Implications of the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Read more on:? USSR, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Near Abroad, CIS, Eurasian Union, Occupy movement

13:19 30/12/2011

20 years ago one of the two superpowers ceased to exist. The Soviet Union, which was the principal enemy for most of the Western World for almost half a century was gone, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Matthew Rojansky, Deputy Director of Carnegie Endowment? Russia and Eurasia Program shares his views on the perception of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the U.S. establishment as well as among common people and points out differences between modern leftists and leftists of the Cold War era.

The assessment of the dissolution of the Soviet Union on the part of ?official? America was quite diffuse or was a combination of many different simultaneous, sometimes conflicting evaluations of what was going on. Americans, or better yet the entire world, including Russians, failed to predict the event, and so a part of the response was an attempt to justify what happened, to understand, in the first place, how something so unexpected could have happened. You could have seen a lot of attempts immediately after 1991 trying to look back and understand what had happened.

There was another dimension which was very important ? trying to understand, given that we missed this big development, as it caught us by surprise, trying to get ahead of the curve and understand where things were going to go. And, of course, peoples? values as well as national interests came into play, and this was the beginning of the whole movement, which became quite well-known in the 1990?s, of helping to rebuild the former Soviet state, namely Russia. Other countries, too, and this is where many great idealistic experimental projects came into play, were trying to help rebuild the Russian economy as a free market economy, experimenting with privatization, etc.

Therefore, all of the reactions can be called as very intuitive. People pursued many different and diffuse paths in responding to what had happened because people had very different views on this very momentous event. It was even more than a decade after 1991, during the resurgence of Russia, specifically after Putin comes to power and Russia begins to regain international standing, when Americans finally start to sit back and think about what had really happened in 1991 in a comprehensive way.

So, there is a sort of irony, that while it was happening we were sort of stuck in the details of it, and that it wasn?t until after it happened when we were able to pull out and pull back; and here is the real irony ? by the time Americans began to think about the collapse of the Soviet Union in a more comprehensive way we couldn?t really do anything about what was happening in the Soviet space anymore anyway. That was the time when Russia had essentially decided where it wanted to go.

As much as common Americans remember important historical events and honor our veterans and our history we are very much a forward-looking society, and we shouldn?t forget that we are a nation of immigrants, we tend to think about the future, we love new technology and new developments; and so, in a sense, if 1989-1991 was an end to a historical era, the era of post-WWII, Cold War, the end to the defining of international order by the Soviet-American interaction, or the Soviet-Western interaction, Americans were really prepared, as soon as all of that left headlines in the newspapers.

Specifically after 1991, Americans were prepared to move on. At the moment when Gorbachev resigned there were lots of headlines in the newspapers about the event, which CNN was covering live from Moscow, Americans thought mostly in terms of victory because it had been defined as a struggle between one set of ideas and values and another and one of them simply ceased to exist. So when that happened, it appeared to be a victory.

Nevertheless, I don?t think it was a victory that Americans reveled in or dwelled or obsessed in or one that we made a big part of our national identity. If we think about the presidential campaign in 1992 that brought Bill Clinton to power, we can note that he wasn?t campaigning on the end of the Soviet Union ? in one way or another ? the only part of his campaign, and I am pointing to Clinton?s campaign because he ultimately won.

George H. W. Bush, who, as some could argue, was the man who managed from the American perspective the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, as part of Reagan?s team and then on his own, was the one who could campaign on winning the Cold War. Clinton couldn?t ? he had nothing to do with it. He was the governor of Arkansas. The only part of the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union that played any real significance in his coming to the scene was what he called the ?peace dividend?, and that was basically unloading a lot of expensive military obligations that the United States had in Europe and at home because there was no longer an external enemy.

Therefore, the general mood of the Americans was about forgetting the past or shaking off the baggage of the past and looking forward. And, by and large, it?s a very American way to react to this event.

However, today a new leftist trend has emerged ? mainly as Occupy Wall Street movement though you can witness rise in the global left. I can?t say how it changed from the inside, because I?ve never been a part of it. But as an outside observer, the obvious change was really after 1989, after the Soviet influence was rolled back out of Central and Eastern Europe. That?s when the sense of legitimacy that accompanied a lot of the overtly ideologically leftist governments evaporated, and obviously, for the Soviet Union, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, when it stopped subsidizing regimes around the world, not only in Europe but also Cuba and Africa.

So, all of a sudden the trappings of legitimacy, of being a legitimate part of the international system that went with these experimental, unsustainably irrational leftist governments disappeared. Therefore, the effect that that has had over the past two decades on non-governmental leftist movements, whether you look at, for example, the Union in the West, even socialist parties and communist parties are almost an irrelevant factor, so you have to look at relatively moderate leftist groups, despite the fact that they increasingly became a full part of the system and find their own place within the system rather than aspiring or even having the backup option available of an alternative system.

It?s just incredible, the view that there is a wholesale alternative system that you can turn to that would be better than the current system ? perhaps our view of change within the context of the current system. The Occupy Wall Street movement and the global protests are perfect example ? if you look at the people occupying American cities, they are not protesting in the way that leftist protestors did in the 1960?s and 70?s. They?re not saying ?Bring down the corporate state!?, but they are saying that it?s unfair the way that wealth is being distributed right now in the current system and it should be changed. They?re not saying ?Bring down the state!? It?s a big difference, because they know that if you bring down the state there is nothing credible to replace it with. There is no alternative model of governance out there. And that is a big difference. In 1985, and certainly in 1975, you couldn?t have said that because there was an entire world representing an alternative model, which wasn?t sustainable and we know that now ? but at that time it wasn?t clear.

Matthew Rojansky is Deputy Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment

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Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Source: http://valdaiclub.com/history/36860.html

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Burlington Church Too Loud, Neighbors Say

BURLINGTON, N.C. (WGHP)?

