Matchmaker, matchmaker: Strikeforce and UFC bookings on deck

The UFC and Strikeforce have been hard at work, putting together bouts to fill cards early in the new year.

-- Strikeforce's has scheduled a Showtime card for the Hard Rock in Las Vegas on January 7. The rumored headliner is Tim Kennedy taking on Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt.

-- When the UFC cut several Golden Glory fighters over their management practices, Jon Olav Einemo was caught in the crossfire and lost his job. Now he's back in the UFC and is expected to fight Mike Russow at UFC on Fox 2 in Chicago. Russow is a police officer in Chicago, and will likely bring many fans to the United Center on January 28. Though Mark Munoz vs. Chael Sonnen is the rumored main event for that card, nothing has been finalized.

-- UFC 142 in Brazil had two fights added. Paulo Thiago will fight Mike Pyle. Considering how the crowd favored Thiago at UFC 134, expect another loud ovation for the Brazilian special forces officer. Ednaldo Oliveira will make his UFC debut against heavyweight Rob Broughton.

-- Rafael Natal will take on UFC rookie Michael Kuiper at UFC 143 in Las Vegas on Super Bowl weekend. Kuiper is undefeated, having fought most his bouts in Europe. Natal is coming off of a win over Paul Bradley at UFC 133.

-- Saturday's preliminary bouts before "The Ultimate Fighter" finale will be aired on Facebook. Those bouts still haven't been announced, and are expected to be full of cast members from the 14th season and the final TUF season on Spike.

-- MFC champ Ryan Jimmo signed with the UFC and will fight Karlos Vemola at UFC on FX 1 in Nashville.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Matchmaker-matchmaker-Strikeforce-and-UFC-book?urn=mma-wp10018

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Antibiotics in swine feed encourage gene exchange

Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

A study to be published in the online journal mBio on November 29 shows that adding antibiotics to swine feed causes microorganisms in the guts of these animals to start sharing genes that could spread antibiotic resistance.

Livestock farms use antibiotic drugs regularly, and not just for curing sick animals. Antimicrobial drugs are used as feed additives to boost animal growth, a profitable but controversial practice that is now banned in the European Union and under scrutiny here in the United States. Using antibiotics in animal feed saves farms money, but opponents argue the practice encourages antimicrobial resistance among bacteria that could well be consumed by humans. Today, livestock producers in the U.S. use an estimated 24.6 million pounds of antimicrobials for nontherapeutic purposes every year. The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently urged the federal government to follow up on plans to evaluate the impacts of the use of antibiotics as growth promoters.

The study by Heather Allen and her colleagues at the USDA National Animal Disease Center (NaDC) in Ames, Iowa, adds to the sum of knowledge about what happens to the microorganisms that populate animal digestive tracts when they are exposed to low, persistent levels of antibiotics. The researchers studied how two in-feed antibiotic formulations affect prophages, segments of DNA found in bacteria that can encode antibiotic resistance genes and other genes that bacteria may use.

Prophages can cut themselves out of the larger chromosome of bacterial DNA in a process called induction, then replicate and package themselves as viruses. These viruses explode the cell from the inside then move on to infect other organisms and deliver their genes.

Allen, who is lead author on the study, says when pigs were fed antibiotics, the actual numbers of antibiotic resistance genes carried by the phages remained steady, but the microorganisms still reacted to the presence of antibiotics. Prophages underwent a significant increase in induction when exposed to antibiotics, indicating that medicating the animals led to increased movement of prophage genes among gut bacteria.

"Induction of the prophages is showing us that antibiotics are stimulating gene transfer," says Allen. "This is significant because phages have previously been shown to carry bacterial fitness genes such as antibiotic resistance genes."

Studies that explore the impacts of in-feed antibiotics most often focus on the bacterial residents of the gut, according to Allen, but phages and other viruses move a significant amount of genetic information around the community. This makes changes in prophage induction an important collateral effect of antibiotic treatment, she says. Resistance genes are the unit of currency among microbes experiencing the duress of an antibiotic, so following the movement of genes is arguably more important than following certain changes in bacterial communities. And if bacteria in humans acquire resistance genes from animals, there can be serious health consequences.

"What's important is the transfer of a gene that could get into the wrong place at the wrong time," says Allen. "Increased gene transfer is a critical event in the evolution of gut bacteria."

###

mBio is an open access online journal published by the American Society for Microbiology to make microbiology research broadly accessible. The focus of the journal is on rapid publication of cutting-edge research spanning the entire spectrum of microbiology and related fields. It can be found online at http://www.mbio.asm.org.

---

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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: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

A study to be published in the online journal mBio on November 29 shows that adding antibiotics to swine feed causes microorganisms in the guts of these animals to start sharing genes that could spread antibiotic resistance.

Livestock farms use antibiotic drugs regularly, and not just for curing sick animals. Antimicrobial drugs are used as feed additives to boost animal growth, a profitable but controversial practice that is now banned in the European Union and under scrutiny here in the United States. Using antibiotics in animal feed saves farms money, but opponents argue the practice encourages antimicrobial resistance among bacteria that could well be consumed by humans. Today, livestock producers in the U.S. use an estimated 24.6 million pounds of antimicrobials for nontherapeutic purposes every year. The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently urged the federal government to follow up on plans to evaluate the impacts of the use of antibiotics as growth promoters.

The study by Heather Allen and her colleagues at the USDA National Animal Disease Center (NaDC) in Ames, Iowa, adds to the sum of knowledge about what happens to the microorganisms that populate animal digestive tracts when they are exposed to low, persistent levels of antibiotics. The researchers studied how two in-feed antibiotic formulations affect prophages, segments of DNA found in bacteria that can encode antibiotic resistance genes and other genes that bacteria may use.

Prophages can cut themselves out of the larger chromosome of bacterial DNA in a process called induction, then replicate and package themselves as viruses. These viruses explode the cell from the inside then move on to infect other organisms and deliver their genes.

Allen, who is lead author on the study, says when pigs were fed antibiotics, the actual numbers of antibiotic resistance genes carried by the phages remained steady, but the microorganisms still reacted to the presence of antibiotics. Prophages underwent a significant increase in induction when exposed to antibiotics, indicating that medicating the animals led to increased movement of prophage genes among gut bacteria.

"Induction of the prophages is showing us that antibiotics are stimulating gene transfer," says Allen. "This is significant because phages have previously been shown to carry bacterial fitness genes such as antibiotic resistance genes."

Studies that explore the impacts of in-feed antibiotics most often focus on the bacterial residents of the gut, according to Allen, but phages and other viruses move a significant amount of genetic information around the community. This makes changes in prophage induction an important collateral effect of antibiotic treatment, she says. Resistance genes are the unit of currency among microbes experiencing the duress of an antibiotic, so following the movement of genes is arguably more important than following certain changes in bacterial communities. And if bacteria in humans acquire resistance genes from animals, there can be serious health consequences.

