THG Presents: The Top 10 NBA Dunks of All-Time

Blake Griffin rocked both the rim and the Twitterverse last night, delivering a slam dunk over Kendrick Perkins that simply has to go down as one of the best in NBA history.

But where does it actually rank?

We spent far too long today and had far too much fun going back in time and collecting 10 noteworthy jams, from Blake and LeBron James in the past week to some all-time greats.

There's Shaquille O'Neal showing his might... Vince Carter humiliating Frederic Weis... Dwyane Wade going coast to coast over Anderson Varejao... more from Griffin... John Starks clinching a playoff win over the Bulls... Michael Jordan being Michael Jordan... Darryl Dawkins shattering a backboard... Baron Davis soaring over Andrei Kirilenko.

All incredible athletic feats, all posted below. View each ridiculous slam now and then cast your vote for the best:

Shaq Dunk Breaks Backboard

Vince Carter Dunk on Frederic Weis

Dwyane Wade Dunks on Varejao

Blake Griffin Dunks Over Kendrick Perkins

Blake Griffin Dunks vs. Knicks

LeBron Jumps, Dunks Over John Lucas III

John Starks: The Dunk

Michael Jordan Dunks Off Missed FT

Darryl Dawkins Dunk Shatters Backboard

Baron Davis Dunks on Kirilenko

Which was the greatest dunk ever?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/thg-presents-the-top-10-nba-dunks-of-all-time/

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Wall Street led lower as banks extend losses (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks extended losses on Monday, with all three major indexes falling more than 1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 125.79 points, or 0.99 percent, at 12,534.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 15.20 points, or 1.15 percent, at 1,301.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 32.14 points, or 1.14 percent, at 2,784.41.

(Reporting By Angela Moon)

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

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Occupy DC faces eviction as deadline passes

By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

?

An Occupy protester sits at the McPherson Square Occupy encampment in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2012.

Occupy protesters chanting "let us sleep so we can dream" set up a large, blue tarp with the words "tent of dreams" in the nation's capital as a noon deadline to end camping at some of the movement's last remaining large encampments passed.

The National Park Service said in a flier released Friday that it would begin enforcing regulations?prohibiting camping and the use of temporary structures for camping at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza. Individual violators may be subject to arrest and their property subject to seizure as evidence, the flier said.

Justin Jacoby Smith, a 25-year-old activist with OccupyKSt and member of their media team, said the protesters at McPherson Square had plans for the deadline but noted: ?We?re still sorting of keeping the specifics under wraps ? we like to have surprises when we can.?

Still, by noon the blue tarp, also decorated with the words "dream together" and yellow stars and a moon, could be seen in the square via a video livestream. "This is what democracy looks like," protesters chanted.

?Today what we?re trying to do is make sure that everyone knows that when you enforce a regulation against sleeping then you can?t dream of a better world, either ? when you can?t sleep, you can?t dream," he said. "We?re going to make sure that we still have the opportunity to dream and that the people in this demonstration that have no place else to go are kept safe from the criminalization of homelessness that this order effectively creates.?

Officers would be on site to monitor the situation and try to get protesters to comply, Carol Johnson, a Park Service spokeswoman, told msnbc.com on Friday. Compliance entails removing all camping materials and leaving one side of all temporary structures open.

?People can be there 24 hours a day, but they can?t live there, they can?t sleep there,? she said.

?We still do back the First Amendment, and it is their right. It is not their right to camp. And ... we would,?you know,?support them if they came into compliance and they had a vigil and they had tents that were there for logistical or symbolic purposes,? she added. "They can occupy as a vigil but not camping."

More than 80 arrests have occurred at the two sites, including for public urination, drunkenness, assault and drug use, she noted.

On Sunday,?a protester at one of the camps -- in McPherson Square -- was Tasered and arrested following a confrontation with law enforcement, according to NBCWashington.com. A video of the incident, posted on YouTube, shows the man yelling at officers, "We all know you're coming tomorrow."

Many of the Occupy camps were closed across the country last fall and early winter, and the sites in the nation's capital were two of the bigger outfits remaining.

The Park Service noted that two "compliant" 24-hour First Amendment vigils have been?running in Lafayette Park and near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial since the early 1980s. Johnson said they were "very small" vigils and also noted that they were not evicting the Occupy protesters.

But the McPherson Square camp said it was a de facto eviction: "Rather than own up to the fact that they're evicting us, the 'camping ban' allows NPS to pick us off one by one. Death by attrition," read a tweet from the OccupyKSt twitter account.

The action by the Park Service also comes after the House?Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Subcommittee held a hearing last week about the McPherson Square encampment.

"Late is better than never,"?Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the subcommittee on the District of Columbia, said in a statement after learning of park authorities' notice.?"I continue to wonder whether others who are 'camping' in national parks would have been afforded a 100-day grace period before the law was enforced."

Occupy groups across the country continue to assemble and organize protests, with about 400 demonstrators in Oakland arrested late Saturday after authorities thwarted their attempt to take over a vacant convention center for a new camp site. Some protesters broke into City Hall and smashed glass display cases and burned the?U.S. and California flags, while others ran into a YMCA to evade police.

At least three officers and one protester were injured. Mayor Jean Quan said the cost to the city related to the Occupy Oakland protests is about $5 million.

Related stories:

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10269917-occupy-dc-faces-eviction-as-deadline-passes

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Imax Corp signs deal with India's SPI Group (Reuters)

MUMBAI (Reuters) ? Imax Corp has signed a deal with India's SPI Group to build four theatres in India focusing on digitally enhanced "Bollywood" movies, Chief Executive Richard L. Gelfond said.

Imax, which now has three theatres in India, has been slow to build a presence in the country, which produces 1,000 films annually and tops in the world in movie attendance.

