Black Friday Online Sales Up 24.3% (Mashable)

Black Friday is starting to look a bit more like Cyber Monday. According to IBM's study of 500 retailers, online sales on Friday were up 24.3% over last year, suggesting that people stayed home to avoid the crowds and in-store havoc. Mobile devices accounted for 14.3% of all online Black Friday traffic, up from 5.6% last year, and they were responsible for 9.8% of online sales. The iPad proved to be the king of post-Thanksgiving retail -- its users were more likely to purchase than other mobile users, with conversion rates reaching 4.6%.

[More from Mashable: Shop Small: Small Business Saturday Takes to Twitter]

Ecommerce sales increased from last year in many retail sectors, from home to apparel to beauty, and web traffic catapulted department store sales to 59% higher than last year's Black Friday.

Black Friday was a hot topic on social media channels, too. Visits to Twitter and Facebook were likely to yield chatter about Black Friday sales, out-of-stock items, parking troubles and long lines. The volume of Black Friday dialogue was 110% more than last year, and there was "a spike in positive sentiment" around and anticipation for Cyber Monday.

[More from Mashable: How Digital Marketing Fueled Fashion Label Tory Burch?s Global Expansion]

Did you use your mobile device to shop on Black Friday? Are you holding out for Cyber Monday? Let us know in the comments below.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111126/tc_mashable/black_friday_online_sales_up243

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NASA Fuels Rocket to Launch Huge New Mars Rover (SPACE.com)

This story was updated at 8:10 a.m. EST Saturday.

NASA has begun fueling the rocket that will launch its huge Mars rover toward the Red Planet this morning (Nov. 26).

Technicians started loading up the car-size Curiosity rover'sAtlas 5 rocket with super-chilled liquid oxygen propellant just before 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) today, about two hours ahead of the planned launch time of 10:02 a.m.

Chances still look good that Curiosity ? the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission to assess past and present Martian habitability ? will get off the ground on time, officials say. Current forecasts predict just a 30 percent chance that bad weather will postpone the launch, and the mission team is working no issues with the rover or its rocket.

"The Mars Science Lab and the rover Curiosity [are] locked and loaded, ready for final countdown on Saturday's launch to Mars," said Colleen Hartman, assistant associate administrator at NASA's science mission directorate. [Photos: Last Look at Curiosity Rover]

A rover on steroids

At 1 ton, Curiosity weighs about five times more than each of its immediate Mars rover predecessors, the golf-cart-size twins Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on the Red Planet in January 2004 to look for evidence of past water activity.

Both Spirit and Opportunity carried five science instruments. Curiosity boasts 10, including a rock-vaporizing laser and gear designed to identify organic molecules ? the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it.

Curiosity also sports a drill at the end of its 7-foot (2.1-meter) robotic arm that will allow it to collect samples from the interior of Martian rocks, a first for a Red Planet robot.

"This rover, Curiosity rover, is really a rover on steroids," Hartman said.

Investigating Gale Crater

After liftoff, Curiosity will embark upon an 8 1/2-month cruise to Mars. In August 2012, it will land at a 100-mile-wide (160-kilometer) crater called Gale and begin assessing whether Mars is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.

A 3-mile-high (5-km) mound of layered sediment rises from Gale's center. These layers preserve a record of Martian environmental change spanning about one billion years, and Curiosity is designed to read them like a book.

The rover will pay special attention to layers near the mound's base, where Mars-orbiting spacecraft have identified clays and sulfates ? minerals that form in the presence of liquid water.

The rocks shift farther up the mountain, capturing Mars' transition from a relatively warm, wet planet to the frigid, dry and dusty world we see today. Curiosity's observations could help shed light on this dramatic transformation, researchers said.

The MSL team is quick to stress that Curiosity is not hunting for signs of life; if any microbes are squirming about in Mars' red dirt, the rover probably won't be able to spot them. But Curiosity's mission is a necessary precursor to future efforts to hunt down potential Red Planet life, researchers said.

"A habitable environment needs to be described," said MSL project scientist John Grotzinger of Caltech. "You just simply have to know where to look."

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111126/sc_space/nasafuelsrockettolaunchhugenewmarsrover

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Strong winds leave 7 dead in southern Sri Lanka (AP)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka ? Strong winds have killed seven people along Sri Lanka's southern coast.

Pradeep Kodippili, the spokesman for the government's disaster management center, says three people were killed by fallen trees Friday in the southern coastal town of Matara.

Also on Friday, the bodies of four fishermen who had ventured out to sea from Matara were recovered. Kodippili says it was possible that their boats had been damaged by the bad weather.

He says the winds damaged about 1,000 homes in the area.

The strong winds subsided by Friday evening.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_as/as_sri_lanka_bad_weather

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Islamist party takes most seats in Morocco poll (AP)

RABAT, Morocco ? An Islamist Party is on track to become the largest party in Morocco's new parliament with a dominant showing after two-thirds of the seats were announced by the Interior Ministry on Saturday.

The Justice and Development Party has taken 80 seats, almost twice as many as the next most successful party, with 282 seats announced out of the 395 up for grabs in the nationwide vote a day earlier.

Barring a massive upset, the PJD ? known by its French initials ? will be the largest party in the new parliament and charged with forming a new government ? making another Islamist victory in an election brought about by the Arab Spring.

Last month, Tunisia's Ennahda Party took 40 percent of the seats in elections in the country that started a wave of pro-democracy uprisings across the Middle East after its people overthrew their long-serving president.

Egypt is set to hold elections of its own on Monday that are also expected to be dominated by Islamist parties, lending increasing weight to the view that religious movements have been some of the biggest benefactors of the Arab Spring.

Like the rest of the region, Morocco was swept by pro-democracy protests decrying lack of freedoms and widespread corruption, which the king attempted to defuse over the summer by ordering the constitution modified to grant more powers to the Parliament and prime minister and then holding elections a year earlier.

Activists, however, have called the moves insincere and clamored for a boycott.

Complete results, including those of 90 seats reserved for women and youth and the 23 remaining regular seats, will be announced Sunday. PJD is expected to ultimately win up to 110 seats.

