Oldest hairy microbe fossils discovered

Ancient rock deposits, laid down between two massive ice ages, reveal the oldest known fossils for two types of single-celled creatures: Tube-shelled foraminifera and hairy, vase-shape ciliates.

Both closely resemble microbes living today. But the climate they lived in may have been quite different. The fossils appear in limestone deposited on the ocean floor between 635 million and 715 million years ago. This period was marked by two " Snowball Earth" events, when ice may have covered the entire planet.

These fossils date back more than 100 million years earlier than the oldest foraminifera and ciliates previously known. Even so, scientists think these organisms were around much longer, based on changes accumulated in their DNA since they split from close relatives. Some believe these types of single-celled creatures have been around for considerably more than 1 billion years, said Tanja Bosak, a study researcher and assistant professor of geobiology at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology.

"We can't claim we have seen something that is exactly like the modern species," Bosak said. "(But) here we have something that has looked very similar for 700 or more million years."

The fossils have evaded researchers not only because they are so tiny, but also because these deposits do not contain a type of rock that typically preserves fossils, particularly something this small and fragile, she said.

Fossils belonging to foraminifera were found in rocks from Namibia, while ciliates were found in rocks from Mongolia. Both types first appear in layers of rock called cap carbonates, laid down as the world was leaving the earlier snowball state, which occurred 716 million years ago. [Photos: World's Most Famous Rocks ]

Foraminifera, ancient and modern, build protective shells by picking up tiny grains of mineral that they stick to their exterior using a sugary compound. They aren't the only shelled organisms Bosak and her colleagues found. They also discovered amoebas that appeared to be building the same sort of shells.

While this wasn't the first fossil evidence for these amoebas, the nature of their resistant covering was ambiguous in the earlier fossils. The most recent fossils are the first amoebas to show evidence of primitive shell building, Bosak said.

Ciliates, meanwhile, are covered with tiny hairs called cilia. And the fossils found closely resemble modern, planktonic organisms called tintinnids.

Life at the time was quite simple, but it soon became more complex. For instance, the first animal embryos show up after the end of the latest Snowball Earth event, around 635 million years ago.

It's possible the arrival of abundant microbes, particularly the ciliates, may have had some hand in the change, by helping to bump up the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Even after free oxygen dramatically increased in the atmosphere, a change called the Great Oxidation Event, the oxygen level was much lower than it is today. The ciliates lived in the surface waters, then died and sank, taking organic carbon with them and tucking it away in sediments low in oxygen where the organisms would decompose only slowly. The burial of this carbon meant it could not be converted to carbon dioxide by respiration. As a result, oxygen produced by the photosynthesis of other microbes like algae would have built up.

The discovery of these organisms reveals a possible mechanism by which the oxygen levels in the atmosphere increased, allowing life to become more complex, she said.

The research has been published in articles published online in October and November in the journal Geology, and online in June in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.??

You can followLiveSciencesenior writer Wynne Parry on Twitter@Wynne_Parry. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter@livescience and onFacebook.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45453322/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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EU court says ISPs can't be forced to monitor users (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Internet service providers cannot be forced to block their users from downloading songs illegally, as such an order would breach EU rules, Europe's highest court said on Thursday in a ruling welcomed by a consumer group.

The Luxembourg-based EU Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its verdict in a case involving Belgian music royalty collecting society SABAM and Belgian telecom operator Belgacom unit Scarlet.

SABAM asked a Belgian court to order Scarlet to install a device to prevent its users from downloading copyrighted works. The court ruled in SABAM's favor and order Scarlet to install such a device. However, Scarlet then challenged the ruling, prompting the Belgian court to seek advice from the ECJ.

"EU law precludes the imposition of an injunction by a national court which requires an internet service provider to install a filtering system with a view to preventing the illegal downloading of files," the ECJ said.

"The filtering system would also be liable to infringe the fundamental rights of its (Scarlet's) customers, namely their right to protection of their personal data and their right to receive or impart information," the Luxembourg court said.

European consumer organization BEUC said the ruling should get authorities and companies thinking about a fairer way to provide easily accessible legal digital content for consumers.

"The online marketplace has proven fertile ground, consumers spend billions of euro each year," said Monique Goyens, BEUC's director-general. "Trying to criminalize individual consumers for file-sharing is just singing into the wind."

