Hacked 'Climategate' emails 'truly pathetic,' says climate scientist

Penn State professor Michael Mann, who was among the climate scientists whose emails were leaked after the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research?Unit's servers were hacked, called the episode a 'shameless effort to manufacture a false controversy.' ?

Climate scientist Michael Mann blasted the release of new leaked emails and documents taken from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research?Unit as "truly pathetic" and a "shameless effort to manufacture a false controversy" on Tuesday (Nov. 22)

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Mann, along with other prominent climate scientists, features in the emails, which consists of conversations among researchers about data and public relations. A previous leak in 2009 released more than 1,000 emails in an episode dubbed "Climategate." According to the University of East Anglia (UEA), the current data dump, if genuine, appears to be culled from emails taken at the same time as the original Climategate documents.

Climate-change skeptics have pointed to the emails as evidence that researchers were manipulating data to make global warming look more serious than it is. Multiple investigations by UEA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the British House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, several independent panels and?Mann's home institution, Pennsylvania State University, found no evidence that these claims were true. The House of Commons did criticize the scientists and UEA for not releasing raw data and for handling freedom-of-information requests poorly. A 2011 parliamentary report concluded that it was time to?"move on" from Climategate.

That seems unlikely, given the release of the new emails just days before an annual?United Nations climate summit?set to begin Nov. 28. The?files?are spreading quickly online, including an accompanying text file, which pulls out quotes allegedly from emails between researchers working on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.

"Observations do not show rising temperatures throughout the tropical troposphere unless you accept one single study and approach and discount a wealth of others," reads one quote, supposedly from a climate scientist. "This is just downright dangerous. We need to communicate the uncertainty and be honest."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/HD3CkbyO5b0/Hacked-Climategate-emails-truly-pathetic-says-climate-scientist

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Why some women are burning out at work by 30

Young professional women may not relate to the financial struggles their Millennial peers are protesting against during the Occupy movement. After all, these ambitious go-getters are working as doctors, lawyers, engineers and advertising executives, blessed with great salaries, health benefits and paid vacation.

But these women understand the protestors? frustration and unhappiness over the fact that their lives aren?t supposed to turn out this way. This is why a growing number of young professional women who seem to ?have it all? are burning out at work before they reach 30.

These early career flameouts are reflected through the corporate ladder. Today, 53 percent of corporate entry-level jobs are held by women, a percentage that drops to 37 percent for mid-management roles and 26 percent for vice presidents and senior managers, according to McKinsey research. Men are twice as likely as women to advance at each career transition stage. One rationale is that men are more likely than women to do things that help their personal well-being at work, thus negating burnout, according to the Captivate Network. Men are 25 percent more likely to take breaks throughout the day for personal activities, 7 percent more likely to take a walk, 5 percent more likely to go out to lunch, and 35 percent more likely to take breaks ?just to relax.?

It seems relaxation is something Millennial women have never experienced. One reason that women are burning out early in their careers is that they have simply reached their breaking point after spending their childhoods developing well-rounded resumes. ?These women worked like crazy in school and in college, and then they get into the workforce and they are exhausted,? says Melanie Shreffler of the youth marketing blog Ypulse.

Many also didn?t think of their lives beyond landing the initial first job. ?They need to learn life is a marathon, not a sprint,? says Kelly Cutrone, president of People?s Revolution PR and author of "Go Outside If You Need To Cry." Ypulse?s Shreffler adds, ?They expected things to be better now that they?ve arrived and made it. But instead they are starting over on the bottom rung and still striving. You can?t see the end of the tunnel because they are so many twists and turns. It?s impossible to see what life will be like in 20 years these days. It?s hard to look just 3-4 years in the future. They don?t know what they are striving for, which makes it really hard to move forward.?

Even those who did plot out their lives past the initial first career have unrealistic expectations about full-time employment. It?s not as if these women expected their jobs to be parties and good times, but many underestimated the actual day-to-day drudgery. ?College is nothing more than a baby-sitting service. These students are totally unprepared for the real world. The reality for women who want to work in PR is that they are going to be working with 24 catty [women] who will backstab and compete with them. No one will say thank you. You will eat lunch at 5 p.m. It sucks and it?s hard work,? says Cutrone.

