>>>month. and following what we now call black friday we have today so-called cyber monday when
online shopping
is said to be at its height. nbc's kristen dahlgren is at a huge
amazon.com
shipping center in phoenix.
>> reporter: after black friday scenes like this, cyber monday may seem oh, so civilized.
>>i don't like crowds or fighting over things.
>> reporter: shoppers like
sandy johnson
choosing the comfort of home to find holiday bargains but she had stiff competition with some 123 million other americans
shopping online
.
>>i probably got the last one. yay!
>> reporter: americans are expected to spend $1.2 billion via the internet today.
>>this is going to be a monster, unprecedented, off the rails cyber monday as far as numbers.
>> reporter: so at
amazon.com
's phoenix warehouse it's
game time
.
>>last year worldwide we processed over 158 units per second.
>> reporter: keeping up with the orders is a dworks out.
mark james
is an amazon aisle picker. where are we going?
>>third floor now.
>> reporter: he can walk 12 to 15 miles a day this time of year.
>>first floor.
>> reporter: it's no longer just cyber monday according to ibm's core met tricks,
online shopping
was up almost 40% on thanksgiving this year. up 24% on black friday.
>>the
holiday season
is far from over. retailers know their biggest challenge now is just going to be continuing that momentum.
>> reporter: and so tonight we are high above this 1.2 million
square foot
processing facility for
amazon.com
. a lot of holiday wishes being filled tonight. this is just one of the retailers offering big discounts for cyber monday. 8 out of 10 retailers had some type of deal today. we saw discounts up to 50% in some places.
>>all those packages heading somewhere tonight. kristen, thanks for that.
DALLAS (AP) ? The parent company of American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, seeking relief from crushing debt caused by high fuel prices and expensive labor contracts that its competitors shed years ago.
The company also replaced its CEO, and the incoming leader said American would probably cut its flight schedule "modestly" while it reorganizes. He did not give specifics. American said its frequent-flier program would be unaffected.
AMR Corp., which owns American, was one of the last major U.S. airline companies that had avoided bankruptcy. Competitors used bankruptcy to shed costly labor contracts, unburden themselves of debt, and start making money again. Delta was the last major airline to file for bankruptcy protection, in 2005.
American ? the nation's third-largest airline and proud of an 80-year history that reaches back to the dawn of passenger travel ? was stuck with higher costs and had to match its competitors' lower fares or lose passengers.
Other airlines also grew by pursuing acquisitions and expanding overseas. American was the biggest airline in the world in 2008, but has been surpassed by United, which combined with Continental, and Delta, which bought Northwest.
In announcing the bankruptcy filing, AMR said that Gerard Arpey, a veteran of the company for almost three decades and CEO since 2003, had stepped down and was replaced by Thomas W. Horton, the company president.
Horton said the board of directors unanimously decided to file for bankruptcy after meeting Monday in New York and again by conference call on Monday night.
In a filing with federal bankruptcy court in New York, AMR said it had $29.6 billion in debt and $24.7 billion in assets.
With reductions to the flight schedule, Horton said there would probably be corresponding job cuts. American has about 78,000 employees and serves 240,000 passengers per day.
For travelers, American said it would continue to operate flights, honor tickets and take reservations.
AMR's move could also trigger more consolidation in the airline industry. Some analysts believe American is likely to merge with US Airways, which would leave five large airlines where there were nine in 2008.
The company will delay the spinoff of its regional airline, American Eagle, which was expected early next year.
AMR, however, wants to push ahead with plans to order 460 new jets from Boeing and Airbus, plus more than 50 previous jet orders. New planes would save American money on fuel and maintenance, but the orders will be subject to approval by the bankruptcy court.
Analysts said the chief winners from AMR's bankruptcy are United and Delta, which compete for the same business travelers and have global networks like American's.
All airlines will benefit from crowded planes and higher prices if American reduces flights, said Helane Becker, an analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co.
The losers: AMR stockholders almost certainly will be wiped out. The stock had already lost 79 percent of its value this year on fears of bankruptcy. The stock fell to 31.5 cents Tuesday, down almost $1.32 from the day before. In January 2007, after a 4-year rally, shares were worth more than $40.
AMR has lost more than $12 billion since 2001, and analysts expect it will post more losses through 2012. Speculation about an AMR bankruptcy grew in recent weeks as the company was unable to win union approval for contracts that would reduce labor costs. The company said it was spending $600 million more a year than other airlines because of labor-contract rules ? $800 million more including pension obligations.
On Tuesday, Horton said no single factor led to the bankruptcy filing. He said the company needed to cut costs because of the weak global economy, a credit downgrade, and high, volatile fuel prices. The price of jet fuel has risen more than 60 percent in the past five years.
Ray Neidl, an analyst with Maxim Group LLC, an investment banking company, said AMR was wise to file for bankruptcy while it still had about $4 billion in cash. That way, the company will have a cushion to keep operating without worrying immediately about lining up new financing, he said.
Neidl said the company has strong assets but needs to find labor peace and more revenue. He said American might be pushed into a merger with US Airways.
The president of the pilots' union, Dave Bates, said his members were concerned about what the bankruptcy will mean for them. Other airlines used bankruptcy to terminate pension plans.
"While today's news was not entirely unexpected, it is nevertheless disappointing that we find ourselves working for an airline that has lost its way," Bates said in a message to pilots.
Darryl Jenkins, a consultant who has worked for the major airlines, said that AMR will be able to cut costs in bankruptcy, and that employees and stockholders would be the big losers.
"Labor is going to take a major hit," Jenkins said. "Their pensions are in danger."
James C. Little, president of the Transport Workers Union, which represents mechanics, baggage handlers and other ground workers at American, was harsh in his assessment of the impact on labor.
