Merkel surfs popularity wave before key state vote

STADE, Germany (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn't make rousing speeches, but she had 1,200 supporters wildly cheering her standard sober delivery, fired up about their brightening chances of winning a key regional election on Sunday.

At a campaign rally in the northern town of Stade late on Thursday, Merkel and Lower Saxony state premier David McAllister exhorted an enthusiastic crowd of Christian Democrats (CDU) to ensure a high turnout for the election of the regional assembly, which in turn chooses the state premier.

Merkel's CDU has been battered by the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens in 12 regional elections stretching back to 2009. A come-from-behind win in Lower Saxony would end that losing streak and give the chancellor a timely lift for her own re-election hopes in September.

"We're all excited about the outcome on Sunday," said Merkel, who is seeking a third term against the SPD, which is on the ropes thanks to blunders by Peer Steinbrueck, its candidate for Merkel's job.

"And it's not only the people of Lower Saxony who are interested in this election. It's a pivotal election. So get out and talk to your friends and neighbors and tell them how important this is," she added.

SWING STATE

Lower Saxony, an industrial and farming heartland and Germany's fourth most populous state, can go either way; both the center-left and center-right have taken turns running the vast region bordering the Netherlands and North Sea.

If the CDU can hold power in Lower Saxony for a third straight term on Sunday, it would send a powerful signal across Germany and galvanize Merkel supporters.

It would also prevent the opposition from getting a blocking majority in the Bundesrat upper house, where the 16 federal states are represented, which could make life difficult for Merkel's center-right coalition.

That explains why Merkel, who has become one of Germany's most popular leaders for her handling of the euro zone debt crisis, has invested so much time in Lower Saxony. Her campaign stop in Stade was her seventh in the last two weeks.

An opinion poll in Lower Saxony on Thursday showed a dead heat at 46-percent for both sides. The CDU were on 41 percent and their Free Democrat (FDP) allies 5 percent. The SPD were at 33 percent and their Greens allies at 13 percent.

Just six months ago, the SPD were in front with 36 percent and the Greens had 13, while the CDU appeared doomed at 32 percent, with their FDP coalition partners on 4 percent - below the 5 percent threshold needed to win seats.

"Our numbers are rising, and their numbers are going down," said McAllister, 42, a gifted speaker and rising star in the CDU whose Scottish father came to West Germany as a soldier.

"It's like we've caught up with them on the motorway in their car painted in their red and green colors," said the man seen as a potential successor to Merkel.

"We look over and see them sitting nervously in their car. They're nervous because they were arrogant and thought they already had this election in the bag," said McAllister.

The SPD's gaffe-prone Steinbrueck has kept a low profile in Lower Saxony after becoming a liability for the party's local candidate Stefan Weil. By contrast, Merkel is a major attraction for voters at rallies like the one here in Stade, a prosperous town of 46,000, about 45 km west of Hamburg.

"OUR 'IRON LADY'"

German voters seem to genuinely like 58-year-old Merkel's cautious style of leadership and speech, in contrast with the bluntness that has got Steinbrueck in trouble.

"She's tough, she's strong, she gets the job done, and she doesn't waver," said Ute Claus, 52, a lawyer who watched Merkel and McAllister win over the crowd. "She's our 'Iron Lady'. Her speech was first class, and McAllister was out of this world."

Ruben Korff, 30, said he had no problem with Merkel's understated campaign style.

"She's a super chancellor because she manages every crisis well," the student said. "You can't say that about her rival. It doesn't bother me that she's vague. It's better to be cautious than promise too much and not deliver."

Long lines of supporters and curious locals waited in line for up to an hour in sub-zero temperatures to see Merkel and McAllister at the rally in Stade, where 3,000 people applied for 1,200 tickets.

"Things weren't looking so good a few months ago," said Heinz-Klaus Gerken, 67, a retired teacher. "Steinbrueck keeps shooting himself in the foot, and Merkel's popularity has helped. McAllister has also distanced himself from Christian Wulff."

