Consequence of Sound points out that while making rounds doing press for his latest film (which seems to be getting?.mixed reviews) We Bought A Zoo, Cameron Crowe stopped by Pearl Jam?s Sirius/XM station to premier a long lost PJ demo, ?Chinese?, which likely bubbled up from the abyss during his archive raiding sessions for the PJ20 (which if you haven?t seen it yet, is still streaming on Netflix and is phenomenal), accordingly from 1991, it?s less than structured and Eddies Vocals are from the center point, but it?s certainly indicative of the meandering and less rock centric stance PJ would take on their music in years to come. Have a listen below?
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" easily beat its rivals in the race to No. 1 at box offices over the Christmas holiday weekend, returning action star Tom Cruise to winning form after several recent flops.
"Ghost Protocol," the fourth movie in Cruise's "Mission: Impossible" series, earned an estimated $46 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters in the four days ending on Monday, according to its distributor Paramount Pictures. Its total estimated ticket sales have reached $78.6 million after debuting in Imax and other large-screen theaters last weekend.
At international theaters, the movie dubbed "MI4", which cost around $145 million to make, sold an additional $140 million worth of tickets through Sunday. Paramount noted its audience rating from researcher CinemaScore was an "A-" and Rottentomatoes.com, a website that combines critics' reviews, gave the movie a 94 percent positive rating overall.
"We're pleased with the way we went with the movie, starting with premium pricing on large screens and letting the reviews and word-of-mouth (publicity) get out ahead of the movie," said Don Harris, president of distribution for Paramount.
Important for leading man Cruise, 49, is that after several box office flops in recent years, including dramas "Valkyrie" and "Lions for Lambs," and action-packed "Knight and Day," the success of "Ghost Protocol" has meant a return to the top of box office charts.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros.' "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" took the No. 2 spot with an estimated $31.8 million over the four days, followed by 20th Century Fox family comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" with a $20 million total that barely put it ahead of No. 4, adult thriller "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," at $19.4 million.
Since its midweek debut last week, "Dragon Tattoo" has earned $27.7 million. A Sony spokesman called it "a good start" that should build this coming week and into the new year.
HO HUM 2011, DOWN 4.45 PCT
Indeed, many new movies hit theaters ahead of, and during, the Christmas holiday weekend -- including "Dragon Tattoo," two movies from Steven Spielberg, "War Horse" and "The Adventures of Tintin," and the Cameron Crowe comedy, "We Bought A Zoo."
The studios expect strong demand in the days ahead while many families take time from work and school, but it is unlikely a surge can lead the domestic box office to topple last year's nearly $10.6 billion in annual ticket sales.
In fact, the top 12 movies this past weekend generated $114 million at box offices, down about 15 percent from last year, according to box office watcher Hollywood.com.
Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com now estimates total 2011 annual domestic (U.S. and Canada) box office at $10.1 billion by year's end, down 4.45 percent from 2010. Attendance so far in 2011 is off about 5 percent, while the average ticket price increased to $7.96 from $7.89.
Still, movie demand did pick up for some new titles over the weekend, and among those making a surge was Fox comedy "We Bought a Zoo," starring Matt Damon. It saw ticket sales jump 139 percent from Saturday to Sunday, its distributor 20th Century Fox said, landing it at No. 6 with $15.6 million, just behind family film "Tintin" at No. 5 with $16.1 million.
"I think playability and word-of-mouth is finally getting out" about "Zoo," said Chris Aronson, who heads domestic distribution for Fox. He noted the movie generated an "A" overall from moviegoers polled by CinemaScore.
Spielberg's "War Horse" landed in the No. 7 spot with $15 million, and another newcomer, thriller "The Darkest Hour," opened eighth with $5.5 million over the four days.
Rounding out the top 10 were holdovers "New Year's Eve" at No. 9 with slightly under $5 million and George Clooney drama "The Descendants" in the 10th position with $3.4 million.
Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. Warner Bros. is part of Time Warner Inc.. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" was released by the movie studio division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a unit of Sony Corp. "Chipwrecked" and "Zoo" were both released by film divisions of 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp..
(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Eric Beech)
MOSCOW (Reuters) ? The architect of Vladimir Putin's tightly controlled political system became one of its most senior victims on Tuesday when he was shunted out of the Kremlin in the wake of the biggest opposition protests of Putin's 12-year rule.
The sacrifice of Vladislav Surkov, branded the Kremlin's 'puppet master' by enemies and friends alike, is also a rare admission of failure for Russia's 'alpha dog' leader: Surkov's system was Putin's system.
With irony worthy of Surkov's cynical novels, the Kremlin's 47-year-old political mastermind was shown grinning on state television when told by President Dmitry Medvedev that he would oversee modernization as a deputy prime minister.
When asked why he was leaving the Kremlin, Surkov deliberately misquoted a slogan from the French Revolution, saying: "Stabilization is eating up its children."
Almost in passing, Surkov told Interfax news agency he would not be running domestic politics after nearly 13 years doing exactly that from the corridors of the Kremlin.