"This (bankruptcy) is likely to be a long and ugly process and our union will fight like hell to make sure that front line workers don't pay an unfair price for management's failings," Little said.
AMR, which has headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, lost $162 million in the third quarter and has posted losses in 14 of the past 16 quarters.
American was founded in 1930 from the combination of more than 80 smaller airlines. Its hubs are New York, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and Miami. Its major international partners are British Airways and Japan Airlines.
News of the bankruptcy swept through Fort Worth-based AMR's hometown.
"American Airlines is an institution in Dallas-Fort Worth, and when institutions start to crumble, you look at everything around you," said Elaine Vale, a jewelry store owner who flew back from a Thanksgiving holiday on American. "After American, then who?"
___
Airline writers Bomkamp in New York and Joshua Freed in Minneapolis, and Danny Robbins in Fort Worth contributed to this report.
In its Gingerbread update last month, Sony Ericsson sneaked in some WebGL support. That means that any of its current 2011 line up, including the Xperia Arc, can now take advantage of WebGL graphics directly in their browsers without plugins. More »
(Reuters) ? Facebook, the world's largest Internet social network, is preparing for a initial public stock offering next year, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Facebook is exploring raising $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday. It hopes the offering will value the company at more than $100 billion, according to WSJ, which first reported the story.
Facebook's Chief Financial Officer, David Ebersman, had discussed a public float with Silicon Valley bankers but founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had not decided on any terms and his plans could change, the Journal said.
The social network, which now claims more than 800 million members after seven years of explosive growth, has not selected bankers to manage what would be a very closely watched IPO. But it had drafted an internal prospectus and was ready at any moment to pull the IPO trigger, the Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying.
At $100 billion valuation, the company started by Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room would have double the valuation of Hewlett-Packard, the Journal said.
A formal S-1 filing could come before the end of the year, though nothing was decided, the newspaper added.
A Facebook representative declined to comment.
Silicon Valley start-ups have this year begun to test investor appetite for a new wave of dotcoms. If it does debut in 2012, Facebook's IPO would dwarf that of any other dotcom waiting to go public.
"Farmville" creator Zynga has filed for an IPO of up to $1 billion. In November, daily deals service Groupon debuted with much fanfare, only to plunge below its IPO price within weeks.
LinkedIn and Pandora are now also trading significantly below the levels their stocks reached during their public debuts earlier this year.
Facebook has become one of the world's most popular Web destinations, challenging established companies such as Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for consumers' online time and for advertising dollars.
Facebook does not disclose its financial results, but a source familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier this year that the company's revenue in the first six months of 2011 doubled year-on-year to $1.6 billion.
Eric Feng, a former partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers who now runs social-networking site Erly.com, said that the cash Facebook will get in an IPO would allow them to make more acquisitions and refine or work on new projects, such as a rumored-Facebook phone or a netbook.
Having tradeable stock will also allow Facebook to attract more engineering talent who might have been more attracted to the company in earlier days when it was growing faster but now perhaps might be attracted to other companies. "It'll be a powerful bullet for them," said Feng.
Investors have been increasingly eager to buy shares of Facebook and other fast-growing but privately-held Internet social networking companies on special, secondary-market exchanges.
Facebook said in January that it will exceed 500 shareholders this year, and that in accordance with SEC regulations, it will file public financial reports no later than April 30, 2012.
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco, with additional reporting by Sarah McBride and Vidya Loganathan; editing by Carol Bishopric)
Australian science joins global effort to transform food systemPublic release date: 28-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Peter Carberry Peter.Carberry@csiro.au 61-746-881-377 CSIRO Australia
A major transformation in the food system is needed to address future threats to food security according to experts from some of the world's leading science organisations.
The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change (CSACC) an independent global commission of eminent scientists has released a blueprint for urgent action to deal with the global challenge of feeding the world in the face of climate change, population growth, uneven food distribution, volatile markets and degraded ecosystems.
The summary for policy makers, 'Achieving food security in the face of climate change', can help governments, agribusiness and food companies deliver evidence based and long-term, regional solutions to this global challenge.The summary is being released in the lead up to UN global climate talks in Durban, South Africa, later this month.
Dr Megan Clark, Chief Executive of CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, represents Australian science on the CSACC.
"This global science effort has analysed existing diverse scientific and cultural knowledge to determine leverage points in the world's food system and to identify policy actions to address the growing challenges," Dr Clark says.
The Commission's Chairman, Professor Sir John Beddington, says the challenge is to reorient the whole global food system not just agricultural production, and not just in developing countries.
"We need a socially equitable, global approach to produce the funding, policy, management and regional initiatives that will deliver nutrition, income and climate benefits for all."
The Commission emphasises that food security is a problem for everyone, with rich and poor countries facing different but equally challenging problems. Its recommendations support climate-resilient agricultural production, efficient resource use, low-waste supply chains, adequate nutrition and healthy eating choices that, together, will constitute a sustainable food system.
"Climate change is already causing more extreme weather events, such as high temperatures, altered rainfall patterns and more intense extreme events such as droughts and floods, and will affect those people who already live on the brink of vulnerability," Sir John says.
"Climate, such as high temperatures, droughts and floods, and will particularly harm those people who already live on the brink of hunger and malnutrition," says Commissioner Professor Tekalign Mamo, Advisor to the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture. "Food insecurity produces widespread human suffering, even in the world's wealthiest countries, as well as political and economic instability, so it is clear the status quo is not an option".
The Deputy Director of CSIRO's Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, Dr Peter Carberry, says Australia has its part to play.
"Australian Agriculture (including land clearing) accounts for at least 25 per cent of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions a figure similar to the global average. We need to contribute to the global challenge of reducing GHGs from agriculture by 50-80 per cent by 2050 while, at the same time, contributing to a 30-80 per cent increase in global food production. Mitigating agricultural emissions and storing more carbon in soils and forests are critical needs but such actions have to be balanced with Australian and international requirements for food security," Dr Carberry says.
