Severe storms drench Texas, at least 3 tornadoes (AP)
HOUSTON ? Heavy rain and powerful winds that likely spawned tornadoes have swept across Texas, forcing drivers to abandon cars on flooded roads but not dropping enough water to make up for the state’s historic drought.
Storms pounded Dallas and Fort Worth overnight. At dawn Wednesday, rescue workers checked to make sure people weren’t stuck in cars stranded in windshield-high water.
Record rainfall drenched the Austin area, which last summer suffered the most devastating wildfires in Texas history.
The National Weather Service is working to confirm at least three tornadoes touched down, damaging homes and businesses. No injuries were reported.
The downpour was celebrated in drought-stricken Washington County near Houston. Emergency management coordinator Robert Smith says the rural area’s ranches finally have water and, “I think the cows are doing a jig.”
Scotland: Let 16-year-olds vote on independence (AP)
LONDON ? Teenagers of 16 and 17 would be eligible to cast ballots in a Scottish independence referendum that could see the breakup of Britain within four years, under proposals announced Wednesday by Scotland’s leader.
First Minister Alex Salmond announced the Scottish government’s preferred options for the vote on whether to sever ties from Britain, which it plans to hold in the fall of 2014. A “yes” vote would lead to independence taking effect with a May 2016 election for the Scottish Parliament.
Salmond told Scottish lawmakers in the Edinburgh assembly the ballot would ask “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” but could also include a third option, for increased autonomy short of full independence.
And he said the voting age should be lowered from the current 18.
“If a 16-year-old in Scotland can register to join the army, get married and pay taxes, surely he or she should be able to have a say in this country’s constitutional future?” Salmond said.
The details are subject to consultation with Scottish voters ? and negotiations with the British government in London, which insists it has the final authority to authorize a binding referendum.
It has offered the Scottish administration the powers to hold such a vote, but wants a say in the timing and could insist that the Electoral Commission, which will run the referendum, be allowed to set the question. Salmond’s proposed wording is likely to be seen by his opponents as slanted in favor of independence.
Opponents of independence want to hold the vote as soon as possible, because polls suggest only about a third of Scots favor independence.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said the ballot should pose a straight yes-no question, and not include a third option, which has been dubbed maximum devolution or “devo max.”
But Salmond said that “if there is an alternative of maximum devolution which would command wide support in Scotland, then it is only fair and democratic that option should be among the choices open to the people of Scotland.”
Cameron stressed Wednesday that everyone in Britain, not just Scots, should have a say in any changes to Scotland’s status.
He said, “The point that everyone needs to understand is that options for further devolution, options for changes across the United Kingdom, are matters all of the United Kingdom should rightly discuss.”
Michael Moore, the minister in Cameron’s government responsible for Scotland, was due to hold talks with Salmond on Friday. But his office said the meeting had been postponed because Moore has chicken pox.
Scotland and England united in 1707 to form Great Britain. Scotland gained significant autonomy after voting in 1997 to set up the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament. But some Scots want to go further and make the nation of 5 million people an independent country within the European Union.
Salmond, who leads the separatist Scottish National Party, said that independence would bring “a new, more modern relationship between the nations of these islands ? a partnership of equals.”
He said an independent Scotland would keep Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, but would not send troops to “illegal wars like Iraq, and we won’t have nuclear weapons based on Scottish soil.” Scotland is currently home to Britain’s fleet of nuclear-armed submarines.
Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont, whose party opposes independence, accused Salmon of belittling Scots who wished to remain in Britain.
“Why does he assert as fact that we all wish to be independent of each other when we all know, as families and communities, we want to come together in partnership and cooperation?” she said.
____
Online: Scottish Government referendum consultation paper: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current
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U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving (Reuters)
CAIRO (Reuters) ? Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo’s new military rulers stop “endangering American lives”.
Among those hit by travel bans – one of those targeted called it “de facto detention” – is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as other foreign staffers of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute, officials at the two organizations said.
The United States said Egypt should reverse them: “We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow these folks to come home as soon as possible,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
“We are trying to get them free to travel as soon as possible, and we’re hopeful that we can resolve this in coming days,” she said.
A month after police raided the Cairo offices of the IRI, NDI and eight other non-governmental organizations, it raises the stakes for Washington, which had already indicated it may review the $1.3 billion it gives the Egyptian military each year if the probe into alleged breaches of local regulations went on.
Some see it as a poor omen for Egypt’s fledgling democracy following last year’s overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
John McCain, the leading Republican senator who chairs the IRI, voiced “alarm and outrage” at a “new and disturbing turn” which included a travel ban on Sam LaHood, the group’s Egypt director.
