It's a Snap! Best reader photos of 2011

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Greg Park / UGC

Clingman's Dome, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Our readers have submitted some stunning photos from around the world this year. We often get hundreds of submissions each week, and it's very hard to select just a few dozen to feature.

In order to showcase this year's best It's a Snap submissions, we rounded up 15 that won a gallery vote throughout the year. As you'll see below, these photos capture brilliant colors, amazing scenes and beautiful angles. There are majestic mountains, dramatic Western landscapes, impressive bodies of water and even a few animals. Scroll through this gorgeous set of images and vote for your favorite at the bottom.

Aaron Keigher

Horseshoe Bend in Page, Ariz.

Andrea Ihlefeld / UGC

Jim Walker / UGC

Jeffrey Bower / UGC

Peter McIntosh / UGC

Chattahoochee National Forest, Ga.

Harry Pherson / UGC

Elakala Falls, Blackwater Falls State Park, W. Va.

Alex Sokolow / UGC

Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada

Chris Carr / UGC

Kihei beach, Maui, Hawaii

Michael Toma / UGC

Prairie lightning in Wyoming

David Bullock / UGC

Deer at Seven Mile Hill, The Dalles, Ore.

Tod Carroll / UGC

Matthew Smith / UGC

Jennifer Blom / UGC

If you have photos you'd like to share, submit them for a chance to be featured in the weekly gallery by clicking here and scrolling down.

You can also join our It's A Snap Facebook community by clicking here, and share your photos with others.

Eds. note: It was brought to our attention that the photo of the Valley of the Ten Peaks in Banff National Park, Canada, may not belong to the reader who submitted it. Until we are able to confirm that it was published with the permission of the photographer, we have removed the photo from the post.

{"contentId":"9775438","totalVotes":"17912"}

Which photo is your favorite?

?

8. Elakala Falls, Blackwater Falls State Park, W. Va.	? 17.5% (3,128 votes)
12. Deer at Seven Mile Hill, The Dalles, Ore.	? 16.5% (2,952 votes)
2. Horseshoe Bend in Page, Ariz.	? 12.7% (2,271 votes)
3. Valley Of the Ten Peaks in Banff National Park, Canada	? 8.9% (1,602 votes)
13. Glacier Bay, Alaska	? 8.4% (1,505 votes)
1. Clingman's Dome, Great Smoky Mountains National Park	? 8.2% (1,471 votes)
9. Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada	? 7.2% (1,298 votes)
5. Iguasu Falls, Argentina	? 3.6% (648 votes)
7.Chattahoochee National Forest, Ga.	? 3.5% (623 votes)
4. Albuquerque, N.M.	? 3.4% (617 votes)
15. Mount McKinley, Alaska	? 2.6% (474 votes)
10. Kihei beach, Maui, Hawaii	? 2.6% (468 votes)
14. Pelicans in Aruba	? 2.2% (391 votes)
11. Prairie lightning in Wyoming	? 2% (351 votes)
6. Australian koala	? 0.6% (113 votes)

Source: http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/28/9775438-its-a-snap-best-reader-photos-of-2011

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U.S. Military Sales to Iraq Raise Concerns

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.nytimes.com --- Thursday, December 29, 2011
Some fear that American weapons will strengthen Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki?s apparent efforts to consolidate his power and establish Shiite dominance. ...

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/world/middleeast/us-military-sales-to-iraq-raise-concerns.html

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The Bible vs. The iPhone

Posted by Jim_Daly Dec 27, 2011

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?

?

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Here is an email that's been making the rounds. How does it strike you?

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.

Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected, because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities'?

And no dropped calls!

Follow me on Twitter @Dalyfocus

Follow me on Facebook

Keep up with Focus on the Family on Facebook

?????????? ?????????

Source: http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/jim-daly/the-bible-vs-the-iphone.html

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China urges tighter Internet security after series of data leaks (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? The Chinese government is working with domestic Internet search engines like Baidu Inc and Sohu.com and financial institutions to prevent phishing attacks on unsuspecting Chinese web users.

The Ministry of Public Security said on Friday it would work with 10 Chinese search engines to protect the website rankings of financial institutions to lessen the chances that Internet users will be duped by phishing websites.

A phishing attack occurs when the user is persuaded to part with his or her username and password via a fake webpage that closely resembles the original.

Through the collaboration, the official websites of several Chinese banks, such as Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank will be ranked first in the search engine when a user searches for the related keywords, reducing the risk of such attacks, the Ministry said in an online circular on Friday.

The move comes after China urged tighter Internet security on Wednesday following a spate of personal data leaks that alarmed the online community and prompted calls for tougher scrutiny of who has access to online information.

On Thursday, the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department confirmed a technical vulnerability on the website of the Division of Exit and Entry Administrative Department of Public Security for Guangdong had left the personal data of 4.4 million users exposed.

According to Chinese media, the loophole was first reported by a microblogger on Thursday and has been around since June this year.

The province's public security department said the loophole had been fixed.

China claims the most Internet users in the world at 485 million, state media reported last month. Despite widespread censorship and monitoring online, many users have been up in arms about the reported data leaks and their implications.

The user IDs, passwords and email addresses of more than 6 million accounts registered on CSDN -- a site for programmers -- were leaked, Xinhua news agency reported last week, citing an anti-virus software provider that discovered the problem. The popular social-networking site Tianya was also hit.

