Beyond the Arc: Georgetown's win over Louisville on Wednesday is the sort of thing we'll be seeing a lot of this season in the Big East, a league stocked with good teams, but no great ones beyond Syracuse.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45809007#45809007
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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? In a nation wracked by drug violence, this sprawling capital city of more than 20 million has been an oasis of relative peace. But the key to that calm - an informal truce among rival gangs - may be cracking.
On a sunny afternoon this month, a group of gunmen drove into a slum in the north of Mexico City, the streets packed with shoppers and children leaving school. In plain sight, the killers lined three crack cocaine dealers against a wall and shot them in the head with AK-47 assault rifles. They then forced another two men into a black van and drove away past terrified onlookers.
The killings, allegedly carried out by the bloodthirsty La Familia cartel of the central state of Michoacan, were the latest sign that the drug violence raging across large swathes of Mexico is creeping into the capital.
The drug lords have long kept a lid on turf wars in Mexico City. But a generation of upstart gangsters has this year carried out a series of massacres and decapitations on the city edges. Cells of these newer cartels have also become more active in kidnapping and shaking down local businessmen.
In the greater Mexico City area, police have reported more than 300 gangland killings this year. The carnage includes the massacre of a family of five in the Tlalpan area, a decapitation close to the wealthy business district of Santa Fe, and two headless bodies hanged from bridge in Huixquilucan in the west of the city. The death toll is up from last year, when 260 murders in the area were blamed on rival gangs.
Mexico City includes the inner Federal District, home to almost 9 million people, and another 12 million in outer suburbs and slums governed by the State of Mexico.
"A cartel crime wave here would be catastrophic," says Luis de la Barreda, head of ICESI, a Mexican think-tank on crime. "Mexico City is not only the home of all the country's major institutions, it is an image that is constantly in everyone's minds."
The capital, to be sure, remains one of the safest parts of the nation. Ciudad Juarez on the U.S. border was last year the most murderous city on the planet. The tourist resort of Acapulco has been hollowed out by violence. Even the affluent business city of Monterrey has been ravaged. But the Federal District boasts a lower homicide rate than many U.S. cities.
Many wealthy Mexicans have retreated here from violent enclaves, setting up new businesses and helping to boost property prices. Poorer families have fled from the bloodshed around the country to shanty towns on the city edges.
But there are signs the capital could go the way of other regions. The Guadalupe Victoria neighborhood - where gangsters shot dead the three alleged crack dealers in broad daylight - is typical of the slums the new cartels are moving into.
It is in the far north of the metropolitan sprawl, beneath shanty towns that spiral up dusty hills, a two-hour commute from the heart of the capital. The victims represented a problem relatively new to Mexico - a growing population of addicts and dealers who sell rocks of crack cocaine for as little as 30 pesos ($2.15).
Although the gunmen shot the alleged dealers right in front of a row of shops, store owners are too scared to talk about it. Most denied seeing anything, saying they were busy or their view was blocked.
TRUCE
Until a few years ago, when kidnappings and armed robbery were the biggest threats, Mexico City was seen as one of the most dangerous spots in the country. But it has enjoyed a relative calm while other regions were engulfed by turf wars triggered when President Felipe Calderon went after the cartels in late 2006.
The capital even seemed to be a safe place for the families of gangsters. Vicente Carrillo Leyva, son of the Juarez cartel founder, was arrested in 2009 as he exercised in the park of a plush suburb wearing an Abercrombie & Fitch jogging suit. Vicente Zambada, an heir to the rival Sinaloa cartel, was nabbed the same year driving through the upscale district of Lomas de Pedregal.
While cartel leaders kept money, houses and families in the capital, they were extremely cautious about unleashing violence on its streets. Security analysts say gangsters had a tacit understanding not to set off alarm bells in the heartland of Mexico's political power.
The murder rate tells the story. In the last three years, there were between 8 and 10 homicides for every 100,000 residents of the Federal District, police figures show. That is about half the national rate and much lower than U.S. cities like New Orleans, Baltimore and Detroit.
Meanwhile, Sinaloa state, the cradle of the drugs trade, had 81 murders per 100,000 last year. Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, had a horrifying rate of 272 homicides per 100,000.
The truce in the capital is now threatened by the intensity of turf wars elsewhere and the emergence of three cartels of a new ilk: La Familia, the widely-feared Zetas and a criminal cell called Mano con Ojos - or Hand With Eyes. These groups have all become major players, radicalized amid the fury of the drug war.
Many kingpins of these new cartels were once assassins and use violence as a basic form of communication instead of a last resort. The three groups have been fighting over turf in states surrounding the capital for years. Recent violence shows they may be spreading this war into the periphery of the city.
