Ryman Auditorium getting new stage after 61 years

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2010 file photo, Grand Ole Opry veteran Bill Anderson performs on the circle of wood at the center of the stage in the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. The show is the first to be held in the Opry House since the facility was heavily damaged by floodwaters in May 2010. The circle of wood was taken from the Ryman Auditorium, a former home of the Opry, when the show moved to the present Grand Ole Opry House in 1974. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2010 file photo, Grand Ole Opry veteran Bill Anderson performs on the circle of wood at the center of the stage in the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. The show is the first to be held in the Opry House since the facility was heavily damaged by floodwaters in May 2010. The circle of wood was taken from the Ryman Auditorium, a former home of the Opry, when the show moved to the present Grand Ole Opry House in 1974. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? It's time for a new stage at Ryman Auditorium, a significant moment in the history of a building known for its significant moments.

Scuffed by the heels of "The King," ''The Queen of Soul" and thousands of singers in cowboy boots, scarred by an uncountable stream of road cases and worn by six decades of music history, the Ryman's oak floorboards have reached the end of a very long, very successful run.

"That stage has had a wonderful life," said Steve Buchanan, senior vice president of media and entertainment for Gaylord Entertainment, owners of the Ryman.

The current stage is just the second in the 120-year history of the "Mother Church" after the original was installed in 1901 for a performance of the Metropolitan Opera. It was laid down in 1951 and has lasted far longer than expected. The stage was refinished during a renovation in 1993-94 and even then officials knew it would be the last resurfacing. Today it's heavily scuffed and scarred, its age easily visible from the Ryman's balcony.

The Ryman is still the building most associated with The Grand Ole Opry, though it moved to the Opry House in 1974, and has hosted a number of significant moments in American culture.

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash stood together on those boards and changed music. Cultures clashed there too when the boo birds took on country rockers The Byrds. Today the Ryman is a much sought-after destination point for musicians of all genres and many shows take on a unique aura.

Dylan recently returned, more than 40 years after "Nashville Skyline." Taylor Swift sang there recently with her good friends, The Civil Wars. Even the heaviest of rockers get a little nostalgic, like Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, who said it was an honor to get drunk while performing in the building last year.

Keith Urban, making his return from vocal surgery, will be among the last performers on the stage when the Opry plays its final winter date Friday at The Ryman. Dierks Bentley will play the last standalone concert Thursday.

As a young, aspiring performer in Nashville more than a decade ago, Bentley would run his fingers along the building's brickwork late at night as he walked home from performing on Lower Broadway, daydreaming of playing on that stage. He calls it "one of the most precious places in Nashville and in country music to me."

"The significance of that stage and who played there before me will definitely be in the back of my head all night," Bentley said in an email. "As a member of the Grand Ole Opry, I couldn't be any prouder."

That a busy venue needs a new stage is not necessarily news. The stage at the Opry's permanent home, for instance, has been changed multiple times over the years with little comment. But when the Ryman stage is replaced, officials in some sense are altering an icon that is closely watched by sometimes vocal guardians of its cultural significance.

Officials are prepared for questions. They point out the building has gone through many upgrades over the years and that each step was vital to preserving the building. Most recently the roof was replaced in 2009.

"We're not in the business of getting rid of old things just to get rid of them," Ryman general manager Sally Williams said.

They will retain an 18-inch lip of the blonde oak at the front of the stage, similar to the way the Ryman stage was commemorated in a circle of wood at the new Opry House. The rest of the stage will be stored and replaced with a medium brown Brazilian teak that will be far more durable and camera friendly.

Beneath the stage, the original hickory support beams will be kept and reinforced with concrete foundations, crossbeams and joist work that will help triple the stage's load capacity.

Work will begin Feb. 4 and continue seven days a week until Feb. 20, when rising country stars The Band Perry will make its Ryman debut with a sold-out show. Tours will continue throughout the work, allowing members of the public to watch.

Williams says she's gotten no negative feedback as word has spread because everyone understands the importance of the project.

"I think it will be interesting because I think it's obvious we're doing something ensuring that people will be coming here and having those Ryman moments in 120 years," she said.

___

Online:

http://www.ryman.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-30-US-Music-Ryman-Stage/id-ad447e08bfd54db9a18905d80b99b313

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EU leaders to agree on permanent bailout fund (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? EU leaders will sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone at a summit on Monday and are expected to agree on a balanced budget rule in national legislation, with unresolved problems in Greece casting a shadow on the discussions.

The summit - the 17th in two years as the EU battles to resolve its sovereign debt problems - is supposed to focus on creating jobs and growth, with leaders looking to shift the narrative away from politically unpopular budget austerity.

The summit is expected to announce that up to 20 billion euros ($26.4 billion) of unused funds from the EU's 2007-2013 budget will be redirected toward job creation, especially among the young, and will commit to freeing up bank lending to small- and medium-sized companies.

But discussions over the permanent rescue fund, a new 'fiscal treaty' and Greece will dominate the talks.

Negotiations between the Greek government and private bondholders over the restructuring of 200 billion euros of Greek debt made progress over the weekend, but are not expected to conclude before the summit begins at 9:00 a.m. EST.

Until there is a deal between Greece and its private bondholders, EU leaders cannot move forward with a second, 130 billion euro rescue program for Athens, which they originally agreed to at a summit last October.

Instead, they will sign a treaty creating the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a 500-billion-euro permanent bailout fund that is due to become operational in July, a year earlier than first planned. And they are likely to agree the terms of a 'fiscal treaty' tightening budget rules for those that sign up.

PERMANENT RESCUE FUND

The ESM will replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a temporary fund that has been used to bail out Ireland and Portugal and will help in the second Greek package.

Leaders hope the ESM will boost defenses against the debt crisis, but many - including Italian premier Mario Monti, IMF chief Christine Lagarde and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner - say it will only do so if its resources are combined with what remains in the EFSF, creating a super-fund of 750 billion euros ($1 trillion).

The International Monetary Fund says an agreement to increase the size of the euro zone 'firewall' will convince others to contribute more resources to the IMF, boosting its crisis-fighting abilities and improving market sentiment.

But Germany is opposed to such a step.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will not discuss the issue of the ESM/EFSF's ceiling until leaders meet for their next summit in March. In the meantime, financial markets will continue to fret that there may not be sufficient rescue funds available to help the likes of Italy and Spain if they run into renewed debt funding problems.

"There are certainly signals that Germany is willing to consider it and it is rather geared toward March from the German side," a senior euro zone official said.

The sticking point is German public opinion which is tired of bailing out the euro zone's financially less prudent. Instead, Merkel wants to see the EU - except Britain, which has rejected any such move - sign up to the fiscal treaty, including a balanced budget rule written into constitutions. Once that is done, the discussion about a bigger rescue fund can take place.

