THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 54th day of 2012 with 311 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:27 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 39ºF [Feels like 31ºF], winds W @ 13 mph, humidity 67%, pressure 29.60 in and rising, dew point 29ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
303--Emperor Diocletian ordered the general persecution of Christians.
1455--Johannes Gutenberg printed the 1st book, Bible .
1574--France began its 5th holy war against the French Protestants or Huguenots.
1660--Charles XI became King of Sweden.
1689--the Dutch prince William of Orange and his wife Mary (Stuart) were proclaimed King and Queen of England and Great Britain.
1778--Baron von Steuben joined the Continental Army at Valley Forge.
1813--the 1st US raw cotton-to-cloth mill was founded in Waltham, Mass.
1822--Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.
1836--the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Tex.
1848--the 6th president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, died in Washington, D.C., at age 80.
1861--Pres.-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, following word of a possible assassination plot in Baltimore.
1868--W.E.B. DuBois, the American sociologist who co-founded the NA.ACP, was born; died 1963 at age 95.
1870--Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.
1927--Pres. Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission.
1942--the first shelling of the US mainland occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, Calif., causing little damage.
1945--U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi.
1954--the first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.
1965--film comedian Stan Laurel died at age 74 in Santa Monica, Calif.
1981--an attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. (However, the attempt collapsed 18 hours later.)
2002--Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by a rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. (She was rescued along with 14 other hostages in July 2008.)
2007--a Mississippi grand jury refused to bring any new charges in the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was beaten and shot after whistling at a white woman.
2007--Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport became the first in the US to begin testing new X-ray screening technology that could see through people's clothes.
2007--46 countries attending a conference in Oslo, Norway, agreed to push for a global treaty banning cluster bombs,
2011--in a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.


World News Capsules:
1. Pres. Karzai demands public trial for Koran burners.

....Afghanistan wants NATO to put on public trial those who burned copies of the Quran at a NATO base, President Hamid Karzai's office said, after a 3rd day of bloody protests over the incident. Karzai had earlier accused a U.S. officer of "ignorantly" burning copies of the Quran, in an incident that has deepened anti-Western sentiment in a country NATO is trying to stabilize before foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014.
2. Merkel apologizes for police handling of neo-Nazi killings.
....Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the families of 10 people slain in a hate-driven killing spree that for seven years went unsolved by Germany’s highly efficient police force.
3. Deadly car bombings strike across Iraq.
....A barrage of coordinated attacks across Iraq killed at least 40 people in what Iraqi officials called a “frantic race” to shatter people’s faith in the government’s grip on security.
4. Israeli court invalidates a military exemption.
....The 6-to-3 decision, which overturns the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews engaged in religious studies from military service, adds a new urgency to the government’s negotiations with religious parties.
5. US and North Korean officials meet for talks in China.
....The first official talks between the two countries since the coming to power of the youthful new North Korean leader were “serious and substantial,” an American negotiator said.
6. Lethal blast strikes northweat Pakistan bus terminal.
....An explosion apparently caused by a car bomb ripped through a bus terminal in Peshawar on Thursday, killing 15 people, including two children
7. Former Philipppine presient denies election fraud charge.
....The former Philippines president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that she ordered a local official to tamper with election results in 2007.
8. Putin rallies supporters ahead of vote.
....Amid recent antigovernment protests, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin called voters to “unite around our country” less than two weeks before the election.
9. Nigeria ex-leader meets with Senegal gpverm,emt.
....Olusegun Obasanjo met with Senegalese opposition leaders in an effort to broker a solution to the country’s political malaise ahead of a tense presidential vote.
10. World leaders are meetng ina script all too familiar to Somalis.
....To address Somalia’s problems, world representatives are gathering in London, where a final communiqué has already been drafted.
11. UN panels accuses Syria of crimes against humanity.
....During the sustained Syrian Army assault on Homs for the past 20 days, videos of the violence are offering a stunningly vivid picture, sometimes live or at least in real time, of life in the city. A UN report said "gross human rights violations" had been ordered by the Syrian authorities.

US News Capsules
1. Postal Service downsizing plan cuts 35,000 jobs.
....The U.S. Postal Service announced plans to close or consolidate 223 mail processing centers and eliminate up to 35,000 jobs as part of its strategy to reduce $20 billion in annual costs by 2015 by reducing its network of facilities.
2. Stylist won't cut hair of governor who opposes gay marriage.

....A Santa Fe hairdresser is waging his own boycott of sorts: He is denying service to the governor of New Mexico because she opposes gay marriage. Antonio Darden, who has been with his partner for 15 years, said he made his views clear the last time Gov. Susana Martinez's office called to make an appointment..
3. Con artist took in $359 million with bogus 'free-trial' offers..
....The FTC alleges Jesse Willms of Alberta, Canada and his business partners used “Free Trial Offers” to get people’s credit or debit card numbers in order to bill them for products and services they did not want and did not agree to purchase.
4. Report affirms lifesaving role of colonoscopy.
....Although many people have assumed the cancer screening must prevent deaths because it is so often recommended, strong evidence had been lacking.
5. In a Texas home, 11 children found in grim condition.

....The children were found last month when a Dayton police sergeant and a child welfare investigator visited a house in response to a report alleging physical abuse.
6. Copter collision kills 7 Marines.
....Two military helicopters collided over the desert during nighttime training exercises, killing seven Marines in the latest of several aircraft accidents involving Camp Pendleton troops.
7. Justices appear open to affirming medal law.
....Xavier Alvarez lied about having been awarded a Medal of Honor. Now the Supreme Court Justices have to decide if the government is right to make this a crime.
8. Florida weighs a measure to ease way to foreclosure.
....Legislation in a state with one-fourth of the nation’s foreclosures has met opposition from homeowners.
POLITICS:
1. GOP rivals pepper debate with shots at Bush's record.
....From No Child Left Behind to the bridge to nowhere, candidates sought distance from Republican president.
2. Are GOP skeptics awaiting a late-entry hero for 2012?

....What were once murmurs about a late entry by a candidate into the Republican presidential primary or a potential convention fight for the nomination have become a topic of open speculation in the GOP, reflecting concerns about the party’s existing crop of competitors. Odds remain heavily stacked against the party arriving at its convention without a nominee, but the remaining candidates face lingering doubts about their strength versus President Barack Obama ... and that's fueling discussion that some kind of “knight in shining armor” could, or should, ride in to “save” the GOP at the last moment.
3. Romney, seeking traction, duels with Santorum.
....Mitt Romney tried to regain his lead in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, assailing the voting record of Rick Santorum in a fiercely combative exchange.
4. Santorum left on defensive over vote for education law.
....Rick Santorum faced criticism over his frank acknowledgement that he had voted for No Child Left Behind even though it went against his beliefs.
5. As gas prices surge, Obama defends his energy policy/
....Confronted by the political perils of rising gas prices in an election year, Pres. Obama gave a speech in Florida making the case for efforts to wean the United States off imported oil.


Today's Headlines of Interest:

Potential vP pick Marco Rubio baptized a Mormon at age 8.

....Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles and conservative senator on everyone’s short list for vice president, was a member of the LDS Church in his youth. When Rubio's family moved to a suburb of Las Vegas, near cousins who were Mormon, many in his immediate family (but not his father) converted, including Marco. Rubio spokesman Alex Conant says it is incorrect that "Rubio's steadfast participation in the Mormon church continued for several years—until his parents decided to move them to Miami." In fact, Conant said, "He left the church when he was 11 or 12, he received his first communion in 1984 when he was 13, and they didn’t move back to Miami until the next year, in 1985."
In fact, LDS Church leaders have told NBC News that Latinos are a growth area for the church and they are more progressive on immigration policy than on other church policies, like abortion, for example.




Thought for Today
"Men are more often bribed by their loyalties and ambitions than by money."
—-Robert H. Jackson, US Supreme Court Justice (1892-1954)

Today's flower: Hibiscus syriacus 'Blue Bird' or blue bird rose of Sharon - One of the most beautiful of all Rose of Sharon cultivars, Blue Bird offers splendid azure-blue blooms with striking red-purple centers.

[pegasus]

Chocolate Lover's Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 55th day of 2012 with 310 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:22 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 36ºF [Feels like 28ºF], winds SE @ 12 mph, humidity 89%, pressure 29.44 in and falling, dew point 33ºF, chance of precipitation 90%.

Today in History:
1208--St Francis of Assisi, age 26, received his vocation in Portiuncula Italy.
1525--in the Battle at Pavia Emperor Charles V's troops beat French king, François I , who was caught and 8,700 killed.
1541--Santiago, Chile was founded by Pedro de Valvidia.
1582--Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, or edict, outlining his calendar reforms. (The Gregorian calendar is still in use today.)
1607--Claudio Monteverdi's opera Orfeo premiered in Mantua.
1779--George Rogers Clark captured Vincennes, Ind. from British.
1803--in its Marbury v. Madison decision, the Supreme Court established judicial review of the constitutionality of statutes.
1821--Mexican rebels proclaimed the "Plan de Iguala," their declaration of independence from Spain.
1836--in San Antonio, Tex., Col. William Travis issued a call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo, an old Spanish mission and fortress under attack by the Mexican army.
1839--steam shovel was patented by William Otis, Philadelphia.
1840--former Pres. John Quincy Adams argued the Amistad case in front of the US Supreme Court.
1848--French King Louis-Philippe abdicated, 2nd French republic declared.
1855--US Court of Claims established for cases against the government.
1863--Arizona was organized as a territory.
1868--the House of Representatives voted 126-47 to impeach Pres. Johnson following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
1864--Union Gen. George Thomas attacks Gen. Joseph Johnston's Confederates near Dalton, Ga.
1868--the first US parade with floats occurred at Mardi Gras in Mobile, Ala.
1876--Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt premiered in Oslo.
1881--work began on the Panama Canal.
1885--Chester W. Nimitz, US Commander-in-chief in the Pacific Theater in World War II, was born; died 1966 at age 81.
1905--the Simplon tunnel in Switzerland was completed.
1912--the American Jewish women's organization Hadassah was founded in New York City.
1917--British troops moved along the Tigris River and recapture the city Kut-al-Amara, taking 1,730 Turkish prisoners.
1917--the Zimmerman telegram exposed Germany's plan to get Mexican help in the war.
1918--Estonia issued its Declaration of Independence.
1920--the German Workers Party, which later became the Nazi Party, met in Munich to adopt its platform.
1938--Variety reported that MGM had bought the rights to adapt L. Frank Baum’s beloved children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the screen, starring Judy Garland.
1942--the SS Struma, a charter ship attempting to carry Jewish refugees from Romania to Palestine during World War II, was torpedoed and sunk by a Soviet submarine after being towed and abandoned in the Black Sea by Turkish authorities; all but one of the 769 refugees on board perished.
1944--Maj. Gen. Frank Merrill's guerrilla force, nicknamed "Merrill's Marauders," began a campaign in northern Burma.
1945--American forces liberated the Philippines' capital of Manila from the Japanese.
1946--Argentinian men went to the polls to elect Juan D. Peron their president.
1968--the Tet Offensive ends as U.S. and South Vietnamese troops recapture the ancient capital of Hue from communist forces.
1981--socialite Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower, the author of the bestselling The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet and her lover.
1981, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Britain's Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.
1982--Wayne Gretzky scores his 77th goal, breaking a record held by Phil Esposito of 76 goals in a single season that was previously thought unbeatable.
1988--the US Supreme Court votes 8-0 to overturn the $200,000 settlement awarded to the Rev. Jerry Falwell for his emotional distress at being parodied in Hustler, a pornographic magazine.
1991---the Gulf War ground offensive began.
1992--Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain married Hole lead vocalist Courtney Love in Hawaii.
1999--a massive avalanche in the Austrian Alps buries homes and kills 13 people in Valzur, one day after an avalanche in the neighboring village of Galtur killed 25.
2002--the Salt Lake City Olympics came to a close, the same day Canada won its first hockey gold in 50 years (the U.S. won silver) and three cross-country skiers were thrown out of the games for using a performance-enhancing drug.
2006--South Dakota lawmakers approved a ban on nearly all abortions.
2006--NASA said 2005 was the warmest year in more than a century of record-keeping.
2007--the Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution expressing "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery.
2007--a suicide truck bomber struck worshippers leaving a Sunni mosque in Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, killing at least 52 people.
2008--Cuba's parliament named Raul Castro president, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel.
2011--Discovery, the world's most traveled spaceship, thundered into orbit for the final time, heading toward the International Space Station on a journey marking the beginning of the end of the shuttle era


World News Capsules:
1. Koran protests resume in Afghanistan despite US apology.
....Violent protests broke out again in Kabul on Friday a day after Pres. Obama expressed “deep regret” over the burning of Korans at a NATO air base.
a. In report, Taliban prisoners assess NATO effort.
....In a report compiled by interrogators, prisoners took a negative view of the alliance’s prospects in Afghanistan.
2. Australia's former Prime Minister to challenge successor.

....Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was “sick and tired” of being blamed for the failures of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s government.
3. China urged to continue reforms for growth.
....A flurry of reports is suggesting that the country, which is preparing for a leadership change and facing a longer-term contraction of its labor force, needs to continue with economic reforms.
4. Germany's leader apologizes for poice handling of neo-Nazi killings.
....Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the families of 10 people slain in a hate-driven killing spree that for seven years went unsolved by Germany’s highly efficient police force.
5. Will J.K. Rowling net wizard profits from switch to crime?

....The British publishing industry is buzzing with reports that "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling has made the switch from wizards to killers, after signing a new deal to write a book for adults.
a. Lloyds expects lower income in 2012.

....Lloyds Banking Group made a pre-tax loss of £3.54 billion in 2011 after a big reduction in loan impairment losses was unable to compensate for a previously announced £3.2 billion charge arising from the payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal.
6. Atomic agency says Iran is making fuel at protected site.

....Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's IAEA representative, said that inspectors weren't denied access to a military complex but international nuclear inspectors disagreed, saying that Iran is moving rapidly to produce nuclear fuel at a deep underground site near the holy city of Qum.
a. Iran fear factor is inflating gas prices

....Tensions with Iran are adding at least 30 cents to a gallon of gasoline in the US, and experts say gas prices have only just begun to rise.
7. Group claims responsibility for deadly Iraq attacks
....The umbrella Islamic State of Iraq, which includes al-Qaida, has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attacks in that country that killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds more.
8. Talks in China between the US and North Korea end.
....The first official talks between the two countries since the coming to power of the youthful new North Korean leader were “serious and substantial,” an American negotiator said.
9. Pakistan presses Taliban to enter Afghan talks.
....The request lends fresh diplomatic momentum to an American-sponsored peace process that experts say is advancing at a perilously slow pace.
10. Resolute Putin faaces a Russia that's changed.
....Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, likely to be elected president next month, will face a Russian society that has greatly changed under his watch, while he has remained essentially the same.
11. In tne protests, echoes of an uprising that shook Sudan.
....A police raid last weekend stirred memories of Sudan’s 1964 October Revolution, when students stood up to the military regime and helped restore democracy
12. Diplomats gather to press Syria to halt crackdown.

....A day after a UN panel found that authorities in Damascus had committed crimes against humanity, the so-called “Friends of Syria” gathered in Tunis to put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.
a. Wounded journalists appeal for evacuation from Homs.
....Edith Bouvier and Paul Conroy, two foreign journalists who were wounded during an attack in Homs, appealed for help in new video messages posted online by activists.
b. After a year, deep divisions hobble Syria's opposition.
....Nearly a year into Syria's uprising, the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad is a fractious collection of divided political groups, longtime exiles, grass-roots organizers and militants.

US News Capsules:
1. Bill would put two drinkers on Utah's alcohol commission.
....A proposal making its way through Utah’s Legislature would require that at least two of the five members of the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission be drinkers themselves/
2. Salvadoran may face deportation for murders.
....The decision marks the first time that federal immigration prosecutors have established that a top-ranking foreign military commander can be deported based on human rights violations under a 2004 law.
3. Wisconsin bill would allow hunting of a once-rare crane.
....Some farmers and lawmakers say that crane conservation efforts have brought too much of a good thing.
4. US bachelor degree rate passes milestone.

....In March 2011, for the first time ever, more than 30% of adults older than 25 had a college degree, according the U.S. Census Bureau, finding significant gains in college education for all demographic groups, but blacks and Latinos not only continue to trail far behind whites, the gap has also widened.
5. Trying to find a cry of desperation amid the Facebook drama.
....Mental health experts say that dark postings by adolescents should not be hastily dismissed because they can serve as an early warning system for timely intervention.
6. Federal housing grants are being cut to the bone in South Florida.
....In Miami-Dade County, five cities bear deep cuts in money for nonprofit groups that serve the poor, the elderly and the developmentally disabled.
7. MOVIES: Tap, tap, tapping on Oscar's door.

....With just a few days to go, The Artist is the front-runner for best picture and best director at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday.
a. At the Oscars, comedies get no respect.
....The last time a comedy won an Academy Award was in 1978 with “nnie Hall.. What is Oscar trying to tell us?
b. Good vibrations for all: Clothing is optional.
....David Wain’s Wanderlust offers a commune with the comforts of hippie days to Jenifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, on the run from economic ruin.
c. Real men fight real wars and an occasional actor.
....In Act of Valor real members of the Navy SEALs show off what they do in a concocted story, complete with a kidnapped CIA officer and a hook-nosed villain.
d. On Hollywood's night to shine, red carpet time for ads, too.
....This year, the public may be more familiar with the brands sponsoring the Academy Awards than the movies vying for best picture.
POLITICS:
1. GOP fund-raiser faces inquiries into his races.
....Questions surrounding Representative Vern Buchanan's Florida campaigns are threatening to distract from the Republicans' national finance operation.
2. Political lessons, from a mother's losing run.

....Mitt Romney often refers to his father, George Romney, in his campaign, but he also learned much in a close relationship with his mother, Lenore, who ran for a US Senate seat.
3. Virginia lawmakers backtrack on conception bill.
....The State Senate voted to suspend consideration of a bill that would define life as beginning at conception.
4. In a nod to gas prices, Obama talks about energy.

....Facing the election-year peril of surging fuel costs, President Obama sought to blunt attacks on his efforts to wean the United States off imported oil.
5. Santorum's record is used against him.
....Rick Santorum’s career in Congress, the backbone of his political resume, has become powerful fodder for Mitt Romney as he tries to undermine Mr. Santorum’s conservative credentials.
6. Gingrich's $2.50 gas promise.

....Newt Gingrich, struggling to regain momentum in the Republican presidential primary, promised to get prices down to $2.50 per gallon. FACT: The promise might garner attention on the campaign trail, but there's little politicians can do to influence the price of gasoline in the short-term, and long-run efforts are likely to be complicated by the global nature of the crude oil market. Outside of price controls (proven to be a disaster in the Nixon administration), politicians can't do much to change the price of gasoline in the world.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Why isn't the world intervening in Syria?

....As the death toll grows in Syria, so do the desperate pleas for help. So why isn't the world responding? China and Russia, two Syrian allies, vetoed a UN resolution earlier this month that would have condemned the Syrian regime and provided legitimacy for a Libya-like intervention if necessary. Many just feel that it is just too risky to give weapons and support to what is still an uncertain entity.
Perhaps most importantly, al-Assad still has the support of Syria's army -- one that is much stronger, better equipped and more unified than the one in Libya. "As long as Damascus, Aleppo, most mosques, schools and the bulk of the armed forces support (al-Assad), we would be mistaken to underestimate the risks of an all-out war, sectarian bloodshed and rival tribal fighting," said Ed Husain, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
There are geographical concerns that have to be taken into account when considering military intervention in Syria. Its neighbors probably won't be very accommodating for supplies, troops or anything else that might be needed in the mission. Iraq and Lebanon have their own sectarian issues and Jordan would likely be hesitant to help. Israel is out of the question. Which leaves Turkey as the most likely staging ground, but they have risks to consider as well. Topography also is a concern, being much more mountainous than Libya, and that would make fighting -- not to mention travel -- much harder.
The US isn't taking any long-term options off the table, but right now it's committed to clamping down with tougher sanctions, not arming the opposition. "Our strong preference is not to fuel what has the potential to become a full-blown civil war," said Susan Rice, the US mbassador to the UN. The hope is that economic difficulties will eventually turn more of the Syrian people, including its soldiers, against al-Assad.
CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a recent blog post agrees that economics could become a major problem for the Syrian regime. "It's not like Saudi Arabia," he said. "It can't bribe its people. It doesn't have that kind of ability even to bribe the army. "Eventually, they're going to face real cash shortfalls. And what that means going forward is a really interesting question. This is not a regime that can outlive the sanctions and all this pressure unendingly. They have got one source of cash right now: Iran. And that, too, is drying up."
Perhaps the key question to ask right now is, how long do you wait? With people dying every day, when do you say enough is enough and give up on sanctions? "Today, the death toll is approaching 8,000, with 60,000 detained and 20,000 missing," a Syrian resistance leader said in a plea posted to CNN.com last week. "When will it be the right time to help us? What other option is there that hasn't been tried yet?"

