Yen rebounds slightly against dollar

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NEW YORK: The yen edged higher against the dollar Friday after days of declines on expectations Japan would implement more monetary easing under its new prime minister.

The dollar stood at 85.98 yen around 2200 GMT, down from 86.09 late Thursday.

In Asian trade earlier in the day, the yen sat at more than two-year lows against the greenback.

Investors have been selling the yen on expectations newly-elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will carry out his promises of more aggressive monetary easing and big government spending to lift inflation and kickstart the economy.

While noting that Abe and members of his government have "made it abundantly clear" that they won't back away from their promises, BK Asset Management noted that "dollar/yen appears to be nearing exhaustion and a move down to 85 is likely."

"After climbing to a fresh 2-year high overnight, dollar/yen staged a sharp intraday reversal that left the pair near the day's lows," they said.

The euro also slipped slightly against the yen around 2200 GMT, reaching 113.62 yen around 2200 GMT, compared to 113.97 yen a day earlier.

The common European currency lost a little ground to the dollar, standing at $1.3217 after hitting $1.3235 late Thursday.

In other currencies, the dollar inched up to 0.9134 Swiss francs, while the pound rose to $1.6167.

-AFP/ac



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C-form mandatory even for non-commercial homes

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MANALI: Befriending foreign nationals and offering them one-night accommodations in houses can put owners in trouble as Himachal Police is keeping a close watch over people to check if they are filling the C-form, a registration form for foreigners, to collect information about guest from abroad.

As the number of foreigners visiting Himachal is increasing every year, police have taken this safety measure for their safe stay here, said a police officer.

Most of the foreigners prefer staying in guest houses while many of them stay in villages along with the local families. Apart from providing safety to foreigners, filling of C-form provides necessary information about visitor in case of some untoward incident.

According to Manali superintendent of police Sanjeev Chauhan, they have booked a villager who offered accommodation to foreign national but did not fill C-form. "Police are warning people here to fill the form - either online or manually - for safety of both tourists and themselves," he said.

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How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

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For those of us who enjoy the occasional cocktail, the holiday season would be incomplete without certain treats of the liquid variety. Some look forward to the creamy charms of rum-laced eggnog; others anticipate cupfuls of high-octane punch or mugs of warm, spiced wine.

No matter what's in your glass, raising one as the year winds down is tradition. What could be more festive? The problem is, one drink leads to two, then the party gets going and a third is generously poured. Soon, the music fades and the morning arrives—and with it, the dreaded hangover. (Explore a human-body interactive.)

Whether it's a pounding headache, a queasy stomach, sweating, or just general misery, the damage has been done. So now it's time to remedy the situation. What's the quickest way to banish the pain? It depends who you ask.

Doctors typically recommend water for hydration and ibuprofen to reduce inflammation. Taking B vitamins is also good, according to anesthesiologist Jason Burke, because they help the body metabolize alcohol and produce energy.

Burke should know a thing or two about veisalgia, the medical term for hangover. At his Las Vegas clinic Hangover Heaven, Burke treats thousands of people suffering from the effects of drinking to excess with hydrating fluids and medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"No two hangovers are the same," he said, adding that the unfavorable condition costs society billions of dollars-mostly from lost productivity and people taking sick days from work.

Hot Peppers for Hangovers?

So what's the advice from the nonmedical community? Suggestions range from greasy breakfasts to vanilla milkshakes to spending time in a steamy sauna. A friend insists hot peppers are the only way to combat a hangover's wrath. Another swears by the palliative effects of a bloody mary. In fact, many people just have another drink, following the old "hair of the dog that bit you" strategy.

Whether such "cures" actually get rid of a hangover is debatable, but one thing's for sure: the sorry state is universal. The only people immune to hangovers are the ones who avoid alcohol altogether.

So for those who do indulge, even if it's just once in awhile, see our interactive featuring cures from around the world (also above). As New Year's Eve looms with its attendant excuse to imbibe, perhaps it would be wise to stock your refrigerator with one of these antidotes. Pickled herring, anyone?


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'Cliff' Summit Brings Hope for a Deal

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Political brinkmanship appears to have created a last minute chance for the White House and Congress to agree on a plan to avoid sending the country over the fiscal cliff.


President Obama emerged from an Oval Office meeting with Congressional leaders this evening to say "we had a constructive meeting today" and that he was "moderately optimistic" that they could devise a federal budget proposal ahead of a Jan. 1 deadline that would otherwise automatically trigger a wide range of tax increases and spending cuts. Economists fear that such a combination could throw the country back into a recession.


He said Senate Majority Leader Harry, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, were trying to quickly fashion a deal.


"Senators Reid and McConnell are discussing a potential agreement where we can get a bipartisan bill out of the Senate and over to the House in a timely fashion so that we met the Dec. 31 deadline," Obama said in a hastily-arranged statement. "But given how things have been working in this town we always have to wait and see to see whether it actually happens."


Admitting the weekend could ultimately prove fruitless, the president said as a backup plan he had instructed Reid to deliver the Femocratic proposal to the Senate floor for a straight up-or-down vote. That would boost taxes for couples making more than $250,000.






Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images











Sen. Harry Reid Says 'US Headed Over Fiscal Cliff' Watch Video









Fiscal Cliff: Congressional Leaders Squabble at the Last Minute Watch Video







"I believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities as long as those leaders allow it to actually come to a vote," Obama said. "If members of the House or the Senate want to vote no, they can, but we should let everybody vote. That's the way this is supposed to work. If you can get a majority in the House and you can get a majority in the Senate, then we should be able to pass a bill."


The president lamented that a deal is coming down to the final hours.


"The American people are watching what we do... (their) patience is already thin," the president said. "It's deja vu all over again."


He added later that for Americans the repeated last second efforts to dodge economic crises "is mind boggling to them. It has to stop."


Obama did not give details on what common ground was found behind the West Wing's doors, but ABC News has learned the president did not come to the discussions armed with new proposals. For one, a source familiar with meeting said, the president reiterated his party's past insistence on letting the "Bush-era" tax cuts for income over $250,000 expire, a measure which would affect 2 percent of Americans.


