Romanian prosecutors probe man who hacked Pentagon (AP)

BUCHAREST, Romania ? Organized crime prosecutors say they are investigating a 20-year-old Romanian suspected of hacking into several Pentagon and NASA servers.

Prosecutors said that Razvan Manole Cernaianu posted confidential data he retrieved from those servers on his blog.

They say Cernaianu, reportedly an IT student, was also offering to sell an application that showed how he accessed the servers.

Prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday they are cooperating with FBI and NASA representatives.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enterprise/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_hi_te/eu_romania_hacking

kowloon walled city knicks oklahoma city thunder florida state football florida state football ben breedlove kid cudi ben breedlove

Exclusive: Duvalier faces trial for corruption, not abuses (Reuters)

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) ? Former Haitian dictator Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier will face trial for corruption during his 15-year rule, but not for human rights abuses, a senior judicial official told Reuters.

A ruling on the charges by the judge handling the case is due to be delivered to the government prosecutor's office on Monday, the official said.

But it does not include charges for the murders, disappearances, torture and other rights abuses allegedly committed during Duvalier's rule.

He inherited power from his father, Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier in 1971 and ruled Haiti for 15 years until his overthrow in 1986. Under the father-and-son dictatorship, thousands of people were murdered, or were tortured in jails, such as the dreaded Fort Dimanche.

Duvalier, now 60, made a surprise return to his earthquake-stricken homeland in January last year after nearly 25 years exiled in France, opening himself up to possible prosecution.

"Duvalier will be tried for misappropriation of public funds, not for any other criminal charges," the official said, adding that the former dictator would face up to five years in prison if convicted. No trial date has yet been set.

While the ruling is a setback for human rights victims and advocates, it also marks a victory for those seeking punishment for Duvalier's alleged crimes who had feared that the judge would drop all charges. It would also appear to squash any hopes of a political comeback by the former dictator - at least for the time being - as his lawyers battle with the legal challenge.

One of his lawyers said Duvalier would appeal the decision to send him to trial.

Duvalier is alleged to have embezzled between $300 million and $800 million of assets during his presidency.

The Swiss government has sought to confiscate assets valued at 5.8 million Swiss francs ($6.7 million). It wants to return the funds to Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Americas and is struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake in 2010 which killed more than 200,000 people.

The senior judicial official, who spoke in several interviews with Reuters over the weekend, asked not to be identified by name because he was officially barred from speaking about the ruling before it is made public.

Government officials could not be reached to comment on the ruling by Carves Jean, the investigating judge. Delivery of the ruling could be delayed due to a strike by clerks over late payment of salaries which paralyzed the courts last week.

VICTIMS

The judge's ruling is likely to be challenged by Duvalier's alleged victims, of whom at least 19 have filed complaints with the government prosecutor.

It appears less likely to be challenged by the government. Last week, President Michel Martelly was quoted as favoring a pardon for Duvalier though he later retracted his remarks.

Victims of Duvalier's armed forces and the notorious National Security Volunteer Militia, better known as the Tonton Macoutes, sought to have their claims included in the official case against Duvalier. But the government prosecutor's office did not include them in its recommendations to the judge as the alleged abuses fell outside the statute of limitations stipulated in Haiti's constitution, according to the official.

"So these charges have been dropped," he said. "Unfortunately, that's what the law says."

The government prosecutor also recommended dropping the corruption charges, the official added, but the judge decided to let them stand.

"Those other human rights charges were not part of the request I sent to the investigative judge," confirmed Felix Leger, a former prosecutor who prepared the recommendation that was sent to the judge. "We also received other complaints from other people ... but those complaints arrived too late."

Reynold Georges, a lawyer for Duvalier, said the former dictator would appeal any decision to put him on trial for financial crimes, arguing that the Supreme Court has already cleared him of such charges following a previous investigation.

U.N. officials and rights groups have urged Haiti to put Duvalier and senior officials on trial for atrocities committed under his rule, saying that under international law, the statute of limitations does not apply to crimes against humanity.

"The thousands of Haitians who suffered under this regime deserve justice." U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has said.

The judge's ruling will be challenged by lawyers for the victims, said Mario Joseph, who heads the Bureau of International Lawyers in Haiti. "The judge cannot decide only on the financial crimes committed by Duvalier. He should also be tried and sentenced for rapes, torture, disappearances, assassinations and crimes against humanity his regime has been responsible for," he said.

When Duvalier returned to Haiti on January 16 last year, he was met by a crowd of cheering supporters. He was briefly detained and charged with corruption, theft and abuses of power allegedly committed during his rule and was then freed on the condition he not leave the capital without authorization.

Since then, Duvalier dines frequently in some of the city's finest restaurants, accompanied by former members of his regime. He has also made unauthorized visits outside the capital.

In January, he even managed a handshake with an unsuspecting former U.S. President Bill Clinton at an event outside the capital to mark the second anniversary of the 2010 earthquake. That earned him a rebuke from the judge who warned him not to violate his court-ordered restriction of movement, or risk being jailed.

(Writing by David Adams; Editing by Kieran Murray)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/wl_nm/us_haiti_duvalier

kowloon walled city knicks oklahoma city thunder florida state football florida state football ben breedlove kid cudi ben breedlove

Pets Help Women Cope With HIV/AIDS (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Having a pet helps women with HIV/AIDS cope with their condition and may also help those with other chronic diseases, a new study says.

Researchers conducted 12 focus groups with 48 women with HIV/AIDS to find out how they stay healthy. The women, whose average age was 42, said that five social roles helped them manage their illness.

These roles included being: a pet owner; a mother/grandmother; faith believer; an advocate and an employee.

The study also found that being stigmatized had a negative impact because it prevented women from revealing their illness and seeking out appropriate supports, the Case Western Reserve University researchers said.

The finding about the benefits of being a pet owner was a surprise, said study author and nursing instructor Allison Webel.

