Friday, December 30, 2011

All eyes on German renewable energy efforts (AP)

FELDHEIM, Germany ? This tiny village in a wind-swept corner of eastern Germany seems an unlikely place for a revolution.

Yet environmentalists, experts and politicians from El Salvador to Japan to South Africa have flocked here in the past year to learn how Feldheim, with just 145 people, is already putting into practice Germany's vision of a future powered entirely by renewable energy.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government passed legislation in June setting the country on course to generate a third of its power through renewable sources ? such as wind, solar, geothermal and bioenergy ? within a decade, reaching 80 percent by 2050, while creating jobs, increasing energy security and reducing harmful emissions.

The goals are among the world's most ambitious, and expensive, and other industrialized nations from the U.S. to Japan are watching to see whether transforming into a nation powered by renewable energy sources can really work.

"Germany can't afford to fail, because the whole world is looking at the German model and asking, can Germany move us to new business models, new infrastructure?" said Jeremy Rifkin, a U.S. economist who has advised the European Union and Merkel.

In June, the nation passed the 20 percent mark for drawing electric power from a mix of wind, solar and other renewables. That compares with about 9 percent in the United States or Japan ? both of which rely heavily on hydroelectric power, a source that has long been used.

Expanding renewables depends on the right mix of resources, as well as government subsidies and investment incentive ? and a willingness by taxpayers to shoulder their share of the burden. Germans currently pay a 3.5 euro cent per kilowatt-hour tax, roughly euro157 ($205) per year for a typical family of four, to support research and investment in and subsidize the production and consumption of energy from renewable sources.

That allows for homeowners who install solar panels on their rooftops, or communities like Feldheim that build their own biogas plants, to be paid above-market prices for selling back to the grid, to ensure that their investment at least breaks even.

Critics, like the Institute for Energy Research, based in Washington, D.C., maintain such tariffs put an unfair burden of expanding renewables squarely on the taxpayer. At the same time, to make renewable energy work on the larger scale, Germany will have to pour billions into infrastructure, including updating its grid.

Key to success of the transformation will be getting the nation's powerful industries on board, to drive innovation in technology and create jobs. According to the Environment Ministry, overall investment in renewable energy production equipment more than doubled to euro29.4 billion ($38.44 billion) in 2011. Solid growth in the sector is projected through the next decade.

Some 370,000 people in Germany now have jobs in the renewable sector, more than double the number in 2004, a point used as proof that tax payers' investment is paying off.

Feldheim has zero unemployment compared with roughly 30 percent in other villages in the economically depressed state of Brandenburg, which views investments in renewables as a ticket for a brighter future. Most residents work in the plant that produces biogas ? fuel made by the breakdown of organic material such as plants or food waste ? or maintain the wind and solar parks that provide the village's electricity.

"The energy revolution is already taking place right here," says Werner Frohwitter, spokesman for the Energiequelle company that helped set up and run Feldheim's energy concept.

But it's not only in the countryside. Earlier this month in Berlin, officials unveiled a prototype of a self-sustaining, energy-efficient home, built from recycled materials and complete with electric vehicles that can be charged in its garage.

The aim of the prototype home is to produce twice as much energy as is used by a family of four ? chosen from a willing pool of volunteers who will be selected to live in the home for 15 months ? through a combination of solar photovoltaics and energy management technology, in order to show the technology already exists to allow people to be energy self-sufficient.

"We want to show people that already today it is possible to live completely from renewable energy," said German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer as the project, dubbed "Efficiency House Plus," was unveiled. The house is part of a wider euro1.2 million ($1.57 million) project investing in energy-efficient buildings.

"The Efficiency House Plus will set standards that can be adopted by the majority in the short term," Ramsauer told The Associated Press. "The basic principle is that the house produces more energy than needed to live. The extra energy is then used to charge electric-powered cars and bicycles or sold back to the public grid."

Germany's four leading car makers are also participating in the project with BMW AG, Daimler AG, Volkswagen AG and Opel, which is part of Buick's parent company, General Motors Co., each making an E-car for use by in the home.

