Romney tries to change the subject from his taxes (AP)

GILBERT, S.C. ? Working to fend off a surging Newt Gingrich in what's become an unexpectedly tight race, presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday tried to change the subject from his unreleased tax returns to the ethics investigation Gingrich faced 15 years ago.

Romney's campaign appeared visibly rattled the day before the South Carolina primary, his standing in polls having tumbled after a week of constant attack ads and self-made problems. The former Massachusetts governor faced a potentially difficult day Saturday, and senior aides acknowledged they wouldn't be surprised if he lost the primary.

Romney came to South Carolina after twin victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, only to see his Iowa victory thrown into question because of problems with the count. He's spent a week trying to answer questions about his personal wealth and when he will release his tax returns.

Gingrich's House reprimand in 1997 presented an opportunity to talk about something else. When asked if Gingrich should release the Ethics Committee report that resulted in the first such action against a House speaker, Romney replied, "Of course he should."

"Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation," he said. "You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election."

In fact, the 1,280-page committee report on Gingrich is already public. Campaign officials said Romney was referring to other documents that Gingrich has referenced and that Pelosi has also mentioned.

"Given Speaker Gingrich's newfound interest in disclosure and transparency, and his concern about an `October surprise,' he should authorize the release of the complete record of the ethics proceedings against him," Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said.

Romney's campaign is calling South Carolina voters with a recording attacking Gingrich's ethics record and calling on him to release any documents related to the inquiry.

In December, Pelosi told Talking Points Memo that she had served on the committee that conducted the investigation and implied that more information about the investigation could come to light. At the time Gingrich said the House should retaliate against Pelosi if she released any additional information.

"We turned over 1 million pages of material," Gingrich said then. "We had a huge report."

Gingrich's campaign said Romney's criticism represented a "panic attack" on the part of his campaign.

Romney on Friday said again that he wouldn't release his tax returns until April, which would probably be after Republicans choose their nominee.

"I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well-known, popular in the state," Romney said as he campaigned in Gilbert. "Frankly, to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting."

Romney's campaign has rolled out endorsement after endorsement this week as he has tried to build a case that he is the most electable nominee. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman joined him on Thursday and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell campaigned with him Friday.

McDonnell said Friday he had been in touch with Romney's campaign for several weeks as they discussed the timing for the endorsement ? and decided it was most needed now, even as Romney looks ahead to a long campaign.

"It's the first Southern primary. I'm a Southern governor. I thought I could help," McDonnell said.

But the campaign's attack message has jumped from rival to rival and topic to topic as Romney's fought to stay afloat here.

At the beginning of the week, Romney was attacking rival Rick Santorum over voting rights for felons. Then he went after Gingrich's claims that he created jobs under President Ronald Reagan, saying Gingrich was living in "fantasyland." Meanwhile, his surrogates held a series of conference calls attacking his rivals, first calling Gingrich an unreliable leader and then pivoting to attack his ethics record.

In Thursday night's GOP debate, Romney continued his string of off-message remarks about his wealth, saying he has lived "in the real streets of America." A multimillionaire, he has three homes, one each in Massachusetts, California and New Hampshire.

Romney held three campaign events Friday in his last-ditch push to stem Gingrich's momentum. After stopping in Gilbert, he held a rally in North Charleston and flew to Greenville in the conservative upstate for a nighttime rally and a stop at his campaign headquarters before an evening event in Columbia, the state capital.

On a plane between events Friday night, Romney was outwardly cheerful in spite of a difficult day ahead, gamely bantering with reporters as he served pastries from Panera Bread.

"Pain au chocolat, smart move!" he said to one, proferring the box and a pair of tongs to take the desserts.

As he moved farther back into the plane, though, he dispensed with the tongs.

"Just use your fingers," he said. "To heck with it!"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney

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Colts owner tweets: Coach to be picked next week (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? Colts owner Jim Irsay says the Indianapolis team expects to decide on a new head coach next week.

Irsay made the announcement on his Twitter account Saturday.

Irsay's tweet read: "The (hash)1 pick debate will rage on,what a great year to have it..the HC search is wide ranging n thorough,decision by mid 2 late next week."

The Colts fired coach Jim Caldwell on Tuesday after three seasons. The team went to the Super Bowl during Caldwell's first year, but finished a dismal 2-14 this season.

The day after they locked up the No. 1 overall draft pick, Irsay fired team vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, general manager Chris.

The Colts played the season without Peyton Manning, who had his third neck surgery in September.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_colts_coach_irsay

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Supreme Court ruling confuses religious workers (AP)

DETROIT ? Aleeza Adelman teaches Jewish studies at a Jewish school, yet she considers herself a teacher whose subject is religion, not a religious teacher. She's rethinking how to define her job after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling left her wondering what could happen if she ever needed to defend her right to keep it.

The high court ruled last week that religious workers can't sue for job discrimination, but didn't describe what constitutes a religious employee ? putting many people employed by churches, synagogues or other religious organizations in limbo over their rights.

