patricio polyunsaturate: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

GOP's Bachmann limps to Iowa caucus finish line

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. speaks during a campaign stop at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. greets a supporter at a campaign stop at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun, right, arrives with Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. for a campaign stop at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is limping toward Tuesday's Iowa presidential caucuses.

She's losing staff. She's faced calls for her to abandon her bid. And she has no money.

Yet, the Minnesota congresswoman, at the back of the pack in polls, is vowing to soldier on, even if that means her candidacy will split the vote of pivotal conservatives in Iowa and allow for victories by a candidate who isn't seen as adhering as strongly to GOP orthodoxy ? like Mitt Romney or Ron Paul.

"Nobody's working harder," Bachmann says, declaring her campaign "strong" and suggesting that sheer hustle will carry her to victory.

Regarded as a tea party heroine, the only woman in the Republican race has struggled to revive her campaign since her standing dropped shortly after she won a statewide test vote in Iowa. That turned out to be the high point of her campaign.

She's spent the final week before Iowa's caucuses on a bus tour of the state's 99 counties. On Thursday, she passed around pieces of cake to diners in the town of Nevada to mark the end of the tour that had her cramming in 10 or more meet-and-greets a day in cafes, bowling alleys and pizza shops. Sometimes the crowds barely registered double digits; in other places they spilled out the doors.

But instead of ending the exhausting sprint on a high note, Bachmann found herself facing a new reality: Rick Santorum was the conservative candidate whose standing was rising ahead of the caucuses, not her.

She also found herself feuding with high-level advisers, only the latest to abandon her.

Two top Iowa advisers left the campaign on successive days this week, with her state chairman, Kent Sorenson, quitting and then going so far as to endorse Paul within hours of campaigning with her. A day later, Wes Enos said he was leaving his job as Bachmann's political director.

Furious, Bachmann spent much of Thursday accusing Sorenson of switching allegiances for money. He denied it. But the candidate found herself in a daylong spat rather than hammering home her closing message to voters.

To some, it was another sign of a campaign in free-fall.

"If you can't get your campaign on one page, it's really hard to think you're going to get a country on one page. The timing is horrible," said veteran Iowa Republican strategist David Roederer, who is unaffiliated in this year's race but held top Iowa posts in John McCain's 2008 campaign and George W. Bush's 2000 bid.

It didn't help that the departures came on top of calls by some Iowa pastors that either she or Santorum leave the race so evangelical voters can consolidate their support and block a victory by Romney or Paul. She quickly rejected the plea.

Brad Cranston, a pastor from Burlington who originally liked the idea of a merged campaign, said he's given up on that prospect and will stick with Bachmann. So will Pastor Bill Tvedt of Oskaloosa, even if he knows her chances of winning have taken a hit.

"Maybe she is out of the running at this point," Tvedt said. "I think she can come back. To bail out on the basis of electability is self-defeating to the process."

But even if she stays in the race through Tuesday, it's doubtful she could sustain a campaign beyond that.

Despite her reputation as a prolific fundraiser, she's virtually out of money. Bachmann didn't air a single TV ad in December and won't broadcast one until the day before the caucuses.

Instead, she's rolling out Internet videos, like the one she filmed this week that cast her as the "Iron Lady" of the 21st century.

And she's urging Republicans on the fence to ignore her stagnant or slipping poll numbers ? and Santorum's rise.

It's unclear whether she's having any luck.

Recent college graduate Adam Fischer sized up Bachmann in central Iowa and liked her solidly conservative voting record, but he said he may still opt for Santorum.

"I don't want to become subject to that poll mentality because that's what gets us weak candidates," Fischer said. Then he acknowledged that the one with the head of steam come Tuesday will probably get his vote.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-30-Bachmann-Turmoil/id-7b4c9f4957d145cfa99b8bc5c5008622

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Vt. reopens last highway destroyed by Irene

Chad Poston of VTrans moves a sign on Route 107 in Bethel, Vt. in preparation for its reopening, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. The state highway is the last to reopen after being washed out by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Irene. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

One of the first vehicles travels on Route 107 after it reopened Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 in Bethel, Vt. The state highway is the last to reopen after being closed by flooding. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Workers install guard rails on Route 107 in Bethel, Vt. in preparation for its reopening Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. The state highway is the last to reopen after being washed out by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Irene. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

A sign advises drivers on Route 107 in Bethel, Vt., in preparation for its reopening Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. The state highway is the last to reopen after being washed out by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Irene. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2011 photo, an excavator works in the White River in Stockbridge, Vt. State officials are going to mark the reopening of Vermont Route 107, the last state highway closed by flooding from tropical storm Irene to reopen. It marks the completion of the Herculean task of getting Vermont going again after Irene. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

STOCKBRIDGE, Vt. (AP) ? After hundreds of thousands of tons of rock were hauled out and tens of thousands of man-hours were spent, Vermont celebrated the completion of the biggest single engineering challenge following the flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Irene.

Just in time for the new year, and four months after the storm hit, Route 107 between Bethel and Stockbridge was reopened Thursday. The state highway, a major east-west thoroughfare, is the last to reopen after being closed by flooding.

The road's reopening was marked with a ceremony at a Stockbridge school, where scores of local residents and state officials tossed fluorescent orange baseball caps into the air.

"It will cut our commute time down, it will lessen our trauma of looking at all the damage and the moonscape," said Stockbridge resident Melissa Thompson, who had to navigate a 70-minute detour to get her son to school and to get to work for the past few months. "We'll probably miss all the flaggers (who) we got to know on the way. It just means so much to us to not have to make that commute every day."

Much remains to be done on Route 107 and across the state, but Vermonters used the reopening as a moment to pause and celebrate. Many people are still struggling to rebuild their homes and their lives. The state is just totaling up the bill, and the Legislature is preparing to deal with a variety of Irene-induced, long-term challenges.

The repair of Route 107 posed one of the biggest tests following the storm that left a dozen towns cut off from the outside world for days, damaged or destroyed more than 500 miles of roads and 200 bridges, killed six and reshaped much of the low-lying countryside.