"What's important is the transfer of a gene that could get into the wrong place at the wrong time," says Allen. "Increased gene transfer is a critical event in the evolution of gut bacteria."

###

mBio is an open access online journal published by the American Society for Microbiology to make microbiology research broadly accessible. The focus of the journal is on rapid publication of cutting-edge research spanning the entire spectrum of microbiology and related fields. It can be found online at http://www.mbio.asm.org.

---

[ | 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/2011-11/asfm-ais112311.php

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Global economic recovery petering out: OECD (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) ? The global economic recovery is running out of steam, leaving the euro zone stuck in a mild recession and the United States at risk of following suit, the OECD said on Monday, sharply cutting its forecasts.

The threat of even more devastating downturns looms if the euro zone does not get to grips with its debt crisis and U.S. lawmakers fail to agree a spending-reduction plan, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned.

In the absence of decisive action from euro zone leaders, the European Central Bank (ECB) alone has the power to contain the bloc's crisis, the Paris-based OECD said. In the United States, however, the Federal Reserve had little ammunition left.

While solid growth in big emerging economies would provide a boost, slumping global trade would drag on Chinese output, the OECD said.

Its twice-yearly Economic Outlook forecast world growth would slow to 3.4 percent in 2012 from 3.8 percent this year.

That marks a sharp fall from its previous outlook in May, when the OECD estimated the world economy would grow 4.2 percent this year and 4.6 percent in 2012.

Struggling to contain an unprecedented debt crisis, the euro zone has already entered a recession and will eke out growth of only 0.2 percent in 2012, the OECD said, slashing its forecast from 2.0 percent in May.

CENTRAL BANKERS TO THE RESCUE?

The OECD said many key questions about the euro zone's response to the debt crisis remain unresolved, raising doubts about even the bloc's most solid economies, as demonstrated by Germany's difficulties placing bonds with investors last week.

"What we see now is contagion rising and hitting probably Germany as well," OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan told Reuters in an interview.

"So the first thing, the absolute priority, is to stop that and in the immediate the only actor that can do that is the ECB," he added, urging the central bank to commit to a creating a cap on government bond yields as a way of calming the crisis.

With the Federal Reserve already flooding the financial system with liquidity, the U.S. central bank has even less room to act if the world's biggest economy hits a downturn. That prospect was made all the more real by the failure of Congress to agree a deficit-reduction plan, without which deep spending cuts would be triggered.

"The resulting fiscal tightening, which would come automatically, would in our view likely generate a recession in the United States," Padoan said.

Provided that the Congress does reach an agreement, then the U.S. economy is set to grow 1.7 percent in 2011 and 2.0 percent in 2012, down from May forecasts of 2.6 percent and 3.1 percent respectively.

With world trade growth projected to slow to 4.8 percent in 2012 from 6.7 percent this year, even China would not be spared a sharp slowdown, the OECD said.

It forecast that growth in the emerging Asian economic power would slow to 8.5 percent in 2012 from 9.3 percent in 2011.

Slower global trade and confidence knocked by the euro zone's debt crisis could trip up Germany, which the OECD estimated would grow only 0.6 percent in 2012 after a 3.0 percent expansion in 2011. Europe's biggest economy has probably entered a shallow recession at the end of the year, the OECD said.

In a rare bright spot, the Japanese economy was seen rebounding sharply after this year's earthquake and tsunami to achieve growth of 2.0 percent in 2012 following a contraction of 0.3 percent in 2011.

(Editing by Daniel Flynn and Catherine Evans)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/bs_nm/us_oecd_economy

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Sony Earbud Style Headphones ? Black (MDREX85LP/BLK-REF)

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.smartdealnews.com/2011/11/27/sony-earbud-style-headphones-black-mdrex85lpblk-ref/

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New handle makes lifting infant car seats safer, easier

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2011) ? Engineers at North Carolina State University have developed a new handle for infant car seats (ICSs) that makes it easier for parents to lift the seat out of a car -- while retaining a firmer grip on the handle -- making it less likely that the seat will be dropped.

"Many products that are designed for parents don't take ergonomics into account, and the instructions are usually not very helpful," says Michael Clamann, a Ph.D. student at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the research. "We wanted to see whether, by changing the angle of the ICS handle, we could make it easier on parents and safer for the baby. Our idea was that it would be easier to hold on to the seat, minimizing the risk of dropping it." The idea was inspired by Clamann's experiences as a parent.

The researchers based their new handle design on existing research that details which angles reduce "ulnar deviation," or how much your wrist bends, and associated pressure in the carpal tunnel. This is important in terms of lifting tasks, because the further you bend your wrist, the weaker your grip.

The researchers tested the new design versus the traditional ICS handle with 10 different women of similar height (5th to 20th percentile in height). Participants were asked to lift the car seat out of a mock-up midsize sedan and place it into a stroller.

The team used sensors to measure muscular activity at the forearm and biceps and the wrist angle of the participants as they lifted the ICSs with different handle designs.

"Our angled handle lets people better position themselves over the car seat," Clamann says, "and allowed them to use their biceps more than their forearm muscles. That's an improvement, because our biceps are stronger than our forearms, and so are better able to bear weight. This is particularly important for smaller females lifting ICSs." The participants also told researchers that the angled handle design was easier to lift.

The team also tested to see how foot placement -- in the car or on the ground -- affected the participants' posture -- and therefore their wrist angle. Such foot placement was previously recommended in the popular press literature regarding ICS handling.

"We found that placing your foot in the car to help lift the ICS allowed participants to use their biceps more and reduced how much they bent their wrists -- giving them a firmer grip on the ICS," says Kinley Taylor, an NC State graduate student and co-author of the paper. "However," adds Clamann, "putting your foot in the car also increased the likelihood of hitting your head on the doorframe."

The researchers plan to move forward with additional efforts to see how variations on the angled handle design affect ergonomics when used in different car designs, such as minivans, and for people who are significantly taller than the participants in this study.

The paper, "Comparison of infant car seat grip orientations and lift strategies," is published online in Applied Ergonomics. The paper was co-authored by: Clamann; Taylor; Dr. David Kaber, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at NC State and director of the Occupational Safety & Ergonomics Program; and former NC State students Leah Beaver and Dr. Biwen Zhu. The research was supported, in part, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

NC State's Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering is part of the university's College of Engineering.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111128120130.htm

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Obama quietly announces his campaign has begun [VIDEO] (Daily Caller)

President Barack Obama?s campaign team is using its first two 2012 campaign ads to recruit the volunteers needed to overcome the re-election hurdles of a stalled economy and low approval ratings.

