No one hurt after camera falls at Insight Bowl

The back judge moves an overhead video camera after it fell on the field during the second half of the Insight Bowl NCAA college football game between Oklahoma and Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma won 31-14. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The back judge moves an overhead video camera after it fell on the field during the second half of the Insight Bowl NCAA college football game between Oklahoma and Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma won 31-14. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The back judge kicks aside an overhead video camera after it fell on the field during the second half of the Insight Bowl NCAA college football game between Oklahoma and Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma won 31-14. (AP Photo/Matt York)

An official moves an overhead video camera after it fell on the field during the second half of the Insight Bowl NCAA college football game between Oklahoma and Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma won 31-14. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Iowa wide receiver Marvin McNutt (7) reacts after being hit by an overhead video camera that fell during the second half of the Insight Bowl NCAA college football game against Oklahoma Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma won 31-14. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Umpire Tim Schroeder, right, keeps players away as back judge William Robinson kicks a network overhead television camera after it crashed to the field during the fourth quarter in the Insight Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma defeated Iowa 31-14.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) ? Flying cameras have been providing unique perspectives on everything from golf to college and professional football for more than a decade, becoming so commonplace that fans rarely notice the whizzing remote-controlled devices.

At the Insight Bowl on Friday night, no one could miss the overhead camera when it came crashing down to the field late in the fourth quarter, nearly taking out one of the players.

The ESPN camera narrowly missed Iowa receiver Martin McNutt Jr., who became entangled in the guide wire but wasn't hurt.

"First, I looked: 'What is it that fell from the sky?'" McNutt said after Iowa's 31-14 loss to No. 19 Oklahoma. "The next thing I know, the camera kind of scratched me a little bit. It was just pulling me and I knew I didn't want to keep going with it."

The camera at the Insight Bowl was supplied by SkyCam, a division of Winnercomm, Inc., a sports production and development company in Tulsa, Okla. According to the company's website, SkyCam is the only stabilized camera system in the world that can unobtrusively fly anywhere in a defined three-dimensional space.

The camera is 36 inches high, weighs 25 pounds and travels up to 30 mph across the guide wire, according to the company.

"We apologize for the accident," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said Saturday. "The independent company that operates SkyCam for us is in the midst of a thorough review to determine the cause of the problem. We will work with them and bowl officials to determine our future course of action. As always our primary concern will be the safety of fans and those on the field."

ESPN has consistently used the cameras for football coverage, making it a staple of "Monday Night Football." The cameras also have been used occasionally in the NBA, NHL, NASCAR, NCAA basketball, baseball and at the island-green 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass during The Players Championship.

The cameras, despite flying over the playing field, have rarely interfered with the action.

In 2007, a cable camera was forced to make a controlled descent during an NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks from what was called human error.

At the 2009 Las Vegas bowl between BYU and Oregon State, the overhead camera reportedly had to be taken down due to wind gusts of around 40 mph.

The incident at the Insight Bowl occurred with Iowa trying to rally from a 10-point deficit in the closing minutes.

While lining up for a play near the 20-yard line at the south end of Sun Devil Stadium, two Hawkeyes had to jump out of the way when the camera fell when the wire appeared to snap with 2:22 left.

McNutt dodged the camera as it fell behind him, but became entangled in the guide wire after it thudded to the ground. McNutt suffered only a minor scratch, but the game was delayed for about five minutes as crews dragged the camera off the field and made sure the wire was out of the way.

McNutt was able to joke about the incident.

"I fell like somebody was trying to kill me on their (Oklahoma's) staff," he said. "If you are looking, I'm looking for you. No. It was lucky it didn't hit me."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-31-Insight%20Bowl-Camera%20Falls/id-593db50abda64042b96bb9d8c713768a

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The Year In Dirty Energy: Keystone XL

This year, a deal between TransCanada and the U.S. government almost allowed one of the most disastrous plans in energy history to win aproval. The deal would have allowed TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S. border to carry an exceptionally dirty form of oil from Alberta's tar sands through several U.S. states to refineries along the Texas gulf?coast.

But thanks to some bizarre GOP politicking in the year-end fight over payroll tax cut legislation, the table is set for President Obama to reject this fossil folly. The likely demise of one giant ill-advised pipeline is no small feat, but it doesn't mean the world can forget about the tar sands, by a long shot. The world is still addicted to oil, and Canada's fossil-friendly leaders will continue their quest to sell the tar sands bitumen on the global?market.

Ever since our founding in 2006, DeSmogBlog has helped spread the word about the dangerous health and climate impacts that the tar sands pose to the environment and the global climate. Over the past year, we focused our research particularly on the dirty tricks employed by the oil industry in an effort to get the Keystone XL pipeline?approved.