Irene ripped up Vermont on Aug. 28. The downtowns of communities from Whitingham in southern Vermont to Waterbury, just west of Montpelier, were flooded to levels not seen since the state's epic flood of 1927.

Neale Lunderville, the state's appointed chief recovery officer, said it would be years before many Vermont families are back to what he calls "a new normal."

"If we want to have a robust recovery and one that brings us back to a place where we are stronger, smarter and safer than before Irene, we have to continue to remember what Irene did and what we need to do to recover from that," Lunderville said. "It's going to take a concerted effort and ongoing attention at high levels in order for us to have a really strong recovery."

The stretch of highway between Bethel and Stockbridge is one of the state's major east-west arteries, and sections of the highway were part of the riverbank where the road and the White River pass through a narrow cut in the Green Mountains. Irene's run through Vermont funneled record volumes of water through that narrow pass, where it tore riverbanks to pieces.

"All of a sudden the road ended and then we were looking at river and mud and what used to be huge sheets of asphalt that had shifted into the river," said Maine Army National Guard Capt. Norman Stickney, of Gardiner, who arrived five days after the storm. "It was like something fell from the sky and completely crushed all of the asphalt and scooped it away and dumped it into the river."

In the three-mile section of road that was hardest hit, about 4,000 feet of Route 107 was completely gone, said Vermont Transportation Agency Engineer Eric Foster, who oversaw the rebuilding of the highway. A job that would normally take two years was done in 119 days after the first work crews ? the soldiers from the Maine National Guard and other states ? arrived.

In addition to the guard, it took two contractors, 250,000 tons of rock, at least 20,000 hours of heavy equipment time, 7,500 feet of guardrail, 38 culverts and 46 companies over 16 weeks to repair the highway, according to information provided by the Vermont Transportation Agency.

The biggest challenge was getting the rocks and other fill material to Bethel. A special "rock train" was used to bring fill from distant quarries before it was unloaded a couple of miles from the work site. The train saved an estimated 6,600 truck trips.

In other parts of the state, officials have said some of the repairs done on the fly to get traffic moving again might have to be redone. That's not the case for Route 107.

The roadway was built with layers of different sized rock and the banks sloped to withstand another Irene, said Glenn Cairns, of the Windham, N.H., contractor George Cairns and Sons, which brought its specialized equipment ? excavators and dump trucks that are up to twice the size of those usually found on Vermont highway projects.

It's designed to withstand another "Irene, plus two feet," said Foster.

Both Stickney and Cairn said they were amazed by how grateful Vermonters were despite the challenges they faced.

"Even though these people, their lives were turned upside down, they were friendly," Cairns said. "They really didn't mind sitting in traffic waiting for us ? the hardship that they went through and everybody was just thankful and waved and smiled.

"They went through a lot. I could understand how they could be bitter, 'Why isn't my road back together?' But I've got to say the people were just extremely friendly and welcoming."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-29-Irene-Last%20Highway/id-5c1eda950b9542348f6f7ea1a86fcda3

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California nurses strike against cutbacks and concessions

Cecilia Gasparian (second from left)

Some 6,000 nurses in California went on a one-day strike on Thursday December 22. The nurses are demanding decent staffing levels, health benefits, and sick leave.

The protest affected eight for-profit San Francisco Hospitals, all owned by Sutter Corporation, and the Long Beach Children?s Hospital complex in Southern California, also privately operated but not by Sutter. At the Long Beach protest, nurses were also demanding lifting teams for heavy patients and regular breaks.

As in previous struggles, by limiting the protest to a one-day strike at a few hospitals, the nurses unions, the California Nurses Association and the National Nurses United, are paving the way for givebacks and defeats.

Both hospital corporations responded to the protest by punishing the nurses for their job action?in Long Beach by locking them out until Tuesday, December 27, and until Saturday for Sutter nurses. The hospitals enforced the lockout on the pretext that they could not hire replacement nurses for only one day.

Spokespersons for Sutter attempted to minimize the impact of the protest, claiming that more than half the nurses had not participated in the strike in hospitals in Antioch and Castro Valley, but gave no precise numbers.

The California strike took place a day after nurses in New York City demonstrated in Wall Street against Cerberus Capital Management, whose health care company, Steward, has engaged in aggressive cost cutting since acquiring hospitals in Massachusetts. One thousand New York City nurses intend to strike on January 3.

On September 22, Sutter hospital nurses also walked out, together with nurses employed by the Kaiser Permanente HMO and Oakland?s Children Hospital.

On Thursday, in Long Beach, hundreds of nurses picketed the Long Beach Memorial Center.

At a noon rally, dozens of police were present, in addition to a beefed up force of security officers. Helicopters flying overhead supported the police force. One nurse who spoke to the World Socialist Web Site denounced it as a ?criminalization of nursing.?

Tensions were high when, following the rally, the pickets attempted to enter the hospital and were pushed back by the private security force.

Nurses estimated that the cost of extra security and strikebreaking nurses most likely exceeded the cost of agreeing to the nurses? demands.

The picketers carried signs that demanded rest breaks for nurses, adequate patient-to-nurse ratios, and the elevation of patients before profits.

For the LBMC management, state-mandated nurse to patient ratios are being obeyed by forcing nurses to work 12-hour shifts, often through their lunch and rest breaks.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to Cecilia Gasparian and Mar?a Caro, both cardiac care nurses.

?Our patient to nurse ratio in the Interventional Coronary Care Unit is 3:1, but we cannot refuse extra patients in an emergency,? Cecilia said. ?That is ground for termination. We do file an objection, for our protection and for the protection of the patients. For management, money comes before patients; it is profits that count.?

Mar?a Caro

Mar?a pointed out that there is a surplus of nurses in California. However, the hospitals resist calling in or hiring extra nurses: ?Nurses have been furloughed while other nurses are forced to work through their breaks,? said Mar?a. ?Over the summer, nurses were furloughed for about 30 days. That is one reason why we feel so strongly about ratios.?

