Fla. highway patrol defends reopening I-75

Debris and wreckage lie along the highway after a multi-vehicle accident that killed at least nine people, on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

Debris and wreckage lie along the highway after a multi-vehicle accident that killed at least nine people, on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

In this Jan. 29, 2012 photo provided by the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, shows fire fighters near a group of cars involved in a deadly crash on I-75 in Gainesville, Fla. The multiple vehicle crash killed 10 people and was caused by smoke and fog so thick that when the Florida Highway patrol arrive at the scene they located the victims by following the sound of their moans and screams. (AP Photo/Alachua County Sheriff's Office, HO)

Forest Ranger Chase Rowe, with the Florida Forest Service, operates a water hose atop a water tanker being pulled by a bulldozer as crews conduct a "mop up" of the Boardwalk Fire in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, south of Gainesville, Fla., Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. The Florida Highway Patrol said Monday that conditions were clear enough when they decided to reopen the interstate highway where 10 people later were killed in two deadly pileups amid thick smoke from a 62-acre brushfire and fog. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Doug Finger)

Forest Rangers with the Florida Forest Service conduct a "mop up" of the Boardwalk Fire in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park south of Gainesville, Fla., Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. The Florida Highway Patrol said Monday that conditions were clear enough when they decided to reopen the interstate highway where 10 people later were killed in two deadly pileups amid thick smoke from a 62-acre brushfire and fog. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Doug Finger)

Forest Rangers with the Florida Forest Service conduct a "mop up" of the Boardwalk Fire in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park south of Gainesville, Fla., Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. The Florida Highway Patrol said Monday that conditions were clear enough when they decided to reopen the interstate highway where 10 people later were killed in two deadly pileups amid thick smoke from a 62-acre brushfire and fog. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Doug Finger)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) ? Minutes before two pileups killed 10 people on a highway shrouded in fog and thick smoke from a brush fire, the Florida Highway Patrol had reopened the always busy six-lane interstate after an earlier serious accident.

A sergeant and lieutenant determined after about three hours that conditions had cleared enough for drivers, but visibility quickly became murky again, officials said Monday.

"We went through the area. We made an assessment. We came to the conclusion that the road was safe to travel and that is when we opened the road up," Highway patrol spokesman Lt. Patrick Riordan said in a news conference. "Drivers have to recognize that the environment changes. They have to be prepared to make good judgments."

At least a dozen cars, six tractor-trailers and a motorhome collided at about 3:45 a.m. Sunday. Some cars were crushed under the bellies of big rigs. Others burst into flames and sent metal shrapnel flying through the air, horrifying witnesses watching the violence along Interstate 75 in calls to 911. Eighteen survivors were hospitalized.

In a 911 recording released Monday, a driver and her passengers told a dispatcher that the fog and smoke from the 62-acre brush fire was so thick they couldn't see.

"I think there was another accident behind us because I heard it," a woman said. "Oh my gosh, it's so dark here."

Late Monday, the highway patrol said seven people died and at least 16 people were injured after 10 vehicles crashed in the northbound lanes of the highway, the first of two multiple-vehicle pileups along I-75.

The vehicles crashed about 4 a.m. after driving in heavy smoke that made it hard to see. Jason Lee Raikes, 26, of Richmond, Va., died in the crash, authorities said.

They also said five out of six people riding in a 2012 Dodge Caravan died in the crash: Driver Edson Carmo, 38; Roselia DeSilva, 41; Jose Carmo Jr., 43; Adrianna Carmo, 39; and Leticia Carmo, 17; all of Kennesaw, Ga. The highway patrol did not immediately provide the identity of the seventh crash fatality.

Jose and Adriana Carmo were married and Leticia was their daughter, said Arao Amazonas, senior pastor at their church, the Igreja Internacional de Restauracao, or International Church of the Restoration.

The van's sixth occupant, the couple's younger daughter, Lidiane, 15, survived the crash, Amazonas said. A hospital spokeswoman said Monday afternoon that she was listed in critical condition.

Amazonas had been at a religious conference in Florida with the family and many others since Thursday. He said he spoke with the pastor before the family left Florida on Saturday night and urged him to wait until morning, he said. But Carmo told him he wanted to be back in time for the Sunday morning service.

The Carmos were in one van and other church members were in a second van. The passengers of that van called Amazonas after the accident to tell him what happened, he said.

About 100 people gathered Monday evening at the suburban Atlanta church, which caters to the local Brazilian community, to mourn the deaths of their fellow church members. People at the gathering wailed and wept as Amazonas addressed them in Portuguese.

"We couldn't have imagined such tragedy would come to us," Amazonas said.

Riordan declined to release the names of the two troopers who made the decision or provide details on how long they had been with the patrol. He said no troopers have been disciplined but the investigation into the crash continues. National Transportation Safety Board officials said Monday they are sending investigators to the scene. Gov. Rick Scott also called for an investigation.

In the same 911 call, another woman took the phone and screamed an expletive as she hears another crash.

"That was a truck. We cannot see. It's like impossible to see," the caller said. "The smoke is very thick you can see obviously only your hand in front. I do hear an ambulance or police officer coming down the road."

Hours later, twisted, burned-out vehicles were scattered across the pavement, with smoke still rising from the wreckage. Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.

Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw bodies still inside a burned-out Grand Prix. One tractor-trailer was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. And the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.

The Florida Forest Service said Monday it still had not determined if the fire was intentionally set or accidental, although lightning has been ruled out. Spokeswoman Ludie Bond said the fire is contained but was still burning. Firefighters are spraying water around its perimeter attempting to reduce the smoke.

Criminal defense attorneys said that if the fire was caused by arson, authorities likely will file charges of manslaughter and possibly felony murder, which is defined as a death that happens as result of participating in a felony.

"You can bet they will be," said Brian Tannebaum, a former president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

____

Associated Press writers Mike Stewart in Marietta, Ga., Kate Brumback in Atlanta and David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-31-Deadly%20Interstate%20Crash/id-b2a6888161814ce29c4af9e2143942ac

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Iran revives Gulf threats after EU sanctions

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Senior Iranian lawmakers have stepped up threats that Islamic Republic warships could block the Persian Gulf's oil tanker traffic after the latest blow by Western leaders seeking to rein in Tehran's nuclear program: A punishing oil embargo by the European Union that sharply raises the economic stakes for Iran's defiance.