"For our nation, this report reinforces the critical role our science plays in the global food system, identifying priorities at the global scale across sometimes conflicting issues.
"CSIRO is working with Australian farmers, industry and government to enable the continued productivity of agriculture in Australia, while reducing our environmental footprint. Overseas, we are seeing increased commitment to agricultural research in regions like Africa where AusAID, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and CSIRO are working with African scientists, farmers and key players along the production chain to address critical food security challenges."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Australian science joins global effort to transform food systemPublic release date: 28-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Peter Carberry Peter.Carberry@csiro.au 61-746-881-377 CSIRO Australia
A major transformation in the food system is needed to address future threats to food security according to experts from some of the world's leading science organisations.
The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change (CSACC) an independent global commission of eminent scientists has released a blueprint for urgent action to deal with the global challenge of feeding the world in the face of climate change, population growth, uneven food distribution, volatile markets and degraded ecosystems.
The summary for policy makers, 'Achieving food security in the face of climate change', can help governments, agribusiness and food companies deliver evidence based and long-term, regional solutions to this global challenge.The summary is being released in the lead up to UN global climate talks in Durban, South Africa, later this month.
Dr Megan Clark, Chief Executive of CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, represents Australian science on the CSACC.
"This global science effort has analysed existing diverse scientific and cultural knowledge to determine leverage points in the world's food system and to identify policy actions to address the growing challenges," Dr Clark says.
The Commission's Chairman, Professor Sir John Beddington, says the challenge is to reorient the whole global food system not just agricultural production, and not just in developing countries.
"We need a socially equitable, global approach to produce the funding, policy, management and regional initiatives that will deliver nutrition, income and climate benefits for all."
The Commission emphasises that food security is a problem for everyone, with rich and poor countries facing different but equally challenging problems. Its recommendations support climate-resilient agricultural production, efficient resource use, low-waste supply chains, adequate nutrition and healthy eating choices that, together, will constitute a sustainable food system.
"Climate change is already causing more extreme weather events, such as high temperatures, altered rainfall patterns and more intense extreme events such as droughts and floods, and will affect those people who already live on the brink of vulnerability," Sir John says.
"Climate, such as high temperatures, droughts and floods, and will particularly harm those people who already live on the brink of hunger and malnutrition," says Commissioner Professor Tekalign Mamo, Advisor to the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture. "Food insecurity produces widespread human suffering, even in the world's wealthiest countries, as well as political and economic instability, so it is clear the status quo is not an option".
The Deputy Director of CSIRO's Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, Dr Peter Carberry, says Australia has its part to play.
"Australian Agriculture (including land clearing) accounts for at least 25 per cent of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions a figure similar to the global average. We need to contribute to the global challenge of reducing GHGs from agriculture by 50-80 per cent by 2050 while, at the same time, contributing to a 30-80 per cent increase in global food production. Mitigating agricultural emissions and storing more carbon in soils and forests are critical needs but such actions have to be balanced with Australian and international requirements for food security," Dr Carberry says.
"For our nation, this report reinforces the critical role our science plays in the global food system, identifying priorities at the global scale across sometimes conflicting issues.
"CSIRO is working with Australian farmers, industry and government to enable the continued productivity of agriculture in Australia, while reducing our environmental footprint. Overseas, we are seeing increased commitment to agricultural research in regions like Africa where AusAID, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and CSIRO are working with African scientists, farmers and key players along the production chain to address critical food security challenges."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
HAPPY SHOPPERS: A jump in consumer confidence sent stocks modestly higher Tuesday. Stocks had soared Monday on a strong weekend of holiday shopping, breaking a seven-day losing streak for the S&P 500.
MIXED RESULTS: Stocks struggled to hold on to their gains as urgent talks in Europe proposing radical solutions to the region's debt crisis continued. Technology stocks lagged.
THE INDEXES: The Dow rose 32 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 11,555. It had been up as many as 101. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,195. The Nasdaq fell 0.5 percent to 2,515.
If you're going to waste your time playing games on Facebook, you might as well do it and help build a better world while you're at it. That's the promise, at least, of online entertainment company Sojo Studios, which is today debuting the preview of a Facebook game with a philanthropic twist called 'WeTOPIA'. Backed by a former key Facebook employee, Path CEO Dave Morin, and Esther Dyson - both are on the advisory board - Sojo Studios wants to entice online gamers to play WeTopia in order to develop a better world for children, both on Facebook and in the real world.
A computer with a wireless Internet connection hurts sperm, but not because the machine can heat up your lap, a new study suggests.
The findings showed that sperm cells collected in lab dishes and placed beneath a laptop with a wireless Internet connection for four hours had less motility and more DNA damage than sperm placed in another room, away from electronic devices but kept at the same temperature.
"It is well-known that increased temperature may decrease sperm quality, and the use of portable computers on the lap increases scrotal temperature," the researchers wrote in their study.
But the findings suggested it wasn't the temperature beneath the laptop that was affecting sperm; instead, the radiation from the laptop was slowing the swimmers, according to the study. ?
Laptops emit radiation
The researchers in Argentina and Virginia used semen samples from 29 healthy men, whose average age was 34. The laptop was set to download and upload information over the course of the experiment, so the wireless connection was actively being used. The temperature under the laptop was held constant at 77 degrees Fahrenheit by an air-conditioning system. ?
Wireless Internet connections use radio-frequency electromagnetic waves. When the researchers measured the radiation coming from a laptop wirelessly connected to the Internet, they found it was at least three times higher than an unconnected laptop, and seven to 15 times higher than radiation in a general setting, according to the study, though the levels varied over the course of the experiment, depending on the flow of information coming to or from the computer.