?The 2012 campaign is underway, and the outcome will depend not on what I do, but on what you do. ? Don?t sit this one out,? Obama says in one video.

Watch:

?It starts with one person making a decision ? that things need to change, and they?re going to help change them, ? and before long, neighborhoods come together,? he says in the second video.

Watch:

Obama?s focus on volunteers follows several?acknowledgements?during fundraisers that enthusiasm for him has declined. ?I know that it?s not going to be exactly the same as when I was young and vibrant and new ? let?s face it, it was cool to support me back then,? he said at a June 23 fundraiser in New York.

?Now I?m sort of old news ? [but] if we?re able to work just as hard as we did in 2008, then I think we?re going to get through this very difficult time.?

The ads mark Obama?s announcement that his 2012 campaign has begun, following at least one year of quiet planing and organization-building, and after many months of campaign-style events that White House officials billed as routine political speeches.?(RELATED: Obama?s 2012 campaign builds quiet momentum)

Largely out of sight, his Chicago-based campaign team has been hard at work. For example, the 2012 campaign has eight office in Iowa, and its volunteers made more than 200,000 calls to prospective supporters, according to a Nov. 26 report by National Public Radio.

The first two TV-ads will be run in small numbers on satellite channels, according to CBS news.

Follow Neil on Twitter

Read more stories from The Daily Caller

Obama quietly announces his campaign has begun [VIDEO]

'America's Toughest Sheriff' Joe Arpaio officially endorses Gov. Perry

Christie to Obama: ?What the hell are we paying you for?? [VIDEO]

Ann Coulter makes rare MSNBC appearance to talk 2012 GOP race

TheDC Morning: Do we finally have Cainfirmation?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20111129/pl_dailycaller/obamaquietlyannounceshiscampaignhasbegunvideo

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PFT: Steelers earn 'get by' win vs. lowly Chiefs

AP

Almost 12 weeks of the 2011 season are in the books, and there are only so many things we know.

The Packers are good.? The Colts are bad.? And Ndamukong Suh is in trouble.

For the 30 other teams and 1,700 other players, who knows what?s going on?? Let?s try to make sense of some of it via 10 of the story lines coming out of Sunday?s (and one of Thursday?s) games.

1.? Texans need a proven veteran.

It?s pretty clear that the Texans have decided not to flirt with Brett Favre for the stretch run.? But that doesn?t mean it makes sense to go with T.J. Yates, Kellen Clemens, and possibly Brodie Croyle at quarterback.

While that three-headed monster could be enough to fend off the pesky Titans for the AFC South crown, it won?t be enough to advance in a playoff field featuring the likes of the Patriots, Ravens, and Steelers.

And so the Texans need a proven veteran with playoff experience.? Whether that?s Favre or Jeff Garcia or even Jeff George, the playoff-bound Texans will be a bunch of wide-eyed kids on their first trip to the amusement park, and they?d benefit from someone who has ridden a roller coaster once or twice.

Even Daunte Culpepper would be a better option than Yates, Clemens, and Croyle.? After all, Culpepper has played in four playoff games, winning two and losing two.

Texans fans defended the decision to give the keys to Leinart by pointing out the low-risk passing game, the chains-moving running game, and the brick-wall defense.? But that same reasoning applies to a veteran quarterback, too.

In the Texans offense, no quarterback will be expected to do all that much.? A veteran with playoff experience will be far better suited to do what needs to be done, when it counts the most.

2.? McNabb should pull an Orton.

After the Bears lost quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken thumb, Kyle Orton asked for, and received, his walking papers from the Broncos.? So with the Texans needing a quarterback, why isn?t Vikings backup Donovan McNabb doing the same thing?

He claims he still can play, and he believes he shouldn?t have been benched.? McNabb therefore should request his release and hope that he slides down to the Texans on the waiver priority list.

Even if he doesn?t, any chance to play is better than holding a clipboard for a 2-9 team.? If McNabb is holding out any hope of getting a starting job in 2012, he?d benefit from being on the field in the 2011 postseason.

Until then, his failure to even make a play to get out of Minnesota should prompt legitimate speculation about his actual desire to compete.

3.? High praise for A.J. Green.

Receivers taken in the first round of the draft often underwhelm at the NFL level.? Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green provides the latest exception to that rule.

He?s Randy Moss without the attitude, making great catches via a long body and uncanny ball skills that leave players like 2010 first-round pick Joe Haden helpless when trying to stop him.

Green?s three-catch, 110-yard performance against Cleveland included a 51-yard play that set up the game-winning field goal.? After the 7-4 Bengals reversed a two-game losing streak by beating the Browns, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis gave Green the ultimate endorsement.

?He?s the best first-round draft pick I?ve ever been around,? Marvin Lewis said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. ?He continues to amaze me, every day.?

How big of a deal is that?? In 1996, Marvin Lewis worked in Baltimore, where the Ravens picked up tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Ray Lewis in the first round of the draft.

Both are headed for Canton.? In Marvin?s assessment, Green already is on the trajectory.

And Marvin is right.

4.? Chris Johnson saves his job.

The bad news for Titans tailback Chris Johnson after a 23-carry, 190-yard performance against the Bucs?? He still doesn?t have the explosiveness he displayed during the first three years of his career.

The good news?? He?ll get the chance to find it in 2012.

Although the Titans retain the ability to avoid most of the supposedly guaranteed money contained in Johnson?s new contract by cutting him after the season, Johnson has done enough to persuade the Titans to stick with him.? With the benefit of a full offseason program and training camp and preseason, Johnson could rediscover the quality that puts him a step ahead of all running backs not named Adrian Peterson.

It may not happen, but the Titans surely won?t risk that it will happen with another team.

5.? The Tebowmania effect.

Lost in the impact that Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has on his teammates is the impact he possibly has on his opponents.? (And, no, I?m not referring to the entirely different kind of Tebowing in which Chargers kicker Nick Novak engaged on Sunday.)

Despite the obsession that some have with statistics, football remains the unique product of 22 moving parts, fueled more by intangibles than metrics, especially where the metrics tend to balance each other out.? If 11 of the players possess genuine confidence in their skills, they can perform better than the sum of their parts.? And if they lack confidence, the opposite can occur.

That?s the other side of the Tebowmania effect.? The Broncos now believe that they can keep games close and find a way to win ? and teams like the Chargers believe that the Broncos will keep games close and find a way to win.

With each passing week, the team that Tebow plays will have to overcome his uncanny ability to overcome.? And that factor is far more dangerous than a rocket arm or a sub-4.4 40-yard dash or the ability to bench press 225 pounds up to 225 times.

Objectively, there was no reason that the Broncos should have beaten the Chargers in San Diego on Sunday.? The home team had lost five games in a row, the head coach occupies one of the hottest seats in all of football, and the Chargers on paper seem to be the better team.

