THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

Vegetarian Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 294th day of 2012 with 71 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:27 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 56ºF [Feels like 56ºF], winds SW @ 12 mph, humidity 53%, pressure 29.69 in and falling, dew point 39ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1632--Sir Christopher Wren, English architect (St Paul's Cathedral), was born; died 1723 at age 90.
1740--Charles VI. Holy Roman Emperor and father of Empress Maria Theresa. died.
1774--the First Continental Congress created the Continental Association, which calls for a complete ban on all trade between America and Great Britain of all goods, wares or merchandise.
1803--the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
1818--the US and Britain agreed to establish the 49th parallel as the official boundary between the United States and Canada.
1827--in the Greek War of Independence, the Turkish and Egyptian fleets were destroyed by the British, French and Russians at the Battle of Navarino.
1873--P.T. Barnum opened the Hippodrome in New York City to accommodate his "Greatest Show on Earth".
1918--Germany accepted Pres. Woodrow Wilson's terms to end World War I.
1918--the Turks send British officer Gen, Charles Townshend to the Greek Isles to negotiate armistice terms between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire.
1935--Mao's Long March of 368 days and 6,000 miles concluded in Shensi Province in northwest China with 4,000 survivors where he set up his Chinese Communist headquarters.
1944--two liquid gas tanks explode in Cleveland, Ohio, killing 130 people, taking all of the city's firefighters to control it.
1944--Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines as promised, landing at Leyte Island.
1947--the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence in the motion picture industry.
1953--science fiction writer Ray Bradbury's chilling futuristic anti-book novel, Fahrenheit 451, was published.
1955--No Time for Sergeants opened on Broadway, starring Andy Griffith.
1964--Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the US, died at age 90 in New York City.
1971--West German Chancellor Willy Brandt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1973--Saturday Night Massacre: Solicitor General Robert Bork dismissed Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox after Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General Ruckelshaus resigned in protest.
1973--the iconic Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
1977--three members of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, died in a Mississippi chartered airplane crash.
1979--the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston was dedicated.
1982--the world's worst soccer disaster occurred in Moscow when 340 fans were crushed to death in an open staircase during a game between Soviet and Dutch players.
1990--2 Live Crew members were acquitted of obscenity charges in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., arising from a performance of selections from the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.
1992--the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 in the first World Series game played outside the US.
2000--Egyptian-born Ali Mohamed, a US citizen who'd served in the Army, pleaded guilty in New York to helping plan the US embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people.
2004--retired Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was sworn in as Indonesia's 6th president after winning the country's first direct elections for head of state.
2005--Pakistan set the official death toll of the Oct. 8 quake at 47,000 but various aid officials claim it was closer to 80,000.
2011--Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi iwas captured and Killed.

World News Capsules:
1. As Afghan forces kill, trust is also a casualty
....The details of an insider shooting that happened Sept. 29 underscore the escalating distrust that surrounds interactions between American and Afghan troops. Insider killings have broken trust between Afghan and American military forces and laid bare the anger and fear each harbors toward the other.
a. Afghan police officers attack colleagues
....Over the past two days, Afghan police officers opened fire on their colleagues, leaving at least eight dead.
2. China is wary of US candidates' tough talk
....Some Chinese officials and business leaders express a growing concern about negativity toward China that may not all be campaign talk.
a. China-Korean tensions rise after failed venture
....A Chinese mining conglomerate accused the North Korean government of sabotaging its $40 million investment.
b. As China weighs shifting economic policy, a rivalry for its stewardship
....An experienced vice prime minister and former banker, with a progressive approach to the economy, appears to be losing ground to the probable next prime minister, who has much more traditional views.
3. Another day, another claim that Castro is really dead
....More rumors that Fidel Castro has died are being denied by the government and his family.
4. Amid the echoes of an economic crash, the sounds of Greek society being torn
....Divisions are rising to the surface as neo-Nazis clash with leftists and immigrants, lawmakers become mired in scandals and tensions increase between the haves and have-nots.
5. Guatemala shooting raises concerns about military's expanded role
....Guatemala has forged closer military ties with the United States as it fights drug trafficking, but the fatal shooting of demonstrators and revelations of ties between former soldiers and drug gangs are worrying human rights groups
6. US officials say Iran has agreed to nuclear talks

....But with Iran unwilling to talk until after the presidential elections, there is a risk the apparent breakthrough is only one more effort to buy time.
7. Israel seizes activist ship en route to Gaza Strip

....The European ship was the latest attempt by activists to break Israel’s maritime blockade against the Hamas-controlled region.
8. Unrest shakes Lebanon's fragile government
....Lebanon’s main opposition group called for widespread protests in the wake of a powerful bomb attack for which it blamed Syria.\
a. Blast in Beirut is seen as an extension of Syria's war
....An explosion in a Christian section of Lebanon’s capital killed an official viewed by Syria as an enemy and was the most provocative violence in Lebanon tied to the Syrian conflict.
9. Attacks tied to Islamist sect kill at least 30 in Nigeria
....Violence linked to Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria, including killings by security forces, is believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009.
10. 'Malala Moment' may have passed in Pakistan, as rage over shooting ebbs
....What had been a unified voice against the Taliban, and the possibility of action, is receding before a backlash,
a. Pakistani schoolgirl shot by Taliban is showng progress
....Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan, is now able to stand with help and write, medical officials at the British hospital where she is being treated said.
11. Hamas finds itself aligned with Israel over extremist groups
....Hamas is working to suppress the more radical Islamic militant groups that have emerged in Gaza, made up of extremists who are challenging its cease-fire with Israel, activists say.
12. Symbol of Romanian leaership? Hands on a throat
....Perhaps the best that can be said of relations between the president and prime minister of Romania is that they are unambiguous: they can’t stand each other.
13. With two big deals approaching, Bosneft stands to become a global oil power
....Two pending deals would bring more than half of Russia's oil industry under government control for the first time since the early 1990s and create a new player on the world stage.
14. Twitter gives Saudi Arabia a revolution of its own
....The medium has allowed Saudis to cross social boundaries and address delicate subjects collectively and in real time.
15. Spain's premier hopes to avoid electoral setback on austerity and separatism
....Regional elections in Galicia and the Basque Country are considered critical bellwethers of public attitudes toward Spanish government policy.
16. Syrians place booby-trapped ammunition in rebels' guns
....The Syrian government has salted ammunition with ordnance that explodes inside antigovernment fighters’ guns, killing or wounding them while destroying their weapons.
17. As bombs fall, Turkey backs call for cease-fire in Syria
....Turkey, a major regional player in the Syrian crisis, threw its diplomatic weight behind an appeal for a cease-fire “at least” through a three-day Islamic holiday.

US News Capsules:
1. Housecleaning, then dinner? Silicon Valley perks come home
....As technology blurs the line between work and home, many companies are eschewing traditional benefits like bonuses for stress reducers like free housecleaning and dinner deliveries.
2. After the boom in natural gas

....Low prices for consumers. Big profits for bankers. But the gas glut in the United States has meant much pain for gas exploration companies and their investors
3. Boys - like girls - now enter puberty younger, study suggests, but it's unclear why

....Because of the lack of precision in earlier studies, it cannot be decisively said that male puberty is starting at a younger age, but the evidence points that way.
4. Free speech is one thing, vagrants, another
....Hardly a stranger to political movements, the city of Berkeley has championed free speech, no nukes, the antiwar movement and now: no sitting on the sidewalk,
5. Shares fall as earnings disappoint on Wall Street
....Investors were spooked on Friday by a growing number of pessimistic reports from corporate executives.
6. ARTS: Despite fans' fears, Disney's Country Bears remain corny

....Walt Disney World has changed its Country Bear Jamboree attraction, but not much.
7. Struggling to save the old in a town that values the new

....It’s an uphill battle for architectural preservationists in Phoenix, where many old structures have been felled by fire, decay or development.
8. Mother Marianne Cope becomes an American saint

....An American health care pioneer, working with patients suffering with Hansen's disease or leprosy, will receive the Roman Catholic Church's highest honor this weekend., along with another North American, Katen Tekakwitha.
POLITICS:
1. Romney as a manager: unhurried and Socratic

....A serial chief executive, Mitt Romney is steeped in management theory and eschews gut instincts, wading deeply into the kind of raw data that is usually left to junior aides.
a. Gosh, who talks like that now? Romney does
....Mitt Romney’s way of speaking is polite, formal and anachronistic, linguistically setting him apart, and influencing the word choices of those who work with and for him.
2. In South, Republicans find that dominance does not ensure solidarity
....As the South is settling in once again to an era of one-party dominance, many Republicans are learning that governing is not quite the same as campaigning,
3. As Senate race in Indiana tightens, candidates seem to move to center
....A contest between Richard E. Mourdock, a Tea Party-backed candidate, and Democratic Representative Joe Donnelly heats up in one of the few states expected to decide control of the chamber.

Thought for Today
"A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor."
--Victor Hugo (1802-1885), French author

[pegasus]

International School Library Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 296th day of 2012 with 69 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:13 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 66ºF [Feels like 66ºF], winds variable @ 3 mph, humidity 40%, pressure 30.07 in and falling, dew point 41ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1746--Princeton University received its charter.
1797--French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet.
1811--Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist and composer, was born; died 1886 at age 74.
1836--Gen. Sam Houston was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
1864, Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood pulled his battered army into Guntersville, Ala,, then continues traveling westward with his dfeated army.
1883--the Metropolitan Opera House opened in NYC with a performance of Faust.
1906--Paul Cezanne , French post-impressionist painter, died.
1910--Dr. Harvey Hawley Crippen was found guilty of murdering his wife.
1913--a coal mine explosion in Dawson, NM, killed more than 250 workers.
1917--Joan Fontaine, Oscar-winning actress, turns 95
1914--the Germans captured Langemarck during First Battle of Ypres.
1919--Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize-winning author, turns 93
1934--the notorious bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was killed by the FBI in a cornfield in East Liverpool, Ohio.
1942--Allies confer secretly about Operation Torch, the first Allied amphibious landing of the war.
1954--West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
1957--the US suffered its first casualties in Vietnam when 13 are wounded in bombings of the Military Assistance Advisory Group and U.S. Information Service installations in Saigon.
1962--Pres. Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island.
1964--John Paul Sartre won the Nobel Prize for literature and declined it.
1965--Pres. Johnson signed the Highway Beautification Act.
1966--The Supremes became the first all-female group to score a No. 1 album, with Supremes a Go-Go.
1968--Apollo 7, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard, returned to Earth.
1975--Air Force Sgt Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, was given a "general" discharge by the Air Force after publicly declaring his homosexuality.
1979--the US government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment.
1981--the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August.
1990--Pres. Bush vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1990, saying it would lead to a quota system.
2001--anthrax spores were found in a mail-opening machine serving the White House.
2002--a bus driver was shot to death in Aspen Hill, Md., in the 13th and final attack by the Washington-area sniper.
2004--rescuers confirmed 64 dead following an explosion in a central China coal mine with 84 missing in the toxic gas-filled shaft.
2005--Afghanistan Pres. Karzai ordered an investigation into the reported desecration of bodies by US troops captured on tape by a TV crew.
2007--China's Communist Party gave Pres. Hu Jintao a second five-year term.

World News Capsules:
1. Two campaigns skirt talk of tough choices in Afghanistan
....For either Pres. Obama or Mitt Romney, finding a satisfactory end to the war in Afghanistan and maintaining American influence in Pakistan will be a challenge.
2. China's doldrums put pressure on US exporters

....Job reductions are emerging in industries like mining, heavy machinery and scrap metal that boomed along with China, illustrating the risks to the American economy if growth continues to slow.
a. Many urge next leader of China to liberalize
....As the nation’s critical leadership transition approaches, officials, policy advisers and intellectuals are again pushing for what they broadly call “reform.”
3. In Guatemalan tourist haven, corruption case is talk of the town

4. Iran's political infighting erupts in full view
....Pres. Ahmadinejad verbally attacked the government’s highest judicial official after being denied access to the jail where his top press adviser is being held.
5. Scientists convicted of manslaughter after quake

....An Italian court convicted six scientists and a government official of manslaughter on Monday and sentenced them to six years in prison for failing to give adequate warning of a deadly earthquake in 2009.
6. Lebanese Army warns against score-settling

....The Lebanese military moved forcefully to quell simmering sectarian tensions around the country stoked by a bombing in Beirut last week.
a. Angry Lebanese attempt to storm government offices
....Lebanon's jittery composure throughout the long Syrian uprising wobbled but held, as political and religious leaders quelled street protests.
7. Libyan town under siege is a center of resistance to the new government

....A one-time bastion of support for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Bani Walid is under assault, stirring protests elsewhere and imperiling the country’s fragile political transition.
8. Leaflets sent by balloon to North Korea despite ban, activists say
....The South Korean police blocked activists from dropping anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea after the North threatened to retaliate with a military attack.
9. Civic duty and economic worries drive Palestinian voters in parats of West Bank
....The municipal elections, the first of any kind in the Palestinian territories in six years, were dismissed by many as unimportant because Hamas refused to take part.
10. Voting favors Spain's leader in home area
....Elections in other parts of the country were less favorable toward the embattled prime minister/
11. Explosion rocks Damascus neighborhood
....The latest violence came on a day when President Bashar al-Assad of Syria discussed the civil war with Lakhdar Brahimi, the envoy representing the United Nations and the Arab League.
a. JOrdanian soldier killed in Syrian border clash
....Islamic extremists attacked Jordanian soldiers on the border with Syria Sunday night, hours after Jordan’s government announced that it had foiled a major terrorist plot against foreign diplomats and tourists

US News Capsules:
1. 'Worried sick': Meningitis risk haunts 14,000

....For thousands of people who may have been infected by a contaminated drug, there is little to do but wait and see what happens.
2. Three killed in shooting at nail salon in Wisconsin

....A gunman opened fire at a day spa in a suburb of Milwaukee, killing at least three people and injuring four, the police said. Zina Haughton, wife of the alleged gunman, was one of the three victims in Sunday's shooting at a Wisconsin salon.
3. NBC finds itsel fin unfamiliar territory, on top
.....NBC's surprise top-ranking among younger viewers is in large part a result of the poor performance of its network rivals, which have failed to deliver any hot new shows.
4. Lawsuits claim Knoedler made huge profits on fakes
....Lawsuits against the former Knoedler Gallery in New York claim that markups on disputed artworks were suspiciously high.
5. Settlement eases rules for some Medicare patients
....Tens of thousands of people with chronic conditions and disabilities may find it easier to qualify for home health care, nursing home stays and outpatient therapy.
6. No jail for student in FAMU death

....A student who allegedly held Robert Champion in a bear hug during a hazing initiation was sentenced to supervised probation and 200 hours of community service for his role in the band member's death.
POLITICS:
1. Final showdown: Global edition

....Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney have a final chance to impress voters on the debate stage, with Round 3 focused on global hot spots.
2. Benghazi and Arab Spring rear up in US campaign
....The attack in Libya last month has become the focal point of a fierce debate over what role the US should seek to play in shaping the new order emerging from the Arab Spring.
a. Explnation for Benhgazi attack under scrutiny
....As more information emerges about the American response to the attack on its diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, the White House looks increasingly vulnerable to criticism.

Thought for Today
"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised."
--George F. Will (b. 1941), Conservative columnist & writer

[pegasus]

Swallows depart from Mission San Juan Capistrano
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 297th day of 2012 with 68 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:02 p.m., it's raining , temp 52ºF [Feels like 52ºF], winds calm, humidity 94%, pressure 30.06 in and falling, dew point 50ºF, chance of precipitation 80%.