There was no difference between the sperm samples held under the laptop and those kept away from it in terms of the percentage of sperm that were dead at the end of the experiment, according to the study.
Still, sperm motility and having undamaged DNA are important for fertilizing an egg.
"We speculate that keeping a laptop connected wirelessly to the Internet on the lap near the testes may result in decreased male fertility," the researchers wrote in their conclusion.
Why sperm cells are vulnerable
Sperm cells are different from other cells in the body ? their DNA is highly condensed into a small area, the researchers noted. This could make them more vulnerable to the effects of such radiation.
It's plausible that the magnetic and electromagnetic fields produced by the radio waves damage molecules in sperm called phospholipids, which are a needed to keep membranes within a sperm cell intact, the study researchers wrote.
It is not known whether all laptop computers might have the same effects as those seen in this study, nor is it known what other factors might heighten or lessen the damage, the researchers wrote in their conclusion.
"However, we cannot discard the possibility that damage to sperm is caused by the low radiation produced by the computer without Internet connection," they wrote, and this possibility should be studied further.
The study was published online Nov. 23 in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
Pass it on: Radiation from wireless internet connections might damage sperm cells.
This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily on Twitter @MyHealth_MHND. Find us on Facebook.
WASHINGTON ? Two months ago, Demetries Luckett left his job in Michigan, turned in his cable box, sent his daughter to live with her mother, and headed for Camp Shelby in Mississippi.
As a 1st lieutenant in Michigan's National Guard, he was being deployed to Afghanistan.
But just a month after he arrived for training, the Army decided Uncle Sam didn't need him after all.
Now Luckett's unemployed and back home in Harper Woods, Mich. ? a victim of the Obama administration's ongoing effort to pull at least 33,000 U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by next fall.
Unlike active-duty soldiers who are stationed at U.S. military bases across the country and can be sent on a moment's notice to a conflict anywhere in the world ? the nation's citizen soldiers have civilian jobs and lives they have to set aside when they get those deployment notices.
And unlike active-duty soldiers, Guard members may have little to go back to, if their country changes its mind.
Luckett is not alone.
In the last 60 days, as many as 8,900 Army National Guard soldiers were either sent home early from Iraq or Afghanistan, or were told that the Pentagon's plans to send them to war had either been shelved or changed. As a result, U.S. military and Guard leaders have been scrambling to find alternative missions for many of the soldiers ? particularly those who had put their lives and jobs on hold and were depending on the deployment for their livelihood.
"If you're a 25-year-old infantryman, and you're a student at Ohio State University, and you decide not to register for school in July because you were going to mobilize, and we say your services aren't needed anymore ? that becomes a significantly emotional event in that person's life," said Col. Ted Hildreth, chief of mobilization and readiness for the Army National Guard.
Guard members scheduled for deployment, he said, often quit or take extended leaves from their jobs, put college on hold, end or break their apartment leases, sell or rent their houses, and turn their medical or legal practices over to someone else. And in some cases, in this flagging economy, Guard members who may be unemployed or underemployed are relying on the year-long paycheck, which can include extra money for combat pay or tax-free benefits.
"These are commitments and contracts that have been signed, and so when these changes happen, they are not insignificant," he said. "So we work with the unit, the country team and the joint force headquarters to define who are no-kidding hardships and who we had to work to find other employments opportunities to fulfill the 400-day mobilization commitment that we made to that soldier."
In the coming weeks, as America works to extricate itself from two wars, the U.S. will pull the remaining 18,000 troops out of Iraq, and withdraw 10,000 forces from Afghanistan. Another 23,000 or more will come out of Afghanistan by next fall.
And while the political ramifications of the war drawdowns are hotly debated topics, there is often little said or known about the cascading effects such decisions have on the lives, jobs and schooling of the National Guard and Reserve troops.
Guard units are notified of their deployments as much as two years in advance, so they make long-term plans to meet the year-long military commitment.
But to meet the often-changing withdrawal timetables for Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has had to abruptly shuffle units, and even individual soldiers, around. The major moves include shifting forces from Iraq to new missions in Kuwait or to Afghanistan.
During a hearing on Capitol Hill, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military tries to do all it can to avoid changing deployment orders given to National Guard units once they are notified.
If a unit has been mobilized, he said, "we will find a place to use it," particularly if it is an aviation unit, since those are in high demand.
Usually, he said, officials try to identify soldiers who prefer not to deploy, since there often are some who are happy to stay home. Then the rest of the unit will, if possible, be sent to a different mission in the same country or to another location.
For example, the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, made up of more than 2,300 soldiers from Ohio and Michigan, was initially scheduled to go to Afghanistan in early October to do combat and other operations.
But when Pentagon leaders decided many weren't needed, they scrounged for other missions so that the soldiers who really wanted or needed to deploy could do so.
Maj. Jeff Kinninger, executive officer for the 126th Cavalry Squadron, was another soldier who got to Camp Shelby, then was told not to deploy. But for Kinninger and his family, it was more of a welcome decision because he has a full-time job working for the National Guard in Grand Rapids.
"For me, this would have been three deployments in the last seven years, so I wasn't too disappointed," said Kinninger, 42, who had served in Iraq in 2005 and 2008. "I'm disappointed not to be there with my soldiers, but my family is happy I'm not going."
His squadron is part of the 37th IBCT. So, of the 430 squadron members who headed to Camp Shelby to prepare to deploy, more than 200 were told they weren't needed. After sorting out who wanted to go home, military officials were able to find assignments for all the rest, Kinninger said.
Two other brigades are going through similar struggles ? the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in New York, and the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, which includes soldiers from across the U.S.
WASHINGTON ? FBI Director Robert Mueller on Monday raised significant concerns about requiring military custody for captured suspected terrorists, arguing that the divisive provision in a sweeping defense bill could harm ongoing terrorism investigations.
