FOXNews.com: 'STEALTH GAS TAX?' EPA Ups Biofuel Estimate Despite Court Ruling

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'STEALTH GAS TAX?' EPA Ups Biofuel Estimate Despite Court Ruling Feb 1st 2013, 05:42 Days after a federal appeals court said the Obama administration is setting overly optimistic production quotas for the struggling biofuels industry, the government issued new standards Thursday that raise production estimates for 2013. New standards announced by the Environmental Protection Agency require production of 14 million gallons of so-called cellulosic biofuels made from grasses and woody material. That's up from an 8.7 million-gallon requirement in 2012 -- when actual production was near zero. An oil industry representative said the Obama administration was thumbing its nose at a ruling last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The court threw out the 2012 mandate for cellulosic biofuels, saying it was based on wishful thinking rather than accurate estimates for an industry the Obama administration wants to encourage. Administration officials have said that increased use of biofuels could lower greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, as well as lower U.S. dependence on foreign fuel. "The court recognized the absurdity of fining companies for failing to use a nonexistent biofuel," said Bob Greco, director of downstream operations for the American Petroleum Institute, the principal lobbying group for the oil and gas industry. Greco said he was astonished that EPA would nearly double the mandate for biofuel in 2013. "EPA needs a serious reality check," he said, calling the mandate a "stealth tax on gasoline" and an "egregious example of bad public policy." EPA spokeswoman Julia Valentine said the agency believes the proposed standards "are a reasonable representation of expected production" of biofuels this year. "This projection reflects EPA's current estimate of what will actually happen in 2013," she said, adding that EPA will consider public comments before setting the final cellulosic standard. The biofuels mandate is part of a 2007 renewable fuels law that requires a certain amount of ethanol and other renewable fuels to be mixed in with gasoline each year. Despite annual EPA projections for millions of gallon of biofuels made from switchgrass, corn husks or wood pulp, little production has materialized. According to final EPA estimates, no cellulosic fuel was produced in 2010 or 2011. Only about 25,000 gallons was produced last year. Despite that track record, a spokesman for the renewable fuel industry called the 2013 mandate realistic, citing recent breakthroughs in which several long-delayed biofuel projects have come online. Two companies, in Mississippi and Florida, have recently begun production of cellulosic biofuel, and dozens more are moving forward, including plants under construction in Iowa, Kansas and Michigan, said Bob Dineen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association. Dineen said he understands skepticism from those who have seen promised production of biofuels fail to materialize, but said that after years of setbacks caused by the financial downturn and other issues, the industry is poised for a major breakthrough in 2013. "The skeptics should go take a look at the plants" in Mississippi and Florida, he said. "They are in operation." Dineen called the EPA's 14 million gallon estimate "conservative." If anything, production should exceed that level, he said, especially if a major project by Abengoa Bioengergy to convert crop residues into ethanol in southwest Kansas goes into operation this year as expected. The $550 million plant is expected to generate 75 megawatts of electricity and 15 million gallons of ethanol per year. Dineen said the API and others in the oil industry were "desperately afraid" that biofuels will succeed and threaten the oil industry's dominance. "They are trying to sow the seeds of doubt so people don't make investment in these future technologies and they can maintain their grip on the fuel pump," he said.

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FOXNews.com: DEADLY EXPLOSION: 25 Killed, 101 Injured in Mexico Oil Company Blast

