Bomb targets official in Pakistan's Peshawar: police (Reuters)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) ? A bomb exploded near the office of a regional government official in the often restive northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar early on Thursday, police officials said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

A wall of the district coordination officer's building collapsed after the blast, which was heard throughout Peshawar, the last major city on the route to Afghanistan.

Peshawar is also not far from Mohmand, the district where a strike by NATO-led forces at the weekend killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and plunged often uneasy relations between Washington and Islamabad to new lows.

Taliban militants have often launched suicide attacks in and around Peshawar in their campaign to topple the Pakistani government for its support of the U.S.-led war against militancy.

The army has launched a series of offensives against the Pakistani Taliban but have failed to subdue the group, which is close to al Qaeda and is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan, an unstable, nuclear-armed U.S. ally.

Pakistani Taliban officials have said the group is holding exploratory peace talks with the Islamabad government.

Since the weekend strike in Mohmand, Pakistan has announced it will boycott an international conference on the future of Afghanistan in Germany next week, depriving the talks of a central player in efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan.

Pakistan has labelled that attack as a deliberate act of aggression, although that has been categorically denied by senior U.S. military officials.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by _Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/wl_nm/us_pakistan_blast

exotic animals scott hall lra lra collegeboard kelsey grammer coco rocha

Warren Buffett picks up a newspaper, sees potential (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Billionaire investor Warren Buffett buys newspapers every day, including his hometown daily, but on Wednesday he dispensed with the single-issue price and bought the whole company instead.

Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway said it would buy the Omaha World-Herald Co, owner of the paper of the same name, six other dailies and a series of weekly papers in Nebraska and Iowa.

The World-Herald, which calls itself the last major employee-owned paper in the country, splashed the news across its website, with a picture of the paper's publisher introducing Buffett to the staff. It is 80 percent owned by employees and 20 percent by the Peter Kiewit Foundation.

The paper reported that Buffett would pay $150 million cash, or about $1,109 per subscriber, and assume $50 million in debt.

"I wouldn't do this if I thought this was doomed to some sort of extinction," the paper said Buffett told a gathering of employees. "It is a reasonable investment. There is no question it is affected by the fact that I am extremely bullish on Omaha, Nebraska."

The World-Herald's publisher, Terry Kroeger, told the paper the holding company would have needed a capital infusion at some point in the future, as older shareholders were selling stock back faster than younger reporters were buying it.

The news appears to have stunned the reporters, for whom Buffett was one of the biggest subjects of their business coverage. The paper's designated Buffett reporter even did a weekly online chat about Buffett called "Warren Watch."

"I don't think anyone's going to be covering anything today. Everyone seems to be too busy talking about the Buffett news," World-Herald reporter Roseann Moring said on her Twitter feed in response to a request for coverage of another item.

EMPLOYEES APPROVE

With average daily circulation of just over 135,000, it is one of the larger papers in the country. The World-Herald Co said in a statement that Buffett's ownership would make it easier for the paper to raise money while preserving local control.

One newsroom employee, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said Wednesday's announcement was positive.

"It's obviously good news for the paper because we were facing a pretty heavy load of debt to pay to older stockholders (as they retired).

"This is good news for the employees. I think it is good long-term news for the paper, which is in good shape, but was facing some pretty heavy bills down the road."

The holding company had already made some cuts in 2008 and 2009 to improve its finances, including nearly 100 layoffs. It also sold some smaller Iowa papers last year.

'NEARLY UNENDING LOSSES'

Berkshire is no stranger to the newspaper business. The company bought the Buffalo News in New York in 1977 and has operated it since, though Buffett said in 2009 his owning the paper was not entirely rational.

Buffett was also a long-time board member of the Washington Post Co and a confidante of legendary publisher Katharine Graham.

Buffett has said that U.S. newspapers face years of "nearly unending losses" because they lack a sustainable business model.

