NKorea calls Kim Jong Un 'supreme leader'

In this image made from KRT video, North Korea's next leader Kim Jong Un is seen during a memorial service for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, North Korea's next leader Kim Jong Un is seen during a memorial service for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, North Korea's next leader Kim Jong Un, 3rd left, and ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam, 4th left, bow their head to take a moment of silence during a memorial service for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il's son and successor, was declared "supreme leader" of North Korea's ruling party, military and the people during a memorial Thursday for his father in the first public endorsement of his leadership by the government. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, North Korean military personnel take a moment of silence during a memorial service for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il's son and successor, was declared "supreme leader" of North Korea's ruling party, military and the people during a memorial Thursday for his father in the first public endorsement of his leadership by the government. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, North Koreans gather for a memorial service for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il's son and successor, was declared "supreme leader" of North Korea's ruling party, military and the people during a memorial Thursday for his father in the first public endorsement of his leadership by the government. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

In this image made from KRT video, North Korea's next leader Kim Jong Un, 2nd right, and Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and the ceremonial head of state, right, attend a memorial service for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il's son and successor was declared "supreme leader" of North Korea's ruling party, military and the people during a memorial Thursday for his father in the first public endorsement of his leadership by the government. (AP Photo/KRT via APTN) TV OUT, NORTH KOREA OUT

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? North Korea declared Kim Jong Il's son and successor "supreme leader" of the ruling party, military and the people during a memorial Thursday for his father in the government's first public endorsement of his leadership.

Kim Jong Un ? head bowed and somber in a dark overcoat ? stood watching from a balcony at the Grand People's Study House overlooking Kim Il Sung Square, flanked by the top party and military officials. Also on the balcony was Kim Jong Il's younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, who is expected to play a guardian role for her young nephew.

Given Kim Jong Un's inexperience and age ? he is in his late 20s ? there are questions outside North Korea about whether he is equipped to lead a nation engaged in sensitive negotiations over its nuclear program and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages.

But support among North Korea's power brokers was unequivocal at the memorial service, attended by hundreds of thousands of people filling Kim Il Sung Square and other plazas in central Pyongyang.

"The fact that he completely resolved the succession matter is Great Comrade Kim Jong Il's most noble achievement," Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, told the massive audience at the Kim Il Sung Square.

"Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is our party, military and country's supreme leader who inherits great comrade Kim Jong Il's ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage," said Kim, considered North Korea's ceremonial head of state.

Life in Pyongyang came to a standstill as mourners packed the plaza from the Grand People's Study to the Taedong River for the second day of funeral ceremonies for the late leader.

Kim Jong Il, who led his 24 million people with absolute power for 17 years, died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69, according to state media. He inherited power from his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, who died of a heart attack in 1994, in what was the communist world's first hereditary succession.

Attention turned to Kim Jong Un after he was revealed last year as his father's choice among three sons to carry the Kim dynasty into a third generation.

The process to groom him was rushed compared to the 20 years Kim Jong Il had to prepare to take over from his father, and relied heavily on Kim family legacy as guerrilla fighters and the nation's founders.

Kim Jong Un was made a four-star general last year and appointed a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party. Since his father's death, state media have bestowed on him a series of new titles signifying that his succession campaign was gaining momentum: Great Successor, Supreme Leader and Sagacious Leader.

Kim Jong Un's leadership is not expected to become formal until top party, parliamentary and government representatives convene to confirm his ascension.

He is expected to formally assume command of the 1.2 million-strong military, and become general secretary of the Workers' Party and chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University in South Korea.

In a speech during the memorial, Gen. Kim Jong Gak, a top political officer in the Korean People's Army, said the military will dedicate itself to protecting Kim Jong Un, calling him the "supreme leader of our revolutionary armed forces."

This week's events have been watched closely for clues to who in the military and Workers' Party will form Kim's inner circle of trusted aides during the sensitive transition to leadership.

During the mourning period, Kim made at least five visits to his father's begonia-bedecked bier when the late leader was lying in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, accompanied at times by the old guard that is expected to support him.

At Wednesday's funeral procession, he was accompanied by Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, who has family ties to the military and is expected to be crucial in giving his nephew guidance.

On Thursday, North Koreans packed the main square as well as the plaza in front of a Workers' Party monument of a hammer, sickle and writing brush.

They bowed their heads as eight artillery guns fired; military officers removed their hats while the booms resonated across the square.

North Korea's senior officials, including Kim Jong Il's sister, Kim Kyong Hui, stood in silence on the platform during the gun salute.

Workers, citizens, children and soldiers across the country then bowed for three minutes of tribute to Kim Jong Il as trains and boats blew their sirens.

State TV showed people lined up neatly in rows, or outside their places of work, on sidewalks, in squares, beneath giant portraits of Kim Jong Il.

His two other sons, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chol, were not spotted at either the funeral or memorial.

___

Associated Press Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee and writers Hyung-jin Kim, Foster Klug and Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. Follow AP's North Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean, twitter.com/APKlug and twitter.com/samkim_ap.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-28-AS-Kim-Jong-Il-The-Funeral/id-81f845d76b214b0ca682bb6e79a26f27

alaska weather election results gop debate live gop debate live nome alaska nome alaska alaska map

Watch Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns Live NBA Basketball Season 2011-12

GAME SUMMARY: Watch out on Live Streaming, who will be declared winner in Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns after this game. Viewers around the world looking for this match up Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat check out the Highlights and Results. If you do not have enough time to visit the stadium and watch the game live.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cv24hbr

Matches details:

TEAM: Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns live
DATE : Dec. 28, 2011
GAME START: 9:00 PM ET
COMPETITIONS: NBA Regular Season 2011/2012

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cv24hbr

You can check the match up between Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns ,Free Online or Live Online sites that gives us live online streaming or Live Scores, like Sopcast Channels, Justin TV, Ustream and many more sites or you can drop by to ESPN.com for Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cv24hbr

Related search :

Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns Live Stream, Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns Live Online, Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns Live Streaming online, Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns Live Scores, Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat Highlights, Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns Results, Philadelphia Sixers vs Phoenix Suns Live online Streaming

Source: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f9/watch-philadelphia-sixers-vs-phoenix-suns-live-nba-basketball-season-2011-12-a-84363-new/

hamilton park brian wilson freedom writers lemony snicket lemony snicket jim thome jim thome

Court upholds rapper C-Murder's 2009 murder conviction (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? A Louisiana appeals court this week upheld the 2009 murder conviction of Corey Miller, the rap artist who recorded and performed under the name C-Murder.