The younger LaHood said he was stopped at Cairo airport on Saturday and prevented from boarding a flight out.
McCain, in a statement referring to Egypt’s ruling military council, said: “I call on the Egyptian government and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to cease the harassment and unwarranted investigations of American NGOs operating in Egypt.
“This crisis has escalated to the point that it now endangers the lives of American citizens and could set back the long-standing partnership between the United States and Egypt.”
US-EGYPT TIES
Mubarak had a close alliance with Washington which is now trying to build a relationship with an Egypt run by his old army colleagues but expecting to be ruled eventually by a parliament in which Islamists have won a big majority in a free vote.
Visiting Cairo, the U.S. State Department’s top human rights official, Michael Posner, declined to comment on the travel bans, which some of the NGO officials affected said Egyptian officials have yet to confirm in writing.
However, of the dispute over NGO registration in general, he urged the Egyptian government to “redress this situation”. He noted that the release of aid was dependent on Congress, where many disapprove of Egypt’s actions against the NGOs and which is waiting for reports from the State Department before voting.
“The NGO issue is very much part of that package and as you know there has been considerable attention in the Congress to the restrictions on NGOs,” Posner told reporters.
“So we are very much engaged in trying to encourage progress on that issue.”
Cairo-based political analyst Elijah Zarwan said the move would give ammunition to those in Congress seeking a review of aid: “This will clearly strain an already tense relationship between Egypt military rulers and Washington,” he said.
Sam LaHood told Reuters that a judge had accused him and three other IRI employees with managing an unregistered NGO and being paid employees of an unregistered organization, infractions that carry a penalty of up to five years in jail.
His counterpart at the NDI, which like the IRI receives U.S. public funding and is loosely affiliated with one of the two major political parties in Washington, said she, too, was on the banned list for travel. But Julie Hughes told Reuters she was unaware of any formal charges against her or her staff.
NGO officials said the ban affects four IRI staff, including three Americans and one other foreigner as well as six foreigners from the NDI, including three U.S. citizens.
Egyptian officials have made no comment on the bans.
“These organizations have been operating for years. They meet with the government. Their funding is known,” said Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch in Cairo.
“There can be no motivation except a desire to control and silence the human rights community.”
NDI’s Hughes said her organization had submitted a registration request when it started up in Egypt in 2005, but after dealing with queries in 2006 the request went no further. She said the group was in regular contact with the authorities.
“We have never received any official correspondence from the government of Egypt with problems or requesting us to cease,” Hughes said. “We are hoping … this controversy yields a more constructive dialogue.”
(Reporting by Ashraf Fahim, Sherine El Madany and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair and Tom Perry; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Christopher Wilson)
Cavalry Arrives ? Climate Science Legal Defense Fund established …
January 25, 2012
Bullying, intimidation, and threats are the currency of the climate denial movement .
NYTimes:
There is a ripple of unease among many scientists who study the warming of the planet these days. Some have faced harassment, legal challenges and even death threats related to their research, the American Association for the Advancement of Science reports.
On Tuesday, the board of directors of the association, which publishes the journal Science, released a?strongly worded statement??vigorously opposing? such attacks on researchers, saying that the tactics inhibited the free exchange of scientific ideas.
?Reports of harassment, death threats and legal challenges have created a hostile environment that inhibits the free exchange of scientific findings and ideas, and makes it difficult for factual information and scientific analyses to reach policy makers and the public,? the board said. ?This both impedes the progress of science and interferes with the application of science to the solution of global problems.?
Climate scientists like Mike Mann, Ben Santer, and Phil Jones have born the brunt of this behavior unassisted for more than a decade. Now there?s help.
Scott Mandia:
Washington, DC ? The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) has found a non-profit home in Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) which provides it fiscal sponsorship and logistical support. CSLDF lets scientific colleagues and the public directly help climate scientists protect themselves and their work from industry-funded legal attacks.
In recent years, these legal attacks have intensified, especially against climate scientists. The fund is designed to help scientists like Professor Michael Mann cope with the legal fees that stack up in fighting attempts by climate-contrarian groups to gain access to private emails and other correspondence through lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act requests at their public universities.
The project is co-directed by physical sciences Professor Scott Mandia of Suffolk County Community College and Joshua Wolfe, co-author of ?Climate Change: Picturing the Science.? The Fund started this past fall after Prof. Mandia posted a ?Dear Colleague? appeal for support which generated more than $10,000 in less than 24 hours (http://bit.ly/qzg7X4). To date, CSLDF has raised $25,000. All contributions to CSLDF are tax-deductible.