After nearly three years of crisis, some economists believe the combination of tighter budget rules, a bigger bailout fund and a commitment to broader structural reforms to boost EU productivity could help the region weather the storm.

"The fiscal compact and the ESM will shape a better future," said Carsten Brzeski, a euro zone economist at ING.

"Combined with ongoing austerity measures and structural reforms in peripheral countries, and, of course, with a lot of ECB action, the euro zone could master this stage of the crisis."

Economists say the pivotal act in recent months was the European Central Bank's flooding of the banking sector with cheap three-year money, a measure it will repeat next month.

GREEK DEAL?

While EU leaders are managing to put together pieces of legislation and financial barriers that might help them stave off a repeat of the debt crisis, immediate concerns - especially over Greece and potentially Portugal - remain.

By far the most pressing worry is the seven-month-long negotiation over private sector involvement in the second Greek rescue package. A deal in the coming days may help restore investor confidence, although Greece will still struggle to reduce its debts to 120 percent of GDP by 2020 as planned.

"If there is a deal, the heads of state and government can endorse it, welcome it and say that now it is up to Greece to agree to and deliver on reforms to get the second financing package," the euro zone official said.

Negotiators believe they have until mid-February to strike a deal. Failure to do so by then would likely force Greece to miss a 14.5 billion euro repayment on its debt due in mid-March.

Even if Athens can strike a deal with private bondholders to accept a 50 percent writedown on the nominal value of their bonds, it may still not be enough to close Greece's funding gap.

The IMF has suggested it may be necessary for public sector holders of Greek bonds - including the ECB and national central banks in the euro zone - to write off some of their holdings in order to close the gap.

Such a move would not necessarily involve the ECB or national central banks incurring losses, they would just be expected to forego any profit on the bonds they have bought.

But German ECB board member Joerg Asmussen told Reuters there was no possibility of the ECB taking part in the private-sector restructuring of Greece's debt.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski, editing by Mike Peacock)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/bs_nm/us_eu_summit

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At least?10 killed,?20 hurt?in Fla. highway pile-ups

GAINESVILLE, Fla.?? At least 10 people died in crashes overnight apparently caused by smoke from a fire along Interstate 75 in north Florida, authorities said Sunday.

Nine people were confirmed dead at the scene, and a 10th fatality was later reported. A local hospital was treating 20 people for injuries. Their conditions were unclear.

At least four to five large commercial vehicles and 10 passenger vehicles were involved. Many were badly mangled.

Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw one tractor-trailer that was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. Bodies were still visible inside a burned-out Grand Prix. The rubber on the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.

State police estimated that wreckage was strewn for nearly a mile in both directions.

Steven Camps, 23, of Gainesville, said he and a friend had stopped due to the smoke and began talking to a man in the car stopped next to them, when another vehicle hit the man's car.

Camps said the man's vehicle was crushed under a semi-truck stopped in front of them. Camps said his car was hit twice, but he and his friend were able to jump out. They took cover in the grass on the shoulder of the road.

"You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy," he said. "If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of world."

He said cars and trucks were on fire and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.

"It was happening on both sides of the road, so there was nowhere to go. It blew my mind," he said. "It was like a war zone. It literally looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them."

"That's a very scary thing when you can't see anything and hear the squealing of tires and don't know if 2,000 pounds of metal is coming at you," The Gainesville Sun quoted Alachua County Sheriff's Sgt. Todd Kelly as saying.

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"We just hit it, and you couldn't see anything," added Donna Henry, who was driving with friends when her car hit a guardrail and ended up sideways.

From the side of the road she heard more crashes. "Like 15 times somebody hit, from this side and that, north and south. It was bad."

In one crash, a pickup truck was left sitting atop a passenger car and both were up against the rear end of a FedEx tractor-trailer. All vehicles were burned out.

The pile-ups, on both north- and southbound lanes, happened around 3:45 a.m. Sunday on both sides of I-75 south of Gainesville.

All lanes of the interstate remained closed as investigators began their work examining the vehicles, many of them just burned shells.

The Florida Highway Patrol had closed the highway briefly earlier overnight because of a mixture of fog and smoke from a marsh fire in the Paynes Prairie area south of Gainesville.

The agency had several troopers driving along the stretch of I-75 to access the situation early Sunday.

"When the visibility cleared, we reopened the road," said Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan.

The fire was manmade and started on Saturday, police said. It was not known if it was accidentally or deliberately set.

Heavy fog and smoke were blamed for a deadly string of accidents four years ago. In January 2008, four people were killed and 38 injured similar crashes on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa, about 125 miles south of Sunday's crash. More than 70 vehicles were involved in those crashes caused by fog and smoke, including one pile-up that involved 40 vehicles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46181122/ns/us_news-life/

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Tiger Woods tied for lead in Abu Dhabi Championship

Tiger Woods fired a six-under par 66 Saturday. After three rounds, Tiger Woods is now tied with Britain's Robert Rock for the lead of the Abu Dhabi Championship.

?A host of pinpoint golf shots and a deadly touch with the putter helped Tiger Woods to move within sight of his first victory in a full-field event for more than two years at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Saturday.

Skip to next paragraph

The former world No. 1 was kitted out in grey shirt and trousers but there was nothing grey about his game as he fired a sizzling six-under-par 66 to join Britain's Robert Rock (66) in a tie for the lead on 11-under 205.

Swede Peter Hanson returned the best round of the week, a 64, giving him a share of third place on 207 with world number three Rory McIlroy (68), fellow Briton Paul Lawrie (68) and Italian Francesco Molinari (66).

IN PICTURES: Tiger Woods through the years

There was a logjam at the top, with the leading 14 players separated by four shots.

?Woods, who ended a two-year title drought by winning last month's Chevron World Challenge limited-field event in California, refused to get carried away with his six-birdie display at the European Tour event.

"I was just kind of consistent today," the American said in understated fashion. "I didn't do a whole lot wrong and didn't do a whole lot right.

"I played methodically, just plotted my way round the golf course and the birdies just piled up."

With hardly any wind on another hot day at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, scoring improved and at one point there were eight players tied for the lead.

Woods went to the top of the leaderboard on his own by rolling in a 15-foot birdie putt at the 14th.

He kept his errors to a minimum throughout, a feature of his performances this week, and has now carded just two bogeys in 54 holes.

His distance control with his woods and irons evoked memories of the record 623 weeks he spent as world number one and his putting stroke was pure and positive.

The 25th-ranked Woods gave an ironic 'great shot' cry when he played a rare poor tee shot 60 feet right of the pin at the 15th but he managed to get down in two for his par three.

GLORIOUS APPROACH

The 36-year-old then finished his round with a flourish, shaping a glorious five-wood approach from left to right at the par-five 18th and safely two-putting from 60 feet to claim his sixth birdie of a flawless round.

With a plethora of players waiting to pounce on any slip, Woods knows he will have to be aggressive in Sunday's final round.

