New Cornell Campus to Cultivate High-Tech Industry in New York City [Slide Show]

Features | Technology

A collaboration with an Israeli University will incubate start-ups from an East-River island with a colorful past

By Larry Greenemeier ?| January 31, 2012

TECH TRANSFORMATION: Cornell and Technion plan to build their 18.6-hectare NYC Tech campus on the site of Goldwater Memorial Hospital (pictured), which operates on Roosevelt Island, 52-hectare sliver of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. Image: Courtesy of Larry Greenemeier

For years New York City?based universities have been opening satellite campuses worldwide, whether it is New York University's sites in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv or Columbia University's Global Centers in Beijing and Nairobi. Technion?Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa is returning the favor in a big way, partnering with Ithaca, N.Y.?based Cornell University to build a campus on New York City's Roosevelt Island.

The purpose of this high-tech venture is to turn the 52-hectare sliver of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens into a techno island of sorts, an incubator for start-ups akin to what Stanford University has done in Silicon Valley and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (M.I.T.) role in the Boston area.

By 2027 Cornell and Technion plan to have buily more than half of their 18.6-hectare NYC Tech Campus on the site of Roosevelt Island's Goldwater Memorial Hospital, just south of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Coursework aimed at cultivating health care, social media and green energy entrepreneurs could begin on site as early as 2017. Cornell and Technion hope to attract 2,500 students and 280 professors learning, teaching and living on the island within two decades.

NYC Tech will offer a dual masters from both Cornell and Technion in applied science. The program will be tailored to students who already have an undergraduate degree in a technology-related discipline?such as computer science or engineering?and add to that the business and entrepreneurial skills needed to develop and commercialize new technologies. Students will have mentors from New York?based businesses and work on projects with real-world applications, says Daniel Huttenlocher, Cornell dean of computing and information science.

The ultimate goal is to initiate student- and faculty-led start-ups that will remain in New York City. *The NYCTech Campus plans to establish a $150 million revolving financing fund that will be solely devoted to start-up businesses in the city,.

Cornell alumni have a strong track record in forming successful tech companies but few have remained on the east coast. Irwin Mark Jacobs, who graduated from Cornell in 1956 with an electrical engineering degree, co-founded San Diego-based telecommunications company Qualcomm in 1985. PeopleSoft, Inc., which made human-resource management software before being bought by Oracle in 2005 for $10.3 billion, was co-founded in 1987 in Walnut Creek, Calif., by Cornell alumnus David Duffield.

Huttenlocher attributes some of Cornell's challenge of retaining its homegrown talent to its relatively isolated and rural location. E Ink Corp. (makers of the Amazon Kindle's electronic paper displays) and Harmonix Music Systems (makers of Guitar Hero and other popular video games) emerged out of M.I.T.'s Media Lab but stayed nearby in Cambridge. Carnegie Mellon University has likewise benefited from spin offs Pittsburgh Pattern Recognition (makers of computer vision software) and RedZone Robotics remaining near Pittsburgh.

The challenges NYC Tech graduates will face in New York City are less about isolation than they are about setting up shop given the city's pricey real estate, which is where the $150 million financing fund may come into play. One of Technion's roles will be to lend its experience getting start-ups off the ground near its Haifa campus.

Columbia has since 1982 had a program to help turn entrepreneurial ideas into start-ups through that university's Technology Ventures office, but Huttenlocher says Cornell and Technion are taking a new approach. NYC Tech's applied science program will be organized around three interdisciplinary themes relevant to industries operating in and around the city. One will emphasize the development of technology to promote healthier living, which is of interest to the city's health care institutions and insurance companies. Another theme will focus on ways to make media more interactive?perhaps along the lines of "social TV" or "two-way" programming?that might appeal to the city's more traditional broadcast media companies as well as advertising and marketing firms. The third theme, so-called "smart" technologies, will develop on retrofits for city buildings to make them greener and more energy efficient.

"Each of these three areas brings together technology and non-technology fields such as social science, design, public health and the study of human behavior," Huttenlocher says, adding that, as times change, the NYC Tech curriculum will adapt. "The themes themselves might look different in a few years, but the fundamental approach of the campus will not change."

Cornell wants to initiate classes and labs like those that will be offered at NYC Tech during the 2012?13 school year in rented space in Manhattan. Huttenlocher says they have not yet chosen a location but that the NYC Tech coursework will begin even before Goldwater Memorial is razed and the foundation for the new campus is poured.

Change is nothing new to Roosevelt Island, whose population has swelled to 14,000 in recent years. Native Americans used it as a hunting ground and fishing hole before 17th-century Dutch settlers bought the island to raise hogs. For the past 180 years it has been home to a mental hospital, penitentiary, smallpox hospital, almshouse, nursing school and government rent-subsidized apartment buildings.

The aging Goldwater facilities, which opened in 1939, do not meet NYC Tech's needs for a modern workspace. For example, plans call for the campus to include a solar array that will generate 1.8 megawatts at daily peak and a 400-well geothermal field, which uses the constant temperature of the earth to cool buildings in the summer and heat them in the winter.,

The campus is also expected to include newly constructed classrooms and computer labs as well as open workspaces where students and faculty can design and build projects. Local companies may also have access to some of the space so that mentors can work with students on campus. NYC Tech will also include housing for students and faculty.

View a slide show of the site of New York City's New Cornell High-Tech Campus

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Star Snapshots: Couples Cam

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie catch up with George Clooney and Stacy Keibler! Check out more pics of Hollywood's tightest twosomes

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Democrats Take Lead in Congressional Ballot (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Netanyahu pessimistic on Mideast peace prospects (Reuters)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? Peace prospects with the Palestinians are looking poor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after exploratory talks aimed at relaunching negotiations ended in deadlock.

"As things stand now, according to what happened over the past few days - when the Palestinians refused even to discuss Israel's security needs with us - the signs are not particularly good," he told his cabinet in public remarks.

Palestinian officials said last week an Israeli negotiator's verbal presentation on Wednesday of ideas for borders and security arrangements of a future Palestinian state was a non-starter, envisaging a fenced-off territory of cantons that would preserve most Jewish settlements.

Netanyahu said he still hoped the Palestinians would "come to their senses and continue the talks so that we can move on to real negotiations."

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held five rounds of exploratory talks in Jordan, part of a push by international mediators to revive negotiations suspended in 2010 in a dispute over Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

A Palestinian source said no more meetings were scheduled. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he wants to consult Arab League states on the next move.