The Islamists' biggest rivals in Morocco's elections is a coalition of eight liberal, pro-government parties led by Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, which has amassed more than 111 seats, but under the new constitution the party with the most seats gets first crack at forming a new government.

The Islamists must now find coalition partners, with their natural allies being the "Democratic Bloc," an alliance of the right-of-center Istiqlal, or Independence Party, the left-of-center Union of Socialist Progressive Forces and the former communist party ? venerable political parties that have been eclipsed by Mezouar's so-called Group of Eight.

"We are ready to work with the PJD on the condition that all the parties of the bloc participate in this government," affirmed Mohammed al-Khalifa, a member of the Istiqlal Party's political bureau.

Ali Bouabid, a member of the USFP's leadership, agreed that an alliance was certainly possible and must be discussed.

"If the bloc allies with the PJD it must be on the basis of a strong political program," he said. Such an alliance would be 165 seats strong and a majority of the results announced so far.

In recent years Morocco's Islamists have cultivated an image as honest outsiders battling corruption, and seeking to improve services and increase employment, rather than focusing on moral issues such as whether women wear the Islamic headscarf or the sale of alcohol.

Morocco, a close U.S. ally and popular European tourist destination suffers from high unemployment and widespread poverty.

With dozens of parties running and a complex system of proportional representation, Morocco's parliaments are typically divided up between many parties each with no more than a few dozen seats, requiring complex coalitions that are then dominated by the king.

The government announced a 45-percent turnout in Friday's contest, slightly more than legislative elections in 2007, but still less than local elections in 2009 and the summer's constitutional referendum.

There are almost 13.5 million registered voters in this North African kingdom of 32 million, though it is estimated that there are many more people of voting age not registered, something an European observer team noted in their report that otherwise praised the election as free and fair.

"The completeness of these lists are a key element of the electoral process and the delegation regrets that the current system, according to some, does not make it easy for citizens to register. In effect, a considerable part of the some 20 million Moroccans of election age are not on the lists," the Council of Europe said in a statement.

As in 2007, a significant number of the ballots cast were invalid, in some cases because voters marked them incorrectly, but in others it was clearly a form of protest with the entire ballot or all the parties crossed out.

The U.S.-based National Democratic Institute, which sent an election observer mission to Morocco, estimated that 20 percent of the ballots they saw during counting were invalid, suggesting a "citizen interest in further and deeper political reforms," according to its statement.

"The vigor with which some people expressed their protests on their ballot form was noted by many of our observers in all parts of the country," said Bob Rae, a member of the delegation and the leader of Canada's Liberal Party.

(This version corrects that final results expected Sunday.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_morocco_elections

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Calif. Black Friday shopper shot in failed robbery (Providence Journal)

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

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AT&T, Telekom to press ahead with T-Mobile deal (AP)

Deutsche Telekom and AT&T vowed Thursday to press ahead with the planned sale of the German company's T-Mobile USA unit to the U.S. cell phone operator despite concerns raised by American authorities.

Nevertheless, AT&T said it plans to take a pretax accounting charge of $4 billion in the current quarter to reflect the break-up fees that would be due to Deutsche Telekom if regulators block the deal.

The two companies said they had withdrawn applications to the Federal Communications Commission regarding the merger and intended to seek its approval again "as soon as practical."

They took the step to consider "all options at the FCC and to focus their continuing efforts on obtaining antitrust clearance for the transaction from the Department of Justice," which filed a lawsuit in August to stop the deal, AT&T said in a statement.

"Both companies are continuing to pursue the sale of T-Mobile USA to AT&T," Deutsche Telekom stressed.

Both U.S. agencies worry that the deal would hamper competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

Deutsche Telekom AG and AT&T Inc. made their move after the chairman of the FCC earlier this week came out against the merger.

Julius Genachowski made his position known in a document he circulated to fellow commissioners Tuesday.

He recommended sending AT&T's proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile to an administrative law judge for review and a hearing. That's what the FCC does when it opposes a merger.

In a research note Thursday, Jefferies International analyst Ulrich Rathe said the withdrawal of the FCC application, as well as the opposition by the Justice Department, indicate that "the companies are already well into working out a new version of the deal."

The analyst, who rates Deutsche Telekom "Buy," said the charge confirms the break-up fee will be difficult for AT&T to avoid if the deal is not completed.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Telekom shares closed down 0.6 percent Thursday at euro8.69 ($11.67), almost mirroring the 0.5 percent decline in the DAX index of blue-chip stocks.

The proposed deal, announced in March, would vault the combination of America's No. 2 carrier AT&T and No. 4 T-Mobile into the top spot ahead of Verizon.

Dallas-based AT&T has about 101 million wireless subscribers. T-Mobile, the Bellevue, Washington-based subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany, has 34 million.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, has about 108 million, while Sprint Nextel Corp. has 53 million.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_bi_ge/us_at_t_t_mobile

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France and Germany to propose changing EU treaties

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during her speech of the budget debate at the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Germany's chancellor says Greece can only receive its next batch of bailout loans if all parties supporting the new government in Athens commit in writing to the conditions attached to a separate aid package. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during her speech of the budget debate at the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Germany's chancellor says Greece can only receive its next batch of bailout loans if all parties supporting the new government in Athens commit in writing to the conditions attached to a separate aid package. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti, addresses the media, at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. New Prime Minister Mario Monti met top European Union officials to discuss Italy's financial difficulties and his proposals to keep one of the EU's founding members from sinking the euro. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

STRASBOURG, France (AP) ? President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to temper his calls for the European Central Bank to play a bigger role in solving Europe's debt crisis as he agreed to a German effort to unite the troubled 17-nation eurozone more closely.

Speaking after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Mario Monti on Thursday, Sarkozy said "propositions for the modification of treaties" would be presented in the coming days.

He wouldn't elaborate on what these changes may be but said they would be ready in time for the next EU leaders summit on December 9. Treaty changes are a notoriously laborious endeavor, requiring the agreement of all 27 EU nations, including non-euro countries such as Britain and Poland.

Merkel said the treaty changes would "make clear that we must take steps toward a fiscal union to express the conviction that we know policies must be more closely coordinated if you have a common, stable currency."

"It is political confidence in Europe that has been lost ? we can only win it back politically," Merkel said.