In his brief remarks the president reiterated that this stance was one he campaigned on in the months leading to his November reelection.


Besides Reid and McConnell, the meeting was attended by House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, ice President Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Although only four days remain until the deadline, this was the first time the so-called "Big Four" congressional leaders have assembled together in-person in weeks. Their last meeting was Nov. 16.


According to a readout of the meeting from the Speaker's office, "the leaders spent the majority of the meeting discussing potential options and components for a plan that could pass both chambers of Congress."






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Egypt's Mubarak back in hospital as health worsens

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CAIRO: Egypt's state prosecutor on Thursday ordered imprisoned former dictator Hosni Mubarak transferred to a military hospital after his health deteriorated, a source at the prosecutor's office said.

Mubarak, serving a life sentence over the killings of protesters, was briefly taken to hospital on December 19 for scans after he fell in his prison bathroom and hurt his head.

Mubarak, 84, will be returned to prison after he is treated, the source said.

A court sentenced the veteran strongman to life in June for failing to prevent the killings of protesters during the 18-day revolt that ended his three-decade rule in February 2011. Some 850 people died in the uprising.

Since his fall from power, Mubarak's health has appeared to deteriorate significantly, and he has suffered repeated health scares.

He spent nearly a month in hospital after he fell unconscious on June 19, with state media declaring him clinically dead on arrival. Medical sources however said he appeared to have fallen into a temporary coma.

During his time in power, the subject of his health was very much off-limits.

In 2004, he underwent surgery in Germany for a slipped disc, and he returned to Germany in March 2010 for the removal of his gall bladder and a growth on the small intestine.

During his time in power, he survived 10 attempts on his life.

-AFP/ac



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Varun Gandhi likely to contest Lok Sabha 2014 from Sultanpur

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LUCKNOW: Pilibhit MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party Varun Gandhi might contest 2014 Lok Sabha election from Sultanpur-the constituency adjoining Amethi represented by his cousin Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Congress' Sanjay Singh is the sitting MP from Sultanpur.

So far, two things have actually given credence to the speculation that Varun might contest from Sultanpur. A team of around 24 persons from the BJP has visited all five assembly segments falling in the constituency to mobilise youth in favour of Varun's candidature.

Also, there are posters of Varun everywhere that read, 'Naam wahi jo kaam karaye, Sultanpur ka samman badhaye'. During a rally in 2009, Varun had announced that he would, one day, turn Sultanpur into his 'karmabhoomi' (ground of action).

It seems BJP's plan for Uttar Pradesh would be full of surprises this time - from Varun shifting to Sultanpur to Rajnath switching over from his Ghaziabad constituency and Narendra Modi contesting from Lucknow.

Varun told TOI: "Sultanpur has been my father's political ground, so I don't have to start afresh. There is no need for any survey, as I understand the constituency well."

About the team propagating his candidature, Varun said they were locals. On whether he had decided to contest from Sultanpur, Varun said it would not be right to say anything on this count as election was still a year away.

In 1984, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and father of Rahul Gandhi was pitted against his sister-in-law and Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi in the election that took place after Indira Gandhi's death, Rajiv won by a huge margin defeating Maneka, who wanted to establish her claim to her late husband Sanjay's legacy.

In 1977, former prime minister Indira Gandhi's son Sanjay Gandhi had contested from Amethi, which was then part of Sultanpur district. Amethi is from where both Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi started their political careers.

Sanjay's was a debut that didn't happen because of the Emergency. He lost to Ravindra Pratap Singh of the Janata Party by a few thousand votes. However, he bounced back in the '80 elections, defeating Singh this time.

After Sanjay's death, Indira persuaded Rajiv to help her and in June 1981, he entered politics formally getting elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi. Since then, Amethi has been the battleground for major showdowns.

Yet another showdown, will it be?

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How to Live to a Ripe Old Age

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Cento di questi giorni. May you have a hundred birthdays, the Italians say, and some of them do.

So do other people in various spots around the world—in Blue Zones, so named by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner for the blue ink that outlines these special areas on maps developed over more than a decade. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)

In his second edition of his book The Blue Zones, Buettner writes about a newly identified Blue Zone: the Greek island of Ikaria (map). National Geographic magazine Editor at Large Cathy Newman interviewed him about the art of living long and well. (Watch Buettner talk about how to live to a hundred.)

Q. You've written about Blue Zones in Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California; Nicoa, Costa Rica and Okinawa, Japan. How did you find your way to Ikaria?

A. Michel Poulain, a demographer on the project, and I are always on the lookout for new Blue Zones. This one popped up in 2008. We got a lead from a Greek foundation looking for biological markers in aging people. The census data showed clusters of villages there with a striking proportion of people 85 or older. (Also see blog: "Secrets of the Happiest Places on Earth.")

In the course of your quest you've been introduced to remarkable individuals like 100-year-old Marge Jetton of Loma Linda, California, who starts the day with a mile-long [0.6-kilometer] walk, 6 to 8 miles [10 to 13 kilometers] on a stationary bike, and weight lifting. Who is the most memorable Blue Zoner you've met?

Without question it's Stamatis Moraitis, who lives in Ikaria. I believe he's 102. He's famous for partying. He makes 400 liters [100 gallons] of wine from his vineyards each year, which he drinks with his friends. His house is the social hot spot of the island. (See "Longevity Genes Found; Predict Chances of Reaching 100.")

He's also the Ikarian who emigrated to the United States, was diagnosed with lung cancer in his 60s, given less then a year to live, and who returned to Ikaria to die. Instead, he recovered.

Yes, he never went through chemotherapy or treatment. He just moved back to Ikaria.

Did anyone figure out how he survived?

Nope. He told me he returned to the U.S. ten years after he left to see if the American doctors could explain it. I asked him what happened. "My doctors were all dead," he said.

One of the common factors that seem to link all Blue Zone people you've spoken with is a life of hard work—and sometimes hardship. Your thoughts?

I think we live in a culture that relentlessly pursues comfort. Ease is related to disease. We shouldn't always be fleeing hardship. Hardship also brings people together. We should welcome it.

Sounds like another version of the fable of the grasshopper and the ant?

You rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. If you work in a garden on the other hand, and it yields beautiful tomatoes, that's a good feeling.

Can you talk about diet? Not all of us have access to goat milk, for example, which you say is typically part of an Ikarian breakfast.

There is nothing exotic about their diet, which is a version of a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes vegetables, beans, fruit, olive oil, and moderate amounts of alcohol. (Read more about Buettner's work in Ikaria in National Geographic Adventure.)

All things in moderation?

Not all things. Socializing is something we should not do in moderation. The happiest Americans socialize six hours a day.

The people you hang out with help you hang on to life?

Yes, you have to pay attention to your friends. Health habits are contagious. Hanging out with unhappy people who drink and smoke is hazardous to your health.

So how has what you've learned influenced your own lifestyle?

One of the big things I've learned is that there's an advantage to regular low-intensity activity. My previous life was setting records on my bike. [Buettner holds three world records in distance cycling.] Now I use my bike to commute. I only eat meat once a week, and I always keep nuts in my office: Those who eat nuts live two to three more years than those who don't.

You also write about having a purpose in life.

Purpose is huge. I know exactly what my values are and what I love to do. That's worth additional years right there. I say no to a lot of stuff that would be easy money but deviates from my meaning of life.

The Japanese you met in Okinawa have a word for that?

Yes. Ikigai: "The reason for which I wake in the morning."

Do you have a non-longevity-enhancing guilty pleasure?

Tequila is my weakness.

And how long would you like to live?

I'd like to live to be 200.


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Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Dead at 78

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Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who topped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 but kept a low public profile in controversies over the second Gulf War against Iraq, died Thursday. He was 78.



Schwarzkopf died in Tampa, Fla., where he had lived in retirement, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.



A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was known popularly as "Stormin' Norman" for a notoriously explosive temper.



He served in his last military assignment in Tampa as commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command, the headquarters responsible for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly 20 countries from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa to Pakistan.



Schwarzkopf became "CINC-Centcom" in 1988 and when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait three years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, he commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organized by then-President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.



At the peak of his postwar national celebrity, Schwarzkopf — a self-proclaimed political independent — rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military commentator for NBC.





While focused primarily in his later years on charitable enterprises, he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000 but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and Pentagon predicted. In early 2003 he told the Washington Post the outcome was an unknown:



"What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That's a huge question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign plan," he said.



Initially Schwarzkopf had endorsed the invasion, saying he was convinced that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had given the United Nations powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what U.N. weapons inspectors found.



He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004, he sharply criticized then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon for mistakes that included inadequate training for Army reservists sent to Iraq and for erroneous judgments about Iraq.



"In the final analysis I think we are behind schedule. ... I don't think we counted on it turning into jihad (holy war)," he said in an NBC interview.



Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 24, 1934, in Trenton, N.J., where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnap case, which ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for stealing and murdering the famed aviator's infant son.



The elder Schwarzkopf was named Herbert, but when the son was asked what his "H'' stood for, he would reply, "H." Although reputed to be short-tempered with aides and subordinates, he was a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who didn't like "Stormin' Norman" and preferred to be known as "the Bear," a sobriquet given him by troops.





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U.S. will hit debt limit on Dec. 31, Treasury Department says

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The U.S. government will hit the $16.4 trillion federal debt limit on Monday and turn to “extraordinary measures” to continue borrowing, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, beginning a countdown until Congress either passes legislation to allow for more borrowing or the government defaults on its debt.


Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a letter to senior lawmakers that the Treasury would begin to undertake “extraordinary measures” in order to forestall default. Geithner said the measures could create about $200 billion in additional funding available to the government – giving Congress two months before it must raise the debt limit.


To begin conserving money, Treasury will suspend a program on Friday that helps states and localities manage their borrowing. In subsequent weeks, Treasury will start to tap the federal worker pension fund for additional financial resources. (The pension fund will be made whole once the debt limit impasse is resolved.) Geithner added that the resolution of the fiscal cliff could affect these estimates. In particular, he wrote, “the expiring tax provisions and automatic spending cuts, as well as the attendant delays in filing of tax returns, would have the effect of adding some additional time to the duration of the extraordinary measures.”

President Obama has insisted that the debt limit be taken off the table in negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over the fiscal cliff. But Republicans have insisted that the debt limit provides an important point of leverage to force spending cuts.

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US to reach debt limit on New Years Eve

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WASHINGTON: The United States government will reach its statutory 16.39-trillion-dollar debt limit -- a ceiling imposed by Congress -- on Monday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said.

In a letter Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Geithner said the treasury would take "extraordinary measures" to postpone the day the US could default on its liabilities, but could not say how long it had.

Geithner warned that if the White House and US lawmakers fail to agree on a budget compromise to prevent the economy plunging over the "fiscal cliff", also due on December 31, then he could not be sure when the money would dry up.

He said the extraordinary measures -- halting the issuance of securities to state and local governments -- could create approximately $200 billion in headroom that under normal circumstances would last about two months.

But he added: "However, given the significant uncertainty that now exists with regard to unresolved tax and spending policies for 2013, it is not possible to predict the effective duration of these measures."

As of midday (1700 GMT) Friday, the United States will "begin taking certain extraordinary measures authorized by law to temporarily postpone the date the United States would otherwise default on its legal obligations."

The suspended securities are low-interest instruments given local and state government to allow them to invest proceeds from their own bond sales.

They are often suspended when the government is in talks to avoid breaching a debt ceiling.

Geithner's letter came as the White House and Republican lawmakers were locked in an impasse about the "fiscal cliff," a package of steep tax hikes and spending cuts that are due to take effect in January.

Experts say a failure to strike a compromise on the matter by New Years Eve could plunge the world's biggest economy into recession, and wrangling over the debt ceiling will only increase the political and economic uncertainty.

Already in mid-2011, Washington went through a vicious political battle over raising the debt ceiling. In the end, the fight culminated in the poison pill compromise that has become the fiscal cliff.

-AFP/ac



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Delhi gang rape case: Witnesses stick to stand, say constable Subhash Tomar wasn’t hit

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NEW DELHI: The two eyewitnesses, a young man and woman, who had first extended their help to Delhi Police constable Subhash Tomar stuck to their claim on Wednesday that when they found the cop at Tilak Marg, neither had he been attacked by anyone, nor did he have any external injury.

