Turkish tanks move on N.Iraq, near PKK camp -sources (Reuters)

ISTANBUL (Reuters) ? Turkish tanks and armored vehicles crossed into northern Iraq headed in the direction of a Kurdish militant camp, Turkish security sources said Monday.

The incursion came as cross-border operations continued in the wake of last week's attack by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters that killed 24 Turkish soldiers.

The armored column was headed in the direction of a militant camp at Haftanin, around 20 km (12 miles) from the Habur border post, and near the Iraqi city of Zakho, the sources said.

(Istanbul newsroom)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/wl_nm/us_turkey_iraq_armour

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Schools fear worst budget cuts ahead (AP)

LANCASTER, Pa. ? Teenage girls in ponytails and boys in long athletic shorts dash across the gym at Abraham Lincoln Middle School, pausing their game of indoor tennis to motion "Y-M-C-A" with their arms as the Village People's song blares from the loudspeaker.

It's a scene happening less frequently these days. Budget cuts and teacher layoffs have forced the school to cut some PE classes, reduce library hours and eliminate small literacy classes for problem readers and Spanish for sixth- and seventh-graders.

"I'm scared to death. As we continue to look at fewer and fewer non-classroom positions that are there, at some point it's going to impact core classroom positions and that's a very, very scary thing," said principal Josh Keene.

Educators across America, like Keene, are bracing for a tough reality. Even in a best-case scenario that assumes strong economic growth next year, it won't be until 2013 or later when districts see budget levels return to pre-recession levels, said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators in Arlington, Va. That means more cuts and layoffs are likely ahead.

"The worst part is that it's not over," Domenech said.

Already, an estimated 294,000 jobs in the education sector have been lost since 2008, including those in higher education.

The cuts are felt from Keller, Texas, where the district moved to a pay-for-ride transportation system rather than cut busing altogether, to Georgia, where 20 days were shaved off the calendar for pre-kindergarten classes. In California, a survey found that nearly half of all districts last year cut or reduced art, drama and music programs. Nationally, 120 districts primarily in rural areas have gone to a four-day school week to save on transportation and utility costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Others are implementing fees to play sports, cutting field trips and ending after-school programs.

Districts have little choice but to put off buying textbooks and technology and training teachers, said Rob Monson, a principal in Parkston, S.D., who is president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

At Abraham Lincoln Middle School, Keene says he's worried ? not just about offering electives next year, but whether class sizes in core subjects will jump from around 25 to 35 or 40. His district received $6 million less from the state this year, which meant six staff positions in his school were cut. Even if state funding remains the same next year, the district expects to have from $5 million to $7 million less because of increased pension obligations and other expenses.

Recognizing the reality districts face, President Barack Obama included $30 billion in his $447 billion jobs creation package to save teachers' jobs. The Senate rejected the jobs package as well as a separate measure focused on saving the jobs of teachers and first responders. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said the plan resembles "bailouts" that haven't proven to work and only perpetuate economic problems.

Not everyone sees all doom and gloom in schools' budget woes. Some say many districts haven't wisely spent tax dollars or didn't adequately prepare for the end of the $100 billion in federal stimulus dollars for schools. And that while the number of students per teacher in America dropped from 22.3 in 1970 to 15.3 in 2008, according to the National Center For Education Statistics, they say the reduction hasn't made a noticeable difference.

Karen Hawley Miles, executive director of Education Resource Strategies, a nonprofit based in Watertown, Mass., that helps urban districts develop ways to more effectively use resources, encourages districts to use this time to make changes they have been reluctant to do. They include strategically raising class sizes to refocus on teacher quality and changing teacher compensation to be more tied to performance, she said.

"In tough days when it's incredibly urgent, sometimes these conversations can take place in a different frame. We see districts really thinking about how they can really do things differently and really focus in on their priorities," she said.