Another major issue at LBMC is the lack of lifting teams to move heavy patients.

?They have four people; they call it a team,? said Mar?a. ?That is not enough for a hospital this size. Most of the time, it is up to us to lift and turn people, no matter what their size. Management thinks that this is safe. Safe for whom? All this lifting and turning takes a physical toll. A patient that is not turned can get bed sores, blood clots, even pneumonia.?

?Management puts a price on the care of the patient,? Mar?a added. ?In my 20 years of nursing, the profit motive has always been there. The difference is that today they are cutting to the bone.?

Cutbacks have resulted in the speed-up of nursing and the discharge of patients who are not profitable the hospital.

?I have attended meetings in which nurses are told to push patients out whose insurance coverage had run out,? Cecilia said. ?For the hospital it is about profits. We became nurses to heal people, not for profits.?

As an example Mar?a recounted the case of a patient with spina bifida, a serious condition of the spine, who at age twenty-one was transitioned from state benefits for children and teenagers and left with no insurance. At one point she developed a spinal infection that required expensive surgery to repair and could not afford the surgery.

?This is all tied together, the one percent is benefiting. They can afford to get the most advanced therapies. They end up living better and longer than those without insurance and that cannot afford to pay.?

?Even when patients get medical care, they often cannot afford the medication. Yet at every point someone is getting rich out of this.?

Many of the nurses are now sole supporters of their families after the layoff of their spouses and other family members.

Thursday?s protest is a reflection of that experience. ?We are in an economic crisis,? said Cecilia, ?We cannot tolerate the rich getting richer. We became nurses because we love the human race, not getting rich.?

The California Nurses Association and the National Nurses United are keeping the struggle at the level of isolated one-day protests at a few hospitals. The aim of the unions is to let off steam while they negotiate concessions with the companies.

The protest in New York and California take place in the context of a national assault on health care. Driving the attack on nurses and health care workers by hospitals and clinics across the nation is the Obama administration. As part of the health care reforms imposed by the Obama administration and the Democratic Party Congress, each of the nation?s 5700 hospitals are expected to reduce costs by an average of .6 million over the next ten years.

In California, the attack on health care is now being led by the administration of Jerry Brown, also a Democrat. Both big business parties are united in their insistence that workers pay for the budget deficit and the economic crisis. The trade unions, including the nurses unions, support Brown and are determined to keep the struggle of workers from coming into conflict with the Democratic Party and the capitalist profit system they defend.

Source: http://socialequality.com/content/california-nurses-strike-against-cutbacks-and-concessions

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Russia slams US for its human rights record

MOSCOW (AP) ? Russia's Foreign Ministry has attacked America's human rights record in its first report on injustice elsewhere in the world, offering examples such as the Guantanamo Bay prison and wrongful death row convictions to paint the U.S. as hypocritical for lecturing other nations on the subject of rights.

"The situation in the United States is a far cry from the ideals that Washington proclaims," says the report released Wednesday.

Moscow has previously reacted angrily to the accusations of human rights breaches that the U.S. State Department has leveled at Russia in its annual reports. The State Department has expressed concern about the violent attacks on rights activists and journalists in Russia, most of which go unpunished. It also has criticized abuses in Russia's Caucasus, including extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and torture.

The 90-page Russian report slams EU nations, Canada and Georgia, but reserves its longest section of 20 pages for what it says are violations by the United States. The report does not cover Asia, Africa or the Middle East, other than a five-page section criticizing the NATO operation in Libya.

Moscow laments the ongoing operation of the "notorious" prison in Guantanamo Bay, where terrorism suspects have been held since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and criticizes President Barack Obama for "legalizing indefinite and extrajudicial custody and the return of court martials."

The report accuses the U.S. of prying into citizens' personal lives and violating the rights of Muslim Americans in the fight against terrorism. It also points to errors made by American courts.

"Judicial errors are the Achilles heel of American justice as concerns capital punishment," the report argues. It notes the roughly 130 people sentenced to death in the past 30 years who were later cleared of the charges, some after they were executed.

The Foreign Ministry also struck back at international criticism of Russia's recent parliamentary election, which independent observers said involved widespread fraud. Outrage over the vote set off a spate of protests led by citizens unhappy with Vladimir Putin's rule.

The report accuses the U.S. of blocking independent candidates from elections and criticizes the practice of allowing governors to nominate senators when a Senate seat is vacated, as when Obama became president. It refers to the conviction this year of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was accused of trying to auction off Obama's Senate seat.

The State Department is reviewing the Russian report, spokesman Mark Toner said. He said such reports can be a "useful mechanism provided that they are produced using objective methodology."

"We certainly don't regard it as interference in our internal affairs when foreign governments, individuals or organizations comment on or criticize U.S. human rights practices," he said, adding later, "In terms of our human rights record, we're an open book."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-28-EU-Russia-US-Human-Rights/id-c073958c097041eea5175849722eb93e

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Travellers on London's Underground network face disruption as drivers belonging to the union Aslef stage a 24-hour strike.

The dispute is over the union's demand for extra pay for its members working on the public holiday.

London Underground says it will work to make sure as many services as possible will operate.

The strike is expected to affect shoppers heading for the Boxing Day sales and football fans.

Arsenal have already moved their Premier League game with Wolves to 27 December because of the strike, but Chelsea's game with Fulham goes ahead at Stamford Bridge.

The BBC's Daniel Boettcher says Aslef has argued that choosing to work on Boxing Day should be voluntary and drivers who agree to do so should be paid extra as well as getting a day off in lieu.

London Underground says it has a long-standing agreement with all of its trade unions covering bank holidays and this applies to Boxing Day.

It has described the demand for additional payment as outrageous and last week challenged Aslef's strike ballot in the High Court saying it was unlawful as the vote included drivers who were not rostered to work on Boxing Day.

But a High Court judge, Mr Justice Eder, said the disruption caused because of the strike was "regrettable" but the strike was "inevitable".

