tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24558355525209456922024-03-08T11:26:45.819-08:00Jmbadia NewsPasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comBlogger359125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-70234757768331192012013-03-02T18:06:00.001-08:002013-03-02T18:06:19.366-08:00U.S. evolves on same-sex marriage<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>The president and the nation have shifted perspectives on same-sex marriage</li><br /><li>Supreme Court ruling on California's same-sex marriage ban a critical test</li><br /><li>Growing public support for gay marriage give proponents hope for change</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Washington (CNN)</strong> -- The nation's growing acceptance of same-sex marriage has happened in slow and painstaking moves, eventually building into a momentum that is sweeping even the most unlikely of converts.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Even though he said in 2008 that he could only support civil unions for same-sex couples, President Barack Obama nonetheless enjoyed strong support among the gay community. He disappointed many with his conspicuously subdued first-term response to the same-sex marriage debate.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Last year, after Vice President Joe Biden announced his support, the president then said his position had evolved and he, too, supported same-sex marriage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">So it was no small matter when on Thursday the Obama administration formally expressed its support of same-sex marriage in a court brief weighing in on California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex weddings. The administration's effort was matched by at least 100 high-profile Republicans — some of whom in elections past depended on gay marriage as a wedge issue guaranteed to rally the base — who signed onto a brief supporting gay couples to legally wed.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Obama on same-sex marriage: Everyone is equal</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Then there are the polls that show that an increasing number of Americans now support same-sex marriage. These polls show that nearly half of the nation's Catholics and white, mainstream Protestants and more than half of the nation's women, liberals and political moderates all support same-sex marriage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">According to Pew Research Center polling, 48% of Americans support same-sex marriage with 43% opposed. Back in 2001, 57% opposed same-sex marriage while 35% supported it.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">In last year's presidential election, same-sex marriage scarcely raised a ripple. That sea change is not lost on the president.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"The same evolution I've gone through is the same evolution the country as a whole has gone through," Obama told reporters on Friday.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">Craig Rimmerman, professor of public policy and political science at Hobart and William Smith colleges says there is history at work here and the administration is wise to get on the right side.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">"There is no doubt that President Obama's shifting position on Proposition 8 and same-sex marriage more broadly is due to his desire to situate himself on the right side of history with respect to the fight over same-sex marriage," said Rimmerman, author of "From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"I also think that broader changes in public opinion showing greater support for same-sex marriage, especially among young people, but in the country at large as well, has created a cultural context for Obama to alter his views."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">For years, Obama had frustrated many in the gay community by not offering full-throated support of same-sex marriage. However, the president's revelation last year that conversations with his daughters and friends led him to change his mind gave many in that community hope.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">Last year, the Obama administration criticized a measure in North Carolina that banned same-sex marriage and made civil unions illegal. The president took the same position on a similar Minnesota proposal.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">Obama administration officials point to what they see as the administration's biggest accomplishment in the gay rights cause: repealing "don't ask, don't tell," the military's ban on openly gay and lesbian members serving in the forces.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">Then there was the president's inaugural address which placed the gay community's struggle for equality alongside similar civil rights fights by women and African-Americans.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal, as well," Obama said in his address after being sworn in.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">In offering its support and asserting in the brief that "prejudice may not be the basis for differential treatment under the law," the Obama administration is setting up a high stakes political and constitutional showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over a fast-evolving and contentious issue.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">The justices will hear California's Proposition 8 case in March. That case and another appeal over the federal Defense of Marriage Act will produce blockbuster rulings from the justices in coming months.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">Beyond the legal wranglings there is a strong social and historic component, one that has helped open the way for the administration to push what could prove to be a social issue that defines Obama's second term legacy, Rimmerman said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">The nation is redefining itself on this issue, as well.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">Pew survey: Changing attitudes on gay marriage</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">The changes are due, in part, to generational shifts. Younger people show a higher level of support than their older peers, according to Pew polling "Millennials are almost twice as likely as the Silent Generation to support same-sex marriage."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">"As people have grown up with people having the right to marry the generational momentum has been very, very strong," said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a gay rights organization.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">That is not to say that there isn't still opposition.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">Pew polling found that most Republicans and conservatives remain opposed to same-sex marriage. In 2001, 21% of Republicans were supportive; in 2012 that number nudged slightly to 25%.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">Conservative groups expressed dismay at the administration's same-sex marriage support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">"President Obama, who was against same-sex 'marriage' before he was for it, and his administration, which said the Defense of Marriage Act was constitutional before they said it was unconstitutional, has now flip-flopped again on the issue of same-sex 'marriage,' putting allegiance to extreme liberal social policies ahead of constitutional principle," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">But there are signs of movement even among some high profile Republican leaders</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">Top Republicans sign brief supporting same-sex marriage</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">The Republican-penned friend of the court brief, which is designed to influence conservative justices on the high court, includes a number of top officials from the George W. Bush administration, Mitt Romney's former campaign manager and former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">It is also at odds with the Republican Party's platform, which opposes same-sex marriage and defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">Still, with White House and high-profile Republican support, legal and legislative victories in a number of states and polls that show an increasing number of Americans support same sex-marriage, proponents feel that the winds of history are with them.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">"What we've seen is accelerating and irrefutable momentum as Americans have come to understand who gay people are and why marriage matters," Wolfson said. "We now have a solid national majority and growing support across every demographic. We have leaders across the spectrum, including Republicans, all saying it's time to end marriage discrimination."</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Peter Hamby, Ashley Killough and Bill Mears contributed to this report. </p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-10266348064299321762013-03-02T18:04:00.001-08:002013-03-02T18:04:16.371-08:00Red light camera firm admits it likely bribed Chicago official<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>Chicago's embattled red light camera firm went to City Hall on Friday in its latest effort to come clean, acknowledging for the first time that its entire program here was likely built on a $2 million bribery scheme.</p><br /><p>By its sheer size, the alleged plot would rank among the largest in the annals of Chicago corruption.</p><br /><p>An internal probe of Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. and a parallel investigation by the city's inspector general — prompted by reports in the Chicago Tribune — have cost the company its largest North American contract and all of its top executives.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>On Friday the company announced the resignations of its president, its chief financial officer and its top lawyer. The head of Redflex's Australian parent company conducted town hall meetings at the headquarters of its Phoenix-based subsidiary to tell employees there was wrongdoing in the Chicago contract and that sweeping reforms were being instituted to win back the company's reputation.</p><br /><p>In separate, private briefings with the city inspector general and with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's top lawyer, Redflex attorneys acknowledged it's likely true that company officials intended to bribe a Chicago city official and that they also plied him with expenses-paid vacations.</p><br /><p>The company's outside investigator, former city Inspector General David Hoffman, found that Redflex paid $2.03 million to a Chicago consultant in a highly suspicious arrangement likely intended to funnel some of the money to the former city transportation official who oversaw the company contract, according to sources familiar with the investigation and the Friday briefings to city officials.</p><br /><p>The arrangement among the city official, the consultant and Redflex — first disclosed by a company whistle-blower — will likely be considered bribery by law enforcement authorities, Hoffman found.</p><br /><p>Without subpoena power, it was not possible to check personal financial records of the city official or the consultant, who refused to cooperate, according to the sources familiar with Hoffman's findings. But Hoffman, a former federal prosecutor, said that under applicable law, authorities could consider the arrangement to be bribery even if the payments were not made, the sources said.</p><br /><p>The bulk of the consultant's fees — $1.57 million — were paid during a four-year period beginning in 2007, the years the program really expanded in Chicago, Hoffman found.</p><br /><p>In addition, the city transportation official was treated to 17 trips, including airfare, hotels, rental cars, golf outings and meals, the sources said. Most of those expenses were paid by the company's former executive vice president, Hoffman found. That official was fired late last month and blamed by the company for much of the Chicago problem.</p><br /><p>But Hoffman found that Redflex's president also had knowledge of the arrangement that would have made any reasonable person highly suspicious that it was a bribery scheme, the sources said.</p><br /><p>Hoffman also found that Redflex did not disclose its knowledge about the improper arrangement to City Hall until confronted by the Tribune in October. Even then, Hoffman found, company officials lied to Emanuel's administration about the extent of the wrongdoing.</p><br /><p>Redflex's Australian parent company was expected to post a summation of Hoffman's findings in a Monday filing with the Australian Securities Exchange that will include the resignations announced to employees Friday.</p><br /><p>"Today's announcement of executive changes follows the conclusion of our investigation in Chicago and marks the dividing line between the past and where this company is headed," Robert DeVincenzi, president and CEO of Redflex Holdings Ltd., said in a statement to the newspaper. "This day, and each day going forward, we intend to be a constructive force in our industry, promoting high ethical standards and serving the public interest."</p><br /><p>The company will also announce reforms including installing new requirements to put all company employees through anti-bribery and anti-corruption training, hiring a new director of compliance to ensure employees adhere to company policies, and establishing a 24-hour whistle-blower hotline.</p><br /><p>The actions mark the latest changes in the company's evolving accounts of the scandal.</p><br /><p>Officials at the firm had repeatedly dismissed allegations of bribery in the Chicago contract since they were made in a 2010 internal complaint obtained last year by the Tribune. In October the Tribune disclosed the whistle-blower letter by a company executive and first brought to light the questionable relationship between former city official John Bills and the Redflex consultant, Marty O'Malley, who are longtime friends from the South Side.</p><br /><p>Bills and O'Malley have acknowledged their friendship but denied anything improper about their handling of the Redflex contract.</p><br /><p>"Totally false, but I appreciate you calling me," Bills told the Tribune on Friday when informed of the Hoffman findings. O'Malley did not return calls.</p><br /><p>In the four-month investigation, Hoffman and his team conducted 58 interviews and reviewed more than 37,000 company documents including email traffic among company officials, sources said. Hoffman concluded that company officials used poor judgment and a serious lack of diligence in investigating the allegations contained in the whistle-blower memo.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-51596734129361178032013-03-01T18:12:00.001-08:002013-03-01T18:12:10.408-08:00Wall Street advances as data outweighs budget cuts<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced modestly on Friday, leaving the S&P 500 with slight gains in a volatile week as strong economic data overshadowed growth concerns in China and Europe and let investors discount the impact of expected government spending cuts.</p><br /><p> Stocks opened sharply lower for the session as Asian factories slowed and European output fell, but most of the losses evaporated after a report showed manufacturing activity expanded last month at its fastest clip in 20 months.</p><br /><p> Consumer sentiment also rose in February as Americans turned more optimistic about the job market.</p><br /><p> With $85 billion in government budget cuts set to begin, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_1">President Barack Obama</span> blamed Republicans for failure to reach a compromise to avert the cuts, known as sequester. But the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_2">stock market</span> appeared to have already priced in the failure by legislators to reach an agreement.</p><br /><p> "We were able to dig out of that hole, but not make any great strides on it either," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois. "We will probably be in a holding pattern pending some big development on a broader budget deal."</p><br /><p> The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 35.17 points, or 0.25 percent, to 14,089.66 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> added 3.52 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,518.20. The <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_3">Nasdaq Composite Index</span> <.ixic> advanced 9.55 points, or 0.30 percent, to 3,169.74.</.ixic></.spx></.dji></p><br /><p> For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent.</p><br /><p> The slight gains for equities came during a volatile week that saw markets decline on Monday after uncertain Italian elections, only to rebound in the next two sessions as <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_4">Federal Reserve</span> Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the central bank's stimulus measures.</p><br /><p> The low interest rates due to the Federal Reserve's accommodative monetary policy have helped equities continue to attract investors. The Dow is less than 1 percent away from its all-time intraday high of 14,198.10. Declines have been shallow and short-lived, with investors jumping in to buy on dips.</p><br /><p> Intuitive Surgical <isrg.o> jumped 8.5 percent to $553.40 after Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Jeremy Feffer upgraded the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_5">stock</span>, saying the stock's slide of more than 11 percent on Thursday was a gross overreaction to a news report.