Source: www.nytimes.com --- Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Highlights of 2011 included Richard Bean's "One Man, Two Guvnors" and a revisionist "Hamlet," starring Michael Sheen. ...
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The wildly volatile early stages of the Republican presidential race made it especially hard for pundits to see around corners this year ? particularly when the line between prognosticating and wishing seemed occasionally to disappear. Trying to gauge the impact of scandals also proved difficult. And a tragic crime caused some classic overreaction.
Here are the year?s biggest screw-ups from the commentariat.
Continue ReadingViolent right-wing rhetoric caused the Tucson shootings.
Jared Loughner is crazy. That?s the opinion of the experts who diagnosed him with schizophrenia, the judge who ruled in May that he was not mentally competent to stand trial, and many of the friends and family members who watched him stop making sense, stop being able to hold down a job and stop being able to relate to people in recent years.
These facts were not yet widely known on Jan. 8, the day that Loughner shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in the head and killed six others in Tucson, but that didn?t stop the country?s most prominent liberal commentators from drawing political meaning out of the act that very day.
Within hours of the shooting, Paul Krugman posted to his blog and Keith Olbermann demanded on the air that conservative figures like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin disavow their violent rhetoric.
Subsequent reporting suggested that Loughner was not engaged in partisan politics, and as Time magazine later put it in its look into Loughner?s mental state, ?In short, saying Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck caused Loughner?s actions is, to put it charitably, completely idiotic.?
Michele Bachmann will win the Republican nomination.
Bachmann?s moment at the top of the polls in Iowa may have been fleeting, but in midsummer it was convincing enough to inspire MSNBC?s Chris Matthews to make a bold prediction: She would beat Mitt Romney and win the Republican nomination for president.
Matthews told the live audience on ?Real Time With Bill Maher? in July, ?She?s my hero. She?s going all the way. She?s going to win this thing. I tell you right now, I predict she beats Romney. She?s going to beat him in New Hampshire.?
He pointed to Pat Buchanan?s performance in the state against George H.W. Bush and McCain?s victory over Romney last time around. ?I think you?re going to see a huge upset,? he predicted, because Bachmann has ?passion? and is ?not a fake.?
Current polling puts her in a single-digit fifth place in both Iowa and the nation ? and a 3.8 percent in New Hampshire, according to the Real Clear Politics average.
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TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japanese and Indian stocks outperformed the rest of Asia in thin trade Monday, with sentiment partly lifted by signs of U.S. economic recovery, although trading was subdued with many markets closed for Christmas holidays.
Tokyo's Nikkei stock average (.N225) ended up 1 percent, above its 25-day moving average of 8,459, while India's main 30-share BSE index (.BSESN) rose 1.14 percent, as investors sought holiday-season bargains.
But MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) slipped from a two-week high touched earlier in the day to trade down 0.1 percent.
U.S., European and some Asian markets including Hong Kong and Singapore were closed Monday.
Wall Street stocks rose Friday, with the broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) breaking through its 200-day moving average after a four-day rally lifted stocks to bring the index up 0.6 percent for the year at last week's close.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose to its highest in five months Friday.
"The Nikkei is moving with New York. The gains in the U.S. and Europe gave some sense of relief to markets," said Hajime Nakajima, a wholesale trader at Cosmo Securities in Osaka, Japan.
In a sign the markets may be stabilizing for the time being, the CBOE Volatility index VIX (.VIX) fell to 20.73 on Friday, near a five-month low, reflecting receding investor desire for protection in stock index options against future losses.
The VIX -- a measure of expected volatility in the S&P 500 over the next 30 days -- fell to its lowest since the global financial crisis of October 2008 at 14.3 earlier this year, before picking up to a year high of 48 in August. It has been slipping since hitting a high above 30 earlier this month.
CONCERN ON CHINA EARNINGS
The Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) fell 0.5 percent on concerns over corporate earnings outlook, pushing below the psychologically important 2,200 level in light trading.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (.KS11) slid 0.6 percent on doubts over the euro zone debt crisis getting resolved.
