Fifty-two thousand dollars could, among other things, buy you NFL season tickets for nearly 67 years and groceries for seven years, and make for a hefty down payment on a house. So Republicans argue in a new infographic released by Speaker John Boehner's office on Wednesday morning, part of their effort to highlight Democratic spending amid the growing national debt.
According to the chart, if the $16 trillion national debt were divided among every man, woman and child, each person would receive $52,000?an amount Republicans are highlighting on Wednesday, the 1,400th day since the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a budget.
President Barack Obama has been publicly pressuring House Republicans to raise taxes on the nation's wealthiest and some corporations as part of a budget deal. In the absence of a budget passed by Congress, federal agencies will face a sequester?across-the-board spending cuts?March 1.
Republicans issued a statement along with Wednesday's graphic calling on Democrats to do their part to avoid the sequester.
"Republicans voted twice to replace the president?s sequester with smarter spending cuts and reforms. And?for the third year in a row?the House will pass a budget that promotes economic growth and addresses our debt crisis. Now we need Senate Democrats and President Obama to do the same," Republicans state on Boehner's website.
Republicans will be using the hashtags #1400days and #NoDemBudget on Twitter on Wednesday to promote their message.
Nut-cracking monkeys don't just use tools. They use tools with skill.
That's the conclusion of a new study that finds similar tool-use strategies between humans and Brazil's bearded capuchin monkeys, which use rocks to smash nuts for snacks. Both monkeys and humans given the nut-smashing task take the time to place the nuts in their most stable position on a stone "anvil," the study found, keeping the tasty morsels from rolling away.
That means the monkeys are able to not only use tools, but to use them with finesse. This ability may be a precursor to humans' ability to adapt tools to different circumstances and to use them smoothly under varying conditions.
"Any one individual can accomodate stones of different sizes, anvils of different angles and material and nuts of different shapes and sizes," said study leader Dorothy Fragaszy, a primate researcher at the University of Georgia, adding, "In fact, some of these nuts people can't crack."
Nut-crackers
Bearded capuchin monkeys were the first non-ape primates to be discovered using tools in the wild. They crack tough nuts by placing them on pitted stone anvils and then hitting them hard with other large rocks. [8 Humanlike Behaviors of Primates]
"They are slamming [the rock] on that nut," Fragaszy told LiveScience. "It's very impressive when you see it."
Fragaszy and her colleagues wanted to get a better idea of how skilled capuchins are at nut-cracking. In particular, they noticed the monkeys have an odd habit of tapping the nuts multiple times against the stone pits before putting them down. Perhaps, they thought, the tapping was a way to tell how stable the nut might be.
To find out, the researchers brought palm nuts to a population of capuchin monkeys in Fazenda Boa Vista in Brazil. The monkeys are wild, but habituated to human presence. Ten of the monkeys "volunteered" for the study by gathering the nuts and cracking them with stones as big as their heads as the researchers videotaped.
Before handing over the nuts, however, the scientists rolled them along the floor to find their flat sides, which they marked with a line. They also marked the other axis of the nut with color-coded pens so they could identify how the monkeys placed the nuts in the video.
Savvy tool use
The results revealed that the monkeys consistently placed the nuts in the most stable position. Out of 302 nut-cracking attempts, 253 started with the line marking the nut's stable axis facing up. Monkeys varied only slightly in their ability to ideally place the nut, doing so between 71 percent and 94 percent of the time depending on the individual. [See Video of the Monkey Attempts]
Next, the researchers ran an identical test with humans. Seven male and seven female volunteers were given nuts and told to crack them with stones, just as the capuchin monkeys do. The humans were blindfolded during the task, because the researchers suspected that the monkeys could place the nuts by feel and wanted to find out if humans could, too.
On average, the humans also placed the nuts in the most stable position, doing so on about 71 percent of tries. Unlike capuchins, however, they didn't knock the nuts against the stone very frequently. Instead, humans tended to roll the nuts around in their hands, feeling their shape. Humans have much larger hands than bearded capuchins, the researchers wrote today (Feb. 27) in the journal PLOS ONE, which could explain the different strategies.
The results suggest that humans and monkeys share the ability to use tools skillfully, with minimal effort for maximum effect, the researchers wrote.
"It's skill in the way that we use that word to talk about human skills," Fragaszy said. "It's a goal-directed activity. It's done fluidly. It's done flexibly."
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas?or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook?& Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks to Syrian opposition coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib, during an international conference on Syria at Villa Madama, Rome, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. The United States is looking for more tangible ways to support Syria's rebels and bolster a fledgling political movement that is struggling to deliver basic services after nearly two years of civil war, Kerry said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks to Syrian opposition coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib, during an international conference on Syria at Villa Madama, Rome, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. The United States is looking for more tangible ways to support Syria's rebels and bolster a fledgling political movement that is struggling to deliver basic services after nearly two years of civil war, Kerry said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, sits between Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, right, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague during meetings at Villa Madama in Rome on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Rome is the fourth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip, a hectic nine-day dash through Europe and the Middle East. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Syrian National Coalition President Mouaz al-Khatib, second from left, arrives for meetings at Villa Madama in Rome on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
ROME (AP) ? The Obama administration said Thursday that it will provide the Syrian opposition with an additional $60 million in assistance and ? in a significant policy shift ? will for the first time provide nonlethal aid like food and medical supplies directly to rebels battling to oust President Bashar Assad.
The move was announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at an international conference on Syria in Rome, and several European nations are expected in the coming days to take similar steps in working with the military wing of the opposition in order to ramp up pressure on Assad to step down and pave the way for a democratic transition.
"We do this because we need to stand on the side of those in this fight who want to see Syria rise again and see democracy and human rights," Kerry said. "The stakes are really high, and we can't risk letting this country in the heart of the Middle East being destroyed by vicious autocrats or hijacked by the extremists."
"No nation, no people should live in fear of their so-called leaders," he said, adding that President Barack Obama's "decision to take further steps now is the result of the brutality of superior armed force propped up by foreign fighters from Iran and Hezbollah."