Do the GOP candidates get Iran?

It's no surprise that this week's Republican presidential debate in Arizona was a Wild West shootout. The candidates unloaded on each other, on President Barack Obama and, among others things, on Iran. As Iran becomes a top foreign policy topic in the election season, it is worth noting the positions of the various candidates. First off, we should cut the candidates a break. The Republican Four are not Iran experts and should not be held to that standard. Second, this campaign -- like others in the past -- has had its share of attacks and counterattacks where facts are often stretched or ignored.
Ron Paul did the best job in saying things that were factual. He is right that the Soviet Union was one of the most brutal regimes in human history. The Soviets had nuclear weapons, and we talked to them -- and that turned out to be a good thing. He is also correct in saying that when a country is threatened, its hardliners often gain strength because of a "rally around the flag" effect. His implied claim that sanctions always fail is a little shakier. Sanctions are a tool, a means toward an end to be used in combination with other policy tools, including negotiation.
Rick Santorum suggested that the way to deal with the Iran is by supporting pro-American Iranians and the Greens opposition movement to oust the government in Tehran. The only problem is that Iranians who oppose the government nevertheless support a civilian nuclear program. In fact, a top leader of the Greens opposition even criticized Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad for being too soft on the nuclear issue.
Perhaps the most bizarre answer on Iran came from Mitt Romney. His chief concern? Iran will give enriched uranium to Hezbollah or Hamas, who would then travel to Latin America and then maybe on to the U.S. to detonate a dirty bomb. 1st, nuclear weapons and dirty bombs are fundamentally different things (enriched uranium is a terrible material for a dirty bom), 2nd, governments, especially paranoid ones, don't just hand off nuclear material to some wacky third party, if only because they fear the wacky group will use it against them. 3rd, Iran has for decades had plenty of dirty bomb material it could use for such an attack. And yet it hasn't happened.
Newt Gingrich gave the most troubling response, arguing for military strikes against Iran, maintaining that Ahmadinejad is a dictator who would use nuclear weapons against Israel. The problem here is that he has his facts wrong. Ahmadinejad is not the leader of Iran; the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is. Actually, Ahmadinejad is now little more than a figurehead. He's closer to a dead duck and has been for some time.
All in all, the Republican presidential hopefuls did not do horribly. Still, on issues of war and peace, where the lives of American servicemen and servicewomen and their families hang in the balance, we should expect those who would be president -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- to stand more firmly with the facts.


Thought for Today
"It is my feeling that Time ripens all things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth."
—-Francois Rabelais, 16th century French writer & physician.

Today's flower: Cornus kousa or Kousa dogwood

[pegasus]

Natonal Bird Feeding Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 56th day of 2012 with 309 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:22 p.m., it's cloudy and windy, temp 29ºF [Feels like 13ºF], winds WNW @ 33 mph, humidity 66%, pressure 29.35 in and steady, dew point 25ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1570--Pope Pius V excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I (who probably didn't care since she was a Protestant queen).
1779--the British surrendered Fort Sackville in Vincennes in present-day Indiana to George Rogers Clark and his body of approx. 170 men.
1836--inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.
1862--the US Congress passed the Legal Tender Act, authorizing the use of paper notes to pay the government's bills.
1862--Nashville, Tenn. was occupied by federal forces - the first Confederate capital to fall to the Union.
1870--Hiram R. Revels (R-Miss.), became the first black member of the US Senate serving out the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis.
1888--John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953-1959), was born; 1959 at age 72.
1891--US Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.
1913--the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox.
1916--German troops captured Fort Douaumont (Verdun).
1919, Oregon became the first state to tax gasoline, at one cent per gallon.
1922--French serial killer Henri Landru, convicted of murdering 10 women and the son of one of them, was executed in Versailles.
1938--Miami, Fla. got the first drive-in movie.
1948--Communists took power in Czechoslovakia.
1949--Actor Robert Mitchum was released after serving time for marijuana possession.
1956--Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress.
1964--Cassius Clay (who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali) became the world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. Fla.
1971--in both houses of Congress, legislation was initiated to forbid US military support of any South Vietnamese invasion of North Vietnam without congressional approval.
1972--US troops clashed with North Vietnamese forces in a major battle 42 miles east of Saigon, the biggest single engagement with an enemy force in nearly a year.
1984--a huge explosion destroyed a shantytown in Brazil, killing at least 500 people, mostly young children.
1986--Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election. Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.
1990--Nicaraguans voted in an election that led to victory for opponents of the ruling Sandinistas.
1991--during the Persian Gulf War, an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 Americans.
1999--a jury in Jasper, Tex., sentenced white supremacist John William King to death for the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., an African-American man.
2002--former NBA star Jayson Williams was charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of Costas "Gus" Christofi, a limousine driver at Williams' estate in Alexandria Township, N.J.
2004--The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s controversial film about the last 44 hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, opens in theaters across the US.
2007--a female suicide bomber triggered a ball bearing-packed charge, killing at least 41 people at a mostly Shiite college in Baghdad.
2011--Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure in the small hours before sleep-deprived Democrats realized what was happening.

World News Capsules:
1. 2 US officers killed as Afghan unrest enters 5th day.

....Two American officers were shot dead inside the Interior Ministry, as outrage continued to erupt across the country at the American military’s burning of Korans.
2. Senators urge Castro to release Americn.
....In the first high-level meeting between the two countries in nearly two years, senators met with Pres. Raúl Castro and with the imprisoned American, Alan Gross, but reported no immediate breakthrough.
a. Guantánamo conditions slip, military lawyers say.
....Lawyers representing six of the highest-profile detainees at the Guantánamo military prison complained that their clients’ living conditions have deteriorated since last year.
3. Egypt court to issue verdict in Mubarak's trial in June.
....The timing is expected to coincide with a presidential election, after which the military council has pledged to cede power.
4. Haiti's Prime Minister quits after 4 months.
....The resignation of Garry Conille came after weeks of tension with Pres. Michel Martelly and his cabinet.
5. An academic turns grief into a crime-fighting tool.
....After her son was killed by the police, Julieta Castellanos, who leads Honduras’s largest university, has become an unlikely hero by demanding that the nation finally address its growing crime rate.
6. US agencies see no move by Iran to build a bomb]/u].
....At the center of the debate is the question of Iran's ultimate ambitions, and despite a new report claiming that Iran has accelerated its uranium enrichment program, American analysts said there is no hard evidence of plans to build a nuclear bomb.
a. Atomic agency says Iran is making fuel at protected site.

....A report indicated Iran had begun producing fuel inside a new facility near the holy city of Qum, but also showed the country is having trouble deploying next-generation equipment
7. Italian court throws out case against Berlusconi.
.....The former prime minister of Italy was accused of bribing a tax lawyer to withhold testimony to protect him, but a court in Milan said the statute of limitations had expired.
8. US Treasury Dept. penalizes Japan's largest organized-crime group.
....The Treasury Department said it would freeze the American-based assets of Japan’s largest yakuza, the syndicates whose criminal activity has become a concern in Washington.
9. Euro firewall at cneter of economic conference in Mexico.
....Major economies like the US, China and Japan are reluctant to contribute more money to the International Monetary Fund until Europe raises its commitment to its own so-called financial firewall
10. North Korea stance on nuclear plan unchanged.
....North Korea said that “nuclear weapons are not the monopoly of the United States” a day after talks with an American envoy.
a. Talks between US and North Korea end.
....Some progress was made, but the discussion fell short of concrete results, the chief American negotiator said.
11. Pakistanis press Taliban to start talks with Afghans.
....The request lends diplomatic momentum to an American-sponsored peace process that experts say is advancing at a perilously slow pace
12. Palestinians clash with police at Jerusalem holy site.
....Hundreds gathered at Al Aksa Mosque after calls by right-wing Jewish Web sites for Muslims to be pushed out. One Palestinian was killed in a related confrontation in Ramallah.
13. US-Russian trade ties face some political snags.
....Despite tense relations, the Obama administration has begun an aggressive push to end cold-war-era trade restrictions, in a move to avoid violations from the World Trade Organization and reset the country’s relationship with the Kremlin.
14. Strangling democracy in Senegal.
....A third term in office for Pres. Abdoulaye Wade would be terrible for Senegal’s democracy.
15. Nelson Mandela is hospitalized.
....Nelson Mandela, age 93, the first president of post-apartheid South Africa, was hospitalized Saturday.
16. Nations press halt to attacks to allow aid to Syrian cities.

....Even as international leaders called for a pause in Syria's assault on rebellious cities, their meeting in Tunisia underscored deepening divisions over how to end the crackdown. The world finally seems to have a sense of urgency as the death toll from the butchery keeps mounting and a strategy to end the killing is desperately needed.
a. In break, Hamas supports Syrian opposition.
....Marking the first public rift with its longtime patron, a leader of Hamas spoke out against Pres. Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
17. Yemen swears in new president to the sound of applause and violence.
....Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi was sworn in as president of Yemen after he won an early presidential election in which he was the only candidate.

US News Capsules:
1. Branding a soldier with 'personality disorder.

....The case of Capt. Susan Carlson has raised questions about whether the Pentagon uses a psychiatric diagnosis to eject troops it considers troublesome or to deny them benefits.
2. New law in Massachusetts allows for three casinos.
....Other New England states may soon follow Massachusetts, which last fall became the first state in the region to pass a broad law allowing resort casinos.
4. For a change, Texans in Houston dress the part.
....As the rodeo came to town, Houston residents celebrated Go Texan Day, the one day of the year on which they actually do wear cowboy boots and hats.
5. Rutgers dorm spying trial begins with questins of motivation.
....The crucial questions in the trial of Dharun Ravi are whether Mr. Ravi was motivated by a dislike of gays to bully Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide, and whether Mr. Clementi perceived the situation that way.
6. Flu season is just starting, but it appears to be mild.
....The start of the season is the latest in 24 years, federal health officials said , and so far fewer Americans than usual have been hospitalized.
7. In a new ritual, many find solace online.
....A Milwaukee man who yearned for a spiritual connection after his mother died found it by posting photographs from her scrapbook on Facebook, prompting replies from all over the world.
8. [In letter, Buffett says successor at Berkshire is lined up.

9. Broken trust in God's country.
....In eastern Ohio, Amish and Mennonite communities grapple with questions of faith and finance as a neighbor stands accused of a Ponzi scheme.
10. Rents keep rising, eveen as housing prices fall.
....With few rental buildings erected over the last few years, available units are going fast, with the nationwide vacancy rate at its lowest level in more than a decade.
11. Regional dictionary finally hits 'Zydeco.'
....After 50 years of research that uncovered nearly 60,000 entries, the compilers of the Dictionary of American Regional English have published the work's fifth and final volume.
POLITICS:
1. Campaigning against the modern world.
....Rick Santorum isn't happy with the first Catholic president either.
2. Perry's on-the-job retirement lifts obscure pension perk from the shadows.
....Gov. Rick Perry’s unsuccessful presidential campaign has shed light on Texas politicians’ pension benefits, which are exempt from government transparency laws.
3. Auto workers ta network for Obama.
....The United Automobile Workers, a beneficiary of Pres. Obama’s automaker rescue, is trying to return the favor in an election both parties say could depend on working-class Midwestern votes.
4. Getting name recognition the hard way.
....Bob McDonnell, a popular Republican governor with national ambition, hit a bump in the political road after a high-profile fight over abortion legislation in Virginia.
5. For Romney, a message lost in the empty seats.
....Mitt Romney gave a speech to a crowd of 1,200 in Detroit, but images of the barren 65,000-seat stadium in which he gave it ended up overshadowing the policy message.
5. Transportation bill faces a wall ofopposition from both parties.
....In Congress, a variety of concerns are being raised on oil drilling, safety and the role of the federal government.

Thought for Today
"Hero-worship is strongest where there is least regard for human freedom."
—-Herbert Spencer, British philosopher (1820-1903).

Today's flower: Bletilla striata - orchid mix

[pegasus]

AMERICAN HEART MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 57th day of 2012 with 308 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:38 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 30ºF [Feels like 26ºF], winds N @ 5 mph, humidity 51%, pressure 30.38 in and falling, dew point 17ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1361--Wenceslas IV, King of Bohemia & Germany, was born; died 1419 at age 58.
1802--Victor Hugo, French poet,novelist & dramatist, was born; gied 1885 at age 83.
1813, New York patriot & Founding Father, Robert R. Livingston, "The Chancellor", died. Livingston served as secretary of foreign affairs under the Articles of Confederation. In 1783, he accepted the post of chancellor of the state of New York; he bore the title as a moniker for the rest of his life. The chancellor was a Federalist delegate to the ratification convention in New York, and, as New York's senior judge, administered Pres. George Washington's first oath of office. Under Pres. Jefferson, he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.
1815--Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the island of Elba.
1852--John Harvey Kellogg, the American physician who developed dry cereal, was born; died 1943 at age 91.
1861--Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., received its initial funding from its namesake, businessman Matthew Vassar.
1870--an experimental air-driven subway, the Beach Pneumatic Transit, opened in New York City for public demonstrations.
1919--Pres. Wilson signed a measure establishing Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
1929--Pres. Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
1935--Adolf Hitler organized the German luftwaffe (air force) under Hermann Goerring.
1942, How Green Was My Valley won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1941, beating out nine other films, including The Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane.
1952--Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.
1965--the first South Korean troops arrived in South Vietnam.
1970--National Public Radio was incorporated.
1972--a dam collapsed in West Virginia, flooding a valley and killing 118 people.; 4,000 people were left homeless.
1984--the last US Marines left Beirut, Lebanon.
1987--the Tower Commission, who probed the Iran-Contra affair, issued its report, which rebuked Pres. Reagan for failing to control his national security staff.
1992--Armenian forces attacked the village of Khodzhaly, resulting in the deaths of 613 Azerbaijanis, according to Azerbaijani authorities. (Armenian forces did not deny the attack, but have said the death toll is exaggerated.)\
1993--a bomb by Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
2002--pharmacist Robert R. Courtney pled guilty in Kansas City, Mo., to watering down chemotherapy drugs. (was sentenced to 30 years in prison.)
2002--gunmen killed 11 minority Shiite Muslims praying in a mosque in Pakistan.
2007--the Iraqi Cabinet approved draft legislation to manage the country's vast oil industry and divide its wealth among the population.
2011--Pres. Obama said Moammar Gadhafi had lost his legitimacy to rule and urged the Libyan leader to leave power immediately. 2011--the space shuttle Discovery arrived at the International Space Station, making its final visit before being parked at a museum.

World News Capsules:
1. Blast injures US soldiers as riots rage in Afghanistan.

....A grenade thrown by Afghan protesters wounded at least six service members, as new details emerged in the inquiry into the shooting of two officers in a government building the day before.
a. Afghan intelligence officer sought in killings; advisers to exit Kabul ministries.

....Afghan authorities said that they believe an intelligence officer may have been involved in the alarmingly brazen killing of a US Army lieutenant colonel and major in the country's Interior Ministry building in Kabul amid a deepening crisis over the burning of Korans at a base in Afghanistan.
2. From Virginia suburb, a dissident Chinese writer cootinues his mission.
....Yu Jie, one of the Beijing leadership’s foremost critics, came to Fairfax, Va., after enduring torture, house arrest and round-the-clock surveillance.
3. Trial of nonprofit workers in Egypt is abruptly put off.
....None of the 16 Americans charged appeared at the chaotic opening of the politically charged trial, which was suddenly adjourned until April 26.
4. Netherlands Update: Dutch prince suffers brain damage after burial by avalanche.

....Johan Friso, the 43-year-old Dutch prince has suffered brain damage, his doctor said. "After the latest neurological test we conducted yesterday it became clear that the lack of oxygen (to) the brain of the patient caused massive damage," Dr. Wolfgang Koller reported.
5. In Nigeria, a deadly group's rage has local roots.

....The deadly militant Islamist group Boko Haram is thought to be aided by outside terrorist groups, but the anger it expresses is deeply enmeshed in the fabric of life in Nigeria.
a. Kano, Nigeria, under siege.
[imghttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/02/26/world/video-nigeria-boko-haram/video-nigeria-boko-haram-thumbWide.jpg][/img]
....In Nigeria's 2nd most populous city, attacks from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram have created a quiet tension on the streets.
6. North Korean leader thretens 'retaliatory strike' against South.
....A day before the US and South Korea begin joint military drills, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promised a “powerful retaliatory strike” if provoked by the South.
7. Pakistan razing house where Bin Laden lived.

....The building where Osama bin Laden died at the hands of a Navy SEAL unit last May took on a painful symbolism for Pakistan’s military.
8. 1000s join anti-Kremlin protest in Moscow.
....The striking show of dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin came a week before he is to run in a crucial presidential election
9. As fighting rages, Syria offers a new charter.

....As attacks by government forces killed dozens today, Syria held a referendum on a new constitution, an offer of reform that Western leaders called a farce.
a. Syrian conflict poses the risk of wider strife.
....Unlike the revolts in Libya and other Arab nations, the Syrian conflict has the potential to draw in other countries in the region and beyond.

US News Capsules:
1. Life, Dementia behind bars.

....Dementia is a fast-growing phenomenon in prisons that many are not prepared to handle. The California Men's Colony is using convicted killers to care for inmates who can no longer care for themselves.
2. True innovation.
....A study of Bell Labs offers a number of lessons about how our country's technology companies - and our country's longstanding innovative edge - actually came about.
3. Go directly, digitally to jail? Classic toys learn new clicks.
....The evolution of classic toys and games is beginning to reflect the fact that even young children are wedded to digital devices.
4. The Titanic that really won't sink.
....With the 100th anniversary of the famous ship disaster approaching in April, a Titanic wave of myth, memory and moneymaking is about to wash and slosh over the planet.
5. Moral hazard: tempest-tossed idea.
....As an economic concept, "moral hazard" means that people are apt to take undue risks if they don't have to bear the consequences. But it's also part of the debate on the limits of self-reliance.
6. Apple riding high, but for how long?

....Customers are used to paying more for the latest Apple phone than for similar products, but low-cost rivals and the seeming ubiquitousness of the iPhone could change that.
7. Broken trust in God's country.

....In eastern Ohio, Amish and Mennonite communities grapple with questions of faith and finance as a neighbor stands accused of a Ponzi scheme. In the Amish and Mennonite communities of rural Sugarcreek, Ohio, Monroe Beachy was a respected financial figure for decades. He is now accused of running a Ponzi scheme.
8. The may be the week stocks fall back to Earth.
....Some think S&P, at highest point since before Lehman's collapse, is due for correction.
9. ARTS: [/i]Salesman comes calling, right on time[/u].
....In an era of lost fortunes, collapsing futures and Occupy Wall Street, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman carries renewed power.
a. Wallowing in celebrty worship.
....Amid theater’s smaller, potent plays about the working and middle classes, thank goodness there’s still room for glittery musicals about Evita Peron, Judy Garland and Jesus Christ.
POLITICS:
1. Prolonged race forces Romney campaign to recalibrate.
....As Mitt Romney's presidential effort steps up fund-raising to meet rising costs, some Republicans are worried about the impact of an extended party contest on the November election.
a. Arizona Gov. Brewer endorses Romney for president.

....Jan Brewer (R) endorsed Mitt Romney for president during her appearance on Meet the Press, saying she viewed him as the most electable candidate.


2. Loose border of 'Super PAC' and campaign.
....In practice, super PACs have become a way for candidates to bypass contribution limits by steering rich donors to ostensibly independent groups that function almost as adjuncts of the campaigns
3. Before vote, Republicans make moves to the right.
....Election-year adjustments in a lawmaker’s voting pattern are common, but this election cycle has most Republicans stampeding to the right
4. Santorum vows to wage a long, fierce battle.
....At a gathering of the group Americans for Prosperity Forum, Rick Santorum again accused Ron Paul of colluding with Mitt Romney in the Republican primary battle.
a. Crunch time before key contests.

....Ahead of Tuesday's primaries, Rick Santorum appears to be downplaying his chances in Arizona, but fighting hard for Mitt Romney's home state of Michigan.

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation."
—-[/i]Isaac D'Israeli,, English author (1766-1848)

Today's flower: Geranium 'Tidy Monster' - A real garden treasure with its petite red-purple blooms with cooler fall temperatures bringing out a scarlet hue in the leaves.