Advertising revenue and circulation at many U.S. papers have fallen in the past several years as people turned to the Internet for free news and advertising, forcing some newspapers out of business and some publishers into filing for bankruptcy protection or laying off thousands of employees.

But the 81-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" struck a more moderate tone on Wednesday as he addressed the paper's staff.

"I think newspapers ... have a decent future. It won't be like the past. But there are still a lot of things newspapers can do better than any other media. They not only can be sustained, but are important," he was quoted as saying.

The deal also adds to Buffett's stable of local businesses. Though his focus is usually national or global, he owns a number of large Omaha brands, including the sprawling Nebraska Furniture Mart and the jeweler Borsheim's.

(Reporting By Ben Berkowitz; Additional reporting by Michael Avok in Omaha)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111130/media_nm/us_berkshire_newspapers

veterans barbados resorts tiger woods helen mirren the call surrogates surrogates

Video: Bieber Fever Spreads to Holiday Elves

We all know Justin Bieber is one of the most famous pop stars on the planet, but did you also know he?s the most famous elf as well? ElfYourself.com ? the most popular holiday website in history ? is back for the 2011 holidays where users can create FREE personalized holiday eGreetings featuring friends, family [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/video-bieber-fever-spreads-to-holiday-elves/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=video-bieber-fever-spreads-to-holiday-elves

lego man lego man cheryl hines john lackey john lackey ed lee ed lee

LA condoms in porn measure gets 64,000 signatures

(AP) ? A group hoping to place a measure before Los Angeles voters that would require porn actors to wear condoms during film shoots said Wednesday it has gathered more than 64,000 valid voter signatures, about 23,000 more than the law requires for the June ballot.

The measure is backed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a group that has made a number of unsuccessful legal efforts ? through state legislation, lawsuits and complaints to regulators ? to require condoms in adult films.

"We believe these performers deserve the health and safety protections already afforded them under existing law, and that all levels of government need to be involved in this workplace safety issue," foundation President Michael Weinstein said.

To get on the city's ballot, advocates must turn in 41,183 signatures. If passed, the measure would require porn producers to agree to have their actors use condoms in adult films shot in Los Angeles in order to obtain permits to film in the city.

The city's San Fernando Valley is the heart of the multi-billion dollar American porn industry.

Critics say the measure's obvious flaw is that many porn producers don't seek such permits in the first place, and those who do would likely be forced underground.

The Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the porn industry that has advocated for consistently testing adult film performers for sexually transmitted diseases, opposes mandatory condom regulations.

"History has shown us that regulating sexual behavior between consenting adults does not work," spokeswoman Diane Duke said. "The best way to prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections is by providing quality information and sexual health services."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-11-30-Porn-Condoms-LA/id-6466732896e5495d9804c11e77611873

walter payton oneiric oneiric eartha kitt psych david ortiz matthew shepard

Tea party activists audited by city. Would that happen to Occupy protesters?

For tea party groups, the audit by Richmond, Va., highlights long-running complaints of a double standard in the treatment of activists. The audit also puts a spotlight on free-speech regulations.

Tea party activists in Richmond, Va., watched as liberal Occupy Wall Street protesters paid nothing to use the same park that conservatives paid $8,500 to use for three of its "tax day" rallies. So the tea partyers pushed the issue by demanding a full refund of their fees.

Skip to next paragraph

Instead of a check, the Richmond Tea Party received a letter from the city saying it may have failed to pay taxes on ticket and food sales ? and it should immediately prepare for an audit.

The city denies allegations that the audit warning was some kind of political retaliation or harassment. But for tea party groups, the city missive highlights long-running complaints of a double standard in the treatment of tea party activists.

The spat in Richmond also underscores how a new era of street protests are forcing cities and courts to reassess free-speech regulations. In many cases, they're trying to ensure that heat-of-the-moment decisions don't violate longstanding principles of public assembly and protest ? or favor one set of protesters over another.
?
Local assessments of costs, public safety, and health concerns "cannot be a mask for an assault on protesters, either tea party or Occupy, for their viewpoint," says Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. "Ultimately, the courts will have to say: Is this [incident and others] truly a content- or viewpoint-neutral circumstance, or is this a hidden tactic to attack one group or another?"

