Stocks end Thursday trading with healthy gains

By msnbc.com staff and wire

Stocks, already posting gains earlier in the day assisted by positive employment and housing news, pushed steadily higher in late-afternoon trading to finish with tidy gains.

According to preliminary calculations, noon on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 135.55 or 1.12 percent, to 12,286.96. The S&P 500 was 13.31 higher, or 1.07 percent, to 1,262.97. The Nasdaq rose 23.76, or 0.92 percent, to 2,613.74.

The Labor Department said?seasonally adjusted initial claims rose 15,000 to 381,000 in the week that ended Dec. 24, up from a revised 366,000 the prior week. But the four-week moving average, considered a more accurate gauge of labor market trends, fell 5,750 to 375,000.

Pending sales of existing homes surged to a 1-1/2 year high in November, an industry group said on Thursday, offering more signs of a tentative recovery in the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in November, increased 7.3 percent to 100.1 ? the highest level since April 2010.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected pending sales to rise only 2 percent. Pending sales lead existing home sales by a month or two. Recent data on home sales and construction have been fairly upbeat, suggesting an improvement in the sector, but prices continue to trend lower.

Rising Italian bond yields may be checking stocks? gains.

Italian yields fell from recent record highs at a short-term debt auction, but yields for 10-year paper remained near 7 percent, a level near where other euro zone governments have been forced to seek bailouts.

"The only thing impacting trading right now is Europe. Everyone is watching Italy," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York. "It's the situation that won't go away."

Concerns over the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, which had receded recently, resurfaced Wednesday, sparking a 1 percent decline in major indexes. S&P 500 gains for the year were erased and the index pulled back below its 200-day moving average.

The selloff followed the euro's slide to an 11-month low against the U.S. dollar, prompted by worries over the debt crisis. On Thursday, the euro sank to its lowest since September 2010 against the dollar while the European Central Bank moved to support Italian bond markets.

"It's encouraging to see that yields have come in a bit, but it isn't indicative of a complete easing of the crisis in Europe," said David Katz, principal in charge of Weiser Capital Management's asset management division in New York.

"In a normal environment this would be having a bigger impact, but with volume so low I don't expect a lot to happen (in equity markets) until the end of the year."

Recent economic data, including reports on the housing market, have been largely positive, contributing to Wall Street gains over the past month and the view that economic growth is picking up steam.

Before Wednesday's selloff, the S&P had risen for five straight sessions, and some traders saw the index as overbought. Many investors were not expected to make large bets until after the New Year, and trading volume has been low because of the holidays.

U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday putting the brakes on a hefty year-end rally. With the decline the S&P is now down 0.6 percent for the year, while the Nasdaq is down 2.4 percent. The Dow is up 5 percent.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/29/9807731-stocks-end-thursday-trading-with-healthy-gains

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Tiana May Carter: Beyonce?s Baby Girl?

Is Tiana May Carter Beyonce?s baby girl? Rumor has it that Bey gave birth to her Bey-Be yesterday! Ok, so the source is ?Twitter? that is totally reliable, right? I mean Tiana is totally a name I can imagine Beyonce giving her baby girl. Folks have gone into overdrive with this baby stuff. First she wasn?t pregnant at all, she was paying a surrogate and taking prednisone to fatten up. Say WHAT?!?!? Now, the rumor is she was knocked up and has rented out half to floor of St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, a private facility in New York. Can you even do that? Lets address the not knocked up rumors first. While this may be believable for some celebs, these pics make me think otherwise. She was about 6 months pregnant at the time, and it shows. She is in great shape and continued working out through her pregnancy. Could she look like this NOT pregnant? I have been on prednisone and it made me gain a ton of weight, and it looked nothing like this. Trust me. As far as renting out half the hospital floor, I don?t know if you can do that, but if the rumors are [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/OfNCv9bO4mM/

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Over 40 Internet Companies Come Out Publicly Against SOPA

Since the list of 120 or so SOPA supporting companies?hit the Internet yesterday, the lines have been drawn; People are publicly promising to pull thousands of domains from domain registrar Godaddy after it appeared on the list as a supporter. Other people are calling those people "bullies." Whether you're for or against SOPA has become somewhat of a pain point amongst techies, with the overwhelming majority, including myself and almost every other writer on the TechCrunch team, leaning heavily towards "against."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zO0jel5TPeI/

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More tiny, but harmful, frogs showing up in Hawaii

FILE - In this June 27, 2005 file photo, a coqui frog sits on a leaf in Wahiwa, Oahu. The frogs have been growing in population in the state in recent years and are now starting to show up in larger numbers on Oahu ? home to most of the state's population. The frogs already have a strong foothold on the less-populated Big Island, and people there complain of being kept awake at night with a thunderous roar of chirps as thousands of male coqui simultaneously summon partners ? a mating chorus some say can be as loud as a jet airplane. (AP Photo/Ronen Zilberman, File)

FILE - In this June 27, 2005 file photo, a coqui frog sits on a leaf in Wahiwa, Oahu. The frogs have been growing in population in the state in recent years and are now starting to show up in larger numbers on Oahu ? home to most of the state's population. The frogs already have a strong foothold on the less-populated Big Island, and people there complain of being kept awake at night with a thunderous roar of chirps as thousands of male coqui simultaneously summon partners ? a mating chorus some say can be as loud as a jet airplane. (AP Photo/Ronen Zilberman, File)

FILE - In this March 16, 2010 file photo, Keevin Minami, with the State Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Quarantine Station, holds a coqui frog in Honolulu. The frogs have been growing in population in the state in recent years and are now starting to show up in larger numbers on Oahu ? home to most of the state's population. The frogs already have a strong foothold on the less-populated Big Island, and people there complain of being kept awake at night with a thunderous roar of chirps as thousands of male coqui simultaneously summon partners ? a mating chorus some say can be as loud as a jet airplane. (AP Photo/ Honolulu Advertiser, Norman Shapiro, File)

HONOLULU (AP) ? The coqui is a tiny, coin-sized frog whose distinctive nightly mating calls are a beloved sound in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. But people in Hawaii don't share the same sentiment.

The frogs have been growing in population in the state in recent years and are now starting to show up in larger numbers on Oahu ? home to most of the state's population. The frogs already have a strong foothold on the less-populated Big Island, and people there complain of being kept awake at night with a thunderous roar of chirps as thousands of male coqui simultaneously summon partners ? a mating chorus some say can be as loud as a jet airplane.

