A new commercial space venture sponsored by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen?has broken ground on a California production facility to build a giant mothership for private rocket launches.
The Huntsville, Ala.-based company Stratolaunch Systems began construction on the new factory on Jan. 20 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave in California, where the company plans to build the biggest aircraft in history to launch spacecraft into orbit.
"Today marks the start of an exciting journey for us," said Gary Wentz, CEO and President of Stratolaunch Systems, in a statement. "Over the next year, we will have a visible presence in the Antelope Valley with two new facilities and a pair of 747-400 aircraft which will undergo salvage to supply parts and subsystems for integration into our carrier aircraft. We look forward to many years of great work in Mojave."
The giant, twin boom Stratolaunch carrier plane will be assembled from pieces of two 747 airliners, combined with aircraft components designed by the Scaled Composites company, which also builds commercial firm Virgin Galactic's suborbital space plane fleet.
Stratolaunch's 385 feet-wide (117 meter) carrier plane will carry a multi-stage rocket booster to an altitude of about 30,000 feet (9,100 meters). The rocket booster will then separate from the mothership and launch its a space capsule the rest of the way into orbit. The system is designed to deliver cargo, and eventually humans, to low-Earth orbit.
"This is not a sketch," Scaled Composites founder Rutan said when the venture was unveiled in December. "It exists in hundreds of detailed drawings, and it's relatively close to [being built] as soon as we can get a building big enough."
That new fabrication building will cover 88,000 square feet?(8,200 square meters). Nearby, a 92,640 square foot?(8,600 square meter) hangar will serve as an assembly and test facility for the aircraft.
To be constructed by Bakersfield-based Wallace and Smith General Contractors, the fabrication facility is scheduled to be complete by late 2012, and the hangar finished by 2013.
Stratolaunch Systems aims to fly its first test flight in 2015, with a first operational launch slated for 2016.
You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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The genetic condition Trisomy 18 made the news late Saturday when Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum had to cancel appearances in Florida ahead of the state's primary to be by his youngest daughter Bella's side as she was taken to the hospital. Bella is known to have the genetic condition, which kills 90 percent of the children afflicted with the chromosomal anomaly before or during birth, according to ABC News.
What is Trisomy 18?
Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, is an anomaly in which a fetus has three full or partial copies of chromosome 18 present. In a typical pregnancy, a child would have only two of each chromosome. The condition occurs in 1 in 3,000 live births. It is usually fatal either before or during birth, although some children, like three-year old Bella Santorum, survive longer.
Only 5 percent to 10 percent of children born with this condition make it to their first birthday because the presence of the anomaly comes with severe physical and mental difficulties. According to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, few children make it to their teens and young adulthood with Trisomy 18, but that is extremely rare.
Two of the three types of Trisomy 18 are independently occurring anomalies, which means they are not hereditary and passed from parent to child. Approximately 95 percent of those children with Trisomy 18 have what is referred to as "full" Trisomy 18, which means that the third chromosome 18 exists throughout the entire body. Trisomy 18 is three times more likely to occur in females rather than males.
How is it different than Trisomy 21?
Trisomy 21 is the most common chromosomal anomaly in children. Otherwise known as Down's syndrome, Trisomy 21 does not present with the same severity of physical difficulties that are par for the course with Trisomy 18. At least half of the people with Down's Syndrome can now expect to live a more typical life span, where that is not the case with Trisomy 18, according to EmaxHealth.
What are the symptoms and difficulties of Trisomy 18?
Trisomy 18 interferes with a fetus' normal development. As such, it can cause a host of physical and mental problems. Physical issues include a small head, small jaw, malformed ears, unusually shaped chest, signs of congenital heart disease, malformed or malfunctioning kidneys, clenched hands, and feet with a rounded bottom, among other conditions, according to the National Institutes of Health's MedLine Plus. Mental deficiencies are also a hallmark of the condition.
Is there any way to prevent Trisomy 18?
Not at this time. A test can be done while the child is still in utero to determine whether or not the condition is present, but it cannot be halted or reversed if discovered.
Vanessa Evans is a musician and freelance writer based in Michigan, with a lifelong interest in health and nutrition issues.
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The two leading candidates in Florida's Republican primary, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, are staying focused on voters with events around the state this weekend.
On Saturday, Romney has events planned in Pensacola and Panama City. Gingrich will be in Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Brooksville, Orlando, Winter Park and West Palm Beach.
Far away from Florida, Ron Paul is hosting a town hall Saturday morning at the University of Southern Maine, in Gorham, and similar events later in the day in the Maine towns of Freeport and Alfred.
Rick Santorum left Florida for a quick trip to Pennsylvania and plans to host a fundraiser Saturday night in Washington, D.C.
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney smiles as his wife Ann introduces him at The Hispanic Leadership Network's Lunch at Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Fla., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney smiles as his wife Ann introduces him at The Hispanic Leadership Network's Lunch at Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Fla., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during Hispanic Leadership Network conference at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, participates in the Republican presidential candidates debate in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum participates in the Republican presidential candidates debate in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
DORAL, Fla. (AP) ? Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney urged conservatives to back off aggressive anti-immigration policies as the Republican presidential candidates vied for Hispanic votes Friday, entering the final, frenzied weekend before Florida's primary.
"I'm very concerned about those who are already here illegally and how we deal with those 11 million or so," Romney said. "My heart goes out to that group of people... We're not going to go around and round people up in buses and ship them home."
The compassionate approach, like Gingrich's calls for politically practical reform, were aimed at improving the Republican Party's tarnished reputation among Hispanics. The candidates also called for democracy in Cuba and across Latin America, touching a theme that caused clashes between the GOP front-runners at Thursday night's debate in Jacksonville.
Both men delivered speeches Friday to the same crowd of Hispanic leaders meeting in Miami but avoided criticizing each other in what now looks like a two-man race for the nomination.
Immigration is a flashpoint issue in Florida for the GOP candidates, who are trying to strike a balance between sounding compassionate and firm about stemming the tide of illegal workers. The state has roughly 1.5 million Hispanic voters.
Gingrich pushed for a measured approach to revising the nation's immigration laws, "because any bill you write that is comprehensive has too many enemies." The former House speaker says he wants stricter border control, faster deportation proceedings and a guest-worker program for certain immigrants.
Gingrich called for a U.S.-supported "Cuban spring" uprising against the long-standing communist government.
If elected, Gingrich said, he would bring to bear "the moral force of an American president who is serious about intending to free the people of Cuba, and willingness to intimidate those who are the oppressors and say to them, 'You will be held accountable.'"
Romney said the United States needs to work harder to promote democracy across Latin America and elsewhere. He compared it to selling soda: "We convince people around the world to buy a brown, caramel-colored water called Coca-Cola and to pay like a half day's wage for it. And they'll buy it. It's unbelievable. We're able to convince people of things that sometimes you scratch your head. ... And yet democracy, we don't sell that so well."
Romney also pledged to appoint a Latin American envoy and to create a task force to focus on drug trafficking and other issues.
Hours after the speech, Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno formally pledged support for Romney.
The endorsement of a man sometimes mentioned as a potential GOP running mate came hours after Romney and Gingrich said Puerto Rico should be granted statehood if local voters approve a looming referendum.
The discussion Friday was mild in comparison to their debate clash sparked by immigration issues.
Gingrich responded to a question Thursday night by saying Romney was the most anti-immigrant of all four contenders on stage. "That's simply inexcusable," the former Massachusetts governor responded.
