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Inside the Zazi Courtroom

(CBS) CBS News investigative producer Pat Milton was in the courtroom today as Najibullah Zazi pleaded adidas shoes outletguilty to plotting to bomb the New York City subways.

Milton reports that Zazi “appeared respectful and confident” as he stood before a federal judge in Brooklyn, and pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Americans.

His plan, he said, was to bomb the New York City subway system during the anniversary of 9/11 last year.

Zazi spoke in a hushed courtroom. He told the court in very clear tones that he went to Pakistan with the intention of joining the Taliban. He wanted to fight against the U.S. Troops in Afghanistan. He was said when he got there however, he was recruited by al Qaeda. He went to their training camps, and learned the use of weapons.
While he was also there, there was a decision to be made that he was going to conduct a martyrdom operation. His operation that he decided to do was the NYC subway systems - to attack them. He made that decision with al Qaedauggs outletoperatives.

Milton said Zazi was wearing black and prison garb with bright orange sneakers. He stood tall next to his attorney with his hands folded in front of him as he spoke to the judge.

The judge asked him, by a martyrdom operation, do you mean a “suicide bomb?”

Zazi said that he would sacrifice himself, to save the lives of others.

He wanted, he said, to bring attention to war in afghanistan.

Colorado senators cheer new credit card rulesDenver Business Journal

Colorado’s senators applauded Monday as a new set of federal rules on credit cards took effect.

“The reforms taking effect today, while long overdue, are a major step forward for hardworking consumers who play by the rules and deserve to be treated fairly,” said U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, who has been an advocate of beefed-up credit card regulation for several years in Congress.

“Every day, I hear from Coloradans who have lost their jobs or are on the verge of losing their homes,” Udall, D-Colo., said in a statement. “As our economy struggles to recover, the last thing uggs outlet storefamilies should be concerned about is an arbitrary rate increase or other hidden clauses that make it nearly impossible to get a handle on their debt.”

“I applaud these changes as a good start for protecting families and consumers in a difficult time,” said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in a statement. “We must use this momentum to finish the job of cleaning up Wall Street, and create an effective independent agency to protect consumers. These reforms are a positive step, but they should remind us that reform cannot afford to wait for the next crisis to hit.”

Both Udall and Bennet supported the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which is taking effect in stages.

Key provisions that became law Monday:

• Credit card issuers can no longer randomly increase interest rates and fees on existing balances.ugg outlet

• Issuers must give 45 days notice of any changes in card terms, and give cardholders who reject the new terms to pay off existing balances without penalty.

• Cardholders cannot be charged over-credit-limit fees unless the cardholder authorizes an over-limit transaction.

• Credit card companies must state their rules clearly and tell customers how long it will take to pay off their balance.

• Issuers cannot increase interest rates within the first year of a customer opening an account.

• The practice of “double-cycle” billing will no longer be allowed.

• Payments in excess of the minimum due must now be applied first to the credit card balance with the highest rate of interest.

• Interest cannot be charged when debt is paid on time.

• Issuers must get the signature of a parent or guardian when extending credit to consumers under the age of 21.uggs outlet stores

Udall said that while the new reforms will provide some relief, “regulators must also be more vigilant — some credit card companies have already shown that they will do anything they can to get by rules designed to protect consumers. And I will continue to fight to ensure financial institutions treat consumers with the fairness they deserve.”
Democratic Jobs Bill Advances Despite GOP Filibuster
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan jobs bill cleared a GOP filibuster on Monday with critical momentum provided by the Senate’s newest Republican, Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

The 62-30 tally to advance the measure to a final vote on Wednesday gives both President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats a much-needed victory — even though the measure in question is likely to have only a modest boost on hiring.

Brown and four other Republicans broke with GOP leaders to advance the measure. Most other Republicans opposed adidas outletthe bill because Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada stripped out provisions they had sought and wouldn’t allow them to try to restore them.

The bill featured four provisions that enjoyed sweeping bipartisan support, including a measure exempting businesses hiring the unemployed from Social Security payroll taxes through December and giving them another $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year.

Though employers seldom make hiring decisions based on tax breaks, economist Mark Zandi says the measure could potentially create 250,000 new private-sector jobs. That’s less than 4 percent of the 8.4 million jobs lost in the recession.

Joining Brown in voting to break the filibuster were two moderate New England Republicans, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and two retiring GOP senators, Kit Bond of Missouri and George Voinovich of Ohio. Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska voted “nay” and Frank Lautenberg,nike outlet D-N.J., was absent.

Reid’s bill is a far smaller measure than Obama’s $862 billion economic stimulus bill enacted a year ago. It’s also significantly smaller than a rival bipartisan bill unveiled earlier this month by two senior senators.

The legislation also would renew highway programs through December and deposit $20 billion in the highway trust fund.

“I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families,” said Brown, whose election last month gave Republicans the 41st vote that could sustain GOP filibusters. “This Senate jobs bill is not perfect … but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.”

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he voted for the bill because the highway spending will create jobs and help states pay for important projects.all star shoes

“If we don’t do this we’re going to miss the construction season, and this is an area where you absolutely create jobs,” Voinovich said.

The White House said Monday that the administration strongly supports the bill but that it wants more economic recovery measures. Among Obama’s jobs proposals are a $250 payment to Social Security recipients, $25 billion to help cash-strapped states and $30 billion in Wall Street bailout money redirected to help community banks lend to small businesses.

“It’s a good first step,” Obama senior adviser David Axelrod said. “There’s no doubt we need to do more.”

Republicans and some Democrats were unhappy that Reid abruptly dumped about $70 billion worth of tax breaks for businesses and individuals, help for the unemployed and additional Medicare payments to doctors from a compromise measure unveiled earlier this month by Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont.,nike shoes outlet and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman and ranking Republican on the Finance Committee.

In addition to the hiring tax incentives and highway funding, the bill would extend a tax break for small businesses buying new equipment and modestly expand an initiative that helps state and local governments finance infrastructure projects.

The larger Finance panel bill included about $33 billion in popular tax breaks, including an income tax deduction for sales and property taxes and a business tax credit for research and development, would be extended through 2010. Those ideas have sweeping support among lawmakers and have been routinely renewed for years.

Business groups and economist Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com say companies are unlikely to hire workers just to receive a tax break. That means most of the tax benefits would go to companies that would have hired new workers anyway.

“Obviously it’s not very efficient,” Zandi said. “It’s something worthwhile doing as an insurance policy but it’s something uggs outletone would want to do in any other circumstance.”

Bloom Unveiling Clean Energy Fuel Cell

A Silicon Valley startup plans to unveil this week a fuel cell capable uggs outletof producing clean energy in amounts sufficient to power homes and corporations.
Bloom Energy gave the CBS news program 60 Minutes a peek at the green technology the company plans to launch on Wednesday. The company is backed by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, which discovered and funded Amazon, Google, and other high-tech firms.

More InsightsWhitepapersA CISO’s Guide to Application SecurityDedupe-Centric Storage for General ApplicationsWebcastsAutoVirt 3.0 For Unstructured Data ManagementAsia-Pacific Managed Network ServicesReportsGoogle Rethinks The Operating SystemHTML 5 Starts Looking Real (Dr. Dobbs)Videos
Bay Area Internet SolutionsBloom Energy did not respond to a request for comment by InformationWeek in time for this writing.
Company founder K.R. Sridhar told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl that he invented a new kind of fuel cell that produces electricity through a chemical reaction created by combining oxygen in the air with any fuel source, including natural gas, bio-gas, and solar energyuggs outlet store.

One of Bloom’s test companies is Google, which has used the company’s technology to power a data center for 18 months. Google has been using natural gas as the energy source, but has used only half as much as would be required by a traditional power plant, Sridhar told Stahl. Other companies testing the technology include FedEx and Wal-Mart.

Details of the technology remain a secret and very little information is available on the company’s Web site. Sridhar told 60 Minutes that he uses sand in creating a ceramic that he coats with green and black “inks” that he developed along with a secret formula. The thin fuel cells can then be stacked in a container that becomes a kind of power plant-in-a-box. A stack of 64 fuel cells in a Bloom box is sufficient to power a Starbucks.

Sridhar’s energy box stems from oxygen-producing technology he invented for NASA so people could live on Mars. Sridhar took his technology into the commercial world after NASA scrapped the Mars mission.

The Bloom box is not cheap. Sridhar told 60 Minutes each box installed in FedEx, for example, cost ugg outletfrom $700,000 to $800,000. In time, Sridhar believes a box capable of powering the average U.S. home could eventually cost less than $3,000.
EU tones down Dubai criticism
Jerusalem dodged a European Union bullet Monday when the EU foreign ministers released a statement condemning the use of EU passports in the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, but refrained from specifically mentioning Israel.

“The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on 20 January raises issues which are profoundly disturbing to the European Union,” the EU statement read. “This was an action which cannot be conducive to peace and stability in the Middle East. The EU strongly condemns the fact that those involved in this action have used fraudulent EU Member States’ passports and credit cards acquired through the theft of EU citizens’ identities.”