This was the first meeting of the three leaders since Monti took over last week following mounting market concerns over Italy's huge debt, which stand at euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion), or a huge 120 percent of economic output. Europe's current anti-crisis measures are too not big enough to deal with Italy's debt mountain.

Sarkozy said the three leaders had agreed to meet again "very soon" in Rome at Monti's invitation to continue their three-way dialogue.

The meeting in Strasbourg, France comes amid signs that even Germany and France ? the eurozone's two biggest economies ? are not immune from the crisis that's already seen three relatively small countries bailed out.

All three leaders said they would do what it takes to stabilize the situation and save the euro.

"We want the euro, we want a strong, stable euro ... we will do everything to defend it," Merkel said.

France has been reluctant to resort to changes to EU treaties to improve the way the eurozone countries work together and set policies and prevent future crises. Germany had pushed for such changes, saying voluntary pledges by national governments are no longer enough to boost market confidence.

Merkel insisted that the proposed changes would "not deal with the European Central Bank," which she stressed was responsible for monetary, not fiscal, policy. Sarkozy did not push for a greater role at their closing press conference, while Merkel insisted on the bank's independence.

"In the treaty changes, we are dealing with the question of a fiscal union, a deeper political cooperation ... there will be proposals on this, but they have nothing to do with the ECB," Merkel said.

Many think the ECB is the only institution capable of calming frayed market nerves and Merkel's continued dismissal of a greater ECB role knocked market sentiment and stocks all round Europe were trading lower once again.

Potentially, the ECB has unlimited financial firepower through its ability to print money. However, Germany finds the idea of monetizing debts unappealing.

Merkel also maintained her opposition to the European Commission's new drive for eurobonds.

Germany has opposed the use of eurobonds and has long called on fiscally wayward member states to clean up their own houses with as little outside intervention as possible. A big worry for Germany is that its low borrowing costs would get diluted if eurobonds came into issue and it would then be forced to pay higher rates to tap bond markets.

"It would be completely the wrong signal to lose sight entirely now of these differing interest rates, because they are a pointer to where something still needs to be done and where we need to go further," she said.

Monti, meanwhile, reiterated his pledge to balance Italy's budget by 2013 though he sidestepped the question on whether achieving that aim would require more austerity measures, and if so, whether it risked triggering a recession in the eurozone's third largest economy.

___

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Frances d'Emilio in Rome contributed to this article.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-24-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-b30c08ba8db4460c9ecc5829358592c9

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Who Won 'Dancing With the Stars' Season 13?

Dancing With the Stars season 13 finished with a flourish Tuesday night as the frontrunner (Ricki Lake), the fan favorite (J.R. Martinez) and the underdog (Rob Kardashian) battled it out for the coveted mirror-ball trophy!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/jr-martinez-and-karina-smirnoff-win-dancing-stars/1-a-405254?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ajr-martinez-and-karina-smirnoff-win-dancing-stars-405254

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Spreading Europe stress sends stock market lower (AP)

Fear that Europe's debt crisis is infecting Germany, the strongest economy in the region, sent stocks reeling Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 236 points, leaving it down 4.6 percent over the past three days. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell for the sixth day in a row, its worst losing streak since August.

Traders were spooked by the poor results at an auction of German debt, which drew too few bids to sell all of the 10-year notes being offered. Germany has Europe's strongest economy, and traders have bought its debt as a safe place to store value during turbulent times.

The weak buying suggests that Europe's crisis might be infecting strong nations that are crucial to keeping the euro currency afloat. Germany bears much of the burden of bailing out weaker neighbors such as Greece and Portugal.

Borrowing costs for Italy and Spain rose from levels that already were considered dangerously high. Europe lacks the resources to bail out those countries, which have its third- and fourth-biggest economies.

The Dow fell 236.17 points, or 2.1 percent, to close at 11,257.55. It has slumped this week as Congress neared a deadlock on cutting the budget deficit and as Europe's debt woes appeared to worsen. The Dow has now given back more than half of its big October rally. It jumped 9.5 percent last month, the biggest gain since 2002.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 26.25, or 2.2 percent, to 1,161.79. All 10 industry groups fell sharply, led by energy companies, materials makers and banks. The index is headed for its sixth straight decline, the longest losing streak since August.

The Nasdaq fell 61.20, or 2.4 percent, to 2,460.08.

The dollar rose sharply against the euro as investors moved money into assets considered to be relatively safe. The euro fell near $1.33, from $1.35 late Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.89 percent from 1.94 percent late Tuesday, signaling higher demand for Treasurys.

Fears about Europe also dragged U.S. bank stocks lower. Investors were unnerved by the Federal Reserve's announcement late Tuesday of a fresh round of stress tests of the biggest banks, said Peter Tchir, who runs the hedge fund TF Market Advisors.

The Fed said 31 banks will be tested to see how they would withstand a recession that would push unemployment above 13 percent by early 2013. The jobless rate now stands at about 9 percent.

The announcement undermined weeks of market-boosting talk by Fed officials, Tchir said. The stress tests, apparently related to fears about European exposure, exposed a darker view of the market held by some central bank officials, he said.

"They went ahead and put weakness into the market for the first time" in months, Tchir said. "No one was that afraid, and now all of a sudden, they're saying `Our own Fed is worried.' That really spooked people."

Bank stocks fell broadly. Bank of America Corp. lost 4.3 percent to close at $5.14; Citigroup Inc. fell 3.9 percent to $23.51 and Morgan Stanley fell 3.6 percent to $13.03.

Asian markets fell earlier after a survey showed that manufacturing appears to be slowing in China. A day earlier, the U.S. government had lowered its estimate of third-quarter economic growth.

Trading was light ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday and will have shortened hours on Friday. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 3.8 billion shares, below the average of 4.7 billion over the past 100 days.

In corporate news, Deere & Co. rose 3.9 percent to $74.72 after the company reported net income growth of 46 percent. Deere credited strong sales of farm equipment.

Groupon Inc. plunged 15.5 percent to $17.96, falling below its initial price of $20 for the first time. The online deals company went public less than three weeks ago.

Companies that make raw materials were hurt by signs of slower growth in China and worries that Europe might fall into recession. United States Steel Corp. plunged 7.6 percent to $22.41. Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. declined 4.1 percent to $8.88.

