12 must-see skywatching events in 2012

As the year 2011 comes to a close, some might wonder what is looming sky-wise for 2012? What celestial events might we look forward to seeing??

I've selected what I consider to be the top 12 "skylights" for this coming year, and list them here in chronological order. Not all these events will be visible from any one locality ... for the eclipses, for instance, you'll probably have to do some traveling ... but many can be observed from the comfort of your backyard.

Hopefully your local weather will cooperate on most, if not all, of these dates. Clear skies!

Jan. 4: Quadrantid meteor shower peaks
This meteor shower reaches its peak in the predawn hours of Jan. 4 for eastern North America. The Quadrantid meteor shower is a very short-lived meteor display, whose peak rates only last several hours. The phase of the moon is a bright waxing gibbous, normally prohibitive for viewing any meteor shower, but the moon will set by 3 a.m., leaving the sky dark for a few hours until the first light of dawn; that's when you'll have the best shot at seeing many of these bluish-hued meteors.?

From the eastern half of North America, a single observer might count on seeing as many as 50 to 100 "Quads" in a single hour. From the western half of the continent the display will be on the wane by the time the moon sets, with hourly rates probably diminishing to around 25 to 50 meteors.

Feb. 20 to March 12: Best evening apparition of Mercury
In February and March, the "elusive" innermost planet Mercury moves far enough from the glare of the sun to be readily visible soon after sunset. Its appearance will be augmented by two other bright planets (Venus and Jupiter), which also will be visible in the western sky during this same time frame.

Mercury will arrive at its greatest elongation from the sun March 5. It will be quite bright (-1.3 to zero magnitude) before this date and will fade rapidly to +1.6 magnitude thereafter. Astronomers measure the brightness of objects in terms of magnitude, with lower numbers corresponding to brighter objects.

March 3: Mars arrives at opposition
On March 3, Earth will be passing Mars as the two planets wheel around the sun in their respective orbits. Because Mars reaches aphelion ? its farthest point from the sun ? on Feb. 15, this particular opposition will be an unfavorable one. In fact, two days after opposition, Mars will be closest to Earth at a distance of 62.6 million miles.

Compare this with the August 2003 opposition when Mars was only 34.6 million miles away.? Nonetheless, even at this unfavorable opposition the fiery-hued Mars will be an imposing naked-eye sight, shining at magnitude -1.2, just a bit dimmer than Sirius, the brightest star, and will be visible in the sky all night long. ? ?

March 13: Brilliant 'double planet'
The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, team up to make for an eye-catching sight in the western sky soon after sunset. They will be separated by 3 degrees on this evening, Venus passing to the northwest (upper right) of Jupiter and shining nearly eight times brighter than "Big Jupe." Although they will gradually go their separate ways after this date, on March 25 and 26, a crescent moon will pass by, adding additional beauty to this celestial scene.

1. More space news from msnbc.com

   1. Probes may find remnants of moon's lost sibling

      Two identical NASA space probes are due to arrive at the moon this weekend to learn what is inside Earth's companion and how it formed.

   2. China reveals its space plans up to 2016
   3. First meteor shower of 2012 comes next week
   4. Russian officials rattled by breach at rocket plant

May 5: Biggest full moon of 2012
The moon turns full at 11:35 p.m. ET, and just 25 minutes later it will arrive at its closest point to Earth in 2012, at a distance of 221,801 miles. Expect a large range in ocean tides (exceptionally low to exceptionally high) for the next few days. [Photos: 'Supermoon' of 2011]

May 20: Annular eclipse of the sun
The path of annularity for this eclipse starts over eastern China and sweeps northeast across southern and central Japan. The path continues northeast then east, passing just south of Alaska's Aleutian Island chain. The path then turns to the southeast, making landfall in the western United States along the California-Oregon coast. It will pass over central Nevada, southern Utah, northern Arizona, the extreme southwest corner of Colorado and most of New Mexico before coming to an end over northern Texas.

Since the disk of the moon will appear smaller than the disk of the sun, it will create a "penny on nickel" effect, with a fiery ring of sunlight shining around the moon's dark silhouette. Locations that will witness this eerie sight include Eureka and Reading, Calif.; Carson City, Reno and Ely, Nev.; Bryce Canyon in Utah; Arizona's Grand Canyon; Albuquerque and Santa Fe in N.M., and just prior to sunset for Lubbock, Tex.

A partial eclipse of the sun will be visible over a large swath of the United States and Canada, including Alaska and Hawaii, but no eclipse will be visible near and along the Atlantic Seaboard.

June 4: Partial eclipse of the moon
This partial lunar eclipse favors the Pacific Ocean; Hawaii sees it high in the sky during the middle of its night. Across North America the eclipse takes place between midnight and dawn. The farther east one goes, the closer the time of moonset coincides with the moment that the moon enters the Earth's dark umbral shadow.

In fact, over the Northeastern United States and eastern Canada, the only evidence of this eclipse will be a slight shading on the moon's left edge (the faint penumbral shadow) before moonset. Over the Canadian Maritimes, the moon will set before the eclipse begins. At maximum, more than one-third of the moon's lower portion (37.6 percent) will be immersed in the umbra.

June 5: Rare transit of Venus across the sun
The passage of Venus in front of the sun is among the rarest of astronomical events, rarer even than the return of Halley's Comet every 76 years. Only six transits of Venus are known to have been observed by humans before: in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and, most recently, in 2004.

The next one will occur in the year 2114. When Venus is in transit across the solar disk, the planet appears as a distinct, albeit tiny, round black spot with a diameter just 1/32nd of the sun. This size is large enough to readily perceive with the naked eye.?

HOWEVER ... prospective observers are warned to take special precautions (as with a solar eclipse) when attempting to view the silhouette of Venus against the blindingly brilliant solar disc.

The beginning of the transit will be visible from all of North America, Greenland, extreme northern and western portions of South America, Hawaii, northern and eastern portions of Asia including Japan, New Guinea, northern and eastern portions of Australia, and New Zealand. The end will be visible over Alaska, all of Asia and Indonesia, Australia, Eastern Europe, the eastern third of Africa, and the island nation of Madagascar.