Miller was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison two years ago for the 2002 killing of a 16-year-old fan at a nightclub in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

Miller appealed the verdict, saying he had been denied a fair trial because the judge had allowed prosecutors to share "prejudicial and unsubstantiated" testimony with the jurors, including claims that Miller had threatened witnesses in the case.

Miller also alleged that prosecutors "systematically eliminated black people from the jury" and that the judge should have declared a mistrial when the jury indicated at one point that it was could not reach a verdict.

The deadlock was eventually broken and 10 members of the 12-person jury convicted Miller of second degree murder.

On Wednesday, a three-judge appeals court panel upheld the conviction and Miller's life sentence.

The ruling was filed on Thursday with the clerk of Louisiana's Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111230/people_nm/us_cmurder

diners drive ins and dives band of brothers being human being human the closer michael turner split pea soup

Navalny, Russia's protest hero, fights oil company (AP)

MOSCOW ? An anti-corruption lawyer who has been a key force behind popular protests against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demanded Thursday that the country's largest oil company release more information about its investments, saying the firm spends money in "strange and non-transparent ways."

Alexei Navalny's efforts to expose corruption in Russia have gained renewed attention in the wake of the fraud-tainted Dec. 4 parliamentary election that has angered Russians already sick of bribe-demanding public officials and led to the massive protests.

Navalny is a minority shareholder in the state-controlled Rosneft oil company, and has used that position to try to convince courts to help him gain more information from the firm. Navalny, who reaches tens of thousands through his blog and has more than 167,000 followers on Twitter, alleges that the oil giant's investment projects serve as a cover for kickbacks.

On Thursday, he attended a session of Moscow's Arbitration Court to continue pressing for minutes of Rosneft's board of directors meetings in 2009. The court adjourned proceedings until next month for technical reasons. Afterward, Navalny lambasted Rosneft's failure to cooperate with his requests.

"They are reluctant to release the information in order to cover up corruption," he said. "They spend money in a strange and non-transparent ways, throwing them on the Olympic Games, giant construction projects, obscure investment plans."

Rosneft has rejected Navalny's allegations.

Navalny was one of the key speakers at last weekend's protest in Moscow against election fraud, which drew up to 100,000 people in the largest outpouring of public anger since massive protests that swept away the Soviet Union 20 years ago.

Navalny has pledged to take up to 1 million protesters to the streets in the run-up to the March election in which Putin, currently prime minister, intends to reclaim the presidency. Navalny insists the vote is illegitimate because Putin has kept potential challengers away through tight controls over the political scene.

Using his rights as a minority shareholder, Navalny has gathered evidence of corruption at state-controlled oil and gas companies and banks. His cases against some top names in Russian business have made little progress in court but helped attract public attention to some seemingly outrageous practices.

About a year ago, he set up a website where he posts government documents announcing tenders for various goods and services. He has his team of lawyers study the documents, and also offers the public a chance to review them online.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_russia_protest_leader

barbara walters government shutdown sofia vergara jacksonville jaguars jacksonville jaguars iraq war over iraq war over

Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber Top 'Celebs Gone Good'

DoSomething.org's annual list ranks the 20 most charity-friendly stars.
By Terri Schwartz

Lady Gaga
Photo: Scott Gries/ Picture Group

Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and George Clooney better have received something nice from Santa this year, because they certainly weren't on his naughty list. Those three toplined DoSomething.org's Top 20 Celebs Gone Good, the organization's annual roundup of the most charity-friendly stars in the business.

This is Gaga's second year in a row at the #1 spot. In 2011 she dedicated much of her time to putting an end to bullying and even started a new charitable organization called Born This Way. The "Marry the Night" singer did plenty more to help out those less fortunate in 2011, including auctioning off a nude sketch for charity and performing at the Bill Clinton Foundation fundraiser.

However, this was really Bieber's year to shine. He rocketed up DoSomething.org's list from #10 last year to #2 this year. It helps that Bieber donated some of his profits from his Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe, and his self-named perfume to various charitable organizations. Bieber also kept up his work with Pencils of Promise, a group that has built 41 schools in Laos, Nicaragua and Guatemala and was founded by his manager's brother.

Rounding out the top five were Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio. This was a year for celeb power couples, with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie clocking at #8, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore at #12 and newlyweds Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert at #14.

Other notable standouts this year were Demi Lovato at #10, Lea Michele making her charitable debut at #16, Daniel Radcliffe at #17, Miley Cyrus at #18 and Taylor Swift rounding out the list at #20.

What do you think of DoSomething.org's list? Leave your comments below!

Related Artists

• Lady Gaga
• Justin Bieber

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676499/do-something-org-celebs-gone-good-justin-bieber-lady-gaga.jhtml

discovery channel jersey shore season 5 lea michele michael buble michael buble teddy roosevelt kim richards

US weighing travel request for Yemen's president

HONOLULU (AP) -- The Obama administration is considering whether to allow Yemen's outgoing president into the United States for medical treatment, as fresh violence and political tensions flare in the strategically important Middle Eastern nation.

A senior administration official said President Ali Abdullah Saleh's office requested that he be allowed to receive specialized treatment in the U.S. for injuries sustained in a June attack on his compound. The request was being considered, and would only be approved for medical reasons, the official said.

Until now, the White House had not commented on Saleh's assertion Saturday that he would be leaving Yemen and traveling to the U.S. Saleh insisted he was going in order to help calm tensions in his country, not for medical treatment.

The official, who requested anonymity because of a lack of authorization to speak publicly, did not say when the Obama administration would decide on Saleh's request. But the official said Saleh's office indicated that he would leave Yemen soon and spend time elsewhere abroad before he hoped to come to the U.S.