All of this unhappiness has left young women struggling over their next move. Simply quitting or changing careers isn?t an option because the education for their professional jobs has burdened many of them with substantial student debt. Also, while earlier generations may have opted out of the workforce through marriage or motherhood, these paths aren?t viable for these self-sufficient women, who either are still single or unwilling to be fully supported by men.

Instead, Millennial women are tapping into their Type-A personalities to combat this fatigue. ?It?s important to analyze what is causing the dissatisfaction,? says Purdue University?s Teri Thompson. ?The old adage, ?Out of the frying pan and into the kettle? is filled with wisdom: Often we leave a job because of unhappiness and in our zeal to get away, we fall right back into the same traps, the same situations.? Therefore, these women are requesting more flexible schedules or seeking different work responsibilities. Many are turning to therapists and prescription medicines, as well as explore alternative remedies, including acupuncture, yoga, and even psychics.

Ultimately these women are going through the difficult realization that they may have to redefine their goals and come up with different measures of success in order to thrive in the corporate world, says Thompson. ?It often takes many years to really understand one?s strengths and where one finds happiness. In a sense, I do think it?s unrealistic to assume a long sought-after job can bring one such happiness that one?s searching is done. We?re all a work in progress; new inputs ? from new friends to new places visited ? mean we?re constantly changing in our thoughts of what?s desired, what?s possible, what?s fun, what we want to do.?

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45357267/ns/business-forbes_com/

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A glance at new sanctions imposed on Iran (AP)

The Obama administration announced a new set of sanctions against Iran on Monday in an effort to apply greater pressure to get Tehran to halt its suspected nuclear weapons program.

The new sanctions, which were coordinated with Britain and Canada, build on elements of previous sanction efforts. The efforts announced Monday:

_Use a section of the Patriot Act to identify for the first time Iran's entire banking sector, including the country's central bank, as a threat to other governments and institutions. The designation of Iran as a "primary money laundering concern" will require increased monitoring by U.S. banks to make sure that they and their foreign affiliates are avoiding all contact with Iranian financial institutions. The United States was joined in this action by Britain and Canada.

_Impose sanctions on Iran's petrochemical industry, prohibiting U.S. companies from providing goods, services and technology to support Iran's production of petrochemicals. This industry represents Iran's second biggest export after crude oil.

_Expands existing energy sanctions with the aim of making it more difficult for Iran to operate, maintain and modernize its oil and gas sector.

_Designates 11 individuals and business entities for sanctions because of their alleged roles in assisting Iran's prohibited nuclear programs.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_iran_sanctions_glance

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360 Panorama app now available for Android users, no gyroscope necessary (video)

Looking to capture panoramic photos on an Android handset? Well, you've certainly got plenty of options -- including, as of today, Occipital's 360 Panorama, which just hit the Android Market. Compatible with devices running Android 2.3 or above (with the exception of Honeycomb), the app offers much of the same functionality you'll find on the previously released iOS version. Just tap a button, pan your handset across any given area and watch your photo come to fruition before your very eyes. The tool also allows exposure to fluctuate as a user pans his or her device, thereby creating the potential for HDR panoramic shots during transitions from dark to bright areas. Interestingly enough, this version relies not upon an actual gyroscope, but a "simulated" one, created from motion-tracking algorithms (that's how it works on older 3GS handsets, as well). Users who already have a 360 Panorama account can still use it on their Android handsets, allowing them to upload and store all their photos in one place. Eventually, this storage system will allow for syncing across both iOS and Android hemispheres, though at the moment, it's a strictly web-based affair. Pan past the break for a brief demo video, or check out some sample shots in the gallery, below.

Continue reading 360 Panorama app now available for Android users, no gyroscope necessary (video)

360 Panorama app now available for Android users, no gyroscope necessary (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/22/360-panorama-app-now-available-for-android-users-no-gyroscope-n/

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Thai princess: King temporarily lost consciousness (AP)

BANGKOK ? The daughter of Thailand's 83-year-old king has revealed that her father recently had a health problem that caused him to temporarily lose consciousness.

Princess Chulabhorn said Friday during a visit to flood victims north of Bangkok that King Bhumibol Adulyadej went into shock and lost consciousness after suffering abdominal bleeding and a sharp drop in his blood pressure.

She said he returned to normal health after treatment at the hospital where he has been staying for more than two years.

