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White Plains newspaper The Journal- News, a Gannett publication, has published the full name and address of every licensed pistol permit holder in three New York counties. I don’t know whether the Journal’s publisher Janet Hasson is a permit holder herself, but here’s how to find her to ask: (UPDATE: Uh oh – InstaPundit’s linked here. Hundreds of thousands of readers; Janet, you have a great Christmas Eve) Janet Hasson, 3 Gate House Lane, Mamaroneck, NY 10534. Phone number: (914) 694-5204 Here’s a photo showing her Mamaroneck house – interior shots are on Zillow: UPDATE: From reader RJS: Gannett’s CEO- Gracia C Martore 728 Springvale Rd Great Falls, VA 22066 (703) 759-5954 The reporter on the story is Dwight R Worley 23006 139 Ave Springfield Gardens, NY 11413 (718) 527-0832 UPDATE: Intrepid readers have come up with all sorts of contacts for these people: EDITOR: Miss Royle’s married name is Lambert. She lives in White Plains and here is her Facebook page complete with pictures of her and her kids. Hello Sanctimony. http://www.facebook.com/CynDeeRoyle Cynthia R Lambert 17 Mcbride Ave White Plains, NY 10603 (914) 948-9388 Work: 914-694-5001 croyle@lohud.com https://twitter.com/croyle1 https://www.facebook.com/cyndee.royle.7 https://www.facebook.com/CynDeeRoyle Drives a red convertible:http://s13.postimage.org/k8ffnxuo7/cyndee_royle_aka_cynthia_lambert_red_convertible.jpg Family photo: http://s7.postimage.org/dkqtytvyj/cyndee_royle_aka_cynthia_lambert_fb_alt_private.jpg Publisher, Janet Hasson, 3 Gate House Lane, Mamaroneck NY, 10543 (914) 694-5204 Reporter, Dwight R. Worley, 23006 139 Ave Springfield Gardens, NY 11413 (718) 527-0832 The “Visual Editor” responsible for the map itself is: Robert F. Rodriguez Stephanie Azzarone Home (212) 222-4566 420 Riverside Dr, Apt 7A New York, NY 10025-7748 Publisher: Janet Hasson (@janhasson on twitter) 3 Gate House Rd, Mamaroneck, NY 10534 GANNET CEO: Gracia C Martore 728 Springvale Rd Great Falls, VA 22066 (703) 759-5954 Janet Hasson herself is married with one child, and her personal interests, as culled from her credit card records, are noted below: \|\|\|\|\| The map indicates the addresses of all Journal News Employees in the New York Tri-State area. Each dot represents an individual Journal News employee -- a reporter, editor or staffer. The data does not include freelancers — reporters or photographers — which can be hired without being an employee. Being included in this map does not mean the individual at a specific location is a responsible reporter or editor, just that they are a reporter or editor. Data for all categories is included, but certain information is not available on an individual basis. To create the map, Talk of the Sound submitted Google searches for the names and addresses of all Journal News employees in the New York Tri-State area. By state law, the information is public record. Readers are still putting together records and could not immediately provide some data. The map will be updated when that data is released. UPDATE: The Journal News has removed their gun map. Before you ask. "No, we are not taking down our map". My Washington Examiner Op-Ed is now up: Why I will not be taking down my map of Journal News employees View Journal News Employees in a larger map Welcome Instapundit readers! Thanks Glenn. Welcome For What It's Worth readers. Thanks Chris. Welcome Gateway Pundit readers. Thanks Jim. Welcome Newsbusters readers. Thanks Tom. Welcome Atlantic Wire and Yahoo! readers. Thanks J.K. Welcome readers of The Blaze. Thanks Liz. Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute has a thoughtful article on the journalistic considerations behind the Journal News decision to publish their map. I find myself entirely in agreement with his views on this issue. The problem is not that the Gannett-owned Journal News was too aggressive. The problem is that the paper was not aggressive enough in its reporting to justify invading the privacy of people who legally own handguns in two counties it serves. GOING GLOBAL: El Pais, the largest-circulated daily in Spain, has linked this article. Politiken, one of Denmark's leading papers, has linked this article. The Daily Mail, the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper, linked this article. Toronto Sun, one of Canada's largest papers, has linked this article. Lenta.ru, one of the most popular Russian language online resources, has linked this article. My map is a "rather sad-looking Google map" according to Rebecca at The Gothamist. The links and traffic coming into the site are now in hyperdrive so I can no longer update every single link. Let me just give a general shout out to: Newser, Wizbang Blog, Politico, The Jawa Report, American Thinker, The New York Observer, Mediaite, The Village Voice, Gawker, Huffington Post, Live Leak, GOPUSA, San Francisco Chronicle, Reddit, I Own The World, Breitbart Big Journalism, World News Daily, New York Magazine, Yahoo! News, The Wrap, Free Republic, Lucianne, Ann Coulter, BizzyBlog, BizPacReview, Opposing Views, The Hartford Courant. I appeared on the The Ben Ferguson Show on WBAP in Dallas, TX Thursday morning (with Guest Host Steve Malzberg). On 12/28, I appeared on the nationally syndicated Bill Bennett's Morning: Bill Bennet Radio Show Cox 2012 1228 (.mp3) On 12/28, I appeared on the Schnitt Show on 12/28. His show is syndicated on about 50 stations