Boehner pins responsibility for avoiding ‘fiscal cliff’ on Obama, Senate Democrats

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) sought to shift responsibility Friday to President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate to reach an agreement to avert a series of spending cuts and tax hikes after his fellow Republicans delivered a stunning rebuke to Boehner’s own plan to raise taxes on those making more than $1 million.

In a Friday morning news conference about 14 hours after he abruptly canceled a vote on his proposal, known as “Plan B,” Boehner vowed to continue negotiating with the White House to avert the “fiscal cliff.” He said his plan failed because many of his fellow Republicans simply did not want to be perceived to be raising any taxes.

Boehner said he continues to favor a grand bargain with the president that would set the stage for a dramatic overhaul of the tax code and significant changes in federal entitlement programs.

“How we get there, God only knows,” he said.

But Boehner noted that the House has already passed a bill embodying the Republican position that all Americans should be spared a tax increase in January. He said it was now the Senate’s turn to act.

“I don’t want taxes to go up, Republicans don’t want taxes to go up,” Boehner said. “But we only run the House. Democrats continue to run Washington.”

The speaker stood before microphones Friday with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), a sign that the House GOP leadership team remains intact and united behind reaching a deal.

Asked whether he should be concerned about his leadership of the House, Boehner flatly insisted: “No.”

“I’ve told my colleagues, if you do the right things every day for the right reasons, the right things will happen,” Boehner said. “And while we might not have been able to get the votes last night to avert 99.81 percent of the tax increases, I don’t think — they weren’t taking that out on me. They were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes.”

Boehner also made clear that they will call back their colleagues with 48 hours notice if a deal is imminent.

“We’re prepared to come back if needed,” he said.

Before Boehner spoke, U.S. stock prices declined sharply Friday morning, reflecting concerns that the failure of Boehner’s plan has thrown efforts to avoid the year-end “fiscal cliff” into doubt.

After 15 minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 116 points, or 0.9 percent, to 13,195, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 14.68, or 1 percent, to 1,429.

Many investors have been expecting a timely resolution of the fiscal cliff, and markets could be highly volatile as the Jan. 1 deadline approaches. Foreign market also declined overnight, with European shares down about 0.75 percent and Japanese stocks falling 1 percent.

Boehner abruptly shuttered the House for the holidays Thursday night after failing to win support from his fellow Republicans for his proposal. Plan B — Boehner’s alternative to negotiating a broader package with Obama — would have protected the vast majority of Americans from significant tax increases set to take effect automatically next year. But because it also would have permitted tax rates to rise for a few hundred thousand wealthy families, conservatives balked, leaving Boehner humiliated and his negotiating power immeasurably weakened.

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Obama vows action after online guns petitions

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Friday vowed to take action to stop gun violence in response to online petitions signed by more than 400,000 people after last week's elementary school massacre.

"In the days since the heartbreaking tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, hundreds of thousands of you, from all 50 states, signed petitions asking us to take serious steps to address the epidemic of gun violence in this country," Obama said in an online video. "We hear you."

Obama has called on Congress to pass legislation banning military-style assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition clips. It would also close loopholes that allow people to purchase guns without background checks.

He has also appointed Vice President Joe Biden to head a task force to explore ways to prevent mass shootings, including by improving access to mental health care, and addressing depictions of violence in popular culture.

"I will do everything in my power as president to advance these efforts, because if there's even one thing we can do as a country to protect our children, we have a responsibility to try," Obama said in the video.

"But as I said earlier this week I can't do it alone. I need your help."

Obama called on ordinary citizens, law enforcement officials and gun owners to campaign publicly and petition Congress in support of his reforms.

Last Friday's massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School - the latest in a series of mass shootings over the past two years - has galvanised support for reforms aimed at stemming gun violence.

More than 400,000 people have signed "We the People" petitions on the White House's website calling for action on gun violence, making it one of the most popular issues since the launch of the site, a White House official said.

One such petition set the record for being the fastest ever to reach 25,000 signatures, the official said.

- AFP/il

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Will continue to oppose promotion quota bill: Mulayam Singh Yadav

LUCKNOW: Justifying the ruckus created by the Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs when constitutional amendment bill providing scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST) reservation in promotions in government jobs was tabled in the Lok Sabha, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said that his party will not allow passage of the bill, even if its MPs are disqualified or it leads to fall of the government. The SP, he said, will go to any extent to prevent the 'unconstitutional' bill from being enacted. Mulayam, however, did not specify when and under what conditions, the SP will withdraw support to the Central government on the issue.