"There are so many guys up there I'm going to have to post a good number," he said. "It's not like I can just go round and shoot par."

Rock, who won his first tour event at last year's Italian Open, crammed five birdies into the last nine holes and the bearded Englishman was thrilled at the prospect of playing alongside Woods on the last day.

"I can't wait," said the 34-year-old, who was an unknown club professional nine years ago. "I might not get too many opportunities to do that."

Asked if he had ever imagined playing alongside one of golf's greatest players, he replied: "No, not in a million years. Not long ago I was working in a golf shop, selling Mars bars and watching him win majors on television.

"Tomorrow is going to be pretty cool. I'm just going to enjoy the opportunity."

McIlroy, who incurred a two-shot penalty for using his hand to brush away sand on the fringe of the ninth green on Friday, was involved in a lengthy rules discussion for the second day running.

The U.S. Open champion hit a wayward drive way right into the desert scrub at the 18th and had to ask the referee if he was allowed to aim further right for his next shot without going out of bounds.

McIlroy took an eventful route up the last hole but a par five kept him in touch with the leaders.

World number two Lee Westwood will look to make a last-day charge after shooting a 68 for 212 but top-ranked Luke Donald is out of title contention after sliding to a 73 for 216.

(Editing by Clare Fallon. To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

IN PICTURES: Tiger Woods through the years

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/jg-zHZ2zY54/Tiger-Woods-tied-for-lead-in-Abu-Dhabi-Championship

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How Pentagon budget cuts will reshape the Army

The Army has been seen as one of the big losers in the Pentagon budget cuts released Thursday. But Army officials say now is the perfect time for the force to recast itself.?

Military officials moved quickly Friday to counter the perception that the Army was the big loser in the new Pentagon budget unveiled Thursday.

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The priorities laid out Thursday will have significant effects on the Army. For starters, the Army will be smaller,?moving from approximately 570,000 soldiers today to 490,000 by 2017. Moreover, Army operations will involve more Special Operations Forces that will launch missions from small bases near hot-spots around the world.?

The ranks of ?cyberwarriors? to combat the threat of computer attacks on vital US infrastructure will also grow.?

But now is the time to make such changes, Army officials say.

?The time is strategically right to reduce the Army?s force structure,? the Army?s top officer, Gen. Raymond Odierno, said Friday.

That's because the day-to-day job of soldiers will be changing dramatically in the years to come.?US military officials promise that?there will be no more wars that look like Iraq and Afghanistan ? what are known in military parlance as ?large-scale stability operations? ? for quite some time,?

?With the successful completion of our mission in Iraq, the continued transitions of operations to Afghan security forces, and the reduction of US presence in Afghanistan, our strategy calls for us to no longer plan for large-scale stability operations,? General Odierno said.

In addition, the bulk of US forces in Europe ? specifically, two heavy combat brigades ? will leave in the years to come. That?s a big change for a military with decades of ties to bases in Germany, Italy, and elsewhere in Europe.?

The Army will maintain partnerships with its NATO allies, though in new ways, Odierno said. In the years ahead, the Army will instead rotate units through Europe more quickly, to train with NATO partners and other allies. This might include everything from small company-size units to large battalion-level exercises.

?In reality, I think, in the long run this will benefit all of us,? Odierno said. ?It?ll cause more of our units to get involved in working with our NATO partners. It won?t just be limited to those stationed in Europe.?

Future missions may involve some stability, or peacekeeping, operations, but Odierno says they will likely be ?on a much smaller scale.? Beyond that, he adds, ?we?ll rely more on other partners to assist us as we do stability operations.?

Defense analysts point out that though the future US military interventions may indeed be smaller ? think Libya, for example ? they may not always be shorter.?

In fact, they may be ?prolonged,? says Stephanie Sanok, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This means the United States will need ?friends and allies to do what we?re not going to do,? she adds. ?And I don?t think those conversations have happened.??

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ChsAYbHxNCQ/How-Pentagon-budget-cuts-will-reshape-the-Army

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Newt Vs. Reagan, The Sequel (Powerlineblog)

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How Fastenal Is Vending a Success Story (The Motley Fool)

Industrial and construction materials supplier Fastenal (Nasdaq: FAST - News) has significantly upped its market presence lately with the expansion of its industrial vending machines -- dubbed a "one-stop shop" to replenish supplies.

Although a two-year-old concept, the whole idea seems to have significantly picked up speed over the past ten months, as these machines doubled their contribution to Fastenal's fiscal 2011 sales to 16% as compared to year before.

A really good idea
Why would you go to a store and stand in the queue just to buy nuts and bolts or cutting tools when you could have a mini-shop in your very own workplace? That's exactly the question Fastenal's been trying to raise through its vending machine concept.

These machines, which stock items ranging from metal cutters and grinding disks to first-aid kits and gloves, are becoming popular with diverse industrial customers including manufacturing plants, energy providers, and construction contractors.

Customers seem to have taken a liking to this idea as it saves time and money, making inventory replenishment much more convenient. Automatic billing saves administrative and processing time too, while inventory levels are monitored by Internet-based software, which alerts Fastenal when supplies reach a certain low level. The restocking is done through a local store.

By the end of 2011, a total of 7,500 machines had been installed at customer locations, up from 1,925 machines just a year earlier. In fact, Fastenal's base of installed machines increased by an impressive 32% in the recent fourth quarter as compared to the third.

A smart way to save costs
The vending machines are fast reducing Fastenal's need to open new stores to drive sales, thus saving on costs. In the recent past, the company has been increasing its store count by 14% each year. However, thanks to the vending machine expansions, the company need to add just 5% more, 122 new stores, in 2011. It is almost like Fastenal is opening small stores in client locations themselves.

As a matter of fact, analyst Ryan Merkel from William Blair & Co. believes the introduction of these vending machines could be the largest "land-grab opportunity" in distribution of industrial supplies in the past 20 years. The implementation of this strategy is certainly helping to keep Fastenal one step ahead of industry competitors such as W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW - News), which posted revenue growth of only 3.8% over the past three years.

Fastenal's fast figures
The company plans to install 10,000 vending machines each year over the next few years, and it definitely seems capable of doing so. This debt-free company has an impressive unlevered free cash flow of $138 million in addition to their encouraging recent performance.

In every quarter of 2011, Fastenal saw over 20% revenue growth. The company's earnings per share also met Street expectations all throughout the year. And in the latest quarter, Fastenal's profits increased by 34%, to $87.5 million, compared to last year.

Future proof
Fastenal's management plans to promote these machines aggressively in the future using selling incentives and new software, which could be more cost effective for end users. Overall, I'm feeling good about Fastenal's future.

To keep an eye on this stock, click here to add it to your Watchlist. It's free!