In Pennsylvania, at the urging of Gov. Tom Corbett, the Legislature slashed public-education spending by roughly $900 million, or more than 10 percent, to avoid a state budget deficit for the year that began July 1 without raising taxes.

Seemingly overnight, thousands of education jobs in the state were lost. A survey of school districts by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials found that leading into this school year, 44 percent reduced elective course offerings and 70 percent increased class sizes. More than 30 districts said they either reduced or eliminated full-day kindergarten or pre-K programs.

The cuts hit many of the poorer districts harder because they are more reliant on state dollars.

In York, Pa., about a 30-minute drive from Lancaster, full-day kindergarten was saved when administrators and teachers agreed to a pay freeze. But art, music, and physical education teachers in elementary schools were eliminated, forcing classroom teachers to incorporate the electives in their classroom teaching, said Kim Schwarz, 45, a teacher and president of the York City Education Association. High school class sizes now are in the upper 30s, she said.

Schwarz said the changes are tough for kids who really shine in art or physical education and it's been hard on the morale of teachers.

"The district has scrimped and pulled and did everything they could to find additional funds ... and I think the teachers are doing an absolutely phenomenal job of educating the students and giving them the attention that they need given the circumstances, which just adds more to the stress and the level of exhaustion that we're all feeling," Schwarz said.

At Keene's school in Lancaster, about 60 percent of the students are Latino and 80 percent are considered low income. Many are sent home on Friday nights with donated groceries and recipes for cooking them. Among the staff members cut was one who did home visits to follow up on children who weren't attending class. The school was able to continue an after-school program only after a non-profit agreed to run it.

Keene said he wants his children to have a full life, and he thinks music, art and physical education are part of that. He just hopes those classes will be offered in the future.

"You know the old adage sometimes you need to work smarter, not harder? We're frankly at a point where we just need to work harder and more hours, and with the reductions in staff, that's what needs to happen because otherwise, kids are going to suffer, and that's unacceptable," Keene said.

_____

Online:

American Association of School Administrators: http://www.aasa.org

Compass Mark: http://www.compassmark.org/

Education Resource Strategies: http://erstrategies.org/

National Association of Elementary School Principals: http://www.naesp.org/

Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators: http://www.pasa-net.org/

York City Education Association: http://ycea.psealocals.org/

School District of Lancaster: http://www.lancaster.k12.pa.us/

_____

Kimberly Hefling can be followed at http://twitter.com/khefling

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_education_budget_cuts

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Will the Iraq Withdrawal Impact the Election? (Time.com)

Penn: From Bin Laden to Gaddafi, Obama has shown he can answer the 3 a.m. call, displaying commitment, confidence and the will to define a tough military situation and act strategically. His recent announcement to withdraw troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 solidifies his position as a strong Commander in Chief who is keeping his most basic promise to the American people. Obama started his 2008 campaign as the president who would bring home the troops in Iraq by the end of 2011, and he is now starting his 2012 campaign as the president who did just that. George W. Bush started this war but it was Obama who finished it. This is a very powerful message for the American people ? it's concrete and resounds with most Americans who have favored a quick end to this war for years.The Republicans are trying to make hay over the fact that Obama withdrew all troops rather than leaving a small force behind just in case hostilities should break out again. But he refused to cave in to subjecting our troops to potential prosecution without immunity and made the right decision in terms of both policy and politics. A few thousand troops would make no difference if war broke out again; now he can say he ended it definitively going into the 2012 election and that will help him with the voters. The Republican criticism will only enable Obama to strike a greater contrast between himself and the GOP nominees, enabling him to draw a clear difference on what has emerged as his greatest strength. Couple that with the fact that the Iraq war was hugely unpopular with the American people, and the Republicans can make Obama's day by harping on wanting to have more troops back in Iraq. (How Much Trouble Is Obama Really In?)

