Ohio officials take 200-pound boy from mother (AP)

CLEVELAND ? The case of an 8-year-old Cleveland Heights boy taken from his family because he weighs more than 200 pounds has renewed a debate on whether parents should lose custody if a child is severely obese.

The boy was removed from his family and was placed in foster care in October after county case workers said his mother wasn't doing enough to control his weight. The boy, at his weight, is considered at risk for developing such diseases as diabetes and high blood pressure. Government growth charts say most boys his age weigh about 60 pounds.

Roughly 2 million U.S. children are extremely obese ? weighing significantly more than what's considered healthy.

Cuyahoga County removed the boy because case workers considered the mother's inability to get his weight down a form of medical neglect. The county's Children and Family Services agency said Monday it stood by its custody move, which was approved by a judge.

"We have worked very hard with this family for 20 months before it got to this point," agency Administrator Patricia Rideout said.

Rideout said the issue has created a buzz among agency staff members and she has heard it was a popular Internet item. She said she was following state law in withholding the boy's name in his best interest.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity tries to address the roles of nutrition and physical activity in improving public health and preventing and controlling chronic diseases. It says achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is part of an ongoing lifestyle that can be adopted. It offers resources to help people determine which foods are needed for a healthy diet and promotes regular physical activity to reduce the risk for diseases and control weight.

There's no easy answer when it comes to determining who's to blame in such obesity cases, said Dr. Naim Alkhouri, who works with overweight children and their families at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital and leads its pediatric metabolic clinic.

"It's not only the parents or the child," he said. "Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. As a society we're all responsible."

It's not enough to just encourage some children to eat healthier and exercise, he said, because there's also "a big psychological component."

"When it comes to involving the authorities, I don't think we have clear guidelines," he said. "Starting the debate is a good thing. We need more guidance on how to react to the issue."

County workers were alerted to the boy's weight early last year after his mother took him to a hospital for breathing problems. He was diagnosed with sleep apnea, which is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep and can be weight-related, and he was given a breathing machine.

Parents have lost custody of obese children a few times in the United States, and an opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association in July said putting children temporarily in foster care is in some cases more ethical than obesity surgery, which can involve removing part of the stomach.

Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children's Hospital Boston, said the point isn't to blame parents but rather to act in children's best interest and get them help their parents can't provide.

Dr. Norman Fost, a medical ethicist at the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus, said Monday that foster care wouldn't cure the Ohio boy's obesity but might help.

"The goal is to make him less obese," he said.

Fost said the boy's sleep apnea could be related to his weight and could be imminently dangerous. A target weight of 150 pounds might improve the apnea problem, he said.

The boy's mother said she has worked on the weight issue.

"They are trying to make it seem like I am unfit, like I don't love my child," she told The Plain Dealer newspaper, which didn't reveal her identity because the case could involve abuse.

A public defender, Sam Amata, said Monday the custody removal would be challenged based on the contention that the boy is not in imminent danger.

"We don't feel there's that kind of requisite danger," he said.

___

Associated Press writer John Seewer in Toledo contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_re_us/us_obese_third_grader

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Shocking new way to create nanoporous materials

ScienceDaily (Nov. 27, 2011) ? Scientists have developed a new method of creating nanoporous materials with potential applications in everything from water purification to chemical sensors.

In order to produce a porous material it is necessary to have multiple components. When the minor component is removed, small pores are left in its place. Until now, creating nanoporous materials was limiting as it was believed the minor component had to be connected throughout the structure as well as to the outside in order for it to be removed.

However, new research published Nov. 27 in the journal Nature Materials has demonstrated a much more effective, flexible method called collective osmotic shock (COS) for creating porous structures. The research, by scientists at the University of Cambridge, has shown how by using osmotic forces even structures with minor components entirely encapsulated in a matrix can be made porous (or nanoporous).

The lead author, Dr Easan Sivaniah from the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, explains how the process works: "The experiment is rather similar to the classroom demonstration using a balloon containing salty water. How does one release the salt from the balloon? The answer is to put the balloon in a bath of fresh water. The salt can't leave the balloon but the water can enter, and it does so to reduce the saltiness in the balloon. As more water enters, the balloon swells, and eventually bursts, releasing the salt completely.

"In our experiments, we essentially show this works in materials with these trapped minor components, leading to a series of bursts that connect together and to the outside, releasing the trapped components and leaving an open porous material."

The researchers have also demonstrated how the nanoporous materials created by the unique process can be used to develop filters capable of removing very small dyes from water.

Dr Sivaniah added: "It is currently an efficient filter system that could be used in countries with poor access to fresh potable water, or to remove heavy metals and industrial waste products from ground water sources. Though, with development, we hope it can also be used in making sea-water drinkable using low-tech and low-power routes."

Other applications were explored in collaboration with groups having expertise in photonics (Dr Hernan Miguez, University of Sevilla) and optoelectronics (Professor Sir Richard Friend, Cavendish Laboratory). Light-emitting devices were demonstrated using titania electrodes templated from COS materials whilst the novel stack-like arrangement of materials provide uniquely efficient photonic multilayers with potential applications as sensors that change colour in response to absorbing trace amounts of chemicals, or for use in optical components.

