2012Thu02Feb

Paul gambles on caucus states to amass delegates

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Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas speaks to members of the group Hispanics in Politics, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron?Paul, R-Texas, walks off the stage after a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Ron Paul is rolling the dice on Nevada and other caucus states like Minnesota, Kansas and Washington, hoping to keep his nontraditional presidential campaign alive by amassing Republican delegates rather than notching outright wins.

The presidential hopeful came in dead last in Florida’s primary, fourth in South Carolina’s primary and third in Iowa’s caucuses. His strongest showing so far was in New Hampshire, where he placed a distant second behind Mitt Romney in the opening primary of the 2012 campaign.

Undeterred with just four delegates so far, Paul and his advisers say they are sticking to a strategy that avoids major commitments in expensive winner-take-all primaries, like Florida’s and Arizona’s, in favor of lower-cost states that proportionally allocate their delegates.

“Our goal is to win. And you win by getting the maximum number of delegates,” Paul said at a news conference Wednesday in Las Vegas, where he is campaigning ahead of the Saturday’s Nevada caucuses. “I’m delighted Nevada makes it fair, where we can compete for the votes. When we get the delegates and build up momentum, we can win.”

It’s a tall order for Paul by any measure, even though 46 states have yet to vote and just 6 percent of the delegates have been won so far.

A candidate must win 1,144 delegates to secure the GOP nomination. Romney’s victory in Florida has already helped him jump out to a substantial delegate lead ? he now has 87 delegates compared with 26 for Newt Gingrich and 14 for Rick Santorum. Those numbers include endorsements from Republican National Committee members who will automatically attend the party convention.

Romney’s deep-pocketed campaign is also built to last, with strong organizations across several states, including Nevada, whose caucuses the former Massachusetts governor won in 2008. Paul placed a distant second in Nevada that year, and his advisers are cautiously predicting a victory on Saturday.

The campaign has been running television ads in the state for three weeks and several top Republican county activists are Paul supporters. The Texas congressman’s diehard band of supporters is expected to show up at caucuses, while many less committed Republicans are likely to stay home.

“A lot of people care about liberty here,” said Paul’s chief strategist, Jesse Benton. “There’s a strong independent spirit. We feel like we have the numbers.”

Nevada’s 28 delegates are allocated proportionally, meaning no one candidate can take them all.

Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Reno, predicted Romney would win the caucuses but Paul would come out strong.

“Nevada has a libertarian streak in politics. Our economy is based on gambling and drinking and low social service provision,” Herzik said. “That speaks to this kind of limited government, individual liberty approach to politics that Ron Paul favors.”

After all but skipping Florida and South Carolina, Paul is signaling a seriousness of purpose in Nevada.

He discussed immigration policy with Hispanic voters in Las Vegas and has laid out a five-point plan for revitalizing the state’s weak economy with proposals like ending the taxation of tips. The campaign estimates that about 20 percent of the state’s workers hold jobs that generate income from tips.

From Nevada, Paul will head to Minnesota, whose caucuses are Tuesday, as are Colorado’s. Minnesota has 37 delegates, Colorado 33.

Paul held events in Colorado on Tuesday, but his campaign is not running television advertising there as it is in Minnesota.

Paul also campaigned in Maine, whose caucuses begin Saturday and run through Feb. 11. The state has 21 delegates.

Those states allocate their delegates proportionally by congressional district. That means Paul would have to win a congressional district to receive any delegates.

From there, Paul is eyeing Michigan, whose primary is Feb. 28. Romney is heavily favored in Michigan, where he grew up and where his father, George Romney, served as governor. Nonetheless, Benton says Paul is likely to pass the 15 percent threshold for winning at least some delegates.

Benton said Paul would probably not compete hard in Arizona, a winner-take-all state whose primary is also Feb. 28. But the Texas congressman is expected to put his energy toward winning a chunk of Washington state’s 40 delegates, which are allocated by caucus on March 3.

Next up: primary-heavy Super Tuesday, March 6, where the Paul campaign is eyeing a possible outright win in Idaho if not much of a delegate haul in the other nine states with contests that day.