"This agreement puts us in position to build critical mass and consider the local release of Bollywood films, which will be key to the success and growth of Imax in this strategically important region of world," Gelfond told Reuters on Monday.

So far, the Canada-based company has released only Hollywood movies in India using its digital technology on its signature giant screens.

"In India, we cannot just build a world class market with North American films," Gelfond said. "We need to make Bollywood films an important factor."

About 90 percent of revenue of the film industry in India is from non-English language movies.

Imax also plans to eventually release Bollywood films in cities such as Toronto and New York, as well as in cities in South East Asia that have large Indian populations.

The annual revenue of India's film industry is projected to grow to $5 billion by 2014 from $3.2 billion in 2010, Imax said in a statement, citing industry reports.

Imax expects the theatres it is building with SPI to open over the next two years.

"Typically in India the partner becomes the licensee of the technology. So (SPI will) build the building and license the technology and we provide the films," Gelfond said.

Overall, the company plans to build five theatres in India in 2012 with SPI and other partners, and expects to have a total of 15 to 17 theatres in the country by the end of 2013.

"We can expect $1 million a year per screen," Gelfond said.

Imax's existing local partners include multiplex operator PVR Ltd and BIG Cinemas, which is part of Reliance Mediaworks owned by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

Chennai-based SPI Group has interests in infrastructure, retail, manufacturing and services, as well as entertainment.

Gelfond did not disclose financial details of the SPI deal but said the cost of converting a standard format film to Imax format in North America was between $1 million and $1.5 million.

Imax plans to focus on India and Brazil in 2012, he added.

"Out of the BRICS, Russia and China have been strong for us but Brazil and India have been a little bit slow and in 2012 one of our goals is to boost growth in South America and in India," Gelfond said.

Imax now has 75 screens in China, up from about a dozen in 2008, helped by a surge in local content along with Hollywood movies. The company plans to have 200 theatres in China within the next few years, he said.

In India, the company's growth has been hampered by low ticket prices -- often about half of those in Western countries -- and the small size of multiplexes.

"It is only now developers are building larger multiplexes with eight to 10 screens, and our JV with SPI is because they are building large theatres in India," Gelfond said.

The company is in talks with several developers to sign more joint venture agreements, he said.

($1=49.47 rupees)

(Editing by Rajesh Pandathil and Ted Kerr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/media_nm/us_imax_corp_deal

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Cancer sequencing initiative discovers mutations tied to aggressive childhood brain tumors

ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2012) ? St. Jude Children's Research Hospital -- Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has provided the first evidence linking cancer to mutations in genes involved in DNA organization. Researchers studying a rare, lethal childhood tumor of the brainstem discovered that nearly 80 percent of the tumors have mutations in genes not previously tied to cancer. Early evidence suggests the alterations play a unique role in other aggressive pediatric brain tumors as well.

The findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital -- Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) offer important insight into a poorly understood tumor that kills more than 90 percent of patients within two years. The tumor, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is found almost exclusively in children and accounts for 10 to 15 percent of pediatric tumors of the brain and central nervous system.

"We are hopeful that identifying these mutations will lead us to new selective therapeutic targets, which are particularly important since this tumor cannot be treated surgically and still lacks effective therapies," said Suzanne Baker, Ph.D., co-leader of the St. Jude Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program and a member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. She is a corresponding author of the study published in the January 29 online edition of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.

DIPG is an extremely invasive tumor that occurs in the brainstem, which is at the base of the skull and controls such vital functions as breathing and heart rate. DIPG cannot be cured by surgery and is accurately diagnosed by non-invasive imaging. As a result, DIPG is rarely biopsied in the U.S. and little is known about it.

Cancer occurs when normal gene activity is disrupted, allowing for the unchecked cell growth and spread that makes cancer so lethal. In this study, investigators found 78 percent of the DIPG tumors had alterations in one of two genes that carry instructions for making proteins that play similar roles in packaging DNA inside cells. Both belong to the histone H3 family of proteins. DNA must be wrapped around histones so that it is compact enough to fit into the nucleus. The packaging of DNA by histones influences which genes are switched on or off, as well as the repair of mutations in DNA and the stability of DNA. Disruption of any of these processes can contribute to cancer.

Researchers said that the mutations seem unique to aggressive childhood brain tumors.

"It is amazing to see that this particular tumor type appears to be characterized by a molecular 'smoking gun' and that these mutations are unique to fast-growing pediatric cancers in the brain," said Richard K. Wilson, Ph.D., director of The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and one of the study's corresponding authors. "This is exactly the type of result one hopes to find when studying the genomes of cancer patients."

The results are the latest from the PCGP, an ambitious three-year effort to sequence the complete normal and cancer genomes of 600 children with some of the most poorly understood and aggressive pediatric cancers. The human genome includes the complete set of instructions needed to assemble and sustain human life. The goal is to identify differences that explain why cancer develops, spreads and kills. Researchers believe the findings will provide the foundation for new tools to diagnose, treat or prevent the disease.

For this study, researchers sequenced the complete normal and cancer genomes of seven patients with DIPG. "The mutations were found at such high frequency in the cancer genomes of those seven patients that we immediately checked for the same alterations in a larger group of DIPGs," Baker said. When researchers sequenced all 16 of the related genes that make closely related variants of histone H3 proteins in an additional 43 DIPGs, they found many of the tumors contained the same mistakes in only two of these genes.

Of the 50 DIPG tumors included in this study, 60 percent had a single alteration in the makeup of the H3F3A gene. When the mutated gene was translated into a protein, the point mutation led to the substitution of methionine for lysine as the 27th amino acid in this variant of histone H3 protein. Another 18 percent of the DIPG patients carried the same mistake in a different gene, HIST1H3B.

