THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah

Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 343rd day of 2012 with 22 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 38ºF [Feels like 34ºF], winds variable @ 5 mph, humidity 70%, pressure 30.15 in and falling, dew point 29ºF, chance of precipitation 1%.

Today in History:
1608--Puritan poet and scholar John Milton was born in London; died 1674 at age 65.
1775--the Virginia and North Carolina militias defeated those serving John Murray, earl of Dunmore and governor of Virginia, at Great Bridge outside Norfolk, ending British royal control of Virginia.
1792--the first formal cremation of a human body in America took place near Charleston, SC.
1835--the newly created Texan Army captured San Antonio in its war for independence from Mexico.
1854--the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England.
1868--W.E. Gladstone became British prime minister for the first of his four terms.
1907--Christmas seals went on sale for the first time, at the Wilmington, Del., post office, the proceeds going to fight tuberculosis.
1916--actor Kirk Douglas turns 96 years old.
1917--Turkish troops surrendered Jerusalem to British troops led by Viscount Allenby.
1920--the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to US President Woodrow Wilson.
1921--General Motors engineers discovered that leaded gas reduced "knock" in auto engines.
1926--the US Golf Association legalized steel-shaft golf lubs.
1940--the British 8th Army launched a major offensive in North Africa against Italians in Sidi Barrani in Egypt.
1941--China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.
1948--the UN General Assembly approved the Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
1950--Harry Gold, confessed go-between British scientist Klaus Fuchs and Soviet agents, went to prison for his role in atomic bomb espionage.
1952--the London Fog cleared after 4 days during which London transport was brought to a standstill.
1958--in Indianapolis, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H. W. Welch, Jr., established the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fighting what it perceived to be the extensive infiltration of communism into US society.
1962--Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park was established.
1965-- the New York Times reported that the US bombing campaign neither destabilized North Vietnam's economy nor appreciably reduced the flow of its forces into South Vietnam.
1965--the TV debut of the comic strip "Peanuts" gang, in A Charlie Brown Christmas, was on this date.
1971--the Vietnam peace talks in Paris broke down.
1972--"I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy topped the US pop charts.
1973--in London, Keith Moon, Rod Stewart and Roger Daltry opened the rock opera, Tommy.
1973--after Vice Pres. Spiro T. Agnew resigned, House Speaker Gerald Ford became the country’s first, appointed Vice President. 1985--former Argentine president Jorge Videla and his fellow junta member, Adm. Emilio Massera, were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the "dirty war" against left-wing guerrillas in which up to 9,000 people disappeared.
1987--the first riots of the Palestinian intifada began one day after an Israeli truck crash in the Jabalya refugee district of Gaza, killed four and wounded 10 Palestinian workers.
1990--Solidarity's Lech Walesa was elected president of Poland.
1992--1,800 US Marines arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order in the conflict-ridden country.
1992, Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation.
1993--the US Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.
2000--the US Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt in the Florida presidential vote count.
2002--United Airlines filed the biggest bankruptcy in aviation history after losing $4 billion in the previous two years.
2004--Canada's Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional.
2006--arson was suspected in a Moscow clinic fire that killed 45 women trapped in the inferno by metal bars across the windows. 2008--Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on suspicion of scheming to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat for cash or a job for himself in the new administration. (Blagojevich was convicted of lying to the FBI; he awaits re-trial on 23 other charges.)

World News Capsules:
1. For Afghan officials, facing prospect of death is in the job description
....Afghan government officials do not worry so much about the wrath of constituents as about being assassinated by the Taliban.
a. Karzai implicates Pakistan in suicide bombing that hurt Afghan spy chief
....The Afghan president says that the suicide bomber who staged the attack came from Pakistan, with the help of a sophisticated foreign intelligence service.
2. Cuban agriculture struggles under creaky infrastructure and yields a meager crop
....Although the government has liberalized many aspects of agriculture and more Cubans are farming, because of waste, poor management, policy constraints and other problems, many are actually seeing less food at new private markets.
3. Backing off added powers, Egypt's leader presses vote
....Pres. Mohamed Morsi rescinded most of a temporary order elevating his authority, but did not postpone a referendum on a draft constitution, a critical opposition demand.
4. Racetrack drugs put Europe off US horse meat
....European officials have warned Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses that the meat of American racehorses may be too toxic to eat safely because of repeated drug injections.
5. After radio prank, hospital chairman condemns Australian network
....After two Australian radio hosts, as a prank, called the London hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated, a nurse who fell victim to the hoax was found dead.
6. In Guatemala, a family, for a few days a year

....Hundreds of children have been stranded in orphanages for years as authorities there weigh whether to approve their adoptions by families in the United States. Amy and Rob Carr of Reno, Nev., are among the 4,000 Americans who found themselves stuck in limbo when Guatemala shut down its . international adoption program in 2008.
7. Italy's prime minister to qit after losing party support

....Prime Minister Mario Monti announced his plans after his scandal-ridden predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, said he would run again.
8. A fringe politician moves to Japan's national stage
....Shintaro Ishihara, a novelist turned political firebrand, has emerged as a contender for prime minister and promises to restore Japan's battered national pride.
Land routes blocked, Mexican smuggling rises sharply on California coast
....As security along the Mexican border has tightened, the waters off Southern California have been teeming with smugglers, as drug cartels seek new avenues to move illicit cargo into the US.
9. North Korea cites rocket problems
....Referencing technical issues, North Korea said that it might have to postpone a rocket launching planned for as early as Monday.
10. In Pakistan, US dronestrike kills a senior al-Qaida commander

....The militant, Abdel Rehman al-Hussainan, died in a missile attack on a house in North Waziristan, along the border with Afghanistan.
11. Leader celbrates founding of Hamas with defiant speech

....Hamas's political leader vowed to build an Islamic Palestinian state on all the land of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
12. Russia announces barriers on imports of US meat
....The move was seen by some analysts as retaliation for American legislation punishing Russian officials linked to human rights violations.
13. Rumblings for change in Sudan's governing party
....Younger members representing the Islamist core of the National Congress Party are pushing an agenda of fighting corruption and expanding dialogue with the opposition.
14. Syria rebels tied to al-Qaida play key role in war

....The US faces a challenge, as some of the best fighters in an uprising that it wants to support belong to a group that it considers a terrorist organization.
a. Fear of fighting haunts a once-tranquil Damascus
....Through decades of political repression, the Syrian capital has maintained a sense of peace, but nearby fighting has rattled residents, making them afraid to leave their neighborhoods.
15. Chávez says his cancer has returned and names his successor, Nicolas Maduro

....Doctors found malignant cells during tests in Cuba, Pres. Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said, adding that his vice president would succeed him if his health worsened.

US News Capsules:
1. Worry tempers joy over gay marriage's moment in court

....Supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage discussed the possible outcomes of the Supreme Court's decision to hear two cases relating to the issue.
2. Breathing life, and art, into a downtrodden neighborhood

....Once a forlorn slab in one of Miami's roughest sections, the Wynwood community is being transformed into a destination for art and culture by the people who helped reshape SoHo and South Beach.
3. A vault for taking charage of your online life

....Michael Fertik, the founder and chief executive of Reputation.com, at its offices in Redwood City, Calif., where he has amassed a database of information collected on millions of consumers. He is building a business around helping people store personal data about themselves as a way to manage their online reputations.
4. Yo, Adrian! I'm singin'
....A stage musical based on the 1976 movie Rocky has proved a hit in Hamburg, Germany. Now its producers hope to bring it to Broadway.
5. Well-worn sound, with unrelenting swagger

....What is a Rolling Stones show in 2012? At the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday it was slapping guitar from Keith Richards and irrepressible stamina from Mick Jagger.
6. 'Famous' wolf is killed outside Yellowstone
....A wolf known as 832F to researchers was the alpha female of Yellowstone National Park’s highly visible Lamar Canyon pack, and some wildlife watchers referred to her as a “rock star."
7. Billion-dollar flop: Air Force stumbles on software plan
....An effort to modernize a logistics management system is canceled after six years and a cost of more than $1 billion.
8. Florida tackling python problem with hunting contest

....Burmese pythons have been threatening Florida's ecosystem for years, so the state is turning to the public for help in the form of a hunting contest to cull the population.
POLITICS:
1. Tax arithmetic shows top rate is just a starter
....Despite hints that President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner might compromise on the tax rate paid by top earners, a host of other tax questions could still derail a fiscal deal.
2. Changing affliation again, former governnor of Florida becomes a Democrat
....Charlie Crist, who was elected governor of Florida as a Republican, then ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate as an independent, announced the move via Twitter.
3. New taxes to take effect to fund health care law
....As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the new levies, which take effect in January, include an increase in the payroll tax on wages and a tax on investment income.
4. Clinton's countless choices inge on one: 2016
....With her tenure as Secretary of State coming to an end, Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to be a figure of nearly limitless possibility, but her next few years could ultimately be defined by her plans for the 2016 election.
5. IMF chief: US economy will stop growing without a deal

....Christine Lagarde says a temporary fix to avoid the fiscal cliff would be insufficient and would lead the markets to "react very quickly ... really taking a hit."

Sports Headlines:
1. Boxing: Pacquiao stunned in 6th round

....Juan Manuel Marquez knocked out Manny Pacquiao at the end of the sixth round of their nontitle welterweight bout, beating him for the first time in his fourth attempt.
2. NCAAF: Manziel, in his 1st season, achieves a Heisman first


....Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel beat out Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein for college football's most prestigious award.
a. Army batters Navy, but bid to end streak slips from its grasp
....Army, which has the No. 1 rushing offense in the Football Bowl Subdivision, fell for the 11th straight year to Navy 17-13 despite amassing 370 yards on the ground.
3. Knicks fall apart vs. Bulls' defense

....The loss in Chicago ended a five-game winning streak for the Knicks, who were inefficient on offense and played their second straight game without Carmelo Anthony.
a. After two contenders rebuild, the Thunder lok stronger
....After both teams went through substantial off-season makeovers, it’s the Thunder who have taken a step forward while the Lakers have struggled to find chemistry this season.
4. NFL: Jets, with limited game plan for Sanchez, win second staight 17-10

....A week after pulling him from a game, Rex Ryan gave the ball to Mark Sanchez, but installed a safe, protect-the-ball-first plan that focused on the run.
5. MLB: Dodgers are said to land Greinke
....The Los Angeles Dodgers reached a record contract Saturday with starting pitcher Zack Greinke, agreeing to a six-year, $147 million deal.

Thought for Today
"What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence."
--Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English lexicographer and author in Lives of the Poets

[pegasus]

Ding-a-Ling Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 346 day of 2012 with 19 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:08 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 41ºF [Feels like 36ºF], winds W @ 8 mph, humidity 51%, pressure 30.32 in and steady, dew point 24ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1408--Order of the Dragon (Chivalric Order) was established by Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia.
1745--John Jay, statesman and the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, was born in New York City; died 1829 at age 83.
1787--Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the Constitution
1870--Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first black congressman.
1897 --The Katzenjammer Kids," the pioneering comic strip by Rudolph Dirks, debuted in the New York Journal
1901--Guglielmo Marconi succeeded in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean.
1911--George V of the United Kingdom and his wife Mary of Teck were crowned Emperor and Empress of India.
1913--two years after it was stolen, Leonardo da Vinci's The Mona Lisa was recovered inside Italian waiter Vincenzo Peruggia's hotel room in Florence, Italy.
1917--Father Edward J. Flanagan , age 31, established Boys Town for troubled and neglected boys in Omaha, Neb.
1917--Over 500 French soldiers killed in train accident in Modane, France.
1925--the first motel, the Motel Inn, opened, in San Luis Obispo, Calif
1937--the neutral US gunboat Panay sunk by Japanese during the battle for Nanking in the Sino-Japanese War.
1947 --te United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor.
1963--a vinyl long-playing record called John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Memorial Album set a record for album sales., selling 4 million copies in the first six days of its release.
1963--Kenya gained its independence from Britain.
1969--a 1,350-man contingent from the Army of the Philippines, departed South Vietnam.
1970--"Tears Of A Clown" gave Smokey Robinson & The Miracles their first #1 pop hit, finally.
1975--Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to trying to kill Pres. Ford.
1980--American oil tycoon Armand Hammer paid $5,126,000 at auction for a notebook containing writings by Leonardo da Vinci.
1985--the crash of an Arrow Air DC-8 military charter on takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland, killed all 256 aboard, including 248 U.S. soldiers.
1988--the Clapham Junction rail collision resulted in the deaths of 35 people.
1989--Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean, received a 4-year prison sentence, 750 hours of community service, and a $7.1 million tax fraud fine.
1990--15 people were killed and more than 260 injured in a pileup of vehicles on a foggy Tennessee highway.
1991--the Russian parliament ratified a commonwealth treaty linking the three strongest Soviet republics as the Russian Federation in the nation's most profound change since the 1917 revolution.
1992--Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, became the first divorced royal in the inner circle to remarry when she wed Cmdr. Timothy Laurence.
1997--Michael Carneal, age 14, was indicted as an adult on three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder for the shooting of his classmates at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky.
1998--the House Judiciary Committee approved a 4th article of impeachment against Pres. Clinton and submitted the case to the full House.
2000--General Motors announced the phase-out of the Oldsmobile.
2002--North Korea announced it would reactivate a nuclear reactor idle since 1994.
2002--the European Union invited 10 nations, including Poland and Hungary, to join its ranks in 2004.
2003--armed men attacked military police near the Ivory Coast's national television station in Abidjan, leaving at least 19 people dead.
2003--Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the Free Willy movies, died in a Norwegian fjord.
2004--seeking to head off a potential trade war with the US and the European Union, China announced it would place tariffs on textile imports.
2006--a Baghdad suicide bomber, luring the unemployed to his truck with promises of work, killed at least 60 people and injured 220 others.
2006--more than 1,000 federal agents raided Swift meatpacking plants in six states, arresting more than 1,200 undocumented workers in a 10-month probe into identity theft by illegal immigrants.
2007--nearly 30 people were killed and 150 wounded when three car bombs exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Amara.
2009--Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker.