Today in History:
42 BC--Marcus Junius Brutus, a leading conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar, committed suicide after his defeat at the second battle of Philippi.
1642--the Battle of Edgehill: the first major conflict of the English Civil War between the royalists under King Charles I and the Parliamentarians with both claiming victory.
1707--the Parliament of Great Britain, created by the Acts of Union between England and Scotland, held its first meeting.
1715--Peter II. Emperor of Russia (1727-30), was born; died 1730 at age 14.
1777--a British fleet trying to open supply lines to Philadelphia, suffered a defeat by a cannon bombardment at Fort Mifflin, Pa.
1812--Claude Francois de Malet, a French general, began a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon and was excuted six days later.
1813--American fur traders turned over Astoria, Ore. to the British North West Co.
1855--in bleeding Kansas, opposition to the fraudulently elected pro-slavery legislature, the Kansas Free State forces set up a governor and legislature under their Topeka Constitution.
1864--Confederate Gen. Sterling Price's raid on Missouri nearly turns into disaster when his army is pinned between two Union forces in the Battle of Westport in Missouri.
1869--John William Heisman, the coach who revolutionized the game of college football, was born; died 1936 at age 66.
1895--Montparnasse Train Wreck occurs when a train overruns a buffer stop before plummeting through a window.
1909--Chulalongkorn, King of Siam, died of kidney disease in Dusit Palace at age 57.
1910--Blanche S. Scott became the first female aviator, as she flew to an altitude of 12 feet over Ft. Wayne, Ind.
1915--25,000 women marched in New York City, demanding the right to vote.
1922--Andrew Bonar Law took office as British prime minister, but his term, the shortest this century, lasted only until May 1923.
1927--an industry bombshell hit Hollywood with the release of the Warner Bros. film The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, the first movie with sound.
1939--Zane Grey, American author best known for his popular adventure novels of the old west, died of heart failure at his home in Calif.
1941--Walt Disney's classic animated film, Dumbo, was released to theaters.
1942--Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt.
1945--Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player hired by a major league team, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and sent to their Montreal farm team.
1946--the UN General Assembly convened in New York City for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing Meadow.
1956--a Hungarian protest against the Soviet presence in their country turned violent as students, workers, and even some soldiers demanded more democracy and freedom.
1961--Dag Hammarskjoeld, former secretary-general of the UN, was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1965--the US 1st Cavalry Division launched Operation Silver Bayonet in Vietnam.
1972--earthquakes killed more than 10,000 people in Nicaragua.
1973--Pres. Nixon agreed to turn White House tape recordings requested by the Watergate special prosecutor over to Judge John J. Sirica.
1976--Chicago had its first #1 hit with "If You Leave Me Now."
1983--a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon killed 220 U.S. Marines, 18 sailors and 3 Army soldiers; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.
1989--23 people died in a series of explosions sparked by an ethylene leak at a PhilipsPetroleum plastcis factory in Texas.
1989--Hungary formally declared an end to 40 years of communist rule and proclaimed itself a republic .
1998--Doctor Barnett Slepian, an abortion-performing doctor , was shot to death inside his home in Amherst, New York, by James Charles Kopp, an anti-abortion radical.
1998--Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Arafat signed a land-for-peace agreement at the White House, following nine days of talks at Wye River, Md.
2001--Apple Computer Inc. introduced the iPod portable digital music player.
2002--gunmen seized a crowded Moscow theater, taking hundreds hostage and threatening to kill them unless the Russian army pulled out of Chechnya.
2003--the US Congress passed legislation banning late-term abortions.
2003--Madame Chiang Kai-shek, widow of the Chinese nationalist leader, died in New York at age 105.
2004--insurgents struck at three minibuses carrying US-trained Iraqi soldiers, reportedly killing about 50 of them.
2004--Chuetsu earthquake strikes the Niigata Prefecture of Japan registering 6.9 on the Richter scale killing 35 and injuring many more.
2605--all 117 people aboard were reported killed in the crash of a Nigerian plane crash shortly after takeoff from Lagos.
2006--Panamanians voted overwhelmingly to support a proposal to expand the Panama Canal to allow larger ships to pass through.
2006--Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for his role in the company's collapse.
2007--a US federal audit of a State Department's private security contractor in Iraq said that $1.2 billion couldn't be accounted for in police training expenses.
2008--Yemen floods due to remnants of a tropical cyclone, left 58 dead and 20,000 without shelter.

World News Capsules:

US News Capsules:

Sports Headlines:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. "
--Albert Einstein (1879 1955), theoretcal physicist & Nobel laureate,

[pegasus]

Black Cat and Pumpkin Day

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 298th day of 2012 with 67 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:57 p.m., it's foggy , temp 57ºF [Feels like 57ºF], winds calm, humidity 94%, pressure 30.09 in and steady, dew point 55ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1637--Jane Seymour, 3rd wife of Henry VIII, died from postnatal complications following the birth of her only child, Edward VI.
1648--the Treaty of Westphalia was signed, ending the Thirty Years War and radically shifting the balance of power in Europe with the end of the Holy Roman Empire.
1775--Virginia's last royal governor, Lord John Murray Dunmore, ordered a British naval fleet to attack Patriot troops and destroy the town of Norfolk, Va.
1861--Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph. with the first message sent by Pres. Lincoln to California.
1862--Union Gen. Don Carlos Buell was replaced because of his ineffective pursuit of the Confederates after the Battle of Perryville, Ky.
1901--a 63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
1929--Black Thursday - stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange
1931--Pres. Roosevelt dedicated the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River.
1940--the 40-hour work week went into effect in the US.
1945--the UN was formally established with the ratification of the United Nations Charter.
1946--V-2 #13 Rocket took the first photograph of Earth from space.
1947--two rush-hour commuter trains collided in South Croydon, England, killing 32 people.
1947--Walt Disney testified before the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) naming Disney employees he believed to be communists.
1951--Pres. Truman declared the war with Germany officially over.
1952--Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, "I shall go to Korea" as he promised to end the conflict.
1960--the Nedelin Disaster occurred when a Soviet ICBM's 2nd stage motors ignited prematurely exploding on the launch pad killing over 120 peop0le.
1962--James Brown recorded his breakthrough Live at the Apollo album.
1964--Northern Rhodesia gained independence from the UK and became the Republic of Zambia.
1970--leftist politician Salvador Allende was elected president of Chile.
1984--the FBI arrested 11 alleged chiefs of the Colombo crime family in New York City on charges of racketeering.
1989--TV evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $500,000 for fleecing his flock.
1992--the Toronto Blue Jays won a World Series for Canada, defeating the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in Game 6.
1998--Deep Space 1, a NASA unmanned spacecraft launched to test new technologies and make flybys of an asteroid and comet.
2002--authorities arrested Army veteran John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo in connection with the Washington-area sniper attacks.
2003--the supersonic Concorde jet made its last commercial passenger flight, traveling at twice the speed of sound from New York City to London.
2004--a series of severe earthquakes in northern Japan killed 21 people and injured more than 1,500 others.
2005--Hurricane Wilma roared into Florida, packing 125 mph winds and lashing rain, inflicting heavy damage to beaches and buildings, killing 10.
2005--Pres. Bush nominated Ben Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve Board chairman.
2005--civil rights activist Rosa Parks died at age 92.
2007--Facebook Inc. sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft Corp. for $240 million, spurning a competing offer from Google Inc.
2007--strong winds fanning 15 large wildfires in Southern California began to ease after 656 square miles and at least 1,155 homes had been charred.

World News Capsules:
1. Memorial to Roma Holocaust victims opens in Berlin
....The site, in Tiergarten park near the German Parliament, honors the Roma and Sinti victims of the Nazis’ racial purge of Europe.
2. BBC leader admits 'horror' as a sexual abuse inquiry opens
....The director general of the British Broadcasting Corporation said the organization's response to a burgeoning sex abuse scandal was "the opposite of an attempt to hide things."
a. Prosecutors to review cases in BBC abuse scandal
....Officials will scrutinize a decision in 2009 not to bring charges of sexual abuse against the television host Jimmy Savile.
3. Greece official says deal reached with troika of leaders
....Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said that Greece’s European partners had also agreed to grant Athens more time to implement the 13.5 billion euro austerity package.
4. Iran's warning to oil market fails to send prices higher
....A threat to halt all exports was issued in response to possible further sanctions, but in a possible reflection of how steeply Iran’s influence on the market has eroded, oil prices fell.
5. Buon appetito, but not next to the monuments
....A new ordinance outlaws eating and drinking at historic sites in Rome to better protect the city's monuments, with fines of up to $650.
6. Details hint at insider role in Lebanese general's death
....Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan was killed by a car bomb in a residential Beirut neighborhood; an inside job is suspected by many opponents of the Hezbollah-led government.
7. The whiff of conflict grows in Mali

....Despite an international consensus that military force is required to take back large areas of northern Mali controlled by Islamist rebels, there are few volunteers.
8. Four Palestinian militants killed in Israeli airstrikes
....Four Palestinian militants in rocket-launching squads were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Palestinian officials, hours after a visit to Gaza by the emir of Qatar.
9. Qatar's emir visits Gaza, pledging $400 million to Hamas
....The visit by the emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, threatened to widen the rift between Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Fatah, which leads the West Bank.
10. Russian opposition figure says abductors threatened his children
...Leonid Razvozzhayev, a jailed Russian activist who disappeared from Kiev, Ukraine, said he was held for three days by masked men who threatened to kill his children if he did not sign a confession.
11. Military factory bombed in Sudan's capital
....Four aircraft bombed a complex in Khartoum, killing two people in an explosion and fire for which Sudan blamed Israel.
12. Envoy announces tentative cease-fire in Syria, but doubts remain

....Lakhdar Brahimi’s plan calls for guns to be silent on the main Muslim holiday of the year, but numerous aspects of the plan immediately called its effectiveness into question.
13. Using cheese to bridge the Turkey-Armenia gap
....Across a border that has been closed for almost two decades, cheese makers in Gyumri and Kars produce and market a “Caucasian cheese,” invented in 2008 to foster cross-border cooperation.

US News Capsules:
1. Styruggling against a venti Starbucks tide

....Tully’s Coffee, a local chain that positioned itself years ago as the alternative choice for Seattle coffee-heads, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month.
2. US court gives would-be bomber 37 years in prison
....Ahmed Ressam, the man known as the Millennium Bomber, got 37 years for his plot to set off explosives at Los Angeles International Airport on New Year’s Eve in 1999.
3. In cyberattack on Saudi firm, US sees Iran firing back
....American officials believe a virus unleashed on an oil giant was a return volley in a conflict begun by the US and Israel with software that targeted Iran's centrifuges.
4. Turning the page on an open checkbook for the security colossus
....The looming federal budget crunch, waning predictions of attacks on the United States and bipartisan criticism may mean the end of lavish counterterrorism spending.
5. Unarmend and gunned down by homeowner in his 'castle'
....Brice Harper shot and killed Dan Fredenberg in September, but the county attorney did not prosecute, saying that Montana's "castle doctrine" law protected Mr. Harper's rights to defend himself in his home.
6. Sterility found lacking at drug site in outbreak
....The compounding pharmacy responsible for a deadly national meningitis outbreak repeatedly failed to follow standard procedures to keep its facility clean and its products sterile, Massachusetts officials said.
7. Safety becomes a concern with hgh-caffeine drinks
....As consumption of energy drinks soars in the United States, critics say the Food and Drug Administration has allowed the drinks to languish in a regulatory gray area.
8. New federal rules for debt collectors
....Collection agencies, whose sometimes aggressive tactics have earned them scrutiny, will come under supervision beginning of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau beginning Jan. 2.
9. Peanut butter takes on an unlikely best friend
....Jelly gets kicked to the curb, and pickles take its place, making the PB&P a cult snack option.
10. Scratch the surface tofind a hidden Picasso

....Picasso reused an old canvas for “Woman Ironing,” which was recently cleaned and restored by the Guggenheim Museum.
11. Tigers vs. Giants was a century in the making
....The San Francisco/New York Giants have reached the World Series 19 times, the Detroit Tigers 11 times. Yet this is their first date for the championship.
12. Report says college prices, once stable, are up again
....The price students actually pay for college, after deducting financial aid awards and tax credits from the bill, had its largest increase since 2003.
POLITICS:
1. Standards of living are in the shadows as election issue
....A decade-long stagnation in family incomes, a bedrock issue for the nation, has been caused by automation and globalization, among other factors not easily remedied in Washington.
2. With debates over, candidates race to clinch vital states
....Pres. Obama began a furious two-week effort to beat back a late surge by Mitt Romney and hang on to battleground states where many voters are already casting ballots.
3. Strident anti-Obama messages flood key states
....Conservatives are testing the boundaries of how far they can go to disqualify Pres.000000000000000000000000 Obama.

Thought for Today
"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."
--W. Somerset Maugham(1874- 965), English author

[pegasus]

Say Hey Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 299th day of 2012 with 66 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:47 p.m., it's fair , temp 74ºF [Feels like 73ºF], winds SE @ 9 mph, humidity 57%, pressure 30.06 in and falling, dew point 58ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
286-http://www.kathrynrblake.com/images/115_Martydom_of_Saint_Crispin-286_10-25.jpg-Saint Crispin's Day - when Saints Crispin and Crispinian were martyred.
1415--the Hundred Years' War: Henry V, the young king of England, leads his forces to victory at the Battle of Agincourt in northern France.
1748--Henry Fielding, author of Tom Jones, was commissioned as justice of the peace for Westminster and Middlesex.
1760--George II of England died of an aortic aneurysm and was succeeded by his grandson, George III .
1764--John Adams, a Massachusetts lawyer-farmer married Abigail Smith.
1774--the First Continental Congress petitioned King George III to address their grievances against the British Parliament.
1825--the Erie Canal, America's first man-made waterway, was opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Hudson River.
1828--St Katherine Docks are officially opened in London.
1853--Paiute Indians attacked a party of 37 soldiers and railroad surveyors near Sevier Lake, Utah.
1854--the English suffered heavy losses against Russia in the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War, inspring Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Charge of the Light Brigade."
1861--the keel of the USS Monitor was laid at Greenpoint, NY.
1881--Pablo Ruiz Picasso, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, was born in Malaga, Spain; died 1973 at age 91.
1910--white race car driver Barney Oldfield beat prizefighter Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world, in two five-mile car races in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
1916--French troops celebrated the recapture of Fort Douaumont at Verdun in World War I.
1929--Albert B. Fall, ex-secretary of the interior in Pres. Harding's cabinet, was found guilty of accepting a bribe in the Teapot Dome scandal.
1944--the battle of Leyte Gulf was fought.
1962--author John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.
1971--the UN General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan.
1972--Pres. Nixon suspended the bombing of North Vietnam.
1976--the National Theatre of London was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
1983--US troops, supported by six Caribbean nations, invaded the tiny, leftist-ruled island of Grenada; 19 Americans died.
1986--the NY Mets won Game 6 of the World Series in the 10th inning when a routine ground ball went through Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's legs.
1993--Canadian voters rejected the Progressive Conservative party of Prime Minister Kim Campbell and gave the Liberal Party, led by Jean Chretien of Quebec, a firm majority in Parliament.
1994--Susan Smith reported a false carjacking to cover her murder of her two sons by drowning.
1995--in Fox River Grove, Ill., a train collision occurred when a school bus, stopped for a red light, was struck by a Metra commuter train,
2000--a Russian military plane crashed into a mountain in Georgia, killing all 83 people on board.
2001--Microsoft released the Windows XP operating system.
2001--the US Senate, by a 90-1 vote, approved a final package of anti-terror reforms designed to help law enforcement monitor and detain suspected terrorists.
2002--Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., 58, was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota.
2003--Florida State's Bobby Bowden became the winningest coach in major college football history with his 339th victory as the Seminoles beat Wake Forest 48-24.
2004--at least 78 Muslim detainees suffocated or were crushed to death in southern Thailand after the police rounded up 1,300 people and packed them into trucks following a riot.
2005--the US military deaths in Iraq reached 2,000.
2006--The NJ Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples.
2007--the House of Representatives passed a revised version of a vetoed bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program that made illegal immigrants ineligible.
2008--Yemen authorities reported 48 people dead or missing in flash flooding in the country's Hadramout region.
2009--Baghdad Suicide Bombings occurred when two suicide car bombs targeting the Ministry of Justice exploded killing 155 and injuring over 721.
2010--eruption of Mount Merapi and an earthquake in Indonesia occurred in the Sumatran fault triggering a tsunami that killed hundreds and injured many more.

World News Capsules:
1. Four international service members killed in Afghan atacks
....In what are being investigated as possible insider attacks, two British services members died in a gun battle and two United States Forces-Afghanistan members were killed.
2. Hurricane Sandy hits Bahamas after sweeping through Cuba and Haiti

....The hurricane was expected to reach Florida by Friday morning and mix with a winter storm whose effects will be felt along the East Coast as far as Maine.
3. Billions in hidden riches for family of Chinese leader

.....It is unclear how much Wen Jiabao, the prime minister of China, who has staked a position as a populist and a reformer, knows about the $2.7 billion in assets that his family has amassed.
a. New leaders of military in China announced
....China announced the promotions of five generals this week, shaping the top leadership of the rapidly modernizing military ahead of the 18th Party Congress.
b. China blocks web access to Times after article[/u]
....The Chinese government began blocking access to [/i]The Times after publication of an article describing the wealth accumulated by relatives of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
4. Police prepare 'arrest strategy' as BBC sexual abuse case grows
....The scandal at the BBC expanded from its focus on Jimmy Savile to questions about other parts of the institution and to suggestions of abuse at hospitals, news reports said.
a. British Parliament questions former BBC chief's role
....As the investigation into the BBC’s handling of Jimmy Savile continues, the actions of its former director general, Mark Thompson, are coming under increased scrutiny.
5. Amid cutbacks, Greek doctors offer message to poor: You are not alone
....Until recently, Greece had a typical European health system offering universal care, but the unemployed are now often left on their own if they get sick.
6. Iran said to nearly finish nuclear enrichment plant
....The installation of the last of nearly 3,000 centrifuges, deep under a mountain inside a military base, puts Iran closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon.
7. Official silence in Israel over Sudan's accusatioins of air attack
....Though Israel maintained official silence over Sudan’s assertion that the Israeli military destroyed a Khartoum weapons factory, officials spoke openly about what they described as Sudan’s destabilizing role.
a. Netanyahu announces coalition with a nationalist party
....The move sharpened the divide between the left and right camps in Israeli politics, after years during which the major-party leaders had gravitated toward the political center.
b. Israeli officials asked to be silent on issue of US-Iran talks
....Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his aides were trying to head off political problems over a report on the possibility of bilateral talks between the US and Iran.
8. Berlusconi's retreat upends political field
....Silvio Berlusconi’s decision not to lead his party in Italy’s spring elections has radically reshuffled the political deck and opened a race for the center.
9. Fish off Japan's coast said to contain elevated levels of cesium
....New research to be published in the journal Science suggests that radioactive particles from last year’s nuclear disaster have accumulated on the sea floor and could contaminate sea life for decades.
a. Tokyos firebrand governor quits to form new national party
....The move by Shintaro Ishihara could escalate a territorial dispute with China and shift allegiances in Japan’s soon-to-be-called elections.
10. Bleary-eyed Syrian troops fight a building at a time

....Syrian soldiers' battle to retake a rebel-held school in Homs reflects an exhausting war of attrition, a seesaw in which the opposition gains ground and the government takes it back.
a. Syrian military declares holiday truce, but will respond to rebel attacks
....If the fighting does stop for Id al-Adha, it will be the first time since April that the two sides in the uprising have at least said they would try to halt the violence.