Hughes: Probably not much, but the final answer hinges more on what happens in Iraq than on what happens in America. In the weeks ahead, all Americans, of all political persuasions, will join in applauding our troops as they return home from a job well and successfully done. We will honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives for the cause of freedom. We will rejoice for those coming home to their families. As an Army brat whose most vivid and painful childhood memory remains sending my father off to the Vietnam War, I know how eager our military families are to be reunited. The pictures and stories of happy homecomings may well give a brief political boost to President Obama, who can now rightly say he ended the war (although he probably won't mention that it was President Bush who put in place the timeline for successfully concluding the war before he left office).

Yet President Obama's failure to reach an agreement allowing a small ongoing presence of US troops in Iraq for training and counter-terrorism activities may well become a political liability. A sharp escalation of sectarian violence, an increase in al-Qaeda attacks, or increasingly aggressive intervention by Iran, could all cause Americans to conclude President Obama acted precipitously, jeopardizing the important gains we made during nine years of great sacrifice by our military. Whether the President was unable to negotiate the proper legal conditions for a focused, ongoing military presence in Iraq because he didn't want to or didn't try hard enough, it was a diplomatic failure that could undermine our military success.

The most important issues in this campaign remain creating jobs and improving the economy at home. Yet what happens in Iraq matters ? both politically and strategically. In the short run, President Obama may get some credit from his liberal base for fulfilling a campaign promise to end the war. But those voters are already among his most ardent supporters. If conditions in Iraq deteriorate dramatically, with terrorist attacks and growing Iranian influence, it will become a campaign issue. And the far bigger impact could come in whether we witness longer term costs to America's security and influence in this vital region of the world. (Iraq's Government, Not Obama, Called Time on U.S. Troop Presence.)

Hughes is the Global Vice Chair of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. Penn is the worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller

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Aussie coast fears rogue shark may have killed 3 (AP)

CANBERRA, Australia ? The sudden death of an American diver in the jaws of a great white shark off Australia's southwest coast has raised the specter of a rogue man-eater preying on a renowned aquatic playground and killing three men in two months.

Scientists say three sharks more likely are responsible, and the three cases are merely unfortunate encounters with nature.

Australia's southwest corner has been better known for whale and dolphin-watching cruises, white sandy beaches, world-class surf breaks and the peppery shiraz of its Margaret River premium wineries than for fatal shark attacks.

"This is a unique set of circumstances, and I'm desperately ... praying this is not the beginning of a new trend ... and we're going to have these on a regular basis," Western Australia state Fisheries Minister Norman Moore said Sunday, referring to the three recent deadly attacks.

The latest was Saturday when American George Thomas Wainwright, 32, was attacked while diving solo off a boat near Rottnest Island, a few miles (kilometers) from the city of Perth in Western Australia state.

As a child, family members said Wainwright was always on the water pursuing his loves: boating, fishing and diving.

In Panama City, Florida, he was only 17 or 18 when he became among the youngest residents to get his captain's license, his younger sister Wanda Brannon, 30, told The Associated Press on Sunday. He later ran a charter boat business.

"His love and passion was being on the water," she said.

Wainwright, who went by the name Thomas, also helped with the oil spill cleanup and even appeared in a BP video after an oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last year, she said.

He moved to Australia six months ago, taking a job as a project manager with a marine company. Brannon said her brother loved Australia's beautiful landscapes and relished his new adventures there. He had recently emailed family members about returning to Florida for a Christmas visit.

"He was just an amazing individual with a love and a passion for the outdoors and for his family," Brannon said through tears.

The Western Australia state government set tuna-baited hooks off the island Sunday, the first time authorities have used an emergency legal exemption from the state protection of great whites as an endangered species in the interests of protecting the public.

Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett also said his government would consider shark culls, responding to local residents' complaints that shark numbers are increasing off bustling beaches in one of Australia's fastest growing population areas.

Barry Bruce, a federal government marine biologist with extensive research experience in tracking the movements of tagged great whites via satellite and in examining their behavior, said it was unlikely that a single, lurking predator killed the three recent victims.