But the Tebowmania effect allowed Denver to keep it close ? and to find a way to win.? Unless and until someone breaks that spell, the Broncos will remain a serious threat not only to make the playoffs but also to do some serious damage once they get there.

6.? ?Fire Andy,? and then what?

The pitchforks and torches, which have been taken out and then put away and then taken out again and then put away again, are once again out.? And this time they?re likely staying out for the rest of the season.

With the 4-7 Eagles needing to run the table and hope for plenty of help, what happens if (when) they fail to qualify for the postseason?? The home crowd has begun chanting ?Fire Andy!,? an indignity that hasn?t been loudly foisted upon anyone in the NFL since Matt Millen left Detroit for good.? Given that the Eagles went ?all in? for 2011, with president Joe Banner telling PFT Live that the line between success and failure resides at winning the Super Bowl, common sense suggests that failing to succeed means walking away from the table, not getting another stack of chips with which to go ?all in? again.

So what happens if Reid gets fired?? Does owner Jeffrey Lurie believe he can find someone as good, and hopefully better, than Reid?

Then there?s the issue of the front office.? With Reid supposedly still in charge, Banner and G.M. Howie Roseman could be vulnerable if Lurie tries to hire someone like Bill Cowher, who would want to have the same power that Reid has enjoyed, along with the ability to hire a new set of lieutenants.

It becomes a complex and risky exercise for Lurie, making the status quo safer, and thus more likely.? Even though things haven?t gotten better under Reid lately, they could get a lot worse.

7.? Lame-duck reluctance could result in plenty of vacancies.

Through nearly 12 full weeks of the 2011 season, no teams have fired their head coaches.? Once the 2011 season ends, at least six coaches will slide into the spotlight, for one very important reason.

For coaches whose contracts expire after the 2012 season, teams must decide whether to extend the contracts, to allow them to coach as lame ducks next year, or to move on and/or move out.

That dynamic applies to at least a half-dozen men:? Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo, Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris, Chiefs coach Todd Haley, Colts coach Jim Caldwell, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, and Giants coach Tom Coughlin.? Five of the six lost on Sunday, and the last one could lose on Monday night at New Orleans.

Over the past four weeks, those teams have generated a combined record of 5-20.? Apart from the Giants, none are in serious contention for the postseason.

So when Black Monday (not to be confused with Black Friday) arrives the morning after New Year?s Day, pay close attention to those six teams.? Assuming that none of them decide before then to make a change.

8.? Niners are still in great shape.

It would be easy to assume that the 49ers? bubble has burst, via a 10-point loss in Baltimore on Thanksgiving night.

It would be easy.? But it also would be incorrect.

Look at the schedule and the standings.? The 9-2 Niners still play four games ? four games ? against NFC West teams.? And they play the hapless Rams not once, but twice.

Even if the 49ers lose to the visiting Steelers in San Fran on Monday, December 19, the 49ers easily should get to 13-3, which would be enough to secure the second seed in the NFC.

Yes, at some point they may face another defense that could chase Alex Smith all over the field.? But that may not happen unless they face the Bears in the postseason ? or until the 49ers take on the the Ravens again, not in Baltimore but at a neutral site in February.

Either way, the 49ers will continue to be a significant factor down the stretch.? If anything, that loss knocks them toward the edge of the radar screen in the short term, which is probably where coach Jim Harbaugh would prefer to be anyway.

9.? The DeSean dilemma.

Regardless of whether Andy Reid stays or goes, the Eagles have a significant personnel issue on the horizon:? What should they do with receiver DeSean Jackson?

He?ll be a free agent after the season.? In recent weeks, Jackson has been deactivated after missing a meeting, flagged for a taunting penalty that wiped out a 50-yard gain (thanks to a bizarre quirk in the rules), and benched in the fourth quarter of Sunday?s latest loss, following another key drop.

Once presumed the Eagles would use the franchise tag in the hopes of signing Jackson to a long-term deal, the team may now opt to make a change.? But that doesn?t mean they?ll let him walk away.? Instead, look for the Eagles to apply the franchise tag (which will cost $9.5 million in cap space), to make him available in trade, to search for a replacement via free agency or the draft, and possibly to rescind the franchise tender if they can?t move him ? and if they can find another guy to return punts and run ?go? routes.

The risk of that approach comes from Jackson signing the franchise tender, which would guarantee him a base salary of $9.5 million in 2012; it equates to more than 15.8 times his $600,000 base salary in 2011.? And that would be Jackson?s smartest move, if he?s tagged.? Otherwise, the Eagles could end up removing the franchise tender later in the offseason (like they previously did to Jeremiah Trotter and Corey Simon), making Jackson an unrestricted free agent well after the vast majority of the unrestricted free agency money has flowed.

For that reason alone, the Eagles possibly could decide not to apply the franchise tag at all, something that would be more likely to happen if owner Jeffrey Lurie decides to clean house.

10.? ?Bowe doesn?t know football.?

Last night?s far-closer-than-expected game between the Steelers and Chiefs included a late effort by the Chiefs to drive for the winning touchdown.? Unthinkable given Kansas City?s recent inability to score offensive touchdowns but not impossible given Pittsburgh?s recent history of giving up big drives late, the Chiefs made it interesting.

Until receiver Dwayne Bowe blew it.

With the Chiefs facing first and 15 from the Pittsburgh 37, Bowe shot down the field, throwing his hand in the air ? the universal football gesture that means, ?I?m going deep.?

But then, right after Bowe called for a long throw, he broke to the post.? Tyler Palko already had launched toward where Bowe would have been.? And it landed where a Steelers defender was.

Making things worse for the Chiefs, and for Bowe, was a half-hearted (hoof-hearted) effort to catch the ball.? Bowe jumped but he didn?t extend, possibly wary of a rib-breaking blow to the midsection.

Bowe?s effort, or lack thereof, drew harsh criticism from NBC?s Cris Collinsworth, a former receiver who has the experience and the knowledge to justify criticism of a current player at the position.? And for a guy like Bowe, who?ll be heading to free agency after the season, a better try needs to be made in those situations.

It?s not as if a victory last night would have propelled the Chiefs back into the race for the AFC West crown or a wild-card berth, but it could have.? The loss instead dropped Kansas City to 4-7, making it difficult if not impossible for the Chiefs to qualify for the postseason and/or for coach Todd Haley to keep his job.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/27/steelers-survive-because-of-palkos-four-turnovers/related/

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Violence, late ballots may mar critical Congo vote (AP)

KINSHASA, Congo ? Voting materials failed to arrive in some opposition strongholds but the country's election went ahead Monday, raising doubts about the legitimacy of a poll that already has seen at least nine people killed and could drag sub-Saharan Africa's biggest nation back into conflict.