In a letter to lawmakers, Mueller detailed his concerns with the provision that mandates military custody of a suspect deemed to be a member of al-Qaida or its affiliates and involved in plotting or committing attacks on the United States. The White House has threatened a veto over the language in the bill and limits on the administration's ability to transfer suspected terrorists.
"Because the proposed legislation applies to certain persons detained in the United States, the legislation may adversely impact our ability to continue ongoing international terrorism investigations before or after arrest, derive intelligence from those investigations and may raise extraneous issues in any future prosecution of a person covered" by the provision, Mueller wrote.
The FBI director said the legislation would add a substantial amount of uncertainty as to what steps should be followed in a terrorism investigation in the United States. Mueller also said the provision could restrict the FBI from using a grand jury to gather records or subpoenaing witnesses.
"The legislation ... will inhibit our ability to convince covered arrestees to cooperate immediately, and provide critical intelligence," Mueller said.
Proponents of the provision have defended the legislation, pointing out that it includes a waiver that allows the administration to decide a suspect's fate as well as who should be covered by the requirement.
In an op-ed Monday in The Washington Post, Armed Services Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and the panel's top Republican, Arizona's John McCain, wrote that the bill's provisions on detainees "represent a careful, bipartisan effort to provide the executive branch the clear authority, tools and flexibility of action it needs to defend us against the threat posed by al-Qaida."
Mueller described the waiver as too cumbersome, requiring that it be obtained from the defense secretary in consultation with the secretary of state and the director of National Intelligence with a certification to Congress.
"These limited exceptions ... fail to recognize the reality of a counterterrorism investigation," Mueller wrote. "Building rapport with, and convincing a covered individual to cooperate once arrested, is a delicate and time-sensitive skill that transcends any one interrogation session."
The Senate resumed work on the massive defense bill Monday and approved an amendment to expand the Joint Chiefs of Staff to include the head of the National Guard. The voice vote approval reflected the overwhelming support for the amendment by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had some 70 co-sponsors for their effort.
The head of the National Guard represents 465,000 members of the Army and Air National Guard. In a post-Sept. 11 world, their role has changed dramatically with significant numbers of guardsmen and reservists seeing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Today's National Guard is a superb 21st Century force trapped inside the 20th Century Pentagon bureaucracy," Leahy said.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the head of the services opposed the move. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said it could create the impression of inequity because while each service has a reserve component, only the Army and Air Force have a National Guard. Dempsey also testified earlier this month that each chief is subject to civilian oversight with a service secretary. The National Guard does not have a similar arrangement.
The dispute over the detention policy loomed large. Not only has it drawn a veto threat, but the provision has divided senior Senate Democrats, pitting Levin against leaders of the Intelligence and Judiciary committees.
Congress and the administration have been at odds since Obama took office over how to handle captured terror suspects. The administration insists that lawmakers are trying to limit the military, law enforcement and intelligence agents after they've succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, delivering two body blows to al-Qaida.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the head of the Intelligence committee, has said the limits in the bill "could deny our nation the ability to respond flexibly and appropriately to unfolding events, including the capture of terrorism suspects."
Republicans counter that their efforts are necessary to respond to an evolving, post-Sept. 11 threat, holding captured terror suspects at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and trying them by military commissions. In a not-in-my-backyard argument, lawmakers have resisted transferring suspects to the United States.
The sweeping defense bill would authorize $662 billion for military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and national security programs in the Energy Department. Reflecting a period of austerity and deficit-driven cuts in military spending, the bill is $27 billion less than what Obama requested for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 of this year.
A community is coming together in a Rochester suburb to help a man battling cancer.? It is not his first run in with the disease, but with support from his family and the community, he is hoping to make it his last.
Greece resident, Shawn Fadden is the man battling cancer.? He is on the fight of his life but says his family and community is what is keeping him going.? They came together to raise money for his medical expenses.
Shawn stood by his wife Darlene as he spoke with News 8.? After taking a look around at the fundraiser for him, he says, "It's extraordinary."? His wife adds, "It's overwhelming, very overwhelming.? It's nice to see that there's a community like our community that does these types of thing for people who are going through this."
Their family, friends and neighbors gathered in Greece on Saturday to show support for the Fadden's.? Their good friend, Christine Ellis organized this craft and bake sale to raise money for medical expenses.? She says her reason for doing it is simple, "Because cancer isn't welcome in this family anymore."
This is not the first time the family has suffered through a cancer battle.? Shawn had the same cancer last year before a brief remission.? His wife is also far too familiar with the disease.? Darlene explains, "I actually lost my daughter two years ago in September to cancer so it's kind of like reliving this nightmare again for a third time."
They carry around a picture of Jenna to remember.? Shawn says, "She's there, she's here.? She's looking over us.? We love her and miss her to death but we know she's in a better place and she's helping me get through it."
So, the two who have been through this before are leaning on each other for support.? Shawn says, "She's the rock.? She's the glue that keeps things together, we'll put it that way."
They both say they could not have a better community to go through this with because of friends like Christine.? "Sometimes when you're in that position you need somebody to back you up.? So my goal was to get a bunch of people to back then up to let them know that they're not alone", says Christine.
The Fadden's knows the road will be tough but Shawn and his wife Darlene are staying positive about his recovery.? "I have a good chance.? I have a great chance.? I have a lot of options for surgeries and the chemo treatment seems to be working right now....but you have to think forward, think positive and hope for the best", Shane says.
The community hopes to raise enough money so Shawn and Darlene will not have to worry about money while they are toughing out this grueling disease.
TRIPOLI (Reuters) ? Libya's new oil minister is seen as the right kind of technocrat, deeply experienced yet not too closely tied to the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi, to help restore the OPEC member's economic lifeline after eight months of war.
