Iran vows to stop "some" oil sales as inspectors visit (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran sent conflicting signals in a dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions, vowing to stop oil exports soon to "some" countries but postponing a parliamentary debate on a proposed halt to crude sales to the European Union.

The Islamic Republic declared itself optimistic about a visit by U.N. nuclear experts that began Sunday but also warned the inspectors to be "professional" or see Tehran reducing cooperation with the world body on atomic matters.

Lawmakers have raised the possibility of turning the tables on the EU which will implement its own embargo on Iranian oil by July as it tightens sanctions on Tehran over the nuclear program.

But India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, said it would not take steps to cut petroleum imports from Iran despite U.S. and European sanctions against Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection delegation will try to advance efforts to resolve a row about the nuclear work which Iran says is purely civilian but the West suspects is aimed at seeking a nuclear weapon.

Tension with the West rose this month when Washington and the EU imposed the toughest sanctions yet in a drive to force Tehran to provide more information on its nuclear program. The measures take direct aim at the ability of OPEC's second biggest Oil exporter to sell its crude.

In a remark suggesting Iran would fight sanctions with sanctions, Iran's oil minister said the Islamic state would soon stop exporting crude to "some" countries.

Rostam Qasemi did not identify the countries but was speaking less than a week after the EU's 27 member states agreed to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1.

"Soon we will cut exporting oil to some countries," the state news agency IRNA quoted Qasemi as saying.

India, a major customer for Iranian crude, made clear it would not join the wider international efforts to put pressure on Tehran by cutting oil purchases.

"It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on a visit to the Unites States.

The United States wants buyers in Asia, Iran's biggest oil market, to cut imports to put further pressure on Tehran.

DISCUSSION POSTPONED

Iranian lawmakers had been due to debate a bill Sunday that could have cut off oil supplies to the EU in days, in a move calculated to hit ailing European economies before the EU-wide ban on took effect.

But Iranian MPs postponed discussing the measure.

"No such draft bill has yet been drawn up and nothing has been submitted to the parliament. What exists is a notion by the deputies which is being seriously pursued to bring it to a conclusive end," Emad Hosseini, spokesman for parliament's Energy Committee, told Mehr news agency.

Iranian officials say sanctions have had no impact on the country. "Iranian oil has its own market, even if we cut our exports to Europe," Oil Minister Qasemi said.

Another lawmaker said the bill would oblige the government to cut Iran's oil supplies to the EU for five to 15 years, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

By turning the sanctions back on the EU, lawmakers hope to deny the bloc a six-month window it had planned to give those of its members most dependent on Iranian oil - including some of the most economically fragile in southern Europe - to adapt.

NUCLEAR WATCHDOG

Before departing from Vienna, IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said he hoped Iran would tackle the watchdog's concerns "regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program."

Mehr quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying during a trip to Ethiopia: "We are very optimistic about the outcome of the IAEA delegation's visit to Iran ... Their questions will be answered during this visit."

"We have nothing to hide and Iran has no clandestine (nuclear) activities."

Striking a sterner tone, Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, warned the IAEA team to carry out a "logical, professional and technical" job or suffer the consequences.

"This visit is a test for the IAEA. The route for further cooperation will be open if the team carries out its duties professionally," said Larijani, state media reported.

"Otherwise, if the IAEA turns into a tool (for major powers to pressure Iran), then Iran will have no choice but to consider a new framework in its ties with the agency."

Iran's parliament has approved bills in the past to oblige the government to review its level of cooperation with the IAEA. However, Iran's top officials have always underlined the importance of preserving ties with the watchdog body.

The head of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said late Saturday that the export embargo would hit European refiners, such as Italy's Eni, that are owed oil from Iran as part of long-standing buy-back contracts under which they take payment for past oilfield projects in crude.

The EU accounted for 25 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. However, analysts say the global oil market will not be overly disrupted if parliament votes for the bill that would turn off the oil tap for Europe.

Potentially more disruptive to the world oil market and global security is the risk of Iran's standoff with the West escalating into military conflict.

Iran has repeatedly said it could close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane if sanctions succeed in preventing it from exporting crude, a move Washington said it would not tolerate.

(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari, Robin Pomeroy and Hossein Jaseb in Tehran, Svetlana Kovalyova in Milan and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Writing by Parisa Hafezi and Robin Pomeroy; Editing by William Maclean and David Stamp)

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

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Manning trying to cope with Colts' transition

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2007, file photo, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning (18) celebrates running back Joseph Addai's 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of an AFC Championship NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Indianapolis. Although the Patriots led 21-3, Manning led the Colts to 32 points in the second half for the largest comeback in a conference title game. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2007, file photo, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning (18) celebrates running back Joseph Addai's 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of an AFC Championship NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Indianapolis. Although the Patriots led 21-3, Manning led the Colts to 32 points in the second half for the largest comeback in a conference title game. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2011, file photo, Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, left, speaks with injured quarterback Peyton Manning before an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore. The Colts fired Caldwell on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. Caldwell just finished his third and worst season as head coach of the Colts, who stumbled to a 2-14 finish without Manning. (AP Photo/Gail Burton, File)

COMMERCIAL IMAGE- In this photograph taken by AP Images for Papa John's, NFL stars Peyton Manning (center), Jerome Bettis (left) and Papa John's Founder, Chairman and CEO John Schnatter appear in a commercial shoot at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for Louisville-based Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA). The future of Manning has been a hot topic; his future this weekend is appearing in the commercial, which will air during the NFC and AFC Championship games unveiling Papa John's Super Bowl XLVI promotion. (AJ Mast/AP Images for Papa John's)

COMMERCIAL IMAGE - In this photograph released by Papa John's on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, NFL stars Peyton Manning (right), Jerome Bettis (left) and Papa John's Founder, Chairman and CEO John Schnatter enjoy Papa John?s pizza and Pepsi MAX during a recent commercial shoot at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Louisville-based Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) has announced it will offer everyone in America the chance for a free large Papa John?s pizza and 2-liter Pepsi MAX based on the outcome of the coin toss in Super Bowl XLVI. (AJ Mast/AP Images for Papa John's)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Peyton Manning still intends to play football.

He's also no fan of the Colts' big offseason overhaul that included the firing of coach Jim Caldwell and other executives.

In an interview that appeared Tuesday in The Indianapolis Star (http://indy.st/yMVQY8), Manning touched on everything from his future plans to the difficulty he's had coping with all the changes. He has not responded to interview requests made by The Associated Press.

