Video Properties
NP! ID: 2874520
Title: south africa vs srilanka 1st test match 15-12-2011
File Size: 321 bytes
Created: Thu, 12/29/2011 - 9:48pm
Modified: Thu, 12/29/2011 - 9:48pm
File Type: multimedia (text/plain)
Licence: None (All rights reserved)Source: http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/south-africa-vs-srilanka-1st-test-match-15-12-2011
jacksonville jaguars jacksonville jaguars iraq war over iraq war over maurice jones drew golden globe nominees megyn kelly
The Republican presidential field descends on Iowa to make their final pitch to voters. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
Related Links:
TODAY.com home page
Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45803586/
san francisco earthquake san francisco earthquake nextdoor premier fitness dan uggla kryptos student loan forgiveness
Rangers fans who wanted to see a victory Wednesday night were forced to wait until HBO aired its third episode of 24/7 at 10 p.m.
?
That?s because the Blueshirts laid an egg at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., falling to the Capitals, 4-1, and snapping a five-game winning streak against the team that has eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs two of the last three seasons.
?
The cable network?s Winter Classic preview was poised to show last week?s victories over the Devils, Islanders and Flyers, but it didn?t have tape of Wednesday?s turnovers by John Mitchell and Brad Richards at the offensive blue line that led to both of Washington?s second period goals.
?
The Capitals (18-15-2) - who are more than acclimated to the HBO cameras after starring on the inaugural series last winter with Pittsburgh - took a 3-1 lead going into the third on Troy Brouwer?s deflection of a John Carlson slapper and Alexander Semin?s breakaway backhander over the shoulder of Martin Biron (19 saves).
?
Ryan Callahan appeared to have narrowed the deficit to 3-2 on a power play with 7:59 to play in the third period, but replays showed Callahan?s skate in a kicking motion, redirecting the rebound of a Richards shot past Tomas Vokuon (31 saves).
?
Then Semin scored his second goal of the night on Alex Ovechkin?s second assist with 2:35 to play to ice it, after Brian Boyle's giveaway.
?
The loss could drop the Rangers (22-9-4) out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference if Boston were to win in Phoenix in a 9 p.m. start out in Glendale, Ariz. The Blueshirts will fly to Florida to face the Panthers on Friday before heading to Philadelphia for Monday?s Winter Classic against the Flyers.
?
Wednesday, John Tortorella gave Biron his ninth start in 35 games, remaining committed to the schedule he believes will keep No. 1 Henrik Lundqvist most prepared for a playoff run if the Rangers can punch their ticket in the spring.
?
Biron (7-2-0) did not play his best game, continuing a disturbing trend of surrendering long rebounds. He could not control Jeff Halpern?s first period slapper, leading to Marcus Johansson?s rebound putback that made it 1-0 eight minutes into the game. Still, that play began with Michael Del Zotto mishandling the puck in the neutral zone, creating a giveaway to Halpern and a clean shot.
?
The second goal was not Biron?s fault at all, as Brouwer?s screen obstructed his view of the shot. And Richards? turnover, when Alex Ovechkin leveled the Rangers center and jarred the puck loose, led to a long Nicklas Backstrom pass that put Semin one-on-one with the Blueshirts goaltender.
?
With fewer than three minutes to play in the first period, Brandon Dubinsky tied the game 1-1 with a wrister on a two-on-one over the shoulder of Vokuon, who made his first start since Dec. 13. Callahan assisted on the goal after one of his four blocked shots deflected into the neutral zone to Dubinsky.
?
The Rangers, however, lost all momentum going into the second period. The first had to kill the end of a Caps power play from Stu Bickel?s high-sticking penalty. Then Washington?s speed started to take over, as even speedy Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh was turned around on a few rushes. The Blueshirts? shifts started to get longer, as they struggled to get off the ice on big Capitals rushes. And carelessness with the puck ultimately cost them.
?
Defenseman Jeff Woywitka recovered from a sore left foot that kept him out for four games and went back into the lineup Wednesday night, replacing rookie Tim Erixon. Tortorella said Erixon, who has played 13 games for the Rangers this season on three separate recalls from the AHL, is headed back to the Connecticut Whale after Wednesday?s game as long as the Blueshirts are healthy traveling south to Florida for Friday?s game against the Panthers.
Have a question about the Blueshirts or a comment? Find Pat on Twitter at @NYDNRangers.
student loan forgiveness amy winehouse cause of death amy winehouse cause of death white witch white witch occupy san francisco occupy san francisco
Source: www.pittsburghlive.com --- Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The event marked the first of four days that members of the public, veterans and history center visitors will unfurl and refold a 36-foot garrison flag, similar to the one that has flown over the Fort Pitt Museum at Point State Park since September, and sign a three-panel wall -- each panel about the size of a door -- that officials hope to send to Troops overseas. ...
Source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_773893.html
michael buble michael buble teddy roosevelt kim richards rita hayworth rita hayworth lakers rumors
WASHINGTON ? The U.S. economy will grow faster in 2012 ? if it isn't knocked off track by upheavals in Europe, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists.
Unemployment will barely fall from the current 8.6 percent rate, though, by the time President Barack Obama runs for re-election in November, the economists say.
The three dozen private, corporate and academic economists expect the economy to grow 2.4 percent next year. In 2011, it likely grew less than 2 percent.
The year is ending on an upswing. The economy has generated at least 100,000 new jobs for five months in a row ? the longest such streak since 2006.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits has dropped to the lowest level since April 2008. The trend suggests that layoffs have all but stopped and hiring could pick up.
And the economy avoided a setback when President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday extending a Social Security tax cut that was to expire at year's end. But Congress could agree only on a two-month extension.
The economists surveyed Dec. 14-20 expect the country to create 177,000 jobs a month through Election Day 2012. That would be up from an average 132,000 jobs a month so far in 2011.
Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital, says the U.S. economy remains vulnerable to an outside shock. A big threat is the risk that Europe's debt crisis will trigger a worldwide credit freeze like the one that hit Wall Street in late 2008.
A shock to the U.S. economy, he says, might not be as dangerous if it were growing at a healthier 4 percent to 5 percent annual pace. But when growth is stuck at 2 percent or 3 percent, a major global crisis could stall job creation and raise unemployment.
Beyond Europe, troubles in other areas could also upset the U.S. economy next year, the economists say. Congressional gridlock ahead of the 2012 elections and unforeseen global events, like this year's Arab Spring protests, could slow the U.S. economy. Three economists said rising nuclear tensions with Iran are a concern.