Police have hit back by raiding dozens of safe houses, busting gangsters holed up with guns, drugs and money. In some of these houses, usually rented properties in residential streets, agents have rescued terrified kidnap victims.
In one case, detectives arrested 14 men and women who allegedly formed a cell carrying out kidnappings for the Zetas cartel in the northern parts of the city. Detectives say the gangsters always demanded ransom payments in dollars and collected them at passenger bridges. One victim was a pregnant woman. The criminals cut off two of her fingers and sent them to her husband, in a box to pressure for the ransom.
Another gangster arrested in Mexico City was a leader of the Mano con Ojos gang called Oscar Osvaldo Garcia, nabbed by police in August. Garcia, a 36-year old former Mexican marine, allegedly spent many years working as a hit man for older kingpins of the Sinaloa Cartel.
But his bosses were taken down as part of Calderon's war on drugs and he began to head his own operations, recruiting young men from the Mexico City area to sell drugs, kidnap and kill.
TRAINED KILLERS
His career path underlines a central problem with Calderon's offensive. As the older kingpins are captured or killed, bloodthirsty lieutenants have risen up to fight over their empires.
"I was trained to kill," Garcia told police in videotaped testimony. He acknowledged murdering not only rival gangsters but dozens of witnesses. "They were innocent but they had seen too much. They had seen too many faces, and they had to go."
The attorney general of Mexico State, Alfredo Castillo, concedes the gangsters extort businesses in the area, a tactic of increasing concern across Mexico.
Rather than going after big companies or foreign ventures, they hit local vendors - taco stands, hardware stores and clothes stalls on the edge of the capital. Police arrested four such extortionists on December 12, alleging they were members of La Familia and shaking down businesses for 500 pesos ($36) a week each in the Cuautitlan area in the north of Mexico City.
Most of the affluent neighborhoods have not been affected. In trendy areas such as La Condesa, residents enjoy cappuccinos, sushi restaurants and Irish pubs with no sign of gunmen or soldiers.
Hugh Carroll, an offshore investment banker from Scotland, has lived here almost 10 years and hasn't felt any personal effect from the drug war. "I tend to operate in business areas, which are all very safe," Carroll says. "The worst thing that ever happened to me is that I was mugged a few years ago, but that can happen anywhere in the world."
Mexico's biggest security company, Multisistemas de Seguridad, still considers Mexico City a relatively low risk area. "In places close to the border such as Tamaulipas, there are real warlike conditions, but we have seen nothing like that here," says company spokesman Gabriel Avalos. "The incursion of these cartels is worrying, but it hasn't yet had a major effect on violence in the city."
Avalos says the Federal District's government, led by Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, has helped keep wealthier neighborhoods safe. After visiting London, Ebrard set out to install 8,000 cameras by 2012, when he leaves office. These eyes in the sky are on many street corners in plush districts and have been used to catch muggers and other criminals.
The Federal District's police officers are more effective than those in much of Mexico. While the rest of the country has different state and municipal police forces that often fight each other, the Federal District has a unified force.
"If other Mexican police forces were to follow this model it would be a positive development," says Jon French, a former U.S. State Department official who runs a Mexico City-based security consultancy.
With the city still relatively secure, Mexicans continue to take refuge here.
Diego Viloro moved from his native town of Uruapan, Michoacan to settle here in February. Uruapan was the scene of one of the first high-profile atrocities of the war when thugs rolled five severed heads onto a nightclub dance floor in 2006.
Viloro owned a grocery store but fled when gangsters threatened to kill him in a row over extortion payments. He left a big house and decent living, he said, to rent an apartment and get by driving a taxi.
"It worries me a lot when I see news about La Familia and Zetas on the edge of this city. That was how it started in Michoacan and it just got worse and worse," Viloro says.
"I don't want my children growing up around that fear and bloodshed. That was why I moved here."
(Editing by Kieran Murray and Chris Kaufman)
(Editing By Chris Kaufman)
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EAST LIVERPOOL - Family members packed Judge Melissa Byers Emmerling's courtroom at East Liverpool Municipal Court on Tuesday afternoon to watch as Mayor Jim Swoger was sworn in for his third four-year term as mayor of East Liverpool.
Swoger's term officially begins Jan. 2. He believes at that time he will have the longest term of any city mayor.
Swoger took his oath with his wife Amy by his side.
Amy Swoger said her husband took the oath with his hand on a Bible that belonged to his late father-in-law, Dean DeLong. She said DeLong attended the ceremony when Swoger was sworn in for his second term four years ago.
