Neil Wagner: Climate Change Makes the Bad Old Days Look Better

Parents have always taken pride in telling kids how hard things were in the "good old days." That meme is the ultimate weapon when kids have the audacity to think they have it tough. Bill Cosby famously described how his father "walked to school at 4 o'clock every morning... with no shoes on... uphill... both ways... in 5 feet of snow -- and he was THANKFUL!"

But the "things used to be tougher" gambit may be losing some of its power. Thanks, in part, to climate change, snow, wind, sleet, rain, heat, et al., are now becoming stronger and less predictable. "What on Earth?" has already discussed the intense, bizarre nature of weather these days.

Our planet is warmer than any time in recorded human history. Yes -- that even includes when your grandpa was a kid. Heat waves are longer & hotter, and rain is heavier & more frequent; Drought is more common & severe than at any time in the past 100 years. Heck, it's even becoming more common to experience extreme shifts from dry to rain and sun to clouds than it was jus a few decades ago.

Since today's kids face windier wind, dryer droughts, heavier rain, and more blustery blizzards, what can parents lord over them? I humbly suggest the following: if it weren't for the carbon-intensive efforts of previous generations, children would now have nothing to complain about!

It's the gift of gripe, kids. You're welcome.
_____________________________________________________

Like "What on Earth?" on Facebook

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-wagner/climate-change-makes-the-_b_1117567.html

childish gambino chris hansen sandusky interview with bob costas

LA protesters defy eviction efforts, go to court

Wall Street protesters dance to music as they remain at the camp in front of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

Wall Street protesters dance to music as they remain at the camp in front of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

A Los Angeles Police officer looks on near the illuminated city hall as a large group of anti-Wall Street protesters remain at the Wall Street protesters camp in Los Angeles shortly after midnight Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

Jeff Rousset holds a sign during a demonstration by Occupy Philly, at Dilworth Plaza, in Philadelphia, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. eviction order. A deadline set by the city for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the site where it has camped for some two months passed without scuffles or arrests as police watched nearly 50 demonstrators lock arms and sit at the entrance of Dilworth Plaza. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)

Members of Occupy Philly demonstrate at Dilworth Plaza, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, in Philadelphia, in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. eviction order. A deadline set by the city for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the site where it has camped for some two months passed without scuffles or arrests as police watched nearly 50 demonstrators lock arms and sit at the entrance of Dilworth Plaza. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)

A protester yells from a light pole at the Occupy LA camp in Los Angeles on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors' campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday but police did not enforce the deadline. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? For now, Wall Street protesters camped out on the Los Angeles City Hall lawn still have their tent city after defying a deadline to pack up and clear out. "Still occupied," read the sign of a protester up in a tree.

Hours after emerging from a possible confrontation with police largely unscathed on Monday, demonstrators turned to the federal courts to keep officers away.

They are arguing that the City Council had passed a resolution in support of Occupy Los Angeles and that the city's mayor and police did not have the authority to evict them.

The chances that protesters will get an injunction appear slim, constitutional experts say.

Until there is a decision, the tent city's inhabitants are left to wonder if and when police will push them out ? and if there will be the kind of violence that has engulfed evictions in other cities when they do.

City officials say they will only move in on the camp when conditions are safest not just for protesters and officers but also the roughly 100 homeless people who had joined the encampment.

"There is no concrete deadline," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said after hundreds of officers withdrew without moving in on the nearly 2-month-old camp.

The effort should come "with as little drama as possible," Beck told reporters.

Police and protesters have clashed elsewhere in recent weeks, most notably in Oakland, Calif., as officers cleared away camps that officials say have grown more dangerous for public health and safety.

Nine people were arrested in Maine on Monday after protesters at an encampment took down their tents and packed their camping gear after being told to get a permit or move their shelters.

Some of the encampments had been in use almost since the movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago.

With each passing week, it seems a city moves in to close a camp. Like Los Angeles, Philadelphia officials imposed their own deadline for protesters to move to make way for a construction project.

On Monday, however, the camp was still standing.

In Los Angeles, protesters had prepared for police action since city leaders announced last week that the camp would be cleared. Campers had packed up about half of the nearly 500 tents.

Some protesters carried gas masks and one had even fashioned one out of duct tape and a plastic bottle.

Some activists had built a tree house out of wooden pallets in a clump of palm trees to make it more difficult to be arrested, while others just sat in a circle with their tents in the plaza.

"I definitely expected to be in jail by 3 a.m.," said Sean Woodward. "I'm happy we're still here."