US News Capsules:
1. Panetta says risk impeded deployment to Benghazi
....Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta says that he and top military commanders felt that they needed more information before deploying troops after the Sept. 11 attack.
2. Bully! Museum restores its shrine to Roosevelt

....With the reopening of its Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, the American Museum of Natural History offers refreshed perspectives about the 26th president.
3. Prison may be the nxt stop on a gold currency journey
....Bernard von NotHaus, a professed monetary architect, will soon be sentenced for minting and distributing a form of private money called the Liberty Dollar.
4. Spotlight put on founders of drug firm in outbreak
....The Conigliaro family's enterprises are under intense scrutiny by federal and state authorities and personal-injury lawyers after a deadly meningitis outbreak linked to their compounding pharmacy.
5. US sues Bank of America for $1 billion over 'brazen' fraud
....The bank is accused of selling bad mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled housing giants, which suffered heavy losses and many foreclosures.
6. Gallerists to the people

....Artsicle is an online business that rents inexpensive art cheaply, aimed at novice collectors with small budgets, limited art knowledge and no appetite for intimidating galleries.
7. Transcript of 1944 Bretton Woods conference found at Treasury
....Unknown to historians, a transcript existed of the meeting of Allied nations during the heat of World War II, and three versions were in Washington-area libraries and archives.
8. Buyers of a Wright home in Phoenix reconsider a deal 'too good to be true'

....A development team that bought a Phoenix house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright will sell the house rather than accept landmark status for it.
9. Early worries that Hurricane Sandy could be a 'perfect storm'
....Now barreling through the Bahamas as a Category 2 hurricane, the storm could combine with a system over land in the United States to form a grave threat to the Atlantic coast next week.
POLITICS:
1. Crucial subject: female voters still deciding
....While female voters generally tend to favor President Obama, that cannot be said of white women without college degrees, a subset known - in this race - as waitress moms.
2. Tax policy center in spotlight for its Romney study
....A study by a respected nonpartisan research center has been met with dissent after it found that Mitt Romney could not keep all of the promises he has made on individual tax reform.
3.Michigan vote a test case on enshrining the rights of unions
....Unions in Michigan are asking voters to approve a referendum that would secure labor protections.
4. Campaigns find that for many Latinas, issues are personal and financial
....Campaigns face a gender challenge in appealing to Latinos, whose votes are crucial to President Obama and Mitt Romney.
5. Business leaders urge deficit deeal even with more taxes
....Business leaders are stepping up pressure on Washington to get a deficit-reduction deal completed even if it calls for more revenues — including higher tax bills for them.

Thought for Today
"A man is either free or he is not. There cannot be any apprenticeship for freedom."
--Imamu Amiri Baraka (b. 1934) African American black nationalist poet, playwright, essayist and novelist.


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Raptor Month

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 300th day of 2012 with 65 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6"42 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 68ºF [Feels like 68ºF], winds SE @ 8 mph, humidity 65%, pressure 30.04 in and steady, dew point 56ºF, chance of precipitation 30%.

Today in History:
1774--the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.
1776--Benjamin Franklin sets sail for France to negotiate and secure a formal alliance and treaty.
1854--Charles William Post, American manufacturer of breakfast cereals, was born; died 1914 at age 59.
1861--the Pony Express announced its closure.
1864--the notorious Confederate guerrilla leader William "Bloody Bill" Anderson was killed in Missouri in a Union ambush.
1881--the Earp brothers face off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Ariz.
1902--Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American social activist and leading figure of the early women's movement, died in her home.
1906--workers in St. Petersburg set up the first Russian soviet, or council.
1911--Mahalia Jackson, known as the queen of gospel singing, was born; died 1972 at age 60.
1916--Francois Mitterand, French president (1981-95), was born; died 1996 at age 79.
1917--Brazil declared war on Germany.
1919--Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, deposed Iranian Shah (1941-79), was born; died 1980 at age 60 of cancer.
1920--The Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, Terence McSwiney, died after a 2 1/2-month hunger strike in a British prison cell, demanding independence for Ireland.
1942, the U.S. carrier Hornet was damaged so extensively by Japanese war planes in the Battle of Santa Cruz that was abandoned.
1944--the battle of Leyte Gulf, largest air-naval clash in history, ended with a decisive US victory over the Japanese.
1947--Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State and former first lady, turns 65.
1958--the first commercial Boeing 707 flight is a transcontinental New York to Paris journey made by PanAm with a fuel stop in Gander, Newfoundland
1962--in one of the most dramatic verbal confrontations of the Cold War, UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson asked his Soviet counterpart whether the USSR had placed missiles in Cuba..
1966--a fire breaks out on aircraft carrier USS Oriskany when a locker filled with night illumination magnesium flares burst into flame.
1972--national security adviser Henry Kissinger declared "peace is at hand" in Vietnam.
1979--South Korean Pres. Park Chung-hee was assassinated by the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
1985--Whitney Houston earned her first #1 hit with "Saving All My Love For You"
1994--Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Abdel Salam Majali of Jordan signed a peace treaty in a ceremony attended by Pres. Clinton.
1998--Hurricane Mitch, the most deadly hurricane to hit the Western Hemisphere in more than 200 years, slams into Central America, killing thousands.
2001--six weeks after the worst terrorist attack on US soil, Pres. Bush signed the Patriot Act, giving law enforcement agencies expanded authority.
2002--a hostage siege by Chechen rebels at a Moscow theater ended with 129 of the 800-plus captives dead, most from a knockout gas used by Russian special forces who stormed the theater.
2003--Cedar Fire (a human-caused wildfire which burned out of control in Calif. due to Santa Ana winds) burned over 280 thousand acres and killed 15.
2005--the Chicago White Sox won their first World Series since 1917 by defeating the Houston Astros 1-0 in Game 4.
2006--Pres. Bush signed a bill authorizing construction of nearly 700 miles of fencing on the U.S. border with Mexico.
2008--a massive wave of job layoffs hit the US economy, with October's total of lost jobs expected to be around 200,000.

World News Capsules:

1. Bomber kills dozens of Afghan worshipers as holiday starts
....The bomber struck a mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday morning just as prayers were ending, killing at least 45 people on the first day of the most important Muslim holiday of the year
2. Noted women's rights activist in Congo eludes gunmen
....The gunmen, whose bullets missed Dr. Denis Mukwege, the director of a hospital that treats victims of sexual violence, killed a security guard and threatened three children.
3. European Union gives rights award to convicted Iranians
....The European Union awarded its most prestigious human rights award on Friday to two imprisoned Iranians, the lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and the filmmaker Jafar Panahi.
4. Investigation of BBC host examines dropped cases
....Footage of the interview with Jimmy Savile surfaced as police officials said the number of people who said they were assaulted by him had grown to 300 from 200 in just the last week.
5. India's plague, trash, drowns its garden city durnig strike

....In Bangalore, the capital of India’s modern economy, ubiquitous garbage highlights the incompetence of governance and the dark side of the country’s rapid economic growth.
6. Dozens are killed in Myanmar as sectarian violence flares again
....A week of violence between Muslims and Buddhists has left at least 60 dead in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar, a local official said.
7. Pakistani activist, 15, recovering at 'encouraging speed,' father says

....Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head by the Taliban, was reunited with her family for the first time since she arrived in Britain for treatment.
8. Syrian protesters emerge amid clashes and bombing during a holiday cease-fire

....Protests emerged onto the streets across Syria on Friday as a temporary cease-fire marking the most important Muslim holiday of the year largely held at the start of its first day.
a. Winter's approach adds to crisis as Syrians continue to flee
....The population of registered war refugees in Syria’s neighboring countries is expected to nearly double by year’s end, to more than 700,000 people, just as the winter approaches.
9. Boxer-turned-politician shakes up Ukrainian elections
....Vitali Klitschko has injected an unpredictable element into a Parliamentary election widely seen as tilted in favor of the ruling party.

US News Capsules:
1. US cuts estimate of sugar intake of typical American

....The US Department of Agriculture has lowered the amount of sugar from nearly 100 pounds to around 80 pounds a person, in revising an estimate that it says is far from perfect.
2. Two siblings killled in New York City; nanny arrested

....A mother returned home to her Upper West Side apartment to find two of her children fatally stabbed in a bathtub by the family's nanny, the authorities said.
3. Spendng on Medicaid has slowed, survey finds
....Enrollment in the program grew only modestly as well, but that may change as millions of people are due to become eligible in 2014 under the new national health care law, a survey found.
4. He's got plenty to tell you, most of it self-loathing

....The punk band Titus Andronicus returns with a third album, “Local Business,” that’s full of Patrick Stickles’s whiny rasp and disgust with himself.
5. Forecasters predict East Coast landfall for storm
....Forecasters cautioned that it was too early to say where on the US coast Hurricane Sandy would strike or how intense the giant storm’s winds would be when it hit.
a. Aging satellite fleet may mean gaps in storm forecasts

....A year or more without crucial satellites could result in shaky forecasts about storms like Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to hit the Northeastern Seaboard early next week.
6. Sanitation problems seen at pharmacy tied to outbreak

....Federal inspectors reported mold, bacteria and dirty equipment at the company where the drug implicated in the national meningitis outbreak was made.
POLITICS:
1. Obama campaign endgame: grunt work and cold math

....The wave of passion that coursed through Pres. Obama's headquarters in 2008 has been replaced with a methodical approach to manufacturing the winning coalition - a more arduous task with no guarantee of success.
2. Michigan vote a test case on enshrining the rights of unions
....Unions in Michigan are asking voters to approve a referendum that would secure labor protections.
3. Followoing in a father's footsteps, but probably not into politics
....Tagg Romney says he has no interest in working in a Romney administration and no intention of carrying on the political tradition that began with his grandfather, George.
4. Bad luck and missteps make GOP's Senate climb steeper

....Once viewed as likely to win the Senate, Republicans have at times made their own path harder. Even before a second Republican Senate candidate tripped over incendiary comments about rape, GOP leaders in Washington knew that their once promising chances of winning control of the Senate had diminished.

Sports Headlines:
1. World Series: Giants escape dual with a victory

....The San Francisco Giants, behind a strong pitching performance by Madison Bumgarner and a lucky roll of a bunt in the 7th inning, beat the Tigers to take a 2-0 World Series lead.
2. NBA: Stern to pass ball, setting end datae on tenure
....David Stern's long, storied, occasionally polarizing tenure as NBA commissioner will come to a close on Feb. 1, 2014, exactly 30 years after it began.
3. NCAA: Some dietitians say college athletes are underfed
....NCAA rules permit only one team-provided meal per day, as well as snacks, and critics say that is not enough.
a. Idea to lower rim for women's basketball stirs talk

....Geno Auriemma, the coach of the UConn women’s basketball team, has suggested lowering the 10-foot rims to help generate more offense and attract more fans.

Thought for Today
"If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all."
--Noam Chomsky (b. 1928) American linguist and political writer

[pegasus]

National Cat Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 303rd day of 2012 with 62 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's lightly raining , temp 46ºF [Feels like 46ºF], winds N @ 15 mph, humidity 100%, pressure 29.52 in and steady, dew point 46ºF, chance of precipitation 100%.

Today in History:
1618--Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded under a sentence brought against him 15 years earlier for conspiracy against King James I.
1682--the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, landed at what is now Chester, Pa.
1777--John Hancock resigned as president of the First Continental Congress due to illness.
1858--the first store opened in the frontier town of Denver, Colo.
1863--the Battle of Wauhatchie concluded as Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's troops opened a supply line into Chattanooga, Tenn.
1897--Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of propaganda (1933-45) for Nazi Germany, was born; committed suicide 1945.
1901--Leon Czolgosz, Pres. McKinley's assassin, was executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York.
1923--the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed.
1929--the Stock market crashes when Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors trade 16,410,030 shares in a single day.
1940--the US began its first peacetime military draft.
1942--leading British clergymen and political figures held a public meeting to register their outrage over the persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany.
1948--a killer smog in Donora, Pa. claimed elderly victimsultimately killing 20 with thousands seriously ill.
1956--The Huntley-Brinkley Report premiered as NBC's nightly TV newscast.
1956--Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt toward the Suez Canal, initiating the Suez Crisis.
1966--the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded.
1967--the musical Hair opened off-Broadway.
1969--Judge ordered "Chicago Eight" black defendant Bobby Seale gagged and chained to his chair during his trial after he repeatedly shouted accusations and insults at the judge and prosecution and disrupted the court proceedings.
1969--the first connection on what would become the Internet was made when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute.
1971--guitarist Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers band died in a motorcycle accident.
1989--M25 (orbital motorway encircling Greater London, one of the longest city bypasses in the world) was officially opened by Margaret Thatcher.
1994--Francisco Duran from Colorado was arrested after he sprayed the White House with bullets from an assault rifle.
1998--Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, who in 1962 became the first astronaut to orbit the Earth, returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery, becoming, at 77, the oldest person to travel in space.
1998--Hurricane Mitch, 2nd deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, made landfall in Honduras.
2002--Ho Chi Minh City ITC Inferno, one of the deadliest peacetime disasters in Vietnam, was a fire in the ITC building that claimed 60 lives.
2003--digging through more than 164 feet of rock, rescuers liberated 11 of 13 Russian miners trapped underground for six days after a methane gas explosion.
2004--Osama bin Laden, in a videotaped statement, directly admitted for the first time that he had ordered the Sept. 11 attacks.
2004--European Union leaders signed the EU's first constitution.
2005--three explosions in New Delhi hit a bus and markets crowded with holiday shoppers, killing at least 65 people.
2005--a reported 102 people died in a train wreck in southern India, where heavy rains caused major flooding.
2006--due to pilot error, a Boeing 737 crashed near Nigeria's Abuja airport killing 96 of the 104 people aboard.
2006--17 instructors and two translators were gunned down at a British-run police academy at Basra, Iraq.
2007--a suicide bomber attacked a police brigade in Iraq, killing 29 people, including 26 police officers.
2008--the death toll from a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan topped 200, with 100s hurt and more than 20,000 were left homeless.


World News Capsules:
1. When Afghans look to border with Pakistan, they don't see a fixed line
....An American envoy’s comments about the Durand Line, the contentious 1893 border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, have struck a raw nerve in Afghanistan.
2. Protests over chemical plant force Chinese officials to back down

....After three days of growing dissent, local officials promised to halt the plant's expansion, something skeptical activists attributed to the current political climate.
3. Ghana: a grant meant to curb infant mortality focuses on getting mothers to the hospital
....Rutted roads in rural Ghana are an obvious problem, but women and infants there often die partly because of prejudices against wives or newborns leaving the house.
4. Arrest of '70s rock star widens sexual abuse case tied to BBC
....The sexual abuse scandal surrounding the late television host Jimmy Savile widened after the British police arrested Paul Gadd, who performed as Gary Glitter, in connection with the case.
a. Former judge opens inquiry into Savile sex abuse case
....A former senior judge will investigate the “culture and practices” at the corporation behind the sexual abuse scandal surrounding the late television host Jimmy Savile
5. Greek editor is arrested after publishing a list of Swiss bank accounts
....Kostas Vaxevanis, the editor and owner of Hot Doc magazine, said the list contained the names of 2,000 Greeks who had possibly been evading taxes.
6. India reshuffles cabinet, as chance of early elections grows
....The changes were seen as an effort to shake off nearly a year of paralysis and address a host of corruption and nepotism charges
7. Indonesia terror raids net 11 suspects, state media reports

....The suspects, said to be part of a relatively new militant group, were planning attacks on several high-profile targets in the country, including the US Embassy in Jakarta.
8. US tries to coordinate anti-militant push in Mali
....Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Algeria as the US sought to coordinate support for an emerging international effort to push Islamic militants out of northern Mali
9. Attack on NIgerian church kills 8 and wounds dozens

....Though there was no claim of responsibility, the bombing at a Roman Catholic church in Kaduna was similar to others by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.
10. Region's struggles seen in a Romanian scandal
....In Romania, an unsolved mystery around the arrest and apparent suicide attempt of a former prime minister seems to symbolize the entire country’s dysfunctional version of democracy.
11. Soccer arena rouses fans, and Russia, over its cost
....A high-level inquiry by auditors was ordered for a St. Petersburg construction project that has reached an estimate of $1.4 billion after a predicted $210 million cost.
12. Low voter turnout in Sicily suggests anger at pp;otoca; c;ass
....Fewer than half of eligible voters participated in regional elections, a signal of discontent with Italy’s political class after a series of scandals.
13. Attacks continue during failed holiday truce in Syria
....The declared four-day holiday truce in Syria ended on Monday much as it had begun — with airstrikes, artillery barrages and other firefights that made a mockery of the cease-fire.
a. Envoy to Syria meets with Russian foreign minister after truce unravels

....Reeling from his doomed cease-fire plan that disintegrated in hours, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with Russia's Sergey Lavrov on what to do about the Syrian civil war.
14. Governing party claims victory in Ukraine elections

....The governing party of Pres. Yanukovich declared victory in Ukraine, but preliminary exit polls showed opposition parties making strong gains.
a. International observers denounce Ukrainian election
....A day after voting, outside monitors said an abuse of resources, media control and jailings had given the ruling party an unfair advantage.