The frogs are also preventing the state's plant nurseries from exporting to some markets, and depressing some Big Island property values. The frogs aren't stopping tourists from visiting, but there's a fear they could if they spread further.

There have been just as many reports of coqui on Oahu in 2011 as the seven prior years combined, said Derek Arakaki, who helps hunt coqui frogs for the state Department of Agriculture. Before, Arakaki and two others on the coqui-eradication team would head out to capture the frogs on Oahu once a month or maybe twice a month. This year, there have been times when they've had to go coqui hunting twice a week.

The frogs are a significant problem in their non-native Hawaii because the state has no natural predators to stop their advance. As a result, they have spread quickly through the lush forests and yards near Hilo since they were accidentally introduced to the Big Island in the 1990s. They have been making a steady advance into the more heavily populated Oahu in recent years, sneaking onto the island on plants and stowing away in cars, piles of lumber, cargo pallets and whatever else that's being sent to Honolulu.

"Compared to the amount that's on the Big Island, very few are actually getting through," said Carol Okada, an Agriculture Department plant quarantine manager who heads the state's efforts to control invasive species. "But the amount that's getting through is still enough to establish a population, so we are still very concerned."

Coqui, which get their name because of their "ko-kee" chirps, are showing up in diverse places. The International Marketplace outdoor bazaar in the heart of Waikiki, the state's tourist mecca. Near a banyan tree in front of a multiplex theater. Seven coqui were found in a home in the upscale Diamond Head neighborhood. The residents had brought back some plants from the Big Island not knowing they needed to be inspected for coqui before shipping them to Oahu.

Coqui eradication team members spot them by mimicking their mating call, which prompts the frogs to call back. They hone in on the sound and trap the frogs with a clear tube. Sometimes, they'll spray water to entice the frog to sing.

In a few cases, the coqui team has found so many frogs they've had to kill them with citric acid, the preferred chemical for eradicating the frogs.

That was the case in the rural windward Oahu town of Hauula, where coqui had spread out across several homes and a city park. Residents there heard nocturnal chirping, but didn't call the state's pest control hotline because they thought birds were making the sounds. By the time the authorities were notified, the frogs had been around and breeding for two years. It took the crew several months to get rid of the infestation.

The problem is only made worse by recession-induced budget cuts that forced the state to slash the number cargo inspectors to 50 from 95.

This caused the Agriculture Department to prioritize checking out-of-state cargo, because imports are more likely to carry harmful species like snakes ? an animal that hasn't become established in Hawaii.

Okada said the state will have to capture more pests that get through because there haven't been enough people to spot them at the ports.

"When you're not at the front end, you end up chasing it on the back end," Okada said.

The state has had this problem with snakes, which could wipe out Hawaii's native endangered bird species they ever became established here. A dozen ? from boa constrictors to ball pythons ? have been either captured or turned in to authorities since July.

"There's a reason why all the snakes are coming out this year. We're not out in force anymore," Okada said.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie enabled the state to hire 10 more people to bring the inspector count close to 60, but Okada said they're still far short of where they need to be to effectively intercept pests entering Hawaii or traveling inter-island.

Okada said one scary thing about this past year was that many coqui were found closer to the base of Oahu's heavily forested mountains. The coqui population could explode if they started breeding somewhere like the back part of Manoa valley, where it frequently rains.

Authorities are asking the public to call the state's pest control hotline if they think they hear a coqui.

____

http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/pq/coqui

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-24-Noisy%20Frogs/id-adddde188ded467e92a771ce784d73df

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Colorado State University - Pueblo baseball exhibit includes numerous special events

Colorado State University - Pueblo baseball exhibit includes numerous special events

PUEBLO ? Colorado State University-Pueblo, in association with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, will host Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience, a traveling exhibit which examines the challenges faced by African-American baseball players as they sought equal opportunities in their sport beginning in the post-Civil War era.?
The newly renovated CSU-Pueblo Library and Academic Resources Center (LARC) will host the 1,000-square-foot exhibit and numerous special events between February 9 and March 16. All showings of the exhibit and related programs will be free and open to the public.? The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has provided funding for the exhibit to travel to 50 selected libraries. Pride and Passion is based upon a permanent exhibit of the same name on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y.?

Four, free public lectures on topics associated with the exhibit as well as two videoconferences from the Baseball Hall of Fame have been planned as part of the exhibit.? Award-winning author/illustrator Kadir Nelson will present ?We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball,? at 7 p.m. on February 9 in LARC 109. More information on his book may be found at http://www.wearetheship.com/ The New York Times named the book one of the Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008. He also was named the 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Award Recipient. You can visit www.kadirnelson.com for more information on the author.

On February 16 and March 8, special videoconferences will be broadcast from the Baseball Hall of Fame at 5 p.m. in LARC 108.? The February 16 videoconference is titled, ?Civil Rights: Before You could Say Jackie Robinson,? while the March 8 video conference will focus on cultural diversity in baseball.

Two special events will focus on ethnic Colorado baseball leagues. Colorado baseball historian Jay Sanford, an area baseball historian who consulted on "Baseball," Ken Burns' 1994 PBS documentary, will share his collection and research on the Denver Post Tournament, which broke ground in 1936, when black and white teams played one another, beginning at 7 p.m. on February 23 in LARC 109. Gabriel and Jody Lopez, authors of From Sugar to Diamonds: Mexican/Spanish Baseball, 1925-1969, Stories of the Greeley Grays and the Teams that Dared to Challenge Them, will discuss their research and collection about the Greeley Grays, a minor league team composed primarily of Hispanic men who worked the sugar beet fields, at 7 p.m. on March 8 in LARC 109. The Greeley Grays became one of the premiere teams in the Northern Colorado Baseball League.

On March 1, Adrian Burgos, author of ?Cuban Star,? will discuss the life of Negro League team owner Alex Pompez, a proud and passionate advocate for Latino players, at 7 p.m. in the Occhiato University Center Ballroom. Pompez rose to prominence during Latino baseball?s earliest glory days, but like many in the era of segregated baseball, he found that the game alone could never make all ends meet, and he delved headlong into the seedier side of the sport?gambling?to help finance his beloved team, the New York Cubans. He also brought the Cubans, with their incredible lineup of international players, to a Negro League World Series Championship in 1947 and later helped his players make the transition to the majors. That today?s rosters are filled with names like Rodriguez, Pujols, Rivera, and Ortiz is a testament to the influence of Pompez and his contemporaries.