World News Capsules:
1. Where war still echoes, recalling earlier battles

....The Jihad Museum honors Afghans who fought the Soviets in the 1970s and 1980s, a bloody time in the nation’s history that some believe is likely to repeat itself.
a. Panetta visits Afghanistan to discuss troop levels
....Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to discuss future deployment plans with Gen. John R. Allen, the top American commander
2. Bosnian Serb intel chief sentenced for Srebrenica massacre

....Zdravko Tolimir, a former senior commander, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killings of thousands of prisoners in 1995.
3. Chinese court sentences 3 Uighurs to death
....The three men, and a fourth who received a life sentence, were convicted of trying to blow up a commercial airliner in June.
a. China reportedly strips Shanghai bishop of his title
....While not unexpected, the revocation by the Chinese Catholic Bishops Council is likely to aggravate tensions between Beijing and the Vatican.
b. China woos overseas companies, looking for deals
....With the government's encouragement, Chinese companies have begun what is expected to be a large number of overseas acquisitions.
4. Egypt's opposition urges vote against draft constitution

....After a prolonged debate, Egypt’s main opposition coalition urged followers to vote against an Islamist-backed charter rather than boycott it.
a. Cairo court sentences man to 3 years for insulting religion
....An avowed atheist, Albert Saber was initially accused of circulating links to an offensive online video lampooning the Prophet Mohamed that set off protests in September.
5. Court seizes assets of Greek oligarch
....The ruling by an Athens court upheld an appeal filed by the shareholders in a bank that the oligarch, Lavrentis Lavrentiadis, once controlled.
6. Israeli minister vents anger at Europe
....Now effectively the prime minister’s No. 2, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman invoked the Nazi era in castigating European leaders over support for the Palestinians.
7. That crush at Kosovo's business door? The return of US heroes[//u]
....The competing business dealings of former high ranking US officials in Kosovo may present a special ethical quandary.
8. North Koreans launch rocket in defiant act

....Washington and its allies have said they think North Korea's rocket program has less to do with putting a satellite into orbit than with developing a vehicle for a nuclear warhead.
9. Syria fires scud missiles at insurgents, US says

....Forces loyal to Presi. al-Assad fired the Soviet-era missiles in recent days, officials in the Obama administration said, in a significant escalation of the nearly two-year-old war.
a. US will grant recognition to Syrian rebels, Pres. Obama says

....Declaring Syria's opposition as its legitimate representative, marks a new phase of engagement for Pres. Obama in a nearly two-year bloody struggle.
b. Armenians fleeing anew as Syria erupts in battle
....Their ancestors fled the Ottoman genocide nearly a century ago, and now Armenians who live in Syria are fleeing that country and settling, at least temporarily, in Armenia.

US News Capsules:
1. Police: shooter acted alone in 'heinous, horrible' crime

....Cops say Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, opened fire at a mall near Portland, Oregon, killing Cindy Ann Yuille, 54, and Steven Forsyth, 45, before shooting himself.
2. For Vegas weddings, a date with a built-in reminder
....Thousands of couples are expected to declare their everlasting love in Las Vegas on Wednesday, 12/12/12 - the last such triple-date likely to occur in their lifetimes
3. For lesser crimes, rethinking life behind bars
....Many scholars say mandatory sentencing policies in the US lock up nonviolent, low-level offenders for too long and are no longer a cost-effective way to reduce crime.
4. Officials announce pact on jail in Louisiana
....An agreement was reached to overhaul a troubled prison in the same Louisiana parish as New Orleans, but financing for the agreement has remained unresolved.
5. Thomas Hart Benton masterwork goes to Met
...."America Today," which depicts life just before the Great Depression, will go on display when the Met takes over the Whitney's Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue.
6. Fed to hold rates down until jobless rate is below 6.5%

....The Federal Reserve said it would maintain short-term interest rates near zero, even after it stops buying bonds, for as long as the unemployment rate remains above its target.
7. Climate change threatens ski industry with bare slopes

....As temperatures rise, analysts predict that scores of the nation’s ski centers, especially those at lower elevations and latitudes, will eventually vanish.
POLITICS:
1. Limits on unions pass in Michigan, once a union mainstay

....Sweeping legislation signed by Gov. Rick Snyder will vastly reduce the power of organized labor in a state that was a symbol of union clout for decades.
2. Unlikely backers in a battle over taxes
....As pressure builds to find a compromise for the fiscal impasse in Washington, some of America's leading executives have dropped opposition to tax increases on the wealthiest.
3. Warren is nominated for Senate baning committee

....A noted consumer advocate, Elizabeth Warren had harsh words for Wall Street throughout her campaign for Senate, and she is expected to support tougher controls on the industry.
4. As fiscal talks heat up, questions no whether Boehner cn get the votes

....As a potential year-end fiscal crisis nears, White House officials have begun to wonder whether Speaker John A. Boehner can garner enough Republican votes to push through a deficit-reduction plan

Sports Headlines:
1. NBA: Anthony has 45, and kidd's 3-pointer wins it
....While Carmelo Anthony dominated the evening, Jason Kidd made his presence felt as the Knicks rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the Nets in Brooklyn.
2. NFL: Tagliabue lifts suspensions but not blame i bounty case

....In overturning the punishment by his successor Roger Goodell, the former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue blamed the New Orleans Saints organization.
3. MLB: Yankees are set to add Youkills, symbol of rivalry

....Kevin Youkilis, a former Red Sox player, agreed to a one-year, $12-million deal with the Yankees to replace Alex Rodriguez at third base while he recovers from hip surgery
4. NCAAF: When a winning record trumps a checkered past
....Bobby Petrino, hired as the coach at Western Kentucky, has had his share of troubles, including an affair with an Arkansas staff member. Can coaches get away with anything as long as they win?
5. 'NHL: Dysfunctional' business model puts the NHL in peril, experts say
....The damage done by the third lockout under Commissioner Gary Bettman is likely to affect the league well into the future.

Thought for Today
"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it."
--Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) Canadian humorist

[pegasus]

Cocoa Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 347th day of 2012 with 18 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:44 p.m., it's fair , temp 35ºF [Feels like 30ºF], winds SSW @ 6 mph, humidity 57%, pressure 30.28 in and falling, dew point 21ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1545--the Council of Trent, summoned by Pope Paul III in May 1542, finally met to discuss doctrinal matters, especially the rise of Protestantism.
1577--Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth aboard Pelican along with four other ships and 164 men on his round-the-world voyage.
1642--Dutch navigator Abel Tasman arrived in present-day New Zealand.
1769--Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter.
1816--the US' first savings bank, the Provident Institution for Savings, opened in Boston.
1816--John Adamson, of Boston, Mass., patented a dry dock.
1862--Confederate forces dealt Union troops a major defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.
1913--Leonardo da Vinci’s "La Gioconda" ("Mona Lisa"), was returned to Paris's Louvre Museum after a two-year absence due to theft.
1920--George P. Shultz, Former Secretary of State, turns 923
1928--the George Gershwin composition, "American in Paris", had its debut peformance by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
1929--Oscar-winning Actor Christopher Plummer turns 83 years old today.
1937--Japanese forces took the Chinese city of Nanking and, in one of the worst atrocities of World War II, they killed an estimated 200,000 Chinese.
1939--the battle of the River Plate took place off the coast of South America between the British cruisers Exeter, Ajax and Achilles and the German battleship Graf Spee.
1948--after an 11 1/2 month strike, the American Federation of Musicians went back to work.
1961--at age 101, thw self-taught artist Grandma Moses (aka Anna Mary Robertson Moses), died.
1974--Republic Day in Malta
1979--in Canada, Prime Minister Joe Clark's 7-month-old Progressive Conservative government was defeated in a vote of no confidence in parliament.
1981--authorities in Poland imposed martial law in a crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement.
1982--an earthquake in Yemen killed 3,000 people and injured 2,000.
1988--PLO chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the US refused to grant Arafat a visa to visit New York.
1989--South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk met for the first time with imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, at de Klerk's office in Cape Town.
1993--the European Community ratified a treaty creating the world's largest trade bloc, the European Economic Area, to come into effect on Jan. 1 1994.
1995--Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, a 1995 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, was imprisoned for 14 years for subversive acts.
1995--Brixton Riots (England) occur after the death of a black man in police custody.
1996--Kofi Annan of Ghanawas chosen to be the UN's 7th secretary-general.
1998--voters in Puerto Rico rejected United States statehood.
2000--George W. Bush claimed the presidency 36 days after Election Day.
2001--the Pentagon released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his "most optimistic" expectations.
2001--five suspected Islamic militants killed nine people in an attack on India's parliament before being killed themselves.
2001--Pres, Bush served formal notice that the US was pulling out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia.
2002--Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as Boston archbishop because of the priest sex abuse scandal.
2003--Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces while hiding in a hole under a farmhouse in Adwar, near his hometown of Tikrit.
2007--shareholders of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, approved a takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
2007--the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball was released, implicating seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars.

World News Capsules:
1. Top Sichnan official removed in corruption inquiry
....The move against the official, Li Chuncheng, may hint of a wider crackdown on graft.
a. Chinese court said to punish Tibetqan students with prison sentences
....The International Campaign for Tibet said that eight Tibetan students were sentenced to five-year terms for their role in street protests last month during a wave of self-immolations.
2. Kim Jong-un earns cachet with rocket's success
....North Korea's rocket launch reinforced the idea among its people that despite isolation and sanctions, the Kim dynasty is on the right track
3. In step toward Palestinian unity, Hamas holds rally in West Bank

....The rally, to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, was billed as a step towards reconciliation with the rival Fatah faction that rules the West Bank.
4. Russsian envoy says Syrian leader is losing control

....Russia’s top Middle East diplomat and the leader of NATO offered similar assessments of Pres. al-Assad’s future, asserting that he was losing his grip on power.
a. Members of Assad's sect blamed in Syria killings
....A pro-government Alawite militia is believed responsible for killing scores of other Alawites. Survivors said that victims were killed by a group that had been professing to defend them.
5. Millions in ransoms fuel militants' clout in West Africq
....Kidnapping is such a lucrative industry for extremists that it has reinforced their control over northern Mali and complicated plans for a campaign to take back Islamist-held territory.

US News Capsules:
1. Portrayal of CIA torture in Bin Laden film reopens a debate
....Critics, journalists and activists are divided over the suggestion that calculated infliction of pain and fear may have produced useful clues in hunt for Osama bin Laden.
2. Rising temperatures threaten fundamental change for ski slopes
....As temperatures rise, analysts predict that scores of the nation's ski centers, especially those at lower elevations and latitudes, will eventually vanish.
3. Series of turning points limited deeath toll at Oregon mall
....Law enforcement officials expressed a kind of bleak gratitude that a masked gunman with a semiautomatic rifle did not kill or wound more people in a crowded mall.
4. Maps app for iPhone steers right
....Google's maps app for the iPhone offers smooth navigation and intelligent directions for driving, walking and public transportation.
5. Drink ingredient gets a new look
....Use of brominated vegetable oil in foods, like fruit-flavored sodas, has long been allowed by federal regulators, but consumers have raised new concerns about the ingredient.
6. On 12-12-12, songs in reply to a storm
...

Sports Headlines:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
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[pegasus]

Go Caroling Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 360th day of 2012 with 15 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:17 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 38ºF [Feels like 29ºF], winds SSE @ 15 mph, humidity 53%, pressure 29.76 in and falling, dew point 22ºF, chance of precipitation 100%.

Today in History:
1783--Virginia ceded the western Ohio Valley territory to the federal government.
1790--the first successful cotton mill in the US began operating at Pawtucket, R.I.
1803--the Louisiana Purchase was completed France to the US during ceremonies in New Orleans.
1812--Sacagawea, the young Indian woman who guided the Lewis and Clark Expedition, died.
1836--Pres. Jackson submitted a treaty he negotiated with the Ioway, Sacs, Sioux, Fox, Otoe and Omaha tribes of the Missouri territory.
1862--Confederate rebels raid ed the Union supply depot at Holly Springs, Miss.
1864--Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Ga., as Union Gen. William T. Sherman conoketed his "March to the Sea."
1879--Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, N.J.
1881--Branch Rickey, the American baseball executive famous for creating the farm team system and hiring the first black players, was born; died 1965 at age 83,
1914--World War I: the first Battle of Champagne began.
1941--as the new commander in chief of the German army, Adolf Hitler informed Gen. Franz Halder that there will be no retreating from the Russian front near Moscow.
1946--The Frank Capra film It's A Wonderful Life had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre.
1946--French colonial troops cracked down on Vietnamese Communist rebels.
1955--Cardiff was declared to be the capital city of Wales.
1956--the Montgomery, Ala. public bus boycott in reaction to the Dec. 1, 1955, arrest of Rosa Parks, officially ended.
1957--rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley received his draft notice for the United States Army
1963--the Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners for one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.
1968--John Steinbeck, Pulitzer-Prize winning author (The Grapes of Wrath)) died in New York City from heart failure.
1973--Luis Carrero Blanco, Prime Minister of Spain, was assassinated with a car bomb.
1976--Chicago Mayor and political boss, Richard J. Daley died at age 74.
1987--a leat 1,749 people died in the Philippines when a passenger ferry was struck by an oil tanker and sank, the century's worst peacetime maritime disaster.
1989--the US sent troops into Panama to topple the government of Manuel Noriega.
1990--Eduard Shevardnadze abruptly resigned as Soviet foreign minister, warning against a dictatorship of hard-liners.
1991--Philippines prosecutors filed nine counts of graft against former first lady Imelda Marcos, charging she used bogus front companies to bilk millions of dollars from the nation.
1993--Serbian Pres. Slobodan Milosevic's governing Socialist Party claimed victory in parliamentary elections.
1995--160 people were killed when an American Airlines 757 crashed into a mountain shortly before it was scheduled to land in Cali, Colombia.
1995--Buckingham Palace confirmed that Queen Elizabeth II had sent letters to her son, Prince Charles, and his estranged wife, Princess Diana, urging them to seek a divorce as quickly as possible.
4995--NATO assumed peacekeeping duties in Bosnia.
1996--guerrillas in Peru took an estimated 380 hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence.
1998--Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein declared that the four-night US-British bombing campaign of his country was a victory for Iraq over the "enemies of God and humanity."
1998--a Houston woman gave birth to seven more babies after delivering the first infant 12 days earlier. They were the only known set of octuplets to be born alive in the United States. The smallest baby died a week later.
1999--Macau reverted to Chinese rule.
1999--the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples.
2002--Trent Lott (R-Miss.) resigned as Senate Republican leader two weeks after igniting a political firestorm with racially charged remarks.
2004--the UN said sub-Saharan Africa, ravaged by drought, civil strife and swarms of crop-devouring locusts, faced a worsening food crisis.
2005--New York City transit workers began a three-day strike.
2005--a judge in Harrisburg, Pa., ruled the concept of "intelligent design" cannot be taught in Pennsylvania public high school science classes.
2006--US Army Gen. John Abizaid, the head of the US Central Command and the main military architect of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, submitted his letter of resignation.
2006--Sudan's Darfur conflict was reported spreading to Chad with untold numbers of ethnic killings and more than 90,000 Chadians fleeing their villages.
2007--Elizabeth II of the united Kingdom became the oldest reigning British Monarch

