Obama makes case for extending payroll tax cuts (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama pressured Republicans in Congress on Monday to extend a payroll tax cut, saying the economic recovery is "still fragile" and middle class families need the money.

"My message to Congress is this: Keep your word to the American people and don't raise taxes on them right now. Now's not the time to slam on the brakes. Now's the time to step on the gas," Obama said at the White House. He said despite a decline in the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent in November, "our recovery is still fragile" and the nation's economy could be hurt by economic turbulence in Europe.

The president has been seeking an extension and expansion to the payroll tax cut that will expire at the end of the year. The White House says taxes on the average family would increase by $1,000 if the cuts are not extended.

To make its point, the White House went so far as to put up a countdown clock during spokesman Jay Carney's briefing to show when middle-class taxes would go up "if Congress doesn't act."

Some Republicans in Congress support the extension but the parties have been split on how to pay for it. Obama noted that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have expressed support for the extension, adding, "I hope the rest of their Republican colleagues come around."

Brendan Buck, a Boehner spokesman, said there was widespread support for extending the payroll tax cuts but if "the president wants to make progress he should insist that Senate Democrats remove the job-killing small business tax hike from their partisan proposal."

Senate Democrats have rolled out a compromise that would drop Obama's proposal to award the tax cut to employers, bringing the cost of the plan down.

Obama also said for Congress to end its work this year without extending unemployment insurance would be a "terrible mistake" and leave "1.3 million Americans out in the cold."

The White House has called for an extension of benefits that can cover up to 99 weeks for the long-term jobless. State unemployment insurance programs guarantees coverage for six months, but Congress approved additional benefits in 2008. Expiration of those payments would mean an average loss of nearly $300 in weekly income for more than 1 million households in January.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_payroll_tax

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No. 1 Kentucky, No. 5 UNC both want to run

BC-BKC--T25-NCarolina-Kentucky, 5th Ld-Writethru,872Davis' block lifts No. 1 Kentucky over No. 5 UNCAP Photo KYJC103, KYJC102, KYJC101, KYJC111, KYJC108Eds: No. 1 Kentucky 73, No. 5 North Carolina 72. With AP Photos. Restores dropped word "lost."By COLIN FLYAP Sports Writer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) ? Pushed and pressured all day, Anthony Davis finally went somewhere else no one could on the floor. Up.

The freshman soared to block John Henson's shot in the final seconds and No. 1 Kentucky held on to beat No. 5 North Carolina 73-72 on Saturday to extend the Wildcats' home winning streak to 39 games.

"I just jumped as high as I could with my arm up," said Davis, who had seven points and nine rebounds. "I thought I probably would (block it). I have long hands."

Freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Kentucky (8-0) and Doron Lamb added 12 of his 14 points after halftime in the heavily hyped matchup.

"I didn't realize, because I hadn't been watching much TV, that this game was being played up like the end alls of end alls," Kentucky coach John Calipari said.

Davis sure ended it, all right.

Reggie Bullock hit a 3-pointer for North Carolina (6-2) to cut the Wildcats' lead to 73-72 with 48 seconds left. After freshman Marquis Teague missed the front end of a one-and-one, Davis blocked Henson's shot, grabbed the rebound and the Wildcats ran out the clock.

"If he doesn't block the shot, we lose," Calipari said. "Both teams gutted it out, just gutted it out. This is supposed to be March, not now. I'm exhausted."

Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points apiece for the Tar Heels, who led by as many as nine in the first half and held a six-point lead in the second before Kentucky rallied.

The Wildcats haven't lost at Rupp Arena since Calipari took over, a span of 38 games that includes winning their final one at home under Billy Gillispie.

Lamb converted a three-point play as part of a 7-0 run that gave Kentucky a 63-60 lead. After Zeller hit a jumper to cut it to one, Lamb hit a pair of 3s, the second in the corner that gave the Wildcats a 69-64 lead with 3:47 left.

