THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 275th day of 2012 with 90 days left in the thyear.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:37 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 62ºF [Feels like 62ºF], winds W @ 13 mph, humidity 62%, pressure 29.89 in and steady, dew point 49ºF, chance of precipitation 10%. Sunrise: 7:05 a.m., sunset: 6?47 p.m.

Today in History:
959--Edgar the Peaceful, younger son of Edmund I of England, became King of England.
1189--Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was killed at the battle of Acre.
1207--Henry III, King of England (1216-72), was born; died 1272 at age 65
1776--Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris learn that the French were purchasing arms and ammunition to send to the West Indies for use by the Americans.
1800--the territory of Louisiana, encompassing the entire region of the Mississippi-Missouri river valleys, was ceded by Spain to France in the secret treaty of San Ildefonso.
1864--Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow drowned off the North Carolina coast when a Yankee craft runs her ship aground.
1880--the US Marine Corps Band named a new director, John Philip Sousa.
1881--William Boeing, aeronautical engineer & businessman, was born; died 1956 at age 74.
1887--Baluchistan. was declared to be British territory and was merged with India
1890--an act of Congress created Yosemite National Park.
1896--the US Post Office established Rural Free Delivery, with the first routes in West Virginia.
1903--Vladimir Horowitz, the Russian-born pianist considered one of the most accomplished players of the 20th century, was born; died 1989 at age 86.
1903--the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Americans 7-3 in the first ever World Series game.
1905--The Julliard School of Music was founded in New York City.
1908---the Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model T., costing $825.
1910--Bonnie Parker, part of the bank robbing pair of Bonnie and Clyde, was born; killed 1934 at age 23.
1914--Turkey closed the Dardenelles to the allies in World War I.
1918--Lawrence of Arabia led a combined Arab and British force and captured Damascus.
1920--the magazine Scientific American reported that radio would soon be used to transmit music to the home.
1924--Jimmy Carter. former Pres. of the US & Nobel Peace Prize iwnner, turns 88.
1928--Stalin's first Five-Year Plan which set targets for every industry, factory and workshop went into operation in the Soviet Union.
1936--Gen. Francisco Franco was named head of the rebel Nationalist government in Spain.
1939 Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" during a radio broadcast.
1943--After a month-long battle, allied soldiers captured Naples.
1944--the first of two sets of medical experiments involving castration are performed on homosexuals at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
1946--Mensa International was founded.
1946--12 high-ranking Nazis were sentenced to death by the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg.
1949--Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China.
1955--the sitcom The Honeymooners debuted on CBS, starring Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph.
1960--the Federation of Nigeria achieved independence within the Commonwealth.
1961--Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run of the season, breaking Babe Ruth's record set in 1927.
1961--South Vietnam requested a bilateral defense treaty with the US.
1962--Johnny Carson made his debut as the Tonight Show host.
1964--Japan's "bullet train" from Tokyo to Osaka made its first journey..
1965--a communist coup against Indonesian Pres. Sukarno was crushed by Gen. Mohammed Suharto, the Indonesian army chief of staff.
1970--Abdel Nasser's funeral in Egypt resulted in scores of mourners being crushed or battered to death in the crowd.
1971--Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Fla.
1982--Sony began selling the first commercial compact disc player in Japan.
1987--an earthquake in Whittier, Calif., the largest since 1971, killed 6 people and injured 100 more.
1988--Mikhail Gorbachev became head of the Supreme Soviet.
1993--Polly Klaas, 12, was abducted from her Petaluma, Calif., home during a slumber party and murdered. (Her case inspired California's three-strikes law.)
2001--the US Supreme Court suspended former Pres. Bill Clinton from practicing before the high court.
2001--about 40 people were killed when a militant Muslim group attacked the legislative assembly building in the Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir.
2005--suicide bombers struck three restaurants in two tourist areas on Bali, a popular resort area, killing 22 and injuring more than 50 others.
2007--Vladimir Putin, ineligible to seek another term as Russian president after eight years in the post, indicated to lawmakers his desire to become prime minister.
2008--a $700 billion financial industry bailout won lopsided passage in the Senate, 74-25, after it was loaded with tax breaks and other sweeteners.
2008--documents believed to belong to missing US aviation adventurer Steve Fossett were found in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains.
2008--the US Senate voted to end the ban on trading nuclear fuel with India, allowing India to buy nuclear fuel on the world market for civilian purposes.

World News Capsules:
1. Suicide bomber attacks joint patrol in Eastern Afghanistan

....A suicide bomber walked into the crowded city center in Khost City on Monday, killing 19 people and injuring dozens.
2. Beijing blocks dissident's art company
....Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer friend of the artist Ai Weiwei, said that Chinese officials had revoked the business license of Mr. Ai’s art production company.
a. Disgraced Chinese official's son defends him
....Bo Guagua, 24, made his most explicit defense of Bo Xilai, a former Communist Party official in China, since a sordid political scandal involving the entire Bo family broke in the spring.
3. Ride-sharing services grow popular in Europe
....One of the side effects of the European economic crisis is a surge in carpooling, as people from many walks of life seek to shrink their outlays on travel.
a. In Europe, speed cameras meet their technological match
....The smartphone is being honed into a highly effective - and controversial - mobile radar detector.
4. Georgia challenger draws strong support, exit polls show

....This is the first formidable challenge Pres. Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia has faced since taking power in the peaceful Rose Revolution nine years ago.
a. Fearing rigged vote, Georgians prepare for elections
....The leader of the country's Orthodox Church has warned against vote fraud by the government, and opposition voters are preparing to take to the streets.
5. Right-wing extremists' popularity rising rapidly in Greece
....With anger rising over austerity measures, the popularity of the extremist Golden Dawn party is growing, even as it undertakes a campaign of vigilantism.
6. Plan for charater city to fight Honduras poverty loses its initiator
....Paul Romer, an expert on economic growth, is out of his own project, tripped up by the sort of opaque decision making that his plan was supposed to change.
7. On India's border, a changing of the guards
....In 2009, Poulomi Basu learned that India was recruiting women for its patrol of the border with its arch-nemesis, Pakistan. Inspired, she followed this new paramilitary force through training and after, resulting in the project, "To Conquer Her Land.".
8. Iran court finds Reuters journalist guilty of 'spreading lies'
....The news agency’s bureau chief in Tehran was convicted by a special media court and awaits sentencing.
9. Another wave of bombings across Iraq
....Sunday’s attacks were the latest instance in which insurgents coordinated attacks in multiple cities in a single day, apparently intending to rekindle sectarian conflict.
10. Proudly bearing elders' scars, their skin says 'Never Forget:

....Some descendants of Holocaust survivors are having their concentration-camp numbers tattooed on their arms, a practice that provokes mixed reactions and a lot of conversation.
11. As Kenyan forces press militants across border, a church is attacked back home
....The attack on a church in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, came two days after Kenyan forces invaded the last major stronghold of the Shabab militant group in Somalia..
12. US sends new aircraft to Okinawa, despite fierce opposition
....Islanders are worried that the accident-plagued Osprey could crash, a prospect that could threaten the huge American military presence on Okinawa.
13. Moscow court postpones Pussy Riot hearing

....One of the three members of the punk protest band said she wanted to fire her lawyers because of disagreements, and an appellate court pushed the hearing back to Oct. 10.
14. Residents: Syyrian forces bulldoze homes

....Residents in the Syrian city of Hama say that government forces are forcing thousands to flee and then bulldozing their homes.
15. Seeking return of art, Turkey jolts museums

....Turkish officials are demanding ancient artifacts from Western museums, and aren’t timid about doing so. The museums say their mission to display global art treasures is under siege.
16. Two supporters of a challenger are killed as Venezuela's election nears
....Gunfire erupted at a confrontation between supporters of Pres. Hugo Chávez and his main rival, Henrique Capriles Radonski.
17. Millions are facing food crisis in Yemen, UN agency says
....More than 5 million cannot afford food, and another 5 million are on the edge as political instability has compounded a surge in global food and fuel prices

US News Capsules:
1. US may have put mistaken faith in Libya site's security
....Defenses at the American mission in Benghazi have become a major issue as the Obama administration struggles to explain what happened there and how Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens ended up alone.
2. 50 years after integration, Ole Miss grapples with history

....The University of Mississippi is commemorating the 50th anniversary of racial integration on campus, but some say it is not doing enough to recognize the school's painful history.
3. A gnome is home, but more travel beckons

....Travelocity is giving away a trip around the world as part of a marketing campaign featuring Roaming Gnome.
4. California is first state to ban gay 'cure' for minors

....Gay rights advocates say disputed therapies to "overcome" homosexuality have caused emotional harm to teenagers.
5. Postal Service defaults on a $5.6 billion benefits payment
....The post office, which has missed two deadlines on future retiree health benefits, said it expected net operating losses to be $15 billion for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
6. For New Orleans, a daily that's no longer daily
....Many in New Orleans are wondering what life will be like now that The Times-Picayune has gone from a daily to a newspaper that will appear three times a week.
7. Health care case is seen as helping law but hurting court

....The Supreme Court bolstered public support for Pres. Obama’s health care law while hurting its own reputation, a circumstance that the study said put it “in a public opinion class by itself.”
POLITICS:

1. Payroll tax cut unlikely to survive into next year
....A tax break for wage earners for which the White House campaigned hard last winter now finds little support in Washington, as Congress struggles with deficits.
2. Debates can shift a race's outcome, but it's not easy
....History shows that candidates have different ways to score in presidential debates and change voters’ minds, but only twice have debates appeared to alter the election’s result.
3. As candidates drill for debates, more jousting on Libya
....Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney prepared for their debate, with the Obama administration fending off questions about its handling of the Benghazi attack.
4. Now entering the month of surprise
....As Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney make their final appeals to voters, it remains to be seen whether October will offer an unexpected pivotal moment as in past campaigns
5. Whistle-blower lawyers throw support behind Obama
.....Attorneys who represent whistle-blowers have made millions as the Obama administration cracks down on corporate fraud, and are now donating heavily to the president’s re-election campaign..

Sports Headlines:
1. MLB: A good week to be a fan, and to have multiple TVs

....In the final week of the regular season of Major League Baseball, 15 three-game series remain and only five have no bearing on the postseason.
a. For Yankees, a plyoff berth and unfinished business
....After beating the Blue Jays 9-6 on Sunday, the Yankees clinched a playoff spot when the Rangers split a doubleheader with the Angels, but the Yankees still have their sights set on the division title.
b. Orioles' party is put off, but only for a few hours
....The Orioles won their final home game of the regular season, and an Angels loss in Game 2 of a doubleheader helped Baltimore clinch its first playoff berth since 1997.
c. Davey Johnson's monumental feat in Washington
....Manager Davey Johnson’s tough, old-fashioned style has helped transform the Washington Nationals into contenders in the National League.
2. NFL: With regular officials, a return to normalcy with a few hiccups
....All Sunday afternoon, games moved crisply as the NFL’s regular officials behaved authoritatively and with confidence. But the day was not without a few missed calls.
a. It goes unsaid: Maning should have known better

....Coach Tom Coughlin wasn’t about to call out Eli Manning for a throw that cost the Giants a makable field goal attempt at the end of a 19-17 loss to the Eagles.
b. A 34-0 by the 49ers rout leaves the Jets hurting and cursing
....For the second straight week, the Jets’ impotent offense was overshadowed by a critical player going down, this time Santonio Holmes, whose left foot buckled after he made a catch in the fourth quarter.
3. NCAAFB: Perfect storm for Smith's Heisman bid
....West Virginia’s Geno Smith, who had 656 passing yards against Baylor on Saturday, has emerged as the presumptive front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy.
4. GOLF: Europeans retain Ryder Cup

....The European team rallied from a four-point deficit to beat the United States (14 1/2 - 13 1/2) in one of the most unpredictable and irresistible competitions in professional sports.

Thought for Today
"[In the case of] dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, have the right, and are duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil."
--James Madison (1751-1836), 4th US President and "Father of the US Constitution."

[pegasus]

Bullying Prevention Awareness Month,
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 276th day of 2012 with 89 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:16 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 67ºF [Feels like 67ºF], winds S @ 6 mph, humidity 79%, pressure 29.93 in and steady, dew point 50ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
86 BC--Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, entered in Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.
589--Saint David, patron saint of Wales, died.
1187--the Siege of Jerusalem ends as Saladin (Sultan of Egypt and Syria) took control of the city that had been under crusader rule for 88 years.
1452--Richard III, King of England, was born; killed in battle 1485 at age 32.
1562--over 1,000 Huguenots were massacred by Catholics, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
1692--Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Mass., beginning the Salem witch trials.
1780--British Major John Andre, age 31, was hanged as a spy by American military forces in Tappan, NY.
1800--Nat Turner, American slave, was born; hanged 1831 at age 31 for leading violent slave uprising.
1835--the first shots of the Texas Revolution agasint Mexico were fired in the Battle of Gonzales.
1836--Charles Darwin returned to England, aboard the HMS Beagle, ending a five-year surveying expedition of the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
1864--Confederates scored a victory at the Battle of Saltville, Va., securing their main source of salt, used as a preservative for army rations.
1869--Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Indian nationalist leader whose philosophy of nonviolence influenced movements around the world, was born; died 1948 at age 78.
1870--in a plebiscite the Papal States voted for union with Italy and the country's capital moved from Florence to Rome.
1919--Pres. Woodrow Wilson suffered a massive stroke that left him partially paralyzed and was hidden from the public.
1928--the Prelature of Opus Dei (a controversial prelature of the Catholic Church) was founded by Josemaria Escriva.
1935--Italian forces invaded Abyssinia and remained until 1941.
1937--the 26-year old Ronald Reagan made his acting debut with the Warner Brothers release of Love is in the Air.
1941-- the Germans began their surge to Moscow, led by the 1st Army Group and Gen. Fedor von Bock, called Operation Typhoon.
1944--Nazi troops crushed the two-month-old Warsaw Uprising, during which 250,000 people were killed.
1948--checkered flag waved at fthe first postwar US road race in Watkins Glen, NY.
1950--the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz was first published.
1953--Edward R. Morrow, a lit cigarette in hand, premiered the interview program Person to Person that would establaish him as a TV icon.
1955--Alfred Hitchcock gave millions of CBS viewers his brand of suspense with Alfred Hitchcock Presents. lasting 10 years.
1958--Guinea declared its independence from France.
1959--Rod Serling's science-fiction anthology, The Twilight Zone, debuted on CBS.
1963--Hurricane Flora crashed into Haiti, killing 1000s of people.
1967--Thurgood Marshall sworn in as the first African American Supreme Court justice.
1968--California's Redwood National Park was established.
1968--St Louis Cardinals' pitcher, Bob Gibson, struck out 17 Detroit Tigers in the World Series, breaking Sandy Koufax’s record for the most strikeouts in a Series game.
1985--actor Rock Hudson, 59, becomes the first major U.S. celebrity to die of complications from AIDS.
1990--Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301 was hijacked and crash landed at the former Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport with a total of 128 fatalities.
1996--former Bulgarian prime minister Andrei Lukanov was shot dead outside his Sofia home in an apparent contract killing.
2000--the International Space Station got its first residents as an US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrived aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule for a four-month stay.
2002--a man was shot and killed in a grocery store parking lot in Wheaton, Md., the first victim in a series of sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C. area that left 10 dead.
2003--the Ethan Allen (a 40-foot, glass enclosed tour boat on Lake George) capsized and sank just south of Cramer Point. NY.
2006--the Amish School Shooting occured when Charles Carl Roberts shot and killed five school girls before killing himself.

World News Capsules:
1. US abandoning hopes for Taliban peace deal
....Once ambitious American plans for ending the war in Afghanistan are now being replaced by the far more modest goal of setting the stage for Afghans to work out a deal among themselves.
a. Suicide bomber on foot attacks joint patrol in eastern Afghanistan,
....A suicide bomber walked into the crowded center of Khost City on Monday, killing 19 people and injuring dozens.
2. 7 crew members detained in Hong Kong ferry disaster that killed dozens
....A boat packed with revelers on a long holiday weekend collided with a ferry and sank off Hong Kong, killing at least 38 people and injuring dozens.
3. Georgia's president concedes defeat in parliamentary election
....Pres. Mikheil Saakashvili said that the opposition had the lead in Georgia’s hotly contested parliamentary race and should form the new government, news agencies reported.
4. Lawyers seek to block Muslim cleric's extradition to the US
....Lawyers in Britain argued that a Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, wanted in the US on terrorism charges was physically unfit to be extradited.
5. Greek government proposes deep cuts in bid to please foreign leaders

....Greece’s draft budget of $10 billion in spending cuts and savings is expected to face deep revisions in order to meet approval by the country’s foreign lenders.
a. Lean times in Greece as government cuts more spending
....The Greek government presented its 2013 budget to Parliament on Monday, which contained millions of Euros in spending cuts
6. Iran president ties currency drop to sanctions

....In a dramatic address to the nation after a 40% fall in the value of Iran’s currency over the past week, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country is facing a “psychological war” waged by the US.
a. Iran engaged in 'severe clampdown' on critics, UN says
....The UN human rights office said Iran was engaging in a broad pattern of arrests and actions against journalists and human rights advocates.
7. Israe's Iran policy appears to shift further toward more sanctions
....Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel plans to travel to Europe before the end of the year to press for a toughening of sanctions against Tehran, Israeli officials said.
8. Benghazi attack investigation continues
....A breakdown of the attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi. The investigation picks up steam as the State Department and the Pentagon search for answers.
a. US said to be preparing potential targets tied to Libya attack
....The detailed information being prepared could be used to kill or capture some of the militants suspected in the deadly attack on the American mission in Benghazi.
b. Requests for bolstered security in Libya were denied, Republicans say
9. Malaysian court rules that publishing a newspaper is a basic right
....Although the Internet has remained relatively free in Malaysia, most major newspapers are either owned by the government or linked to it.
10. Border patrol agent is killed in Arizona
....Federal authorities said Nicolas Ivie, 30, was killed in a shooting early Tuesday in Naco, Ariz.
11. Gunmen kill at least 26 students at Nigerian college
....Assailants shot and stabbed the students in an attack overnight on their college residence in northeast Nigeria, a college spokesman said.
12. Spanish regions agree to deficit plan
....Seventeen regional governments agreed to stick to budget deficit targets set by the central government.
13. Syrian state TV lashes out at Hamas leader

....The extraordinary reproof was the government’s first broadside against Hamas since the group distanced itself from President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year.
a. Fighting and chaos spread through Syrian city, as services vanish
....In a striking contrast from six weeks ago, battles in Syria's largest city, Aleppo, are spreading into once sheltered neighborhoods and threatening to open new rifts among ethnic groups.
14. Pope's former butler admits in court to leaking confidential documents
....The former butler, Paolo Gabriele, insisted that his motives had been pure and declared himself innocent of aggravated theft, the charge against him.