World News Capsules:
1. Chatter of Doomsday makes Beijing nervous

....Security officials in China have been rounding up members of the Church of Almighty God, a renegade Christian group whose adherents believe in doomsday predictions that the world will end.
2. Egypt's chief prosecutor retracts his resignation
....The move was the latest bizarre turn in a complicated three-way struggle among the new Islamist president, the institutions of the old government and the president’s opposition in the streets.
3. Hollande uses softer tone on delicate visit to Algeria
....Pres. François Hollande of France sought to strike a more nuanced and conciliatory tone with the former French colony but stopped short of issuing the apology Algiers has long called for.
4. German health care attracts foreign patients
....Germany is known as a way station for treatment of wounded American soldiers, but it is also popular with wealthy and prominent patients from the Middle East, Russia and beyond.
5. BBC's leaders faulted as lax in handling sex abuse crisis
....An exhaustive report strongly criticized the decisions that prompted the BBC to cancel a broadcast in 2011 that would have exposed decades of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile.
a. Family sentenced to prison in England over forced labor
....A court found that members of an Irish family enticed mentally ill, alcoholic and homeless men to work for as little as $8 a day
6. Israel defies allies in move to bolster settlements
....Brushing aside a growing chorus of international opposition, Israel pushed ahead with aggressive new settlement building in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
7. UN vote planned on Mali security
....A UN Security Council resolution would approve the deployment of a multinational African force in Mali to help retake the northern part of the country from Islamist militias.
8. Female vaccination workers, essential in Pakistan, become prey

....One of Pakistan’s most crucial public health campaigns has been plunged into crisis after militants killed nine volunteers over the course of a three-day polio vaccination drive.
9. Putin defends position on Syria and chastise US on Libya

....Pres. Vladimir Putin reiterated Russia’s opposition to military intervention in Syria and suggested that the US’ role in toppling Col. Qaddafi ultimately led to the Benghazi catastrophe.
a. Putin evasive on support of US adotion ban
....Pres. Putin skirted the question of whether he would support a ban on adoptions of Russian children by American citizens.
10. Ex-dictator's daughter elected president as South Korea rejects sharp change
....The election of Park Geun-hye, the first woman to win the post in a deeply patriarchal part of Asia, ensures the extension of staunchly pro-American governance in the country. She called for national reconciliation and met with foreign envoys.
11. Syria fires more scud missiles at rebels, US says
.... American officials, who have been monitoring Syrian military actions via aerial surveillance, said there was no indication that the missiles were armed with chemical weapons.

US News Capsules:
1. 4 are out at State Dept. after scathing report on Benghazi attack

....Four State Department officials were removed from their posts on Wednesday after an independent panel criticized the "grossly inadequate" security at a diplomatic compound in Libya.
2. ART: When the future became now

....“Inventing Abstraction: 1910-1925,” a dizzying, magisterial cornucopia at the Museum of Modern Art, captures some of the original thrill and terror of the creation of abstract art.
3. Capturing America, fact by fact
....The 2013 Statistical Abstract of the United States reveals a moving picture of how the nation has been changing, through subjects as diverse as pet preferences and student loan debt.
4. A helium shortage leads to fewer balloons in the sky
....A global helium shortage that many say is the worst in decades has affected party stores, holiday parades and even MRI manufacturers.
5. Mormon women set out to take a stand, in pants
....An event on Sunday called "Wear Pants to Church" used attire as a way to draw attention to gender inequalities, but not before generating a backlash and even death threats.
6. US to sell stake in GM in 16 months as bailout winds down
....The Treasury Department said that it plans to sell off its entire stake in General Motors.
7. Newtown massacre changes plans at movie and TV studios
....The shooting in Newtown, Conn., has prompted soul searching in the entertainment capital, where many of those who support gun control also make their livings selling violent images.
8. Use of death sentneces continues to fall in US
....Thirty-six years after the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, its use is waning; new data show 80 death sentences were handed down in 2012, about a third of the total in 2000.
9. Exchange sale reflects new realities of trading

....The takeover of the New York Stock Exchange’s owner illustrates starkly how trading in commodities and derivatives has become much more lucrative than trading in corporate shares
POLITICS:
1. At Benghazi hearing, State Dept. concedes errors
....State Department officials promised to quickly carry out recommendations to beef up security for the foreign service and urged Congress to provide more money to protect diplomats.
2. Gaps in FBI data undercut background checks for guns

....Significant gaps in the FBI’s database of criminal and mental health records allow thousands of people to buy firearms every year who should be barred from doing so.
a. NRA leader, facing challenge in wake of shooting, rareily shies from fight
....As the first news conference held by the group since the tragedy nears, its leader, David Keene, is expected to vigorously battle efforts to restrict gun rights.
b. Lessons in politics and fine print in assault weapons ban of '90s
....After a 1989 schoolyard shooting, it took five years of legislative slogging to pass a federal assault weapons ban. But the price of passage was a host of compromises.
c. Many owners say semiautomatic weapons are just another hobby
....Owners of AR-15 style rifles dismissed the argument that a federal ban on their firearms would lessen gun violence.
d. Religious leaders push congregants on gun control, sensing a watershed moment
....The campaign will start Friday with an event at the Washington National Cathedral marking the Connecticut shootings a week before.
3. GOP leader in House pull tax bill, citing lack of votes

....The decision was a major setback for Speaker John A. Boehner, who pushed his “Plan B” proposal to keep lower tax rates in place for most Americans in the absence of a fiscal deal

Sports Headlines:
1. NBA: Knicks demonstrate 100-86 distance to Brroklyn
....Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points after missing two games because of a sprained left ankle as the Knicks won for the 10th time in 12 games, while the Nets lost their third straight game.
a. Savior of Knicks now presents only problems
....Amar’e Stoudemire gave the Knicks instant respectability when he signed with them in 2010. But this season, they have become an elite team in his absence.
2. NFL: A stickler for order finds chaos as usual

....Giants coach Tom Coughlin is known for his intensity, but as his teams tend to have midseason slides, a potential downside of that type of leadership is increased emotional fatigue among players.
3. NCAAF: Former Wisconsin coach climbs back into hot seat
....After Wisconsin's coach left to become Arkansas's coach, the athletic director Barry Alvarez took over the Rose Bowl-bound Badgers on a short-term basis.
4. NHL: moves closer to canceling season
....The N.H.L. scratched another two weeks’ worth of games, through Jan. 14, and the league’s deputy commissioner said the point of no return was “sometime in mid-January

Thought for Today
"You cannot acquire experience by making experiments. You cannot create experience. You must undergo it."
--Albert Camus (1913-1960) French author

[pegasus]

Yule
(A religious festival observed by the Northern European peoples, later being absorbed into and equated with the Christian festival of Christmas. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indigenous Germanic month names (Ærra Jéola (Before Yule) or Jiuli and Æftera Jéola (After Yule). Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Modranicht.)
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 351st day of 2012 with 14 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's lightly snowing , temp 35ºF [Feels like 28ºF], winds SW @ 9 mph, humidity 82%, pressure 29.17 in and steady, dew point 30ºF, chance of precipitation 70%.

Today in History:
1620--Pilgrims aboard the [/i]Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.
1799--poet William Wordsworth moved into Dove Cottage in England's Lake District.
1866--Indians in northern Wyoming ambushed Lt Col William Fetterman and eighty soldiers.
1879--Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was born Josef Dzhugashvili in Gori, Georgia; died 1953 at age 73.
1898--scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.
1913--he first crossword puzzle was published, in the New York World.
1915--Sir William Robertson was appointed chief of the English Imperial General Staff during World War I.
1937--the Disney animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had its world premiere in Los Angeles.
1940--F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist, short story writer, screen writer, died from heart failure.
1945--"Old Blood and Guts" Gen. Patton, commander of the US 3rd Army, died at age 60 from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident.
1948--Ireland became an independent republic.
1958--Charles de Gaulle was elected the first president of France's Fifth Republic.
1967--The Graduate opened in New York; making the Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider famous.
1968--Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.
1969--Thailand announcds plans to withdraw its troops from Vietnam.
1971--the UN Security Council chose Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as secretary-general.
1972--the Defense Department announced that eight B-52 bombers and several fighter-bombers were lost since the commencement of Operation Linebacker II in Vietnam.
1975--in Vienna, Austria, Carlos the Jackal attacked an oil ministers meeting OPEC headquarters with German and Arab terrorists, killing three and taking 63 hostages.
1978--police in Des Plaines, Ill., arrested John W. Gacy Jr. and began unearthing the remains of 33 men and boys he was later convicted of murdering.
1985--Harry Chapin earned a #1 hit with "Cat's In The Cradle"
1988--Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York exploded in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard, as well as 11 Lockerbie residents.
1991--eleven of the 12 former Soviet republics proclaimed the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
1994--more than 40 people were injured when an incendiary device exploded on a crowded subway in New York's lower Manhattan.
1995--Bethlehem passed from Israeli to Palestinian control.
1996--after two years of denials, House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted violating House ethics rules.
1998--the shaky coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu collapsed when Israel's parliament voted 81-30 to dissolve the government.
2001--Australian actor Russell Crowe starred in the movie A Beautiful Mind
2002--Pres. Bush set in motion the first US smallpox vaccination program in three decades, fearing terrorists might use the virus as a biological weapon.
2004--Pres. Bush's approval rating slipped 6% to 49%, making Bush the first incumbent president to have an approval rating less than 50% one month after winning re-election.
2005--the US Senate unanimously passed a $445 million defense appropriations bill that included a provision against torture.
2006--four US Marines were charged with murder in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in a 2005 assault in the town of Haditha.
2007--Pakistani officials said a suicide bomber's assassination attempt on a former official killed at least 50 people and hurt 80 others in a crowded mosque in the city of Lahore.

World News Capsules:
1. Doomsday fizzles, but many hail a new era

....A ceremony on Friday marking the end of a 5,125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar at Tikal, the ancient Mayan city in northern Guatemala. The date — 12-21-12 — inspired an Internet-fueled misreading of a Mayan calendar that led many to believe the end of the world would arrive.
2. Resounding victory in Indian vote nedges polarizing fugyre closer to a larger race
....Narendra Modi inched closer to becoming the leading political challenger to India's dominant Gandhi family by winning a resounding re-election as chief minister.
3. Affest of minister's bodyguards prompts protests in Iraq
....Ten bodyguards to Rafe al-Essawi, the finance minister and a top Sunni politician, were arrested on terrorism charges, threatening to further hinder Iraq’s halting process of sectarian reconciliation.
4. Monti resigns as premier of Italy, but may run again
....Prime Minister Mario Monti has emerged as a centrist force in a political landscape that had been divided between two other factions.
5. Fighting kills dozens in Kenya

....About 40 people, many of them children, were killed and scores of others were seriously injured on Friday in renewed tribal attacks along the coastal Tana River delta, Kenyan police officials said.
6. Islamists cited in abduction of French engineer in Nigeria
....Those responsible for the man’s kidnapping were believed to be linked to Al Qaida’s North African affiliate or other radical Islamist groups in northern Mali, French officials said.
7. North Korea says it has detained an American citizen
....North Korea said said that it had charged an American citizen with committing “hostile acts against the republic,” a crime punishable by years in prison.
8. Girl shot by Taliban asks that college not bear her name
....Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist who was shot by a Taliban gunman, has asked that a decision to name a college after her be reversed, citing safety concerns.
9. Palestinian premier calls for boycott of Israeli goods
....Israel's refusal this month to transfer tax revenue to the West Bank has undermined the Palestinian Authority's already dire finances, the prime minister, Salam Fayyad, said.
10. Putin edges farther away from Syrian leader
....In Brussels for a summit meting, Pres. Putin of Russia said his country wants “a democratic regime in Syria based on the expression of the people’s will.”
a, Russian parliament given final approval in US adoption ban

....The legislation is an attempt to retaliate against the US for a new human rights law, but American officials urged Russia not to play politics with the lives of orphans..
11. Syria unleashes cluster bombs on town, punishing civilians

....Cluster bombs are impossible to use precisely, and the victims of such attacks describe them as collective punishment against populations that side with the rebels.
12. Commercial Buddhism in Thailand
....Buddhism has been a way of life in Thailand for centuries, but inside the most popular temples is a trend that critics call “fast-food Buddhism.”

