Officials say the sweeping changes probably will increase the size of each combat brigade, generally by adding another battalion. Doing that would ensure the brigades have the capabilities they need to go to war. A brigade usually is about 3,500 soldiers, and a battalion usually is between 600-800 soldiers.

The cuts come as the Pentagon completes its 2013 fiscal year budget, which must reflect about $260 billion in savings over five years. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not yet been made public.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-25-US-Army-Cuts/id-f8d4406ec7c04ceca5df087f6a8c7650

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Dial of the Prague astronomical clock. Creative commons. Click on image for license and information.

Ed Note: We have a guest today! AiP is pleased to host this post by Dr. Kevin Birth, who is a professor of anthropology at Queens College, CUNY and an expert on time. His forthcoming book, Objects of Time: How Things Shape Temporality (Palgrave Macmillan) discusses the hidden logics in clocks and calendars.

As a specialist in the study of time, I occasionally get asked about what I think of the so-called Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012. I guess people think that I?ll have some interesting insight into the cultural anthropology of time, and some special knowledge into the mysterious Mayan logics. Truthfully, it is not the Mayan logics that are mysterious, but our own. 2012 was almost a significant year in the cultural creation of time as we know it. Recently, those in charge of the global time system decided to defer to 2015 the ending of the time of Earth. Because of the timing of the debate over Earth?s time, it may come as a shock to those who expect some dismissive answer from an ivory-tower intellectual, but I think the Maya maybe were on to something.

The Mayan calendrical system consists of multiple cycles of different durations. Like a set of different-sized gears whirring together with gears completing their cycles at different times, it takes a long time for the Mayan system to return to a previous state. The Gregorian year 2012 marks a moment when this Mayan system will start over?the end of the old long count and the beginning of a new one. The Maya took such things very seriously, and as Professor Prudence Rice has demonstrated in her books, the ending of one cycle and beginning of a new one coincided with political transformations for the Maya.

The Maya are not alone in such a sensitivity. People in the European tradition are enamored of base-10 mathematics, so when the year 2000 approached, there was a great deal of hoopla over the number. Many saw it as the beginning of the new millennium, although, in truth, the millennium did not begin until 2001. Still, there seems to be magic in chronological numbers and their cycles.

But there is another thing going on in all these calendrical and chronological systems. Behind the curtain of these cycles are a set of logics that deal with some fundamental problems in time keeping. This is as true for us as it was for the Maya. First, the cycles of the moon, stars, and sun are not equivalent. Second, the revolution of the Earth around the sun is an awkward 365.242 days. Different cultures have come up with different solutions to this problem, and the Mayan calendar is just one of many such solutions. Our currently dominant calendar, implemented by Julius Caesar and tweaked by Pope Gregory the XIII, ignores sidereal and lunar cycles, and deals with the duration of the Earth?s orbit through leap years that add a day.

Whether it is ancient Maya or our contemporaries in 2012, most people have very little idea of how systems of time reckoning are created?we simply look at our clocks and calendars and believe them without recognizing the cabal of astronomers and/or priests that lurk behind the logics.?? Through our objects of time, we rely on largely unknown experts to make sure that the trains and everything else run on a reliable time, and to ensure that we know when the airlines do not. All we need to know is how to read a clock and calendar, not how they work.

While almost everyone is familiar with the idea of the leap year, far fewer are aware that the Earth?s rotation is not uniform. It wobbles about with small deviations, and as a result, a international bureaucracy has been set up to keep our time system coordinated with the Earth?s foibles. In this bureaucracy, the International Earth Rotational Systems Service (IERS) has charted the Earth?s rotation and when necessary, made recommendations to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) to modify the international time keeping system by a second?a leap second. The BIPM receives time signals from atomic clocks distributed throughout the globe and then calculates what is called ?coordinated time? based on these signals. This created, coordinated time is then set to the prime meridian, and sent back out to all those in the time signaling business as something called ?Universal Coordinated Time? (UTC). It may be disconcerting to hear that time is created, but if one keeps in mind the theory of relativity, each point in space has its own unique time. From the perspective of relativity, a universal time is an illusion?but an illusion our society needs to function.

The BIPM creates time by following policies formulated by the Radiocommunications Sector of the International Telecommunications Union (the ITU-R). There are many technologies reliant on time, such as software and GPS, and these technologies do not work well with the Earth?s occasional hiccups and the irregular insertion or deletion of seconds from UTC. Since much software runs on a uniform time without leap seconds, to keep it coordinated with UTC requires software updates, and this gets expensive over time.

The recent consideration by the ITU-R to do away with leap seconds would have meant an end the time of Earth?in effect, the Earth?s cycles would no longer have a bearing on the time kept by clocks. In this culturally created system, the units of duration that define time for us are a choice of the ITU-R. A second is defined as 1/315,56,925.975 of the length of the tropical year for January 0, 1900 (in effect, December 31, 1899); a day as 86,400 of those seconds; a year as 365 or 366 (in a leap year) of those days. This decision would have meant our clocks are not tied to the Earth?s rotation, and our calendars are no longer associated with the Earth?s orbit?truly, the end of the time of Earth.