Looking on were many family members who drove in for the occasion, including the Swoger's eldest son Jim, daughter-in-law Bridget, and granddaughters Daphne, Lily, Audrey, Felicity and Charlotte, who arrived from Springfield, Va., in time for the ceremony and ahead of the predicted weather change from a cold rain to a wintry mix of ice and snow.
With no Republican or independent candidates opposing him in November, Swoger, a Democrat, won re-election by defeating Councilman Brian Kerr in the primary. Primary voters selected Swoger with a vote count of 494 to 443.
Source: http://www.morningjournalnews.com/page/content.detail/id/536873.html
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Damir Sagolj / Reuters, file
A North Korean child suffering from malnutrition rests in a bed in a hospital in Haeju, September 30, 2011
By Kari Huus, msnbc.com
Months before the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, an array of UN food experts and nonprofit groups urged immediate food aid for the isolated north Asian nation. Three groups that investigated conditions in the country described the urgent need for food, reporting ?acute malnutrition? among North Korean children, ?widespread consumption of grass? and elderly people on ?knife edge.?
Despite these dire assessments, and warnings that conditions are worsening, the Obama administration has balked on a decision over food aid for the isolated Asian nation. This week, just as promising talks were under way in Beijing between U.S. and North Korean envoys, the news broke that Kim had died. That change put the question of aid on the back burner again.
?We need to see where (the North Koreans) are and where they go as they move through their transition period,? said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland addressing questions about food aid on Tuesday. ?We will obviously need to reengage at the right moment, but? we haven?t made any internal decisions here.?
The World Food Programme says millions of children in North Korea are facing starvation and that up to six million people are in need of urgent aid. They've released a shocking and rare footage of emaciated children in hospitals and orphanages, barely clinging to life. John Sparks of Europe's Channel 4 reports.
Some provisions of a food aid deal that was purportedly being discussed in Beijing surfaced in South Korean press reports. The United States would provide 240,000 tons of high-protein biscuits and vitamins ? 20,000 tons a month for a year, the reports said ? targeting North Korea?s most vulnerable people ? pregnant and lactating women, children, and hospital patients. Nuland would not confirm these reports.
The terms that were under discussion, she said, were related to monitoring to ensure the food reached its intended recipients, and ?the kinds of food aid that we would consider if the conditions were right and if the right decisions were made.?
Eating bark, grass
Meanwhile, there is substantial evidence of a growing food crisis for millions who live in the countryside, beyond the relative comfort of Pyongyang, researchers and humanitarian groups say.
?What we saw? was extensive chronic malnutrition and cases of acute malnutrition, which is where the person is basically dying,? said David Austin, director of the North Korea program for Mercy Corps., one of five nonprofits dispatched to investigate the situation in February.
?More than 50 percent of people who are reliant on (state-provided grain) were out seeking out alternative food?things like bark, wild grass, and leaves?and mixing it in with food. We found there was no protein or fat in people?s diets.?
The mission was undertaken at the request of the federal government?s humanitarian aid agency, USAID after North Korea called for international food aid in January. Their report and a strong recommendation to proceed with the food aid went to USAID in April. ?
When Austin returned to North Korea in September, he says he learned that government grain rations had been cut by more than half to about 150 grams per day.
?That?s basically (the equivalent of) one potato,? he said.
In addition to the report by the U.S. group of nonprofits, two other groups?one made up of UN agencies and a group representing five European nonprofits?came to the same conclusions.
Marcus Noland, senior fellow and Asia expert at Peterson Institute for International Economics, said data support the eye witness reports.
?The price (of grain) is rising rapidly. That?s bad news,? said Noland. ?Normally after the fall harvest, there?s plenty of food, so the price goes down, and then it starts spiking in the late spring -- the so-called ?lean season.? This year the prices have basically continued rising right through the harvest? because there isn?t enough food in the country.?
The price is also rising on corn, and coal, which used by many North Koreans to heat their homes, he said.
Since last spring, humanitarian groups have been pressing the U.S. government to step in, as it has before, as a major contributor to North Korean aid needs. The last U.S. food handouts ended in March 2009, when North Korea expelled U.S. aid groups that were monitoring the distribution. Shortly afterwards, the North conducted long-range rocket and nuclear tests that prompted tough international sanctions.
Even though Pyongyong politics are opaque and in flux, not everyone agrees with U.S. ?wait and see? posture on food.
?As far as we understand, the North Koreans have not withdrawn their request for food aid,? said Austin. ?But the U.S. government has continued to delay its decision. We think there is a humanitarian need that must be answered. Children are dying.?
And some observers argue that the transition may present an opportunity to test the waters with Pyongyang?s newly named leader, 27-year-old Kim Jong Un.