Abdulrahman Ben Yazza is in his mid-50s and brings experience from both Libya's oil industry and Italian firm Eni, the largest foreign oil producer in Libya before the war.
He worked at Libya's Waha Oil company and at the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), culminating in a seat on the management committee. He then headed a joint venture between NOC and Eni.
"He's an excellent oil man," NOC Chairman Nuri Berruien told Reuters. "He's a first-class professional ... The most important (thing) is that he's from the oil patch. It is very important, it is good to work with people who speak your tongue."
A source close to Ben Yazza said the married father of four from Tripoli had been living in Milan for the last few years and traveling frequently to Libya.
"Ben Yazza is an old guy, well known and well liked. He knows Eni very well but that doesn't mean he will be pro-Eni ... he will be pro-Libyan," one Libyan oil industry source said.
"He's more a technocrat politician. Remember this is a transitory government, a bit like the Monti government in Italy ...It doesn't represent the power equilibrium and none of the big shots are in it."
Of all the new appointments in Prime Minister Abdurrahim El Keib's government, set to lead the country to elections next year, analysts and industry sources said Ben Yazza is seen as the most technocratic and least colored by the country's regional politics.
"In meetings he would listen to everyone's opinion," a person who worked with him at the NOC said, describing Ben Yazza as "very respectable."
NEW FACES
Before the February revolt, Libya's oil policy was run by the NOC headed by Shokri Ghanem, who defected in June and is believed to be living in Europe.
Officials have since indicated there will be changes, with plans to split commercial arrangements from policy.
Ben Yazza himself is seen as somewhat independent despite his NOC history, as a man who reportedly clashed at one point with Ghanem and who carries no strong affiliation with the ousted regime.
He is "very competent with a strong personality," one diplomatic source said.
"There were other candidates in the sector who had good international pedigrees, but they were often very closely associated with Col. Gaddafi - or they amplified their connections with Gaddafi in order to increase their prestige," said Geoff Porter, a U.S. independent expert on Libya.
"In the new post-Gaddafi Libya, they are tainted and would have been rejected by the Libyan population and by the hydrocarbon sector workers in particular."
The new set of faces will have to sustain the revival of the industry, which is returning to the international market faster than expected.
Libya holds Africa's largest oil reserves and was pumping 1.6 million barrels per day before the revolt.
Questions remain about the future, with a potential shake-up that would give more power to the oil ministry and carve up the NOC's responsibilities.
Berruien said the oil ministry and NOC would "complement each other."
Ben Yazza's appointment could see a number of former Libyan state oil company executives return to the public sector, according to political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
"Highly experienced and extremely well-connected, we expect Ben Yazza to announce the recruitment of a number of his former NOC colleagues and friends to the NOC and the ministry," it said.
"The implications for the sector are good. Separating the regulatory and oversight functions from operations will remove some conflicts of interest," it said.
"Ben Yazza (will have) the opportunity to root out some of the more entrenched examples of corruption."
Still, he could encounter opposition from some workers still wary of former NOC officials. Waha Oil workers just recently ended a strike after their demands for a new chairman were met.
"Lack of experienced personnel has long been a retarding factor in the Libyan oil and gas sector and Ben Yazza will see the return of senior officials currently with IOCs (independent oil companies) as important if the sector is to reach its full potential," Eurasia said.
(Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun and Christian Lowe in Tripoli, Stephen Jewkes in Milan, Jessica Donati in London; editing by Jason Neely)
The Plot: Letty, Vince, Han, and Jesse never died. Takes place a few years after Fast Five. The crews? records have disappeared. Not only that but the Drifters from Tokyo are in LA. Dom?s crew, Sean Boswell?s crew, and a crew of female racers all collide in LA. This is there challenge. Prove that you deserve to rule the LA scene. The new girls on the block aren?t going to give up very easy though. Everyone has their own mysteries though. The journey will be filled with all sorts of obstacles. Prove which crew will reign supreme.
The Rules: 1. Please no Mary-Sues or Gary-Sues. Nobody's perfect. 2. Please do not god-mod. Control YOUR character, not somebody else's. 3. Include everybody, don't leave anyone out. 4.Reservations will be held for 48 hours only. 5. If you are going to join, STAY ACTIVE. It pisses me off when people join and then never post in the IC thread. 6. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or post here. Emotionless is the co-gm. 7. Have fun, this is my number one rule. 8. If you have read these rules and the whole post please put ?Backlash? somewhere in your character sheet
The Character Sheet:
Code: Select all
Theme Song/s: Appearance; (Image and Description, Just a Description, or Just a Image) Name; (first and last) Nickname; (what people call you) Age; (Pretty self-explanatory?nothing under 18) Gender; (male or female) Sexuality; (straight, gay, bi, etc.) Day Job; (You?ve got to do something other than driving illegally) Type of Car you Drive; (Both your normal car or cars and your street driving car) Personality; (a paragraph; Optional) History; (a paragraph) Extra; (anything else) Role; (Who are you.? Which crew are you in)
The Character List: Dominic?s Crew Dominic: Taken by Lego?s Apex Predator Mia: Available Brian: Available Jesse: Available Vince: Available Letty: Available Leon: Available
Sean?s Crew Sean: Available Twinkie: Available Neela: Available Han: Available
Zoe?s Crew Zoe Andrews: Taken by Lego?s Apex Predator (Leader) Second-in-command: Reserved for Emotionless Charlotte ?Charlie? Hardy: Taken by Lego?s Apex Predator Racer: Available Mechanic/Racer: Available Racer: Available
Misc stuff: If you pick one of the cannon characters use this site to get any information you need.
We will not need every character before we get started. Maybe just Sean, Letty, Brian, and Mia.
Also for those characters whose last name they don?t have listed for cannon characters make one up.