Researchers are now working to understand how mutations in H3F3A and HIST1H3B impact cell function and contribute to cancer. Earlier research provides some clues. The lysine that is mutated is normally targeted by enzymes that attach other molecules to histone H3, influencing how it interacts with other proteins that regulate gene expression, Baker said. Mutations in the enzymes that target histone H3 have been identified in other cancers, but this is the first report showing a specific alteration of histones in cancer.

H3F3A and HIST1H3B were also mutated in other aggressive childhood brain tumors, glioblastoma, that develop outside the brain stem. Of 36 such tumors included in this study, 36 percent carried one of three distinct point mutations in the genes. The alterations included another single change in the makeup of H3F3A not found in DIPGs.

The histone H3 genes, however, were not mutated in any of the 252 other childhood tumors researchers checked for this study. The list included the brain tumors known as low-grade gliomas, medulloblastomas and ependymomas plus other cancers outside the brain and nervous system. The H3 changes have not been reported in any other cancers, including adult glioblastoma. "This suggests these particular mutations give a very important selective advantage, particularly in the developing brainstem and to a lesser degree in the developing brain, which leads to a terribly aggressive brain tumor in children, but not in adults," Baker said.

"This discovery would not have been possible without the unbiased approach taken by the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project," Baker said. "The mutations had not been reported in any other tumor, so we would not have searched for them in DIPGs. Yet the alterations clearly play an important role in generating this particular tumor."

The study's first authors are Gang Wu, Alberto Broniscer and Troy McEachron, all of St. Jude. The study's other corresponding authors are Jinghui Zhang and James Downing, both of St. Jude. The other study authors are Charles Lu, Li Ding and Elaine Mardis, all of Washington University; and Barbara Paugh, Jared Becksfort, Chunxu Qu, Robert Huether, Matthew Parker, Junyuan Zhang, Amar Gajjar, Michael Dyer, Charles Mullighan, Richard Gilbertson and David Ellison, all of St. Jude.

The research was funded in part by the PCGP, including Kay Jewelers, a lead project sponsor; the National Institutes of Health, the Sydney Schlobohm Chair of Research from the National Brain Tumor Society; the Cure Starts Now Foundation, Smile for Sophie Forever Foundation, Tyler's Treehouse Foundation, Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, the Noyes Brain Tumor Foundation and ALSAC.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Gang Wu, Alberto Broniscer, Troy A McEachron, Charles Lu, Barbara S Paugh, Jared Becksfort, Chunxu Qu, Li Ding, Robert Huether, Matthew Parker, Junyuan Zhang, Amar Gajjar, Michael A Dyer, Charles G Mullighan, Richard J Gilbertson, Elaine R Mardis, Richard K Wilson, James R Downing, David W Ellison, Jinghui Zhang, Suzanne J Baker. Somatic histone H3 alterations in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas and non-brainstem glioblastomas. Nature Genetics, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/ng.1102

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/WaN7w02bim8/120129151048.htm

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President Obama???s Mistakes Are Big News (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | There are some who would argue President Barack Obama's mistakes are old news, not big news at all. However, that he admits to them is big news.

Is that bad?

The caption is, "Obama admits to making mistakes" on a Yahoo! News blog posted Thursday. A headline denotes something newsworthy that we should pay attention to. It is a sad commentary on what is expected of American leaders to take issue with the admission of mistakes.

In this election year, everybody's mistakes are fair game. Newt Gingrich attacks Mitt Romney for his mistakes, and Romney counter-attacks. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum attack Gingrich and Romney. They all attack Obama. Each rebuttal gives lip service to mistakes or denies that they were made. Romney defends his handling of Bain Capital. Gingrich appears ashamed of his infidelity while married to his former mistress.

Obama's mistakes are available for public evaluation. His tense moments with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, described by ABC News, reveal that what he has perceived as "cordial" was not so for Brewer. The governor asserts Obama's treatment of her at a meeting that occurred in the past was condescending.

What if the president takes the time to really listen to Brewer and clear up the misperception? What if he looks at the blog post on CNN called "Obama's Five Big Mistakes," examine it for validity, then be articulate about correcting these mistakes?

What if Romney, Gingrich, Paul and Santorum took the position that they make mistakes and made public their process of examining and correcting these?

The problem with refusing to acknowledge a mistake is that as long as a mistake is defended it is not a mistake and can't be corrected. This is how leaders become committed to ideas that over time are revealed as mistakes.

If any of Romney's actions at Bain Capital were mistakes, he will repeat them unless he acknowledges them. Gingrich has acknowledged his marital mistakes in the hopes that by doing so he will convince voters that he has changed. This is good strategy, and appears to be working.

The Vietnam War was judged by many as a mistake. The question of whether it was or not was asked on Yahoo!, and voters on Yahoo! Answers judged the answer "No, it was not a good idea" as the best. Some believe it was not a mistake. Regardless of which was true, our leaders remained committed to the war for years and did not consider publicly that it was a mistake. Doing so might have meant we did it differently if at all, and perhaps the cost in human lives would not have been so appalling.

It would be extraordinary to see a headline that reads: "All the 2012 presidential candidates are admitting their mistakes."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120128/pl_ac/10891247_president_obamas_mistakes_are_big_news

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Private creditors: Deal with Greece close

Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leaves Maximos Mansion after a meeting with Greek Prime minister Lucas Papademos, Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, left, and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leave Maximos Mansion after a meeting Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Charles Dallara managing director of the Institute of International Finance arrives at Maximos Mansion for a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece and its private investors are close to a deal that will significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout.

Negotiators for the investors emerged from two weeks of talks Saturday to announce the tentative agreement, which they said could become final next week.

The investors, who hold euro206 billion worth of Greek debt, will receive new bonds whose face value is 50 percent of the existing bonds. The new bonds will have a longer maturity and also pay a lower interest rate than the existing bonds ? a further hit to investors. But without the deal, which will reduce Greece's debt load by more than euro100 billion, the bonds would likely become worthless.

