Will Ron Paul win more delegates this week than Gingrich, Santorum?

Ron Paul is likely to win more delegates to the 2012 GOP convention than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum this week. Wait. What? That's why he campaigned in Maine this weekend.

This week, Ron Paul is likely to win more delegates to the 2012 GOP convention than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. In fact, he?s likely to win more delegates than Gingrich and Santorum combined.

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?Hold it?, you?re saying, ?How can that be? Rep. Paul?s polling in single digits in Florida. He?s going to finish behind Gingrich and Santorum, as well as Mitt Romney, in Tuesday?s Florida primary. How can that translate into beating any of his rivals at all??

We?ll tell you how ? because he?s not winning those delegates in Florida. He?s winning, or will probably win, at least a few delegates in Maine.

Paul took a quick two-day swing through Maine over the weekend, in case you didn?t notice. He met with GOP Gov. Paul LePage. He spoke to big crowds throughout the state ? in Lewiston, apparently, event organizers had to expand his conference room to handle the people who showed up.

He even landed the coveted L.L. Bean endorsement ? that's Linda Lorraine?Bean, heiress of the L.L. Bean empire and a lobster roll entrepreneur in her own right. She endorsed Paul on Saturday from her restaurant in the retail outlet mecca of Freeport.

Asked why she wasn?t supporting fellow New Englander Mitt Romney, Ms. Bean said ?I?ve always been for Ron Paul?, according to a statement posted on Paul?s campaign web site.

As we?ve previously reported, unnoticed by most of the DC-based political establishment, the Maine caucuses actually began this weekend. So Paul wasn?t in Maine just because he likes riding around in salt-crusted Suburus.

Most Maine towns will hold their caucuses during the state GOP?s preferred window of February 4-11. But ?most? doesn?t mean ?all?. Lincoln, Lowell, Burlington, Chester, Enfield, Winn, and Howland held their joint caucus on Saturday. Millinocket?s was on Sunday. And so forth.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/lB02Ix9QAh8/Will-Ron-Paul-win-more-delegates-this-week-than-Gingrich-Santorum

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How to watch Obama's Google+ 'Hangout'

Saul Loeb / AP

President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 24.

By Suzanne Choney

President Barack Obama does his first Google+ "Hangout" Monday at 2:30 PT/5:30 ET, and while questions for the live-streamed interview are now closed ? more than 228,000 people submitted questions ? you can still watch it online.

Google+, the social network that's trying to take on Facebook, limits Hangout participants to 10, but you can still watch and listen to the "Post-State of the Union conversation" on both the White House's Google+ page and on its YouTube channel. There's also the White House's regular website for watching the session, expected to go for 45 minutes.

Several just-regular folks will be among the 10 participants. The presidential digital town hall may be the first for Google's social network, but not for others. The president has also done similar events on Facebook and Twitter.

The questions were "submitted and ranked by the YouTube community and selected by Google," a Google spokeswoman said. (YouTube is also owned by Google.)

Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president, engineering, said on his own Google+ page that the "team is nervous tonight. A lot of unusual circumstances that make this broadcast even more challenging. (You just don't walk into the West Wing of the The White House and set up computer equipment!)"

Related stories:

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10271394-you-can-watch-obamas-google-hangout-monday

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GM CEO: No Apologies For Accepting U.S. Bailout

Michigan Radio:

Just a few years ago, America's auto industry was on the verge of collapse. When President Obama took office, he had to decide whether to bail out General Motors or let it die. He chose to send them a lifeline, to the tune of $50 billion. In this week's State of the Union speech, President Obama said that decision paid off.

"Today, General Motors is back on top as the world's No. 1 automaker," Obama said.

Read the whole story: Michigan Radio

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/gm-ceo-no-apologies-for-a_n_1240041.html

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Fireworks send Beijing air pollution soaring (AP)

BEIJING ? Clouds of smoke from Lunar New Year fireworks sent air pollution in Beijing soaring under a new more sensitive measurement system, reports said Sunday.

Readings of fine particulate matter called PM2.5 reached 1.593 milligrams per cubic meter on the Jan. 22 eve of the holiday, about 100 times worse than the amount considered good for 24-hour exposure, the city's environmental bureau said.

The reading drew wide publicity in the local media on Sunday. The popular Beijing Youth Daily praised the city government for taking a more critical look at air pollution, while urging residents to consider the environmental effects of setting off fireworks.

Readings on Saturday averaged around 0.07 before spiking again during the nightly new year fireworks barrage, hitting a height of 0.124 at 10 p.m.

Concern has grown over air pollution from automobiles and other sources, prompting the city this month to begin announcing measurements of PM2.5 ? particles less than 2.5 micrometers in size. That's about 1/30th the width of an average human hair.

Because of their small size, the particles can lodge deeply in the lungs and are believed to pose the greatest risk to health.

Beijing is frequently cloaked in yellow haze, with buildings a couple of blocks away barely visible. The city had previously only released readings of the coarser PM10 standard that indicated that pollution was "light," leading to accusations it was hiding the true extent of the problem.

The U.S. Embassy has been independently monitoring PM2.5 from a device on its rooftop and releasing the results via Twitter. Some residents even tested the air in their neighborhoods and posted the results online.

Beijing is now releasing hourly readings of PM2.5 that are taken from a monitoring site about 4 miles (7 kilometers) west of central Tiananmen Square.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_as/as_china_air_quality

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SAG Awards menu is months in the making (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? When your dinner party guests include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kate Winslet and Glenn Close, and the whole affair is televised live, it can take months to plan the menu. That's why the team behind the Screen Actors Guild Awards began putting together the plate for Sunday's ceremony months ago.

It was still summer when show producer Kathy Connell and director Jeff Margolis first sat down with chef Suzanne Goins of Los Angeles eatery Lucques with a tall order: Create a meal that is delicious at room temperature, looks beautiful on TV, is easy to eat and appeals to Hollywood tastes. Oh, and no poppyseeds, soups, spicy dishes, or piles of onions or garlic.

"It can't drip, stick in their teeth or be too heavy," Connell said. "We have to appease all palates."

The chef put together a plate of possibilities: Slow-roasted salmon with yellow beets, lamb with cous cous and spiced cauliflower and roasted root vegetables with quinoa. There was also a chopped chicken salad and another chicken dish with black beans.

To ensure the dishes are both tasty and TV-ready, Connell and Margolis, along with the show's florist and art director, dined together at this summertime lunch on tables set to replicate those that will be in the Shrine Exposition Center during the ceremony. The pewter, crushed-silk tablecloths and white lilies you'll see on TV Sunday were also chosen months ago.

The diners discussed the look of the plate, the size of the portions and the vegetarian possibilities.

