Biden's 2012 targets: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A year from Election Day, Democrats are crafting a campaign strategy for Vice President Joe Biden that targets the big three political battlegrounds: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, states where Biden might be more of an asset to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign than the president himself.

The Biden plan underscores an uncomfortable reality for the Obama team. A shaky economy and sagging enthusiasm among Democrats could shrink the electoral map for Obama in 2012, forcing his campaign to depend on carrying the 67 electoral votes up for grabs in the three swing states.

Obama won all three states in 2008. But this time he faces challenges in each, particularly in Ohio and Florida, where voters elected Republican governors in the 2010 midterm elections.

The president sometimes struggles to connect with Ohio and Pennsylvania's white working-class voters, and Jewish voters who make up a core constituency for Florida Democrats and view him with skepticism.

Biden has built deep ties to both groups during his four decades in national politics, connections that could make a difference.

As a long-serving member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden cemented his reputation as an unyielding supporter of Israel, winning the respect of many in the Jewish community. And Biden's upbringing in a working class, Catholic family from Scranton, Pa., gives him a valuable political intangible: He empathizes with the struggles of blue-collar Americans because his family lived those struggles.

"Talking to blue-collar voters is perhaps his greatest attribute," said Dan Schnur, a Republican political analyst. "Obama provides the speeches, and Biden provides the blue-collar subtitles."

While Biden's campaign travel won't kick into high gear until next year, he's already been making stops in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida this fall, speaking at events focused on education, public safety and small businesses and raising campaign cash. Behind the scenes, he's working the phones with prominent Jewish groups and Catholic organizations in those states, a Democratic official said.

Biden is also targeting organized labor, speaking frequently with union leaders in Ohio ahead of a vote earlier this month on a state law that would have curbed collective bargaining rights for public workers. After voters struck down the measure, Biden traveled to Cleveland to celebrate the victory with union members.

The Democratic official said the vice president will also be a frequent visitor to Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming weeks, seeking to steal some of the spotlight from the Republican presidential candidates blanketing those states ahead of the January caucus and primary.

And while Obama may have declared that he won't be commenting on the Republican presidential field until there's a nominee, Biden is following no such rules. He's calling out GOP candidates by name, and in true Biden style, he appears to be relishing in doing so.

During a speech last month to the Florida Democratic Convention, Biden singled out "Romney and Rick", criticizing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for saying the government should let the foreclosure crisis hit rock bottom, and hammering Texas Gov. Rick Perry's assertion that he would send U.S. troops into Mexico.

And he took on the full GOP field during an October fundraiser in New Hampshire, saying "There is no fundamental difference among all the Republican candidates."

Democratic officials said Biden will follow in the long-standing tradition of vice presidents playing the role of attack dog, allowing Obama to stay out of the fray and appear more focused on governing than campaigning.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy. The Obama campaign has been reluctant to publically define Biden's role in the re-election bid this early in the run, though campaign manager Jim Messina did say the vice president would deliver an economic message to appeal for support.

"You'll see him in communities across the country next year laying out the choice we face: restoring economic security for the middle class or returning to the same policies that led to our economic challenges," Messina said.

Democrats say Biden will campaign for House candidates in swing states as the party tries to recapture some of the seats in Congress lost during the 2010 midterms.

And here again, the vice president's efforts in politically crucial Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida could be most important. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting 12 districts in those states that Obama and Biden carried in the 2008 presidential race but are represented by Republican representatives.

New York Rep. Steve Israel, who chairs the committee, said he believes Biden could be a "game-changer" in those districts.

"All he has to do is ask voters, has the Republican strategy of no worked for you?" Israel said.

Israel met with Obama and Biden at the White House earlier this month to discuss, among other things, their role in congressional campaigns. While Israel said he hopes Obama will actively campaign for Democratic House candidates, he said "the vice president has already volunteered."

___

Julie Pace can be reached at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_el_pr/us_biden2012

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Selena Gomez 'Humbled' By 2011

'I feel like this approach of this year, I wasn't expecting any of the things that happened,' Gomez says.
By Jocelyn Vena

Selena Gomez
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Selena Gomez has had quite a year. Not sure what we're talking about? Let us refresh your memory.

She toured, hosted the VMA pre-show, hosted the EMA show in Belfast, Northern Ireland, released several music videos off her album When the Sun Goes Down, including "Hit the Lights," starred in the flick "Monte Carlo" and said goodbye to her Disney series, "The Wizards of Waverly Place."

So when Gomez looks back on 2011, what will she remember most? "To be honest, it would probably be when my series ended and not in, like, a happy way, but it was kind of like it was a new chapter in my life," she told MTV News. "I think it was a really interesting time for me and that time in this year was probably my favorite."

The series wrapped filming earlier this year, but will continue airing into early 2012.

While saying goodbye to her show resonated with the star, she could have never foreseen how big her We Own the Night Tour would be. "My music, for sure, [surprised me], like touring. I definitely was excited to get on the road and be able [to have] my first headlining tour," she said. "I was excited to go everywhere and meet my fans and experience different places. To be honest, I didn't expect the tour to do as well as it did, and we went to Canada and Canada was amazing and made me feel very humbled."

As 2011 rolls along, Gomez is going into the coming year with the same philosophy she had for the last. "I feel like this approach of this year, I wasn't expecting any of the things that happened," she said. "And so I just kind of want to go into the end of this year and the beginning of next year just excited and in a good place and not planning anything."

Before the new year does come along, Gomez has some plans to just spend the holidays with those she loves. "I'm gonna have a week off for Thanksgiving, which will be nice, and then a week and a half or two weeks for Christmas time," she said. "And then I'm going to just relax and do nothing."

She has a busy year ahead of her that includes hitting the set of her next film, "Spring Breakers," co-starring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens and Emma Roberts.

Related Artists

• Selena Gomez

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674944/selena-gomez-2011-tour-success.jhtml

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Food We Eat Might Control Our Genes

Advances | Health See Inside

Scientists find rice microRNA inside human cells

By Anne-Marie C. Hodge ?| November 25, 2011?|

Image: Busse Yankushev Alamy

?You are what you eat.? The old adage has for decades weighed on the minds of consumers who fret over responsible food choices. Yet what if it was literally true? What if material from our food actually made its way into the innermost control centers of our cells, taking charge of fundamental gene expression?

