Body armour to scale up by mimicking flexible fish

IN DAYS of old, knights protected themselves in armour made up of tough, interlocking "scales". This idea might one day be revisited, with future soldiers decked out in scales inspired by the almost impenetrable skin of the "dragon fish".

This fish, Polypterus senegalus, is a tough beast whose strong bite and sturdy exoskeleton has kept its species going for 96 million years. Each of the scales that cover its long body is made up of multiple layers; when the fish is bitten, each layer cracks in a different pattern so that the scale stays intact as a whole (Nature Materials, doi.org/frkx9r).

Now we know how the different types of scales work - as a series of joints between "pegs" and "sockets", allowing the fish to bend as it swims. This combination of flexibility and strength is perfect for human armour, says Swati Varshney of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, speaking at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting in San Francisco earlier this month. She and colleagues performed X-ray scans of scales, reconstructed the shapes and then worked out how they slotted together.

Scales near the flexible parts of the fish, such as the tail, are small and allow the fish to bend. Those on the side, protecting the internal organs, are larger and more rigid. Their joints fit together tightly so that each peg reinforces the next scale rather than allowing it to flex.

The researchers created computer models of the different scale types and blew them up to 10 times their original size. Using a 3D printer, they printed a sheet of 144 interlocking scales out of a rigid material (an early prototype is pictured). The group hopes to eventually develop a full suit of fish-scale body armour for the US military that could replace the heavy Kevlar armour currently used, but Varshney says this is still some way off. Such a suit would mimic the fish: rigid and strong across the torso and more flexible towards the joints.

These fish are promising models for human armour because they have already tested out engineering designs on themselves, says Dominique Adriaens of Ghent University in Belgium. Once the design is pinned down, researchers could use different materials to make suits. Ceramic, for instance, would provide heat protection; metal could prevent punctures.

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Xi Jinping given Japan PM's letter amid islands row

BEIJING: An envoy from Tokyo handed Chinese leader Xi Jinping a personal letter from new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, in a meeting aimed at smoothing relations amid a bitter territorial row.

Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the New Komeito party, the junior partner in Japan's ruling coalition, is the most senior Japanese parliamentarian to visit China since the long-running row over disputed islands intensified last September.

At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing both sides expressed appreciation for the trip before beginning private talks, and it was not revealed what the letter said.

"Mr Yamaguchi visits China at a period in which Sino-Japanese relations face a special situation. We attach great importance to your visit," said Xi, the head of China's ruling Communist party and the country's president-to-be.

Yamaguchi said he was "incomparably happy" about the meeting.

While he has no official role in the Tokyo government headed by the hawkish Abe, the occasion was a rare positive step as the territorial dispute weighs heavily on relations between the two Asian giants.

Beijing has repeatedly sent ships to waters near the islands since Japan nationalised part of the chain in September, a move that triggered a diplomatic dispute and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across China.

China has also sent air patrols near the Tokyo-controlled islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan but claimed by Beijing as the Diaoyus. The chain could sit atop vast mineral reserves, it is believed.

Earlier this week, Yamaguchi said he hoped to improve ties but that Tokyo had no plans to compromise over the islands.

"I would like to make a step toward opening the door to normalising our relations," he told reporters before his departure.

Regarding the islands, he said: "Our stance is that no territorial problem exists. That's a shared recognition among the government and coalition."

- AFP/fa

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Te'o reveals biggest regret

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Te'o says he was embarrassed to discuss girlfriend upon learning she was fake


• NEW: But while admitting some were misled, he says he "didn't lie" publicly


• Te'o has his first on-camera interview since news broke of the girlfriend hoax


• "I wasn't as forthcoming about (the story), but I didn't lie," he tells Katie Couric

(CNN) -- He had wanted to help someone in need, this beautiful girl who had been through so much. And he ended up falling for her. They had much in common -- a strong faith, their Samoan heritage, common values -- and clicked, even though they'd never met face-to-face.

Their relationship ended, the first time, in September when Manti Te'o got a call from her hysterical brother telling him the woman he knew as Lennay Kekua had died, one day after leaving the hospital where she was being treated for leukemia.

Two months later, the relationship unraveled again, this time when he got another call from someone who claimed she was Lennay, very much alive.