"We'd like the portions a little larger," Connell told the chef.

"And a little more sauce on the salmon," Margolis added.

Come Sunday, it's up to Goins to prepare 1,200 of the long-planned meals for the A-list audience.

___

Online:

www.sagawards.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_en_mo/us_sag_awards_menu

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Scientists reveal how cholera bacterium gains a foothold in the gut

Public release date: 27-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Garner
david.garner@york.ac.uk
44-190-432-2153
University of York

A team of biologists at the University of York has made an important advance in our understanding of the way cholera attacks the body. The discovery could help scientists target treatments for the globally significant intestinal disease which kills more than 100,000 people every year.

The disease is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is able to colonise the intestine usually after consumption of contaminated water or food. Once infection is established, the bacterium secretes a toxin that causes watery diarrhoea and ultimately death if not treated rapidly. Colonisation of the intestine is difficult for incoming bacteria as they have to be highly competitive to gain a foothold among the trillions of other bacteria already in situ.

Scientists at York, led by Dr. Gavin Thomas in the University's Department of Biology, have investigated one of the important routes that V. cholerae uses to gain this foothold. To be able to grow in the intestine the bacterium harvests and then eats a sugar, called sialic acid, that is present on the surface of our gut cells.

Collaborators of the York group at the University of Delaware, USA, led by Professor Fidelma Boyd, had shown previously that eating sialic acid was important for the survival of V. cholerae in animal models, but the mechanism by which the bacteria recognise and take up the sialic was unknown.

The York research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), demonstrates that the pathogen uses a particular kind of transporter called a TRAP transporter to recognise sialic acid and take it up into the cell. The transporter has particular properties that are suited to scavenging the small amount of available sialic acid. The research also provided some important basic information about how TRAP transporters work in general.

The leader of the research in York, Dr. Gavin Thomas, said: "This work continues our discoveries of how bacteria that grow in our body exploit sialic acid for their survival and help us to take forward our efforts to design chemicals to inhibit these processes in different bacterial pathogens."

The research is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and was primarily the work of Dr Christopher Mulligan, a postdoctoral fellow in the Dr Thomas's laboratory.

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 27-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Garner
david.garner@york.ac.uk
44-190-432-2153
University of York

A team of biologists at the University of York has made an important advance in our understanding of the way cholera attacks the body. The discovery could help scientists target treatments for the globally significant intestinal disease which kills more than 100,000 people every year.

The disease is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is able to colonise the intestine usually after consumption of contaminated water or food. Once infection is established, the bacterium secretes a toxin that causes watery diarrhoea and ultimately death if not treated rapidly. Colonisation of the intestine is difficult for incoming bacteria as they have to be highly competitive to gain a foothold among the trillions of other bacteria already in situ.

Scientists at York, led by Dr. Gavin Thomas in the University's Department of Biology, have investigated one of the important routes that V. cholerae uses to gain this foothold. To be able to grow in the intestine the bacterium harvests and then eats a sugar, called sialic acid, that is present on the surface of our gut cells.

Collaborators of the York group at the University of Delaware, USA, led by Professor Fidelma Boyd, had shown previously that eating sialic acid was important for the survival of V. cholerae in animal models, but the mechanism by which the bacteria recognise and take up the sialic was unknown.

The York research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), demonstrates that the pathogen uses a particular kind of transporter called a TRAP transporter to recognise sialic acid and take it up into the cell. The transporter has particular properties that are suited to scavenging the small amount of available sialic acid. The research also provided some important basic information about how TRAP transporters work in general.

The leader of the research in York, Dr. Gavin Thomas, said: "This work continues our discoveries of how bacteria that grow in our body exploit sialic acid for their survival and help us to take forward our efforts to design chemicals to inhibit these processes in different bacterial pathogens."

The research is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and was primarily the work of Dr Christopher Mulligan, a postdoctoral fellow in the Dr Thomas's laboratory.

###

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[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uoy-srh012712.php

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This is getting nasty now

AP

Though the Cleveland Plain Dealer still has not acknowledged the move on its website (other than to finally remove his name and face from the roster), Tony Grossi no longer covers the Browns as a beat writer, following the accidental publication of a private Twitter message that called Browns owner Randy Lerner? (pictured) ?pathetic? and an ?irrelevant billionaire.?

Browns spokesman Neal Gulkis tells PFT that the Browns have no comment on the situation.

There?s still no evidence that the Browns pressured the Plain Dealer to make the move.? Per a source with knowledge of the situation, however, both Lerner and president Mike Holmgren refused to accept calls from Grossi after the message was posted and deleted.? We?re also told that a meeting occurred Wednesday between Plain Dealer publisher Terry Eggar and Holmgren.

The Plain Dealer has been nearly as silent as the Browns.? Managing editor Thom Fladung called the Kiley & Booms radio show on 92.3 The Fan this morning to explain the decision, and Fladung?s explanation was less than persuasive, in our opinion.

The decision to remove Grossi from the beat was driven by this ?determining factor? articulated by Fladung:? ?Don?t do something that affects your value as a journalist or the value of your newspaper or affects the perception of your value and the perception of that newspaper?s value.?

That?s a pretty broad ? and vague ? rule.? And that?s the kind of standard that gives a news organization the ability to do pretty much whatever it wants whenever it wants, because there?s pretty much always something to which someone can point as proof of ?something that affects your value as a journalist or the value of your newspaper or affects the perception of your value and the perception of that newspaper?s value.?

Making Fladung?s ?determining factor? even more confusing is the fact that he admitted that Grossi could have deliberately expressed a strong opinion about Lerner in a column published and printed in the Plain Dealer without conseqeuence.? ?Let?s say Tony had written that Randy Lerner?s lack of involvement with the Browns and their resulting disappointing records over the years has made him irrelevant as an owner, that?s defensible,? Fladung said.? ?That?s absolutely defensible.?

What?s indefensible is the failure of the Plain Dealer to acknowledge the fact that Grossi never intended to make the statements available for public view.? He fell victim to the subtle but significant differences between a ?direct message? (which is private) and a ?reply? (which is public) on Twitter.? It was an accident.? A mistake.

Let?s go back to the days of typewriters and shorthand, and let?s say that Grossi?s editor has two boxes on his desk.? One is for article submissions and one is for proposed topics.? And let?s say that Grossi scribbled out a scathing column about Lerner as a proposed topic, but Grossi accidentally put it in the box of actual submissions for print.

That?s the low-tech version of what happened here.? Grossi accidentally put his message in the wrong box.

So when Fladung says he ?felt very strongly? that the Twitter message ?was inappropriate and unprofessional and . . . it?s not the kind of opinion a journalist covering a beat can express,? Fladung presumes that Grossi actually intended to articulate that opinion to the world.? He didn?t.? It was inadvertently blurted out, like a temporary case of Twitter Tourette?s.

