Giffords will resign from Congress (Politico)

A little more than a year after a would-be assassin fired a bullet into her brain from close range, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will resign her House seat this week, bringing a brief but promising political career to a close ? at least for now.

But in a video message released Sunday afternoon, the 41-year-old Democrat said she?ll be back, although it?s not clear if that means a return to Capitol Hill.

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?I have more work to do on my recovery so to do what is best for Arizona, I will step down this week,? she said. ?I?m getting better every day. My spirit is high. I will return, and we will work together for Arizona and this great country.?

A longtime Giffords political adviser told POLITICO that her husband, former Navy Capt. Mark Kelly; her chief of staff, Pia Carusone; and aide Ron Barber, who was wounded in the rampage, will not be candidates for her seat this year.

Giffords?s decision sets up a special election for Arizona?s closely contested Tucson-based district, which she narrowly won a third term to represent in November 2010 ? just two months before a gunman?s bullets shattered the calm of a Jan. 8, 2011, ?Congress on Your Corner? constituent-service event, killing six people, including Judge John Roll, Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman and 9-year-old Christina Green.

Her resignation ends, at least temporarily, the political chapter of a tale of tragedy and human perseverance that gripped the nation for more than a year. From political insiders to the completely apolitical, Americans watched with a mix of horror and awe as they learned details of the devastating rampage, the heroic acts of the bystanders who subdued the gunman and the life-saving efforts of intern Daniel Hernandez, who cradled Giffords until emergency medical professionals could rush her to the hospital.

After doctors performed brain surgery to keep her alive, a national audience tuned in to see Barack Obama deliver what many still believe is the finest and most unifying speech of his presidency at a University of Arizona memorial service for those who were killed. ?Gabby opened her eyes,? Obama announced. It was unclear at that moment, as it is to this day, the extent to which Giffords will recover.

On Sunday, the president said in a statement, ?Gabby?s cheerful presence will be missed in Washington. But she will remain an inspiration to all whose lives she touched ? myself included. And I?m confident that we haven?t seen the last of this extraordinary American.?

There have been milestones, too. The first reports that she could speak appeared in February last year as Giffords began her long recovery at a hospital in Houston. In April, news media captured images of her ascending the stairs to an airplane so she could travel to the planned launch of a space shuttle mission commanded by her husband. In August, she went to the House floor to cast her only vote since the shooting ? in support of a debt-limit increase. And in recent weeks, even as those close to her said she hadn?t made a decision about whether to run for another term, Giffords showed renewed speech proficiency.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71787_html/44265273/SIG=11m1ftgbq/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71787.html

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Occupy protests target courthouses

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Demonstrators stage a protest on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building, on the anniversary of the Citizens United decision, in Washington, January 20, 2012. Under the banner 'Occupy the Courts,' organizers expect thousands of people to rally on Friday at 150 courthouses to mark the second anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that protesters say allows unlimited corporate campaign donations.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Hundreds of?people gathered at courthouses across the nation Friday?to protest a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that removed most limits on corporate and labor spending in federal elections.

Occupy Wall Street activists joined forces with Move to Amend, a?coalition that organized the event in more than 100 cities, though the turnout in many places was low. In some cities, fewer than a dozen protesters showed up. Protesters said they were kicking off petition drives in support of a constitutional amendment that would overturn a 2010 court ruling that allowed private groups to spend huge amounts on political campaigns with few restrictions.

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Washington, D.C.
In Washington, a couple of hundred protesters gathered across the street from the Supreme Court, chanting "Rights are for people, not for corporations" and "Which side are you on?" Police arrested a handful of protesters. At least 13 people were arrested, including one arrested inside the Supreme Court building on the ground floor.

"I don't see how a real democracy of the people can take place when so much money is in our electoral system," said Lucy Craig, 36, from New Jersey, who was holding a sign that read: "Citizens United: best democracy money can buy."

Boston
More than 100 protesters rallied outside the federal courthouse. Jacqueline Leary, 72, a writer from Beverly, Mass., said there was too much money in politics.