In the weeks to follow -- until and after Deadspin broke the story January 16 that Lennay Kekua didn't exist, despite Te'o's repeated references to her and her death in interviews -- the Notre Dame star player admitted feeling embarrassed, scared and overwhelmed.

Notre Dame star Manti Te'o

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In his first on-camera interview since then, Te'o said that, publicly, he'd always been truthful.

"For people feeling that they were misled, that I'm sorry for," he told Katie Couric, on an episode of her talk show that aired Thursday. "I wasn't as forthcoming about it (as I could have been).

"But I didn't lie."

Then why, Couric asked, had he said the two met through his cousin and at a game his sophomore year, when he now says she had reached out to him on Facebook? Why had he told his father that he and Kekua had gotten together once in Hawaii?

And why hadn't he had stronger doubts before this winter? Like how, in their FaceTime chats, her screen always appeared black? Or how every in-person meeting they set up fell through, like when she was hospitalized or the time her brother had borrowed her car?

Or how odd was it that, in the months he'd gotten to know her well, a 22-year-old woman had a near-death accident then came down with cancer? And through all her struggles, why didn't he visit her once in the hospital -- even when he was in Southern California, like her, and she was in a coma?

Te'o said he understands why people might doubt their relationship, and him. But he told Couric that his feelings in the relationship -- and after the supposed death -- were authentic.

"What I went through was real. The feelings, the pain, the sorrow ... that was all real," said the standout linebacker and Heisman runner-up. "That's something I can't fake."

Te'o admits lying to father, not to others

The two, Te'o at Notre Dame and Kekua at Stanford University, first got acquainted his freshman year, after she reached out to him on Facebook, he said. Those first few years, they would converse but "it was a friend relationship," Te'o told Couric.

Their relationship began to go to another level, he explained, during his junior year. As it did, Te'o admitted to having his doubts, even reaching out to some others to confirm Kekua was real.

"That was my way of saying, 'Oh she's real, they met her, they've seen her,'" Te'o said of his conversations with friends. "This girl who was in the pictures, and this girl I was talking to must be the same."

But while they talked for hours, they never met face-to-face. Once, Kekua told Te'o she was in his home state of Hawaii, and the two planned to meet. He told Couric she had told him her brother had her car and she couldn't drive to him, but invited him to her hotel.

That meeting never panned out. Still, the next morning, Te'o admitted telling his father the two had, in fact, seen each other. Brian Te'o later mentioned in interviews how his son had met up with Kekua in Hawaii.

That conversation with his father, Te'o told Couric, was "the biggest lie."

"That's the thing I regret most," he said. "That's my way of trying to get my dad's approval of this young lady. Because I knew if he knew I didn't meet her, he would immediately just say no, (it is a) red flag that I obviously should have seen."

The relationship continued. On the talk show "Katie," tapes were played of voice mails left by the woman Te'o said he thought was Kekua. In one, she talked about starting her first session of chemotherapy. In another, she suspiciously called him out after she said another woman answered his phone. In another, she wished him good night: "I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you so much hon. Sweet dreams."

In an off-camera interview January 18 with ESPN, Te'o said a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was behind the hoax, saying Tuiasosopo had called him earlier this month to apologize. While Tuiasosopo or his father haven't talked publicly, his uncle recently defended him, saying, "It definitely takes two to tango."

Responding to reports Kekua may have been voiced by Tuiasosopo, Te'o said, "It sounded like a woman, but if (a man) somehow made that voice,... that's incredible talent to do that, especially every single day."

A near-death accident then a bout with leukemia

They planned to meet while he was in San Diego, but then she was severely injured in April after being struck by a drunk driver, Te'o said. He could have missed his flight to either Los Angeles or, eventually, Hawaii to be with her, but he didn't.

Manti Te'o denies he was part of girlfriend hoax

"It was a conversation that I didn't want to have with my parents," Te'o told Couric. "To say, 'Uh Mom, Dad, I missed my flight ... because I'm going to see Lennay in the hospital.' "

While she was in a coma at the hospital, Te'o said her relatives held a phone up to her ear and he talked. Nurses said the sound of his voice would cause her breath to quicken, and he'd hear the respirator and "the machines. It was very real."

