No charges for Milbury in confrontation with boy

FILE - In this April 8, 2005, file photo, New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury leaves after an NHL hockey general managers meeting at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Mich. A spokesman for former Boston Bruins player and coach Milbury said on Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, that his client won't face criminal charges for a confrontation he had with a 12-year-old boy after a youth hockey game. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

FILE - In this April 8, 2005, file photo, New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury leaves after an NHL hockey general managers meeting at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Mich. A spokesman for former Boston Bruins player and coach Milbury said on Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, that his client won't face criminal charges for a confrontation he had with a 12-year-old boy after a youth hockey game. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) ? Former Boston Bruins coach and player Mike Milbury will not face charges after a Massachusetts clerk magistrate ruled Friday that there's not enough evidence to criminally charge him after his confrontation with a 12-year-old youth hockey player.

The decision came after a closed-door hearing involving witnesses and police in Brookline District Court.

After the hearing, Milbury said he was pleased with the ruling.

"Well, that's good that it's over a couple days before Christmas," he said. "It was an unfortunate misunderstanding."

Police sought to have Milbury charged with assault and battery, making threats and disorderly conduct after the Dec. 9 incident at a public hockey rink in Brookline. They said Milbury grabbed, shook and threatened a boy who was fighting and jawing with his 12-year-old son.

The 59-year-old Milbury, who has said he grabbed the player's uniform to stop the fight but never assaulted or threatened the boy, recounted his version of the incident in an official statement following the ruling:

"My family and I are gratified that the clerk magistrate found no reason to further investigate the incident at Larz Anderson Park two weeks ago when I separated two 12 year old boys in a Pee Wee hockey game, one of whom was my son. I was a coach and supervisor on the ice that day when the scuffle broke out after the game had concluded and the referee had left. I know I acted responsibly to break up an altercation between two young boys in order to prevent potential injury to both. My actions were in no way inappropriate and I would take the same actions today if confronted with a similar situation in the future."

Milbury, an NHL analyst with NBC Sports, was taken off the air while he dealt with the incident. His attorney, Mark Berthiaume, said Friday that Milbury will resume work after the holidays.

John Burke, attorney for the family of the boy Milbury grabbed, said they were "obviously very disappointed with the magistrate's decision."

He said the family believes the boy was assaulted and the decision sends a message that violence by an adult against a child will be tolerated.

Milbury, a one-time defenseman, played parts of 12 seasons with the Bruins and later served as coach, leading the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 1990. He also was coach and general manager of the New York Islanders.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-23-HKN-Milbury-Assault/id-0b8cf0f0028c43a4991f3246599d9060

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U.S. "BBQ diplomat" wary of young North Korean leader (Reuters)

HACKENSACK, New Jersey (Reuters) ? Photographs of North Korean diplomats line the walls at Cubby's, a New Jersey barbecue restaurant whose owner says he bonded with officials from the secretive Communist state over baby back ribs.

Bobby Egan is one of few Americans who has traveled to North Korea. He claims friends among Pyongyang's former diplomats to the United Nations and said he used to go on occasional fishing and hunting trips with some of them in New Jersey.

But Egan said he had the same bewildered response as anybody else to Kim Jong-un, the 20-something son of Kim Jong-il who became North Korea's leader when his father died last weekend.

"He's got a pudgy face. You want to squeeze his cheeks and give him a kiss," said Egan, a charismatic, barrel-chested New Jersey native of Irish and Italian ancestry.

"Quite frankly, he doesn't look like he's been in a fist fight. How is he going to run the fifth-largest military in the world?" he said. "This is a rough and tumble world out there, especially for a dictator in 2011."

Egan's story goes back to the late 1970s, when he launched a personal crusade over U.S. prisoners of war unaccounted for in North Korea and Vietnam. He says he became friendly with several officials at the U.N. mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as North Korea is known.

Over the years, Egan held several unofficial roles, including head of the U.S.A.-D.P.R.K. Trade Council - a largely made-up group that made it possible for him to travel to North Korea.

The quirky relationship between Egan and several North Korean diplomats was the subject of a 2007 article in the New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/08/071008fa_fact_mead?currentPage=all).

Egan's memoir "Eating with the Enemy: How I Waged Peace with North Korea From My BBQ Shack in Hackensack" was published last year by St Martin's Press and HBO has bought the film rights.

But North Korea experts cast doubt on the significance of any relationship between Egan and North Korean officials.

Charles Pritchard, the U.S. special envoy for talks with North Korea in 2001-2003 and now president of the Korea Economic Institute in Washington, said Egan has embellished his role and the North Koreans saw him as nothing more than a "free meal."

"There is so much that is not true and so much that is exaggerated. It is more entertainment and fantasy than reality," he said in an interview. "I certainly got nothing from him."

Egan, 53, says North Korean diplomats ate for free at Cubby's, a short drive from midtown Manhattan, and some became regulars.

"Baby back ribs - well done, light on the sauce" was their favorite dish, Egan said. He added, in a hushed voice, the North Koreans' teeth cannot handle too much sweet sauce.