"Citizens United, it's been eating away at me, infuriating me," she said, referring to the court decision that?prohibits the government from placing limits on independent spending for political purposes. "It's so wrong and erodes your belief in the Supreme Court," she added.

Phoenix, Ariz.
About 50 protesters marched outside the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Court House in Phoenix, chanting, "The 99 are here to stay, Wall Street it's time to pay!"

"Four hundred Americans control all the wealth," said Micky Mize, a spokesman for Occupy Phoenix. "They are the ones who control the job market, they are trying to control everything from education to our birthrights."

San Francisco
In San Francisco, where a couple of hundred protesters gathered in the city's financial district,?protesters chained themselves to the front doors of Wells Fargo's corporate headquarters. Others linked arms to prevent people from entering a Bank of America branch. Authorities said 18 people were arrested in the protests,?SFGate.com reported.?

Activists were hoping to disrupt the city's financial district as part of "Occupy Wall Street West."? A protest was planned later?Friday at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as part of the "Occupy the Courts" action.

Protesters chained themselves to the entrance of Wells Fargo Bank's corporate headquarters at 555 California St. near Montgomery Street,?protester Pete Woiwode told NBCBayArea.com.
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"We are trying to shut down the bank," Woiwode said.

Read more on NBCBayArea.com

Woiwode, 29, of Oakland, said there were protesters on all four sides of the building, as well as a marching band that was playing music.

Donna Vieira, 42, a real estate appraiser, was protesting at Wells Fargo in San Francisco because she said the bank had "unfairly" foreclosed on her home in Reno, Nev., last year.

"I can get it back if the attorney general takes action," Vieira said. "Nobody is going after the big banks. And loss and pain and suffering doesn't matter to the regulators."

Cleveland
In Cleveland, about 40 to 50 protesters in hats, hoods and gloves held a morning vigil outside the Metzenbaum Federal Courthouse, followed by a march through downtown streets. During the march, paper $50 "bills" were taped over the mouths of ralliers.

Chicago
About 50 people braved blizzard-like conditions in Chicago, waving at passing cars and chanting, "Money out of politics."

The Associated Press, Reuters and NBCBayArea.com contributed to this report.

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10201461-occupy-targets-courthouses-to-protest-supreme-court-decision

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Pele says Messi still has some improving to do

updated 1:55 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2012

PARIS - Pele thinks Lionel Messi still needs to improve at international level before he can be considered the greatest soccer player ever and needs to score more goals to come close to matching the Brazilian great.

The 24-year-old Messi already has won three straight FIFA Player of the Year awards.

"When Messi's scored 1,283 goals like me, when he's won three World Cups, we'll talk about it," Pele told Le Monde. "Football changes. Records are there to be broken, but it will be hard to break mine.

"People always ask me: 'When is the new Pele going to be born?' Never. My father and mother have closed the factory."

Although many observers consider Pele or Diego Maradona to be the greatest ever, Messi's form for Barcelona has him being mentioned in the same group.

Messi scored 55 goals in 2011 for Barcelona and already has 213 in 300 games for the club, 22 shy of Cesar Rodriguez's team record for goals. Messi is the club's leading scorer in the Champions League, scoring in victories over Manchester United in the 2009 and 2011 finals.

"I like Messi a lot, he's a great player," Pele replied when asked who his favorite current player is. "Technically, we're practically at the same level."

But Pele was also quick to point out that Messi has not scored at the same rate for Argentina in big tournaments. Messi failed to score in both the 2010 World Cup and Copa America last year, and has a modest tally of 19 goals in 67 international matches.

"He's a great player for Barcelona, but when he plays for Argentina he doesn't have the same success," Pele said.

Pele also feels he may have had more natural ability than Messi.

"No one knew which foot I was going to shoot with, I was two-footed. I also scored a lot of goals with my head," Pele said.

However, Pele knows that the debate over who is the world's greatest ever player will always divide opinion.

"Some people will say Beethoven couldn't play the piano. Others will say Michelangelo couldn't paint and that Pele couldn't play football," he said. "But we all received a gift from God."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Balotelli lifts Man City

Mario Balotelli scored a stoppage-time penalty kick Sunday to give first-place Manchester City a 3-2 victory over Premier League title rival Tottenham.