Kerry and senior officials from 11 countries most active in calling for Assad to leave said in a joint statement released by the Italian foreign ministry that they had agreed in Rome on "the need to change the balance of power on the ground." It said the countries represented "will coordinate their efforts closely so as to best empower the Syrian people and support the Supreme Military Command of the Free Syrian Army in its efforts to help them exercise self-defense."
Britain and France, two countries that Kerry visited before Italy on his first official trip as secretary of state, have signaled that they want to begin supplying the rebels with defensive military equipment such as combat body armor, armored vehicles, night vision goggles and training. They are expected to make decisions on those items in the near future in line with new guidance from the European Union, which still bars the provision of weapons and ammunition to anyone in Syria.
"We must go above and beyond the efforts we are making now," said Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, who hosted the conference. "We can no longer allow this massacre to continue."
Appearing beside Terzi and Kerry, the leader of the Syrian opposition coalition, Mouaz al-Khatib, delivered a forceful and emotional demand for Assad to stop the brutality of his forces that have in recent days launched scud missile attacks on the city of Aleppo that have been roundly condemned by much of the Western and Arab worlds
"Bashar Assad, for once in your life, behave as a human being," Khatib said. "Bashar Assad, you have to make at least one wise decision in your life for the future of your country."
The opposition has been appealing for some time for the international community to boost its support and to provide its military wing with lethal assistance, and while al-Khatib did not mention those requests, he pointedly made no reference to the new assistance that Kerry announced. Instead, he urged outside nations to support the creation of protected humanitarian corridors inside Syria, which the foreign ministers said they had "positively considered" by made no decisions.
Kerry defended the limited U.S. assistance, saying it was just part of what was being offered and that other countries would fill in any gaps. He said he was confident that the "totality" of the aid should be enough to prod Assad to start changing his calculations on remaining in power.
"We're doing this, but other countries are doing other things," he replied, without going into specifics. "I am confident the totality of this effort is going to have an impact on the ability of the Syrian opposition to accomplish its goals." Kerry said Thursday's meeting in Rome marked the "beginning of a process that will in fact change his (Assad's) calculation."
Washington has already provided $385 million in humanitarian aid to Syria's war-weary population and $54 million in communications equipment, medical supplies and other nonlethal assistance to Syria's political opposition. The U.S. also has screened rebel groups for Turkey and American allies in the Arab world that have armed rebel fighters.
But until now, no U.S. dollars or provisions have gone directly to rebel fighters, reflecting concerns about forces that have allied themselves with more radical Islamic elements since Assad's initial crackdown on peaceful protesters in March 2011.
The $60 million in new aid to the political opposition is intended to help the opposition govern newly liberated areas of Syria by aiding in the delivery of services and improving rule of law and human rights as well as to blunt the influence of extremists who have made inroads in some places.
The rations and medical supplies for the fighters will be delivered to the military council for distribution only to carefully vetted members of the Free Syrian Army, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. will be sending technical advisers to the Syrian National Coalition offices in Cairo to oversee and help them spend the money for good governance and rule of law. The advisers will be from non-governmental organizations and other groups that do this kind of work.
The foreign ministers' presentation was disrupted by one protester who called on them to "stop supporting terrorists."
Police can be seen at the site of a Wednesday shooting in Menznau, Switzerland. Three people, including the gunman, died in a shooting at factory during a morning break in the cafeteria, a witness told local newspaper Neue Luzerner Zeitung.
By Emma Thomasson, Reuters
Three people, including the suspected assailant, have been killed in a shooting at a factory near the Swiss city of Lucerne, police said on Wednesday.
Seven others were injured in the attack, which happened just after 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) at a wood-processing company in the town of Menznau, west of Lucerne, the police said in a statement.
Urs Flueeler / EPA
The motive for a Wednesday morning factory shooting in Switzerland was not immediately clear, police said.
Emergency services were at the scene and the area had been cordoned off. A news conference had been scheduled for the afternoon.
Last month, a gunman killed three women and injured two men in the Swiss village of Daillon, stirring a debate about Switzerland's firearm laws, which allow men to keep guns after their mandatory military service.
There is no national gun register, but some estimates indicate that at least one in every three of Switzerland's 8 million inhabitants keeps a gun, many stored at home. Citizens outside the military who are 18 and over can apply for a permit to purchase up to three weapons. Sharpshooting and hunting are popular sports here.
A shooting in the Zug regional parliament in 2001, in which 14 people were killed, prompted calls to tighten laws, but the majority of Swiss citizens rejected a proposal in 2011 for extra measures such as mandatory locked storage of guns not in use.
Related:
Three women killed after gunman's drunken rampage in Swiss village
This story was originally published on Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:41 AM EST
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Three years ago, trash collector Harold Walls lost his wallet, which held $800. Turns out, though, the wallet wasn't really lost?it was on vacation. And thanks to a good Samaritan, Walls finally has it back.
DelawareOnline.com has the full story. Walls had assumed he dropped his wallet while collecting trash one morning. He and his partner retraced their steps. Alas, no luck.
"I wrote it off, honestly," Walls told DelawareOnline.com of the wallet and money, which he'd planned to use to buy a TV. "Ain't no sense in harping about it or crying over spilled milk. Keep moving."
In 2012, the truck Walls and his partner used was retired by the city and sold at auction to a farmer up in Maine. The farmer took apart the bench seat in the truck's cab and, lo and behold, he found the long-missing wallet. The farmer mailed it back to Walls, cash included.
"I was real surprised it came back with everything. ... It happens to restore a lot of faith that there are still some good people out there," Walls said.
It also serves as a good reminder: If you're missing something, check underneath the cushions.
Contact: Layne Cameron layne.cameron@cabs.msu.edu 517-353-8819 Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. Fat worms confirm that researchers from Michigan State University have successfully engineered a plant with oily leaves -- a feat that could enhance biofuel production as well as lead to improved animal feeds.