Why? "I am too notorious for the brave new world."
His post will be taken by Putin's chief of staff and Surkov's arch enemy, Vyacheslav Volodin, a wealthy former lawyer who hails from Putin's ruling United Russia party. Anton Vaino, a 39-year-old former diplomat, becomes Putin's chief of staff.
By ejecting Surkov from the Kremlin just two months before the presidential election, Putin is betting that he can neutralize some of the anger against his rule by projecting the impression of a brave new world of political reform.
"What happened today is nothing more than shuffling people from one office into another," Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's third richest man who demanded Surkov be sacked in September, said through a spokesman. "Little will change from these shifts."
Though Surkov's exit may not usher in a vast political change, it is the end of an era for one of Putin's most powerful aides. And at Putin's court, personalities count for everything.
PUTIN'S ARTIST
Described as Russia's answer to France's Cardinal Richelieu or a modern-day Machiavelli, Surkov was one of the creators of the system Putin crafted since he rose to power in 1999.
To admirers, "Slava" Surkov is the most flamboyant mind in Putin's court: a writer of fiction who recited poets such as Allen Ginsberg but also strong enough to hold his own against the KGB spies and oligarchs in the infighting of the Kremlin.
To enemies, Surkov is a dangerous artist who used his brains to expand Putin's power and whose intellectual snobbery made Russian citizens beads in a grand political experiment called "Vladimir Putin."
Fond of black ties and sometimes unshaven, Surkov survived many turf wars but he could not survive the biggest protests of Putin's rule or Putin's need to find someone to blame for them.
As the manager of United Russia, the Kremlin's point man on elections and ultimately the day-to-day manager of Putin's political system, Surkov bore direct responsibility for the protests which have pitted Russia's urban youth against Putin.
He did not answer requests for comment.
Brought into the Kremlin under Boris Yeltsin in 1999 to serve as an aide to then chief of staff Alexander Voloshin, Surkov helped ease the handover of power to Putin.
He then worked with Putin and then President Medvedev to consolidate power, repeatedly using the specter of the chaotic 1990s to warn against swift change.
PUTIN'S SYSTEM
In practice, Surkov's rule meant centralizing power in Putin's hands: Surkov moved regional decision-making to the Kremlin, struck down any attempt at autonomy and directed party politics.
Such was his power that Russia's top party officials, journalists and cultural leaders would visit him in the Kremlin for 'direction' on how to present events to the public.
"He is considered one of the architects of the system," Putin's former finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, told Kommersant FM radio.
"Now this system is being revised. New organizers are needed with different views on the political system," said Kudrin, who has offered to lead dialogue between the opposition and the authorities.
Signs of trouble for Surkov appeared in May when Volodin -the man who eventually took his job - helped Putin create a new movement, or popular front, that would compete with the United Russia party for Putin's patronage.
Volodin, a dollar millionaire fond of ducking reporters questions with irony or personal needling, presented thereporters' popular front to Putin as a way to revive the ruling party.
Volodin's stock rose after securing 65 percent of the vote for Putin's party in Saratov, a region where he was born.
Then in September, the main scriptwriter of Russian politics became the focus of an intriguing unscripted conflict with Prokhorov - the whizz kid of Russian finance - over the fate of a minor opposition party which was crippled by the Kremlin.
"There is a puppet master in this country who long ago privatized the political system and has for a long time misinformed the leadership of the country," Prokhorov, whose fortune Forbes put at $18 billion, said at the time.
"His name is Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov," said Prokhorov, who demanded Putin sack Surkov. Putin had to personally calm down the two sides in the row, two sources said.
But after mass protests in major Russian cities against the parliamentary election and against Putin himself, Surkov's analysis differed to that of his boss.
Putin has dismissed the protesters as chattering monkeys or a motley crew of leaderless opponents bent on sowing chaos, but Surkov gave a more refined view: he said they were among the best people in Russian society.
"You cannot simply swipe away their opinions in an arrogant way," said Surkov, who will now have to move his portrait of Argentine-born revolutionary Che Guevara from his Kremlin office.
Samsung has just announced that the Galaxy S won?t be getting Android 4.0 OS aka Ice Cream Sandwich update. This surely an unfortunate announcement by Samsung for the Galaxy S? users. However, Samsung has their own reason for this sad news.
The main reason was due to hardware limitations that would not be able to run the new Android platform alongside Samsung?s custom TouchWiz user interface. But, we are looking closely, something is up. Since the Android 4.0 OS update is available for the Samsung Nexus S which pretty much similar to the Galaxy S. The device packed with 1GHz Hummingbird processor and enough memory for ICS.
CINCINNATI ? Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes, and Cincinnati withstood yet another fourth-quarter comeback by Arizona, holding on for a 23-16 victory Saturday that kept the Bengals in playoff contention.
Another small crowd at Paul Brown Stadium saw the Bengals (9-6) secure only their third winning record in the last 21 years and stay in the running for the final AFC wild card.