While some neighbors say a Burlington church makes too much noise, police say it isn't breaking the city's noise ordinance.

Lori Darnell said she and others have called police multiple times about Faith Builders International Church on May Drive. Her backyard is next to the church, which moved in this past fall.

"I hear the bass thumping in my house--just a constant 'thump, thump, thump' for hours. I can't live with it. It's that bothersome," Darnell said.

Darnell said she heard loud noises from the church Wednesday through Sunday one week, and from Saturday to Wednesday another week.

"There was one weekend it was five hours on Saturday and on-and-off on Sunday until like 9 p.m.," Darnell said.

"Inside that room (in my house) I could still hear them yelling, and it was not 'Hallelujah,'" said another neighbor. "I originally thought it was Williams High School band practice, but I couldn't figure out why it was going on every night."

Captain Eric Kerns with Burlington Police said officers have been to the church more than 20 times, but they haven't heard what neighbors are complaining about.

"No one has reported yet of hearing, upon our arrival, obnoxious or unreasonable noise that they could hear in the residence," Kerns said.

Kerns said the church is not in violation of the city's noise ordinance, saying the noise is "part of their business operations."

Burlington Police told residents they can go before city council during a public comment session if they want to make an amendment to the noise ordinance.

Meanwhile, Darnell said she can't believe the reason she is considering a move is a church.

"A church is supposed to come into a community and bring goodwill and all that, right?" Darnell said.

Church officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Source: http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-burlington-church-too-noisy-neighbors-say-20111228,0,465704.story?track=rss

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Portland, Maine, mayor undergoes cancer surgery | The Associated ...

The mayor of Maine's largest city has undergone cancer treatment.
Portland officials say Mayor Michael Brennan had successful surgery last weekend to remove a tumor from his small intestine. The tumor was discovered when Brennan sought treatment for abdominal pain.
Brennan will get additional, non-invasive treatment for lesions found on his liver. He says neither chemotherapy nor radiation is needed.
Brennan was released from the hospital Thursday. He intends to return to City Hall next week on a limited basis.
He says his ordeal made him realize that it is important to ensure that all Maine residents have access to health care. He says nearly one in four does not have health insurance.
Brennan won the election last month. He is first popularly-elected mayor in nearly 90 years.

Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/2011/12/portland-maine-mayor-undergoes-cancer-surgery

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This rotating dome home spins right 'round

Zillow

The dome home rotates to take advantage of the sun's energy.

By Erika Riggs, Zillow

116 Canaan Rd, New Paltz NY
For sale: $1,200,000

Normally, when someone asks for the remote, it's because they want to undertake some serious TV channel surfing. But in one unique home located just 90 minutes north of New York City, playing with the remote control will set the entire wooden house spinning on its axis.

This dome home was, in fact, built on an electronically-controlled axle. So with a push of a button, the 3,000-square-foot New Paltz home for sale can rotate 360 degrees. In five orbital minutes, the house completes one full rotation.

The owners of this circular domicile aren't constantly on the spin cycle. The feature is used to take advantage of the sun for the home's solar energy needs. Each season, the home is rotated for maximum efficiency, explained listing agent Anne Rajs.

While the home looks similar to geodesic dome homes, it was built using a kit from France called Domespace and is the only structure like it that has been constructed in the U.S.

"It does look like a space ship," said Rajs, "But it's an amazing home. It's the coolest home I've ever seen."

The two-story home features 40-foot ceilings centered by the axle. Tall, wedge-shaped windows keep the interiors light-filled and open. The home features bamboo flooring and custom wood and stone cabinetry. The first floor contains two bedrooms and the majority of the living space. A central spiral staircase leads to the second floor which holds the master suite, office and additional balcony space.

Although one of the home's main appeals is its unique design, Rajs believes that the home's location is a big sell as well.

"It's this beauty of a house in the middle of 28 acres," Rajs said. "And you can walk to the Mohonk Preserve which has 1,000 acres more of hiking and rock climbing."

The home has also been featured on the Discovery Channel and a video of the interiors, as well as the home rotating, is on YouTube.

According to Zillow's mortgage calculator, a monthly mortgage payment on the home will be $4,475, assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage.

?

Zillow

The axel stretches to the home's ceiling.

Zillow

The home has several tall arching windows to take advantage of the natural light.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/27/9640989-listing-of-the-week-this-rotating-dome-home-spins-right-round

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Amid bloodshed, Hamas prepares to leave Syria (AP)

RAMALLAH, West Bank ? Alarmed by bloody unrest in Syria, the Hamas militant group has pulled out many of its lower-level cadres from its Damascus headquarters and made contingency plans to move its leadership to locations across the Middle East, senior Hamas members have told The Associated Press.

The Hamas members say the group remains appreciative of Syrian leader Bashar Assad and there is no immediate intention to abandon their base in Damascus. But they confirmed that dozens of low and midlevel members have already left Syria as the security situation grows increasingly precarious.

"Most of Hamas has left Damascus. We have a plan B for leaving if things deteriorate," said a senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing the inner workings of the secretive group.

Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian group, has been based in Syria for more than a decade. Assad has allowed Hamas, branded a terrorist group by Israel and the West, to use his territory for military training, and provided a valuable headquarters in the heart of the Arab world.

But the uprising in Syria has put Hamas in a difficult place. The U.N. estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in violence since March, and Hamas is wary of being associated with the government crackdown.

If Hamas does pull out completely, the move could force it to change the way it operates since the leaders would become dispersed across the region and their new hosts may not give them as much freedom. Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, for instance, is set to go to Qatar, a Gulf state with close ties to the U.S. Other leaders would go to Egypt, another American ally, while others would end up in Lebanon, Turkey or the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas leader in the group's Gaza stronghold, says Hamas "hopes that Syria will get out of its difficult internal crisis through a political solution ending further bloodshed in the country." He said there has been "no decision" to leave Damascus.

