Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
roatan new planet new planet lisa lampanelli lisa lampanelli bobby fischer the lion king
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Global warming: Middle East's vital wet winters are disappearing
Global warming is playing a significant role in diverting much-needed wet winter weather away from the increasingly dry Mediterranean, a new study led by a NOAA scientist suggests.
Winter droughts have become increasingly common in the Mediterranean region, particularly over the past 20 years, and a new study finds that global warming has driven at least half of the change.
Skip to next paragraphDrought conditions in this politically explosive region are expected to grow more severe over the course of the century unless countries begin to significantly reduce their emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, many researchers say.
Those emissions come from burning fossil fuels, as well as from land-use changes.
Winter storms historically have delivered most of the annual rain and snowfall to the already arid Mediterranean region. Yet precipitation measurements from the region and modeling studies point to a relatively rapid shift in the winter rain and snowfall trends that began in the 1970s, according to the study.
That change could signal that the region "has moved into a new climate regime," says Martin Hoerling, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., and the study's lead author.
The shift is not the result of temperature trends in the region itself, Dr. Hoerling notes. Instead, he and his colleagues trace drier Mediterranean winters to changes in long-range atmospheric circulation patterns. These changes, the study suggests, are triggered by rising ocean temperatures in the tropical Indian Ocean, a trend scientists have previously attributed to climate change.
When this area of the world's oceans is warmer than other tropical seas, the temperature difference appears to set up conditions over the North Atlantic that steer a higher proportion of Atlantic winter storms across northern Europe.
The results have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Climate.
The study reaches "a very important conclusion, for a number of reasons," says Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a environmental-policy research group in Oakland, Calif., that focuses much of its effort on water-resource issues.
From 60 to 80 percent of the region's water irrigates crops, researchers say. And existing sources of fresh water already are oversubscribed.
"Water is critical for this region and has been for a long time," Dr. Gleick says. "The fact that climate change now appears to be making things worse or more severe is just more bad news for people who care about water conflicts and water scarcity in the Middle East."
In addition, he says, the study adds to a growing body of work that is finding global warming responsible ? at least in part ? for long-term changes in precipitation and temperature patterns at continental and even regional scales.
"We know that climate is changing. We know that humans are an important factor," he says. "But unless you can say, 'this or that event is due to climate change or partly due to climate change,' there's a lack of a sense of urgency."
wall street protesters att new york yankees pittsburgh penguins westboro baptist church kurt warner kurt warner
Review: Lepage offers eye-popping 3-D `Siegfried' (AP)
NEW YORK ? Welcome to the 3-D "Siegfried" ? and we're not just talking about the dwarfs, the dragon and Deborah Voigt.
Sure, all of them were onstage Thursday night as the Metropolitan Opera premiered the third installment of Robert Lepage's production of Wagner's "Ring" cycle.
But the Canadian director has found a new technological trick to make this latest effort unique: computerized projections that interact with the set and create an optical illusion that we are watching the singers against a living, three-dimensional backdrop.
The basic set remains the same as in "Das Rheingold" and "Die Walkuere" ? a 45-ton "Machine" composed of two dozen giant planks that rotate (still too noisily!) on a single axis and move up and down to form various shapes: a stand of trees, a mountainside, the roof of a cave.
Now the 3-D projections can lend this metallic surface an appearance of depth and movement. Thus, in the brooding opening measures of Acts 1 and 2, snakes and other creepy-crawly creatures really seem to be writhing through a thickly wooded terrain. Later, the rocks that form the dragon's lair appear to jut out in front of us. And ? most magically of all ? the forest bird who sings to Siegfried flies through the air and lands on the branches of trees.
All this with no glasses required!
Lepage has been criticized in previous installments for allowing his massive set to circumscribe the movements of the singers. That's still true to some extent, though he may be learning from his mistakes.
The Act 1 forest cave where Mime the dwarf has reared the young hero Siegfried is scrunched back on one side into a trough behind the apron (similar to Hunding's hut in Act 1 of "Die Walkuere"). It lessens the impact of the climactic sword-forging scene and means that to move between the cave and a hillside, the singers have to keep climbing up and down an awkward set of steps.
But in Acts 2 and 3, Lepage opens up the apron, giving room for more natural interplay among the characters. As a result, the final scene ? in which Siegfried climbs through a ring of magic fire to awaken the sleeping Bruennhilde on a mountaintop ? is both visually stunning and dramatically engrossing, even without any 3-D.
Musically, by far the most noteworthy ingredient of the night was the astonishing playing by the orchestra as led by Fabio Luisi, the Met's new principal conductor.
In the first two acts, Luisi wove an elegant, chamber music-like texture with brisk tempos that made clear how closely this opera resembles the scherzo of a symphony. In the final act, when Wagner's orchestration thickens, Luisi elicited magnificent waves of sound without sacrificing individual detail.
Luisi took over conducting duties for ailing music director James Levine, who has done so much to build the orchestra into one of the finest in the world. Levine still hopes to conduct three complete "Ring" cycles in the spring, but if he cannot, it's now clear the project will be in terrific hands.
Another late replacement was the singer cast in the title role ? and here the news was almost as good. American tenor Jay Hunter Morris does not possess the lung power of a true Wagnerian heldentenor, but his bright, lyrical voice and winning stage presence made him a most appealing young Siegfried. To say that he got through the long evening with little sign of vocal fatigue is high praise indeed.
As his newly awakened bride, Voigt did not fare as well. The role of Bruennhilde in "Siegfried" is brief but unforgiving: She appears only in the last scene, but then is immediately called upon to pour out waves of sound, much of it in the upper range of the soprano voice.
Voigt approached her assignment earnestly but with noticeable caution, and she struggled to reach those high Cs.
Repeating his role as Wotan (now renamed the Wanderer), bass-baritone Bryn Terfel brought a world-weary majesty to the role and successfully punched through the heavy orchestration in Act 3, though he seemed at the limit of his powers and once or twice resorted to a kind of bluster.
Tenor Gerhard Siegel was a Mime to treasure, his performance full of little grace notes (such as his turning tongue-tied when he tries to ask the Wanderer the final question in their riddle game.)
In smaller roles, bass-baritone Eric Owens reprised his incisive portrayal of Alberich, Mime's brother; bass Hans-Peter Koenig sang imposingly as Fafner, the giant-turned-dragon; and soprano Mojca Erdmann was a bright-sounding forest bird.
Mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon struggled at both ends of her register in Erda's brief scene, theatrically the weakest of the night. Lepage seemed uncertain what to make of the mystical earth goddess, and it didn't help that her metallic dress reflected blinding flashes of light into the audience.
With only one more piece to come ? "Goetterdaemmerung" premieres in January ? it's clear that Lepage has given the Met a technological marvel. What remains to be seen is whether he can end on a high note and, perhaps by some retooling of the earlier installments, shape this "Ring" into vibrant music drama as well.
oprah winfrey iaa blackberry torch 2 the closer ea sports ovarian cancer symptoms angola
Saturday, October 29, 2011
How to Build Your Very Own Flamethrower Jack-O'-Lantern [How To]
david nelson david nelson pat boone psn down rem playstation network down typhoon
Wow! Charlie Sheen Really Is Winning!
Wow! Charlie Sheen Really Is Winning!
Charlie Sheen is returning to television after his new sitcom Anger Management was picked up by FX! FX has reportedly ordered 10 episodes of Anger [...]
Wow! Charlie Sheen Really Is Winning! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/emw3T5xJEd0/
jerome harrison ryan leaf ryan leaf carlos santana jahvid best libya map libya map
Friday, October 28, 2011
NATO to formally end Libya operations Oct 31 (AP)
BERLIN ? NATO's secretary-general says the alliance will on Friday confirm a decision to end its operations in Libya by Oct. 31.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday after meetings in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the U.N.'s resolution adopted earlier in the day "reflects that we have fully accomplished our mandate to protect the civilian population of Libya, so now we have firm ground for terminating our operations as we decided to do a week ago."
He said that even though he does not "foresee a major NATO role in Libya in the post-conflict period," if requested the alliance could assist the new Libyan government in the transformation to democracy, particularly in the areas of defense and security sector reforms.
Fogh Rasmussen added that he wouldn't expect new tasks beyond that.
roger williams roger williams tyler bray tyler bray rashard mendenhall san antonio weather ohio state football
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Maximizing Intranets for Corporate Communications ? Slaw
October 25, 2011
Maximizing Intranets for Corporate Communications
by Heather Colman ? October 25, 2011
In September, I attended the 18th ?Intranets for Corporate Communications? conference hosted by Federated Press. Attendees and speakers were an interesting mix of marketing, corporate communications and knowledge management experts as well as intranet consultants. The focus of the two day course was on using intranets to better maximize internal communications, breakdown silos, motivate employees, promote organizational change and firm branding. The three themes that really stood out for me were the importance of an intranet?s usability, content and role in helping to communicate change through out an organization.
Don Hameluck, a usability expert, talked about the winning formula for a successful intranet, which includes providing value and a satisfying and engaging user experience that keeps users coming back. He also talked about the importance of having an intranet that is aligned with business strategy and goals
Don then discussed the different ways to assess usability which include:
- asking a usability expert to review the design;
- conducting task-based or contextual inquiry tests with actual users;
- gathering staff feedback through surveys or polls; and
- analyzing operational data such as support logs, analytics and other metrics.
Content is key to the success of any intranet and should be reviewed on a regular basis to determine if it is relevant, current and continues to meet the needs of employees. Loris Parekh, Director of Digital Communications for Revera, provided useful tips in considering content management, including determining ownership of content, intranet roles and responsibilities, centralized or decentralized publishing, delivery tools and internal/external sources of content.
Loris shared her motivational techniques for content owners. They included giving them the latitude, tools and training to add content. Promoting the business value of their content and publishing a list of the top ten pages visited by employees are other great motivational techniques for content owners.
Finally, Loris talked about content applications that help drive employees to the intranet which include: company news, blogs, wikis, forms, HR information, self-service tools, policies and procedures, phone directory, organizational charts, document repositories and contact information. This list certainly made me consider what could be added to our intranet.
Other presentations discussed using intranets as change vehicles for communications regarding company reorganizations, office moves, business transformations, and so on. Madeline Long-Duke, Vice President Corporate Sector for Weber Shandwick, discussed leveraging corporate intranets for change management initiatives.
According to Madeline, 70% of all change projects fail due to poor communication regarding the purpose, goal and benefits of the change. They also fail because the infrastructure, processes, incentives, skills and feedback mechanisms are not in place to support the change.
Results can be improved through better stakeholder management and a communications strategy. An intranet should be part of that communications strategy because it is an optimum platform to increase awareness and ?buy-in?, connect all strategic initiatives in one place, send a unified message to stakeholders across business, functional and geographical units and validate the messaging. Intranets can also be used to motivate and engage employees by providing a forum where they can ask questions, brainstorm ideas, provide feedback and comments on the change project.
Along with other case studies presented at the conference, these three presentations help illustrate that intranets are never static and need to be continually assessed for usability, content and communication delivery. They rely on the expertise of IT, Marketing, Communications and Knowledge Management and can be effectively utilized for internal communications and change management initiatives.
?
In September, I attended the 18th ?Intranets for Corporate Communications? conference hosted by Federated Press. Attendees and speakers were an interesting mix of marketing, corporate communications and knowledge management experts as well as intranet consultants. The focus of the two day course was on using intranets to better maximize internal communications, breakdown silos, motivate employees, promote organizational change and firm branding. The three themes that really stood out for me were the importance of an intranet?s usability, content and role in helping to communicate change through out an organization.
Don Hameluck, a usability expert, talked about the winning formula for a successful intranet, which includes providing value and a satisfying and engaging user experience that keeps users coming back. He also talked about the importance of having an intranet that is aligned with business strategy and goals
Don then discussed the different ways to assess usability which include:
- asking a usability expert to review the design;
- conducting task-based or contextual inquiry tests with actual users;
- gathering staff feedback through surveys or polls; and
- analyzing operational data such as support logs, analytics and other metrics.
Content is key to the success of any intranet and should be reviewed on a regular basis to determine if it is relevant, current and continues to meet the needs of employees. Loris Parekh, Director of Digital Communications for Revera, provided useful tips in considering content management, including determining ownership of content, intranet roles and responsibilities, centralized or decentralized publishing, delivery tools and internal/external sources of content.