More promising are other states with March caucuses: Kansas, March 10; Hawaii, March 13; and Missouri, March 17. A week later, on March 24, comes the primary in Louisiana, another state where Paul’s campaign thinks it can do well.

Caucus states typically go through a three-stage process. Voters at the precinct level elect delegates who then go to county and state conventions. Benton said the Paul campaign has active organizations in caucus states to ensure the delegate strategy would be followed all the way to the state conventions, where actual delegates are allocated.

Paul raised $13.3 million in the last quarter of 2011 and was pulling in about $100,000 per day, Benton said.

Herzik said Paul faced tough odds trying to slow Romney.

“Romney can match Paul for organization, and has a broader base of support. And after Florida,” Herzik said, “Romney has the momentum.”

___

Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bfouhy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-02-02-Paul-Delegate%20Strategy/id-9457af270496466293ecb341d1962b7b

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2012Thu02Feb

Are nuisance jellyfish really taking over the world’s oceans?

Permalink | Shortlink | Comments (0) | TrackbackFiled in heightenedTags: dauphin island sea lab, island sea lab, world

Public release date: 1-Feb-2012
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Contact: Tim Beardsley
tbeardsley@aibs.org
703-674-2500 x326
American Institute of Biological Sciences

A new assessment questions the notion that jellyfish and similar gelatinous creatures will dominate the seas

In recent years, media reports of jellyfish blooms and some scientific publications have fueled the idea that jellyfish and other gelatinous floating creatures are becoming more common and may dominate the seas in coming decades. The growing impacts of humans on the oceans, including overfishing and climate change, have been suggested as possible causes of this apparently alarming trend.

A careful evaluation of the evidence by Robert H. Condon of Dauphin Island Sea Lab and his 16 coauthors, however, finds the idea that jellyfish, comb jellies, salps, and similar organisms are surging globally to be lacking support. Rather, Condon and his colleagues suggest, the perception of an increase is the result of more scientific attention being paid to phenomena such as jellyfish blooms and media fascination with the topic. Also important is the lack of good information on their occurrence in the past, which encourages misleading comparisons. Condon and his coauthors describe their findings in the February issue of BioScience.

Such fossil and documentary evidence as is available indicates that occasional spectacular blooms of jellyfish are a normal part of such organisms’ natural history, and may be linked to natural climate cycles. But blooms drew less attention in decades and centuries gone by.

Condon and his coauthors do not urge complacency, and acknowledge a lack of consensus among researchers. They point out that changes in populations of jellyfish and similar sea organisms do have important consequences for local marine ecology and could be affected by human activity. For that reason, they are assembling a comprehensive new database that will enable trends in the numbers of such creatures to be assessed and the links to human activity studied. But for now, Condon and his coauthors believe the case for jellyfish-dominated seas in coming decades is not proven.

###

BioScience, published monthly, is the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS; www.aibs.org). BioScience is a forum for integrating the life sciences that publishes commentary and peer-reviewed articles. The journal has been published since 1964. AIBS is an umbrella organization for professional scientific societies and organizations that are involved with biology. It represents nearly 160 member societies and organizations. The article by Condon and colleagues is available during the month of February at http://www.aibs.org/bioscience-press-releases/

The complete list of peer-reviewed articles in the February 2012 issue of BioScience is as follows:

Forty Years of Vegetation Change on the Missouri River Floodplain.
W. Carter Johnson, Mark D. Dixon, Michael L. Scott, Lisa Rabbe, Gary Larson, Malia Volke, and Brett Werner

Nationwide Assessment of Nonpoint Source Threats to Water Quality.
Thomas C. Brown and Pamela Froemke

Shifting Climate, Altered Niche, and a Dynamic Conservation Strategy for Yellow-Cedar in the North Pacific Coastal Rainforest.
Paul E. Hennon, David V. D’Amore, Paul G. Schaberg, Dustin T. Wittwer, and Colin S. Shanley