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/fool/20120127/bs_fool_fool/rx177251

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Obama to target rising college tuition costs (AP)

ROMULUS, Mich. ? President Barack Obama wants to shift some federal dollars away from colleges and universities that aren't controlling tuition costs to those that are. He's also proposing competitions among higher education institutions to encourage them to run more efficiently.

Obama will spell out his plans Friday during a speech at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor focused on college affordability.

On Tuesday during his State of the Union address, Obama put colleges and universities on notice to control soaring tuition costs or face losing federal dollars.

The money Obama is targeting is what's known as "campus based" aid given to colleges to distribute in areas such as Perkins loans or in work study programs. Of the $142 billion in federal grants and loans distributed in the last school year, about $3 billion went to these programs.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

President Barack Obama has put colleges and universities on notice to control tuition costs or face losing federal dollars. Now, schools are waiting to hear how big a stick he plans to wield to enforce his message.

Obama was expected to spell out his plan in a speech Friday at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor focused on college affordability. His plan could set a new precedent in the federal government's role in controlling the rising costs of college ? a move making people in higher education nervous. Obama's speech will cap a three-day post-State of the Union trip by the president to promote different components of his economic agenda in politically important states.

The president hinted at what's ahead in education during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, which coincided with the release of a White House "blueprint" that said he wants to shift federal aid away from colleges that don't keep net tuition down and provide a good value. But it's unclear exactly what pot of federal dollars Obama plans to target and how his plan would work.

The Obama administration already has taken a series of steps to expand the availability of grants and loans and to make loans easier to pay back, and Obama spelled out Tuesday other proposals to make college more affordable such as extending tuition tax breaks and asking Congress to keep loan interest rates from doubling on July. His administration has also targeted career college programs ? primarily at for-profit institutions ? with high loan default rates among graduates over multiple years by taking away their ability to participate in such programs.

But until now, it has done little to turn its attention to the rising cost of tuition at traditional colleges and universities. The average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges last fall rose 8.3 percent and with room and board now exceed $17,000 a year, according to the College Board. Rising tuition costs have been blamed on a variety of factors, including a decline in state dollars, an over-reliance on federal student loan dollars and competition for the best facilities and professors.

During Tuesday's speech, the president said he'd met with university presidents who described to him ways some universities through technology and redesigning courses were able to help students finish more quickly ? efforts that helped curtail costs.

"The point is, it's possible. So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can't be a luxury_ it's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford," Obama said.

Barry Toiv, spokesman for the Association of American Universities, said some of its members participated in the meeting Obama referred to and agree that there are good examples of things that can be done to make colleges more efficient. But he said universities are concerned that any proposal by the president "doesn't hurt students" because anything that does is "obviously counterproductive."

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former education secretary, said the autonomy of U.S. higher education is what makes it the best of the world, and he questioned whether Obama could enforce any such plan without hurting students. Potentially, billions of dollars are at stake. In the 2010-2011 school year, the federal government awarded $142 billion in federal student aid ? most of it directly to students in the form of grants and loans, according to the Education Department.

"It's hard to do without hurting students and it's not appropriate to do," Alexander said. "The federal government has no business doing this."

Some public institutions worry about being unfairly blamed for state cuts that led to an increase in tuition prices. Neal McCluskey, an education analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, said it's difficult for the federal government to dictate what is a reasonable increase because some colleges and universities might have legitimate reasons to raise tuition some years, such as the need to replace buildings in disrepair.

Obama's plan reflects that in the race between subsidizing tuition with student aid and rising tuition, student aid is going to lose, said Andrew P. Kelly, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Instead of redesigning their business model or using more online programs to save money, many colleges and universities have made small changes hoping to wait out the nation's fiscal crisis that don't solve the problem long term, Kelly said.

"This signals I think a sense of how acute that problem is and the fact that it can't just be about pouring money into federal student aid programs and hoping that affordability is maintained, that there has to be some kind of way, or at least a signal sent, to the institutions that benefit, and the states, frankly ... that they just can't continue to ratchet up prices and use federal aid to fill in the gaps," Kelly said.

Even though it's not politically popular, McCluskey said a good way to control rising tuition costs would be to cut federal aid to students, which would force colleges and universities to keep tuition low.

This isn't the first time a politician has sought to control tuition costs. In 2003, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., proposed a plan to hold back aid to colleges and universities that raised tuition much faster than inflation. It met resistance from higher education and wasn't passed.

Come Friday, "we'll be watching and listening carefully," said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education.

___

Hefling reported from Washington.

___

Online:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Education Department: http://www.ed.gov/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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In Mali, a Tuareg rebellion _ without Gadhafi

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? The first thing the Malian soldiers heard at daybreak were the cries of "Allah Akbar" ? "God is great" ? ringing out over their camp in the lonely eastern town. Then shooting began as Tuareg rebels launched their first attack against the military in Mali since 2009.

Many Tuareg fighters have returned to Mali since the fall of their patron, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, bringing battle experience and weapons with them. Some are ready to fight for their dream of a homeland for the Tuareg and have already begun doing so, reigniting a conflict that had been dormant for more than two years.

On Jan. 17, some 40 Tuareg rebel vehicles drove through the sandy dunes and stunted desert trees toward the town of Menaka in Mali's east, near the Niger border. They headed for army and national guard posts.

"We hadn't slept all night because we knew something was coming," one national guardsman in Menaka told The Associated Press, adding that rumors of an attack had been circulating days before it began. Just as it started, he heard the cries of "God is great." The attack was punctuated with explosions of heavy weapons and gunfire. The soldier was interviewed on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to journalists.

Eventually soldiers at both posts fled. In midmorning, helicopter gunships arrived and fired at the rebels, forcing them to retreat. It was all over by midday. The next day, Tuaregs attacked two other towns in northern Mali, Tessalit and Aguelhok. And on Thursday, Tuaregs attacked a fourth town, Anderamboukane in Mali's east.

The Tuareg are a traditionally nomadic people who live in countries touching the Sahara Desert including Mali, Algeria, Niger and Libya. In Mali, they've risen up against the government twice in the last 25 years. In both rebellions, Gadhafi played a role.

This time, though, it's hard to predict how Gadhafi's absence will affect events.

The National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad claimed responsibility for the attacks. The group was formed in October and seeks self-determination of the north of Mali, an area it refers to as the Azawad. Azawad can also refer to the Tuareg-speaking zone covering northern Mali, northern Niger and southern Algeria where many of the blue-turbaned nomads live, but NMLA leaders say their demands relate only to the area within Mali.

Thousands of Tuaregs moved from Mali to Libya over the decades beginning in the 1970s, and many joined special divisions of Gadhafi's military where they earned higher salaries than in Mali. A relationship developed between the Tuareg and Gadhafi, who claimed they had distant blood links.

When the Gadhafi regime fell last year, Tuareg troops smuggled Gadhafi family members to neighboring Algeria and Niger. After Gadhafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte in October, many Tuaregs no longer felt safe in Libya and began returning to Mali. Some met with the Malian government and pledged their support, but perhaps a few hundred helped form the NMLA.