Protesters chanted "we won, we won" as police left after only four arrests during a largely peaceful, six-hour demonstration against the eviction. The arrests were on charges of failure to disperse.

Instead of moving in to clear the camp, as had been expected, police concentrated on clearing several hundred protesters who had spilled into the street so morning rush-hour traffic would not be affected.

Hours later, several demonstrators asked a federal judge for an injunction against the city.

The civil rights complaint contends that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa usurped the City Council's authority when he set a deadline of 12:01 a.m. Monday for the tent-dwellers to disband.

The council passed a resolution of support for the occupiers in October that effectively allowed them to remain on the lawn despite a city ban on overnight camping, the complaint argued.

"The City Council welcomed them with open arms and said they could stay as long as they want," said Jim Lafferty, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

"The mayor simply does not have the authority to do this," he said.

The city attorney's office had not been served with the complaint and could not comment on it, spokesman John Franklin said. However, he said the city was prepared to oppose any injunction.

"We'll be in court," he said.

Constitutional law experts were skeptical of the injunction's chances.

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that while public parks can be used for protests, they are for the use of all people, not just one group, and that governments can restrict how a park is used for free speech purposes.

"Parks are open to free speech, but that's not a place they can authorize as their own home," said Eugene Volokh, a First Amendment expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law.

___

Mulvihill reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers John Rogers and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles, Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia, and Glenn Adams in Augusta, Maine, contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-28-Occupy-Protests/id-51d3ee79e7e44d639ce2c5069fce3c97

corn maze icloud apple update apple update download ios 5 pokey find my mac

Democrats to the White Working Class -- Drop Dead (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | A recent piece in the New York Times suggests the Democratic Party is preparing to toss working class whites, who have been part of the winning coalition for the Democrats since Franklin Roosevelt, under the bus.

The new coalition for the Democratic Party will consist of educated elites that will include "professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists" and poorer voters, primarily blacks and Hispanics. Working class whites have long be alienated from the Democrats since the phenomenon of the "Reagan Democrats," who switched to the Republican Party in the 1980s. Democrats lost this demographic group by 30 percent and more in the 2010 midterms.

The educated elites will be bought off with the support of rights to self expression, abortion, gay marriage and a leftward tilt on the environment and defense policy. The less affluent minorities will be bought off by new social spending and government assistance.

While the Democrats hope to hold their losses among working American whites down, one wonders how that could be accomplished if the sense grows that working people have been abandoned. Someone has to pay for all of that social spending that will benefit the poor, after all. Working whites also remain skeptical of government sanctioned hedonism, environmental regulations that stifle jobs, and cuts in defense spending that invite aggression from America's enemies.

Rush Limbaugh, the radio talk show host never slow to pick up on a political trend, suggested the Democrats are saying, on his Monday, broadcast, "If you work, we don't want you."

In a way, the new Democratic election strategy is a reaction to the tea party movement, which has risen from discontented working and middle class people who feel that their government has become too big and too intrusive. Instead of listening to the complaints of the tea party and adjusting their agenda to attract tea party voters, the Democrats have done the equivalent of extending them the middle finger. Instead they have embraced the Occupy Wall Street crowd, which is crying out for government handouts and entitlements.

This is a dangerous strategy. The tea party, consisting as it does of people who work and make the country run, are more numerous and more organized than the constituencies the Democrats are embracing. Thus the Democratic Party might have considered itself to permanent minority status.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111128/us_ac/10545377_democrats_to_the_white_working_class__drop_dead

black hawk down dennis the menace dylan ratigan dylan ratigan occupy occupy midnight madness

'Fool's gold' aids discovery of new options for cheap, benign solar energy

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2011) ? Pyrite, better known as "fool's gold," was familiar to the ancient Romans and has fooled prospectors for centuries -- but has now helped researchers at Oregon State University discover related compounds that offer new, cheap and promising options for solar energy.

These new compounds, unlike some solar cell materials made from rare, expensive or toxic elements, would be benign and could be processed from some of the most abundant elements on Earth. Findings on them have been published in Advanced Energy Materials, a professional journal.

Iron pyrite itself has little value as a future solar energy compound, the scientists say, just as the brassy, yellow-toned mineral holds no value compared to the precious metal it resembles. But for more than 25 years it was known to have some desirable qualities that made it of interest for solar energy, and that spurred the recent research.

The results have been anything but foolish.

"We've known for a long time that pyrite was interesting for its solar properties, but that it didn't actually work," said Douglas Keszler, a distinguished professor of chemistry at OSU. "We didn't really know why, so we decided to take another look at it. In this process we've discovered some different materials that are similar to pyrite, with most of the advantages but none of the problems.