Gingrich fired back that Romney misled voters by running an ad accusing the former House speaker of once referring to Spanish as "the language of the ghetto." Gingrich said he was referring to a multitude of languages, not just Spanish.
Romney initially said of the ad, "I doubt it's mine," but moderator Wolf Blitzer pointed out that Romney, at the ad's conclusion, says he approved the message.
Gingrich rushed out an ad Friday using debate footage that raised questions about Romney's credibility, including his reluctance to own up to the "ghetto" commercial. "If we can't trust Romney in a debate, how can we trust him in the White House," a narrator says in the Gingrich ad.
The debate was the 19th since the race for the Republican nomination began last year, and came five days before the Florida primary on Tuesday. Opinion polls show a close race, with a slight advantage for Romney. Two other contenders, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, were far behind.
Paul has already made clear his intention to skip Florida in favor of smaller states that cost less to campaign in. On Friday, he began a two-day visit to snowy Maine.
Santorum, who had been campaigning aggressively here, conceded that he's better off sitting at his kitchen table Saturday doing his taxes instead of campaigning in a state where he can't keep up with the GOP front-runners.
Outside advisers were urging him to pack up completely and not spend another minute in Florida, where he is cruising toward a third straight loss.
The cash-strapped Santorum said he'll make a handful of Florida campaign stops but will finish Friday with his family in Pennsylvania, where he'll spend all day Saturday. He planned to return to Florida for campaign events on Sunday.
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DEARBORN, Mich. ? Ford has shown it can make money even with U.S. car sales at depressed levels. Now it needs to show it can manage a myriad of challenges outside its home region.
North America was the only region where Ford Motor Co. saw profits rise in the fourth quarter and in all of 2011. Everywhere else the automaker lost money or saw profits fall, hurt by nervous consumers in Europe, flooding in Asia and aging products in South America. Costs rose faster than expected, too.
Ford reported $13.62 billion in net income, but investors brushed off the result because most of that came from an accounting change. Excluding that change, earnings totaled $1.1 billion, or 20 cents a share, down 15 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010. Ford missed Wall Street's expectations by 5 cents.
The stock price took an early hit but recovered once the company promised better ? if still bumpy ? results in 2012. Shares fell 4 percent to close at $12.21.
Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said the Thai flooding and the rising cost of steel and other commodities hurt Ford more than analysts expected.
The November floods, which affected Thai parts suppliers, cost 34,000 units of production in Thailand and in South Africa, which relies on Thai-made parts. Ford also spent $2.3 billion more on commodities in 2011 than the prior year, or $100 million more than it forecast.
Bill Selesky, an auto analyst with Argus Research, said investors relaxed after Ford explained its accounting change and reassured them that it expects operating margin to increase this year.
Ford's operating margin ? a measure of how much the company earned after all the costs of doing business ? fell to 2.2 percent from 3 percent in 2010, largely because of commodity costs.
"The company said, `Listen, we can manage through this, and North America is very, very strong,'" Selesky said.
North American operating profits rose 33 percent to $889 million in the fourth quarter. For the full year, North American profits rose 15 percent to $6.2 billion.
Ford's U.S. market share was up for the year, and the company got higher prices for new vehicles like the Ford Explorer and Ford Focus. U.S. buyers paid an average of $29,524 for Ford cars and trucks last year, up 6 percent from 2009, according to automotive pricing site TrueCar.com.
But in Europe, Ford's second-most important region by sales, fourth-quarter operating losses more than doubled to $190 million and sales fell 1 percent.
Booth said the company isn't sure how much impact the debt crisis will have on European sales this year. But CEO Alan Mulally said he's optimistic, since Ford has 10 new or revamped vehicles going on sale in the region. In the meantime, Ford is cutting European production by 36,000 vehicles in the first quarter.
Rival General Motors Co. is also expected to be hurt by weak results in Europe. It reports quarterly results Feb. 16. Chrysler Group, which has little international exposure, will be buoyed by its U.S. sales when it releases earnings Feb. 1.
In Asia, Ford's sales fell 7 percent in the fourth quarter, largely because sales in China have slowed. Ford's Asia Pacific region lost $83 million in the quarter after posting a profit in 2010.
Booth said things will be bumpy in Asia for the next several years as Ford embarks on a major expansion that includes the construction of seven plants. The company aims to triple the cars in its Chinese lineup to 15 over the next three years.
The South American market was another disappointment. Both sales and market share fell. Booth said South America is getting more competitive, and Ford's products there are older than other brands. Ford aims to turn that around when it introduces new products there next year.
For the full year, the Dearborn-based company reported net income of $20.2 billion, or $4.94 per share.
Ford's accounting change resulted in big gains on paper. The move dates to 2006, when Ford moved $15.7 billion worth of tax credits and other assets off its books because it wasn't making money so it couldn't take advantage of them. Now that it's profitable, the company moved most of those assets back onto its books.
The change will affect Ford's tax rates going forward. Ford's tax rate was 9 percent in 2010 because of the assets that were being held under the valuation allowance. Ford's new rate will be closer to 30 percent.
Booth called the change a "significant milestone" and said it's a strong indication that the company expects to stay profitable. Another is Ford's decision last month to reinstate a 5-cent quarterly dividend starting in March.
Without the big accounting gain, Ford earned $8.76 billion, or $1.51 per share, its highest operating profit since 1999. Revenue rose 13 percent to $136.3 billion. Analysts had forecast full-year earnings of $1.86 per share on revenue of $127.31 billion.
Based on its full-year North American results, Ford will make profit-sharing payments of around $6,200 each to its 41,600 U.S. hourly employees. Employees will get their checks in March.
Ford also said Friday that it plans to contribute $3.5 billion to its global pension funds this year. Underfunded pensions have been another area of concern for investors and for ratings agencies, which recently raised Ford's credit rating to one notch below investment grade. Ford has been below investment grade since 2005.
Standard and Poor's analyst Efraim Levy, who maintains a "buy" rating on Ford shares, said he wasn't concerned that Ford missed analysts' expectations.
"I don't think they have to fully meet their goals to be successful," he said. "Directionally, they are moving where they have to be."
But Levy said Ford will have to watch its back in the U.S., where Toyota and Honda are finally recovering from earthquake-related shortages and smaller players like Volkswagen and Kia are making inroads.
"I tend to give Ford the benefit of the doubt, but I do think the easy gains are over for them," he said.
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Marlins right-hander Josh Johnson made only nine starts last season due to shoulder issues. He?s optimistic that things will be far different in 2012.
According to beat writer?Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, the 27-year-old ace felt ?good? after throwing a bullpen session (29 pitches) Tuesday for the first time since September. He has been cleared for regular mound work, and should enter spring training late next month with a clean bill of health.
Johnson posted a 2.30 ERA and 186/48 K/BB ratio across 183 2/3 innings in 2010 and owns a superb 2.98 ERA for his career. If all continues to go well, he will start the Miami?s season opener April 4 vs. St. Louis.
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Market analysis firm Strategy Analytics has released its analysis of the worldwide tablet market during the fourth quarter of 2011, and finds that while the Apple iPad continues to dominate with a 58 percent share, Android tablets are catching up, accounting for 39 percent of the market. And even Windows tablets put in an appearance, accounting for roughly one percent of the global market. The figures represent a solid year-on-year improvement for Android, which Strategy Analytics pegged at holding 29 percent of the tablet market a year ago.
?Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus, and others have been driving volumes,? said Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston, in a statement. ?Android is so far proving relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns about fragmentation of Android?s operating system, user interface, and app store ecosystem.?
Strategy Analytics says some 10.5 million Android tablets were shipped during the fourth quarter of 2011, up from just 3.1 million for the same quarter a year ago. However, the numbers require a little bit of explanation: Strategy Analytics says its figures refer to ?sell-in,? which is when manufacturers sell their devices to retailers and other outlets, who in turn sell them to the public. However, the figures Strategy Analytics is using for the Apple iPad?15.43 million units during the fourth quarter?refer to actual sales to consumers, not just units shipped to be sold. As company?s like RIM know all too well, there can be a tremendous difference between the number of products a company ships to retailers and the number that actually wind up in consumers? hands. For that matter, it?s absolutely certain Apple shipped more than 15.43 million units to its own stores and retailers last quarter, since the iPad 2 was readily available in good supply to anyone who wanted it.
Strategy Analytics says its figures also omit e-readers, something that?s sure to irk Barnes & Noble with its range of Android-powered devices. Previous reports on Android tablets have included the Nook Color as an ?Android tablet.?
Most industry watchers expect Android tablets to begin chipping away at Apple?s lead in the tablet market?particularly with the success of the Amazon Kindle Fire and other low-cost devices. However, the diversity of devices and manufacturers in the Android ecosystem may make it difficult to determine exactly how well Android tablets might be doing against the iPad: Apple reports actual sales, but essentially no other manufacturers are willing to do the same.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
More from Digital Trends
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LONDON ? Britain's economy shrank by 0.2 percent in the last three months of 2011, official data showed Wednesday, a worse than expected result that raises fears of a recession and could see the Bank of England push for more monetary stimulus.
The market consensus had been that the economy would contract by only 0.1 percent in the quarter. For the year, GDP grew by just 0.8 percent, the Office for National Statistics said.
The fourth-quarter drop is likely to confirm analysts' belief that the Bank of England will authorize spending more billions next month to stimulate the economy.
Minutes of the January meeting of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee showed that, as expected, the nine members had been unanimous in voting not to approve more stimulus.
The Bank had indicated that it would take at least through January to spend the 75 billion pounds in asset purchases approved in October.
Some analysts expect the bank to authorize more purchases next month.
The GDP report showed that Britain's big services sector didn't grow at all in the fourth quarter, while output of production industries, including factories, fell by 1.2 percent.
The International Monetary Fund this week cut its forecasts for the U.K. economy, predicting growth of only 0.6 percent compared with 1.6 percent previously.
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CAIRO ? Hundreds of thousands thronged major squares across Egypt on Wednesday, marking the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak with rallies that laid bare the divisions that have replaced the unity of last year's revolt.
Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 18 days of protests against Mubarak, was transformed into the focal point of the rivalry between revolutionary activists intent on showing they can still mobilize the street, and the Muslim Brotherhood, who emerged as Egypt's dominant political force after a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
The secular activists want continued protests to force the immediate ouster of the generals who took power after Mubarak's fall, saying they are just as dictatorial as the former president. The activists touted their powerful turnout as a sign they can pressure the Brotherhood, who they fear will accommodate the military in order to ensure their own political dominance.
"I have hope that these marches will be a message to the Brotherhood as much as the military council," said Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, who walked 3 1/2 miles (5 kilometers) in a giant march across Cairo to Tahrir.
"We all know even if the Brotherhood are strong, the military council is still stronger. ... What we all want is an end to military rule," she said.
Both sides were intent on bringing out as many supporters as possible to show their weight in a nation still reeling from the aftershocks of Mubarak's ouster.
The Islamists got off to a strong start, taking up positions in the morning and claiming the right to police the square, with Brotherhood volunteers checking the bags of those entering.
From a large stage with 10 loudspeakers, they blared religious songs and chants of "Allahu akbar," setting a tone of celebration for what they called the successes of the revolution, particularly the newly elected parliament.
But a dozen large marches organized by secular groups converged on Tahrir from various parts of the city, chanting "Down, down with military rule!" and filling boulevards as passers-by joined in along the way. The "non-Islamists" swarmed into the downtown plaza before sunset, jam-packing it to outnumber the Islamists.
Some marched to the sober beat of drums to pay tribute to the hundreds of protesters killed over the past year ? by Mubarak's regime and the military ? and to emphasize that this was not a joyous anniversary, with so many demands for democratic reform left unachieved.
Many wore masks with pictures of the faces of slain protesters. Once in the square they erected a pharaonic-style wooden obelisk with the names of the "martyrs."
"I am not here to celebrate. I am here for a second revolution," said Attiya Mohammed Attiya, an unemployed father of four. "The military council is made of remnants of the Mubarak regime. We will only succeed when we remove them from power."
Together the two sides packed Tahrir in one of the biggest gatherings since the height of the protests against Mubarak and the frenzied celebrations on the night he fell on Feb. 11. There were no army troops or police present, a sign the military was looking to avoid an eruption of new clashes after deadly violence in October, November and December.
The competition for influence between the secular forces and the Brotherhood centers on the ruling military, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years.
The revolutionaries say the generals must surrender power to civilians immediately, accusing them of perpetuating their former mentor's authoritarian system, bungling the transition and committing large-scale human rights violations. The Brotherhood are willing to accept the generals' promise to step down by the end of June.
The revolutionaries, however, have been unable to agree on an alternative plan for the handover.
The Brotherhood and other Islamists have been the biggest beneficiaries of the military's handling of the transition. Elections held over the past two months gave the Brotherhood just under half the seats in the new parliament that convened Monday, and the ultraconservative Salafis snapped up another quarter. Liberals and left-leaning groups credited with leading the protests that ousted Mubarak garnered less than 10 percent.
In the eyes of the secularists, the Islamists' triumph underlined their obsession with power after decades of persecution by successive governments, as well as their waning interest in pressing the demands of the "revolution" for real change to dismantle the legacy of 60 years of autocratic rule. Many fear the Brotherhood will compromise with the military, ceding it future political power in order to seal their own dominant status.
"A message to the Brotherhood: The revolutionaries love the square more than they love parliament," read one poster.
"For those who won in the elections, now is time to mete out justice for those killed," a protester shouted.
After the arrival of the secular-led marches, the tone of the Brotherhood speakers changed slightly. Earlier Brotherhood speeches were strongly religious ? one speaker proclaimed the need to face Egypt's "enemies" who aim to strike against Islam. Later in the day, speakers underlined the need for justice for slain protesters and for the military to hand over power to civilians ? issues closer to those of the secular activists.
Many of the secular youth groups called for overnight sit-ins in Tahrir to press their demands. Such gatherings have been hit by violent security crackdowns in the past. Islamists said they would hold "celebrations" in the square until Friday, though not a sit-in.
Khaled Abol-Naga, a movie actor and protester, said that despite the differences, the square was united Wednesday in the desire for an end to military rule. Even the Islamists want this because they don't want to lose their credibility, he said.
"The pact between the Islamists and the military won't survive this pressure," he added.
Ismail Badawi, a Brotherhood backer, said he was determined to see the military leave power, but that must be achieved through parliament, not the street.
"Parliament is the voice of the nation," he said. "We are here to support parliament."
The secular-led marches attracted a broad cross-section of society, similar to the largest anti-Mubarak protests. Young people, university students, middle-class men and women joined the processions.