They are well-trained and brought sophisticated weapons like armored vehicles and vehicle-mounted rocket launchers, said Pierre Boilley, professor of contemporary African history at the Pantheon Sorbonne University in Paris.

"All this made a huge difference," Boilley said. "And we can see it in the strategy of the rebels ? so far instead of hit-and-run attacks they are taking on the Malian army in full frontal confrontation."

The Malian Army and the NMLA have given wildly varying accounts of the fighting, with the claimed death tolls on both sides difficult to verify independently.

Mali claims to have killed 45 rebels at Tessalit and Aguelhok and many more during the attack on Menaka, saying that only three government troops were killed. For its part, the NMLA says 52 Malian soldiers were killed while acknowledging no casualties on their own side.

In the past, the duration of Tuareg rebellions in Mali depended in part on Gadhafi's support.

Boilley said Gadhafi provided political support at a regional level for the Tuareg rebellion in the early 1990s. During the next round of hostilities between 2006 and 2009, Gadhafi probably supported Tuareg fighters financially, Boilley said. Gadhafi also provided a safe haven for Malian Tuaregs.

"Because he was always wanting to interfere, Gadhafi created a space where the Tuareg could organize and get training," he said.

But now, Gadhafi's absence means the rebels have one less source of cash and no political backing from any country in the region. In addition, many people in north Mali don't support the current revolt and prefer to see the rebels use political means to attain their goals.

The NMLA says its attacks will continue across Mali's north, but that they are open to negotiations.

The Malian government says that if rebels accept something less than full independence, negotiations are possible. Foreign Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga said Monday the government is open to hearing rebels' demands.

Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh, a Tuareg member of Mali's parliament, doesn't see a quick end to the rebellion.

"These men will fight until the end," he said. "Most of these people were in exile. They've come back and they don't want to go back into exile ever again."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-26-AF-Mali-New-Tuareg-Rebellion/id-a62a97dea2f1406eaeb6d765aafbbcfa

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America's next star? Could be anyone

FILE - In this July 25, 2011, file photo, U.S. Michael Phelps, right, and Ryan Lochte look at the scoreboard after a men's 200m Freestyle semifinal at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Shanghai, China. Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Weiber. Ryan Lochte. Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as "The One To Watch" _ at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - In this July 25, 2011, file photo, U.S. Michael Phelps, right, and Ryan Lochte look at the scoreboard after a men's 200m Freestyle semifinal at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Shanghai, China. Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Weiber. Ryan Lochte. Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as "The One To Watch" _ at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - In this July 25, 2011, file photo, U.S. Michael Phelps, foreground, and Ryan Lochte look at the scoreboard after their races in a heat of the men's 200m Freestyle event at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Shanghai, China. Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Weiber. Ryan Lochte. Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as "The One To Watch" _ at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - In this May 15, 2011, file photo, Missy Franklin starts the 200-meters backstroke final at the Charlotte UltraSwim competition in Charlotte, N.C. Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Weiber. Ryan Lochte. Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as "The One To Watch" _ at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2011, file photo, USA's Jordyn Wieber performs on the balance beam during the women's team final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Weiber. Ryan Lochte. Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as "The One To Watch" _ at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) ? Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Wieber. Ryan Lochte.

Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as "The One To Watch" ? at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics.

With 2012 underway and only six months left before the flame is ignited at opening ceremonies, The Associated Press sent emails to sports agents and executives, public-relations people and others with strong Olympic ties, asking them who America's so-called face of the Olympics would be as the games approach.

Unlike past Olympic cycles, when Phelps or Marion Jones or Bode Miller or Lindsey Vonn were the clear-cut Americans to watch, there was no consensus this time around.

Phelps got the most votes with four, followed by Franklin with three, then Wieber (gymnastics) and Lochte (swimming) with two apiece. The rest of the 16 responses were spread among five athletes: gymnast Nastia Liukin, sprinter Allyson Felix, swimmer Dara Torres and soccer players Abby Wambach and Hope Solo.

That the question produced such a scattered list makes clear that generating buzz for the Olympics will take more this year than simply plastering a single person's face on a 50-foot billboard in Times Square.

"I think we have 10 or 20 athletes who could be that face," said Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "As I sit here today, I don't know who that face is going to be."

The people who received the AP questionnaire were assured their names would be kept confidential, in an attempt to get the most candid answers possible. They were asked for American athletes only, which precluded them from naming Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who owns world records in the 100 and 200 and could have come close to sweeping the survey if nationality were no factor.

"Clearly, the world will be watching Usain Bolt, for obvious reasons and deserved reasons," said Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, author of "The Complete Book of the Olympics." ''Clearly, people will be keeping their eye on Michael Phelps, as a record setter, even if he's not as dominant as he was before."

Phelps already owns more Olympic gold than anyone and needs three more medals of any color to become the most decorated athlete in history. His quest will, of course, be compelling, but it will also be mixed in with his competition against Lochte, who won five gold medals at the 2011 world championships and beat Phelps in their two head-to-head matchups.

If viewing patterns stay similar to what they were in 2008, Phelps vs. anybody in the pool will draw the best ratings. All of NBC's prime time telecasts that drew more than 30 million viewers in 2008 came on nights when swimming was featured. (Track and field didn't fare as well, though most of that coverage was shown on tape delay while most swimming coverage was live.)

"It's an intriguing story," Wallechinsky said of the Phelps-Lochte drama that could develop. "But trying to sell a U.S. versus U.S. rivalry, where the characters don't really hate each other, sometimes that's a little rough. It pains me when, sometimes, you see media pitching a rivalry between two athletes who are actually friends, just for the sake of creating a rivalry."

That's very much the way the 2008 gymnastics competition was fed to the public ? Nastia Liukin vs. Shawn Johnson. They battled back and forth in the years leading up to Beijing, and their head-to-head in the Olympic all-around was high theater, barely won by Liukin.

Both are trying to make the 2012 team, but unlike 2008, this year's star isn't permanently affixed to anyone just yet.

Wieber, the 16-year-old world champion is the front-runner to become America's top all-around gymnast, and she already has an appearance on "Ellen" and a deal with Kellogg's as signs of what some people think of her potential. But the health of Rebecca Bross, who was touted as the "next big thing" before injuries derailed her, could still factor into the big picture.

Of course, the U.S. team can't depend on any single athlete to make the Olympics an overall success, though Phelps' eight golds in 2008 certainly helped matters. Americans have won the most medals at the last four Summer Olympics, but with China and Russia improving and with smaller countries, such as Brazil, Great Britain and Australia, chipping away from the other side, there's a sense that the United States is under more pressure this time.

