Head of U.S. nuclear security agency to step down in January

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the agency responsible for the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile said on Friday that he will leave his post in January, six months after three elderly peace activists broke into the government's maximum-security facility for weapons-grade uranium.

The departure of Thomas D'Agostino, the administrator at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has nothing to do with the security breach, an NNSA official said.

D'Agostino, who worked for the government for more than 36 years and had been head of the NNSA for more than five years, had been asked to stay in the job but declined, the official said.

"I am a strong believer that organizations are healthier when leadership changes on a periodic basis," D'Agostino said in a statement, noting he would step down on January 18, just before the second term of the Obama administration begins.

In July an 82-year-old nun and two other aging peace activists made their way past multiple layers of security and vandalized a building that was supposed to be one of the most secure complexes in the United States.

Neile Miller, currently serving as the NNSA's principal deputy administrator, will serve as the acting chief of the NNSA, said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The Energy Department oversees the agency.

Chu lauded D'Agostino's service and said he led the agency "through a period of unprecedently international attention and complex transition" as it worked to reduce the number of deployed nuclear warheads and clean up contaminated sites.

The department's review of the break-in at the Y-12 site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is still under way.

So far, the department's Inspector General has found that contractors at the plant ignored a broken security camera for months and routinely ignored motion sensors.

After the incident, the government also found that guards at the facility were given a copy of a test and its answers before they were to take it.

The government fired the contractor, owned by international security firm G4S, which was the focus of political scrutiny last summer for failing to provide enough guards for the London Olympics.

(Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/head-u-nuclear-security-agency-step-down-january-021105056--sector.html

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Talks adjourn between Congo government and rebels

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) ? Uganda's defense minister says that talks between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels are being put on hold for two weeks.

Crispus Kiyonda said Friday that the talks will resume on Jan. 4.

Critics say the talks, which began earlier this month, have failed to make much progress as tensions deepen in eastern Congo.

Uganda's defense minister, though, said progress had been made toward finalizing procedural rules and the agenda for the talks.

He also said he would continue to consult with both sides by phone until negotiations resume next month.

The rebels accuse Congo's government of failing to honor the terms of a 2009 peace deal that incorporated them into the national army. Rwanda is believed to be backing the rebels, a charge its government denies.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/talks-adjourn-between-congo-government-rebels-164120088.html

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McLaren set to launch their 2013 car on January 31 ? Formula 1 ...

McLaren set to launch their 2013 car on January 31 ? Formula 1 news

McLaren are set to launch their 2013 car, MP4-28, on January 31 in the United Kingdom, ahead of the first pre-season test.

The Woking based team has not specified the exact location where the car will be launched, however, they have announced that it will be somewhere in the UK. Furthermore, they will unveil their next year?s car at the end of next month before the first winter test which is going to be held at Jerez circuit on February 5.

It will be important to mention that the British team is the second one to announce the launch date of 2013 vehicle after Force India, who has planned to unveil their next year?s contender on February 1 at Silverstone circuit.

The team principal of McLaren, Martin Whitmarsh has said that the sport is getting tougher and tougher with the passage of time as all the contenders are investing a lot of time and money in technological advancements so as to develop competitive cars.

?The strength and depth of the grid in terms of drivers and teams in my view, casting back over 24 years personally, is stronger than it's ever been,? Whitmarsh told ESPNF1.com. ?It's more difficult to go out there week after week winning and being dominant, and that's good.?

Besides, he said that the tyre management is going to play an important role in the next season and they must improve in that area so as to come up stronger right from the start.

?You've got well-funded teams, a period of comparative rule stability and I think the tyres have been quite tricky. For a good first half of this year they were a baffling ingredient in the performance package. So I think all those things mean it's close,? he explained.

Additionally, he said that they have full confidence in their next year?s driver line-up which includes Jenson Button and Sergio Perez. He also said that their aim is to make the necessary development during the winter testing in order to attain better results in the coming season.

Let?s see how Button performs with his new teammate, Perez in the next season and whether they will be able to achieve their team?s target or not.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/McLaren-set-to-launch-their-2013-car-on-January-31-Formula-1-news-a210322

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Bells toll for victims one week after shooting

Ben Toby of Sandy Hook visits a memorial to the Newtown shooting victims during a heavy rain in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. The shooter, Adam Lanza, walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself.? (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Ben Toby of Sandy Hook visits a memorial to the Newtown shooting victims during a heavy rain in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. The shooter, Adam Lanza, walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself.? (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, center, stands with other officials to observe a moment of silence while bells ring 26 times in Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in honor of the victims who were killed last Friday during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, center, stands with other officials to observe a moment of silence while bells ring 26 times in Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in honor of the victims who were killed last Friday during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Officials including Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy observe a moment of silence on the steps of Edmond Town Hall while bells ring 26 times in Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. The chiming of bells reverberated throughout Newtown, commemorating one week since the crackle of gunfire in a schoolhouse killed 20 children and six adults in a massacre that has shaken the community and the nation. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Bell ringer Tony Furnivall ring one of twelve bells in the belfry of Trinity Wall Street Church, on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 in New York, joining a nation-wide toll for a moment of silence to mourn the 20 children and six adult victims killed last week at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? The chiming of bells reverberated throughout Newtown on Friday, commemorating one week since the crackle of gunfire in a schoolhouse killed 20 children and six adults in a massacre that has shaken the community ? and the nation ? to its core.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gathered with other officials in rain and wind on the steps of the Edmond Town Hall as the bell rang 26 times in memory of each life lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman also killed his mother before the massacre, and himself afterward.

Officials didn't make any formal remark, and similar commemorations took place throughout the country.

Though the massacre does not rank as the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history ? that happened at Virginia Tech ? the tender age of the victims and the absence of any apparent motive has struck at Americans' hearts and minds. The gunman used a military-style assault rifle loaded with ammunition intended to inflict maximum damage, officials have said.

The White House said President Barack Obama privately observed the moment of silence.

