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The dog (Canis lupus familiaris, pronounced /ˈkeɪ.nis ˈluːpəs fʌˈmɪliɛəris/) is a domesticated subspecies of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The domestic dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history. The domestication of the gray wolf took place in a handful of events roughly 15,000 years ago in central Asia. The dog quickly became ubiquitous across culture in all parts of the world, and was extremely valuable to early human settlements. For instance, it is believed that the successful emigration across the Bering Strait might not have been possible without sled dogs. As a result of the domestication process, the dog developed a sophisticated intelligence that includes unparalleled social cognition and a simple theory of mind[citation needed] that is important to their interaction with humans. These social skills have helped the dog to perform in myriad roles, such as hunting, herding, protection, and, more recently, assisting handicapped individuals. Currently, there are estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world.

Over the 15,000 year span that the dog had been domesticated, it diverged into only a handful of landraces, groups of similar animals whose morphology and behavior have been shaped by environmental factors and functional roles. As the modern understanding of genetics developed, humans began to intentionally breed dogs for a wide range of specific traits. Through this process, the dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds, and shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other land mammal. For example, height measured to the withers ranges from a few inches in the Chihuahua to a few feet in the Irish Wolfhound; color varies from white through grays (usually called "blue'") to black, and browns from light (tan) to dark ("red" or "chocolate") in a wide variation of patterns; coats can be short or long, coarse-haired to wool-like, straight, curly, or smooth. It is common for most breeds to shed this coat, but non-shedding breeds are also popular.

Dog Supplements

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
ABC News plans to announce on Thursday that George Stephanopoulos will become an anchor of "Good Morning America" in a long-expected change that sees Diane Sawyer step up to head the U.S. network's nightly news.

Stephanopoulos, 48, is a former political adviser to the administration of President Bill Clinton. After leaving the White House, he took roles co-hosting ABC News coverage of political events and appeared regularly on ABC News shows.

He is expected to keep "This Week," his Sunday news program, "for the foreseeable future", one source said on Wednesday.

Stephanopoulos will begin his role on "Good Morning America" (GMA) on December 14.

Robin Roberts will remain co-anchor at GMA, mow the second most-watched morning news program in the United States behind NBC's "Today."

Media reports have said Chris Cuomo, GMA's news reader, is leaving and will be replaced by JuJu Chang. The Washington Post reported Cuomo, son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, will move to co-anchoring the ABC news magazine "20/20."

News programs are among the more lucrative shows put on air by the networks. ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

Sawyer will begin solo anchor duties at ABC's "World News" on December 21, replacing Charles Gibson, who said he would step down in September.

Sawyer joins Katie Couric of the "CBS Evening News" as a female anchor of a major U.S. broadcaster's nightly news.

Couric, who left NBC's "Today" show to become the first solo female anchor of a U.S. nightly news program, has had a rocky tenure. Initially, her ratings jumped as viewers tuned in to see how she performed but viewership faded and, in recent years, has remained consistently below ABC and NBC.

Because of her viewership numbers, speculation has persisted that Couric plans to leave "CBS Evening News" before her contract expires in 2011.

Sawyer, who leaves GMA on Friday, may face similar scrutiny over "World News" viewership.

"That was a burden that Katie Couric had to bear," said Martin Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center and professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communications & Journalism.

"She was measured as a symbol of the new evening news ... someone who would have to make the transition from morning TV."

(Reporting by Bernard Orr, Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and John O'Callaghan)

ROME (AFP) –
The sale of the RU486 abortion pill in Italy was given a final green light on Wednesday, despite protests from the Vatican and members of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.

The Italian pharmaceutical authority AIFA had initially authorised the sale of RU486 on July 31, but was then asked by a Senate committee to rethink its decision in the face of objections in this predominantly Catholic nation.

It upheld its decision on December 2 -- and publication of that stance in the online edition of the Italian government's official journal on Wednesday cleared the way for its sale.

Unlike in other countries, however, RU486 -- an alternative to surgical abortion -- will only be administered in hospitals in Italy.

"The debate is not yet over," Senator Donatella Poretti told AFP. "From tomorrow, it has to be asked why Italian women (prescribed RU486) will be required to stay in hospital."

When AIFA initially approved the drug, deputy interior minister Alfredo Mantovano said its decision was tantamount to classifying it as just another drug for treating fever, rather than "an instrument for ending a life".

Bishop Elio Sgreccia, former head of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, went so far as to threaten "excommunication for the doctor, the woman and all those who push for the use" of RU486, which he called "a deadly poison".

Three months ago, during a conference in Rome, the French inventor of RU486, Etienne Baulieu, denounced the fact that Italy was "the only major country in Europe" where it was still not available.

Approved in France since 1988, RU486 -- also known as mifepristone -- is manufactured for Europe by French laboratory Exelgyn, which applied two years ago to put it on the Italian market.

It differs from the morning-after pill Norlevo, which has been available in Italy since 2000.

Ritual sacrifices can be seen as return gifts to a deity. Sacrifice can also be seen as a gift from a deity: Lewis Hyde remarks in The Gift that Christianity considers the Incarnation and subsequent death of Jesus to be a "gift" to humankind, and that the Jakata contains a tale of the Buddha in his incarnation as the Wise Hare giving the ultimate alms by offering himself up as a meal for Sakka.

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Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The proposal drawing the most
attention and criticism at the United Nations climate-change
talks in Copenhagen never got put on the table.

The formula for slowing global warming, circulated by
Denmark before the two-week negotiations started Dec. 7, has
generated a stir because Denmark is the host country for more
than 190 nations, striving to be neutral.

The plan, leaked more than a week ago, is flawed because it
was drawn up outside the UN process without input from poorer
nations, said Kim Carstensen, head of the global climate
initiative at environmental group WWF. UN climate chief Yvo de
Boer issued a statement saying the paper is “informal” only.

“It has been dealt with in closed circles, closed meetings
without proper representation from all groups,” Carstensen told
reporters yesterday. “It is being seen by developing countries
as an attempt to accommodate the interests of the U.S. and other
developed countries.”

The document, obtained by media including Bloomberg and
non-governmental organizations, proposes that the global deal
being negotiated in Denmark’s capital limits warming to 2
degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) since industrialization began,
a goal shared by many corporations and trade groups.

The proposal is garnering so much attention in part because
Denmark is hosting the climate negotiations, giving it oversight
of the final text of a deal, said David Waskow, climate-change
program director of Oxfam America.

‘Profoundly Destructive’

The UN chief played down its importance compared with
proposals that are officially admitted to negotiating tables.

“This was an informal paper ahead of the conference given
to a number of people for the purposes of consultations,” de
Boer said in his statement. “The only formal texts in the UN
process are the ones tabled by the chairs of this Copenhagen
conference at the behest of the parties.”

The draft was circulated among envoys from the U.S., the
U.K. and Denmark, The Guardian newspaper reported.

Lumumba Di-Aping, a Sudanese envoy who speaks for 130
developing nations and China, criticized the proposal and said
the UNFCCC is the only legitimate forum for debates.

