Ex-NASA Specialist Axed Over Intelligent Design?

• March 7, 2012: David Coppedge, left, is shown outside Los Angeles Superior Court with his attorney, William Becker.AP

LOS ANGELES â€"  NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has landed robotic explorers on the surface of Mars, sent probes to outer planets and operates a worldwide network of antennas that communicates with interplanetary spacecraft.

  Its latest mission is defending itself in a workplace lawsuit filed by a former computer specialist who claims he was demoted -- and then let go -- for promoting his views on intelligent design, the belief that a higher power must have had a hand in creation because life is too complex to have developed through evolution alone.

  David Coppedge, who worked as a "team lead" on the Cassini mission exploring Saturn and its many moons, alleges that he was discriminated against because he engaged his co-workers in conversations about intelligent design and handed out DVDs on the idea while at work. Coppedge lost his "team lead" title in 2009 and was let go last year after 15 years on the mission.

  Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court after two years of legal wrangling in a case that has generated interest among supporters of intelligent design. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, and the Discovery Institute, a proponent of intelligent design, are both supporting Coppedge's case.

  "It's part of a pattern. There is basically a war on anyone who dissents from Darwin and we've seen that for several years," said John West, associate director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute. "This is free speech, freedom of conscience 101."

  The National Center for Science Education, which rejects intelligent design as thinly veiled creationism, is also watching the case and has posted all the legal filings on its website.

  "It would be unfortunate if the court took what seems to be a fairly straightforward employment law case and allowed it to become this tangled mess of trying to adjudicate scientific matters," said Josh Rosenau, NCSE's programs and policy director. "It looks like a pretty straightforward case. The mission that he was working on was winding down and he was laid off."

  Coppedge's attorney, William Becker, says his client was singled out by his bosses because they perceived his belief in intelligent design to be religious. Coppedge had a reputation around JPL as an evangelical Christian and other interactions with co-workers led some to label him as a Christian conservative, Becker said.

  In the lawsuit, Coppedge says he believes other things also led to his demotion, including his support for a state ballot measure that sought to define marriage as limited to heterosexual couples and his request to rename the annual holiday party a "Christmas party."

  "David had this reputation for being a Christian, for being a practicing one. He did not go around evangelizing or proselytizing. But if he found out that someone was a Christian he would say, `Oh that's interesting, what denomination are you?"' Becker said.

  "He's not apologizing for who he is. He's an evangelical Christian."

  In an emailed statement, JPL dismissed Coppedge's claims. In court papers, lawyers for the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, said Coppedge received a written warning because his co-workers complained of harassment. They also said Coppedge lost his "team lead" status because of ongoing conflicts with others.

  Caltech lawyers contend Coppedge was one of two Cassini technicians and among 246 JPL employees let go last year due to planned budget cuts.

  While the case has attracted interest because of the controversial nature of intelligent design, it is at its heart a straightforward discrimination case, said Eugene Volokh, a professor of First Amendment law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees such basic rights as freedom of speech and religion.

  "The question is whether the plaintiff was fired simply because he was wasting people's time and bothering them in ways that would have led him to being fired regardless of whether it was about religion or whether he was treated worse based on the religiosity of his beliefs," said Volokh. "If he can show that, then he's got a good case."

  Coppedge, who began working for JPL as a contractor in 1996 and was hired in 2003, is active in the intelligent design sphere and runs a website that interprets scientific discoveries through the lens of intelligent design. His father authored an anti-evolution book and founded a Christian outreach group.

  He is also a board member for Illustra Media, a company that produces video documentaries examining the scientific evidence for intelligent design. The company produces the videos that Coppedge was handing out to co-workers, said Becker, his attorney.

  His main duties at JPL were to maintain computer networks and troubleshoot technical problems for the mission. In 2000, he was named "team lead," serving as a liaison between technicians and managers for nearly a decade before being demoted in 2009.

  He sued in April 2010 alleging religious discrimination, retaliation and harassment and amended his suit to include wrongful termination after losing his job last year.

  Coppedge is seeking attorney's fees and costs, damages for wrongful termination and a statement from the judge that his rights were violated, said Becker.

Article from FOXNEWS

Party Like Mad ... Men

Thanks to technology, we have access to information-and our jobs-24 hours a day, seven days a week.  However, this can lead to ‘information overload,' where we have multiple things to do, and not enough focus on any one task to get it done well.  Margaret Moore, Founder and CEO of Wellcoaches and co-founder and co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, teamed up with Dr. Paul Hammerness to share tips on how to clear your mind and be at the top of your game in their book Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life: Train Your Brain to Get More Done in Less Time.

Q: What inspired you to write this book?
A: There's a lot interest in neuroscience and how we can apply it to our daily lives.  This book came out of the idea of translating the science that we've learned from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) studies into helping everyone organize their minds. It was a partnership between psychiatrists at Harvard and wellness coaches. My job was to translate the science into self-coaching solutions. One of my visions is to bring forward the partnership of physicians and wellness coaches to help people make lasting changes, so it was a natural for me to work with a doctor.  A doctor gives you your diagnosis, and that's all very nice, but now what do you do?  How do you actually implement this?  So, it's a team effort.

Q: How does disorganization affect people's lives?
A: When your brain is full of negative emotions, frenzy, distraction and just overwhelmed-you're multitasking, and you're running around-what happens is that you get very distended.  Your brain gets worn down because it's not designed to do all of these tasks. In today's world, we've got more distractions that take over our brain than ever before.  You end up in this state of chaos and frenzy, and that makes it hard to get things done.  Also, you're really tired-you're too tired to even take care of yourself.  So we're kind of wearing out our brains, and that creates the disorganization.  So, if you can have an energetic and organized mind, then everything goes better.

Q: What are some of the biggest distractions we face today?
A: Well, I think the first would be that we have to-do lists that are too long.  We think about the 32 things we're not doing when we're doing the one thing we need to focus on.  The second thing is with all of these new technologies, you don't leave (the distractions) ever.  Even when we go for social dinners, we can't leave our cell phones behind.  So you think about the amount of distractions we have, it's never been greater. We're all kind of hyper-distracted.  The back of the brain was built to be looking for distractions all the time, so when you have too many, you overwhelm the front part of your brain.  (The front part of the brain) is the thinking part which mitigates brain's ability to cope and set distractions aside to get calm and focused and creative.  The third factor is that all of these factors cause a downward spiral, which leads us to not have the energy to exercise and eat well and make good choices, and then our brain works even less well because our brain needs good fuel, rest and exercise.  The brain works far better when we exercise regularly.  When we don't do all those things, then we make it even worse.  So I would say those are the three big things: getting overwhelmed, the amount of distraction we face, and the fact we're not taking care of ourselves.

Q: So, if you're a naturally disorganized person, how do you start getting organized?
A: Well, first, I would build on what you already know works.  Think about the combinations of things that put you in a calm state-say first thing in the morning.  And rather than try to have really good focus for eight hours a day, set a goal for 30 minutes.  Put yourself in the right frame of mind-whether you work out or do deep breathing or look at a picture that makes you feel good.  Whatever you can do to get yourself into a good place.  Set small goals.  So, if you have a day now where every five minutes you change your focus to a different thing, give yourself a half-hour of complete focus.  Turn your phone off, turn your wireless off, close your door and just enjoy getting into one thing.  When you do that, you're creative, and you get ‘the big picture.'
Q: How does getting organized improve your life?
A: When you scatter your focus across a lot of things, nothing gets done well.  You don't connect the dots and see patterns, and get to this strategy-sort of ‘above the tree.'   And when you're sitting in the trees all the time, with all the distractions, you're not feeling great about how you're doing on a project or how you're relating to your spouse or your child.  Everything feels not quite right, and that leads you to be more down at the end of the day.  The advantage to having these high-quality focus times, even though you still have the 32 things to do, is that every day you get a few things done really beautifully.  You feel like you're at your own level of brilliance.  Also, you can let go of all the other things (on your to-do list) when you know you've done a great job with a few things.  That puts you into a whole different frame of mind, and you then begin to steadily knock things off the list, do a great job, and everything gets done. It gets you into the calm, thoughtful, strategic, energetic place.  You have a lot more energy, and you feel a lot better about your life.  You're more alive.  Your energy is more alive because you're using it well.