The final event associated with the exhibit will occur on March 12 and feature Drs. Lawrence Hogan and Robert Cvornyek, both nationally recognized baseball scholars, presenting ?If It Ain?t Got That Swing,? a tribute to black baseball and music in the Jim Crow Era. Their appearances, as well as Kadir Nelson?s, are possible through a $5,000 grant from Colorado Humanities and CSU-Pueblo Diversity Initiatives Grants.

For more information on local events, contact Julie Fronmueller, assistant professor of library services and exhibit coordinator, at 549-2826 or julie.fronmueller@colostate-pueblo.edu.

A complete list of events follows:

???? February 9,? Opening Event: Kadir Nelson ?We Are the Ship,? 7 p.m., LARC 109
???? February 16, Videoconference from the Baseball Hall of Fame,? "Civil Rights: Before You Could Say 'Jackie Robinson, ? 5 p.m., LARC 108
???? February 23, Jay Sanford, ?Denver Post Tournament? and Colorado Baseball, 7 p.m., LARC 109
???? March 8, videoconference from the Baseball Hall of Fame, cultural diversity in baseball, 5 p.m., LARC 108
???? March 1, Adrian Burgos, author of ?Cuban Star, ? 7 p.m., OUC Ballroom,
???? March 8, Gabriel and Jody Lopez, authors of? ?From Sugar to Diamonds, ? 7 p.m.,? LARC 109
???? March 12, Closing Event, Drs. Lawrence Hogan and Robert Cvornyek,? ?If It Ain?t Got That Swing: Black Baseball and Music in the Jim Crow Era,? 7 p.m., LARC 109

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: The traveling exhibition is composed of colorful freestanding panels featuring photographs of teams, players, original documents and artifacts in the collections of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and in other institutions and collections across the

U.S. The traveling exhibition content is arranged in six thematic sections, a breakdown that separates the story into cohesive chronological sections and allows flexibility to participating libraries in the display of the exhibition.?
1.??? Finding a Way in Hard Times (1860-1887)
2.??? Barnstorming on the Open Road (1887-1919)
3.??? Separate Leagues, Parallel Lives (1920-1932)
4.??? Paving the Way to Integration (1933-1946)
5.??? Signposts for Opportunity (1947-1959)
6.??? Baseball?s Post-Integration Era (1959-present)
Through a cultural timeline of American history that will be part of the ?Pride and Passion? exhibit, visitors will be able to place the African American baseball story into the larger context of American history.? For more information about the exhibit, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.

Source: http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/Communications/Media/PressReleases/2011/Pages/12-16-2011.aspx

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PFT: Ex-RBs Lewis, Levens sue NFL

Getty Images

Since 2006, the league has been using a flexible schedule on Sunday nights to ensure that a competitive and interesting game always will occupy the prime-time slot.? In most weeks of flex scheduling, the decision comes at least 12 days before the games are played.? For Week 17, the decision usually is made after the full Week 16 slate of games has been played, and it?s unveiled no later than six days before the final Sunday.

Unlike all other weeks of flexible scheduling, no game has even tentatively been placed in the 8:20 p.m. ET time slot.? Instead, all games have a 1:00 p.m. or 12:00 p.m. local time kickoff (for three games due to start at 4:15 p.m. ET, it?s a 1:15 p.m. local start), and the NFL will choose one of those 16 games to be the final act of the regular season, since no Monday night game is played in Week 17.

The goal every year becomes finding a game with clear playoff implications that can?t be resolved based on the outcomes of games played earlier in the day.? And that?s not always an easy thing to do.

Last year, only the Seahawks and Rams provided a clear-cut pre-playoff game, with the winner capturing the NFC West and the loser being bounced from the postseason field ? regardless of the final score of any other game played that day.

This year, a game with obvious playoff implications regardless of what happens elsewhere could be hard to find.? Here?s a quick glance at the potential relevance of each game.

Redskins at Eagles:? Since Philly?s shot at winning the NFC East would hinge (if it survives Week 16) on the Giants beating the Cowboys, this game could be irrelevant.

Lions at Packers:? Green Bay?s clinching of the top seed, if they don?t have it after this weekend, would come if the 49ers lose to the Rams in Week 17.? Also, losses by other teams would deliver a Detroit playoff berth, if Detroit doesn?t clinch it this weekend.? Then again, whether the Packers have the No. 1 or No. 2 seed really isn?t that big of a deal in the grander scheme of things.

Ravens at Bengals:? Depending on the Week 16 games, this game could have implications for the AFC North title, the No. 2 seed, and the final wild-card berth.? But those implications could become irrelevant based on the other games played in Week 17, which makes this game less attractive for prime time.

Jets at Dolphins:? Again, Week 16 will provide more clarity.? With the Jets and Bengals each 8-6, however, it?s unlikely that the Jets will have a clear win-and-in, lose-and-leave scenario that would apply regardless of what the Bengals do against the Ravens.

Panthers at Saints:? New Orleans could be playing for the No. 2 seed and/or the NFC South crown, but those could be decided via losses earlier in the day by the Falcons or the 49ers.

Buccaneers at Falcons:? If the Falcons still haven?t clinched a playoff berth after Monday night, losses by others could deliver the spot earlier in the day on January 1.

49ers at Rams:? San Fran is jockeying for the No. 2 or No. 1 seed, which if still relevant after Week 16 could be completely irrelevant before 8:20 p.m. ET in Week 17.

Bills at Patriots:? The Pats are playing for the top seed, but the outcomes of the Steelers and Ravens games could strip this one of any remaining relevance.

Colts at Jaguars:? It?s very highly unlikely that the league would want to showcase the ?Suck for Luck? finale.? In 2008, for example, the NFL had no interest in televising in prime time the Lions? date with 0-16 destiny.

Titans at Texans:? Houston has an outside shot at a bye, but it will depend on the Steelers and Ravens games from earlier in the day.

Bears at Vikings:? This one would be attractive in prime time only for anyone who stayed up too late and drank too much on New Year?s Eve and doesn?t want to miss anything important.