The agreement taking shape is seen as a prerequisite for Greece to get a second, euro130 billion bailout from its European Union partners and the International Monetary Fund, although there are other issues involved before Greece can get that aid. This would be Greece's second bailout. The EU and the IMF signed off on a euro110 billion aid package for Greece in May 2010, most of which has already been disbursed.

Greece faces a euro14.5 billion bond repayment on March 20, which it cannot afford without additional help.

Private investors hold roughly two-thirds of Greece's debt, which has reached an unsustainable level ? nearly 200 percent of the country's economic output. By restructuring the debt held by private investors, Greece and its EU partners are hoping to bring its debt to economic output ratio closer to 120 percent over the next decade.

If no deal is reached and Greece is forced to default, it would very likely spook Europe's ? and possibly the world's ? financial markets. It could even lead Greece to withdraw from the euro.

The banks, insurance companies and other private holders of Greek bonds are being represented by Charles Dallara, managing director of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of the French bank BNP Paribas.

The main creditor negotiators will leave Greece on Sunday and will remain in close consultation with Greek and other authorities.

___

Elena Becatoros in Athens and Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-28-EU-Greece-Financial-Crisis/id-226359057bc2427a9714a3ecfc3af3b8

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Obama's State of the Union: An Optimistic President Talks to a Pessimistic Nation (Time.com)

Bristling with optimism and a can-do pep, President Obama asked for his pessimistic nation's attention on Tuesday night to announce he would not stand the naysayers any longer. "Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they're talking about," he said from the biggest lectern in the land on Tuesday night, during his annual State of the Union Address.

It was a startlingly blunt statement, even for a speech invariably laced with optimistic bromides. Polls throughout 2011 showed that huge majorities of the American people had come to the opposite conclusion; more than 2 out of every 3 voters in one October survey saw the country in decline. Yet the President was not willing to let this stand. He came out swinging, with positive data, happy anecdotes and an energy that he rarely displays these days when he's off the campaign trail. (See photos of the State of the Union.)

"The state of our union is getting stronger," he said, sounding like a football coach after a tough home loss. "We've come too far to turn back now." In the face of national dissatisfaction, he focused on the silver lining: The killing of Osama bin Laden, the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq, the resurrection of the American auto industry. He even promised things he could never deliver, like a return to uninterrupted American labor dominance in a globalized world. "If the playing field is level, I promise you: America will always win," he said.

As a piece of performance, it was uplifting. But the performance only went so far, given his audience. The President offered more than a dozen new proposals, from more money for infrastructure repairs, to increased investments in alternative energy, to corporate tax reforms and new limits on tuition increases. He spoke of the American spirit after World War II, and told the stories of two unemployed workers who had found new careers. But few of his legislative proposals had any hope of serious consideration in Congress, let alone passage in this election year.

A year ago, during the same address before the same body of lawmakers, Obama announced plans to spend the year "winning the future." The months that followed were mostly characterized by loss, with economic troubles at home and abroad, new depths of legislative dysfunction, and a political climate that surprised even the most hardened cynics. (See photos of special guests at State of the Union Addresses throughout the years.)

The residue of this funk set the scene Tuesday, as Republicans and Democrats scattered through the room failed more often than not to rise in applause with unity. As Obama spoke, House Speaker John Boehner looked on respectfully behind him, while his staff bombarded reporters with e-mail press releases that effectively accused the President of misleading the American people while embracing "a political gimmick."

Almost as soon as Obama had finished speaking, the Republican National Committee released a video called "Familiar Rhetoric, Failed Record" that highlighted nearly identical language in the 2011 and 2012 speeches. Afterwards, Utah Senator Mike Lee, one of the Republican freshmen, said he felt the President was trying to divide the nation and belittle its residents. "He's insulting the American people," Lee said. "He's saying, 'I'm going to do everything for you because you obviously can't do anything for yourselves.'"

If the speech has any lasting impact, it will likely be political. Between the exhortations of American greatness, the President laid out the central argument of his re-election campaign, a twist on Harry Truman's 1949 appeal for fairness. "We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules," Obama said.

Some of those different rules, he later explained, had to do with taxation. He called for eliminating certain deductions for those making more than $1 million, and for a new minimum tax on the same group, a change in the law that would directly impact his biggest primary rival, Mitt Romney, who pays a low percentage of his income in taxes because it comes from investment gains. Under Obama's new proposal, anyone making more than $1 million a year would have to pay at least 30% of the gross income in federal taxes. This proposal, as well, is essentially dead on arrival in Congress.

At one point, Obama seemed to directly address Romney's charge that the White House encourages class envy. "When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich," Obama said. "It's because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference -- like a senior on a fixed income; or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet. That's not right."

In other ways, Obama seemed to claim the rhetoric of Republicans as his own. Just as "winning the future" had been the title of a Newt Gingrich book, Obama proposed an "all of the above" energy strategy, stealing a campaign line from Texas governor Rick Perry. He spoke of "nation building right here at home," a line that had become a standard feature of Jon Huntsman's stump speech. Both Huntsman and Perry have since bowed out of the Republican race.

Obama, by contrast, is just beginning to publicly engage in his re-election campaign. He has settled on his optimistic message. Now he must hope that circumstances improve enough that the American people are ready to hear it.

Additional reporting by Katy Steinmetz

See TIME's 2011 Person of the Year: The Protester.

See TIME's Top 10 Everything of 2011.