Demonstrators began protesting against Saleh and calling for his ouster in February. The Yemeni government responded with a bloody crackdown, leaving hundreds of protesters dead, and stoking fears of instability in a nation already grappling with burgeoning extremism.

Last month, Saleh agreed to a U.S.- and Saudi-backed deal to hand power over to his vice president and commit to stepping down completely in exchange for immunity. The deal further angered Saleh's opponents, who demanded he be tried for his attacks on protesters.

American officials are deeply concerned that the months of turmoil in Yemen have led to a security breakdown. The dangerous al-Qaida branch in Yemen, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, has taken advantage of the vacuum to expend its presence in southern Yemen.

Pressure has been mounting in recent weeks for Saleh to leave Yemen altogether. Opponents say he has continued to wield influence through his loyalists and relatives still in positions of power, hampering the transition ahead of presidential elections set for Feb. 21. Many feared he would find a way to continue his rule.

Activists said troops commanded by Saleh's relatives attacked protesters in the capital of Sanaa Saturday, killing at least nine people. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated the following day, protesting the deaths and demanding the resignation of Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi for failing to bring the killers to justice.

The White House said President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, called Hadi Sunday and emphasized the need for Yemeni security forces to show "maximum restraint" when dealing with demonstrations. Hadi told Brennan that he had launched an investigation into the recent deaths and injuries and would do his utmost to prevent further bloodshed, the White House said.

The White House said Brennan and Hadi agreed on the importance of continuing with the agreed-upon path of political transition in Yemen in order to ensure that the February elections take place.

Obama was being briefed on developments in Yemen while in Hawaii for his Christmas vacation.

The U.S. has experience with letting unpopular foreign leaders into this country for medical treatment.

More than three decades ago, President Jimmy Carter allowed the exiled shah of Iran into the U.S. for medical treatment in October 1979, eight months after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led a revolution that ousted the shah and created the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian students occupied the U.S. embassy in Iran. Fifty-two American hostages were held for 444 days in response to Carter's refusal to send the shah back to Iran for trial.

----

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_YEMEN?SITE=CAVIC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

douglas fir jim boeheim jim boeheim bill of rights toys r us toys r us shame

UK's Prince Philip remains in hospital (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's Prince Philip spent a third night in the hospital as he recovers after treatment for a blocked coronary artery.

The 90-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II is in good spirits and will remain under observation for "a short period," Buckingham Palace officials said Monday. There are no details of when he may be released.

The prince underwent a successful coronary stent procedure at Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridgeshire, where he was taken on Friday after complaining of chest pains.

It was the most serious health scare suffered by Philip, who is known to be active and robust. He has continued to appear at many engagements, most recently taking a 10-day tour of Australia with the queen.

He is likely to miss the Royal Family's traditional Boxing Day shooting party on Monday at the queen's private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, an event he usually leads.

Six of Philip's grandchildren, including Princes William and Harry, visited him Sunday in the hospital.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_prince_philip

uppity uppity stuffing brandon mcinerney brandon mcinerney black friday 2011 deals nfl power rankings week 12

stephcliff: Funny piece on Kim Jong-Il's sports life. Bowled 300, got five holes in one & 38 under par in his first golf round. http://t.co/2uKZ52jQ

Funny piece on Kim Jong-Il's sports life. Bowled 300, got five holes in one & 38 under par in his first golf round. Il y a environ 7 heures via web

Source: http://twitter.com/stephcliff/statuses/149506708169949184

wale wale weather denver weather denver ambition dorothy rodham rick hendrick plane crash

Juror in Microsoft case at peace with decision

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? The lone holdout juror who prevented a Utah company from getting as much as $1.2 billion from one-time rival Microsoft Corp. for alleged antitrust violations says he's at peace with his decision.

Corbyn Alvey, a 21-year-old security guard from Magna, told KSL-TV (http://bit.ly/ubPwcB ) that he didn't think there was enough evidence presented during the two-month trial in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to support the claims of Provo-based Novell Inc.

Novell sued Microsoft in 2004, claiming the software giant duped it into developing the once-popular WordPerfect writing program for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its own product. Novell says it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss.

"I walk away feeling honestly myself, and I can't speak for the other jurors, that I made the right decision even if it resulted in a hung jury," Alvey said Saturday. "There were so many inferences that needed to be drawn that I felt that it was unfair to Microsoft to go out on a limb and say, 'yes.'"

Alvey described the three days of jury deliberations as stressful. The 11 other jurors sided with Novell.

"Obviously, I wanted to convince them to agree with me and they wanted to convince me to agree with them," he told KSL.

Bill Gates testified last month that he had no idea his decision to drop a tool for outside developers would sidetrack Novell. Gates said he was acting to protect Windows 95 and future versions from crashing.

Novell argued that Gates ordered Microsoft engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 word processing application because he feared it was too good.

Alvey said the jury agreed on the technical aspects of the case but disagreed on what Novell could have accomplished "but for" Gates' decision.

"There was a lot of speculation in this 'but for' world," he said.

As for Gates' testimony, Alvey said, "The man was a little sarcastic at times. If anything, it provided a little break from the monotonous questions and answers ... I think from his testimony, what I heard, and what I saw in the emails, Bill Gates was a man who took every threat extremely seriously."

Jury foreman Carl Banks said he tried hard to get a verdict.

"It was a tough case. It was long and it was hard and it was grueling," he said. "We gave it our best shot."

Novell attorneys have said they would seek to retry the case with a new jury. Microsoft said it would file a motion asking the judge to dismiss Novell's complaint for good and avoid a second trial.

___

Information from: KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-18-Antitrust%20Lawsuit-Microsoft/id-56ef5b8356634259b7ecf3bee66b92d0

beyonce dance for you nba lockout over gone with the wind nba lockout news nba lockout news gifts for mom gifts for mom

Be good if we could speed this up a little (Balloon Juice)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/175618609?client_source=feed&format=rss

icam patrice o neal. joran van der sloot osteopathy osteopathy diphtheria diphtheria

Save some cash: December 16 is Free Shipping Day (Yahoo! News)

Thousands of merchants promise free shipping for one day only!