</isrg.o></p><br /><p> Groupon Inc <grpn.o> surged 12.6 percent to $5.10 a day after the online coupon company fired its chief executive officer in the wake of weak quarterly results.</grpn.o></p><br /><p> Gap Inc <gps.n> rose 2.9 percent to $33.87 after the clothing retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations and boosting its dividend by 20 percent, while Salesforce.com Inc <crm.n> posted sales that beat forecasts, driving its stock up 7.6 percent to $182.</crm.n></gps.n></p><br /><p> Chesapeake Energy Corp <chk.n> fell 2.4 percent to $19.67 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission escalated its investigation into the company and its Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon for a controversial perk that granted him a share in each of the natural gas producer's wells.</chk.n></p><br /><p> Volume was modest with about 6.72 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq, slightly above the daily average of 6.5 billion.</p><br /><p> Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 17 to 13, while on the Nasdaq, seven stocks rose for about every five stocks that fell.</p><br /><p> (Editing by Jan Paschal)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-4741826537400780942013-03-01T18:06:00.001-08:002013-03-01T18:06:18.158-08:00Syria war is everybody's problem<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="8"><p>Syrians search for survivors and bodies after the Syrian regime attacked the city of Aleppo with missiles on February 23.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Frida Ghitis: We are standing by as Syria rips itself apart, thinking it's not our problem</li><br /><li>Beyond the tragedy in human terms, she says, the war damages global stability</li><br /><li>Ghitis: Syria getting more and more radical, jeopardizing forces of democracy</li><br /><li>Ghitis: Peace counts on moderates, whom we must back with diplomacy, training arms</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review. A former CNN producer and correspondent, she is the author of "The End of Revolution: A Changing World in the Age of Live Television." Follow her on Twitter: @FridaGColumns</em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- Last week, a huge explosion rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing more than 50 people and injuring hundreds. The victims of the blast in a busy downtown street were mostly civilians, including schoolchildren. Each side in the Syrian civil war blamed the other.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">In the northern city of Aleppo, about 58 people -- 36 of them children -- died in a missile attack last week. Washington condemned the regime of Bashar al-Assad; the world looked at the awful images and moved on.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Syria is ripping itself to pieces. The extent of human suffering is beyond comprehension. That alone should be reason enough to encourage a determined effort to bring this conflict to a quick resolution. But if humanitarian reasons were not enough, the international community -- including the U.S. and its allies -- should weigh the potential implications of allowing this calamity to continue.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/111012033349-frida-ghitis-left-tease.jpg" alt="Frida Ghitis" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Frida Ghitis</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">We've all heard the argument: It's not our problem. We're not the world's policeman. We would only make it worse.</p><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">This is not a plea to send American or European troops to fight in this conflict. Nobody wants that.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">But before we allow this mostly hands-off approach to continue, we would do well to consider the potential toll of continuing with a failed policy, one that has focused in vain over the past two years searching for a diplomatic solution.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry has just announced that the U.S. will provide an additional $60 million in non-lethal assistance to the opposition. He has hinted that President Obama, after rejecting suggestions from the CIA and previous Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to arm Syrian rebels, might be ready to change course. And not a day too soon.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">The war is taking longer than anyone expected. The longer it lasts, the more Syria is radicalized and the region is destabilized.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">If you think the Syrian war is the concern of Syrians alone, think about other countries that have torn themselves apart over a long time. Consider Lebanon, Afghanistan or Somalia; each with unique circumstances, but with one thing in common: Their wars created enormous suffering at home, and the destructiveness eventually spilled beyond their borders. All of those wars triggered lengthy, costly refugee crises. They all spawned international terrorism and eventually direct international -- including U.S. -- intervention.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">The uprising against al-Assad started two years ago in the spirit of what was then referred to -- without a hint of irony -- as the Arab Spring. Young Syrians marched, chanting for freedom and democracy. The ideals of equality, rule of law and human rights wafted in the air.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">Al-Assad responded to peaceful protests with gunfire. Syrians started dying by the hundreds each day. Gradually the nonviolent protesters started fighting back. Members of the Syrian army started defecting.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">The opposition's Free Syrian Army came together. Factions within the Syrian opposition took up arms and the political contest became a brutal civil war. The death toll has climbed to as many as 90,000, according to Kerry. About 2 million people have left their homes, and the killing continues with no end in sight.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">In fairness to Washington, Europe and the rest of the international community, there were never easy choices in this war. Opposition leaders bickered, and their clashing views scared away would-be supporters. Western nations rejected the idea of arming the opposition, saying Syria already has too many weapons. They were also concerned about who would control the weaponry, including an existing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, after al-Assad's fall.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">These are all legitimate concerns. But inaction is producing the worst possible outcome.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">The moderates, whose views most closely align with the West, are losing out to the better-armed Islamists and, especially, to the extremists. Moderates are losing the ideological debate and the battle for the future character of a Syria after al-Assad.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">Radical Islamist groups have taken the lead. Young people are losing faith in moderation, lured by disciplined, devout extremists. Reporters on the ground have seen young democracy advocates turn into fervent supporters of dangerous groups such as the Nusra Front, which has scored impressive victories.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">The U.S. State Department recently listed the Nusra Front, which has close ties to al Qaeda in Iraq and a strong anti-Western ideology, as a terrorist organization.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">Meantime, countries bordering Syria are experiencing repercussions. And these are likely to become more dangerous.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">Jordan, an important American ally, is struggling with a flood of refugees, as many as 10,000 each week since the start of the year. The government estimates 380,000 Syrians are in Jordan, a country whose government is under pressure from its own restive population and still dealing with huge refugee populations from other wars.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39">Turkey is also burdened with hundreds of thousands of refugees and occasional Syrian fire. Israel has warned about chemical weapons transfers from al-Assad to Hezbollah in Lebanon and may have already fired on a Syrian convoy attempting the move.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph41">Lebanon, always perched precariously on the edge of crisis, lives with growing fears that Syria's war will enter its borders. Despite denials, there is evidence that Lebanon's Hezbollah, a close ally of al-Assad and of Iran, has joined the fighting on the side of the Syrian president. The Free Syrian Army has threatened to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon if it doesn't leave Syria.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph43">The possible outcomes in Syria include the emergence of a failed state, stirring unrest throughout the region. If al-Assad wins, Syria will become an even more repressive country.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph45">Al-Assad's survival would fortify Iran and Hezbollah and other anti-Western forces. If the extremists inside the opposition win, Syria could see factional fighting for many years, followed by anti-democratic, anti-Western policies.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph47">The only good outcome is victory for the opposition's moderate forces. They may not be easy to identify with complete certainty. But to the extent that it is possible, these forces need Western support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph48">They need training, funding, careful arming and strong political and diplomatic backing. The people of Syria should know that support for human rights, democracy and pluralism will lead toward a peaceful, prosperous future.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph50">Democratic nations should not avert their eyes from the killings in Syria which are, after all, a warning to the world.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph52"><i>Follow us on Twitter </i><i>@CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph53"><i>Join us on </i><i>Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-37611480157727806682013-03-01T18:04:00.001-08:002013-03-01T18:04:13.694-08:00Union breaks Quinn, gets raises for state workers in deal<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> SPRINGFIELD – After months of insisting state workers should not receive wage increases, Gov. Pat Quinn has struck a tentative deal with Illinois’ largest employee union that will bump their pay while also requiring them to pay more for health care coverage.<p>Under the three-year agreement, which must still be voted on by union members, roughly 35,000 employees would forgo raises this fiscal year but receive a 2 percent pay increase in fiscal 2013 and another 2 percent boost in 2014.</p><p>Some workers would also receive “step increases” in those years, which are wage hikes given to employees during the early stages of their careers.</p><p>Veteran employees would receive a “longevity increase” of $25 extra a month.</p><p>It’s unclear how much the pay raises would cost the state.</p><p>Quinn’s office and a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees declined to discuss specifics until workers have a chance to review the proposal next week, but the increases were laid out in a memo sent to members by union executive director Henry Bayer.</p><p>In addition to the proposed wage increases, the Quinn administration has agreed to honor raises that thousands of union members were supposed to receive under a previous contract.</p><p>Quinn blocked the raises, arguing that lawmakers did not set aside enough money to cover the costs. A court has since ordered Quinn to pay up.</p><p>Paying all the back wages owed may prove tricky, however, as Quinn and the union must ask lawmakers to approve the money to cover the costs.<br/> <br/>Bayer wrote that the deal is “an agreement that beats back a barrage of attacks on the rights and benefits of union members.”</p><p>Quinn and the union had been locked in negotiations for more than 15 months, the longest that such talks have stretched in state history.</p><p>The battle quickly grew contentious, with angry workers confronting Quinn during his annual trip to the State Fair last summer as well as at various events around the state over the last year. As talks stretched on, the union warned employees to prepare for a possible strike.</p><p>Quinn had argued that the state could not afford pay increases, but backed off as pressure mounted.</p><p>During an appearance in Chicago on Friday, Quinn hailed the agreement as “a good one for workers who work so hard for the common good, and the taxpayers of Illinois who are our No. 1 trustees we have to be accountable to.”</p><p>In exchange for the raises, workers will be asked to pay more for their health care.</p><p>Individuals will pay an extra 1 percent of their salary, while families will be charged more depending on the number of dependents. Co-pays and deductibles also will increase.</p><p>The biggest cost saver will be the elimination of free health care premiums for an estimated 78,000 retired workers, an expense that runs taxpayers roughly $800 million a year.</p><p>How much each retiree will pay will depend on how much they receive in pension benefits. The more they receive, the more they would pay.</p><p><em>Tribune reporters Ray Long and Bridget Doyle contributed.</em></p><p><em><strong>mcgarcia@tribune.com</strong></em><br/><em><strong>Twitter @moniquegarcia</strong></em><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p>Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-50877403647097502832013-02-28T18:12:00.001-08:002013-02-28T18:12:27.415-08:00Wall Street ends flat after late fade; S&P up for fourth month<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks ended flat on Thursday, giving up modest gains late in the session, denying the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362088146478_1">Dow</span> a chance to inch closer to all-time highs.</p><br /><p> The S&P 500 still managed to close out February with a fourth straight month of gains. <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362088146478_2">JC Penney Co Inc</span> <jcp.n> was the day's biggest loser, falling 17 percent to $17.57 after the department store operator reported a steep drop in sales.</jcp.n></p><br /><p> The U.S. economy grew slightly in the fourth quarter, a turnaround from an earlier estimate showing contraction, and a drop in new claims for unemployment benefits last week added to a batch of data suggesting the economy continues its sluggish improvement.</p><br /><p> The Dow was within striking distance of its record high after a year-to-date advance of more than 7 percent. The Dow's record closing high, set on October 9, 2007, stands at 14,164.53, while the Dow's intraday record high, set on October 11, 2007, stands at 14,198.10.</p><br /><p> The Dow Jones Transportation Average <.djt>, seen as a bet on future growth, is up 12.9 percent this year, and the 20-stock index hit a record intraday high earlier on Thursday.</.djt></p><br /><p> "To push through to new highs, you would have to see consistent positive economic data in the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362088146478_3">U.S.</span> and have Europe stabilize - those are two pretty big requirements," said Jeff Morris, head of U.S. equities at Standard Life Investments in Boston.</p><br /><p> "It wouldn't surprise me to see us bounce around as we have the past couple of weeks," Morris added.</p><br /><p> Volume was low for most of the session until quarterly index-rebalancing activity hit the tape at the very close of trading.</p><br /><p> After a strong January with gains of more than 5 percent, both the Dow and the S&P 500 found gains tougher to come by in February. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting sparked concerns that the central bank may pull back on its stimulus measures sooner than expected, while looming U.S. budget cuts and turbulent Italian elections tempered investors' aggressiveness.</p><br /><p> But concerns about Fed policy were eased by testimony from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke before a congressional committee earlier this week, as he defended the policy of buying bonds to keep interest rates low to boost growth, despite worries some have about possible inflation.</p><br /><p> The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> shed 20.88 points, or 0.15 percent, to 14,054.49 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 1.31 points, or 0.09 percent, to 1,514.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> fell 2.07 points, or 0.07 percent, to end at 3,160.19.</.ixic></.spx></.dji></p><br /><p> For the month, the Dow rose 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 0.6 percent.</p><br /><p> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362088146478_4">Limited Brands</span> <ltd.n> and Netflix <nflx.o> ranked among the best-performing consumer stocks. Shares of Limited Brands, the parent of retailers Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, gained 2.3 percent to $45.52. The stock of video streaming service Netflix climbed 2 percent to $$188.08.</nflx.o></ltd.n></p><br /><p> In contrast, shares of Groupon Inc <grpn.o> fell on weak revenue, with the daily deals company's tumbling 24.3 percent to $4.53.