One lawyer said the verdict clarified who is liable for what.

"It's a good ruling, it confirms basic principles about the allocation of responsibilities between ISPs and the ISP's users and ensures that ISPs will not be burdened by monitoring obligations," said Thomas Graf, a partner at law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

Collecting societies collect royalty payments on behalf of authors, singers and performers. There are 24 such national organizations across the 27-country European Union.

The case is C-70/10, Scarlet Extended SA v. Societe Belge des auteurs, compositeurs et editeurs (SABAM).

(Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Sebastian Moffett and Helen Massy-Beresford)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/digitalmusic/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/wr_nm/us_court_sabam_scarlet

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Tsonga beats Nadal to reach semis at ATP finals

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France celebrates at match point after beating Rafael Nadal of Spain during their round robin singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals at O2 Arena in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France celebrates at match point after beating Rafael Nadal of Spain during their round robin singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals at O2 Arena in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France waves to the crowd after beating Rafael Nadal of Spain during their round robin singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals at O2 Arena in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France plays a return to Rafael Nadal of Spain during their round robin singles match at the ATP World Tour Finals, at the O2 arena in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France during their round robin singles match at the ATP World Tour Finals, at the O2 arena in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France during their round robin singles match at the ATP World Tour Finals, at the O2 arena in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) ? Whatever Rafael Nadal tried to throw at Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday, it seemed the Frenchman was always one step ahead of him.

Now Nadal is hoping he hasn't lost his passion for the game.

Tsonga qualified for the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals at the expense of Nadal, beating the second-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 in a decisive round-robin match to join Roger Federer in the last four in the season-ending tournament.

Nadal ? who suffered his worst loss ever to Federer in a 6-3, 6-0 defeat Tuesday ? then acknowledged that his motivation and desire has been lacking since losing the U.S. Open final to Novak Djokovic in September. Nadal hasn't won a title since then, losing his only final to Andy Murray in Tokyo.

"I was little bit less passionate for the game probably, because I was a little bit more tired than usual," Nadal said. "To compete I wasn't in the right way."

Against Tsonga these days, you need to be.

The tall Frenchman used his powerful ground strokes to dictate play against Nadal, and tried to speed up rallies by using a serve-and-volley approach that the Spaniard struggled to counter.

"Jo knows where I hit every ball during the point," Nadal said. "I didn't have a surprise shot during all the match. So that's very difficult at this level."

Nadal still plans to play in the Davis Cup final against Argentina in December ? an event that usually brings out the best in him and gives him a chance to end 2011 on a high note.

But he acknowledged that the end of the year "wasn't easy for me." Nadal won his sixth French Open title in May but continually saw himself bested by Djokovic, who won the other three Grand Slam titles and took over the No. 1 ranking. But Nadal said he isn't letting himself get frustrated by the Serb's dominance over him.

"Frustration is not the right word for me," Nadal said. "In your career you have moments (up) here, you have moments (down) here, you come back, you go down. And today is not my best moment."

Tsonga improved to 2-1 and Nadal fell to 1-2 in Group B. It is the first time Tsonga has reached the semifinals of the event, while Nadal missed out for the second time in five appearances.

Federer beat Mardy Fish 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 earlier to finish the group stage 3-0. David Ferrer also has qualified for the semifinals from Group A, with top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych in contention for the last spot going into the final group matches on Friday.

In perhaps the hardest-fought match of the tournament so far, Tsonga broke twice in the third set to go up 5-2. But he faltered in the next game, double-faulting three times to give Nadal renewed hope, only to bounce back and break the Spaniard to love. He sealed the win with a hard forehand winner.

"Tonight I just played, well, amazing tennis," Tsonga said. "I was really aggressive. I had a good percentage on winners. I put a lot of pressure on him today."

Tsonga often dictated the early rallies with his powerful groundstrokes and earned the only two break points of the first set by taking a 15-40 lead in the fourth game. Nadal saved the first by challenging a call in the middle of a long rally when he correctly judged that Tsonga's shot was long, and hit a service winner on the second.

Tsonga dominated the tiebreaker, winning the last five points and hitting an ace on his first set point.