In an uncanny coincidence, this debate is unfolding at the end of the Mayan long count?the end of one time for the Maya and the beginning of a new one. A cataclysmic change that few will notice as global time ceases to refer to any single cycle but becomes entirely a cultural creation.

So maybe the time conscious Maya were right, but it is not the world that ends in 2012, only time as we knew it. However, since the decision has been delayed to 2015 it seems we have little to worry about, assuming we understand the Mayan calendar correctly (and that?s a big assumption).

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9aaf22132b3f4f127398fb23e37cfce7

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Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers, said early Tuesday that the interest rate on the new bonds will have to average “clearly below 4 percent” over the lifetime of the bonds. In the period before 2020, the average interest rate will be less than 3.5 percent, he added.

Those caps are far below interest rates demanded by Greece’s private creditors, who already have to give up on 50 percent of the face value of their investments and are expected to give the country between 20 or 30 years to repay them.

Time is running out for Greece to reduce its debt by some euro100 billion ($129 billion) and avoid missing a vital bond repayment deadline in March. Talks between the country and the creditors to secure a deal hit an impasse over the weekend.

By setting the low caps, the ministers made clear that they are not willing to increase their rescue loans to Athens beyond the euro130 billion tentatively agreed in October.

The tough negotiation stance will test the willingness of private creditors to voluntarily agree to the Greek debt relief. The alternative would be for the eurozone to force losses on the private bondholders ? a move that they have been reluctant to make.

A spokesman for in Institute of International Finance, which represents the private creditors, declined to comment on the announcement.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Jack Gantos’ “Dead End in Norvelt” won the John Newbery Medal for the best children’s book of 2011, and Chris Raschka’s “A Ball for Daisy” won the Randolph Caldecott award for best illustration. The prizes were announced Monday by the American Library Association during its midwinter meeting in Dallas.

No cash prizes are given, but the awards are watched closely by booksellers and librarians and often lead to increased sales and a lasting place on a school or store bookshelf. Previous winners include such favorites as Louis Sachar’s “Holes” and Brian Selznick’s “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” the basis for Martin Scorsese’s film “Hugo.”

Within hours of the prizes’ announcement, “Dead End in Norvelt” and “A Ball for Daisy” were both in the top 50 on Amazon.com and both out of stock.

Gantos and Raschla are well established in children’s publishing. Gantos, 60, has been a finalist for the Newbery and the National Book Award. Raschka, 52, won the Caldecott in 2006 for “The Hello, Goodbye Window.”

Gantos’ novel follows the humorous adventures of a boy named Jack Gantos, grounded “for life” by his parents and prone to the most gushing nosebleeds. But he is restored by the stories he learns about his hometown, Norvelt, a planned community in Pennsylvania founded during the Great Depression.

The author is more than a little like the Jack Gantos of his book. He spent part of his childhood in Norvelt and shares his character’s sensitive nose. Gantos said he thought of “Dead End” after giving a eulogy for his aunt that looked back on Norvelt’s special past.

“I talked about the spirit of people helping people, and how people really banded together,” Gantos said during a telephone interview from his home in Boston. “And at the end of my eulogy, a lot of people came up to me and said they didn’t know about the history of Norvelt. I love history, and I love humor, so I thought history could use a little humor.”

Raschka’s wordless picture book, told through watercolor, ink and gouache, recounts the saga of a white and gray terrier whose beloved red ball is stolen by a bigger, brown poodle. The ball bursts and Daisy’s spirit seems to break with it, until the poodle returns with a blue ball that leaves the pets and their owners equally content.

Raschka said “Daisy” was inspired by his son, who at age 4 was devastated when his yellow ball broke during a scrape with a neighbor. The author said he began thinking of “those first feelings of losing something beloved” and knowing you can’t get it back. For the story, he changed the main character from a boy to a dog.

“When you’re a picture book illustrator, your readers are often 3 or 4 years old, and you don’t want the drawing to be upsetting in itself,” Raschka said during a phone interview from the offices of Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Inc. “By having an animal, there’s some distance, and yet there is still a connection.”

Other winners were announced Monday, including John Corey Whaley’s “Where Things Come Back,” which received the Michael L. Printz Award for best young adult literature; and Kadir Nelson’s “Heart and Soul,” winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award for best African-American story. The King prize for best illustrated book was given to Shane W. Evans’ “Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom.”

Jesmyn Ward’s “Salvage the Bones,” winner last fall of the National Book Award for fiction, was among 10 recipients of the Alex Award for adult books that appeal to teens. Others cited included Erin Morgenstern’s acclaimed debut “The Night Circus” and David Levithan’s “The Lover’s Dictionary.” Bill Wright’s “Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy” received the Stonewall award for “exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.”