"I do not consider that the fact that the ballot included persons who would not themselves go on strike renders the ballot held in breach of (legislation)," he added.

Transport for London says the strike is likely to cause significant disruption for passengers trying to get to sporting fixtures, Boxing Day sales or travelling to work.

But it says it is trying to get as many services as possible to run - and will lay on extra buses in busy shopping areas.

If there there is no resolution to this dispute in the New Year, the union plans three more 24-hour strikes in January and February.

Aslef members plan to walk out again on 16 January, 3 February and 13 February over the same issues.

Services were severely disrupted on Boxing Day last year when drivers walked out over the "long-running" dispute.

Harvard Citation

BBC News, 2011. Boxing Day Tube strike: Shoppers face delays. [Online] (Updated 25 Dec 2011)
Available at: http://www.londonwired.co.uk/news.php/213220-Boxing-Day-Tube-strike-Shoppers-face-delays [Accessed 27th December 2011]

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5663232289

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

State senator aims to double lobby fee in California -- to 14 cents a day

California's 1,000 registered lobbyists are so influential they're known as the "The Third House." Many work from gleaming office towers that overshadow the state Capitol dome, making it look like just so much cheese for the snatching.

Yet the price of such unmatched access is barely a bar tab -- just $25 in lobbying registration fees a year -- when some states charge up to $1,000.

Now, a Bay Area lawmaker is arguing that needs to change. State Sen. Leland Yee is proposing to double fees that now amount to just 7 cents a day -- and until last year were only half that. "It's one of the hidden secrets of lobbying," Yee said.

The San Francisco Democrat is seizing an opportune moment to propose his legislation next month. Cal-Access -- the website that reveals the money behind politics, including campaign contributions and lobbying trails -- has been on the blink for weeks. And Yee wants lobbyists to help fix it by raising fees for only the second time since 1974.

Backed by the government watchdog group Common Cause, Yee's bill would increase lobbying fees to $100 each two-year legislative session -- up from the current $50. The funds would add $50,000 to maintain California's political database.

It's too early to tell whether the Third House will use its political heft to beat back the bill. Although the Secretary of State raised fees -- from $12.50 to $25 a year -- in the last legislative session, lobbyists successfully

stymied another proposal for a more dramatic hike in 2010. A ballot initiative that year would have charged lobbying firms an annual $350 to pay for publicly financed elections for the Secretary of State post.

In an email, the president of the Institute of Governmental Advocates, Christina Dillon DiCaro, said her lobbying group for the lobbyists is so far reserving judgment, until the bill is formally introduced next year. But she did note: "While we fully support public access to campaign finance and lobbying reports, to ask the lobbying community alone to fund upgrades to the system is not the solution, as there are many other affected parties who benefit from the use of Cal-Access."

The current site, designed in 1999 in the state that is home to the most modern tech wizardry, has been mostly dysfunctional since Nov. 30. The California Automated Lobbying and Campaign Contribution and Expenditure Search System is the apparent victim of a disk array controller suffering from a "physical memory failure," state officials report.

Citizen watchdog groups are irate. But lobbyists, too, are lamenting the downed site. They use the information to devise strategy and advise clients on who's throwing money where. And in early discussions with Yee's office, they have not been wholly opposed to contributing more to the site's upkeep -- amounts that are little more than pocket change for those working at the multimillion-dollar firms.

"We've talked to a number of lobbyists, and they also agree it's high time to increase it," Yee said. "Given the problems with Cal-Access, they'll be fine with the bill."

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, states from Alabama to Alaska charge $100 a year, compared with California's $25. Despite the influence peddling long endemic in Illinois, lobbyists there pay $300 a year and as much as $1,000 annually in Massachusetts.

Ray LeBov, a California registered lobbyist since 1992 who trains other lobbyists, said his initial reaction to Yee's bill proposal is that "it seems reasonable."

LeBov and other lobbyists opposed the last attempt to raise lobbying fees, arguing that the profession was being singled out for disproportionate increases. But "in this instance," LeBov said, "you have an outdated system of vital public importance, and this would help ensure raising the necessary funding to make it functional."

Contact Karen de S? at 408-920-5781.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_19619569?source=rss

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Video: LeBron shines on NBA opening day

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Published Monday, Dec. 26, 2011 5:49PM EST

Last updated Monday, Dec. 26, 2011 5:54PM EST

LeBron James had 37 points as Miami beat Dallas in one of five season-opening games on Christmas. The Knicks edged Boston by two points. Chicago topped the Lakers by one point. The Thunder beat the Magic, and Chris Paul led the Clippers to a win.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Front/~3/j6cjxmdfekA/

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Little Help from His Friends (TIME)

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Monday, December 26, 2011

WINTER SPORTS TRIBUTE: Lightning boys basketball

BROOMFIELD, Colo. -

The keyword for the Lightning this year was transition.

First-year head coach Darren Clemenhagen was leading a squad with a new look that was adjusting to the loss of its standout, Trevor Noonan, who graduated and moved on to the Air Force Falcons.

"Trevor left a pretty big hole," Clemenhagen said. "He did a lot for this team, so now we need to get players stepping up to fill that hole."

Players being able to make the transition and step up was Clemenhagen's key to the season's success. He planned to rely heavily on the offensive production and leadership of senior Nick Noffsinger. Last season, he was Legacy's second leading scorer behind Noonan

The outside shooting of Jade Roberts also was expected to bolster the Lightning offense. The junior started the last five games of last season and was deadly accurate beyond the arc.

The Lightning this year also finally got to see transfer senior Walter Cooper in action. After transferring from Denver East, Cooper was forced to sit out most of last season because of Colorado High School Activities Association regulations.

The Lightning stayed on a roll for much of the season, making a Cinderella run for the Front Range League title. The fairy tale ended, however, on Feb. 17 when Legacy fell 73-48 to undefeated and top-ranked Fairview. Prior to that game, Legacy had won 14 of its past 15 games.

Legacy fell behind early, but made a valiant effort at making a run at Fairview.