Nadal earned the first break of the match when Tsonga served at 5-4 in the second to force a decider. But the Frenchman soon took charge in the third, breaking for a 2-1 lead with a delicate drop shot that Nadal could only return into the net. Nadal then netted an easy forehand to go down 5-2, hanging his head in despair, and couldn't fight back despite Tsonga handing him the next game.

In the early match, Federer began the first set with the same kind of ruthless efficiency that helped him beat Nadal in just one hour, breaking Fish three times in the first set.

But the Swiss star's accuracy and energy levels dropped in the second, as the American jumped out to a 5-2 lead and served out the set when Federer netted a backhand.

But Federer immediately took control of the decider, breaking for a 2-0 lead with a forehand passing shot. The fourth-seeded Federer lost just two points on his serve the rest of the way and converted his first match point when Fish shanked a backhand wide.

"He really started to zone in on many shots" in the second set, Federer said. "I thought he was able to keep that up in the third set. So I was happy to get the crucial break early in the third and maybe cruise a bit more."

Federer had already clinched a semifinal spot, while Fish was eliminated after losing his first two matches.

"Bottom line is I'm going to go away 0-3, which is hard," Fish said. "But I had a great experience just being a part of this. It gives you a lot of ammunition to want to come back next year."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-24-TEN-ATP-Finals/id-566c4197f7444f2ca1abbbae3b5b4653

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Be thankful for messy politics and noisy protesters (The Week)

New York ? Many Americans are fed up with our gridlocked politics and sputtering economy. But there's still plenty to be grateful for

Some Americans might not see much to be thankful for this year. After all, 48 million of our fellow citizens are on food stamps. Unemployment grinds along at 9 percent. Housing prices???the source of most people's wealth???have fallen to 2002 levels. Economic uncertainty, even fear, is spreading. And, in a most un-American thought, there is a gnawing suspicion that the next generation won't live as well as the preceding one.?

Fair points all???and a humble reminder to those who are blessed that millions of our fellow Americans, tens of millions, are truly struggling this Thanksgiving. Here's to hoping for better times for them.?

SEE MORE: The GOP's new voting laws: Disenfranchising 5 million Americans?

?

Call me crazy, but I think it's great that our elections take months and years to play out.

Still, there are plenty of things to be thankful for. And a few may surprise you:?

SEE MORE: Will Scott Brown pay for insinuating that Elizabeth Warren is ugly?

?

We can be thankful for our messy political system. Call me crazy, but I think it's great that our elections take months and years to play out. It gives us time to thoroughly vet our candidates. In parliamentary democracies like Britain and Canada, elections are held in a matter of weeks. It seems to work for them, but think about this: In the last few months alone, Republicans pined for Sarah Palin; Michele Bachmann had her 15 minutes; Rick Perry rose and fell; Herman Cain burned bright before burning out; and now Newt Gingrich is moving up. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney chugs along, never getting more than 25 percent or so of Republican support. That the GOP goes through candidates quicker than the Kardashians do marriages is a healthy thing (for the Republicans, not the Kardashians). Each candidate is thoroughly scrutinized, put to the test in a series of debates, and made to answer difficult questions from pesky reporters. By enduring this, sometimes for years, the true measure of a candidate???his or her intelligence, character (or lack thereof), experience, strengths, and weaknesses???usually emerges. When we go to the polls next year, we'll know what we're getting. And Democrats basking in the GOP squabble this cycle had better buckle up, because they're looking at a similar free for all in 2016???and that's great.?

We can be thankful that we have the right to gather in city squares and protest and yell at the top of our lungs. The Tea Party and its left-wing lookalike, the Occupy movement, are perhaps the purest form of American democracy. It's no coincidence that the framers chose this right???to assemble (peaceably) and be heard???as the First Amendment. The hue and cry of the citizenry is not only a temperature check on the body politic, it is an essential cog in the self-correcting mechanism that has always helped the American ship of state find the best course.?

SEE MORE: Elizabeth Warren takes credit for Occupy Wall Street: Smart move?

?

Let's be thankful that our media is a patchwork quilt of loud, disagreeable people with wildly differing ideas. What's your pleasure: Fox News or MSNBC? NPR or Rush Limbaugh? The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times? There is something for every point of view. Don't trust the mainstream media or feel like you're not being heard? Fine. Start your own blog or podcast. Email your congressman. Send a tweet to the president. It has never been easier to let our opinions be known than today.?

