Debating whether the Republican candidates are sending out a clear message on jobs and the economy, with Sen. David Vitter, (R-LA); Rep. Jason Chaffetz, (R-UT); Rep. Gregory Meeks, (D-NY); and Rep. Nan Hayworth, (R-NY).
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DENVER, January 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) today outlined a number of community investment programs - developed in conjunction with local communities - that have been implemented or are under development in the Conga project's area of influence in Peru. The programs, which are in addition to the numerous social investments Yanacocha has made over the last two decades, include efforts to advance health and education, critical infrastructure and economic development in Peru's Cajamarca region. Implementation of the programs began four years ago and would continue over the life of the proposed mine. Details regarding the social investments can be found in the fact sheet released today by the company.
In addition to community investment programs, Conga is expected to generate more than US$2 billion in taxes over the life of the operation, half of which would be directed to the Cajamarca region through the mining canon. And while the project would replace four lagoons with four engineered reservoirs, downstream users would benefit from a reliable, year-round water supply, something they don't currently have due to the lagoons not continuously overflowing into the natural streams during the dry season. The reservoirs would increase existing water storage capacity from 1.4 million cubic meters to 3.2 million cubic meters, providing water to downstream users 12 months a year.
"Conga's community investment programs were designed by the local communities to address long-standing needs that they themselves identified as issues," said Richard O'Brien, Newmont's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Although many of these programs are still in their early stages, we've already seen tangible results including reductions in malnutrition, school drop-out rates and grade repetition. After the Conga project is built and starts generating revenues, we expect to see even greater improvements in community health, education, nutrition, infrastructure and economic development."
To date, Conga's community investment programs have resulted in:
In 2008, the Conga Project Team, in cooperation with the Asociacion Los Andes de Cajamarca, engaged 32 of the project's neighboring communities to identify opportunities for sustainable local development. In 2009, Community Development Committees (CODECOs), comprising and led by local citizens, created the "2015 Community Vision," which set targets for improvements in social, economic and community development.
In addition to the social, economic and infrastructure benefits expected from tax revenues, Conga's initial social investment plans that will be implemented once the project is developed, include:
Prior to the suspension of construction activities at Conga, more than 6,800 people were employed, with the overwhelming majority coming from the local communities. In 2011, the Conga Project entered into contracts worth more than US$50 million with more than 60 local contractors.?
More information about the Conga project, including a fact sheet on Conga's water protection plan, can be found online at http://www.newmont.com/south-america.
Background on Conga's Environmental Impact Assessment
Conga's Environmental Impact Assessment has already undergone extensive reviews by 12 government agencies and was approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mines in 2010 following a three-year, public EIA process.?The environmental and social studies in Conga's EIA spanned up to 13 years and the public engagement process included 13,000 people from the region.?The EIA process was transparent and open to anyone who wanted to participate, provide input or raise issues. Conga's reservoirs would more than double the current water storage capacity of the four lakes in question from 1.4 million cubic meters to 3.2 million cubic meters and provide a reliable, year-round water supply to downstream users, something they don't currently have as a result of the dry season.
About Newmont
Founded in 1921 and publicly traded since 1925, Newmont (http://www.newmont.com) is one of the largest gold companies in the world. Headquartered in Colorado, the Company has more than 35,000 employees and contractors, with the majority working at core operations in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia and Ghana. Newmont is the only gold company listed in the S&P 500 index and in 2007 became the first gold company selected to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Newmont's industry leading performance is reflected through high standards in environmental management, health and safety for its employees and creating value and opportunity for host communities and shareholders.
Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of Newmont Mining Corporation
Contact details for all releases are only available to the media via PR Newswire for Journalists.
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Continue reading Magellan unveils Switch, Switch Up GPS watches for runners, swimmers, extremists
Magellan unveils Switch, Switch Up GPS watches for runners, swimmers, extremists originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Spot the difference: Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus Vs Apple iPhone 3G (@rajatagr / BGR India) j.mp/yjJSrN techme.me/D0VS 
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on January 2, 2012
The researchers, Yaowarat Matchim, a former nursing doctoral student, Jane Armer, professor of nursing, and Bob Stewart, professor emeritus of education and adjunct faculty in nursing, found that breast cancer survivors? health improved after they learned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which incorporates meditation, yoga, and physical awareness.