?The fiscal price tag for 240,000 tons is not that big, so it seems to me as a conciliatory gesture at the beginning of this new leadership, you have more to gain than lose,? said Noland of the Peterson Institute. ?This guy could turn out to be even crazier or more brutal than his father or grandfather?. But it strikes me that given the circumstances the downside risk of moving forward is very low, compared to the ill will from backtracking.?
What officials are not making explicit is how the food aid is linked to concessions from Pyongyang, such as promise to halt its uranium enrichment program or to resume six-party nuclear disarmament talks, which ground to a halt three years ago.
Food for nukes?
From the point of view of humanitarian groups, aid should completely independent of politics.
?We don?t want to see the humanitarian principals linked to things such as giving up nuclear weapons,? said Austin of Mercy Corps. ?It undermines the moral authority of both.?
The State Department maintains that U.S. humanitarian assistance should not be politicized, but merely compliment U.S. foreign policy.
So, coincidentally ? or not -- when U.S. humanitarian envoys were discussing food aid with the North Koreans in Beijing over the weekend, the U.S. nuclear nonproliferation envoy was also holding talks in the Chinese capital. According to the AP report, sources close to negotiations said the food aid talks with North Korean officials in Beijing ?yielded a breakthrough on uranium enrichment.?
Food aid that is dependent on nuclear concessions is not fated to go far in Pyongyang during a leadership transition. North Korea watchers say that the anointed leader, who lacks the stature of his father or grandfather, is likely under immense pressure to prove his bravado to the military establishment, not compromise on defense issues.
The Obama administration has its own politics considerations. Without securing progress on nuclear disarmament, providing aid to North Korea may become bludgeon for Republicans to use against him in an election year. ?
?If you were the Obama administration and looking at this situation with the North Koreans," Noland said, "are you going to expend any political capital on these guys? You?ve got other issues... Do you want to take on dealing with North Korea in Congress? The answer is no.?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click here to follow Kari Huus on Facebook.
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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/21/9597663-politics-trump-hunger-in-north-korea
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! Th?t ?? wh?t th? n?w video game f?r th? Sony PlayStation 3 Move compels u? t? do. Create f?r th? PS3 Move ?? ?n? ?f th? f?r?t trul? original games t? challenge th? player t? u?? critical thinking, imagination, ?nd artistic ability. It w?? developed b? EA Bright Light Studios. It is now on th? market since November 19, 2010.Create ?? perfect f?r ?n? age. It aids ?n enhancing ?nd developing th? ability t? th?nk quick. A? th? player ?? making n?w th?ng? ?n th? game, th? game ?? 'learning' th? player. Th? game alters ?nd ?h?ng?? wh?t ?? happening ?? th? player progresses thr?ugh th? game.
The Create game f?r PS3 Move ??tu?ll? metamorphosizes w?th th? moves ?nd choices ?f th? player. Th? m?r? th? player m?k?? ?nd moves ?n th? game scenarios, th? m?r? th? game w?ll reward th? player. Th?r? ?r? ? number ?f rewards ?v??l?bl? ?n th? game mode. Th?r? are ?l?? challenges f?r th? player. Th??? challenges ??n b? earned ?n th? ??m? manner ?? th? rewards. Th? game ??tu?ll? adapts t? th? player.The PS Move eye ?nd controller aid th? game ?n remembering ?nd working w?th ???h player. It w?ll grow ?? th? players creativity grows. Th? challenges w?ll g?t harder, th? m?r? th? player demonstrates th??r ability t? m?k? quick decisions, ?nd change scenery ?nd objects.
The player w?ll essentially h?v? th? ability t? 'make' th??r ?wn game. Th?? w?ll animate objects, ?nd textures, ?nd designs. Th?? w?ll b? ?bl? t? dictate h?w th?? move, h?w th?? act, ?nd wh?t th?? do. Th? player w?ll b? ?bl? t? alter ?nd change colors, sizes, ?nd shapes ?f objects. Th? m?r? creative th? player g?t? w?th th? game, th? m?r? rewards th?? w?ll earn.
The Create game f?r th? PlayStation Move h?? ?v?r 100 challenges t? k??? th? player involved, ?nd active w?th th? game. Th? Create ?l?? h?? ? number ?f d?ff?r?nt textures, colors, settings, ?nd art styles f?r th? player t? u?? ?n th? game. A? th? player progresses thr?ugh th??? challenges th?? w?ll b? unlocking ?v?n m?r? ?nd n?w hidden areas, ?nd rewards.
The wh?l? idea ?f th?? game ?? f?r th? player t? create ? wh?l? world ?f th??r own. Th? player ?? g?v?n lists ?f th?ng? ?t th??r disposal, ?nd th?? ?r? t? ??m? u? w?th ? wh?l? structure f?r th??r ?wn world fr?m th??? choices. Th? idea ?? t? g?t th? player t? u?? th??r mind, ?nd th??r imagination ?t th? ??m? time.