Some have suggested that the Twitter blunder provided the Plain Dealer with a vehicle for addressing pre-existing concerns regarding Grossi?s overall job performance.? Undercutting that theory was Fladung?s assertion during the radio interview that Grossi is a ?very good? and ?very successful? beat writer.

I?m continuing to write about this because it?s the kind of mistake that could happen to anyone, and everyone should be entitled to the benefit of the doubt in a case like this, especially when newspapers and other media companies want their writers to engage with the audience through various new technologies and platforms.? It also just ?feels? like an unjust result, whether because the Plain Dealer is being obtuse or because the Plain Dealer is cowering to the Browns or because the Browns are remaining deliberately silent in order to secure the preferred outcome of having Grossi removed from the beat.

Regardless, we?re disappointed in the Plain Dealer, in Fladung, in the Browns, in Lerner, and in Holmgren.? And we hope that one or more of them will snap out of it and do the right thing, or at least let the rest of us know in far more convincing fashion why they believe the right thing was done.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/26/irsay-calls-peyton-manning-a-politician/related/

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Lipe Aoi Blue is reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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Source: http://getglue.com/conversation/BLipe/2012-01-27T06%3A31%3A05Z

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Stock index futures signal mixed Wall Street open (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, the Dow Jones futures down 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.6 percent.

The U.S. Federal Reserve looks set to keep monetary policy on hold on Wednesday, even as it releases forecasts expected to show interest rates will be near zero for at least two more years.

Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) is offering $5.7 billion in cash to buy U.S. gene sequencing company Illumina Inc (ILMN.O) in a hostile takeover bid that marks a major play by the Swiss drugmaker into the gene technology field.

Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) quarterly results blew past Wall Street's expectations after U.S. consumers snapped up near-unprecedented numbers of iPhones and iPads, sending its shares up 8 percent into record territory. Apple shares listed in Frankfurt (AAPL.F) rose 6.6 percent.

U.S. President Barack Obama used his last State of the Union speech before the November election to paint himself as the champion of the middle class, by demanding higher taxes for millionaires and tight reins on Wall Street.

The Mortgage Bankers Association releases at 7 a.m. ET Weekly Mortgage Market Index for the week ended January 20, versus the prior week. The mortgage market index read 816.1 and the refinancing index was 4,500.6 in the previous week.

National Association of Realtors issues at 10 a.m. ET Pending Home Sales for December. Economists expect a 1.0 percent fall compared with a 7.3 percent rise in the previous month.

Nordic budget carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle (NWC.OL) ordered 222 narrow-body aircraft worth a total of $21.5 billion at list prices on Wednesday. It split its order between Boeing Corp (BA.N) and Airbus, part of EADS (EAD.PA).

U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) resumed work on Wednesday at its $15.7 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea, a spokeswoman said, a day after a landslide swept through two nearby villages killing at least four people.

United Technologies (UTX.N) announces results, which Wall Street expects will show profit rose to $1.46 per share from $1.31 per share. Textron (TXT.L) , the world's top maker of corporate aircraft, is expected to post a 3 percent rise in earnings, factoring out one-time items.

Boeing (BA.N), the world's largest aerospace and defense company, is set to report a sharp decline in fourth-quarter profit. Other companies announcing results include Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N), Automatic Data Processing (ADP.O) and Xerox (XRX.N).

European shares (.FTEU3) fell 0.6 percent on Wednesday, weighed by the tech sector after a sharp post-results decline for mobile telecoms network gear maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST).

U.S. stocks edged lower on Tuesday, ending a five-day rally for the S&P 500 (.SPX), as talks to resolve Greece's debt crisis hit a snag and earnings from a number of blue-chips disappointed investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) finished down 33.07 points, or 0.26 percent, at 12,675.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1.37 points, or 0.10 percent, at 1,314.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) rose 2.47 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,786.64.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Erica Billingham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Review: `Man on a Ledge' teeters on brink of blah (AP)

The so-called thriller "Man on a Ledge," about a disgraced cop who threatens to jump off a building to divert attention from a heist going on across the street, isn't even implausible in a fun way.

You see a movie like "Ocean's 11" or "Tower Heist" (which is thematically similar to this with its wily have-nots stealing from the filthy-rich haves) and you suspend some disbelief because they have an irresistible, knowingly giddy energy about them. "Man on a Ledge" is so cliched and reheated, it almost feels like a parody of a generic action picture ? only no one seems to be in on the joke.

Director Asger Leth's film plods along in workmanlike fashion with its trash-talking New York cops and its forensic evidence and its elaborate surveillance systems. Every few minutes, a new star you recognize shows up: Anthony Mackie, Edward Burns, Elizabeth Banks, Kyra Sedgwick, Ed Harris. Sometimes Leth points his camera through a hotel-room window and straight down to the ground below, just to provide a little rush of vertigo.

At the center of all this is a bland Sam Worthington doing a horrible job of disguising his Australian accent. He stars as Nick Cassidy, a fugitive who insists he was wrongly imprisoned for stealing a $40 million diamond from Harris' reptilian real-estate tycoon. As Nick teeters along a ledge on the 21st floor of the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan, stalling for time while toying with scarred police negotiator Lydia Mercer (Banks), Nick's brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and Joey's stereotypically saucy Latina girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) are trying to pull off a real burglary across the street.

How these blue-collar young folks in love have the skills, experience and an unlimited supply of equipment to rappel down elevator shafts and hang upside-down to circumvent a high-tech security system is never really explained. But it is eye-rollingly far-fetched. Since the script from Pablo F. Fenjves doesn't bother fleshing out these characters, you may not want to bother taxing yourself by caring. (At least Angie knew enough to wear a hot pink pushup bra and matching lace panties underneath her skin-tight body suit. Now that's planning.)

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, things are getting tense as trust is eroding. Seems some people involved here aren't telling the whole truth. Lydia barks into her walkie-talkie, "This is MY negotiation," and Nick shouts to the gawking masses below, "I am an innocent man!" Every once in a while Sedgwick shows up as a cynical TV news reporter named Suzie Morales ? and she hits that R in her last name hard as she's doing her live shots, a joke that's funny the first couple times, max.

All the familiar, obligatory pieces are in place, there's just never much tension. Or artistry. Or a sense of peril. Little things like that.

"Man on a Ledge," a Summit Entertainment release, is rated PG-13 for violence and brief strong language. Running time: 102 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

___

Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:

G ? General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG ? Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 ? Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.

R ? Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

NC-17 ? No one under 17 admitted.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_re/us_film_review_man_on_a_ledge

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Hundreds of homes ravaged by deadly Ala. storms

Violent weather roared across Alabama, injuring dozens of people and killing at least two. The Weather Channel's Eric Fisher reports.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Storms that spawned at least one twister were responsible for 2 deaths, more than 100 injuries and some 400 homes and buildings destroyed or damaged early Monday?in the area around Birmingham, Ala. -- less than a year after the?state saw 240 lives taken by tornadoes.

More than 200 homes were destroyed, the Red Cross said, and as many were damaged.

Jefferson County appeared hardest hit, especially the town of Clay, where the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado with 150-mph winds had struck.

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"We have major, major damage," said a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency official, Bob Ammons, in reference to the region.

Butch Dill / AP

This neighborhood in Trussville, Ala., was among those hit by a suspected tornado overnight.

Two people were confirmed killed in the county, and officials were looking at a report of a third death there as well.

In the town of Center Point, the elementary school was 80 percent destroyed and officials said it would have to be bulldozed, The Birmingham News reported.

Last April, massive tornadoes tore through Alabama killing 241 people, including 64 in the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa areas.

The storms flattened homes and peeled off roofs in the middle of the night in the rural community of Oak Grove. As dawn broke, residents surveyed the damage and began cleaning up across parts of central Alabama, an area that has a history of tornadoes going back decades.

In a sign that Alabama has become all too familiar with severe weather, officials had to reschedule a meeting Monday to receive a report on their response to?deadly twisters last spring.

At least two people are dead after an overnight storm in Alabama. NBC's Erika Edwards reports.

Alabama's governor declared a state of emergency for the entire state.

Oak Grove was hit hard?last April, though officials said none of the same neighborhoods was struck again.

Amber Butler and her family hid in her sister's brick home as the storm approached. Butler's own home was destroyed.

Butch Dill / AP

Rescue workers help a family out of their neighborhood in Trussville, Ala. on Monday.

"I am just so speechless now, I don't know what to do," she said. "God Bless our friends and neighbors who have come to help. We've lost everything we had."

Butler lived near 83-year-old Bobby Frank Sims, who was killed when his home was leveled by a tree.

In Clay, northeast of Birmingham, 16-year-old Christina Nicole Heichelbech died, the Jefferson County coroner's office said. Rescue workers said her parents were injured.

The storm system stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, producing hail, strong winds and rain. Possible tornadoes were reported in Arkansas on Sunday night.

In Alabama, searchers went door-to-door calling out to residents, many of whom were trapped by trees that crisscrossed their driveways.

Jefferson County, where Oak Grove and Clay are located, suffered the most damage, followed by Chilton County, with most of the damage around Maplesville.

Oak Grove, a sprawling unincorporated area in the western part of the county was nearly wiped out on April 8, 1998, by a powerful tornado that killed 34 people and left about 260 people injured. It spread a wide path of destruction that left much of the previously heavily wooded western section of the county looking barren. The tornado destroyed Oak Grove High School, which has been rebuilt.

This general section of Jefferson County has been infamous for destructive tornadoes dating back to the 1930s.

State Climatologist John Christy said there seems to be a general path from central Mississippi going into north Alabama that gets attention for a large number of tornadoes ? and their intensity. One theory has to do with the distance from the Gulf of Mexico, just far enough to be effected by cold air coming from the north.

"It's the frequency and intensity of the storms that tend to align on this corridor," said Christy, a professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.?

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
?

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10214424-3-people-killed-as-storms-sweep-through-alabama

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The next "Bachelorette": single mom Emily Maynard (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? ABC has announced Emily Maynard, the single mom who accepted Brad Womack's final rose in the season 15 finale of "The Bachelor," is single -- again -- and ready to mingle -- again -- on the eighth season of "The Bachelorette."

Maynard, the first single mom to star on "The Bachelorette," will have her choice of 25 bachelors on the show's upcoming season, which premieres in the spring.

Maynard is "hoping that third time is the charm," according to ABC's press release. Before her ill-fated engagement to Womack -- the two announced their breakup in June -- Maynard was engaged to NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, who died in a plane crash in 2004.

She was pregnant with their daughter, Ricki, now six, when Hendrick died, and is now hoping to meet "someone who makes her laugh, doesn't take himself too seriously and can be her best friend."

(Editing by Chris Michaud)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/tv_nm/us_bachelorette

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Mexican moms: We were duped into giving up kids

ZAPOPAN, Mexico?? Life seemed to give Karla Zepeda a break when a woman came to her dusty neighborhood of cinderblock homes and dirt roads looking for babies to photograph in an anti-abortion ad campaign.

The woman allegedly asked to use the 15-year-old's baby girl in a two-week photo shoot for $755 (10,000 pesos), a small fortune for a teen mother who earns $180 a month at a sandwich stand and shares a cramped, one-story house with her disabled mother, stepfather, and three brothers.

But 9-month-old Camila wasn't just posing for photographs when she was taken away.

Jalisco state investigators say the child was left for weeks at a time in the care of an Irish couple who had come to Ajijic, a town of cobblestone streets and gated communities 37 miles away, thinking they were adopting her.

Prosecutors say the baby was apparently part of an illegal adoption ring that ensnared destitute young Mexican women trying to earn more for their children and childless Irish couples desperate to become parents.

Camila and nine other children have been turned over to state officials who suspect they were being groomed for illegal adoptions.

And authorities hint that far more children could be involved: Lead investigator Blanca Barron told reporters the ring may have been operating for 20 years, though she gave no details. Prosecutors also say four of the children show signs of sexual abuse, though they gave no details on how or by whom.

Nine people have been detained, including two suspected leaders of the ring, but no one has yet been charged.

At least 15 Irish citizens have been questioned, the Jalisco state attorney general's office said, but officials have not released their names.

Neighbors say most or all have returned to Ireland after spending weeks or months in Ajijic trying to meet requirements for adopting a child. None was detained.

Mom: It 'seemed very normal'
For Karla Zepeda, the story began in August, when she was approached by Guadalupe Bosquez and agreed to lend her daughter for an anti-abortion advertising campaign, she told The Associated Press.

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Bosquez later returned with another woman, Silvia Soto, and gave her half the money as they picked the child up. She got the rest two weeks later when they brought Camila home.

"They showed me a poster that showed my girl with other babies and said 'No To Abortion, Yes To Life,'" said Karla, a petite girl cleaning her house to loud norteno music. "I thought it was legal because everything seemed very normal."

Before long, the message spread to her neighbors. Seven other women, most between the ages of 15 and 22, agreed to let their babies be part of the ad campaign.