Such strong cooperation between Germany's industrial sector, coupled with a political landscape that emphasizes stability and a heightened public ecological sensibility, makes Germany fertile ground to lead the way in the transformation from a post-carbon economy to one run on renewable energy.

"Germany has the most robust industrial economy per capita. When you talk about industrial revolution, that's Germany. It's German technology, it's German IT, it's German commutation," said Rifkin, who outlines what he calls the "The Third Industrial Revolution," in a newly released book of the same title that explains how the economies in the future could swap fossil fuels for renewable energies and still maintain growth.

Robert Pottmann, an asset manager with Munich Re, one of the world's biggest reinsurers, says the company seeks to invest about euro2.5 billion ($3.27 billion) in the next few years in renewable energy assets such as "wind farms, solar projects or maybe new electricity grids."

Alan Simpson, an independent energy and climate adviser from Britain who visited Feldheim as part of a wider tour of Germany last month to see what the renewable revolution looks like up close said it was inspiring to view what is being accomplished on the ground.

"It's great to think about Germany delivering on everything that we are being told in Great Britain is impossible," Simpson said.

Amid the excitement, there is also an awareness of the real need for the German experiment to succeed.

"If Germany can't pull this off," said Rifkin. "We don't have a plan B."

___

Associated Press writer Juergen Baetz contributed to this story from Berlin.

___

On the Internet:

Feldheim: http://www.neue-energien-forum-feldheim.de/

German Renewable Energy Agency: http://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/en/homepage.html

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_making_renewables_work

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Cuban MBAs? A Spanish School Hopes to Train Havana's Future Moguls (Time.com)

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below was originally published in Am?ricaEconom?a.

(HAVANA) -- Even before Cuba began cracking its doors open to capitalism, Paulino Garcia always displayed an entrepreneurial spirit. He spent two years at a university in the Soviet Union before returning to his native Cuba to continue his law studies at the University of Havana. After working for a firm called Climex, Garcia eventually managed to open his own restaurant in 1996, thanks to a new law introduced that allowed people to work for themselves.

"I built it from nothing, and with a lot of sacrifice," Garcia says. "I really wanted to have my own restaurant."

When Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino told Jos? Luis Mendoza, the president of the Catholic University (UCAM) in Murcia, Spain, that all of the administrators and owners of small businesses in Cuba needed to go to business school, he was thinking about people like Garcia. (See how the Catholic Church is making a comeback in Cuba.)

At the end of 2010, Raul Castro's government changed the rules and opened up the economy to a small amount of private business. In November, it announced that barber shops and small cafeterias would become private, and that he would allow an expansion in the number of small restaurants like Garcia's. Now people are starting to realize that running a business requires more than just intuition and common sense.

"The cardinal was reflecting on this need, and our president offered to help fill it," says Gonzalo Wandosell, the vice-dean at the Business Management School at UCAM.

The classes began on Sept. 26 in a symbolic building: the old seminary of San Carlos and San Ambrosio, founded in 1689 and home to the Cultural Center of Father Felix Varela. Wandosell indicated that the 45 founding students come from both state-run companies and private companies, and that there is no requirement for students to be Catholic. "They are engineers, lawyers and economists."

The Church's role in the new MBA program has been substantial. Since 1959, the Cuban clergy has been enemy No. 1 of the revolution, although the Church-state relationship has improved substantially since then, especially after Pope John Paul II's 1998 visit. (See pictures from Fidel Castro's years in power.)

On the other hand, the financing for the project has come from a Spanish university, the colonial power up until 1898, which many Cubans still refer to as the Motherland. The connections between the two countries didn't chill in the wake of the Communist revolution, with Spanish investment in Cuba still strong today.

In contrast to the costly programs in other countries, the Cuban MBA is free for students, with the costs covered by the University and donations from businesses in Murcia.

According to Wandosell, the Spaniards are taking care of the instructors' salaries and travel expenses, while the Church "supplies the buildings and coordinates with local instructors," as their director, father Yosvani Carvajal, said.

It isn't the first program of its type attempted Cuba. The Argentinian Business School ADEN tried it first, and was followed by a series of other high-profile trials and failures.