While Occupy protesters say they're being punished by cities for engaging in legal civil disobedience, tea party activists have noted instances of public solidarity with the Occupy protests that suggest different free-speech standards based on political affiliation. Such solidarity has been expressed by mayors like Villaraigosa in Los Angeles and Dwight Jones in Richmond.

Tea party activists say they've paid their way and followed the law. But US taxpayers have had to underwrite a grand total of $13 million in Occupy Wall Street-related expenses since the movement began on Sept. 17, the Associated Press reported recently. By some estimates, Richmond taxpayers paid $7,000 to supply the Occupy protesters with portable toilets and other services during the two weeks they camped at Kanawha Plaza.

City spokeswoman Tammy Hawley told Fox News that allegations of political retaliation "are just completely unfounded." The tea party group, she said, was one of 700 groups and businesses that came up during a review as having paid no excise taxes for admissions, lodging, and meals in 2010.

Richmond tea party activists say they had made it clear to the city that they collected no such revenues during their rallies. ?The Richmond Tea Party stands for constitutional adherence, and clearly this has been unequal treatment under the law,? tea party member Colleen Owens wrote on the Right Side News website. What's more, she wrote, "We challenged the mayor?s unequal treatment between groups and he responds with even more unequal treatment.?

Law scholars have been in disagreement about the extent to which the Occupy encampments are a legitimate free-speech venue. Of course, civil disobedience is a long-honored form of protest, but when it's been practiced through long-term camping in public parks, that's challenged officials and opened them up to charges of preferential treatment. This is despite the fact that, in many of those same places, mayors have ordered riot police to run protesters off.

Complaining about what seemed to be political preference expressed by the mayor of Portland, Ore., for the Occupy movement, Lewis & Clark Law School professor Jim Huffman said recently that the decision to bend the city's no-camping ordinance was "content-related."

"The mayor was so forthcoming in his agreement with their position," Professor Huffman told the Willamette Week website. "The tea party and lots of other groups have?jumped through hoops, applied for the permits, and then done their rallies or whatever they wanted to do."

Courts have already begun to address the sorts of legal challenges to public assembly that haven't been seen since the civil rights and antiwar protests of the 1960s. On Nov. 23, US District Judge Richard Kyle ruled that Occupy protesters in Minneapolis can "assemble any hour of the day," but that local officials can also enforce an overnight-sleeping ban.

?Hence, the parties are going to have to ?learn to live? with one another," Judge Kyle wrote.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/X8803S-L6pc/Tea-party-activists-audited-by-city.-Would-that-happen-to-Occupy-protesters

wake forest day light savings time curmudgeon daylight savings time 2011 selena daylight savings bobolink

Police: Man viewed child porn on US flight

By The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff

BOSTON -- Police say a man who was viewing child pornography on a domestic airline flight from Salt Lake City to Boston has been arrested.

Massachusetts State Police say 47-year-old Grant Smith was sitting in first class Saturday afternoon when a fellow passenger saw the pornographic images on Smith's laptop and alerted the flight crew.

When the Delta flight landed at Boston Logan International Airport at 4:12 p.m., troopers interviewed Smith and subsequently arrested him.

He has been charged with possession of child pornography, and police say additional charges could follow. His bail is set at $15,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

Smith was in police custody Saturday night and couldn't immediately be reached for comment. NBC station KSL of Salt Lake City reported that Smith is from Cottonwood Heights, Utah.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/27/9044316-police-man-viewed-child-porn-on-us-flight

apple cup jewelry stores heisman the firm sleep no more cyber monday deals war eagle