?Academic salaries are not designed to support ongoing legal expenses in fights with corporate-funded law firms and institutes,??said Prof. Mandia.??These legal battles also have taken many of our brightest scientific minds away from their research.?
?Our goal is not only to defend the scientist but to protect the scientific endeavor,??explained Wolfe.??The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund was established to make sure that these legal claims are not viewed as an action against one scientist or institution but as actions against the scientific endeavor as a whole.?
In addition to its core mission of defraying legal fees, CSLDF will ?
? Educate researchers about their legal rights and responsibilities on issues surrounding their work;
? Serve as a clearinghouse for information related to legal actions taken against scientists; and
? Recruit and assist lawyers representing these scientists.
?The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund dovetails with the mission of PEER ? to protect those who protect our environment,??stated PEER executive Director Jeff Ruch.??When individual researchers find themselves under intense legal assault, they often have few resources. Their universities do not necessarily represent their interests and may be disinclined to resist corporate fishing expeditions. We are stepping into this void to provide direct aid to both the scientists and their institutions.??
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Sundance doc traces Simon’s ‘Graceland’ hit album (AP)
PARK CITY, Utah ? Paul Simon recalls his return to South Africa like a family reunion ? musical brothers getting back together after decades apart.
The trip last summer to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his “Graceland” album was a far more joyous occasion than some of his earlier travels on behalf of the record.
The Sundance Film Festival documentary “Under African Skies” chronicles the creation of “Graceland,” its overnight success and the furor it caused as critics accused Simon of impeding progress to abolish South Africa’s system of racial segregation known as apartheid.
Simon said he was surprised by protests that sprang up on his “Graceland” tour in the 1980s. But looking back, he said the album and tour with South African musicians raised awareness that helped end apartheid in the 1990s.
“Once I saw it had an immediate acceptance and that people loved it and had great affection for the music, I thought that the tour and the album were going to be a very effective way of showing just how evil apartheid was,” Simon said in an interview alongside “Under African Skies” director Joe Berlinger.
The film shows Simon’s South African musical colleagues enjoying their first taste of success outside their oppressed nation on the “Graceland” tour. But critics charged that the tour violated a United Nations cultural ban meant to pressure South Africa’s white minority into doing away with government policies of segregation against blacks.
There were protests and even bomb threats, resulting in tight security as the tour progressed around the world.
Even today, there is lingering bitterness against Simon. “Under African Skies” includes a sometimes-uneasy exchange last summer between him and Dali Tambo, the son of African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo and the founder of Artists Against Apartheid. Dali Tambo had remained a harsh critic of Simon.
The joint interview arranged by filmmaker Berlinger helped clear the air between Simon and Tambo, who ended their meeting with a warm hug on camera.
That meeting was part of Berlinger’s aim to examine both the musical origins of “Graceland” but also its unpleasant political fallout.
“I made it clear I didn’t want a puff piece, a Paul Simon puff piece, and he didn’t want a Paul Simon puff piece,” Berlinger said. “We established that we’re going to do an honest exploration of these issues and also go deeply into how this music was made, which, to me, is actually the more interesting part of the film.
“The political story is relevant and has resonance in today’s world as well, but how this album was made, the dissection of that music and that achievement to me was as interesting, or more so, than the political story.”
The film traces the creation of the album, from early recording sessions Simon did in South Africa to capture the raw material for many of the songs, to a London studio session with vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to an early performance on “Saturday Night Live” that enchanted the audience months before “Graceland” was released.
“Under African Skies” also follows Simon on his return to South Africa last summer, when he and musicians from the album reunited for a performance.
Simon had a gracious welcome there, reminiscent of a trip back to South Africa he took a few years after the “Graceland” tour, when apartheid had ended and South Africa’s new president, Nelson Mandela, invited him to come and perform.
Mandela’s invitation amounted to the “official announcement that was nothing about `Graceland’ that the ANC saw as harming the cause. In fact, the opposite,” Simon said. “We all felt particularly honored to even meet Nelson Mandela. I think of him as one of the great, great leaders of the 20th century. One of the great teachers. To be in his presence actually was extraordinary. We felt great about it.”
___
Online:
http://www.sundance.org
Romney’s immigration dilemma (Politico)
For a moment Wednesday afternoon in Miami, Mitt Romney seemed to have a solution to his Hispanic problem: Was he not, Univision?s Jorge Ramos asked, Mexican-American himself, as his father had been born south of the border?