Egan eventually made several trips to the secretive state, beginning in 1994. But he said he never saw Kim Jong-un and knows little about him.

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE

For Egan, who did not graduate from high school and describes himself as a former drug addict, his connection to North Korea offered the chance for some excitement.

"I was for a while our only in-country guy who was feeding back intelligence. I was our guy inside there. And I was also Pyongyang's guy in New Jersey," he said, summing up his diplomatic philosophy as "keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Any connection between Egan and U.S. intelligence could not be confirmed.

John McCreary, a retired analyst for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and a North Korea expert, said in an interview when Egan's book was published that the restaurateur's role had been one of personal diplomacy.

"On a local, personal level there was a breakthrough. That's a good thing," McCreary said, describing Egan as a friend. He added it was not clear Egan had accomplished any more than that.

A representative at North Korea's U.N. mission told Reuters last year he understood Egan had ties with the mission but gave no further information.

Egan said he now has only infrequent contact with North Koreans. His last trip there was about five years ago but he hopes to return to open a branch of his restaurant in Pyongyang.

"My dream is that (President Barack) Obama appoints me ambassador and then I'll open my Cubby's right next to the embassy," he said.

(Editing by Michelle Nichols, Claudia Parsons and John O'Callaghan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/nkorea/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111221/us_nm/us_korea_north_usa_diner

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Congo forces kill 24 since vote results: HRW (Reuters)

KINSHASA (Reuters) ? Democratic Republic of Congo security forces have killed 24 people since President Joseph Kabila won a disputed presidential election, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The rights group said all but four of the victims were killed in the capital Kinshasa, where main opposition rival Etienne Tshisekedi is popular. It said there was evidence security forces had tried to hide the killings.

Among the victims, a 21-year-old woman was shot dead and her 8-year-old niece shot in the throat on the day of the election results, as police fired on crowds of opposition supporters in the capital according to HRW, which said its information came from fieldwork, local human rights activists and witnesses.

Security forces appear to have tried to hide the killings by quickly removing corpses, the report said, while sections of the military, including the presidential guard, are accused of detaining people in military camps in the capital.

"These bloody tactics further undermine the electoral process and leave the impression that the government will do whatever it takes to stay in power," HRW's senior Africa researcher Anneke Van Woudenberg said in the statement.

A government official was not available to comment.

Congo's opposition has rejected Kabila's victory in the November 28 poll over allegations of fraud, triggering some street protests. The election process has also drawn wide criticism from international and local observers for irregularities.

The election commission issued the results on December 9, giving Kabila 49 percent of the votes cast to Tshisekedi's 32 percent.

These latest death figures follow an earlier report by HRW saying that 18 people had been killed by security forces in the run up to the polls, claims strongly disputed by the government, which launched an inquiry but said there was a lack of evidence.

Security has been visibly tight since polling day, particularly in key opposition areas including the Kasai provinces and Kinshasa, where heavily armed police and military have been on patrol since the beginning of the month.

On Tuesday heavily equipped riot officers forcibly removed around 40 female protesters who had been staging a sit-in outside the US embassy in Kinshasa, a Reuters witness said.

Congo is still recovering from a 1998-2003 war that killed more than five million people, but a flawed election process and the opposition's refusal to acknowledge the results have led to fears of a protracted political crisis.

There are fears that plans by Tshisekedi to hold his own swearing in ceremony on Friday could spark further clashes.

(Editing by Richard Valdmanis)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/wl_nm/us_congo_killings_report

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Southwest, plains face blizzard watch (Reuters)

AUSTIN. Texas. (Reuters) ? A blizzard watch is in effect until Tuesday for parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas as a severe winter storm is expected to bring high winds and up to a foot of snow there on Sunday night and Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm was expected to edge into the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado before heading east on Sunday night or Monday morning, the agency said in a statement. The areas were under winter weather advisories or watches on Sunday.

A blizzard watch means forecasters believe life-threatening winter weather conditions are likely, including winds of at least 35 mph and visibility less than a quarter mile.

As the United States readies for a week of holiday travel, weather officials warned of dangerous road conditions on Sunday and Monday in the plains. The storm is expected to bring heavy rains and high-elevation snow to the mountains of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona on Sunday afternoon before moving east.

"It is likely that slippery areas will develop Sunday and progress to the east over the high ground along I-40 in Arizona and New Mexico," meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said on Accuweather.com.

"As snow spills out over the southern High Plains Sunday night and Monday, snow is likely to fall and accumulate in part of I-40 stretching across the northern Texas Panhandle and Route 54 reaching northeastward into southern Kansas."

The mix of rain and snow will move through eastern Kansas on Monday night and into the Chicago and Detroit areas on Tuesday, forecasters said.