Just a week after the attack on the first grade students and members of the school's staff, gun control has taken a front burner in Congress, where previous mass shootings produced only minimal legislative reaction. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that the Obama administration would push to tighten gun laws.

The National Rifle Association, at its first public event since the shootings, called Friday for armed police officers to be posted in American school to stop the next killer "waiting in the wings."

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the nation's largest gun-rights lobby with 4.3 million members, said at the Washington news conference that, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

He blamed video games, movies and music videos for exposing children to a violent culture.

Though security was tight, the briefing was interrupted twice by people holding up signs that blamed the NRA for killing children. The protesters were taken from the room.

Newtown schools superintendent Janet Robinson told The Associated Press on Friday that consolidating the first grade classes at Sandy Hook Elementary School is part of the process of preparing for the students' return Jan. 3 to a refurbished middle school in Monroe. She said most of the classes will remain intact, except the first grade where 20 students were killed. She said one of the three classes has a single remaining student.

Traffic stopped in the streets outside the town hall in Newtown early Friday as bells rang out to honor the dead.

Malloy, taking deep breaths with his hands folded in front of him, was joined by the Newtown superintendent of schools, lawmakers and other officials as bells rang out at the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church.

Firefighters bowed their heads around a memorial filled with teddy bears, other stuffed animals and a New York Giants pillow. Some hugged and onlookers shook their hands afterward.

"When I heard the 26 bells ring it just melted my soul," said Kerrie Glassman, of Sandy Hook, who said she knew seven of the victims. "It's just overwhelming. You just can't believe this happened in our town."

Among those who gathered in Newtown was a group of 13 survivors of the 2005 school shooting on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. The group drove nearly 1,500 miles to support and comfort the families and survivors. They brought gifts intended to bring a message of resilience and hope, including a plaque that survivors of the 1999 Columbine shooting gave to them after their experience.

"This is just something we had to do," said Ashley Lejeunesse, 23, who was also in the Red Lake classroom.

The chiming of bells reverberated throughout the nation, and there were observances around the world.

In Washington, religious leaders from a broad range of faiths gathered at Washington National Cathedral to call for their congregations to lobby Congress to enact gun control and mental health reforms to address pervasive gun violence. In a garden beside the National Cathedral, they paused to listen as a funeral bell tolled.

In New York City, bells at the historic Trinity Church near the World Trade Center tolled 28 times. In Massachusetts, bells in churches around the state, including Boston's historic Old North Church, rang in honor of those killed in the attack. A moment of silence was observed throughout Colorado, and bells rang out in Denver, while in Wyoming, St. Mary's Cathedral in Cheyenne and other places of worship rang bells 26 times. In Ohio, places of worship from Cincinnati to Cleveland and beyond tolled their bells 26 times, and schools across the state marked the moment with silence.

In Alabama, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, governors invited citizens to take part in a moment of silence.

In the west African nation of Liberia, 20 children from a school sponsored by the Newtown Rotary Club gathered at the U.S. Embassy to give their condolences. Each child from the Caroline Miller School in Monrovia placed a flower on a poster bearing the name of a victim of the shooting.

When the bells tolled to honor the victims of last week's shooting rampage, they did so 26 times, for each child and staff member killed.

There is rarely a mention by residents of the first person police said Adam Lanza killed that morning: his mother, Nancy, who was shot in the head four times while she lay in bed.

A private funeral was held Thursday in New Hampshire for Nancy Lanza, according to the police chief in Kingston, N.H., where her funeral was held. About 25 family members attended.

The Newtown area weathered more funerals Friday, with five planned.

A standing room-only crowd filled the St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church in Trumbull for the funeral of Mary Sherlach. The school psychologist who rushed toward the gunman during the shooting was remembered as a caring professional, a fan of the Miami Dolphins and a woman who ultimately put the lives of others ahead of her own.

Investigators have said that Nancy Lanza, a gun enthusiast, visited shooting ranges several times and that her son also visited an area range.

Authorities say Adam Lanza shot his mother at their home and then took her car and some of her guns to the school, where he broke in and opened fire. A Connecticut official said Nancy Lanza was shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.

Adam Lanza was wearing all black, with an olive-drab utility vest, during the school attack. Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the rampage.

Friends and acquaintances have described him as intelligent, but odd and quiet.

Friends said he would stare down at the floor and not speak when she brought him into a local pizzeria. They knew that he'd switched schools more than once and that she'd tried home schooling him. But while she occasionally expressed concern about his future during evenings at the bar, she never complained.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Melia, John Christoffersen, Eileen Connelly, Susan Haigh and David Klepper in Newtown.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-21-Connecticut%20School%20Shooting/id-968813c3749d4e33a7ef4f35a279d6a7

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Paths of photons are random -- but coordinated

Dec. 20, 2012 ? Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have demonstrated that photons (light particles) emitted from light sources embedded in a complex and disordered structure are able to mutually coordinate their paths through the medium. This is a consequence of the photons' wave properties, which give rise to the interaction between different possible routes. The results are published in the scientific journal, Physical Review Letters.

The real world is complex and messy. The research field of photonics, which explores and exploits light, is no exception, and in, for example, biological systems the statistical disorder is unavoidable.

Drunken people and photons

"We work with nanophotonic structures in order to control the emission and propagation of photons. We have discovered in the meantime, that inevitable inaccuracies in the structures lead to random scattering. As a consequence, the transport of photons follow a random path -- like a drunken man staggering through the city's labyrinthine streets after an evening in the pub," explains David Garc?a, postdoc in Quantum Photonics at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

If we continue with this analogy, then it is not certain that just because one drunken man comes home safely, then a whole crowd of drunken people spreading out from the pub will also find their way through the city's winding streets. There is no relationship between the different random travellers.

But there is when you are talking about photons. They can 'sense' each other and coordinate their travel through a material, according to new research.

