Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/169735203?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Mayans never predicted world to end in 2012: experts (Reuters)
PALENQUE, Mexico (Reuters) ? If you are worried the world will end next year based on the Mayan calendar, relax: the end of time is still far off.
So say Mayan experts who want to dispel any belief that the ancient Mayans predicted a world apocalypse next year.
The Mayan calendar marks the end of a 5,126 year old cycle around December 12, 2012 which should bring the return of Bolon Yokte, a Mayan god associated with war and creation.
Author Jose Arguelles called the date "the ending of time as we know it" in a 1987 book that spawned an army of Mayan theorists, whose speculations on a cataclysmic end abound online. But specialists meeting at this ancient Mayan city in southern Mexico say it merely marks the termination of one period of creation and the beginning of another.
"We have to be clear about this. There is no prophecy for 2012," said Erik Velasquez, an etchings specialist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). "It's a marketing fallacy."
The National Institute of Anthropological History in Mexico has been trying to quell the barrage of forecasters predicting the apocalypse. "The West's messianic thinking has distorted the world view of ancient civilizations like the Mayans," the institute said in a statement.
In the Mayan calendar, the long calendar count begins in 3,114 BC and is divided into roughly 394-year periods called Baktuns. Mayans held the number 13 sacred and the 13th Baktun ends next year.
Sven Gronemeyer, a researcher of Mayan codes from La Trobe University in Australia, who has been trying to decode the calendar, said the so-called end day reflects a transition from one era to the next in which Bolon Yokte returns.
"Because Bolon Yokte was already present at the day of creation ... it just seemed natural for the Mayan that Bolon Yokte will again be present," he said.
Of the approximately 15,000 registered glyphic texts found in different parts of what was then the Mayan empire, only two mention 2012, the Institute said.
"The Maya did not think about humanity, global warming or predict the poles would fuse together," said Alfonso Ladena, a professor from the Complutense University of Madrid. "We project our worries on them."
(Reporting by Pepe Cortes; editing by Anthony Boadle)
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Debt crisis players want others to act first (AP)
FRANKFURT, Germany ? The major players with the power to tackle Europe's financial crisis are in a standoff ? to a large degree, of their own design.
Each has the capacity to take strong action independently, but instead is urging one of the others to make the first move. That's complicating expectations for a major summit of European Union leaders next week.
The European Central Bank, Germany, heavily indebted eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund each wants, needs or expects something from someone else before taking politically difficult and risky steps to quell the crisis.
The you-first attitude ? at least partly a bargaining tactic ? is prolonging a two-year stalemate that has weighed down the continent's economy and global financial markets.
The standoff got another strong expression Thursday when Mario Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank appeared to dangle more help in front of hard-pressed European leaders ? if they first come up with an agreement on tough rules to bar overspending by individual eurozone governments.
Draghi's timing wasn't accidental. Rules on government spending are on the agenda for the Dec. 9 summit in Brussels.
The hope is that a promise of future action would be enough to calm markets. It's unclear if a promise alone would prompt the ECB get more aggressive.
"We might be asked whether a new fiscal compact would be enough to stabilize markets and how a credible longer-term vision can be helpful in the short term," Draghi said Thursday before the European Parliament. "Our answer is that it is definitely the most important element to start restoring credibility."
"Other elements might follow, but the sequencing matters," he said.
Many economists believe or at least hope the "other elements" might include stepping up the ECB's so-far limited purchases of government bonds. It is the step that many politicians and governments have been urging on the ECB. They say it's the only thing that will reassure bond market investors that governments will be able to pay their debts, so they remain willing to lend to them at affordable rates.
Here are the reasons the major players in the European financial crisis have for acting ? or not ? as they do:
? Eurozone governments: Many economists have called for the European Central Bank to give them financial and political breathing room by stepping up its purchases of government bonds. That would drive down their borrowing costs and, for the most heavily indebted nations, take the threat of default off the table, while policymakers work on a longer-term solution.
The 17 eurozone nations have set up a bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. But, fearing voter backlash, they balked at giving it more than euro440 billion ($590 billion) in financing ? not enough to backstop Italy, whose borrowing needs next year alone would be some euro300 billion.
Finance ministers from Italy and Belgium have called for the issuance of eurobonds, or government debt that is jointly backed by all eurozone members. But Germany, a major influence as the eurozone's biggest economy, has resisted because ? unlike everyone else ? this would cause its borrowing costs to rise. So Germany wants something else first: a so-called fiscal union that put all members on the same page when it comes to keeping spending within limits.