“The proposal makes itself a laughing stock,” Quamrul
Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi delegate said today in an interview.
The behavior of the Danish hosts is “funny” and their text
doesn’t include the “massive public feeling” in poorer
nations, he said.

Su Wei, China’s lead negotiator, said he hadn’t seen the
Danish document.

Climate Aid

“The draft Copenhagen agreement is profoundly destructive
-- it violates the principles of the UN negotiations,” Andy
Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said in an
e-mailed statement. “The Danes holding secret back-room
meetings with a few select countries is also deeply
disappointing.”

Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister who’s chairwoman of
the talks, on Dec. 7 denied there was a specific proposal for
the final outcome of the meeting.

“There isn’t one text; there are lots of different issues
circulating where we try to consult with different parties,”
Hedegaard said. “The draft text that might eventually be
accepted here is for a later stage.”

The proposal also includes provisions for developed nations
to channel $10 billion a year for the next three years to help
developing nations cope with the immediate effects of climate
change and early steps to bring down their emissions.

Bangladesh’s Chowdhury said his country alone will need $9
billion a year to build sea defenses, protect farmland and take
efforts to lower emissions. Bangladesh is classed by the UN as a
least-developed country, or LDC, and Chowdhury coordinates the
position on finance and adaptation of the 49 LDCs.

“It’s not even inadequate, it’s minuscule,” Chowdhury
said of the $10 billion. “We will require $9 billion per annum.
There are 49 least-developed countries. What happens to the rest
of them?”

Developed countries would inscribe absolute emissions-
reduction pledges in one annex, and developing nations would lay
out their actions and the “emissions outcome expected” from
their policies.

“I think they’ve looked too much toward the U.S. and too
little toward what the developing countries were wanting to see
and that was a big tactical mistake,” Carstensen told Bloomberg
Television. “I think they have now gotten the signal from
developing countries that we want to see something different.”

‘A Distraction’

Envoys at the UN talks are discussing how to extend or
replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that limits emissions in 37
developed nations. Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen
has said he wants leaders to reach a “strong political
agreement” by the end of the summit on Dec. 18, when U.S.
President Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown come
to Copenhagen.

“The Rasmussen text is a distraction,” Martin Kaiser,
Greenpeace International climate political adviser, said in an
e-mail.

“Rasmussen needs to get serious and focus on solving the
roadblocks that have been caused by the industrialized countries
refusing to agree on deep cuts in emissions, long-term finance
for the developing world and a legally binding outcome in
Copenhagen,” Kaiser said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in Copenhagen via
amorales2@bloomberg.net
Kim Chipman in Copenhagen via
Kchipman@bloomberg.net .

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
Violence in Afghanistan may climb in the short-term, along with internal government turmoil, U.S. General David Petraeus told Congress on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to reserve judgment on the new war strategy for a full year.

Petraeus, who as head of U.S. Central Command is in charge of drawing down forces from Iraq and overseeing a new surge of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said he expected increased Afghan fighting in the spring and the summer.

He also said the Afghan government's expected moves to combat corruption would likely result in "greater turmoil within the government as malign actors are identified and replaced."

"It will be important, therefore, to withhold judgment on the success or failure of the strategy in Afghanistan until next December, as the President has counseled," Petraeus said.

Petraeus, who in his previous role as the top Iraq commander oversaw a surge of forces in 2007 credited with helping pull that country back from the brink, also cautioned that progress in Afghanistan would not be as fast as in Iraq.

"Achieving progress in Afghanistan will be hard and the progress there likely will be slower in developing than was the progress achieved in Iraq," Petraeus said.

The general, a favorite among Republicans who had a high public profile under former President George W. Bush, was the latest U.S. official to go before Congress to defend President Barack Obama's new war strategy announced last week.

All of the additional 30,000 U.S. forces are expected to be deployed by the summer or fall, aiming to reverse Taliban momentum and allow for a gradual withdrawal starting in July 2011, according to Obama's plan.

RISK TO DEMOCRATS

Analysts warn a perceived deterioration of conditions in Afghanistan following the new war strategy could hurt Obama's Democrats in mid-term 2010 elections, further eroding public support for the costly, eight-year-old war.

Officials, including Petraeus, appear to be bracing the public for trouble ahead, including rising casualties.

"Violence likely will increase initially, particularly in the spring as the weather improves," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He warned that the situation was "likely to get harder before it gets easier."

"None of this will be easy. Improving the capacity of the Afghan government will also be difficult," he said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said it would be 15 to 20 years before his country could afford the new, larger Afghan security force the U.S. believes is necessary to secure the country and allow for a U.S. security handover.

Petraeus said that the target-level of 400,000 Afghan soldiers and police that the U.S. hopes to eventually establish would "cost in the range over $10 billion a year." That compares with a $30 billion-$35 billion annual price tag for the surge.

"I would submit that it is a lot cheaper to maintain a certain number of Afghan forces than it is to maintain the number of U.S. and coalition forces required to compensate for their absence," Petraeus said.

Afghanistan has announced some anti-corruption measures, such as setting up an anti-graft unit and placing some ministers under investigation for embezzlement. On Wednesday the Afghan government and the United Nations jointly announced they would hold an anti-corruption conference on December 15-17.

Petraeus underscored the importance of battling corruption, widely seen as fueling the Taliban insurgency.

"Corruption within the Afghan government -- particularly the serious abuse of power by some individual leaders and their associates -- has eroded the government's legitimacy," he said.

(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

ABUJA (AFP) –
A rise in insecticide resistant mosquitoes has become the latest threat to combating malaria in Nigeria, where roughly up to 300,000 people die each year from the killer disease, experts have warned.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, contributes more than a quarter of the one million malaria deaths in Africa, according to official statistics.

Some 75 million Nigerians, or half of the population, get attacked by malaria at least once a year while children below five years (around 24 million) get up to four bouts each year.

"The problem of insecticide resistance is very real and growing," Peter Cleary, communications director of Vestergaard Frandsen, European-based manufacturers of insecticide-impregnated bednets, said.

Malaria kills up to 300,000 Nigerians each year, according to official estimates. Around 97 percent of the 150 million Nigerians are at risk of infection, says Roll Back Malaria, a global initiative aiming to eradicate the disease.

Major constraints in fighting the endemic disease have been poverty, ignorance and a dilapidated health infrastructure.

Nigerian scientists, policy makers and foreign experts who met in Abuja last week highlighted the dangers of mosquito resistance to insecticides arising mainly from the heavy use of agro-chemical pesticides, as another concern.

Although resistance to insecticides is not new, there are signs it is growing and it might worsen due to the effects of climate change.

"There is concern that the malarial vectors are becoming resistant to the entire class of insecticides the WHO (World Health Organisation) approves," Cleary told AFP.

Mosquitoes evolve over time to adapt to the climatic environment and against any chemicals used to control them. The most common insecticide, pyrethroid, is also used to control pests in rice and cotton farming.