?Post diagnosis, breast cancer patients often feel like they have no control over their lives,? Armer said. ?Knowing that they can control something ? such as meditation ? and that it will improve their health gives them hope that life will be normal again.?
The university?s MBSR program consists of group sessions over eight to 10 weeks. During the sessions, participants practice meditation skills, discuss how their bodies respond to stress, and learn coping techniques. The researchers found that survivors who learned MBSR lowered their blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate. In addition, their moods improved, and their level of mindfulness increased after taking the class, Armer said, noting that for best results, breast cancer survivors should continue MBSR after the class ends to maintain the positive effects.
?Mindfulness-based meditation, ideally, should be practiced every day or at least on a routine schedule,? she said.
She adds the approach works best as a complement to other treatment options, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
The study, ?Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on Health Among Breast Cancer Survivors,? was published in the Western Journal of Nursing Research.
Source: University of Missouri
APA Reference
Wood, J. (2012). Breast Cancer Survivors Benefit From Meditation. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 2, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/01/02/breast-cancer-survivors-benefit-from-meditation/33123.html
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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/01/02/breast-cancer-survivors-benefit-from-meditation/33123.html
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Seven Monitor correspondents reflect on the world's hotspots. In this installment, Scott Baldauf says Africa showed signs of both the willingness and ability to solve their own problems in 2011.
With its famines, wars, and corrupt leaders, Africa was called "hopeless" by The Economist magazine in 2000.
Skip to next paragraphToday, demand for Africa's natural resources, combined with stronger political leadership and growing entrepreneurship, make Africa a rare bright point in the global economy.
Certainly there are plenty of trouble signs in a continent that has 54 countries, many of them landlocked and desperately poor. Too many countries are ruled by authoritarian men. Many are saddled with punishing debt, unemployment, and undereducated youths. Some, like Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Ivory Coast, experience bouts of violence when tight electoral contests are disputed.
But this year brought new signs that Africans can solve ? and are solving ? their own problems.
The African Union is taking an increasingly independent stand on how to solve African problems, and some of Africa's stronger economic and military nations appear to be borrowing a few lines from America's Monroe Doctrine, indicating that Western "interference" in Africa is no longer welcome.
South Africa has long taken an independent path on foreign policy ? voting against the Libya intervention, for instance ? and keeping its distance from richer US and European partners as it grows closer to fellow emerging-market countries Brazil, Russia, India, and China (the BRICs). And South Africa is increasingly seeking a role as regional mediator, although its attempt this year to arrange a political settlement after Ivory Coast's disputed election was rendered meaningless by a French-backed military escalation.
Even Kenya, which has never used its troops in a war against a neighbor, moved soldiers into neighboring Somalia in mid-October after a series of kidnappings and attacks on Kenyan soil by the Somalia-based Islamist militia Al Shabab. Kenyan troops are now part of a three-pronged attack on Al Shabab, joining Ethiopian troops in the west, and Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers supporting the Somali government in Mogadishu.
Perhaps most promising of all, though, is the fact that Africa is beginning to diversify itself from its traditional resource-based economy.
Increasingly, entrepreneurs are setting up service businesses, including mobile application software centers in Nairobi, Kenya, for example. Access to the Internet is giving citizens the knowledge and confidence to speak out, as seen in citizen protests in Malawi, Ivory Coast, and Swaziland this year.
"Africa rising" ? the Economist's moniker a decade later ? isn't just an economic phenomenon; it's political and social, too.
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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton (8) reacts after a first down against the Denver Broncos in the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton (8) reacts after a first down against the Denver Broncos in the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton (8) celebrates with running back Dexter McCluster (22) after McCluster scored a touchdown against the Denver Broncos in the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (15) walks off the field after the Broncos lost 7-3 to the Kansas City Chiefs in an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton (8) greets Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (88) after after their NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Denver. Kansas City won 7-3. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)
Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (15) throws against the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)
DENVER (AP) ? Tim Tebow had plenty more gaffes ? and one last laugh.