The innovation in the UCAM program is that it is the only one directed exclusively towards entrepreneurs and sole proprietors. That is not the case at the MBA program at the University of Havana, where students must be employed by an official state business to be accepted. (See "Cuba's Big Layoffs: What to Do with the Unemployed?")

Not Recognized at Home
Majel Reyes Quesada, an MBA student with a Bachelor's degree in English, said he had practical reasons for wanting to do the program. "I see myself doing something in the future, with the possible new economic opening," he said. "Maybe I'll create a small business."

This is a typical student profile, and it can explain the pragmatic character of the curriculum. "In Spain we would call it professional master's degree," explains Wandosell. "It offers advanced training in business management, but is very orientated toward small and very small businesses and cooperatives, which are the type of enterprises that are being started in Cuba."

In spite of the recent reforms, there are still substantial obstacles for potential entrepreneurs on the island nation. On the one hand, the list of authorized activities precludes Cubans from opening businesses likely to grow large. For example, a book-repair shop is ok, but a publishing house is not. An artisan bricklayer can open his or her own business, but not a construction company. No such company can open while Cuba's constitution specifies that "the economic system is based on socialist principles." (See "Cuba?s Communist Codgers Keep Control.")

In addition, there is no credit or micro-credit system. Without any access to start-up funds, entrepreneurship opportunities remain limited; and finding funding can be a major obstacle even for people with family abroad. And although the Communist Party passed a resolution during their most recent congress to liberalize the wholesale markets, the reforms have yet to be implemented.

Is this the back door to Cuba's capitalist tradition? Father Carvajal offers the Church's non-ideological position: "It is for Cuba's benefit. The graduates are for Cuba."

At the end of their program, the MBA students will have a degree recognized in the European Union, but not in their own country. The Education Ministry will not officially sanction the program until it is paired with a Cuban university.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20111227/wl_time/08599210228000

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

La Placita Supermarket in Hialeah Gardens, Florida Adds U-Haul

HIALEAH GARDENS, Fla., Dec. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --?Alexandra and Pilar Tovar, owners of La Placita Supermarket, located at 6900 W. 32nd Ave., recently added U-Haul truck and trailer rentals to the grocery store business.

Click here to download the photo accompanying this press release.

Families needing the finest in moving services now will have increased convenience and a shorter distance to travel when moving, which not only will make their move easier but also will have the positive effect of reducing the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. U-Haul partnering with business owners across North America to increase convenience for customers while helping our environment is just one of the programs that support U-Haul Company's Corporate Sustainability initiatives.

La Placita Supermarket can now offer its customers a variety of moving equipment and supplies designed specifically for moving household furnishings, including moving vans, open trailers, closed trailers, furniture pads, appliance dollies, furniture dollies, tow dollies and auto transports. La Placita Supermarket also will offer sales items to protect their customers' belongings and make moving easier, such as heavy-duty boxes, which are made of up to 90 percent recycled content and are available in a variety of sizes.

"U-Haul is proud to be partnering with a quality independent business such as La Placita Supermarket," exclaimed Rainel Gonzalez, president, U-Haul Company of Miami. "Alexandra and Pilar are a great example of the type of successful business relationship U-Haul has established in order to build and maintain a strong network of more than 15,000 independent dealers across North America."

For more information, or to rent your moving equipment today, call 305-512-9533. Business hours of operation are: Mon. ? Sat. 8 a.m. ? 5 p.m. and Sun. 8 a.m. ? 2 p.m.

About U-Haul

U-Haul was founded by a Navy veteran who grew up during the Great Depression. Tires and gas were still rationed or in short supply during the late 1940s when U-Haul began serving U.S. customers. Today, that background is central to the U-Haul Sustainability Program: "Serving the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."? Our commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle includes fuel-efficient moving vans, neighborhood proximity, moving box reuse, moving pads made from discarded material and packing peanuts that are 100% biodegradable.? Learn more about these facts and others at uhaul.com/sustainability.

Contact:
Joanne Fried
Kelie Hale
U-Haul Public Relations
(602) 263-6194
(602) 263-6772 fax

SOURCE U-Haul

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5669137156

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Mill Valley man retains sunny outlook despite living with life-threatening skin cancer

At the beginning of next month, Anders Norlin of Mill Valley will have his body scanned to determine if the cancerous tumor in his abdomen has grown, shrunk or remained the same size ? a crucible he and his wife, Tes, endure twice a year.