"We have inserted a very small light source in a nanophotonic structure, which contains disorder in the form of a random collection of light diffusing holes. The light source is a so-called quantum dot, which is a specially designed nanoscopic light source that can emit photons. The photons are scattered in all directions and are thrown back and forth. But photons are not just light particles, they are also waves, and waves interact with each other. This creates a link between the photons and we can now demonstrate in our experiments that the photons' path through the material is not independent from the other photons," explains David Garc?a.

Spectroscopy of complex materials

By analysing the path of the photons through the medium valuable insight is potentially gained about microscopic complex structures.

"The method could be a new way to measure the spatial properties of complex disordered materials, like biological tissue, and since the light sources are very small, you will be able to place them without destroying the material and you have the potential for very high spatial resolution," explains David Garc?a.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/ACRWQeVt50g/121220143738.htm

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Spectrum Pharma's blood cancer drug meets goal in mid-stage trial

Though Robert Pattinson stuck by her, Ben Affleck has left Kristen Stewart?in the dust. Citing a schedule crunch, the actor has backed out of?Focus, a con-artist movie set to costar Stewart and begin filming this spring. Stewart had just said in a recent interview that she was excited to start shooting, but now who knows what will happen. "Hi Kristen. We know that you were excited about working with Ben, but he dropped out, so we got you a replacement," a producer says to her the day she arrives on set. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spectrum-pharmas-blood-cancer-drug-meets-goal-mid-123950861--finance.html

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Cardinal: Teacher who gave her life is 'like Jesus'

Craig Ruttle / AP

The casket of teacher Anne Marie Murphy, who was killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, is lifted from St. Mary Of The Assumption Church after a funeral service in Katonah, N.Y., on Thursday.

By Tracy Connor and Andrew Mach, NBC News

A Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher who died cradling a special-needs student in her arms was laid to rest Thursday, with one of the nation?s top religious leaders speaking about how the world was ?awed? by her sacrifice.

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral for Anne Marie Murphy, 52, a married mom of four, in Katonah, N.Y., where she lived before moving to Newtown, Conn.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who presided over the Mass at St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church, compared Murphy?s sacrifice to that of Jesus Christ.

"Like him, she has brought together a community, a nation, a world, now awed by her own life and death,? Dolan said, according to the Associated Press.?

---

"Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends," Dolan said. "Like Jesus, Annie's life and death brings light, truth, goodness and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness and death."

When Adam Lanza?s rampage at Sandy Hook was over, authorities found 6-year-old Dylan Hockley ?wrapped in the arms? of Murphy, his special-education teacher, the child?s parents said in a statement.

"We take great comfort in knowing that Dylan was not alone when he died,? they said. ?Dylan loved Mrs. Murphy so much and pointed at her picture on our refrigerator every day."

A statement from Murphy?s family, read by her brother-in law Thomas Newman across the street from the white-steepled church, expressed sympathy for the loved ones of all 20 children and six staffers killed in Friday?s massacre.

?[We] pray for all the families touched so terribly, that God may help these feelings of such great pain and grief pass quickly, that they may be replaced with only happy thoughts and joyous memories of those we have lost,? they said.

There was another wave of wakes and funerals in Newtown and surrounding towns with poignant scenes including Boy Scout leaders lining the path to Trinity Episcopal Church, where 6-year-old Benjamin Wheeler?s tiny casket was carried by his uncles.

Seth Wenig / AP

Herb Pontow, left, and Tony Tipton, both from Maryland, try to clean and organize an overflowing memorial for the shooting victims in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 20.

The Rev. Kathleen Adams-Shepherd told the crowd the crime was ?inexplicable in human terms,? according to the Stamford Advocate.?Benjamin?s life was cut too short by a "sick young man with access to weapons that should never, ever be in a home," she said.

Trees outside the Sacred Heart Church in Southbury were festooned with green balloons, because that was 6-year-old Allison Wyatt?s favorite color.

"She was goofy," the Rev.?Walter L. Pitman said, according to the Stamford Advocate.? "She was funny. She had her two grandfathers wrapped around her finger and she knew it."

At St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, 6-year-old Catherine Hubbard was eulogized by her mother, Jennifer, who recalled how the little redhead asked Santa for animals every Christmas.

The priest, Msgr. Robert Weiss, said Catherine?s brother, Freddy, worried how he would know he was on the right school bus without his kid sister around.

?Just look up and she?ll give you a wink,? Weiss said, according to the Middletown Press.

?Oh she already did? She got there fast.?

Services were also held for Lauren Rousseau, 30, a full-time substitute teacher at Sandy Hook, and Jesse Lewis, 6, a first-grader who loved horses.

A public memorial for Emilie Parker, 6, who was born in Utah, was held Thursday evening in Ogden, Utah, NBC station KSL reported.?Nearly 1,000 people attended.

"It means a lot," Robbie Parker said, according to KSL. "We love you guys. Thank you for being here."

He said he remembered going for walks with Emilie. "We could never make it very far because she always had to stop and pick all of the flowers," he said.

A private funeral service for Lanza?s mother was held in New Hampshire, and about two dozen relatives attended, a police source told NBC News. Nancy Lanza was shot multiple times in the head before her son stormed the school.

It wasn?t clear if anyone was prepared to claim Adam Lanza?s body.

/

A nation mourns after the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history at Sandy Hook Elementary, which left 20 children and six staff members dead.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/20/16040904-cardinal-teacher-who-gave-her-life-is-like-jesus?lite

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San Francisco's Skinniest Buildings Revealed (PHOTOS)

This article comes to us courtesy of California Home + Design.

By Frances Malcolm

San Francisco is home to quite a few slim structures that do pass code as livable spaces. Perhaps you've seen some of these gems while tramping through the city, but we wouldn't blame you if you blinked and missed them.