"It's 20 degrees, it's snowing, the building is absolutely empty except when you see coaches cleaning out their offices," Manning said. "I guess it's the reality of the football world, just not something I've had to deal with very often. But I'm in there every day, so I have to sit there and see it. Everybody's being evaluated and I'm no different. It's not the best environment.

"It's unfortunate because so many of them have been such a big part of so many big wins here, and this is so ... sudden," Manning added. "Their keys didn't work the next day. There's no other way to do it? I don't know. That's hard to see, all these people leaving. And I may be behind them. Who knows?"

One thing Manning does know is that last week's discussion about his "impending" departure from football was premature.

He poked fun at the frenzy surrounding a Twitter post from actor Rob Lowe, who wrote Manning was expected to announce his retirement last week. Manning said the whole thing caught him off-guard.

"I never thought 'Sodapop Curtis' would announce my retirement," he said, referring to Lowe's character in the 1983 movie "The Outsiders." ''I always thought I would be the one to announce it."

The biggest questions, of course, are about Manning's health and his future in Indianapolis.

While Manning would not say where he is in his recovery or how close he is to being 100 percent 4? months after having his latest neck surgery, he said new general manger Ryan Grigson inferred the decision about paying Manning a $28 million bonus in March or letting him become a free agent would be made by team owner Jim Irsay.

"Whatever happens, happens," Manning said. "I can't give you a prediction because Jim (Irsay) and I will sit down at some point and he'll get a feel for where I am and I'll get a sense of what direction he wants to go. Right now, I have no idea."

Irsay has repeatedly said he that Manning's health, not money, will dictate the Colts' decision, and he didn't appear to back away from that with his latest Twitter post.

"Knowing medical situation last yr. n still paying $26,000,000.00 to (hash)18,I've no regrets.It was right thing2do," Irsay tweeted, explaining he was not upset about it.

Manning, who again expressed his desire to finish his NFL career in the same place it began, said he has not met with Irsay to find out the Colts' thoughts.

"That's going to happen at some point, but we haven't had that conversation yet because we really don't need to have that conversation yet," Manning said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-24-Colts-Manning/id-b90cfe2878504e94834244dbc50b3f40

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Gingrich storms to SC victory, scrambling GOP race (AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich stormed to an upset victory in the South Carolina primary Saturday night, dealing a sharp setback to former front-runner Mitt Romney and suddenly scrambling the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

"Thank you, South Carolina!" a jubilant Gingrich tweeted to his supporters. He appealed for a flood of donations for the next-up Jan. 31primary. "Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now," said his tweet.

Exit polls showed he led among voters who said their top priority was picking a candidate who could beat President Barack Obama ? a group that had preferred Romney in earlier contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Romney, the national front-runner until now, was unbowed. He vowed to contest for every vote "in every state" and unleashed a double-barreled attack on Obama and Gingrich.

Referring to Gingrich's criticism of his business experience, Romney said, "When my opponents attack success and free enterprise, they're not only attacking me, they're attacking every person who dreams of a better future. He's attacking you," he told supporters, the closest he came to mentioning the primary winner's name.

Returns from 57 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 40 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was winning 18 percent, Texas Rep. Ron Paul 13 percent.

As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.

Based on the vote total, Gingrich won at least 15 of the 25 Republican National Convention delegates at stake and none of the other contenders was yet assured of any.

But political momentum was the real prize with the race to pick an opponent to Obama still in its early stages.

Already, Romney and a group that supports him were on the air in Florida with a significant television ad campaign, more than $7 million combined to date.

Aides to the former Massachusetts governor had once dared hope that Florida would seal his nomination ? if South Carolina didn't first ? but that strategy appeared to vanish along with the once-formidable lead he held in pre-primary polls.

Romney swept into South Carolina 11 days ago as the favorite after being pronounced the winner of the lead-off Iowa caucuses, then cruising to victory in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.

But in the sometimes-surreal week that followed, he was stripped of his Iowa triumph ? GOP officials there now say Santorum narrowly won ? while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman dropped out and endorsed Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry quit and backed Gingrich.

Romney responded awkwardly to questions about releasing his income tax returns, and about his investments in the Cayman Islands. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, benefited from two well-received debate performances while grappling with allegations by an ex-wife that he had once asked her for an open marriage so he could keep his mistress.

By primary eve, Romney was speculating openly about a lengthy battle for the nomination rather than the quick knockout that had seemed within his grasp only days earlier.

Exit polling showed Gingrich, the former House speaker, leading by a wide margin among the state's heavy population of conservatives, tea party supporters and born-again Christians.

In a state with 9.9 percent unemployment, about 80 percent of all voters said they were very worried about the direction of the economy. Gingrich's edge over Romney among that group tracked the overall totals closely, the former speaker winning 41 percent and the runner-up 27.

The exit poll was conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research as voters left polls at 35 randomly selected sites. The survey involved interviews with 2,381 voters and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Santorum vowed to continue, although his weak third place finish could well portend financial difficulty for a campaign that has never been flush with cash. It's a wide-open race. Join the fight" he urged supporters at a rally in Charleston.

Paul had his worst finish of the year, and isn't expected to make a strong effort in Florida. Even so, he said to supporters, "Keep fighting." He has said he intends to focus his efforts on caucus contests in Nevada on Feb. 4 and Missouri several days later.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, pinned his South Carolina hopes on a heavy turnout in parts of the state with large concentrations of social conservatives, the voters who carried him to his surprisingly strong showing in Iowa.

Paul had a modest campaign presence here after finishing third in Iowa and second in New Hampshire. His call to withdraw U.S. troops from around the world was a tough sell in a state dotted with military installations and home to many veterans.

Romney's stumbles began even before his New Hampshire primary victory, when he told one audience that he had worried earlier in his career about the possibility of being laid off.

He gave a somewhat rambling, noncommittal response in a debate in Myrtle Beach last Monday when asked if he would release his tax returns before the primary. The following day, he told reporters that because most of his earnings come from investments, he paid about 15 percent of his income in taxes, roughly half the rate paid by millions of middle-class wage-earners. A day later, aides confirmed that some of his millions are invested in the Cayman Islands, although they said he did not use the offshore accounts as a tax haven.

Asked again at a debate in North Charleston on Thursday about releasing his taxes, his answer was anything but succinct and the audience appeared to boo.

Gingrich benefited from a shift in strategy that recalled his approach when he briefly soared to the top of the polls in Iowa. At mid-week he began airing a television commercial that dropped all references to Romney and his other rivals, and contended that he was the only Republican who could defeat Obama.

It featured several seconds from the first debate in which the audience cheered as he accused Obama of having put more Americans on food stamps than any other president.