"I live now six months at a time," said Norlin, a 55-year-old native of Sweden who emigrated to California in 1983.

Tes says they always leap up and hug each other in the doctor's office when the news is good.

"We're just so happy," she said. "But then it starts all over again, like the movie 'Groundhog Day.'"

Norlin, who operates his own business leasing used shipping containers, was diagnosed with stage two melanoma in 1995 and since then his cancer has advanced to stage four following the discovery of several new tumors.

Nevertheless, Norlin said, "I just feel that I've been very fortunate."

Norlin considers himself fortunate because he was selected to participate in a clinical study of a new drug, Zelboraf, that has so far held his cancer at bay for more than a year. Zelboraf neutralizes a genetic mutation that promotes the growth of the cancer and exists in about 50 percent of melanoma patients.

Norlin also feels lucky that nearly all of the annoying side-effects from the Zelboraf ? the swelling of his joints and a growth on his knuckles ? have disappeared since his doctors at the University of California, San Francisco,

began giving him another new experimental treatment, a MEK inhibitor.

"He's a rock, a real survivor," said Dr. Alain Algazi, an oncologist and skin cancer specialist in the Melanoma Center at the UCSF.

Algazi says Zelboraf, which was approved by the Food & Drug Administration to treat advanced melanoma in August, has been deemed clinically effective in half of patients treated with the drug; melanoma patients in the study saw their tumors decrease in size by 30 percent or more.

"Other patients had some minor shrinkage or their tumors didn't grow," Algazi said. "Researchers couldn't estimate the overall survival rate because too many people in the study were still alive and doing well with the drug."

Algazi said UCSF researchers are now following up with a clinical study of a MEK inhibitor, which they hope will block a secondary pathway that melanomas resort to when blocked by Zelboraf. He said the success with Zelboraf is a significant breakthrough.

"Before we didn't even know where to start," Algazi said. "Now with Zelboraf we have an important leg up."

According to the Melanoma Research Foundation, approximately 65 percent of melanomas are attributable to ultraviolet exposure from sunlight or artificial sources such as tanning beds. Norlin said he assumes overexposure to sunlight played a role in causing his skin cancer, although no doctor has ever told him so.

"When I first met Anders, he could sleep under the sun for hours," his wife said. "I would tell him, 'It's always sunny here. You don't have to go out every day.'"

Norlin said, "I come from a part of the world where we worship the sun because we have so little of it. We were brought up being told, 'You've got to go outside and be in the sun. It's good for you.'"

Norlin still enjoys his time outside, however. He can't run anymore ? earlier radiation treatments caused some nerve damage to his right leg; but he works out at the local playground daily, accompanied by his dog, and plays tennis. He says exercise helps relieve some of the stress of living with uncertainty.

"It's hard to not think about it and become irritated," he said.

Norlin said living with cancer for 15 years hasn't made him any more philosophical or religious. But it has made him realize the importance of reserving some time to spend with family and friends ? or maybe just to take a walk alone on a sunny day.

He said he has been surprised by the support he has received from members of his community.

"They want to help and they don't know what to do," Norlin said. "But just saying, 'I'm there to help you,' is enough."

Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com

Source: http://www.marinij.com/millvalley/ci_19604099?source=rss_viewed

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Will Apple Launch a 37-inch iTV This Summer?

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The release of the iPhone 4S in October ground the iPhone rumour mills to a halt. But just as quickly as those rumours died, "iTV" rumours sprouted up and grew like a magic beanstalk.

Spurred by Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs?in which Walter quotes the late Apple visionary as saying he's "finally cracked" the key to making a great television?everyone and their dog has been speculating on the idea. Just a few months ago, it was a matter of "if." Now it has decidedly become a matter of "when," despite no official announcements from Apple.

The DigiTimes reports that Apple suppliers plan to start preparing materials for an iTV in the first quarter of 2012, citing "industry sources." With that in mind, the report suggests a summer launch. Sharp is expected to make the displays while Samsung is anticipated to produce the chips. It is believed that Apple will only a launch a couple of sizes initially, most likely in the 32- to 32-inch range.