"There's still work to do in integrating these materials into actual solar cells," Keszler said. "But fundamentally, it's very promising. This is a completely new insight we got from studying fool's gold."

Pyrite was of interest early in the solar energy era because it had an enormous capacity to absorb solar energy, was abundant, and could be used in layers 2,000 times thinner than some of its competitors, such as silicon. However, it didn't effectively convert the solar energy into electricity.

In the new study, the researchers found out why. In the process of creating solar cells, which takes a substantial amount of heat, pyrite starts to decompose and forms products that prevent the creation of electricity.

Based on their new understanding of exactly what the problem was, the research team then sought and found compounds that had the same capabilities of pyrite but didn't decompose. One of them was iron silicon sulfide.

"Iron is about the cheapest element in the world to extract from nature, silicon is second, and sulfur is virtually free," Keszler said. "These compounds would be stable, safe, and would not decompose. There's nothing here that looks like a show-stopper in the creation of a new class of solar energy materials."

Work to continue the development of the materials and find even better ones in the same class will continue at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, which collaborated on this research.

The work was done at the Center for Inverse Design, a collaborative initiative of the College of Science and College of Engineering at OSU, formed two years ago with a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. It was one of the new Energy Frontier Research Centers set up through a national, $777 million federal program to identify energy solutions for the future.

The OSU program is different from traditional science, in which the process often is to discover something and then look for a possible application. In this center, researchers start with an idea of what they want and then try to find the kind of materials, atomic structure or even construction methods it would take to achieve it.

Finding cheap, environmentally benign and more efficient materials for solar energy is necessary for the future growth of the industry, researchers said.

"The beauty of a material such as this is that it is abundant, would not cost much and might be able to produce high-efficiency solar cells," Keszler said. "That's just what we need for more broad use of solar energy."

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

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon State University.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Liping Yu, Stephan Lany, Robert Kykyneshi, Vorranutch Jieratum, Ram Ravichandran, Brian Pelatt, Emmeline Altschul, Heather A. S. Platt, John F. Wager, Douglas A. Keszler, Alex Zunger. Iron Chalcogenide Photovoltaic Absorbers. Advanced Energy Materials, 2011; 1 (5): 748 DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201100351

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/N8b-XxlBSUQ/111128115643.htm

demi moore and ashton kutcher demi moore and ashton kutcher mark sanchez

US man leaves jail in missing tourist case

ORANJESTAD, Aruba?? A U.S. businessman was released from jail in Aruba on Tuesday and free to leave the island, although prosecutors continue to try to put him back behind bars as a suspect in the disappearance of his traveling companion.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Patrolling 'smugglers' alley' by air along the Rio Grande
   2. Clinton to get rare top-level peek at Myanmar
   3. Researchers: Millions of printers open to hack attack
   4. House approves new TSA rules for US military
   5. Cain: '9-9-9, we're doing fine.'
   6. Frank: Retirement a ?personal decision?
   7. 2nd revolution: Egyptians fight military

Gary Giordano left prison in an SUV with his lawyers, entering the vehicle behind a concrete wall so he was hidden from journalists waiting outside. He made no statements as he drove off, followed by a caravan of reporters, his immediate destination unclear. It was too late to catch a direct commercial flight back to the U.S.

Giordano, who denies any wrongdoing in the disappearance of Robyn Gardner, was freed after nearly four months in custody under a court order issued by a judge who ruled prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to justify holding him longer.

Prosecutors say they are still trying to build a case against him and will seek his extradition if an appeal's court ruling expected Wednesday issues a reversal and orders the 50-year-old businessman back to jail.

"The case does not end here. Mr. Giordano will remain our prime suspect," said Solicitor General Taco Stein.

Giordano has been a suspect since Aug. 5, three days after reporting to police that Gardner was apparently pulled out to sea while they were snorkeling off the southern tip of the island. Her body has never been found despite extensive searches, leaving investigators with only a circumstantial case that a crime was even committed.

Aruban law allows for pretrial detention while authorities investigate a crime, but it is subject to a judge's review and the threshold of evidence necessary to hold someone increases as times goes on. A judge ruled last week that prosecutors had not met the requirement and ordered release for Giordano, of Gaithersburg, Md.

Prosecutors have appealed but the hearing on their request is not scheduled until Wednesday.

"The investigation must have yielded enough evidence to draft a charge," Stein said. "And we are not in that position yet."

The case has been compared to that of Natalee Holloway, who disappeared on Aruba in May 2005 on the last night of her high school graduation trip to the island. Her body was also never found and the prime suspect was detained for months before he was eventually released for lack of evidence.

