New law points to Philippine church's waning sway

An anti-abortion sign flashes on an electric signboard outside the Roman Catholic Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in downtown Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Roman Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

An anti-abortion sign flashes on an electric signboard outside the Roman Catholic Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in downtown Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Roman Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A picture of Pope Benedict XVI is shown on an electric signboard outside the Roman Catholic Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in downtown Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Roman Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A "Pro-Life" sign flashes on an electric signboard outside the Roman Catholic Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in downtown Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Roman Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A "No to Abortion" sign flashes on an electric signboard outside the Roman Catholic Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in downtown Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Roman Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Twenty-six years after Roman Catholic leaders helped his mother marshal millions of Filipinos in an uprising that ousted a dictator, President Benigno Aquino III picked a fight with the church over contraceptives and won a victory that bared the bishops' worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses.

Aquino last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 quietly and without customary handshakes and photographs to avoid controversy. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers.

A couple with links to the church filed a motion Wednesday to stop implementation of the law, and more petitions are expected. Still, there is no denying that Aquino's approval of the legislation has chipped away at the clout the church has held over Filipinos, and marked the passing of an era in which it was taboo to defy the church and priests.

Catholic leaders consider the law an attack on the church's core values ? the sanctity of life ? saying that contraceptives promote promiscuity and destroy life. Aquino and his allies see the legislation as a way to address how the poor ? roughly a third of the country's 94 million people ? manage the number of children they have and provide for them. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the Philippines are unwanted, according to the U.N. Population Fund, and a third of those end up aborted in a country where abortion remains illegal.

Rampant poverty, overcrowded slums, and rising homelessness and crime are main concerns that neither the church nor Aquino's predecessors have successfully tackled.

"If the church can provide milk, diapers and rice, then go ahead, let's make more babies," said Giselle Labadan, a 30-year-old roadside vendor. "But there are just too many people now, too many homeless people, and the church doesn't help to feed them."

Labadan said she grew up in a God-fearing family but has defied the church's position against contraceptives for more than a decade because her five children, ages 2 to 12, were already far too many for her meager income. Her husband, a former army soldier, is jobless.

She said that even though she has used most types of contraceptives, she still considers herself among the faithful. "I still go to church and pray. It's a part of my life," Labadan said.

"I have prayed before not to have another child, but the condom worked better," she said.

The law now faces a legal challenge in the Supreme Court after the couple filed the motion, which seems to cover more ideological than legal grounds. One of the authors of the law, Rep. Edcel Lagman, said Thursday that he was not worried by the petition and expected more to follow.

"We are prepared for this," he said. "We are certain that the law is completely constitutional and will surmount any attack on or test of its constitutionality."

Over the decades, moral and political authority of the church in the Philippines is perceived to have waned with the passing of one its icons, Cardinal Jaime Sin. He shaped the role of the church during the country's darkest hours after dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law starting in 1972 by championing the cause of civil advocacy, human rights and freedoms. Sin's action mirrored that of his strong backer, Pope John Paul II, who himself challenged communist rulers in Eastern Europe.

Three years after Aquino's father, Benigno Aquino Sr., a senator opposing Marcos, was gunned down on the Manila airport tarmac in 1983, Sin persuaded Aquino's widow, Corazon, to run for president. When massive election cheating by Marcos was exposed, Sin went on Catholic-run Radio Veritas in February 1986 to summon millions of people to support military defectors and the Aquino-led opposition. Marcos fled and Aquino, a deeply religious woman, was sworn in as president.

Democracy was restored, but the country remained chaotic and mired in nearly a dozen coup attempts. The economy stalled, poverty persisted and the jobless were leaving in droves for better-paying jobs abroad as maids, teachers, nurses and engineers. After Aquino stepped down, the country elected its first and only Protestant president, Fidel Ramos. He, too, opposed the church on contraceptives and released state funds for family planning methods.

Catholic bishops pulled out all the stops in campaigning against Ramos' successor, popular movie actor Joseph Estrada, a hero of the impoverished masses who made little attempt to keep down his reputation for womanizing, drinking and gambling.