US News Capsules:
1. Obama names Kerry to follow Clinton as Secretary of State

....“In a sense, John’s entire life has prepared him for this role,” Pres. Obama said, nominating Senator John Kerry to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton.
2. Marijuana, not yet legal for Californians, might as well be
.....Marijuana can be smelled in suburban backyards in neighborhoods from Hollywood to Topanga Canyon as dusk falls - what in other places is known as the cocktail hour.
3. NRA leader, facing challenge in wake of shooting, rarely shies from fight

....As the first news conference held by the group since the tragedy nears, its leader, David Keene, as expected, vigorously battled efforts to restrict gun rights.
4. A reminder of what Midwest winters are about
....Snow, absent for so long in much of the Midwest that people seemed to have forgotten all about it, returned with a fury.
5. Retailers try to adapt to device-hopping shoppers

....Online merchants are trying to figure out how to tie together the several methods a customer may use on the way to buying something.
6. Gunman kills 3 in Central Pennsylvania
....A man fatally shot three people Friday morning before being killed by the police, including a woman who was hanging Christmas decorations inside a church,
POLITICS:
1. Boehner cancels tax vote in face of GOP revolt
....Speaker John A. Boehner abruptly halted efforts to pass fallback legislation to prevent a fiscal crisis after conservative Republicans refused to allow taxes to rise even on the most affluent.
2. Even in disarray, GOP has power to constrain Obama
....On guns, taxes and cabinet choices, many Republicans say they should hold fast because they, too, won elections last month.
3. Open Massachusetts seat could give path to Brown
....Sen. John Kerry’s nomination to be secretary of state sets the stage for a comeback by Sen. Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts, a Republican, who lost his seat last month to Elizabeth Warren.

Sports Headlines:
1. A rising hockey star with NBA DNA

....Seth Jones, the son of a former professional basketball player, could become the NHL's first African-American star defenseman, with his strong skating and puck-handling skills.
a. NHL players give authorization to dissolve union.
....The NHL Players' Association voted overwhelmingly in favor of giving its executive board the power to file a disclaimer of interest and effectively dissolve the union, the latest step in the increasingly damaging 97-day lockout.
2. NBA: Knicks tried, failed to trade Stoudemire

....When the Knicks cleared out their roster to acquire Carmelo Anthony, they voluntarily accepted the complications that come with integrating two high-usage, offense-first stars who operate from similar spaces on the floor.
3. NCAABK: Known for faith as well as his play, a top recruit, picks Duke, not BYU

....Jabari Parker is a 6-foot-8 senior at Simeon Career Academy whose exceptional post moves and jump shot are perhaps exceeded by his biography: an African-American Mormon in urban Chicago.
Thought for Today
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
--George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) Irish playwright


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[pegasus]

Natonal Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 356th day of 2012 with 9 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6:07 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 32ºF [Feels like 20ºF], winds W @ 20 mph, humidity 55%, pressure 29.77 in and rising, dew point 18ºF, chance of precipitation 80%.

Today in History:
640--the Saracens under Amrou conquered Alexandria, having invaded Egypt two years earlier.
1696--James Oglethorpe, English founder of the British colony of Georgia, was born; died 1785 at age 88.
1715--James Stuart, the "Old Pretender" and claimant to the British throne, landed at Peterhead from exile in France to start a rebellion.
1772--Moravian missionaries begin construction of the first schoolhouse west of the Allegheny Mountains, at Schoenbrunn, Pennsylvania.
1783--George Washington resigned his military commission.
1785--the American Continental Navy fleet was organized, consisting of two frigates, two brigs and three schooners.
1807--the US Embargo Act took effect, banning trade with Britain, France and the rest of the world, aimed to force Britain and France to stop harassing American trade.
1808--Beethoven's Fifth Symphony had its world premiere.
1850--the Hawaiian Post Office established.
1858--opera composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy; died 1924 at age 65.
1864--Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to Pres. Lincoln from Georgia, saying, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."
1894--in New York City, the United States Golf Association was formed.
1894--French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism.
1917--peace negotiations opened between the new Russian government and Germany at Brest-Litovsk.
1937--the Lincoln Tunnel (connecting Weehawken, NJ with the Manhattan borough of NYC) was opened to traffic with a $.50 charge per passenger car.
1941--British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington, D.C., for a wartime conference with Pres. Roosevelt.
1943--Beatrix Potter, English author and illustrator best known for her Peter Rabbit series, died in Castle Cottage, Swarey England.
1944--during the Battle of the Bulge, Germany demanded the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium; Brigadier Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replied: "Nuts!"
1956--Colo, the first gorilla to be born in captivity arrived into the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.
1963--Lakonia, an ocean liner cruise ship, caught fire resulting in the deaths of 128 people - 95 passengers and 33 crew.
1972--5,000 people died when a series of earthquakes left the Nicaraguan capital of Managua in ruins.
1984--in New YOrk, Bernhard Goetz shot four black youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him.
1986--political dissident and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov and his wife, Yelena Bonner, were allowed to return to Moscow after seven years of internal exile.
1989--Brandenburg Gate was re-opened thus ending the division between East and West Germany.
1989--Romanian Pres. Nicolae Ceausescu, the last hard-line communist holdout against East Bloc reforms, fell from power.
1989--Samuel Beckett, Irish dramatist and poet, died at age 83 in Paris, France most likely from emphysema.
1990--Lech Walesa took the oath of office as Poland's first popularly elected president.
1992--all 158 people aboard a Libyan Boeing 727 died when the jetliner crashed, apparently following an in-flight collision with a military plane.
1994--Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned after seven months in office, following corruption charges against him.
1997--members of a pro-government militia attacked the village of Chenalh, Mexico, killing 45 people, including a number of children.
2001--Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers.
2005--astronomers announced the discovery of two more rings encircling the planet Uranus.
2005--Wal-Mart was ordered to pay more than 100,000 California employees $172 million for depriving them of breaks to eat.
2006--rape charges against three former members of the Duke University lacrosse team were dropped after the alleged victim said she couldn't be sure she had been raped.
2007--the US Air Force reported finding major structural flaws in eight models of its F-15 fighter jets.
2010--Pres. Obama signed a law allowing gays for the first time in history to serve openly in America's military.

World News Capsules:
1. Taliban in talks hint at softer line, but suspicion of their sincerity lingers
....The Taliban’s senior leadership has expressed that the group would be willing to operate as a mainstream Afghan political faction, but with the Taliban there are always questions.
2. As charter nears passage, Egyptians face new fights

....An Islamist-backed constitution appeared headed for approval, propelling deeply split political factions into a new phase in the battle over Egypt’s future.
a. Support for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood erodes in an Islamist bastion
....Residents complain about the government's confusing economic policies, its near-monopoly on power and the use of force against opponents.
3. Clashes break out in India at a protest over a rape case

....Protesters in New Delhi demanded justice and better policing after the rape of a 23-year-old medical student.
4. A divide over prayer at a sacred site in Israel

....After years of legislative and legal fights, the movement for equal access for people to pray as they wish at the Western Wall has become a rallying cause for liberal Jews.
5. Italian quits post, but can't be counted out
....Whether he runs in early elections or not, Prime Minister Mario Monti has already radically shifted Italy's political landscape.
6. Russia says it won't play role in ousting Syria's leader
....Comments by Russia’s foreign minister came after recent signals that his country sees the military balance shifting in Syria, but still strongly opposes international intervention.
7. In ravaged Syria, beach town may be loyalists' last resort
....The resort town of Tartus is seen as a possible place for Alawites, including Pres. Assad, to establish a rump state if his government falls.
8. Tunisian dictator's possessions to be sold at public auction
....Cars, jewelry, carpets and other assets that once belonged to the deposed president of Tunisia, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, will be auctioned at a monthlong sale and exhibition.
9. Boston priest to lead oversight of sexual abuse claims at Vatican
....Pope Benedict XVI named a priest from Boston, the epicenter of the sexual abuse crisis in the US, as the Vatican’s new sex crimes prosecutor

US News Capsules:
1. Varied paths toward healing for sites of terrorized schools
....Officials in Newtown, Conn., are not ready to think about the future of Sandy Hook Elementary, but some lessons may come from what has happened to other terror scenes.
2. Acting CIA chief critical of film Zero Dark Thirty[/u].

....Michael J. Morell said the movie exaggerates the role of coercive interrogations in producing clues to the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden.
3. Dangerous abscesses add to tainted drug's threat
....The contaminated drug that caused a nationwide meningitis outbreak has created a second, growing wave of serious spinal infections.
a. Drugs aim to make several types of cancer self-destruct
....Three pharmaceutical firms are trying to restore a mechanism that normally tells cells to die if their DNA is badly damaged, an approach that might work against half of all cancers.
4. NRA envisions 'a good guy with a gun' in every school

....After a weeklong silence, the National Rifle Association implicated violent video games, the news media and lax law enforcement - not guns - in a rash of mass shootings.
a. Shop owners report rise in firearm sales as buyers fear possible ne laws
....With gun-control legislation getting more serious discussion after the mass shooting in Connecticut, some dealers report they've run out of some models as consumers stock up on weapons and ammunition.
b. Walking the tightrope on mental health coverage
....While many people with health insurance also have mental health coverage, some are reluctant to use it - or can't find a practitioner who will accept it.
c. NRA call to guard schools is criticized as too simplistic
....Teachers, parents and police reacted to a National Rifle Association proposal for armed security, some concerned about school culture and others worried about who might get shot.
d. A bleak procession of funerals for shooting victims ends in Newtown

....The burial of Josephine Grace Gay brought an end to services that began not long after Adam Lanza killed 20 children and 6 adults at a Connecticut elementary school.
e. Intense alienation can be an incubator for violence
....Homicide is a predominantly urban form of lawlessness, but research shows mass murders happen more often in smaller communities.
5. For poor, leap to college often ends in a hard fall

....Low-income students have long trailed affluent peers in school performance, but from grade-school tests to college completion, the gaps are widening.
6. Cats at Hemingway Museum draw tourists, and a legal battle
....The charms of the 45 celebrated six-toed cats at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Fla., have proved powerless against federal regulators.
7. Pest control in the sky, courtesy of a raptor
....In a twist on the ancient sport of falconry, more companies are employing hawks and falcons to keep birds like sea gulls and pigeons away from areas where they aren’t welcome.
8. Study finds flaws in pipeline leak detection systems
....The forthcoming federal report found that members of the general public are more likely to identify oil and gas spills than the pipeline companies’ leak detection systems.
POLITICS:
1. Obama presses stripped-down plan to limit tax increase

....Pres. Obama, conceding that a "grand bargain" for deficit reduction with Speaker John A. Boehner is unlikely, called for Congress to approve a more modest measure by year's end.
2. Events recall a more bipartisan era, and highlight gridlock of today

....A political opposition that is still bitter about Pres. Obama's victory remains unwilling to compromise on social policy, economics or foreign affairs.
a. How party of budget restraint shifted to 'No New Taxes,' ever
....Some Republicans fear that the party’s commitment to prevent tax increases more and more is coming at the expense of those other, older kinds of fiscal responsibility.

Sports Headlines:
1. NBA: From behind, Knicks chase refs

....Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls was the best and most recent example of how a frustrated Knicks team can lose its composure and then struggle for the rest of the game.
a. Paul is cornerstone of Clippers' revival, and not just on court
....One unofficial, uncredited member of the committee that remade the Los Angeles Clippers is point guard Chris Paul.
2. WTA: Being considered the next Serena is a compliment and a detriment

....As 16-year-old Taylor Townsend gets ready to turn professional, she is drawing comparisons to Serena Williams — including unflattering references to her body type.
3. NFL: Giants' poor run defense slows pass rush to a stumble

....The NY Giants’ defensive line is supposed to be part of the team’s bedrock, but it is not doing the job on first and second downs

[ Thought for Today
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
--[/i]George Orwell (1903-1950) English author


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[pegasus]

Gluten free Baking Week
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 357th day of 2012 with 8 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:36 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 35ºF [Feels like 27ºF], winds WSW @ 12 mph, humidity 54%, pressure 29.80 in and rising, dew point 20ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1620--construction began of the first permanent European settlement in New England at Plymouth harbor in present day Massachusetts.
1783--George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Va.
1788--Maryland passed an act to cede a parcel of land for the seat of the national government, part of which later became the District of Columbia.
1805--Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, was born; died 1844 at age 38.
1823--"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore was first published, in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel.
1856--James Buchanan Duke, American tobacco magnate & founder of duke University, was born; died 1925 at age 68.
1862--the Confederacy's Pres. Davis declared Union Gen. Benjamin Butler, military commander of New Orleans, a felon to be executed if captured.
1888--Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, suffering from severe depression, cut off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in Arles, France.
1912--French magazine Nouvelle Revue Francaise rejected Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust.
1913--the US Federal Reserve System was established.
1928--the National Broadcasting Company established a permanent U.S. coast-to-coast radio hookup.
1933--Japanese Emperor Akihito turns 79
1941--US forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.
1946--actress Susan Lucci ("All My Children") turns 66
1947--the transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories, leading to a revolution in communications and electronics.
1948--former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo.
1958--Tokyo Tower (Communications tower located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan) was dedicated.
1968--the crew of USS Pueblo were released by North Korea.
1972--the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in an NFL playoff game on a last-second touchdown catch by Franco Harris that was dubbed the "immaculate reception."
1979--the Klein Matterhorn (highest cable car in Europe) opened,
1987--Dick Rutan and Jeana Yaeger landed the experimental aircraft Voyager at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., completing a record nine-day, 25,012-mile global flight without refueling.
1993--Tom Hanks starred in first major Hollywood movie about AIDS, Philadelphia.
1995--a fire in Dabwali, India, killed 540 people, including 170 children, during a year-end party being held near the children's school.
1997--a federal jury in Denver convicted Terry Nichols of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
2003--the US government announced the first suspected case of mad cow disease in United States.
2003--a jury in Chesapeake, Va., sentenced teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to life in prison, sparing him the death penalty.
2004--former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland pleaded guilty to a corruption charge. (He served 10 months in prison.)
2004--China reported its Bohai Bay Basin in the north may contain 20.5 billion tons of offshore oil reserves .
2006--the UN Security Council banned Iranian export and import of nuclear-related material and technology and froze some financial assets related to the nuclear program.
2009--the parents who pulled the "balloon boy" hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show, were sentenced to jail by a judge in Fort Collins, Colo.