The plan is the latest sign of change in the Islamic group amid the convulsions of the Arab Spring across the Middle East the past year. The uprisings have been a mixed blessing for Hamas. On one hand, allies like Syria are in trouble. On the other hand, Islamic groups have made strong gains through peaceful elections. While Hamas leaders say they haven't abandoned their dream of destroying Israel, they also seem to be realizing that they can advance their agenda through nonviolent means.

In recent days, Mashaal said Hamas would turn focus on nonviolent protests against Israel, though he refused to renounce violence.

He also signaled that Hamas might be willing to accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Hamas has in the past endorsed the 1967 lines as the first stage toward eliminating Israel.

Hamas also last week began the process of joining the Palestine Liberation Organization as it reconciles with the rival Fatah movement. The Fatah-dominated PLO has long sought a political settlement with Israel. Joining the PLO could give Hamas a voice, and possibly veto, in future peace efforts.

Israeli officials dismiss any suggestion that Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in suicide bombings, rocket attacks and other violence, has changed. They cite the hardline speeches delivered at Hamas' 24th anniversary celebrations earlier this month, when speakers proudly called for "armed resistance" and the destruction of Israel.

"Unfortunately there is no evidence that Hamas has in any way moderated its extremist agenda," said government spokesman Mark Regev.

Barhoum said the group has not abandoned its ideology. Instead, he said it has merely changed its tactics as it adjusts to the times.

"There is a new environment around us," he said. "That doesn't mean Hamas is giving up its rights and its clear program as a resistance faction."

Hamas began its transformation into a political movement in 2006, when it defeated Fatah in Palestinian legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

A brief power-sharing arrangement disintegrated into violence the following year, leaving Hamas in control of Gaza and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in charge of the West Bank. The sides are now holding reconciliation talks and hope to hold new elections next year.

In Gaza, Hamas on Tuesday marked the third anniversary of an Israeli military offensive in the seaside strip. The offensive, launched in response to months of intense rocket barrages, killed some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and caused widespread damage. Thirteen Israelis also died in the fighting.

At memorial ceremonies, speaker after speaker voiced their support for continued armed confrontation with Israel. After suffering heavy losses in the fighting, Hamas has largely maintained a cease-fire with Israel the past three years. Still, it is believed to have restocked its arsenal with more powerful weapons.

But Raed Nearat, a political science professor in the West Bank who is close to Hamas, said that behind the rhetoric, Hamas is in the midst of a significant change.

He said the revolutions across the Middle East, as well as elections that have voted heavily in favor of Islamic movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, have emboldened Hamas.

"The Arab Spring has made Hamas much more confident, pragmatic and open," he said. "It's much more confident now that it can lead."

This week, the prime minister of the Gaza government, Ismail Haniyeh, left the territory for the first time since the 2007 takeover on an official tour of the Muslim world. His first stop was Egypt, with planned visits to Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia and Turkey.

Hamas officials say the goal of the trip is to improve ties with Muslim countries swept up in the uprisings shaking the Arab world. In Egypt, Haniyeh met with the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest winner in the first parliamentary elections since the Feb. 11 fall of Hosni Mubarak.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_changing_hamas

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Absentee ballots key to Florida GOP primary

By ADAM C. SMITH

The attention may be focused on the Republican presidential contests around the corner in Iowa and New Hampshire, but the candidates ignore what?s under way in Florida at their peril.

More Florida Republicans ? about 370,000 ? already have requested absentee ballots for the Jan. 31 primary than the number of Republicans who voted in the 2008 Iowa and New Hampshire contests combined.

The ever-growing volume of votes cast before Election Day in Florida is one of the factors that make the state a very different challenge from the earliest elections in Iowa Jan. 3, New Hampshire Jan. 10 and South Carolina Jan. 21. Candidates not only have to grapple with the sheer size and diversity of Florida, but they must prepare for a contest where half the votes or more are in well before Election Day.

?Under the old model in Florida, a campaign would work toward a 72-hour program going into Election Day,?? said Republican strategist Brett Doster, who is leading Mitt Romney?s Florida effort.

Now, ballots come in right after the start of the new year, followed by a lull, then more absentees, then early voting, then Election Day.

A LITTLE SECRET

In theory, that means a successful statewide campaign in Florida requires a formidable campaign apparatus to chase absentee ballots to bank as many votes as possible. But there?s a little secret that most professional campaign operatives in Florida prefer not to acknowledge: It?s not at all clear the ground game matters much in a presidential election.

Florida?s GOP primary results will be driven much more by national momentum ? the results in Iowa and New Hampshire and what?s being broadcast on Fox News ? than by campaign get out the vote efforts.

John McCain mounted a minimal field campaign in Florida four years ago and still won the primary with 36 percent of the vote to 31 percent for Romney. McCain did benefit, though, from an aggressive absentee ballot program mounted by supporters of the ?Save Our Homes? property tax initiative as well as by targeting moderate Republicans in South Florida.

This year, it appears that Romney has the campaign operation best equipped to compete in Florida. He has not only campaign professionals and a grass roots operation built up over seven years, but the financial resources to campaign in a vast state with 10 major television markets.

Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman also have veteran Florida operatives on staff, but their ability to sustain viable campaigns up until Florida?s primary remains uncertain.

New Gingrich, meanwhile, has scrambled to put together a Florida campaign team to capitalize on his surge in the polls, which currently have him leading Romney in Florida by double digits. The Gingrich campaign this week named campaign leaders for all 67 counties in Florida.

?Campaigns are won on the ground and through the hard work of grass roots activists such as those who have joined Newt Gingrich?s team in Florida,? said Deborah Cox-Roush, the former Hillsborough GOP chairwoman, who recently joined the Gingrich campaign after working for Herman Cain.