"He had a couple of layups, a couple of threes and they were big shots, they were big shots. That one in the corner was a huge shot and he knocked it down," Calipari said. "I've got good players. We're young, we're inexperienced, but I have really good players."

After a 3-pointer by Barnes, North Carolina's 11th of the game, made it 69-67. Darius Miller's basket made it 71-67. Henson hit two free throws and Kidd-Gilchrist answered with two more before Bullock's 3 set up the final sequence.

After Teague missed the front end of the one-and-one following a foul by Kendall Marshall with 21 seconds left, the Tar Heels had one more chance.

Marshall found Zeller and as Terrence Jones came to double team, he found Henson. Henson went up for a winner, but Davis used his 6-foot-10 frame and massive wingspan to block the ball. He grabbed the rebound as North Carolina never tried to foul as time expired.

"He came from the other side of the lane, it was a great play by him," Henson said.

Jones finished with 14 points and Miller had 12 for the Wildcats. North Carolina's P.J. Hairston scored 11 and Henson finished with 10.

Kentucky last reached No. 1 under Calipari in 2009-10, but promptly lost its first game after receiving the ranking. The Wildcats beat St. John's 81-59 on Thursday night before this matchup ? the first between top five teams in Lexington in 13 years.

Last year, these two teams played a pair of memorable games with North Carolina winning 75-73 in Chapel Hill before Kentucky topped the Tar Heels 76-69 in the NCAA regional finals in March.

This one was equally as entertaining even though North Carolina slipped from the No. 1 spot last week when they lost to UNLV in Las Vegas to keep this from being the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the 35-year history of Rupp Arena.

The Tar Heels committed five early turnovers, but Hairston, who had been questionable to play because of a sprained left wrist, hit a pair of 3-pointers upon entering to give North Carolina a 24-18 lead.

A jumper by Barnes extended it to 34-25, the biggest deficit the Wildcats faced this season and Kentucky trailed at the half for the first time this season, 43-38.

It's the first time the two schools have met this highly ranked since Dec. 26, 1981 in East Rutherford, N.J., when Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins combined for 66 points in North Carolina's 82-69 victory.

Kentucky standout Sam Bowie didn't play in that game because of a stress fracture in his left leg, but that game still featured 18 draft picks ? including five that went in the first two rounds. The NBA draft was 10 rounds through 1984.

This matchup had even more media anticipation and included more than two dozen NBA scouts and front office personnel. Kentucky's young squad that starts three freshmen and two sophomores responded.

"We felt like this was a good test to see where we're at against one of the best teams in the country," Miller said. "We came out with a W. I think we're all pretty happy about it."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-03-T25-NCarolina-Kentucky/id-e2299bd6eb9f45bc9efd5891e4a92835

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Paisley to hang with Urban after vocal surgery (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? No one has spoken to Keith Urban since his surgery last week to remove a polyp on his vocal chord.

That's because the country star is on complete vocal rest for the next couple of weeks.

Good friend Brad Paisley has checked in with Urban, and they have plans to hang out while Urban recovers.

"We're big guitar junkies, and we wanted to get together and maybe go through some amplifiers and go through some gear," said Paisley before the CMT Artists of the Year taping on Tuesday in Nashville. "I told him, `Let's do that. You don't have to talk. We'll get together. We'll play guitar, set up some amps, go through some tubes, try some stuff out and tweak.' I'll do all the talking, which I am very capable of. He can just nod and grunt and do whatever he's allowed to do."

Paisley said he can't imagine what it's like to not be able to talk for weeks. But he thinks Urban's wife, Nicole Kidman, should take full advantage of the situation.

"I'm sure Nicole loves it. It's got to be great for her," he joked.

Before heading into surgery, Urban posted a video for fans, thanking them for their gifts and well wishes. He said he looks forward to seeing fans in 2012.

An earlier statement from Urban's publicist called the surgery a minor outpatient procedure. Urban postponed his "All For The Hall" concert to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame that was originally scheduled for Jan. 18. He also rescheduled the rest of his 2011 concert dates for next year.