View this article on Time.com

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120127/us_time/httpswamplandtimecom20120125obamasstateoftheunionanoptimisticpresidenttalkstoapessimisticnationiidslmainledexidrssfullnationyah

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Term 'states' rights' heard anew in election cycle

FILE - In this Saturday, April 19, 2008 file photo, Kelly Clarkson performs during a youth rally for Pope Benedict XVI at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y. Clarkson wasn't expecting such a harsh response when she tweeted on Dec. 29, 2011, her endorsement in the Republican presidential race. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, Pool/file)

FILE - In this Saturday, April 19, 2008 file photo, Kelly Clarkson performs during a youth rally for Pope Benedict XVI at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y. Clarkson wasn't expecting such a harsh response when she tweeted on Dec. 29, 2011, her endorsement in the Republican presidential race. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, Pool/file)

FILE - In this July 17, 1948 file photo, South Carolina Gov. Strom Thurmond reacts to applause from Dixiecrat's State's Rights Convention delegates in Birmingham, Ala. after being nominated by the Dixiecrats for the presidency of the United States. At left is Walter Sillers, convention chairman, using a gavel to call for order. Since the late Sen. Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948 as a States' Rights Democrat, or "Dixiecrat," the phrase has sometimes been labeled a "dog whistle" for racist elements in the electorate. (AP Photo/file)

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidates, from left, Texas Gov. Rick Perry. former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, pose for a photo at the start of the South Carolina Republican presidential candidate debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, gestures during a Republican Presidential debate Monday Jan. 23, 2012, at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accompanied by his wife Callista speaks during an event at a Holiday Inn, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, in Cocoa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? Pop singer Kelly Clarkson wasn't expecting such a harsh response when she tweeted her endorsement in the Republican presidential race.

"I love Ron Paul," she wrote late last month. Later, in a radio interview, she elaborated, "He believes in states having their rights, and I think that that's very important."

Clarkson received hundreds of replies, some lambasting Paul and at least one suggesting that the "American Idol" winner choose her words more carefully.

In particular, two words: "states" and "rights" ? which for some stir memories, even when unintended, of an era of racial injustice.

As the Republican presidential campaign has turned south, into the region that seceded from the Union 150 years ago, old debates about state and federal authority echo anew in phrases used by candidates, their supporters and the news media.

Even before the Civil War, "states' rights" had become a byword for the protection of black slavery. And since the late Sen. Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948 as a States' Rights Democrat, or "Dixiecrat," the phrase has sometimes been labeled a "dog whistle" for racist elements in the electorate.

None of that was on Clarkson's mind. After a barrage of responses to her Dec. 29 tweet, the 29-year-old Texan told fans, "My eyes have been opened to so much hate." And she emphasized, "I do not support racism."

Sociologist and author John Shelton Reed, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was not surprised that someone of Clarkson's youth would fail to recognize the "baggage that 'states' rights' carries."

Still, he says, hearing the term employed by people like Paul ? and also by Texas Gov. Rick Perry before he quit the race ? "it's clear that we've turned some kind of page."

Paul, Perry and others referred to the Constitution's 10th Amendment, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The shorthand "states' rights" came later.

"Any time I hear it, I get this sort of little twitch, because I associate it with Ross Barnett or George Wallace," says University of Georgia historian James Cobb, referring to the governors of Mississippi and Alabama who, five decades ago, defied efforts to integrate their states' flagship universities. "But members of the younger generation, it doesn't have that kind of connotation to them at all. And whether this is to some extent the fault of those of us who are supposed to be educating the younger generations about their past, I can't say."

As Republicans prepared for the primary season, writer David Azerrad drafted a list of "New Year's Resolutions for Conservatives." No. 1 was "Speak of Federalism, not 'States' Rights.'"

"Not only is it incorrect to speak of states' rights, but the expression has more baggage than Samsonite and Louis Vuitton combined," Azerrad, assistant director of The Heritage Foundation's B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics, wrote on the organization's "Foundry" blog. "In case you didn't know, 'states' rights' was the rallying cry of segregationists. Since no right-thinking conservative will keep company with such people, let's just drop the term states' rights once and for all."

In a speech before the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas last April, Perry warned that the idea behind the term was in danger: "Over the years and decades, Washington has extended its reach bit by bit, until the sound concepts behind the 10th Amendment were blurred and lost and the idea of states' rights has become increasingly disregarded."

In an October candidates' debate in Las Vegas, Paul, a 12-term congressman from Texas who ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988, used the term to describe his position on the proposed national nuclear waste disposal facility at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

"I approach it from a states' rights position," he said. "What right does 49 states have to punish one state and say, 'We're going to put our garbage in your state?' I think that's wrong."

Others in the GOP field make a point of supporting the 10th Amendment while avoiding the sensitive language. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won last week's South Carolina primary, is a case in point.

Back in 2005, when blogger John Hawkins asked him about a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, Gingrich replied, "Well, I think that the question is whether or not the Congress could pass a law which protected marriage or whether, because of states' rights, Congress does not have the ability to then enforce that without a constitutional amendment."

More recently, Gingrich appears to have dumped the loaded term. For example, in announcing the formation of Team 10, his Facebook page described it as an effort to work with Americans "to develop ideas for enforcing the 10th Amendment and returning power back home."

Asked at a recent candidate event whether he thought states had the right to nullify a law under the 10th Amendment if they believed it to be unconstitutional, former Sen. Rick Santorum answered carefully. "We had a war about nullification," he said, adding that states could instead litigate such an issue in federal court.

Paul, appearing last month on "The Tonight Show," parsed the concept, too. "Well, you know, we all use the word 'states' rights,'" he said. "But in a way, states don't have rights. Only individuals have rights. But the authority and the power goes to the states."

In a Jan. 4 column on STLtoday.com, former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith, a Democrat, called the "exaltation" of states' rights a "dog whistle to Republican voters conditioned by a generation of Republican politicians and operatives before them who exploited racial fears for personal and partisan advancement."

Candidates denied any such hidden agenda or secret coding.