The results, published in the current issue of The Plant Cell, the journal of the American Society of Plant Biologists, show that researchers could use an algae gene involved in oil production to engineer a plant that stores lipids or vegetable oil in its leaves an uncommon occurrence for most plants.
Traditional biofuel research has focused on improving the oil content of seeds. One reason for this focus is because oil production in seeds occurs naturally. Little research, however, has been done to examine the oil production of leaves and stems, as plants don't typically store lipids in these tissues.
Christoph Benning, MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, led a collaborative effort with colleagues from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. The team's efforts resulted in a significant early step toward producing better plants for biofuels.
"Many researchers are trying to enhance plants' energy density, and this is another way of approaching it," Benning said. "It's a proof-of-concept that could be used to boost plants' oil production for biofuel use as well as improve the nutrition levels of animal feed."
Benning and his colleagues began by identifying five genes from one-celled green algae. From the five, they identified one that, when inserted into Arabidopsis thaliana, successfully boosted oil levels in the plant's leaf tissue.
To confirm that the improved plants were more nutritious and contained more energy, the research team fed them to caterpillar larvae. The larvae that were fed oily leaves from the enhanced plants gained more weight than worms that ate regular leaves.
For the next phase of the research, Benning and his colleagues will work to enhance oil production in grasses and algae that have economic value. The benefits of this research are worth pursuing, Benning said.
"If oil can be extracted from leaves, stems and seeds, the potential energy capacity of plants may double," he said. "Further, if algae can be engineered to continuously produce high levels of oil, rather than only when they are under stress, they can become a viable alternative to traditional agricultural crops."
Moreover, algae can be grown on poor agricultural land a big plus in the food vs. fuel debate, he added.
"These basic research findings are significant in advancing the engineering of oil-producing plants," said Kenneth Keegstra, GLBRC scientific director and MSU University Distinguished Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. "They will help write a new chapter on the development of production schemes that will enhance the quantity, quality and profitability of both traditional and nontraditional crops."
###
Additional MSU researchers and GLBRC members contributing to the study include Gregg Howe, biochemistry and molecular biology professor; John Olhrogge, University Distinguished Professor of plant biology; and Gavin Reid, biochemistry and molecular biology associate professor.
Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
For MSU news on the Web, go to MSUToday. Follow MSU News on Twitter at twitter.com/MSUnews.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Layne Cameron layne.cameron@cabs.msu.edu 517-353-8819 Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. Fat worms confirm that researchers from Michigan State University have successfully engineered a plant with oily leaves -- a feat that could enhance biofuel production as well as lead to improved animal feeds.
The results, published in the current issue of The Plant Cell, the journal of the American Society of Plant Biologists, show that researchers could use an algae gene involved in oil production to engineer a plant that stores lipids or vegetable oil in its leaves an uncommon occurrence for most plants.
Traditional biofuel research has focused on improving the oil content of seeds. One reason for this focus is because oil production in seeds occurs naturally. Little research, however, has been done to examine the oil production of leaves and stems, as plants don't typically store lipids in these tissues.
Christoph Benning, MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, led a collaborative effort with colleagues from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. The team's efforts resulted in a significant early step toward producing better plants for biofuels.
"Many researchers are trying to enhance plants' energy density, and this is another way of approaching it," Benning said. "It's a proof-of-concept that could be used to boost plants' oil production for biofuel use as well as improve the nutrition levels of animal feed."
Benning and his colleagues began by identifying five genes from one-celled green algae. From the five, they identified one that, when inserted into Arabidopsis thaliana, successfully boosted oil levels in the plant's leaf tissue.
To confirm that the improved plants were more nutritious and contained more energy, the research team fed them to caterpillar larvae. The larvae that were fed oily leaves from the enhanced plants gained more weight than worms that ate regular leaves.
For the next phase of the research, Benning and his colleagues will work to enhance oil production in grasses and algae that have economic value. The benefits of this research are worth pursuing, Benning said.
"If oil can be extracted from leaves, stems and seeds, the potential energy capacity of plants may double," he said. "Further, if algae can be engineered to continuously produce high levels of oil, rather than only when they are under stress, they can become a viable alternative to traditional agricultural crops."
Moreover, algae can be grown on poor agricultural land a big plus in the food vs. fuel debate, he added.
"These basic research findings are significant in advancing the engineering of oil-producing plants," said Kenneth Keegstra, GLBRC scientific director and MSU University Distinguished Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. "They will help write a new chapter on the development of production schemes that will enhance the quantity, quality and profitability of both traditional and nontraditional crops."
###
Additional MSU researchers and GLBRC members contributing to the study include Gregg Howe, biochemistry and molecular biology professor; John Olhrogge, University Distinguished Professor of plant biology; and Gavin Reid, biochemistry and molecular biology associate professor.
Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
For MSU news on the Web, go to MSUToday. Follow MSU News on Twitter at twitter.com/MSUnews.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Lyle Denniston looks at the concept that judges or Congress should have some say in the process of using drone aircraft to target suspected terrorists.
The statements at issue:
?No American prosecutor can imprison or execute someone except on the orders of a judge or jury. That fundamental principle applies no less to the suspected terrorists that the executive branch chooses to kill overseas. ? A growing number of lawmakers and experts are beginning to recognize that some form of judicial review is necessary for these killings, usually by missiles fired from unmanned drones. ?Creating a court to approve targeted killings is the first step Mr. Obama can take if he is serious about bringing national security policy back under the rule of law.?
? The New York Times, in an editorial on February 14, titled ?A Court for Targeted Killings.?
?Some politicians, pundits and professors have suggested that ?kill lists,? drone strikes and targeting protocols be submitted for ?independent judicial review??essentially, that federal judges ought to be assigned the task of monitoring, mediating and approving the killer instincts of our government. This is a very bad idea.
? Retired U.S. District Judge James Robertson, of Washington, D.C., in an op-ed column in The Washington Post on February 17, titled ?The wrong venue for drone review.?
?The drone court idea is a mistake. It is hard to think of something less suitable for a federal judge to rule on than the fast-moving and protean nature of targeting decisions. ? Putting aside the serious constitutional implications of such a proposal, courts are simply not institutionally equipped to play such a role.?
