Italy, Spain easily raise in euro28 billion (AP)

MADRID ? Spain and Italy gave financial markets a boost Thursday as they successfully raised nearly euro22 billion ($27.98 billion) in two keenly watched debt auctions that showed renewed investor confidence in their attempts to get a grip on their debt problems.

Spain sold nearly euro10 billion ($12.7 billion) in auctions of bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, with demand strong and the amount sold double the maximum sought. Italy saw its borrowing costs drop sharply as it sold euro12 billion ($15 billion) in what was also its first test of market sentiment of the new year.

Both debt-laden countries have been the focus of worries they might be dragged further into the crisis threatening the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency that has already forced Greece, Ireland and Italy to seek billions in bailout money.

Buyers took euro8.5 billion in 12-month Italian bonds at a yield of 2.735 percent, sharply down from last month's rate of 5.95 percent. They also bought euro3.5 billion ($4.45 billion) in bonds expiring at the end of May at just 1.644 percent interest, down from 3.251 percent in the last comparable auction.

Market reaction in both countries was good. In the secondary market, where issued bonds are then traded openly, the yield for Italy's benchmark 10-year bond dropped to 6.6 percent from around 7 percent, a perilous level that forced other eurozone nations to seek bailouts.

The rate for the Spanish 10-year bond also dropped back to 5.15 percent after opening at 5.32 percent. The country's Ibex stock market index rallied 1.7 percent after the bond sale.

Meanwhile, the two leading European central banks decided to hold their interest rates Thursday, with the European Central Bank keeping its rate at 1 percent and the Bank of England maintaining its lending rate at a record low of 0.5 percent.

The Italian auction showed that European Central Bank efforts to pump liquidity into the financial sector are working, wrote Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Strategy, a London-based consultancy specializing in sovereign risk.

"Few would have predicted as recently as last month that Italy would be paying as little as 2.7 percent for 1-year paper," he wrote. "This is on a par with Italy's borrowing costs before it got sucked into the eurozone crisis in July."

He noted that Spain's auction also went well but said Italy's funding challenges are of a "different order of magnitude."

"This is not just about the amount the Treasury needs to get out the door this quarter, but about perceptions of Italian risk. As long as Italy remains the focal point for investor anxiety about the eurozone, it will remain under pressure at its auctions," Spiro wrote.

Chiara Cremonesi of UniCredit Research called the auction "extremely positive" and a good omen for a sale of longer-term debt on Friday.

"While it is true that over the last month the shorter maturities have remained well-bid, so strong demand at this tenor does not come as a surprise, today's auction was even better than our expectations." she wrote.

Italy's euro1.9 trillion ($2.42 trillion) in government debt and heavy borrowing needs this year have made it a focal point of the European debt crisis. Fitch Ratings Agency, which has said it will consider whether to downgrade Italy's credit rating by the end of the month, estimates Italy needs to borrow euro360 billion ($458 billion) this year.

Italy has passed austerity measures and is on a structural reform course that Premier Mario Monti claims should bring down Italy's high bond yields, which he says are no longer warranted.

Monti took over in November after Premier Silvio Berlusconi stepped down under market and political pressure.

The former EU commissioner said Thursday that Europe needs to focus not only on fiscal discipline, which is to be enshrined in a fiscal compact still being negotiated, but also coordinate measures to promote growth.

Monti said the EU goal of reducing total debt to 60 percent of GDP in 20 years was "severe, but doable."

Italy's debt currently stands at 120 percent of GDP. Spain's is at 66 percent.

The Spanish auction was the first since the conservative Popular Party took office last month after its landslide election win Nov. 20. It came a day after Parliament approved the government's first austerity measures, a euro15 billion ($19.1 billion) package aimed at reining in the country's swollen deficit.

Spain has a 21.5 percent unemployment rate and its economy is expected to fall back into recession. It has been battling for months to avoid following Greece, Ireland and Portugal in seeking a bailout.

Investors settled for an average interest rate of 3.38 percent to buy euro4.27 billion in three-year paper. The Spanish Treasury said the sale was not strictly comparable to previous auctions but the last three-year bond sale Dec. 15 had an average interest rate of 4.02 percent.