She awoke from the coma, he said, as he was talking -- whispering his name and causing him to jump for joy, feeling he'd helped her.

"It goes back to what my parents taught me, to always be there for somebody when they need help," Te'o said.

There were more talks in the subsequent months, not just between the two but also involving Te'o's family. He said he was most hurt, most ashamed because the apparent hoax hurt not just him, but his father and mother.

"The belief in this person, the deception, wasn't only with Manti, it was our entire family," his mother, Ottilia Te'o, told Couric. "We had conversations with this person. So in our mind, we had followed the same pattern as Manti."

Te'o: 'I was just scared and I didn't know what to do'

Te'o said he was told that, on September 12, Kekua suddenly started to breathe hard, to sweat and, at 10:47 p.m., she died.

That was the same day his grandmother died. Three days later, he led the Fighting Irish to a 20-3 rout of Michigan State, saying he had been inspired to honor the two women with his play.

"I miss 'em, but I know that I'll see them again one day," he told ESPN at the time.

Even in death, Kekua continued to come up in interviews and elsewhere. She was part of Te'o's story.

Then came the December 6 phone call, from a woman he first thought was Kekua's sister. But then, he recalled, "She said, 'No Manti, it's Lennay.' "

"There was a long silent pause," Te'o said. "And I was angered to say the least."

Despite his renewed doubts, he kept talking -- including at the Heisman presentation on December 8, when he referred to his girlfriend losing her battle with cancer. A Twitter picture sent later that month showing the girl he thought was Kekua, holding a sign with that day's date, convinced him it was all a lie.

But he still didn't know what to do, or what to say.

"Part of me was saying if you say that she's alive, what would everybody think? What are you going to tell everybody who followed you, who you've inspired? What are you going to say?

He added: "I was scared. That's the truth. I was just scared, and I didn't know what to do."

On Christmas Day, he sat down with his parents in Hawaii.

Parents defend Te'o: 'He's not a liar, he's a kid'

This conversation led to one with Notre Dame coaches and administrators. But the school was mum until the Deadspin story came out.

That was followed by many stories as well as speculation about what happened and why. Did Te'o help concoct the hoax to promote his Heisman hopes? He said no. Did he help invent this relationship because he's gay? That, too, isn't true, he said.

It's uncertain how this scandal will affect his standing in the upcoming NFL Draft, set for April. Te'o said he's hoping for the best, though most disappointed in how he's hurt his family.

"The greatest joy in any child's life is to make your parents proud," he said. "The greatest pain is to know that they are experiencing pain because of you."

On the "Katie" show, his mother said she's proud of how her son has handled this entire situation -- saying that, in befriending who he thought was Kekua, he showed he "always puts others before himself."

His father said it's easy to spot the red flags in retrospect. But he said this ordeal hasn't rattled his faith in his son.

"He's not a liar. He's a kid," Brian Te'o said. "He's a 21-year-old kid trying to be a man."

CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.

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Battery expert: "I would not fly in a Dreamliner"

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - Investigators say they still don't know what caused batteries to burn in two Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and until they figure that out and how to fix the problem, none of the planes will be allowed to fly.

More than any other plane, the Dreamliner relies on lithium ion batteries to help power its advanced electrical system. They're lighter and more powerful than older battery types, but they contain a highly flammable liquid electrolyte.

U.S. officials defend handling of 787 mishaps

Boeing 787 probe turns to battery companies

Boeing plans to carry on with Dreamliner production

Federal investigators are examining the disassembled battery from the 787 that caught fire in Boston January 7, spewing molten electrolyte.

George Blomgren worked for Eveready, a batteries and flashlights company, for 40 years. He says lithium ion batteries are bundled together for the 787, and that increases the risk.

"These fires burn at very high temperatures, so they are just very dangerous fires," he said.

George Blomgren, a battery expert for Eveready

/

CBS News

The Boston fire, and the burned-out battery on a Dreamliner in Japan, is not the first time lithium ion batteries have caused problems.

In 2011, a Chevy Volt lithium ion battery was damaged in a crash test. Three weeks later, it burst into flames. Chevrolet installed a number of fixes to prevent fires.

Safety features also were added to lithium ion batteries in some cell phones and laptops after 56 million were recalled for risk of overheating and exploding.