But few heeded the church's advice. Estrada was elected with the largest victory margin in Philippine history. Halfway through his six-year presidency, in January 2001, he was confronted with another "people power" revolt, backed by political opponents and the military, and was forced to resign.

His successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, styled herself as a devout Catholic and sought to placate the church by abolishing the death penalty and putting brakes on the contraceptives law, which languished in Congress during her nine years in power.

It mattered little. Arroyo's mismanagement and corruption scandals set the stage for Aquino's election on a promise to rid the Philippines of graft, fix the economy and lift millions out of poverty. The scion of the country's democracy icon took power several years after Sin's death, but it was a different era in which the church was battered by scandals of sexual misconduct of priests and declining family values.

The latest defeat of the church "can further weaken its moral authority at a time when this is most badly needed in many areas, including defense of a whole range of family values," said the Rev. John J. Carroll, founding chairman of the Jesuit-run John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues. He said he wondered how many Catholics have been "turned off" by incessant sermons and prayers led by the church against the contraceptives law, and how much it contributed to rising anticlericalism and the erosion of church authority.

"People today are more practical," said Labadan, the street vendor. "In the old days, people feared that if you defy the church, it will be the end of the world."

___

Associated Press writers Jim Gomez and Teresa Cerojano contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-01-03-Philippines-Contraceptives/id-be5f2ed0a15f48c68eab0c2ac1b455c9

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Congress OKs cliff deal, signaling future fights

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, passes waiting reporters as he leaves a closed-door GOP meeting on the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, passes waiting reporters as he leaves a closed-door GOP meeting on the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama winks as he arrives to 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)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, speaks to reporters on the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night that's waiting for the House vote at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. Democrats were meeting with Vice President Joe Biden who has been shuttling between the White House and Capitol Hill to help negotiate a legislative path to avert the across-the-board tax increases and sweeping spending cuts that could damage the economy. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., center, leaves a second Republican caucus meeting to discuss the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night_and now awaits a vote in the GOP-controlled House_ at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress' excruciating, extraordinary New Year's Day approval of a compromise averting a prolonged tumble off the fiscal cliff hands President Barack Obama most of the tax boosts on the rich that he campaigned on. It also prevents House Republicans from facing blame for blocking tax cuts for most American households, though most GOP lawmakers parted ways with Speaker John Boehner and opposed the measure.

Passage also lays the groundwork for future battles between the two sides over federal spending and debt.

Capping a holiday season political spectacle that featured enough high and low notes for a Broadway musical, the GOP-run House voted final approval for the measure by 257-167 late Tuesday. That came after the Democratic-led Senate used a wee-hours 89-8 roll call to assent to the bill, belying the partisan brinkmanship that colored much of the path to the final deal.

"A central promise of my campaign for president was to change the tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthy at the expense of working middle-class Americans," Obama said at the White House before flying to Hawaii to resume his holiday break. "Tonight we've done that."

The bill would boost the top 35 percent income tax rate to 39.6 percent for incomes exceeding $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples, while continuing decade-old income tax cuts for everyone else. In his re-election campaign last year Obama had vowed to boost rates on earnings at somewhat lower levels ? $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families.

Scores of GOP lawmakers voted for the measure, reversing a quarter-century of solid Republican opposition to boosting any tax rates at all.

The bill would also raise taxes top earners pay on dividends, capital gains and inherited estates; permanently stop the alternative minimum tax from raising levies on millions of middle-income families; extend expiring jobless benefits; prevent cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors; and delay for two months billions in budget-wide cuts in defense and domestic programs slated for this year.

Both sides lamented their failure to reach a significant deficit-cutting agreement. But neither much mentioned another omission: The immediate expiration of a two-year, 2-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax.

That break, which put an extra $1,000 in the wallets of typical families earning $50,000 a year, was an Obama priority two years ago as a way to boost consumer spending and spark the flagging economy, but it fell victim this time to other priorities.

House Democrats voted by an overwhelming 172-16 for the agreement, which was crafted over the weekend by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Vice President Joe Biden.

But Republicans tilted against it 151-85. It is rare for leaders to bring a bill to the House floor that will be opposed by most lawmakers from their own party, and the decision underscored the pressure GOP leaders felt to approve the legislation.