The Pura Belpre award for best Latino author went to Guadalupe Garcia McCall for “Under the Mesquite,” while the Belpre illustration prize was given to Duncan Tonatiuh for “Diego Rivera: His World and Ours.” Translator Laura Wilkerson’s work on Bibi Dumon Tak’s “Soldier Bear,” originally published in Dutch in 2008, won her the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for best book translated from a foreign language.

Susan Cooper, known for her fantasy series “The Dark is Rising,” won the Margaret A. Edwards award for lifetime achievement in young adult literature.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_en_ce/us_books_newbery_caldecott

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A federal judge spent Monday questioning 80 potential jurors.

The judge said more time was needed and jury selection would resume Tuesday.

Opening statements are expected to start Tuesday afternoon.

Stanford’s attorneys have said they expect him to testify.

Stanford was indicted more than 2 1/2 years ago, but his trial was delayed while he was treated at a prison hospital for an addiction to an anti-anxiety drug.

Prosecutors say Stanford funded a lavish lifestyle with the money of investors. His financial empire stretched from the U.S. to Latin America and the Caribbean.

He denies wrongdoing.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_stanford_trial

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Obama delivers his third State of the Union address Tuesday in a capital and country shot through with politics, with his re-election campaign well under way and his potential GOP opponents lobbing attacks against him daily as they scrap for the right to take him on.

Obama’s 9 p.m. EST address to a joint session of Congress and millions of television viewers will be as much as anything an argument for his re-election, the president’s biggest, best chance so far to offer a vision for a second term.

“Almost by definition it’s going to be at least as much a political speech as a governing speech,” said Bill Galston, a former Clinton administration domestic policy adviser now at the Brookings Institution.

“The president must run on his record,” Galston said, “and that means talking candidly and persuasively with the country about the very distinctive nature of the challenges the American economy faced when he took office and what has gone right for the past three years, and what needs to be done in addition.”

With economic anxiety showing through everywhere, the speech will focus on a vision for restoring the middle class, with Obama facing the tricky task of persuading voters to stick with him even as joblessness remains high at 8.5 percent. Obama can point to positive signs, including continued if sluggish growth; his argument will be that he is the one to restore economic equality for middle-class voters.

Implicit in the argument, even if he never names Republican presidential frontrunners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, is that they are on the other side. Obama’s speech will come as Gingrich and Romney have transformed the Republican campaign into a real contest ahead of Florida’s crucial primary next week. And he’ll be speaking on the same day that Romney, a multimillionaire, released his tax returns, offering a vivid illustration of wealth that could play into Obama’s argument about the growing divide between rich and poor.

Obama will frame the campaign to come as a fight for fairness for those who are struggling to keep a job, a home or college savings and losing faith in how the country works.

The speech will feature the themes of manufacturing, clean energy, education and American values. The president is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose ways to make college more affordable, offer new steps to tackle a debilitating housing crisis and push to help U.S. manufacturers expand hiring.

The lines of argument between Obama and his rivals are already stark, with America’s economic insecurity and the role of government at the center.

The president has offered signals about his speech, telling campaign supporters he wants an economy “that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.” Gingrich, on the other hand, calls Obama “the most effective food stamp president in history.” Romney says Obama “wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society.”

Obama will make bipartisan overtures to lawmakers but will leave little doubt he will act without their help when it’s necessary and possible, an approach his aides say has let him stay on offense.

The public is more concerned about domestic troubles over foreign policy than at any other time in the past 15 years, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 81 percent want Obama to focus his speech on domestic affairs, not foreign ones; just five years ago, the view was evenly split.

On the day before Obama’s speech, his campaign released a short Web ad showing monthly job losses during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, with positive job growth for nearly two Obama years. Republicans assail him for failing to achieve a lot more.

House Speaker John Boehner, responding to reports of Obama’s speech themes, said it was a rehash of unhelpful policies. “It’s pathetic,” he said.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama is not conceding the next 10 months to “campaigning alone” when people need economic help. On the goals of helping people get a fair shot, Carney said, “There’s ample room within those boundaries for bipartisan cooperation and for getting this done.”

For three days following his speech, Obama will promote his ideas in five states key to his re-election bid: Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan. Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama’s overall job performance but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.

___

AP White House Correspondent Ben Feller contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_the_union

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The Nissan Juke resembles a mini SUV, while the new Hyundai Veloster has a coupe-like profile but three doors. We matched those two with three other cars from outside the mainstream?the Mini Cooper, the Scion tC, and the newly restyled VW Beetle. The only links among the five are a base price around 20 grand, quirky styling, over 30 highway mpg, and the promise that when the road curves, they won’t simply be ready, they’ll be willing.

We took these cars on a three-day romp from Detroit to the curvy back roads of southeast Ohio, and we think they may represent an automotive sweet spot. These rides are economical yet spunky?eliciting grins as if they were high-dollar sports cars. Since they’re all so varied, we didn’t rank them from best to worst. Instead, we’ve included the usual test measurements and subjective opinions, then highlighted the strengths of these five funsters.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/comparisons/5-cars-we-love-that-defy-categorization?src=rss

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