(Writing by Karen Brooks, editing by Ian Simpson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111218/us_nm/us_weather_storm

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Selena Gomez Axes Shows After Her Mother Suffers Miscarriage

Selena Gomez Axes Shows After Her Mother Suffers Miscarriage

Justin Bieber’s girlfriend Selena Gomez was forced to cancel two Christmas shows this weekend after her mother suffered a miscarriage on Friday. The teen star [...]

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2011/12/18/selena-gomez-axes-shows-after-her-mother-suffers-miscarriage/

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Adoptable Pets of the Week - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

CHRISTMAS

Christmas is one big, handsome snow tiger of a Siamese mix. At any given time, his eyes are only half open, making him look serene and mellow. All he needs is a good chin scratch and head rub, and he's content. In fact, he adores being petted and rubbed.

Things weren't always so easy for Christmas. He was found at a ranch near Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and came with a few bumps and bruises, but he's all better now, but he still takes some medication.

Christmas lives in a building with several other cats, a dog and a potbellied pig; he gets along great with all of them. But he's fine being the one and only center of your attention, too. He would do best in a home without kids.

He's a mellow fellow who just makes your whole world cozier.

Enjoy a relaxing Christmas all year long. You and Christmas deserve it!

JINGLES

This mellow, pretty girl was only skin and bones when she was picked up as a stray and brought to Best Friends. She must've had a home once, because she's wonderful on sleepovers, knows the command for "sit" (and is learning "down"), and likes to play with toys. But somehow, she ended up all by herself with nobody to take care of her for far too long.

No wonder Jingles loves to eat! She's known around Dogtown as a "chow hound," and has gained back some of her weight. Born in 2007, Jingles is friendly and easy to greet. But after all the poking and prodding she's endured, she does not like going to the vet! She's on a special diet to help improve her itchy skin.

Generally good with other dogs, Jingles sometimes gets too excited playing with them. If you already have a dog, Jingles will need to meet her new canine family members prior to adoption. Because she can be a little mouthy at times, Jingles would do best with a single person, couple or family. Please contact our adoption team for details.

Jingles is great with indoor cats. She knows who they are and doesn't want anything to do with them. If you have room in your heart and home for this sweet young belle, please give Jingles a ring!

Holiday "Free"dom!
Best Friends animals are so excited to find homes this season that they're buying their own airplane tickets! The first 20 cats and dogs adopted this holiday season will fly to their new homes for free. Most still have their usual adoption fee. Also, senior pets have no adoption fee throughout the month of December.

Best Friends adopts to all of the United States and Canada. Please contact Best Friends Animal Society right here.

See all the animals that need homes... at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

Source: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2011/12/adoptable_pets_of_the_week_1216.php

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Transformer Prime heading to UK shelves next month, bundled with dock for complete transformation

ASUS has excelled at building up the global Transformer craze, and although there's been a few hiccups along the way, the quad-core beast is set to start hitting shelves around the world in the weeks ahead. According to Pocket-lint, the Taiwanese company has given confirmation that the newest Eee Pad on the block is hitting Great Britain in January. You'll be surprised to hear that the Prime won't be coming as a lone wolf, instead being bundled with its mighty dock companion and priced at £499 (around $770 in Greenbacks) for the 32GB WiFI-only version. We'd offer you a look at our review in the meantime, but on second thought, that probably makes the wait that much more unbearable...

Transformer Prime heading to UK shelves next month, bundled with dock for complete transformation originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/transformer-prime-heading-to-uk-shelves-next-month-bundled-with/

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Senate leaders say nearing deals on budget, tax bills (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Democratic and Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate on Thursday expressed optimism that they can soon strike compromises on bills to keep the government running through September 30 and extend a payroll tax cut for one more year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped that negotiations will pave the way for Congress to wrap up its 2011 session "in the next few days." Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he was "confident and optimistic we'll be able to resolve both (bills) on a bipartisan basis." An extension of unemployment benefits is also expected to be part of a deal.

(Reporting By Richard Cowan; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/ts_nm/us_usa_taxes

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'Hunger Games' Goes Viral For 100-Day Countdown

In this week's Hobnobbing, we examine Lionsgate's latest attention-grabbing campaign.
By Amy Wilkinson

Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth in "Hunger Games"
Photo: Lions Gate

One-hundred days can seem like a pittance when, say, it's the first week of September and you've pleasantly (and too quickly) whiled away three months' worth of summer vacation. But 100 days can feel like an eternity when it's all that's standing between a fan and a highly anticipated film debut. Such is the case for the big-screen adaptation of "The Hunger Games," which hits theater March 23, 2012 — exactly 100 days from today.

To sate fans' appetites and capitalize on a milestone date, Lionsgate launched a viral campaign called #HungerGames100 Poster Puzzle Hunt. The online scavenger scramble recruited 100 different websites (including MTV) to host a piece of a puzzle and tweet a relevant link. Once solved, the puzzle would reveal the newest poster for the film starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.