? Neal K. Katyal, Washington attorney and former Acting U.S. Solicitor General, in an op-ed column in The New York Times on February 20, titled ?Who Will Mind the Drones??
We checked the Constitution, and?
checkFrom the time of the Constitutional Convention until now, the separation of powers lodged in the national government was understood to be essential to Americans? liberty. James Madison went so far as to suggest, in Federalist No. 47, that ?the accumulation of all powers ? in the same hands ? may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.?
Of course, the three branches are not sealed off entirely from each other, but there are some core functions of each that cannot be shared. No matter how eagerly some policymakers want to put some legal restraints on the Obama administration?s policy of targeted killing by drones in waging war on terrorism, it is a near-certainty that the idea of handing to a civilian court the power to decide who could be killed, and when, would not withstand constitutional scrutiny.
It would turn judges into functioning adjuncts to the president?s ?war cabinet,? and give them a veto power over a policy that, however audacious or questionable, is still a part of the process of waging war.
Courts can judge the constitutionality of some exercises of war powers, when someone claiming to have been wronged can bring a lawsuit, but that is judicial, not military, work. The Supreme Court, for example, overturned President Harry Truman?s seizure of the nation?s steel mills in 1952 in the midst of the Korean War, because the steel industry went to the judicial branch with a constitutional grievance.
And the Supreme Court, during the war on terrorism, ruled in 2008 that Guantanamo Bay detainees have a constitutional right to challenge in a regular civilian court their prolonged confinement?in a case filed by detainees through their American lawyers.
One of the reasons that the Supreme Court can exercise that kind of power is that it has remained detached from the waging of war, and it can exercise an independent judgment over the constitutional dimensions of war.
Some say that setting up a drone court would be no different from giving judges the power to approve search warrants, or the power to judge life-or-death issues raised in capital punishment cases. But those, again, are judicial functions, carried out in the context of genuine legal ?cases or controversies,? in constitutional terms.
Imagine what would have happened in 1945, when the U.S. government chose to use atomic bombs as way to try to bring an end to the war against Japan, if the B-29 bomber, Enola Gay, could not be dispatched until an ?atomic bomb court? signed off on the flight plans and the target. That would have been a constitutional anomaly, indeed.
About Constitution Check
In a continuing series of posts, Lyle Denniston provides responses based on the Constitution and its history to public statements about its meaning and what duties it imposes or rights it protects.
The administration?s drone policy has produced a yearning among some, perhaps many, for some independent review of the use of the power to call for the execution of an individual, even an American citizen, when suspected of being a terrorist threat. In an internal administration ?white paper? that was leaked to the media recently, the Justice Department strongly resisted any form of judicial review, and that was hardly surprising.
Under the Constitution, if there is to be some oversight of the use of drones, and especially of the choice of individuals to be killed by such methods, that has to be done by Congress?another branch that is politically accountable. Congress would have the option (and this was an alternative suggestion by attorney Neal Katyal in his column in The Times) of creating a quasi-independent review panel within the executive branch, to function rather like the ?inspector generals? do within executive agencies.
It is sometimes too easy, when a problem of governance newly arises, to forget the Madisonian view that concentration of government power is constitutionally dangerous. If there is a problem of accountability and transparency with the current targeted killing program, the answer lies with the political, not the judicial, branches?that is, until the unlikely day that a targeted individual can get into court before a drone strikes.
Lyle Denniston is the National Constitution Center?s Adviser on Constitutional Literacy. He has reported on the Supreme Court for 55 years, currently covering it for SCOTUSblog, an online clearinghouse of information about the Supreme Court?s work.
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Giants right tackle David Diehl said he hasn?t been asked to take a pay cut yet, or? heard any inkling about his future with the team.
But he?s seen enough to know his time could come any time.
Diehl offered Newsday?s Tom Rock a glimpse into the mind of a smart NFL veteran, admitting he never knows when he shows up at the office whether it?s going to be his last.
?The thing you realize at an early age is that as an NFL player you have an expiration date on you and it comes with a price tag,? Diehl said. ?That?s the way that it always goes. Nothing has been said to me yet, but that?s all things you can?t control. The only things you can control are the way you prepare each and every day, getting myself healthy, and whenever that comes about we?ll deal with it. But as of now, nothing has been said.?
The Giants have already parted ways with Chris Canty, Michael Boley and Ahmad Bradshaw, and more moves could be coming.
Diehl has been showing up daily at the Giants facility to rehab his right knee after an arthroscopic procedure, which he had right after the season. Getting well is a big deal, whether it?s for the Giants or another team.
The 32-year-old tackle is entering the last year of his contract, set to earn a base salary of $4.475 million. That makes him ripe for some degree of transaction depending on other moves the Giants make up front.
With Will Beatty and Kevin Boothe pending unrestricted free agents, the Giants might have to prioritize.
?Am I shocked or surprised? No,? Diehl said of Giants roster turnover so far. ?This has happened year in and year out since I?ve been in the NFL, not only with our team but with teams across the league. This is something that always happens.?
Diehl?s approach is at once fatalistic and realistic, as very few players get to leave on their own terms. And with the salary cap a factor in every transaction, having a big salary is only good news if you get to keep it into the regular season.
FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2013 file photo, a customer takes a pack of frozen beef Hachis Parmentier from a freezer in a supermarket in Nice, southeastern France. The Europe-wide uproar over fraudulently labeled horse meat, sold as beef, has exposed the labyrinthine path of companies and countries across the continent that meat for prepared dishes takes before it reaches that microwave. But the back story reveals a France as dependent on factory food as other nations, and a people increasingly torn between their heritage and their hectic lives. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2013 file photo, a customer takes a pack of frozen beef Hachis Parmentier from a freezer in a supermarket in Nice, southeastern France. The Europe-wide uproar over fraudulently labeled horse meat, sold as beef, has exposed the labyrinthine path of companies and countries across the continent that meat for prepared dishes takes before it reaches that microwave. But the back story reveals a France as dependent on factory food as other nations, and a people increasingly torn between their heritage and their hectic lives. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
FILE - In this April 27, 2006 file photo, an exterior view of the Ikea furniture store in Duisburg, western Germany. The Czech veterinary authority said Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 it detected horse meat in meat balls labeled as beef and pork imported to the country by Sweden's furniture retailer giant Ikea. The State Veterinary Administration says the one-kilogram packs of the frozen meat balls were made in Sweden to be sold in Ikea's furniture stores that also offer typical Swedish food. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
Spain's agriculture minister Miguel Arias Canete, left, talks with British Secretary of State for the Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs Owen William Paterson, during the EU agriculture ministers council at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. The European Union's agriculture ministers gathered in Brussels Monday to discuss the widening scandal's fallout, with some member states pressing for tougher rules to regain consumer confidence. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Advertising for Ikea meat balls at the parking area at an Ikea store in Malmo Sweden Monday Feb. 25, 2012. Furniture retailer Ikea says it has halted all sales of meat balls in Sweden after Czech authorities detected horse meat in frozen meatballs that were labeled as beef and pork. (AP Photo/Johannes Cleris) SWEDEN OUT
Advertising billboards for Ikea meat balls are taken down from a parking at the Ikea store in Stockholm, Sweden, Monday, Feb. 25, 2012. Swedish furniture giant Ikea was drawn into Europe's widening food labeling scandal Monday as authorities in the Czech Republic said they had detected horse meat in frozen meatballs labeled as beef and pork and sold in 13 countries across the continent. (AP Photo/Jessica Gow) SWEDEN OUT
DUBLIN (AP) ? So hungry you could eat a horse? Chances are, if you've regularly consumed processed-meat products in Europe, you already have.
Since Ireland published surprise DNA results on Jan. 15 showing that a third of frozen "beef" burgers in Ireland contained at least a trace of horse, food scientists in more than a dozen countries have found the animal trotting into products where it was never meant to roam.
Daily revelations from an ever-increasing menu of supermarket, catering and restaurant goods have taught the world one lesson: When minced up with other meat or slathered with spices, consumers cannot tell equine from bovine in the food chain.
MEATBALLS
Well, IKEA never did call them beef balls. The Swedish furniture giant has discovered that its signature cafeteria dish ? spiced meatballs of mixed beef and pork ? also might contain horse. Ikea said Monday it has suspended all meatball sales in Sweden and plans to withdraw stocks of frozen "Kottbullar" meatballs traced to a specific production batch from stores in 13 other nations: Belgium, Britain, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain. The IKEA meatball controversy, like the other suspect products below, has yet to leap the Atlantic.
BURGERS
This is the product that started the January stampede to Europe's DNA labs. Irish authorities doing a random quality check were shocked to find horse meat in frozen burgers produced for five Irish and British supermarkets, and eventually traced the source to Poland. The Irish producers' top two customers ? Burger King's British, Irish and Danish restaurants and the British supermarket chain Tesco ? quickly took their business elsewhere.
PIZZA
There's something rotten in Denmark, but it's not the meat itself. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration says a product enigmatically described as "pizza meat" and sold by the Harby Slagtehus meat wholesaler contains cow, pig and horse. The company insists that its customers in pizzerias across Denmark knew the topping contained horse, even if that little fact was nowhere on the ingredients list. Government vets don't believe a word of that.
SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE
Better make that "bolo-neighs." Many of Europe's leading makers of microwaveable frozen foods ? including Birds Eye of Britain, Nestle of Switzerland, and Findus of France ? found that some suppliers had mixed horse into the ground beef used for Europe's most ubiquitous pasta sauce.
PASTA
Not to beat a dead horse, but Europe's food-testing labs are indicating that any factory-made pasta product containing "beef" sauce or filling might be horse in drag. Among those caught at the DNA finish line are the frozen "beef" lasagnas of Birds Eye; Nestle's Buitoni brand of ravioli in Italy and fusilli in Spain; and Combino-branded tortelloni and penne in Austria. France's Comigel blamed the discovery of up to 100 percent horse in its "beef" lasagnas ? sold under other brand names, including Findus and Tesco ? on a complex supply chain stretching from its Luxembourg factory back via Dutch and Cypriot middlemen to Romania horse butchers.
PASTRIES
Thank goodness there's no such thing (yet) as a beef doughnut. In Spain, Nestle's recall of products includes meat-filled, semicircular pastries called empanadas.
PIES
You might be surprised to find horse meat hiding under a frilly layer of potato. British-style cottage pies, with gravy, beef and carrots under the smashed spuds, have been withdrawn from scores of school cafeterias in England, Wales and Scotland after DNA tests found horse meat inside. France made similar discoveries in its potato-topped pie called hachis Parmentier.
VEGETABLES
Mom might tell you to eat your vegetables, but the Nestle product recall in Spain included meat-stuffed peppers.
KEBABS
Once you've blended a handful of meats, does one more really matter? The Austrians found horse in kebab meat produced by a Vienna firm, Lilla Gastronomie, that was supposed to contain a blend of only beef, pork and turkey.
SAUSAGES
Fry 'er up: Despite sausages' worldwide reputation as a favored destination for mystery meat, only Austria has found equine DNA hiding in sausages, in two brands made by Josef Freitag, aka "Joe Friday."
Unless your home has Swarovski crystals studding its walls or dangling from glass chandeliers in every room, we'd strongly suggest against calling it "sparkling." Still, it's a descriptor that's used frequently, albeit erroneously, in many listings and it annoys us as much as "stunning" and "cavernous."
Take, for example, this listing in Phoenix (pictured above). We have two issues with this home, which has, as described, a "sparkling POOL!" One, just because it's filled with water does not mean it is "sparkling." Two, even if the pool were sparkling like a diamond earring, you wouldn't even notice thanks to the dirty, unfinished backyard surrounding it! (Though we will say that, relative to the home's unpleasing backyard, the pool appears somewhat luminous -- as would anything.)
