Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/181786183?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Egypt denies trying to stifle human rights movement (Reuters)
CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egypt's government on Sunday denied accusations from human rights groups that it was trying to smother some of the ruling military council's most vocal opponents when it raided the offices of 17 non-governmental organisations last week.
Angered by the swoops, Washington called on Egyptian authorities to halt "harassment" of staff of the groups involved, which included the U.S.-funded National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute.
The U.S. government also hinted it could review the $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Cairo if the raids continued.
Egyptian government ministers told a news conference the authorities had acted within the law as part of an investigation into illegal funding of political activities.
"These violations are criminal and the punishment could include imprisonment," said Justice Minister Adel Abdelhamid Abdallah.
He said Egypt was keen to support human rights groups, including foreign ones, and that 35,000 organisations were operating under the law and with appropriate permits in Egypt.
"It is not just Egypt that bans political funding or funding that has political aims," said Planning and International Cooperation Minister Faiza Abu el-Naga. "Even the U.S. bans such funding."
She said the number of non-governmental organisations violating the law on funding political activities had grown since an uprising overthrew President Hosni Mubarak last year.
Both ministers stressed the independence of Egypt's justice system, but did not explain what democracy campaigners and many other Egyptians see as the legal system's failure to bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of more than 850 people during the anti-Mubarak revolt.
"The justice system and prosecutor's office are quick and efficient in investigating and charging civil society and rights groups that have critically revealed human rights violations by Egyptian authorities against protesters," said activist Mohamed Fahmy.
"Yet they cannot bring a single official or police officer responsible for the killing of the martyrs of the revolution to justice," he added.
Almost a year since the uprising, no official has been convicted for the killing of protesters. On December 29 an Egyptian court cleared five police officers of criminal charges over the killing of five protesters during the revolt.
Abu el-Naga said the government was "keen in light of the gains of the January 25 revolution to assert human rights and the respect of the Egyptian citizen."
Washington's ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, had promised that U.S. groups whose premises were searched in the investigation would seek to register themselves with the authorities, Abu el-Naga said.
It was not immediately clear which of the groups targeted in the raids had been registered beforehand.
Civil society groups that helped drive the protests that toppled Mubarak in February have become increasingly vocal in criticising what they call the army's heavy-handed tactics in dealing with street unrest in recent months.
In a joint statement last week, 27 civil society groups said the military council ordered the raids to defame and stigmatise activists, rights groups and others at the forefront of the anti-Mubarak revolt.
(Writing by Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
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Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Video: Romney on Iowa: ?I?m not predicting a win?
>> mitt romney on the eve of the caucuses, savannah, good morning.
>> good morning to you, ann. even romney advisers did not expect to be here six months ago at the top of the polls, in fact, after disappointment four years ago they didn't spend nearly the time or resources. but with iowa social conservatives split over all the other choices it's romney who is benefiting. spending a fraction of the time and money he did four years ago, mitt romney is poised to finish strong in the state that once rejected him. does it strike you as ironic?
>> we built a lot of strength last time around, built a lot of friendships that have been helpful to me this time and i'm pleased we'll probably do pretty well and have the send-off we need for a long campaign season.
>> reporter: a late-surging rick santorum is trying to convince conserbives he not romney is the real thing. he said don't settle for anything less than true conserve of it. i'm bold colors. not pale pastel.
>> i congratulate rick, he's worked hard in iowa , good guy, i appreciated the fact he supported me for my last campaign for the presidency.
>> he said that was a political decision.
>> i'm not sure what that means if we're talking about bold and pastels, what a political decision is, but i appreciated his support nonetheless.
>> former speaker gingrich claimed a new term that he'd been romney boated, third water groups not connected to you in any way have run a barrage of ads in iowa . do you approve of what you're doing?
>> there's a lot of heat in the campaign kitchen. i know the speaker's angry. i don't know why but myager is focused on president obama 's failures of putting people back to work.
>> reporter: romney 's top spot is unexpected. social conservatives spent the summer and fall searching for any alternative to romney . here you are in the waning days of the caucus, and you're polling 25%. you got 25% in 2008 so it's as though people do know you, they're getting to know you and yet you can't break that threshold.