In keeping with the film's Twitter-heavy rollout, intrigued fans took to the social-networking site to chat about the project. @mayachelsie wrote, "This #HungerGames100 is making me too excited. Oh gosh. I think I'm gonna throw up... 100 DAYS TILL THE HUNGER GAMES!" Similarly, @KarimaHessen enthused, "#HungerGames100 This is going to be the longest 100 days of my liiiiiife!!"

Though many fans were excited by the film's impending debut and the campaign itself, the prospect of hunting down 100 individual pieces was daunting for many. @16princessful mused, "I am not gonna even try to find all 100 pieces cuz I don't even know where to start lol. #HungerGames100." @mollsabeth chimed in, "If I didn't have a job, I would absolutely be trying to solve the #HungerGames100 puzzle."

Whether you joined the hunt or waited for a more industrious (not to mention patient) fan to solve the puzzle, it's hard to deny Lionsgate caught the Internet's attention, with many high-profile sites participating (in addition to MTV, Entertainment Weekly, E! Online and People all played ball) and the campaign, at times, trending on Twitter. This isn't the first time Lionsgate has utilized the power of the interwebs. Back in October, MTV and a handful of other sites participated in a concerted rollout of the film's character posters (hello, Peeta!), and, of course, Twitter went into a tizzy for the film's first teaser and trailer debuts.

Though we can only speculate as to what viral treasures await in 2012, we want to know what you think of these types of campaigns. Quirky and cool? Or too much work? Sound off in the comments below and tweet me @amymwilk with your thoughts and suggestions for future columns!

Check out everything we've got on "The Hunger Games."

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

Related Photos

• 'Hunger Games' Character Posters
• 'Hunger Games' District Seals
• The Hunger Games

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676091/hunger-games-100-day-countdown.jhtml

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Behind decline in US-Mexico border crossings: higher risks, lower rewards (The Christian Science Monitor)

Phoenix ? Arrests of illegal immigrants along the Southwest border are down to levels not seen since the 1970s, signaling that fewer people are trying to enter the United States amid strengthened enforcement and a weakened economy.

The drop in would-be border crossers continues a downward trend that US immigration officials attribute largely to a massive and unprecedented buildup of law-enforcement manpower and technology in recent years.

?It all works together, it slows them down,? says border patrol agent Jason Rheinfrank, an agency spokesman in the Tucson, Ariz., sector.

The 327,577 people arrested along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, is the lowest number recorded since 1972. By comparison, more than 1.6 million people were caught trying to sneak into the US in 2000.

Four reasons illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border has dropped

In Arizona, which is the busiest corridor for illegal crossings, arrests totaled 129,118 ? a 41 percent drop from the previous year and the lowest since 1994, when the border patrol detained 160,680 people.

Texas followed with 118,911, California with 72,638, and New Mexico with 6,910.

Arizona authorities also recovered the bodies of 192 people who died trying to cross the border, down from 250 in fiscal 2010. Most border crossers die from exposure to Arizona's scorching summer heat in remote desert areas, where they go to escape stepped-up border enforcement.

In addition to a fortified border, US economic conditions and other factors are shown to have contributed to the steady decline, says Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization that studies the US Hispanic population.

?Right now we know that it?s hard for people to find a job here, so if it?s expensive and dangerous and difficult and you can?t get a job, it?s not surprising that the numbers have gone down,? Mr. Passel says.

The latest figures confirm that the once-common back-and-forth crossings between the US and Mexico ??? the home country for nearly 60 percent of all illegal immigrants living and working in the US ??? have been declining for the past decade. 

?That?s one of the things that?s fallen off with the economy or with the enforcement, and more and more of the unauthorized immigrants, once they?re here, they tend to stay here,? Passel says.

While arrests have decreased significantly along the US-Mexico border, the numbers show an increase in drug seizures. Authorities last year confiscated 3 million pounds of narcotics, mostly marijuana, up from 2.9 million pounds. Nationally, nearly 5 million pounds of narcotics were seized, a 20 percent increase from fiscal 2010.

Could you pass a US citizenship test? Take our quiz.

Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to your inbox. Sign up today.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111214/ts_csm/436500

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SEC is urged to sue over Stanford victims' claims (reuters)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/170690935?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Johnny Depp?s Bodyguards Put Beatdown On Woman At Iggy Pop Show?

Johnny Depp’s Bodyguards Put Beatdown On Woman At Iggy Pop Show?

A woman by the name of Robyn Ecker, 52, claims that one of Johnny Depp’s bodyguards injured her at an Iggy Pop concert after she [...]

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2011/12/04/johnny-depps-bodyguards-put-beatdown-on-woman-at-iggy-pop-show/

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Giant super-Earths made of diamond are possible, study suggests

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2011) ? A planet made of diamonds may sound lovely, but you wouldn't want to live there.

A new study suggests that some stars in the Milky Way could harbor "carbon super-Earths" -- giant terrestrial planets that contain up to 50 percent diamond.

But if they exist, those planets are likely devoid of life as we know it.

The finding comes from a laboratory experiment at Ohio State University, where researchers recreated the temperatures and pressures of Earth's lower mantle to study how diamonds form there.