The EU decision taken Monday in Brussels ? following the U.S. lead to target Iran's critical oil exports ? opened a new front against Iran's leadership. Pressure is bearing down on the clerical regime from many directions, including intense U.S. lobbying to urge Asian powers to shun Iranian crude, a nose-diving national currency and a recent slaying in what Iran calls a clandestine campaign against its nuclear establishment.

In response, Iranian officials have turned to one of their most powerful cards: The narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf and the route for a fifth of the world's oil. Iran has rattled world markets with repeated warnings it could block the hook-shaped waterway, which could spark a conflict in the Gulf.

Military experts have questioned whether Iran has the naval capabilities to attempt a blockade. But the U.S. and allies have already said they would take swift action against any Iranian moves to choke off the 30-mile (50-kilometer) wide strait ? where the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, along with British and French warships, entered the Gulf on Sunday without incident.

The British Ministry of Defense said the three nations sought to "underline the unwavering international commitment to maintaining rights of passage under international law."

Earlier this month, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that Iranian forces could block shipping through the strait "for a period of time," but added "we can defeat that" and restore the flow of oil and other commerce. He did not offer details on a U.S. military response, but the Pentagon is believed to have contingency plans for such a scenario.

A member of Iran's influential national security committee in parliament, Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, said Monday that the strait "would definitely be closed if the sale of Iranian oil is violated in any way." He went on warn the U.S. against any "military adventurism."

Another senior lawmaker, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, said Iran has the right to shutter Hormuz in retaliation for oil sanctions and that the closure was increasingly probable, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency.

"In case of threat, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is one of Iran's rights," Falahatpisheh said. "So far, Iran has not used this privilege."

The lawmakers' comments do not directly reflect the views of Iran's ruling clerics, but they echo similar statements made earlier this month by military commanders with close ties to the theocracy.

At the same time, however, Iran has tried to ease tensions by offering to reopen nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers after a one-year gap, and backing off warnings about U.S. naval operations in the Gulf ? where the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet has a base in Bahrain.

On Monday in Brussels, the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Iran to offer "some concrete issues to talk about."

"It is very important that it is not just about words; a meeting is not an excuse, a meeting is an opportunity and I hope that they will seize it," she said as the EU adopted its toughest measures on Iran with an immediate embargo on new oil contracts and a freeze of the country's Central Bank assets. About 90 percent of the EU's nearly $19 billion in Iranian imports in 2010 were oil and related products, according to the International Energy Agency.

On Monday, the U.S. added new sanctions on Bank Tejerat, Iran's third-largest bank. President Barack Obama has also approved new sanctions on Iran's powerful central bank that take effect later this year.

It follows U.S. sanctions enacted last month that target the Central Bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad. The U.S. has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months, worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy is struggling. On Monday, benchmark crude pushed above $99 a barrel after the EU sanctions and the renewed threats to close the Strait of Hormuz.

"This is not a question of security in the region," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. "It is a question of security in the world."

In Washington, a joint statement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the EU move "will sharpen the choice for Iran's leaders and increase their cost of defiance" over the country's nuclear program.

But there are no signals from Iran that the tougher sanctions will force concessions on the core dispute: Iran's ability to enrich uranium.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted by state TV as calling the EU sanctions "psychological warfare" to try to halt Iran's nuclear program.

Iran's leaders have consistently portrayed the country's nuclear fuel labs as a symbol of national pride and part of efforts to become the Muslim world's center for homegrown technology, including long-range missiles and rockets capable of reaching orbit. Iran says it seeks reactors only for energy and research, but the U.S. and others worry that the uranium enrichment will eventually lead to warhead-grade material.

Earlier this month, Iran said it was beginning enrichment at a new facility buried in a mountainside south of Tehran.

"Iran's right for uranium enrichment is nonnegotiable," said conservative Iranian lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh. "There is no reason for Iran to compromise over its rights. But Iran is open to discussions over concerns about its nuclear program."

Russia ? which strongly opposed the EU sanctions ? said in a statement: "Under pressure of this sort, Iran will not make any concessions or any corrections to its policies."

On the U.S. side, Obama may also be wary about political fallout from any negotiations in an election year.

No date has been set to resume talks. A more pressing task for OPEC's No. 2 producer is assessing the sting from the EU slap.

The 27-nation bloc imposed an immediate halt to all new contracts for Iranian crude and petroleum products while existing ones are allowed to run until July. It also placed a freeze on the assets of Iran's Central Bank.

About 80 percent of Iran's oil revenue comes from exports, and any measures that affect its ability to export oil could hit hard at its economy, which is already staggering from widespread unemployment and a sinking currency that has sharply driven up the relative costs for imported goods.

Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, called the struggling Iranian economy a potential "weak spot" for the ruling system as the country moves toward parliamentary elections in early March.

Reflecting the uncertainties, the Iranian rial fell Monday to a new low of nearly 21,000 to the dollar, a 14 percent drop since Friday, currency dealers said. A year ago, the rial was trading at 10,500 to the dollar.

Samuel Ciszuk, a consultant at KBC Energy Economics in Britain, said the sanctions will likely cause crude prices to rise in Europe and soften in Asia in the short term as more Iranian oil heads east. The sanctions will make it even harder for Iran to find customers for its oil and shipping companies willing to carry it.

"Iranian crude is being made the last choice. ... You may be able to get it at a discount (outside the West), but how stable is the supply?" he said.

In order to sell supplies once destined for Europe, Iran may need to offer discounts to its main buyers in Asia such as Japan, South Korea and China. Ciszuk said there hasn't been much sign Tehran is willing to do this so far, and it may prefer for now to divert the excess into storage.

U.S. officials, meanwhile, have been pressing Tehran's main Asian oil markets to turn away from Iran.

China ? which counts on Iran as its third-biggest oil supplier ? has rejected sanctions and called for negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

South Korea, which relies on Iran for up to 10 percent of its oil supplies, was noncommittal on the U.S. sanctions. Japan, which imports about 9 percent of its oil from Iran, gave mixed signals but most recently expressed concern about how the sanctions would affect Japanese banks.

But all three nations sent high-profile delegations ? including one led by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ? to oil-rich Gulf Arab states this month for talks that left Iran fearful of efforts to undercut its crude exports.

Within Iran, meanwhile, security officials are on higher alert over what they claim is a covert campaign led by Israel's Mossad and backed by the U.S. and Britain. On Jan. 11, a magnetic bomb placed on a car killed scientist who worked at Iran's main uranium enrichment facility. It was at least the fourth targeted killing of a nuclear-related researcher in two years.