The woman, Paulene, was at India Gate since Saturday. On Sunday, when protesters began to throw stones, she pleaded with them but got hit on the head instead and had to be rushed to the hospital.

As she returned to the protest - which had turned violent by then - and stood on Tilak Marg, she says, she noticed some cops chasing protesters.

"That policeman had fallen on his own and did not have any altercation with anyone. He was not hit by any stone and was not bleeding," asserted Paulene.

"He was unconscious. I addressed him as 'uncle' and asked what had happened but he did not respond. We did not know what medical help to give him. We took off his jacket and opened his shirt buttons. Yogender (another student) was with me and two cops had arrived by then. He was later taken to hospital."

The claim of Paulene, who is from Manipur and is pursuing Physics (Hons) at IGNOU is strengthened by Yogendra, a journalism student, who lives in Yamuna Vihar area in northeast Delhi. He too insisted that the cop was not assaulted by protesters.

"The cops were chasing people. I was standing near India Gate and Paulene was with me. He was running and stopped suddenly. Then he fell down. Nobody trampled him," said Yogendra.

"We rushed to his rescue, took off his shoes and pressed his chest a couple of times but he did not respond. I asked a nearby PCR van for help. They took him to hospital. I also went in the same vehicle."

Yogendra said at the hospital, the constable's uniform was taken off and he was given CPR. He maintained that even then he did not see any injuries or blood on his chest.

"I don't understand why they have arrested 7-8 people and registered a case for killing this cop," he said. He received a call from the police enquiring about the incident.

"I got a call from this cop who was asking me what I saw there and I told him the entire sequence of events after which he hung up," he added.

Joint commissioner Tejinder Luthra said there were contradictions in the claims made by Yogendra.

"He said an ambulance rushed an injured girl to hospital but there were no ambulances to take the constable. We arranged an ambulance and we did it for a protester but did not do it for a policeman. This remark exposes the contradiction," he said.

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Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

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WH Lashes Out at 'Congressional Stupidity'

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With only days to come up with a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, the White House said “congressional stupidity” was damaging the economy but that an agreement could be reached if Republican leaders don’t get in the way.


President Obama cut his Hawaiian vacation short and headed back to Washington today while the Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Thursday. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said previously that he would give House members a 48-hour notice of any upcoming vote, which means that the soonest the House could consider a bill would be Saturday — just two days before a deadline to make a deal or trigger a rise in taxes and steep budget cuts.


Boehner and other GOP leaders issued a statement today following a conference call saying: “The House has acted on two bills which collectively would avert the entire fiscal cliff if enacted. Those bills await action by the Senate.  If the Senate will not approve and send them to the president to be signed into law in their current form, they must be amended and returned to the House.”


While Boehner put the onus on the president and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a White House official used testy language to  put the responsibility back on Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.


“What we need is for the Senate Minority Leader not to block a vote and for Boehner to allow a vote,” a White House official told ABC News. “The hits to our economy aren’t coming from outside factors, they’re coming from congressional stupidity.”


Reid’s plan would serve as a Democratic counterpart to Boehner’s plan B, which failed to gain enough support for a vote last week. Boehner left the ball in the Senate’s court after withdrawing  his plan Thursday.


Any plan from Reid is expected to include extending the Bush tax cuts for Americans making $250,000 or less.


Related: What if Bush tax cuts expire?


This has been a sticking point for the left and the right throughout discussions. Democrats believe that lower- and middle-class families should keep the  tax cut, while letting it expire for households making more than $250,000. Republicans counter that no Americans should be forced to pay higher taxes come Jan. 1, though Boehner’s plan would have required those making more than $1 million to lose the cut.


Reid could also propose cuts to tax deductions to generate more federal revenue.


Related: Can the mortgage deduction survive the fiscal cliff?


Michael Ettlinger, vice president for economic policy at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, said that would make his plan very similar to Obama’s.


“I think this is likely to go smaller more than bigger as they try to gather votes in the Senate,” Ettlinger told ABC News Wednesday. “The Democratic vision of things is fairly clear. Where the Senate Republicans are willing to go is less so. That’s going to be the issue.”


Dan Holler of conservative policy advocacy group Heritage Action for America expects the plan to include an extension of unemployment benefits, something he says would be “extremely counterproductive for the economy.”


Democrats “see it as one of the most stimulative things you can do,” Holler told ABC News Wednesday. “Heritage has great research to go ahead and say this doesn’t really help.”


Related: Fiscal Cliff negotiators search for cuts without sacrifice.


In addition to an immediate measure to stop taxes from going up, Holler suggested there would be a mechanism to compel leaders to do more further down the road, a method he said has not historically been effective at reducing the deficit.


“I think Republicans are going to look at the entire package skeptically,” Holler said of Reid’s expected plan.


Boehner press secretary Michael Steel told ABC News the speaker’s office “will take a look” at Reid’s proposal once he brings it up for a vote or shares his ideas with the House.


Garnering consensus among both parties will be difficult for any plan now. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is trying to bring D.C. politicians together with every coffee cup sold in the District.


Critics have called into question  Boehner’s ability to bring his own party together.


“It seems that, in the House now, Boehner has no control over his extreme right-wing faction,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said on MSNBC Wednesday. “You have, over in the House, a situation where the Republicans are saying, ‘Hey, we don’t think billionaires should pay a nickel more in taxes, but we do think there should be devastating cuts in programs that are impacting working families who are already hurting as a result of the recession.’ So that’s the problem that we have.”


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FreedomWorks tea party group nearly falls apart in fight between old and new guard

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The day after Labor Day, just as campaign season was entering its final frenzy, FreedomWorks, the Washington-based tea party organization, went into free fall.


Richard K. Armey, the group’s chairman and a former House majority leader, walked into the group’s Capitol Hill offices with his wife, Susan, and an aide holstering a handgun at his waist. The aim was to seize control of the group and expel Armey’s enemies: The gun-wielding assistant escorted FreedomWorks’ top two employees off the premises, while Armey suspended several others who broke down in sobs at the news.