US News Capsules:
1. Experts see signs of El Niño, but a weak one

....A season of warmer ocean waters that has been expected to produce a Niño episode and perhaps bring relief from the drought may turn out to be a bit weaker than advertised
2. Texas fishing oontests lure competitors and fraud
....With competitions offering up to $500,000 in prizes, allegations of cheating are routine in multiple states as some catch fish in advance or artificially boost their weight.
3. Hey, @seattlepd: what's the latest?
....The Seattle Police Department has begun 51 hyper-local Twitter accounts to provide crime reports.
4. JPMorgan unit is sued over mortgage securities pools
....New York's attorney general, under the aegis of a federal mortgage task force, filed a civil suit against Bear Stearns, now part of JPMorgan Chase, asserting that it defrauded investors who purchased mortgage securities.
5. Surprise grants transforming 23 more lives.
....Fields as diverse as teaching, ecology and filmmaking were represented among the winners of the latest round of MacArthur Fellows.
6. Sites that pay the shopper for being a seller

....Social media shopping sites are offering payments to shoppers who post product links that drive Web traffic and sales.
7. Justices begin term by hearing case again
....The Supreme Court opened its new term by hearing arguments in an important human rights case it first considered in February.
8. SCIENCE: Hubble's 13.2 billion light-year squint.

....This is the farthest that the Hubble Space Telescope will ever see. Some of the flecks of light in this photo are infant galaxies as they existed only half a billion years after the Big Bang.
a. With limited budgets, pursuing science smartly
....To one physicist, exploring space with remote technology like the Mars rover seems more worthwhile, and more exciting, than human spaceflight.
b. Skulls engineered for hard knocks

....Creatures that do violent things to their heads, like wild pigs and woodpeckers, have very dense skulls, small brains and little fluid to reduce the chance of damage.
POLITICS:
1. US Senate leaders at work on plan to avoid 'fiscal cliff'
....A bipartisan group of senators is coalescing around an ambitious three-step process to avert automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts facing the country in January.
2. Offshore tactics helped increase Romney's wealth
....Offshore arrangements made through Mitt Romney's former company, Bain Capital, were part of tax-avoidance strategies that have enhanced his income.
3. Key part of voter ID law in Pennsylvania delayed for election
....A judge on Tuesday said Pennsylvania voters could be asked to produce the newly required photo IDs, but they could vote even if they did not have them.
4. GOP aims to remake the Florida Supreme Court
....Republicans are asking voters to oust three justices and give the legislature more power over the court.

Sports Headlines:
1. MLB: Undersize crowds love their underdog A's

....Although the Athletics are playing in an expectation-defying run, they have failed to draw as many as 22,000 for any game in this dramatic homestand
a. Yankees rout Boston to take one-game lead
....The Yankees took a one-game lead over Baltimore with two games left after a nine-run second inning outburst capped a decisive victory over the Red Sox Monday.
b. Loss to Rays shrinks Orioles' margin for errors
....Balitmore gave up three unearned runs in Monday's loss to the Rays, and while they've already clinched a playoff spot, they now trail the Yankees in the American League East.
c. August changes sent Dodgers and Giants in unexpected directions
....The Dodgers have lost more than they’ve won since a big trade with Boston, while the Giants have gone on to win the N.L. West despite losing Melky Cabrera to a suspension.
2. [[uNFL: Wheb real life intrudes[/u]
....The news that Indianapolis Colts Coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia was a sobering reminder to keep sports in perspective.
a. Even with referees back, Monday's game was tough to watch
....With the NFL referee lockout over, we had to settle for the quarterback train wreck battle between Dallas’s Tony Romo and Chicago’s Jay Cutler, which Romo won in a landslide with 5 interceptions.
b. For Jets, two quarterbacks but no easy answers

....The day after a blowout loss, the Jets made two personnel moves, which were signs of limitations in their roster that cannot be solved by replacing quarterback Mark Sanchez with Tim Tebow
x. Saints' scandal puts big burden on Brees
....Bill Polian, the former N.F.L. executive, says the fallout from the Saints’ bounty scandal has strained the franchise and put the heaviest burden on quarterback Drew Brees.

Thought for Today
"We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society."
--Hillary Clinton (b. 1947) US Secretary of State (2009-), US Senator (NY-Dem) & former First Lady.


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[pegasus]

Crime Prevention Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 277th day of 2012 with 88 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:47 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 70ºF [Feels like 71ºF], winds NNE @ 6 mph, humidity 81%, pressure 30.05 in and rising, dew point 64ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1781--French and American troops cut off British supplies at Gloucester, Va.. across the river from British-occupied Yorktown.
1862--the North and South clashed at the 2nd Battle of Corinth, Miss.
1863--Pres. Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in Novermber as Thanksgiving an official holiday.
1873--the US Army hanged four Modoc Indians for the murder of a Civil War hero, Gen. Edward Canby, during the Modoc War in Oregon.
1917--the US Congress passed the War Revenue Act, increasing income taxes to raise more money for the war effort.
1929--the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
1932--Iraq won its independence from a British mandate of 17 years and centuries of Ottoman rule.
1941--Adolf Hitler declared in a speech in Berlin that Russia had been "broken" and would "never rise again."
1942--Nazi Germany conducted its first successful V-2 rocket test.
1952--Great Britain successfully tested an atomic bomb.
1951--Bobby Thomson hit the "shot heard 'round the world" – a walk-off 3-run home run in a playoff game off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers to send the NY Giants into the World Series.
1955--Captain Kangaroo premiered on CBS and The Mickey Mouse Club premiered on ABC.
1960--The Andy Griffith Show premiered on CBS.
1961--The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered on CBS.
1961--the UAW (United Auto Workers)walked out of labor talks with the Fprd Motor Co. and went on strike.
1967--in Vietnam, Operation Wallowa began.
1974--the Cleveland Indians hired Frank Robinson as major league baseball's first black manager.
1981--a hunger strike by Irish nationalists at the Maze Prison in Belfast in Northern Ireland was called off after seven months and 10 deaths.
1990--East and West Germany were reunited after 45 years.
1995--O.J. Simpson, former football star and Heisman Trophy winner, was acquitted of the double murder of his wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman.
2002--five people were killed in random shootings in the Washington, D.C., area within a 14-hour period. by the "Beltway Sniper."
2003--a tiger attacked magician Roy Horn of the duo "Siegfried & Roy" during a performance in Las Vegas, leaving him partially paralyzed.
2005--Hurricane Stan bore down on Mexico.
2011--Amanda Knox's conviction for the murder of her roommate was overturned in Italy.

World News Capsules:
1. Alarm grows in São Paulo as more police officers are murdered
....The increase in murders of police officers, up almost 40% in a year, has led to fears that a powerful criminal organization is restarting a war of retaliation.
2. Egypt struggles to pay oil bill
....Industry executives estimate that the government is $6 billion to $7 billion behind in payments to foreign companies for oil and natural gas they have produced and delivered to Egypt.
3. EU's nuclear reactors need repair or upgrades
....It could cost up to $32 billion to make needed repairs, upgrades and safety improvements to the more than 130 active nuclear reactors in the European Union.
4. Clashes and protest over Iran currency plunge hit Tehran

....It was the first instance of a violent intervention over the money-changing business in Tehran since the value of the national currency, the rial, dropped to a record low.
a. Iran's master of Iraq chaos still vexes US
....Qassim Suleimani, a general in the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, is linked to many aspects of both war and diplomacy in classified documents.
5. Rift gorws between Israeli leaders over relations with US
....Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Ehud Barak, are at odds as Mr. Barak tries to turn Mr. Netanyahu’s tension with Washington to his political advantage.
6. A new tech generation defies the odds in Japan

....While Japan’s aging technology giants continue to falter, Japanese entrepreneurs are forming start-ups despite difficulties with financing and a culture that discourages risk-taking.
7. US is tracking killers in attack on Libya mission

....Military and counterterrorism teams are preparing dossiers in the first step toward preparing for orders from Pres. Obama.
8. Some protesters in Middle East regret anti-US outbreaks
....Liberal activists who started the Arab Spring revolts are taking to social media to express their dismay that a contentious film could generate more outrage than a bloody oppression.
9. Human Rights Watch report critical of Hamas justice system in Gaza

....The group says the system is rife with arbitrary arrests, torture and unfair trials, but Hamas officials challenged Human Rights Watch’s work.
10. New internet law gets hostile reception in Philippines
....Critics say the new law could lead to imprisonment for simple activities like sharing Facebook and Twitter posts.
11. Battling the retail Goliaths in South Korea
....Superstore chains run by the chaebol, the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate the country's economy, are meeting resistance from small-business owners.
12. Turkey fires artillery at Syrian targets in retaliation for civilian deaths

....A strike by a Syrian shell killed five Turkish civilians, including three children, in a border town earlier in the day.

US News Capsules:
1. Modern Alamo battle over plan to display letter

....The 1836 “Victory or Death” letter from the doomed fortress has been exhibited outside Austin just three times between 1936 and 2006.
2. Meningitis cases are linked to steroid injections in spine
....Health officials suspect that a contaminated drug is to blame for the outbreak that has killed two people and sickened a dozen others.
3. Inquiry cites flaws in counterterrorism offices
....One of the nation's biggest counterterrorism programs has provided no useful intelligence, a report says.
4. US agent is killed and another is injured in shooting at Mexican border
....Federal authorities said Nicholas Ivie, 30, was killed in a shooting early Tuesday in Naco, Ariz.
5. Wright masterwork is seen in a new light: A fight for its life
....Frank Lloyd Wright’s home for his son David, in Phoenix, is in danger of being demolished by developers.
6. Out on the prairie, moon, music and lectures, too

....Hundreds of people, some from as far away as Tokyo, came to the Prairie Festival in Salina, Kan., to sleep under the stars and hear lectures on subjects like sustainable agriculture.
7. Fan sites settle children's privacy charges
....Federal authorities had accused Artist Arena, the operator of Web sites for stars like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, of illegally collecting information on thousands of children.
8. TV anchor takes on viewer who complains about her weight
....A local television anchor in Wisconsin used a complaint from a viewer about her weight to take a public stand against bullying.
9. DNA text for babies pinpoints mutations, speeding diagnosis
....A new method for analyzing newborns’ genetic histories sped the process of zeroing in on a disease-causing mutation from weeks or months to a couple of days.
10. Late at night, comedy gets pointed and political

....The comedians Lewis Black and W. Kamau Bell demonstrate how a polarized political culture has changed late-night television.
POLITICS:
1. Stakes are high in first presidential debate

....After months of waiting, the world will finally see Barack Obama and Mitt Romney go toe-to-toe in a TV debate. It might be great theater but will the debate sway voters and determine who enters the White House?
2. Voter ID rules fail court tests across country
....A Pennsylvania ruling was the latest and most significant in a series of legal victories for those opposed to laws that they charge would limit access to polls in this presidential election.
3. Right-wing media coordinate releaseof old Obama video

....On the eve of the debate, conservative media outlets claim to have uncovered "exclusive" and "curious" video of then-candidate Barack Obama, but the 5-year-old speech was covered by CNN and other media.
4. Ads attack Wall Street ties, no matter how flimsy
....In elections across the country, candidates are flooding the airwaves with ads linking their opponents to bankers and bailouts.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
Found: A parrot-headed, big-fanged, porcupine dinosaur. Really.

Nature does pretty and nature does ugly. And sometimes it does really, really ugly. And that was true more than 200 million years ago when the Pegomastax africanus was walking — or scurrying — the Earth. The critter was a whole new kind of homely, but judging by a paper just published simultaneously in the online journal Zookeys and on the National Geographic Society website, it was a whole new kind of cool too. The little cat-sized beast is a vivid example of how evolution can sometimes assemble the most unlikely body types out of what amounts to off-the-shelf parts — and make them work improbably well together.

Before the new paper was released, the Pegomastax species had never been named or even fully described, but that doesn’t mean that the discovery of its remains is remotely new. The first specimen of the animal was found in a rock outcropping in Africa in the 1960s. It was dug out and shipped to the US, where it spend the better part of the past five decades in the paleontology collection at Harvard University. The fossil seemed like nothing special — the remains of just one more small, scurrying herbivore that inhabited a world in which the thundering allosaurs and Tyrranosaurs were the true stars. It wasn’t until last year that Paul Sereno, a professor of paleontology at the University of Chicago and National Geographic explorer in residence at Harvard, got a look at the fossil, and realized he had something unusual in his hands.

The animal had a head like a vulture and a beak like a parrot, with tall, sharp teeth near the back of its mouth. The beak was apparently designed for plucking fruit and the teeth for slicing and tearing leaves and other plant matter. Wear patterns on both the top and bottom teeth indicate that they scraped against each other as the jaw opened and closed, which may or may not have been pleasant for the Pegomastax —whose name, appropriately, means “thick jaw” — but it did keep the teeth freshly sharpened at all times. This kind of jaw design is not uncommon for small herbivorous dinosaurs, but the Pegomastax had one feature that set it apart from most of the others: a pair of stabbing canine teeth in front of the slicing teeth — standard equipment for a meat-eater sure, but definitely not for a birdlike plant-eater.
One thing that did not survive the long-ago fossilization process but was likely a part of the living Pegomastax was a covering of bristles, very much like those of a porcupine. A recent fossil unearthed in China bears a close enough similarity to the Harvard specimen that it is thought to be the same species or at least closely related. Those bones were found buried deeply in lake sediment and that provided enough protection that the bristle coat remained.

Despite its apparent toughness, the Pegomastax and its larger genus were not built for survival. The most advanced Heterdontosaurs vanished about 150 million years ago, Sereno says, just as the Jurassic period was ending. “Perhaps they were too specialized for their own good,” he speculates. “Changing climate and plant life may have done them in.” And in the case of these animals, dead really does mean dead. Many species that survived up to the great dinosaur die-off 65 million years ago were at least able to push their genes across the extinction boundary, where they were partly subsumed into the genome of modern birds. Not the Heterodontosaurs. The parrot’s beak and the porcupine’s quills may resemble those of the old Pegomastax, but they were in fact tricks evolution had to learn all over again. The progenitor animal — as clever as it was ugly — is gone forever.

Thought for Today
"Today's public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can't read them either.”
--Gore Vidal (1925-2012) novelist, playwright & essayist

[pegasus]

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 278th day of 2012 with 87 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:47 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 74ºF [Feels like 73ºF], winds WSW @ 12 mph, humidity 45%, pressure 30.08 in and falling, dew point 51ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1289--Louis X, King of Navarre (1305-14) and King of France (1314-16), was born; died 1316 at age 26.
1535--the first complete English translation of the Bible was printed in Zurich, Switzerland.
1626--Lord Richard Cromwell, English lord protector (1658-9) & son of Lord Oliver Cromwell, was born; died 1712 at age 85.
1777--American forces under Gen. George Washington were defeated by the British in a battle at Germantown, Pa.
1824--the republic of Mexico was proclaimed.
1830--Belgium formed itself into an independent state, having been part of the Netherlands since 1815.
1853--The Crimean War: Turkey declared war on Russia.
1854--Abraham Lincoln made his first political speech while at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.
1878--the first Chinese embassy opened in the US.
1890--Mormons in Utah renounced polygamy.
1895--the first US Open golf tournament was held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode 0slandI.
1895--Buster Keaton, comic actor of silent films, was born. was born; died 1966 at age 70.
1887--the first issue of the International Herald Tribune was published as the Paris Herald Tribune.
1931--the comic strip Dick Tracy by Chester Gould made its debut.
1933--Exquire was published for the first time.
1937--Jackie Collins, English author, turns 75
1940--Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass, where the Nazi leader sought Italy's help in fighting the British.
1946--Susan Sarandon, actress , turns 66.
1952--the first pacemaker to control the body's heartbeat, developed by Dr. Paul Zoll of Harvard University, was fitted externally to David Schwartz.
1957--Jimmy Hoffa was elected president of the Teamsters Union.
1957--Leave It to Beaver" premiered on CBS.
1957--the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into orbit.
1958--the first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service was begun by British Overseas Airways Corporation with flights between London and New York.
1965--Pope Paul VI arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York on the first visit by a reigning pope to the US.
1966--Lesotho, formerly the British colony of Basutoland, achieved its independence within the Commonwealth.
1970--rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead of an accidental heroin overdose.
1976--Barbara Walters Walters became the first female anchor of a network evening newscast.
1980--Islamic representatives from 38 nations moved to have the UN General Assembly call for Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
1989--Art Shell was hired by the Oakland Raiders as the first black head coach in the modern NFL.
1989--Secretariat, the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948, died on this date at the age of 19.
1990--the struggling FOX network launched one of its most successful shows on this date - Beverly Hills 90210.
1990--German lawmakers held the first meeting of the reunified country's parliament in the Reichstag in Berlin.
1991--the US and 23 other countries signed an agreement banning mineral and oil exploration in Antarctica for 50 years.
1992--an El Al 747 cargo plane crashed into an apartment building on the outskirts of Amsterdam, kiling at least 250 people.
1992--the Mozambique government and RENAMO rebels signed a historic peace accord, ending 16 years of civil war in the southeast African nation.
1993--dozens of cheering, dancing Somalis dragged the body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu.
2001--authorities said a man in Boca Raton, Fla., had contracted the inhaled form of anthrax; he died the following day.
2001--a Siberian Airlines jetliner exploded and plunged into the Black Sea, killing all 64 passengers and 12 crew members after being hit by a missile fired from Ukraine.
2002--John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal judge .
2002--Richard Reid pleaded guilty in a federal court to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.
2003--a suicide bomber killed herself and 19 others in an attack on a crowded restaurant in the northern Israeli port of Haifa.
2004 --paceShipOne, the first privately funded rocket to reach the edge of space, flew to an altitude above 62 miles over the California desert.
2004--Gordon Cooper, one of the first astronauts, who logged more than 225 hours in space, died at his Calif. home. at age 77.
2006--Pres. Bush signed into law a bill allocating funds for a 700-mile bridge on the US-Mexico border to help control immigration.
2007--the US Justice Department issued a secret, so-called torture memo endorsing harsh interrogation techniques.
2008--the Labor Department announced the US lost 159,000 jobs in September, the most in five years.
2010--the US Supreme Court began a new era with three women serving together for the first time as Elena Kagan took her place at the end of the bench.

