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Thursday, January 3, 2013
In New York City Housing Projects, a Call for Environmental Help
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Housing project residents say the city encouraged them to ?go green,? but did little to help them and in some circumstances, stood in their way.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Kidnapped U.S. journalist missing in Syria for six weeks
BEIRUT (Reuters) - An American journalist is missing after being kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in northwest Syria six weeks ago, his family said on Wednesday.
The family of freelance journalist James Foley, 39, launched a public campaign to bring him home after requesting a news blackout since Foley was taken on 22 November in Idlib province.
According to GlobalPost, a news website he had previously reported for, Foley had been driving towards the Syrian border with Turkey when he was intercepted by a car. He was forced out of his vehicle by two armed men and has not been seen or heard from since, the website said.
No group has publicly claimed responsibility. Several journalists have been abducted in Syria during the 21-month-old uprising. Last year the country was by far the most dangerous for journalists with 28 killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a watchdog.
Rebel groups fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad have detained journalists suspected of supporting the government. Pro-Assad militia have also seized journalists, including an NBC News team who were held for five days in December.
Foley is an experienced foreign correspondent who has reported from Syria, Afghanistan and Libya. In April 2011, he was captured in eastern Libya by government forces and held for 44 days before being released. He later returned to the country to cover Muammar Gaddafi's fall.
The Syrian government tightly restricts media access. Foley entered the country through rebel-held areas.
French news agency Agence France-Presse, which also used Foley's work, quoted its chairman Emmanuel Hoog as saying it was striving to secure his freedom.
"He is a professional journalist who is absolutely neutral in this conflict," Hoog said. "His kidnappers, whoever they may be, should free him immediately."
(Reporting by Sara Elizabeth Williams; Editing by Peter Graff and Alistair Lyon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kidnapped-u-journalist-missing-syria-six-weeks-160353567.html
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Taxes rising for most people despite fiscal deal
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden make a statement regarding the passage of the fiscal cliff bill in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden make a statement regarding the passage of the fiscal cliff bill in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
As an evening haze lights the sky with a reddish glow, the lights of the U.S. Capitol burn into the night as the House continues to work on the "fiscal cliff" legislation proposed by the Senate, in Washington, on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.
The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans. High-income families will feel the biggest tax increases, but many middle- and low-income families will pay higher taxes too.
Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.
"For most people, it's just the payroll tax," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the "fiscal cliff." The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.
The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.
Obama said the deal "protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country."
The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama's claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.
Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.
Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.
The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.
High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama's 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
Together, the new tax package and Obama's health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.
For 2013, households making between $500,000 and $1 million would get an average tax increase of $14,812, according to the Tax Policy Center analysis. Households making more than $1 million would get an average tax increase of $170,341.
"If you're rich, you're almost certain to get a big tax increase," Williams said.
___
Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap
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Governor announces lawsuit vs NCAA over Penn State scandal
(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said on Wednesday he will ask a federal court to throw out the multimillion-dollar sanctions levied by the NCAA against Penn State University over the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, saying the punishment threatens to cause devastating damage to the state's residents and economy.
The sanctions, which included an unprecedented $60 million fine, are "overreaching and unlawful," the governor said at a news conference in State College where the university is located.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association, the governing body of U.S. collegiate sports, fined Penn State $60 million in July and voided its football victories for the past 14 seasons in a dramatic rebuke for its failure to stop Sandusky's sexual abuse of children.
"This was a criminal matter, not a violation of NCAA rules," Corbett said. He added that he believed the NCAA acted as it did because it benefited from the sizable penalty.
"These punishments threaten to have a devastating, long-lasting and irreparable effect on the state, its citizens and its economy," the governor said. "I cannot and will not stand by and let it happen without a fight."
The NCAA said it was disappointed by Corbett's move.
"Not only does this forthcoming lawsuit appear to be without merit, it is an affront to all of the victims in this tragedy - lives that were destroyed by the criminal actions of Jerry Sandusky," NCAA General Counsel Donald Remy said in a statement.
Sandusky, Penn State's former defensive coordinator, was convicted in June of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years, some in the football team's showers. He is now serving a prison term of 30 to 60 years.