The princess said doctors told her the bleeding could have been caused by stress over Thailand's devastating flooding. She did not specify when the health crisis took place, but her comments, which were broadcast Friday on the official royal news, indicated that it was more than a week ago.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111112/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_king_s_health

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Portland police dismantle 'Occupy' camps

Several hundred protesters, some wearing goggles and gas masks, marched past authorities in a downtown street Sunday, hours after riot police drove Occupy Portland demonstrators out of a pair of weeks-old encampments in nearby parks.

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Police moved in shortly before noon and drove protesters into the street after dozens remained in the camp in defiance city officials. Mayor Sam Adams had ordered that the camp shut down Saturday at midnight, citing unhealthy conditions and the encampment's attraction of drug users and thieves.

The Portland confrontation followed sweeps in Denver and Salt Lake City. Oakland, Calif., issued eviction notices to protesters encamped there. In Chapel Hill, N.C., police raided a vacant car dealership seized earlier by protesters.

By early afternoon in Portland, officers had mostly surrounded a downtown camp where the protesters were holding a "general assembly" meeting to discuss their next moves following the eviction order. Some advocated occupying foreclosed homes, others wanted to move onto the Portland State University campus or to the shores of the Willamette River.

Some officers used nightsticks to push people away from the encampment and used loudspeakers to warn that anyone who resisted risked arrest and "may also be subject to chemical agents and impact weapons." Demonstrators chanted "we are a peaceful protest."

Demonstrators regrouped in the street, blocking traffic in a standoff with rows of Portland officers in riot gear.

Police could be seen carrying at least one protester away from the park. Another man was taken away on a stretcher; he was alert and talking to paramedics, and raised a peace sign to fellow protesters, who responded with cheers.

NBC station KGW showed protesters gathering in downtown's Pioneer Square on Sunday evening.

Hours earlier, defiant crowds swelled to thousands and went toe-to-toe with police after closing Southwest Third Avenue and Madison Street overnight.

Protesters cheered and chanted "this is what victory looks like" after it appeared police retreated after the standoff over the eviction notice, the Oregonian reported.

By late morning, Portland police had taken control of both Chapman and Lownsdale squares, the Oregonian reported. They encountered almost no resistance as they took down tents in both downtown parks, but the street confrontations continued intermittently.

Mayor Sam Adams tweeted "Thanks to all who helped open the streets."

Adams had ordered the camp shut down, citing unhealthy conditions and the encampment's attraction of drug users and thieves.

Around 4 a.m. a line of about 200 police stretched across a street and in front of a federal courthouse.

Protesters put up barricades of pallets, couches and chairs at Southwest Main Street, but they were taken down as the crowd retook the parks.

When crowds thinned, police moved in.

Elsewhere:

In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter on Sunday ordered beefed-up police patrols at the city's protest site, saying conditions were "dramatically deteriorating."

"This movement has changed and the people have changed," he said. "We are now at a critical point where we must reevaluate our entire relationship with this very changed group."

He said communication has broken down between officials and protesters, and city concerns over fire hazards, litter and a lack of toilets have gone unaddressed.

Added to that are thefts, assaults and an alleged sexual attack at the camp at Dilworth Plaza, he said in a statement.

In Oakland, the scene of previous clashes between police and demonstrators, city hall issued a third eviction notice on Sunday. It warned protesters they faced "immediate arrest" if they continued to camp out in the city's plaza and parks.

The city offered alternative emergency accommodation at two local area homeless shelters, and laid on a shuttle service to one that was not within walking distance of the encampments.

Also, Scott Olsen, the Iraq War veteran who suffered a serious head injury during a police raid on the Occupy Oakland encampment, was released from the hospital. Olsen suffered a skull fracture during tear-gas filled clashes between police and demonstrators on Oct. 25.

In Chapel Hill, N.C., police with guns and assault rifles entered a Franklin Street car dealership and arrested a group of demonstrators who had taken over the building Saturday night, the News and Observer reported. Protesters had hung banners saying "Occupy" and "Everything" in dormer windows.

In Salt Lake City, police arrested 19 people Saturday when protesters refused to leave a park a day after a man as found dead inside his tent at the encampment. The arrests came after police moved into the park early in the evening where protesters had been ordered to leave by the end of the day. About 150 people had been living in the camp there for weeks.