That is in fact what happens, according to a recent study of plant-animal micro?RNA transfer led by Chen-Yu Zhang of Nanjing University in China. MicroRNAs are short sequences of nucleotides?the building blocks of genetic material. Although microRNAs do not code for proteins, they prevent specific genes from giving rise to the proteins they encode. Blood samples from 21 volunteers were tested for the presence of microRNAs from crop plants, such as rice, wheat, potatoes and cabbage.

The results, published in the journal Cell Research, showed that the subjects? bloodstream contained approximately 30 different microRNAs from commonly eaten plants. It appears that they can also alter cell function: a specific rice microRNA was shown to bind to and inhibit the activity of receptors controlling the removal of LDL??bad? cholesterol?from the bloodstream. Like vitamins and minerals, microRNA may represent a previously unrecognized type of functional molecule obtained from food.

The revelation that plant microRNAs play a role in controlling human physiology highlights the fact that our bodies are highly integrated ecosystems. Zhang says the findings may also illuminate our understanding of co-evolution, a process in which genetic changes in one species trigger changes in another. For example, our ability to digest the lactose in milk after infancy arose after we domesticated cattle. Could the plants we cultivated have altered us as well? Zhang?s study is another reminder that nothing in nature exists in isolation.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cbe6c6fdb49fabb5a09f01a992a71666

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Missing SD student turns up at NY Occupy protest (Providence Journal)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166750237?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Judith S. Beck, Ph.D.: The Reasons I Chose CBT

Every now and then I'm asked the question, "Why do you practice cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)?" Aside from the fact that my father, Aaron T. Beck, is the "father" of cognitive therapy, it's the the most widely researched and evidence-based form of psychotherapy; it's been shown in hundreds and hundreds of clinical trials to be effective for a wide range of psychiatric disorders, psychological problems, and even some medical conditions with psychological components (chronic pain conditions, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, obesity, for instance). If you had a vision problem, wouldn't you first seek the treatment that's been researched and demonstrated to be most effective? Why should it be different for psychiatric disorders or psychological problems? Beside the overwhelming body of research that supports CBT, this therapy simply makes the most sense to me.

Jennifer, a 36-year-old married woman, is a typical depressed patient. She's been clinically depressed for about nine months. Last year, Jennifer was laid off from work. Since then, she's had difficulty getting out of bed in the morning and completing everyday tasks: washing clothes, straightening the living room, making dinner, opening mail. She talks with friends infrequently and rarely socializes. She reports feeling "sad" and "worn out." She presents as self-critical, often blaming herself for things out of her control. She's lost interest in the things that used to bring her a sense of achievement -- things she used to find enjoyable (cooking dinner for her family, painting, gardening and reading). She reports that her interactions with friends and family members -- her husband, parents and sister with whom she's always had good relationships -- feel effortful, and so she isolates herself.

As a cognitive behavior therapist, it makes the most sense to me to work with Jennifer on the problems she's experiencing now. First I'll orient Jennifer to treatment. We'll work collaboratively, setting specific treatment goals and choosing specific problems to work on that Jennifer expects to encounter in the coming week. I'll teach Jennifer the cognitive and behavioral skills she needs to help get her life in order and reduce her suffering. I'll provide her with the rationales for the strategies and interventions we'll use, and I'll establish and maintain a strong therapeutic rapport by actively listening, demonstrating empathy and support and asking Jennifer for feedback (to make sure I understood her correctly and that she agrees with the treatment plan).

Together, we'll create an activity schedule which includes getting out of bed by 9 a.m., showering and dressing immediately, and preparing and eating breakfast. I'll ask Jennifer for some other activities or tasks she might be willing to try. Together we may decide to add calling a specific friend, doing one load of laundry and reading the newspaper for 20-minutes to her activity schedule. I'll help Jennifer identify and respond to the thoughts and ideas that might prevent her from doing these activities, such as, "I'll never be able to get myself out of bed before 9a.m.", "I don't have it in me to cook breakfast", "Lisa won't want to hear from me." And I'll help Jennifer develop more realistic and adaptive views and modify her more deeply-held beliefs about herself ("I'm worthless"), her world ("Life is too hard") and her future ("I'll never feel better"), which have become activated during this bout with depression (and which could contribute to a future relapse). CBT requires patients and therapists to work actively together. I'll provide direction and keep Jennifer focused on one problem at a time, I'll offer suggestions, and I'll teach skills, all of which will help Jennifer recover more quickly.

I practice this therapy, ultimately, because it's effective and humane, it helps alleviate suffering quickly, and it aims to prevent relapse.

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Follow Judith S. Beck, Ph.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/beckinstitute

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judith-s-beck-phd/cognitive-behavior-therapy-_b_1106168.html

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Saul Klein?s List Of Europe?s Next Billion-Dollar Tech Companies

Where will the next billion-dollar startups come from? The tech world and most VCs tend to be parochial, looking at Silicon Valley, maybe New York, and a few other hot markets like China and Brazil. But what about the Old Country? Yesterday, I was having coffee with Saul Klein, a partner at Index Ventures and co-founder of Seedcamp. He believes that in every major city across Europe, Russia, and Israel, there are ?a legion of companies that are capable of achieving billion dollar valuations and in some cases are likely to be able to do close to a billion dollars in revenues over next 3 to 5 years.? I asked him to name five while I pointed my iPhone video camera at him, and he was able to give me a much longer laundry list (which I've added after the jump).

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

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Mary Minock's Southwest Detroit Memoir 'The Way Back Room' To Be Celebrated Friday

Mary Minock has been writing since the '70s, but the poet and creative writing professor at Madonna University never planned to try her hand at memoir, despite the fascinating childhood she had growing up in the upper flat of a house on Clark Street in southwest Detroit.

But the idea for her new book, "The Way-Back Room: A Memoir of a Detroit Childhood," germinated several years ago. After four years researching, writing and editing, Minock now shares her past with friends, neighbors, Detroiters and others, kicking off with a release party in her old neighborhood on Friday.

Southwest Detroit is the backdrop to Minock's memoir, but the real story is less about the city and more about Minock's rocky childhood. Her father died when she was six, which led to Minock caring for her mother and a strained relationship with her extended family. At Catholic school, Minock was an outcast, a deeply troubled child whose way of dealing with her grief caused her to be misunderstood. At the same time, Minock doesn't dramatize her misfortunes, and instead readers see a self-possessed, sharply honest girl who tries her best to confront challenges head on.