An Israeli official said Israel's approach to territorial compromise in the West Bank, captured in the 1967 Middle East war, includes the principle that "most Israelis will be under Israeli sovereignty and obviously most Palestinians will be under Palestinian sovereignty."

The official said Netanyahu had acknowledged, in a speech to the U.S. Congress last May, that not all Jewish settlements "will be on our side of the border" with a future Palestinian state.

The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. They say Israeli settlements could deny them a viable and contiguous country.

Israel cites biblical and historical ties to the West Bank, an area it calls Judea and Samaria, and says any peace deal must include stringent security arrangements.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller; editing by Tim Pearce)

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Hazanavicius wins top honor from Directors Guild (omg!)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Michel Hazanavicius has won the top film honor at the Directors Guild of America Awards for his silent movie "The Artist," giving him the inside track for the best-director prize at the Academy Awards.

French filmmaker Hazanavicius, whose credits include the "OSS 117" spy spoofs, had been a virtual unknown in Hollywood until "The Artist," his black-and-white throwback to early cinema that has been a favorite at earlier film honors.

The Directors Guild honors are one of the most-accurate forecasts for who might go on to take home an Oscar. Only six times in the 63-year history of the guild awards has the winner failed to win the Oscar for best director. And more often than not, whichever film earns the directing Oscar also wins best picture.

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Online:

http://www.dga.org

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Hazanavicius wins at Directors Guild for 'Artist' (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? The Directors Guild of America Awards are the latest Hollywood film honors to go silent.

Hollywood's top filmmakers group presented its feature-film honor Saturday to Michel Hazanavicius for his silent film "The Artist," giving him the inside track for the best-director prize at the Academy Awards.

"I really love directors. I really have respect for directors. So this is really very moving and touching for me," said Hazanavicius, whose black-and-white silent charmer has cleaned up at earlier Hollywood honors and could emerge as the best-picture favorite at the Feb. 26 Oscars.

The Directors Guild honors are one of the most-accurate forecasts for who might go on to take home an Oscar. Only six times in the 63-year history of the guild awards has the winner failed to win the Oscar for best director. And more often than not, whichever film earns the directing Oscar also wins best picture.

French filmmaker Hazanavicius, whose credits include the spy spoofs "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" and "OSS 117: Lost in Rio," had been a virtual unknown in Hollywood until "The Artist." His throwback to early cinema centers on a silent-era star whose career crumbles when talking pictures take over in the late 1920s.

First-time nominee Hazanavicius won over a field of guild heavyweights that included past winners Martin Scorsese for "Hugo" and Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris." Past nominees David Fincher for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and Alexander Payne for "The Descendants" also were in the running.

Accepting his nomination plaque earlier in the ceremony from his stars in "The Artist," Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, Hazanavicius recalled his childhood education in great cinema, including Hollywood classics such as "Red River" and "Rio Bravo."

Hazanavicius said he felt he was being welcomed by the Directors Guild for a language they had in common: cinema.

"Maybe you noticed, but I'm French. I have an accent. I have a name that is very difficult to pronounce," Hazanavicius said. "I'm not American, and I'm not French, actually. I'm a filmmaker. ... I feel like I'm being accepted by you not as Americans but as filmmakers."

James Marsh won the film documentary prize for "Project Nim," his chronicle of the triumphs and trials of a chimpanzee that was raised like a human child. It was the latest major Hollywood prize for Marsh, who earned the documentary Academy Award for 2008's "Man on Wire."

Scorsese went zero-for-two at the guild awards. He also had been nominated for the documentary award for "George Harrison: Living in the Material World."

Robert B. Weide won the TV comedy directing award for an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," while Patty Jenkins earned the TV drama prize for the pilot of "The Killing."

The award for TV movie or miniseries went to Jon Cassar for "The Kennedys."

Other television winners were:

? Reality programming: Neil P. DeGroot, "The Biggest Loser."

? Musical variety: Glenn Weiss, "The 65th Annual Tony Awards."

? Daytime serials: William Ludel, "General Hospital."

? Children's programs: Amy Schatz, "A Child's Garden of Poetry."

? Commercials: Noam Murro.

At the start of the ceremony, Guild President Taylor Hackford led the crowd in a toast to one of his predecessors, Gil Cates, the veteran producer of the Oscar broadcast who died last year.

The Directors Guild awards were the first of two major Hollywood honors this weekend. The Screen Actors Guild hands out its prizes Sunday.

___

Online:

http://www.dga.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_en_mo/us_directors_awards

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Connecticut Car Insurance | Cheapest Car Insurance

The state of Connecticut makes sure that they implement their car insurance laws in the state very strictly. And that would mean that drivers should have liability insurance with them whenever they hit the road. Failing to do this would result to penalties which could have been avoided if the driver just followed the rules obediently. This is clearly stated in the Connecticut car insurance law and drivers and people get into a lot of hassle by not abiding this.

The minimum of coverage that the state requires is 20/40/10. That means that $20,000 for a person that is injured in the accident, $40,000 of there are multiple injured persons in the accident, and then $10,000 for the properties like walls and fences that got damaged. The authorities in Connecticut also make sure that a driver would be able to submit a valid proof of insurance before getting their car registered. If the driver fails to present this document, he would pay a fine of $200 and the registration of the vehicle would be put on hold until the owner would be able to present a valid proof of insurance. They also do routine stops to every vehicle on the highway to check if the driver has a proof of insurance with him. If the authorities find out that you are on the road without any proof that you are insured with the minimum liability coverage you will be paying a fine depending on the rules that you broke and there is also a great possibility that your registration would be suspended for a considerable amount of time.

Regarding insurances that have already lapsed, Connecticut has a Mandatory Insurance reporting law that requires insurance companies to inform DMV if an insurance policy has already been cancelled or expired. If this is the case the driver would be sent a notice informing him of the said predicament and then advising him of the actions that he has to take. Inaction to these types of notices would lead to a considerable amount of fines or suspension of driver?s license. Connecticut is one of the states in the county that takes traffic laws really seriously. This is not just a way for them to ensure you safety but the safety of other motorists and public properties as well.