In Albany, N.Y., police arrested 24 Occupy Albany protesters after they defied an 11 p.m. curfew in a state-owned park. State police officials hauled away the protesters after warning them with megaphones that they were breaking the law in Lafayette Park. They were charged with trespassing.

In Denver, authorities forced protesters to leave a downtown encampment and arrested four people for interfering with officers who removed illegally pitched tents, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.

In San Francisco, a clash with Occupy San Francisco protesters left one police officer slashed and a second with a torn uniform Saturday afternoon, the Contra Costa Times reported. A woman wielding an "exacto razor blade attached to a pen or pencil-like object" slashed one officer as police tried to keep marchers at the Embarcadero near Broadway from blocking the intersection where light rail tracks are located, the Times said, citing police reports. Also, one protester grabbed an officer's radio and a second protester blocked the officer's attempt to retrieve it, tearing his uniform and cutting his cheek in the process, the Times said.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45271511/ns/us_news-life/

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Japan wants to join talks on US-led trade pact: PM Noda (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Friday declared Japan's readiness to join talks on a U.S.-led free trade pact that could radically transform the nation's economy and challenge its political status quo.

Noda is due to fly on Saturday to Hawaii for a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders where he will inform other nations involved

talks on the pact -- called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, -- of Japan's decision.

He had been expected to make an announcement on Thursday but delayed it to buy more time for discussions with opponents of the pact within his own party.

"I'm determined to preserve Japan's medical system of which it can be proud, its traditional culture and beautiful farming villages," Noda told a news conference "At the same time, as a trading country that has built its prosperity of today, we must take advantage of growth in the Asia-Pacific region."

"From this point of view, we will begin negotiations with countries concerned."

For Noda, who became Japan's sixth premier in five years two months ago, the pact is a first big test whether he can make tough decisions without endangering party unity and alienating the opposition, whose help he needs in a split parliament.

TPP Membership would wrench open Japan's closeted farm sector to competition, give its exporters better access to dynamic Pacific Rim markets and challenge a political system over which the farm lobby has long held powerful influence.

Noda's plan faces challenges from the onset as U.S. lawmakers urged President Barack Obama's administration not to make a hasty decision to begin talks with Japan before making sure Tokyo is truly prepared to open its markets.

Japanese auto and electronics makers hold high hopes that joining the TPP, which would in principle eliminate all tariffs among member nations, would allow them to better compete with rival South Korea.

DEATH KNELL

Farm lobbies, on the other hand, see the TPP as a death knell for Japan's agriculture sector, which has been protected by high tariffs, and say joining the pact would hit especially hard those farmers who are still reeling from a triple whammy in March of a massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

Many lawmakers within and outside the ruling Democratic Party oppose Japan's participation in the TPP talks.

Free trade is anathema to many Japanese farmers, who after decades of decline make up just 4 percent of the workforce and contribute only 1 percent of GDP, but pack political clout through a powerful lobby and an electoral system biased toward rural voters.

But the average age of farmers is 66, most of them toiling on tiny patches of land where they grow the world's costliest rice and other produce under protection of tariffs as high as 778 percent for rice and 252 percent for wheat.

In a bid to soothe farmers, Noda's government last month announced a plan to consolidate typically tiny patches of farmland into bigger farms capable of competing internationally.

Membership in the pact now discussed by nine nations -- Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam -- could have profound effects on the Japanese economy that would go beyond exports and agriculture.

TPP, billed as a 21st century pact because of its comprehensive nature, would also open the domestic market to foreign competition in such industries as financial and medical services.

Economists say Tokyo's commitment to the talks can also serve as a signal to investors that it is serious about reforms to an economy plagued by red-tape that keeps out newcomers, domestic and foreign.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Ed Lane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111111/bs_nm/us_japan_trade

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Media allowed into Japan's tsunami-hit nuke plant

A view of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, Pool)

A view of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, Pool)

OKUMA, Japan (AP) ? Media allowed into Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant for the first time Saturday saw a striking scene of devastation: twisted and overturned trucks, crumbling reactor buildings and piles of rubble virtually untouched since the wave struck more than eight months ago.