Boehner, R-Ohio, took no public stance on the measure before the vote. But he guided the compromise to the House floor after an unsuccessful attempt by many conservatives to persuade leaders to add spending cuts to the bill.

Had the House inserted those budget cuts and the Senate refused to consider them, the legislation could have died. That left House Republicans worried that voters might blame them for a huge, sweeping tax increase and for any swoon the nation's financial markets might take when they reopened Wednesday.

"You can be right and you can be dead right. Which is it?" said Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Fla., of the quandary Republicans faced. "Right now you need to take the tax issue off the table" and move on to a focus on curbing spending, he said.

Boehner voted for the bill, an unusual step because speakers seldom vote, and he was joined by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the GOP's vice presidential candidate last fall. Voting "no" were the other two top GOP leaders, Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Kevin McCarthy of California.

Passage came nearly 24 hours after a decade's worth of tax cuts enjoyed by tens of millions of Americans expired with the stroke of the new year, technically raising taxes by more than $500 billion in 2013 alone.

Those tax increases ? plus $109 billion in defense and domestic spending cuts that were to be automatically triggered Wednesday ? became known as the fiscal cliff. Economists warned that their combined impact would hurl the economy back into recession, but Obama's signature on the bill would prevent the "cliff" from taking hold.

Obama can sign the bill remotely using a machine called an "autopen," or the bill can be flown to Hawaii for his signature.

Overall, the legislation would add nearly $4 trillion to federal deficits over the next decade compared with what would have happened had all the tax cuts expired, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

"I'm embarrassed for this generation. Future generations deserve better," complained one foe, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.

The agreement's journey to passage was a tortured one. It included negotiations between Obama and Boehner on a larger, deficit-cutting deal that collapsed, and a failed effort by the speaker to drum up enough GOP votes to pass a "Plan B" that would have limited tax boosts to incomes exceeding $1 million.

It took weekend talks between McConnell and Biden, former Senate colleagues, to craft the more modest package that focused on averting the worst impacts of the fiscal cliff while postponing any deficit reduction efforts to coming months.

Those first showdowns will come over the next three months, when the government's legal ability to borrow money will expire and temporary financing for federal agency budgets will expire. Republicans have already said that, as they did in 2011, they will demand spending cuts as a condition for extending the debt ceiling.

"Now the focus turns to spending" and overhauling the tax code, Boehner said in a written statement after the vote. He said the GOP will fight for "significant spending cuts and reforms to the entitlement programs that are driving our country deeper and deeper into debt," a reference to costly benefit programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.

Spending cuts are "going to be a component of every single battle we have" in the new Congress, conservative GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee told CNN on Wednesday.

Obama, in his White House remarks, said that while he was open to compromise, he would demand deficit-cutting savings from added revenue on the well-off, not just spending cuts.

He also pointedly said he would "not have another debate with this Congress" over extending the federal borrowing limit.

"If Congress refuses to give the United States government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic ? far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff," he said.

Though its focus was on taxes, the measure approved Tuesday would prevent a potential doubling of milk prices and prevent a $900 salary increase for members of Congress in March. Its extension of jobless benefits would help 2 million people out of work at least six months, and it would prevent a 27 percent cut in reimbursements doctors get for treating Medicare patients.

Weighing in with criticism of the compromise were the chief authors of an influential bipartisan deficit-cutting proposal, former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton. They called the measure "truly a missed opportunity to do something big to reduce our long term fiscal problems."

___

AP reporters David Espo, Charles Babington, Andrew Taylor and Larry Margasak contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-02-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-4d6364d1ead840fab334232212f87421

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Top Afghan negotiator optimistic over peace prospects

KABUL (Reuters) - A top Afghan peace negotiator said he was cautiously optimistic about prospects for reconciliation with the Taliban and that all sides now realized a military solution to the war was not possible.

Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai also told Reuters that the Kabul government hoped to transform the Afghan Taliban, who have proved resilient after more than a decade of war against U.S.-led NATO and Afghan troops, into a political movement.

He predicted the highly lethal Haqqani militant network, the most experienced at guerrilla warfare, would join the peace process if the Afghan Taliban started formal talks.