If you are wondering where to find the best car insurance companies in the state, it would be best for you to use the internet in looking for one. You can find a lot of well established companies in the state that have used the internet as a tool to reach other customers. You can find cheap quotes through websites that offer this type of information to interested buyers. The good thing is that the process would be very quick and you don?t have to go through dealing with paper works just to get a quote. Sometimes all you need to do is give out your zip code and some basic information and then you will already see your best options. It would be a great trick if you would collect as many quotes as you can, compare the rate of the premiums, make a little research about the company that you like, and then contact them to buy the insurance.

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Correction: Food and Farm-GMO Labeling story (AP)

YAKIMA, Wash. ? In a Jan. 26 story about food labeling legislation, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Syngenta had announced plans to begin testing genetically modified wheat. Syngenta spokesman Paul Minehart said the company halted work on genetically modified wheat several years ago.

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Obama outlines plan to cut college costs. Could it backfire on students?

President Obama Friday made a set of bold proposals tying federal aid to colleges tuition costs.?Most of Obama?s ideas would require approval from Congress ? difficult to do in a polarized Washington.

President Obama Friday made a set of bold proposals to tie federal aid to efforts by states and colleges to keep tuition under control and provide a good value to students.

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Obama called for a $1 billion Race to the Top competition to reward states that do more to make college affordable and help students earn degrees on time ? echoing his competitions among states for K-12 grants tied to education reform.

The president would also restructure how $10 billion of federal financial aid is annually distributed to campuses, to give incentives to colleges and universities to keep down their net price ? what students pay after aid is taken into account.

?Higher education is not a luxury, it?s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford,? Obama said before an enthusiastic crowd at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Friday morning, one of a series of speeches he?s giving in swing states this week.

?We are putting colleges on notice: You can?t assume that you?ll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can?t stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down,? he said. ?States also have to do their part ? by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets.?

Most of Obama?s ideas would require approval from Congress, which would be difficult given the polarized environment in Washington.

In principle, some of the proposals make good sense while others may have unintended consequences, says Sandy Baum, a higher education analyst and senior fellow at George Washington University School of Education.

?It?s a good idea for the federal government to provide incentives for states and public institutions in particular to find innovative ways to provide quality education at lower costs,? Ms. Baum says of the Race to the Top proposal.

She also agrees that the current formula for distributing campus-based financial aid is out of date and needs to be revised.

But??taking [aid] money away from the students who are going to college in states that are raising their tuition just doesn?t seem very constructive,? Baum says. The federal incentive probably wouldn?t be enough to offset state budget problems that led to tuition increases in the first place, and some students wouldn?t enroll in college at all if less aid were available to them at their local public institution, she notes.

Here are more details of Obama?s proposals, according to a White House fact sheet:

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Occupy protesters barred from camping in DC squares (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The National Park Service will bar Occupy DC protesters from camping in the two parks where have been living since October, in a blow to one of the highest-profile chapters of the movement denouncing economic inequality.

The Occupy DC protesters must stop camping in McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza, both a few blocks from the White House, starting at about noon on Monday, the Park Service said on Friday.

The Park Service will start to enforce regulations that "prohibit camping and the use of temporary structures for camping in McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza," the agency said in a flyer distributed at the sites.

"Although 24/7 demonstration vigils and the use of symbolic temporary structures, including empty tents used as symbols of the demonstration, may be permitted in the park areas, camping and the use of temporary structures for camping is not."

The protesters have been in the two sites since around the start of October. They have spearheaded numerous protests in Washington, including a demonstration that drew hundreds of people to the Capitol this month.

The McPherson Square site has drawn increasing criticism from Congress and the District of Columbia administration.

The park bordering K Street, a symbol of Washington lobbyists, has been criticized because of squalor and rats, and the protesters' numbers have been swelled by homeless people.

Sara Shaw, a McPherson Square protester handling contacts with the media, said the group would discuss its response at an evening meeting. She said 50 to 100 people were living in the square.

Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said in a statement: "The National Park Service takes very seriously its tradition of providing opportunities for First Amendment activities.

"We have a long history spanning several decades of 24-hour First Amendment vigils."

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Paul Thomasch)

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Medics suspend Libya prison role over torture

By msnbc.com news services

BENGHAZI, Libya?-- Doctors Without Borders has suspended its work in prisons in the Libyan city of Misrata because it said torture was so rampant that some detainees were brought for care only to make them fit for further interrogation, the group said Thursday.

Amnesty International also said it has recorded widespread prisoner abuse in other cities as well, leading to the death of several inmates.

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The allegations, which come more than three months after former leader Moammar Gadhafi was captured and killed, were an embarrassment to the governing National Transitional Council, which is struggling to establish its authority in the divided nation.

Torture-related wounds
Doctors Without Borders said that since August, its medical teams have treated 115 people in Misrata who bore torture-related wounds, including cigarette burns, heavy bruising, bone fractures, tissue burns from electric shocks and kidney failure from beatings. Two detainees died after being interrogated, the group's general director said.

"Patients were brought to us in the middle of interrogation for medical care, in order to make them fit for further interrogation. This is unacceptable," MSF general director Christopher Stokes said in a statement. "Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions."

Libya's Western-backed leadership, which has sought to assure the world of its commitment to democracy and human rights, has acknowledged that some prisoners held by revolutionary forces have been abused. It insisted the mistreatment was not systematic and pledged to tackle the problem.

But the transitional government has been unable to rein in the dozens of militias that arose during the war and have been reluctant to disband or submit to central authority.

An official with the Libyan government said it paid attention to all credible reports of abuse.

"There is no doubt that there are acts of violation of human rights but these are to do with the mentality of the people who are in charge of these prisons," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

"Neither the government, nor the NTC, nor any Libyan group supports these acts. These actions are individual acts and the authorities will take a very serious view of them."

Beatings and whippings
Amnesty International said in a statement issued Thursday that it has met with a number of detainees in Tripoli, Misrata, and Gharyan who showed visible marks indicating torture, including open wounds on the head, limbs, back and other parts of the body. A number of detainees spoke to Amnesty about beatings with electric cables and metal chains, and they reported being suspended in contorted positions and given electric shocks.

It quoted one man who said he had been tortured earlier this month in the headquarters of Misrata security forces.

"They took me for interrogation upstairs. Five men in plain clothes took turns beating and whipping me," Amnesty quoted the man as saying.

"They suspended me from the top of the door by my wrists for about an hour and kept beating me. They also kicked me."