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

CHOCOLATE LOVER'S MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 58th day of 2012 with 307 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:45 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 47ºF [Feels like 47ºF], winds SSW @ 16 mph, humidity 39%, pressure 30.02 in and falling, dew point 23ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
837--15th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
1526--Saxony & Hesse form League of Gotha (league of Protestant princes).
1594--Henri IV crowned king of France.
1784--John Wesley charters first Methodist Church in U.S.
1801--the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.
1803--Great fire in Bombay, India.
1807--poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine; died 1882 at age 75 in Concord, Mass.
1844--Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti.
1861--the US Congress created the Colorado Territory.
1861--Warsaw Massacre: Russians fired on crowd demonstrating against Russia.
1864--near Andersonville GA, rebels opened a new POW camp named "Camp Sumpter."
1864--the Union began a avalry raid in Virginia.
1877--US Electoral College declared Rutherford B. Hayes winner of the presidential election.
1879--Constantine Fahlberg discoverd saccharin (artificial sweetener).
1900--the British Labour Party was formed.
1922--the Supreme Court, in Leser v. Garnett, unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.
1930--Joanne Woodward, Oscar-winning actress, turns 82.
1933--Germany's parliament building, the Reichstag, was gutted by fire. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire as justification for suspending civil liberties.
1942--the Battle of the Java Sea began wjem Imperial Japanese naval forces scored a decisive victory over the Allies.
1951--members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee, S.D., the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children. The occupation lasted until May.
1951--the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.
1953--Watson and Crick discovered chemical structure of DNA .
1964--Jazz pianist Thelonius Monk made the cover of Time.
1979, Jane M. Byrne confounded Chicago's Democratic political machine as she upset Mayor Michael A. Bilandic to win their party's mayoral primary.
1982--Wayne Williams was found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period.
1983--the final episode of M*A*S*H aired.
1991--Pres. Bush declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated,” and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.
1993--Federal agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Tex.
1997--divorce became legal in Ireland.
1997--legislation banning most handguns in Britain went into effect.
2002-- US officials announced a $5 million reward for information in the kidnap-murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
2002--a mob of Muslims set fire to a train carrying hundreds of Hindu nationalists in Godhra, India; some 60 people died.
2006--author and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. died at age 82.
2007--a suicide bomber struck Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, who was rushed to a bomb shelter. (Twenty-three people were killed.)
2010--an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed 524 people in Chile caused $30 billion in damage and left over 200,000 homeless.
2011--Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I who'd also survived being a civilian prisoner of war in the Philippines in World War II, died in Charles Town, W.Va., at age 110,


World News Capsules:
1. Violent uproar in Afghanistan casts shadow on US pullout.

...Administration officials described growing concern about a drawdown by the US that hinges on the close mentoring and training of Afghan army and police forces.
a. Suicide attack kills 9 in Eastern Afghanistan.
....Two suicide attackers detonated a car bomb at the entrance to a NATO air base in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least nine Afghans, officials said.
2. Austerlia's premier easily beats back party challenge.
....In fending off a challenge to her leadership of the Labor Party, Prime Minister Julia Gillard sought an end to a political drama that has hurt her poll numbers.
3. A call for Beijing to loosen its gripon the economic reins.

....The government should alter its development model and steer the nation toward a market economy, researchers say.
4. Inquiry leader says Murdoch papers paid off British officials.
....The officer leading the police investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers said that reporters and editors at The Sun tabloid had over the years paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for information.
5. Remains recovered of last GI slain in Iraq; killed by Iran-backed group.

....Details of 2006 disappearance emerge as militants hand over casket.
6. Nuclear crisis set off fears over Tokyo.
....In the darkest moments of last year’s nuclear accident, leaders secretly considered the possibility of evacuating the Japanese capital.
7. Suicide bomber kills 3 in Nigeria.
....The radical Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack on the main headquarters of the Church of Christ in Nigeria that killed three people and wounded 38.
8. With country's first Oscar, Pakistanis have something to celebrate.
....Accustomed to bad news, Pakistanis celebrated after a filmmaker from Karachi won the country’s first Academy Award; an Iranian also won that country’s first Oscar.
9. 1000s ring central Moscow in anti-Putin protest.
....A striking show of dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia came a week before he is to run in a crucial presidential election.
10. Discontented Senegalese vote for president.
....After weeks of protests, voters decided whether the country’s elderly president, Abdoulaye Wade, should be permitted to stay in power.
11. A taste of hope sends refugees back to Darfur.
....More than 100,000 people have left the sprawling camps where they took refuge for nearly a decade and headed home to their villages in Darfur over the past.
12. In attack on Vatican web site, a glimpse of hackers' tactics.
....A failed attack by the hacker group Anonymous on a Vatican Web site in August offers a rare look at the collective's approach to recruiting, reconnaissance and warfare.
13. US teaming with new Yemen government on strategy to combat al-Qaida.
....The Obama administration’s potentially risky plan would help Yemen overhaul its military to take on a Qaeda franchise that has exploited political turmoil there.

US News Capsules:
1. Texas drought eases with winter rains.
....Parts of the state received more rain in the first six weeks of 2012 than they received in all of 2011.
2. 1 dead, 4 hurt in Ohio school shooting.

....The alleged gunman, a student at the school, is in custody, officials said. Police said they began receiving reports of several gunshots from Chardon High School at around 7:38 a.m. A teacher chased the suspect, who is a juvenile, out of the building.
3. WikiLeaks publishes intelligence firm's emails.
....The anti-secrecy group began publishing more than five million emails from a U.S.-based global security analysis company that has been likened to a shadow CIA and could unmask sensitive sources and throw light on the murky world of intelligence-gathering by the company known as Stratfor, which counts Fortune 500 companies among its subscribers. Straford said the release of its stolen emails was an attempt to silence and intimidate it.
4. Onion, garlic odor triggers 250 emergency calls.
....A strong smell that triggered 250 emergency calls Sunday night in the west Phoenix area appeared to be due to propane being purged from a pipeline by a propone storage facility.
5. A warship returns, with the family in tow.
....The U.S.S. John C. Stennis recently ended a seven-month deployment, and more than 1,000 family members of its sailors were on board for the trip from Hawaii to San Diego.
6. Start of trial on Gulf oil spill is delayed amid talk of a settlement.
....Lawyers in the case issued a statement saying that settlement talks were under way but that there was no guarantee of success.
7. Many states take a wait-and-see approach on new insurance exchanges.
....Republican-led legislatures are putting off the creation of supermarkets for subsidized private coverage until they know if President Obama can enforce the law.
8. Scientists use stem cells to generate human eggs.
....The advance from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital could provide a new source of eggs for treating infertility.
9. Risk and riches to user data for Facebook.
....Facebook faces intense scrutiny on how it handles user data, creating a cloud of uncertainty for the company before its public offering.
POLITICS:
1. Romney loss in Michigan would be devastating (to him, GOP).

....A loss in Michigan would be devastating, given all of Romney's advantages in the state and given all the mistakes Rick Santorum has made in the last several days, and would send the GOP establishment into a panic, would lay the groundwork for another candidacy, and would introduce chaos in the Republican race beyond anything we’ve seen yet.
a. In the Romney campaign, precision has its pitfalls.
....Mitt Romney is counting on superior organization to win his party’s nomination, but a reputation for meticulousness can undercut as well as benefit a candidate.
2. Santorum makes case for religion in public square.
....With social concerns gaining prominence in the race, Rick Santorum defended religion's role in public life, criticizing universities and John F. Kennedy's famous speech.
3. Obama's deficit dilemma.
....Presi. Obama was aloof to the proposals of a panel he created, but later adopted many of them in a modified form, a sign of his larger struggle with the politics of deficit reduction.
4. Across Arizona, illegal immigration is on back burner.
....Voters appear to be occupied with concerns about the economy and unemployment, and Republican presidential candidates are shying from an issue that could alienate Latino voters.
5. TransCanada enewing request to build Keystone Pipeline.
....The company also said it wanted to move ahead quickly on a portion of the pipeline that would move only domestic oil.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Frozen embryo 'open adoption' raises hopes, questions.

Meet the modern "open adoption" family -- at least two hopeful humans and one embryo, brought together by science, trust, complicated legalities and a goodly bit of luck. Carmen Olalde really wanted children. She went through years of infertility treatment and IVF, then a difficult pregnancy, to have her twins. And as her twins turned four, she realized that two kids were enough. But she still had four frozen embryos from her last IVF cycle.
And so she made a decision that put her at the frontier of reproductive ethics. She donated the embryos to a Virginia couple also suffering from infertility, whom she met via a website ad – on the condition that the donation be "open," and they send regular photos of any resulting child and hopefully keep in touch by e-mail and phone.
Many post-birth adoptions these days are “open,” in which the birth and adoptive families know each other’s name and perhaps have some degree of contact. Pre-birth arrangements may be following suit, though the law hasn't yet caught up. Embryo donation has long been available at IVF clinics, but in the late 1990’s, embryo “adoption” agencies opened, with the goal of placing the roughly 500,000 unused frozen embryos in the U.S. with prospective families. Although they encourage open arrangements, most agencies leave that decision to the families involved.
The control factor appealed to Karolina Dembinska-Lemus and her husband Oscar, who received Olalde's frozen embryos. “For about three-and-a-half years we tried everything, domestic and international adoption and being foster parents. We had parents changing their minds left and right. It got to be too much,” she says. She was also looking for embryos from Hispanic parents like the Olaldes; Oscar is from El Salvador. Embryo donation is also generally cheaper than finding an egg donor or a surrogate.
The donation arrangements are murky legally, as well as emotionally. Adoption laws only cover children already born, so families involved in embryo donation usually sign forms and contracts dictating "ownership" of the embryos, often hiring their own lawyers for private agreements. Some follow up with a legal adoption after a child is born to further secure their rights.
Margaret Swain, an attorney whose practice focuses on adoption and reproductive technology, says children born from donation will likely appreciate an open arrangement, even though parents might initially feel uncomfortable. “Following the lessons learned from adoption, and what we are hearing from children born through gamete donation, some degree of openness is probably a good idea. Children born of gamete donation -- donation of either egg or sperm -- usually like to know more about the person who donated, or to meet that person,” she says.
Debra McCrea of Grimes, Iowa says she felt on some level that embryos she donated were, after all, her children, which was why she chose to give them to a family rather than to science. She donated six embryos each to three different recipients -- one of whom she found on Craigslist. “Although it would be awesome to have a chance to save somebody’s life through stem cell research, that’s not the reason we went into this. I wanted my kids to have a ton of siblings, but my husband and I couldn’t afford to have that many. “There are some emotional ties there. But it’s a gift for us, because otherwise they wouldn’t have a chance to come to life to all,” she says.

Silence is goldgen: "The Artist" fules at Oscars.

Vive la France! Vive la...silent black-and-white movies? The Artist was expected to win a number of the major Academy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles, and the French, mostly silent, mostly black-and-white film did just that. It claimed 5 - the golden statuettes for best picture, best director, best actor and even best costume design and best score.
Jean Dujardin, acclaimed in his native France but little-known in America, won the best actor honor for his role as a silent-film actor who can't adjust to talkies. "I love your country!" he exclaimed upon reaching the stage. "Artist" director Michel Hazanavicius claimed the best director award. His wife, Berenice Bejo, stars in the film and was nominated for best supporting actress, but lost to Octavia Spencer in The Help.
The best actress category, one many expected to go to Viola Davis for her role in The Help. nstead, Meryl Streep's name was called for her role as former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. "When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no! Oh, come on! Why her? Again?' But whatever," the star joked. The Iron Lady, which ages Streep from a young Thatcher to a woman in her 80s, also won the Oscar for makeup.
Octavia Spencer claimed the best supporting actresss Oscar for her role as a maid in The Help. Her tearful acceptance speech thanked the Academy for pairing her with "the hottest guy in the room," as she cradled her trophy. The announcement of her win was greeted with a standing ovation. She is the fifth African-American woman to ever win the honor.
Christopher Plummer, 82, set a record as the oldest man or woman ever to win an acting Oscar when he won the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as a homosexual man coming out of the closet in Beginners. “You’re only two years older than me, darling, where have you been all my life?” Plummer asked his Oscar statuette. Plummer's career spans over six decades, and he is perhaps best remembered for playing Captain Von Trapp in 1965's The Sound of Music.
Bret McKenzie of "Flight of the Conchords" fame won the best original song Oscar for "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets. He said he grew up in New Zealand watching the Muppets and was thrilled to work with them. He also thanked the late Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, saying "it's a true honor to work in the shadow of such legends." Woody Allen, who's famous for not attending the Academy Awards, won the best original screenplay Oscar for Midnight in Paris, in a pick that was a surprise to many who expected The Artist to claim that honor. The Descendants won for best adapted screenplay.
Martin Scorsese's Hugo was the most nominated film of the night, with 11 nominations. It claimed five technical awards, winning for cinematography, art direction, sound editing, sound mixing, and best visual effects.
Undefeated, about an underdog high-school football team, won for best documentary feature. The filmmakers used their speech to apologize to a friend who had told them they'd win a year ago, saying they were sorry for calling him an idiot. Filmmaker T.J. Martin was bleeped for calling the win "f------ awesome," but later said "we meant no offense."Rango, with Johnny Depp voicing a chameleon who saves a town in the Old West, won for best animated feature film.
All in all, I found it enjoyable last night. I was interested to see how often the Golden Globes and the Oscars meshed. The main exception was The Artist and its star Jean DuJesin. The Golden Globes went to The Descendents and George Clooney. I think, from all I've heard, the Oscars got it right.
And then there was Angelina Jolie's leg!!


Thought for Today
"I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes."
—- Edward Gibbon, English historian (1737-1794).

Today's flower: Heuchera americana 'Palace Purple Select' - Blush white, tiny bell flowers appear in midsummer, but the real attraction is the rich, metallic bronze-purple, decorative foliage that makes it an ideal ground cover and rock garden planting. Butterflies will take notice.

[pegasus]

BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 59th day of 2012 with 306 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4"55 p.m., it's fair , temp 36ºF [Feels like 33ºF], winds N @ 5 mph, humidity 52%, pressure 30.38 in and falling, dew point 20ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1533--Miche de Montagne, French essayist, was born; died 1592 at age 59.
1827--the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. was incorporated.
1844--a 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded as the ship was sailing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others.
1849--the California gold rush began in earnest as regular steamship service started bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.
1854--about 50 slavery opponents met in Ripon, Wis., to call for creation of a new political group that became the Republican Party.
1861--the Territory of Colorado was organized.
1901--Linus Pauling, the American 2=time Nobel Prize-winning chemist and political activist, was born.; died 1994 at age 93.
1940--college basketball was first televised - Pittsburgh/Fordhan and Georgetown/NYU games from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
1942--the heavy cruiser USS Houston and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth came under attack by Japanese forces during the Battle of Sunda Strait; both were sunk shortly after midnight. (The Houston lost 693 men while the Perth lost 353.
1953--Cambridge scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes.
1960--the US Olympic hockey team won the gold medal, defeating Czechoslovakia 9-4 at Squaw Valley, Calif.
1972--Pres. Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai issued the Shanghai Communique at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China, a step toward the eventual normalization of relations between the two countries.
1974--the US and Egypt re-established diplomatic relations after a seven-year break.
1975--more than 40 people were killed in London's Underground when a subway train smashed into the end of a tunnel.
1986--Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death in central Stockholm. (The killing remains unsolved.)
1991--allied and Iraqi forces suspended their attacks as Iraq pledged to accept all UN resolutions concerning Kuwait.
1993--a gun battle erupted near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve warrants on the Branch Davidians; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.
1997--in North Hollywood, Calif., two heavily armed and armored robbers bungled a bank heist and came out firing, unleashing their arsenal on police, bystanders, cars and TV choppers before they were killed.
2002--the body of a young girl found outside San Diego was positively identified as that of seven-year-old Danielle van Dam, who'd disappeared from her bedroom about a month earlier. (A neighbor, David Westerfield, was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.)
2002--Hindus in western India retaliated for a train attack that claimed some 60 lives by setting fire to Muslims' homes, then keeping firefighters away for hours.
2005-- Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigned amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut.
2007--a federal judge in Miami ruled that suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla was competent to stand trial on terrorism support charges.
2007--Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. died in New York at age 89.
2011--the US and European allies intensified efforts to isolate Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

World News Capsules:
1. Germany backs Greece aid, but at a cost to Merkel.
....Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany managed to keep her strategy for attacking Greece’s debt problems on track with a victory in Parliament.
2. A fresh blot on Murdoch's Sun.
....A top investigator said Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper had paid British officials large sums for information.
a. Authorities in London dismantle St. Paul's Occupy camp.
....Bailiffs supported by police officers dismantled a tent encampment outside St. Paul’s Cathedral early on Tuesday, ending a four-month protest.
3. Iran calls nuclear arms production a 'great sin.'
....Amid heightened tensions with the West over its nuclear program, Iran called for negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons.
4. Iraq's Prime Minister gains more power after political crisis.
....Worries remain that Iraq is sliding toward one-man, one-party rule under Nuri Kamal al-Maliki amid a sectarian divide.
5. Japan weighed evacuating Tokyo in nuclear crisis.
....In the darkest moments of last year's nuclear accident, leaders secretly considered the possibility of evacuating the Japanese capital.

6. Gunmen ambush bus in Pakistan, killing at leas 18.
....At least 18 people were killed on Tuesday when a bus was ambushed by gunmen in northwestern Pakistan, in an attack that appeared to have sectarian underpinnings.
7. Days before presidential election, Russian TV reports a weeks-old plot to kill Putin.
....Critics questioned the timing of a revelation by Russian state media on Monday of the alleged assassination plot
8. Spanish judge is acquitted of abusing his authority.
....The same court that cleared Baltasar Garzón of abusing his powers by investigating Spanish Civil War atrocities convicted him this month of illegally ordering a wiretap in a separate case.
9. Government troops pursue Syrian rebels after referendum approved.

....A day after a referendum on a new constitution, Syrian government troops were reported on Tuesday to be pushing toward opposition strongholds in and near the city of Homs.
10. Protestrs set new goal: Fixing Yemen's military.
....After Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster, Yemen's protesters are not yet content and now want to overhaul a military still largely controlled by Mr. Saleh's relatives.

US News Capsules:
1. To pay New York pension fund, cities borrow from it first.
....Some critics say the loans only allowed governments throughout the state to put off dealing with soaring employee retirement costs.
2. US rule set for camreas at cars' rear.
....Federal regulators plan to announce this week that automakers will be required to put rearview cameras in all passenger vehicles by 2014 to help drivers see what is behind them.
3. School shooting in Ohio leaves 2 dead and 3 wounded (1 brain dead).

....Two more students died a day fter a shooting rampge at a high school left one student dead and others seriously wounded..
4. As gay marriage gains ground in nation, New Hampshire may revoke its law.
....Gov. John Lynch of New Hampshire, where same-sex marriages were approved in 2009, has promised to veto a repeal by lawmakers, but that may not be enough to keep the legislation intact.
5. A US boon in low-cost borrowing.
....A combination of forces has pushed the cost of borrowing so low that many investors effectively are paying to lend money to the government.
6. Near-blizzard conditions feared in Upper Midwest.

....Up to a foot of snow was expected across the Upper Midwest on Tuesday, while severe weather in the central Plains could whip up some tornadoes with Fargo, N.D., and Duluth, Minn. expecting the most. Near-blizzard conditions are possible in parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas, weather.com reported, and Interstates 94, 90, 35, 29 and 39 could be affected.
7. Foreclosures take longer for the rich, report says.
....If you’re living in an expensive McMansion and can’t make the mortgage payments you may be better off than a homeowner of a modest split-level that’s underwater, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. It found, “nationally, borrowers with loans of at least $1 million were in default for an average 792 days last year before banks repossessed their homes.” Homeowners with mortgages under $250,000, the study found, were kicked out six months earlier.
8. Pentagon admits dumping 9/11 remains in landfill.
....Air Force secretary says, "This is new information to me." For the first time, the Defense Department acknowledged that some cremated remains of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were dumped in a landfill. Retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of an independent task force reviewing operations at the military's mortuary at Dover, Del., confirmed the news but said it was only a minor part of his panel's overall report, which he said found that "there were many things that were going wrong there." Defense Secretary Leon Panetta formed the task force in December after an investigation by the Air Force, which runs the facility, found that some remains of U.S. military personnel weren't handled "in accordance with procedures."
9. A surplus Washington could do without: Deer.
....Add plans to cull a herd that is damaging Rock Creek Park and nearby yards to the list of contentious issues in the nation’s capital.
10. Indian tribe's dispute heats p in California.
....Two groups each claimed to be the rightful tribal council. One faction took over government offices, and the other is trying to smoke them out.
11. 7 accused of bilking $375 million from Medicare, Medicaid
.
....The owner of a Dallas-area medical service provider and six others were indicted in a massive health care fraud scheme, authorities announced.
12. Forest ranger hat for a Rolling Sotnes sideman.
....Chuck Leavell, who has played with the Rolling Stones and the Allman Brothers Band, was honored for his conservation work as a Georgia tree farmer.
13. Ancient statue sits in limbo as rights question looms.