Wulff, Germany's disgraced ex president, led the CDU to two wins in Lower Saxony in 2003 and 2008 before Merkel picked the then-popular state premier to run for president in 2010. Wulff was forced to resign a year later over financial irregularities.

Thorsten Matties, a 43-year-old salesman who called himself a swing voter, said he was leaning towards the CDU because "things are going pretty well" in Germany at the moment.

"Merkel's a fascinating person," he said. "She's stayed tough during the financial crisis, and she's one of the few people who never loses her cool, even when things get hectic. I like the way she stays so calm all the time." (Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Stephen Brown and Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-surfs-popularity-wave-key-state-vote-111103473.html

rajon rondo sunoco titanic ii babe ruth new jersey nets nba playoff schedule rondo

Amateur Australian prospector finds massive gold nugget

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An amateur Australian prospector who hadn't had much luck searching for gold has struck it rich, unearthing a nugget heavier than a newborn baby and worth more than $300,000.

The anonymous prospector discovered the 5.5 kg (177 ounce) nugget near the country town of Ballarat and in an area known as the "Golden Triangle" due to its rich veins which sparked a gold rush in the 1850s.

The find came to light on Wednesday when the man walked into the Ballarat Mining Exchange Gold Shop and told owner Cordell Kent: "Mate, I found a good one". He then revealed the nugget, adding that he had weighed it on the bathroom scales at home.

"It's a substantial nugget," Kent told Reuters.

The Y-shaped nugget, 22 centimetres (8.7 inches) long and 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) wide, was found by the prospector using an Australian-made gold detector.

"The intrinsic gold value is about A$286,000 ($301,100), but because it's a natural raw specimen and they're extremely rare it's got a value far in excess of that," Kent said.

The southern state of Victoria's "Golden Triangle" is known for large nuggets, such as the massive 27.21 kg (60 lb) "The Hand of Fate" nugget, which is now housed in a Las Vegas casino.

Kent said the find was likely to create a new, mini gold rush. "It's given a lot of prospectors great hope that there still are great pieces out there," said Kent.

(Reporting by Pauline Askin, editing by Elaine Lies)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amateur-australian-prospector-finds-massive-gold-nugget-064151366.html

Telemundo real housewives of beverly hills Pink Floyd 12 12 12 Concert miley cyrus miley cyrus amazing race

French Montana Gifts Birdman A Very 'Special' 'Shout Out'

'Special things happen at special moments,' French tells MTV News of their newest single and upcoming video.
By Rob Markman

Birdman on the set of "Shout Out"
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698141/birdman-french-montana-gudda-gudda-shout-out-set-visit.jhtml

university of kansas buckeye west side story final four 2012 bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner

You Can Buy Cheap Auto Insurance Too! | Automotive News

Too often are drivers overpaying for automobile insurance. One reason for this is that drivers simply are not educated about ways to save money on coverage. There are specific ways you can get cheap car insurance. Inexpensive insurance provides sufficient coverage without high premiums.

Avoid Purchasing Excess Coverage

Too often, drivers end up paying for coverage they do not need or cannot use. This can happen when you have to purchase comprehensive coverage because your car is financed. If you do not let your insurer know you have repaid the loan, you will continue paying for comprehensive coverage even if you no longer require it. In conclusion, although not everyone should buy minimum coverage, you also shouldn?t get too much coverage.

Drive Safely at All Times

Keep in mind that safer drivers always get the best rates. The drivers who get the very best rates will be the ones who have been driving safely 2 or more decades. One of the first things an insurance company looks at when setting rates is your driving record. The longer you are able to go without accidents or driving violations, the better rates you can get. Some insurers offer annual reductions on premiums for safe drivers. Drivers who complete an approved defensive driving course can also get lower rates.

Own a New Domestic Car

New cars tend to get better rates because they have specific safety features that insurance companies prefer. These include anti-lock brakes, airbags, and automatic seatbelts. One easy way to get lower insurance rates is to install security measures on your vehicle. It usually costs less to repair new domestic cars because parts are readily available and technicians have the skill sets needed to work on these vehicles.