"The German opposition to the Eurobond is by no means permanent ? it is just that a sequence of steps needs to be followed first before they can be introduced," says analyst Marchel Alexandrovich at Jeffries International Ltd.
? The European Central Bank: It says governments need to be the ones to convince bond markets they are good enough credit risks to be allowed to borrow at affordable rates.
Draghi signed a sharply worded letter to the Italian government in August along with Trichet, spelling out steps Italy needed to take to improve growth. Those steps included shaking up rules on hiring and firing people and letting firms break away from industrywide wage deals.
Draghi's refusal to immediately expand the ECB's bond purchases, expressed again Thursday, is based on concern about what economists call "moral hazard": the risk that bailing someone out will just remove any pressure to reform risky behavior. Germany, where opposition to bailouts runs deep, has backed him on that point.
Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics in London thinks the bank will have to eventually break down and buy large amounts of bonds. So far, it has committed euro203.5 billion and holds only about 6.5 percent of the outstanding debts of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland.
"We suspect that it will refuse to do (more) until the eurozone governments have agreed on much clearer rules to prevent governments from running up such high debts in future," McKeown said. "That could take quite some time."
Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London, said that Draghi's "no" might just mean "no."
"I don't think the ECB will undergo some complete transformation in response to this," he said. "It might be a bit more but it won't be shock and awe stuff."
? The International Monetary Fund. It has helped with a third of the money for the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
But it needs something else before it could even think about playing the lead role in backstopping much larger Italy or Spain: more money.
Economist Madhur Jha at HSBC Bank Plc says the international crisis lender has about euro290 billion ($389 billion) available ? not enough to be the bulk of any bailout of a country Italy's size.
It can raise money through loans from other countries, however. But some IMF members, such as Russia or China, would likely want enhanced political power at the institution in return for their money.
Several economists have proposed that the IMF borrow from the ECB, arguing that would skirt the legal prohibition on the central bank lending to governments. But it could be viewed as violating the spirit the EU treaties. It would certainly face opposition on the same grounds as eurobonds and bond buys, that it rewards bad behavior.
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Man charged with stealing cubist sketch from New York hotel (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? A restaurant worker was charged on Friday with stealing six pieces of art, including a valuable cubist sketch, from two New York City hotels to hang on the walls of his New Jersey apartment.
The man, Mark Lugo, 31, had already spent over four months in jail for stealing a Picasso from a San Francisco gallery.
He pleaded not guilty on Friday to the New York charges, including stealing a $350,000 sketch by the French cubist artist Fernand Leger from the Carlyle Hotel's building and slipping it into a canvas tote bag, prosecutors said.
"In an effort to display stolen art in his apartment, this repeat art thief boldly walked out of two Manhattan hotels in broad daylight with valuable paintings," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said in a statement following Lugo's arraignment.
Lugo was being held in custody without bail.
James Montgomery, an attorney for Lugo, described him in an interview as a "pleasant, educated man," and said that he had "been through a very difficult time psychologically" but declined to elaborate.
Montgomery said that even if the allegations were proved, Lugo could nonetheless not be described as professional art thief, pointing out that police said they found the paintings on display in Lugo's home.
"If he was the person who was removing these paintings, he wasn't doing it for financial gain," he said.
The prosecution said Lugo first stole a set of five paintings called "Pastel on Board" by the South Korea-born artist Mie Yim from the Chambers Hotel in Manhattan in June. The hotel bought the paintings for $1,800 each.
Later that month, Lugo stole the Leger sketch -- called "Composition With Mechanical Elements -- from the Helly Nahmad Gallery in the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan, prosecutors said.
He was arrested in July after police found the art hanging in his apartment in Hoboken, across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
Meghan Hast, an assistant district attorney, told the court that police found an additional 13 pieces of art at the apartment, including four thought to have been stolen from New York galleries, a spokeswoman in the district attorney's office said. Investigations into those other artworks are ongoing.