Dr Sivaniah added, "We are currently exploring a number of applications, to include use in light-emitting devices, solar cells, electrodes for supercapacitors as well as fuels cells."

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Journal Reference:

1. Paul Zavala-Rivera, Kevin Channon, Vincent Nguyen, Easan Sivaniah, Dinesh Kabra, Richard H. Friend, S. K. Nataraj, Shaheen A. Al-Muhtaseb, Alexander Hexemer, Mauricio E. Calvo, Hernan Miguez. Collective osmotic shock in ordered materials. Nature Materials, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3179

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111127194332.htm

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Technique puts chemistry breakthroughs on the fast track

Monday, November 28, 2011

Scientists can now take that "a-ha" moment to go with a method Princeton University researchers developed ? and successfully tested ? to speed up the chances of an unexpected yet groundbreaking chemical discovery.

The researchers report this month in the journal Science a technique to accomplish "accelerated serendipity" by using robotics to perform more than 1,000 chemical reactions a day with molecules never before combined. In a single day of trials, the Princeton researchers discovered a shortcut for producing pharmaceutical-like compounds that shaves weeks off the traditional process, the researchers report.

The basis of the research was to combine new technology with a unique, rapid-reaction approach that could allow chemists to explore unheard-of and potentially important chemical combinations without devoting years to the pursuit, explained senior researcher and co-author David MacMillan, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Princeton and chair of the department. MacMillan worked with lead author Andrew McNally, a research associate in MacMillan's lab, and Princeton graduate student and co-author Christopher Prier.

"This is a very different way of approaching how we come up with valuable chemical reactions," MacMillan said.

"Our process is designed specifically for serendipity to occur. The molecules that should be combined are those for which the result is unknown," he said. "In our lab, we used this technique to make new findings in a much more routine and rapid fashion, and we show that if you have enough events involved, serendipity won't be rare. In fact, you can enable it to happen on almost a daily basis."

The MacMillan lab's technique does more than just expedite the discovery process ? the researchers actually developed a unique framework for creating new materials or finding better ways of producing existing ones, said Stephen Buchwald, a professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"This is a particularly brilliant approach," said Buchwald, who is familiar with the work but had no role in it.

"Usually, one takes molecules that one thinks will react and tries to figure out the best way to achieve that reaction," he said. "This team took molecules for which there was no obvious reaction between them and looked for 'accidental' reactivity. This approach could be useful for any field that requires new types of matter or a more efficient means of synthesizing known compounds."

Illustrating that principle, the Princeton researchers combined two molecules with no history of reacting to generate the type of chemical functionality found in eight of the world's top 100 pharmaceuticals, MacMillan said. The reaction involved a nitrogen-based molecule known as an amine that has a hydrogen and carbon pair, and a circle of atoms stabilized by their bonds known as an aromatic ring.

The result was a carbon-nitrogen molecule with an aromatic ring, a building block of many amine-based pharmaceuticals, explained MacMillan. This class of drugs mimics natural amine molecules in the body and includes medications such as antihistamines, decongestants and antidepressants. In drug development, chemists "tweak" organic molecules to enhance their ability to bind with and disrupt enzymes in a biological system, which is how pharmaceuticals basically operate, MacMillan said. A molecule with an aromatic ring has increased reactivity and makes the tweaking process much easier, he said, but attaching the aromatic ring is a process in itself that typically involves two to three weeks of successive chemical reactions.

The reaction MacMillan and his team found provides a quick way around that.

"We quickly realized that any pharmaceutical research chemist could immediately take these very simple components and, via a reaction no one had known about, start assembling molecules with an adjacent aromatic ring rapidly," MacMillan said.

"Instead of having to construct these important molecules circuitously using lots of different chemistry over a period of days if not weeks, we can now do it immediately in the space of one chemical reaction in one day."

Buchwald said that the rapid production of this molecule is as surprising as it is significant.

"The way these types of molecules ? alpha aryl amines ? were produced in this project is highly efficient, and no person could truthfully say that they would have predicted this reaction," Buchwald said. "This group was able to take a reaction that no one knew was possible and make it practical and useful in a very short time. This really speaks to the power of their overall method."

MacMillan conceived of accelerated serendipity after reflecting on his doctoral work at the University of California-Irvine during the 1990s. His work there hinged on two unforeseen yet important reactions that occurred in the span of six years, he said. When envisioning the project reported in Science, MacMillan calculated that if, in a single day, he ran the equivalent of one reaction per day for three years ? nearly 1,100 reactions ? the odds favored a new discovery, he said.

The Princeton team began running reactions once a day using a high-throughput, automated reaction accelerator in Princeton's Merck Center for Catalysis, combining on a one-to-one ratio molecules with no reported affect on each other.

Central to the process is a technique developed in MacMillan's lab and reported in Science in 2008 to synthesize chemical reactions using a low-power light source, such as a household light bulb. Known as photoredox catalysis, the reaction takes place when inorganic catalysts absorb light particles from the light source then pass an electron onto the organic molecules, which creates, or synthesizes, a new compound.