Take a look at the first three buildings below, then click over to California Home + Design for the full article and slideshow:

• The Heineman Building, 130 Bush Street, Financial District

  The Heineman Building was originally built in 1910 as a belt, tie and suspender factory. Though it no longer serves a manufacturing function, it still retains its original Gothic revival charm, impressed copper paneling and exuberant detailing at the crown. At 10-stories tall and less than 20-feet wide, the Heineman building is nothing short of dramatic. Such drama is further heightened by the striking line it cuts between the Art Deco Shell building to the east and a brick behemoth to the west.

• Roullier Building, 49 Kearny Street, Union Square

  Because a nondescript nail salon occupies its first floor, this beauty would have eluded anyone without a penchant for strolling with her head craned up and to the side. But that doesn?t mean it?s not special. Built in 1907 by Albert Pissis, architect of the famed Flood Building, the dormered and column-clad Roullier Building is perhaps the leanest Beaux Arts building ever conceived.

• Chamberlain Building, 442-444 Post Street, Union Square

  The Chamberlain Building on the 400 block of Post Street is a slightly wider, slightly less interesting version of the Roullier Building. Aside from its fa?ade-dominating, wrought iron fire escape, one of the building?s most intriguing features is not inherent to the structure itself but rather contingent upon its relationship with its neighbors. Seen from the east, the Chamberlain Building is part of a series of four progressively taller buildings that create something of an urban architectural staircase.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/20/san-franciscos-skinniest-buildings_n_2335129.html

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It's Time To Take Mobile Facebook Marketing Seriously [Infographic]

If you?re not totally on board the mobile bandwagon yet, then surely you?ve heard whispers that it?s rolling through town ? at high speeds and with determination.

Everything from itty bitty laptops to itty bittier smart phones are forcing businesses and marketers to pay attention.

Whether it?s formatting content to display at various screen sizes, making ease-of-use a priority, or just catching the attention of busy consumers on the go, it?s time for all of us not only to take mobile seriously but quite possibly to put it first.

Crazy, I know.

But when you consider recent statistics that tell us that half of all local searches are performed on mobile? and that an eyebrow-raising 91% of mobile internet access is to socialize? ?crazy? is a word you might use to describe people who aren?t obsessing about mobile.

Thanks to the research efforts of Qwaya ? a tech company in the business of building social marketing tools ? the infographic below should give you food for thought as you plan your marketing strategies for 2013 and beyond.

The Qwaya team put this infographic together to raise awareness and inspire businesses to start thinking about mobile as a unique opportunity. They also think Facebook mobile ads are going to be huge next year. If you want more of their take on that, you can check out this post about Facebook advertising.

Otherwise, their best suggestion for smart marketers? Study your target audience and engage. The best advice is always the simplest!

Let me know if any of the stats in this infographic surprise you or if you have other compelling info to share.

?

Visit Qwaya to learn more about their Facebook ad management tools.

Source: http://www.websearchsocial.com/its-time-to-take-mobile-facebook-marketing-seriously-infographic?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=its-time-to-take-mobile-facebook-marketing-seriously-infographic

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Binghamton church to host free holiday dinner

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Source: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20121218/NEWS01/312180064/1112/

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Go On a "Mission" With Your Nike FuelBand. Wait, What?

If you or your friends are sporting Nike FuelBands, you might be interested in this weird animated game that taps into your Fuel scores. Called NikeFuel Missions, the "game" essentially riffs off the existing challenges that are presented to Nike+ users on the desktop website. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/pjHQUMkL2xE/go-on-a-mission-with-your-nike-fuelband-wait-what

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Woman loses 'ruined wedding' lawsuit against Stonepine Estate

In an earlier version of this story Ladan Lynn Nazarian wouldn't elaborate on what points of Stonepine's version of events she didn't agree with.

A woman who sued a Carmel Valley ranch claiming it ruined her daughter's "dream wedding" lost her case last week.

Ladan Lynn Nazarian of Burlingame said Stonepine Estate failed to prepare for rain at the October 2010 wedding. The estate said it repeatedly tried to get her to order a tent.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Tom Wills sided with the estate.

"It was as much of a slam dunk win for Stonepine as you can imagine," Stonepine's Monterey attorney, Michael Masuda, said.

Nazarian asked the $80,000 paid for the wedding be refunded, $100,000 in unspecified damages and $150,000 in emotional distress. She got nothing.

"I'm extremely disappointed the court could not see through the lies," Nazarian said, adding that she thought it was Stonepine Estate's owner who did not want the tent and rejected her attempts to get one. Nazarian said she "begged them" to get a tent four to five days before the wedding.

Nazarian had claimed in her suit that the wedding was ruined when 250 people had to be crammed into a greenhouse and guests were served cold food.

The truth, according Masuda and Stonepine owner Gordon Hentschel, was much different.

Stonepine told Nazarian a month before the wedding it thought she should order a tent, but she declined because she did not want the extra cost, Masuda

said.

Then, three or four days before the wedding, weather reports started looking "sketchy" and Stonepine asked again, to no avail, he said.

Finally, on the day before the wedding, with weather reports indicating it may rain, they again asked Nazarian, but she refused.

"They can't force her to get a tent," Masuda said.

Nazarian acknowledged the estate had one email which said she did not want a tent but that it was only after Stonepine's event planner assured her it would not rain.

Masuda said Stonepine had "numerous emails" from Nazarian saying she did not want a tent.

When it rained, Stonepine moved the party into a building they use for so-called country weddings.

Masuda said the estate could have just told them to have the wedding in the rain ? instead Stonepine's staff "worked really hard and was willing to put on the wedding, and dinner and reception."

Hentschel said he's probably been asked about the lawsuit more than 200 times the past two years but was unsure if it affected his business.

"That's the only negative we've ever had," he said of stories about the lawsuit. "Yes, it probably took a toll, but we'll never know how much."

Hentschel said his celebrity guests never complained about their stays.

Andre Agassi and Brooke Shields were married there in 1997 and Bill Gates, Clint Eastwood, The Rolling Stones, Jim Carey and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have stayed at the estate.