The Global Times newspaper on Friday described the state of Internet security in China as "very dangerous," saying the leaks had "struck Chinese society's alarm bells."

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Wednesday it would investigate the hacking incidents.

"The department believes the recent leak of user information is a serious infringement of the rights of Internet users and threatens Internet safety. The department strongly condemns such behavior," the ministry said in the statement.

China is widely suspected of being the origin of many hacking attacks on government and commercial websites abroad, but officials have repeatedly dismissed reports that the government or military could be behind such attacks.

China bans numerous overseas websites, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and some foreign media outlets, fearing the uncensored sharing of images and information could cause social instability and harm national security.

(Reporting By Sisi Tang in HONG KONG and Melanie Lee in SHANGHAI; Editing by Chris Lewis and Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111230/wr_nm/us_china_internet

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Perry mixes campaigning with jogging in Iowa (CNN)

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[Bleacher Report] - Alabama Football: The Crimson Tide's 5 Worst Bowl Games of All Time

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Venezuelan President Chavez Hints U.S. Could Be Behind Cancers Affecting South American Leaders

CARACAS, Venezuela ? ?Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hinted Friday that the U.S. may be behind several cases of cancer affecting South American leaders, including his own, and called the situation "very strange."

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Chavez, a frequent critic of the U.S., said in a nationally televised speech to the military, "It's very difficult to explain, even with the law of probabilities, what has been happening to some of us in Latin America.

"Would it be so strange that they've invented technology to spread cancer and we won't know about it for 50 years?"

Chavez was diagnosed with cancer last June and has been traveling to Cuba for treatment and chemotherapy.

On Tuesday, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Other South American leaders who have battled the disease are Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo.

"I'm just sharing my thoughts, but it's very, very, very strange," Chavez said, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. "Evo take care of yourself, Correa, be careful, we just don't know" - a reference to Evo Morales and Rafael Correa, the leaders of Bolivia and Ecuador.

Chavez also said that his close friend, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, had warned him, "Chavez be careful, they've developed technology, be careful with what you eat, they could stick you with a small needle."

Bloomberg Businessweek reported Chavez said he wasn't accusing anyone, "just using my freedoms to reflect and issue comments on very strange events that are hard to explain."

Source: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/qb_y4j2iMgk/

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Nowitzki, new-look Mavs seeking 2nd straight title

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, right, shoots as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka defends during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, right, shoots as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka defends during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

FILE - FOR END OF THE YEAR SPANISH STORY 2011 BASQUETBOL - In this June 12, 2011 file photo, Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki holds up the championship trophy after Game 6 of the NBA Finals basketball game against the Miami Heat in Miami. The Mavericks won 105-95 to win the series. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Vince Carter (25) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Dallas Mavericks forward Lamar Odom, left, goes up for a shot in front of Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden (13) in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle shouts to his team during the first quarter of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. Oklahoma City won 87-83. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

DALLAS (AP) ? Dirk Nowitzki has an idea of what it's like to be an NBA champion. He learned one of the lessons over the years he spent being teammates with Devean George.

Nowitzki noticed that before practically every game, George found someone warming up on the other side of the court and greeted them with a smile and a hug that seemed warmer than most pregame how-do-you-do's. Nowitzki eventually asked George why. The answer: they were his teammates, guys he had one an NBA title with during one of those three magical seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Once you win a championship," George told Nowitzki, "it's like a bond. It's like family forever."

Nowitzki told that story the first day he met with reporters after the lockout. Although the last time he'd been at team headquarters was for the championship parade, a day when everyone vowed to stick together and try winning it all again, Nowitzki returned knowing the Mavericks would lose several valuable contributors.

So while Nowitzki was going to miss Tyson Chandler bailing him out on defense, J.J. Barea zipping through the lane or nailing a long 3 and Caron Butler taking some the scoring load he also knew those guys would always have a special place in his life.

And, he trusted Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson to find competent replacements.

Sure enough, the front office plugged holes with some big names, practically swiping Lamar Odom from the Lakers and signing Vince Carter. Adding that pair of 30-somethings, plus 28-year-old backup guard Delonte West, doesn't completely fill the void, but it's a good start and an indication that Cuban remains serious about trying to defend the first title in franchise history.

"We weren't the favorites to win it last year, so nobody really knows what's going to happen," Nowitzki said. "Last year, it just worked out. The chemistry was great, guys wanted to win and play with each other. To me, the team is set up kind of the same again with a bunch of older guys that want to win, who've seen basically everything in this league and have individual (accolades) but they just want to win together and off each other."

In a 66-game season, Dallas will be hard pressed to keep up its streak of 50-win seasons. There's no telling how their aging legs will handle a schedule packed with more games and fewer off-days.

The thing is, the postseason remains the same. So this veteran group understands the ups and downs of the next four months are all about getting ready for the chase of those 16 wins that matter most.

Odom certainly understands. He spent each of the last two seasons trying to defend a championship. His Lakers did it two years ago, then were swept by the Mavs in the second round last season.

"If they thought winning a championship was hard, defending it is going to be ... it's tough," Odom said. "It changes the mindset of teams, and of your team. It's tough. But if a team can do it, this one can."

Coach Rick Carlisle considers the reinvention of this team part of the challenge of repeating.