For the latest work, MacMillan and his team carried out this process on the molecules before each reaction cycle. Because the use of photoredox catalysts in organic-compound synthesis is relatively new ? it has been typically used by chemists and in industry for processes such as energy storage and hydrogen production ? it has not been as thoroughly explored as the more common method of using catalysts derived from metals such as nickel, gold and copper, MacMillan said. Thus, he said, elements with no history of reacting with each other could possibly produce results under this different approach.

"If one wanted to find new reactions, it would have to be done in a completely new area of chemistry research where the chances of finding something completely unknown are probably higher than continuing in an area that has been studied for the past 50 years," MacMillan said.

The Princeton researchers produced numerous new reactions, but "new" does not necessarily equal interesting or important, MacMillan said. They analyzed and experimented with each new reaction for its potential application, a process that revealed the nitrogen-carbon molecule with the aromatic ring.

An important feature of the Princeton researchers' molecule ? like any important discovery ? is that its application extends beyond the material itself, MacMillan said. He and his colleagues have begun mining the very process that created the molecule for indications that other novel reactions can be brought about.

"If we found this was one really valuable reaction, we wondered what others exist that we just don't know about," MacMillan said.

"Another very valuable aspect of the molecule we created is that once we understood how it happened, it set us up to design other completely new reactions based upon our understanding of what happened initially," he said. "Now, we're applying similar techniques broadly, finding new reactions continually and determining which ones are important.

"To us that really proved the point of why you want serendipitous findings," MacMillan said. "They present new knowledge, and based upon that new knowledge you can invent."

###

Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu

Thanks to Princeton University for this article.

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Hydrofracking Debate Spurs Huge Spending by Industry

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Energy companies that drill for natural gas have spent unprecedented amounts of money lobbying the Cuomo administration as environmentalist groups have struggled to be heard.

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UN conference to deal with carbon reductions

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) ? The U.N.'s top climate official said Sunday she expects governments to make a long-delayed decision on whether industrial countries should make further commitments to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Amid fresh warnings of climate-related disasters in the future, delegates from about 190 countries were gathering in Durban for a two-week conference beginning Monday. They hope to break deadlocks on how to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. climate secretariat, said the stakes for the negotiations are high, underscored by new scientific studies.

Under discussion was "nothing short of the most compelling energy, industrial, behavioral revolution that humanity has ever seen," she said.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a hero of the movement that ended apartheid in South Africa, led a rally at a rugby stadium later Sunday urging negotiators to be more ambitious during what were expected to be difficult talks. Unseasonably cold, windy weather kept the crowd to a few hundred spectators.

Tutu, dressed in ecumenical purple robes, he said the struggle to end the racist regime in his homeland is now followed by a fight against "another huge enemy, and no country can fight this particular enemy on its own."

He chided countries that have been reluctant to renew pledges to cut carbon emissions. Whether rich or poor, "we have only one home. This is the only home we have," he said. "For your own sakes, you who are rich, we are inviting you: Come on the side of right."

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI ? sometimes called the "green pope" for his outspokenness on environmental issues ? also called for the delegates in Durban to heed the needs of the world's poor.

"I hope that all members of the international community agree on a responsible and credible response to this worrisome and complex phenomenon, taking into account the needs of the poorest and future generations," he said during his traditional Sunday blessing from his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Hopes were scrapped for an overall treaty governing global carbon emissions after the collapse of talks at a climate summit in Copenhagen two years ago. The "big bang" approach has been replaced by incremental efforts to build new institutions to help shift the global economy from carbon-intensive energy generation, industries and transportation to more climate-friendly technologies.

But an underlying division between rich and poor countries on the future of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol has stymied the negotiators.

Figueres said she hoped for a decision on extending emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto accord, which has been postponed for two years. Previous commitments expire next year.

"It's a tall order for governments to face this," but they show no interest in yet another delay, she said.

High on the conference agenda is the management of a fund scaling up over the next eight years to $100 billion annually to help poor countries cope with changing climate conditions.

Questions remain how the money will be governed and distributed, but more immediately, how those funds can be generated from new sources beyond established development channels from the West.

Ideas on the table include a carbon surcharge on international shipping and on air tickets, and a levy on international financial transactions ? sometimes called a Robin Hood tax.

A committee of 40 countries worked for the past year on drawing up a plan to administer the Green Climate Fund, but agreement on the final paper was blocked by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and the final contentious issues will have to be thrashed out in Durban.

Todd Stern, the chief U.S. delegate, said the negotiations had been too rushed.

"I am pretty confident that we're going to be able to work these things out," he told reporters last week, without naming the problematic issues.

But Figueres said the future of the Kyoto accord, which calls on 37 wealthy nations to reduce carbon emissions 5 percent below 1990 levels by the end of next year, is the most difficult political issue that nations face.

"If it were easy we would have done it years ago," she said.

Poor countries want the industrial nations to commit to more cuts for a second period, saying the protocol is the only legal instrument ever adopted to control carbon and other gases that trap the Earth's heat.