The team got as close as nine points in its 18-point second period, turning to its inside game out of necessity. Roberts was particularly potent, rattling off six of his 11 points in the period fighting through a crowded lane.

Roberts and Cooper (10 points) each broke into double digits.

"In the first half, we showed some glimpse of being able to attack (Fairview)," coach Clemenhagen said. "But by the third quarter our kids were so mentally fatigued that you could see it."

Losing out on the title didn't mean Legacy would miss out on the postseason. The Lightning beat Horizon 57-52 in their first-round game, before falling 42-55 to Heritage in the second round.

Source: http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/ci_12796684?source=rss_viewed

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Kim Jong Il's son strengthens power with new post

PYONGYANG, North Korea?? North Korea identified Kim Jong Il's son as head of a top ruling party body Monday, a post that gives him authority over political matters in addition to the military control attributed to him in recent days.

Kim Jong Un has rapidly gained prominence since the death of his father on Dec. 17, with the state media showering new titles on him almost daily.

On Saturday, state media referred to the younger Kim as "supreme leader" of North Korea's 1.2 million-strong armed forces and said the military's top leaders had pledged their loyalty to him. On Monday, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper described him as head of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party ? a post that appears to make him the top official in the ruling party.

Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea for 17 years, wielded power as head of three main state organs: the Workers' Party, the Korean People's Army and the National Defense Commission. His father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung remains the nation's "eternal president" long after his 1994 death.

The Kim family has extended its control over the country of 24 million people to a third generation with Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and was revealed last year as his father's choice among three sons for successor.

He was named a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party, but was expected to ascend to new military and political posts while being groomed to become the next leader.

Monday's reference to his new title was in commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Workers' Party, urging soldiers to dedicate their lives "to protect the party's Central Committee headed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un." The editorial called on the people to become "eternal revolutionary comrades" with Kim Jong Un, "the sun of the 21st century."

The language echoed slogans used years ago to rally support for Kim Jong Il, and made clear the son is quickly moving toward leadership of the Workers' Party, one of the country's highest positions, in addition to the military.

North Korea refers to Kim Il Sung as the "sun" of the nation and his birthday is celebrated as the "Day of the Sun," and state media have sought to emphasize Kim Jong Un's role in carrying out the Kim family legacy throughout his succession movement.

His titles are slight variations of those held by his father, but appear to carry the same weight. It was unclear whether the nation's constitution had been changed to reflect the transfer of leadership as when Kim Jong Il took power after his father's death.

A day earlier, state TV showed footage of Kim Jong Un's uncle and key patron, Jang Song Thaek, in a military uniform with a general's insignia. It was the first time that Jang, who was promoted last year to vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party along with Kim Jong Un, was shown on state TV in military garb.

The death of Kim Jong Il
1. Report: Red skies, stormy seas marked Kim's death
2. Circumstances of Kim Jong Il's death fabricated?
3. Politics trump hunger in N.Korea
4. Slideshow: The life of Kim Jong ll
5. Source: Military coup in N. Korea 'unlikely'
6. NYT: In Kim's death, an extensive intelligence failure
7. Cartoons: The life and death of Kim Jong Il
8. Analysis: Opportunities, dangers loom over N. Korea
9. Even in death, details of Kim Jong Il's life elusive
10. Kim Jong Il remembered as 'Team America' star

Mourning continued, meanwhile, despite frigid winter weather, in the final days before Kim Jong Il's funeral is set to take place Wednesday and a memorial Thursday.

People continued lining up Monday in central Kim Il Sung Square, where a massive portrait that usually features Kim Il Sung has been replaced by one of Kim Jong Il, to bow before his smiling image and to lay funereal flowers. Heated buses stood by to give mourners a respite from the cold, and hot tea and water were distributed from beverage kiosks.

South Koreans were among the mourners in Pyongyang. The widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, who held a landmark summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, whose late husband had ties to the North, each led delegations that drove across the heavily fortified border to Pyongyang.

They were greeted by North Korean officials during a stop at a factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, according to footage from AP Television News in North Korea. North Korea sent delegations to Seoul when the women's husbands died.

Meanwhile, a South Korean activist was also in Pyongyang to pay respects to Kim Jong Il but without South Korean government permission, her colleagues said in a statement. For South Koreans, making unauthorized trips to North Korea is punishable by up to three years in prison, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.

The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the three-year Korean war ended in a truce in 1953, not a peace treaty.

___

Associated Press writers Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim and Jiyoung Won in Seoul, South Korea, and AP Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee, contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean and twitter.com/APKlug.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45788339/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Johnson, Teahan lead No. 12 Kansas over USC 63-47 (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Elijah Johnson scored 14 points, Conner Teahan added 13 and No. 12 Kansas bounced back from a surprising loss to beat Southern Cal 63-47 on Thursday night.

Thomas Robinson had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Tyshawn Taylor added 10 points and nine assists for the Jayhawks (8-3), who suffered an 80-74 home loss to Davidson on Monday.

There would be no upset in this one.

The Jayhawks overcame a sluggish start in their first true road game of the season with a strong defensive effort, forcing 18 turnovers that led to 18 points.

Aaron Fuller scored 19 points for USC (5-8), which shot 34.7 percent from the field.

Neither team was sharp in the early minutes, combining to miss 15 of 21 shots. The Jayhawks' defense eventually wore down USC and they slowly built their lead.

Trailing 10-8, Teahan gave the Jayhawks the lead for good with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. After Byron Wesley made a runner for USC, the Jayhawks closed the half with a 12-1 run.

Elijah Johnson had a steal and layup, Taylor was fouled while making a layup and hit the free throws, and Jeff Withey hit a pair from the line. Robinson then stole the ball at midcourt and drove in for an empathic dunk to make it 22-12.

Teahan hit another 3 as Kansas took a 25-13 lead into halftime.

USC's first half was rather forgettable. The Trojans shot 22.7 percent, settling for mostly for long-range jumpers. They had as many turnovers (13) as they did points.