Think politics is all about big money and big corporations? That's often the perception, and in some respects, it is undeniably true. But it's also true, albeit underreported, that the little guy plays a big role as well. For example, through September 30, more than half of all donations to President Obama's re-election campaign have been for $200 or less. We can be thankful that citizens, particularly of modest means, care about their country so much that they'll part with a few of their hard-earned dollars so that they, too, can make a difference. (By contrast, only 10 percent of Mitt Romney's donations fall into this category).?

We can be thankful that even in these tough times, Americans continue to have big hearts. We gave $291 billion to charity last year, 3.8 percent more than in 2009, reports CharityNavigator.org. And the vast majority of that, 73 percent, came from individuals. Americans know that no matter how difficult their personal struggles, there's always someone who has it worse.?

Let's also be thankful that young Americans???our next generation of leaders???recognize the importance of pubic service and giving back. Applications for positions at AmeriCorps nearly tripled between 2008 and 2010, reports The New York Times; Teach for America, which puts college graduates into some of the toughest classrooms in the land, received 32 percent more applicants last year than the year before. Some of this surge can surely be attributed to America's lack of jobs. But also, "the millennial generation is a generation that is just more interested in making a difference than making a dollar," Max Stier, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that advises government recruiting efforts, tells the Times.

The list of things to be thankful for is long. What about all the tremendous problems we face? Obviously, that's a long list, too. But for one day, at least, let's focus on what we have. Pass the pumpkin pie???and Happy Thanksgiving.?

View this article on TheWeek.com
Get Drew Carey: From 'The Price is Right' to the Senate?

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    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politicsopinion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111123/cm_theweek/221726

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    South Africa: Lawmakers adopt secrets bill (AP)

    JOHANNESBURG ? South African lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday to protect state secrets that critics say will stifle expression.

    Tuesday's 229-107 vote came after months of fierce debate, but was widely expected because the bill was presented by the governing African National Congress, which has a large parliamentary majority.

    A range of opposition groups say they will challenge the measure at the Constitutional Court if it becomes law.

    The bill's critics included two Nobel prizewinners: peace laureate Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu and literature laureate Nadine Gordimer.

    The office of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first post-apartheid president and also a Nobel peace laureate, also has expressed reservations about the bill.

    Others who objected included newspaper editors, prominent writers, church groups, freedom-of-expression lobbyists and business leaders.

    The ANC says South Africa needed to update apartheid-era legislation defining secrets and setting out punishments for divulging them.

    Parliament's upper house could ask for revisions, but that rarely happens. President Jacob Zuma will have to sign the bill to make it law, and while his legal advisers may ask for revisions, he was expected to approve the measure.

    Critics donned black and staged protests at the ANC's downtown Johannesburg headquarters during morning rush hour Tuesday, and in the afternoon outside parliament in Cape Town as lawmakers voted, saying the bill's weaknesses include its lack of a provision allowing those who break the law to avoid going to jail if they could argue they acted in the public interest.

    Activists fear the adoption of the measure in a country known for one of the continent's freest and most open constitutions could influence other governments in the region.

    In a statement late Monday, Tutu said it is "insulting to all South Africans to be asked to stomach legislation that could be used to outlaw whistle-blowing and investigative journalism ... and that makes the state answerable only to the state."

    Tutu won a Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to white rule. In more recent years, he has been a sharp critic of ANC moves he sees as undermining rule of law and weakening South Africa's fledgling democracy.

    The ANC said South Africa needs to update apartheid-era secrets legislation. The party bristles at suggestions from critics that its proposal would take the country back to the days when white racist officials banned newspapers and punished whistle blowers to stifle criticism.

    Prominent ANC members also have opposed the bill, among them a former state security minister. The office of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first post-apartheid president, also has expressed reservations about the bill. Newspaper editors, prominent writers led by Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, church groups, freedom of expression lobbyists, business leaders and others have lobbied against it.

    Pretoria-based freelance journalist Tanya de Vente-Bijker wore black in response to calls from activists to observe "Black Tuesday" to protest the bill. She said she hoped the protest would lead South Africans who don't work in the media to investigate how their rights to information and to speak out if they see wrongdoing might be affected.

    The ANC bill says "information that is accessible to all is the basis of a transparent, open and democratic society," but says secrecy is sometimes necessary to "save lives, to enhance and to protect the freedom and security of persons, to bring criminals to justice, to protect the national security and to engage in effective government and diplomacy."