Even without an outside jolt, the economists expect barely enough job creation in 2012 to stay ahead of population growth and the return of discouraged workers into the labor force.
"I just don't know if it's going to be enough to bring the unemployment rate down," says Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers.
The AP economists expect the unemployment rate to be stuck at a recession-level 8.4 percent when voters go to the polls in November. Unemployment was 8.6 percent in November.
A majority (56 percent) of the economists say the economy will get a lift from Federal Reserve policies. The Fed has said it plans to keep short-term interest rates near zero through at least mid-2013 if the economy remains weak. The central bank also has begun a campaign to try to push down mortgage rates and other long-term interest rates through next June.
Those surveyed also think the economy is strong enough to withstand higher oil prices. At near $100 a barrel, oil prices are up 10 percent from a year ago. But only two of the economists AP surveyed expect the higher prices to slow the economy "a lot."
The economists expect the European economy to shrink 0.5 percent in 2011 ? and fall into a recession. Europe is slowing as heavily indebted countries slash spending and banks exposed to government debt curtain lending.
Among the gravest fears is that a major country like Italy will default on its debt, wiping out some banks with large holdings of European government bonds. A worldwide credit crunch like the one that followed the 2008 failure of Lehman Bros could follow.
Twenty-one of the economists listed Europe as a threat to the U.S. economy next year.
"If it were a big enough downturn, given the size of Europe, it could bring the world economy down into recession," says Allen Sinai, president of Decision Economics.
But overall, the economists see only an 18 percent chance that Europe's debt troubles will cause a recession in the United States.
The economists are divided over which one step European policymakers should take now to bolster the 17-country eurozone.
More than one-fourth say the European Central Bank should aggressively try to lower the borrowing costs of the Italian and Spanish governments by buying their bonds.
Nearly one-fifth say European countries should jointly issue "Eurobonds" to help finance weaker countries.
And 17 percent say European governments should slash spending.
Still, the economists expect European policymakers to find a way to prevent the crisis from escalating into a global financial panic.
If Europe can stabilize its economies, the U.S. stock markets would rally sharply, economists say, and prospects for U.S. economic growth would brighten.
"Europe appears to be the only real impediment to keeping this recovery from happening," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economics.
order of operations carrie underwood eric church sara evans lionel richie cma awards cma awards
New post: What Android gift did you get for Christmas? bit.ly/shYOOE by @nickmgray 
androidandme Android and Me
Source: http://twitter.com/androidandme/statuses/151022927352053761
famu famu martina mcbride terry jones andy reid elf on the shelf elf on the shelf
An insurance company for a charity founded by Jerry Sandusky argued in a federal complaint Friday that it should not have to pay legal expenses or claims for the former Penn State assistant football coach accused of molesting children.
Federal Insurance Co. said it would be wrong for the company to have to cover Sandusky because he is accused of conduct that did not involve his position as an executive or employee of The Second Mile, a charity for at-risk youth he founded in 1977.
In addition, "Pennsylvania courts have found that a person who sexually abuses a minor should not expect his insurer to cover his misconduct, particularly where the average insured purchasing insurance would cringe at the very suggestion that he was paying for coverage arising out of sexual abuse of a child," lawyers for the New Jersey-based company wrote.Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing 10 boys over more than a decade. He has denied the allegations and is awaiting trial in Centre County after waiving a preliminary hearing earlier this month.
His criminal defense lawyer, Joe Amendola, said Friday he had not seen the complaint, filed in federal court in Williamsport. Amendola said Sandusky was served Wednesday with a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia by one alleged victim and was getting a different lawyer to represent him in civil cases.
"I can say it's not unexpected that the insurance carrier would attempt to get out from under representing Jerry," Amendola said.
Dennis Mulvihill, a lawyer for Federal Insurance, referred questions to Mark Greenberg, the company's chief information officer. Greenberg did not immediately return a message left at his office after hours Friday.
A spokesman for The Second Mile said the matter was between Federal and Sandusky, and declined further comment.
The complaint asks the court to rule that Federal has no obligation to pay Sandusky's criminal defense costs or to indemnify him for civil or criminal claims related to alleged sexual abuse of children.
"Extending insurance coverage to Sandusky is unlawful because providing insurance coverage for claims arising from sexual assault, molestation, and/or abuse of minors is repugnant to Pennsylvania public policy," according to the complaint.
Amendola said Sandusky has not sought coverage regarding the criminal case.
Source: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/12/second_miles_insurance_company.html
mcqueary mike mcqueary joe paterno fired joe paterno fired glen campbell matt nathanson matt nathanson
During a recent 60 Minutes interview, President Obama revealed that he was being modest when he awarded himself a B+ grade near the end of his first year as president. ?I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president?with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln?just in terms of what we?ve gotten done in modern history,? the president said.
While remarkable in its arrogance, the most striking thing about Obama?s comment on 60 Minutes is that it could prove true.
?
Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/12/26/the_gop_candidates_and_repeal_269901.html
coriolanus jon corzine rick perry v tech the three stooges top model all stars americas next top model
The State Column reported Dec. 22 that GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich challenged former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney to a debate between just them lasting 90 minutes without a moderator, but the latter declined. The former House speaker is not happy about the onslaught of negative ads aimed at him, which he generally blames Romney for. It's nothing new for one candidate to throw down the gauntlet to another candidate over having a debate without a moderator, and/or when other major candidates are still vying for the Commander-in-Chief post.
In 2008, Clinton challenged Obama to a debate without a moderator
The race for the last open Democratic presidential nomination was a rough and tumble spectacle between Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and then Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., which drug out well into 2008 before the latter would prevail. Clinton wanted a change in the normal format to where the two would go at it without a moderator in the spirit of the Lincoln-Douglas-style debates, according to CNN.
But the soon-to-be Democratic nominee, accused of "ducking" debates, declined her invitation, saying to Fox News personality Chris Wallace, "I'm not ducking one. We've had 21. We want to make sure we're talking to as many folks possible on the ground taking questions from voters."
Third party presidential candidate Perot challenged GOP nominee Dole in 1996, excluding Clinton
During the 1996 election season, Reform Party candidate Ross Perot challenged the GOP presidential nominee, former Kan. Sen. Bob Dole, to a debate between just them in St. Louis while on "Good Morning America." Perot cited words to a song in doing so, "I'll be there, and so I say to Bob Dole, 'Meet me in St. Louis, Bob Dole, tell me you'll be there," as reported by CNN/Time AllPolitics.