</grpn.o></p><br /><p> Cablevision <cvc.n> slumped 9.6 percent to $13.99 after the cable provider took a $100 million hit on costs related to Superstorm Sandy and posted deeper video customer losses than expected.</cvc.n></p><br /><p> On a positive note, Mylan Inc <myl.o> gained 3.6 percent to $29.61 after the generic drugmaker posted a 25 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit and said it will buy a unit of India's Strides Arcolab Ltd.</myl.o></p><br /><p> Investors were keeping an eye on the debate in Washington over U.S. government budget cuts that will take effect starting Friday if lawmakers fail to reach agreement on spending and taxes. President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders arranged last-ditch talks to prevent the cuts, but expectations were low that any deal would emerge.</p><br /><p> Volume was modest with about 6.81 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq, slightly above the daily average of 6.46 billion.</p><br /><p> Advancing stocks slightly outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,518 to 1,446. On the Nasdaq, the decliners had a slight edge, with 1,247 shares falling and 1,201 stocks rising.</p><br /><p> (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-50930969818362478232013-02-28T18:10:00.001-08:002013-02-28T18:10:30.702-08:00AP Source: Salary cap increases to $123 million<br /><p class="first">The <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362096608194_2">NFL salary cap</span> for the 2013 season will rise to $123 million from $120.6 million in 2012, an <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362096608194_4">NFL Players Association</span> official familiar with negotiations over the figure told The Associated Press on Thursday.</p><br /><p>The official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.</p><br /><p>The increase, which is larger than some in the NFL had anticipated, is a result of greater-than-expected revenues last season — primarily from <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362096608194_1">NFL Properties</span> — and a jump in projected league revenues, according to the official.</p><br /><p>The league and the union work together to establish a cap number, based on parameters established under their <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362096608194_5">collective bargaining agreement</span>. The current 10-year <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362096608194_3">CBA</span> was signed in August 2011, ending the owners' lockout of the players.</p><br /><p>One of the main areas of contention during that labor dispute was how to divide the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues, a figure that will keep rising, particularly once the NFL's new television contracts kick in for the 2014 season. Those additional revenues will be reflected in the salary cap for 2015, which is expected to see a more significant increase than the roughly 2 percent uptick from 2012 to 2013.</p><br /><p>There was no salary cap in 2010, the final year of the old CBA. In 2011, the first year under the present deal, the figure was $120.375 million.</p><br /><p>Over the next four seasons, from 2013-16, each of the NFL's 32 clubs will be required to spend an average of at least 89 percent of the salary cap in contract dollars, while overall league spending must average 95 percent in that span. That sort of minimum cash spending did not exist under the old CBA.</p><br /><p>Another significant change under this agreement: owners and players divide types of revenues at different rates. Players receive 55 percent of revenue from the league's national TV and other media deals; 45 percent of licensing and national sponsorship deals, including NFL Properties; and 40 percent of local club revenues.</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-91669674602606700512013-02-28T18:06:00.001-08:002013-02-28T18:06:29.851-08:00Syria war is everybody's problem<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li><b>NEW:</b> France considers sending Syrian rebels night-vision gear and body armor, a source says</li><br /><li>Britain's foreign secretary says the UK will announce new aid soon</li><br /><li>The statements after European Union loosens restrictions to allow nonlethal aid to rebels</li><br /><li>The U.S. will also send non-lethal aid to rebels for first time, plus $60 million in administrative aid</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Rome (CNN)</strong> -- The United States stepped further into Syria's civil war Thursday, promising rebel fighters food and medical supplies -- but not weapons -- for the first time in the two-year conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives and laid waste to large portions of the country.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Meanwhile, European nations began to explore ways to strengthen rebel fighters that stop short of arming them after a European Council decision allowing such aid to flow to Syria.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the aid would help fighters in the high-stakes effort to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a conflict that has already spawned an enormous humanitarian crisis as refugees flee the fighting.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">The ongoing fighting also poses the persistent threat of widening into a destabilizing regional crisis,<strong> </strong>including concerns that Hezbollah, Iran or others could gain control in Damascus after al-Assad's government falls.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">"The United States' decision to take further steps now is the result of the continued brutality of a superior armed force propped up by foreign fighters from Iran and Hezbollah, all of which threatens to destroy Syria," Kerry said after meeting opposition leaders in Rome.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Kerry didn't say how much that aid would be worth, but did announce that the United States would separately give $60 million to local groups working with the Syrian National Council to provide political administration and basic services in rebel-controlled areas of Syria.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">READ: U.S. weighing nonlethal aid to Syrian opposition</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">That's on top of $50 million in similar aid the United States has previously pledged to the council, as well as $385 million in humanitarian assistance, Kerry said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"This funding will allow the opposition to reach out and help the local councils to be able to rebuild in their liberated areas of Syria so that they can provide basic services to people who so often lack access today to medical care, to food, to sanitation," he said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"><strong>Islamist Influence</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">That aid is partly an effort to hem in radical Islamist groups vying for influence in Syria after the fall of al-Assad, a senior State Department official told CNN.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"If the Syrian opposition coalition can't touch, improve and heal the lives of Syrians in those places that have been freed, then extremists will step in and do it," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Sheikh Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, president of the Syrian National Council, said concerns about Islamist influence had been overstated.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">"We stand against every radical belief that aims to target Syria's diverse social and religious fabric," he said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">READ: Inside Syria: Exclusive look at pro-Assad Christian militia</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">U.S. officials hope the aid will help the coalition show what it can do and encourage al-Assad supporters to "peel away from him" and help end the fighting, the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">The opposition council will decide where the money goes, Kerry said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">But the United States will send technical advisers through its partners to the group's Cairo headquarters to make sure the aid is being used properly, the senior State Department official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19"><strong>Additional aid possible</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">The European Council carved out an exception in its sanctions against Syria on Thursday to allow for the transfer of nonlethal equipment and technical assistance for civilian protection only.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">The council didn't specify what kind of equipment could be involved.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Friday on Twitter that his country would be pledging new aid because "we cannot stand still while the crisis worsens and thousands of lives are at stake."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">A diplomatic official at the French Foreign Ministry told CNN that France is studying the possibility of supplying night-vision equipment or body armor.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">"It is in the scope of the amendment," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">In the United States, President Barack Obama is thinking about training rebels and equipping them with defensive gear such as night-vision goggles, body armor and military vehicles, according to sources familiar with the discussions.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">The training would help rebels decide how to use their resources, strategize and maybe train a police force to take over after al-Assad's fall, one of the sources said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">READ: Syrian army in Homs is showing strains of war</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">Kerry did not announce that sort of aid Thursday, but said the United States and other countries backing the rebels would "continue to consult with each other on an urgent basis."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">An official who briefed reporters said the opposition has raised a lot of needs in the Rome meetings and the administration will continue to "keep those under review."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">"We will do this with vetted individuals, vetted units, so it has to be done carefully and appropriately," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31"><strong>Humanitarian crisis</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">The conflict began with demands for political reform after the Arab Spring movement that swept the Middle East and Africa, but descended into a brutal civil war when the al-Assad regime began a brutal crackdown on demonstrators.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">At least 60,000 people have died since the fighting began in March 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in early January.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">Another 940,000 had fled the country as of Tuesday, while more than one in 10 of Syria's 20 million residents have been forced to move elsewhere inside the country because of the fighting, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">The situation is nearing crisis proportions, with the dramatic influx of refugees threatening to break the ability of host nations to provide for their needs, Assistant High Commissioner Erika Feller told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36">"The host states, including Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and the North African countries, have been exemplary in their different ways, but we fear the pressure will start to overwhelm their capacities," she told the council, according to a text of her remarks posted on the United Nations website.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">Al-Khatib said it's time for the fighting to stop.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph38">"I ask Bashar al-Assad for once, just once, to behave as a human being," he said. "Enough massacres, enough killings. Enough of your bloodshed and enough torture. I urge you to make a rational decision once in your life and end the killings."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39">READ: Syrian war is everybody's problem</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">Jill Dougherty reported from Rome, and Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and Elise Labott also contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-56870603897962274782013-02-28T18:04:00.001-08:002013-02-28T18:04:37.035-08:00Collins believes Bulls taking right approach with Rose<br /> <br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /> <br /> <div id="content-rail-wrapper"> <br /><div id="content" class="module"><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="inline-photogallery" id="article-gallery-content-popup"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <br /> <div class="photogallery inline-gallery-detail" id="gallery-detail"> <br /> <div id="photo-information" readability="7.5"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p><br /> CAPTIONS <span class="caption-arrow"/><br /> </p><br /> <div id="photoCaption" readability="10"><br /> <br /> <p><b>Derrick Rose</b><br/>Derrick Rose warms up before a game between the Bulls and the 76ers at the United Center. <span>(<span class="photographer">Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune</span> /February 28, 2013)</span></p><br /> <br /> </div><br /> </div><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </div><br /><br /> </div> <br /> <br /> <br /></div> <!-- closes content-rail-wrapper --><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="toolSet" readability="-19.2702702703"><br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="byline" readability="7.54054054054"><br /> <br /> <br /> <span class="byline">By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune reporter</span><br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p class="date"><span class="timeString">7:48 p.m. CST</span><span class="dateTimeSeparator">, </span><span class="dateString">February 28, 2013</span></p><br /> <br /> <br /> </div><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </span><br /> <br /> <br /> <div id="story-body-text" readability="69.9958454508"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Even <strong>Doug Collins</strong> got swept up in the <strong>Derrick Rose</strong> hysteria on Thursday.<p>"I thought for sure he was going to play (Thursday night)," the 76ers' coach said. "Got hurt against Philadelphia, come back against Philadelphia, game on TNT. I could just see him running out with the Adidas commercial."</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Instead, Rose's participation got limited to another lengthy, sweaty pregame workout featuring several dunks that drew oohs and aahs from the early-arriving fans. Collins battled serious knee injuries in his playing career and thinks the conservative approach is the right one.<p>"The Bulls have a tremendous investment in Derrick," Collins said. "You want to make sure this young guy is ready to go. We take a guy like <strong>Adrian Peterson</strong> and we see him rehab and play football and you sort of expect everybody to have the same timetable. Knees are different. Every player is different. Everybody's game is different.</p><p>"Derrick is an explosive player. He plays in the lane. He's landing in a lot of congestion. He's going to have to be very confident when he plays about being able to explode off that leg and come down in a crowd.</p><p>"(Chairman) <strong>Jerry Reinsdorf</strong> and the Bulls organization aren't short-sighted people. They have a franchise they feel has a chance to be good for a long, long time. And Derrick is the guy who's going to make that special. So I totally understand."</p><p><strong>All aboard:</strong> All signs point to the Bulls signing <strong>Lou Amundson</strong> to a 10-day contract on Saturday, bringing their roster to the maximum 15 players. Amundson, who the Timberwolves waived Feb. 8, is big man insurance while <strong>Taj Gibson</strong> remains sidelined with a sprained MCL in his left knee.</p><p>The Bulls have just enough below the hard salary cap of $74.307 million to sign Amundson for the remainder of the season if they choose. He then would be eligible for the playoffs.</p><p>Over seven seasons with several teams, the 6-foot-9 forward has averaged 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds.</p><p><strong>Layups:</strong> <strong>Marquis Teague</strong> turned 20 Thursday. … Collins, on the widespread reaction to his heart-on-his-sleeve postgame news conference after the 76ers' sixth straight loss on Tuesday: "Yeah, I guess I was trending."<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p></div><br /> Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-77800393361262113492013-02-27T18:10:00.001-08:002013-02-27T18:10:22.984-08:00Penn State upsets No. 4 Michigan 84-78<br /><p class="first"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362016807702_6">STATE COLLEGE, Pa.</span> (AP) — <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362016807702_3">Jermaine Marshall</span> scored 25 points and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362016807702_1">Penn State</span> upset No. 4 <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362016807702_4">Michigan</span> 84-78 on Wednesday night for its first Big Ten win of the season.