Aug. 12: Perseid meteor shower
The Perseids are considered to be among the best of the annual displays thanks to its high rates of up to 90 per hour for a single observer, as well as its reliability. Beloved by summer campers and often discovered by city dwellers who might be spending time in the country under dark starry skies. [10 Perseid Meteor Shower Facts]

Last summer a bright moon wrecked the shower by blotting out many of the fainter streaks, but in 2012 the moon will be three days past last quarter phase on this peak morning ? a fat waning crescent presenting only a minor nuisance for prospective observers.

Nov. 13: Total eclipse of the sun
The first total solar eclipse since July 2010. Virtually the entire path of totality falls over water. At the very beginning, the track cuts through Australia's Northern Territory just to the east of Darwin, then across the Gulf of Carpentaria, then through northern Queensland, passing over Cairns and Port Douglas before heading out to sea.

The rest of the eclipse path, including the point of the maximum duration of totality (4 minutes, 2 seconds) is, unfortunately, pretty much wasted by falling over the open waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Dec. 13-14: Geminid meteor shower
If there is one meteor display guaranteed to put on a very entertaining show it is the Geminid meteor shower. Now considered by most meteor experts to be at the top of the list, surpassing in brilliance and reliability even the August Perseids.

Bundle warmly against the winter chill; you can start observing as soon as darkness falls on the evening of Dec. 13 as Gemini starts coming up above the eastern horizon and continue through the rest of the night. Around 2 a.m. when Gemini is almost directly overhead, you might see as many as two meteor sightings per minute ? 120 per hour! And the moon is new, meaning that it will not be a factor at all.

Dec. 25: Christmas evening and Jupiter
On Christmas, many will be looking skyward and wondering what that brilliant silvery "star" is hovering just above the waxing gibbous moon. It's not a star (or Santa returning to the North Pole), but the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, serving as a sort of holiday ornament with our nearest neighbor in space to cap off a year of interesting and predictable sky events that we all can enjoy!

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

? 2011 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45828528/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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TU football notebook: Mirror image

The Armed Forces Bowl opponents have combined for 17 victories this season and, over the last seven years, the squads are in the top 20 for overall victories in college football.

"Our programs mirror each other in a lot of ways," Blankenship said during a Thursday press conference. "(BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall) enumerated some of those: the losses to really good teams, nine wins and eight wins respectively (at BYU and Tulsa). I don't think that's anything to have to apologize for.

"I feel like we've both been a part of consistent winning teams over the last five or six years that are in the top 15 or 20 in the country in terms of wins. That's something that we're excited about."

Back to work: It had been 35 days since Tulsa lost to Houston in its regular-season finale. Quarterback G.J. Kinne said the team wants to redeem itself for that setback.

"Ever since then, as soon as we figured out where we were going, we've been focused on BYU and getting that win in a big-time bowl game," Kinne said. "I think we all (feel like we have something to prove), as an offense and as a team.

"Individually, I'm just going to try to go out there and do what I do every week and distribute the ball to the playmakers and be as efficient as possible."

Kinne said that beating BYU would be his team's biggest victory this season.

Quarterback battle: Mendenhall expects the quarterback position to be an important factor.

"We have two similar types of players in this game," said Mendenhall, referring to TU's Kinne and BYU's Riley Nelson. "I don't think either one will consent or concede losing the game. I think both will want the ball at the very end. They'll will themselves to move forward. To me, that's the biggest intrigue in the game."

The look: The Golden Hurricane's helmets will have camouflage inside the Tulsa logo and center stripe during the football game.

"(Equipment manager) Russ Hoffman does a great job with our equipment," Blankenship said. "I thought it was a great way to honor the Armed Forces with the camo part in our logo."

Tulsa, the designated home team, will wear blue jerseys and blue pants.

Mature team: BYU has many players that are older than traditional college football players after serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Seventy-three BYU players (61 percent) have served missions.

BYU also has 34 players that are married. Seven of the players also are fathers.

"That's what you see in BYU, a mature, physical team," Blankenship said. "You just automatically become a little more focused and a little more driven - we all know what we were like before we were married and kids - it didn't equate to age, but you begin to discipline yourself and carry yourself differently.

"That's what they have and the model they work under. They have a disciplined, focused, mature team."

Tulsa only has one married player - senior Bo Abbott.

---

ARMED FORCES BOWL: BYU VS. TULSA

11 a.m. Friday

Ford Stadium, Dallas

TV: ESPN-25

Radio: KRMG fm102.3, KRMG am740, KTBZ am1430

Weather: 54 degrees, sunny

Records: BYU 9-3, Tulsa 8-4

Last meeting: In 2007, TU won 55-47 in Tulsa

Series: BYU leads 6-1

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20111230_94_B6_bMirro738684&rss_lnk=94

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Mobilewalla: The Highest Rated Mobile Apps Of 2011

Mobile analytics firm Mobilewalla has ranked the top apps across all four mobile platforms for 2011, using its own ranking system known at the "Mobilewalla Score." Instead of looking at raw user ratings, this scoring system is an algorithm that analyzes a variety of factors in addition to ratings, including an app's position within its own category, volume, social media sentiment and more.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/md8ccp7qAfM/

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Economic collapse is public's big worry

By Allison Linn

Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, global disease ? if you?re so inclined, there?s no shortage of major issues to fret about these days.

Still, a new poll finds that the catastrophic event Americans are most likely to be worried about is economic collapse.

The pollsters asked Americans to choose the top three catastrophic events that worry them the most. The top choice was ?economic collapse,? with 63 percent choosing that option.

Natural disaster was second, at 46 percent, and terrorist attack ranked third at 44 percent.

Market research firm Leiflin Inc. asked the question on behalf of the EcoHealth Alliance, a conservation group that also works on global disease issues. One-third of the people surveyed said a global disease outbreak was one of their top three worries.

The poll of about 1,000 Americans, conducted this fall, had a margin of error of 3 percent.

The pollsters did not specify whether they were referring to global or national economic collapse. Still, after four years of very difficult economic times, it?s no surprise economic worries are top of mind for many Americans.

Related:

Your grocery bill is getting higher, and higher

It?s the economy, not the debt, stupid

{"contentId":"9772280","totalVotes":"8396"}

What are you most worried about?

Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/28/9772280-what-worries-us-most-economic-collapse

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Mutation in gene that's critical for human development linked to arrhythmia

ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2011) ? The biologic and genetic mechanisms controlling the formation and function of the CCS are not well understood, but new research with mice shows that altered function of a gene called Tbx3 interferes with the development of the CCS and causes lethal arrhythmia.

Arrhythmia is a potentially life-threatening problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat, causing it to go too fast, too slow or to beat irregularly. Arrhythmia affects millions of people worldwide.

The cardiac conduction system (CCS) regulates the rate and rhythm of the heart. It is a group of specialized cells in the walls of the heart. These cells control the heart rate by sending electrical signals from the sinoatrial node in the heart's right atrium (upper chamber) to the ventricles (lower chambers), causing them to contract and pump blood.

The biologic and genetic mechanisms controlling the formation and function of the CCS are not well understood, but new research with mice shows that altered function of a gene called Tbx3 interferes with the development of the CCS and causes lethal arrhythmia.

In a study published in the Dec. 26, 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences early edition, researchers led by the University of Utah showed the CCS is extremely sensitive to levels of Tbx3. Mouse embryos with Tbx3 levels below a critical threshold suffered arrhythmia and couldn't survive. As the levels of Tbx3 were increased, mice survived to birth, but as adults they developed arrhythmias or had sudden death.

Tbx3 dysfunction merits further investigation as a cause of acquired and spontaneous arrhythmias, says Anne M. Moon, M.D., Ph.D., adjunct professor of pediatrics at the U of U School of Medicine and corresponding author on the study. "The cardiac conduction system is very sensitive to Tbx3," Moon says. "Tbx3 is required for the conduction system to develop, mature, and then continue to function properly."

The Tbx3 protein, which is a transcription factor encoded by the TBX3 gene, has been linked to heart development, but its role is not yet clearly defined. Moon and her colleagues, including first author Deborah U. Frank, M.D., Ph.D., U assistant professor of pediatrics, found that slight alterations in the structure of the Tbx3 gene alter the level of the protein in mice. When this happens, it can impair the electrical signal in the sinoatrial node and block the atrioventricular node, which conducts electrical signals from the atria to the ventricles. The result is lethal arrhythmias in embryonic and adult mice.

This discovery has implications for the potential to regenerate functional heart tissue, according to Moon. "There's a big effort to regenerate heart muscle," she says. "But if the muscle can't conduct electrical signals, it's not going to do any good; we also need to be able to regenerate conduction tissues to regulate that muscle."

Arrhythmia is not the first problem related to mutations in the TBX3 gene. In humans, TBX3 mutations have been shown to cause limb malformations in people with ulnar-mammary syndrome, an inherited birth disorder characterized by abnormalities of the bones in the hands and forearms and underdeveloped sweat and mammary glands.

In her future research, Moon wants to discover specifically how Tbx3 regulates the behavior of cells in the cardiac conduction system and whether cells that don't have enough Tbx3 die or turn into some other kind of cells.

"It turns out that Tbx3 is a lot more important in the heart than we realized," Moon says.

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam, University of Washington, and New York University also contributed to the study.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

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---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Utah Health Sciences.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Deborah U. Frank, Kandis L. Carter, Kirk R. Thomas, R. Michael Burr, Martijn L. Bakker, William A. Coetzee, Martin Tristani-Firouzi, Michael J. Bamshad, Vincent M. Christoffels, and Anne M. Moon. Lethal arrhythmias in Tbx3-deficient mice reveal extreme dosage sensitivity of cardiac conduction system function and homeostasis. PNAS, December 27, 2011 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1115165109

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/JGZtVQC7pjI/111227142539.htm

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NBA: 10 games on tonight's #KIATipOff schedule & you can catch them ALL with the NBA League Pass Preview. http://t.co/CkYEaryS

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From Doctor De'ath to Cardinal Sin, do we pick jobs to suit our names?

By Harry Mount

Last updated at 2:01 AM on 27th December 2011

Now, be honest. Wouldn?t you feel a tiny bit reassured if the doctor who was about to operate on your head was called Dr Brain? Or if the judge in your court case was called Lord Chief Justice Judge?

Both men do ? or did ? really exist. Russell Brain (1895-1966) was Britain?s leading neurologist after the war, as well as being Winston Churchill?s doctor; and Igor Judge has been the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales since 2008.

Well, it has now emerged that the connection between a person?s name and their job isn?t as coincidental as it sounds. New research into the repeated occurrence of ?aptronyms? ? that is, names that are aptly suited to their owners ? has uncovered a possible link between name and destiny.

Apt: Usain Bolt, Bob Flowerdew and William Wordsworth - just three people whose names seem to have an odd synchronicity with their chosen fields

So there are very good reasons why Bob Flowerdew ended up as an expert panellist on Gardeners? Question Time, why Alan Ball grew up to play for England in the 1966 World Cup-winning team and why Usain Bolt is the fastest 100m runner in the world.

The idea that names and jobs, or characteristics, are connected has been around for centuries. As early as 1678, John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim?s Progress featuring a cast of characters with names such as Mr Talkative and Mr Worldly Wiseman.

?

In 1952, the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung proposed a theory, ?the compulsion of the name?. Jung pointed out that the connection between a man?s name and his profession, or his peculiarities, often amounted to a ?gross coincidence? beyond the realms of mere chance.

At the time, Jung?s lawyer was called Rosst?uscher (?Horsetrader?), the local obstetrician was called Kalberer (?Calver?), and the country?s food minister was a Herr Feist (?Mr Stout?).

Jung went on to note that the great psychologist Sigmund Freud (whose surname means ?joy?) specialised in the pleasure principle, and that Jung himself ? whose name means ?young? ? championed the idea of rebirth.

Born for the job: Sir Igor Judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

Since then, there has been extensive research into the phenomenon. A recent American academic paper, in the Journal Of Personality and Social Psychology, explains that your surname may not quite be your destiny, but that a surname connected to a particular job or career is still much more likely to draw you to that profession.

The paper ? Why Susie Sells Seashells By The Seashore ? concluded that we are disproportionately likely to ?choose careers whose labels resemble our names?, such as dentists called Dennis or Denise.