Whatever reaction it evokes, Cobb, the Georgia historian, said the term has clearly lost much of its sting.

"It's just become part of the lexicon, without any particular meaning," he says. "It's been historically decontextualized to the point that it can be thrown around by a lot of people without a second thought."

Reed, the UNC professor, said that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"I do believe states' rights was a sound doctrine that got hijacked by some unsavory customers for a while ? like, 150 years or so," he said. "I'm professionally obliged to believe that knowledge is better than ignorance, but some kinds of forgetting are OK with me."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. He can be reached at features(at)ap.org.

Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/(hash)!/AllenGBreed

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-26-Campaign-States'%20Rights/id-373664bb95c74cd1bf44b475d22d940e

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Labor board chief to press for new union rules

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The chairman of the National Labor Relations Board hopes to have another round of regulations in place by the end of the year that would make it easier for unions to establish and win representation elections in workplaces.

Undeterred by Republican protests, Mark Pearce said he will urge the board to approve the new rules now that it has a full component of five members after President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate to fill three vacancies.

"We keep our eye on the prize," Pearce said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Our goal is to create a set of rules that eliminate a lot of waste of time, energy and money for the taxpayers."

One change Pearce wants is requiring businesses to hand over lists of employee phone numbers and emails to union leaders before an election.

He also wants the board to consider other rule changes it didn't have time to approve before it lost a quorum last year. They include the use of electronic filings and quicker timetables for certain procedures.

"My personal hope is that we take on all of these things and consider each one of these rules," Pearce said. "We presume the constitutionality of the president's appointments and we go forward based on that understanding."

GOP leaders have challenged the recess appointments as unconstitutional, saying the Senate was not technically in recess when Obama acted. Republicans had threatened to block confirmation votes on any nominees to fill the three NLRB vacancies, saying the board was making too many union-friendly decisions.

If the board decides to propose the new rules, they would expand on sweeping regulations approved in December that speed up the process for holding union elections at work sites after unions collect enough signatures from employees. Those rules are slated to take effect on April 30.

While the first round of rules won praise from union leaders, business groups claim they allow "ambush elections" that won't give employers enough time to talk to employees about whether to choose a union.

Business groups and their Republican allies say the latest push confirms their fears that the new board ? now led by three Democrats and two Republicans ? will approve even more rules that make it easier for unions to organize new members.

"I knew this was going to happen," said Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. "The NLRB has lost all pretense of objectivity in my judgment."

White House officials say Obama was justified in going around the Senate since some Republicans had vowed to block any nominations in order to paralyze the NLRB. The five-member board is not allowed to consider cases or rules unless it has a quorum of at least three members.

Randel Johnson, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president on labor issues, said he is surprised the board would try to adopt even more new rules that businesses fiercely oppose.

"If they're going to go forward on that basis, I think that removes any pretense at all that they are not in the back pocket of the union movement," Johnson said.

AFL-CIO spokeswoman Alison Omens called Pearce's comments "a reasonable, balanced approach to ensure that every person has a voice on the job."

"The board is obviously taking modest steps to create a level playing field and bring stability to a process that's been outdated," Omens said.

Republicans in Congress are vowing to put more pressure on the agency, with at least two hearings on the NLRB recess appointments planned next month before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Judiciary Committee.

"If the board is determined to continue advancing it's pro-union agenda, House Republicans will continue to maintain aggressive oversight," said Brian Newell, spokesman for education committee Chairman John Kline, R-Minn.

Pearce said he wants the NLRB to become "a household word" for all workers, not just those affiliated with organized labor.

"We want the agency to be known as the resource for people with workplace concerns that may have nothing to do with union activities," he said.

He said many workers don't understand that they can seek recourse with the NLRB to protect rights that exist outside of union protections.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-25-Labor%20Board-Union%20Elections/id-0cd1e59688c945f59075a47e000a879e

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Video: Obama's Economic Approval Rating Rising?

Vin Weber, Clark & Weinstock; Meghan McCain, Daily Beast; and Matt K. Lewis, Daily Caller, discussing the President's economic approval rating, and whether his State of the Union address, gained him some points.

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British-based all-star concert to debut in NYC (AP)

NEW YORK ? The Secret Policeman's Ball is letting America in on the party: The British-based music and comedy festival is coming to New York in March.

Coldplay, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Mumford & Sons and Russell Brand are among the acts who have signed on for the event at Radio City Music Hall on March 4. The concert will benefit Amnesty International, as it has since it started back in 1976 with celebrities like John Cleese. Over the years, Bono, Sting and others have participated. This will mark the first time it's being held in New York City.

"For us, it's iconic and a very special thing, and has provided the opportunity to really celebrate the presence of freedom of expression and free speech, and how we can move people and how we can bring people together, and just how powerful that is," said Amnesty International spokesman Andy Hackman in an interview Tuesday.

The last Secret Policeman's Ball was in 2008 in London. Hackman said the organization wanted to do something different and on a grander scale this year since it's the 50th anniversary of the human rights group.

"That phrase `human rights' has lost meaning in some ways," he said. "That's why we want to demonstrate the power and the joy that free speech can bring to us all. ... It's really just using these amazing talented people to demonstrate the power, what a force of good free speech is."

David "DJ" Javerbaum, the former head writer and executive producer for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," said the show will feature sketches, music and more. He said the legacy of the Secret Policeman's Ball, which has lived on in videos, has helped it attract top talent, some of which are still to be announced.

"These are very seminal movies for anybody young in that age who wanted to get into comedy," he said.

Tickets go on sale on Monday.

___

Online:

http://www.facebook.com/secretpoliceman

___

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_mu/us_secret_policeman_s_ball

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Web music revenue growth stuck in single figures (AP)

LONDON ? A report by the global music industry lobbying group says the growth in digital revenues remains stuck in the single figures.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry blames piracy and government sluggishness for the failure of online business to take off.