After Friends of the Earth exposed the fact that TransCanada's Keystone XL lobbyist Paul Elliott had worked on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and enjoyed special access with former colleagues, DeSmogBlog revealed further?ties between TransCanada lobbyists and the U.S. government. For example:

On?the web of lobbyists with connections to?Hillary Clinton:

However, the tar sands industry?s use of former Clinton associates to lobby on the controversial project extends beyond Mr. Elliott. DeSmogBlog has uncovered seven other influencers or lobbyists with ties to Clinton and Obama who have lobbied on behalf of tar sands interests for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

McKenna Long & Aldridge is one of the key outside firms registered to lobby for TransCanada Pipelines, which paid the McKenna firm at least $190,000 over the last 5 years to lobby on their pipeline issues, including $40,000 in the first half of 2011. McKenna employees donated $41,650 in campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

For the full report, see Hillary Clinton's Keystone XL Crony Lobbyists Problem.

We also helped make public the financial interests that members of Congress had in the approval of the pipeline:
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"Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, reported in his 2010 financial disclosure form?the most recent available, filed on May 15, 2011?that he owned Transcanada stock worth between $115,002 and $300,000 (financial disclosure forms ask members to report their assets within broad ranges)."

"Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., reported owning between $15,001 and $51,000 in TransCanada stock in his 2010 financial disclosure; according to his office, the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee sold his stock on January 5, 2011."

"Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., has held Trans Canada stock since 2004; her most recent disclsosure shows she owns a stake in the company worth between $1,001 and $15,000."

"Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y.?reported a $798 interest in Trans Canada."

"U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Susan E. Rice filed that she owned between $250,001 and $500,000 of TransCanada stock."

But the money didn?t end there:

TransCanada Corp, the company hoping to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, spent $540,000 on lobbying in the third quarter of 2011, according to lobbying disclosure records released this week.

In addition to $390,000 reported by Paul Elliott, TransCanada Pipelines, Ltd's infamous in-house lobbyist, two outside firms lobbied on TransCanada's behalf to promote the Keystone XL pipeline: Bryan Cave LLP, which reported $120,000 in earnings from TransCanda in quarter three; and McKenna, Long & Aldridge, which was paid $30,000 by TransCanada in the same period.

The industry ties became such a problem for the project that the U.S. inspector general?s office announced an investigation into the matter. And for good reason ? the State Department?s ties to TransCanada helped the company escape a more thorough review of the project:

EPA identified a laundry list of omissions in the State Department?s Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS), ranging from lack of adequate consideration for oil spills and impacts on low income and First Nations communities, to lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on water and wildlife. They also provided a list of critical areas that need expansion in the Final EIS.

The EPA?s analysis raises considerable concerns about the proposed project that would carry 900,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Canada, through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and across numerous water bodies including the Yellowstone, Missouri, Neches and Red Rivers, as well as the Ogallala aquifer.

On another front, Rep. Henry Waxman urged Congress to investigate the financial ties to Keystone of the Koch brothers:

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) renewed his request to Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce investigate Koch Industries' interest in the Keystone XL pipeline. Rep. Waxman's letter cites the recent revelations in InsideClimate News that Koch subsidiary Flint Hills Resources Canada LP claimed "a direct and substantial interest" in the Keystone XL in front of Canadian regulators, while the Kochtopus continues to deny any interest publicly.

Koch representatives previously told Rep. Waxman that Keystone XL has "nothing to do with any of our businesses" and that Koch has "no financial interest" in the pipeline.

And there was good reason to believe that the Kochs were among those behind the push to fast-track the pipeline?project:

What?s been left out of the fierce debate over the pipeline, according to SolveClimate News, is the prospect that if president Obama okayed the Keystone XL pipeline, he would be handing a major victory and great financial opportunity to Charles and David Koch, his staunchest political enemies and the most powerful opponents of his clean economy agenda.

SolveClimate?s analysis shows that Koch Industries is already responsible for close to 25 percent of the tar sands crude that is imported into the United States, and is well-positioned to cash in big from increased Canadian tar sands imports.

The major talking point behind the push for the pipeline was that it would create much-needed jobs for American workers. But as we and many others pointed out extensively, the job creation claims were completely bogus:

According to The Washington Post, the prospect of job creation ? the reason so many people in America support the pipeline ? isn?t as rosy as TransCanada would have us believe. In fact, their numbers don?t add up at all.

TransCanada threw out a figure of 20,000 jobs (13,000 construction, 7,000 for suppliers) that would be created directly and indirectly through the pipeline construction process. This is the figure that politicians have used to sell the pipeline to their constituents. But as The Washington Post points out, TransCanada chief executive Russ Girling admits the 20,000 figure is far from honest

And more:

In reality, according to the exhaustively researched Cornell report, even the earliest, most modest claims seem unrealistic.

In fact, in Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keystone XL, the institute says more jobs could actually be destroyed than created by the pipeline.