Nor did Gingrich flinch when ex-wife Marianne said in an interview on ABC that he had been unfaithful for years before their divorce in 1999, and asked him for an open marriage.

Asked about the accusation in the opening moments of the second debate of the week, he unleashed an attack on ABC and debate host CNN and accused the "liberal news media" of trying to help Obama by attacking Republicans. His ex-wife's account, he said, was untrue.

___

Associated Press writers Shannon McCaffrey, Kasie Hunt and Beth Fouhy contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_go_ot/us_gop_campaign

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HUFFPOST HILL - GOP Primary Moves To Florida, Old People Pandering Reaches Insufferable Levels

Notoriously incomprehensible tweeter Chuck Grassley was temporarily prevented from spelling "socialist" with four letters when someone hacked his Twitter account. The frontline of the government's war on civil liberties is apparently Rand Paul's crotch. And reporters will at long last be allowed to use smart phones during the State of the Union, enabling them to tweet that they are tweeting from the State of the Union. Indeed, sunshine is truly the best disinfectant. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, January 23rd, 2012:

DEBATE TONIGHT IN FLORIDA - WILL BRIAN WILLIAMS GET OFF NEWT'S LAWN? - Newt will have to balance two competing pressures tonight. On the one hand, the debate is being co-hosted by NBC News, the parent outlet of the much-maligned MSNBC. Gingrich might feel compelled to unload on the moderators for that reason (this is how Republicans get their schadenfreude these days -- and how Newt gets attention). The thing is, one of the moderators will be Brian Williams, who has settled nicely into his role as the inoffensive but lovable newscaster -- like Walter Cronkite if Walter Cronkite's interns emailed him College Humor videos. Will America's angry grandfather (and we're talking "Who taped over my episodes of 'Antiques Roadshow'???" angry here) rip into America's cool dad? 9:00 pm on NBC.

GIFFORDS RESIGNING: SPECIAL ELECTION TAKING SHAPE - John Celock: "At least four Democrats and one Republican are mulling campaigns for Giffords' office in the special election that will be called by Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to fill the seat for the remainder of 2012 using the current district lines. The special election will likely occur around June, right as the field shapes up to elect a member of Congress for the new district encompassing parts of Tucson and the surrounding area in November. On the Democratic side, state Sen. Paula Aboud, airline pilot Jeff Latas and State Reps. Matt Heinz and Steve Farley are seriously considering entering the race, while on the Republican side state Sen. Frank Antenori is inching closer to moving his exploratory committee into full-fledged campaign mode. None of the candidates would confirm a potential race, indicating that it was too early to make an announcement." [HuffPost]

REPUBLICANS DOMINATING SUNDAY MORNING TELEVISION - Take that, infomercials, tennis matches held in Australia and Matlock reruns! Running in Roll Call tonight: "Republicans appear to have owned the news cycle in 2011. If you were watching the major Sunday morning talk shows last year, your odds of seeing a Republican Member of Congress in the guest chair were far greater than seeing a Democratic Member of Congress. GOP lawmakers appeared on the Sunday shows nearly twice as often as Democratic lawmakers in 2011, a dominance far greater than the prior two years, according to a Roll Call database of Members' television appearances. Roll Call's 'Face Time' feature has for many years tracked appearances of Members of Congress on five major Sunday talk shows: Face the Nation on CBS; NBC's Meet the Press; ABC's This Week; CNN's State of the Union; and Fox News Sunday."

DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Mitt Romney activated his rusty sympathy synapses Monday morning in Florida. Richard Wood of Bradenton told the former governor he'd folded his title insurance company in October 2010 and that he and his wife had fallen on hard times. "We have been exploring the possibility of moving to another to another country where we might be able to live on our retirement and our Social Security." "Yeah. It's just tragic, isn't it? Just tragic, just tragic," Romney said. "We're just so overleveraged, so much debt in our society, and some of the institutions that hold it aren't willing to write it off and say they made a mistake, they loaned too much, we're overextended, write those down and start over. They keep on trying to harangue and pretend what they have on their books is still what it's worth." Romney went on to note that banks have sad feelings, too. "They're afraid that if they write all these loans off, they're going to go broke. And so they're feeling the same thing you're feeling. They just want to pretend all of this is going to get paid someday so they don't have to write it off and potentially go out of business themselves." [HuffPost]

DOUBLE DOWNER - The number of homeless women veterans has more than doubled from 1,380 in fiscal 2006 to 3,328 in 2010, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office based on data from the Department of Veterans Affairs. "While we have seen a decrease in the overall number of homeless veterans, the number and needs of homeless women veterans across the country are growing and the VA is struggling to keep up," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement. The number of female veterans has grown from 4 percent of all vets in 1990 to 8 percent today, or roughly 1.8 million people. The unemployment rate for women veterans of our most recent wars shot up from 10.9 percent at the end of 2010 to 21.6 percent now. [GAO]

Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

SEN. MARK KIRK RECOVERING FROM STROKE - Mike McAuliff: "Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (R) suffered a stroke over the weekend and is being treated in a Chicago hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery, his office and doctors said Monday. Kirk, 52, checked himself into the local Lake Forest Hospital Saturday after suffering dizziness and headaches, doctors said. Doctors discovered a 'carotid artery dissection,' his office said, referring to a condition that involves the separation of the artery walls and that is a common cause of stroke in adults around Kirk's age. Kirk was 'transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where further tests revealed that he had suffered an ischemic stroke,' Kirk's office said in a statement. 'Early this morning the Senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke. The surgery was successful,' the statement said. 'Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator's recovery over the weeks ahead.'" [HuffPost]

MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOES SOMETHING DIVA-ISH AND SELF-SERVING RELATING TO THE STATE OF THE UNION - If we had to guess, we're about two years away from the point at which every House Republican cups their ears and/or reads the Wall Street Journal for the the whole speech. "Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., said on Monday he is boycotting President Obama's State of the Union address. In a tersely worded statement released by his office, Lamborn said he decided instead 'to pass' on attending the speech on Tuesday night, though he will watch it on television. Congressman Lamborn does not support the policies of Barack Obama,' the statement said. A spokeswoman said Lamborn was about to board a flight and was not immediately available to elaborate. But his office has already prepared a further explanation for constituents if they want to know more about his decision." [National Journal]

@THEHermanCain: I'm giving the #TeaParty Response to the SOTU! Use hashtag #CainResponse to give me your ideas of what to say.