nationwide. Guest hosting is my pal Pat Campbell of the The Pat Campbell Show weekday mornings on 1170 KFAQ in Tulsa, OK: Schnitt Show Cox 2012 1228 (.mp3) Talk of the Sound readers and other bloggers are involved in a sort of a crowd-sourcing on gather home addresses and other contact information for Journal News employees. Based on reader submissions and this site in particular I have created a list of names and information sought. I then mapped what I had (above). I will add what more I get from readers and my own poking around. If you see some public data that matches, send me a link to [email protected] and I will add it as quick as I can. Be advised that the Journal News has been in downsizing mode for the past several years. I have to wonder if all these names are current employees but we will treat them as such until we learn otherwise. The map was begun with 11 names. Help fill in the blanks below. = loaded into Google map UPDATE 12/27 11:30 AM: With the assistance of readers JK, SS, BW, AH and others, the following entries have been updated and added to the map. More are on the way. Added Info: Janet Hasson, Ed Forbes. New Entry: Thane Grauel, Elizabeth Ganga, Rick Carpiniello, Liz Anderson (Elizabeth Anderson Steinke), Nicole Futterman. The map now has 16 names. You will note that one Journal News employee, Ian Thane Grauel, has recently removed his LinkedIn profile and Twitter account. Also, that Cyndee has removed her Facebook page and hidden her tweets. I have received requested to remove the names of former Journal News employees and freelancers from this list and will continue to do so if those people make such a request. UPDATE 12/27 6:30 PM: Updated the database for Stacy A. Anderson, Jane Lerner, Steve Lieberman and Herb Pinder but still no home address information so still not on the map. The database and map has been updated for Janet Hasson. New to the map are Robert Brum, Anjanette Rieger Delgado, Randi Weiner, James Kwasnik, Tania Savayan, Phil Reisman. The map now has 22 names. Liz Anderson removed photos of her children from her Facebook page. She has also changed her Twitter account from @lizsteinke to @lizscribe. UPDATE 12/28 1:30 PM: Readers have provided enough information to put Alex Weisler, Hema Easley, Frank A. Becerra, Jr and Jonathon Bandler on the map which now has 26 names. Make that 27 names, I just added Steve Lieberman after reader SM showed I needed to edit Nancy Cutler and Lieberman. I removed Nicole Futterman, Dan Donovan, Jamie O'Grady and Howard Megdal as I am informed they are not full-time employees. I removed Rebecca Baker because she no longer works at the paper. I am finding that the Journal News has a lot of people listed on its web site as working for them who do not seem to actually work for them. Today, based on popular demand, I made the following FOIL request to the County Clerk's in Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties. Dear Mr. Clerk, This is a public records request. I would like to obtain a copy of the FOIL request made by the Journal News on through which they obtained information on pistol permit, any follow up communications with them regarding that request as well as any documents they obtained under FOIL. If they filed any sort of litigation to obtain additional information (e.g. an Article 78, etc.) I would like to obtain that as well. If this is a matter of forwarding some emails I would consider that an acceptable fill of my request. Where possible I would like records in electronic format. If possible, I would like the electronic documents converted into standard Microsoft Office format (Word, Excel, etc.). I would like all communications including the delivery of documents to take place via email as much as is possible based on the nature of the available records.. I would like the Records Access Officer to certify that the records are genuine. If the documents only exist in paper form I am willing to pay. If the cost of converting the documents to a standard electronic format or making photos copies exceeds $20.00 I would like prior notification of the estimated cost to comply with this records request. Sincerely, Robert Cox Managing Editor Talk of the Sound UPDATE: 12/30 8:30 AM I was interviewed for this article below but none of my answers were included. The writer, Ms. O'Donnell failed to mention in her email to me or in the article itself that she was, up until recently, a long-time employee of the Journal News. Reuters: New York newspaper to list more gun permit holders after uproar by Noreen O'Donnell. While she did not include my explanation as to why I created the map, she did manage to find a journalism professor to call me "childish and petulant". Some critics retaliated by posting reporters' and editors' addresses and other personal information online. Howard Good, a journalism professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, called the critics' response childish and petulant. "It doesn't move the issue of gun control to the level of intelligent public discussion," he said. "Instead, it transforms what should be a rational public debate on a contentious issue into ugly gutter fighting." Draw your own conclusions about Ms. O'Donnell and Professor Good or why she gives him four paragraphs to criticize my actions and I get none to explain my actions. Here is my Q&A with the reporter that got left on the cutting-room floor. Q. What was your general reaction