The Treasury also sold euro2.5 billion in four-year bonds with an average yield of 3.75 percent, comparable to 4.87 percent rate last July. In the other bonds maturing in 2016, investors bought euro3.21 billion on a yield of 3.9 percent, down from, 4.85 percent in a November sale.

Marc Ostwald, strategist for Monument Securities described the demand as "very impressive" and said the sale indicated a warm welcome for the government's efforts to quickly bring the deficit under control.

"There is no denying the overall success, particularly as yields are well down on previous equivalent sales, "he said in a note.

Spain's borrowing costs shot up last year but have eased in auctions since the election.

The country has pledged to slash its deficit from 11.2 percent of GDP in 2009 to within the European Union limit of 3 percent by 2013.

Meanwhile, crucial Greek talks continued between the government and its private investors to reach a deal on a bond swap that would reduce the country's debt load and is an integral part of its second bailout package.

Charles Dallara, the head of the Institute of International Finance, which represents the country's private bondholders, was meeting Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and finance chief Evangelos Venizelos.

Greece hopes to finalize the deal soon for the private creditors to take a voluntary 50 percent reduction in the value of their Greek bond holdings. It needs to clinch the deal before it can access any more rescue loans, which it will need to help repay euro14.5 billion in bonds on March 20.

On Wednesday, Venizelos said the negotiations "have advanced and are now at a very good point."

____

Barry reported from Milan. Daniel Woolls in Madrid contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120112/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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NCAA president pushes to clean up college sports

NCAA President Mark Emmert delivers his State of the Association speech during the NCAA's annual convention on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

NCAA President Mark Emmert delivers his State of the Association speech during the NCAA's annual convention on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

NCAA President Mark Emmert delivers his State of the Association speech during the NCAA's annual convention on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

NCAA President Mark Emmert delivers his State of the Association speech during the NCAA's annual convention on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? NCAA President Mark Emmert would like to erase all the tawdry tales from his first full year in office.

On Thursday, Emmert asked university leaders to help him turn the page on a disastrous 2011 that included a child sex abuse scandal at Penn State that overshadowed NCAA violations at a handful of major football programs.

Emmert wants to restore some of college sports' core principles -- choosing education over money, amateurism over professionalism and abiding by the rules rather than ignoring them.

"What we have to do is work together to act on those values, to let the world know which fork in the road we've taken so we don't have the same story line this year that we had last year," he told about 2,000 delegates at the annual convention, just a few blocks from the NCAA headquarters. "I know we can do it. We can do it in 2012."

For roughly 30 minutes, Emmert again expressed frustration with the rash of infractions charges, alleged ethical breaches and possible criminal conduct in 2011.

And Emmert made it perfectly clear how upset he was by striking a far different tone Thursday than he did in his first state of the association address last year in San Antonio, Texas.

There, Emmert paraded "model" student-athletes across the stage, a production that even included eventual Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.

This time, speaking sternly and with few laugh lines, Emmert broadly recounted some of the most damaging phrases he'd heard: College sports is about winning at all costs, it's all about the money, everybody cheats and the term student-athlete is an oxymoron.

"I've heard people say that there are no ethics and no integrity in college sports and the whole system is broken. But here's the really bad news. There's truth in some of those criticisms," Emmert said. "What parts of those stories are true? Sometimes we have seen behaviors that don't match our values. We do have some people that want to win at all costs. We have some student-athletes that don't care about getting an education and some that simply don't get the education they deserve. The worst thing to me is that they completely overshadow all of the good things that are going on in intercollegiate athletics."

The push for change has already begun.

In October, the Division I Board of Directors approved rules giving conferences the option of paying an additional $2,000 toward athletes' living expenses and multi-year scholarships that could end the practice of coaches stripping away financial aid based solely on athletic performance.

Both rules have become targets of override measures, and the board is scheduled to consider modifications Saturday. Emmert expects both rules to withstand the challenges, though the stipend could face some modifications.

The NCAA also has approved tougher academic standards, which could lead to postseason ineligibility. Under the new guidelines, last year's men's basketball national champion Connecticut would have missed the tournament and also is likely to miss the tourney next year.

Some say the academic reforms still are not tough enough.

"I don't believe the academic reforms are anything more than a P.R. move because there are too many loopholes in it," said Ohio University professor David Ridpath, past president of an NCAA watchdog called The Drake Group.