Signs are emerging that the Afghan government is gaining momentum in its drive to persuade the Taliban to lay down their arms before most NATO combat troops pull out by the end of 2014, a timeline that makes many Afghans nervous.

Members of the Afghan government, the Taliban and some of their old enemies in the Northern Alliance, which fought the Taliban for years, discussed ways of easing the conflict during a recent meeting in France.

"I think one consensus was that everybody acknowledged that nobody will win by military (means)," said Stanekzai, who was badly wounded in a 2011 Taliban suicide bombing attack. "Everybody acknowledged that we have to enter into a meaningful negotiation."

Pakistan, long accused of supporting Afghan insurgents such as the Taliban, has sent the strongest signals yet that it will deliver on promises of helping the Kabul government and the United States bring stability to its neighbor. Pakistan is seen as critical to the process after three decades of upheaval in Afghanistan.

Ten years of Soviet occupation were followed by devastating civil war and the rise of the Taliban, who ruled from 1996 to 2001.

On Monday, Pakistan freed four Afghan Taliban prisoners who Afghan officials said were close to the group's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, and still had the clout to persuade commanders to pursue peace.

"EVERYBODY SHOULD BENEFIT"

Stanekzai stressed that in order to bring long-term stability, reconciliation efforts should aim to bring the Taliban and other insurgents into Afghan politics.

"The purpose of the peace process is we want all Afghans to be part of the political system," said Stanekzai, who studied at Cambridge and was in charge of disarmament in Afghanistan before becoming a senior member of the High Peace Council.

"This peace process should not just be a deal between a few people or between the government and the Taliban, but everybody should benefit from the peace process, and everybody should see a peaceful prospect for themselves for the future."

Some activists fear that the government will make concessions in order to pacify the Taliban that could hurt efforts to improve women's rights.

Stanekzai said Afghan security forces had made progress but acknowledged that more work was needed to ensure they would be ready to take over when the U.S. combat mission ends in 2014.

He also believes a free and fair presidential election in April 2014 are essential to prevent any further conflict. The last vote was plagued by allegations of widespread fraud.

"This is the time where we have to enter in negotiations to make sure that does not happen. But, as you know, politicians are always politicians. They are always in a power game."

Stanekzai warned that reconciliation was complex, with many moving parts having to be synchronized.

The Haqqanis, who are close to al Qaeda and have been blamed for a number of high-profile attacks on Western and Afghan targets in Kabul, are regarded as a possible spoiler.

But Stanekzai did not seem too concerned about the group.

"When you go to a market you always use a brand name and then you sell your very low-quality product under that brand name," he said.

"We enter a negotiation with the Taliban which is the brand marketable name. The rest is easy."

Asked if he thought there would be a major breakthrough in peace efforts this year, Stanekzai said conditions had been established to make that possible. But he noted that Afghanistan was highly unpredictable.

"Anything can happen. You don't know which direction these different actors will take," he said.

Stanekzai knows that first hand.

He recalled how a man posing as a Taliban peace envoy kissed the hand of ex-Afghan president and chairman of the High Peace Council Burhanuddin Rabbani before detonating a bomb hidden in his turban.

Rabbani was killed instantly and Stanekzai was badly wounded. Faith in Islam has helped him recover.

"The suicide bomber was between the both of us and when he lowered his head, I remember there was a light and a bang and that was the last thing I remember. Next thing I remember was I was in the hospital," said Stanekzai, sitting near his cane.

"It's life," he said. "In Islam, in our religion, it says even if you are in the middle of fire, Allah can save you."

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-afghan-negotiator-cautiously-optimistic-peace-prospects-033807858.html

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As climate warms, bark beetles march on high-elevation forests

Dec. 31, 2012 ? Trees and the insects that eat them wage constant war. Insects burrow and munch; trees deploy lethal and disruptive defenses in the form of chemicals.

But in a warming world, where temperatures and seasonal change are in flux, the tide of battle may be shifting in some insects' favor, according to a new study.

In a report published today (Dec. 31, 2012) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports a rising threat to the whitebark pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains as native mountain pine beetles climb ever higher, attacking trees that have not evolved strong defenses to stop them.