    While the bill makes it a crime to divulge state secrets, it also makes it a crime for an official to withhold information to conceal wrongdoing or incompetence, or merely to avoid embarrassment.

    In June, the ANC backed down on some of its original proposals, removing mandatory prison sentences for possessing and publishing secrets ? though reporters and others could still be jailed for publishing information that officials want kept secret. The ANC also agreed to limit the power to classify secrets to state security agencies, and proposed that an independent official review appeals of state security rulings on classified information.

    At times, the rhetoric about the bill appears to have less to do with its merits than with a distrust of government on one side after a series of corruption scandals involving high-ranking officials, including the national police chief; and complaints from politicians of witch hunts by a biased media.

    In a speech to parliament last week, State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele even raised the possibility that demonstrators who have held peaceful marches to rally opposition to the bill were somehow being used by South Africa's enemies.

    The secrets bill is separate from another ANC proposal that has raised concerns ? the possible creation of a tribunal that could discipline journalists, with powers to punish that have not yet been spelled out.

    Relations between the ANC and the media long have been tense. Last week one of the country's most prominent newspapers, the Mail & Guardian, said it had been unable to publish details about corruption allegations against Mac Maharaj, who was imprisoned on Robben Island alongside Mandela for his anti-apartheid activities and who recently took on the job of presidential spokesman, because of threats of criminal prosecution. Maharaj later announced he was asking police to investigate whether the paper and its journalists had broken the law in their reporting.

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_re_af/af_south_africa_secrets_bill

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    Europe gets signal from Russia's Mars moon probe (AP)

    MOSCOW ? The European Space Agency has received the first signal from an unmanned spacecraft bound for moon of Mars since it got stuck in Earth's orbit.

    The ESA, which has been helping Russia to try to communicate with the errant probe, said in a statement Wednesday that its tracking facility in the Australian city of Perth established contact with the spacecraft late Tuesday.

    Russia's space agency Roscosmos said Russian and European space experts will coordinate further attempts to contact the Phobos-Ground probe.

    The $170 million craft has become stranded in orbit after its thrusters failed to fire after the Nov. 9 launch to send it to one of Mars' two moons, Phobos. The ESA's success in picking up signal from the probe has raised hope that engineers could prevent its uncontrollable plunge to Earth.

    If the ESA manages to receive systems data from the craft, that may allow experts to determine the cause of the failure and then try to send commands that could prevent the probe from crashing back to Earth.

    Roscosmos' deputy chief, Vitaly Davydov, said Tuesday that space experts will keep trying until the end of the month to try to fix the probe and steer it to its designated flight path. If they fail, the craft could plummet to Earth some time between late December and late February, he warned, adding that the site of the crash cannot be established more than a day in advance.

    The spacecraft weighs 13.2 metric tons (14.6 tons) with a highly toxic rocket fuel accounting for most of its weight. There have been concerns the fuel could freeze and spill on impact, although most experts believe it will likely stay liquid and burn up on re-entry.

    Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_sc/eu_russia_mars_moon_mission

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    Penn St. taps ex-FBI director for investigation

    Former FBI director Louis Freeh, speaks after it was announced by Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, that Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    Former FBI director Louis Freeh, speaks after it was announced by Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, that Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    Ken Frazier, right, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, speaks during a press availability to announce former FBI director Louis Freeh, left, will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    Former FBI director Louis Freeh, left, answers questions as Ron Tomalis, vice chairman of the Penn State special committee, center, and Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, stand nearby during a press availability to announce Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    Former FBI director Louis Freeh, pauses while speaking after it was announced by Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, that Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    Ken Frazier, chairman of the Penn State University special committee, speaks during a press availability to announce former FBI director Louis Freeh will lead an independent investigation into allegations of child abuse by a former Penn State employee, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    (AP) ? Former FBI director Louis Freeh, tapped to lead Penn State's investigation into the child sex abuse allegations against a former assistant football coach, said his inquiry will go as far back as 1975, a much longer period than a grand jury report issued earlier this month.

    Freeh was named Monday to oversee the university board of trustees' internal investigation into the abuse allegations that ultimately led to the ouster of longtime football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier.