Cowboys at Giants:? If the Giants beat the Jets on Saturday, the NFC East likely will hinge on this game, with the loser most likely being done.? It could be one of the best candidates for the prime-time slot, based on the clarity provided by Week 16.

Steelers at Browns:? Um, no.

Chiefs at Broncos:? The Broncos definitely will win the AFC West by beating the Chiefs.? The only problem is that the Broncos could nail it down before 8:20 p.m. ET on January 1, making the game irrelevant.

Seahawks at Cardinals:? It could be one of the best games of the day.? But it very likely will have zero relevance to the postseason.

Chargers at Raiders:? With the Broncos able to win the division by beating the Chiefs, there?s no reason to hold this one ? unless somehow it would present a clear-cut win-and-in for a wild-card berth for one of the two teams.

And so, for now, it appears that the best candidates are Cowboys-Giants and Chiefs-Broncos.? We?ll know more by Monday night.

In the end, there?s a chance that the NFL will simply have to assume a calculated risk that one or more of the outcomes earlier in the day will screw up the New Year?s Night party on NBC.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/23/another-concussion-lawsuit-gets-filed/related

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California winds of up to 70 mph forecast

Wind gusts of up to 70 mph were are forecast for parts of Southern California Thursday, bringing fears of damage to trees and power lines weakened by similar Santa Ana wind storms late last month.

The northeast winds could reach 65 mph in many mountain areas and 40 mph in the valleys, the National Weather Service warned.

High wind warnings are in effect from 1 a.m. PT Thursday to 1 p.m. PT Friday in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, it said.

"Isolated gusts greater than 70 mph possible below the Cajon and Banning passes" in the Santa Ana Mountains, it added.

"The winds will make driving difficult, especially for motorists with high profile vehicles ... watch for broken tree limbs and downed power lines," it said.

In a Nov. 30 windstorm that spawned gusts approaching 100 mph , trees were toppled, power poles snapped, homes were damaged and electricity was cut to nearly 650,000 homes and business.

Southern California Edison on Wednesday night alerted customers to take precautions because of powerful winds that are expected to blow across Southern California, the LA Times reported.

The utility reminded customers to be prepared for power outages and to stay clear of downed power lines. People should use flashlights if their power dies and not rely on candles, Edison said.

? 2011 msnbc.com

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45762078/ns/weather/

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Steve Jones Not Leaving 'X Factor' (omg!)

Rumors swirled this morning about whether or not Steve Jones would be back for season two of The X Factor after England's Mirror ran a story claiming network bosses wouldn't be renewing his contract for next year.

MORE: Nicole Scherzinger comes under attack

According to the site, "The executives at Fox have already decided not to renew his contract and so, short of a miracle happening, it is pretty much a done deal that he will not take part next season." Jones is reportedly "devastated" by the news.

Well, Jones' rep assures ETonline this story couldn't be further from the truth.

MORE: The X Factor Finalists revealed!

"The Mirror story is a fabrication that we would have corrected had we been called for comment. There have been absolutely no conversations about Steve Jones Leaving The X Factor," his rep tells us. "Steve is very happy with the outcome of this season and he looks forward to being back and discovering more talent in the new year."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_steve_jones_not_leaving_x_factor170500206/43962722/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/steve-jones-not-leaving-x-factor-170500206.html

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Bachmann starts Iowa bus tour, hopes for comeback (AP)

ORANGE CITY, Iowa ? Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann rumbled through Iowa by bus on Friday, hoping her campaign can stage a caucus comeback to begin the GOP's nominating process.

The Minnesota congresswoman is lagging in the polls and trying to recapture the momentum she lost since summer. She set out on a 99-county bus tour that ferried her from restaurants to catering companies, from a sports bar to a bakery.

"Now is our chance for redemption," Bachmann told supporters packed into The Dutch Bakery to hear her final sales pitch ahead of the Jan. 3 caucuses.

"I'm not here to trash anyone," she said ? and then criticized the two men leading the GOP race.

"Mitt Romney is the only governor in history of the United States to put into place socialized medicine," she said.

On Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who has seen a surge in recent weeks, she said: "Newt has been backing the individual health care mandate for 20 years."

"I am the only consistent constitutional conservative. I'm not a convenient conservative," Bachmann told reporters in Sioux City.

At her campaign events, Bachmann walked around the rooms, posed for pictures and signed autographs.

"Do you want to take a picture? I see you brought a camera," she said as she maneuvered through one event.

"You've got your beautiful Christmas sweater on," she said to another woman.

Aides kept her moving along, noting the busy schedule they have put together for a candidate looking to turn around her political fortunes with time running short.

Bachmann won an early test vote in August in Ames but quickly fell as Texas Gov. Rick Perry entered the race that same day and stole her spotlight. Erratic behavior and lackluster debate performances left voters sour on Perry, and many moved on to pizza executive Herman Cain. He has since exited the race, fueling a late rise for Gingrich.

Bachmann, noting the fluid nature of the race, is hoping for a second shot.

"It's been like a political Wall Street; people have been up, down, up, down," she said at a catering company in Rock Hill.

"We are seeing a whole rejiggering going on of the political calculus. We are on the upswing right now," she told supporters. "We're seeing a completely difference change of momentum. My plan, with your help, is to be the nominee."

While she has been relegated to the second tier in the polls, many voters remain undecided and open to hearing from her.

"I'm struggling. I've been able to eliminate some, but there are three or four that I'm still looking at," said Curtis Jacob, a 35-year-old who supported Mike Huckabee four years ago. "I definitely have not eliminated Bachmann. She could still be on the top of my list."

Hence, Bachmann's late pitch.

"They may not even agree with me on all the issues, but they know I'm not going to lie to them. They know I'm going to do what I say," she said.

And one by one, she seemed to sway caucusgoers.

"I like the way she carries herself and expresses herself," said Marlene Bowers, a Rock Rapids retiree who plans to caucus for Bachmann. "She doesn't beat around the bush."

Bachmann prides herself on that reputation, but not everyone seemed enamored with her conservative viewpoints about gay rights, same-sex marriage and other issues.

"All you're doing is teaching people to hate," said Brad Reynolds, a Rock Rapids voter who confronted Bachmann during her stop there.

"No, I'm not," Bachmann said calmly.

"Thank you for giving me my piece," Reynolds said as he walked away.