The statement, issued by the 27 EU foreign ministers holding their monthly meeting in Brussels, was softer than its original draft, with the EU observer Web site reporting that language uggs outlet storesreferring to “extra-judicial killing” was deleted.

The statement said that the EU welcomed the investigation by the Dubai authorities and called on all countries to cooperate with it.

“The EU is committed to ensuring that both EU citizens and countries around the world continue to have confidence in the integrity of EU Member States’ passports,” the statement read. “It believes that its passports remain among the most secure in the world, fully meeting all international standards. EU Member States’ passports include a range of physical security measures to prevent forgery and abuse.”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who met with a number of EU foreign ministers on the sidelines of the meeting – including the foreign ministers of Britain and Ireland, whose nationals’ passports were forged – deflected any suggestion that Israel was involved.

Followingnike outlet a meeting with Ireland’s Micheal Martin, Lieberman issued a statement saying that he told Martin there was no evidence linking Israel to the incident.

Lieberman said that if information emerged beyond media reports, then Israel would respond. “However, as no such further information has been presented, there is no need to relate to the matter,” he said.

Lieberman said that false accusations were regularly leveled against Israel on numerous issues, and there was a general Arab tendency to blame Israel for everything. Implying that many in the Arab world had a motive to kill Mabhouh, Lieberman said “there are many internal struggles in non-democratic countries and organizations in the Middle East.”

Asked about the matter by reporters after a meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Lieberman reportedly quipped, “I think you all watch too many James Bond movies.”

The EU’s new foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said at a press conference that she planned to raise the issue, among others, when she met Lieberman. The two met lateadidas outlet Monday evening.

Ashton was asked repeatedly about the issue at the press conference, but did not – in her answers – stray too far from the agreed-upon text. She said that although the Member States were angry over the misuse of their passports, Israel could not be blamed when nothing had been proven.

Martin, after meeting Lieberman, said he articulated Ireland’s “grave concern over the use of our passports in Dubai and the degree to which we are concerned about the safety of our citizens.”

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he used his meeting with Lieberman to express “the profound concern that exists not just in Britain, but all over Europe,” over the issue.

Following the talks, Miliband said European foreign ministers were “profoundly disturbed,” by the use of forged British, Irish, French and German passports by a suspected hit squad.

“It’s vital that relations between states are conducted on a basis that is clear and transparent,”all star shoes Miliband said. “It’s also important to say that Israel – in some ways above all countries – has the most to gain from a Middle East that is based on the rule of law and that’s why I think that it’s right to take these issues to the highest level in Israel.”

Britain said Monday that a total of eight forged UK passports were used in the Dubai hit.

Minister of State Chris Bryant told the House of Commons the British government has been told by Dubai authorities that two more fraudulent documents have been identified as being tied to the January 20 killing.

Dubai authorities, who have identified 18 suspects in the murder, have laid the blame squarely on the Mossad.

Miliband asked Lieberman to ensure Israel cooperates fully with Britain’s Serious and Organized Crime Agency in an investigation into how the identities of British nike shoes outletcitizens were stolen.

 

Hamas militants stand in front of a photograph of late senior Hamas military
uggs outletcommander

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh during a rally denouncing his killing, in the northern Gaza Strip
Eight forged British passports were used in the assassination of a top Hamas agent in Dubai,

it was revealed yesterday, as pressure mounted on Israel to co-operate with European

investigations into the identity thefts.

Chris Bryant, Minister for Europe, said that police in Dubai had discovered details of

another two fraudulent British passports used by suspected Mossad agents, in addition to the

six already cloned from the passports of real-life Britons. The disclosure raises the

prospect that there may be more British citizens whose identity was falsely used in the

killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, should the latest documents also be found to have been copied

from originals.

Mr Bryant addressed the Commons hours after David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, emerged

empty-handed from a showdown with his Israeli counterpart in Brussels, despite a united

European front.

The 27 European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels stopped short of naming Israel but

called the killing “an action which cannot be conducive to peace and stability in the Middle

East”
uggs outlet storeand condemned the use of European passports to carry out the crime.

Related Links
To kill or not to kill terrorists: that’s the question
Miliband to press Israel on forged passports
Dubai hit squad ‘used diplomatic passports’
They said their passports were “among the most secure in the world”, amid fears that

friendly Gulf States such as Dubai might consider imposing visa requirements for EU visitors

in light of the death. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s bullish foreign minister, said there was

“no proof” of Israel’s involvement in the killing. Mr Miliband avoided blaming Israel but

said he had asked for co-operation with the British investigation.

Mr Bryant told the Commons that Mr Miliband “said that we stand ready to work with Israel on

bringing stability and peace to the Middle East but that we can only do so on the basis of

trust and mutual transparency. He underlined the deep discontent felt in this country, in

this Government and in this House over this issue”.

Baroness Ashton, the EU high representative, said she intended to raise the passports issue

with Mr Lieberman at a dinner meeting last night.ugg outlet

Micheál Martin, the Irish foreign minister, was also given short shrift by Mr Lieberman, who

said he was unable to provide any information on the use of five Irish passports. Mr Martin

said he had received no formal assurance from the minister that Israel had not been involved:

“He indicated very strongly that he had no information whatsoever on the situation in Dubai.

”

At least one Irish businessman in Dubai had been “very negatively treated” in the past few

days “as there was a presumption that Ireland was involved [in the assassination] in some

way”, he said.

Israeli media named the Hamas man suspected by Dubai police of complicity in the

assassination as Nehru Massoud, an operative in Hamas’s attempt to smuggle Iranian weapons

into Gaza. He is believed to have been in Dubai to meet Iranian sponsors to arrange an arms

deal at the time of the killing on January 19.

The Hebrew daily, Maariv, quoted an unnamed Palestinian official as saying that Dubai had

requested his extradition from Syria but authorities there had refused.

New York Terror Suspect Admits Guilt uggs and Cooperates

outlet stores

Share
CloseLinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink The Afghan immigrant who played a

central role in what the federal authorities have said was one of the most serious threats to

the United States since the 9/11 attacks, pleaded guilty on Monday to terrorism charges after

admitting to a plot to blow up the New York subway.

Post a CommentIn entering his plea, the immigrant, Najibullah Zazi, admitted that he came to

New York last year near the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks to kill himself and others on

the subway using a homemade bomb — what he said was a “martyrdom operation” that he was

just days away from executing until he realized he was under government surveillance.

Mr. Zazi, 25, pleaded guilty in United States District Court in Brooklyn to charges that

included conspiracies to use weapons of mass destruction, to commit murder in a foreign

country and to provide material support for a terrorist organization. He faces a sentence of

life in prison.

Throughout the 45-minute proceeding,adidas outlet Mr. Zazi seemed unaffected by his

circumstances, even smiling through his dark beard on several occasions. And when he spoke,

he did so in an unapologetic, matter-of-fact manner, explaining that he was driven to

terrorism by his concerns about the United States’ military’s actions in Afghanistan.

In recent weeks, Mr. Zazi had begun providing information to prosecutors as part of the

initial stages of an agreement that led to his guilty plea on Monday, according to two people

with knowledge of the case. The 10-page plea agreement was sealed by Judge Raymond J. Dearie,

but the arrangement suggests that prosecutors believe Mr. Zazi can be a valuable source of

information.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement: “This was one of the most serious

terrorist threats to our nation since Sept. 11th, 2001, and were it not for the combined

efforts of the law enforcement and intelligence communities it could have been devastating.

This attempted attack on our homeland was real, it was in motion, and it would have been

deadly.”

Afternike outlet

pleading guilty on Monday, Mr. Zazi read from a written statement that detailed the plot.

Born in Afghanistan, raised in Pakistan and later attending high school in Flushing, Queens,

Mr. Zazi said he decided to go to Afghanistan with friends to join the Taliban in fighting

the United States military.

While in Pakistan in the summer of 2008, he received training in making bombs, and was

persuaded by Qaeda operatives to return to the United States where he would be a suicide

bomber, a term he bristled at in court.

“I would sacrifice myself to bring attention to what the United States military was doing to

civilians in Afghanistan,” he said.

The federal authorities said he had received weapons and explosives training at a Qaeda camp

in Pakistan, bought beauty products that contained the raw materials to build a bomb and

traveled to Queens with bomb-making instructions in his laptop

Kirk Cameron: I’m Praying for Missing Costar

Facebook Twitter Yahoo Buzz E-mail It’s been a long time since they acted together on the set

of Growing all star Pains, but Kirk Cameron has never forgotten costar Andrew Koenig –

shoes

and now desperately worries about him after he went missing amid signs he was depressed.

“I am praying for his family during this time of distress and for his safe return,” Cameron

says in a statement. “Andrew, if you’re reading this, please call me.”

Koenig, 41, who starred as Boner on the show, never returned to his Los Angeles home as

scheduled on Feb. 14 after a trip to Canada. His father described him as sounding

“despondent” the last time they spoke.