@bigjohnrc: House for first time allowing reporters to use electronics in chamber during SOTU. prepare for everyone to live tweet the same stuff

RAND PAUL IS THE ROSA PARKS OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE HAVING THEIR NETHER REGIONS GRAZED BY A TSA AGENT'S INDEX FINGER - The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward a stubborn libertarian senator causing a scene at a Nashville airport. Amanda Terkel: "Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) staff said Monday morning that the senator was being detained by federal Transportation Security Administration agents in Nashville, Tenn. Moira Bagley, Paul's communications director, tweeted around 10:00 a.m. ET, 'Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He's currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.'...Bagley told CNN that Paul went through a scanner and set off an alarm. He reportedly wanted to go through the scanner again instead of getting a full-body pat-down, but TSA officers refused. The TSA said that Paul 'was not detained at any point.' 'The passenger triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process in order to resolve the issue,' TSA said in a statement. 'Passengers, as in this case, who refuse to comply with security procedures are denied access to the secure gate area. He was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement.'" Whatever, senator. Call us when you grab two beers from your plane's kitchen, activate the emergency slide and peace out. America has high standards when it comes to air travel outbursts. [HuffPost]

Ron Paul's campaign responds: "The police state in this country is growing out of control. One of the ultimate embodiments of this is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities. The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe."

Rand, not surprisingly, has some thoughts on the matter

REPORT: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DOWNPLAYED DEEPWATER SPILL - MoJo: "Now, an email released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) traces efforts to downplay the spill size in the initial weeks back to the White House. The group released a May 29, 2010 email from Dr. Marcia McNutt, the director of the US Geologic Survey and head of the government's Flow Rate Technical Group (FRTG), that was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The email came after scientists on the flow-rate team complained to McNutt about how the spill figures were conveyed to the press, and in response she cited pressure from the White House as the reason the numbers were low-balled. Rather than reporting that the lower-end estimate of the spill was 25,000 barrels per day, officials cited that figure as the higher-end estimate" [MoJo]

MITT ROMNEY HIRES DEBATE COACH WITH PROVEN RECORD OF TURNING ATROCIOUS PUBLIC SPEAKERS INTO TERRIBLE PUBLIC SPEAKERS - Great hire. The Times has a brief item on Bret O'Donnell, who coached John McCain during the 2008 campaign and more recently coached Michele Bachmann. Hopefully, Mitt will rock one of Bachmann's white pantsuits in the next debate. He would look fierce in one of those. "Brett's been working with us for some time, since Michele Bachmann got out of the race," a Romney spokesperson told the paper. [NYT]

@jamiedupree: CNN reports that Ron Paul won't even stay in Florida for primary night; will instead go to NV & CO to campaign

"Mitt Romney's Father Palled Around With Saul Alinsky"

ELIZABETH WARREN AND SCOTT BROWN AGREE TO NOT UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY FOR A FEW MONTHS, EVERYONE IMPRESSED - The Hill: "Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) and his Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, have reached a groundbreaking agreement to deter super-PACs and outside groups from dominating their Senate race with millions of dollars of ads, Brown said Monday. The agreement marks the first attempt by candidates to wrest control of their races back from groups over whom they have no direct control, and could set a precedent for other races. It also comes almost two years to the day after the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case that unleashed the flood of outside spending." [The Hill]

DEATH FROM ABOVE, NOW WITH A SMALLER CARBON FOOTPRINT - But a larger impact crater! Kaboooom! Grist: "The Army is increasingly aware that the only way for its war machine to keep turning is for it to eliminate the long, vulnerable supply chain currently required to get energy to its soldiers. That's one reason why it just awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build a flying drone, light enough to be carried by troops or Iranians, that supplements its power with solar energy." [Grist]

CHUCK GRASSLEY'S TWITTER ACCOUNT HACKED, MADE SURPRISINGLY COHERENT - @ChuckGrassley: Dear Iowans, vote against ACTA, SOPA, and PIPA, because this man, Chuck Grassley, wants YOUR internet censored and all of that BS... Yes, its surprising that I'm actually writing in full sentences with spaces and correct grammar/spelling... And yes, I am an Anonymous follower... uh-oh looks like Chuck is online too... Yes I was hacked..You might know me from a few weeks back.. :)... Well, this was fun, lol... #WINNING... Wow, Chuck hasn't even changed his password... Chuck is a supporter of SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA, meaning he wants no privacy for private accounts...I really wanted Herman Cain to get president this year... Yes, its surprising that I'm actually writing in full sentences with spaces and correct grammar/spelling... Well, its been fun getting Chuck's account this week, so I better get off. I got nothing better to do since we got a snow day here in Osage...Hey guys let's have a contest: Whoever can change the password to this account the quickest has to tweet to me whoever got it. ok? ready?..My password is: chuck123... hurry!!... Anyone get it?... Password has been changed. Someone from the Senator's office contact me for the password. email address forthcoming... Someone from the Senators office contact me at the email i set up at grassleytwitter@gmail.com and I'll give you the new password...To clarify, I'm not the person that originally hacked the account. I think that person got their point across.

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Dance like Internet is watching.

DC UPDATES: MEMORIALS, ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON AND HIPPIES - "As Eleanor Holmes Norton and Vincent Gray decry the proposed nationalization of D.C.'s local WWI memorial, Occupy folks target="_hplink">want a new peace memorial." [HuffPost DC ]

COMFORT FOOD
By @bradjshannon!

- 'I bless the rains down in Africa (I bless the rain)' [http://bit.ly/wIyY13]

- Every second, an hour of video is uploaded to YouTube. Here's a site to help (?) you comprehend that. [http://www.onehourpersecond.com]

- TMZ is low-hanging fruit, ripe for mockery. [http://bit.ly/yOfKTG]

- Educate yourself: millions fall for this scam every year. [http://bit.ly/z2IScp]

- A beautiful, though vertigo-inducing, video about BASE jumping in Singapore. [http://bit.ly/xm3ZLY]

- Sh*t Support Agents Say. [http://bit.ly/xAwjLk]

- BEARD. [http://bit.ly/xbJQqQ]

- You've seen the photos, but how about the photographers? [http://bit.ly/ygxDxm]

TWITTERAMA

@delrayser: BREAKING: @ChuckGrassley's Twitter account hacked, begins using proper syntax & grammar.

@sethdmichaels: in the future, everyone will have access to @ChuckGrassley's twitter account for 15 minutes.

@tbogg: Rand Paul's TSA inconvenience is now called an "ordeal". Somewhere between wreck of Costa Concordia and Bataan Death March.