US News Capsules:
1. Sharp warnings as Hurricane Sandy churns in

....Forecasters said Hurricane Sandy would bring "life-threatening" flooding to areas of the East Coast and officials warned of days of disruptions as the storm swirled toward some of the nation's most densely populated areas.
a. Panicked evacuations mix with nonchalance in Hurricane Sandy's path
....In New York City, with memories of last year's less-than-ferocious Hurricane Irene still fresh, some skeptical residents simply would not move.
b. Shallow waters and unusual path may worsen the surge
....Experts pointed to several factors that could combine to make the tidal surge from Hurricane Sandy particularly far-reaching and destructive.
c. The coast empties out as the storm moves in

....One by one, hotels were closed and storefronts were boarded up in Rehoboth Beach, Del., as Hurricane Sandy moved toward shore.
d. Brunt of business impact yet to come

....The effects of the storm were expected to be felt by the economy well after Hurricane Sandy comes and goes as consumers stay home and focus on cleanup and recovery.
2. A weak sport in HIV's armor raises hope for a vaccine
....Researchers announced that they had found a vulnerable spot on the virus’s outer shell that might present a good vaccine target.
3. Silos loom as death traps on American farms
....The US is producing more grain than ever, for food, feed, and commercial applications like ethanol. But as other farm work has gotten safer, gruesome grain bin accidents persist.
.4. Advertising relearned for mobile
....Advertising on devices like cellphones and tablets requires different approaches from advertising online, like taking advantage of the ability to track a consumer's location.
5. At Fox News, a liberal pundit finds the spotlight
....Sally Kohn, a former community organizer, is winning attention for her political commentary on the Fox News Channel.
6. Univision to start its first digital network
....On Monday, Univision will officially start its first digital network, UVideos, which will offer more than 1,500 hours of long-form programming and about 200 short clips a day free to users.
7. Police cut back, violent crime soars

....A 24-year-old mother shot to death this month is one of 71 homicides this year in Newark, NJ, where budget cuts led to police layoffs. As many cities have cut police, violent crime soared 18% nationwide last year.
8. ARTS: Movies try to escape cultural irrelevance

....Worried that films have lost their cultural cachet, Hollywood is pondering initiatives meant to restore the attachment films have to historical and cultural thinking in America.
a. Going beyond cultual kid stuff with a wary sense of adventure
....A judgment call for parents: When is it appropriate to introduce children to challenging cultural material - whether it is sexy or profane, creepy or violent, or simply adult and intense?
9. US Supreme Court rejects abortion-related appeal
....The court declined to review an abortion-related appeal, a sign the justices were not eager to jump into the contentious social issue.
POLITICS:
1. In middle of a messy election, a nightmare makes landfall

....Recounts, contested ballots, an Electoral College at odds with the popular vote: now adding to the campaigns' potential horrors, a freakish storm may warp an election two years in the making.
2. Storm roils campaign as Obama cancels appearance
....Pres. Obama returned to Washington and Mitt Romney canceled campaign events through Tuesday.
3, GOP tries to chip away at Democrats' edge in early voting
....Republicans are stepping up their efforts to narrow a Democratic advantage in early voting in key battlegrounds like Florida and Ohio.
4. Romney wants more responsibility for emergency management in states

....Mitt Romney's comments about the Federal Emergency Management Agency, made at a CNN Republican primary debate in June 2011, are receiving renewed attention Monday as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast.
5. Famous for gaffes, a candidate in Missouri learns to watch his words
....Todd Akin, the Republican candidate for Senate in Missouri, became known nationally for his gaffes, and now he is trying to convince voters at home that he is not an extremist.

Sports Headlines:
1. NFL: NY Giants hang on to victory, by a finger
....The Giants' 29-24 victory against Dallas came down to the final seconds when a touchdown reception by the Cowboys' Dez Bryant was overturned because his right hand touched out of bounds.
a. No longer flying under the radar

....With their 30-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Atlanta Falcons might have finally proved that they are serious Super Bowl contenders
2. WORLD SERIES: With a sweep, SF Giants are champions again

....San Francisco, seeking their 2nd World Series title in two years, completed the first World Series sweep since 2007 with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in 10 innings, giving the Giants their second title in three years.

Thought for Today
"The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935), assoc.jusice, US Supreme Court

[pegasus]

Happy National Candy Corn Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 302nd day of 2012 with 63 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:07 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 49ºF [Feels like 49ºF], winds ESE @ 9 mph, humidity 69%, pressure 29.30 in and rising, dew point 36ºF, chance of precipitation 40%.

Today in History:
1340--in the Spanish-Muslim Wars, an army under Alfonso IV of Portugal heavily defeated the Moors under Abu Hamed at the battle of Salado.
1485--Henry Tudor (father of Henry VIII) was crowned enry VII, King of England.
1735--John Adams, the 2nd president of the US (1797-1801), was born in Braintree, Mass.; died 1826 at age 90.
1775--a 7-member naval committee was established by Congress and tasked with the acquisition, outfitting and manning of a naval fleet.
1811--Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility was published.
1817--Simon Bolivar established the independent government of Venezuela.
1863--George I of Greece, a Danish prince who was elected King by the Greek National Assembly, was crowned King of Greece.
1864--the city of Helena, Mont. was founded after miners discovered gold.
1885--Ezra Loomis Pound, poet and literary critic, was born; died 1972 at age 87.
1890--Oakland, Calif. enacted a law against opium, morphine, and cocaine.
1893--Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition closed that had introduced Americans to all kinds of technological wonders.
1894--Daniel M. Cooper of Rochester, New York patented the time clock into which timecards were inserted.
1915--Fred Friendly, the pioneering American broadcast journalist , was born; died 1998 at age 82,
1918--World War I: representatives of Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire signed an armistice treaty.
1938--Orson Welles caused a nationwide panic with his realistic broadcast of War of the Worlds, a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth.
1941--Pres. Roosevelt approved Lend-Lease aid to the USSR.
1941--a U.S. destroyer, the Reuben James, was sunk by a German submarine.
1944--Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring premiered at the Library of Congress.
1953--George C. Marshall, who, as secretary of state following World War II, engineered a massive economic aid program for Europe, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1953--Pres. Eisenhower approved the National Security Council 162/2 that made clear that the nuclear arsenal would be maintained and the connection between military spending and a sound American economy.
1961--the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb.
1965--the US Marines repelled an attack near Da Nang, South Vietnam.
1973--the Bosphorous Bridge in Turkey was completed.
1974--Rumble in the Jungle: Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the 8th round in Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain his world heavyweight title.
1975--as dictator Francisco Franco was near death, Prince Juan Carlos assumed power in Spain.
1983--The Rev. Jesse Jackson announced plans to become the first African-American to mount a full-scale campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
1991--the first "Perfect" storm hit the North Atlantic, producing remarkably large waves along the New England and Canadian coasts.
1995--by a bare majority of 50.6% to 49.4%, Quebec voted to remain within the federation of Canada.
1997--a jury in Cambridge, Mass., convicted British au pair Louise Woodward of second-degree murder in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen, later reduced to manslaughter.
2003--the death toll in the Southern California wildfire outbreak was set at 20 with 2,605 homes destroyed and 657,000 acres charred.
2004--Yasser Arafat's closest aides said the 75-year-old, long-time Palestinian leader had lost control of his mental faculties and couldn't communicate clearly.
2005--civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks became the first woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
2005--Indian authorities sent army divers to look for people trapped in a derailed train near Veligonda, the result of massive flooding.
2005--an obscure radical Islamic group in India claimed responsibility for the bombings at two New Delhi markets and on a bus that killed more than 60 people and injured close to 200.
2006--Pakistan hit an Islamic school near the Afghan border, killing at least 80 suspected militants.
2008--the U.S. gross domestic product dropped 0.3%, the first decrease in the GDP in 17 years.
2008--Nine explosions in four towns in northern India killed at least 39 people and wounded more than 100, police said.

World News Capsules:
1. Afghans say presidential election date is set for April 2014
....Pres. Karzai took a step toward fulfilling his pledge to hold Afghanistan’s presidential election on time, as officials said that the vote had been officially set for April 5, 2014.
2. Citing violence, Bahrain bans all protests in new crackdown


....The government said that opposition activists had abused its tolerance for freedom of expression by allowing protests to turn violent.
3. Ex-envoy says US stirs China-Japan tensions
....Chen Jian, a former United Nations under secretary general, complained that Japan was being encouraged to take on security concerns, empowering the right wing in that country.
a. Protests over chemical plant force Chinese officials to back down
....After three days of growing dissent, local officials promised to halt the plant’s expansion, something skeptical activists attributed to the current political climate.
4. Wrangling over Europe's budget gets under way
....Hostilities are likely to be protracted as countries like Britain and Sweden call for deep cuts in the European Commission's proposed spending plan.
5. Behind the inscrutable mien, clues to Merkel's methods
....Hints of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s approach to leadership beyond Germany are sprinkled in a life that includes firsthand experience of how a failure of vision can undo a nation.
6. Greece moves quickly to put editor on trial
....A case surrounding the publication of a list of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts has raised questions about press freedom and Greece’s willingness to crack down on tax evasion.
7. Libya warnings were plentiul but unspecific
....Interviews suggest that though the State Department received many warnings about the deteriorating situation in Benghazi, none focused on the diplomatic compound that was attacked.
8. Villagers in Morocco drive out prositutes
....Some hail the crackdown in a village known for its sex trade as a victory for community activism; others fear the influence of fundamentalist Islam.
9. Qatar: Genocide in Syria

....Syria's government is waging "a war of extermination" against its own people, the emir of Qatar said , hours after a failed four-day ceasefire during a Muslim holiday left hundreds dead.
10. In Turkey, a break from the past plays out in the streets
....The divisions between secularists and the Islamist-leaning government were on display Monday during the holiday celebrating Turkey’s founding.

US News Capsules:
1. Storm barrels ashore, leavaing path of destruction

....The storm battered the mid-Atlantic region, its powerful gusts and storm surges causing once-in-a-generation flooding in New York city, coastal communities and knocking down trees and power lines.
a. Empty of gamblers and full of water, Atlantic City reels
....Even as the first samplings of the storm's ravages descended on the New Jersey coastline, a large portion of Atlantic City was already underwater.
b. Storm is expected to be less powerful, and less renching, as it moves inland
....The enormous storm is expected to become less monstrous, and less drenching, as it moves over land.
c. Distribution of billions in aid to storm victims will test FEMA
....FEMA has a troubled history of overseeing its aid program, which has been subject to chronic fraud and abuse.
2. Random House and Penguin merger creates global giant
....The deal between the media companies Bertelsmann, which owns Random House, and Pearson, which owns Penguin, might draw antitrust scrutiny.
3. SCIENCE: Killing the computer to save it

....Dr. Neumann, an 80-year-old computer scientist at SRI International, is leading an effort to redesign computers and software from a "clean slate" to make them more secure.
a. Scientists move closer to a lasting flu vaccine
....Thanks to a flurry of recent studies, flu experts foresee a time when seasonal flu shots are a thing of the past.
4. Farmers find path out of hardship in corn mazea
....Income from “agritainment” activities like corn mazes is helping a lot of farmers keep their farm.
5. Question for justices: do Aldo and Franky's noses always know?
....The Supreme Court plans to hear the cases of two drug-sniffing dogs amid a growing body of evidence suggesting that such dogs may not be infallible.
a. Challenge to wiretaps is heard by justices
....The Supreme Court heard a challenge to a federal law, enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks, that authorized intercepting international communications involving Americans.
6. Disney buying Lucasfilm for $4 billion

....Through the acquisition, which gives Disney a commanding position in the world of fantasy films, the company said that it would revive the “Star Wars” franchise.
POLITICS:
1. GOP turns fire on Obama pillar, the auto bailout
....Mitt Romney's latest attempt to win votes in Ohio, by criticizing aspects of the auto industry recovery, has provoked a backlash.
2. Storm pushes aside presidential politics, mostly
....Mitt Romney held a “storm-relief event” in Ohio, as both candidates confronted how best to campaign while cities coped with deaths and extensive flooding/
3. Looking presidential: the optics of leadership during a disaster

....As Sandy took aim at the East Coast, Pres. Obama discarded campaign events in Florida and Virginia to return to Washington and address the storm from the White House.

Thought for Today
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
--John Adams (1735-1826), 2nd Pres. of the US and a Founding Father.

[pegasus]

National Adoption Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 304th day of 2012 with 61 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:57 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 46ºF [Feels like 46ºF], winds W @ 12 mph, humidity 73%, pressure 29.51 in and steady, dew point 38ºF, chance of precipitation 60%.

Today in History:
1512--the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, one of Michelangelo's finest works, was exhibited to the public for the first time.
1520--the Straits of Magellan, a navigable seaway south of mainland Chile between the Atlantic and Pacific, was first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan.
1604--William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello was first performed, at Whitehall Palace in London.
1700--Charles II of Spain died and was succeeded by Philip V, marking the start of the War of Spanish Succession.
1755--the Great Lisbon Earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fire which caused near total destruction of Lisbon, Portugal, killed getween 60,000 and 100,000.
1765--the British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act, a measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in the New World that promted stiff resistance in the colonies.
1790--Reflections on the Revolution in France, an attack on the French Revolution by Edmund Burke, was first published.
1798--Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, Irish brewer, was born; died 1868 at age 69.
1800--Pres. John Adams moved into the newly constructed President's House,, now known as the White HOuse.
1848--12 students were admitted to the first medical school exclusively for women, the Boston Female Medical School that in 1874 combined with Boston University School of Medicine to become one of the first coed, medical colleges in the world.
1856--following a Persian invasion of Afghanistan to occupy Herat, Britain declared war on Persia.
1861--Gen. George McClellan replaces the aged Gen. Winfield cott as general in chief of the Union army.
1864--as a safe way to pay by mail, money orders were sold by the US Post Office for the first time.
1870--the US Weather Bureau made its first observations on the weather.
1871--Stephen Crane, the American writer best known for his novel The Red Badge of Courage, was born; died 1900 at age 28.
1914--at the Battle of Coronel off Chile, the British ships Good Hope and Monmouth were sunk by five German cruisers with the loss of 1,600 lives.
1918--Malbone Street Train Wreck in Flatbush Brooklyn, NY became the deadliest rapid-transit crash in the US with 100 deaths.
1918--the Hapsburg monarchy of Austria-Hungary was dissolved with Vienna becoming the capital of Austria and Budapest of Hungary.
1922--following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey became a republic.
1924--William Tilghman, 71 and a legendary western lawman, was murdered by a corrupt prohibition agent who resented Tilghman's refusal to ignore local bootlegging operations.
1936--in a speech, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an "axis" running between Rome and Berlin.
1938--the thoroughbred racehorse, Seabiscuit was matched against War Admiral at Pimilico for the match of the century and won,
1941--Pres. Roosevelt put the US Coast Guard under control of the US Navy, a condition usually reserved only for wartime.
1941--Ansel Adams, American photographer, took his famous "Moonrise" photograph in Hernandez, N.M.
1944--Mary Chase's play about a large invisible rabbit, Harvey that became a Pulizer Prize winner, debuted in New York.
1946--Walt Disney's Song of the South, starring child-actor Bobby Driscoll and James Baskett as Uncle Remus, was released to theaters.
1947--Man o' War, the famous racehorse, died and over 2,500 people went to his funeral.
1950--two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House, the temporary White House in Washington, D.C. to assassinate Pres. Truman.
1951--Operation Buster-Jangle "Dog" Test involved exposing American soldiers to an atomic explosion for training purposes in Desert Rock, Nev.
1952--in Operation Ivy "Mike" Test, the US exploded the first hydrogen bomb, in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.
1954--Steve Allen hosted the new nationally-broadcast show Tonight.
1954--Algeria began a successful rebellion against French rule.
1955--United Airlines Flight 629 exploded from a dynamite bomb put in the checked luggage wrapped as a "Christmas Present" from son to mother.
1959--Montreal Canadien Jacques Plante is the first NHL goalie to wear a full facemask and his idea began to catch on, and soon almost every keeper in the league wore a mask.
1963--South Vietnamese Pres. Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were killed in a military coup.
1968--the Production Code Administration began handing out ratings for movies (G, M, R, X).
1969--The Beatles last album, Abbey Road,, reached #1 on the album chart.
1973--in the wake of the Saturday Night Massacre, Acting Attorney General Robert Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new Watergate special prosecutor,
1984--Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Indian prime minister amid anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
1986--a warehouse fire in Basel, Switzerland, triggered massive chemical pollution of the Rhine River in Switzerland, France, West Germany and the Netherlands.
1990--McDonald's, under pressure from environmental groups, said it would replace plastic food containers with paper.
1991--Clarence Thomas took his place as a justice on the Supreme Court.
1993--the Maastricht Treaty came into effect, creating the new European Union.
1995--Bosnia peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio.
1995--South Africans voted in their first all-race local government elections, completing the destruction of the apartheid system.
1997--James Cameron's romantic tragedy, Titanic, made its world premiere at the Tokyo International film festival.
2006--China and Vietnam prepared for Typhoon Cimaron that bore down with 100-mph winds. The storm hit the northern Philippines island of Luzon earlier, killing 13 and inflicting heavy damage with high winds, floods and landslides.
2007--Paul Tibbets Jr., who flew the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, hastening the end of World War II, died in his Columbus, Ohio, home at age 92.