Cameron, who played Koenig’s neighbor Mike on the hit ’80s show, says, “Mike and Boner could

always work things out when they put their minds to it. I’m praying for you, pal. Hope to

hear from you soon.”

See what other readers have to say about

uggs outletthis story –

or leave a comment of your own

Families of Iraq war dead voice anger at ’smirking’ Blair

Former prime minister accused of ‘not facing up to facts’ as he gives evidence to Chilcot inquiryuggs outlet

Highlights from Tony Blair’s evidence to the Iraq inquiry Link to this video The families of British military personnel killed in Iraq condemned Tony Blair’s performance before the Chilcot inquiry today, accusing him of being disrespectful.

One, Theresea Evans, asked the former prime minister to look her in the eye and say sorry for the loss of her son.

Evans, from Llandudno, North Wales – whose 24-year-old son, Llywelyn, died in a Chinook helicopter crash in 2003 – said: “I would simply like Tony Blair to look me in the eye and say he was sorry. Instead, he is in there smirking.”

Anne Donnachie, from Reading, Berkshire, whose 18-year-old son, Paul, was killed by a sniper in 2006, said she blamed Blair for his death.

“From what I have heard this morning, he is just denying everything,” she said. “He will just not face up to the facts. I believe he made a massive mistake when he sent my son to Iraq.”

Sarah Chapman, from Cambridge, whose brother, Sergeant Bob O’Connor, died five years ago, said uggs outlet storeit would be better if Blair was facing the families rather than sitting with his back to them as witnesses are required to do.

“He is being very adamant about his views, as we expected, but it is clear he did not share all the papers before the invasion with the rest of his cabinet,” she said.

“I am disgusted by that. It is obvious he acted alone.”

Anti-war protesters outside the inquiry were denied a chance to direct their chants at the former prime minister in person when he used a side entrance to make his way into the inquiry.

When he began giving evidence inside the QEII Centre in Westminster, a building fortified with steel barriers and lines of police, campaigners stopped their chants of “war criminal”, turned their backs and began listening as the names of civilians and military personnel killed in the conflict were read out.

The crowds dissipated at the end of the morning, but numbers were expected to build again towards the end of the afternoon when the session ends and Blair leaves the inquiry.

For many, today will be the last in a line of protests against the Iraq war which began when up to two million people took to the streets to march against the invasion almost seven years agougg outlet.

“He [Blair] does not have the integrity to come and face the people,” Lindsey German, the convener of the Stop the War Coalition, said. “Sliding in by a back door entrance is typical of his lies, deceit and evasion.”

Andrew Murray, the chairman of the anti-war group, added: “This cowardly and deceitful entrance is typical of how the former prime minister sold the war to the country – behind the backs of the public.”

Scotland Yard said there were at least 250 protestors and reported that officers had made no arrests.

By 9am, around 300 mainly older activists had gathered by the building in the cold and rain.

One of the first to arrive, at 7am, was Noel Hamel, the 67-year-old chair of the Kingston Peace Council. He had woken in the early hours in order to get to central London by bus and tube.

A disenfranchised former Labour party member who campaigned for Blair in 1997, he said: “I was out there knocking on doors, proposing motions.

“Iuggs outlet stores just couldn’t have imagined a Labour government taking us to a war of this kind while being so deceitful about it.”

As word spread that Blair had already entered the centre, chants of “Tony Blair, to the Hague” began.

Ruby Lescott, another ex-Labour supporter in her 60s, said her “deep-rooted, immovable rage” was not only directed at Blair but also at his closest ministers.

“The cabinet – most of them – were reluctant about [the war],” she added. “The Labour government has eroded the virtues of our parliamentary system.”

Among the few younger faces in the crowd, Lois Clifton, 19, and Emma Clewer, an 18-year-old fellow LSE university student, admitted their attempts to leaflet for the protest had been disappointing.

“We needed more people here,” Clewer said. “It’s a chance for people to show their anger.”

During the start of the invasion, both were in their early teens and recalled the marches.

“There were a lot of walkouts at school,” Clifton said. “I wasn’t as aware as I am now … but I knew what wasnike outlethappening was wrong.”

A heavy police presence, including officers from the Metropolitan police’s specialist Territorial Support Group, watched from behind barricades surrounding the centre.

As is common at protests, Forward Intelligence Team surveillance officers jotted down notes of what speakers were saying.

White House eyes moving site of 9/11 trialJanuary 29, 2010 8:41 a.m. EST

Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is among those suspects set to face a trial in a civilian criminal court.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Moving site of 9/11 trial from Manhattan under consideration, administration officials say

New York lawmakers urging White House to re-examine plan to try terror suspects there

Justice Department will make decision about any alternate sites, officials say

Officials: Obama agrees with move to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civilian court

Washington (CNN) — The White House is considering moving the site of the September 11 attack trial from Manhattan if the U.S. Justice Department sees fit, senior administration officials confirmed Friday. all star shoes

“Conversations have occurred within the administration to discuss contingency options should the possibility of a trial in Lower Manhattan be foreclosed upon by Congress or locally,” a senior administration official said.

The turnabout comes after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other politicians expressed great concern over the costs and disruption of holding the September 11 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four accomplices at a courthouse near ground zero in Lower Manhattan.

White House officials said President Obama agrees with Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision in November to try Mohammed in a civilian criminal court in the United States, not a military tribunal.

“Currently our federal jails hold hundreds of convicted terrorists, and the president’s opinion has not changed on that,” White House spokesman Bill Burton said Thursday.

White House officials said the decision about any possible alternate sites to try Mohammed and the others will come from the Justice Department.

As citynike shoes outlet officials and residents contemplated the staging of the trial in Manhattan, doubts emerged about the wisdom of the location.

Police estimated that the cost to the city would be more than $200 million per year in a trial that could last several years and that 2,000-plus checkpoints would need to be installed around Lower Manhattan.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly also said additional protection would need to be deployed for the city, not just “the core area of Manhattan.”

New Yorkers such as Pat Moore contemplated what it would be like to live through such a trial.

“Those people would virtually be held prisoner in their homes,” Moore said of those who live near the courthouse. “We’ve all been traumatized, any of us who were there that day [September 11].”

Bloomberg initially supported the move, saying “it is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered.”

But this week the mayor used different rhetoric, saying he would prefer the trial be held elsewhere,adidas shoes outlet perhaps at a military base where it would be easier and cheaper to provide security.

“It’s going to cost an awful lot of money and disturb a lot of people,” Bloomberg said.

On Thursday, a group of New York politicians urged the Obama administration to re-examine locating the trials in downtown Manhattan.

“We are concerned that the administration has not fully considered the impact that the trials would have on Lower Manhattan in choosing the Moynihan Courthouse in Foley Square,” U.S. Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velázquez, both Democrats, and state and local officials said in a letter dated Thursday to the attorney general.

“The Lower Manhattan neighborhoods in which this courthouse is located are only now recovering from the physical, emotional and financial devastation caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and therefore the impacts of this trial site choice are likely to be extremely burdensome.”

The officials asked for a meeting with Holder to discuss the matter and how federal criminal trial locations are determined.

“We uggs outletrespectfully request that your office conduct a full and thorough examination of all potentially viable trial sites within the Southern District of New York in order to assess each site’s safety and security requirements, impacts to the surrounding residential and business communities, and financial implications. Without such a full evaluation, it is impossible to determine which Southern District location choice would be optimal.”

Other politicians who signed the letter were New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, state Sen. Daniel Squadron, City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilwoman Margaret Chin.

Also, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson cited his “hesitation” with the decision, pointing to the burdens it would pose on New Yorkers. In addition, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, said the lawmaker’s “single biggest concern is making sure that the federal government cover the hundreds of millions of dollars per year cost to New York City for security during the trials.”

Steve Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said he foresees a severe drop in tourism and real estate prices in one of the most highly populated areas of Manhattan.

Julie uggs outlet storeMenin, chairwoman of a city community advisory agency, proposed four alternative locations for the trial within the Southern District of Manhattan: Governors Island, Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the Bureau of Prisons jail complex at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville.

A West Point spokesman said no one has officially requested a review of demands for such a trial, which would require in-depth study of legal and security concerns.

Some U.S. senators said they want the detainees tried in military commissions.

A letter from one group of senators said a federal civilian trial would provide militants with “one of the most visible platforms in the world to exalt their past acts and to rally others in support of further terrorism.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, is planning to introduce legislation that would cut off funding for the trial and block transfer of the September 11 suspects to New York.

U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Dean Boyd said the Justice Department “can safely prosecute this case in the Southern District of New York while minimizing disruptions to the community to the greatest extent possible, consistent with security needs.”

The president is “committed to seeing” Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, “brought to ugg outletjustice,” Burton said.

“Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a murderous thug who has admitted to crimes … some of the most heinous crimes ever committed against our country,” he said.

Bin Laden urges abandoning dollar: Al Jazeera tape

DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Ladenuggs outlet stores urged an end to reliance on the U.S. dollar as one solution to the global financial crisis and blamed developed countries for climate change, in an audiotape said to be of the al Qaeda leader.

