By Sean FallonNerd Approved? If there's one thing that I miss about living in an area that sees snowy, wintry weather, it's making snowmen. I mean, it just doesn't feel right to make a snowman out of dirt while wearing shorts.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45675820#45675820
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Dean Zeller / UGC
Toronto as seen from the Humber River inlet at sunrise.
Dean Zeller took this photo of the Toronto skyline at sunrise while out fishing for salmon in October.
Zeller, who lives in Erie, Pa., had planned a trip to the Canadian city as well as to Niagara-on-the-Lake.? An avid fisherman, he also decided to add a last-minute fishing excursion by looking at Google Earth to locate a stream that entered Lake Ontario.
After plugging the coordinates into his GPS, Zeller found himself at the Humber River at dawn. "There turned out to be some nice shots," Zeller told TODAY.com. "The water was perfectly flat."
Zeller, who always takes his camera while out fishing, didn't catch any salmon, but did walk away with a nice image.
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MANCHESTER, N.H. ? The once-bursting 2012 Republican presidential field is narrowing to a two-man race, and GOP voters have one month before casting the first votes to winnow it to one. Barring a dramatic new turn, their chief options will be the steady but often bland demeanor of Mitt Romney and the idea-a-minute bombast of Newt Gingrich.
Herman Cain's suspension of his campaign Saturday, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry's continued struggles to regain traction, have focused the party's attention on Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and Gingrich, the former House speaker. They offer striking contrasts in personality, government experience and campaign organization.
Romney has maintained a political infrastructure since his 2008 presidential bid, especially in New Hampshire. Gingrich, whose campaign nearly collapsed several months ago, is relying much more heavily on his televised debate performances and the good will he built up with conservatives as a congressional leader in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gingrich's efforts appear to be paying off in Iowa, which holds first in the nation caucuses January 3.
A Des Moines Register poll released late Saturday found Gingrich leading the GOP field with 25 percent support among likely caucus goers. Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 18 percent support and Romney, who began campaigning in Iowa in earnest only recently, had 16 percent.
Gingrich's and Romney's political philosophies and differences are a bit harder to tease out. Both men have changed their positions on issues such as climate change. And Gingrich, in particular, is known to veer into unusual territories, such as child labor practices.
Gingrich, Romney and the other Republican contenders except former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman sat for interviews at a Fox News campaign forum Saturday hosted by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who sought the GOP nomination in 2008. Questioned by three Republican state attorneys general, the candidates described ways they would scale back federal programs.
Cain's announcement in Atlanta offered a possible opening for Romney or Gingrich to make a dramatic move in hopes of seizing momentum for the sprint to the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus. Neither man did. They appear willing to play things carefully and low-key for now.
At a town hall meeting in New York sponsored by tea party supporters, Gingrich declined to characterize the race as a direct contest between himself and Romney. Any of the remaining GOP contenders could stage a comeback before the Iowa caucuses, he said. "I'm not going to say that any of my friends can't suddenly surprise us," Gingrich said.
But once high-flying contenders such as Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota have not managed to bounce back so far, despite weeks of trying.
Gingrich was careful when asked why voters should choose him over Romney.
"I'll let you decide. I think we are very, very different in a wide variety of ways," Gingrich said.
Romney seemed as eager as Gingrich to avoid casting the contest as anywhere close to decided. He repeatedly turned aside reporters' invitations to light into Gingrich, offering only gentle critiques. As usual, he aimed much sharper remarks at President Barack Obama.
"I don't think people have really settled down, in a final way, to decide who they're going to support in the nomination process," Romney told reporters in Manchester, where he held a rally and knocked on a few doors. "I hope they give us a good, careful look."
That was about as much emotion and daring as he showed all day. With the second-tier candidates ramping up their criticisms of Gingrich, Romney stuck to his steady-as-she-goes campaign style of criticizing Obama's economic record, and saying little else.
Cain's once-prospering campaign was undone by allegations of sexual wrongdoing. Gingrich has been the most obvious beneficiary of Cain's precipitous slide. But Perry, Bachmann and possibly others are likely to make a play for Cain's anti-establishment tea party backing. Time is running short for them to establish themselves as the top alternative to Romney, who has long been viewed with suspicion by many conservatives.
Cain said he would offer an endorsement. His former rivals were quick to issue statements on Saturday praising his conservative ideals and grassroots appeal.
Romney seemed loath on Saturday to criticize Gingrich or to stir the political waters. Reporters asked why his background makes him more qualified than Gingrich. "Speaker Gingrich has been a legislator and has worked in government affairs, and he can describe his own background," Romney replied.
Why are his positions better than Gingrich's on issues such as immigration, Romney was asked. "We have very similar views on a whole host of issues," he said. "There are some places, I'm sure, where there are differences." The biggest difference, he said, is "our life experience."
Asked if he fears that Gingrich will draw more tea party support, Romney said tea party activists "want someone who comes from outside Washington," someone who has spent his life "in the private sector, who has learned the experiences of the American economy."
"Speaker Gingrich is a fine person," Romney said, "but he spent his life in Washington, the last 40 years. That doesn't exactly line up with the tea party."
He also said he differed with Gingrich on child labor laws. Gingrich recently suggested that children as young as nine should work as assistant school janitors, to earn money and learn work ethics.
Romney noted that Gingrich would end taxes on dividends and capital gains for everyone, whereas Romney would keep them in place for the wealthiest Americans.
