4 out of 5 Australians Worry about Debt; New Reality - Owing More on Your Home Than You Own; Shocking Year for Corporate Collapses ; Merry Christmas to Those Down Under (935061)

Merry Christmas to all my Australian readers. Here is an economic roundup, with many links sent from Australian readers over the past couple weeks, especially Tony the "Brisbane Bear".

Boxing Day Sale Before Christmas

Boxing Day is traditionally the day after Christmas. Not this year, at least for all retailers.

Tony Writes ... "Talk about desperation! We are now having the traditional Boxing day sales before Christmas. This will not make any difference in the longer run as everyone is now so accustomed to deals that any retailer who doesn't offer substantial discounts won't get any business. It is a whole new paradigm in retail that will eventually spread to all sectors. Businesses with high fixed costs will go broke in droves."

Please consider Myer brings forward online 'Boxing Day' sale

December 23, 2011
The annual Boxing Day sales need a new name, it seems.

This year retail giant Myer will launch its annual post-Christmas shopping bonanza two days early, on Christmas Eve, for online customers.

Myer spokesman Steven Carey said more than 1100 new items would be available for purchase on the Myer website from 6pm tomorrow - the first time the company had launched its stocktake sale early online.

While some customers were expected to stick to the annual tradition of queueing outside stores on Monday to snap up a bargain, Mr Carey said more and more people were choosing to shop from the comfort of their own home.

??We?ve got to cater to both the online and the bricks-and-mortar customer,?? Mr Carey said.

It comes as electronics giant Harvey Norman, which has long complained about the rise of international online shopping, began selling computer games this week via a website in Ireland that lets Australian consumers avoid GST.

Chairman Gerry Harvey said the company had launched the initiative reluctantly. "We are not doing this with a great deal of joy. We have been able to do this for a long time, we have held off," he said. "But you get to a point where you can?t hold off."

Mr Carey said if Myer?s online experiment this year was successful, it could become an annual event.

Treasurer Swan takes a potshot at 'whinger' Retailer Gerry Harvey

Tony writes ..."The Treasurer and our biggest retailer are having a slanging match right on Christmas. The party is over and everyone is getting very, very agitated as they try to deal with the new reality."

Please consider Swan takes a potshot at 'whinger' Gerry Harvey

December 23, 2011
Treasurer Wayne Swan says it's just not Christmas if retailer Gerry Harvey isn't whingeing about soft sales.

The co-founder of Harvey Norman has been highly critical of the rise of international online shopping, which he says is threatening Australian jobs and businesses.

Mr Swan defended the GST threshold on goods bought offshore, saying a Productivity Commission report into the issue found it wasn't the cause of retailers' woes.

"I can't remember a Christmas where Gerry Harvey wasn't whingeing," he told ABC Radio today.

"Back when we put the original stimulus package in place he spent a lot of time whingeing about that, but ultimately it did lift consumption in Australia."

Mr Harvey responded, saying he wasn't a whinger and just wanted to protect the whole retail sector, not only his business.

"To call me a whinger when you are poll-driven, that's just an illusion," he told ABC Radio.

He told Mr Swan: "I've been telling you and your government for a long time ... you have a major problem: the GST. You thought it was more important to think about the votes you were going to get."

Retailers Rocked as Debt Crisis Spreads

Tony writes ... "Hi Mish. I have been saying for ages that we have cost structures set to boom time conditions with no way of lowering costs.

Panic is setting in. Prominent broker Charlie Aitken has warned that the industry has a cost base tailored for a boom year such as 2007, when volumes are more in line with 2002."

Please consider Retailers rocked as debt crisis spreads

December 20, 2011
THE nation's shoppers have firmly closed their wallets amid fears of a full-blown debt contagion in Europe, while Billabong shares were smashed by 44 per cent yesterday after the iconic surfwear company released a shock profit downgrade.

The Billabong malaise extended to other discretionary retail stocks such as David Jones and JB Hi-Fi, as more than $30 billion was shed from the value of local equities.

4 out of 5 Australians Worry about Debt

The Sydney Morning Herald reports Most Australians worried about debt

December 19, 2011
Four out of five Australians are worried about their ability to meet future debt repayments, a survey shows.

The biannual survey by data intelligence company Veda, found 82 per cent were worried about their ability to meet debt repayments in the future, up from 75 per cent a year ago.

The survey also found that one in five Australians was struggling to repay their current credit commitments.

However, about 29 per cent of this sub group were considering applying for more credit in the next six months, the survey found.

"It is concerning that there are people struggling with their current debt levels but are turning to more credit as the answer, potentially edging closer to a debt spiral," Veda senior adviser Matthew Strassbourg said in a statement.

Here is a stat straight from the Twilight Zone: 82% are concerned about debt yet 29% of those worried want more credit.

New Reality - Owing More Than You Own

The Age reports on the "New Reality" Owing More on Your Home Than You Own

Rising property values have been an article of faith in the housing market for a generation of Australians who borrowed big as real estate prices marched ever upward.

While the percentage of home owners with so-called negative equity remains tiny - about one in fifty of the 3 million households with mortgages - the number may well swell in 2012 if home prices extend their declines as some analysts expect.

The emergence of a sector of the housing market ??under water?? on their mortgages may hurt an already fragile real estate market. Any forced sales would obviously dent individual household wealth but further drops in home prices would deter investors from buying residential properties.

Tony writes "Hey Mish, Negative equity is a new buzz word slowly entering the lexicon."

Yes indeed. For starters, I highly doubt that only 1-in-50 are underwater. Regardless, I expect that number to be 40-in-50 of those who bought or did a substantial cash-out refi in the last four years. I do not know what percentage that is, but I do know it is far more than 2%.

Shocking Year for Corporate Collapses

Tony comments "Hey Mish, panic is setting in as retail chains go broke daily. The banks are warning that next year will be very tough. It is a vicious cycle and it is gathering speed as panic spreads and people stop spending"

SmartCompany reports Tools chain Glenfords placed in voluntary administration

The shocking year for Australian corporate collapses has continued, with discount tools chain Glenfords now up for sale after being placed in voluntary administration last week.