The authenticity of the tape, aired on Friday and the second by bin Laden to air on Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera this week, could not be immediately confirmed.

“It is necessary for us to avoid doing business in the dollar, and to finish with it in the fastest possible time,” bin Laden said on the brief tape.

Saudi-born bin Laden has never been found and is believed to still be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is known to suffer from ill-health.

U.S. soldiers and Afghan militia forces launched a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States in pursuit of bin Laden, believed to have been hiding in the region with supporters after Afghanistan’s Taliban government was removed from power.

In excerpts from Friday’s tape lasting under three minutes, bin Laden also blamed Western countries for climate change.

“Talk about nike outletclimate change is not an ideological luxury but a reality,” he said. “All of the industrialized countries, especially the big ones, bear responsibility for the global warming crisis.”

He added that while wealthy nations had agreed to the Kyoto Protocol that binds them to emission targets, former U.S. President George W. Bush had later rejected such limitations before Congress in deference to big business.

The United States never ratified the existing Kyoto Protocol, whose present commitments expire in 2012, and has said it will not sign up to an extended Kyoto Protocol, preferring a new agreement.

In a separate audiotape earlier this week on Al Jazeera also purportedly of bin Laden, he claimed responsibility for the failed December 25 bombing of a U.S.-bound plane and vowed to continue attacks on the United States.

In that message, addressed “from Osama to Obama,” bin Laden said the attempt to blow up the jet as it neared Detroit was a continuation of al Qaeda policy since September 11 2001.

The Apple all star shoesiPad: First Impressions

Today Apple finally unveiled its tablet computer, the iPad. Thus concludes Phase 1 of the standard Apple new-category roll-out: months of feverish speculation and hype online, without any official indication by Apple that the product even exists.

The Times’s technology columnist, David Pogue, keeps you on top of the industry in his free, weekly email newsletter.
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Now Phase 2 can begin: the bashing by the bloggers who’ve never even tried it: “No physical keyboard!” “No removable battery!” “Way too expensive!” “Doesn’t multitask!” “No memory-card slot!”

That will last until the iPad actually goes on sale in April. Then, if history is any guide, Phase 3 will begin: positive reviews, people lining up to buy the thing, and the mysterious disappearance of the basher-bloggers.

The iPad is, as predicted, essentially a giant iPod Touch: aluminum-backed, half-inch thin, with a 10-inch screen surrounded by a shiny black border. At the bottom, there’s the standard iPod/iPhone connector and a single Home button. It will be available in models ranging from $499nike shoes outlet (16 gigs of memory, Wi-Fi) to $830 (64 gigs of memory, Wi-Fi and 3G cellular).

The cellular signal will be provided by AT&T for $15 a month (250 megabytes of data transferred — think e-mail only) or $30 a month, unlimited. Amazingly, those AT&T deals involve no contract. You can cancel whenever you like. And since this thing isn’t a phone, you don’t have to worry about dropped calls; you’re paying exclusively for Internet service.

There’s no reason you couldn’t use it to make calls using Skype, of course — Apple says that virtually all of the existing 140,000 iPhone apps run fine on the iPad. (You can run them either at regular tiny size, or blown up double with some loss of clarity.)

Then again, you might look a little bizarre walking through the airport holding this giant clipboard up to your ear.

Until I saw the demo, I wondered why you’d want an iPad instead of a laptop. After all, the price is about the same. And once you add a carrying case to the iPad — wouldn’t you worry about that glass screen bouncing around in your briefcase or backpack naked? — it’s about theadidas shoes outlet
same bulk and weight as a laptop.

Now, though, it looks like Apple really has created something new. Criticisms of “Like a laptop” and “a big iPod Touch” don’t really do justice to the possibilities.

The iPad as an e-book reader is a no-brainer. It’s just infinitely better-looking and more responsive than the Kindle, not to mention it has color and doesn’t require external illumination. (Book fans should note, however, that the iPad e-bookstore won’t offer bestsellers at $10 each, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble do. And although Apple says the iPad has a 10-hour battery life, it hasn’t yet said “doing what.” Playing video eats up battery a lot faster than reading e-books.)

Web browsing, painting programs, TV and movies, newspapers and magazines all seem like naturals on this 1.5-pound machine, too. The New York Times app is especially appealing to me — and yes, this is my completely independent opinion — because it seems to work like the much-adored Times Reader app for computers.

Overall, uggs outletthe iPad seems like a dream screen for reading and watching–at some loss of convenience in creating. True, there’s an on-screen keyboard, big enough to type on with both hands in the usual way. And Apple will offer a specialized multitouch word processor, spreadsheet and presentation app for $10 each. But I’m guessing that, with no mouse and no physical keys to feel, writing and editing will be more effort than on a laptop. (Apple will also sell an external keyboard that holds the iPad upright as you type. Then again, if you need to carry all that around, maybe a laptop would make more sense.)

But these are just the wild speculations of a guy who’s never even tried the thing. (Believe me, I’ll review it when I get one.)

My main message to fanboys is this: it’s too early to draw any conclusions. Apple hasn’t given the thing to any reviewers yet, there are no iPad-only apps yet (there will be), the e-bookstore hasn’t gone online yet, and so on. So hyperventilating is not yet the appropriate reaction.

At the same time, the bashers should be careful, too. As we enter Phase 2, remember how silly you alluggs outlet store looked when you all predicted the iPhone’s demise in that period before it went on sale.

Like the iPhone, the iPad is really a vessel, a tool, a 1.5-pound sack of potential. It may become many things. It may change an industry or two, or it may not. It may introduce a new category — something between phone and laptop — or it may not. And anyone who claims to know what will happen will wind up looking like a fool.

You know how everyone slows down on the freeway to look at a car wreck? The equivalent happened for Conan O’Brien’s last appearance as host of “The Tonight Show.”

After weeks of controversy over NBC’s efforts to return Jay Leno to the late-night schedule and O’Brien’s decision to leave rather than get pushed back to a post-midnight starting time, 10.3 million people turned out last Friday to watch his final broadcast, according to figures released today by the Nielsen Cougg outlet.

That was his largest audience since moving into the “Tonight Show” job last June 1. His premiere telecast had drawn 9.2 million viewers.

For the week, “The Tonight Show” averaged 5.3 million viewers, leaving David Letterman and his “Late Show” far behind with 3.9 million. That was O’Brien’s best showing since his first week on the air, when he averaged 6.1 million.

Letterman still leads in the season-to-date figures, however, averaging 4.2 million viewers to O’Brien’s 2.8 million. Leno was averaging more than 5 million viewers when he hosted “The Tonight Show.”

Leno alluded to that differential in the interview with Oprah Winfrey that was broadcast today. “If you look at what the ratings were, it was already destructive to the franchise,” he said of O’Brien’s showing. “…This was the first time in the 60-year history of ‘The Tonight Show’ that ‘The Tonight Show’ would have lost money and that’s what it comes down to. It’s really just a matter of dollars and cents. If the numbers had been there, they wouldn’t have asked meuggs outlet stores

Graphic Books Best-Seller List

The cover of “Serenity: Betternike outlet Days.”Are comic books the new lease on life for television series that have ended their runs? There certainly seem to be more adventures in store for characters created by Joss Whedon. He’s already been involved in the comic-book version of Season 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is published by Dark Horse. (There are even plans to reunite her with – spoiler alert! – Angel). This week, another of Mr. Whedon’s television creations enters our softcover list at No. 3. “Serenity: Better Days” continues the journey of the space-faring crew from the 2002 television series “Firefly.” The show was canceled early in its first season, but its characters returned in the 2005 film “Serenity” and as a comic book, “Serenity: Those Left Behind.”

Another television series that may be getting resuscitated is “Pushing Daises,” which departed ABC in June. One of the show’s stars, Chi McBride, told scifiwire.com that Bryan Fuller, the show’s creator, is working on a graphic novel follow-up. No release date has been announced.

Jimmy Kimmel Teaches Jay Leno the Meaning of ‘Sucker Punch’
By DAVE ITZKOFF

Jimmy Kimmel tells his side of a contentious interview with Jay Leno on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
The momentary disappearance of Conan O’Brien from the airwaves brought peace to the late-night all star shoeslandscape for, oh, about four days. On Thursday night, the surviving combatants were reapplying their war paint as the ABC host Jimmy Kimmel used his monologue to rebut Jay Leno, who said that Mr. Kimmel had “sucker-punched” him in an earlier interview on Mr. Leno’s show. And by rebut, we mean pound him mercilessly.

The dispute between Mr. Kimmel and Mr. Leno was once a side-skirmish to Mr. Leno’s larger feud with Mr. O’Brien. When it became clear that Mr. Leno was going to reclaim “The Tonight Show” from Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Kimmel spent an entire episode of his “Jimmy Kimmel Live” program impersonating Mr. Leno — fright wig, prosthetic chin and all.