Perot was not happy about the prospect of being excluded from the debates with President Bill Clinton and Dole, who refused the offer. Clinton easily won a second term though, capturing 379 electoral votes to Dole's 159, while Perot got none and only 8.40 percent of the popular vote, according to National Election Results.
Gingrich has already called out Obama to seven Lincoln-Douglas-style debates
The former House speaker has shown a penchant for challenging his rivals to one-on-one debates this year alone, whether they be from his party or not. Even though he has yet to secure the GOP presidential nomination, that hasn't stopped him from calling out the president not just for one debate where no moderator is around to interfere with the exchanges, but seven Lincoln-Douglas-style debates if he gets the GOP nomination, as reported by ABC News' The Note.
Earlier this month, Gingrich and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman squared off in New Hampshire in the spirit of the Lincoln-Douglas format with just a timekeeper. One could safely bet that Gingrich would take on Obama even now at this juncture, given his "I'll take on all comers" attitude.
cybermonday deals cybermonday deals steve johnson norman reedus norman reedus sears john 3 16
NYT: 'Soldiers' Choice' Ron Paul - ow.ly/89Fm7 #GOP #GOP2012 #tcot #teaparty #RonPaul 
RonPaul Ron Paul
Source: http://twitter.com/LiveFreeRadio/statuses/150689619212644353
andy reid elf on the shelf elf on the shelf barney frank barney frank 2012 grammy nominations stephen sondheim
AUBURN, Washington (AP) ? A 5-year-old girl from suburban Seattle sent a letter to Santa attached to two pink balloons, and it ended up in the hands of a Northern California ranching family who say they'll make the girl's wishes come true.
Helen Cardenas, of Auburn, wrote the note in Spanish, asking for a doll, a tea set, shoes and pants, KOMO-TV reported.
Her mother, Rosa Cardenas de Beyes, helped send the note Dec. 2. She said she has been out of work and cash has been tight.
"I didn't know what to do," Cardenas de Beyes said. "So I always told her we would send a balloon to Santa because that was a tradition when I was little."
The note ended up nearly 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) away, in Laytonville, California.
"My son Lane just came home from Christmas, so we were out on the four-wheeler in the middle of our 17,000-acre (6,800-hectare) ranch, when we saw what we thought was garbage," said Frank Sanderson.
"Para Papa Diosito," the letter began, scrawled in Helen's handwriting.
A Spanish-speaking ranch hand translated the letter and called the phone number that was written along with an address. The Sanderson family drove to the nearest shopping mall to find gifts for the little girl, and they planned to ship them Friday.
"We're just hoping the gifts get there before Christmas," Julie Sanderson said. "For the balloons to make it this far down here and for us to find it, is just unbelievable."
Associated Presshope solo dancing with the stars jack wagner matt jones snow white and the huntsman trailer snow white and the huntsman trailer sexiest man alive kentucky basketball
Pentagon asks for extra $100 million to Israel for Iran defense (and Congress doubles the tip) mondoweiss.net/2011/12/pentag? 
Mondoweiss Source: http://twitter.com/Mondoweiss/statuses/150677439150960640
meteor shower playstation network down martin scorsese kim zolciak kim zolciak jerry sandusky interview white house shooting
Users will not be able to opt out of seeing the adverts
3:41pm UK, Wednesday December 21, 2011
The aim of the ads is to allow brands to reach users whose friends have "liked", commented on or in some way interacted with their page.
Sponsored stories currently show up on the right-hand side of the social networking site's homepage, alongside other adverts.
But the change will make them much more prominent.
The site has previously experimented with putting adverts into the news feeds in 2008, but has now decided to make the adverts permanent.
Facebook spokespersonOur goal is to do this thoughtfully and slowly. We hope to show people no more than one sponsored story in their news feeds per day and the story will be clearly labelled.
Ads appearing in the news feed will show alongside the usual status updates, photos and comments from users' Facebook friends, and will look similar to normal updates.
The only clue as to their true status will be the word "Sponsored", which will appear at the bottom right hand corner of the posting.
Facebook has said users will see no more than one advert in the news feed per day and they will only feature stories about friends or pages that users already "like".
Users will not be able to opt out of seeing the adverts, however.
A Facebook spokesperson said: "Starting early next year, we will gradually begin showing sponsored stories in news feed.
"Our goal is to do this thoughtfully and slowly.
"We hope to show people no more than one sponsored story in their news feeds per day and the story will be clearly labelled."
harvard yale julia child the descendants the descendants joe paterno lung cancer joe paterno lung cancer john tucker must die
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
tom bradley penn state tom bradley penn state grace potter grace potter ryan mathews the band perry faith hill
The college football bowl season continues its long road to the BCS national championship game with the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. I believe this qualifies as the longest bowl game sponsor/bowl name, so congratulations.
This game features the TCU Horned Frogs and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. TCU finished the regular season ranked No. 15 in the BCS. They lost their opener to Baylor, but looked prepared to bounce back strong before a surprising upset to SMU. Had they beaten SMU, there's a decent chance they would have been BCS bowl eligible. Instead, they get to go to the Poinsettia Bowl and face Louisiana Tech.
#16 TCU (10-2) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-4) - San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Time: 5:00pm PT; TV: ESPN/ESPN3.com
The always awesome folks at Mocking The Draft have been breaking down the 2011-12 bowl games and providing a look at some of the pertinent players in each bowl game. The 2011 Poinsettia Bowl does not feature many big names, but there are some intriguing players on the field tonight. TCU QB Casey Pachall seems like one of the more intriguing players tonight, although he is unlikely to declare for the 2012 NFL Draft.
There is not much in the way of senior talent with word that Tank Carder is going to miss the game due to academic ineligibility. This will be a game for underclassmen to shine. The folks at Turf Show Times are intrigued by what WR Quinton Patton will show tonight.