Country experts and opposition leaders had urged the government to delay the vote due to massive logistical problems in Congo, which suffered decades of dictatorship and civil war. Some polling stations are so remote that ballot boxes had to be transported for across muddy trails on the heads of porters and by dugout canoe across churning rivers.

There are fears that election disputes could spark more violence in this country, where militias and rebel groups still terrorize citizens in the country's east.

Violence over the weekend left at least four people dead, and it continued overnight Monday when gunmen opened fire on a truck transporting ballots in the southeastern town of Lubumbashi. That attack and a subsequent one on a voting center left five more dead, according to Dikanga Kazadi, the provincial interior minister.

In pockets throughout the country, voting centers were forced to open late, and some didn't open at all as they waited for trucks ferrying the necessary forms and equipment. At polling station No. 10053 located in the same Catholic school, election officials could not open because the ink used to mark the index fingers of voters hadn't been delivered.

"We can't start like this. We're not even properly dressed," said Baudouin Lusagila, the head of the polling station, whose team also lacked the signature blue vests printed with the electoral commission's logo. "Of course I'm worried. There is too much improvisation. Too many delays."

The vote is the second since the end of Congo's last war and the first to be organized by the government instead of the international community. There were delays at every step in the preparation. The ballots were only printed in South Africa two weeks ago ? not enough time to deliver them to the remote corners of a nation the size of Western Europe where less than 2 percent of the roads are paved.

The government is in a hurry to hold the vote because incumbent President Joseph Kabila's term expires in the first week of December. If a new president is not elected by then, analysts say the country could slide into a situation of unconstitutional power, a scenario that could provoke further unrest.

At polling stations that opened on time in the capital, lines were small and several were empty after a torrential rain began to pound the pavement. Inside the Gombe secondary school where Kabila cast his ballot, the women lined up after him were wearing shower caps. Kabila urged citizens to go to the polls and warned of what was at stake.

"Our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo has come a long way, from a situation of war, and of all manner of conflict whose end result was suffering," Kabila said on state television on the eve of the election. "Let us be careful not to return to where we have come from. By participating in the vote ... we are guaranteeing the stability and the future of our country."

Among the logistical challenges is the staggering number of candidates (18,385) competing for the 500 seats in parliament. Posters of candidates featured their number on the ballot, which is as thick as a weekend supplement in a major newspaper. A third of Congolese adults can't read, a rate that is even higher among women. Many were showing up with slips of paper filled in by relatives stating the number of their candidate of choice.

Even that didn't help Celine Madiata, first in line to vote at the polling station inside a Catholic college in the capital. She stepped behind the cardboard voting screen, and opened the voluminous ballot paper, carefully scrolling down.

It took her several minutes to recognize the No. 50, which she circled. "I voted for Bala Basu," she said.

Except that Candidate No. 50 isn't Bala Basu. It's a politician named Rubenga Kamanda. Country watchers worry that mistakes like Madiata's are being repeated throughout the country and could delegitimize the election in the eyes of the population.

"It's like leading an animal to the slaughterhouse. It doesn't realize until it gets there what is in store for it," said Jerome Bonso, coordinator of the Coalition for Peaceful and Transparent Elections. "They led us into this election. The population was not prepared for it. And now there is a real risk of conflict when the results come out."

It's unclear if the lateness observed in voting centers nationwide will affect the outcome of the vote, but it added to a cloud of uncertainty. Because the opposition is split with 10 candidates vying to unseat the 40-year-old Kabila, most analysts expect him to win.

That will come as an especially hard blow in Kinshasa, where his popularity has hit rock bottom due to the spiraling cost of basic goods and worsening poverty. Billboards showing the youthful president have been defaced, tarred with mud.

Kabila was first thrust into the position of president a decade ago, after the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila, the rebel leader who toppled the country's dictator of 32 years, Mobutu Sese Seko and later won the country's 2006 election.

The younger Kabila initially benefited from his father's aura, who was credited with ridding the country of a man known for chartering the Concorde for personal trips and sipping pink champagne while his population languished in abject poverty.

People celebrated when the ruler's family was forced to run onto a cargo plane to escape, the first lady still wearing her nightgown. But a campaign poster for Mobutu's son ? Francois Joseph Mobutu, who is one of the 11 presidential candidates ? underlines how much the younger Kabila's popularity has dipped since he was first elected five years ago.

"Mobutu was there for 32 years. He pillaged the country. But are we any better off now? The Democratic Republic of Congo has manganese, cobalt, coltan, oil, diamonds," said 45-year-old Ndukis Mubiala, a taxi driver who is voting for the ex-dictator's son. "I'm a chauffeur. I don't own a house. In my bank account, there's zero. Like before, 10 percent of the population gets everything, 90 percent gets nothing."

___

Associated Press writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_election

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Propose Your Own Solution to Customer Service to Get What You Want [Customer Service]

Getting what you want out of customer service is hard, but CNN Money reader Michael Brownholz was able to avoid a delayed flight by suggesting his own simple solution instead of waiting for the representative to come up with their own.

In a series spotlighting reader solutions to getting good customer service, Brownholz tells the story of being rebooked on a flight leaving later in the day. Instead of getting mad about the later flight, he mentioned he was close to another airport and the service representative rebooked him immediately. While his example is with an airline, it should work with any type of solution you might need. Solving your own problem isn't exactly the most exciting way to get what you want out of customer service, but as we've mentioned before, if you have your research and a plan in front of you, it can make the phone call a lot easier. Hit up the CNN Money link below for a few other reader-submitted tips. Photo by David Citron.

My secret to super customer service | CNN Money

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/ukEc4CUUxb0/propose-your-own-solution-to-customer-service-to-get-what-you-want

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Twitter Acquisition Causes ME Communications Issue

With its latest acquisition, Twitter may be unwittingly facilitating hampered communications in the Middle East. According to a flurry of activity, ironically enough, on Twitter itself, the Whisper Systems acquisition and subsequent shutdown of Whisper?s RedPhone product, has many concerned.

During the Arab Spring, communications were spotty at best. Many residents of affected areas had turned to RedPhone, a product that allows its users to make secure calls that cannot be tapped by the carriers. The extensive use of RedPhone has continued even to today, where Egyptian elections are being held.

According to a number of Twitter users, Whisper Systems? decision to take RedPhone offline has led to some serious problems, and some understandably irate former users.

It appears that RedPhone was removed from the Android Market some 18 hours previous to the time of this writing. Users were complaining that they were having connection issues roughly around this same time, as well. Now, with the official announcement, Whisper Systems and Twitter are being called to release RedPhone as an open-source project, so that it can continue to be used.

Activist Ramy Raoof sums up the situation quite well -

?We don?t have enough applications to make encrypted phone calls and SMS. RedPhone is one of the few applications which people trust which provides good encryption end to end.