Student arrested in Cairo says he feared for life

Derrik Sweeney, 19, of Jefferson City, Mo., smiles as he walks with his mother, Joy Sweeney, center, and sister Ashley Sweeney after arriving at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in St. Louis. Derrik Sweeney and two other American students were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square in Cairo last Sunday, accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. On Thursday, a court ordered the three to be released. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Derrik Sweeney, 19, of Jefferson City, Mo., smiles as he walks with his mother, Joy Sweeney, center, and sister Ashley Sweeney after arriving at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in St. Louis. Derrik Sweeney and two other American students were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square in Cairo last Sunday, accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. On Thursday, a court ordered the three to be released. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Derrik Sweeney, center, gets hugs from his father Kevin Sweeney, left, and sister Ashley, right, as arms from his mother, Joy Sweeney, wrap around from behind after Derrik arrived at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in St. Louis. Sweeney and two other American students were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square in Cairo last Sunday, accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. On Thursday, a court ordered the three to be released. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Derrik Sweeney, center, gets hugs from his father Kevin Sweeney, left, and sister Ashley, right, after Derrik arrived at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in St. Louis. Sweeney and two other American students were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square in Cairo last Sunday, accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. On Thursday, a court ordered the three to be released. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Derrik Sweeney, left, walks with, from left to right, his mother, Joy Sweeney, sister Ashley Sweeney and father Kevin Sweeney after arriving at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in St. Louis. Sweeney and two other American students were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square in Cairo last Sunday, accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. On Thursday, a court ordered the three to be released. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Derrik Sweeney, center, gets hugs from his father Kevin Sweeney, left, and sister Ashley, right, as arms from his mother, Joy Sweeney, wrap around from behind after Derrik arrived at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in St. Louis. Sweeney and two other American students were arrested on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square in Cairo last Sunday, accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. On Thursday, a court ordered the three to be released. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

(AP) ? Three American college students detained for several days in Cairo as deadly protests swept Egypt have flown home to freedom, one describing an ordeal so terrifying he wasn't sure he would survive.

"I was not sure I was going to live," 19-year-old Georgetown University student Derrik Sweeney told The Associated Press by telephone moments after his relieved parents and other family members enveloped him in hugs as he got off a flight in St. Louis.

Sweeney, the last of the three to arrive late Saturday, recounted how tear gas clouded Cairo's streets and he heard armored vehicles and what sounded like shots being fired just before his arrest a week earlier. Suddenly, the drama involving thousands of demonstrators in the streets had become intensely personal.

Egyptian authorities later announced they had arrested Sweeney and two others ? Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind., and Gregory Porter, a 19-year-old Drexel University student from Glenside, Pa. All three were studying at American University in Cairo, which is near Tahrir Square.

Protests have been going on in the square since Nov. 19 in anticipation of the landmark parliamentary elections due to start Monday. The crowd grew to more than 100,000 people Friday, and thousands were gathering Sunday for another massive demonstration calling for the nation's military leaders to hand power back to a civilian government.

Egyptian officials said they arrested the students on the roof of a university building and accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters. But Sweeney said Saturday that he and the other Americans "never did anything to hurt anyone," weren't ever on the roof and never handled or threw explosives.

Sweeney said he and the others were told by a group the night of their arrest that they would be led "to a safe place" amid the chaos engulfing the nearby square. Next, he said, they found themselves being taken into custody, hit and forced to lay for about six hours in a near fetal position in the dark with their hands behind their backs.

The worst, he said, was when they were threatened with guns.

"They said if we moved at all, even an inch, they would shoot us. They were behind us with guns," Sweeney said in the brief interview.

That night in detention ? "probably the scariest night of my life ever" ? gave way to much better treatment in ensuing days, he said. Sweeney didn't elaborate on who he believed was holding him the opening night but he called the subsequent treatment humane.

"There was really marked treatment between the first night and the next three nights or however long it was. The first night, it was kind of rough. They were hitting us; they were saying they were going to shoot us and they were putting us in really uncomfortable positions. But after that first night, we were treated in a just manner ... we were given food when we needed and it was OK."