Then there's this listing in Louisville, Ky. (pictured above). The listing describes a "sparkling home" with "fresh paint." While we don't doubt the home is freshly painted, unless the paint is infused with glitter or reflective properties, we don't see how this home "sparkles" in the least.
Thanks to our pals at Curbed for the tips!
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[unable to retrieve full-text content]Easy Ways To Promote Your Business Online. Internet marketing is about promoting your business on the web. It can be ... <br /><br />Craft your banner ads so that they stand out from the other million banner ads on the web.
To protect Earth from space rock threat, a scientist recommended spray painting an asteroid to alter the amount of sunlight reflected by it, thereby changing its trajectory.
By Mike Wall,?space.com / February 22, 2013
An artist's illustration of an asteroid flying near Earth.
Texas A&M University
Enlarge
The dramatic space rock events of last week highlighted the need in many people's minds for a viable asteroid-deflection strategy, and one scientist thinks he has a good candidate ? paint.
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There is research that is off the wall, some off the charts and some off the planet, such as what a Texas A&M University aerospace and physics professor is exploring. It's a plan to deflect a killer asteroid by using paint, and the science behind it is absolutely rock solid, so to speak, so much so that NASA is getting involved and wants to know much more.
On Friday (Feb. 15), the 130-foot (40 meters)?asteroid 2012 DA14?gave Earth a historically close shave, missing the planet by just 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers). Hours earlier, a 55-foot (17 m) object exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, damaging thousands of buildings and injuring 1,200 people.
The?asteroid?encounters served as a reminder that Earth sits in the middle of a cosmic shooting gallery, scientists say, and that destructive impacts are inevitable in the future unless humanity takes action.
One form of action could involve dusting a threatening asteroid with a thin coat of paint. The paint would change the amount of sunlight reflected by the space rock, potentially nudging it away from Earth through the accumulated push provided by many thermal photons as they radiate from the asteroid's surface. (This force is called the Yarkovsky effect, after the Russian engineer who first described it around the turn of the 20th century.) [Photos: Asteroids in Deep Space]
The scheme would use powdered paint, which the sun's rays would then cure into a smooth coating. The paint would probably have to be applied long before any potential impact ? years or decades, perhaps ? to give the Yarkovsky effect enough time to make a difference.
"I have to admit the concept does sound strange, but the odds are very high that such a plan would be successful and would be relatively inexpensive," Dave Hyland, of Texas A&M?University, said in a statement. "The science behind the theory is sound. We need to test it in space."
NASA is interested in Hyland's idea and has approached the researcher to discuss developing such a space test, Texas A&M officials said.
Hyland is not the only scientist who thinks paint could save Earth from a cataclysmic impact. Last year, an MIT graduate?student?proposed launching a spacecraft that would?bombard a threatening asteroid with paint-filled pellets. The idea won the 2012 Move an Asteroid Technical Paper Competition, which was sponsored by the United Nations' Space Generation Advisory Council.
Whatever?deflection strategies?researchers devise, the first step toward safeguarding the Earth is to detect and map the orbits of potentially hazardous objects, Hyland said. One million or more asteroids are thought to lurk in near-Earth space, but just 9,600 of them have been discovered to date.
"The smaller ones like DA14 are not discovered as soon as others, and they could still cause a lot of damage should they hit Earth," Hyland said. "It is really important for our long-term survival that we concentrate much more effort discovering and tracking them, and developing as many useful?technologies?as possible for deflecting them."
Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?and?Google+.?
MARANA, Arizona Feb 23 (Reuters) - Whether it is the biennial Ryder Cup or the annual WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Ian Poulter has always been electrified by the challenge of one-on-one golf.
It has been no different this week at Dove Mountain where the flamboyant Englishman has remained unbeaten after four matches as he bids to replicate his title triumph here three years ago.
"My record in match play is very, very good and I'm just very comfortable going toe-to-toe with somebody," Poulter told reporters after beating American veteran Steve Stricker 3&2 in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
"I'm playing for myself this week. I really enjoy the fun of match play. As good as my record is in Ryder Cup, in some way it doesn't translate into playing just for yourself."
Poulter has been a talismanic force for Europe at the Ryder Cup where he has compiled an overall record of 12-3-0 with his eye-bulging, fist-pumping passion.
Asked to compare the intensity of the Ryder Cup with his focus at the Match Play Championship, Poulter replied: "It's there. It's there. Definitely, it's there. But you can't compare it. It's very difficult.
"In Ryder Cup you've got 50,000 fans, and here you haven't quite got that many fans, so you're not feeding off the crowd, you're just trying to do it yourself.
"You can't get as much adrenaline going as you can in the Ryder Cup, but yet there's still intense moments out there on the golf course to switch your brain on," the Briton said after improving his Match Play Championship (win-loss) record to 22-9.
CLUTCH PUTTS
Poulter made several clutch putts and one chip-in on the way to his victory over Stricker as he set up a mouth-watering showdown with champion Hunter Mahan in Sunday's semi-finals.
Long regarded as one of the best putters in the game, Poulter believes his all-round form this week very close to that in 2010 when he outplayed fellow Briton Paul Casey 4&2 in the Match Play Championship final.
"I feel as good," said the ultra-confident Englishman, a 12-times winner on the European Tour. "I feel I'm a better player today than what I was in 2010.
"I feel more equipped than what I was in 2010. I feel like I'm rolling the ball as good as I was certainly in 2010."
Poulter's decision to take six weeks off competitive golf since he tied for ninth at the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii has been especially beneficial this week.
"I couldn't be any more ready to play golf," he smiled. "Albeit I never played a round of golf for the last four weeks of my six weeks off, I didn't play one round, I didn't play one hole, so I came here very, very well practised.
"I had a lot of range work to do, so I've done that, and it's transferred from the range to the golf course this week. It was a case of, yes, I have had six weeks off and I just need to get that buzz going.
"I feel really good. It will be more mentally tiring than anything else over the next couple of rounds, so hopefully I can pull on what I've done in the last six weeks ... and be really strong tomorrow."