Phillip Molnar can be reached at 646-4487 or pmolnar@montereyherald.com

Source: http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_22213167/woman-loses-ruined-wedding-lawsuit-against-stonepine-estate?source=rss_viewed

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Air Canada's new discount carrier will fly in July

By Associated Press Published: Dec 18, 2012 at 9:58 AM MST Last Updated: Dec 18, 2012 at 9:58 AM MST

TORONTO (AP) - Air Canada says its new low-cost carrier, called Rouge, will begin flying on July 1.

Air Canada said Tuesday that Rouge will fly to Venice, Italy, and Edinburgh, Scotland, two destinations that currently aren't served by Air Canada.

The new airline will also serve Athens and other European destinations and the Caribbean from Montreal and Toronto.

The discount carrier will begin operations with two Boeing 767-300ER and two Airbus A319 aircraft that will be released from Air Canada's mainline fleet.

Additional planes will be added as Air Canada starts to take delivery of new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in 2014, ramping up to 50 planes.

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline and the 15th largest airline in the world, serving more than 33 million passengers last year.

Source: http://www.kboi2.com/news/business/Air-Canadas-new-discount-carrier-will-fly-in-July-183959501.html

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Christmastime is tamale time across the USA

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Christmastime is tamale time in South Texas, and Valerie Gonzalez is in the middle of another busy day at Delicious Tamales, the business she has owned for 30 years on San Antonio's largely Latino west side.

Moving quickly between answering the phone and greeting customers in English and in Spanish, she says that December is her busiest month when it comes to the steamed Mexican delicacy that is a holiday tradition among Hispanic families.

Customer Jesse Villanueva, 54, of San Antonio, came to buy some for his family.

"As far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't be Christmas without tamales," he said.

Gonzalez said she is seeing something new this holiday season: She's shipping tamales all over the United States.

"We have a lot of people who have moved across the United States and there are sorts of people, all classes of people, who are finding out about tamales for Christmas," she said.

At a time when the U.S. Census Bureau reports a surging Hispanic population - one in six U.S. residents is Hispanic, a number that's expected to grow to nearly one in three by 2060 - is the tamale becoming the new fruitcake?

"I think that's true," says Margaret Zuniga-Healy of the Progresso Tamale Parlor in Hollister, California, which has been owned by her family since 1939. "As people become more familiar with Mexican American cuisine, they're willing to try more things."

The tamale - called a "tamal" in Spanish - takes its name from the Aztec word meaning "wrapped food." It is believed to be among the oldest continuously eaten foods in the Western Hemisphere, with roots dating back more than 2,500 years, according to Jeffrey Pilcher, a historian at the University of Minnesota and the author of "Planet Taco, a Global History of Mexican Food."

Tamales began to be associated with holidays in the Pre-Columbian era, Pilcher says, when several families would gather to make the labor-intensive food. The delicacy often features beef, chicken or pork and masa (corn dough) steamed in a corn husk, though there are many variations throughout Latin America.

Zuniga-Healy said Americans are embracing Mexican food the same way they embraced Italian food in the 1920s, and the tradition of Christmas tamales is part of that discovery of new food.

The tamale is like the fruitcake in another way, Pilcher said: It is easily given as a holiday gift.

Gonzalez says it's not surprising that tamales are becoming popular in parts of the United States where Christmastime is a lot colder than it is in the traditional Mexican American areas of the Southwest.

"Tamales keep you warm, the more tamales that you eat," she said. "Especially the ones with the jalapenos in them."

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christmastime-tamale-time-across-usa-014655969.html

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Cops to trolls: Sharing misinformation about school shooting is a crime

9 hrs.

Helen A.S. Popkin

On Sunday,?when addressing the media on the?Sandy Hook massacre, Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police warned that?anyone posting "misinformation" on the case was committing a crime, and would be investigated "statewide and federally, and prosecution will take place."?While it's easy to understand his anger and frustration, any legal action against Internet trolls is unlikely to hold up under the U.S. Constitution, experts say.?

When asked the specifics of this misinformation, Lt. Vance said,?"I?m not a social media expert," but?cited everything from?erroneous?assumptions?to information "deemed as threatening," homing in on what seems to be the most egregious, fake accounts and "quotes by people who are posing as the shooter."

True enough, a survey of the social media landscape revealed profiles in the guise of the shooter law enforcement?knew to be dead. Even before the full story surrounding Friday's horrific shooting in Newtown, Conn., reached the public, Internet lowlifes had?inserted themselves into the narrative.?

On Facebook, at least a dozen fan pages appeared ? first using the name of the alleged shooter?s brother, initially misidentified by officials, and following the clarification, under the deceased?shooter's name, "Adam Lanza."?

FULL COVERAGE: Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary

On Twitter, similar accounts appeared using variations of Lanza?s name, at least one posting offensive tweets about the shooting, baiting a shocked and grieving public to respond.?The appearance of these faux accounts following any national tragedy is?inarguably?offensive, and unfortunately all too?common. While they certainly violate both Facebook and Twitter's Terms of Service, they'd be unlikely to?draw a?conviction under either state or federal law.?

To be clear, threats???even those made in jest???to mimic a violent crime making national news, will very likely get you arrested, as several careless Facebook users?learned over the weekend.?Any resulting charges may not stick, but it?certainly will make your life miserable for a while.

Outrageous, and even false speech may very well be protected in the United States by the First?Amendment, notes Jeff Hermes, director of the Digital Media Law Project,?Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. What matters is whether that speech is part of legitimate public discussion.

"Clearly the circumstances in Connecticut are matter of grave public concern right now," Hermes told NBC News. "We have to be careful that commentary, discussion and reaction can take many different forms, not only news coverage and public discussion."

Most would?agree free speech doesn't get more obnoxious or offensive than that of the Westboro Baptist Church, known for picketing funerals of soldiers ??and now?threatening to picket the funerals of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. In 2011, the Supreme Court upheld?the Westboro Baptist Church's right to picket the funeral of Matthew?Snyder, a U.S. Marine who was killed in Iraq. The SCOUTUS judgement deemed the church not liable for causing?emotional distress, even if the speech was found to be "outrageous."?It was Snyder's father who filed the lawsuit.