Q: What tips can you offer to people who already feel like they're organized?
A: Even the super organized-because I'm one of those people too-we're still overloading with too much to do.  One thing that happens to people like us is that we're able to focus, but we have trouble stopping our focus and take a rest because we can sit for hours.  So what happens is we get ourselves depleted without realizing it.  We actually have to make ourselves get up and take a break and change focus-whereas other people are always taking a break.  So focused people don't have that, but then we don't stop, and we burn ourselves out.  And focused people still get distracted: I was recently doing a workshop on a Saturday morning, and I got up at 5 am.  I decided I was going to take 15 minutes for coffee, looking out at the ocean.  I'm sitting there, and next thing you know, I'm sitting at my laptop, writing an e-mail to my client at 5:30 in the morning on a Saturday.  I looked at myself and thought, ‘what am I doing here?'  My brain was hi-jacked.  It takes nothing.  We all are subject to distraction.  All of us, organized or not, have negative frenzy, and so we all have to look at managing the frenzy, so that it doesn't impair or ability to do things or to be creative.  

Article from FOXNEWS

Bieber Buys Bachelor Pad

Does Don Draper do finger food? Judging by the first four seasons of TV's popular "Mad Men" show it doesn't seem likely unless we're talking about a belt of bourbon with a couple of smoking hot Lucky Strikes on the side.

But since that hardly sounds appetizing, we've come up with something a little tastier to greet the return of "Mad Men" on AMC on Mar. 25.

First up are the drinks, which include a classic martini - made with gin, easy on the vermouth - and a rummy Hawaiian punch. The latter is a particularly appropriate choice since Hawaiian Punch, the juice product initially created in the '30s as a syrup ice cream topping, was the focus for a classic ad campaign in the 1960s that introduced the character "Punchy" and the tagline "How about a nice Hawaiian punch?" That's an in-your-face approach that might have come straight out of the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency.

Click here for our Mad Men martini recipe.

Click here for our recipe for Mad Men Hawaiian Punch.

And don't forget the Old Fashioned, ad exec Draper's drink of choice. This one's made with rye, the way Don did in season three's "My Old Kentucky Home," episode. We didn't vault over the bar counter to fix it, though.

Here's the recipe for a Mad Men Old Fashioned.

For food, we went retro, starting with a plate of deviled eggs, all the better if you can serve them on one of those dimpled trays made especially for this purpose. These have chopped ham and a dash of hot sauce for the "devilry" part. Serve with a smirk and your best impression of the piquant wit of Roger Sterling.

Click here for the recipe for deviled ham eggs.

Stuffed celery is a grown-up twist on the old "ants on a log" children's snack; this is something you can easily imagine the regal Joan Harris whipping up in her small kitchen.

Here's a recipe for stuffed celery.

We've also come up with an avocado and crab mini sandwich. Avocado - both as a food and color - was a big hit in the 1960s kitchen; this combo brings in a hint of California, the "Tomorrowland" state where Draper goes to overcome his past.

Click here for the avocado and crab canapes recipe.

And, finally, how about a cheese ball platter, the nutty classic that everyone cracks jokes about, right up until the plate's scraped clean of its creamy, cheesy goodness. It's just the thing for the season premiere, a two-hour special written by series creator Matt Weiner.

Click here for our Mad Men cheese ball platter recipe.

What will happen this season? Who knows? The show creators are known for being stingy with spoilers. But it seems a safe bet these recipes will make for a perfectly swell party.

Article from FOXNEWS

Keep Romance After Kids?

Teen singer Justin Bieber has officially reached adulthood. In honor of the birthday milestone, Bieber reportedly chose to drop a very grown-up $10.8 million on a modern mansion in L.A.

The $10 million-plus Hollywood Hills real estate purchase is a relatively small sum for the teen heartthrob; Forbes ranks Bieber number two on the list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30, earning a reported $53 million in 2011.

Bieber's new home is not the typical Mediterranean-style mansion popular to the area. Designed by architects Jeffrey and Rochelle Mills of Mills Studio, the home is made up of glass and steel boxes that appear to float above the home's large pool and patio. With a whopping 9,400-square-feet of living space, the 5-bedroom home has plenty of room for the singer, his girlfriend Selena Gomez as well as his entourage of security and managers.

Bieber made his music debut in 2009 after a manager discovered YouTube videos of the singer. After releasing his first album with relative success, the singer reached international stardom with his song “Baby.”

The home features plenty of celebrity real estate amenities: glass chandeliers, retractable glass walls, gourmet kitchen, gym and massage room.

-ZILLOW

Article from FOXNEWS

Concepts and Custom Cars

The big trend in married romance is that you have to create “couple time” and “date nights,” leaving kids at home and work in the office, so you can gaze into each other's eyes without the distraction of… life. How well does this work out? If you're like most couples, including my clients and myself, you get home from a planned date night feeling wonderfully upbeat. The next night you can barely remember where you went to or what you ate.

Sporadic attempts at romance are just that â€" temporary and easily forgotten. From "date night" to a Valentine's Day weekend getaway, each has tremendous value, while we're doing it. But when we return home to our predictable routine of working and caring for our children, those special one-on-one moments with our honey quickly fade.

Does this mean that a marriage with children is in trouble if the couple doesn't have those heart throbbing romantic highs once shared in the dating phase? 

Absolutely not. 

When kids are in the mix, married couples should expect a more tempered, but certainly visible, daily romantic connection.

There are two kinds of romance, the one that spontaneously happens to you because of a special setting, like watching a sunset over the beach, or gazing at each other over a candlelit dinner with soft music in the background, and the one you make happen anywhere, by consciously choosing to say the right words -- at the right time -- to your mate.

The first type of romance readily happens during the dating period, the second type requires greater awareness and effort if you and your spouse want keep your romantic attraction alive for the long-run.

The things we say and do, and don't say or do, can spark or block a loving connection. 

Our daily word choices become what I call a couple's “daily communication routine,” as described in "Fight Less, Love More." Hard-pressed for quality time with our partners and spouses, it's easy to fall victim to a poor communication routine. 

To stop this from happening --today -- I ask you to pay attention to your established communication routine. Then, if needed, include these loving comments in your conversations with your honey. Ask your spouse to do the same and, I predict, the results will astound you.

First, let's put our mate first, every day. 

When one of you walks in the door, immediately greet each other (not the little kids or your computer first). Or, if you see your kids first, greet them, but don't stop there. 

Find your spouse. 

A gentle touch on the shoulder with a simple “hello, how was your day?” warms up the night. 

If you're on the phone when your mate gets home, end the conversation. Yes, your spouse's arrival takes priority over others.

Second, say “good morning,” and “good night” to each other every day. 

These statements bring to mind that it is a good day or night because you are together and with your special someone. Not surprisingly, in our online research we found that 25% of couples don't consistently say goodnight to each other, and of those, 70% had thought about breaking up in the prior year.

Finally, show love by highlighting your mate's positive character traits. 

Focus on one trait,  every day, and if you think that's hard, simply look for the little things. Make comments like, “I love you for (fill-in-the-blank)." 

As an example, one day I told my husband, “I love you for leaving a new tube of toothpaste on the bathroom sink for me to use. That was really kind.” 

And one of my favorite compliments (which my husband knows) is to hear him say some variety of, “You are such a good mother because you have so much patience with the kids.” 

Interestingly, in our research, when we asked people whether they'd prefer that their mate compliment them for being good-looking (a visual compliment), or kind (a character compliment) 84 percent answered, “kind.”

A positive daily communication routine is the way to keep love alive, when you don't have time for a vacation or a hand-in-hand sunset walk in the park. For romance to thrive during child-rearing years you have to choose it, or lose it.

Laurie Puhn is a Harvard-educated lawyer, couples mediator, and best-selling author of "Fight Less, Love More: 5-Minute Conversations to Change Your Relationship Without Blowing Up or Giving In." She frequently appears on Fox News Channel, CNN, "Good Morning America," "Imus" and "The Early Show" to offer relationship advice. Visit her at www.fightlesslovemore.com

Article from FOXNEWS

Sen. McCain talks \'Game Change\' portrayal

Sen. John McCain may have been a sailor at one point, but the former Navy captain doesn't curse like one, he said Sunday, and he sure didn't pick Sarah Palin to be his 2008 vice presidential running mate just because she's a gal.

McCain, who watched the Phoenix Coyotes defeat the San Jose Sharks Saturday night rather than take in HBO's premiere of "Game Change," the glitzy Hollywoodized version of his presidential bid, said he's a bit taken aback to hear not only about the film's depiction of his decision-making process, but also his choice of verbiage.