The U.S. denied any role in the January attack, but Israel's military chief hinted that Iran could face incidents that happen "unnaturally."

After the sanctions vote, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a joint statement urging Iran to suspend its sensitive nuclear activities.

"Our message is clear," the statement said. "We have no quarrel with the Iranian people. But the Iranian leadership has failed to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program. We will not accept Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon."

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Don Melvin in Brussels, Robert Burns in Washington and Adam Schreck in Dubai contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-23-ML-Iran/id-2bee4e81d0014bd18630868afd3c14be

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S.C. Election Results: Voters Made Up Their Minds In Final Days, Exit Polls Show

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was named the projected winner of the South Carolina primary within moments of polls closing in the state Saturday. In the latest sign that the former speaker of the House's large margin of victory was a result of explosive last-minute momentum, exit polls show that many Palmetto State voters hadn't made up their minds until this week.

The Associated Press reports:

A majority of South Carolina Republican voters said they decided on a candidate in the last few days, and they favored Gingrich by a double-digit margin. Santorum and Romney were about even for second among this group.

Polling largely reflected the rapid shift in South Carolina toward Gingrich over the past week. Two polls released Saturday morning suggested that he might be in for a big win, following a huge week for Gingrich in which he berated two GOP debate moderators to roaring applause from the crowd and fought back accusations by his ex-wife that he once pressed her to have an open marriage.

Other exit polls appeared to reinforce the importance of Gingrich's recent showings at the debates.

ABC News reports:

Exit polls from the state show that the two-thirds of voters who said the debates were important picked Gingrich over front-running Mitt Romney 50 percent to 22 percent.

Reactions from South Carolina voters to Gingrich's debate skill ranged from them being happy that he put Fox News' Juan Williams "in his place" to them believing that he had proven he was best-prepared to go head-to-head against President Obama.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/sc-election-results-exit-polls_n_1221489.html

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'Headless Body in Topless Bar' killer seeks parole

By NBCNewYork.com

NEW YORK -- The murderer convicted of killing a bar owner, taking four women hostage and forcing one of them to cut off the dead bar owner?s head during a drug-fueled crime spree three decades ago is seeking parole for a third time.

The New York Post, which dubbed now 53-year-old Charles Dingle the ?Headless Body in a Topless Bar? killer after he committed the 1983 spree, reports the felon will ask a three-person parole board to spring him from the upstate Wende Correctional Facility.

Dingle was just 23 when he went on his bizarre rampage, entering Herbie?s Bar in Queens one April day and shooting owner Herbert Cummings to death while high on cocaine and alcohol.

For more, visit NBCNewYork.com

Dingle robbed some customers and took four women hostage, one of whom he raped, and then forced another one of his hostages to extricate the bullet from Cummings? skull so his gun couldn't be linked to it. Then he forced the woman to cut off Cummings? head.

Italian divers find body in cruise ship corridor (AP)

ROME ? The body of a woman wearing a life vest was recovered by Italian coast guard divers Saturday from a narrow underwater corridor of the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia, raising the death toll to 12 in the week-old accident that has sent some light fuel spilling into the Mediterranean off Tuscany.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro told The Associated Press that the victim was found during a particularly risky inspection of an evacuation staging point at the ship's rear.

"The corridor was very narrow, and the divers' lines risked snagging" on objects in the passageway, Nicastro said. To permit the coast guard divers to get into the area, Italian navy divers had preceded them, setting off charges to blast holes for easier entrance and exit, he said.

The woman's nationality and identity were not immediately known.

Before the corpse was found, 21 people were listed as missing. One of the women on the list is a Peruvian crew member, the others are passengers.

Three bodies were found in the waters near the ship in the first hours after the accident' since then the rest of the victims have all been found inside the Concordia, apparently unable to get off the ship during a chaotic evacuation via lifeboats and later by helicopters. Some survivors jumped off and swam to safety.

The Concordia hit a reef and ran aground on Jan. 14, while passengers dined, about two hours after the ship had set sail from the port of Civitavecchia on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Costa Crociere has said the captain had deviated without permission from the vessels in an apparent maneuver to sail close to Giglio, a Tuscan island, to impress passengers aboard.

Search and rescue efforts for survivors and bodies have meant that an operation to remove heavy fuel in the Concordia's tanks hasn't yet begun, although specialized equipment has been standing by for days.

On Saturday, light fuel, apparently from machinery aboard the capsized Costa Concordia, was detected near the ship.

But Nicastro said there was no indication that any of the nearly 500,000 gallons (2,200 metric tons) of heavy fuel oil has leaked from the ship's double-bottomed tanks. He said the leaked substance appears to be diesel, which is used to fuel rescue boats and dinghies and as a lubricant for ship machinery.

There are 185 tons of diesel and lubricants on board the crippled vessel, which is lying on its side just outside Giglio's port. Nicastro described the light fuel's presence in the sea as "very light, very superficial" and appearing to be under control.

Although attention has been concentrated on the heavy fuel oil in the tanks, "we must not forget that on that ship there are oils, solvents, detergents, everything that a city of 4,000 people needs," Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy's civil protection agency, told reporters in Giglio.

Gabrielli, who is leading rescue, search and anti-pollution efforts for the Concordia, was referring to the roughly 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew who were aboard the cruise liner when it ran into the reef, and then, with sea water rushing into a 70-meter (230-foot) gash in its hull, listed and finally fell onto its side.

Considering all the substances aboard the Concordia, "contamination of the environment, ladies and gentlemen, already occurred" when the cruise liner capsized, Gabrielli told a news conference.

Vessels equipped with machinery to suck out the light fuel oil were in the area, officials told Italian TV.

Earlier on Saturday, crews removed oil-absorbing booms used to prevent environmental damage in case of a leak. Originally white, the booms were grayish.

Divers resumed their search of the wreckage Saturday after data indicated the cruise ship had stabilized in the sea off Tuscany. Italian news reports said that the divers were also trying to locate the captain's safe, in case it might contain documentation useful to the criminal probe.

The Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest for investigation of alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all were evacuated. Schettino insists he helped coordinate the evacuation from Giglio's docks after leaving the ship when the Concordia lurched to one side.