For many who shy away from online?shopping during the holidays, it can come down to dollars and cents. A product may be the same price online as it is in the store, but nasty shipping charges can pile up in a hurry, leaving a bigger bill than expected. But fear not, December 16 is Free Shipping Day ? the one day when shipping charges take a back seat to convenience. Over 2,500 online merchants are offering shipping deals for today only, so get that credit card ready and make this holiday the best one ever.

The list of retailers participating in the event is truly astonishing and covers every category of product you could possibly desire. Some of the top names include JCPenney, Toys R Us, Cabela's, Best Buy, Target, and Barnes & Noble. A full list of the stores on board with the deal can be browsed at the?Free Shipping Day website, where you can also grab the required discount codes. Remember, this deal is only valid for one day, so be sure to take advantage while you can.

(Source)

This article originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111216/tc_yblog_technews/save-some-cash-december-16-is-free-shipping-day

gilad shalit santonio holmes john edward psychic john edward psychic brandon marshall headless horseman headless horseman

Christopher Hitchens, militant pundit, dies at 62 (AP)

Cancer weakened but did not soften Christopher Hitchens. He did not repent or forgive or ask for pity. As if granted diplomatic immunity, his mind's eye looked plainly upon the attack and counterattack of disease and treatments that robbed him of his hair, his stamina, his speaking voice and eventually his life.

"I love the imagery of struggle," he wrote about his illness in an August 2010 essay in Vanity Fair. "I sometimes wish I were suffering in a good cause, or risking my life for the good of others, instead of just being a gravely endangered patient."

Hitchens, a Washington, D.C.-based author, essayist and polemicist who waged verbal and occasional physical battle on behalf of causes left and right, died Thursday night at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of his esophageal cancer, according to a statement from Vanity Fair magazine. He was 62.

"There will never be another like Christopher. A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar," said Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. "Those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls."

He had enjoyed his drink (enough to "to kill or stun the average mule") and cigarettes, until he announced in June 2010 that he was being treated for cancer of the esophagus.

He was a most engaged, prolific and public intellectual who wrote numerous books, was a frequent television commentator and a contributor to Vanity Fair, Slate and other publications. He became a popular author in 2007 thanks to "God Is Not Great," a manifesto for atheists.

"Christopher Hitchens was everything a great essayist should be: infuriating, brilliant, highly provocative and yet intensely serious," said Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. "I worked as an intern for him years ago. My job was to fact check his articles. Since he had a photographic memory and an encyclopedic mind, it was the easiest job I've ever done."

Long after his diagnosis, his columns and essays appeared regularly, savaging the royal family, reveling in the death of Osama bin Laden or pondering the letters of poet Philip Larkin. He was intolerant of nonsense, including about his own health. In a piece that appeared in the January 2012 issue of Vanity Fair, he dismissed the old saying that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

"So far, I have decided to take whatever my disease can throw at me, and to stay combative even while taking the measure of my inevitable decline. I repeat, this is no more than what a healthy person has to do in slower motion," he wrote. "It is our common fate. In either case, though, one can dispense with facile maxims that don't live up to their apparent billing."

Eloquent and intemperate, bawdy and urbane, Hitchens was an acknowledged contrarian and contradiction ? half-Christian, half-Jewish and fully nonbelieving; a native of England who settled in America; a former Trotskyite who backed the Iraq war and supported George W. Bush. But his passions remained constant and targets of his youth, from Henry Kissinger to Mother Teresa, remained hated.

He was a militant humanist who believed in pluralism and racial justice and freedom of speech, big cities and fine art, and the willingness to stand the consequences. He was smacked in the rear by then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and beaten up in Beirut. He once submitted to waterboarding to prove that it was indeed torture.

Hitchens was a committed sensualist who abstained from clean living as if it were just another kind of church. In 2005, he recalled a trip to Aspen, Colo., and a brief encounter after stepping off a ski lift.

"I was met by immaculate specimens of young American womanhood, holding silver trays and flashing perfect dentition," he wrote. "What would I like? I thought a gin and tonic would meet the case. `Sir, that would be inappropriate.' In what respect? `At this altitude gin would be very much more toxic than at ground level.' In that case, I said, make it a double."

An emphatic ally and inspired foe, he stood by friends in trouble ("Satanic Verses" novelist Salman Rushdie) and against enemies in power (Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini). His heroes included George Orwell, Thomas Paine and Gore Vidal (pre-Sept. 11). Among those on the Hitchens list of shame: Michael Moore; Saddam Hussein; Kim Jong Il; Sarah Palin; Gore Vidal (post Sept. 11); and Prince Charles.

"We have known for a long time that Prince Charles' empty sails are so rigged as to be swelled by any passing waft or breeze of crankiness and cant," Hitchens wrote in Slate in 2010 after the heir to the British throne gave a speech criticizing Galileo for the scientist's focus on "the material aspect of reality."

"He fell for the fake anthropologist Laurens van der Post. He was bowled over by the charms of homeopathic medicine. He has been believably reported as saying that plants do better if you talk to them in a soothing and encouraging way. But this latest departure promotes him from an advocate of harmless nonsense to positively sinister nonsense."

Hitchens was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1949. His father, Eric, was a "purse-lipped" Navy veteran known as "The Commander"; his mother, Yvonne, a romantic who later killed herself during an extramarital rendezvous in Greece. Young Christopher would have rather read a book. He was "a mere weed and weakling and kick-bag" who discovered that "words could function as weapons" and so stockpiled them.

In college, Oxford, he made such longtime friends as authors Martin Amis and Ian McEwan, and claimed to be nearby when visiting Rhodes scholar Bill Clinton did or did not inhale marijuana. Radicalized by the 1960s, Hitchens was often arrested at political rallies, was kicked out of Britain's Labour Party over his opposition to the Vietnam War and became a correspondent for the radical magazine International Socialism. His reputation broadened in the 1970s through his writings for the New Statesman.

Wavy-haired and brooding and aflame with wit and righteous anger, he was a star of the left on paper and on camera, a popular television guest and a columnist for one of the world's oldest liberal publications, The Nation. In friendlier times, Vidal was quoted as citing Hitchens as a worthy heir to his satirical throne.

