'Gay propaganda' law none of US business ? Russian FM official ...

First sanctioned rally in support of sexual minorities' rights (RIA Novosti)

Moscow has expressed its perplexity over the US attempts to interfere in Russia?s lawmaking process after America voiced its criticism about St. Petersburg legislation that outlaws so-called ?gay propaganda?.

Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, called comments by the US State Department ?incorrect?.

?We are perplexed by the American side?s attempts to interfere in the legislative process in Russia, especially publicly. We consider these attempts inappropriate and inconsistent with the practice of interstate relations," he said, as cited by Interfax. Dolgov pointed out that Russia is ready to build up ?a constructive dialogue? with the US on human rights problems based on mutual respect.

The Foreign Ministry official noted that under the Russian law, no discrimination ? including sexual-orientation related ? is acceptable. Dolgov stressed that all Russian citizens ? despite their race, gender, religious and other beliefs ? are guaranteed rights protection by the state.

On November 16, St. Petersburg?s Legislative Assembly approved in the first reading a draft law imposing fines for propaganda of ?gay, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, to minors? as well as for the ?propaganda of pedophilia?.

Commenting on the initiative, Dolgov said that it lies within the authority of regional administration and is aimed at protecting children from that kind of propaganda. He pointed out that culture and moral values traditional for Russian society, as well as the unacceptability of discrimination of rights of one social group by the encouragement of others, were taken into consideration.

Under the bill ? which was sponsored by the ruling United Russia party ? gay propaganda would be punished with a fine from 1,000 rubles ($32) to 3,000 rubles (about $100) for individuals. Companies would have to pay from 10,000 to 50,000 rubles ($1,630). The same punishment would be applied to those promoting pedophilia. Earlier, similar laws were approved in two other Russian regions.

The draft sparked bitter criticism from rights activists and representatives of sexual minority groups.

Last week, the United States expressed its concern over the proposed legislation "that would severely restrict freedoms of expression and assembly for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, and indeed all Russians."

The St. Petersburg draft is still to be adopted in the second and third readings, to be later passed into law. Last week, though the bill?s second reading was postponed as lawmakers failed to agree on some legal definitions as well as the amounts of the fines.

Source: http://rt.com/politics/gay-propaganda-law-petersburg-477/

earthquake today earthquake today droid razr oklahoma news atomic clock earthquake map giants

Madagascar dinosaur bone is most massive osteoderm ever found

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2011) ? What more can we learn about long-necked dinosaurs that we don't already know? A Macalester professor and her colleagues have found that Madagascar dinosaurs carried giant, hollow bones in their skin that may have helped them survive the harsh environments they inhabited. This discovery has shed new light on the anatomy and function of these bones in the biggest animals to ever walk on land.

Biology/Geology Prof. Kristi Curry Rogers is the lead author of a paper in Nature Communications about bizarre, gigantic bones that grow in the skin of Rapetosaurus, a species of huge plant-eating dinosaur from the island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa.

"This is the biggest osteoderm ever found for any backboned-animal," said Curry Rogers, "The fact that it's hollow debunks all sorts of ideas about how these bones functioned in long-necked dinosaurs."

Osteoderms are bones embedded within the skin and are common among reptiles and some mammals. They create the unique pattern on the backs of crocodiles, the armor body covering on armadillos, and the distinctive plates of dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus.

Among the long-necked dinosaurs called sauropods, osteoderms are found in one globally distributed subgroup -- the Titanosauria. For more than a century, paleontologists have been trying to figure out how these weird bones were distributed in the skin of the long-necked titanosaurs and what they might have been used for. Were they for protection, like in armadillos and crocodiles? Were they for display? Could they have helped regulate body temperature?

"Knowing something about the lives of these dinosaurs, particularly in the context of the drought-prone paleoenvironment they lived in, tells us that osteoderms may have been important for storing minerals, which allowed Rapetosaurus to survive the rough times," said Curry Rogers.

Instead of the hundreds of interlocking plates in living animals with osteoderms, Rapetosaurus had only a few osteoderms in its skin. This means that they were less likely to serve as protection or as body temperature regulators.

"The discovery of these giant osteoderms provides new insights into what these bizarre structures may have done for the dinosaurs that had them," said Curry Rogers. "It helps us clarify what these Madagascar dinosaurs looked like with their skin on. Our sample also includes both adult and juvenile osteoderms, which tells us how the osteoderms changed over the lifespan of the dinosaur," said Curry Rogers.

In the vicinity of the osteoderm, the skin of Rapetosaurus would have stretched, making it in places up to seven times as thick as an elephant's skin. The bone also hollowed out over the course of the dinosaur's lifespan. So even though it was massive, in the adult dinosaur osteoderms would've actually been fairly lightweight.

Curry Rogers is the lead author of the Nature Communications paper. Her collaborators include Michael D'Emic (University of Michigan and Georgia Southern University), Raymond Rogers (Macalester College), Matthew Vickaryous (Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph), and Amanda Cagan, who graduated with a biology degree from Macalester in 2010.

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 Macalester University.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Kristina Curry Rogers, Michael D'Emic, Raymond Rogers, Matthew Vickaryous, Amanda Cagan. Sauropod dinosaur osteoderms from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Nature Communications, 2011; 2: 564 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1578

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111129125014.htm

john beck john beck mariska hargitay gmcr ohio news caracal beef wellington

Meyer returns home to coach Ohio State

FILE -- In this Jan. 11, 2009 file photo, Florida football coach Urban Meyer holds up the BCS Championship trophy in Gainesville, Fla., during ceremonies after their win over Oklahoma. ESPN is reporting that Ohio State has hired Meyer as its football coach. Meyer has worked for the sports network the past year. The network did not cite a source for its report.(AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File)

FILE -- In this Jan. 11, 2009 file photo, Florida football coach Urban Meyer holds up the BCS Championship trophy in Gainesville, Fla., during ceremonies after their win over Oklahoma. ESPN is reporting that Ohio State has hired Meyer as its football coach. Meyer has worked for the sports network the past year. The network did not cite a source for its report.(AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2010 file photo, Florida coach Urban Meyer holds the Sugar Bowl Trophy after a 51-24 win over Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football game, in New Orleans. ESPN is reporting that Ohio State has hired Meyer as its football coach. Meyer has worked for the sports network the past year. The network did not cite a source for its report. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 27, 2010 file photo, Florida head coach Urban Meyer points during practice for the Outback Bowl, in Tampa, Fla. ESPN is reporting that Ohio State has hired Meyer as its football coach. Meyer has worked for the sports network the past year. The network did not cite a source for its report. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2011 file photo, Florida head coach Urban Meyer puts his arm around his wife Shelley after Florida defeated Penn State 37-24 in the Outback Bowl NCAA college football game, in Tampa, Fla. ESPN is reporting that Ohio State has hired Meyer as its football coach. Meyer has worked for the sports network the past year. The network did not cite a source for its report. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2011 file photo, Florida head coach Urban Meyer reacts as quarterback Trey Burton fumbles in the end zone against Penn State during the first quarter of the Outback Bowl NCAA college football game, in Tampa, Fla. ESPN is reporting that Ohio State has hired Meyer as its football coach. Meyer has worked for the sports network the past year. The network did not cite a source for its report. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, FIle)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? If Ohio State did not come calling, Urban Meyer says he was planning to stay away from coaching for at least another year.

