The $41 million that 'super PACs' have spent so far leaves 2008 in the dust and is changing campaign dynamics. Notable effects: many more negative ads and an ability to keep faltering campaigns alive.
Newt Gingrich remains a viable candidate in the Republican presidential race today in large part because of a $10 million donation ? half arriving just before and half just after the South Carolina primary ? from a Las Vegas casino billionaire and his wife.
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Two years ago, that money bomb would have been illegal. Now, it's a prominent feature of Campaign 2012, in which unlimited sums of money donated to "super political-action committees" ? not directly to a candidate's own campaign ? can, in an instant, reset the odds for a race.
So far, these outside groups ? super PACs, for short ? have collectively spent $40.9 million to influence 2012 presidential and congressional races. That's twice what had been spent by outside groups at the same point in the 2008 campaign cycle, when both parties had competitive presidential nominating races, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington.
They are also having an impact on the tone and scope of political ads. Candidate-sponsored ads, which accounted for 97 percent of advertising in the 2008 GOP presidential primary, dropped to 56 percent of the total in the 2012 primaries through Jan. 25, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, analyzing data by Kantar Media. Moreover, the super PAC ads are overwhelmingly negative.?
?So what, you ask? The US Supreme Court, after all, ruled in 2010 that such unlimited spending on campaigns is a way for people and corporations to exercise their free-speech rights. What difference has this infusion of political cash via super PACs made, really, to Election 2012?
That jury is still out on the long-term impacts, but political analysts see the super PACs changing the nature of the presidential campaign. They've helped produce an unusually bitter and volatile GOP primary season, turning the airwaves in early-voting states toxic with negative ads. They've also extended the campaigns of candidates who otherwise might not have lasted, they say. Some candidates have even complained that the unlimited spending by outside groups is eclipsing the messages of their own campaigns (though critics say those are crocodile tears, given a super PAC's ability to convey a scorching message that a candidate is happy to have someone else deliver).
Take those checks from Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, which went to Winning Our Future, a newly minted super PAC staffed by former Gingrich aides but by law not affiliated with the Gingrich campaign. The super PAC used the extra millions to buy broadcast time for a 28-minute smear ad on rival Mitt Romney's record creating jobs, the linchpin of his campaign. "Nothing mattered but greed," the ad's narrator said. "The suffering began when Mitt Romney came to town."
BEIRUT ? The commander of rebel Syrian soldiers said Sunday there is no choice but to use military force to drive President Bashar Assad's regime from power as fears mounted that government troops will escalate their deadly crackdown on dissent after Russia and China vetoed a U.N. resolution aimed at resolving the crisis.
With Western nations searching for an alternative strategy after the failed U.N. Security Council resolution, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for "friends of democratic Syria" to unite and rally against Assad's regime. The remark suggested the possible formation of a formal group of nations to coordinate assistance to the Syrian opposition.
The Syrian opposition has called for such a coalition to provide it direct political and economic support after the double veto at the Security Council on Saturday killed a U.N. effort to promote an Arab plan to end violence in Syria.
Clinton called the vetoes "a travesty."
"Faced with a neutered Security Council, we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations," she told reporters in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
But the threat of both sides turning to greater force raises the potential for Syria to enter a dangerous new phase that threatens to degenerate into outright civil war.
The uprising began in March with peaceful protests against Assad's regime, sparking a fierce crackdown by government forces. Army defectors who joined the uprising later began to protect protesters from attacks. In recent months the rebel soldiers, known as the Free Syrian Army have grown bolder, attacking regime troops and trying establish control in pro-opposition areas, bringing heavier government response.
Now regime opponents fear Assad will unleash even greater violence to crush protesters, feeling that he has protection by his top ally Moscow. If the opposition turns overtly to armed resistance, the result could be a dramatic increase in the bloodshed.
"There is no other road" except military action to topple Assad after the vetoes at the U.N., the commander of the Free Syrian Army told The Associated Press by telephone from Turkey.
"We consider that Syria is occupied by a criminal gang and we must liberate the country from this gang," Col. Riad al-Asaad said. "This regime does not understand the language of politics, it only understands the language of force."
He called Russia and China's veto a "strike against the Syrian people," not just the opposition.
A Syrian state-run newspaper, Tishreen, vowed Sunday that Damascus will press its crackdown aiming to restore "stability and security and confront all forms of terrorism." Early Saturday, regime forces bombarded the restive central city of Homs in what activists said was the deadliest incident of the uprising. They reported more than 200 killed, but the regime denied any bombardment and there was no way to independently confirm the toll.