The coup lasted all of six days. By Sept. 10, Armey was gone — with a promise of $8 million — and the five ousted employees were back. The force behind their return was Richard J. Stephenson, a reclusive Illinois millionaire who has exerted increasing control over one of Washington’s most influential conservative grass-roots organizations.

Stephenson, the founder of the for-profit Cancer Treatment Centers of America and a director on the FreedomWorks board, agreed to commit $400,000 per year over 20 years in exchange for Armey’s agreement to leave the group.

The episode illustrates the growing role of wealthy donors in swaying the direction of FreedomWorks and other political groups, which increasingly rely on unlimited contributions from corporations and financiers for their financial livelihood. Such gifts are often sent through corporate shells or nonprofits that do not have to disclose their donors, making it impossible for the public to know who is funding them.

In the weeks before the election, more than $12 million in donations were funneled through two Tennessee corporations to the FreedomWorks super PAC after negotiations with Stephenson over a pre-election gift of the same size, according to three current and former employees with knowledge of the arrangement. The origin of the money has not previously been reported.


These and other new details about the near-meltdown at FreedomWorks were gleaned from interviews with two dozen current and past associates, most of whom requested anonymity in order to speak freely.

The disarray comes as the conservative movement is struggling to find its way following the November elections, which brought a second term for President Obama and Democratic gains in the House and Senate. Armey said in an interview that the meltdown at his former group has damaged the conservative cause.

“FreedomWorks was the spark plug, the energy source, the catalyst for the movement through the 2010 elections,” Armey said, referring to the GOP midterm sweep. “Harm was done to the movement.”

Stephenson, 73, declined a request for an interview. Matt Kibbe, the group’s president, and Adam Brandon, its senior vice president, declined to discuss the issue.

“I don’t comment on donors,” Brandon said. “He’s on our board, he’s a board member like anyone else. That’s it. I see him at board meetings.”

Stephenson, a longtime but little-known player in conservative causes, is a resident of Barrington, Ill., a northwest suburb of Chicago known for its affluence and sprawling horse estates such as his Tudor Oaks Farm. He founded the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in 1988 following his mother’s death from bladder cancer, according to the for-profit company’s Web site and his own public remarks. Stephenson also holds investments in a broad portfolio of other businesses, including finance and real estate companies.

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Dollar hits new 20-month high, tops 85 yen

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TOKYO: The dollar rose past 85.00 yen in early Asian trade on Wednesday on expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) would take more monetary easing steps under pressure from the incoming government.

The greenback was at 85.10 yen shortly after 0000 GMT, the first time above 85.00 yen since April 2011 and up from 84.78 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade on Tuesday.

The Japanese currency has been declining as incoming prime minister Shinzo Abe, whose Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide national election last week, steps up pressure on the central bank to take bold easing steps.

The dollar is likely to trade in a 84.50-85.30 range, with activity subdued amid fewer market participants due to the year-end holiday season, said Osao Iizuka, head of FX trading at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

"The bottom line is that the dollar will likely rise further next year amid expectations that the Fed will exit loose monetary policy earlier than the BoJ", he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Abe is to be named prime minister later Wednesday, after he swept to power on a hawkish platform of getting tough on diplomacy while fixing the economy with active fiscal spending and monetary easing.

On Sunday he threatened to change a law guaranteeing the central bank's independence if it did not agree to set a two-per cent inflation target, in a bid to drag the country out of the deflation that has haunted its economy for years.

Abe, who previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007, is expected to name Taro Aso, another former prime minister in Japan's revolving-door political system, as finance minister and his own deputy, reports said.

As prime minister in 2008-2009, Aso launched a series of economic stimulus packages worth hundreds of billions of dollars to prop up Japan's long-struggling economy.

- AFP/ck



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B S Yeddyurappa threatens to pull down Karnataka government

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BANGALORE: A day after the ruling BJP in Karnataka sacked 30 of his followers, former chief minister and Karnataka Janata Party president B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday threatened to destabilize the government. He said he would meet governor HR Bhardwaj with the request to ask the government to prove its majority.

"The government has been reduced to a minority. Chief minister Jagadish Shettar has no moral right to continue. I will apprise the governor of the situation," BSY told reporters in Mysore.

On Monday night, Shettar and state BJP chief KS Eshwarappa acted tough by sacking BSY followers, who were heading state-run boards and corporations, on charges of anti-party activities.

An upset BSY challenged Shettar stating that if the CM was confident of regaining power, he should dissolve the assembly and seek fresh mandate. "Let people decide who is fit enough to rule them," he said. "I will soon convene a meeting of my followers and decide the future course of action," BSY added.

BSY's plan to meet the governor is seen as a strategy to stall Shettar from presenting the budget.

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Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

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Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography

“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)

Humboldt squid are typically found in warmer waters farther south in theGulf of California (map) and off the coast ofPeru. “[But] we find them up north here during warmer water time periods,” said ocean sciences researcherKenneth Bruland with the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).

Coastal upwelling—when winds blowing south drive ocean circulation to bring cold, nutrient-rich waters up from the deep—ceases during the fall and winter and warmer water is found closer to shore. Bruland noted that climate change, and the resulting areas of low oxygen, “could be a major factor” in drawing jumbo squid north.

Published December 24, 2012

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Gunman Killed Firemen With Bushmaster, Left Note

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A convicted killer, who shot dead two firefighters with a Bushmaster assault rifle after leading them into an ambush when they responded to a house fire he set in Western New York, left behind a typewritten note saying he wanted to "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said.


William Spengler, 62, set his home and a car on fire early Monday morning with the intention of setting a trap to kill firefighters and to see "how much of the neighborhood I can burn down," according to the note he wrote and which police found at the scene. The note did not give a reason for his actions.


Spengler, who served 18 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981, hid Monday morning in a small ditch beside a tree overlooking the sleepy lakeside street in Webster, N.Y., where he lived with his sister, police said today in a news conference.


Police said they found remains in the house, believed to be that of the sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67.