As if the industry lobbyist ties and the lies about job creation weren?t enough, there is the glaring observation that the pipeline is just not safe?for water supplies and public?health:

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Pipeline Safety Trust, the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club jointly published a new report [pdf] which details the likelihood that there will be leaks and major oil spills into waterways along the pipeline?s path.

The report explicitly states how tar sands oil is more corrosive than conventional oil and therefore is a much higher risk to pipeline systems. The report notes that it is:

?More acidic, thick, and sulfuric than conventional crude oil?contains fifteen to twenty times higher acid concentrations than conventional crudes and five to ten times as much sulfur as conventional crudes. It is up to seventy times more viscous than conventional crudes. The additional sulfur can lead to the weakening or embrittlement of pipelines.

Because of its damaging effects to pipeline systems, tar sands oil spills will be more frequent than with conventional oil and as such, more devastating to the health and livelihoods of residents, farms and communities

And who can forget the impact that thousands of?protesters rallying in front of the White House?had:

The DC police force must have recently put in a big order for plasti-cuffs. The commencement of the Keystone XL pipeline protest, which kicked off this past weekend, saw over 100 arrested in the first two days. But there won?t be time for a donut break yet, as the action is set to continue over the next two weeks with over 2,000 people signed up to get arrested in protest of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that would carry the world?s filthiest oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast if approved by the Obama administration.

With people coming in from all around the nation, protesters hope to pressure President Obama to deny the permit needed to build the proposed 1700-mile pipeline from Alberta to the US Gulf Coast. Reports about the supposed safety of the pipeline have proven less than stellar, and TransCanada pipelines have already had 12 spills this year. The administration must make a decision about the pipeline by November 1st, and there is pressure coming from cheerleaders of pollution such as the Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity, to name a few, for the pipeline to go through.

The Keystone XL pipeline is a perfect example of how direct action and independent media can help expose dirty politics and bring some accountability to those making important decisions about our energy future. Hopefully, more and more issues will meet the same resistance from citizens, causing government officials to rethink their disastrous plans to continue down the dirty energy?path.

Source: http://www.desmogblog.com/year-dirty-energy-keystone-xl

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Hirst receives a Chancellors Fellowship from Missouri University of Science and Technology

Brice Hirst, a 2006 graduate of Sacred Heart High School, received a Chancellors Fellowship from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

He got the fellowship mainly because of his 4.0 grade point average and a recommendation from one of his professors. The fellowship covers all basic tuition and fees for any number of classes he will take related to his degree.

Source: http://www.sedaliademocrat.com/articles/fellowship-39682-chancellors-missouri.html

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Ghana Football Mafia: GFA/Serbian Agent Collusion?

There is a credible speculation of a GFA/SERBIAN Agent collusion (kind of a football Mafia) that goes like this: A Serbian football agent that recruits Serbian coaches for the Black Stars also manages some Ghanaian players.

Such players get to play on the national team (regardless of their performance) because the appointed Serbian coach who is part of the network ensures the success of the players whose market value and opportunity to be picked up by top European teams depend on their Black Star selection. In return, the big cats at the GFA get kickbacks from hiring Serbian coaches and from the success of Serbian managed Ghanaian players.

So Prince Tagoe gets to make national team selection consistently even though a second rate Bundesliga team had to let him go for nonperformance, and he has been the weakest link on the Black Star team any time he has played. Coach Plavi says he appreciates his work rate and justifies Tagoe?s inclusion in the final 25 players to play in the next African Cup on that fact alone.

If work rate is the sole criteria for Black Star selection, then many hardworking Ghanaian farmers who can till the soil from dusk to dawn nonstop should make first team Black Star selection. Or even better, Plavi should go to Ghana?s boxing capital at Bukom to recruit Bukom Banku and co. Tagoe simply doesn?t have the football skill required to play for the mighty Black Stars.

Why am I saying this rumor is credible? Our last four coaches have all been Serbians. This has never happened in any nation's football history -- and certainly not Ghana's.

Now if this is true we have dysfunctional and unscrupulous leadership at the GFA and that's dangerous for the future of Ghana football. Just consider the short term impact -- we deny players that should make the team the chance to play and by so doing weaken the Black Star team. In addition, such a miscarriage of fairness will eventually dampen player morale and nibble away at the unity and strength of the national. Even though it's all speculation at this point (such allegations are impossible to prove anyway), the warnings signs are starring us in the face like big graffiti on a billboard.

Blind followers of this administration will as usual dismiss such concerns as nothing but a witch-hunt. But fair-minded Ghanaian football fans with no ax to grind but are rather are motivated first and foremost by the success of Ghana football ought to be concerned. A word to the wise is in the direction of Tamale, as we say we say jokingly in Ghanaian parlance.