The search had been suspended Friday after the Concordia shifted, prompting fears the ship could roll off a rocky ledge of sea bed and plunge deeper into the sea. An abrupt shift could also cause a leak in the Concordia's fuel tanks, polluting the pristine waters around Giglio, part of a seven-island Tuscan archipelago.

___

Colleen Barry reported from Milan. Andrea Foa contributed from Giglio.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_cruise_aground

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Turks march in Paris to denounce genocide bill (AP)

PARIS ? Thousands of Turks from across Europe marched through the French capital Saturday denouncing a bill that would make it a crime to deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago was genocide.

Turks young and old, waving their country's red flag, or wrapped in it, marched to the Senate, where the bill will be debated Monday after passage in December in the lower house.

They carried banners reading "No to Sarkozy Shame Law," "History for Historians, Politics for Politicians" or other slogans denouncing an alleged bid by President Nicolas Sarkozy to "fish for votes" among French Armenians before the two-round presidential elections in April and May.

Critics claim the real aim of the bill is to ensure votes for President Nicolas Sarkozy from French Armenians in the two-round presidential elections in April and May. An estimated 500,000 Armenians live in France.

The measure would make it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks constitute genocide. It sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine of euro45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or "outrageously minimize" the killings ? putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust.

France formally recognized the 1915 killings as genocide in 2001, but provided no penalty for anyone refuting that.

Despite the passing of nearly 100 years since the killings, the issue remains a deeply emotional one for Armenians who lost loved ones and for Turks who see a challenge to their national honor.

An irate Turkey briefly recalled its ambassador to France and suspended military, economic and political ties.

"Politicians who haven't read an article on this say there was a genocide," said Beyhan Yildirim, 35, a demonstrator from Berlin. He was among those bused into Paris from Germany and elsewhere for Saturday's march.

Scores of buses from France, Germany and elsewhere lined the streets of southern Paris where the march began.

Armenians plan a demonstration near the Senate on Monday before the debate and vote.

It was unclear whether the measure would get the easy ride it did in the National Assembly, the lower but more powerful house.

The Senate is controlled by the rival Socialists who had earlier backed the bill. However, the Senate Commission on Laws voted against its passage last week, saying the measure risks violating constitutional protections including freedom of speech. The question is whether the Socialists will heed the recommendations if only because the issue is becoming an electoral hot potato.

Compromising freedom of expression in France, considered the cradle of human rights, has been a key argument of the Turkish government against the measure.

It is unclear whether lawmakers in the National Assembly had an inkling in advance that their vote giving the green light to the bill would trigger a diplomatic dispute. There appeared to be less than 100 lawmakers present for the Dec. 22 vote ? out of 577.

Fadime Ertugrul-Tastan, deputy mayor of small Normandy town of Herouville, was among those demonstrating against the bill on Saturday, wearing the blue, white and red sash of French officials.

She said her family hailed from Kars, near the Armenian border, and her grandparents were killed by Armenians.

"I am here to honor their memory," she said, adding, "There was no genocide because we were in a period of war."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_turkey_genocide

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Obama isn't the first president to serenade public (AP)

Is it too much to ask our presidents to uphold the Constitution, command the armed forces, execute the nation's laws ? AND provide us with a little musical interlude?

The question comes to mind in the wake of Barack Obama's appearance at the Apollo Theater, when the leader of the free world took a moment to channel the Rev. Al Green, singing a bar from "Let's Stay Together." The crowd (and admirers on the Internet) went nuts, reacting in a way they rarely do to, say, a veto message or a Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Obama, of course, is not the first president to show his tuneful side to the public. Through the years, commanders-in-chief have turned musicians-in-chief, with varying results.

Among them:

_RICHARD NIXON. He was no Billy Joel. And yet twice in 1974, in the last months of his doomed administration, the President Who Was Not a Crook became the President Who Was the Piano Man. He played "God Bless America" at the Grand Ole Opry, and the same tune when he accompanied singer Pearl Bailey in the East Room of the White House. The two also conspired on "Home on the Range" and "Wild Irish Rose." "You don't play as well as I sing," Bailey joked, "but I don't sing as well as you govern." She was half right.

Nixon also appeared on TV with Jack Paar in 1963, and played a little concerto of his own devising. Nixon said this would put the kibosh on his political career: "The Republicans don't want to another piano player in the White House," he said.

_HARRY TRUMAN. Nixon was referring to "Give `em Hell Harry," a Democrat who could never pass a piano without sitting down to play a few bars. In 1952, Truman conducted a nationally televised tour of the newly renovated White House and played a bit on the 1938 Steinway. The building had been condemned when a leg of piano played by his daughter Margaret, a singer whose talent was of some dispute, crashed through the floor of the decrepit mansion.

Truman also played for Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill at the Potsdam Conference, neither shortening nor lengthening World War II appreciably. The man did love the piano: "My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician," he once said. "And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference."

_THOMAS JEFFERSON. He played the violin, and not just to meet women (though that is how he came to know his harpsichord-playing wife, Martha). When he wasn't writing the Declaration of Independence or rewriting the Bible or inventing a four-sided music stand for string quartets, he made music. He played the cello and clavichord, but the violin was his instrument, and he was a ringer for several orchestras. Though often in need of money, he always refused payment.

_BILL CLINTON. William Jefferson Clinton, not yet president, took a giant step in that direction in June 1992 when he showed up with a saxophone and wraparound sunglasses to play "Heartbreak Hotel" on "The Arsenio Hall Show." "It's nice to see a Democrat blow something besides the election," quipped the host.

After he won the presidency, Clinton played with E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons at an inaugural ball. He also took a moment from an East European tour in 1994 to climb the stage of Prague's Reduta Jazz Club and play "My Funny Valentine" and "Summertime." At one point he invited Czech leader Vaclav Havel to join him; this would be remembered in political and musical history as the Two Presidents Gig.

_Many other chief executives performed, though not necessarily in public. John Quincy Adams played the flute, Chester Arthur the banjo, Woodrow Wilson the violin. Franklin Roosevelt liked to sing. And John Tyler ? of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too" fame ? organized his 15 children in a White House minstrel band. Historian Elise Kirk says this probably included banjo, bones, drums and guitar. Plus a country fiddle.

Mercifully, no videos exist.

___

News Researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_us/us_presidents_in_tune

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Chinese hunker down for annual holiday travel rush (AP)

BEIJING ? Desperate to return home for China's most important holiday, migrant worker Li Zhuqing lined up for six chilly days and nights at a train station ticket counter only to be told that all the seats were sold out.