Dalton threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Gresham and a 19-yarder to Jerome Simpson, who did a somersault over a defender and landed on both feet in the end zone. Dalton joined Peyton Manning (26), Charlie Conerly (22) and Dan Marino (20) as the only NFL rookies to throw 20 touchdowns.
Arizona (7-8) rallied from a 23-0 deficit and had a chance to tie. Receiver Early Doucet was uncovered at the goal line but tripped as he ran, letting a fourth-down pass fall incomplete with 1:11 left.
Mayor Ron Littlefield asked in October for the county urban growth committee to meet. The committee met two weeks ago and voted 12-5 not to hear a proposal to open talks on expanding urban growth boundaries within the county.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield said this week he plans to ask Hamilton County officials to reconvene the urban growth boundary committee, even though they shot down the idea two weeks ago.
"Just having one meeting and one vote is not the end of the story," Littlefield said. "That's the beginning of the story."
County Mayor Jim Coppinger responded by saying the law does give the mayor the right to call the committee together again. But he said the law also requires the city to make a proposal and for the committee to vote on that proposal. He noted at the last meeting the city did not have a specific proposal.
"It's an acting committee," he said. "It's not so much a planning committee."
The urban growth boundary committee met two weeks ago and voted 12-5 not to hear any kind of proposal about expanding the boundaries for cities within Hamilton County. The boundaries dictate how far and where cities can annex property.
The boundaries were set in 2001 by the cities and counties after the state Legislature mandated the move to try to circumvent quarreling over city expansion.
Littlefield said he now has a strategy for the next meeting.
"Now we know who is on the urban growth committee," he said. "We'll begin conversing with them."
But several members of the committee who voted against Chattanooga's proposal said Friday a conversation would not turn their vote.
Signal Mountain Mayor Bill Lusk said he is surprised the mayor would not have known who was on the committee since the majority of the committee was made up of all the mayors in the county.
"I suspect he knew the potential committee members long before that," he said.
And Lusk said he doesn't think his vote will change.
"I do not believe the town of Signal Mountain should have a voice in Chattanooga's expansion," he said, and Signal Mountain doesn't need to move its boundaries at this time.
Lakesite Mayor Ken Wilkerson said the City Commission voted unanimously against the expansion of Chattanooga's borders.
"We are totally against any proposal or plan by the city of Chattanooga on the west side of the Tennessee River," he said. "Especially if it encroaches our locks in Lakesite."
Red Bank Mayor Monty Millard said he believes residents of affected annexation areas should have a right to vote on any annexation of their areas. And he said he is staunch in his decision against Chattanooga's plan to change the boundaries.
"I don't think it's going to do any good for me to change my vote," he said. "Even with a call from Mayor Littlefield."
about Cliff Hightower...
Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor?s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
You can only enable or disable it for Vista Home Basic and Home Premium. Computer security is very important; but you do have other choices - for example, Norton UAC.
This program learns from the user's actions, prompts less, provides high security and is what UAC should be in the first place.
Note: Windows UAC must be turned on for the Norton UAC to work properly. What you will notice, if you install it, is a warning screen that has more options (Don't ask me again, being my favorite) and is titled Norton Labs.
Besides Norton UAC, there are other solutions as well in third-party utility programs.
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No, it is not Justin Bieber you see in the above video, but you might recognize the adorable young singer -- Tony Oller -- from Teen TV shows such as Gigantic and As The Bell Rings. Even more recognizable? The blonde-haired, dough-eyed actor playing his girlfriend-stealing friend: Lucas Till, from X-Men: First Class and Hannah Montana: The Movie.
With all the Adele covers popping up on YouTube lately, this might be one of the best versions of the song we've heard yet. What do you think? Sound off in the comments below or tweet us your thoughts @huffposthigh.
Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll
North Korea welcomed plans for two private 'condolence delegations' from South Korea to Kim Jong-il's funeral, but condemned the South's refusal to send official delegation and warned darkly of consequences.
North Korea is turning the funeral in Pyongyang next Wednesday for Kim Jong-il into an opportunity for rhetoric against South Korea for refusing to send an official condolence delegation and then for banning most other South Koreans from going there as well.
Skip to next paragraph
North Korea?s official website Uriminzokkiri on Friday attacked South Korea for ?unacceptable and inhumane action? for banning all but two condolence groups and warned darkly of the ban?s ?significant impact? of the ban.
The message on the website appeared as an attempt at intimidation, and a bid to suggest a new crisis on the Korean peninsula after Kim Jong-un, third son of Kim Jong-il, has assumed power.
"We will keep in mind those who do not understand even the most basic actions of respect and humanity,? said the message, warning that those ?who insult our dignity? face ?a very expensive price.?
The rhetoric suggested that the regime that falls into place after the funeral is not likely to shift dramatically from the hard-line stance of Kim Jong-il, who ruled with an iron fist during 17 years in power before his death ? even while earning a reputation as a playboy and charming foreign visitors.