"Pets -- primarily dogs -- gave these women a sense of support and pleasure," Webel said in a university news release.

Speaking about their pets, one cat owner said, "She's going to be right there when I'm hurting," while a dog owner said, "Dogs know when you're in a bad mood ... she knows that I'm sick, and everywhere I go, she goes. She wants to protect me."

Webel noted that the human and animal bond in healing and therapy is receiving increasing recognition and more animals are visiting nursing homes to connect to people with dementia, or visiting children going through long hospital stays.

The study appears online in the January-February issue of Women's Health Issues.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about living with HIV/AIDS.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120131/hl_hsn/petshelpwomencopewithhivaids

bluegrass festival cochlear implant navy football navy football 50/50 50/50 dreamhouse

Gingrich makes play for evangelicals, tea partiers (AP)

LUTZ, Fla. ? Facing the possibility of a stinging defeat, Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich combined sharp attacks on Mitt Romney with unspoken appeals for support among the state's evangelicals on Sunday, two days before the pivotal Florida primary.

In an unusual commitment of campaign time, the former House speaker attended a pair of Baptist worship services, where he sat in a pew, accompanied by his wife, Callista, and made no remarks.

In between a morning stop at a megachurch in the Tampa area and an evening visit to a church in Jacksonville, Gingrich unleashed an attack on Romney as a "pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase liberal" who could not be trusted to bring conservative values to the White House.

He also drew rousing cheers from a large crowd, numbered in the thousands, at a retirement community, where a Tea Party Express bus rolled slowly behind the platform where he was speaking.

Increasingly, Gingrich has reached out to evangelicals and tea party advocates as the Florida primary approaches, touting an endorsement from campaign dropout Herman Cain as well as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's recent accusation that the establishment was trying to "crucify" him.

Standing outside the First Jacksonville Baptist church as dusk fell, Kurt Kelly, chairman of Florida Faith Leaders for Newt Gingrich, said the candidate held a midweek conference call with an estimated 1,000 evangelical pastors around the state.

He said the goal of the call was to solidify support as much as possible behind Gingrich, at the expense of rival contender Rick Santorum, who is running a poor third in the pre-primary polls in the state.

In the course of the conversation, Kelly said, Gingrich "shared his faith, shared his vision and shared his past."

Kelly did not expand on his reference to Gingrich's past, although the former speaker has been married three times.

He said one of the other pastors on the call questioned Gingrich further, and the candidate "showed a contrite heart and showed true confession and true repentance."

Gingrich was anything but repentant in his remarks about Romney during the day.

During a pair of Sunday morning television interviews, he said his chief rival had adopted a "basic policy of carpet-bombing his opponent."

One of the ads being run by Romney suggests that Gingrich is exaggerating his ties to Ronald Reagan. Gingrich chafed at that, noting that the former president's son Michael was joining him on the campaign trail Monday "to prove to everybody that I am the heir to the Reagan movement, not some liberal from Massachusetts."

Cain, a tea party favorite, will also appear with Gingrich on Monday.

At a large rally Sunday at The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in central Florida, Gingrich accused Democratic President Barack Obama of coddling foreign leaders like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"I believe we need to be stronger than our potential enemies," Gingrich told the crowd. "The president lives in a fantasy world where there are no enemies, there are just misguided people with whom he has not yet had coffee."

He said Chavez "deliberately, cynically and insultingly gave him an anti-American book and Obama didn't have a clue that he'd been insulted."

He said the Obama administration should be focused on Ahmadinejad's "pledge to wipe out Israel and drive America out of the Middle East."

"But if I were a left-wing Harvard law graduate surrounded by really clever left-wing academics I would know that this was really a sign that (Ahmadinejad) probably had a bad childhood," Gingrich said.

He described Obama's approach to Ahmadinejad as, "If only we could unblock him we could be closer to him and we could be friends together."

Gingrich, who served in the House for two decades, also made a populist pitch as a Washington outsider. He said the GOP's "old establishment" is trying to block his path to nomination.

"It's time that someone stood up for hard-working, taxpaying Americans and said, `Enough,'" Gingrich said. "And if that makes the old order uncomfortable, my answer is, `Good.'"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich

maria shriver andy irons ethan zohn jeremy mayfield occupy oakland general strike occupy oakland general strike mike quade

Romney widens lead over Gingrich in Florida: Reuters/Ipsos poll (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? White House hopeful Mitt Romney widened his lead over rival Newt Gingrich to 11 percentage points in Florida, according to Reuters/Ipsos online poll results on Saturday, up from 8 points a day earlier, as he cemented his front-runner status in the Republican nomination race.

With just three days remaining before Florida's Republican primary, Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, led Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, by 43 percent to 32 percent among likely voters in Florida's January 31 primary, the online poll said.

He had led Gingrich by 41 percent to 33 percent in the online tracking poll on Friday.

"The momentum in Florida ... really seems to be moving in Romney's direction," said Chris Jackson, research director for Ipsos Public Affairs.

The poll confirmed that Romney's fortunes are turning around in Florida a week after a stinging setback when Gingrich scored an upset win in South Carolina's primary.

Romney has moved ahead of Gingrich in several Florida polls, after turning in his strongest debate performance yet in the seesawing race for the Republican nomination to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama's bid for re-election in November.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey showed Romney also gained when voters were asked who they would support in a head-to-head contest with Gingrich. Saturday's results showed that 53 percent would support him, versus 45 percent for Gingrich.

In the results released on Friday, Romney had led by just 2 percentage points when voters were asked the same question.

SANTORUM GETTING SOME GINGRICH SUPPORT?

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum trailed well behind with 16 percent support, but he had gained ground from 13 percent in Friday's results.

"It seems like some people who are leaving Gingrich are moving to the other conservative in the race, Rick Santorum," Jackson said.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul was at 6 percent, up from 5 percent. The small-government libertarian has not been campaigning in Florida.