</p><br /><p>The <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362016807702_2">Nittany Lions</span> (9-18, 1-14) had lost 18 straight regular-season conference games dating to last season, but they roared back from a 15-point deficit with 10:39 left behind the energetic play of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362016807702_5">Marshall</span>. The junior guard scored 19 in the second half, including four 3s that whipped Jordan Center fans into a frenzy.</p><br /><p>D.J. Newbill added 17 points for Penn State, which hit a season-high 10 3-pointers. Marshall's twisting drive to the basket gave the Nittany Lions a three-point lead before <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362016807702_7">Michigan</span>'s Glenn Robinson III misfired on a 3 with 17 seconds left.</p><br /><p>Sasa Borovnjak had a memorable Senior Night, hitting two foul shots with 15 seconds left to seal the win. Moments later, Penn State fans rushed the court in delight.</p><br /><p>Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points for the Wolverines (23-5, 10-5).</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-89579578702360616102013-02-27T18:06:00.001-08:002013-02-27T18:06:24.247-08:00Italy left on financial high-wire<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="9"><p>Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi delivers a speech during a campaign rally in Rome on January 25, 2013. </p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Brilliant minds are still trying to figure out the financial impact of Italy's election</li><br /><li>The lack of certainty is seen as a negative for Italy -- and the eurozone</li><br /><li>Instability could reignite the eurozone crisis</li><br /><li>But it depends on what deal will be done, and how the markets will respond </li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Louise Cooper is a financial blogger and commentator who regularly appears on television, radio and in print. She started her career at Goldman Sachs as a European equity institutional sales person and then become a financial and business journalist. She now writes CooperCity.</em></p><br /><p><strong>London (CNN)</strong> -- Brilliant minds across the financial world are still trying to work out the implications of the Italian election result.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">For the time being, the best answer is that it is probably too soon to tell. After Tuesday's falls, a little stability has returned to markets, possibly because everyone is still trying to work out what to think.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Credit ratings agency Moody's has warned the election result is negative for Italy -- and also negative for other indebted eurozone states. It fears political uncertainty will continue and warns of a "deterioration in the country's economic prospects or difficulties in implementing reform," the agency said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">For the rest of the eurozone, the result risks "reigniting the euro debt crisis." Madrid must be looking to Italy with trepidation. If investors decide that Italy is looking risky again and back off from buying its debt, then Spain will be drawn into the firing line too.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Can the anti-Berlusconi save Italy? </p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" readability="6.5"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214" readability="8"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130212164025-louise-cooper-left-tease.jpg" alt="Louise Cooper, of Cooper City" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Louise Cooper, of Cooper City</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Standard & Poor's stated that Italy's rating was not immediately affected by the election but I think the key part of that sentence is "not immediately."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">At the same time Herman Van Rompuy's tweets give an indication of the view from Brussels: "We must respect the outcome of democratic elections in Italy," his feed noted.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">Really? That's a first. The democratically elected Silvio Berlusconi was forced out when he failed to follow through with austerity after the European Central Bank helped Italy by buying its debt in autumn 2011.</p><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"It is now up to Italian political leaders to assume responsibility, compromise and form a stable government," Van Rompuy tweeted.</p><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">Did he see the results? The newcomer and anti-establishment comedian Beppe Grillo refuses to do a deal and yet he is the natural kingmaker, polling at 25%.</p><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">"Nor for Italy is there a real alternative to continuing fiscal consolidations and reforms," he continued.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">Economically yes, but the Italian electorate disagree. And for the time being, Italy has a democracy (of sorts).</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Finally: "I am confident that Italy will remain a stable member of the eurozone."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">He hopes...</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">The key to whether the crisis reignites is whether investors begin to back away from lending to Italy. If so, this will be the big test of the ECB's resolve to save the euro.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">Read more: Euro crisis coverage </p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">The key thing to look at is Italian bonds, because if borrowing costs rise from 4.8% for 10-year money currently to nearer 6%, then Italy will start to find it too expensive to borrow.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">The trillion euro question is if the ECB will step in to help even if it cannot get the reforms and austerity it demands (because of the political situation). That is the crux of the matter. And there will be many in the city today pondering that question.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">Clearly in financial markets, taking on a central bank is a dangerous thing to do. Soros may have broken the Bank of England on Black Wednesday 1992, making billions by forcing sterling out of the EMU, but that was a long time ago.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">Italy avoids panic at bond auction</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">What we have learnt from this crisis is not to "fight the Fed" (or the ECB). Last summer, the ECB's chief Mario Draghi put a line in the sand with his "whatever it takes" (to save the euro) speech.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">But as part of that commitment he stressed time and time again that any new help from the ECB comes with conditions attached. And those conditions are what have proven so unpalatable to the Italians -- austerity and reform.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">So we have two implacable objects hurtling towards each other. The political mess of Italy and the electorate's dislike of austerity and reform (incumbent technocrat Mario Monti only polled 10%).</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">So what happens next? The status quo can continue if Italian borrowing costs do not rise from here and therefore Italy does not need ECB help.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">If markets continue to believe in Draghi and Brussels that the euro is "irreversible," then investors will continue to lend to Italy. Yes, markets will be jittery and fearful, but Italy will eventually sort itself out politically.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">The big advantage for Italy is although it has a lot of debt, it is not creating debt quickly (like Greece, Spain or even the UK). And as I said yesterday on my CooperCity blog, the positive outcome from all this could be that Brussels backs off from austerity, which would be a good thing.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">However, the basic rule of finance is that high risk comes with high return. Soros took a huge gamble against the British central bank but it reportedly made him a billionaire overnight.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">There must be a few hedge funders looking at the Italian situation with similar greed in their eyes. If he wants to save the euro, it is time for Mario Draghi to put the fear of God back into such hearts.</p><br /><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-35434039744404287042013-02-27T18:04:00.001-08:002013-02-27T18:04:31.335-08:00White House, Republicans dig in ahead of budget talks<p>Speaker of the House John Boehner tells Scott Pelley in a "CBS Evening News" interview that a budget deal is now out of his hands.</p><div id="story-body-text" readability="100.881412024"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>WASHINGTON—<br /> <br /> <br /> </p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br/> Positions hardened on Wednesday between President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders over the budget crisis even as they arranged to hold last-ditch talks to prevent harsh automatic spending cuts beginning this week.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Looking resigned to the $85 billion in "sequestration" cuts starting on Friday, government agencies began reducing costs and spelling out to employees how furloughs will work.<p>Expectations were low that a White House meeting on Friday between Obama and congressional leaders, including Republican foes, would produce any deal to avoid the cuts.</p><p>Public services across the country - from air traffic control to food safety inspections and education - might be disrupted if the cuts go ahead.</p><p>Put into law in 2011 as part of an earlier fiscal crisis, sequestration is unloved by both parties because of the economic pain it will cause, but the politicians cannot agree how to stop it.</p><p>A deal in Congress on less drastic spending cuts, perhaps with tax increases too, is needed by Friday to halt the sequestration reductions, which are split between social programs cherished by Democrats and defense spending championed by Republicans.</p><p>Obama stuck by his demand that Republicans accept tax increases in the form of eliminating tax loopholes enjoyed mostly by the wealthy as part of a balanced approach to avoiding sequestration.</p><p>"There is no alternative in the president's mind to balance," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.</p><p>Obama wants to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies and the lower "carried interest" tax rate enjoyed by hedge funds.</p><p>But Republicans who reluctantly agreed to raise income tax rates on the rich to avert the "fiscal cliff" crisis in December are in no mood for that.</p><p>"One thing Americans simply will not accept is another tax increase to replace spending reductions we already agreed to," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.</p><p>In one of the first concrete effects of the cuts, the administration took the unusual step of freeing several hundred detained illegal immigrants because of the cost of holding them.</p><p>Republicans described that move by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a political stunt aimed at scaring them into agreeing to end the sequestration on Obama's terms.</p><p>The issue looked like it might become more controversial on Wednesday when The Associated Press reported that the Homeland Security Department official in charge of immigration enforcement and removal had announced his resignation on Tuesday just after news of the immigrants' releases came out.</p><p>But ICE said the report was "misleading." The official, Gary Mead, told ICE weeks ago of his retirement in April after 40 years of federal service, a spokeswoman said. Earlier, Carney denied the White House had ordered the immigrants' release.</p><p>Friday's White House meeting will include McConnell and the other key congressional leaders: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, and House Speaker John Boehner, the top U.S. Republican.</p><p>'BELATED FARCE'?</p><p>The chances of success were not high.</p><p>One congressional Republican aide criticized the White House for calling the meeting for the day the cuts were coming into effect. "Either someone needs to buy the White House a calendar, or this is just a - belated - farce. They ought to at least pretend to try."</p></div>Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-28929813640201199952013-02-27T18:02:00.001-08:002013-02-27T18:02:34.764-08:00Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary<br /><p class="first">ALMATY (Reuters) - <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_1">Iran</span> was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions.</p><br /><p> Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the Kazakh city of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_2">Almaty</span>, the first in eight months.</p><br /><p> The United States, China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive nuclear work but made clear that they expected no immediate breakthrough.</p><br /><p> In an attempt to make their proposals more palatable to Iran, the six powers appeared to have softened previous demands somewhat, for example regarding their requirement that the Islamic state ship out its stockpile of higher-grade uranium.</p><br /><p> Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said the powers had tried to "get closer to our viewpoint", which he said was positive.</p><br /><p> In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry commented that the talks had been "useful" and that a serious engagement by Iran could lead to a comprehensive deal in a decade-old dispute that has threatened to trigger a new Middle East war.</p><br /><p> Iran's foreign minister said in Vienna he was "very confident" an agreement could be reached and Jalili, the chief negotiator, said he believed the Almaty meeting could be a "turning point".</p><br /><p> However, one diplomat said Iranian officials at the negotiations appeared to be suggesting that they were opening new avenues, but it was not clear if this was really the case.</p><br /><p> Iran expert Dina Esfandiary of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said: "Everyone is saying Iran was more positive and portrayed the talks as a win."</p><br /><p> "I reckon the reason for that is that they are saving face internally while buying time with the West until after the elections," she said.</p><br /><p> The two sides agreed to hold expert-level talks in Istanbul on March 18 to discuss the powers' proposals, and return to Almaty for political discussions on April 5-6, when <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_3">Western diplomats</span> made clear they wanted to see a substantive response from Iran.</p><br /><p> "Iran knows what it needs to do, the president has made clear his determination to implement his policy that Iran will not have a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_5">nuclear weapon</span>," Kerry said.</p><br /><p> A senior U.S. official in Almaty said, "What we care about at the end is concrete results."</p><br /><p> ISRAELI WARNING</p><br /><p> Israel, assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, was watching the talks closely. It has strongly hinted it might attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to ensure that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such aim.</p><br /><p> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said economic sanctions were failing and urged the international community to threaten Iran with military action.</p><br /><p> Western officials said the offer presented by the six powers included an easing of a ban on trade in gold and other precious metals, and a relaxation of an import embargo on Iranian petrochemical products. They gave no further details.</p><br /><p> In exchange, a senior U.S. official said, Iran would among other things have to suspend uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at its Fordow underground facility and "constrain the ability to quickly resume operations there".</p><br /><p> The official did not describe what was being asked of Iran as a "shutdown" of the plant as Western diplomats had said in previous meetings with Iran last year.</p><br /><p> Iran says it has a sovereign right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and wants to fuel nuclear power plants so that it can export more oil.</p><br /><p> But 20-percent purity is far higher than that needed for <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_4">nuclear power</span>, and rings alarm bells abroad because it is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade uranium. Iran says it produces higher-grade uranium to fuel a research reactor.</p><br /><p> Iran's growing stockpile of 20-percent-enriched uranium is already more than half-way to a "red line" that Israel has made clear it would consider sufficient for a bomb.</p><br /><p> In Vienna on Wednesday, a senior U.N. nuclear agency official told diplomats in a closed-door briefing that Iran was technically ready to sharply increase this higher-grade enrichment, two Western diplomats said.</p><br /><p> "Iran can triple 20 percent production in the blink of an eye," one of the diplomats said.</p><br /><p> The U.S. official in Almaty said the powers' latest proposal would "significantly restrict the accumulation of near-20-percent enriched uranium in Iran, while enabling the Iranians to produce sufficient fuel" for their Tehran medical reactor.</p><br /><p> This appeared to be a softening of a previous demand that Iran ship out its stockpile of higher-grade enriched uranium, which it says it needs to produce medical isotopes.