Loris shared her motivational techniques for content owners. They included giving them the latitude, tools and training to add content. Promoting the business value of their content and publishing a list of the top ten pages visited by employees are other great motivational techniques for content owners.
Finally, Loris talked about content applications that help drive employees to the intranet which include: company news, blogs, wikis, forms, HR information, self-service tools, policies and procedures, phone directory, organizational charts, document repositories and contact information. This list certainly made me consider what could be added to our intranet.
Other presentations discussed using intranets as change vehicles for communications regarding company reorganizations, office moves, business transformations, and so on. Madeline Long-Duke, Vice President Corporate Sector for Weber Shandwick, discussed leveraging corporate intranets for change management initiatives.
According to Madeline, 70% of all change projects fail due to poor communication regarding the purpose, goal and benefits of the change. They also fail because the infrastructure, processes, incentives, skills and feedback mechanisms are not in place to support the change.
Results can be improved through better stakeholder management and a communications strategy. An intranet should be part of that communications strategy because it is an optimum platform to increase awareness and ?buy-in?, connect all strategic initiatives in one place, send a unified message to stakeholders across business, functional and geographical units and validate the messaging. Intranets can also be used to motivate and engage employees by providing a forum where they can ask questions, brainstorm ideas, provide feedback and comments on the change project.
Along with other case studies presented at the conference, these three presentations help illustrate that intranets are never static and need to be continually assessed for usability, content and communication delivery. They rely on the expertise of IT, Marketing, Communications and Knowledge Management and can be effectively utilized for internal communications and change management initiatives.
?
Share: Email | Save as PDF | Print | Bookmark & Share | 
Make a comment:
Note that some comments may be moderated. If you have not had an approved comment here before, your comment will be held for approval. We are glad to publish comments that address issues raised in the post or other comments on it and that contribute to a fruitful discussion. We do not publish comments that seek to promote commercial products, that make personal attacks, or that seek personal legal advice.
Although we do not require it, we ask that in making a comment you use your full name. You must supply a valid email address, which will not appear with your comment.
the count:
7818 posts | 10791 comments
?
-
Bill C-10, now before a House of Commons committee, would impose a minimum sentence of six months in jail for anyone growing between six and 200 marijuana plants. Minimum terms increase in steps to two years for higher quantities, with even more severe terms for using rented premises.
-
Yikes. This is not a hoax. Gizmodo tells you how to fix it. ?until Apple does.
-
The CIA turns down a researcher who requested "any studies? produced by the CIA Center on Climate Change? concerning the impacts of global warming." [PDF] (via Scientific American: http://goo.gl/2V7rC)
-
"Find America" - A great chart showing all countries' income inequality and ranking them.
-
Le texte intitul? ??Ce que Quebecor ne vous dit pas quand elle attaque le radiodiffuseur public?? et le document ??Examen des arguments de Quebecor Media en faveur du libre march? sont vis?s par la requ?te.
-
"Republican governors and state legislators in such states of Texas, South Carolina, and Ohio are repealing mandatory minimum sentences, increasing opportunities for effective community supervision, and funding drug treatment because they know it will improve public safety and reduce taxpayer costs," said Tracy Vel?zquez, executive director of the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute. "If passed, C-10 will take Canadian justice policies 180 degrees in the wrong direction, and Canadian citizens will bear the costs."
-
?its implementation could lead to potentially substantial costs for Canadian businesses because our anti-spam law will be much more onerous than similar legislation in any other country?
-
Is it possible to infringe copyright by "copying" a dance? Bob Tarantino answers.
These summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw by Maritime Law Book.
More information.
-
Criminal Law - Sexual offences - Particular offences - Internet luring (by means of computer system)
The accused was convicted of (1) luring a child under the age of 14 for the purpose of facilitating the offence of sexual interference (Criminal Code, s. 172.1(1)(c)); (2) ...
-
Civil Rights - Language - Right to use French or English in dealings with or within the public service or institutions, etc.
Two Air Canada passengers filed eight complaints with the Commissioner of Official Languages respecting the lack of services in French for two round ...
-
Contracts - Interpretation - Ambiguity - Admissibility of extrinsic evidence
SeaWorld owned a male killer whale named Ikaika which was loaned to Marineland of Canada Inc. pursuant to a Breeding Loan Agreement signed on November 16, 2006. When SeaWorld gave written notice to Marineland of ...
-
Criminal Law - Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Where a conviction substituted for another conviction (e.g., manslaughter for murder)
The accused was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson and second degree murder (see [2007] O.T.C. Uned 691). The trial judge sentenced the accused ...
-
Criminal Law - Appeals - Indictable offences - Grounds of appeal - Question of law or error of law
The accused was acquitted of two counts of sexual assault. The Crown appealed.?
The Ontario Court of Appeal, in a decision reported 256?O.A.C. 246, allowed the ...
-
Civil Rights - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Denial of rights - Remedies - Exclusion of evidence
The accused called 911 to report that her husband was injured. At the hospital, the police learned that the husband had been shot. He died. Hours ...
-
Banks and Banking - Duties of banks - Fiduciary relationships - Debtor?s reliance on bank
The applicant financed the purchase of an aircraft with the Royal Bank of Canada. The applicant leased the aircraft to the Moncton Flight College (Moncton Flying Club (MFC)), which was ...
This is a listing of a few upcoming events in Canada of interest to lawyers, law students, legal librarians, and others involved in the practice of law.
Clicking on any event in the list below will give you access to more information and to links allowing you to see the full entry and to add the event to your own calendar.
Click this link for a fuller version of the TalkLaw/ParLoi calendar of events and for instructions as to how to add events and calendars to your own calendar.
Source: http://www.slaw.ca/2011/10/25/maximizing-intranets-for-corporate-communications/
shia labeouf teleprompter ashley greene mukesh ambani mukesh ambani bob harper aapl
Rick Perry flat tax plan: Borrowing from Herman Cain?
Rick Perry's flat tax plan is simple, and borrows talking points from Herman Cain's 999 plan, notes DCDecoder.
Rick Perry unveiled a ?flat tax? plan Tuesday that would allow taxpayers to choose between their current income tax rate and a flat tax of 20 percent. He also proposed lowering the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, while eliminating corporate loopholes. He would keep popular mortgage and charitable deductions for families making less than $500,000 a year, and would eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits.