Representatives of the Japanese and international media, including The Associated Press, were allowed into the plant with the government's chief official in charge of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The tour was intended to demonstrate how much the situation at the plant has stabilized since the March 11 tsunami, though reporters had to wear full-body protective gear and submit to radiation scans afterward.

Mangled trucks, flipped over by the wave, remain along the roads inside the complex. Piles of rubble stand where the walls of the plant's reactor structures crumbled, and large pools of water still cover parts of the sprawling campus.

Officials said the situation at the plant, which suffered meltdowns and explosions after it was deluged by the tsunami, has improved enough to allow the visit.

For weeks after the tsunami, the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, spewed large amounts of radioactive materials onto the surrounding countryside, much of which remains off-limits.

The media, including an AP photographer and APTN producer, were allowed to view the grounds of the seaside facility and the outside of several of the damaged reactor units before being taken into the emergency operations center. Environment Minister Goshi Hosono, who heads the government's nuclear response efforts, addressed workers inside the center.

Japan's government and the utility that runs the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., say radiation leaks are far less of a danger than in the early days of the crisis. They say work is on track toward achieving a "cold shutdown" ? in which the temperatures of the reactors are cool and under control.

But the government has predicted that it will take another 30 years at least to safely remove the nuclear fuel and decomission the plant. It could also be decades before tens of thousands of residents forced to flee the 12-mile (20-kilometer) exclusion zone around the plant will be able to return. Some experts say even that estimate is optimistic.

___

Talmadge reported from Hirono, Japan. This report includes information supplied by an international press pool.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-12-AS-Japan-Inside-Fukushima/id-41e4ae06ca8d49eab667ccefd7725b7f

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Australia poised to fight big tobacco in courts (AP)

CANBERRA, Australia ? The Australian government said Thursday it is ready to fight big tobacco companies in court over the administration's plan to ban logos and other advertising on cigarette packs.

The Senate is scheduled to pass legislation Thursday that would prohibit tobacco companies from displaying their distinctive colors, brand designs and logos on cigarette packs in a bid to make smoking less attractive to the young.

The government said that the world's toughest laws on cigarette promotion will come into force from December next year.

Tobacco giants argue that the move illegally diminishes the value of their trademarks and have threatened a court battle for billions of dollars in compensation.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said her government was "determined to take away the last method of advertising" cigarettes in Australia.

"We're not going to be bullied into not taking this action just because tobacco companies say they might fight us in the courts," she told reporters. "We're ready for that if they do take legal action."

Australia is a relatively small tobacco market where the falling rate of smokers is 17 percent, compared with around 20 percent of American adults. But tobacco companies fear a precedent that could be adopted by more lucrative and growing markets.

The legislation would require all cigarettes to be sold in the same drab, olive green packs with brand names dwarfed by health warnings.

The warnings and often gruesome, full-color images of the consequences of smoking, such as mouth cancer and gangrenous toes, will cover 75 percent of the packs' front. Graphic health warnings currently cover only 30 percent.

Offenders would face fines of up to 1.1 million Australian dollars ($1.2 million) for a company and AU$220,000 for an individual. Australia already bans advertising at the point of sale.

Hong Kong-based Philip Morris Asia Limited, which owns the Australian affiliate Philip Morris Limited, filed a notice of claim against the government in an Australian court in June arguing the legislation violates a bilateral investment treaty between Australia and Hong Kong.

Philip Morris says the treaty protects companies' property, including intellectual property such as trademarks. It says plain packaging severely diminishes the value of the company's trademark.

British American Tobacco Australia Ltd., the Australian market leader, warned that the government would have to spend millions in legal fees in numerous legal challenges to the law and potentially billions in compensation.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111110/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_tobacco

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Brett Ratner resigns as Academy Awards producer

FILE - In this June 6, 2010 file photo, Director Brett Ratner arrives at the MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, Calif. Ratner is sorry for using a gay slur during a question-and-answer session at a screening for his new film. Ratner, who is set to produce next year's Academy Awards, issued a statement Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 apologizing ?for any offense my remarks caused.? (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - In this June 6, 2010 file photo, Director Brett Ratner arrives at the MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, Calif. Ratner is sorry for using a gay slur during a question-and-answer session at a screening for his new film. Ratner, who is set to produce next year's Academy Awards, issued a statement Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 apologizing ?for any offense my remarks caused.? (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Brett Ratner resigned Tuesday as producer of next year's Academy Awards, one day after apologizing for using a gay slur at a screening of his latest film.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed Ratner's departure. President Tom Sherak said in a statement that the 42-year-old filmmaker "did the right thing for the academy and for himself."

"Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable," Sherak said.

Ratner used a pejorative term for gay men during a question-and-answer session at a screening of his film "Tower Heist." He also discussed his sexual exploits on a recent episode of "The Howard Stern Show."

Ratner issued a lengthy statement Tuesday apologizing for his behavior and explaining his resignation as producer of the 2012 Oscar telecast. The academy had announced in August that Ratner would produce the show with TV veteran Don Mischer, who helmed the 2011 broadcast.

In a letter beginning, "Dear Colleagues," Ratner apologized for "the hurtful and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances."

"As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments," he said.

Ratner went on to say that he is "taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I've so foolishly perpetrated."

The director, whose credits also include the "Rush Hour" films, said that being asked to produce the Oscar show "was the proudest moment of my career," but he didn't want to distract from the academy "and the high ideals it represents."

___

Online:

http://www.oscars.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-11-08-People-Brett%20Ratner/id-bb6b92e9fd3f40a09852d783dc3e645f

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Parkersburg Christmas parade to be at night

PARKERSBURG - The city of Parkersburg's annual Christmas Parade will be held at night this year.

The official announcement was made Monday morning by officials from Clear Channel Radio and the Wood County Technical Center Broadcast Program, which are working as coordinators for the event.

John Chalfant, program director for Clear Channel Radio and co-director of the Christmas parade, said the parade will be held Dec. 9 with lineup beginning at PHS at 4:30 p.m. and the parade on Market Street beginning at 6:30 p.m.

"It's something new that we are trying this year to try to give a special look to the Christmas parade," he said. "We thought it would be neat to try."

Lori Ullman-Wright, class instructor for the broadcast program at the technical center and co-director of the Christmas parade, said broadcast program students will help organize the parade lineup as well as document its progress as part of a community service project.

"They will be assisting with lineup for this parade. This is our third year doing this," she said. "We think it's very important for them to be involved with their community as junior reporters."

"This event will now culminate with the lighting of the tree outside of the city building at the end of the parade," she said. Ullman-Wright said the event will allow Santa and Mrs. Claus to come off of their float and mingle with the crowd during the lighting ceremony.

The time change brings with it some additional changes to the parade rules. For example, floats will no longer be allowed to throw candy to those along the route.

"For safety reasons there will be no candy thrown during the parade," Ullman-Wright said."

Each float must be lit in some fashion, or every person on the float or walking alongside must be carrying a personal light source, she said.

Ullman-Wright said the lighting requirement fits with this year's float theme of "All Things Bright and Beautiful." Floats will still be judged and awarded prizes at the end of the parade.

"The lights should be beautiful coming down Market Street with all those lights bouncing off the buildings," she said.

Parkersburg police Chief Joe Martin said on the safety and enforcement side of things, there will be no changes for the parade.

Parkersburg fire Chief Eric Taylor said emergency vehicles within the parade will be asked to not sound their sirens or run emergency lights, both to keep the noise and distractions down, and also in case vehicles are needed along the parade route for an actual emergency.

"If we hear sirens coming through we know and law enforcement knows we need to clear that area and make a spot for them to get through," said Ullman-Wright.

Officials said they are unsure whether the nighttime parade will become a tradition for Parkersburg.

"We're kind of anxious to see what happens this year," Chalfant said.

"This is kind of an experiment for us," Ullman-Wright said.

Chalfant said parade registration forms will be sent out to previous parade participants in the coming weeks. For more information or to register, contact Clear Channel Radio at 1-304-295-6070.