Some already had several children. Some are single mothers. One of them doesn't know how to read or write. Five of them told the AP that they did not even have birth certificates for their babies when they came across Bosquez and Soto.

Story: Women held in Mexico-to-Ireland adoption racket

One said she needed money to pay for her child's medical care, another to finish building an extra room on her house.

All deny agreeing to give their children up for adoption.

"We're going through a nightmare," said Fernanda Montes, an 18-year-old housewife who said she took part to pay a $670 hospital bill from the birth of her 3-month-old. "How could we have trusted someone so evil?"

Babies given new clothes
The women say that Bosquez and Soto persuaded three of them to register their children as single mothers so they could participate in the anti-abortion campaign, even though they live with the children's fathers.

Children's rights activists say that also could have made it easier to release the child for adoption: Only the mother's signature would be needed.

The mothers were assured that the babies were being taken care of by several nannies and checked by doctors. The babies often returned home wearing new clothes.

Video: Mexican drug cartels target children (on this page)

Some of the mothers said they began having second thoughts. But when they declined to send their children back, they say, Bosquez and Soto insisted they would have to pay for the strollers, car seats, diaper bags and everything else they had bought for the babies.

Investigators say that Bosquez and Soto were taking the children to a hotel in Guadalajara, where they met with Irish couples who believed they were going to adopt them.

The plan began to unravel on Jan. 9, when local police detained 21-year-old Laura Carranza and accused her of trying to sell her 2-year-old daughter.

Slideshow: Narco culture permeates Mexico, leaks across border (on this page)

Investigators said Carranza denied that allegation, but acknowledged she was "renting" her 8-month-old son. She then led authorities to Bosquez and Soto.

Both are now being held on suspicion they ran the alleged anti-abortion ad campaign as a front for an illegal adoption ring. It was not clear if they have attorneys and they have not yet been brought before a judge to say if they accept or reject the allegations.

Carranza is also being held, as is Karla's mother, Cecilia Velazquez, who hasn't worked since she lost both legs in a traffic accident in 2010. Karla says her mother's only fault was agreeing to the ad campaign.

'Problems'
Seven of the mothers interviewed told the AP that the children had most recently been picked up by Bosquez and Soto between Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 for an alleged photo shoot. They returned the babies on Jan. 9 and 10, saying "there had been problems." The mothers said they didn't notice anything wrong with the babies or any signs of abuse.

Then state police investigators showed up at their homes and drove them and their children to the police department for questioning. The babies were taken from them and put into state protective custody. The women complained that only four of them have been allowed to see their babies since, and only once.

A statement from Jalisco state prosecutors' said authorities seized Carranza's two children from her and the other seven while they were with Irish couples. Prosecutors didn't respond to requests by the AP to clarify the discrepancy.

Residents of Ajijic, a town on the shore of Lake Chapala favored by American and Canadian retirees, say Irish citizens looking to adopt Mexican children began appearing there at least four years ago.

Jalisco state prosecutors' spokesman Lino Gonzalez wouldn't confirm the Irish had left, but said none had been charged with a crime.

Even if they had adopted the children, Ireland might not have accepted them because the adoptions were handled privately, Frances FitzGerald, Ireland's minister for children, said.

"Obviously, for any couple caught up in this, it's a nightmare scenario," she said.

"What you can't have in Mexico is people going to local agencies or individuals doing private adoptions because when they come back, there is going to be a difficulty," she added.

Prosecutors say they have been trying without success to reach the attorneys who were handling the adoption paperwork in the neighboring state of Colima.

Custody release statements signed by all of the mothers carry the logo of Lopez y Lopez Asociados, a firm owned by Carlos Lopez Valenzuela and his son, Carlos Lopez Castellanos. Authorities raided their home last week.

The release statements were shown to the AP by a local advocate for missing and stolen children, Juan Manuel Estrada of Fundacion FIND, who said they had been leaked to him by a state official. He said Lopez Valenzuela had separately sent him a lengthy statement by email declaring that he too may have been duped in the case and denying wrongdoing.

Prosecutors wouldn't confirm the authenticity of that statement, but it mirrors the stories of seven mothers who were interviewed by the AP.

Cheating 'very easy'
According to the statement, Lopez said he had handled adoptions in Colima state for 63 Irish couples since 2004. He said he first met Bosquez when she approached him in 2009 about giving her own unborn child up for adoption to an Irish couple, a process, he wrote, that was completed legally.

The statement said that Bosquez also introduced Lopez to a social worker and together they brought him the current case involving Zepeda and the other women from Zapopan, apparently hoping he could match the children to adopting couples.

It says Lopez was told the mothers wanted only to deal with the two women, and he agreed. The young mothers confirmed they never met Lopez.

Lopez didn't respond to emailed interview requests from the AP.

According to the statement, Lopez said he follows the stringent adoption laws set by the Hague Adoption Convention, which Mexico has signed.

Unlike Guatemala or China, Mexico has not been a popular destination for foreigners looking to adopt, perhaps because the process, done by law, is complicated.

"The legal adoption process in Mexico is difficult, but cheating in Mexico is very easy," Estrada said.

Associated Press writer Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46101549/ns/world_news-europe/

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Katy Perry Re-Releasing Teenage Dream With New Tunes

The Complete Confection will feature tracks that didn't make it on the original album.
By Jocelyn Vena

Katy Perry's <i>Teenage Dream</i>
Photo: Capitol Records

gave fans their Teenage Dream when she dropped the album back in 2010, and now fans should expect to experience a bit of déjà vu.

The singer will drop a re-release of the album on March 13. Playing up the album's sugary-sweet imagery, it will be called Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection. While little else is known about what will appear on the album, producer Tricky Stewart did shed some light on the project when he spoke to MTV News last fall. He teased that several tracks that didn't make the final cut for Teenage Dream were being reworked for this project.

"Katy and I went into [the studio] just to address some issues with records that we had done in the past that didn't end up going on Teenage Dream," he said in October. "So we are in the process of just listening and freshening up things and getting ready for something special she has going on."

While the track listing for the re-release is still unknown, Tricky did shed light on one particular song. "This song is really special. It's called 'Dressing Up,' so it's going to be a big record, I think," he said. "It definitely fits. It's right there in what her sensibilities are as a musician and a songwriter. She doesn't change much. She has a very keen musical taste. It'll be really good."

"We always knew that the records we created were special [and] at the time it was more contractual obligation [that they didn't make the record]," he added. "I can only have so many songs produced by me on the record. She didn't need to have extra songs at the same time."

In addition to the new album news, Katy tweeted about ending her California Dreams Tour over the weekend in Manila. She dedicated the last show to a fan who had committed suicide. "I hope you're finding peace up there on that pink cotton candy cloud. I dedicate this last show to u, sweet dreams angel #RIPKatyCatAllie," she tweeted.