That got Mr. Kimmel an invitation to “The Jay Leno Show,” where in an interview he repeatedly razzed Mr. Leno for usurping Mr. O’Brien’s position. (Asked about the best prank he had ever pulled, Mr. Kimmel answered: “I told a guy that five years from now, I’m going to give you my show. Then when the five years came, I took it back almost instantly.”)

And that led to Mr. Leno’s charge, in an interview on Thursday with Oprah Winfrey, that Mr. Kimmel had “sucker-punched” him in that appearance. All caught up? But wait — there’s much more. Read more…

By BLAKE WILSON
Right-thinking nike shoes outletArtsBeat readers can agree that J.D. Salinger was no phony. The Times’s chief book critic, Michiko Kakutani, writes in an appraisal that the author, who died Thursday at 91, had “unerring radar for the feelings of teenage angst and vulnerability and anger,” and that “The Catcher in the Rye,” published in 1951, “remains one of the books that adolescents first fall in love with — a book that intimately articulates what it is to be young and sensitive and precociously existential.”

But by the time you read this, the backlash will already be in full swing. Any writer whose books are so widely assigned in high schools is bound to have made a few mortal enemies over the years. (The “I hate to kill a mockingbird club” may count only 66 members on Facebook. But it’s out there.)

As a commenter wrote on James Barron’s City Room post about Salinger’s New York:

I think perhaps it would have been easier to appreciate Catcher in the Rye if it weren’t crammed down my throat… and the throat of every other kid in my generation.

Medicine for Musicians
By JAMES R. OESTREICH
The players of the Houston Symphony were not the only virtuosos from their city holding forth atadidas shoes outlet Carnegie Hall on Thursday. While the orchestra rehearsed in the main auditorium for its evening concert, doctors from the Methodist Center for Performing Arts Medicine of the Methodist Hospital in Houston were participating in a daylong symposium on the management of medical problems among musicians specifically and performing artists more generally. Sponsored by the center in collaboration with the Center for the Performing Artist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the conference was timed to coincide with the orchestra’s big night.

Performing-arts medicine as a specialty is a relatively new phenomenon, having developed in the last quarter century, and areas of it are just emerging. The program here, for which course credit was offered by the office of continuing medical education at Weill Cornell Medical College, was designed to show the field in all its various aspects, with a kaleidoscopic array of 20-minute presentations on everything from stage fright in performing artists of all kinds to hand injuries in musicians and foot and ankle injuries in dancers.

A full hour was given over to the voice and the problems of singers, a specialty of the course director, Lucian Sulica, of the college’s department of otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose uggs outletand throat). It became clear that this field, though young, is fast developing. Read more…

By CHARLES MCGRATH
I first read J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” in the summer of 1960, when I was 12. I heard about it from an older boy who was an unerring guide to books that were racy. So I went to my local library, in Brighton, Mass., asked for “Catcher,” and was told that I would need a note of permission from my parents. The librarian glared at me as she said this. My mother, who was not a big reader herself, wrote a note saying I should be allowed to read whatever I wanted, which now seems one of her greatest gifts to me. That little piece of paper got me into the other, grownup side of the library, where I found a lot of books that opened my eyes and, I suppose, led me eventually to become a writer myself. I have since read better books than “Catcher” but few that made a more lasting impression. I still recall reading the first paragraph and thinking to myself, “You can really do that?”

The ArtsBeat commenter MB of Chicago plucked out a memorable line from “The Catcher in the Rye” to memorialize its author:

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone wheneveruggs outlet store you felt like it.

Mr. Salinger’s works had just such an effect on many of his millions of readers. And the quote’s coda — or punchline, depending on your perspective — is just as apt: “That doesn’t happen much, though.” Certainly, this particular author wasn’t answering many reader’s calls. Charles McGrath’s obituary reports that Mr. Salinger asked his agent to burn his fan mail. And one reader reports that he wasn’t much more obliging in person:

In 1975, when I was 18 and a freshman in college, I along with two friends trudged up to J.D. Salinger’s house in Cornish and knocked on his door. We wanted to meet him. (I know now it was a gross invasion of his privacy. At the time I didn’t know any better.) One of my friends had a dog-eared copy of Catcher in the Rye that he asked Salinger to sign. Salinger refused, saying it would mean nothing to him to sign my friend’s book. He added “That was a silly book when I wrote it 25 years ago and it’s a silly book today.” —Jane, Fairfax, Virginia

J.D. Salinger’s New York | J.D. Salinger, who died on Wednesday, had a deep relationship with the New York; ugg outletthe city itself was a character in “Catcher in the Rye.” James Barron takes a close look at Mr. Salinger’s New York on City Room …

The New Yorker’s Complete J. D. Salinger Collection | The New Yorker, which published 13 stories by J. D. Salinger between 1948 and 1965, has made all of these stories available on its Web site, including “A Perfect Day For Bananafish,” “Franny,” “Zooey” and Mr. Salinger’s last known published work, “Hapworth 16, 1924.”

In an interview with George Plimpton in The Paris Review in 2000, Robert Giroux recalled how he won and lost the opportunity to publish “The Catcher in the Rye” while he was an editor at Harcourt, Brace & Co. Here is how Mr. Giroux, the Farrar, Straus and Giroux chairman who died in 2008, described his first meeting with J. D. Salinger:

The office was practically empty. The receptionist said, “There’s a Mr. Salinger out here who wants to see you.” I said, “Salinger? Pierre Salinger?” She said, “No, he says it’s Jerome Salinger, Jerry Salinger.” He was six feet two or three, pitch-black hair, very black eyes, looked a little like Hamlet. He was sort of shy. He said, uggs outlet stores“I can’t publish a book of short stories because I’ve almost finished this novel, and the novel has to come first.” I smiled and said, “You should be sitting here at my desk. You’re a born publisher because it’s true—short stories don’t sell as well as novels.” Then he said, “Bill Shawn has recommended you, and I’d like you to publish my novel.” I said, “What novel?” He said, “Oh, it isn’t finished. It’s about a kid in New York during the Christmas holidays.” I said, “Listen, you’ve made a contract, let’s shake hands.”

How The Times Reviewed J. D. Salinger
By DAVE ITZKOFF
Excerpts from reviews of “Franny and Zooey” and “The Catcher in the Rye.”

Few writers since Joyce would risk such a wealth of words upon events that are purely internal and deeds that are purely talk. We live in a world, however, where the decisive deed may invite the holocaust, and Salinger’s conviction that our inner lives greatly matter peculiarly qualifies nike outlethim to sing of an America where, for most of us, there seems little to do but to feel. Introversion, perhaps, has been forced upon history; an age of nuance, of ambiguous gestures and psychological jockeying on a national and private scale, is upon us, and Salinger’s intense attention to gesture and intonation help make him, among his contemporaries, a uniquely relevant literary artist. As Hemingway sought the words for things in motion, Salinger seeks the words for things transmuted into human subjectivity. His fiction, in its rather grim bravado, its humor, its morbidity, its wry but persistent hopefulness, matches the shape and tint of present American life.

–John Updike on “Franny and Zooey” in The New York Times, September 17, 1961

J.D. SalingerUpdate | 1:41 p.m. J.D. Salinger, the elusive and enigmatic author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” has died. He was 91 and lived in Cornish, N.H.

Mr. Salinger’s literary representative, Harold Ober Associates, announced the death, saying it was of natural causes.

Published in 1951, “The Catcher in the Rye” became Mr. Salinger’s most famous work with its distinctive all star shoesdepiction of its angry, iconoclastic teenage protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Mr. Salinger frequently dealt with the subject of precocious youth in his short stories of the Glass family, as well as “Franny and Zooey,” a collection of two long short stories. He had not published a new work since 1965, and lived in near-total isolation, having refused the attention of the literary world and the news media for decades.

In their statement, Mr. Salinger’s representatives said that “in keeping with his lifelong, uncompromising desire to protect and defend his privacy, there will be no service, and the family asks that people’s respect for him, his work and his privacy be extended to them, individually and collectively, during this time.”

The statement added: “Salinger had remarked that he was in this world but not of it. His body is gone but the family hopes that he is still with those he loves, whether they are religious or historical figures, personal friends or fictional characters.”

A full obituary for J. D. Salinger can be found here.

Smaller Season for Los Angeles Operanike shoes outlet
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
The Los Angeles Opera has announced a downsized season of six productions for 2010-2011 — one or two less than usual — as it predicted because of financial troubles. They consist of “Il Postino” by Daniel Catan, a world premiere; “Le Nozze di Figaro”; “Lohengrin”; “Rigoletto”; “Il Turco in Italia”; and “The Turn of the Screw.” The tenor Ben Heppner will sing Lohengrin and Dolora Zajick will sing her first Ortrud in the Wagner opera. George Gagnidze, who sang Scarpia in the Metropolitan Opera’s controversial production of “Tosca” this season, will star in “Rigoletto.” Plácido Domingo, the company’s general director, will appear as the poet Pablo Neruda in “Il Postino” and will conduct performances of “Le Nozze.”