"We've got to reformulate this thing, but the guys coming in are veteran guys and they've played in a lot of big games. ... They know what it's about," Carlisle said. "If you're a new guy coming to this team, you've got to be excited. And you've got to be trying to figure out how you're going to fit in and how you're going to help this team get in position to repeat. Hey, I like the fact our team has a different look. That's a great challenge for our coaching staff. And I think our players are energized as well."

Jason Kidd is going into the final year of his contract but is already talking about playing a few more years. Jason Terry is going into the final year of his deal, but hopes to remain with the Mavericks for the rest of his career. There's no telling what will happen in the new, post-lockout landscape, especially with Cuban letting Chandler, Barea and Butler go for the sake of gaining salary-cap flexibility.

"The way things fell was unique and you know we certainly did our homework," said Nelson, the Mavs' general manager. "We got a little lucky, which is certainly part of things, and we really feel good about this thing."

Brendan Haywood becomes the starting center, the job he was expected to have last season before Chandler arrived and proved to be a perfect fit. Third-year guard Rodrigue Beaubois could become the exciting, change-of-pace player off the bench that Barea used to be, providing he's overcome his foot injuries and learned to play enough defense to satisfy Carlisle.

All those things will fall into place over time.

For now, there's one mystery remaining. The bling.

Never one for tradition, Cuban threatened to do something other than rings. He relented, but because he decided to give players input in the design, the rings won't be ready for opening night. So there will be at least two celebrations of the title: at the opener on Christmas Day ? which just so happens to be against the Heat in an NBA finals rematch ? and again whenever the ring ceremony is held.

"We would've loved to have raised the banner and got our rings Nov. 1, but we've had this little delay," Nowitzki said. "That (opener) can't even come fast enough. We're looking forward to it so much, just to see that banner go up.

"We're going to see it there for the rest of our careers ? for the rest of our lives, really. That always means it was a special season with a bunch of guys that I loved playing with. They are always going to be like family to me, no matter where they play."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-21-BKN-Mavericks-Preview/id-f44e951141ba4b598b581beab2c07fbc

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Britney Spears Is Engaged

Sources tell UsMagazine.com that the singer's beau proposed on his 40th birthday.
By Jocelyn Vena

Jason Trawick and Britney Spears
Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage

Could it be that Britney Spears is ready to walk down the aisle again?

After a report surfaced on TMZ that the singer's longtime beau and "Criminal" co-star Jason Trawick planned to pop the question Friday night (December 16) in Las Vegas, the singer took to Twitter early Friday and had this mysterious message for her fans.

"OMG. Last night Jason surprised me with the one gift I've been waiting for," she wrote. "Can't wait to show you! SO SO SO excited!!!! Xxo"

A rep for the singer hadn't responded to MTV News' request for comment by press time, but sources confirmed the news to People magazine. TMZ further reports that Jason asked Britney's dad, Jamie, for his daughter's hand before he popped the question. According to reports, Britney already knew about the engagement and the couple will sign a prenuptial agreement.

As for her conservatorship, her conservators have signed off on the couple's plans to marry; a judge will most likely give them the go-ahead to tie the knot.

A source tells Usmagazine.com that Trawick asked his lady love to marry him on Thursday night while the two were at a romantic dinner celebrating his 40th birthday. The couple will celebrate the engagement at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on Friday. "This is something they've both wanted for a long time," the source told the site. "It's a way to cement their family. They're both extremely happy and can't wait to become man and wife."

The Neil Lane ring is a four-carat, round-cut diamond with micro pave diamonds around the band, according to E! News. "It's classic, simple and beautiful," a rep for the jewelry company told the site. The rep added that Trawick worked with the designer to design a "dream ring" for his future wife.

While there's no confirmation from Spears' camp just yet about the engagement, Spears did reveal something on Twitter: what she bought Jason for his birthday.

"Hbday Jason! He looked so cool in the video, that I had to get him a new motorcycle," she wrote. "Check out this new Confederate Bike I got him!"

Send congrats to Britney and tell us your thoughts on Facebook!

Related Videos

• Get Inside Britney Spears' 'Criminal'

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• The Evolution Of: Britney Spears
• A History Of Britney Spears At The VMAs
• Lovebirds: Britney Spears And Jason Trawick

Related Artists

• Britney Spears

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676120/britney-spears-engaged.jhtml

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Meteorite shockwaves trigger dust avalanches on Mars

ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2011) ? Dust avalanches around impact craters on Mars appear to be the result of the shock wave preceding the actual impact, according to a study led by an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona.

When a meteorite careens toward the dusty surface of the Red Planet, it kicks up dust and can cause avalanching even before the rock from outer space hits the ground, a research team led by an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona has discovered.

"We expected that some of the streaks of dust that we see on slopes are caused by seismic shaking during impact," said Kaylan Burleigh, who led the research project. "We were surprised to find that it rather looks like shockwaves in the air trigger the avalanches even before the impact."

Because of Mars' thin atmosphere, which is 100 times less dense than Earth's, even small rocks that would burn up or break up before they could hit the ground here on Earth crash into the Martian surface relatively unimpeded.

Each year, about 20 fresh craters between 1 and 50 meters (3 to 165 feet) show up in images taken by the HiRISE camera on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, is operated by the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and has been photographing the Martian surface since 2006, revealing features down to less than 1 meter in size.