The larger goal was to understand what happens to carbon inside planets in other solar systems, and whether solar systems that are rich in carbon could produce planets that are mostly made of diamond.

Wendy Panero, associate professor in the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State, and doctoral student Cayman Unterborn used what they learned from the experiments to construct computer models of the minerals that form in planets composed with more carbon than Earth.

The result: "It's possible for planets that are as big as fifteen times the mass of the Earth to be half made of diamond," Unterborn said. He presented the study Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

"Our results are striking, in that they suggest carbon-rich planets can form with a core and a mantle, just as Earth did," Panero added. "However, the cores would likely be very carbon-rich -- much like steel -- and the mantle would also be dominated by carbon, much in the form of diamond."

Earth's core is mostly iron, she explained, and the mantle mostly silica-based minerals, a result of the elements that were present in the dust cloud that formed into our solar system. Planets that form in carbon-rich solar systems would have to follow a different chemical recipe -- with direct consequences for the potential for life.

Earth's hot interior results in geothermal energy, making our planet hospitable.

Diamonds transfer heat so readily, however, that a carbon super-Earth's interior would quickly freeze. That means no geothermal energy, no plate tectonics, and -- ultimately -- no magnetic field or atmosphere.

"We think a diamond planet must be a very cold, dark place," Panero said.

She and former graduate student Jason Kabbes subjected a tiny sample of iron, carbon, and oxygen to pressures of 65 gigapascals and temperatures of 2,400 Kelvin (close to 9.5 million pounds per square inch and 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit -- conditions similar to the Earth's deep interior).

As they watched under the microscope, the oxygen bonded with the iron, creating iron oxide -- a type of rust -- and left behind pockets of pure carbon, which became diamond.

Based on the data from that test, the researchers made computer models of Earth's interior, and verified what geologists have long suspected -- that a diamond-rich layer likely exists in Earth's lower mantle, just above the core.

That result wasn't surprising. But when they modeled what would happen when these results were applied to the composition of a carbon super-Earth, they found that the planet could become very large, with iron and carbon merged to form a kind of carbon steel in the core, and vast quantities of pure carbon in the mantle in the form of diamond.

The researchers discussed the implications for planetary science.

"To date, more than five hundred planets have been discovered outside of our solar system, yet we know very little about their internal compositions," said Unterborn, who is an astronomer by training.

"We're looking at how volatile elements like hydrogen and carbon interact inside the Earth, because when they bond with oxygen, you get atmospheres, you get oceans -- you get life," Panero said. "The ultimate goal is to compile a suite of conditions that are necessary for an ocean to form on a planet."

This work contrasts with the recent discovery by an unrelated team of researchers who found a so-called "diamond planet" which is actually the remnant of a dead star in a binary system.

The Ohio State research suggests that true terrestrial diamond planets can form in our galaxy. Exactly how many such planets might be out there and their possible internal composition is an open question -- one that Unterborn is pursuing with Ohio State astronomer Jennifer Johnson.

This research was funded by Panero's CAREER award from the National Science Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Pam Frost Gorder.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205140531.htm

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Obama pushes payroll tax cut extension (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama wants voters to get involved in the debate over extending the reduced payroll tax and he's asking them to tell members of Congress to keep the cut in place.

"Let your members of Congress know where you stand," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "Tell them not to vote to raise taxes on working Americans during the holidays. Tell them to put country before party. Put money back in the pockets of working Americans. Pass these tax cuts."

Obama's address directs listeners to the whitehouse.gov website, where an online calculator lets them determine how much money it's worth to them to continue the 2 percent reduction in the payroll tax that took effect this year. A family with income of $50,000 a year would pay $1,000 more in payroll taxes if Congress does not act by the end of this year to extend that reduction.

Democrats want to expand the reduction in addition to extending it. Republican leaders say they're committed to passing an extension, fearing political fallout if payroll taxes rise on Jan. 1 on 160 million wage-earners. The GOP rank-and-file appears divided, with many Republican senators voting against an extension supported by their leadership this week.

There's also disagreement about how or whether to pay for any extension. Democrats favor a new tax on millionaires; Republicans prefer to cut federal spending.

"We're going to keep pushing Congress to make this happen. They shouldn't go home for the holidays until they get this done," Obama said in his address. "And if you agree with me, I could use your help."

Obama also took note of a new monthly jobs report out Friday that showed the economy added 120,000 jobs in November, a positive number. "We need to keep this growth going and strengthen it," the president said.

Republicans devoted their weekly address to promoting a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, which is headed for a vote in the Senate after failing in the House last month.

Democratic leaders worked aggressively to defeat the measure in the House, saying that such a requirement could force Congress to cut billions from social programs during times of economic downturn and that disputes over what to cut could result in Congress ceding its power of the purse to the courts. The result was that the amendment got majority support but fell short of the two-thirds needed to advance a constitutional amendment.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said "the impending vote to amend the Constitution represents a choice between changing business as usual in Washington or embracing the status quo that we can no longer afford."