But Hitchens never could simply nod his head. He feuded with fellow Nation columnist Alexander Cockburn, broke with Vidal and angered freedom of choice supporters by stating that the child's life begins at conception. An essay for Vanity Fair was titled "Why Women Aren't Funny," and Hitchens wasn't kidding.

He had long been unhappy with the left's reluctance to confront enemies or friends. He would note his strong disappointment that Arthur Miller and other leading liberals shied from making public appearances on behalf of Rushdie after the Ayatollah Khomeini called for his death. He advocated intervention in Bosnia and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Rushdie posted on his Twitter page early Friday: "Goodbye, my beloved friend. A great voice falls silent. A great heart stops."

No Democrat angered him more than Clinton, whose presidency led to the bitter end of Hitchens' friendship with White House aide Sidney Blumenthal and other Clinton backers. As Hitchens wrote in his memoir, he found Clinton "hateful in his behavior to women, pathological as a liar, and deeply suspect when it came to money in politics."

He wrote the anti-Clinton book, "No One Left to Lie To," at a time when most liberals were supporting the president as he faced impeachment over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Hitchens also loathed Hillary Rodham Clinton and switched his affiliation from independent to Democrat in 2008 just so he could vote against her in the presidential primary.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, completed his exit. He fought with Vidal, Noam Chomsky and others who either suggested that U.S. foreign policy had helped cause the tragedy or that the Bush administration had advanced knowledge. He supported the Iraq war, quit The Nation, backed Bush for re-election in 2004 and repeatedly chastised those whom he believed worried unduly about the feelings of Muslims.

"It's not enough that faith claims to be the solution to all problems," he wrote in Slate in 2009 after a Danish newspaper apologized for publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that led Muslim organizations to threaten legal action. "It is now demanded that such a preposterous claim be made immune from any inquiry, any critique, and any ridicule."

His essays were compiled in such books as "For the Sake of Argument" and "Prepared for the Worst." He also wrote short biographies/appreciations of Paine and Thomas Jefferson, a tribute to Orwell and "Letters to a Young Contrarian (Art of Mentoring)," in which he advised that "only an open conflict of ideas and principles can produce any clarity." A collection of essays, "Arguably," came out in September 2011 and he was planning a "book-length meditation on malady and mortality." He appeared in a 2010 documentary about the topical singer Phil Ochs.

Survived by his second wife, author Carol Blue, and by his three children (Alexander, Sophia and Antonia), Hitchens had quotable ideas about posterity, clarified years ago when he saw himself referred to as "the late" Christopher Hitchens in print. For the May 2010 issue of Vanity Fair, before his illness, Hitchens submitted answers for the Proust Questionnaire, a probing and personal survey for which the famous have revealed everything from their favorite color to their greatest fear.

His vision of earthly bliss: "To be vindicated in my own lifetime."

His ideal way to die: "Fully conscious, and either fighting or reciting (or fooling around)."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_en_ot/us_obit_hitchens

jersey shore season 5 lea michele michael buble michael buble teddy roosevelt kim richards rita hayworth

Stores make a grab for last-minute shoppers

Lynne Sladky / AP file

Retailers are hoping for an early Christmas gift this year, trying to coax shoppers to visit their stores and make "last-minute" purchases more than a week before the 25th.

By Martha C. White

Retailers are hoping for an early Christmas gift this year, trying to coax shoppers to visit their stores and make "last-minute" purchases more than a week before the 25th.

At some major retailers -- including big department store brands -- this Saturday is being billed as the day to score 11th-hour discounts. Stores are hoping the promotion will insulate them from the possibility of a slack Christmas Eve, which falls next Saturday.

When Christmas falls on a Sunday (or on a Saturday), the calendar handicaps stores that are dependent on a full weekend when "last-minute" mentality takes hold and drives shoppers into stores, according to John Long, retail strategist with consulting firm Kurt Salmon.

Although shoppers spent $52 billion on Black Friday weekend, retailers have come to depend on a last-minute rush of consumers trained to hold out until the final hours for the best markdowns. Since merchants can't actually move Christmas Day, they've done the next best thing by moving what's been dubbed "Super Saturday" one week earlier.

Last year, with Christmas falling on a Saturday, stores had no choice but to hype up the preceding weekend. And they hit the jackpot by essentially changing the calendar, according to Long.

"The last Saturday and Sunday last year were among the busiest days of the year for the entire retail calendar," he said. "From a retailer's standpoint, they're obviously trying to 'anniversary' a very heavy weekend."

Spreading out the holiday sales rush also gives stores some breathing room: They can avoid potential sale-killers like empty racks and long lines.

Will consumers play along? They dutifully cracked open their wallets on Black Friday, but according to new data from the National Retail Federation, many are rethinking those purchases; return rates have already increased. Customers have also been trained to wait until the last minute (by the same stores that would like them now to complete their shopping a week earlier); whether they'll repeat last year's earlier spending is an open question.

Retailers also run the risk of alienating consumers fatigued by a growing number of increasingly specific promotional events, ranging from "Small Business Saturday" to "Green Monday." They also risk?confusing consumers, since some big brands are sticking to Christmas Eve as the day to court the last-minute crowd.

In spite of the risks, Long said retailers are willing to make the gamble because the payoff could be twofold, with shoppers descending on stores this weekend, and then coming out to buy more on Christmas Eve anyway.

The 24th could end up being what Long called a "bonus day" for retailers. He said department stores, which carry in-demand categories?such as?apparel and accessories, would benefit, as would retailers of must-have electronics like Apple's iPad tablet.