Restore Our Future, an independently run political committee helping Romney, is airing TV ads across the state attacking Gingrich?s character and his record as a conservative.

FUNDING FOCUS

Soon the campaigns will face the inevitable Florida campaign debate on whether to fund a substantial grass roots campaign operation, or focus money almost entirely on TV ads.

?Our efforts on the absentee ballot program are going to be robust,? said Jose Mallea, a veteran of Marco Rubio?s senate campaign, who is now directing Gingrich?s Florida effort.

Mallea said the Gingrich campaign also expects to open offices in Orange and Bay County as soon as this week.

Elections offices sent overseas absentee ballots a week ago and will begin sending other absentee ballots as early as Tuesday. Many local officeswill wait until after the Jan. 1.

Based on past experience, campaigns expect most voters to hold onto their ballots a couple weeks before voting.

?You?re going to get about 10 days out, and that?s when people are going to make up their minds,? said Nick Hansen, state director for the Perry campaign.

The rhythm of a presidential campaign is much different from others, Hansen noted, because the rush of activity bursts suddenly.

?Momentum is important, but the campaign organization matters as far as laying the foundation to catch the tsunami that will come,? said Hansen, a veteran of Romney?s 2008 Florida campaign. ?You better have your worker bees in place because they?re the ones you turn to when you say, ?I?m opening 12 offices and I need people to man them who know the drill.???

Adam C. Smith can be reached at asmith@ sptimes.com.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/26/2562421/absentee-ballots-key-to-florida.html

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Pres. Obama's Re-Election Campaign in 60 Seconds (ABC News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Gov't to adopt strict new limits on chimp research (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The government on Thursday said it would adopt strict new limits on using chimpanzees in medical research, after a prestigious scientific group recommended that experiments with humans' closest relative be done only as a last resort.

The National Institutes of Health agreed that science has advanced enough that chimps seldom would be needed to help develop new medicines.

NIH Director Francis Collins temporarily barred new federal funding for research involving chimps, and said a working group will review about 37 ongoing projects involving the animals to see if they should be phased out.

Chimps' similarity to people "demands special consideration and respect," Collins said.

These apes' genetic closeness to humans has long caused a quandary. It's what has made them so valuable to scientists for nearly a century. They were vital in creating a vaccine for hepatitis B, for example, and even were shot into space to make sure the trip wouldn't kill the astronauts next in line.

But that close relationship also has had animal rights groups arguing that using chimps for biomedical research is unethical, even cruel.

Chimp research already was dwindling fast as scientists turned to less costly and ethically charged alternatives.

Thursday's decision was triggered by an uproar last year over the fate of 186 semi-retired research chimps that the NIH, to save money, planned to move from a New Mexico facility to an active research lab in Texas.

Where and how to house those animals ? and others scattered around the country who probably no longer will be needed ? are among the issues that Collins said a government working group will decide as it determines how to implement the new research restrictions.

The Institute of Medicine's recommendation on Thursday stopped short of the outright ban that animal rights activists had pushed. Instead, it urged strict limits on biomedical research ? testing new drugs or giving animals a disease ? that would allow using chimps only if studies could not be done on other animals or people themselves, and if foregoing the chimp work would hinder progress against life-threatening or debilitating conditions.

The panel advised the government to limit use of chimps in behavioral and genetic research as well, saying such studies must provide insights that otherwise are unattainable ? and use techniques that minimize any pain or distress.

"We understand and feel compelled by the moral cost of using chimpanzees in research," said bioethicist Jeffrey Kahn of Johns Hopkins University, who chaired the Institute of Medicine panel. "We have established criteria that will set the bar quite high for justification of the use of chimpanzees."

The U.S. is one of only two countries known to still conduct medical research with chimpanzees; the other is Gabon, in Africa. The European Union essentially banned such research last year.

Here, too, the practice was becoming uncommon. The Institute of Medicine's investigation found over the past 10 years, the NIH has paid for just 110 projects of any type that involved chimps. There are not quite 1,000 chimps available for medical research in the country.

While it's impossible to say how many have been used in privately funded pharmaceutical research, the industry is shifting to higher-tech and less costly research methods. One drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, adopted an official policy ending its use of great apes, including chimpanzees, in research.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_sc/us_med_chimp_research

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Pet Walk Cages Regarding Rodents, These animals along with ...

You may be questioning just what surprise Santa can bring the kids this coming year. This may be an ideal chance to introduce your child on the wonders of family pet ownership. For most children the hamster, rat or even computer mouse button bakes an best very first family pet. They are all to easy to look after, could be kept inside your home inside child?s master bedroom, and they make a great introduction to family pet ownership, giving young children lots of joy while training them in regards to the duty of caring for their unique family pet.rfa-67 battery There are a few great tiny family pet hutches and nice packages available, starting from tiny start-up packages for you to custom pet mansions. Some could be widened by adding much more factors for connecting as much as one more crate inside line, allowing complete versatility to complete several home improvements on your family pet construction as your spending budget allows. My favourite hutches pertaining to rodents and these animals belong to the Animal Piste line. They?re brilliantly colored, way-out hutches, produced from anti-microbial moulded plastic material, that can come in a wide range of zooty designs. They are available fitted with enjoyable components, and other things can be acquired to enhance the crate anytime. Allows take a look at a few of the choices in this array.

Animal Piste Impress

The Animal Piste Impress is good for the discerning glitterati pet, and it is a fantastic choice pertaining to little girls. This particular spectacular purple glitter crate offers bling-bling for your pet. The crate is nicely ventilated, with a serious bottom part plate to hold family pet litter and stop spillage. The principle attribute could be the easily-removed orbiting controls, which sparkles because it transforms : a real eye-catcher without a doubt. The crate will come fitted with plastic material ascending pipes, along with a tube leading up to the petting area. Although an extremely snazzy crate, but that it?s not too functional when it comes to washing : however splendor comes with a price where there are a handful of which could find video tiny discomfort contemplating it?s classy good looks.