The U.S. government released a mixed batch of economic reports before the market opened. Concerns about developments overseas appeared to overshadow a handful of hopeful signals.

Slightly more people applied for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that layoffs continue. Consumer spending grew by the least in four months, but incomes rose a bit more than expected. Orders for long-lasting manufactured products fell for a second month and business investment dropped off.

___

Daniel Wagner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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Carbon mitigation strategy uses wood for buildings first, bioenergy second

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2011) ? Proposals to remove the carbon dioxide caused by burning fossil fuel from the atmosphere include letting commercially managed forests grow longer between harvests or not cutting them at all.

An article published in the journal Forests says, however, that Pacific Northwest trees grown and harvested sustainably, such as every 45 years, can both remove existing carbon dioxide from the air and help keep the gas from entering the atmosphere in the first place. That's provided wood is used primarily for such things as building materials instead of cement and steel -- which require more fossil fuels in their manufacture -- and secondarily that wood wastes are used for biofuels to displace the use of fossil fuels.

"When it comes to keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, it makes more sense to use trees to recycle as much carbon as we can and offset the burning of fossil fuel than it does to store carbon in standing forests and continuing burning fossil fuels," said Bruce Lippke, University of Washington professor emeritus of forest resources.

Lippke is one of eight co-authors of the article in Forests. It is the first to comprehensively calculate using woody biomass for bioenergy in addition to using wood for long-lived products. The article focuses on the extra carbon savings that can be squeezed from harvesting trees if wood not suitable for long-term building materials is used for bioenergy. Such wood can come from the branches and other debris left after harvesting, materials thinned from stands or from plantations of fast-growing trees like willow.

For the article, the co-authors looked at selected bioenergy scenarios using wood from the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Southeast and Northeast.

They considered two ways of producing ethanol from woody biomass -- gasification and fermentation -- and used what's called life cycle analysis to tally all the environmental effects of gathering, processing and using the resulting fuels. Ethanol from woody biomass emits less greenhouse gas than an equivalent amount of gasoline, between 70 percent and a little over 100 percent less.

How much of a reduction depends on the process. Achieving slightly more than a 100 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is possible, for example, using a fermentation process that both produces ethanol and generates enough electricity to offset the fossil fuel used in the fermentation process.

In contrast, producing and using corn ethanol to displace gasoline reduces greenhouse gas emissions 22 percent on average, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's fact sheet "Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Expanded Renewable and Alternative Fuels Use."

While biofuels from woody biomass are carbon friendly, Lippke cautions that the U.S. should not use tax breaks or other incentives that inadvertently divert wood to bioenergy that is better used for long-lived building materials and furniture.

"Substituting wood for non-wood building materials can displace far more carbon emissions than using the wood for biofuel," the article says. "This fact creates a hierarchy of wood uses that can provide the greatest carbon mitigation for each source of supply."

Lippke said using wood for products and bioenergy can be considered carbon neutral because the carbon dioxide trees absorb while growing eventually goes back to the atmosphere when, for instance, wood rots after building demolition or cars burn ethanol made from woody debris. With sustainably managed forests, that carbon dioxide is then absorbed by the growing trees awaiting the next harvest.

The co-authors aren't advocating that all forests be harvested, just the ones designated to help counter carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Older forests, for instance, provide ecological values even though they absorb less carbon dioxide as they age.

In the article the authors also urge policymakers and citizens to consider not just carbon mitigation but also to find ways to weigh the importance of energy independence from fossil fuels when considering how to use woody biomass for bioenergy.

"Simply burning woody biomass to generate heat or electricity makes sense for carbon mitigation," he says, "But there's no energy independence gained," Lippke said. So carbon efficiency is only one part of the equation. Transportation fuels depend heavily on imported oil and therefore biofuels that replace them make additional contributions to the domestic economy, including energy independence and rural economic development, the authors said.

Other co-authors are Richard Gustafson and Elaine Oneil with the UW, Richard Venditti with North Carolina State University, Timothy Volk with the State University of New York, Leonard Johnson with the University of Idaho, Maureen Puettmann of WoodLife Environmental Consultants and Phillip Steele with Mississippi State University.

The publication integrates findings across many previous reports generated by a consortium of 17 research institutions that have been involved in life cycle analysis of wood products for more than 15 years through the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, based at the UW. The recent biofuel life cycle research was funded with a grant from the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington. The original article was written by Sandra Hines, News and Information.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Bruce Lippke, Richard Gustafson, Richard Venditti, Timothy Volk, Elaine Oneil, Leonard Johnson, Maureen Puettmann, Phillip Steele. Sustainable Biofuel Contributions to Carbon Mitigation and Energy Independence. Forests, 2011; 2 (4): 861 DOI: 10.3390/f2040861

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/ZxqcT6xkzik/111122143356.htm

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Investing Stock Marketplace Forex trading Comparison | Estate Of ?

The Forex marketplace trades worldwide forex and is one particular of the most energetic and most significant markets in the planet averaging over a single trillion bucks for each day. This investing medium is a way for organizations, folks and other individuals to make a gain utilizing various forex charges. Traders decide which forex has the potential to improve in worth and which forex decreases in price then trade in pairs to attain their investing ambitions.

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Investing in the stock industry and Fx makes a excellent investment portfolio. The stock market place has the possible of developing dimension-capable profit, but it is not with no threat. Nonetheless, the market place when use as long term investing device is one of the greatest techniques to produce prosperity. Its heritage has demonstrated ambigu digits gain when customers invest lengthy term vs . short phrase.

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Stock Market Holiday

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New Hubble Photo Shows Off Gorgeous Globular Cluster (SPACE.com)

A new Hubble Space Telescope image shows off the striking globular cluster NGC 1846, which lies 160,000 light-years away in the constellation Doradus.

This spherical collection of hundreds of thousands of stars lies in the outer halo of a dwarf galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, which neighbors our own Milky Way. NGC 1846 is visible in the southern sky.

The bright red and blue dots in this cluster represent luminous, aging stars. The whitish ones, in turn, are middle-aged (for a star that means they average about a billion years old!).