On Sunday, gunfire continued to ring out in several neighborhoods of Homs, and at least one person was shot dead by a sniper, the Britian-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Outside the city, troops bombarded the rebel-held town of Rastan, killing at least three people, it said.
Government forces also shelled the mountain town of Zabadani, north of Damascus, a significant opposition stronghold that fell under rebels' control late last month. Bombardment the past two days has wounded dozens and forced scores of families to flee, said an activist in the town.
"The situation is terrifying, makeshift hospitals are full," said the activist, who only gave his first name, Fares, for fear of government reprisals. He said the town has been under siege for the past five days and there is lack of food and heating fuel during the cold winter.
Troops and army defectors clashed in the northwestern province of Idlib and the southern province of Daraa, the Observatory said, reporting two civilians and nine soldiers killed in Idlib. It said a 14-year-old boy was killed when troops fired on a protest in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees said 22 people were killed Sunday in different parts of the country. The groups' reports could not be independently confirmed.
More than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown, according to a U.N. count from January that has not been updated, and activists have reported dozens killed daily since.
The Russian and Chinese vetoes effectively killed an Arab League plan that called for Assad to hand over his powers to his vice president and allow creation of a unity government. The resolution would have expressed support for that Arab League plan, which Assad rejected.
As an alternative, the U.S. proposal for a formal grouping of nations backing the opposition could be similar to the Contact Group on Libya, which oversaw international help for opponents of the late deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. In the case of Libya, the group also coordinated NATO military operations, something that is not envisioned in Syria.
U.S. officials said a friends group would work to enhance sanctions against Assad, bring Syrian opposition groups inside and outside the country together, provide humanitarian relief for embattled Syrian communities and monitor arms sales.
The main opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council, backed the idea.
Radwan Ziadeh, a prominent figure in the SNC, wrote on his Facebook page that friendly countries should form an "international coalition ... whose aim will be to lead international moves to support the revolution through political and economic aid."
A deeply sensitive question is whether such a coalition would back the Free Syrian Army. There appears to be deep hesitation among Western countries, fearing a further militarization of the conflict.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya TV on Saturday after the U.N., the head of the Syrian National Council Burhan Ghalioun said a coalition might give the FSA support "if necessary" to "protect the Syrian people."
Arab nations and other backers of the Security Council resolution expressed their anger and frustration at the double veto during an international security conference in the German city of Munich.
Qatar's minister for international cooperation, Khaled al-Attiyah, said the vetoes sent "a very bad signal to Assad that there (is a) license to kill."
Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali urged other Arab nations to follow the step his country took Saturday and expel Syrian ambassadors and end recognition of Assad.
"The very least that we can do is to cut our relations to the Syrian regime," Jebali said.
The Syrian government Sunday touted the U.N. results as a victory.
Hundreds of regime supporters held a rally in a Damascus square, waving Russian and Chinese flags in gratitude for their blocking the resolution.
"Thanks Russia, thanks China for undermining the Western conspiracy against our country," said Nibal Hmeid, a 24-year-old teacher at the rally. She said Assad should now settle the situation in Syria "decisively and militarily against those armed criminals."
The regime has painted the uprising as the work of terrorists and armed gangs as part of a foreign conspiracy.
The state-run Syrian Tishreen daily, one of several mouthpieces for the regime, said Damascus would no push ahead with announced reforms, which include a new constitution, allowing the formation of new political parties and parliamentary elections.
It said the international community should now back moves for a dialogue between the government and opposition.
The opposition has dismissed Assad's reform plans as attempts to play for time, saying they will accept nothing less than his departure. It has rejected any dialogue with the regime.
____
AP correspondent Geir Moulson in Munich contributed to this report.
___
Bassem Mroue can be reached on twitter at http://twitter.com/bmroue
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iPhone 4S Made Simple is a new books from Apress written by Martin Trautschold and our very own editor-in-chief extraordinaire, Rene Ritchie, and tech edited by none other than Leanna
INDIANAPOLIS ? 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."
Above is a purported leak of Pentax's upcoming K-01 -- a retro-inspired mirrorless camera which is apparently set for reveal soon. Divulged in a bevy of official-looking shots on Pentax Forums, the diminutive shooter will apparently be available in several colors alongside its incredibly-thin 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. Also shown are closeups of a dedicated HDR mode up-top, alongside dedicated red and green buttons, and a curious signature by designer Marc Newson adjacent to its battery cover. Perplexed by the sum of its parts like we are? Well, until Pentax reveals all, get a acquainted with it in the source links below.