"Tantawi, come and kill more revolutionaries. We want your execution," they chanted, alluding to the more than 80 protesters killed by army troops since October. Thousands of civilians have been hauled before military tribunals since Mubarak's ouster.
"Don't mess with the people," others chanted. "Go, field marshal."
Pro-reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei participated in prayers at a mosque with one group of marchers before the procession set off toward Tahrir.
Unlike many of the demonstrators, ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said the immediate return of the military to the barracks was not the main issue.
Instead, he told The Associated Press the focus should be on "the revolution's goals" ? drafting "a proper constitution," fixing the economy, establishing independent media and courts, and prosecuting those who killed protesters.
Emad el-Hadidi, a pharmacist, watched from the sidewalk as the marchers went by. The activists were too hurried and should give the military time to hand over power, he said.
But he also admired the protesters, his eyes tearing up because he felt he was too old at 66 to join them. "We are a generation brought up with fear," he said.
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The phrase ?identity theft? has become one of those terms that makes one?s blood run cold. We?ve heard so many stories of financial losses, ruined credit and related horrors that we react emotionally to the subject.
That emotional response has prompted many consumers to buy insurance that kicks in if some form of identity theft strikes the insured. The question before us is, is such insurance worth the cost?
There?s no simple answer, as is usually the case in consumer matters. The quick historical view back to 2006 finds Consumer Reports said such coverage was ?typically not worth the money.? The magazine notes more than half of ID theft protection is sold by banks, and that those premiums amount to a consumer subsidy for federally required loss protection through credit card and bank account fraud. The passing of time hasn?t changed CR?s opinion that you can ? and should ? take more effective steps yourself to protect your credit and good name.
ID theft insurance typically costs $120 to $300 a year. That?s more than victims often incur through the theft and misuse of their credit card numbers, the most frequent type of ID theft. Federal law limits liability in such cases to $50 per card.
Those who sell the coverage point to the time-consuming process of restoring credit and correcting information on their credit histories. The insurers say their policies can help consumers cope with what can be a trying and frustrating process.
Most people in the insurance industry give the same advice they would when buying other types of coverage. Find out what the policy limits are; the National Association of Insurance Commissioners says most ID theft policies have policy limits of $10,000 to $15,000. If the policy covers lost wages, find out how the coverage is triggered and what limits apply. Know if there is a deductible; some policies require the holder to pay as much as $500 toward the cost of reclaiming your financial identity before the insurer pays a penny.
Before buying, check your homeowner?s insurance policy. It may include ID theft coverage, or you might be able to add coverage more affordably than buying separate coverage. If you decide to buy a separate policy, compare the coverage of several companies.
The insurance commissioners warn against becoming a victim of insurance fraud by making sure the agent and company you?re dealing with are licensed to do business in Maine. Find the Bureau of Insurance online ( http://www.maine.gov/pfr/insurance), by phone (207-624-8475 or TTY 888-577-6690) or by writing to the Bureau at 34 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333.
David Leach, principal consumer credit examiner for the Maine?s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, advises people to be their own advocates. Leach says it?s critical for each of us to get one free credit report from one of the reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union) every four months. Do this by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com and only that site. That, plus keeping a close watch on all credit card activity, will help keep identity thieves at bay.
As to separate insurance, Leach says, ?Consumers who sign up for these types of services are paying close to $250.00 a year for a service they can essentially run themselves.? He notes that most financial institutions that issue credit cards will waive all losses in cases of identity theft or fraud. Visit the bureau?s website at www.credit.maine.gov.
For a rundown on federal ID theft laws and tips to protect yourself, visit the Federal Trade Commission website, www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine?s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, or go to necontact.wordpress.com, or email atcontacexdir@live.com.
Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/22/business/identity-theft-insurance-not-always-worth-the-cost/
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New York Giants tight end Bear Pascoe, right, celebrates with tight end Jake Ballard after scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
New York Giants tight end Bear Pascoe, right, celebrates with tight end Jake Ballard after scoring on a six-yard touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
San Francisco 49ers' Anthony Davis (76) loses his helmet as he scuffles with New York Giants' Michael Boley (59) during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning throws during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
New York Giants' Henry Hynoski (45) is tackled by San Francisco 49ers' Tarell Brown (25) during the first half of the NFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? (AP) ? Eli Manning is headed to another Super Bowl with a shot to show the world he belongs in the same breath as Tom Brady.
Manning directed one short, final drive and Lawrence Tynes kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal in sudden death overtime, sending the New York Giants to the Super Bowl with a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game Sunday night.
In another tight one in this decades-old postseason rivalry, both defenses made key stops before New York capitalized on another costly mistake by San Francisco.
Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis. The last time the teams met for the NFL title, 2008, the Giants ended the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.
Tynes got the Giants there for a second time. He kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime at Green Bay in the 2008 NFC title game that put New York in the Super Bowl on the way to the franchise's third title.
Devin Thomas put the Giants in position. He recovered his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams, who also fumbled earlier to set up a New York touchdown.
"It's my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner," Tynes said. "It's amazing. I had dreams about this last night. It was from 42, not 31, but I was so nervous today before the game just anticipating this kind of game. I'm usually pretty cool, but there was something about tonight where I knew I was going to have to make a kick. Hats off to Eli, offense, defense. Great win."
Manning went 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns in his record fifth road playoff win, New York's fifth in a row overall and fifth out of six.
Associated Pressacrylamide advent calendar adobe air 2005yu55 advanced search alexander the great personhood amendment
Chemistry is a messy business. The elements are so diverse that their interactions can be unpredictable and sometimes bizarre. Often, chemists rely on nothing more than intuition to tell them what may or may not be possible.
Sometimes that leads them astray. History is littered with ideas that were derided or dismissed at first, but eventually changed the rules of the game. Philip Ball tells five stories of chemistry they said could never happen
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By Radar Staff
Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has died of cancer.
The 85-year-old lost his life to lung cancer and died at Mount Nittany Medical Center on January 22nd.
Paterno was diagnosed with the disease just days after he was ousted as PSU's head football coach in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.
As RadarOnline.com reported, on Saturday afternoon, the Paterno family went public with the coach's dire medical condition.
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Paterno had lived and breathed Penn State football for 62 years, racking up a record-setting 409 wins.? He was revered for his position that student players needed to be students before they were players, and for his devotion to team work above individual stardom.
He was a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, won two national championships, and was noted for his extensive philanthropic work.
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The sex abuse allegations against his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky had a devastating impact on Paterno's life and legend. JoPa, as he was called, was fired from his job in November amid allegations that he should have done something about Sandusky a decade ago after being told that he?d been seen showering nude with a 10-year-old boy and engaging in what appeared to be, at the very least, inappropriate behavior.
Paterno left behind his wife of almost 50 years, Susan Pohland, five children and 17 grandchildren.
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Source: http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/01/joe-paterno-dies
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) ? One of Bill O'Brien's first acts as the new Penn State football coach was to mourn the loss of the old one.
O'Brien said former Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno, who died Sunday, was "an icon in the coaching profession." But he was also more than just a coach, O'Brien said in offering condolences to the Paterno family, current and former Penn State players and the rest of the university community.
"Today they lost a great man, coach, mentor and, in many cases, a father figure, and we extend our deepest sympathies," O'Brien, the New England Patriots offensive coordinator, said in a statement before the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.
"The Penn State football program is one of college football's iconic programs because it was led by an icon in the coaching profession in Joe Paterno. There are no words to express my respect for him as a man and as a coach."