Source: http://sports.peacefmonline.com/news/201112/86775.php

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Can You Give Someone Cancer?

Not reliably. Injecting cancerous cells into a person isn?t enough to give him the disease?the abnormal tissue has to penetrate and grow in other areas of the body. If you injected someone with live cancer cells, his immune system would almost certainly attack and destroy the foreign tissue. In theory, secret agents might be able to induce cancer in a leftist South American president with a severely weakened immune system. Or perhaps they could harvest tissue from him, expose it to a carcinogen, and then reintroduce it into his body. As far as the Explainer knows, however, these techniques have never successfully caused cancer in a human.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=e277c2d0959f892f9eccaf04efeb8cab

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Holly Bobo to be remembered at church service

Story Created: Dec 30, 2011 at 8:39 AM CST

Story Updated: Dec 30, 2011 at 10:39 AM CST

PARSONS, Tenn. (AP) - A missing young woman from West Tennessee will be remembered and prayed for during a special worship service at the church her family attends.

Holly Bobo disappeared April 13 from her family's home in?Darden. Bobo's brother said he saw her walking into the woods with?a man dressed in camouflage. Volunteers searched the fields and?woods in the rural section of Decatur County for weeks.?Bobo's 21st birthday was Oct. 12.

The Corinth Baptist Church in Darden will hold a New Year's Eve?watch night service, where?church members will gather at 10 p.m. Saturday to read the names?of missing children?listed by the National Center for Missing and?Exploited Children.

Source: http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Holly-Bobo-to-be-remembered-at-church-service-136427623.html

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US warns Iran against closing Hormuz oil route (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? The U.S. warned Iran Wednesday that it will not tolerate any disruption of naval traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran's navy chief said the Islamic Republic is capable of closing the vital oil route if the West imposes new sanctions targeting Tehran's oil exports.

Iran's Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told state-run Press TV that closing the strait, which is the only sea outlet for the crucial oil fields in and around the Persian Gulf, "is very easy" for his country's naval forces.

It was the second such warning by Iran in two days, reflecting Tehran's concern that the West is about to impose new sanctions that could hit the country's biggest source of revenue, its oil sector. On Tuesday, Vice President Mohamed Reza Rahimi threatened to close the strait if the West imposes such sanctions.

In response, the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet's spokeswoman warned that any disruption at the strait "will not be tolerated."

The spokeswoman, Lt. Rebecca Rebarich, said the U.S. Navy is "always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation."

With concern growing over a possible drop-off in Iranian oil supplies if sanctions are imposed, a senior Saudi oil official said Gulf Arab nations are ready to offset any loss of Iranian crude.

That reassurance led to a drop in world oil prices. In New York, benchmark crude fell 77 cents to $100.57 a barrel in morning trading. Brent crude fell 82 cents to $108.45 a barrel in London.

Western nations are growing increasingly impatient with Iran over its nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies have accused Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denied the charges, saying its program is geared toward generating electricity and producing medical radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.

The U.S. Congress has passed a bill banning dealings with the Iran Central Bank, and President Barack Obama has said he will sign it despite his misgivings. Critics warn it could impose hardships on U.S. allies and drive up oil prices.

The bill could impose penalties on foreign firms that do business with Iran's central bank. European and Asian nations import Iranian oil and use its central bank for the transactions.

Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer, with an output of about 4 million barrels of oil a day. It relies on oil exports for about 80 percent of its public revenues.

Iran has adopted an aggressive military posture in recent months in response to increasing threats from the U.S. and Israel that they may take military action to stop Iran's nuclear program.

The navy is in the midst of a 10-day drill in international waters near the strategic oil route. The exercises began Saturday and involve submarines, missile drills, torpedoes and drones. The war games cover a 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) stretch of sea off the Strait of Hormuz, northern parts of the Indian Ocean and into the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea as a show of strength and could bring Iranian ships into proximity with U.S. Navy vessels in the area.

Iranian media are describing how Iran could move to close the strait, saying the country would use a combination of warships, submarines, speed boats, anti-ship cruise missiles, torpedoes, surface-to-sea missiles and drones to stop ships from sailing through the narrow waterway.

Iran's navy claims it has sonar-evading submarines designed for shallow waters of the Persian Gulf, enabling it to hit passing enemy vessels.

A closure of the strait could temporarily cut off some oil supplies and force shippers to take longer, more expensive routes that would drive oil prices higher. It also potentially opens the door for a military confrontation that would further rattle global oil markets.

Iran claimed a victory this month when it captured an American surveillance drone almost intact. It went public with its possession of the RQ-170 Sentinel to trumpet the downing as a feat of Iran's military in a complicated technological and intelligence battle with the U.S.

American officials have said that U.S. intelligence assessments indicate the drone malfunctioned.

___

Additional reporting from Adam Schreck in Dubai, UAE.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_oil

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