Romney confessed his parents were American citizens who never spoke Spanish.
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?I don?t think people would think I was being honest with them if I said I was Mexican-American,? Romney said, adding that he?d still be grateful if Ramos ?put the word out.?
Romney needs a better answer, and though he did his best in South Florida to project a soft line on illegal immigrants and a hard line on Fidel Castro ? who he suggested would go to hell ? he has dug himself a deep hole. Hispanic activists in both parties told POLITICO they are stunned by how far right Romney has moved in the past two months, and think he will have a hard time coming back.
?As for Romney, immigration and the Hispanic vote, put a fork in him. He?s done, cooked, burnt,? said Frank Sharry, the founder and executive director of the Democratic group America?s Voice. Sharry said Democrats would have had reason to fear an immigration moderate with strong Hispanic credentials like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who recently warned his party to moderate its ?tone? on immigration.
But the former Massachusetts governor, he argued, finds himself in an impossible position. ?What can Romney do? If he flip-flops in the general, he?ll piss off his new hard-liner friends on the right and underscore his flip-flopping reputation; he stays hard right and [angers] the fastest growing voter bloc in the country.?
Some Republicans have come around to the same opinion.
?Romney has done himself some real damage,? said Ana Navarro, a Florida Republican who has advised John McCain and Jeb Bush. ?Romney has now thrown Obama a lifesaver on the issue. It?s been stupid and unnecessary. He could have been more nuanced and left himself room to maneuver.
?Immigration is not most the important issue for Hispanics, but it definitely sets a tone,? she said.
The Hispanic community, indeed, is one place where Romney has failed to line up the support of the Republican establishment. Navarro backed Huntsman. Lionel Sosa, a former aide to George W. Bush and a leading figure for an older generation of Hispanic Republicans, works with Newt Gingrich.
The litany of complaints about Romney is long. Perhaps the sharpest is that he says he would veto the DREAM Act, a poll-tested corner of immigration reform that would legalize only the most virtuous of illegal immigrants: people who came as children and then enrolled in college or the military. A Univision poll released Tuesday found 54 percent of Hispanic voters saying they?d be less likely to choose a candidate who promises to veto the legislation, which has the support of more than 90 percent of Hispanic voters in other polls.
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DroidDoodle – Samsunged!
That's gotta sting at least a little, right? OK, maybe not.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/r_RFw1fZEKs/story01.htm
Identity theft insurance not always worth the cost ? Maine Business …
The phrase ?identity theft? has become one of those terms that makes one?s blood run cold. We?ve heard so many stories of financial losses, ruined credit and related horrors that we react emotionally to the subject.
That emotional response has prompted many consumers to buy insurance that kicks in if some form of identity theft strikes the insured. The question before us is, is such insurance worth the cost?
There?s no simple answer, as is usually the case in consumer matters. The quick historical view back to 2006 finds Consumer Reports said such coverage was ?typically not worth the money.? The magazine notes more than half of ID theft protection is sold by banks, and that those premiums amount to a consumer subsidy for federally required loss protection through credit card and bank account fraud. The passing of time hasn?t changed CR?s opinion that you can ? and should ? take more effective steps yourself to protect your credit and good name.
ID theft insurance typically costs $120 to $300 a year. That?s more than victims often incur through the theft and misuse of their credit card numbers, the most frequent type of ID theft. Federal law limits liability in such cases to $50 per card.
Those who sell the coverage point to the time-consuming process of restoring credit and correcting information on their credit histories. The insurers say their policies can help consumers cope with what can be a trying and frustrating process.
Most people in the insurance industry give the same advice they would when buying other types of coverage. Find out what the policy limits are; the National Association of Insurance Commissioners says most ID theft policies have policy limits of $10,000 to $15,000. If the policy covers lost wages, find out how the coverage is triggered and what limits apply. Know if there is a deductible; some policies require the holder to pay as much as $500 toward the cost of reclaiming your financial identity before the insurer pays a penny.
Before buying, check your homeowner?s insurance policy. It may include ID theft coverage, or you might be able to add coverage more affordably than buying separate coverage. If you decide to buy a separate policy, compare the coverage of several companies.
The insurance commissioners warn against becoming a victim of insurance fraud by making sure the agent and company you?re dealing with are licensed to do business in Maine. Find the Bureau of Insurance online ( http://www.maine.gov/pfr/insurance), by phone (207-624-8475 or TTY 888-577-6690) or by writing to the Bureau at 34 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333.