The two semi-finals will be followed by the championship final at Dove Mountain on Sunday. (Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
Pope Benedict XVI prays in a private chapel during the closing day of the Spiritual Exercises at the Vatican February 23, 2013.
By Philip Pullella, Reuters
The Vatican on Saturday accused the Italian media of spreading "false and damaging" reports in what it condemned as a deplorable attempt to influence cardinals who will meet in a secret conclave next month to elect a new pope.
Since Pope Benedict announced his resignation on February 11, Italian newspapers have been full of rumors about conspiracies, secret reports and lobbies in the Vatican that they say pushed the pope to abdicate.
"It is deplorable that, as we draw closer to the time of the beginning of the conclave ... that there be a widespread distribution of often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories that cause serious damage to persons and institutions," a Vatican statement said.
The Italian reports have painted an unflattering picture of the Vatican's central administration, known as the Curia, depicting it as being full of prelates more concerned with their careers than serving the Church or the pope.
Some Church officials, speaking privately, have said foreign cardinals coming to Rome to choose the next pope have been alarmed over reports of corruption and might be inclined to elect someone not connected with the Curia, which is predominantly Italian.
The Vatican statement said the Italian media reports were an attempt to influence the outcome of the conclave through negative public opinion much like states and kings tried to influence papal elections centuries ago.
The pope has announced that he will step down on February 28, becoming the first pontiff to abdicate in some six centuries.
The 85-year-old Benedict said his failing health no longer enabled him to run the 1.2-billion-member Roman Catholic Church as he would like.
In a separate statement, Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said the reports were trying to "discredit the Church and its government" ahead of the conclave.
Italy's Repubblica newspaper ran a series of unsourced stories this week about the alleged contents of a secret report prepared for the pope by a commission of three cardinals who investigated the so-called Vatileaks scandal last year.
Paolo Gabriele, the pope's butler, was convicted of stealing personal papal documents and leaking them to the media. He was jailed and later pardoned by the pope.
The documents alleged corruption in the Vatican and infighting over the running of its bank, which has been at the heart of a series of scandals in past decades.
On Friday the Vatican denied Italian media reports that Benedict's decision to send a senior official to a new post in Latin America was linked to the secret report about leaked papal papers.
The Vatican said the transfer to Colombia of Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, an Italian who holds a post roughly equivalent to deputy foreign minister, was a promotion and had been decided weeks ago. Balestrero will be promoted to archbishop and made ambassador in Bogota.
Those reports said Balestrero was being sent away from the Vatican because he figured in the secret report.
On Saturday, as part of his last activities before his resignation in five days, Benedict ended a week-long Lenten spiritual retreat in the Vatican and held a farewell meeting with Italy's president.
On Sunday he will hold his last Sunday blessing. He will hold his last general audience on Wednesday and meet with cardinals on Thursday morning before he resigns on Thursday.
He will first go to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome and then move to a convent inside the Vatican in April after the building is renovated.
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu will return to Stanford University after he steps down this year.
Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, will rejoin Stanford's faculty, where he taught physics and applied physics from 1987 to 2008. Upon his return, Chu will work jointly for the physics department and the medical school's Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology.
The exact date of Chu's departure from Energy has not been set. No successor has been nominated, although Ernest Moniz, a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former top Energy Department official, is considered the leading candidate.
Chu told the Stanford Daily he was excited about his return.?
He said, "The highest point in my career was when I became a professor in (such) a great institution."
TORONTO ? Ontario public high school students could soon get their extracurricular activities back after the union representing their teachers voted to "suspend their political action."
Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), said in a statement that a provincial council comprised of more than 150 union leaders from across Ontario came to the decision at a meeting Friday.
Coran has scheduled a press conference Monday morning to discuss the issue.
"We expect that this sign of goodwill from our members will prompt the government to have genuine discussions that can lead to a fair resolution to this current impasse," Coran said in a statement. "We still maintain that voluntary activities are just that: voluntary.
"We encourage members to review recent information and decide if they are willing to return to participating in the activities we know they feel so passionately about," he said.
NEW YORK -- A 911 call comes in about a possible bomb in lower Manhattan and an alert pops up on computer screens at the New York Police Department, instantly showing officers an interactive map of the neighborhood, footage from nearby security cameras, whether there are high radiation levels and whether any other threats have been made against the city.
In a click, police know exactly what they're getting into.
Such a hypothetical scenario may seem like something out of a futuristic crime drama, but the technology is real, developed in a partnership between the nation's largest police department and Microsoft Corp., and the latest version has been quietly in use for about a year.
The project could pay off in more ways than one: The NYPD could make tens of millions of dollars under an unprecedented marketing deal that allows Microsoft to sell the system to other law enforcement agencies and civilian companies around the world. The city will get a 30 percent cut.
The Domain Awareness System, known as the dashboard, gives easy access to the police department's voluminous arrest records, 911 calls, more than 3,000 security cameras citywide, license plate readers and portable radiation detectors. This is all public data -- not additional surveillance.
Right now, it is used only in NYPD offices, mostly in the counterterrorism unit. Eventually, the system could supply crime-fighting information in real time to officers on laptops in their squad cars and on mobile devices while they walk the beat.
"It works incredibly well," said Jessica Tisch, director of planning and policy for the counterterrorism unit.
Already used: For example, officers used the system during a deadly shooting outside the Empire State Building in August. Dozens of 911 calls were coming in, and it initially looked like an attack staged by several gunmen. But officers mapped the information and pulled up cameras within 500 feet of the reported shots to determine there was only one shooter.
Analysts are cautious about the potential profits, saying that largely depends on Microsoft's sales efforts and whether any major competition arises. While there other data-drilling products
made by other companies, they say the NYPD's involvement could set the dashboard apart.
"This is the kind of stuff you used to only see in movies," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group, a technology analysis firm. "Getting it to work in a way that police departments can use in real time is huge."