Paterno died at the age of 85 from complications of lung cancer, two months after he was fired in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against one of his assistant coaches. O'Brien was hired to replace him, but he is finishing out the year with the Patriots as they reached the AFC title game for the second time in his five years with the team.
In his 46 years at Penn State, Paterno won two national championships and 409 games in all ? the most in the history of major college football.
"To be following in his footsteps at Penn State is an honor," O'Brien said "Our families, our football program, our university and all of college football have suffered a great loss, and we will be eternally grateful for coach Paterno's immeasurable contributions."
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WASHINGTON ? Stung by a South Carolina setback that capped a bad week, Mitt Romney said he would release his tax returns Tuesday in hopes of ending a campaign distraction while revived rival Newt Gingrich said he was the strongest Republican to go "toe to toe" with President Barack Obama.
Rick Santorum, third in the South Carolina vote, maintained he was the lone "consistent conservative" left in the race and pledged to keep campaigning in Florida, next on the calendar with its Jan. 31 primary, and beyond.
The newly scrambled presidential contest shifted to Florida after Gingrich stopped Romney's sprint to the nomination with a convincing victory in the first-in-the South primary. For now, that removed the air of inevitability that surrounded Romney's candidacy. But Florida is larger, more diverse and more expensive, and brings new challenges for Gingrich. Once again, he must show he can overcome financial and organizational disadvantages, as he did in South Carolina.
"One of the reasons I think people in South Carolina voted for me was a belief that I could debate Obama head to head, that I could convey conservative values," said Gingrich as the candidates made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows.
"I think we had better be prepared for a tough campaign, whoever we nominate," the former House speaker said. He added, "I can go toe to toe with President Obama on big things. ... I think you can draw a very strong case that in the end the dynamics of a Gingrich/Obama fight are much better for Republicans than the dynamics of a Romney/Obama fight."
Romney said it was "not a good week for me" and cited all the time he had spent talking about his tax returns as his rivals pressed him to make them public before his promised date in April.
After months of resistance, Romney had said last week that he would release tax information for 2011, but not until close to the tax filing deadline. That also was seen as a time, before the South Carolina race rattled his front-runner status, when the GOP nomination might have been decided.
"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It just was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign: leadership, character, a vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," said Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist.
Romney disclosed last week that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past."
"Given all the attention that's been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple of weeks," Romney said Sunday he would release his 2010 returns and estimates for his 2011 returns at the same time "so there's not a second release down the road."
"We'll be putting our returns on the Internet, people can look through them," Romney said. "It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements we put out a couple of months ago.
During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.
Further focusing attention on his wealth was Romney's offhand remark to reporters that his income from paid speeches amounted to "not very much" money. In the August disclosure statement, he reported being paid $373,327.62 for such appearances for the 12 months ending last February. That sum alone would him in the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers.
In addition, Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors. Such offshore accounts also can enable wealthy investors to defer paying U.S. taxes on some assets, according to tax experts.
"I know people will try and find something," Romney said, adding, "We pay full, fair taxes, and you'll see it's a pretty substantial amount."
Santorum, who beat Romney and Gingrich in leadoff Iowa, scoffed at the suggestion he might leave the race so conservatives could rally behind Gingrich against Romney.
"The idea that conservatives have to coalesce in order to beat Mitt Romney, well, that's just not true anymore. Conservatives actually can have a choice. We don't have to rush to judgment,' he said.
"The longer this campaign goes on," Santorum said, "the better it is for conservatives, the better it is for our party."
Santorum's continued presence ensures at least some division among Florida's tea party activists and evangelicals, a division that could help Romney help erase questions about his candidacy.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul likely will not be a factor in Florida. He already had said he was bypassing the state in favor of smaller subsequent contests.
As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.
Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Santorum was winning 17 percent, Paul 13 percent.
Already, Romney and a group that supports him were on the air in Florida with a significant television ad campaign, more than $7 million combined to date.
Gingrich appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CBS' "Face the Nation" and CNN's "State of the Union." Romney was on "Fox News Sunday," while Santorum was on ABC's "This Week" and CNN.
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Ted Grimes, left, of Anderson, S.C., places an I Voted sticker on the coat of his son Sawyer Grimes, 1, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in the Anderson County Voter Registration office, after voting absentee in the Republican presidential primary, in Anderson, S.C. (AP Photo/Anderson Independent-Mail, Ken Ruinard) GREENVILLE OUT SENECA OUT
Ted Grimes, left, of Anderson, S.C., places an I Voted sticker on the coat of his son Sawyer Grimes, 1, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in the Anderson County Voter Registration office, after voting absentee in the Republican presidential primary, in Anderson, S.C. (AP Photo/Anderson Independent-Mail, Ken Ruinard) GREENVILLE OUT SENECA OUT
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, reacts as he arrives to campaign at Harmon Tree Farm in Gilbert, S.C., Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich visits Children's Hospital, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum listens to a question during a radio interview at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Callista Gingrich, wife of Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich reads during a visit to Children's Hospital, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) ? On the eve of a Southern showdown, Mitt Romney conceded Friday he's in a tight race with Newt Gingrich for Saturday's South Carolina primary in a Republican campaign suddenly turned turbulent.
It's "neck and neck," Romney declared, then said later in the day he expects he will win some states while Gingrich takes others in the primaries and caucuses ahead.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum, swiped at both men in hopes of springing a South Carolina surprise.
But several days after forecasting a Romney victory in his state, Sen. Jim DeMint said the campaign's first Southern primary was now a two-man race between the former Massachusetts governor, who has struggled in recent days with questions about his personal wealth and taxes, and Gingrich, the former House speaker who has been surging in polls after a pair of well-received debate performances.
The stakes were high as Republicans sought a challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama. Television advertising by the candidates and their supporters exceeded $10 million here, much of it spent in the past two weeks, and mailboxes were stuffed with campaign flyers.
In a bit of home-state boosterism, DeMint said the primary winner was "likely to be the next president of the United States."
Indeed, the winner of the state's primary has gone on to capture the Republican nomination each year since 1980.
A victory by Romney would place him in a commanding position heading into the Florida primary on Jan. 31. He and an organization supporting him are already airing television ads in that state, which is one of the country's costliest in which to campaign.
If the former Massachusetts governor stumbles in South Carolina ? as senior aides conceded he might ? it could portend a long, drawn-out battle for the nomination stretching well into spring and further expose rifts inside the party between those who want a candidate who can defeat Obama more than anything else, and those whose strong preference is for a solid conservative.
Romney sounded anything but confident as he told reporters that in South Carolina, "I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well known, popular ... and frankly to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting."
Left unspoken was that he swept into South Carolina 10 days ago on the strength of a strong victory in the New Hampshire primary and maintained a double-digit lead in the South Carolina polls for much of the week.
Campaigning in Gilbert, S.C., on Friday, Romney demanded that Gingrich release hundreds of supporting documents relating to an ethics committee investigation into his activities while he was speaker of the House in the mid-1990s.
"''Of course he should," he told reporters. Referring to the House Democratic leader, he said, "Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation. You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election."
That was an attempt to turn the tables on Gingrich, who has demanded Romney release his income tax returns before the weekend primary so Republicans can know in advance if they contain anything that could compromise the party's chances against Obama this fall.
Gingrich's campaign brushed off Romney's demand, calling it a "panic attack" brought on by sinking poll numbers.
"Don't you love these guys?" the former speaker said in Orangeburg. "He doesn't release anything. He doesn't answer anything and he's even confused about whether he will ever release anything. And then they decide to pick a fight over releasing stuff?"