There is no way of proving exactly why the phenomenon happens, but the paper?s authors, John Jones, Matthew Mirenberg and Brett Pelham, suggested that it?s because of ?implicit egotism?.

Because we tend to feel positively about things associated with ourselves, we also feel warmly about the jobs associated with our surnames.

This idea, of implicit egotism, goes further than just jobs. The authors of the study also noticed that people are more likely to move to cities whose names are reminiscent of their own names.

People called Louis were disproportionately likely to migrate to St Louis, Missouri; Florences to move to Florida; Georges to Georgia; Kenneths to Kentucky; and Virgils to Virginia.

Now the connection has been explored in closer detail by John Hoyland, of New Scientist magazine. He has even given the phenomenon a new name ? ?nominative determinism?.

Hoyland was particularly struck by how often the scientific books and articles he read were written by people with apt names. Once, on the same day, he came across a paper on incontinence in the British Journal of Urology, by J.W. Splatt and D. Weedon, and a book about the Arctic by Daniel?Snowman.

?I do find it surprising that there are people who go in a direction you?d have thought their names would have turned them against,? says Hoyland. ?There are doctors called De?ath, as well as Pain.?

Hoyland?s research seems to indicate that even if your name isn?t professionally flattering, the tug of the connection is too strong to resist. Unless, of course, it?s all coincidence.

?Jung is very unsure whether there?s anything significant there, or if it was what he called the whimsicalities of chance,? says Hoyland.

?As far as I know, nobody has tried to prove the connection scientifically,? agrees his New Scientist colleague Graham Lawton, ?though it might be possible if you had a complete database of people?s names and jobs.?

One of the factors that confuses the whole question of nominative determinism is that ? as with all coincidences ? we notice an aptronym far more readily than we do a name with no coincidental associations.

So the Today programme received several excited emails when they had Mark Avery, the RSPB?s former director of conservation, on the show, and when Rebecca Morelle, a BBC science reporter, did a broadcast on the fate of our mushrooms.

What?s more, there is an alternative view that reverses the theory. Many of our surnames were originally given to us because of our jobs: Coopers originally made barrels; Smiths were blacksmiths; Millers once worked in mills.

So, instead of our names giving us our jobs, our jobs gave us our names; and it is our family background, the theory suggests, that dictates our careers from generation to generation.

Still, both theories offer us scope for pleasing speculation. How delightful that the managing director of the dairy company Danone is called Bruno Fromage, or that the French national goalkeeper between 1978 and 1981 was one Dominique Dropsy.

?

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078892/From-Doctor-Death-Cardinal-Sin-pick-jobs-suit-names.html?ITO=1490

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Hack shows Android Ice Cream Sandwich on the Kindle Fire (Digital Trends)

While manufacturers begin to announce their own official Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedules, hackers are hard at work modifying the source code to function on other devices.

In this case it?s Android developer JackpotClavin who has squeezed Ice Cream Sandwich on to the Amazon Fire tablet, and although it?s not quite ready for everyday use, it?s not far off. Based on CyanogenMod 9, the developer hopes the build and accompanying video will inspire others to get involved with the project.

On the positive side, the homescreen and widgets work, plus you can install the Android Market as well as download apps. However, those apps don?t always respond as you?d hope, and video doesn?t seem to work at all. There are also issues with the internal storage, with apps unable to write to the required section.

If you love tweaking Android, or are curious as to what the very latest version looks like on the Fire, give it a try. If you?ve already installed CyanogenMod 7 or a different custom ROM, then the process sounds similar. Liliputting.com has further instructions if you?re interested.

For those who would rather wait for a more stable, working build for Amazon?s popular little tablet, you can see ICS in action in the video below.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

Amazon plans to update Kindle Fire: Here?s a list of what needs fixing

Best Kindle Fire apps

The Goldilocks tablet: Why Amazon?s 7-inch Kindle Fire is ?just right?

Amazon to Nook buyers: Kindle Fire has Netflix too, and much more

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111227/tc_digitaltrends/hackshowsandroidicecreamsandwichonthekindlefire

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Microsoft's quick start guide to Windows Phone at Christmas

Published by Ewan Spence at 23:35 UTC, December 24th 2011

Just in time for all the Windows Phone presents being opened for Christmas, Microsoft's Windows Phone YouTube channel has uploaded a bundle of getting started videos covering all the important areas of Windows Phone for the many new users around the world.

Here's the Live Tiles video, showing off one of the more popular elements in Metro that gives Windows Phone such a distinctive look and feel:

Also available on the channel are introductions for...

That should be more than enough to get all the new Windows Phone users up to speed - I wonder what they'll do next? That's the new users... and Microsoft!

Source / Credit: Microsoft's YouTube Channel

Filed: Home > Flow > Microsoft's quick start guide to Windows Phone at Christmas

Platforms: Windows Phone 7.5
Categories: Video
?

Source: http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/flow/item/13908_Microsofts_quick_start_guide_t.php

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Study: San Francisco Bay oil spill damaged herring (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? The cargo ship accident that dumped tens of thousands of gallons of thick, tarry ship fuel into San Francisco Bay caused lasting damage to the region's once-plentiful schools of Pacific herring, the bay's only commercially fished species, according to a study released Monday.

Herring embryos collected from shorelines left coated in oil starting about 3 months after the November 2007 Cosco Busan spill suffered from unusually high death rates and a range of ailments and deformities associated with exposure to the chemicals in crude oil, the study found.

"The majority of embryos in samples from oiled sites were dead on examination in the laboratory," wrote the study's authors, who were led by John Incardona, a toxicologist with the fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

By 2010, death rates had returned to normal, but the embryos continued to show heart defects that are a common symptom in herring of oil exposure.

The bay's Pacific herring are the largest coastal population in the continental U.S. and a key element of the bay's complex food web, according to the study, which was published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The spill that resulted from the massive cargo ship striking one of the pillars of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog killed more than 6,800 birds and closed beaches to swimmers for weeks.

In 2009, California regulators cancelled the bay's herring fishing season, which typically begins in January. The state said the herring populations in the bay had reached an all-time low, with the causes ranging from drought to pollution from the oil spill.