Mike Hewitt / Getty Images

Hat trick

Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat trick in England's Premier League, helping Fulham rally from a halftime deficit to rout Newcastle 5-2 Saturday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46073608/ns/sports-soccer/

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Video: The great gas hydrate escape

Thursday, January 19, 2012

For some time, researchers have explored flammable ice for low-carbon or alternative fuel or as a place to store carbon dioxide. Now, a computer analysis of the ice and gas compound, known as a gas hydrate, reveals key details of its structure. The results show that hydrates can hold hydrogen at an optimal capacity of 5 weight-percent, a value that meets the goal of a Department of Energy standard and makes gas hydrates practical and affordable.

The analysis is the first time researchers have accurately quantified the molecular-scale interactions between the gases -- either hydrogen or methane, aka natural gas -- and the water molecules that form cages around them. A team of researchers from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory published the results in Chemical Physics Letters online December 22, 2011.

The results could also provide insight into the process of replacing methane with carbon dioxide in the naturally abundant "water-based reservoirs," according to the lead author, PNNL chemist Sotiris Xantheas.

"Current thinking is that you need large amounts of energy to push the methane out, which destroys the scaffold in the process," said Xantheas. "But the computer modeling shows that there is an alternative low energy pathway. All you need to do is break a single hydrogen bond between water molecules forming the cage -- the methane comes out, and then the hydrate reseals itself."

Cagey Ice

Gas hydrates -- especially methane hydrates, which store natural gas -- look like ice but actually hold burnable fuel. Naturally found deep in the ocean, water and gas interweave in the hydrates, but little is known about their chemical structure and processes occurring at the molecular level. They have been known to cause problems for the petroleum industry because they tend to clog pipes and can explode. A methane hydrate produced the bubble of methane gas that contributed to 2010's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In previous work, Xantheas and colleagues used computer algorithms and models to examine the water-based, ice-like scaffold that holds the gas. Water molecules form individual cages made with 20 or 24 molecules. Multiple cages join together in large lattices. But those scaffolds were empty in the earlier analysis.

To find out how fuels can be accommodated inside the water cages, Xantheas and PNNL colleague Soohaeng Yoo Willow built computer models of the cages with either hydrogen gas -- in which two hydrogen atoms are bound together -- or methane gas, a small molecule made with one carbon and four hydrogen atoms.

In the hydrogen hydrates, which could potentially be used as materials for hydrogen fuel storage, a small hollow cage made from 20 water molecules could hold up to a maximum of five hydrogen molecules and a larger cage made from 24 water molecules could hold up to seven.

The maximum storage capacity equates to about 10 weight-percent, or the percentage of hydrogen by mass in the chunks of ice, although packing hydrogen in that tight puts undue strain on the system. The Department of Energy's goal for hydrogen storage -- to make the fuel practical -- is above 5.5 weight-percent.

Experimentally, hydrogen storage researchers typically measure much less storage capacities. The computer model showed them why: The hydrogen molecules tended to leak out of the cages, reducing the amount of hydrogen that could be stored.

The researchers found that adding a methane molecule to the larger cages in the pure hydrogen hydrate, however, prevented the hydrogen gas from leaking out. The computer model showed the researchers that they could store the hydrogen at high pressure and practical temperatures, and release it by reducing the pressure, which melts it.

Water Gates

Understanding how the gas interacts and moves through the cages can help chemists or engineers store gas and remove it at will. Willow and Xantheas' computer simulations showed that hydrogen molecules could migrate through the cages by passing between the figurative bars of the water cages. However, the cages also had gates: Sometimes a low-energy bond between two water molecules broke, causing a water molecule to swing open and let the hydrogen molecule drift out. The "gate" closed right after the molecule passed through to reform the lattice.

With methane hydrates, some fuel producers want to remove the gas safely to use it. Others see the emptied cages as potential storage sites for carbon dioxide, which could theoretically keep it out of the atmosphere and ocean, where it warms the earth and acidifies the sea. So, Willow and Xantheas tested how methane could migrate through the cages.