(the pedestal and feet belonging to the disputed 1000-year statue)
....A statue from the Khmer kingdom of ancient Cambodia, pulled out of an auction at Sotheby’s, remains in New York while parties argue the legality of its removal from the country.
14. They've got cute buggies and kids, but their lives aren't always heavenly.
....The Amish, an American Experience documentary on PBS, looks far more thoughtfully at the Amish world than outsiders usually do.
POLITICS:
1. It's all about momentum.

....A head of steam heading into Super Tuesday is up for grabs in today’s GOP primaries in Michigan and Arizona.
2. In Mich., Romney looks to stave off embarrassment.

....After a bruising week during which he drew unwanted attention to his wealth, Mitt Romney acknowledged that such comments have damaged his campaign.
a. Romney takes analytic approach to campaign chaos.
....In the aftermath of three losses to Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney has remained calm in the face of Tuesday’s voting in his home state of Michigan.
3. Democrats see benefits in battle on contraception access
.
....With the issue of birth control coverage set to come to the Senate this week, Democratic leaders believe that voters will conclude that Republicans are overreaching on the issue.
4. Virginia Senate passes revised ultrasound bill.
....A revised bill requires ultrasound before an abortion, but says that women cannot be forced to have vaginal ultrasound.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
7. 3rd student dies in Ohio school shooting.

...Toll grows after Monday's attack in Chardon, Ohio. Suspect in shooting reportedly comes from a violent family. Thomas Lane Jr., the father of suspect T.J. Lane, had been arrested several times for abusing women he had children with, including the teen's mother, the newspaper reported. The father had been warned to stay away from the teen's mother at least once, records reportedly showed.
Thomas Lane filed for divorce from the teen's mother in 2002 and later that year was charged with attempted murder, felonious assault and kidnapping, WKYC-TV cited court records as showing. He was convicted of felonious assault and sentenced to 5 years probation. It was not immediately clear what the charges stemmed from.
Officials believe Lane opened fire inside a high school cafeteria at the start of the classes on Monday, hitting five students. Daniel Parmertor was killed instantly and on Tuesday officials said Demetrius Hewlin had died while Russell King Jr. was declared brain dead. Two others remain hospitalized.
"He had no emotion on his face, he was just shooting," a Chardon student told WKYC. Travis Carver, another student present in the cafeteria at the time said the expression on the gunman's face was "straight determination."
When asked about the suspect, his family's lawyer called him a "good kid." "By all accounts T.J. is a fairly quiet and good kid. His grades are pretty impressive," Bob Farinacci said. "He's a sophomore. He's been doubling up on his classes with the intent of graduating this May. He pretty much sticks to himself but does have some friends and has never been in trouble over anything that we know about." "The family wanted me to convey to the citizens of Geauga County and Northeastern Ohio that the family is devastated," Farinacci said in the statement late Monday. "They want to give their most heartfelt and sincere condolences to the family of the young man who passed and their continuing prayers are with all those who were injured."

'Stunning discovery' in Jerusalem resurrects 'Jesus Tomb' debate.

Using a remote-controlled camera on the end of a robotic arm, investigators have found what could be the earliest evidence of a Christian iconography in Jerusalem, engraved on a set of "bone boxes" inside a nearly intact 1st-century tomb. One of the limestone boxes, known more formally as an ossuary, carries a Greek inscription calling on God to "rise up" or "raise up" someone. Another box appears to show the carved image of a fish, perhaps with the prophet Jonah in its mouth. Allusions to fish and the "sign of Jonah" came to be widely used among early Christians, but not among Jerusalem's Jews.
Those discoveries alone would be enough to get biblical scholars excited. But the investigators in this case are the same people who claimed five years ago that ossuaries from a nearby tomb were engraved with the names of the biblical Jesus and his family. They're putting forth this new find as supporting evidence for their earlier claims, and resurrecting the topic in a newly published book (The Jesus Discovery) as well as a Discovery Channel documentary that's due to air this spring.
That almost guarantees that the link to Jesus will take center stage once again in the discussion of the discovery, with most archaeologists discounting the connection. There's even a chance that the renewed controversy would push this most recent find out of the spotlight. That would be a terrible shame, said John Dominic Crossan, an expert on 1st-century Christianity and former Catholic priest who is a professor emeritus at DePaul University. "It's a stunning discovery," he said. "It's a stunning piece of technology. As a scholar, I really don't want to get lost in saying, 'Oh, come on, it's off the wall.' Yeah, it's off the wall. But look at the wall!" Or in this case, look at the box.
It is thought that the use of such bone boxes in Jerusalem ceased in the year 70, due to the Roman destruction of the city. Thus, there's a chance that the residents buried in the Patio Tomb actually lived during the time of Jesus and his first disciples. However, Crossan noted that Christians weren't the only ones in 1st-century Jerusalem who held a religious belief in resurrection. The Pharisees and the Essenes also looked forward to the resurrection of the righteous, he said. "What I would say is ... this is a rich Pharisee, a rich person in the 1st century who believes in the resurrection," Crossan told me. "We always thought that [the image of] Jonah coming out of the fish was peculiarly Christian. Maybe that's one more thing that the early Christians took from Jewish tradition, and this would be the first evidence."

Thought for Today
"If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision, and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself."
—-[/i]Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (1917-2007), historian.

Today's flower: Echinacea purpurea 'Green Envy' or Green Envy coneflower



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

LEAP DAY
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 60th day of 2012 with 305 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:22 p.m., it's snowing , temp 32ºF [Feels like 24ºF], winds ESE @ 13 mph, humidity 75%, pressure 30.08 in and falling, dew point 23ºF, chance of precipitation 80%. Through 4pm: Steady snow will mix with sleet or freezing rain before ending by mid-afternoon. Cloudy with temperatures steady near the mid 30s. Winds ESE @ 15-20 mph. Snowfall around one inch through 4:00pm.

Today in History:
1504--Christopher Columbus, stranded in Jamaica during his 4th voyage to the West, used a correctly predicted lunar eclipse to frighten hostile natives into providing food for his crew.
1704--in Queen Anne's War, Deerfield, a frontier settlement in western Massachusetts, was destroyed by a French and Native American force.
1736--Ann Lee, the founder of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, a Christian sect commonly known as the Shakers, is born in Manchester, England.
1782--the US and Great Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
1796--Pres. Washington proclaimed Jay's Treaty, which settled some outstanding differences with Britain, in effect.
1804--US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase went on trial, accused of political bias. (He was acquitted by the Senate.)
1835--Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Mo.
1840--John Philip Holland the Irish-American inventor known as the father of the modern submarine, was born; died 1914 at age 74.
1864--Union Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry raiders split into two wings on their way south to Richmond. Col. Ulrich Dahlgren and 500 troopers swung out further west as Kilpatrick and 3,000 men rode on to the outskirts of Richmond.
1892--the US and Britain agreed to submit to arbitration their dispute over seal-hunting rights in the Bering Sea. (A commission later ruled in favor of Britain.)
1904--Pres. Roosevelt appointed a seven-member commission to facilitate completion of the Panama Canal.
1916--both the British armed merchant ship Alcantara and the German raider Grief sank after engaging each other in a close-range battle on the North Sea.
1936--Pres. Roosevelt signed a 2nd Neutrality Act as he appealed to US businesses not to increase exports to belligerents
1940--Gone with the Wind won 8 Oscars, including best picture of 1939; Hattie McDaniel won for best supporting actress, the first black performer so honored.
1952--Owen Lattimore, one of the more famous figures of the "Red Scare" in the US during the 1950s, testified before a Senate subcommittee that he might have been inaccurate in some of his previous testimony.
1960--an earthquake devastated the Moroccan city of Agadir.
1962--U Thant of Burma was elected secretary-general of the UN, succeeding the late Dag Hammarskjold.
1966--the former British colony of Barbados became independent.
1968--Pres. Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (also known as the Kerner Commission) warned that racism was causing America to move "toward two societies, one black, one white -- separate and unequal.
1968--the discovery of a "pulsar," a star which emits regular radio waves, was announced by Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell in Cambridge, England.
1972--Hank Aaron signed a 3-year deal with the Atlanta Braves for $200,000 per year, making him the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball at the time.
1979--the album The Wall by Pink Floyd was released.
1984--Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau announced he was stepping down after more than 15 combined years in power.
1993--Pres. Clinton signed the Brady bill, which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.
1993--police in California arrested Richard Allen Davis, who confessed to abducting and killing 12 year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma.
1996--Pres. Clinton became the first US president to visit Northern Ireland.
1996--a Peruvian Boeing 737 crashed on approach to Arequipa, killing all 123 people on board.
1999--the opening of a 135-nation trade gathering in Seattle was disrupted by at least 40,000 demonstrators, some of whom clashed with police.
2000--George W. Bush won Republican presidential primaries in Virginia, Washington state and North Dakota, defeating John McCain; Vice President Al Gore crushed fellow Democrat Bill Bradley in Washington state.
2000--6-year-old Kayla Rolland was fatally shot by a fellow 1st-grader at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Mich.
2000--Kathie Lee Gifford announced her intention to leave the syndicated morning show Live with Regis & Kathie Lee.
2004--Ken Jennings' streak of 74 wins on the TV game show Jeopardy! came to an end.
2004--facing rebellion, Haitian Pres. Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and left for exile in the Central African Republic.
2010--Pentagon leaders called for scrapping the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" ban after releasing a survey about the prospect of openly gay troops.

World News Capsules:
1. Koran burning in Afghanistan prompts 3 parallel inquiries
.
....Three major investigations were underway on Wednesday into the Koran burning at Bagram Air Base by the American military last week.
a. UN staff leaves an Afghan office.
....International staff members were removed from an office in Kunduz, Afghanistan, this week after a riot.
2. Belarus warns European Union over withdrawal of envoys.
....Belarus warned of an escalation of tensions after the European Union withdrew the ambassadors of all its member countries in response to human rights violations.
3. Violence in western China leaves 20 dead.
....Fresh bloodshed in a remote region of western China underscored tensions over Chinese rule in ethnic minority areas days before an important policy meeting in Beijing.
a. Hong Kong leader is investigated over ethics.
....Chief Executive Donald Tsang faced a possible impeachment effort by lawmakers in the latest high-profile political scandal to hit the Chinese territory.
4. US and Egypt in talks to end prosecution of Americans.
....Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the two countries were engaged in "very intensive discussions" over the prosecution of staff members from four American-financed nonprofit organizations.
5. French council strikes down bill on armenian genocide denial.
....Turkey applauded the move, but the president of France vowed to try again.
6. 25 suspected hackers arrested in international raids.
....Suspected members of the Anonymous hacker movement were arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America, Interpol said.
a. Europe delays debt talks after signs of uncertain support.
....The delay means a decision to increase the bailout fund is not likely to come until late March, and illustrates how hard it has been to reconcile impatient financial markets with democratic processes.
7. James Murdoch out as News International chairman.

....Under increasing pressure from a phone hacking scandal, James Murdoch has resigned as executive chairman of News International, the company's parent, News Corporation, announced.
a. Britain extends monitoring for people with metl hips.
....Out of concerns that problems could occur for up to 20 years, health regulators said patients with the device — which was also used widely in the US — should undergo annual examinations.
8. Ahead of summit, Greece rushes to approve new cuts.
....Officials in Athens were moving to approve raft of new laws and decisions demanded by foreign creditors in exchange for more aid..
9. Party leader leaves India for health care.
....The departure of Sonia Gandhi, leader of the governing party, raises new questions about the state of her health.
10. US sees Iran attacks as likely if Israel strikes.
....American officials assessed that Iran would retaliate to an Israeli strike by launching missiles on Israel and terrorist-style attacks on US civilian and military personnel overseas.
a. Bank in Dubai says it cut ties with Iranian institutions.
....Noor Islamic Bank said that it “took pre-emptive action” when it learned that the US planned to sanction some Iranian banks.
11. 2-year-old's death draws attention to Ireland's 'ghost' housing developments.
....The nation is torn over what to do with thousands of unfinished housing developments, known as ghost estates, that are a legacy of boom times and lie incomplete and underused.
12. Israeli troops raid Palestinian TV stations.
....Equipment and documents were seized by Israeli troops. Their stated reason for the raid, interference by broadcasts on unauthorized frequencies, was hotly disputed by Palestinian officials.
13. US says North Korea agrees to nuclear moratorium.

....The US said on that North Korea had agreed to implement a moratorium on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and nuclear activities including enrichment at its Yongbyon nuclear complex and to allow U.N. nuclear watchdog inspectors in to ensure compliance. The State Department said that the US in return had agreed to finalize details of a proposed food aid package and to take other steps to improve bilateral ties.
14. Pakistani court resurrects election tampering investigation.
....After a 13-year pause, Pakistan’s top court revived an investigation into alleged election rigging by the country’s main spy agency.
a. Gunmen ambush bus in Pakistan, killing at least 18.
....At least 18 people were killed when a bus was ambushed by gunmen in northwestern Pakistan, in an attack that appeared to have sectarian underpinnings.
15. Anti-gay law stirs fears in Russia.
....The measure, passed in St. Petersburg, is similar to laws adopted in other Russian cities, and is aimed at eliminating what its proponents called “propaganda” of homosexuality.
16. 2 hostages are killed in sea rescue that frees 16.
....An operation over the weekend rescued more than a dozen people off the coast of Somalia, but there were fatalities.
17. In Spain, the money ran out; then the villagers stepped in.

....As debts and unpaid bills left no cash on hand to pay for anything in Higuera de la Serena, residents are keeping things together.
18. Syria's sectarian fears keep region on edge.

....The insurrection is increasingly dangerous and unpredictable because it is aggravating tensions beyond Syria's borders.
a. Diplomats warn Syria of consequences for violent crackdown.
....A long list of governments urged an immediate cease-fire while Paul Conroy, a Western journalist who had been trapped in Homs, escaped the country.
b. Syrian troops reportedly pushing into besieged city.
....Despite mounting diplomatic pressure for a cease-fire, the Syrian military continued its bombardment of opposition strongholds.
19. Resentment toward the west bolsters Uganda's new anti-gay bill.
....Ugandan lawmakers who want to impose the death penalty for homosexuality are building support by tapping the resentment against the perceived meddling of Western nations.

US News Capsules:
1. At least nine dead as tonradoes rake Midwest.

....A powerful system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes laid waste to small towns in Illinois and Kansas while also roughing up the resort town of Branson, Mo., leaving 1000s without power.9g
2. US Coast Guard helicopter crash off Alabama kills 1; 3 missing.
....The Coast Guard said in a statement early Wednesday that one crew-member was found unresponsive and was later declared dead. Petty Officer 0nd Class Elizabeth Bordelon said the MH-65 Dolphin crashed just after 8:30 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. ET) in Mobile Bay near Point Clear, Ala.
3. Ohio shooting suspect confesses, prosecutor says.
....Prosecutors said the student who confessed told them that he had not known his victims, three of whom have died.
4. Air Force official says 9/11 remains in landfill did not include Shanksville victims.
....Gen. Norton A. Schwartz said that unidentified body parts from victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon were ordered incinerated by the Department of Defense in 2002/
5. Stockton, Calif. moves closer to bankruptcy.
....The city would become the nation’s largest to declare bankruptcy.
6. Great Texas warrant roundup roots out offenders.
....An annual statewide event functions as a sort of “America’s Most Wanted” for an unromanticized subset of the Texas outlaw: the misdemeanor kind.
7. Obama issues waivers on military custody for terror suspects.
....The waivers would exempt foreigners suspected of being Al Qaida operatives from a Congressional mandate.
8. Supreme Court debates rights case aimed at corporations.
....Pondering a suit by Nigerian plaintiffs, the justices asked whether companies can be sued for human rights violations.
9. Colleges misassign many to remedial classes, studies find.
....More than a quarter of students in remedial classes could have passed college-level courses, according to reviews of data from both urban and statewide community college systems.
10. Seven charged in health care fraud.
....A Texas doctor and six others were charged in a scheme that the authorities said cheated the government out of nearly $375 million in Medicare and Medicaid fees.
11. Apple loophole gives developers access to photos.
....After a user allows an application on an Apple mobile device to have access to location information, the app can copy the user's entire photo library, without any further warning,
12, Safety alerts cite cholesterol drgus' side effects.
....Federal health officials are adding new alerts to statins about the rare risks of memory loss, increased blood sugar levels and muscle pain,
13. Bernanke sees modest growth for economy.

14. As bank profits plunge, Wall Street bonuses fall modestly.
....While annual payouts to finance industry employees in New York are forecast to drop only 14% during the bonus season, profits plunged in 2011, falling 51%, according to a report by the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli.
POLITICS:
1. Romney's ugly win in Michigan dulls speculation on a GOP 'white knight.

....With so much riding on last night's outcome in Michigan, Mitt Romney got exactly what he needed to avoid political disaster -- a win. After all, a win is a win, and Romney pocketed two of them with a blow-out victory in Arizona (47%-27% over Rick Santorum) and a nail-biter in Michigan (41%-38%).
a. Romney faces stubborn question, despite victories.
....Can a Northeasterner with a history of ideological migration win the nomination in the Tea Party era?
2. GOP fight moves to Super Tuesday battlegrounds.
....Having dodged political calamity with a victory in Michigan, Mitt Romney shifted his attention to Ohio.
3. Obama revs up oratory, reminding autoworkers of bailout.
....Pres. Obama channeled his 2008 campaign persona in an energetic speech before the United Auto Workers conference in Washington.
4. Senate nears showdown on contraception policy.
....Republicans appeared to be divided over pressing for a vote any time soon on legislation to overturn Pres. Obama’s policy requiring coverage of contraceptives for women.

Thought for Today
"Well, it has happened again. The Earth has circled four times around the sun, astronomers have designated this a leap year and anxious bachelors won't answer their telephones until midnight."
—-David O'Reilly, American journalist

Today's flower: Iris germanica or Rosalie Figge reblooming iris - they bloom each season first in the late spring to early summer and then again in midsummer to frost!

[pegasus]

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 61st day of 2012 with 304 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:15 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 41ºF [Feels like 35ºF], winds w @ 8 mph, humidity 67%, pressure 29.65 in and rising, dew point 31ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
86 BC--Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, entered Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.
1781--the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.
1790---the US Congress authorized the first U.S. census.
1810--Frederic Chopin, Polish/French virtuoso pianist & composer, was born; died 1849 at age 39.
1845--Pres. John Tyler signed a congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.
1867--Nebraska became the 37th state.
1872--the US Congress authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park.
1932--the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J.
1940--the novel Native Son by Richard Wright was published.
1954--Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the US House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.
1961--Pres. Kennedy established the Peace Corps.
1974--former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman and former Attorney General John Mitchell were indicted on obstruction of justice charges related to the Watergate break-in.
1981--Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. (He died 65 days later.)
1990--the Seabrook, N.H., nuclear power plant won federal permission to go on line after two decades of protests and legal struggles.
2002--US invasion of Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda, began.
2003--the US Customs Service and Secret Service moved to the Department of Homeland Security.
2003--suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents near Islamabad.
2004--Terry Nichols was convicted of murder as an accomplice of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
2005--BTK serial killer Dennis Rader was charged in Wichita, Kan., with 10 counts of first-degree murder.
2005--a closely divided Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juvenile criminals.
2005--a bomb blast kills Iraqi police and army recruits.
2007--171 Swiss soldiers inadvertently invaded Liechtenstein.
2007--Tornadoes across the southern US killed at least 20; eight of the deaths were at a high school in Enterprise, Ala,
2008--WikiLeaks.org restored as injunction was lifted.
2008--Guatemalan bus crash kills 57, wounds 40.
2010--Jay Leno returned as host of NBC's The Tonight Show.

World News Capsules:
1. Two American soldiers die in shooting at Afghan base.
....Two NATO service members were killed when two Afghans, one believed to be an Afghan Army member, turned their guns on them.
2. For Chinese women, a basic need, and few places to attend to it.
....In China, women tired of waiting for public toilets have been holding demonstrations demanding that more be built, speaking to a broader issue of inadequate sanitation facilities across the country.
a. Tibetan writr says China is blocking her from award.
....A prominent Tibetan writer living in Beijing said on Thursday that police had placed her under house arrest to prevent her from receiving a prize from the Dutch Embassy.
3. Accused Americans leave Egypt, officials say.
....The Americans had been stuck in Egypt since officials imposed a travel ban as part of a politically charged criminal case against four nonprofit groups.
a. Loans to Egypt hinge on democracy issues.
....The international community has offered Egypt billions of dollars in desperately needed financial aid, on the condition that the country bolsters democracy and the protection of human rights.
4. Iran invokes the West to motivate voters.