The north-central San Francisco Bay shorelines left coated in oil and littered with sticky tarballs are one of the historic spawning grounds for the bay's herring. Only about half the oil along those shores was recovered, and an unknown amount remained submerged near the water's edge, the study said.

The study's authors knew from herring harmed in Alaska's Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 that those same fish in San Francisco Bay would likely be threatened. Unlike the Valdez spill, which sent hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil spilling into Prince William Sound, the Cosco Busan leaked bunker fuel, a mix of diesel and fuel oil left over from the crude oil refining process.

Embryos exposed to chemicals in crude oil suffer from a range of maladies, from heart problems and deformities to swelling and cancer. Similar symptoms were seen in embryos collected for the San Francisco Bay study.

The problems did not seem to be caused naturally or by other pollution in the bay, the study's authors wrote. They said the only common feature of three sites where the embryos were collected was that they were exposed to oil.

Jonathan Maul, a toxicologist with The Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University who was not involved in the study, said the researchers faced difficulty in showing that the toxins came from the Cosco Busan's bunker fuel and not other sources in the environment. He said the study should encourage scientists to look further into the toxic effects of oil contamination.

"Overall I believe it is a valuable study and should garner attention toward impacts to early life stages of fisheries," Maul said.

Because the chemical levels found in the embryos didn't seem high enough to cause the high death rate, the study concluded that exposure to sunlight played a part in making the spill more deadly.

"One or more of these unidentified chemicals likely interacted with natural sunlight in the intertidal zone to kill herring embryos," the study said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_us/us_bay_spill_herring

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How to Sell Your Florida Commercial Real Estate Property

Today commercial real estate is gaining popular more than ever but it is still a difficult venture especially for first time real estate agent. This can cost huge amount of money. This is why free classifieds offers a place for you to list your Florida commercial real estate property, whether you are a real estate agent or a private individual.

Here are some methods in exposing your Florida commercial real estate property without spending a fortune on advertising.

List your property online for free

Now there are plenty of online classified that allow free ad postings for your property for sale. These online sites allow you to lists your properties in bulk without any limit. There are even real estate listings online that can give your property more exposure quickly without the need to pay huge prices compared to traditional classified ads in your local newspaper. They also provide marketing and advertising options for your convenience.

Invest on quality ?Florida Commercial Real Estate for Sale?

Another excellent way to get the interests and reach potential buyer is to invest for a quality ?Commercial Real Estate Property for Sale?. If you are situated on major road, good sign can attracts passing traffics and locals who are looking for property to move their business. These signs target those people who have not gone checking those online listings. If you want to be successful in advertising your commercial real estate property for sale, you need to explore all the available options both online or offline.

There are times that buyers are not aware of the properties available for sale around them and they do not have any time to go out and look. But placing a large visible sign on your property, you can always catch the attention and create excitement in the property.

Free real estate publications

Many suburban areas have free local publications that include real estate for sale in the area. You have to contact these publications and ask if they take advertisements free. For sure these free publications will be willing to take your advertisement because they are also looking for free content to add to their publications.

If all of these things do not work for you then, you need to contact real estate agent that specialized with Florida commercial real estate property to make the property sold. There are plenty of sites that provide information on property brokers in different areas and they can assist you in searching for a professional who will be able to help you too.

No matter what, you have to keep your ads going. It can take a quite a while to sell your commercial property depending on your area, but continue to provide information in publications and websites and for sure you will be rewarded in no time.

Ella Ayson
Florida Commercial Real Estate

Source: http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=HowtoSellYourFloridaCommercialReal

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Mobile Miscellany: week of December 19, 2011

This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 19, 2011:

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of December 19, 2011

Mobile Miscellany: week of December 19, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/24/mobile-miscellany-week-of-december-19-2011/

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Andrew Winston: Top 10 Green Business Stories of 2011

Yes, it's December again somehow: time to look back on what we've learned and oversimplify into a handy list. Here's my take on the 10 big stories in sustainability and green business this year:

1. The usual sustainability drivers got stronger
Ok, this one is cheating a bit, but on a fundamental level, the top themes in green business haven't actually changed too much (see the 2010 list). So, rather than take up valuable list real estate with these perennial favorites and big-picture drivers, I'll quickly list them in one big bucket of mega-trends:

• The rise of the consumer around the world, related to...
• China, China, and China. From relentless demand for resources to bamboo-like 9% growth to vicious competition for the technologies and industries of the future, China will be the big story for a long time.
• The greening of the supply chain. Big organizations keep asking more of their suppliers.
• Increased demand for transparency and its close partners, (a) the quest to define and develop useful sustainability metrics and (b) the growing sustainability data explosion.
• The military continues to lead the way on energy and climate.
• The ongoing failure of policy at a global level (with the important exceptions of some successes/workarounds such as new mileage targets for cars and trucks and a carbon tax in Australia).

These drivers underpin a number of stories from 2011, but a few new themes came out as well. Here's the rest of my top 10 stories, with callouts for companies and examples that typify the trend.

2. Malthus strikes back: Coca-Cola takes an $800 million hit on commodity costs
Coca-Cola was not alone in facing increasing costs in 2011; one of my clients, Kimberly-Clark, took an earnings hit from record pulp prices. These companies are notable victims of a new reality: resources are constrained and input prices are fundamentally rising.

For over 200 years, from Thomas Malthus to the Limits to Growth gang, many people have made the case that it won't be long before we'll run out of food, energy, materials, and on and on. It's an idea that has enthralled many, but has seemed to be wrong. But this year, something felt different as we hit 7 billion hungry, striving humans on the planet. While "running out" isn't really the right phrase, it's clear that delivering many commodities to market is getting harder and more expensive (we don't dig for oil a mile under the ocean for the heck of it). And the dangerous mix of supply crunch and rising demand is only increasing, across nearly all commodities.

In January, China "seized" its rare earth metals (meaning it wouldn't export them anymore). In June, the New York Times declared a warming world hostile to food production. The best analysis of the resource scarcity mega-trend came from asset manager Jeremy Grantham. His analysis of commodity availability on a finite planet is compelling, thorough, and absolutely fascinating. Here's the gist: after 100+ years of fundamentally declining resource prices, the data show a rising trend for nearly every input into our society. Business as usual is no more.