The whitebark pine forests of the western United States and Canada are the forest ecosystems that occur at the highest elevation that sustains trees. It is critical habitat for iconic species such as the grizzly bear and plays an important role in governing the hydrology of the mountain west by shading snow and regulating the flow of meltwater.

"Warming temperatures have allowed tree-killing beetles to thrive in areas that were historically too cold for them most years," explains Ken Raffa, a UW-Madison professor of entomology and a senior author of the new report. "The tree species at these high elevations never evolved strong defenses."

A warming world has not only made it easier for the mountain pine beetle to invade new and defenseless ecosystems, but also to better withstand winter weather that is milder and erupt in large outbreaks capable of killing entire stands of trees, no matter their composition.

"A subject of much concern in the scientific community is the potential for cascading effects of whitebark pine loss on mountain ecosystems," says Phil Townsend, a UW-Madison professor of forest ecology and also a senior author of the study.

The mountain pine beetle's historic host is the lodgepole pine, a tree common at lower elevations. Typically, the insects, which are about the size of a grain of rice, play a key role in regulating the health of a forest by attacking old or weakened trees and fostering the development of a younger forest. However, recent years have been characterized by unusually hot and dry summers and mild winters, which have allowed insect populations to boom. This has led to an infestation of mountain pine beetle described as possibly the most significant insect blight ever seen in North America.

Because lodgepole pine co-evolved with the bark beetle, it has devised stronger chemical countermeasures, volatile compounds toxic to the beetle and other agents that disrupt the pine bark beetle's chemical communication system.

Despite its robust defense system, the lodgepole pine is still the preferred menu item for the mountain pine beetle, suggesting that the beetle has not yet adjusted its host preference to whitebark pine. "Nevertheless, at elevations consisting of pure whitebark pine, the mountain pine beetle readily attacks it," says Townsend.

The good news, he adds, is that in mixed stands, the beetle's strongest attraction is to the lodgepole pine, suggesting that, at least in the short term, whitebark pine may persist in those environments.

The study, conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the last nearly intact ecosystems in the Earth's northern temperate regions, also revealed that the insects that prey on or compete with the mountain pine beetle are staying in their preferred lodgepole pine habitat. That, says Townsend, is a concern because the tree-killing bark beetles "will encounter fewer of these enemies in fragile, high-elevation stands."

Whitebark pine trees are an important food source for wildlife, including black and grizzly bears, and birds such as the Clark's nutcracker, named after the famed explorer and which is essential to whitebark pine forest ecology as the bird's seed caches help regenerate the forests.

With their broad crowns, the high-elevation whitebark pines also act as snow fences, helping to slowly release water into mountain streams and extending stream flow into mountain valleys well into the summer.

"Loss of the canopy will lead to greater desiccation during the winter and faster melting in the summer due to loss of tree canopies for shade," according to Townsend. "This is possibly a short-term effect of the loss of whitebark pine," he explains "If -- and it is a big if -- other tree species replace it, eventually this service may be replaced."

The new study was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison. The original article was written by Terry Devitt.

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. Kenneth F. Raffa, Erinn N. Powell, and Philip A. Townsend. Temperature-driven range expansion of an irruptive insect heightened by weakly coevolved plant defenses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1216666110

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/most_popular/~3/aS3JdueesYI/121231161015.htm

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'Fiscal cliff' disputes remain as deadline nears

The moon rises behind the U.S. Capitol Dome in Washington as Congress works into the late evening, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 to resolve the stalemate over the pending "fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