....After 2009’s disputed presidential election, the Iranian authorities — who have long touted voter turnout as an index of their government’s democratic legitimacy — must lure people back to the polls.
5. Protesters block Maldives president from parliament address.
....In a sign that tensions remain high, supporters of the island nation’s former leader blocked President Mohammed Waheed Hassan from delivering an annual address.
6. Syrian rebels say they are withdrawing from enclave.
....Rebels in the shattered Baba Amr district of Homs announced a “tactical withdrawal” on Thursday, raising concerns about the plight of civilians in the neighborhood.
7. Blast in Instanbul injures 10 police officers.
....Ten police officers were injured when a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded in front of the Istanbul headquarters of the Turkish governing party.
8. Venerated high priest and humble servant of music education.

....José Antonio Abreu, the founder and influential leader of a classical music education program called El Sistema in Venezuela, engenders deep respect

US News Capsules:
1. Tensions raise specter of gas at $5 a gallon.
....Prices typically rise about 20 cents in the summer, and a major disruption in oil supplies could add another 50 cents a gallon, analysts say.
2. Storms crumple and kill in midwestern and southern states.
....People in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky tried to pick up the pieces of homes and businesses demolished by a deadly storm system.
a. In Illinois, a curfew lifts and a tornado's devastation sinks in.

....In the city of Harrisburg as residents sifted through piles of debris, word began to spread about the identities of six people who died here.
3. Prizes with an eye toward the future.
....When it comes to finding solutions to critical problems, cash prizes have been effective for centuries.
4. School shooting suspect was accused of earlier assault.
....The 17-year-old being held in three killings at an Ohio high school had a troubled past.
5. Saudi Arabia may be tied to 9/11, two ex-senators.
....In affidavits in a lawsuit, former Senators Bob Graham and Bob Kerrey say they believe the Saudi government might have played a direct role in the attacks.
6. Parkinson's drug may help with brain injuries, report finds.
....The study showed that patients made progress when taking the medicine. If replicated, the improvements could offer doctors a standard treatment, experts say.
7. Bonuses dip on Wall St., but far less than earnings.
....While annual payouts to finance industry employees in New York are forecast to drop only 14% during the bonus season, profits plunged in 2011, falling 51%, according to a report by the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli.
8. TV: Sweet tea and tart women.
....Robert Harling, who wrote Steel Magnolias and a string of chick flicks, has turned to television, where viperous women strike in GCB, beginning Sunday on ABC.
a. Choose a reality? If only he could.
....Awake, a new NBC police procedural on Thursdays, stars Jason Isaacs as a detective who lives in two alternate realities following an auto accident.
POLITICS:
1. President offers theme of nation seeing a comeback[/u].
....While Republicans point to the country's ills, Pres. Obama is presenting a message of optimism, which some say could backfire if the economy declines.
2. After many tough choices, the choice to quit.
....Senator Olympia J. Snowe's decision to leave the Senate, announced as a divisive vote on health care coverage loomed, reflected growing unease among moderates.
3. Measure allowing religious employers to forgo birth control coverage is rejected.

....In killing a Republican effort to let employers and insurance companies deny coverage for contraceptives because of religious objections, the Senate upheld the administration’s policy.
4. GOP fight moves to Super Tuesday battlegrounds.
....Having dodged political calamity with a victory in Michigan, Mitt Romney shifted his attention to Ohio.
a. Ohio offers chance for a Santorum rebound.
....The contest in Ohio, which votes next week on Super Tuesday, is a test of Rick Santorum’s appeal to working-class voters and the Republican leadership.
5. Romney sets off furor on contraception bill.
....Mitt Romney said in an interview that he was “not for” a Senate bill that would allow limits on coverage of contraceptives, but later said he had misunderstood the question.

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”
--[/i]Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.)

Today's flower: Iris pumila or Little sighs dwarf rebloomin iris



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Read Across America Day - Dr. Seuss Birthday
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 62nd day of 2012 with 303 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:33 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 45ºF [Feels like 38ºF], winds S @ 15 mph, humidity 56%, pressure 29.87 in and falling, dew point 30ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1793--Sam Houston, lawyer, politician & 1st president of Texas, was born near Lexington, Va.; died 1863 at age 70.
1807--the US Congress outlawed the importation of slaves effective the following year.
1836--Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
1861--the state of Texas, having seceded from the Union, was admitted to the Confederacy.
1877--Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.
1904--Theodor Seuss Geisel, who wrote and illustrated popular children's books, was born' died 1991 at age 87.
1917--Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship as Pres. Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act..
1931--Mikhail Grbachev, former Soviet president, turned 81 today.
1932, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which moved the date of the presidential inauguration from March 4 to Jan. 20, was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
1939--Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, 63, was elected pope and took the name Pius XII.
1942--the original Stage Door Canteen, a wartime club for US servicemen, officially opened its doors in New York's Broadway theater district.
1943--the Battle of the Bismarck Sea began; US and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on a Japanese convoy.
1962--Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks, an NBA record that still stands. (Philadelphia won, 169-147.)
1965--The movie version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music had its world premiere in New York City.
1972--the US launched the Pioneer 10 space probe, which flew past Jupiter in late 1973, sending back images and scientific data.
1985--the federal government approved a screening test for AIDS that detected antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply.
1989--representatives from the 12 European Community nations agreed to ban all production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) by the end of the 20th century.
2002--rioting spread as the death toll in India's religious strife topped 400.
2002--11 Israelis were killed in a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhood.
2004--a series of coordinated blasts in Iraq killed 181 people at shrines in Karbala and Baghdad as 1000s of Shiite Muslim pilgrims gathered for a religious festival.
2007--a charter bus carrying a college baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio plunged off an Atlanta highway ramp and slammed into the pavement below, killing seven people. 2007--Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned following a scandal over substandard conditions for wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
2007--the bodies of 14 kidnapped policemen were found northeast of Baghdad.
2008--Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor, scored a crushing victory in Russia's presidential election.
2011--the US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church had a First Amendment right to picket the funeral of a Marine,
2011--an Islamic extremist armed with a handgun attacked a bus carrying U.S. Air Force troops at Frankfurt airport, killing two airmen before being taken into custody.
2011--militants gunned down the only Christian in Pakistan's Cabinet outside his widowed mother's home.

World News Capsules:
1. 5 US service members found responsible for Koran burnings.
....The service members and an Afghan-American linguist were involved in the burnings at a NATO base that plunged Afghanistan into days of violent protests, according to a joint military investigation.
a. Two US soldiers die in shooting at Afghan base.
....Two US soldiers were killed when an Afghan soldier, apparently in league with a civilian, killed a guard and attacked a barracks, officials said.
2. Azerbaijan's leaders yield after a rare public protest.
....The trouble began after an insult from the governor, but observers of Azerbaijani politics said that was little more than a pretext for residents to vent the anger they already felt,
3. In Patagonia, caught between visions of the future.
....Within eyeshot of a proposed dam project near Cochrane, Chile, is the entrance to a different view of the region’s destiny: the 660,000-acre Patagonia National Park.
4. US defendents leave Egypt amid growing backlash.
....Two US-financed nonprofit groups paid about $4 million in bail to fly 11 employees out of reach of Egyptian courts.
5. European leaders challenged by rise i joblessness.
....Their focus, at a summit meeting Thursday, was seeking ways to reconcile the urgent need to stimulate growth with the increased budget discipline required under a new “fiscal compact.”
6. $51 for 2 minutes: German pay phones anger troops.
....A lawsuit has drawn attention to American service members’ allegations that they are being gouged at pay phones in Germany’s Leipzig-Halle Airport/
7. Clinton urges Iranian group to complete move.
....Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that a decision on whether to remove Mujahedeen Khalq from the list of terrorist organizations would depend in part on the group’s cooperation in moving to a new location inside Iraq.
a. Obama says military option on Iran not a 'blubb.'
....Pres. Obama rejected suggestions that the West could contain a nuclear-armed Iran, and warned that the US could take military action to prevent it from acquiring a bomb.
b. Iranians vote to choose nw parliament.
....Iranians went to the polls in a parliamentary vote on Friday likely to reflect a struggle for influence and position among the country’s top leaders.
8. For Obama and Netanyahu, wariness on Iran will dominate talk.
....Pres. Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel will meet in Washington to sort out how to grapple with Iran’s nuclear program — while also managing their own strained relationship.
a. Peres says US must put all Iran options on table.
....Ahead of a meeting with Pres. Obama, Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, stressed that a decisive approach must be taken in regards to dealing with the threat of Iran’s nuclear program.
b. Israel plans interceptor missile test and gives neighbors early notice.
....With nerves on edge over tensions with Iran, Israeli officials took the unusual step of announcing the test of antiballistic missile ahead of time.
9. Reform bill sealed back as Italians apply politics.
....The “Grow Italy” measures are designed to invigorate the economy, but critics said many of the bill’s changes had been watered down.
10. In North Korea deal, son inherits father's framework.
....In his 1st major act as leader in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un has chosen to restart nuclear negotiations, hedging against overdependence on Chinese aid and developing the outlines of a foreign policy,
11. Pakistan builds web wall out in the open.
....The government has published a public tender for the “development, deployment and operation of a national-level URL filtering and blocking system.”
a. Scores are killed as Pakistan battles miiltant groups.
....A gun battle at a remote security post near the Afghan border left 10 Pakistani soldiers dead, as well as 23 militants.
12. Midas touch in St. Petersburg; friends of Putin glow brightly.
....A close circle of friends, relatives, associates, colleagues from the security services and longtime advisers have grown fabulously wealthy during Vladimir V. Putin’s 12 years as Russia’s paramount leader.
a. Putin says he might run for president again in 2018.
....Were Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin to serve four full terms as president, he would lengthen his term as Russia’s paramount leader to 24 years.
13. Serbi, once outcast, is candidae to join E.U.
....Serbia formally became a candidate for European Union membership in a significant advance for the nation, once ostracized for its role in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
14. Bullfighter's return stuns a hardened sport.

....Five months after surviving a horrifying goring, Juan José Padilla is returning to the bullring amid an intense debate in Spain over bullfighting.
a. Spain unable to meet goal for deficit cuts this year.
....Just as 25 European leaders signed a new fiscal pact to bolster budgetary discipline, the surprise announcement from Spain showed the challenges that many European economies face.
15. Syria bars Red Cross convoy from fallen rebel bastion.

....Aid workers were preparing to enter the neighborhood of Baba Amr, the epicenter of a four-week government effort to dislodge rebels and army defectors.
a. Syrian forces overwhelm stronghold of rebels in Homs.
....The defeat of insurgents in an embattled city set the stage for elite soldiers to turn to other redoubts of Syria's uprising, as international demands for a cease-fire intensify.
16. Vietnam's nuclear dreams bossom dspite doubts.
....As it prepares to begin one of the world’s most ambitious nuclear power programs, Vietnam is scrambling to raise from scratch a field of experts to manage reactors safely.

US News Capsules:
1. Boehner calls Limbaugh remarks 'inappropriate.'
....House Speaker John Boehner distanced himself from Rush Limbaugh, calling the conservative radio host's words toward a women's rights advocate "inappropriate. Amid a growing firestorm, Washington's top Republicans said through a spokesman that Limbaugh was wrong.
2. Illinois town all to versed in taking a hit.

....Even before a tornado tore through this small southern Illinois city, killing six people, Harrisburg had seen trouble. And they have had to rebuild, over and over.
3. More Americans rejecting marriage in 50s and beyond.
....A growing number of baby boomers are venturing into old age on their own, a shift that is changing the traditional portrait of older Americans.
4. Figure in Dover mortuary scandal resigns.
....An official with knowledge of the situation said that Quinton R. Keel quit after coming under increasing fire in recent months.
5. Where the jobs are, the training may not be.
....State colleges are cutting financing for technical, engineering and health care programs as the need for training in those fields grows.
6. Revising the imits for the unlimited.
....Some of the nation's largest wireless phone companies, like AT&T and Verizon, use a process called throttling to slow down customers who exceed data limits - even if they have unlimited data plans.
8. For robot maker, the future is getting closer.

....iRobot has sold millions of Roomba vacuum cleaners, and its bomb disposal robots protect soldiers. Now, it is using video and computing advances to create robots that can handle more duties.
9. Tornadoes slice paths across Alabama, Indiana and Tennessee.
....A “very large super-cell” of tornadoes touched down in northern Alabama early Friday, damaging homes, a prison and a high school and leaving at least four injured, emergency and weather officials said, as reports emerged of twisters striking in Indiana and Tennessee.
10. Is your child's day care run by criminals?

....Chris Hansen's Dateline investigation discovered 1000s of day care workers with criminal convictions, from grand theft and domestic violence to child abuse and manslaughter. We assume state regulators and licensing agencies prevent people like that dfrom watching our kids — turns out, not so much.
11. Gucci, Uggs, Burberry, Coach...not.
....Gucci, Ugg, Burberry, Coach, Nike and Louis Vuitton. Those were among the brand names of counterfeit goods that federal authorities said they hauled in from what they called one of the largest counterfeit goods smuggling operations ever. So far 29 people from the U.S. and China have been charged for allegedly smuggling counterfeit shoes, handbags and clothing worth about $325 million, had they been genuine, according to a statement from the U.S Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
POLITICS:
1. Romney reopens whatever-it-takes playbook.
....Even Mitt Romney’s battered foes acknowledge that he is proving unusually adept at defining, diminishing and disqualifying a serial cast of challengers through relentless assaults.
2. Obama seeks to end subsidies for oil and gas companies
.
....In New Hampshire, Pres. Obama called on Americans to contact their representatives in Congress and demand a vote to end $4 billion in subsidies.
3. House passes bridge bill after an earmark debate.
....The legislation allows for the construction of a new $700 million bridge between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The project has drawn comparisons to earmarks,

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Woman called 'slut' by Limbaugh is 'stunned, outraged.'

The ongoing debate over birth control took a particularly nasty turn recently when conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” for speaking out about the issue. Fluke, a birth control activist, spoke with Today’s Matt Lauer about Limbaugh’s comments and the failure of a GOP-sponsored amendment that would have allowed employers at religious institutions to opt out of providing contraception in health plans. Fluke told Lauer that she expected some backlash, especially from someone like Limbaugh. Still, the comments stung — especially since they were made on the first day of Women’s History Month.
“I think my reaction was the reaction a lot of women have had historically when they’ve been called these types of names: Initially to be stunned by it, and then to quickly feel outraged and very upset,” she told Lauer.
Limbaugh’s comments came on the heels of heated congressional debate over the so-called “Blunt Amendment,” a measure that ultimately failed in the Senate and would have nixed the Obama administration’s mandate on contraception. Lawmakers evoked Fluke’s name during the debate as someone who testified during an unofficial democratic committee hearing headed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., about how a friend needed birth control to shrink ovarian cysts and help preserve her fertility.
Fluke had been previously blocked from testifying before a Republican-led, all-male congressional panel on contraception and religious freedom. Limbaugh said Fluke was just trying to promote casual sex.
Democratic congresswomen, including Pelosi, released a statement criticizing what they called the “vicious and inappropriate attacks” leveled at Fluke. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and more than 75 Democratic lawmakers have called on Republican colleagues to condemn Limbaugh’s attack. "When Sandra Fluke testified before the House Democratic Steering and Policy committee after Republicans attempted to silence her, she courageously spoke truth to power,” the congresswomen wrote in a statement. “She has been subject to attacks that are outside the circle of civilized discussion and that unmask the strong disrespect for women held by some in this country."
I lost all respect for Russ Limbaugh years ago when he attacked a 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton's on her looks. Over the yearss he has proved to be a non-gentleman in every way. To call a woman in this day and age a 'slut' and 'prostitute' because she supports contraception is astonishing. And just proves once again that he is someone whose opinions are archaic and unhelpful in the advancement of political debate in this country.

North Miami high school students fight valedictorian's deportation order.

An immigration judge on Monday ordered the deportation of 18-year-old valedictorian Daniela Pelaez, who was brought illegally to the US by her parents when she was 4 years old. Late Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement saying it will not take further steps in the case until the conclusion of Pelaez's appeal on the judge's decision. Not everyone agrees Pelaez should stay. "She should be deported," said Linda Simmons, who has a son in ninth grade at North Miami High. "Her parents broke the law."
Personally, I think that she should not be punished for her parent's actions. Second, I think that all children who were brought illegally to this country, but have known no other life, should be granted legal status in this country. And given the opportunity to become citizens. In every way that counts, they are citizens.

Outsourced: Poor Indians used for US drug trials.

Drug trial outsourcing to foreign countries is rapidly becoming an attractive alternative for U.S. pharmaceutical companies looking to save millions of dollars, avoid regulatory scrutiny and tap into a seemingly endless supply of drug study participants. A year-long Dateline investigation into one of the preferred destinations for overseas drug trials, India, raises questions about lax regulatory oversight in these studies, the integrity of some of the companies contracted to run them and the reliability of the data they produce
Whether the studies are for birth control, diabetes, migraines or high blood pressure, money often draws volunteers into Indian drug trials. Many desperately poor recruits are so eager to enroll that they disregard potential risks. Dr. Chandra Gulhati, editor of the “Monthly Index of Medical Specialties,” an Indian medical journal, points out that luring test subjects with money violates India’s Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The act allows some payment, but not enough to sway free will. “It should never be so much that it works as an inducement,” Gulhati said.
In practice, however, the pay is often just that. Subjects can make up to $400, depending on the length of the study -- far outstripping traditional earnings. The financial incentives can lead to study volunteers enrolling in more than one study at a time. That not only puts their lives in danger, but it also can skew the accuracy of test results that drug companies and regulators rely on to judge a drug’s safety.
Parsottam Parmar is a social worker in Ahmedabad’s slums who advocates for higher wages and ongoing health care for drug-study participants. He is alarmed by what he is witnessing. “People keep falling sick,” he said. “There are many instances where there are swellings in the limbs, loss of eyesight. Several deaths have occurred … It becomes a question of human rights -- a big one at that.” The Indian government reports that across the country more than 1,500 people have died in clinical trials since 2008, many participating in studies for Western pharmaceutical companies.
Because official documentation of the deaths is frequently incomplete or non-existent, it is unclear how many people died from the same illnesses that initially qualified them for certain drug studies. The lack of oversight by Indian government officials has created a culture of impunity for drug research companies and the doctors who work for them.
Although data from overseas studies is used help win FDA approval for drugs, the agency told Dateline in a statement that it faces “a number of handicaps in its inspections of foreign clinical sites, which are not technically under FDA jurisdiction under international law.” In India, for example, the FDA said its inspectors are not legally permitted access to confidential records held by contract research firms that often do testing for Western pharmaceutical companies. It’s a law that would severely hamper any investigation into a patient’s
Following reports of unauthorized drug studies on children and mentally disabled patients, India’s health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, told reporters last month that some companies running drug trials in India are not following regulations. “Sometimes the companies don’t go by the laid-down procedures and it causes great harm to persons and individuals on which this test is carried out,” he said.
Even when deaths during drug trials raise questions, drug companies can eliminate those questions at little expense. Last year, Azad, the Indian health minister, confirmed that 10 foreign drug companies paid an average of about $4,800 to relatives of 22 people who died during or after participating in drug trials in 2010. The amount is a small fraction of compensation paid for similar deaths in other countries, Gulhati said.
But reports of illnesses and deaths linked to drug trials do little to deter a steady stream of willing volunteers. They need the money and so they volunteer. It's that simple.


Thought for Today
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."
—-Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka "Dr. Seuss"), children's author (1904-1991).

Today's flower: Iris pumila 'Sugar maple' dwarf reblooming iris

[pegasus]

NATIONAL NUTRITION MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 63rd day of 2012 with 302 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:02 p.m., it's cloudy but windy, temp 42ºF [Feels like 33ºF], winds WSW @ 22 mph, humidity 45%, pressure 29.48 in and rising, dew point 22ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1776--Silas Deane embarked on a secret mission to France.
1820--the US passes the Missouri Compromise, granting Missouri statehood as a slave state under the condition that slavery was to be forever prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36th parallel, which runs approximately along the southern border of Missouri, and Maine became a state also.
1845--Florida became the 27th state.
1847, Alexander Graham Bell, the Scottish-born American inventor of the telephone, was born; died 1922 at age 75.
1849--the US Congress created the Minnesota Territory.
1863--the U.S. Congress passed a conscription act that produces the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens in American history.
1865--Pres. Lincoln signed a bill creating the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Known as the Freedmen's Bureau that oversaw the difficult transition of African Americans from slavery to freedom.
1873--the US Congress banned sending obscene materials through the mail.
1875--George Bizet's opera Carmen opened in Paris.
1879--the US Geological Survey was created.
1887--Helen Keller, 6, met Anne Sullivan, her miracle worker.
1915--the D. W. Griffiths film, Birth of a Nation, opened in New York City.
1918--Bolshevik Russia signed a separate peace with the Central Powers that granted independence to its Polish and Baltic territories, the Ukraine, and Finland.
1923--Time magazine, founded by Briton Hadden and Henry R. Luce, debuted,
1931--Pres. Hoover signed into law a bill making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem.
1945--Finland declared war on Germany.
1965--US jets bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
1969--Apollo 9 was launched on a mission to test the lunar module that was used in the moon landings.
1971--the US 5th Special Forces Group withdrew from Vietnam.
1974--a DC-10 jet crashes into a forest outside of Paris, France, killing all 346 people on board,
1991--in a case that sparked a national outcry, motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video.
2002--voters in Switzerland approved joining the UN, abandoning almost 200 years of formal neutrality.
2006--former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., was sentenced by a federal judge to more than eight years in prison for corruption.