But others say that instead of an iTV, Apple will continue to improve its Apple TV set-top box, possibly even making it free or at least a loss-leader in order to gain marketshare. It would reclaim lost revenue through its content sales and rentals, akin to the PlayStation 3's business model.

Source: http://techvibes.com/blog/will-apple-launch-a-37-inch-itv-this-summer-2011-12-27

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Likely 2012 UGA Football Schedule, If Alabama And South Carolina Moves Happen

It's been murmured for some time now that the Georgia Bulldogs will both duck the Alabama Crimson Tide for the Missouri Tigers and get the South Carolina Gamecocks game budged to October, all of which should delight any Dawgs fan, trouble South Carolina fans and annoy just about everybody else. After winning the SEC East with one of the easiest schedules any SEC Championship Game participant has ever put together, UGA could have an even easier slate in 2012.

Nothing's official yet, as conference schedules may be delayed yet another day, but Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph puts it all together, and comes up with a very plausible 2012 schedule:

  • Sept. 1: Buffalo
  • Sept. 8: at Missouri
  • Sept. 15: Florida Atlantic
  • Sept. 22: Vanderbilt
  • Sept. 29: Tennessee
  • Oct. 6: at South Carolina
  • Oct. 13: at Kentucky
  • Oct. 20: Open
  • Oct. 27: vs. Florida in Jacksonville
  • Nov. 3: Ole Miss
  • Nov. 10: at Auburn
  • Nov. 17: Georgia Southern
  • Nov. 24: Georgia Tech

Considering the Auburn Tigers' losses, count as Georgia's toughest opponents Mizzou, Vandy, South Carolina likely minus Alshon Jeffery, the Florida Gators with who-knows-who at offensive coordinator, and a Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets team that will be preceded by a nearly identical warmup team. Masterful.

For more on the Georgia Bulldogs be sure to check out Dawg Sports. For more on Alabama and Missouri, check out Roll Bama Roll and Rock M Nation.

Source: http://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2011/12/27/2664092/2012-georgia-football-schedule

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New quantitative method enables researchers to assess environmental risks posed by non-native species

ScienceDaily (Dec. 26, 2011) ? The Harlequin ladybeetle, Japanese knotweed and the American lobster -- while this trio of creatures may have friendly sounding names, they are all introduced species in Norway, and may be anything but friendly to the Norwegian environment. But determining exactly how damaging introduced species may be in their new environment has always been something of a challenge for biologists and land managers -- until now.

A coalition of researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and staff from the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre have created a unique quantitative method that enables researchers and others to assess the environmental risks posed by non-native species. While the method is tailored to the Norwegian environment, it can easily be adapted to other countries, and fills a vital need internationally for a quantifiable, uniform approach to classifying and assessing alien species, the developers say.

"This provides an objective classification of these species' potential impact on the Norwegian environment. We relied on much of the same principles as are used in the preparation of the 'Red List' of endangered and threatened species," says Professor Bernt-Erik Saether at NTNU's Center for Conservation Biology (CCB), who has spearheaded the development of the new methodology along with a coalition of other Norwegian biologists and staff from the Biodiversity Information Centre.

Rating risks

The method classifies species according to their reproductive ability, growth rate, individual densities, population densities, prevalence and their effect. This information allows the researchers to plot the risks posed by each species on two axes, one which shows the likelihood of the species' dispersal and ability to establish itself in the environment (along with its rate of establishment, if applicable) and the other shows the degree to which the alien species will affect native species and habitats.

Based on the combined values ??of the two axes, the species can be placed in one of five risk categories:

  • Very high risk species that can have a strong negative effect on the Norwegian environment;
  • High risk species that have spread widely with some ecological impact, or those that have a major ecological effect but have only limited distribution;
  • Potentially high risk species that have very limited dispersal ability, but a substantial ecological impact or vice versa;
  • Low risk species, with low or moderate dispersion and moderate to limited ecological effect;
  • Species with no known risk factors that are not known to have spread and have no known ecological effects.