Maintain Good Credit

Drivers often do not realize the role their credit history plays in getting decent insurance rates. Insurance companies often include credit scores in rate calculations. The underlying assumption is that customers who have good credit scores pose less risk for the insurance company. This is not necessarily true, but there is little you can do about it. It is likely that in order to get a better rate you would have to raise your credit score.

Qualify for Discounts

Another way to get cheap car insurance is to qualify for as many discounts as possible. These discounts range from multiple-policy to loyalty discounts and everything in between. The more discounts you are eligible to receive, the better chance you have of getting cheap car insurance.

This entry was posted on November 30, 2012, 10:31 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://www.masteralfadesir.com/you-can-buy-cheap-auto-insurance-too.html

rupaul meet the press steelers vs broncos chris herren jay z patsy cline pierre thomas

Atari celebrates 40 years of Pong with new, free iOS Pong game, custom portable Xbox 360

Atari's celebrating 40 years of arcade classic Pong today by releasing ... another version of Pong. Pong World is being dubbed "the first-ever official new Pong game on iOS" (despite our search of the App Store dictating the contrary), but more importantly, it's totally free and it's already available on the iOS App Store (see gameplay below the break). The iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch game started life as one of many entries in Atari's "Pong Indie Developer Challenge," which pitted devs against each other for $50K and lead representation on the big four-zero celebration.

Should the free game not be enough for you, you could always vie for one of the crazy sweet portable Xbox 360s (seen above) on Atari's Facebook page. Why yes, that is a custom LCD screen attached to a modded Xbox 360, which also happens to resemble a classic Atari console. And yes, we agree, it is totally sweet.

Continue reading Atari celebrates 40 years of Pong with new, free iOS Pong game, custom portable Xbox 360

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Software, Mobile, Microsoft

Comments

Source: iOS App Store, Facebook

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/VeVh2I8-MoE/

arkansas razorbacks trisomy 18 ozzie guillen ozzie guillen buster posey eric holder eric holder

Soroptimist Christmas Parade, Dec. 1

Soroptimist Christmas Parade, Dec. 1

Soroptimist International of Parker is presenting their 32nd annual ?Kids and Christmas? program Saturday, Dec. 1. The event features the fifth annual ?Parade of Lights,? which starts at 6 p.m. The parade will follow Joshua Avenue, starting from 18th Street. The parade will end at the Parker Community/Senior Center at 12th Street and Laguna Avenue. Parade entry forms can be picked up at the Parker Area Chamber of Commerce.

Santa Claus will be on hand at the senior center immediately after the parade to meet with local children. Youngsters can have their picture taken with Santa.

There will also be treats for children, a DJ spinning holiday classics and a bake sale and See?s Candy sale from the Soroptimists.

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of parkerpioneer.net.

Source: http://www.parkerpioneer.net/articles/2012/11/28/news/doc50b573b0b9c04149189272.txt

Olympics Opening Ceremony abc paris jackson paris jackson Katherine Jackson Olympics Opening Ceremony Time US weekly

Chinese AIDS patients fight hospital rejections

BEIJING (AP) ? Wang Pinghe wants the tumor in his liver removed before it becomes life-threatening. But the 28-year-old Chinese villager knows it will be hard to find a hospital that will do the operation ? because he has AIDS.

In China, hospitals routinely reject people with HIV for surgery out of fear of exposure to the virus or harm to their reputations. After years of denying AIDS was a problem in China, the country has significantly improved care for patients, but the lingering stigma sets back those advances.

"In my hometown, not a single hospital is willing to operate on people infected with HIV," said Wang, who traveled to Beijing from Runan county in the central province of Henan to try to draw the attention of central authorities to the issue by speaking to the foreign media.

"This is not discrimination by one single person but by an entire country," he told The Associated Press.

The stigma against people with HIV runs especially deep in China, from being unofficially barred from government jobs to being expelled from school.

Now, as more people rail against the myriad inequalities that plague Chinese society, people with HIV are becoming increasingly willing to assert their right to fair treatment.