As for "misinformation" allegedly interfering in the investigation, it's unlikely any such cases would hold up in the Supreme Court. Just this year, in the case of the U.S. v. Alvarez, the Supreme Court ruled that even false statements ? in this case, lying about military medals ??are protected by the First Amendment.?

Certainly, law enforcement isn't fooled by social media accounts claiming to belong to someone who is no longer alive. As Lt. Vance emphasized to the media on Sunday, "social media websites that contain information relative to this case are not being posted by the Connecticut state police, are not being posted by the Newtown police, are not being posted by any authorities in this case."?

Though likely?protected by the First Amendment, those who post offensive content could face, under Connecticut law, a civil claim for the infliction of emotional distress, the Berkman Center's?Hermes said, adding that there have been some lower court rulings on such cases.

That is, if the social networks themselves don't shut down the activity first.?

While neither confirmed with NBC News, both Facebook and Twitter seem to have the fake Adam Lanza accounts under control. Those which popped up on Friday seem to have disappeared by Monday. No courts required.

You can't blame Lt. Vance for trotting out the prosecution threats, especially if he's trying to chill out the nastiest of?trolls. As with an increasing number of?major news events,?law enforcement is having a hard time hearing the signal through all of the Internet noise.

FULL COVERAGE: Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary

Helen A.S. Popkin?writes about Internet culture. You?can find her on?Twitter?and/or?Facebook.?Also,?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/cops-trolls-sharing-misinformation-about-school-shooting-crime-1C7648194

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Obama: ?We can?t tolerate this anymore?

President Barack Obama assured the grieving, shell-shocked Newtown community on Sunday that "you are not alone" and vowed sternly to wield "whatever power this office holds" in a quest to prevent future mass shootings.

"We can't tolerate this anymore," Obama said from behind a podium on the stage of a Newton High School auditorium, as adults wept, or hugged, or sat quietly, many hugging small children. "These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."

"In the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens -- from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents, and educators -- in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have?"he said.

The speech, broadcast nationwide, offered the bold suggestion that Obama might engage lawmakers on the subject of gun control -- a topic that has not been among his top priorities during his presidency.

"We can't accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage?" Obama said.? That the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year, after year, after year is somehow the price of our freedom?"

There were sobs from the crowd as the president read the first names of the 20 children slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday and paid tribute to the six adults who died defending them. Twenty-six candles in twenty-six shining glass vases shone from the base of the podium.

Obama anticipated ? and dismissed ? some of the time-honored arguments against stricter restrictions on guns. "We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true," he said. "No single law no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society."

"But that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this," he said.?

Across the country, people grieved for the 20 children ? six and seven years old ? and six adults killed in one of the worst mass shootings in America's history.

In Newtown and elsewhere, mourners gently piled notes, stuffed animals and American flags, balloons and flowers, in makeshift memorials where candles fluttered.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz played wearing a shoe that read "R.I.P. Jack Pinto" in black marker, an homage to a child slain in the massacre. Flags from coast to coast flew at half-staff. As the president's motorcade climbed the hill up the school, he could glimpse a few homes with Christmas lights -- but most were dark.

"Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation," the president said. "I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts."

"I can only hope it helps for you to know you are not alone in your grief that our world too has been torn apart. That all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We've pulled our children tight," Obama said. "And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it."

In the auditorium where the president spoke, the audience included a large number of elementary school-age children, some carrying cuddly toys like teddy bears, according to pool reporter Stephen Collinson of Agence France-Presse.

Before the service, Obama met privately for more than an hour with families of the victims and emergency workers who responded to the crisis.?As those workers entered the auditorium, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation. Some traded long hugs with members of the audience.

"We needed this. We needed to be together," said Rev. Matt Crebbin, the senior minister at Newtown Congregational Church. "These darkest days of our community shall not be the final word heard from us."

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, describing his meeting with Obama, said that the president had called Friday "the most difficult day of? his presidency."

By?4 p.m., the line cars trying to reach the interfaith vigil stretched more than 2 miles from Newtown High School back through Sandy Hook -- and its growing makeshift memorial -- to Saint Rose church, the site of several vigils for (and hoax threats related to) Friday's massacre.

In Sandy Hook center, a lawn displayed lights with the phrase "FAITH. HOPE. LOVE." Across the street, a sign wrapped around a street lamp read, "Heaven must have been short on 27 angels."

The president spoke about the shooting on Friday,? his voice choked with emotion, one finger wiping away tears as they welled up. He vowed to "take meaningful action, regardless of the politics" to try to prevent future such tragedies. But hours before,? White House press secretary Jay Carney had decreed that "today's not the day" to discuss possible gun control measures.

The Obama administration has reportedly considered new gun restrictions in the past, only to shelve them.

The White House has shied from seeking tough new action from Congress ? where new restrictions on gun purchases would likely run into stiff Republican opposition.

Obama's speech was the fourth in his presidency to memorialize a mass shooting. After the January 2011 rampage in Tucson, AZ, where then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured, the president spoke at a memorial for the six people killed, including Christina Taylor Green, 9.

Dylan Stableford contributed from Newtown

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-newtown-t-tolerate-anymore-022115820--politics.html

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Packers clinch NFC North with 21-13 win over Bears

Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones (89) crosses the goal line with a touchdown reception while tackled by Chicago Bears cornerback D.J. Moore in the first half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones (89) crosses the goal line with a touchdown reception while tackled by Chicago Bears cornerback D.J. Moore in the first half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones (89) celebrates his touchdown reception with teammate Jermichael Finley (88) in the second half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Bears special teams player Joe Anderson (19) celebrates after a tackle in the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, right, celebrates the touchdown reception by wide receiver James Jones (89) in the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte (22) sandwiched by Green Bay Packers linebackers Brad Jones (59) and Clay Matthews (52) and defensive tackle Mike Neal (96) in the first half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

CHICAGO (AP) ? With one championship under their belt, the Green Bay Packers are already eyeing a few others.