Skip to next paragraphWhat strikes us, however, is how much Perry seems to be taking his talking points on taxes from Herman Cain. Perry?s plan is more nuanced than Cain?s 999 plan, but like Cain, Perry is proposing to dramatically overhaul the current tax code and replace it with something simple - something that voters seem especially hungry to do, as evidenced by Cain?s success.
Here?s what Perry said when introducing his plan in South Carolina (a key, early primary state):
"Central to my plan is giving every American the option of throwing out the three million words of the current tax code, and the costs of complying with that code, in order to pay a 20 percent flat tax on their income.
The size of the current code, which is more than 72,000 pages, is represented by this pallet and its many reams of paper.
The best representation of my plan is this post card, which taxpayers will be able to fill out to file their taxes."
Sound familiar? Here?s Herman Cain at the last GOP debate in Las Vegas:
The reason that my plan ? the reason that our plan is being attacked so much is because lobbyists, accountants, politicians, they don?t want to throw out the current tax code and put in something that?s simple and fair. They want to continue to be able to manipulate the American people with a 10-million-word mess. Let?s throw out the 10-million-word mess and put in our plan, which will liberate the American workers and liberate American businesses.
In fact, Herman Cain has been talking about ?throwing out? the tax code for many months now, and it?s consistently been one of his biggest applause lines. You can watch a video here of Cain on the stump - he gets a huge audience reaction when he talks about chucking the current tax code:
"We don?t need some mild fuel in this engine, we need some bold fuel.
And I call it my 999 plan. Why?
It starts with - watch this, y?all - throw out the current tax code! [THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE, CHEERING] Get rid of it!
Throw it out, because how many years, most of you all your life, have been complaining about the tax code. We know it?s messed up. But nobody has the guts to say we need to throw it out.
Now, once you throw it out, then we pass the 999 legislation?.
It?s simpler, it?s fairer. And it saves us $430 billion a year in filing and compliance costs."
Want more?
- Read the full text of Perry?s remarks here.
Like your politics unscrambled? Check out DCDecoder.com
democracy doctor saab megalodon human centipede ancient egypt paranormal activity 2
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Siri gets a HAL 9000 makeover thanks to ThinkGeek (Yahoo! News)
Give your iPhone some vintage sci-fi flair with the IRIS 9000
When Apple unveiled its new iPhone 4S, the most striking new feature was the integrated virtual assistant named Siri. And you don't have to be a sci-fi junkie to know that Siri's eerily casual conversations are similar to those of HAL 9000, the evil computer AI of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now, ThinkGeek is making that connection even more opaque with the IRIS 9000, an interactive dock for the iPhone 4S that gives Siri some old-school style.
When an iPhone 4S is plugged into the dock and Siri is activated, an iconic HAL-esque red eye pulses as virtual assistant speaks, just like in the Odyssey movies. ?The IRIS comes complete with a remote control to activate Siri from across the room, and features a built-in microphone to make sure your digital helper can hear you from a distance. A speaker inside the dock amplifies your iPhone's audio so you can listen to your new computer overlord loud and clear.
The IRIS 9000 is currently in production and ThinkGeek expects to have it ready for sale by April of 2012. The nifty gadget will set you back a totally reasonable $59.99.
This article originally appeared on Tecca
More from Tecca:
dreamcatcher georgia tech big east expansion big east expansion michigan football michigan football google buzz
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Reports: Google Mulls Helping Finance Potential Yahoo Bid ...
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
when does ios 5 come out when does ios 5 come out christopher columbus trina the green mile the green mile nba lockout
*Sr. Corporate Communications- | Journalism Job Wire
View the full listing and apply on the original site
PA-Pittsburgh, Alcoa is looking for a Senior Consultant, Internal Communications for our corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA. Reporting to the Manager of Leadership and Internal Communication this position is responsible for a wide range of communication activities including: Identify, research and write stories and videos supporting corporate initiatives, sharing those communications via corporate news sou
Source: http://journalismjobwire.com/sr-corporate-communications-3/
free agents free agents americas got talent winner americas got talent winner guinness book of world records gears of war 3 release date up all night
Israel frets over Gilad Shalit deal as national euphoria fades
The Gilad Shalit deal has set a dangerous precedent for prisoner exchanges and weakened the Palestinian Authority, say some Israeli officials.
? A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Skip to next paragraphWith the euphoria from the release last week of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit fading, the Israeli establishment is looking ahead to the implications of the sweeping deal ? and questioning whether the precedent the deal set is one it or the Palestinian Authority can support.
Some members of the Israeli government and military are concerned about two possibilities: that the deal is making huge, imbalanced prisoner exchanges the norm, rather than the exception ? and that it has undermined the moderate Palestinian Authority too much.
The Israeli Defense Forces is poised to recommend that Israel make a series of gestures to the Palestinian Authority in order to undo some of the damage the Shalit deal did to its credibility. The deal bolstered the Fatah-dominated PA's rival, Hamas, at the expense of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his more moderate party.
Gestures include releasing additional Palestinian prisoners and ceding more land in the West Bank to Palestinian security control. "The army considers this necessary to help Abbas regain the upper hand in his ongoing battle with Hamas for control of the territories, since Israel's intelligence agencies all concur that the Shalit deal, in which Hamas obtained the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one kidnapped soldier, bolstered the Islamic organization at the PA's expense," Haaretz reports.
However, several of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's advisers and cabinet ministers oppose the IDF's proposal, saying that Mr. Abbas and the PA need to be punished for their bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state. Haaretz reports that the IDF is concerned that Abbas feels so undermined that he is seriously considering resigning his post and believes that concessions to Abbas need to be substantial ones to help him climb out of a hole that Israel helped dig.
hpv vaccine david blaine iowa state evan rachel wood i don t know how she does it katamari roatan
Monday, October 24, 2011
Jordan's king urges restart of Mideast peace talks (AP)
SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan ? Jordan's King Abdullah on Saturday urged Israel and the Palestinians to look to the Arab Spring uprisings for inspiration and to restart their stalled peace talks.
"The future for the Middle East and beyond is with the normalcy of peace," Abdullah told the opening of a two-day special meeting of the Davos-based World Economic Forum, held on the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.