The scandal sparked a national discussion and awareness of child sex abuse, embarrassed the university and implicated top officials in the cover-up, including the late Joe Paterno, the legendary football head coach.
Corbett said a lawsuit, to be filed later on Wednesday, will ask a federal court to throw out all Sandusky-related sanctions against Penn State.
James Schultz, general counsel for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who will be handling the case for the governor, said the NCAA failed to follow its own bylaws in determining the penalties against Penn State.
Schultz said Corbett has the proper legal standing to sue the NCAA because he is acting on behalf of state residents and businesses "collaterally damaged" by the NCAA sanctions.
The sanctions hurt businesses and residents, particularly in State College where fall football weekends bring heavy visitor traffic, he said.
"In the wake of this terrible scandal, Penn State was left to heal and clean up this tragedy that was created by the few," Corbett said.
The university recently made the first payment of $12 million of the sanctions toward a national fund to support the victims of child abuse. Other sanctions included a ban on its football team from appearing in bowl games for four years.
According to the governor's office, Penn State football was the second most profitable collegiate athletic program in the nation in 2010-11 when it brought in $50 million, generating more than $5 million in tax revenue.
Penn State released a statement saying it was not party to the lawsuit and reiterated its commitment to comply with the NCAA sanctions.
The governor was asked about the report into the Penn State scandal produced by former FBI director Louis Freeh that was the basis of the NCAA sanctions. The report was scathingly critical of the university and said Penn State leaders covered up Sandusky's sexual abuse of children for years.
"The Freeh report is an incomplete report," Corbett said.
The family of Joe Paterno, who was fired by the Penn State board of trustees who said he failed to do enough when he was alerted to suspicions about Sandusky, said: "The fact that Governor Corbett now realizes, as do many others, that there was an inexcusable rush to judgment is encouraging."
The family, which took strong exception to the Freeh report, had said it was convening its own experts to review the case and the actions of the board and school administration. Paterno died a year ago of lung cancer.
His family said on Wednesday it expects to release its findings "in the near future."
The Sandusky scandal was revealed by a state grand jury convened in 2009 by Corbett, then Pennsylvania's attorney general.
Attorney General-elect Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, has vowed to probe Corbett's handling of the case. She has said that by convening a grand jury, Corbett failed to protect children by delaying prosecution for more than two years.
Corbett, a Republican, has said he welcomes an investigation into how he handled the case.
A poll of Pennsylvania voters in September found they had a poor view of his handling of the scandal as attorney general.
The Franklin & Marshall College survey noted only one in six registered voters thought he did an excellent or good job, and nearly two thirds thought he did a fair or poor job.
Also, more than half of respondents believed the NCAA sanctions imposed as a result of the Sandusky case were unfair. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Daniel Burns, Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Kenneth Barry and Claudia Parsons)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pennsylvania-governor-sue-ncaa-over-penn-state-sanctions-014732558--nfl.html
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Tuesday, January 1, 2013
How To Make Better New Year?s Resolutions
When busy people get busier, it leads to a vicious cycle of falling further and further behind Photograph by Digital Vision/Thinkstock.
It?s that season again, when we resolve to accomplish a list of goals in the coming year. Not infrequently, these are the goals that we were resolved to accomplish during the preceding year.
If you were to ask Princeton psychologist Eldar Shafir or Harvard economist Sendhil Mullainathan for a better New Year?s strategy, they?d likely suggest that the best resolution you can make is to do fewer things in 2013. The researchers argue that when busy people get busier, it leads to ignored deadlines, a cluttered desk, and a vicious cycle of falling further and further behind. Amid the disorder, a lot of bad decisions get made, and the best means of escape from this cycle may be a moratorium on new obligations.
Shafir and Mullainathan are leaders in the field of behavioral economics, which aims to apply insights from psychology to the study of economic decision-making. In their recent work, summarized in the forthcoming book, Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, they use behavioral economics to explain why conditions of scarcity?whether of time or money?often lead people to make bad decisions.
Mullainathan and Shafir describe the problem of managing money as being akin to packing a suitcase. Someone with plenty of time has a near-empty suitcase. It requires little attention or effort to decide whether to go to a movie on the spur of the moment. By contrast, those with crowded schedules have a full suitcase: Adding a new item means removing something that?s already been packed. Deciding how to rearrange your metaphorical suitcase takes time and energy and can lead to stress and sleepless nights. Indeed, the shortage of space itself can be responsible for bad decisions that, in turn, only make the problem worse.