The Huffington Post recently spoke on the phone with Minock about publishing her first memoir and the city she still calls home.

When did you decide to write a memoir?

I moved back to the upstairs flat in 1996. I lived there practically 12 years, in the same place where I grew up. There are so many ghosts and so many reminders and so much continuity. I was kind of in a place where it was natural to be very reflective about the past. So many people can't get back to the past; I feel so lucky be able to especially in this neighborhood where much hasn't been torn down.

Did you rely mostly on your own memory or find yourself doing extensive research?

I did a lot of research. What's really nice about the research is finding stuff out will lead you to more memories. My mother had kept so many things; I had papers and things like that. I also did a lot of research in the Burton Archives. I was very careful to try to describe the neighborhood the way it really was. The book ought to be walkable.

In your book, your younger self deals with her grief over her father's death in a way that readers might be shocked by: she unconsciously engages in public masturbation. Was it difficult for you to write about -- and share -- something so personal, and potentially embarrassing, that was linked to emotional trauma?

It's about comfort; it's about something this girl can rely on. She's something like shell-shocked. At the time people of the working class, like my family, had no knowledge of psychology. Pop psychology is a very recent phenomenon. Now people don't do terrible things to their kids without knowing it. I couldn't have left it out without sentimentalizing things, and I just decided the only way to tell it is straight. It may make me vulnerable, but I'm going to have to deal with that. It's not something I ever think about it anymore. It's not raw. If it were, it wouldn't be in the book.

There's a taboo, a very strong taboo. I didn't set out to break taboos, but if I have, and it opens some discussion, that would be great. I wonder how much it could strike a chord with someone. The book wasn't meant to be a misery memoir, though. I had some real bad problems, but I had some real lucky breaks too.

Your book captures a very different city and time period. What are your thoughts about Detroit and its changes?

I root for it. It's still the center of things and there's a lot of diversity, a lot going on. Back then it was totally possible for kids to explore things on their own; we had transportation and we felt safe. I don't know what I would have done with out the libraries; the museums.

But it's not something that was great then, scary now -- that dichotomy. I'm so tired of these people who talk about Detroit like it was all Boblo Island and ginger ale. They just leave the whole thing agentless like nothing happened. If you were there, you could see that what we were dong then affected where we are now.

A lot of books about Detroit have come out recently. Is there an uptick of writers in the city, or has there always been a strong writing community in Detroit?

The poetry community here is just incredible. It's just supportive here, and there's so many things going on. I could go to readings and workshops every night.

Writing my book I saw there was this steady stream of sentimental "remember when" Detroit books. All around the area there's this longing to try to touch Detroit the way it was. We need to have a lot of books that are really situated [in Detroit] so people can get an idea of what it was like to live here, not just remember it. I hope nobody picks my book up thinking it will be one of those sentimental treatments and be disappointed. I hope that it transcends enough that people are thinking about their own memories and growing up.

The release party for "The Way-Back Room: A Memoir of a Detroit Childhood" will be Friday, Nov. 25, 5-7 p.m. at Cafe Con Leche, 4200 W. Vernor Highway, Detroit, only a few blocks from the house where Minock grew up. She will be reading and signing copies of the book.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/25/mary-minocks-memoir-way-back-room-southwest_n_1112189.html

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Dan Miller?s family would like your help for son?s surgery

UFC middleweight Dan Miller's son Danny was born with a kidney disease that requires the child to get daily kidney dialysis. He can have a normal life with a kidney transplant, but insurance won't pay for the entire surgery. This is where the MMA family has stepped in, and they could use your help.

AMA Fight Club in Whippany, NJ, will host a fundraising seminar on Dec. 3. Jim Miller, Danny's uncle, will lead the day. He'll be helped out by UFC fighters Dan, Charlie Brenneman and Andy Main. Their coach, Mike Constantino, will also lend a hand. The cost of the seminar ranges from $100-$175, with all proceeds going to the Daniel James Miller Foundation.

If you can't make it to Whippany, which is about 45 minutes outside of New York City, for the seminar, you can still make a donation. If you can, spare a few dollars to help the baby who Uncle Jim called "the toughest Miller."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Dan-Miller-8217-s-family-would-like-your-help-f?urn=mma-wp9882

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Obama on Tuesday to face NH voters now sour on him (AP)

MANCHESTER, N.H. ? President Barack Obama will visit a changed New Hampshire on Tuesday.

The independent-minded presidential swing state he won in 2008 has shifted distinctly to the right since his last visit nearly two years ago. The local economy is struggling to grow and voters are increasingly unhappy with the president's leadership.

"He's not getting my vote ? no way," construction worker Norman Berube, a 49-year-old registered independent, said while waiting for a booth at the Airport Diner recently. "This country is worse off."

Others say the same.

Recent polls show that, if the election were held today, Obama would lose by roughly 10 percentage points to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the leading contender for the GOP nomination. That's quite a slide for an incumbent who beat Republican Sen. John McCain here by nearly the same margin just three years ago.

Still, a year before Obama's re-election, Democrats aren't panicking.

In fact, Obama's campaign is quietly confident that he can re-ignite voters' passion the more they see him, which explains why Obama is venturing to Central High School to promote elements of his jobs plan that's stalled in a divided Congress.

His visit comes just as a special deficit-reduction supercommittee in Washington is on the brink of failing to reach an agreement on how to save taxpayers $1.2 trillion over the coming decade. A fundamental divide over how much to raise taxes ? a salient issue in low-tax New Hampshire ? was proving too high a hurdle to overcome.

With finger pointing beginning in Washington, Obama was heading to New Hampshire, which his surrogates recently have showered with attention, as Republican candidates wielding anti-Obama messages swarm the state ahead of the Jan. 10 primary.

"There have been a lot of Republicans up here," said Kathy Sullivan, a New Hampshire-based member of the Democratic National Committee. "It's a good time for the people of New Hampshire to hear from the president."

On Monday alone, four of the eight GOP contenders ? Romney, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ? campaigned in New Hampshire.

Romney, speaking to voters in Nashua, used Obama's visit to bash the president anew.

"I'd like to hear what he has to say," Romney said. "It's very clear, we're not better off than we were when he came into office."

Unemployment in the state was at 5.4 percent in September, well below the national average of 9 percent.