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DEADLY EXPLOSION: 25 Killed, 101 Injured in Mexico Oil Company Blast Feb 1st 2013, 05:42 MEXICO CITY –  An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in the capital killed 25 people and injured 101 on Thursday as it heavily damaged three floors of a building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline. Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, Mexico's interior minister, says the dead are 17 women and eight men, and another 101 were injured. Another 30 people were reported trapped in the debris late Thursday, as soldiers with rescue dogs, trucks with mounted lights and a Pemex crane were brought in to extract victims. The Interior Ministry said it was uncertain of the exact number of people trapped because many were outside having lunch when the explosion occurred about 3:45 p.m. local time in a basement parking garage next to the iconic, 51-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, one of the tallest buildings in Mexico City. "It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg. "Co-workers helped us get out of the building." President Enrique Pena Nieto said authorities have not yet found what caused the blast in the 14-story building in a busy commercial and residential area. Pemex first said it had evacuated the building because of a problem with the electrical system. The company later tweeted that the Attorney General's Office was investigating the explosion and any reports of a cause were speculation. Ana Vargas Palacio was distraught as she searched for her missing husband, Daniel Garcia Garcia, 36, who works in the building where the explosion occurred. She said she last talked to him a couple hours earlier. "I called his phone many times, but a young man answered and told me he found the phone in the debris," Vargas said. The two have an 11-year-old daughter. His mother, Gloria Garcia Castaneda, collapsed on a friend's arm, crying "My son. My son." The tower, where several thousand people work, was evacuated following the blast but not damaged, according to Gabriela Espinoza, 50, a Pemex secretary for 29 years who was on the second floor when the explosion next door occurred. "There was a very loud roar. It was very ugly," she said. Espinoza's co-worker, Tomas Rivera, 32, worked on the ground floor and was knocked to floor, fracturing his wrist and jaw. Hundreds of firefighters, military in camouflage and Red Cross workers hauled large chunks of concrete and looked for victims late into the night, with at least four bodies pulled out of the rubble, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. The exploded building was intact on the outside but filled inside with debris. Television images showed people being evacuated in office chairs, and on gurneys. Most of them had injuries likely caused by falling debris. "We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows," said Maria Concepcion Andrade, 42, who lives on the same block as the Pemex building. "People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying." Police landed four rescue helicopters to remove the dead and injured. About a dozen tow trucks were furiously moving cars to make more landing room for the helicopters. "I profoundly lament the death of our fellow workers at Pemex. My condolences to their families," Pena Nieto said via Twitter. He later toured the scene. Streets surrounding the building were closed as evacuees wandered around, and rescue crews loaded the injured into ambulances. The injured were taken to Pemex's hospital in the capital's northwest delegation of Azcapotzalco and the Red Cross hospital in the Polanco neighborhood near the oil company's office headquarters, where relatives huddled in the waiting room for news of their loved ones. Some walked out of meetings with the hospital social worker joyous, while others came out crying. Pemex, created as a state-owned company in 1938, has nearly 150,000 employees and in 2011 produced about 2.5 million barrels of crude oil a day, according to its website, with $111 billion in sales. Shortly before the explosion, Operations Director Carlos Murrieta reported via Twitter that the company had reduced its accident rate in recent years. Most Pemex accidents have occurred at pipeline and refinery installations. A fire at a pipeline metering center in northeast Mexico near the Texas border killed 30 workers in September, the largest-single toll in at least a decade for the company.

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FOXNews.com: DEADLY EXPLOSION: 14 Killed, 100 Injured in Mexico Oil Company Blast

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DEADLY EXPLOSION: 14 Killed, 100 Injured in Mexico Oil Company Blast Feb 1st 2013, 03:05 MEXICO CITY –  An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in the capital killed 14 people and injured 100 on Thursday as it heavily damaged three floors of a building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline. Another 30 people remained trapped in the debris late Thursday, according to the Interior Ministry, as teams of military with rescue dogs showed up to extract the victims. The blast occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 51-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, one of the tallest buildings in Mexico City. "It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg. "Co-workers helped us get out of the building." Ana Vargas Palacio was distraught as she searched for her missing husband, Daniel Garcia Garcia, 36, who works where the explosion occurred at about 3:45 p.m. local time, when many workers were just returning from lunch. She said she last talked to him a couple hours earlier. "I called his phone many times, but a young man answered and told me he found the phone in the debris," Vargas said. The two have an 11-year-old daughter. His mother, Gloria Garcia Castaneda, collapsed on a friend's arm, crying "My son. My son." There was no immediate cause given for the explosion in a busy commercial and residential area. Pemex first said it had evacuated the building because of a problem with the electrical system. The company later tweeted that experts from the Attorney General's Office were analyzing the explosion and any reports of a cause were speculation. The tower, where several thousand people work, was evacuated following the blast but not damaged, according to Gabriela Espinoza, 50, a Pemex secretary for 29 years who was on the second floor when the explosion next door occurred. "There was a very loud roar. It was very ugly," she said. The explosion occurred in the basement of a 13-story building across from the tower in five-building the Pemex complex, according to Emporis, which collects construction data worldwide. Espinoza's co-worker, Tomas Rivera, 32, worked on the ground floor and was knocked to floor, fracturing his wrist and jaw. A reporter at the scene saw rescue workers trying to free several workers trapped. Television images showed people being evacuated by office chairs, and gurneys. Most of them had injuries likely caused by falling debris. "We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows," said Maria Concepcion Andrade, 42, who lives on the block of Pemex building. "People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying." Police landed four rescue helicopters to remove the dead or injured. About a dozen tow trucks were furiously moving cars to make more landing room for the helicopters. Streets surrounding the building were closed as evacuees wandered around, and rescue crews loaded the injured into ambulances. The injured were taken to Pemex's hospital in Azcapotzalco and the Red Cross hospital in Polanco, where relatives huddled in the waiting room for news of their loved ones. Some walked out of meetings with the hospital social worker joyous, while others came out crying. "I profoundly lament the death of our fellow workers at Pemex. My condolences to their families," President Enrique Pena Nieto said via his Twitter account. Shortly before the explosion, Operations Director Carlos Murrieta reported via Twitter that the company had reduced its accident rate in recent years. Most Pemex accidents have occurred at pipeline and refinery installations. A fire at a pipeline metering center in northeast Mexico near the Texas border killed 30 workers in September, the largest-single toll in at least a decade for the company.