"I have been told I am portrayed as using an exceeding amount of coarse language. I don't use coarse language very often. I have a larger vocabulary than that," he said.

The Arizona Republican senator told "Fox News Sunday" that it's flat-out fiction in the movie when Woody Harrelson, playing senior adviser Steve Schmidt, tells Ed Harris' McCain that none of the white, male potential vice presidential options are a game changer. In the film, the McCain character responds, "So find me a woman."

"I thought that she was best qualified person," McCain said of his selection. "I thought she had the ability to excite our party and the kind of person that I wanted to see succeed in the political arena. She is very effective and successful governor of a state.

"And what I don't understand even in the tough world of politics, why there continues to be such assaults on a good and decent person, Sarah Palin, a fine family person, a person whose nomination energized our campaign. We were in the lead and they continue to disparage and attack her character and her person," McCain continued.

"I admire and respect her and proud of our campaign. I'm grateful that she ran with me and I will always be proud of what we did and humbled by the fact that I was able to get the nomination of the Republican Party for president of the United States," he said.

McCain also shrugged off the book that spawned the movie as "completely biased and with unattributed quotes."

Asked about the real-live Schmidt's comments that the movie is accurate and that he regrets "playing a part in the process that yielded someone on the ticket that was not prepared to be president," McCain had little explanation for his former adviser's words.

"I regret that he would make such a statement," McCain said.

Article from FOXNEWS

Presidential Campaigns Target Women Voters

In 2008, a majority of women voted for then-Sen. Barack Obama, helping him win the presidency.  Two years later, most women broke for Republicans in the 2010 midterm elections.

To try and stop the GOP from going on a roll with two consecutive successful cycles, the president's reelection team will be sending out 1 million mailings to women in states that figure to be key come November. 

Campaign officials confirm to Fox News that the female voter initiative will largely focus on health care.  Democrats want to make sure women support the Affordable Care Act, which turns two years old on March 23, and are doing so by getting help from nurses in getting this message out.

Friday, Obama previewed his new pitch at an event in Houston, Texas. 

"Women deserve equal day's pay for equal day's work," the president said to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters. "Daughters should have the same opportunities as our sons."

But Republicans aren't going to just let Obama walk away with the female vote.

"Women are the ultimate swing voter," according to Republican political analyst Tony Sayegh.  "They're less ideologically rigid and they make very pragmatic decisions when it comes to who to vote for."

Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, whose state is holding a Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, predicted that Mitt Romney will be the winner, largely on the strength of his ratings with women.

"Fifty percent of the people voting in this primary will be women," Bryant said. "Governor Romney has a great favorability rating with women, and I think a southern female professional woman is going to say: Tthat's who I want to vote for.'"

While the president hits the campaign trail again on Friday with stops in Chicago and Atlanta, according to the Democratic campaign, even as it focuses on the women's vote, the president won't be personally involved in female outreach. One of his supporters explained why.

"The president, at this moment, doesn't have to do much selling at all," said Sally Kohn, a Fox News contributor.  "The Republicans are already driving women towards the president's camp."

Article from FOXNEWS

One killed, three wounded in Maine shooting

LAMOINE, Maine (AP) - Gunfire erupted outside a home in a small coastal town in Maine early Sunday, killing one man and leaving three others wounded, state police said as they worked to determine what led to the violence and who pulled the trigger.

Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said Lawrence "Randy" Sinclair, 32, of Ellsworth, died at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor on Sunday, hours after being shot, along with the others, outside a home in Lamoine.

Authorities said Torrey Garland, 34, of Ellsworth, was hospitalized in life-threatening condition. Also injured in the shooting were Michael Carter, 30, of Lamoine, and Joshua McKinney, 35, of Ellsworth. Officials say the injuries to Carter and McKinney are not considered life-threatening. McKinney was in an Ellsworth hospital but the others were taken to EMMC.

The shootings took place at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday at the single-family home of Carter and Tacy Mullins, 22.

Detectives were investigating the circumstances of the shootings to see if they lead to a suspect, McCausland said. A fifth man also was at the house at the time was not injured. Police did not identify that man.

The violence took place outside the home along Douglas Highway in the rural town of about 1,800 people. By Sunday morning, crime tape surrounded the home, which is partially hidden by trees, said Stu Marckoon, a resident and town employee. Streams of residents walked and drove past to get a look throughout the day, and the violence didn't seem to shake the community, he said.

Lamoine, about 30 miles east of Bangor, serves primarily as a bedroom community for the nearby busy commercial city of Ellsworth, said Town Selectman Richard Fennelly Jr. Residents include a mix of longtime coastal Mainers and new families who've moved in, he said.

Maine records about 24 homicides per year. In February, a firefighter from Florida who had been missing in Maine was the victim of what police called a drug-related murder in the rural town of Jackson.

Can Mitt Romney keep fending off Santorum and Gingrich as the race moves to Mississippi and Alabama? http://t.co/a09YqnP0

Ohio Democrats: 2010 midterm defeats should galvanize the party to re-elect Obama: http://t.co/Q6z6bznF

Article from YAHOO NEWS

Swiss voters reject 6 weeks paid vacation

BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Who turns down a long vacation? Known for their work ethic, Swiss citizens appear to be leading the way on European austerity, rejecting a minimum six weeks paid holiday a year.

Switzerland counted ballots Sunday for several national referendums, including one pushed by a union to raise the minimum holiday from four weeks to the standard used in Germany, Italy, Russia and other European nations. The nation's 26 cantons (states) also held voting on local measures to deal with everything from demonstrators to prostitutes.

The Swiss heeded warnings from government and business that more vacation would raise labor costs and put the economy at risk. Swiss public broadcaster SSR said two-thirds of voters and all of the cantons had rejected the measure, which required majority approval of all federal and cantonal voters.

"In rejecting the initiative, citizens have kept a sense of reality," said Hans-Ulrich Bigler, director of the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts, which represents around 300,000 businesses. The referendum, he said in a statement, could have added 6 billion francs ($6.52 billion) a year in labor costs to the Swiss economy, but the vote "clearly shows that the population continues to focus on individual freedom and responsibility of citizens."

But one initiative aimed at limiting the number of second homes in resort towns squeaked through with just more than 50 percent of the nationwide vote, according to SSR. The surprise success of the referendum, championed by 84-year-old journalist-turned-environmental activist Franz Weber and groups intent on keeping a lid on the use of natural resources and rising property prices, will be of particular interest to wealthy foreigners seeking a retreat in the Alpine nation.

Voters have decided that no more than a fifth of each community's housing can be sold for second homes. Tourist areas that draw outside wealth - roughly the southern half of the nation dominated by the Swiss Alps - uniformly opposed setting such a limit. About 12 percent or a 500,000 homes nationwide are estimated to be used as getaways, rather than full-year abodes.

Environment Minister Doris Leuthard said many questions remain about how to implement it though the government shares a concern about people struggling to afford housing while the "occupancy rate of second homes" is too low in many areas.

By an overwhelming 87 percent federal vote and unanimous support among cantons, Switzerland agreed to change its constitution to require that all profits from Swiss lotteries and gambling pay for improvements in sports, culture, environment or social projects that benefit the public.

In Geneva, home to the European U.N. headquarters and frequent human rights demonstrations, voters passed tighter restrictions on demonstrations and steep fines of up to 100,000 francs ($110,000) on protesters who don't get prior permission or adhere to rules. A U.N. official charged with upholding people's right to gather peacefully had cautioned that the measure would "unduly restrict" free speech.

In Zurich, which has a flourishing red light district, the city narrowly voted to move prostitutes out of residential areas by building an area for them to work in with parking and garages. Prostitution is legal and regulated in Switzerland.

Though popular with young people, the referendum on vacation time tested how comfortable the Swiss feel about their traditional safe-haven economy. The nation has fared better than most others in debt-saddled Europe, where the financial sector and governments are being forced to cut spending and pay for expensive bailouts.

But there may have been too much of a good thing for Switzerland: As international traders leery of other nations' financial stability poured money into the safety of Swiss money accounts, the franc jumped in value, putting a dent in Swiss exports and tourism.

The Swiss central bank moved in September to put a lid on the currency's rise by setting a target exchange rate of 1.20 Swiss francs per euro, but the Swiss economy is still expected to slow this year, because of turmoil in the global economy and the eurozone's debt crisis.