Reports of Li's plight in Hangzhou prodded local media to help Li and his family travel home after his case touched a nerve in China, where getting home for Lunar New Year is a nightmare for tens of millions and represents the world's largest seasonal migration of people.

However, a new twist has been added this year with the introduction of online train ticket sales: Many of the country's less-computer-savvy migrants like 48-year-old Li seem to have been left out in the cold.

"I was very sad and angry," Li said. "Why couldn't I get a ticket while every train was full of passengers?"

In the days leading up to Monday's start of the Year of the Dragon, buses, trains and their stations will burst at the seams with people trying to return to hometowns for a holiday that's like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year rolled into one.

For many people, the holiday is the one chance a year to see family, and they return home laden with gifts.

"I told myself I must reunite with my parents whom I'd left in loneliness for a year," Li said in a phone interview after he successfully made it home to his parents' place in Hunan province.

"They had cried over the phone when they knew I didn't get the tickets and had fallen ill. They told me they didn't want anything from me. They just wanted me to be home," he said.

The importance of the holiday, combined with China's sheer size, makes the scale of the migration massive. Transport officials estimate that Chinese will make 3.2 billion trips, from intercity flights and trains to local bus rides to villages, in the six weeks around the holiday, which is also known as the Spring Festival.

Some 900,000 large- and mid-sized buses will be dispatched to transport 80 million people a day while 14,000 flights and nearly 700 trains have been added, state media report. In the south, traffic police have dispatched cars and helicopters to escort tens of thousands of migrants riding motorcycles home.

"Spring Festival travel in China is phenomenal. Nowhere else in the world do so many people move at one time," said John Scales, the World Bank's transport expert in Beijing.

Just five days of rail trips during the Chinese holiday equal all the trips made on the United States' Amtrak passenger rail system in one year, Scales said.

It's a Herculean undertaking for an authoritarian government which stakes its legitimacy in part on organizing large-scale events and which worries that mishaps might trigger questions about its competence.

With the memory of a bullet train crash last year still fresh on the minds of many, the government has emphasized safety in its preparations for this year's travel rush.

When thick smog, snow and rain halted trains in central China, grounded flights in the north and closed highways around the country this week, state media reported that transport officials acted quickly to reduce delays.

The biggest frustration for Chinese has been buying tickets.

For the first time, the government this year is allowing tickets to be bought online or by phone, instead of only in person or through agents. Rampant scalping, a scourge in the past, has reportedly been reduced by a new requirement that identification cards be presented whenever tickets are bought. Local railway bureaus have set up microblogs to answer questions and provide updates on ticket sales.

But the process is still an ordeal. Online services and phone hotlines have been overwhelmed by orders, meaning that many people have been forced to rely on the traditional way of waiting at ticket windows.

Even when they do work, the online services disadvantage older migrant workers with little Internet access, like Li in Hangzhou.

Early this month, Li prepared for what he thought would be a one-day wait in the cold at the Hangzhou train station, throwing on a wool sweater and heavy coat. He bought a piece of cardboard from a fruit seller to lay on the wet ground at night when the sales window closed.

For six days, he was told that tickets to his hometown of Yongzhou and nearby cities had already been sold out. But he kept waiting in case some tickets were returned ? which often happens.

In previous years, he was always able to get tickets after waiting several hours, he said.

News of Li's woes circulated widely on China's popular microblog sites. A few local media companies paid for Li and his family to take a train to another city and then arranged for a van to drive them the rest of the way home, he said.

In Shanghai, 61-year-old migrant Wang Yueying finally obtained a standing-room-only ticket for the 30-hour journey to the northern city of Changchun where her daughter lives after someone returned a ticket at the train station.

"In the past, I could spend 50 or 100 yuan ($15) more to buy a ticket from scalpers in the black market, but not any more," said Wang, a teacher. "The online system is much easier for white-collar workers, they can get online more quickly and have better skills. It is too hard for the migrant workers and the elderly."

Frustration over tickets has triggered noisy confrontations.

Photos posted online showed about 50 people in the southern city of Shenzen blocking a road last Saturday after being unable to buy tickets at a train station. Some of them appeared to be in heated arguments with police.

Rising incomes are giving some people the means to avoid the train crush altogether by a new alternative: car pooling. People who want to defray the costs of driving home can post notices on websites detailing their travel dates, destinations and contact numbers.

"Train tickets are very scarce right now and difficult to buy," said Zhao Yongliang, a manager for a water purifier company in Beijing, as he and a couple picked up another two passengers on Wednesday to head south to their homes in Henan.

Zhao said each passenger would chip in 200 yuan to cover highway tolls and gas.

"I'm in a really good mood because I can set off this morning and be reunited with my family by this evening," Zhao said with a big grin.

___

Associated Press researchers Yu Bing in Beijing and Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_as/as_china_holiday_crush

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First Wave of Android ?Ice Cream Sandwich? Tablet Updates Roll Out

Motorola Xoom owners will be some of the first to receive Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) on tablets, kicking off wider distribution of the highly upgraded version of the platform.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/x5DRlRQkrTs/

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Television section

For the week of Jan. 9-15

1. AFC Divisional Playoff: Denver at New England, CBS, 34.2 million

2. Fox NFC Playoff: NY Giants at Green Bay, 23.8 million

3. "NCIS," CBS, 21 million

4. Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 16.8 million

5. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 16.6 million

6. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 16.1 million

7. "Person of Interest," CBS, 14.9 million

8. "The Mentalist," CBS, 13.6 million

9. "Rob," CBS, 13.5 million

10. "Modern Family," ABC, 12.12

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032450/ns/today-entertainment/

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Details of his vast personal fortune trail Romney

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns in Irmo, S.C., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns in Irmo, S.C., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, carries 7-month-old Leah Locklear as he campaigns in Irmo, S.C., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Graphics lists average tax rates paid by U.S. taxpayers:

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) ? Under duress two days before the pivotal South Carolina primary, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney acknowledges he has part of his millions invested in the Cayman Islands, although his aides say he never used the location as a tax haven.

Neither Romney nor his campaign are providing details, including how much he has invested there, or why, or if any of his money is invested elsewhere outside the United States.

"Gov. and Mrs. Romney's assets are managed on a blind basis. They do not control the investment of these assets," campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an emailed response to questions Wednesday night. Romney has not personally addressed the issue, although it's likely to come up at a candidates' debate Thursday night.