The water cages were only big enough to comfortably hold one methane molecule, so the chemists stuffed two methanes inside and watched what happened. Quickly, one of the water molecules forming the cage swung open like a gate, allowing one methane molecule to escape. The gate then slammed shut as the remaining methane scooted into the middle of the cage.

"This process is important because it can happen with natural gas. It shows how methane can move in the natural world," said Xantheas. "We hope this analysis will help with the technical issues that need to be addressed with gas hydrate research and development."

Xantheas said performing computer simulations with carbon dioxide instead of methane might help determine whether it's chemically feasible to store carbon dioxide in hydrates.

###

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: http://www.pnnl.gov/news

Thanks to DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116850/Video__The_great_gas_hydrate_escape

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Michael Portanova: Market Street Is No Place for Cars

I got hit by a car while riding my bike. Yes, it hurt.?Yes, I broke a bone. And no, it was not my fault.

It was the cab driver's fault, but the true culprit is our insane and outdated policy of allowing vehicles along lower Market Street. For twenty years, people have been tossing around the idea of closing Market to private vehicle traffic and creating a vibrant public space in its stead, but the issue has only recently grown ripe for serious consideration.????

The San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority (SFMTA) began conducting a yearly bicycle census in 2006. ?Since then, there has been a staggering 58 percent increase in the number of observed bicyclists:?In 2010, 11th and Market registered the highest number of cyclists, clocking in at 818 bicyclists a day, a 50 percent increase over 2006 levels. The rest of Market Street is experiencing similar upswings in bikers, with the SFMTA counting 796 cyclists in an hour and a half at Fifth and Market, an increase of 70 percent from 2006. And all of this despite a 2006 judicial injunction barring the implementation of San Francisco's City Bicycle Plan, an injunction that remained in place until June 2010.????

After the injunction lifted, the city has made some efforts to improve conditions for bicyclists on Market Street. For instance, eastbound traffic is shunted off Market at both Tenth and Sixth Streets, and the city has created separated bike lanes from Van Ness to Eighth Street.?However, these changes haven't been much more than gestures, offering little additional protection to cyclists. The Bay Citizen reports that at Octavia and Market Streets, six accidents occurred in 2009, a figure that rose to eight in 2010. ?And the increase in accidents can't be attributed solely to the growing population of cyclists: the Bay Citizen points out that, between 2009 and 2010, citywide "ridership rose 3 percent, while accidents climbed 8 percent." Several of these accidents were caused by to cars making illegal right-hand turns -- something dedicated or separated bike lanes can't protect against. ?????

The notion of removing private traffic from Market Street isn't a new one -- over the course of two decades, various groups and elected representatives have floated proposals to do so -- nor is it a pipe dream of radical fringe groups -- during our recent mayoral election, both Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and Mayor Ed Lee expressed tacit support for the idea. Many champions of the cause have coalesced around the Better Market Street project, which seeks public input as it coordinates with five city agencies to come up with a comprehensive plan for Market Street's repaving and redesign in 2015.??

No Need for Cars on Market???? ????

Most anyone who has ever used a car in San Francisco knows that if you're driving on Market Street, you're doing it wrong. Market is congested, bumpy, bereft of curbside or garage parking, and infuriatingly slow. Accidentally finding yourself on Market Street means something has gone horribly wrong, and just getting off of Market and back on your way can test the resolve of even the saltiest of drivers. One-way streets, torrents of pedestrians, and double-parked delivery trucks bring intersections like 2nd and Montgomery to a virtual standstill, promoting intrepid (read: dangerous) cabbies to try to circumvent the queue of vehicles by making a dangerous right turn from the left lane. Plus, many of the cars driving on Market travel only two blocks, and 80 to 85 percent of vehicles on Market are merely crossing the thoroughfare. San Francisco driving in general is notoriously confusing and slow, and closing Market to cars would be a big step toward alleviating that confusion.????