Addressing a gathering at Safai mahotsav in his how town Etawah, Mulayam said that SP had only eight members in the Rajya Sabha but the opposed the bill with all its might. Similarly, he added, the strength of the SP MPs in Lok Sabha is small in comparison to national parties but party will continue to protest against the bill which not violates the spirit of equality enshrined in the constitution but will affect over 80% of the people in India. It will make a senior junior to his/her subordinate staff. He said that because of SP's opposition, the Lok Sabha could not pass the bill. He also said that SP is getting huge support of the people on the issue from across the country. "It could be gauged from the fact that wherever I go, including places (upper caste dominated) where people earlier used to raise slogan Mulayam Singh 'murdabad' (condemnation), now chant Mulayam Singh 'zindabad' (long live)," the SP chief said amid thunderous applause.

On December 19, the SP MPs had snatched the papers from union personnel minister V Narayanasamy's hands when the Congress led UPA government decided to initiate the discussion on quota bill in Lok Sabha. It led to unruly scenes with the SP and the Congress members coming to blows, following which the Lok Sabha was adjourned. Again, on December 20, the House was adjourned due to ruckus created by the SP members. Since it was the last day of the winter session, the bill will now be taken up in budget session. The Rajya Sabha has passed the bill. It will come into effect after being passed by the Lok Sabha. The bill is being opposed by government employees, barring SC/ST, in some states. The bill has been brought under the pressure of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which wants to consolidate its position among dalits, whereas the SP is opposing the bill eying votes of upper castes, backward classes and minorities.

On Saturday last, Mulayam had warned the Congress led UPA government not to take him for granted. Describing the bill as anti-national, the Yadav satrap had then also said that his party would review its stand of 'outside support' to the UPA 2, if bill is pushed in the parliament, overlooking SP's opposition. On Thursday, he said that the proposed legislation will create a permanent rift in the society and divide the country. For just 22% people, rest of the population including upper castes, backwards and minorities will suffer immensely, he warned. Mulayam also pointed out the reservation in promotions will demotivate other classes, who will also lose the charm of government services, leading to long term irreversible adverse impact. He also said that even if the quota bill is passed, final verdict on the issue will be given by the people of the country in the next Lok Sabha elections. The bill is being supported by most of the political parties.

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Winter Solstice 2012: Facts on the Shortest Day of the Year

Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's all due to Earth's tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21.

Some predicted that today would also mark Earth's doomsday, thanks to a longstanding rumor that the Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012. But earlier this year, National Geographic grantee William Saturno found evidence that the Maya calculated dates thousands of years past 2012.

"We keep looking for endings," Saturno said in a statement. "The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It's an entirely different mindset."

(Read more about the Maya apocalypse myth.)

Even without an apocalypse, the solstice has been an auspicious day since ancient times. Countless cultural and religious traditions mark the winter solstice; it's no coincidence that so many holidays surround the first day of winter.

Solstice in Space: Astronomy of the First Day of Winter

During the winter solstice the sun hugs closer to the horizon than at any other time during the year, yielding the least amount of daylight annually. On the bright side, the day after the winter solstice marks the beginning of lengthening days leading up to the summer solstice.

"Solstice" is derived from the Latin phrase for "sun stands still." That's because—after months of growing shorter and lower since the summer solstice—the sun's arc through the sky appears to stabilize, with the sun seeming to rise and set in the same two places for several days. Then the arc begins growing longer and higher in the sky, reaching its peak at the summer solstice.

(Related sun pictures: See a full year in a single frame.)

The solstices occur twice a year (around December 21 and June 21) because Earth is tilted by an average of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the sun—the same phenomenon that drives the seasons.

During the warmer half of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun. The northern winter solstice occurs when the "top" half of Earth is tilted away from the sun at its most extreme angle of the year.

Being the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice is essentially the year's darkest day, but it's not the coldest. Because the oceans are slow to heat and cool, in December the seas still retain some warmth from summer, delaying the coldest of winter days for another month and a half. Similarly, summer doesn't hit its heat peak until August, a month or two after the summer solstice.

Winter Solstice Marked Since Ancient Times

Throughout history, humans have celebrated the winter solstice, often with an appreciative eye toward the return of summer sunlight.

Massive prehistoric monuments such as Ireland's mysterious Newgrange tomb (video) are aligned to capture the light at the moment of the winter solstice sunrise.