Robinson, held to four points on four shots in the first half, had a jumper, layup and a dunk on consecutive possessions to extend the lead to 52-30 after halftime, much to the delight of the pro-Kansas crowd.

The Jayhawks had played five games away from Allen Fieldhouse coming in, all on neutral courts.

Jones, USC's top scorer, shot 1 of 7 in the half.

Kansas won its seventh consecutive game in the series.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkc_t25_kansas_usc

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UNICEF calls for global action to help malnourished children in Africa?s Sahel

By BNO News

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday urged for global action to prevent the severe malnourishment of as many as one million children in West and Central Africa's Sahel region.

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said "the challenge is great and the window is closing," noting the vast size of the region. "To prevent a wide-scale emergency in the Sahel, UNICEF and our partners in this effort must begin at once to fill the pipeline with life-sustaining supplies to the region before it is too late," Lake stated.

A significant number of children are already suffering from malnutrition in the Sahel, making them extremely vulnerable and susceptible to any reduction in the quantity and nutritional quality of the food they consume.

Lake also underlined the urgency to act before the 'lean season' when food runs out due to inadequate rain or poor harvests, which can start as early as March in some of the countries across the Sahelian belt.

The UNICEF chief pointed out that the best way to treat severe acute malnutrition among children under five is to distribute specially developed ready-to-use therapeutic foods. These foods provide the best chance of survival and recovery for young children.

The biggest challenge, however, is getting sufficient amounts of these critical foods to children as the need is expected to increase further in the coming months. "The children at risk today in the Sahel are not mere statistics by which we may measure the magnitude of a potential humanitarian disaster. They are individual girls and boys, and each has the right to survive, to thrive and to contribute to their societies. We must not fail them," Lake said.

Earlier this month, UNICEF appealed for $65.7 million to respond to the crisis. It is currently distributing emergency stocks in affected countries such as Niger, where an estimated 33,600 children under the age of five are at risk.

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 10:49 pm | BNO News | Leave a Comment

Source: http://wireupdate.com/unicef-calls-for-global-action-to-help-malnourished-children-in-africas-sahel.html

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

eBlogs: Wedding Colors - by Charissa Bear - Kindle Edition. http://t.co/9aJgqXyN

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Kim Jong Il's Most Dangerous Legacy: A Thriving Nuclear-Export Business (Time.com)

Kim Jong Il's death leaves the Korean peninsula and the rest of East Asia in a period of great uncertainty. But one of Kim Jong Il's most dangerous legacies has security implications well beyond the region: he leaves behind a thriving nuclear weapons export business that must now be stopped.

There has been mounting evidence in recent years that North Korea has set up an illicit nuclear export business to Syria, Iran and potentially elsewhere. Syria's Al-Kibar nuclear reactor, which was bombed by Israeli warplanes in 2007, closely resembled a North Korean facility used to produce plutonium for bombs, and one western diplomat told me that several senior North Korean technicians were killed in the raid. (See photos of Syria's nuclear reactor destroyed in 2007.)

North Korea and Iran's sharing of technology for missiles that could be used to deliver nuclear warheads is so extensive that some analysts say it is only appropriate to view it as operationally a joint missile program. No one knows if North Korea is also helping Iran with nuclear weapons design, and it's possible it has other, yet-to-be-detected clients as well.

North Korea shares little similarity or ideology with Syria or Iran; its dealings are largely profit-driven. For its clients, DPRK provides a black market to purchase sensitive nuclear technology without detection by the international community. The nightmare scenario is that Pyongyang would even sell fissile material -- the key ingredient for nuclear bombs -- to terrorists if the price is right.

Most nonproliferation experts find this scenario unlikely as it would be quickest route imaginable to have your country bombed and possible invaded. However, the Syrian and Iranian cases show that DPRK has been happy to sell the technology needed to produce fissile material, and the missiles needed to deliver it.

What's not clear is how much this network relied on support or at least authorization from Kim Jong Il. But reports from North Korean defectors once involved in the tripartite proliferation network suggest it is highly sophisticated and involves many different layers of officialdom. It may work something like this: North Korean state trading companies working directly for the DPRK regime set up branch offices in mainland China. These companies contract private Chinese firms to send purchase orders to the local subsidiaries of European industrial machinery companies, who have set up shop in China specifically to cash in on China's growing domestic market. (See photos of the busy life of Kim Jong Il.)

These domestic orders, of course, are not subject to export controls, so without knowing it, western subsidiaries sell dual-use technology -- industrial tool and dye equipment, for example -- directly to private Chinese firms, who then use their established routes to transport the goods to North Korea. In terms of sales, North Korea state trading companies are also contracting private Chinese firms to move sensitive goods through Southeast Asia (including Myanmar) and on to clients in the Middle East.

The success of this network is an unintended consequence of China's North Korea strategy, which has placed a high emphasis on a stable regime succession to Kim Jong Il's son, Kim Jong Un. The strategy is understandable: regime collapse in North Korea would send a flood of refugees across the border into some of the poorest provinces in China. Beijing may also believe that economic reform and party-to-party institution building can help reform North Korea and bring it in from the cold. Maybe so, but in the meantime this policy has created more opportunities for North Korea to increase its illicit activity through the mainland.

Unfortunately, enlisting China's help in cracking down on the use of private Chinese firms by North Korean entities -- even now that Kim Jong Il is dead -- is a lost cause for the U.S and its allies. China's port security and trade monitoring resources are woefully unmatched by the volume of trade in China today. Even more importantly, corruption at local levels is still a major problem.

The Proliferation Security Initiative, launched in 2003 as a voluntary organization of nations cooperating to prevent the shipment of proliferation-sensitive technologies, has proven to be an increasingly effective tool for combating North Korean smuggling. It has led to the interdiction of several North Korean shipments of missile and WMD components, most recently the turning around by the U.S. Navy of a Belize-flagged North Korean Vessel in June suspected of transporting missile technology on its way to Myanmar (and then on possibly to the Middle East). In the short term, the PSI should be continued. What's more, we should encourage PSI states -- and China -- to offer monetary rewards that lead to the interdiction of North Korean consignments. Mercenary traders, after all, can often be bought when they cannot be stopped. (Read "China's Stake in a Stable North Korea.")