As much of Europe struggles to control debt through layoffs, wage cuts and tax increases, Swiss campaign group Travail.Suisse argued more break time was needed to help people cope with rising workplace stress because of the fast pace and increased competition.

Travail.Suisse collected 125,000 signatures two years ago to demand a vote on whether the vacation quota needed to be raised. It expressed disappointment at the result, but said it was proud it had raised the issue of workers' anxiety. Many Swiss laws result from referendums.

Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said taking two more weeks of vacation is not the best way to fight stress and does not answer the question of "who will do the job of those who are on vacation."

Employers also are wary of the doom and gloom - and more indulgent spending - found outside Swiss borders.

One TV ad run by Swiss employers before the voting depicted a neglected surgery patient who finds a Post-it note stuck on a medical monitor saying there was a staff shortage because of new vacation rules.

Posters could be seen in train stations, airports and public places warning that more vacation would mean fewer jobs.

Article from YAHOO NEWS

Ga. charter school debate could set US precedent

Apparently the roads of the future will have no bumps.

The ground-hugging Dawn electric car concept is a vision of the future, courtesy of Valmet Automotive. The Finnish automaker is most famous of late as the manufacturer of the Fisker Karma extended-range electric sedan.

Looking like the vehicular equivalent of the single-cell, mind-controlling parasites the crew of the starship Enterprise fought on the planet Deneva, the single-seat Dawn is a showcase of the firm's EV engineering prowess as it looks to expand its business around the world.

The driver of the dawn is placed next to a centrally-mounted battery pack, while a large electric motor stands proudly exposed at the rear like the internal combustion engine race cars of old. Wheels, if there actually are any, are shrouded in streamlined bodywork.

An induction pad adorned with a coil design sits between two pincers at the front of the car and offers wireless recharging, and a menacing look.

Details on the Dawn's specifications or projected performance have not been revealed as it was mainly designed to attract attention for the company at the Geneva Motor Show where it is currently on display.

Please try not to step on it.

Watch: Best of Geneva Motor Show

Article from FOXNEWS

Snping GOP contenders battle for Deep South wins

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum Sunday nudged rival Newt Gingrich to step aside, arguing a head-to-head contest between himself and Mitt Romney should "occur sooner rather than later." A defiant Gingrich predicted victories in Tuesday's primaries in Alabama and Mississippi and called Romney the weakest Republican front-runner in nearly a century.

Santorum and Gingrich were campaigning hard two days before what has become a potentially decisive Southern showdown for the GOP field.

Losing Alabama and Mississippi would effectively spell the end for Gingrich, who has banked his waning prospects on an all-Southern strategy. The former House speaker's lone primary wins have been in South Carolina and Georgia, a state he represented in Congress for 20 years.

A win for Romney in Alabama, where polling shows a tight contest between Romney, Gingrich and Santorum, could all but bring the GOP nominating contest to a close. The former Massachusetts governor has built a substantial delegate lead against his rivals but has failed so far to win a state in the deep South, home to the Republican Party's most conservative voters.

Santorum, who has battled to be Romney's chief conservative foe, burnished his standing with a decisive win in caucuses in Kansas Saturday. The former Pennsylvania senator also carried contests last week in Oklahoma and Tennessee, giving him a toehold in the South.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Santorum said Gingrich's recent stretch of weak showings suggests he has few options left in the race. Gingrich placed third in Kansas and dead last in Wyoming, whose caucuses Romney won easily on Saturday.

"The speaker can stay in as long as he wants, but I think the better opportunity to make sure that we nominate a conservative is to give us an opportunity to go head-to-head with Gov. Romney at some point and hopefully that will occur sooner rather than later," Santorum said, adding he wasn't directly asking Gingrich to get out.

Santorum attended church in Tupelo, Miss., Sunday morning and had campaign stops scheduled in Meridian and Gulfport later in the day. Gingrich was also campaigning in Mississippi, where he planned to attend Baptist church services in Brandon and headline a rally there. He had five stops in Alabama on Saturday.

The Gingrich campaign also deployed a "truth squad" across Mississippi Saturday led by Bob Walker, a lobbyist and former House colleague now chairing Gingrich's campaign.

On "Fox News Sunday," Gingrich compared Romney to Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army general from New Hampshire who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920 but lost on the tenth ballot to Warren Harding.

"He's not a very strong front-runner," Gingrich said of Romney. "Almost all conservatives are opposed, which is the base of the party. And I think we are likely to see after the last primary in June, we're likely to see a 60-day conversation about what's going to happen." In August Republicans head to their national convention in Tampa, Fla.

Gingrich also took aim at Santorum, saying his support for earmarks and other spending projects while in Congress had alienated voters from the Republican Party in 2006. Republicans lost both the House and Senate that year, and Santorum lost re-election to the Senate by an 18-point margin.

"This is somebody who on a number of occasions had Washington change him - he admits it and he says it's a team sport. You had to go along to get along," Gingrich said of Santorum.

Romney had no campaign appearances Saturday, but his campaign and an allied independent group were far outpacing his rivals on the air.

The Romney campaign boosted its television ad spending from $165,000 to $233,000 in Alabama. Restore Our Future, a super PAC run by former Romney advisers, was spending $1.42 million on ads in Alabama and $973,000 in Mississippi.

Romney planned to campaign in Alabama Monday.

Gingrich and Santorum also had support on the air by well-heeled outside groups.

The Gingrich campaign was running about $125,000 in ads in Alabama and $83,000 in Mississippi while the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future was spending $413,000 on ads in Alabama and $250,000 in Mississippi.

Santorum had only a nominal presence on the air in both states. But the Red White and Blue fund, his allied super PAC, was spending $275,000 on ads in Alabama and $235,000 in Mississippi.

Wins in the U.S. territories Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands along with Wyoming helped Romney significantly pad his delegate lead in the race. The Associated Press calculates that Romney now has 454 delegates compared to 217 for Santorum, 107 for Gingrich and 47 for Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

A candidate must win 1,144 to clinch the Republican presidential nomination at the national convention.

___

Elliott reported from Tupelo, Miss. Associated Press reporter Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bfouhy

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No End to Violence in Sight As UN Envoy Leaves Syria

BEIRUT â€"  An international push to end Syria's conflict stalled Sunday as U.N. envoy Kofi Annan left Damascus without a cease-fire and President Bashar Assad's forces pounded opposition areas and clashed with rebels throughout the country.

Western and Arab powers are struggling for ways to stem the bloodshed in the year-old conflict while both the regime and the opposition reject dialogue. Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan appeared to make little progress during two visits with Assad during his first trip to Syria as the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy.

Annan was seeking an immediate cease-fire to allow for humanitarian aid and the start of a dialogue between all parties on a political solution. After meeting with Assad on Sunday, Annan said he had presented steps to ease the crisis, but gave no details.

"Once it's agreed, it will help launch the process and help end the crisis on the ground," he told reporters. He called for "reforms that will create a strong foundation for a democratic Syria -- a peaceful, stable, pluralistic and prosperous society, based on the rule of law and respect for human rights."

But he said a cease-fire must come first.

"You have to start by stopping the killing and the misery and the abuse that is going on today and then give time for a political settlement."

Assad told Annan on Sunday that a political solution is impossible as long as "terrorist groups" threaten the country, according to Syria's state news service -- which reported identical comments after the men met Saturday. The regime blames the uprising on armed groups acting out a foreign conspiracy.

Annan's calls for reform also fall far short of opposition calls for Assad's ouster and the end of his authoritarian regime. Opposition leaders say the thousands killed at the hands of his security forces, many while protesting peacefully, mean they'll accept nothing less.

Annan acknowledged his hard task.

"It's going to be difficult, but we have to have hope," he said before leaving for Qatar.

The conflict has become increasingly bloody during the year since protesters in some impoverished provinces first took to the streets to call for political reform. The government has cracked down hard, and protests have spread, with some in the opposition taking up arms to attack government troops and defend their towns and neighborhoods.

The U.N. says more than 7,500 people have been killed. Assad's regime and military have remained largely intact while the opposition, though disorganized, shows no sign of relenting on its demands. Few expect a swift resolution.

Government troops shelled areas in and around the northern city of Idlib, activists said, part of a campaign launched Saturday to crush the opposition in its stronghold along the border with Turkey. In some areas they clashed with local rebels fighting under the banner of the loose-knit Free Syrian Army.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists around Syria, said 16 civilians had been killed in attacks by Syrian forces or in clashes with local rebels in Idlib province. More than five government soldiers were also killed.