?Not in the short run,? says David Kang, professor of Korean studies at the University of Southern California, when asked about chances for a thaw in North Korea?s tough stance vis-?-vis South Korea, the US, and Japan. ?If he?s following in his father?s footsteps, it will take a couple of years? before there?s any change in outlook.
Travelers move through security lines Friday at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
No significant weather-related delays are reported at major airports
A winter storm warning remains in effect for parts of New Mexico and Texas
Travel is discouraged in parts of southeastern New Mexico
Is winter weather threatening your holiday travel plans? Share your photos, videos and stories.
(CNN) -- Air travelers scurrying across the country on Christmas Eve will likely get a reprieve from weather-related delays Saturday, as no major delays were reported at the country's largest airports Saturday morning.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration's website, airports from Boston to Los Angeles and from Miami to Seattle had delays of 15 minutes or less.
The relatively travel-friendly weather came a day after high winds and snow prompted airport and highway delays in several areas across the country.
On Friday, delays were reported at New York's LaGuardia airport, and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport tried to play catch up after 5,200 flights were affected following severe weather on Thursday.
But road travel in southeastern New Mexico remained dangerous on Saturday, as parts of the state -- along with far western parts of Texas -- were under a winter storm warning.
About 1 to 4 inches of snow was expected to fall in parts of New Mexico, according to the National Weather Service
"Travel is still discouraged throughout the region due to slick and hazardous roadways," the weather agency said.
WATERVILLE, Maine ? More than 60 people prayed for hope at a candlelight vigil for a missing 20-month-old girl in Maine, as tips poured in and the search was expanded Wednesday to include trails and more waterways.
Fifty trained volunteers from the Maine Search and Rescue Association joined 75 to 80 law enforcement officers already participating in the search for Ayla Reynolds, which entered its fifth day.
"I can tell you, they are working just as hard as if it was their own child," Waterville City Manager Mike Roy told the group at the vigil at the First Congregational Church, where a photo of a smiling Ayla, a few children's drawings and stuffed toys contributed by local families formed a centerpiece at the front of the pews.
Residents, many of them mothers with young children, prayed, sang hymns and offered one another support and hope during the service, which was moved indoors because of freezing rain and raw temperatures.
"I want to support the family," Cori Cote said as she held her 16-month-old daughter before the vigil. "I couldn't imagine losing my little girl. I want Ayla back safe."
Earlier, the police chief in the central Maine city, Joseph Massey, said more streams and ponds were lowered to aid searchers, and additional woods and open areas were checked as the search area grew outward from the girl's house. The Maine Marine Patrol searched the Kennebec River, which forms the edge of the city.
Searchers have looked through trash bins and lowered portions of Messalonskee Stream in the city, looking for signs of Ayla. The FBI continued Wednesday to go door-to-door in a "knock and talk" canvassing effort.
Massey said the number of leads offered by citizens grew by more than 60 in a day to 165, and each one was being checked out.
"That is keeping investigators very, very busy, as you can imagine," the chief said.
The toddler was last seen Friday night when her father, Justin DiPietro, said he put her to bed wearing a green one-piece pajama set with polka dots and the words "Daddy's Princess."
DiPietro called police the next morning to say she wasn't there. Several other adults were in the home at the time, but Massey declined to identify them.
Tuesday night, DiPietro addressed the public for the first time, saying in a statement he had "no idea what happened to Ayla, or who is responsible."
DiPietro released the statement through the Waterville police, saying his family and friends will do "everything we can to assist in this investigation and get Ayla back home."
Massey said DiPietro and the Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, continue to cooperate with police.
An Amber Alert, which lets the public know about an abducted child, wasn't declared, and no manhunt is under way. State police say the case didn't fit the criteria for an Amber Alert because Ayla was reported missing about 12 hours after being last seen, and there was no vehicle and no suspect.
People walk past a Microsoft display before the opening of the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), January 6, 2010 in Las Vegas.
By Suzanne Choney
Microsoft says next month's 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the world's largest consumer technology trade show, will be its last as both a keynote presenter and exhibitor.
"We?ll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won?t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don?t align with the show?s January timing," said Frank X. Shaw, corporate vice president of Microsoft corporate communications, on the company's blog.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBCUniversal.)
Traditionally, Microsoft head honcho ? in times past, Bill Gates, and now Steve Ballmer ? has been the kick-off keynote speaker of the annual event, which drew more than 140,000 attendees last year, and will be held Jan. 9-13.
In a statement requested by msnbc.com,?the Consumer Electronics Association, which puts on CES,?made it sound like more of a mutual decision:
In the fourteen years that we have invited Microsoft to deliver a keynote address at CES, the company has unveiled some great innovations, from operating systems to gaming platforms to mobile technologies,? Both CEA and Microsoft have agreed that the time has come to end this great run, and so Microsoft will not have a keynote at the 2013 CES.?
When Microsoft talks about not having a "booth," that's not insignificant ? in the past, its booth has taken up pretty much an entire exhibit hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where part of CES is held. The company has also previously erected large tents on the convention center grounds as well.