ON TAP
By @christinawilkie

TONIGHT

7:30pm: The CEO of Panera is doing a conference call with a few members of Congress about No Labels, the cause we love to hate. [press only]

TOMORROW

5:30pm - 7:30pm: AEI gets it going early with a cattle call reception in Rayburn. Drinks are free. Vibe is painful. [Rayburn Foyer]

6:00pm - 8:00pm: Echo chamber collides with spin room, breaks DC fishbowl at the Atlantic/National Journal S.O.T.U. Party. [Library of Congress, 10 First Street SE]

6:00pm - 8:00pm: The Jefferson Island Club's S.O.T.U. Oyster Roast is hands down the best pre-game on the Hill. [2237 Rayburn]

9:00pm - Try to look interested n the State of the Union Address for at least 10 minutes. Then back to "Teen Mom." [every channel]

Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com), Ryan Grim (ryan@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e

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O.J. Simpson Is Khloe Kardashian?s Dad (VIDEO)

O.J. Simpson Is Khloe Kardashian’s Dad (VIDEO)

The National Enquirer has dropped a bombshell, claiming that O.J. Simpson is Khloe Kardashian?s father. Now, before we slam the Enquirer…remember they’ve been spot on [...]

O.J. Simpson Is Khloe Kardashian’s Dad (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/a-I54zp4yRA/

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Apple launches software for interactive textbooks (AP)

NEW YORK ? Apple says its launching a new version of its iBooks software, tailored to present vivid, interactive textbooks for elementary and high school students on the iPads.

IBooks 2 will be able to display books with videos and other interactive features.

It's not clear how Apple plans to get it front of students, however, since textbooks are subject to lengthy approval processes by states. Also, few students have iPads, which start at $499.

Apple is revealing the software at an event at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_apple_textbooks

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European soccer's fight against racism not yet won

By JOHN LEICESTER

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:21 a.m. ET Jan. 19, 2012

PARIS (AP) - For fans of soccer, Feb. 1 promises to be a sad day.

John Terry, one of the most rugged, fearsome and admired defenders anywhere in the world, a natural leader who captains his club, Chelsea, and his country, England, will appear at a London courthouse to face a criminal charge that he abused a black colleague with a torrent of vile, racially insulting language.

Terry insists the whole affair is a misunderstanding. Born and raised in the ethnic melting pot of east London, he has played with or alongside black players all of his sporting life. Yet video from an Oct. 23 Premier League match appeared to show him shouting, "You ------- black ----" at Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, whose brother, Rio, has long been Terry's partner in the England defense.

Terry was quick to issue a statement: "People have leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context of what I was seen to be saying." He vowed to "fight tooth and nail to prove my innocence" at the West London Magistrates' Court.

Still, this and other incidents in England and elsewhere in Europe are raising questions about whether efforts to stamp out racist behavior in the world's No. 1 sport have taken a big step backward after having made so many strides forward in the past decade or more. Have racist fans and players simply been lurking, unrepentant, under the surface, instead of being hounded out? Have soccer authorities, led by world governing body FIFA and its European cousin, UEFA, eased up too early in their often-stated determination to rid the global sport of all forms of discrimination?

"We were winning," said Steve Rotheram, a British lawmaker who successfully lobbied for a parliamentary committee to take a new look at racism in sports, following the Terry case and others. However, "people have started to ask about institutional racism and, you know, whether or not the sort of improvements that we'd all hoped have happened over the past 20 years are actually embedded."

The inquiry will start gathering evidence in March. "We've got to be ever vigilant, to make certain that racism doesn't make a comeback," Rotheram said in a phone interview.

Some countries fight soccer extremists with greater determination than others. Some believe the only effective way to punish and ostracize extremist fans is by punishing their clubs. For others, a long-term solution is to educate fans so they police themselves and no longer tolerate bigots in their midst.

"One of the reasons why the UK and Germany, I would say, have been so successful in tackling this problem is through the peer pressure that was exerted toward those fans who were being racist - when people used the logic of 'Well, how can you abuse the opposition black player when we have black players of our own?"' said Piara Powar, executive director of the FARE network, European soccer's anti-discrimination group, partly funded by UEFA.

"When that became the dominant feeling on the terraces and in the stands that was the start of a dynamic, which, in footballing terms, one couldn't challenge," he said in a phone interview. "It was nonsensical to abuse black players because they were also your own black players."

Nir Inbar, CEO of Israeli first division team Hapoel Tel Aviv, is a proponent of punishment. At a Dec. 28 game, Beitar Jerusalem fans racially abused his Nigerian-born striker, Toto Tamuz.

"They were singing, 'Give Toto a banana,"' Inbar, who was at the game, said in a phone interview. "It is horrible to have racism in a country (where) most of its citizens are Jews. It shouldn't be here. Racism is in our dark history. We suffered a lot from racism."

Rather than merely fine Beitar, Israel's Football Association docked two points from the six-time champion, a significant punishment for a club in danger this season of relegation from the top division.

"That's what needs to happen to tackle racism. That is how supporters understand the lessons, you know?" Inbar said. "Because they did not learn the lesson when the club is getting fined, they say, 'OK, the club has enough money."'

"If it was up to me, yes, I would use this punishment more often."

In Spain, no club has ever been docked points because of racist chants or behavior by fans. Yet there have been occasions when such punishment might have been warranted. Most recently, supporters of Espanyol made monkey sounds - "hoo-hoo-hoo" - at Daniel Alves, Barcelona's defender from Brazil, in a Jan. 8 league match. The grunts grew as the game progressed and rolled from one section of the crowd to another, tracking Alves' moves across the pitch when he had the ball.

Esteban Ibarra of Spain's Movement Against Intolerance believes not only that Spanish soccer authorities are lax against racist behavior but that clubs knowingly turn a blind eye to extremist supporters because their chanting lends ambiance to games.

"Every team in the top flight has these ultras. They are the essence of these racist taunts and chants, and their idea is to try and get the stadium swept up in their cries, and sometimes that works," said Ibarra, spokesman for the lobbying group. "They are more aggressive and louder than the rest of crowd, which is generally passive in Spain. They are admitted because it helps (club) directors feel strong and powerful, these intimidating voices filling the stadium."

"At the moment, the ultras are able to get away with impunity and it's up to the bodies and club directors to change this. Neither are taking precautions to curb this," he said in a phone interview.

Espanyol took no action following the Alves incident even though club president Ramon Condal said, "If we can do something about those chants, we will."

The Spanish Football Federation said it won't investigate because the referee did not mention the monkey sounds in his official match report and because Alves said he didn't hear them.