Animal Piste By

The Animal Piste By comes with a fun-filled exercise center for your pet. The impressive mix of purple moulded plastic material together with green components can make video way-out crate suitable for equally youngsters : in addition to their critters of course. It has a spin out of control staircase/slide ultimately causing a good exterior glow-in-the-dark exercising controls, which moves on it?s axis because it revolves : very cool. An additional attribute on this crate could be the extractable petting area, which also comes in handy for you to contain your hamster when you are washing his / her crate. The controls could be a little bit noisy when the hamster requires his / her food or even bed linens involved with it, so that it is shake and hum, however it is a very common problem with sealed controls components, this means you will be fixed by subtracting that separate to get a excellent get rid of.

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Source: http://smoglives.com/2011/12/pet-walk-cages-regarding-rodents-these-animals-along-with-other-small-pets/

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Nick Swardson and TJ Miller Are Going to Hell & Back

EXCLUSIVE: Nick Swardson and TJ Miller have been cast in ShadowMachine?s R-rated stop-motion animated Hell & Back, a comedy about two best friends who must rescue their pal when he is accidentally dragged to hell. The film is set to begin shooting in January with Tommy Gianas (Tenacious D) and Ross Shuman directing; ShadowMachine principals Alexander Bulkley and Corey Campodonico are producing. The company has been ramping up its feature activity after success with Robot Chicken and Morel Orel on Adult Swim. Swardson, a stand-up comic and writer whose most recent acting credit is 30 Minutes Or Less and who also starred in Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star, is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment. Miller, a fellow stand-up, recently landed a lead in Fox?s comedy pilot Little Brother. He is repped by WME and 3 Arts.

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Retail sales rise for sixth straight month (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Americans spent more on autos, furniture and clothing at the start of the crucial holiday shopping season, boosting retail sales for a sixth straight month.

Retail sales rose 0.2 percent in November, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That's lower than October's gain, which was revised higher to show a 0.6 percent increase. Still, more spending on retail goods shows the economy continues to grow at a slow but steady pace.

Consumers appeared to make more big purchases in November. They spent more on electronics, appliances and autos. So-called core sales, which exclude autos, gasoline and building materials, rose for the 11th straight month.

Meanwhile, sales fell at grocery stores, building supply stores and restaurants.

"People decided to go to the store and do their shopping rather than to the restaurant," Jonathan Basile, an economist at Credit Suisse.

The report is the government's first read on monthly consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

A rebound in consumer spending helped revive the economy this summer after it slumped in the spring. Economists expect consumers have helped boost growth even further in the final three months of the year.

Paul Dales, a senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the modest retail sales gain last month should come as a surprise. He notes that the larger spending increases over the summer came after consumers dipped into their savings to make up for smaller gains in their income.

"November's modest rise could therefore be the start of a period in which households start to spend more within their means," Dales said.

Still, Americans spent $52.4 billion over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. The record amount was spurred by deep discounts and early store openings.

Sales for 21 chain stores rose last month, the International Council of Shopping Centers said.

Online holiday sales are also growing, although they are expected to peak this week. Many shoppers tend to complete orders by mid-month to allow time for presents to be shipped.

Merchants can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue during the holiday shopping season, which includes November and December.

Automakers have also reported strong sales for November. Chrysler, Ford, Nissan and Hyundai reported double-digit sales gains. November is usually a lackluster month for auto sales because of cold weather. But automakers offered steep discounts and many consumers can't wait any longer to replace their aging vehicles.

Auto sales have rebounded from the spring, when the Japan earthquake and tsunami slowed supply chains and limited production at U.S. plants.

Consumers are spending more after cutting back earlier this year in the face of higher food and gas prices. That's a key reason economists forecast that growth should pick up to about 3 percent in the fourth quarter, which would be the fastest pace in 18 months.

More demand has helped boost hiring. Employers added a net total of 120,000 jobs last month. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row ? the first time that has happened since April 2006.

Still, many economists question how long consumers can continue increasing their spending without more jobs and higher pay. Unemployment remains high, and inflation-adjusted incomes shrank in the July-September quarter.

Consumers might also have to cut back on spending if Congress doesn't extend a Social Security tax cut or emergency federal unemployment benefits. Both expire at the end of this year. The Social Security tax this year boosted take-home pay for the average family by $1,000.

Economists also fear that Europe's debt crisis could worsen and plunge the region into a recession. That could slow demand for U.S. exports, tighten lending and make it harder for U.S. businesses to expand.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111213/ap_on_bi_ge/us_retail_sales

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U.S., China move to stop smuggling of nuclear materials (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? The United States and China launched a radiation detection system at a Shanghai port on Wednesday, part of a global effort to halt smuggling of nuclear materials that can be used in bombs.

The equipment, installed in Yangshan, will be able to detect nuclear and other radioactive materials in cargo containers, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said in a statement.

"This port demonstrates in a real, significant, symbolic way as well, the commitment of the Chinese government to detecting nuclear material and combating nuclear terrorism," Thomas D'Agostino, administrator of NNSA said in a speech in Shanghai.

The device is part of the NNSA's Megaports Initiative, the goal of which is to equip more than 100 seaports with radiation detection equipment to scan about 50 percent of global shipping traffic by 2018.

So far, 34 ports have been installed with the equipment.

The United States and China have a complicated relationship when it comes to nuclear arms proliferation.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran in the belief that its nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran insists the program is for peaceful nuclear energy purposes.

China's Foreign Ministry said last month it opposed unilateral sanctions against Iran after the United States, Britain and Canada said they would impose a new round of sanctions to halt its nuclear program.