>> if i get 25%, if that turns out to be the case that will most likely be the highest number so win something just fine. i'm not predicting a win. maybe i get 20%, someone else gets 25%.
>> the large e point, do you really not see any problem in your campaign? you're a form her consultant so you can diagnose problems. do you know there's not a problem in connecting with a certain part of the electorate?
>> if i'm able to do well and perhaps better than anybody else that's success to me. this president has not been a success. it's failure.
>> reporter: romney has ever sharper attack lines on the president. talking about president obama seems the primary argument you make against him is that he lacked experience when he took office, in terms of national security experience, what would you cite to say that you are prepared to be commander in chief.
>> i've worked in multiple countries around the world competing in american businesses to make them successful.
>> how is that national security experience?
>> let me continue. in addition i worked in the olympics and at the olympics i negotiated with people around the world. i have not led the department of defense . no one is commander in chief until they're commander in chief. president obama wasn't commander in chief until he had that experience.
>> on the one hand you're saying president obama fails because he lacked experience, yet you acknowledge okay i don't have the exact national security requirements to be commander in chief but that's okay because i'll get it once i'm on the job.
>> president obama failed because he'd never been a leader anywhere. he never led in the state senate . he never led in the u.s. senate . never led an enterprise of any kind. his lack of experience is not just a lack of experience in foreign policy , it's a lack of experience as a leader.
>> you're certainly running on your business experience, a life in business but what is the last significant business accomplishment you could point to, something recent?
>> i can tell you the things i've done throughout my business career.
>> but something recent.
>> now why would i only have to do something in the last year to make it significant? i reject the premise of the question. my business career has included helping lead a consulting firm as its chief executive at a time of great difficulty, turning that around.
>> one thing you said recently about santorum and gingrich , they're career politicians but some people say mitt romney , he's been running for president for about the last five years or so.
>> and i think the others that you mentioned have been in politics for what, 30 years, 40 years. there's five years versus 40 years.
>> ever present on the trail, members of romney 's family who help to humanize the candidate. who here calls him cheap in.
>> all of us. i think it's a character we need in the white house to be honest, the kind of guy knocking on my shower taking a ten-minute shower, time to get out. that's the guy i want in the white house right now.
>> your sons say that you're cheap, most people don't take as a compliment.
>> i grew up in a family where if you were wise with the dollar that was a good thing.
>> there are people that don't know you. here is an opportunity to tell us something that most people don't know about you.
>> i'm just an ordinary guy . i never thought i'd be doing this. i spent my life in business, raised a family but found myself backing into a setting where i could run for the presidency of the united states .
>> it's clear romney advisers feel good not just about where they are on the polls but who is at the top of the polls with them. the fact is they don't really fear santorum, they don't fear ron paul . the real threat would have been gingrich or perry for the moment they feel have been
Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45855060/
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With focus on Iowa, Huntsman continues NH effort (AP)
NASHUA, N.H. ? Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman said Monday that his intense focus on New Hampshire is paying off, though he's still being met by some blank looks.
Watching Huntsman enter a Nashua diner surrounded by television cameras, voter Jimmy Pacheco at first mistook the former Utah governor for New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, and not a flicker of recognition crossed his face when he heard Huntsman's name. But by the time Huntsman reached his booth, the former truck driver greeted him like an old friend, complimented him on his "pretty wife" and said afterward that he probably would vote for Huntsman.
Noting that Huntsman is skipping Iowa's Tuesday caucuses and staking his hopes on a strong showing in New Hampshire's Jan. 10 primary, Pacheco said, "He cares about us."
Two minutes earlier, Pacheco had said he was leaning toward former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has long been the front-runner in New Hampshire.
After stopping by several Nashua businesses and restaurants, Huntsman told reporters that New Hampshire is a place where an underdog can come from behind and beat expectations.
"It happens time and time again here in New Hampshire. It's where message matters, it's where grass-roots politics is rewarded, and this is a state that is finely tuned to finding leaders and then sending them south," he said.
While he lags far behind Romney in polls, Huntsman said Romney won't necessarily pull off a big win in New Hampshire.