Romney is expected Tuesday to begin airing his first TV ads in New Hampshire to reinforce that message. And while Obama's job approval numbers here are weak, more alarming is polling suggesting that independents ? a key voting bloc in the presidential race ? have swung decidedly away from Obama after lifting him to victory in the state and across the country.

Independent voters helped Republicans sweep the state's congressional elections and win veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. It was a dramatic shift for a state many believed had been shifting to the left over the last decade.

"New Hampshire is obviously going to be an important state in the general election, and it's a state where voters keep pretty close tabs on how often you visit," said Reid Cherlin, a former spokesman for Obama in New Hampshire and at the White House. "The White House sees New Hampshire as open-minded and independent ? the kind of state that may be more open to Obama's jobs pitch and less inclined to be governed by the passions of the moment, like tea party ideology."

In a likely nod to independents, Obama is expected Tuesday to prod Congress to extend a temporary cut in payroll taxes that has enjoyed bipartisan support. The tax cut will expire at the end of the year unless Congress extends it again.

Obama supports an extension and on Monday previewed his likely pitch in New Hampshire.

"There's no reason not to vote for these tax cuts," he said. "If Congress doesn't act by the end of the year, then the typical family's taxes is going to go up by roughly $1,000. That's the last thing our middle class and our economy needs right now."

Obama last visited New Hampshire in February of 2010 for a factory tour and town hall-style meeting.

But the time that has passed since then doesn't mean his team has forgotten about the state that offers just four electoral votes and has backed the winner in four of the last five general elections.

Surrogates have been spreading Obama's message. They include top political adviser David Axelrod, who addressed students in Manchester in late September, and Vice President Joe Biden, who has visited twice since then.

The campaign also has been ramping up its operations.

Spokesman Frank Benenati said more than 1,000 political events, including phone banks and voter registration drives, have been held since April. Supporters recently held 18 house parties across the state in one day. The campaign has an office in Manchester and will soon open another in Portsmouth.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_new_hampshire

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PFT: Bears hope to get Cutler back? |? Sign Bulger?

AP

The best Thanksgiving triple-header in NFL history will unfold in two days, with dessert being perhaps the best of the three courses.

West vs. East, NFC vs. AFC.? For the first time ever, brother vs. brother.

But Jim Harbaugh, coach of the 49ers, says he isn?t feeling ?warm and fuzzy? about playing John Harbaugh?s Ravens.? Instead, Jim apparently is feeling a little nauseous.

?There?s no question that we drew the short end of the straw on this one,? Harbaugh said, via Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee.

?We?re going against a team that is in our opinion the best team that we?ve played this season, maybe the best team that we play all season, the best defense without question,? Harbaugh said.? ?A lot of things to overcome this week.?

It?s not yet excuse-making (indeed, the Niners may not need to make any excuses come Friday).? More importantly, Jim Harbaugh has a point.? Though the NFL has done a good job of ensuring that teams playing on the road with four days between games are playing at home in the first game (thereby eliminating a second travel obligation), there?s still a disadvantage, if the home team for the Thursday game also had a home game on the prior Sunday.? Because Baltimore hosted Cincinnati this past weekend, John Harbaugh will be able to get the Ravens ready without traveling at all.

The better approach would have been to send the Ravens to Seattle not in Week 10, but in Week 11.? Then, both the 49ers and the Ravens would have had to factor a cross-country flight into the 96 hours or so that they have to get ready for what could be one of the most meaningful games of the regular season.

An even better approach this year, given the manner in which the lockout screwed up the bye week scheduling, would have been to give all six teams set to play on Thanksgiving a bye in Week 11.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/21/bears-hopeful-cutler-will-return-in-regular-season/related/

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Networks walk a tightrope over crowded debates (AP)

NEW YORK ? Keeping the crowded Republican presidential debates fair, lively and topical can seem like the equivalent of juggling while walking a tightrope.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer is the next television personality on stage. He's moderating Tuesday's GOP forum in Washington, a little more than a week after a misplaced email from the CBS News political director raised questions about whether networks give short shrift to candidates they determine have little chance of reaching the White House.

The fluidity of the Republican nomination process and the increased importance of the debates make fairness an important issue. Viewership is up significantly compared with a similar point in the campaign four years ago, and political pros say the debate performances of Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have had a big impact on their poll standings.

Tim Graham of the Media Research Center, a conservative press watchdog, said he thinks there is "a tilt" at the networks "toward front-runners."

"The only thing that makes it less unfair is that the front-runners keep changing," Graham said.

That nod to front-runners was made clear when CBS political director John Dickerson questioned, in an email sent to colleagues on Nov. 12, how much airtime Bachmann would be getting during and after the network's debate that night. "She's not going to get many questions," he wrote in apparent reference to Bachmann's shrinking standing in opinion polls.

The email was mistakenly sent to Bachmann's campaign, which immediately seized upon it. Keith Nahigian, her campaign manager, said on Facebook that the email was "concrete evidence confirming what every conservative already knows ? the liberal mainstream media elites are manipulating the Republican debates by purposely suppressing our conservative message."

During that night's debate, seven questions went to Bachmann ? four of them during an online-only portion shown after the television network's coverage ended. Cain and Newt Gingrich were asked 11 questions each, and Mitt Romney had 10. Perry and Rick Santorum each had eight questions, while Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman each had five.

PBS' Jim Lehrer, who has moderated 11 general election presidential debates, said running these pre-primary debates is extremely difficult.

"You not only want to be fair, you have to be perceived as being fair," Lehrer said, "and it's really hard when you have eight or nine candidates."

Playing favorites in terms of questions asked is dangerous because, as borne out by this year's opinion polls, today's also-ran could be tomorrow's front-runner. A network that doesn't try to treat everyone onstage equally is "buying themselves a lot of trouble that they don't need," said Lehrer, author of a recent book on debates, "Tension City: My View From the Middle Seat."

A network might naturally want to spend more time with a front-runner, but in these situations has a civic role more than a journalistic one, Lehrer said. CBS News President David Rhodes argued that handling the debates as journalists serves a civic purpose.

"Part of why we're here is to serve an audience," Rhodes said. "The audience has a greater interest in people who are more likely to succeed in the process. You could argue that's unfair because some of the people who are not successful today could become successful tomorrow, and that's true. But that's a challenge for these people ? not for us."

Networks usually have people backstage tracking how many questions are asked, often with stopwatches to measure airtime, said David Bohrman, president of Current TV and former CNN Washington bureau chief. If there was too much of an imbalance, he would try to get word to the moderator.