Shanghai's main port became the world's busiest container port last year, handling more than 29 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2010.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111207/wl_nm/us_china_us_nuclear

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RIM loses BBX trademark battle, next OS is named BlackBerry 10

Die-hard fans of RIM's mobile efforts should put those BBX tattoo plans on hold, as the US Federal Court has blocked the company from using the BBX trademark, favoring the existing use by BASIS International for its software. As a result, the boys from Waterloo just announced at BlackBerry DevCon Asia that the new name for its next phone OS is BlackBerry 10 (and the Roman numeral for 10 is... ah, we see what you did there.) Let's hope RIM's plans for pulling its tablets and phones into a single unified platform are better executed than its naming process -- next time, they should probably just leave it up to the machines.

Continue reading RIM loses BBX trademark battle, next OS is named BlackBerry 10

RIM loses BBX trademark battle, next OS is named BlackBerry 10 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/06/rim-loses-bbx-trademark-battle-next-os-is-named-blackberry-10/

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The rise and fall of Herman Cain: 6 lessons (The Week)

New York ? The Cain Train finally and officially screeches to a stop. What can we learn from this strange, wild ride?

Businessman and former GOP presidential frontrunner Herman Cain made it official on Saturday: He's indefinitely?"suspending" his campaign, blaming "the continued distraction" and "the continued hurt to me and my family" stemming from multiple accusations of sexual impropriety. Cain's poll numbers started dropping in recent weeks after sexual harassment and extramarital affair allegations surfaced, and his campaign fumbled the response. What can we learn from citizen Cain's unlikely rise and fall? Here, six lessons:

1. Presidential campaigns are no place for amateurs
Conservatives actually stuck with Cain for weeks after the sex scandals broke, says David Weigel at?Slate. But things fell apart when Cain's "epic mishandling" of the allegations shifted attention to his inept campaign. It didn't help that Cain kept demonstrating his apparent ignorance of foreign and economic policy, causing his novelty candidacy to stop being "amusing or useful to the members of his party." Cain wanted to sell books, not win the nomination, an unidentified GOP strategist?tells The Washington Post. "Then something great and awful happened, the dog caught the car. And of course, dogs don't know how to drive cars."

SEE MORE: Time for Herman Cain to take a lie detector test?

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2. The GOP wants a positive message
While Cain's rivals had even "upright, bill-paying, hand-wringing Tea Partiers... bored silly" with dour talk about budget-cutting and Washington stalemate,?Cain rose to the top by offering an "upbeat vision for the country,"?says Kimberley Strassel in The Wall Street Journal. For all its faults, Cain's 9-9-9 economic plan showed that Republicans need to do more than criticize President Obama's policies. Cain's out, but his message to the remaining candidates is clear: "Voters are aching for this kind of enthusiasm."

3. GOP voters don't really want an outsider
"For all the talk about how much the Tea Party-infused Republican Party of 2011 wants a leader from beyond the political establishment," says Jonathan Martin at?Politico, Cain's spectacular rise and demise proves that "outsider status isn't sufficient by itself to overcome deeper flaws." Republican voters have made it clear that what they value most is still baseline competence and "a candidate who could stand toe-to-toe with Obama, let alone be commander-in-chief." Cain didn't pass muster, and he won't be the last.

SEE MORE: The Cain campaign's 'blatant lie': Time to fire Mark Block?

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4. It's awfully tough to escape a juicy sex scandal
Cain's lack of policy chops hurt his campaign, but sex did him in, says Marc Caputo at?The Miami Herald. "Regardless of a candidate's persona or message, a sex scandal for which there's documentation is media catnip," and no candidate with sexual harassment settlements or incriminating phone records is safe in this age of 24-hour "cable-news networks, blogs, Twitter, and YouTube." Like it or not, "nothing's private in presidential politics," and alleged sexual impropriety will get you busted faster than anything else.

5. Candidates can succeed by keeping it simple
"Viewed at the highest possible altitude, what Cain's candidacy proved was the power ? and limits ? of simplicity and unconventionality in the Republican contest,"?says Chris Cillizza at?The Washington Post. His lasting legacy is going to be his 9-9-9 plan, especially "the sentiment of simplicity behind it." Here was a bold, clear, and different policy that voters could grasp and rally behind, and it surely influenced Rick Perry's embrace of a modified flat tax and Mitt Romney's cut-and-cap economic plan.

SEE MORE: Who benefits if Herman Cain drops out?

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6. Republicans should be wary of "baggage"
Cain's effectiveness ended with the sex allegations, says John Hinderaker at?PowerLine. And it's good for the GOP that he dropped out. Democrats are desperate to shift focus from the terrible economy to any "GOP candidate and his or her alleged foibles." Fair or not, the "moral of the Herman Cain story" is that if Republicans nominate "a candidate with baggage that permits the Democrats to turn him into the next Herman Cain, it is all too likely that President Obama will be re-elected."

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111205/cm_theweek/222115

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Rare Leopard Photographed in Remote Afghan Mountains (LiveScience.com)

Camera traps positioned in the rocky terrain of Afghanistan's central highlands by conservationists recently snapped a surprising photograph of a Persian leopard, a top predator that was long thought to have disappeared from the region.

In a series of images that provides indisputable proof that the big cat persists in the country?s interior, a big adult leopard can be seen prowling around the camera trap?s field of view and investigating the camera itself, appearing to threaten it with canines exposed.

Camera traps can be key resources in evaluating rare species, particularly in remote areas that are hard for conservationists to maintain a presence in.

The cameras also snapped images of other wildlife, including lynx, wild cat, wolf, red fox, and stone marten, showing that many of these predators can find enough prey to survive in the Hindu Kush highlands, where Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists and Afghan rangers have been conducting surveys in recent months. [See the camera trap images .]