'Fervent efforts'
Kelly Reed, a cousin of Gardner's, said the family hopes attention to the case will generate a lead that will help investigators resolve the case.

"Needless to say, our family is very disappointed that even after all this time, we are no closer to finding out what happened to our Robyn," Reed said in a statement. "We trust that the FBI and the Aruban authorities will continue their fervent efforts to investigate her disappearance."

Giordano, the divorced owner of an employment services company, first drew suspicion with what investigators felt were inconsistencies in his account of Gardner's disappearance. Later, they learned he had taken out a $1.5 million accidental death policy on her, which Stein said was viewed as a possible motive.

Gardner's friends and family also had serious doubts about her disappearance, saying it was unlikely the 35-year-old woman from Frederick, Maryland, would have gone snorkeling in the first place.

Giordano's lawyers have said there is no evidence he committed any crime.

His American lawyer, Jose Baez, said in a statement that the defense team was grateful for the judge's ruling and that Giordano was "excited to return home to his family in the United States."

Chris Lejuez, Giordano's Aruban defense lawyer, said they were still trying to work out when he would be released Tuesday and it might not be possible for him to leave Aruba until Wednesday.

Once back in the U.S., he would be free to file a claim to redeem the American Express travel insurance policy he took out on Gardner.

An American Express spokeswoman, Gail Wasserman, said she could not confirm that Giordano has such a policy but said anyone making such a claim would have to produce documentation such as a death certificate and any police reports. "Then we would make a determination if the claim is payable."

No claim would be paid if it turned out there was fraud or "anything untoward" that would void the policy, she said.

Stein said authorities have been conducting active searches for Gardner's body and last week sent divers and underwater robots to search in the area where Giordano reported her missing. They are also awaiting additional forensic evidence, including an FBI analysis of Giordano's Blackberry.

Investigators do not believe Giordano's account of Gardner being pulled out to sea, based on weather conditions and a re-enactment.

"We know he has been lying about what happened ... We know his story is not true," Stein said.

___

Associated Press writer Ben Fox in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45484573/ns/world_news-americas/

emergency alert system chelsea handler amber rose alexander the great act alabama football 21 jump street

Solar Eclipse Wows Lucky Skywatchers in New Zealand (SPACE.com)

As consumers in the United States hunted for bargains last Friday (Nov. 25) on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, a few lucky skywatchers in New Zealand were treated to a very different kind of "Black Friday" ? a partial solar eclipse that darkened the sky over parts of the southern hemisphere.

Last Friday, the moon passed between Earth and the sun, creating a partial solar eclipse for the fourth and final time this year.

The eclipse was only visible from certain locations in the southern hemisphere, including pockets of southern South Africa, across the Antarctic continent, Tasmania and parts of New Zealand. At greatest eclipse, the moon covered 90.5 percent of the sun's diameter from the point closest to the axis of Earth's shadow, which is a location in the Bellingshausen Sea on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to NASA scientists.

So, while majority of the planet could not see this partial solar eclipse, a few fortunate skywatchers in New Zealand captured some amazing photos of the event. [See photos of the partial solar eclipse]

Mike Nicholson and his wife, Terre Maize-Nicholson, saw the eclipse from Otaki Beach in New Zealand. While hazy conditions and strong winds threatened to spoil the show, they were able to snap some breath-taking images of the concealed sun.

"We left home about 30 [minutes] before the eclipse started, drove to [the] beach, and had to hide in the car as the weather was pretty vile," Nicholson told SPACE.com in an email. "At the time conditions were also extremely hazy; the sun was just a big white blob above the horizon. However as it descended toward the horizon and into the low cloud, conditions improved visually."

Observer James Tse caught a glimpse of the solar eclipsefrom Christchurch, New Zealand. As the sun was blackened by the moon, it "was distorted like a lady shoe during the mid-eclipse," Tse told SPACE.com in an email.

Nicholson and Tse shared some of their solar-eclipse photos on the website Spaceweather.com.

Solar eclipses are some of nature's most dramatic celestial events, and occur when the Earth, moon and sun are aligned on the same plane. Partial solar eclipses happen when the moon partly covers the sun as it travels between our planet and its closest star.

The eclipse Nov. 25 was the fourth and final one of the year. Partial solar eclipses previously occurred on Jan. 4, June 1 and July 1.

