Shinzo Abe elected as Japan's prime minister

TOKYO (AP) ? The lower house of Parliament has named conservative Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) as Japan's new prime minister.

The rise of Abe, whose nationalist positions have in the past angered Japan's neighbors, ends more than three years at the helm for the left-leaning Democratic Party of Japan and brings back the conservative, pro-big business Liberal Democratic Party that governed for most of the post-World War II era.

Abe, who was also prime minister in 2006-2007, led the LDP to victory in parliamentary elections Dec. 16. He was to name his Cabinet later Wednesday after a vote in Parliament's upper house, where his party is weaker. But the lower house has the final say.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-26-Japan-Politics/id-511d2395a4804e059502329c2c1f3997

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Chad Johnson to FBI: Find Sex Tape Leak!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/chad-johnson-to-fbi-find-sex-tape-leak/

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In Mexico, Tech Is Used To Help Combat Narco Violence, Insecurity

Google has been used for many ends, but in the hands of researcher Viridiana Rios, the search engine has become a tool to fight Mexican drug cartels and help the government organize to prevent violence. Rios is a researcher at Harvard University who recently published a paper about a tool she created to track publicly available cartel data and how it can inform Mexican security officials? work.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Uttdwr-73QY/

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Yes, we can fix Social Security (but it won't be pretty)

By Allison Linn, TODAY

The fiscal cliff negotiations are reviving the debate about that other financial elephant in the room: Social Security.

Under current government estimates, Social Security could face funding shortfalls in about two decades if nothing changes. That?s because the U.S. population is aging -- and generally living longer.

That sounds like a disheartening scenario for workers who are currently paying into Social Security and worry that they won?t get as much out of it once they retire. ?About half of the Americans polled by Pew Research Center earlier this year believe it?s not likely there will be enough money in Social Security and Medicare to maintain current benefit levels into the future.

But experts say there are ways to fix Social Security. Politicians just may not like trying to sell those changes to the American people.

It has happened before, though. In the mid-1980s, none other than President Ronald Reagan, working with Democrats in Congress, oversaw a major overhaul of the nation?s retirement safety net.

That?s something many say seems less likely these days.

?There are politicians ? and especially in the Senate but also in the House as well ? who could work together and come to an agreement,? said Alan Auerbach, a professor of law and economics at the University of California, Berkeley. ?But they?re not the majority of Congress.?

Experts say there are two ways to fix Social Security, and neither of them are pretty: reduce benefits or increase revenue.

Reduce benefits
One of the few parts of the fiscal cliff negotiations that President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner seem willing to compromise on involves a change in the way Social Security increases are calculated going forward.?

The proposed switch to calculating cost of living increases using the chained Consumer Price Index instead of the current method would result in smaller annual Social Security raises. That?s because that method assumes that people change their spending habits when prices go up.

Proponents say the switch could save billions and is a more realistic method of how Americans really adjust to rising prices.

But opponents say the chained Consumer Price Index isn?t a good way to measure the needs of older and disabled Americans, because their expenditures are disproportionately focused on things like health care. A family of four may choose to eat more chicken if beef prices go up, but an elderly person can?t easily choose to spend less on heart medicine, they argue.

??It?s the biggest hit on the people that couldn?t take it,? said Dean Baker, an economist with the liberal-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research who is opposed to the measure.

One of the longer-term options for reducing benefits is to simply tell people they have to wait longer to get their full benefits. By extending the age at which you can get full benefits, proponents argue that Social Security would be keeping up with trends toward longer life expectancies.

But opponents, including CEPR?s Dean Baker, say that a closer look at the data shows that the bulk of improvements in life expectancies have come from wealthier Americans. They say a broad-based increase in the age at which people can get benefits would punish less wealthy Americans, who haven?t seen such big life expectancy gains.

Andrew Biggs, resident scholar with the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, argues that another option would be to dial down benefits for middle- and high-income people while maintaining the current system for the poorest Americans.

Biggs argues that if wealthy people are told to expect less Social Security, they have more leeway to prepare for it than poor people.

?If you cut my Social Security benefits I?m going to react by saving money and working longer,? he said. ?That?s good for the economy.?

Another option would be to reduce the Social Security benefits available to spouses. Some critics argue that?s growing outdated now that more women work and earn their own Social Security payments.

?It?s kind of a relic from a different era,? Baker said.

Increase revenue
Under the current rules, the maximum taxable earnings for Social Security in 2012 is about $110,000. Some argue that an easy fix would be to simply raise the cap on Social Security taxes to include higher wages.?

Baker, of CEPR, proposes raising the cap to around $190,000, reflecting the growing wealth at the top of the income scale. Raise it higher than that, he said, and wealthy earners will just start finding ways to dodge it.

But others say that it?s unlikely politicians will propose raising taxes on high earners?now, when many expect those taxpayers to already see increases as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations.

?The timing of it just seems kind of awkward,? Auerbach said.

Another option would be to add an across-the-board increase in payroll taxes that go toward Social Security. Although that would help solve the system?s future funding woes, experts say it?s also likely to be a hard sell in these tough times.

For one thing, Americans may?already be facing higher payroll taxes?in 2012. For the past two years, Americans have enjoyed a payroll tax holiday that reduced the amount of money they paid toward Social Security, but that could end in the coming year.

?I suspect that?s going to be a not very attractive option right now,? Auerbach said.

Politicians may be nervous about proposing any reform to Social Security that costs more or results in fewer benefits, but Americans seem to accept that some changes are needed.

About 66 percent of those polled by Pew Research Center said they would support raising payroll taxes on high-income earners, while 55 percent said they would support reducing benefits for high-income seniors.

Just 38 percent said they?d support raising the eligibility age.

{"contentId":"16049496","totalVotes":"692"}

How confident are you that you'll get Social Security benefits when you retire?

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Source: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2012/12/24/16049496-yes-we-can-fix-social-security-but-it-wont-be-pretty?lite

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Construction industry anxious about fiscal cliff ? Charlotte Business ...