"In cases where there is high resistance of mosquitoes to insecticides, there is high usage of agricultural pesticides," said Yayo Abdulsalam, a researcher and lecturer in medical entomology at Bayero University in Nigeria's northern Kano State.

The trend is becoming more worrying with the unpredictable effects of climate change.

"Some 25 years ago we could predict (trends)... but now we cannot. It's really worrisome," said Chioma Amajor, a senior official in Nigeria's health ministry.

Abdulsalam said the likely rise in temperatures, decrease in rainfall and advance of the Sahara desert are likely to impact on the distribution of mosquitoes and the intensity of malaria.

Climate change is also likely to induce human behaviour that exposes people more to mosquito bites.

"Climate change can affect both men and the mosquitoes. If temperatures get too uncomfortable to sleep indoors, people sleep outside and the vectors that used to bite indoors can change habit and bite outside," Abdulsalam told AFP.

Malaria accounts for about 65 percent of out-patient visits and 30 percent of hospitalisations in Nigeria, says WHO and takes up around 18 percent of annual household income in treatments.

Resistance is the "first warning sign that you have to take necessary measures to ensure that the few insecticides we have... will be effective," said Sam Awolola, a scientist with Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.

Researchers also voiced worry that resistance might worsen due to access to cheap and inferior bednets.

With a government target to roll out 62 million bednets in Nigeria by the end of next year, there are fears fake products might filter into the country previously notorious for fake pharmaceutical drugs.

"Instead of a net being 100 percent impregnated (with an insecticide) they may be 50 percent impregnated, and that means the mosquitoes get half a dosage, survive and pass the gene to the next generation and resistance builds," said Awolola, adding "unfortunately we have a very porous market in Nigeria".

Deji Asa, a Lagos-based behavioural therapist who gets a malaria attack every year, believes some of the household insecticides available are no longer effective.

"I change the insecticides regularly because after a while some of them don't seem to kill the mosquitoes anymore," he told AFP.

PRETORIA, South Africa – South Africa's president says his government will treat more AIDS patients and expand testing for HIV.
Jacob Zuma made the announcement before a cheering crowd on World AIDS Day. He said Tuesday that the changes include starting treatment earlier for pregnant women and for patients with both TB and HIV.
South Africa has an estimated 5.7 million people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS — more than any other country in the world.
The health minister under Zuma's predecessor distrusted drugs developed to keep AIDS patients alive, instead promoting garlic treatments. Zuma's government has set a target of getting 80 percent of those who need AIDS drugs on them by 2011.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The United States is giving South Africa $120 million for AIDS treatment drugs in response to a plea from President Jacob Zuma that underlines his new approach to fighting the epidemic in the country with the world's heaviest AIDS burden.
His predecessor's health minister distrusted drugs developed to keep AIDS patients alive, instead promoting beets and garlic treatments. Zuma, who took over after April elections, and his health minister have said former President Thabo Mbeki's AIDS policies were wrong. Zuma's government has set a target of getting 80 percent of those who need AIDS drugs on them by 2011.
"This additional funding is in direct response to the government of South Africa's request," U.S. Ambassador Donald Gips said in a statement Tuesday, World AIDS Day, when the world takes stock of efforts to fight the epidemic and remembers those who have died.
"We are pleased and honored to respond to President Zuma as South Africa's partner in this fight," Gips said.
Gips was to formally announce the additional $120 million in funding at a ceremony later Tuesday at which Zuma is scheduled to give an eagerly awaited speech on AIDS.
Michel Sidibe, head of U.N. AIDS programs, traveled to South Africa for World AIDS Day in part to show support for South Africa's new direction, saying in an interview that Zuma was "committed to making change happen."
While Zuma's intentions have been lauded by AIDS activists who were bitter critics of Mbeki, reports of shortages of the treatment drugs known as ARVs at some South African clinics have raised questions about whether the government has the money and the capacity for a massive rollout.
Kurt Firnhaber, who runs Right to Care, said private groups like his in South Africa have made great strides in providing AIDS treatment, counseling and testing, but had reached their capacity. He said in an interview Monday that over the next few months, he feared waiting lists would have to be created for patients in need of ARVs.
South Africa, a nation of about 50 million, has an estimated 5.7 million people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS — more than any other country in the world. ARVs, or antiretroviral medications, are designed to inhibit the reproduction of HIV in the body.
A U.S. Embassy statement said the $120 million, to be disbursed over two years, was in addition to money South Africa receives under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The program, known as PEPFAR, is a major funder of AIDS programs around the world, particularly in Africa. South Africa is the largest recipient of PEPFAR funds.
U.S. officials had said earlier that PEPFAR's budget for South Africa, not counting the new funds announced Tuesday, was to grow from $550 million in the current budget year to $560 million for 2010-11.
PEPFAR money in the past has usually been earmarked for prevention, hospice care and other programs in South Africa, not ARVs. U.S. officials have said that with Zuma's new approach, a new era of cooperation had opened, and that they would be more responsive to the South African government's agenda.
In some ways, Zuma is an unlikely AIDS hero. In 2006, while being tried on charges of raping an HIV-positive family friend, he was ridiculed for testifying that he took a shower after sex to lower the risk of AIDS. He was acquitted of rape.

Zuma, a one-time chairman of the country's national AIDS council, may never live down the shower comment. But he has won praise for appointing Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi as his health minister. AIDS activists say Motsoaledi trusts science and is willing to learn from past mistakes.

A Harvard study of the years under Mbeki, who questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, concluded that more than 300,000 premature deaths in South Africa could have been prevented had officials here acted sooner to provide drug treatments to AIDS patients and to prevent pregnant women with HIV from passing the virus to their children.

After Zuma won a power struggle within the governing African National Congress, the party forced Mbeki to step down late last year after almost a decade as president.

Miriam Mhazo, whose Society for Family Health is one of the private groups providing services for AIDS patients in South Africa, said she is looking forward to the government now taking the lead on AIDS. But she said she did not expect quick change. Her own organization, she said, started with three testing and counseling centers, growing to 17 over five years.

"You start in small steps," she said. Officials in the new government are "starting on the right track."

TOKYO (Reuters) –
The Bank of Japan offered banks more short-term funds after an emergency meeting on Tuesday, winning an immediate reprieve from government pressure to help avert recession before upper house polls next year.

"We can say this is quantitative easing in the broad sense that we are trying to ensure banks are not faced with (liquidity) constraints," said Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, casting the move as an attempt to contain the fallout of Dubai's debt woes.

Market reaction to the bank's decision to offer 10 trillion yen in three month funds at 0.1 percent suggested investors had anticipated a more dramatic response.

The finance minister had raised expectations by talking openly of quantitative easing -- a policy of flooding banks with cash to stimulate lending.

The dollar fell against the yen and 10-year Japanese government bond futures trimmed gains as investors unwound positions taken after the emergency meeting was announced following weeks of government pressure.

"There will hardly be an impact on the real economy," said Hirokata Kusaba, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute.

"The BOJ knows there is very little left it can do, but probably made the move today because it was under pressure from the government. Not doing anything was not an option."