to the article and the map. A. Given the nature of my hyper-local site, I monitor lohud.com 24/7 so I saw the story as it was published to the web. I could not believe what I was seeing -- what I perceived to be a transparent attempt to intimidate and ostracize law-abiding citizens by using the Newtown murders as a pre-text to advance an anti-gun agenda and draw traffic to the site. You worked there so you know about their cost-cutting, outsourcing and pay-wall approach and how desperate things have become at the paper. At best, this map reeked of a stunt to drive traffic at the expense of private citizens who had done nothing that warranted having their privacy violated. In fact, I will not be surprised if there is a class-action lawsuit on privacy grounds. I can only laugh when the publisher claims the map is "journalism". The map is more like voyeurism than journalism with the Journal News acting as a digital "Peeping Tom", peering into the bedrooms of thousands of people just because they can. } The result is a map that is a bizarre form of "gun porn". The thought occurred to me to make a contra-Google Map the instant I saw the article. I was hesitant to do so because I am a First Amendment advocate and generally want to be supportive of newspapers and those who work there. I know plenty of people who work at Gannett, the Freedom Forum and the Newseum. I have spoken on panels at many of their events with people like Gene Policinski, Ken Paulson, John Seigenthaler and many others. I had the honor of being part of one of the inaugural exhibits at the Newseum for being the first blogger formerly credentialed as a blogger to cover a federal trial (Scooter Libby). I knew that creating such a contra-map was a serious, highly provocative move and would likely cause a number of the people referenced above to be very unhappy with me/ I mulled this over for two days. In the meantime my readers had taken it upon themselves to collect information about reporters and editors. They were also linking to Chris Fountain up in Greenwich, CT who is the one who really got the ball rolling. After being on the fence for a couple of days I decided to organize the efforts of my readers, create a crowd-sourcing project and start to build the contra-map. Q. Why did you decide to make the reporters' and editors' information public on the web. I trust you are aware that unlike most states, New York (and California) requires that a pistol permit holder to register EVERY handgun they own not just get the license. The initial Journal News FOIL request sought this information. I expect that the Journal News will ultimately prevail and get this information and update their map and make it searchable by weapon type. I would oppose that as I do the current iteration of the map. I did not want to merely respond but discourage further development of their map or at least give them pause. I wanted a direct and proportionate response in the spirit of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". I could not think of anything more direct and proportionate than flipping the script by using public records to map the folks at the Journal News the way they mapped my friends and neighbors. I hope they now realize that in the age of social media and blogs, the people known formerly as the audience, can throw a counterpunch from time to time. My map was my counterpunch. UPDATE: 12/30 8:45 AM Per my FOIL request (above) to the Putnam County Clerk, I obtain a copy of the email sent by the Journal News reporter who wrote the map story. From this it is clear the Journal News sought (and continues to seek) not to create just a map of "pistol permit holders" but a map of every gun registered in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties. The have requested information on every type of weapon including "manufacturer, type of weapon, caliber, serial number and model". Putnam-JN Pistol FOIL.pdf FOIL REQUEST Worley, Dwight [[email protected]] Mr. Bartolotti, Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 2:26 PM To: Michael Bartolotti Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request records or portions thereof pertaining to Putnam County’s pistol permit database. I am requesting the names, complete addresses, the type of permits issued (carry concealed/possess on premises/possess carry during employment), and the type of weapons possessed, including the weapon's manufacturer, type of weapon, caliber, serial number and model, for all permit holders in your database. Also, please provide a complete record layout and data dictionary for your pistol permits database. I would like all of the records in electronic format, such as a database, spreadsheet, plain text file or other digital format. I have been instructed instructed by you that state penal law prohibits the disclosure of the types of weapons possessed by permit holders even though such information is collected by the county. If it is determined that that category of information cannot be released please process my request, excluding the protected information, without delay. In your response, please indicate the specific sections of the law that expressly prohibit the disclosure of the protected information. As you know, all government records and data are presumed public unless there is a specific provision of law barring their release. So while the law expressly says names and addresses of permit holders are to be made public, if