Source: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/553894.html

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Defiant Carlos the Jackal on trial in France

In this courtroom sketch, by Christine Lemarie, Carlos the Jackal, 62-year-old Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez is shown in Paris Monday Nov. 7, 2011 on the first day of a trial for four deadly attacks in France in 1982-1983. Carlos, already convicted in 1997 of a triple murder in Paris, and serving a life sentence, goes before a special court on terrorism-linked charges and a panel of anonymous magistrates will be his judges during the six-week trial. (AP Photo/HO, Christine Lemarie)

In this courtroom sketch, by Christine Lemarie, Carlos the Jackal, 62-year-old Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez is shown in Paris Monday Nov. 7, 2011 on the first day of a trial for four deadly attacks in France in 1982-1983. Carlos, already convicted in 1997 of a triple murder in Paris, and serving a life sentence, goes before a special court on terrorism-linked charges and a panel of anonymous magistrates will be his judges during the six-week trial. (AP Photo/HO, Christine Lemarie)

Reporters gather in front of the courtroom entrance where the man known as Carlos the Jackal, 62-year-old Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez is presented on the first day of a trial for four deadly attacks in France in 1982-1983, in Paris Monday Nov. 7, 2011. Carlos, already convicted in 1997 of a triple murder in Paris, and serving a life sentence, goes before a special court on terrorism-linked charges and a panel of anonymous magistrates will be his judges during the six-week trial. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Police officers stand in front of the entrance of the courtroom where the man known as Carlos the Jackal, 62-year-old Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez will appear in Paris Monday Nov. 7, 2011 on the first day of a trial for four deadly attacks in France in 1982-1983. Carlos, already convicted in 1997 of a triple murder in Paris, and serving a life sentence, goes before a special court on terrorism-linked charges and a panel of anonymous magistrates will be his judges during the six-week trial. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A general view of the courtroom where the man known as Carlos the Jackal, 62-year-old Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez will appear in Paris Monday Nov. 7, 2011 on the first day of a trial for four deadly attacks in France in 1982-1983. Carlos, already convicted in 1997 of a triple murder in Paris, and serving a life sentence, goes before a special court on terrorism-linked charges and a panel of anonymous magistrates will be his judges during the six-week trial. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre of the man known as Carlos the Jackal, 62-year-old Venezuelan whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez speaks to reporters on her arrival at the court in Paris Monday Nov. 7, 2011 on the first day of a trial for four deadly attacks in France in 1982-1983. Carlos, already convicted in 1997 of a triple murder in Paris, and serving a life sentence, goes before a special court on terrorism-linked charges and a panel of anonymous magistrates will be his judges during the six-week trial. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

PARIS (AP) ? A defiant and smiling Carlos the Jackal, one of the most dreaded terror masterminds of the Cold War, went on trial again on Monday ? this time over four deadly attacks in France nearly three decades ago.

The 62-year-old Venezuelan, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, went before a special Paris court on terrorism-linked charges. He is already serving a life sentence handed down for a triple murder in 1975.

Ramirez was one of the most feared masterminds of terror during the Cold War. He is charged with instigating four attacks in 1982 and 1983 that killed 11 people and injured more than 140 others.

He has denied any role in the attacks. A panel of anonymous magistrates will rule after the six-week trial.

Wearing a blue jacket, graying beard and wavy hair brushed back, Ramirez smiled as he entered and then identified himself to the court as "a professional revolutionary" ? striking a combative pose from the outset.

With three gendarmes at his side, Ramirez variously raised a fist in defiance, weaved in anti-Zionist rhetoric into his diatribes and smiled back to someone in the tightly controlled audience in the chamber.

"He's in a fighting mood as always," Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, Ramirez's lawyer and amorous partner, told reporters outside the courtroom before the trial began. She said there was "no reason" for the trial nearly 30 years after the events, and accused French prosecutors of putting him on trial for "propaganda or some other interests rather than the ones of justice."

But Francis Szpiner, the lawyer for some civil parties to the case, countered that the trial was important to show that terrorists will always be pursued and to mark "the end of the culture of impunity" for them.

The trial centers on four bombings: Two against French trains, another at a Paris office of an Arabic-language newspaper and yet another a French cultural center in then-West Berlin.

Those bombings came at least seven years after what French investigators consider was Ramirez's first heyday ? eight attacks over two years starting in December 1973.

Ramirez is serving a life sentence for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informer. He was also the chief suspect in the 1975 hostage-taking of OPEC oil ministers that left three people dead.

French prosecutors claim two attacks in 1982 were carried out to pressure the French government to free girlfriend Magdalena Kopp ? with whom he later married and had a daughter ? and comrade Bruno Breguet.

Five people were killed in the March 1982 bombing of a Toulouse-Paris train ? four five days after a deadline for the release of Kopp and Breguet sent in a letter to France's Embassy in the Netherlands. The letter allegedly contained two fingerprints of Ramirez.