If they?re going to shut down the application now, it?s not the best considering what?s happening on the ground in Egypt, and in other countries, without providing any alternative to use. I?d prefer that they say they?re going to shut down RedPhone and TextSecure, but say, you can use these applications instead. I believe they know very well that people are using RedPhone and TextSecure for encryption and safety.?

We?ll be watching this story closely, as it develops. As it stands, however, it appears that Twitter has found itself in a bit of a conundrum, whether intentional or not. It?s worth noting that the decision to shutter RedPhone was likely not put in place by Twitter, but rather was simply a side effect of the acquisition. However, Twitter will now hold the responsibility for what happens from this point forward.

Source: http://thenextweb.com/me/2011/11/28/twitters-recent-move-shuts-down-critical-communication-line-in-the-middle-east/

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'Breaking Dawn': How Long Can It Top The Box Office?

'Twilight' flick blew past 'The Muppets,' but faces formidable holiday-movie competition in the coming weeks.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in "Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 1"
Photo: Summit Entertainment

The box-office battle of Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" once again emerged as the victor.

The penultimate entry in the vampire romance series pulled off an impressive haul of an estimated $62.3 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. The weekend brought the film's domestic total to roughly $221 million, as it survived formidable competition from "The Muppets," which earned a respectable $42 million.

But what do the upcoming weeks hold for "Breaking Dawn - Part 1"? We consulted some box-office experts to find out.

One of the biggest questions right now for "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" is whether it will continue to dominate the box office for a third week in a row. With only "Shame" — a small indie film by comparison — opening next week, the stage is set for another rematch between "Breaking Dawn" and "The Muppets." Phil Contrino from Boxoffice.com said there is some potential for growth in the case of "The Muppets."

"It'll be close between ['Breaking Dawn - Part 1'] and 'The Muppets,' because ['The Muppets'] has much better word of mouth," he said, but he indicated that it was too soon to say which would come out on top.

Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations, on the other hand, sees the weekend going to "The Muppets." The fight for second place will be between "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" and "Hugo," he said.

" 'Breaking Dawn' is performing almost identically to 'New Moon' and will likely dip another 60 to 65 percent next weekend and gross $14 million to 16 million," Bock said. "That probably won't keep it at #1, as family films hold exceptionally well during the holiday season. That means 'The Muppets' will jump to #1, and depending on how many screens 'Hugo' jumps to, it may be in a fight for second place."

Both Bock and Contrino expect "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" to finish its domestic run in the range of $300 million but say that we should expect a steep drop-off once more holiday films like "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" hit theaters.

"It's still going to fall fast," Contrino said. "By the time 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' and 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' hit, the audience will have almost entirely disappeared."

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

Related Videos

• MTV First: 'Breaking Dawn'

Related Photos

• Twilight: Breaking Dawn

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674998/twilight-breaking-dawn-box-office-analysis-predictions.jhtml

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Patches, Counseling, Persistence Can Help Smokers Quit (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Nov. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Quitting smoking isn't easy for most people but medication and counseling can help them succeed, according to the results of two new studies.

In the first of the two reports published in the Nov. 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a team led by Dr. Anne Joseph, co-leader of the Prevention & Etiology Research Program at the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota, tried helping people by keeping in touch with them and reminding them to quit smoking.

"We looked at a model that treated smoking as a chronic condition like high blood pressure or diabetes," Joseph said. "We know that using a combination of behavioral therapy and medication therapy, people do better than quitting on their own," she said.

For the study, more than 400 smokers received counseling over the phone along with nicotine replacement therapy (such as patches, gums, lozenges) for a month. Next, the participants were randomly assigned to receive two final calls, or more calls plus nicotine replacement therapy for another 48 weeks.

After 18 months, 30 percent of those who received calls and nicotine replacement hadn't smoked for six months compared with 23.5 percent of those who didn't receive long-term help, the researchers found.

In addition, people given long-term counseling tried to stop smoking more often than those who received only a few calls. And among those given long-term counseling, even those who did not quit smoked less than the people who received only a few calls.

Joseph's team assumed people would fail along the way and make several attempts to quit. The researchers reframed that into a positive step, she said.

"This approach takes a chronic disease treatment model, instead of a one-shot model," she explained. "If you want to quit smoking, you have to keep working at it and having your treatment adjusted to accommodate the possibility that it might not work the first time. That doesn't mean it's not going to work in subsequent attempts," Joseph added.

"If someone has tried and failed, they should try again," agreed Patricia Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. "People often try to quit five to seven times before they're successful," Folan pointed out.

"The fact that long-term care, like ongoing support, results in better quit rates makes sense as we believe that nicotine addiction is like other addictions such as heroin or alcohol, which have been clearly shown to be best managed with ongoing long-term interventions," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association.

However, if the method in Joseph's study was to be widely used by hospitals or health care providers, that would likely be more expensive than current approaches, Edelman added, and cost-effectiveness would first need to be analyzed.

In another new study, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina wanted to see if a smoking cessation program that included nicotine replacement therapy and counseling could help people quit even though they had no desire to stop smoking.

"Nicotine replacement therapy is proven as an effective smoking cessation medication, yet few smokers use it," said lead researcher Matthew Carpenter, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry.

Although most smokers are interested in quitting, many are hesitant to try quitting in the near future. In addition, many smokers have misconceptions about what nicotine replacement therapy is, how it works, and its safety, Carpenter noted.

The team randomly assigned more than 800 smokers to various programs. Some practiced quitting alone and some with the help of nicotine replacement therapy. Those given no nicotine replacement therapy received help in motivation, confidence and coping skills.

At four weeks, 22 percent of those who received counseling and nicotine replacement therapy had tried to stop smoking for a day, as did 13 percent of those who received counseling alone. At final follow-up after treatment was stopped, 49 percent of those who received nicotine replacement therapy had made an attempt to quit versus 40 percent of those given counseling alone, the researchers found.

"Compared to those who did not receive nicotine replacement therapy samples, those who did showed stronger motivation, higher confidence and more favorable attitudes towards nicotine replacement therapy," Carpenter said.

The study suggests nicotine replacement therapy could be marketed for trial use, which might be attractive to a greater number of smokers, he noted.

However, Edelman doesn't think this study went on long enough to draw any definitive conclusions. "The study had no long-term follow-up, thus lacking what I consider to be the gold standard of smoking-cessation experimentation," he said.

Two research letters published in the same journal issue drove home that point. In the first, G. David Batty, of University College London, England and colleagues followed up people who took part in the Whitehall Smoking Cessation Survey three decades ago.

In that study, about 1,450 men either received information on the dangers of smoking or no information. After 30 years, most of those still living had quit smoking -- 81 percent in the group that got counseling and 79 percent in the group that didn't, the investigators found.