Here is a rundown of some pertinent players courtesy of Mocking The Draft.
| San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl; San Diego, CA | |||||
| TCU vs. Lousiana Tech (ESPN/ESPN3, 8:00pm) | |||||
| Carder | Tank | OLB | Sr. (RS) | TCU | 4-6 (?) |
| McCoy | Greg | CB | Sr. (RS) | TCU | 7-UD |
| Dooley | Kyle | G | Sr. (RS) | TCU | 7-UD |
| Wesley | Ed | RB | Jr. (RS) | TCU | 4-7 |
| Brock | Tanner | ILB | Jr. | TCU | 5-UD |
| Pachall | Casey | QB | Soph. (RS) | TCU | 2-4 (?) |
| Maponga | Stansly | DE | Soph. (RS) | TCU | 3-5 |
| Boyce | Josh | WR | Soph. (RS) | TCU | 4-6 |
| Dunbar | James | OT | Soph. (RS) | TCU | 7-UD |
| Gildon | Deryck | OLB | Fr. | TCU | N/A (?) |
| Hunter | Chuck | DT | Fr. | TCU | N/A |
| Naff | Jamelle | G | Fr. | TCU | N/A |
| White | Cam | WR | Fr. | TCU | N/A |
| Cole | Adrien | ILB | Sr. | La. Tech | 5-UD |
| Creer | Lennon | RB | Sr. (RS) | La. Tech | 7-UD |
| Patton | Quinton | WR | Jr. (RS) | La. Tech | 5-7 |
| Boyd | Chad | SS | Jr. | La. Tech | 5-UD |
| Ellis | Justin | NT | Soph. (RS) | La. Tech | 6-UD |
| Lee | Hunter | RB/ATH | Fr. | La. Tech | N/A |
frys ad a very gaga thanksgiving black friday walmart 2011 sams club dancing with the stars winner pecan pie recipe too short
You've got a few hours left before all of the free "Get it before Christmas!" shipping deals come to a close, and you've still got people left gift-less. What ever will you do? Give'm the gift that just about everyone would love: Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Qabejd6SKTk/
elliot la galaxy la galaxy david blaine jordy nelson hot chelle rae guile
NEW YORK ? As Deloris Gillespie went up the elevator to her fifth-floor Brooklyn apartment, carrying groceries, a man was waiting. His face was one her neighbors later recognized, and that she surely must have.
Surveillance video from inside the small elevator shows that he looked something like an exterminator, with a canister sprayer, white gloves and a dust mask, which was perched atop his head like a pair of sunglasses. The sprayer was full of flammable liquid.
When the elevator opened Saturday afternoon, the man sprayed the 73-year-old woman, who turned around and crouched down to try to protect herself, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said. The attacker sprayed Gillespie in the face and continued to spray her "sort of methodically" over her head and parts of her body as her bags of groceries draped off her arms, Browne said.
Then, Browne said, the attacker pulled out a barbecue-style lighter and used it to ignite a rag in a bottle. He waited a few seconds as Gillespie huddled on the floor. Then he backed out of the elevator and tossed the flaming bottle in.
Neighbors in the Prospect Heights building quickly reported a fire, but had no idea that a woman was being burned alive.
Overnight, a 47-year-old man stinking of gasoline went into a police station and implicated himself in Gillespie's death, Browne said. The suspect, Jerome Isaac, told police he set her on fire because she owed him $2,000 for some work he had done for her, Browne said.
Jaime Holguin, who lives on the same floor as Gillespie, saw surveillance pictures of the attacker and said, "Oh, my God!"
Holguin, the manager of news development for The Associated Press, said the man in the surveillance pictures looked like a man who had lived with Gillespie for about six months last year and appeared to have been helping her out. He was certain Isaac was the man who worked for Gillespie after seeing post-arrest pictures of the suspect.
Gillespie's arrangement with Isaac appeared to have ended by early 2011, but months later Holguin started seeing the man nearby on the street, looking "a lot more disheveled" and pushing a cart full of aluminum cans.
Browne said that after setting Gillespie ablaze, Isaac set another fire at his own apartment building nearby, then hid on a roof before turning himself in to police.
Isaac, of Brooklyn, was arrested Sunday on murder and arson charges. The Brooklyn district attorney's office had no information on whether he had an attorney.
Residents were evacuated and kept away from the six-story building for hours Saturday night as police investigated. On Sunday, Holguin said, the fifth floor was a mess, with a melted elevator door and a layer of water on the floor.
Holguin said he and his girlfriend had taken the elevator on their way out of the building shortly before the attack. They didn't see anyone on the floor with them but did notice an odd smell, as if someone was painting, he said.
Holguin said police told them later that the assailant was already in the building and perhaps had hidden on another floor when they left their apartment.
He remembered Gillespie as nice but sometimes a little off. "At least with me, some days she'd be very, very pleasant, and then the next time, she would almost ignore me," he said.
Gillespie also went through a period this year where she would place duct tape over her apartment door whenever she left, Holguin said.
As for the man who worked for Gillespie, Holguin said they had exchanged hellos and occasionally talked about Holguin's dog.
___
Associated Press writer Deepti Hajela contributed to this report from New York.
stop online piracy act protect ip act spear of destiny rock hill sc kate middleton pregnant national book awards jessica sutta
By Reuters
U.S. consumer prices were flat in November as Americans paid less for cars and gasoline, while the 12-month inflation reading fell for the second straight month, which could give the Federal Reserve more room to help a still-weak economy.
The Labor Department said on Friday the Consumer Price Index was unchanged last month. Economists had expected an increase of 0.1 percent after a drop of 0.1 percent in October.
Prices rose 3.4 percent in the 12 months through November.
That is off from the 3-year high of 3.9 percent clocked in September, and Friday's report backs the view that the spike in inflation is subsiding.
Economists and investors see inflation cooling over the coming months, which could help convince the Federal Reserve to do more to bring down the country's 8.6 percent unemployment rate.
Earlier in the week, the Fed warned that turmoil in Europe presents a big risk to the U.S. economy, and policymakers left the door open to possible further steps to boost growth.
Fed officials are divided among those who think high unemployment and sluggish growth require more action and those who view the central bank's already-aggressive efforts as bordering dangerously on an invitation to inflation.
Most economists have said the Fed's next meeting on Jan. 24-25 would be the more likely occasion for any new moves to add to the U.S. central bank's already extraordinary push to bring down borrowing costs and help growth.
Food prices rose 0.1 percent, while gasoline fell 2.4 percent.
Outside food and energy, prices climbed 0.2 percent in November.
In a sign that could give pause to policymakers still concerned about inflation, core prices rose 2.2 percent in the 12 months through November, up from 2.1 percent in October.
The U.S. central bank has held overnight interest rates near zero since December 2008 and has bought $2.3 trillion in government and mortgage-related bonds in a further attempt to stimulate a robust recovery.??
Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/16/9492693-consumer-inflation-unchanged-in-november
conrad murray sentencing conrad murray sentencing urban meyer adam shulman adam shulman nfl power rankings week 13 nfl power rankings week 13
COMMENTARY | The conventional wisdom among some conservative pundits is that Mitt Romney is more electable than Newt Gingrich because the Democrats would have a harder time demonizing them. The Washington Post begs to disagree.