The next solar eclipse will occur May 20, 2012, and is expected to be a stunning event. The eclipse will be visible from China, Japan and parts of the United States, according to NASA scientists. During this so-called annular solar eclipse, the moon will cover a large portion (but not all) of the sun.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111128/sc_space/solareclipsewowsluckyskywatchersinnewzealand

gaddafi dead steve wynn lytro camera lytro camera st. louis cardinals gaddafi bodyguards gaddafi bodyguards

European Space Agency to Try Contacting Troubled Russian Probe Again (SPACE.com)

The European Space Agency will once again attempt to call the Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft tonight (Nov. 29), after officials received no response yesterday from the beleaguered probe, which has been stranded in the wrong orbit since it was launched earlier this month.

The Russian Phobos-Grunt mission lifted off Nov. 8 on a mission to collect samples from the Mars moon Phobos, but a malfunction with the spacecraft's thrusters left it stranded in Earth orbit, rather than accelerating on toward the Red Planet.

Russian officials have struggled to contact the spacecraft, but the European Space Agency (ESA) announced last week that a ground station in Australia had picked up signals from the troubled probe. Since then, though, repeated efforts to call the spacecraft have failed.

Yesterday, ESA officials sent commands to Phobos-Grunt to raise the spacecraft's orbit, but the instructions went unanswered.

"ESA informed by #PhobosGrunt controllers that last night's orbit-boosting commands did not execute," agency officials said via Twitter today.

At the request of Russian mission controllers, teams at the European radio station in Perth, Australia will try sending the orbit-boosting commands again tonight, they added.

Russian officials were unable to decipher the information that was received from the Australian ground station last week, but it was reported that data had come in to a Russian station in Baikonour, Kazakhstan that indicated the spacecraft's radio equipment was operational, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

Despite the international partnerships trying to save Phobos-Grunt, time is quickly running out to rescue the $165 million mission.

Phobos-Grunt was launched aboard a Russian Zenit rocket, but once in orbit, the spacecraft's propulsion system failed to fire in the maneuver that would have sent it on its way to Mars. The window of opportunity for the probe to reach the Martian moon may have closed already, since the journey requires Earth and Mars to be properly aligned.

The ambitious Russian mission was designed to study Phobos and return rocks from the Martian moon to Earth in 2014.

If Phobos-Grunt cannot be saved, early estimates suggest the spacecraft could fall back to Earth sometime in mid-January.

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111129/sc_space/europeanspaceagencytotrycontactingtroubledrussianprobeagain

black friday violence il postino

The Pope Is Facing A New Legal Challenge In Germany

x

To embed this post, copy the code below and paste into your website or blog.

600px wide (preview)

<iframe src="http://www.businessinsider.com/embed?id=4ed38b9469bedd6c45000036&amp;width=600&amp;height=430" width="600" height="430" border="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

400px wide (preview)

<iframe src="http://www.businessinsider.com/embed?id=4ed38b9469bedd6c45000036&amp;width=400&amp;height=430" width="400" height="430" border="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

300px wide (preview)

<iframe src="http://www.businessinsider.com/embed?id=4ed38b9469bedd6c45000036&amp;width=300&amp;height=430" width="300" height="430" border="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/pope-seatbelt-germany-2011-11

weldon weldon danica patrick david garrard indy car kinder morgan zachary quinto

Oil prices rise on holiday sales, Europe hopes

NEW YORK (AP) ? Oil prices climbed above $98 per barrel Monday after shoppers pumped up holiday retail sales in the U.S., and investors bet that Europe would find a last-minute solution to its financial crisis.

Benchmark crude rose $1.44 to end the day at $98.21 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil ? including much imported by U.S. refineries to make gasoline ? rose $2.26 to finish at $108.02 a barrel in London.

Benchmark oil has recovered much of the ground it lost since Nov. 16, when it hit $102.59 a barrel. Prices rebounded Monday following strong holiday sales in the U.S, where shoppers spent nearly $1 billion more on Black Friday than they did a year ago. The robust weekend sales are a promising sign that consumers are opening their wallets a little wider.

"The U.S. is probably doing better than we gave it credit for," PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said. "Consumers are buying more, and that's going to get manufacturers to produce more products, and it'll take more energy to make and distribute those goods."

Meanwhile European leaders are considering new solutions to their credit problems, with little time to left to preserve the euro currency and perhaps head off a recession in the region. Among the ideas is a plan for eurozone countries with the best credit to pool their resources to assist the most indebted members of the 17-nation currency block.

Some analysts say the euro could collapse in days, unless action is taken.