Satellite study reveals critical habitat and corridors for world's rarest gorillaPublic release date: 31-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Delaney jdelaney@wcs.org 718-220-3275 Wildlife Conservation Society
Protection of forest habitat could support larger population of Cross River gorillas
Conservationists working in Central Africa to save the world's rarest gorilla have good news: the Cross River gorilla has more suitable habitat than previously thought, including vital corridors that, if protected, can help the great apes move between sites in search of mates, according to the North Carolina Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and other groups.
The newly published habitat analysis, which used a combination of satellite imagery and on-the-ground survey work, will help guide future management decisions for Cross River gorillas living in the mountainous border region between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The study appears in the online edition of the journal Oryx. The authors include: Richard A. Bergl of the North Carolina Zoo; Ymke Warren (deceased), Aaron Nicholas, Andrew Dunn, Inaoyom Imong, and Jacqueline L. Sunderland-Groves of the Wildlife Conservation Society; and John F. Oates of Hunter College, CUNY.
"We're pleased with our results, which have helped us to identify both new locations where the gorillas live and apparently unoccupied areas of potential gorilla habitat," said Dr. Bergl of the North Carolina Zoo, lead author of the study. "The study is a great example of how scientific research can be directly applied to great ape conservation."
WCS conservationist and co-author Andrew Dunn said: "The good news for Cross River gorillas is that they still have plenty of habitat in which to expand, provided that steps are taken to minimize threats to the population."
Using high-resolution satellite images, the research team mapped the distribution of forest and other land-cover types in the Cross River region. In order to ground truth the land-cover map, field researchers traveled to more than 400 control points to confirm its accuracy. They found that the land-cover rating system had an accuracy rate of 90 percent or higher. The land-cover map was combined with other environmental data to determine the extent of the Cross River gorilla's habitat. The entire Cross River region was divided into 30 x 30 meter pixels, and each pixel was rated in terms of its suitability as gorilla habitat (with steep, forested areas of low human activity receiving a high rating, and lowland areas more significantly impacted by people receiving a low rating). These ratings were translated into a habitat suitability map for the area.
With the new habitat suitability map to guide them, the team then selected 12 locations possessing all the characteristics of gorilla habitat (mainly forested landscapes far from human settlements) for field surveys. Most of these areas had no previous record of gorillas, but to their surprise, the team found signs of gorilla presence (in the form of gorilla dung and nests) in 10 of the 12 sites, thereby confirming the value of using satellite image analysis to predict suitable habitat and to prioritize areas in which to conduct further surveys.
Overall, the findings of the study represent a significant expansion of known Cross River gorilla range. The area now known to be occupied by gorillas is more than 50 percent larger than had previously been documented. The findings also support recent genetic analyses that suggest a high degree of connectivity between the 11 known locations where gorillas occur.
The study also located parts of the population under threat from isolation through fragmentation. For example, Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in Nigeria, which contains a significant portion of the Cross River gorilla population, is only tenuously connected to the nearest sub-population of gorillas by farmland and other forms of habitat degradation.
"For small populations such as this one, the maintenance of connective corridors is crucial for their long term survival," said WCS researcher Inaoyom Imong. "The analysis is the first step in devising ways to rehabilitate degraded pathways."
Authors of the study will use their findings at the upcoming Cross River gorilla workshop (scheduled for February in Limbe, Cameroon) to help formulate a new 5-year regional plan for the subspecies. "This latest research has greatly expanded our knowledge on Cross River gorilla distribution, which will lead to more effective management decisions," said WCS conservationist and co-author Aaron Nicholas.
Dr. James Deutsch, Executive Director for WCS's Africa Program, said: "Accurately assessing the state of available habitat is a vital foundation for future conservation efforts for the Cross River gorilla. A new action plan for the subspecies will build on the collaborative partnership already underway between Nigeria and Cameroon and ensure a future for this unique primate."
The Cross River gorilla is the rarest of the four subspecies of gorilla, numbering fewer than 300 individuals across its entire range, limited to the forested mountainous terrain on the border region of Nigerian and Cameroon. The subspecies is listed as "Critically Endangered" and is threatened by both habitat disturbance and hunting, as the entire population lives in a region of high human population density and heavy natural resource exploitation.
Conservation work on Cross River gorillas in this region is a priority for several U.S. government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service.