Scattered around the globular cluster in the image are variously shaped galaxies that lie much farther away than NGC 1846.

Scientists are particularly intrigued by a faint green blur near the bottom center of the picture. This object is what's called a planetary nebula, which is what remains after a star has died and puffed out its outer gaseous layers. In the middle of the green bubble, a point represents the burned-out star that gave rise to the nebula.

Though researchers initially weren't sure if this nebula was part of NGC 1846, or just happened to lie along the line of sight to the cluster, measurements of the central star's speed, compared with the speeds of cluster stars, suggest it might be a member of the group.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111123/sc_space/newhubblephotoshowsoffgorgeousglobularcluster

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6 Ways Recycling Can Boost Small Business - Earth911.com

In today?s economy, keeping a small business afloat can seem like an uphill battle. And while recycling is often thought of as a social responsibility rather than a cash-cow, the chasing arrows can often bolster your bottom-line just as much as crunching numbers and cutting back on overhead. Don?t believe us? Check out these six ways recycling can help your small business save money and increase neighborhood PR, and start making stewardship a part of your business plan.

1. Upcycle decor

Whether you own a small retail shop, restaurant or office ? you?re bound to need furniture for staff and customers. If your office decor is looking a little drab, don?t waste cash on brand new items! Recycle chairs, desks and other pieces you already have to save on money and carbon emissions.

Businesses in the U.K. saved ?14 million per year by reusing office chairs, desks and other furniture, according to a research study conducted by WRAP. To upcycle your old furniture, try giving wood pieces a fresh coat of stain or reupholstering seat cushions for a brand new look.

To save even more money (and resources), ask local upholstery stores if they have any leftover scrap pieces from previous jobs. Scraps will sell for a fraction of the price and most will be large enough to use on seat cushions.

READ: Save Your Business Money by Recycling Office Furniture

2. Recycle for charity

Getting involved in charities and nonprofits in your community is a great way to boost PR for your small business. Sure, you could just write a check. But why not recycle to raise funds instead? Set up a charity recycling drive, and send out a press release to local news media to spread the word in your community.

If you live in an area that provides cash refunds for recyclables, try hauling your bottles and cans to a local recycling center once a week and donating the proceeds to the charity of your choice. For a project with a little less leg-work, partner with an existing organization like Recycling for Charities to set up a fundraising drive.

Recycling for Charities will help you organize a cell phone recycling drive at your small business and donate the profits to the charity of your choice. Your business will also be eligible for tax deductions for each fundraiser.

READ: Clothing Recycling Funds Charity Programs

3. Make it accessible

If you?re paying for recycling at your small business, it can be frustrating to notice recyclables in the trash can. The best way to increase participation is to make recycling bins more accessible to staff and customers. Most will choose to recycle if given the opportunity.

Make sure there is a recycling bin next to every trash can, and concentrate on areas where your staff uses the most paper. Place bins for scrap paper next to copy machines and printers, and ask staff members to reuse paper whenever possible. Reusing scrap paper in-house will dramatically cut back on waste in your business, and you?ll likely find yourself ordering far less paper each month.

For added fun, divide your staff into teams and engage in weekly recycling competitions. Place different colored bins around the office to represent each team, and tally recycling volumes at the end of the week.

READ: How to Start an Office Recycling Program

4. Reclaim hard-to-recycle waste

Recycling bottles, cans and paper is a no-brainer. But what about all those tricky-to-recycle items around the office? Take advantage of unconventional recyclers, like TerraCycle, to reclaim uncommon recyclables.

TerraCycle offers ?brigades? to collect previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste items ? from printer ink cartridges to calculators to Scotch tape. And they?ll even provide collection boxes to help your staff get in on the action.

Make a list of non-recyclable waste items from your office, and head to TerraCycle to recycle them. For uncommon recyclables you can?t send to TerraCycle, use Earth911 to find a solution in your area.

READ: 10 Things You Never Knew Were Recyclable

5. Sponsor a class

You probably collect loads of scrap paper, promotional materials and cardboard at your business. These materials are super-easy to recycle, but why miss out on an opportunity to get involved with a school or rec center in your community?

Talk to a local school or community center about donating your paper waste for arts and crafts projects. And volunteer to host a short presentation about recycling for students. You?ll soon be on the map as a local green business and recycling authority in your community.

READ: How to Start a School Compost Program

6. Network, network, network

Networking functions are part of what makes your small business thrive. And since you?re upping the eco ante at your business, why not meet other entrepreneurs that are doing the same thing?

A simple Web search with your city or county name and the words ?green business networking? should yield local green business associations and events in your area. Attend an upcoming event and swap recycling tips with like-minded business owners. Many may be able to provide contacts to further upcoming eco initiatives. Eco groups also typically sponsor a local green business directory, and getting your business on the list will help attract Earth-friendly customers in your neighborhood.

And don?t forget Twitter! The social media giant provides a treasure-trove of free PR. Update regularly on upcoming green initiatives at your small business, and follow local civic associations and community groups to help spread the word.

READ: 6 Ways Social Media Can Boost Your Cause

Source: http://earth911.com/news/2011/11/21/6-ways-recycling-can-boost-small-business/

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FACT CHECK: Hyperbole on terror interrogations (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Michele Bachmann did not intend to be taken literally when she told the Republican presidential debate Tuesday that civil-liberties activists have taken over the interrogation of terrorists from the CIA. But even as a rhetorical point, it didn't hold water.

Her hyperbole on the American Civil Liberties Union was one of the more notable stretches in the national security and foreign policy debate. A look at some of the claims and how they compare with the facts:

___

BACHMANN: "This is one thing we know about Barack Obama: He has essentially handed over our interrogation of terrorists to the ACLU. He's outsourced it to them. Our CIA has no ability to have any form of interrogation for terrorists."

THE FACTS: The CIA still has the ability to interrogate terrorists. President Obama formed the High Value Interrogation Group, which includes the FBI, the CIA and the Pentagon. It centralizes expertise so that when a terrorism suspect is caught, everyone with a stake in the issue is involved in the questioning. The CIA also can sit in on interrogations in other countries, asking questions directly or through officials of the host government.