Source: http://pspgamesandmedia.blogspot.com/2011/12/create-video-game-fr-th-sony.html
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FILE - In this July 17, 2011, file photo, United States' Abby Wambach, right, controls the ball in front of Japan's Saki Kumagai, left, during the final match at the Women?s Soccer World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany. Wambach, whose thunderous header in the final seconds of the Women's World Cup quarterfinals led the U.S. to an improbable victory and sparked a nationwide frenzy rarely seen for women's sports, has been voted the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - In this July 17, 2011, file photo, United States' Abby Wambach, right, controls the ball in front of Japan's Saki Kumagai, left, during the final match at the Women?s Soccer World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany. Wambach, whose thunderous header in the final seconds of the Women's World Cup quarterfinals led the U.S. to an improbable victory and sparked a nationwide frenzy rarely seen for women's sports, has been voted the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - In this July 13, 2011, file photo, United States' Abby Wambach celebrates scoring her side's second goal during the semifinal match against France at the Women?s Soccer World Cup in Moenchengladbach, Germany. Wambach, whose thunderous header in the final seconds of the Women's World Cup quarterfinals led the U.S. to an improbable victory and sparked a nationwide frenzy rarely seen for women's sports, has been voted the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - In this July 13, 2011, file photo, United States' Abby Wambach celebrates scoring her side's second goal during the semifinal match against France at the Women?s Soccer World Cup in Moenchengladbach, Germany. Wambach, whose thunderous header in the final seconds of the Women's World Cup quarterfinals led the U.S. to an improbable victory and sparked a nationwide frenzy rarely seen for women's sports, has been voted the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - In this July 10, 2011, file photo, United States' Abby Wambach celebrates a quarterfinal win against Brazil at the Women's Soccer World Cup in Dresden, Germany. Wambach, whose thunderous header in the final seconds of the Women's World Cup quarterfinals led the U.S. to an improbable victory and sparked a nationwide frenzy rarely seen for women's sports, has been voted the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
With the final seconds ticking down and the Americans on the verge of their earliest exit ever from the Women's World Cup, Abby Wambach kept waving her index finger at her teammates.
One chance, she screamed, all they needed was one chance.
When it came in the form of a left-footed cross from Megan Rapinoe, Wambach pounced. With one vicious whip of her head, she changed the course of this year's World Cup and sparked a nationwide frenzy rarely seen for women's sports.
Wambach's clutch performance at this summer's World Cup made her the clear choice for the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year, selected by members of The Associated Press. The U.S. forward received 65 of the 214 votes cast, while teammate Hope Solo (38) was a distant second and UConn basketball star Maya Moore (35) was third.
Wambach is the first individual soccer player ? man or woman ? to win one of the AP's annual sports awards, which began in 1931. The U.S. women's team won in 1999, when their World Cup triumph at the Rose Bowl transfixed the nation.
"We, as a team, did something that no team since Mia Hamm was able to do," Wambach told the AP. "Even the team that won the (Olympic) gold medal in 2008 wasn't able to inspire and get people excited about women's soccer. It goes to show you the impact drama can bring."
Wambach's four goals in Germany give her 13 in three World Cup appearances. That's the most by an American, topping Michelle Akers by one, and puts her third on the all-time World Cup scoring list behind Brazil's Marta and Germany's Birgit Prinz. The 31-year-old ranks third on the U.S. career scoring list with 125 goals, trailing only Mia Hamm (158) and Kristine Lilly (130).
"When she's on top of her game," U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said, "she's one of the best in the world."
Wambach was certainly at her best at the World Cup, leading the Americans to the final, where they lost to Japan on penalty kicks.
The U.S. has long been the dominant team in women's soccer, winning two of the first three World Cups and all but one of the Olympic gold medals since the sport was added to the program in 1996. The Americans were so famous they could go by one name ? Mia, Brandi, Foudy ? and they got rock star treatment during the 1999 World Cup, playing to sold-out crowds in massive stadiums from coast to coast.
Americans grew spoiled by the group's success, however, and were barely able to muster a yawn when the U.S. won the Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008. Many people in the States may not have even realized there was a World Cup going on this summer.
Then came that quarterfinal against Brazil.
Down a player for almost an hour, the Americans were less than 90 seconds from losing in overtime after squandering an early lead. But in the 122nd minute, Rapinoe lofted a cross from 30 yards and Wambach rose above the Brazilian defenders. One of the world's best players in the air, she scored on a thunderous header, setting off pandemonium in the stadium that soon spread clear across the Atlantic Ocean.