World News Capsules:
1. Koran burning involved five Americans, one Afghan.

....American and Afghan officials say the incineration of Korans could have been headed off at several points.
2. A Chinese voice of dissent that took its time.
....Zhou Youguang, 106, invented Pinyin, a spelling system that links China’s ancient written language to the modern age, and he’s using it to speak his mind.
3. French journalists return home after 9 days trapped in Syria.
....Pres. Sarkozy praised the journalists, one of whom was seriously injured, and called the process to bring them home to France “extremely complicated.”
a. Wealth tax hits a nerve in French race for president.
....François Hollande, the Socialist candidate for the French presidency, has proposed that those with annual income of more than €1 million be taxed at a 75% rate.
4. Obama says Iran strike is an option, but warns Israel.

....Pres. Obama stiffened his pledge to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons but said he would try to convince Israel that a premature assault could strengthen Iran.
a. Iran's government declares huge turnout in 1st national vote since '09 protests.
....Iranians went to the polls in a parliamentary vote on Friday likely to reflect a struggle for influence and position among the country’s top leaders.
5. Israel guards against increased terror peril from a laxly patrolled Sinai.
....Israeli security officials point to an erosion of Egyptian sovereignty and authority in the vast, sandy expanses of the Sinai desert.
6. Criminal case on cruise ship wreck opens in Italy.

....Lawyers and survivors of the Costa Concordia accident converged for the first evidence hearing in the case against the ship’s captain and others.
7. Japanese rime minister says government shares blame for nuclear disaster.
....Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said officials had placed too much faith in the safety technology of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
8. UN faults NATO and Libyan authorities in report.
....NATO was found to have insufficiently investigated air raids it conducted that killed at least 60 Libyan civilians.
9. Pakistan battles militants, in worst fighting in months.
....A gun battle at a remote security post near the Afghan border left 10 Pakistani soldiers dead, as well as 23 militants.
a. Pakistan builds web wall out in the open.
....The government has published a public tender for the “development, deployment and operation of a national-level URL filtering and blocking system."
10. For struggling Russians, fear of return to hardship of '90s fuels support for Putin.

....For potential voters in hardscrabble towns, any desire to live better is outweighed by a persistent fear of living worse.
a. Russia offers resumption of relations with Georgia.
....Russia made an unexpected offer to Georgia to re-establish diplomatic relations that were severed when the neighboring countries went to war in 2008.
11. Spain adjusts deficit-reduction target at European summit.
....In a move described as a “sovereign decision” by its prime minister, Spain revised its deficit target for 2012 to 5.8% of gross domestic product, from 4.4%.
12. Dozens of defecting Syria soldiers reported executed.

....More than 40 soldiers trying to defect from an army unit in Idlib are executed by Syrian government troops, according to activist groups.
a. Ssyria hands over bodies of 2 journalists to foreign envoys, but still blocks aid.

....The journalists, Marie Colvin, an American reporter who worked for The Sunday Times of London, and Rémi Ochlik, a French photographer, were killed on Feb. 22 in Homs.
13. In the UK, British premier changes horse stories mid-scandal.
....David Cameron’s admission about Raisa the horse becomes fodder for Britons exasperated by the tabloid scandal and Scotland Yard ties.

US News Capsules:
1. BP deal opens a new phase, but case is far from cloxed.

....BP agreed with the lawyers for businesses and individuals affected by the 2010 oil spill to pay $7.8 billion in claims, but the federal government, the largest plaintiff, was not a party to the settlement; the next steps in the process will take time, and the terms still must be approved by a judge.
2. Search for survivors after storms tear across states.

....A frantic day and night of tornadoes and thunderstorms left behind at least 31 dead, hundreds of injuries and countless damaged buildings in several states.
3. A twist on posthumous baptisms leaves Jews miffed at Mormon rite.
....The Mormon practice of baptizing dead relatives offends some Jews, especially when the subjects are Holocaust victims, even though that is against church policy,
4. Moving miitary newspaper to base raises concerns on independence.
....Editors and members of Congress fear that the cost-cutting action could lead to interference by the officials that Stars and Stripes reports on.
5. Craft brewing finds a welcoming atmosphere.
....Quirky state alcohol laws, a storied brewing culture and a patchwork of well-carved neighborhoods have created ideal conditions for start-up breweries in Denver.
6. Builders of casino empire split, and the bitter accusations fly.

....In one of the gambling industry’s most rancorous public feuds, Stephen A. Wynn and Kazuo Okada are accusing one another of making payments meant to curry favor from public officials.
7. US unit of Maclaren, a stroller maker, is in bankruptcy.
....Maclaren’s Chapter 7 filing follows lawsuits and a recall of a million baby buggies in 2009 after the fingers of 12 children were amputated on the hinges of its foldable model.
8. Hunt for stolen iPads reveals $34 milion in meth.
....A San Jose home was the scene of one of the largest methamphetamine busts in US history, according to the DEA.
9. GM again pauses production of Chevy Volt[; 1,300 out of work/u].

....General Motors announced that it planned to halt production of the Volt for five weeks, another troubling sign for a hybrid whose sales fell short of targets last year.
POLITICS:
1. Obama backs student in furor with Limbaugh on birth control.

....The election-year fight over the administration's birth control policy escalated, with a Georgetown law student and the radio host Rush Limbaugh taking center stage in the conflict.
2. Romney trying to recast wealth to be seen as asset.
....Mitt Romney, who has struggled with how to handle his immense wealth, is trying to talk to audiences more on how his financial expertise can be used to cure an ailing economy.
3. Idaho senator to push gay rights bill from the outside.
....Nicole LeFavour, the only openly gay member of the Idaho Legislature, has found herself outnumbered on issues she cares most about.


Today's Headlines of Interest:

Leap free or die - 'Occupy Wall St.' goes improv'.

Despite forecast of a freezing, rainy afternoon, members of Occupy Wall St. movement pushed through with their planned protest rally yesterday (Feb. 29), never backing off an inch in their desire to change and end the culture of corruption that has become so prevalent in corporate America. Bryant Park was the scene of simultaneous activities as discussion groups tackled more pressing issues; theater/dance performers collaborated to adapt guerilla tactics in case NYPD won't let them 'do their thing' on 42nd St. In his brief lecture, award-winning journalist/author Matt Taibbi tried his best to illustrate in layman's language, how corprate giants have used deception and misinformation to amass more profits; discussed other ills of society that has enslaved and affected the lives and livelihood of those 99%. The protest actions yesterday was a big "leap" for a movement that knew no boundaries; whose ideas and goals have crossed the seas, hoping ultimately to uplift the living conditions of everyone who have long suffered in misery. The arrest of some participants never deterred the street theater performers from giving their best act, even the rain failed to dampen their spirits.

Women roar back at Rush's rhetoric.
In the wake of Rush Limbaugh calling birth control activist Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute,” thousands of women who feel personally stung by the attack have risen up to respond. By Friday evening, Fluke had more than 15,000 Twitter followers and Limbaugh had lost two sponsors. Fluke, a Georgetown University law student, had testified during an unofficial Democratic committee hearing about how a friend had been unable to pay for the birth control needed to shrink ovarian cysts and help preserve her fertility.
Janet Hyde, the Helen Thompson Woolley Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, says such name-calling “is a method for exerting power and control over women.” If that was Limbaugh’s goal, Friday’s tweets suggest he failed. “I'd love to know what Limbaugh’s wife thinks about his recent tirade,” one woman wrote. “I bet she's too busy holding aspirin between her knees to comment.” Limbaugh’s call for the posting of videotapes of women who use birth control went beyond sticks and stones, though, says Kathi Miner, an assistant professor of psychology and women’s and gender studies at Texas A&M University, who described the notion as “a form of sexual violence.”
The president of Georgetown, a Catholic Jesuit institution, defended Fluke’s right to express her views without fear of attack. “This expression of conscience was in the tradition of the deepest values we share as a people,” John DeGioia wrote in a letter posted on the university’s website. “One need not agree with her substantive position to support her right to respectful free expression.” And yet, DeGioia said, citing Limbaugh, some people who disagreed with Fluke’s position “responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student.”

Thought for Today
"Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another. "
--Anatole France (1844 - 1924) in The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard.

Today's flower: Hemerocallis or Eenie allegro mini daylily - Eenie Allegro likes to stay out well into the evening hours, showing off its creamy yellow apricot blossoms blushed with soft rose.

[pegasus]

SAVE YOUR VISION WEEK
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 64th day of 2012 with 301 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:22 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 30ºF [Feels like 22ºF], winds WNW @ 9 mph, humidity 69%, pressure 29.62 in and steady, dew point 23ºF, chance of precipitation 40%.

Today in History:
1681--England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn for an area of land that later became Pennsylvania.
1776--Brig. Gen. John Thomas slipped 2,000 troops, cannons and artillery into position at Dorchester Heights, just south of Boston, overlooking the British troops.
1789--the US Constitution went into effect as the first Congress met in New York City.
1791--Vermont became the 14th state.
1829--Pres. Jackson held "open house" at the White House with a crowd that swelled to more than 20,000, turning the usually dignified White House into a boisterous mob scene.
1837--the Illinois state legislature granted a city charter to Chicago.
1858--Sen. James Henry Hammond of South Carolina declared "Cotton is king" in a speech to the U.S. Senate.
1861--Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States.
1861--the US Government Printing Office began operation.
1861--the Confederate States of America adopted as its flag the original version of the Stars and Bars.
1888--Knute Rockne, who changed the strategy of football as the legendary coach at Notre Dame, was born; died 1931 with 7 others in an airplane crash at age 43.
1913--Woodrow Wilson was sworn as the 28th pres. of the US.
1917--Republican Jeanette Rankin of Montana took her seat as the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
1930--Coolidge Dam in Arizona was dedicated by its namesake, former Pres. Calvin Coolidge.
1933--the start of President Roosevelt’s first administration brought with it the first woman to serve in the Cabinet: Labor Secretary Frances Perkins.
1944--Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the head of Murder, Inc., was executed at Sing Sing Prison in New York.
1944--the US 8th Air Force launched the first AUS bombing raid against Berlin, the German capital.
1960--an explosives-laden French freighter, La Coubre, exploded in Havana's harbor, killing at least 75 people.
1962--the first single-airplane disaster in which more than 100 people died occurred when a Trans-African DC-7 crashed on takeoff in Douala, Cameroon, killing 111 passengers and crew.
1977--some 1,500 people were killed in an earthquake that shook southern and eastern Europe.
1981--a jury in Salt Lake City convicted Joseph Paul Franklin, an avowed racist and serial killer, of violating the civil rights of two black men who'd been shot to death. (Franklin received two life sentences for this crime; he is currently on Missouri's death row for the 1977 murder of a Jewish man, Gerald Gordon.)
1987--Pres. Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging his overtures to Iran had "deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal.
1989--Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. announced plans to merge.
1997--Pres. Clinton barred spending federal money on human cloning,
2002--7 US soldiers were killed, 11 wounded, in Afghanistan at the outset of Operation Anaconda against remnant Taliban and al-Qaida forces.
2002--EU's 15 members ratified the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, but failed to set pollutant-emission levels to meet the accord's targets.
2005--Martha Stewart is released from prison after serving time for insider trading.
2011--in Libya, Moammar Gadhafi's regime struck back at its opponents with a powerful attack on Zawiya, the closest opposition-held city to Tripoli, and a barrage of tear gas and live ammunition to smother new protests in the capital.

World News Capsules:
1. Mission control, built for Brazilian cities.
....IBM has designed a new operations center for the city of Rio de Janeiro, coordinating all kinds of functions under one roof. The company hopes the project will lead to a huge worldwide business.
2. Continuing buildup, China boosts military spending more than 11%.
....The rise in China’s military spending comes amid an intensifying strategic rivalry between the US and China in Asia and concerns in Washington.
a. China's pending change of leadrs adds spice to its annual Congress.
....A handful of provincial officials are unannounced contenders for soon-to-be-vacant seats on the Politburo Standing Committee, the nine-member body that essentially runs the country.
b. Protest's success may not change China.
....The success of the villagers of Wukan in ousting their local leaders and electing a new committee is unlikely to be a template for change in Chinese politics.
3. Explosions at weapons depot kill scores in Congo.

....A senior official said that at least 200 people were killed and hundreds more were injured,
4. French-German border shapes more than territory.

....The disparities in the economies of Germany and France, visible in border towns between the two countries, have emerged as focal points of the French presidential campaign. In Sélestat, France, the unemployment rate among those under 25 years of age is 23%.\
5. Japanese Prime Minister says government shares blame for nuclear disaster
....Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said officials had placed too much faith in the safety technology of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
6. Myanmar democracy leader falls ill during campaign rally.
....Daw Aung San Suu Kyi fell ill during a campaign rally, cutting short a speech to a large and enthusiastic crowd.
7. North Korean leader takes a defiant stance as he visits border.
....Kim Jong-un’s trip to Panmunjon, a compound straddling the border, was the first time he put himself in full view — and within the range — of South Korean border guards.
8. Head-on train crash kills 16 in Poland.
....Two passenger trains collided at high speed in Poland, killing 16 people and leaving authorities asking how both trains ended up on the same track.
9. Emotional Putin claims victory in Russian election as opposition says election stolen.

....Sunday’s vote stood to affirm Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s grip on power, but the prospect of more protests cast some uncertainty over an election that might otherwise be seen as a referendum for stability/
a. A movement for change.
....As Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin runs for his third term as president, young Russians question what it will take for the promise of democracy born in 1991 to truly take hold/
10.. Glimpses of the armed opposition in Syria.

....The Free Syrian Army, mostly military defectors, are outnumbered and outgunned. Yet, support for the uprising is strong in Idlib Province, even as residents endure hardships.
a. Syria's government blocks aid convoy, tightening its hold on a devastated area.
....As the government continued to block an aid convoy from entering a neighborhood in Homs, refugees and activists reported that government forces were turning their guns on other restive cities.
11. Dozens of Yemeni soldiers reported dead in militant attack.
....Islamist militants bombarded an army encampment near the city of Zinjibar.

US News Capsules:
1. When living in limbo avoids living on the street.

....Forced by the harsh realities of the real estate market, lenders are increasingly likely to allow defaulting owners to remain in their homes.
2. Towns search for survivors after widespread storms.

....Residents across the South and Midwest assessed the damage after a string of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms on Friday left dozens of people dead.
a. Little girl found in Indiana field after tornado, dies.

....A southern Indiana toddler, found in a field after both her parents and two siblings were killed by devastating tornadoes, died. At least 20 people were with her, including her grandparents on either side.
3. Los Alamos residents brace for layoffs.
....A cloud of uncertainty has drifted in over the hallowed national laboratory that has been a crucible of the US’ nuclear weapons research and development.
4. In a flood tide of digital data, an ark full of books.
....As society embraces all forms of digital entertainment, a latter-day Noah is looking the other way. Brewster Kahle, who runs the Internet Archive, a nonprofit, hopes to collect one copy of every book.
5. ARTS: Read all about it! Kids vex titans!.

....Newsies the Musical, a coming Disney Broadway production, recounts a strike waged in 1899 by New York newsboys (with a few historical embellishments).
a. A Mexican star stakes a claim above the border.
....Eugenio Derbez, a TV superstar in Mexico, has roles in the hit CBS sitcom Rob and the coming film Girl in Progress.
b. Puppies, paintings and philosophers.
....Adam Lerner, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver, likes to mix things up, which has led to more donations, increased membership and sold-out programs.
POLITICS:
1. US backers of Israel pressure Obama over poicy on Iran.
....From Congress to a major conference of American Jews and other supporters of Israel, Pres. Obama is being buffeted by calls for a more aggressive posture toward Tehran.
2 Romney traces Obama's path on delegates..
....Mitt Romney is turning in earnest, his aides say, to a strategy of slow-but-sure delegate accumulation to beat back Rick Santorum.
a. Romney takes Washington ahead of a big election day.

....Mitt Romney won Saturday’s nonbinding caucuses in Washington State, handing him a symbolic victory as he heads into the critical Super Tuesday contests.
3. The indoctrination myth.
....Despite Rick Santorum’s arguments, research indicates that attending college doesn’t make students more liberal or less religious.
a. From 'nominal Catholic' to clarion of faith.
....Over the past two decades, Rick Santorum has undergone a religious transformation that is now spurring a national conversation about faith in the public sphere.
4. NBC News/Marist poll: Santorum, Romney neck and neck n Ohio.
....Two days until Super Tuesday and the pivotal Ohio Republican presidential primary, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are running neck and neck in the Buckeye State - Santorum gets 34% of voters and Remney 32%, Gingrich at 15% and Paul at 13%.

Today's Headlines of Interest

Ron Paul: No federal financial aid for tornado victims.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) stood by his libertarian beliefs, saying that victims battered in a band of states in the South and Midwest should not be given emergency financial aid from the federal government. "There is no such thing as federal money," Paul said, on CNN’s State of the Union. "Federal money is just what they steal from the states and steal from you and me....The people who live in tornado alley, just as I live in hurricane alley, they should have insurance," Paul said.
Paul said there was a role for the National Guard to restore order and provide care and shelter in major emergencies, but that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) led to nothing but "frustration and anger." "To say that any accident that happens in the country, send in FEMA, send in the money, the government has all this money—it is totally out of control and it's not efficient," Paul said. Unfortunately, for many people, they cannot afford insurance and therefore would be left destitute without federal assistance.

7th advertiser pulls out on Limbaugh.

A flower company is the 7th advertiser to pull its ads from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh's radio program in reaction to his derogatory comments about a law student who testified about birth control policy. ProFlowers said on its Facebook page that it has suspended advertising on Limbaugh's program because his comments about Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke "went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company."
The six other advertisers that say they have pulled ads from his show are mortgage lender Quicken Loans, mattress retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, software maker Citrix Systems Inc., online data backup service provider Carbonite and online legal document services company LegalZoom. Clear Channel's Premiere Radio Networks Inc. hosts Limbaugh's program, one of the country's most popular talk radio shows. The company is supporting Limbaugh, whose on-air contract with Premiere runs through 2016. When asked which companies or organizations were the largest advertisers on Limbaugh's show, Nelson said that that information was "proprietary." Nelson didn't immediately respond Sunday to questions about how much revenue the company will lose with the advertiser defections or how much revenue Limbaugh's show brings in. Clear Channel's parent company was taken private in 2008 by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital.
That's the difference between the Don Imus incident and this. NBC/GE is a publicly financed company and has to answer to its stockholders. Clear Channel's parent dompany doesn't. I would hope that they would fire Limbaugh for his remarks, but don't hold your breath.

Thought for Today
"I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets."
—- D.H. Lawrence, English author (1885-1930).

Today's flower: Hemerocallis or Mary Reed mini daylily

[pegasus]

NATONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 65TH day of 2012 with 300 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:22 p.m., it's fair , temp 24ºF [Feels like 14ºF], winds WNW @ 10 mph, humidity 43%, pressure 30.14 in and rising, dew point 8ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1512--cartographer Gerardus Mercator, creator of the Mercator Projection map of the world, was born in Flanders in the Holy Roman Empire; died 1594 at age 82.
1770--the Boston Massacre occurred as British soldiers who'd been taunted by a crowd of colonists opened fire, killing five.
1815--Franz Anton Mesmer, a German physician who pioneered the medical field of hypnotic therapy, died in obscurity in Meersburg, Swabia (now Germany).
1864--the Confederacy's Gen. Breckinridge assumed command in Virginia.
1867--an abortive Fenian uprising against English rule took place in Ireland.
1868-- the US Senate was organized into a Court of Impeachment to decide charges against Pres. Johnson.
1908--Sir Rex Harrison, Oscar-winning English stage & film actor, was born; died 1990 at age 82.
1933--in German parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party won 44& and joined with a conservative nationalist party to gain a slender majority in the Reichstag.
1946--Sir Winston Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.
1953, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died at age 73 after three decades in power.
1959-a fire at the Negro Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville, Ark., claimed the lives of 21 teenagers trapped inside a locked dormitory room.
1963--the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad was patented by Arthur 'Spud' Melin.
1963--country music performers Patsy Cline, 30, "Cowboy" Copas and "Hawkshaw" Hawkins died in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn.
1964--a US Air Force advisory team was sent to Laos.
1966--Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler hit #1 with his "Ballad Of The Green Berets."
1966--Maarvin Miller elected executive director of the MLB Players Association.
1969--Jim Morrison was charged with lewd behavior at a Miami concert.
1970--the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons went into effect after 43 nations ratified it.
1971--the US 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the Blackhorse Regiment, less its 2nd Squadron, withdrew from Vietnam.
1979--NASA's Voyager 1 flew past Jupiter, sending back photographs of the planet and its moons.
1982--comedian John Belushi, 33, was found dead of a drug overdose in a rented bungalow in Hollywood.
2002--Pres. Bush slapped punishing tariffs of 8 to 30% on several types of imported steel in an effort to aid the ailing U.S. industry.
2002--California Rep. Gary Condit, dogged by the Chandra Levy scandal, lost a Democratic primary election to Dennis Cardoza.
2004--Martha Stewart was convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she'd unloaded her Imclone Systems Inc. stock just before the price plummeted.
2007--a suicide car bomber turned a venerable Baghdad book market into a deadly inferno, killing some three dozen people.; 9 US soldiers died in 2 incidents north of Baghdad.
2011--Egyptians turned their anger toward ousted President Hosni Mubarak's internal security apparatus, storming the agency's main headquarters and other offices.