</p><br /><p> Iran has often indicated that 20-percent enrichment could be up for negotiation if it received the fuel from abroad instead.</p><br /><p> Jalili suggested Iran could discuss the issue, although he appeared to rule out shutting down Fordow. He said the powers had not made that specific demand.</p><br /><p> The Iranian rial, which has lost more than half its foreign exchange value in the last year as sanctions bite, rose some 2 percent on Wednesday, currency tracking websites reported.</p><br /><p> (Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Yeganeh Torbati in Almaty, Georgina Prodhan in Vienna, Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Marcus George in Dubai; Writing by Timothy Heritage and Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Louise Ireland)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-41374657275487169532013-02-26T18:12:00.001-08:002013-02-26T18:12:15.227-08:00Wall Street rebounds on Bernanke comments, data<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rebounded from their worst decline since November on Tuesday after <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361930440593_2">Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke</span> defended the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361930440593_3">Fed</span>'s bond-buying stimulus and sales of new homes hit a 4 1/2-year high.</p><br /><p> The S&P 500 had climbed 6 percent for the year and came within reach of all-time highs before the minutes from the Fed's January meeting were released last Wednesday. Since then, the benchmark S&P 500 has fallen 1 percent.</p><br /><p> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361930440593_1">Bernanke</span>, in testimony on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, strongly defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus program and quieted rumblings that the central bank may pull back from its stimulative policy measures, which were sparked by the release of the Fed minutes last week.</p><br /><p> Bernanke's comments helped ease investors' concerns about a stalemate in Italy after a general election failed to give any party a parliamentary majority, posing the threat of prolonged instability and financial crisis in Europe, and sending the S&P 500 to its worst decline since November 7 in Monday's session.</p><br /><p> Bernanke "certainly said everything the market needed to feel in order to get comfortable again," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.</p><br /><p> "The fear is we were going to see a rollover, and the first shot over the bow was what we saw out of Italy yesterday with the elections," Kenny said. "When it came to U.S. markets, we saw some of that bleeding stop because our focus shifted from the Italian political circus to Ben Bernanke."</p><br /><p> Gains in homebuilders and other consumer stocks, following strong economic data, lifted the S&P 500, and a 5.7 percent jump in Home Depot <hd.n> to $67.56 boosted the Dow industrials. The PHLX housing sector index <.hgx> rose 3.2 percent.</.hgx></hd.n></p><br /><p> Economic reports that showed strength in housing and consumer confidence also supported stocks. U.S. home prices rose more than expected in December, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. Consumer confidence rebounded in February, jumping more than expected, and new-home sales rose to their highest in 4-1/2 years in January.</p><br /><p> However, the central bank chairman also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday, which he warned could combine with earlier tax increases to create a "significant headwind" for the economic recovery.</p><br /><p> The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 115.96 points, or 0.84 percent, to 13,900.13 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 9.09 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1,496.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advanced 13.40 points, or 0.43 percent, to close at 3,129.65.</.ixic></.spx></.dji></p><br /><p> Despite the bounce, the S&P 500 was unable to move back above 1,500, a closely watched level that was technical support until recently, but could now serve as a resistance point.</p><br /><p> The CBOE Volatility Index <.vix> or the VIX, a barometer of investor anxiety, dropped 11.2 percent, a day after surging 34 percent, its biggest percentage jump since August 18, 2011.</.vix></p><br /><p> The uncertainty caused by the Italian elections continued to weigh on stocks in Europe. The FTSEurofirst-300 index of top European shares <.fteu3> closed down 1.4 percent. The benchmark Italian index <.ftmib> tumbled 4.9 percent.</.ftmib></.fteu3></p><br /><p> Home Depot <hd.n> gave the biggest boost to the Dow and provided one of the biggest lifts to the S&P 500 after the world's largest home improvement chain reported adjusted earnings and sales that beat expectations.</hd.n></p><br /><p> Macy's <m.n> shares gained 2.8 percent to $39.59 after the department-store chain stated it expects full-year earnings to be above analysts' forecasts because of strong holiday sales.</m.n></p><br /><p> Volume was active with about 7.08 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq, above the daily average of 6.48 billion.</p><br /><p> Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 2 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, three stocks rose for every two that fell.</p><br /><p> (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal; Editing by Jan Paschal)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-57291436379222692102013-02-26T18:06:00.001-08:002013-02-26T18:06:18.435-08:00Benedict: Pope aware of his flaws?<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="8"><p>Pope Benedict XVI delivers his last Angelus Blessing to thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square on February 24.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Sister Mary Ann Walsh: Pope Benedict acknowledged that he made mistakes</li><br /><li>Walsh: In firestorm over scholarly quotes about Islam, he went to great lengths to atone</li><br /><li>Walsh: Similarly, he quickly reversed a decision that had angered Jews and repaired ties</li><br /><li>Even his stepping down is a nod to his humanity and his love of the church, she says</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Sister Mary Ann Walsh is director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Northeast Regional Community. She is a former foreign correspondent at Catholic News Service (CNS) in Rome and the editor of "John Paul II: A Light for the World," "Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on his Papacy," and "From Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI." </em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- One of the Bible's paradoxical statements comes from St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians: "Power is made perfect in infirmity."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">The poetic statement proclaims that when we are weak, we are strong. Pope Benedict XVI's stepping down from what many consider one of the most powerful positions in the world proves it. In a position associated with infallibility -- though that refers to formal proclamations on faith and morals -- the pope declares his weakness.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130225155656-sister-mary-ann-walsh-left-tease.jpg" alt="Sister Mary Ann Walsh" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Sister Mary Ann Walsh</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">His acceptance of frailty speaks realistically about humanity: We grow old, weaken, and eventually die. A job, even one guided by the Holy Spirit, as we Roman Catholics believe, can become too much for us.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">Acceptance of human frailty has marked this papacy. We all make mistakes, but the pope makes them on a huge stage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">He was barely into his papacy, for example, when he visited Regensburg, Germany, where he once taught theology. Like many a professor, he offered a provocative statement to get the conversation going. To introduce the theme of his lecture, the pope quoted from an account of a dialogue between the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an unnamed Muslim scholar, sometime near the end of the 14th century -- a quote that was misinterpreted by some as a condemnation of Mohammed and Islam.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Opinion: 'Gay lobby' behind pope's resignation? Not likely</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Twice, the pope emphasized that he was quoting someone else's words. Unfortunately, the statement about Islam was taken as insult, not a discussion opener, and sparked rage throughout the Muslim world.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">The startled pope had to explain himself. He apologized and traveled two months later to Istanbul's Blue Mosque, where he stood shoeless in prayer beside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul. Later he hosted Muslim leaders at the Vatican at the start of a Catholic-Muslim forum for dialogue. It was a human moment -- a mistake, an apology and atonement -- all round.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">A similar controversy erupted when he tried to bring the schismatic Society of St. Pius X back into the Roman Catholic fold.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">In a grand gesture toward reconciliation, he lifted the excommunication of four of its bishops, unaware that one, Richard Williamson, was a Holocaust denier. This outraged many Jews. Subsequently the Vatican said the bishop had not been vetted, and in a bow to modernity said officials at least should have looked him up on the Internet.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">In humble response, Benedict reiterated his condemnation of anti-Semitism and told Williamson that he must recant his Holocaust views to be fully reinstated. Again, his admission of a mistake and an effort to mend fences.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">News: Scandal threatens to overshadow pope's final days</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Pope Benedict XVI came from a Catholic Bavarian town. Childhood family jaunts included trips to the shrine of the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Altotting. He entered the seminary at the age of 13. He became a priest, scholar and theologian. He lived his life in service to the church. Even in resigning from the papacy, he embraces the monastic life to pray for a church he has ever loved.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">With hindsight, his visit to the tomb of 13th century Pope Celestine V, a Benedictine monk who resigned from the papacy eight centuries before, becomes poignant.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">In 2009, on a visit to Aquila, Italy, Benedict left at Celestine's tomb the pallium, a stole-like vestment that signifies episcopal authority, that Benedict had worn for his installation as pope. The gesture takes on more meaning as the monkish Benedict steps down.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">We expect the pope to be perfect. Catholics hold him to be the vicar of Christ on earth. He stands as a spiritual leader for much of the world. Statesmen visit him from around the globe. He lives among splendid architecture, in the shadow of the domed St. Peter's Basilica. All testify to an almost surreal omnipotence.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">Complete coverage of the pope's resignation</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">In this world, however, walked a vulnerable, human person. And in a paradox of life, his most human moment -- giving up the power of office -- may prove to be his most potent, delivering a message that, as St. Paul noted many centuries ago, "Power is made perfect in infirmity."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20"><i>Follow </i><i>@CNNOpinion on Twitter.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21"><i>Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mary Ann Walsh.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-6899785363116448942013-02-26T18:04:00.001-08:002013-02-26T18:04:19.149-08:00Kelly out to early lead in race to replace Jackson in Congress<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>Former state Rep. Robin Kelly is out to a big lead in tonight's special primary election to replace disgraced former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress.</p><br /><p>With 55 percent of precincts reporting, Kelly had 57 percent to 19 percent for former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and 11 percent for 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale.</p><br /><p>The total number of votes isn’t expected to be large, however, as a storm that brought a wintry mix of snow and slush depressed turnout in the 2<sup>nd</sup> Congressional District contest.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>Chicago election officials reported that as of 1:45 p.m., turnout was about 11 percent among sampled city precincts. The figures included ballots cast today and early and absentee voting.</p><br /><p>"This puts us on course for turnout in the mid-teens," said Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, in an e-mail. "This is to be expected with a special primary and special election. It is shaping up to be among the lowest turnouts in recent decades."</p><br /><p>There are primaries for both political parties in the South Side and south suburban district, but the territory is so heavily Democratic that whoever emerges from the crowded Democratic field is expected to easily win the April 9 special general election.</p><p>Today's voting follows weeks of candidate forums, an accelerated campaign schedule and a flurry of TV ads from the mayor of New York. While the top-tier candidates among the 14 Democrats vying for the primary nomination are known, there also are some big unknowns. Voter turnout, already anticipated to be very low, could be exacerbated by nasty weather.</p><p>The results of early voting held between Feb. 11 and Saturday demonstrated a lack of interest in the contest, despite its ramifications in deciding who will represent voters and their disparate interests in the vast district.</p><p>A majority of the district's Democratic voters live in suburban Cook County, with an additional one-third from the South Side. The district also includes parts of eastern Will County and all of Kankakee County, and together the two regions make up slightly less than 10 percent of the Democratic vote.</p><p>In suburban Cook, 4,459 early votes were cast, with 98 percent of those voters taking Democratic ballots. Of the 11 suburban early voting locations, Matteson Village Hall, in Kelly's hometown, had the most with 1,601 voters.</p><br /><p>In Chicago, 98 percent of the 2,768 early voters cast Democratic ballots. Only 63 early votes were cast for Republicans.</p><p>In Will, 246 voters cast early ballots, all but 40 of them Democratic votes. Kankakee County officials reported 699 early ballots, with 533 voting Democrat and 166 Republican.</p><p>"I just think if it was a regular race, then they'd look a little bit different," Kelly said of the low early voting totals. "I also think because (the special primary) came so close to the November election that there's some (voter) fatigue."</p><p>But in a large field of candidates and questionable turnout, a nomination for Congress could be decided by mere hundreds of votes. Even as forecasters sounded warnings of a Tuesday smorgasbord of wintry weather, candidates sought to energize core supporters to help get out the vote.</p><p>In an email to supporters, Kelly's campaign pleaded for volunteers to help get voters to the polls and asked for money for its get-out-the-vote field operation.</p><br />Halvorson acknowledged the early voting numbers were "paltry" and that voter turnout would be a "huge" factor Tuesday. Halvorson said she believed turnout could be driven by the district's history of scandals — including last week's guilty plea by Jackson on federal charges of illegally converting about $750,000 in campaign cash to personal use.<p>"I think this race has gotten so much attention and people are so angry about what the 2nd Congressional District has had to deal with over the years that they're going to take a special interest to make sure they are going to vote for someone who is completely different than what they've seen," said Halvorson, of Crete.</p><p>Halvorson also has been the target of the most extensive advertising in the contest, more than $2.2 million worth of TV and mail attacks by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super political action committee, centered on her past National Rifle Association support. Bloomberg's Independence USA PAC is backing Kelly.</p><p>Beale said the low number of early ballots puts all the more importance on Election Day field efforts. He said that well-established organizations in the six city wards in the district could serve as an advantage for his campaign.</p><p>"It's just slow across the board, and that just goes to show it is going to be a very low turnout," Beale said of the early votes. "We're just making sure we're targeting our core, solid voters, and we're going to get them out to the polls and be victorious Tuesday night."