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FOXNews.com: Lawmakers Call for Probe Into 'Botched' ATF Sting in Milwaukee

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Lawmakers Call for Probe Into 'Botched' ATF Sting in Milwaukee Feb 1st 2013, 03:05 WASHINGTON –  Several members of Congress are calling for an investigation into an embarrassing series of blunders made by the Milwaukee arm of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after a newspaper reported this week that the agency conducted a months-long undercover operation that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and netted very few results. "I am intent on getting to the bottom of the botched ATF sting in Milwaukee," Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told FoxNews.com Thursday night. Sensenbrenner along with Sen. Charles Grassley, and Reps. Darrell Issa and Robert Goodlatte, have sent a letter to Acting ATF Director Todd Jones asking the agency to look into allegations reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  The newspaper claims that the agency conducted a deeply flawed sting operation that resulted in a still-missing machine gun being taken from an agent's car, thousands of taxpayer dollars being lost in merchandise and angry residents saying that ATF officials reintroduced crime into their neighborhood. The operation comes on the heels of the botched Operation Fast and Furious anti-gun trafficking program. "The mismanaged operation included numerous careless and costly mistakes," Sensenbrenner told FoxNews.com in a written statement. "Along with my colleagues, I am asking the ATF what happened in Milwaukee and who will be held accountable. I want to know how these glaring blunders could happen. How did ATF—for the second time that we know of—put guns in the hands of dangerous criminals?" According to the newspaper, the ATF created a phony storefront, named it Fearless Distributing, staffed it with undercover agents and created a Facebook page that lured people to the location all under the guise of selling clothes and shoes. The ATF agents handed out business cards with a logo similar to the one from the movie "The Expendables" with the words "buy, sell or trade" on them. Once the store was up and running, agents spread the word that Fearless Distributing was willing to buy guns and drugs. Part of the problem, the newspaper alleges, is that agents spent taxpayer money to buy guns from people at twice the street value. One ATF agent paid more than $1,200 for a gun that usually sells for $400-$700. Some say the most serious problem involves missing guns. On Sept. 13, 2012, three weapons – including an M-4 automatic rifle – were stolen from an agent's parked car. The very next day one of the weapons -- as well as another unrelated one -- were sold back to agents for $1,400. Still missing is the M-4 and Smith & Wesson 9mm. "The Journal Sentinel story reads more like an accounting of the Keystone Cops instead of a federal law enforcement agency," Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. "I'll be asking the ATF questions because if the operation was handled as badly as it was reported, it puts yet another major stain on the agency." The list of problems continues. The owner of the property where the phony ATF shop was set up asked the ATF to pay him $15,000 in damages but the agency said no. The newspaper claims an attorney for the ATF bullied the owner and threatened to slap him with harassment charges if he continued to ask for reimbursement. "If these reports are accurate, your ability to provide this leadership is in serious doubt," the letter from the congressional members to the acting head of the ATF said. "You promised to 'hit the reset button' when you became acting director. Instead, it appears as though you have hit the 'repeat' button, as the Fearless Distributing sting was created and conducted entirely under your stewardship.'" An official at the ATF strongly refuted the paper's claims to FoxNews.com and said the operation resulted in 36 people being arrested. While admitting to making "some mistakes," the official said the agency takes issue with the accusations that agents corrupted the neighborhood, bullied the owner of the property and made other misguided decisions. The official also called comparisons between the Milwaukee sting and Operation Fast and Furious –   the 2009 failed attempt to stem gun smuggling along the U.S.-Mexican border – unfair.

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FOXNews.com: 'INTERESTINGLY CLOSE':Record-Setting Asteroid to Shave Past Earth in Feb.

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'INTERESTINGLY CLOSE':Record-Setting Asteroid to Shave Past Earth in Feb. Feb 1st 2013, 01:04 An asteroid about half the size of a football field will zoom past Earth on Feb. 15, closer than the man-made satellites that power GPS, says NASA. "This is a record-setting close approach," Don Yeomans of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at JPL said in a video released by NASA this week. Yeomans, however, emphasized that the asteroid, designated 2012DA14, won't hit Earth. "It will come interestingly close, closer than many man-made satellites," he said. 2012DA14 will thread the gap between low earth orbit, where the International Space Station and many earth observation satellites are located and the higher belt of geosynchronous satellites, which provide weather data and telecommunications. "It will come interestingly close, closer than many man-made satellites." - Don Yeomans of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at JPL At its closest point, the asteroid will only be 17,200 miles above our planet's surface. "The odds of impact with a satellite are extremely remote," Yeomans adds. "Almost nothing orbits where DA14 passes the Earth. Four self-driving cars you can (almost) own today At 50 meters wide, the asteroid is "neither very large nor very small" and is probably made of stone as opposed to ice or metal. Yeomans estimates that an asteroid flies past Earth, on average, every 40 years, yet actually hits the planet once every 1200 years or so. Even if DA14 did strike the planet, the impact wouldn't be cataclysmic, unless, of course, you happened to be near it. A similar sized object created a mile wide crater in Arizona. That one was made of metal, devastating the area 50 miles around. "That asteroid was made of iron," says Yeomans, "which made it an especially potent impactor." Are politicians lying? There's an app for finding out In 1908, an asteroid exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia, leveling hundreds of square miles of forest. NASA will be tracking the asteroid with its Goldstone Radar in the Mojave Desert beginning Feb. 16., revealing physical characteristics such as size, spin and reflectivity. The data will also allow NASA to create a 3D radar map. Amateur astronomers will have a shot at observation, too. The asteroid will get fairly bright as it approaches until it resembles a star of 8 magnitudes. Theoretically, that would make it an easy target for backyard telescopes but the problem is speed, explains Yeomans. Since the asteroid will be traveling at a speed equal to twice the width of a full moon every minute, only experienced stargazers