On Wednesday, the Legislative Council also passed a proposal that would tighten the definition of an agent to include third parties. That would eliminate the loophole that allowed Cam Newton to retain his eligibility even after the NCAA determined Newton's father attempted to shop his son's services.

The rule could be approved Saturday.

"I think it's a great start," he said. "It will go to the board, and I think they'll put in place, and we'll see if we get the change we want. If not, we'll change it."

It's only a start.

On Friday, the NCAA has carved out a three-hour session to brief delegates about tougher penalties for infractions, a three-tiered new penalty structure, a quicker enforcement process and the rewriting of the massive 400-plus page rulebook.

Regardless of the changes sure to come in 2012, Emmert and others within the organization understand this process can only work if university presidents and athletic directors are on board.

"I don't think it has to be sold," vice president of enforcement Julie Roe Lach said. "What I've seen and heard is that there is a collective momentum that we've got to do something. I think the time is ripe for change, and not only is it ripe for a change, there's a need for change."

What can Emmert do?

He wants to make integrity chic again in college sports.

"We need to clarify who is in charge," he said. "University presidents and boards need to be fully in charge. Athletic departments need to be in charge of maximizing revenue. But it's about more than that. If you are part of university environment, your conduct has to be the same as anyone else at that college. Student-athletes have to be able to take advantage of the educational opportunities, and they have to play by the rules. That's not too much to ask, I don't think. And supporters have to understand that just because you're a fan doesn't mean you're in charge."

Emmert also awarded the organization's President Gerald R. Ford Award to Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summit, who could not attend Thursday because her team was playing at Kentucky.

Joan Cronan, Tennessee's women's athletic director, accepted the award on Summitt's behalf following a short video recounting the Hall of Fame coach's contributions to the game.

"I am truly humbled to receive an award named after a man who led this country as the 38th president," Summitt said at the end of the video. "As a head coach, I have a daily responsibility to make sure our Lady Vol players are students first and athletes second and I do that every day in words and in actions. I tell them they are at Tennessee to earn a degree. I love teaching the game and I love teaching life skills. I accompany that with the phrase that the gym is my classroom, and along the way we've been fortunate enough to win a few games, too."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-12-NCAA%20Convention-Emmert/id-815fa0e4b1244db19ff09219909439ac

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Mexico City fights trash pileup after closing dump (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? Mounds of debris piled up at illegal dumping sites around the city in recent weeks as the metropolis grappled with an avalanche of refuse after closing one of the world's largest landfills.

Garbage trucks queued up for more than six hours to dump loads at transfer stations, while overstuffed bags and other trash piled up even on the toniest streets over the holidays, when dumps in surrounding Mexico state refused to take the city's trash.

This week, city officials were caught in a front-page photograph dumping tons of trash at the same landfill they claimed to have closed in December, promising a better, greener waste management system for the city of 8.8 million.

"We're seeing a confusion obviously now in the handling of garbage," said Pierre Terras, who coordinates the toxins campaign for Greenpeace Mexico. "You can see it in the streets."

Like other mega-cities around the world, Mexico City is struggling to move from the informal garbage collection systems of the past to modern waste management designed to drastically cut the volume of material that ends up in landfills.

Mexico City officials count some 1,000 illegal dumping sites in a metropolis that generates more than 12,000 tons of trash a day. That includes some trash that is trucked in from neighboring towns in this sprawling metro area of more than 21 million ? one of the world's largest.

The Latin American capitals of Bogota and Buenos Aires, which face similar problems, have committed to Zero Trash, a campaign supported by environmental groups to manufacture reusable goods and materials, recycle and ideally cut the amount of unusable trash to zero. Greenpeace is pushing such a plan for Mexico City.

Everyone agreed that the Bordo Poniente landfill had to close as scheduled on Dec. 31, a move that could mean a drop in greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 2 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Built on a dry lake bed partly to handle the rubble from the devastating 1985 earthquake, it had taken in more than 76 million tons of garbage.

Critics say the city was unprepared, and it wasn't clear why there wasn't a solid alternative waste system in place after earlier plans to build four new garbage processing plants were abandoned.

Meanwhile an interim plan to take refuse to smaller dumps outside the city fell apart almost immediately.