But the wealthy countries, with growing consensus, say they cannot carry the burden alone, and want rapidly developing countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa to join their own legally binding regime to slow their emissions growth and move toward low-carbon economies.

"We need to protect the Kyoto Protocol as the bedrock of the global climate regime," Tim Gore, the climate strategist for the aid agency Oxfam International, told The Associated Press.

In the weeks preceding the conference delegates have been bombarded by new research and scientific reports predicting grim consequences for failing to act.

The U.N. weather agency reported last week that greenhouse gases have reached record-level concentrations in the atmosphere since the start of the industrial era in 1750. New figures for 2010 from the World Meteorological Organization show that carbon dioxide levels are now at 389 parts per million, up from about 280 ppm 250 years ago.

This week the weather agency is due to report on global temperatures for 2011, which are expected to show a continuing long-term trend of global warming. The Geneva-based agency said last year that 2010 was the hottest year in the books.

The Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said "unprecedented extreme weather" caused by global warming will become increasingly frequent and make some places unlivable.

___

Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-27-AF-Climate-Conference/id-3f6ae13f9f6742d6abc0e0424c4c9860

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Hack your monitor and 3D glasses, ensure ultimate privacy

You've always wanted a bit more privacy with your monitor (porn jokes notwithstanding) and if you're willing to tear apart a spare LCD monitor and a pair of 3D theater glasses (thanks, Dreamworks and Pixar!), you'll get it. In lieu of a thicker tinfoil hat, Instructables' dimovi suggests removing the LCD's frame, cutting out its polarized film with a utility knife before removing the screen's film adhesive with a combination of cleaner and paint thinner and reassembling the monitor. Once complete, grab the glasses, cut out the lenses and combine them with the plastic film removed from the monitor before inserting them back into their frames. The result is an LCD monitor that displays a white screen to anyone not wearing the customized glasses, your actions being confidential, no matter what they might happen to be. Check the how-to video embedded after the break, or hit the source link for full instructions

Continue reading Hack your monitor and 3D glasses, ensure ultimate privacy

Hack your monitor and 3D glasses, ensure ultimate privacy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack A Day  |  Instructables  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/26/hack-your-monitor-and-3d-glasses-ensure-ultimate-privacy/

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Battery fires prompt govt probe of Chevy Volt

WASHINGTON?? New fires involving the lithium-ion batteries in General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Volt have prompted an investigation to assess the risk of fire in the electric car after a serious crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday.

One Volt battery pack that was being closely monitored following a government crash test caught fire Thursday, the safety administration said in a statement. Another recently crash-tested battery emitted smoke and sparks, the statement said.

GM, which was informed of the investigation on Friday, said in a statement that the Volt "is safe and does not present undue risk as part of normal operation or immediately after a severe crash."

The latest fires are in addition to a battery fire in a crash-tested Volt six months ago.

NHTSA learned of a possible fire risk involving damaged Volt batteries when a fire erupted in a Volt that was being stored in a parking lot of a test facility in Burlington, Wis. The fire was severe enough to cause several other vehicles parked nearby to catch fire as well.

The car had been subjected to a side-impact crash test more than three weeks earlier, on May 12, during which the battery was punctured and its coolant line ruptured.

Last week's tests of three battery packs were designed to replicate the May test. In that test, the Volt was subjected to a simulated side-impact collision into a narrow object like a tree or pole followed by a rollover, the agency said.

The first battery tested last week didn't catch fire. But a battery test on Nov. 17 initially experienced a temporary temperature increase, and on Thursday caught fire while being monitored. Another battery tested on Nov. 18, which was rotated 180 degrees within hours after the test, began to smoke and emit sparks shortly after the rotation.

The tests were conducted by NHTSA and the Energy and Defense departments at a defense facility near Hampton Roads, Va.

So far, no fires have been reported in Volts involved in roadway crashes, NHTSA said. More than 5,000 of the vehicles have been sold.

It's too soon to tell whether the investigation will lead to a recall of any vehicles or parts, but the government will ensure consumers are informed promptly if that occurs, the agency said.

With its OnStar safety communications systems a part of the car, "GM knows real time about any crash significant enough to potentially compromise battery integrity," the automaker said. "Since July, GM has implemented a post-crash protocol that includes the depowering of the battery after a severe crash, returning the battery to a safe and low-powered state."

Electric vehicles are critical to President Barack Obama's plans to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. He has called for putting 1 million of the vehicles on the road by 2015.

The Volt and Nissan's Leaf, with more than 8,000 cars on the road in the U.S., are among the first mass-marketed plug-in electric cars. They went on sale in the 2011 model year. Other automakers are also working on electric vehicles.

Safety testing hasn't raised concerns about electric vehicles other than the Volt, NHTSA said. But the agency is asking manufacturers who have electric cars on the market, or who plan to introduce electric vehicles in the near future, for more detailed information on their battery testing as well as what procedures they have established for discharging and handling batteries, including recommendations for reducing fire risks.

"NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles have incredible potential to save consumers money at the pump, help protect the environment, create jobs and strengthen national security by reducing our dependence on oil," the agency said.

After the first battery fire, GM officials complained that NHTSA did not drain the battery of energy as called for under the automaker's crash procedures. NHTSA normally drains fuel from gasoline-powered cars after crash tests, they said.

Lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable, have been the subject of several recalls of consumer electronics. Millions of laptop batteries made by Sony Corp. for Apple Inc., Dell Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and other PC makers were recalled in 2006 and 2007 after it was discovered that they could overheat and ignite.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning to airlines about the potential for fires in cargo containing lithium-ion and non-rechargeable lithium metal batteries after a United Parcel Service plane crashed near Dubai last year, killing both pilots. The plane, which was on fire, was carrying thousands of lithium batteries.

Incorrectly packaged, damaged or overheated batteries can catch fire, the FAA said. Fires involving lithium-ion batteries can reach 1,100 degrees, close to the melting point of aluminum, a key material in airplane construction. Lithium-metal battery fires are far hotter, capable of reaching 4,000 degrees.

GM and NHTSA have pointed out that cars with gasoline-powered engines are susceptible to fires after a crash.

In the event of a crash, NHTSA's advice to consumers is to do the same thing they would do in a gasoline-powered car ? get out of the vehicle and move a safe distance away. The agency also recommends against storing a severely damaged electric car in a garage or near other vehicles.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45439574/ns/business-autos/

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Marines to wind down Afghan combat in 2012 (AP)

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan ? U.S. Marines will march out of Afghanistan by the thousands next year, winding down combat in the Taliban heartland and testing the U.S. view that Afghan forces are capable of leading the fight against a battered but not yet beaten insurgency in the country's southwestern reaches, senior U.S. military officers say.

At the same time, U.S. reinforcements will be sent to eastern Afghanistan in a bid to reverse recent gains by insurgents targeting Kabul, the capital.

Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in an Associated Press interview that the number of Marines in Helmand province will drop "markedly" in 2012, and the role of those who stay will shift from countering the insurgency to training and advising the Afghan security forces.

The change suggests an early exit from Afghanistan for the Marine Corps, even as the prospects for solidifying their recent successes are uncertain.

"Am I OK with that? The answer is `yes,'" Amos said. "We can't stay in Afghanistan forever."

He added: "Will it work? I don't know."

At stake is President Barack Obama's pledge to win in Afghanistan ? the war he touted during his 2008 presidential campaign as worth fighting, while pledging to get out of Iraq. Facing a stalemate in 2009, Obama ordered an extra 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan ? including about 10,000 Marines to Helmand province ? on the belief that if the Taliban were to retake the government al-Qaida would soon return to the land from which it plotted the 9/11 attacks.

Also at stake are the sacrifices of the nearly 300 Marines killed in Afghanistan over the past three years.

Weighing against prolonging the conflict is its unsustainable cost and what author and former Defense Department official Bing West has called its "grinding inconclusiveness."

In a series of pep talks to Marines in Helmand this past week, Amos said the Marine mission in Afghanistan would end in the next 12 to 18 months. That is as much as two years before the December 2014 deadline, announced a year ago, for all U.S. and other foreign troops to leave the country.

"Savor being out here together," Amos told Marines on Thanksgiving at an outpost along the Helmand River called Fiddler's Green, "because it's going to be over" soon.

He was referring only to the Marines' role, which is limited mainly to Helmand, although there also are Marine special operations forces in western Afghanistan. The U.S. military efforts in Kandahar province and throughout the volatile eastern region are led by the Army, along with allied forces.

Helmand and neighboring Kandahar for the past two years have been the main focus of the U.S.-led effort to turn the tide against a resilient Taliban insurgency. In that period, the Taliban and other insurgent networks have grown bolder and more violent in Afghanistan's eastern provinces where they have the advantage of sanctuary across the border in Pakistan and where U.S. and NATO forces are spread more thinly than in the south.

During two days of visiting Marine outposts throughout Helmand this week, Amos touted progress against the Taliban and was told by Marine commanders that plans are well under way to close U.S. bases, ship war equipment home and prepare for a major drawdown of Marines beginning next summer. Amos declined to discuss the number of Marines expected to leave in 2012, but indications are that 10,000 or more may depart.

There are now about 19,400 Marines in Helmand, and that is due to fall to about 18,500 by the end of this year.

Marine Gen. John Allen, the top overall commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was ordered by Obama last summer to pull out 10,000 U.S. forces by the end of this year and another 23,000 by the end of September 2012. That has driven the move to accelerate a transition to Afghan control.

Allen said in an interview Thursday that winding down the Marine combat mission in Helmand makes sense because security "has gotten so much better now." He said the pullout of 23,000 U.S. forces in 2012, including an unspecified number of Marines, likely will begin in the summer, which historically is the height of the fighting season in Afghanistan. Allen said Afghan security forces, often criticized for weak battlefield performance, desertion and a lack of will, are closer to being ready to assume lead responsibility for their nation's defense than many people believe.

"The Afghan national security forces are better than they thought they were, and they're better than we thought they were," Allen said.