World News Capsules:
1. Coptic boys accused of defiling Koran in Egypt
....The detention of the two Egyptian youths, ages 9 and 10, is part of a spate of cases involving accusations that people have insulted Islam.
2. Merchants reopen in Tehran, as police watch
....Witnesses said that protests did not resume over the devaluation of the currency, the rial, and black-market money traders and prospective customers stayed away.
3. Rights group says Moscow employee is threatened
....A Human Rights Watch staff member received threats of an attack focused on her pregnancy.
4. Cajoling, drugging and more as rebels try to draw defectors
....Without defections, the Syrian rebels say the opposition cannot hope to grow, never mind prevail in its battle with the government of President Bashar al-Assad
5. With approval of Parliament, Turkey presses strikes in Syria

....A Turkish motion authorizing further military action against Syria raised tensions on Thursday, as Turkey resumed shelling targets within Syria in retaliation for a mortar attack that killed five civilians.
6. Chavez ends electoral campaign
....In his final rally before Sunday's presidential election, Hugo Chavez says he needs a third six-year term to promote social reforms and eradicate poverty.

US News Capsules:
1. Drought leaves cracks in way of life
....Lost amid the withered crops and dehydrated cattle that symbolize the most widespread drought in decades has been the toll on families that depend on farming.
2. Infant DNA tests speed diagnosis of rare diseases
....A new method for analyzing newborns' genetic histories sped the process of zeroing in on a disease-causing mutation from weeks or months to a couple of days.
3. In outbreak, meningitis is reported in 5 states
....The outbreak of a type of meningitis linked to back pain injections has spread, with over 30 cases, four of them fatal, in Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Maryland.
4. A United Nations of music
....A new federally sponsored program called OneBeat has brought together 32 musicians from 21 countries to write, produce and record original music and take it on the road.
5. Facebook passes one billion users

....Social networking site Facebook now has over one billion users logging on every month, founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.
6. US charges 91 over Medicare fraud
....Ninety-one people are arrested in seven cities across the US for their alleged participation in a $430m Medicare fraud scheme, the justice department said.
POLITICS:
1. Obama and Romney, in first debate, spar over fixing the economy
....Mitt Romney aggressively pressed President Obama on the economy, jobs and health care in a debate that avoided the kind of one-liners that sometimes emerge from such high-stakes face-offs.
2. A clash of philosophies
....In the first presidential debate, Pres. Obama argued that government plays an essential part in economic growth, while Mitt Romney contended it should get out of the way.
a. Before a broader audience, Romney changes his tone
....Mitt Romney presented himself as a reasonable pragmatist, a departure from the conservative rhetoric of the Republican primary debates.
3. In fallout, after debate, Obama asks, which Mitt was that?

....The Obama campaign came out swinging, including stronger rhetoric, a new television ad and a conference call questioning Mr. Romney’s truthfulness.

Thought for Today
"God is not dead but alive and well and working on a much less ambitious project. "
--Anonymous,

[pegasus]

Emotional Wellness Month

Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 279th day of 2012 with 86 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:17 p.m., it's fair . Sunset at 6:42 p.m., temp 59ºF [Feels like 59ºF], winds S @ 5 mph, humidity 78%, pressure 30.08 in and steady dew point 52ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
877--Charles the Bald , King of the Franks, died at age 54 while crossing the pass of the Mont Cenis en route back to Gaul.
1143--Alfonso VII, King of Leon, recognised Portugal as a n independent Kingdom.
1285--Philip III of France died of the plague and was succeeded by Philip IV (the Fair).
1511--Pope Julius II formed the Holy League between Aragon, Venice and the Papacy to defend the church and drive the French out of Italy.
1582==the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Italy and other Catholic countries.
1775--Gen. Washington wrote to the Continental Congress of the espionage of Dr. Benjamin Church, surgeon general of the Continental Army.
1789--the Women's March on Versailles in the French Revoltion)was to confront Louis XVI about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the King and his court moved to Paris.
1796--Spain declared war on Britain in the Napoleonic Wars
1813--at the Battle of the Thames near Ontario, Canada, Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief who organized intertribal resistance to the encroachment of white settlers was killed.
1864--the Union scored a victory over Gen. John Bell Hood and his army at the Battle of Allatoona Pass, Ga.
1877--Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians surrendered to Gen. Miles in the Bear Paw mountains of Montana.
1882--Robert Hutchings Goddard, US rocketh scientist, was born; died 1945 at age 62.
1892--the Dalton gang attempted to rob two banks simultaneously in Coffeyville, Kansas, but meets resistance and four of the five bandits were killed.
1895--Walter Bedell Smith, US Army chief of staff in Europe during World War II, was born; died 1961 at age 65.
1902--Ray A. Kroc, the American businessman who built the McDonald's fast food empire, was born; dued 1984 at age 81.
1908--Bulgaria proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
1910--Portugal was declared a republic after a successful revolt against King Manuel II.
1915--in World War I, Britain and France committed troops to operation in Salonika, Greece.
1919--Enzo Ferrari made his debut as a race car driver/
1930--a British dirigible on its first flight crashed in Beauvais, France, killing 49 people.
1937--Pres. Roosevelt called for a "quarantine" of aggressor nations.
1941--former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the nation's highest court, died at age 84.
1942--America’s ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’, George M. Cohan, died at age 64.
1945--Hollywood Black Friday: a 6-month strike by set decorators boiled over into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Bros studios.
1947--Pres. Truman made the first-ever televised presidential address from the White House, asking Americns to cut back on the use of grain to help starving Europeans.
1948--the Ashgabat earthquake (magnitude 7.3 ) in Turkmenistan, the Soviet Union, leveled the area causing more than 176,000 deaths.
1950--comedian Groucho Marx's zany quiz show, You Bet Your Life, debuted on NBC.
1952--After 11 years on ABC radio, Inner Sanctum, the mystery series, was heard for the last time.
1953--Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.
1953--the NY Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers to win their fifth World Series in a row.
1955--the World War II drama, The Diary of Anne Frank, opened on Broadway.
1962--The Beatles' first hit, "Love Me Do," was released in the United Kingdom.
1966--the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant on the shore of Lake Erie in Michigan suffered a partial meltdown.
1969--a Cuban defector landed a Soviet MiG in Miami, Fla.
1969--Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted on BBC-TV.
1978--Yiddish writer Isaac Basheva Singer won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1981--Egyptian Pres. Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade.
1983--Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1986--American Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Sandinista soldiers after the Contra supply plane he was riding in was shot down over Nicaragua and the Iran-Contra scandal unraveled.
1988--Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lambasted Republican Dan Quayle during their vice-presidential debate, telling Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
1989 --ajury in Charlotte, N.C., convicted former PTL evangelist Jim Bakker of using his TV show to defraud followers.
1989--the 14th Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle to liberate Tibet from China.
1990 --a jury in Cincinnati, Ohio acquitted an art gallery and its director of obscenity charges over an exhibit of sexually graphic photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe.
1999--the Ladbroke Grove Rail crash occurred at Ladbroke Grove Junction ,2 miles west of London Paddington Station, killing 31.
2000--Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic was ousted from office after losing an election by huge mobs in Belgrade.
2005--the US Senate voted 90-9 to approve an amendment that would prohibit the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against anyone in US government custody.
2007--US track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty to lying when she said that she hadn't taken steroids.
2010--Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant who'd tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, was sentenced to life in pirson by a federal judge in New York.
2011--Steve Jobs, a founder & CEO of Apple, Inc., died at age 56 of pancreatic cancer in his Palo Alto, Calif. home.

World News Capsules:
1. Karzai accuses US of duplicity in fighting Afghan enemies
....The Afghan president said the US was playing a “double game” by not taking the fight against insurgents to Pakistan and by not supplying his country with weapons.
2. Glut of solar panels poses a new threat to China
....Although global demand for solar panels and wind turbines has grown rapidly in recent years, China’s manufacturing capacity grew faster, creating an oversupply and a price war
3. Winning coalition in Georgia demands vote recounts
....The country’s fragile postelection calm was shaken Thursday, with some coalition members calling for punishing officials from the departing government,
4. After German court ruling, chauch says tax is linked to sacraments
....The court had ruled that Catholics are free to leave the church, thus avoiding a tax that is collected by the government.
5. British judges approve extradition of Muslim cleric
....A Muslim preacher, Abu Hamza al-Masri, lost an appeal Friday against extradition to the US.
a. Last speaker of a Scots dialect dies

....The Cromarty fisherfolk dialect appears to be the only descendant from the Germanic linguistic world in which no "wh" pronunciation existed. "'Where' would just be 'ere'," according to linguist Robert Millar.
6. India moves again to ease way for foreign investment
....In its 2nd major effort to revive a flagging economy, the Indian cabinet proposed letting foreign investors take a bigger stake in insurance and pension companies, but passage of the measure by Parliament is far from certain.
7. As Iran's currency keeps tumbling, anxiety is rising
....In the Iranian capital, all anyone can talk about is the rial, and how lives have been turned upside down during a week in which the currency’s value plunged by 40%.
a. Iran offers plan, dismissed by US, on nuclear crisis
....With sanctions contributing to major protests in Iran, officials have drawn up a plan to defuse the nuclear crisis with the West, but it requires many concessions.
8. Political and market forces hobble Israel's pack of ink-stained watchdogs

....Newspapers like Haaretz and Maariv are being squeezed by the pressures of the global digital age and a small, crowded Hebrew-language market that is undergoing convulsions of its own.
a. New York man, fired from Israeli hotel, kills co-worker
....The man, William Hershkovitz, who was participating in an internship and Hebrew study program at a hotel in Eilat, was then fatally shot by the police.
9. Fight over rocky islets opens old wounds between South Korea and Japan
....The dispute over the Dokdo/Takeshima islets reflects Seoul’s anger over its treatment when Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colonial power.
10. FBI agents scour ruins of attacked US diplomatic compound in Libya
....Security fears had kept the agents from traveling from the American Embassy in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, to collect evidence in Benghazi.
11. In Myanmar's makeover, politics is just the beginning
....Myanmar has begun to search for a national identity defined by its people, not the cloistered vision imposed by military governments that took power in 1962 and only relinquished control last year.
12. FBI says Russians smuggled out US microchips
....The scheme described by law enforcement focused on microchips and other electronic components that circulate freely in the US market, but still require a license to export.
a. Rights group says its researcher in Moscow is threatened
....Human Rights Watch says that a staff member received repeated threats this week of an attack focused on her pregnancy.
13. Private army formed to fight Somali pirates leaves troubled legacy
....Hundreds of half-trained and well-armed members of an army for hire, now stranded in Somalia, offer a lesson in the risks of outsourced wars.
14. 12,000 striking miners are fired in South Africa

....The dismissals were apparently an attempt by the company, Anglo American Platinum, to stem the tide of wildcat strikes that have unsettled Africa’s biggest economy.
15. Man accused of planning omb attack in Spain
....The police said the man had written blog posts expressing admiration for the two teenagers who carried out an attack at Columbine High School in 1999.
16. Syrian warplanes strike Homs as rebels claim to capture base

....Government forces pounded parts of the central city of Homs, while rebels said they took a defense base outside Damascus with a cache of missiles, news reports said.
17. Turkey detains 2 in connection with killins in Libya
....Two Tunisians were held in connection with the killing of an American ambassador and three others in Libya on Sept. 11. It was not clear if they were considered suspects or witnesses.
a. Turkey's parliament backs military measures on Syria
....The measure authorizes further military action against Syria, as Turkey began its 2nd day of shelling targets across the border in response to a mortar attack that killed five civilians.
18. Global food prices on the rise, UN says
....Heat and drought in the United States, Russia and Europe led to record highs in the prices of corn and soybeans, the United Nations food agency reported
19. Fears persist among Venezuelan voters ahead of election
....Many Venezuelans are anxious about casting ballots against President Hugo Chávez because of a widespread belief that the government retaliates against dissenters

US News Capsules:
1. In a drug linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak, a question of oversight

....The growing outbreak of meningitis was a calamity waiting to happen - the result of a lightly regulated type of drug production that had a troubled past colliding with a popular treatment.
2. Cheerleaders with Bible verses set off a debate

....In a small Texas town, cheerleaders' writing of Bible verses on banners has led to a lawsuit and questions about religious expression at public school events.
3. When job-creation engines stop at just one
....Constrained by scarcer financing but aided by better technology, new businesses have fewer employees than they did a decade ago, posing a worrying trend for employment.
4. A factory's closing focuses attention on tort reform
....The closing of Blitz USA, a maker of gasoline cans, inspired commercials about abusive lawsuits, but the ads duck the complexities of product liability cases.
5. Shopping list: tuna, detergent, a Warhol
....http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/10/06/arts/design/06costco-1/06costco-1-sfSpan.jpg
....Costco, the giant discount retailer, is returning to the art market after a six-year hiatus prompted by the sale of two disputed Picasso drawings online.
6. Jobless rate falls to 7.8%, loswest level of Obama's term

....While employers added only a modest number of jobs, the unemployment rate dropped below 8% for the first time since Pres. Obama took office,
7. Home teest for HIV as a screen of partners
....An unadvertised use for the OraQuick test may become popular and even help slow the AIDS epidemic, experts said.
8. Los Angeles to cease tansferring some immigrants
....The police will soon stop turning over illegal immigrants arrested for low-level crimes to federal immigration officials for deportation, Police Chief Charlie Beck said.
9. Unlikely, and large, marijuana crop is found in a Chicago industrial park
....A helicopter officer discovered a patch of 1,500 plants growing in an industrial park on the city’s far South Side.
10. FBI: Friendly fire likely in border agent killing

....This week's fatal shooting of a US Border Patrol agent and the wounding of another in Arizona was likely the result of friendly fire, the FBI said Friday night.
11. 52 hurt in multiple-vehicle crash in Florida

....At least 46 vehicles collided Friday afternoon in the southbound lanes of I-75 at about the time a thunderstorm struck, said Lt. Chris Miller with the Florida Highway Patrol..
POLITICS:
1. Cmpign gains a new intensity in debate's wake
....Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney confronted what one feared and the other hoped was an altered campaign after a debate in which the president's performance was widely panned.
2. GOP operative long trailed by allegations of voter fraud
....A Florida voter registration scandal involving Nathan Sproul, a highly paid Republican operative, is just the latest case in which questions have been raised about his methods.
3. Entering stage right, Romney moved to center

....During Wednesday’s presidential debate, Mitt Romney used striking new language to describe his policy proposals in ways that may be sowing confusion about how he would govern.
4. In Iowa and beyond, redrawn districts test favorites of Tea Party
....Rep. Steve King’s troubles show the liability of a national profile built largely on Tea Party credentials and incendiary statements.

Thought for Today
"Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.”
..Denis Diderot (1713-1784), French philosopher & encyclopedist

[pegasus]

World Communion Sunday

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 281st day of 2012 with 84 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's overcast , temp 49.5ºF [Feels like 50ºF], winds W @ 3 mph, humidity 72%, pressure 60.33 in and rising, dew point 38ºF, chance of precipitation 60%.