"What we've seen tragically is three cases of people by sheer bad luck being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

"If you're in the path of a white shark that is in the process of hunting its natural prey, that's an exceptionally dangerous situation to find yourself in," he added.

He said the great white population was not growing but shifting around the world for reasons that scientists do not fully understand.

Great whites are known to follow whale migration up the west Australian coast through the current spring and return south late in the summer.

Bruce dismissed theories of a single man-eater as unfounded speculation.

"A more plausible explanation is that this is the time of year when sharks move along the coast, and there are undoubtedly multiple sharks out there following this exact pattern," Bruce said.

Barbara Weuringer, a University of Western Australia marine zoologist and shark researcher, agreed. She urged against a shark hunt, saying there was no way of telling which shark was the killer without killing it and opening its stomach.

"It sounds a little bit like taking revenge, and we're talking about an endangered species," Weuringer said.

But a southwest coast-based diving tourism operator called on the state government to kill sharks that pose a threat to humans.

"The nuisance sharks ? the problem sharks that move into an area and are aggressive ? should be dispatched to remove the risk of future attack," Rockingham Wild Encounters director Terry Howson told the AP.

Howson has been campaigning for government action on sharks since one of his tour guides, Elyse Frankcom, was injured in a shark attack last year.

"It's absolutely hurting the tourist trade," he said. "Australia is getting a name for itself as being full of dangerous animals."

Wainwright's two companions said the diver was already dead when his body surfaced beside their boat moments after a flurry of bubbles erupted on the gray ocean surface.

The shark, a 10-foot (3-meter) great white, surfaced and even nudged the dive boat as Wainwright's friends hauled in his remains and powered for shore, officials said.

A great white of the same size is believed to have taken a 64-year-old Australian swimmer off Perth city's premier Cottesloe Beach on Oct. 10. The beach is 11 miles (18 kilometers) east of Rottnest Island.

The man's remains were not found, but his shredded swimming trunks suggested the size and type of shark that took him.

The attacks followed the Sept. 4 death of a bodyboarder attacked by a shark described as 15 feet (4.5 meters) long at a beach south of Perth. Witnesses were unsure of the type of shark.

The continent averages little more than one fatal attack a year along an expansive 22,000-mile (35,000-kilometer) coast. But it is a primary home of the fearsome great whites, a large species in which some animals can grow to 20 feet (6 meters) in length.

The film classic "Jaws" famously used a mechanical shark for close-up action, but live shark footage was filmed in Australia. One is a scene in which Richard Dreyfuss is in an underwater shark cage, and live sharks doubled for the movie killer in long-range shots as well.

___

Associated Press writer Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_shark_attack

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Apple TV: Coming in 2012? (The Cutline)

Jobs announces the price of the Apple TV in 2010. (AP)

Before Steve Jobs died, he told Walter Isaacson that he finally figured out how to translate Apple's magic with iPhones, iPods and Macbooks to consumer televisions.

"It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine," Jobs said in Isaacson's just-released biography on the late Apple chief.

Jobs had long admitted that Apple's current TV offering--a small, $99 device that plugs into TVs and streams programming from Netflix--was a "hobby" for the company, because there was no way to get an innovative product to market.

But according to a Bloomberg report, the new, integrated Apple TV that Jobs told Isaacson about could hit the market as early as next year.

Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller declined comment. But Jeff Robbin, the Apple executive behind the iPod and iTunes Store, is "now guiding Apple's internal development of the new TV effort," according to the report.

More from Bloomberg:

Apple has a prototype TV in the works and may introduce a product for sale by late next year or 2013, according to Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray Cos. He based that timing on meetings with contacts close to Apple's suppliers in Asia, industry contacts and Apple's patent portfolio. Munster said Apple also is investing in manufacturing facilities and securing supplies of LCD screens.

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The Therapeutic Value of Pets For The Elderly | Pet Hooligans

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Most people LOVE their pets. They?ve been bringing joy to people?s lives for thousands of years. But for elderly people, pets often play a much more valuable role.