Boeing says lithium ion batteries "best met the performance and design objectives of the 787" and "Based on everything we know at this point, we have not changed our evaluation."

Blomgren considers the safety of lithium ion batteries on planes questionable.

"From what I know about incidents, I would not fly in a Dreamliner tomorrow. I just wouldn't feel that it was appropriate or safe," Blomgren said.

Many experts believe in the promise of lithium ion batteries, including for airlines, but they just aren't sure its safety has been perfected.

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It's Official: Women Will Serve in Combat

Women will soon be able to serve in combat, as things officially changed with the stroke of a pen today at the Pentagon.

At a joint news conference, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Charman Gen. Martin Dempsey signed a memorandum rolling back a 1994 directive prohibiting women from doing so.

"They serve, they're wounded, and they die right next to each other," Panetta said of women and men in the military. "The time has come to recognize that reality.

"If they're willing to put their lives on the line, then we need to recognize that they deserve a chance," Panetta said, noting that he wants his own granddaughters and grandsons to have the same opportunities in their lives and careers.

The change won't be immediate, however. While Panetta announced that thousands of new positions will now be open to women, he has asked the military branches to submit plans by May on how to integrate women into combat operations. He set a January 2016 deadline for branches to implement the changes, giving military services time to seek waivers for certain jobs.

Both Panetta and Dempsey said they believe the move will strengthen the U.S. military force.

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"Ultimately, we are acting to strengthen the armed forces," Dempsey said. "We will extend opportunities to women in a way that maintains readiness, morale and unit cohesion."

Women have already served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, as ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Elizabeth Gorman reported in 2009: Prohibited from serving in roles "whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground," women in support roles, nonetheless, served in support roles on the frontlines, where they have fought, been wounded and died.

Women have also flown combat missions since 1993 and have served on submarines since 2010.

Panetta noted that 152 women have died serving in the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dempsey said he realized a change was inevitable when he noticed two female turret gunners protecting a senior military officer.

"It's clear to all of us that women are contributing in unprecedented ways to the military's mission of defending the nation," Panetta said. "Women represent 15 percent of the force of over 200,000 [and] are serving in a growing number of critical roles on and off the battlefield.

"I've gone to Bethesda to visit wounded warriors, and I've gone to Arlington to bury our dead. There's no distincton."

Panetta and Dempsey said President Obama supported the move, while warning them to maintain military readiness as they considered the change.

Obama hailed the move in a written statement

"Today, by moving to open more military positions -- including ground combat units -- to women, our armed forces have taken another historic step toward harnessing the talents and skills of all our citizens," he said.

"This milestone reflects the courageous and patriotic service of women through more than two centuries of American history and the indispensable role of women in today's military," Obama said.

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Wallace: Wonders of nature have been solace of my life

Alfred Russel Wallace discovered natural selection independently of Charles Darwin. Through his letters, available online for the first time, he tells us of his research, expeditions and enduring fascination for nature's mysteries.

You are famously joint author, with Darwin, of the first paper describing the origin of species and natural selection, published in 1858. When did you first get the idea?
I begin [in 1847] to feel rather dissatisfied with a mere local collection – little is to be learnt by it. I sh[ould]d like to take some one family, to study thoroughly – principally with a view to the theory of the origin of species. By that means I am strongly of [the] opinion that some definite results might be arrived at.

This desire led you to Brazil to collect birds, butterflies and beetles to try to discover what drives the evolution of new species. Were there any incidents on the voyage?
On Friday the 6th of August [1852]… the Captain (who was the owner of the vessel) came into the cabin & said "I am afraid the ship's on fire. Come & see what you think of it."

Despite that harrowing experience, you next undertook an 8 year expedition to the Malay Archipelago, where you discovered the invisible boundary between the animals of Asia and the Australian region, which would later be called the Wallace Line in your honour. What fascinated you most on that trip?
The Birds have however interested me much more than the insects, they are proportionally much more numerous, and throw great light on the laws of Geographical distribution of Animals in the East… As an instance I may mention the Cockatoos, a group of birds confined to Australia & the Moluccas, but quite unknown in Java Borneo Sumatra & Malacca… Many other species illustrate the same fact.