</p>Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-69466622265156716902013-02-26T18:02:00.001-08:002013-02-26T18:02:22.255-08:00Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate<br /><p class="first">ROME (Reuters) - <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_2">Italy</span>'s stunned <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_6">political parties</span> searched for a way forward on Tuesday after an inconclusive election gave none of them a parliamentary majority and threatened prolonged instability and a renewal of the European financial crisis.</p><br /><p> The results, notably the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_1">Beppe Grillo</span>, left the center-left bloc with a majority in the lower house but without the numbers to control the upper chamber, the Senate.</p><br /><p> Financial markets fell sharply at the prospect of a stalemate that reawakened memories of the crisis that pushed Italy's borrowing costs toward unsustainably high levels and brought the euro zone to the brink of collapse in 2011.</p><br /><p> "The winner is: Ingovernability," ran the headline in Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, reflecting the deadlock the country will have to confront in the next few weeks as sworn enemies are forced to work together to form a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_9">government</span>.</p><br /><p> Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday that policy choices of the next Italian government would be crucial for the country's creditworthiness, underlining the need for a coalition that can agree on new reforms.</p><br /><p> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_4">Pier Luigi Bersani</span>, head of the center-left Democratic Party (PD), has the difficult task of trying to agree a "grand coalition" with former <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_5">prime minister Silvio Berlusconi</span>, the man he blames for ruining Italy, or striking a deal with Grillo, a completely unknown quantity in conventional politics.</p><br /><p> The alternative is new elections either immediately or within a few months, although both <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_7">Berlusconi</span> and Bersani have indicated that they want to avoid a return to the polls if possible: "Italy cannot be ungoverned and we have to reflect," Berlusconi said in an interview on his own television station.</p><br /><p> For his part, Grillo, whose movement won the most votes of any single party, has indicated that he believes the next government will last no more than six months.</p><br /><p> "They won't be able to govern," he told reporters on Tuesday. "Whether I'm there or not, they won't be able govern."</p><br /><p> He said he would work with anyone who supported his policy proposals, which range from anti-corruption measures to green-tinted energy measures but rejected suggestions of entering a formal coalition: "It's not time to talk of alliances... the system has already fallen," he said.</p><br /><p> The election, a massive rejection of the austerity policies applied by Prime Minister <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_3">Mario Monti</span> with the backing of international leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, caused consternation across Europe.</p><br /><p> German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble put a brave face on it, saying "that's democracy".</p><br /><p> Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo was more pessimistic.</p><br /><p> "This is a jump to nowhere that does not bode well either for Italy or <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_8">Europe</span>," he said.</p><br /><p> A long recession and growing disillusionment with mainstream parties and tax-raising austerity fed a bitter public mood and contributed to the massive rejection of Monti, whose centrist coalition was relegated to the sidelines.</p><br /><p> Projections by the Italian center for Electoral Studies showed that the center-left will have 121 seats in the Senate, against 117 for the center-right alliance of Berlusconi's PDL and the regionalist Northern League. Grillo would take 54.</p><br /><p> That leaves no party with the majority in a chamber which a government must control to pass legislation.</p><br /><p> "THE BELL IS RINGING"</p><br /><p> On a visit to Germany, President Giorgio Napolitano said he would not comment until the parties had consulted with each other and Bersani called on Berlusconi and Grillo to "assume their responsibilities" to ensure Italy could have a government.</p><br /><p> He warned that the election showed austerity policies alone were no answer to the economic crisis and said the result carried implications beyond Italy.</p><br /><p> "The bell is ringing for Europe as well," he said in his first public comments since the election.</p><br /><p> He said he would present a limited number of reform proposals to parliament, focusing on jobs, institutional reform and European policy.</p><br /><p> However forming an alliance may be long and difficult and could test the sometimes fragile internal unity of the mainstream parties.</p><br /><p> "The idea of a majority without Grillo is unthinkable. I don't know if anyone in the PD is considering it but I'm against it," said Matteo Orfini, a member of Bersani's PD secretariat.</p><br /><p> "The idea of a PD-PDL government, even if it's backed by Monti, doesn't make any sense," he said.</p><br /><p> For his part, Berlusconi won a boost when his Northern League ally Roberto Maroni won the election to become regional president of Lombardy, Italy's economic heartland and one of the richest and most productive areas of Europe.</p><br /><p> For Italian business, with an illustrious history of export success, the election result brought dismay that there would be no quick change to what they see as a regulatory sclerosis that has kept the economy virtually stagnant for a decade.</p><br /><p> "This is probably the worst possible scenario," said Francesco Divella, whose family began selling pasta under its eponymous brand in 1890 in the southern region of Puglia.</p><br /><p> Berlusconi's campaign, mixing sweeping tax cut pledges with relentless attacks on Monti and Merkel, echoed many of the themes pushed by Grillo and underlined the increasingly angry mood of the Italian electorate.</p><br /><p> But even if the next government turns away from the tax hikes and spending cuts brought in by Monti, it will struggle to revive an economy that has scarcely grown in two decades.</p><br /><p> Monti was widely credited with tightening Italy's public finances and restoring its international credibility after the scandal-plagued Berlusconi, who is currently on trial for having sex with an under-age prostitute.</p><br /><p> However, Monti struggled to pass the kind of structural reforms needed to improve competitiveness and lay the foundations for a return to economic growth. A weak center-left government may not find it any easier.</p><br /><p> The view from some voters, weary of the mainstream parties, was unrepentant: "It's good," said Roger Manica, 28, a security guard in Rome, who voted for the center-left PD.</p><br /><p> "Next time I'll vote 5-Star. I like that they are changing things, even if it means uncertainty. Uncertainty doesn't matter to me, for me what's important is a good person who gets things done," he said. "Look how well they've done."</p><br /><p> (Additional reporting by Barry Moody, Gavin Jones, Lisa Jucca, Steven Jewkes, Steve Scherer, Catherine Hornby and Massimiliano Di Giorgio, Annika Breidthardt in Berlin. Writing by Philip Pullella and James Mackenzie; Editing by Peter Graff)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-55233701163077280152013-02-25T18:12:00.001-08:002013-02-25T18:12:17.143-08:00Wall Street trips and falls on cloudy Italian election<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks on Monday suffered their biggest drop since November after a strong showing in Italian elections by groups opposed to the country's economic reforms triggered worry that <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361828948357_3">Europe</span>'s debt problems could once again destabilize the global economy.</p><br /><p> The decline marks the biggest percentage drop for the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index since November7, and drove the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361828948357_4">S&P</span> down to its lowest close since January 18. The CBOE Volatility Index <.vix> or VIX, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361828948357_1">Wall Street</span>'s favorite barometer of fear, surged 34 percent, its biggest jump since August 18, 2011.</.vix></p><br /><p> Selling accelerated late in the trading session after the S&P 500 fell below the 1,500 level, which has acted as a significant support point. Monday marked the S&P's first close under 1,500 since February 4.</p><br /><p> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361828948357_2">Italy</span>'s center-left coalition holds a slim lead over former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right bloc in the election for the lower house of parliament, three TV projections indicated. But any government must also command a majority in the Senate, a race that is decided by region.</p><br /><p> The resulting gridlock in parliament could lead to new elections and cast into doubt Italy's ability to pay down its debt.</p><br /><p> "Europe hasn't gone away as an issue, it is going to hang around, and it is rearing its ugly head today," said Stephen Massocca, managing director of Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.</p><br /><p> "If someone gets elected who is simply not going to play by the rules, what are they going to do? It puts them in a real quandary here because their financial support, their monetary support is all stipulated by the fact that these austerity programs are going to be in place."</p><br /><p> Earlier polls pointing to a center-left victory boosted stocks in Milan and other European markets, and also helped lift the S&P 500 to a session high of 1,525.84 on optimism that Italy would continue down its austerity path.</p><br /><p> After a strong start to the year, equities have retreated more recently. The S&P 500's slight fall last week was its first weekly drop after a seven-week string of gains.</p><br /><p> In Monday's volatile session, banks and other financial stocks were among the worst performers on worries about the sector's exposure to Italy's massive debt. The KBW Bank Index <.bkx> fell 2.7 percent.</.bkx></p><br /><p> The CBOE Volatility Index <.vix> ended at 18.99, up 34.02 percent.</.vix></p><br /><p> The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 216.40 points, or 1.55 percent, to 13,784.17 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 27.75 points, or 1.83 percent, to 1,487.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> fell 45.57 points, or 1.44 percent, to 3,116.25.</.ixic></.spx></.dji></p><br /><p> Although the overall market lost ground on Monday, there were a few bright spots.</p><br /><p> Barnes & Noble Inc <bks.n> shares shot up 11.5 percent to $15.06 after the bookseller's chairman offered to buy its declining retail business.</bks.n></p><br /><p> Amgen Inc shares climbed 3.1 percent to $89.55, after rival Affymax issued a voluntary recall of its only drug, an anemia treatment that competes with Amgen's top-selling red blood cell booster, Epogen. Affymax shares lost 85.4 percent to $2.42.</p><br /><p> The FTSEurofirst-300 index of top European shares <.fteu3> edged up 0.04 percent and Italy's main FTSE MIB <.ftmib> ended up 0.7 percent after earlier gaining nearly 4 percent.</.ftmib></.fteu3></p><br /><p> Political uncertainty on the home front, though, is also on Wall Street's mind.</p><br /><p> U.S. equities will face a test with the looming debate over so-called sequestration - U.S. government budget cuts that will take effect starting on Friday if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement over spending and taxes. The White House issued warnings about the harm the cuts are likely to inflict on the economy if enacted.</p><br /><p> "Sitting out there is the one-thousand-pound gorilla - the sequester issue - and certainly nothing is happening there," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.</p><br /><p> Lowe's Companies Inc <low.n> lost 4.8 percent to $35.86 after the home improvement retailer posted fourth-quarter earnings.</low.n></p><br /><p> With 83 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported results so far, 69 percent beat profit expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data.</p><br /><p> Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.</p><br /><p> Volume was active with about 7.27 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq, above the daily average of 6.46 billion.</p><br /><p> Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq by a ratio of about 4 to 1.</p><br /><p> (Editing by Kenneth Barry, Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-60429900432148747382013-02-25T18:04:00.001-08:002013-02-25T18:04:26.549-08:00Chicago could see 6 inches of snow in Tuesday storm<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>Abundant sunshine and temperatures close to 50 degrees in the past few days teased sober Midwestern sensibilities.</p><br /><p>Encouraged perhaps by spring training photos, some people deliberately ventured outside. Some even hopped on bicycles for spins. Maybe they dared to think that spring could break a little early this year.</p><br /><p>But on Tuesday morning, for the second time in less than a week, a blustery mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow is forecast to hit the Chicago area. Accumulations could reach 6 inches.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>Sure, weather predictions being what they are around here, many will shrug off the warnings and be brazenly optimistic. But it might be best to recall the adage that those who ignore history are sure to be victimized by it.</p><br /><p>Chicago has plenty of late-season snow history and, regardless of what materializes, the prudent will keep their salt dry, snow shovels handy and snowblowers primed for the next couple of months.</p><br /><p>National Weather Service records from 2011 show that 54 of the previous 139 years — nearly 40 percent — experienced at least one day with an inch or more of snowfall on or after March 25. A total of 17 of those years brought multiple days with more than an inch of snow to Chicago.</p><br /><p>One year, 1926, included six days when more than an inch of snow fell after March 25.</p><br /><p>And, like some cruel trick, the later in the season the snow falls, the heavier and deadlier it tends to be. On the other hand, it also generally melts faster.</p><br /><p>Among the grimmest of those late snowfalls was the deadly storm of April 15-17,1961, when a rainy low-pressure system stalled and kept looping over the Chicago region. It transformed cold rain into nearly 7 inches of snow. Six people died from the storm's effects; four were victims of snow-shoveling heart attacks.</p><br /><p>That storm remains the latest major snowfall of 6 inches or more in the Chicago area.</p><br /><p>More recently, the area was hit with nearly 2 inches of snow on March 27, 2008. On March 29, 2009, 1.2 inches accumulated. A week later, more than 2 inches of snow fell.</p><br /><p>Tuesday's forecast, which calls for heavier snow north of Interstate 80 and winds whipping up to 35 mph, weighed on Jason Marker's mind while he stood at the Downers Grove Metra station Monday.</p><br /><p>"I have a job interview tomorrow," said Marker, 30, of Downers Grove. "It's going to be tough getting there because I have to ride my bike."</p><br /><p>Still, he said the winter has been a moderate one so far, "but maybe it will catch up with us tomorrow."</p><br /><p>Ashley Feuillan and Bernard Thomas, also of Downers Grove, will be commuting in opposite directions Tuesday morning. Thomas commutes to a job in Aurora, which he starts at 7 a.m. Feuillan hops the train to Columbia College Chicago three times a week.</p><br /><p>Both said they plan to leave earlier Tuesday.</p><br /><p>"I actually like the snow," said Feuillan, 24, "but it can be a hassle when you're trying to get someplace."</p><br /><p>Rather than focusing on what could be a nasty storm, Thomas, 40, kept an upbeat perspective.</p><br /><p>"It hasn't been a bad winter," he said. "We haven't really had any big snowstorms."</p><br /><p>If the forecast is accurate, Jake Weimer could receive a little relief.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-59117118089478772792013-02-24T18:12:00.001-08:002013-02-24T18:12:13.600-08:00Asian shares edge higher, yen falls on BOJ report<p class="first">TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged higher on Monday, with investors still picking up shares battered by last week's steep plunge, while the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755087090_4">yen</span> fell to fresh lows on news a reflationary advocate could head the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755087090_3">Bank of Japan</span> next month.</p><br /><p> The news Japan's government is likely to nominate Asian Development Bank President <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755087090_1">Haruhiko Kuroda</span>, an advocate of aggressive monetary easing, as its next central bank governor, is set to be a major factor in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755087090_5">financial markets</span> this week.</p><br /><p> Markets are pondering whether Italy's weekend elections will produce a stable government, and the implications of that for euro zone cohesion, while Moody's credit downgrade on Britain will play on confidence in the pound and government bonds.