Romney has subjected Gingrich to a blistering run of attack advertisements in Florida. He has assailed Gingrich for leaving Congress under an ethics cloud in the 1990s and for being a Washington insider and lobbyist in the two decades since.

Gingrich denies he ever worked as a lobbyist, but has yet to find an effective way to parry Romney's attacks.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, capturing many voters after the most recent debate in Jacksonville on Thursday, where Romney was seen as a clear winner.

Florida lets voters cast their ballots early at polling stations or by mail, and 30 percent of the poll respondents said they had done so, compared with 29 percent on Friday.

Romney held a 12-point lead among those who had already voted, and an 11-point lead among those who had not yet voted.

Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online surveys, but this poll of 903 likely voters has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Saturday's Reuters/Ipsos survey is the second of four daily tracking polls being released ahead of Tuesday's Florida primary.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_poll

survivor south pacific survivor south pacific house of wax survivor north korea news north korea news patrick willis

Snedeker wins a shocker at Torrey Pines (AP)

SAN DIEGO ? Brandt Snedeker won the Farmers Insurance Open in a playoff no one imagined possible until Kyle Stanley hit a wedge into the water and made triple bogey on the last hole.

Snedeker had a tap-in birdie on the 18th and was so certain he would be the runner-up that he drove up to the media center for an interview, just in time to see Stanley run into trouble.

Both players made birdie on the 18th in the playoff, then Snedeker won on the second extra hole with a 5-foot par putt. Stanley's putt from about the same length caught the right side of the lip.

It was a devastating loss for Stanley, who led by seven shots in the round, and was four shots ahead as he stood on the 17th green.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_farmers_insurance

keystone pipeline mitt romney drew peterson untouchable seal and heidi klum herman cain south carolina bath salts bill maher

Russia backs Assad, last friend in Arab world (AP)

MOSCOW ? Russia's defiance of international efforts to end Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests is rooted in a calculation that it can keep a Mideast presence by propping up its last remaining ally in the region ? and has nothing to lose if it fails.

The Kremlin has put itself in conflict with the West as it shields Assad's regime from United Nations sanctions and continues to provide it with weapons even as others impose arms embargoes.

But Moscow's relations with Washington are already strained amid controversy over U.S. missile defense plans and other disputes. And Prime Minister Vladimir Putin seems eager to defy the U.S. as he campaigns to reclaim the presidency in March elections.

"It would make no sense for Russia to drop its support for Assad," said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the independent Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. "He is Russia's last remaining ally in the Middle East, allowing it to preserve some influence in the region."

Moscow may also hope that Assad can hang on to power with its help and repay Moscow with more weapons contracts and other lucrative deals.

And observers note that even as it has nothing to lose from backing Assad, it has nothing to gain from switching course and supporting the opposition.

"Russia has crossed the Rubicon," said Igor Korotchenko, head of the Center for Analysis of Global Weapons Trade.

He said Russia will always be marked as the patron of the Assad regime regardless of the conflict's outcome, so there's little incentive to build bridges with the protesters.

"Russia will be seen as the dictator's ally. If Assad's regime is driven from power, it will mean an end to Russia's presence," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs.

Syria has been Moscow's top ally in the Middle East since Soviet times, when it was led by the incumbent's father, Hafez Assad. The Kremlin saw it as a bulwark for countering U.S. influence in the region and heavily armed Syria against Israel.

While Russia's relations with Israel have improved greatly since the Soviet collapse, ties with Damascus helped Russia retain its clout as a member of the Quartet of international mediators trying to negotiate peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

After Bashar Assad succeeded his father in 2000, Russia sought to boost ties by agreeing to annul 73 percent of Syria's Soviet-era debt. In the mid-2000s, Putin said Russia would re-establish its place in the Mideast via "the Syria route."

Syria's port of Tartus is now the only naval base Russia has outside the former Soviet Union. A Russian navy squadron made a call there this month in what was seen by many as a show of support for Assad.

For decades, Syria has been a major customer for the Russian arms industries, buying billions of dollars' worth of combat jets, missiles, tanks and other heavy weapons. And unlike some other nations, such as Venezuela, which obtained Russian weapons on Kremlin loans, Assad's regime paid cash.

The respected newspaper Kommersant reported this week that Syria has ordered 36 Yak-130 combat jets worth $550 million. The deal, which officials wouldn't confirm or deny, may signal preparations for even bigger purchases of combat planes.

Korotchenko said Syria needs the jets to train its pilots to fly the advanced MiG-29M or MiG-35 fighter jets it wants to purchase: "It's a precursor of future deals."

Korotchenko said Syria's importance as a leading importer of Russian weapons in the region grew after the loss of the lucrative Iraqi and Libyan markets.

Russia, whose abstention in a U.N. vote cleared the way for military intervention in Libya, later voiced frustration with what it described as a disproportional use of force by NATO.

The Kremlin has vowed not to allow a replay of the Libyan strategy in Syria, warning that it would block any U.N. resolution on Syria lacking a clear ban on any foreign military interference.

Moscow accuses the West of turning a blind eye to shipments of weapons to the Syrian opposition and warns it won't be bound by Western sanctions.

Earlier this month, a Syria-bound Russian ship allegedly carrying tons of munitions was stopped by officials in Cyprus, an EU member, who said it was violating an EU arms embargo. The ship's captain promised to head to Turkey but then made a dash to Syria.

Asked about the ship, Russia's foreign minister bluntly responded that Moscow owes neither explanation nor apology to anyone because it has broken no international rules.

Nonetheless, Moscow has shown restraint in its arms trade with Damascus, avoiding the sales of weapons that could significantly tilt the military balance in the region.

In one example, the Kremlin has turned down Damascus' requests for truck-mounted Iskander missiles that can hit ground targets 280 kilometers (175 miles) away with deadly precision. While the sale of such missiles wouldn't be banned under any international agreements, Moscow has apparently heeded strong U.S. and Israeli objections to such a deal.

Moscow also has stonewalled Damascus' request for the advanced S-300 air defense missile system, only agreeing to sell short-range ground-to-air missiles.