The Democrats have already developed their plan to destroy Romney should he become the Republican nominee. The smooth, dapper businessman who created jobs and turned around failing companies will be transformed into a heartless capitalist who destroyed lives and dreams in order to enrich himself. Romney will be turned into Gordon Gekko, the villain of the Oliver Stone indictment of capitalism "Wall Street."
It might not work. The Democratic strategy is based on the supposition that large number of Americans share the disdain for capitalism that the Occupy Wall Street protestors have. But the fact the occupier movement started as a public nuisance and is ending as a parody of itself suggests the Democrats are in error.
Of course that is not the point. Just as Gingrich can be attacked for some of his baggage, Romney will be attacked for some of his. If the capitalist pig gambit does not work, the Democrats will play the Mormon card, just as they did when Romney had the temerity to run against Ted Kennedy for the Senate in 1994 despite claims to the contrary. According to Atlantic Wire, Sen. Kennedy's nephew Joe Kennedy assailed the Mormon religion as "racist." The Democrats may use code words like "weird," but it will be understood what is meant by that.
The truth of the matter is that while Democrats are not very good at governing, they are excellent practitioners of political combat. It will not matter who the Republicans nominate. The Democrats will endeavor to paint him or her as a combination of Darth Vader and Chance Gardiner, the Peter Sellers mentally challenged character who seemed profound to those around him, but was not.
Therefore Republican voters should set aside notions of who is the most electable and who is most difficult to demonize. They should instead focus when considering who to nominate on who would make the better president and who can take the fight to President Barack Obama.
john wooden mirror mirror tanuki mirror mirror trailer bob knight bob knight lavar arrington
BANGKOK ? Opium production in Myanmar increased for the fifth consecutive year in 2011, while its price skyrocketed nearly 50 percent, United Nations officials said Thursday.
An upward trend that started in 2007 saw opium production rise an estimated 5 percent in 2011 over 2010, from about 580 metric tons (640 tons) to about 610 metric tons (670 tons).
The average price for opium in Myanmar jumped from $305 per kilogram in 2010 to $450 per kilogram this year, an increase of 48 percent, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime's annual South-East Asia Opium Survey.
Opium prices in Southeast Asia have been going up since 2002, with the recent sharp increase in Myanmar due to strong demand from neighboring countries and the depreciation of Myanmar's currency, the kyat, against the dollar the past year, the report said.
The steep price increase is "making production attractive to farmers," Jason Eligh, UNODC Myanmar country manager, said when releasing the report.
Shan State in the northeast bordering Thailand accounted for about 90 percent of opium production in Myanmar in 2011.
"The great intensity of cultivation is in areas of conflict," Eligh said.
Current cease-fire agreements between the government and armed ethnic groups is a good first step toward addressing poppy cultivation, but they must be followed up with peace agreements and programs that offer alternatives to opium poppy growers.
Eligh said the government has reported increased efforts to eradicate poppy cultivation, but added they also need programs that offer farmers other options.
"They've got to set a realistic plan and a realistic time frame," to address eradicating poppy cultivation, he said.
Gary Lewis, the UNODC's Regional Representative for East Asia and the Pacific, said Thailand serves as a good role model of how to eradicate poppy cultivation.
Thailand has spent about $1 billion over the past 40 years on alternative crop programs and other measures to rid the country of poppy cultivation.
"Their approach has been good," he said of Thailand, but added that hopefully other countries can do it a bit quicker than 40 years.
Overall opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar increased 14 percent in 2011, but production rose only an estimated 5 percent due to decreasing yields, the report said.
Opium production in Laos also increased in 2011, but Myanmar produced more than 90 percent of the opium in the region.
Globally Myanmar produces just under 10 percent of the world's opium, with Afghanistan producing nearly 90 percent, Eligh said.
nfl power rankings week 12 nfl power rankings week 12 brine turkey brine turkey uc davis sweet potato casserole super committee
The LFTR uses thorium dissolved in molten floride salt. It is proven tech, since the US government
built one back in the late 60s and ran it for 5 years -- with 1.5 years at full power...
The devil is in the details.
While it is indeed possible to build an LFTR, that old bugger called economics tends to come and mess things up.
First of all you need a larger amount of fissile materials since the molten salt transports it out of the core. and around the entire primary loop. Secondly, as with sodium, you need to have a secondary loop to make things safe. Then there's the hydrolysis that can occur at low temperatures, which means you have to keep the salt molten. If the reactor has problems, that may involve drawing power from the grid. The reprocessing technologies kinda work, but are unproven at large scale, and nobody has an idea what the cost will be for a large reactor. They also imply building reprocessing tech for every single plant, which increases capital costs.
Then there is the startup material. Natural uranium is not good enough, so you either need to breed U-233 in a different reactor ( proliferation concern ) , use highly enriched U-235 ( proliferation concern, expensive ) , or startup on plutonium. Now plutonium in a thermal spectrum leads to accumulation of Curium, which is a troublesome waste product that cannot be efficiently destroyed in a thermal reactor.
Add in that while Thorium and Uranium dissolves easily in fluoride salts, plutonium and the other actinides do not. In fact, even at high temperatures with a completely pure salt, the solubility of Pu fluorides is just a few percent. The molten salt reactor experiments got around these issues by using a very exotic salt. Beryllium and Lithium fluorides, with the lithium enriched in Li-7. Now, beryllium is highly toxic, expensive and difficult to work with. It's such a pain that the US and UK considered developing new nuclear warheads that did not use it, even though it is the best lightweight neutron reflector there is. Enriched lithium-7 is a different problem in itself, and even if 99% pure, you will get quite a bit of tritium when it is exposed to neutrons. Perhaps not more than in a CANDU reactor, but all tritium control systems ever designed are made for water coolant.
Then is the issue of in-core materials. The molten salt reactor developed by the US dealt with damage to in-core materials by replacing the graphite core materials frequently. Not only is this expensive, but it's not very fun to handle radioactively contaminated graphite. It is hard to reprocess since it forms organic compounds and is difficult to dissolve in nitric acid. Pyro-processing by electro-refining and similar is also poorly suited for graphite. This is one of the reasons why the pebble bed reactors are usually seen as "once through". Nobody has come up with a practical way to deal with the graphite. Since the material will be in direct contact with the fuel salt, it will likely adsorb quite a bit of contaminants.