Germanic peoples of Northern Europe honored the winter solstice with Yule festivals—the origin of the still-standing tradition of the long-burning Yule log.

The Roman feast of Saturnalia, honoring the God Saturn, was a weeklong December feast that included the observance of the winter solstice. Romans also celebrated the lengthening of days following the solstice by paying homage to Mithra, an ancient Persian god of light.

Many modern pagans attempt to observe the winter solstice in the traditional manner of the ancients.

"There is a resurgent interest in more traditional religious groups that is often driven by ecological motives," said Harry Yeide, a professor of religion at George Washington University. "These people do celebrate the solstice itself."

(Related: Get Stonehenge facts and pictures in National Geographic magazine.)

Pagans aren't alone in commemorating the winter solstice in modern times.

In a number of U.S. cities a Watertown, Massachusetts-based production called The Christmas Revels honors the winter solstice with an annually changing lineup of traditional music and dance from around the world.

"Nearly every northern culture has some sort of individual way of celebrating that shortest day," said Revels artistic director Patrick Swanson. "It's a lot of fun for us to dig up the traditional dance and music and even the plays [honoring] that time of the year."

Of course, as the name suggests, The Christmas Revels mix ancient winter solstice traditions with customs of the holiday that largely replaced winter solstice celebrations across much of the Northern Hemisphere: Christmas.

Winter Solstice's Christmas Connection

Scholars aren't exactly sure of the date of Jesus Christ's birthday, the first Christmas.

"In the early years of the Christian church, the calendar was centered around Easter," George Washington University's Yeide said. "Nobody knows exactly where and when they began to think it suitable to celebrate Christ's birth as well as the Passion cycle"—the Crucifixion and resurrection depicted in the Bible. (Related: "Christmas Star Mystery Continues.")

Eastern churches traditionally celebrate Christmas on January 6, a date known as Epiphany in the West. The winter date may have originally been chosen on the basis that Christ's conception and Crucifixion would have fallen during the same season—and a spring conception would have resulted in a winter birth.

But Christmas soon became commingled with traditional observances of the first day of winter.

"As the Christmas celebration moved west," Yeide said "the date that had traditionally been used to celebrate the winter solstice became sort of available for conversion to the observance of Christmas. In the Western church the December date became the date for Christmas."

Early church leaders endeavored to attract pagans to Christianity by adding Christian meaning to existing winter solstice festivals.

"This gave rise to an interesting play on words," Yeide said. "In several languages, not just in English, people have traditionally compared the rebirth of the sun with the birth of the son of God."

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1 Week Later: Moment of Silence at Sandy Hook

Incessant rain and a dreary morning failed to keep onlookers away from a moment-of-silence memorial in Newtown, Conn., to pay their respects to the 26 people who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Officials scheduled the event to recognize victims of the massacre that began at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 14, when gunman Adam Lanza shot his way into Sandy Hook elementary and launched a shooting spree at the school, taking 26 lives, including 20 children, and then his own.

FULL COVERAGE: Newtown, Conn., Elementary School Shooting

Tents and plastic were used to protect the stuffed animals, candles, notes and pictures that mourners have set up in the town. Flags in Newtown, Conn., which encompasses the village of Sandy Hook, are flying at half-staff.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and Newtown First Selectman Patricia Llodra, together with other local elected officials, convened on the steps of Edmond Town Hall in Newtown for the moment of silence.

Sandy Hook Victims to Be Remembered in Moment of Silence Watch Video

Newtown Buries First School Shooting Victims Watch Video

They congregated on the steps at 9:28 a.m., with the moment of silence beginning at 9:30 a.m.

President Obama also took part in the moment of silence at the White House. The White House tweeted this morning, "20 beautiful children & 6 remarkable adults. Together, we will carry on & make our country worthy of their memory. -bo #MomentForSandyHook." The "-bo" signature means the tweet was sent by the President himself.

Bells from nearby Trinity Episcopal Church rang 26 times this morning in memory of each life lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School, as did the bells at the National Cathedral in Washington.

No formal remarks were made during the memorial.

Interested in How to Help Newtown Families?

Malloy has proclaimed today a "day of mourning" in Connecticut, asking residents statewide to participate in the moment of silence. He also wrote the nation's governors, inviting each state in the country to participate in the reflection on this day.

On the Web, a movement sprung up to make sites automatically "go silent" at 9:30. Easy-to-install javascript code was included so those who wanted their site to go silent could easily do so.