3. Climate Change Arrives: Texas weather triumphs over (some) ignorance
Climate change is here. The list of "once-in-a-century" storms, floods, and droughts this year is too long to list. I know, I know -- no single storm or season "proves" climate change. Was a year like 2011 possible in a world without climate change? Of course. But please. Was a year like 2011 likely? Not at all. In the words of climate scientist Jim Hansen, we've loaded the dice in favor of extreme weather events.

From Thailand to Pakistan to Texas, some areas are deluged with water, while others have absolutely none. Please look at the numbers for how dry and hot Texas was this summer (I'll wait). The data speaks for itself: Texas' heat was literally off the charts this year. What was once temporary drought is looking more like permanent change. For another angle on a changing "normal," read Jeff Goodell's piece in Rolling Stone on "Climate Change and the End of Australia." Finally, if the immediacy of the "look out the window" method of gauging climate change didn't work for some, at least one major climate skeptic changed his tune based on longer-term data. Richard Muller ran the models himself and discovered that, surprise, the thousands of scientists before him had gotten it right. It's probably wishful thinking, but I believe the climate debate is actually over (and a solid majority of Americans agree).

4. High-profile "failures" shake up clean tech: Solyndra has its day in the, um, sun
What can one say about the failure of solar company Solyndra? It certainly has become a media darling for clean tech skeptics. Soon after this quasi-fiasco, a few other stories seemed to indicate that corporate America was backing off of green tech. Google stopped its high-profile pursuit of cheaper-than-fossil-fuel renewables, and California utility PG&E quietly pulled the plug on its carbon offset program. In my view, none of this is all that distressing. So one technology and company failed miserably (and perhaps the government made a bad investment choice). And some initiatives didn't work out as planned. So what. Whether it's government money, venture capital, or corporate initiatives, you gotta place lots of bets to get some winners. These were all experiments, and you always learn from what doesn't work. But the real reason I'm not too worried is that...

5. ...clean tech is rising fast: Renewable investment tops fossil fuels for first time
Markets have a remarkable way of sorting the wheat from the chaff. While the overall carbon emissions news is not good, the renewable energy market is growing very fast. The sector is larger than most people realize, with clean tech investment hovering around $200 billion globally. Total investment in new power generation is a good indication of where we're headed, and for the first time renewables beat fossil fuels globally. Right now, the U.S. and China are entering a trade battle over solar subsidies, which tells me it's a real market now. They wouldn't be arguing if the prize were not very large.

5b. Nuclear on the outs

Following the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, the once-resurgent nuclear industry is flatlining: generation actually fell globally in 2011, with Germany alone shutting down 8 gigawatts' worth. In September, Siemens, one of the world's largest nuclear power plant suppliers, exited the business. CEO Peter Loscher declared Germany's plans to move aggressively toward renewables "the project of the century."

6. Water rising -- both literally and as a serious issue for business: Honda's supply chain gets slammed, Levi's gets creative
A list of floods that devastated lives, homes, and countries this year would be tragically long. So it's no wonder that business started to wake up to the serious danger that storms and shortages present to their operations, both from direct damage to property and from massive production interruptions (i.e., "business continuity"). Think back to the January floods in Australia which covered an area larger than France and Germany combined. The extreme weather seriously disrupted coal production, one of the most important economic engines in the country. At the microeconomic level, consider what Thailand's floods have done to the market for disk drives, or to supply chains for Honda and Toyota (which are dealing with a double flood hit from the tsunami as well).

On the use side of the water issue, companies with products that depend on water in production (beverages) or in use (shampoo, apparel) are also seeing the writing on the wall and getting creative. Levi's announced a low-water jeans production method, Unilever started asking customers to shorten showers, and beverage companies are working with farmers and NGOs to drive water use down throughout the value chain (see my last blog, co-written with Andy Wales from SABMiller). In 2011, the phrase "water footprint" became a lot more common.

7. Value chain and transparency partnerships growing: The apparel industry bands together
One of my favorite new partnerships is the new Sustainable Apparel Coalition, an impressive mix of powerful retailers, apparel manufacturers, and NGOs. The group is leveraging extensive data from Nike and the Outdoor Industry Association on supplier sustainability performance (energy, water, toxicity, etc.) for "every manufacturer, component, and process in apparel production." The goal: to reduce negative environmental and social impacts of the $1.4 trillion market for clothes and shoes.

The larger trend here is the continued growth of "open" -- open data and open innovation, including new value-chain business partnerships and cattle-call contests inviting in any and all ideas. The movement has been building for years, from P&G opening up its product development pipeline early in the 2000s to the launch of the GreenXchange for sharing green patents early in 2010. But the trend accelerated this year, with GE's expanded Ecomagination Challenge and other coalitions and open competitions.

8. Valuing and internalizing the externalities: Puma Calculates its Environmental P&L
A few very cutting edge companies are starting to ask some deeper questions about the value they create and destroy in the world. Puma, in a surprise leap to the front of the sustainability leadership pack, commissioned TruCost and PwC (full disclosure: I have a partnership with PwC) to assess the value of its total environmental impacts from operations and supply chain, including carbon pollution, water use, land use, and waste generated. The total: 145 million euros. In a similar vein, Dow Chemical launched a 5-year, $10 million partnership with The Nature Conservancy to "value nature" (so called "ecosystem services") as an input into their businesses. It's unclear what companies can do with these numbers since externalities are by their nature, well, external to the regular P&L. But it's the beginning of something very important -- companies are starting to understand the real value and costs of their businesses, to themselves and to society. Watch this space.

9. The people speak: Keystone and OWS
Speaking of getting companies and governments to think longer term about value and costs to society: against all odds and expectation, the protests against the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada -- led most prominently by uber-environmentalist Bill McKibben -- were successful (for now). And what can one say about Occupy Wall Street? The movement is, in part, about this larger question of value and values. Do we value the right things (equity, fairness, justice) or just promote growth and profit above all? Currently, our businesses are driven entirely by quarterly profits. Pursuing the short-term payback can cause a firm to deviate wildly from actual, long-term, sustainable profitability. This disconnect was bound to stir some passions eventually. Whatever your politics, ignoring or dismissing this movement is a big mistake. The concerns underpinning the anger out there stem from concern about what's good for the long-term, and what's truly sustainable. None of these questions are going away.