The London-based group said the torture and mistreatment, mostly against suspected Gadhafi loyalists and sometimes foreign nationals from sub-Saharan African countries, is carried out by officially recognized military and security bodies as well as by a number of armed militias operating outside any legal framework. The group said several detainees died in custody from torture, detailing the death of at least two detainees.

Britain, which played a key role in the NATO-led air campaign that helped revolutionary forces overthrow Gadhafi, urged the new regime to "live up to the high standards they have set themselves."

"They need to ensure a zero tolerance policy on abuse. We are concerned about these reports and are taking them up with the Libyans as a matter of urgency," British Prime Minister David Cameron's office said in a statement.

The head of Amnesty International told The Associated Press the mistreatment of detainees in Libya showed the need for the international community to keep helping the country in its difficult transition. "It's not just a matter of sending in troops and then getting out again. Libya needs long term assistance," Salil Shetty said.

Stokes, of the MSF, told The Associated Press that those subjected to torture include ex-combatants and people accused of theft and looting.

"There is a significant number of people with darker skin, but there is really a wide mix," he said. "Whatever the motives, it is unacceptable to do this to human beings."

The interrogations were carried out by Libya's National Army Security Service at facilities outside the detention centers, MSF said in a statement.

'Couldn't even stand up'
The group, which operates in prisons but not interrogation centers, said it contacted authorities in Misrata, the port city that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war, to demand an end to the abuse, but it received no official response, prompting MSF to halt its operations in the city's detention centers.

MSF said it will continue its support in Misrata hospitals and schools in addition to providing assistance to African migrants, refugees and internally displaced people in and around Tripoli.

In its statement, MSF said the most alarming case was on Jan. 3, when MSF doctors treated a group of 14 detainees returning from an interrogation center. It said nine of the detainees had numerous injuries, including broken arms and renal failure, and displayed obvious signs of torture.

Stokes said his group has informed the National Army Security Service that a number of patients needed to be transferred to hospitals for urgent and specialized care. All but one of the detainees were deprived of further medical care and hospitalization, and instead taken back to interrogation centers.

"Some of them couldn't even stand up, they were so badly beaten," he said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.?

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A daring raid, and US, Danish hostages on way home (AP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia ? Held captive since last fall, an ailing American woman and a Danish man are safely on their way home after a bold, dark-of-night rescue by U.S. Navy SEALs. The commandos slipped into a Somali encampment, shot and killed nine captors and whisked the hostages to freedom.

The raid's success was welcome news for the hostages and their families, for the military and for President Barack Obama, who was delivering his State of the Union speech as the mission was wrapping up Tuesday night. He did not mention it in his address but dropped a hint upon arriving in the House chamber by telling Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, "Good job tonight."

It was the second splashy SEAL Team 6 success in less than a year, following last May's killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

The SEALs apparently encountered some degree of resistance from the kidnappers at the encampment. One U.S. official said Wednesday that there was a firefight but the length and extent of the battle were unclear.

Pentagon spokesmen said they could not confirm a gun battle, although one defense official said it was likely that the SEALs killed the kidnappers rather than capture them because they encountered armed resistance or the threat of resistance.

The Pentagon was mostly tight-lipped about details on Wednesday, citing a need to preserve the secrecy that can give SEALs and other special operations forces an edge against the terrorists, criminals and others they are ordered to kill or capture around the world under hazardous and often hostile conditions.

Special operations forces, trained for clandestine, small-team missions, have become a more prominent tool in the military's kit since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Obama administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will invest even more heavily in that capability in coming years.

After planning and rehearsal, the Somalia rescue was carried out by SEAL Team 6, officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a secret mission. The same outfit did the bin Laden mission, the biggest counter-terror success of Obama's presidency. It was not clear whether any team members participated in both operations.

One official said the SEALs parachuted from U.S. Air Force aircraft before moving on foot, apparently undetected, to the outdoor encampment where they found American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, a 60-year-old Dane, who had been kidnapped in Somalia last fall. The raid happened near the town of Adado.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said the captors were heavily armed and had "explosives nearby" when the rescuers arrived on the scene, but he was not more specific. He declined to say whether there was an exchange of gunfire and would not provide any further details about how the rescue was completed beyond saying all of the captors were killed by the Americans.

The American raiders caught the kidnappers as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were "taken away."

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby, said U.S. officials could not confirm that the kidnappers were engaged in piracy. He referred to them simply as "criminals."

Little said the decision to go ahead with the rescue was prompted in part by rising concern about the medical condition of Buchanan. He said he could not be specific without violating her privacy but did say U.S. officials had reason to believe her condition could be life-threatening. Mary Ann Olsen, an official with the Danish Refugee Council, which employed Buchanan and Thisted in de-mining efforts in Somalia, said Buchanan was "not that ill" but needed medicine.

Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal told Denmark's TV2 channel, "One of the hostages has a disease that was very serious and that had to be solved." Soevndal did not provide any more details.

U.S. officials "within the last week or so" had collected enough information to "connect the dots" that led Obama to authorize the mission on Monday, Little said.

A Western official said the rescuers and the freed hostages flew by helicopter to Camp Lemonnier in the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released publicly. Panetta visited Camp Lemonnier just over a month ago. A key U.S. ally in this region, Djibouti hosts the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, a U.S.-led group organized under U.S. Africa Command.

In a statement after the rescue, Africa Command said Buchanan and Thisted were being held for an undisclosed ransom. It said the rescue team managed to confirm the hostages' presence in the camp before launching the assault. The mission was directed by Army Gen. Carter Ham, head of Africa Command, from his headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Panetta and other members of Obama's national security team monitored the mission from the White House before traveling up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol for the president's annual message to Congress and the nation.

Obama, Panetta and Ham all praised the skill and courage of the SEALs and expressed gratitude for the safe return of the hostages.

"We should remember that Mrs. Buchanan and Mr. Thisted were working to protect the people of Somalia when they were violently kidnapped," Ham said in a written statement. "It is my hope that all those who work in Somalia for the betterment of the Somali people can be free from the dangers of violent criminals."

The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that Buchanan and Thisted were "on their way to be reunited with their families" on Wednesday.

Minutes after Obama completed his State of the Union address he was on the phone with Buchanan's father to tell him his daughter was safe.

"As commander in chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts," Obama said in a statement released by the White House on Wednesday.

"The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice."

The Danish Refugee Council had been trying to work with Somali elders to win the hostages' freedom but had found little success. The head of the council, Andreas Kamm, said he would have preferred to see the two hostages freed peacefully "but we're happy with the outcome. This is a day of joy indeed."