You have been famously good-natured about sharing the discovery of natural selection with Darwin…
I also look upon it as a most fortunate circumstance that I had a short time ago commenced a correspondence with Mr. Darwin on the subject of "Varieties", since it has led to the earlier publication of a portion of his researches & has secured to him a claim to priority which an independent publication either by myself or some other party might have injuriously effected

What did you and Darwin have in common?
In early life both Darwin and myself became ardent beetle-hunters. Both Darwin and myself had, what he terms "the mere passion of collecting"… Now it is this superficial and almost child-like interest in the outward forms of living things, which, though often despised as unscientific, happened to be the only one which would lead us towards a solution of the problem of species.

Do you feel your contribution has been overlooked?
The idea came to me, as it had come to Darwin, in a sudden flash of insight: it was thought out in a few hours – was written down with such a sketch of its various applications and developments… then copied on thin letter-paper and sent off to Darwin – all within one week.

I should have had no cause for complaint if the respective shares of Darwin and myself in regard to the elucidation of nature's method of organic development had been thenceforth estimated as being, roughly, proportional to the time we had each bestowed upon it when it was thus first given to the world – that is to say, as 20 years is to one week.

You helped Darwin with the puzzle of bright colouration in animals, which led to the concept of warning colours. To ask his question again, why are some caterpillars so brightly coloured?
[Since some]… are protected by a disagreeable taste or odour, it would be a positive advantage to them never to be mistaken for any of the palatable caterpillars… Any gaudy & conspicuous colour therefore, that would plainly distinguish them from the brown & green eatable caterpillars, would enable birds to recognise them easily as a kind not fit for food, & thus they would escape seizure which is as bad as being eaten.

How did you feel looking back on your life's work, at the age of 89?
The wonders of nature have been the delight and solace of… life. Nature has afforded… an ever increasing rapture, and the attempt to solve some of her myriad problems an ever-growing sense of mystery and awe.

Do you have a message for our readers?
I sincerely wish you all some of the delight in the mere contemplation of nature's mysteries and beauties which I have enjoyed.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Is it a bird? A plane? No, just a guy named Oscar

BUENOS AIRES: He was a self-styled superhero, prowling the gritty outskirts of Buenos Aires wearing a mask and cartoonish outfit and armed only with a flashlight, compass and pepper spray as he took on bad guys.

But now his cover is blown, thanks to an alleged shootout with muggers, and the superhero is charged with carrying an unlicensed gun, police said Wednesday.

The man who called himself Menganno -- Spanish for Joe Blow -- and became famous in Argentine media is actually one Oscar Lefosse, 43, a former cop who served from 1986 to 1996. It turns out his gun license expired a year ago.

On Monday, Lefosse told police that three petty criminals opened fire on his car as he drove with his wife. He returned fire with his Glock pistol.

On his Facebook page, "Menganno" -- 33,000 followers -- posted a photo of what he said was his bullet ridden car.

But a policeman quoted by the news agency Telam said the shots all came from inside the car.

"He could have killed somebody, an innocent bystander. He is irresponsible," the official said.

In an interview with AFP in 2010, Menganno described himself as "a real, flesh and blood superhero. My goal is for all of us to be better and show more solidarity. Injustice makes me sick."

He said then that he only defended himself with a flashlight, pepper spray and a compass, and had a company in the security sector. He did not elaborate.

"I do not walk around the street armed. I keep my gun at home," he said Wednesday on Argentine TV.

Lefosse used to hide his identity behind a mask that was a mix of dark and baby blue and coordinated nicely colour-wise with a Superman style suit he wore, with a symbol on his chest to boot.

-AFP/fl

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Martin: You want black votes, GOP?

Roland Martin says one reason the GOP draws mainly white voters is its leaders' reluctance to reach out and listen to minorities.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Roland Martin: GOP National Committee's Priebus dodges appearing on Martin shows


• He says GOP leaders in general avoid interacting with blacks; they lose black votes this way


• He says GOP leaders seem to think blacks don't have same concerns as all Americans


• Martin: One area where GOP, minority voters might share goals: sentencing reform

Editor's note: Roland Martin is a syndicated columnist and author of "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House." He is a commentator for the TV One cable network and host/managing editor of its Sunday morning news show, "Washington Watch with Roland Martin."