"Russia has taken a very careful and cautious stance on contracts with Syria," Korotchenko said.

The most powerful Russian weapon reportedly delivered to Syria is the Bastion anti-ship missile complex intended to protect its coast. The Bastion is armed with supersonic Yakhont cruise missiles that can sink any warship at a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles) and are extremely difficult to intercept, providing a strong deterrent against any attack from the sea.

Observers in Moscow said that Russia can do little else to help Assad. The chief of the Russian upper house's foreign affairs committee, Mikhail Margelov, openly acknowledged that this week, saying that Russia has "exhausted its arsenal" of means to support Syria by protecting it from the U.N. sanctions.

Lukyanov said Russia has made it clear it would block any attempts to give U.N. cover to any foreign military intervention in Syria, but wouldn't be able to prevent Syria's neighbors from mounting such action.

"Russia realizes that it has limited opportunities and can't play a decisive role," he said.

Pukhov also predicted that Russia wouldn't take any stronger moves in support for Damascus.

"Going further would mean an open confrontation with the West, and Russia doesn't need that," he said.

____

Elizabeth A. Kennedy contributed from Beirut.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_syrian_game

meteor shower 2011 home depot center the replacements fleet week scarecrow festival scarecrow festival oklahoma state football

Ala. attorney questions death penalty in new book (AP)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? After defending more than 60 people charged with capital murder and getting three men off Alabama's death row, attorney Richard Jaffe wants to get people talking about the death penalty and what he believes are its flaws.

The longtime Alabama defense lawyer, who once represented Olympic park bomber Eric Rudolph, has written a book detailing many of the cases in his long career and explaining problems he has experienced with the capital justice system.

In "Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned," Jaffe details what he sees as recurring problems with death penalty litigation: Unqualified lawyers handling complex capital issues; a system that doesn't provide enough money for the defense to investigate cases and hire experts; and the arbitrary nature of death sentences.

"I'm not trying to change anyone's mind," Jaffe said during an interview in his office. "I wrote the book to invite people to question the death penalty system."

Jaffe spent years on the book partly because of his heavy case load. He tried a murder case just last week in Birmingham, winning an acquittal of his client after jurors deliberated only about 20 minutes.

Randal Padgett hasn't yet read "Quest for Justice," but he plans to soon: He's among the three Alabama people Jaffe helped free from death row. The three are among almost 140 people who have been freed from death sentences nationwide after initially being convicted and condemned to die.

Once confined to a 40-square-foot cell near the electric chair, Padgett, 51, now runs a small store in the north Alabama city of Guntersville. Of his one-time attorney he said simply: "I love Richard."

Padgett spent more than three years on death row after being convicted of capital murder in the slaying of wife Cathy Padgett, found dead in their north Alabama home in 1990 with dozens of stab wounds. A court ruled that prosecutors didn't give the defense an adequate opportunity to review forensic evidence and ordered a retrial, resulting in Padgett's acquittal and release from death row with Jaffe serving as his lawyer.

"If that hadn't happened, I'd probably be dead by now," Padgett said. "I used to think that in the United States of America you didn't go to prison if you were innocent, but I found out that's not the way it works."

Clay Crenshaw, an assistant attorney general who specializes in handling death penalty cases for the state, said only two of three people Jaffe helped free from death row were acquitted at retrials; the third, James "Bo" Cochran, was convicted on a lesser charge and freed from prison on time served. And, he said, police never charged anyone else in the slayings first blamed on Padgett and Jaffe's other exonerated death row client, Gary Drinkard.

"I am not aware of the district attorney in those counties conducting any investigation to search for the `real murderer,'" Crenshaw said. "While Jaffe might celebrate these three cases, they all involved individuals who were convicted of capital murder and are now walking the streets."

Jaffe, who almost accidentally became a capital defense specialist after being appointed to a death penalty case three decades ago, uses Padgett's case and others to write that the system is badly flawed. The book will be released Feb. 1 by New Horizon Press of Far Hills, N.J.

While Alabama's system is particularly troubled, he writes, dozens of people have been wrongly convicted and executed nationwide.

"I always keep in mind the maxim that history will judge a society by the way it treats its weakest and most vulnerable," he writes. "Although most would assume that applies to the poor and the elderly, all one has to do is look at those who end up on death row: an overwhelming number are poor, disenfranchised and suffer from some mental defect or even brain damage."

Rudolph is the most famous of Jaffe's clients. Jaffe represented him for more than a year after his capture, withdrawing from the case before the loner pleaded guilty to bombing a Birmingham abortion clinic in 1998 and setting off bombs at the Olympics and elsewhere in Atlanta earlier. The deal allowed Rudolph to avoid a possible death sentence.

Jaffe got along with Rudolph, who admitted to planting the abortion clinic bomb in what he said was a bid to save the lives of unborn children. But Rudolph didn't express remorse for the death of a Birmingham police officer killed by the blast, and Jaffe said Rudolph's actions highlighted a big difference between them.

"In every case, my fervent stance against the death penalty precludes a person or the government from taking any life, for any reason," he writes. "Only the God I believe in should do that, without human intervention."

___

Online:

Jaffe's book site: http://www.questforjusticethebook.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_en_ot/us_books_death_penalty

denver news kym johnson how old is justin bieber how old is justin bieber north dakota jobs referendum scarlett johansson

Israel says Iran 'drifting' toward nuke goal line (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday the world must quickly stop Iran from reaching the point where even a "surgical" military strike could not block it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Amid fears that Israel is nearing a decision to attack Iran's nuclear program, Barak said tougher international sanctions are needed against Tehran's oil and banks so that "we all will know early enough whether the Iranians are ready to give up their nuclear weapons program."

Iran insists its atomic program is aimed only at producing energy and research, but it has refused to consider giving up its ability to enrich uranium.