The sale of the chain comes as the do-it-yourself sector has reached a major transformation point, with market leading hardware chain Bunnings now battling the Woolworths-backed Masters chain.

Analysts have said mid-tier and smaller operators will slowly be pushed out of the market as Bunnings and Masters stores dominate areas once controlled by SMEs.

The construction industry has been one of the worst hit this year ? it suffers the highest number of insolvency appointments out of any sector. Glenfords has likely suffered alongside that drop in demand.

Talent Two and Billabong Shares Smashed

Tony writes ... "The interesting downgrade was Talent2, these guys have been very successful for a long time but it seems white collar jobs are drying up fast"

The Australian reports No 'ho ho' from Billabong, Talent Two

December 19, 2011
THERE'S no ho ho ho on the bourse today, as hopes for a consumer-led recovery evaporate as quickly as snow on an outback nativity set.

Talent Two and Billabong -- smashed by 50 per cent and 37 per cent respectively -- tell two parts of the dismal story.

Talent Two, a leading recruiter, reported current-half earnings wouldn't come within cooee of expectations because of reduced hiring caused by ?fears of European contagion and the volatility of financial markets?.

Talent Two's full-year EBITDA is expected to come in at less than half the expected $30m or so, but the shares probably received an extra dollop of punishment because the ?market update? was issued at beer-o-clock on Friday.

Talent Two focuses on white-collar hiring, especially in the financial services sector where fearful workers rue their lack of skill at driving mining earthmovers or sealing S bends with O rings. It doesn't take a (still employed) rocket scientist to work out scared workers won't be buying electronic gizmos or surfwear, hence JB Hi-Fi's surprise downgrade last week (also after market close) and the ever-erratic Billabong's shocker this morning.

Retail Malaise Spreads Like Wildfire

The Age Reports Myer to close or shrink stores as retail malaise bites

Last week, failed apparel retailer Fletcher Jones said it would close a third of its stores immediately and shed 61 staff as administrators try to revive and sell the company.

Myer stores at Tuggeranong in the Australian Capital Territory and at Forest Hill in Melbourne's east will close early next year. Others outlets will be shrunk when the shopping centres in which they operate are redeveloped.

Real estate stockbroking analysts suggested the Myer stores at Dandenong Plaza and possibly in Wollongong, south of Sydney, could also be closed.

It is not just the stores that are shrinking. Myer has already reduced the range of white goods, electrical items, DVDs and CDs it offers, and is also reducing the number and range of location devices such as GPSs in response to changed sales conditions.

Harvey Norman is following suit, shrinking the space devoted to electrical goods in response to a plummet in prices, which means the retailer has to sell many more television sets, for example, to make the same money.

Tony writes ...

Hey Mish.

Myer is probably our oldest and most respected retail department store. (I would guess Sears or Bloomingdale's would be US equivalents) they are in real trouble and are proposing closing stores and downsizing others.

Retail business models are broken (as are 1000's of other business models in various sectors) and reality is sinking in. It will be very ugly when people realise that there is literally no way out.

Wages are way, way too high and working conditions are way too generous and most all other overheads are way too costly. Throw in terrible industrial relations laws that this Socialist government has introduced and you have a recipe for disaster.

Spotlight on Australia

For those who think Australia can do no wrong and Australia is the place to be, need to take another look at Australian housing, Australian retail, and also the slowdown in China.

I contend things are going to get very nasty for those down under.?

Thanks for the Links - Merry Christmas

I get links from "Brisbane Bear" nearly every day and links from Bran in Spain nearly every day.

Indeed, I get links from all over the world every day and I appreciate them. Sometimes they stack up like this before I use them and sometimes I never use them. But I do appreciate them regardless.

Many times I get 30 or more emails on a story gone viral. I Typically do not respond to such articles or use them.

If you do send a link, my most common response is simply "thanks". I get hundreds of emails a day and often cannot say much more than that.

If I never respond (not once, but repetitively), I cannot use the stories you send, you are consistently late, or I have already seen them. Most often I will not use or respond to conspiracy theories.

Finally, to those who email every day, please note I may say "thanks" only occasionally.

Merry Christmas Australia (they are nearly day ahead of Chicago), and to everyone else too!

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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Why layaway angels touch even Grinches

NBC's George Lewis reports that generous people, dubbed "layaway angels," have been paying off families' layaway accounts at stores likes K-Mart and Walmart, in an effort to spread some cheer this holiday season.

By Diane Mapes

They've been called layaway angels, Secret Santas, good Samaritans and even miracle workers. Whatever you call?them, the Frank Capra-esque anonymous donors who have been paying off strangers' layaway bills around the country seem to be touching even the Grinchiest of hearts.

This year's unexpected holiday phenomena of altruism is moving even those?inured to pleas for donations from food banks, homeless shelters and other charities to?drive to the nearest Kmart or Walmart or Toys R Us and pay off someone?s bill. Many others are moved to tears just hearing?reports of these Christmas random acts of kindness. A Dec. 9 story that appeared on mnsbc.com about one of the first layaway angels Michigan was one of the most popular stories of the month.

"It's the holiday season and people want to be happy and yet there's so much negative news out there," says Elizabeth Lombardo, a clinical psychologist and author of "A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness." "You have the horrible recession and all the financial stress. And this story rises above it. People are dying to hear good news so when they hear something genuine, they jump on it."?

While the trend appears to have started in Michigan, layaway angels have popped up in South Carolina, California, Nebraska, Montana, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Connecticut, Delaware and Nevada and the number of donors -- and states involved -- appears to be growing.

According to one news report, more than 1,000 layaway accounts adding up to more than $400,000 have been paid off by anonymous angels at Kmart alone, with some people donating thousands of dollars. Being a layaway angel, it seems, is contagious.

"It's the Santa effect, really," says Lombardo. "It's exciting and motivating and when people hear about it, they want to be in on it, too."?????????????

Not only are people getting in on it, they?re doing it anonymously. One Indianapolis woman?who paid who paid off the layaways of 50 people, didn?t give her name but said she was doing it in memory of her husband who had just died and only asked people to ?remember Ben.? Another, who paid off the layaways of three people in Michigan, simply signed their layaway slips ?Happy Holidays from a friend.?

