or even kill a defenseless pet simply to get back at a partner is cowardly and cruel," said Gusciora (D-Mercer). "No animal deserves to be mistreated or abused, especially out of revenge. This law will protect pets caught in the middle of a domestic dispute from potentially dangerous situations."?

The law (A-1633) authorizes the courts to issue orders protecting animals in situations where a person abuses or threatens to abuse an animal as part of a domestic dispute. Animals are not directly addressed in New Jersey's current domestic violence law.

Under the law, the court may issue an order prohibiting a defendant charged with a crime or offense involving domestic violence, who is released from custody before trial on bail or personal recognizance, from having any contact with any animal owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by either party, or a minor child residing in the household.

The law also allows the court to mandate who will have possession of the animal, and that the animal not be disposed of before the final disposition of the crime or offense.

In addition, the law allows the court to issue, as part of a restraining order, an order directing who should have possession of the animal, and mandating that the animal not be disposed of before a final restraining order is issued. Lastly, the law amends the statute governing final restraining orders to direct who should have possession of the animal. There would be a presumption that the animal would be awarded to the non-abusive party.

The law is modeled on a recently enacted Maine law. Currently, animals are not directly addressed by domestic violence law in New Jersey.

Source: http://riverdell.patch.com/articles/wagner-measure-to-protect-pets-during-domestic-disputes-signed-into-law

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Supreme Court throws out Texas election maps (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The Supreme Court handed Texas Republicans a partial victory in a partisan fight over election redistricting that has erupted after a huge increase in the state's Hispanic population.

Throwing out a set of election maps that favored Democrats and minorities, the justices on Friday sent the case back to a lower court, forcing further review of a matter with a limited timetable for resolution as 2012 elections are fast approaching.

In its first ruling on political boundary-drawing based on the 2010 U.S. Census, the high court unanimously rejected interim election maps that had been drawn up by federal judges in San Antonio.

The court said the judges' maps did not sufficiently take into account an earlier set of maps that were drawn up by the Texas state legislature that favored Republicans.

Under the high court's ruling, the Texas judges must redraw the maps for primary contests set for April 3 that will decide party candidates for congressional and state legislature elections in November.

The case is typical of redistricting fights that unfold in states across the country every 10 years after a national census. In this one, protecting the voting rights of millions of minorities and substantial political power are at stake.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, said, "The Supreme Court's swift decision will allow Texas to move forward with elections as soon as possible under maps that are lawful."

The case is being closely watched because it could help decide whether Republicans or Democrats gain as many as four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in November. The Texas delegation now has 23 Republicans and nine Democrats.

MEXICAN-AMERICANS GROUP WEIGHS IN

A civil rights group representing Hispanics, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the ruling reaffirmed Texas' obligation to comply with the voting rights law. The group said it looked forward to further proceedings in San Antonio to secure fair interim maps.

Abbott had appealed to the Supreme Court, saying the lower court had overstepped its authority, and arguing that the judges should have deferred to maps drawn by elected lawmakers.

Those maps favor Republican candidates, but have been challenged for violating the voting rights of Hispanics and other minorities.

The Supreme Court ruled that the federal district court judges appeared to have unnecessarily ignored the state's plans in drawing certain districts and that those maps can at least be used as a starting point.

"Some aspects of the district court's plans seem to pay adequate attention to the state's policies, others do not and the propriety of still others is unclear," the court held in its narrow opinion limited to the unique facts of the Texas dispute.

Redrawing the Texas districts has been a major political and legal battle. The state's population went up by more than 20 percent, or 4.2 million people, over the past decade, with Hispanics accounting for 2.8 million of the increase.

FOUR NEW DISTRICTS FORMED

After the 2010 Census, Texas got four new congressional seats, giving it 36. The legislature's plan, signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race on Thursday, created only one new heavily Hispanic district.

The Supreme Court, in the 11-page, unsigned opinion, said the judges, in coming up with new maps, must be careful not to incorporate any legal defects from the legislature's plan.

The interim maps drawn by the judges in Texas were designed to remain in place until a separate court in Washington, D.C., could decide whether the Texas state plan should be approved or rejected under the federal voting rights law.

A trial in that case is under way. That case and a different pending legal challenge in San Antonio are expected to determine the final maps to be used in Texas in future years.

The Obama administration, the state Democratic Party and minority groups have challenged parts or all of the state's redistricting plan for violating the voting rights law, and said the judicially drawn one should be used on an interim basis.

Justice Clarence Thomas issued a brief opinion agreeing with the judgment, but adding that he would have gone further. He said the legislature's plans have not been found to violate any law and should be used for the upcoming elections.

The Supreme Court cases are Perry v. Perez, No 11-713; Perry v. Davis, No. 11-714, and Perry v. Perez, No. 11-715.

(Reporting By James Vicini; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/ts_nm/us_usa_politics_texas

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