This may sound counter to your own experiences. Some people feel they?re at their most productive when work has piled up and deadlines are looming. Mullainathan and Shafir wouldn?t disagree. But they caution that these pressures cause what they call ?tunneling?: a laser-like focus on the tasks immediately at hand, which often results in a disregard for the bigger picture. You may be focusing on that deadline at the expense of your long-term happiness.
It?s not that the poor don?t think enough about money, or the busy about their time?it?s that they think about it too much. Shafir likes to cite a survey the researchers did at Boston?s South Station. They asked arriving train passengers what the starting fare is on Boston taxis. Rich travelers take more cabs than poor ones, but low-income respondents were much more likely to know what it costs to take a cab, because in thinking about the decision between taking a cab or a bus, a couple of dollars one way or another really matters. This attentiveness ensures that they have enough cash to finish the day, but all of these immediate distractions?deciding whether to buy a muffin or some other minor indulgences; comparison shopping cereal brands; calculating and recalculating expected expenses against a dwindling bank balance?threatens to leave no mental space to consider the bigger picture of managing finances for the long-term. (The time-scarce similarly expend so much effort dealing with the minutiae of getting through the day that they fail to think about making their lives less harried and more productive in the future.)
Mullainathan, Shafir, and a number of other researchers have been running lab experiments to understand the impact of time pressures on decision-making. Together with University of Chicago psychologist Anuj Shah, they ran a lab experiment based on the old game show Family Feud, using Princeton undergraduates as their subjects. ?Contestants? were asked to name items that belong to categories like ?Things Barbie could auction off if she needed money fast.? The responses were a matter of subjective judgment rather than fact; the ?right? answers were those that had been most popular among 100 random Americans who were surveyed prior to the ?show.? For example, the answer ?Barbie?s dream car? earns 35 points because 35 out of the 100 people had offered that as an answer. The contestants were given only a few seconds to come up with a set of answers. But some experienced more scarcity than others: ?Rich? ones had more time for each round than ?poor? ones.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=fade07a6e69620a9430833cfb6e4406e
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A blood clot's danger depends on where it is
Blood clots like the one that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is being treated for following her recent concussion can occur for a host of reasons. How serious a clot is depends on where it is and why it formed, doctors say. A Clinton aide would not say where hers is located.
WHAT THEY ARE: Blood pools and thickens into a clot after an injury or because of a heart problem, clogged arteries or other condition. Clots also can break off and travel to another part of the body.
WHERE THEY OCCUR: In leg veins (called deep vein thrombosis) or in blood vessels in the neck, brain or lungs. Leg clots are a common risk after someone has been bedridden. Clots are most dangerous when they travel to the lungs, a potentially life-threatening situation, or to the brain, where they can cause a stroke.
RISK FACTORS: High blood pressure, diabetes, birth control pills, pregnancy, stroke, recent surgery, prolonged sitting, circulation problems and heart problems ? especially an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation ? raise the chances of developing a blood clot.
TREATMENT: Sometimes a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin) is prescribed to allow the clot to dissolve by itself over time and prevent new ones from forming.
___
Online:
Concussion information: http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/
Blood clots: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/blood-clots/MY00109/DSECTION=causes
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blood-clots-danger-depends-where-033843767.html
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Broncos take top spot with 38-3 win over Chiefs
DENVER (AP) ? Peyton Manning figured one one-handed catch deserved another.
So, up the ladder he went ? throwing the ball high in the back of the end zone to Demaryius Thomas.
Thomas leaped and brought it down with his right hand, then got both feet down inside the line for a touchdown. With that, he joined Eric Decker in Denver's one-handed-touchdown club Sunday and gave the Broncos another otherworldly highlight to go with their home-field advantage throughout the playoffs after a 38-3 runaway over the Kansas City Chiefs.
"They claim they can do that all the time," said cornerback Champ Bailey, who got to watch the replays of both catches about a half-dozen times on the scoreboard. "They say they practice that. I don't see it. But as long as they do it on Sunday, I'm all for it. Those are some great, hard-working boys and I expect nothing less."