Despite a second straight dismal performance and two more turnovers by Tebow, the Broncos were celebrating a trip to the playoffs Sunday after losing 7-3 to Kyle Orton and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Their six-year playoff drought is history.
Even though Tebow completed just 6 of 22 passes for 60 yards, killed a promising drive with a red zone fumble and capped an awful afternoon with an interception in the waning seconds, he's the one preparing for the playoffs while Orton regroups from a trying season and gets ready for free agency.
Tebow couldn't beat the guy he couldn't beat out in training camp.
"It's obviously a little bittersweet right now," Tebow said. "We would have loved to have won that game to have a little momentum going into the playoffs. But I think it's still a special thing what we accomplished, to come back and win the AFC West is very special."
Orton outperformed Tebow every time they were on the football field together, from training camp through Sunday's season finale. In between, however, Orton caved under the weight of Tebowmania and was benched by the Broncos before being released and grabbed off waivers by the Chiefs.
Orton had laid low all week but he finally admitted after the game that this game had special meaning to him, even though it was for pride and payback and not the playoffs.
"I can't hide that," he said. "But I congratulate those guys. They're in. I congratulate them and I look forward to next year."
The Broncos (8-8) will face the Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) Sunday at Mile High, their first home playoff game since Ben Roethlisberger beat Jake Plummer in the AFC title game following the 2005 season.
"We go out there and perform like we did the past three weeks, we don't stand a chance," Champ Bailey said. "We've got to get better."
In a hurry.
Tebow has turned the ball over seven times in Denver's three-game losing streak and the Broncos haven't managed a single takeaway since they beat Chicago in overtime on Dec. 11 for their fourth straight fourth-quarter comeback.
"We'll, we're AFC West champs," Broncos coach John Fox retorted. "It doesn't matter how you do it. Once you get into the dance, they can't kick you out."
But you can get bounced pretty quickly, something the Broncos know is a strong possibility if they don't get their act together.
"Everything is mediocre," Bailey said. "We've got to get better. If we want to make any kind of fuss in the playoffs, we've got to get better."
The Broncos begrudgingly congratulated Orton, then trudged off to the locker room, where they watched the San Diego Chargers finish off the Oakland Raiders 38-26.
The Broncos, Raiders and Chargers all finished 8-8, but Denver won the AFC West with a better record against common opponents. The Chiefs finished 7-9 and avoided reaching double digits in losses for a fourth time in five years.
Orton, who also handed Green Bay its only loss, went 2-1 in Kansas City. His steady play likely raised his stock as he prepares to enter free agency. And he might have secured interim coach Romeo Crennel's future.
Best of all, he beat the team that benched him after the Broncos stumbled to a 1-4 start, banishing him to third string behind Brady Quinn to run the scout team against Denver's No. 1 defense.
Those notes came in handy Sunday.
The Broncos saved $2.6 million by releasing Orton just before Thanksgiving, but he nearly made them pay an even heftier price for that decision, completing 15 of 29 passes for 180 yards against his former team and connecting with Dwayne Bowe six times for 93 yards before losing him for the second half with a suspected concussion.
"Dwayne was on fire in the first half, and then to lose him for the rest of the game, that really hurt our offense," Orton said. "I have the utmost respect for Champ Bailey, but Dwayne had him turning around in circles a couple times out there."
The Broncos lost two offensive starters in the first half when right guard Chris Kuper, the stalwart on an otherwise young line, broke his left leg and fullback Spencer Larsen hurt a knee.
"That was a big blow," offensive tackle Ryan Clady said. "But we really rallied. I'm the first to tell you that I nearly broke down because of that. It was scary. He's a good friend of mine and a leader on the offensive line. But we were able to rally and rush the ball and protect pretty well. We've got to move on and hope he recovers fast."
Kuper's injury made Orton's day bittersweet, too.