For this study, the team zoomed in on a cluster of five large craters, which all formed in one impact event close to Mars' equator, about 825 kilometers (512 miles) south of the boundary scarp of Olympus Mons, the tallest mountain in the solar system. Previous observations by the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, which imaged Mars for nine years until 2006, showed that this cluster was blasted into the dusty surface between May 2004 and February 2006.

The results of the research, which Burleigh first took on as a freshman under former UA Regents Professor H. Jay Melosh, are published in the planetary science journal Icarus. Previous studies had looked at dark or light streaks on the Martian landscape interpreted as landslides, but none had tied such a large number of them to impacts.

The authors interpret the thousands of downhill-trending dark streaks on the flanks of ridges covering the area as dust avalanches caused by the impact. The largest crater in the cluster measures 22 meters, or 72 feet across and occupies roughly the area of a basketball court. Most likely, the cluster of craters formed as the meteorite broke up in the atmosphere, and the fragments hit the ground like a shotgun blast.

Narrow, relatively dark streaks varying from a few meters to about 50 meters in length scour the slopes around the impact site.

"The dark streaks represent the material exposed by the avalanches, as induced by the the airblast from the impact," Burleigh said. "I counted more than 100,000 avalanches and, after repeated counts and deleting duplicates, arrived at 64,948."

When Burleigh looked at the distribution of avalanches around the impact site, he realized their number decreased with distance in every direction, consistent with the idea that they were related to the impact event.

But it wasn't until he noticed a pair of peculiar surface features resembling a curved dagger, described as scimitars, extending from the central impact crater, that the way in which the impact caused the avalanches became evident.

"Those scimitars tipped us off that something other than seismic shaking must be causing the dust avalanches," Burleigh said.

As a meteor screams through the atmosphere at several times the speed of sound, it creates shockwaves in the air. Simulating the shockwaves generated by impacts on Martian soil with computer models, the team observed the exact pattern of scimitars they saw on their impact site.

"We think the interference among different pressure waves lifts up the dust and sets avalanches in motion. These interference regions, and the avalanches, occur in a reproducible pattern," Burleigh said. "We checked other impact sites and realized that when we see avalanches, we usually see two scimitars, not just one, and they both tend to be at a certain angle to each other. This pattern would be difficult to explain by seismic shaking."

In the absence of plate tectonic processes and water-caused erosion, the authors conclude that small impacts might be more important in shaping the Martian surface than previously thought.

"This is one part of a larger story about current surface activity on Mars, which we are realizing is very different than previously believed," said Alfred McEwen, principal investigator of the HiRISE project and one of the co-authors of the study. "We must understand how Mars works today before we can correctly interpret what may have happened when the climate was different, and before we can draw comparisons to Earth."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Arizona. The original article was written by Daniel Stolte, University Communications.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Kaylan J. Burleigh, Henry J. Melosh, Livio L. Tornabene, Boris Ivanov, Alfred S. McEwen, Ingrid J. Daubar. Impact airblast triggers dust avalanches on Mars. Icarus, 2012; 217 (1): 194 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2011.10.026

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/~3/cFWZew5o7OI/111216115022.htm

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US factory output declined sharply in November (AP)

WASHINGTON ? U.S. industrial production fell for the first time in seven months as factories made fewer cars, electronics and appliances.

The Federal Reserve says that output at the nation's factories, utilities and mines fell 0.2 percent last month.

Factory output, the biggest component of industrial production, decreased 0.4 percent, mainly because of steep decline in the production of motor vehicles and parts. Production of home electronics, business equipment and supplies and apparel also fell.

Factory output and overall industrial output last decreased in April. Supply chains had been disrupted by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and factories couldn't obtain needed parts. Auto production fell sharply, then recovered strongly this summer and fall.

Without the volatile automotive category, factory output decreased 0.2 percent last month.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_industrial_production

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Group urges gov't to strictly limit chimp research

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Chimpanzees should hardly ever be used for medical research, a prestigious scientific group told the government Thursday ? advice that means days in the laboratory may be numbered for humans' closest relatives.

The Institute of Medicine stopped short of recommending the outright ban that animal rights activists had pushed. Instead, it urged strict limits that would make invasive experiments with chimps essentially a last resort, saying today's more advanced research tools mean the primates' use only rarely will be necessary enough to outweigh the moral costs.

Chimp research already was dwindling fast as scientists turned to less costly and ethically charged alternatives. The government agency in charge of it ? the National Institutes of Health ? called the new recommendations "scientifically well-founded" and signaled that it would make some changes.

"While operational details will need to be worked out, NIH intends to adopt the panel's general conclusions," said Dr. Francis Collins, the NIH's director.

These apes' genetic similarity to people has long caused a quandary. It's what has made them so valuable to scientists for nearly a century. They were vital in creating a vaccine for hepatitis B, for example, and even were shot into space to make sure the trip wouldn't kill the astronauts next in line.

But that close relationship also has had animal rights groups arguing that using chimps for biomedical research is unethical, even cruel.

"We understand and feel compelled by the moral cost of using chimpanzees in research," said bioethicist Jeffrey Kahn of Johns Hopkins University, who chaired the Institute of Medicine panel. "We have established criteria that will set the bar quite high for justification of the use of chimpanzees."