World News Capsules:
1. In this corner, a much-needed distraction

....When a German promoter this week brought the spectacle of professional boxing to Kabul, the only real question for many Afghans was what took so long.
2. Wary of future, professionals leave China in record numbers

....Although China's economic boom has created millions of well-paying jobs, its skilled workers are moving elsewhere, in search of better quality of life, and religious and political freedoms.
a. Chinese cafe owner given 8-year sentence over online messages
....The punishment for the man, Cao Haibo, 27, comes after he criticized the ruling Communist Party in online messages and he sought to establish an opposition party.
b. China presents plan to end Syrian conflict
....The proposal calls for a phased-in truce and a stronger international response to the refugee crisis, but does not demand that President Bashar al-Assad step down.
3.
4. French Socialists, under fire, display a lack of Fraternité

....Buffeted by a bad economy and rising unemployment and facing angry voters, France's Socialists are sniping at their own leaders.
5. Fearing legal claims, bank freezes Savile estate
....NatWest Bank said it was delaying the distribution of the late television host’s estate because of claims for damages arising from accusations of sexual abuse.
6. Israel confirms killing Arafat deputy in 1988
....Lifting a nearly 25-year veil of secrecy, Israel acknowledged that it killed the deputy of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a 1988 seaborne raid in Tunisia.
7. Amsterdam mayor says coffee sops will remain open
....The decision about the city’s 220 coffee shops, where marijuana and hashish are openly sold and consumed, comes in spite of a Dutch law meant to reduce drug tourism.
8. Northern Ireland prison guard slain in gun ambush
....Suspected IRA die-hards killed a Northern Ireland prison officer in a gun ambush as he drove to work, the first killing of a prison guard in nearly two decades in the British territory.
9. Scheduling changes prompt questions about Putin's health
....Pres. Putin’s press secretary said that Mr. Putin has been working from home lately rather than commuting to the Kremlin to avoid causing traffic congestion.
10. Market rises, perfume and all, as refugees face a long Syria war

....Along the main road through the Zaatari camp in Jordan, there are at least three coffee shops, a brand-new falafel stand inside a tent, and stands selling fruits and vegetables.
a. As fighting rages, Clinton seeks new Syrian opposition
....The US signaled impatience with the Syrian opposition-in-exile and said it would support a more robust movement to oust Pres. al-Assad.
11. Turkey given reassurance by Germany on talks
....Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Turkey's prime minister and pledged that the European Union would continue to pursue talks "in good faith" over Turkey's accession to the bloc,

US News Capsules:
1. New Jersey is reeling from a fierce storm's punch
....Though Hurricane Sandy raged up the East Coast, it has become increasingly apparent that New Jersey took the brunt of it.
2. Long gas lines, clogged roads and slim hope for a better day
....With some commutes into the city taking three hours, New Yorkers clung to news that some subway and rail service would be restored on Thursday.
POLITICS:
1. An unlikely political pair, united by a disaster
....Pres. Obama's tour of New Jersey with Gov. Chris Christie confronted Mitt Romney with a vexing challenge just as he returned to the campaign trail in Florida.

Sports Headlines:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
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[pegasus]

All Souls’ Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 305th day of 2012 with 60 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6:37 p.m., it's lightly raining , temp 37ºF [Feels like 30ºF], winds W @ 12 mph, humidity 75%, pressure 29.75 in and steady, dew point 30ºF, chance of precipitation 100%.

Today in History:
1755--Marie-Antoinette, French queen consort to Louis VXI, was born; beheaded 1793 at age 37.
1777--the USS Ranger, with a crew of 140 men under the command of John Paul Jones, leaves Portsmouth, N.H. to begin raids on British warships.
1783--Gen. Washington issued his farewell address to the Army near Princeton, N.J.
1861--controversial Union Gen. John C. Fremont was relieved of command in the Western Department and replaced by David Hunter.
1889--North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.
1902--the 1st four-cylinder, gas-powered Locomobile —a $4,000, 12-horsepower Model C— was delivered to a buyer in New York City.
1917--British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour submitted a declaration of intent to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
1942--British launch Operation Supercharge with Gen. Bernard Montgomery breaking through German Gen. Rommel's defensive line at El Alamein, Egypt,
1947--the Hughes Flying Boat (or Spruce Goose) - the largest aircraft ever built - was piloted by designer Howard Hughes on its first and only flight.
1948--in the greatest upset in presidential election history, Pres. Truman defeatsed GOP challenger, NY Gov. Thomas Dewey, by just over two million popular votes.
1950--George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright (Pygmalion) and Nobel laureate, died from renal failure in Hertfordshire, England.
1959--Charles Van Doren admitted to a House subcommittee that he had the questions and answers in advance of his appearances on the TV game show Twenty-One.
1960--a landmark obscenity case over Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence ended in the acquittal of Penguin Books.
1963--South Vietnamese Pres. Ngo Dihn Diem was assassinated in a military coup.
1965--Norman Morrison (a Quaker) set himself on fire in front of the Pentagon in protest of the Vietnam War.
1976--former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeated GOP incumbent Gerald R. Ford, becoming the first US president from the Deep South since the Civil War.
1982-- a truck explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing an estimated 3,000 people, mostly Soviet soldiers.
1983--Pres. Reagan signed a bill establishing a federal holiday on the 3rd Monday of January in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
1984--Velma Barfield, a serial murderer, was the first woman in the US to be executed by lethal injection.
1986 US hostage David Jacobsen was released in Beirut after 17 months in a trade for US arms sent to Iran.
1992--HIV-infected Earvin "Magic" Johnson retired from professional basketball "for good."
1992--legendary filmmaker (Laurel & Hardy/Our Gang comedies) Hal Roach died at age 100.
1993--a new series of wildfires swept along the Southern California coast, destroying more than 300 homes in the exclusive community of Malibu.
1996--Great Britain announced a plan to ban ownership of large-caliber handguns.
2003--at least 13 U.S. soldiers were killed and about 20 wounded in Iraq when a missile downed a helicopter carrying members of the 82nd Airborne Division near Fallujah.
2004--Pres. George W. Bush was elected to a second term in a close race with Democrat John Kerry.
2004--Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who received death threats because of his film about violence against Islamic women, was slain as he rode his bicycle through an Amsterdam park.
2006--the Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after a man said they had had sexual trysts together.
2007--rescuers worked in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco to help the estimated 300,000 people trapped in their homes by massive flooding.
2009--Afghanistan's election commission proclaimed Pres. Hamid Karzai the victor of the country's tumultuous ballot, canceling a planned runoff.
2010--Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, picking up 63 seats in midterm elections, and Republican governors outnumbered Democrats after gaining six states.
2010--Californians rejected a ballot measure that would have made their state the first to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

World News Capsules:
1. Grabs for power behind plan to shrink elite circle
....A proposal by Chinese leaders to downsize the powerful Politburo Standing Committee offers one of the clearest windows available into the intentions of the party.
a. UN rights official faults China on Tibetan suppression
....Navi Pillay, the UNs’ high commissioner for human rights, said China’s suppression of the rights of Tibetans had driven them to “desperate forms of protest” like self-immolation.
b. From toys to TV news, jittery Beijing clamps down
....China is imposing a blizzard of restrictions to ensure stability during a major leadership change, and its crackdown extends even to toys and the back seats of cabs.
2. A shield of celebrity let a BBC host escape legal scrutiny for decades

....Despite widespread suspicions about Jimmy Savile, police forces were unable to connect the dots, and his powerful connections made pursuing allegations against him unpalatable.
3. Leader ousted, nation is now a drug haven
....Guinea-Bissau, the West African country taken over by its military in April, now appears to be a place where drug trafficking is approved at the top, drug trade experts say.
4. Iranian hard-liners reject any talks with US
....Angry Iranians commemorated the taking of the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979, and a senior security official warned against any compromise with the “great Satan."
5. Petraeus's quieter style at CIA leaves void on Libya furor

....The Benghazi crisis has been the biggest challenge in the first civilian job held by David H. Petraeus, who has gotten high marks in a markedly different culture from that of the military.
6. Ever wonder what elephants would have to say?

....Researchers think that Koshik, who lives at a zoo in South Korea, started imitating human speech out of a need to socialize.
7. UN says Syria execution video shows apparent war crime
....A new video that seems to show Syrian rebels summarily executing a group of captured soldiers or militiamen could, if verified, represent evidence of a war crime, the UN said.
8. Turkish leader says he plans a trop to Gaza soon

....A visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would antagonize the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the West.

US News Capsules:
1. Hurricand Sandy: Gasoline runs short, adding woes to storm recovery

....Four days after Hurricane Sandy, the effort to secure enough gas for the region moved to the forefront of recovery work. In New York, the Taxi Commission warned of a thinner fleet.
a. Estimate of economic losses now up to $50 billion

....Damages from Hurricane Sandy double a previous forecast, with economists warning that it could shave a half percentage point off the nation's economic growth.
b. Chelsea art galleries struggle to restore and reopen

....An hour in Chelsea last Saturday was a final look at what could become the old, pre-Sandy gallery scene.
c. Federal relief costs likely to be big, and contested
....States will almost certainly request billions in federal aid, which could stir concerns about fraud.
d. Patience wears thin as region cleans up, with toll rising

....Days after Hurricane Sandy, many in the New York area were coping with gas shortages, chilly homes that lacked power, lines for buses and food handouts and new word of lives lost - 97 in US, 166 total.
e. Cellphone users steaming at hit-or-miss service
....Four days after Hurricane Sandy, the major carriers — AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA and Sprint — were still rebuilding their networks in the hardest-hit areas,
f. Military to deliver fuel to storm region
....With lines at Northeast gas stations persisting, the government turned to the Pentagon for help and eased limits on foreign tankers.
2. As wolves' numbers rise, so does friction between guardians and hunters
....The first modern wolf-hunting season in Minnesota and Wisconsin is raising concerns among those who are trying to protect the animals.
3. Justices asked whether decision on deportation warnings applies retroactively
....The US Supreme Court heard arguments over whether a 2010 ruling, which stated that lawyers must warn their clients that deportation could follow a guilty plea, should apply retroactively.
4. Massachusetts man gets 17 years in terrorist plot
....Rezwan Ferdaus admitted to planning to blow up the Pentagon and the US Capitol using remote-controlled planes laden with explosives.
5. A promising drug with a flaw

(Walter Daumler with a photograph of his sister Doris Daumler, who was on Pradaxa and died in May)
....The anticlotting drug Pradaxa, on the market only two years, is growing in popularity for its ease of use, but has been associated with hemorrhaging, and it has no antidote to reverse its blood-thinning effects.
6. Military has not solved problem of sexual assault women say
....One sergeant’s account of abuse suggests that more than 20 years after Tailhook, the infamous 1991 scandal involving Navy fighter pilots, little has changed in the insular fighter pilot culture.
POLITICS
1. Bloomberg backs Obama, citing fallout from stomr
....Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, an independent, said climate change may have been a factor in Hurricane Sandy and he believed President Obama was the best candidate to tackle the issue.
2. Campaigns brace to sue for votes in crucial states
....Thousands of lawyers from both presidential campaigns will enter polling places next Tuesday with one central goal: tracking their opponents and, if need be, initiating legal action.
3. Economic data offers little change in dynamic between Obama and Romney
....Mitt Romney called the numbers “a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill,” but the White House cited the report as further evidence that the nation’s economy is recovering.
4. "I'm independent, not undecided"

....As he watched the debates, Bretton Holmes was irritated. It wasn't the candidates who were getting to him, it was hearing independent and undecided voters lumped together.

Sports Headlines:
1. After deays of pressure, marathon is off

....Lobbied by runners, politicians and the public after Hurricane Sandy, officials and organizers decided not to hold the New York City Marathon for the first time since 1970.
2. NHL: Citing logistics, NHL cancels Winter Classic
....The league’s signature event, this year a game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, was to be held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Jan. 1.
3. Rescuing horses as industry bides its time

....Rescue groups are on the lookout for former racehorses that have landed at auctions and are en route to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.
4. Spelman drops sports to turn focus on fitness
....Spelman College, facing money and logistical problems, is withdrawing from intercollegiate athletics and will focus on a wellness program to promote exercise and better nutrition.

Thought for Today
"The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts."
--[/i]Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) French mathematician and philosopher


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

International Drum Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 310th day of 2012 with 55 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:57 p.m., it's fair , temp 36ºF [Feels like 36ºF], winds N @ 3 mph, humidity 62%, pressure 30.04 in and rising, dew point 24ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

Today in History:
1665--the London Gazette, an official journal of record for the British government, and the oldest surviving journal, was first published.
1776--the Continental Congress chose Richard Bache to succeed his father-in-law, Benjamin Franklin, as postmaster general.
1805--the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at the Pacific Ocean.
1861--the Battle of Belmont, Mo.: Union forces under Gen. Grant overran a Confederate camp but are forced to flee when additional Confederate troops arriveed.
1867--Marie Curie, the Polish-born French physicist twice awarded the Nobel Prize for her work on radioactivity, was born.; died 1934 at age 66.
1874--the first cartoon by Thomas Nastdepicting the elephant as the symbol of the Republican Party was printed in Harper's Weekly.
1885--Canadian Pacific Railway was completed at a remote spot called Craigellachie in the mountains of British Columbia.
1893--the passage of a referendum made Colorado the first state to grant women the right to vote.
1907--Jesus Garcia Carcona, a Mexican railroad engineer, died by driving a burning train full of dynamite six kilometers away before it exploded.
1911--Marie Curie became the first multiple Nobel Prize winner when she was given the award for chemisty eight years after garnering the physics prize with her late husband, Pierre. (She remains the only woman with multiple Nobels and the only person to receive the award in two science categories.)
1916--suffragist Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the US House of Representatives,
1917--Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution took place as forces led by Vladimir Lenin overthrew the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky.
1918--Billy Graham, evangelist, turns 94
1918--the Spanish flu pandemic spread to Western Samoa killing 7,542 (about 20% of the population) by the end of the year.
1929--the Museum of MOdern Art or MoMA opened in New YOrk City.
1940--Only four months after its completion, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state, the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, collapsed.
1944--Pres. Rranklin D. Roosevelt was reelected a record third time, defeating Thomas E. Dewey, governor of New York.
1952--CIA director & former US Army general officer, David Petraeus turns 60.
1957--the Gaither Report from a special committee appointed to review the nation's defense readiness, called for more US missiles and fallout shelters.
1962--Richard Nixon, who failed to become governor of California, held his so-called last press conference, telling reporters, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore."
1962--former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt died at age 78 in her Manhattan apartment.
1964--US intelligence asserted that the numbers of North Vietnamese in South Vietnam was growing.
1972--Pres. Richard M. Nixon was ee-elected president., defeating Democrat George McGovern.
1973--the US Congress over-rode Pres. Nixon's veto of the War Powers Act.
1980--actor Steve McQueen, the Hollywood "King of Cool," died at age 50 in Mexico, where he was undergoing an experimental treatment for cancer.
1983--a bomb exploded in the US Capitol, causing heavy damage just outside the Senate chamber
1985--Colombian troops ended a 27-hour siege of Bogota's Palace of Justice by 35 M-19 guerrillas with 11 Supreme Court judges among the 100 people killed.
1989--two African American firsts in politics - David Dinkins, becomes mayor of New York City and Douglas Wilder, the first elected African American state governor.
1989--"Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez was formally sentenced in Los Angeles to die in the gas chamber for 13 killings.
1991--basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced his sudden retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers, after testing positive for HIV.
1998--House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigned following an election in which the Republican House majority shrunk to 12.
2000--George W. Bush was elected pUS resident over incumbent Democratic Vice Pres. Al Gore, though Gore won the popular vote .
2000--Hillary Rodham Clinton was elected to the U..Senate from New York, becoming the first first lady to win public office.
2001--U.S.-led jets resumed bombing in northern Afghanistan, targeting Taliban positions near the country's northeastern border with Tajikistan.
2004--in an overwhelming show of force, France put down a wave of anti-French violence in Ivory Coast, its former West African colony.
2005--Chilean police arrested former Peruvian Pres. Alberto Fujimori hours after he arrived in Santiago, on charges of corruption nd human rights abuses.
2006--Democrats regained control of the US House of Representatives and reclaimed Senate leadership in midterm elections. Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota, became the first Muslim elected to Congress.
2007--the space shuttle Discovery returned after a 15-day mission that included adding a "room" to the international space station.
2007--Georgian Pres. Mikheil Saakashvili imposed a state of emergency after days of protests by opposition parties who want him to resign.
2009--the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed, 220-215, landmark health care legislation to expand coverage to tens of millions who lacked it and placed tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.