Last week residents of Ixtapaluca in Mexico state blocked a federal highway to prevent Mexico City garbage trucks from unloading at a dump in their neighborhood, while other communities staged similar revolts.

Mexico City has required its residents to separate trash since 2003, but without enforcement or the necessary recycling equipment. Despite public service campaigns, there is no culture for recycling.

Residents still rely on an old collection system in which trucks roam the streets daily, with a garbage man ringing a bell to alert neighbors who come running with their trash cans and bags.

The small amount of recycling is done at the trucks, as garbage workers open bags to separate out glass, plastic and cardboard.

Dumping on the street brings heavy fines. But trash routinely piles up on Mexico City street corners under the cover of night from households where people can't wait around during the day for the trash bell.

"They haven't retrofitted the trucks, they haven't educated the public, they haven't reduced the amount of trash generated. Today we're the same or worse than we were five years ago," said Ramon Ojeda, president of the Mexican Academy for Environmental Rights. "It's a fiasco for the city government."

Secretary of Works and Services Fernando Aboitiz said the city has been preparing for the landfill closure for 14 months and didn't anticipate the reaction to dumping in Mexico state.

Since March, the city has stepped up its trash separation program, negotiating with the sanitation union so that trucks collect food wastes and other organic material separately from bottles, paper and other recyclable goods. Household recycling jumped dramatically once garbage trucks stopped taking mixed trash.

Truck driver Eduardo Cortes said on his route south of the city center, recycling went from about zero customers a year ago to 95 percent today. The transfer stations where he dumps his loads also require separated trash.

"If I keep taking it the old way, what am I going to do with it?" asked the 37-year-old, who collects up to 12 tons of refuse daily beginning at 5 a.m. "I can't provide them a service and then their garbage accumulates."

Aboitiz said as a result of the efforts so far, organic waste collection in the city has grown from just 100 tons a day a year ago to 2,800 a day. The city plans to increase that to 3,200 tons a day in the coming months. The city has a giant composting plant that continues to operate at the Bordo site.

The city is also upgrading its separation plant to process materials that can be burned to make cement from about 800 tons a day to 2,000 in the coming months.

Ojeda, Greenpeace and other environmental groups say while that process reduces garbage, it will add more pollutants and carcinogens to the air as materials are burned. They're urging the city to take other steps.

The city on Monday said it would begin installing huge recycling containers where people surreptitiously leave their trash.

Aboitiz said 200 containers will be installed in the next month, with up to 500 in place by midyear to recycle glass, metal, paper, food scraps and plastic.

The bins will be manned 24 hours a day to make sure they're not abused, he said, adding that eventually there will be bins within a two-block radius of every home in Mexico City.

"This will radically change the way we handle trash in Mexico City," Aboitiz said. "Before residents had to rely on the trucks ... now any hour of any day of the week, they can dispose of their trash."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_dump_closing

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Daily Kos: Mark Fiore - "Legal-Easy"

Kunckles:

Me Knuckles, me on the books now!

Huh-huh-huh-huh.

While you on vacation, my boss, Barack Obama, sign bill, make good holiday cheer for Knuckles!

What better time to sign bill than when whole nation is drunk!

Huh-huh-huh-huh.

Before, super-secret prison things I do were only legal in presidents' mind.

Now, they legal on paper, too!

Finally, indefi, indefin-- prison forever-- is US law, no need for stupid judges or constitutional stuff.

Me used to worry boss Obama would close Gitmo like he promise, but-- no worry!

Gitmo open and franchised . . . to Bagram and secret places around globe.

Because military tribunials are much better than sissy civilian courts.

Me not know what that chart just said. ?You try trick me!

And if you read law just right, it work on US citizens, too!

But don't worry, because Barack Obama said not to worry!

Announcer:

Goodness gracious, indefinite, preemptive or endless detention surely doesn't apply to US citizens unless current or future president says so. ?Don't you worry a bit.

Knuckles:

Me Knuckles, me legi, legitu-- legal!

Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/12/1053920/-Mark-Fiore-Legal-Easy

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Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Ford's Paul Mascarenas (update: video embedded)

Not enough car talk yesterday? Good news, Ford's chief technical officer Paul Mascarenas will be stopping by the booth today to talk cars with Tim. Join in at 5PM ET today after the break.

Update: Interview video now embedded.

Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Ford's Paul Mascarenas (update: video embedded)

Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Ford's Paul Mascarenas (update: video embedded) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/11/live-from-the-engadget-ces-stage-an-interview-with-fords-paul/

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Canada gives top honor to Scotty Bowman

Article updated: 12/30/2011 3:40 PM

NHL coaching legend Scotty Bowman can add another honor to his awards list: the Order of Canada. The lifetime achievement honor has been given to 66 notables, including hockey greats Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr. ? Associated Press file

OTTAWA ? Hockey legend and former NHL coach Scotty Bowman is among 66 notables to receive the Order of Canada.

The honor recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Considered one of hockey?s greatest coaches, Bowman won a record nine Stanley Cups behind the benches of the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He also is a senior adviser for hockey operations with the Chicago Blackhawks, who won the 2010 Stanley Cup under general manager Stan Bowman, Scotty?s son.

Bowman holds the record for the coach with most wins in league history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. Bowman joins such hockey greats as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr in the Order of Canada.

The order is chosen by an independent panel based on nominations from the public.

Source: http://dailyherald.com/article/20111230/sports/712309787/

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Winter solstice: Days to get longer starting Thursday

Since June 20, the altitude of the midday sun has been lowering as its direct rays have been gradually migrating to the south. The sun's altitude above the horizon at noontime is 47 degrees lower now for observers in the Northern Hemisphere, compared to six months ago.

This week, the sun will reach that point where it will appear to shine farthest to the south of the equator, ?marking the moment of the winter solstice ? the shortest day of 2011 in the Northern Hemisphere.

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The?winter solstice?occurs Thursday at 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT), which corresponds to 9:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday for observers further west. At the time, the sun will be passing over the over the Tropic of Capricorn.

Here's how northern winter solstice works: Since June 20, the altitude of the midday sun has been lowering as its direct rays have been gradually migrating to the south. The sun's altitude above the horizon at noontime is 47 degrees lower now, compared to six months ago. As we often mention, your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees, so the sun at midday is now nearly "five fists" lower in the southern sky compared to June 21.

Ancient skywatchers?had no understanding of this movement of the sun. They thought this celestial machinery might break down someday, and the sun would continue southward, never to return. As such, the lowering of the sun was cause for fear and wonder.? [10 Skywatching Misconceptions Explained]

As "armistice" is defined as a staying of the action of arms, "solstice" is a staying of the sun's apparent motion over the latitudes of the Earth. At the summer solstice, the sun stops its northward motion and begins heading south. At the winter solstice, it turns north.

Technically, at one minute past the moment of the solstice, the sun has turned around and started north.? It will cross the equator at the vernal equinox, passing into the Northern Hemisphere on March 20, at 1:14 a.m. EDT (or on the calendar date of March 19 for those living in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones).?

When the ancients saw the sun stop and slowly climb to a higher midday location, people rejoiced; here was a promise that spring would return. Most cultures had winter?solstice celebrations?and some adapted it to other events.?

In Persia, the solstice marked the birthday of Mithra, the Sun King. In ancient times, Dec. 25 was the date of the lavish Roman festival of Saturnalia, a sort of bacchanalian thanksgiving. Saturnalia was celebrated around the time of the winter solstice. And in 275 A.D., the Roman Emperor, Aurelian, commemorated a feast day coinciding with the winter solstice: Die Natalis Invicti Solis ("The Birthday of the Unconquered Sun").?

Among the many varied customs linked with this special season for thousands of years, the exchanging of gifts is almost universal. Mother Nature herself offers the sky observer in north temperate latitudes the two gifts of longest nights and a sky more transparent than usual.

One reason for the clarity of a winter's night is that cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air can. Hence, on many nights in the summer, the warm moisture-laden atmosphere causes the sky to appear hazier.

By day it is a milky, washed-out blue, which in winter becomes a richer, deeper and darker shade of blue.? For observers in northern locations, this only adds more luster to that part of the sky containing the beautiful wintertime constellations.

Indeed, the?brilliant stars and constellations?that now adorn our evening sky, such as Sirius, Orion, Capella, Taurus and many others is seemingly Nature's holiday decoration to commemorate the winter solstice and enlighten the long cold nights of winter.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/1wJ0FsWQino/Winter-solstice-Days-to-get-longer-starting-Thursday

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