The United Nations has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran, but veto-wielding Russia and China say they see no need for additional punitive measures. That has left the U.S. and the European Union to try to pressure other countries to follow their lead and impose even tougher sanctions.

"We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear. And even the American president and opinion leaders have said that no option should be removed from the table and Iran should be blocked from turning nuclear," Barak told reporters during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

"It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them," he said.

But while Barak called it "a challenge for the whole world" to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, he stopped short of confirming any action that could further stoke Washington's concern about a possible Israeli military strike.

Iran has accused Israel of masterminding the killing of Iranian scientists involved in the nuclear program, but Barak declined to comment on that.

Earlier, he told a panel discussion that "a stable world order" is incompatible with a nuclear-armed Iran because countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will all want the bomb.

"This will be the end of any nonproliferation regime," Barak said. "The major powers in the region will all feel compelled to turn nuclear."

Separately, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged a resumption of dialogue between Western powers and Iran on the nuclear issue.

He said Friday that Tehran must comply with Security Council resolutions and prove conclusively that its nuclear program is not directed at making arms.

"The onus is on Iran," Ban said at a press conference. "They have to prove themselves that their nuclear development program is genuinely for peaceful purposes, which they have not done yet."

Ban expressed concern about the most recent report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which strongly suggested Iran's nuclear program has a military purpose.

On Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is ready to revive talks with the U.S. and other world powers but suggested that Tehran's foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate.

Iran says it won't give up its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel, but it has offered to allow IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear sites to ensure that the program won't be weaponized.

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said at a Davos session that "we do not have that much confidence if Iran has declared everything" and its best information "indicates that Iran has engaged in activities relevant to nuclear explosive devices."

"For now they do not have the capacity to manufacture the fuel," he said. "But in the future, we don't know."

Amano added that an IAEA mission would be sent Saturday to address this issue.

"If the enrichment to higher levels is in a declared facility, we can find it very quickly," he said. "The problem is we do not know if these are all the declared facilities."

Richard Haass, a former top U.S. diplomat who heads the Council on Foreign Relations, said international law justifies a pre-emptive strike only to stave off an "imminent" attack.

"The real question is can Iran assure us what it is not doing?" he said.

Israeli defense officials said Friday that new European sanctions on Iran could constrain Israel. They said any Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities may lack international legitimacy while the world waits to see the effects of the new measures.

The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss sensitive military matters.

Much of the West agrees with Israel that Iran, despite its denials, is developing nuclear weapons technology. But the United States clearly worries that a military attack could backfire, by dividing international opposition to Iran ? and send oil prices skyrocketing.

Israel has attacked nuclear sites in foreign countries before. In 1981, Israeli warplanes destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor. In 2007, Israeli aircraft destroyed a site in Syria that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed to be a secretly built nuclear reactor.

But Israel is unlikely to strike without coordinating with the Americans, who maintain forces on aircraft carriers and military bases in the Gulf.

In spite of his tough words to Iran, Ban said that dialogue among the "three-plus-three" ? Germany, France and Britain plus Russia, China and the United States ? is the path forward.

"There is no other alternative for addressing this crisis than peaceful ... resolution through dialogue," said Ban.

Ban noted that there have been a total of five Security Council resolutions so far on the Iranian nuclear program, four calling for sanctions.

It's not just the West that is concerned.

"We take it for granted Iran would want nuclear weapons," Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of Modern International Studies at Tsinghua University, said of China. "Certainly, China is working very hard with the international community to prevent this."

___

John Daniszewski in Davos and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_eu/eu_davos_forum_iran

lori berenson the incredibles jon bon jovi dead new jersey plane crash ohio state kobe bryant wife bonjovi dead

Harvard Gets Its First VC Firm: The Experiment Fund

As just about everyone should know by now, the seeds of what grew into Facebook were planted at Harvard. Might there be a bunch of mini-Zucks lurking in the dorms of Cambridge? If so, a new venture capital firm ? the first housed right on the Harvard campus ? wants to find them.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4ic_MzebaIQ/

carson palmer al davis edmund fitzgerald vincent brown vincent brown willow smith tom bradley

Enormous solar outburst could dazzle your weekend

Auroras may dazzle more people than usual this weekend as Earth receives a glancing blow from an enormous solar outburst that erupted on Jan. 19.

Auroras may dazzle more people than usual this weekend as Earth receives a glancing blow from an enormous solar outburst that erupted on Jan. 19.

Skip to next paragraph

The outburst, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), was detected by sun-watching satellites.

Researchers at the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute predict that auroras should be visible from Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, and Cleveland, to Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia Saturday and Sunday nights, weather permitting.

RELATED: Are you scientifically literate? Take our quiz!

Space-weather forecasters initially were concerned that Earth would take a direct hit, notes Joe Kunches, a space scientist at the National Weather Service's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo.

"Indications at the time were that this could be a fairly energetic event," says Mr. Kunches, a former operations chief at the center. The solar flare that triggered the coronal mass ejection covered a relatively large patch of the sun and released a lot of energy. Where other flares during the week lasted an hour or two, the flare that launched the CME lasted roughly 18 hours.

And the CME "was in the right spot," he adds. It emerged from just about the middle of the sun's disk.

It's the "just about," however, that led to the prediction of a glancing blow, rather than a direct hit. The CME emerged from a location just north of the sun's equator, so for the most part it will hurtle past Earth far above the North Pole.

Space Weather Center forecasters say they expect the encounter to generate a weak geomagnetic disturbance beginning around 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Sunday Jan. 22 and lasting through Jan. 23. It could trigger weak fluctuations in electricity flowing through the long-distance transmissions lines and have a minor effect on satellites.

Coronal mass ejections represent the sudden release of a vast, searingly hot cloud containing up to 200 billion tons of electrons and protons, as well as heavy atomic nuclei forged in the sun's nuclear-fusion furnace.

Hurtling from the sun at speeds of up to 2 million miles an hour, CMEs can generate intense disturbances in Earth's magnetic field that can trigger power and radio blackouts and disable satellites ? as well as generate spectacular aurora over the North and South poles.?