"It's secretive so it's a little more exciting," says Lombardo. "People think, 'nobody knows I'm doing this.' It's fun to play Santa. And Santa doesn't just give rich kids presents. These people want kids to be able to have a Christmas regardless of what their parents can afford. To be able to be a part of that is very powerful."

Another allure is the autonomy. Instead of donating to one of thousands of charities asking for help this time of year, layaway angels are deciding to help individuals of their own choosing, usually with toys and clothing purchases for children.

"They've decided on their own that this is what they want to do as opposed to being asked," she says. "In general, if we come up with an idea ourselves, we own it more. We're more excited and passionate about it. When we come up with the idea without being asked, it's more positive for us. It's not just helping the recipient, but it's helping the giver be happier."

While at least one expert?has suggested that the layaway angel trend could have started as a "strategic public-relations stunt," Lombardo says it doesn't really matter.

"If it's a marketing ploy, I think it's a great one," she says. "There's sometimes a lot of cynicism and negativity out there. But this is promoting and glorifying helping out others. Even if people can't be a layaway angel, they might help out in other ways, like holding the door open for someone. When we get it in our minds that we want to help others, we look for ways to do it. There's a ripple effect. That's the beauty of it."

Mary Chapin put some toys on layaway at a Michigan K-Mart for her son David and was hoping to pay off the $200 balance the week before Christmas. Then she got a call that changed all that. WOOD's Dani Carlson reports.

Source: http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/22/9642280-why-layaway-angels-touch-even-the-grinchiest-of-hearts

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The Congressional Grill: House Co-Sponsor Defends SOPA (TCTV)

The Internet is up in arms about the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and for good reason. It could potentially block and censor sites for alleged copyright infringement without full due process. Companies that support the bill are facing boycotts (GoDaddy just withdrew its support for this reason). But people on the two sides of the debate still don't see eye to eye, which is why we invited one of the SOPA's co-sponsors, Congressman Bill Owens (D-NY), to address the issues. We captured the conversation in the video above.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/TVUa76JUads/

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Ivory Coast's Gbagbo taken into custody at ICC

FILE - In this April 11, 2011 file photo, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, center, and his wife Simone, are seen in the custody of republican forces loyal to election winner Alassane Ouattara at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The International Criminal Court on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011 issued an arrest warrant for Ivory Coast's former strongman, who refused to accept his loss in last year's election and nearly dragged the country into civil war in a bid to stay in power. (AP Photo/Aristide Bodegla, File)

FILE - In this April 11, 2011 file photo, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, center, and his wife Simone, are seen in the custody of republican forces loyal to election winner Alassane Ouattara at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The International Criminal Court on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011 issued an arrest warrant for Ivory Coast's former strongman, who refused to accept his loss in last year's election and nearly dragged the country into civil war in a bid to stay in power. (AP Photo/Aristide Bodegla, File)

FILE - In this April 16, 2008 file photo, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, left, meets United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the United Nations in New York. The International Criminal Court on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011 issued an arrest warrant for Ivory Coast's former strongman, who refused to accept his loss in last year's election and nearly dragged the country into civil war in a bid to stay in power. (AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ? The International Criminal Court charged former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo with murder, rape, persecution and inhuman acts Wednesday, crimes allegedly committed as his backers fought brutal battles to keep him in power after last year's elections.

Gbagbo, 66, is the first former head of state taken into custody by the court since it was established in 2002, although prosecutors also have charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with genocide and Libya's former leader, the late Moammar Gadhafi, with crimes against humanity.

"Mr. Gbagbo is brought to account for his individual responsibility in the attacks against civilians committed by forces acting on his behalf," Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.

Moreno-Ocampo stressed that both sides of the political divide in Ivory Coast committed crimes in the post-election chaos and that his investigation was continuing.

That statement appeared aimed at countering fears that Gbagbo's arrest could further stoke tension in Ivory Coast, also known by its French name Cote d'Ivoire, because it gives the appearance of victor's justice. Grave abuses were also committed by forces loyal to the country's democratically elected leader, Alassane Ouattara, who enlisted the help of a former rebel group to force Gbagbo from office.

Reed Brody, of Human Rights Watch, said Gbagbo's indictment was only half the story as victims of crimes by forces loyal to Ouattara have so far gone unpunished.

"This created the perception of victor's justice," he said in Brussels. "And if the cycle of violence in Cote d'Ivoire is to stop there has to be justice that is even handed and justice for the victims on both sides."

A convoy of cars whisked Gbagbo to the court's detention unit close to the North Sea, following an overnight flight that touched down in the Netherlands shortly before 4 a.m. (0300 GMT) Wednesday.

He is the sixth suspect taken into custody by the court, which has launched seven investigations, all of them in Africa. A further 11 suspects remain at large and the court has no police force to arrest them.

According to court papers, Gbagbo is charged as an "indirect perpetrator" in a carefully orchestrated campaign of violence against civilians perceived as supporters of Ouattara.

Prosecutors say about 3,000 people died in violence by both sides after last year's election.

Rights groups welcomed Gbagbo's extradition.

"This is a great day for Laurent Gbagbo's victims, for the people of Cote d'Ivoire, for international justice," said Human Rights Watch's Brody. "I mean, just a few months ago president Gbagbo's forces were holding the country hostage, killing, raping, and today he is facing justice. This is a very important message to all the leaders in the world that if they use the atrocities and crime to stay in power that they too could face justice."

The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented how forces loyal to Ouattara torched villages that voted for Gbagbo, and executed those that could not run away, including the elderly and the disabled, by rolling them inside mattresses and then setting them on fire.

Gbagbo "is not the only one responsible (for the human rights abuses committed during the post election period)," said 30-year-old Kossonou Agingra in Ivory Coast. "There were partisans of Alassane (Ouattara) who killed ? and partisans of Gbagbo who killed."

Gbagbo is expected to spend Wednesday settling in to his new cell in the court's seaside detention unit and will likely appear before judges later this week.

He will share a cell block with former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is waiting for a verdict in his trial at an ad hoc tribunal on charges of orchestrating atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Taylor and the late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was put on trial at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, are the only two heads of state to have faced justice at an international court.