Perry is expected to next appear at the Grammy Awards, where she is up for two awards.

Are you excited for the re-release of Teenage Dream? Sound off in the comments!

Related Artists

• Katy Perry

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677702/katy-perry-teenage-dream-new-tunes.jhtml

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Video: From the Archives: Barack Obama is Inaugurated

January 20, 2009: ?At 12:00 noon Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American to hold the office.? NBC's Brian Williams reports.? ????

Related Links:

http://twitter.com/nbcnightlynews

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46073516/

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Paul Szep: The Daily Szep -- Vulture Capitalist

"; var coords = [-5, -78]; if( HPConfig.current_vertical_name == 'homepage' ) { coords = [-5, -70]; } else if( HPConfig.current_vertical_name == 'mapquest' ) { coords = [-5, -68]; } FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

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Ice shuts Seattle airport, 100,000 lose power

wsdot.wa.gov

This traffic camera image from Thursday morning shows crews pulling a tractor-trailer from a ditch along Interstate 5 just north of downtown Seattle, Wash.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

SEATTLE -- A day after a major Pacific storm covered Washington state in snow, the Seattle area woke up to a new menace: an ice storm that by late morning had claimed the life of a man killed by a falling tree.

The?area's main airport had to be shut down for de-icing and at least 100,000 homes and businesses were without power. Some commuters gingerly tried to make it to work as a freezing rain iced over roads, but others stayed home.

Several major roads were cut off by fallen trees weighed down by ice and snow.?Near Issaquah, a suburb east of Seattle, a man on his ATV was hit by a falling tree, NBC affiliate KING5.com reported.

Gov. Christine Gregoire declared a state of emergency by late morning, a move that would allow her to deploy National Guard troops if needed.

---

The National Weather Service used the Emergency Alert System to break into Thursday morning broadcasts with an ice storm warning until noon for the Seattle area and southwest Washington. That was later extended to 2 p.m.

Forecasters expect up to 0.4 inch of ice before temperatures rise above freezing by afternoon.

Time lapse video shows the snow falling Wednesday on Seattle.

Downed trees also led to the outages, and many customers?might not see power back until Saturday.

Sea-Tac Airport closed early Thursday so that its three runways could be de-iced. One runway later reopened, but several airlines reported flight cancellations.

At Snoqualmie Pass just east of Seattle, Interstate 90 was closing Thursday morning for avalanche control.

Freezing rain and ice pellets caused numerous accidents in the Seattle area, where drivers are mostly inexperienced with driving in snow or ice. The last widespread freezing rain in Seattle was in December 1996, said meteorologist Jeff Michalski at the Weather Service office in Seattle.

On Wednesday, downtown Seattle saw two inches of snow but Olympia, the state capital, got 11 inches and other areas were also in double digits.

The Washington State Patrol said it responded to more than 700 accidents on Wednesday.

It may not have been the disaster some were predicting, but the winter storm shut down much of the region. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

Thursday's forecast was for a mix of snow and rain, and the Weather Service warned that urban and small stream flooding was possible Friday, when another, albeit milder,?storm was expected to hit the state. Rain and temperatures in the 40s would start melting snow on the ground.

STORY: Child drowns, mom presumed dead in storm

The National Weather Service also issued flood warnings for several Oregon rivers and several roads were closed because of flooding in Salem.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/19/10190486-ice-shuts-seattle-airport-100000-lose-power

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In bid to unseat Wisconsin governor, wither the challengers? (Reuters)

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) ? Critics of Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker showed on Tuesday how unpopular he is with many voters, filing more than 1 million signed petitions -- nearly twice the number needed -- to force the first-term Republican to defend himself in a special election.

On Wednesday, they faced what is likely to be a harder task: finding a Democrat who can beat the battle-tested 44-year-old.

"There is no single preeminent candidate," said Charles Franklin, a political scientist and visiting professor of law and public policy at Marquette University, said of the Democrats who might challenge Walker, who gained a national following in leading a successful push to curb Wisconsin's public unions.

Although some Democrats have hinted in recent weeks they might be interested in running against Walker in a recall, so far no one with a marquee name has committed to what is sure to be a bruising fight. No date has been set for the election.

On Wednesday, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced her candidacy. But Falk, who governs the county that encompasses Madison, the state's capital, is viewed by the Wisconsin political insiders as a weak candidate given her past political losses and her liberal fiscal platform.

Due to those factors, political analysts say Falk will almost certainly have company. Other Democrats mentioned as possible candidates have included Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, former congressman David Obey and State Senator Tim Cullen.

None has the cachet of Russ Feingold, the former Democratic senator popular among progressives. But an effort last summer to draft Feingold fizzled when he announced he was not interested.

"Polling shows that (Walker) has one of the highest name recognitions in the country among active governors," Franklin said. "None of the Democrats are at that same level of name recognition and familiarity."

In November, 2010, Walker defeated Barrett in the governor's election by 52 to 46 percent -- a margin of 124,000 votes out of 2.13 million cast.

A Democratic primary, needed if more than one Democratic challenger enters the fray, could divert time and money from the fight against Walker, who set off a firestorm by curtailing the collective bargaining rights of unionized public workers.

A weak Democratic candidate, and a Democratic loss in the special election, could have implications for President Obama's reelection hopes.

Indeed, a Walker triumph in a special election could turn Wisconsin, currently a battleground state, into a GOP stronghold, according to Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics and a professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

"If Walker is reelected and Republicans are energized because of this, that will have an impact in the presidential race," Sabato said. "I bet if the White House had their druthers the recall would not be happening."

Organizers of the drive to recall Walker submitted what appeared to be more than enough signatures on Tuesday to trigger the special election.

Sabato said that shows the polarizing effect Walker and his agenda has had on the state.

"The hatred for Scott Walker on the Democratic side is white hot and that is what generated the one million signatures and that is what gives them a great base," said Sabato.

Walker has remained undeterred during his tumultuous first year as governor. During the passage of collective bargaining legislation, the governor pressed on even in the wake of massive protests at the Capitol each day.

When 14 Democratic state senators left the state in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to deny the Republican-controlled body a quorum and halt action on the proposals, Walker and his allies engineered passage without them.

"He was in a bunker mentality very quickly in February of his first term and maybe having survived that may make a more resilient politician now," said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.

The Republican hold on the state legislature has also survived the political storm kicked up by the collective bargaining reforms, which Walker and his allies defended as necessary to address a gaping budget hole.

Although six Republican state senators were forced to defend their seats in special recall elections this summer, only two lost their seats. As a result, Republicans held onto a razor thin majority, 17-16, in the Senate.