An AP photographer in Turkish border villages heard constant artillery pounding, and Turkish residents said they saw Syrian refugees crossing during lulls.

The renewed violence has sent about 1,000 Syrians across the border in the past week, as many as fled during the previous month, a Turkish official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity under government protocol.

Turkey now hosts about 12,500 Syrians, some of the more than 100,000 refugees who have fled to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Many fear the offensive in Idlib could end up like the regime's campaign against the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr in the central city of Homs. Troops besieged and shelled Baba Amr for almost a month before capturing it on March 1.

Activists say hundreds were killed, and a U.N. official who visited the area last week said she was "horrified" by the destruction in the nearly deserted district.

Activists said Syrian forces targeted other Homs neighborhoods on Sunday with shells and rocket-propelled grenades.

"There is very heavy destruction. Cars are burning and smoke is rising from the area," said an activist from Homs who goes by the name Abu Bakr Saleh. "They are trying to punish all districts of Homs where anti-government protests still take place."

Other activists said government forces shelled a bridge on a road to the Lebanese border often used by families fleeing violence. It was unclear whether the bridge was destroyed.

The Observatory said 25 civilians had been killed in military attacks and clashes between army and rebel forces across Syria on Sunday. Another group, the Local Coordination Committee's said 32 were killed.

The death tolls could not be independently verified. The Syrian government rarely comments on specific incidents and bars most media from operating inside the country.

Also Sunday, gunmen in the northwestern city of Aleppo killed local boxing champion Gheyath Tayfour. Syria's state news agency said an armed group ambushed the 43-year-old boxer in his car near Aleppo University and shot him dead.

Tayfour was not known to have voiced opinions on the country's conflict, making it unclear whether his killing was politically motivated.

Syria has seen a string of mysterious assassinations lately targeting doctors, professors and businessman as the uprising has grown more militarized.

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Police unable to prevent rising violence vs. Iraqi gay, Emo youth

BAGHDAD - Young people who identify themselves as so-called Emos are being brutally killed at an alarming rate in Iraq, where militias have distributed hit lists of victims and security forces say they are unable to stop crimes against the subculture that is widely perceived in Iraq as being gay.

Officials and human rights groups estimated as many as 58 Iraqis who are either gay or believed to be gay have been killed in the last six weeks alone - forecasting what experts fear is a return to the rampant hate crimes against homosexuals in 2009. This year, eyewitnesses and human rights groups say some of the victims have been bludgeoned to death by militiamen smashing in their skulls with heavy cement blocks.

A recent list distributed by militants in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City neighbourhood gives the names or nicknames of 33 people and their home addresses. At the top of the paper are a drawing of two handguns flanking a Quranic greeting that extolls God as merciful and compassionate.

Then follows a chilling warning.

"We warn in the strongest terms to every male and female debauchee," the Shiite militia hit list says. "If you do not stop this dirty act within four days, then the punishment of God will fall on you at the hands of Mujahideen."

All but one of the targets are men.

It's not clear why the killings have stepped up in recent months. Many Iraqis are religiously conservative and have struggled against the western influence that has infiltrated their once-closed society in the wake of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Like many places in the Muslim world, homosexuality is extremely taboo in Iraq. Anyone perceived to be gay is considered a fair target, and the perpetrators of the violence often go free. The militants likely behind the violence intimidate the local police and residents so there is even less incentive to investigate the crimes.

Emo is short for "emotional" and in the West generally identifies teens or young adults who listen to alternative music, dress in black, and have radical hairstyles. Emos are not necessarily gay, but they are sometimes stereotyped as such.

To Iraqis, "Emo" is widely synonymous with "gay." John Drake, an Iraq specialist for the British-based AKE security consulting firm, said Iraqi Emos are getting their hair cut so they aren't immediately identified, and therefore targeted, in the wake of the new threats.

In the southern Baghdad neighbourhood of Dora, a mostly-Sunni area, 35-year-old Hassan is afraid to leave his home. He plans on cutting his shoulder-length hair soon, but fears that his hormone-injected breast enhancements will be detected if he is stopped and patted down at one of the ubiquitous security checkpoints across the city.

"Today I went out of my house with a friend but we were severely harassed - some people told us that we need the double blocks," said Hassan, referring to the cement blocks that attackers use to beat people. "I was scared so we returned home to hide."

Hassan's friend, a man who identified himself as 26-year-old Mustafa, called the recent hate crimes "the strongest and deadliest campaign against us."

Hassan said he is gay but does not consider himself an Emo. He and Mustafa agreed to talk on condition that only their first names be used for fear they would be attacked if identified.

One of Hassan's friends, Saif Raad Asmar Abboudi, was beaten to death with concrete blocks in mid-February in a case that terrified gay Iraqis and panicked human rights watchdogs. "I feel very sorry for him," Hassan said.

A Feb. 18 police report all but closes the case on Saif's killing. It shows an initial investigation was completed and "the reason for the incident is unknown at the moment because the criminal is unknown."

An Interior Ministry official said 58 young people have been killed across Iraq in recent weeks by unidentified gangs who accused them of being, as he described it, Emo. Sixteen were killed in Sadr City alone, security and political officials there said. Nine of the men were killed by bludgeoning, and seven were shot. No arrests have been made.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as did many of the people interviewed for this article, in fear of violent reprisals.

The Qur'an specifically forbids homosexuality, and Islamic militias in Iraq long have targeted gays in what they term "honour killings" to preserve the religious idea that families should be led by a husband and a wife. Those who do not abide by this belief are issued death sentences by the militias, according to the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, a human rights watchdog group. The same militias target women who have extramarital affairs.

"There is a strong wave of campaigns by clerics against homosexuals now," said Ali al-Hilli, chairman of Iraqi LGBT, a human rights group based in London that provides two safe houses in Iraq for gays. "The police do not provide protection for them."

He said an estimated 750 gay Iraqis have been killed because of their sexual orientation since 2006.

Iraqi lawmaker Khalid Shwani, a Kurd, said targeting Emos because of their alternative lifestyles reflects an a growing intolerance of Iraqis' civil rights.

"Those people are free to choose what they wear, or to believe in, or how they choose their clothes or the way they think," Shwani said. He called on parliament to address the issue.

"The Emo of today could be any person tomorrow who tries to follow a specific way of living," he said.

The killings have drawn so much attention that even hardline Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr weighed in Saturday, calling Emos "crazy fools" and a "lesion on the Muslim community" in a statement on his website.

However, al-Sadr did not condone the violence, telling his followers "to end the scourge of Emo within the law."

Iraq's government has been wary about the Emo allure among its youth for months.

An August 2011 letter from the Education Ministry urges schools to crack down on what it considered abhorrent behaviour, including allowing camera phones in school "because students would use it for dirty movies," says the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Similarly, it prohibited students from leaving their classes during school hours "for any reason, because they might gather in the nearby cafes or coffee shops to practice dirty activities."

The letter attributed the social atrocities to "Emo, which is an infiltrated phenomenon in our society began to appear in some of our schools."

Iraqi police squads who are specifically assigned to protect social minorities say they are almost powerless to stop the threats against gays and Emos. One officer assigned to the so-called social abuse squads said police are meeting with clerics to ask for help in urging the public against killing what he described as "the Emo or the vampires or Satan worshippers."

The police official said he had no statistics to show how prevalent the violence is.

"It is true that there have been killings in Sadr City targeting these young men," he said. "It is not right to end their lives in this manner."

___

Associated Press writers in Iraq contributed to this report. Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at www.twitter.com/larajakesAP

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Kobayashi eats 13 grilled cheeses in one minute at SXSW

                                                                              (Image Credit: Joanna Stern / ABC News)

AUSTIN, Texas - Thirteen grilled cheeses in one minute. That's 26 pieces of bread and 13 slices of American cheese in sixty seconds.

Yes, that's the new world record for grilled cheeses eaten in one minute, set today by Takeru Kobayashi here in Austin at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW).

In an event held at the GroupMe Grill at the technology and interactive festival, the well-known competitive eater shoved each sandwich down his throat by dunking them first in water. Recordsetter.com presided over the event; the website tracks world records.

The number of grilled cheeses in one minute is a new category established today. Joey "Jaws" Chestnut  previously ate 49 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes. Kobayashi competed against four amateur food eaters today, beating David Tisch, who ate four sandwiches in a minute.