the law does not specifically bar the release of the types of permits issued and types of weapons possessed, that information can and should be released. In that case, I would expect that information to be included. As Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, has said in several opinions regarding the disclosure of pistol permit data beyond names and addresses, “the only instance in which records must be withheld would involve the case in which a statute prohibits disclosure. Again, as I interpret §400.00 of the Penal Law, there is nothing in that statute that precludes the custodian of the records at issue from disclosing the records.” If there are any fees for copying the records requested, please inform me before filling the request or please supply the records without informing me if the fees are not in excess of $25. This request is in relation to a news event. Because of the timely nature of this request, I ask that it be expedited. Also, because of time constraints, I ask that if there are any concerns or questions regarding this request that I be contacted by telephone at 914‐629‐1060 or by email at [email protected]. As you know, the Freedom of Information Law requires that an agency respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request. Therefore, I would appreciate a response as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you shortly. If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name and address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed. Thank you for your prompt attention. Dwight R. Worley \| Reporter/Data Analyst 1133 Westchester Avenue, Suite N110 White Plains, NY 10604 Voice: 914.629.1060 \| Fax: 914.694.5018 E-mail: [email protected] \| Web: lohud.com Twitter: twitter.com/lohud \| Facebook: facebook.com/lohud Foursquare: foursquare.com/lohud \| tumblr: lohud.tumblr.com Michael C. Bartolotti, First Deputy County Clerk of the Putnam Count Clerk's Office, responded to Worley on December 21st. Putnam-Pistol List FOIL 1.pdf Dwight R. Worley Journal News Media Group 1133 Westchester Avenue Suite N110 White Plains, NY 10604 RE: FOIL request Dear Mr. Worley: This office is in receipt of your electronic mail message dated December 17th, 2012 in which you request certain information in electronic format for all pistol permit files maintained by this office. This request is quite involved and will yield voluminous results. Further, certain information requested may be withheld due to operation of law. This office is currently working with its IT provider to compile the requested information. Upon a complete compilation of the information suitable for dissemination we will provide you with an estimate of cost as well as instructions on how to complete your request. I hope that you can work with this office by illustrating patience and if you have any questions please contact this office. Thank you very much. Sincerely Michael C. Bartolotti For those not familiar with the Freedom of Information Law in New York State, as a general summary, an agency has 5 business days to acknowledge receipt of a request for information and 22 business days after that to deny, fulfill or partially deny/partially fulfill a records request. After the 22 days the agency must provide the records or explain why they need more time and then provide a date certain when the records will be available. As a practical matter, a public records officer can keep a request pending for 27 business days and the requestor has no grounds to appeal or challenge the agency. Agencies can also charge for records based on a scale described in the statute. In this case, the Clerk got the request on Monday December 17th. The Clerk then waited until the last day of the week, Friday December 21st before acknowledging receipt and has still not provided the records. Adding in three holidays -- Christmas, New Year's Day and Martin Luther King Day -- the clerk does not have to deliver the records until January 25th, 2013. The Clerk's in Rockland County and Westchester County had the same option and chose to expedite the request. Readers can draw their own conclusions as to why 2 clerks turned over the requested records a month earlier than required and 1 clerk has still not turned over the requested records. I hope to have a copy of communications between the Journal News and the other two clerks soon. UPDATE: 12/30 9:22 AM This is interesting, from the Christian Science Monitor In an online survey, the Journal News finds overwhelming support – 89-11 percent – for the proposal to keep gun ownership private. UPDATE: 12/30 9:24 AM We made Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journal_News#Controversy UPDATE: 12/30 9:30 AM The Westchester County Firearm Owners Association is an organization whose members were most directly targeted by the Journal News. They view the map as an attempt by the paper to "intimidate and bully lawful gun-owning citizens". In response, the WCFOA has compiled a list of Journal News Advertisers. gannett_advertisers_12-28-2012_c.pdf There has been a great deal of interest from readers in such a list so, with permission, we reprint that list below. The list is based on online resources and volunteers reviewing the print editions of the paper to identify advertisers. According to the WCFOA, the focus was on consumer-oriented advertiser so not every advertised was included in this list. The WCFOA is encouraging its members and