10. A path to sustainable consumption begins to emerge: Patagonia asks us to buy only what we need
Perhaps the most heartening business story of the year came from perennial thought (and action) leader, Patagonia. Its Common Threads campaign/business model questions consumption at its core. The company announced that it would take back its clothing and refurbish, resell, reuse, re-whatever. The website proposes a grand bargain - we make clothes that last, and you don't buy what you don't need. A holiday ad got more specific and demanded we "Don't buy this jacket." Patagonia is testing new ground and it's not a gimmick -- it's a sign of the future.

Looking Forward to 2012 and beyond: New business models coming
Patagonia has always been at the leading edge; it was one of first companies to buy organic cotton or to turn recycled plastic into fleece. Now it's showing the way to new business models. I've written about this kind of heresy before, but the few examples out there are generally B-to-B (Waste Management, Xerox). Patagonia's move is a warning shot over the bow that the consumer-facing consumption question is coming. The near future will hold more questions about how businesses can and should operate in a resource-constrained, hotter, drier (or wetter) world. And companies will increasingly question the wisdom of focusing on quarterly profits. It won't all come to fruition in 2012, but it's on its way.

As usual, I'm sure I'm missing many great stories in my list. I look forward to your suggestions. Happy holidays and Happy New Year!

(This post first appeared at Harvard Business Online.)

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Follow Andrew Winston on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GreenAdvantage

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-winston/green-business-stories-2011_b_1165325.html

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Philippines revises up missing from floods to 1,000 (Reuters)

MANILA (Reuters) ? The Philippines disaster agency said Friday more than 1,000 people were missing from a storm and flash floods last week, sharply raising the number of victims unaccounted for as the true extent of the disaster became known.

Typhoon Washi and the flash floods it caused on the southern island of Mindanao are known to have killed 1,080 people, the national disaster agency said.

The agency said Thursday dozens of people were missing but Friday it revised that figure to more than 1,000, saying more complete data had come in and people were reporting the disappearance of relatives.

Most of the casualties were in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, where hundreds of thousands of people were displaced. Many of them are sheltering in schools, churches, gymnasiums and an army base.

Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster agency, said authorities had expanded the search in light of the new tally of missing and because some bodies had been found on shores nearly 100 km (60 miles) from the disaster area.

"We've deployed helicopters to help navy ships scour the seas further away," Ramos told reporters.

The number of missing was put at 1,079, he said.

The disaster had caused damage of 1 billion pesos ($22.92 million) to highways, bridges, schools and other infrastructure, the agency said.

The agriculture department estimated 310.2 million pesos worth of crops, including 703 metric tons of unmilled rice and 7,751 metric tons of corn were destroyed.

Ramos said the situation for survivors was slowly getting back to normal though the displaced needed sustained help.

Two navy ships and aircraft from the main island of Luzon had been deployed to help in the search and relief operations, he said.

"We're not taking any Christmas break," Ramos said.

Some families have moved home and are trying to pick up their pieces of their lives.

"We only need something on top of our heads this Christmas," villager Teresita Bragas told a television station, as she and some neighbors tried to rebuild amid mounds of logs and debris in their coastal village.

Aid agencies have appealed for $28.6 million aid to ease overcrowding at shelter areas.

($1 = 43.6350 pesos)

(Reporting By Manuel Mogato; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/wl_nm/us_philippines_typhoon

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DELHI AUTO EXPO 2012: INCOMING! New Mitsubishi Pajero on its way to India

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We?ve got good news ? the next-generation Mitsubishi Pajero is headed our way. We expect an all-new, next-generation Pajero that will be entirely different from the current Pajero. Hindustan Motors is expected to launch this new SUV in the first quarter of 2012 and they might also display it at the Delhi Auto Expo 2012.

On the models offered in similar markets to India, there?s plenty of kit that comes with the car ? Dual SRS airbags, ABS, EBD, HID headlamps, headlamp washers, automatic wipers and parking sensors. Power comes courtesy a 2.5-litre common rail turbocharged diesel motor coupled to a five-speed automatic transmission equipped with paddle shifters and Sportronic. It?s rated at 176 hp @ 4000 RPM along with a torque rating of 35.7 kgm. Of course, an intelligent four-wheel drive system will be part of the package, given the Pajero?s off-road heritage.

The seating configuration will accommodate 7 people and will offer flexible configurations that will allow convenient loading of luggage as & when required. The interiors too have been significantly revamped and they do look good.

Look forward to more updates on BSM.

?

Source: http://www.bsmotoring.com/storypage.php?autono=4333

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Lloyds sells ?900m of debt

Lone Star said on Thursday it had bought the Project Royal debt package from Lloyds at a price that represents about a 40pc discount to the portfolio's book value.

Citigroup and Royal Bank of Canada provided the financing to back Lone Star's acquisition of the portfolio, which comprises debt secured against commercial property worth about ?700m.

Richard Dakin, head of Lloyds' corporate real estate, business support unit, said: "We have continued 2010's momentum in deleveraging our corporate real estate loan book throughout 2011, despite what has been a significantly more challenging environment for property transactions."

Angus Dodd, managing director of UK real estate at Lone Star, said the private equity firm was able to provide "constructive solutions" to banks that are desperate to sell off exposures to real estate.

"As further deleveraging takes place in the property sector, the Lone Star funds are well-placed to invest in further opportunities as and when they arise," said Mr Dodd.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568699/s/1b320eb6/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cfinance0Cnewsbysector0Cbanksandfinance0C89737520CLloyds0Esells0E90A0Am0Eof0Edebt0Bhtml/story01.htm

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Romney says US bigger than Obama's failures while Gingrich alleges smear campaign in Iowa (Star Tribune)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/177235572?client_source=feed&format=rss

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PUMAs return as ?a project of the 99%? (Balloon Juice)

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Lowe's pulling ads from Muslim show sparks protest

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) ? Protesters descended on a Lowe's store in one of the country's largest Arab-American communities on Saturday, calling for a boycott after the home improvement chain pulled its ads from a reality television show about five Muslim families living in Michigan.

About 100 people gathered outside the store in Allen Park, a Detroit suburb adjacent to the city where "All-American Muslim" is filmed. Lowe's said this week that the TLC show had become a "lightning rod" for complaints, following an email campaign by a conservative Christian group.