World News Capsules:
1. China welcomes Obama's win, but hopes for more balanced ties with the US
....Woven into the warm words from outgoing Pres. Hu Jintao was a warning that the US should be a more cooperative partner.
a. Facing protests, China's business investment grows
....The Chinese government has backtracked on building some new plants and appeared to be slowly shifting its focus toward a greater reliance on consumption.
2. What a man! What a suit!

....Britain's Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in Skyfall, a playful 007 movie with exotic locales, an island fortress and a fight on a moving train,
3. Greece prepares to vote on $23 billion in new cuts

....The new austerity measures, which include further cuts to pensions, civil service salaries and social benefits, are required to unlock $40 billion in rescue financing.
4. As dengue fever sweeps India, a slow response stirs experts' fears
....Health experts fear that government officials are not acknowledging the scope of a problem that threatens hundreds of millions of people, not just in India but around the world.
a. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty
....For most of modern India’s history, being a member of the Nehru-Gandhi political family was enough to win votes and public confidence. But the clan’s mystique may be jeopardized by rapid change.
5. Netanyahu rushes to repair damage with Obama
....The results of Tuesday’s presidential election left many Israelis questioning whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had risked their collective relationship with Washington.
6. Putin ousts defense chief, longtime ally
....The firing of Anatoly E. Serdyukov, a longtime Putin ally, is one of the highest-level dismissals connected to a corruption case in recent memory in Russia.
7. 2012: The year of elections

....It's not just the U.S.: In a rare alignment of the electoral stars, Egypt, France, Mexico and more elected new leaders.

US News Capsules:
1, WhyNYC downtown needs diners now

....Restaurants in the blackout zone in southern Manhattan lost their perishables and the better part of a week's revenues, a big hit for businesses that get by on small margins, and for their workers. Hurricane Sandy is forcing New York's restaurateurs to rethink the way they operate.
2. In the South, a good year for farmers of peanuts
....In Georgia, where nearly half of the nation’s peanuts are grown, the annual fall harvest has yielded a record crop that farmers say tastes better than average.
3. Product questioins and threats of higher tax hit Apple shares

....Shares have dropped 20% since their September peak. Some investors may be selling in anticipation of higher capital gains taxes.
4. A school distanced from technology faces its intrusion

....As high-speed Internet and better cellphone reception reach a remote corner of Vermont where the Mountain School offers a semester on a farm for high school students, questions arise about regulating use.
5. US Marine Corps starts ad campaign to try to diversity officer ranks
....Recognizing that it lags the other branches of the military in female and minority officers, the Marines have started an effort to diversify.
6. Nor'easter rubs salt in the wounds from a hurricane

....A new storm brought more water, more wind and more worry to a region where frustration continued to run high from Hurricane Sandy, barely a week gone.
ELECTIONS:
1. Obama wins new term as electoral advantage holds

....Voters returned Pres. Obama to the White House, but he will face a Congress with the same divisions that marked his first term.
a, Question for the victor: How far do you push?

....The next battle for Pres. Obama is to decide what he wants to accomplish in a second term and how to go about it. To solve our problems, we have to understand we face a shared threat.
b. After hard-fought campaign, a victory for Obama
....Americans went to makeshift sites in East Coast communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy and traditional voting booths in schools, libraries and town halls across the rest of the country.
c. On Fox News, a mistrust of pro-Obama numbers lasts late into the night
....As Fox News's own polling showed an advantage for Mr. Obama late in the campaign, commentators on the network questioned whether the news organization had its numbers right. Fox News anchors appeared less than jubilant as other network anchors repeated the "too close to call" mantra early on.
d. Obama's other "cliff" is in foreign policy

....National security issues involving Syria, the Middle East and the US’ relationship with Russia and China are now clamoring for the president’s attention. Elsewhere, world leaders are vying for favor as Pres. Obama embarks on a second term with many major issues unresolved from the first.
2. Obama wins a clear victory, but balance of power is unchanged in Washington

....After $6 billion, two dozen presidential primary days, four general election debates and more TV ads than anyone could watch, the two parties essentially fought to a standstill.
3. Democrats grab US Senate seats in Massachusetts and Indiana
....The party also averted what was once considered a likely defeat in Missouri.
a. Warren defeats Brown in Massachusetts Senate contest
....With nearly three-fourths of voters in Massachusetts going to the polls, Elizabeth Warren, a darling of the left, won a hard-fought race for the Senate.
4, Murphy defeats McMahon after bitter US Senate race in Connecticut
....Christopher S. Murphy, a three-term congressman, won despite heavy spending and an advertising barrage by Linda E. McMahon, the former wrestling executive.
5. Partisans in Florida retreat to thier corners to wait out a cliffhanger
....The anticipated closeness of the presidential race did not deter Republican and Democratic political die-hards from heading into ballrooms and bars around the state to watch election returns.
6. Boehner strikes conciiatory tone in talk of fiscal cliff
....House Speaker John A. Boehner said he is ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenues if it is linked to an overhaul of entitlements and the tax code.
a. GOP factions grapple over meaning of loss
....There was no shortage of theories from inside and outside the party about where it fell short and what to do next.
7. Election results proves a victory for pollsters and other data devotees
....As some pundits were left eating crow, people who use mathematical models to make projections came out ahead.

Sports Headlines:
1. NBA: A player and a Nets tam, shaped to challene the Heat

....Gerald Wallace has the hustle, strength, grit and versatility to help mold the identity of the Nets and also lead the charge, with the help of a supporting cast, against Miami.
a. Wallace giving Knicks quality time and tips
....Rasheed Wallace, at 38 and coming out of retirement, has been a big surprise for the Knicks, who are 3-0 for the first time since 1999.
2. NFL: Study looks at bias in celebration penalty calls

....A study asked a group of participants to reward fictitious players for their behavior after a touchdown. The results showed a significant difference in fouls called on black players.
3. MLB: Mets and Bay agree to part ways

....Jason Bay, who was signed through the end of the 2013 season and had a $3 million buyout clause for 2014, had three hugely disappointing years with the Mets.
4. MARATHON: Hostility lingers over marathon cancellation
....The challenge for New York Road Runners is how to recover from last week's race cancellation without too much damage to its finances and reputation.

Thought for Today
"There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball,
And that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all."
--Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet

[pegasus]

National Parents as Teachers Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 311th day of 2012 with 54 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:28 p.m., it's fair , temp 41ºF [Feels like 33ºF], winds NW @ 16 mph, humidity 49%, pressure 30.03 in and falling, dew point 23ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

Today in History:
1602--the Bodelian Library in Oxford England opens to the public.
1656--Edmond Halley, English astronomer (Halley'ed comet) and mathematician, was born; died 1742 at age 85
1775--Gen. Washington sought to make militias into a military by insisting that the officers behave with decorum and the enlisted men with deference to their officers.
1793--the Louvre in Paris, now containing one of the world's richest art collections, became a public museum after two centuries as a royal palace.
1793--Madame Roland, supporter of the French Revolution and a Girondist, was guillotined.
1837--Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts became the first U.S. college founded exclusively for women.
1864--Pres. Lincoln was re-elected for a 2nd term.
1887--gunslinger Doc Holliday died of tuberculosis.
1889--Montana became the 41st state.
1892--former Pres. Cleveland beat incumbent Benjamin Harrison, becoming the only president to win non-consecutive terms in the White House.
1895--German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen became the first person to observe X-rays.
1900--Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With The Wind, was born.; died 1949 at age 48.
1917--one day after the revolution, Vladimir Lenin rose before the newly formed All-Russian Congress of Soviets to call for an immediate armistice with the Central Powers in World War I.
1923--Adolf Hitler launched the Beer Hall Putsch, his first attempt at seizing control of the German government.
1939--on the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, a bomb exploded just after Hitler finished giving a speech.
1942--World War II r- more than 400,000 Allied soldiers invaded North Africa.
1960--Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency.
1966--Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California.
1971--the album Led Zeppelin IV, which included the song "Stairway to Heaven," was released.
1972--the premium cable TV network HBO made its debut with a showing of the movie Sometimes a Great Notion.
1974--Salt Lake City, Utah, resident Carol DaRonch narrowly escapes being abducted by serial killer Ted Bundy.
1982--a fire set by a prisoner in a Biloxi, Miss., jail killed 28 people.
1985--a judge overturned Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's conviction for a 1966 triple killing in a Patterson, N.J., bar, freeing the former boxer after 19 years in prison.
1987--a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded as crowds gathered in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, for a ceremony honoring Britain's war dead, killing 11 people.
1988--Vice Pres. George H.W. Bush won the presidential election, beating Democrat Michael Dukakis.
1991--the European Community imposed an economic embargo on Yugoslavia in an effort to halt the civil war.
1994--after 40 years, the Republican Party, led by Newt Gingrich, controlled both houses of Congress after the midterm elections.
1994--Salvatore "Sonny" Bono (of Sonny and Cher fame) was elected to the U.S. Congress.
1997--Chinese engineers diverted the Yangtze River to make way for the Three Gorges Dam.
2000--a statewide recount of presidential election ballots began in Florida.
2001--a top aide said Pres. Bush had "no plans" to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the U.N.
2002--the UN Security Council unanimously approved a tough, new US-British sponsored resolution authorizing the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq .
2002--Pres. Bush assured a Muslim audience that the US' war was against a network of terrorists and not against the Islamic religion or Muslim civilization.
2003--Lady Louise Windsor , daughter of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, was born.
2003--a suicide bomb attack on an Arab residential compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 18 and wounded 110.
2004--1000s of US troops attacked strongholds of Sunni insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq.
2005--French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin declared a state of emergency to quell the nation's worst rioting in decades.
2006--Pres. Bush introduced former CIA Director Robert Gates as his next secretary of defense, succeeding Donald Rumsfeld.
2007--34 coal miners were trapped underground by a methane gas leak in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou.
2010--an engine fire aboard the Carnival Splendor cruise ship left nearly 4,500 aboard without electricity during a three-day tow to San Diego.
2010--talk show host Conan O'Brien made his debut on TBS.

World News Capsules:
1. Afghan insurgent attacks leave 20 dead
....The deaths were the result of four violent episodes, the worst of them caused by a roadside bomb that exploded in Helmand Province as a pickup full of civilians passed by.
2. In crackdown, Bahrain revokes the citizenship of 31 people
....The government cited security concerns for its actions; the list included exiled political activists and former opposition members of Parliament.
3. Opening meeting, China's president warns of risks


....The weeklong Communist Party Congress is intended to cap a long transition from the current leadership of Hu Jintao to his presumed successor, Xi Jinping.
a. Long retired, ex-leader of China asserts sway over top posts
....Factions in the Chinese leadership had lacked a dominant elder statesman like Jiang Zemin to arbitrate disputes.
4. An inside view on documentary stories
....Mentoring and workshops have helped give local photographers, in Egypt and around the world, the time and resources to document their society's issues with the delicacy and insight that might go unnoticed by foreigners..
5. Obama victory brings Europe a sense of continuity and relief
....Pres. Obama’s victory is likely to resonate in some unusual ways across the Atlantic, where the role of government in a time of economic stress is equally divisive.
5. French cabinet advances gay marriage bill despite Conservatives' opposition
....The measure is expected to pass early next year despite some strong opposition and concerns about gay couples adopting children.
6. Ally of former Georgian leader faces criminal charges
....The charges against a former defense minister, as well as two current Defense Ministry officials, led some to fear a wave of reprisals against the defeated government.
7. New Archbishop of Canterbury chosen
....Justin Welby, the bishop of Durham and a former oil company executive, is likely to be named. A formal announcement is expected Friday.
8. Defections shake Greek coalition

....The three-party coalition of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was licking its wounds, after the defections of several key members in a crucial vote on austerity measures.
9. 48 killed after earthquake rocks Guatemala

....The president said the earthquake, which could be felt as far as San Salvador and Mexico City, was the largest the country had experienced since 1976.
10. Laos breaks ground for controversial Mekong Dam
....Laos inaugurated the construction of a controversial dam on the Mekong River, despite comments from the country’s prime minister that the project was on hold.
11. Obama to visit Myanmar
....The visit, planned for just before Thanksgiving, will be the first by an American president and is part of a new policy of openness toward Myanmar.
12. Sri Lanka's parliament tries to impeach Chief Justice
....Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is charged with misusing her position and failing to adequately declare her assets, among other accusations, in a case her supporters say is politically motivated.
13. Syrian president warns against foreign intervention in Syria

....Pres. al-Assad was quoted saying the price of an invasion by foreign powers would be “more than the world can afford.
a. Errant artillery fire from Syrian war hits Golan Heights again
....Stray mortar rounds and a tank shell caused no injuries or damage, but the United Nations has warned that such violence could jeopardize the cease-fire between Israel and Syria
14. Turkey considers defensive measures and deploying missiles near Syria

....The move would effectively create a no-fly zone that could help safeguard refugees and give rebel fighters a portion of Syrian territory without fear of crippling airstrikes by Syrian forces.

US News Capsules:
1. Back to work,Obama is greeted by looming fiscal crisis
....Pres. Obama moved quickly to open negotiations with Congressional Republican leaders while simultaneously preparing for significant cabinet changes.
a. An array of relationships for Obama to strengthen and redefine
....National security issues involving Syria, the Middle East and the United States’ relationship with Russia and China are now clamoring for President Obama’s attention.
b. On Wall Street, time to mend fences with Obama
....With the presidential election over, Wall Street titans who supported Mitt Romney now face the prospect of having to mend fences with the Obama administration.
c. For Obama, housing policy presents second-term headaches

....Pres. Obama’s economic team has said it wants the housing market to work without significant government support. But it has taken few steps to advance that idea.
2. HURRICANE SANDY: When the power came back, so did the crowds

....For four sleepy nights, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the bars and shops that make downtown Manhattan a party and retail capital went dark, but when the lights came back, they were open practically within seconds.
a. Some stores struggle to reopen
....While Lower Manhattan was widely affected by the storm, a handful of stores were seriously damaged by flooding.
b. No politics as usual on party circuit

....On election night, anxiety ahead of the outcome and cleanup after Hurricane Sandy kept a lid on the revelry.
3. A president engaged in a great civil war

....Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is more a political thriller than a biopic, a civics lesson that is energetically staged and alive with moral energy, placing slavery at the center of the story.
4. ]u]Gunman in Giffords shooting sentenced to 7 life terms[/u]
[/img]
...The astronaut-husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords spoke at the sentencing hearing for Jared L. Loughner, as did other victims.
5. Fate of health law now clear, states rush to meet deadlines

....After years of political and legal threats kept Pres. Obama’s health care law in a state of uncertainty, his re-election all but assures it will survive. The next hurdle is making it work.
6. For Mormons, a cautious step toward mainstream acceptance

....The 2012 presidential campaign broke a barrier for Mormons across the US, transforming the way they see themselves and the way many Americans view their church.
7. Voters ease marijuana laws in two states, but legal questions remain
....Voters in two states approved making marijuana possession legal, but the states may now be on a collision course with the federal government.
8. With 'fiscal cliff' looming, Congress facing compromise or confrontation

....A day after an election that both parties agreed was a mandate to find compromise and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders also continued to sharply disagree over the key issue of whether top tax rates should be raised to help resolve the looming crisis.
POLITICS:
1. Little to show for cash flood by big donors
....While record outside spending affected the election in innumerable ways, the prizes most sought by the emerging class of megadonors remained outside their grasp.
2. Senate races expose extent of Republicans' gender gap

....Going into the election, Republican candidates knew they faced obstacles with minorities and women, but candidates' comments on rape were not among them.
3. As electorate changes, fresh worry for GOP
....The demographic changes in the American electorate have left many Republicans, who have not won as many electoral votes as Pres. Obama did on Tuesday in 24 years, concerned about their future.
4. Triumphant Obama faces new foe in 'Second-term Curse'
....It is almost a truism that presidential second terms are less successful than first terms, especially domestically.

Sports Headlines:
1. NCAAFB: Alabama defense fears but one man

....Coach Nick Saban expects a lot from the Crimson Tide linemen and linebackers, and the last thing they want to do is disappoint him.
a. Falling out of bounds, and into the spotlight

....The sideline, and the end line, is the domain of football’s acrobats, its tightrope walkers and contortionists, where the fundamental art of catching a pass becomes a balance-beam routine.
2. MLB: Banged up, worn down, heading home

....After the Yankees’ fall from the playoffs, catcher Russell Martin lived in a daze with more questions than answers and a future unknown.
3. NBA: No Jumping to conclusions in the NBA
....Sportswriters seek meaning in the first week of basketball season, with the Knicks 3-0 and the Lakers 1-4.
a. After their fast start, Knicks have plenty of idle time

....The Knicks are 3-0 for the first time since 1999, but over the next 10 days, the team will be resting and practicing far more often than playing games.
c. Miami shows Nets they have a long way to go
....LeBron James had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists in just 30 minutes as the Heat handed the Nets their worst loss of the season 103.73.