"You have to treat all of the candidates the same," said Sam Feist, CNN's current Washington bureau chief. "If you're going to invite them, you have to treat them the same, particularly with the fluidity of this race."

Except for some quick follow-up questions, moderators at recent debates aired on CNBC and Fox News Channel made a conscious effort to ask each candidate onstage to address one issue at the start of their debates. Fox said it tries to treat each candidate equally; NBC News would not discuss its debate policies.

An examination of transcripts for four debates (one each by CNN, CBS, Fox and CNBC) revealed that Romney, generally perceived as the front-runner, had the most questions addressed to him. He had 45, with Cain next at 37, Perry at 36 and Gingrich at 35. Santorum and Bachmann had 29 and Paul had 27. Huntsman did not participate in all four debates.

Even the networks that strive for some equality in asking questions can't guarantee equal time on camera. If one candidate specifically criticizes another in an answer, the victimized candidate is generally given rebuttal time. Organizers seem to relish when a couple of candidates go after one another and often let those exchanges play out.

Networks that try to be even-handed with the questions show favoritism by placing candidates who are high in the polls near the center of the stage, increasing the likelihood these leaders are involved in more exchanges. In two separate debates, Huntsman complained that it was "lonely out here" on the fringe.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_fair_debates

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Actor John Neville dies (AP)

TORONTO ? John Neville, a British-born Canadian actor and stage director who appeared in the hit TV series "The X-Files," has died. He was 86.

Neville, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, died Saturday in Toronto surrounded by family. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where Neville worked as an artistic director in the 1980s, announced his death in a statement over the weekend.

Neville appeared in dozens of movies, television shows and theater productions during a career that spanned six decades.

Perhaps the one that gave him the most prominence came in the '90s when he landed the recurring role of the "The Well-Manicured Man" in the "The X-Files."

Neville was born in England, emigrated to Canada in 1972 and later became a citizen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_en_tv/cn_canada_obit_neville

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Gay, Lesbian Older Adults Face Adversity, Depression (LiveScience.com)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) baby boomers face higher rates of physical disabilities, depression and loneliness than their heterosexual counterparts, according to a new study.

LGBT adults were also more likely to binge-drink and smoke than heterosexuals of similar ages.

"The higher rates of aging and health disparities among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender older adults is a major concern for public health," study researcher Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen, director of the University of Washington's Institute for Multigenerational Health, said in a statement. "The health disparities reflect the historical and social context of their lives, and the serious adversity they have encountered can jeopardize their health and willingness to seek services in old age."

The team surveyed 2,560 LGBT adults ages 50 to 95 from across the U.S. and found that many of the subjects' unique circumstances lead to physical and mental distress, with nearly four out of 10 participants asserting that they had considered suicide at some point.In addition, 47 percent of respondents reported a disability, 31 percent reported depression and 53 percent reported loneliness.

The participants were less likely to be married or partnered than heterosexuals, which may result in less social support and financial security as they age, according to the researchers. The study authors note that LGBT adults were more likely to live alone, and because they may not have children to help them, and are at a greater risk for social isolation, which is "linked to poor mental and physical health, cognitive impairment, chronic illness and premature death," Fredriksen-Goldsen said.

The study also revealed that 80 percent of the participants had been victimized and discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity ? incidents that may contribute to their poor health, according to the researchers. For example, 21 percent of respondents said they were fired from a job because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

Another 21 percent did not tell their doctors about their sexual orientation or gender identity, because they feared that they would be refused services or receive inferior health care, experiences that 13 percent of the respondents had actually endured. In a medical setting, a lack of openness about sexuality "prevents discussions about sexual health, risk of breast or prostate cancer, hepatitis, HIV risk, hormone therapy or other risk factors," Fredriksen-Goldsen said.

The study participants also cited senior housing, transportation, legal services, support groups and social events as services needed in the LGBT community. The researchers note that despite the reported lack of services, 90 percent of the subjects said they felt good about belonging to their communities.

Fredriksen-Goldsen presented some of the study's key findings last week during a congressional briefing.

You can follow LiveScience writer Remy Melina on Twitter @remymelina. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience? and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111119/sc_livescience/gaylesbianolderadultsfaceadversitydepression

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Theodore Forstmann, big in 80s takeover wave, dies

FILE - In this Feb. 29, 1996 file photo, takeover artist Ted Forstmann poses in his office in New York. Forstmann, a longtime financier who counted the iconic baseball card company Topps and business jet company Gulfstream Aerospace among his buyouts, died Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, at the age of 71. The cause was brain cancer, according to a statement from sports agency IMG. Forstmann was the chairman and CEO of IMG and was the senior founding partner of the investment firm Forstmann Little & Co. Forstmann Little bought IMG in 2004. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 29, 1996 file photo, takeover artist Ted Forstmann poses in his office in New York. Forstmann, a longtime financier who counted the iconic baseball card company Topps and business jet company Gulfstream Aerospace among his buyouts, died Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, at the age of 71. The cause was brain cancer, according to a statement from sports agency IMG. Forstmann was the chairman and CEO of IMG and was the senior founding partner of the investment firm Forstmann Little & Co. Forstmann Little bought IMG in 2004. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Theodore J. Forstmann, a longtime Wall Street financier who was a major player during the wave of corporate takeovers in the 1980s, including the battle for RJR Nabisco in 1988, died Sunday at the age of 71.

The cause was brain cancer, according to a statement from sports marketing giant IMG, where Forstmann served as chairman and CEO.

A pioneer of the buyout business, celebrity bachelor and free market proselytizer, Forstmann cut the figure of a swashbuckling risk taker. But in buying companies, he tended to be more careful and conservative than did rivals. Famously, he backed down from buying RJR Nabisco in the late 80s when the price got too high. His instincts turned out right. The winner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, struggled for years to wring profits from the company.

Forstmann was the senior founding partner of investment firm Forstmann Little & Co., a big player in the leveraged buyout, or LBO, a deal financed at least in part with debt. The company completed dozens of leveraged buyouts of a wide array of companies, including Dr. Pepper, Yankee Candle, baseball card maker Topps, Ziff-Davis Publishing and IMG.

Forstmann Little, founded in 1978, would buy companies it believed would rise in value, do what it could to lift their value and then sell them.