For biomedical research ? testing new drugs or giving the animal a disease ? that means using chimps only if studies cannot be done on other animals or people themselves, and if foregoing the chimp studies would hinder progress against life-threatening or other debilitating diseases.

The panel advised the government to limit use of chimps in behavioral research as well, saying such studies must provide insights into the brain and behavior that otherwise are unattainable ? and use techniques that minimize any pain or distress.

The U.S. is one of only two countries known to still conduct medical research with chimpanzees; the other is Gabon, in Africa. The European Union essentially banned such research last year.

Here, too, the practice is dwindling fast. The Institute of Medicine's investigation found over the past 10 years, the NIH has paid for just 110 projects of any type that involved chimps. There are not quite 1,000 chimps available for medical research in the country. While it's impossible to say how many have been used in privately funded pharmaceutical research, the industry is shifting to higher-tech and less costly research methods. One drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, adopted an official policy ending its use of great apes, including chimpanzees, in research.

Thursday's report was triggered by an uproar over the fate of 186 semi-retired research chimps that the NIH, to save money, last year planned to move from a New Mexico facility to an active research lab in Texas.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2011-12-15-Chimp%20Research/id-ab276d644eab4a52b84daa6c286e699e

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"Whatever" deemed most annoying word: poll (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Do you want to kill a conversation? Try saying "whatever."

Words like "you know" and "like" might be irritating to hear, but for the third year in a row, it's "whatever" that holds the most power to annoy, according to an annual survey by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

Nearly four in ten adults named "whatever" as the most annoying verbal filler in casual conversation, while one in five adults had similar disdain for "like" and 'you know."

"Just sayin'" and "seriously" were more forgiving to the ears, though still quite irritating, Marist found.

The telephone survey of 1,026 adults nationally had a margin of error of three percentage points.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oddlyenough/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/od_nm/us_words_whatever

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Nazi hunters boost drive to find their aging prey

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Gero Breloer / AP

Efraim Zuroff, chief-Nazi hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and director of the Center's Jerusalem Office, announces on Wednesday the launching of "Operation Last Chance II" during a news conference in Berlin, Germany.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center on Wednesday launched a new race against time to prosecute Nazi war criminals still alive 66 years after the end of World War II.

Efraim Zuroff, the center's top Nazi-hunter, told reporters in Berlin that "Operation Last Chance II" would provide up to 25,000 euros ($32,900) in reward money for information that leads to the investigation and prosecution of war criminals.

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"Whatever can be done has to be done very promptly and as quickly as possible because time is running out," Zuroff said, claiming the passage of time does not diminish the guilt of the killers.

The effort comes after German prosecutors said in October that the successful conviction of former Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk had set a precedent?that allowed them to reopen hundreds of dormant investigations.

Demjanjuk, 91, was convicted in May of thousands of counts of accessory to murder after a Munich court found he served as a death camp guard ? the first time a suspect had been found guilty without evidence of a specific crime. The court ruled that any guard at a Nazi camp whose sole purpose was to kill people could be convicted of accessory to murder.

John Demjanjuk emerges from a Munich, Germany, court on May 12, 2011, after a judge sentenced him to 5 years in prison for charges related to 28,060 counts of accessory to murder.

Demjanjuk denies having ever served as a guard and is appealing the verdict.

"What this conviction does is set a legal precedent that should pave the way for the prosecution of many people who were on a daily basis over a prolonged period of time involved in mass murder but who had been ignored," Zuroff said.

About 4,000 people were either guards at the four Nazi camps used only for killings ? Belzec, Sobibor, Chelmno and Treblinka ? or members of the Einsatzgruppen death squads responsible for mass killings, particularly early in the war before the death camps were established.

Zuroff said that he did not know how many were still alive ? the youngest would now be in their 80s ? but that he guessed conservatively there could be 80 or more.

"I think it's not a gross exaggeration to assume that 2 percent are still probably alive," he said.

Zuroff said a high-ranking living Nazi is in sights but he cannot reveal his name because of an ongoing criminal investigation, the Jerusalem Post reported.

"I am not saying who because he?s a flight risk," Zuroff said. "This person was a commander and involved in very serious actions against Jews."

Zuroff also said Klaas Farber, an alleged SS hitman in Holland, was the most senior Nazi known to be alive today. Faber lives in the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, Germany.?He was sentenced in a Dutch court in 1947 was convicted of murdering 22 Jews in the occupied Netherlands during WWII, but he escaped?prison in 1952.

Prosecutors in Dortmund also are currently investigating six former members of an SS armored division that was responsible for the largest massacre in Nazi-occupied France under the same theory that led to Demjanjuk?s prosecution.

The Wiesenthal Center is asking for tips?to a new hotline in Germany. Though the focus of the investigation is Germany, Zuroff said suspects could live anywhere in the world.

A reward of 5,000 euros will be paid for the information upon the indictment of a suspect, another 5,000 euros upon conviction, and a further 100 euros per day spent in prison ? up to 150 days ? for a total of 25,000 euros, Zuroff said.

The center's original "Operation Last Chance" was launched in 2002 and targeted primarily eastern European countries. It ended up with 102 suspects' names being turned over to prosecutors. Of those, only a handful were ever indicted or tried, Zuroff said.

Zuroff said that at this late stage, with few witnesses left and suspects' health often preventing them from being brought to trial, he measures success in six stages: exposure; official investigation; indictment; trial; conviction; and punishment.