"The real reason many lawmakers don't want a balanced budget amendment is the exact reason why it's so essential," Snowe said. "They don't want their hands tied; they want to continue to spend without restraint."

Like Obama, she asked listeners to make their views known.

"Contact your senators and urge them to support our balanced budget amendment," Snowe said, "so that we finally seize the fiscal reins and reclaim our future for our children and our grandchildren."

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/gopweeklyaddress

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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Calif. residents grapple with windstorm cleanup (AP)

TEMPLE CITY, Calif. ? As the hurricane-force winds that pummeled the West eased Friday, Diane Johnson stood knee high in leaves and branches, surveying a fallen tree trunk at eye level and trying to decide just how to begin the big cleanup.

A near century-old eucalyptus tree toppled over in the middle of the night, crushing all three of the family's cars, landing at the doorstep of their Southern California home and blocking any view from their windows.

Trapped inside for hours, they were able to get out when the fire department cut them a small pathway.

"I have no idea what to do," she said. "I don't know. I don't know."

Like hundreds of thousands of people in Southern California on Friday, Johnson was without electricity. And just like Johnson, residents and crews struggled to clean up smashed trees, toppled power lines and debris-strewn roadways.

Several cities in the region, the hardest hit from Wednesday night's windstorms, were still in a state of emergency.

Schools in Pasadena and more than a dozen others in the Los Angeles Unified School District remained closed Friday.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement Friday that schools closed because of wind damage would still receive state funding.

"I want to assure school districts that they will not lose funding if their facilities are closed or used as emergency shelters during this disaster," Torlakson said.

In Temple City, the Los Angeles suburb where Johnson lives, a row of toppled power poles with wires attached blocked a street. The city's main street remained a shuttered ghost town as cars inched past darkened stop lights and shop signs in Chinese.

Seventy-five percent of the city remained without power. As residents in some parts were being advised to boil water or use bottled water, others began tossing out the food in their increasingly pungent refrigerators. As many as 200 trees fell in the storms.

As the night loomed, police increased patrols and the city handed out free flashlights.

During the day, residents began cleaning up, filling trash bags with leaves and branches. Streets with older, larger trees suffered the worst damage as top-heavy trunks fell over. But many homes were spared, including that of Johnson's next-door neighbor, Margaret Mushinskie.

The trimmed lawn at Mushinskie's house was pristine because her husband won a years-long battle with the city to cut down the two eucalyptus trees in front of their home.

"They need to come down," she said, expressing concern for Johnson's son who worked two jobs for his red sports car that now sat crushed under a pile of leaves. "Those poor people. He was so proud of his car. Bless his heart."

In the adjacent city of Arcadia, Aubreann Loving stood in the front yard of her home, watching one car after another turn onto her tiny cul-de-sac, unable to continue down a major cross street that had been blocked by a gigantic fallen tree.

Another tree crashed into her backyard, demolishing the yard's back wall.

The 15-year-old high school sophomore was at home with her family in a house with no heat or light and a refrigerator filled with spoiling food after the city's school district canceled classes at all 10 of its campuses for a second day.

Loving, who passed time Friday watching videos on a portable DVD player she had recharged at a friend's home, is no stranger to school furloughs, having taken her share of snow days off in her native Iowa.

But this, she complained, was far more monotonous.

"If the power would go off, it would come back on within a few hours," she said of elementary school days in Iowa. "But the power isn't coming back on right away here, so it's like there's nothing to do."

About 200,000 people in Southern California, more than 18,000 along California's Central Coast and thousands more in Utah ? where Thursday winds topped 100 mph ? remained without electricity. Authorities said some areas might not have power restored until Sunday.

In Pasadena, among the hardest hit cities in the region, inspectors were checking more than 100 damaged buildings to see if they should be red-tagged as being too dangerous to inhabit.

One 42-unit apartment building and other structures were red-tagged Thursday and two dozen more were yellow-tagged, allowing only limited access, said Lisa Derderian, the city's emergency management coordinator.

"Every street in Pasadena was impacted in one way or another," she said, adding that the city's cleanup would be expeditious. "We have the (Tournament of Roses) parade every year here so we are experts in cleanup and debris removal."

In Northern California, authorities said a wildlife biologist working in a Big Sur redwood forest was killed when a tree fell in heavy winds. Monterey County Coroner Detective Diana Schumacher told KSBW-TV that California condor biologist Michael Tyner died after the tree fell on him Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, crews Friday battled wildfires that were sparked by power lines blown down by the wind. The winds were blamed for the destruction of at least four homes.

Aiding firefighters and those involved in the cleanup was the fact that the high winds, which had been expected to return Thursday night, never materialized. Around the state, the 60- to 80-mph gusts of the previous day had become mere breezes.

The low-pressure system that had spawned the winds was moving eastward so quickly that the National Weather Service canceled red flag warnings that predicted extreme fire danger from the gusty, dry weather.