In the 1980s, the firm he helped found became one of Wall Street's most successful specialists in LBOs. Its deals generated lofty returns for its partners and outside investors, which included many corporate pension funds.

In a 1996 interview with The Associated Press, Forstmann said his interest in deal-making was sparked in childhood, while reading a biography of Howard Hughes. "This guy loved doing deals," Forstmann said of Hughes.

Forstmann went to Yale University as an undergraduate, then on to Columbia University for law school. He spent some time as an attorney before establishing Forstmann Little & Co., with then-partner Brian Little.

Forstmann's first takeovers were small ones, as he only had so much money to spend. Things picked up as the 1980s unfolded and the firm's successes brought in more investors.

"I never went to business school. I was basically never in an investment banking firm worthy of mentioning," Forstmann told the AP. "I've always been a guy who had ideas."

Forstmann eventually became a big critic of the industry he helped create. In the 1980s, he lit into rivals for borrowing money from investors in junk bonds, or IOUs issued by the riskiest companies, to finance their deals. Later, he complained that there were simply too many people in the take-over business. The result: Buyout firms had to pay sky-high prices for their targets to beat competitors, and so might have trouble wringing profits out of the deals.

He turned out right again ? but maybe not in the way he imagined.

In the tech mania of the late 1990s, Forstmann himself ended up overpaying for two firms ? XO Communications and McLeod Communications USA. Both eventually filed for bankruptcy.

In 1988, Forstmann made clear his distaste for deal making greased by junk bonds. The AP quoted him as saying "Today's financial age has become a period of unbridled excess with accepted risk soaring out of proportion to possible reward."

"Every week, with ever-increasing levels of irresponsibility, many billions of dollars in American assets are being saddled with debt that has virtually no chance of being repaid," he said.

During the furious bidding for RJR Nabisco Inc., Forstmann's protestations about the rampant use of expensive junk bonds ? which carried interest rates sometimes as high as 18 percent ? were ignored. Rival takeover firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. ended up buying RJR in what was then the biggest takeover in U.S. history.

KKR's $24.5 billion purchase of food-tobacco giant RJR Nabisco Inc. was announced in November 1988 after a bidding brawl that some considered a symbol of corporate gluttony. That deal saddled RJR with heavy debt.

In 1988, the dollar amount of mergers and acquisitions financed largely with borrowed money totaled more than $200 billion.

International Management Group, a sports and celebrity management and marketing firm that has represented Tiger Woods, Joe Montana and Derek Jeter, was sold to Forstmann Little in 2004 in a cash deal valued at more than $700 million.

He signed "The Giving Pledge" earlier this year, where America's wealthiest people pledge to give away at least half of their fortunes.

Forstmann was a philanthropist and co-founder of the Children's Scholarship Fund in 1998, which focuses on helping parents send their children to schools of their choice.

He was also a director of the International Rescue Committee and helped establish a medical program for war-injured children in Bosnia. He was a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and also served on the board of directors at Freedom House, Empower America, the Robin Hood Foundation, the CATO Institute, and the Preventative Medicine Research Institute.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-20-US-Obit-Forstmann/id-4694da21002f4574b6e8129bab668a88

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Apple Rumors: The MacBook Pro Shrinks, iPad And iPhone Grow

I suspect we'll have to start picking and choosing our Apple rumor posts carefully in the coming months as the speculations begin flying fast and free, but until then a bit of gossip portending the next year's changes won't hurt anybody. iLounge is hawking some intel from their "most reliable source," who claims to have the inside scoop on Apple's upcoming revisions. It's nothing mind-blowing, but it might be enough to make you unconsciously start saving money.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/kGzY062u5mI/

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Germany's Neo-Nazi Terrorists: 13 Years of Hidden Crime (Time.com)

Until last weekend, many Germans were almost complacent about right-wing extremism in their country. Painful history had helped them learn to marginalize groups espousing such ideologies. And besides, they trusted that the authorities were keeping a careful eye on those kinds of radicals. But the country has been shocked recently by the almost daily revelations about a supposed neo-Nazi cell, which set off bombs, robbed 14 banks, brutally murdered at least 10 people and ? most stunning of all ? operated without being detected by authorities for 13 years. "These were systematic, cold-blooded serial murders," says Hajo Funke, an authority on right-wing extremism at Berlin's Free University. "We've never seen this before."

Germany's Interior Minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, is calling for reform in fighting racist crimes and says the killings represent a new form of extremism. The nine victims murdered between 2000 and 2006 had immigrant backgrounds, and were shot in the head, execution-style, at their places of work.(See "In Paraguay, a Quaint Inn with a Dark Nazi Past.")

The alleged neo-Nazi ring came to light almost by happenstance ? given away by the supposed perpetrators themselves. On Nov. 4, police found two bodies in a burned-out camping van in the eastern city of Eisenach. The men, Uwe Boehnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, had just robbed a bank, and apparently set their vehicle ablaze before committing suicide. Hours later, a house in Zwickau, where the two men lived, went up in flames. According to the authorities, the woman who set the fire, Beate Zschaepe, was an alleged accomplice of the two bank robbers. Zschaepe has turned herself in to the police and is reported to be ready to speak to investigators, after initially remaining silent. The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe issued an arrest warrant for her on Nov. 13, under which she is being held for suspicion of "founding and being a member of a terrorist organisation."

Investigators said they then found evidence in the ruins in Zwickau linking the two men and woman to a series of unsolved murders of immigrants. It included handguns like the one used in the killings, plus a DVD from a previously unknown group calling itself the National Socialist Underground (NSU). In the never circulated video, the group claimed responsibility for the nine killings, plus two bombings in which more than 20 people where injured. In the burned-out van, investigators found the handgun that belonged to a female police officer who was killed in 2007, the 10th victim. The video also shows images of some of the victims that, according to the police, only the perpetrators of the crimes could have taken. The narration even pokes fun at the murdered. A voice at the start of the grisly 15-minute video identifies the NSU as a "network of comrades with the fundamental principle of 'deeds instead of words.' " It then uses the Pink Panther character to take viewers on a "tour of Germany," stopping at each city where murders occurred, showing a mix of photos of the victims from the press, crime-scene clips from TV and, apparently, photographs by the gang of the bloodied victims.