The indicators that sufficient prey is present "means that the rangelands can still support ibex, urial, and other species, which is a good sign for both wildlife and the people of this region who also depend on these grasslands for grazing," said Ghani Ghuriani, Afghanistan's Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.

"To see such a varied array of wildlife after we have endured so much conflict gives us hope for Afghanistan?s future," said Mostapha Zaher, Director General of Afghanistan?s National Environmental Protection Agency.

It was not all good news caught by the cameras, however.

"We are thrilled by these images and the story of survival that they tell, but we were sobered by the fact that the cameras also took photographs of local people walking past with guns. Poaching is still a very real threat, and WCS is committed to helping the Afghan government and local communities protect these rare and beautiful animals," said the deputy director of WCS's Asia program, Peter Zahler.

The WCS and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have been aiding the government of Afghanistan in launching initiatives to safeguard wildlife and the lands they depend on. As part of this effort, the country's first and only national park, Band-e-Amir, was created in 2009.

The country has also created its first-ever list of protected species, which prohibits hunting of snow leopards, brown bears and other species.

This story was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to LiveScience.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111205/sc_livescience/rareleopardphotographedinremoteafghanmountains

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Find the Cheapest SR22 Insurance Quotes | lavoixdusenegal.com

If you are looking for the cheapest Sr22 Insurance Quotes, it would be helpful if you will visit five to ten insurance networks and decide which one can give you the most cost-effective service. With the emergence of a lot of drivers these days without a regular car insurance coverage, sr22 insurance companies have been sprouting like mushrooms in the vicinity. Different sr22 insurance coverage offers different types of services, so one has to pay close attention to the type of insurance coverage he or she is getting to acquire more financial protection. It would be helpful if one contacts an insurance broker rather than an agent. A broker is an independent dealer that is usually connected to multiple insurance networks; therefore, he or she is knowledgeable about the different insurance quotes of different insurance companies. On the other hand, the insurance agent is only connected to a single company; thus, his or her knowledge is only limited to the insurance quotes provided by his or her company.

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Source: http://www.lavoixdusenegal.com/find-the-cheapest-sr22-insurance-quotes/163/

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Mexico drug war refugees escape to more bloodshed (AP)

VERACRUZ, Mexico ? Rafael Echevarria had a steady factory job, a modest home of his own, and enough cash to occasionally take his family to McDonald's. It was a good life until the drug war hit Ciudad Juarez, followed by two robberies at his house, extortion at his daughter's school, and finally, the shootout on the bus.

When the firing began, 6-year-old Valeria dove to the floor, breaking a tooth. There was so much blood from her mouth wound, her parents thought she'd been shot.

The next day, the couple and their two children boarded a flight back home to Veracruz, along with 1,600 others who had once moved north for work in foreign assembly plants and now were fleeing south in search of safety. The Veracruz state government paid for the flights, and assured the drug war refugees that there would be jobs, education and housing.

At the time, it seemed to the Echevarrias like the only solution.

Then the drug war followed them home.

Military offensives against the drug cartels and turf battles among crime syndicates have pushed the war into areas once considered quiet. A year after their hopeful flight, the Echevarrias are not only caught anew in a crush of violence, but still without the promised help.

In Juarez, the Echevarrias had a house and a van. In Veracruz, they've had to pawn their appliances and move to a concrete hut to make ends meet. The trade of solvency for safety was a fake choice, because in Juarez, Echevarria said, "We would have been living well.

"Now we're in a hole. And it's very difficult to get out."

The Echevarrias are among thousands of Mexicans who make up the internal diaspora trying to escape drug violence that seems to migrate rather than cease, with more than 45,000 troops fighting cartels and more than 40,000 dead by many counts.

Recent survey results by Parametria found that 1.6 million Mexicans have moved because of drug violence since 2006. One study by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre put the number at 230,000 in 2010, estimating that half fled to the United States.

Another study, by demographer Rodolfo Rubio at Colegio de la Frontera Norte, says 200,000 people left Juarez alone for other Mexican cities between 2007 and 2010.

Many of the affected are working class or poor who can't leave the country.

"People who have status or small medium-sized businesses don't have a problem going to the U.S.," said Genoveva Roldan, a migration expert at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez. "That's not the case for workers in the maquiladoras. They don't have that option."

Veracruz is a steamy, tropical mountain state that cultivates sugar cane and coffee. Curling along the lower dip of Mexico's Gulf coast, it is known for its scenic beauty, rich farmlands and busy port, one of Mexico's largest. But it was the lack of opportunity there that drove thousands of Veracruzanos northward beginning in the 1990s, when border factories started recruiting assembly workers with above-average wages and benefits.

Echevarria had grown up poor and left school in the ninth grade to help his father support the family. He joined the navy for a while, he says, and later became a taxi driver. But it wasn't enough to pay the bills.

In 2004, he and his wife, Alejandra Duran, decided they could build a better life in Ciudad Juarez for their two younger children.

There, Echevarria and his son, Cristian, found jobs working in the assembly plants that largely produce goods exported to the U.S. Cristian rose to quality control inspector in a factory that made printer cartridges. Together the two made about 14,000 pesos a month, nearly triple Mexico's average salary.

They bought a three-bedroom house on the southeastern outskirts of town, as well as a van.

"Juarez was a land that helped people," Duran said.

By 2008, the drug wars shattered the peace. Two rival cartels ? Juarez and Sinaloa ? began fighting for control of the lucrative smuggling corridor to the U.S. The annual murder rate nearly doubled from 1,600 in 2008 to 3,100 in 2010.

President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of soldiers to curb drug violence, and later federal police to patrol the streets and lead counterattacks.

Nonetheless, the Echevarria house was robbed twice. An uncle was attacked by a group of men trying to steal his car.