Meyer, the former Florida coach and native Buckeye, was officially hired Monday by Ohio State, a program with a glittering past that has suffered through a difficult year of NCAA violations.

"If not for the coaching position at Ohio State, I would not have coached this year,' he said.

Meyer resigned as Gators coach after last season, citing health concerns and a desire to spend more time with his family.

"A year ago in my mind I was convinced I was done coaching," he said.

He added that he is feeling great.

"I've been checked out and I'm ready to go," he said. "I've been to a place and I don't want to go back."

Meyer will become one of the highest paid coaches in college football, along with Alabama's Nick Saban and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, and Texas' Mack Brown. The school says he will receive a six-year contract that pays $4 million annually, plus another $2.4 million total in "retention payments." He also can qualify for supplemental bonuses.

Interim coach Luke Fickell, who took over when Jim Tressel was forced out for breaking NCAA rules, will coach the Buckeyes (6-6) in their bowl game and be retained by Meyer as an assistant, although Meyer declined to say in what capacity.

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith said his first conversation with Meyer about becoming coach was on Nov. 20 by phone. Smith said the two met face-to-face Nov. 23.

Meyer won two national championships in six years as the coach at Florida. Now, the 47-year-old will return to the place where his college coaching career began in 1986 after spending a year as an ESPN game analyst.

Smith said he was won over by Meyer.

"There's a right time for certain leaders," he said. "This is the right time for Urban Meyer to lead this football team. ... He gets it."

Earle Bruce, the head coach at Ohio State when Meyer was a graduate assistant, has remained a close friend and confidant of Meyer through the years. He said he had no concerns about Meyer's health.

"Well, if he'd had a heart attack and his heart was bad, I'd be worried about that," the 80-year-old Bruce said on Monday. "I'm not worried that he was stressed out over the game of football because he was thinking too much and not doing some things (exercising) that would have kept him straight. I think he got everything back under control by sitting out a year. I think he missed football. And he's good at it."

Meyer's news conference had to be stopped momentarily when a woman operating a camera for the Big Ten Network kneeled over during the middle of Meyer's remarks. She was helped out of the meeting room.

Meyer met with the team on Monday before his news conference. He said he was impressed with the players' enthusiasm and acceptance.

Alabama coach Nick Saban, who played at Kent State and coached at Toledo in the Buckeye state, said he was happy for Meyer.

"I'm sure he's excited about it, and I'm excited for him that he has an opportunity to go back to his home state and be the head coach here," Saban said. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity and I think he'll do a great job."

Meyer takes over a program that is likely facing NCAA sanctions and was crippled by the forced resignation of Tressel. The Buckeyes completed their only season under Fickell with a 40-34 loss to Michigan on Saturday that snapped a seven-game winning streak to their rivals.

Wolverines coach Brady Hoke underplayed the role of the head coaches in the rivalry.

"I've known Urban, he's a good football coach, a good guy and I welcome him in," Hoke said on Monday. "But it's still Michigan and Ohio and neither one of us is going to play the game."

In 10 seasons as a head coach ? two at Bowling Green, two at Utah and six at Florida ? Meyer has a 104-23 record. His teams are 7-1 in bowl games, including the Gators' 41-14 victory over unbeaten and top-ranked Ohio State in the 2007 Bowl Championship Series title game.

Meyer had persistently denied all the talk surrounding him and Ohio State. Soon after Tressel stepped down, Meyer said he wasn't interested in leaving ESPN, where he was a college football analyst.

The chance to coach Ohio State changed his mind, he said.

"He enjoyed what he was doing, but I think he also had the bug to start coaching again," ESPN broadcast partner and former Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman said. "This was just an opportunity that he couldn't pass up."

Meyer inherits a program still facing NCAA sanctions. But he also inherits a young team led by a freshman quarterback, Braxton Miller, who would seem to be a perfect fit for his spread offense.

"We're putting a lot of pressure on this cat," Meyer joked once after several questions about the freshman. "He's special."

A native of Ashtabula, Ohio, Meyer becomes the 24th head coach at Ohio State. He succeeds Fickell, who took over last spring when Tressel's 10-year reign came crashing down. Tressel was forced out for knowing but not telling his superiors that Buckeyes players had most likely broken NCAA rules by taking cash and free or discounted tattoos from the subject of a federal drug-trafficking investigation.

Ohio State's .500 record this season marked the most losses at Ohio State since John Cooper's 1999 team also went 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes had already lost their string of six Big Ten titles when the school was forced to vacate the 2010 season for the NCAA violations. The school has also self-imposed two years of NCAA probation, offered to return $339,000 in bowl revenue from 2010 and to give up five scholarships over the next three seasons.

Ohio State is awaiting final word from the NCAA's committee on infractions. The committee tagged Ohio State with a "failure to monitor" label ? second only to a lack of institutional control on the list of most egregious charges against a university. The school could still be hit with a bowl ban, a loss of more scholarships, or other penalties.

At the urging of Bruce, Meyer took his first head coaching job at Bowling Green (2001-2002) where he led the Falcons to records of 8-3 and 9-3 before jumping to Utah.

Using a spread offense featuring quarterback Alex Smith, the Utes went 10-2 in his first year. In 2004, he led Utah to an 11-0 season and a Bowl Championship Series berth.

After a bowl win over Pittsburgh to cap the 12-0 season, he was the top candidate for the jobs at both Notre Dame and Florida. He surprised many by becoming a Gator.

In his second season with the Gators, No. 2-ranked Florida beat unbeaten Ohio State, coached by Tressel, 41-14 to win his first national title.

Two years later, the Gators won another national title, beating Oklahoma 24-14 behind Tim Tebow.

The next year Florida contended for a repeat, but after losing the SEC title game to Alabama, Meyer said he was retiring from coaching, citing health problems. He changed his mind and was back the next day, saying he would only take a leave of absence.