Related:

Holiday sales up, but returns may set a record

Major retail group upgrades holiday shopping forecast

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/16/9498621-stores-make-an-early-grab-for-last-minute-shoppers

penn state football weather boston grimm fairy tales grimm fairy tales gold rush gold rush chili recipe

PhotoBlog: War comes to a close and troops head for home

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

U.S. Army soldiers from the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, carry their bags to customs as they prepare to fly home to Fort Hood, Texas after being one of the last American combat units to exit from Iraq on December 15, 2011 at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait. Today the U.S. military formally ended its mission in Iraq after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

U.S. Army soldiers from the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, salute during the playing of retreat during the daily flag lowering ceremony as they prepare to fly home to Fort Hood, Texas after being one of the last American combat units to exit from Iraq on Dec.15 at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait. Today the U.S. military formally ended its mission in Iraq after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Natalia Jimenez writes

After being stationed at one of the U.S's few remaining bases in Iraq at Camp Adder, these soldiers today prepared to board their flight home to the United States from Kuwait. Most of them had been in Iraq for the past 7 to 10 months. Getty photographer Joe Raedle spent the past few weeks embedded with the troops. One of their first stops after leaving Iraq was McDonald's, after several weeks eating only MRE's (Meal, Ready to Eat).

The U.S. military's pullout of Iraq was formally recognized today with a flag ceremony in Baghdad. While 4,000 troops remain in the country, they will completely out by the end of the year.

For the complete story: 'A new chapter': US officially ends Iraq war.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

U.S. Army soldiers from the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, carry their bags to waiting trucks as they prepare to board buses later in the evening to fly home to Fort Hood, Texas after being one of the last American combat units to exit from Iraq on December 15, 2011 at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait. Today the U.S. military formally ended its mission in Iraq after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

?

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

A U.S. Army soldier from the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, packs his helmet into his travel bag for the last time before the flight home from Kuwait after their unit exited from Iraq on Dec. 15 at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

U.S. Army soldiers from the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, place their bags on a truck as they prepare to board buses later in the evening to fly home to Fort Hood, Texas after being one of the last American combat units to exit from Iraq on Dec. 15 at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait. Today the U.S. military formally ended its mission in Iraq after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Source: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9471352-war-comes-to-a-close-and-troops-head-for-home

beanie wells dina manzo dina manzo once upon a time once upon a time sharia law sharia law

Summary Box: Hovnanian Enterprises 4Q loss narrows (AP)

HOMING IN: Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. reported a smaller loss in the fiscal fourth quarter, aided by lower expenses and charges. The homebuilder lost 90 cents a share on revenue of $341.6 million.

MORE SIGNINGS: New home contracts rose 3 percent, while home deliveries fell 3 percent. Its backlog of homes under contract increased 19 percent.

OUTLOOK: Management says it isn't projecting any improvement in the housing market for the next two years, but believes it can boost its revenue and move toward profitability by selling homes from newer communities, which it plans to add next year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_hovnanian_summary_box

nflx john mccarthy john mccarthy lumpectomy robin williams blaine gabbert netflix stock

Enterprise Cloud App Manager Okta Now Enables A Single Sign-On To Over 1K Web Apps

Enterprise cloud app management company Okta, which allows companies to have control of their users, applications, and data both in the cloud and behind the firewall, is debuting a new self service sign-on capability. This would allow IT organizations publish a custom app catalog to their organization and for end users to get single sign-on to over a 1,000 cloud apps. Okta is providing a platform for companies to manage corporate IT. When moving to the cloud, IT admins face the challenge of securing and controlling users and access, simplifying the adoption and scaling of these applications, and at the same time making sure that the business is optimizing its applications in the cloud.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tNV64qWiVwA/

fugazi indiana jones and the last crusade nba lockout dramamine dramamine nba season we bought a zoo

Mindy McCready & Son Zander Found In Closet Of Arkansas Home

Mindy McCready & Son Zander Found In Closet Of Arkansas Home

Country singer Mindy McCready and her 5-year-old son were discovered hiding in a closet of her boyfriend’s lake home in Heber Springs, Arkansas early Saturday [...]

Mindy McCready & Son Zander Found In Closet Of Arkansas Home Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/J4WOymrx6tg/

music awards 2011 music awards 2011 jill biden jill biden al mvp ama awards 2011 ama awards 2011

Southern California braces for more extreme wind storm (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Tens of thousands of Southern California residents remained without power on Sunday as officials warned that dangerously high winds would return to the region in the evening.

Power company Southern California Edison still had 49,874 customers without power as of Sunday morning due to the "near hurricane force winds" of recent days, according to spokeswoman Mashi Nyssen.

Wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour through area mountain passes and canyons were expected to begin again late Sunday and last through early Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

The winds will create "critical" conditions that will pose an "extreme fire danger" to the area, the NWS said.

Unusually powerful winds first began striking the Los Angeles region on Wednesday in a storm that raised concern about potential wildfires igniting and spreading at lightening speed.

Wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour were reported close to the metropolis over the weekend.

In the city of Los Angeles, power had been restored to "nearly all" customers who suffered outages in the wind storms, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The dry, seasonal gusts that have hit Southern California in recent days are known locally as the Santa Ana winds.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111204/us_nm/us_weather

haynesworth michelle duggar ohio issue 2 ohio issue 2 mississippi personhood mississippi personhood issue 2 ohio

Astronomers find fastest rotating star

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2011) ? The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope has picked up the fastest rotating star found so far. This massive bright young star lies in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 light-years from Earth. Astronomers think that it may have had a violent past and has been ejected from a double star system by its exploding companion.

An international team of astronomers has been using ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, to make a survey of the heaviest and brightest stars in the Tarantula Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Among the many brilliant stars in this stellar nursery the team has spotted one, called VFTS 102 [1], that is rotating at more than two million kilometres per hour -- more than three hundred times faster than the Sun [2] and very close to the point at which it would be torn apart due to centrifugal forces. VFTS 102 is the fastest rotating star known to date [3].

The astronomers also found that the star, which is around 25 times the mass of the Sun and about one hundred thousand times brighter, was moving through space at a significantly different speed from its neighbours [4].

"The remarkable rotation speed and the unusual motion compared to the surrounding stars led us to wonder if this star had had an unusual early life. We were suspicious." explains Philip Dufton (Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK), lead author of the paper presenting the results.

This difference in speed could imply that VFTS 102 is a runaway star -- a star that has been ejected from a double star system after its companion exploded as a supernova. This idea is supported by two further clues: a pulsar and an associated supernova remnant in its vicinity [5].