The BOJ kept its key policy interest rate at 0.1 percent.

Shirakawa said government pressure had nothing to with the BOJ decision. He said it was a response to a yen rally and a drop in stock prices last week after debt troubles in Dubai briefly threatened to reignite the turmoil of the global credit crisis.

The government appeared to have been placated for now.

"The BOJ's action at this time is highly welcome," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who holds talks with Shirakawa on Wednesday, told reporters.

Ministers said they hoped it would bring down long-term interest rates. That would reduce borrowing costs for the most indebted government in any rich nation and lower the risk of another recession after the longest economic contraction on record.

"If they were free from pressure, they wouldn't have done anything, because they've been saying their assessment hasn't changed," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist at SJS Markets in Hong Kong.

After rebuffing criticism that its view of the economy was too rosy, the central bank had shown signs of caving in and some analysts had expected it would pour more cash into the banking system, in a near replica of attempts to stimulate lending after a property bubble burst in the 1990s.

Others had forecast purchases of more government bonds.

But the BOJ stopped well short of both responses. It did not broaden the range of collateral against which it would lend the new three-month funds, a move that could channel some cash to smaller companies which the government says are struggling to access credit.

The new money would now just sit in bank deposits, said Mizuho's Kusaba.

"But banks already have access to cheap money, so the additional funds are unlikely to flow to the private sector," he said.

"The situation is now such that even with money so cheap, companies are not investing and consumers are not spending."

The emergency meeting was the first since last December.

Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii welcomed the BOJ's decision.

Fujii and his cabinet colleagues had kept up unrelenting pressure on the central bank last week, raising expectations of a BOJ volte-face. One minister had even accused the central bank of falling "asleep at the wheel".

"Quantitative easing could have a positive impact on the economy," Fujii told reporters after a cabinet meeting earlier in the day, though he added he would not force such a policy on the central bank.

After a week of fierce public criticism from ministers, Shirakawa said on Monday the BOJ shared the government's view that Japan was in deflation and that the bank was ready to act in the event of renewed financial turmoil.

Hatoyama's Democratic Party, which rode to power promising to cut spending on public works so it could offer more support to households, fears another recession in early 2010 after the worst economic contraction on record ended this year.

That could hurt the DPJ's chances of winning an outright majority in the upper house to avoid relying on two small, vocal coalition allies to get measures passed unopposed.

Reducing public works spending could slow growth early next year, and with public debt set to exceed 200 percent of gross domestic product next year the government cannot spend enough to stimulate demand.

The government will this week compile an additional budget, likely worth more than 2.7 trillion yen, but economists say that will have little effect as the government is just reshuffling money allocated by the previous administration.

Any new spending may force the government to miss its 2010 borrowing target of 44 trillion yen. Fitch Ratings warned last month a big increase in borrowing could prompt a downgrade of Japan's credit rating, raising government borrowing costs.

To see a graphic of fiscal pressures building in Japan, click: http://r.reuters.com/paw97f

The last time the BOJ had a public showdown with political leaders was in August 2000, when it raised rates despite government opposition.

Just eights month later the central bank had to abandon its rate target and adopt quantitative easing, flooding markets with excess cash in a bid to fuel growth.

(Additional reporting by Stanley White; Writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Dayan Candappa and Hugh Lawson)

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama entered the White House promising a new era of openness in government, but when it comes to bad news, his administration often uses one of the oldest tricks in the public relations playbook: putting it out when the fewest people are likely to notice.
Former White House environmental adviser Van Jones' resignation over controversial comments hit the trifecta of below-the-radar timing: The White House announced the departure overnight on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, when few journalists were on duty and few Americans awake, much less paying attention to the news.
As with past administrations, Friday looks like a popular day to "take out the trash," as presidential aides on the TV drama "The West Wing" matter-of-factly called it. Along with weekends, holidays and the dark of night, the final stretch of the work week, when many news consumers tune out, is a common time for the government to release news unlikely to benefit the president.
Among recent examples: On Friday, Nov. 13, the Obama administration announced it would put the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on trial in civilian court in New York. It also disclosed the resignation of the top White House lawyer, who had taken blame for some of the problems surrounding the administration's planned closing of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The following Friday, Nov. 20, saw the Justice Department quietly notifying a court that it intended to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against a Blackwater Worldwide security guard involved in a 2007 Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead. The court filing was sealed from public view and submitted without ceremony, in contrast to the Monday last December when the charges were announced. Then, the Justice Department held a noon news conference and put out a lengthy press release.
On previous Fridays, the White House acknowledged it may not be able to close the Guantanamo prison by January as the president promised, announced Obama was imposing punitive tariffs on car and light-truck tires from China, and disclosed that Obama had waived conflict-of-interest rules for several aides.
"It's a time-honored practice where the president's trying to talk about what he wants to talk about and push the subjects that maybe he doesn't want to talk as much about into a time when people aren't paying as much attention," said Dee Dee Myers, press secretary during Clinton's first two years in office and a consultant for "The West Wing" "trash day" episode.
If Friday is a prime day to dump potentially unfavorable news in Washington, 5 p.m. is the witching hour.
The day before Halloween, the Obama administration slipped out news on several ongoing issues, much of it in late afternoon or evening. It included developments on warrantless wiretapping, terror interrogations, the CIA leak case, the reliability of the government's stimulus job creation figures, lobbyists and other visitors to the White House, and the Securities and Exchange Commission's failure to detect disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme for years.
"The president has taken and will continue to take wide-ranging and unprecedented steps to fulfill his campaign promise to give Americans firsthand access to information about their government at whitehouse.gov," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, when asked whether dropping important news late on Fridays, when few news consumers are paying attention, squares with the president's promise of transparency. "The First Amendment to the Constitution ensures that the media is independently responsible for how and when that information is covered."
Earnest noted that Obama is the first president to routinely release visitor logs, and that while the White House did decide to put them out on Fridays, it moved up the disclosure to Wednesday last week rather than do it the day after Thanksgiving. Of the Madoff example, he said the SEC is an independent agency and makes its own decisions about when to release information.
Obama is far from the only president to make major news at the tail end of, or outside, normal business hours.
President George H.W. Bush granted Christmas Eve pardons in 1992 to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and several others in the Iran-Contra arms scandal.
Fridays saw many Iran-Contra scandal developments during Ronald Reagan's presidency, including the resignation of White House chief of staff Donald Regan. And Friday was a common day for President George W. Bush's administration to release documents in a scandal over U.S. attorney firings.
The "trash day" episode of "The West Wing" was patterned on a Friday heading into the July 4 holiday weekend when the Clinton White House dumped several stories, Myers said.
In Obama's case, releasing voluminous sets of documents and data late on Fridays, such as White House visitor records and stimulus job figures, isn't "anti-transparency" because they're still making the documents available, she said.
"But yes, do you try to manage the flow of information to some degree at the White House? Of course. You'd be a fool not to," Myers said.
Though the tactic of intentionally dumping some news at off-times persists, it doesn't always work, said Myers and Lanny Davis, a crisis management attorney in Washington and former special counsel to Clinton.