supporters to write a short letter which starts by "quickly outlining the irresponsible Journal News act of publishing the names and addresses of pistol license holders (and a Google Map with directions and family members names)". The want the letters to state "you will no longer patronize any advertiser who uses Gannett unless and until that advertiser withholds further ads until Gannett takes down the pistol license page and ceases attacking lawful firearm ownership." MAJOR AND NATIONAL ADVERTISERS AARON'S aarons.com 1-877-607-9999 1-800-950-7368 Garet Hayes Senior Vice President Hope-Beckham, Inc. Office: 404.604.2602 Mobile: 770.403.8720 [email protected] Ace Hardware acehardware.com 2200 Kensington Court Oak Brook, IL 60523 U.S.A 1-866-290-5334 1.630.990.6600 ALDI Grocery aldi.us Aldi Inc. 1200 N Kirk Rd, Batavia, IL 60510-1443, United States Phone: (630) 879-8100 Corporate Phone Number: 1-630-879-8100 Babies 'R Us babiesrus.com Babies R Us Corporate Office Headquarters Toys R Us, Inc. 1 Geoffrey Way Wayne, NJ 07470-2030 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-973-617-3500 Fax: 973-617-4006 Customer Service Number: 1-888-222-9787 Best Buy bestbuy.com Best Buy Corporate Office Headquarters in the USA: 7601 Penn Avenue South Richfield, MN 55423 Corporate Phone Number: 1-612-291-1000 Corporate Fax Number: 1-612-292-4001 Corporate Email: [email protected] the email [email protected] does not work. Please publish the below instead. Thanks. Susan Busch, Senior Director, Public Relations (612) 291-6114 or [email protected] Lisa Hawks, Director, Public Relations (612) 291-6150 or [email protected] or [email protected] Bloomingdales Corporate Office Headquarters Bloomingdale's, Inc. a division of Macy's 1000 3rd Ave. New York, New York 10022 USA Website: http://www.bloomingdales.com/ Corporate Phone Number: 1-212-705-2000 Customer Service Number: 1-800-777-0000 CVS Stores's Corporate Office Headquarters in the USA: CVS Caremark One CVS Drive Woonsocket, RI 02895 Corporate Phone Number: 1-401-765-1500 Corporate Fax Number: 1-401-762-2137 Corporate Email: [email protected] Dick's Sporting Goods Corporate Office Headquarters 300 Industry Drive RIDC Park West Pittsburgh, PA 15275 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-724-273-3400 Fax Number: n/a Customer Service Phone Number: 1-877-846-9997 GNC Corporate Office Headquarters 300 Sixth Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-412-288-4600 Customer Service Number: 1-877-462-4700 Office Depot Corporate Office Headquarters 6600 North Military Trail Boca Raton, Florida 33449 Corporate Phone Number: 1-561-438-4800 Corporate Fax Number: 1-561-438-4400 Corporate Email: [email protected] IKEA America USA 420 Alan Wood Rd. Conshohocken, PA 19428 USA Ikea USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-610-834-0180 Customer Service Number USA: 1-800-434-4532 JoAnn Fabrics Corporate Office Headquarters 5555 Darrow Rd. Hudson, Ohio 44236 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-330-656-2600 Fax Number: 1-330-463-6675 Customer Service Number: 1-888-739-4120 K Mart Corporate Office Headquarters Sears, Roebuck and Company (kmart.com) 3333 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60179 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-847-286-2500 Corporate Fax Number: 1-847-286-8351 Customer Service Number: 1-866-562-7848 Kohl's Corporate Office Headquarters N56 W17000 Ridgewood Drive Menomonee Falls, WI 53051 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-262-703-7000 Fax Number: 1-262-703-6143 Customer Service Number: 1-866-887-8884 Lowes Corporate Office Headquarters in the USA: 1000 Lowe's Blvd. Mooresville, NC 28117 Corporate Phone Number: 1-704-758-1000 Corporate Fax Number: 1-336-658-4766 Corporate Email: [email protected] Macy's Macys Corporate Office Headquarters HQ: 7 West Seventh Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Corporate Phone Number: 1-513-579-7000 Michaels Corporate Office Headquarters Michaels Stores, Inc. 8000 Bent Branch Dr. Irving, TX 75063 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-972-409-1300 Fax Number: 1-972-409-1556 Customer Service Number: 1-800-642-4235 Naturalizer Shoes 712 Lexington Ave New York, NY 10022 (212) 759-3094 Office Depot Corporate Office Headquarters 6600 North Military Trail Boca Raton, Florida 33449 Corporate Phone Number: 1-561-438-4800 Corporate Fax Number: 1-561-438-4400 Corporate Email: [email protected] OfficeMax Corporate Office Headquarters 263 Shuman Boulevard Naperville, IL 60563 Corporate Phone Number: 1-630-438-7800 Petco Corporate Office Headquarters Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc. 9125 Rehco Rd. San Diego, California 92121 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-858-453-7845 Fax Number: 1-858-784-3489 Customer Service Number: 1-888-824-7257 PetSmart Corporate Office Headquarters PetSmart, Inc. 19601 North 27th Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85027 United States Corporate Phone Number: 1-623-580-6100 Fax: 1-623-395-6517 Customer Service Number: 1-888-839-9638 Proctor & Gamble Procter and Gamble Corporate Office Headquarters One Procter & Gamble Plaza Cincinnati, OH 45202 United States Corporate Phone Number: 1-513-983-1100 Fax: 1-513-983-4381 Customer Service Number: Product Specific Email: Online Only Radio Shack Corporate Office Headquarters RadioShack Corporation 300 RadioShack Circle, Mail Stop CF3-201 Fort Worth, TX 