As firefighters arrived on the scene after a 5:30 a.m. 911 call on the morning of Christmas Eve, Spengler opened fire on them with the Bushmaster, the same semi-automatic, military-style weapon used in the Dec. 14 rampage killing of 20 children in Newtown, Conn.




"This was a clear ambush on first responders… Spengler had armed himself heavily and taken area of cover," said Gerald Pickering, the chief of the Webster Police Department.


Armed with a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver, a Mossman 12-gauge shotgun, and the Bushmaster, Spengler killed two firefighters, and injured two more as well as an off-duty police officer at the scene.


As a convicted felon, Spengler could not legally own a firearm and police are investigating how he obtained the weapons.


One firefighter tried to take cover in his fire engine and was killed with a gunshot through the windshield, Pickering said.


Responding police engaged in a gunfight with Spengler, who ultimately died, likely by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.


As police engaged the gunman, more houses along Lake Ontario were engulfed, ultimately razing seven of them. Some 33 people in adjoining homes were displaced by the fire.


SWAT teams were forced to evacuate residents using armored vehicles.


Police identified the two slain firefighter as Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering, and Tomasz Kaczowka, who also worked as a 911 dispatcher.


Two other firefighters were wounded and remain the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y.


Joseph Hofsetter was shot once. He sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.


The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee.



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Son of late icon Kennedy rules out US Senate run

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WASHINGTON: A son of late political icon Edward Kennedy said Monday he will not run for the US Senate in Massachusetts -- the same state his father represented for nearly five decades -- US media reported.

Edward Kennedy Jr's brother, former US representative Patrick Kennedy, had said over the weekend that the health care lawyer was seriously considering running for the US Senate seat that John Kerry will vacate if he is confirmed as secretary of state.

But Kennedy Jr, who lives in neighboring Connecticut, denied in a statement that he was seeking public office in Massachusetts.

"Although I have a strong desire to serve in public office, I consider Connecticut to be my home, and I hope to have the honor to serve at another point in my future," the 51-year-old said in the text cited by CNN.

Kennedy, who also owns a house at his family's compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, said he was "extremely grateful for all the offers of support" of a potential run, and left the door open to running "at another point in my future."

A source familiar with his decision said Kennedy had ruled out a run because he did not want to uproot his family, did not feel right about moving from Connecticut to Massachusetts to run for the seat and Connecticut officials have urged him to stay for a later political campaign there, according to the Globe.

"He really wants to run," an unnamed family friend told CNN. "He just thinks this isn't the way to do it. Uprooting his family right now doesn't make sense."

If Kennedy had run, he likely would have had to face outgoing Republican Senator Scott Brown, who was defeated last month in his bid to be re-elected to the seat left vacant when the late Edward Kennedy died in 2009.

Just six weeks after Democratic consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren defeated Brown in the November election, President Barack Obama nominated Kerry on Friday to be his secretary of state.

If Kerry is confirmed in the post, Brown is expected to vie for his Senate seat. Among Democrats, US Representatives Michael Capuano and Ed Markey have hinted at a possible run.

-AFP/ac



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Govt draws up plan to revamp cyber security of critical sectors

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NEW DELHI: In its bid to meet the challenge of ever increasing cyber attacks and security in the virtual world, the government has set in motion a five-year project to revamp the entire cyber security apparatus of critical sectors in the country. In the past one year, India has suffered 13,000 cyber incidents.

The responsibility for the job has been vested in National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), the nodal agency to coordinate cyber security operations for critical infrastructures across the country. NCIIPC has prepared a five-year plan to completely revamp and integrate the cyber security apparatus of all critical infrastructure such as power, transportation, water, telecommunication and defence.

The agency, which is soon to be notified, further plans to set up sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) that will be connected to it. It will install sensors on all critical systems to give real-time information to its command and control centre about any cyber attack to formulate quick response.

The government has also defined clear mandates for NCIIPC and CERT-IN, which is also engaged in cyber security of national infrastructure. NCIIPC will only look after absolutely critical sectors that have high threat perception coupled with greater dependence on computer and information technology (CIT), while other sectors will be with CERT-IN. These sectors (with NCIIPC) have been identified as energy (power, coal, oil and natural gas), transportation (railways and civil aviation), banking and finance, telecom, defence, space, law enforcement and security.

Functioning under the aegis of National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), NCIIPC last Monday also organized the first national conference of chief information security officers (CISO) of critical sectors of the government.

Sources said this is part of the step to first create awareness and ensure setting up of a robust security system in all critical government agencies at their own level. The task has been divided into five phases. Once agencies set up their security infrastructure, it will be connected to NCIIPC.

"There are plans to open a Cyber Security Operation Centre, a 24/7 control room for real-time information and response and a National Institute of Critical Information Infrastructure Protection for training of CISOs. We will also issue daily cyber alerts," said NCIIPC director Muktesh Chander in a presentation.

Sources said this infrastructure will ensure that NCIIPC gets real-time information as soon as a cyber attack happens on any network, can quickly analyze different attacks and provide immediate response. "If the same virus attacks different systems, we will not have to analyze them separately and formulate different responses," said an official.

National security advisor Shivshankar Menon, who addressed the gathering, stressed on participation of the private sector and said, "The NCIIPC is setting up a joint working group with representatives of industry associations to bring out guidelines for protection of critical information infrastructure in India."

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

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Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter Institute

Mounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.

Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to.

"You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations," she said.

For example, the A. flavus fungi that she used to write this message from Santa grows very quickly. "The next day, after looking at this plate, it didn't say 'Ho Ho Ho.' It said 'blah blah blah,'" Mounaud said.

The message also eventually turned green, which was the color she was initially after. "It was a really nice green, which is what I was hoping for. But yellow will do," she said.

The hat was particularly challenging. The fungus used to create it "was troubling because at different temperatures it grows differently. The pigment in this one forms at room temperature but this type of growth needed higher temperatures," Mounaud said.

Not all fungus will grow nicely together. For example, in the hat, "N. fischeri [the brim and ball] did not want to play nice with the P. marneffei [red part of hat] ... so they remained slightly separated."

Published December 21, 2012

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4 Firefighters Shot, 2 Killed in NY 'Trap'

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A man who served nearly 17 years in jail for killing his grandmother set a house and car on fire this morning in upstate New York and then began shooting at emergency personnel who showed up, killing two firefighters, police said.