Aaron Rodgers connected with James Jones on all three touchdowns, Clay Matthews continued his dominance of Jay Cutler with two more sacks and Green Bay clinched its second straight NFC North title with a 21-13 victory over the archrival Chicago Bears on Sunday.

After starting the season 2-3, the Packers are showing signs they might have a run in them like the one that carried them to the Super Bowl title two years ago. They have assured themselves of a home playoff game and, at 10-4, are still in the running for the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

"We're just getting started," coach Mike McCarthy said. "We feel that way as a football team. We feel there's a lot better football in front of us."

Chicago, meanwhile, continues to slide. This was the Bears' fifth loss in six games, and they're in danger of missing the playoffs after beginning the season 7-1. Chicago (8-6) lost ground in the race for the last wild-card spot, and fans at Soldier Field showered the team with boos for much of the game.

Cutler had another dismal day against the Packers, throwing an interception that led to the game-winning touchdown. He's been picked off 17 times by the Packers, including 10 in his last five games. Alshon Jeffery was whistled for three offensive pass interference calls, all late in the second half when the Bears were scratching to get something going.

Brandon Marshall had Chicago's only touchdown, but had just 56 yards receiving. The Bears were held to 67 yards of offense in the second half and finished with 190, their third-lowest of the season. The Packers have now won six straight against their rivals to the south.

"Everybody involved in this offense should be held accountable, even if that means jobs," said Marshall, who struggled to compose himself as he spoke before cutting short his post-game interview. "It's been this way all year. There's no excuse. We still have two games left. There's still hope, but at the same time, we need to be held accountable."

It was Marshall who turned the heat up on what is already the NFL's oldest ? and fiercest ? rivalry earlier in the week, saying he'd never disliked a team as much as he did the Packers. Green Bay had held him to 24 yards on two catches in their first meeting back in September, and the NFL's receptions leader called the rematch "personal," adding, "But the talk, you have to back it up. We'll go out there and we'll do everything we need to do to get a win."

Marshall did his part early, firing up the Chicago sideline when he sidestepped one tackle and stiff-armed Casey Hayward on his way to the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown that gave Chicago a 7-0 lead. He screamed as he tossed the ball into the stands, and his teammates and the crowd roared in approval. Joe Anderson fueled the frenzy when he body-slammed Randall Cobb on the ensuing kickoff, and the Bears appeared to be firmly in control.

But overcoming adversity has become second nature to the Packers with the season they've had, and this game was no different.

"We don't try to trash talk," cornerback Sam Shields said. "When we get on the field we trash talk, but not in the paper. We let our actions show on the field."

Over the final 4:19 of the second quarter, the Packers went from a 7-0 deficit to a 14-7 lead thanks to a pair of Rodgers-to-Jones TDs sandwiched around a Hayward pick.

"That was important. That was really important," Rodgers said of the 14-point swing. "We couldn't them get up a couple scores and get into what they wanted to do, which it looked like they wanted to run (Matt) Forte a lot. Getting ahead of them kind of took them out of some of that stuff."

Having already been sacked twice, Rodgers was on the run again on third-and-6 when he spotted Cobb down the right sideline. He threw a dart to Cobb, who hauled it in for a 31-yard gain that put the Packers at the Chicago 35. Three plays later, Rodgers connected with Jones for a 29-yard score that tied the game at 7.

After exchanging punts, Cutler looked for Devin Hester only to find Hayward instead. It was the sixth interception of the season for the rookie, who grabbed the ball at midfield and returned it 24 yards. Five plays later, Rodgers hooked up with Jones again, this time for an 8-yard TD.

The Packers made it 21 unanswered points on the first drive of the second half. In another third-and-long situation, Rodgers threw incomplete to Jermichael Finley. But Green Bay got a second chance when Chris Conte was called for pass interference and, after a delay of game penalty, Rodgers found Jones for a 6-yard score.

It was Jones' first three-touchdown game and the fourth multiple-TD game of his career.

"You don't want to lose to your rival year in and year out. It's not a rival. It's a domination," Cutler said. "We've got to find a way, but that's in the past. Arizona's up next, we've just got to focus on that."

The Bears had chances to get back into it. Green Bay's Mason Crosby missed two more field goals, and Charles Tillman forced a fumble by Ryan Grant that Nick Roach recovered. Chicago got a big break on the next play when Green Bay safety Morgan Burnett hauled Jeffery down right in front of the end zone ? and right in front of an official. The pass interference penalty gave Chicago the ball at the Green Bay 1.

But the Bears could only get a 34-yard field goal by Olindo Mare out of it after Jeffery was called for pass interference, his first of three.

NOTES: Matthews has eight sacks of Cutler in as many games. ... The Bears sacked Rodgers three times, with Peppers and Corey Wooton each being credited with 1 1/2. ... Despite two more misses by Crosby, his 11th and 12th this year, McCarthy said the Packers will not be looking for a new kicker. "We're not changing kickers. Write that down right now," McCarthy said. "He's our guy." ... Randall Cobb had 150 all-purpose yards, leaving him 10 shy of Ahman Green's single-season Packers record (2,250 in 2003).

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-16-FBN-Packers-Bears/id-94f19dbb43f54298b7a674e7119a9dce

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Video: Video: Jeff Kaney

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50229781/

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Speech Sounds on Cue for iPad from Bungalow Software, Inc ...

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Could shooting be a gun-control tipping point?

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The question surfaces each time a mass murder unfolds: Will this one change the political calculus in Washington against tougher gun control?

The answer, after the Virginia Tech killings, the attempted assassination of Gabby Giffords, the Colorado movie-theater attack, the Wisconsin Sikh temple shootings, and more: No.

But now?