"I think there will be more than a single ticket leaving New Hampshire. We're not concluding at all at this point that anyone is going to win this big," he said. "I don't think anyone's looking for a coronation. I don't think anyone wants the establishment to tell them for whom to vote."
At another restaurant, GOP voter Matt Dobski said he was closer to backing Huntsman after meeting him but remained undecided. He said he likes Romney but doesn't like the health care law he enacted in Massachusetts, finds former House Speaker Newt Gingrich too polarizing, and thinks Texas Rep. Ron Paul is too extreme.
Huntsman, in contrast, "is probably one of the only candidates who's been consistent in all his policies and what's needed to change America," Dobski said. "That's important because, right now, everybody's waffling to say what they need to say to get votes. ... So a guy like Huntsman could really come through and steal the show, if he gets the media exposure he needs."
After having the state to himself last week, Huntsman soon will have plenty of company. Only seven days separate the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann plan to head straight to South Carolina after Iowa and then return to New Hampshire for two debates just before the primary.
Huntsman downplayed those debates, saying there have been too many already.
"I think with each passing debate, they're less and less important," he said. "People see them more as show business."
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Monday, January 2, 2012
NASA starts off new year with mission to the moon (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? The cruise to the moon took 3 1/2 months and covered 2 1/2 million miles ? far longer than the direct three-day flight by Apollo astronauts.
Over the New Year's weekend, a pair of NASA spacecraft arrived back-to-back at their destination in the first mission devoted to studying lunar gravity.
Mission controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory did not toast champagne ? there's a no alcohol policy on campus ? but several belatedly heralded the new year by with noisemakers.
"We can start celebrating the new year now," project manager David Lehman said Sunday after attending a post-mission fete where cake and sparkling cider were served.
The tricky arrivals occurred 24 hours apart. The drama unfolded on New Year's Eve when Grail-A flew over the south pole, fired its engine and dropped into lunar orbit. Its twin Grail-B repeated the maneuvers on New Year's Day.
Cheers and applause filled mission control when each probe signaled it was healthy and circling the moon.
"Everything worked much better than I hoped," Lehman said.
The moon has long been an object of fascination. Galileo spotted mountains and craters when he peered at it through a telescope. Poets and songwriters looked to the moon as a muse.
Since the late 1950s, more than 100 missions launched by the United States, Soviet Union, Japan, China and India have targeted Earth's companion. NASA flew six Apollo missions that landed twelve men on the lunar surface and brought back more than 800 pounds of rock and soil samples.
Despite all the visits, the moon remains mysterious. Mission chief scientist Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said researchers know more about Mars, which is farther away from the Earth, than the moon.
One of the enduring puzzles is its lopsided shape with the far side more hilly than the side that always faces Earth. Research published earlier this year suggested that our planet once had two moons that crashed early in the solar system's history and created the moon that hangs in the sky today.
Scientists expect to learn more about how the celestial body formed using Grail's gravity measurements that will indicate what's below the surface.
Since the washing machine-size Grail probes ? short for Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory ? were squeezed on a small rocket to save on costs, it lengthened the trip and took them 30 times longer to reach the moon than the Apollo astronauts.
Previous spacecraft have attempted to study the moon's gravity ? about one-sixth Earth's pull ? with mixed success. Grail was expected to give scientists the most detailed maps of the moon's uneven gravitational field and insight into its interior down to the core.
Data collection won't begin until March after the near-identical spacecraft refine their positions and are circling just 34 miles above the surface. While scientists focus on gravity, middle school students will get the chance to take their own pictures of the moon using cameras aboard the probes as part of a project headed by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
There's already chatter about trying to extend the $496 million mission, which was slated to end before the partial lunar eclipse in June. Scientists initially did not think the solar-powered probes would survive that long, but changed their minds during the long cruise to the moon after getting new data.
Researchers expect Grail to return a plethora of data, but that information won't be a guide to manned lunar trips anytime soon. The Obama administration last year scrapped a plan to return astronauts to the lunar surface in favor of landing on an asteroid as a stepping stone to Mars.
___
Online:
http://grail.nasa.gov
___
Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia
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Sunday, January 1, 2012
Genius Scale Only Shows You How Much You've Gained Or Lost [Genius]
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