Lanza, 20, fatally shot his mother last Friday and then entered Sandy Hook elementary by shooting his way through a window to gain entry. From there, he gunned down and killed 26 people, including 20 children.

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Third quarter US growth revised up to 3.1%

WASHINGTON: The US economy grew 3.1 percent in the third quarter, faster than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Gross domestic product growth in the July-September period was revised upward from prior estimates of 2.7 percent and 2.0 percent, the department said.

The higher figure reflects upward revisions to consumer spending, exports and government outlays, and downward revision to imports.

In the second quarter, real GDP increased 1.3 percent.

The Commerce Department said the revision "has not greatly changed the general picture of the economy for the third quarter except that personal consumption expenditures is now showing a modest pickup, and imports is now showing a downturn."

- AFP

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Pak for permanent solution of Kashmir issue: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants a "sustained and result-oriented" engagement with India to find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue that could usher in peace and stability in the region, President Asif Ali Zardari told a visiting Hurriyat delegation today.

"Pakistan firmly believes in a meaningful, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India that could lead to a permanent solution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with aspirations of its people," Zardari said during a meeting with the leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Karachi.

Finding an "amicable and just solution" to all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, is "important for Pakistan and India to ensure lasting peace, stability and development in the region", Zardari said.

Zardari has been camping in Karachi to oversee preparations by the ruling Pakistan People's Party to mark the upcoming death anniversary of former premier Benazir Bhutto and the Hurriyat delegation led by Miwaiz Umar Farooq travelled to the southern port city after a series of meetings with top political leaders in Islamabad.

During the meeting, Zardari reiterated Pakistan's resolve to "continue extending all political, moral and diplomatic support" to Kashmiris' demand for their "legitimate right".

Zardari recalled his meeting with Farooq on sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York in September and termed Pakistan's engagement with Hurriyat as a positive development.

He urged the world community to "focus its attention towards the troubles of Kashmiri people".

Zardari's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is expected to lead PPP's campaign for next general election, was present during the meeting, also attended by Kashmir Affairs Minister Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani.

Late last night, the Hurriyat delegation called on Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who assured the separatist leaders of "Pakistan's unflinching and unwavering support to the Kashmir cause", said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Khar said there was "complete unanimity in Pakistan on the Kashmir issue" and the country remains committed to a just and peaceful resolution of the issue in accordance with UN resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiris.

"Pakistan had always emphasised that the Kashmiris should be associated with the dialogue process," she said.

The Hurriyat delegation has said its interactions in Pakistan are aimed at finding ways to boost the dialogue on the Kashmir issue. Farooq has insisted that the Kashmiris should be included in the dialogue between India and Pakistan.

During the meeting with Khar last night, the Hurriyat team expressed its support for the India-Pakistan dialogue process and stressed the need for involving Kashmiris in it.

Hurriyat leaders suggested some new proposals for cross-Line of Control CBMs.

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Detecting Rabid Bats Before They Bite

A picture is worth a thousand words—or in the case of bats, a rabies diagnosis. A new study reveals that rabid bats have cooler faces compared to uninfected colony-mates. And researchers are hopeful that thermal scans of bat faces could improve rabies surveillance in wild colonies, preventing outbreaks that introduce infections into other animals—including humans.

Bats are a major reservoir for the rabies virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Previous research shows that bats can transmit their strains to other animals, potentially putting people at risk. (Popular Videos: Bats share the screen with creepy co-stars.)

Rabies, typically transmitted in saliva, targets the brain and is almost always fatal in animals and people if left untreated. No current tests detect rabies in live animals—only brain tissue analysis is accurate.

Searching for a way to detect the virus in bats before the animals died, rabies specialist James Ellison and his colleagues at the CDC turned to a captive colony of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). Previous studies had found temperature increases in the noses of rabid raccoons, so the team expected to see similar results with bats.

Researchers established normal temperature ranges for E. fuscus—the bat species most commonly sent for rabies testing—then injected 24 individuals with the virus. The 21-day study monitored facial temperatures with infrared cameras, and 13 of the 21 bats that developed rabies showed temperature drops of more than 4ºC.

"I was surprised to find the bats' faces were cooler because rabies causes inflammation—and that creates heat," said Ellison. "No one has done this before with bats," he added, and so researchers aren't sure what's causing the temperature changes they've discovered in the mammals. (Related: "Bats Have Superfast Muscles—A Mammal First.")