Today in History:
1571--the Battle of Lepanto: Don Juan of Austria and his Christian forces of 316 ships defeated the Turkish navy under Ali Pasha with 250 galleys om the last great confrontation between oared ships.
1763--George III of Great Britain issued the Proclamation of 1763, closing lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlement.
1765--the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England's Stamp Act taxes.
1780--patriot militia defeated Loyalist militia at the Battle of King's Mountain in North Carolina.
1799--the Lutine's bell was salvaged off the coast of Holland and presented to Lloyds of London, where it has been rung ever since to mark a marine disaster.
1816--the first double-decked steamboat, the Washington, arrived in New Orleans.
1825--the Miramichi Fire was a massive forest fire in New Brunswick, Canada that destroyed over 1000 homes and killed 300 people.
1849--author Edgar Allan Poe died at age 40 in Baltimore, Md.
1864--Union troops turned back Gen.l Robert E. Lee's assault at the Battle of Darbytown near Richmond, Va.
1868--Cornell University was founded in Ithaca, N.Y.
1871--the most devastating fire in US history was ignited in Wisconsin in which 1,200 people were killed and 2 billion trees were destroyed.
1879--a German-Austrian dual alliance was formed under which they agreed to come to each other's aid if either was attacked.
1885--Niels Henrik David Bohr, Danish-born American nuclear physicist, was born; died 1962 at age 77.
1897--Elijah Muhammad, the American leader of the Black Muslim movement from the 1930s to the 1970s, was born; died 1975 at age 77.
1900--Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi politician, administrator and military SS commander, was born; died 1945 at age 44.
1913--Henry Ford's entire Highland Park, Mich. automobile factory iwa run on a continuously moving assembly line, a revolutionary industrial technique, for the first time.
1916--in the most lopsided football game on record, Georgia Tech humbled Cumberland University, 222-0.
1919--KLM Airlines was founded, making it the oldest carrier in the world still operating under its original name.
1940--German troops entered Romania to take control of strategic oil fields. .
1943--the Japanese executed nearly 100 American prisoners on Wake Island.
1949--the Democratic Republic of Germany or East Germany was proclaimed within the Soviet occupation zone.
1950--the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that that approved a US-led force to advance north of 38th parallel into North Korea.
1952--American Bandstand premiered on a Philadelphia television station.
1954--Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by New York's Metropolitan Opera.
1956--a US House of Representatives subcommittee started investigations of television quiz shows that were allegedly rigged.
1959--Luna-3, a USSR Probe, provided the 1st pictures of the far side of the moon
1960--presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debated Cold War foreign policy.
1963--Pres. Kennedy signed the documents of ratification for a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union.
1968--the Motion Picture Association of America adopted a film-rating system.
1975--a New York judge reversed John Lennon's deportation order.
1981--Egypt's parliament named Vice Pres. Hosni Mubarak to succeed the assassinated Anwar Sadat.
1982--the musical Cats opened on Broadway, beginning its record run of 7,485 performances.
1983--Sean Connery stars in Never Say Never Again as the British secret service agent James Bond, a role he last played in 1971 and said he would never play again.
1984--Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton became the NFL’s all-time rushing leader, breaking the record Cleveland’s Jim Brown set in 1965--12,400 yards, 88 more than Brown.
1985--four Palestinian terrorists hijacked the Achille Lauro, an Italian cruise ship, shortly after it left Alexandria, Egypt.
1993--the Great Flood of 1993 ends in St. Louis (103 days after it began) when the Mississippi River finally falls beneath flood stage.
1995--New York's Central Park was transformed into a giant open-air cathedral as Pope John Paul II celebrates Mass before a flock of 250,000.
1996--Fox News Channel made its debut.
1996--IRA guerrillas bombed Britain's army headquarters in Northern Ireland, injuring 31 people and shattering an uneasy two-year peace in the province.
1998--Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside Laramie, Wyo., dying five days later.
2001--the U.S.-led attack on the Taliban of Afghanistan and the training bases for al-Qaida began.
2001--Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants wrapped up his record-breaking season with his 73rd home run.
2003--actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California, the most populous state in the nation.
2006--Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who had chronicled Russian military abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was found shot to death in Moscow.
2008--the Federal Reserve annouced a radical plan to buy massive amounts of short-term debt, known as commercial paper, to get credit markets moving again.

World News Capsules:
1. Slow-burning challenge to Chile on Easter Island
....Inspired by other parts of Polynesia that have obtained political autonomy or are seeking independence, leaders of the Rapanui people are mounting a rebellion against Chile.
2. British soil is battlefield over peat, for bogs'sake
....While many gardeners regard the partially decomposed plant matter as an elixir, environmentalists say taking peat from centuries-old bogs disturbs vital ecosystems.
3. Israel shoots down unidentified drone

....The Israeli air force shot down a drone after it crossed into southern Israel, the military said, but it remained unclear where the aircraft had come from.
4. Political Islam and the fate of two Libyan brothers
....One brother, after 16 years in Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's prisons, is a lawmaker. The other became Al Qaida's No. 2 and was killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan.
5. Pakistan halts drone protest led by ex-cricketer Imran Khan

....Pakistani security forces blocked a convoy carrying 1000s of Pakistanis and a small contingent of US anti-war activists from entering a lawless tribal region along the border with Afghanistan to protest American drone strikes.
6. Citing US fears, Arab allies limit Syrian rebel aid
....Officials in Saudi Arabia and Qatar said they were withholding heavier weapons in part because of worries by the US that they could end up in the hands of terrorists.
7. Chavez's socialist rule at risk as Venezuelans vote

....Venezuelans vote on Sunday with President Hugo Chavez facing the biggest electoral challenge yet to his socialist rule from Henrique Capriles, a young rival tapping into discontent over crime and cronyism.

US News Capsules:
1. SpaceX's Dragon craft ready to make ice cream delivery

....Commercial spaceship due for launch to space station with frozen treats and other cargo - the first under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA that calls for a dozen resupply flights by SpaceX, essential in the post-shuttle era.
2. Life and climate change on a rocky island

....Tatoosh Island, off the coast of Washington State, has seen a decline across species and could prove to be a bellwether for oceanic change globally. A married team of scientists, their mentor and a rotating cadre of graduate students have been observing disturbing declines in wildlife on the tiny island.
3. Gas prices roar to California record, hitting average of $4.614 per gallon

....Gas prices have gone up 47 cents in the past week - a refinery shortage and a recent power outage at a plant in Torrance were to blame for the recent fuel price spikes.
4. Emory confronts a legacy of bias against Jews
....The evidence of bias against Jewish students in Emory University's dental school has long been known, but until now the university had neither admitted the bias nor apologized for it.
5. Student loans, backed by government, crush many families

....Much attention has been focused on students burdened with loans throughout their lives. The recent growth in the Parent Plus program highlights another way the societal burden of paying for college has shifted to families. It means some parents are now saddled with children's college debt even as they approach retirement.
6. The seeds that federal money can plant
....At a time of looming budget cuts, advocates of government financing of technology research argue that it is an investment in the nation's future.
7. Plot to bomb 48 churches in Oklahoma uncovered
....Gregory Arthur Weiler II, a 23-year-old Illinois man, has been arrested after the discovery of bomb-making materials and notes about destroying 48 churches in Oklahoma, but family members say he suffers from mental illness.
8. Scant oversight of drug maker in fatal meningitis outbreak
....The rising toll has cast a harsh light on the loose regulations that legal experts say allowed a company to sell an unsafe drug to pain clinics.
9. Gaming faces its archenemy: financial reality

....Video-game retail sales are faltering. Will Nintendo’s coming Wii U prove the industry’s salvation?
10. A master of improv, writing Twitter's script

....A comic’s heart beats inside Dick Costolo, the nonconforming chief executive of Twitter who may well hold the key to the company’s success.
POLITICS:
1. With 30 days to go, Romney and Obama campaigns look to next debates

....A spokesman for Obama vows that the president won't allow Romney a repeat performance in their second showdown. Mitt Romney is fighting to earn a new look from voters with 30 days remaining until the election, as President Barack Obama looks to close the window on his Republican challenger..
2. Error and fraud at issue as absentee voting rises
....Nationwide, mailed ballots now account for nearly 20% of votes, yet such ballots are more likely to be compromised, and contested, than those cast in person, statistics show.
3. Voters in Florida are set to weigh in on two contentious ballot questions
....Among 11 proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution, No. 6 would ban state money for abortions, and No. 8 would remove language barring religious institutions from receiving state money.

Thought for Today
"Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel business."
--Dave Barry (b. 1947) humorist & writer

[pegasus]

Happy Thanksgiving Canada
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 282nd day of 2012 with 83 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:57 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 54ºF [Feels like 54ºF], winds variable @ 5 mph, humidity 49%, pressure 30.20 in and falling, dew point 35ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1778--A group of Continental Army soldiers attacked Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant's home village of Unadilla on the Susquehanna River in southern New YOrk.
1862--Union troops stopped the Rebels invasion of Kentucky at the Battle of Perryville.
1869--Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the US, died in Concord, N.H., at age 64.
1871--the Great Chicago Fire began and went on to kill 250 people, leave 100,000 people homeless and destroy thousands of buildings.
1890--Edward V. Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace who went on to lead Eastern Airlines for thirty years, was born; died 1973 at age 82.
1895--Empress Myeong-Seong of Korea (the first official wife of King Gojong) was murdered in her palace by sword-bearing Japanese assassins.
1918 American Army Sgt. Alvin York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor.
1941--Jesse Jackson, African American preacher and civil rights leader, turns 71
1944--The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuted on CBS Radio.
1945--Pres. Truman announced that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada.
1952--rail disaster at Harrow and Wealdstone (a double collision involving 3 trains) results in 112 people dying and 340 injured.
1956--Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in Game 5.
1959--Margaret Thatcher was first elected to the British Parliament as a Conservative representing the north London suburb of Finchley.
1967-- Che Guevara was defeated, captured, and executed the next day by a special detachment of the Bolivian army.
1968--US and South Vietnamese navies commence Operation Sealords.
1970--Soviet author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wpm the Nobel Prize in literature.
1982--all labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.
1985--the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer and dumped his body and wheelchair overboard.
1990--at least 17 Muslims were killed by Israeli police in rioting on the Temple Mount, the third holiest site in Islam.
1991--a US federal judge in Anchorage, Alaska, approved a $1 billion settlement against Exxon for the Valdez oil spill.
1992--former West German chancellor Willy Brandt died at age 78 of intestinal cancer in his house outside Bonn.
1998--the US House of Representatives voted 258-176 to begin impeachment hearings against Pres. Clinton.
2001--the UN and Secretary-General Kofi Annan shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
2001--former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn in as director of the new Office of Homeland Security.
2001--US transport planes dropped 37,000 meals into areas of Afghanistan where mass starvation was feared imminent.
2004--lifestyle guru Martha Stewart reported to prison to begin serving a sentence for lying about a stock sale.
2004--for the first time the Nobel Peace Prize went to an African woman, Dr. Wangari Maathai, an environmental activist from Kenya.
2005--a major 7.6-magnitude earthquake flattened villages on the Pakistan-India border, killing an estimated 86,000 people.
2007--British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that half of the 5,000 British troops stationed in Iraq would be removed by the end of 2008.
2007--a second U.N. observer mission was sent into a town in Sudan's troubled Darfur region that was burned and looted while under government control.
2008--a Nepal Yeti Airlines plane, carrying a dozen German tourists and others on a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, crashed near Mount Everest, killing 18 people.
2009--three people died and more than a dozen others were hospitalized following a botched sweat lodge ceremony run by motivational speaker/author James Arthur Ray in Arizona.
2011--Al Davis, the Hall of Fame owner of the Oakland Raiders, died at age 82.
2012--Shemini Atzeret (Jewish Holiday) 8th day of Sukkot where sentiments of gratitude and devotion are stored up and prayers for rain are made.

World News Capsules:
1. From discontent to violence at Kabul college
....Rival groups clashed over the decision by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to change the name of a teacher-training university in the capital.
2. Canada puts spotlight on War of 1812, with US as villain

....The Canadian government’s enthusiasm for the conflict has puzzled and angered many in the country, where shows of patriotism are more subdued than they are south of the border.
3. US panel calls two Chinese firms 'national security threat'
....The House Intelligence Committee said telecommunications equipment from Huawei Technologies and ZTE could be used for spying in the US.
4. With affirmative action, India's rich gain school slots meant for poor
....India’s caste-based affirmative action policy has transformed the taint of “backwardness,” as those of means benefit from a program meant to uplift the less fortunate.
5. Strict new procedures for Iran currency trading after protest
....The police moved to arrest unlicensed currency dealers and increase patrols in Tehran to prevent unofficial trading from disrupting new official exchange rates for Iran’s currency, the rial.
6. Israel launches airstrikes after attacks from Gaza
....Israeli warplanes responded to rocket fire from Gaza by launching airstrikes, in a flare-up that began Sunday when Israel fired missiles against two suspected members of jihadist groups.
7. Corruption is seen as a drain on Italy's south
....A 300-mile highway in Calabria has yet to be finished after decades of work, and critics see it as the rotten fruit of a jobs-for-votes culture.
8. In bid to end crisis, Kuwait's parliament is dissolved
....Kuwait’s ruler dissolved Parliament, a step toward ending political gridlock and calling the second elections this year that could again swing in favor of Islamist-led opposition groups.
9. Lebanon says Israeli planes circled its airspace for an hour
....The morning after the Israeli Air Force shot down an unidentified drone, the Lebanese government said that four Israeli warplanes spent an hour illegally circling in its airspace.
10. Libya's Prime Minister is dismissed
....Parliament voted out Mustafa Abu Shagour, the newly elected prime minister, after rejecting his attempt to form a Cabinet and government.
11. In Pakistan, drone protest takes detour for safety
....A demonstration against American drone strikes inside Pakistan’s tribal belt was abandoned after the military warned of “imminent danger,” but 1000s rallied at a safer location.
12. US and Philippines start training exercise
....The two militaries will train together on disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and maritime security.
a. Philippine rebel group agrees to peace accord to end violence in south
....The deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has fought a war of independence for more than three decades, is expected to reduce the violence in the predominantly Muslim southern island of Mindanao.
13. Happy birthday, Mr. President: Putin turns 60, and Russians pay notice

....For leaders of the Kremlin, turning 60 is a milestone heavy with history and symbolism, sometimes marked by elaborate ceremony and sometimes not.
14. US agrees to let South Korea extend range of ballistic missiles
....The agreement was part of a pact that tries to balance fears in the US of a regional arms race and South Korea’s concern over military threats from North Korea.
a. Families of South Korean sailors held by pirates ask Seoul for helpd
....The families of four South Korean sailors held hostage by Somali pirates for more than 17 months appealed to the government to intervene on their release.
15. Cloning and stem cell discoveries earn Nobel in medicine

....The landmark discoveries in cell development by scientists in England and Japan came 40 years apart.
16. Syria ccuses Turkey of imperialist delusions as bordr shelling resumes
....Both insurgent sympathizers and the Syrian government described an extremely violent day in the nearly 19-month-old uprising in the country, with unverified accounts of killings and destruction.
17. Chávez wins new term in Venezuela, holding off surge by opposition

....Pres. Hugo Chávez won re-election, facing down the strongest electoral challenge of his nearly 14 years in office and gaining a new mandate to deepen his socialist revolution.
18. Nguyen Chi Thien, whose poems spoke truth to power, from a cell, dies at 73
....Mr. Thien, a dissident writer who wrote poetry opposing the Communist government in Vietnam, endured prolonged imprisonment, torture and solitary confinement.

US News Capsules:
1. For software, cracks in the patent system
....When the nation's patent system was born, many inventions were mechanical. Some say the patent system is ill suited for today's digital world, where innovations like software are often based on abstract concepts.
2. A guided path through customs blocked

(Alireza Mahdavi was approved for the Global Entry program several years ago, but said he inexplicably lost those privileges.)
....Some applications for Global Entry and other trusted traveler programs have been rejected for a minor brush with law enforcement or customs inspectors.
3. Fighting for a cause with soap and suds
....In Phoenix, carwashes raise money for funerals and deaths, struggling churches and cheerleading squads, for children of murder victims and for sick children.
4. Marijuana only for the sick? A farce, some Angelenos say

....While the federal government cracks down on dispensaries of medical marijuana, Los Angeles repealed a recent ban on them.
5. As military suicides rise, focus is on private weapons
....The Pentagon and Congress are working on policies to separate at-risk service members from personal weapons, but gun-rights advocates and many veterans are opposed,
6. YouTube to serve niche tastes by adding channels
....YouTube, now carrying more polished output, will announce more original channels to the 100 it has introduced in the last year.
7. Lured in by a family just being itself on TV
....Duck Dynasty, the A&E reality show about a Louisiana family that makes duck calls, is growing in popularity/
8. Online, a genome project for the world of art

....Art.sy is trying to map the “genome” of world art to create a comprehensive browsing tool.
8. Study shows children with autism tend to stray
....Those at greatest risk of wandering off were autistic children with severe intellectual deficits and those who do not respond to their names.
9. California moves to reduce gas prices
....Gov. Jerry Brown requested an increase to the supply of fuel by allowing refineries to immediately transition to a blend of gasoline that is typically not sold until November.
10. Deadly meningitis outbreak increases to 91 cases
....Health officials on Sunday reported an additional 27 cases in a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to steroid injections that has killed seven people and now infected 91 in nine states
POLITICS:
1. Romney strives to stand apart in global policy
....Mitt Romney has yet to explain how he would conduct policy toward the Middle East, or to resolve deep ideological rifts within the Republican Party.
a. Pew Poll shows Romney advancing after debate
....Mitt Romney’s strong debate performance has wiped out President Obama’s eight-point lead in the latest national poll conducted by the Pew Research Center.
2. Campaigns use social media to lure younger voters
....If the presidential campaigns of 2008 were dipping a toe into social media like Facebook and Twitter, their 2012 versions are well into the deep end.
3. Wives take the campaign to newsstands
....Coverage of Michelle Obama and Ann Romney - and sometimes their husbands - in women's and celebrity magazines is eagerly sought and closely watched.
4. In Congress, a shrinking pool of moderates
....A combination of redistricting, retirements and campaign spending by special interests is pushing out moderate Democrats and Republicans.