"Like George Wallace standing in the way of civil rights, Michele Bachmann will be judged for campaigning on hatred," he said after. "She is preaching hatred of gays."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_el_pr/us_bachmann

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Senate leaders reach last-minute accord (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Senate leaders agreed on compromise legislation Friday night to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for two months while requiring President Barack Obama to accept Republican demands for a swift decision on the fate of an oil pipeline that promises thousands of jobs.

A vote is expected Saturday on the measure, the last in a highly contentious year of divided government.

House passage is also required before the measure can reach Obama's desk.

In a statement, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer indicated Obama would sign the measure, saying it had met his test of "preventing a tax increase on 160 million hardworking Americans" and avoiding damage to the economy recovery.

The statement made no mention of the pipeline. One senior administration official said the president would almost certainly refuse to grant a permit. The official was not authorized to speak publicly.

Racing to adjourn for the year, lawmakers moved quickly to clear separate spending legislation avoiding a partial government shutdown threatened for midnight.

The developments came a few hours after the White House publicly backed away from Obama's threat to veto any bill that linked the payroll tax cut extension with a Republican demand for a speedy decision on the 1,700-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline proposed from Canada to Texas.

Obama recently announced he was postponing a decision until after the 2012 elections on the much-studied proposal. Environmentalists oppose the project, but several unions support it, and the legislation puts the president in the uncomfortable position of having to choose between customary political allies.

Republican senators leaving a closed-door meeting put the price tag of the two-month package at between $30 billion and $40 billion said the cost would be covered by raising fees on new mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The legislation would also provide a 60-day reprieve from a scheduled 27 percent cut in the fees paid to doctors who treat Medicare patients.

Several officials said it would require a decision within 60 days on the pipeline, with the president required to authorize construction unless he determined that would not be in the national interest.

Senators in both parties hastened to claim credit for the deal.

Sen. Richard Lugar issued a statement that said the compromise included legislation he authored "that forces President Obama to make a decision" on the pipeline. The Indiana Republican faces a strong primary challenge next year from a tea party-backed rival.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he had "brokered a final deal by bringing lawmakers from both parties together to support jobs."

Not all Democrats were as upbeat. "Look, this was tough. Harry (Reid) had to negotiate with Boehner and with McConnell," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., referring to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, the two Republican leaders in Congress.

Officials said that in private talks, the two sides had hoped to reach agreement on the full one-year extension of payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits that Obama had made the centerpiece of the jobs program he submitted to Congress last fall.

Those efforts failed when the two sides could not agree on enough offsetting cuts to make sure the deficit wouldn't rise.

Reid, in a statement, blamed Republicans, saying they had wanted to "cut Medicare benefits for seniors" and Democrats refused. GOP officials disputed him.

"We'll be back discussing the same issues in a couple of months, but from our point of view, we think the keystone pipeline is a very important job-creating measure in the private sector that doesn't cost the government a penny," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

There was no immediate reaction from House Speaker John Boehner. Neither he nor his aides participated in the negotiations, although McConnell said he was optimistic about the measure's chances for final approval.

Hours earlier, McConnell challenged Obama to give ground.

"Let's not just pass a bill that helps people on the benefits side, let's also include something that actually helps the private sector create the jobs Americans need for the long term," he said.

In a political jab, he added, "Here's an opportunity for the president to say he's not going to let a few radical environmentalists stand in the way of a project that would create thousands of jobs and make America more secure at the same time."

Obama said on Dec. 7 that "any effort to try to tie Keystone to the payroll tax cut I will reject. So everybody should be on notice."

More recently, a veto threat issued Tuesday against the House-passed version of the bill cited the introduction of "ideological issues into what should be a simple debate about cutting taxes for the middle class." Senior administration officials later told reporters that was a reference to the pipeline.

The State Department, in an analysis released this summer, said the project would create up to 6,000 jobs during construction, while developer TransCanada put the total at 20,000 in direct employment.

The 1,700-mile pipeline would carry oil from western Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The spending bill would lock in cuts that conservative Republicans won from the White House and Democrats earlier in the year.

Republicans also won their fight to block new federal regulations for light bulb energy efficiency, coal dust in mines and clean water permits for construction of timber roads.

The White House turned back GOP attempts to block limits on greenhouse gases, mountaintop removal mining and hazardous emissions from utility plants, industrial boilers and cement kilns.

After a last-minute veto threat, Republicans abandoned attempts to block an administration policy to ease restrictions on visits to Cuba and on the money sent to relatives on the communist island nation from family members living in the United States.

Additionally, the legislation bars military and economic aid to Pakistan until the administration certifies that Islamabad is cooperating on counterterrorism, including taking steps to prevent such militant groups as the Haqqani network from operating in the country.

The provision stems from concerns that the Pakistani government harbors terrorists and from assertions that some government officials knew that Osama bin Laden had established residence deep inside the country. Bin Laden was killed in May by U.S. commandos who raided his fortified compound in Abbottabad.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_rdp

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[OOC] Highschool Romance

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GOP's Newt Gingrich relishes role of antagonist (The Arizona Republic)

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Random noise helps make signals clearer; Model shows that signal clarity only improves if specific energy conditions are met

ScienceDaily (Dec. 6, 2011) ? Scientists have shown the energy conditions, under which a weak signal supplied to a physical system emerges as a stronger signal at the output thanks to the presence of random noise (a process known as stochastic resonance), in a paper that has just been published in the The European Physical Journal B (EPJ B).

Stochastic resonance goes against the intuitive idea that where noise is present, the signal tends to fade. It occurs in systems where the response is not proportional to the applied input signal, known as nonlinear systems.

The authors, Shubhashis Rana, Sourabh Lahiri and Arun M. Jayannavar from the Institute of Physics, in Bhubaneswar, India, used a model consisting of a symmetric double-well energy potential in which a particle moves randomly. They studied the effect of the steepness of the walls of the confining energy potential by observing the movement of the particle, which they subjected to an external sinusoidal signal that alternately lowers either of the wells.

The authors selected a quantifier -- the average work done on the system by the signal -- to determine the conditions under which the particle moving from one well to the opposite side well and back at every cycle of the signal reaches stochastic resonance. They found that it only occurs when the potential is "hard," meaning that it has sufficiently steep walls, but breaks down otherwise. Previous work used different quantifiers and found similar results, confirming their findings using numerical simulations.