He also said he was then able to speak with a U.S. consular official, his mother and a lawyer. He said he denied the accusations during what he called proper questioning by Egyptian authorities.

A court ordered the students' release Thursday, and they took separate flights out of Cairo on Saturday. Porter and Gates arrived in their home states earlier Saturday, greeted by family members in emotional airport reunions.

Neither Gates nor Porter recounted details of their experience.

"I'm not going to take this as a negative experience. It's still a great country," said Gates, shortly after getting off a flight in Indianapolis. His parents wrapped their arms around him.

Porter was met by his parents and other relatives at Philadelphia International Airport. He took no questions, saying he was thankful for the help he and the others received from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, administrators at the university they were attending, and attorneys in Egypt and the U.S.

"I'm just so thankful to be back, to be in Philadelphia right now," he said.

Joy Sweeney said waiting for her son had been grueling.

"He still hasn't processed what a big deal this is," she told the AP before his arrival in St. Louis, about 130 miles east of their home in Jefferson City, Mo.

She said she was trying not to dwell on the events and was just ecstatic that her son was coming home before the close of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

___

Matheson reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press photographer Michael Conroy contributed to this report from Indianapolis, and AP writers Bill Cormier in Atlanta and Andale Gross and Erin Gartner in Chicago also contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-27-Egypt-American%20Students/id-a135e5fa9d294c9d81dea8b9d9094ea8

ios 5 release date ios 5 release date ios 5 update joojoo joseph addai joseph addai michael jackson autopsy

NASA launches super-size rover to Mars: 'Go, Go!'

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. The rocket will deliver a science laboratory to Mars to study potential habitable environments on the planet. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. The rocket will deliver a science laboratory to Mars to study potential habitable environments on the planet. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and Curiosity rover lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. The rocket will deliver a science laboratory to Mars to study potential habitable environments on the planet. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Backdropped by the Atlantic Ocean, the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolls toward the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Friday Nov. 25, 2011. Atop the rocket is NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover nicknamed Curiosity enclosed in its payload fairing. Liftoff is planned during a launch window which extends from 10:02 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. EST on Saturday Nov. 26. Curiosity, has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and will help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. (AP Photo/NASA

In this 2011 artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools at the end of its arm, which extends about 2 meters (7 feet). The mobile robot is designed to investigate Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

(AP) ? A rover of "monster truck" proportions zoomed toward Mars on an 8?-month, 354 million-mile journey Saturday, the biggest, best equipped robot ever sent to explore another planet.

NASA's six-wheeled, one-armed wonder, Curiosity, will reach Mars next summer and use its jackhammer drill, rock-zapping laser machine and other devices to search for evidence that Earth's next-door neighbor might once have been home to the teeniest forms of life.

More than 13,000 invited guests jammed the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday morning to witness NASA's first launch to Mars in four years, and the first flight of a Martian rover in eight years.

Mars fever gripped the crowd.

NASA astrobiologist Pan Conrad, whose carbon compound-seeking instrument is on the rover, wore a bright blue, short-sleeve blouse emblazoned with rockets, planets and the words, "Next stop Mars!" She jumped, cheered and snapped pictures as the Atlas V rocket blasted off. So did Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roger Wiens, a planetary scientist in charge of Curiosity's laser blaster, called ChemCam.

Surrounded by 50 U.S. and French members of his team, Wiens shouted "Go, Go, Go!" as the rocket soared into a cloudy sky. "It was beautiful," he later observed, just as NASA declared the launch a full success.

A few miles away at the space center's visitor complex, Lego teamed up with NASA for a toy spacecraft-building event for children this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The irresistible lure: 800,000 Lego bricks.

The 1-ton Curiosity ? 10 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall at its mast ? is a mobile, nuclear-powered laboratory holding 10 science instruments that will sample Martian soil and rocks, and with unprecedented skill, analyze them right on the spot.

It's as big as a car. But NASA's Mars exploration program director calls it "the monster truck of Mars."