The Japanese competitive eater, 33, is most well known for his participation in the Nathan's Hot Dog eating content, where he held the record for six consecutive years. He ate 53.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes in 2006. Chestnut has since taken over the record; he downed 62 hot dogs and buns in 2011.

Kobayashi, who has been listed at about 130 pounds, said his experience at SXSW has been mostly about eating food, but he is excited about the technology here, too. "I am not very tech savvy, but recently I have gotten on a lot of things, like Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch with fans," he told ABC News at the event.

GroupMe has been serving grilled cheeses with its logo burnt into the bread here at the technology and interactive festival for the past three days. In addition to serving branded, free grilled cheese to festival goers in Austin, GroupMe provides a group text messaging service and application. Naturally, Kobayashi is now also a GroupMe user.

RecordSetter urged viewers to try and beat Kobayashi's record by trying the grilled cheese eating contest at home and uploading video to its website.

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Calif. Crystal Cathedral to relocate, get new name

NEW YORK â€"  A New York City woman who climbed into a clothing drop box suffocated and died inside after the box's metal door closed on her head and trapped her Saturday, police said.

Melissa Mazzeo, 51, crawled into the large metal box on Staten Island about noon local time -- in an apparent attempt to steal the donated clothing.

Mazzeo was caught in the box's opening when the door swung shut on her head as she tried to climb out, cops said.

She died with her head outside the box -- which sits on Victory Boulevard near Clove Road -- and her body still inside.

Click here for more on this story from the New York Post.

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Storied U.S. aircraft carrier makes final deployment

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The USS Enterprise has set sail on its final voyage.

Officials say the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which was featured in the film "Top Gun," left Norfolk, Va., around noon on Sunday.

The ship with more than 4,000 crew members has been a part of history over the past 50 years. It was involved in several wars and played a prominent role in the Cuban missile crisis. It also served as a spotter ship for John Glenn's historic orbit of Earth.

The Enterprise is the longest aircraft carrier in the U.S. fleet. It is also the oldest.

The ship is both old and one-of-a-kind, meaning maintenance can be tricky. Crew members acknowledge life at sea can be tough because they often have to build spare parts from scratch.

Can Mitt Romney keep fending off Santorum and Gingrich as the race moves to Mississippi and Alabama? http://t.co/a09YqnP0

Ohio Democrats: 2010 midterm defeats should galvanize the party to re-elect Obama: http://t.co/Q6z6bznF

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Obama: U.S. soldier\'s reported rampage \'tragic and shocking\'

@EdCarson1 that cracked me up

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Remains of 167 people found in Mexico cave

WASHINGTON â€"  Unions may be united in working to re-elect President Obama, but their leaders also are trying to repair bitter divisions over his rejection of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. 

Trade unions representing workers who stand to benefit from thousands of new construction jobs from the Keystone XL pipeline are furious at other unions that joined environmentalists in opposing the project. 

AFL-CIO leaders hope to smooth tensions at their executive council's annual winter meeting that starts Monday in Orlando, Fla. 

The issue reflects a decades-old conflict between union leaders who believe creating jobs is paramount and others who are more strongly aligned with progressive groups on environmental and social causes. 

After the White House blocked the pipeline in January, Laborers union president Terry O'Sullivan said he was "repulsed by some of our supposed brothers and sisters lining up with job killers like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council to destroy the lives of working men and women." 

His harsh words were directed at groups such as the Transport Workers Union and the Amalgamated Transit Union, which said the risk of possible oils spills and environmental contamination outweighed the benefit of new jobs. 

Several larger unions, including the Communications Workers and Auto Workers, also jumped in with praise for Obama, agreeing with his administration's arguments that a quick deadline forced by Republicans didn't provide enough time for a fair review. 

O'Sullivan was livid that unions whose members had no jobs to gain or lose from the project would make their opposition public while construction unions struggling with 17 percent unemployment in the industry are desperate for any jobs. 

The split led the AFL-CIO to take no public position on the pipeline. Leaders are expected to discuss the need for solidarity and how to tone down tensions when unions can't agree. 

"I think discussion is always good," said Larry Cohen, the Communications Workers' president. "You have to treat disagreements with respect. You have to work hard for unity." 

Cohen has no regrets about siding with Obama. He said his union was not specifically against the pipeline, but merely opposed to the Republican "ultimatum" to shorten the timeline. He sees room for unions to disagree, especially in areas he doesn't consider central to the labor movement's core philosophy. 

"On the issues that make or break the labor movement, I don't think the pipeline is one of them," he said. "We think the core of the movement is bargaining and organizing rights."
O'Sullivan has a different perspective. 

"If there's legislation or a project that's good for another union, and my members don't have equity in the work, I'm going to be supportive or I'm going to say nothing," he said. 

Republicans have pounded Obama on the pipeline issue, saying it's a question of whether the president wants to create jobs and reduce reliance on oil from the Middle East. 

In the GOP's weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple called rejection of the pipeline an example of the administration "killing energy development with overly burdensome regulations." 

The pipeline operator, Calgary-based TransCanada, said last month it would build a portion of the pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas. That 485-mile line from Cushing, Okla., to Port Arthur, Texas, does not require presidential approval because it does not cross a U.S. border. 

The proposed 1,700-mile pipeline would carry tar sands oil from western Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. The company expected to be ready in a few weeks to submit plans for a new route that avoids the environmentally sensitive Nebraska Sandhills region and an aquifer that is a key water source for eight states. 

It's hardly the first time unions have disagreed with each other. 

Union officials say there are bound to be conflicts among the labor federation's 57 member unions. The pipeline split is just one of more than a dozen topics that will come up in Orlando.
Generally, there is broad support for endorsing Obama for a second term and working to fend off anti-union legislation in Ohio, Wisconsin and other states. Unions are working together to recall Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., who led the drive to pass legislation that curbed collective bargaining rights for many of the state's public employees. 

A big issue this election year is how the AFL-CIO focuses its political apparatus and money to help Obama win and boost Democrats in their efforts to regain control of the House and keep their majority in the Senate. 

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina will attend the meeting as union presidents and their political operatives consider how much to spend on campaign advertising, phone banks and door-to-door efforts that traditionally benefit Democratic candidates. 

"Repositioning" the labor movement and improving the image of unions also are on the agenda as leaders experiment with new organizing techniques and try to attract more public support in their fight with critics trying to limit their clout in state legislatures. 

The AFL-CIO has spent about $1.5 million this year on a "Work Connects Us All" television ad campaign in three cities. Union leaders are considering whether to expand the campaign, which also includes a new website. 

"We need to get out the message that we're all in this together," said United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard. "There's a reason the right wing is attacking the hell out of the labor movement. We're effective in speaking for the 99 percent and the right wing doesn't like that."

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Greenland icesheet more vulnerable than thought to warming

CARACAS (Reuters) - Cranes tower over new apartment blocks in Venezuela's capital where President Hugo Chavez's government plans to house 20,000 poor families as part of a populist pre-election spending push.

Though finished, the buildings stand empty - waiting for the usual fanfare inauguration of such projects by Chavez himself.

The socialist leader is in Cuba convalescing after a third cancer surgery, so the question is when - or even if - Chavez will be strong enough to cut the ribbon.

The charismatic Chavez has been in campaign mode for most of his 13-year rule, and his signature style of personally meeting the beneficiaries of his welfare programs has helped him win re-election and extend his powers in the South American nation.

Now facing potentially debilitating radiation treatment or after a second malignant tumor was removed from his pelvis, the once-inexhaustible Chavez, 57, is being forced to slow down just as he goes into what could be his toughest election yet.

"Unfortunately you are not going to see that much of me," a reflective Chavez said from Cuba, where he is recovering from surgery late last month after a recurrence of the cancer that struck him in 2011. "I'm forced to confront this new situation, to rethink my personal agenda and take better care of myself."

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Chavez has denied rumors that his cancer has spread but if his health worsens and less-popular ministers are pushed into the spotlight on his behalf, voters will wonder if a weakened Chavez can govern for another six-year term.

Nobody, though, is writing off a man who has overcome so much in the past - U.S. opposition, massive street protests, a strike that paralyzed the oil industry and a coup that briefly toppled him from power.

With savvy use of media and the internet, and drawing on his unique emotional connection with the poor, Chavez still has a high chance of triumphing yet again if he can stay well enough.

That might mean running a "virtual" campaign largely from Caracas and making the most of any personal appearances he is able to make in slums and rural areas.