Theme Song/s: Immortal by Adema, Fantasy by Maria Kanellis and Dumb B**ch by Mickie James Appearance; Another Zoe stands at 5?9??. She?s got white blond hair that falls two inches below her shoulders. She has green eyes. She also lean and thin. She doesn?t look like much but because of her police training she has a subtle hint to muscle to her. She isn?t afraid to run around in high heels either. She just wants people to take her seriously. Even her own partner doesn?t take her seriously and she?s been on the force for a while.
Name; Zoe Jane Andrews Nickname; Zo, Jane, Andrews, or Blondie Age; 29 (March 2nd, 1982) Gender; Female Sexuality; Heterosexual Day Job; Homicide Detective for the LAPD Type of Car you Drive; Normal Cars: a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala and a 2010 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Special Edition Chevy Camaro Her Street Racing Car: a dark red 2005 Ford Mustang GT Personality; N/A History; Zoe is a second generation cop. Both of her parents are natives of Los Angeles. Her mother works in a local restaurant while her father was a cop while she was growing up.
Zoe was always fascinated by two things. The law and cars. She got her dad to teach her about cars while she was growing up. She got straight A's all through high school and college. Zoe's degree was in criminology. Zoe was a homicide detective. She worked many cases with her partner Jeremy Frost. She ran in street races on the side. Jeremy and Zoe were working a case that Zoe found out involved with a bunch of street racers. Zoe went undercover.
Zoe managed to get close to them and find out that they had kidnapped the little girl and killed her older sister. She also found out where they'd be the next day. She agreed to meet them. She told Jeremy.
The next day she showed up at the spot. Jeremy was waiting around the corner for her signal that would also bring out the rest of the cops. Zoe was handling it well until a newbie jumped the gun and tried arresting them to soon. Richard, the clear leader, pulled a gun on Zoe. Zoe had worn a tank top and jeans so she couldn't wear her vest. Jeremy covered the short distance and grabbed Zoe around the waist and pulled her to the ground. Richard fired and it nailed Zoe in the left shoulder. His trigger happy partner, Joe, fired and it hit Jeremy in the chest where Zoe wasn't laying. Zoe grabbed Jeremy?s gun and fired two warning shots in the air and the rest of the cops moved in and took them down.
Zoe turned back to Jeremy and put her hands on his chest. She knew he was dying even as she was calling for the EMTs. Zoe made a promise that day. She promised Jeremy that she would take care of his family.
Zoe continues to be a street racer after sending them both to jail and is now partnered with Logan Shapiro. Zoe was walking through the precinct when she saw them checking in a seventeen year old who was heavily pregnant at the time. Zoe asked what her crime was and when bail was set up Zoe posted it and brought the young woman into her life. Zoe then adopted her children as her own when Charlie had her babies. Zoe realized that Charlie could race. Zoe got Charlie a car and welcomed her into her own street racing group. Extra; She houses her fellow teammate Charlie Hardy. She?s good friends with their car supplier/Techie Jonathan Miller. She also plays the mommy to Charlie?s twin babies, Jeremy Alexander and Meygan Mia Andrews. Role; Leader of her own Crew. Their name will be determined at a later date.
Theme Song/s: Alice in Wonderland by Maria Kanellis Appearance; Charlie is 5?6?. She has long black hair that goes past her shoulders. Charlie has hazel eyes. She?s petite and lean. She has her curves but she prefers to cover them up with baggy clothes. She can sometimes have a flirty style of dress when she goes out to the races.
Name; Charlotte Meygan Hardy Nickname; Just Charlie Age; 18 (November 11th, 1993) Gender; Female Sexuality; Heterosexual Day Job; High School Senior Type of Car you Drive; Normal Car: A black 2011 Ford Mustang Street Driving Car: A Hyundai Street Concepts Genesis Coupe Personality; N/A History; Charlie ran away from home at ten. She doesn?t tell anyone how she got across the country from her home town in Boston, Massachusetts. She had an Italian mother and Spanish father. Charlie spent her time in LA hanging out on the streets. She was doing whatever she could to live.
When Charlie was booked into LAPD she was seven months pregnant. Charlie?s bail was posted by the woman she heard the other officers call Detective Andrews. Charlie was surprised that the woman not only posted her bail but brought Charlie into her home. When Charlie had her twins Zoe took them as her own.
Charlie goes to school during the day but at night she is a street racer with Zoe?s crew. Extra; She?s the mother of Jeremy Alexander and Meygan Mia Andrews. She ran away from home at ten. She doesn?t like to talk about why she did though. Role; Just a street racer in Zoe?s crew
Theme Song/s: N/A Appearance;
Name; Dominic Toretto Nickname; Dom Age; 39 (March 3rd, 1972) Gender; Male Sexuality; Heterosexual Day Job; Mechanic Type of Car you Drive; Normal Car/ Street Racing the Car is the same: a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T Personality; N/A History; Dominic is an auto mechanic. He grew up. He is an ex-convict. He continued to pull heists for most of his adult life. He was also a street racer as well. He doesn?t like to talk about his past. He prefers to keep to himself. Extra; He?s the older brother of Mia Toretto. He?s been romantically involved with Letty. Role; Dominic Toretto, My own crew.
keyboard shortcuts: ? previous photo ? next photo L view in light box F favorite < scroll film strip left > scroll film strip right ? show all shortcuts
DES MOINES, Iowa ? They are barely blips in presidential polls and their campaign cash is scarce. Some are running on empty, fueled mainly by the exposure that comes with the blizzard of televised debates in this election cycle and interviews they eagerly grant to skeptical reporters.
Yet the second-tier candidates for the Republican presidential nomination soldier on. They argue that the race is far from over and that anything can happen with polls showing a wide-open race in Iowa five weeks before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum is typical when he resists the conventional wisdom that only candidates with a lot of cash and a big campaign can win.