Buchanan lived in neighboring Kenya before Somalia, and worked at a school in Nairobi called the Rosslyn Academy from 2007-09, said Rob Beyer, the dean of students. He described the American as quick to laugh and adventurous.

"There have been tears on and around the campus today," Beyer said. "She was well-loved by all her students."

Several hostages are still being held in Somalia, including a British tourist, two Spanish doctors seized from neighboring Kenya and an American journalist kidnapped on Saturday.

___

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Julie Pace in Washington, Jason Straziuso in Nairobi, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Patrick Walters in Philadelphia contributed to this report. Houreld reported from Nairobi and Burns from Washington.

___

Follow Katharine Houreld at http://twitter.com/khoureld and Robert Burns at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_raid

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FERC reschedules Anchorage pipeline meeting (AP)

JUNEAU, Alaska ? Federal regulators have rescheduled a meeting in Anchorage on TransCanada Corp.'s proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline project.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, had canceled a Jan. 18 scoping meeting while it waited for TransCanada to file draft environmental reports. TransCanada has since filed those.

The Anchorage meeting is reset to Feb. 13.

The focus is on TransCanada's proposed project from the North Slope into Canada. FERC has announced plans to do an environmental review of the Alaska portion. Through its meetings, it is trying to determine what potential environmental impacts to consider in the report.

The first scoping meeting is scheduled for Monday in Fairbanks. Additional meetings are planned in Delta Junction, Tok, Barrow, Nuiqsut and Kaktovik.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/us_alaska_pipeline_alaska

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Obama challenges: Shrink gap between rich, poor

President Barack Obama gestures while giving his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio listen at rear. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama gestures while giving his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio listen at rear. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama delivered a populist challenge Tuesday night to shrink the gap between rich and poor, promising to tax the wealthy more and help jobless Americans get work and hang onto their homes. Seeking re-election and needing results, the president invited Republicans to join him but warned, "I intend to fight."

In an emphatic State of the Union address, Obama said ensuring a fair shot for all Americans is "the defining issue of our time." He said the economy is finally recovering from a deep and painful recession and he will fight any effort to return to policies that brought it low.

"We've come too far to turn back now," he declared.

Obama outlined a vastly different vision for fixing the country than the one pressed by the Republicans confronting him in Congress and fighting to take his job in the November election. He pleaded for an active government that ensures economic fairness for everyone, just as his opponents demand that the government back off and let the free market rule.

Obama offered steps to help students afford college, a plan for more struggling homeowners to refinance their homes and tax cuts for manufacturers. He threw in politically appealing references to accountability, including warning universities they will lose federal aid if they don't stop tuition from soaring.

Standing in front of a divided Congress, with bleak hope this election year for much of his legislative agenda, Obama spoke with voters in mind.

"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by," Obama said. "Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules."

A rare wave of unity splashed over the House chamber at the start. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, survivor of an assassination attempt one year ago, received sustained applause from her peers and cheers of "Gabby, Gabby, Gabby." She blew a kiss to the podium. Obama embraced her.

Lawmakers leapt to their feet when Obama said near the start of his speech that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, killed by a raid authorized by the president, will no longer threaten America.

At the core of Obama's address was the improving but deeply wounded economy ? the matter still driving Americans' anxiety and the one likely to determine the next presidency.

"The state of our union is getting stronger," Obama said, calibrating his words as millions remain unemployed. Implicit in his declaration that the American dream is "within our reach" was the recognition that, after three years of an Obama presidency, the country is not there yet.

He spoke of restoring basic goals: owning a home, earning enough to raise a family, putting a little money away for retirement.

"We can do this," Obama said. "I know we can." He said Americans are convinced that "Washington is broken," but he also said it wasn't too late to cooperate on important matters.

Republicans were not impressed. They applauded infrequently, though they did cheer when the president quoted "Republican Abraham Lincoln" as saying: "That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves ? and no more."

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, offering the formal GOP response, called Obama's policies "pro-poverty" and his tactics divisive.

"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others," Daniels said after the president's address.

In a signature swipe at the nation's growing income gap, Obama called for a new minimum tax rate of at least 30 percent on anyone making over $1 million. Many millionaires ? including one of his chief rivals, Republican Mitt Romney ? pay a rate less than that because they get most of their income from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate.

"Now you can call this class warfare all you want," Obama said, responding to a frequent criticism from the GOP presidential field. "But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense."

Obama calls this the "Buffett rule," named for billionaire Warren Buffett, who has said it's unfair that his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does. Emphasizing the point, Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, attended the address in first lady Michelle Obama's box.

Obama underlined every proposal with the idea that hard work and responsibility still count. He was targeting independent voters who helped seal his election in 2008 and the frustrated masses in a nation pessimistic about its course.

In a flag-waving defense of American power and influence abroad, Obama said the U.S. will safeguard its own security "against those who threaten our citizens, our friends and our interests." On Iran, he said that while all options are on the table to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon ? an implied threat to use military force ? "a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible."

With Congress almost universally held in low regard, Obama went after an easy target in calling for reforms to keep legislators from engaging in insider trading and holding them to the same conflict-of-interest standards as those that apply to the executive branch.

With the foreclosure crisis on ongoing sore spot despite a number of administration housing initiatives over the past three years, Obama proposed a new program to allow homeowners with privately held mortgages to refinance at lower interest rates. Administration officials offered few details but estimated savings at $3,000 a year for average borrowers.

Obama proposed steps to crack down on fraud in the financial sector and mortgage industry, with a Financial Crimes Unit to monitor bankers and financial service professionals, and a separate special unit of federal prosecutors and state attorneys general to expand investigations into abusive lending that led to the housing crisis.

At a time of tight federal budgets and heavy national debt, Obama found a ready source of money to finance his ideas: He proposed to devote half of the money no longer being spent on the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan to "do some nation-building right here at home," to help create more jobs and increase competitiveness. The other half, he said, would go to help pay down the national debt.

Obama also offered a defense of regulations that protect the American consumer ? regulations often criticized by Republicans as job-killing obstacles.

"Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same," Obama said. "It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts and no cop-outs. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody."

Obama will follow up Tuesday night's address with a three-day tour of five states key to his re-election bid. On Wednesday he'll visit Iowa and Arizona to promote ideas to boost American manufacturing; on Thursday in Nevada and Colorado he'll discuss energy, and in Michigan on Friday he'll talk about college affordability, education and training.

Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama's overall job performance but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.

The speech Tuesday night comes just one week before the Florida Republican primary that could help set the trajectory for the rest of the race.

Romney, caught up in a tight contest with a resurgent Newt Gingrich, commented in advance to Obama's speech.

"Tonight will mark another chapter in the misguided policies of the last three years ? and the failed leadership of one man," Romney said from Florida.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-24-US-State-of-the-Union/id-9800bfa261ae45b4a32c91c30e0af989

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Obama proposes broad refinancing for homeowners (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama proposed a new program during his State of the Union address Tuesday to allow homeowners with privately held mortgages to refinance at lower interest rates.

The program would cover both loans issued by government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and private mortgage lenders. Congress would have to approve it, a difficult hurdle.

"There's never been a better time to build, especially since the construction industry was one of the hardest-hit when the housing bubble burst," Obama said. "Of course, construction workers weren't the only ones hurt. So were millions of innocent Americans who've seen their home values decline. And while government can't fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn't have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief."

A punctured housing bubble was at the center of the recession, prompting widespread foreclosures and leaving millions of homeowners with houses valued at less than their mortgages.

Under the plan, any homeowner current on his or her mortgage could take advantage of historically low lending rates. Mortgage rates have been below 4 percent for months.

The program would be paid for by a small fee on large banks, senior administration officials said.

Administration officials offered few details but estimated savings at $3,000 a year for average borrowers. It's likely that millions of homeowners would be eligible, but they would have to seek out refinancing options under the program with their lender. Other government programs allow lenders to seek out potential applicants.

Further details of the program will likely be released in legislation in the next few days, officials said.

The new program would expand the Obama administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program, which allows borrowers with Fannie and Freddie-backed loans to refinance at lower rates. Few people have signed up for that program. Many "underwater" borrowers ? those who owe more than their homes are worth ? couldn't qualify.

About 1 in 4 Americans with a mortgage ? about 11 million ? are underwater, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data firm. Roughly 1 million homeowners have refinanced through the refinancing program. Government officials had estimated it would help 4 million to 5 million homeowners.

About half of all U.S. mortgages ? about 30 million home loans ? are owned by non-government lenders.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_union_housing

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Senator Mark Kirk hospitalized after suffering stroke (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Senator Mark Kirk underwent surgery on Monday after suffering a stroke, according to a statement from the Illinois Republican lawmaker's office.

Kirk, 52, remains hospitalized after suffering a stroke over the weekend. He underwent surgery early on Monday to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke, the statement said.

Kirk checked himself into a hospital in the Chicago suburb Lake Forest on Saturday where doctors discovered an "carotid artery dissection."

Kirk was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Sunday where further tests revealed that he had suffered an ischemic stroke.

"Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator's recovery over the weeks ahead," the statement said.

Kirk, a native of Champaign, Illinois, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2000 and to the Senate in 2010.

(Reporting By Eric Johnson; editing by Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/us_nm/us_senator_kirk_stroke

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2012 Oscar nominations: 5 burning questions (The Week)

New York ? Ahead of Tuesday's unveiling of this year's Academy Award nominees, Oscarologists debate Bridesmaids' Best Picture hopes, Ryan Gosling's odds, and more

Hollywood will rise early Tuesday morning: At 5:30 am PST, the 2012 Oscar nominations will be announced by Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence (a previous Best Actress nominee for Winter's Bone) and Academy President Tom Sherak. With A-listers George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Meryl Streep all in contention and buzzy films like The Artist and The Descendants expected to duke it out for the most nods, here are five burning questions leading up to the big reveal:

1. How many Best Picture nominees will there be?
Anywhere between five and 10 movies will qualify, thanks to this year's new, complicated nominating system: A film needs to be ranked number one on the ballots of at least five percent of voters in order to be nominated. That means, says Tom O'Neil at Goldderby, that The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, and Midnight in Paris are "virtually guaranteed of noms." Six other films could feasibly earn a slot, O'Neil predicts: Moneyball, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Tree of Life, Bridesmaids, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and War Horse. Despite all the "hype surrounding the Academy's new rules," says Dave Karger at Entertainment Weekly, I think there will only be five Best Picture nominees after all. Yet "seven likely nominees is the number everyone in town has repeated to each other in hopes that it's at least that, says Gregory Ellwood at HitFix, who pegs Moneyball and Bridesmaids to join the five "sure things."

SEE MORE: Bridesmaids: An Oscar contender?

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2. Which film will receive the most nods?
"Over the past 20 years, the movie with the most bids has won Best Picture 15 times," says O'Neil. The Artist and The Descendants are "undoubtedly the two favorites" to reap the most nominations, says Ben Skipper at Yahoo. Roger Ebert at The Chicago Sun-Times puts his money on The Artist, noting effusively that it is "so doggoned much fun."

3. Will the polarizing Tree of Life be shut out?
Don't count out Terrence Malick's hugely divisive Tree of Life just because it was snubbed completely by the Golden Globes and several other major awards groups, says Michael Rechtshaffen at the Toronto Sun. It still has enough passionate supporters to earn a nom in many top races, including Best Picture. A possible parallel: Last year, the Coen Brothers' True Grit was "completely locked out" by the Globes, but "went on to receive a whopping 10 nominations." I wouldn't be surprised, says Guy Lodge at HitFix, if Brad Pitt lands "a surprise second nod for Best Supporting Actor" for Tree of Life, on top of his inevitable Best Actor nomination for Moneyball.

SEE MORE: The Artist: Does a dog deserve an Oscar?

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4. Could Bridesmaids really be nominated for Best Picture?
It may once have seemed implausible that the summer's raunchy R-rated comedy could be an Oscar nominee for Best Picture, but the film's awards season momentum for Bridesmaids has "been steadily climbing for weeks," says Bruce Kirkland at The Toronto Sun. It's this year's "standard-bearer for non-art films," says Jim Slotek at The Toronto Sun. This could be "the year that broad comedy crashes the party." In any case, says Karger. The "industry affection for Bridesmaids" ensures nods for scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy in Best Supporting Actress and writers Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig in Best Original Screenplay.