"It just seemed surreal. Even in the moment, I was feeling like it was a dream because we were so against the ropes and everything was pointed to us going down that day," Wambach said. "But there was something inside of us that wasn't going to allow that to happen. We weren't quite ready to give up."
There are few things Americans like more than winners, especially those who wear "U-S-A" on their chests. That the U.S. women were a fierce, gritty bunch who refused to be beaten only made them more appealing, particularly in a summer when all the other news ? the economy, home sales, the NFL lockout ? was bleak.
By the time the U.S. beat Brazil on penalty kicks ? Wambach and her teammates made all of theirs ? folks who couldn't tell a bicycle kick from a Schwinn were piling on the bandwagon. Celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Lil Wayne and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers were quick to show the Americans some love, and the women even got facetime on the Jumbotron at Yankee Stadium.
"People kind of forgot about their woes and were able to celebrate," Wambach said.
She did her part to keep it going, heading in a corner kick for the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute of the semifinal against France. Wambach also scored in the final, giving the U.S. a 2-1 lead in the 104th minute of overtime. But Homare Sawa tied the game in the 117th, and the Americans lost 3-1 on penalty kicks.
Despite the loss, the Americans were welcomed home like champions. They had inspired the country when it needed it, and that meant as much as any trophy or title.
Almost six months later, the accolades are still coming. Wambach was named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation, and the victory over Brazil was named the top sports accomplishment of the year in a Marist poll. The Women's World Cup ranked 10th in the voting for AP sports story of the year.
"I'm not a person who cares much about (individual) awards, but I really appreciate you guys recognizing this team," Wambach said. "It helps keep this sport alive, and it's really important."
Wambach takes her role as ambassador for the game seriously, recognizing that time in the spotlight is still rare for women's soccer and it must be taken advantage of. She is as accommodating a star athlete as there is, happy to sign autographs, pose for pictures or do interviews. This is how the game is grown, and that, not the goals or the scoring records, is what she hopes her legacy will be.
"Hopefully when I'm long gone, this team is so good that people don't even talk about (me)," she said. "Truthfully."
Not that Wambach is going anywhere.
The Americans are the defending Olympic champions, and Wambach and her teammates are currently training for next month's regional qualifying tournament. She hopes to be healthy enough to play at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, and fill that last gap in a resume as dazzling as anyone who's ever worn the U.S. uniform.
"I have to say, of all people, I think she is one of the best role models: interacting with fans, saying good things about the game, saying good things about this country, saying good things about her teammates," Sundhage said. "I'm very proud of the fact I've had the chance to coach her for so many years. It will be a highlight of my career."
___
Follow Nancy Armour at http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45714302#45714302
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Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a Republican presidential debate in Sioux City, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, Pool)
Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a Republican presidential debate in Sioux City, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, Pool)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Just two weekends remain before the Iowa caucuses and Newt Gingrich, the Republican leading in the presidential race there, is spending this one about 1,000 miles away in Washington.
Periodic down time is not unusual for candidates who generally maintain a chaotic pace on the campaign trail.
But Gingrich is among the only candidates in a crowded and constantly evolving field to spend three full days away from voters less than 20 days before the first stop on the path to the Republican presidential nomination.
His chief rival, Mitt Romney, will spend Saturday in South Carolina ? a state Gingrich has high hopes for ? showcasing his latest high-profile endorsement, from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
By contrast, Gingrich will spend part of Saturday watching his wife, Callista, perform at a Christmas concert in northern Virginia. He also plans a morning conference call for reporters to present his criticism of the federal judiciary and how he would, as his campaign puts it, "bring federal courts back within the constraints of the U.S. Constitution."
In addition to the weekend Christmas concert, Callista Gingrich also has a book signing scheduled for Saturday in Virginia. On Sunday, Gingrich is scheduled to appear on CBS' "Face the Nation" and participate in a telephone town hall with tea party supporters.
Gingrich's campaign declined to comment on his schedule. He has struggled with the perception that he's unwilling to work as hard as some candidates to connect with voters.
Several staffers quit his campaign in June after questioning his commitment. He raised eyebrows at the time for spending two weeks on a luxury cruise through Greece and Turkey with his wife.
Gingrich's commitment to retail campaigning in early states has drawn criticism recently. He was the only candidate who didn't make time to meet with the New Hampshire conservative group, We the People PAC, which is led by leading local activist and recent Republican congressional candidate Jennifer Horn.
"I think that one of the most important parts of the primary process is candidates being willing to interact with voters," Horn said.
But strategically, time away from the media spotlight might be helpful, particularly for a candidate whose statements land him in trouble periodically.