"It's an enormous mission. It's equivalent of three missions, frankly, and quite an undertaking," said the ecstatic program director, Doug McCuistion. "Science fiction is now science fact. We're flying to Mars. We'll get it on the ground and see what we find."

The primary goal of the $2.5 billion mission is to see whether cold, dry, barren Mars might have been hospitable for microbial life once upon a time ? or might even still be conducive to life now. No actual life detectors are on board; rather, the instruments will hunt for organic compounds.

Curiosity's 7-foot arm has a jackhammer on the end to drill into the Martian red rock, and the 7-foot mast on the rover is topped with high-definition and laser cameras.

With Mars the ultimate goal for astronauts, NASA will use Curiosity to measure radiation at the red planet. The rover also has a weather station on board that will provide temperature, wind and humidity readings; a computer software app with daily weather updates is planned.

No previous Martian rover has been so sophisticated.

The world has launched more than three dozen missions to the ever-alluring Mars, which is more like Earth than the other solar-system planets. Yet fewer than half those quests have succeeded.

Just two weeks ago, a Russian spacecraft ended up stuck in orbit around Earth, rather than en route to the Martian moon Phobos.

"Mars really is the Bermuda Triangle of the solar system," said NASA's Colleen Hartman, assistant associate administrator for science. "It's the death planet, and the United States of America is the only nation in the world that has ever landed and driven robotic explorers on the surface of Mars, and now we're set to do it again."

Curiosity's arrival next August will be particularly hair-raising.

In a spacecraft first, the rover will be lowered onto the Martian surface via a jet pack and tether system similar to the sky cranes used to lower heavy equipment into remote areas on Earth.

Curiosity is too heavy to use air bags like its much smaller predecessors, Spirit and Opportunity, did in 2004. Besides, this new way should provide for a more accurate landing.

Astronauts will need to make similarly precise landings on Mars one day.

Curiosity will spend a minimum of two years roaming around Gale Crater, chosen from among more than 50 potential landing sites because it's so rich in minerals. Scientists said if there is any place on Mars that might have been ripe for life, it may well be there.

The rover should go farther and work harder than any previous Mars explorer because of its power source: 10.6 pounds of radioactive plutonium. The nuclear generator was encased in several protective layers in case of a launch accident.

NASA expects to put at least 12 miles on the odometer, once the rover sets down on the Martian surface.

McCuistion anticipates being blown away by the never-before-seen vistas. "Those first images are going to just be stunning, I believe. It will be like sitting in the bottom of the Grand Canyon," he said at a post-launch news conference.

This is the third astronomical mission to be launched from Cape Canaveral by NASA since the retirement of the venerable space shuttle fleet this summer. The Juno probe is en route to Jupiter, and twin spacecraft named Grail will arrive at Earth's moon on New Year's Eve and Day.

Unlike Juno and Grail, Curiosity suffered development programs and came in two years late and nearly $1 billion over budget. Scientists involved in the project noted Saturday that the money is being spent on Earth, not Mars, and the mission is costing every American about the price of a movie.

"I'll leave you to judge for yourself whether or not that's a movie you'd like to see," said California Institute of Technology's John Grotzinger, the project scientist. "I know that's one I would."

___

Online:

NASA: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

Lego: http://legospace.com/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-26-SCI--Mars%20Rover/id-8b9e31d4803347469b395779a3378f37

weather orlando the stand winston churchill winston churchill arkham city conjugated linoleic acid world series schedule

Former Chicago first lady Maggie Daley dies at 68 (AP)

CHICAGO ? Maggie Daley, the wife of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and a gracious promoter of the city's cultural and educational programs, has died. She was 68.

The former Chicago first lady, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, died Thursday night, family spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard told The Associated Press. Daley had been a reserved and dignified presence at her husband's side during his 22 eventful years as mayor.

Heard said Daley was surrounded by her husband and children when she died just after 6 p.m. CDT.