RELATED: Are you scientifically literate? Take our quiz!

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/DZTRnfwm4-Y/Enormous-solar-outburst-could-dazzle-your-weekend

john 3 16 alex smith 49ers broncos broncos hgtv dream home miss america 2012 patriots vs broncos

2 Journalists Killed In Nigeria Amid Unrest

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Two journalists have been killed in Nigeria in different attacks amid continuing unrest in Africa's most populous nation, authorities said Saturday.

Journalist Enenche Akogwu, who worked as a correspondent in Kano for private news station Channels Television, was shot and killed Friday while reporting on coordinated attacks there claimed by the radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, colleagues said. Akogwu had shown up after a bombing and began filming a crowd gathered there, not knowing they were armed sect members, colleagues said.

Akogwu, 31, joined Channels Television as a reporter in Nigeria's capital Abuja in 2010 before being assigned to Kano, the station said.

"My love for Nigeria has been a compelling impetus charting the course of my life ? courageous in the face of adversities, hopeful when confronted with despair and delighted when the society makes appreciable progress," the station quoted Akogwu as once saying.

Meanwhile, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said a news editor for a government-owned radio station called Highland FM in the restive central Nigerian city of Jos was found dead in a shallow stream Thursday. Colleagues of Nansok Sallah, 46, believe he was murdered, the committee said.

Sallah previously worked for private radio station Cool FM in Abuja and Plateau State Radio and Television, the committee said.

"We mourn the death of Nansok Sallah and extend our condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues," said Mohamed Keita, the committee's Africa Advocacy Coordinator. "Authorities in Jos must pursue all leads in tracking his killer and bring those responsible to justice."

While Nigeria has an unruly free press, journalists have been attacked and killed in the oil-rich nation over their reporting in the past. In October, Zakariya Isa, a journalist for the state-run Nigerian Television Authority, was killed by Boko Haram gunmen in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, allegedly over stories he filed.

___

Also on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/2-journalists-killed-in-n_0_n_1220665.html

the three stooges top model all stars americas next top model mark buehrle mark buehrle rick perry ad rick perry ad

95% Elite Squad: The Enemy Within

"They fatten up the pig, now we gonna roast it."After a prison riot, Captain Nascimiento, now a high ranking security officer in Rio de Janeiro, is swept into a bloody political dispute that involves government officials and paramilitary groups. REVIEWElite Squad 2 works because it grows from the first one. The first movie introduced BOPE to the world and had to spend time explaining its methods, philosophy, code of honour and recruitment process. The sequel doesn't suffer from the burden of exposition, and instead of rehashing the plot of the first - the bane of most sequels - it lets the characters' personalities lead the story.Brazilian cinema has been very good since City of God exploded in the world like a hand grenade. Because of it Brazilian cinema has become synonymous with crime movies, even if that's a gross generalization. A subgenre of crime movies defined by graphic violence, social criticism and inventive camera work has prospered in its wake: My Name Ain't Johnny, The Man Who Copied, City of Men, Bus 174, and the Elite Squad movies. At the heart of this Renaissance is the movie's screenwriter, Br?ulio Mantovani. For better or for worse all these movies take inspiration from the style he established in City of God. Directors and actors come and go, but everyone still copies the dark humour, the political irreverence, the non-linear narratives, and the clever voice-over that earned Mantovani an Oscar nomination almost a decade ago.Editor Daniel Rezende, who also worked in City of God, puts the movie together with the force of a tornado. Complementing director of photography Lula Carvalho's documentary-like style, the fast editing and the dizzying camera work go as far as cinema outside of 3D can go in immersing the viewer in the middle of the action.

November 26, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/elite_squad_the_enemy_within/

underworld awakening haywire carlos pena elizabeth banks dog the bounty hunter news channel 5 bruce arians

Let Ron Paul Fly First Class; He's Still Saving the Treasury Money (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Ron Paul isn't the most frugal member of Congress when it comes to booking his airline tickets, but he's not alone either. According to the Associated Press, Paul's congressional office frequently purchased more expensive airline tickets for the Texas congressman instead of using discounted airfare sites that would have saved the government money.

This is an example of examining an issue way too close. Granted, there are plenty of trips back home to meet constituents that can be planned well in advance. But watch C-SPAN just once and it's readily apparent the House and Senate keep odd schedules. Extended debate and prolonged votes can make it difficult for a member of Congress to know exactly when they will be able to leave Washington for their home state. Last-minute flight changes require a more expensive type of airline ticket, so it might just be easier to pay what they pay. I don't know -- it's not my job.

Huffington Post reported Paul has returned a portion of his office allowance back to the Treasury every year. That means even if he isn't the most frugal travel shopper, he does save money in other ways.

Associated Press looked into the travel habits of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and Paul -- the two members of Congress who were running for the GOP presidential nomination at the time. Bachmann's office provided the AP with some documents, but Paul's office provided everything that was requested. It's unlikely either candidate was hiding anything, but it's more likely there really isn't a news story here.

Paul also took advantage of first-class seating even when lower cost seats were available for the government to purchase. I'm certainly no Paul fan, but I can't blame a congressman for wanting a larger seat where he can unwind and, perhaps even catch up on correspondence and reading materials. I doubt he uses that flight time for those purposes, but it's nice to think it might happen.

Bottom line: Let the man fly first class. He's still saving money in other ways.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politicsopinion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120117/cm_ac/10843173_let_ron_paul_fly_first_class_hes_still_saving_the_treasury_money

iowa caucus results sickle cell trait

Newt?s Bright Night

Romney did not have his best night. He talks a lot about strength on the stump, particularly when it comes to national security. But he seemed weak onstage compared to Gingrich, Perry, and Santorum. Those candidates have an urgency in their voice when they talk about what they believe in (it?s not just that they?re urgent because they?re behind in the polls). Romney?s responses seemed rote for most of the debate. Usually he overcomes his lack of passion with precision and facts, but this time he was wobbly for a few patches, which made him seem vulnerable.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=2246d941a89bec1bf99a8bc27bf5b093

jerry yang

China rejects linking trade and Iranian nukes (AP)

BEIJING ? A top Chinese diplomat on Monday rejected linking Iran's nuclear program to trade, adding to tensions with Washington on the eve of a visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to seek support for sanctions on Tehran's oil industry.