Sports Headlines:
1. [MLB Playoffs: Marting and Yanks are bettter late/u]

....Yankees catcher Russell Martin broke a 2-2 tie with a towering home run in the ninth inning, sparking a late rally as the Yankees beat the Orioles 7--2 in Game 1 of an A.L. division series/
a. Arroyo shuts down Giants as Reds take 2-0 series lead
....Bronson Arroyo stymied and stunned San Francisco with his array of pitches, allowing only one hit in seven innings in the Reds' 9-0 victory over the Giants.
b. Nationals edge out Cardinals 3-2 with late rally

....Pinch-hitter Tyler Moore hit a two-run single in the 8th inning to help the Washington Nationals hold on against the St. Louis Cardinals in a tight and tentative contest.
c. Kiss evolkes era when a Tigers pitcher only talked to the ball

....Tigers pitcher Al Alburquerque kissed the baseball before throwing to first in a crucial situation, a move that evoked memories of Mark Fidrych’s antics in the 1970s.
d. October fortunes seem beyond Oakland's reach
....Oakland has lost five playoff series since 2000, and unless the Athletics sweep three games from Detroit starting Tuesday, they will fall again.
2. NFL: A sluggish start, but a rousing response

....The Browns took advantage of an early Giants fumble to take a 14-0 lead before Ahmad Bradshaw, Eli Manning and Victor Cruz turned things around, leading the Giants to a 47-27 win.
a. Patriots play keep-away for victory over Manning and the Broncos 31-27
....Peyton Manning faced off against Tom Brady for the first time as a member of the Broncos, but it was Brady’s Patriots that managed to suffocate Denver’s defense to win.
3. Ethiopians sweep Chicago Marathon
....Tsegaye Kebede became the first Ethiopian to win the men’s race, while Atsede Baysa was victorious in a thrilling finish, winning the women’s division by a step.
4. NCAAFB: As SEC sees power shift, Spurrier just has to smile

....Coach Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina football team jumped to No. 3 after Saturday’s thorough beating of Georgia while Florida, which beat longtime powerhouse L.S.U., rose to No. 4.
.5. WNBA: Amid success, WNBA is still facing challenges

....The WNBA — the most successful women’s league in American history — continues to fly under the radar even as it prepares for its 16th finals this week.

Thought for Today
"A man's admiration for absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him."
--[/i]Alexis de Tocqueville [Alexis Charles Henri Maurice Clerel, le Comte de Tocqueville] (1805-1859) French historian


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

German-American Heritage Month

Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 283rd day of 2012 with 82 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:08 p.m., it's fair , temp 59ºF [Feels like 59ºF], winds S @ 5 mph, humidity 78%, pressure 30.08 in and steady, dew point 52ºF, chance of precipitation 10%. Sunset: 6:42 p.m.

Today in History:
1514--Mary Tudor (18 year-old sister of Henry VIII) married Louis XII (52 year-old King of France) much against her own wishes.
1604--SN 1604 (Kepler's Supernova) which occurred in our galazy about 20,000 light-years from Earth, was first discovered.
1635--Roger Williams, religious dissident and founder of Rhode Island, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1701--The Collegiate School of Connecticut – later Yale University – was chartered in New Haven.
1709--Barbara Palmer (nee Villiers). Duchess of Cleveland and mistress to Charles II, died.
1775--Lord Dartmouth, secretary of state for the Amercan colonies, ordered Gen.Sir William Howe to send officers stationed in Boston to North Carolina to assist in the southern campaign.
1776--a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.
1799--HMS Lutine sank during a storm while carrying about 1,200,000 GBP in bullion and coin from Yarmouth to Cuxhaven.
1835--Camille Saint-Saens, French composer, was born; died 1921 at age 86.
1864--Union cavalry defeated the Rebels at the Battle of Tom's Brook in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
1888--the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument.
1899--Bruce Catton, the American writer and historian known for his books about the Civil War, was born.; died 1978 at age 78.
1930--Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the US as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field in New York to Glendale, Calif.
1934--Alexander I of Yugoslavia was assassinated by Vlado Chernozemski (a Bulgarian revoltionary) who was killed himself immediately afterwards.
1936--Hoover Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.
1940--St. Paul's Cathedral was bombed by the German Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britainl
1942--Roger "The Terrible" Touhy, a Chicago bootlegger, escaped from Illinois' Stateville Prison,
1934--the St Louis Cardinals' Gashouse Gang won the World Series beating the Detroit Tigers.
1946--the Eugene O'Neill drama The Iceman Cometh opened on Broadway.
1958--Pope Pius XII died at age 82.
1963--a landslide killed more than 2,000 in Italy when it caused a massive wave of water to overwhelm a dam.
1967--Argentine socialist revolutionary and guerilla leader Che Guevara, age 39, was executed by the Bolivian army.
1969--the National Guard was used to break up protests against the Vietnam Conflict at home.
1970--the infamous Khmer Republic was proclaimed in Cambodia.
1974--German businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust, died at the age of 66.
1975--Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet physicist who helped build the USSR's first hydrogen bomb, iwa awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of his struggle against "the abuse of power and violations of human dignity in all its forms.
1976--the Disco/Classical hybrid "A Fifth Of Beethoven" was the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts.
1985--the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt.
1986--The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.
1992--a meteorite crashed ithrough a Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, NY into the driveway below.
1995--an Amtrak derailment in the southwest Arizona desert was responsible for injuring over 100 people and killing at least one person.
2001--letters postmarked in Trenton, NJ, that later tested positive for anthrax spores were mailed to Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
2006--North Korea announced that it had conducted its first nuclear weapons test.
2006--Google Inc. announced it was snapping up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a stock deal.
2009--Pres. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in hope.
2009--LCROSS Centaur and its Shepherding Spacecraft impacted successfuly with the moon.
2010--Chile's 33 trapped miners cheered and embraced each other as a drill punched into their underground chamber where they had been stuck for an agonizing 66 days.

World News Capsules:
1. Radicalism prompts warnings in France
....News of police raids in France aimed at young extremist Muslims added to the anxieties of French Jews and Muslims worried about the expansion of radical Islam.
2. Greek leader greets Merkel as protestss rage in streets

....Greek authorities sought to shield Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany from protesters angered by painful austerity measures during a visit to Athens aimed at showing solidarity with the country
3. India's embrace of foreign retailers

....Those younger than 25 seem eager to try foreign brands, while many older Indians say they are not entirely comfortable with big-box stores and sprawling malls.
4. Strict new procedures for Iran currency trading after protest
....The police moved to arrest unlicensed currency dealers and increase patrols in Tehran to prevent unofficial trading from disrupting new official exchange rates for Iran's currency, the rial.
5. Mexican Navy says it may have killed wanted drug lord
....The navy said it was conducting forensic tests to identify two men killed on Sunday, one bearing "strong signs" of being Heriberto Lazcano, the leader of the Zetas criminal group. The death of Heriberto Lazcano, known as El Lazca, was confirmed through fingerprint analysis, the navy said. But in an odd twist, the corpse was quickly stolen.
6. High court in Philippines suspends contentious internet law
....The Supreme Court of the Philippines on Tuesday suspended a new Internet law that critics had said could lead to imprisonment for sharing posts on social media..
7. Teenage school activist survives attack by Taliban

....Malala Yousafzai, 14, an advocate for the education of girls in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, was shot in the head.
8. South Africa has a black "idol." The surprise is that it's a first

....In South Africa, nothing, not even a singing competition, escapes examination under a powerful racial lens. After eight seasons, “Idols SA,” the South African version of “American Idol,” has crowned its first black pop idol — one who represents 80 percent of the country’s population.
9. Qaida-linked group claims responsibility for Syrian blasts
....The Nusra Front for the People of the Levant, a group Western intelligence officials have linked to Al Qaeda, said its bombers struck a government compound on the outskirts of Damascus overnight.
10. Chavez calls for unity after victory in Venezuela
....But Pres. Hugo Chávez appeared unlikely to grant concessions to the opposition, despite its best showing against him.

US News Capsules:
1. Opposition as aquarium seeks import of whales

....Marine parks say the imports are needed for breeding and research, but approval would end an import hiatus of nearly two decades.
2. Attention disorder or not, pills to help in school

....Drugs that normally are used to increase focus are used in some cases simply to improve performance at school.
3. Race and college admissions, facing a test by justices
....This week, the Supreme Court is to hear the case of Abigail Fisher, who said she was rejected by a university because she is white, drawing new attention to affirmative action's constitutionality.
4. Georgia law requiring proof of legal residency creates licensing backlog
....The law was designed to prevent illegal immigrants from getting professional licenses. It has led to weeks of waiting time.
5. Redefining medicine with apps and iPads

....Technology has given clinicians new tools to diagnose symptoms, decide treatments and to share information, changing what it means to be a doctor or a patient.
a. Laboratories seek new ways to take a look inside

....A new wave of imaging technologies, driven by the falling cost of computing, is transforming the way doctors can examine patients.
6. Researchers wring hands a US clamps down on death record access
....A shift by the Social Security Administration to limit access to its death records is beginning to slow research, such as assessments of hospital safety and efforts to spot consumer fraud.
POLITICS:
1. With new vigor, Romney resets Ohio campaign
....If one place is emerging as a test of Mitt Romney's ability to capitalize on a new dynamic in the presidential race, it is Ohio.
2. New 'Super PACs' alter landscape for House races
....A possibly potent kind of super PAC is proliferating in the closing weeks of the campaign, transforming Congressional races with a barrage of outside money,
3. North Caarolina blacks for Obama, Key in 2008, are uncertain in '12
....The strong turnout among blacks voting for Barack Obama in 2008 helped turn North Carolina into a blue state for the first time in decades.

Thought for Today
"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."
--John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963) 35th President of the US.

[pegasus]

Health Literacy Month

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 284th day of 2012 with 81 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:07 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 54ºF [Feels like 54ºF], winds WSW @ 14 mph, humidity 66%, pressure 29.81 in and rising, dew point 43ºF, chance of precipitation 50%.

Today in History:
732--the Battle of Tours near Poitiers, France: Frankish leader Charles Martel defeated a Spanish Moorish army, halting the Muslim advance into Western Europe.
1775--Sir William Howe was named commander in chief of the British army in the colonies.
1780--Hurricane San Calisto, the Great Hurricane of 1780, the deadliest storm ever recorded, ravaged the West Indies, killing more than 20,000 people.
1845--the US Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, M.d, with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.
1862--Confederate Gen. John Bankhead Magruder was given command of the Texas-Mississippi Department.
1881--Charles Darwin publishef The Formation of Vegetable Mold Through the Action of Worms that he considered the more important than his The Origin of Species (1859),
1886--the tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.
1911--revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen overthrew China's Manchu dynasty.
1917--Thelonious Monk, the world-renowned American jazz pianist and composer, was born; died 1982 at age 64.
1935--George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, the first great American opera, premiered on Broadway.
1943--Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.
1944--800 Gypsy children were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz.
1951--Pres. Truman signed the Mutual Security Act, announcing tothat the US was prepared to provide military aid to "free peoples. of the world.
1957--Pres.Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanian Finance Minister, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, who had been refused service at a restaurant in Dover, Del.
1957--Windscale, a nuclear reactor located in Cumbria, UK, core caught fire releasing radioactive contamination into the surrounding area.
1965--the US 1st Cavalry Division commenced operations in Vietnam.
1966--the Beach Boys released the single "Good Vibrations."
1970--October Crisis in Canada: the Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ) kidnaped Quebec labor minister Pierre Laporte in Montreal.
1970--Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule.
1971--London Bridge (sold, dismantled and moved to the US) opened in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
1973--Spiro Agnew became the 1st Vice President to resign in disgrace, being charged with tax evasion and political corruption, while governor of Maryland.
1979--Hockey Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers
1985--U.S. Navy F-14 fighters intercept an Egyptian airliner attempting to fly the Palestinian hijackers of the Achille Lauro to freedom forcing it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily.
1985--Orson Welles ,(cademy Award-winning director, writer actor and producer, died from a heart attack at his home in Hollywood, Calif.
1985--Yul Brynner, Russian born actor best known for his portrayal of the Siamese king in the musical The King and I, died from lung cancer.
1991--former US postal worker Joseph Harris shot two former co-workers to death at the post office in Ridgewood, NJ.
1995--Israel freed some 900 Palestinian prisoners and pulled its troops out of four towns as the second phase of the peace plan was implemented on the West Bank.
1997--the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jody Williams of Putney, Vt. were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
2001--representatives of 56 Islamic nations, in an emergency meeting on Qatar, condemned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
2002--the US House of Representatives voted 296-133 to give Pres. Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq. (The Senate followed suit the next day.)
2002--former Presi. Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and his commitment to human rights and democratic values around the world.
2003--Iranian lawyer Shurin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace PRize for her work in promoting democracy and human rights in Iran and beyond., the first Muslim woman to win the award.
2004--quadrapelgiac actor, Christopher Reeve (Superman), died at age 52.
2005--Angela Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor and its first leader from the former Communist east.
2007--a US Foreign Relations Committee resolution labeled as genocide Turkey's killing of some 1.5 million Armenians during World War I.
2008--Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the right to marry, making it the 3rd state to legalize gay marriages.
2010--JDame oan Sutherland, Australian dramatic coloratura soprano, died in her Switzerland home at age 83 from cardiopulmonary failure.

World News Capsules:
1. China snubs financial meetings in Japan in dispute over islands
....The last-minute cancellation came as a Japanese news agency reported that Tokyo may try to defuse the standoff by officially acknowledging that China also claims the East China Sea islands.
a. US sets tariffs on Chinese solar panels
....The Commerce Department issued its final ruling in a long trade dispute, imposing tariffs of 34% to 47%, somewhat higher than those announced by the administration earlier this year.
b. Chinese company sets new rhythm in port of Piraeus

....Cosco, a Chinese company, is running its part of the port of Piraeus in a much different way from the way the Greek company nearby operates. Some see it as an example; others see it as a menace.
2. French terror investigators find bomb-making materials
....French police discovered bomb-making materials and weapons during their continuing investigation into a group of young Islamic radicals arrested on Saturday.
3. Germany's central bank escalates dispute over bond buying
....The Bundesbank’s outspoken dissent on the European Central Bank’s bond buying program is becoming an increasing annoyance to Mario Draghi, the E.C.B.’s president.
4. Radical cleric fights extradition from Britain to Jordan
....The preacher, known as Abu Qatada, has been resisting extradition for seven years and has spent long periods in detention or under restriction for more than a decade.
a. A mayor with a prime minister in his shadow

....Mayor Boris Johnson of London, the crazy-haired and incorrigible provocateur, is often a thorn in the side of his fellow Conservative Party member, Prime Minister David Cameron.
5. US military is sent to Jordan to help with crisis in Syria
....The United States military has secretly sent a task force to Jordan to help handle a flood of Syrian refugees and be positioned should the turmoil in Syria expand into a wider conflict.
a. Jordan struggles to absorb refugees
....The flood of refugees from Syria is straining the limited resources of both the Jordanian government and aid agencies.
6. At hearing on Libya attack that killed envoy, partisan rift
....US House Republicans accused the State Department of shortchanging security at the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
7. North Korea says a long-range missile test is now more likely
....North Korea said that it felt freer to test a long-range missile now that Washington has agreed to let South Korea nearly triple the reach of its ballistic missiles, putting all of the North within their range.
8. Pakistan erupts in anger over Taliban's shooting of schoolgirl

....Pakistanis from across the political and religious spectrum united in revulsion over the attack on Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner.
a. Girl shot by Taliban in critical condition after surgery

....Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was attacked in Pakistan, was expected to be sent abroad for further treatment after undergoing a procedure to remove a bullet.
c. Battle eases between Pakistani government and high court
....The two sides came closer to a settlement over the draft of a letter to the authorities in Switzerland that could theoretically revive corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
9. Moscow court frees one member of punk protest band
....The appellate court upheld the guilty verdict against all three members of Pussy Riot, but ruled that one of them, Yekaterina Samutsevich, played a far lesser role in the cathedral stunt that led to their convictions.
10. Tensions escalate as Turkey forces down Syrian passenger jet

....Turkey sharply escalated its confrontation with Syria, forcing a Syrian plane to land on suspicion of carrying military cargo and warning of more forceful responses
11. Promoting entrepreneurship in the Gulf Region
....SeedStartup, a venture capital fund and start-up accelerator program, and “The Entrepreneur’' TV show are among efforts to promote entrepreneurship in United Arab Emirates and nearby countries.