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

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Officials: NY gunman set 'trap' for firefighters

A house burns Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

A house burns Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

A house burns Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. An ex-con set a car and a house ablaze in his lakeside neighborhood to lure firefighters, then opened fire on them, killing two, engaging in a shootout with police and committing suicide while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

Police officers move in to look for a man who set fire to a house, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Jamie Germano)

Homes burn on Lake Road, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Max Schulte)

A Monroe County Sheriff's Department armored truck drops off residents who were evacuated from the neighborhood, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 in Webster, New York. A former convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighborhood to lure firefighters then opened fire on them, killing two and engaging police in a shootout before killing himself while several homes burned. Authorities used an armored vehicle to evacuate the area. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Max Schulte)

WEBSTER, N.Y. (AP) ? A man who set his house on fire then lured firefighters to their deaths in a blaze of flames and bullets had attracted little attention since he got out of prison in the 1990s for killing his grandmother, authorities said.

But two months ago, William Spengler's mother died, leaving the 62-year-old ex-con in a Lake Ontario house with his sister, who he "couldn't stand," a friend said.

Spengler set a car and a house in his neighborhood ablaze early Monday, luring firefighters to the neighborhood and then killed two, wounded two others and injured a police officer while several homes burned around him, police said. Spengler then killed himself. His sister, Cheryl, was missing.

About 100 people attended an impromptu memorial vigil Monday evening in Webster, a suburb of Rochester. Dozens of bouquets were left at the fire station, along with a handwritten sign that said, "Thanks for protecting us. RIP."

Spengler, had been living in the home in Webster, a suburb of Rochester, with his mother and sister since his parole in 1998. He had served 17 years in prison after the beating death of his 92-year-old grandmother in 1980, for which he had originally been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. His mother, Arline, died in October.

On Monday, Spengler fired at the four firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze, town police Chief Gerald Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots.

Spengler lay in wait outdoors for the firefighters' arrival, then opened fire probably with a rifle and from atop an earthen berm, Pickering said. "It does appear it was a trap," he said.

Authorities used an armored vehicle to help residents flee dozens of homes on the shore of Lake Ontario a day before Christmas. Police restricted access to the neighborhood, and officials said it was unclear whether there were other bodies in the seven houses left to burn.

Authorities said Spengler hadn't done anything to bring himself to their attention since his parole. As a convicted felon, he wasn't allowed to possess weapons. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said Spengler led a very quiet life after he got out of prison.

A friend said Spengler hated his sister. Roger Vercruysse lived next door to Spengler and recalled a man who doted on his mother, whose obituary suggested contributions to the West Webster Fire Department.

"He loved his mama to death," said Vercruysse, who last saw his friend about six months ago.

Vercruysse also said Spengler "couldn't stand his sister" and "stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other."

The West Webster Fire District learned of the fire early Monday after a report of a car and house on fire on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said.

The fire appeared from a distance as a pulsating ball of flame glowing against the early morning sky, flames licking into treetops and reflecting on the water, with huge bursts of smoke billowing away in a brisk wind.

Emergency radio communications capture someone saying he "could see the muzzle flash coming at me" as Spengler carried out his ambush. The audio posted on the website RadioReference.com has someone reporting "firefighters are down" and saying "got to be rifle or shotgun - high powered ... semi or fully auto."

Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. After Spengler fired, one of the wounded men fled, but the other three couldn't because of flying gunfire.

The police officer who exchanged gunfire with Spengler "in all likelihood saved many lives," Pickering said.

A police armored vehicle was used to recover two men, and eventually it removed 33 people from nearby homes, the police chief said. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.

The dead men were identified as police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster Police Department's public information officer; and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, also a 911 dispatcher.

Pickering described Chiapperini as a "lifetime firefighter" with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a "tremendous young man."

Kaczowka's brother, reached at the family home Monday night, said he didn't want to talk.

The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were in guarded condition in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital, authorities said. Both were awake and alert and are expected to recover.

Hofstetter, also a full-timer with the Rochester Fire Department, was hit once in the pelvis, and the bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said. Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.

At West Webster Fire Station 1, there were at least 20 bouquets on a bench in front and a bouquet of roses with three gold-and-white ribbons saying, "May they rest in peace," ''In the line of duty" and "In memory of our fallen brothers."

A handwritten sign says, "Thanks for protecting us, RIP." Two candles were lit to honor the dead.

Grieving firefighters declined to talk to reporters. At an impromptu memorial vigil Monday evening, about 100 people stood in the cold night air, some holding candles. A fire department spokesman made a brief appearance, thanked them all and told them to go home and appreciate their families.

Cathy Bartlett was there with her teenage son, who was good friends with Kaczowka. Bartlett's husband, Mark Bartlett, has been a firefighter there for 25 years but missed the call this morning.

"Thank God my husband slept through the first alarm and didn't get up until the second one went off," she said.

The shooting and fires were in a neighborhood of seasonal and year-round homes set close together across the road from the lakeshore. The area is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet this time of year.

"We have very few calls for service in that location," Pickering said. "Webster is a tremendous community. We are a safe community, and to have a tragedy befall us like this is just horrendous."

O'Flynn lamented the violence, which comes on the heels of other shootings including the massacre of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"It's sad to see that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation," O'Flynn said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the State Police and Office of Emergency Management were working with local authorities.

"Volunteer firefighters and police officers were injured and two were taken from us as they once again answered the call of duty," Cuomo said in a statement. "We as the community of New York mourn their loss as now two more families must spend the holidays without their loved ones."

Webster, a middle-class suburb, now is the scene of violence linked to house fires for two Decembers in a row.