One man recently claimed the spotlight by altering his medical records to hide his HIV-positive condition so he could get surgery for lung cancer. The man, who went by the pseudonym Xiaofeng, told state media he had been turned away by two hospitals.

His story sparked a firestorm of criticism directed at both the hospitals for rejecting him and the patient for exposing medical staff to risks they were not aware of.

"Xiaofeng was smart. When he felt that his life was in danger, he found a way to save himself," said Li Hu, a Tianjin-based activist who helped Xiaofeng and later publicized the case online. "But this way isn't good for anyone, be it the patient or medical workers. Now the question is: Can we find a way that is favorable for everyone?"

The incoming premier, Li Keqiang, was prompted to issue a statement saying that health facilities must not discriminate against people with HIV. During a meeting Monday with a dozen activist groups, he said such discrimination would be severely punished, according to Li Hu.

The disease is a sensitive issue for Li Keqiang, who was governor of Henan province in 1998 when tens of thousands of people contracted HIV from state-sponsored blood-buying rings with unhygienic practices. Activists have urged Li to acknowledge the government's responsibility for the disaster and provide compensation, with little success.

China has made significant strides in tackling the epidemic, with the AIDS mortality rate falling 64 percent from 2002 to last year. The government last year increased HIV treatment by 50 percent ? reaching three-quarters of the adults and children who require it, according UNAIDS.

An estimated 780,000 people have HIV in China. There has been an increasing trend of cases transmitted through sex rather than intravenously, with sex workers and gay men considered most at risk, said Guy Taylor, a communications officer for UNAIDS.

About 70,000 new cases were reported in the first 10 months of this year, largely through sexual transmission, as compared with about 93,000 for all of last year, the Health Ministry announced this week at a news conference ahead of World AIDS Day on Saturday.

With improved access to lifesaving drugs, people with HIV in China are living longer, which means more are seeking treatment for other ailments.

Chinese law bars medical facilities from refusing to treat people with HIV, but activists say discrimination continues because the law spells out no serious punishments. Many patients cannot afford the time and expense of taking hospitals to court.

In interviews with patients, their spouses and activists, The Associated Press found a half-dozen cases of people with HIV being turned away by doctors as soon as they declared their HIV-positive status or it turned up in routine pre-operation tests.

In Henan province, a county hospital refused to operate on wheat farmer Zhu Weidong's 45-year-old wife, who had cervical cancer. Zhu, who spoke on condition that his wife remain anonymous, said he had to take her to the provincial capital. Including travel and other expenses, the procedure cost 40,000 yuan ($6,500) ? a third more than at a local facility ? which Zhu had to borrow from relatives and friends.

Similarly, a 31-year-old civil servant in the central city of Chongqing said his doctor recommended a liver biopsy after he reported severe lower back pain, but declined to carry it out once he tested positive for the virus. The man ? who would only give his nickname, Xiaobai, out of concern he might lose his job ? said it was a year later when he finally was able to get a biopsy in Shanghai, and it showed he had lost half his liver function.

"I can't help but wonder if I could have found out a year ago and saved more of my liver," he said. "I worry about what I would do if one day I needed dialysis. What if I need a liver transplant?"

The China Alliance of People Living with HIV/AIDS, a Beijing-based network, said that a survey last year found dozens of patients being turned away by facilities throughout the country ? in some cases even leading to deaths.

"I feel that if a doctor refuses to treat a patient who is HIV positive, it is a crime akin to murder," said the group's coordinator, Meng Lin, who recounted being denied a CT scan by a Beijing doctor in September, after he told him he had AIDS.

Dr. Wu Zunyou, who leads the government's HIV/AIDS center, said he believes attitudes will change. He said Chinese health workers report about 700 cases of accidental contact with the every year and none have resulted in infections. He welcomed the public debate the Tianjin case triggered.

"The debate causes medical workers to think about the issue and health facilities to improve their management, so there should be fewer chances for such things to happen in the future," Wu said.

___

Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gillianwong

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-aids-patients-fight-hospital-rejections-072254392.html

Andy Griffith joe johnson scientology Wimbledon 2012 TV Schedule anderson cooper fourth of july Jason Terry