Plateout on heat exchangers is another issue. The noble metals have poor solubility in fluoride salts, so unless a very potent ( i.e expensive ) reprocessing system is able to get rid of them quickly, they will plate out on the cold parts of the reactor, which is usually the heat exchangers. A suggested solution is to use graphite-based heat exchangers, which has its own spectrum of development issues and research needs.
I'm not saying molten salt reactors can never become a good idea. I'm just saying that in comparison to the number of issues that need to be resolved to make them practical for a power plant, they are extremely hyped.
Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/1OGasBLRoJI/in-nuclear-power-size-matters
light field camera world series game 1 exotic animals exotic animals scott hall lra lra
(Reuters) ? President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Congress to promptly renew a payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits, saying the measures were essential to the health of the U.S. economy.
As congressional negotiators hurriedly searched for compromises on these bills, as well as a nearly $1 trillion spending measure to keep the government operating beyond Friday, Obama warned Congress not to leave for a holiday break without finishing its business.
"Congress should not and cannot go on vacation before they have made sure that working families aren't seeing their taxes go up by $1,000 and those who are out there looking for work don't see their unemployment insurance expire," Obama said at the White House.
The payroll tax cut that is set to expire on December 31 would give 160 million Americans about $1,000 a year in additional spending power, possibly helping the economy grow.
And with a stubbornly high unemployment rate now at 8.6 percent, extending long-term benefits for another year would help millions more. Without action by Congress, these benefits will begin expiring early in 2012.
After weeks of stuck negotiations and political bickering, Senate leaders on Thursday said they were optimistic that a bipartisan compromise was nearly at hand on payroll tax and government spending bills that could demonstrate to voters that Washington is able to function cooperatively - at least right now.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, opened Thursday's session of the Senate saying that "in the next few days" the legislation could be wrapped up, allowing lawmakers to go home for the holidays after a year of bruising fights over budget and tax policy.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was similarly upbeat, saying he was "confident and optimistic we'll be able to resolve both (bills) on a bipartisan basis."
The positive assessments - the first in weeks - came a day after Reid, McConnell and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner huddled in the Capitol to talk about a way forward.
After meeting President Barack Obama on Wednesday night, Senate Democrats also backed down on their demand for a surtax on income over $1 million to pay for the payroll tax cut. McConnell downplayed the importance of the Democratic overture.
With government funds for a variety of federal programs running out at midnight on Friday, Boehner told reporters, "There is no need to shut down the government."
But House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said that was still a possibility. She said there could be a need for a stopgap spending bill to avoid the first government closings since late 1995 and early 1996.
A senior Senate Democratic aide said that Senate staffers from both parties were negotiating the nuts-and-bolts of possible deals throughout the day.
"By the end of the day we should have a good sense of whether we're on the compromise track or the train wreck track," the aide said.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai, Thomas Ferraro, Donna Smith and Caren Bohan; Editing by Cynthia Osterman; )
oakland general strike houshmandzadeh houshmandzadeh bieber baby justin beiber dia de los muertos dia de los muertos
On Wednesday December 7th, Hudson Resources issued a press release announcing the results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment that Wardrop completed on its Sarfartoq rare earth deposit in Greenland. In the press release the company highlights its impressive net present value, internal rate of return, and all the typical measures we have become accustomed to seeing when junior mining companies complete this milestone.
However, when digging beneath the headline numbers, we think investors should walk away from this report concerned as to whether many of the deposits currently being developed by publicly traded junior rare earth mining companies are economically viable. When we refer to economically viable in this sense, we are speaking more to the all important question with junior miners: will the proposed project generate high enough returns to attract the funds necessary to fund mine and facility development CAPEX?
As many of our subscribers would note, our newsletter is very bullish on rare earth element prices in the long term, given that we see new applications for rare earth elements being developed in the next decade. But when investors are putting money into a company with no cash flow producing assets in order to develop a mine and accompanying facilities, they are going to be conservative in their demand assumptions. Better to be suprised positively (and look like a genius) than surprised to the downside (and have angry investors).
For that reason, the Hudson Resources Preliminary Economic Assessment [PEA] raises concerns that rare earth element investors should be watching out for in the coming months. This was the first document in an upcoming wave of milestone reports for junior rare earth mining companies, which will provide significant clarity as to which projects will become producing mines (if any) and which will not be developed. These include: Matamec Exploration PEA on Zeus property (we estimate early January 2012), Ucore Rare Metals PEA on Bokan-Dotson (1Q2012), Tasman Metals PEA on Norra Karr (1Q2012), Rare Element Resources pre-feasibility study on Bear Lodge (1Q2012), Quest Rare Minerals pre-feasibility study on Strange Lake B-Zone (1Q2012).
When looking at the figures in the Hudson Resources PEA, five things stand out immediately:
1) The discount to the basket price of 43% is signifcantly smaller than the 75% discount we hear from industry insiders that concentrate sells for in China . In our discussions with individuals involved in the re-development of the rare earth supply chain outside of China, we have been told that the separation facilities in China purchase concentrate for 25% or less of the end value of the separated oxides. It is possible that given the supply crunch outside of China, concentrate only mining operations will be able to negotiate a smaller discount. Given the current decision by Hudson Resources, just as Matamec Exploration and Tasman Metals are expected (in their upcoming PEA) to only operate in the mining and concentration portion of the rare earth supply chain, we will be carefully observing which reports assign a steep discount when generating the headline results.
2) Despite being primarily presented as a deposit with a very high relative distribution of neodymium, the combined revenue contribution from cerium and lanthanum make up 50.4% of the total revenue. In our opinion, this creates increased financing risk. We do not think investors will attribute any value to cerium and lanthanum revenue for the "third and potentially fourth mine" (or at best, a minimal amount) to be developed outside of China this decade after Mountain Pass and Mt. Weld. In the medium term (2012-2015), the rest of world (ROW) demand for cerium and lanthanum will be primarily supplied by dwindling Chinese exports, and production from Mountain Pass and Mt. Weld. There are even some estimates-- cited all too often by Molycorp (MCP) bears-- that these elements, in particular cerium, could even be in surplus. As a result, incremental cerium or lanthanum production would potentially result in a flooded market, which would cause prices to crash for those respective elements given the current demand projections.
Junior rare earth mining companies raising mine development CAPEX will need to show their projects can generate significant returns for investors putting up the mine development CAPEX with only a minimal or zero revenue contribution from cerium or lanthanum, given current demand projections for those elements and the supply coming online from Mt. Weld and Mountain Pass.