Gbagbo, a history professor, came to power in a flawed election in 2000. He failed to hold elections when his first five-year term expired in 2005, and rescheduled the vote a half-dozen times before it finally went ahead in November 2010.

As soon as it became clear that Ouattara was leading in the polls, Gbagbo's presidential guard surrounded the election commission, preventing the results from being announced.

Killings began as soon as the United Nations declared Ouattara the winner, and for the next four months morgues overflowed as the military under Gbagbo's control executed opponents, gunned down protesters and shelled neighborhoods.

The turning point came in March 2011 when thousands of unarmed women led a demonstration demanding Gbagbo's departure. Tanks opened fire with 50-caliber bullets and the horrific scene that followed was caught on camera phones, and led to condemnation by governments around the world.

The United Nations helped by French forces began air strikes soon after, clearing the path for Ouattara's soldiers to enter the capital, where they seized Gbagbo inside his bunker on April 11. He was held under house arrest in the country's north until he was flown out of the country Tuesday night ? likely the first of several suspects.

"Ivorian victims will see justice for massive crimes," Moreno-Ocampo said. "Mr. Gbagbo is the first to be brought to account, there is more to come."

___

Associated Press writers Laura Burke in Abidjan, Rukmini Callimachi in Kinshasa, Congo, and Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-30-EU-International-Criminal-Court-Gbagbo/id-9e2d01c1f5344113b88e8728854fbaca

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Video: Wall Street Compensation to Fall?

A look at why bank employees could see annual compensation sink as much as thirty percent from a year ago, with Michael Karp, Options Group co-founder.

Related Links:

Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45477720/

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[OOC] As the Pendulum Swings

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This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?As the Pendulum Swings?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

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Lulz at the thing before you type now. But anyway, glad to see another decent looking zombie thing pop up. Going to apply and see how it goes.

I had a question though, I'll end up submitting what I have when I'm done anyway but will we be starting off separately or together? That highly determines what I've been doing the past 6 days of infection.

Quantumlegacy

Member for 1 years

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Sounds good man. Look forward to your character.

I should adress that now, I suppose. You'll most likely be split up, depending on the amount of players I manage to get.

NotAFlyingToy

Global Moderator

Member for 2 years

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Hey guys,

So today's quite busy for me, and I regret to say that I won't be accepting characters until tomorrow in all likelihood. This is because I don't have time to read every character, and I feel that you guys deserve that for jumping on board this crazy idea of mine.

So, to reiterate, characters being read and approved tomorrow.

Thanks,

Naft.

NotAFlyingToy

Global Moderator

Member for 2 years

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Reader recommendation: The Mao Case

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Senate rejects effort to strip detainee provision (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Senate on Tuesday rejected an effort to strip divisive provisions from a defense bill that deal with the capture and handling of suspected terrorists, setting up a showdown with the White House.

The resounding 60-38 vote sent a strong message to the Obama administration, which has threatened a veto of the bill over the requirement of military custody for captured terror suspects and limitations on the ability to transfer detainees from the naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The clash underscores the ongoing dispute between the executive branch and some in Congress over whether to treat suspected terrorists as prisoners of war or criminals.

It also exposed deep divisions within Senate Democratic ranks.

"The provisions would dramatically change broad counterterrorism efforts by requiring law enforcement officials to step aside and ask the Department of Defense to take on a new role they are not fully equipped for and do not want," said Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who added that the legislation would make the military "police, judge and jailer."

His amendment would have taken out the sections on detainees and instead called for congressional hearings with Pentagon and administration officials on the issue.

Defending the provisions, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin argued that they contain a national security waiver for the administration. The issue has pitted Levin against other senior Democratic senators, including the chairmen of the Intelligence and Judiciary committees.

"Should somebody when it's been determined ... to be a member of an enemy force who has come to this nation or is in this nation to attack us as a member of a foreign enemy, should that person be treated according to the laws of war? And the answer is yes," said Levin, D-Mich.

The bill would require military custody of a suspect deemed to be a member of al-Qaida or its affiliates and involved in plotting or committing attacks on the United States.

"We're fighting a war, not a crime," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller have spelled out their opposition in letters to lawmakers. Mueller said Monday that because the legislation applies to people detained in the United States, it could disrupt ongoing international terrorism investigations and make it difficult for the FBI to work with a grand jury or obtain subpoenas.

Mueller also described the waiver as too cumbersome, requiring that it be obtained from the defense secretary in consultation with the secretary of state and the director of National Intelligence with a certification to Congress.

Preston Golson, a spokesman for CIA Director David Petraeus, said "The director feels that the president should have flexibility in dealing with persons detained for involvement in international terrorism."

Hours after the vote, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said he would have voted to strip the terror suspect provision, and announced that he had changed his vote.

The vote came shortly after the weekly Republican and Democratic policy luncheons. A guest at the Republican session was former Vice President Dick Cheney, an advocate for harsh interrogation tactics against suspected U.S. enemies during his two terms in office. Republicans said he was a guest and did not make remarks at the session despite an intense discussion within GOP ranks about the detainee provisions.

The sweeping defense bill would authorize $662 billion for military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and national security programs in the Energy Department. Reflecting a period of austerity and deficit-driven cuts in military spending, the bill is $27 billion less than what Obama requested for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 of this year. The Senate hopes to complete the legislation by week's end.

Earlier this month, Armed Services Committee investigators found about 1,800 cases of suspect counterfeit electronic parts being sold to the Pentagon, with lawmakers blaming China for dumping them. By voice vote, the Senate on Tuesday approved a broad amendment to improve detection, including a provision that would prohibit contractors from charging the Pentagon for the cost of fixing the problem when counterfeit parts are found

The Senate also rejected an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that would have ended the authority for using force in Iraq. The vote was 67-30.

After nearly nine years of war, some 13,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to leave Iraq by year's end, but Paul argued that his measure was about the separation of powers and Congress needed to reclaim its authority to declare war.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_defense_bill

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Report: Facebook to file IPO between April, June

By msnbc.com staff

Facebook is having an internal discussion on the timing of their filing with the Securities Exchange Commission for the company?s initial public offering of stock, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Mark Zuckerberg, the company?s CEO and founder, hasn?t made a decision on the timing yet, sources told the Journal, but dates being considered are from April to June of next year.