"The medal count is going to be the medal count," said Alan Ashley, going into his first Olympics as the USOC chief of sport performance. "To us, it's all about how we support the athletes and coaches and help them put their best foot forward when they get to London. If we do our job, then the medal count will take care of itself."

Key to that medal count will be the fate of the track and field team, which won a disappointing 23 medals in Beijing, but improved to 25 at last year's world championships ? an upward trend team leaders hope will continue.

Yet finding a singular star from that sport has become difficult, in large part because of the numerous drug scandals that have tainted track over the decades and more or less tagged its top sprinters with a "buyer beware" sign, regardless of their history.

Tyson Gay, arguably America's best sprinter, has no doping issues in his past, but has been hampered with injuries and missed both the Beijing Games and last year's world championships; he didn't garner a single vote in the AP survey. Neither did decathlete Bryan Clay, the defending Olympic champion ? a sign of how the clout of the so-called "World's Greatest Athlete" has diminished since the days of Bruce Jenner.

On the women's side, Felix is well-spoken and looks good in magazine shoots, but has been a big factor in her sport for almost a decade now and hasn't connected viscerally with the casual sports fan that makes up a big chunk of the Olympic audience.

"I don't have an explanation for that," Wallechinsky said. "It is a bit odd. There might be some Marion Jones backlash, where they don't want to get burned again, don't want to back a sprinter then have that person test positive at the Olympics. It's one of those things where you can be completely innocent and still be under the shadow of other people's transgressions."

With billions of dollars invested in televising the Olympics, NBC will shape the way most American take in the games. The network, with everything from local affiliates to the worldwide web at its disposal, can tell numerous stories on numerous platforms.

Chief Marketing Officer John Miller ? the guy who created the catchphrase "Must See TV" ? said the network learned a lot when it loaded its pre-Games hype into Bode Miller before the 2006 Olympics, only to watch him turn into a bust on the mountain and a source of controversy off of it.

"We put a significant amount of eggs in that basket," Miller said. "As a result of that, instead of going with one athlete, we decided we had to spread it around a little more. Fortunately, in the Summer Games, we have compelling stories to go after. A lot of them."

In addition to track, gymnastics and swimming, NBC also focuses a lot on beach volleyball, where Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor will go for their third Olympic gold.

"We have enough bandwidth to go after four or five sports in a big way and cover a lot of angles," Miller said.

NBC, he said, has no need to go with one athlete in the lead up. The network invited about 100 athletes out to its pre-Olympic TV shoot in West Hollywood, "because you never know who's going to come out and turn into something big."

In this case, there's no real consensus on who's big before the games, either. The USOC is accepting that fact ? trying to embrace the idea of promoting an Olympics with no clear-cut star instead of forcing a single storyline.

"It's different from other years because there's not one story there that's bubbled to the top yet," Ashley said. "That's one of the things I love about the Olympics, is that you never really know the answer to that question."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-25-OLY-America's-Next-Star?/id-b430d9a148f14aeab8294ca5ff742622

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HBT: It's all about family for Cecil and Prince

Cecil Fielder was making the media rounds yesterday following his son?s signing with the Detroit Tigers. It was understandable given his own history in Detroit.

Thing is, Cecil and Prince have a very complicated history and, in recent years, have been reported to have no relationship at all. The whole story is known only to them, but the?contours?of it seem to be that (a) Cecil was not an attentive father to Prince when he was growing up; (b) his relationship with Prince?s mother was not good; and (c) Cecil is alleged to have squandered Prince?s signing bonus on personal debts. ?Kind of ugly all around.

Cecil was quoted several years ago as saying that Prince had shut him out of his life. Prince, when asked, will not respond to any questions about his father. ?Yesterday, however, Cecil had this to say about the relationship:

?We?re having a few chats. We?re doing a lot better than we were. Time heals all wounds, man. Everybody has to come back together at some point.?

It?s a difficult subject. On the one hand it?s the kind of thing that shouldn?t be any of our business. But it?s been out there because, in the past, Cecil put it out there in interviews and, of course, because both of the Fielders are well-known public figures. And of course now that Prince has gone to the team with which his father found his biggest fame, it?s going to come up a lot more simply because it?s part of a new and wholly understandable dynastic narrative.

Outside of that (and outside of baseball, actually) the subject fascinates me because of what it says about the value and purpose of family.

I have a great relationship with my parents. It?s never been in question because I had a great childhood and they?re good people and all of that. ?But at the same time, I don?t necessarily subscribe to the idea that you have to make a special effort to have such a relationship with family members no matter the situation. If your parents (or siblings or whatever) are jerks or bad people or have otherwise hurt you, I don?t see the need to try any harder to repair that relationship than you would to repair a friendship or another kind of?acquaintance. Or to simply not try at all if that?s your choice.

Yet I feel like I?m in the minority here. I think most people default to the ?but they?re family,? idea, and believe it to be incumbent upon a person to always ? eventually anyway ? try to repair such relationships. And think that a difficult or flawed relationship with a family member is better than no relationship at all.

I can?t see that. Sure, if a family member with whom you?ve had a falling out wants to try and make amends you give that person the same chance that you?d give someone else, but I don?t think you give them considerably more chances or, even further, continue to try to reach out to them out of obligation even if they continue to be a jerk out of some notion that shared blood makes the relationship so much more necessary.

I?m not saying I?m right. I may be very wrong. And like I said before, I have a wonderful relationship with my family so perhaps I?m just taking it all for granted and I?m totally missing the point. I?m curious to hear others? thoughts.

Anyway, the point of all of this is that I don?t see a father-son reconciliation as some necessary component of Prince Fielder going to Detroit. And, even though it would be nicer if the two of them had a good relationship than a poor one, I hope that Prince doesn?t get pestered too much about it by virtue of the public?s need to seek closure or resolution of a relationship that, by all rights, shouldn?t concern us.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/25/prince-fielder-cecil-fielder-and-the-significance-of-family/related/

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Obama and GOP candidates offer a campaign preview (AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? On a day that combined two campaigns into one, President Barack Obama on Wednesday challenged Republicans to raise taxes on the rich as GOP rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich swiped at him on the economy and criticized each other over immigration.

With a week to go before the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary, the polls suggested a tight race, although Romney and his allies seized a staggering advantage in the television ad wars. They have reported spending $14 million combined on commercials, many of them critical of Gingrich, and a total at least seven times bigger that the investment made by the former House speaker and an organization supporting him.

Obama's political timeline was a different one, Election Day on Nov. 6. In a campaign-style appearance in Iowa, he demanded Congress approve a tax increase for anyone like Romney whose income exceeds $1 million a year.

"If you make more than a million dollars a year, you should pay a tax rate of at least 30 percent. If, on the other hand, you make less than $250,000, which includes 98 percent of you, your taxes shouldn't go up," he said after touring a manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids and in a state that he won in 2008 that was expected to be a battleground in the fall.

"This is not class warfare," he said. "That's common sense."