Black-listed species

Norway's first official foray into evaluating the risks posed by invasive species was with the publication of the 2007 Norwegian Black List, which described the risks posed by 217 of the 2483 alien species then known in Norway.

With the publication of a new list of alien species in the summer of 2012, the number of species that will be thoroughly evaluated by scientists and staff will climb to roughly 2600, says project manager Lisbeth Gederaas, with the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre. The 2012 Black List will employ the new evaluation method.

"The results from this work will give the Norwegian community a better knowledge base with which to evaluate alien species," she said. "We want to provide answers to the following questions: Who are these species, when did they come to Norway, where do they live, how do they behave and what risks do they pose to the Norwegian environment?"

Recent immigrants

Most of the alien species evaluated in the 2007 Black List had come to Norway only in the last 150 years -- in fact, only 10 per cent were introduced to the country prior to 1850.

And compared to countries such as the United States, which is swimming in a soup of alien species that have taken over whole landscapes, Norway is actually in reasonable shape. But Gederaas says that situation is rapidly changing, as Norwegians travel more and their ability to accidently or unintentionally introduce species increases. "We in Norway don't have the same problem as bigger countries, but it may be just a matter of time," she observed.

Beautiful flowers -- but damaging effects

In some cases, for example, alien species are escapes from home gardens, such as the garden lupine, Lupinus polyphyllus, which was first reported from the Oslo Botanical Garden in 1831. Its beautiful pea-type flowers made it a popular planting, but by 1940, it had escaped and now colonizes road corridors and riverbanks. Because it is a legume, it has special nitrogen-fixing nodules on its roots that enable it to colonize even poor soils, and it produces copious amounts of seeds that spread and either sprout or form a nearly indestructable seed bank in the soil. The spread of this beautiful plant is so substantial that it is altering the habitat along riverbanks and waterways, which in turn changes river habitats and thus the ability of different fish species to thrive, Gederaas says.

First Norway, then the world?

Gederaas said that she and her colleagues were surprised in 2007 by the extent to which the 2007 Black List was used by different communities across Norway. The Biodiversity Information Centre (www.biodiversity.no) also offers the existing list in a searchable, electronic version, along with detailed fact sheets for some of the most common or problematic species.

The plan calls for translating the new classification scheme into English, she said. Currently, there is no commonly agreed-upon international approach to quantitatively assessing risks from alien species -- which leaves a gap that the Norwegian approach could fill.

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Monday, December 26, 2011

TheBrowser: Best Of 2011: The Xinjiang Procedure - terrifying piece on organ harvesting of political prisoners in China http://t.co/eb4V2wgc

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Tea partyers not keen about GOP presidential field (AP)

CONCORD, N.H. ? Just a year ago, tea party activists came roaring out of the congressional elections eager to shape the looming race for the White House.

Things have not gone as planned.

Turned off by Mitt Romney's style and evolution on several important issues, they have bounced from one candidate to another in hopes of finding a formidable alternative to the former Massachusetts governor to focus their enthusiasm.

After a series of disappointments ? Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and businessman Herman Cain among them ? the anti-establishment movement has settled, for now, on a favorite: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, even though he has spent more than three decades in Washington politics.

With the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3 and tea party support fractured at best, some activists worry that the passion that defined the movement 13 months ago may become lost in the selection of the next president.

Infighting among conservative groups, a growing sense of pragmatism, and glaring weaknesses among the candidates have forced some tea party leaders to acknowledge their limits and shift their attention to Congress.

"I wish that we had coalesced behind one candidate earlier on. It's not because of the tea party movement, it's because there hasn't been that candidate out there so far that has stirred the passion ? the fire in the belly," said Amy Kremer, president of the Tea Party Express. "Everybody wants to focus on presidential politics. I think we need to be focused on the Senate. That's where we really, really need to be engaged."

Lacking a presidential contender to rally behind, Kremer's organization and others have begun eyeing congressional elections that could shift the balance of power on Capitol Hill next fall regardless of the presidential race winner.

Other tea party groups, despite a desire to play prominently in the White House contest, are left to focus on policy debates in Congress.

They've already helped shape the debate over federal spending, pushing the House to pass a balanced budget amendment while rejecting Democrats' effort to raise new revenues to help close the federal deficit.