Manning, in search of his fifth MVP award and, yes, a second Super Bowl title, finished 23 for 29 for 304 yards, three scores and a 144.8 passer rating. One of his main competitors for the award, Adrian Peterson of the Vikings, ran for 199 yards to reach 2,097 for the season in a 37-34 win over Green Bay that secured a playoff berth.
That one went down to the wire. Manning was out of his game by the fourth quarter.
This was the second straight Sunday he used a grey-and-orange glove to prepare for the cold, playoff weather he could face at home the next two games.
"I threw it OK today, I guess," said Manning, who finished the season with 4,659 yards, 37 touchdowns and a 105.8 passer rating, all second best in his 15-year career.
Thanks to Houston's 28-16 loss to Indianapolis before the Broncos kicked off, Denver (13-3) will be the top seed for the sixth time. The Broncos made the Super Bowl four of the previous five times they've had home-field advantage.
Though the Chiefs (2-14) gave the Broncos as tough a tussle as anyone during their 11-game winning streak ? in a 17-9 loss last month ? this wasn't expected to be much of a game. It wasn't.
Leave it to Manning, ever the perfectionist, to ramp up the degree of difficulty.
On the 16-yard touchdown to Decker, Manning slightly overthrew the pass but Decker reached out with his left hand, brought the ball into his helmet, had it pinball against his facemask twice, then cradled it with both hands as he was falling to the ground.
"Peyton throws the ball up, giving us a chance to make a play. It's our job to catch it," Decker said.
The 13-yard touchdown to the 6-foot-3 Thomas mirrored a TD pass Manning threw to Decker last week against Cleveland: high in the back of the end zone where only his receiver could catch it.
"That was probably the limit right there," Manning said. "But I've seen him in practice. He can jump. He can really elevate. It's hard to throw it over his head, I'll say that."
The Thomas touchdown made it 28-3 and the celebration was on. The only trip the Broncos will have to make on their road to a championship would be to New Orleans for the Super Bowl. They'll open the playoffs at home Jan. 12 against Baltimore, Cincinnati or Manning's old team, the Colts.
Coach John Fox, in search of his second trip to the Super Bowl, won his 100th career game. Thomas and linebacker Wesley Woodyard congratulated him with a big splash of orange Gatorade at the end.
"It's an accomplishment, but it's something that was a lot of people's work. It wasn't one guy," Fox said.
Nor would Manning take all the credit for all he's accomplished in this, a comeback season in which he didn't know what to expect.
This marked his 73rd three-touchdown game, surpassing the record held by Brett Favre. Manning closed the regular season only 41 yards short of his career high.
"It's been a gratifying regular season," Manning said. "I will admit that. It is certainly more than I expected. I'm grateful and humble for it."
On the other end of the spectrum are the Chiefs, who, like the Broncos, had five Pro Bowlers on their roster, but finished with 119 yards of offense and wrapped up the first pick in next year's draft.
Coach Romeo Crennel watched the game from the sideline, leaning on a crutch, after having his knee drained of fluid earlier in the week. Many in Kansas City expect him to be unemployed soon.
"I told him it's been a long one," Chiefs defensive lineman Shaun Smith said about his postgame conversation with Crennel. "Sorry it didn't turn out the way (we wanted). I have faith in you and that's all that matters."
The Broncos swept their division games for the first time since 1998 ? the last time they won the Super Bowl.
John Elway retired after that one. Now, he's back, running Denver's front office, and he signed Manning with only one goal in mind: a third Lombardi Trophy.
For a brief glimmer, this could have been a game. The Broncos led 7-0 when Ronnie Hillman fumbled and Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers picked it up and was sprinting toward the end zone.
Manning cut off the Flowers return, allowing tight end Joel Dreessen to drag down Flowers at the 12. The Chiefs settled for a field goal and the Broncos scored the next 31 points.
Notes: Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles had 53 yards to finish the season with 1,509. ... Broncos FS Rahim Moore got his first career sack and Von Miller had one to bring his season total to 18?. ... Hillman wasn't seen against after his fumble. Lance Ball replaced him as Knowshon Moreno's backup and led the team with 66 yards on 15 carries.
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/broncos-top-spot-38-3-win-over-chiefs-001542286--spt.html
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