World News Capsules:
1. Slum dwellers are defying Brazil's grand design for Olympics.
....Ambitious development plans for the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as the 2014 soccer World Cup, involve large-scale evictions from numerous slums, whose residents are refusing to leave.
2. In China, sobering signs of slower growth.

....The government set a 2012 growth target of 7.5% — the lowest in more than two decades — as China’s economy backs off its blistering pace.
a. In China's annual assessment, Wen is optimistic.
....While he predicted a steep slowdown in growth in 2012, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told China’s handpicked legislature that the economy was robust.
b. Hong Kong electin raises fears about China.
....Many fear that a small circle of tycoons now runs top levels of government, and that the city's tradition of rule of law may be giving way to how business and politics are conducted in mainland China.
c. Two Tibetan women die after self-immolation.
....The deaths bring to at least 24 the number of Tibetans who have set fire to themselves in western China since March 2011, and at least 16 of those have died.
3. Rescuers try to keep fire from 2nd depot in Congo.
....International experts foughtMonday to prevent a fire from reaching a 2d arms depot in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, a day after a blaze set off a series of explosions.
4. Egyptian lawmaker resigns amid scandal over nose job.
.....An Islamist lawmaker was expelled from his party for fabricating a story that he was beaten by gunmen. Doctors said in fact he had undergone plastic surgery.
5. Former Iceland leader goes on trial in financial crisis.
....Iceland opened a criminal trial against its former prime minister, Geir H. Haarde, becoming the first country to try one of its leaders over his role in the financial crisis of 2008
6. Iranian court overturns American's spying conviction.
....A prosecutor said that shortcomings had been found in the case against Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, and that a new trial would be held.
7. 20 police officers killed in Western Iraq.
....At least 20 police officers were killed in western Iraq early on Monday by dozens of gunmen masquerading as SWAT teams out to make a high-level arrest, local security officials said.
8. Anger and compassion for Arab justice who stays silent during Zionist hymn,
....Salim Joubran, a Christian and Israel’s only Arab justice, does not sing the national anthem, a move that some on the right view as disloyal while the left urges a rethinking of the song’s lyrics,
9. [NATO: All targets struck in Libya were military/u].
....All targets that NATO hit during the bombing of Libya were legitimate military sites, the alliance said, despite the findings of a UN expert panel that said 60 civilians were killed and 55 wounded in the airstrikes it investigated.
10. Moscow protesters denounce Putin victory,

....Opposition leaders say Sunday’s elections were riddled with fraud. An estimated 14,000 protesters, once giddily confident, reacted with uncertainty and anger.
a. Observers detail flaws in Russian election.
....European observers issued a harsh critique of Russia’s presidential election, saying Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s victory was preordained and unfair.
b. Medvedev orders review of oil tycoon's conviction.
....Pres. Dmitri A. Medvedev ordered Russia’s prosecutor general to verify the legality of the conviction of Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky.
11. Syria permits UN visit but escalates effort to crush opposition.
....The diplomatic gestures came as troops moved into the southern town of Dara’a and artillery units bombarded the town of Rastan in central Syria, according to activists.
12. Scores die in attack on Yemeni Army base.
....Military and medical officials said that 78 soldiers and 28 militants were killed in a battle between Islamist militants and Yemeni troops.

US News Capsules:
1. Obama cites 'window' for diplomacy on Iran bomb.
....Pres. Obama urged Israel to allow more time for a campaign of economic sanctions to work on Tehran.
2. Vegas machine gun range offers new way to let loose.

.....An upscale indoor shooting range — complete with gun-toting hostesses — has an array of machine guns, from AK-47s to M-4s, for anyone looking for a different Vegas experience.
3. A North Carolina lefeline built on shifting sands.
....Constant repairs to the road that links the islands of the Outer Banks has caused some to question the approach in the face of unrelenting erosion.
4. Instruction for masses knocks down campus walls.
...Massive Open Online Courses are free, non-degree programs that have been drawing top professors and are seen as a tool for democratizing higher education.
5. Deepwater oil drilling picks up again as BP disaster fades.
....After a yearlong oil drilling moratorium, BP and other companies have intensified exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico, and drilling will soon expand to Mexican and Cuban waters.
6. In age of dual incomes, alimony payers prod states to update laws.
....Advocates of change say former spouses are better able to support themselves these days, while opponents point to continuing needs and judicial discretion.
7. As new iPad debut nears, some see decline of PCs.
....The iPad, considered a side business for Apple when it was introduced in 2010, accounted for $9.15 billion in revenue in the holiday quarter, about 20% of Apple’s total revenue.
8. Snow, cold add to misery of tornado survivors.

....Thousands still without power in parts of twister-hit Indiana and Kentucky.
POLITICS:
1. 'Loose talk of war' only helps Iran, President says.
....In a speech to a pro-Israel lobbying group, Pres. Obama gave a forceful defense of his commitment to Israel’s security, taking on criticism from his Republican rivals.
2. Intense focus on Ohio before Super Tuesday contests.
....Rick Santorum is barnstorming through Ohio as he seeks a much-needed victory over Mitt Romney in a state that polls suggest is a dead heat going into tomorrow’s voting.
3. McCain calls for airstrikesos Syrian government forces.
....Arizona senator says the goal should be to establish and defend safe havens for delivering humanitarian and military aid.

Thought for Today
"Tomorrow is a thief of pleasure."
—-Sir Rex Harrison, British actor (1908-1990).

Today's flower: Hemerocallis or American Revolution daylily

[pegasus]

Sea Turtle Nesting Season (Florida)
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 66th day of 2012 with 299 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:22 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 34ºF [Feels like 27ºF], winds SSW @ 8 mph, humidity 50%, pressure 30.48 in and falling, dew point 17ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

Today in History:
1405--Juan II, King of Castile (1406-54) was born; died 1454 at age 49.
1475--Michelangelo, Italian Renaissance painter (Sistine Chapel), sculptor ("La Pieta," "David") and architect, was born; died 1564 at age 88.
1619--Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, French dramatist & satirist, was born; died 1655 at age 36.
1776--a committee of the New York Provincial Congress instructs Major William Malcolm to dismantle the Sandy Hook lighthouse in the then-disputed territory of Sandy Hook,
1806--poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born in Durham, England; died 1861 at age 55 in Italy. She was the wife of fellow poet Robert Browning.
1820--Pres. Monroe signed the Missouri Compromixe.
1834--the city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.
1836--the Alamo in San Antonio, Tex., fell to Mexican forces after a 13-day siege.
1844--Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (symphonic suite [/i[Scheherazade), was born; died 1908 at age 64.
1853, Verdi's opera La Traviata premiered in Venice, Italy.
1857--in its Dred Scott decision, the SUS upreme Court held that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in a federal court.
1899--the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registered Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co.
1902--the Madrid Foot Ball Club was founded by a group of fans in Madrid, Spain. Later known as Real Madrid, the club would become the most successful European football (soccer) franchise of the 20th century.
1912--Oreo sandwich cookies (originally called "biscuits") were first introduced by the National Biscuit Co. now Nabisco.
1916--new German attacks began at Verdu - battle of the flanks.
1926--Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman, turns 86 today.
1927--Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel Prize'winning Latin American author of Love in the Time of Cholera, turns 85 today.
1933--a nationwide bank holiday declared by Pres/ Roosevelt.
1944,--US heavy bombers staged the first full-scale American raid on Berlin, Germany.
1945--the Dutch Resistance, attempting to hijack a truck, ambush ed Lt. Gen. Hanns Rauter, an SS officer; 263 Dutch were killed by the German SS in retaliation.
1957--the former British African colonies of the Gold Coast and Togoland became the independent state of Ghana.
1965--the White House confirmed reports that, at the request of South Vietnam, the US sent two battalions of US Marines for security work at the Da Nang air base.
1970--a bomb being built inside a Greenwich Village townhouse by the radical Weathermen accidentally went off, destroying the house and killing three group members.
1981--Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time as anchorman of The CBS Evening News.
1987--due to sloppy safety procedures. 193 people died when the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. 1
1987--the first Lethal Weapon movie, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, was released.
1997--Britain's Queen Elizabeth II launched the first official royal Web site.
2001--the death spiral of Napster began.
2002--federal regulators approved the proposed $22 billion merger of Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp.
2006--Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation banning most abortions in South Dakota. (The ban was later rejected by the state's voters.)
2007--Vice Pres. Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.
2007--Ernest Gallo, who built one of the world's largest winemaking empires, died at age 97 in Modesto, Calif.
2007--two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Hillah, Iraq, killing at least 120 people in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims.
2007--more than 70 people died in an earthquake on Sumatra in Indonesia.
2011--the space shuttle and space station crews hugged goodbye after more than a week together, but saved their most heartfelt farewell for Discovery, which was on its final voyage after nearly three decades.

World News Capsules:
1. Dire poverty falls despite global slump, report finds.
....A World Bank report indicates that the global recession, contrary to economists’ expectations, did not increase poverty in the developing world/
2. No sign of progress in Afghanistan talks embittered by Koran burnings.
....Though talks made little headway, negotiators did discuss an American proposal to accelerate the transfer of detention centers in the country to the Afghans as soon as six months.
3. Australia's changing view of the dingo.

....Like the wolf in America, the dingo is a symbol that may mean one thing to hunters or sheep ranchers, and another to scientists and nature lovers.
4. Chinese women's progress stalls on many fronts.
....China is among the few countries where women are experiencing a rights rollback, according to feminists.
a. Chinese heroism effort is met with cynicism.
....The Chinese government’s promotion of the short life of a selfless young soldier, Lei Feng, has run into debunking efforts on the Internet.
5. Women bearing the brunt of austerity in Great Britain.
....As Britain shaves public services and benefits, advocates contend that women bear more than their fair share of the pain.
6. Governing party is set back in Indian state elections.
....The Indian National Congress Party suffered a defeat in a pivotal election in the country’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh.
a. India's Supreme Court to hear dispute on drug patents.
....India’s mass production of generic versions of drugs patented elsewhere helps poor people get treatment that would otherwise be too costly, but foreign drug companies are tired of having their products stolen.
7. World powers agree to resume nuclear talks with Iran.

....The five permanent members of the UN Security Council said that they have accepted an offer to resume negotiations with officials in Tehran. Iran also signaled a willingness to let international inspectors visit a key military base at Parchin, which international inspectors suspect could be involved in a nuclear weapons program.
a. On Iran, two central questions divide US and Israel.
....If Iran decided to race for a nuclear weapon, would the West detect it in time to stop it? And even if it was detected, is an air strike the best option?
b. FBI offers $1 million reward for news of former agent missing in Iran.
....American officials think Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007, is still alive and captive; Iranian officials say they know nothing about him.
8. Gunmen in uniforms kill 20 police officers in Iraq.
....Gunmen disguised as police SWAT teams entered the town of Haditha, killing three police officers at their homes and more in clashes at checkpoints, security.
9. US remains opposed ot drug legalization, Biden tells region.

....Vice Pres. Biden delivered a blunt message to leaders in Latin America who are contemplating opening the door to the legalization of illicit drugs: The US will not budge in its opposition.
10. A Dutch angel's cellphone number is in demand.
....An artist’s modern-day rendering of an angel as a cathedral statue, with cellphone included, has dueling phone numbers.
11. Leadership rift emerges in Pakistani Taliban[/u.]
....A senior commander was dismissed for initiating peace talks with the Pakistani government, provoking anger in the militants’ ranks.
12. Justice's trial now a threat to Philippine president.
....Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III has made the removal of the chief justice a centerpiece of his anti-corruption drive, which has been cited as a crucial driver in the country's improving economy.
13. After election, Putin faces challenges to legitimacy.

....The campaign that resulted in Vladimir V. Putin’s victory was denounced as tilted in his favor, and 1000s of antigovernment protesters rallied in Moscow.
a. Russian billionaire's presidential bid makes sister a star.
....Until she began supporting the campaign of her younger brother, Mikhail D. Prokhorov, Irina Prokhorova was widely known only in Russian literary and intellectual circles.
b. At Chechnya polling station, votes for Putin exceed the rolls.
....One voting precinct had a turnout of 107%, with just one person opting for a candidate other than Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin.
c. News corp. faces inquiry of ex-subsidiary for bribery.
....News Outdoor Russia, which was sold in July, is being investigated by the Justice Department for allegations it paid off Russian officials
14. Syria permits UN visits, but escalates its attacks.
....Activists said that Syrian security forces entered the town where anti-government protests began a year ago, but for the first time, the UN is sending representatives into the country.
a. Russian minister urges balancing of US proposals on Syria.
....Russia was reported on Tuesday to have signaled opposition to new efforts by the US to frame a UN resolution seeking humanitarian access to the central Syrian city of Homs.
a. Opposition: 39 killed in Syria as regime attacks escape route to Lebanon.

....The deaths included 23 people in the opposition stronghold of Homs, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists, where the military targeted a bridge on the Orontes River near the Lebanese border.

US News Capsules:
1. At tribe's door, a hub of beer and heartache.

....The Oglala Sioux Tribe is suing large brewers and stores in neighboring Whiteclay, Neb., that the tribe says encourage illegal alcohol consumption.
2. Obama presses Netanyahu to resist strikes on Iran.

....At the White House, Pres. Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to little agreement on confronting Iran over its nuclear capabilities.
3. Preschoolers in surgery for a mouthful of cavities.
....Preschool tooth decay has risen so much that dentists say they often advise general anesthesia because children are unlikely to sit through such procedures while awake.
4. Black students face more discipline, data suggests.
....Overall, African-American students were three and a half times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers.
5. US law may allow killings, Holder says.
....In a speech, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that, in certain situations, an American citizen thought to be planning attacks on the nation could lawfully be killed.
6. After ratings drop, Ford reworks touch screens.
....Ford added touch-screen controls ahead of its competitors, but the flaws hurt its reputation and its rating from Consumer Reports.
7. Digital records may not cut health costs, study cautions.
....Researchers found that doctors using electronic records ordered expensive imaging tests more often than those relying on paper records.
8. Stanford convicted by Texas jury in $7 billion Ponzi scheme.

....R. Allen Stanford, a Texas financier, was found guilty in Houston on 13 out of 14 fraud counts
9. Electronic mini-books that allow writers to stretch their legs.

....Kindle Singles are works of long-form journalism that seek out that sweet spot between magazine articles and hardcover books.
10. Refinancing fees are reduced for some FHA borrowers.
....The Obama administration announced a new initiative that would make refinancing less expensive for certain borrowers with mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration.
11. Lehman esate emerges from bankruptcy.
....More than three years after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, setting off a financial tsunami, the failed firm's estate emerged from Chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, ready to begin paying out creditors.
12. Minnesota district reaches pact on anti-gay bullying.
....Minnesota’s largest school district has agreed to sweeping changes designed to prevent the harassment of gay students in a plan that federal officials call a national model.
13. SCIENCE: A quest to understand how memory works.
....Dr. Eric R. Kandel, a Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist who fled Vienna as a child after the Nazi invasion, delves into the mysteries of memory.
a. Keeping an eye on two intimate wolves.

....in Isle Royale National Park, Mich., scientists follow the mating behavior of two wolves - a promising sign for the future of the island's wolf population.
b. Lactose intolerant, before milk wa on enu.
....Researchers have sequenced the complete genome of the so-called Tyrolean Iceman, and discovered that he had brown eyes and brown hair, was lactose intolerant and had Type O blood.
c. Triceratops' quiet cousin, the torosaurus, gains new legitimacy.
....A battle has broken out over a horned, frilled dinosaur called torosaurus — namely, whether the animal ever existed.
d. With teamwork, humans best other primates.
....A study comparing preschoolers’ puzzle-solving strategies with those of chimps and monkeys highlights humans’. unique “cumulative culture” of shared knowledge.
POLITICS:
1. Romney and Santorum roll up their sleeves for blue-collar votes.

....Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum made their final appeals to voters in Ohio before that state and nine others go to the polls.
2. Super Tuesday voting poses big test for Romney.
....Voters north of Atlanta generally liked Newt Gingrich when he represented them in the House, but not all were willing to vote for him in Tuesday’s presidential primary.
3. Cato Institute caught in rift over direction.
....The Cato Institute says that Charles Koch's Republican activism threatens its reputation for independent.
4. A possible last hurrah for a liberal lion of Ohio.
....Redistricting in Toledo is forcing a primary on Tuesday to determine whether Dennis J. Kucinich or Marcy Kaptur will keep a Congressional seat.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

$336 million: Rhosde Island woman, 81, wins Powerball with $3 ticket.

....Louise White, 81, of Newport, R.I., is the sole winner of the third-largest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game: $336.4 million and accepted the money on behalf of the Rainbow Sherbert Trust. White chose to accept the lump sum payment of $210 million, rather than the 30 payments paid out over 29 years. She will pay $52.5 million in federal taxes and more than $14 million in state taxes. Her lawyers called her a "vivacious octogenarian." The Rainbow Sherbert Trust is named after the dessert she purchased while buying the winning ticket. White said it is her son's favorite dessert.

Rush Limbaugh underestimated Us & it's costing him.

Rush Limbaugh launched his verbal sexist attack at the start of Women's History Month. He was probably aware that experiences of sexism can make women feel depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, shocked, and shamed. He was clearly however not aware of the recent psychological research showing the bystander effect of women witnessing other women being disrespected. Women and men have been motivated to act and it is costing him sponsors. Now days later he has given a semi-apology but that is not enough. We have to make sure that we don't just respond when the target is a law student in a public forum but when any women or girl is verbally assaulted. The new motto for wome - For our daughters' sake, let's end misogyny in America.

Anonymous in disarray after major crackdown snares leaders.

In the US government's biggest crackdown to date on a hacktivist group calling itself "Anonymous," four leaders and one other activist were arrested and charged with a computer hacking conspiracy. The Department of Justice also revealed that it had snared the prime leader of an Anonymous offshoot group called LulzSec, which conducted a high-profile, two-month hacking rampage last summer against corporate and government targets. The raids and arrests has put the loosely connected hacking movement into disarray.
What particularly set the movement on edge was the conviction and apparent turning of the LulzSec leader Hector Xavier Monsegur, known by his hacker alias Sabu. The DOJ revealed that federal authorities investigated the hacker suspects with help from a leader within the organization who had been secretly working with government officials. Fox News reported that Monsegur -- whom the DOJ said was arrested and convicted in August 2011 -- was that mole.
The four ringleaders arrested were all close associates of Monsegur -- "close" being a relative term for alleged Internet criminals. Monsegur was from New York, two of the other leaders were from the United Kingdom, and two were from Ireland. The fifth, more loosely connected arrestee was from Chicago. They are facing a combined seven counts and a maximum of 105 years of jail time, according to an indictment unsealed by a federal court. Monsegur pled guilty to twelve counts in August, including computer hacking conspiracy, fraud and aggravated identity theft. The DOJ says he faces up to 124 years in prison, but that will likely be reduced due to his cooperation with authorities.