"Although the political consultants wouldn't agree, I think you do have to pace yourself," said Rick Tyler, who was among the Gingrich staffers who resigned in June. "People get tripped up because they don't get adequate rest. And Newt's proven to the political consultants that he actually knows what he's doing."
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As MTV reveals our picks for 2011's best artists, we ask breakout stars Mumford & Sons to weigh in on their favorites.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Matt Elias
Mumford & Sons' Marcus Mumford
Photo: MTV News
Mumford & Sons may have stumbled onto Stateside success in 2010 with their debut disc, Sigh No More, but in 2011, they not only grew comfortable with their newfound fame, they ran with it. Sigh was the year's best-selling rock album (by a mile), and they nabbed four Grammy nominations — including Record and Song of the Year — for their song "The Cave."
So, as 2011 draws to a close, and as MTV reveals our picks for the artists of the year, we're reaching out to a host of acts that not only dominated the past 12 months, but came to define them, for their takes on the year in music. And who better to ask than Mumford, a band that began 2010 as relative unknowns but wrap up 2011 as one of the biggest rock acts in the U.S. ... with a hotly anticipated new album due in 2012.
We spoke to Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett about their favorite artists of the year, and in keeping with their breakout status, they chose a thoroughly under-the-radar act ... and a rapper who busted through to the big time in 2011. Of course, they could only pronounce one of their picks' names correctly.
"Dawes are a really important band for us," Mumford said. "You would say 'Dawes,' because you can differentiate between 'Dawes' and 'Doors' — more like 'Pawn' and 'Porn' — where we can't, it's just 'Porn' and 'Porn' to us, so you never know which one we're talking about."
"I've watched the video for Tyler, the Creator's 'Yonkers' 50 times this year," Lovett added. "It's f---ing amazing. Brilliant video."
They didn't just stop there. They've already picked their favorite act of 2012 too, an up-and-coming Harlem rapper who they expect big things from next year.
"I just heard an incredible song by Azealia Banks called '212,' " Lovett said. "[It's] mind-blowing."
All this week, watch "AMTV" on MTV every day at 8 a.m. ET for our Best of 2011 lists. Then, come to MTVNews.com at 5 p.m. as we reveal our top picks of the year!
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Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
Share ] Contact: Natalie Poole
Natalie.Poole@aacr.org
215-446-7155
American Association for Cancer Research
What:
The second AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine will bring together scientists to share the latest findings in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the nation's leading cause of cancer and cancer mortality.
The conference, scheduled for Jan. 8-11, 2012, in San Diego, is jointly sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
The conference will feature a series of groundbreaking oral presentations and hundreds of abstracts including:
When:
Jan. 8-11, 2012
Where: San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina San Diego, Calif.
###
Press Registration and Hotel Accommodations:
To register, please visit http://www.aacr.org/LungCancer or contact Natalie Poole in the AACR Communications Department at Natalie.Poole@aacr.org or 215-446-7155.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 15-Dec-2011 Share ] Contact: Natalie Poole
Natalie.Poole@aacr.org
215-446-7155
American Association for Cancer Research
What:
The second AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine will bring together scientists to share the latest findings in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the nation's leading cause of cancer and cancer mortality.
The conference, scheduled for Jan. 8-11, 2012, in San Diego, is jointly sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
The conference will feature a series of groundbreaking oral presentations and hundreds of abstracts including:
When:
Jan. 8-11, 2012
Where: San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina San Diego, Calif.
###
Press Registration and Hotel Accommodations:
To register, please visit http://www.aacr.org/LungCancer or contact Natalie Poole in the AACR Communications Department at Natalie.Poole@aacr.org or 215-446-7155.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/aafc-ai121511.php
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According to data released Wednesday by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB), the state's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in November was 9.8 percent. That's down from 10.6 percent in October.
That's the lowest unemployment rate for the state in three years.
The Detroit-Warren-Livonia Metropolitan Statistical Area's (MSA) jobless rate in remained high last month at 11.2 percent, but was almost a full percentage point drop from October.
The declines in unemployment match the overall trend nationwide. In November, the national jobless rate fell below 9 percent.
Some 9,000 more people were employed in the Detroit metro area last month, but the workforce also declined by 11,000 people. The number of people in the workforce has declined nearly 2 percent since this time last year.
Statewide, the number of jobs has increased by only 0.4 percent this year. Government jobs have been the biggest losers, shedding nearly 11,000 since January. According to DTMB, "The vast majority of the over-the-year job reductions in government were recorded at the local level."
In Detroit, officials grappling with the city's fiscal crisis have proposed cutting even more jobs. As many as 2,300 city workers would get the axe under a plan proposed by some City Council members. Mayor Bing has called for the elimination of 1,000 city jobs.