In addition, the overall risk of death was slightly lower for people who received counseling; and while the difference was not statistically significant, it was about 0.4 life-years gained, the researchers said.

In the other letter, researchers looked at the benefit of not smoking in cutting the odds of dying young. The team led by Yin Cao, from the Harvard School of Public Health, collected data on more than 19,000 men who took part in the Physicians' Health Study.

Among these men, 42 percent had been smokers and nearly 7 percent still were. About 5,600 men died in the follow-up period. Of the more than 600 deaths among smokers, nearly 14 percent died before they reached age 65, compared with about 8 percent of those who had never smoked, the researchers found.

The highest death risk was among those who smoked the most, but that risk could be cut by 44 percent within 10 years after quitting, and after 20 years it was the same as if they never smoked, the study found.

"Reduction of mortality should not be considered to be the only important outcome measure of smoking-cessation programs," Edelman said. "There is considerable morbidity, such as disability, effects of treatment for heart and lung disease, etc., to be taken into account."

David Abrams, executive director of the Schroeder Institute on Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the American Legacy Foundation, said that evidence-based treatments "will double to quadruple your chance of successful quitting" compared to willpower alone.

More information

For more about quitting smoking, visit smokefree.gov.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/meds/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111128/hl_hsn/patchescounselingpersistencecanhelpsmokersquit

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It's beginning to look like Xmas at White House (AP)

WASHINGTON ? It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the White House.

Michelle Obama continued a decades-old tradition the day after Thanksgiving as she, daughters Malia and Sasha, and Bo, the family dog, witnessed the arrival of an 18-and-a-half-foot balsam fir tree from Wisconsin, hauled up the driveway by horse-drawn wagon and delivered to their doorstep Friday.

The Obamas walked around the carriage and inspected the tree before giving it a thumbs-up. But that was merely a formality; White House staffers traveled to Wisconsin last month and picked out that tree.

The fir is headed for the oval-shaped Blue Room, where it will become the centerpiece of the White House Christmas decorations. It will be decorated to honor Blue Star families, those with a loved one who has served or currently is serving in the armed forces.

The tree came from Schroeder's Forevergreens near Neshkoro, Wis., owned by Tom and Sue Schroeder. It's the first time one of their trees has made it to the White House. The couple earned the honor after winning a national contest ? on their fourth try ? sponsored by the National Christmas Tree Association.

"It's just very thrilling," Sue Schroeder said in an interview after leaving behind the tree, which took 20 years to grow.

Having the tree at the White House is a "highlight of our Christmas," she said, but on Saturday she and her husband expect to be back in their blue jeans, working at their retail lot and serving customers.

"That is also a very important part of Christmas to us," Sue Schroeder said.

During the next several days at the White House, dozens of volunteers from across the country will join White House staffers for a marathon of tree trimming, wreath hanging and other holiday decorating that will be revealed on Wednesday. Mrs. Obama is giving military families, including Gold Star and Blue Star parents, spouses and children, a first look at the decorations.

White House chefs Cris Comerford and Bill Yosses and White House florist Laura Dowling also will show the children how to make holiday crafts and treats.

The winner of the Christmas tree association's annual contest has presented a tree to the White House annually since 1966.

___

Darlene Superville can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_white_house_christmas_tree

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Syria buries security forces as sanctions loom (AP)

BEIRUT ? Syria buried 22 members of the armed forces Saturday, including six elite pilots, as the government reinforced its message that the 8-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad is the work of terrorists and foreign agents, not patriotic Syrians seeking reform.

But with no sign of violence abating, an Arab League committee agreed Saturday on a draft of recommended sanctions against Syria, including halting cooperation with the nation's central bank and stopping flights to the country. The 22-nation body will vote on the recommendations Sunday in Cairo.

If the Arab League were to go ahead with the move, it would be a huge blow for a regime that considers itself a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.

Syria is facing mounting international pressure to end the bloody crackdown on the uprising against Assad's rule that the U.N. says has killed more than 3,500 people. The European Union and the United States have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Assad and his regime, including a ban on the import of Syrian oil.

"U.S. and European sanctions are one thing, but coming from the Arab brothers and sisters, it is psychologically and realistically much more damaging," said Nikolaos van Dam, a former diplomat and Middle East scholar.

Still, there is widely held skepticism the Arab sanctions would succeed in pressuring the Syrian regime into putting an end to the violence that has claimed the lives of dozens of Syrians, week after week. Many fear the violence is pushing the country toward civil war.

Until recently, most of the bloodshed was caused by security forces firing on mainly peaceful protests. But there have been growing reports of army defectors and armed civilians fighting Assad's forces ? a development that some say plays into the regime's hands by giving government troops a pretext to crack down with overwhelming force.

Activists said fierce clashes took place Friday and Saturday between the Syrian military and army defectors, who have grown increasingly bold in attacking troops and security targets.

At least 13 civilians were killed Saturday, 12 of them in the flashpoint Homs province, activist groups said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 soldiers were killed in overnight clashes with defectors in the country's east.

Also Saturday, an Egypt-based Syrian dissident alleged that his 25-year-old pregnant wife was abducted by Syrian intelligence agents in Cairo, then released and left unconscious on a street in the Egyptian capital. The Syrian Embassy in Egypt strongly denied the claim.

Thaer al-Nashef, a vociferous opponent of Assad's regime, said he received an anonymous text message saying the abduction was meant to teach him "not to insult your masters again."

An Egyptian police official confirmed al-Nashef had filed a kidnapping complaint but gave no details about the circumstances. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Al-Nashef worked as a correspondent for Syria's SANA state news agency until 2006, when he became a regime opponent. He has lived in Egypt since 2007 and has been a vocal critic of the regime, appearing often on Egyptian TV stations to discuss the uprising.

Since the revolt began, the regime has blamed armed gangs acting out a foreign conspiracy for the bloodshed.

In a bid to reinforce that message, the Syrian Information Ministry took Syrian journalists to Homs for the funeral of 17 members of the armed forces killed recently in various attacks, including the six pilots and four technical officers who were killed in Thursday's ambush.

Syria has banned foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making escorted trips the only official way to cover events within the country.

Ghassan Abdul-Aal, the governor of Homs, insisted Saturday that the government would continue to target criminals.

During the funeral procession, 17 coffins wrapped in Syrian flags were carried by members of the armed forces, some of them in tears.

Many of the attacks against Syrian security forces are believed to be carried out by a group of army defectors known as the Free Syrian Army and other Syrians who increasingly have taken up arms against the regime.

Sobbing and burying her face behind his photo, the mother of Intisar Dayoub, one of the six pilots, urged the government to punish the perpetrators and to "hit with an iron fist against whoever tries to ruin our country."

It is not clear how or whether Arab sanctions would effectively impact the Syrian regime, especially without a mechanism in place to ensure compliance.