Thought for Today
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself."
--[/i]Michel de Montaigne (1532-1592) French Renaissance scholar, philosopher, writer


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[pegasus]

National Donor Sabbath, Nov 9-11
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 312th day of 2012 with 53 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:43 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 46ºF [Feels like 46ºF], winds WSW @ 13 mph, humidity 63%, 30.13 in and steady, dew point 34ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1780--Gen. Thomas Sumter evaded then captured the wounded Maj. James Wemyss, second most hated man in the British army, in South Carolina.
1841--Edward VII of England (eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) was born at Buckingham Palace
1862--Gen. Ambrose Burnside assumed command of the Union Army of the Potomac following the removal of George B. McClellan.
1872-- a warehouse fire in Boston destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed 14 people and led to new system of firefighting and prevention.
1875--Indian Inspector E.C. Watkins submitted a report stating that hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were hostile.
1888--Mary Jane Kelly, the last known murder victim of Jack the Rippper, was murdered.
1901--Pres. Roosevelt established a naval base in the Philippines at Subic Bay, returned to the Philippines in 1992.
1907--the Cullinan Diamond was presented to King Edward VII of Greeat Britain on his birthday.
1908--on the first foreign trip by a US president, Theodore Roosevelt traveled to the construction site of the Panama.Canal.
1914--in the first ever wartime action by an Australian warship, the cruiser Sydney sank the German raider Emden in the Indian Ocean during World War I.
1918--Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II announced that he would abdicate.
1923--in Munich, armed policeman and troops loyal to Germany's democratic government crushed the Nazi's Beer Hall Putsch.
1933--Pres. Roosevelt set up the Civil Works Administration as an emergency depression agency to provide jobs for the unemployed.
1934--Carl Sagan, the astronomer whose books and television show informed millions of Americans, was born; died in 1996 at age 62.
1935--United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO).
1938--German Nazis launched Kristallnacht ("Night of the Broken Glass'), a campaign of terror against Jewish people and their homes and businesses.
1953--the US Supreme Court ruled major league baseball isn't within the scope of federal anti-trust laws.
1953--Dylan Thomas, Welsh Poet and playwright, died from an overdose of morphine.
1965--the Great Northeast Blackout: the biggest power failure in US history occurred as several states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of power failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours.
1965--Roger Allen LaPorte, a 22-year-old member of the Catholic Worker movement and antiwar protestor, iset himself on fire in front of the UN headquarters in New York.
1967--Rolling Stone magazine was first published with John Lennon and the "How I Won the War" movie he starred in on the cover.
1970--the US Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge by the state of Massachusetts about the constitutionality of the Vietnam War by a 6-3 vote.
1970--former French genral and president Charles De Gaulle died at age 79.
1971--John Emil List, a Sunday school teacher and Boy Scout troop leader in Westfield, N.J., murdered his family and disappeared for 18 years when the story appeared on America's Most Wanted.
1976--the UN General Assembly approved 10 resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa.
1984--the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington was completed by the addition of the Frederick Hart statue called "Three Servicemen."
1989--East German opened the Berlin Wall, allowing travel from East to West Berlin.
1995--Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat visited Israel for the first time to offer his personal condolences to the wife of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
1997--the US Congress approved a new charter for the Food and Drug Administration that allowed the agency to streamline and speed up its procedures for approving new drugs.
2001--World Freedom Day was created to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.
2001--the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif fell to the northern alliance in the first major territorial advance for the rebels against the ruling Taliban.
2005--three suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 victims and wounding hundreds.
2006--concessions by incumbent Republicans in Virginia and Montana gave the Democratic Party a majority in the US Senate in the midterm elections.
2011--Penn State fired longtime head football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier over their handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse allegations.

World News Capsules:
1. On way out, China's leader offers praise for the status quo
....The departing Chinese leader, Hu Jintao, has made it clear that he has little interest in the bold changes that many Chinese now see as long overdue.
a. Huge state enterprises pose test in China's transition
....The politically connected state sector may threaten China’s economy and political stability, but it is unclear whether leaders will take action.
b. Amid self-immolations by Tibetans, silence from Chinese intellectuals
....While Tibetan rights advocates have long been inured to impassive officials, they are troubled by the lack of reaction from Chinese intellectuals and the liberal online commentariat..
2. Stirring the pot and striking fear in India
....Arvind Kejriwal has become an unlikely bomb thrower in Indian politics. His solution to corruption? The formation of a new political party, in time for national elections in 2014.
3. Iran fired on military drone in first such attack, US says
....Pentagon officials said that while a surveillance drone targeted in international airspace over the Persian Gulf last week was not hit, the incident prompted a strong protest to Tehran.
a. Iran, saying aircraft trespassed, confirms drone shooting episode

....Iran’s defense minister on Friday confirmed that Iranian warplanes had fired shots at an American drone last week but said they had taken the action after the unmanned aircraft had entered Iranian airspace.
4. Japan seeks tighter pact with US to confront China
....Japan’s defense minister said that he wants to update guidelines that govern how the two allies’ militaries would cooperate during a potential maritime clash with China.
5. Palestinians renew push for enhanced UN status
....The distribution of a draft resolution to all UN member states is the first practical act in an effort likely to pit the Palestinians against Israel.
6. At a Manila hospital, making mothers by the minute
....As a reproductive health bill advances in the Philippines, it is peak baby-delivery season, with women and their newborns are sleeping two to a bed at one Manila hospital.
7. Putin replaces top military leaders
....Pres.Vladimir V. Putin replaced the head of the Russian military’s general staff and a number of top generals.
a. Russian reporer's murder was mant as a message, investigator says
....The motive behind the 2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter who was an unstinting critic of the Kremlin, was to instill fear in journalists, a top criminal investigator said.
8. A microcosm of the new South Africa
....The South African township of Soweto - famed for its resistance to apartheid - captured the imagination of Per-Anders Pettersson when he covered South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. Nearly twenty years later, its bustle still appeals.
9. Syrian refugee flow escalates sharply

....Eleven thousand Syrians have fled to neighboring countries in the last 24 hours — 9,000 of them into Turkey alone — because of the civil war, United Nations refugee agency officials said.
a. Missteps by rebels erode their support among Syrians
....The Syrian public is increasingly disgusted with the actions of some rebels, including poorly planned missions, senseless destruction, criminal behavior and the coldblooded killing of prisoners.

US News Capsules:
1. Petraeus steps down as CIA chief, saying he had an affair

....After an investigation into the possible compromise of a computer wound up uncovering an affair, David H. Petraeus, the director of the CIA, resigned, citing “extremely poor judgment” after 37 years of marriage. The highly decorated general had been expected to remain in Pres. Obama’s administration
2. With Obama re-elected, states scramble over health law
....After years of political and legal threats that kept Pres. Obama's health care law in a state of uncertainty, his re-election all but assures it will survive. The next hurdle is making it work.
3. Hurricane Sandy: Subways find magic on the way to a speedy recovery
....After the most devastating storm in the New York City transit system's history, most major lines were back in service within a week - quicker than almost anyone could have imagined.
4. Man held in shootings that terrorized Michigan town
....Police in Wixom, Mich., arrested a suspect they believe to be a highway gunman responsible for 24 attacks, which made residents of the Detroit suburb nervously eye each passing car for weeks.
5. A brand icon in need of some oversight

....Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is struggling, and the lavish compensation for its founder, Martha Stewart, and her sway over the board may be part of the company’s problem.
6. In veterans' aid, growth pains
....Since 2001, more than 7,800 nonprofit groups have registered with the federal government to care for troops, veterans and their families.
a, The dogs of peace

....Many US war veterans are coming home with debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder. But thanks to service dogs, some vets are finding peace.
7. In view of a changing South, Court will revisit Voting Act

....The Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to the part of the act that requires some states with a history of discrimination in voting to get federal approval before making any changes to the way they hold elections.
8. Washington counties drop marijuana misdemeanor possession cases in light of vote

....The prosecutor's offices for two Washington counties - including the one that contains Seattle - announced today they will dismiss 175 misdemeanor marijuana possession charges, days after the state's voters legalized the drug.
POLITICS:
1. Colorado Democrats elect state's first gay speaker
....Moments after being elected speaker of the House, Mark Ferrandino vowed to reintroduce a bill to allow civil unions for gay couples that Republicans had blocked in the spring.
2. Debt ceiling complicates a tax shift
....Republican congressional leaders have made clear that the debt ceiling will be part of talks over the so-called fiscal cliff, with many members unwilling to raise the ceiling without a broader deal.
3. For Obama, housing policy presents 2nd-term headaches
....Pres. Obama's economic team has said it wants the housing market to work without significant government support, but it has taken few steps to advance that idea.
4. Obama and Boehner circle each othr on budget impasse
....Pres. Obama and the House speaker, John A. Boehner, circled each other warily, laying out competing approaches on the budget while professing pursuit of common ground.

Sports Headlines:
1. NBA: Lakers fire coach after 1-4 start

....The Lakers had title expectations in Coach Mike Brown’s second season after trading for center Dwight Howard and point guard Steve Nash.
a. Nets are caught between hype and a slow start
....The franchise received plenty of attention for moving to Brooklyn, but a subsequent 1-2 start, including a 30-point loss against the Heat, has not gone unnoticed.
2. NFL: Giants' fuzzy pal: Blue bear, blue bear, what do you see?

....One of the few constants in the Giants’ run to two Super Bowl titles in the past five years has been the presence of Little Bear, the offensive line’s prized stuffed animal.
a. Plenty of options for the Falcons
....The Saints may struggle to stop the Falcons' passing offense, which has become very dangerous as Matt Ryan has developed into a top-tier quarterback.
b. Colts on a roll? It's unreal
....The Colts are 6-3 and a great story, but there are significant obstacles ahead: The next game is at New England.
c. Jets bound for stadium that's known for noise
....Facing the Seahawks in Seattle, the Jets will be playing in what Rex Ryan considers “about as tough a venue as there is in the National Football League."
3. NHL: Union says wide gap remains as NHL talks continue
....The NHL and the players’ association met in New York for the 4th straight day as the talks between the two sides intensified on Day 55 of the lockout.
4. MLB: Baseball's new drug problem: fast-acting synthetic testosterone
....Baseball has a drug problem again and is engaged in discussions with the players' association regarding what to do about it. The very specific problem is the use of fast-acting synthetic testosterone, the primary performance-enhancing drug of choice among emboldened players (Ryan Braun, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal) who believe they can avoid detection with dosages that are carefully timed and controlled.
a. Architects of success, from sshadows or spotlight
....Oakland General Manager Billy Beane is among the most popular general managers with reporters, Baltimore’s Dan Duquette the least. Each brought his team unexpected success in 2012.

Thought for Today
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right."
--Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University

[pegasus]

Chicken Soup for the Soul Day

Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 315th day of 2012 with 50 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 8:19 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 61ºF [Feels like 61ºF], winds S @ 16 mph, humidity 80%, pressure 30.00 in and falling, dew point 50ºF, chance of precipitation 90%.

Today in History:
1775--Upon hearing of England's rejection of the so-called Olive Branch Petition , Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, "Let us separate, they are unworthy to be our Brethren."
1793--Jean Sylvain Bailly, first mayor of Paris after the storming of the Bastille, was guillotined.
1799--the Leonids meteor shower, the first on record was observed by Andrew Ellicott Douglass, an early American astronomer, on a ship off the Florida coast.
1815--Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneering American women's rights leader and social reformer, was born.; died 1902 at age 87
1817--Bahaullah, founder of the Bahai faith, was born.
1847--James Young Simpson, a British physician), became the first to use chloroform as an anaesthetic.
1864--the destruction of Atlanta begins when Union Gen. William T. Sherman ordered the business district of Atlanta, Ga, destroyed
1867--after more than a decade of ineffective military campaigns and infamous atrocities, the US reconsidered war with Plains Indians and initiated peace negotiations.
1918-- one day after an armistice, the Allied fleet passed through the Dardanelles that had been the site of a disastrous Allied naval operation.
1920--Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected baseball's first commissioner.
1929--Grace Kelly, American actress and wie of Prince Ranier of Monaco, was born; died 1982 in an automobile accident.
1942--the naval Battle of Guadalcanal began with the US winning eventually a major victory over the Japanese.
1944--32 British Lancaster bombers attacked and sank the mighty German battleship Tirpitz.
1948--seven Japanese military and government officials, including Gen. Hideki Tojo, received death sentences from the international war crimes tribunal.
1954--Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shut it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892
1969--journalist Seymour Hersh broke the My Lai massacre charges by the US Army against 1st Lt. William Calley.
1979--Pres. Carter responded to a potential threat to national security by stopping the importation of petroleum from Iran.
1980--the U.S. planetary probe Voyager I flew within 77,000 miles of Saturn and sent back the first vivid photos of the planet..
1982--Yuri Andropov assumed power in the Soviet Union Following the death of Leonid Brezhnev.
1984--England's one pound note was replaced by a coin after more than 150 years of usage.
1985--Xavier Suarez was elected Miami's first Cuban-American mayor
1990--Crown Prince Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne as the 125th Emperor of Japan.
1997--Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
1999--Pres. Clinton signed a sweeping measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products.
2001--an American Airlines flight out of John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport crashed into a Queens neighborhood after takeoff, killing 265 people.
2004--Scott Peterson iwa convicted of murdering his wife Laci and their unborn son.
2007--Ira Levin , American novelist, playwright and songwriter best known for Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives, died from a heart attack.
2009--US Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the Fort Hood, Tex., massacre.
2011--Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi finally resigned.
2011--The Arab League voted to suspend Syria over the country's bloody crackdown on protesters.

World News Capsules:
1. To stem protests, China mandates 'social risk' reviews for big projects

....The government hopes to avoid the large and increasingly violent environmental protests of the last year, which halted several industrial projects.
a. Signs of wrangling in China over top military post

....The question of whether China’s departing president, Hu Jintao, will stay on as the top overseer of military affairs, or retire completely, remains unresolved.
b. China's banking leaders seek to calm concerns over loan quality
....Chinese officials tried to allay concerns that the country was allowing its banking system to grow at a reckless pace as a way to sustain short-term economic growth/
2. BBC chairman says network needs radical overhaul

....The BBC is in a "ghastly mess" after its bungled coverage of a decades-old sexual abuse scandal and requires a fundamental shake-up, the chairman of the BBC Trust said.
a. Turmoil spreads at BBC as two more executives step aside
....The crisis over the BBC’s reporting of a decades-old sexual abuse scandal deepened on Monday as two more senior executives withdrew at least temporarily from their jobs.
b. Radical preacher Abu Qatada wins appeal

....A British court ruled that the preacher known as Abu Qatada, who was convicted in absentia for his involvement in terrorist bombing plots in the late 1990s, cannot be deported from Britain to his native Jordan.
3. Blogger who died in prison was not tortured, Iran says
....An influential Iranian lawmaker said Sattar Beheshti, a blogger who died while in captivity, had not been tortured during interrogations, but called for further investigation
4. US fears Hezbollah operative held in Iraq may go free
....A senior Iraqi official has told the Obama administration that Iraq no longer has a legal basis to hold Ali Musa Daqduq, who has been accused of helping to kill American troops in Iraq.
5. In Mozambique, the burdens of progress
....As Mozambique receives huge international investments in mining and natural gas, some find jobs and new opportunities while others find displacement and despair
6. Evictions on the rise in Spain

....The number of Spanish families facing eviction continues to mount at a dizzying pace — hundreds a day, housing advocates say — and may spiral higher with Friday’s report that the unemployment rate has passed 25%.
7. As Syrian opposition unifies, new mayhem on Turkish and Israel borders

....Syria pulled both Turkey and Israel closer to its civil war on Monday, bombing a rebel-held Syrian village near the Turkish border and provoking Israeli tank commanders in Golan Heights.
a. With eye on aid, Syria opposition signs unity deal
....An umbrella group could pave the way for international diplomatic recognition and more foreign funds and military assistance.
b. Israel strikes at Syria again in response to mortar attacks

....For a second consecutive day, Israel confronted fire along its border with Syria as the Israeli army said it fired shells toward the source of a mortar shell, hitting Syrian artillery units.
8. Tunisia battles over pulpits, and revolt's legacy
....In the aftermath of Tunisia's revolution, a heated competition is on to redefine the nation religiously and politically

US News Capsules:
1. Officials say FBI knew of Petraeus affair in the summer

....FBI agents recognized the stakes of any investigation tied to David H. Petraeus, the C.I.A. director who resigned Friday, but were wary of exposing a private affair with no criminal or security implications.
a. Lawmakers question FBI handling of Petraeus affair
....Lawmakers expressed concern that the FBI investigation that led to the resignation of David H. Petraeus was conducted without the knowledge of the White House or Congress.
2. Cuomo to seek $30 billion in aid for storm relief
....Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's request would exceed the roughly $12 billion in FEMA disaster aid currently available in Washington without action from Congress, where there is likely to be strong opposition to additional spending.
3. Construction site offers fleeting glimpse of the Civil War past

....The construction of a courthouse in Fredericksburg, Va., had the unexpected effect of exposing an almost perfectly preserved scene from a ferocious 1862 battle.
4. Child's education, but parents' crushing loans
....Millions of parents who have taken out loans to pay for their children's college education make up a less visible generation in debt.
5. Not the standard textbook tales
....Showtime's 10-part documentary "Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States" focuses on the country's missteps over the decades.
6. Elmo puppeteer accused of underage relationship

....Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Elmo on "Sesame Street," has taken a leave of absence after a claim that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. Mr. Clash has said the relationship started only after the person, now 23, was over the age of 18.
7. For one night at Fox, news tops agenda
....After it became clear that Pres. Obama had won re-election, Fox was confronted with a stark choice between advocacy and news. It chose news.
8. At 97, he has a book (or 2) left

....Herman Wouk, author of 1950s blockbusters like The Caine Mutiny and Marjorie Morningstar, returns with The Lawgiver, a novel made of text messages, e-mails and Skype transcripts
9. US to be world's top oil producer in 5 years, report says

....The International Energy Agency also said the US would be a net exporter by 2030, partly because of advances in unlocking reserves in shale rock.
10. Alzheimer's precursors evident in brain at early age
....A study of a large family with Alzheimer’s found that its precursors begin even earlier than previously thought, and that the brain may deteriorate in more ways than has been documented before.
POLITICS:
1. In debt talks, Obama is ready to go beyond Beltway

....Rather than hunker down in negotiations as he did in 2011, aides said, the president will try to rally the public for an accord that could set the tone for his second term.
2. Google or Gallup? Changes in voters' haits reshape polling world
....Whether polling firms conducted their surveys online or called cellphones made a big difference in predicting the election.
3. Uncounted votes in Arizona raise controversy
....The outcome of several races remained a mystery in Arizona as officials struggled to count a record number of early and provisional ballots.
4. Hard-nosed approach wins votes in South, but lacks broader appeal
....Politicians who have been winning in the mid- and Deep South are now discussing how their conservative platforms could be altered for a national electorate.