In addition to Walker, four Republicans Senators, including Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, are facing the possibility of recall elections in a second round of special elections triggered by the union fight.

Officials at the state's Government Accountability Board said last week they may need more than 60 days to verify the signatures submitted on Tuesday. Currently, the law requires the process to be completed in 31 days.

According to a Government Accountability Board report, processing recall petitions will cost the state more than $650,000. The total cost of recall elections for the state and municipalities may be more than $9 million, according to estimates from board officials.

(Editing by James Kelleher and Peter Bohan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/pl_nm/us_wisconsin_recall_democrats

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Timothy D. Slekar: Dear Ed Schultz

Dear Ed,

Thanks for exposing the problems being confronted by the Chester Upland School District in Pennsylvania. As you have pointed out, this is really an issue that goes much deeper than a school in financial trouble. This is a school that serves the "least among us." The schools in the district have inadequate resources and inadequate facilities. As Jonathan Kozol pointed out over 20 years ago this is a "savage inequality."

I also commend you for pointing out that the main reason for the financial troubles faced by Chester Upland SD -- the district is forced to divert from its budget $36.3 million dollars to local Charter schools.

But the biggest light you've brought to this story is the nasty little truth that our governor was financed by the owner of the charter schools. Gov. Corbett received $300,000 from Vahan Gureghian.

However, as important as this story is to the people of the Chester Upland community, you have only scraped the surface of a nasty campaign designed to dismantle the American public school system. Corbett is no different than Walker, Christie, Scott, and all the other Republican governors that were elected in 2010. Look deeper into each of these governors' campaign contributions. They all have money from private interests that want the public school system in this country dismantled. Why?

Look at the story of Chester Upland: $36.3 million dollars have been siphoned from the taxpayers and given to private interests. Ed, this is the real story, and it is happening all over the country.

Our public school system is by no means perfect but it rests on a perfect foundational ideal -- a free and equitable education for all! However, instead of being committed to making this ideal a reality, corporate education reform foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation and Walton Foundation and individuals like Vahan Gureghian and Betsy DeVos have decided that this little experiment in equality needs to be ended. No more! Instead, through the smokescreen of NCLB, these reformers have convinced many Americans that our public school system is failing.

According to the reformers, our public schools are run by lazy and overpaid teachers and administrators who squander away the future of their students. The corporate reformers also use pseudo science (standardized test scores and value added measures of effectiveness) as propaganda to make the so-called "objective" case that, despite the money invested, American students are falling behind according to international test score comparisons.

The problem with this narrative is that it is propaganda. It is being used to cover up the real problem faced by children in American public schools -- poverty. In fact, once you control (compare apples to apples) for poverty, American students score as well as or even better than their international peers.

This is just a quick glimpse of the most misrepresented national story. Please read anything from Diane Ravitch, Deborah Meier, Alfie Kohn, Anthony Cody, Marion Brady and others. They will lay out the real story -- public education is under attack by the 1 percent in this country. And they are winning.

We could really use your help, Ed. The battle between Chester Upland School District and Gov. Corbett is just a glimpse into the strategic dismantling taking place across the entirety of the American public school system.

Sincerely,

Tim

?

Follow Timothy D. Slekar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/slekar

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-d-slekar/dear-ed-shultz_b_1214669.html

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China's challenge to the iPad raises a red flag (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? China Communist Party members can now carry a tablet PC to verify identification cards, read the blogs of cadres and manage state-owned firms without fretting that using a bourgeois Apple Inc iPad will ruin their street cred.

Enter RedPad Number One, an Android-based tablet computer filled with software applications (apps) catered to a party official's every need for control. Delivered in a decadent leather case for 9,999 yuan ($1,600), it is twice the price of Apple's most expensive iPad 2.

The eye-popping price has China's microblogs alight with chatter over just why this device is so expensive and who is footing the bill.

"Is it the god of toys? Why don't they throw in a free iPad with it," said Looperrr on Weibo, Sina Corp's, microblogging platform.

RedPad Number One spokesman Liu Xianri said in an interview with the Southern Daily on Wednesday that sales of the tablet were completely market driven.

"We are looking to compete against the foreign brands," Liu said in response to a question on whether public funds may be used to buy the RedPad.

RedPad's price was high, Liu said, because of the number of pre-installed apps that cater to bureaucrats and state-owned company managers.

For example, it has apps that allow users to check the validity of a journalist's government accreditation as well as read state-run newspapers and microblogs.

But an online survey on Thursday showed that more than 2,000 netizens believed that the RedPad was meant to be a symbol of privilege, while another 1,500 thought its purpose is to fleece taxpayers.

"After reading all the articles about this, I am impressed," said microblogger Xixizhiniu. "What an honor it is for you, the taxpayer, that you place a 9,999 yuan into the hands of the leaders!"

(http://www.91wenwen.net/vote/result/966)

(Additional reporting by Sabrina Mao in BEIJING; Editing by Ed Lane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/wr_nm/us_china_redpad

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Stocks: Greek debt talks in focus

Click the chart for more premarket data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks are gearing up for a higher open Wednesday as investors await the outcome of a key meeting on Greece's debt crisis.

S&P 500 (SPX), Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were roughly 0.4% higherl. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

All eyes are on the financial fate of Greece, as foreign officials reconvene to decide how big a writedown private investors are willing to take on the country's bonds. Greek government officials and the group representing private sector investors and banks are resuming talks, after briefly pausing late last week.

A two-year German bond auction drew strong demand, boosting sentiment about Europe's debt crisis.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street earnings parade continues with Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) reporting before the opening bell. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Goldman to post earnings of $1.24 per share, down sharply from the $3.79 reported a year earlier.

On Tuesday, Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) missed earnings estimates, while results from Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) came in line with expectations. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) are scheduled to release their results on Thursday.

U.S. stocks started the week higher Tuesday, as investors welcomed several signs of improving global economic growth.

World markets: European stocks are slightly higher in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) ticked up 0.1%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany rose 0.6% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) added 0.5%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) fell 1.4%, while the Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong rose 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei (N225) increased 1%.

Companies: Late Tuesday, Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) announced that co-founder Jerry Yang has resigned from the board of directors and all other positions at the company. Yahoo shares rose 3.7% in premarket trading.

Shares of Carnival (CCL) rose 3% in premarket trading, after falling14% the day before. The cruise line operator said it may suffer a more than $100 million hit to its profit from the grounding of the Costa Concordia.

Economy: The government will release new data on producer prices and industrial production Wednesday.

Producer prices are expected to have ticked up 0.1% in December, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com. Industrial production is expected to have increased by 0.5%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.

Oil for February delivery rose 81 cents to $101.52 a barrel.