</p><br /><p> Investors also await testimony on Tuesday from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for further clues of when the Fed may slow or stop buying bonds. Financial markets were rattled last week after minutes of the Fed's January meeting suggested some Fed officials were mulling scaling back its strong monetary stimulus earlier than expected.</p><br /><p> The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> was up 0.1 percent, pulled higher by Australian shares <.axjo> which gained 0.6 percent on reassuring comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials on the bank's current stimulus program, which has helped underpin risk sentiment globally.</.axjo></.miapj0000pus></p><br /><p> South Korean shares <.ks11> opened up 0.2 percent, with the nation's new leader, who has shown willingness to talk down the won, being sworn in on Monday.</.ks11></p><br /><p> Tokyo's Nikkei stock average <.n225> opened 1.6 percent higher. <.t/></.n225></p><br /><p> Early on Monday, the yen touched its lowest since May 2010 of 94.61 yen against the dollar, while the euro rose to a high of 124.83 yen, still off its 34-month peak of 127.71 set early this month.</p><br /><p> The Nikkei newspaper reported the Japanese government is likely to nominate Haruhiko Kuroda and Kikuo Iwata, both vocal advocates of aggressive monetary expansion, as <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755087090_2">BOJ</span> governor and deputy governor.</p><br /><p> The dollar fell sharply to below 93 yen last week on media reports that Toshiro Muto, a former financial bureaucrat perceived as less willing to take unconventional steps, was the frontrunner candidate for the top BOJ job.</p><br /><p> "The dollar's move this morning is merely a rebound from disappointment on Muto last week. I don't think this topic will be enough to hoist the dollar above 95 yen," said Hiroshi Maeba, head of FX trading Japan at UBS in Tokyo. "No matter who is elected at the BOJ, it will not affect the longer-term trend of a weak yen," he said.</p><br /><p> Speculation over the BOJ has been a key factor driving the yen lower recently due to anticipation for strong reflationary measures, but other fundamental factors such as Japan's deteriorating trade balances and signs of firmer U.S. growth also supported a weakening yen trend.</p><br /><p> Abe told Americans on Friday "I am back and so is Japan" and vowed to get the world's third biggest economy growing again.</p><br /><p> Investors remained cautious before the full official results of Italy's elections come out on Tuesday, worried a potential political stalemate could impede Rome's progress on fiscal reforms.</p><br /><p> The euro was up 0.1 percent to $1.3192, off Friday's six-week low of $1.31445.</p><br /><p> Sterling fell to a 31-month low of $1.5073 early on Monday and a record low against the New Zealand dollar at NZ$1.8025 following Friday's one-notch downgrade of Britain's prized triple-A sovereign rating by Moody's.</p><br /><p> Investors will also seek signs of recovery from the flash estimate of China's manufacturing PMI from HSBC/Markit due later in the session.</p><br /><p> Wall Street ended higher on Friday, boosted strong earnings from Dow component Hewlett-Packard <hpq.n>, but the benchmark Standard & Poor's Index <.spx> posted its first weekly decline of the year. European shares rose on Friday after data showed German business morale surged at its fastest pace in over two years in February.</.spx></hpq.n></p><br /><p> Hedge funds and other big speculators cut their bullish bets on U.S. commodities by nearly $13 billion, the most in about 10 months, in the week to February 19 to $69 billion, just before oil and metals prices tumbled last week on rumors a commodities fund was dumping positions, trade data showed on Friday.</p><br /><p> U.S. crude was up 0.1 percent to $93.26 a barrel.</p><br /><p> (Editing by Eric Meijer)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-79831437776752402622013-02-24T18:10:00.001-08:002013-02-24T18:10:15.801-08:00Johnson wins 2nd Daytona 500; Patrick finishes 8th<br /><p class="first">DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A big first for <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_1">Danica Patrick</span>, but an even bigger second for <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_3">Jimmie Johnson</span>.</p><br /><p>Patrick made history up front at the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_2">Daytona 500</span> Sunday, only to see Johnson make a late push ahead of her and reclaim his spot at the top of his sport.</p><br /><p>It was the second Daytona 500 victory for Johnson, a five-time <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_4">NASCAR</span> champion who first won "The Great American Race" in 2006.</p><br /><p>"There is no other way to start the season than to win the Daytona 500. I'm a very lucky man to have won it twice," said Johnson, who won in his 400th career start. "I'm very honored to be on that trophy with all the greats that have ever been in our sport."</p><br /><p>It comes a year after Johnson completed only one lap in the race because of a wreck that also collected Patrick, and just three months after Johnson lost his bid for a sixth Sprint Cup title to go two years without a championship after winning five straight.</p><br /><p>Although he didn't think he needed to send a message to his competitors — "I don't think we went anywhere; anybody in the garage area, they're wise to all that," Johnson said — the win showed the No. 48 team is tired of coming up short after all those years of dominance.</p><br /><p>"Definitely a great start for the team. When we were sitting discussing things before the season started, we felt good about the 500," Johnson said, "but we're really excited for everything after the 500. I think it's going to be a very strong year for us."</p><br /><p>Patrick is hoping for her own success after a history-making race.</p><br /><p>The first woman to win the pole, Patrick also became the first woman to lead the race. She ran inside the top 10 almost the entire race, kept pace with the field and never panicked on the track.</p><br /><p>Her only mistakes were on pit road, where she got beat on the race back to the track, and on the final lap, when she was running third but got snookered by the veterans and faded to eighth. That's going to stick with Patrick for some time.</p><br /><p>"I would imagine pretty much anyone would be kicking themselves about what they coulda, shoulda have done to give themselves an opportunity to win," she said. "I think that's what I was feeling today, was uncertainty as to how I was going to accomplish that."</p><br /><p>There were several multicar crashes, but no one was hurt and none of them approached the magnitude of the wreck that injured more than two dozen fans in the grandstand at the end of the second-tier Nationwide Series race on the same track a day earlier. Daytona International Speedway workers were up until 2 a.m repairing the fence that was damaged in the accident, and track officials offered Sunday morning to move any fans who felt uneasy sitting too close to the track.</p><br /><p>Several drivers said the accident and concern for the fans stuck with them overnight and into Sunday morning, and Johnson was quick to send his thoughts from Victory Lane.</p><br /><p>"I just want to give a big shout-out to all the fans, and I also want to send my thoughts and prayers out to everybody that was injured in the grandstands," Johnson said.</p><br /><p><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_5">Dale Earnhardt</span> Jr., whose father was killed in this race 12 years ago, was involved in Saturday's accident but refocused and finished second to Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.</p><br /><p>"Me personally, I was just really waiting to get the news on how everybody was, how all the fans were overnight, just hoping that things were going to improve," Earnhardt said, adding that he "wasn't really ready to proceed until you had some confirmation that things were looking more positive."</p><br /><p>The race itself, the debut for NASCAR's new Gen-6 car, was quite similar to all the other Cup races during Speedweeks in that the cars seemed to line up in a single-file parade along the top groove of the track. It made the 55th running of the Daytona 500 relatively uneventful.</p><br /><p>When the race was on the line, Johnson took off.</p><br /><p>The driver known as "Five-Time" raced past defending NASCAR champion <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_7">Brad Keselowski</span> on the final restart and pulled out to a sizable lead that nobody challenged over the final six laps.</p><br /><p>Johnson and Keselowski went down to the wire last season in their race for the Sprint Cup title, with Johnson faltering in the final two races as Keselowski won his first Cup championship.</p><br /><p>Although it was a bit of an upset that stuck with Johnson into the offseason, it gave him no extra motivation when he found himself racing with Keselowski late Sunday for the Daytona 500.</p><br /><p>"As far as racing with Brad out there, you really lose sight of who is in what car," Johnson said. "It's just somebody between you and the trophy. It could have been anybody."</p><br /><p>Once Johnson cleared Keselowski on the last restart he had a breakaway lead with Greg Biffle and Patrick behind him. But as the field closed in on the checkered flag, Earnhardt finally made his move, just too late and too far behind to get close enough to the lead.</p><br /><p>Earnhardt wound up second for the third time in the last four years. But with all the crashes the Hendrick cars have endured in restrictor-plate races — teammate Kasey Kahne was in the first accident Sunday — team owner <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_8">Rick Hendrick</span> was just fine with the finish.</p><br /><p>"We have a hard time finishing these races. Boy, to run 1-2, man, what a day," Hendrick said. Jeff Gordon, who was a contender early, faded late to 20th.</p><br /><p>And Johnson considered himself lucky to be the one holding the trophy at the end.</p><br /><p>"Man, it's like playing the lottery; everybody's got a ticket," he said. "I've struck out a lot at these tracks, left with torn-up race cars. Today we had a clean day."</p><br /><p>Mark Martin was third in a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_6">Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota</span>. Keselowski, who overcame two accidents earlier in the race, wound up fourth in Penske Racing's new Ford. Ryan Newman was fifth in a Chevy for Stewart-Haas Racing and was followed by Roush-Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle, who was second on the last lap but was shuffled back with Patrick to finish sixth.</p><br /><p>Regan Smith was seventh for Phoenix Racing, while Patrick, Michael McDowell and JJ Yeley rounded out the top 10.</p><br /><p>Patrick was clearly disappointed with her finish. When the race was on the line, she was schooled by Earnhardt, who made his last move and blocked any chance she had.</p><br /><p>Still, Patrick became the first woman in history to lead laps in the 500 when she passed Michael Waltrip on a restart on Lap 90. She stayed on the point for two laps, then was shuffled back to third. She ended up leading five laps, another groundbreaking moment for Patrick, who as a rookie in 2005 became the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500 and now is the 13th driver to lead laps in both the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500.</p><br /><p>"Dale did a nice job and showed what happens when you plan it out, you drop back and get that momentum. You are able to go to the front," Patrick said. "I think he taught me something. I'm sure I'll watch the race and there will be other scenarios I see that can teach me, too."</p><br /><p>Earnhardt was impressed, nonetheless.</p><br /><p>"She's going to make a lot of history all year long. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch her progress," said Earnhardt Jr. "Every time I've seen her in a pretty hectic situation, she always really remained calm. She's got a great level head. She's a racer. She knows what's coming. She's smart about her decisions. She knew what to do today as far as track position and not taking risks. I enjoy racing with her."</p><br /><p>Johnson, one of three heavyweight drivers who took their young daughters to meet Patrick — "the girl in the bright green car" — after she won the pole in qualifications, tipped his cap, too.</p><br /><p>"I didn't think about it being Danica in the car," Johnson said. "It was just another car on the track that was fast. That's a credit to her and the job she's doing."</p><br /><p>The field was weakened by an early nine-car accident that knocked out race favorite Kevin Harvick and sentimental favorite <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361754788251_9">Tony Stewart</span>.</p><br /><p>Harvick had won two support races coming into the 500 to cement himself as the driver to beat, but the accident sent him home with a 42nd place finish.</p><br /><p>Stewart, meanwhile, dropped to 0-for-15 in one of the few races the three-time NASCAR champion has never won.</p><br /><p>"If I didn't tell you I was heartbroken and disappointed, I'd be lying to you," Stewart said.</p><br /><p>That accident also took former winner Jamie McMurray, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kasey Kahne out of contention.</p><br /><p>The next accident — involving nine cars — came 105 laps later and brought a thankful end to Speedweeks for Carl Edwards. He was caught in his fifth accident since testing last month, and this wreck collected six other Ford drivers.</p><br /><p>The field suddenly had six Toyota drivers at the front as Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing drivers took control of the race. But JGR's day blew up — literally — when the team was running 1-2-3 with Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch setting the pace.</p><br /><p>Kenseth, who led a race-high 86 laps, went to pit road first with an engine problem, and Busch was right behind him with a blown engine. Busch was already in street clothes watching as Hamlin led the field.</p><br /><p>"It's a little devastating when you are running 1-2-3 like that," Busch said.</p><br /><p>Hamlin's shot disappeared when he found himself in the wrong lane on the final restart. He tried to hook up with Keselowski to get them back to Johnson, but blamed former teammate Joey Logano for ruining the momentum of the bottom lane.</p><br /><p>Hamlin offered a backhanded apology to Keselowski on Twitter, posting that he couldn't get close enough because "your genius teammate was too busy messing up the inside line 1 move at a time."</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-39024527603989299162013-02-24T18:06:00.001-08:002013-02-24T18:06:14.895-08:00Vatican 'Gay lobby'? Probably not<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Benedict XVI not stepping down under pressure from 'gay lobby,' Allen says</li><br /><li>Allen: Benedict is a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government </li><br /><li>However, he says, much of the pope's time has been spent putting out fires</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.</em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- Suffice it to say that of all possible storylines to emerge, heading into the election of a new pope, sensational charges of a shadowy "gay lobby" (possibly linked to blackmail), whose occult influence may have been behind the resignation of Benedict XVI, would be right at the bottom of the Vatican's wish list.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Proof of the Vatican's irritation came with a blistering statement Saturday complaining of "unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories," even suggesting the media is trying to influence the papal election.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Two basic questions have to be asked about all this. First, is there really a secret dossier about a network of people inside the Vatican who are linked by their sexual orientation, as Italian newspaper reports have alleged? Second, is this really why Benedict XVI quit?</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120528080343-john-l-allen-jr-left-tease.jpg" alt="John L. Allen Jr." border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>John L. Allen Jr.</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">The best answers, respectively, are "maybe" and "probably not."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">It's a matter of record that at the peak of last year's massive Vatican leaks crisis, Benedict XVI created a commission of three cardinals to investigate the leaks. They submitted an eyes-only report to the pope in mid-December, which has not been made public.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">It's impossible to confirm whether that report looked into the possibility that people protecting secrets about their sex lives were involved with the leaks, but frankly, it would be surprising if it didn't.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">There are certainly compelling reasons to consider the hypothesis. In 2007, a Vatican official was caught by an Italian TV network on hidden camera arranging a date through a gay-oriented chat room, and then taking the young man back to his Vatican apartment. In 2010, a papal ceremonial officer was caught on a wiretap arranging liaisons through a Nigerian member of a Vatican choir. Both episodes played out in full public view, and gave the Vatican a black eye.