Last Dec. 7, authorities say, a 15-year-old boy doused his home with gasoline and set it ablaze, killing his father and two brothers, 16 and 12. His mother and 13-year-old sister escaped with injuries. He is being prosecuted as an adult.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Carola, George Walsh and Mary Esch in Albany contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-25-Fire-Shooting/id-479f1085e99941d2a6523b2d2e477aeb

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Asus G75VW-DH72

Gaming prowess rarely comes cheap, but that doesn't mean it can't at least be affordable. The Asus G75VW-DH72 gaming laptop may offer pricing and performance well below what tricked out systems like the Eurocom Scorpius can offer, but when stacked against mid-range gaming systems like the Alienware M17x R4, it still holds its own, getting you on the gaming grid for under two grand.

Design and Features
While previous incarnations of Asus' Republic of Gamers line have emulated stealth fighter jets and naval vessels, the G75VW's design is a little more conservative, especially for a gaming machine. It's not as slim as the Razer Blade (2012), by any means. The laptop is still large, measuring 2.0 by 16.3 by 12.6 inches (HWD), but has changed up the look a bit, adding metal accents around the keyboard and across the speaker grille, which break up the imposing all-matte-black look seen in designs past. The result is a gaming rig that looks almost professional. Now, don't misunderstand, at 8.7 pounds (10.9 with the power brick) you won't be lugging this laptop to and from work, but it wouldn't look completely out of place in an office environment.

Despite the conservative look, the gaming DNA is still there. The back end of the G75VW is dominated by large cooling vents, and Asus' designs are tweaked to keep the system cool but quiet, grouping the heat generating components toward the back of the system. The chiclet keyboard sits at a slight slope, but is otherwise competent, providing a shallow but firm key movement. The touchpad is the same high-quality touchpad found on the Asus G75VW-DS71, but with the shift to Windows 8, Asus has also added some gesture support for Windows 8-specific controls. A swipe from the right edge of the touchpad pulls up the Charms Bar, while a three-fingered swipe down cycles through open apps. Pinch and zoom and two-finger scrolling aren't new additions, but they take on new importance in the absence of a touchscreen.

You may not be touching the screen, but the 17.3-inch display is still bright and sharp, with 1920-by-1080 resolution providing 1080p whether you're playing Skyrim or watching The Dark Knight on Blu-ray. The sound is also pretty good (as tested with the new trailer for The Man of Steel), staying clear at high volumes and providing a fair amount of bass thanks to an integrated subwoofer.

In addition to a Blu-ray/DVD combo drive, the Asus G75VW is outfitted with four USB 3.0 ports (one with power for charging devices), Gigabit Ethernet, a 3-in-1 card reader (SDHC, MMC, MS), and jacks for headphone and microphone. You also get several options for video connectivity, with HDMI, VGA, and mini DisplayPort outputs. Wireless connections provide 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

The G75VW-DH72 pairs a 750GB spinning hard drive with a separate 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), letting you shift bulk data storage to the hard drive while keeping programs on the SSD for optimum performance. Included on the drive are Microsoft Office Starter 2010, a 60-day trial of Trend Micro Antivirus, Adobe Reader X, and Asus' Application Suite, which includes 3GB of free cloud backup with Asus WebStorage. Asus covers the G75VW-DH72 with a two-year warranty, but also includes a full-year of additional accidental damage coverage, 24/7 tech support, and 30-day "Zero Bright Dot" warranty on the display panel.

Performance
The Asus G75VW-DH72 is outfitted with a 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-3630QM processor with 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M with 3GB of dedicated VRAM. The combination is potent?in Cinebench R11.5, the processor scored 6.44 points, outperforming both the Alienware M17x R4 (6.19 points) and the MSI GT70 0NE-276US (6.23 points), but falling behind both the Razer Blade (6.86) and the Eurocom Scorpius (7.29). The Asus G75VW-DH72 also made short work of our multimedia tests, completing our Handbrake video encoding test in 36 seconds, and Photoshop CS6 in 3 minutes 32 seconds.

Perhaps more important than general performance is how the G75VW-DH72 does with games. In Aliens vs. Predator, it racked up a respectable 55 frames per second (fps) at medium detail settings and 1,366-by-768 resolution, but dropped to a less than playable 18 fps when resolution was dialed up to 1,920-by-1,080. When tested with Heaven, however, it scored 70 fps at medium settings and a nearly playable 28 fps at 1080p. While you won't be able to go all out with the detail settings on high-end games, you will still see excellent performance on even the most demanding games, provided you back off on the eye-candy a bit.

The Asus G75VW-DH72 also did well in battery tests, lasting 3 hours and two minutes in our battery rundown test. While not even long enough to make it through a screening of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, it's still pretty decent performance for a gaming laptop. Few laptops pass the three hour mark, with one of the few exceptions being the portability minded Razer Blade, which still only lasted 3 hours 53 minutes when tested with MobileMark 2006, our previous battery test.

As a decently priced mid-range gaming laptop, the Asus G75VW-DH72 offers great performance at an affordable price, letting you enjoy top of the line games (albeit with middle of the road graphics performance) for far less than a tricked out high-end system. It's an affordable option to the Alienware M17X R4, and as such, replaces it for our Editors' Choice mid-range gaming laptop.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Asus G75VW-DH72 with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
??? Asus G75VW-DH72
??? Toshiba Satellite U845W-S430
??? Panasonic Toughbook CF-53
??? Lenovo ThinkPad Twist (3347-4HU)
??? Acer Iconia W700-6465
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/ntFL6jQla60/0,2817,2413469,00.asp

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Turkishspine.org - Shopping and Product Reviews

Losing excess weight can be a great challenge, regardless of whether you are a housewife or perhaps a career particular person. You may not have each of the time or the power to possess workout on a regular basis. What [?] ? Read the rest of this entry?

Source: http://www.turkishspine.org/shopping-and-product-reviews/12/13/02/

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Mitt Romney ?had no desire to run,? son says

Mitt Romney hugs his son, Tagg, at a campaign stop. (AP/File)

Mitt Romney didn't want to be president, anyway.