Urban is a four-time Grammy winner with 13 No. 1 hits, including his most recent, "Long Hot Summer."

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Online:

http://www.keithurban.net

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For the latest country music news from The Associated Press, follow: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Country

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_en_mu/us_people_paisley_urban

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U.N. rights chief calls for action to protect Syrians (Reuters)

GENEVA (Reuters) ? United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Friday for the international community to take action to protect the civilian population in Syria from "ruthless repression" as the country slides into civil war.

More than 4,000 people have been killed, including 307 children, in the military crackdown since March and more than 14,000 people are believed to be held in detention, she told an emergency session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

"The Syrian authorities' continual ruthless repression, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war. In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people," Pillay said.

"All acts of murder, torture and other forms of violence must be immediately stopped," she added.

She voiced concern at reports of increased armed attacks by the opposition forces, including the so-called Free Syrian Army, against the Syrian military and security apparatus.

Syrian army deserters killed eight people in an attack on an intelligence building in the north of the country, an opposition group said on Friday.

Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge, noted that she had already called in August for the Security Council to refer Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

"The need for international accountability has even greater urgency today," she said.

The 47-member Geneva forum was holding an emergency session on Syria, its third since April, called by the European Union (EU) with backing from the United States and Arab countries including Saudi Arabia.

It followed a report by an independent commission of inquiry, which interviewed 223 victims, witnesses and defectors, which found that security and military forces committed crimes against humanity including executions, rape and torture.

"In the light of its findings, the Commission is gravely concerned that crimes against humanity have occurred in Syria," Paulo Pinheiro, who led the commission of inquiry, told the talks on Friday.

"The extreme suffering of the population inside and outside Syria must be addressed as a matter of urgency. Victims expect nothing less from the United Nations and its member states," said Pinheiro, a Brazilian expert who headed the three-member panel.

Syria's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, led his country's delegation to the one-day talks and delivered an angry speech.

"The Syrian problem is one that can be resolved only by Syrians. It is only a domestic, national solution that is possible," he said, referring to democratic reforms promised early next year.

"The solution cannot come from the corridors of the international community," he said. "It is only resolutions trying to put more oil on the fire."

A revised EU draft resolution -- which emerged after intense negotiations with China, Cuba and Russia -- condemns "continued, widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms".

But it stopped short of calling for action by the Security Council, which has the powers to refer a country to the ICC.

Instead, it would send the U.N. report to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "for appropriate action and transmission to all U.N. relevant bodies".

The aim was to get all countries on board a consensus text to send a strong message of disapproval to Damascus coupled with a call for a halt to violence, diplomats said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Rosalind Russell)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/wl_nm/us_syria

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Colbert: Apple's Siri 'is clearly an arch conservative woman'

Comedy Central

By Rosa Golijan

Apple's Siri?? the virtual assistant built into the iPhone 4S?? refuses to help its users find abortion clinics and?tends to ignore folks with foreign accents. Sure, there could be an innocent explanation for those things?? such as a series of glitches?? but?Stephen Colbert has an alternate theory.

According to Colbert, Siri is obviously an arch conservative woman, "like Laura Ingraham ??but less robotic."

You can check out that theory?? and its context?? in the clip below. Don't forget that it's from a recent episode of "The Colbert Report" and all in good humor?? so don't let it ruffle too many feathers.

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/01/9140457-colbert-apples-siri-is-clearly-an-arch-conservative-woman

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Why Girls Don't Want Careers In Tech

Link Information - Click to View

Why Girls Don't Want Careers In Tech
This week I was lucky enough collect an award at Red Magazine's Hot Women Awards 2011, which celebrates successful women in industry. What made the experience all the more rewarding was being able to spend some time with a group of women at the top of their fields.

Source: FastCompany
Posted on: Friday, Dec 02, 2011, 8:44am
Views: 41

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115685/Why_Girls_Don_t_Want_Careers_In_Tech

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Romney knocks Gingrich as 'lifelong politician' (The Arizona Republic)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167922108?client_source=feed&format=rss

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