Oil prices climbed along with a surge in world stock markets. Stock indexes in Italy, Germany and France rose more than 4 percent on Monday. In the U.S. the Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq all rose more than 2 percent.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 4.26 cents to finish at $2.9699 per gallon, and gasoline futures rose 6.92 cents to finish at $2.5181 per gallon. Natural gas fell 17.8 cents, or 5 percent, to end the day at $3.3640 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-28-Oil%20Prices/id-10143723147e4cbeb47c7bb7898354ed

scarlett johansson glee project winner kris humphries remember the titans wale wale weather denver

UK cuts military search and rescue teams

FILE - In this July 4, 2011 file photo, Britain's Prince William heads toward a Sea King helicopter for a training exercise, in Dalvay-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Prince William joined a frantic rescue mission Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, after a cargo ship sank in the Irish Sea, leaving several crew members still missing. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson, file)

FILE - In this July 4, 2011 file photo, Britain's Prince William heads toward a Sea King helicopter for a training exercise, in Dalvay-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Prince William joined a frantic rescue mission Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, after a cargo ship sank in the Irish Sea, leaving several crew members still missing. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson, file)

LONDON (AP) ? Britain's military will stop providing a helicopter search and rescue service, the government said Monday, meaning daring operations like the one by Prince William and his Royal Air Force colleagues that saved two sailors this weekend will in the future be carried out by civilians.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening confirmed that contracts will be awarded to civilian rescue crews once the air force retires its fleet of Sea King helicopters by March 2016.

The British government has announced deep cuts to the defense ministry's annual 37 billion-pound ($58 billion) defense budget, as part of the country's national austerity program.

Currently, search and rescue duties are handled by both civilian crews and specialist military units ? including William's team based at RAF Valley, on the island of Anglesey, off north Wales.

"We are confident that ... a fully civilian service will be able to maintain the same standards in the future," Greening said in a statement.

William, an RAF search and rescue co-pilot who is known professionally as Flight Lt. William Wales, was deployed in gale force winds early on Sunday after the Swanland cargo ship sank in the Irish Sea.

Second officer Roman Savin, 26, and Able Seaman Vitaly Karpenko, 48, were rescued by William's helicopter, but authorities confirmed Chief Officer Leonid Safonov, 50, was found dead.

Searches on Monday failed to find five others who remain missing from the Cook Islands-registered ship, which was carrying thousands of tons of limestone.

"Sadly we still have not been able to locate the missing seafarers. We will carry out one final search at low water today," Holyhead Coastguard watch manager Ray Carson said.

The eight-strong crew were Russian, and the country's ambassador to Britain has written to William to offer praise for the rescue efforts.

"We know that you took an active part in the rescue and the two seamen were saved thanks to your selfless effort under the bad weather conditions," Russian ambassador Alexander Yakovenko told William in a letter.

"Let me express to you and your colleagues my deepest gratitude for saving the lives of the Russian citizens," he wrote.

Rescue helicopters from RAF Valley and from Dublin coastguard base in Ireland were initially sent to the scene, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of the Llyn peninsula in north Wales.

Members of the ship's crew had issued a mayday call after the vessel's hull cracked as it was battered by stormy conditions.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-28-EU-Britain-Ship-Sinks/id-31abb3404a8d4e79a4f31106e0cc4f4f

xbox live update bloomberg tv

Longtime Mineral Wells Small Business Owner Preps For Final ...

MINERAL WELLS (CBSDFW.COM) ??In the city?s downtown, in the clothing shop she?s run for 31 years, Margaret Colton was ready for Black Friday.

She was dressed festively, with reindeer earrings, ready for eager customers. Problem was, there just really weren?t that many customers.

?Mostly in the last three years it?s steadily gone down,? Colton said.

After 65 years in business, she has made the decision this will be the last Black Friday for Hill?s Style Shoppe.

She didn?t come to the decision lightly.

?After being born and raised in it, it?s a really hard decision,? she said, starting to tear up.

She did literally grow up in the store that her father and grandfather started in 1946. It became a fixture in Mineral Wells, carrying women?s and children?s fashions.

Colton bought the store from her father in 1980, unable to shake the idea of retail out of her blood.

In doing so, she became the fifth straight generation in her family to run a retail store. She has specialized in those specialty items you won?t find at the mall.

Personal service has become a store hallmark.

She helps husbands find clothing she already knows their wives will like. She assists long time customers with the newest lines, even talking them out of pieces they think look good but don?t.

Appreciation for the service, though, has waned.

?A lot of people don?t come downtown,? she said. ?They?ll go to the strip centers. They?ll go to the Walmarts and the Targets, the places where it?s one stop shopping, even though we?re one stop shopping for the woman.?

She is hopeful there is still a place for small business, in a small downtown increasingly full of empty space. But for the first time in her lifetime, she?s not sure.