"Program selling was the main drag on the index today, and despite the optimistic U.S. data, foreign investors aren't ready to re-enter the market in force as long as the (European Central Bank) isn't taking more concrete measures," said Lee Kyung-soo, a market analyst at Shinyoung Securities.
Investors will be looking for clues over the strength of the U.S. economy from data due this week, including the S&P Case-Shiller house price index for October and consumer confidence for December.
U.S. consumer spending growth was tepid and a gauge of business investment fell for a second month in November, data showed Friday, but recent labor and manufacturing figures implied a more-lasting and fundamental strengthening of the recovery.
The U.S. Congress Friday approved a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut that will preserve income for most Americans, supporting their purchases of goods and services and helping sentiment.
The euro was up 0.13 percent to $1.3060, well above its 11-month trough of $1.2945 hit earlier this month.
The latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed investors reduced their short euro positions slightly, potentially giving support to the single currency.
"Given a lack of factors to trade and low liquidity, activity is expected to be lackluster this week, but sluggish results of French and Italian government debt sales scheduled this week could pressure the euro amid an absence of progress in bolstering euro zone safety net," Barclays Capital said in a research note.
The 10-year Italian government debt yield stayed near 7 percent, above which many say is unsustainable for managing public finances and the economy, while 10-year Spanish government bond yield also stood at an elevated 5.40 percent.
Wariness about European banks' health and risks of another global credit crunch made banks reluctant to borrow to each other, pushing the London interbank offered rate for three-month dollars up further Friday to 0.57575 percent, its highest since early July 2009.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau and Mari Saito in Tokyo, and Joonhee Yu in Seoul; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
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Although the bay's herring spawning grounds are now free of toxic oil, studies have found that the moderate-size spill of 54,000 gallons had an unexpectedly large and lethal effect.
The culprit, a common type of ship fuel called "bunker fuel," appears to be especially toxic to fish embryos, particularly when exposed to sunlight, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"That's the big lesson," said John Incardona, a toxicologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. "This bunker oil is literally the dregs of the barrel, and it's much more toxic than crude oil."
The container ship Cosco Busan spilled low-grade bunker fuel after it sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on a foggy November morning four years ago. This type of sludge-like fuel is cheap and thus popular among operators of commercial shipping fleets that transport raw materials and goods around the globe.
Scientists have traditionally focused on larger crude oil spills, such as last year's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico or 1989's Exxon Valdez tanker disaster, in which 11 million gallons of oil were discharged into Alaska's Prince William Sound. The Exxon spill is suspected of wiping out the sound's herring fishery, which has never bounced back.
From studies in Alaska, scientists knew that oil could cause heart deformities to developing herring in their embryonic sacs.
But after examining herring embryos placed in cages in shallow waters near the Cosco Busan spill site, researchers were surprised to find that nearly all had died, and their tissues were deteriorating faster than expected in the bay's chilly water.
"We didn't think there was enough oil spilled to cause this much damage," said Gary Cherr, a study coauthor and director of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory. He described the total spill as similar in size to a large backyard swimming pool.
Oil and water don't mix. The fat-filled herring egg sacs can act like little sponges, soaking up the highly toxic compounds from the bunker fuel. Once exposed to sunlight during low tides, the oil compounds became even more lethal to developing fish.
"Bunker fuel is used worldwide and is spilled relatively often," Cherr said. "It is important to look at small spills in sensitive areas," he added, now that science understands the lethal potential of low concentrations.
The owners and operators of the Cosco Busan in September agreed to pay $44.4 million to cover government claims, the cost of the cleanup ? about half of the spilled oil was captured ? and bay restoration programs. Besides tarring about 30% of the bay's herring spawning grounds, the spill killed about 6,800 seabirds and closed beaches for months.
ken.weiss@latimes.com
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? 6th Circuit Issues Major Decision Addressing Volunteer Coverage Under Title VII | Main
The?Lodi News-Sentinel?reports that California Governor Jerry Brown has signed an anti-bullying bill ?into law that will create an anti-bullying system at all California schools. ?The bill, known as ?Seth?s Law,? requires school districts to institute anti-harassment policies and an online complaint procedure, with shorter timelines for investigating claims of bullying.?