"It's very hard today to get to stage six," he said.

"The answer is very simple," Zuroff said. "One, the passage in time does not diminish guilt of killers. Two, old age does not afford protection to?murderers. Three, all the victims deserve efforts to find their killers. Four, it sends an important message to those today that they are being brought to justice."

Former Ohio resident John Demjanjuk is found guilty for his involvement in thousands of deaths at a Nazi death camp during World War II.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Read more content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/14/9448959-nazi-hunters-boost-drive-to-find-aging-war-criminals-before-they-die

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Israel prepares for second stage of prisoner swap (Reuters)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? Israel began preparations on Thursday to release 550 Palestinian prisoners in the second stage of a deal with Hamas that brought home soldier Gilad Shalit after five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Prisons Service posted on its website the list of prisoners whose jail terms are to be cut and a spokeswoman said they would be assembled in two jails prior to release on Sunday.

Israeli citizens have 48 hours to contest the releases in court, though historically the judiciary has chosen not to intervene in prisoner exchanges which it views as a political decision.

In the first stage of the Egyptian-mediated prisoner exchange, the most lopsided in Israel's history, 450 Palestinians were released on October 18 in return for Shalit.

While many of those freed in the first phase of the deal were serving life sentences for deadly attacks, none of the prisoners to be released in the second stage was convicted of killings. Their terms ranged from a few months to 18 years.

Shalit was abducted in June 2006 by militants who tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip and surprised his tank crew, killing two of his comrades. He was held incommunicado in the Hamas-ruled territory and huge majority of Israelis backed the deal to bring him home.

The Prisons Service said nearly all the Palestinians to be released on Sunday -- whose convictions include attempted murder, planting bombs and membership in militant groups -- come from the West Bank where Hamas's rival, the Fatah movement of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, is dominant.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, edited by Richard Meares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_prisoners

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Google+ Comes In At No. 2 On Google?s Own List Of Fastest-Growing Searches Of 2011

Well, this is convenient. Google published its 2011 Zeitgeist list of the fastest-growing search terms of the year. The No. 2 term on the list, right behind No. 1 "Rebecca Black," is its own product, "Google+". Since nobody ever heard of Google+ until this year, and it received loads of news coverage as Google's strongest attempt yet to take on Facebook, searches for the term rose more than 10,000 percent. Remember, Google's Zeitgeist is a curated list based on the fastest-growing search terms of the past year, not the ones with the most absolute volume. This focus produces a more interesting list of trending topics for the year. Overall, the list this year is Apple-heavy with "iPhone 5" (No. 6), "Steve Jobs" (No. 9), and "iPad2" (No. 10) all showing up. The Japanese word for Fukushima, "?? ??" (No. 8), also made it, as did "Battlefield 3" (No. 3) and "Casey Anthony" (No. 4).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0iaPVa4iAOI/

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Cities with the highest and lowest unemployment (AP)

Skip to navigation ? Skip to content ? By The Associated Press The Associated Press ? 39?mins?ago

Unemployment rates fell in three-quarters of large U.S. cities in October, a sign that the job market is picking up broadly across the country.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that unemployment rates fell in 281 metro areas. They rose in 57 and were unchanged in 34. That's slightly better than September's showing and is the largest number of cities to report a drop since April.

The metro area unemployment data aren't adjusted for seasonal variations, such as hiring for the winter holidays. So they can be volatile.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate was unchanged in October at 9 percent. Last week, the government said the nationwide rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, the lowest level in 2 1/2 years. Employers added about 120,000 net jobs. Still, a big reason the unemployment rate fell was because more people said they have given up on their job searches and dropped out of the work force.

Below are the cities with the highest and lowest rates:

Metro areas with highest and lowest unemployment rates

Figures in percentages

Lowest rates Oct. 2011

Bismarck, N.D. 2.4

Fargo, N.D. 3.1

Lincoln, Neb. 3.4

Burlington-South Burlington, Vt. 3.6

Grand Forks, N.D. 3.8

Sioux Falls, S.D. 3.9

Ames, Iowa 4.1

Rapid City, S.D. 4.1

Iowa City, Iowa 4.2

Mankato-North Mankato, Minn. 4.3

Highest rates

El Centro, Calif. 28.9

Yuma, Ariz. 26.3

Yuba City, Calif. 16.7

Merced, Calif. 15.8

Stockton, Calif. 15.7

Fresno, Calif. 15.7

Visalia-Porterville, Calif. 15.3

Modesto, Calif. 15.2

Hanford-Corcoran, Calif. 14.6

Palm Coast, Fla. 14

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SPIN METER: GOP debates nonexistent dust rule (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The issue may be dust in the wind, but Republicans are still moving to block it.

Environmental Protection Agency officials have said repeatedly that they won't propose new regulations to limit dust kicked up by farm equipment. But anti-regulation sentiment is strong this year on the campaign trail ? which is why House Republicans are planning to vote this week to prevent the imaginary regulation.

Republicans and even some Democrats have told farm-state audiences that the EPA is considering a crackdown on farms, despite an agency statement last month calling that a "myth."