    Freeh said his goal was to conduct a comprehensive, fair and quick review. His team of former FBI agents, federal prosecutors and others has already begun the process of reading the grand jury report and looking at records.

    "We will immediately report any evidence of criminality to law enforcement authorities," said Freeh, who has no direct connection to Penn State.

    Penn State has faced criticism since announcing that its internal investigation would be led by two university trustees, Merck pharmaceutical company CEO Kenneth Frazier and state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis.

    Faculty members on Friday called for an independent investigation of how the university handled abuse allegations, and the faculty senate endorsed a resolution asking for an independent investigation.

    In announcing Freeh's appointment, Frazier stressed the former FBI director's independence. Freeh will be empowered to investigate employees up to and including the board of trustees itself, Frazier said.

    "No one is above scrutiny," Frazier said. "He has complete rein to follow any lead, to look into every corner of the university to get to the bottom of what happened and then to make recommendations that will help ensure that it never happens again."

    Freeh said he had been assured there would be "no favoritism." He called that assurance "the main condition of my engagement."

    Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is accused of molesting eight boys over a 15-year period beginning in the mid-1990s. Authorities say some assaults happened on campus and were reported to administrators but not to police.

    Authorities say Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in 1999, met the children through The Second Mile, a youth charity that he started in 1977. By going back as far as 1975, Freeh's investigation would cover the entire time The Second Mile has existed and 24 of the 30 years that Sandusky worked at Penn State.

    Amid the scandal, Penn State's trustees ousted Spanier and Paterno. The trustees said Spanier and Paterno failed to act after a graduate assistant claimed he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in a campus shower in 2002.

    Paterno, who has the most wins of any major college football coach, has conceded he should have done more. Spanier has said he would have reported a crime if he had suspected one had been committed.

    Sandusky has said he is innocent. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but said he never molested them.

    Former school administrators Tim Curley ? who is on administrative leave ? and Gary Schultz are charged with not properly alerting authorities to suspected abuse and with perjury. They maintain their innocence.

    Freeh founded an investigation firm, Freeh Group International Solutions, after leading the FBI from 1993 to 2001. He previously served six years as a special agent.

    After his time at the FBI, Freeh also did work for credit card giant MBNA, which has business relationships with Penn State and its alumni association. But a spokeswoman for Freeh's investigation said in a statement that it would not compromise the probe. The statement said Freeh has "no previous personal connection to Penn State" and had no role in negotiating MBNA's longstanding business deal with the school.

    Freeh's law firm was hired to look into the bribery case involving FIFA's presidential election. Soccer's governing body banned candidate Mohamed bin Hammam for life for bribing voters. The ruling body also banned 11 Caribbean soccer leaders and disciplined others in the corruption scandal.

    Freeh said he spoke with Attorney General Linda Kelly on Sunday night and was determined not to interfere with the ongoing criminal case. A spokesman for Kelly said she was aware of the Penn State trustees' special committee but declined to comment on it.

    Gov. Tom Corbett called Freeh's selection "a good one," noting his familiarity with grand juries and the role of prosecutors.

    Rod Erickson, Penn State's new president, also lauded the selection. He vowed complete cooperation and said Freeh's findings "will prompt immediate actions for which I will remain responsible."

    Freeh will report to a special committee comprised of six university trustees; Dan Hagen, chair of the university's faculty senate; Rodney Hughes, a doctoral student in higher education at Penn State; and retired Air Force Col. and astronaut Guion Bluford, a 1964 Penn State graduate.

    Officials also announced that anyone who has information related to the probe can contact investigators at a telephone hotline ? 855-290-3382 ? and a special email, PSUhelp(at)freehgroup.com.

    Meanwhile, Penn State police have referred a report of an indecent assault at an outdoor swimming pool building to the attorney general's office.

    A police log noted the report referred to an incident that occurred between June 1, 2000, and Aug. 30, 2000. The report was made to campus police Wednesday and was noted on Thursday's police log.

    When asked if the report was related to allegations against Sandusky, Penn State Police Chief Tyrone Parham said Monday: "We can never describe anything related to a victim or suspect."

    State open records laws don't require Penn State to release the full police report.

    A state lawmaker who represents the State College area said he was sponsoring a bill that would reverse the exemption ? which applies to Penn State and three other universities that rely heavily on state funding but are independently run.