While a report out Monday says that digital revenue has risen by 8 percent over the past year one analyst says that isn't nearly enough to make up for the decline in sales elsewhere.

Independent media analyst Mark Mulligan says that in Britain and the United States "we've already lost half of the music market in the past 10 years."

IFPI chief Frances Moore acknowledged that digital growth "should be much higher" but said that widespread piracy still posed a challenge to the industry.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_en_ot/eu_digital_music

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Study: Heartburn drugs don't aid children's asthma (AP)

CHICAGO ? An acid reflux drug often used for hard-to-treat asthma doesn't help children with the breathing disease and may cause side effects, a study in 300 children found.

The results echo recent research showing that a similar heartburn drug didn't work in adults with asthma.

Use of these heavily promoted acid-blocking drugs, called proton pump inhibitors, has more than doubled in U.S. children in recent years, but the study results suggest doctors should put the brakes on that practice, said University of Arizona asthma expert Dr. Fernando Martinez.

The study found children on prescription Prevacid pills had more colds, sore throats and bronchitis infections than those given dummy pills. There were also signs that children given Prevacid were prone to broken bones. That finding was weak and could have been due to chance. But Martinez said it is worrisome, given a Food and Drug Administration advisory about fracture risks in adults using these drugs long-term. And he urged "great caution" in prescribing these drugs to all children, not just those with asthma.

The study and an editorial by Martinez were released Tuesday in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Acid reflux involves stomach acid backing up into the throat, causing irritation and often symptoms including heartburn. Asthma is an unrelated lung disease involving narrowed airways, with symptoms including wheezing, breathing difficulties and coughs. Sometimes acid reflux can cause similar respiratory symptoms and in children it often occurs without heartburn.

Some doctors believe that airway irritation caused by acid reflux may make asthma worse, and that undiagnosed acid reflux might be a reason why some people on standard asthma medicines continue to have symptoms. Prescribing acid-blocking drugs is thus common in people with poorly controlled asthma even if they have no obvious symptoms of reflux.

Previous research by some of the same study authors found that another acid-blocking drug, Nexium, didn't improve asthma symptoms in adults. Still, those drugs continue to be widely used in patients with asthma but no reflux symptoms, said Janet Holbrook, a researcher at Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health, lead author of the new children's study.

Holbrook said results from both studies likely apply to all proton pump inhibitor drugs, including those sold over the counter. Prevacid became available without a prescription during the study.

The new study involved about 300 children and teens at 19 centers whose asthma wasn't adequately controlled by steroid drugs. Half were given daily Prevacid pills for six months; the others received dummy pills.

Asthma symptoms didn't improve in either group. They also didn't improve in a subgroup of study kids who had airway tests that revealed undiagnosed reflux disease, Holbrook said.

Bronchitis was twice as common in kids on Prevacid, and they were also 30 percent more likely than the others to develop colds and sore throats.

It's unclear if those symptoms were caused by the reflux drug. But it's possible that these drugs interfere with helpful bacteria in the body that fight infection, said Dr. Chitra Dinakar, an asthma specialist at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo. who took part in the study

Dinakar said she will no longer be inclined to prescribe powerful acid-blocking drugs for kids with asthma but no obvious signs of reflux.

Dr. Daniel Searing, an allergy and asthma specialist at National Jewish Health in Denver, said the study provides important information to pediatricians wondering if the previous study in adults was applicable to children.

The National Institutes of Health and American Lung Association paid for the study.

___

Online:

JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org

Asthma: http://1.usa.gov/tAQMLv

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_he_me/us_med_asthma_acid_reflux

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Newt blows GOP race wide open (Politico)

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Less than two weeks ago, Mitt Romney seemed all but certain to become the Republican presidential nominee.

But after being thoroughly routed Saturday by Newt Gingrich in a primary Romney seemed likely to win just days earlier, the GOP frontrunner appears weaker than ever and the race seems likely to last at least until the spring.

Continue Reading

Newt claims victory in S.C.

Winners and losers in 60 seconds

South Carolina historically brings clarity to Republican primary campaigns. This year, the Palmetto State has delivered drama, confusion and sparked a sense of growing concern for party elders.

With three separate candidates taking the first three states, none of the contenders has a convincing hold on the campaign. A contest that appeared increasingly clear following New Hampshire is now scrambled to the point that a protracted delegate battle is a real possibility.

Newt Gingrich heads into Florida emboldened by two assets that will test Romney?s organization and money there: the momentum from a double-digit victory and a conservative base that appears to be coalescing.

But the results here revealed Romney?s weakness as much as they hinted at Gingrich?s potential.

The establishment favorite didn?t just lose South Carolina ? he got thrashed. Less than a week after he was leading in the polls here, Romney found himself taking a twelve-point beating and dropping all but three counties of the state?s 46 counties.

Romney?s thumping defeat ? and his verbal miscues in the days before the election ? has many Republicans worried that he?s a more brittle candidate than they thought. As in the past, he had difficulty connecting with the party base and was walloped by Gingrich among conservatives and voters supportive of the Tea Party. It?s the former speaker who is captivating party activists looking for somebody to channel their burn-it-down anger toward President Obama and elites.

?I think a lot of folks saw some fight from Newt Gingrich, really going on offense, and I think our nominee needs to understand that America is really concerned about the direction of our country,? Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said in an interview. ?They know there are powerful forces in Washington and the media pushing us in the wrong direction. They want to make sure that the Republican nominee has got the courage and, you know, fire in his gut to go after that. And I think they saw a little bit of that in Newt.?

But the statement made in South Carolina wasn?t entirely about Gingrich?s attributes. He also served as a vessel for rank-and-file voters to send a message.