5. Will Ryan Gosling surprise?
After a banner year, Ryan Gosling deserves Oscar recognition for delivering a trifecta of brilliant turns in Drive, The Ides of March, and Crazy, Stupid, Love, says Skipper. His best chance is a Best Actor nod for "out-acting his veteran co-stars in The Ides of March." The growing "lack of enthusiasm" for Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in J. Edgar could pave the way for Gosling to sneak into a race that's had the same five contenders (Clooney, DiCaprio, Pitt, Shame's Michael Fassbender, and The Artist's Jean Dujardin) nearly all season, says Moira MacDonald at The Seattle Times. Unfortunately, Gosling may be splitting the vote and "canceling himself out between The Ides of March and Drive."

SEE MORE: Should stars of bad movies win Best Actress Oscars?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20120123/cm_theweek/223597

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Thai police seize explosives, charge Lebanese man (AP)

BANGKOK ? A foreign suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah militants led Thai police Monday to a warehouse filled with materials commonly used to make bombs, as Thailand and the U.S. disagreed over whether Bangkok was the target of a terror plot.

Police seized more than 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of urea fertilizer and several gallons of liquid ammonium nitrate at the warehouse in Samut Sakhon, on the western outskirts of Bangkok, according to police and media reports.

The U.S. Embassy had issued an "emergency message" Friday warning of a possible terror threat against Americans in Bangkok, and Israel warned its citizens as well. A dozen other embassies have since urged their citizens to exercise caution.

The warnings come during heightened tension over U.S. and Israeli responses to the prospect that Iran is moving ahead with its nuclear program.

Thai authorities were caught off-guard by the U.S. announcement, hastily revealing they had detained a Swedish national of Lebanese origin with alleged links to pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants and that intelligence indicated a plot could be carried out between Jan. 13 and 15. The defense minister said the news was not released earlier to avoid panic that could hurt Thailand's tourism industry, one of the country's biggest revenue earners.

Damage control continued Monday, with the prime minister calling for calm.

"I'd like to tell people not to panic. The situation is under control. There is no problem," Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters, adding that security was increased and intelligence agencies were closely following the situation. "We can assure the safety of the (Thai) people and foreign tourists."

Details of the alleged plot remained hazy due to conflicting accounts from Thai officials, some of whom said that Thailand appeared to have been a staging ground but not the target of any attack.

"I think Thailand is likely a transit point for other regions of the world," national police chief Gen. Prewpan Dhamapong told reporters after the raid. "It is unlikely that they would have staged terror attacks in Thailand."

The U.S. Embassy stood by its warning and said it was still in effect Monday.

"Whenever we have specific, credible, not-counterable threats, it is our responsibility to inform Americans in Thailand," said embassy spokesman Walter Braunohler. "That's what we did Friday. We issued an emergency message, and that remains in effect."

Police were led to the warehouse by the suspect, identified as Atris Hussein. Hussein told police that he and other accomplices had rented the warehouse a year ago, according to a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said that police also found shipping containers, leading them to believe the materials were destined for shipment elsewhere, though he declined to say where.

Hussein was charged later Monday with illegally possessing explosive materials and faces up to five years in prison.

In Stockholm, Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Linn Duvhammar confirmed the detained suspect has dual citizenship and said the Swedish embassy is helping him find a lawyer. He moved to Sweden in 1991 and spent 2006-09 in his native country before returning.

Duvhammar said he was carrying a valid Swedish passport when he was arrested, as well as an old one that had been stained.

Police were still looking for another Lebanese suspect.

Thailand has rarely been a target for foreign terrorists, although a domestic Muslim insurgency in the country's south has involved bombings of civilian targets.

___

Associated Press writers Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok and Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_terror_threat

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Crowds greet famous Myanmar activist after release (AP)

PYAY, Myanmar ? Few convicts leave prison with their heads held high. Political detainees, like the several hundred released Friday under a presidential pardon in Myanmar, are a different matter. Unrepentant for the most part, they often leave jail toughened, if not energized.

Min Ko Naing is another case altogether.

His real name is Paw U Tun, but he is better known by his pseudonym, which means "Conqueror of Kings."

Joyous crowds greeted the nearly legendary leader of a failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising after he was released from prison in Thayet, 345 miles (545 kilometers) north of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city and former capital.

At frequent stops during his journey back to his home in Yangon on Friday and Saturday, Min Ko Naing rallied his supporters, saying he would not give up the fight for democracy and freedom he launched 24 years ago.

A year ago, such scenes would have been unlikely. But Myanmar is a different place now, with freedom starting to take root since the installation of a military-backed but elected government that has embarked on a series of reforms. An independent but censored press is flourishing, and front pages of newspapers feature once-taboo news of the country's democracy movement and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Calendars, T-shirts and other paraphernalia of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party are sold openly on the streets of Yangon.

But the adoring reception Min Ko Naing received as he traveled to Yangon was the kind one might encounter on a campaign trail of a sure winner, with crowds of up to 1,000 people turning out along the route and tying up traffic.

After a ferry ride on the Irrawaddy River, he set out from Pyay, also known as Prome, 180 miles (280 kilometers) north of Yangon, in a brown, 12-seat van with family and relatives. Serving as an escort was a pickup truck carrying youths from Suu Kyi's party, flying the party flag of a fighting peacock gazing at a white star. Nearly 50 horn-honking motorcycles ran on ahead.

Along the route, many shouted "Good health" and "Long live Min Ko Naing." They came out of their houses to give bouquets of flowers to the student leader, with loud cheers and applause erupting whenever Min Ko Naing came out of his van to greet the crowds.

Addressing a group of about 200 people near Shwe Myet Hman pagoda in Shwe Taung town, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) north of Yangon, Min Ko Naing shouted through a loudspeaker that the students who fought for democracy and freedom in 1988 will continue their struggle, and asked for their support.

"I was given 65 years' imprisonment. If I have to serve all the 65 years, I will have to continue to serve them in my next life," he said to the cheering crowd. "I'm now free because of the support of the people."

Myint Kyi came on his bicycle to see Min Ko Naing paying respects at a temple in Pyay.

"I have heard a lot of good things about Min Ko Naing and I want to see him in person. I am very proud of him and I can call it my day after I've seen him," said the 67-year old retired lawyer.

It is unlikely the generals who still are the ultimate arbiters of power in Myanmar see things the same way. Elections and reforms notwithstanding, they don't react well to their rivals' shows of popularity.

When Suu Kyi drew vast, enthusiastic crowds during a political tour of central Myanmar in 2003, pro-government thugs ambushed her entourage, killing several of her supporters, and she spent the next seven years under house arrest.