Whether the policy on interrogating suspects should be tougher is a matter of authentic debate. But the CIA is hardly emasculated. The agency has dramatically expanded its on-the-ground operations worldwide since 2001, and the U.S. killing of a succession of al-Qaida figures in Pakistan ? Osama bin Laden chief among them ? demonstrates the potency of the hunt for terrorists. Moreover, the U.S. killing of an American citizen abroad ? the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki ? is well outside the range of action that would be condoned by civil liberties advocates.

___

MITT ROMNEY: "What they're doing is cutting a trillion dollars out of the defense budget."

RON PAUL: "They're nibbling away at baseline budgeting. ... There's nothing cut against the military. And the people on the Hill are nearly hysterical because they're not going ? the budget isn't going up as rapidly as they want it to."

THE FACTS: Paul was more accurate than Romney in describing what is happening with defense spending. Constraints in the military budget are much more modest than Romney suggested.

Both Romney and rival Rick Perry have been criticizing Obama for looming defense cuts that are triggered by the failure of the deficit supercommittee to act. But the cuts would only slow the rate of growth of Pentagon spending, which has been vastly increased because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, now winding down. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the planned Pentagon budget for 2021 would be some $700 billion, an increase over the current level of about $520 billion. The cuts agreed to last summer plus the automatic reductions would trim the projected 2021 budget by about $110 billion.

Moreover, the spending cuts set in motion by the supercommittee's failure to reach an agreement are not to begin until January 2013, which gives lawmakers time to try again to produce a debt plan. That's what Obama has in mind ? using the threat of defense cuts to push lawmakers to make a deal.

Romney's figure encompasses two sets of Pentagon spending cuts, only one of which was proposed by Obama. The president's budget called for $450 billion in savings from the defense budget; the rest is fallout from the supercommittee, a creature of Congress.

___

RICK PERRY: "When you sanction the Iranian central bank, that will shut down that economy. ... This president refuses to do that, and it's another show of lack of leadership from the president of the United States."

THE FACTS: Obama, like George W. Bush before him, hasn't issued a blanket ban on dealings with Iran's central bank. Perry could try as president, but he'd find himself with some angry allies and perhaps some economic damage for the United States.

U.S. sanctions already severely restrict what contact American and foreign companies can have with Iranian banks. That has made the central bank the primary conduit for purchasing Iranian oil exports.

Blacklisting the central bank entirely would put energy companies and banks from places such as Japan in a dilemma: either find new oil sources, or risk punishment in the United States. The same applies for China, Russia, Turkey and other countries with investments in Iran ? and the rush for new fuel providers could lead to a spike in gasoline prices that hampers the American economic recovery.

In reality, however, it's unlikely the U.S. would be prepared to blacklist Japan's banks for financial transactions with Iran's central bank. So the power of the sanction would be unclear.

___

BACHMANN: "Almost every decision that the president has made since he came in has been one to put the United States in a position of unilateral disarmament, including the most recent decision he made to cancel the Keystone pipeline. That would have not only created jobs, but it would have helped us in energy independence."

THE FACTS: Obama didn't cancel the Canadian oil pipeline. Instead, his administration delayed the decision in order to explore an alternative route to avoid areas of Nebraska that include wetlands and an aquifer providing water crucial to huge swaths of U.S. cropland. Bachmann also overlooked that the delay came under pressure from Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican. When the pipeline was delayed, Heineman hailed the decision and called it "an exceptional moment for Nebraskans."

___

PERRY: "When you put the no-fly zone above Syria, it obviously gives those dissidents and gives the military the opportunity to maybe disband."

ROMNEY: "They have 5,000 tanks in Syria. A no-fly zone wouldn't be the right military action ? maybe a no-drive zone. ... I mean, this is a nation which is not bombing its people at this point, and the right course is not military."

PERRY: "I think you need to leave it on the table to make sure, because this is not just about Syria. This is about Iran and those two as a partnership, and exporting terrorism around the world. And if we're going to be serious about saving Israel, we better get serious about Syria and Iran, and we better get serious right now."

THE FACTS: As Romney suggested, a no-fly zone by itself wouldn't do much to stop Syrian tanks and bullets from killing civilians. Unlike in Libya, where Moammar Gadhafi used his air force to fire on cities, President Bashar Assad's government has by and large stuck to ground forces. There have been a few cases of helicopters allegedly used, but they are exceptions.

Perry's follow-up argument that a no-fly zone in Syria could help deter Iranian terrorism and save Israel wasn't clear. He seemed to be referring to Iranian and Syrian support for anti-Israel groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, neither of which has air power. Weapons smuggling also can occur by ground or sea.

___

Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper, Matt Apuzzo, Donna Cassata and Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_fact_check

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Parents: Hacking made us think Milly was alive (AP)

LONDON ? The mother of a murdered girl told a British courtroom Monday she believed her missing 13-year-old was still alive once she reached the girl's previously full voice mailbox ? only to learn later that her daughter's phone had been hacked into by a tabloid.

Sally Dowler said when she could finally leave a message on her daughter Milly's voice mail weeks after the girl disappeared in 2002, she shouted "She's picked up the voice mails! ... She's alive!"

In fact, messages on Milly's phone had been deleted not by Milly but by someone working for the News of the World tabloid while the Dowlers and the police were still searching for the girl, who was later found dead.

The Dowlers were the first in a string of high-profile witnesses, including celebrities such as Hugh Grant, Sienna Miller and author J.K. Rowling, testifying before a judicial inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron on how they were followed, photographed, entrapped and harassed by tabloid journalists.

The Dowlers also described their shock and anger when a private walk to retrace their missing daughter's last steps was secretly photographed by the tabloid.

Sally Dowler said she and her husband Bob had no idea they were being observed as they walked near their home in May 2002, but days later saw the pictures in the News of the World.

"It just felt like such an intrusion into a really, really private grief moment," she said. The couple said they later realized that their own phone, as well as their daughter's, had been hacked.

The Dowlers took the stand together and spoke in quiet, composed voices during their 30 minutes of nationally televised testimony. They described a tense July meeting with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of the now shuttered News of the World, when he apologized for the hacking.

"It was a very tense meeting," Sally Dowler said. "He was very sincere."