Colton is in the middle of her going out of business sale, but isn?t sure yet when her store will close.

She plans to try to sell the building in downtown Mineral Wells.

Source: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/11/26/longtime-mineral-wells-small-business-owner-preps-for-final-black-friday/

dancing with the stars brandi glanville kristin chenoweth beanie wells beanie wells dina manzo dina manzo

Best Buy a winner in holiday sales weekend

Best Buy sees turnaround from disappointing 2010 Black Friday sales by opening at midnight, focusing on low TV prices. Beyond Best Buy, Macy's and Walmart also score well in holiday sales weekend.

U.S. retailers racked up a record $52.4 billion in sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, a 16.4 percent jump from a year ago, as early hours and attractive promotions brought out more shoppers, an industry trade group said on Sunday.

Skip to next paragraph

Among the early winners after the traditional start of the holiday shopping season was Best Buy Co Inc, a reversal from 2010 when the electronics retailer's erroneous bet on 3D televisions led to a disappointing season.

Best Buy drew in shoppers by being one of the companies that opened its stores at midnight Thanksgiving night, and unlike in 2010, it focused more on having lower prices for big TVs and other popular items.

"Last year, they weren't as responsive with their pricing as they needed to be. We are seeing a different set of behaviors from them this time around," said Lawrence Creatura, a portfolio manager at Federated Clover Investment Advisors.

Overall, a record 226 million shoppers visited stores or online shopping sites from Thursday through Sunday, up from 212 million last year, according to a survey from retail industry trade group the National Retail Federation. The survey was conducted by online research firm BIGresearch..

The number of shoppers and the amount of spending surprised analysts who had expected sales to be tempered by a 9 percent unemployment rate, high costs for gasoline and concerns about fiscal uncertainty in Europe.

But it is not at all certain that retailers will be able to keep the momentum going for the rest of the season.

"One swallow does not a holiday season make. After the deepest recession in decades, the solid Black Friday weekend is welcome news, but we're only in the second quarter of a long playoff game," said Craig Johnson, president of consulting firm Customer Growth Partners.

The holiday shopping season that traditionally kicks off on Black Friday -- the biggest day of the year for retailers -- is closely watched by investors as consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

The National Retail Federation forecast a 2.8 percent increase in sales for the November-to-December holiday season, down from the 5.2 percent increase in the same period last year.

Many retailers opened at midnight or earlier on Thanksgiving, pulling in younger people who were willing to stay up late for deals on electronics and toys instead of getting up before dawn on Friday.

"Consumers have finite cash. If you can be the retailer who gets that cash first, you are likely to be more successful in the holiday selling season," Creatura said.

MACY'S, WAL-MART SCORE

Aside from Best Buy, analysts and investors also named Macy's Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc among those that were strong starters.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/CuZVGBdxQyw/Best-Buy-a-winner-in-holiday-sales-weekend

ashton kutcher twitter sandusky barbados raiders chargers latin grammys latin grammys ogopogo

Webber wins Brazilian GP ahead of Vettel

Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia steers his car in the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia steers his car in the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia steers his car during the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, of Germany, steers his car during the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, right, leads at the start of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, front, leads at the start of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

SAO PAULO (AP) ? Mark Webber won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday after Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel struggled with a gearbox problem.

Vettel, who had already secured the Formula One title, still finished second after letting Webber pass him almost halfway through the race at the 2.6-mile Interlagos track.

Jenson Button of McLaren finished third to secure second place in the drivers' standings.

Webber easily passed Vettel on lap 30 after his teammate reduced his pace after being told by the team that there was something wrong with his gearbox.

"Very early I got the call that we had to manage the gearbox problem," Vettel said. "It sounded pretty severe. It started to get worse. My main priority was to finish the race."

Webber finished third in the championship, helped by his first victory of the season. It was his seventh overall in F1, and the second in Brazil after winning in Interlagos in 2009.

"Today was a good grand prix for me. It's not a bad thing to finish the year like this," Webber said. "I felt good all weekend. It would have been nice to have a race all the way through (with Vettel) but he had a bit of a problem."

Vettel, last year's winner in Brazil, had 11 victories this season. But he was shut out in the final two races. He retired on the first lap in Abu Dhabi because of a puncture.

Vettel's second-place finish came a day after the two-time champion captured his 15th pole of the season to break Nigel Mansell's 19-year record. The 24-year-old German had clinched the title four races ago, at the Japanese GP.

"I think we had a pretty amazing season and it would be over the top being upset now," Vettel said. "So we take the second place, the 1-2 finish for the team, which is great."