That is why he thinks it's safe to lessen the Marine's combat role in Helmand, reduce their numbers and put the Afghans in charge.

That approach also allows Allen to build up elsewhere. He said that in 2012 he will put more U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, increase the number of U.S. special operations forces who are playing a key role in developing Afghan forces, and add intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance resources. He said he plans to add "several battalions" of U.S. forces in the east. He gave no specific troop number, but a battalion usually totals about 750.

"I'm going to put a lot more forces and capabilities into the east," he said. "The east is going to need some additional forces because our intent is to expand the security zone around Kabul."

The top Marine in Helmand, Maj. Gen. John Toolan, said he is not convinced that 2012 is the best time to shift the focus to eastern Afghanistan, where the Haqqani network has taken credit for a series of spectacular attacks recently, including suicide bombings inside Kabul, the heavily secured capital. He said he believes the Taliban movement in southern Afghanistan is still the biggest threat to the viability of the central government.

Toolan said the Marines continue to make important progress against a Taliban whose leaders are showing signs of frustration and division.

"They're starting to break up," Toolan said. "There's still a lot to be done to see that these insurgents stay on their backs."

Stephen Biddle, a defense analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations and who recently visited U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said there is a risk to putting the Afghans in the lead role in Helmand as early as 2012.

"If you throw them into the deep end and put them in the lead in really tough neighborhoods you run the risk that they get their noses bloodied early in ways that could make it hard for them to recover because they lose confidence," Biddle said in an interview in Washington. On the other hand, if the U.S. and its allies wait until 2013 or 2014 to hand off to the Afghans in the most challenging areas, there would be less chance to bail them out.

"It's a dilemma with no obvious solution to it," he said.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_war_strategy

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Prosecutor in 1991: Reagan, Bush not criminally liable in Iran-Contra (tbo)

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Thanksgiving kicks off fight for holiday sales (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The holiday shopping season starts in earnest on Thursday, with retailers anxious to see how willing U.S. consumers are to spend despite an endless stream of scary headlines about the fragile economy and their own precarious finances.

The shopping period, which accounts for about one-third of annual sales for many chains, has been churning along for some time as retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Toys R Us started early by offering layaway programs, and others offering major discounts to encourage buying.

But shoppers' verve has cooled of late and retail executives are predicting a more competitive season than 2010.

So when millions of Americans are done with their turkey dinners on Thursday, then head to stores to get a jump-start on "Black Friday" -- the single biggest shopping day of the year -- it will set the tone for the entire season.

"If Thursday and Friday are not very good, chances are it will not pick up going up to Christmas," said Keith Jelinek, a director at consulting firm AlixPartners's retail practice.

Wal-Mart, Gap Inc's Old Navy and Sears Holdings' Kmart are again open on Thanksgiving Day to get a headstart, while Toys R Us opens Thursday evening.

To narrow the gap in store hours with rivals, discounter Target Corp, electronics chain Best Buy and department store chains Macy's Inc and Kohl's Corp will open at midnight, their earliest-ever starts.

Others, including J.C. Penney Co Inc are opening early Friday morning as they did last year.

Retailers concede the pressure is on.

"At the end of the day, we are trying to respond to what our customers want to do, and they are telling us that's when they want to shop," Mike Vitelli, president, Americas and enterprise executive vice president of Best Buy, told Reuters.

The National Retail Federation expects sales in November and December to be up 2.8 percent over last year, but below 2010's 5.2 percent gain. So retailers, online and offline, see little margin for error.

BARGAINS OR BUST

Wal-Mart starts its Black Friday "doorbuster" deals on Thursday at 10 p.m. at its stores. Amazon.com Inc, not to be outdone, will offer its deals online at 9 p.m.

Newspaper inserts on Thursday morning were boasting of the usual Black Friday bargains designed to draw people into stores. For example, Old Navy was selling jeans for more than half off while Target was offering 46-inch, high-definition televisions for about 45 percent off.

The knock-down-drag-out fight comes as the rebound in sales cooled in October, when many top chains like Macy's and Saks reported disappointing sales.

It will be even tougher for chains that have struggled with sales declines lately, like Gap and Penney.

The NRF expects 152 million people to hit stores this weekend, up 10.1 percent from last year.

But much of that traffic will be fueled by bargain hunting, analysts said, with the real test coming after the weekend, when retailers see if spending happens only if there are big bargains on the table.

Last year, after a strong Black Friday weekend, shoppers sat on their hands until closer to Christmas.

This year, those looking for steals beyond the requisite Black Friday specials may be disappointed.

In a research note on Tuesday, Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner said: "Bargain hunters may have a tougher time finding those markdowns this year, as retailers are keeping a sharper eye on profit margins."

After the weekend blitz ends, it may become a game of who blinks first -- the consumer or the merchant.