76102-1964 United States Corporate Phone Number: 1-817-415-3011 Fax Number: 1-817-415-2647 Customer Service Number: 1-800-843-7422 Sears Corporate Office Headquarters in the USA: Address: 3333 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60179 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-847-286-2500 Corporate Fax Number: 1-847-286-8351 Corporate Email: [email protected] Sleepy's sleepys.com Mattress Giant Corporate Office Headquarters Mattress Firm Holding Corp. 5815 Gulf Freeway Houston, TX 77023 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-713-923-1090 Customer Service Number: 1-866-942-3551 Staples Corporate Office Headquarters Five Hundred Staples Drive Framingham, MA 01702 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-508-253-5000 Fax Number: 1-508-253-8989 Customer Service Number: 1-800-333-3330 Target Corporate Office Headquarters HQ in the USA: 1000 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55403 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-612-304-6073 Corporate Fax Number: 1-612-761-5555 Corporate Email: Online only at http://www.target.com/ Toys R Us Corporate Office Headquarters Toys R Us, Inc. 1 Geoffrey Way Wayne, NJ 07470-2030 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-973-617-3500 Fax: 973-617-4006 Customer Service Number: 1-800-869-7787 Email: Online Only True Value Corporate Office Headquarters True Value Company 8600 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Chicago, IL 60631-3505 USA Corporate Phone Number: 1-773-695-5000 Customer Service Number: 1-773-695-5000 Verizon Verizon Corporate Office Headquarters 140 West Street New York, NY 10007 Corporate Phone Number: 1-212-395-1000 Corporate Fax Number: 1-212-571-1897 Walmart Corporate Office Headquarters in the USA 702 SW 8th Street Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611 Corporate Phone Number: 1-800-925-6278 or 1-479-273-4000 Corporate Fax Number: 1-479-277-1830 Corporate Email: [email protected] Walgreen Company Corporate Office 106 Wilmot Road, MS 1640 Deerfield, IL 60015 1-847-940-2500 Online Inquiries: 1-877-250-5823 Store Inquiries: 1-800-WALGREENS 1-800-925-4733 walgreens.com LOCAL ADVERTISERS: Acorn Starlifts acornstarlifts.com US Corporate office Acorn Stairlifts Inc. 7335 Lake Ellenor Drive Orlando Florida 32809 USA General Enquiries: 888-212-8995 1-877-281-5259 Acura of Ramsey www.AcuraOfRamsey.com 65 Route 17 South Ramsey, NJ 1-201-934-8200 Arroway Chevrolet www.ArrowayChevy.com Route 117 Mt. Kisco, NY 1-888-277-6929 Batteries & Bulbs Plus 300 Tarrytown Road White Plains, NY 1-914-997-9400 Big Dee Volvo www.BigDeeVolvo.com 262 East Main Street Elmsford, NY 1-866-395-6386 Bill Kolb Jr. Subaru www.BKCars.com Route 30 Orangeburg, NY 1-866-414-0814 Brewster Honda brewsterhonda.com 899 Route 22 Brewster, NY 1-845-278-4100 Croton Auto Park Route 9A & 129 Croton-On-Hudson, NY 1-914-271-5100 Curry Honda curryhonda.com 3845 Crompond Road Yorktown Heights, NY 1-866-486-9463 Curry Hyundai www.curryhyundai.com 3040 East Main Street Cortlandt Manor, NY 1-866-429-7471 Curry Nissan www.CurryNissan.com 3495 Crompond Road Yorktown Heights, NY 1-877-876-5324 Curry Subaru www.CurrySubaru.com 3040 East Main Street Cortlandt Manor, NY 1-866-489-2664 Curry Toyota CurryToyota.com 3026 East Main Street Cortlandt Manor, NY 1-888-886-0695 DCH Paramus Honda www.DCHParamusHonda.com 120 Route 4 East Paramus, NJ 1-877-606-1414 DCH Toyota Scion City dchtoyotacity.com 1305 E. Boston Post Road Mamaroneck, NY 10543 1-888-460-7112 Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway www.empirecitycasino.com 810 Yonkers Avenue Yonkers, NY 10704 1-914-968-4200 First Street www.jitterbugdirect.com 1998 Ruffin Mill Road Colonial Heights, VA 1-877-665-3312 Honda of New Rochelle www.HondaOfNewRochelle.com 25 East Main Street New Rochelle, NY 1-800-639-8294 First Street jitterbugdirect.com 1998 Ruffin Mill Road Colonial Heights, VA 1-877-665-3312 Hyundai of White Plains hyundaiofwhiteplains.com 130 Westchester Avenue White Plains, NY 1-800-730-7903 Jennifer Convertibles jenniferconvertibles.com 2373 Central Avenue Yonkers, NY 1-914-779-0214 Jennifer Convertibles www.jenniferconvertibles.com 2373 Central Avenue Yonkers, NY 1-914-779-0214 Jim Harte Nissan www.JimHarteNissan.com 283 North Bedford Road Mt. Kisco, NY 1-877-661-4901 KIA of West Nyack www.KiaOfWestNyack.com 250 Route 303 North West Nyack, NY 1-845-353-1919 Liberty Hyundai www.LibertyHyundai.com 305 Route 17 North Mahwah, NJ 1-201-529-2400 Mt. Kisco Honda mtkiscohonda.com Route 117 Bedford Hills, NY 1-914-666-0030 New Country Audi of Greenwich www.NewCountryAudi.com 181 West Putnam Avenue Greenwich, NY 1-203-661-1800 New Rochelle Chevrolet www.newrochellechevyny.com 291 Main Street New Rochelle, NY 1-800-750-2651 New Rochelle Hyundai www.HyundaiOfNewRoc.com 125 East Main Street New Rochelle, NY 1-914-654-8300 New Rochelle Toyota newrochelletoyota.com 47 Cedar Street New Rochelle, NY 1-888-498-4843 Nissan City www.nissancity.com 225 Boston Post Road Port Chester, NY 1-866-589-2356 P.C. Richard & Son, LLC pcrichardc.om 150 Price Pkwy. Farmingdale, New York 11735 USA 1-866-419-4096 Rockland Nissan www.RocklandNissan.com 608 Route 303 South Blauvelt, NY 1-888-614-8898 Rye Ford ryeford.com 1151 Boston Post Road Rye, NY 1-914-967-6300 Schultz Ford-Lincoln 877shultz.com 80 Route 304 Nanuet, NY 1-845-624-3600 Stickley Audi & Company stickleyaudi.com 207 W. 25th Street Manhattan, NY 