"The mayor and his family would like to thank the people of Chicago for the many kindnesses they've shown Mrs. Daley over the years, and they appreciate your prayers during this time," Heard said.

When she first learned she had breast cancer in June 2002, Daley said she was shocked. "But you pick up and you move on. ... I'm not alone here. There are a lot of people who have experienced this," Daley said in the weeks after the diagnosis.

Rahm Emanuel, who succeeded Richard M. Daley as mayor, said Chicago had "lost a warm and gracious first lady who contributed immeasurably to our city."

"While Mayor Daley served as the head of this city, Maggie was its heart," Emanuel said in a statement. "Of all her accomplishments, Maggie's most treasured role was as a wife, mother, and grandmother."

President Barack Obama, who is from Chicago, said in a statement that her efforts on behalf of the city's children "live on as national models for how to create environments for children to learn and grow outside the classroom."

The Daleys' daughter, Lally, had moved up her wedding from New Year's Eve to Nov. 17 so her mother could fully participate. The former mayor said his wife had a difficult summer, and a longtime mayoral aide said she had suffered setbacks and was not getting around as much as she normally did.

"Tonight, the state of Illinois lost a great treasure," Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said in a statement released Thursday night. "Maggie Daley was a woman for all seasons who treated Chicago residents like family and served up hope and inspiration wherever she went."

When Richard Daley was elected to his first term as Chicago's mayor in 1989, he thanked his wife in his acceptance speech, calling her "the best campaigner in the family." She was with him at the September 2010 news conference when he announced he wouldn't seek another term. He left office in May 2011.

During his time in office, Richard Daley would routinely tear up when he spoke about his wife. They had met while he was campaigning for the Illinois Senate and were married in 1972. Eventually, their partnership became a steady force for the city during his at-times turbulent two decades at the helm of the nation's third-largest city.

In the years after the cancer was diagnosed, Maggie Daley was in and out of the hospital. She received chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, biological therapy and had a tumor removed from her right breast.

By December 2009, doctors said the cancer had spread and Daley had radiation treatment for a cancerous lesion on a bone of her lower right leg. Doctors advised her to use a wheelchair until she finished therapy.

In March 2010, a titanium rod was inserted into her leg to reduce the risk of fracture after having radiation treatment on the leg.

All the while, she maintained a public life as Chicago's first lady.

She was in Millennium Park in 2006 when the city's "Cloudgate" statue was dedicated, calling it the cornerstone of the park.

"It serves as a gateway to the lakefront and downtown and beautifully captures our signature skyline," she said.

In 2009, she and more than a dozen athletes headlined a departure party before boarding a flight to Copenhagen where the International Olympic Committee was to decide if Chicago would host the 2016 Summer Games. The committee picked Rio de Janeiro.

She was active in Gallery 37, which educates and employs young people in the arts, and she was a champion of the educational program After School Matters.

The organization said in a statement that "Chicago's teens have lost their strongest voice and champion." Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White called her "the driving force for the program's success."

She also had held a paid position as president of Pathways Awareness Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to teach parents about disabilities affecting children.

While her husband could be prickly, particularly with the media, Maggie Daley became a beloved figure. She declined most interview requests, saying she did not want to talk about herself, but she was gracious and smiling with reporters, typically saying only that she was feeling "just fine" when asked about her health. When, for example, her crutches fell to the stage during a rare speech, she simply said, "It's OK, we'll just leave them there," and moved on.

Born Margaret Corbett, she earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Dayton and held honorary degrees from Columbia College in Chicago and the Catholic Theological Union.

She is survived by her husband and three children. Her 33-month-old son, Kevin, died of complications related to spina bifida in 1981.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_maggie_daley

itunes match walmart black friday 2011 walmart black friday 2011 packers vikings bob costas jerry sandusky chelsea clinton kat von d

Black Friday Shopping: 8 Tips To Curb Overspending

Do you get a rush when you purchase something? When you swipe your credit card, use the stylus to hit "yes" on the machine, and then take your just-bought treasures in a glossy paper bag from the store clerk?