North Korea is a backward, broken country with a dysfunctional economy. But its leaders are expert survivors and remarkably apt at getting what they need; we should not assume that this will change with Kim Jong Il's pasing. With two nuclear weapons tests already complete, North Korea has clearly learned how to construct a black market, full-service nuclear weapons program. There is growing evidence that they will now help any country that can pay to do the same.

The death of Kim Jong Il should focus the West's attention on stopping the spread of North Korean technology. Cutting off the supply would buy us time to fight the other half of the battle. In countries and regions where the demand for nuclear weapons remains strong, we must do more to address the underlying issues that cause countries to seek nuclear weapons in the first place.

Harrell is a research associate at the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a Boston-based reporter for TIME.

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Friday, December 23, 2011

19 Rochester-area teachers receive national certification (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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Esterline Revenues Take Off, Earnings Stutter (The Motley Fool)

Esterline Technologies (NYSE: ESL - News), a specialty manufacturer for the global aerospace and defense markets, came out with fourth-quarter numbers that were below Wall Street expectations. Let's take a closer, Foolish look at what's going on with Esterline.

Figuring it out
The company saw its revenue rise by a solid 17% to $502.4 million. Esterline's net profit, on the other hand, declined by a staggering 67% to just $19.4 million mainly because higher sales were offset by acquisition-related costs, coupled with higher interest expenses.

In July, Esterline announced the completion of its acquisition of France-based Souriau Group for around $705 million. According to management, Souriau, a supplier of connector products for rough environments, would enhance the company's business in France and in sectors including defense, aerospace, power generation, rail, and industrial equipment.

Moving ahead with a few speed bumps
Esterline's R&D expenses have risen by 73% from the previous year's quarter, to $30.6 million. However, the R&D efforts seem to have paid off as the company has secured important positions for numerous military aircrafts, such as Boeing's (NYSE: BA - News) P-8, Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT - News) F-35, and Airbus' A400M.

On the commercial aircraft front, Esterline says aircraft production is witnessing an up cycle at customers including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, and Embraer (NYSE: ERJ - News) on the back of loads of demand for new platforms as well as legacy aircrafts.

However, along with the good news, the company faces a few pain points in the year ahead. One of them relates to Esterline's multiyear contract to upgrade cockpits of around half of the Saudi fleet of C-130 aircraft. A delay being caused by the current operational requirement of these aircraft in the region will delay the deal, worth $25 million, until at least the second half of 2012.

The Foolish bottom line
While demand from the commercial aerospace industry is witnessing a cyclical uptrend, Esterline could face a downtrend in its defense-related business in the next few years due to defense budget cuts in the U.S. However, on the bright side, defense spending would likely increase in countries such as India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, and the company is well-diversified with its commercial aviation segment.

Overall, I think Esterline is a very intriguing aerospace and defense pick for the future, but our analysts have selected a different stock that they believe is poised for tremendous growth in 2012. Find out which company in our new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." Thousands have already requested access and it'll only be available for a limited time. Simply click here -- it's free.

Keki Fatakia does not hold shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Embraer. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/fool/20111220/bs_fool_fool/rx170106

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

President of Froedtert's St. Joseph?s Hospital resigns

Michael Laird, president of Froedtert Health? ? Froedtert Health Latest from The Business Journals Top of the List - Largest employersHealth care systems bump up rates for new yearCoordinating cancer care plans: Bringing docs to patients new trend to ease stress Follow this company St. Joseph?s Hospital, will leave the West Bend hospital at the end of the year.

?Froedtert Health and all health care systems are facing tremendous change in the next couple of years and this seemed like the appropriate time to pursue other opportunities,? Laird said in a statement released by Froedtert.

Laird joined St. Joseph?s Hospital as president in 2006 when the hospital was part of SynergyHealth.

Two years later, in May 2008, SynergyHealth announced the system, which included St. Joseph?s, the West Bend Clinic physicians group and the SynergyHealth Foundation, would partner with Froedtert & Community Health of Wauwatosa.

?In the five and a half years since joining St. Joseph?s Hospital, Michael has effectively led the delivery of quality patient care and improvements of the patient experience,? said Bill Petasnick, CEO of Froedtert Health. ?He proactively reduced costs during the economic downturn, bringing St. Joseph?s to a positive financial position while also expanding the range of services available in the community.?

David Olson will serve as the interim president of St. Joseph?s Hospital. Olson joined Froedtert Health in fall as chief strategy officer. Before joining Froedtert Health, Olson was president of Columbia St. Mary?s ? Ozaukee.

Laird joined St. Joseph?s Hospital as president in 2006 when the hospital was part of SynergyHealth.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bizj_national/~3/LkTgtTZ8fZ8/president-of-froedterts-st-josephs.html

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Egypt's military, activists vie for public support

An Egyptian young protester brandishes blood on his hands, near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Troops and protesters are clashing for the third straight day in Cairo, pelting each other with rocks in skirmishes near parliament in the heart of the Egyptian capital. (AP Photo)

An Egyptian military solider throws a rock toward protesters near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Troops and protesters are clashing for the third straight day in Cairo, pelting each other with rocks in skirmishes near parliament in the heart of the Egyptian capital. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)

Protesters throw rocks toward Egyptian military in front of the former building of the American University of Cairo, left, near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Troops and protesters are clashing for the third straight day in Cairo, pelting each other with rocks in skirmishes near parliament in the heart of the Egyptian capital. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)

A man walks inside the recently burnt research center set up during the three-year occupation of Egypt by France in the late 18th century near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Troops and protesters are clashing for the third straight day in Cairo, pelting each other with rocks in skirmishes near parliament in the heart of the Egyptian capital. (AP Photo)

Egyptian protesters protect themselves as they throw stones during clashes with army troops near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Troops and protesters are clashing for the third straight day in Cairo, pelting each other with rocks in skirmishes near parliament in the heart of the Egyptian capital. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abu Zaid)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's ruling military and the revolutionaries who demand they immediately step down battled for a third day in the streets on Sunday ? and competed fiercely for the support of a broader public that has grown tired of turmoil since the fall of Hosni Mubarak 10 months ago.