US News Capsules:
1. Design as balm for a community's soul

....Tassafaronga Village, a mixed-income development in Oakland, Calif., and the Richardson Apartments for the formerly homeless in San Francisco have created ripples of change in their communities.
2. Number of Protestant Americans is in steep decline, study finds.
....The study also found that nearly one in five Americans identify as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular," a seismic shift from 50 years ago.
3. Two American scientists win Nobel Prize in chemistry
....Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz of Duke University and Dr. Brian K. Kobilka of Stanford University were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on receptors in the body’s cells.
4. One man guides the fight against gay marriage
....In the roiling state-by-state war over same-sex marriage, the campaign against marriage rights has been masterminded largely by Frank Schubert, a former corporate public relations executive.
5. Lawmakers focus on small drugmakers as meningitis death tolll rises
....Lawmakers called for new laws to ensure federal oversight of the type of pharmacy that made the medicine that has so far killed 11 people in a national outbreak of meningitis.
6. A bigger paycheck on Wall Street
....Total compensation rose 4% last year to more than $60 billion - an amount surpassed only by total pay in 2007 and 2008, according to a report.
7. A changed court revisits affirmative action in college admissions

....The US Supreme Court debated the nature and value of diversity in higher education and the role of the courts in policing how much weight admissions officers may assign to race.
8. Three drugs to be tested for use in preventing Alzheimer's

....Three studies are starting early next year with the same goal: finding a way to head off the disease with early intervention.
POLITICS:
1. As Romney repeates trade message, Bain maintains China ties
....Mitt Romney has kept up his criticism of China even as the equity firm he co-founded, Bain Capital, maintains its China-related holdings.
2. Fiscal clifff may be felt gradually, analyst say
....If Congress fails to act, spending cuts and tax increases large enough to throw the country back into recession will hit. The impact would be powerful but gradual.
3. Networks like split-screens in debates, even if the candidates don't
....Campaigns have had limited success trying to control how television networks show their candidates during debates, especially in split-screen and reaction shots.
4. Schumer shakes up deficit talks with call to raise taxes on the rich
....Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) criticized a proposal to lower top tax rates but still raise revenue, complicating efforts to reach a deficit-reduction deal before January’s “fiscal cliff” takes effect.
5. Before hearings on Libya attack, charges of playing politics
....Members of the House committee investigating the attacks that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens accused one another of exploiting the violence to score partisan political points.

Thought for Today
"Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise. "
--Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English philosopher

[pegasus]

National Clock Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 286th day of 2012 with 79 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 8:37 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 38ºF [Feels like 38ºF], winds WSW @ 6 mph, humidity 57%, pressure 30.40 in and rising, dew point 24ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1216-http://www.kathrynrblake.com/images/153_Lost_Treasure_of_King_John-1216_10-12.jpg-King John of England's Royal Treasure was lost in The Wash, a square-mouthed estuary on the northwest margin of East Anglia.
1492--Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted a Bahamian island, believing he has reached East Asia.
1537--Edward VI, King of England (1547-53) succeeding his father Henry VIII, was born; died 1553 at age 15.
1654--Delft Explosion occurred when a gunpowder store exploded destroying much of the city of Delft and killing over 100 people.
1776--British troops headed up the East River in New York.
1810--the German festival Oktoberfest was first held in Munich to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
1822--Pedro (Peter) I of Brazil was proclaimed as the first emperor of Brazil/
1860--Elmer Sperry, inventor best known for perfecting the use of gyroscopes, was born; died 1930 at age 69.
1870--Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of NOrthern Virginia and a Confederate leader, died in Lexington, Va., at age 63.
1891--(St.) Edith Stein, a German scholar and Carmelite nun; executed by Nazis because of her Jewish background, was born; died 1942 at age 50.
1915--British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium.
1918--a massive forest fire rages through Minnesota, killing 100s of people and leaving 1000s homeless, burning at least 1,500 square miles.
1928--the iron lung (invented by Philip Drinker and Louis Shaw) was first used in Boston Children's Hospital.
1945--Pfc. Desmond T. Doss was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman, the first conscientious objector in American history to receive the nation's highest military award.
1960--Nikita Khrushchev removed his shoe and pounded a table in protest at an anti-Soviet speech at the United Nations.
1960--Inejiro Asanuma, politican head of the Japanese Socialist Party; was assassinated on live TV by 17-year-old Otoya Yamaguchi.
1962--the Columbus Day Storm (an extratropical wave cyclone) struck the Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities leaving 46 dead.
1964--the Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1 with cosmonauts Vladamir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov, and Boris Yegorov aboard, the first spacecraft to carry a multi-person crew.
1967--Dean Rusk criticized congressional proposals for peace initiatives, while fighting continues in South Vietnam.
1968--susala's favorite actor, Hugh Jackman. turns 44.
1970--Pres. Nixon announced another round of troop withdrawals from Vietnam.
1971--Jesus Christ Superstar, a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, opened on Broadway.
1972--forty six sailors are injured in a race riot involving more than 100 sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk enroute to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam.
1973--Pres. Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford, R-Mich., to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.
1984--British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an attempt on her life when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England, killing five people.
1986--talks between Pres. Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate.
1994--the Magellan Probe descended into the thick atmosphere of Venus causing NASA to lose contact with it.
1998--gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard died five days after he was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie.
1999--the Day of Six Billion is a day designated by the UN Population Fund where the world population reached six billion.
1999--Pakistan's military overthrew the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
2000--two al-Qaida suicide bombers in an explosives-laden boat rammed into the destroyer the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 sailors.
2002--a bomb destroyed a nightclub on the mainly Hindu island of Bali, killing 202 people by Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida.
2007--former Vice Pres. Al Gore and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming with An Inconvenient Truth.
2011--Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian al-Qaida operative, pleaded guilty to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear and was later sentenced to life in prison.
2012--the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

World News Capsules:
1. Seven British Royal Marines investigated in Afghan killing
....Authorities in London said seven members of the Royal Marines military unit had been arrested on suspicion of murder after “an engagement with an insurgent” in Afghanistan last year.
2. After fury over 2010 Peace Prize, China embraces Nobel literature selection
....China erupted in something close to a national celebration for the writer Mo Yan, just two years after the government condemned a Nobel Peace Prize for the dissident Liu Xiaobo.
a. Chinese Nobel winner calls for dissident's release
....Mo Yan, the new Nobel laureate, stepped into a political minefield over Liu Xiaobo, 2010’s peace prize winner.
b. New details of how wife of Chinese politician thought she was poisoned
....Gu Kailai, the wife of Bo Xilai, the disgraced politician, was told by a doctor that she had been ingesting poison that someone had slipped into herbal capsules, a lawyer said.
c. China and Japan say they held talks about island dispute that has frayed relations
....A senior Chinese diplomat visited Tokyo this week to hold talks aimed at defusing tensions between Japan and China over a group of disputed islands, a Japanese official said.
3. Nobel Peace Prize for European Union, mired in crisis

....The Norwegian Nobel Committee honored the European Union’s role over six decades in reconciling former enemies, even as the region faces economic strife.
a. Some Norwegians dismayed over Nobel Peace Prize for EU

....The Socialist Left Party accused the Nobel committee’s chairman, a longtime advocate of Norway joining the European Union, of playing politics by honoring the body.
b. A third weapon to save the euro
....The president of the European Council has proposed creating a separate budget for the euro zone, perhaps equipped with a central treasury and borrowing powers.
4. In Haiti, little can be found of a hip-hop artist's charity

....The charity created by Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-born hip-hop celebrity, effectively went out of business last month, leaving a trail of debts, unfinished projects and broken promises with an examination of the charity indicating that millions in donations for earthquake victims went to the organization, not the country.
5. The West's stalwart ally in the war on drugs: Iran (Yes, THAT Iran)

....Iranian forces are seizing the highest amounts of opiates and heroin worldwide, a United Nations report says.
6. Japan power company admits failings on plant precautions
....Tepco, whose Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered meltdowns after the tsunami last year, says it failed to take stronger preventive measures for fear of lawsuits or setting off safety concerns.
7. Hezbollah says it flew Iranian-designed drone into Israel
....The Lebanese militant group said the drone, which was shot down by Israeli forces, had been designed in Iran and assembled by Hezbollah experts in Lebanon.
8. Libya attack gains stem as issue in race for US presidency
....Mitt Romney’s campaign accused Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. of trying “to mislead the American public” in remarks about the Benghazi episode during the debate.
9. Fear grows as Mali extremists compile list of unwed mothers


....Radical Islamists are compiling a list of unmarried mothers in northern Mali, raising fears of cruel punishments such as stoning, amputations and executions, a senior UN official said.
10. Taliban reiterate vow to kill Pakistani girl

....The Pakistan police said they had made several arrests in the shooting of the teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, but the Taliban said she would be targeted again.
a. Next two days crucial for Pakistani teen activist's recovery
....The recovery of a 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the neck and now breathes on a ventilator hinges on what happens over the next two days,
b. Pakistani teenager in hiding after blasphemy accusation, police say
....Police in the port city of Karachi opened a case against a Christian teenager, Ryan Stanten, after a mob ransacked his home over a rumor that he had sent blasphemous messages.
11. Russia says impounded Syrian plane had radar gear

....The statement comes a day after Turkish officials said they had found Russian munitions in a jetliner forced to land in Turkey.
a. Masked men attack crowd at a gay bar in Moscow
....Two dozen masked men stormed one of the city’s most popular gay bars early Thursday and beat patrons — most of them women — with fists and bottles.
12. South Korean official warns of 'existential threat' from north
....A senior South Korean policy maker said that it must be assumed that Pyongyang has the capacity to mount a nuclear device on a ballistic missile.
13. Turkish premier says Russian munitions were found on Syrian jet
....Turkey's prime minister said a Syrian plane forced to land in Ankara contained equipment and ammunition.

US News Capsules:
1. Tribes add potent voice against plan for northwest coal terminals
....American Indians, citing possible injury to fishing rights and religious and sacred sites, have joined environmental groups and politicians in opposing a plan for six export terminals.
2. Panetta warns of dire threat of cyberattack on US
...Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta warned that the US was facing the possibility of a "cyber-Pearl Harbor" and was increasingly vulnerable to foreign computer hackers.
3. New Orleans limits hurricane-themed excursions
....City officials have put some streets in the hurricane-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward off limits to tour buses.
4. Before a wave of meningitis, shots were tied to risks
....Injections of steroids near the spine have been linked to other rare but devastating complications, including nerve damage, paralysis and strokes.
5. Drafting antitrust case, FTC raises pressure on Google

(Jon Leibowitz, chairman, FTC)
....For investigators preparing a recommendation that the government sue, a main line of inquiry has been whether Google has manipulated its search results to favor its products.
6. Last-Dietch bid in Texas to try to stop oil pipeline

....Environmentalists have taken to treetops in Winnsboro, Tex., to try to block bulldozers building the southern leg of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
7. Oakland sues US to prevent closing of marijuana dispensary
....The city is trying to prevent the Department of Justice from seizing property leased to Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the country.
8. Sociologist's paper raises questions on role of faith in scholarship
....The case of sociologist Mark Regnerus, an outspoken Christian who was criticized over a paper suggesting that children raised by gay parents fared poorly, raises the question of whether faith shapes scholarship.
9. US struggles to rescue green program hit by fraud
....A federal program intended to promote biodiesel through renewable energy credits has attracted counterfeiters and is hurting the market for smaller biodiesel producers.
10. Dismembered body identified as missing Colorado girl

....Law enforcement is shifting focus from a search for 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway to a manhunt for the unknown "predator" officers say abducted and killed her.
POLITICS:
1. Biden and Ryan quarrel aggressively in debate, offering contrasts

....Vice Pres. Biden and Rep. Ryan engaged in a fluent and combative exchange over the Obama administration's handling of foreign affairs and the nation's economic recovery.
a. On foreign policy, rivals differing instyle but often similar in substance
....Rep. Ryan asserted that the Obama administration’s foreign policy was “unraveling,” while Vice Pres. Biden repeatedly demanded that Mr. Ryan explain what a Romney administration would do differently.
2. New front in campaign as GOP seizes on Libya attack

....Mitt Romney’s campaign accused Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. of trying “to mislead the American public” in remarks about the Benghazi episode during the debate.
4. A feisty debate crystallizes differences in tight Massachusetts race
....Elizabeth Warren and Senator Scott P. Brown kept the pressure on each other throughout an hourlong debate Wednesday night in Springfield.

Thought for Today
"It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late."
--[/i]W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), English author.


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Right-Brainers Rule Month

Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 287th day of 2012 with 78 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:17 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 50ºF [Feels like 50ºF], winds SSE @ 9 mph, humidity 38%, pressure 30.26 in and falling, dew point 25ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
54--Roman emperor Claudius I died after eating poisoned mushrooms given to him by his wife, the Empress Agrippina, and was succeeded by Nero as emperor of Rome.
1307--100s of Knights Templar in France were arrested by agents of King Philip IV the Fair and their property seized to be later tortured into admitting heresy.
1754--Molly Pitcher, American Revolutionary heroine, was born; died 1832 at age 77.
1773--the Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier.
1775--the Continental Congress authorized the establishment of the Continental Navy, later renamed the US Navy.
1792-- the cornerstone was laid for a presidential residence in the newly designated capital city of Washington.
1812--British and Indian forces under Sir Isaac Brock defeated an Americans force at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, Ontario, ending any further U.S. invasion of Canada.
1815--Joachim Murat, cavalry leader and one of Napoleon's most famous marshals, who became king of Naples in 1808, was captured and shot after trying to re-capture Naples.
1843--B'nai B'rith, the oldest Jewish service organization in the world, was founded in New York City.
1845--Texans ratified a state constitution and approved US annexation.
1863--Ohio voters rejected Copperhead leader Clement Vallandigham as governor of their state.
1884--Greenwich, England was established as the universal time meridian of longitude from which standard times throughout the world are calculated.
1885--Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) was founded.
1903--the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 to win the first World Series five games to three.
1917--The Miracle of the Sun was a reported miraculous event witnessed by as many as 100,000 people in Fatima, Portugal.
1925--Margaret Thatcher, Former British prime minister and the only woman to hold that office, turns 87.
1943--26-year-old poet Robert Lowell was sentenced to jail for a year for evading the draft, objecting to saturation bombing in Europe and other Allied tactics.
1943--Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.
1950--James Stewart starred in Harvey, a drama about an eccentric man whose best friend is a giant invisible rabbit.
1957--The Amazing Colossal Man, a popular sci-fi film, reflected America's ambivalence about nuclear weapons.
1960--Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy participated in the 3rd televised debate, with Nixon in Hollywood, Calif., and Kennedy in New York.
1960--the World Series ended with a home run for the first time as Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a round-tripper in the ninth inning of Game 7 against the New York Yankees.
1962--Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, 34, opened on Broadway.
1963--Beatlemania hit the London Palladium as the rock group the Beatles made their first major televsion show appearance on the BBC.
1966--Defense Secretary Robert McNamara claimed that the Vietnam war was progressing satisfactorily.
1972--Uruguayan AF Flight 571 crashed in the Andes Mountains with 45 people and by the time they were rescued in Dec only 16 survived.
1974--Ed Sullivan, an American gossip columnist and television host, died of esophogeal cancer.
1977--Four Palestinians hijacked a Lufthansa airliner and demand the release of 11 imprisoned members of Germany's Baader-Meinhof terrorist group or the Red Army Faction.
1981--Egyptians voted in a referendum Vice Pres. Hosni Mubarak the new president.
1987--Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -- the first winner from Central America.
1988--the Shroud of Turin, revered by many Christians as Christ's burial cloth, was shown by carbon-dating tests to be a fake from the Middle Ages.
1988--Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz became the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
1990--the plaintive echoes of Slavonic chant drifted across Red Square as the first Russian Orthodox service for more than 70 years was held in St. Basil's Cathedral, next to the Kremlin.
1993--the UN Security Council voted to reinstate an oil and arms embargo against Haiti after its military leaders refused to step down as promised.
1994--Northern Ireland's Loyalist terror groups announced a cease-fire to match that from the Irish Republican Army.
1998--the NBA canceled the first two weeks of its regular season because of a lockout.
1999--the Colorado grand jury was dismissed in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case, when prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to charge anyone.
1999--the US Senate rejected a treaty that banned underground nuclear testing, but Pres. Clinton pledged to abide by the treaty's provisions.
2004--investigators reported unearthing a mass grave in northern Iraq containing hundreds of bodies of women and children believed killed in the 1980s.
2005--about 128 people were killed in clashes between Islamic militants and law enforcement officers in the southern Russian town of Nalchik.
2005--British playwright Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize in literature.
2006--the UN General Assembly appointed South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon the next U.N. secretary-general.
2006--Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, dubbed the banker to the poor, won the Nobel Peace Prize for grassroots efforts to lift millions out of poverty.
2008--US markets surged after European leaders announced plans to shore up their financial systems.
2008--Big Brown, 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner. sustained an injury to a hind hoof while working out for the Breeders's Cup Classic and was retired.
2010-http://www.kathrynrblake.com/images/153_Chilean_Rescue_by_Nasa-2010_10-13-wipe.gif-in a Rescue Capsule designed by NASA engineer Clinton Cragg, rescuers in Chile pulled 33 men one by one to freedom 69 days after they were trapped in a collapsed mine a half-mile underground

World News Capsules:
1. Afghan boys eke living amid peril at gorge

....The war economy touches everybody in Afghanistan and will leave a desperate hole when it is gone — not least for the Pepsi bottle boys, a prime example of how Afghans have fit their lives around America’s military presence.
2. China exports rise, hinting at a glimmer of a revival
.....Strengthened exports to the US may increase trade frictions as White House and Politburo contenders engage in political grandstanding.
a. Chinese Nobel Prize winner calls for dissident's release
....Mo Yan, the new Nobel laureate for literature, stepped into a political minefield over Liu Xiaobo, 2010’s peace prize winner.
3. Despite Prize, European Union loses much of its appeal as unity eludes continent
....The economic goals that the organization was founded on may not be enough to sustain it in the future, some commentators said.
4. Sex life was 'out of step,' Strauss-Kahn says, but not illegal

....Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seeking to throw out charges in an inquiry into ties to a French prostitution ring, arguing that the authorities are trying to “criminalize lust.”
5. Church's muscle helped propel president's rivals to victory in Georgia
....The elections brought an end to the 8-year dominance of Presi. Mikheil Saakashvili and his team, and their push to introduce Western ways to this conservative society.
6. US rethinks a drug war after deaths in Honduras
....A series of deaths involving a US antidrug program in Honduras show what can go wrong when war tactics are used against a problem that goes well beyond drugs.
7. US suspects Iranians were behind a wave of cyberattacks

....Intelligence officials believe Iran was the origin of network attacks that crippled computers across the Saudi oil industry and breached American financial institutions.
8. Secret Israel-Syria peace talks involved Golan Heights exit
....Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu engaged in secret peace treaty discussions with Syria in 2010, but the Arab Spring intervened, according to an Israeli involved in the talks.
a. Israeli ex-soldier recalls captivity under mlitants
....Gilad Shalit said in a rare interview that he feared that if he were left too long, people would lose track of where he was and that his captors “would make me disappear.”.
9. Private security overs as issue after Benghazi, Libya
....Lost amid the election-year wrangling over the embassy attack in Benghazi, Libya, is a complex back story involving regional resentment against American private security contractors.
a. Focus was on Tripoli in requests for security in Libya

....Calls to extend the tours of security teams that were denied by the State Department largely concerned the embassy in Tripoli — not Benghazi, the site of a lethal attack.
10. 15 killed in sicide attack in Pakistan
....A suicide bomber exploded his vehicle at an arms bazaar in northwestern Pakistan, killing 16 people and wounding 15, a senior government official said.
11. Fighting for women in the 'dark heaven' of Gaza
....In a male-dominated society, Andalib Adwan Shehada has challenged attitudes toward abuse, rape, honor killing and divorce.
a. 'Palestinians go to the polls
....Maysoun Qawasmi leads the first all-woman list of candidates for elective office in the Palestinian territories.
12. Russia says 20 caucasus groups shut down
....The Russian security agency said 20 nongovernmental organizations in Ingushetia were shut for having links to foreign spy agencies, but local groups say none appear to have been closed.
13. Unfulfilled promises are replacing prospects of a better life in South Africa
....Infighting among leaders of the ruling African National Congress has all but paralyzed the government’s response to the country’s economic, social and political issues.
14. In Spain's housing bust, sell-off brings bargains
....Banks sitting on a pile of real estate assets are beginning to slash prices, eager to get out of the business of being landlords.
15. On edge as Syria's war knocks ever harder on the door to Turkey
....A journey through the borderlands found that the slow-boiling resentment over the troubles wrought by Syria's war may be a mere prologue to the danger that lies ahead.
16. Syria's war edges closer to Turkey
....Turkish residents are witnessing one of the gravest concerns about the Syrian conflict: that it would spill over the border and become a regional conflagration
a. Turkey faults UN inaction over Syria
....In a sign of escalating frustration in Turkey after days of cross-border shelling with Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out against the United Nations’ inaction in Syria.