Thought for Today
"Don't be 'consistent,' but be simply true."
—-Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., US Supreme Court justice (1841-1935)

Today's flower: Papaver orientale or mixed oriental poppies

[pegasus]

WOMAN'S HISTORY MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 67th day of 2012 with 298 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:22 p.m., it's fair , temp 63ºF [Feels like 63ºF], winds SSW @ 13 mph, humidity 29%, pressure 30.18 in and falling, dew point 30ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1793--during the French Revolutionary Wars, France declared war on Spain.
1850--Sen. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts endorsed the Compromise of 1850 as a means of preserving the Union.
1862--Yankees clash with Rebels at the Battle of Pea Ridge (also called the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern), in northwest Arkansas.
1875--Maurice Ravel, noted French composer ("Bolero"), was born in Ciboure, France; died 1937 at age 62.
1876--Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his telephone.
1911--Pres. Taft ordered 20,000 troops to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border in response to the Mexican Revolution.
1912--Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen arrived in Hobart, Australia, where he dispatched telegrams announcing his success in leading the first expedition to the South Pole.
1918--Finland signed a teaty with Germany.
1930--Anthony, Lord SNowden, fomer brother-in-law of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, turns 82 today.
1934--Willard Scott, TV weatherman, turns 78 today.
1936--Adolf Hitler ordered his troops to march into the Rhineland, thereby breaking the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact.
1941--British forces arrived to fight in Greece.
1945--US forces crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, using the damaged but still usable Ludendorff Bridge.
1950--the Soviet Union denied Klaus Fuchs served as its spy.
1960--Jack Paar returned as host of NBC's Tonight Show nearly a month after walking off in a censorship dispute with the network.
1965--a march by civil rights demonstrators was broken up in Selma, Ala., by state troopers and a sheriff's posse.
1966--the US Air Force jets launched the heaviest air raids of the Vietnam war.
1975--the US Senate revised its filibuster rule, allowing 60 senators to limit debate in most cases, instead of the previously required 2/3 of senators present. <they should go back to 2/3>
1981--anti-government guerrillas in Colombia executed kidnapped American Bible translator Chester Bitterman, whom they'd accused of being a CIA agent.
1988--Cyclone Bola hits New Zealand, causing significant flooding and mudslides, but only three deaths.
1994--the US Supreme Court, in ]/i]Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., ruled that a parody that pokes fun at an original work can be considered "fair use" that doesn't require permission from the copyright holder.
1996--three US servicemen were convicted in the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawa girl and sentenced by a Japanese court to up to seven years in prison.
2002--the US House of Representatives passed, 417-3, a bill cutting taxes and extending unemployment benefits.
2003--a 4-day walkout by Broadway musicians began.
2004--V. Gene Robinson was invested in Concord, NH, as the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop.
2007--sex offender John Evander Couey was found guilty in Miami of kidnapping, raping and murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who'd been buried alive.
2007--10 people, most of them children, were killed in the Bronx, New York, when fire tore through their home.
2007--a suicide attacker blew himself up in a cafe northeast of Baghdad, killing 30 people.
2010--Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar for best director for her Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker, which won six Oscars, including best picture.
2010--Iraq held an election in which neither the Sunni-backed coalition nor the Shiite political bloc won a majority, spawning an eight-month deadlock in forming a new government.
2011--Pres. Obama approved the resumption of military trials at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ending a two-year ban.
2011--Charlie Sheen was fired from the sitcom Two and a Half Men by Warner Bros. following repeated misbehavior and weeks of the actor's angry, often-manic media campaign against his studio bosses.

World News Capsules:
1. Explosion kills six British soldiers in Afghanistan.
....The soldiers’ armored vehicle struck an explosive device in the deadliest attack on British forces in six years.
a. Death toll rises from avalanche in Afghanistan.
....After an avalanche swept through the tiny village of Sherin Nazim on Monday, 47 of the roughly 200 residents were believed to be dead
2. Indian journalist iwth ties to Iran arrested in bombing against Israeli.

....Mohammed Kazmi was arrested as part of an investigation into the bombing last month of a van carrying the wife of an Israeli diplomat.
a. Web sites shine light on petty bribery worldwide.
....I Paid a Bribe, a site in India, is spawning a movement of corruption-exposing sites and in turn is vexing bribe-seeking bureaucrats all around the globe.
3. Israeli officials voice skepticism of Iran's nuclear intentions.
....A day after global powers said they would resume nuclear talks with Iran, Israeli officials remained skeptical Wednesday of Tehran’s intentions.
4. Eastern Libya demands a measure of autonomy in a loose national federation.
....The region’s leaders want their own legislature, budget, police and courts, with Benghazi as their capital, but the federal government would control foreign policy, the army and the oil.
5. In Myanmar election, a new risk for Aung San Sun Kyi.
....By inserting herself into Burmese politics, the Nobel laureate is increasingly being asked to propose solutions to her country’s woes rather than merely lamenting them.
6. Despite Kremlin's signals, US ties remain strained after Russian election.
....Senior US officials said the anti-American rhetoric of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s re-election campaign could hinder cooperation on pressing issues like Iran’s nuclear program.
7. Somali suspects in hijacking of Iranian ship face piracy trial in Seychelles.
....The movement of the 15 men from Djibouti to the Seychelles was a welcome development for the US in a high-profile case with no clear legal resolution.
8. UN relief official visits Homs amid new violence and lost confidence.

....The UN humanitarian coordinator was set to arrive in Damascus as the Syrian authorities seemed determined to scrub signs of the monthlong assault on Homs.
a. US defense officials stress nonmiitary options on Syria.
....Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said that the best solution would not involve military intervention, but that the US and its allies were reviewing all options.
b. Under cover of the night, Syrians cross into safety.
....Every night, rickety wooden boats ferry a stream of refugees, some walking and some wounded, to the safety of Turkey as the bloodshed in Syria escalates.
9. The other ticking time bomb in Europe: auto overcapcity.

....Just as Europe has too much debt, it also has more automobile factories than the economy can support.

US News Capsules:
1. Kentucky tornado cut 95-mile trench.
At least 45 separate tornadoes have been identified in last week's deadly outbreak across the Midwest and South, including one that stayed on the ground for 95 miles, tearing a swath through Kentucky and West Virginia, according to the National Weather Service.
2. Pro-Israel delegates have Washington's ear on Iran.
....Members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held a record 530 meetings with lawmakers, whom they urged to support tougher measures against Iran's nuclear program.
3. In Alabama, 2nd corruption trial ends in acquittals.

....Prosecutors again failed to convince a jury that politicians, lobbyists and a casino owner had committed any crimes in their failed attempt to get the State Legislature to legalize gambling
4. ARTS: Terra Nova is cancelled, but seeks new home[/u]
....Fox has canceled its costly science-fiction series Terra Nova, and the studio that produces it is seeking another network willing to run it.
a. The top man at [/i]Mad Men isn't mad anymore[/u].

....Don Draper and his colleagues will return on March 25th for a long-delayed 5th season, but Matthew Weiner, creator of Mad Men, will reveal nothing about where the action will take it.
5. Florida higher education may face big budget cuts.
....Lawmakers proposed the creation of the state’s 12th university and a $1 billion increase for primary and high schools, but the budget also cuts $300 million from universities and colleges.
6. AMR offers to freeze rather than terminate pensions.
....The proposal by AMR, the bankrupt parent of American Airlines, would avert the largest pension default in U.S. history and could move the airline closer to deals with its major unionized work groups,
7. Private sector jobs grew in February.
....The ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added 216,000 jobs last month, exceeding economists’ expectations.
8. House passes bill to address China subsidy.
....Lawmakers voted to ensure that the US could impose duties on subsidized goods from China and Vietnam.
POLITICS:
1. Romney appears the Ohio winner; Santorum strong.
....Mitt Romney apparently pulled off a narrow victory over Rick Santorum in Ohio. But Mr. Santorum scored victories elsewhere, competing with Mr. Romney's achievement of collecting the most delegates.
a. With no knockout punch, a bruising battle plods on.
....With what appeared to be only a slim victory in Ohio, the most coveted primary of Super Tuesday, Mitt Romney must decide what is needed to repair his candidacy.
2. The future of the Santorum coalition.
....Does a combination of social conservatism and economic populism point the way forward for the Republican Party?
a. Santorum ally calls for Gingrich exit.

....The super PAC which has spent millions in support of Rick Santorum came out Wednesday morning with a sharp admonition for Newt Gingrich: it's time to drop out. "Based on his electoral performance last night and his out-of-step record, it is time for Newt Gingrich to exit the Republican nominating process," Stuart Roy, a Red, White, and Blue Fund advisor, said, adding that Gingrich's "campaign is an obvious non-starter."
3. Across the primary states, voters weigh principles and pragmatism.
....As the Republican candidates battled over a trove of delegates in 10 states, there was a common sentiment expressed at the polls: "I'm just ready for it to be over."
4. For first time in 16 years, Kucinich loses his seat.
....In a primary faceoff, Ohio voters chose Rep/ Marcy Kaptur, leaving Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich without a position in Congress for the first time in 16 years.
5. Obama scolds GOP critics of Iran policy.

....The president deplored the "casualness" with which many Republicans have called for war to solve the crisis over Iran's nuclear program, and challenged his critics to make their case to voters.
6. Scrutiny of political nonprofits sets off claim of harassment.
....The IRS plans to press political action committees (PAC) like American Crossroads and Priorities USA to justify their tax-protected status as “social welfare” organizations.
7. Republicans to push bill in an effort to add jobs.
....Though White House officials have praised the legislation, which is expected to pass on Thursday, some House Democrats say that the act does too little.



Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects."
—-[/i]J. William Fulbright, (1905-1995).U.S. senator [D-Ark.].

Today's flower: Hydrangea macrophylla 'Sister Therese' white hydrangia



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

PURIM
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 68TH day of 2012 with 297 days left in the year.

Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:13 p.m., it's raining , temp 57ºF [Feels like 57ºF], winds N @ 13 mph, humidity 82%, pressure 30.02 in and falling, dew point 51ºF, chance of precipitation 90%.

Today in History:
c.500 CE--Today is the Jewish holiday of Purim., commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in a plot by Haman, and recorded in the Hebrew Biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Esther). Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus (presumed to be Xerxes I of Persia), planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by Mordecai and his adopted daughter Queen Esther. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing.
1669--Mount Etna on the island of Sicily erupted, eventually killing 20,000 people over the next few weeks.
1702--England's Queen Anne acceded to the throne upon the death of King William III.
1782--the Gnadenhutten massacre took place as more than 90 Indians were slain by Pennsylvania militiamen in Ohio in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indian tribes.
1801--during the Napoleonic Wars, combined British and Ottoman forces successfully establish a foothold in French-occupied Egypt at the port of Abukir Bay.
1854--US Commodore Matthew C. Perry made his second landing in Japan; within a month, he concluded a treaty with them.
1859--William B. Booth, founder of the Salvation Army (1912-29), was born; died 1929 at age 73
1862--the ironclad CSS Virginia terrorized the Union Navy, ramming and sinking the USS Cumberland and heavily damaging the USS Congress, both frigates, off Newport News, Va.
1874--Millard Fillmore, the 13th Pres. of the US, died in Buffalo, N.Y., at age 74.
1917--Russia's "February Revolution" (so called because of the Old Style calendar used by Russians at the time) began with rioting and strikes over the scarcity of food in Petrograd.
1917--the US Senate voted to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
1930, William Howard Taft, 27th Pres. of the US, & Chief Justice of the US died in Washington , DC at age 72.
1942--imperial Japanese forces occupied Yangon in Burma (today Myanmar) and accept the Dutch surrender on Java.
1944--two days after an initial strike, U..heavy bombers raided Berlin again.
1950--the VW bus, icon of the counterculture movement, went into production.
1951--the Lonely Hearts killers, Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez, were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York.
1957--following Israel's withdrawal from occupied Egyptian territory, the Suez Canal was reopened to international traffic.
1960--Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon won the New Hampshire presidential primaries.
1965--the US landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines were brought in to defend the US air base at Da Nang.
1971--Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali by decision in what was billed as "The Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1982--the US accused the Soviet Union of using poison gas and chemical weapons in Afghanistan.
2002-- Kmart Corp., struggling to climb out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, announced the closing of 284 stores and elimination of 22,000 jobs.
2002--the US Senate gave final congressional approval to a bill cutting taxes and extending unemployment benefits.
2005--Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed in northern Chechnya during a raid by Russian forces.
2007--House of Representative Democrats unveiled legislation that would require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008; Pres. Bush said he would veto it.
2008--Pres. Bush vetoed a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods on suspected terrorists.
2011--voters in Bell, Calif., went to the polls in huge numbers and threw out the entire City Council after most of its members were charged with fraud.

World News Capsules:
1. Intractable Afghan graft hampering US strategy.

....Despite years of urging and oversight by American advisers, Pres. Karzai's government has yet to prosecute a high-level corruption case in Afghanistan.
2. A 'forzen conflict' that could boil over.
....Simmering animosity between Azerbaijan and Armenia could ignite a regional war with global complications.
3. China acts to give defendants greater rights.
....The hard-fought changes curb the power of the police and prosecutors to detain suspects without notifying relatives, to use evidence extracted by torture and to keep defense lawyers at bay.
4. American in Egypt appears in court.
....An American charged for his work with United States-backed nonprofit groups refused an offer to leave the country, instead appearing Thursday in the metal cage where Egyptian criminal courts keep defendants
5. Greece debt swap goes down to the wife.

....Greece is on the cusp of a make-or-break moment in its debt crisis as creditors decide whether to accept a $170 billion plan to restructure government bonds.
6. Israeli officials voice skepticism of Iran's nuclear intentions.

....A day after global powers said they would resume nuclear talks with Iran, Israeli officials said a credible military option was necessary if the talks were to have any chance of success.
7. Japan's nuclear energy industry nears shutdown, at least for now.

....All but two of Japan’s 54 commercial reactors have been idled since the nuclear disaster a year ago, following the earthquake and tsunami, and it is not clear when they can be restarted.
a. Japan looks beyond its borders for investors..

....Japan, once a manufacturing powerhouse known for exports, is finding it must do what it has long resisted: welcome foreign manufacturers.
8. City hall still a reach for women in Mexico[/u].
....Women serve as mayors in 6 percent of Mexico’s towns and cities. By contrast, women hold one in four seats in Congress
9. Bin Laden's wives charged with illegal entry to Pakistan.

....Pakistan’s interior minister said that Osama bin Laden’s three wives had been charged with illegally entering the country, but not any of their children.
10. Mideast din drowns out Palestinians.
....With Israel and other world powers focusing on the Arab Spring and the mounting tensions with Iran, the Palestinian issue has effectively been shelved, leaving Palestinian leaders at a loss.
11. Opposition, to its surprise, wins a bit of power in Moscow
.
....Inspired by protests against Pres. Putin, 100s of young Muscovites for the first time ran in municipal elections. To the shock of many, dozens won.
12. Trade union group, ANC ally, holds strikes in South Africa.
....A national strike was called by the trade union group Cosatu, a crucial ally of the governing African National Congress that is growing increasingly critical of its policies.
13. Top Pentagon officials stress risks in Syria.
....The appraisal by the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reflected increased concern about the uprising in Syria, in which more than 7,500 people have reportedly been killed,
a. Effects of instability spill over to Syria's neighbors.

....In Lebanon and Jordan, which have absorbed 1000s of Syrian refugees, uneasiness about the future has taken a heavy toll on business confidence.

US News Capsules:
1. Top-ranked polo playes hail from Philadelphia's inner city.

....Nestled in the tough streets of Philadelphia is a tight-knit group of kids proving that polo is not just for the Ivy League anymore.
2. Women in Texas losing options for health care in abortion fight.
....The cuts, which have left many low-income women with inconvenient or costly options for treatment, grew out of a plan to eliminate state support for Planned Parenthood.
3. For veterans with post-traumatic stress, pain killers carry risks.
....Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to be prescribed opioid pain killers than other veterans and more likely to use the opioids in risky ways, according to a new study.
4. Cost of gene sequencing falls, raising hopes for medical advances.
....Firms are racing to cut the cost of sequencing the human genome, which will yield new approaches for treating cancers and other serious diseases, biologists say.
5. Greyhound races face extinction at the hands of casinos they fostered.

....Greyhound races attract fewer fans and now even the track owners are joining the fight to shut down the operations.
6. US pressing publishers to alter e-book price policy.

....The Justice Department is threatening to sue Apple and five big publishers over a pricing model for electronic books that it says constitutes collusion and violates antitrust laws.
7. Claims for US jobless benefits nudge higher.
....The government said weekly applications increased to 362,000, the highest level since January but still low enough to suggest the job market was strengthening.
8. 2 dead and 7 wonded at osychiatric hospital shooting in Pittsburgh.

....A gunmen opened fire in the lobby of a psychiatric hospital that is part of the University of Pittsburgh, leaving one dead and seven wounded; the suspect was also killed, officials said.
9. Mississippi Supreme Court rules Barbour pardons valid.

....The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the pardons issued by former Gov. Haley Barbour during his final days in office, including those of four convicted killers and a robber who had worked at the Governor's Mansion.
10. In Alabama, and corruption trial ends in acquittals.
....Prosecutors again failed to convince a jury that politicians, lobbyists and a casino owner had committed any crimes in their failed attempt to get the State Legislature to legalize gambling.
11. Pat Robertson says marijuana use should be legal.

....Making it clear that he does not use marijuana, Mr. Robertson, an evangelist, said he supports legalization because the war on drugs has failed.
12. Teacher survey shows morale is at a low point.
....The results exposed some of the insecurities fostered by the pressure to evaluate teachers at a time of shrinking resources.
13. Number of US hate groups is rising, report says.
....In addition to those organized against members of specific cultural backgrounds, an Alabama law center also noted a rise in antigovernment groups.
14. A move to enshrine Limbaugh with Missouri's greats draws ire.
....The talk show host Rush Limbaugh may soon join Harry S. Truman, Walt Disney and Stan Musial in the Capitol’s Hall of Famous Missourians.
15. President pushes to add more credits for hybrids.
....Pres. Obama proposed new incentives for alternative-power vehicles and the infrastructure that supports them.
16. FBI Director warns Congress about terrorist hacking.
....A day after the authorities arrested several hackers from Anonymous, Robert S. Mueller III told Congress that terrorists might use hackers to attack the US.
17. Coke, Pepsi make changes to avoid cancer warning.
....Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. are changing the way they make the caramel coloring used in their sodas as a result of a California law that mandates drinks containing a certain level of carcinogens come with a cancer warning label.
POLITICS:
1. Obama mines for voters with high-tech tools.
....The heart of the president's re-election campaign can be found in a Chicago office complex, where political strategists, data analysts and other workers search online to reconnect with supporters from four years ago.
2. the US Senate rejects GOP measure to build Keystone pipeline.

....The Senate narrowly rejected a Republican-sponsored measure that would have bypassed the Obama administration's current objections to the Keystone XL pipeline and allowed construction on the controversial project to move forward immediately.
3. Super PAC' increasing Congress's sense of insecurity.
....Rep. Jean Schmidt’s defeat in the Ohio primary was seen as a warning shot from the Campaign for Primary Accountability.
4. Democrats warm to Obama as a campaign ally.
....With the economy improving and other changes, Democrats are accepting — in some cases embracing — the inevitable yoking of their campaigns to President Obama’s.
5. A more subdued Gingrich amid calls to quit race.
....Amid calls from Rick Santorum supporters to quit the race, Mr. Gingrich has placed all his chips on winning the Alabama and Mississippi primaries next Tuesday.
6. Romney lags in small donors as big givers hit limits.

....Mitt Romney’s high-dollar donors, lavish fund-raising events and personal wealth fuel perceptions that he is favored more by his party’s elite than by its conservative base.
7. House set to vote on jobs bill aimed at small businesses.

....The House is expected to vote on a jobs bill that would mark rare agreement between the Obama administration and House Republicans.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Solar storm hits Earth: so far, no problem.

This year's most closely watched solar storm is sweeping over our planet right now, and so far the impact is not as severe as some had feared. However, experts caution that the storm could intensify as the day goes on, Early indications show that the geomagnetic effect is about 10 times stronger than the normal solar wind that hits Earth. But hours after the storm arrived, there were no reports of problems with power grids, GPS, satellites or other technologies that are often disrupted by solar storms.
The storm started with a massive solar flare Tuesday evening and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. The charged particles were expected to hit at 4 million mph (6.4 million kilometers per hour). Luckily, the storm struck about 6 a.m. ET in a direction that caused the least amount of problems, said Joe Kunches, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center. "It's not a terribly strong event. It's a very interesting event," he said. But that storm orientation can and is changing, he said. "It could flip-flop and we could end up with the strength of the storm still to come," Kunches said from the NOAA forecast center in Boulder, Colo.
Astronomers say the sun has been relatively quiet for some time. And this storm, while strong, may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity. The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, which is supposed to reach a peak next year. Solar storms don't harm people, but they do disrupt technology. During the last peak around 2002, experts learned that GPS was vulnerable to solar outbursts. Because new technology has flourished since then, scientists could discover that some new systems are also at risk, said Jeffrey Hughes, director of the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling at Boston University.
Still, the potential for problems is widespread. Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. This is an unusual situation, when all three types of solar storm disruptions are likely to be strong, Kunches said.

Thought for Today
"The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell."
—-[/i]Simone Weil, French philosopher (1909-1943).

Today's flower: Rhododendron or ribbon candy hardy azalea - starting in spring, this delicious azalea puts on a color show that lasts all seaon long.



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