San Francisco is not the first city to consider expelling cars from main thoroughfares. London charges drivers a toll to enter the more congested areas of the city; Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade is pedestrian-only; and the 16th Street Mall in Denver allows only police cars and electric buses. ?

While business owners fear that eliminating cars will eliminate cash from their registers, their concern is unfounded. San Francisco's Sunday Streets program demonstrates the commercial viability of shutting streets to vehicular traffic. Initially, businesses were wary of getting rid of car traffic, but the surge in business delivered by the program has fomented commercial support for it. ???

Beautiful Spaces Make Beautiful Cities?????

There is, of course, a much more fundamental issue at play here than the logistical concerns of traffic mitigation and disputes over the wisdom of driving on Market Street. Cities are for people, not cars. The heart of our city should be magnetic and vibrant, not dangerous and noisy. We've become accustomed to myopically navigating the downtown streets, walking in insular bubbles of podcasts and noise-canceling headphones as we make our way through the morass of fellow citizens. This isn't healthy for ourselves or our culture, and turning Market Street into a truly public space could pull us out of our shells and into civil society. After all, we've been able to make similar changes in the past: People were wary of losing parking spaces to parklets, but most San Franciscans wouldn't dream of reverting to the claustrophobic and congested sidewalks from before their installation.?

Just look at Hayes Valley for local proof of the efficacy of removing traffic from what otherwise might be considered a thoroughfare. Following the Loma Prieta earthquake, the city tore down the raised highway running along Octavia Street, turning 101 into street traffic at Market and Octavia in 2005. At the same time, the city turned the stretch of Octavia from Fell to Hayes into a park that serves as the central plaza and public space for this now beautiful and dynamic neighborhood. Today, Hayes Valley boasts a beer garden, two coffee shops, an ice cream stand, and a sculpture garden lining the park. Nice spaces make pleasant people, and pleasant people make great customers.????

San Francisco needs to adapt to citizens' shifting transit preferences. Without a shift in policy, the streets will become more dangerous as more and more people take to their bicycles. While we can argue about which group, drivers or cyclists, is more to blame for accidents, the solution can't be to collectively punish bicyclists with hazardous road conditions.

Sure, there are other streets that carry nearly the same amount of bicycle traffic, (Valencia Street, for example), but Market is a unique case. It swarms with car-less tourists, rumbles with lurching streetcars, and teems with ever-stopping buses, making it an inefficient and exasperating route for drivers -- that is, it's pretty clear that closing Market Street to private vehicles would be more of a boon than a bane for drivers. The benefits to cyclists, however, would be vast and readily apparent, and do wonders for the cultural health of the city center, and perhaps the city itself.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-portanova/market-street-is-no-place_b_1216798.html

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Emerging Leaders Series: How Investing in You is Good for Your ...

This December, I graduated with my Master?s in Public Administration from Baruch College?s School of Public Affairs. During the graduation reception, Dean David Birdsell argued for the importance of investing in one?s self through education and opportunity. But that investment, he said, must flow two ways. In order to maximize our investment in ourselves, he urged us to ensure that the organizations we give our time and talents to are returning the investment and giving back to us in opportunity. Dean Birdsell invited us to scrutinize the policies and procedures of nonprofits as employers and to choose wisely.

Dean Birdsell?s comments helped crystallize observations I had made about Human Resources strategy in arts organizations. In my experience as an arts educator and administrator, Human Resources is often seen as an after thought to the mission, vision, and fundraising needs that drive an organization. Many arts organizations neglect to treat their employees as investments, and lack plans for employee growth, learning and sustainability. In doing so, I think that arts nonprofits miss out on an opportunity to cultivate innovation and dynamic leadership from within to reach their full potential within the sector.

When I have read the strategic plans and assessments of arts organizations I have worked for, surveyed employees have noted that they felt underappreciated and that they lack meaningful opportunities to contribute new ideas to the organization. From my experience, I have found these feelings to be particularly strong among younger employees who work in entry to mid-level positions. These employees, who are my peers, often feel they have to leave the organization to advance in job title or salary, or simply use their talents. For example, a colleague of mine who worked in development departments in smaller visual arts organizations all around New York City explained that the only way she had found to grow was to move frequently from job to job ? sometimes as often as every year. This makes me wonder about what is lost organizationally when nonprofits don?t invest in their employees and a young, ambitious, talented person has to move on in order to gain new skills and stretch their professional muscles.