On Winfrey Show, Leno Criticizes NBC and Talks About Improving His Image
By BILL CARTER
In his first interview since the blow-up over NBC’s late-night lineup, Jay Leno told Oprah Winfrey that he does not feel guilty or selfish about his decision to go back to “The Tonight Show” after the departure of Conan O’Brien because it was not his decision and it was “all about the numbers.”adidas shoes outlet

But he did acknowledge that he has been deeply bruised by the situation, has regrets about how it turned out, and feels both he and Mr. O’Brien were treated unfairly by NBC.

He said that every move NBC made in the drama, from the point in 2004 when the network asked him to announce he would leave “The Tonight Show,” was wrong. Read more on Media Decoder…

Howard Zinn, Historian, Dies at 87 | Update | 5:26 p.m. Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose book “A People’s History of the United States” became a million-selling leftist alternative to mainstream texts, died Wednesday in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 87 and lived in Auburndale, Mass. A complete obituary can be found here.

John Gallagher Jr., left, and Tony Vincent in “American Idiot” at the Berkeley Repertory Theater.The Broadway cast of the Green Day musical “American Idiot” will look largely familiar to anyone who saw the show in its Berkeley Repertory Theater incarnation, but newcomers can get their introduction to the performers when they appear on the Grammy Awards broadcast on Sunday night. John Gallagher Jr., Michael Esper, Mary Faber, Rebecca Naomi Jones, uggs outletTony Vincent and Christina Sajous will all reprise their roles in the musical’s Broadway transfer, which begins previews on March 24 at the St. James Theater and opens on April 20. They’ll be joined by Stark Sands, a Tony Award nominee for “Journey’s End,” who has been cast as Tunny, and will also perform the song “21 Guns” with Green Day on the Grammy Awards, which will be on CBS. The “American Idiot” musical, adapted from the band’s best-selling album, is directed by Michael Mayer and features orchestration by Tom Kitt and choreography by Steven Hoggett.

Immigration blog Helen Thomas Texas on the Potomac blog Rick Dunham from D.C. on Twitter Bloggingall star shoes Austin in Texas Politics Peggy Fikac from Austin on Twitter Annise Parker’s inauguration speech Read the text of Parker’s speech What’s up in Houston What’s up in Harris County Latest on Texas, national politics Database of Texas lobbyists Letters to the editor The world’s power brokers 20 pols to watch by 2020 WASHINGTON — The latest congressional budget estimates due Tuesday predict a $1.35 trillion deficit for this year, a top Capitol Hill aide says.

The Congressional Budget Office figures confirm the massive problem facing President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies just days before his Feb. 1 budget submission. The White House says Obama will propose a three-year freeze on domestic agency budgets, though the savings would barely make a dent.

Bloomberg News also reported the $1.35 trillion figure today.

The deficit would slide to $480 billion by 2015, CBO says, but only if tax cuts on income, investments and large estates are allowed to expire at the end of this year. Most budget experts see deficits as far higher once tax cuts and other policies are factored in.

The nike shoes outlet2010 deficit figure is in line with previous estimates and would be a slight decline from last year’s $1.4 trillion shortfall. But plans afoot on Capitol Hill for a new jobs bill and a coming Obama request for war funds would add to the total.

The figures arrived just hours before the Senate is likely to reject a White House-backed plan to establish a bipartisan task force to recommend steps to curb the deficit.

The figures bring continued bad news on the deficit, keeping the pressure on Obama and congressional Democrats to demonstrate they’re serious about taking on the flood of red ink.

The spending freeze, expected to be proposed by Obama during the State of the Union address on Wednesday, would apply to a relatively small portion of the federal budget, affecting a $477 billion pot of money available for domestic agencies whose budgets are approved by Congress each year. Some of those agencies could get increases, others would have to face cuts; such programs got an almost 10 percent increase this year. The federal budget total was $3.5 trillion.

The freeze on so-called discretionary programs would have only a modest impact on a deficit expected to match last year’s $1.4 trillion. The steps needed to really tackle the deficit includeadidas shoes outlet tax increases and curbs on benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

That’s the idea driving the Obama-backed plan to create a special task force to come up with a plan to curb the spiraling budget deficit. But the Senate sponsors of the plan say it’s attracted too much opposition from the right and left to prevail.

Republicans say the panel — it would try to develop a deficit reduction blueprint after the November elections for a vote before the new Congress convenes — would lead to big tax hikes. Democratic opponents say they don’t want to vote on proposals to cut benefit programs like Social Security without being able to shape the plan.

Obama’s three-year spending freeze will be part of the budget Obama will submit Feb. 1, senior administration officials said, commenting on condition of anonymity to reveal unpublished details.

It’s likely to confront opposition on Capitol Hill, where a handful of powerful lawmakers write 12 annual appropriations bills. They’ve gotten used to hefty increases but now are being asked to tighten their belts. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis.,nike outlet declined to comment, his spokesman said.

The Pentagon, veterans programs, foreign aid and the Homeland Security Department would be exempt from the freeze.

The savings would be small at first, perhaps $10 billion to $15 billion, one official said. But over the coming decade, savings would add up to $250 billion.

The White House is under considerable pressure to cut deficits — the red ink hit a record $1.4 trillion this year — or at least keep them from growing. Encouraged by last week’s Massachusetts Senate victory, Republicans are hitting hard on the issue, and polls show voters increasingly concerned.

Sen. John McCain, who lost to Obama in last year’s presidential election, said he supports any attempt to cut discretionary domestic spending. “We need to do so,” he said Tuesday.

But in an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, the Arizona Republican said Obama “has got to veto bills that are laden with pork-barrel spending, earmarks.”

CBO projects 2010 deficit at $1.3 trillion
WASHINGTON
Tue adidas outletJan 26, 2010 9:42am ESTRelated NewsExclusive: “Blue Dog” Democrats outline fiscal agenda
Mon, Jan 25 2010Q+A: Possible steps to tackle the U.S. budget crunch
Mon, Jan 25 2010White House preparing fiscal task force
Wed, Jan 20 2010Debt limit hike wins final Congress approval
Thu, Dec 24 2009Obama pushes plans for more job creation
Tue, Dec 8 2009WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the U.S. budget deficit for the current fiscal year will come in at $1.3 trillion, down slightly from its previous $1.38 trillion estimate, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Barack Obama

CBO projects deficits to fall somewhat over the coming decade, coming in at $687 billion in fiscal year 2020, the source said.

The CBO is scheduled to release its estimates at 1000 EST (1500 GMT).

President Barack Obama is expected to propose a freeze on many domestic spending programs to tame the record deficit in his State of the Union speech on Wednesday, though analysts say more will be needed to reduce deficits to a sustainable level.

Obama is also expected to set up a commission to examine ways to bring down the deficit if a similarall star shoes proposal fails as expected in a Senate vote later on Tuesday.

The United States ran a record $1.4 trillion deficit in the last fiscal year, which ended on September 30, 2009, as the deepest recession since the 1930s hit tax revenue and drove up safety-net spending.
That’s it. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have definitely split up. Definitely. There’s incontrovertible proof.

What? A confirmation? A formal confirmation of the split by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie themselves? Don’t be silly. But we don’t need a formal confirmation when we’ve got proof this watertight – Brad Pitt has just bought a house. A house with a cave attached.

And, yes, look, we know that Brad Pitt has bought several homes in the past, and none of the previous ones seemed to signal a romantic split from Angelina Jolie of any kind, but you’re missing the big picture here. This one has a cave. A cave, damn it! Remember when you spent $700,000 on a house with a cave last time you split up with your girlfriend? This is
You’ll notice that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have yet to formally respond to this weekend’s reports that they’re about to split up. This means one of two things. Either a) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie aren’t splitting up and they refuse to dignify these obviously fabricated nike shoes outletreports with a response, or b) they hate each other so much that they can’t discuss the wording of the response without angrily smashing crockery over the other one’s head.

However, signs aren’t good. This week a celebrity magazine declared that Angelina Jolie had a vodka-fuelled affair with her dialect coach from Salt, even though she didn’t actually have a dialect coach for Salt. And, worse still, it turns out that Brad Pitt has just spent $700,000 on a house with a cave in it. What does this mean? Well, let’s run through the options:

1) Brad Pitt likes architecture and found the property fascinating from a design perspective.

2) Brad Pitt knows that, despite the recession, property still remains a solid investment.

3) Brad Pitt hates Angelina Jolie so much that he rushed out and bought the first house he could find, just so it meant not having to look at her stupid idiot face for any longer than he absolutely needed to.

4) Brad Pitt is going to become a superhero, tasked with the burden of saving Hollywood from the creeping shadow of crime. Buying the cave was stage one of this plan; part two will involve convincing the local police commissioner to flash a silhouette of a grotty beard into the adidas shoes outletsky at the first flash of trouble.

But, as far as The Daily Mail is concerned, it definitely means that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie properly hate each other’s guts:

Obama’s Middle Class Tax Credits: What Do They Mean for You?
Experts Weigh in on Tax Credits Targeting Parents, Workers
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The Obama administration’s new middle class initiatives will put more money into the pockets of many Americans, but will it bolster the flagging economy? Reactions to the plan, unveiled Monday as part of a forthcoming report by the administration’s Task Force on the Middle Class, have largely split among ideological lines.