The Arab League's recommendations for sanctions specified that the Arab bloc will assist Syria with emergency aid through the help of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, working with local civilian groups to deliver goods.

Syrian neighbors Iraq and Lebanon already have expressed reservations about the sanctions.

"There are hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in Syria and there are trade relations and exchanged visits," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said during a press conference in Najaf.

There are concerns that the unrest in Syria could send unsettling ripples through the region.

Syria is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East, bordering five countries with whom it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel's case, a fragile truce. Its web of allegiances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy.

___

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael from Cairo, Egypt, Albert Aji from Homs, Syria and Sameer N Yaacoub in Iraq contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Ethnic group demands say in new Libyan government (AP)

TRIPOLI, Libya ? Hundreds of people have demonstrated in Tripoli to demand representation in government for the Amazigh, an ethnic minority whose culture was suppressed during the decades of Moammar Gadhafi's rule.

The Amazigh said they're angry that they are not part of a transitional government sworn in Thursday.

The issue reflects the widely divergent tribal makeup of Libya and the challenges faced by the new rulers in trying to forge a government accepted by all the factions.

About 400 people from the community, descendants of the region's indigenous Berbers, demonstrated outside the office of the prime minister on Sunday, demanding a meeting with him.

Some Amazigh elders were allowed to enter the office of Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib. It's not clear what resulted from their meeting.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_libya

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Water Bottle Blaster Takes Down Walls, I Wish My Water Cooler Did That [Video]

There are lots of creative alternate uses for office supplies, including makeshift weaponry, but I can't imagine that any of them are as destructive as this Wall Blaster that uses pneumatics to devastate brick walls with water cooler bottles. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/aOEiP-5EOko/water-bottle-blaster-takes-down-walls-i-wish-my-water-cooler-did-that

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Mali: German killed; Dutch, SAfrican, Swede seized

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? Gunmen killed a German man in Mali's most famous city of Timbuktu and seized three men from the Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden, officials and witnesses said, as officials on Saturday ordered a plane to evacuate foreigners from the tourist destination.

The Dutch and Swedish governments confirmed Saturday that their citizens had been taken. A fellow traveler said the other man seized was South African and said she met the German man.

Tour guide Ali Maiga was with the tourists during Friday's attack at a Timbuktu restaurant and gave the same list of nationalities. A witness and an official said gunmen burst into the restaurant, grabbed four tourists dining there and executed one when he refused to climb into their truck.

Officials on Saturday evacuated foreigners from Timbuktu to the capital, said a man who owns a hotel in Bamako where the tourists previously stayed. He asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ward Bezemer confirmed that one Dutch man was among those kidnapped.

"In the interests of the people involved, we never comment on these cases," Bezemer told The Associated Press.

The kidnapping comes ahead of an official visit by Mali's president to the Netherlands next week.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Saturday confirmed on Twitter that one of those kidnapped was Swedish. He did not mention the nationalities of the others.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement that the killed foreigner is "with a high probability a German national" and updated its Mali travel advisory to mention the killing.

South African foreign affairs department spokesman Clayson Monyela said Saturday his government was trying to confirm whether one of those kidnapped was South African.

Canadian tourist Julie-Ann Leblond said she met a group consisting of a South African, a Swede and a Dutch couple in Mali. She said they invited her to join them as they headed to Timbuktu, but she took ill on Wednesday and had to stay behind.

"I was supposed to go there with them," Leblond, a 25-year-old resident of Quebec City, told the Associated Press by phone from Bamako. "I was never so happy to get a cold."

She did not provide the names of the travelers and said the German was traveling separately. She said the group of four met on the road as they were traveling from Europe to Africa.

"They're incredible people, so peaceful, so nice," she said. "That kind of thing cannot just happen to those kind of people. It's crazy."

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, also condemned the attack in a statement and said "these incidents show the need to continue and intensify the efforts against insecurity in the Sahel," the desert region stretching from Mauritania to Chad.

"Through its Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel, the EU is committed to help the Sahel countries in this endeavor," the statement said.

Until a few years ago, Timbuktu was one of the most visited destinations in Africa, but it is now one of the many former tourist hotspots in Mali that have been deemed too dangerous to visit by foreign embassies because of kidnappings by the local chapter of al-Qaida.

Friday's incident comes after two French citizens were grabbed in the middle of the night from their hotel in the Malian town of Hombori on Thursday. French judicial officials have opened a preliminary investigation into their kidnappings.

Neither kidnapping has yet been claimed by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, whose members have kidnapped and ransomed more than 50 Europeans and Canadians since 2003.

If Friday's kidnapping is by AQIM, it will mark the first time they have taken a hostage inside of Timbuktu's city limits. Thursday's kidnapping would be another first ? the first hostage taking south of the Niger River.

The group's footprint has grown dramatically since 2006, when the Algerian-led cell first joined al-Qaida. Security experts estimate the group has been able to raise around $130 million from ransom payments alone.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague, writer Juergen Baetz contributed from Berlin, writer David Stringer contributed from London and writers Anita Powell and Donna Bryson contributed from Johannesburg.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-26-AF-Mali-Kidnapping/id-62a1bf85f73043d7bc083e4f73facef3

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Video: Another Thanksgiving in Afghanistan for troops

>>> overseas tonight american troops are marking their final thanksgiving in iraq before leaving the country at the end of this year, but it is quite a different story in afghanistan , where troops could spend many thanksgivings to come as the war there drags on. nbc's jim maceda is in kabul for us tonight. jim , good evening to you.

>> reporter: hi, savannah. well, this is the 11th thanksgiving for u.s. forces fighting in afghanistan . we shared it today with the thousand or so u.s. troops based at kabul military airport , where the highlight today was roast turkey with all the trimmings, ham, ribs, corn on the cob , even apple and pecan pies. but of course as you suggest, the big question is how many more thanksgivings will u.s. troops mark here going forward? well, at least three, according to president obama 's plan to hand over to the afghans by the end of 2014 all security. but what happens after that really depends on a long-term agreement that right now they are trying to hammer out between washington and kabul . now, meanwhile afghan tribal leaders recently endorsed the plan that would actually keep u.s. troops here for at least a decade beyond 2014 . some u.s. commanders are buying into that saying they could work with the plan but they stress that the majority of u.s. forces must be gone by 2014 . still, the taliban has a vote in all this and a series of recent suicide attacks here, especially on the u.s. embassy in kabul , killed dozens and show that the taliban can really strike at will, even in the heavily guarded capital. so, savannah, there are still many intangibles, but the safe bet is that u.s. troops will be celebrating thanksgiving here for many years to come. back to you. by the way, happy thanksgiving.

>> and to you, jim maceda with our troops in afghanistan tonight. thank you.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45431432/

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