In all, William Spengler, 62, shot four firefighters, killing two and severely injuring two more after setting his "trap," police said.


An off-duty police officer from Greece, N.Y., who responded to the scene early in the morning of Christmas Eve also was injured today.


"It was a trap," said Webster, N.Y., Police Chief Gerald L. Pickering, "set by Mr. Spengler who laid in wait and shot first responders."


Spengler, who was released from prison in 1998, was found dead at the scene following a shootout with police. He was believed to have killed himself with a bullet to the head.


As a convicted felon, Spengler would not have been allowed to own guns legally. Police were working to determine the types of weapons he used and how he obtained them, Pickering said.


Spengler was convicted of manslaughter in 1981 for "beating his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer," according to state prison documents.


Several weapons were used, Pickering said, and, "probably a rifle was used to inflict wounds of the first responders.


"I know many people are going to be asking if they were assault rifles," Pickering said


There has been a week-long national debate about such weapons after one was used in a tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14.










Four firefighters, two on a ladder truck and two more in their own vehicles, responded to 911 calls around 5:30 a.m. Monday morning. Spengler is believed to have hidden behind an elevated berm, shooting down on the firefighters and later police.


"Upon arrival, all [the firefighters] drew fire. All four were shot on the scene," Pickering said. "One was able to flee the scene. The other three were pinned down."


Police believe Spengler's sister may have been inside the home, and that he set it on fire.


The blaze spread, engulfing three nearby homes and damaging three more on a sleepy street next to Lake Ontario that police described as a quiet vacation community. The fire was not put under control until late this afternoon.


SWAT team officers used an armored personnel carrier to evacuate 33 residents from homes in the area.


Among the dead firefighters was Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering. Chiapperini was a spokesman for the police department, ABC News affiliate WHAM reported.


Police identified the other firefighter killed as Tomasz Kaczowka, who also worked as a 911 dispatcher.


The chief, choking up, called the incident that shattered the quiet before 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning "terrible."


"People get up in the middle of the night to fight fires," he said. "They don't expect to get shot and killed."


Two surviving firefighters were in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. Both men were awake and breathing on their own after surgery and were in what doctors are calling "guarded condition."


Joseph Hofsetter was shot once. He sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.


The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee.


New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement calling the attack a "senseless act of violence" and the first responders "true heroes."



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Tea party stays on the sidelines as Obama, Republicans in Congress tackle fiscal cliff

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The tea party movement has been nearly invisible in the intensive lobbying campaign over the “fiscal cliff,” even as Congress and the White House debate the issues of government spending and national debt that are at the core of the movement’s identity.


In many ways, the tea party was made for this moment. The grass-roots opposition to President Obama’s agenda that arose in 2009 has been so focused on fiscal concerns that leaders once prevented speakers at tea party rallies from even discussing abortion and other social issues.


And in fact, it is the tea party that helped bring the country to this moment. The automatic spending cuts at the heart of the year-end fiscal cliff grew out of the tea party’s fierce campaign last year to slash federal budgets and cap government borrowing.

Yet as groups across the political spectrum seek to influence any deal to avert the cuts and tax increases set to kick in Jan. 1, the tea party has been unusually — and deliberately — quiet. Members still call and e-mail Congress but have held no rallies and done little lobbying.

When tea party leader Jenny Beth Martin recently journeyed to the Capitol from her Atlanta home, for example, she did not bring with her the bus loads of tea party members who once descended on Washington to rally for fiscal restraint.

As she toured the offices of several Republican House members, Martin barely brought up the fiscal cliff negotiations that could chart the nation’s budgetary future, according to Martin and congressional aides.

Her focus instead? Fighting over spending at the state level.

“We’re sitting back’’ on the fiscal cliff, said Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, the nation’s largest tea party group. Republicans in Congress, she said, “have proven they’re not going to listen to us,’’ adding that House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is a “cave man” for his willingness to consider tax increases.

Tea party activists say they feel despised by Democrats and ignored by Republicans, and they still resent the blame they received for last year’s debt ceiling crisis, in which tea-party backed lawmakers demanded deep spending cuts in return for increasing the federal borrowing limit and helped push the nation to the brink of default.

“We’re thinking, ‘instead of wasting our time with these people, maybe we should go home and actually enjoy our families for the holidays,’’ said Marianne Gasiecki, an Ohio tea party activist. “We’re saying, ‘You can’t blame us for this one.’ But they’ll blame us anyway. Someone has to be the scapegoat.’’

Unless members of Congress “are blind, deaf and dumb,’’ Gasiecki added, “there’s no way they could not have heard what’s been screamed at them for the past four years.’’

Indeed, the ideas advocated by the tea party — which helped propel concerns about federal spending and borrowing to the forefront of the national debate and fuel 2010’s Republican sweep of the House — still resonate in the GOP. An example, said conservative strategist Keith Appell, was the failure last week of Boehner’s “Plan B” legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff, which was doomed when conservative Republicans in the House declined to endorse a tax increase even on millionaires.

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Putin targets arms deals, doubling in trade on India trip

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NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to tighten defence ties with India and double levels of bilateral trade within three years as he headed to New Delhi for a summit on Monday.

Accompanied by several senior ministers and military officials, Putin will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a one-day visit designed to highlight the strong ties between two traditional allies and fellow BRICS.

"I would like to stress that deepening of friendship and cooperation with India is among the top priorities of our foreign policy," Putin wrote in an article for The Hindu, an Indian daily, ahead of his visit.

India is now the world's largest arms importer and Russian-made military equipment accounts for 70 percent of Indian arms supplies.

But while Russia once had a virtual monopoly over India's arms market, New Delhi has been shopping around of late and the visit is seen in Moscow as a chance to regain lost ground and develop joint projects.

"The strategic nature of partnership between India and Russia is witnessed by the unprecedented level of our military and technical cooperation," Putin wrote in his article, saying "the joint development of advanced armaments rather than just purchasing military products" would be key to future relations.