What if, instead of looking outwards for inspiration and innovation, arts organizations looked inwards? While some nonprofits offer professional development incentives, such as tuition reimbursement, I feel like investment in staff goes beyond monetary rewards. If staff members do take the time to invest in their own development through education, they need to have the opportunity to share their new skills. Human Resources policy needs to be more than an outdated employee handbook and email reminders about office policies and procedures. An innovative HR strategy should connect to an organization?s mission and stated set of values, cultivating the kind of values they project externally, internally.

While some larger cultural institutions have sprawling HR departments, smaller arts nonprofits often do not have the resources to invest in a full-time HR staff member. No matter their size, arts organizations should have a coherent HR structure that enables employees to feel comfortable innovating. Employees should know where they stand thanks to regular reviews and a clear policy and benchmarks for promotions, raises and title changes. By creating a transparent culture around expectations for performance, employees can cultivate values that are in sync the organization and get a stronger grasp on what new ideas are feasible within the organization.

HR policies should support employee risk taking and idea sharing. Employees should be able to suggest new approaches and there should be a consistent process to determine whether those approaches support the mission. Opportunities should exist to enable and value inter departmental collaborations and individual work beyond one particular job description to help plan the seeds for innovation.

There is plenty of literature that exists about nonprofit best practices when it comes to working with staff, and I will not belabor those points here. The idea I want to put forth here is that HR strategy should viewed in terms of investing in employees and should be in sync with organization?s overall mission. Only then can an organization reach its full potential to do the important work it sets out to do.

I?m interested to hear from readers who both feel that their organization has an approach that supports innovation, and others who have run into stumbling blocks. Does your organization have meaningful ways for employees to invest in themselves and what are they? If someone learns a new skill are they encouraged to share it with their colleagues and apply it to their work? What kind of support is necessary from organization leadership to sustain innovative HR policies? How might the traditional nonprofit structure and hierarchy need to change for organizational innovation to take root at every level?

Source: http://artsfwd.org/emerging_leaders_investing_in_you/

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Ethiopia: Journalists, politician found guilty (AP)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia ? An Ethiopian court on Thursday found three journalists, a politician and a politician's assistant guilty of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism, in a case that drew rebukes from rights groups who fear the country's anti-terrorism law is being used to suppress dissent.

The five were charged under Ethiopia's controversial anti-terrorism laws. Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal has said they were involved in planning attacks on infrastructure, telecommunications and power lines.

Alemu Gobebo, a private lawyer and a father of one of the defendants, called the case politically motivated. The five will be sentenced Jan. 26. They could face the death penalty.

Among the three journalist convicted were Reeyot Alemu, a columnist for the independent weekly Fetah and a former opposition member; Elias Kifle, editor-in-chief of a U.S.-based opposition website, who was tried in absentia; and Wubshet Taye, deputy editor-in-chief of the recently closed-down weekly newspaper Awramba Times.

International rights groups have been calling for the release of the journalists. Ethiopia recently found two Swedish reporters guilty of supporting terrorism and sentenced them to 11 years in prison.

Ethiopia has arrested close to 200 people, among them journalists and opposition politicians and members, under last year's anti-terrorism proclamation.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more journalists have fled Ethiopia than any other country in the world.

Amnesty International said it does not believe there is any evidence that the five were guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. Claire Beston, the group's Ethiopia researcher, called the five "prisoners of conscience." She said a significant amount of the prosecution's evidence relied on the defendants' reporting of and alleged involvement in calls for peaceful protest against the government.

Human Rights Watch said the anti-terrorism law violates free expression and due process rights.

"The verdict against these five people confirms that Ethiopia's anti-terrorism law is being used to crush independent reporting and peaceful political dissent," said Leslie Lefkow, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The Ethiopian courts are complicit in this political witch-hunt."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_af/af_ethiopia_journalists

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