That's what Tagg Romney, Mitt's oldest son, told the Boston Globe for its big post-mortem on his father's failed presidential bid published on Sunday.

?He wanted to be president less than anyone I?ve met in my life," Tagg Romney told the paper. "He had no desire to ... run. If he could have found someone else to take his place ... he would have been ecstatic to step aside.

"He is a very private person who loves his family deeply and wants to be with them," Tagg continued. "He has deep faith in God and he loves his country, but he doesn?t love the attention.?

Romney's reluctance to become commander in chief has been hinted at by his sons before. Before their father sought the 2012 GOP nomination, several said they tried to convince him not to run.

"I tried to convince him not to," Matt Romney told Conan O'Brien in June. "I think there were a few of us that tried that. I just felt for us as a family, this isn't the best thing. But ... for the country, we think it's the right thing."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mitt-romney-no-desire-president-tagg-says-191236665--election.html

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Family Loses Everything, Including Pets, in House Fire | FOX8.com ...

Posted on: 10:33 am, December 22, 2012, by Maria Scali, updated on: 09:15pm, December 22, 2012

RAVENNA, Ohio ? An overnight house fire leaves a young family with no place to live. Their home is a total loss and they lost everything inside, including their family pets.

Intense flames lit up the night sky just after midnight Saturday, as this house on South Diamond Street in Ravenna burns out of control. Neighbor Alex Fincham could hardly believe what she saw.

?It was engulfed in flames, just completely. And then, the front door just exploded ? literally, it just when poof,? she said.

Nancy Maimone, the neighbor across the street, learned of the fire when she heard someone?s voice outside.

?There was a man yelling names. I thought it was an argument, apparently he had been calling for his dogs.

Firefighters say the young family who lives here, a man, woman and a 2-year-old child ? were not at home at the time of the fire. But, the family?s three dogs died inside.

Dave Delphia of D & C Renovations was called to shut off the gas line and that?s when he shot video of the firefighters battling the blaze.

?They just started attacking it from the front. Once they got it going from the front, it picked up through the roof. When they started going through the roof, it started going through the side windows,? he said.

This turned out to be difficult fire to contain. There were about 20 firefighters, trying for two hours to bring it under control. In the end, the house was a total loss.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire. There were no injuries, but this family lost their home and everything they own. ?It?s the worst time of the year for it to happen. No one deserves for it to happen and it?s very upsetting,? Fincham said.

Firefighters say the family is staying with relatives.

Source: http://fox8.com/2012/12/22/fire-destroys-home-dogs-unaccounted-for/

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Did NBC?s David Gregory violate DC gun law on Meet the Press? (Michellemalkin)

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

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Russia welcomes any offer to give Assad refuge

BEIRUT (AP) ? Russia would welcome any country's offer of safe haven for Syrian President Bashar Assad, but has no plans to make one of its own, Moscow's foreign minister said in the latest comments to suggest a growing distance between the two allies.

Sergey Lavrov's remarks on Friday night were among the clearest signs yet that Russia could be preparing for a Syria without Assad, as rebel pressure on the embattled leader intensifies. Over the past four weeks, fighting has reached Damascus, his seat of power, and rebels have captured a string of military bases.

Up to now, Russia has vetoed three Western-backed resolutions aimed at pressuring Syria's government to stop the violence that has killed more than 40,000 people over the past 21 months. While Russian leaders have given no concrete signs that stance has changed, their tone has shifted as rebels advance on the outskirts of the capital.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin distanced himself further than ever from the Syrian president, saying Russia does not seek to protect him and suggesting his regime is growing weaker.

Speaking to reporters late Friday, Lavrov reiterated Moscow's position that "it doesn't invite President Assad here," although he said other countries had asked Russia to convey their offer of safe passage to Assad.

While he would not name the countries, Lavrov said Russia had responded by telling them to go directly to the Syrian leader.

"If there is anyone willing to provide him guarantees, they are welcome!" Lavrov said on board a plane returning from Brussels, where he attended a Russia-EU summit.

"We would be the first to cross ourselves and say: "Thank God, the carnage is over! If it indeed ends the carnage, which is far from certain."

Syria's conflict started in March last year as an uprising against Assad, whose family has ruled the country for four decades. But the bloody crackdown that followed led rebels to take up arms, and the ensuing fighting transformed into a civil war.

The regime has come under added condemnation in recent weeks as Western officials raise concerns Assad might use chemical weapons against rebels in an act of desperation.

Syria refuses to confirm or deny if it has such weapons but is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas. It also possesses Scud missiles capable of delivering them.

Lavrov said the Syrian government has pulled its chemical weapons together to one or two locations from several arsenals across the country to keep them safe amid the rebel onslaught.

"According to the information we have, as well as the data of the U.S. and European special services, the government is doing everything to secure it," he said. "The Syrian government has concentrated the stockpiles in one or two centers, unlike the past when they were scattered across the country."

Lavrov added that U.N.-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, would visit Moscow for talks before the year's end.

The conflict's sectarian dimension looked set to deepen at the weekend, as rebels threated to storm two predominantly Christian towns in a central region if residents do not "evict" government troops they say are using the towns as a base to attack nearby areas.

A video released by rebels showed Rashid Abul-Fidaa, who identified himself as the commander of the Ansar Brigade for Hama province, calling on locals in Mahrada and Sqailbiyeh to rise up against Assad's forces or prepare for an assault.

"You should perform your duty by evicting Assad's gangs," said Abdul-Fidaa, who wore an Islamic headband and was surrounded by gunmen. "Otherwise our warriors will storm the hideouts of the Assad gangs."

He also accused regime forces of taking positions in the two towns in order to "incite sectarian strife" between Christians and the predominantly Sunni opposition. Assad belongs to the Alawite minority sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam.

The threat comes just two days after a U.N. team investigating human rights abuses in Syria accused anti-Assad militants of hiding among the civilian population, triggering strikes by government artillery and the air force.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the activist group which reported the rebel ultimatum on Saturday, said such an attack by rebels could force thousands of Christians from their homes.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups.