After the 2010 season, he stepped down again.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-28-Ohio%20St-Meyer/id-b4f71a2e72654377ad8041b3d8ceaa9b

weather colorado springs weather colorado springs chaz bono tonight show tonight show tony romo unthink

UCF coach fires 2 defensive assistants, staffer (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. ? Central Florida coach George O'Leary has fired a pair of defensive assistants and a football staffer.

O'Leary announced Sunday that defensive coordinator John Skladany, linebackers coach Al Seamonson and director of player personnel Albert Boone will not be retained.

This was Skladany's second stint with the Knights, having previously served as defensive coordinator in 2007. He left to coach at Houston in 2008, before returning in 2010. Seamonson joined the staff this season.

The changes come two days after the Knights finished the season 5-7 and failed to qualify for a bowl berth after winning the Liberty Bowl last season.

The Knights were ranked 11th in the nation in total defense and topped Conference USA. But O'Leary has called that misleading and expressed overall displeasure with its performance.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_ucf_coaching_changes

mark sanchez tebow meteor shower kathy griffin playstation network down martin scorsese kim zolciak

Afghan officials: Fire from Pakistan led to attack (AP)

ISLAMABAD ? Afghanistan officials claimed Sunday that Afghan and NATO forces were retaliating for gunfire from two Pakistani army bases when they called in airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, adding a layer of complexity to an episode that has further strained Pakistan's ties with the United States.

The account challenged Pakistan's claim that the strikes were unprovoked.

The attack Saturday near the Afghan-Pakistani border aroused popular anger in Pakistan and added tension to the U.S.-Pakistani relationship, which has been under pressure since the secret U.S. raid inside Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

Pakistan has closed its western border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan, demanded that the U.S. abandon an air base inside Pakistan and said it will review its cooperation with the U.S. and NATO.

A complete breakdown in the relationship between the United States and Pakistan is considered unlikely. Pakistan relies on billions of dollars in American aid, and the U.S. needs Pakistan to push Afghan insurgents to participate in peace talks.

Afghanistan's assertions about the attack muddy the efforts to determine what happened. The Afghan officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it was unclear who fired on Afghan and NATO forces, which were conducting a joint operation before dawn Saturday.

They said the fire came from the direction of the two Pakistani army posts along the border that were later hit in the airstrikes.

NATO has said it is investigating, but it has not questioned the Pakistani claim that 24 soldiers were killed. All airstrikes are approved at a higher command level than the troops on the ground.

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen offered his deepest condolences and said the coalition was committed to working with Pakistan to "avoid such tragedies in the future."

"We have a joint interest in the fight against cross-border terrorism and in ensuring that Afghanistan does not once again become a safe-haven for terrorists," Rasmussen said in Brussels.

NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire from across the poorly defined frontier, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers, who have been accused of tolerating or supporting them.

The U.S. plans its own investigation. Two U.S. senators called Sunday for harder line on Pakistan.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said Pakistan must understand that American aid depends on Pakistani cooperation. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Pakistan's moves to punish coalition forces for the airstrikes are more evidence that the U.S. should get its troops out of the region.

On Sunday, Pakistani soldiers received the coffins of the victims from army helicopters and prayed over them. The coffins were draped with the green and white Pakistani flag.

The dead included an army major and another senior officer. The chief of the Pakistani army and regional political leaders attended the funerals.

"The attack was unprovoked and indiscriminate," said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. "There was no reason for it. Map references of all our border posts have been passed to NATO a number of times."

There were several protests around Pakistan, including in Karachi, where about 500 Islamists rallied outside the U.S. Consulate.

The relationship between the United States and Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation in a strategically vital part of the world, grew more difficult after the covert raid that killed bin Laden in May.

Pakistani leaders were outraged that they were not told beforehand. Also, the U.S. has been frustrated by Pakistan's refusal to target militants using its territory to stage attacks on American and other NATO troops in Afghanistan.

A year ago, a U.S. helicopter attack killed two Pakistani soldiers posted on the border, and a joint investigation by the two nations found that Pakistani troops had fired first at the U.S. helicopters.

The investigation found that the shots were probably meant as warnings after the choppers passed into Pakistani airspace.

After that incident, Pakistan closed one of the two border crossings for U.S. supplies for 10 days. There was no indication of how long it would keep the border closed this time.

On Sunday, about 300 trucks carrying supplies to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan were backed up at the Torkham border crossing in the northwest Khyber tribal area, the one closed last year, as well as at Chaman, in the southwestern Baluchistan province.

Militants inside Pakistan periodically attack the slow-moving convoys, and torched 150 trucks last year as they waited for days to enter Afghanistan.

"We are worried," said Saeed Khan, a driver waiting at the border terminal in Torkham and speaking by phone. "This area is always vulnerable to attacks. Sometimes rockets are lobbed at us. Sometimes we are targeted by bombs."

Some drivers said paramilitary troops had been deployed to protect their convoys since the closures, but others were left without any additional protection. Even those who did receive troops did not feel safe.

"If there is an attack, what can five or six troops do?" said Niamatullah Khan, a fuel truck driver who was parked with 35 other vehicles at a restaurant about 125 miles, or 200 kilometers, from Chaman.

NATO uses routes through Pakistan for almost half of its shipments of non-lethal supplies for its troops in Afghanistan, including fuel, food and clothes. Critical supplies like ammunition are airlifted directly to Afghan air bases.

NATO has built a stockpile of military and other supplies that could keep operations running at their current level for several months even with the two crossings closed, said a NATO official closely involved with the Afghan war, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

NATO once shipped about 80 percent of its non-lethal supplies through Pakistan. It has reduced that proportion by going through Central Asia. It could send more that way, but that would make NATO heavily dependent on Russia at a time when ties with Moscow are increasingly strained.

Pakistan also gave the U.S. 15 days to vacate Shamsi Air Base in Baluchistan. The U.S. uses it to service drone aircraft targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region when weather problems or mechanical trouble keeps the drones from returning to their bases in Afghanistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The drone strikes are very unpopular in Pakistan, and Pakistani military and civilian leaders say publicly that the U.S. carries them out without their permission. But privately, they allow them to go on, and even help with targeting for some of them.

___

Faiez reported from Kabul. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman, Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

occupy portland the hunger games neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson bears lions bears lions kendall jenner

Mars science lab 'Curiosity' to launch 'extraterrestrial real-estate appraisal'

After a decade of "following the water," planetary scientists want to see if water co-existed with other critical environmental conditions that could have allowed simple forms of life to emerge.

Mars Science Laboratory, a one-ton chemistry lab on wheels set for launch Saturday morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is geared for a unique mission.

Skip to next paragraph

Think "extraterrestrial real-estate appraisal," says Pamela Conrad, an astrobiologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

We're not quite ready to hunt for life itself yet, and the MSL rover isn't designed to do so, say researchers taking part in the $2.5-billion mission to the red planet.