Although thermal scans didn't catch every instance of rabies in the colony, this method may be a way to detect the virus in bats before symptoms appear. The team plans to fine-tune their measurements of facial temperatures, and then Ellison hopes to try surveillance in the field.

This study was published online November 9 in Zoonoses and Public Health.

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Schools Threatened Nationwide After Sandy Hook

Schools across the country, already on edge following last week's massacre of 20 students and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school have been further unnerved following a series of copycat threats, sometimes yielding arrests and caches of deadly weapons.

From California to Connecticut, police in the past five days have arrested more than a dozen individuals in Indiana, South Carolina, Maryland and elsewhere who were plotting or threatening to attack schools.

"After high-profile incidents like the shootings at Columbine and Sandy Hook, threats go off the wall. Some of those threats turn out to be unfounded, but sometimes those incidents propel people planning legitimate threats," Ken Trump, a national school safety consultant, told ABCNews.com.

CLICK HERE FOR AN INTERACTIVE MAP AND TIMELINE OF THE SANDY HOOK SHOOTING.

Many of these incidents turned out to be little more than young people acting out or seeking attention, but in some cases police found significant stockpiles of firearms and ammunition.

Just a few hours after the world learned what happened inside the halls at the Sandy Hook elementary school, police arrested a 60-year-old Indiana man who had allegedly threatened to "kill as many people as he could before police stopped him," according to the police report, at an elementary school in Cedar Lake, Ind.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Indiana School Shooting Threat: Parents Not Notified Watch Video

Tennessee Teen Arrested Over School Shooting Threat Watch Video

Maryland Student Hospitalized for Alleged Threat Watch Video

When Von Meyer was arrested, just 1,000 feet from Jane Ball Elementary School, police confiscated from his home $100,000 worth of guns and ammunition including 47 weapons.

The school was placed on lockdown.

Meyer's case was taken by the Lake County public defender's office, but an attorney has not yet been assigned. He has been charged with seven crimes, including felonious intimidation, and an automatic "not guilty" plea was made on his behalf at a hearing on Tuesday.

Many of the suspects arrested in the wake of the Connecticut shooting were themselves school students – teenagers or young adults.

On Wednesday, in Laurel, Md., an unidentified student at Laurel High School was taken to the hospital and placed under psychiatric evaluation after school security officials found maps of the school and lists of students they believed he planned to kill.

Authorities called the evidence a "credible threat." The student, however, was not arrested or charged with a crime.

In Columbia, Tenn., police arrested Shawn Lenz, 19, who on Saturday posted to Facebook that he felt like "goin on a rampage, kinda like the school shooting were that one guy killed some teachers and a bunch of students."

He later told police that "it was stupid" to have written what he did. Lenz was arraigned Tuesday on terrorism and harassment charges and was appointed a public defender. He did not enter a plea.

A Tampa, Fla., school was put on lockdown two days in a row, Tuesday and Wednesday, after students found bullets on a school bus. Police there have made no arrests.

Despite the rash of recent threats, anecdotal data compiled by Trump's National School Safety and Security Services and analyzed by Scripps Howard found that there were approximately 120 known but thwarted plots against schools between 2000 and 2010. The list is not comprehensive and many incidents likely went unreported.

Fifty-five of those known threats -- all thwarted -- involved guns and 22 of them involved explosive devices, according to the Scripps Howard report.

"We're getting better at preventing these situations," Trump told ABC News.com.

But in that same time there were about 50 lethal school shootings, including the killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech.

"While shootings statistically may be rare, they impact a community and these kids forever," said Trump.

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US Vice President Joe Biden to head panel on gun violence

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Wednesday will appoint Vice President Joe Biden to head a government panel to formulate a response to gun violence after last week's school massacre, US media reported.

The New York Times and the Washington Post cited White House officials as saying that Obama would formally name Biden to head the panel at a press conference later Wednesday morning.

The panel will explore possible new gun legislation to rein in the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, but will also look at mental health policies and violence in popular culture.

Obama vowed to take action against gun violence when he spoke at a memorial on Sunday for the 26 victims - including 20 young children - killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

On Tuesday Obama backed a new bid to revive an assault weapons ban and other new gun laws, as traumatized US politicians wrestled with the aftermath of the worst in a series of mass shootings over the last two years.

The massacre shocked the country, and may have shifted the political debate on firearms in US society after years of gun lobby ascendancy.

- AFP/de

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