"He won't be in physical shape to visit every corner of the country," said Glen Martinez, who runs a pro-Chavez community radio station in a hilly neighborhood spray-painted with murals of Mexican guerrilla leader Subcomandante Marcos and of Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader toppled and killed last year.

"But it doesn't matter, if he can't come here, we will go to him, wherever he does show up."

UNDECIDEDS HOLD THE KEY

The cancer saga appears to have tightened the bond with Chavez's most militant backers. One pollster said last month's news gave him a 5 percent popularity bump among hard-core supporters.

"Whoever believes Chavez is destroyed doesn't understand anything. Even now, at this difficult moment, he has half the nation behind him," said another pollster, Luis Vicente Leon.

Unless Chavez's health veers into full recovery or a fatal downturn, the key to the election will likely be how the roughly one-third of undecided voters view a sick candidate.

Formal surveys and interviews on the street show no clear trend yet, although in past elections they have tended to back Chavez. There are, however, universal worries about instability and the lack of a clear successor to Chavez.

"We have no idea if tomorrow Chavez will be okay or have the same strength," said Beatriz Colmenares, 52, describing herself as a "thermometer" for her Caracas apartment building because she mixes with both Chavez and opposition supporters.

"No one trusts the people who are behind him. He just moves them around like chess pieces but they are always the same," added Colmenares, who rents phones for a living.

Chavez's personality-driven administration has prevented the cultivation of an obvious heir, with all the senior figures around him lacking charisma and popularity on the street. Many Venezuelans also tend to blame them, more than Chavez, for rampant corruption, nepotism and inefficiency in services.

Trying to quash rumors of in-fighting, Chavez's aides are repeating a mantra that he remains at the helm.

"Not only are we sure that he will be our candidate, but that he will win on October 7," said the head of Congress, Diosdado Cabello. "It's going to be hard to put the brakes on the president... we'll find the right form of campaign."

The undecided will inevitably contrast signs of Chavez's physical weakness with the image of youth and energy projected by opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, a 39-year-old, motorbike-riding, baseball cap-wearing state governor.

Mocked as a "chameleon" by Chavez, he is emulating the president's on-the-ground approach with daily trips into the slums. Campaign videos show him giving houses built by the state government to elderly women and playing basketball with young people in poor neighborhoods.

OPPOSITION CHALLENGE

Capriles has a long way to go, though, with the latest poll - albeit a disputed one on a small sample - giving him 34 percent support versus 52 for Chavez in voter intentions.

The opposition's big challenge is to invent their own proposals to compete with Chavez's enormously popular oil-funded social programs, like the "Great Venezuelan Housing Mission," that has built tens of thousands of new houses.

"Chavez will not be able to run the campaign he wants to, but he doesn't need to campaign as much as Capriles," said Leon.

Probably foreshadowing the race to come, even from his Cuban hospital Chavez kept himself in the spotlight via Twitter messages, phone calls to state TV, a drip-drip of photos and videos, and a televised cabinet meeting.

The only person giving information on his condition, Chavez has not said what kind of cancer he has or laid out a detailed prognosis, though he has announced he will need radiation treatments which are bound to take a heavy physical toll.

Cancer experts say the treatment could last for a couple of months with nasty side-effects possible towards the end.

"The pelvis is a bit tricky because the field where he would have to have radiotherapy would encompass the rectum and the bladder and part of the small bowel so he is likely to have symptoms derived from the treatment," said Sunil Daryanani, an oncologist at the Hospital de Clinicas Caracas.

Whether the former soldier could recover before the campaign really kicks in has become a national guessing game.

Last year, when surgeons removed a baseball-sized tumor, many thought Chavez would take more of a back seat.

Yet even after chemotherapy that left him bald and bloated, Chavez played baseball, danced in public, hosted a regional summit, gave the world's longest-ever presidential speech, and merrily declared himself "completely cured."

His optimism, which convinced six in ten Venezuelans he was free of cancer according to polls, was proven wrong with this year's recurrence, and Venezuelans are now much more skeptical about whether he can stage a full recovery.

Though possibly enhancing its chances of victory, the affair has sucked some of the air out of the headlines and momentum the opposition garnered from a primary election where a higher-than-expected 3 million voters participated. It has also overshadowed everyday problems like rampant crime and high cost of living.

Capriles' team is sticking to its strategy, wishing the president a speedy recovery while asking for more transparency about his condition, and trying to return the focus to issues like crime, jobs and health services.

"We don't agree with a country where the president decides everything about what we should know (on his health), and he is the central plank of the nation," Capriles' campaign manager Armando Briquet said.

(Writing by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Kieran Murray)

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10 dead in Nigeria church bombing: state

Ten people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a Catholic church in the central Nigerian city of Jos on Sunday, the state government said, raising an earlier death toll.

The dead included three men shot as security forces fired on a crowd of onlookers who gathered after the blast, state government spokesman Pam Ayuba told AFP, adding that "there were 10 dead, seven parishioners and three that were shot dead by soldiers."

"Three people were shot dead by soldiers in a bid to disperse the crowd," he said.

The bomber was also killed, "mutilated beyond recognition".

Ayuba said the church building was badly damaged in the blast."The church suffered substantial damage, with the roof brought down."

Several others were seriously injured when the suicide bomber blew himself up when he crashed his explosives-laden car into the gate of St. Finbar's Catholic church as worshippers were filing out from morning mass.

Boy scouts tried to stop the car, he said.

"The security guards, who were mainly members of the Boys Brigade, tried to prevent the car from entering the compound and in the process the car exploded."

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Search expanded for 4 missing fishermen off West Coast

SEATTLE (AP) - The Coast Guard expanded its search area Sunday in an effort to find four people who disappeared from a fishing trawler off the Washington coast, but there was still no sign of them.

A distress signal came from the 70-foot Lady Cecelia early Saturday, and rescue crews searched through the night after finding debris, an empty lifeboat and an oil sheen several miles off the coast.

The Coast Guard expanded its sear area from 640 square miles to 1,350, said Petty Officer Shawn Eggert. A cutter and an MH-60 helicopter crew were involved, and conditions for searching were good.

The fishing vessel has a home port in Warrenton, Ore. and is registered to Dale Kent of Bay City, Ore. He could not immediately be reached by The Associated Press, but the ship's owner told the Guard that four people had been aboard.

"The life raft was in no condition to be used," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Shawn Eggert. "There was a lot of debris, a sheen and the (beacon)."

Eggert said early Sunday that the air search was suspended for the night but the 225-foot Coast Guard cutter Fir and the Coast Guard cutter Cuttyhawk were continuing the search through the night.

The Lady Cecelia was first registered in Oregon in 1991. Eggert said he didn't have details on the debris, or whether the vessel was still intact. He said the Guard does not yet know a cause for the damage.

Overnight weather off the southern Washington coast consisted of a slowly moving front that created moderate waves but not stormy conditions.

A buoy located 20 nautical miles off the Washington coast recorded water temperatures of 43 degrees at 4 a.m. on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard says one of its helicopters brought four people to safety after their commercial vessel went aground near Newport, Ore. The vessel was reported aground on the south jetty at Yaquina Bay about 5 p.m. Saturday.

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Nigel Duara contributed from Portland, Ore.

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Annan ends Syria trip with no deal

BEIRUT (AP) - International envoy and former U.N. chief Kofi Annan left Syria Sunday without a deal to end the bloody year-old conflict as regime forces mounted a new assault on rebel strongholds in the north.

Annan said he presented President Bashar Assad with concrete proposals "which will have a real impact on the ground."

"Once it's agreed, it will help launch the process and help end the crisis on the ground," he told reporters at the end of his two-day visit to Syria.

Annan, who also met with Syrian opposition leaders and businessmen in Damascus, said he was optimistic following two sets of talks with Assad, but acknowledged that resolving the crisis would be tough.

"It's going to be difficult but we have to have hope," he said.

The former U.N. chief called for reforms that would create "a solid foundation for a democratic Syria," but added: "You have to start by stopping the killing and the misery and the abuse that is going on today and then give time for a political settlement."

The ongoing bloodshed cast a pall over the U.N. efforts to end the country's yearlong conflict, with both the regime and the opposition refusing talks with the other.

In his discussions with Assad on Saturday, Annan made several proposals to end the political crisis and start a political dialogue. He was rebuffed by the president who rejected any immediate negotiations with the opposition, striking a further blow to already faltering international efforts for talks to end the conflict.