Clashes between troops and rebels in the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, have already displaced tens of thousands of Christians, most of whom either fled to the relatively safe coastal areas or to neighboring Lebanon.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said some Christians and Alawites have also left Hama province in the past several days to escape violence. He said some of them found shelter in the coastal city of Tartus.

In Damascus, the new head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch said that Christians in Syria had deep roots in the country and were not part of the conflict. Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Patriarch John X. Yazigi urged rival factions to negotiate a settlement.

Violence continued unabated on Saturday, particularly in the capital.

The Observatory said a car bomb went off in the Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun, killing at least five people and wounding others. A Syrian official confirmed the blast but had no immediate comment regarding casualties.

Elsewhere, the Syrian army said in a statement carried on state-run TV that it had repelled a rebel attack on a military base that killed a regimental commander in the Damascus suburb of Chebaa.

Also in Damascus, the state-run news agency SANA said gunmen assassinated a cameraman for the government's TV station, the latest such killing in recent months.

In another development, 11 rebel groups said they have formed a new coalition, the Syrian Islamic Front.

A statement issued by the new group, dated Dec. 21 and posted on a militant website Saturday, described it as "a comprehensive Islamic front that adopts Islam as a religion, doctrine, approach and conduct."

Several rebel groups have declared their own coalitions in Syria, including one calling itself an "Islamic state" in the embattled northern city of Aleppo.

The statement said the new group will work to avoid differences or disputes with the other Islamic groups.

____

Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Alblert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-welcomes-offer-assad-refuge-204207031.html

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UK downgrades Q3 GDP growth to 0.9 percent

LONDON (AP) -- The growth in Britain's economy for the third quarter has been revised down from 1 percent to 0.9 percent, the U.K's official statisticians say.

The Office for National Statistics said Friday that the reduction in the rate of growth for the U.K.'s gross domestic product was caused by lower, revised estimates of output by the services industry and production industries including manufacturing. Construction activity was revised slightly higher.

Despite the revision, the third quarter was the U.K. economy's best performance since the second quarter of 2010, when GDP also rose 0.9 percent. Third-quarter growth also brought an end to a shallow nine-month recession, Britain's second downturn since the banking crisis in 2008.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-downgrades-q3-gdp-growth-102014607.html

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Movie review: Actors face the music in 'Les Mis?rables' | The Salt ...

This film image released by Universal Pictures shows Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean holding Isabelle Allen as Young Cosette in a scene from "Les Miserables." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Laurie Sparham)

Review ? Too many close-ups drain musical of its energy.

Do you hear the people sing? Director Tom Hooper is driven to make audiences see the people sing, sticking the camera right in their faces, as they emote their hearts out in this star-studded musical "Les Mis?rables."

Hooper, in his first film since winning the Oscar for "The King?s Speech," goes for broke with this lush movie adaptation of the much-beloved Broadway musical ? but not all of his gambles pay off in a production that?s more flash than substance.

?

HHhj

?Les Mis?rables?

The legendary musical finally arrives on movie screens, with the actors? faces filling the frame far too often.

Where ? Theaters everywhere.

When ? Opens Tuesday, Dec. 25.

Rating ? PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements

Running time ? 157 minutes.

?

Megaplex Theatres scoring big with ?Les Miz?

Utahns do love them some ?Les Miz.?

The movie version of the hit musical ?Les Mis?rables? is likely to produce a Christmas that?s ?off the charts? at the Utah-based Megaplex Theatres chain, according to company officials.

?This is shaping up to be one of the busiest Christmas days we?ve had at the theaters in years,? said Blake Andersen, senior vice president for Megaplex Theatres.

The chain estimates that five Megaplex locations will take spots in the Top 20 theaters nationwide for advance ticket sales. Most theaters will add more showtimes to accommodate demand, Andersen said.

For those few who haven?t seen the musical, or watched the countless non-singing versions of Victor Hugo?s 1862 novel (or, God forbid, read the thing), first we must meet our hero, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), paroled from prison in 1815 after serving 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. His captor, the rigid lawman Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) reminds him that he?s a marked man, a dangerous parolee, who must report to the government for the rest of his life. Valjean resorts to stealing from a church to survive, and a kindly bishop (Colm Wilkinson, who played Valjean in the original Broadway and West End productions) allows him to take the silver if he vows to use the proceeds to live a virtuous life.

A changed Valjean assumes a new identity, and eight years later is a prosperous factory owner. But two events ? Javert?s reappearance, and the death of a factory worker, the tragic Fantine (Anne Hathaway) ? force Valjean to go into hiding again, this time taking Fantine?s daughter Cosette (Isabelle Allen) into his protection. Nine more years later, Valjean returns to Paris with the now-teen Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), who falls in love with Marius (Eddie Redmayne), a leader in a revolt against the French government who is fighting on the barricades.

The plot, though, is secondary to the grandeur of Claude-Michel Sch?nberg?s music and the words of Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel (who wrote the original French lyrics) and Herbert Kretzmer (who wrote the English libretto). If audiences aren?t already humming the anthemic "Do You Hear the People Sing?" along with Marius and his fellow rebels, or swooning to Fantine?s heart-wrenching show-stopper "I Dreamed a Dream" or the mournful love ballad "On My Own" ? sung by the urchin Eponine (Samantha Barks) over her unrequited love for Marius ? they will before the credits roll.

Hooper?s direction only has two settings, wide-open shots of the grandeur and intrusive in-your-face close-ups of the lead characters singing. And they are indeed singing; as the movie?s publicity machine points out at every opportunity, the actors sang their parts live on the set (rather than the standard practice of pre-recording their tracks in a studio and lip-synching to them while filming). That tactic helps concentrate the emotion in some scenes, particularly in Hathaway?s astonishing single-take performance of "I Dreamed a Dream." But at other times, such as with Crowe?s strained growl, it brings out the weakness of the actor?s voice.