President Barack Obama leaves after making a statement following a meeting of the Middle Class Task…
President Barack Obama leaves after making a statement following a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force at the White House, Jan. 25, 2010 in Washington. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced their support for an expansion of the child- and dependent-care tax credit for uggs outletfamilies that make less than $85,000 a year as well as other initiatives designed to help the middle class. Obama’s State of the Union address will be on Jan. 27.
(Martin H. Simon-Pool/Getty Images)Here’s a look at some of the administration’s proposals, what analysts are saying about them and what they mean for you:

For Working Parents: Expanding Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for Middle Class Families

Right now, parents earning above $43,000 a year can receive credit for 20 percent of their child care expenses and may claim expenses of up to $6,000 for two or more children, resulting in a maximum total tax credit of $1,200, according to 2009 tax return guidelines from the IRS. (Those earning below $43,000 are eligible to receive a credit for a higher percentage of their expenses.)

Related
PUNCH: Obama to Push Middle Class Tax Credits in State of the UnionLost College Savings? So Did First Kids Making Cuts or Hikes? Obama’s uggs outlet storeTax Plans

Liberty Media Corp. unveiled plans to launch a bid to buy as much as 34.5 million shares of Liveadidas shoes outlet
Nation Inc., which would more than double its stake in the company to 35% if fully subscribed.

Live Nation shares were up 13.5% at $11.95 in early trading Tuesday, below Liberty’s offer price of $12 a share.

The news comes a day after the U.S. Justice Department granted antitrust clearance to the concert promoter’s purchase of Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc., in which Liberty Media was the largest shareholder. The deal closed later Monday, giving Liberty Media a 15% stake in Live Nation.

Under a shareholder agreement, Liberty Media, which is controlled by media investor John Malone, is able to amass up to a 35% stake in Live Nation.

The merger’s approval process was slow, as the prospect of combining two heavyweights in the live-entertainment industry spurred criticism from lawmakers and consumer advocates. Ticketmaster is the country’s largest seller of tickets to concerts, sports games and other live events. Live Nation is another major ticket-seller and runs more than 100 concert venues.

Libertyuggs outlet said it will attribute any shares it purchases in the tender offer to its Liberty Capital group, while the Live Nation shares it currently owns are attributed to its Liberty Interactive group.

CBS) A new report claims Tiger Woods’ wife may be trying to save their marriage, starting with a visit to the treatment facility where he is said to be receiving treatment for sex addiction.

RadarOnline.com says it’s learned Elin Nordegren visited Woods at Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Photos: Tiger Woods

Chris Myers, senior executive editor of RadarOnline.com, says she was there for roughly five days and actually took part in the program.

RadarOnline’s source says Nordegren traveled alone on a private jet last week to see her husband, and that she was very happy when she left Mississippi on Sunday.

“When she returned, she was in an upbeat mood and seemed to be in a better light than she had been in the past few weeks,” Myers said.

Elin uggs outlet storewas seen on Monday in Orlandom Fla. with her son Charlie — and without her wedding ring.

She hadn’t been seen in public all last week, but her kids were recently spotted at Sea World with Nordegren’s sister.

However, Woods has more work to do in Mississsipi. Typically, says CBS News correspondent Michelle Gielan, the sex addiction program in Hattiesburg lasts about six weeks, and spouses frequently return for more therapy.

RadarOnline points out that, even though Nordegren may be participating in Woods’ therapy, it doesn’t necessarily mean the two are reconciling.

Myers said, “We have sources that say Elin and Tiger do want to work things out, and that they are talking and there is hope that the marriage will be saved.”

Sexual addiction treatment specialist and therapist Robert Weiss, the founder and executive director of The Sexual Recovery Institute, a sex addiction treatment center in Los Angeles, says Nordegren, if taking part in the recovery process, will learn all about the secrets and information Woods may have kept from her.

Weissugg outlet said on “The Early Show” Tuesday, “She gets that disclosed to her. That’s part of the process.”

When asked if that would be difficult, Weiss said it’s an important part of staying in a relationship.

He said, “I don’t know any spouse that can stay in a relationship, and not know what has happened during the course of their marriage, so it’s really important to clear the boards. … It is a disclosure.”

Weiss said 80 to 85 percent of people treated for sex addiction in a relationship stay together.

“It kind of bothers me when people say, ‘I can’t believe they stayed together,’ because couples have a lot in common,” Weiss said. “They have their kids. They have their families. They have their church. They have their community. They have a rich life, and even though there has been betrayal, that doesn’t mean a couple can’t work through that.”

Weiss said it’s a good sign that Woods is getting treatment — especially because he’s such a public figure.

He uggs outlet storessaid, “I think it will be very hard for someone like that to walk into a bar and hit on someone or create a situation, because the whole world knows, ‘Hey Tiger, you got this problem.’”
Tiger Woods’ wife Elin has called off her divorce from the golf superstar, sources tell RadarOnline.com exclusively.

Elin spent last week visiting Tiger, and participating in his sex addiction rehab treatment, RadarOnline.com reported exclusively.

PHOTOS: Elin Taking Care of the Children Back In Florida

And while Elin had made up her mind to dump her husband after he was linked to more than 14 women and his secret life of cheating revealed, time - and Tiger’s actions - have caused her to call off the divorce for now.

She returned to Orlando Sunday night by private jet after spending last week with Tiger. “She was happynike outlet when she came home,” a source told RadarOnline.com exclusively. “Things went well.”

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Tiger In Rehab

Elin has not filed divorce paper but has explored her options. Tiger sought treatment to save his marriage and so far it’s working, the source said.

“He’s told her he’s serious about making it work and doing whatever he can,” the source said.

She’s agreed to try to make things work.

PHOTOS: Tiger Mistress Rachel Uchitel Topless

Elin had removed her wedding rings after the scandal broke and the new photos. She was not seen in public all of last week. Photographed on Monday in Orlando she appeared much thinner than when the scandal broke and the source says that’s not a coincidence.

“The stress has taken a big toll on her,” the source said. “But she’s a strong woman.”

Tiger is still at Gentle Path receiving in-patient treatmentadidas outlet in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Sen. John McCain Backs President Obama’s Proposed Budget Freeze

Sen. John McCain will support President Obama’s plan to freeze much of the federal budget for theuggs outletnext three years, but said the president must also promise to veto any bills that are stuffed with pork barrel spending items.

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The president orders a hold on non-security discretionary spending.McCain, R-Ariz., told “Good Morning America” today that he’s in favor of Obama’s plan to announce a partial spending freeze when he releases his proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 next Monday.

“We need to do it,” McCain told “GMA’s” anchor George Stephanopoulos. “I think it’s important and I’ll support it. But the president has to promise to veto bills that are laden with pork barrel spending.

The Obama administration estimates the freeze, which would be imposed on non-security discretionary spending, would save $250 billion over the next decade.

McCain said a freeze wasn’t enough and that Obama should resist a $90 billion jobs stimulus bill that is making its way through Congress.

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Exclusive: Obama Would ‘Rather Be Really Good One-Term President’WATCH: Is 1 Term Enough?Obama Adjusts Ahead of State of the Union”The Senate and House are looking at $100 billion or moreuggs outlet store of new spending just on ’stimulus’… sending bad money after good in an effort to stimulate the economy,” the 2009 Republican presidential nominee said.

“The president has to commit to vetoing any of these appropriation bills that have earmarks or pork barrel spending on them. That means taking on Democrats and Republicans.”

Instead of spending more taxpayer funds in an effort to stimulate jobs, McCain said he would prefer to see Obama stimulate the economy by cutting taxes.

“Tax cuts, giving more tax incentives and breaks to small businesses, making sure we do not raise taxes, which may happen if the present tax cuts lapse,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we can do, including a path to some kind of fiscal sanity.”

“If you cut people’s taxes I think it stimulates the economy,” he added. “We certainly found that out with President Reagan.”

Obama declined to rule out any new taxes during an exclusive interview with “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer on Monday. When asked whether he could guarantee there would not be any additional taxes on anyone making less than $250,000, Obama replied, “I can guarantee that the worst thing we could do would be to raise taxes when the economy is still this weak.”

The ugg outletpresident and his team have said for months that he would address budget deficits in his State of the Union address this Wednesday, knowing that the massive spending in the Wall Street bailout and stimulus package makes many Americans uneasy.

Sen. John McCain Will Vote Against Treasury Secretary Bernanke
The administration is defining security-related discretionary spending – which will not be impacted by this freeze – as spending related to the Pentagon, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security, and on international affairs.

“We are at war and we’re going to make sure our troops are funded at an adequate level,” a senior administration official said.

The base level of non-security discretionary spending for Fiscal Year 2010 is $477 billion. From 2011 through 2013, a senior administration official said, spending “will be no higher than that.”