Questioning the Rise of Gelatinous Zooplankton in the World’s Oceans.
Robert H. Condon, William M. Graham, Carlos M. Duarte, Kylie A. Pitt, Cathy H. Lucas, Steven H.D. Haddock, Kelly R. Sutherland, Kelly L. Robinson, Michael N. Dawson, Mary Beth Decker, Claudia E. Mills, Jennifer E. Purcell, Alenka Malej, Hermes Mianzan, Shin-ichi Uye, Stefan Gelcich, and Laurence P. Madin

Uncovering, Collecting, and Analyzing Records to Investigate the Ecological Impacts of Climate Change: A Template from Thoreau’s Concord.
Richard B. Primack and Abraham J. Miller-Rushing

Developing a Interdisciplinary, Distributed Graduate Course for Twenty-First Century Scientists.
Helene H. Wagner, Melanie A. Murphy, Rolf Holderegger, and Lisette Waits

Dramatic Improvements and Persistent Challenges for Women Ecologists.
Krista L. McGuire, Richard B. Primack, and Elizabeth C. Losos

Will Amphibians Croak under the Endangered Species Act?
Brian Gratwicke, Thomas E. Lovejoy, and David E. Wildt

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 1-Feb-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Tim Beardsley
tbeardsley@aibs.org
703-674-2500 x326
American Institute of Biological Sciences

A new assessment questions the notion that jellyfish and similar gelatinous creatures will dominate the seas

###

The complete list of peer-reviewed articles in the February 2012 issue of BioScience is as follows:

Forty Years of Vegetation Change on the Missouri River Floodplain.
W. Carter Johnson, Mark D. Dixon, Michael L. Scott, Lisa Rabbe, Gary Larson, Malia Volke, and Brett Werner

Nationwide Assessment of Nonpoint Source Threats to Water Quality.
Thomas C. Brown and Pamela Froemke

Uncovering, Collecting, and Analyzing Records to Investigate the Ecological Impacts of Climate Change: A Template from Thoreau’s Concord.
Richard B. Primack and Abraham J. Miller-Rushing

Developing a Interdisciplinary, Distributed Graduate Course for Twenty-First Century Scientists.
Helene H. Wagner, Melanie A. Murphy, Rolf Holderegger, and Lisette Waits

Dramatic Improvements and Persistent Challenges for Women Ecologists.
Krista L. McGuire, Richard B. Primack, and Elizabeth C. Losos

Will Amphibians Croak under the Endangered Species Act?
Brian Gratwicke, Thomas E. Lovejoy, and David E. Wildt

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/aiob-anj020112.php

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2012Thu02Feb

Strengthening San Marcos Heating And Air Performance | Karpanto …

Permalink | Shortlink | Comments (0) | TrackbackFiled in heightenedTags: Heating, natural gasoline, outdated unit

When a house?s heating and air conditioning technique is functioning optimally, it cuts down on gas utilization and minimizes utility expenses. HVAC programs are typically energized by electricity, all-natural gasoline or propane. In an previous, outdated unit, this can expense hundreds of dollars each thirty day period, specially in quite very hot or cold climates. In purchase for human beings to survive, they need to retain their bodies at average temperatures.

Extended exposure to extreme heat or frigid weather conditions can cause warmth exhaustion, dehydration and dying in the very hot local weather and frostbite, hypothermia and dying in the freezing regions. Retaining our houses at average temps isn?t a matter of luxurious it?s a make a difference of survival. If a person?s on a restricted budget and isn?t going to want to decide on in between feeding his or her family members or spending the electric company, there are measures that can be taken to decrease energy use. Mother Earth will be thankful, as well, for not obtaining all her fossil gas employed up, as nicely. Here are some guidelines for improving performance in your environment manage methods:

Standard preventative maintenance support: A single of the best items a homeowner can do to improve effectivity is to have the HVAC system serviced seasonally. Ahead of the snow falls, have the support tech out to test all the features to make sure it really is in tiptop shape. Not acquiring to battle because of to faulty purpose will preserve electricity.

Alter the filters: Air filters catch particles and dirt and maintain the gunk from flying through the air as well as by means of appliance?s ductwork. If filters get clogged up, this will result in the HVAC to perform harder to do its task. This will result in greater utility expenses and will lower the longevity of the unit.