Screenwriter William Nicholson has the thankless job of corralling the libretto into a screenplay, and he manages to give the major characters their moments. Alas, that sometimes means hanging out with characters who could have been skipped, namely the comic-relief innkeepers, the Threnadiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), who look after and abuse the young Cosette. And Nicholson can?t overcome the plot?s central problem of never explaining what the young rebels on the barricades are fighting for or who they?re fighting against.

This "Les Mis?rables" will satisfy the musical?s rabid fanbase, the people who know the show by heart and will line up for one more day of hearing "One Day More." The rest of us will stay resolutely on the other side of the barricades, wondering what all the fuss is about.

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Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/55489564-223/les-musical-mis%C3%A9rables-movie.html.csp

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Wordament, the first Xbox Live game from Microsoft, hits - and misses on - the iPhone

Microsoft has just released Wordament, their first XBox Live supporting game for the iPhone. Wordament is really well regarded on Windows Phone, but the iPhone version is... disappointing, especially coming from one of the biggest, best software developers in the world, and one that owns its own mobile and gaming platforms.

Despite it being 3 months post-iPhone 5 launch, Wordament doesn't support the new 16:9 screen resolution, so it's letterboxed. The interface is also middling. For example, once you get past the intro screens, you're given a button to sign in with your Xbox Live credentials, but a text link to skip that step and play as guest.

I tries signing in with Xbox Live but it didn't work. (I typed in my login, it spun, gave me the sign-in button again, I tapped it again, then without asking me to sign in again, it just went back to the sign-in button. Over. And. Over. Again.)

If you skip it, like I did, you're then dumped into a screen filled with tiny text and no clear way to start your first game. After jabbing at some names on the board, that either did something, or wasted enough time for something automatic to happen. Either way, a game started with a countdown timer. Here interface elements are unnecessarily crowded together, the gameplay instructions butted against the un-labeled back button, the rotate button crammed between the board and what looks like an add for the game you're already playing (and when the banner goes away, simply crammed against the board and nothing.)

If you're screen turns off, or if you hit the Home button to exit, when you come back to Wordament you're inexplicably shown the Microsoft splash screen and the last page of the intro screens again, where again you're presented with the button/text link login/skip screen. If you had a game in progress, it looks like the timer is still at the same place, so that state is at least stored, but the cruft imposed to get there is flabbergasting.

It's as if multitasking was never introduced in iOS 4.

Maybe that only happens in guest mode but I have no way of knowing, as I'm not able to sign in.

Once a game ends you're shown another screen filled with tiny text and you can swipe around and tap to see words you missed. There's no Next button, however, and it seems at some point (another invisible timer?) you forcibly moved to the leaderboard again, where there's still no New Game or Rematch button, and after a few seconds, you're suddenly playing again.

I might be missing something here. There might be some genius level interface and mechanics going on that I'm too dull to see, or are just impenetrable to me, but given the lack of iPhone 5 support and the ridiculous way Wordament resumes, I'm inclined to think Microsoft simply didn't do a very good job here.

Which is odd since, again, the Windows Phone version is adored. And if Wordament really is that good on Windows Phone, Microsoft should have made it killer on iOS to show people how good apps can be on that platform, and entice them over.

In that regard, the real win here is Xbox Live making an appearance on iOS. Apple has Game Center, but it's exclusive to Apple, of course. There are third party gaming networks, but Xbox live has a massive following and being able to game against friends on other platforms will be a huge plus. If there's one ounce of redemption to be found in Wordament for iPhone, it's that.

Perhaps Microsoft will improve Wordament for iPhone with the next release, but frankly Letterpress, made by lone indie developer Loren Brichter, is so far beyond Wordament when it comes to interface and experience, I don't think many people will stick around to find out.

• Free - Download now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/J4FBr4kAAxg/story01.htm

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Chicago police 'code of silence' verdict upheld

CHICAGO (AP) ? A judge on Thursday refused to toss a jury verdict that suggested Chicago police adhere to a code of silence in protecting rogue officers, citing its "social value" despite claims by the city that the verdict could cost Chicago millions in other litigation.

The ruling involves the case of Karolina Obrycka, a local bartender who was attacked by a drunken off-duty police officer as she worked in 2007. Obrycka sued the city after the beating, which was caught on video and went viral online, and a jury ruled in her favor last month.

But along with awarding her $850,000, jurors strongly suggested in their verdict that they agreed the officer, Anthony Abbate, was protected by an unwritten code of silence among Chicago police.

The city asked U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve to throw out that element of the verdict, arguing it could be cited as a precedent ? and potentially cost the city millions of dollars fighting and losing lawsuits claiming the same alleged code. The city said it would still pay Obrycka the full jury award.

Critics then intervened, saying the city was seeking to sweep under the rug a police abuse issue that has plagued Chicago for years.

In her 13-page ruling, St. Eve agreed there were limits on how much the case could be cited by other alleged police-abuse victims, but she said the verdict shed light on an important and hotly debated issue.

"Although the judgment's precedent is not binding, it has a social value to the judicial system and public at large," she wrote, though she didn't specify what that social value entailed.

The judge noted that the case involved more than five years of court filings, pre-trial hearings and a full trial ? all of which cost money. She also said that just days before the trial, the city was given one last chance to try to settle the case but refused.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the city would appeal the ruling. The city didn't return messages seeking comment, but in a brief emailed statement, city spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said "we respect the judge's opinion and that this is the final decision."

She said the city has taken steps to ensure police are held accountable, adding: "Everyone in public service must uphold the law and report lawbreakers ? especially those who are entrusted to enforce it."

The city's request to have the verdict tossed was unusual in part because Obrycka joined it.

The city initially said that if St. Eve granted the motion, it would pay Obrycka the $850,000 and not appeal, which could take years. But days after the motion was filed ? and amid criticism that the city had squeezed Obrycka to join the motion ? city attorneys said Obrycka would immediately be paid the full damages despite the judge's decision.