Then came the extortion. Valeria's teacher told the Echevarrias that gang members were asking for a weekly fee from the school.

It was hard to sleep, Echevarria said.

In early 2010, word got around that the Veracruz government was offering to evacuate the refugees and help them resettle.

The day after the bus shooting, the Echevarrias abandoned their house and left with a washing machine, a set of saucepans, a dining table, Valeria's dresser and her Disney princess chairs.

Once back in Veracruz, Cristian Echevarria got a job as a cashier in a convenience store, while his father decided to get a taxi driver's permit.

Valeria had stopped talking after the trauma of the bus shooting, instead spending her time drawing pictures of corpses in the graves that were found around their Juarez neighborhood. But she seemed to improve after enrolling in school.

Then-Gov. Fidel Herrera's administration also promised to transfer the title of Echevarrias' home in Juarez to a government-subsidized house in Veracruz.

That never happened. The phones to the offices set up to help the returning residents stopped working. A new governor, Javier Duarte, took office last December. Gina Dominguez, Duarte's spokeswoman, said the "social agenda" was going in a different direction.

"It was a good program on paper," she said. "But obviously the execution wasn't simple because it had to provide for everyone."

Herrera did not respond to requests for an interview.

Echevarria couldn't get help paying the 6,000 pesos for his taxi license plates.

Veracruz had long been a route for drugs and migrants coming from the south. For years it was dominated by the Gulf cartel, which had contracted with a gang of former army special forces ? the Zetas. Because the state and the port were controlled by one drug gang, it was quiet.

In early 2010 the Zetas split from the Gulf cartel, triggering a vicious war in the border state of Tamaulipas, just north of Veracruz. This year a government offensive to stop that drug war spilled the violence into Veracruz.

The bloodshed worsened in the last few months, when a third cartel thought to be aligned with Mexico's most-wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, moved into Veracruz to try to take over drug operations.

The results of the cartel wars became visible to commuters in September, when a group of masked men stopped rush-hour traffic to dump 35 strangled bodies onto a main thoroughfare. Banners left at the scene claimed the dead were Zetas, though official reports have questioned their link to the drug gang. The victims included bricklayers, former police officers and a taxi driver.

The Echevarrias found themselves in a situation worse than the one they'd fled.

They had moved to a slum of concrete-block housing outside Veracruz to save 500 pesos a month in rent.

During a recent visit, Rafael came home looking pale, walked straight to the bathroom, and threw up.

"He has high blood sugar," said his wife. "He's under a lot of pressure because these are the worst years we've ever had."

The Echevarrias explained that they pawned their refrigerator and stove to pay for the taxi license plates, only to discover that driving a cab was no longer safe.

"They've kidnapped 10 taxi drivers. They asked me to sell drugs," Rafael said. "Yes, I'm scared. I need to provide for my family."

The Echevarrias now make far less than the average wage of $250 pesos a day, about $19.

Alejandra uncovered a saucepan filled with red rice. A loaf of bread sat on a plate. There was no milk. In a big black bag, they'd save plastic bottles collected from the streets to sell for 5 pesos a kilo.

Valeria, now 8, scratched at a rash on her neck. "I don't like it here," she said.

The family is ducking bullets again, but this time in their home.

Cristian said more than 20 men dressed as marines arrived a few weeks ago to their neighborhood, rifles in hand. Valeria heard the shots. Cristian pulled her into an inside room where the family waited.

In a separate attack, Cristian said, four of his childhood friends were killed and three others kidnapped.

The move to Veracruz was a mistake, he said.

When Cristian finishes high school in June, he will move back to their Juarez house and look for work. If he is successful, the rest of the family will join him.

The homicides there have dropped from 2,657 in the first 10 months of 2010 to 1,730 in 2011. They continue to fall.

Valeria doesn't remember the time when she wouldn't talk and only communicated with drawings, when she was a chipped-tooth girl who barely smiled.

But she has returned to drawing, this time a man dressed in a military uniform pointing a gun at another man with a pink spot on his belly. Three passers-by scream, "He's going to shoot!"

She titled it, "The governor saves the people."

_____________

Adriana Gomez Licon is a Mexico correspondent for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/agomezlicon

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico_refugees

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Nicolas Cage's 'Action Comics' No. 1 Sells for $2.1 Million

Superman's debut sets record for comic sale.
By Gil Kaufman

Nicolas Cage at the "Kick-Ass" premiere
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

It's a good thing Nicolas Cage was able to get his rare copy of "Action Comics" No. 1 back in April after it was stolen from his house in 2000. Because in an online auction on Wednesday, the most sought-after comic in history sold for a , after 50 people bid in an online auction on the June 1938 book in which Superman makes his debut.

Cage's copy (though the identity of the owner has not been disclosed, many believe it still belongs to the actor), one of only 100 believed to remain in existence, was graded at 9.0 before the auction, making it the best condition of an Action #1 that has ever been graded by the leading comic book grading company, Certified Guaranty Company. Shattering the previous $1.5 million record for a less-well preserved copy of "Action Comics" No.1 sold last March, Cage's comic became the most expensive to ever sell at auction
, when it went for $2,161,000.

And it almost didn't happen. Cage's comic was stolen from his house in 2000 and then recovered by Los Angeles police when an unidentified man bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker in the San Fernando Valley. Cage reported it stolen on January 21, 2000, after noticing that it, along with two other rare comics, had been stolen from security frames mounted on the wall of his Los Angeles home.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, experts believe that only five other No. 1's with quality near Cage's exist and all are in private hands. Cage bought his copy at auction in 1997 for around $150,000.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1675197/nicolas-cage-action-comics-sale.jhtml

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In Which I Find Myself In Total (and Gobsmacked) Agreement With Jeffrey Goldberg (Balloon Juice)

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