Scores were injured and a young girl was killed the next month in a bombing outside the newspaper office ? the day Kopp and Breguet went on trial in another case. Both were convicted.

Ramirez allegedly took hijackings, bombings and killings in mercenary style, with links for years to causes like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and in far-left European terror groups.

Shadowy alliances that thrived during the Cold War kept him beyond the reach of Western secret services. But after the fall of Communism, French operatives nabbed him in 1994 in Khartoum, Sudan, and flew him to Paris.

He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison three years later.

Ramirez staged a nine-day hunger strike last month to protest being placed in solitary confinement after he gave a phone interview to a French radio station. His lawyers claim he was denied access to materials needed to prepare for the trial, including two DVDS containing 100,000 pages.

___

Eds: Catherine Gaschka and Ingrid Rousseau contributed reporting.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-07-EU-France-Carlos-the-Jackal-Trial/id-3953ce36844445c3ba3730c5225e134f

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Ebert says show in danger of being canceled (AP)

CHICAGO ? Famed film critic Roger Ebert is telling his readers that he may have to cancel his television show "Ebert Presents: At the Movies" unless someone steps up and helps him and his wife pay for it.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic wrote on his blog Sunday night that after an initial contribution of $25,000 from Kanbar Charitable Trust gave, he and Chaz Ebert have been paying virtually all the bills for the show, which began airing on public television in January.

Ebert said he has been pleased with the program, which is hosted by Associated Press movie reviewer Christy Lemire and Mubi.com film critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky.

But after months of paying for everything from screen tests to interns to lunch on taping days, "We can't afford to support the show any longer," wrote Ebert, who can no longer speak after cancer surgery. "That's what it comes down to."

Ebert wrote that he had hoped foundations and others would step forward to underwrite the show, but that nobody has. And now, he wrote, American Public Television is asking him whether or not the show will be back next season, and he has to have an answer by the end of this month.

He wrote that Chaz Ebert, the executive producer, will continue to make telephone calls to try to find someone to help pay for the show.

"Unless we find underwriting, I'm afraid our answer will have to be `no,'" he wrote.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111107/ap_en_tv/us_ebert_at_the_movies

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Japan Earthquake: Strong Temblor Recorded Off Southern Okinawa Island

TOKYO -- A fairly strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 has hit off the shores of Japan's southern Okinawa Island.

Officials said the quake Tuesday about 135 miles (220 kilometers) away from the island was not expected to cause a tsunami. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Northeastern Japan was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. Japan, which lies along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," is one of the world's most seismically active countries.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/japan-earthquake-okinawa-island_n_1081135.html

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Alves makes a non-story of weight issues and annihilates Abedi at UFC 138

Thiago Alves answered all the questions about potential weight issues, by coming out strong and storming through Papy Abedi in a little over three and a half minutes at UFC 138.

Alves used his lethal striking to set up a rear-naked choke finish at the 3:35 mark of the second round against the UFC newcomer in Birmingham, England.

"It feels amazing. I love England and this is one of the highlights of my career. I had an amazing training camp and can't wait for the next one," Alves said. "I'd love to fight in Brazil, that is my dream."

Alves (19-8, 11-5 UFC) needed this one badly. He was a minus-385 favorite Abedi, but was coming off a lackluster performance in a loss against Rick Story at UFC 130.

Tonight, Alves put on the type of show that earned him a title shot in 2009 at 170. His kicking game can be sick at times if he has the stamina to keep throwing. The gas tank was there. It turned out that missing weight yesterday at 172 pounds may have been a fluke, not a sign that he lacked discipline.

Alves peppered Abedi with low kicks over the first few minutes. He also took the best from the Zaire-native fighting out of Sweden had to offer. Give Abedi credit, he chose to stand and slug with a tough striker.

It finally cost him when he got nailed by a right over the ear and a left hook. The off-balance Abedi hit the floor seconds later where he was mounted. Alves rained down heavy punches and elbows before Abedi (8-1, 0-1 UFC) spun to give up his back.

The UFC is set to return to Brazil with UFC 142 in January.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Alves-makes-a-non-story-of-weight-issues-and-ann?urn=mma-wp9057

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