Insulate your home: As soon as the heater or AC fills your area with reasonable temps, you will want to maintain it that way. In order to not awesome or warmth the outdoors entire world, insulate partitions, attics and crawl areas to preserve the comfortable weather inside of your home.

Close or open up the blinds throughout heat of the day: In the course of the peak sunshine hrs for the duration of the summertime, shut your curtains or blinds. Not obtaining immediate sunlight getting into your abode will preserve the spot cooler without having the AC. In the winter season, allow the sunshine in. Open blinds and request the sunrays to send in the warmth.

Use the oven to cook big meals in the winter months: Throughout the winter season, the oven is your buddy. Not only will it give nourishing house-cooked foods, it will heat your home whilst roasting turkeys or baking cakes. For the duration of the summer season, use the BBQ to cook your meals and depart the warmth outdoors in which it belongs. Salads and cooler food items will preserve your bodies nourished and your rooms much more at ease.

Heating and air conditioning needs are a element of daily life but they don?t have to drain your bank account. By doing a few straightforward duties such as doing program servicing, modifying the filters, opening or closing the curtains and employing your oven and BBQ according to the season, you can have comfortable temps and reduced utility bills.

San Marcos Heating is guaranteed to give you with the most efficient and inexpensive heating solutions for every situation. Available 24 hours a day, we do our absolute best to promptly get to your home or office.

Source: http://news.karpanto.com/2012/02/01/strengthening-san-marcos-heating-and-air-performance/

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2012Thu02Feb

Democrat favored in Oregon congressional election (Reuters)

Permalink | Shortlink | Comments (0) | TrackbackFiled in heightenedTags: congressional campaign committee, democrat david wu, Tea

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) ? A Democratic former Oregon state legislator was favored to win a special election on Tuesday to fill the congressional seat vacated by disgraced Democrat David Wu, who resigned in a sex scandal.

Suzanne Bonamici, who most recently served as a state senator, is running against Republican businessman Rob Cornilles to represent a diverse district that includes the Nike Inc. headquarters, much of Oregon’s high tech industry, wealthy suburbs and areas dependent on farming and fishing.

The western Oregon district has sent a Democrat to the House of Representatives since 1974, and Democrats have a 12 percentage point advantage in voter registration.

Democrats have sought to paint Cornilles as a Tea Party radical, a tactic the party may use in congressional races around the country in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent about $1.3 million in the race. Television advertising and a website run by the committee seize on Cornilles calling himself “the original Tea Party candidate” during a previous congressional run against Wu in 2010.

Many Republican candidates nationally attended Tea Party events and sought endorsements from local chapters in the 2010 midterm elections, as support for the conservative movement’s small-government mantra swelled.

But polls have suggested declining sympathy for Tea Party-sanctioned Republican freshmen in the House of Representatives after they were seen as obstructionist on the debt ceiling, extending payroll taxes and other issues in 2011, raising questions about their tactics.

The special election is generally not seen as a referendum on President Barack Obama, said political analyst and retired Oregon State University professor Bill Lunch. “The focus has been on the characteristics of the candidates themselves,” he said.

DUELING ADS

Television advertisements in favor of Bonamici, an attorney, have questioned her opponent’s claims of job creation and the tax payment record for his business. Ads from the Cornilles camp, meanwhile, have portrayed Bonamici as a proponent of raising taxes and they have shown photos of her with Wu.

Wu, who was in his seventh term, resigned in August after a woman accused him of an unwanted sexual advance.

Despite her fellow Democrat’s troubles, Bonamici was favored by 50 percent of voters to Cornilles’ 39 percent in an early January poll taken by SurveyUSA for Portland’s KATU television.

“Numbers currently look very strong for Bonamici,” Paul Gronke, a political analyst and professor at Reed College, Portland, said in an email. “Nothing is ever a given, but I’d be very surprised if she lost at this point.”

Nevertheless, Republicans remain optimistic. “This is a historic opportunity. We have a really good shot at this district,” said Greg Leo, chief of staff of the Oregon Republican Party.

Oregon has an mail voting system. Ballots are due back in the mail or to be dropped off at collection sites on Tuesday.