"Chris Kuper is a very good friend of mine and to see what happened to him really put a damper on things," Orton said. "He's a great teammate, a great leader on that team and I hope he's able to get back as soon as possible."
Neither QB had a great day. The game's only touchdown came on Dexter McCluster's 21-yard scamper in the first quarter, so this game was as much about the Punting Colquitt brothers, Dustin and Britton, as it was about Orton vs. Tebow.
The Broncos' only score came on Matt Prater's 38-yarder in the third quarter, which followed Javier Arenas' muffed punt at his own 20.
Tebow had one last shot at another miracle comeback when the Broncos got the ball at their 16 with just under a minute left.
Because Fox had declined to go for a 57-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first half ? he was afraid a miss would set up the Chiefs for a double-digit halftime lead ? the Broncos had to go 84 yards instead of just needing to get into range for another game-winner by Prater.
Tebow, who had completed four passes all afternoon with the Broncos running 47 times for 216 yards, including 145 by Willis McGahee, suddenly had to chuck it.
And he was intercepted by cornerback Brandon Carr with 8 seconds left.
Had Denver not backed into the playoffs, boss John Elway's dangerous decision to release Orton at midseason would have gone down as one of the biggest blunders in Broncos history.
Instead, it was a footnote in the Broncos' return to the postseason parade just one season after a franchise-worst 4-12 debacle.
"Nobody said how you had to get in," Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan said. "It's what you do with the opportunity once you get there."
Notes: The Broncos have lost all nine times they've met the Chiefs and their predecessors, the Dallas Texans, in the regular-season finale. ... Kuper's replacement, Russ Hochstein, left the game in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury and Chris Clark replaced him.
___
Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton
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Jersey Shore Season Five kicks off this week, and star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is marking the occasion by taking her long locks in a new, fiery direction: red.
"Sneaky peak! I went mega red! My @BradleyStyleNYC is genius!" the 24-year-old Tweeted to the 3,920,728 people who follow her for reasons unknown.
Based on the Snooki photos she and other sites posted, she appears to have lightened her all-over shade and added bold red highlights and extensions.
Hair isn't the only thing Polizzi has changed. In recent weeks, her weight loss has been well documented, with Snooks slimming down to 98 pounds.
Crazy. Anyway, what do you think of Snooki's red hair?
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/snooki-dyes-hair-red-flaunts-cleavage/
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Republican presidential candidate, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, left, and wife, Callista, right, move through a crowded pub during a campaign stop, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Republican presidential candidate, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, left, and wife, Callista, right, move through a crowded pub during a campaign stop, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Republican presidential candidate, former House speaker Newt Gingrich answers a question during a campaign stop, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Marshalltown, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Republican presidential candidate, former House speaker Newt Gingrich's hair blows in the wind as he and wife, Callista, left, pose with students during a campaign stop, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in Ames, Iowa. Republican presidential candidates are largely shifting from persuading voters to mobilizing them for Tuesday's caucuses. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? The attacks on Newt Gingrich have been as under-the-radar as they have been in-your-face.
Brochures and leaflets stuffed in mailboxes across Iowa call Gingrich a tree-hugging, Nancy Pelosi-loving, inconsistent career politician. And they've supplemented an onslaught of negative advertising on TV and radio, funded largely by allies of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. It all has damaged Gingrich badly ahead of Tuesday's caucuses.
"I feel Romney-boated," Gingrich said Sunday, a reference to the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth ads that crippled Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's 2004 campaign.
For all the hype about new digital-era campaign tactics, old-fashioned paper mail remains a potent campaign tool, with campaigns and outside groups alike using it heavily to promote their preferred candidates and undercut the others.
Here's why: It has a longer shelf life than television ads, which typically last 30 seconds or a minute at most. The glossy booklets lie around on coffee tables for voters to thumb through during commercials. They're easy to pull out when talking with neighbors.
For candidates, direct mail is relatively cheap to produce. And it allows campaigns to target individual voters with specific messages.