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FOXNews.com: READY TO STRIKE?Sources: Al Qaeda Affiliate Eyes More Western Targets

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READY TO STRIKE?Sources: Al Qaeda Affiliate Eyes More Western Targets Jan 31st 2013, 23:06 With the U.S. military now planning a new drone base to track extremists in northern Mali, senior U.S. intelligence officials confirmed Thursday that the Al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa aspires to strike more U.S. and other western targets in the region.  This includes "hardened" targets such as diplomatic and military facilities, as well as "soft" targets, such as American citizens working in North Africa. The warning follows the deadly terrorist strike on an Algeria gas plant in which dozens of hostages, including three Americans, were killed.  Senior U.S. intelligence officials said that in the aftermath of the Algeria crisis, the intelligence suggests Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb wants "to carry out more attacks against western interests." Officials were careful to emphasize there was no evidence of active, credible plots.  Senior U.S. intelligence officials also said they are "taking very seriously reports of two Canadians" participating in the Algeria hostage crisis because, if confirmed,  it would show extremists in the region were successfully attracting foreigners in the same way Afghanistan did before 9/11, and Iraq did after the fall of Saddam Hussein.  In recent congressional hearings on the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi terrorist attack, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed to underscore the intelligence community's assessment.  "Yes, we now face a spreading jihadist threat. We have driven a lot of the (Al Qaeda) operatives out of ... Afghanistan, Pakistan. Killed a lot of them, including of course, bin Laden.  But we have to recognize this is a global movement," Clinton explained.  Available intelligence leaves no doubt, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, that Mokhtar Belmokhtar -- who seemed to split from Al Qaeda in North Africa in December when he set up his own group -- is the regional operative "most closely associated with the Al Qaeda global brand."    Belmokhtar was characterized as "deeply involved in the planning" of the hostage crisis at the Amenas gas facility that left 38 workers dead earlier this month.  While the attack is still being investigated, the Algerian operation suggested "weeks" of planning was involved, including reconnaissance and familiarity with the security footprint in the plant.  At the same time Al Qaeda in North Africa seems to be gaining momentum, senior U.S. intelligence officials said that striking strong counterterrorism partnerships in the region is challenging -- as the U.S. is facing an arc of instability stretching from Somalia in the east to Mali in West Africa. The Arab Spring has toppled long-time allies, and sidelined or degraded the performance of regional intelligence agencies. In addition, Libya's loose weapons are said to be "fueling AQIM's capability."  Unlike the tribal areas of Pakistan where the U.S. could partner with one nation, no matter how imperfect the relationship, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is a regional player as its followers move seamlessly across Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Algeria. Each nation may be more concerned with the AQIM problem within its own borders, and less concerned with taking a broader, regional leadership role -- which would be critical to block the establishment of a regional safe haven.  These nations also face challenges in corralling the resources to partner with the U.S. on counterterrorism. "There is not the same level of resources and (military) footprint where we can collect full intelligence ... so the intelligence picture is not as well developed," a senior U.S. intelligence official said.  One of the most striking conclusions of the last four months, since the terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate which killed four Americans, is the ability of Al Qaeda in North Africa and associated Islamist groups to pool resources.  "There is a cross-fertilization, a cross-(pollination) between these affiliates, a willingness to share personnel, resources, ideas and tradecraft which serves as a multiplying effect," a senior U.S. intelligence officials said.

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FOXNews.com: BIAS ALERT:MSNBC Stays Silent onEdited Newtown Dad Video