A deputy foreign minister, Cui Tiankai, said China's trade with Iran, an important oil supplier, has nothing to do with the Iranian nuclear program.

Washington is pressuring Tehran to abandon what Western governments say is an effort to develop nuclear weapons. Sanctions approved by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve would bar financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank from the U.S. market.

"The normal trade relations and energy cooperation between China and Iran have nothing to do with the nuclear issue," Cui told reporters. "We should not mix issues with different natures, and China's legitimate concerns and demands should be respected."

China's fast-growing economy is the world's biggest energy consumer and obtained about 11 percent of its oil imports from Iran last year. Industry analysts say Beijing is unlikely to support an oil embargo against Iran because such huge imports would be next to impossible to obtain from other sources.

The sanctions have led to a clash of interests between Washington and key commercial and strategic partners in Asia.

South Korea and Japan also depend on Iranian oil and are negotiating with Washington in an effort to keep supplies flowing. South Korea obtains up to 10 percent of its oil from Iran, while Japan gets nearly 9 percent.

The dispute threatens to add to irritants in U.S.-Chinese ties, which are strained by disputes over market access and pressure on Beijing to ease currency controls that Washington complains are swelling its trade surplus.

"We feel strongly that all countries including China ought to be looking hard at how we can reduce dependence on Iranian oil as a way to send a signal to that government that it needs to come back under compliance with its international obligations," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing in Washington.

Cui, one of the top officials in charge of relations with Washington, said Beijing supports nuclear nonproliferation efforts but believes Iran is entitled to develop peaceful atomic energy.

He rejected suggestions that anyone who does business with Iran is providing money for nuclear programs.

"According to this logic, if the Iranians have enough money to feed their population, then they have the ability to develop nuclear programs. If that is the case, should we also deny Iran the opportunity to feed its population?" he said.

"We believe the livelihood of the Iranian people and the normal economic ties between countries in the world and Iran should not be affected."

Chinese purchases of Iranian crude averaged about 560,000 barrels per day in 2011, rising to 617,000 barrels in November, close to one-third of Iran's total exports of 2.2 million barrels per day, according to oil industry analysts Argus Media.

____

Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120109/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_us_iran

barista

Judge orders man to stay away from Selena Gomez (AP)

BURBANK, Calif. ? A civil judge on Friday granted Selena Gomez a three-year restraining order against a man accused of threatening to kill the singer-actress and of traveling from Illinois to try to meet her.

Superior Court Judge William D. Stewart granted the order, which requires Thomas Brodnicki to stay away from the "Wizards of Waverly Place" star and not attempt to contact her.

Another judge dropped a felony stalking charge against the Brodnicki, 46, last year after determining prosecutors hadn't proven he had caused fear in the star. Stewart twice delayed issuing a civil order until Brodnicki had an opportunity to respond.

Gomez, 19, did not appear at Wednesday's hearing. She wrote in a declaration filed in October that she was in extreme fear after learning that Brodnicki had threatened to kill her while he was on a psychiatric hold.

Prosecutors later alleged he stalked the actress between July and October.

Stewart noted that Brodnicki filed a declaration in December essentially consenting to the protective order and that the man with a history of mental illness had received "due process." He said Gomez had reasonable cause to afraid of Brodnicki, who did not attend Friday's hearing.

The order also covers Gomez's family.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120106/ap_en_ot/us_people_selena_gomez

annie oakley edc the bachelor paranormal activity 4 lovelace andrew luck andrew luck

Holloway suspect begins Peru murder trial Friday (AP)

LIMA, Peru ? Joran van der Sloot goes on trial in the murder of a young Peruvian woman Friday, nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba.

Van der Sloot, 24, is charged with killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room on May 30, 2010, after the two left a casino together in the day's wee hours.

The slaying happened five years to the day after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, a 19-year-old from Alabama who was celebrating her high school graduation on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba and was seen leaving a nightclub with Van der Sloot. Her body has never been found.

Authorities say Van der Sloot confessed to killing Flores, claiming he became enraged after she discovered his connection to Holloway.

His attorney says the confession should be voided because the defense lawyer present when he made it was state-appointed and no official translator was present.

Police and Flores' family dispute Van der Sloot's version of her death that the defendant was hard up for cash and knew the Peruvian business student had been winning at the casino.

Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year prison sentence for Van der Sloot on murder and theft charges in a trial that will be held at Lima's Lurigancho prison. He is accused of murdering Flores with "ferocity and great cruelty," and prosecutors say he also stole 600 soles, about $220, from the victim.

The handsome, garrulous Dutchman, a staple of true-crime TV shows for years after Holloway's disappearance, has in several interviews described himself as a pathological liar. He's been in custody after his arrest in neighboring Chile just days after Flores' death.

Van der Sloot shares a cell with a Mexican and a Chinese inmate at the maximum security Miguel Castro Castro prison, separated from convicted prisoners, said his lawyer, Jose Luis Jimenez.

He said Van der Sloot spends his days making crafts and reading self-help books.

"His mood is super good," Jimenez said during a telephone interview Wednesday.

The defendant has granted several jailhouse interviews to media and was confronted there in September 2010 by Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, when she accompanied a Dutch television crew. Her lawyer, John Q. Kelly, said at the time that she was determined to get answers about her daughter.

The Associated Press reached Twitty by telephone on Thursday and she said she no comment on the trial or whether she feels any closer to knowing her daughter's fate.

Van der Sloot has told several people he was involved in Holloway's disappearance, only to later deny it.