"I think of myself as a teacher who is just like any other teacher," said Adelman, who works at the New Orleans Jewish Day School. "Yes, my topic of teaching happens to be Jewish stuff, but if I were to just think in general about it, am I different from the teacher across the hall who is teaching secular studies?"

The justices denied government antidiscrimination protection to Cheryl Perich, a Detroit-area teacher and commissioned minister who complained to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that her firing was discriminatory under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The commission sued the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School of Redford Township, Mich., over her firing.

Perich got sick in 2004 and tried to return work from disability leave despite a narcolepsy diagnosis. She was fired after she showed up at the school and threatened to sue to get her job back. A federal judge threw out the lawsuit on grounds that Perich fell under the so-called ministerial exception, which keeps the government from interfering with church affairs. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated her lawsuit, arguing that her primary function was teaching secular subjects so the ministerial exception didn't apply.

The high court disagreed, but didn't set rigid rules on who can be considered a religious worker of a religious organization. That appears to give wide leeway to churches and other religious organizations to decide who qualifies for the exception.

Rita Schwartz, president of Philadelphia-based National Association of Catholic School Teachers, said she's comforted by the fact that the justices didn't set a broad precedent. But she said it leaves employees of religious-based institutions in an unsettled position until or unless they are deemed a ministerial employee.

"I don't mind that title unless it is used to deny my rights as a citizen," said Schwartz, whose association was formed in 1978. "I don't give up my rights at the schoolhouse door. I should not have to do that."

Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote a separate opinion, argued that the ministerial exception should be tailored for only an employee "who leads a religious organization, conducts worship services or important religious ceremonies or rituals or serves as a messenger or teacher of its faith."

Schwartz also is concerned about how far the exception can go. She supported maintenance workers in a dispute several years ago in which she said Catholic officials argued that the workers were ministerial employees because "they polished the pews in the chapels and they repaired the crucifixes on the walls."

David Lopez said he sees both sides of the argument as an English instructor at both a Detroit-area Catholic high school and at a community college. At the college, he has the protections of collective bargaining, but at the high school he is an at-will employee with a year-to-year contract.

"I either accept that because I like the environment or I work at a public school where I have better protections," said Lopez, whose day job is at Gabriel Richard High School in suburban Riverview.

"I enjoy teaching students who are actually interested in what I'm trying to teach them," he said. "I lose the protection, but by the same token it's a pleasant environment. It's hard to put a price tag on something like that."

Adelman said she has the highest respect for administrators at the New Orleans Jewish school and believes she would be treated fairly if a problem arose. Still, she'd like to think that she wouldn't lose protections just because of what she teaches.

"If I felt discrimination in the workplace? Of course, I would definitely want to feel I have the right to speak up about any issue, and the fact that I'm a religious educator ... is not going to cause problems along the way," she said.

___

Follow Jeff Karoub on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffkaroub

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_us/us_supreme_court_religious_employees

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Where You Vote May Affect How

60-Second Science | Mind & Brain

Subjects randomly surveyed within view of a church gave more conservative responses than those surveyed within view of a secular school. Katherine Harmon reports.

January 19, 2012

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On election day, where do you vote? If it's in a church, you might be inclined to vote more conservatively than if you cast your ballot at a school or government building. That?s according to research published in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. [Jordan P. LaBouff et al, Differences in Attitudes Toward Outgroups in Religious and Nonreligious Contexts in a Multinational Sample: A Situational Context Priming Study]

And the effect seems to hold, whether you?re Christian, Muslim or agnostic, progressive, independent or conservative.

The study found that when random people were surveyed in front of a church, they gave more socially and politically conservative responses than people surveyed while standing in front of a government building.

The shift in people's attitudes, the researchers suggest, was likely a result of visual priming?meaning that people who could see the religious building were, consciously or not, getting cues that influenced their response.

The surveys were conducted in Europe, so it's possible American voters might react differently. But the survey included subjects from more than 30 countries to try to minimize a particular national bias. So before you cast your vote this election year, think about whether your view is influencing your views.

?Katherine Harmon

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]??
?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=6113dfd7dee9c90ea0e9b8dba2da1c54

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Video: Showdown in South Carolina

>> congressman from south carolina . thank you for your time.

>> thank you for having me.

>> why do you believe he had a 23-point lead in the polls, and now it's down to ten.

>> well, there are two things converging in this state. one, mr. romney himself. he has allowed himself to be separated from the ordinary people . it's one thing to be wealthy, nobody begrudges him for that. it's another thing to try and make yourself different because of that wealth. that's what he has done with a lot of his words and phrases. for him to say last night during the debate that he walked ordinary streets, everybody knows that's not true. for him to say he inherited nothing from his father. that everything he got he made it himself. that is absolutely not true. people are beginning to say this guy will say anything in order to get a vote, and he has separated himself from ordinary people . now, you got newt gingrich on the other side putting out his tax returns , showing that he may have paid somewhere around 30% income tax on his earnings. here is a guy with all that wealth and saying he's paid only 15%. he has separated himself from ordinary people in a way that newt only had to go halfway. romney went the other half be.