"We've changed the discussion on Capitol Hill and we've let the politicians know we get the game they're playing," said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. "We always said last year that after the November election that our work was just beginning."

Despite fractures within the conservative movement, the presidential campaigns are courting tea party leaders, recognizing the potential political muscle of a grassroots movement that helped deliver the House to Republicans in November 2010.

Romney and Gingrich have met privately with Kremer, although the two men generally have followed different strategies in trying to capture the tea party vote.

Since his 2008 presidential bid, Romney has invested time and money in building relationships with Republican leaders inside and outside the tea party movement.

That investment helped produce endorsements from conservative favorites including South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and unsuccessful Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell of Delaware.

Romney had endorsed all three politicians in their most recent elections, donated thousands of dollars, and in the case of Haley and Christie, traveled to their states to campaign by their side.

Gingrich, after such a long Washington career, represents the kind of political insider that many tea party activists generally oppose. But Gingrich had used his now-defunct organization, American Solutions, to support the tea party movement for years. American Solutions was an original sponsor of the movement's original tax day rallies, Kremer notes. Gingrich himself was one of their first speakers.

"A lot of people don't realize this, but he has been involved from the beginning," Kremer said.

Gingrich's critics say he's bought tea party support by hiring influential activists.

In New Hampshire and South Carolina in particular, several staffers hired in recent weeks come from the conservative movement. Andrew Hemmingway, who leads his New Hampshire operation, is a 29-year-old tea party activist with no campaign experience. Gingrich's national Coalitions Director, Kellen Giuda, helped create New York City's tea party movement.

But that's not enough to win over many grassroots conservatives.

Some reluctantly have embraced Romney. Others have latched onto Texas Rep. Ron Paul's fiery candidacy. Many more say they're simply not sure where to go.

Martin says her organization is gearing up to boost turnout in early voting states. Just don't ask which candidate she'd like to be the nominee.

"What I've heard from a lot of tea party people is that they wish they could interchange the parts, like a Mister Potato Head ? take parts they like from the candidates and put them together into a new candidate," Martin said. "But we obviously can't do that so we're working with what we have."

According to an AP-GfK poll from December, 55 percent of Republicans consider themselves supporters of the tea party, including 20 percent who say they are strong supporters of the movement. By comparison, 22 percent of political independents say they support the tea party, as do 10 percent of Democrats.

Tea party preferences contribute heavily to the prevailing sentiment in the GOP's nomination contest. In the AP-GfK poll, for example, Republican tea party backers prefer Gingrich over Romney 42 percent to 26 percent. Among non-tea party Republicans, it's Romney 29 percent to 23 percent for Gingrich.

Some say they've learned painful lessons from the 2010 elections, when the tea party helped nominate polarizing GOP Senate candidates who proved too conservative for voters in Nevada, Delaware and Colorado.

"The tea party in Colorado has become more pragmatic," said former Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. "There is such an urgency to defeat Obama, I think the vast majority of tea party members are going to look at this election the way any Republican would."

But not everyone agrees.

The tea party ally FreedomWorks, in particular, has aggressively opposed a Romney bid from the beginning. But the group, established by the conservative Koch family, is also cool to a Gingrich candidacy.

Both Romney and Gingrich "have been on the wrong side of some major policy debates," according to Brendan Steinhauser, Freedomworks' director of federal and state campaigns. "We do worry about whether they would follow through on their promises to shrink government if they get to the White House."

In Massachusetts, the president of the Greater Boston Tea Party president says groups like FreedomWorks need to avoid bashing any of the Republicans.

"It seems really irresponsible to me," Christen Varley said. "We all have to get together and back whoever it is in the end. That's what I think is ridiculous. If the nominee is Mitt Romney, is FreedomWorks really going to sit out the 2012 election? Of course not."

No it won't, says Steinhauser.

But like the Tea Party Express and the Tea Party Patriots, FreedomWorks may divert its energy elsewhere.

"FreedomWorks is going to focus mostly on taking back the U.S. Senate," Steinhauser said. "FreedomWorks' members are divided in their support of various candidates and they would like us to hold off on any endorsements until we get through some of these early states."