###
The study was made possible through the generous support of: the Arcus Foundation; Great Ape Conservation Fund; KfW (German Development Bank); Lincoln Park Zoo; National Geographic Conservation Trust; Primate Conservation Inc.; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Satellite study reveals critical habitat and corridors for world's rarest gorillaPublic release date: 31-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Delaney jdelaney@wcs.org 718-220-3275 Wildlife Conservation Society
Protection of forest habitat could support larger population of Cross River gorillas
Conservationists working in Central Africa to save the world's rarest gorilla have good news: the Cross River gorilla has more suitable habitat than previously thought, including vital corridors that, if protected, can help the great apes move between sites in search of mates, according to the North Carolina Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and other groups.
The newly published habitat analysis, which used a combination of satellite imagery and on-the-ground survey work, will help guide future management decisions for Cross River gorillas living in the mountainous border region between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The study appears in the online edition of the journal Oryx. The authors include: Richard A. Bergl of the North Carolina Zoo; Ymke Warren (deceased), Aaron Nicholas, Andrew Dunn, Inaoyom Imong, and Jacqueline L. Sunderland-Groves of the Wildlife Conservation Society; and John F. Oates of Hunter College, CUNY.
"We're pleased with our results, which have helped us to identify both new locations where the gorillas live and apparently unoccupied areas of potential gorilla habitat," said Dr. Bergl of the North Carolina Zoo, lead author of the study. "The study is a great example of how scientific research can be directly applied to great ape conservation."
WCS conservationist and co-author Andrew Dunn said: "The good news for Cross River gorillas is that they still have plenty of habitat in which to expand, provided that steps are taken to minimize threats to the population."
Using high-resolution satellite images, the research team mapped the distribution of forest and other land-cover types in the Cross River region. In order to ground truth the land-cover map, field researchers traveled to more than 400 control points to confirm its accuracy. They found that the land-cover rating system had an accuracy rate of 90 percent or higher. The land-cover map was combined with other environmental data to determine the extent of the Cross River gorilla's habitat. The entire Cross River region was divided into 30 x 30 meter pixels, and each pixel was rated in terms of its suitability as gorilla habitat (with steep, forested areas of low human activity receiving a high rating, and lowland areas more significantly impacted by people receiving a low rating). These ratings were translated into a habitat suitability map for the area.
With the new habitat suitability map to guide them, the team then selected 12 locations possessing all the characteristics of gorilla habitat (mainly forested landscapes far from human settlements) for field surveys. Most of these areas had no previous record of gorillas, but to their surprise, the team found signs of gorilla presence (in the form of gorilla dung and nests) in 10 of the 12 sites, thereby confirming the value of using satellite image analysis to predict suitable habitat and to prioritize areas in which to conduct further surveys.
Overall, the findings of the study represent a significant expansion of known Cross River gorilla range. The area now known to be occupied by gorillas is more than 50 percent larger than had previously been documented. The findings also support recent genetic analyses that suggest a high degree of connectivity between the 11 known locations where gorillas occur.
The study also located parts of the population under threat from isolation through fragmentation. For example, Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in Nigeria, which contains a significant portion of the Cross River gorilla population, is only tenuously connected to the nearest sub-population of gorillas by farmland and other forms of habitat degradation.
"For small populations such as this one, the maintenance of connective corridors is crucial for their long term survival," said WCS researcher Inaoyom Imong. "The analysis is the first step in devising ways to rehabilitate degraded pathways."
Authors of the study will use their findings at the upcoming Cross River gorilla workshop (scheduled for February in Limbe, Cameroon) to help formulate a new 5-year regional plan for the subspecies. "This latest research has greatly expanded our knowledge on Cross River gorilla distribution, which will lead to more effective management decisions," said WCS conservationist and co-author Aaron Nicholas.
Dr. James Deutsch, Executive Director for WCS's Africa Program, said: "Accurately assessing the state of available habitat is a vital foundation for future conservation efforts for the Cross River gorilla. A new action plan for the subspecies will build on the collaborative partnership already underway between Nigeria and Cameroon and ensure a future for this unique primate."
The Cross River gorilla is the rarest of the four subspecies of gorilla, numbering fewer than 300 individuals across its entire range, limited to the forested mountainous terrain on the border region of Nigerian and Cameroon. The subspecies is listed as "Critically Endangered" and is threatened by both habitat disturbance and hunting, as the entire population lives in a region of high human population density and heavy natural resource exploitation.
Conservation work on Cross River gorillas in this region is a priority for several U.S. government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service.
###
The study was made possible through the generous support of: the Arcus Foundation; Great Ape Conservation Fund; KfW (German Development Bank); Lincoln Park Zoo; National Geographic Conservation Trust; Primate Conservation Inc.; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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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.
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Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
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