This study contributes to improving scientists' understanding of stochastic resonance. It could, ultimately, contribute to gaining deeper insights into physics-related phenomena such as the processing of unclear images to increase their resolution* and biological systems, including mechanoreceptor cells in crayfish and the functioning of sensory neurons in humans.

*See example at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSwduEEoCaA

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Journal Reference:

1. S. Rana, S. Lahiri, A. M. Jayannavar. The role of soft versus hard bistable systems on stochastic resonance using average cycle energy as a quantifier. The European Physical Journal B, 2011; 84 (2): 323 DOI: 10.1140/epjb/e2011-20802-9

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111206082752.htm

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Sheriff: McCready didn't have OK to hide at house (omg!)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) ? By the time authorities took country singer Mindy McCready's 5-year-old son from her and into custody on Friday evening, one thing had already become apparent: her life has come to resemble a bad country song.

Since her emergence in the mid-1990s as a honey-voiced success story out of Nashville, McCready has been increasingly known for her personal troubles instead of her music.

This week's custody battle, where McCready took her son from his Florida home, was the latest in her brushes with the law.

Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Terri Durdaller wrote in an email Saturday that her agency was working with Arkansas state officials to bring McCready's son, Zander, back to his legal guardian, McCready's mother.

Officials say the boy is safe and in good health after he and McCready were found in a bedroom closet of an unoccupied Arkansas home.

"Zander is in Arkansas and we continue to arrange his swift arrival back to Florida," Durdaller wrote.

In Arkansas, Cleburne County Sheriff Marty Moss said Saturday that McCready didn't have permission to be in the unoccupied summer home where she was found Friday evening with her son. Authorities continue to investigate, he said.

The sheriff's office said in a news release Saturday that McCready had been a visitor to the area. Authorities located her after receiving a report of "possible occupants in a summer home that was supposed to be unoccupied," the news release said.

Moss told The Associated Press on Saturday that he doesn't expect that McCready will face any charges for being at the unoccupied home.

Gayle Inge, McCready's mother, was tearful Friday night.

"I'm real excited that he's safe," she said. "But I can't explain what this is like. We feel for Mindy and we feel for Zander."

Inge said that her son ? McCready's half-brother ? texted McCready, who responded with a text that said her mother would never see her again.

"I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that I love her," Inge said.

McCready, who turned 36 on Wednesday, did not respond to emails Friday and Saturday.

Authorities say McCready took the boy during a visit late last month to her father's Florida home, where she was allowed to visit the boy. McCready's parents are divorced.

A Florida judge signed an order Thursday telling authorities to take the boy into custody and return him. It's not yet clear whether the singer could face criminal charges.

McCready said earlier in the week that she would not bring her son back from Tennessee, where she has a home, despite violating the custody arrangement. She told the AP that her son had suffered abuse at her mother's house, a claim that Inge vehemently denies.

"I'm doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble," McCready wrote in an email to the AP on Thursday. "I don't think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place."

McCready told the AP Wednesday night she was in Tennessee and couldn't travel because she is seven months pregnant with twins.

McCready and her mother have had a long custody battle over the boy.

McCready found fame in the mid-1990s when she moved to Nashville at the age of 18, armed with only her karaoke tapes. Her first album, "Ten Thousand Angels," sold two million copies.

Her next four albums weren't as successful. Her personal troubles began encroaching on her professional success. According to her website, she suffers from severe depression.

In August, she filed a libel suit against her mother and the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., over a story published in the tabloid newspaper that quoted Inge.

And in 2008, McCready was admitted to a hospital after police said she cut her wrists and took several pills in a suicide attempt.

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_sheriff_mccready_didnt_ok_hide_house000742587/43796525/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/sheriff-mccready-didnt-ok-hide-house-000742587.html

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India in bind, may delay coming of foreign retail (AP)

MUMBAI, India ? India's ruling party faced a potentially damaging setback Sunday after an important coalition ally said the government had reversed its decision to throw open the country's huge retail sector to foreign investors.

The government has not officially announced a change in its policy on foreign direct investment, but a reversal would be an embarrassment for the Congress party, which has been scrambling to reassert its leadership and kick-start investment in the deteriorating economy.

The furor over whether to allow chains such as Wal-Mart to open supermarkets in major cities has deadlocked Parliament, with many politicians slamming the decision as a job killer for India's small retail shops. Proponents say it would bring needed investment into India's infrastructure that would bring higher prices to farmers selling their produce and lower prices to consumers buying it.

An about-face on such an important decision would raise serious questions about the ability of India's ruling party to effectively govern.

"(Finance Minister) Pranab Mukherjee has informed me the government is suspending the FDI issue until a consensus is evolved," Trinamool Congress party chief Mamata Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata late Saturday, according to a translation of her comments by CNN-IBN television news station.

The Congress party would neither confirm nor deny Banerjee's assertion.

"The official announcement will have to be made in Parliament," Mukherjee told reporters.

On Sunday, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said the party "welcomes any steps which can lead to a conducive resolution of the issue and break the deadlock."

Analysts and business leaders slammed the Congress party for potentially bungling a crucial policy change that has been a decade in the making, and bemoaned the weak leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the face of a parliamentary revolt.

"It makes the position of Manmohan Singh even more weak. Clearly the man carries no authority," said Arvind Singhal, founder of Technopak Advisors, a New Delhi-based consulting company.

He said India's lack of leadership was eroding much-needed investment, from domestic businesses as well as foreign. "The impact on investors will be very negative in terms of confidence," he said. "We need FDI, but India needs significantly more investment from within."

The change in foreign investment rules for retail does not require parliamentary approval, and many questioned the government's wisdom in announcing the controversial plan while Parliament was in session, in the buildup to crucial state elections.

"It was bad planning," said agriculture analyst P.M. Sinha, a former PepsiCo executive in South Asia. "They could have waited a few weeks and nothing would have happened."

He said he believes the government will prevail and the changes will ultimately go through.

"The middlemen have a pretty strong lobby, but it is just a matter of time now before they're pushed aside," Sinha said.

Dismay over the government's inability to implement long-promised reforms that could spur economic growth has intensified as India's economy slows. The economy grew just 6.9 percent in the September quarter, the slowest in more than two years.

India's flagging growth is seen by many as a crisis of governance.