US News Capsules:
1, Ex-workers at firm tied to pharmacy had safety fears
....After a deadly meningitis outbreak, some former employees described shortcuts at a drugmaker with many of the same owners as the New England Compounding Center.
2. Space Shuttle Endeavour rolls through Los Angeles[/u]

....The spacecraft attracted a parade atmosphere as it drew crowds during its slow trip through city streets to its retirement at the California Science Center.
3. Turning point for suits over Chinese drywall
....1000s of homes were renovated using drywall from China, which is claimed to have emitted troubling odors, caused appliances to not work and brought on health problems.
4. Juvenile killers and life terms: a case in point
....A Supreme Court ruling has opened the possibility that juvenile offenders serving life sentences might get a second chance — and reopened old wounds.
5. AFTS: Bending time, bending minds

....The directors of Cloud Atlas jiggered puzzles and confronted challenges in bringing David Mitchell’s novel to the screen
6. A grand experiment to rein in climate change
....On Jan. 1, California will become the first state in the nation to charge industries across the economy for the greenhouse gases they emit.
7. Seven more cancer scientists quit Texas institute over grants
....At least seven more scientists have resigned in protest of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, claiming that the agency is charting a “politically driven” path that puts commercial interests first.
8. Mystery surrounds graves at boys' reform school
[/img]
....A small cemetery buried deep into the grounds of a now-defunct boys reform school dates back to the early 1900s. Rusting white steel crosses mark the graves of 31 unidentified former students that a 2009 state investigation said there was no evidence of criminal activity connected with any of them.
POLITICS:
1. New front in campaign as GOP seizes on Libya attack

....Mitt Romney’s campaign accused Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. of trying “to mislead the American public” in remarks about the Benghazi episode during the debate.
2. Voter registration rolls in 2 states are called vulnerable
....Computer security experts have identified vulnerabilities in the voter databases in Maryland and Washington State, raising concerns about the ability of hackers to disenfranchise voters.
3. GOP Senate hopes fade, even as Romney's rise, polls show
....The FiveThirtyEight forecast model now gives Republicans just about a 16% chance of winning control of the Senate. This is a precipitous drop from just two months ago.
4. As Massachusetts governor, Romney was often away
....Particularly in the last two years of his term, Mitt Romney was often missing from Massachusetts on personal trips or political ones unrelated to his job.
5. Colleges take a leap into voter registration
....By incorporating voter sign-up into campus musts like orientation and class registration, universities have taken over work previously handled by outside groups.
6. GOP ticket focuses on crucial Ohio votes
....The Republican ticket has all but taken up residence in vital Ohio: Mitt Romney spent four days in the state this week and Representative Paul D. Ryan two, with plans to return Monday

Thought for Today
"I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability."
--[/i]Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish playwright


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

International Day of Rural Women
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 289th day of 2012 with 76 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 8:47 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 52ºF [Feels like 52ºF], winds WSW @ 13 mph, humidity 71%, pressure 29.73 in and rising, dew point 43ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
70 BC--Virgil, Roman poet ("The Aeneid"), was born; died 19 BC at age 48.
1581--commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the "Ballet Comique de la Reine" was staged in Paris., considered to be the first major ballet.
1780--1,000 British regulars, Hessians, Loyalists and Indians, led by Loyalist Sir John Johnson and Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant, tried to attack Middleburgh , NY.
1815--Napoleon, French military and political leader, was exiled by the British to the island of St. Helena.
1863--a Confederate submarine sank during tests.
1880--Chiricahua Apache leader Victorio was killed south of El Paso, Tex.
1892--the US government made the Crow Indians relinquish 1.8 million acres of their reservation for 50 cents per acre, which was then opened to white settlement.
1917--Mata Hari wais executed for espionage by a French firing squad at Vincennes outside of Paris.
1928--the German airship Graf Zeppelin completed its first journey across the Atlantic from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst, NJ. 1945--Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of Nazi-occupied Vichy France, was executed by firing squad for treason against France.
1946--Herman Goering, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe and Hitler's designated successor, committed suicide hours before he was to have been executed.
1951--the situation comedy I Love Lucy premiered on CBS .
1954--Hurricane Hazel ,the 4th major hurricane of 1954, hammered southern Ontario, Canada, after everywhere from Jamaica to Canada, killing more than 400 people and causing over $1 billion in damages.
1965-- the first public burning of a draft card in the US was staged by student-run National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam.
1966--Operation Attleboro continued in Tay Ninh Province.
1969--National Moratorium demonstrations by anti-war activists were held across the US.
1970--West Gate Bridge, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, collapsed during construction killing 35 workers.
1976--Democrat Walter F. Mondale and Republican Bob Dole faced off in the first debate between vice-presidential nominees.
1984--astronomers in Pasadena, Calif., displayed the first photographic evidence of another solar system 293 trillion miles from Earth.
1987--Great Storm of 1987 was an unusually strong weather system that became the worst storm to hit England since 1703.
1989--Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's NHL career scoring record of 1,850 points, during a game with the Edmonton Oilers.
1990--Mikhail Gorbachev won Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending Cold War tensions.
1991--Clarence Thomas was confirmed 52-48 to the Supreme Court by the US Senate.
1992--a man who terrorized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don for more than a decade with a series of more than 50 grisly killings was sentenced to death.
1993--Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end apartheid in South Africa.
1993--the Pentagon censured three US Navy admirals who organized the Tailhook Association convention in 1991 during which scores of women had been subjected to abuse and indignities by junior officers.
1997--Cassini Probe (NASA Fly-by orbiter and lander commissioned to study Saturn and its moons) was launched.
1999--the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the international group Doctors Without Borders.
2001--a package containing a substance believed to be anthrax was opened in the personal office of US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD.
2001--NASA's Galileo Orbiter spacecraft came within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon IO
2002--the Washington-area sniper claimed his ninth fatality, a female FBI analyst, as the massive manhunt continued.
2002--ImClone Systems founder Sam Waksal pleaded guilty in New York in the biotech company's insider trading scandal.
2003--China launches Shenzhou 5 - its first human spaceflight mission.
2004--"Funeral coaches" weere exempted from car-seat law.
2004--the UN said it was getting reports of attacks against internally displaced people in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region where tens of thousands had been killed and 1.6 million others displaced.
2007--Drew Carey debuted as new host of The Price is Right.
2009--a false report that a 6-year-old boy was aboard a runaway balloon in Colorado captivated a global TV audience. (The boy's parents later pleaded guilty to charges they made up the story.)

World News Capsules:
1. Occupy supporters stage protest in London
....Several supporters of the anti-corporate Occupy movement chained themselves to the pulpit of St. Paul's Cathedral to mark the anniversary of its now-dismantled protest camp outside the London landmark.
2. North Koreans see few gains below top tier
...Interviews in China with four North Koreans suggest daily life has not improved under Kim Jong-un for those who fall outside the nation's elite.
3. Malala Yousafzai is sent to Britain for medical treatment

....Ms. Yousafzai, who was shot by Taliban gunmen for advocating for girls' education, will require prolonged care to fully recover physically and psychologically, a military spokesman said.
a. Pakisstan offers bounty over shooting
....Pakistan's interior minister offered a $1 million bounty for the Pakistani Taliban's spokesman over the shooting of Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousufzai.
4. Austerity protests are rude awakening in Portugal
....The Portuguese have suddenly joined the swelling ranks of Europe's discontented, following Greece and Spain.
5. Spain may pay price for delying aid requiest
....Economists are warning that waiting to seek aid, and the uncertainty the delay engenders, threatens to push the economy deeper into recession.
6. Rebel arms flow is said to benefit Jihadists in Syria
....Doubt on whether the White House's strategy of minimal and indirect intervention in the Syrian conflict is aiding a democratic-minded opposition.
7. As tension escalates, Turkey issues a ban on all Syrian aircraft

....The announcement followed Syria's ban on Turkish aircraft and became the latest volley in an increasingly aggressive dispute between the two neighbors over Syria's devastating civil war.

US News Capsules:
1. A risky lifeline for seniors is costing some their homes
....Regulators are noting new abuses tied to reverse mortgages, which let people 62 and older borrow money against the value of their homes and not pay it back until they move out or die.
2. 24 miles, 4 minutes and 834 mph, all in one jump

...In a 24-mile jump, Felix Baumgartner, a professional daredevil, became the first sky diver to break the speed of sound. "It was harder than I expected," he said.
3. Christian group finds gay agenda in an anti-bullying day
....The American Family Association is urging parents to keep children home on a day when schools encourage students to eat lunch with someone they don't usually speak to.
4. ACLU to sue Morgan Stanley over mortgage loans

....In a complaint expected to be filed Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union is accusing Morgan Stanley of fueling the production of risky, expensive loans that targeted African-American borrowers.
5. Unique morning show on NPR thrives as others slip
....NPR's "Morning Edition" has one of the most peculiar formats of any morning show on radio or television: its hosts Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne are split between the East Coast and the West.
6. Nobel Prize for economics awarded to two US economists


....Alvin E. Roth of Harvard University and Lloyd Shapley of UCLA have been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for their work in market design and matching theory, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced.
POLITICS:
1. Never to be outdone, Vegas sets record for political ads
....The city, home not just to a closely fought presidential race but to competitive House and Senate races as well, is the epicenter of a nationwide advertising binge.
2. The US Supreme Court to hear case on Arizona voter registration
.....The court agreed to decide whether Arizona may require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.
3. Spoiler alert! GOP fighting Libertarian's spot on the ballot
....Concerned that the Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson could hurt the Romney campaign, Republicans across the country have been working to keep him off the ballot.
4. Most crucial time for candidates may be after the debate
....If Tuesday’s debate is seen as a draw, the winner will be decided in the hours and days after, with perceptions shaped by whichever campaign manages the aftermath more effectively.

Thought for Today
"Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth."
--Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), playwright,

[pegasus]

Gaudy Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 291st day of 2012 with 74 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 9:27 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 58ºF [Feels like 58ºF], winds SE @ 5 mph, humidity 57%, pressure 29.86 in and falling, dew point 43ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1610--Louis XIII of France ascended the throne at age 8 1/2 upon the assassination of his father
1777--British Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered 5,000 British and Hessian troops to American Gen. Horatio Gates at Saratoga, NY.
1814--The Beer Flood of London occurred killing 9 with 8 due to drowning and one due to alcohol poioning.
1835--the resolution formally creating the Texas Rangers was approved by voters.
1864--Confederate Gen. James Longstreet assumed command of his corps in the Army of Northern Virginia after being wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia in May.
1906--Wilhelm Voigt, a 57-year-old German shoemaker, exploited the German army's blind obedience to authority by impersonating an army officer and leading an entire squad of soldiers to help him steal 4,000 marks.
1912--Serbia and Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire in First Balkan War.
1912--Pope John Paul I, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church (1978), was born; died 1978 at ge 65.
1918--Rita Hayworth, the legendary Hollywood star, was born; died 1987 from Alzheimer's disease at age 68.
1919--the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was created.
1931--gangster Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000, signaling the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s.
1941--the government of Prince Fumimaro Konoye, prime minister of Japan, collapsed, leaving little hope for peace in the Pacific.
1945--Col. Juan Peron staged a coup, becoming absolute ruler of Argentina.
1957--French author Albert Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.
1961--Paris police massacre more than 200 Algerians marching to support peace talks ending their country's war of independence.
1968--Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos were forced to return their medals because of their black-power salute during the medal ceremony.
1970--Pierre LaPorte, Canadian Vice-Premiere and Minister of Labout. was found dead in the trunk of a car.
1973--the OPEC states declared an oil embargo against any nation that had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
1974--{res/ Ford explained his pardon of Pres. Nixon to Congress.
1979--Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on behalf of the destitute in Calcutta.
1986--Pres. Reagan signed the act approving $100 million of military and "humanitarian" aid for the Contras in Nicaragua.
1986--the US Congress passed a landmark immigration bill, the first authorizing penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens.
1989--the Loma Prieta earthquake strikes near San Francisco, during the warm-up for the 3rd World Series Game, killing 67 people and causing more than $5 billion in damages.
1990--UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said military force would be a legitimate response to the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.
1998--British police arrested former Chilean dictator Gen. Pinochet for questioning about crimes of genocide and terrorism.
2004--Brazil authorized its air force to shoot down planes suspected of smuggling drugs.
2006--North Korea termed U.N. sanctions to punish it for its recent nuclear test a declaration of war.
2007--Pres. Bush, raising Beijing's ire, presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal and urged Chinese leaders to welcome the monk to Beijing.

World News Capsules:
1. Former Bosnian leader begins his deefense in genocide trial

....Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb wartime leader, told judges at the UN War Crimes Tribunal that he should be "rewarded for all the good things I have done."
2. Thousands mourn former King Sihanouk in Cambodain capital

....Norodom Sihanouk died at 89, after six decades of deep involvement in Cambodia’s often devastating post-independence politics.
3. US ambassador confirms meeting with Tibetans in western China
....Gary F. Locke visited two Tibetan monasteries on Sept. 26 as part of a trip to several places in western China where Tibetans have set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule.
4. Easing path out of country, Cuba is dropping exit visas
....The move by the government would allow many Cubans to depart for vacations, or forever, with only a passport and a visa from the country where they plan to go.
5. Talks on Euro Zone approach, this time under calmer conditions
....For once, the crisis atmosphere that usually accompanies such summit meetings is absent, with general recognition that the euro seems here to stay.
6. $11 million severance reported for Murdoch aide
....Rebekah Brooks, who resigned as chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's scandal-plagued British newspaper group, still faces a variety of charges.
a. As crisis widens, fears that Britain aims to exit European Union
....Though Prime Minister David Cameron says he wants Britain to stay in the European Union, popular opinion against such membership is rising in the country.
7. Greek negotiations hit snags, from inside andout
....The Greek prime minister will show up at the European summit meeting that starts Thursday with something short of an agreement on an austerity budget package.
8. For the crowded masses, a push to provide more escape patches

....With open space scarce, and much of it accessible only to those who can afford it, advocates want India’s commercial capital to create additional oases.
9. Iran media officials castigate Europe over satellite blackout
....Outrage followed a decision by Europe’s largest satellite providers to cease transmission of Iran’s 19 state-operated channels that broadcast to Europe and parts of the Middle East.
a. Persian calligraphy opens a door to modern art
....The Iranian artist Pouran Jinchi repurposes ancient forms in works that touch on abstraction. She has recently found an international audience of collectors and institutions.
10. US troops arrive in Israel for missile-defense exercise
....Austere Challenge 2012 will be the sixth in a series of joint exercises and had been planned for more than two years.
a. Israel counted Gaza calorie needs during blockade
....The Israeli military calculated the number of calories Gaza’s residents would need to consume to avoid malnutrition during a blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory between 2007 and mid-2010, according to a document released by the Defense Ministry.
11. Japanese politician's visit to shrine raises worries
....Shinzo Abe’s action raises fresh concerns about whether as a national leader he would push a right-wing agenda that would further damage Japan’s ties with Asian neighbors when they are already strained by island disputes.
12. Libya singles out Islamist as a commander in consulate attack, Libyans say
....The man, Ahmed Abu Khattala, is a leader of the Benghazi-based Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia and is still at large/
a. Clearing the record about Benghazi
....Questions mount over what happened in the attack on the American diplomatic compound last month.
13. A Picasso and a Gauguin are among 7 works stolen from a Dutch museum
....Art thieves made off overnight with seven paintings, including a Picasso, a Matisse, a Gauguin and two Monets, from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam.
14. Russia arrests opposition activist, citing terrorism threat
....The accusations against Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of a radical socialist group, suggest an acceleration of government efforts against opposition leaders.
15. Hezbollah offering direct help to Syrian Army, rebels say

....Syrian activists and rebels, and opponents of Hezbollah in Lebanon, have long accused the Islamist party of taking a direct role in the Syrian conflict, but until recently, evidence was thin
16. Venezuela's opposition struggles for unity
....Battered by the re-election of Pres. Chávez, the opposition has the difficult task of rousing its supporters for the elections for governors in the nation’s 23 states on Dec. 16.