___

Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaign_tea_party

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

PFT: Ratliff, 'Boys beat writer in locker scuffle

Detroit Lions v New Orleans SaintsGetty Images

We handle the big injury stories Friday in the rumor mill.

The rest goes right here, in America?s most enticing weekly segment about the injury report.

1. Here are the players were updated during the day on the rumor mill: Kevin Smith, Andre Johnson, Colt McCoy, Justin Tuck, and?Kyle Orton.

2. The Eagles are ready to go, except for defensive end Darryl Tapp who is doubtful with a broken rib.

3. The Jets get running back Joe McKnight and defensive lineman Mike Devito back in the lineup for their game against Philly.

4. The Packers are short a number of key players once again: Linebacker Desmond?Bishop (calf), Chad Clifton (hamstring), wideout Greg Jennings (knee), and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett (concussion) are all out. Running back Brandon Saine (concussion), James Starks (ankle), and guard Josh Sitton (knee) are questionable. Starks says he?ll play.

5. The Dolphins list quarterback?Matt Moore (head/neck), tackle Jake Long (back), and tight end Anthony Fasano (ribs) as questionable. They all practiced on a limited basis and look likely to face the Bills. ?Linebacker Koa Misi (shoulder) is out.

6. Mark Ingram is out again for the Saints because of his toe injury.

7. The Bills will be without Peter King?s favorite tight end Scott Chandler, who is out with an ankle injury.

8. The Bucs will be without receiver?Arrelious Benn on Saturday night against the Cowboys.?Defensive end Michael Bennett (toe), defensive tackle Brian Price (ankle) and wideout Sammie Stroughter (knee) are all questionable. Bennett is the longest shot of the questionables.

9. Dallas has a number of questionable starters: cornerback?Michael Jenkins (shoulder), center Phil Costa (concussion), and linebacker DeMarcus Ware (neck). Costa has been cleared, but still may sit.?Ware is a safe bet to play.

10. Three Broncos secondary members are questionable: David Bruton (achilles), Brian Dawkins (neck), and cornerback Andre? Goodman (concussion). Only Bruton missed practice all week.

11. ?The Patriots listed safety Patrick Chung and tackle Sebastian Vollmer as doubtful. That way they can downgrade them to out on Saturday and then I can get a cheap post out of it while trying to cram my ?family time? in for the week.

12. Devin Hester (ankle) is questionable for the Bears. Jay Cutler (thumb), Matt Forte (knee), and Sam Hurd (5-10 kilos) are all out.

13. The Panthers list tackle Jordan Gross (ankle) as questionable for Sunday?s game. They really missed him last week, but he returned for a limited practice Friday.

14. Kyle Orton is officially probable (thumb) for the Chiefs. He?ll start on Sunday against the Packers.

15. The Bengals will likely be without running back Brian Leonard, who is doubtful with a knee injury. The Bengals get Carlos Dunlap back. Tackle Andre Smith (ankle) is questionable after not practicing Friday.

16. The Raiders will be without wideout?Jacoby Ford (foot) and running back Darren McFadden (foot) yet again. Cornerback Chris Johnson is away from the team following the death of his sister. He?s out.

The team could get Denarius Moore (foot) back. He?s questionable. Also questionable:?safety Michael Huff (hamstring) and running back Taiwan Jones (hamstring). They didn?t practice all week. Oakland is very banged up.

17. Half of the Ravens team is questionable: Linebacker Ray?Lewis (toe), cornerback Lardarius Webb (toe), kicker Billy Cundiff (calf), ?guard Ben Grubbs (toe), defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (back), defensive tackle Cory Redding (ankle) and cornerback Chris Carr (back). Lewis is expected to return to the lineup Sunday night.

18. Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb (head) is officially questionable. He was limited in practice during the week, but the Cardinals? beat writers think John Skelton will get the start.

19. The Titans list quarterback?Matt Hasselbeck (calf) as questionable. He?s expected to start. Look for wideout Nate Washington (ankle) to play despite being questionable. He?s been playing in pain for weeks.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/15/jay-ratliff-has-to-be-separated-from-cowboys-beat-writer/related/

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