Red Bull also had already won the constructors' championship, with McLaren finishing second and Ferrari third.

On a dry track despite forecasts of rain, Webber took the lead when Vettel gave his teammate plenty of space at the end of the main straight.

Red Bull told Vettel on lap 14 that data from his car showed a gearbox problem and asked him to short shift when in second gear. The problem then got worse and the team later said Vettel had to short shift in every gear, considerably slowing his lap times.

After Webber got past, Vettel again increased his pace and had no problem staying behind his teammate.

Vettel dismissed suggestions that team orders may have come into play to try to help Webber finish second in the points standings.

"We had no choice," Vettel said. "More and more I was forced to slow down and at the end I was not using second gear."

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fourth and crowd favorite Felipe Massa, in his 100th race for Ferrari, was fifth.

Lewis Hamilton, the winner in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, also had a gearbox problem with his McLaren and eventually retired on lap 48.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher of Mercedes punctured his left-rear tire while trying to pass Bruno Senna of Renault at the end of the main straight. Schumacher had already passed Senna when the Brazilian's car touched his tire and forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop that led to a 15th-place finish.

Senna also had to make a stop because of damage to his car and eventually received a drive-through penalty for the incident and finished 17th.

Veteran Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello, who is yet to secure a drive for next year and could have made his last F1 race after an 18-year career, got off to a slow start from 12th position and finished 14th.

Timo Glock of Virgin had a tire come off his car after a pit stop and he had to retire at the exit of the pit lane on lap 23.

___

Follow Tales Azzoni at http://twitter.com/tazzoni

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-27-CAR-F1-Brazilian-GP/id-cb17cb53ba2147bb89d3d46df61afc93

kim kardashian divorce generators

Glass Keyboard and Mouse Shrug Off Crumbs and Spills [Video]

Using the same technology as biometric systems that capture fingerprints, Jason Giddings has created a drool-worthy glass keyboard and mouse with multitouch functionality. But he's turned to Kickstarter to fund the prototypes and software needed to make it all work. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/wkkMNv12tko/glass-keyboard-and-mouse-shrugs-off-crumbs-and-spills

camille grammer port charlotte florida buckyballs buckyballs gilad annie hall jon lester

Way I feel is, you don?t own a mixer (Balloon Juice)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166818116?client_source=feed&format=rss

mark madoff disturbia

PFT: Are Chargers keeping Rivers' injury under wraps?

Getty Images

In the days since Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh pushed the helmet of Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith into the ground and then stomped on his arm while walking away, a sense has emerged that Suh should receiving a suspension of two or more games, given his history and the egregious nature of his conduct.

But a multi-game suspension may not happen, given the history of suspensions for on-field conduct meted out by Commissioner Roger Goodell.? Apart from the five-game suspension received in 2006 by former Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (who coincidentally returns to Tennessee today in his third game with the Buccaneers), no player has been suspended for more than one game by Goodell, via Gene Washington.

The following year, Goodell (via Washington) suspended former Cowboys safety Roy Williams one game after his third horse-collar tackle of the season.

The next year, Goodell (via Ray Anderson) suspended Buccaneers defensive back Elbert Mack one game for launching himself and making helmet-to-helmet contact with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan; it was Mack?s second flagrant hit in three games.? Also in 2008, Jets safety Eric Smith received a one-game suspension and a $50,000 fine for a flagrant helmet-to-helmet hit on then-Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin.

In 2009, Goodell (again via Ray Anderson) suspended Dante Wesley of the Panthers for launching at Bucs punt returner Clifton Smith while he was waiting to catch the ball.? Wesley struck Smith in the head with a shoulder and forearm.

Again, Suh?s history of fines will be a factor, and his failure to express genuine remorse won?t help him.? Balanced against that will be the fact that he already has essentially been suspended for nearly half of one game, since he was ejected early in the third quarter.

So don?t be surprised if Suh is suspended for only one game.? Though he committed a Haynesworthy stomp, there?s a huge difference between stepping on a guy?s arm, which Suh did, and ripping off a player?s helmet and shredding his bare forehead with a cleat, which Haynesworth did.

But feel free to cast your own ballot below.? It was the subject of the FRS poll question when yours truly hosted The Dan Patrick Show on Friday.? Here?s another chance to sound off on what should happen.

UPDATE 10:35 a.m. ET:? When posting this I didn?t realize that our good friend Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com has posted similar information.? Here?s the link to Freeman?s take.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/26/suspicions-persist-that-rivers-is-playing-hurt/related

cardinals jennifer nicole lee jennifer nicole lee chris harris peter schiff matt holliday project runway winner