1-212-337-0700 Tarrytown Honda tarrytownhonda.com 480 S. Broadway Tarrytown, NY 1-888-408-0673 Varmax Liquor Pantry varmax.com 19 Putnam Avenue Port Chester, NY 10573 1-914-937-4930 Westchester Subaru www.westchestersubaru.com 258 East Main Street Elmsford, NY 1-888-747-8929 Westchester Toyota www.westchestertoyota.com 2167 Central Park Avenue Yonkers, NY 10710 1-888-560-6662 Sales: 888-224-4595 Fax: 914-779-7623 White Plains Dodge Chrysler Jeep www.WhitePlainsChrysler.com 70 Westchester Avenue White Plains, NY 1-800-679-0328 White Plains Buick GMC www.WhitePlainsBuickGMC.com 358 Central Avenue White Plains, NY 1-800-799-6795 White Plains Honda whiteplainshonda.com 344 Central Avenue White Plains, NY 10606 1-877-553-9292 World Wide BMW worldwidebmw.com 125 E. Route 59 Spring Valley, NY 1-800-635-2697 UPDATED 12/30 5:45 PM Stacy A. Anderson and Yaron Weitzman were removed as they no longer work at the Journal News. Nancy Cutler, Elizabeth Ganga, Thane Grauel were on the map and updated. Scott Faubel is not on the map but was updated. New to the map are Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, Terence Corcoran, Jon Campbell, George Troyano, Brian Tumulty, Greg Shillinglaw, YS------, Shawn Cohen, Jane Lerner, Herb Pinder, Marcela Rojas, Eileen Zaccagnino, Mary Dolan, Theresa Juva-Brown, Laura Incalcaterra, and Colin Gustafson. There are 92 names on the list. That gets up to 42 names on the map. So we are just short of half at this point although may me understanting things as some of the 92 may no longer work at the Journal News or work as freelancers. We are only interested in full-time employees. The list is now color-coded. Employees in GREEN are on the map but may be missing some information which is indicated in RED. Employees in ALL RED are not on the map because we do not have home address information. There have been hundreds of emails with lots of suggestions but there are a few folks that have been working these names very hard over the past couple days and I want to acknowledge them by initials -- JK, PT, BM, BG, SM, CB, MR, GA, JD, SK, BW, SS, RH, GB, UPDATED 12/31 4:45 PM Removed Robert Marchant, he no longer works at the Journal News Add to the map are Vincent Mercogliano, Carrie Yale, Heather Salerno, Mauro Ferrotta, Scott Faubel, John Czarnecki, Terence Corcoran, Colin Gustafson, Ned Rauch, Marcela Rojas, Matthew Brown, Gary McGriff, Akiko Matsuda, Linda Lombroso, Betsy Lombardi, Elaine Kirsch, Robert Brum. That makes it 57 of 91 or 63%. We have 34 names left to either clear (are not full-time employees) or get on the map. They are Chris Brown , Albert Conte, Ed Cummins , Wilfred David , Mike Dougherty, Ricky Flores, Ernie Garcia, Tessa Garcia, Tim Henderson, Lee Higgins, Brian Howard, Liz Johnson , Chad Jennings, Peter Kramer, Rich Liebson , Cara Matthews , Sean Mayer, Joe McDonald, Caryn McBride , Mike Meaney , Jill Mercadante, Kathy Moore, Mareesa Nicosia, Cathey O’Donnell, James O'Rourke, Leah Rae , Ben Rubin, Khurram Saeed, Erik Shilling , Joe Spector, Gary Stern, Alex Taylor, and Chris Vaughan. As noted above, names below in GREEN are on the map but may be missing a single item (marked in RED). Names in red are the ones not yet on the map. UPDATED 1/1 6:30 PM Liz Johnson, Mike Meaney, Wilfred David, Cara Matthews were added to the map. YS------ was edited because we got an exact address. Chris Brown was removed because he is a freelancer. That makes it 61 of 90 or 68%. UPDATED 1/2 2:30 PM The following were added to the map: Caryn McBride, Mareesa Nicosia, Leah Rae, Erik Shilling, Ed Cummins and Rich Liebson. Ben Rubin was removed because he does not work there anymore. That gets us to 77 out of 89 or 75%. We have 12 names left to either clear (are not full-time employees) or get on the map. They are Albert Conte, Mike Dougherty, Ricky Flores, Ernie Garcia, Tessa Garcia , Tim Henderson , Lee Higgins, Brian Howard, Chad Jennings, Peter Kramer, Sean Mayer, Joe McDonald, Jill Mercadante , Kathy Moore, Cathey O’Donnell , James O'Rourke, Khurram Saeed, Joe Spector, Gary Stern, Alex Taylor, and Chris Vaughan . UPDATED 1/2 6:30 PM The following were added to the map: Jill Mercadante, Chris Vaughan, Tim Henderson, Tessa Garcia. Cathey O’Donnell was removed because she does not work there anymore. Wow! That gets us to 71 of 83 or 86% We have 12 names left to either clear (are not full-time employees) or get on the map. They are Albert Conte, Mike Dougherty, Ricky Flores, Ernie Garcia, Lee Higgins, Brian Howard, Chad Jennings, Peter Kramer, Sean Mayer , Joe McDonald , Kathy Moore, James O'Rourke, Khurram Saeed, Joe Spector , Gary Stern , and Alex Taylor. ADDED: Sean Mayer, Joseph Spector, Gary Stern REMOVED: Joe McDonald (no longer works at Journal News. That gets us to 74 of 82 or 90%. We have 8 names left. SMALL FAVOR TO MY TEAM: While I have this crack team of researches hard at work I will take everything you can find on these two individuals James Vincent Bonanno and his son, Vince James Bonanno. You can certainly appreciate that given my willingness to take on causes like this Journal News map I have made more than my share of The Bonannos are currently suing me for defamation in New York State Supreme Court because I accurately reported on their various misdeeds. They both work for the local school district. This is the father… James Vincent Bonanno 24 Ronalds Avenue New Rochelle, NY Not sure where the son lives… Vince James Bonanno ("Little