It has been well documented that pets provide an extra set of therapeutic benefits to the elderly population. For example, loneliness is widespread among the elderly and the presence of pets can significantly alleviate this feeling. Ownership of pets can even enhance opportunities for exercise and socialization, which are key elements to a healthy and enriching lifestyle. In addition, pets can decrease blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels. These all contribute to a longer, more enjoyable life.

Pets are truly great for the soul because they offer unconditional love. They offer a real sense of worth and purpose and even provide security and protection to their owners. Studies have revealed that more than 95 percent of the elderly pet owners spent some time each day talking to their pets. The same study found that approximately 82 percent of the elderly felt that owning a pet lifted their spirits when they were sad.

Pets Encourage Exercise and Socialization

Two important components of a vigorously healthy lifestyle include exercise and socialization. Owning a pet can improve both areas for the elderly. Pets provide a reason for the elderly to get up early in the morning for a walk. It is a fact that dog owners spend more time walking than those who do not own pets. Walking outside can deter stress because people with pets are approached more frequently, increasing the odds of making new friends or even finding a new date along the way. This type of social interaction is very important. Being connected to others does wonders for our overall well-being.

They Lower Our Blood Pressure

Believe it or not, but pets control blood pressure more effectively than any medicine. In a famous study involving hypertensive New York stockbrokers, those stockbrokers who were given dogs or cats were found to have significantly lower blood pressure than those who did not get pets. The elderly too can enjoy lower blood pressure with the presence of a pet. Medical research has shown that elderly pet owners have lower cholesterol and blood triglyceride levels than non-pet owners. Elderly pet owners can expect 21 percent fewer visits to the doctor, which is truly remarkable.

Dogs Can Reduce Effects of Alzheimer?s

Alzheimer?s patients can also benefit greatly from pets. Research from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing revealed that dogs can help Alzheimer?s patients obtain relief from sundown syndrome. This syndrome causes restlessness, confusion, and aggressive behavior.

Pet therapy allows the elderly to maintain a vigorously healthy life. Pets can alleviate loneliness and stress while enhancing opportunities for exercise and socialization, which are key to a healthy lifestyle. Pets are more effective than even drugs to keep blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood triglyceride levels in check. Alzheimer patients have been shown to benefit mightily with the presence of pets. So it is not just unconditional love that pets bring into our lives after-all.

Ripley Daniels writes for Without The Stress. The company specializes in nationwide travel document expediting with an emphasis on Same Day Passports, UK Student Visas and other time-sensitive travel documents.

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Fox ad ratchets up dispute with DirecTV (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Hey Trojans, Bruins and Kings fans: "Game over."

That was the banner headline of a full-page ad purchased by News Corp. in the Los Angeles Times sports section on Sunday, warning L.A.-area fans that TV broadcasts of upcoming games could be compromised by subsidiary Fox Networks' ongoing carriage war with former subsidiary DirecTV.

Similar ads in other markets warned fans that they could soon be without televised pro football.

The ad, which urges fans to "Get direct with DirecTV by logging onto KeepMyNets.com or by calling 866-KEEP-MY-NETS," says that Fox broadcast channels could soon go dark, too.

On Thursday, Fox went public with details of an ongoing carriage dispute with DirecTV, announcing that the satellite service has threatened to pull its channels on November 1 if a new contract can't be worked out.

The Fox Networks deal covers not only regional sports cable networks like Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West, but also FX and National Geographic.

A separate deal covering 27 Fox owned-and-operated stations is set to expire on December 31 -- a fact that Fox alluded to Sunday when it said it that Los Angeles viewers could also "soon" lose access to local stations Fox 11 and Fox 13.

Down the road, another affiliate deal covering Fox News Channel is set to expire on January 31.

DirecTV officials -- who are charging subscribers in excess of $80 a month for programing packages -- say News Corp. is seeking carriage-fee increases in excess of 40 percent.

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