A new system was expected to move into Arizona on Friday night, bringing a chance of more winds over the weekend, but the gusts will not be as strong, weather service meteorologist Eric Boldt said.

Nevada could get 35-mph sustained winds with gusts to 70 mph, while Wyoming and Utah could see light snow, and New Mexico was warned to expect heavier snow and freezing drizzle.

___

Associated Press writers John Rogers and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles, Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City, Sudhin Thanawala in San Francisco and Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_re_us/us_western_winds

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Toads could be used to forecast earthquakes days before they happen (Yahoo! News)

Study says the pond-dwelling animals can sense a change in groundwater before an earthquake

Aside from ionosphere disturbances, nature has a number of ways that signify an earthquake's arrival far earlier than an iPhone can. Animals, for instance, are known to leave their homes and head to safety anywhere from a few seconds to weeks before humans can feel quakes. It was easy enough for researchers to determine the science behind the behavior seconds before ground tremors are felt, but the explanation behind instances of animal exodus days or weeks prior to any seismic activity has eluded them ? until now, that is. Rachel Grant from the U.K. Open University and Friedemann Freund from NASA?believe they may have figured it all out, thanks to a colony of toads.

Grant monitored a toad colony in L'Aquila, Italy for her PhD project, when she noticed the population number dropped from 96 to almost zero at least three days before an earthquake hit. After forming a team with Freund, they studied how and why that event happened. The results ? which were recently published in a research paper ? showed that stress in the surrounding rocks released charged particles that contaminated the groundwater. The toads, of course, sought refuge away from their environment which had suddenly become toxic.

According to the study, rocks under very high levels of stress due to tectonic forces emit particles that react with air to form positively charged ions. These particles are known to cause health problems in humans like headaches, nausea, and increased levels of the stress hormone serotonin. The positive ions then dissolve in the water, making it lethal not just to toads but other aquatic, semi-aquatic, and even burrowing animals.

The scientists admit their findings need to be tested and studied more. But even now they believe it can be used as one of the early indicators of an earthquake. "Once we understand how all of these signals are connected, if we see four of five signals all pointing in [the same] direction, we can say, 'ok, something is about to happen'," Freund says.

[Image credit: Wikimedia]

[via BBC, Telegraph]

This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111202/tc_yblog_technews/toads-could-be-used-to-forecast-earthquakes-days-before-they-happen

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NZ engineers found building safe before collapse (AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? Engineers inspected and declared a New Zealand office building safe five times in the months before it collapsed and killed 18 people in an earthquake earlier this year, according to testimony at a government probe.

Two engineers testified this week about their inspections of the Pyne Gould building at an ongoing probe into building failures during the Feb. 22 Christchurch earthquake, which killed 182 people. The engineers acknowledged that during their inspections, they never looked at building plans or a report that detailed the structure's vulnerability.

The first inspection of the building was carried out by city engineers after a strong September 2010 quake. The engineers briefly examined the building's exterior and gave it a green tag, deeming it safe for occupation.

An October examination by The Associated Press detailed shortcomings in the process, which was developed in the U.S. and is used by governments worldwide to assess buildings after earthquakes.

The building owners then ordered four more inspections over the next five months in response to tenant complaints about widening cracks. Each time, the Holmes Consulting group concluded that the building remained safe for tenants.

Introduced as evidence in the probe was a 2007 memo written by another engineer at the same company concluding that the building's unusual design was a "severe weakness" that made it vulnerable to "severe failure" in an earthquake.

But engineers Mark Whiteside and Alistair Boys both testified that they did not see that report.

The engineers each said their role was not to examine the building's overall structural strength or its ability to withstand future quakes, but instead was limited to assessing whether the building had suffered any significant structural damage in the Sept. 4, 2010, earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.0 but did not cause any deaths.

The men testified that each of their four inspections lasted less than an hour and did not involve tearing back walls, examining building plans or pulling previous reports.

"So you're not looking at whether a building is structurally good or bad, you are just saying it is less good or bad than before?" asked Marcus Elliott, a lawyer representing the victims and their families.

"That's correct," Whiteside responded.

Elliott questioned whether that made their assessments "a bit meaningless."

But both engineers testified that they had followed procedures and wouldn't have done anything differently in retrospect.

"The cracks that I saw, I didn't deem to have significantly diminished the capacity of the building," Whiteside said.

The government probe, called a Royal Commission of Inquiry, is scheduled to continue next week. Evidence about the most deadly building collapse in the magnitude-6.1 February quake ? the Canterbury Television building, which killed 115 people ? is scheduled for March 2012.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oceania/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_re_as/as_new_zealand_earthquakes

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Jon Jones and Herb Dean highlight the big winners at MMA Awards show

Jon Jones took the mixed martial arts world by storm in 2011, so it was no surprise to see the "Swagger Jacker" steal the show in Las Vegas tonight.

The Palms hosted the third annual World MMA Awards show in the Pearl at the Palms.

Jones entered the year as a possible contender to compete for the UFC light heavyweight title. Three fights later and he's been labeled as nearly unbeatable by some. Jones received the Charles "Mask" Lewis Fighter of the Year award.