World News Capsules:

US News Capsules:

Sports Headlines:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it."
--Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) English historian

[pegasus]

Christmas Eve
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 358th day of 2012 with 7 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:17 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 32ºF [Feels like 27ºF], winds ENE @ 5 mph, humidity 61%, pressure 29.95 in and falling, dew point 20ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1524--Vasco de Gama, Portugese explorer, died from malaria in Kochi, India.
1809--Kit Carson, American frontiersman and folk hero, was born; died 1868 at age 58.
1814--the War of 1812 officially ended as the US and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.
1851--fire devastated the Library of Congress and part of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.
1865--the Ku Klux Klan was founded as a private social club by several Confederate Army veterans in Pulaski, Tenn.
1871--Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt, to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal.
1873--Johns Hopkins, a wealthy entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Johns Hopkins University, died in Baltimore, Md. without any heirs.
1906--Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Mass. He discovered the superheterodyne principle, the basis for all modern radio receivers.
1920--Enrico Caruso gave his last public performance, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
1927--Mary Higgins Clark, mystery writer, turns 85.
1942--German rocket engineers launched the first surface-to-surface guided missile.
1942--Adm. Jean Louis Darlan, the French administrator of North Africa, was assassinated as a sympathizer of the French Vichy regime.
1943--Pres. Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe.
1951--Libya declares its independence from the UK and proclaims Idris I King of Libya
1968--the Apollo 8 crew became first humans to orbit around the moon, broadcasting live pictures during a Christmas Eve Broadcast,
1974--Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin Australia, killing 71 people.
1983--one of the US's severest early season cold waves in history claimed nearly 300 lives.
1989--Manuel Noriega, the object of US invasion forces, took refuge at the Vatican Embassy in Panama City and asked for political asylum.
1990--Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein reportedly threatened to attack Tel Aviv, Israel, if the allies tried to retake Kuwait.
1990--the bells of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow rang to celebrate Christmas for the first time since the death of Lenin.
1992--Pres. Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others in the Iran-Contra scandal.
1994--Islamic militants hijacked an Air France Airbus. that ended two days later when the plane was stormed by French paramilitary commandos in Marseille.
1997--a French court convicted the international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal of the 1975 killings of three men in Paris and sentenced him to life in prison.
2002--Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, Calif., home, by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son.
2003--nine nations imposed bans on US beef imports after the first documented case of mad cow disease was reported in Washington state.
2004--gunmen opened fire on a bus in northern Honduras, killing at least 23 and wounding 16 with suspects a noted Central American youth gang.
2004--a Chinese freighter wrecked in the Aleutian Islands broke apart, spilling thousands of gallons of oil into the Bering Sea.
2005--the South Korean scientist whose research on stem cells and cloning won him international acclaim, Dr. Hwang Woo-suk, resigned after admitting he fabricated his groundbreaking paper in which he claimed to have created stem cell colonies from 11 patients.
2006--fighting escalated in Somalia as Ethiopian planes and helicopter gunships attacked Islamist targets in several central provinces.
2006--French and US intelligence agencies said the 31-mile tunnel connecting England and France had been targeted by al-Qaida terrorists for an attack.
2007--The chairman of the Sept. 11 commission accused the CIA of interfering with the panel's work by failing to turn over tapes of agents interrogating suspected terrorists with "enhanced" techniques, including waterboarding. The CIA earlier admitted destroying several such tapes.
2007--US officials said billions of dollars in funding to Pakistan to help fight al-Qaida and Taliban terrorism has been wasted because of too little control over the money.
2009--the US Senate passed health care legislation, 60-39, in the chamber's first Christmas Eve vote since 1895.
2009--a woman jumped barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he was walking down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass; the pope was unhurt.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
Yes, we can fix Social Security (but it won't be pretty)

Experts say there are ways to fix Social Security, but politicians just may not like trying to sell those changes to the American people. It has happened before, though. In the mid-1980s, none other than Pres. Reagan, working with Democrats in Congress, oversaw a major overhaul of the nation’s retirement safety net.
“There are politicians – and especially in the Senate but also in the House as well – who could work together and come to an agreement,” said Alan Auerbach, a professor of law and economics at the University of California, Berkeley. “But they’re not the majority of Congress.”

Experts say there are two ways to fix Social Security, and neither of them are pretty: reduce benefits or increase revenue. Pres. Obama and House Speaker John Boehner seem willing to compromise on involves a change in the way Social Security increases are calculated going forward. The proposed switch to calculating cost of living increases using the chained Consumer Price Index instead of the current method would result in smaller annual Social Security raises. That’s because that method assumes that people change their spending habits when prices go up. Proponents say the switch could save billions and is a more realistic method of how Americans really adjust to rising prices. But opponents say the chained Consumer Price Index isn’t a good way to measure the needs of older and disabled Americans, because their expenditures are disproportionately focused on things like health care. A family of four may choose to eat more chicken if beef prices go up, but an elderly person can’t easily choose to spend less on heart medicine, they argue.

One of the longer-term options for reducing benefits is to simply tell people they have to wait longer to get their full benefits and thus Social Security would be keeping up with trends toward longer life expectancies. Opponents say that a closer look at the data shows that the bulk of improvements in life expectancies have come from wealthier Americans. They say a broad-based increase in the age at which people can get benefits would punish less wealthy Americans, who haven’t seen such big life expectancy gains.

Another option would be to dial down benefits for middle- and high-income people while maintaining the current system for the poorest Americans. Another option would be to reduce the Social Security benefits available to spouses. Some critics argue that’s growing outdated now that more women work and earn their own Social Security payments and is a relic of earlier times.

Under the current rules, the maximum taxable earnings for Social Security in 2012 is about $110,000. Some argue that an easy fix would be to simply raise the cap on Social Security taxes to around $190,000. Raise it higher than that, he said, and wealthy earners will just start finding ways to dodge it. But others say that it’s unlikely politicians will propose raising taxes on high earners now, when many expect those taxpayers to already see increases as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations.

Another option would be to add an across-the-board increase in payroll taxes that go toward Social Security. Although that would help solve the system’s future funding woes, experts say it’s also likely to be a hard sell in these tough times. Americans may already be facing higher payroll taxes in 2012. For the past two years, Americans have enjoyed a payroll tax holiday that reduced the amount of money they paid toward Social Security, but that could end in the coming year.

Politicians may be nervous about proposing any reform to Social Security that costs more or results in fewer benefits, but Americans seem to accept that some changes are needed. About 66% of those polled by Pew Research Center said they would support raising payroll taxes on high-income earners, while 55% said they would support reducing benefits for high-income seniors. Just 38% said they’d support raising the eligibility age.

So what do you think we should do?

Thought for Today
"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform."
--Mark Twain (1835-1910) American author

[pegasus]

MERRY CHRISTMAS
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 259th day of 2012 with 6 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 27ºF [Feels like 20ºF], winds N @ 6 mph, humidity 74%, pressure 30.21 in and rising, dew point 21ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
336--the first recorded celebration of Christmas on Dec. 25 took place in Rome.
800--Charlemagne, King of the Franks and son of the Pippin the Short, was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
1000--Stephen I of Hungary is officially recognized by Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, as the first Christian King of Hungary
1066--William the Conqueror was crowned king of England.
1100--Baldwin I of Jerusalem was crowned as the first King of Jerusalem in Bethlehem by patriarch, Dagobert of Pisa3
1130--Roger II of Sicily is crowned as the first King of Sicily in Palermo.
1776--Gen. Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, NJ.
1818--"Silent Night" was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorff, Austria.
1868--Pres. Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to everyone involved in the Southern rebellion that resulted in the Civil War.
1869--angered over a card game dispute, 16-year-old John Wesley Hardin shot James Bradley dead in the street.
1914--Christmast Truce of World War I - When enemy combatant soldiers ceased hostilities and even exchanged small gifts with each other.
1926--Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.
1938--after auditioning 100s for the role, producer David O. Selznick chose British actress Vivien Leigh to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind.
1941--Bing Crosby introduced Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" to the world on his weekly radio program.
1941--British Hong Kong surrendered to advancing Japanese forces.
1952--Queen Eliizabeth II gave her first Christmas speech.
1977--silent film omedian Charlie Chaplin died at age 88 in Switzerland.
1982--the movie To Kill a Mockingbird had its debut.
1985--Mexico City police discovered a major museum theft of pre-Colombian treasures.
1986--the hijackers of an Iraqi Airways Boeing 737 en route from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan, exploded grenades, causing a fiery crash in Saudi Arabia, killing 67 out of 107 people aboard.
1989--ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed.
1989--former New York Yankees player and manager Billy Martin, 61, died when the pickup truck he was riding in crashed.
1991--Soviet Pres. Mikhail S. Gorbachev went on TV to announce his resignation as the eighth and final leader of a Communist superpower that had already gone out of existence.
1996--six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in her Boulder, Colo. home.
2000--a fire at a Christmas party in an unlicensed disco club in Luoyang, China turned deadly, killing more than 300 people.
2002--Iran and Russia signed an agreement to complete a nuclear power plant in southern Iran.
2003--Pakistan Pres. Pervez Musharraf survived a second assassination attempt in a little over a week but 14 others were killed and 40 injured in the suicide attack.
2004--a frail but determined Pope John Paul II delivered his traditional Christmas sermon in Rome's St. Peter's Square.
2004--authorities said Colombian guerrillas stormed a spa near San Rafael and kidnapped an estimated 40 tourists.
2006--"the godfather of Soul' singer James Brown died at age 73 from congestive heart failure due to pneumonia.
2006--Pope Benedict XVI focused on child abuse and suffering in a Christmas mass at Saint Peter's Basilica.
2006--British and Iraqi troops raided a Basra police station Monday, freeing 76 prisoners believed to be in danger of execution by local authorities.
2007--Pope Benedict XVI revealed a new-style nativity scene in Rome's St. Peter's Square depicting Jesus' birth in Joseph's house and makes no mention of a manger or a journey to Bethlehem. The new Christmas scene apparently is based on Matthew's version of the nativity.
2009--passengers aboard a Northwest Airlines flight foiled an attempt to blow up the plane as it was landing in Detroit by seizing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian accused of trying to set off explosives in his underwear.

World News Capsules:
1. Egypt's controversial constitution passes

....Egyptian voters have approved a new Islamist-backed constitution, an election official said on Tuesday. Critics say it will not protect the rights Egyptians fought for in last year's revolution. .
2. The girl the Taliban wanted dead

....The Pakistani teen simply wanted to get an education. Before long, she was a global symbol of empowerment, one the Taliban tried to silence.
3. Gaza cease-fire helps fishermen, but risks remain
....The deal that halted fighting between Israel and Hamas allows fishermen to go six nautical miles out to sea, instead of three, but arrests by Israeli patrols are still possible.
4. Russian prosecutor seeks acquittal in lawyer's death
....The prosecutor's turnabout came as the Russian government was moving to retaliate against the US for adopting a human rights law named for Sergei L. Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in prison.
5. No easy route if Assad opts to go, or to stay, in Syria

....Pres. Bashar al-Assad's meeting with a UN envoy on Monday raised questions about how the Syrian leader will choose to respond to mounting pressure to step down.
6. Officials push to postpone swearing-in of Chávez
....Aides to Pres. Hugo Chávez, who is recuperating from cancer surgery in Cuba, say they will push back the inauguration scheduled for Jan. 10 if he is too ill to return to Venezuela.

US News Capsules:
1. Real and virtual firearams nurture a marketing link
....The makers of firearms and the producers of violent video games have quietly forged a mutually beneficial marketing relationship.
2. Battered seaside haven recalls its trial by fire
....Ranking among the most devastating residential fires in New York City history, the fires that enveloped the community of Breezy Point, Queens, left a hole in the heart of this genial shore community.
3. With a parent off again at war, a holiday of pride and isolation

....The high school at Fort Campbell, Ky., offers a window into the families of the all-volunteer military force over 11 years of war.
4. Anti-government graffiti restored, courtesy of government
....The authorities usually go to considerable trouble to remove graffiti, but the National Park Service has worked to keep the markings made by Native Americans during an occupation of Alcatraz Island.
5. Gunman: Killing is what I do best

....Gunman William Spengler wrote that he wanted to "see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best -- killing people," police said.
6. Tornadoes reported as storms batter South

....The portion of the country from East Texas to the Florida Panhandle is being pounded by severe weather. There are reports of damage and power outages throughout the region.
7. For healthier chickens, farms use oregano

....Chicken farms including Bell & Evans are using oregano-based products as substitutes for antibiotics, but research on their effectiveness is scant and many remain skeptical.

Thought for Today
"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."
--G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), English author

[pegasus]

Feast of St. Stephen, the 1st Christian martyr
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 260th day of 2012 with 5 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 21ºF [Feels like 21ºF], winds E @ 3 mph, humidity 77%, pressure 30.02 in and falling, dew point 16ºF, chance of precipitation 70%.

Today in History:
1606--William Shakespeare's play King Lear was performed at the court of King James I of England.
1610--infamous in the area for her torture and murder of servants and peasants, Countess Elizabeth Bathory's torture of young girls was exposed by Count Gyorgy Thurzo.
1776--Gen. Washington, having crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night, defeated Hessian mercenary troops fighting for the British at the Battle of Trenton, NJ.
1799--George Washington was eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
1820--Moses Austin met with Spanish authorities in San Antonio to ask permission for 300 Anglo-American families to settle in Texas.
1861--Confederate diplomatic envoys James Mason and John Slidell were freed by Pres. Lincoln, heading off a possible war between the US and Great Britain.
1865--James H. Nason of Franklin, Mass., received a patent for a coffee percolator.
1893--Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong was born in Hunan province; died 1976 at age 82.
1898--radium, a radioactive chemical element, was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in pitchblende from Czech Republic.
1908--Jack Johhnson became the first black heavyweight boxing champion when he knocked out Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia.
1917--the U..government took over operation of the nation's railroads for the duration of World War I.
1941--British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the US Congressm urging that the US become the "great arsenal of democracy."
1944--Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie premiered at the Civic Theatre in Chicago.
1944--Gen. Patton relieved the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium, during the brutal Battle of the Bulge.
1946--in Las Vegas, Nevada, mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel opened The Pink Flamingo Hotel & Casino at a total cost of $6 million.
1947--heavy snow blanketed the Northeast, burying New York City under 25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours and causing some 80 deaths.
1955--George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with an all-black cast opened in Leningrad.
1966--the first Kwanzaa was celebrated in Los Angeles under the direction of Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach.
1972--Harry S. Truman, the 33rd Pres. of the United States, died in Kansas City, Mo., at age 88.
1973--The Exorcist horror film opened in theaters across the country.