He said "shortsighted leaders may think they can shut" the door to peace ? a rebuke believed directed at Israel's right-wing government. He added that a Palestinian-Israeli deal must consider Israel's "security and acceptance" and allow for the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Around 1,000 participants from 50 countries, including the United States, are attending the meeting which will discuss ways for economic development and creating jobs in the Arab world following the revolts that unseated three longtime Arab leaders.
Abdullah said one of the main factors to be considered is creating 85,000 jobs across the region soon to help alleviate poverty and improve living conditions for the youth who are leading the effort for change.
"Our region stands today at the gates to the future," Abdullah said, referring to the Arab uprisings. One of those gates, he said, leads "to peace and justice, opening the way out of regional crisis, especially (for the issue) at the heart of the region, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
Former Arab League chief Amr Moussa said recent shifts in the Arab world coupled with an economic contraction at the global level have created a new urgency for decision-makers across the region to review policy to revive economic growth and support human development.
Moussa, who is Egypt's presidential hopeful in the wake of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, said his country's economic woes following its revolution are "solvable."
"Serious" work, planning and stability are the keys to reinvigorating Egypt's economy after near daily protests and strikes wreaked havoc with revenues and unsettled investors since January, Moussa told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the WEF.
The Arab world's most populous country has seen economic growth contract sharply with key foreign revenue sources like tourism and foreign direct investment hit particularly hard.
Also at the gathering in Jordan, Libya's acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said his country has used 62 percent of its oil resources under deposed Moammar Gadhafi.
"We only have 32 percent left," he told the AP.
"We have to look for other sources of income in the next 20 years," he said. "The time is limited and it's very critical. Therefore, we have to utilize it well to look for other alternatives."
___
Associated Press Writer Dale Gavlak contributed to this report.
susan lucci jim caviezel arturo gatti arturo gatti stoma stoma money ball
Netflix to provide service to the UK, Ireland
LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) ? Netflix Inc. plans to offer its online subscription service to the United Kingdom and Ireland starting early next year, providing access to movies and television shows.
The company said Monday that subscribers will get unlimited TV shows and movies streaming online to their televisions and computers, Macs, tablets and cellular phones for a monthly fee.
The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company, which will report its third-quarter financial results after the stock market closes on Monday, said details about pricing, content and supported devices will be disclosed closer to launch.
Netflix started streaming to the U.S. in 2007 and added Canada in 2010 and 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in September. The company has more than 25 million members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
Those in the U.K. or Ireland interested in the service can sign up at Netflix's web site to receive an email alert that will let them know when the service has launched, the company said.
Netflix has faced criticism lately due to a recent price increase and a failed attempt to split up its video subscription service. Netflix boosted prices for combination packages of DVDs-by-mail and Internet video streaming by as much as 60 percent, effective Sept. 1. After the higher prices kicked in, CEO Reed Hastings announced a plan to spin off the DVD rental side into a separate website called Qwikster. The move was so reviled by subscribers that Hastings changed his mind within three weeks.
Netflix's stock has dropped by 60 percent since the price increases were announced in mid-July. The sell-off has wiped out $9 billion in shareholder wealth.
Associated Pressskylab all my children moneyball moneyball nasa satellite nasa satellite v for vendetta
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Reese Witherspoon Raises Money for Breast Cancer - YouTube
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZsmsernWyw
cowboys cowboys bling ring bling ring dallas cowboys green river killer bohemian grove
Andie MacDowell: Model and Actress (omg!)
[unable to retrieve full-text content]omg! - Phillip Bloch talks with her about her successful career, past and present.
cape coral fl friday night lights kansas city chiefs emmys emmys tom bosley christina hendricks
Economics and Investing: - SurvivalBlog.com
Cities Where Homes Will Not Sell
EW.B. sent this article about a Nevada town: End of Empire: Tough economy closes mining town. (JWR's Comment: This illustrates the importance of avoiding relocating to towns that are depended on a single employer.)
HOLY BAILOUT - Federal Reserve Now Backstopping $75 Trillion Of Bank Of America's Derivatives Trades. (Thanks to Steve S. for the link.)
John R. flagged this: WOLF: Liberalism?s unwashed last stand--The hippie-critical new faces of the Democratic Party
On a similar note, The Daily Bell's editors ask: Elite Control of OWS Protests Increasingly Obvious?
Items from The Economatrix:
The Global Economy is Broken; Here's How to Fix It
Growing Trend:? Thieves Raid Vegetable Gardens In Indianapolis, New York and Chicago
Eurozone Crisis:? Recession Warning Leads Global Global Stock Markets To Tumble
S&P Downgrades 24 Italian Banks, Financial Firms
Source: http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/10/economics_and_investing_966.html
cmj olin kreutz olin kreutz au pair au pair trinidad trinidad
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Turkey: Iran must cooperate over plot allegations (AP)
ANKARA, Turkey ? Turkey's foreign minister on Friday urged Iran to cooperate with the U.S. over an alleged conspiracy to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
Ahmet Davutoglu told the state-run Anatolia news agency hours after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, that the allegations against Iran are "serious" and that the country should take note of the evidence.
"Our advice to our neighbor Iran is to take notice of the evidence that the United States has and to help the legal process in a totally transparent manner," the agency quoted Davutoglu as saying. "That's the message I gave the Iranian foreign minister."
Two men, including an alleged member of Iran's special foreign actions unit known as the Quds Force, have been charged in New York with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat.
Last week, U.S. officials traveled to Turkey to brief the country on evidence they have in the alleged plot, according to Turkish media reports.
"Allegations that a country would engage in an assassination attempt in another country against a third country's ambassador are extremely serious and the issue needs to be treated with the necessary care and seriousness," Davutoglu said.
Earlier, Davutoglu held a joint news conference with Salehi, during which he urged both Iran and the U.S. to share what information they have and avoid escalating tensions.
"We do not believe that Iran, with its state traditions, would display such an act," Davutoglu told journalists. "But the United States says it has evidence and Saudi Arabia has also made certain statements."
Salehi, who was in Ankara to discuss cooperation with Turkey in the fight against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels, rejected the U.S. allegations as "weak, baseless and empty."