Scrutiny of Romney's private-sector background couldn't come at a worse time ? just as he is riding high on back-to-back victories in Iowa's caucuses and New Hampshire's primary. He came into South Carolina with anti-Romney conservatives unwilling or unable to coalesce behind a single challenger.

Details about the personal fortune of the multimillionaire former businessman have been a nagging issue for his campaign for more than a week. On Tuesday, Romney disclosed that he pays an effective tax rate of about 15 percent, lower than what he would pay if he earned a regular paycheck like many Americans. He also called "not very much" the amount he earned in speechmaking fees, though it turned out to be $373,327.62 for 12 months in 2010 and early 2011.

Those details followed verbal miscues related to his views of work. Last week in New Hampshire, Romney told an audience he knew what it was like to worry about being "pink-slipped" and losing a job. A day later, he said, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me" ? a comment about health insurance companies that his rivals used to paint a picture of Romney as a wealthy businessman who is out of touch with ordinary Americans.

Romney hasn't been willing to elaborate on his pledge Tuesday to release his federal tax return in April. His rivals are prodding him to do it immediately, before South Carolina's primary, a potentially decisive turn in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

At an event in Rock Hill, S.C., Romney kept away from the issue of his taxes, but he criticized Newt Gingrich and other Republicans who "jumped on that bandwagon" of criticizing free enterprise. "My goodness, I listened to Speaker Gingrich the other night talk about the enterprises I've been associated with," he said. "I'm proud of the fact that I worked in the private sector, that I've achieved success."

Romney disclosed for the first time Tuesday that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying taxes in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past." During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.

Romney had been consolidating GOP support before Saturday's South Carolina primary, in which a victory could all but seal his nomination. The focus on his wealth is an unwanted distraction for him as he seeks to win votes in a state where the unemployment rate, at 9.9 percent, is among the highest in the nation, and amid rising public concern over income inequality.

President Barack Obama's campaign advisers contend voters are unlikely to back a wealthy Republican with financial-industry ties at a time of lingering economic distress.

The maximum marginal U.S. income tax rate of 35 percent applies ? in theory more than practice ? to households with taxable income of over about $388,500.

Like many wealthy people, the Romneys have been helped by changes in federal tax policy that have placed much lower tax rates on investment income ? from dividends, interest and capital gains from the sale of stocks and other assets ? than on wages and salaries, the source of income for most Americans.

Under the Bush-era tax cuts strongly supported by most Republicans, such investment income, including gains on securities held for a year or longer, is subject to a tax rate of 15 percent.

According to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, an average federal tax rate of 15 percent ? including both income and payroll taxes ? would apply to households with taxable incomes of from $75,000 to $100,000.

Obama and his wife paid federal taxes of just over 25 percent of their 2010 income of $1.7 million, mostly from the books he's written.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and his wife paid roughly 24 percent of their 2010 income of $217,447.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-19-Romney/id-d26252a16a45461c8f773a169c13b9b4

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Make a Secret Toekick Drawer for About $30 [DIY]

That recessed space at the bottom of a kitchen cabinet is dead space, there only for ergonomic reasons. With a cheap drawer kit from Ikea and a little carpentry work, you can turn that space into something much cooler: a hidden drawer.

Nicole Wills writes on Tradewind Tiaras how she did this during her kitchen renovation. The DIY basically involves purchasing a Rationell drawer kit and measuring and cutting pieces of wood for the sides of the drawer so it fits the cabinet properly.

Hit up the link for photos of this top secret drawer if you want to create your own.

Kitchen Renovation: How to Make a Secret Toekick Drawer | Tradewind Tiaras via Ikea Hackers

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/H9I7-qLnSzg/make-a-secret-toekick-drawer-for-about-30

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Racy North Dakota Tourism Ad Pulled Amid Uproar

"Drinks, dinner, decisions. Arrive a guest. Leave a legend."

The advertisement was meant to showcase nightlife in North Dakota: Two young men and three women flirt through the window of a downtown Fargo hotel bar.

Yes, this is serious and apparently, it caused such uproar that it was pulled for being too racy. After dozens of complaints that it makes the state look like a tawdry come-on, the state's tourism division yanked it late last week.

One commenter called the ad "sickening," while another called it a "disgrace." Others speculated about what the people in the photo needed to do to "leave a legend."

It does kind of sound like a vintage Barney Stinson quote.

Finken and Sara Otte Coleman, director of North Dakota's tourism division, said Friday that they were surprised by the reaction to the ad among the public.

"I certainly didn't think it was over the line or in any way in poor taste ... It really just takes 1-2 (negative comments), and people jump on the bandwagon."

All we know is we need to visit North Dakota apparently.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/racy-north-dakota-tourism-ad-pulled-amid-uproar/

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Demi Moore to Play Gloria Steinem in 'Lovelace' Biopic

Demi Moore has joined the cast of the porn-star biopic Lovelace -- but she won't be doffing her clothes to perform a Striptease. Taking on her first big-screen role since splitting with husband Ashton Kutcher, Moore will portray feminist icon Gloria Steinem in the film about Linda Lovelace (real name Linda Boreman), an adult-film superstar who later teamed up with Steinem to denounce porn.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/demi-moore-playing-gloria-steinem-linda-lovelace-biopic/1-a-415348?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ademi-moore-playing-gloria-steinem-linda-lovelace-biopic-415348

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Fewer California schools have trained librarians

Fewer than 1 out of 4 schools in California is staffed with a credentialed librarian, according to the state Department of Education.

Recent figures compiled by the department show there are about 900 school librarians in the state, down from more than 1,100 two years ago.

School districts across the state have cut librarian positions to cope with budget cuts. Increasing numbers of schools are splitting one librarian between multiple campuses or relying on clerical aides or parent volunteers to keep doors open.

Library advocates say students are the ones harmed when they don't have trained librarians who can teach research techniques and turn them on to a love of reading. Others question whether technological advances and the ease of conducting research online have made librarians less essential.

Diane Alexander took early retirement last year because she thought she would have been spread too thin as the sole librarian for three high schools.

"If you have that many students to serve, you're not really serving them," said Alexander, who also is president of the California School Library Association. Her district, the Liberty Union High School District in Contra Costa County, cut positions to one librarian and three clerks to manage three high school libraries. "They expected me to be that person, but I didn't feel like I could do an adequate job. It was so disturbing."