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BIAS ALERT:MSNBC Stays Silent onEdited Newtown Dad Video Jan 31st 2013, 22:27 A video doctored by MSNBC featuring the grieving father of one of the children who died in the Sandy Hook tragedy from has set the Internet aflame this week. The video, which first aired on the Monday, January 28 broadcast of the liberal network's "Martin Bashir"show is only the latest video controversy to include NBC and its crazy liberal stepchild MSNBC. We're now three days -- and counting -- into the scandal and MSNBC still hasn't come clean and admitted what it did. The video showed Newtown, Conn. father Neil Heslin's testimony about guns speaking at a legislative hearing. Bashir then claimed Heslin was heckled by a gun supporter at the hearing. "A father's grief, interrupted by the cries of a heckler," Bashir declared. We're now three days -- and counting -- into another video scandal and MSNBC still hasn't come clean and admitted what it did. Bashir's declaration was at best wrong and at worst outright misrepresentation by the network. The video cut out the part of Heslin's testimony where he posed a question to the crowd. Hearing no response, Heslin then appeared to act like no one was able to challenge his argument, which is why some present did so. This latest controversy has made MSNBC the target of criticism from AP, The Washington Post and even some commentators like David Frum. After Tweeting about the alleged heckling incident, CNN's Anderson Cooper then deleted his Tweet and clarified the situation, much to his credit. The Washington Post's media blogger Erik Wemple provided a nice transcript of the original exchange as it occurred at the hearing: "Heslin: I don't know how many people have young children or children. But just try putting yourself in the place that I'm in or these other parents that are here. Having a child that you lost. It's not a good feeling; not a good feeling to look at your child laying in a casket or looking at your child with a bullet wound to the forehead. I ask if there's anybody in this room that can give me one reason or challenge this question: Why anybody in this room needs to have an, one of these assault-style weapons or military weapons or high-capacity clips.....Not one person can answer that question." Crowd/Alleged Hecklers: "Second Amendment shall not be infringed" Public official: "Please no comments while Mr. Heslin is speaking. Or we'll clear the room. Mr. Heslin, please continue." It's only human to feel for Heslin. No one should ever experience the murder of their child. But at the same time, he posed a question and the response clearly was not heckling. To chop up video of Heslin's testimony -- to make it look bad -- was a horrible act by MSNBC. This excellent video (Yes, a co-worker of mine at the Media Research Center put it together. So sue me.) shows exactly how the doctoring took place. Wemple quoted an "MSNBC source" saying: "We're reviewing the video in question." He added his own critique. "Smart move, considering that Heslin wasn't, in fact, heckled. Audience members merely answered a challenge that Heslin posed from the microphone." According to the AP's David Bauder, "Bashir was out sick on Wednesday," but fill-in Ari Melber gave a lame defense while playing the full video. "Martin and others have called that interruption heckling," Melber reportedly said. "Some disagree. He wanted you to hear that in full so you can draw your own conclusions." It's unclear if MSNBC is still reviewing the video or is just trying to sweep the controversy under the rug. MSNBC and parent NBC have had two other high-profile editing scandals in recent memory. In one the networked modified what the crowd was chanting at a Romney/Ryan event and then that was used to mock Romney. The network is also being sued for its editing of the 911 call by George Zimmerman, as part of the Trayvon Martin case. The edits there depicted Zimmerman as racist simply because he responded to a question from the dispatcher. Dan Gainor is the Boone Pickens Fellow and the Media Research Center's Vice President for Business and Culture. He writes frequently about media for Fox News Opinion. He can also be contacted on Facebook and Twitter as dangainor.

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FOXNews.com: JOBS COUNCIL LAID OFF:Obama Gives Group Pink Slip, No Plans to Extend