3) When we used domestic Chinese prices from late November (resulting in a 10.31% discount to the basket price), we calculated that the cerium and lanthanum contribution to revenue was only 26.61% of total revenue with neodymium contributing 40.95% of total revenue. Hudson's Sarfartoq resource gets some points in our book for this. In fact, if we only assume revenue from Neodymium, Praseodymium, and Europium at domestic Chinese prices, Hudson would receive 62.4% of the total revenue it receives when we apply current domestic Chinese rare earth oxide prices for all rare earth elements in the Sarfartoq deposit. However, the problem is that-- whether we take that crazy Nd, Pr, and Eu only scenario, or the scenario where we only take out cerium and lanthanum-- the internal rate of return will be significantly impaired.
4) Using the basket price in the PEA, the project has a pre-tax IRR of only 31.17%. Once we take out cerium and lanthanum revenue-- either from the price deck used in the PEA, or domestic Chinese prices-- and adjust for the difference in basket price, we are looking at either a 34% or 50% revenue impairment. We don't yet have access to the full PEA, it will be on SEDAR within 45 days of the press release. As a result, we cannot do a formal sensitivity analysis. However, a back of the envelope analysis using the operating cost per tonne highlighted in the press release tells us that operating income could be impaired by 39-57% if investors do not assign any value to the cerium and lanthanum revenue potential. Assuming a similar degree of impairment to the cash flows, both net present value (pre-tax & pre-finance) and pre-tax IRR are significantly impaired.
5) When Molycorp went public, its business model for Phase I production at Mountain Pass included an after-tax internal rate of return of over 34% (page 75 of S-1). The investing community in the United States knew practically nothing about rare earth elements during the roadshow, as evidenced by the fact that Molycorp priced at $14/share, below the indicated $16-$18/share range. Given that this project went through the ringer that severely-- with an after-tax IRR of over 34% using trailing 3 year average prices ending prior to the second half 2010 export quotas were announced, we see no reason to believe investors will be more forgiving and accept lower returns for rare earth projects with higher cost structures, less downstream integration (Molycorp's business plan incorporated metals and alloys in addition to oxides), assumes higher rare earth prices, and the potential that the project's production will push the market for some specific elements into surplus.
As we look ahead, there are clearly rare earth element specific deficits that still exist, even after Phase I & II of Mt. Weld and Project Phoenix come online. The question we then think investors should ask of each junior rare earth company is this:
If cerium and lanthanum (the two most prevalent rare earth element in every deposit with a potential start date before 2018 and TREO ore grade exceeding 2%) are removed from the revenue stream, can this project provide to investors returns similar or superior to those Molycorp Project Phoenix Phase I offered to investors in its initial public offering?
In the Molycorp IPO, assuming the remainder of Phase I CAPEX was raised at the same share price as the initial public offering, Molycorp raised capital at $14/share, which would have resulted in a net present value of $16.30/share (34% after-tax project IRR) using 3 year trailing average prices at the time of the IPO or $22.54/share (43% after-tax project IRR) using the June 15, 2010 prices (both net present values involved an 8% discount rate). This also did not take into account the potential for the company to scale the Mountain Pass project up to Phase II production if it raised additional capital.
As this wave of NI 43-101 compliant reports are released in the junior rare earth mining sector over the coming months, investors should look past the headlines numbers and ask whether the project can attract the significant capital necessary to fund mine development if investors assign zero value to any revenue contribution from cerium or lanthanum.
The key figures we will be looking for are:
1) The potential for a 30% after-tax IRR at a conservative price deck assuming zero revenue contribution from cerium or lanthanum.
2) Net present value per share greater than the offering price following mine development CAPEX capital raise.
There is a very decent possiblity that none of the publicly traded junior rare earth miners will meet those high standards in the milestone reports scheduled to come out between now and the spring of 2012. We will discuss the consequences of that potential outcome in a future missive.
Disclosure: I am long MCP, QRM, REE.
Additional disclosure: The facts in this newsletter is believed by The Strategist to be accurate, but The Strategist cannot guarantee that they are. Nothing in this newsletter should be taken as a solicitation to purchase or sell securities. These are Mr. Evensen?s opinions and he may be wrong. Principals, Editors, Writers, and Associates of The Strategist may have positions in securities mentioned in this newsletter. You should take this into consideration before acting on any advice given in this newsletter. Investing includes certain risks including potential loss of principal. The commentary of The Strategist does not take into consideration individual investment objectives, consult your own financial adviser before making investment decisions.
bath and body works coupons frys ad a very gaga thanksgiving black friday walmart 2011 sams club dancing with the stars winner pecan pie recipe
Every airline employs a cadre of fare revenue managers. These are the folks who adjust airfares throughout the day, depending on route, season, demand, supply and other factors. They're a notoriously tight-lipped bunch, but, on condition of anonymity, we got one to explain how the fare game works.
Is there a best time of the day or best day of the week to buy airline tickets?
No. We constantly read stories from pundits who proclaim that Tuesday nights are the best or Saturday at midnight is the lowest time for airfares, but that is not entirely true. Each airline loads fares at different times of the day every day. To say that there is one time of the day or one day of the week that is better than another is false.
Plus, fares are so dynamic since they are based on market conditions and the actual number of passengers who are currently booked on a specific flight that they can change rapidly at any time. Many airlines tend to announce sales on a Monday leading other airlines to match certain fares the following day, but this is not a hard and fast rule. It truly varies from airline to airline.
What is your role as a revenue manager?
Each airline has a complex computer system based on algorithms that can maximize the profit on each flight based on the types of fares offered on that specific flight. On one flight, there could be as many as two dozen different fares based on different factors such as advance purchase or how many days you stay at the destination. The computer knows that, by releasing (for example) 5 seats at a very low price, 10 seats at a slightly higher price and 20 seats at a slightly higher price, it can maximize revenue as the flight fills up.
On a full flight, we no longer want to offer that el-cheapo fare because it is based on supply and demand. The computer adjusts fares all the way up until the departure time, but as a revenue manager, I can go in and adjust things based on information that the computer may not know. For example, are there specific events taking place at a destination? Are there certain conditions at the departure airport that will allow more than the desired amount of seats to go empty such as weather?
Do airfares really change four times a day?