(CNN) -- For more than a year I've tried to get Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to make an appearance on my Sunday morning news show on TV One, the nation's second-largest black cable network.

He has also been invited to appear on my daily segment on "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," with 8 million listeners.

Although Priebus did tell me "yes" a year ago, on the day of the GOP primary debate in South Carolina, he has yet to show up and talk GOP politics to either of these audiences.

This is no shock to me, because most white Republicans I've invited appear to be deathly afraid to accept invites to appear on both shows. In fact, it has been tough even getting a callback or an e-mail from GOP staffers.

Since the debut of my show, "Washington Watch," in September 2009, we have had an open invitation for any member of the GOP House or Senate Conference to appear on the show. In four years, only four -- Reps. Tom Price (twice), Allen West, Steve King, and Pete Olson -- have appeared on the show.

Roland Martin

None was verbally attacked. None was called a bigot or a racist. None was prevented from talking. We had polite, but firm, discourse on multiple issues. Any of them would tell you I was more than fair, providing them with a forum to discuss their policy differences with President Barack Obama and Democrats.

Think about that: Even GOP backbenchers who rarely get called to appear on a national TV or radio show seem afraid to show up.

You would think they'd welcome a chance to share their policies with a constituency that routinely doesn't vote for them. But Republicans routinely pass it up, and then wonder why they don't get the votes of blacks and other minorities.

What I'm describing points up a much larger problem with the GOP and its inability to speak to issues that all voters care about.

That's why I find it interesting that at the GOP retreat this past weekend in Virginia, there was a session entitled, "Coalitions-Discussion on Successful Comms w/ Minorities & Women."

Comms stands for "communications."

If Republicans want to understand how to successfully communicate with minorities and women, it sure would help to actually go to the forums where minorities and women read, listen and watch.

When Michael Steele was chairman of the RNC, he appeared on my TV show and radio segments on many occasions. I could call him on his cell phone or at home and book him on a moment's notice. See, Steele understood that if you want to communicate a policy to black people, it helps to talk to them. Maybe his being black is the reason.

The mental block that keeps the GOP from engaging black folks and others could have something to do with its perception of the issues we care about.

For instance, a prominent black Republican in Illinois told me about a presentation a few years ago with party elders about how they could attract black voters. When it was all done, this Republican said, the first comment from the floor was, "We are not going to support welfare."

The group of black Republicans was puzzled: "We didn't even bring up welfare. What are you talking about?"

The GOP apparently has the idea that minorities don't care about education, taxes, entrepreneurship, homeownership, and a litany of other issues.

When Republicans speak to black folks and the main thing they have to say is that the GOP is the party of Lincoln and he freed the slaves, then you have a problem.

Yes, Republicans played a critical role in civil rights legislation during the 1950s and 1960s while Southern Democrats were obstructionists -- but it's the GOP's concern for blacks and minorities in the last four decades that has been troubling and problematic.

Republican consultants will say that cultivating minority voters is a waste of time. That's a short-term view. I would think that allowing the opposition party to get 90% of a group's vote without lifting a finger -- because your own ineptitude prevents you from making your case -- means trouble long-term.

Republicans could compete for minority votes if they were actually interested in listening to the concerns of said voters. But if they just want to talk to minority voters and not listen, they cannot compete.

I know a bunch of African-Americans who don't self-identify as Democrats. They, and I am one of them, have voted for both Republicans and Democrats. The issues that we care about vary. It's not about ideology or party; it's about what you can do to be of help to those in need.

If the GOP wants to learn how to communicate with minorities, it must listen to and work with the numerous minority Republicans who have been shouting this from the rooftop for years.

You want to hear evidence from a couple of white guys? Pick up the phone and call former U.S. Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio. He enjoyed sizable black support because when he was mayor of Cleveland, he didn't avoid minorities and treat them as outcasts. He sat down with them, shared their concerns, and worked on public policy -- together.

Give Mike Huckabee a ring. When he was governor of Arkansas, he earned a lot of black votes for the same reason as Voinovich. He has urged the GOP to reach out.