In England, the Football Association also has never deducted points from a club for fans' racist behavior, although its rules allow it to do so.

"This course of action would very much be a last resort and in only the most serious of circumstances," the FA emailed in response to questions from the AP. "And instances of racist abuse have been very rare in the last 20 years."

Which is one reason why Terry's case and another involving Liverpool striker Luis Suarez came as such a surprise. An FA disciplinary panel found that during a Premier League match in October, Suarez used the words "Negro" or "Negroes" seven times in heated tussles with Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, who is black and who complained. The panel banned Suarez for eight matches.

That case plus the Terry incident have "shone a light into an area which we know is a problem, we know historically has been a huge problem, but that remained hidden - that of player-on-player abuse, that of racialized interaction, racially abusive interaction, between players," said the FARE network's Powar.

However, he also said: "The biggest surprise for me was the way that Liverpool reacted."

The American-owned club's vehement support for Suarez - players and manager Kenny Dalglish wore T-shirts featuring his picture and the team complained bitterly about the FA - looked insensitive, crass and misguided to critics. Liverpool also had to apologize this month to an Oldham player who was reduced to tears by insults from its fans during an FA Cup match.

"Liverpool, probably, with hindsight, might well have acted differently," said Rotheram, the lawmaker elected by voters from the city. Liverpool versus Manchester United is one of the biggest rivalries in European soccer, "and because it was that particular football club and Liverpool Football Club, I think that the reaction was tribal," he added.

"In regard to its impact on the city, it's not been a positive impact, I can tell you."

In England, at events unconnected to the Terry and Suarez incidents but feeding into the debates they caused, a white woman was filmed spouting racial abuse on a London tram, footage viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube.

This month, a judge also sentenced two white men for the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence, a black 18-year-old stabbed and left to die at a south London bus stop.

"The truth is that most people don't say overtly racist things at sporting events anymore because it is socially unacceptable. But that doesn't mean to say that there aren't racists in football crowds because, at the end of the day, football crowds reflect society," Rotheram said. "It is a societal problem."

---

AP Sports Writer Paul Logothetis in Madrid contributed to this report.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Mourinho's 'woeful Barca loss

Another loss to Barcelona has piled pressure on Jose Mourinho, with support for the Real Madrid coach ebbing after another ill-tempered and ineffective display against its biggest rival.

Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

He's back

David Beckham has re-signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy, agreeing to a new two-year contract with the Major League Soccer club.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46052976/ns/sports-soccer/

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The perfect storm: Three ways to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions ? short of war

Partly by design and partly by happenstance, a three-pronged US strategy for checking Iran's nuclear program and the regime in Tehran is emerging: an unprecedented combination of sanctions, covert action, and a Syria-inspired protest movement within Iran.

Partly by design and partly by happenstance, a US grand strategy for checking Iran?s nuclear ambitions ? and for thwarting Iran?s Islamic revolutionary government more broadly ? may now be crystallizing.?

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The three-pronged strategy presents a viable alternative to the calls by some in the US for military strikes and direct action to foment regime change in Iran. A combination of intensified economic sanctions and covert action, together with a successful Iranian protest movement could thwart Tehran?s reported push for nuclear weapons without direct American intervention.

The most visible component of the strategy is a set of intensifying sanctions. They are founded in a series of UN Security Council resolutions reflecting the international consensus that Iran?s nuclear program must be curbed. And the United States and other Western nations are reinforcing these sanctions by imposing even tougher measures, among them what seems to be a largely successful embargo on certain ?keystone? nuclear commodities needed for Iran?s uranium enrichment program.

In the latest developments, the US has designated the Central Bank of Iran as a ?primary money laundering concern? under the USAPATRIOT Act. As a result of that sanction and Great Britain?s penalizing Iran for the wrecking of the British embassy in Tehran, Iran is being isolated from the international banking system, with severe consequences for the Iranian dinar.

Worse is to come, as new US legislation takes effect that will penalize any foreign bank that does business with Iran to facilitate its sales of crude oil. The complementary unfolding plan for Western countries to curtail purchases of Iranian crude oil will strike a body blow to the Iranian economy.

While the stated purposes of these economic sanctions is to pressure Iran to return to the nuclear negotiating table, US officials have been explicit in declaring that for Washington, at least, the sanctions have broader goals. In particular, the Obama administration hopes to force Iran to end its support for international terrorism and its glaring human rights abuses.

In effect, Washington has used the nuclear issue as a rallying point to impose sanctions that seek to undermine the Iranian regime at large. Some have suggested that the unstated goal of the current round of sanctions is really to foment regime change in Tehran. A frequent Western tactic has been to blackball entire organizations linked to the regime ? such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and various Iranian banks ? once even a small fraction of their activities is found to have provided direct support for the country?s nuclear program.

The second component of a US strategy, more directly targeted against Iran?s nuclear program, is covert operations, some directly involving Washington, others conducted by Israel or, perhaps, Saudi Arabia, but all contributing to what appears to be a slow-down in Iran?s nuclear advances. These operations have included the Stuxnet computer worm, which destroyed 1,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges at Iran?s Natanz nuclear complex beginning in late 2009 or early 2010.

They have also included a series of targeted killings of leading Iranian nuclear scientists ? a disturbing dimension of covert operations in which Washington has categorically denied involvement.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/vTNN2I3IMB4/The-perfect-storm-Three-ways-to-thwart-Iran-s-nuclear-ambitions-short-of-war

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Ratings king 'American Idol' ready for 11th season

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? "American Idol" is having a bit of a Goldilocks moment.

When the nation's favorite TV addiction debuted 10 years ago, critics complained the judges were too mean to the hordes of would-be singers seeking celebrity.

But after pop icons Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler became judges last year, some fans complained the show had lost its bite. "American Idol," critics complained, had become too nice.

Now in its 11th season, the Fox show that spawned a dozen pop stars and copycat talent competitions is hoping to get it just right.

With the second post-Simon Cowell season under way, Lopez and Tyler said they are striking a balance between showing compassion and respect for their fellow artists, while also not mincing their words.

"Last year was kind of our first year and we were kind of finding our way and figuring out how we were going to do things," Lopez said during a press conference in between filming the show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, hours before the Season 11 premiere. "But I just think we are more to the point now. We understand how to do it."

Tyler joked that he was peppering his encouragement with "well-rounded, slanderous attacks."

Tyler and Lopez's still-evolving shtick will likely determine whether "Idol" can match its previous successes. In an era of social networking, where YouTube videos result in record contracts, does America still want pop stars invented by a TV show?

All signs say yes.