Shaw said that Microsoft asked whether it was continuing to do the show "because it's the right thing to do, or because 'it's the way we've always done it?'"
The answer, he said, is, "As we look at all of the new ways we tell our consumer stories ? from product momentum disclosures, to exciting events like our Big Windows Phone, to a range of consumer connection points like Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft.com and our retail stores ? it feels like the right time to make this transition."
Steve Jobs made a similar decision for Apple, when he said starting in 2010 the company would no longer participate in the Macworld trade show. (Apple has never participated in CES, although its influence is definitely present.)
Microsoft, Shaw said, "has enjoyed a close-to-20-year working relationship with the Consumer Electronics Association," and "we look forward to working with CEA for many years to come."
Said CEA: "Microsoft is an important member of CEA and we wish them all the best as they evolve their plans for new ways to tell consumer stories.?"
Related stories:
Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
Catholic Group Blasts Cardinal's Comment Comparing Gay Rights Parade to KKK
Post by Sarah Posner
Equally Blessed, an umbrella group of four pro-LGBT rights Catholic organizations, today condemned comments made by Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, past president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, objecting to Chicago's gay rights parade. On Fox News Chicago, George said,?"You don't want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism."
Equally Blessed charges in a statement that George "has demeaned and demonized LGBT people in a manner unworthy of his office.?In suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy has reason to fear LGBT people in the same way that blacks, Jews, Catholics and other minorities had reason to fear the murderous nightriders of the Ku Klux Klan, he has insulted the memory of the victims of the Klan?s violence and brutality."
The statement goes on to emphasize that they have "no fight with the Catholic Church," noting that public opinion surveys show Catholics are more supportive of LGBT rights than other Christian denominations. Equality Blessed objects to "the positions of the Catholic hierarchy and the way it uses its influence to force its narrow theological understanding on the wider society. Cardinal George?s offensive comments are further evidence of just how insensitive and out of touch the hierarchy is, and why opposition to its views is necessary."
WASHINGTON ? A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun.
Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt Thursday night when it came close to where temperatures hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived.
But astronomers watching live with NASA telescopes first saw the sun's corona wiggle as Lovejoy went close to the sun. They were then shocked when a bright spot emerged on the sun's other side. Lovejoy lived.
"I was delighted when I saw it go into the sun and I was astounded when I saw something re-emerge," said U.S. Navy solar researcher Karl Battams.
Lovejoy didn't exactly come out of its hellish adventure unscathed. Only 10 percent of the comet ? which was probably millions of tons ? survived the encounter, said W. Dean Pesnell, project scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which tracked Lovejoy's death-defying plunge.
And the comet lost something pretty important: its tail.
"It looks like the tail broke off and is stuck" in the sun's magnetic field, Pesnell said.
Comets circle the sun and sometimes get too close. Lovejoy came within 75,000 miles of the sun's surface, Battams said. For a small object often described as a dirty snowball comprised of ice and dust, that brush with the sun should have been fatal.
Astronomers say it probably didn't melt completely because the comet was larger than they thought.
The frozen comet was evaporating as it made the trip toward the sun, "just like you're sweating on a hot day," Pesnell said.
"It's like an ice cube going by a barbecue grill," he said.
Pesnell said the comet, although only discovered at the end of November by an Australian observer, probably is related to a comet that came by Earth on the way to the sun in 1106.
As Comet Lovejoy makes its big circle through the solar system, it will be another 800 or 900 years before it nears the sun again, astronomers say.
___
Online:
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory: http://1.usa.gov/upZJgS
U.S. Naval Research Lab's Sun-grazing comet website (video, photos at bottom): http://bit.ly/sfAAN5
New York ? Goodbye, Rombot. Hello, sensitive human? Here's how Team Romney is trying to make the super-rich, often-wooden candidate seem like the rest of us
"Meet Mitt Romney, human," says Reid J. Epstein in Politico. With the GOP nomination seemingly fading from sight, Team Romney has been working overtime to soften the so-called "Rombot" candidate who's been on display all year. The push to "humanize" Romney ? a strategy his campaign team disavows ? has its skeptics. But it's pretty clear, says Ashley Parker in The New York Times, that the often "inscrutable, overly polished, and occasionally robotic" candidate "is striving mightily to humanize himself just three weeks before the first round of voting begins." How? Here are six ways:
1. Deputizing his family The humanizing effort began last week with a spate of TV ads emphasizing Mitt the Family Man. And to "show his softer side," says Philip Rucker in The Washington Post, Romney "has been campaigning more frequently with his wife, Ann, and their family." He's had various of his five sons introduce him at events, and is telling more personal anecdotes about his family life. The subtext may be a swipe at thrice-married GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich, but it's also tactically "good to remind Iowans of how strong he is from a family standpoint," says unaligned Iowa GOP congressman Steve King.
SEE MORE: Time for Mitt Romney to attack Newt Gingrich?