The team has developed a possible back story for this very unusual star. It could have started life as one component of a binary star system. If the two stars were close, gas from the companion could have streamed over and in the process the star would have spun faster and faster. This would explain one unusual fact -- why it is rotating so fast. After a short lifetime of about ten million years, the massive companion would have exploded as a supernova -- which could explain the characteristic gas cloud known as a supernova remnant found nearby. The explosion would also have led to the ejection of the star and could explain the third anomaly -- the difference between its speed and that of other stars in the region. As it collapsed, the massive companion would have turned into the pulsar that is observed today, and which completes the solution to the puzzle.

Although the astronomers cannot yet be sure that this is exactly what happened, Dufton concludes "This is a compelling story because it explains each of the unusual features that we've seen. This star is certainly showing us unexpected sides of the short, but dramatic lives of the heaviest stars."

Notes:

[1] The name VFTS102 refers to the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey made using the Fibre Large Array Multi Element Spectrograph (FLAMES) on ESO's Very Large Telescope.

[2] An aircraft travelling at this speed would take about one minute to circle Earth at the equator.

[3] Some stars end their lives as compact objects such as pulsars (see note [5]), which may spin much more rapidly than VFTS 102, but they are also very much smaller and denser and do not shine by thermonuclear reactions like normal stars.

[4] VFTS 102 is moving at roughly 228 kilometres per second, which is slower than other similar stars in the region by about 40 kilometres per second.

[5] Pulsars are the result of supernovae. The core of the star collapses to a very small size creating a neutron star which spins very rapidly and emits powerful jets of radiation. These jets create a regular "pulse" as seen from Earth as the star rotates around its axis. The associated supernova remnant is a characteristic cloud of gas blown away by the shock wave resulting from the collapse of the star into a neutron star.

More information

This research was presented in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, "The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: The fastest rotating O-type star and shortest period LMC pulsar -- remnants of a supernova disrupted binary?," by Philip L. Dufton et al.

The team is composed of P.L. Dufton (Astrophysics Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast (ARC/QUB), UK), P.R. Dunstall (ARC/QUB, UK), C.J. Evans (UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh (ROE), UK), I. Brott (University of Vienna, Department of Astronomy, Austria), M. Cantiello (Argelander Institut fur Astronomie der Universitat Bonn, Germany, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, USA), A. de Koter (Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), S.E. de Mink (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), M. Fraser (ARC/QUB, UK), V. Henault-Brunet (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, ROE, UK), I.D. Howarth (Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, UK), N. Langer (Argelander Institut fur Astronomie der Universitat Bonn, Germany), D.J. Lennon (ESA, Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), N. Markova (Institute of Astronomy with NAO, Bulgaria), H. Sana (Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), W.D. Taylor (SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, ROE, UK).

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

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Southern Observatory - ESO.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. P. L. Dufton, P. R. Dunstall, C. J. Evans, I. Brott, M. Cantiello, A. De Koter, S. E. de Mink, M. Fraser, V. H?nault-Brunet, I. D. Howarth, N. Langer, D. J. Lennon, N. Markova, H. Sana, W. D. Taylor. The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: The fastest rotating O-type star and shortest period LMC pulsar -- remnants of a supernova disrupted binary? The Astrophysical Journal, 2011; 743 (1): L22 DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/743/1/L22

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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/tTBo1yMYRDs/111205102424.htm

ndamukong suh aptera aptera facebook ipo facebook ipo national defense authorization act national defense authorization act

Panel to release report on Olympus scandal Tuesday: report (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? An expert panel appointed by Japan's Olympus Corp to look into an accounting scandal at the disgraced firm will release its findings on Tuesday, Kyodo news agency said in a weekend report, opening the way for possible criminal complaints against former company executives.

Olympus has admitted to using murky M&A deals to hide losses on investments stretching back two decades. Its current management has blamed ex-president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, former executive vice president Hisashi Mori and former internal auditor Hideo Yamada for the scheme and said it was ready to take legal action against those found responsible.

The 92-year-old maker of cameras and endoscopes is battling to remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but if the panel finds involvement of organized crime syndicates -- as has been speculated -- that outcome would be difficult.

Tokyo police, prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) have launched a rare joint investigation of the scandal, and are likely to step up their probe after the panel report is released.

Potential criminal charges could include filing false financial statements, fraud and aggravated breach of trust -- an offence that can include embezzlement -- although proving breach of trust could be difficult because of the need to show that the offence had been committed for personal gain.

Olympus also needs to meet a December 14 deadline to file its financial results for the six months to September in order to avoid an automatic delisting.

Former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford, who blew the whistle on accounting tricks at the company after his sacking from the top job in October, has launched a campaign to oust the current board and replace it with his own team of candidates led by him as nominated CEO.

That has set up a battle between Woodford, an Englishman who was a rare foreign CEO in Japan, and current Olympus President Shuichi Takayama, who plans to stay on, at least in the short term, to try to get the company back on track.

The Olympus affair has fanned doubts about corporate governance generally in Japan as well as revived concerns about ties between "yakuza" gangsters and companies.

Attention will also be focused on what the panel, led by a Supreme Court judge, has to say about the role of outsiders in the scandal, including Akio Nakagawa, a banker with lengthy ties to Olympus and whose firm Axes received a mammoth advisory fee in the purchase of U.K. medical equipment maker Gyrus in 2008.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111204/bs_nm/us_olympus_investigation

issue 2 ohio election results 2011 election results 2011 board of elections board of elections senate bill 5 senate bill 5

Christie Brinkley Owes The Tax Man $531,000

Records show supermodel Christie Brinkley owes $531,000 in back taxes, and the IRS has filed a lien against her. The Daily News of New York reports that the tax lien was filed Nov. 21 on a mansion in Bridgehampton on New York’s Long Island, where she lives. A spokeswoman for Brinkley says the star was [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/christie-brinkley-owes-the-tax-man-531000/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=christie-brinkley-owes-the-tax-man-531000

uekman uekman music awards music awards giants eagles bcs rankings week 13 bcs rankings week 13

Lung Cancer's Hidden Victims: Those Who Never Smoked (HealthDay)

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Opera legend Beverly Sills never smoked. Neither did actress and health advocate Dana Reeve, wife of the late actor Christopher Reeve.