Below are the other significant awards pertaining to action in the cage with my personal choice for winner. We stuck with the five finalists that were chosen through fan voting at the Fighters Only magazine website (winners courtesy MMAjunkie).

CHARLES "MASK" LEWIS FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Dominick Cruz, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.
Winner: Jon Jones; Cofield winner: Nick Diaz

BREAKTHROUGH FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Donald Cerrone, Daniel Cormier, Phil Davis, Demetrious Johnson and Brian Stann. Winner: Donald Cerrone; Cofield winner: Demetrious Johnson

SUBMISSION OF THE YEAR
Nominees: "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24, Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin at UFC 129, Richard Hale vs. Nik Fekete at Bellator 38, Vinny Magalhaes vs. Viktor Nemkov at M-1 Challenge 25, and Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader at UFC 132
Winner: Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24: Cofield winner: "Korean Zombie"

KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Patricky "Pitbull" Freire vs. Toby Imada at Bellator 39, Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC Live 5, John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson at UFC 129, Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture at UFC 129, and Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126
Winner: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126; Cofield winner: Lyoto Machida

FIGHT OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick at UFC 129, Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber at UFC 132, Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125, Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley," and Diego Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann at UFC Live 3
Winner: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125; Cofield winner: Nick Diaz vs. Paul DaleyINTERNATIONAL FIGHTER OF THE YEAR. Nominees: Michael Bisping, Alexander Gustafsson, Joachim Hansen, Alistair Overeem and Dennis Siver. Winner: Alistair Overeem; Cofield Winner: Overeem

REFEREE OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Herb Dean, "Big" John McCarthy, Dan Miragliotta, Josh Rosenthal and Mario Yamasaki. Winner: Herb Dean; Cofield winner: Josh Rosenthal

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Marloes Coenen vs. Liz Carmouche at "Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson," Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry at UFC Live 5, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (career), Tito Ortiz (career) and Joe Warren vs. Joe Soto at Bellator 27. Winner: Cheick Kongo: Cofield winner: Tito Ortiz

FEMALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Marloes Coenen, Zoila Gurgel, Sarah Kaufman, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate.
Winner: Miesha Tate; Cofield winner: Tate

RING ENTRANCE OF THE YEAR
Nominees: Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133, Vitor Belfort at UFC 133, Dave Herman at UFC 131, Mark Hominick at UFC 129 and Jason "Mayhem" Miller at DREAM.16
Winner: Jason "Mayhem" Miller; Cofield winner: How is Tom Lawlor not on this list?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Jon-Jones-and-Herb-Dean-highlight-the-big-winner?urn=mma-wp10057

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Crystal Sugar CEO Likens Contract to Cancer | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

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by Barbara Doherty, Nov 30, 2011

Relations between management and the 1,300 locked-out workers at American Crystal Sugar Co. reached a new low this week, as recordings were made public of company CEO David Berg likening the workers and their contract to a cancerous tumor.

Speaking to shareholders in North Dakota on Nov. 7, Berg told the story of a friend who had a massive cancerous tumor removed. ?He was sick for a long time,? said Berg.

We can?t let a labor contract make us sick forever and ever and ever. We have to treat the disease and that?s what we?re doing here.

?Berg later repeated his cancer analogy, saying,

At some point that tumor?s got to come out. That?s what we?re doing.

Listen to some of Berg?s comments here.

Workers responded to Berg?s remarks with outrage. Sarah Gust, a 40-year employee at American Crystal, remarked,

The fact that Dave Berg would refer to our union, our contract, as a cancerous tumor is deeply offensive to me and many of my co-workers. Some of us have had cancer or have lost loved ones to cancer. It?s a tragic, devastating disease. And that?s how Crystal Sugar management sees our union. I tell you, this just shows how much respect Dave Berg and the management have for us workers.

Workers at American Crystal in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa have been out of work since management imposed a lockout on Aug. 1, after workers rejected the company?s final contract offer by a more than nine-to-one margin. The company hired replacement workers and says it is moving to the next phase of its ?contingency plan? by offering wages significantly below those of locked-out workers.?The employees are members of seven locals of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM).

?We?ve seen Dave Berg?s true colors. He is determined to treat contract negotiations as a disease, a tumor to be removed,? said John Riskey, president of BCTGM Local 167G.

We?ve said from the start that we want to negotiate, as long as management comes to the table with reasonable proposals, and not the same take-it-or-leave-it ultimatums.

Workers and the union plan to hold?a press conference Dec. 1 to coincide with the company?s annual meeting and to meet with Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Saturday.

You also can contribute to the Sugar Beet Workers fund to help workers during the lockout. Make checks out to: Minnesota AFL-CIO, 175 Aurora Ave., St. Paul, MN 55103. In the memo line, print ?BCTGM Lockout 2011.?

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Source: http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/11/30/crystal-sugar-ceo-likens-contract-to-cancer/

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