"A slowing economy seems to pale in comparison to the larger crisis at hand ? that of a Parliament that is completely unable to function in the way these sacred institutions were set up to be," HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh and former Unilever chief Ashok Ganguly said in a joint statement Sunday.

"Opposing investment in modern retail for the sake of it is only defending vested interests to the detriment of the vast majority," they said. "The farmers, the consumers and the common people must raise their voices against this false drama of apprehension against investment and modernizing trade in agriculture and consumer goods."

___

Associated Press writer Katy Daigle in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_bi_ge/as_india_retail

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Occupy Seattle Members -- Why Do You Want to Trash Your Campus? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | I read with interest a recent Reuters article about a judge rejecting the attempt by "Occupy Seattle" members to block their eviction from the campus grounds of Seattle Central Community College. I read a lot of the "Occupy" articles with interest. I am, after all, supposedly part of the 99 percent that this group is speaking for. I keep trying to understand exactly what their message is. And I still don't understand it.

I understand the premise of being angry with the government. I understand being against corporate greed. I even understand the other hot-button issues: health care, environment, etc. But I don't get camping out in public places in numbers that those places can't safely sustain. I don't get violating city ordinances and then suing municipalities and institutions for the right to violate said ordinances. I don't get what defying those who are empathetic and kind to you and thumbing your nose at the tax-provided services they're trying to offer you has to do with being against corporate greed.

Is Seattle Central Community College a corporation? No. It was the first community college in your city, Seattle. Since 1995, it has directed the Seattle Vocational Institute, which provides short-term job training programs. The college has a student body of about 10,000 students. It has departments dedicated to serving veterans, former foster youth, first-generation college students and disabled individuals. It prides itself on the diversity of both its students and its faculty.

And even after they issued a no camping rule last week to address the growing health and safety concerns of your six-week old encampment, and you subsequently took them to court, they remained kind to you. They plan to go to each of your 60 tents and talk to all 150 of you about the camping situation. They plan to keep letting you protest on campus and they support you in those protest. They just don't want you camping there.

They're on your side, Occupy. So why are you fighting them? Why do you want to trash your school?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111203/cm_ac/10590687_occupy_seattle_members__why_do_you_want_to_trash_your_campus

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Suh's 2-game suspension upheld by NFL (AP)

NEW YORK ? The suspension stands, and that means Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will sit out the next two games for stomping an opponent during a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Suh's appeal of the suspension handed out earlier this week was denied Friday by Art Shell, jointly appointed by the NFL and the players' association to hear such cases. Suh will miss Sunday's game at New Orleans and a Dec. 11 home game against Minnesota. He can return for practice on Dec. 12.

The 2010 Defensive Rookie of the Year was penalized and ejected from the Thanksgiving Day loss to the Packers for stomping on the arm of guard Evan Dietrich-Smith. On Tuesday, the league suspended Suh and the player appealed.

Shell, however, saw no merits to the appeal during a conference call with Suh on Thursday.

Lions president Tom Lewand issued a statement saying the club respects the disciplinary process and added "obviously, today's ruling does not impact our preparations for this week's game. We remain exclusively focused on the New Orleans Saints."

Usually, a hearing is held within 10 days of an appeal, but the league expedited Suh's high-profile case so a decision could be made before Sunday's game.

Suh is barred from practice and the team's facility while suspended.

Early last month, Suh requested and was granted a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his play after he drew several penalties and fines. Suh said he had a better understanding of the rules after that meeting.

On Sunday, with it becoming apparent he would be disciplined again, Suh called Goodell to apologize.

In the game against the Packers, Suh lifted up his right knee and forcibly stepped on Dietrich-Smith's right arm during the third quarter of the Lions' 27-15 loss. Before the stomp, Suh shoved Dietrich-Smith's helmet toward the turf while separating himself from the Packers player on the ground.

He was penalized and ejected.

Asked about the incident after the game, Suh sounded defiant, insisting he didn't intentionally step on Dietrich-Smith. A day later, following criticism from the Lions, Suh apologized to his teammates, organization and fans ? not to Dietrich-Smith.

His actions prompted more criticism around the league, with some calling Suh the NFL's dirtiest player.

Suh can afford any fines ? he is making $40 million guaranteed with a chance to get paid as much as $68 million in a five-year contract he signed after Detroit drafted him No. 2 overall in 2010.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_suh_appeal

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Head of Russian election watchdog detained

Gregory Melkonyants, leading activist of Golos, respected independent watchdog, center, sits in a court, surrounded by unidentified lawyers in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Golos directors were called to court Friday to answer accusations that the organization has violated election law.Russian prosecutors on Thursday launched a probe against the country's main independent election watchdog on suspicion of election law violations _ just three days before the national parliamentary vote. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

Gregory Melkonyants, leading activist of Golos, respected independent watchdog, center, sits in a court, surrounded by unidentified lawyers in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Golos directors were called to court Friday to answer accusations that the organization has violated election law.Russian prosecutors on Thursday launched a probe against the country's main independent election watchdog on suspicion of election law violations _ just three days before the national parliamentary vote. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

Gregory Melkonyants, leading activist of Golos, respected independent watchdog, talks to press, outside a court, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Golos directors were called to court Friday to answer accusations that the organization has violated election law. Russian prosecutors on Thursday launched a probe against the country's main independent election watchdog on suspicion of election law violations _ just three days before the national parliamentary vote.(AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

MOSCOW (AP) ? The leader of Russia's only independent election monitor was detained at a Moscow airport for 12 hours, a colleague said Saturday ? the latest government pressure on a watchdog that has documented thousands of election law violations ahead of Sunday's parliamentary vote.

Golos has compiled some 5,300 complaints from voters during the latest campaign ? most linked to United Russia, the party that dominates the Kremlin and supports Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Roughly a third of the complainants ? mostly government employees and students ? say employers and professors are pressuring them to vote for the party.

Golos leader Lilya Shibanova was held at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after refusing to give her laptop to security officers late Friday, the group's deputy director Grigory Melkonyants said. She was released after giving up the computer, he said.

"The detention was politically motivated," Melkonyants told The Associated Press.

The detention follows a decision Friday by a Moscow district court to fine Golos $1,000 for violating a law forbidding the publication of public opinion research within five days of an election.