?The Republican primary electorate does not intend to do what the Republican establishment tells them,? said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a longtime strategist, comparing voters here to the independent-minded class of House GOP freshman.

It was impossible not to see the results as an indictment of Romney, though. The pulses of conservative activists just don?t go racing for the frontrunner ? and he?s paying a price for his inability to capture his party?s spirit.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71778_html/44262338/SIG=11mjvoaiq/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71778.html

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Khloe & Lamar Season 2 Preview: Welcome to Dallas!

The E! reality show circus is about to mess with Texas.

A couple months after Lamar Odom successfully lobbied for a trade, season two of Khloe & Lamar will premiere with a focus on the big move, as the couple heads from Los Angeles to Dallas, bringing Robert Kardashian along for some reason.

Will they find a new house in the area? How is Odom akin to a box of chocolate? What what hilarious show returns following this February 19 premiere? Watch the following promo for these answers and more!

Khloe & Lamar Season 2 Promo

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/khloe-and-lamar-season-2-preview-welcome-to-dallas/

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RIM's CEOs Finally Step Down [Rim]

RIM's co-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie aka the keyboard loving odd couple, are finally realizing they're running BlackBerry into the ground and jumping ship before it's too late. That is, Lazaridis and Balsillie are out at RIM. Done. Gone. Bye bye. The new CEO is former COO Thorsten Heins. He has quite the job ahead of him. [The Globe and Mail More »

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Protesters to demonstrate outside US courthouses

NEW YORK (AP) ? Protesters plan to "occupy" courthouses in more than 100 cities across the U.S. on Friday to protest a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that removed most limits on corporate and labor spending in federal elections.

The grassroots coalition, called Move to Amend, said the protest will kick off petition drives to gain support for a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United v. FEC, a 2010 court ruling that allowed private groups to spend huge amounts on political campaigns with few restrictions. Occupy Wall Street activists are joining the protest.

"The courts created the idea that the corporation is a person with constitutional rights," said David Cobb, an Occupy the Courts organizer. "It's the justification for the whole corporate takeover of our government."

A last-minute court dispute left the status of the protest in New York City unclear. A judge on Thursday ruled that demonstrators do not have a First Amendment right to protest in front of a Manhattan federal courthouse.

Protesters had filed a lawsuit asking the judge to overturn the government's rejection of their permit application. The permit had been denied on grounds that the courthouse poses unique security concerns.

In light of the ruling, protesters did not announce whether the event would be moved to another location.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-20-Occupy%20the%20Courts/id-01a5a420fe2f4aa38fd9af659d3cdf8e

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Jerry Brown's defiant State of the State: California is still golden

With chronic budget woes engulfing California, many analysts had expected a 'gloom and doom' State of the State address from Gov. Jerry Brown. They got nothing of the sort. ?

California Gov. Jerry Brown defied expectations Wednesday, delivering a State of the State speech that was?unapologetically ambitious and even visionary despite a perpetual budget crisis that has, in recent years, dimmed the luster of the Golden State.

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Governor Brown had been expected to use his address to further persuade voters to support a ballot initiative that asks voters to raise taxes on themselves ? a last-ditch effort to solve California's chronic budget shortfalls. Instead, he attempted to rally Californians to a sense of common purpose and destiny.

The state which birthed Apple, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Twitter, Facebook, and ?countless other creative companies ? is still the land of dreams,? he said.??Rumors of [California?s] demise are greatly exaggerated.?

It was the platform for?an exhaustive list of goals that Brown laid out for California: stimulate jobs, build renewable energy, launch the nation?s only high-speed rail system, reach agreement on a plan to fix the Delta, improve schools, reform pensions, and ?make sure prison realignment is working.?

?He came in a fighting mood that spoke to the critics ? me included ? who think there is only so much we can do," said Sherry Jeffe of the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development, in a post-speech analysis on KQED radio. "This is the ambitious agenda he suggested when he ran for governor saying, 'I'm too old to mess around.' It was not all gloom and doom. A lot of us didn?t expect that."

During the 15-minute speech he thanked the Legislature for passing a tough budget in 2011 and cited?positive economic statistics, such as: ?In 2011, California personal income grew by almost $100 billion, and 230,000 jobs were created ? a rate much higher than the nation.?

He also directly disputed the findings of an independent commission, which recommended last week that?California?not proceed with its first-in-the-nation, high-speed rail network because it can?t afford the $20 billion price tag.?

?Critics of the high-speed rail project abound, as they often do when something of this magnitude is proposed," he said. "The Panama Canal was for years thought to be impractical and [British politician] Benjamin Disraeli himself said of the?Suez Canal: 'Totally impossible to be carried out.' "

"The critics were wrong then, and they?re wrong now,? he said.

Some analysts say the speech was a success.?

?He is realistic and honest and his agenda is out in the open," says Barbara O?Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. "He had enough in there to alienate most groups in California or provide an opportunity for their constructive involvement depending on their view."

"It was a speech of humility and recognition of all the key issues without claiming to be an expert on them," she adds.

But others were not so impressed.

?The governor tried to be both realistic and inspirational, but the two parts of the speech were in conflict,? says Jack Pitney, professor of government at?Claremont?McKenna?College, in an e-mail. ?On the one hand, he talked about the necessity of spending cuts and tax increases. On the other hand, he renewed his support for a monstrously expensive high-speed rail system."

"He sounded like a father telling his kids that they had to go without breakfast so that he could buy a?Cadillac,? Professor Pitney adds.

Michael Shires,?a political scientist at?Pepperdine?University, agrees that such promises sound good in a speech, but not when voters really consider them.

?I think voters will feel differently about approving a $20 billion rail project when they realize they can fly to?Oakland?for $50 on Southwest,? says Professor Shires.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/YOfKkp_dceY/Jerry-Brown-s-defiant-State-of-the-State-California-is-still-golden

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