"If it's a really bad story it will have it owns legs and you're probably not accomplishing all that much," Davis said. "Sometimes all you're accomplishing is irritating reporters."

Davis points to a famous episode involving President Richard Nixon as an example of weekend timing failing to minimize impact. In an incident known as the "Saturday night massacre," Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox was fired on Nixon's orders on a Saturday night in 1973, hours after Cox held a news conference to defy him. The Justice Department's top two officials resigned rather than be the ones to dismiss Cox.

"It didn't exactly help Nixon to do it on a Saturday night," Davis said. "Only, he gave us all a memorable historic expression. The 'Wednesday night massacre' doesn't sound as good as the 'Saturday night massacre.'"

___

Associated Press writers Barry Schweid, Matt Apuzzo and Will Lester contributed to this report.

The terms for different speaker drivers differ depending on the application. In 2-way loudspeakers, there is usually no driver called "mid-range". Home stereos use the designation "tweeter" for high frequencies whereas professional audio systems for concerts typically designate all types of high frequency drivers as "HF" or "highs" or "horns".

The spider is usually made of a corrugated fabric disk, generally with a coating of a material intended to improve mechanical properties. Unusually, a German manufacturer, Klangfilm, used bakelite for spiders in some of its early drivers, and another German company currently offers a spider made of wood. The surround can be a roll of rubber or foam, or a ring of corrugated fabric (often coated), attached to the outer circumference of the cone and to the frame. The choice of suspension materials affects driver lifetime, especially in the case of foam surrounds which are susceptible to aging and environmental damage.

http://www.gracedigitalaudio.com/wireless-speakers-c-22.html

PARIS – A French armored car driver suspected of stealing euro11.6 million ($17.4 million) in cash has turned himself in to authorities in Monaco following a massive manhunt, police in France and Monaco said.
Suspect Toni Musulin appeared at a police station in the Mediterranean principality of Monaco on Monday after 11 days on the run, police said.
He was riding a motorcycle rented in his name, had grown a beard and appeared exhausted, a Monaco police official said, adding that Musulin's fingerprints matched with those on file with Interpol.
Police in both France and Monaco spoke on condition of anonymity because of office policy.
Musulin, 40, quickly became an antihero in France, a symbol of one man taking on the banking establishment in times of economic crisis. T-shirts for sale on the Internet bore his photo with the caption: "Best Driver 2009."
The driver had picked up the money Nov. 5 at the Banque de France branch in Lyon with two other security workers. They then stopped at another bank — and while the two other security workers were inside, Musulin is suspected of fleeing with the cash.
The vehicle was recovered several hours later, but the driver was nowhere to be found. Days later investigators said they found euro9.1 million of the loot hidden in a van in a garage. A Monaco police official said Musulin did not speak about the cash still missing.
The suspect had worked for Loomis France, the No. 1 French company specialized in transporting money and valuables, for 10 years, according to a company statement. Musulin never had any trouble at Loomis before the theft, the company said.
As no violence was involved in the theft, Musulin risks only three years in prison if charged. Police said he was to be transferred to police in Lyon.

NEW YORK (AFP) –
Democrats and Republicans lock horns Tuesday in three off-year elections seen as a referendum on President Barack Obama's first 12 months in the White House.

The hottest race is for governor in New Jersey, with Democrat Jon Corzine -- the incumbent governor in a heavily Democratic state -- fighting desperately to avoid defeat by former Republican prosecutor Chris Christie.

Latest polls showed them in a statistical dead heat, with some analysts saying Christie was best positioned to poach votes from supporters of an independent third candidate.

Obama spent political capital to save Corzine's flagging campaign, including when he made a trip to New Jersey on Sunday.

Republicans, in fierce opposition to Obama's handling of the recession and reform of health care, smelled blood.

"A victory for Republicans in deep blue New Jersey would send shock waves through the country that would be felt right up to the doors of the White House," Republican blog redstate.com said.

Republicans seem likely to score a big success in another gubernatorial race in Virginia.

The swing state was captured by Obama in his election last year, the first time a Democratic presidential contender had managed to do so since 1964.

But Democratic dreams of making the southern state theirs seemed fanciful for now, with polls forecasting a heavy victory for Republican Bob McDonnell against Democrat Creigh Deeds.

Perhaps the most intriguing race is a smaller contest in New York state's 23rd congressional district, where Vice President Joseph Biden stumped on behalf of the Democratic candidate Monday.

The official Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, withdrew over the weekend after being overwhelmed by a rival bid from Doug Hoffman of the tiny Conservative Party.

Hoffman ran to the right of the more moderate Scozzafava, winning crucial if controversial backing from senior Republicans such as Sarah Palin, a possible presidential candidate in 2012.

As a result, Hoffman has become a standard bearer for the conservative wing of the Republicans, the same group behind nationwide protests against Obama's health care and economic recovery plans.

But Hoffman's success also exposed high-level splits in the Republican Party between those urging a move to the right and those seeking a centrist approach that could lure independent voters in nationwide elections for congress and governors next year.

Underlining the bitterness of the feud, Scozzafava followed her withdrawal from the race by calling on her supporters to switch allegiance to the Democrat Bill Owens rather than Hoffman.

The latest Siena Research Institute poll showed Hoffman taking a 41-36 lead against Owens after Scozzafava's departure, but with 18 percent still undecided.

In New Jersey, two polls showed the race too close to call accurately.

In Virginia, a Richmond Times-Dispatch poll showed McDonnell leading Deeds by 53-41 percent.

Also on the ballot Tuesday are mayoral posts in major cities, including New York City and Atlanta, as well as a referendum in northeastern Maine on whether or not to permit same-sex marriage.

New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican media tycoon, looks likely to win a third term after getting City Council to scrap a mayoral two-term limit and spending a record amount of his own money on the campaign.

WASHINGTON – Eleven of the nation's largest business groups are airing a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign that says the health overhaul legislation in the House would raise taxes and worsen the economy without curbing medical expenses.
The ad is to begin running Monday evening on national cable TV and in 19 states. It calls the legislation "a bill American can't afford to pay."
The coalition of sponsoring groups includes the National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The House plans to vote on the Democratic-written legislation this week.

The lumbar is the region of the spine between the diaphragm and the pelvis; it supports the most weight and is the most flexible. The adjustable lumbar mechanisms in seats allow the user to change the seat back shape in this region, to make it more comfortable. Some seats are long enough to support full thigh.

Some car seat systems are set up with an battery-powered automatic control to adjust how the seat sits in the car.

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http://www.qplussizelingerie.com/

Normally a corset supports the visible dress, and spreads the pressure from large dresses, such as the crinoline and bustle. Sometimes a corset cover is used to protect outer clothes from the corset and to smooth the lines of the corset.