(Editing By Alex Dobuzinskis and Daniel Trotta)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_oregon

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2012Thu02Feb

I Could Never Vote for a Rich Plutocrat like Mitt Romney (ContributorNetwork)

Permalink | Shortlink | Comments (0) | TrackbackFiled in heightenedTags: gop nomination, irs publication 15, percent

COMMENTARY | Mitt Romney, candidate for the GOP nomination to run against Barack Obama this year, released his tax returns today, demonstrating an approximately 14 percent tax rate, according to CNN. That outlet continues by infuriatingly insisting that Romney’s tax rate is higher than that of 80 percent of Americans. Such claims are misleading and demonstrate how politicians use statistics to their advantage, and as a voter it makes me mad as heck. I’m very interested in Mr. Romney’s tax situation because it will affect whether I could vote for him.

Assume for a minute that Romney actually pays more than 80 percent of Americans. A quick look at IRS Publication 15, Page 37, Table 7 shows just one tax bracket lower than the rate Romney paid: a 10 percent bracket. It shows the only people who would pay a lower bracket than Romney are single people making less than $10,851 a year or couples making less than $25,501.

In other words, the only reason those people would pay less than Romney is that you can’t get blood from a stone. For the claim to be true it would mean 80 percent of Americans are living on wages so low they’re lucky they can buy food.

Romney also took his sweet time releasing his returns, and only gave data for two years, according to the New York Times. It leaves me wondering what he is hiding. Did he try to find some way to doctor his documentation? Did his publicists need time to write the spin-heavy press-releases meant to make his ridiculously low tax rate seem acceptable? If they did, they should have taken more time because his tax rate appalls me.

No matter what Romney may say one simple fact remains clear: Romney is so rich he will never understand the common citizen’s struggles. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the gates of heaven, so it is said. Let’s hope it’s equally hard for him to enter the White House.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120131/us_ac/10878381_i_could_never_vote_for_a_rich_plutocrat_like_mitt_romney

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2012Thu02Feb

German beer drinking slide stopped by warm weather (Reuters)

Permalink | Shortlink | Comments (0) | TrackbackFiled in heightenedTags: cup soccer tournament, federal statistics office

BERLIN (Reuters) ? A steady slide in beer consumption in Germany was stopped cold last year thanks to warmer weather, the federal statistics office said on Monday.

German brewers sold 98.2 million hectoliters of beer last year, down by just 0.1 percent in 2011 after dropping by an average of two percent every year since 2006. Beer consumption in Germany had fallen in all but two of the last 10 years.

Despite Germany’s reputation as a nation of beer lovers, young people are turning away from the national beverage in favour of other non-alcoholic beverages, brewers say.

The warmer weather last year as well as the World Cup soccer tournament in 2006 helped to put a floor beneath what is still the country’s most famous beverage. Germans still drink more than 100 liters of beer per capita each year.

“Beer sales depend on the weather. In the first half of 2011 — in April and May — we had a lot of warm weather, and the figures were up by 1.0 percent,” Juergen Hammer, an official at the Federal Statistics Agency, told Reuters.

“This is why this year’s results aren’t so bad. So I guess the old adage is true that when it’s warm people drink beer.”

Consumption of German beer, which has been subject to a purity law since 1516, has been in slow decline for decades.

The World Cup football tournament helped German beer consumption rise by 1.4 percent in 2006, the strongest increase in 12 years, the federal statistics office said on Monday.

(Reporting by Alice Baghdjian, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oddlyenough/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/od_nm/us_germany_beer

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2012Thu02Feb

Brady: Avoiding trouble with Giants no secret

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady answers questions during a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, in Indianapolis. The Patriots are scheduled to face the New York Giants in NFL football Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

FILE – In this Jan. 1, 2012, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady signals at the line of scrimmage against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass. If Joe Namath played for either of the Super Bowl coaches, he would have shown up with duct tape over his mouth. Yes, it’s been that kind of week leading up to the Giants-Patriots NFL title game: See no evil, hear no evil and definitely speak no evil. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? It’s no secret how to stay out of trouble against the New York Giants.