Abbate was convicted of aggravated battery in a 2009, and the sentenced to probation. During his trial, he admitting drinking heavily the night of the beating, saying he had just learned his dog was dying of cancer.

The core issue jurors had to decide at the civil trial this year was whether city officials tolerated a code of silence in the police department, and whether that emboldened Abbate and led him to act with impunity in attacking the bartender. Obrycka's attorneys originally said they hoped a verdict in their favor would send a wider message that the code of silence won't be tolerated.

In Thursday's ruling, St. Eve agreed with city attorneys that the jury's verdict could be seen as ambiguous ? even though the majority of testimony dealt directly with police culture and whether officers are prone to cover up for each other.

Defense attorneys who represent clients with police-abuse claims welcomed the ruling.

"I think she was sending a strong message to the city," said Flint Taylor, an attorney with the activist Peoples Law Office. "She was basically saying, 'You got what you deserved in this and then you tried to back out of it.'"

The whole episode ? the beating and the city's motion ? also indicated a lack of seriousness about the issue that has plagued one of the nation's largest police forces for years, Taylor said.

"Where is the reform of the police area?" he said. "The reform just isn't there."

___

Follow Michael Tarm at www.twitter.com/mtarm

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-police-code-silence-verdict-upheld-001406925.html

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A New East Africa

From14 Jan To18 Jan

Venue: Kenya, with the option to travel to Uganda, Tanzania and/or Ethiopia

Africa is changing.

Recent investments by major corporations and global institutions, the worlds fastest growing population and a resilient annual economic growth rate of 5%, all combine to create huge export potential to East Africa.

This a multi-sector trade mission for education, construction and technology.

Book now; First 10 registers will receive a 25% discount off British Airways Flights.

To book contact Angela Maynard-Smith, UKTI, using the details above.

Source: http://www.businesswest.co.uk/events/2013/01/14/a-new-east-africa

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Cardiovascular disease: The mechanics of prosthetic heart valves

Dec. 20, 2012 ? Computer simulations of blood flow through mechanical heart valves could pave the way for more individualized prosthetics.

Every year, over 300,000 heart valve replacement operations are performed worldwide. Diseased valves are often replaced with mechanical heart valves (MHVs), which cannot yet be designed to suit each patient's specific needs. Complications such as blood clots can occur, which can require patients to take blood-thinning medication.

To investigate why such complications occur, Vinh-Tan Nguyen at A*STAR's Institute of High Performance Computing, Singapore, together with scientists at the National University of Singapore and institutions across the USA, have developed a new computer model to simulate the dynamics of blood flow through MHVs1.

"The current practice for heart valve replacement in patients is a one-size-fits-all approach where a patient is implanted with the best-fit valve available on the market," explains Nguyen. "The valves are well designed for general physiological conditions, but may not be suitable for each individual's particular heart condition."

The researchers focused on the blood flow dynamics in a prosthetic valve known as a bileaflet MHV. This type of MHV contains two mobile leaflets, or gates, which are held in place by hinges. The leaflets open and close in response to blood flow pressures through the valve. Little is known about the effect that the hinged leaflets have on blood dynamics, although such designs are suspected of causing blood clots.

The computer model developed by Nguyen and his team simulates pressure flows through bileaflet MHVs by representing blood vessels as a computational mesh, where calculations are performed for individual blocks of the mesh. Their crucial advance was in enabling this mesh to move and evolve in response to the leaflet movements.

The researchers validated their computer model through laboratory experiments with a full 3D reproduction of the heart's circulation system. Particle imaging equipment allowed them to visualize the fluid dynamics under different scenarios including pulsatile flow, which follows the pattern of a typical cardiac cycle.

"We obtained good agreement between our computer simulations and the experiments in terms of the magnitude and velocity of blood flow through the leaflets," states Nguyen. The researchers also found that leaflet hinges might play a vital role in clotting, because individual hinges have different tolerances that can disrupt normal blood flow and cause stress in the vein walls.

This research is a first crucial step in understanding the impact of MHVs on blood flow. "Ultimately we hope to provide doctors with a tool to evaluate blood flow dynamics and other related aspects in patients with newly implanted valves," says Nguyen.

The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Institute of High Performance Computing.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), via ResearchSEA.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Vinh-Tan Nguyen, Yee Han Kuan, Po-Yu Chen, Liang Ge, Fotis Sotiropoulos, Ajit P. Yoganathan, Hwa Liang Leo. Experimentally Validated Hemodynamics Simulations of Mechanical Heart Valves in Three Dimensions. Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology, 2011; 3 (1): 88 DOI: 10.1007/s13239-011-0077-z

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/hSxzbDS9oUc/121220153120.htm

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Sudan, South Sudan to discuss rebel support next month

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan will tackle the sensitive issue of support for rebel groups for the first time when they resume security talks next month, Sudan's defense minister said on Wednesday.

The former civil war foes have been at loggerheads over their contested border and other issues since South Sudan seceded last year under a 2005 peace deal.

The disputes came to a head in January - when landlocked South Sudan shut down its entire 350,000 barrel-a-day oil output in a row with Khartoum over transit and other fees - and again in April, when border clashes brought the two close to all-out war.

Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting rebels fighting in two states that border South Sudan. Juba denies supporting the rebels, known as the SPLM-North, and in turn accuses Khartoum of backing insurgents on its territory.

The SPLM-North rebels were part of the southern insurgent army during the civil war but were left in Sudan with partition.

Facing heavy pressure from the United Nations and African Union mediators, Sudan and South Sudan signed a raft of deals in September including one to pull back their armies from the border. Both sides say that step is needed to resume oil flows.

But talks in Addis Ababa about how to put those agreements into practice ended without agreement on Tuesday, and South Sudan's chief negotiator told Reuters the negotiations were now "deadlocked".