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2. Sending his wife to talk about his unseen side Beyond featuring wife Ann in ads, Romney is sending her out to smaller private fundraisers to talk about "the side of Mitt people don't see or don't hear about." In other words, says Jessica Grose in Slate, "she's trying to make Mitt seem less stiff, and more fun." It might work, but if she wants to improve on "her first attempt at Mitt humanization circa 2007," Ann Romney is going to have to be a little more "specific, intimate, and revealing." It's nice that Mitt stood by her through breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, but Ann will have to "up the personal disclosures if she wants to crack that lacquered image that most people have of her husband."
3. Talking about his Mormonism The Dec. 10 debate marked the first time in four years that Romney brought up being a Mormon, and he's only upped the religion talk since, discussing his stints as a missionary in France and as a stateside counselor to struggling Mormons. In "racing to humanize a distant and sometimes awkward politician...," say Ben Smith and Maggie Haberman in Politico, Team Romney just "smashed personal red lines the candidate spent decades erecting." He's even joking about his religion, claiming that he "encouraged the guys" who created the lewd, satirical Broadway hit The Book of Mormon, "because I thought that'd be really helpful."
SEE MORE: Why Fox News viewers don't like Mitt Romney: 4 theories
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4. Talking (maybe too much) about his hardships Mitt's Mormon remembrances included new details about his two-year missionary stint that weren't even in his autobiography. Insisting he wasn't "living high on the hog" in France, Romney told a crowd on Sunday that he'd subsisted on $110 a month, in bare-bones apartments often without refrigerators, showers, or even toilets. Instead of toilets, he had "little pads on the ground, OK?" he elaborated. "You know how that works, all right. There was a chain behind you with a bucket ? it was a bucket affair." I get that he's trying to "shed his robotic image,"?says Zeke Miller in Business Insider. But that's "a definitional case of the phrase 'Too Much Information'."
5. Meeting the press more After facing criticism for avoiding the press, and then blowing an on-air chat with Fox News'?Bret Baier, Romney has dramatically boosted his access to reporters. More is needed, American University political scientist Leonard Steinhorn tells the Boston Herald. "If he wants to humanize himself, he better work as quickly as possible and work as many media outlets as possible," especially Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Romney himself seems cool to the idea, telling the Herald he'd "much rather have a setting that's fun, and give-and-take."
SEE MORE: Romney's big weakness: Speaking French?
?
6. Talking about how equally un-human his rivals are Romney's estimated $200 million in wealth may make him seem removed from everyday Americans, but he "doesn't want to be cast as the only rich person in the race for the Republican presidential nomination," says Brian Montopoli in CBS News. On Wednesday Romney pointed out that Gingrich is also "a wealthy man, a very wealthy man," adding that "if you have a half a million dollar purchase from Tiffany's, you're not a middle class American." Zing! Gingrich is worth at least $6.7 million.
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A norm to improve train safety and circulation in EuropePublic release date: 16-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ana Herrera oic@uc3m.es Carlos III University of Madrid
This press release is available in Spanish.
In this meeting of the JWG - the work group made up of European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) - the last revision of the text was carried out that will make up norm EN 45545, which affects the entire railroad industry, the operators, fire-testing laboratories and standardization entities. This meeting took place on the Legans campus of the UC3M, under the auspices of the Master's in Fire Safety Engineering Program, from the Pedro Juan de Lastanosa Institute.
The final version of the text made within the framework of this meeting will be submitted to formal vote in the standardization committees of the different countries for its approval, and the norm will foreseeably be published at the end of 2012. . "After 20 years of intense discussion and debate between industry, operators and laboratories, and after incorporating important results from research, agreement was at least reached to consider a text that will guarantee the same level of safety for railway passengers in all countries," UC3M Professor Jos Luis Prez Daz, the Spanish representative at JWG pointed out. As the coordinator of the mirror group, its function is to transmit the different discussions to the agents involved in Spain, as well as the industries and operators, and in addition, to carry out these discussions from the point of view of these Spanish agents.
This is basic norm for railway vehicles to circulate freely all over Europe, according to the experts. Its purpose is to unify fire safety criteria on passenger trains in the different European countries which adopt it, so that trains complying can circulate without problems. "It improves safety, but it also facilitates free circulation and free competition in the railway sector," Professor Prez Daz asserted, director of the Master's in Fire Safety Engineering Program, from the Pedro Juan de Lastanosa Institute.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
A norm to improve train safety and circulation in EuropePublic release date: 16-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ana Herrera oic@uc3m.es Carlos III University of Madrid
This press release is available in Spanish.
In this meeting of the JWG - the work group made up of European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) - the last revision of the text was carried out that will make up norm EN 45545, which affects the entire railroad industry, the operators, fire-testing laboratories and standardization entities. This meeting took place on the Legans campus of the UC3M, under the auspices of the Master's in Fire Safety Engineering Program, from the Pedro Juan de Lastanosa Institute.