The two most serious charges Lugo faces each carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail. The next hearing is set for February.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/us_nm/us_crime_art
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Video: Romney vs. Gingrich
When her test was lost, critical care delayed
Medical tests can reveal critical information about a person's health, but sometimes, the? test is lost and the doctor and patient never get the results, potentially delaying essential care. That was the case for one Maryland woman whose cancer went untreated for a year.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45498958#45498958
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Friday, December 2, 2011
MasterCard and mFoundry partner to offer NFC payments within mobile banking apps
Hoping to add more punch to the standard mobile banking app, mFoundry has announed that it will be making MasterCard's NFC feature PayPass available in its financial apps. What that translates to for the mobile banking user is a quick and easy way to pay without having to use an additional service like Google Wallet or whatever Isis has up its sleeve. mFoundry currently provides mobile banking services for more than 560 financial institutions and credit unions including PNC, Bank of America and Citi -- so chances are, if you're using a mobile banking app, it's powered by mFoundry. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the extremely limited amount of NFC phones that can actually support the feature. Perhaps having the option within a standard banking app will help the trend take off -- at least amongst those with NFC phones.Continue reading MasterCard and mFoundry partner to offer NFC payments within mobile banking apps
MasterCard and mFoundry partner to offer NFC payments within mobile banking apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/mastercard-and-mfoundry-partner-to-offer-nfc-payments-within-mob/
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Israeli defense chief: Iran strike may be needed (AP)
JERUSALEM ? Israel does not want to take military action against Iran over its nuclear program, but at some point may have no other option, Israel's defense minister said Thursday.
At this point, Israel does not intend to launch a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities but it retains the option as a "last resort," Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio.
"We don't need unnecessary wars. But we definitely might be put to the test," he said. "The non-diplomatic point is a last resort. The fact that all options are on the table is agreed upon by everybody."
Barak said he hoped that sanctions and diplomacy would pressure the Iranian leadership to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons program, but said he does not expect that to happen.
Israel, like the West, suspects Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, despite Tehran's insistence that its nuclear program is designed to produce energy.
Israel says a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten the Jewish state's survival, citing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated references to Israel's destruction, Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles and its support for militant groups that fight Israel.
The U.S. ? as well as some security experts in Israel ? have loudly opposed the prospect of an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, because of its potential for touching off retaliation against Israel and a broader, regional conflagration.
But Barak suggested that Israel might not alert world powers before embarking on a strike.
"Israel is a sovereign state and it is the government of Israel, the Israeli army and security forces who are responsible for Israel's security, future and survival," he said.
Mysterious blasts, computer viruses and assassinations have disrupted Iran's nuclear program, and there has been speculation of Israeli involvement.
Barak would not comment on that possibility, but said, "We are not happy to see the Iranians move ahead on this (program), so any delay, be it divine intervention or otherwise, is welcome."
In an interview broadcast Thursday on Israeli TV, former Israeli Mossad chief Meir Dagan harshly criticized any plans to attack Iran.
Dagan, who recently retired from the spy agency, estimated that an Israeli attack would likely lead to a regional war in which Syria as well as Lebanese and Palestinian militants would get involved.
"I'm concerned about possible mistakes and I prefer to speak out before there is a catastrophe," he said. "I think that engaging, with open eyes, in a regional war is warranted only when we are under attack or when the sword is already cutting against our live flesh. It is not an alternative that should be chosen lightly."
Dagan said he believed the Iranians were not progressing as quickly as is widely believed and there was still plenty of time to stop them from acquiring the bomb.
A recent survey commissioned for the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution found Jewish-Israelis to be split almost evenly on a possible Israeli strike on Iran.
The Dahaf Institute poll found that 43 percent support an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities while 41 percent oppose it. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed also said they would prefer a nuclear-free region over one in which both Israel and Iran possessed nuclear weapons, while 19 percent favored the alternative.
Israel is widely believed to have nuclear capabilities.
The poll surveyed 510 randomly selected Jewish citizens of Israel earlier this month and had margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
In another reflection of Israeli concerns over Iran, the Israeli military said Thursday that it has launched a project to teach Farsi, the dominant language in Iran, to Israeli high school students in hopes of preparing them for careers in military intelligence.
An intelligence official said a select group of 23 honors students had been carefully chosen to participate in the three-year course. An intelligence commander in uniform comes to their school to teach the course, and soldiers from the intelligence unit help them with homework.
"The need for Persian instruction is obvious," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with army protocol.
A few dozen high-school students graduated this year from a similar pilot course in high-level Arabic. Most of them subsequently enlisted into Israel's military intelligence, the official said.
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