Sports Headlines:
1. NFL: Quarterbacks' concussions will shape rest of season

....Head injuries sustained by quarterbacks Jay Cutler, Michael Vick and Alex Smith could have unintended consequences in Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
2. NBA: The Lakers change direction and hire D'Antoni as coach


....The Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni as their coach Sunday night, spurning Phil Jackson, who faces daunting challenges in Los Angeles unlike those he faced in Phoenix and then with the Knicks in New York..
3. NHL: Contract issues emerge as final hurdle to NHL labor talks
....Owners and the union have drawn close to a deal that would end the lockout, but they remain far apart on when players can become free agents, among other contractual matters.
4. Tennis: Top-ranked Djokovic tops Federer to win ATP finals
....Novak Djokovic recovered from early breaks in both sets to beat Roger Federer 7-6 (6), 7-5 Monday in the championship match at the ATP finals.
5. Blind adventurer prepares to challenge Colorado River in a kayak

....Erik Weihenmayer, the first person without sight to summit Mount Everest, will next attempt to descend the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in a kayak.
6. Armstrong cuts official ties with Livestrong charity

----Seeking to protect his cancer charity from more damage from his doping controversy, Lance Armstrong steps further away from Livestrong.

Thought for Today
"Hold a book in your hand and you're a pilgrim at the gates of a new city."
--Anne Michaels (b. 1958) Canadian poet and novelist.

[pegasus]

10th Annual I Love to Write Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 318th day of 2012 with 47 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:07 p.m., it's fair , temp 43ºF [Feels like 43ºF], winds E @ 3 mph, humidity 51%, pressure 30.32 in and steady, dew point 26ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

Today in History:
1708--William Pitt the Elder, English statesman, was born; died 1778 at age 69.
1777--the Articles of Confederation adopted by the 2bd Continental Congress.
1806--Lt. Zebulon Pike spots an imposing mountain that looked "like a small blue cloud," later named Pike's Peak in his honor.
1864--Union Gen. William T. Sherman began his March to the Sea by torching the industrial section of Atlanta and pulling away from his supply lines.
1867--the first stock ticker was unveiled in New York City
1859--the final installment of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities was published.
1887--Georgia O'Keeffe, one of America's foremost 20th-century painters, was born; died 1986 at age 98.
1889--After a 49-year reign, Pedro II, the second and last Brazil emperor was deposed in a military coup.
1891--Erwin Rommel, German field marshal, was born; committed suicide 1944 after participating in a plot against Hiler at age 52.
1906--Curtis LeMay, US Air Force general in command of the Strategic Air Force, was born; died 1990 at age 83.
1917--76-year-old Georges Clemenceau was named French prime minister for the 2nd time.
1920--the first assembly of the League of Nations was called to order in Geneva, Switzerland
1926--the National Broadcasting Co. debuted with a radio network of 24 stations.
1932--Petula Clark, English pop singing star ("Downtown"), turns age 80
1939--the cornerstone for the Jefferson Memorial was laid in Washington, DC.
1940--the first 75,000 men were called to armed forces duty under peacetime conscription.
1940--actor Sam Waterston (Law and Order) turns 72
1943--Heinrich Himmler gave the order that Gypsies and those of mixed Gypsy blood were to be put on "the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps."
1956--Elvis Presley made his movie debut in Love Me Tender.
1957--in an interview with an American reporter, Nikita Khrushchev claimed that the Soviet Union had missile superiority and challengeed America to a missile "shooting match."
1959--a farmer, his wife and two of their children were found murdered in their home in Holcomb, Kan. – a crime that was the subject of Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.
1965--at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, 28-year-old Craig Breedlove set a new land-speed record—600.601 miles per hour—in his car, the Spirit of America.
1966--Gen. Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, heckled at Brown University by 60 students protesting Vietnam.
1969--a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington, D.C., against the Vietnam War.
1977--Pres. Carter welcomed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran to Washington, DC for a two day state visit.
1977--Peter Mark Matthew Phillips, son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II,, was born.
1984--Baby Fae, an infant who had received a baboon's heart to replace her own, died three weeks after the transplant.
1985--Great Britain and Ireland signed an accord giving Dublin an official consultative role in governing Northern Ireland.
1988--the Palestine National Council, the legislative body of the PLO, proclaimed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
1989--tornadoes struck six Southern states, killing 17 people and injuring 463, causing at least $100 million in damage in Huntsville, Ala.
1993--a judge in Mineola, N.Y., sentenced Joey Buttafuoco to six months in jail for the statutory rape of Amy Fisher, who shot and wounded Buttafuoco's wife, Mary Jo.
2002--Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as China's Communist Party leader.
2005--the official death toll from Hurricane Katrina stood at 972 with more bodies found as Louisiana residents returned home more than a month after the search for victims had ended.
2007--Cyclone Sidr, with winds of more than 150 mph, slammed into Bangladesh, killing more than 3,400 people with tens of 1000s injured and 1 million homeless.
2007--most of the shots fired by the private US security firm Blackwater killing 17 civilians in Baghdad Sept. 16 were unwarranted, a preliminary FBI report said.
2011--100s of police officers in riot gear raided the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City, evicting hundreds of protesters and then demolishing the tent city.

World News Capsules:
1. Ending Congress, China presents new leadership headed by Xi Jinping

....The departing general secretary of the party, Hu Jintao, prepared to hand power to Xi Jinping, son of a revered revolutionary leader who was also an architect of China’s economic transformation.
a. A promise to tackle China's problems, but few hints of a shift in path

....Xi Jinping gave his first speech as general secretary of the Communist Party, impressing many Chinese by avoiding slogans but giving no indication as to whether he favors fundamental reforms. All members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee, the group of politicians who rule the country, have close connections with former leaders. The top two figures of the new administration were also part of the previous government.
2. Egypt torn between allies in Gaza and treaty with Israel
....Pres. Mohamed Morsi is having to reconcile his Islamist firebrand side with his desire as a newly elected leader for stability, revival and friendly relations with Israel’s Western allies..
3. Workers across Europe synchronize protests

....The breadth of the demonstrations, which affected scores of cities, reflected widespread unhappiness with worsening economic prospects in Europe
4. Crises at BBC brought rules, then a failure
....The corporation established elaborate procedures that placed more formal responsibility for delicate decisions in the hands not of individual managers, but of rigid hierarchies.
a. Former politician calls child sex abuse allegations 'rubbish'
....Lord Alistair McAlpine, who was wrongly implicated in child sexual abuse on a BBC program, said in an interview that he should have been called before the segment aired.
5. Hospital death in Ireland rnews fight over abortion
....A Hindu woman was reportedly denied a potentially lifesaving abortion while she was having a miscarriage and died.
6. Ferocious Israeli assault on Gaza kills a leader of Hamas

.....Israel hit at least 20 targets in aerial attacks that killed the military commander of Hamas, damaged Israel's fragile relations with Egypt and escalated the risks of a new war in the Middle East.
a. Casualties rise in Gaza battle; Hamas rockets target Tel Aviv

....As Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets and Israel intensified its attacks in response, neither side appeared ready to dial back the confrontation, despite outside pleas for restraint.
b. In Israeli border town, rubble and blood
....When a rocket crashed into a building in Kiryat Malachi, or City of Angels, on Thursday morning, it took the first Israeli casualties in this round of violence.
7. Protests over gas prices in Jordan turn deadly
....Opposition leaders scrambled to harness a spontaneous eruption of anger on the second day of demonstrations..
8. In Nairobi, Kenya, finding the beauty in African sales

....The SuzieBeauty counter at Junction Shopping Mall in Nairobi. The cosmetics line, which was introduced in January, is trying to capture some of the sales now going to imported brands. Local cosmetics companies are growing but they still struggle with expansion and the continent's sprawling informal trade system.
9. Myanmar university, awaiting Obama, patches over a long neglect
....Yangon University, which fell into disrepair during military rule, is being spruced up for Pres. Obama's visit on Nov. 19.
10. Lessons for US from a flood-prone land
....The Netherlands has been hailed for its ideas about protecting cities from flooding, but replicating its success would require a reshaping of American approaches.
11. Nigeria, on the fashion catwalk

....Lagos Fashion & Design Week showcases the work of the country's diverse community of designers.
12. A Pakistani lawyer takes on the army and pays in bruises
....Inam Ur Raheem, who has challenged the tenure of Pakistan’s supreme military commander, has entered perilous waters at a time when the military leadership’s longstanding grip on power is being tested.
12. Securing chemical arms in Syria a vast task, Pentagon says
....Any military effort to seize Syria’s stockpiles, the Pentagon said, would need upward of 75,000 troops — an estimate that stunned top administration officials.

US News Capsules:
1. We need to retreat from the beach
....We need an approach to our shorelines that takes account of rising sea levels, intensifying storms and continuing erosion.
2. Wal-Marat inquiry reflects alarm on corruption

....An inquiry is now looking at activities in Brazil, China and India, along with Mexico, Wal-Mart said. Its quarterly results showed lower-than-expected sales.
3. Adultery, an ancient crime that remains on many books
....In David H. Petraeus's state of residence, Virginia, as in 22 others, adultery remains a criminal act, a vestige of the way the law has tried to anchor sexual activity within marriage.
4. Panetta praises general linked to Petraeus scandal
....Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said "no one should leap to any conclusions" about Gen. John R. Allen, who is being investigated for e-mails he sent to a woman connected to the Petraeus affair.
a. Panetta orders review of ethics training for military officers
....The move comes amid a scandal that has ensnared Gen. John R. Allen, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, although officials said Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta had planned the review before the scandal broke.
5. Caffeinated drink cited in reports of 13 deaths
....A high-caffeine energy drink, 5-Hour Energy, has been cited as possibly being involved in 13 deaths, according to Food and Drug Administration records.
6. Colorado town, united by dying boy's plight, discovers baffling hoax

....The story of Alex Jordan, a football-loving 9-year-old with leukemia, inspired people in the mountain town of Gypsum. Now people are left to ask why.
7. ART: Relentless bidding, and record prices, for contemporary art at Christie's auction
....The auction brought in $412.2 million, the highest total ever for a contemporary art auction at Christie's, as collectors bid on the work of blue-chip artists for the second night in a row.
8. Novel about racial injustice wins National Book Award
....Louise Erdrich won the fiction award for her novel The Round House, while other awards were given for nonfiction, poetry, young people's literature and American letters.
a. How dead is the book business?
....The entire book industry may eventually become an arm of an infotainment giant.
9. Hip hop comes to men's wear

....20-something designers, bloggers, editors and stylists who grew up with rap music are bringing bravado to men's wear. Dao-Yi Chow says some think hip-hop is “still baggy jeans and big logos.”
10. Postal Service reports loss of $15 billion
....The loss, more than triple the deficit last year, includes a decline in revenue from mailing operations and accounting expenses related to the agency’s future retiree health benefits fund.
11. Alzheimer's tied to mutation harming immune response
....A mutation to a gene, TREM2, is suspected of interfering with the brain’s ability to prevent the buildup of toxic shards of a protein that accumulate in plaques on the brain.
12. A murder in the family

....With their father murdered and their mother dead of cancer, the Ammon twins, Greg and Alexa, try to make sense of their lives and a new documentary might help.
13. Terrorist attack on power grid could cause broad hardship, report says
....Terrorists could black out large segments of the United States for weeks or months by attacking the power grid and damaging components, a National Academy of Sciences report found
14. Curating a relief effort on the beach

....Klaus Biesenbach, director of the Museum of Modern Art P.S. 1, is committed to rebuilding the Rockaways after Hurricane Sandy.
POLITICS:
1. Obama details lines of battle in budget plan, and on Libya

....In his first news conference in eight months, President Obama signaled he would grapple with Republicans over tax rates and the handling of the attack on Americans in Benghazi.
2. GOP governors meet, amid whispers of 2016
....As Republicans examine how to recalibrate and regain their footing, they are moving forward without a clear national leader.
3. Gay vote proved a boon for Obama
....Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney won roughly an equal number of votes among straight voters, but the president carried the gay vote three to one.

Sports Headlines:
1. NCAAFB: Texas A&M hushes the Heisman hype over Manziel
....In an era of over-the-top Heisman Trophy campaigns, the Aggies are taking a different approach with the freshman quarterback sensation "Football" Johnny Manziel.
2. NFL: Jets' Tebow engulfed in a whirlwind
....Jets Coach Rex Ryan and the starting quarterback Mark Sanchez defended Tim Tebow, who has been criticized in a published report by unnamed teammates.
a. Roethlisberger hopes to return this year
....Ben Roethlisberger said he believed he could return this season despite spraining his right shoulder and sustaining what he called a dislocated rib in Monday night's overtime win against Kansas City.
3. MLB: Cabrera and Posey win baseball's MV: awards

....Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera was the first player to win the triple crown in 45 years, and San Francisco’s Buster Posey was the first catcher to win the National League batting title in 70 years.
4. Knicks battle perception that hot start is a mirage
....The Knicks’ 5-0 start has led many to question if they are for real. A game at San Antonio will begin to answer that. In his eighth N.B.A. season, J. R. Smith is averaging 18.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists, all higher than his career averages, in helping the Knicks to a 5-0 start.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
McCain skips Benghazi briefing, gets testy when questioned by CNN

Most of the Republican members of a Senate committee investigating the terrorist attack at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, skipped a classified briefing by administration officials on the incident Wednesday. The missing lawmakers included Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who at the time of the top-secret briefing held a press conference in the Capitol to call for the creation of a Watergate-type special Congressional committee to investigate how and why the attack took place. McCain, who has accused President Barack Obama of not telling the truth about the Benghazi attack, said that even though there are several committees involved in the probe, only a select committee could streamline the information flow and resolve the "many unanswered questions" about the tragedy.

When CNN approached McCain in a Capitol hallway Thursday morning, the senator refused to comment about why he missed the briefing, which was conducted by top diplomatic, military and counter-terrorism officials. Instead, McCain got testy when pressed to say why he wasn't there. "I have no comment about my schedule and I'm not going to comment on how I spend my time to the media," McCain said. When CNN noted that McCain had missed a key meeting on a subject the senator has been intensely upset about, McCain said, "I'm upset that you keep badgering me." While McCain refused to shed light on why he didn't show, his spokesman Brian Rogers emailed CNN a short time later with an explanation. He blamed it on a "scheduling error" but wouldn't provide any more detail. According to a Democratic aide on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, only three of the eight GOP members of the committee attended the two hour briefing that ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. By contrast, seven of the nine Democratic members were there.

I saw the Wednesday interview with Sen. McCain when he tried to accuse the administration of a cover-up and complained of not being briefed on the Behghazi investigatioin. Not mentioning the fact that he was skipping the very briefing he was grousing about not receiving. The usualy hypocritical behavior of government officials.

Thought for Today
"The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness. "
--Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) Polish-born English author.