The final version of the text made within the framework of this meeting will be submitted to formal vote in the standardization committees of the different countries for its approval, and the norm will foreseeably be published at the end of 2012. . "After 20 years of intense discussion and debate between industry, operators and laboratories, and after incorporating important results from research, agreement was at least reached to consider a text that will guarantee the same level of safety for railway passengers in all countries," UC3M Professor Jos Luis Prez Daz, the Spanish representative at JWG pointed out. As the coordinator of the mirror group, its function is to transmit the different discussions to the agents involved in Spain, as well as the industries and operators, and in addition, to carry out these discussions from the point of view of these Spanish agents.
This is basic norm for railway vehicles to circulate freely all over Europe, according to the experts. Its purpose is to unify fire safety criteria on passenger trains in the different European countries which adopt it, so that trains complying can circulate without problems. "It improves safety, but it also facilitates free circulation and free competition in the railway sector," Professor Prez Daz asserted, director of the Master's in Fire Safety Engineering Program, from the Pedro Juan de Lastanosa Institute.
###
[ | 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.
Apple will refresh the stock iPad wallpapers when it eventually gets round to releasing iOS 5.1 to the public. iOS 5.1 is currently in its second beta phase and as there is no sign of a Gold Master release we have no idea when it will become...
Rapid rise in wildfires in large parts of Canada? Public release date: 16-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tilo Arnhold presse@ufz.de 49-341-235-1635 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Ecologists show for the first time threshold values for natural wildfires
This press release is available in German.
Chicago/Leipzig. Large forest regions in Canada are apparently about to experience rapid change. Based on models, scientists can now show that there are threshold values for wildfires just like there are for epidemics. Large areas of Canada are apparently approaching this threshold value and may in future exceed it due to climate change. As a result both the area burnt down annually and the average size of the fires would increase, write the researchers of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Michigan in the December issue of the journal the American Naturalist. The strategies for combating wildfires in large parts of Canada should therefore be reconsidered.
According to media reports, after weeks of drought around 1,000 hectares of forest and scrubland were burnt down in the West Canadian province British Columbia in the summer of 2009 alone. 11,000 people had to be evacuated. Are such events on the rise as a result of climate change? This question is being hotly debated by ecologists all over the world. In July a group of US researchers led by Anthony Westerling of the University of California forecasted similar changes in the journal PNAS. They believe that climate change might result in a dramatic increase in the threat of wildfires in Yellowstone National Park and that the forests might disappear here in the 21st century.
Fires are an important factor in many terrestrial ecosystems. They are a result of the interaction of the weather, vegetation and land use, which makes them very sensitive to global change. "Changes in the wildfire regime have a significant impact on a local and global scale and therefore on the climate as well. It is therefore important to understand how the mechanisms which shape these wildfires work in order to be able to make predictions on what will change in future," explains PD Dr. Volker Grimm of the UFZ.
For their model, the scientists evaluated data from the Canadian Forest Service, which had recorded fires greater than 200 hectares between 1959 and 1999, and sorted these by ecozone. This showed that three of these ecozones in Canada are close to a turning point: the Hudson Plains south of the Hudson Bay, the Boreale Plains in the Mid-West the Boreale Shield, which stretches from the Mid-West to the East coast and is therefore the largest ecozone in Canada. The closest to a turning point is apparently the Boreale Shield. In order to check their model and the theory of a threshold value for wildfires, the scientists looked at the fires in this region more closely. Around 1980 the average size of the fires in this part of the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba tripled rapidly. "In our opinion this is a sign that there are also threshold values for forests above which the wildfire regime drastically changes," reports Volker Grimm. "It is likely that the Boreale Plains have in recent decades, particularly around 1980, experienced a change to a system characterised by wildfires. This has fundamental repercussions for the environment and the combating of wildfires. Small changes in the fire propagation parameters have a great impact on the size of the fires." Gradual changes, such as those which can be expected due to climate change, can therefore result in an abrupt and sharp increase in the size of the fires.
The scientists were also interested in the parallels with disease propagation. Prevention strategies, which reduce combustible material, are in a way similar to the vaccinations which are used against the spread of diseases such as the measles. Here too there is a threshold value above which a disease spreads and below which it falls. Other modellers from the UFZ were therefore able to turn this theoretical threshold value into a practical value. With foxes it was shown that only 60 per cent had to be vaccinated against rabies in order to successfully combat the disease. The scientists therefore hope to find out more in future studies which cover both disciplines.
Tilo Arnhold
###
Publication:
Richard D. Zinck, Mercedes Pascual and Volker Grimm (2011): Understanding Shifts in Wildfire Regimes as Emergent Threshold Phenomena. The American Naturalist. Vol. 178, No. 6, December 2011
http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/662675
The studies were funded by the European Union within the scope of the EU's PATRES project.