The group has come under growing pressure since Sunday, when Putin accused Western governments of trying to influence the election through their funding of unidentified Russian non-governmental organizations. Golos, whose name means "vote," is supported by grants from the United States and Europe.

The group's staffers all over Russia "face threats and psychological pressure," Melkonyants said.

Kremlin-controlled NTV television showed a half-hour program on Friday evening that attacked Golos directly. The program included shots of suitcases full of U.S. dollars and claimed that Golos was openly supporting opposition parties and trying to discredit the elections.

United Russia dominates Russia's political life and has received overwhelmingly favorable coverage during the campaign, mostly from Kremlin-controlled national television. But the party is increasingly disliked, seen as representing a corrupt bureaucracy and often called "the party of crooks and thieves."

Only seven Kremlin-approved parties have been allowed to field candidates for parliament this year, while the most vocal opposition groups have been denied registration and barred from campaigning.

The Kremlin is determined to see United Russia maintain its majority in parliament. President Dmitry Medvedev and Putin both made final appeals for the party on Friday, warning that a parliament made up of diverse political camps would be incapable of making decisions.

Putin needs the party to do well in the parliamentary election to pave the way for his return to the presidency in a vote now three months away.

Independent pollster Levada Center said last week that United Russia will receive 53 percent of the vote, down from the 64 percent it got in the 2007 vote. This would deprive the pro-Kremlin behemoth of the two-thirds majority that has allowed it to amend the constitution.

Another poll by Levada released in late November shows that 51 percent of Russians believe the election only "imitates competition."

The Helsinki Commission, a federal board that advises on U.S. policy about security, human rights and other issues involving Europe, criticized the court ruling to fine Golos in a statement released late Friday.

"The campaign against Golos provides additional reason for doubt about the legitimacy of the parliamentary election that will take place in Russia on Sunday and the broader state of democracy there," it said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-03-EU-Russia-Election/id-7145b8a5d1564374bac8506d108c3502

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Sharp decline in pollution from U.S. coal power plants, NASA satellite confirms

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) ? A team of scientists have used the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite to confirm major reductions in the levels of a key air pollutant generated by coal power plants in the eastern United States. The pollutant, sulfur dioxide, contributes to the formation of acid rain and can cause serious health problems.

The scientists, led by an Environment Canada researcher, have shown that sulfur dioxide levels in the vicinity of major coal power plants have fallen by nearly half since 2005. The new findings, the first satellite observations of this type, confirm ground-based measurements of declining sulfur dioxide levels and demonstrate that scientists can potentially measure levels of harmful emissions throughout the world, even in places where ground monitoring is not extensive or does not exist. About two-thirds of sulfur dioxide pollution in American air comes from coal power plants. Geophysical Research Letters published details of the new research this month.

The scientists attribute the decline in sulfur dioxide to the Clean Air Interstate Rule, a rule passed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 that called for deep cuts in sulfur dioxide emissions. In response to that rule, many power plants in the United States have installed desulfurization devices and taken other steps that limit the release of sulfur dioxide. The rule put a cap on emissions, but left it up to power companies to determine how to reduce emissions and allowed companies to trade pollution credits.

While scientists have used the Ozone Monitoring Instrument to observe sulfur dioxide levels within large plumes of volcanic ash and over heavily polluted parts of China in the past, this is the first time they have observed such subtle details over the United States, a region of the world that in comparison to fast-growing parts of Asia now has relatively modest sulfur dioxide emissions. Just a few decades ago, sulfur dioxide pollution was quite severe in the United States. Levels of the pollutant have dropped by about 75 percent since the 1980s due largely to the passage of the Clean Air Act.

Vitali Fioletov, a scientist based in Toronto at Environment Canada, and his colleagues developed a new mathematical approach that made the improved measurements a reality. The approach centers on averaging measurements within a 30 miles radius (50 km) of a sulfur dioxide source over several years. "Vitali has developed an extremely powerful technique that makes it possible to detect emissions even when levels of sulfur dioxide are about four times lower than what we could detect previously," said Nickolay Krotkov, a researcher based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and a coauthor of the new paper.

The technique allowed Fioletov and his colleagues to pinpoint the sulfur dioxide signals from the 40 largest sulfur dioxide sources in the United States -- generally coal power plants that emit more than 70 kilotons of sulfur dioxide per year. The scientists observed major declines in sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia by comparing levels of the pollutant for an average of the period 2005 to 2007 with another average from 2008 to 2010.

"What we're seeing in these satellite observations represents a major environmental accomplishment," said Bryan Bloomer, an Environmental Protection Agency scientist familiar with the new satellite observations. "This is a huge success story for the EPA and the Clean Air Interstate Rule," he said.

The researchers focused their analysis on the United States to take advantage of the presence of a robust network of ground-based instruments that monitor sulfur dioxide emissions inside power plant smokestacks. The ground-based instruments have logged a 46 percent decline in sulfur dioxide levels since 2005 -- a finding consistent with the 40 percent reduction observed by OMI.

"Now that we've confirmed that the technique works, the next step is to use it for other parts of the world that don't have ground-based sensors," said Krotkov. "The real beauty of using satellites is that we can apply the same technique to the entire globe in a consistent way." In addition, the team plans to use a similar technique to monitor other important pollutants that coal power plants release, such as nitrogen dioxide, a precursor to ozone.

OMI, a Dutch and Finnish built instrument, was launched in 2004, as one of four instruments on the NASA Aura satellite, and can measure sulfur dioxide more accurately than any satellite instrument flown to date. Though OMI remains in very good condition and scientists expect it to continue producing high-quality data for many years, the researchers also hope to use data from an upcoming Dutch-built OMI follow-on instrument called TROPOMI that is expected to launch on a European Space Agency satellite in 2014.

On July 6, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), requiring 27 states to significantly reduce power plant emissions that contribute to ozone and fine particle pollution in other states. This rule replaces EPA's 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). A December 2008 court decision kept the requirements of CAIR in place temporarily but directed EPA to issue a new rule to implement Clean Air Act requirements concerning the transport of air pollution across state boundaries. This action responds to the court's concerns.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. V. E. Fioletov, C. A. McLinden, N. Krotkov, M. D. Moran, K. Yang. Estimation of SO₂ emissions using OMI retrievals. Geophysical Research Letters, 2011; 38 (21) DOI: 10.1029/2011GL049402

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/36IKELkG57c/111201163608.htm

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