The moon rises behind the U.S. Capitol Dome in Washington as Congress works into the late evening, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 to resolve the stalemate over the pending "fiscal cliff." (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., followed by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., second from right, leaves the Senate chamber to meet with fellow Republicans in a closed-door session as the "fiscal cliff" negotiations continue at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. Leaders in the Senate and the House are under pressure to find a legislative path to head off the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrats as he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., work to negotiate a legislative path to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. Senate and House leaders are rushing to assemble a last-ditch agreement to stave off middle-class tax increases and possibly delay steep spending cuts in an urgent attempt to find common ground after weeks of gridlock. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., third ranking in the Senate Democratic leadership, speaks on his cell phone following a closed-door caucus at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 to discuss how to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts that could kick in Jan. 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House and Senate Republicans sorted through stubborn disputes over taxing the wealthy and cutting the budget to pay for Democratic spending proposals as Monday's midnight deadline for an accord avoiding the "fiscal cliff" drew to within hours.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., spoke repeatedly Sunday to Vice President Joe Biden, a former Senate colleague, in hopes of settling remaining differences and clinching a breakthrough that has evaded the two sides since President Barack Obama's November re-election. In one indication of the eleventh-hour activity, aides said the president, Biden and top administration bargainer Rob Nabors were all working late at the White House, and McConnell was making late-night phone calls as well.

Unless an agreement is reached and approved by Congress by the start of New Year's Day, more than $500 billion in 2013 tax increases will begin to take effect and $109 billion will be carved from defense and domestic programs. Though the tax hikes and budget cuts would be felt gradually, economists warn that if allowed to fully take hold, their combined impact ? the so-called fiscal cliff ? would rekindle a recession.

"There is still significant distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said shortly before the Senate ended an unusual Sunday session. "There is still time to reach an agreement, and we intend to continue negotiations."

The House and Senate planned to meet Monday, a rarity for New Year's Eve, in hopes of having a tentative agreement to consider. Yet despite the flurry of activity, there was still no final pact.

And in a move that was sure to irritate Republicans, Reid was planning ? absent a deal ? to force a Senate vote Monday on Obama's campaign-season proposal to continue expiring tax cuts for all but those with income exceeding $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

Attached to the measure ? which the GOP seemed likely to block ? would be an extension of jobless benefits for around 2 million long-term unemployed people. The plan was described by Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the chamber's No. 2 Democrat.

The House and Senate met Sunday ready to debate an agreement or at least show voters they were trying. But the day produced alternating bursts of progress and pitfalls, despite Senate chaplain Barry Black's opening prayer in which he asked the heavens, "Look with favor on our nation and save us from self-inflicted wounds."

In one sign of movement, Republicans dropped a demand to slow the growth of Social Security and other benefits by changing how those payments are increased each year to allow for inflation.

Obama had offered to include that change, despite opposition by many Democrats, as part of earlier, failed bargaining with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, over a larger deficit reduction agreement. But Democrats said they would never include the new inflation formula in the smaller deal now being sought to forestall wide-ranging tax boosts and budget cuts, and Republicans relented.

"It's just acknowledging the reality," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said of the GOP decision to drop the idea.

There was still no final agreement on the income level above which decade-old income tax cuts would be allowed to expire. While Obama has long insisted on letting the top 35 percent tax rate rise to 39.6 percent on earnings over $250,000, he'd agreed to boost that level to $400,000 in his talks with Boehner. GOP senators said they wanted the figure hoisted to at least that level.

Senators said disagreements remained over taxing large inherited estates. Republicans want the tax left at its current 35 percent, with the first $5.1 million excluded, while Democrats want the rate increased to 45 percent with a smaller exclusion.

The two sides were also apart on how to keep the alternative minimum tax from raising the tax bills of nearly 30 million middle-income families and how to extend tax breaks for research by business and other activities.

Republicans were insisting that budget cuts be found to pay for some of the spending proposals Democrats were pushing.

These included proposals to erase scheduled defense and domestic cuts exceeding $200 billion over the next two years and to extend unemployment benefits. Republicans complained that in effect, Democrats would pay for that spending with the tax boosts on the wealthy.

"We can't use tax increases on anyone to pay for more spending," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

Both parties also want to block an immediate 27 percent cut in reimbursements to doctors who treat Medicare patients. Republicans wanted to find savings from Obama's health care bill as well as from Medicare providers, while Democrats want to protect the health care law from cuts.

Both sides agree that a temporary 2-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax was likely to expire. That reduction ? to 4.2 percent ? was initiated by Obama two years ago to help spur the economy and has meant $1,000 annual savings to families earning $50,000.