US News Capsules:
1. A new painkiller crackdown targets drug distributors

....In a new approach to combating prescription painkiller abuse, the federal government is focusing on the middlemen between drug makers and the doctors and pharmacies that dispense drugs.
2. SCIENCE: New planet in neighborhood, astronomically speaking
....The discovery of the planet brings the search for another Earth about as close as it will ever get. But don't plan on moving in any time soon. Its surface temperature is 1,200 degrees.
3. A town abuzz over prostitution and a client list
....The release of clients' names has stirred dread and division in the postcard-perfect coastal town of Kennebunk, Me.
4. Investigators visit company tied to meningitis cases
....Agents from the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations visited the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., for the first time, acting on a sealed warrant.
5. Maker of batteries files for bankruptcy
....The filing by A123 Systems dealt a blow to the Obama administration's program to jump-start a domestic battery industry and spur development of electric vehicles.
6. Income inequality may take toll on growth
....The concentration of income in a few hands might mean, many economists say, a less vigorous economy.
7. Halting a slow fade to history
....Americans who knew the Iran hostage crisis firsthand reflect on Argo, a film about a "footnote" to that episode in history.
8. A vision to avoid demolition for a '70s pioneer

....Jeanne Gang, a leading Chicago architect, has drawn up a plan to try to save the outmoded, late-Modernist Prentice Women’s Hospital.
9. University of Phoenix to shutter 115 locations
....The University of Phoenix has announced plans to close more than half of its brick-and-mortar locations and to lay off about 800 employees, reflecting declines in the for-profit higher education sector.
10. Multivitamin use linked to lowered cancer risk

....A large clinical trial of older male physicians followed for more than a decade found that those taking a daily multivitamin experienced 8 percent fewer cancers than the subjects taking dummy pills.
11. Man is charged with plotting to bomb Federal Reserve Bank in Manhattan

....A man who the authorities said came from Bangladesh with the intent of carrying out a terror attack was caught in an F.B.I. sting operation, trying to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb .
POLITICS:
1. Rivals bring bare fists to rematch

....In a charged and clenched debate, Pres. Obama portrayed Mitt Romney as a former corporate raider, while Mr. Romney kept bringing the discussion back to Mr. Obama's record.
2. Selling the future by debating the past
....The four candidates for president and vice president have spent most of their time on the biggest public stage of the campaign fighting more about what happened in the last term than what should happen in the next.
3. Scant gains for Romney in a poll of young voters
....Despite Republican efforts, Pres. Obama has maintained a strong advantage over Mitt Romney among the crucial constituency of the young.
4. Debate moves women to fore in race for the White House
....Pres. Obama argued that Mitt Romney would oppose equal pay for women and block access to birth control, but Mr. Romney sought to defend his policies as better for women.
5. California ballot initiatives, born in Populism, now come from billionaires
....California’s ballot propositions include several from billionaires, a sign that the wealthy are using “super PACs” to influence politics in the nation’s most populous state.

Thought for Today
"At least two-thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity: idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religous or political ideas."
--Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English writer

[pegasus]

Saint Luke: Feast Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 292nd day of 2012 with 73 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6:28 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 64ºF [Feels like 64ºF], winds SSE @ 15 mph, humidity 43%, pressure 29.81 in and rising, dew point 41ºF, chance of precipitation 60%.

Today in History:
1356--Great Basel earthquake was the most significant seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history.
1469--Ferdinand of Aragon married Isabella of Castile, beginning a cooperative reign that would unite all the dominions of Spain and elevate the nation to a dominant world power.
1595--Edward Winslow, English founder of Plymouth Colony, was born; died 1655 at age 59.
1685--King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had established the legal toleration the Protestant Huguenots.
1744--Sarah Churchill, the 1st Duchess of Marlborough, died at age 85 at Marlborough House and was buried at Blenheim Palace.
1767--Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey of the boundary between the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
1851--Moby Dick, the novel by Herman Melville) was first published under the title "The Whale".
1860--British troops occupying Peking, China, loot and then burn the Yuanmingyuan, the fabulous Summer Palace built by the Manchu emperors in the 18th century.
1863--Gen. Sickles was informed by Gen. Meade that he could not resume his command until healed from his injuries incurred at Gettysburg, Pa.
1867--the US formally takes possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre.
1898--in the Spanish-American war, the US took control of Puerto Rico.
1922--the British Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (later the British Broadcasting Corp. or BBC) was founded.
1931--Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in history, died at home in West Orange, NJ, at the age of 84.
1933--R. Buckminster Fuller tried to patent his Dymaxion Car.
1942--Vice. Adm. William F. Halsey replaced Vice Adm. Robert L. Ghormley as commander, South Pacific.
1955--Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai's office in Paris announced that he had dismissed Ngo Dinh Diem from the premiership and annulled his powers.
1959--the Soviet Union announced an unmanned space vehicle had taken the first pictures of the far side of the moon.
1968--the stock market soared with rumors of bombing halt in Vietnam.
1968--John Lennon and Yoko Ono werw arrested for drug possession at their home near Montagu Square in London.
1972--the US Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding Pres. Nixon's veto.
1977--Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees hit three home runs to lead New York to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deciding Game 6 of the World Series.
1982--former first lady Bess Truman died in Independence, Mo., at age 97.
1984--Pres. Reagan ordered an investigation of a CIA handbook for Nicaraguan rebels that suggested assassination as a political tactic.
1989--East Germany and Hungary take significant steps toward ending the communist domination of their countries.
1991--Israel and the Soviet Union agreed to renew full diplomatic relations for the first time since 1967.
1991--Azerbaijan became independent of the Soviet Union .
1998--a pipeline explosion in Jesse, Nigeria, killed 700 people with the resulting fire burning for nearly a week.
2001--four defendants were convicted in New York for the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
2002--North Korea revealed it was working on a secret nuclear weapons program for which Pakistan was a major supplier.
2004--exhumation orders were issued for 42 bodies in Sonthofen, Germany, where a hospital orderly admitted to giving lethal injections to 16 patients.
2005--Iraqi election officials said parliamentary election results would be delayed a few days while procedures were checked.
2006--the US reportedly pressed the Iraqi government to offer a broad amnesty to insurgents.
2007--former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned home after eight years in exile when a suicide bomber killed a reported 139 people in her convoy.
2008 Public health officials in North Bay, Ontario, said the number of people sickened by E. coli bacteria at Harvey's fast-food restaurant had risen to 131.

World News Capsules:
1. Colombia tries again to end drug-fed war
....For the first time in a decade, rebels and the government of Colombia came together with the goal of ending the longest-running war in the Western Hemisphere.
2. Twitter blocks Germans' access to Neo-Nazi group
....The decision to block the group’s posts from being seen in Germany, but not other countries, was the first time that Twitter acted on a policy known as “country withheld content.”
3. Greeks take to the streets, some violently, in a strike over austerity

....Tens of thousands of Greeks pelted riot police with rocks, bottles and firebombs to bring the country to a near-standstill in a bid to show European Union leaders that fresh austerity cuts would be crippling.
4. Corruption rattles Italians' already shaky trust in politicians
....Twenty years after Italy's postwar political order collapsed in a scandal, accusations are again flying in new scandals that are eroding Italians' trust in their politicians.
5. Pakistani police detain family of suspect in attack on girl
....Pakistani security forces have detained the family of a man accused of attacking Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by Taliban gunmen for advocating for girls’ education.
6. At least 40 die as planes bomb a Syrian town held by rebels

....The bombardment of a town along a vital highway was among the most intense since the regular deployment of warplanes and helicopters against the Syrian insurgency began.
a. Denial slipping away as war rattles Damascus, Syria

....As his troops battled insurgents all around the country, Bashar al-Assad was determined that in Damascus, at least, he would preserve an air of normalcy, but such illusions are no longer possible.
b. Iran and Turkey join Syria peace envoy n cal for truce
....The new peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, said a temporary halt to the fighting would constitute only a tiny step toward resolving the conflict.

US News Capsules:
1. Boy Scout files detail decades of alleed sex abuse

....The release of documents by the Boy Scouts of America created, for the first time, a public database on specific sexual abuse accusations.
a. As partners, Mormons and Scouts turn boys into men
....The Mormon Church gives the Boy Scouts a central role in preparing male youths for missionary stints and adulthood as lay priests, and the relationship is a boon to scouting.
2. A new painkiller crackdown targets drug distributors
....In a new approach to combating prescription painkiller abuse, the federal government is focusing on the middlemen between drug makers and the doctors and pharmacies that dispense drugs.
3. Cool, commercial, unmistakable

....“Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective,” at the National Gallery of Art, is the first major survey of the artist’s work since his death in 1997.
4. A second Appeals Court calls marriage law unfair to gays
....A Manhattan federal appeals court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, saying it violated the equal-protection clause.
5. Multivitamin use linked to lowered cancer risk
....A large clinical trial of older male physicians followed for more than a decade found that those taking a daily multivitamin experienced 8% fewer cancers than the subjects taking dummy pills.
POLITICS:
1. Rival campaigns intently pursue votes of women
....With Election Day looming, the push for votes is coming down not only to a state-by-state fight, but also to one for the allegiance of vital demographic groups, chief among them undecided women.
2. Bloomberg starts 'Super PAC, ' seeking national influence
....Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, a billionaire and registered independent, will back candidates in close races who support some of his biggest policy initiatives.
3. More Asian immigrants are finding ballots in their native tongue
....Eleven states with surging Asian populations are being compelled by federal law to print ballots in languages other than English.
4. Obama's new stump speech boils down to one word: vote

....For the president and his campaign, the challenge is to overcome a decline in voter enthusiasm from 2008.

Thought for Today
"The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people."
--G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) English writer.

[pegasus]

Yorktown Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 293rd day of 2012 with 72 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6:47 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 60ºF [Feels like 60ºF], winds SSW @ 3 mph, humidity 78%, pressure 29.63 in and falling, dew point 53ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1216--John of England. youngest son of Henry II, died from dysentery at Newark Castle leaving his nine-year-old son Henry to succeed him.
1765--the Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, drew up a declaration of rights and liberties.
1781--at Yorktown, Va., British Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to the larger Franco-American force, bringing an end to the American Revolution.
1796--an editorial accused presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson of affair with a slave.
1812--Napoleon began the Grand Armee's disastrous retreat from Moscow.
1864--Union forces under Gen. Philip Sheridan were victorious at the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley, Va.
1869--construction begins on the Sutro Tunnel in Virginia City, Nev., a 4-mile-long tunnel through the solid rock of the Comstock Lode mining district.
1914--the First Battle of Ypres: Allied and German forces began the first of three battles to control the city and its advantageous positions on the north coast of Belgium.
1935--Ethiopia stands alone when the League of Nations deliberately imposed ineefectual economic sanctions against Fascist Italy for its invasion.
1943--the local Chinese and Snative uluks revolted against the Japanese occupation in North Borneo.
1950--UN forces entered the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
1957--Maurice "the Rocket" Richard of the MOntreal Canadiens scored his 500th goal.
1960--the US imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba.
1965--Communists attacked the Plei Me Special Forces camp.
1969--Vice Pres. Spiro T. Agnew referred to anti-Vietnam War protesters "an effete corps of impudent snobs.
1982--automaker John Z. DeLorean was arrested in $24 million cocaine scheme aimed at salvaging his bankrupt sports car company.
1987--the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6% in value – its biggest-ever percentage drop.
1989--the Guildford Four, convicted of the 1975 IRA bombings of public houses in England, were cleared of all charges after nearly 15 years in prison.
1991--fire swept through the Oakland, Calif. hills, burning 1000s of homes and killing 25 people.
1994--more than 20 people were killed in the terrorist bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel.
2001--two Army Rangers were killed in a helicopter crash in Pakistan in the first combat-related American deaths of the military campaign in Afghanistan.
2003--Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa during a ceremony in St. Peter's Square.
2005--Hurricane Wilma became the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a mimimum pressure of 882mb .
2005--a defiant Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent to charges of premeditated murder and torture at his trial in Baghdad.
2008--retired Gen. Colin Powell broke with the GOP and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president.
2008--Taliban insurgents pulled 30 young men from a bus in Afghanistan and beheaded them, claiming they were members of the Afghan army.
2011--in Greece, 100s of youths smashed and looted stores in central Athens and clashed with riot police during a massive anti-government rally against painful new austerity measures.

World News Capsules:
1. Afghan officials spar over 2014 vote
....Western observers fear the next election might not be "acceptable," let alone "free and fair," if Afghanistan's president and Parliament cannot agree on new laws.
2. Seizure of ship from Argentina forces shake-up
....Argentina’s military intelligence director is the latest official to leave her job after one of the nation’s creditors seized a navy training vessel.
3. Twitter removes anti-semitic postings, French Jewish group says
....The move comes after the social-networking site blocked access in Germany to a Neo-Nazi group’s account.
4. Twister blocks Germans' access to Neo-Nazi group
....The decision to block the group's posts from being seen in Germany, but not other countries, was the first time that Twitter acted on a policy known as "country withheld content."
5. Allegations of abuse by BBC host are 'unprecedented,' British police say
....Scotland Yard says it is now following 400 leads, with at least 200 potential victims alleging that a well-known television personality, Jimmy Savile, sexually abused them.
6. Killings derail effort at grass-roots governance in India
....The unsolved murders of two officials have set off a panic among the new village councils in a district of Kashmir.
7. Curfew imposed on US troops in Japan after rape allegations
....The US military imposed a curfew on its nearly 50,000 personnel stationed in Japan, as it tried to respond to public outrage over the suspected rape of a woman in Okinawa by two American sailors.
8. Bomb in Beirut kills a security chief, reviving old fears

....An explosion in the heart of Beirut’s Christian section killed a top Lebanese official and stirred dread in a city where the conflict in Syria has resurrected memories of Lebanon’s long civil war.
9. Suspect in Libya attack, in plain sight, scoffs at US
....Days after Pres. Obama vowed to apprehend those behind the Sept. 11 attack on American diplomats, a suspected ringleader spent an evening at a luxury hotel full of journalists.
10. On these soccer fields, a brief respite from the killing fields

....This year’s Homeless World Cup, in Mexico City, drew young people whose lives have been affected by the particular pain of the country these days: drug violence.
11. North Korea threatens violent response to propaganda campaign
....North Korea threatened to attack the South if activists proceeded with distributing leaflets critical of the Pyongyang regime. South Korea’s military said it would strike back if the North did so.
12. South Africa's president unveils $100 billion jobs program
....Pres. Jacob Zuma moves to stem mounting criticism over labor unrest as well as persistent poverty and low wages in South Africa.
13. As bombs fall, Turkey backs call for sease-fire in Syria
....Turkey, a major regional player in the Syrian crisis, threw its diplomatic weight on Friday behind an appeal for a cease-fire “at least” through a three-day Islamic holiday
14. 14 soldiers and 12 insurgents killed inbattle in Yemen.
....The soldiers and Qaeda operatives were killed early Friday when suicide bombers attacked a military base in south Yemen, the Defense Ministry and local residents said.

US News Capsules:
1, Boy Scout files give glimpse into 20 years of sex abuse
....Details of sexual abuse and what experts say was a corrosive culture of secrecy in the Boy Scouts of America came to light in documents on accusations across the country.
2. At Newsweek, ending print and a blen of two styles[/u]
....The struggling weekly magazine will publish its final print edition on Dec. 31 and move into an all-digital format next year, announced its editor, Tina Brown.
3. Real-world pitch for high fashion

....A Web site, Rent the Runway, is offering women the opportunity to see someone their age and size in expensive clothing before renting it.
4. Forgotten hero of labor fight: his son's lonely quest

....A son’s mission is to bring to light the accomplishments of his father, Larry Itliong, and his role in the largely forgotten Filipino contribution to labor activism.
5. The brothers and sisters of the 21st century
....A program called the Alliance for Catholic Education, created at Notre Dame, puts young idealists in needy schools to fill an educational and a spiritual gap.
POLITICS:
1. Democrats use health law to assail Republicans
....A provision of the law requiring members of Congress to use the new insurance exchanges has inspired a barrage of political advertising that some call misleading.
2. The opiate of exceptionalism
....Of serious presidential candidates, and even of presidents, Americans demand constant reassurance that their country, their achievements and their values are extraordinary.
3. With race hardly over, jockeying begins for cabinet positions
....The subtle and not-so-subtle positioning for choice posts in the still-theoretical next administration has intensified, according to Democratic and Republican insiders.
4. Campaigns sue Latino voters as deciders in 3 key states
....In Colorado, Florida and Nevada, ads and volunteers are being dispatched to make cases for Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney.

Thought for Today
"Worries go down better with soup than without."
--[/i]Jewish proverb.


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