Assad told Annan that a political solution is impossible as long as "terrorist groups" threaten the country.

The opposition's political leadership has also rejected dialogue, saying talk is impossible after a crackdown that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 7,500 people. That makes it likely that the conflict will continue to edge toward civil war.

Annan left Syria later Sunday, headed for Qatar, a U.N. spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Syrian forces, meanwhile, kept up an offensive against rebel strongholds in the north of the country and shelled neighborhoods in the restive central city of Homs, as well as clashing with rebel fighters across the country.

Military units loyal to Assad appear to have been freed up after finally crushing lightly armed rebels in the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr last week, and are on the attack in Idlib province, across the border from key opposition supply bases in Turkey.

Troops on Saturday launched a long-anticipated assault to crush the opposition in Idlib province, bombarding its main city with tank shells from all sides and clashing with rebel fighters struggling to hold back an invasion.

Syrian forces had been building up for days around Idlib, the capital of a hilly, agricultural province along the Syria-Turkey border that has been a hotbed of protests against Assad's regime.

An AP photographer touring Turkish villages across the border from Idlib reported hearing constant artillery pounding. Turkish villagers said the artillery fire began just before dawn and that refugees were trickling in across the border into Turkey during lulls.

A Turkish official said the violence had led to a spike in Syrian civilians fleeing to Turkey. Some 1,000 have crossed the border in the past week as opposed to 1,000 in the previous month, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under government protocol.

Turkey now hosts some 12,500 Syrians, part of the more than 100,000 refugees who have fled to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground in Syria, reported military arrests, raids in towns and villages across Syria as well as clashes with armed rebels.

In the north, three soldiers were killed in the village of al-Janoudieh near the Turkish border in clashes between troops and army defectors. A mother and her son were killed in the crossfire during another clash in the town of Ariha that also killed two soldiers. And four civilians were killed during an army raid of the village of al-Dabeet.

Others were killed in raids outside Damascus, the group said.

In Homs, several activists reported intense shelling of the Karm el-Zeytoun, Bab Dreib and Job al-Jandali districts with mortars and rocket propelled grenades and said several people were killed and wounded.

"There is very heavy destruction. Cars are burning and smoke is rising from the area," said Homs-based activist Abu Bakr Saleh.

"They are trying to punish all districts of Homs where anti-government protests still take place," he said.

Other activists said government forces shelled a bridge on a road to the Lebanese border often used by families fleeing violence. It was unclear if the bridge was destroyed.

The activist claims could not be independently verified. The Syrian government rarely comments on specific incidents inside the country and bars most media from operating.

Many fear the offensive in Idlib could end up like the regime's campaign against the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr in Homs. Troops besieged and shelled Baba Amr for weeks before capturing it on March 1.

Activists say hundreds were killed, and a U.N. official who visited the area this week said she was "horrified" by the destruction in the district, now virtually deserted.

In the northwestern city of Aleppo, gunmen assassinated local boxing champion Gheyath Tayfour. State-run news agency SANA said an armed group ambushed the 34-year-old Tayfour in his car near Aleppo University square and opened fire, killing him instantly with five bullets to his head.

Syria has seen a string of mysterious assassinations lately targeting doctors, professors and businessman, as the uprising against Assad turns more militarized.

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AP writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed to this report.

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Witnesses: U.S. drones hit Qaeda arms caches in Yemen

US drones bombed suspected Al-Qaeda arms caches in a hilly region in Yemen's restive southern province of Abyan on Sunday, witnesses told AFP.

Six missiles targeted the suspected weapons hideouts in Jabal Khanfar, a hill overlooking the Abyan town of Jaar, which is controlled by Al-Qaeda militants, the witnesses said.

"Two American drones fired four missiles at Jabal Khanfar while two others were fired from the sea" in the Gulf of Aden, a local official told AFP. He did not provide further details.

Witnesses reported seeing columns of smoke billowing into the sky from the targeted locations and said that government buildings, now controlled by Al-Qaeda fighters, had been damaged. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The air strikes were carried out in the early evening, the witnesses said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) controls large swathes of southern Yemen, and has strengthened its position there since an anti-government uprising last year that ousted veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Air strikes by Yemeni and US planes on Friday and Saturday killed at least 33 suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Abyan and Al-Bayda province, south of the capital, in the first such action since a massive attack on the army, residents and local officials said.

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Why Organic Costs Big Bucks

Women have a host of products that help them correct mistakes made the night prior (kind of like the reset button on a Nintendo). What do guys have to reset from the drunken mistakes of a night gone mad? This hangover recovery kit is a surefire way to reboot the body after too much fun.

Mineral Water

Water is going to be the best thing to treat your hangover. A big reason you feel horrible is because the alcohol dehydrated your body. Drinking water before, during and after boozing will always help. What happens when your stomach is too queasy for even water? Try sipping carbonated mineral water - the bubbles will help ease your nausea. Drinking carbonated water with a hangover holds the same benefits as giving 7UP to a sick kid, except that the sugar in soda will only further dehydrate you - stick to the water.

Recommended brand: S. Pellegrino contains sodium and potassium, two things alcohol causes you to lose.

SLIDESHOW: 10 Signs You're Dehydrated

Sports Drink

Replenishing fluids after a night of drinking combats dehydration, and it helps mitigate the effects of byproducts left in the stomach. Non-caffeinated, non-carbonated sports drinks rehydrate professional athletes and will do the same for a hangover. They replace sodium, glycogen, potassium, and other minerals lost to alcohol's diuretic effect.

Recommended brand: Vitamin Water has less sugar and calories than Gatorade and doesn't taste as syrupy.

Body Wash

When you finally pull yourself from the bed, nothing will keep you up and make you feel better in the morning than a shower with refreshing body wash. It's important not to smell like keg beer for too long between the sheets (it may trigger the gag reflex). The water and fragrant soap will wash off the toxins you've been sweating, not to mention last night's ugly memories. It's like the old saying: Smell like the state of mind you want, not the state of mind you have.

Recommended brand: AXE Snake Peel contains desert minerals and cactus oil to clean and exfoliate, the first step in scrubbing the slate clean.

Eggs

The protein in eggs provides the body with needed energy. Eggs also contain large amounts of cysteine, a chemical that breaks down the hangover-causing toxin acetaldehyde. They can act like a mop, helping to clean up the toxins lingering like party guests who overstay their welcome.

Recommended brand: Go organic. Happy chickens lay better eggs and you don't want any weird growth hormones in your body.

Fruit

Bananas will help replenish lost electrolytes and potassium, as well as lay a healthy base in your queasy stomach. Other potassium-rich fruits like kiwi fruit and apricots work just as well. The water and natural sugar in fruit are easier on your stomach than processed foods are. The fructose also increases the body's energy, a literal natural sugar high. Citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit are great for replacing vitamin C, which will help boost your immune system.

Recommended fruits: Bananas, kiwis and oranges.

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Painkillers

Acetaminophen, found in Excedrin, is great for pain, but has been shown to cause liver damage. Aspirin is in a class of anti-inflammatory drugs known as prostaglandin inhibitors and studies have shown that too much prostaglandin can lead to increased hangover severity. Painkillers with caffeine will reduce the size of the pounding blood vessels, lessening the pounding in your head, but caffeine is a diuretic, which will further dehydrate you. So use items with caffeine sparingly.

Recommended brand: Alka-Seltzer Wake-Up Call. Its active ingredient is aspirin. It does have some caffeine, so don't drink coffee when taking it. From someone who has had a lot of hangovers, this product works better than any other.

Low-Fat Sodium-Rich Foods

Your mind may tell you that a heavy breakfast of biscuits and gravy with a side pound of greasy bacon is a good idea, but resist. The body responds much better to lighter foods like crackers or whole-wheat toast. They'll deliver energy, sodium and electrolytes, alleviating some symptoms of the hangover. Also, if you remember to, it's best to eat these same items before drinking. Having a strong base of food will slow the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream.

Recommended brand: Triscuit Rosemary & Olive Oil Crackers - they're tasty and Mediterranean folks, who are serious drinkers, will take a spoonful of olive oil to ease stomach toxins.

Hang in there

Everyone tells us to build emergency kits for things that rarely happen. On the other hand, when our brains and bodies suffer weekly, monthly or yearly encounters with strong drink, no one tells us what to do. Thankfully, as seen above, a quick pre-party trip to any pharmacy or convenience store will have you stocked with everything you need to combat hangovers and have you feeling like new.

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