Cameron set up the inquiry into media ethics in the wake of a still-evolving scandal over phone hacking in Britain. Murdoch shut down the tabloid in July after evidence emerged that it had routinely eavesdropped on the voice mails of public figures, celebrities and even crime victims in its search for scoops.

More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested, and several senior Murdoch executives have resigned over the still-evolving scandal. Two top London police officers were forced to resign, along with Cameron's top media adviser.

The inquiry, led by judge Brian Leveson, could recommend major changes to the way the media in Britain is regulated.

The second witness Monday was journalist and novelist Joan Smith, whose phone was hacked while she was in a relationship with a politician, Denis MacShane. Smith said she was shocked when police said her name and details had been found in the notebooks of private eye Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for the News of the World and was jailed in 2007 for phone hacking.

"I don't think I'm somebody whose private life would be of much interest to the reading public," she said. "This could happen to almost anybody. That's the astonishing thing. You don't have to be an incredibly famous actress or actor ... you just have to tangentially come into the orbit of somebody who is well known."

Graham Shear, a sports and media lawyer who has represented many celebrities, told the inquiry the host of tabloid techniques he has encountered, from checkbook journalism to "kiss and tell girls" who target athletes.

Shear is suing the News of the World's parent company, alleging that his own voice mail messages, as well as those of his clients, were hacked.

He said tabloid journalism was "a business model that's become dependent and infatuated with sensationalist and titillating stories."

In that environment, he said, "the News of the World was at the front as the most effective story-gatherer."

Grant, a fierce critic of press intrusion, smiled for photographers as he arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice, where the hearings are being held. The actor is due to testify later Monday about the harassment suffered by his ex, Tinglan Hong, since she became pregnant with the pair's child.

Later this week the inquiry will hear from "Harry Potter" author Rowling, comedian Steve Coogan, actress Miller and former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley ? whose taste for sadomasochism was revealed in a widely publicized News of the World sting.

It's a courtroom lineup that Britain's celebrity-obsessed tabloids would love, if only they weren't the ones in the dock.

__

Associated Press writer Raphael G. Satter contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Gallup poll: Newt Gingrich holds slight lead in GOP race (Los Angeles Times)

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NASA's TRMM satellite sees deadly tornadic thunderstorms in southeastern U.S.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2011) ? Tornadoes are expected to accompany severe storms in the springtime in the U.S., but this time of year they also usually happen. When a line of severe thunderstorms associated with a cold front swept through the U.S. southeast on Nov. 16, TRMM collected rainfall data on the dangerous storms from space.

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over the southeastern United States on November 16, 2011 at 2310 UTC (6:10 p.m. EST) when tornadoes were occurring with a line of thunderstorms that stretched from western Florida north through North Carolina. At least six deaths were caused by one of these tornadoes that destroyed three homes near Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Typically in the fall, the transition from warm air to cooler air occurs as Canadian cold air moves down into the U.S. The combination of a strong cold front with warm, moist air in its path enables the creation of strong to severe storms at this time of year.

TRMM data was used to create a rainfall analysis of the line of severe thunderstorms associated with the cold front. The analysis showed that the area of moderate to very heavy rainfall (falling at more than 2 inches or 50 mm per hour) with this frontal system was only located in a narrow line. In addition to heavy rain and some tornadoes, the strong cold front brought winds gusting over 30 mph, and a temperature drop of as much as 20 degrees as the front passed.

TRMM rainfall imagery is created at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. To create the images, rain rates in the center swaths are taken from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), a unique space-borne precipitation radar, while rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) to form a complete picture of the rainfall in a storm or storm system like this one.

Data captured at the same time with TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) were used to create a three dimensional look at the line of severe storms. That 3-D image shows the vertical structure or height of the thunderstorms. The higher the cloud tops go, the stronger the storm. Strong updrafts had pushed precipitation within some of these storms to heights of 9.3 miles (15 kilometers).

According to USA Today, tornadoes were reported in four states from that line of thunderstorms. Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and South Carolina all had reported tornadoes, and dozens of buildings and homes were damaged. The line of severe weather also took down trees and power lines leaving many without electricity.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/QZLoHEIDwKg/111119153540.htm

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'Dancing' odds: Is J.R. still the man to beat?

Going into the semifinals for "Dancing With the Stars," viewers weren't very surprised to see top dog J.R. Martinez get the scores to move forward.

'DWTS' feud takes center stage for readers

But once it came to who was on the chopping block right before the finals, surprisingly, Rob Kardashian was pulling better scores and ? what some might think ? better moves (plus, he got the encore dance). Then Ricki Lake reminded us why she was still in the competition, as she topped the scoreboard.

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So is it really anyone's game?

MORE: Backstage at DWTS: Hope Solo Leaves in Tears! Plus, Is J.R. Martinez's Ankle OK?!

According to Bodog, an online gambling site, not really. J.R. still dominates by having the higher odds to win at 1 to 2.

As far as the others go, Ricki holds 3 to 1 odds, while Rob has a 4 to 1 chance of winning the all-empowering mirror-ball trophy.

Story: Source: 'Dancing' crew is 'livid' with pro Maks Chmerkovskiy

If this isn't what you wanted to hear, don't fret! The finals for "DWTS" on Monday include four dances from each finalist, so that can change up everything, especially if J.R.'s ankle doesn't decide to cooperate.

PHOTOS: Dancing With the Stars: Special Guests!

Can J.R. win even if his ankle hasn't healed? Who do you think will get the mirror ball trophy? Share your thoughts on the Facebook page for our TV blog, The Clicker.

? 2011 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45370213/ns/today-entertainment/

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No. 20 Michigan manhandles No. 17 Nebraska 45-17

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson (16) looks to pass a touchdown pass in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson (16) looks to pass a touchdown pass in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson (16) is chased by Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David (4) during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson (16) is congratulated on his way back to the locker room after Michigan's 45-17 win over Nebraska in an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Michigan's Jeremy Gallon (10) celebrates his reception for a touchdown with teammate Drew Dileo (26) in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo, The Omaha World-Herald, Alyssa Schukar) TV OUT, MAGS OUT

Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez, left, is sacked by Michigan defensive tackle Mike Martin (68), linebacker Kenny Demens (25) and defensive end Ryan Van Bergen, top, during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) ? Michigan played one of its better games in years.