>> let me ask you, there was this title of the inevitable nominee. people believe it was his game to lose. then another bad debate when it came to answering these financial questions. evenmitt romney , tries to just poex him when has not tried. it's like he's putting the cart before the horse.

>> that's correct. i wondered from day one, what kind of candidate would go out, extend him or herself to the other side without ever consolidatiing his or her own base. they didn't seem to do that. the whole thing was all you got to do was be a hater to obama or an objector for obama and that's all you needed for your base. no, no. voters are interested in what you are going to do with me. how will by table top issues get better if you get elected? you just can't be against the other guy. you got to show me why it is i need to invest my precious vote in you and mitt romney --

>> i want to ask you, is that what newt gingrich is doing in your home state? there's been instances where he's referred to the president as this food stamp president and a woman flattered him by saying it was good that she showed juan williams his place in all of this. there's been a lot of talk about race and how it is, for some people, fuel for fire. making them want to get out and vote against this president for whatever reasons or obvious reasons. it is true you have to put out ideas because what we saw in that debate, he's putting out more fire.

>> what i said was, newt had to do his 50%. his 50% was consolidating his base. that's what he's doing with that kind of language. he does his anti- obama stuff, but newt has done a good job of consolidating his base. i don't like where his base is, but the fact of the matter is, using words and phrases like that tend to consolidate his base. that's what he has done to excite these voters and that's why with romney failing to connect and not talking about his vision for the future and with him consolidating his base, those two things have converged in such a way that mitt will benefit in the a very positive way.

>> let me ask you about the first five minutes of the debate when john king asked newt gingrich about his wife's interview in which she revealed newt gingrich asked her for an open marriage . all of the candidates were asked their thoughts on this issue of a person's character and how it should play into the vote. i want to show you each introduced themselves to the audience.

>> i'm rick santorum , and i want to thank the people for their hospitality for my wife and karen children.

>> i'm married now 42 years. i have five kids, daughters-in-law and 16 grand kids.

>> i'm proud that my wife of 54 are years tonight.

>> i want to thank the people of south carolina for being so hospitable.

>> the other three thanked their lives and brought up their families. when given an opportunity not to do any mud slinging, but to just talk about character. they passed, but then were passive aggressive and bringing up their spouses and how many kids they have.

>> we all do that. i'm proud of the fact that i've been married to the same person for 50 years. i have three lovely daughters and three great-grandchildren. we talk about that. i think it's fair game . we talk about family issues and family values . the question is to the extent of which we value our families. i think it's very good for them to do that. if i were newt, i would have brought up the fact that i've got a wife even though it may be a third one. the fact of the matter is, i think i would have brought it up if i were him.

>> all right. congress clyburn it's great to have you. thank you.

>> thank you so much for having me.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46074685/

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Shyne Determined To 'Rep' Orthodox Jewish Faith

'I rep this tribe of Judah till the very end,' Po tells MTV News of converting to Judaism.
By Rob Markman

Shyne
Photo: MTV News

The Shyne we see today is a far cry from the troubled rap youth that we saw in 2000 walking in and out of court, donning a suit and oversize baseball cap. During his almost-nine-year prison stint for assault and gun possession, Shyne became closer to his Jewish faith. Now we see him with long side curls and traditional Orthodox garb, bearing the Star of David. It's nothing new, Shyne says.

"This ain't no 'Shyne got out and went to Jerusalem and became religious.' God and man is a never-ending struggle. We're in the struggle to do what's right," Shyne told MTV News of his faith. "I've been on this journey."

The rapper is less concerned about the latest trends in rap than he is about working on strengthening his relationship with God. "This is how King David wore his hair," Shyne said of his payos. "That's who I want to be. I don't really want to be like anybody else. I don't want to be like one of these big fools. I don't want to be like none of these guys on TV. I don't want to be like — definitely none of these rappers.

"I want to be like King David so that's how I wear my hair. I rep this tribe of Judah till the very end and that's what it's hitting for," he said, tugging on his robe.

Shyne continues to release new music. On January 13, he dropped an elongated version of Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV "Outro" and on Tuesday revealed that he and Diddy have made amends. Can a musical collaboration be next?

"As far as Puff is concerned, that's been a long time coming," Shyne exclusively told MTV News of the conversation he and the Bad Boy CEO had earlier this month. "He had reached out to me twice while I was in the pen, but I just wasn't ready for it."

The rapper wouldn't speak on the details of his and Comb's conversation, but he did say that the two plan to meet face to face in Paris in the coming weeks.

Related Artists

• Shyne

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677463/shyne-jewish-religion-faith.jhtml

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Supreme Court Gives the Go Ahead for Re-Copyrighting Public Domain Works [Copyright]

You've got to be kidding me. The US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Congress can remove works from the public domain and re-copyright them in order to bring the the pieces into compliance with international copyright schemes. Yeah, because that doesn't run completely against the spirit of copyright law or anything. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UL9jFbHgYiI/supreme-court-gives-the-go-ahead-for-re+copyrighting-public-domain-works

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