"I think as time goes on, you're going to see a leveling and a softness in the numbers," said Al Ferrara, director of BDO USA's national retail practice.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York, additional reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Bernard Orr and Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/bs_nm/us_usa_retail_thanksgiving

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2 of 3 arrested US students leave Egypt

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 file image from Egyptian state television, three American students are displayed to the camera by Egyptian authorities following their arrest during protests in Cairo, where an Egyptian official said they were throwing firebombs at security forces. A spokeswoman for the American University in Cairo identified the students as Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind.; Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo.; and Gregory Porter, a 19 year-old Drexel University student from Glenside, Pa. An official says an Egyptian court has ordered release of 3 US students arrested during Cairo unrest.(AP Photo/ Egyptian TV, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 file image from Egyptian state television, three American students are displayed to the camera by Egyptian authorities following their arrest during protests in Cairo, where an Egyptian official said they were throwing firebombs at security forces. A spokeswoman for the American University in Cairo identified the students as Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind.; Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo.; and Gregory Porter, a 19 year-old Drexel University student from Glenside, Pa. An official says an Egyptian court has ordered release of 3 US students arrested during Cairo unrest.(AP Photo/ Egyptian TV, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? Two of three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo caught flights out of Egypt early Saturday, and the third was scheduled to leave later in the morning, according to an airport official and an attorney for one of the trio.

The three Americans were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square last Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

Luke Gates, 21, left Cairo early Saturday morning on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, an airport official said in Cairo. Gregory Porter, 19, also left the country, his attorney said.

All three were expected to have departed on separate flights by later Saturday morning, the airport official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

An Egyptian court ordered the release of Gates, Porter and 19-year-old Derrik Sweeney on Thursday. All were studying at the American University in Cairo.

Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents Porter, a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said police escorted the three students to the Cairo airport Friday. Simon later said his client was on a flight.

"I am pleased and thankful to report that Gregory Porter is in the air. He has departed Egyptian airspace and is on his way home," Simon said, though he declined to say when Porter was expected back in the U.S.

Simon said he and Porter's mother both spoke by phone with the student, who is from the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside.

"He clearly conveyed to me ... that he was OK," Simon told the AP.

Gates is a student at Indiana University. It wasn't clear when he was expected back in the U.S.

Joy Sweeney told the AP her son, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Missouri, would fly from Frankfurt to Washington, then on to St. Louis. She said family will meet him when he arrives late Saturday.

"I am ecstatic," Sweeney said Friday. "I can't wait for him to get home tomorrow night. I can't believe he's actually going to get on a plane. It is so wonderful."

Sweeney said she had talked with her son Friday afternoon and "he seemed jubilant."

"He thought he was going to be able to go back to his dorm room and get his stuff," she said. "We said, 'No, no, don't get your stuff, we just want you here.'"

She said American University will ship his belongings home.

Sweeney had earlier said she did not prepare a Thanksgiving celebration this week because the idea seemed "absolutely irrelevant" while her son still was being held.

"I'm getting ready to head out and buy turkey and stuffing and all the good fixings so that we can make a good Thanksgiving dinner," she said Friday.

___

Associated Press writers Sandy Kozel in Washington; Kathy Matheson and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; and Dana Fields in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-26-Egypt-American%20Students/id-8f463fb3d1d0442abdf17e9a76b3effa

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iPhone Live 181: Apparently we?re barristas

Subscribe via iTunes: Audio | Video Subscribe via RSS: Audio | Video Download directly: Audio | Video Show notes Rene, Georgia, and Seth talk about the future of consumer electronics and the mythical Apple Television, Samsung vs. Sprint ads, top 10 apps...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/msOMwSQkBbc/story01.htm

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A Very Gaga Thanksgiving Promo: Celebrate the Holidays With Deep Fried Waffles!

As we told you earlier, ABC will be celebrating Thanksgiving this year with "A Very Gaga Thanksgiving," a 90-minute special hosted by the Mother Monster tomorrow night.

The first promos for the special - conceived, starring and directed by Gaga herself - will show a different side of the typically bombastic provocateur and chanteuse.

Her special will be lighter on shocking outfits (relatively speaking) and elaborate stage performances and heavy on heart. There will even be some cooking involved.

Lady Gaga will duet with 85-year-old Tony Bennett, give a tearful interview with Katie Couric and learning to make deep-fried turkey and waffles with chef Art Smith.

Check out the promo for A Very Gaga Thanksgiving below ...

A Very Gaga Thanksgiving Preview

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/11/a-very-gaga-thanksgiving-promo-celebrate-the-holidays-with-deep/

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American Idol Champ Scotty McCreery?s Lip Sync Flub At The Macy?s Parade

It has been quite a year for current American Idol winner Scotty McCreery and that includes the opportunity to sing at the Macy?s Thanksgiving Day parade. Quite the honor and one that he nor anyone else will forget anytime soon. For many across the United State the Macy?s Thanksgiving Day parade is must see and today when viewers turned in they got to see a performance by AI winner Scotty McCreery. Unfortunately things did not go the way the singer or I am sure viewers imagined they would. Instead of a stealth performance that wowed, there was a massive lip-syncing flub by the singer. I know you are probably thinking what is the big deal, it is not uncommon that singers lip sync at the infamous parade. Well my friends the big deal is Scotty made it oh so obvious he was not singing, you can see it all for yourself in the below video. You can hear his voice but his lips are not moving at all what so ever, oops. To make the situation even worse he did start singing but it was too little too late by that point. Yep anyone watching could see there was a [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/CZ-6wTsVKv0/

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US awaits release of 3 students held in Egypt (AP)

PHILADELPHIA ? Family and friends of three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo waited anxiously Friday for news that they had been released from police custody.