Related
Wall Street: Obama to Cut Size, Power of BanksFiery Obama: ‘More Fights in the Days Ahead’Exclusive: Obama Says Voter Anger, Frustration Key to Brown VictoryIn his “GMA” interview,uggs outlet stores McCain said he remained opposed to the reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Treasury Secretary because Bernanke “was there at the casino when all the gambling was going on.” McCain, however, did not indicate there were enough votes to block the appointment.

The senator also sparred long distance with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who recently criticized McCain for his sharp partisan attacks on administration policies. Reid said he was “amazed” McCain wasn’t more of a statesman.

“Harry Reid attacked me and my temperament and my character during the campaign,” said McCain, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. “That’s rather typical of Harry Reid.”

He noted that Reid had previously accused him and other Republicans of being like those who had opposed the abolition of slavery.

“That’s sort of his modus operandi these days,” McCain said.
We’re just about 24 hours away from the most wonderful time of year, when Apple is expected bestow an exciting new product on tech enthusiasts. By most accounts, Apple’s new gadget is goingnike outlet to be a 10-inch touchscreen tablet designed for consuming a variety of media including video, news, books, and music.
Apple’s event starts at 10 am Pacific time on Wednesday morning. Here are a few ways to stay on top of all the action, even before the event starts.
The Live Blog
Tune into PCWorld’s live blog on Wednesday morning for blow-by-blow coverage Apple’s event. The live blog, which uses the Cover It Live software, is complements of MacWorld’s editors, which will be attending the event along with PCWorld’s editors.

Of course, PCWorld will not be offering the only live blog of the event. You can also check out Harry McCracken’s coverage over at Technologizer, and the team at Gizmodo is a good source as well.

With so much speculation and rumor out there, it’s no wonder the Apple Tablet is already considered one of the most overhyped tech products of all time. Everybody’s got their favorite predictions and pet theories about the Apple Tablet, and now you can keep track of all the top rumors with an Apple Tablet prediction scorecard created by software developer David Weiss.

To play along, just download the PDF and make your predictions. Give yourself one point for every prediction you get right, and zero for every prediction you get wrong. If you’re competing against friends, and two or more of you end up in a tie, the person who lives furthestadidas outlet from Cupertino wins.

There are 38 questions, with all kinds of predictions, including whether we’ll see Bing replace Google on the iPhone, New touchscreen Macs launched, or a new iTunes Web App. You also have to place your bets on the name of the new device choosing from: Apple tablet, Apple iTablet, iSlate, iGuide, iBook, iPad, or Canvas.

Weiss’ software company, Unweary, is selling an iPhone app for $2.99 called Prediction that is perfect for all you rumor junkies out there. Prediction aggregates the latest tech rumors for a wide variety of tech events including tomorrow’s Apple event, Mobile World Congress 2010, E3 2010, and more. You can also use the app to share your own predictions with others. I haven’t tested it out so I can’t vouch for how comprehensive the app is, but if you’re like to stay current on all the tech rumors, this might be the app for you.

Cover it Live doesn’t have a downloadable iPhone app, but the popular live blogging service does have a mobile Web app to help keep you updated on the fly. Just point your mobile browser to coveritlive.com/mobile.php or make your selection from Cover It Live’s event listings.

Appleall star shoes has clamped down on pirate video streams broadcasting from Apple events. Nevertheless, it’s always worth a look over at UStream or Justin.TV to see if anyone was able to sneak a hat cam into the event.

After the product launch, Apple will post its presentation on the Quicktime Guide Website, and you can also download Apple events as a podcast on iTunes.

If you want to follow live tweets from the event as well as commentary from the twitosphere, one of the best things to do is create hashtag searches in your twitter client for things like #apple #appleevent, #appletablet, #tablet or #appleislate. Eventually, one or two hashtags will become the preferred choices and you can just follow those.

You can also follow a variety of Twitter accounts to stay current. There are far too many possibilities to list here, but here are a few suggestions: PC World, MacWorld, MacRumors, Technologizer, Gizmodo and for a dose of tech comedy check out Fake Steve Jobs and Mosspuppet.

After the event don’t forget to check in with PC World for post-event coverage, and a complete breakdown, and analysis of every part of Apple’snike shoes outlet product announcements.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Wal-Mart’s warehouse retail chain Sam’s Club is cutting 10,000 jobs, adidas shoes outletthe company said Sunday.

Brian Cornell, Sam’s Club’s chief executive, said in a memo to employees that most of the losses will be part-time positions in the company’s product-sampling department.
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Cornell said the move stems from a decision to hire a third-party marketing company, Shopper Events, to run the company’s product demonstration operations.

Shopper Events is expected to hire “roughly the same number of people,” Cornell said, adding that all current Sam’s Club demo associates will have the opportunity to apply for these new positions.

Sam’s Club, owned and operated by Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), announced earlier this month that it would close 10 stores that were losing money, impacting 1,500 employees.

(CNN) — uggs outletSecretary of State Hillary Clinton and foreign ministers from more than a dozen countries will start laying out the groundwork for rebuilding Haiti on Monday, nearly two weeks after a devastating earthquake.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive is also due to attend the conference of the Friends of Haiti group of nations in Montreal, Quebec.

The United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and European Union are also sending representatives, Canada’s Foreign Ministry said.

The one-day meeting is a first step toward a larger reconstruction conference on Haiti that will take place in coming months, the ministry said.

It comes amid anger and frustration that efforts to rescue possible survivors have been called off.

Thousands of people pushed Sunday for rescue efforts to continue at a collapsed hotel, as a 24-year-olduggs outlet store man recovered in a hospital after being rescued 11 days after the earthquake.

Families of Americans who were staying at the Hotel Montana started an online petition Saturday in an effort to continue search efforts “until all the survivors are accounted for.” As of Sunday morning, 2,395 people had signed the petition and sent 6,216 messages to the Senate, Congress and the White House, said Sue Keller, a friend of a family whose relatives are among the missing. The families hope to have at least 5,000 signatures by Monday, she said.

Looking for loved ones in Haiti

The Haitian government has said more than 111,000 people died in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake. On Saturday, however, a French rescue team saved one life as they pulled Wismond Jean-Pierre from the rubble of the Hotel Napoli Inn — 11 days after the quake.

Jean-Pierre had no injuries, but was dehydrated. Crews put him in an ambulance and took him to a hospital.

He was a clerk at a store in the hotel, according to his brother. He survived after finding foodugg outlet and drink in the store’s wreckage, the brother said.

Rescues like Jean-Pierre’s, and others that have come more than a week after the January 12 quake, spark hope among families of the missing. But the emotional rescue came on a day when much of Haiti was mourning as operations largely shifted from rescue to recovery, and the country’s president attended the funeral of an archbishop who was one of the victims.

International search teams have rescued at least 132 people, the U.N. said.

More than 600,000 people have also been left homeless in and around the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Nothing can stop the reign of “Avatar.”

A scant 16-percent drop in its sixth weekend of release has helped James Cameron’s sci-fi spectacle become the second highest-grossing movie of all time. In contrast, the new releases failed to make a significant mark, with the apocalyptic film Legion performing strongest with an uggs outlet storesestimated $18.2 million and a second-place showing.

Avatar earned an additional $36 million this weekend, climbing to $552.8 million domestically and surpassing “The Dark Knight’s” $533.3 million domestic haul. If it continues to drop in the 20-percent range as it has the last few weekends this time it only fell 16 percent it’s on track to is top Titanic’s $600.8 million by mid-February.

Worldwide, Avatar is also the second-highest grossing movie of all time at $1.8 billion, trailing “Titanic” by less than $7 million.

In contrast, none of the new releases is likely to have much of an afterlife. “Legion” may have bowed in second place, but it earned a dismal C- from exit pollster Cinemascore, meaning there is unlikely to be much positive word-of-mouth for this movie.

Twentieth Century Fox’s “The Tooth Fairy,” scored better with audiences (it’s Cinemascore is an A-) but with a $14.5 million gross and a fourth place debut that portends an inauspicious futurenike outlet for this family-friendly comedy starring Dwayne Johnson.

And then there is “Extraordinary Measures.” This debut film from nascent studio CBS Film didn’t connect with audiences. Earning only $7 million for a three-day frame, the Harrison Ford/Brendan Fraser medical weepie landed in seventh place and will likely be out of the top 10 by next weekend when the Disney comedy “When in Rome” opens opposite Mel Gibson’s R-rated revenge drama “Edge of Darkness.”

For second week holdovers, “The Book of Eli” and “The Lovely Bones” both performed strongly.

“Eli” dropped 48 percent to land in third place with $17 million. It’s total cume stands at $62 million. “The Lovely Bones” also dropped 48 percent, bringing its total gross to $32 million.

The rest of the top ten included “Sherlock Holmes,” grossing an additional $7.1 million for a sixth slot, and “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” earning $6.5 million for eighth place.

“It’s all star shoesComplicated” and “The Spy Next Door” rounded out the top ten with $6.2 and $4.7 million, respectively. The weekend was still down compared to last year at this time when “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” claimed the top spot for the second weekend in a row