Read the story at the Journal?s website.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/28/9075355-report-facebook-ipo-filing-will-be-between-april-and-june

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Global stocks recover on euro rescue proposals (AP)

LONDON ? Global stocks advanced Monday as further proposals to get a grip on Europe's debt crisis were touted amid signs that the U.S. Christmas shopping season has started off strongly.

The advance came despite denials that the International Monetary Fund was readying a euro600 billion ($794 billion) rescue package for Italy and that the eurozone's six triple-A rated countries were preparing to float bonds together and use the proceeds to provide assistance to some of the single currency bloc's indebted members, such as Italy and Spain.

Investors are clearly hoping that the recent signs of deterioration in the debt crisis will finally get Europe's leaders to agree on a package of measures that can ease market concerns over whether the euro currency itself can survive. Anecdotal evidence that the U.S. enjoyed a strong day for retailing on Friday after Thanksgiving Day has eased concerns that the world's largest economy will slide back into recession.

"While positive news provides a welcome relief for the markets, it cannot detract from the fact that the future of the eurozone is hanging in the balance," said Jane Foley, an analyst at Rabobank International.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 2.1 percent at 5,272, while Germany's DAX rose 2.9 percent to 5,653. The CAC-40 in France was 3.6 percent higher at 2,961.

The euro, meanwhile, was 0.7 percent higher at $1.3385.

Wall Street was poised for a strong open, too ? Dow futures were up 2.3 percent at 11,445 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 2.9 percent to 1,187.

Many in the markets think that the euro project, as currently designed, is at a crucial turning point. With more and more governments finding it prohibitively expensive to borrow money to finance their debts, there's a groundswell of opinion that says the euro's days are numbered. Belgium, Italy and France all have big bond issues this week. More failures on that front following last week's disappointing auction from Germany could stoke further turmoil.

"The success or otherwise of these auctions may determine the future of the EU," said Gary Jenkins, an analyst at Evolution Securities. "We do seem to be moving slowly towards more of a fiscal union but at a pace that may result in all the components being put in place after a complete meltdown of the financial system."

Credit rating agency Moody's issued a similar warning Monday. It said the "rapid escalation" of Europe's financial crisis is threatening the creditworthiness of all eurozone governments, even the most highly rated. Only six of the eurozone's 17 countries have the top rating ? Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Finland.

And the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said policy makers around the world must "be prepared to face the worst," as the economic impact of Europe's debt crisis threatens to spread around the developed world.

The Paris-based OECD says in its latest Economic Outlook that continued failure by EU leaders to stem the debt crisis that has spread from Greece to much-bigger Italy "could massively escalate economic disruption" and end in "highly devastating outcomes."

The biannual report released Monday recommends urgently boosting the EU bailout fund and calls on Europe's central bank to do more to stem the crisis.

Oil prices tracked equities higher, too. Benchmark crude for January delivery was up $3.53 to $100.30 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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Turn on, tune in and get better?

Janeen Delany describes herself as an "old hippie" who's smoked plenty of marijuana. But she never really dabbled in hallucinogens ? until two years ago, at the age of 59.

A diagnosis of incurable leukemia had knocked the optimism out of the retired plant nurserywoman living in Phoenix. So she signed up for a clinical trial to test whether psilocybin ? the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" ? could help with depression or anxiety following a grim diagnosis.

Delaney swallowed a blue capsule of psilocybin in a cozy office at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She donned a blindfold, a blood pressure cuff and a headset playing classical music. With two researchers at her side, she embarked on a six-hour journey into altered consciousness that she calls "the single most life-changing experience I've ever had."

What a long, strange trip it's been. In the 1960s and '70s, a rebellious generation embraced hallucinogens and a wide array of street drugs to "turn on, tune in and drop out." Almost half a century later, magic mushrooms, LSD, Ecstasy and ketamine are being studied for legitimate therapeutic uses. Scientists believe these agents have the potential to help patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, drug or alcohol addiction, unremitting pain or depression and the existential anxiety of terminal illness.

"Scientifically, these compounds are way too important not to study," said Johns Hopkins psychopharmacologist Roland Griffiths, who conducted the psilocybin trial.

In their next incarnation, these drugs may help the psychologically wounded tune in to their darkest feelings and memories and turn therapy sessions into heightened opportunities to learn and heal.

"We're trying to break a social mind-set saying these are strictly drugs of abuse," said Rick Doblin, a public policy expert who founded the Multidisciplinary Assn. for Psychedelic Studies in 1986 to encourage research on therapeutic uses for medical marijuana and hallucinogens. "It's not the drug but how the drug is used that matters."

Regulators and medical researchers remain wary. But among at least some experts at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, the shift in attitude "has been dramatic," Doblin said.

Researchers explored the usefulness of hallucinogenic agents as an adjunct to psychotherapy in the 1950s and '60s. But allegations that hallucinogens were used in government-funded "mind control" efforts, freewheeling experimentation by proponents like Dr. Timothy Leary, and the drugs' appeal to a generation in revolt quashed legitimate research for decades.

The thaw has been slow in coming. In 2008, Griffiths co-wrote a report in the Journal of Psychopharmacology comparing psilocybin with a placebo for people dealing with incurable diseases. Psilocybin resulted in "mystical experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance," according to the study, the first since 1972 to explore a hallucinogen's therapeutic value.

In January, a team led by UCLA psychiatrist Charles Grob reported in Archives of General Psychiatry that psilocybin improved the mood of patients with "existential anxiety" related to advanced-stage cancer. The benefits lasted at least three months.

Janeen Delany is a typical case: The insights she gleaned during her encounter with psilocybin continue to shape her attitudes toward life and death.

Delany said her "trip" awakened a deep and reassuring sense of "knowing." She came to see the universe and everything in it as interconnected. As the music in her headphones reached a crescendo, she held her breath and realized it would OK ? no, really easy ? not to breathe anymore. She sensed there was nothing more she needed to know and therefore nothing she needed to fear about dying.

And that, paradoxically, has allowed her to live.

"When you take the veil of fear away from your life, you can see and experience everything in such a present way," she said. "I don't have to know what the future is. Every day is the day of days."