U.S. officials, who have indicted him on extortion and fraud charges, say Van der Sloot extorted $25,000 from Twitty after offering to lead Kelly to Holloway's body in Aruba, using the money to fly to Lima on May 14, 2010, just days after meeting with Kelly.

"I don't think he'll ever give the details of Natalee's disappearance," said Kelly, because "he gravitates toward the limelight and (maintaining the mystery is) his main method of gaining attention."

Van der Sloot's attorney, Jimenez will argue that his client was in a state of emotional distress when he killed Flores and "seek to reduce the charge from first-degree murder to simple homicide." The latter carries a prison sentence of from eight to 20 years.

Jimenez said his client, whose prominent lawyer father died of a heart attack on an Aruba tennis court in February 2010, was in a fragile state from years of being under suspicion for Holloway's presumed death and other legal problems stemming from that case.

"The killing was impromptu. There was no planning to carry it out," Jimenez said.

Lawyers for Flores' family, who are allowed to participate in the trial under Peruvian law, will try to show that Van der Sloot killed her to steal money she won at the casino.

If the court finds that to be true, a conviction could result in Van der Sloot being sentenced to life in prison.

"This guy wanted to take the money of the girl because he, in communications he had with his friends in Holland through Facebook and email, stated that he had no money, that he had no money or food, that his stay in Peru was hard and he told them: 'I am on the verge of prostitution,'" family lawyer Edward Alvarez said in an interview.

Alvarez predicted Van der Sloot would plead guilty Friday in an effort to get a reduced sentence.

Jimenez, the defense attorney, ruled out that possibility.

He said that would require his client to make a confession that accepted all the charges alleged by the prosecution.

The lawyer didn't dispute that Van der Sloot confessed to the killing, but he said the Dutchman's rudimentary Spanish didn't allow him to respond properly during his interrogation.

Van der Sloot met Flores, the daughter of a circus promoter and former race car driver, at the Atlantic Casino in Lima.

Video from casino cameras show the two playing at the same table, then leaving together.

In his confession, Van der Sloot said they planned to play Internet poker at the down-market TAC Hotel where he was staying. He said that while they were playing, his computer received an instant message on his links to the Holloway case. He said Flores then struck him, and he became enraged and strangled her.

Hotel video shows Van der Sloot entering the hotel with Flores then leaving alone a few hours later. Her body was found in the hotel room three days later.

Two days after that, the Dutchman was arrested in Chile.

That same day, he was charged in Alabama with trying to extort the Holloway family in return for disclosing the location of Natalee Holloway's body.

___

Associated Press writers Franklin Briceno, Frank Bajak and Martin Villena contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120105/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_peru_van_der_sloot

david nelson david nelson frank gore frank gore frank miller 60 minutes oobleck

Iowa GOP caucus a mixed bag for Romney (AP)

WASHINGTON ? It didn't take a final tally in the Iowa GOP caucus to conclude that two good things, and one bad thing, happened to Mitt Romney.

The former Massachusetts governor was assured late Tuesday of nothing worse than a close second-place finish, with a first spot possible, once all votes are counted.

Romney said from the start that Iowa was a bad political fit for him, and he focused his early campaign efforts on New Hampshire. While he made a big Iowa push at the end, his campaign can argue that he beat expectations.

Meanwhile Tuesday, Iowa was unkind to the two rivals that many GOP strategists saw as having the best backgrounds to sustain a long-term threat to Romney: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

That's the good news for Romney. He now heads to the friendly turf of New Hampshire, which votes next Tuesday, with no opponent who clearly can match his fundraising and organizing prowess.

But even if Romney edges out former Sen. Rick Santorum in the final Iowa count, it's easy to argue his showing was unimpressive. Romney was drawing one-quarter of the vote. That's precisely the lackluster level he has pulled month after month, in poll after poll of Republicans.

It's also the same percentage Romney got when he finished a deeply disappointing second in the 2008 Iowa caucus. Campaign veterans say Romney must find a way to excite more conservatives if he is to beat President Barack Obama in November.

"If Romney was unable to move the needle even an inch from four years ago," despite heavy spending on his behalf, "it is hard to argue he has brought new people in or expanded the base of support," said former Obama campaign and White House aide Jen Psaki.

Some Republican consultants, however, see the glass as half full for Romney.

"Romney is in the driver's seat in New Hampshire," said Terry Nelson, who advised Tim Pawlenty before he left the presidential race. "Iowa produced no serious candidate to derail him."

Nelson said it "will be very hard" for Santorum, who languished at the back of the pack until the final days, to raise the money and build the organization he will need to compete in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and beyond.

Another GOP consultant, Matt Mackowiak, said Santorum and third-place finisher Ron Paul of Paul cannot match Romney's resources. "Romney had a great night," he said.

Democrats were less impressed. Matt Bennett of the group Third Way called it a mixed bag for Romney. Santorum and Paul, he said, are "the two demonstrably least-electable candidates in this field since Donald Trump fired himself."

But Romney's inability to build a big plurality is problem, Bennett said. "Challengers to incumbent presidents cannot get merely polite applause or grudging support from their own base if they hope to win general elections," he said.

Santorum now must show whether he can be the long-sought conservative alternative to Romney. It won't be easy.

Santorum, 53, badly lost his 2006 bid for a third Senate term from Pennsylvania. Despite his impressive closing kick in Iowa, he's largely unknown beyond circles that closely follow politics.

Paul, 76, is seen more as a libertarian crusader than a potential president. He recently said he doesn't envision himself as president.

Democrats were hoping for a slow and difficult start for Romney. They want to see him battered, and bled of money, for as long as possible before the summer nominating conventions.

Iowa's result will leave both parties with plenty of disappointments.

__

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Charles Babington covers national politics for The Associated Press.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120104/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign_analysis

blanche gloria allred black friday ads 2011 black friday ads 2011 pacquiao vs marquez pacquiao vs marquez junior dos santos