    Rep. Kerry Benninghoff said a "more open climate" might prevent future scandals.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Genaro C. Armas in State College, Pa.; Marc Levy and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pa.; and Fred Lief in New York contributed to this report.

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-21-US-Penn-State-Abuse/id-8dfb79ba264a4e39a75e20c5dd611451

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    Bob Edgar: "Super" Committee Produces Super Vreakdown in Leadership

    No one who has watched official Washington's march toward complete dysfunction can be surprised by Monday's announcement that the Congressional "Super Committee" is shutting down without agreeing on a plan to begin putting the nation's finances in order.

    The 12-member panel was doomed from the start, stocked with too few members skilled at the art of compromise and too many whose idea of a give-and-take negotiation is "you give and I take." And its focus on long-term deficit reduction, rather than on immediate steps to revive a still moribund economy, was grossly misplaced.

    Perhaps worst of all, neither Democrats nor Republicans on the panel appear to have had support from party leaders to strike a deal.

    Senior Republicans in Congress and their party's would-be presidents on the campaign trail were particularly intransigent, refusing to entertain serious discussion of a meaningful tax increase on the wealthiest Americans. The long-term deficit reduction they claim to favor cannot be achieved without more tax revenue, a lot more tax revenue; Democrats on the committee appeared willing to accept some cuts in the social safety net but it's unreasonable to ask them to do so without a guarantee of more revenue.

    For his part, President Obama showed an encouraging willingness at the outset of the committee's deliberations to work on a balanced program of tax hikes and long-term budget cuts but of late has distanced himself from the process. Perhaps his leadership could not have made a difference, but it would have been nice to see him try to assert it.

    The committee's breakdown means that the Congress most likely will spend 2012 tying itself in knots over how to undo the "automatic" deficit reduction measures supposedly triggered by its failure. Defense hawks in both parties already are hard at work to spare the Pentagon from the budget ax, Republicans are trying to figure out how to preserve the Bush tax cuts for their wealthy patrons and Democrats are focused on protecting Social Security and Medicare, even if it means more debt.

    What a sad spectacle. We've now had three successive "wave" elections, in which voters disturbed at the inability or unwillingness of those in power to act in the public interest rather than the interest of their big campaign contributors, have voted to replace one party with the other. Each party has ridden its waves but neither has captured and acted on the voters' larger message, their desire for a fundamental change in the way Washington works.

    ?

    Follow Bob Edgar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BobEdgarCC

    Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-bob-edgar/super-committee-produces-_b_1106442.html

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    EU relaxes ban on Angolan airlines

    (AP) ? The European Union relaxed its ban on Angola's TAAG Airlines flying in European airspace, imposed a partial ban on Jordan Aviation and noted significant aviation safety improvements in Albania and Russia.

    The EU's latest blacklist on Monday banned three of Jordan Aviation's Boeing 767s from flying to Europe. The charter company often works for the United Nations to transport its peacekeepers.

    Siim Kallas, the EU commissioner responsible for transport, said the bloc could not accept any compromises when it comes to air safety.

    "Where we have evidence ... that air carriers are not performing safe operations, we must act to exclude any risks to safety," he said.

    The EU list of 281 airlines from 24 countries ? mostly smaller carriers from Africa and Asia ? banned from flying in European airspace was established in 2006 and is updated regularly.

    But critics say most of the notorious African cargo outfits still on the list have been shut down. Many others on it involve air taxi services or small, specialized charter firms that work for mining, oil and gas and other natural resources companies, usually to transport employees to remote work sites.

    The update for TAAG means that it can fly into Europe using its two modern Boeing 777-300 airliners "which the air carrier has shown that it is capable to manage safely," the EU statement said.

    Meanwhile, the commission said Russia and Albania had made significant progress in improving flight safety and that no punitive measures would be taken against any of their airlines.

    The EU banned all operations to Europe by aircraft belonging to Rollins Air, a charter and leasing company registered in Honduras.

    The list also includes 11 air carriers that are allowed to operate in Europe subject to strict conditions and restrictions on which planes they can use. These include North Korea's Air Koryo and Iran's national flag carrier Air Iran.

    ___

    Follow Slobodan Lekic on Twitter at http://twitter.com/slekich

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-21-EU-Airline-Blacklist/id-60d5293c304d445ca20bc1739645bb4f

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