David Leach, principal consumer credit examiner for the Maine?s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, advises people to be their own advocates. Leach says it?s critical for each of us to get one free credit report from one of the reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union) every four months. Do this by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com and only that site. That, plus keeping a close watch on all credit card activity, will help keep identity thieves at bay.
As to separate insurance, Leach says, ?Consumers who sign up for these types of services are paying close to $250.00 a year for a service they can essentially run themselves.? He notes that most financial institutions that issue credit cards will waive all losses in cases of identity theft or fraud. Visit the bureau?s website at www.credit.maine.gov.
For a rundown on federal ID theft laws and tips to protect yourself, visit the Federal Trade Commission website, www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine?s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, or go to necontact.wordpress.com, or email atcontacexdir@live.com.
Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/22/business/identity-theft-insurance-not-always-worth-the-cost/
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BOJ sees recovery delayed as Europe bites but skips easing (Reuters)
TOKYO (Reuters) ? The Bank of Japan forecast the economy will contract in the current fiscal year but kept policy steady on Tuesday, expecting exports to emerging markets and reconstruction after last year’s earthquake will help fuel a steady recovery later in 2012.
BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, however, warned that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis remained the biggest threat to Japan’s recovery prospects, already clouded by recent yen rises against the euro and slowing global demand for Japanese goods.
“At present, Europe’s debt problem poses the biggest risk for the global economy, including Japan’s. If the situation worsens further, it may trigger a global credit crunch,” Shirakawa told a news conference after the BOJ’s widely expected decision to hold off on additional monetary easing.
The remarks underline deep-rooted concern within the BOJ over developments in Europe as Greece teeters on the edge of default, with some market watchers not ruling out a worsening of the crisis that could knock Japan back into recession.
With the chance of that happening appearing slim for now and the yen off record highs, the BOJ likely decided to save its limited policy options in case renewed market turmoil or a prolonged slump in overseas growth threaten Japan’s recovery.
Still, the central bank may not hold fire for too long.
“Europe remains the biggest risk in the eyes of the BOJ. If Greece suffers a disorderly default or Europe fails to work out assistance measures for key states like Italy, triggering share price falls and renewed yen rises, the BOJ is likely to ease policy further,” said Naomi Hasegawa, senior fixed-income strategist at Mitsubishi UFG Morgan Stanley Securities.
“The possibility of this happening will remain high towards the spring as a large amount of government bonds reach maturity in Europe.”
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As widely expected, the BOJ kept its key policy rate at zero to 0.1 percent and held off on further expanding its 55 trillion yen ($713 billion) asset-buying scheme.
Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, the stubbornly strong yen and slowing overseas growth have taken a heavy toll on an export-reliant economy barely emerging from the devastation of the March disaster.
The BOJ stuck to its view that Japan is headed for a moderate recovery after a temporary lull. But it now expects the rebound to come by September, rather than around spring as forecast three months ago, due to the pain from Europe’s crisis.
“It is my view, along with all in the board, that the timing of the recovery has been delayed somewhat,” Shirakawa said.
In a quarterly review of long-term projections, the BOJ cut its economic forecast for the year ending in March to a 0.4 percent contraction, matching a Reuters poll of private-sector analysts, from a 0.3 percent rise.
It trimmed its forecast for the next fiscal year to an expansion of 2.0 percent from 2.2 percent, reflecting the effects of the global slowdown, although it was still higher than 1.8 percent growth forecast in a Reuters poll.
The government is somewhat more upbeat, forecasting a 0.1 percent contraction for the current fiscal year and a 2.2 percent expansion for the following year.
Eager to pass bills through parliament to raise taxes to fix Japan’s tattered finances, the government kept up pressure on the central bank to help support the fragile economy.
“In order to overcome the yen’s rise to historical levels and prolonged deflation we will fortify cooperation with the BOJ … and manage solid economic and fiscal policies,” Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told parliament.
The BOJ releases its long-term economic and price forecasts in a twice-yearly outlook report in April and October, and reviews them in January and July of each year.
With interest rates virtually at zero, the central bank put in place in 2010 a pool of funds to buy assets ranging from government to public debt to pump cash into the economy and shield it from the pain from a strong yen.
It last boosted the scheme in October last year and has been standing pat since then, but has expressed its readiness to ease again if Europe’s debt crisis and the market fallout threaten Japan’s recovery prospects. Many market players expect another expansion in its asset purchases by mid-year.
($1 = 77.1200 Japanese yen)
(Additional reporting by Rie Ishiguro, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Stanley White and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Michael Watson and Chris Gallagher)