Min Ko Naing rose to prominence when, as a university student majoring in zoology, he was president of the clandestine Universities Student Union of Burma (Myanmar), as students spearheaded the popular rebellion against the 26-year autocratic rule of strongman Gen. Ne Win.

His bold speeches fired up the public ? but also assured that he would be targeted by the military when it gained the upper hand. Arrested in March 1989, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for having delivered anti-government speeches and agitating unrest. His sentence was later commuted to 10 years under a general amnesty, but he was kept behind bars anyway until 2004.

On his release, he and his comrades, collectively known as the "88 Generation Student Group," plunged right back into political organizing, and in short order were sent back to prison in 2007 after he led a rare protest against massive fuel price hikes and economic hardship. The small protests helped spark the bigger ? but failed ? "Saffon Revolution" demonstrations later that year. He was given a 65-year prison sentence.

Min Ko Naing doesn't have quite the prestige as Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Gen. Aung San and holder of the Nobel peace prize. But he is only 49 years old, in a country led by much older men.

He and his comrades are the face of Myanmar's future ? if the military is agreeable.

Thein Sein, who took office last year, has initiated a series of reforms, including the start of a dialogue with Suu Kyi, legalizing labor unions and the signing of a cease-fire agreement in a long-running campaign against Karen insurgents. Friday's prisoner release won them a long-coveted prize: Washington's announcement that it would upgrade diplomatic relations to posting an ambassador again in Myanmar. The last U.S. envoy was withdrawn after the violent crushing of the 1988 uprising.

Myanmar still wants to see a lifting of economic and political sanctions by the United States and other Western nations. Meanwhile, for all the reform efforts, underlying Thein Sein's government is a constitution ensuring that the military retains ultimate political power.

Suu Kyi has described the president as sincere, but in an interview with The Associated Press last week, she acknowledged that the reforms are not "unstoppable" and will succeed only if the powerful military accepts the changes.

Min Ko Naing shares both Suu Kyi's optimism and her caution.

The reforms that are currently taking place in the country are encouraging, but "there are elements that do not want reforms," he told the AP in an interview Saturday morning in Pyay. "We are willing to work with anyone for democracy, but there could also be challenges from those who are keen to backtrack."

He said that the government has shown its eagerness to be accepted by the international community, but that it still must free whatever political prisoner remain behind bars and make further efforts for peace and stability with the ethnic minorities who continue to struggle for greater autonomy.

___

Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120114/ap_on_re_as/as_myanmar_hero_s_welcome

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Bored Workers Often Turn to Chocolate, Booze, Study Finds (HealthDay)

FRIDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic boredom grips one-fourth of office workers, which may affect their quality of work as well as their physical and mental health, a new study suggests.

British researchers asked 102 office workers if they got bored at work and how they managed that boredom. Of those surveyed, 25 percent said they are chronically bored, and often eat chocolate or drink coffee to cope. The apathetic workers also said they were more likely to drink alcohol at the end of day.

Boredom also affected how well the workers performed their jobs. Nearly 80 percent of those polled said boredom caused them to lose their concentration, and more than half said it caused them to make mistakes. About half of the workers admitted that boredom might force them to leave their job.

"My analysis of the results suggests that the most significant cause of office boredom is an undemanding workload. So managers should look at ways of reducing sources of workplace boredom and at encouraging healthier ways of coping," said Dr. Sandi Mann, from the University of Central Lancashire in a news release. "We also found that some people are far more prone to boredom than others. Managers might consider using boredom-proneness as a tool when they are selecting staff or making decisions about staff development."

The researchers noted that job rotation and other enrichment programs might help reduce boredom in the workplace. Providing workers with healthy snacks and drinks might encourage them to avoid unhealthy indulgences, they said.

The findings are slated for presentation Thursday at a meeting of the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology in Chester, England. Data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on promoting health and well-being of workers.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120114/hl_hsn/boredworkersoftenturntochocolateboozestudyfinds

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Polaroid SC1630 Android HD Smart Camera Hands-On

Engadget:

The camera modules in smartphones continually improve, and these days there are phones like the iPhone 4S and the Nokia N9 who can take snapshots as good -- and sometimes better -- than point-and-shoots. Polaroid's known for making cameras, but its newest device, a rebrand of the Aigo A8 we saw at CES last year, flips the script by taking a 16 megapixel point-and-shoot and shoving an Android phone inside.

Read the whole story: Engadget

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/15/polaroid-sc1630-android-hd-smart-camera_n_1207835.html

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Awkward Hockey Fan Hits on Hot Reporter

A Chicago Blackhawks fan made the most of his chance at an intermission contest at the United Center. But it had nothing to do with his slap shot in "Shoot The Puck."

He misfired badly on his attempts to score goals and win prizes, but his consolation prize was an interview with lovely Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter Sarah Kustok.

After recalling his failure in the contest, he told Kustok "I love you" live on center ice at the Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild game last night. Here's our hero in action:

Blackhawks Fan Hits on Reporter

This was no casual one-off. The Casanova of Chicago hockey then repeated his profession for good measure, telling her. "You're so pretty and beautiful. I love you."

Kustok, who blushed and was clearly not expecting this, responded, "I don't even know what to say. I'm just going to say thank you. I don't know what to say."

Say you'll marry him on Center Ice next game Sarah.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/awkward-hockey-fan-hits-on-hot-reporter/

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IBM stores bits on arrays of atoms, shrinks magnetic storage to the scientific limit

IBM's Almaden Research Center is filled with some of the best and brightest minds in the world, and its researchers just released new findings that detail how just how far IBM has come in the realm of magnetic storage. Andreas Heinrich is leading the team at Big Blue that figured out how to create atomic storage based on the fact that atoms of ferromagnetic material align their spins in one direction -- so the ability to control the spin direction is what's needed to make such minature memory possible. Heinrich and his crew were able to accomplish the trick by supercooling 12 atoms to four degrees kelvin (-452 fahrenheit), and arranging them using an electron microscope in such a away that nonvolatile storage became possible. As this is only a proof of concept, we won't be seeing atomic memory at, say, CES any time soon, but you can dig into the deep science behind the breakthrough at the source link below.

IBM stores bits on arrays of atoms, shrinks magnetic storage to the scientific limit originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/14/ibm-stores-bits-on-arrays-of-atoms-shrinks-magnetic-storage-to/

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