"I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and I feel like I'm making a difference in the race," said Santorum, who barely registers in state surveys despite having campaigned in Iowa for more than a year. "I absolutely believe our time will come and we'll have the opportunity to have the spotlight turned on us."
Santorum, who represented Pennsylvania in Congress for 16 years, frankly acknowledges the possibility of a different outcome.
"If it doesn't, you know, it doesn't," he said.
Even more than energy and determination, also-ran candidates rely on particular issues, free media and prospects for the future to drive them to keep their small-scale operations going.
With polls and money putting candidates like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain atop the field of Republican rivals, there's a crop of others likely to remain in the race until voters have their say. One force in that dynamic is the fluidity of this year's contest.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman, was among the many candidates who surged when they got into the race but then plummeted in the polls. She's gotten feistier as her fortunes have sagged.
"I guarantee you, with everything within my being, I have the backbone," Bachmann said. "I'll put my backbone up against any other candidate in the race."
That includes Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is adamant that he's not giving up, even as his campaign flails and his once-flush bank account suffers following a series of debate missteps that has some of his fundraisers questioning his viability. He, like Bachmann, Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, are barely blips in many surveys.
Although they don't seem to be catching fire, it turns out that the nomination itself is not the only prize to be had by seeking a presidential nomination.
Rep. Ron Paul's hard-core libertarian views energize a small but loyal base. Santorum uses his platform to hammer his hard-core anti-abortion stance. Bachmann just released a book whose sales could see a boost in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.
And history shows that future leadership posts ? and presidential runs ? can be in the offing.
Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa waged a long-shot bid for the Democratic nomination in 1992, getting forced out after the early primaries. He endorsed candidate Bill Clinton, kept his seat in the Senate and became an influential voice in the Clinton White House.
Romney lost his first presidential bid in 2008 but used that experience to build a network of political and financial supporters serving him well in this election cycle.
There are other reasons too to press ahead when chances of victory seem slim, not the least of which is how quickly politics can change.
Just ask Gingrich. The former House speaker was a footnote in the race this summer after his campaign imploded. Now, as Iowa voters give him a second look, he's enjoying a rise in state and national polls. And he reports that money and manpower are now flowing his way.
It's not unusual for second-tier candidates to stick around long after they have fallen out of favor with voters and donors alike. The structure of the race in Iowa and other early voting states like New Hampshire and South Carolina is designed to make it possible for them to keep going because the states are relatively cheap places to campaign and they value hand-to-hand campaigning over pricy TV ads.
"In Iowa, you can sleep on people's couches and hang on for a long time with very little money," Republican strategist Rich Galen said. "You can live off the land in Iowa. You can't do that in Florida."
The nature of the politics of the first three states to vote also encourages longshot candidates because the contests are dominated in both parties by hard-core activists more interested in political purity than poll numbers.
Steve Scheffler, who heads the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, notes that very few people in Iowa have made firm decisions on whom to support, meaning the race could be anyone's to win.
"There's enough fluidness in the race and enough people out there who are not entrenched in stone," Scheffler said. "The verdict is still out there."
MEXICO CITY ? More than 20 bodies were discovered early Thursday in vehicles abandoned in the heart of Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city and the site of the recent Pan American Games, an official said.
that the bodies were found early Thursday in three vehicles left near the Milennium Arches, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the western city, an official with the prosecutor's office in the state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located, told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information.
The arches stand less than a 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Expo Guadalajara events center, the site of both Pan Am Games events and the Guadalajara International Book Fair, which opens Saturday and describes itself as the world's most important Spanish-language book fair. The fair's website said it was expecting more than 600,000 visitors from around the world.
Guadalajara was flooded with police and soldiers during the Pan American Games and was spared significant violence.
Security officials have feared in recent months, however, that Guadalajara could become the next takeover target of the Zetas drug cartel, which has been using paramilitary-style tactics and headline-grabbing atrocities in a national push to seize territory from older organized crime groups.
Guadalajara was long the home of the methamphetamine-trafficking arm run by Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, a high-ranking commander in the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, named for its Pacific Coast home state north of Guadalajara.
Less than 24 hours before the bodies were found in Guadalajara, 17 bodies were found burned in two pickup trucks in a strikingly similar attack in Sinaloa. Twelve of the bodies were in the back of one truck, some of them handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests.
Luis Carlos Najera, public security secretary for the state of Jalisco, told reporters Thursday morning that a message had been found in one of the vehicles. He did not describe it further. Mexican drug cartels frequently leave threatening messages with the bodies of their victims as a way of sowing fear and taking credit for their actions.
Responding to a reporter's question, Carlos Najera told the Televisa television network that he believed the recent calm in Guadalajara was the result of the increase in security, not that drug cartels had struck a truce during the games.
In Guadalajara, factions of Coronel's operation have been fighting for control since he was killed in a shootout with federal police in July 2010. The factions include the New Generation and another group known as the Resistance.
The Zetas have taken over neighboring Zacatecas state in their push west, and are eyeing Guadalajara both for the meth trade and for extortion potential.
Analysts have said there are rumors that some factions fighting the New Generation are ready to join with the Zetas, a coalition that would form a potent threat to Sinaloa's methamphetamine operations.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
Share ] 
If you're going to waste your time playing games on Facebook, you might as well do it and help build a better world while you're at it. That's the promise, at least, of online entertainment company Sojo Studios, which is today debuting the preview of a Facebook game with a philanthropic twist called 'WeTOPIA'. Backed by a former key Facebook employee, Path CEO Dave Morin, and Esther Dyson - both are on the advisory board - Sojo Studios wants to entice online gamers to play WeTopia in order to develop a better world for children, both on Facebook and in the real world.