</p><br /><br /><div id="expand18" class="cnnGalleryContainer cnn_strylftcntnt"><br /><div class="cnnStoryElementBox"><br /><div id="expandableTarget18" class="cnnArticleExpandableTarget"><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControl"><br /><p>Pope Benedict XVI</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>HIDE CAPTION</p><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br /><p><span><<</span></p><br /><p><span><</span></p><br /><div class="articleGalleryNavContainer"><br /><p><br /><br /><span>1</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>2</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>3</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>4</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>5</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>6</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>7</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>8</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>9</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>10</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>11</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>12</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>13</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>14</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>15</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>16</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>17</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>18</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>19</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>20</span><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><p><span>></span></p><br /><p><span>>></span></p><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">In that context, it would be a little odd if the cardinals didn't at least consider the possibility that insiders leading a double life might be vulnerable to pressure to betray the pope's confidence. That would apply not just to sex, but also potential conflicts of other sorts too, such as financial interests.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">Vatican officials have said Benedict may authorize giving the report to the 116 cardinals who will elect his successor, so they can factor it into their deliberations. The most immediate fallout is that the affair is likely to strengthen the conviction among many cardinals that the next pope has to lead a serious house-cleaning inside the Vatican's bureaucracy.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">It seems a stretch, however, to suggest this is the real reason Benedict is leaving. For the most part, one should probably take the pope at his word, that old age and fatigue are the motives for his decision.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">That said, it's hard not to suspect that the meltdowns and controversies that have dogged Benedict XVI for the last eight years are in the background of why he's so tired. In 2009, at the height of another frenzy surrounding the lifting of the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop, Benedict dispatched a plaintive letter to the bishops of the world, voicing hurt for the way he'd been attacked and apologizing for the Vatican's mishandling of the situation.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">Even if Benedict didn't resign because of any specific crisis, including this latest one, such anguish must have taken its toll. Benedict is a teaching pope, a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government, yet an enormous share of his time and energy has been consumed trying to put out internal fires.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">It's hard to know why Benedict XVI is stepping off the stage, but I doubt it is because of a "gay lobby."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14"><i>Follow us on </i><i>Twitter @CNNOpinion.</i><i> </i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15"><i>Join us on </i><i>Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John L. Allen Jr. </p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-5953195545855625942013-02-24T18:04:00.001-08:002013-02-24T18:04:19.469-08:00Oscars live: Christoph Waltz best supporting actor<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <strong>7:59 p.m.: </strong>Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy present the best animated feature film award, which goes to "Brave." Director Mark Andrews accepts the award wearing a kilt.<strong/> John Kahrs wins best animated short film for "Paperman."<br /><p><strong>7:50 p.m.: </strong>Christoph Waltz wins the first award of the night, as best supporting actor for his role in "Django Unchained." The award is given by Octavia Spencer.</p><br /><p><strong><strong>MORE OSCARS: </strong>Red carpet pics | Live stream | Oscars trivia quiz</strong></p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p><strong>7:35 p.m.: </strong>The 85th Academy Awards are under way, with Seth MacFarlane as host. He announces that this year's Oscars will have a musical theme.</p><br /><p>The show's first surprise is William Shatner as Captain Kirk from "Star Trek," telling MacFarlane he is doing a terrible job as host.</p><br /><p>The first song of the night is MacFarlane singing a song called "We Saw Your Boobs."</p><br /><p>MacFarlane then sings a rendition of the Frank Sinatra hit "The Way You Look Tonight" with Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron dancing.</p><br /><p>He then sings "High Hopes" with Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.</p><br />--------------------------<br /><p>Here's a preview of the Oscars from Reuters:</p><br /><p>LOS ANGELES -- The Oscars rolled out the red carpet on Sunday for the movie industry's biggest night, with Iran hostage drama "Argo" and presidential drama "Lincoln" in a tight race for Best Picture.</p><br /><p>With several contests too close to call, a slate of big box office hits to celebrate and an unpredictable first-time host in Seth MacFarlane, movie fans could be in for surprises when the curtain rises on the 85th annual Academy Awards.</p><br />Before the festivities begin, nominees including Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Sally Field, Jessica Chastain, British singer Adele and "Argo" producer George Clooney, along with performers Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Hudson will parade along the 500-ft long (152 meter) red carpet before dozens of photographers and camera crews.Inside Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, Academy Awards history could be re-written.<br /><p>Daniel Day-Lewis as U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is considered an unstoppable force to become the first man to win three Best Actor Oscars.</p><br /><p>Buzz is building over a possible late upset by France's Emmanuelle Riva, 86, in the Best Actress contest that would make the star of harrowing Austrian entry "Amour" the oldest person ever to win an acting Oscar.</p><br /><p>"Lincoln" goes into Sunday's three-hour plus ceremony with a leading 12 nominations, including a directing nod for double Oscar winner Steven Spielberg.</p><p>But its front-runner Best Picture status has been dented by the six-week victory streak enjoyed at other Hollywood awards by Ben Affleck's "Argo."</p><p>"It's been an interesting year," said Matt Atchity, editor in chief of movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.</p><p>"I think 'Argo' probably has the best shot. It's certainly got the momentum. It has won so many top awards, and I think it's probably the movie to beat," Atchity told Reuters.</p><p>If "Argo" does prevail for the top prize, it will be the first movie to win Best Picture without its director even getting a nomination since "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1990.</p><p>ANNE HATHAWAY OSCAR BOUND</p><p>Musical "Les Miserables," comedy "Silver Linings Playbook," shipwreck tale "Life of Pi," Osama bin laden thriller "Zero Dark Thirty," slavery Western "Django Unchained," indie film "Beasts of the Southern Wild," and "Amour" round out the contenders for the best film of 2012.</p><p>In other categories, only Anne Hathaway is considered a sure bet to take home a golden statuette after starving herself and chopping off her long brown locks for her supporting turn as tragic heroine Fantine in "Les Miserables."</p><p>Awards pundits says Spielberg could lose out in the director's race to Taiwan's Ang Lee for his technical and imaginative feat in filming fantastical adventure "Life of Pi" with a cast of exotic animals.</p><p>And the supporting actor Oscar could go to any of the five nominees - Robert De Niro ("Silver Linings Playbook"), Alan Arkin ("Argo"), Christoph Waltz ("Django Unchained"), Tommy Lee Jones ("Lincoln") and Philip Seymour Hoffman ("The Master").</p><p>The Oscar winners are chosen in secret ballots by some 5,800 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and handed out before an audience of 3,300 guests and tens of millions more watching around the world on television.</p><p>After several years of nominating little-seen movies, this year's nine Best Picture contenders have pulled in more than $2 billion in tickets worldwide.</p><p>"We are so fortunate to inherit this great group of films that are also popular at the box office ... We just lucked out and had this fantastic year in film," Academy Awards telecast co-producer Neil Meron told Reuters.</p><p>Producers are promising a fast-paced show packed with music and big performances. But the man getting the early attention will be MacFarlane, the provocative comedian behind animated TV series "Family Guy" and an unknown quantity as Oscar host.</p><p>"We are not going to know what works until we put it out there and see what plays in front of an audience," co-producer Craig Zadan said.</p><p>"It's a live show and that is always unpredictable. Once the train has left the station, whatever happens, happens."</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-58262472672152832262013-02-24T18:02:00.001-08:002013-02-24T18:02:14.518-08:00Cuban leader Raul Castro says he will retire in 2018<br /><p class="first">HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_1">Raul Castro</span> announced on Sunday he will step down from power after his second term ends in 2018, and the new parliament named a 52-year-old rising star to become his first vice president and most visible successor.</p><br /><p> "This will be my last term," Castro, 81, said shortly after the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_2">National Assembly</span> elected him to a second five-year term.</p><br /><p> In a surprise move, the new parliament also named <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_7">Miguel Diaz-Canel</span> as first vice president, meaning he would take over if Castro cannot serve his full term.</p><br /><p> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_9">Diaz-Canel</span> is a member of the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_8">political bureau</span> who rose through the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_3">Communist Party</span> ranks in the provinces to become the most visible possible successor to Castro.</p><br /><p> Raul Castro starts his second term immediately, leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.</p><br /><p> Former President <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_4">Fidel Castro</span> joined the National Assembly meeting on Sunday, in a rare public appearance. Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his brother, the elder Castro, 86, has given up official positions except as a deputy in the National Assembly.</p><br /><p> The new government will almost certainly be the last headed up by the Castro brothers and their generation of leaders who have ruled Cuba since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution.</p><br /><p> Cubans and foreign governments were keenly watching whether any new, younger faces appeared among the Council of State members, in particular its first vice president and five <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_6">vice presidents</span>.</p><br /><p> Their hopes were partially fulfilled with Diaz-Canel's ascension. He replaces former first vice president, Jose Machado Ventura, 82, who will continue as one of five vice presidents.</p><br /><p> Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes, 80, and Gladys Bejerano, 66, the comptroller general, were also re-elected as vice presidents.</p><br /><p> Two other newcomers, Mercedes Lopez Acea, 48, first secretary of the Havana communist party, and Salvador Valdes Mesa, 64, head of the official labor federation, also earned vice presidential slots.</p><br /><p> Esteban Lazo, a 68-year-old former vice president and member of the political bureau of the Communist Party, left his post upon being named president of the National Assembly on Sunday. He replaced Ricardo Alarcon, who served in the job for 20 years.</p><br /><p> Six of the Council's top seven members sit on the party's political bureau which is also lead by Castro.</p><br /><p> The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the 31-member <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361755326575_5">Council of State</span>, which also functions as the executive through the Council of Ministers it appoints.</p><br /><p> Eighty percent of the 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote February 3, were born after the revolution.</p><br /><p> EFFORT TO PROMOTE YOUNGER GENERATION</p><br /><p> Raul Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as president in 2008, has repeatedly said senior leaders should hold office for no more than two five-year terms.</p><br /><p> "Although we kept on trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice," Castro said at a Communist Party Congress in 2011.</p><br /><p> "Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a reserve of well-trained replacements ... It's really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century."</p><br /><p> Speaking on Sunday, Castro hailed the composition of the new Council of State as an example of what he had said needed to be accomplished.</p><br /><p> "Of the 31 members, 41.9 percent are women and 38.6 percent are black or of mixed race. The average age is 57 years and 61.3 percent were born after the triumph of the revolution," he said.</p><br /><p> The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan aimed at updating Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to transform it from one based on collective production and consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far more important role.</p><br /><p> Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by a comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.</p><br /><p> Raul Castro has encouraged small businesses and cooperatives in retail services, farming, minor manufacturing and retail, and given more autonomy to state companies which still dominate the economy.</p><br /><p> The party plan also includes an opening to more foreign investment.</p><br /><p> At the same time, Cuba continues to face a U.S. administration bent on restoring democracy and capitalism to the island and questions about the future largess of oil rich Venezuela with strategic ally Hugo Chavez battling cancer.</p><br /><p> (Editing by Kieran Murray and Vicki Allen)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455835552520945692.post-18575546495182329942013-02-23T18:12:00.001-08:002013-02-23T18:12:13.700-08:00Investors face another Washington deadline<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361587027450_3">government spending</span> cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.</p><br /><p> Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.</p><br /><p> Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.</p><br /><p> "It's at this point a political hot button in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361587027450_4">Washington</span> but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361587027450_1">President Barack Obama</span> and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.</p><br /><p> Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.</.spx></p><br /><p> But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.</p><br /><p> National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361587027450_6">investor concern</span>. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361587027450_5">Silvio Berlusconi</span> has raised doubts.</p><br /><p> "Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361587027450_2">stock market</span>, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.</p><br /><p> OPTIONS BULLS TARGET GAINS</p><br /><p> The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.</p><br /><p> Yet in the options market, bulls were targeting gains in Lockheed Martin Corp <lmt.n>, the Pentagon's biggest supplier.</lmt.n></p><br /><p> Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.</p><br /><p> "The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.</p><br /><p> The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.</p><br /><p> If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp <gd.n> and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp <swhc.o> could be affected.</swhc.o></gd.n></p><br /><p> General Dynamics Corp shares rose 1.2 percent to $67.32 and Smith & Wesson added 4.6 percent to $9.18 on Friday.</p><br /><p> EYES ON GDP DATA, APPLE</p><br /><p> The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.</p><br /><p> U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.</p><br /><p> Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.</p><br /><p> Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.</p><br /><p> On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.</p><br /><p> (Additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Kenneth Barry)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.com