The generals appear to be winning the fight for the public, despite a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters around Cairo's Tahrir Square using a roughness that rivaled even that of Mubarak's widely hated police force.

Before dawn Monday, security forces mounted a charge and cleared hundreds of demonstrators away from the area, according to videos posted on the internet.

The protesters have tried to drum up Egyptians' anger at the military by spreading videos and photos of military police savagely beating young men and women to the ground with sticks and truncheons ? and the resonant scene of a woman in a conservative headscarf being stripped half naked by soldiers who stomp on her chest.

But so far their efforts to win public sympathy don't seem to be gaining traction in the face of the military's campaign to depict the crowds of hundreds in the streets as hooligans and vandals, not the idealistic activists who succeeded in bringing down Mubarak. At least 10 protesters have been killed and 441 others wounded in the three days of violence, according to the Health Ministry.

"The military has failed in everything except for its stunning success in making people hate the revolution, its history and its revolutionaries," prominent columnist Ibrahim Eissa wrote in an editorial in the independent pro-revolution newspaper, Al-Tahrir.

Led by a general who served for 20 years as Mubarak's defense minister, the military has been methodically seeking to discredit the revolutionaries, accusing them of illegally receiving foreign funds and being part of a plot hatched abroad to destabilize Egypt. The generals have in the meantime sought to portray themselves as key players in the 18-day revolt that toppled Mubarak's 29-year rule and hence have earned the right to rule.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the ruling military council on Sunday called the clashes part of a "conspiracy" against Egypt. It said its forces had the right to defend the "property of the great people of Egypt."

Seeking to depict the protesters as hooligans ? and apparently to counter the widely published images of protesters being beaten or dragged on the ground ? it also posted on the page footage of young men throwing rocks at a basement window of the parliament building and of at least one man trying to set the place ablaze.

The generals' campaign plays on Egyptians' frustration with continued instability and economic woes since Mubarak's fall. Many are now more focused on the multistage parliamentary elections that began last month and continue through March. Islamist parties have so far overwhelmingly dominated the vote, with liberals and secular parties far behind.

That trend continued with the announcement Sunday of results from the second of three rounds of voting, held last week. Out of around 160 seats up for grabs in the second round, the Muslim Brotherhood won 29 and another more conservative Islamic party, Al-Nour, won 23. Two liberal groups ? the Wafd Party and the Egyptian Bloc ? won nine and seven seats, respectively. The rest will be determined in a run-off vote to be held later this week.

The Islamists have been staying clear of the recent violence, fearing that they could jeopardize their electoral gains by taking part in the protests. Their stance has prompted many activists to accuse them of political opportunism.

The military has meanwhile been using the state media and sympathetic private TV stations to market an image of itself as the protector of the nation, filling its statements with patriotic rhetoric and grave warnings if turmoil persists.

The revolutionaries who led the protests against Mubarak accuse the military of mismanaging the transition since then, of seeking to hold on to power and of using the same autocratic ways as the ousted leader. They demand that the military hand over power to civilians immediately ? and some have begun demanding that presidential elections scheduled for the middle of next year be moved up to January to pick a civilian head of state to take the generals' place.

"The military is looking down at us and handling everything from a security perspective," said Shady el-Ghazali Harb, a prominent activist and an icon of the anti-Mubarak uprising. "It is trying to make the point that its way of handling things is what will be applied and nothing else."

The latest deadly clashes began Friday, when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the Cabinet offices near parliament was detained and beaten by troops. The protesters began their sit-in three weeks ago to demand that the military immediately step down.

In Sunday's clashes, protesters and troops battled on two main streets off Tahrir Square, trading volleys of stones and firebombs around barriers that the military set up to block the two central avenues. The army also used water canons.

Human rights lawyer Ahmed Ragheb said the man who died Sunday, Mohammed Mohie Hussein, was among some 200 people being held in a Cairo court after being arrested at the clashes. Within an hour of his interrogation in the presence of several defense lawyers, he died, Ragheb said.

"His condition deteriorated in custody. He was already wounded when he got there," he said.

Activists have flooded social network sites and sympathetic media with photos and video from the troops' brutal assaults the past two days.

The photo of the woman protester half-stripped by soldiers ran on the front page of the Al-Tahrir newspaper, emblazoned with a headline in red, "Liars," referring to repeated denials by the military council and military-appointed Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri that no force or live ammunition were used against the protesters.

The presenter of a political talk show on a private TV station sarcastically praised the soldiers for their bravery in wrestling the woman down.

"She is more of a man than 300,000 men put together, including me," said Youssef al-Hussein on ONTV.

Other widely circulating footage show an army officer firing a pistol at protesters ? though it is not clear whether he was using live ammunition ? and soldiers dragging women by the hair and ferociously beating, kicking and stomping on protesters cowering on the ground.

Still, many Egyptians complain the revolutionaries have gone too far and that, almost a year after ousting Mubarak, they should now go home and let the military run the country or wait for the next parliament to decide the country's future.

Such sentiments are not surprising given that the military has been the most powerful institution in Egypt since army officers seized power in a 1952 coup that toppled the monarchy.

Nearly 60 years later, the military continues to have the last word on policies, a position of power that has left many activists not entirely certain that the generals who succeeded Mubarak would voluntarily return to their barracks.

"The military council uses every opportunity to show itself as the land's strongest institution," said Mohammed Abbas, an activist who defected from the Muslim Brotherhood to side with youth groups more active in protests. "We are making it easier for the generals by our divisions and isolation."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-18-Egypt/id-3c5f74d5824f45f88ff3c45a2c933b53

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