Fighting addiction

Such mystical insights are central in another potential use for psilocybin ? as an addiction treatment. Griffiths is conducting a pilot study combining psilocybin with cognitive behavioral therapy to help smokers quit. Four people have completed the program, and so far none has returned to smoking, Griffiths says.

At the University of Arizona in Tucson, addiction specialist Dr. Michael P. Bogenschutz has proposed a clinical trial to test whether psilocybin can help ease alcohol dependence. If the NIH agrees to fund the study, it would be the first instance in decades of government financial support for a trial involving any drug of abuse.

Psilocybin's effect on the brain can be described, if not explained. It increases the activity of serotonin, a chemical that affects mood. Brain networks associated with emotions are highly active in the presence of psilocybin, as are structures involved in higher reasoning and judgment, MRI scans show.

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/3wi-sVDdTcw/la-he-drugs-of-abuse-20111130,0,327696.story

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E. coli bacteria engineered to eat switchgrass and make transportation fuels

E. coli bacteria engineered to eat switchgrass and make transportation fuels

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A milestone has been reached on the road to developing advanced biofuels that can replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuels with a domestically-produced clean, green, renewable alternative.

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have engineered the first strains of Escherichia coli bacteria that can digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into all three of those transportation fuels. What's more, the microbes are able to do this without any help from enzyme additives.

"This work shows that we can reduce one of the most expensive parts of the biofuel production process, the addition of enzymes to depolymerize cellulose and hemicellulose into fermentable sugars," says Jay Keasling, CEO of JBEI and leader of this research. "This will enable us to reduce fuel production costs by consolidating two steps ? depolymerizing cellulose and hemicellulose into sugars, and fermenting the sugars into fuels ? into a single step or one pot operation."

Keasling, who also holds appointments with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkley, is the corresponding author of a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that describes this work. The paper is titled "Synthesis of three advanced biofuels from ionic liquid-pretreated switchgrass using engineered Escherichia coli."

Advanced biofuels made from the lignocellulosic biomass of non-food crops and agricultural waste are widely believed to represent the best source of renewable liquid transportation fuels. Unlike ethanol, which in this country is produced from corn starch, these advanced biofuels can replace gasoline on a gallon-for-gallon basis, and they can be used in today's engines and infrastructures. The biggest roadblock to an advanced biofuels highway is bringing the cost of producing these fuels down so that they are economically competitive.

Unlike the simple sugars in corn grain, the cellulose and hemicellulose in plant biomass are difficult to extract in part because they are embedded in a tough woody material called lignin. Once extracted, these complex sugars must first be converted or hydrolyzed into simple sugars and then synthesized into fuels. At JBEI, a DOE Bioenergy Research Center led by Berkeley Lab, one approach has been to pre-treat the biomass with an ionic liquid (molten salt) to dissolve it, then engineer a single microorganism that can both digest the dissolved biomass and produce hydrocarbons that have the properties of petrochemical fuels.

"Our goal has been to put as much chemistry as we can into microbes," Keasling says. "For advanced biofuels this requires a microbe with pathways for hydrocarbon production and the biomass-degrading capacity to secrete enzymes that efficiently hydrolyze cellulose and hemicellulose. We've now been able to engineer strains of Escherichia coli that can utilize both the cellulose and hemicellulose fractions of switchgrass that's been pre-treated with ionic liquids."

E. coli bacteria normally cannot grow on switchgrass, but JBEI researchers engineered strains of the bacteria to express several enzymes that enable them to digest cellulose and hemicellulose and use one or the other for growth. These cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic strains of E. coli, which can be combined as co-cultures on a sample of switchgrass, were further engineered with three metabolic pathways that enabled the E. coli to produce fuel substitute or precursor molecules suitable for gasoline, diesel and jet engines. While this is not the first demonstration of E. coli producing gasoline and diesel from sugars, it is the first demonstration of E. coli producing all three forms of transportation fuels. Furthermore, it was done using switchgrass, which is among the most highly touted of the potential feedstocks for advanced biofuels.

Gregory Bokinsky, a post-doctoral researcher with JBEI's synthetic biology group and lead author of the PNAS paper, explains that the pre-treatment of the switchgrass with ionic liquids was essential to this demonstration.

"The magic is in the ionic liquid pre-treatment," Bokinsky says. "If properly optimized, I suspect you could use ionic liquid pre-treatment on any plant biomass and make it readily digestible by microbes. For us it was the combination of biomass from the ionic liquid pretreatment with the engineered E. coli that enabled our success."

The JBEI researchers also attribute the success of this work to the "unparalleled genetic and metabolic tractability" of E. coli, which over the years has been engineered to produce a wide range of chemical products. However, the researchers believe that the techniques used in this demonstration should also be readily adapted to other microbes. This would open the door to the production of advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks that are ecologically and economically appropriate to grow and harvest anywhere in the world. For the JBEI researchers, however, the next step is to increase the yields of the fuels they can synthesize from switchgrass.

"We already have hydrocarbon fuel production pathways that give far better yields than what we obtained with this demonstration," says Bokinsky. "And these other pathways are very likely to be compatible with the biomass-consumption pathways we've engineered into our E. coli. However, we need to find enzymes that can both digest more of the ionic liquid pre-treated biomass and be secreted by E coli. We also need to work on optimizing the ionic liquid pre-treatment steps to yield biomass that is even easier for the microbes to digest."

###

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: http://www.lbl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115553/E__coli_bacteria_engineered_to_eat_switchgrass_and_make_transportation_fuels

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Newt Gingrich: Union Leader endorsement a big boost in New Hampshire

In a front page editorial Sunday, New Hampshire's prominent statewide Union Leader newspaper endorsed Newt Gingrich. It's a big boost for Gingrich and a blow to Mitt Romney, currently leading in polls.

Newt Gingrich?s presidential campaign just got a big boost in New Hampshire ? the state holding the first Republican primary election.

Skip to next paragraph

The Union Leader, the state?s most prominent publication and a leading voice in conservatism, says it?s backing Gingrich over Mitt Romney.

Romney, who holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire polling, is still the man to beat there. But the Union Leader?s rejection of his candidacy is a blow nonetheless ? particularly since Gingrich has vaulted past his GOP rivals to claim neck-and-neck status with Romney in national Republican polls as well as likely-voter surveys in other states.