IN PICTURES:?Exploring Mars

But after a decade of "following the water" ? a necessary ingredient for life as researchers currently understand it ? planetary scientists are moving to take the next critical step: see if water co-existed with other critical environmental conditions that could have allowed simple forms of life to emerge.

Organisms on Earth take the forms they do because they are adapted to their environments, MSL researchers explain. If humans eventually hunt for evidence of life itself on the Red Planet, or anywhere else, for that matter, knowing something about the environment organisms inhabit will yield clues about what the organisms were or are like.

"If a Tim Allen, 'Galaxy Quest,' alien rock creature were to come up and bang us on the head, we don't want to ignore it. That would be the 'Ah ha!' moment we'd regret having missed," says Steve Brenner, director of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla.

For Mars, the incremental Holy Grail is finding organic carbon, the stuff of complex molecules that form the building blocks for life, according to John Grotzinger, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., and the mission's project scientist.

"It's a long shot, but we're going to try," he said during a prelaunch briefing this week..

Meteorites deposit organic compounds on the Martian surface all the time, but today's conditions are so harsh that the compounds are quickly destroyed, he explains.

Finding organic carbon captured in the layered rocks that the rover Curiosity will explore would indicate that at the time the layers were deposited, conditions on the surface at that location could well have been far more benign, allowing organic compounds to exist at the surface.

Set for launch at 10:02 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Saturday, Curiosity holds a TripTik that sets the rover into Mars' Gale Crater next August.

The oversized ding in Mars' crust is 96 miles across, about 3 miles deep, and sports a gently sloping mountain in its center that rises to a height comparable to California's Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states.

Some researchers crudely estimate the impact crater's age at between 3.5 billion and 3.8 billion years old.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/8lI2VFYDnS8/Mars-science-lab-Curiosity-to-launch-extraterrestrial-real-estate-appraisal

thurston moore the island the island mcdonalds beating dreamcatcher georgia tech big east expansion

Report: Millions of birds killed by power lines

Tens of millions of flamingos, storks, pelicans and other migratory birds are being killed across the world when they fly into power lines, according to a new study.

The AFP news agency reported that wildfires had been caused in dry areas of the United States and Eastern Europe by birds hitting power lines, then falling to the ground in flames.

The study was published at Convention on Migratory Species in Bergen, Norway, according the news agency.

Tens of millions of birds are killed in collisions and hundreds of thousands are electrocuted in Africa and Eurasia, the study said.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Military families say 'Cheese!'
   2. Controversial sheriff set to endorse Rick Perry
   3. Updated 60 minutes ago 11/27/2011 4:49:48 AM +00:00 Bachmann keeps at Gingrich over immigration amnesty
   4. Updated 54 minutes ago 11/27/2011 4:55:45 AM +00:00 Campaign mailings race revs up in Iowa
   5. Nurse! Medicare dollars tied to patient satisfaction
   6. US ranchers: We live in fear along Mexican border
   7. American filmmaker in Cairo tells of arrest ordeal

Dutch ornithologist Hein Prinsen, who took part in the study, told AFP that "collision and electrocution are among the most important human-related causes for bird mortality," along with hunting.

Solution needed
There are about 43 million miles of power lines in the world, the news agency reported.

"Today, Eastern Europe is a hot spot for problems, for great bustards and birds of prey for example," John O'Sullivan, an ex-member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, told AFP.

"But the worst situation may well be soon to be found in India and Africa where vast amounts of power lines are being built and where there are very large populations of birds," he added.

O'Sullivan said it "completely makes sense" to try to solve the problem because power outages resulting from collisions had a "high costs for society."

AFP said that 12 percent of blue cranes died annually after flying into power lines in South Africa. The blue crane is that country's national bird.

? 2011 msnbc.com Reprints

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45443549/ns/world_news-world_environment/

west virginia football west virginia football jcpenney black friday violence black friday violence il postino il postino

Black Friday Shooting: Shopper Shot At San Leandro Walmart During Attempted Robbery

San Leandro Patch:

A 20-year-old Oakland man was named as one of several suspects in a shooting that happened during a Black Friday robbery in a Walmart store parking lot in San Leandro.

Police arrived at the scene at 15555 Hesperian Boulevard at around 1:50 a.m. and found a man had been shot, and his family members had detained a suspect, who police identified Friday afternoon as Tony Phillips of Oakland.

Read the whole story: San Leandro Patch

'; 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-shooting_n_1113651.html

apple store academy barnes and noble nook bcs rankings 12 days of christmas a christmas carol arkansas football player dies

Bodies identified in Mexico mass slaying (AP)

GUADALAJARA, Mexico ? A baker, a truck driver, a soft-drink vendor and a dental technician were among the 26 men found bound, gagged, slain and left in the center of Guadalajara, a state prosecutor said Friday.

Written in motor oil on the victims' bodies were the names of the Zetas and Millenium drug cartels. Law enforcement officials and analysts saw that as a possible indication the two allied gangs were announcing their intent to seize a city historically controlled by the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

The Zetas and Sinaloa have emerged from years of Mexican drug wars as the largest cartels in the nation, and potential competitors for control of smuggling and other businesses worth billions of dollars a year. Both frequently form alliances of convenience with smaller local gangs.

Analysts cautioned, however, that the killers in Guadalajara may also have been engaging in an isolated act of retaliation for the slaughter of dozens of men dumped on a roadway in September 600 miles away in the eastern, Gulf coast city of Veracruz. Authorities blamed that killing on the New Generation, a gang believed to be working with the Sinaloa cartel. A video posted by men claiming to be the Veracruz killers said the victims were Zetas.

The next few weeks will be crucial in determining whether Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, begins dissolving into the chaotic killing, kidnapping and streetfighting that has devastated cities and towns along the U.S. border, said Samuel Logan, director of Southern Pulse, a risk analysis firm specializing in Latin American organized crime.

"The Mexican government has to react quickly and strongly," Logan said. "This could be the beginning of Guadalajara moving into a more insecure environment ... We need a little more time to watch things play out."

The identities of 14 of the men slain in Guadalajara were released Friday by Jalisco state prosecutor Tomas Coronado, who said that only two had criminal records, without providing details.

Among the victims were Alejandro Robles Vidal, 22, who had been working as a dental technician in the nearby city of Zapopan for three years and disappeared Monday evening.

He was identified by his father, Coronado said.

Also among the dead was Jose Antonia Parga Guareno, 23, a cargo-truck driver who disappeared Tuesday and was identified by his father, Coronado said.

The prosecutor cautioned the press and public not to draw conclusions about the victims' potential involvement in drug cartel activity, saying that would be one of the subjects of the investigation.