Corsets were originally quilted waistcoats, worn by French women as an alternative to stiff corsets.(Steele,29)They were only quilted linen, laced in the front,and unboned. This garment was meant to be worn on informal occasions, while stays were worn for court dress. In the 1790s, stays fell out of fashion. This development coincided with the French Revolution, and the adoption of neoclassical styles of dress. Interestingly, it was the men, Dandies, who began to wear corsets.(Steele 36)The fashion persisted thorough the 1840s, though after 1850 men who wore corsets claimed they needed them for "back pain" (Steele 39).

MIAMI (AFP) –
Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum.

As it turns out, algae -- slimy, fast-growing and full of fat -- is gaining ground as a potential renewable energy source.

Experts say it is intriguing for its ability to gobble up carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, while living happily in places that aren't needed for food crops.

Algae likes mosquito-infested swamps, for example, filthy pools, and even waste water. And while no one has found a way to mass produce cheap fuel from algae yet, the race is on.

University labs and start-up companies across the country are getting involved. Over the summer, the first mega-corporation joined in, when ExxonMobil said it would sink 600 million dollars into algae research in a partnership with a California biotechnology company.

If the research pans out, scientists say they will eventually find a cost-effective way to convert lipids from algae ponds into fuel, then pump it into cars, trucks and jets.

"I think it's very realistic. I don't think it's going to take 20 years. It's going to take a few years," said chemical engineer George Philippidis, director of applied research at Florida International University in Miami.

One of the factors fueling enthusiasm is algae's big appetite for carbon dioxide -- a by-product of burning fossil fuels.

"We could hook up to the exhaust of polluting industries," Philippidis said. "We could capture it and feed it to algae and prevent that CO2 from contributing to further climate change."

California company Sapphire Energy has already fueled a cross-country road trip with algae-tinged gasoline.

The trip, meant to raise awareness, prompted the headline, "Coast to Coast on Slime". Another California company is looking at fattening fish on algae and then processing the fish for oil.

"Where algae is very nice is, it's prolific. It's everywhere... and you don't have to do much. Mother Nature has kind of figured it out," said Roy Swiger, a molecular geneticist and director of the Florida division of the non-profit Midwest Research Institute.

MRI began studying algae as an energy source three years ago. Swiger warned that algal fuels are not ready for prime time yet. Even though algae grows like gangbusters, it currently costs up to 100 dollars to make a gallon of algal fuel-- hardly a savings.

The rub is bringing cost down, and production up. To do this, scientists must find cheap ways to dry algae and extract the lipids, where energy is stored.

Swiger noted that it would not make sense to spend five dollars of electricity to run a centrifuge to dry out algae, that in turn would only produce one dollar of fuel.

If research goes well, Swiger thinks it will take five years to bring down production costs to 40 dollars per gallon.

But taking even a tiny chunk out of the energy market -- ethanol has eked out a 4.0 percent share, for example -- can shift the energy mix.

"Four percent is not a lot, and yet everywhere you look there's a pump," Swiger said. "So four percent of a gigantic number is a lot."

Some start-ups are more optimistic. Paul Woods, chief executive of Florida-based Algenol Biofuels, says his company will beat others to market.

He has patented a technology for "sweating" ethanol from algae, without drying it first.

"We see ourselves as a very cheap way to supplement (energy supply)," said Woods, "and the more cheap ethanol we have, the more we're winning in efforts to have independence from foreign fuel."

Woods announced a partnership with Dow Chemical in July to build a demonstration plant, and expects to launch commercial production by 2011.

Experts don't see algal fuel replacing fossil fuels completely, and some have become leery of hype.

The idea of harnessing algae for fuel has been around for decades, they say. Still, no one has been able to make it financially feasible.

"Any fantastic claims will eventually discredit the field if given much credence," said algae expert John Benemann.

Instead, he sees algae as a good source for animal feeds, chemicals and fertilizer.

Back at FIU, Philippidis agreed "there is no silver bullet" to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

But he saw promise on the horizon, especially as larger companies become involved in algae research. "We are still at an early stage... but as we scale up (production) I think costs will come down very, very quickly," he said.

And if that works, he added, "there is a small Greek island I would like to buy."

PARIS (AFP) –
A hormone drug licensed for diabetes also helps obese people lose weight when used in combination with a low-fat diet and physical exercise, according to a trial published online on Friday by The Lancet.

Liraglutide, marketed as Victoza, outperformed the established anti-obesity drug orlistat, commercialised as Alli or Xenical, among 564 European volunteers, it suggests.

The 135 men and 429 women volunteers were divided into three groups.

One received daily liraglutide at four different dosages; the second received orlistat; and the third were given a harmless lookalike called a placebo.

In the fortnight before the trial, all the volunteers began a regime that combined daily exercise with a cut in calorie intake by 500 calories.

By comparison, 500 calories is roughly a quarter of the recommended daily energy intake for women, and about a fifth of the recommended intake for men.

Five months later, the liraglutide patients had each lost between 4.8 and 7.2 kilos (10.5 and 15.8 pounds) on average depending on the dosage; the orlistat volunteers had lost 4.1 kilos (9.0 pounds); and the placebo group 2.8 kilos (6.1 pounds).

Seventy-six percent of the high-dosage liraglutide takers lost more than five percent of their weight, compared with 44 percent in the orlistat group and 30 percent in the placebo group.

There was also a big reduction in "prediabetes" conditions among the liraglutide group.

Liraglutide was "well-tolerated," according to the study.

"Nausea and vomiting occurred more often in individuals on liraglutide than in those on placebo, but adverse events were mainly transient and rarely led to discontinuation of treatment."

Liraglutide, which is administered into the skin through an injector, was initially developed as a treatment to control blood glucose levels for patients with Type 2 diabetes.

But one of its impacts is to brake the emptying of the contents of the stomach into the intestine, thus prolonging a feeling of satiety.

The study was led by Arne Astrup, a professor of nutrition at the University of Copenhagen. He is also an advisor to liraglutide's manufacturers, the Danish company Novo Nordisk A/S. The study data was vetted by The Lancet, a peer-reviewed journal.

The authors say the results offer "a new mode of action" for treating obesity, for which only a few effective and safe drugs are available.

Obesity has reached epidemic-level proportions in many rich economies as well as in fast-growing emerging countries.

Over the past 20 years, the rate of obesity has tripled and is more than 30 percent in some European countries, according to an estimate published last year.

Volunteers in the study had a body mass index (BMI) of between 30 and 40. A BMI -- one's weight in kilos divided by one's height in metres squared -- that is above 30 is generally categorised as obese.