The newspaper?s endorsement ? spread across the top of the front page in the Sunday edition and signed by publisher Joseph W. McQuaid ? carries a granite-like tone typical of a publication prominent in Republican politics. Four years ago, its endorsement of John McCain helped propel McCain past Romney to a win in New Hampshire and to his party?s nomination.

"We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing," the newspaper wrote in its editorial.

"We don't back candidates based on popularity polls or big-shot backers,? the paper declared in obvious reference to Romney. ?We look for conservatives of courage and conviction who are independent-minded, grounded in their core beliefs about this nation and its people, and best equipped for the job.?

"We don't have to agree with them on every issue," the newspaper wrote about Gingrich, some of whose positions (on immigration, for example) have rankled conservatives. "We would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear."

Writes Maggie Haberman at Politico.com: ?It's the most significant?and impactful endorsement in the GOP race so far, and solidifies Gingrich's standing as the alternative to Romney as the race heads into the final pre-Iowa caucuses stretch.?

While the Union Leader?s endorsement shakes things up, Romney remains the clear front-runner in New Hampshire, a state where he owns a home and where he?s well-known because of his time as governor of neighboring Massachusetts.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/usa/~3/ekCQ8aEqzAY/Newt-Gingrich-Union-Leader-endorsement-a-big-boost-in-New-Hampshire

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World stocks rise from 7-week low on Europe hopes (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? World stocks rose from last week's 7-week low on Monday as hopes grew euro zone leaders would unveil fresh measures to resolve the two-year-old debt crisis, while caution ahead of next week's key summit kept the euro and German yields under pressure.

An unsourced report in Italian daily La Stampa suggested the International Monetary Fund was preparing a rescue plan for Italy worth up to 600 billion euros ($796 billion), later dismissed by an IMF spokesperson.

But a downgrade in Belgium's sovereign rating late on Friday and a warning by Moody's that the rapid escalation of the region's sovereign and banking crisis threatens the rating of all European government bonds kept top-rated German debt supported.

"The bears out there will know that markets do not go down in a straight line and this could be just a relief rally in what will prove to be a prolonged bear market," said Stan Shamu, strategist at IG Markets.

MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS) gained 0.9 percent, rising for the first time after ten consecutive days of losses. The index is down nearly 15 percent since January and more than 22 percent since hitting a three-year high in May.

European stocks (.FTEU3) and emerging stocks (.MSCIEF) both rose around 1.5 percent.

U.S. stock futures were up more than 2 percent, pointing to a firmer open on Wall Street later.

The market was also expected to get some support from news that U.S. retailers racked up a record $52.4 billion in sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, a 16.4 percent jump.

U.S. crude oil gained 2.2 percent to $98.92 a barrel.

Bund futures were steady on the day.

After the Italian aid report, Italian/German 10-year government bond yield spread tightened 10 basis points to 496 bps.

The premium investors pay to hold Belgium's 10-year government bonds rather than German debt was largely unchanged from Friday at 368 basis points.

Belgian borrowing costs have increased sharply in past weeks as the country has struggled to set up a government, with the country's benchmark 10-year yield rising near the 6 percent level on Friday, beyond which financing costs could become unsustainable.

A sustained rise in yields is likely to scare some of the long-term euro bond buyers. Kokusai Asset Management, Japan's biggest mutual fund, said it had sold all its Italian, Spanish and Belgian bond holdings, spooked by a jump in Italian bond yields to above 7 percent and other signs that the crisis in Europe was deepening [ID:nL4E7MS152].

Investors will keep a close eye on developments in the euro zone. Documents showed detailed operational rules for the region's bailout fund were ready for approval and will clear the way for the 440 billion euro facility to attract cash from private and public investors in coming weeks.

Officials say Germany and France are exploring ways for rapid fiscal integration among euro zone countries. Germany's original plan was to get all 27 countries on board, but officials have been looking at alternatives such as an agreement among just the euro zone countries or a separate agreement outside the EU treaty that could involve a core of around 8-10 euro zone countries.

The euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.3301.

The dollar (.DXY) fell 0.6 percent against a basket of major currencies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/bs_nm/us_markets_global

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US to pay $2.5 million to anthrax victim's widow

Joe Raedle / Getty Images file

Maureen Stevens' husband, Bob Stevens, a photo editor for American Media Inc., was the first fatality in the anthrax mailings.

By Associated Press

The U.S. government has agreed to pay $2.5 million to the widow and family of a Florida tabloid photo editor killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

A document obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press shows that Maureen Stevens will drop all other claims stemming from the death of Robert Stevens. The document also says the U.S. is not admitting fault.

Stevens' lawsuit, filed in 2003, claimed the government was negligent because it failed to stop someone at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., from creating weapons-grade anthrax used in letters that killed her husband and four other people. Seventeen more people were sickened.

---

Maureen Stevens' attorney did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. The settlement names her and her three grown children, and notes that attorneys' fees of no more than 25 percent will be paid out of that amount.

Robert Stevens worked in Boca Raton for American Media Inc., publisher of the National Enquirer, Sun and Globe tabloids when he was exposed to anthrax. He died Oct. 5, 2001. Other anthrax-laced letters were mailed to television networks in New York and a U.S. Senate office building in Washington.

After a lengthy and unprecedented investigation, the FBI concluded that a government scientist, Dr. Bruce Ivins, was solely responsible for the attacks. Ivins, however, committed suicide in 2008 and some who worked with him at Fort Detrick have expressed doubt that he did it or had the means to create the anthrax used in the letters.

For years the FBI investigation focused on another scientist, Steven Hatfill, who was identified as a "person of interest" in 2001 by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. Hatfill was eventually cleared and sued the government for invasion of privacy, resulting in a $5.8 million settlement.

Lawsuits filed by other victims have been dismissed, although at least one is on appeal.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/29/9092419-us-to-pay-25-million-to-anthrax-victims-widow

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Psychiatric evaluation finds Norway killer insane (AP)

OSLO, Norway ? Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was insane when he killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage in Norway, and should be sent to a psychiatric ward instead of prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.