Scientifically, it's no surprise that we get this rush -- just like with any other pleasurable activity, shopping can spur the release of feel-good hormones in our brains, said Dr. James A. Roberts, Ph.D., a marketing professor and consumer culture expert at Baylor University and author of "Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness We Can't Buy" (HarperOne, 2011).

"We used to think that [addiction comes] only [from] chemicals," Roberts told HuffPost. "We thought it had to be nicotine, alcohol, but we're finding that anything that produces pleasure in your brain has the potential to be addictive."

And for Black Friday in particular, our "getting while the getting is good" mentalities are activated, said Dr. April Lane Benson, Ph.D., a psychologist, expert in treating compulsive buying disorder, and author of "To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop" (Trumpeter, 2008).

"Whether we need something or not, the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of getting the best deal, the idea that someone else may be getting it and then we'll lose out are all operative here," Benson told HuffPost. "We also like the idea that we've got our shopping done early ... but in so many cases, the Black Friday shopping just releases the logjam and gives us license to keep on spending until the doors finally close on Christmas Eve."

Losing self-control when it comes to shopping can lead to debt and other financial ruin. Whether you are a full-blown shopping addict or you just have a hard time resisting a good deal, here are some tips for keeping your overspending and overbuying in check this Black Friday, the holiest of shopping holidays.

Skip The Sales Altogether

1?of?10

If you skip Black Friday shopping altogether, you won't be tempted to make impulse purchases, Roberts said. "Everyone has their opinions, but generally you'll find as good of deals on Cyber Monday, or even after," he said. If you know that you have a shopping problem -- or even if you're not a full-blown shopping addict, but maybe you enjoy spending a little too much -- it's best to stay away from stores on Friday, he said. The stimulation from the sale signs and colorful merchandise give off the sense of novelty and pleasure, which makes spending that much more tempting. "You're spending money, throwing credit cards down, having lunch, hanging out with friends and family, all the sights and sounds -- it's an exciting time," Roberts said. "So the best thing you can do is just to avoid it." In that same vein, Roberts suggests opting for another family-centered activity to keep your mind off of the missed sales.

If you skip Black Friday shopping altogether, you won't be tempted to make impulse purchases, Roberts said.

"Everyone has their opinions, but generally you'll find as good of deals on Cyber Monday, or even after," he said.

If you know that you have a shopping problem -- or even if you're not a full-blown shopping addict, but maybe you enjoy spending a little too much -- it's best to stay away from stores on Friday, he said. The stimulation from the sale signs and colorful merchandise give off the sense of novelty and pleasure, which makes spending that much more tempting.

"You're spending money, throwing credit cards down, having lunch, hanging out with friends and family, all the sights and sounds -- it's an exciting time," Roberts said. "So the best thing you can do is just to avoid it."

In that same vein, Roberts suggests opting for another family-centered activity to keep your mind off of the missed sales.

MORE SLIDESHOWS NEXT?> ??|?? <?PREV

Skip The Sales Altogether

If you skip Black Friday shopping altogether, you won't be tempted to make impulse purchases, Roberts said. "Everyone has their opinions, but generally you'll find as good of deals on Cyber Monday, or even after," he said. If you know that you have a shopping problem -- or even if you're not a full-blown shopping addict, but maybe you enjoy spending a little too much -- it's best to stay away from stores on Friday, he said. The stimulation from the sale signs and colorful merchandise give off the sense of novelty and pleasure, which makes spending that much more tempting. "You're spending money, throwing credit cards down, having lunch, hanging out with friends and family, all the sights and sounds -- it's an exciting time," Roberts said. "So the best thing you can do is just to avoid it." In that same vein, Roberts suggests opting for another family-centered activity to keep your mind off of the missed sales.


'; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/25/black-friday-shopping-addiction_n_1110511.html

lexapro trazodone voting sharon bialek call of duty elite dragonfly courtney stodden