It's been a decade since Texas native Kelly Clarkson was plucked from obscurity and turned into the nation's first American Idol in 2002 and by all accounts the show has retained its dominance over the nation's TV viewers.

Lopez and Tyler's debut year saw the show maintain its spot as the nation's most-watched TV show, making it No. 1 for the eighth-straight season. Scotty McCreery, last season's winner, became the first "Idol" to start his post-show career with a No. 1 album since Ruben Studdard in 2003.

No major changes have been announced for the show's 11th season. The season is opening with taped audition episodes before it shifts to live shows in Los Angeles that include audience voting. The show's season premier Wednesday was to focus on Savannah, Georgia, before continuing in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Veteran music producer Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M, is returning as the in-house mentor for the contestants. Finalists will once again compete midway through the competition on the Las Vegas Strip, where 42 contestants practiced singing Wednesday morning.

Tyler said soul music has emerged has this season's genre of choice, with many of the contestants looking to channel chart-topper and British soul diva Adele.

The season could mark Ryan Seacrest's last year hosting the show. He has said he would like to stay on as the show's host past 2012, but his contract ends this year. There have been several reports that Seacrest could replace Matt Lauer, should he decide to leave the "Today" show on NBC.

Season 11 opens in a different era from when the show launched in 2002. Then, former judge Cowell helped turn the competition into a national phenomenon with his harsh feedback for the show's less-than-stellar contestants. It was the only singing competition of its kind at the time.

But last year Lopez, Tyler and lone original judge Randy Jackson seemed reluctant to point out contestants' shortcomings in the same blunt manner that helped make "Idol" must-see entertainment.

The TV landscape has also changed. "Idol" now faces challenges from NBC's competition "The Voice," and Fox's "The X Factor," which stars Cowell.

The show has helped launched the careers of pop stars Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-18-American%20Idol/id-a981b50cd9224105a15bc6cd63a732d1

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nytimes: Veteran Charged in Slayings of California Homeless http://t.co/Q1vhpnJG

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PFT: Coughlin says Giants must run better

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Exactly 30 years ago, coach Bill Walsh transformed a perennially mediocre-at-best 49ers franchise into a juggernaut that would capture five Super Bowl titles in 14 seasons.

After 17 years without a return to the NFL title game, one of the key members of Walsh?s 49ers predicts a return to glory under coach Jim Harbaugh.

?I see these guys doing some wonderful things this decade ? I think Jim will do great job of creating another dynasty and winning some Super Bowls,? Craig recently told the San Francisco Chronicle, via NFL.com.? ?I foresee us winning some Super Bowls in the next decade, if not this year then in the years ahead.? Wherever he goes, he wins.? He has the secret sauce, and I?m loving his flavor.?

(Look, it would be way too easy to make a juvenile remark at this point, including but not limited to ?that?s what she said.?? Instead, I?ll just sit here and wonder how close Craig came to calling back Eric Branch of the Chronicle and begging him to pull that last sentence.)

?Jim Harbaugh is an amazing guy, an innovator, amazing coach, a leader,? Craig added.? ?When you get players to buy into your system the way he has, you?re going to have success.?

Amen to that.? We thought Harbaugh would make enough of a difference to win the NFC West, but we never dreamed he?d take the team to a 14-3 record and a berth in the NFC title game, especially since he had only seven weeks to get his team ready.

Some think that Jeff Fisher avoided the Dolphins for fear of competing directly with Bill Belichick and the Patriots.? In the end, Fisher may have wished he picked Belichick as his arch-rival instead of Harbaugh and the 49ers.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/18/coughlin-says-giants-run-game-has-to-be-better-at-san-francisco/related/

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Guatemala president: Mexican gang seeks control (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? Guatemala's newly inaugurated president says Mexico's Zetas drug cartel sought to take over the drug trade in Guatemala by co-opting or killing local traffickers.

President Otto Perez says the Zetas offered deals for gangs willing to form part of their network, and killed those who refused.

The Zetas have been blamed for Guatemala's biggest drug-related massacre, the slaughter of 27 cattle ranch workers in May.

Perez says he is seeking to verify reports from ex-President Alvaro Colom that rival drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been in Guatemala.

Perez told the Mexican television network Televisa Monday that the Zetas started moving into Guatemala about four years ago.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_guatemala_drugs

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Minnesota Public Relations Blog: Kohnstamm Communications is ...

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Source: http://www.mnprblog.com/2012/01/kohnstamm-communications-is-seeking.html

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Finest Wedding Dresses Of Celebrity 2011

Finest Wedding Dresses Of Celebrity 2011

Kate Middleton wedding dress and Kim Kardashian wedding dress are on top of the list of ?Finest Wedding Dresses Of Celebrity 2011?. It willl not be wrong if we say ?Most Romantic Year? to the previous year 2011.

Kate Middleton waves to the crowd as she arrives to attend her Royal Wedding to Prince William of Wales at Westminster Abbey on Friday (April 29) in London, England.

?

Kate Middleton waves to the crowd as she arrives to attend her Royal Wedding to Prince William of Wales at Westminster Abbey (April 29) in London, England.

?

Kate Middleton is always known as fashion icon for the fashion of the world. She has become one of the most best dressed celebrity since April when she got married with Prince William. Kate Middleton is no doubly the best dressed female personality.

Her dressed mostly are simple but they have a different and much beautiful touch. The palace said in a statement, ?Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing?. Kim Kardashian was looked very happy when she becoming a beautiful bride when she was about to exchange the vows with their becoming husband Kris Humphries.

?

Kim Kardashian was seen to be very gorgeous in her white long strap less gown designed by Vera Wang with full tulle skirt.

?

Before she giving her hands into his hands she looks very beautiful. The ceremony was held at a private residence in Montecito, California. Kim Kardashia was seen to be very gorgeous in her white long strap less gown designed by Vera Wang with full tulle skirt.

She also had the vale on her hand and her vale is made up of some ornaments, this jeweled head piece containing diamond, dripping on her forehead. She wears this head piece on her simple combed hair and looked stunning. Zara Phillips married with her rugby player boyfriend Mike Tindall in a move that could make 2011 the year of royal weddings.

?

Zara Phillips was looking so glamorous and stunning in her royal wedding dress while she wore an ivory silk and duchess satin gown by Stewart Parvin, as well as Jimmy Choo shoes and a tiara.

?

Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall shared a brief lip-lop kiss outside Edinburgh?s historic Canongate Church after a one-hour rehearsal of today?s wedding ceremony. Zara Phillips was looking so glamorous and stunning in her royal wedding dress while she wore an ivory silk and duchess satin gown by Stewart Parvin, as well as Jimmy Choo shoes and a tiara.