Republicans say they want more certainty for the agriculture industry. The House GOP has pushed a host of measures aimed at weakening, delaying or scrapping environmental regulations in recent months, saying they view them as job killers.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_re_us/us_farm_dust

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Luck, Griffin, Richardson lead Heisman finalists

FILE - This Oct. 22, 2011 file photo shows Alabama running back Trent Richardson (3) running past Tennessee defensive lineman Daniel Hood (76) during an NCAA college football game in Tuscaloosa Ala. Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Richardson are among the players expected to receive invites to the Heisman Trophy presentation when the finalists are announced. (AP Photo/John Bazmore, File)

FILE - This Oct. 22, 2011 file photo shows Alabama running back Trent Richardson (3) running past Tennessee defensive lineman Daniel Hood (76) during an NCAA college football game in Tuscaloosa Ala. Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Richardson are among the players expected to receive invites to the Heisman Trophy presentation when the finalists are announced. (AP Photo/John Bazmore, File)

FILE - These are 2011 file photos showing Trent Richardson, Alabama; Robert Griffin III, Baylor; and Andrew Luck, Stanford. Richardson, Griffin and Luck are among the players expected to receive invites to the Heisman Trophy presentation when the finalists are announced. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - This Nov. 26, 2011 file photo shows Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) during an NCAA college football game against Texas Tech, in Arlington, Texas. Andrew Luck, Griffin and Trent Richardson are among the players expected to receive invites to the Heisman Trophy presentation when the finalists are announced. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman, File)

FILE - This Nov. 12, 2011 file photo shows Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck (12) passing against Oregon in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Stanford, Calif. Luck, Robert Griffin III and Trent Richardson are among the players expected to receive invites to the Heisman Trophy presentation when the finalists are announced. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE - This Oct. 22, 2011 file photo shows Alabama running back Trent Richardson (3) running past Tennessee defensive lineman Daniel Hood (76) during an NCAA college football game in Tuscaloosa Ala. Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Richardson are among the players expected to receive invites to the Heisman Trophy presentation when the finalists are announced. (AP Photo/John Bazmore, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

He will head to New York for the presentation of college football's most famous player of the year award having relinquished front-runner status to another quarterback ? one known as RG3.

Luck, along with Robert Griffin III, Trent Richardson, Tyrann Mathieu and Montee Ball are the Heisman finalists. The group, announced Monday on ESPN, will be at the presentation Saturday night in Manhattan.

It's a return trip for Luck, the only repeat finalist this season, while Griffin is the first Baylor player to get an invite to the ceremony. The school has never had a player finish better than fourth in the Heisman voting, but now it seems to have the favorite.

"I'm sure it will be a really close vote," Griffin told reporters in Waco, Texas, after watching the announcement with teammates and coaches.

Richardson is the second Alabama running back to be a finalist in the past three years. Former teammate Mark Ingram won the Heisman in 2009.

Ball has scored 38 touchdowns for Wisconsin and needs one more to match Barry Sanders' NCAA record.

Mathieu, the LSU defensive back nicknamed "Honey Badger," has made numerous game-changing plays for the top-ranked Tigers.

The field was deep this season and several deserving players didn't make the cut. Most notable, Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore, a finalist last season, Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley and Houston's record-breaking passer, Case Keenum, did not receive enough votes to be among the final five.

Ballots from the 926 voters, mostly media members and former winners, were due Monday evening.

Luck was the Heisman runner-up to Auburn's Cam Newton last year and passed up a chance to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft to return to Stanford for his junior season. From the moment he made the decision to stay in school in January, he became the odds-on favorite to win the big bronze statue.

Luck is looking to become Stanford's second Heisman winner, joining quarterback Jim Plunkett, who won in 1970.

"It would mean a lot," Luck said in an interview on ESPN. "I would mean a great deal for the university. Mean a lot to me and a great deal to the football program, as well."

He had another stellar season, passing for 3,170 yards with 35 touchdowns while leading the Cardinal to an 11-1 record and a second straight BCS bid. But the competition has been fierce and numerous contenders emerged.

The prognosticators now have Griffin as the most likely winner.

Heismanpundit.com, which has successfully predicted the past four winners with a straw poll of 13 voters, had Griffin as its top vote-getter on Monday. Luck was second and Richardson third.

Stiffarmtrophy.com, which compiles ballots from voters who make their choices public and has predicted the past nine winners, had Griffin winning by a comfortable margin over Luck, with Richardson third.

Griffin leads the nation in passer rating (192.3), with 3,998 yards and 36 touchdowns. He has also run for 644 yards and nine touchdowns. And much like Luck, Griffin has led a long-struggling program to its greatest success in decades. Baylor is 9-3 this season, its first nine-win season since 1986, including its first victory against Oklahoma.

"Baylor nation we're in there," Griffin said. "Now we just got to try to snatch it. Hopefully the vote turns out our way.

"Being invited is an honor. It's not all that we want, but it's a starting spot."

The best showing a Baylor player has had in the Heisman voting was quarterback Don Trull's fourth-place finish in 1963.

Richardson has been the unquestioned offensive engine for No. 2 Alabama. He's fifth in the nation in rushing at 131.9 yards per game and tied for fifth in touchdowns with 23. Richardson and the Crimson Tide will meet Mathieu and LSU in the BCS championship game on Jan. 9 in New Orleans.

The sophomore cornerback is the second defensive player to be a Heisman finalist in the past three years. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska finished fourth in 2009.

Mathieu, though, is more like Charles Woodson, the do-it-all defensive back who won the 1997 Heisman for Michigan.