Source:?Lodi News-Sentinel, 10/14/11, By Steven Mayer
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December 27, 2011 | Permalink
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Who knows when they will be back again?
The ongoing NCAA investigation into Oregon's recruiting receded into the background during the Ducks' run to the first Pac-12 championship and a third straight appearance in a BCS bowl game.
But the NCAA investigators haven't gone away and, at some point, they are going to decide whether there is enough evidence to issue a notice of allegations.
The NCAA acted against Ohio State last week, taking away three scholarships from the Buckeyes for each of the next three recruiting classes and slapping them with a one-season ban on postseason play.
That means no Big 10 championship, and no bowl next year.
There was some teeth-gnashing in Columbus, Ohio, over the verdict, which is a little harsher than what the Buckeyes proposed for themselves. But, really, Ohio State didn't get off too badly.
Three scholarships a year is a small fraction of the allowable 85. It's nothing compared with the 10-per-year limitation USC faces for the next three years, NCAA penalties stemming from the Reggie Bush mess. USC's bowl ban, which has been served, was two years.
It's difficult to know what is in store for the Ducks. NCAA investigations are hush-hush, and really, you never know what the NCAA might do if we get around to the penalty phase.
For their part, the Ducks are revealing only that which state open records law forces them to reveal.
Oregon hired the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King in March to conduct an internal investigation into the matter. According to a heavily-redacted invoice released after a records request from the Oregonian, the firm still was plugging away in November, conducting interviews and conferencing.
This has been going on since March, so clearly there has been plenty of ground to cover, possibly involving more than Houston-based talent scout Willie Lyles.
Remember, the allegations first surfaced about Lyles' mentorship of five-star recruit Lache Seastrunk. Seastrunk, from Temple, Texas signed with Oregon in 2010. Shortly thereafter, Oregon purchased a $25,000 national recruiting package from Complete Scouting Services, which was owned and operated by Lyles.
The materials received for the 25-grand were revealed to be largely outdated and useless. Lyles since has suggested that perhaps the Ducks were paying more for his access and influence than for his scouting service.
As it turns out, he had advisor/mentorship roles with a number of Texas prep players who turned up at Oregon, including Seastrunk, LaMichael James, Dontae Williams, Tra Carson and Marcus Davis. Lyles' connections with other schools, such as LSU and California, have also been called into question.
Documents made public by Oregon in response to records requests reveal a number of phone calls between Lyles and coaches and employees of the UO football program, particularly around important dates on the recruiting calendar. So there is plenty of smoke surrounding the Lyles-Oregon relationship.
But the documents, which include email exchanges, also reveal a cordial working relationship between the Bond, Schoeneck & King attorneys, UO administrators and the NCAA investigators. It appears from what we've been allowed to see, that Oregon is cooperating completely with the NCAA.
This is important. Greg Sankey, associate commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and a member of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, said Ohio State "met its obligation to cooperate" with the NCAA.
By contrast, former USC athletic director Mike Garrett thumbed his nose at NCAA investigators.
In the end, the NCAA hit Ohio State with the charge of "failure to monitor" Jim Tressel's football program. USC was hammered with the more serious "lack of institutional control."
It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots and see that the NCAA slammed USC not only for rules violations, but also for not taking the NCAA rules and the school's obligation to enforce them seriously.
Oregon apparently is playing ball with the NCAA, which should count for something if and when the time comes.
But Ohio State played ball too, and next year the Buckeyes will be home for the holidays.
Ken Goe: 503-221-8040;
kgoe@oregonian.com
twitter.com/KenGoe
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/12/oregon_insider_ohio_state_case.html
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Stephen Colbert to the GOP primary rescue? (Update: Guest editorial in The State) bit.ly/vnU5Pl 
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