1974--Jack Benny, legendary radio-TV comedian died of cancer at age 80.
1982--Time's Man of the Year was given to a non-human for the first time
1986-http://www.kathrynrblake.com/images/153_Search_For_Tomorrow_ends-1951_12-26.jpg-Search for Tomorrow, American soap opera 1st aired in 1951, had its final episode.
1990--Nancy Cruzan, the focus of a right-to-die case that went to the US Supreme Court, died in a Missouri hospital.
1996--Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo. The slaying remains unsolved.
1999--Lothar, a low pressure system that resulted in a violent extratopical cyclone, swept across Central Europe killing over 100
2003--more than 26,000 people were reported killed and 1000s injured when an earthquake struck the ancient Iranian city of Bam.
2003--the death toll reached 135 in the crash of a Boeing 727 in Benin.
2004--Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts broke Dan Marino's single-season touchdown pass record when he threw his 48th and 49th of the season in a victory over San Diego.
2004--a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami in South and Southeast Asia, with massive tidal waves, some 40 feet high, slamming into India, Thailand, Indonesia and several other countries, killing 1000s of people.
2004--Ukraine opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko claimed victory in the court-ordered second vote in the country's presidential run-off.
2005--Pres.Bush decided to skip seeking warrants for international wiretaps because the court that handles such matters was challenging his requests at an unprecedented rate.
2006--Gerald R. Ford, the 38th Pres. of the United States, died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.
2006--more than 200 people died when a gas pipeline being vandalized exploded in the Nigerian capital of Lagos.
2007--the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told employers they can reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees once they become eligible for Medicare.

World News Capsules:
1. Motive unclear in killing by woman in Afghan force
....Sergeant Nargis’s killing of an American police adviser in Afghanistan was the 62nd insider killing this year, but also one of the strangest.
2. Chinese officials find misbehavior now carries cost
....A flurry of revelations suggests that China's new leadership may be serious about trying to tame the cronyism and bribery that afflicts state-run companies and local governments.
a. World's longest high-speed rail line opens in China

...Bullet trains traveling 300 kilometers an hour, or 186 miles an hour, have begun regular service between Beijing and Guangzhou, shortening the trip from 21 hours to eight.
3. On Indian TV, 'I do' means to honor and obey the mother-in-law
....Television in India occasionally tests the boundaries, but nearly every soap opera seems to circle back to marriage and the relatives who come with the words “I do.”
4. Israel to review curbs on women's prayer at Western Wall

....The move comes after years of civil disobedience by a group called Women of the Wall against rules that support gender division at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, one of Judaism's holiest sites.
5. Russian Parliament sends adoption ban to Putin

.....The upper chamber of Parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to ban adoptions by US citizens.
a. Russsian says ban on US adoption flouts treaties
....A deputy prime minister's letter of warning widens the split among top leaders on a bill barring Americans from adopting from Russia.
b. Russia's desire for cars grows, and foreign makers take notice
....As Russia's middle class becomes a force in commerce, G.M., Ford and other automakers have been expanding, or plan to expand, in the country with new factories.
6. High-ranking Syrian general defects in new blow to Assad

....Maj. Gen. Abdul Azia Jassem al-Shallal, the military police chief, is the highest-ranking officer to abandon Pres.al-Assad.
7. United Arab Emirates arrests suspects in terror plots
....Security forces arrested a cell made up of Saudi Arabian and Emirate militants, who were planning to carry out attacks in both countries and other states, the official news agency reported.

US News Capsules:
1. Legal curbs said to hamper ATF gun inquiries
....Law enforcement officials say that in theory the ATF could take a lead role in reducing gun crime, but that it is hampered by politically driven laws and by the ferocity of the debate over gun regulation.
2. Pay in oil fields, not college, is luring youths in Montana

....Salaries of $50,000 a year have lured many high school seniors away from higher education amid the frenzied pace of oil and gas drilling.
3. Potent storm that hit wide swath of country heads east

....Severe weather that brought tornadoes to the South and snow from Texas to Ohio was expected to cause heavy snow and rain in the Northeast beginning Wednesday afternoon
4. Los Angeles weighs law banning elephant shows
....If the City Council passes the law, Ringling Brothers will be barred from Los Angeles unless its owners agree to abandon one of the show's signature acts.
POLITICS:
1. Clout diminished, Tea Party turns to narrower issues
....The November election significantly weakened the once-surging movement, and its activists have not been front and center in the fiscal debate consuming Washington.
2. Jan. 1 slowly morphs from fiscal deadline into horizon
....After hopes for a bargain to avoid hundred of billions in tax increases and spending cuts have faded, economists are now giving odds on what will happen and when, and its effect on a tender recovery.
a. Senators returning with little urgency as fiscal clock ticks
....Presi. Obama and members of the Senate are set to be in Washington on Thursday for a last-ditch effort at a fiscal deal, five days before a deadline.

Sports Headlines:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
Epictetus (55 AD-135 AD) Greek sage and Stoic philosopher

[pegasus]

It's About Time Week

Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 261st day of 2012 with 4 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:57 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 23ºF [Feels like 13ºF], winds WNW @ 9 mph, humidity 81%, pressure 29.77 in and steady, dew point 19ºF, chance of precipitation 70%.

Today in History:
537--Hagia Sophia, third church of the former patriarchal basilica, was completed and inaugurated by Justinian I and the patriarch Eutychius.
1571--Johannes Kepler, German astronomer, was born; died 1630 at age 58.
1780--Col. William Washington, a cousin of Gen. Washington, surprised Loyalists and Redcoats camping at Hammonds store, SC, killing or wounding 150 British Loyalists and capturing 40 prisoners without incurring any losses of their own
1822--Louis Pasteur, French biologist and chemist; invented pasteurization process, was born; died 1895 at age 72.
1831--British naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin's discoveries during the nearly five-year journey helped form the basis of his theories on evolution.
1864-- the broken and defeated Confederate Army of Tennessee finished crossing the Tennessee River as Gen. John Bell Hood's force retreats into Mississippi.
1900--Carry Nation smashed up the bar at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kan., causing several thousand dollars in damage and landing in jail.
1904--Peter Pan, by James Barrie, opened in London.
1927--The musical Show Boat, with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City.
1932--Radio City Music Hall, a magnificent Art Deco theater, opened in New York City.
1941--the Office of Price Administration began to ration automobile tires.
1941--Japanese warplanes bombed Manila in the Philippines, even though it had been declared an "open city."
1945--the World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.
1947--the children's TV program Howdy Doody debuted on NBC.
1949--Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.
1968--Apollo 8, the first spaceflight to orbit the moon, returned to Earth.
1969--US and North Vietnamese forces battled near Loc Ninh.
1970--Hello, Dolly! closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.
1975--a coal mine explosion followed by a flood killed at least 372 workers in Dhanbad, India,
1978--Juan Carlos, the Spanish king, ratified a democratic constitution.
1979--Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan, overthrowing and executing Pres. Hafizullah Amin, replaced by Babrak Karmal.
1985--naturalist Dian Fossey, who had studied gorillas in the wild, was found hacked to death at a research station in Rwanda.
1985--terrorists killed 20 people and wounded 110 in attacks on passengers of the Israeli airline El Al at the Rome and Vienna airports.
1992--a US jet shot down an Iraqi fighter over southern Iraq's "no-fly" zone in the first such incident since the Persian Gulf War.
1997--Britain's Windsor Castle was reopened to the public following restoration work on 100 rooms damaged in a 1992 fire.
2001--US officials announced that Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners would be held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
2002--Chechen rebels, seeking independence, killed 52 people with two vehicle bombs at pro-Russian government offices.
2003--the search continued for bodies in the aftermath of the Christmas Day mudslide in California's San Bernardino Mountains. 2003--the Italian government took control of Parmalat, the dairy conglomerate, and arrested its chairman in a major accounting scandal.
2004--the death toll jumped to 23,500 in the with hundreds of thousands reported hurt and many thousands missing.
2004--Viktor Yushchenko won a runoff in Ukraine's presidential election, completing the country's "Orange Revolution."
2004--radiation from SGR 1806-20 (a magnetar, neutron star) explosion finally reaches Earth in the brightest extrasolar event ever witnessed.
2005--Indonesia's Aceh rebels formally abolished their 30-year armed struggle for independence under a peace deal born out of the 2004 tsunami.
2005--workmen installing a water main in the Iraqi Shiite city of Karbala unearthed a grave containing dozens of bodies from a 1991 massacre.
2006--the US State Department indicated it supported Ethiopia's military incursion into Somalia as a means to counter Islamists trying to topple the government.
2007--former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, first woman to hold that post in an Islamic state, was assassinated in a suicide attack as she left a political rally in Rawalpindi.
2007--preliminary results in the Kenyan presidential election showed opposition candidate Raila Odinga the winner over incumbent Mwai Kibaki, 57 to 39%. Three days later the election commission reversed the results, touching off tribal violence.

World News Capsules:
1. Betrayed while they sleep, Afghan police are dying in numbers
....The fear of insider attacks has been an even bigger concern for Afghan security forces than it has been for NATO and American forces.
a. What's at stake for Afghan women

....As the deadline for withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan nears, many wonder how hard-won gains will be safeguarded. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says recent killings show the potential losses for Afghan women.
2. Coca licensing is a weapon in Bolivia's drug war

....The world's third-largest cocaine producer has taken an unorthodox approach to controlling the growing of coca that veers markedly from the wider war on narcotics.
3. Signs of changes taking hold in electronics factories in China
....After the hardships of workers in China's electronics factories were exposed to a global audience, working conditions have changed.
4. Morsi admits 'mistakes' in drafting Egypt's constitution
....Pres. Morsi appealed for unity after the bitter debate over the Constitution, and he pledged to respect the one-third of voters who cast ballots against it.
5. In Gabon, lure of ivory is hard for many to resist

....Gabon’s government has made efforts to combat poaching, but as the price of ivory soars its elephants are being slaughtered.
6. Iran's only female cabinet minister dismissed in medicine imports dispute
....Dr. Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi, who was appointed in 2009, apparently angered the president by criticizing the government’s response to acute shortages of medicine imports.
7. Russian measure banning adoptions by American citizens is sent to Putin who says he will sign it

....If Pres. Putin signs off on the ban, the departure of 46 children ready to be adopted by US parents could be blocked.
8. UN envoy calls for a transitional government in Syria
....The envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, said on Thursday that a transitional government should be granted full executive powers until new elections could be held.

US News Capsules:
1. Storm weakened a fragile system for mental care
....The odds of securing mental health treatment in a crisis in New York City have worsened significantly since Hurricane Sandy knocked out hospitals and disrupted outpatient services.
2. NBC's display of a 30-shot gun magazine prompts a police inquiry
....The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington said they were looking into whether David Gregory broke the law when he showed a high-capacity magazine on "Meet the Press."
3. Potent winter sstorm moves east after pouncing on wide area of the country

....Severe weather that brought tornadoes to the South and snow from Texas to Ohio could bring 12 to 18 inches of snow to an area from western New York to central Maine.
4. Libraries see opening as bookstorees close
....As librarians struggle with the task of redefining their roles in a digital age, many are seeing an opportunity to fill the void created by the loss of traditional bookstores.
5. Doctors warned on 'divided loyalty'
....The American Medical Association reminded doctors this week that the patient’s welfare must always come first and must not be overridden by the economic interests of hospitals.
POLITICS:
1. US Senators to return with 5 days left and no clear fiscal path
....Adding to the tension over a pileup of threatened tax increases and spending cuts, the treasury secretary notified Congress that the government would hit its borrowing limit on Monday.
2. US teeters on edge of fiscal cliff

....As Pres. Obama returns to Washington, hopes of a deal to address the nation's chronic debt and deficits appear dashed..
3. Washington State senators cross aisle and tilt ideological balance

....One of the creators of a new majority coalition said state politics had become too "Seattle-centric," too liberal to be representative of Washington as a whole.

Thought for Today
"An unexamined idea, to paraphrase Socrates, is not worth having and a society whose ideas are never explored for possible error may eventually find its foundations insecure."
--Mark Van Doren (1894-1972) Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, professor, and critic

[pegasus]

Pledge of Allegiance Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 262 day of 2012 with 3 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 28ºF [Feels like 23ºF], winds W @ 5 mph, humidity 70%, pressure 30.06 in and rising, dew point 21ºF, chance of precipitation 3 0%.