As Obama surely knew, it was an offer Gingrich, Romney and the anti-tax Republicans in Congress are likely to find easy to refuse.

Referring to Obama's call in the speech for Congress to end tax breaks that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas, Romney said he didn't know of any.

Instead, he said the president presides over "the most anti-business, anti-investment, anti-job creator administration I've ever seen, and so, what I'll do ? I'll get America to work again. I spent 25 years in business."

Gingrich was far harsher at an appearance in Miami.

"If he actually meant what he said it would be a disaster of the first order," Gingrich said of the president's call for higher taxes on millionaires.

The former House speaker said the president's proposal would double the capital gains tax and "lead to a dramatic decline in the stock market, which would affect every pension fund in the United States."

"It would affect every person who has a 401(k). It would attack the creation of jobs and drive capital outside of the United States. It would force people to invest overseas. It would be the most anti-jobs single step he could take," he said.

Under current law, investment income is taxed as the rate of 15 percent, a fact that has come to the fore of the campaign in recent days with the release of Romney's income tax return.

Wages, by contrast, are taxed at rates that can exceed 30 percent.

Electability is the top concern for GOP primary voters, according to polls taken in the early primary and caucus states, so both Republicans were eager to paint a contrast with the president.

But Romney and Gingrich also focused on the Florida primary now seven days distant.

Romney has long led in the state's polls, but Gingrich's upset victory last Saturday in the first-in-the-South primary in South Carolina revitalized his candidacy and raised questions about the former Massachusetts governor's staying power.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is also on the ballot, as is Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

But Santorum has been sinking in the polls as Gingrich rises, and Paul has indicated he intends to bypass the state to concentrate on caucuses to be held elsewhere.

That gives Florida the feel of a two-man race, and Romney and Gingrich are treating it that way. The two men sparred heatedly Monday night in a debate that virtually relegated Santorum and Paul to supporting roles.

A second debate is set for Thursday in Jacksonville. And if their separate appearances during the day on the Spanish-language television network Univision is a guide, it will be as feisty as the first.

Gingrich referred acidly to Romney describing a policy of "self-deportation" as a way of having illegal immigrants leave the country without a massive roundup.

"You have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatically $20 million income for no work to have some fantasy this far from reality," he said, referring to some of the details disclosed this week when the former Massachusetts governor released his tax returns.

"For Romney to believe that somebody's grandmother is going to be so cut off that she is going to self-deport, I mean, this is an Obama-level fantasy."

Romney's campaign swiftly produced evidence that aides to Gingrich had used the term "self-deport" approvingly, and the former governor attacked.

"I recognize that it's very tempting to come out to an audience like this and pander to the audience," Romney said. "I think that was a mistake on his (Gingrich's) part."

Gingrich also ran into trouble over a radio ad his campaign was airing that called Romney "anti-immigrant." Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is neutral in the presidential race, criticized the commercial, and Romney said the term "anti-immigrant" was an epithet.

Gingrich made a stop in Cocoa, center of the state's now-withered space industry, and he cheered his audience by envisioning construction of the first permanent base on the moon. He also promised a "robust industry" of "commercial near-earth activities" to include science, tourism and manufacturing.

He said he hopes to stimulate investment by having the government offer prizes to private companies, but he did not elaborate. For Obama, Iowa was the first of five stops in three days following a State of the Union speech in which he stressed the theme of income equality that is expected to be one of the cornerstones of his re-election campaign. He also wove in proposals to help restore the U.S. manufacturing base that has withered in the course of the recession that began in 2008.

"Our economy is getting stronger, and we've come too far to turn back now," he told workers and guests at a conveyor manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids. Speaking of Republicans, he said, "Their philosophy is simple: We're better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules."

It's a message that may be received differently depending on the local economy.

Iowa's unemployment was most recently measured at 5.6 percent, well below the national average. In Arizona, which has its primary in four weeks, joblessness is 8.7 percent, while Nevada's at 12.6, the highest in the country. Its caucuses are Feb. 4.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples in Florida contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaign_rdp

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The nations weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Monday, January 23, 2012.

The strong storm system of the Plains will continue to provide active weather to the East on Monday as the system lifts northeastward from the Central Plains to Wisconsin by the morning and Lake Superior by Monday evening. Moderate to heavy snowfall will fall in the northern edge of this system from the Mid-Mississippi Valley through the Upper Great Lakes. Meanwhile, abundant moisture ahead of this system will trigger a mix of rain, freezing rain, and snow in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Significant ice and snow accumulations will be possible by Monday evening. To the south, widely scattered showers with periods of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms will develop ahead of an associated frontal boundary moving through the Eastern Valleys and Gulf Coast States. Light to moderate showers will also be possible in the Mid-Atlantic, to the north of an associated warm front.

In the West, a powerful storm system carrying a significant plume of moisture will provide more rain showers and heavy high elevation snowfall to northern and central California. Isolated thunderstorms will also be possible across much of central California with locally heavy rain, gusty winds and small hail. Precipitation from this system will spread into the Central Great Basin, southern California, and the Southwest. Meanwhile, precipitation is expected to continue in the Northern Intermountain West. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Sunday have ranged from a morning low of -28 degrees at Clayton Lake, Maine to a high of 84 degrees at Robstown, Texas

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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Fantasy Shopper Confirms Its Hottness With $3.3m First Money From Accel And NEA

Fantasy Shopper is a social shopping game where players discover and share the latest fashion from real-world online and offline retailers. It's gained a lot of traction since it's launch last October, especially amongst women and we've heard on the grapevine that it was piquing the interest of investors for some months since emerging from the European Seed accelerator HackFWD. Today that intense interest has been confirmed with a first round of funding led by top tier venture firms Accel Partners and NEA (one of the key investors in Groupon) to enable it to build out engineering and expand into new cities other than London. With NEA co-leading the investment, clearly there is a big opportunity to scale in US cities and elsewhere. The investment is based on a convertible note not equity, which is standard practise when investors want in fast and the round is hotly contested.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/DVqMIhc1ajg/

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Senate GOP's next move awaited in nominations spat (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama's appointments to two key agencies during the Senate's year-end break ensures that GOP senators will return to work Monday in an angry and fighting mood.

Less clear is what those furious Republicans will do to retaliate against Obama's "bring it on" end run around the Senate's role in confirming nominees to major jobs.

While Republicans contemplate their next step, recess appointee Richard Cordray is running a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the National Labor Relations Board, with three temporary members, is now at full strength with a Democratic majority.

Obama left more than70 other nominees in limbo, well aware that Republicans could use Senate rules to block some or all of them.

The White House justified the appointments on grounds that Republicans were holding up the nominations to paralyze the two agencies. The consumer protection agency was established under the 2010 Wall Street reform law, which requires the bureau to have a director in order to begin policing financial products such as mortgages, checking accounts, credit cards and payday loans.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the five-member NLRB must have a three-member quorum to issue regulations or decide major cases in union-employer disputes.