He said the victims died of strangulation or blows to the head.

Earlier, he told MVS Radio that even though a message signed by the Zetas was left in one of the cars, investigators had not confirmed that the cartel was responsible.

Guadalajara sits on the main highway running through western Mexico from the methamphetamine-producing state of Michoacan north toward the Pacific Coast state of Sinaloa where the cartel of the same name is based.

In Michoacan on Friday, the entire 32-member police department of the town of Caracuaro resigned following a series of threats from drug gangs and the near-kidnapping of almost half the force earlier in the day.

Fourteen of the town's officers were surrounded by gunmen, presumably from a drug cartel, and had to be rescued by soldiers. After their rescue, they fled the town, and the rest of the officers resigned.

Caracuaro town councilman Mario Tentory said officers had reported getting threats for some time. He said the Mexican army had temporarily taken over security duties in the town, which is in an area where cartels have long operated.

According to press reports, drug traffickers were angered because the police had participated in a firefight with gunmen in a neighboring town.

It was the fourth town in Michoacan where the entire police force has resigned in recent years.

"Now nobody wants to work for the local police, because everybody knows there is a law of 'cooperate or get shot'," Tentory said.

In recent months, security officials and analysts have worried that the region around Guadalajara could become a target for the Zetas, which has rapidly expanded since breaking with its old allies in the Gulf cartel in 2010.

The Zetas have been expanding west from their base on the Gulf coast, and Sinaloa has apparently been sending proxy forces eastward into the territory of the Zetas or their allies.

Killings in Guadalajara slowed to a trickle during the Oct. 15-30 Pan American Games, which brought a big influx of police and soldiers. Law enforcement officials and analysts said they were nonetheless concerned a Zetas onslaught could be imminent.

On Wednesday, 17 bodies were found burned in two pickup trucks in a strikingly similar attack in Sinaloa, the home state of the Sinaloa cartel. Twelve of the bodies were in the back of one truck, some of them handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests.

Coronado said he was in contact with authorities in Sinaloa to determine if the deaths in Sinaloa and Guadalajara were related, because they were at least superficially similar.

___

Associated Press writers E. Eduardo Castillo and Michael Weissenstein in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico

eagles magic johnson involuntary manslaughter stevens johnson syndrome verdict in michael jackson trial verdict in michael jackson trial brian urlacher

Rx drug program in Calif needs lifeline to survive (Providence Journal)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166750243?client_source=feed&format=rss

mary j blige cole hamels cole hamels curtis painter apple news conference apple news conference apple news

[OOC] Soaked In Red

Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Soaked In Red?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
"Soaked In Red"

Welcome to my role play. To reserve a character, please post your reservation here. Reservations last 24 hours.

Have fun and enjoy. I'll answer any questions you got!

(for you skeptics, yes I do have major plot points planned out)

I am the beginning of sorrow, and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me, yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk, yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun, but I am never out of darkness.

peachyme123

Member for 0 years

---

---

---

---

---

Can i reserve human girl please?

Synicate

Member for 0 years

---

---

can i reserve a human girl plz? I'll have the character up later today

AnimeGirl

Member for 1 years

---

Can I reserve a Human Boy? =P

Thadine

Member for 0 years

---

Is there a human girl left for me? :)

Horseygirl

Member for 2 years

---

To all of you: yes! Now we only need to fill three more spots! :]

peachyme123

Member for 0 years

---

Posting my charrie in a few!

Synicate

Member for 0 years

---

Hey, what time era is this...approximately?

Thadine

Member for 0 years

---

---

---

Could I reserve B.A girl one please I will make my character as soon as possible.

Eleera Cain

Member for 0 years

---

---

Return to Out of Character

Post a reply

RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.

If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.

Who is online

Registered users: 13lazer31, Aika, Akita, alles-ist-gut, Alucroas*, Ambreose*, AmiOfTheRain*, Andaho*, Aniihya*, AnimeGirl, Annaky, Archlkan*, ArcticFox*, Ark Reahver*, Artik, AugmentationAudit, Auricambrflaym, Averagebear*, bananaramma, barney_fife*, BekaL101, Belynta, Beta Type Jakuri*, birdguard, Black, Blackbird26*, Bliss, Breyerluv*, cala224, Camalot777, ChaoticMarin, ChinaSorrows, Choclate~Pyrus, chocolateloversuntie, Cloasse*, Commisar_Gaunt*, CrashQueen, danm36*, DarknessToDeath23*, DatGirl, dealing with it*, demonpuppluto*, Discipline*, draketemple*, Draruto, dudedude889, echored, Eleera Cain*, emotionless, Ersatz Creed, evilfang, feralfairy, Fight The Tears*, Forget~Me~Not*, freakofnature*, FrostedFlames*, Gamer_Templar, gezzygezzy, Gintoki Sakata, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, GracieGray, Guardian Angel, Harlequin Smile*, HeroOfAwesomeness*, Hinasil, Horseygirl, Hydrall, Irish Wolf, Jack Winters*, jackrules158*, jadedragon66*, Jaybt9*, JayZeroSnake, Jedimaster_Dukon*, Jo_Tunn*, Juso, JustQuit, Katana_Wing*, Keen, KeiraHigurashi*, Ken Shiro, Kenta147, kingjpc*, Kirinak, Kohananinja, KumoriRyuu, Kyouing, lexileigh, Lifecharacter, Lovely ?, Lucy Knox, maddenbaby, Majestic-12 [Bot], Mat_z6, MaxStokes, Mid*, Midnight's Work*, Mike53210*, Moonscar*, MotherDragons, MSNbot Media, Neava13, Nemo*, Nevan*, nightwolf, niykin, NorthernSoul*, NotAFlyingToy, Nyghtfang*, Odium*, Oran Tarlin, Ottoman*, Pallas, PandoraKimblee, peachyme123, pieluver, Porecomesis*, Princess Awinita*, projectdarkeden, RainWish, Rarikou, Rem?us*, Renmiri*, Rilla, Ropeburn*, Saken, Saltaka13, Script*, Sebito, Sehnsucht., Serenade-, Setsugie*, ShadowWake, Shaodow*, Shiva, SilentButterflies, Skuld*, SkullJester, SkullsandSlippers*, SkyRight, SlightlyInsane*, Smokescreen, smrtazz13*, SoftDusk, SolrSurfr3*, Sora112112*, souloe, Spiral Thoughts, StandardFiend, Stilts*, stormwolf321*, SunshinexDeath, sweetgal, Talisman, Taylor711, The Sickness, the_judged, TheOneAndOnly, Tiko, treskttn*, Tyliana, utahann, victim130*, VitaminHeart*, WadeJackel*, William Krypt, Winds Of Fate, wolfKaliegh*, Wudgeous*, x_Sunny_x, XavierDantius32*, xFerretGirlTheThirdx, xx_dakota_xx, xXChocobeanXx, Ylanne, yogitheambrangyl, Yoru-Senpai*, YoshiFTW, Zenia, Zetta

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/N-OUap7LMdI/viewtopic.php

david nelson frank gore frank gore frank miller 60 minutes duggar family cyber monday 2011

Ariz. grandfather roughed up by police in Walmart (AP)

PHOENIX ? Police in suburban Buckeye were under fire Friday when a video was posted online showing a grandfather on the floor of a Walmart store with a bloody face after police said he was subdued trying to shoplift during a chaotic rush for discounted video games.