Where it began: The venture began in 2009 when the NYPD approached Microsoft about building software to help mine data for the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, a network of private and public cameras and other tools monitored by the department's counterterrorism bureau. Development cost the department between $30 million and $40 million, officials said.
"Usually, you purchase software that you try to work with, but we wanted this to be something that really worked well for us, so we set about creating it with them," said Richard Daddario, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism.
Officers were involved throughout the process with the programmers, offering advice on what they need during an emergency.
The system uses hundreds of thousands of pieces of information. Security camera footage can be rewound five minutes so that officers can see suspects who may have fled. Sensors pick up whether a bag has been left sitting for a while. When an emergency call comes in, officers can check prior 911 calls from that address to see what they might be up against.
The service launched earlier this week. As you?ll read scanned books also become available via the Internet Archive. Great idea, cool collaboration.
From a Duke U. Libraries Blog Post:
Starting this semester, Duke University faculty, students, and staff can request to have certain public domain books scanned on demand. If a book is published before 1923* and located in the Perkins, Bostock, Lilly, or Music Library or in the Library Service Center (LSC), a green ?Digitize This Book? button will appear in its online catalog record. Clicking on this button starts the request.
Within two weeks (although likely sooner), you will get an email with a link to the digitized book in the Duke University Libraries collections on the Internet Archive. You?and the rest of the world?can now read this book online, download it to your Kindle, export it as a PDF, or get it as a fully searchable text-only file. And you never have to worry about late fees or recalls!
See Also: Duke University Materials (via Internet Archive)
See Also: Review Scanned Materials as They Become Available in Duke U. IA Collection
See Also: Duke U. Libraries Catalog Record For Book That Is Eligible For Scanning Note the ?Digitize this Book? Button on Right Side of Page
Again, the scanning service is only available to Duke U. Faculty, Students, and Staff
Senate Republicans have vowed to block President Obama?s nomination of Richard Cordray to become director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless Congress takes steps that would weaken the agency.
In a recent letter to the White House, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and 42 GOP colleagues said they will continue to oppose the consideration ?of any nominee, regardless of party affiliation? until changes are made to ?ensure accountability and transparency? at the CFPB.
Sen. McConnell said Republicans have ?serious concerns about the lack of congressional oversight of the agency and the lack of normal, democratic checks on its sole director, who would wield nearly unprecedented powers.?
Consumer groups and Democrats on Capitol Hill are outraged at what they believe is a blatant attempt to muzzle the consumer watchdog agency.
?They?re playing politics with the pocketbooks of the American people and the safety of our economy,? said consumer advocate Ed Mierzwinski of U.S. PIRG.
?Republicans are trying to dismantle the consumer protection bureau and put the power back in the hands of big corporations,? said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a statement. ?American consumers deserve a cop on the beat to advocate for their interests against reckless corporations and their armies of lawyers seeking to take advantage.?
The outcome of this power struggle will affect all Americans because the CFPB regulates the businesses that control so much of our financial lives, including banks, credit card issuers, mortgage lenders, debt collectors and credit reporting agencies.
In just 19 months, the agency has issued numerous rules designed to bring fairness and transparency to the financial marketplace. It has also levied record fines against some of the biggest financial companies in the country, resulting in $425 million being refunded to consumers.
What exactly do GOP lawmakers want?
Republicans say they want Congress to change the CFPB?s governance, funding and oversight before they will vote on a director for the agency.
Governance: They want the CFPB to be run by a five-member bipartisan commission, rather than a director.
Funding: They want the bureau to be subject to the annual appropriations process in Congress.
Oversight: They want to make it easier for other federal banking regulators to veto any CFPB rule.
George Washington University law professor Arthur Wilmarth, Jr. wrote an analysis of the proposed changes in a paper titled: ?The Financial Services Industry?s Misguided Quest to Undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.? Here?s how he addressed the GOP?s proposed changes:
1. Governance
There are reasonable arguments on both sides as to whether the agency should be run by a director or a commission. While a single director increases accountability, a bipartisan commission might include a broader range of views. But the commission structure increases the possibility of deadlock if a single position is vacant.
Weighing all the factors ? efficiency, stability, decisiveness and accountability ? Prof. Wilmarth concluded that keeping a single-director makes the most sense.
2. Funding
Currently, the CFPB?s budget comes from the Federal Reserve and is capped at 12 percent of the Board?s budget each year.
If the CFPB does not have guaranteed funding and must seek Congressional budget approval each year, it is subject to Congressional whim and therefore pressure from business groups.
?The two agencies that don?t have assured funding ? the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ? the industry strangles them through the appropriations process and makes them unable to accomplish their mission,? Wilmarth explained. ?Obviously, the industry wants this because they don?t want the CFPB to be effective.?
3. Oversight
The federal law that created the CFPB already defines and limits its regulatory powers. It establishes various layers of oversight. The agency reports to Congress (so far Corday has testified 30 times) and is watched by the General Accounting Office.
The CFPB ? unlike any other financial regulatory agency ? is also subject to review by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) which can veto any bureau rule that?s shown to put ?the safety and soundness? of the U.S. banking system or the ?stability? of the U.S. financial system at risk.
Republicans want to give the FSOC the power to veto any CFPB rule that negatively impacts even a single bank or financial institution.
Wilmarth believes this would make it too easy to override CFPB actions and would give responsibility for consumer protection back to ?the same agencies that failed to protect both consumers and our financial markets during the past decade.?
Democrats go on the offensive
Three Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have called on their Republican colleagues to put Cordray?s nomination to an up-or-down vote.
Confirming a CFPB director would ?help consumers and strengthen our financial marketplace,? they said in a joint news release.
Sen. Warren knows more about this issue than most members of Congress. She?s the former Harvard professor who helped launch the CFPB in 2010 after it was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
She warned that this latest example of Congressional gridlock hurts everyone.
?Political stalemates don?t end in more government or less government, but in bad government ? government that lacks the clarity and predictability that our businesses need to plan for the future, to serve their customers, and to create jobs,? Warren said.
Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitteror visit The ConsumerMan website.
(Office of Speaker John Boehner)
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Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
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