Several agencies contacted by The Associated Press, including banking regulators, said they were conducting their normal business despite vacancies at the top. In some cases, nominees are serving in acting capacities.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., at full strength, has five board members. The regulation of failed banks "is unaffected," said spokesman Andrew Gray. "The three-member board has been able to make decisions without a problem." Cordray's appointment gives it a fourth member.

The Comptroller of the Currency, run by an acting chief, has kept up its regular examinations of banks. The Federal Trade Commission, operating with four board members instead of five, has had no difficulties. "This agency is not a partisan combat agency," said spokesman Peter Kaplan. "Almost all the votes are unanimous and consensus driven."

Republicans have pledged retaliation for Obama's recess appointments, but haven't indicated what it might be.

"The Senate will need to take action to check and balance President Obama's blatant attempt to circumvent the Senate and the Constitution, a claim of presidential power that the Bush Administration refused to make," said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is his party's top member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley wouldn't go further, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky hasn't tipped his hand after charging that Obama had "arrogantly circumvented the American people." Before the Senate left for its break in December, McConnell blocked Senate approval of more than 60 pending nominees because Obama wouldn't commit to making no recess appointments.

Republicans have to consider whether their actions, especially any decision to block all nominees, might play into Obama's hands.

Obama has adopted an election-year theme of "we can't wait" for Republicans to act on nominations and major proposals like his latest jobs plan. Republicans have to consider how their argument that the president is violating Constitutional checks and balances plays against Obama's stump speeches characterizing them as obstructionists.

Senate historian Donald Ritchie said the minority party has retaliated in the past for recess appointments by holding up specific nominees. "I'm not aware of any situations where no nominations were accepted," he said. The normal practice is for the two party leaders to negotiate which nominations get votes.

During the break, Republicans forced the Senate to convene for usually less than a minute once every few days to argue that there was no recess and that Obama therefore couldn't bypass the Senate's authority to confirm top officials. The administration said this was a sham, and has released a Justice Department opinion backing up the legality of the appointments.

Obama considers the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a signature achievement of his first term. Republicans have been vehemently opposed to the bureau's setup. They argued the agency needed a bipartisan board instead of a director and should have to justify its budget to Congress instead of drawing its funding from the independent Federal Reserve.

Cordray is expected to get several sharp questions from Republicans when he testifies Tuesday before a House Oversight and Government Reform panel.

The NLRB has been a target of Republicans and business groups. Last year, the agency accused Boeing of illegally retaliating against union workers who had struck its plants in Washington state by opening a new production line at its non-union plant in South Carolina. Boeing denied the charge and the case has since been settled, but Republican anger over it and a string of union-friendly decisions from the board last year hasn't abated.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_go_co/us_nominations_spat

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Razzies worst-movie awards shift to April Fool's (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Hollywood's award season is going to linger on through April Fool's Day this year.

Organizers of the Razzies have changed the schedule for their nominations and prize ceremony. The spoof on the Academy Awards picks the year's worst films.

The Razzies used to announce contenders the night before the Oscar nominations, which are coming Tuesday.

Razzies founder John Wilson announced Sunday that nominations this season will be released Feb. 25, the eve of the Oscar ceremony. Winners of the Razzies will be announced on April 1.

Wilson says Razzies organizers have long wanted to have their awards coincide with April Fool's Day.

A news release announcing the change also notes that it will give the 600 Razzies voters "additional time to see the dreck they will eventually nominate."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_en_mo/us_oscars_razzies

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Croats vote in EU membership referendum

Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic casts his ballot at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians vote Sunday in a nationwide referendum on whether to join the European Union, a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal among potential new members. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic casts his ballot at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians vote Sunday in a nationwide referendum on whether to join the European Union, a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal among potential new members. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

A voter casts his ballot at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians vote Sunday in a nationwide referendum on whether to join the European Union, a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal among potential new members. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

A voter casts his ballot at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians vote Sunday in a nationwide referendum on whether to join the European Union, a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal among potential new members. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians vote Sunday in a nationwide referendum on whether to join the European Union, a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal among potential new members. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Croatia's president Ivo Josipovic, left, fills his ballot paper at a polling station in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Croatians vote Sunday in a nationwide referendum on whether to join the European Union, a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost its appeal among potential new members. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) ? Croatians voted Sunday in a referendum on whether to join the European Union ? a test of how much the debt-stricken 27-nation bloc has lost in its appeal among aspiring new members.

Several pre-vote surveys suggest that between 56 and 60 percent of those who take part in the vote will answer "yes" to the question: "Do you support the membership of the Republic of Croatia in the European Union?"

Those who support the EU say their Balkan country's troubled economy ? burdened by recession, a euro48-billion ($61-billion) foreign debt and a 17 percent unemployment rate ? will revive due to access to wider European markets and job opportunities that the membership should bring.

"It's a big moment in our history ... we are joining more successful countries in Europe," Croatia's President Ivo Josipovic said after casting his ballot, adding that he expects a "Yes" vote in the referendum.

Opponents say Croatia has nothing to gain by entering the bloc, which is fighting off the bankruptcy of some of its members. They say that Croatia will only lose its sovereignty and the national identity it fought for in a war for independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

About 11 percent of the voters cast their ballots four hours into the referendum, the state electoral commission said. That is nearly five percent less than during parliamentary elections in December when a left-wing coalition ousted the conservatives.

"I voted against because I don't think we'll do well in the EU," said university student Matea Kolenc, 23. "I heard a lot of bad things about the EU, its economic situation and what it has to offer."

Croatia signed an EU accession treaty last year and is on track to become a member in July 2013, if Croat voters say yes and all of the bloc's states later ratify the deal.

The Balkan nation started negotiating its EU entry six years ago, but since then the popularity of the bloc has faded, as Croats realize that EU membership would not automatically lead to prosperity.

In a sign of deep divisions in Croatia over the membership, police clashed Saturday in downtown Zagreb with a group of nationalist protesters who attempted to take down an EU flag.

"We won't have any say in our own affairs any more," Natko Kovacevic, one of the organizers of the protest, told the crowd carrying banners reading "No to EU" and "I love Croatia."

Croatian officials, who have launched a pro-EU campaign ahead of the referendum, warned that a "no" vote would deprive the country of the much-needed accession funds, and that even the payment of pensions for retirees and war veterans could be in jeopardy.

Croatia has received around euro150 million ($193 million) in pre-accession assistance since 2007. It is to receive another euro150 million for 2012 and euro95 million ($122 million) in 2013.

"Clearly all that funding will be stopped if the Croats say no in the referendum," Croatia's Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said.

___

Eldar Emric contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-EU-Croatia-EU-Referendum/id-bdbce312a237486fb8dd8653e06a13ec

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