A senior defense official said if the spending cuts were triggered, the Pentagon would soon begin notifying its 800,000 civilian employees to expect furloughs ? mandatory unpaid leave, not layoffs. It would take time for the furloughs to be implemented, said the official, who requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the preparations

___

Associated Press writers David Espo, Julie Pace and Robert Burns contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-31-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-af05f9d0b73f46579212203b77c1761e

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Why Intel's New IPTV Service Will Do What Google, Apple, and Microsoft Can't

Apple and Google have been attempting for years to entice customers to ditch cable television for set top boxes that deliver TV shows, movies and more via the internet. For the past year or so, Intel has also quietly been working on a top-secret set-top box that could not only be better than what Apple, Google, and even Microsoft offer today, but also kill the cable industry as we know it.

This set-top box, said by industry insiders to be available to a limited beta of customers in March, will offer cable channels delivered ?over the top? to televisions anywhere there is an Internet connection regardless of provider. (Microsoft Mediaroom, for example, requires AT&T?s service, and Xbox has limited offerings for Comcast and FiOS customers). For the first time, consumers will be able to subscribe to content per channel, unlike bundled cable services, and you may also be able to?subscribe per show as well. Intel?s set-top box will also have access to Intel?s already existing app marketplace for apps, casual games, and video on demand. Leveraging the speed of current broadband, and the vast shared resources of the cloud, Intel plans to give customers the ability to use ?Cloud DVR?, a feature intended to allow users to watch any past TV show at any time, without the need to record it ahead of time, pause live tv, and rewind shows in progress.

Intel had hoped that GoogleTV and AppleTV would spur demand for Intel chips, but that having failed they poached much of Microsoft?s Mediaroom team. Much of the direction of Mediaroom came from the leadership of Jim Baldwin, who is now VP of this Intel initiative.

At Microsoft, Jim demonstrated that the technology to enable customers to watch TV over the internet using any device was feasible, but content licensing, the goals of ISP?s and bandwidth limitations previously stood in the way.

?In creating Mediaroom, we brought together key emerging technologies to create the world?s most modern television system: better video compression, higher access network bandwidth, lower cost single-chip devices, cloud computing; and added to it some great software to make it all work together seamlessly with a great user experience. Our goal was to provide technology to operators that will continue to delight consumers as the world of internet-delivered content unfolds.?

According to an Intel job posting, Jim joined Microsoft in 1997 as a part of the WebTV acquisition, and Jim has been a key architect of digital video technology for various products including the WebTV Plus, Echostar Dishplayer, DirecTV UltimateTV and Microsoft TV.

Along with hiring the right key players with the expertise needed to develop a revolutionary set-top box, Intel also has the technology to create a product unlike its competitors. Intel has been providing chips for set top boxes since the days of Akimbo, which had a similar vision as far back as 2005. Back then, though, no one had digital rights to content ? and up until now, no one wanted to risk unbundling the channels. This is clearly the biggest barrier for Intel ? but since Intel is used to betting billions on chip design, it has allocated a budget significantly larger than Apple or Google?s. While Silicon Valley measures investments in tens of millions, Hollywood often drops more than $100 million into a single movie. Intel came to the table knowing this, and so was able to negotiate the licensing agreements with Hollywood that other tech giants have never been able to.

Intel has made it clear to Hollywood they are serious about this product and dedicated to its longevity. Intel is also prepared to invest heavily in making it a success. In contrast, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have always viewed Hollywood as something of a hobby. (Steve Jobs even said as much of Apple TV). As Intel has approached Hollywood with much more dedication (and dollars), this is likely the single reason that Intel, more than any company before it, has the potential to really bring to consumers the things we have never seen in online content before, such as live sports, release schedules that match broadcast, and first episode through current libraries for video on demand.

Intel is scheduled to hold a press event at CES, where Intel will likely officially announce this new product. However, while industry insiders say a working version is scheduled to be ready for CES, it will likely be only for limited demos.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2012/12/30/why-intels-new-iptv-service-will-do-what-google-apple-and-microsoft-cant/

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Hot Destinations 2013: Finding the Locals' Istanbul - Peter Greenberg

Culinary, Cultural Immersion, Culture, Destinations, Europe, Luxury Travel, Middle East, Shopping, Travel News ? on December 31, 2012 8:31 am

We can do better than the old cliche of Istanbul as ?East meets West.? Instead, Courtney Crockett seeks out the vibrant local experience?the real hamam culture, T?rk kahvehane and the hidden corners of the Grand Bazaar.