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JOBS COUNCIL LAID OFF:Obama Gives Group Pink Slip, No Plans to Extend Jan 31st 2013, 21:26 WASHINGTON –  As new weekly jobs numbers emerged Thursday showing a jump in unemployment claims and a report released the previous day showed the economy shrinking in late 2012, President Obama is effectively laying off his jobs council.  The layoff -- which comes in the form of the administration not renewing the council, which sunsets Thursday -- takes off the table a first-term panel set up to field ideas from the business community for spurring growth. But the administration was accused all along of never taking full advantage of the group at a time when the economy desperately needed those ideas.  The council itself, a group of business and labor leaders, hasn't met officially in more than a year. The group was tasked with making recommendations to Obama to help create jobs, but the 26 members only met four times in two years.  As the council expires Thursday with no plans to extend it, House Speaker John Boehner's office panned the president's alleged disinterest in the group.  "To understand the abysmal nature of our economic recovery, look no further than the president's disinterest in learning lessons from actual job creators," spokesman Brendan Buck said. "Whether ignoring the group or rejecting its recommendations, the president treated his Jobs Council as more of a nuisance than a vehicle to spur job creation."  But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that the council "was always intended" to expire after two years, and said "the work that the jobs council did was very helpful." Further, Carney said the White House would "begin a new, expanded effort to work with the business community and other outside groups to advance specific policy priorities promoted by the jobs council -- including expanded new skills and talent initiatives, promoting entrepreneurship and small businesses, expediting permitting for infrastructure projects across the country and continuing progress on fiscal issues and tax reform." The White House says that the president took "action" on 33 of the council's 35 recommendations in the first year and implemented 16 of them.  Now as it comes to an end, administration officials say Obama has met with dozens of CEOs since the election -- separate from the jobs council -- and doesn't feel compelled to work only through that panel.  But Republicans say the president is putting the economy on the back-burner.  "Instead of taking real action, like renewing his Jobs Council or approving the Keystone Pipeline, President Obama has moved on to his second-term liberal agenda," the National Republican Congressional Committee said in a statement. "But with 12 million Americans unemployed and a national debt over $16 trillion, shouldn't President Obama keep his eye on the ball and work to find real solutions to create jobs and tackle our out-of-control spending?"  When Obama in January 2011 formed his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, unemployment was hovering above 9 percent. Two years later, more than 12 million people in the U.S. are out of work. The unemployment rate has fallen to 7.8 percent, but both parties agree that's still too high.  Officials said the president always intended for the council to fulfill its mission and then wind down, and said Obama would continue to actively engage and seek input from business leaders about ways to accelerate job-creation and economic growth. Among the steps Obama plans to pursue are expedited permits for infrastructure projects, plus programs to boost entrepreneurship and workforce development.  Adding to the concern about the job market's continued vulnerability, the Commerce Department said Wednesday that the U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent from October through December of last year, the first quarterly drop since 2009. The Federal Reserve said the economy appears to have "paused in recent months."  The jobs council was a successor to another economic advisory board Obama created at the onset of his presidency. The panel was chaired by General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and was composed of prominent business leaders and economists. Immelt said Thursday that progress has been made on implementing 90 percent of the council's recommendations.  The jobs council's main work product report was released in January 2012, titled "Roadmap to Renewal." The council also organized a series of "listening and action" meetings across the country last year with business owners, local elected officials and academics, although Obama didn't attend those sessions.  Critics have argued that the council's primary purpose was to create the appearance of action at a time when the nation was pining for something -- anything -- to rein in soaring joblessness. The administration acted on many of the council's recommendations, including suggestions to streamline the permits process and small business loans, increase tourist visas and boost energy efficiency.  But the White House was at odds with several council members on tax policies, particularly a proposal to exclude overseas corporate earnings from U.S. taxes. That idea divided even the jobs council, whose membership included labor and Obama's political allies.  The council's dissolution also comes as White House aides are optimistic about the prospects for a second-term detente with the business community, which bristled during Obama's first term at his harsh depiction of "fat-cat bankers" and his efforts to impose regulations, tax policies and spending initiatives they argued were unfriendly to business. Obama aides hope the softening of the relationship between the president and the business world can benefit the White House in future fiscal debates with Republicans.  Fox News' Molly Henneberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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FOXNews.com: ATTACK ON RELIGION?University: Christian Club Must Alter Rules or Leave

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ATTACK ON RELIGION?University: Christian Club Must Alter Rules or Leave Jan 31st 2013, 21:26 By Todd Starnes The University of Michigan is accused of kicking an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapter off campus because the group requires its leaders to be Christians – an apparent violation of the university's non-discrimination policy. FOLLOW TODD ON FACEBOOK FOR CULTURE WAR NEWS. CLICK HERE TO JOIN! Greg Jao, InterVarsity's national field director, told Fox News the Asian chapter of the group was directed to either revise its constitution – or else be forced off campus. "The university is sending the message that religious voices are suspect and should be marginalized," Jao said. "I think it sends the message that the university does not understand the nature of religious beliefs and the convictions of religious students." A University of Michigan pokesperson released a statement saying that all registered student organizations must agree to "sign the university's standard non-discrimination agreement" and "submit their constitution for review." "At this point in the current school year, Asian InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has not completed this process," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson did not elaborate on the conflict with InterVarsity. Last December, members of the group were summoned before university officials who told them there was an issue with the section of the club constitution related to leadership. In order for students to be InterVarsity leaders they must sign a statement of faith. But the university said that requirement violated their non-discrimination policy. Sara Chang, an InterVarsity staff member at the University of Michigan, said they were given the option of submitting a revised constitution. Instead, Chang and the other students decided to stand firm in their faith. "For us, there's no other option than to hold to the tenets of our faith," she told Fox News. "We want to model a lifestyle of integrity. Holding the Bible as the inspired, divine word of God and seeing the commands for us to choose leaders who have a vibrant faith in Jesus – is obviously something very important that we want to continue to uphold." As a result of their decision, the university de-recognized the group – forcing them to relocate off campus. InterVarsity has 10 chapters at Michigan and he suspects the others will soon be called upon to make similar changes in their constitutions. "The sad place that we've arrived at is that certain campuses in pursuit of tolerance and diversity – are now saying they will use those standards to discriminate and marginalize viewpoints they disagree with," he said. Jao said the issue is whether religious groups can use religious criteria to select their leaders. "I can't imagine the Muslim Student Association saying you don't have to be a Muslim to help lead our group," he said. "I think the university's decision will impact any religious group that's being honest about their leadership criteria." Last year Vanderbilt University banned 14 Christian groups from campus after they refused to change their bylaws to put them in compliance with the non-discrimination policy. One of those groups was InterVaristy Fellowship. "It really had a chilling effect on students and our work," Jao told Fox News. He said Vanderbilt's relationship with Christian students is disturbing. "They prohibited all other registered student organizations from co-sponsoring events with our groups," he said. "It's pretty punitive. We're a little bit of a pariah." He said Christians at Vandy "feel disenfranchised, distinctly unwelcome." "We feel that the religious voice on campus is being marginalized," he said. And that's what the hope doesn't happen at Michigan. "More and more universities are asking the question – 'in our pursuit for a tolerant and diverse campus, how far do we need to go,'" he said. Jao said they plan to follow the university's appeals process – but the club has already been banned from using space. Nevertheless, the students continue to meet in an alternative space to worship – hoping the university will reconsider. "It is sad," said Chang, who is a Michigan graduate. "But I do have a lot of hope." Todd is the author of Dispatches From Bitter America – endorsed by Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and Mark Levin. Click here to get your copy!