A psychiatric evaluation ordered by an Oslo court found that the self-styled anti-Muslim resistance fighter was psychotic during the July 22 attacks, the country's worst peacetime massacre ? which means he's not mentally fit to be sentenced to prison, prosecutors told reporters.

The report, written by two psychiatrists who spent a total of 36 hours talking to Breivik, will be reviewed by a panel of forensic psychiatrists before the court makes a ruling on whether Breivik is legally insane.

Their conclusions contrasted with earlier comments by the head of that board, who told The Associated Press in July that it was unlikely that Breivik would be declared legally insane because the attacks were so carefully planned and executed.

"The conclusions of the forensic experts is that Anders Behring Breivik was insane," prosecutor Svein Holden said, adding Breivik was in a state of psychosis during the attacks.

In their report, the experts describe a man "who finds himself in his own delusional universe, where all his thoughts and acts are governed by these delusions," Holden said. "They conclude that Anders Behring Breivik during a long period of time has developed the mental disorder of paranoid schizophrenia, which has changed him and made him into the person he is today."

In Norway, an insanity defense requires that a defendant be in a state of psychosis while committing the crime with which he or she is charged. That means the defendant has lost contact with reality to the point that he's no longer in control of his own actions.

The 243-page report will be reviewed by a panel from the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine, which could ask for additional information and add its own opinions.

"That's interesting," the head of the panel, Dr. Tarjei Rygnestad, told the AP on Tuesday when asked to comment on the report's conclusions.

In July, Rygnestad said that a psychotic person typically struggles to perform even simple tasks like driving a car, and that the meticulous planning and skills required for Breivik's attacks spoke against psychosis.

On Tuesday, Rygnestad told AP that his earlier comments were based on "secondary information" and that a person's mental state can only be determined through in-depth analysis. He said he had not read the full report yet. But he maintained his assertion that psychotic people typically aren't able to carry out complex tasks that require intricate planning.

"Usually not. Then again, unusual things also happen," he said.

Breivik has confessed to carrying out the attacks but denies criminal guilt, saying he's a commander of a Norwegian resistance movement opposed to multiculturalism.

Investigators have found no sign of such a movement and say Breivik most likely plotted and carried out the attacks on his own.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_norway_massacre

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Scorsese's 'Hugo' UK premiere gets royal audience (AP)

LONDON ? Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese is in London's Leicester Square for the royal premiere of his first-ever 3D movie, "Hugo."

Based on Brian Selznick's best-seller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," the film stars Jude Law, Sir Ben Kingsley, Chloe Moretz with Asa Butterfield as Hugo.

The fantasy film is about an orphan boy who lives in the wall of a train station in 1930s Paris. He is on a quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father.

Making it a royal premiere Monday night are two specially invited guests, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

"Hugo" is the 64th Royal Film Performance to take place in London.

"Hugo" opens in the U.K. on Friday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_en_mo/eu_britain_hugo

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Charges possible in LA Walmart pepper spraying

Los Angeles police Detective Lt. Tim Torsney provides details of the investigation.

By msnbc.com staff

Police may seek charges against the woman whose use of pepper spray in a scrum with bargain seekers at a Los Angeles Walmart became a national talking point.

Los Angeles police Detective Lt. Tim Torsney told reporters late Monday afternoon that the 32-year-old woman, whose name hasn't been released, was a suspect in the "unlawful use of O.C. spray."?

"O.C." stands for oleoresin capsicum, an extract of superhot chili peppers. Its use in spray form as a crowd-control agent has focused attention on police response to Occupy Wall Street protests in several U.S. cities.

The incident seized public attention and held it through the weekend as a symbol of the annual post-Thanksgiving consumer frenzy that traditionally opens the Christmas shopping season.

Describing a "chaotic situation," Torsney said, "We need to do something better as a society to control ourselves."

The incident occurred just after 10 p.m. Thursday at an early Black Friday sale at a Walmart in Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. Fourteen people have come forward who either were?directly sprayed or were exposed to the stinging chemical, and as many as 10 others may have been exposed, Torsney said.

Torsney said police would forward the case to the district attorney for possible charges against the woman, who turned herself in Friday night. She refused to answer questions and was released.?

"If you use O.C. spray for anything other than self-defense, it could be a felony or it could be a misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances," Torsney said.?

That decision is up to the district attorney, he said, but the key determiner is "the suspect's state of mind at the time the incident took place."

Detective Michael Fesperman said at the news conference that two separate groups of shoppers were trying to get to a pallet of Xbox games. The suspect may have gotten caught up in the melee and may not have meant to use the spray as a weapon, he said.

"This may have been a case of self-preservation," he said.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/28/9076436-charges-possible-in-la-walmart-pepper-spraying

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Online Black Friday spending is up nearly 25 percent over last year (Digital Trends)

According to an IBM Benchmark study released today, online shopping during both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday saw a sizable increase in spending over 2010. Specifically, online sales increased by 24.3 percent on Black Friday and rose by 39.3 percent on Thanksgiving Day. The large increase in Thanksgiving Day sales is likely attributed to?stores?like Best Buy and Amazon offering discounts on merchandise before Black Friday even started. In addition, traffic on?mobile devices rose from 5.6 percent in 2010 to just over 14 percent this year. This can be attributed to many price comparison apps, like RedLaser, that allow users to scan the bar code of an item and compare prices both on the Internet and local stores.

Sales on mobile devices?such?as tablets and smartphones shot up from about 3 percent in 2010 to nearly 10 percent this year. The most popular mobile device to use when making purchases was the iPad as it had double the conversion rate over the average on other mobile devices. While the iPad and the iPhone were the two most popular devices for browsing online sales, Android devices came in at third place for online mobile shopping. Social networks that?referred?users to shopping sites comprised less than one percent of all online sales on Black Friday, but Facebook was the clear leader in social referral traffic with 75 percent of all visits coming from the social network.

However, discussion volume on social networks rose by 110 percent over the previous year. The most common topics discussed included wait times, parking issues and concern about products being out-of-stock when the customer got to the front of the time. There was also positive discussion around the announced Cyber Monday sales that go into effect on November 28. Thanksgiving Day online sales peaked between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. this year while Black Friday online sales peaked between 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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