WASHINGTON – In the largest single strike at Mexican drug operations in the U.S., federal officials on Thursday announced the arrests of more than 300 people in raids across the country aimed at the newest and most violent cartel.
La Familia has earned a reputation for dominating the methamphetamine trade and displaying graphic violence, including beheadings. U.S. officials said the cartel, based in the state of Michoacan, in southwestern Mexico, has a vast network pumping drugs throughout the United States, specializing in methamphetamine.
The arrests took place in 38 cities, from Boston to Seattle and Tampa, Fla., to St. Paul, Minn., in 19 states.
Attorney General Eric Holder pledged to keep hitting La Familia and the cartels responsible for a wave of bloodshed in Mexico. He said the U.S. would attack them at all levels, from the leadership to their supply chains reaching far into the United States.
"To the extent that they do grow back, we have to work with our Mexican counterparts to cut off the heads of these snakes, to get at the heads of the cartels, indict them, try them, if they're in Mexico, extradite them to the United States," Holder said at a news conference.
Michele Leonhart, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration, said La Familia's power has grown quickly, in part due to its quasi-religious background. DEA officials say the cartel professes a "Robin Hood mentality" of aiding the poor by stealing from the rich. Some drug proceeds are used to give bibles and money to the poor, according to investigators.
The Obama administration has directed more agents, resources and money to fight the cartel's presence along the Mexico-U.S. border. But the arrests over the past two days occurred far beyond that region.
"The problem is not just along the southwest border, it is all over our country now," said Kenneth Melson, head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
In Dallas alone, 77 people were charged by a number of different federal and local law enforcement agencies.
On Wednesday and Thursday, more than 3,000 federal agents and police officers carried out arrests in more than a dozen states, as part of a long-running effort that has netted nearly 1,200 arrests over almost four years.
The suspects face a combination of federal and state charges.
In the latest legal assault on La Familia, a New York grand jury has indicted an alleged cartel leader, Servando Gomez-Martinez. He is linked to one of the more brazen acts of cartel violence.
In July, after a dozen Mexican police officers were found murdered, officials say Gomez-Martinez publicly proclaimed his membership in La Familia and said the cartel was locked in a battle with Mexican police.
Many of the new charges are centered on the cartel's methamphetamine distribution, but other charges involve cocaine and marijuana, the officials said.
The officials said states where arrests were made or charges filed include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington state.
___
On the Net:
Justice Department: http://www.justice.gov/

Drug Enforcement Administration: http://www.dea.gov

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: http://www.atf.gov/

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain is pressing President Barack Obama to give a posthumous pardon to Jack Johnson, the black heavyweight boxing champion who was imprisoned nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with white women.
In a letter Friday, McCain of Arizona and Rep. Peter King of New York say it is regrettable that neither Obama nor anyone from his administration responded to their first letter, sent in August. They say they hope Obama would be eager to erase what they call an "act of racism" that sent the first black heavyweight champ to prison.
The two Republican lawmakers pushed a resolution urging a pardon for Johnson, who was convicted in 1913 of transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes. Their resolution passed both houses of Congress earlier this year.
The White House had no immediate comment.

A wig is a head of hair made from horse-hair, human hair, wool, feathers, buffalo hair, or synthetic, worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic reasons, including cultural and religious observance. The word wig is short for periwig and first appeared in the English language around 1675.

The wearing of wigs as a symbol of social status was largely abandoned in the newly created United States and France by the start of the 19th century, although it persisted a little longer in the United Kingdom.

Human Hair Wigs

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The 6-year-old boy at the center of the runaway balloon saga got sick twice on national television when he and his father were asked during separate TV interviews what he meant about his comment that "we did this for a show."
Sheriff Jim Alderman says his investigators believe there was no hoax, but will seek a new interview with the family after the CNN broadcast to clarify the statement.
During an ABC interview, Falcon Heene (HEE'-nee) said Friday: "Mom, I feel like I'm going to vomit." He then left the room with his mother and could be heard gagging.
During a live interview on NBC shown simultaneously on Friday, Falcon threw up into a container when his father was answering the same question.
Falcon vanished around the time that a homemade helium balloon floated away from his home, setting off a national uproar as authorities scoured the plains of northern Colorado for the youngster.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) –
Paige Turco and Barry Bostwick will star in "The Mountain," a two-hour movie for NBC.

The project -- a "backdoor pilot" for a potential series from Canadian production company Muse Entertainment -- centers on Dana (Turco) a single mom with three kids who inherits a remote mountain cabin from a supposedly dead uncle. But when she heads off to the cabin, she discovers that her Uncle Henry (Bostwick) is very much alive, and they set out to keep an evil buyer from gaining access to the mountain that holds secrets and treasures.

Also cast in the pilot, directed by Doug Barr, is Crawford Wilson as one of Dana's kids.

Turco recently had a recurring role on FX's "Damages" and co-stars in the remake of "The Stepfather."

(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)

Internet Radio Device

On November 7, 1994, WXYC (89.3 FM Chapel Hill, NC USA) became the first traditional radio station to announce broadcasting on the Internet. WXYC used an FM radio connected to a system at SunSite, later known as Ibiblio, running Cornell's CU-SeeMe software. WXYC had begun test broadcasts and bandwidth testing as early as August, 1994. WREK (91.1 FM, Atlanta, GA USA) started streaming on the same day using their own custom software called CyberRadio1. However, unlike WXYC, this was WREK's beta launch and the stream was not advertised until a later date.

On May 1, 2007, the United States Copyright Royalty Board approved a rate increase in the royalties payable to performers of recorded works broadcast on the internet. This was the result of a two year proceeding, with dozens of witnesses and hundreds of documents from over twenty different parties, including large and small webcasters, NPR, college stations, and SoundExchange. The CRB was privy to private financial records and business models of the webcasters, and after reviewing the evidence and testimony, issued their decision on May 1, 2007 (which is currently under appeal). If enforced, this decision will undermine the business models of many Internet radio stations, which had previously relied on the rate of $0.000768 per song that had been unchanged from 1998-2005. These rules were scheduled to go into effect on May 1, 2007, with the first due date being July 15, 2007, and apply retroactively to January 1, 2006.

NEW YORK – The passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy just a few hours earlier absorbed TV newscasts Wednesday morning.
With the Massachusetts senator's grave medical condition widely known, the networks were ready with tributes, commentators and mournful music to air at each commercial break.
Archival footage was also ready, from glimpses of an impossibly young-looking Senate freshman in 1963 at the funeral of his slain brother, President John F. Kennedy, to excerpts from his rousing "torch will be passed again" speech delivered exactly a year ago at the 2008 Democratic Convention.
ABC News was on the air at 1:18 a.m. EDT reporting Kennedy's death. A fresh West Coast edition of the Tuesday "Nightline" was completed for airing at 2:35 a.m. EDT.
The Wednesday morning news shows (on ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as MSNBC and CNN) mostly cleared the decks to cover Kennedy's death.
At times, the coverage seemed to extend beyond reportage to wardrobe: Ann Curry, co-hosting "Today," was dressed all in black.
Fox News Channel seemed a bit more selective, adding to its mix such reports as unruly health care demonstrations, how prison inmates are getting stimulus plan money and a Muslim girl who worried that her parents will kill her if she converts to another religion. Football coach Lou Holtz paid a visit and country singer Jack Ingram performed.
Friends and colleagues paid homage, as did journalists.
On CBS' "Early Show," veteran correspondent Bob Schieffer likened Kennedy to "a fictional character: in fiction the hero is not someone who's perfect. He is someone who overcomes his own flaws and then goes on to do noble things."
On MSNBC, Chris Matthews spoke of Kennedy as "a brother to his brothers," each of whom had died young and violently. Then, referring to Kennedy's crucial choice of Democrat for the presidency last year, Matthews went on, "I think he extended that brotherhood to Barack Obama. He made him the new brother ... and the Clintons were passed over."
And Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly offered what was less a paean than an impassioned defense, which she framed by saying, "no matter what your thoughts about Sen. Kennedy ... that man was a public servant."
She went on, "We're getting a lot of e-mail from some folks saying, 'You're not mentioning some of the other parts of his legacy — of course, Mary Jo Kopechne was killed and he was at the wheel, and was cited and pleaded guilty to abandoning the scene of the accident, something that later derailed his presidential hopes, many believe. ... But the major part of his legacy is the service he provided to this country."
Several networks announced special programs devoted to Kennedy's life and career to air Wednesday night:
• "Ted Kennedy, the Last Brother" (CBS at 8 p.m. EDT).
• "Remembering Ted Kennedy" (ABC at 10 p.m. EDT).
• "Teddy: In His Own Words" (previously aired by HBO, airing on CNN at 7 p.m. EDT).
• "The Kennedy Brothers: A Hardball Documentary" (previously announced by MSNBC, airing 9 p.m. EDT as well as Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT).
• Bio Channel announced "Bio Remembers: Ted Kennedy" to air Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT.