The discovery of the NSU has turned into a major embarrassment for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency. The agency had been investigating Boehnhardt, Mundlos and Zschaepe in the eastern city of Jena in the late 1990s but lost track of them in 1998, when the trio went underground and began a murderous but slow-motion rampage up and down the country. All the while, police were puzzling over the unsolved immigrant murders, not seriously pursuing racism as a motive.(See pictures of East Germany.)

Questions emerging from an emergency Parliamentary Oversight Committee meeting on Tuesday in Berlin centered on whether the trio had acted alone. "There is evidence of more helpers," said chairman Thomas Oppermann to reporters after the meeting. Over the weekend, a fourth man was arrested in Hanover for allegedly aiding the trio.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is also facing criticism from politicians that it is mismanaging its system of paid neo-Nazi informants at the least, and at worse, it is unwilling or unable to act on knowledge of the NSU. "There is a widespread belief that the intelligence agencies know what is going on in the right, extremist scene, but that is not always true," says Jan Schedler, a social scientist at Ruhr University in Bochum. "We have been warning against this for years," says Bianca Klose, director of Mobile Counseling Against Right-wing Extremism in Berlin. "In the middle of society there is an area where right-wing, extremist views are very well represented," says Klose. "We really have to stop thinking of this as extreme."

Klose says her organization, one of many that get state support to combat racism but are chronically underfunded, counts 137 deaths in Germany related to racism or right-wing violence since unification in 1990. That jibes with other counts by newspapers prior to this month's discovery of the NSU cell in Zwickau but is dramatically higher than the government's official figure of 48 deaths.

Critics like Klose point to the wide gap as proof that authorities are blind to violence on the right and say right-wing extremism is more deadly than Islamist or left-wing extremism in Germany. Says Klose: "Right-wing extremists have been murdering people for years. Getting rid of people who do not fit into their worldview is part of their ideology." The Free University's Funke says right-wing extremism is most widespread in sparsely populated eastern regions, making it largely invisible to the country as a whole. "This is our Alabama," says Funke. "It's down there."

Who should be TIME's Person of the Year 2011? Vote here.

View this article on Time.com

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20111118/wl_time/08599209961600

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Hugh Grant, JK Rowling to tell of phone hacking (AP)

LONDON ? Actor Hugh Grant and "Harry Potter" writer J.K. Rowling will testify in a London courtroom next week about alleged press intrusion into their private lives.

They are among witnesses announced Friday by an inquiry into British media ethics.

The inquiry was triggered by the scandal over phone hacking at now-defunct tabloid News of the World.

More than 20 alleged hacking victims are scheduled to give evidence starting Monday, including the parents of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, who was abducted and murdered in 2002. The Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid eavesdropped on her voicemails while police were searching for her.

Other witnesses include comedian Steve Coogan, actress Sienna Miller, singer Charlotte Church and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in 2007.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111118/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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19 Million New STD Infections Reported Annually, CDC Says (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The 19 million new cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia diagnosed in the United States each year cost the nation's health care system $17 billion annually, according to an annual report released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are treatable but can cause serious, life-long consequences, such as infertility, if they aren't detected.

"STDs are one of the most critical health challenges facing the nation today," CDC researchers said in their report.

Reported cases of chlamydia steadily increased for the past 20 years and reached 1.3 million in 2010. The increase stems from expanded screening efforts, not an actual rise in the number of people infected with chlamydia.

However, a majority of chlamydia infections still go undiagnosed, and fewer than half of sexually active young women undergo annual screening as recommended by the CDC.

Rates of gonorrhea are at historic lows, but more than 300,000 cases were diagnosed in 2010. There are also indications that the disease may be developing resistance to the only available treatment option, according to the CDC.

The syphilis rate fell 1.6 percent from 2009 to 2010, its first decrease in a decade. But the rate among young black men rose 134 percent since 2006.

Syphilis has also increased significantly among young, black gay and bisexual men, which suggests that new infections in this group are fueling the overall rise in syphilis infections among young black men.

This is particularly concerning because there has also been a sharp increase in HIV infections in the black gay and bisexual population, the CDC said.

The report also noted ongoing health inequalities linked with STDs. Blacks and Hispanics are more affected by STDs than whites. This is because many of the same social and economic factors -- such as low income and lack of access to health care -- that place blacks and Hispanics at higher risk for other diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, also increase their risk for STDs.

In addition, young people represent 25 percent of people with sexual experience in the United States, but account for nearly half of new STDs, the CDC said.

While doctors must report cases of gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis to local or state health departments, other STDs, including human papillomavirus (HPV) and genital herpes, are not included in the reporting system. Because of this, the true incidence of STDs is underestimated, the CDC said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has more about STDs.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sexualhealth/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111118/hl_hsn/19millionnewstdinfectionsreportedannuallycdcsays

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Candidate Ron Paul -- Hard Sell or Republican Front-Runner (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | According the latest news from Yahoo! News, the Ron Paul campaign could use the old Anne Murray song, "Everything that is old, is new again" as its theme. Paul, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2008 election for president, is starting to surge in the polls leading up to the Iowa caucus. What is behind this increased support and what are his chances to actually take down incumbent Barack Obama?

The Paul campaign in 2008 was largely based in the colloquially named "grassroots style." It borrowed a tactic that Obama successfully used to get into the White House by focusing on the Internet and social media for fundraising and getting his message out. It worked really well and that foundation has carried over to this election cycle.

The 2012 Paul campaign has expanded to look more traditional. According to an AP story, he has expanded his on the ground team in Iowa to three times its previous size. Phone calls and TV ads have been an everyday staple in Iowa, each loudly broadcasting his name and message. Voters in Iowa have responded in the first hurdle to the GOP nomination by giving Paul a four-way split in the latest Real Clear Politics Poll average. Only six points split Paul from Herman Cain, the leader in Iowa so far.

In a previous article, I posted about Rick Perry's Achilles' heel. Unfortunately, Paul has one too. Domestically, he is very sound and in line with mainstream Republican voters. He is strong on the borders, a spendthrift on the budget and very much pro-life.

These topics are very popular with Republican voters and no doubt are at the heart of his support. Where his major problem areas lay are in his very much isolationist foreign policy and military positions. He has said Iran is harmless to the U.S. and we should not concern ourselves there. He favors the full withdrawal of troops from overseas and the withdrawal of all foreign aid. This runs counter from many in the Republican Party and is the area where Paul can be a hard sell to voters.