"Talking about them is a waste of time," he told reporters.
fiji fiji ruby tuesday aliens lil kim michael j fox seattle times
Registries Raise Cash Gifts, Avoid Etiquette No-no
www.washingtontimes.com:
While champagne flutes, table linens and toasters are traditional wedding gifts, many of today?s brides and grooms already have established a home together and have more than enough household goods. Yet asking for cash gifts is seen by many as a longtime etiquette no-no.
Read the whole story: www.washingtontimes.com
'; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/cover-story-registries-ra_n_1022428.html
loma prieta loma prieta harold camping ucla football san francisco earthquake san francisco earthquake california earthquake
28 percent of OWS protesters are over 40
Almost half of the Occupy Wall Street protesters are under 30 years old, but a sizable portion are 40 and above.
Over at WSJ, Aaron Rutkoff has a fascinating deep dive into the data as far as who is actually Occupying Wall Street...
Skip to next paragraph Joshua M. BrownJoshua has been managing money for high net worth clients, charitable foundations, corporations and retirement plans for more than a decade.
Recent posts
The protesters as a group are young, but Zuccotti Park is not nearly the youth-only movement depicted in the media. While 49% of protesters are under 30, more than 28% are 40 or older. Only one-third of the crowd considers themselves Democrats ? nearly the same portion who say they don?t identify with any party. (Zero respondents labeled themselves Republican.)
Schoen finds reason to be skeptical of the protesters? professed motivation: the inequities of the U.S. economic system. ?The vast majority of demonstrators are actually employed, and the proportion of protesters unemployed (15%) is within single digits of the national unemployment rate (9.1%),? he writes in his essay. But those numbers might not be the best way to assess the economic health of the protest group.
Aaron's data comes from pollster Douglas Schoen, he conducted face-to-face interviews with 198 people down at the epicenter of the movement.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/eY9DlYOBv-M/28-percent-of-OWS-protesters-are-over-40
shame wii u wii u atm atm funny facebook status texas a m football
Friday, October 21, 2011
Whooping Cough Vaccine Protection Fades After 3 Years (LiveScience.com)
Young children who receive vaccinations against whopping cough are not fully protected against the disease three to six years after their shots, a new study suggests.
Currently, kids receive five doses of the pertussis vaccine, with the final injection given between ages four and six. A pertussis booster shot is recommended for adolescents.
In the new study, a small number of vaccinated kids developed pertussis anyway ? and the number of pertussis cases progressively increased each year following the kids' final vaccination. Children were seven times more likely to develop pertussis six years after vaccination than one year after vaccination.
Researchers knew that pertussis vaccine protection waned with time. But studies had not looked cases of pertussis in vaccinated children this young before, said study researcher Sara Tartof, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
The new findings underscore the importance of the booster shot for adolescents.
"It's really important for kids to get that booster at 11 or 12 years of age," Tartof said.
The new findings are not enough to warrant a change in children's vaccination schedules, Tartof said. However, future studies should examine factors that may affect how much protection the vaccine gives, including the age at which it is given, Tartof said.
Pertussis risk
The first version of the whooping cough vaccine, known as the whole cell pertussis vaccine, had long lasting immunity. Its protection was thought to last much of life, said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. However, this vaccination often caused reactions at the injection site, such as redness and swelling.
Because of concerns about safety, a new, more purified version of the vaccine was created. Childhood vaccination with the acellular pertussis vaccines began in 1997, Schaffner said. Researchers are still studying how long immunity lasts with this vaccine.
The vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis are given to children together in a single injection, nicknamed DTaP. Tartof and colleagues examined the immunization records of more than 220,000 children born in Minnesota between 1998 and 2003.
Information from the state's pertussis surveillance system was used to determine which kids came down with pertussis. Children were included in the study only if they received all five doses of the pertussis vaccine. They were followed for up to six years after their final shot.
Between 2004 and 2010, 521 cases of pertussis were identified in these kids (or 0.23 percent of the children studied).
A child's risk of pertussis increased each year after their final shot.
Children were 1.6 times more likely to develop pertussis two years after vaccination than in the first year after vaccination. That risk increased to 2 times more likely during year three, and 2.6 times more likely over year four, compared with the risk at year 1.
By six years after vaccination, the risk had increased to 7 times what it was in the first year.
Tartof noted that if vaccinated children develop pertussis, their condition is less severe if they have received all five shots.
Outbreaks
The finding "highlights the fact that pertussis immunity can be short lived," said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not involved in the study.
And the results suggest that it is not unreasonable to consider more frequent booster vaccinations among teens and adults, Offit said.
Technically a person's last pertussis vaccination may be when they receive their booster at age 11 or 12 years old, Offit said. However, it's important that people in older age groups have immunity against pertussis because of the risk they may transmit the disease to infants.
Babies less than 6 months old are at greater risk of dying from pertussis, and they cannot begin to be vaccinated until they are two months old. Doctors want to "cocoon" infants by vaccinating all the adults and teens around them, Offit said.
The outbreaks of pertussis that have occurred in recent years are likely due to people deciding to forego vaccination, Offit said.
"When you make a choice not to vaccinate, then you are in trouble," Offit said. "Because the disease is always going to be around."
The study results argue for the enforcement of pertussis boosters in middle school children, Schaffner said. Without booster shots, there may be outbreaks of pertussis among this young population, he said.
Pass it on: A child's risk of whooping cough increases progressively each year following their final vaccination with the pertussis vaccine.
This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner on Twitter @Facebook.
Spain downgrade adds pressure, Merkel & Sarkozy to talk (Reuters)
BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) ? A double-notch downgrade of Spain's credit rating has piled pressure on European leaders to make convincing progress on solving the region's debt crisis at an October 23 summit.
The blow from Moody's Investors Service came just a day after the agency warned France its triple-A rating could come under pressure and as Greeks began their biggest strike in years in protest at a painful austerity drive designed to avert default.
Markets are counting down to a summit of EU leaders on Sunday which Paris has said will deliver a decisive outcome while Berlin has been more cautious.
The Spanish rating cut, which highlighted the threat of contagion from debt-stricken Greece, tempered a sharp rally in shares on Wall Street late on Tuesday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that leaders would not solve the debt crisis at a single meeting.
"These sovereign debts have been built up over decades and therefore one cannot resolve them with one summit but it will take difficult, long-term work. Nonetheless, I do think we will also be able to take relevant, important decisions," she said.