The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the bloodiest attack against youngsters in the nation's history, stands as a possible tipping point after Washington's decade-long aversion even to talking about stricter gun laws.

So it seems in the stunned aftermath, judging from President Barack Obama's body language as much as his statement. "We have been through this too many times," said the famously composed president, this time moved to tears. "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."

It remains to be seen whether Sandy Hook will break the usual cycle of universal shock fading into political reality. That reality is based on a combination of powerful gun lobbying and public opinion, which has shifted against tougher gun control and stayed that way. However lawmakers react this time, it's the president's call whether the issue fades again or takes its place alongside the legacy-shaping initiatives of his time, with all the peril that could mean for his party.

With the murder rate less than half what it was two decades ago, and violent crime down even more in that time, gun control has declined as a political issue.

But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a gun control advocate, heard the familiar in Obama's initial response, despite the striking emotion.

"Not enough," Bloomberg said of Obama's words. "We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership ? not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today."

The Newtown shooter brought three guns into the school, and the weapons were registered to his slain mother, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss information with reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, and a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle were found in the school after the attack, and a fourth weapon was recovered outside.

One certainty in the weeks to come is that both parties in Washington will carefully watch public opinion on gun control and the Second Amendment, and whether any impact lasts.

Opposition to stricter laws has proved resilient. Firearms are in one-third or more of households and suspicion runs deep of an overbearing government whenever it proposes expanding federal authority. The argument of gun-rights advocates that firearm ownership is a bedrock freedom as well as a necessary option for self-defense has proved persuasive enough to dampen political enthusiasm for substantial change.

In July, a gunman opened fire on Aurora, Colo., theatergoers watching the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 12 people. The next month, an Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll found that 49 percent of Americans felt laws limiting gun ownership infringe on the right to bear arms, while only 43 percent said such laws do not infringe on those rights.

By many measures, Americans have changed on the question since the 1990s, when people favored gun control over gun rights ? by a 2-to-1 margin in polling after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado. In a Gallup poll last year, 55 percent said gun laws should stay the same or be more lenient, while 43 percent wanted them toughened.

None of this is lost on Washington, where most Democrats long ago abandoned their advocacy of gun control, convinced that it is a losing issue for them. Obama has proposed reinstituting a federal ban on military-style assault weapons that lapsed years ago, but he's put no weight behind it, while signing laws letting people carry concealed weapons in national parks and in checked bags on Amtrak trains.

After the movie-theater attack, Obama declared "we should leave no stone unturned" to keep young people safe in a speech indicating he would challenge Congress to act on gun control. That expectation lasted for one day. The White House swiftly clarified that Obama would not propose stiffer gun laws this election year and favored more effective enforcement of existing law ? a position hardly distinguishable from that of his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

Likewise, early last year, Obama weighed in on guns after an assailant killed six people and wounded 13, shooting then-Rep. Giffords in the head outside a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz. The president called for "sound and effective steps" in gun laws as part of a "new discussion on how we can keep America safe for all our people." He soon went back to silence on the topic and gun-control advocates waited in vain for the steps.

With his last presidential campaign behind him, Obama is freer to take up contentious matters that he wouldn't touch when he was an incumbent seeking re-election. Odds are favorable that he will have at least one vacancy to fill on a Supreme Court now closely divided on gun cases.

The Aurora attack happened in the heat of the campaign, when Democrats wanted no trouble from gun owners. In its first official response to the killings, Obama's White House pledged to protect fundamental gun rights. Obama and his spokesmen never failed to couple his wish for "common-sense measures" with his devotion to the Second Amendment.

But after the massacre of children Friday, Obama spoke mainly of the anguish, and the need for action, and not at all about the right to bear arms.

By the standards of gun-control politics, that alone was a crack in the status quo.

___

Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo in Newtown, Conn., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/could-shooting-gun-control-tipping-point-140902422--politics.html

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Rockets fired at airport in Pakistan, 3 killed

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? Militants fired three rockets at an airport in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Saturday night, killing three people and wounding over 30 others, officials said.

Peshawar is located on the edge of Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the country. The city has been hit by repeated attacks in the past few years, but an attack on the airport is rare.

None of the rockets landed inside the main airport area, which is jointly used by civilian authorities and the air force, said Pervez George, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority.

Two of the rockets damaged a wall that surrounds the airport, and a third landed near a government building outside the premises, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Peshawar is the capital. A gunbattle broke out between security forces and militants after the rocket attack, said Hussain.

No militants were able to enter the airport, said the air force in a statement sent to reporters. No air force personnel were injured and none of their planes were damaged, it said.

The dead and wounded from the attack came from the neighborhoods located near the airport, said Umar Ayub, a local hospital official. The wounded included women and children, and several people were in critical condition, said Ayub.

Local TV footage showed people in the neighborhoods near the airport rushing for safety as the attack occurred. One car was damaged by the rocket fire and another was set on fire. A house was also damaged.

The airport has been closed, and flights are being diverted to other cities, said George, the civil aviation spokesman.

Also Saturday, police said a judge freed a couple on bail who confessed to killing their 15-year-old daughter in October by pouring acid on her after their other children pardoned them.

The girl's parents, Mohammad Zafar and his wife Zaheen, said in a televised interview that they killed her because she sullied the family's honor by looking at a boy.

They were freed from a jail in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Friday after their other children, who are minors, said they forgave their parents, said police officer Tahir Ayub. The children spoke through their guardian, who is also a relative, said Ayub.

The police officer said authorities had evidence to prove the murder charge against the parents, but by law, their children had the right to forgive them. The murder charge will likely be dropped, said Ayub.

The girl's death underlined the problem of so-called "honor killings" in Pakistan, where women are often killed for marrying or having relationships not approved by their families or because they are perceived to have somehow dishonored their family.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least 943 women were killed in the name of honor last year. The real toll is believed to be higher because many of the crimes go unreported.

____

Associated Press writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Roshan Mughal in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-15-Pakistan/id-382860880664400487aa094ad59165ac

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