In January 1997, Gingrich became the first speaker ever reprimanded and fined for ethics violations, slapped with a $300,000 penalty. He said he'd failed to follow legal advice concerning the use of tax-exempt contributions to advance potentially partisan goals, but he was also cleared of numerous other allegations.
At the same time he fended off a demand on one front Friday, Gingrich was less than eager to face further questions made by his second wife, Marianne, who said in an ABC interview broadcast Thursday night that he had once sought an open marriage so he could keep the mistress who later became his current wife.
He denies the ex-wife's account.
On his final lap through the state, Santorum campaigned as the Goldilocks candidate ? just right for the state's conservative voters.
"One candidate is too radioactive, a little too hot," he said, referring to Gingrich. "And we have another candidate who is just too darn cold, who doesn't have bold plans," he added, speaking of Romney.
His campaign also announced endorsements from conservative leaders in the upcounty portion of the state around Greenville, where the heaviest concentration of evangelical voters lives.
Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, dismissed Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender in the race. "There are four, three of whom have a chance to win the nomination," he said, including himself.
Paul, who finished third in the Iowa caucuses and second in the New Hampshire primary, has had a limited presence in South Carolina.
But he flew to six cities on a burst of campaigning on the race's final day, and drew applause for having returned to Washington, D.C., earlier in the week to vote against Obama's requested increase in the debt limit.
"When you hear the word principle, you think of Ron Paul. He's the embodiment of that," said Derek Smith, a 26-year-old engineer for the Navy in Charleston. "If he were to run as a third-party candidate, I would vote for him unconditionally."
Paul has said he has no intention of doing that.
Interviewed on C-SPAN, Santorum said the race "has just transformed itself in the last 24 hours." It was hard for any of the campaigns to argue with that.
In a bewildering series of events on Thursday, Romney was stripped of his victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by state party officials, who said a recount showed Santorum ahead by 34 votes.
Then came an unexpected withdrawal by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who endorsed Gingrich. But Gingrich was suddenly caught in a controversy caused by his ex-wife's accusations.
At a two-hour debate that capped the day, Gingrich drew applause when he strongly attacked ABC and the "liberal news media" in general for injecting the issue into the final days of the South Carolina campaign.
By contrast, Romney faced a round of boos from the audience when he stuck by earlier statements that he would wait until April to release his tax returns.
Romney has stumbled several times in recent days, including once when he said he paid an effective tax rate of about 15 percent. That's half what many middle-income Americans pay, but it's what the law stipulates because his income derives from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than wages.
Gingrich posted his own tax returns online during the Thursday debate, reporting he paid 31.5 percent of his income to the IRS.
___
Associated Press writers Charles Babington, Kasie Hunt, Thomas Beaumont, Philip Elliott, Beth Fouhy and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.
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One of the world's most endangered primates has been caught on camera by scientists on the island of Borneo.
Using time-lapse recordings to investigate the diversity of the remote Wehea forest, the team were surprised to see an unusual sub-species.
Close analysis confirmed that they had photographed a group of Miller's grizzled langurs.
Fears for the monkeys' future were sparked last year when none were recorded in previously known habitats.
The international team of researchers suggest their evidence could indicate a more optimistic future.
"Our findings confirm that indeed this monkey still lives in the forests of Borneo and we found that its range extends farther inland than scientists had previously thought," said PhD student Brent Loken from Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.
"This gives us hope that we may still be able to find large enough populations of this monkey to ensure its survival."
The team's findings are published in the American Journal of Primatology.
Populations of Miller's grizzled langurs were first described in Kutai National Park and Sangkulirang Peninsula, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 1985.
However, due to habitat loss and hunting, subsequent studies recorded falling numbers of the monkeys in these areas with no activity recorded last year.
Scientists from Indonesia, the Czech Republic, US and Canada worked together to set up hidden cameras so they could learn more about the animals living in the rainforest.
Stunned by the results of their initial camera-trap study, scientists returned to the location to photograph the little-known monkeys in greater detail.
"It was a challenge to confirm our finding as there are so few pictures of this monkey available for study," said Mr Loken.
"The only description of Miller's grizzled langur came from museum specimens. Our photographs from Wehea are some of the only pictures that we have of this monkey."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16640198
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MOGADISHU, Somalia ? Heavy fighting broke out in Somalia's capital on Friday as the African Union peacekeeping force encountered resistance as it pushed to Mogadishu's outskirts for the first time, the latest move in an offensive against Islamist insurgents.
Hundreds of residents fled a northern Mogadishu neighborhood after waking to the sound of mortars and gunfire. AU troops have largely pushed al-Shabab militants out of the city over the last year, but pockets of resistance remain.
Resident Abdirahman Ahmed said he was awakened by "noisy mortars" on Friday, said that al-Shabab fighters appeared to be moving back into the northern neighborhood of Heliwa.
"We want to flee now," he said, adding: "People are nervous."
Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the spokesman for the AU force that is known as AMISOM, said Friday was the first time that AU forces moved outside of Mogadishu.
"We are moving out of the city now so we can defend the city from outside now. Our troops have captured strategic bases from al-Shabab," Ankunda said.
The nearly 10,000-strong AU force was confined in previous years to small slices of Mogadishu, but the push to expand their zones of control over the last year have been largely successful. The AU force is working side by side with Somali troops, but most of the gains have been made by the better trained and equipped troops from Uganda and Burundi.
Al-Shabab is also being pressured by Kenyan military forces in Somalia's south and Ethiopian forces in the west.
Militants continue to carry out suicide and roadside bomb attacks in Mogadishu. At least six bombs were found or exploded in the capital since Wednesday, including a blast on Thursday that killed six people.
Meanwhile, the AU force commander, Maj. Gen. Fred Mugisha, said that around 3,000 Somali troops had not received their wages for the past four months. The AU is supposed to pay them with money donated by Italy, but Mugisha said the Italians had not yet sent the cash. The delay in payment had caused some soldiers to desert their posts, he said.
"It will have an impact on morale," he said.
Around 7,000 other Somali soldiers are paid by the U.S. through a separate program.
Somalia hasn't had a functioning government in more than 20 years. The current transitional government, whose mandate ends in August, is paralyzed by political infighting. The U.N. is pressing government leaders to resolve their differences and expand the areas in the country the government provides services to.
Somalia has also been dealing with a famine the last six months that is estimated to have killed between 50,000 and 100,000 people. Friday was the six-month mark since the U.N. declared famine in Somalia on July 20.
___
Associated Press reporter Katharine Houreld contributed to this report.
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The South Carolina debate Monday included a standing ovation for Newt Gingrich when he took on moderator Juan Williams over race. Outside the confines of a conservative audience, however, Gingrich's comments could be more controversial.?
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was aglow Tuesday after a racially charged exchange won him a standing ovation ? and perhaps a new lease on his fading presidential hopes ? at Monday?s GOP debate.
Skip to next paragraph"We've done 15 debates and never seen anything like it," Mr. Gingrich said on Fox News Tuesday morning. "I frankly was very pleased, but also more than surprised. I think everybody was surprised by it."?
The night before, Gingrich had gone toe-to-toe, rhetorically, with liberal Fox debate moderator Juan Williams over the former speaker?s calls for black Americans to demand jobs, not food stamps, and for poor children to learn the value of work by performing janitorial duties in their schools.
?Can't you see that this is viewed at a minimum as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?? Mr. Williams, who is African American, asked Gingrich.