The 20th-ranked Wolverines hope they've saved their best for the last game of the regular season against Ohio State.

Denard Robinson threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores to help No. 20 Michigan rout No. 17 Nebraska 45-17 Saturday.

"We have to celebrate this one first, then we'll be all Ohio," Robinson said.

The Robinson-led offense did whatever it wanted, the Wolverines were stingy on defense and outplayed the Big Ten newcomers on special teams.

"It's probably as well as we've played in all three phases," Michigan coach Brady Hoke said.

Hoke and his players hope their performance is even better next week at home against the Buckeyes, who have won seven straight in the storied rivalry.

Their fans do, too.

Some of the 113,718 fans at Michigan Stadium on Saturday broke out a "Beat Ohio!" chant in the fourth quarter ? and again after the game.

"It's exciting," Hoke said with a grin.

The Wolverines (9-2, 5-2 Big Ten) moved into second place in the conference's Legends Division and kept their chances of playing in a BCS bowl for the first time since the 2006 season.

The Cornhuskers (8-3, 4-3) lost any hope of playing in the Big Ten's first title game.

Michigan State clinched its spot in the Dec. 3 game in Indianapolis with a win over Indiana and Michigan's victory against Nebraska.

The Wolverines, who lost to the Spartans this year, can't win their division, but they have plenty to play for against their archrival.

"We had our opportunities," Hoke said. "Part of competitive sports and completive life is, you have to take advantage of the opportunities."

The Wolverines didn't waste many chances against Nebraska, turning a close game into a rout with 21 straight points after it was tied at 10 and with two more TDs in the fourth quarter.

Robinson, a stingy defense and Cornhuskers miscues ? including four turnovers ? had a lot to do with that.

"You can't play that way on the road and hope to win," coach Bo Pelini said.

Robinson was 11 of 18 for 180 yards with two TDs and an interception. He ran for 83 yards and two scores in three-plus quarters.

"He's a good player," Pelini said. "He made us miss a few times, but we made him a better passer."

Devin Gardner finished the game at quarterback after Fitzgerald Toussaint's second score put Michigan up 45-17. Toussaint had 138 yards rushing and two scores on 29 carries.

Robinson ran for his second TD early in the third quarter to make it 24-10 after Nebraska's Kenny Bell lost a fumble on the kickoff.

The Wolverines had a chance to take a 17-point lead on their next drive, but faked a field goal against the flat-footed Cornhuskers with holder Drew Dileo running for a first down to set up Toussaint's 1-yard TD run.

Nebraska pulled within two TDs on the ensuing drive, capped by a crafty play that started with a handoff to Rex Burkhead and finished with an option pitch to Ameer Abdullah for a 3-yard score, but couldn't get closer.

Michigan's defense, which has improved under Hoke after struggling the previous three years with Rich Rodriguez, didn't allow the Cornhuskers to convert a third down until late in the third quarter after they failed on their first seven chances.

"Our mindset has just changed 360 (degrees) and now it's showing," senior defensive tackle Mike Martin said.

And just when it looked as if Nebraska might get some momentum in the game, shutting down Michigan on consecutive drives, Wil Richards was called for roughing the kicker on a punt and the Wolverines put the game out of reach.

Robinson converted a third down in a big way, perfectly heaving a pass from just inside the 50 to the back of the end zone into the hands of Martavious Odoms to make it 38-17 with 10:14 left in the game.

"A lot of people doubt his throwing because he can run so well," Odoms said.

Nebraska's Tim Marlowe lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Taylor Martinez fumbled the next time the Cornhuskers had the ball just after he completed two passes in a row for the first time in the game.

On the next snap, Toussaint ran for a 31-yard TD to make it 45-17.

"I thought our guys were ready to play," Pelini said. "I don't have an answer why we put the ball on the ground twice in the second half. We gave away two possessions."

All in all, the Cornhuskers' first game at Michigan Stadium since 1962 was simply miserable and it might've reminded them of their Big Ten debut this year ? a 48-17 loss at Wisconsin.

Burkhead was held to a season-low 36 yards and didn't score for the first time this season. Martinez was 9 of 23 for 122 yards with a TD and a fumble, one of a season-high three for the Cornhuskers.

"With all the turnovers, it threw us off balance," Martinez said.

The only thing that didn't go well for Michigan was the power supply at the Big House. It went out more than an hour before kickoff, leaving one of the two video boards without power for much of the first half.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-19-FBC-T25-Nebraska-Michigan/id-8e433ab0da7f4beaa43dbeb6d2e58011

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More prosecutor misconduct in Sen Stevens case (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? An investigation found new evidence of serious misconduct by Justice Department prosecutors in the 2008 corruption trial of Senator Ted Stevens, who died in 2010, according to court documents released on Monday.

Despite finding "significant, widespread and at times intentional misconduct" by Justice Department prosecutors, the investigators decided not to recommend any criminal prosecution for contempt of court, according to an order by the judge in the case.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in 2009 overturned the conviction of Stevens, who was the longest-serving Republican senator in history, because prosecutors failed to turn over to the defense information helpful to Stevens.

A jury had found Stevens guilty of seven counts of lying on a Senate disclosure form to conceal $250,000 in gifts from an oil executive and other friends. The former senator was killed in a plane crash in 2010 in his home state of Alaska.

Sullivan appointed veteran Washington, D.C., lawyer Henry Schuelke to investigate and possibly prosecute the six Justice Department attorneys who handled the Stevens case.

Sullivan said in a 12-page order that Schuelke has concluded his investigation and submitted a 500-page report that remains under seal.

The judge said Schuelke found prosecutors concealed significant helpful evidence that would have corroborated Stevens' defense and testimony. The evidence would have seriously damaged the credibility of the government's key witness.

Schuelke recommended against criminal contempt proceedings. He said to bring such a prosecution there must be a "clear and unequivocal order" on prosecutor obligations to turn over such evidence and none existed in the Stevens case.

One of the Stevens prosecutors later committed suicide while two high-level attorneys in the Office of Public Integrity have moved to other Justice Department jobs. A spokeswoman said the department was reviewing the order.

(Reporting by James Vicini; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111121/us_nm/us_usa_crime_stevens

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