Protesters including Christian clergy and lawmakers called for unity and held signs that read "Boycott Bigotry" and chanted "God Bless America, shame on Lowe's" during the rally, which was organized by a coalition of Christian, Muslim and civil rights groups.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Detroit Democrat and the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature, said it was "disgusting" for Lowe's to stop supporting a show that reflects America ? the conservatives, liberals and even "the Kim Kardashians" in the Muslim community, she said.

"We're asking the company to change their mind," said protester Ray Holman, a legislative liaison for a United Auto Workers local. He said he was dismayed that the retailer "pulled sponsorship of a positive program."

A local rabbi extended his support to clergy at the protest and local Arab Americans, saying he and other Jews would have been at the protest had it not fallen during the Jewish Sabbath.

"I hope that they would likewise stand up and demonstrate should something outrageous like this take place against another religion," Rabbi Jason Miller said in a statement.

Lowe's spokeswoman Karen Cobb said Saturday that the company respected the protestors' opinion.

"We appreciate and respect everyone's right to express their opinion peacefully," she said.

The show premiered last month and chronicles the lives of families living in and around Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit at the heart of one of the largest Arab-American populations outside the Middle East.

Dearborn is home to the Islamic Center of America, one of the largest mosques in North America. Overall, the Detroit area has about 150,000 Muslims of many different ethnicities and is served by about 40 mosques.

It airs Sundays and ends its first season Jan. 8.

The Florida Family Association has said more than 60 companies it emailed, from Amazon to McDonalds, pulled their ads from the show, but Lowe's is the only major company so far to confirm that it had done so. The group accused the show of being "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."

The travel planning site Kayak.com also pulled its ads, though its marketing chief said the decision was made because the company was dissatisfied by the show's quality and TLC wasn't upfront with advertisers about how the show would be presented.

Saturday's rally was met by about 20 counter-protesters including John White, who lives in nearby Livonia and called those protesting against Lowe's "terribly misdirected." He acknowledged that he hadn't watched the show, saying he'd seen previews and read about it, but believed the company made a decision based on business, not bigotry.

"Americans are not suspicious ... of baseball-playing, apple-pie eating Muslims," he said. "It's the ones you see on the news."

The manager of the Lowe's store, Doug Casey, said the company wasn't influenced by any outside group or ideology. He said those who criticized Lowe's have a right to their opinion, but that "it's not the opinion of most of the customers I spoke to in the store today."

"I'm deeply sorry if it's caused any divide in our community," he said. "It was never our intention to offend or alienate anyone."

The hubbub didn't keep people from shopping at the store. Keith Rissman, who was buying finishing boards for windows he's installing in his mother's garage, said he supported the company.

"It's a decision they're allowed to make," the 57-year-old said. "If (people) don't want to shop here, they don't have to."

Karen Lundquist, 65, came to the store with her son even though she didn't support Lowe's decision. "It just seems like they yielded to a Christian hate group," she said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-12-17-Muslim%20TV%20Show-Protest/id-6c33386cee104eaa8f92a3ac77bc1e38

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Video: Barry Bonds Sentenced; 'Rudy' Charged

CNBC's Darren Rovell has the details of Rudy Ruettiger, whose life was the basis for the film, "Rudy," is charged by the SEC for defrauding investors. And Barry Bonds, who was found guilty of obstruction of justice, is sentenced to 30 days house arrest...

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45701173/

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Gingrich: I'm trying not to appear 'zany' (AP)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa ? Newt Gingrich says he's trying to edit himself so he doesn't come across as "zany."

Gingrich's remarks at the Republican debate Thursday night were aimed at rival Mitt Romney, who in an interview on Wednesday used the word "zany" to describe the former House speaker.

Gingrich smiled when he was asked a question about how he would counsel Republicans on the political controversy over construction of a new pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

Gingrich said that at times he is accused of using language that is too strong and so he was "editing" himself. He then quipped that he's very concerned about not appearing to be "zany."

Romney has stepped up attacks on Gingrich's temperament as Gingrich has vaulted to the top of the GOP field.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_gingrich_zany

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Lowe's stores face protests for pulling ads from 'All American Muslim'

Lowe?s Home Improvement stores pulled its ads from the TV show 'All American Muslim' when the obscure?Florida Family Association objected to a positive portrayal of Muslims in the US. Protesters are expected to picket Lowe's stores around the country Saturday.

A nationwide protest Saturday against Lowe?s Home Improvement stores is standing the notion of advertiser boycotts on its head.

Skip to next paragraph

Such boycotts generally punish advertisers for supporting negative programming, but the protests in Dearborn, Mich., and from Maryland to San Diego, seek to protest the decision by Lowe?s to pull its ads from a TV show, ?All American Muslim,? whose message was essentially positive.

An inter-denominational group of Detroit-area faith leaders plans to picket Lowe?s Saturday in Dearborn, which has a large Arab-American population and is the location of the reality TV show. At a protest Friday in Paterson, New Jersey,?protesters held signs that said "Don't Appease Hate Mongers" and "Discrimination is Low, Lowe's.?

"Most of the time, people are asking buyers to boycott stores that advertise on shows with negative portrayals of something,? said Robert Thompson, founder of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University in New York. ?Here, they?re doing it for a positive portrayal.?

The Monitor's Weekly news Quiz 12/11-12/16

The reality show, which has appeared nationally on the TLC Network since its debut in mid-November, chronicles the daily lives of a group of Muslims in Dearborn. ?

But after pressure from the Florida Family Association (FFA), a Tampa, Florida-based organization that reportedly consists of its one founding member, David Caton, and is unaffiliated with any national organization, Lowe?s pulled its ads from the show. The FFA?s complaint? That the show exists primarily to normalize Americans? views of Muslims, who in the FFA?s view, are dangerous.

?The Learning Channel's new show, All-American Muslim is propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia law,? says a statement at the FFA website.? ?The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish.?

Several analysts say that although the FFA is appealing to base instincts of fear and hatred, the entire controversy has a brighter side.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/AMo3lSzPMto/Lowe-s-stores-face-protests-for-pulling-ads-from-All-American-Muslim

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