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FOXNews.com: ATTACK ON RELIGION?University: Christian Club Must Alter Rules or Leave

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ATTACK ON RELIGION?University: Christian Club Must Alter Rules or Leave Jan 31st 2013, 20:44 Teflon! President Obama's approval rating went... Americans for Legal Immigration PAC President William Gheen tells... Maybe it's just because I'm focused on the dead...

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FOXNews.com: SCHOOL SHOOTING: 14-Year-Old Hospitalized After Being Shot in Atlanta

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SCHOOL SHOOTING: 14-Year-Old Hospitalized After Being Shot in Atlanta Jan 31st 2013, 20:44 Published January 31, 2013 FoxNews.com DEVELOPING -- Authorities say a 14-year-old girl was hospitalized Thursday after being shot in the head at an Atlanta middle school. Atlanta Fire Capt. Marian McDaniel says the student was taken to Grady Hospital after a shooting took place outside of Price Middle School. WAGA reports the student was alert and conscious before she was taken to the hospital. McDaniel says a teacher suffered minor cuts and bruises but was treated on the scene. Police say a suspect, tentatively identified as a male student, has been taken into custody. The school was placed on lockdown and authorities say parents are not being allowed to pick up their children at this time. Price Middle School is located south of Atlanta. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from MyFoxAtlanta.com.

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FOXNews.com: Slightest touch leads to raw blisters for 7-year-old girl

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Slightest touch leads to raw blisters for 7-year-old girl Jan 31st 2013, 19:34 A brave little girl smiles for the camera, despite a cruel condition that means the slightest touch can lead to painful blisters on her skin. Maisy Keetch, 7, suffers from epidermolysis bullosa, which means the top layer of her skin is not knitted together properly. A single cuddle from her mother Amy can give her angry red rashes that look like burns. She has to be extremely careful playing with other children and has a life expectancy of just 30 years. Maisy, whose illness is also known as the butterfly syndrome because her skin is as fragile as the insect's wings, has her arms constantly bandaged up and needs medication for the rest of her life. "The minute she was born, I knew something was wrong," said Amy, from South East London.  She confessed every morning is a struggle as Maisy wakes up with fresh blisters and screaming in pain without Amy being able to give her a comforting cuddle. But the child, who often uses a wheelchair as her legs are too painful too walk, has learned to make the best of her condition, telling other kids at nursery that they have to be extra careful when they play with her. Amy, who admitted Maisy is getting more self-conscious about her skin as she gets older, said: "She sometimes asks me, 'Why do other girls have smooth skin and not me?' It's hard, but I'll tell her, 'No one's perfect. We all have our flaws. You are different but you're still beautiful.'" Click for more from The Sun.

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FOXNews.com: Tow truck driver arrested after pocket-dialing 911

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Tow truck driver arrested after pocket-dialing 911 Jan 31st 2013, 18:30 Published January 31, 2013 FoxNews.com ORANGE CITY, Fla. –  Authorities say a Florida tow truck driver landed in jail after his cell phone pocket-dialed 911 and dispatchers listened in on a conversation about the sale of drugs. Deputies say 19-year-old Matthew Dollarhide was surprised when a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy pulled him over late Tuesday and asked him about his conversation with two passengers. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports 911 dispatchers pinpointed the cell phone's location and sent deputies to investigate. From the conversation, dispatchers learned they were driving a tow truck. Deputies said they found a crack pipe on Dollarhide. The Orange City man was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. He told police the pipe belonged to his father.

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FOXNews.com: URGENT: Snowmobiler Dies AfterWinter X Games Crash