The video, posted on YouTube, shows 54-year-old Jerald Allen Newman unconscious and covered in blood after a police officer took him to the ground Thursday night.

Officers in the video are shown trying to sop up blood as outraged customers yell expletives and say "that's police brutality" and "he wasn't doing anything."

"Are you sure that was necessary for shoplifting?" said one shopper. "Why would you throw him down so hard?"

In a police report that redacted the names of officers and witnesses, Newman's wife and other witnesses said he was just trying to help his grandson after the boy was trampled by shoppers, and only put a video game in his waistband to free his hands to help the boy.

Larry Hall, assistant chief of Buckeye police, said Newman was resisting arrest and it appeared the officer acted within reason.

Hall did not immediately release the name of the officer, who was hired off-duty by Walmart with five other officers to deal with the large crowd the store anticipated.

Hall said a Walmart employee alerted the officer involved that Newman had put a video game in his waistband, and that the officer approached Newman and started to arrest him.

When he had handcuffs on one of Newman's wrists, Hall said Newman told the officer, "I'm not going to jail," and started pulling away and flailing.

Hall said Newman continued resisting and the officer decided to do a leg sweep and take him to the ground.

"Unfortunately, the suspect landed on his head," Hall said.

The officer involved wrote in the police report that he yelled at Newman to "stop resisting!" before deciding to take him to the ground.

"The store was incredibly crowded, and I was concerned about other customers' safety and possibly getting involved," he wrote. "I then utilized a leg sweep with my right leg as I pulled down with my arms to take Jerald to the ground to better affect the arrest and protect the other shoppers."

The report said that Newman's grandson was treated and released for his injuries by firefighters at the scene.

Hall said an administrative review will be conducted to assess the officer's use of force, but it appeared to be justified.

"The officer didn't lift the guy over his head and slam him to the ground," Hall said. "He used a minimum amount of force, the suspect resisted arrest, and the officer actually could have escalated his use of force. But he didn't. He used his hands to take the suspect into custody."

An ambulance took Newman to the hospital, where he got four stitches for a cut on the left side of his forehead. His nose was also bloodied but not broken, Hall said.

Newman was then booked into the Maricopa County jail on suspicion of shoplifting and resisting arrest.

The police report describes a chaotic scene around a discounted video game stand at the Walmart as customers were made to wait until a 10 p.m. release.

About 200 people surrounded the stand and inched closer and closer despite officers warning them to stay back.

"I observed the crowd rush in and attack the cardboard displays with video games flying through the air and the cardboard displays being thrown around and broken completely down flat on the ground," one officer wrote in the report.

Another officer described seeing a man get trampled and helping him to safety, while another officer saw a woman walking away from the stand with a young girl who was crying and holding her mouth in pain.

One customer reported that people yanked three video games from his hands, leaving him empty-handed.

One witness told police that he saw Newman put a game under his shirt and try to get his grandson out of the area, but Newman appeared to just be trying to get to safety without someone grabbing the video game out of his hands.

Police found Newman's 8- or 9-year-old grandson crying after the incident and turned him over to his grandmother, who police described as hysterical.

"The wife was so upset and told me Jerald was just trying to protect his grandson that got trampled in the crowd and just placed a video game under his shirt while grabbing his grandson to get out of the crowd," wrote one officer.

___

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/AmandaLeeAP

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

battlefield 3 release battlefield 3 release battle field 3 battle field 3 dana wilkey dana wilkey chuck liddell

Watch: Obama's Pardon Saves Turkeys (ABC News)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/165685450?client_source=feed&format=rss

rhodium rich rodriguez rich rodriguez uppity uppity stuffing brandon mcinerney

FACT CHECK: Hyperbole on terror interrogations (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Michele Bachmann did not intend to be taken literally when she told the Republican presidential debate Tuesday that civil-liberties activists have taken over the interrogation of terrorists from the CIA. But even as a rhetorical point, it didn't hold water.

Her hyperbole on the American Civil Liberties Union was one of the more notable stretches in the national security and foreign policy debate. A look at some of the claims and how they compare with the facts:

___

BACHMANN: "This is one thing we know about Barack Obama: He has essentially handed over our interrogation of terrorists to the ACLU. He's outsourced it to them. Our CIA has no ability to have any form of interrogation for terrorists."

THE FACTS: The CIA still has the ability to interrogate terrorists. President Obama formed the High Value Interrogation Group, which includes the FBI, the CIA and the Pentagon. It centralizes expertise so that when a terrorism suspect is caught, everyone with a stake in the issue is involved in the questioning. The CIA also can sit in on interrogations in other countries, asking questions directly or through officials of the host government.

Whether the policy on interrogating suspects should be tougher is a matter of authentic debate. But the CIA is hardly emasculated. The agency has dramatically expanded its on-the-ground operations worldwide since 2001, and the U.S. killing of a succession of al-Qaida figures in Pakistan ? Osama bin Laden chief among them ? demonstrates the potency of the hunt for terrorists. Moreover, the U.S. killing of an American citizen abroad ? the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki ? is well outside the range of action that would be condoned by civil liberties advocates.

___

MITT ROMNEY: "What they're doing is cutting a trillion dollars out of the defense budget."

RON PAUL: "They're nibbling away at baseline budgeting. ... There's nothing cut against the military. And the people on the Hill are nearly hysterical because they're not going ... the budget isn't going up as rapidly as they want it to."

THE FACTS: Paul was more accurate than Romney in describing what is happening with defense spending. Constraints in the military budget are much more modest than Romney suggested.

Both Romney and rival Rick Perry have been criticizing Obama for looming defense cuts that are triggered by the failure of the deficit supercommittee to act. But the cuts would only slow the rate of growth of Pentagon spending, which has been vastly increased because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, now winding down. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the planned Pentagon budget for 2021 would be some $700 billion, an increase over the current level of about $520 billion. The cuts agreed to last summer plus the automatic reductions would trim the projected 2021 budget by about $110 billion.