One issue where Republicans are finding themselves working with black civil rights leaders and pastors is in the area of sentencing reform. African-Americans see a legal system that has turned into a moneymaking machine for private prisons. GOP governors see state budgets out of control.

A major civil rights leader told me he has found more success working with GOP governors than Democratic governors on sentencing reform.

This is an example of what happens when individuals sit down, talk, share their concerns, and find common ground.

But as long as the GOP is scared to even sit down with black folks and other minorities, it can expect to keep getting dusted at the ballot box. And don't look to blame anyone else but yourselves, when you were given the chance and your own ignorance prevented you from reaching across the divide to talk.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.

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Romney to be honored Friday at D.C. luncheon

Mitt Romney will make it to Washington, D.C. for inauguration week after all.

The 2012 GOP presidential nominee and his wife Ann are scheduled to attend a luncheon in their honor Friday at Washington's J.W. Marriott hotel, National Journal reported this afternoon. The reception will be hosted by two of Romney's biggest campaign fundraisers: Virginia philanthropist Catherine Reynolds and hotel tycoon Bill Marriott, Jr.

Romney, a longtime friend to the Marriott family, serves on Marriott International's board of directors. While on the trail, he and his traveling staff stayed almost exclusively at Marriott hotels.

Having opted to spend Inauguration Day at his home in La Jolla, Calif., on Monday, Romney became the first presidential nominee since Michael Dukakis in 1989 to not attend the ceremonial event. But he's made at least one appearance in the nation's capital since the election: Several weeks following his loss, he enjoyed a lunch of white turkey chili with President Obama at the White House.

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Pentagon to Allow Women in Combat

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will lift a longstanding ban on women serving in combat, according to senior defense officials.

The services have until this May to come up with a plan to implement the change, according to a Defense Department official.

That means the changes could come into effect as early as May, though the services will have until January 2016 to complete the implementation of the changes.

"We certainly want to see this executed responsibly but in a reasonable time frame, so I would hope that this doesn't get dragged out," said former Marine Capt. Zoe Bedell, who joined a recent lawsuit aimed at getting women on the battlefield.

The military services also will have until January 2016 to seek waivers for certain jobs -- but those waivers will require a personal approval from the secretary of defense and will have to be based on rationales other than the direct combat exclusion rule.

The move to allow women in combat, first reported by the Associated Press, was not expected this week, although there has been a concerted effort by the Obama administration to further open up the armed forces to women.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously recommended in January to Secretary Panetta that the direct combat exclusion rule should be lifted.

"I can confirm media reports that the secretary and the chairman are expected to announce the lifting of the direct combat exclusion rule for women in the military," said a senior Defense Department official. "This policy change will initiate a process whereby the services will develop plans to implement this decision, which was made by the secretary of defense upon the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey sent Panetta a memo earlier this month entitled, "Women in Service Implementation Plan."

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"The time has come to rescind the direct combat exclusion rule for women and to eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service," the memo read.

"To implement these initiatives successfully and without sacrificing our warfighting capability or the trust of the American people, we will need time to get it right," he said in the memo, referring to the 2016 horizon.

Women have been officially prohibited from serving in combat since a 1994 rule that barred them from serving in ground combat units. That does not mean they have been immune from danger or from combat.

As Martha Raddatz reported in 2009, women have served in support positions on and off the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan, where war is waged on street corners and in markets, putting them at equal risk. Hundreds of thousands of women deployed with the military to those two war zones over the past decade. Hundreds have died.

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"The reality of the battlefield has changed really since the Vietnam era to where it is today," said Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a former military helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in combat. "Those distinctions on what is combat and what is not really are falling aside. So I think that after having seen women, men, folks who -- cooks, clerks, truck drivers -- serve in combat conditions, the reality is women are already in combat."

Woman have been able to fly combat sorties since 1993. In 2010, the Navy allowed them on submarines. But lifting restrictions on service in frontline ground combat units will break a key barrier in the military.

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Panetta's decision will set a January 2016 deadline for the military service branches to argue that there are military roles that should remain closed to women.

In February 2012 the Defense Department opened up 14,500 positions to women that had previously been limited to men and lifted a rule that prohibited women from living with combat units.

Panetta also directed the services to examine ways to open more combat roles to women.

However, the ban on direct combat positions has remained in place.

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