Sudan's Defence Minister Abdel Raheem Mohammed Hussein nevertheless said the negotiations had been "useful" and that South Sudan had agreed to discuss its alleged support for Sudanese rebels.

"This is a big step," he told reporters at the Khartoum airport after returning from Ethiopia, adding that the two sides would meet again on January 13 in Addis Ababa.

Hussein said the issue of rebel support had gone nowhere in previous meetings between security officials but there had been more progress this time.

"This time there was an agreement that this is an essential issue and should be discussed," he said, adding the two sides would discuss it during their next meeting.

Late on Tuesday, Thabo Mbeki, the African Union mediator and a former South African president, said the two sides had agreed to take "practical steps" to demilitarize the border.

But the two were still in disagreement about how to demilitarize a disputed strip of land known as Mile 14, he said.

"The parties continue to agree that it should be demilitarized but they are discussing how to effect that decision," Mbeki told reporters in Addis Ababa.

Both economies are facing severe strain because of the loss of oil revenues, which accounted for 98 percent of South Sudan's state income before the shutdown and were Sudan's biggest source of revenues and foreign currency before secession.

Some 2 million people died in Sudan's north-south civil war, which left South Sudan economically devastated and awash with guns.

(Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-south-sudan-discuss-rebel-support-next-month-124518477.html

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Video: Lack of funding, stigma stymies mental health care

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

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50252828/

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Obama calls Army secretary over day care scandal

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama called the Army secretary to express concerns over arrests and the discovery of problems with background checks at an Army day care center and to urge a speedy investigation, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The call at 10 p.m. Tuesday to Army Secretary John McHugh came against the backdrop of last week's massacre of young children in a shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

A White House official said the president relayed his concern about reports of abuse at the Fort Myer, Va., day care center and made clear that there must be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to protecting the children of service members.

The official said Obama urged McHugh to conduct the investigation into its hiring practices quickly and thoroughly.

Obama has been outspoken in his demands for a quick government reaction to the Newtown shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead, and he visited the Connecticut town Sunday to offer condolences to parents and the community.

The Army had no immediate comment on the president's call.

The Pentagon is reviewing hiring procedures at military day care centers, schools, youth centers and other facilities where children are present, after revelations that some employees at the day care center had criminal records. Pentagon leaders were angry that it took months for the Army to disclose the problems to top officials and the public.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the military-wide review Tuesday shortly after the Army disclosed problems with security background checks of workers at Fort Myer. Pentagon press secretary George Little said department leaders were surprised to hear of the problems and that "clearly this information did not get reported up the chain of command as quickly as we think it should have."

Little said Wednesday that officials also are questioning why it took three months for the Army to inform Panetta about arrests and problems with background checks at the day care center. Two people were arrested in September on multiple charges of assault against children at the center.

Little also said reports that parents of children at the center weren't told about the problems indicate there may have been a serious breakdown in communications.

"We need to do everything we can wherever our children are entrusted to the care of DOD-employed personnel to insure we have the right personnel with the right background taking care of them," said Little. "We want to insure that there's consistency in the standards and policies and practices in hiring wherever military youth are involved."

The actions stem from the Sept. 26 arrests of two Army employees. One was charged with five counts of assault and the second was charged with four counts of assault.

But the problems at Fort Myer apparently went much deeper. Indications are that at least 30 workers at the facility have histories that call into question their suitability to care for children, according to two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation into worker backgrounds at Fort Myer has not been completed.

After the Fort Myer arrests, the Army replaced the day care center's management team and found what the Army called "derogatory information" in the background of an unspecified number of other employees there. Army officials did not reveal the information, and officials said it's not clear if the background checks were not done, were not sufficient or simply were not used appropriately in screening personnel.

Col. Fern Sumpter, the Fort Myer commander, said the day care center was closed "out of an abundance of caution" and the children moved to a separate day care center at Fort Myer. A Fort Myer spokeswoman, Mary Ann Hodges, said the center was closed on Dec. 13.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-calls-army-secretary-over-day-care-scandal-201433028.html

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Carnegie fund mints newest class of heroes

An apartment complex clerk shot in the head. A boy stabbed by knife-wielding men. Teens struggling to stay afloat in the Pacific. An elderly woman trapped in her burning home.

All of them rescued by individuals who risked their own lives to help.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awarded medals for valor to 18 people on Wednesday, including four who perished in their rescue attempts.

Among the honorees is Joshua W. Steed, 20, a college student in Abilene, Texas, who was in the office of an apartment complex on Sept. 7, 2011 when his 21-year-old co-worker, working the front desk, was shot in the head by an assailant with a .38-caliber revolver.

Instead of closing the office door to protect himself, Steed rushed the gunman and threw a chair at him, according to the commission. Then he grabbed the gunman by the arms, rammed him into a wall and threw him to the floor ? getting his gun in the process.

Steed's co-worker survived.

Ione Fletcher Kleven similarly ran toward trouble when she heard a 14-year-old boy screaming for help in her Castro Valley, Calif., neighborhood in 2010.

The 64-year-old portrait artist chased off three men who'd attacked the boy, punching and kicking him and stabbing him twice in the back and once in the stomach. The boy recovered.

Other medal winners are from Illinois, Hawaii, New Jersey, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida, Massachusetts and Calgary, Canada. Collectively they saved seven people from drowning, two from burning cars, and one from a burning home. And a police officer in New Brunswick, N.J., climbed over the fence of a railroad trestle to rescue a suicidal woman dangling 25 feet above a street.

Carnegie medalists or their heirs receive financial grants approved by the commission. More than $34.8 million has been awarded to 9,576 honorees since the fund's inception in 1904.

Steel baron Andrew Carnegie was inspired to start the fund after hearing rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.

The Pittsburgh-based commission that administers the fund chooses recipients four times a year. The panel provides financial help to medal recipients who were disabled ? or to the dependents of those killed ? by their heroism.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-19-Carnegie%20Heroes/id-5f6f3fc5f4f0458090405536ee85ed12

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