Moreover, the spending cuts set in motion by the supercommittee's failure to reach an agreement are not to begin until January 2013, which gives lawmakers time to try again to produce a debt plan. That's what Obama has in mind ? using the threat of defense cuts to push lawmakers to make a deal.

Romney's figure encompasses two sets of Pentagon spending cuts, only one of which was proposed by Obama. The president's budget called for $450 billion in savings from the defense budget; the rest is fallout from the supercommittee, a creature of Congress.

___

RICK PERRY: "When you sanction the Iranian central bank, that will shut down that economy. ... This president refuses to do that, and it's another show of lack of leadership from the president of the United States."

THE FACTS: Obama, like George W. Bush before him, hasn't issued a blanket ban on dealings with Iran's central bank. Perry could try as president, but he'd find himself with some angry allies and perhaps some economic damage for the United States.

U.S. sanctions already severely restrict what contact American and foreign companies can have with Iranian banks. That has made the central bank the primary conduit for purchasing Iranian oil exports.

Blacklisting the central bank entirely would put energy companies and banks from places such as Japan in a dilemma: either find new oil sources, or risk punishment in the United States. The same applies for China, Russia, Turkey and other countries with investments in Iran ? and the rush for new fuel providers could lead to a spike in gasoline prices that hampers the American economic recovery.

In reality, however, it's unlikely the U.S. would be prepared to blacklist Japan's banks for financial transactions with Iran's central bank. So the power of the sanction would be unclear.

___

BACHMANN: "Almost every decision that the president has made since he came in has been one to put the United States in a position of unilateral disarmament, including the most recent decision he made to cancel the Keystone pipeline. That would have not only created jobs, but it would have helped us in energy independence."

THE FACTS: Obama didn't cancel the Canadian oil pipeline. Instead, his administration delayed the decision in order to explore an alternative route to avoid areas of Nebraska that include wetlands and an aquifer providing water crucial to huge swaths of U.S. cropland. Bachmann also overlooked that the delay came under pressure from Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican. When the pipeline was delayed, Heineman hailed the decision and called it "an exceptional moment for Nebraskans."

___

PERRY: "When you put the no-fly zone above Syria, it obviously gives those dissidents and gives the military the opportunity to maybe disband."

ROMNEY: "They have 5,000 tanks in Syria. A no-fly zone wouldn't be the right military action ? maybe a no-drive zone. ... I mean, this is a nation which is not bombing its people at this point, and the right course is not military."

PERRY: "I think you need to leave it on the table to make sure, because this is not just about Syria. This is about Iran and those two as a partnership, and exporting terrorism around the world. And if we're going to be serious about saving Israel, we better get serious about Syria and Iran, and we better get serious right now."

THE FACTS: As Romney suggested, a no-fly zone by itself wouldn't do much to stop Syrian tanks and bullets from killing civilians. Unlike in Libya, where Moammar Gadhafi used his air force to fire on cities, President Bashar Assad's government has by and large stuck to ground forces. There have been a few cases of helicopters allegedly being used, but they are exceptions.

Perry's follow-up argument that a no-fly zone in Syria could help deter Iranian terrorism and save Israel wasn't clear. He seemed to be referring to Iranian and Syrian support for anti-Israel groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, neither of which has air power. Weapons smuggling also can occur by ground or sea.

___

HERMAN CAIN: "Number one, we know that terrorists have come into this country by way of Mexico."

THE FACTS: It's true that hundreds of illegal immigrants from countries believed to harbor terrorists or where known affiliates of al-Qaida operate have been arrested at or near the Mexican border in the last several years. But Cain goes well beyond what is known about who those people are. In the last few years none of those illegal immigrants has faced terrorism-related charges, and U.S. intelligence officials say they know of no case in which a terrorist has made his way across the border to plot actively against the United States.

A Lebanese man arrested in Michigan in 2005 had paid a smuggler to help him sneak across the Mexican border in February 2001. Mahmoud Youssef Kourani pleaded guilty to providing material support to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. He was not accused of plotting a terrorist attack in the U.S.

___

Associated Press writers Alicia Caldwell, Adam Goldman, Bradley Klapper, Matt Apuzzo, Donna Cassata and Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_fact_check

herman cain press conference joe frazier dead joe frazier dead topamax lexapro trazodone voting

"Pokies" roll the political dice for Australian PM (Reuters)

SYDNEY (Reuters) ? They are a silent army, formed in ranks inside clubs and hotels around Australia, desperately battling slot machines in the hope of winning an elusive jackpot.

Australia has 197,000 slot machines, called "pokies," the highest number of machines per head in the world. Slot machines feed 62 percent of the A$19 billion-plus annual gaming sector.

But the gamblers, largely working-class Australians, are on a collision course with the Labor government as it tries to tackle problem gambling, a battle that can impact Prime Minister Julia Gillard's political future.

Gillard has pledged to force all slot gamblers to register and nominate a loss limit before sitting down to play. This is aimed at stopping problem gamblers going over their limit.

But the gamblers say this infringes their rights, as no other gambling venture requires registration, and would be a barrier to casual players.

"I love the pokies," said Anna Robinson as she played "The Phantom" slot machine hoping for a row of skulls and the flashing lights and bells which herald a jackpot win.

"I hate what the government is trying to do. It's my money I put in these machines and they have no right to dictate how I spend it," said Robinson, a member of Sydney's City Bowlers Club which operates 120 slot machines.

The powerful club industry, with 4,000 clubs and 10 million members, has launched a multi-media campaign against the curbs, targeting 33 marginal Labor seats ahead of the next election due mid-2013.

If the government lost those seats it would be decimated as it only holds 72 seats in the 150-seat parliament and currently relies on a handful of independent and a Green MP to rule.

"They see the potential for destruction," said Anthony Ball, chief executive of Clubs Australia, referring to the local Labor MPs being targeted.

Clubs Australia has erected posters in the foyer of clubs with the face of the local government politician and the question: "Why Are You Voting To Hurt Our Local Community?"

The majority of the slot machines in Australia are in Labor seats.

Thursday, Gillard tightened her grip on power when an opposition lawmaker suddenly defected to become Speaker boosting her chances of surviving a full term in office and reducing reliance on independent MPs to pass laws.

ATTACK ON LABOR HEARTLAND

The minority government snared power in 2010 by one-seat after gaining the support of independent MP Andrew Wilkie in exchange for a pledge to curb problem slot machine gambling.

"About 100,000 Australians are believed to be problem gamblers," said Wilkie. "Add to those figures the five to 10 people adversely affected by every problem gambler and the total number of people touched by problem gamblers is huge."