?No, I don't see that,? the former speaker shot back icily. The house erupted, as audience members stood.
Gingrich?s own daughter, he said, had earned money doing janitorial work when she was 13.
?You could take one janitor and hire 30-some kids to work in the school for the price of one janitor, and those 30 kids would be a lot less likely to drop out,? Gingrich said. ?They would actually have money in their pocket. They'd learn to show up for work.?
?Only the elites despise earning money,? he asserted.
Williams fought back. He said people of all races have been asking if Gingrich?s comments are ?intended to belittle the poor and racial minorities.?
?You saw some of this during your visit to a black church in South Carolina, where a woman asked you why you refer to President Obama as the food-stamp president,? Williams said. ?It sounds as if you're seeking to belittle people.?
Gingrich replied by saying that Mr. Obama has put more people on food stamps than any president in American history. ?Now, I know among the politically correct you're not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable,? he said.
Some people see Gingrich?s regular references to Obama as the ?food stamp president? as racially tinged, given that the president is African American and minorities receive food stamps disproportionately to the population as a whole.
"So here's my point," Gingrich finished. "I believe every American of every background has been endowed by their creator with the right to pursue happiness. And if that makes liberals unhappy, I'm going to continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn someday to own the job."
Gingrich won the moment. But how the exchange plays out in the long run ? especially for the Republican Party ? remains an open question. The GOP has been walking on egg shells over race for decades.
African Americans vote Democratic by an overwhelming margin, and even if making inroads into the black vote isn?t on the GOP radar for November, Republicans know that fostering an image of racial tolerance among independent suburban voters is important to their hopes of retaking the White House.
Jon Ward, a reporter for Huffington Post who attended the Myrtle Beach, S.C., debate, summarized the Gingrich-Williams exchange:
?It was a moment that will likely be dissected, debated, and discussed for some time: a black journalist being booed by an overwhelmingly white audience in a deep South state on Martin Luther King Day, as a white candidate for president talked about the work ethic in low-income, majority black neighborhoods. It's hard to imagine a more charged few minutes in public life in recent memory.?
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-5 minutes. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly sets the scene for the 16th GOP debate: "All Mitt Romney has to do tonight is not fall down or throw up." Papa bear. A national treasure.
0 minutes. Big crowd. Curdling screams in Myrtle Beach. You think this is a vacation town? Think again. This is the ultimate political fighting championship, a no-holds-barred blood sport. Little bear Bret Baier announces that Fox News has done away with the time-is-up sound. That's how crazy it is going to be. "The doorbell didn't work for dog owners," he explains. The Google Chat chime didn't work for anyone born after Watergate. "But warning," Baier adds, "We do reserve the right to bring back the bell if we have to." Sure you do. 3 minutes. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets us going by deflecting a question about how he went from promising to "repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama" to parroting the Obama campaign's line of attack against Mitt Romney. He answers honestly, saying he had two choices after his drubbing in Iowa at the hands of negative attack ads from Romney allies: "You either have to unilaterally disarm and leave the race or you have to at least bring up your competitor's record." Then he attacks Romney's job creation record in Massachusetts.
5 minutes. Baier has two more follow ups for Gingrich, both about his Romney attacks. This is called throwing meat to the lions. The crowd is restless. Someone must bleed. But Gingrich is ginger. "I raise questions that I think are legitimate questions," he says. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the Weekend's New Hampshire Republican Debates)
7 minutes. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney defends himself. Nothing special. "My record is out there, proud of it, and I think if team want to have someone who understand how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, that I'm the guy that can best post up against Barack Obama."
9 minutes. Now it's Texas Gov. Rick Perry's turn. He is asked about his comment that Romney practiced "vulture capitalism." Perry gets specific about one of the steel companies Romney invested in. "I visited Georgetown, South Carolina. It was one of those towns where there was a steel mill that Bain swept in, they picked that company over and a lot of people lost jobs there," Perry says. Then he pivots. "And Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money," he says, meaning income tax returns. The crowd roars like a jet engine. Like when Caesar tossed swords to the gladiators.
11 minutes. Romney diffuses the roar. Talks about the steel business. Says he wants to "get the private sector working again." Ignores the stuff about his tax returns, which will almost certainly show that he pays little taxes because most of his income comes from investments.
12 minutes. Another question for Romney, about American Pad and Paper, a company that Romney's firm took over, loaded up with debt and made money from before it failed. Romney says bankruptcy sucks, free enterprises is good, and America is not Europe. Romney also says, "We've got a president in office three years, and he does not have a jobs plan yet. I've got one out there already and I'm not even president, yet." A stunning bit of misinformation. Obama's most recent job's plan is called "The American Jobs Act." Kind of hard to miss.
16 minutes. Still not quite the full combat that the crowd wants to see. Maybe Texas Rep. Ron Paul can help. He is asked if he should stop attacking other candidates. "There was one ad that we used against Senator Santorum, and I was only -- I only had one problem, is I couldn't get all the things in I wanted to say in one minute," he answers. The crowd likes.
17 minutes. Santorum defends himself with lots of details about right to work, No Child Left Behind and other things he has voted for that conservatives don't like. Then he gets outraged about a spot run by Romney's Super PAC that says Santorum wanted to allow felons to vote. Santorum asks Romney directly if felons should be allowed to vote after they have served their time? Then the back and forth finally starts. Romney starts to answer by dodging, but Santorum cuts him off demanding an answer to his question. "We have plenty of time. I'll get there. I'll do it in the order I want to do," Romney says. The upshot: Romney is against violent criminals ever getting the vote, he distances himself from the Super PAC, even though he has spoken at their fundraisers, and Santorum, who once endorsed Romney to be president, does not like Romney. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the Final Iowa Debate)
22 minutes. Perry jumps in to repeat a line he always seems to be repeating. "Washington, D.C., needs to leave the states alone," he says. But he can't leave it there, so he adds, "and let the states decide these issues and don't do it from Washington, D.C. That's what needs to happen." Emphatically.
23 minutes. The candidates have been talking over their time, so Baier says, "We may have to rethink that whole bell thing." As they say on the Tweets, #notarealthreat. First commercial break.
26 minutes. We're back for the obligatory chain of clich?s delivered by the state GOP chair, because this is how Fox News rolls -- ads within the infomercial. Back in the Myrtle Beach thunder dome, the moderators try to stick it to Romney one more time, pointing out that the recently retired candidate Jon Huntsman called him "a perfectly lubricated weather vein." Romney smoothly recites stuff he has said before. "I believe in free enterprise, I believe in freedom, I believe in liberty, I believe in an opportunity society." Believe in America.
30 minutes. Perry gets asked about the Justice Departments effort to undo South Carolina's strict voter identification law. But the question has clear racial overtones: "Governor Perry, are you suggesting on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, that the federal government has no business scrutinizing the voting laws of states where minorities were once denied the right to vote?" Perry runs with it. "I'm saying also that South Carolina is at war with this federal government and with this administration," he says. To recap: Asked about Jim Crow, Perry embraces the Civil War. South Carolina, you remember, was the first nation to secede in 1860 to defend slavery. Crowd loves it. Mostly for the war. But old racist nostalgia lurks menacingly at the edges.
33 minutes. Discussion of unemployment benefit policy. Santorum says return the hard decisions to the states. Gingrich says require job training. Then Gingrich keeps the racial undertones going by declaring: "We think unconditional efforts by the best food stamp president in American history to maximize dependency is terrible for the future of this country."