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URGENT: Snowmobiler Dies AfterWinter X Games Crash Jan 31st 2013, 18:34 DENVER –  Caleb Moore, an innovative freestyle snowmobile rider who was hurt in a dramatic crash at the Winter X Games in Colorado, died Thursday morning. He was 25. Moore had been staying at a hospital in Grand Junction since last week's crash in Aspen. Family spokeswoman Chelsea Lawson confirmed his death. A former all-terrain vehicle racer, Moore switched over to snowmobiles as a teenager and didn't take long to rise to the top of his sport. He won four Winter X Games medals, including a bronze last season when his younger brother, Colten, captured gold. Caleb Moore was attempting a backflip last Thursday in the freestyle event when the skis on his 450-pound snowmobile caught the lip of the landing area, sending him flying over the handlebars. Moore landed face first into the snow with his snowmobile rolling over him. Moore stayed down for quite some time, before walking off with help and going to a hospital to treat a concussion. Moore developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore, of Krum, Texas, also had a complication involving his brain. Colten Moore was injured in a separate crash that same night. He suffered a separated pelvis in the spill. B.C. Vaught, Caleb Moore's agent for almost a decade, said he first saw Moore when he was racing an ATV in Minnesota and signed him up to star in some action sports movies. Later, Moore wanted to make the switch from ATVs to snowmobiles and asked Vaught to show him how to do a back-flip. In two weeks, Moore mastered the difficult maneuver. Moore's brother also got involved in snowmobiling, the close-knit duo pushing each other to become better. Moore honed his skills in Krum, a town about 5,000 people 50 miles northwest of Dallas that rarely sees snow. Instead, he worked on tricks by launching his sled into a foam pit. After a brief training run on snow ramps in Michigan, he was ready for his sport's biggest stage -- the 2010 Winter X Games. In that contest, Moore captured a bronze in freestyle and finished sixth in best trick. Two years later, his biography on ESPN said, "Caleb Moore has gone from `beginner's luck' to `serious threat."' That was hardly a surprise to Vaught, who said, "Whatever he wanted to do, he did it." Vaught said Moore didn't believe his sport was too extreme, but rather "it was a lifestyle." He was good at it -- along with ATV racing -- as he accumulated a garage full of trophies. Fellow snowmobile rider Levi LaVallee recently described Moore as a "fierce competitor." "A very creative mind," LaVallee said. "I've watched him try some crazy, crazy tricks and some of them were successful, some of them not so much. But he was first guy to get back on a sled and go try it again. It shows a lot of heart."

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FOXNews.com: RETALIATION THREAT: Syria, Iran Team in Vow To Punish Israel for Attack

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RETALIATION THREAT: Syria, Iran Team in Vow To Punish Israel for Attack Jan 31st 2013, 17:05 Syria and its ally Iran are threatening to retaliate against Israel for an airstrike carried out within Syrian borders. U.S. officials said Israel launched the airstrike inside Syria on Wednesday, targeting a convoy believed to be carrying anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant group allied with Syria and Iran. In response to the strike, Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said Thursday that Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation." Abdul-Karim Ali said he could not predict when Damascus would retaliate, but told Hezbollah's al-Ahd news website that it was up to the relevant authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose the time and place. In Iran, the country's deputy foreign minister said on Press TV that the "strike on Syria will have serious consequences for Tel Aviv," but did not elaborate, according to the Jerusalem Post. Prior to the attack, last week, an aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the Mehr news agency that any attack on Syria was an attack on itself, fearing that Iran and Iraq would be targeted next if Assad's regime falls, Haaretz reports. An Israeli lawmaker close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stopped short of confirming involvement in the strike Thursday, but he hinted that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future. Regional security officials said the weapons shipment that Israel targeted included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would enable the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. However, the Syrian military denied the existence of any weapons shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit by the Israeli warplanes. It said the target was in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus and about 10 miles from the Lebanese border. A U.S. official told the New York Times that Israel informed the U.S. of its plans to strike a military target inside Syria before attacking the research center near Damascus. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, who became in December one of the most senior Syrian army officers to defect, told The Associated Press by telephone from Turkey that the targeted site is a "major and well-known" center to develop weapons known as the Scientific Research Center. Al-Shallal, who until his defection was the commander of the Military Police, said no chemical or nonconventional weapons are at the site, which is frequented by Russian and Iranian experts. But diplomatic sources from three countries told Reuters that they suspect chemical weapons are at the Jamraya, and it was possible that the convoy of trucks was nearby at the time of the attack. The Israeli airstrike also drew criticism from Hezbollah, which called it a "barbaric aggression" and Syrian ally Russia said it appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation. Russia, Syria's strongest international ally, said Moscow is taking "urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details." "If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Whatever the motives, this is not justified." In addition, the head of the Arab League called the strike a "flagrant aggression and a glaring violation" of Syria's sovereignty, Haaretz reports. Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, who is close to Netanyahu, said pinpoint strikes are not enough to counter the threat of Hezbollah obtaining sophisticated weaponry from Syria. "Israel's preference would be if a Western entity would control these weapons systems," Hanegbi said. "But because it appears the world is not prepared to do what was done in Libya or other places, then Israel finds itself like it has many times in the past facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to," he added. He was referring to NATO's 2011 military intervention in Libya that helped oust dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Syria's civil war has sapped Assad's power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms. Earlier this week, Netanyahu warned of the dangers of Syria's "deadly weapons," saying the country is "increasingly coming apart." The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new "Iron Dome" rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli army called that move "routine." The Israeli army won't say whether Iron Dome was sent north in connection to this operation. It does note that it has deployed the system in the north before. Syria and its allies, including Hezbollah, deny there is an uprising against the government and say what is happening is part of a conspiracy against Damascus because of its support for anti-Israeli groups. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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