It looks like people are beginning to look past these shortcomings and focus on his domestic ideas. In the revolving carousal of the Republican front-runners, it appears that it is slowly becoming Paul's turn.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111119/us_ac/10479145_candidate_ron_paul__hard_sell_or_republican_frontrunner

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LA detectives re-open Natalie Wood death inquiry (omg!)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Homicide detectives have re-opened their investigation of Natalie Wood's death nearly 30 years after the actress drowned in the waters off Southern California in one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries.

The renewed look at Wood's Nov. 29, 1981, death was prompted by new information detectives received about the case, Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Thursday.

No additional details were provided, but a detective planned to hold a news conference Friday, and anyone with information about the case was being asked to contact sheriff's officials.

A spokesman for Wood's husband at the time of her death, Robert Wagner, said the family trusts the sheriff's department will take appropriate action but has not been contacted about the case being re-opened.

Wood drowned after a night of partying with husband Wagner and "Brainstorm" co-star Christopher Walken on the couple's yacht anchored off Santa Catalina Island. Her death was ruled an accident and it was determined that she had been drinking before her death.

The office wrote that Wood was "possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face."

A dinghy that had been attached to the couple's yacht, "Splendor," was found in a Catalina cove.

The Los Angeles Times reported that detectives were prompted to look at the case again after comments by the ship's captain, Dennis Davern. He was recently interviewed for a collaboration between the magazine Vanity Fair and the television series "48 Hours Mystery" that focuses on Wood's death.

"Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff's department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death," Wagner spokesman Alan Nierob wrote in a statement.

Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in "West Side Story," ''Rebel Without a Cause" and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died. She and Wagner, star of the TV series "Hart to Hart," were twice married, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972.

Wood's drowning sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved, but Wagner and Wood's sister have dismissed any suggestion there was foul play.

Lana Wood wrote in a biography on her sister, "What happened is that Natalie drank too much that night."

Wagner wrote in a 2009 autobiography that he blamed himself for his wife's death.

Phone and email messages to Walken's publicist were not immediately returned. Attempts to contact Davern were unsuccessful.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_la_detectives_open_natalie_wood_death_inquiry014714964/43639541/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/la-detectives-open-natalie-wood-death-inquiry-014714964.html

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Moon, Mars and Bright Star Gather Early Saturday (SPACE.com)

If you?re up after midnight early on Saturday morning (Nov. 19), you should be able to see a celestial gathering of a bright star, a bright planet and a rather wide waning crescent moon.

If you check out the east-northeast sky at around 1 a.m. local time, you will find a triangle in the sky composed of the three cosmic bodies.

The star is Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, the Lion. This constellation has been of some interest these past few days because of the peak of the annual Leonid meteor shower on Nov. 17. The sky map of the three objects here shows how they will appear together before dawn on Saturday.

The planet in the triangle is Mars, which comes up over the east-northeast horizon shortly before midnight. Both Mars and Regulus engaged in an eye-catching conjunction this past Monday (Nov. 14), which is what astronomers call a close approach of two celestial bodies.

Mars is now rapidly pulling away from Regulus, and will continue to do so for the rest of this month, moving east against the seasonal westward flow of the background stars. [Photos of Mars: The? Red Planet]

The moon, as noted, is now a crescent phase, having just passed its last quarter phase earlier this week.? Once the trio climbs high into the eastern sky in the predawn hours on Saturday, you?ll see that they?ll seem to resemble an isosceles triangle, which has at least two equal sides.

The triangle will appear tilted to the left, with the moon positioned at the vertex of the triangle. The star Regulus will mark the upper right corner, while Mars, which will glow noticeably brighter than Regulus and has a distinct orange-yellow color, will be at the upper left corner.

Mars is finally brightening a little, and will continue to become slightly brighter by the end of the month.

The Red Planet is still quite a bit away from Earth, at a distance of 133 million miles (214 million kilometers). But, Earth will continue to approach the planet through the balance of the fall and into the winter, and it will soon begin to brighten at a more rapid pace.

To get a sharp telescopic view of Mars it will be best to go out at dawn to observe the planet high in the southeast or south-southeast sky.

But, you will probably be disappointed, because the planet?s disk still appears extremely small; in fact, less than 7 arc-seconds wide. To get an idea of how tiny this is, you would need a telescope magnifying at 260-power to make Mars appear in the eyepiece the same angular size as the Moon does with your unaided eye.?

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111118/sc_space/moonmarsandbrightstargatherearlysaturday

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Update: ?Waifish? Kit Cope is off Vegas kickboxing card with testosterone replacement therapy issues

UPDATE: Kit Cope is now off the Lion Fights card because of problems with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and his use of testosterone replacement therapy. Watch the video with a cool dummy at his side to hear Cope's side of the story.

For a guy with a 4-7 record in mixed martial arts, Kit Cope has always been able to maintain some buzz amongst MMA fans. It helps when you have a big mouth and a history with Gina Carano. People want to hear what Cope has to say.

This weekend, he can lean on his fighting a little more as he goes back to his roots on a big kickboxing card in Las Vegas. A muay thai champ for much of his early 20's, Cope explained why he's back in the ring with the bigger gloves.

"I never really left on purpose. It's just that there weren't anymore interesting kickboxing fights. There weren't anymore interesting kickboxing promotions. Now finally there's a resurgence from the mid-90's, where it's starting to gain popularity," said Cope.

The 34-year-old is fighting all the way down at 147 pounds. He's spent most his MMA career at 155. Cope lost to some pretty high level MMA fighters including Kenny Florian in his lone UFC fight and Rob McCullough in the WEC. You'll notice a trend with his MMA losses, the word "submission" is awfully prevalent. Cope can laugh about his deficiencies. He acknowledges that he simply has more passion for the stand-up game.

"You'll see a lot of awesome action. All the stuff when you're into the UFC, you're watching and people are cheering, and they're like 'oh my gosh, this is so awesome.' That's cause they're standing up and doing muay thai," Cope said. "That's what we're doing. So you get to stand up and cheer and think it's awesome the entire time. Instead of waiting for (the referee) to stand them up."

Cope is part of Lion Fight Promotions: "Battle In The Desert 4" at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this Saturday.

Check out the entire interview. Cope also updates everyone on his television career and his thoughts on Gina Carano and her June fight cancellation.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Update-Waifish-Kit-Cope-is-off-Vegas-kickboxi?urn=mma-wp9531

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Pent-up demand brings customers to car dealerships (Providence Journal)

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