All that explains why Iowa Republicans have frequently returned home to find fliers and pamphlets in the mailboxes that reflect the bitter contours of this Republican nominating contest.
Mailers targeting Gingrich have focused on his support for legislation designed to curb manmade climate change, his joint appearance with Pelosi to push Congress to take action on it and the ethical allegations that cost him $300,000 to settle. Many have come from the pro-Romney super PAC called Restore Our Future, which his run by former Romney aides but is independent of his campaign.
"It's hard to know where Newt Gingrich stands on the issues," says one from the group that accuses Gingrich of flip-flopping on a series of matters and says Gingrich co-sponsored 418 bills with Pelosi in Congress. "Pelosi and Gingrich: More in common than you think."
Romney's campaign has stayed positive in TV ads but it hasn't pulled punches in direct mail and it has ramped up its spending on leaflets in recent weeks.
While some of his mail promotes his record as a venture capitalist and his family, much of it goes after Gingrich, including for appearing with Pelosi in an ad for an environmental group aligned with former Vice President Al Gore.
"When Al Gore needed allies ... they turned to Newt Gingrich," the mailing says.
Romney, himself, is hardly immune from direct-mail attacks.
"Romney is the second most dangerous man in America and will perpetuate Obama's slide into financial crisis," according to one mailer sent from the pro-Gingrich Strong America Now super PAC. "Don't let Romney backers mislead you!"
Often, campaigns with little money choose to spend their cash on mailers that are cheaper that pricy TV ads ? and can sometimes reach just as many people.
Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who has been a footnote in the race until the past few days, went on the air for the first time in recent days.
By that point, 60,000 Iowans may have already gotten mailers in which he pledged he wouldn't "surrender" on social issues even though some Republicans have suggested that the best way to win back the White House is to call a truce on talking about topics like abortion, marriage, school prayer, and immigration."
Texas congressman Ron Paul, who enjoys strong support among his party's libertarian wing, sent mailers labeling Rick Perry and others "counterfeits" and promoted himself as a "true lifelong conservative." Paul also has mailed a seven-page letter to Christian conservatives discussing his opposition to abortion.
"As a doctor who has delivered over 4,000 babies, I know firsthand how precious, fragile and in need of protection human life is. That's why I am now, and have always been, pro-life," Paul wrote. "Maybe you didn't know this about me, since you and I both know the left-wing media likes to focus on their version of political stories."
Perry, the Texas governor hoping for a late-game surge, has criticized Gingrich and Romney on paper.
One of his mailers says Gingrich's record is "a story of insider access and million dollar paydays," criticizing his time after he left the speaker's office and made millions as a consultant.
The same mailing criticizes Romney for his work at Bain Capital, a venture capital firm that Perry says had a record of "killing jobs to maximize profits."
Outside groups, too, are looking to sway caucus-goers.
The National Right to Work Committee, which calls itself a nonpartisan organization, sent letters to Iowans asking whether Romney and Gingrich would work against "union bosses." It noted that Romney refused to answer the group's survey, and said: "Newt Gingrich's past opposition and Mitt Romney's vacillation are very troubling."
The group chose not to criticize Santorum with the same vitriol reserved for Romney and Gingrich despite his stance. Santorum opposes a national right-to-work push and instead favors a state-by-state approach to the issue. The organization, meanwhile, had nice things to say about Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Perry and Paul.
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Enlarge Handout/AFP/Getty Images This undated NASA handout image shows a view of the lunar surface taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft looking southward from high altitude across the Southern Sea.
Handout/AFP/Getty ImagesThis undated NASA handout image shows a view of the lunar surface taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft looking southward from high altitude across the Southern Sea.
A NASA spacecraft fired its engine and slipped into orbit around the moon Saturday in the first of two back-to-back arrivals over the New Year's weekend.
Ground controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in cheers and applause after receiving a signal that the Grail-A probe was healthy and circling the moon. An engineer was seen on closed-circuit television blowing a noisemaker to herald the New Year's Eve arrival.
"This is great, a big relief," deputy project scientist Sami Asmar told a roomful of family and friends who gathered at the NASA center to watch the drama unfold.