A French government spokeswoman said Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the leaders of Europe's two biggest economies, would talk later on Wednesday.
"It's obvious that the contacts between Germany and France will be constant and permanent until October 23," said Valerie Pecresse, who is also France's budget minister.
The hope is that Sunday's summit will agree new steps to reduce Greece's debt, strengthen the capital of banks with exposure to troubled euro zone sovereigns and leverage the euro zone's rescue fund to prevent contagion to bigger economies.
Scotching a media report that said a deal had been struck between Paris and Berlin to scale up the European Financial Stability Facility by around 5 times to more than 2 trillion euros, a senior EU official said: "It's wrong."
A second source said: "It's naive to think you can make those calculations and come up with a nice round 2 trillion figure. It's not nearly as simple as that."
The summit is likely to agree to leverage the bailout fund by allowing it to underwrite a portion of newly issued euro zone debt, officials have told Reuters. But the details are still being thrashed out.
"I think the models to make the EFSF more flexible need ... significantly more preparation," Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said.
By guaranteeing the first 20-30 percent of any losses, the EFSF could stretch three to five times further. With about 300 billion euros of its 440 billion-euro capacity still available, the fund could be expanded to more than 1 trillion euros, enough to support the refinancing needs of Spain and Italy for at least the next year or longer and ward off market attacks.
As well as trying to strengthen the rescue fund, euro zone leaders are racing to convince banks to accept "voluntary" writedowns of up to 50 percent on their Greek sovereign holdings and are trying to agree on a blueprint for recapitalizing financial institutions at risk from the deepening crisis.
Greece remains mired in recession and its overall debt is forecast to climb to 357 billion euros ($489 billion) this year, or 162 percent of annual economic output -- which few economists believe can be paid back.
Even the mighty German economy is not immune. Government sources told Reuters that Berlin would slash its 2012 growth forecast from 1.8 percent down to around one percent, with the debt crisis hitting German export markets and dampening consumer spending at home.
SPANISH WARNING
Moody's cut Spain's bond rating to A1, from Aa2, the third of the major agencies to act in recent weeks and taking it a notch below the ratings of Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
The agency's reasoning may focus minds ahead of Sunday's summit, highlighting the lack of resolution to the currency bloc's crisis rather than particular Spanish policy shortcomings.
"Since placing the ratings under review in late July 2011, no credible resolution of the current sovereign debt crisis has emerged and it will in any event take time for confidence in the area's political cohesion and growth prospects to be fully restored," the agency said.
In a statement, Spain's Treasury said the downgrade reflected a short-term reaction to negative euro zone debt markets, rather than a change in medium and long term economic fundamentals, adding that the government remained committed to fiscal consolidation and reform.
While Europe's leaders rush to stop a larger writedown of Greek debt infecting others in the euro zone, for ordinary Greeks, the cuts demanded of their country in return for help means facing up to years of pain.
Greek unions began a 48-hour general strike, the biggest protest in years, as parliament prepares to vote on sweeping new austerity measures designed to stave off default.
The strike shut government departments, businesses, public services and even providers of everyday staples like shops and bakeries and will culminate in mass demonstrations outside parliament.
The austerity package mixes deep cuts to public sector pay and pensions, tax hikes, a suspension of sectoral pay accords and an end to the constitutional taboo against laying off civil servants.
A first vote, on the government's overall bill, will be held on Wednesday night, with a second vote on specific articles expected some time on Thursday. It is expected to pass even though Greece has sunk deeper into crisis, despite repeated doses of austerity.
"None of my colleagues, who have been through a lot lately, will risk letting the country fall from our hands and break, go bankrupt," Development Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis said.
($1 = 0.731 Euros)
(Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou in Athens and Michael Shields in Vienna; Writing by Mike Peacock, editing by Janet McBride)
occupy chicago occupy chicago ron white ron white widespread panic widespread panic alcs
Obama would veto GOP jobs bill over spending cuts (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The White House is promising to veto Republican-backed legislation that would prevent the government from withholding 3 percent of payments to government contractors.
The legislation faces a test vote in the Senate late Thursday. Even though President Barack Obama supports the idea, the White House promised a veto because it would be paid for with $30 billion in cuts from domestic agency spending.
The withholding law was passed in 2005 by a GOP-controlled Congress. The idea then was to make sure contractors couldn't duck their taxes. But the rule has yet to be implemented. Advocates of repealing it say it will help create jobs, especially from contractors with smaller profit margins on large projects.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid promised that the withholding requirement would be repealed in coming weeks.
listeria listeria kendall hunter alabama football 50 50 50 50 gene simmons family jewels
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Immigration debate intensifies in GOP race (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Neither Rick Perry nor Mitt Romney can claim conservative purity on illegal immigration ? and now both must deal with it.
Illegal immigration has emerged as a defining issue with remarkable staying power in a GOP presidential race that was expected to be primarily focused on the nation's struggling economy.
The heated clashes over illegal immigration between the two Republican presidential rivals in this week's debate, coupled with renewed calls for a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by their opponents, made clear the issue isn't going away. It's a major fault line between Perry and Romney as they court a Republican primary electorate that generally takes a hardline view against people who are in the country illegally.
At every turn, Perry, the Texas governor, has been forced to defend his signing of a law that allowed some illegal immigrants to get in-state college tuition. And now Romney is having to answer for the fact that some groundskeepers who had worked on his lawn were in the country illegally.
"Mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in your home, and you knew about it for a year," Perry told the former Massachusetts governor at Tuesday's debate in Las Vegas. "And the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is, on its face, the height of hypocrisy."
Romney countered, "Rick, I don't think that I've ever hired an illegal in my life" and challenged his rival to show him the facts.
It was a preview of what Republicans can expect to hear in the coming weeks as the Jan. 3 leadoff Iowa caucuses inch closer, with Romney and Perry emerging as the two candidates with the best chances of winning the nomination. They're arguably the only Republicans with the money and organization necessary to go the distance.
Even so and in hopes of gaining traction, their rivals are playing to the part of the GOP electorate that values a secure border with Mexico above all else when it comes to immigration policy.
In recent days, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has pledged to build two fences back to back along the 2,000-mile border. And businessman Herman Cain called for an electrified fence that could kill people trying to cross illegally.