In this austere period, some wonder whether schools can afford to retain librarians as teachers and nurses are laid off.

"You have to make choices sometimes, and the importance of librarians is a bit less than it used to be," said Ze'ev Wurman, a Silicon Valley executive who participated in the development of California education standards and served as a policy adviser for the U.S. Department of Education. "In the elementary grades especially, librarians are essentially teacher's aides, doing a variety of things that have little to do with books or literacy, per se."

Teachers versus librarians

Teachers, not librarians, have to respond to research questions that arise in class, Wurman argued in a recent New York Times opinion piece. He believes that access to books is not a problem, citing a 2009 report by the U.S. Department of Education that showed schools that received grants for their libraries showed almost no increase in the amount of materials checked out.

In California, school librarians are called teacher-librarians because they must earn both credentials. Alexander said she helped develop lessons with teachers and hosted classes in the library virtually every class period. Sometimes, she would host two classes at once.

When teaching an English class about research projects, she would often pull contemporary books with common themes, show students how to use databases, and explain copyright issues and source citing. When she had a spare minute, she would suggest good books to challenge a voracious reader or reach out to a struggling student.

"We're the ones who know the current books," Alexander said. "It can make a huge difference if you can hook a kid onto reading."

Higher test scores

The benefits of a trained librarian go beyond helping with reading and research, said Barbara Jeffus, the state Department of Education's school librarian consultant.

"There is a body of research growing every day that if you have a teacher-librarian working with classroom teachers, student achievement is higher," she said.

Jeffus pointed to a paper published in 2008 by a University of North Texas researcher who found a correlation between California schools with devoted librarians and students with higher test scores. The study controlled for some income-related factors, including the level of education of the students' parents and the proportion of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch. The strongest pattern was found in high school students, where higher test scores correlated with the extent of the library services offered.

Some districts have been able to maintain funding for libraries, typically by passing flat-rate parcel taxes. But as a whole, California ranks last in the country for its student-to-librarian ratio, according to the state Department of Education.

So will it get to the point that California school libraries will shut their doors? Jeffus doesn't think so.

"If they evolve, they'll survive," she said. "Some librarians are using every possible technological device with students. ... These are pretty exciting times in school libraries and public libraries."

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San?Francisco?Chronicle

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Iraq official warns of abuse of security forces (AP)

BAGHDAD ? Iraq's parliament speaker warned Monday that human rights violations are putting the country's fragile democracy at risk, the latest pronouncement in a rapidly developing sectarian spat that threatens to destabilize the country after U.S. troops pulled out.

The televised comments by Osama al-Nujaifi, one of the country's top Sunni officials, are yet another salvo in a growing political crisis sparked when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government issued an arrest warrant for the country's top Sunni politician last month.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite, controls the ministries that oversee Iraq's police and military. Some of Iraq's minority Sunnis, who fear being marginalized, accuse the prime minister of using the security forces to try to consolidate power.

"The armed forces should not be a tool to repress people and the armed forces should not interfere in political matters," al-Nujaifi said, citing concerns about "serious violations" including the use of excessive force, detainee abuse and faulty legal procedures.

"Human rights will not become a reality in a situation where the political process is snarled. ... Losing these rights will destroy democracy," he added.

The parliament speaker, a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, al-Maliki's main political rivals, spoke a day before parliament was scheduled to hold its first session of the new year.

Iraqiya suspended its participation in parliament last month to protest al-Maliki's control of key posts, particularly those overseeing security forces.

U.S. troops completed their pullout from Iraq two weeks ago after a nine-year war.

Also Monday, a group that tracks casualties in Iraq said the number of civilians killed in the country's violence increased slightly in 2011.

In its annual report posted online, Iraq Body Count recorded 4,063 civilians killed last year, up from 4,045 in 2010.

On Sunday evening, a convoy carrying Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi was struck by a roadside bomb in Ishaki area, 70 kilometers north of Baghdad, according to Zayed Majid, an adviser to the minister.

He said the minister was not hurt, but two bodyguards were wounded.

Al-Issawi is a Sunni member of Iraqiya. It was not clear whether he was the intended target of the blast.

The head of the provincial health directorate where the blast occurred, Dr. Raed Ibrahim, confirmed the account.

___

Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120102/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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Winter Classic Alumni Game: Rangers vs Flyers Prelude Includes NHL Legends (PHOTOS)

PHILADELPHIA -- Eric Lindros stepped out of the dugout and pointed his stick toward the stands.

Big E had his standing O.

With a packed Philadelphia crowd standing and roaring in appreciation, Lindros made a triumphant return to the city in a Philadelphia Flyers jersey, a bitter parting more than a decade ago forgotten from the moment No. 88 hit the ice for warmups.

The red reserved for the Phillies at Citizens Bank park gave way to 40,000 fans in Flyers orange ? so many who paid just to see Lindros play in the alumni showcase, a prelude to Monday's Winter Classic between the Flyers and New York Rangers.

Lindros assisted on the first goal of the game, connecting with former Legion of Doom linemate John LeClair, to help the former Flyers beat the old-time Rangers 3-1 Saturday.

Lindros last appearance for the Flyers was in May 2000 when he was laid out by New Jersey's Scott Stevens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

He would be traded 15 months later to the Rangers because of a nasty falling out with former general manager Bobby Clarke.

All was forgiven Saturday.

Lindros and Clarke, who won two Stanley Cups with the Flyers in the 1970s, chatted and skated together during warmups. Clarke received a huge ovation from the 45,808 fans who filled a reconfigured ballpark. After Lindros, the loudest cheers were reserved for goalie Bernie Parent. "Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!" echoed throughout the park for the affable goalie, who sparked the phrase in the `70s, "Only The Lord Saves More Than Bernie Parent."

Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves and Stephane Matteau were among the former Rangers who returned for this reunion, also having won the franchise's last Stanley Cup in 1994. Glenn Anderson scored in the second period for the Rangers. Mike Keenan coached the Rangers.

Shjon Podein and Mark Howe also scored for the Flyers and Pat Quinn was behind the bench.

Flyers founder and chairman Ed Snider dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff between Clarke and Messier.

Wins and goals hardly mattered Saturday.

This was all about Lindros' homecoming.

Lindros and the Flyers had been estranged since their breakup more than a decade ago. Lindros won a Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, made six All-Star teams, and led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997. His career was shortened by a series of concussions, and clashes with management paved his way out of town.