The celebration was brief. Despite the successful maneuver, the work was not over. Its twin Grail-B still had to enter lunar orbit on New Year's Day.
The Grail probes ? short for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory ? have been cruising independently toward their destination since launching in September aboard the same rocket on a mission to measure lunar gravity.
Hours before Earth revelers counted down the new year, Grail-A flew over the South Pole and slowed itself to get captured into orbit. Deep space antennas in the California desert and Madrid tracked every move and fed real-time updates to ground controllers.
Grail is the 110th mission to target the moon since the dawn of the Space Age, including the six Apollo moon landings that put 12 astronauts on the surface. Despite the attention the moon has received, scientists don't know everything about Earth's nearest neighbor.
Why the moon is ever so slightly lopsided with the far side more mountainous than the side that always faces Earth remains a mystery. A theory put forth earlier this year suggested that Earth once had two moons that collided early in the solar system's history, producing the hummocky region.
Grail is expected to help researchers better understand why the moon is asymmetrical and how it formed by mapping the uneven lunar gravity field that will indicate what's below the surface.
"It seems that the answer is not on the surface," said chief scientist Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We think that the answer is locked in the interior."
Previous lunar missions have attempted to study the moon's gravity ? which is about one-sixth Earth's pull ? with mixed results. Grail is the first mission devoted to this goal.
Once in orbit, the near-identical Grail-A and Grail-B spacecraft will spend the next two months refining their positions until they are just 34 miles (55 kilometers) above the surface and flying in formation. Data collection will begin in March.
The $496 million mission will be closely watched by schoolchildren. An effort by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, will allow middle school students to use cameras aboard the probes to zoom in and pick out their favorite lunar spots to photograph.
Despite the latest focus on the moon, NASA won't be sending astronauts back anytime soon. The Obama administration last year nixed a lunar return in favor of landing humans on an asteroid and eventually Mars.
A jaunt to the moon is usually speedy. It took the Apollo astronauts three days to zip there aboard the powerful Saturn V rocket. Since NASA wanted to economize by launching on a small rocket, it took Grail a leisurely 3 1/2 months to make a roundabout trip.
NASA's last moonshot occurred in 2009 with the launch of a pair of spacecraft ? one that circled the moon and another that deliberately crashed into the surface and uncovered frozen water in one of the permanently shadowed lunar craters.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/31/144520685/moon-countdown-hours-until-nasa-probes-arrive?ft=1&f=1007
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LAS VEGAS - Anthony Njokuani had to avoid the takedown and Danny Castillo needed to nullify his opponent's striking. Wrestling usually thwarts good standup and it did tonight at UFC 141.
The stronger grappler Castillo took the fight to the ground enough and controlled things on his way to a split decision win, 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28, over Njokuani in the first fight UFC 141 on the Spike broadcast.
Castillo got a little irked with UFC analyst Joe Rogan, who called the decision controversial.
"It was that close to you?" asked Castillo. "I thought it was close but not controversial."
Castillo (13-4, 3-1 UFC) got further annoyed when the crowd began to boo. He was quick to point out that he took three fights on short notice this year. The fans in attendance were clueless, they were just booing to boo.
Castillo took this fight on Decmeber 7 when Ramsey Nijem had to back out of the fight. He wasn't at 100 percent with his stamina, but it was good enough to control the pace of the fight.
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Why did the Obama DoJ deny preclearance, knowing it could well set up this massive confrontation and potentially lead to the downfall of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act? There are both principled and political reasons. First of all, it was the right thing to do. As the DoJ letter explains, South Carolina presented no evidence that its law was necessary to prevent voter fraud, and the evidence was uncontested that minority voters were less likely to have ID Second, if the Court is going to strike down Section 5, it might be politically better for this to happen before the 2012 elections, so that Obama can run against a Supreme Court, and the possibility that a President Romney could appoint a young version of Justice Scalia to take a retiring Justice Kennedy?s seat on the court, solidifying the court?s conservative majority for a generation.
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