Other technical information:
PD Dr. Volker Grimm
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Telephone: 0341-235-1711
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=3679
and
Richard D. Zinck
E-mail: zinck@umich.edu
and
Dr. Mercedes Pascual
University of Michigan
Telephone: 734-615-9808
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/eeb/directory/faculty/pascual/
UN Year of Forests 2011:
http://www.biodiversity.de/index.php/de/fuer-presse-medien/top-themen-biodiversitaet/1345-wie-wird-der-wald-von-morgen-sein/
http://www.wald2011.de/
http://www.un.org/esa/forests/index.html
Study: Climate Change to Increase Yellowstone Wildfires Dramatically
http://www.ucmerced.edu/news/study-climate-change-increase-yellowstone-wildfires-dramatically
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/07/20/1110199108
Fires regenerate African grassland (press release, 19 September 2008):
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=17197
Disturbances in Ecosystems:
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=17620
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.
Rapid rise in wildfires in large parts of Canada? Public release date: 16-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tilo Arnhold presse@ufz.de 49-341-235-1635 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Ecologists show for the first time threshold values for natural wildfires
This press release is available in German.
Chicago/Leipzig. Large forest regions in Canada are apparently about to experience rapid change. Based on models, scientists can now show that there are threshold values for wildfires just like there are for epidemics. Large areas of Canada are apparently approaching this threshold value and may in future exceed it due to climate change. As a result both the area burnt down annually and the average size of the fires would increase, write the researchers of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Michigan in the December issue of the journal the American Naturalist. The strategies for combating wildfires in large parts of Canada should therefore be reconsidered.
According to media reports, after weeks of drought around 1,000 hectares of forest and scrubland were burnt down in the West Canadian province British Columbia in the summer of 2009 alone. 11,000 people had to be evacuated. Are such events on the rise as a result of climate change? This question is being hotly debated by ecologists all over the world. In July a group of US researchers led by Anthony Westerling of the University of California forecasted similar changes in the journal PNAS. They believe that climate change might result in a dramatic increase in the threat of wildfires in Yellowstone National Park and that the forests might disappear here in the 21st century.
Fires are an important factor in many terrestrial ecosystems. They are a result of the interaction of the weather, vegetation and land use, which makes them very sensitive to global change. "Changes in the wildfire regime have a significant impact on a local and global scale and therefore on the climate as well. It is therefore important to understand how the mechanisms which shape these wildfires work in order to be able to make predictions on what will change in future," explains PD Dr. Volker Grimm of the UFZ.
For their model, the scientists evaluated data from the Canadian Forest Service, which had recorded fires greater than 200 hectares between 1959 and 1999, and sorted these by ecozone. This showed that three of these ecozones in Canada are close to a turning point: the Hudson Plains south of the Hudson Bay, the Boreale Plains in the Mid-West the Boreale Shield, which stretches from the Mid-West to the East coast and is therefore the largest ecozone in Canada. The closest to a turning point is apparently the Boreale Shield. In order to check their model and the theory of a threshold value for wildfires, the scientists looked at the fires in this region more closely. Around 1980 the average size of the fires in this part of the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba tripled rapidly. "In our opinion this is a sign that there are also threshold values for forests above which the wildfire regime drastically changes," reports Volker Grimm. "It is likely that the Boreale Plains have in recent decades, particularly around 1980, experienced a change to a system characterised by wildfires. This has fundamental repercussions for the environment and the combating of wildfires. Small changes in the fire propagation parameters have a great impact on the size of the fires." Gradual changes, such as those which can be expected due to climate change, can therefore result in an abrupt and sharp increase in the size of the fires.
The scientists were also interested in the parallels with disease propagation. Prevention strategies, which reduce combustible material, are in a way similar to the vaccinations which are used against the spread of diseases such as the measles. Here too there is a threshold value above which a disease spreads and below which it falls. Other modellers from the UFZ were therefore able to turn this theoretical threshold value into a practical value. With foxes it was shown that only 60 per cent had to be vaccinated against rabies in order to successfully combat the disease. The scientists therefore hope to find out more in future studies which cover both disciplines.
Tilo Arnhold
###
Publication:
Richard D. Zinck, Mercedes Pascual and Volker Grimm (2011): Understanding Shifts in Wildfire Regimes as Emergent Threshold Phenomena. The American Naturalist. Vol. 178, No. 6, December 2011
http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/662675
The studies were funded by the European Union within the scope of the EU's PATRES project.
Other technical information:
PD Dr. Volker Grimm
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Telephone: 0341-235-1711
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=3679
and
Richard D. Zinck
E-mail: zinck@umich.edu
and
Dr. Mercedes Pascual
University of Michigan
Telephone: 734-615-9808
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/eeb/directory/faculty/pascual/
UN Year of Forests 2011:
http://www.biodiversity.de/index.php/de/fuer-presse-medien/top-themen-biodiversitaet/1345-wie-wird-der-wald-von-morgen-sein/
http://www.wald2011.de/
http://www.un.org/esa/forests/index.html
Study: Climate Change to Increase Yellowstone Wildfires Dramatically
http://www.ucmerced.edu/news/study-climate-change-increase-yellowstone-wildfires-dramatically
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/07/20/1110199108
Fires regenerate African grassland (press release, 19 September 2008):
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=17197
Disturbances in Ecosystems:
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=17620
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.
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Public release date: 16-Dec-2011
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