The government in November increased its parliamentary majority to three, but still relies on a handful of independents and a Green MP to pass legislation.

"The government is not so foolish to think that they can burn me. The government will continue to pursue the poker machine reforms that have been agreed to," said Wilkie.

Around 600,000 Australians play slots weekly, but problem gamblers lose A$5 billion a year, or 40 percent of total slot machine losses, a recent parliamentary report said.

Australia's club industry says the scheme would cost up to A$5 billion to introduce and reduce revenue by between 30 to 40 percent, or A$4.9 to $6.5 billion annually, threatening the existence of small clubs and the businesses that supply them.

"They (previous Labor governments) allowed clubs to grow because they wanted working class people in the suburbs to go to a nice facility. To have a punt (gamble), have an affordable meal, see a show -- not everyone in Sydney can come into the Opera House for their entertainment," said Ball.

"Club heartland in the western suburbs of Sydney is also Labor heartland. Its strange that Labor has taken to attacking their own," he said.

Tax from slot machines is a major source of revenue for state governments, representing more than half of all gaming tax revenue, or around 10 percent of state tax revenue.

Listed Australian firms that rely on slot-machine revenues include gaming and wagering groups Tabcorp Holdings, Tatts and Crown as well as Aristocrat Leisure, the world's second-largest maker of slot machines.

But clubs operate the majority of slot machines, 115,900 compared with 69,600 in hotels and 12,300 in casinos.

Church and welfare groups say the social and financial costs of problem gambling are around A$4.7 billion annually.

"I urge federal (Labor) members in marginal seats to hold their ground," said Reverend Tim Costello, head of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce, adding polls showed three quarters of Australians support the planned curbs.

"These (gambling) limits can be as high or as low as the player likes. No one is telling them how much they can or can't spend. But once 'in the zone', problem gamblers say they can't make safe choices," he said.

"JEKYLL AND HYDE" POKIE ADDICTS

A recent parliamentary report on electronic gaming machines cited family breakdowns, homes and businesses lost, and suicide, due to slot machine addiction.

It said players could lose over A$1,000 an hour.

"Within weeks of beginning to play them, I was hooked," said nurse Sue Pinkerton, a former slot machine addict.

"I went in eight weeks from being a happy-go-lucky, socially active mother and friend to a restless, isolated, depressed and suicidal woman," Pinkerton told the parliamentary inquiry.

In the depth of addiction Pinkerton spent six hours a day, five days a week in front of slot machines. In four years she lost A$65,000, all she earned and some of her husband's income.

She said there was always an inner tension when she sat in front of a slot machine -- she was being torn between the excitement of winning and the despair of losing.

"I often compare it to the Jekyll and Hyde syndrome," said former gambling addict Gabriela Byrne.

Computer technology had resulted in high intensity machines designed for continuous gambling, said the parliamentary report.

Problem gamblers told the parliamentary inquiry they supported a pre-commitment system, adding it should be linked to a self-exclusion policy which would allow problem gamblers to ban themselves from using slot machines across Australia.

Clubs says mandatory curbs will not stem problem gambling, but do support voluntary pre-commitment gambling levels as these will not impact on casual gamblers.

Clubs say the average spend per hour on a slot machine is A$11, rising to A$29 at the largest club in Australia.

The country's largest clubs are open 24 hours, seven days a week, with resort-style facilities and entertainment, while the smallest operate out of virtually one room buildings and are the heart of isolated communities.

"For many its their second living room," said Ball. "Many people are emotionally tied to their club, they played golf there for decades, played bowls, their kids played footy for clubs. There is a real connection and they're worried."

(Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/wl_nm/us_australia_gambling

seal beach ca seal beach seal beach bhutan zip code finder zip code finder blackhawks

No major changes for 'Idol' this season

NEW YORK?? "American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe says don't expect any major changes when the hit Fox TV show returns in January after undergoing an extensive makeover last season.

1. More Entertainment stories
   1. Bachmann: Fallon song choice was sexist

      GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is lashing out at NBC for not apologizing or taking immediate disciplinary act...

   2. J.Lo didn't drive that Fiat 'round the block
   3. 'Arthur Christmas' a jolly new holiday tradition
   4. Best Muppets are the underrated ones
   5. 'Breaking Bad' boss doesn't know how it'll end

Lythgoe, who helped transform Britain's "Pop Idol" into the American TV juggernaut in 2002, returned as executive producer last season to usher in the post-Simon Cowell era. That ended a two-year hiatus that allowed him to focus on "So You Think You Can Dance," which he produces and helps judge.

For the 10th "American Idol" season, Lythgoe introduced new judges, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, to join holdover Randy Jackson. Veteran music producer Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M, was brought in as an in-house mentor for the contestants. All of them are back for Season 11, Lythgoe said.

"I think we made a lot of tweaks last year," Lythgoe said. "I'm not sure that we want to make too many more tweaks this year."

Lythgoe said the most significant change introduced last year had nothing to do with the judges: It was a decision to avoid those fish-out-of-water moments that forced very talented singers to sing in styles that didn't suit them.

"The biggest change we made last year was to say, 'OK, if you're a country singer you can sing any of these genres in your country style,'" Lythgoe said. "'We're not going to force you to do rock or anything you can't do. You can take a Michael Jackson song and turn it country.'"

That resulted in singers such as Casey Abrams and Haley Reinhart advancing much deeper into the competition than they might have in previous years. The two teenage finalists, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina, were country singers.

McCreery, the first pure country "Idol" winner since Carrie Underwood in 2005, saw his October release, "Clear As Day," make him the first country act to debut at No. 1 with its first studio album on the Billboard 200 chart. And at 18, he became the youngest man to open at the top of the chart with his debut release. He also was the first "Idol" winner to start his post-"Idol" career with a No. 1 album since Ruben Studdard in 2003.

Lythgoe said last year the show found "some incredible talent, and it was so diverse."

"We got this great jazz singer in Casey, we got a soft jazz singer in Haley, and the two country kids (in the finals) probably in previous years wouldn't have been as successful because they would have been asked to sing in the different styles that we used to do then," he said last week.

Lythgoe expects similar results in Season 11.

"The kids that have auditioned this year that we're going to be taking to Hollywood in December are again really talented and really diverse," he said. "Hopefully they'll get through one of the toughest auditions, which is the Hollywood week, and get themselves into the top 20."

Lythgoe said he believes "Idol" should be "totally about the talent" and the recent changes foster that.

"For me," he said, "it's really showing the talent that is here and not trying to take somebody who's talented, beat them around the bucket and turn them out."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45421444/ns/today-entertainment/

do a barrel roll. florida state football florida state football fsu football fsu football do a barrelroll bérénice marlohe