And yet in 2007 and 2006, respectively, both joined the ranks of about 32,000 Americans each year who never touch a cigarette but die of lung cancer anyway.

In fact, experts say, one in every five cases of the leading cancer killer occurs in nonsmokers. The annual death toll among this group now approaches that of breast cancer (about 40,000 per year) and is roughly equal to that of prostate cancer (32,000). Many never-smoking women may also be unaware that they are more than twice as likely to die of lung cancer as they are of ovarian cancer (14,000 deaths per year).

Numbers like those have experts calling for a shift in the public's thinking on lung cancer, away from its label of "the smoker's disease."

"We say, 'If you have a lung, you can get lung cancer,'" said Linda Wenger, executive director of Uniting Against Lung Cancer (UALC), a nonprofit advocacy group aimed at reaching a better understanding of lung cancer. The group was founded after the death in 2001 of Joan Scarangello, an ABC and NBC journalist and lifelong nonsmoker who fell victim at age 47 to lung cancer.

"She was very healthy, she was a runner," Wenger said, but the disease claimed Scarangello as it has many never-smokers. "We need to look at lung cancer as being a cancer like any other," Wenger added.

Many experts believe that the stigma around smoking that accompanies lung cancer -- that its victims somehow "brought it on themselves" -- has dampened public sympathy for patients and hindered funding for research.

"The lung cancer research field is definitely the stepchild in the [cancer research] family, and we're sure a lot of that has to do with stigma," said Holli Kawadler, UALC's scientific program director. She noted that, in terms of funding received from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, "the numbers are $27,000 in research per cancer death for breast cancer, compared to only about $1,400 per cancer death for lung cancer."

"It's very disheartening for the whole field," Wenger said. "We have a partner out there, his wife has lung cancer but she never smoked. And she has the attitude that 'I never smoked, but cigarettes are going to kill me' because the money is not there for research, because of the smoking stigma."

Lung cancer's lethal nature may also be hindering efforts to boost awareness and funding for research, experts add.

"Unlike other cancers where there is better funding, lung cancer patients aren't well enough to really advocate for themselves," explained Dr. James Dougherty, medical and scientific advisor for the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF), based in New York City. "When they get the diagnosis they often get sick pretty quickly, so they aren't about to publicly take on the role of saying 'Look, I have a problem, I need help.'"

Still, even with limited funding, scientists are slowly uncovering clues to the origins and distinct nature of lung cancer in never-smokers. One obvious starting point is the fact that women are affected far more often than men.

"Among never-smokers with lung cancer, women outnumber men two-to-one," Wenger said.

According to experts at the LCRF, the reasons for the disparity aren't clear, but early research is suggesting that, much like breast tumors, lung tumor aggressiveness in women appears linked to estrogen. Other factors, as yet unknown, may also be at play.

"We're also learning much more about the differences in the biology of [lung cancer in] smokers and nonsmokers," Dougherty added. He pointed to LCRF-funded research under way at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, "specifically looking at some new potential markers on the [tumor] cells of people who have never smoked. Hopefully that will lead to the identification of better treatment options for nonsmokers."

Determining risk factors that might place certain never-smokers at especially high risk for lung cancer is another focus of research. The dream, experts said, is to somehow devise an accurate "panel" of biological and other factors that could serve as a basis in pinpointing at-risk individuals who may need closer monitoring.

All of these research advances will depend on much better funding, however. In the meantime, the stigma of smoking that overshadows never-smokers newly diagnosed with lung cancer continues.

"We hear a lot from people that the first thing they are asked after diagnosis is, 'Did you smoke?'" said Kawadler. "That's very tough."

More information

Find out more about ongoing efforts to fight lung cancer at the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111202/hl_hsn/lungcancershiddenvictimsthosewhoneversmoked

ok state kurt budke regis philbin regis and kelly reno fire regis philbin last show regis philbin last show

Noonan: The Comeback Kid of 2012 (WSJ)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/169285666?client_source=feed&format=rss

board of elections senate bill 5 senate bill 5 joe paterno press conference joe paterno scandal joe paterno scandal election day 2011

USA Today reassigns top editor, business executive

MCLEAN, Va. (AP) ? USA Today said Wednesday that it is moving two of its top executives to new jobs.

John Hillkirk, the top editor of the second-largest U.S. newspaper, is stepping down to help oversee USA Today's investigative reporting projects as a senior editor.

USA Today, which is owned by Gannett Co., is looking for his replacement. In the interim, Susan Weiss, USA Today's executive editor, will run the newsroom.

In another transfer announced Wednesday, Rudd Davis is moving from vice president of business development to the newly created position of president of USA Today's travel media group.

The division will try to help USA Today reach more readers while they're traveling and sell more advertising aimed at people on the go.

The changes come as USA Today and other major newspapers cope with declining revenue as more advertising shifts from print pages to the Web. USA Today, based in McLean, Va., has eliminated jobs and cut other expenses to cope with the downturn.

The newspaper's print edition was losing paid circulation until it posted a slight increase earlier this year. USA Today's circulation averaged nearly 1.8 million during the six months that ended Sept. 30. It ranked behind The Wall Street Journal, whose circulation of nearly 2.1 million includes hundreds of thousands of digital subscribers. Unlike the Journal, the USA Today doesn't charge fees to access its website and mobile devices.

Hillkirk, 56, has worked at USA Today since the newspaper started in 1982. He ran USA Today's Money section for nine years before being named executive editor in 2004. He was promoted to editor-in-chief in 2009 when Dave Hunke became USA Today's publisher.

"We greatly appreciate John's good work over the last 30 years, especially the last two years as editor during this critical transformation phase," Susie Ellwood, USA Today's general manger, wrote in a memo to the newspaper's staff on Wednesday.

Davis, 31, came to Gannett in 2008 after the company bought his "extreme" sports website, BNQT.com. He will be based in Los Angeles.

Davis "is a highly creative entrepreneur, and we know he will lead this division with the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that it requires," Ellwood said in a statement.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-30-US-Gannett-Personnel/id-31f379d93ee141f787ad248effd302be

charlie daniels band the thing carrie steve wozniak steve wozniak legarrette blount pharrell