From the moment No. 88 peeked out of the Phillies' dugout, the crowd stood and started cheering. The fans went wild when Lindros took the long walk to the infield rink that stretched from first base to third base.

He raised his arms in triumph and broke into a wide smile after his feed to LeClair put the Flyers up 1-0. LeClair, Lindros and winger Mikael Renberg comprised the popular and productive Legion of Doom line in the 1990s that helped the Flyers out of their darkest era in franchise history and into the finals.

The game served as opening act for a week's worth of games. High school, college and minor league teams will play at Citizens Bank Park and there's an open skate for fans.

The start time was pushed back two hours to 3 p.m. for more ideal temperatures for the outdoor game.

The NHL expects Monday's game to start at it scheduled 1 p.m. time.

"We have a pretty big window to get the game in," said NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins.

2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic - Alumni Game

1?of?41

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 31: Bernie Parent #1 and Mark Laforest #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers take the ice to play against the New York Rangers during the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game on December 31, 2011 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 31: Bernie Parent #1 and Mark Laforest #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers take the ice to play against the New York Rangers during the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game on December 31, 2011 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic - Alumni Game

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 31: Bernie Parent #1 and Mark Laforest #33 of the Philadelphia Flyers take the ice to play against the New York Rangers during the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game on December 31, 2011 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/31/winter-classic-alumni-game-rangers-flyers-photos_n_1178075.html

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ALIENS google earth shows 58 ships or spacecraft in a straight row in space

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Source: http://theboldcorsicanflame.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/aliens-google-earth-shows-58-ships-or-spacecraft-in-a-straight-row-in-space/

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Olympic VIPs will be whisked around London in 4,000 BMWs ? so much for the ?green Games?!

• Parked end-to-end the vehicles would create 10 mile tailback

By Louise Eccles and Ray Massey

Last updated at 10:29 PM on 1st January 2012

They have been billed as the ?greenest? Olympic Games in history, with spectators urged to abandon their cars and embrace public transport.

But a row has erupted after it emerged? that thousands of VIPs will travel to events in London this summer in a rather more? luxurious style.

BMW is to ship 4,000 brand-new luxury vehicles in from Germany to escort dignitaries and officials in a move described as ?lunatic? by critics.

Plush: A BMW 3 Series. The enormous fleet will include more than 3,000 BMW 3 and 5 Series saloons

The enormous fleet will include more than 3,000 BMW 3 and 5 Series saloons. Parked end to end, this would equate to a ten-mile tailback.

However, traffic should not be a problem for the VIPs who will cruise along specially reserved ?games lanes? near the venues.

?

The Olympic vehicles will be shipped into Britain from BMW?s factories over the next six months. Jenny Jones, a member of the London Assembly for the Green Party, said: ?Most of the athletes will be staying in the Olympic Village and won?t need to travel to events, so the BMWs are really for the politicians and dignitaries.

?Four thousand vehicles seems lunatic when we have such a good public transport system. I can understand a few officials need secure transport but 4,000? Shipping new cars in from Germany is also extremely bad news for the environment.

?I am sure there are many local car dealers which could have supplied vehicles.?

It is understood that at least 250 VIPs will be given their own? designated BMW, complete with? a personal chauffeur, to escort them from their Park Lane hotels to the Games.

Several thousand other officials, sponsors, dignitaries and athletes ? known as the ?Olympic family?? ? will share the remaining pool? of plush cars, worth up to? ?30,000 each.

Members of the public will be urged to walk or try to board crowded trains and buses.

Caroline Pidgeon, who chairs the London Assembly Transport Committee, said the BMW fleet went against the ethos of the Games. She said: ?As we were promised that the 2012 Games would be the greenest Olympics ever to take place, only electric vehicles should have been considered.

?Electric vehicles are not only? quieter, but far less harmful to? people?s lungs.

?The 2012 Games should have been a big boost to the growth of electric vehicles in the UK, but instead we have vehicles which merely add to London?s serious air pollution.? During the Games, 109 miles of roads called the Olympic Route Network will be managed to keep traffic flowing.

Traffic lights will give priority to cars travelling to the Olympic Park in East London, and access points and right-hand turns will be restricted.

But more than 30 miles of the network will include controversial ?VIP-only? lanes, enabling the ?Olympic family? in their new BMWs to be whisked through the city without being troubled by congestion.

BMW has donated the fleet as part of its sponsorship deal with London 2012. The firm will sell the cars after the Games on the second-hand market.

Despite heralding its green credentials, BMW has admitted that only 200 of the 4,000 vehicles will be electric cars. The transport deal ? worth in total an estimated ?150million ? will also include 400 bicycles and an unknown number of motorcycles.

A BMW spokesman said: ?We were chosen by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games based on our ability to provide a fleet of diverse vehicles which could meet the 120g/km CO2 emissions threshold as? set by them.

?However, a substantial proportion of the fleet will be the diesel models.

?The fleet of vehicles which we will supply will achieve this threshold and the Games will provide the perfect opportunity for us to showcase our efficient diesel and electric vehicle technology.?

'COLUMN OF CLOUD' FAILS TO GET OFF THE GROUND

A mile-high ?column of cloud? which was due to spiral into the skies over Liverpool to mark the start of the Olympic year has failed to get off the ground.

The ?500,000 publicly-funded work by artist Anthony McCall was intended to be up and running ?throughout the Olympic year?.

But delays in submitting a planning application to the local council mean the ?corkscrew column of steam and light? is unlikely to be seen until mid-February.

McCall?s Column will be 65ft in diameter and will rise up from the Mersey and be visible from 60 miles away on a clear day.

It will be created by a machine which will gently rotate the water on the surface of the river and then add heat to make it lift into the air like a water spout.

Column was due to be the first of 12 works of public art commissioned by the Arts Council for each of Britain?s regions to celebrate the home Olympic Games.

?

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2081005/Olympic-VIPs-whisked-London-4-000-BMWs--green-Games.html?ITO=1490

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Convert a Paper Airplane into an Electric Plane

The PowerUp Electric Powered Paper Airplane Conversion Kit from TailorToys will turn a homemade folded paper airplane into an electric powered propeller driven plane. It comes with one propeller module and a charger module which runs on 3 AA batteries. You will need to supply your own paper to fold your plane. Once folded, clip [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/12/30/convert-a-paper-airplane-into-an-electric-plane/

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