Doing it, however, is another matter.

The Giants have perhaps the best pass rushers in the NFL, a group Brady knows all too well. He absorbed five sacks and was hit nine times when the New England Patriots lost to the Giants 17-14 in the Super Bowl four years ago. Brady was only sacked twice when the teams met Nov. 6, but one of those miscues resulted in a Giants touchdown one play later.

“This team has a very good pass rush. I’ve seen it game after game,” Brady said Wednesday. “They can get to the quarterback. They can hit the quarterback. They can force the quarterback into some bad decisions and some bad throws. We’re going to try and eliminate those. We really can’t afford too many of those on Sunday.

“We had too many of those the last time we played them, and we’re not going to be able to win the game making mistakes.”

Especially not with the way the Giants are playing right now.

The Giants finished the regular season tied for third in the NFL with 48 sacks. Eleven of those came in the last two games of the regular season, victories over the crosstown rival Jets and Dallas Cowboys, and the Giants have added nine more in their three playoff wins.

What makes New York’s pass rush so ferocious is that it never stops coming, with a line that goes eight deep. All Pro Jason Pierre-Paul led the team with 16 1/2 sacks in his second season, while Osi Umenyiora had nine in only nine games. Justin Tuck and backup defensive end Dave Tollefson had five apiece, Chris Canty added four and fellow tackle Linval Joseph had two.

Oh, and don’t forget linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka, who had 3 1/2 sacks playing as a lineman in passing situations.

“It wouldn’t be the Super Bowl if they weren’t talking about coming to knock me down and trying to knock me out,” Brady said. “That’s what I expect. And you know what? Our offensive line gets paid to keep those guys out of there.”

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-02-01-FBN-Super-Bowl-Patriots-Brady/id-f7449bedbf294f1f951fb91e1b769082

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2012Wed01Feb

UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia get customized Flipboard content guides

Permalink | Shortlink | Comments (0) | TrackbackFiled in heightenedTags: content, content guides, mike quade

Flipboard has announced that it can now deliver customized content guides for four more countries. The hugely popular app that creates a magazine style reading experience from your areas of interest now supports the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/BVtGZQu6-BQ/story01.htm

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2012Wed01Feb

Pythons apparently wiping out Everglades mammals

Permalink | Shortlink | Comments (0) | TrackbackFiled in heightenedTags: Park

In this November 14, 2009 photo provided by the University of Florida, University of Florida researchers hold a 162-pound Burmese python captured in Everglades National Park, Fla. Therese Walters, left, Alex Wolf and Michael R. Rochford, right, are holding the 15-foot snake shortly after the python ate a six-foot American alligator. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/ University of Florida, Michael R. Rochford)

In this 2009 photo provided by the National Park Service, a Burmese python is wrapped around an American alligator in Everglades National Park, Fla. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Lori Oberhofer)

In this Jan. 17, 2012 file photo, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, center, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., left, look at at 13-foot python held by National Park Service Supervisor Ranger Al Mercado in the Everglades, Fla. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

In this 2009 photo provided by the University of Florida a researcher holds a Burmese python near her nest in Everglades National Park, Fla. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/ University of Florida, Jemeema Carrigan)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? A burgeoning population of huge pythons ? many of them pets that were turned loose by their owners when they got too big ? appears to be wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, a study says.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically ? as much as 99 percent, in some cases ? in areas where pythons and other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking.

Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades’ environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.

“The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound,” said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and co-author of the study.

Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.

Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200 pounds, and they have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it.

The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156-pound, 16.4-foot one captured earlier this month.

For the study, researchers drove 39,000 miles along Everglades-area roads from 2003 through 2011, counting wildlife spotted along the way and comparing the results with surveys conducted on the same routes in 1996 and 1997.

The researchers found staggering declines in animal sightings: a drop of 99.3 percent among raccoons, 98.9 percent for opossums, 94.1 percent for white-tailed deer and 87.5 percent for bobcats. Along roads where python populations are believed to be smaller, declines were lower but still notable.