Mathieu has forced five fumbles, intercepted two passes and scored four touchdowns, including two long punt returns in LSU's past two games against Arkansas and Georgia.

He also was suspended for a game this season for violating the team's drug policy.

Ball has been a touchdown machine for Wisconsin and ranks fourth in rushing at 135.3 yards per game. He has 12 more touchdowns than the next best player in the nation and if he can tack on two more in the Rose Bowl against Oregon, he'll break Sanders' record.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-06-FBC-Heisman-Trophy-Finalists/id-ab0d3be7723b44e082b0d2dc34ce326f

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Justice Dept. details how it got statements wrong

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Justice Department on Friday provided Congress with documents detailing how department officials gave inaccurate information to a U.S. senator in the controversy surrounding Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed law enforcement initiative aimed at dismantling major arms trafficking networks on the Southwest border.

In a letter last February to Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had not sanctioned the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser and that the agency makes every effort to intercept weapons that have been purchased illegally. In Operation Fast and Furious, both statements turned out to be incorrect.

The Justice Department letter was responding to Grassley's statements that the Senate Judiciary Committee had received allegations the ATF had sanctioned the sale of hundreds of assault weapons to suspected straw purchasers. Grassley also said there were allegations that two of the assault weapons had been used in a shootout that killed customs agent Brian Terry.

In an email four days later to Justice Department colleagues, then-U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke in Phoenix said that "Grassley's assertions regarding the Arizona investigation and the weapons recovered" at the "murder scene are based on categorical falsehoods. I worry that ATF will take 8 months to answer this when they should be refuting its underlying accusations right now." That email marked the start of an internal debate in the Justice Department over what and how much to say in response to Grassley's allegations. The fact that there was an ongoing criminal investigation into Terry's murder prompted some at the Justice Department to argue for less disclosure.

Some of what turned out to be incorrect information was emailed to Lanny Breuer, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's criminal division. Breuer sent an email saying "let's help as much as we can" in responding to Grassley.

The emails sent to Capitol Hill on Friday showed that Burke supplied additional incorrect information to the Justice Department's criminal division that ended up being forwarded to Breuer. For example, Burke said that the guns found at the Terry murder scene were purchased at a Phoenix gun shop before Operation Fast and Furious began. In fact, the operation was under way at the time and the guns found at the Terry murder scene were part of the probe. Breuer was one of the recipients of that information. In written comments this week to Grassley, Breuer said that he was on a three-day official trip to Mexico at the time of the Justice Department response and that he was aware of, but not involved in, drafting the Justice Department statements to Grassley. Breuer says he cannot say for sure whether he saw a draft of the letter before it was sent to Grassley.

Where Burke got the inaccurate information is now part of an inquiry conducted by the inspector general's office at the Justice Department.

Burke's information was followed by a three-day struggle in which officials in the office of the deputy attorney general, the criminal division and the ATF came up with what turned out to be an inaccurate response to Grassley's assertions.

The process became so intensive that Breuer aide Jason Weinstein emailed his boss, "The Magna Carta was easier to get done than this was." A copy of the latest draft was attached to the emails.

Initial drafts of the letter reflected the hard tone of Burke's unequivocal assertions that the allegations Grassley was hearing from ATF agents were wrong. Later drafts were more measured, prompting Burke to complain in one email: "Every version gets weaker. We will be apologizing" to Grassley "by tomorrow afternoon." Regarding the allegation that ATF sanctioned the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser, the Justice Department denial was scaled back slightly from "categorically false" to "false." ''Why poke the tiger," Lisa Monaco, the top aide to the deputy attorney general, explained in an email to Ron Weich, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs whose signature was on the letter.

In another email, Burke wrote, "By the way, what is so offensive about this whole project" of response "is that Grassley's staff, acting as willing stooges for the Gun Lobby, have attempted to distract from the incredible success in dismantling" Southwest Border "gun trafficking operations" and "not uttering one word of rightful praise and thanks to ATF ? but, instead, lobbing this reckless despicable accusation that ATF is complicit in the murder of a fellow federal law enforcement officer."

On Friday night, Grassley spokeswoman Beth Levine said that "Burke personally apologized to Sen. Grassley's staff for the tone and the content of the emails" after learning from the Justice Department that the emails would be released.

It is unusual for the Justice Department to provide such detail of its internal deliberations as it did on Friday with Congress.

The department turned over 1,364 pages of material after concluding "that we will make a rare exception to the department's recognized protocols and provide you with information related to how the inaccurate information came to be included in the letter," Deputy Attorney General James Cole wrote Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is looking into the Obama administration's handling of Operation Fast and Furious.

Operation Fast and Furious involved more than 2,000 weapons that were purchased by straw buyers at Phoenix-area gun stores. Nearly 700 of the Fast and Furious guns have been recovered ? 276 in Mexico and 389 in the United States, according to ATF data as of Oct. 20.

Amid probes by Republicans in Congress and the IG, the Justice Department in August replaced Burke, acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson and the lead prosecutor in Operation Fast and Furious.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-02-Operation%20Fast%20and%20Furious/id-229de9a1b60b485a9ae461a14dcd9026

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[OOC] Files from the Field

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I can't stand it when people say "like if you agree", or "thumbs up to keep alive". That's not what thumbs up or like is for idiots! Thumbs up if you agree!

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