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Outback Bowl: Greatest Speller In College Football Poster History [PHOTO]

January 2, 2012 ? ? Posted in NCAA

It?s Michigan State vs. Georgia in the Outback Bowl today and that means the educated beasts from UGA are showing a national ABC audience their spelling prowess. At first we were like maybe this is some sort of alternate spelling for Dawgs that the locals use. Maybe this was a Photoshop job. Maybe we?ve just been drinking too much and reading that wrong. Then we did a search on Twitter. This, in fact, is the real deal. Good work, SEC.

Check Out These Great Posts!

Source: http://bustedcoverage.com/2012/01/02/outback-bowl-greatest-speller-in-college-football-poster-history-photo/

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Arab League: Syrian tanks withdraw, killings go on

This image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, purports to show observers talking with protesters in Hama, Syria.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT

This image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, purports to show observers talking with protesters in Hama, Syria.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT

This image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, purports to show a demonstration in Hama, Syria.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT

This image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, purports to show a body that had been blindfolded in Idlib, Syria.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian security forces are still killing anti-government protesters despite the presence of foreign monitors in the country, the head of the Arab League said Monday. But he insisted the observer mission has yielded important concessions from the Damascus regime, such as the withdrawal of heavy weapons from cities.

Syria's opposition cautioned the observers not to be taken in by President Bashar Assad's government, which has unleashed a withering military assault to crush a 9-month-old uprising. Opposition groups have been deeply critical of the mission, saying it is simply giving Assad cover for his crackdown.

"The Arab League has fallen victim to the regime's typical traps, in which observers have no choice but to witness regime-staged events, and move about the country only with the full knowledge of the regime," said a statement by the Local Coordinating Committees, an umbrella group of activists.

"This has rendered the observers unable to work or move independently or in a neutral manner," the group said.

The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed since the revolt erupted in mid-March. Activists say that in the week since the observers started their work in Syria on Dec. 27, hundreds have been slain. The LCC put the death toll at more than 390 people since Dec. 21.

"Yes, there is still shooting and yes there are still snipers," Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told a news conference in Cairo. "Yes, killings continue. The objective is for us to wake up in the morning and hear that no one is killed. The mission's philosophy is to protect civilians, so if one is killed, then our mission is incomplete."

"There must be a complete cease-fire," Elaraby said.

Elaraby stressed the achievements of the Arab League mission, saying Syria's government has pulled tanks and artillery from cities and residential neighborhoods and freed some 3,500 prisoners. He said food supplies have reached residents and the bodies of dead protesters have been recovered.

The monitors are supposed to verify Syria's compliance with an Arab League plan to stop the crackdown on dissent ? a plan Syria agreed to on Dec. 19. The plan requires Assad's regime to remove security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and free political prisoners.

The ongoing violence is reinforcing the opposition's view that Syria's limited cooperation with the observers is nothing more than a ploy by Assad's regime to buy time and forestall more international condemnation and sanctions.

In its statement, the LCC said the regime has been disguising soldiers and army officers in police uniforms and hiding their army vehicles to make it appear they have pulled out in accordance with the Arab League plan.

While most of the violence reported early in the uprising involved Syrian forces firing on unarmed protesters, there are now more frequent armed clashes between military defectors and security forces. The increasing militarization of the conflict has raised fears the country is sliding toward civil war.

The LCC said 20 people were killed across the country Monday, including 11 in restive Homs province in central Syria and three in Idlib province, which borders Turkey.

Syria has banned most foreign reporters and prevented independent journalism, making it difficult to verify reports. Witness accounts, activist groups and amateur videos have become key channels of information.

One video posted Monday showed graphic images of blindfolded and bound corpses.

"The blood is still warm," a voice says in the video, which apparently was shot in Idlib province.

On Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said army defectors attacked two military posts in that province, capturing a number of security forces. The rebels also clashed with soldiers at a third post, and there were casualties, the observatory said. The exact number of those captured and killed was not immediately available.

It was not clear if the observatory's account from Idlib was connected to the footage in the amateur video.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the observatory, confirmed that tanks have not been seen in Syrian cities since Thursday. But he said residents reported that the weapons were still a threat.

"They can bring the tanks back and use them to fight," Abdul-Rahman told The Associated Press. He said the Arab League should not necessarily see the withdrawal as a concession; instead, they should insist the tanks stay away for good.

The opposition also has complained that the presence of suspected regime agents with the observers has discouraged Syrians from approaching them.

Elaraby said the mission was relying less and less on logistics provided by the Syrian government, but pointed out that employing Syrian drivers was inevitable because they are familiar with the roads.

"We cannot investigate the true identity of drivers," Elaraby said.

Suggesting that the League did not have a figure for the number of people in custody since the uprising began, Elaraby called on the opposition and ordinary Syrians to aid the observers by sending them names of relatives or friends they think are detained by Assad's regime.

He did not say whether the League was able to verify the release of 3,484 prisoners or when they left prison.

"We call for the release of all of them," he said.

Elaraby also defended the Sudanese general heading the Arab League mission. Controversy has swirled around Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi because he served in key security positions under Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on an international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

"He is a capable military man with a clean reputation," Elaraby said of al-Dabi.

Amnesty International said al-Dabi led al-Bashir's military intelligence service until August 1995, when he was appointed head of external security.

"During the early 1990s, the military intelligence in Sudan was responsible for the arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance and torture or other ill-treatment of numerous people in Sudan," it said in a statement.

"The Arab League's decision to appoint as the head of the observer mission a Sudanese general on whose watch severe human rights violations were committed in Sudan risks undermining the League's efforts so far and seriously calls into question the mission's credibility," Amnesty said.

Elaraby said al-Dabi would report on the mission's progress by the end of this week and that a meeting of Arab foreign ministers would be held next week to review the situation in Syria.

Despite the ongoing violence, the presence of the monitors has provided rare outside witnesses to the carnage in Syria and invigorated a protest movement that has faced a relentless military onslaught for months.

On Friday, which is the start of the weekend in the Arab world and the main day for protests, hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets calling for Assad's downfall in the largest demonstrations in months.

The government has long contended that the turmoil in Syria this year is not an uprising by reform-seekers but the work of terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs ? a contention most international observers dismiss as an attempt by an autocratic regime to terrify its citizens into abandoning the revolt.

___

Hendawi reported from Cairo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-02-Syria/id-5ea3da32e5d5458e8b61994a9432d9fc

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