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In this photo taken on Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, English actor Christian Bale speaks to journalists during an interview on the red carpet as he arrives for an event of the Zhang Yimou-directed new movie "The Flowers of War" in Beijing, China. Academy Award winner Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China some critics have called propaganda, got stopped trying to visit a blind activist living under house arrest, with a CNN camera crew in tow. CNN posted footage of a scuffle between Bale and the activist's guards on its website Friday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
In this photo taken on Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, English actor Christian Bale speaks to journalists during an interview on the red carpet as he arrives for an event of the Zhang Yimou-directed new movie "The Flowers of War" in Beijing, China. Academy Award winner Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China some critics have called propaganda, got stopped trying to visit a blind activist living under house arrest, with a CNN camera crew in tow. CNN posted footage of a scuffle between Bale and the activist's guards on its website Friday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
British actor Christian Bale speaks to journalists during an interview on the red carpet as he arrives for the Zhang Yimou-directed new movie "The Flowers of War" in Beijing, China, Monday, Dec. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
In this photo taken on Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, English actor Christian Bale, center, is led by security guards upon arrival on the red carpet for an event of the Zhang Yimou-directed new movie "The Flowers of War" in Beijing, China. Academy Award winner Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China some critics have called propaganda, got stopped trying to visit a blind activist living under house arrest, with a CNN camera crew in tow. CNN posted footage of a scuffle between Bale and the activist's guards on its website Friday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
BEIJING (AP) ? "Batman" star Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China that some critics have called propaganda, was physically stopped by government-backed guards from visiting a blind activist living under house arrest ? with a CNN crew in tow to record the scuffle.
CNN posted footage of the confrontation on its website Friday.
The run-in and publicity is likely to cause discomfort in China's government-backed film industry, which hopes Bale's movie "The Flowers of War" will be a creative success at home and abroad. The star's actions are sure to focus attention on the plight of Chen Guangcheng, guarded around the clock by thugs who have blocked dozens of reporters and fellow activists trying to see him in the past.
Bale was to leave China on Friday and his representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last year's "The Fighter," traveled Thursday with a crew from CNN to the village in eastern China where Chen, the blind lawyer, lives with his family in complete isolation.
They were stopped at the entrance to Dongshigu village in Shandong province by unidentified men.
The video footage shows Bale asking to see Chen, with a CNN producer providing interpretation, but being ordered by one of the guards to leave. He then asked why he was unable to pass through. The guards responded by trying to grab or punch a small video camera Bale was carrying.
"What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is," Bale was quoted as saying by CNN.
Chen's case has been raised publicly by U.S. lawmakers and diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, all to no response from China.
CNN said Bale first learned of Chen from news reports when he was in China filming "The Flowers of War," China's official submission this year for best foreign language film Oscar.
"Chen Guangcheng is a newsworthy figure ... and as such it is in the interest of CNN's global viewers to hear from him," CNN said in a statement. "Mr. Bale reached out to CNN and invited us to join him on his journey to visit Chen."
Chen, a self-taught lawyer who was blinded by a fever in infancy, angered authorities after documenting forced late-term abortions and sterilizations and other abuses by overzealous authorities trying to meet population control goals in his rural community. He was imprisoned for allegedly instigating an attack on government offices and organizing a group of people to disrupt traffic, charges his supporters say were fabricated.
Although now officially free under the law, he has been confined to his home in the village eight hours' drive from Beijing and subjected to periodic beatings and other abuse, activists say.
While Bale's visit focuses new attention on Chen's case, CNN's role raises questions about activism and advocacy among reporters, said David Bandurski, editor of the China Media Project website at the University of Hong Kong.
"It made me instantly uncomfortable, wondering how it all came together. It raises questions about where the lines are drawn," Bandurski said.
The incident also drew strong interest ? most of it highly positive ? on social networking sites such as Twitter and its Chinese equivalent, Weibo.
Having their star's name pinging across the Internet in connection with such a politically sensitive subject puts promoters of "The Flowers of War" in a bind. The film opens in China on Friday and next week in the United States.
Directed by the renowned Zhang Yimou, it is also the most expensive Chinese movie ever made, at $94 million, some of which came from the state-owned Bank of China.
The movie centers on the 1937 sacking of the eastern city of Nanjing, a central event in China's pre-revolutionary "century of humiliation" and has been described by some critics as hewing to official propaganda portraying Chinese as heroic victims and Japanese as one-dimensional cartoon villains.
While China has the world's third-largest film industry ? both in box office and output ? it has made relatively little global impact. Story lines are often heavily influenced by the ruling Communist Party, whose culture commissars must approve scripts and have final say over whether a film gets released.
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Continue reading Windows Phone 7.5 SMS bug breaks messaging hub, hard reset is the only remedy
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