Yes and no. Some of them change that often -- especially on high-trafficked routes -- but most of the time you will see the same fares for a few days unless they sell out. The biggest changes happen at 21 days, 14 days, 10 days, 7 days and 4 days, typically when advance purchase restrictions knock fares up a notch. Domestic fares can change four times a day. International fares can change hourly, but again won't necessarily adjust that often unless there's a lot of traffic on that specific route. The majority of fare changes happen because people are purchasing up inventory or the advance purchase restrictions are kicking in.
Why is it that sometimes I can wait until the last minute and find a cheap fare, but other times the fare goes up?
Well, most of the time the fare will go up because the flight will be filling up or the advance purchase restrictions will be kicking in. But on routes with significant competition -- New York to Los Angeles for example -- airlines may have sales or "dump seats" at the last minute to fill the plane if it's not particularly full. It also depends on the day of the week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are often the cheapest days to fly because we carry fewer business passengers those days.
Why do airlines advertise sales and then I can never find the tickets available at the stated price?
When an airline puts seats on sale, not every item in the store is for sale, just a percentage. Plus, not every flight on a given route may offer seats for sale. A popular 6 p.m. flight may not have anything on sale since people are willing to pay full price for it whereas the early bird 5 a.m. flight may have more seats on sale. When airfares go down, jump on it. The limited capacity of seats will dwindle as time passes.
Why are there so few award seats out there? Each time I try to use my miles, I can't.
This is really a false assumption. There are a lot of award seats out there. We often give away 10-15 percent of our seats as award seats. We are operating a business, and our shareholders wouldn't like it if we passed on top-line revenue. If you are flexible with dates or flight times, there are lots of award seats out there. If a flight is not filling up as we may expect, we can open up award availability as the departure date approaches.
Who is more profitable to you: a connecting passenger or a nonstop passenger?
That's a complicated question. Let's say Jack is taking a nonstop flight from Miami to Los Angeles. He will probably pay a slightly higher fare to take that nonstop flight than Jill who is flying Miami to LA via Atlanta. So in that respect, he is more profitable. He also is easier to handle because the airline does not have to carry him on two flights, connect his bags, serve him drinks twice, handle him at our hub lounges, etc.
However, in another example like Atlanta-Miami, it may be more profitable for us to carry someone from Los Angeles to Miami via Atlanta than carry them just from Atlanta to Miami where we have heavy competition and very discounted fares. You may think that is strange since Atlanta to Miami is a shorter flight. It depends on competition and the length of the route.
?
Follow George Hobica on Twitter: www.twitter.com/airfarewatchdog
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-hobica/confessions-of-an-airline_b_1099443.html
frank gore frank miller 60 minutes duggar family oobleck justin timberlake marine corps ball frank gore injury
With concern mounting over the crisis in Syria and President Bashar Assad's crackdown on dissent, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with a small group of expatriate Syrian opposition members, at an hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
With concern mounting over the crisis in Syria and President Bashar Assad's crackdown on dissent, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with a small group of expatriate Syrian opposition members, at an hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
With concern mounting over the crisis in Syria and President Bashar Assad's crackdown on dissent, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, meets with a small group of expatriate Syrian opposition members, at an hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defends the rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender persons from around the world in a speech entitled "Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights", at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, International Human Rights Day. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
With concern mounting over the crisis in Syria and President Bashar Assad's crackdown on dissent, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, below right, meets with a small group of expatriate Syrian opposition members, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
GENEVA (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held a rare meeting on Tuesday with Syrian opposition figures as the Obama administration returned its top envoy to Damascus, both signs the U.S. is increasing pressure on the Bashar Assad regime and looking ahead to a time when he is gone.
Ambassador Robert Ford had been recalled from Damascus six week ago because of threats on him and rising violence.
In Geneva, Clinton told a group of seven Syria n pro-reform activists that she wanted to hear their plans to establish a new democratic government if they are successful in prying Assad from power. Her invitation was a step short of endorsement, but a clear sign the U.S. wants to work closely with those who might assume leadership roles.
"Obviously, a democratic transition is more than removing the Assad regime. It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law," Clinton told the activists who are all exiles in Europe and belong to the Syrian National Council, one of several umbrella groups for Assad foes.
Tuesday's meeting marked only the second time Clinton has held an in-person session with members of the Syrian opposition since President Barack Obama called for Assad to step down in August amid a still ongoing brutal crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators.
"We certainly believe that if Syrians unite, they together can succeed in moving their country to that better future," Clinton told the group. Reporters heard her greeting to six of the exiles, who agreed to be identified publicly despite a campaign of retribution against Assad opponents inside and outside Syria. A seventh joined the meeting later because he did not want to be identified.
The meeting in Geneva came as the State Department announced that Ford was returning to his post in Damascus.
The United States has abandoned hope that Assad might pull back from the crackdown and install reforms. But the U.S. has not endorsed any candidate or movement as a successor, and has been careful not to be seen as prescribing a solution from afar.
Ford is due to return to Syria overnight despite the Assad government's continuing crackdown on reformers, the department said. The administration has argued that Ford's presence in Syria is important for advancing U.S. policy goals by meeting with opposition figures and serving as a witness to the ongoing violence.
"He will continue the work he was doing previously; namely, delivering the United States' message to the people of Syria; providing reliable reporting on the situation on the ground; and engaging with the full spectrum of Syrian society on how to end the bloodshed and achieve a peaceful political transition," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
"We believe his presence in the country is among the most effective ways to send the message that the United States stands with the people of Syria," he said.
Ford's recall on Oct. 22 prompted the Syrian government to recall its ambassador to Washington. Ford had been due to return to Syria in late November, but instability, including attacks on several foreign diplomatic missions, prompted the administration to delay his trip.
Ford's presence in Syria is a symbolic part of Obama's now-abandoned effort to engage Damascus, which was without a U.S. ambassador for years after the Bush administration broke ties over Syria's alleged role in the 2005 assassination of a political candidate in neighboring Lebanon.
In September, Ford and several colleagues were pelted with tomatoes and eggs by a violent mob as they entered the office of a prominent Syrian opposition figure. No one was injured, but officials said several heavily armored embassy vehicles sent to help extricate them from the situation were badly damaged with broken windows and dents when the same crowd hurled rocks.
Ford has angered the Syrian regime by visiting protest centers outside of Damascus in a show of solidarity with the anti-government uprising. Those incidents have further raised tensions between Washington and Damascus, which has accused the United States of helping incite violence in Syria.
___
Lee reported from Washington
.
Associated Presscarrier iq carrier iq linda perry world aids day amber rose kristin cavallari horse slaughter