___

Associated Press Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

TOKYO – Panasonic Corp. has signed on "Titanic" director James Cameron and his upcoming film in an advertising blitz for its TVs equipped with 3-D technology, both sides said Friday.
The deal between the major Japanese electronics maker and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.'s "Avatar" — the first major Hollywood 3-D release that's not animation — comes as competition heats up in flat-panel TVs that show three-dimensional images, or stereoscopic vision.
To watch 3-D TVs, viewers must wear special glasses that block vision in one eye and then the other as the TVs switch rapidly between images for each eye to create an illusion of depth.
Panasonic is planning to start selling 3-D TVs next year. Rivals, including Sony Corp., which has its own movie division, and Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea have shown prototypes and may offer similar products.
The problem is the scarcity of content to view in 3-D. Skeptics say a number of Blu-ray discs of appealing 3-D movies must come out for 3-D TVs to catch on.
Several animation films are already being shown in theaters in 3-D, but "Avatar," set for release Dec. 18, will be the first major non-animation film debuting worldwide in both 2-D and 3-D.
"I believe 3-D is how we will experience movies, gaming and computing in the near future. 3-D is not something you watch. It's a reality you feel you could step into," Cameron said on video.
Panasonic is hoping its collaboration with Cameron will give it an edge in brand image as a 3-D leader as well as in obtaining suggestions for technological improvements for home TVs, said General Manager Masayuki Kozuka.
"We want to get global interest rolling," he told The Associated Press. "For people to want to watch 3-D at home, the movie has to be a blockbuster."
Panasonic plans to have several trailer-vans driving around in the U.S. and Europe next month with large-screen 3-D TVs inside showing "Avatar." In Japan, footage from "Avatar" — a science-fiction "Pocahontas"-like romance set in a futuristic jungle inhabited by creatures evocative of Cameron's "Aliens" — will appear in ads for 3-D TVs.
Details on the 3-D Blu-ray release of "Avatar" for TVs have not been set.

url

Although many types of balls are today made from rubber, this form was unknown outside the Americas until after the voyages of Columbus. The Spanish were the first Europeans to see bouncing rubber balls (albeit solid and not inflated) which were employed most notably in the Mesoamerican ballgame. Balls used in various sports in other parts of the world prior to Columbus were made from other materials such as animal bladders or skins, stuffed with various materials.

Its psychological uses are frequently metaphorical rather than literal, used as a catch-all for perceived difficulties in life. It also became a euphemism, a way of referring to problems and eliciting sympathy without being explicitly confessional, just "stressed out". It covers a huge range of phenomena from mild irritation to the kind of severe problems that might result in a real breakdown of health. In popular usage almost any event or situation between these extremes could be described as stressful. The most extreme events and reactions may elicit the diagnosis of Posttraumatic stress disorder.

As of Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, at least 4,334 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes nine military civilians killed in action. At least 3,465 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is one fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.
___
The latest deaths reported by the military:
• No new deaths reported.
___
The latest identifications reported by the military:
• Army Pfc. William Z. Vanosdol, 23, Pinson, Ala.; died Wednesday at Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy rocket fire struck his quarters; assigned to the 172nd Support Battalion, Schweinfurt, Germany.
• Army Spc. Matthew D. Hastings, 23, Claremore, Okla.; died Monday in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident; assigned to the 582nd Medical Logistics Company, 1st Medical Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command, Fort Hood, Texas.
___
On the Net:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Three players share the lead during a delayed first round at the Wyndham Championship.
Chez Reavie, Ryan Moore and former winner Brandt Snedeker each shot a 64 Thursday at the PGA Tour's final event before the playoffs.
But the big story at Sedgefield Country Club was the weather. Heavy rains and lightning forced a mid-afternoon delay of about four hours, and play was suspended shortly before 8 p.m. because of darkness.
PGA official Mark Russell says play will resume at 7:45 a.m. Friday with the second round to follow.
Justin Rose, Kevin Streelman and Colt Knost were one stroke back at 65, with Chris Riley also at 5 under through 14 holes. Fred Couples and John Daly were among those two strokes back.

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued AT&T Inc on Thursday, accusing the nation's largest phone company of discriminating against workers over 40.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the EEOC said Dallas-based AT&T had "no legitimate business or reason" for its nationwide policy not to rehire employees who had retired under various retirement and severance programs.

The EEOC said tens of thousands of retirees covered by the programs, including a Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program and an Enhanced Pension and Retirement Program, are harmed by the policy, which it said took effect in October 2006.

"From what AT&T has told us, there are in excess of 50,000 individuals subject to these plans," said Louis Graziano, an EEOC lawyer handling the case, in an interview. "At most, very few people under 40 would be affected."

Graziano said that for many years prior to 2006, the programs let retirees reapply for jobs after a six-month waiting period. The current AT&T was created in 2005 when SBC Communications Inc bought what had been AT&T Corp.

Marty Richter, an AT&T spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit. He said the phone company makes diversity a top priority, and that discrimination of any sort, including on the basis of age, "is not tolerated."

AT&T employs 294,600 people, according to its website.

The EEOC is seeking the rehiring of and payment of back wages to affected employees, an injunction against further discrimination, and other remedies.

It brought the case on behalf of John Yates, who was 57 years old when AT&T turned him down for employment.

Yates could not immediately be reached for comment.

The EEOC filed a similar federal case in Missouri against a unit of the insurer Allstate Corp in 2004. That case is still ongoing.

AT&T shares were up 17 cents to $25.55 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The AT&T case is EEOC v. AT&T Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), No. 09-7323.

The Allstate case is EEOC v. Allstate Insurance Co, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis), No. 04-1359.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Leslie Gevirtz)