Romney's generally mild reproofs contrast with the hits Gingrich is taking from rivals such as Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Paul's campaign is airing a video accusing Gingrich of "serial hypocrisy." It shows Gingrich in a TV commercial with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talking about the dangers of climate change.
Gingrich has called the Pelosi spot a stupid mistake on his part.
Romney's campaign had hundreds of volunteers knocking on doors and making phone calls Saturday, pushing a slogan that presidential hopefuls must "earn it."
Romney has a vacation home in New Hampshire, where he is well known. His campaign structure there isn't perfect, however.
Aides sent reporters to 827 Chestnut Street in Manchester, where Romney would start some door-knocking of his own. But there was no one home at 827, or the next house he tried, or the three after that. In nearly an hour of door-knocking, Romney met only a handful of voters, and all of them already seemed in his corner.
Asked at the day's end why he was being so gentle with Gingrich, Romney replied: "I think the right course for me is to continue talking about my vision for the country, my experience, and how I'd lead the nation. And Speaker Gingrich will get the chance to do the same thing."
___
Fouhy reported from New York.
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John Amis / AP
Bishop Eddie Long walks to the pulpit with his wife, Vanessa Long, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta.
By msnbc.com staff and Associated Press
The wife of Bishop Eddie Long, the Georgia megachurch pastor once accused of coercing four young men into having sex, has told her lawyers to file for divorce, according to a statement issued Friday.
In the statement, Vanessa Long said she had decided to "terminate my marriage" after "a great deal of deliberation and prayer."
"It is my sincere hope that this matter can be resolved expeditiously, harmoniously, and fairly," she said in the statement.
"I ask that you respect my privacy and that of my family, as my attorneys and I have agreed that we will not try this case in the media, and I do not intend to make any further statements concerning this matter," she added. "I also ask that the public pray for my entire family during this difficult period of transition."
In May this year, Bishop Long settled lawsuits filed by the four men who once attended the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in suburban Atlanta.
Four sexual misconduct lawsuits against Bishop Eddie Long are expected to be dismissed by the end of Friday. Rev. Irene Monroe talks about the situation.
Days later the congregation cheered Long as he took the pulpit, while the choir opened the service with?the hymn "Moving Forward," which began: "I'm not going back, I'm moving ahead. Here to declare to you my past is over."
Opposition to?gay marriage
Long gained a reputation as a spiritual leader after turning his 150-member congregation into a following of 25,000 people and a televangelist empire, partly based on the idea that God would give wealth to the faithful.
He has been a vocal opponent of gay marriage.
The?allegations by the men were not?investigated criminally because Georgia's age of consent is 16. The young men were 17 and 18 when the alleged sexual contact occurred.
After the out-of-court settlement, Jessica Gabel, a Georgia State University law professor who specializes in trial strategy, told The Associated Press, "Nobody wants their dirty laundry aired in court. Every day there would be fanfare. This is not something you want in the media."
Gabel said that attorneys try to keep the terms of any agreement confidential, but?added that it was noteworthy that Long was not required to apologize or acknowledge any wrongdoing.
The dismissal of the lawsuits was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It said the men alleged that the bishop used his influence, trips, gifts and jobs to coerce them into sexual relations.
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? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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WASHINGTON ? The nation's freight railroad industry averted a potentially costly strike on Thursday after resolving differences with two of its unions and agreeing to extend talks with a third.
The National Railway Labor Conference, which represents the railroads in bargaining talks, said its negotiators would try to reach an agreement with the final union before Feb. 8.
Without the agreements, the railway unions could have begun striking as early as Tuesday, when a federal "cooling off" period was set to expire. Retailers warned that a rail strike would cost businesses and consumers $2 billion a day and prove especially damaging during the industry's most important shopping season of the year.
The agreements late Thursday with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the American Train Dispatchers Association came just hours after Republican House leaders said they would move to vote Friday on emergency legislation to prevent a work stoppage.
The group of more than 30 railroads ? including Union Pacific Corp., CSX Corp. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe ? has been trying for more than a year to reach collective bargaining agreements with 13 unions representing about 132,000 workers.
President Barack Obama appointed a five-member emergency board in October to mediate the dispute. The White House action averted a strike for at least 60 days, ending Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.
With the help of federal mediators, the railroads have now settled with 12 of the 13 unions in the current bargaining round. The only unsettled union is the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, which has about 25,000 workers.
"Everyone wins when we reach voluntary agreements," said Kenneth Gradia, chairman of the National Carriers' Conference Committee, which bargains on behalf of the railroads. "In a tough economy, these agreements offer a terrific deal for rail employees. They lock in well-above market wage increases of more than 20 percent over six years, far exceeding recent union settlements in other industries."
The last time a freight railroad strike occurred, in 1991, Congress quickly passed legislation that ended it within a day. A 1982 strike lasted four days.
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BUDAPEST, Hungary ? Hungary's postal service says it has issued a numbered commemorative sheet and card in memory of Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc. who died in October.
Magyar Posta said Wednesday that 5,000 copies of the memorial set have been issued, selling for 1,000 forints ($4.40, euro3.30) each.
The sheet includes a perforated portrait of Jobs, while the card shows silhouettes of some of the inventor's characteristic poses and a quote about Jobs by Erno Rubik, the Hungarian architect who created Rubik's Cube and other mechanical puzzles.
A Budapest software company is planning to unveil a Jobs statue in December.
Jobs died at age 56 on Oct. 5 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
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