Today in History:
1065--Westminster Abbey, site of coronation and burial for British Monarchs, was consecrated a week before Edward the Confessor's death.
1643--the first legal divorce in the American colonies - Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke.
1694--Mary II , Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland, died of smallpox after five years of joint rule with her cousin-husband, King William III.
1832--John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the US to resign, stepping down over differences with Pres. Jackson.
1846--Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union.
1856--Woodrow Wilson, 28th Pres. of the United States (1913-21), was born; died 1924 at age 67.
1879--Tay Bridge Disaster occurred when the first Tay Rail bridge in Scotland collapsed during a storm while a train was passing over it, killing 75.
1895--the world's first commercial movie screening takes place at the Grand Cafe in Paris
1897--Cyrano de Bergerac, a play by Edmond Rostand, premiered in Paris.
1905--the forerunner of the NCAA, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, was founded in New York City.
1908--Messina, Italy was nearly destroyed by an earthquake that killed between 60-75,000 people.
1914--Ford Motor Co. increased its daily wage from $2.34 for a nine-hour day to $5 for eight hours of work.
1919--the National Socialist (Nazi) Party was formed in Germany.
1922--Stan Lee, comic book creator (Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk), turns 90
1925--Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming was sworn in as the first woman governor in the US.
1945--the US Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.
1948--the first color newsreel, filmed at the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., was released on this date by Warner Brothers-Pathe.
1958--the Baltimore Colts won the NFL championship, defeating the New York Giants 23-17 in overtime at Yankee Stadium, in what has been dubbed the greatest football game ever played.
1964--Pope Paul VI and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras met in Jerusalem, the first meeting of a pope and a patriarch in more than five centuries.
1973--Alexander Solzhenitsyn published Gulag Archipelago, an expose of the Soviet prison system.
1981--Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the 1st "US test tube baby" was born.
1982--a black man was mortally wounded by a police officer in a Miami video arcade, setting off three days of race-related disturbances that left another man dead.
1993--Washington executed multiple child killer Westley Allan Dodd by hanging in the nation's first gallows execution in 28 years.
1994--the US and North Korea agreed, in principle, that the latter would allow inspections of its declared nuclear facilities.
1995--the US House of Representatives passed a bill requiring Congress to comply with its own civil rights and labor laws. The Senate followed suit six days later.
1996--the longest U.S. government shutdown ended after 21 days when Congress passed a stopgap spending measure that would allow federal employees to return to work.
1998-[imghttp://www.dvdizer.com/img/actor/Bono-Sonny_thumb.jpg][/img]-Rep. Sonny Bono, R-Calif., of Sonny and Cher fame, was killed when he hit a tree while skiing at South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
2000--the Clinton administration decided that Elian Gonzalez, a 6-year-old Cuban refugee whose mother drowned while trying to enter the US, should be returned to his father in Cuba.
2004--Pete Rose, barred from baseball for gambling, admitted he had bet on games involving his own team.
2005--former top Enron Corp. accountant Richard Causey pleaded guilty to securities fraud and agreed to help pursue convictions against Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling.
2005--At least 24 people were killed in two car bomb explosions ain Iraq in mounting violence ahead of upcoming elections.
2005--UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a $977 million emergency appeal to cover six months of aid for 5 million victims of the Southeast Asia tsunami.
2006--134 people were killed in two car bombings in Iraq and more than 120 others were wounded in a second day of heavy violence.
2007--43 people died in a two-day series of militant assaults on migrants, mostly milkmen, in two districts of India.
2008--the Detroit Lions completed an 0-16 season, the NFL's worst ever, with a 31-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
2008--tribal violence following the disputed Kenya presidential election claimed almost 500 lives.


World News Capsules:
1. Betrayed while asleep, Afghan police die at hands of their countrymen
....The fear of insider attacks has been an even bigger concern for Afghan security forces than it has been for NATO and American forces.
2. China toughens its restrictions on use of the Internet
....New rules require Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning companies greater responsibility for deleting forbidden postings.
3. Woman whose gang rape galvanized India dies

....The woman, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, had been in critical condition since she was raped two weeks ago by several men who lured her onto a bus.
4. Iran's slowing of enrichment efforts may show it wants a deal, analysts say
....Some observers see signals in the Iranians’ diversion of medium-enriched uranium to a small research reactor.
5. Carbon taxes make Ireland even greener

....Over the last three years, Ireland embraced a novel strategy to help reduce its staggering deficit: charging households and businesses for the environmental damage they cause.
6. Islamists' harsh justice is on the rise in North Mali
....Amputations have occurred at least 14 times since the Islamist takeover of the region last spring, with a vow of more to come.
7. Russia's plan to bar American adoptions upends families

...For hundreds of Americans enmeshed in the costly, complicated adoption process, Pres. Putin's decision to endorse an adoption ban had a deeply personal effect.
a. Russia urges Syrian leader to negotiate with his opponents
....The move comes as further signs emerged that Moscow and other international parties were coalescing around the idea of a transitional government in Syria.
8. Car factories offer hope for Spanish industry and workers
....With labor costs so low, Spain is attracting car manufacturers that see a large competitive advantage in producing there rather than in other European countries.
9. Battle for Syrian city lays both sides weaknesses bare

....Growing rebel successes in the six-month fight for Aleppo have not come without setbacks, costs and questions about Syria’s future.

US News Capsules:
1. Sudden death of show pony clouds image of elite pursuit

....In horse racing, industry leaders have taken significant steps against the overmedicating of horses. But in the cloistered equestrian world, the issue has attracted less notice. Records show that since 2010, random drug tests of horses competing at equestrian events have tested positive for substances such as cocaine, antipsychotics and depressants.
2. Stalemate in Washington is eroding confidence of consumers
....Consumer confidence fell sharply in the first half of December despite improvement in new home sales and a slight drop in new jobless claims.
3. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, US commander in Gulf War, dies at 78

....Gen. Schwarzkopf, who was lauded for his leadership during the war, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Queen Elizabeth II made him an honorary knight.
POLITICS:
1. Obama to urge fiscal vote in Senate if two-party talks fail

....Pres. Obama said he was cautiously “optimistic” about Senate leaders’ work to avert the fiscal crisis. But he also warned that he would urge the Democratic-controlled body to put forward a measure anyway if the two sides can’t agree.
a. Summoned back to work, Senators chafe at inaction
....Lawmakers were fully united, if only around their sadness and frustration at being stuck in Washington in a holiday week, peering over the edge of the fiscal abyss.
2. Closing loopholes isn't enough
....Some politicians think America can raise the revenue it needs to balance its books without raising tax rates on anyone. There's a word for that: hogwash.
3. Washington's stalemate leaves taxpayers in limbo

....The impasse has left many with no idea how much they’ll be paying in federal income taxes in 2013, but taxpayers can take some steps amid the uncertainty.

Sports Headlines:
1. NBA: Putting 'the choke' further in the past
....After being dismissed from previous NBA. coaching stints, including with Golden State, where he was infamously choked by Latrell Sprewell, P.J. Carlesimo will take over as the Nets' interim coach.
a. Williams dismisses view that he caused coach's firing

....Point guard Deron Williams that he did not quit on Avery Johnson, but he did accept some responsibility for the Nets' poor play recently.
2. MLB: Matsui, star in two continents, is retiring
....Hideki Matsui, who announced his retirement on Thursday, hit 332 homers for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan before joining the Yankees for seven seasons, helping them to a World Series title.
3. Tennis: Injury and illness to keep Nadal out of Australian Open
....A stomach virus further delayed Rafael Nadal’s comeback from a knee injury that has sidelined him since June.

Thought for Today
"The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity."
--[/i]George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright,


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Pepper Pot Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 363rd day of 2012 with 2 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:08 p.m., it's lightly snowing , temp 28ºF [Feels like 28ºF], winds calm, humidity 82%, pressure 29.62 in and steady, dew point 24ºF, chance of precipitation 100%.

Today in History:
1170--Saint Thomas a Becket ,(rchbishop of Canterbury, was assassinated, while knelt in prayer, inside Canterbury Cathedral by King Henry II's men.
1721--Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson. Marquise de Pompadour, French mistress of King Louis XV, was born; died 1764 at age 42.
1778--the British capture Savannah, Georgia.
1808--Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, was born in Raleigh, N.C.
1809--William Gladstone, English statesman and four-time prime minister (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94), was born; died 1898 at age 88.
1845--Texas was admitted to the union as the 28th state.
1848--gaslights were installed at the White House.
1851--the first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston.
1862-- at the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, Union Gen. Sherman was thwarted in his attempt to capture Vicksburg, Miss.
1876--a bridge in Ashtabula, Ohio, collapsed causing a train to fall into a gorge, killing 80 passengers.
1878--the Cuban professional baseball league played its first game.
1890--US troops killed as many as 400 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee, SD.
1911--Mongolia declared independence from the Qiing Empire (last ruing dynaty of China).
1915--the French National Assembly passed a law formally ceding the land that held the British war cemeteries to Great Britain.
1916--James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was published.
1916--GrIgorI Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.
1936--Mary Tyler Moore, Actress, turns 76 1
1940--Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London.
1957--Pat Boone earned his second #1 hit with "April Love."
1967--Paul Whiteman, the "King of Jazz" and most popular bandleader of the pre-swing era, died in Doylestown, Pa., at age 77.
1972--Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed on its approach to Miami International Airport, killing 101 people aboard.
1975--a terrorist bomb exploded at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 75.
1983--the US announced its withdrawal from UNESCO, charging the UN cultural and scientific organization was biased against Western nations.
1985--the "Railway Rapist" attacked 19-year-old Alison Day, abducting her from a London train and strangling her for his first murder, although he had committed a number of previous rapes.
1989--playwright Vaclav Havel was sworn in as the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia since 1948.
1992--a Cuban airliner was hijacked to Miami as part of a mass defection with 48 of the 53 people aboard seeking and granted political asylum.
1996-[/img]-war-weary guerrilla and government leaders in Guatemala signed an accord ending 36 years of civil conflict.
1998--the Khmer Rouge leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives.
1999--the NASDAQ composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.
2002--Kenyan voters ousted the party that had ruled the nation since 1963 in an election that also ended the 24-year presidency of Daniel Arap Moi.
2003--the US Department of Homeland Security announced that armed air marshals would be placed on certain foreign flights entering US airspace believed to be at risk of terrorist attacks.
2003--Five bodies were recovered from the Christmas Day mudslide in California's San Bernardino Mountains, running the total to 12 with two others missing.
2004--actor Jerry Orbach, star of stage, film and TV, best known for his starring role on TV's Law and Order, died of prostate cancer at the age of 69.
2005--grass fires in Texas and Oklahoma destroyed thousands of acres, hundreds of buildings and countless cattle. The Texas farming community of Cross Plains was demolished.
2006--AT&T won approval to complete an $85 billion takeover of BellSouth Corp. after it made a series of consumer-friendly concessions.
2007--Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, reported that car bombs and suicide attacks dropped by 60% and that al-Qaida in Mesopotamia remained the greatest threat to Iraq's security.
2007--The New England Patriots became the first NFL team in 35 years to finish the regular season undefeated when they beat the New York Giants 38-35 to go 16-0.

World News Capsules:
1. Deadly bite of winter returns to the ill-prepared refugee camps of Kabul
....Stubbornness by Afghanistan’s government and refugees, inadequate aid and desperate families’ selling of clothes for food are again yielding a deadly toll in squalid camps.
2. Units of Spanish utility nationalized in Bolivia
....Pres. Evo Morales nationalized two electricity distribution subsidiaries of the Spanish energy company Iberdrola.
3. Shaky response of India's government in fatal rape case magnifies outrage

....The death of a young woman savagely assaulted and raped in the national capital has mushroomed into a volatile crisis that has touched a deep chord of discontent. Six people, including a minor and a bus driver, have been arrested.
a. An idea promised the sky, but India is still waiting
....The Aakash project was supposed to provide $50 tablet computers for students across India, revolutionizing the nation’s schools and its tech industry, but so far those goals remain elusive.
4. To save wildlife, and tourism, Kenyans take up arms

....In Kenya, people are so eager to protect their wildlife — and the tourism dollars that safaris bring — that civilians are risking their lives to confront poaching gangs.
5. At least 16 are reported killed in Nigeria
....The assault took place early Friday morning in Musari, the city where the sect known as Boko Haram first began its guerrilla campaign against Nigeria’s weak central government.
6. Cough syrup suspected to have killed 33 in Pakistan
....Tests show the victims’ stomachs contained a synthetic morphine derivative used in cough syrup that can have mind-altering effects if consumed in large quantities, an official said.
7. In Russia, exile in comfort for leaders like Assad

....Barvikha, a town of villas and luxury boutiques near Moscow, is a magnet for deposed leaders given asylum in Russia, and offers a possible future for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. But the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said there was “no possibility” Pres/ al-Assad of Syria could be persuaded to leave, suggesting slender hope for negotiations.

US News Capsules:
1. 414 homicides in '12 is a record low for New York City
....Overall crimes increased slightly, officials said, because of a rise in thefts - a phenomenon based solely on robberies of iPhones and other Apple devices.
2. A record worth wilting for: Death Valley is hotter than...
....Death Valley is officially the hottest place on earth, now that meteorologists have invalidated a 136.4-degree reading claimed since 1922 by a city in Libya.
3. As Walmart makes safety vows, it's seen as obstacle to change
....Critics of Walmart say its factory monitoring system is flawed, and the company has shown little interest in changing the practice of demanding that factories meet safety standards at their own cost.
3. Sprawling Memphis aims to be a friendlier place for cyclists
....The Tennessee city, which had been named one of the worst cities in American for cyclists, has opened dozens of miles of bike lanes as it tries to change commuting habits.
4. Partial deal with union averts a strike at 14 ports
....Shipping companies and dockworkers reached a deal on their main dispute, and the longshoremen's union agreed to drop its threat of a strike this Sunday.
5. Newspaper on Cape Cod apologies for a veteran reporter's fabrications
....A not-quite-right article set off alarm bells for an editor at The Cape Cod Times and the discovery of years of made up subjects by a longtime reporter who had appeared "down in the dumps."
6. How to prepare when next year's tax rates are anyone's guess
....The fiscal stalemate in Washington has left many with no idea how much they'll be paying in federal income taxes in 2013, but taxpayers can take some steps amid the uncertainty.
7. TV where taking it too far is never far enough

....Was 2012 a nadir for reality television? Can the offerings possibly get any worse? Has the genre become too ludicrous to parody?
8. A place comfortable with Boeing, anarchists and [/i]Frasier[/u]
....A revamped History & Industry Museum has a new home on Lake Union in Seattle, with some 50,000 square feet of exhibits about that city's past and future.
9. Braced for hardship, an Amish clan awaits sentences in shearing attacks

....Feuds with outsiders and wrenching internal strife culminated in five separate attacks, which have brought calamity to a community led by Samuel Mullet Sr.
10. Russian adoption ban brings uncertainty and outrage
....Pres. Putin signed the bill into law Friday, apparently blocking hundreds of orphans’ departure for the United States.
POLITICS:
1. US Senate leaders set to work on a last-minute tax agreement
....After weeks of fruitless negotiations with the House speaker, John Boehner, Pres. Obama turned to Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell to try to avert a fiscal crisis.
2. Wishful thinking and middle-class taxes
....A commitment to keep taxes low for the middle class could be one reason that the political process has become so deeply dysfunctional.
3. Federal power to intercept messages is extended
....Congress gave final approval on Friday to a bill extending the government’s power to intercept electronic communications of spy and terrorism suspects under a law known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Thought for Today
"A smile is the shortest distance between two people."
--Victor Borge (1909-2000) Danish-born pianist & comedian