For months now, immigration concerns have followed presidential contenders to town hall meetings from Nevada to Iowa to New Hampshire. And in some ways, immigration has shaped the increasingly bitter Republican nomination fight more than any other issue, particularly in a crowded field where the conservative candidates have more in common than not. And while conservative voters may be driving immigration chatter on the campaign trail, the candidates are stoking voter passions when given the opportunity.
"I'm not surprised that immigration is playing as big a role as it is," said Kevin Smith, a likely New Hampshire Republican gubernatorial candidate who has watched the candidates face repeated questions about the topic on the campaign trail. "This issue plays very well with Republican primary voters."
And it's clear they're listening.
Perry's sudden drop in the polls was largely attributed to weak debate performances involving his support for the Texas law. He suggested that Republicans who oppose the policy were heartless. And Romney fueled the tuition criticism every chance he got.
But Perry tried to neutralize the attacks this week. The outspoken Texan raised new questions at the debate about Romney's use of a landscaping company that employed illegal immigrants at his suburban Boston home several years ago.
For a moment, it looked as though Perry and Romney may come to blows as they debated the issue, with Romney at one point putting his hand on Perry's shoulder as the conversation began to heat up.
"The American people want the truth," Perry demanded. "They want to hear you say that you knew you had illegals working at your ..."
Romney cut in: "Would you please wait? Are you just going to keep talking, or are you going to let me finish with my ? what I have to say?"
For Romney, it was a frustrating return to an issue that played out in his 2008 presidential campaign.
At that time, and again Tuesday night, he said he had little control over whether a landscaping company he legally hired had illegal immigrants on the payroll. But the exchange provided one of the few moments in this presidential campaign in which the usually poised Romney showed flashes of anger.
That anger was apparent in campaign rhetoric from both sides the day after the debate.
"Gov. Perry is desperate to deflect from his liberal immigration record," Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said, calling Perry's launching of "a personal and untruthful attack" on Romney "unpresidential."
But don't expect Perry to back down from an issue that may have fueled his strongest debate performance.
Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan said, "Mr. Romney has been demagoguing and distorting these immigration and border control issues for months now." Sullivan argued that Romney was "exposed as someone who had illegal immigrants working in his lawn and cleaning his tennis court."
Sullivan would not say whether Perry might exploit the issue in television advertising, but he hinted that Romney has only seen the beginning of the new criticism.
There is danger is pushing too hard on immigration.
Polling suggests the issue may help the candidates score political points with Republican primary voters but could alienate the ballooning Hispanic population or hurt the candidates among independents in a general election matchup against President Barack Obama.
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina seized on the issue Wednesday.
"Romney's been taking hard-right positions on the campaign trail on immigration. He didn't object to having undocumented workers working for him because it's illegal; he objected because he thought it would hurt his political career," Messina said.
pirates of silicon valley htc flyer tablet htc flyer tablet ashram ashram hank williams bruins
ICE deports record number of immigrants in year
MIAMI (AP) ? U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said Tuesday his agency deported nearly 400,000 individuals during the fiscal year that ended in September, the largest number of removals in the agency's history.
Morton announced the Fiscal 2011 numbers in Washington, saying about 55 percent of those deported had felony or misdemeanor convictions. Officials said the number of those convicted of crimes was up 89 percent from 2008.
Authorities could not immediately say how many of those crimes related to re-entering the U.S. after being deported. Individuals can be convicted of a felony for returning to the U.S. or being found in the U.S. after they were deported.
Among the 396,906 individuals deported were more than 1,000 convicted of homicide. Another 5,800 were sexual offenders, and about 80,000 people were convicted of drug related crimes or driving under the influence. Last year, the total was roughly 393,000.
"This comes down to focusing our resources as best we can on our priorities," Morton said. "We continue to hope for comprehensive immigration reform at a national level, working with the Congress, but in the meantime, we work with the resources we have, under the laws we have."
The announcement comes as the Obama administration has sought to address critics on both sides of the immigration debate. Immigration advocates complain law enforcement officials are spending too much of their scarce resources rounding up families living illegally in the country who otherwise are law-abiding. Others say the administration isn't doing enough to stop the flow of illegal immigration and protect Americans from potential foreign terrorists and other criminals.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said the agency is focusing its resources on criminals, recent border crossers, those who repeatedly cross the border and those people the department considers fugitives.
Authorities say two-thirds of those deported last year either recently crossed the border or had done so repeatedly.
But House Judiciary Chairman U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, an outspoken opponent of Obama administration's immigration policies, called the ICE numbers inflated. He argued they include people who voluntarily agree to leave the country with no penalties and can easily return to the U.S. ? especially along the border.
In a statement, Smith added that under the Obama administration, worksite enforcement has dropped 70 percent.
"We could free up millions of jobs for citizens and legal immigrants if we simply enforced our immigration laws," he added.
In 2009, the administration shifted from high-profile workplace sweeps to less attention-grabbing auditing of I-9 forms ? the documents used to verify that employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S. The department says the shift better focuses resources on the employers who draw in illegal workers to the country.
In Miami, Susana Barciela, policy director for Americans for Immigration Justice, also expressed concerns about the numbers.
"We are worried because many of the people who are being deported have committed minor crimes," she said.
She mentioned cases in which immigrants were detained and convicted of driving with broken taillights, polarized windows or expired driver's licenses, common among illegal immigrants who are unable to legally obtain or renew their licenses and then are deported.
The Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Forum called the number of deportations a waste of tax payer dollars.
"In reality, the numbers highlight a failure of our government to come to grips with our broken immigration system," the group's statement said.
"At $23,000 per individual to go through the complete deportation process, immigration enforcement without fixing our broken system is not sustainable. We cannot continue to spend billions of dollars, year after year, while denying we have a more fundamental problem_that our immigration system no longer serves America well."
The announcement came the same day two TV networks will air separate shows examining the immigration detention system. "Lost in Detention," on PBS' Frontline, and CNBC's documentary, "Billions Behind Bars," which examines the private prison industry and the detention of immigrants. Immigrant groups in cities across the country have organized viewing parties, protests and other events in connection with the PBS program.
___
Associated Press writer Alicia Caldwell contributed to this report from Washington.
Associated Presspaw paw paw paw baltimore orioles rosh hashanah rosh hashanah jeff bezos amzn
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)