36 minutes. Romney gets a question about the possibility of more bank bailouts if Europe collapses. He says he would not give anyone in government a blank check, and that he would force failing firms into bankruptcy. Which just about sums up the basic idea behind Dodd-Frank, the Obama-backed financial reforms that Romney opposes.
39 minutes. Paul gets asked about his vision of military spending cuts and the impact on a military state like South Carolina. Paul says he would close foreign bases, and build up domestic bases.
42 minutes. Each of the candidates must name their ideal income tax rate. Perry says a 20% flat tax. Santorum says 10% and 28%. Romney says 25%. Gingrich says 15%. Paul says 0%."What's so bad about that?" he asks. Paul wins.
43 minutes. Romney gets a direct question: "Governor, will you release your income tax records?" His answer is a Harvard Business School case study in equivocation: "You know, I looked at what has been done in campaigns in the past with Senator McCain and President George W. Bush and others. They have tended to release tax records in April or tax season. I hadn't planned on releasing tax records because the law requires us to release all of our assets, all the things we own. That I have already released. It's a pretty full disclosure. But, you know, if that's been the tradition and I'm not opposed to doing that, time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I am going to get asked to do that around the April time period and I'll keep that open." Go ahead, and try to figure that out. One thing is clear, when Romney says "you know," you almost certainly do not.
MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the GOP National-Security Debate
44 minutes. Romney is asked again the same question. It gets worse. "I think I've heard enough from folks saying, look, let's see your tax records," he says. "I have nothing in them that suggests there's any problem and I'm happy to do so. I sort of feel like we are showing a lot of exposure at this point. And if I become our nominee, and what's happened in history is people have released them in about April of the coming year and that's probably what I would do." Probably, if he thinks about deciding to listen to what people say about history and what not.
45 minutes. Romney gets a question about his opposition to the DREAM Act, which would give citizenship to upstanding immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as young children. "I think we have to follow the law and insist those who come here illegally, ultimately return home, apply, and get in line with everyone else," Romney says.
47 minutes. Santorum is asked about the high unemployment rate in the black community. He cites a study that says the poor should do three things to avoid poverty. "Work, graduate from high school, and get married before you have children," he says. Work is probably the key one in the list, for avoiding unemployment.
49 minutes. Paul says there is racial disparity in drug arrests and sentencing. "This is one thing I am quite sure that Martin Luther King would be in agreement with me on," he adds. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the CNBC 'Oops' Republican Debate)
51 minutes. The string of questions about issues for blacks and Latinos continues, with a question to Gingrich about his rhetoric. "You recently said black Americans should demand jobs, not food stamps. You also said poor kids lack a strong work ethic and proposed having them work as janitors in their schools. Can't you see that this is viewed, at a minimum, as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?" It's a loaded question, and Gingrich bites its head off. "No I don't see that," he says. What follows is an epic back and forth between Gingrich, Fox News pundit Juan Williams and the crowd, which is again riled by the scent of some blood. Gingrich keeps using lines like, "I know among the politically correct, you're not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable." With the crowd's help, he vanquishes Williams.
55 minutes. The crowd is screaming so loud with approval for Gingrich that Baier must address the less frenzied home viewer: "They can't hear me, but I'll talk to you." The crowd is on its feet. Pretty sure this is the first mid-debate standing ovation in 16 debates. Commercial break to regain order.
62 minutes. We're back. Time to probe Paul's foreign policy ideas. Paul gets into an argument with Baier about whether he would pursue Bin Laden. Paul says he would, but the details are complex, and almost certainly inconsequential to the upcoming presidential election.
65 minutes. Gingrich, emboldened by his destruction of Williams and the liberal elite, is buoyed, and calls Paul's ideas "utterly irrational." Then he gives the crowd what they came to see. "We're in South Carolina. South Carolina in the Revolutionary War had a young 13-year-old named Andrew Jackson. He was sabered by a British officer and wore a scar his whole life. Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear-cut idea about America's enemies: Kill them." Damn right. Sabered. Fox News shows a crowd shot. People are pumping their fists in the air. Kill him. Kill him.
67 minutes. Paul talks some more about war mongering. Baier again offers his empty bring-back-the-bell threat. Romney distances from his own adviser who made the totally reasonable observation that you will have to negotiate with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. But all of this is a let down. The adrenaline rush is fading. Romney tries to capture some of it by saying things like, "These people declared war on us. They've killed Americans. We go anywhere they are, and we kill them." But Romney's "kills" don't have the bite of Gingrich's "kills."
72 minutes. Perry has sat all this out. But now he gets a curveball, a question about the conservative government in Turkey, and whether Turkey deserves to stay in NATO. It's a leading question, and Perry, clearly trying to look like he knows about this stuff, follows it off a cliff. "Well, obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists. . ." he begins. This is Turkey he is talking about. The non-terrorist, Democratically-elected government of Turkey. It goes downhill from there.
74 minutes. Perry tries to salvage things by suggesting to Baier that Fox News replace the bell with a gong. If only.
76 minutes. Things are getting weird. Romney is asked about a bill Obama signed, which included a section that Obama opposed that allows the military to detain Americans indefinitely. He says he agrees with this section. He is met by huge boos from crowd. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the Las Vegas GOP Debate)
79 minutes. Baier concedes defeat on the bell thing. "Take whatever time you want he says to Santorum." Santorum does. He agrees with Obama that the new military powers are overreach.
81 minutes. Perry, who a few minutes ago called a non-terrorist U.S. ally a bunch of terrorists, tries to reclaim his stature by talking about his flat tax, and his desire to cut regulation. Asked what can be done to help the housing market, Perry says, "We don't need the federal government in the housing market anymore." Seeing as the housing market is now substantially propped up by the federal government, this is basically a call for a sharp temporary decline in home prices.
83 minutes. The candidates give their views of entitlement reform. If you have read the other summaries of the other debates, you already know this stuff.
93 minutes. Break time. Last break.
97 minutes. Romney is asked why he sucks on guns. He is explains that he doesn't suck quite so bad. Then he says he hunted moose recently, or elk. It sounds like this, "I'm not going to describe all of my great exploits. But I went moose hunting actually -- not moose hunting, I'm sorry, elk hunting with friends in Montana. I've been pheasant hunting. I'm not the great hunter that some on this stage, probably Rick Perry, my guess is you are a serious hunter. I'm not a serious hunter." This is, it must be said, much better than the tax return answer.
103 minutes. More talk of the evils of Super PACs, since a pro-Romney group is running a spot claiming that Gingrich favored China's pro-abortion policies, when he did not. More back and forth over whether Gingrich and Romney could order their supporting PACs to stop using misleading ads, which they probably could. "I have complained about with Governor Romney's super PAC, over which he apparently has no influence, which makes you wonder how much influence he'd have if he were president," says Gingrich. Old ground. Finally, Romney breaks down and declares that he wishes the wealthy people giving to his Super-PAC just gave to him. "I haven't spoken to any of the people involved in my Super PAC in months and this is outrageous," Romney says. By this he appears to mean that it is outrageous he does not have direct control of money that clearly was donated by people who want to donated to him.
108 minutes. There is apparently extra time, because Perry gets a question about the border fence and Gingrich gets a question about No Child Left Behind. No news.
111 minutes. We are done. The crowd has not yet formed into a mob. No actual blood has been spilled. A success, considering. See you Thursday night. We'll do it all again. Don't dwell on why.
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