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

National Egg Nog Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 364thday of 2012 with 1 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:19 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 26ºF [Feels like 15ºF], winds W @ 12 mph, humidity 69%, pressure 30.12 in and steady, dew point 18ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1460--Wars of the Roses between Lancaster and York: Battle of Wakefield in the ) in which Edmund, Duke of York's second son, was killed.
1703--Tokyo was hit by an earthquake; about 37,000 died.
1809--wearing masks at balls forbidden in Boston.
1813--the British burned Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812.
1816--English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Frankenstein were wed.
1853--the US bought 45,000 square miles of land along the Gila River from Mexico for $10 million that is now southern Arizona and New Mexico, establishing the southern US border.
1862--the Union ironclad ship USS Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, NC, during a storm, 16 crew members died.
1865--author Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India; died 1936 at age 70.
1903-t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6Dbyf1M0MeQv6_RwWzssmcScMiklKs2U4TZo3oudIRYpI5b7N&t=1 [/img]-about 600 people died when fire broke out at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago.
1911--Sun Yat-sen was elected the first president of the Republic of China.
1922--Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics)
1935--Sandy Koufax, Baseball Hall of Fame llefthander, born; turns 77
1940--California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened.
1965--former Philippines Senate Pres. Ferdinand Marcos was inaugurated president of the Southeast Asian archipelago nation.
1970--the US Navy transfered some of its Vietnam Conflict responsibility to the South Vietnamese.
1972--the US halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam and peace negotiations resumed in Paris.
1978--Ohio State University fired Woody Hayes as its football coach, one day after Hayes punched Charlie Bauman, a Clemson University player, during a game.
1979--Richard Rodgers, Broadway composer (Oklahoma, South Pacific, Sound of Music.). died in New York City at age 77.
1986--Exxon Corp. became the first major international oil company to withdraw from South Africa because of that nation's racial policies.
1992--Ling-Ling, the giant female panda who delighted visitors to Washington's National Zoo for more than two decades, died of heart failure.
1993--Israel and the Vatican agreed to recognize one another.
1994--John Salvi III, an anti-abortion activist, went on a murder spree at abortion clinics in Brookline, Mass. and Norfolk, Va.
1995--North Korea released a US Army pilot whose helicopter had been shot down 13 days earlier over North Korean territory.
1999--a mentally ill man broke into George Harrison's mansion and attacked the former Beatle and his wife.
2002--a university student, thought to be linked to a terrorist group, allegedly killed three US missionaries working at a Baptist hospital in Yemen.
2003--the US government announced it would ban the sale of ephedra, an herbal stimulant linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes.
2004--the official death toll from the 11-country Asian earthquake and tsunami soared to 123,000. Indonesia was the hardest hit by the magnitude 9 quake and counted 80,000 dead.
2004--Artie Shaw, the clarinet virtuoso and leader of one of the biggest of the Swing Era big bands, died at age 94.
2005--despite opposition to the anti-torture provision, Pres. Bush signed into law the new $453 billion military spending bill.
2006--former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hanged.
2006--car bombs struck markets in a Shiite area of Baghdad and in a southern Shiite town, killing at least 68 people.
2007--security was high in Iraq as supporters of deposed Pres. Hussein marked the first anniversary of his death.
2010--top-ranked UConn's record 90-game winning streak in women's basketball ended with a 71-59 loss to No. 9 Stanford


World News Capsules:
1. Afghan camps receive wiwnter aid, but officias say it isn't enough

....The UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Sunday distributed emergency cold weather supplies to families in a refugee camp where two days earlier a 3-year-old child died of exposure to the cold.
a. Afghan troop deaths rise as army expands its role
....The Afghan government hit a grim record in its quest to take over the country’s security: more than 1,000 soldiers died in 2012, a 20% increase from 2011.
2. Coming soon to Belgian village, a Frenh film idol fleeing taxes
....Néchin, a rural settlement in Belgium, has become a tax haven for scores of wealthy French citizens, including, most recently, the actor Gérard Depardieu.
3. In Germany, Merkel's main rival appears to stumble from gaffe to gaffe
....The Social Democrats’ candidate for chancellor, Peer Steinbrück, finds himself facing questions about speaking fees and a comment that Angela Merkel has the advantage of a “women’s bonus.”
4. Six charged with murder in India after rape victim's death

....As protests grew, a police spokesman said the suspects could face the death penalty in a Dec. 16 gang rape that shocked India with its savagery.
a. Rape victim is cremated in India after six are charged with murder
....The 23-year-old victim’s remains were received by India’s prime minister and cremated following candlelight vigils and violent protests that have galvanized India.
5. Israel, in shift, lets building materials cross into Gaza

....The easing of restrictions on imports is a result of continuing talks in Cairo meant to anchor the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
6. In Mexico, a factory on bicycle wheels, carrying hope of a better life

....Amor Muñoz’s mobile sewing factory is about community and “the experience of art” as much as economic development. “I’m interested in sharing the experience of art,” Ms. Muñoz says. Plus, she pays her workers about $7.50
7. In Pakistan, drone war spurs militants to deadly reprisals
....Militants punish those accused of being informers aiding drone attacks by taping their confessions and executions, deepening an atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust in the tribal belt.
a. 19 Shiite pilgrims bound for Iran are killed in Pakistan
....The remotely detonated bomb, which struck buses bearing passengers on a religious pilgrimage, also wounded at least 25 people in southwestern Pakistan.
8. Al-Qaida places bounties on Americans in Yemen
....Al Qaida’s branch in Yemen has offered bounties worth tens of thousands of dollars to anyone who kills the American ambassador or an American soldier in the country.

US News Capsules:
1. Halfway houses prove lucrative to those at top
....The 2nd-largest operator of halfway houses in New Jersey, a nonprofit, has paid its founder roughly $7 million over the past decade, and has hired several of the founder's relatives.
2. Obama faults US 'sloppiness' in fatal Benghazi attack
....Pres. Obama said an inquiry on the episode that claimed four American lives in Libya had identified “huge problems” in how the State Department protects its missions abroad.
3. Building congregations around art galleries and cafes as spirituality wanes
....As more Americans identify as "spiritual but not religious," evangelicals are changing their focus to building inviting community spaces.
4. A festive mood in Maine as same-sex marriage becomes legal

....In Portland, the mood was festive, as the city clerk's office opened at midnight to issue marriage licenses to gay couples as soon as it was legal.
5. Hillaray Clinton is hospitalized after exam finds a blood clot


....Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is being treated with anticoagulant medication after the discovery of a blood clot stemming from her concussion this month.
6. Boys missing for 10 days found safe

....The two Georgia boys were found at an Austin, Texas, hotel after authorities say their father took them on a road trip without telling anyone -- setting off a nationwide search.
POLITICS:
1. US Senate leaders racing to seek bipartisan formula to forge a tax deal as deadline nears

....The fear of another painful economic slowdown appears to have accelerated deal-making on Capitol Hill with just two days remaining before the so-called fiscal cliff arrives.
2. Vice Pres. Biden is back for a 2nd run at gun limits
....The current debate offers Vice Pres. Biden a chance to craft a legislative response that would reinstate his assault weapons ban, while also making it more effective.
3. Why your paycheck is getting smaller, no matter what

....That's because the government had temporarily lowered the payroll tax rate in 2011 to 4.2% from 6.2%, in an effort to keep more cash in the pockets of Americans and provide a boost to the economy. The tax cut, which applies on the first $113,700 in annual earnings, is expiring in December.

Thought for Today
"If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price."
--[/i]Anonymous.


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Happy New Year's Eve Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 365th day of 2012 with 0 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:13 p.m., it's fair , temp 34ºF [Feels like 27ºF], winds SW @ 9 mph, humidity 56%, pressure 29.91 in and falling, dew point 28ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1738--Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, English general and statesman, was born; died 1805 at age 66.
1775--Patriots are defeated at Quebec
1857--Great Britain's Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.
1862--Pres. Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union.
1869--Henri Matisse, French painter, was born; died 1954 at age 84.
1879--Thomas Edison gave the first public demonstration of his incandescent lamp in Menlo Park, NJ.
1880--George C. Marshall, US Army Chief of Staff & 3rd Secretary of Defense, was born; died 1959 at age 78.
1904--Times Square holds its first New Year's Eve celebration .
1907--Times Square New Year's Eve crystal ball drops for the first time.
1909--Manhattan Bridge, asuspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, was opened.
1929--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians' first New Year's Eve broadcast from the Roosevelt Grill in New York City, which became an annual event on CBS.
1937--actor Anthony Hopkins turns 75 years old today.
1951--the Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.
1960--the farthing coin was no longer considered legal tender in Great Britain.
1970--Six months after release of their Let It Be album, Paul McCartney filed suit in London seeking the legal dissolution of the Beatles' partnership.
1974--private US citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.
1983--the court-ordered breakup of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. took effect at midnight.
1984--the US' first mandatory seat belt law went into effect in the state of New York at midnight.
1985--rock singer Rick Nelson, age 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas.
1993--entertainer Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years, singing to a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
1994--Russian forces launched a full air and ground attack on Grozny, the capital city of the rebel republic of Chechnya.
1997--the Algerian government announced that more than 400 people had been massacred by Islamic extremists during the last nine days of December.
1999--in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, Panama assumed full control of the Panama Canal.
1999--Boris Yeltsin, Pres. of Russia, announcesdhis resignation as on Russian Television.
2004--at least 175 youths were reported killed in an overnight fire at a popular Buenos Aires nightclub; bout 600 more were injured.
2004--Taipei 101 (101-floor landmark skyscraper in Taipei) opened as the world's tallest skyscraper.
2004--a bus slammed into an oil tanker in Pakistan, killing at least 31 people and seriously injuring 11.
2005--844 US military personnel died in Iraq, a year-end report said. Of that toll, 425 deaths were blamed on roadside bombs.
2006--Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union bringing the number of countries to 27 and the number of citizens to 489 million.
2006--the death toll for Americans killed in the Iraq war reached 3,000.
2007--the death toll in Kenya's post-election violence reached at least 140 with the figure sure to go far beyond that. Tribal uprisings were triggered after incumbent Pres. Mwai Kibaki narrowly won re-election over challenger Raila Odinga despite trailing by a wide margin earlier.

World News Capsules:
1. Fearing fighting, residents flee capital of Central African Republic
....Rebels rejected an offer from Pres. François Bozizé that proposed forming a government of national unity, saying that previous agreements with him had been quickly broken.
2. Family of Chinese regulator profits in insurance firm's rise
....Dai Xianglong oversaw the insurance industry when a company his relatives helped control made an investment that came to be worth billions.
a. Times reporter in China is forced to leave over visa issue[/u]
....Visa troubles for the reporter and for the new Beijing bureau chief of The Times come amid government pressure on the foreign media over investigations into the finances of senior Chinese leaders
3. Europe's debt crisis: no relief on the horizon

....European Union officials have struggled to turn things around — debating new treaties, shoring up banks, securing more funding. The people of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Latvia have dealt with economic troubles in various ways.
4. Indian women march: 'That girl could have been any one of us'
....Protesters say they and others like them will never fully take part in the promise of a more prosperous nation unless something fundamental changes.
5. Iran tests new version of missiles in exercise
....A wide-ranging naval exercise focused on striking hypothetical unmanned aircraft and vessels in international waters to the south of the country.
6. Japan's new leader endorses nuclear plants
....Shinzo Abe, the newly elected prime minister, said Sunday that he would seek to build nuclear reactors, reversing a campaign pledge to move Japan away from nuclear power.
7. UN Envoy to Syria warns of slide to hellish fiefs with huge toll

....The international envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, said that if fighting continued, it could lead to 100,000 deaths in the next year and a territorial free-for-all.
8. Chávez faces new complications after surgery

....Pres. Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is experiencing complications arising from a respiratory infection following cancer surgery in Cuba, Vice Pres. Nicolás Maduro said Sunday night.

US News Capsules:
1. Settlement expected on past abuses in home loans
....Banking regulators are said to be close to a $10 billion settlement with 14 banks that would end the government's efforts to hold lenders responsible for foreclosure abuses.
2. Woman accused of murder as a hate crime in NYC subway push death
....Erika Menendez, charged with shoving a stranger to his death under a train in Queens, has a long history with New York City's law enforcement and mental health establishments.
3. Lure of green cards brings big investment for remote resort in Vermont

....Developers with big plans for Jay Peak and nearby Newport, have got millions in financing under a program that gives foreigners a green card in exchange for a $500,000 investment.
4. Nine are killed in charter bus crash in Oregon

....A charter bus crashed through a guardrail and tumbled several hundred feet down a steep embankment, injuring about 20 others , including the driver of the bus, owned by a Canadian company.
5. Out maneuvered at their own game, antivirus makers struggle to adapt

....Consumers and businesses spend billions of dollars a year on antivirus software, but these programs rarely block freshly minted strains, because the malware creators move too fast.
6. Clinton's blood clot is located near her brain, doctors say

....Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton did not suffer any neurological damage, and her physicians said they expect she will make a full recovery.
POLITICS:
1. Day of seesaw talks produces no accord on fiscal crisis

....The Senate was set to reconvene Monday after failing to produce a fiscal deal with just hours to go before large tax increases and spending cuts were to begin taking effect.
a. Shape of fiscal deal emerging, but spending still at issue
....Vice Pres. Biden and Sen. Mitch McConnell reached a tentative agreement on taxes but remained stuck on whether and how to stop $110 billion in across-the-board spending cuts.
b. A showdown long foreseen
....The struggle over how to reach a broad Congressional tax agreement is not just the latest partisan showdown but rather the culmination of two years of escalating fiscal confrontations.

Thought for Today
"Where is there dignity unless there is honesty?"
--[/i]Cicero (106 BC-43 BC), Roman orator


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