Gold futures for February delivery rose 80 cents to $1,656.40 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 1.86% from 1.85% late Tuesday. ?

First Published: January 18, 2012: 6:15 AM ET

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_latest/~3/KF7rTHE61BM/index.htm

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Why Nobel Laureates Are Getting Older

Advances | More Science See Inside

Scientists are making major discoveries at more advanced ages than in the past

By Zo? Corbyn and Nature magazine ?| January 16, 2012?|

Image: Ted Spiegel/Corbis

Albert Einstein once commented that ?a person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so.? This may have been an accurate reflection of physics in his time, but it is no longer the case?for physics or any other field. Benjamin Jones, an expert in innovation at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and Bruce Weinberg of Ohio State University analyzed 525 Nobel Prizes awarded in physics, chemistry and medicine between 1900 and 2008. With a few exceptions?notably quantum mechanics discoveries of the 1920s and 1930s?the trend across all fields is toward researchers being older when they produce their greatest work.? ?

To explain the aging effect, Jones and Weinberg suggest a shift from theoretical work, in which youngsters do better, toward experimental work, which requires aggregation of knowledge. They also believe that as fields expand, it may take longer to accumulate the knowledge necessary to make a novel contribution. ?

Those younger than 30 need not despair, though. The anomaly of quantum physics suggests that, in the case of a scientific revolution where established knowledge can be a hindrance rather than a help, the trend might reverse. ?If there are future revolutions out there, it may make people younger yet again,? Jones remarks.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=72b6b99c5dca468b92b5537c2f816787

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Romney says he may release tax returns in April (AP)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. ? Under pressure, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he might be willing to release his tax returns.

But not until April, if then, and the multimillionaire former businessman is not getting much gratitude from his rivals for his grudging change of heart.

"If there's nothing there, why is he waiting till April?" former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told reporters.

Romney seemed hesitant when confronted about the tax returns in a Republican debate Monday night, first sidestepping calls from his rivals to release his records, then acknowledging later that he'd follow the lead of previous presidential candidates.

"I have nothing in them that suggests there's any problem and I'm happy to do so," he said. "I sort of feel like we're showing a lot of exposure at this point," he added.

Romney, the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination after back-to-back wins in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, was under fire from Gingrich and fellow GOP rivals Rick Perry, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum in Monday night's debate as they sought to knock him off stride.

The five will meet again in debate in Charleston Thursday night, the last time they will share a stage before Saturday's South Carolina primary.

The first Southern primary could prove decisive in the volatile contest. Gingrich has virtually conceded that a victory for Romney in South Carolina would assure his nomination as Democratic President Barack Obama's Republican rival in the fall, and none of the other remaining contenders has challenged that conclusion.

That only elevated the stakes for Monday night's debate. It was feisty from the outset, with the attacks on Romney often couched in anti-Obama rhetoric.

"We need to satisfy the country that whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to Barack Obama in a very effective way," said Gingrich.

The five men on stage also sought to outdo one another in calling for lower taxes. Texas Rep. Ron Paul won that competition handily, saying he thought the top personal tax rate should be zero.

In South Carolina, a state with a heavy military presence, the tone turned muscular at times.

Gingrich drew strong applause when he said: "Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear idea about America's enemies. Kill them."

Perry also won favor from the crowd when he said the Obama administration had overreacted in its criticism of the Marines who were videotaped urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Gingrich and Perry led the assault against Romney's record at Bain Capital, a private equity firm that bought companies and sought to remake them into more competitive enterprises, with uneven results.

"There was a pattern in some companies ... of leaving them with enormous debt and then within a year or two or three having them go broke," Gingrich said. "I think that's something he ought to answer."

Perry referred to a steel mill in Georgetown, S.C. where, he said, "Bain swept in, they picked that company over and a lot of people lost jobs there."

Romney said the steel industry was battered by unfair competition from China. As for other firms, he said, "Four of the companies that we invested in ... ended up today having some 120,000 jobs." And he acknowledged, "Some of the businesses we invested in were not successful and lost jobs."

It was Perry who challenged Romney to release his income tax returns. The Texas governor said he has already done so, and Gingrich has said he will do likewise later in the week.

"Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money. ... We cannot fire our nominee in September. We need to know now," Perry said.

Later, a debate moderator pressed Romney on releasing his tax returns. His response meandered.

"If that's been the tradition I'm not opposed to doing that," Romney said. "Time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I'm going to get asked to do that in the April time period and I'll keep that open."

Prodded again, he said, "If I become our nominee ... what's happened in history is people have released them in about April of the coming year, and that's probably what I'd do."

April is long after the South Carolina primary and the Republican nomination could easily be all but decided by then, following Super Tuesday contests around the country in March.

Santorum stayed away from the clash over taxes, instead launching a dispute of his own. He said a campaign group supporting Romney has been attacking him for supporting voter rights for convicted felons, and asked Romney what his position was on the issue.

Romney initially ducked a direct answer, preferring to ask Santorum if the ad was accurate.

He then said he doesn't believe convicted violent felons should have the right to vote, even after serving their terms. Santorum instantly said that as governor of Massachusetts, Romney hadn't made any attempt to change a law that permitted convicted felons to vote while still on parole, a law the former Pennsylvania senator said was more liberal than the one he has been assailed for supporting.

Romney replied that as a Republican governor, he was confronted with a legislature that was heavily Democratic and held a different position.

He also reminded Santorum that candidates have no control over the campaign groups that have played a pivotal role in the race to date.

"It is inaccurate," Santorum said of the ad assailing him. "I would go out and say: `Stop it. That you're representing me and you're representing my campaign. Stop it.'"

That issue returned more than an hour later, when Gingrich said he too has faced false attacks from the same group that is criticizing Santorum. He noted that Romney says he lacks sway over the group, "which makes you wonder how much influence he would have if he were president."

Romney said he hoped no group would run inaccurate ads, and he said the organization backing Gingrich was airing a commercial that is so false that "it's probably the biggest hoax since Bigfoot."

He called for scuttling the current system of campaign finance laws to permit individuals to donate as much money as they want to the candidates of their choice.

Noting that the debate was occurring on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, one moderator asked Gingrich if his previous statements about poor children lacking a work ethic were "insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans."

"No," Gingrich said emphatically, adding his aim was to break dependence on government programs. "I'm going to continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn to get a better job and learn someday to own the job," he said.

Romney is the leader in the public opinion polls in South Carolina, although his rivals hope the state's 9.9 percent unemployment rate and the presence of large numbers of socially conservative evangelical voters will allow one of them to slip by him.

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Associated Press writer Dave Espo contributed to this report.

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Follow Shannon McCaffrey at http://www.twitter.com/smccaffrey13

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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