If you follow the Istanbul of some tour guides, you?re sure to have the so-persistent photo op wearing a Sultan costume. But if you want to get to the heart of the vibrant city, break the surface of the local side. You won?t be disappointed.

Eat + Drink

Coffee is the best starting point. The good stuff will be found in a ?T?rk kahvehane,? or coffeehouse. Turkish coffee is unique because it?s made using a time-honored method, where the coffee and water is heated together, unfiltered in a special copper pot called a ?cezve.? The process produces a kick about double that of your average espresso.

According to local advice, kahve is usually ordered with a little sugar already mixed in. It can be a bit bitter without it. To order this ?just right? amount of sweetness?, you must ask for ?az sekerli.?

An explosion of chain coffee shops has flooded Istanbul in recent years, from Starbucks to the Turkish version, Kahve D?nyasl. Lately, young people in particular? 50 percent of the city?s population?seem to be embracing the old style shops, aligning with rest of the vintage crazed western world.

First time or fifth time, you?re probably going to end up at the Grand Bazaar. In one of the most bustling ?shop ops? on earth, with over 4500 retailers, not many people think to sit. The results are better than any evil eye bracelet you could ever buy. I loved Fes Caf?. Order the ?Damla Sakizh.? It?s a piney flavored infusion, almost like gin without the alcohol? a traditional Turkish spin.

A few other coffee spots include Kahvecci Ethem Tez?akar (a tiny spot with a max seating of 4), T?rk kahvehanes (ocean views and good food), Kronotrop Coffee Roastery + Brewery (good for pick up), Caf? di Dolce and Pierre Lotti.

I cannot exclude Turkey?s other pride and joy? tea. If you?re a tea aficionado and frequent loose leaf boutiques with flavors most people have never heard of, you?ll likely want to spend a whole afternoon and a lot of Liras at Agakapisi. You can order in a seat with a great view, from a menu with +40 tea flavors. If you?d rather skip the fancy hibiscus infusion, tuck into the secret gated courtyard of Tunnel Square. Any caf? will do, but I liked K.V., for it?s square open window to the kitchen below your feet.

You can only drink your way to satisfaction for so long; prepare for a food coma. Istanbul has some of the most delicious eats, combining local spices, age old recipes and the fresh flavors of the Mediterranean. Food for thought; try a neighborhood ?meyhene,? a sort of Turkish tavern. Check out Yakup 2. Skip the traditional main course and ask your server for a combination of hot and cold ?mezzes.? Mezzes are small plates, like tapas and are by far the best way to taste a wide range of plates, from white cheese borek to eggplant salad.

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It?s common in Istanbul to trust the waiters recommendation instead of ordering off the menu, so you won?t get a funny look if you request this. Also, order a glass of ?raki,? the national drink. It?s an anise-flavored spirit that turns cloudy when mixed with water. Watch out, it goes down pretty easy but creeps up like tequila?so I?ve heard.

Full as you may be, remember what is truly important at the end of the day?baklava. Although you really can?t go wrong with baklava in Istanbul, some are still better than others. Karakoy G?ll?glu favtory happens to be the largest baklava-producing site in the world. It?s quite a dangerous stop, and if you plan on visiting I highly recommend wearing elastic waist pants. I?m usually very partial to pistachio, but their walnut baklava made me seriously question my loyalty.

While you?re in the area, just down the street is Koska, boasting to die for chocolate-walnut baklava that I can?t even talk about. The employees suggested eating baklava upside down, so the flakey crust dissolves on your tongue and you can take in the real texture. While my unsophisticated taste buds were not phased by this recommendation, it made binging on thousands of buttery calories feel slightly scientific.

more>>

Source: http://www.petergreenberg.com/2012/12/31/hot-destinations-2013-finding-the-locals-istanbul/

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