Rabbits and foxes, which were commonly spotted in 1996 and 1997, were not seen at all in the later counts. Researchers noted slight increases in coyotes, Florida panthers, rodents and other mammals, but discounted that finding because so few were spotted overall.

“The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible density of pythons in Everglades National Park,” said Michael Dorcas, a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina and lead author of the study.

Although scientists cannot definitively say the pythons are killing off the mammals, the snakes are the prime suspect. The increase in pythons coincides with the mammals’ decrease, and the decline appears to grow in magnitude with the size of the snakes’ population in an area. A single disease appears unlikely to be the cause since several species were affected.

The report says the effect on the overall ecosystem is hard to predict. Declines among bobcats and foxes, which eat rabbits, could be linked to pythons’ feasting on rabbits. On the flip side, declines among raccoons, which eat eggs, may help some turtles, crocodiles and birds.

Scientists point with concern to what happened in Guam, where the invasive brown tree snake has killed off birds, bats and lizards that pollinated trees and flowers and dispersed seeds. That has led to declines in native trees, fish-eating birds and certain plants.

In 2010, Florida banned private ownership of Burmese pythons. Earlier this month, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a federal ban on the import of Burmese pythons and three other snakes.

Salazar said Monday that the study shows why such restrictions were needed.

“This study paints a stark picture of the real damage that Burmese pythons are causing to native wildlife and the Florida economy,” he said.

___

Follow Matt Sedensky at www.twitter.com/sedensky

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-30-US-SCI-Everglades-Pythons/id-de32cf2156d04dd7a11cae30f2238ab3

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2012Wed01Feb

No. 4 Ohio State beats No. 20 Michigan 64-49 (AP)

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COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored 17 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds as No. 4 Ohio State flexed its muscle inside to beat No. 20 Michigan 64-49 on Sunday, keeping the Buckeyes in a first-place tie in the Big Ten.

Jared Sullinger added 13 points and William Buford and Deshaun Thomas both had 12 for Ohio State (19-3, 7-2), which ran its winning streak over its archrival to six straight and eight of nine.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15 points for the Wolverines (16-6, 6-3). Trey Burke, the conference’s top freshman point guard, returned to his hometown to play for the first time against Sullinger, his former high school teammate, and finished with 13 points.

Michigan fell to 1-5 on opponents’ home courts this season.

The Buckeyes extended their homecourt winning streak to 38, the second-longest in the program’s 100 years.

Leading by three points at halftime, the Buckeyes pulled away with a 14-2 run midway through the second half. Bookended by 3-pointers by Burke, most of the points came as a result of backdoor cuts or drives. It didn’t include a 3.

Buford, who was quiet throughout the first half, got it started with a driving layup. Later in the spurt he stepped in front of Burke’s crosscourt pass and streaked the length of the court for a dunk.

Smith, who had more offensive rebounds than Michigan almost all game, scored twice ? a layup on an assist from Buford and a short baseline jumper. Aaron Craft, Thomas and Sullinger, who sat out portions of the game due to foul trouble, all contributed two points to make it 48-35.

The Wolverines drew as close as 50-43 on a basket by Morgan inside. Morgan then stole the ball from Sullinger and grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed 3 by Douglass. But as Morgan was bracing to go up for the follow, Craft darted in and stole the ball.

Craft, who finished with seven points, four assists and three steals, then had an assist on Thomas’ basket in traffic at the other end to make it 52-43. The lead never fell below eight points again.

The Buckeyes held a 24-21 lead after a grueling, physical, defense-dominated half.

Neither team was able to get into its offense because of the head-to-head battles, particularly between the point guards.

Burke had four assists and three turnovers to go with two points in 19 minutes. Craft managed two points with two turnovers and a steal. In a brief appearance, Shannon Scott had two steals.

There were four ties and seven lead changes in the first half.

Buford, Ohio State’s second-leading scorer and only senior, didn’t score in the opening 18:57 and finished the half with three points. Smith had nine points and seven rebounds.

Morgan had six points on 3-of-4 shooting while the rest of the team was 6 of 21.

___

Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rustymillerap.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkc_t25_michigan_ohio_st

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