Derrik Sweeney, Luke Gates and Gregory Porter, who attend the American University in Cairo, were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

A court in Egypt ordered the release of the students, a lawyer in Philadelphia confirmed Thursday.

Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents Porter, a 19-year-old student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said he spoke by phone with Porter, describing the student's demeanor as "calm and measured, demonstrating a maturity well beyond his 19 years."

"He was extremely thankful and appreciative for our efforts and the unconditional support of his mother and father," Simon said.

Porter is from Glenside, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia.

Sweeney's mother, Joy Sweeney, said she is "absolutely elated" at the news of her 19-year-old son's release.

"I can't wait to give him a huge hug and tell him how much I love him," she said, adding that the news of the court order was the best Thanksgiving gift.

The 21-year-old Gates is a student at Indiana University.

His parents released a statement Thursday through the school, saying they were "extremely happy" to hear that their son would soon be released.

"This has been a difficult situation, and while we are disappointed that he will be held a few days longer to complete administrative procedures related to his release, we're confident he will be home soon," Bill and Sharon Gates wrote.

The State Department released a statement saying it was trying to independently confirm the reports of the students' release.

Earlier Thursday, Egypt officials said the Abdeen Court in Cairo had ordered their release. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. They did not say when the students would be released.

Joy Sweeney said she wasn't sure when her son, a student at Georgetown University, would be returning to their home in Jefferson City, Mo.

"If he can find his passport (then he'll leave) tomorrow, if not, it won't be until Monday," she said.

She said the U.S. consul general in Egypt, Roberto Powers, recommended that her son leave Egypt as soon as possible.

"He also conveyed that that was what Derrik had conveyed to him that he wanted to do. He was enjoying his experience but (was) ready to be done with it," Sweeney said.

Derrik Sweeney interned for U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., earlier this year. Luetkemeyer's spokesman Paul Sloca, said the congressman is "extremely pleased that he's safe and coming home, especially on Thanksgiving."

Sweeney said she had not prepared for a Thanksgiving celebration, although a friend had taken her some food. She said the idea of a Thanksgiving feast had seemed "absolutely irrelevant" before the news of her son's pending freedom.

Asked what she thought her son would take away from his arrest, Sweeney said she thought he would make something useful of it.

"I'm sure that he'll put a life-lesson learning experience into a positive story," Sweeney said. "He's a writer, he will write about this experience."

___

Associated Press reporter Ed Donahue in Washington contributed to this report. Maggie Michael reported from Cairo.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_us/egypt_american_students

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Iceland rejects Chinese bid for resort land (AP)

REYKJAVIK, Iceland ? Iceland on Friday rejected a controversial application by one of China's wealthiest entrepreneurs to purchase land for a resort, saying there was no precedent for a foreigner to own such a large tract.

Developer Huang Nubo, a 55-year-old former Chinese government official, had been ready to pay 1 billion Icelandic kronur ($8.8 million) for the 30,639-hectare (75,700-acre) tract ? a remote, treeless stretch on Iceland's north shore that represent 0.3 percent of the island.

The scale of the proposed development had raised suspicions in Iceland, with some claiming it could be a covert attempt by Beijing to establish a toehold in the Arctic, but Huang defended the project as a high-end resort that would preserve the environment.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement "that it's not possible to look past how much land the company wanted to purchase ... and that there is no precedent for land on this scale being sold to foreigners."

An Icelandic law that limits sales to foreigners "protect Iceland's independence and the sovereignty of the land and Icelander's opportunities to benefit from their resources," the ministry said.

Huang's representative in Iceland, Halldor Johannsson, said he was surprised by the rebuff, and added that there was nothing in Icelandic law specifically about the size of a parcel of land.

The Interior Ministry said the 1966 law on property requires that a company have a legal address in Iceland, that all directors have legal addresses in Iceland for at least five years, that four-fifth of the shares should be owned by Icelandic citizens and that Icelandic citizens should form a majority on the board of directors.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_iceland_chinese_land

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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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Mortgage rates for the past 52 weeks, at a glance (AP)

Skip to navigation ? Skip to content ? By The Associated Press The Associated Press ? 2?hrs?28?mins?ago

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage hovered above its record low for the fourth straight week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. Here's a look at rates for fixed and adjustable mortgages over the past 52 weeks.

Current week's average Last week's average 52-week high 52-week low

30-year fixed 3.98 4.00 5.05 3.94

15-year fixed 3.30 3.31 4.29 3.26

5-year adjustable 2.91 2.97 3.92 2.96

1-year adjustable 2.79 2.98 3.40 2.81

All values are in percentage points.

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

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Copyright ? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mortgage_rates_glance

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