His comments echoed those of Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid who said Friday that "India is committed to strengthening and enhancing this relationship, both on economic and strategic ties".

"There is a lot of work in progress and a lot of issues and agreements will be taken up," he told reporters.

The Kremlin has said that a number of major contracts on military-technical cooperation would be inked during the visit -- Putin's first to South Asia since his return to the Kremlin in May.

Likely tie-ups are expected to involve Russia's Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer, including a $3.77 billion deal for 42 Su-30MKI fighters and a deal to produce the fifth generation Sukhoi fighter -- a joint Russia-India project, according to Igor Korotchenko, director of the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade.

Moscow has been worried recently by New Delhi's increasing preference for Western suppliers, especially after Boeing was chosen last month over Russia's MiL plant for a major helicopter contract.

India has also been unhappy with delays of deliveries of some naval equipment, notably of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which is being refurbished for the Indian Navy at Russia's Sevmash naval yard.

Russia was originally to deliver the upgraded vessel in August 2008, but the date has now been pushed back to the end of 2013, while the price has more than doubled to $2.3 billion.

According to Indian government figures, bilateral trade has been growing steadily and is expected to reach around $10 billion in 2012, up from $7.5 billion in 2009.

Putin set out a goal of doubling bilateral trade in just three years.

"Our trade turnover has overcome the consequences of global crisis, and in 2012 we expect to reach record numbers, over $10 billion. Our next goal is to reach $20 billion already by 2015," he said.

Russia and India are both so-called BRICS, the bloc of emerging powers which is seeking to act as a counterweight to Western powers and which also includes Brazil, China and South Africa.

India is hoping Russia will help it achieve its ambition of joining an expanded UN Security Council which currently only has five permanent members -- Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain.

The Kremlin said that Russia sees India "as one of the worthy and strong candidates for a permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council".

As well as his talks with Singh, Putin is also due to meet the ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and Sushma Swaraj, leader of the opposition BJP.

- AFP/al



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Sarv khap demands lok adalat status in Haryana

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ROHTAK: In the wake of growing rage among people following the Delhi rape case, Haryana sarv khap panchayat (SKP) on Sunday reiterated its demand to be recognized as a lok adalat, claiming that khaps were strong enough to deal with people accused in crime against women.

SKP spokesperson Om Prakash Mann, who had earlier raised the demand of lowering marriageable age of girls as a solution to rape cases in Haryana, stated that khap panchayats were capable of tackling such crimes if given the powers and status of courts like lok adalats.

Another khap leader, Katar Singh Sangwan stated that nobody would be allowed to violate the 'maryada' (limits) of the society in the name of individual freedom. "Young people should be imparted lessons in morality and ethics in schools and at home and khap panchayats too can play an important role in this process," he stated.

The two khap leaders, however, also demanded a stringent law to deal with such crimes. A Rohtak-based khap panchayat, Meham Chaubisi, has already announced to boycott any person involved in rape incidents.

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

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Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter Institute

Mounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.

Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to.

"You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations," she said.

For example, the A. flavus fungi that she used to write this message from Santa grows very quickly. "The next day, after looking at this plate, it didn't say 'Ho Ho Ho.' It said 'blah blah blah,'" Mounaud said.

The message also eventually turned green, which was the color she was initially after. "It was a really nice green, which is what I was hoping for. But yellow will do," she said.

The hat was particularly challenging. The fungus used to create it "was troubling because at different temperatures it grows differently. The pigment in this one forms at room temperature but this type of growth needed higher temperatures," Mounaud said.

Not all fungus will grow nicely together. For example, in the hat, "N. fischeri [the brim and ball] did not want to play nice with the P. marneffei [red part of hat] ... so they remained slightly separated."

Published December 21, 2012

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NRA Chief LaPierre: 'Call Me Crazy'

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National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre fired back at his critics today, defending his proposal to put armed guards in every school in the country as a way to prevent future tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six adults.


"If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy," the head of the powerful gun lobby said today on NBC's "Meet the Press."


LaPierre and the NRA came under harsh criticism this week for their response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.


After keeping silent for a week, except for a release announcing that the organization would make "meaningful contributions" to the search for answers to the problem of gun violence, LaPierre held what critics described as a "tone deaf" press conference in which he blamed the media, video games and Hollywood for the recent shootings, and suggested that the answer to gun violence was more guns.


Gun control advocates argue that a federal assault weapons ban is necessary to curbing gun violence. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who helped pass an assault weapons ban in 1996 is renewing efforts to pass similar legislation as the original ban expired in 2004.






PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images











National Rifle Association News Conference Interrupted by Protesters Watch Video











Critics Slam NRA for Proposing Armed School Guards Watch Video





"I think that is a phony piece of legislation and I do not believe it will pass for this reason: it's all built on lies," LaPierre said today.


LaPierre and many pro-gun advocates like him argue that assault weapons bans aren't effective and that violent criminals are solely to blame.


INFOGRAPHIC: Guns in America: By The Numbers


In today's interview, LaPierre pointed out that the Columbine High School shooting occurred after the assault weapons ban passed, but he failed to mention that the shooters obtained the guns they used illegally though a gun show.


He also did not discuss the fact that there was an armed guard on duty at the school when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people there before killing themselves.


Several senators watching LaPierre's interview had strong reactions.


"He says the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. What about stopping the bad guy from getting the gun in the first place?" said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on NBC's "Meet the Press."


Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was also on the show, said that he open to discussing increased school security but warned against a quick rush to ban assault weapons.


"I don't suggest we ban every movie with a gun in it and every video that's violent and I don't suggest that you take my right buy an AR-15 away from me because I don't think it will work," Graham said on NBC's "Meet the Press."


New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he didn't think having armed guards in schools was a good idea, though the Republican said he was "not commenting on the NRA proposal in particular."


"I am not someone who believes that having multiple, armed guards, in every school, is something that will enhance the learning environment, and that is our first responsibility inside a school, is the learning environment, you don't want to make this an armed camp for kids, I don't think that is a positive example for children," he said. "We should be able to figure out some other ways to enhance safety."


Earlier this week protesters from the group "Code Pink" snuck into the NRA press conference and held up a sign that read "NRA Blood on Your Hand."






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