Jimmy") Any information you can pull on them will be appreciated. Little Jimmy, a heroin addict who is in the Westchester County Methadone Program has at least one prior arrest that I know of, not sure about the father. I believe the father is also involved in various side-businesses. JOURNAL NEWS REPORTERS/EDITORS/STAFF The Journal News/LoHud.com Main Office: The Journal News 1133 Westchester Avenue Suite N110 White Plains, NY 10604 Main phone number: 914-694-9300 Report breaking news: 914-694-5077 The Journal News/LoHud.com Mount Kisco Bureau The Journal News 1133 Westchester Avenue 185 Kisco Avenue Mount Kisco, NY 10549 Main phone number: 914-666-6579 The Mt. Kisco office of The Journal News covers news and newsmakers in northern Westchester and Putnam. It is staffed editorially with advertising. Breaking news, features and editorials. Liz Anderson (Elizabeth Anderson Steinke) Westchester/Putnam Local News Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 226 Read Avenue Tuckahoe, NY 10707 Home Phone: 914-779-2081 Work Phone: 914-696-8538 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizsteinke, https://twitter.com/lizsteinkelizscribe FB: https://www.facebook.com/lizsteinke LinkedIN: Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/2429594937/al4lffav3ybii4f0df34.png Jonathan Bandler Investigations Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 600 Columbus Ave #3H New York, NY 10024 212-579-7348 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonbandler FB: http://www.facebook.com/jon.bandler LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jon-bandler/12/586/851 Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1764573322/.jpg Frank A. Becerra, Jr. Photographer The Journal News/LoHud.com 20 Ernest Road Brewster, NY 10509-4336 845-278-1933 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/frank.becerra.37 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/frank-becerra/17/b00/4a0 Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/fbecerra.jpg Matthew Brown Photographer The Journal News/LoHud.com 90 Wood Street Mahopac, NY 10541-4904 914-769-5845 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattBrownLoHud FB: LinkedIN: Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/mbrown.jpg Matthew Brown joined The Journal News in March 1994. He covers a variety of assignments as a Visual Journalist for The Journal News and LoHud.com. For the past year, he has been able to bring his cameras into the schools, covering visual stories of interest to the communities in White Plains, Valhalla, Elmsford and Greenburgh School districts. Prior to that, he could be seen on the sidelines covering major and local sporting events or behind the scenes covering local news in the tri-county coverage area of The Journal News. Prior to coming to work for the Journal News, he worked as a Sports Picture Editor for the Providence (R.I.) Journal and as a Boston-based freelance photojournalist for the Associated Press wire service. Robert Brum Northern Westchester News Manager The Journal News/LoHud.com 11 Deer Tree Ln Unit 1102 Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510-1752 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-666-6579 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: http://www.http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbrum Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_200_200/p/1/000/024/2b2/399d064... Jon Campbell State Government Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 150 State Street Albany, NY 12207 Home Phone: Work Phone:518-436-9781 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonCampbellGAN FB: https://www.facebook.com/jon.campbell.184?ref=ts&fref=ts LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/jon-campbell/13/20b/424/ Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/media/p/1/000/095/3dd/018d1df.jpg Rick Carpiniello Rangers Beat Writer The Journal News/LoHud.com 25 Parry Road Stamford, CT 06907 203-979-1226 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/RangersReport, https://twitter.com/CarpRick FB: LinkedIN: Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1423479317/carp.jpg Peter Carr Photographer The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/peter.carr.5496 LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-carr/25/364/795 Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/pcarr.jpg Shawn Cohen Westchester County Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 5800 Arlington Ave, Apt 20V Bronx, NY 10471-1422 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-694-5046 Work Email: [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/spccohen FB: https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/shawn.cohen.37 LinkedIN: Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/2321165831/a89l10n9fkakp0ii7dbi_big... Albert Conte Photo Reprints The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-696-8401 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/albert-conte/24/120/418 Image File: Terence Corcoran Northern Westchester and Putnam County The Journal News/LoHud.com 20 Park South Dr Rye, NY 10580 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/corcoranterence FB: https://www.facebook.com/terence.corcoran.3 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/terence-corcoran/20/802/67 Image File: https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash3/c76.0.453.453/s160... Karen Croke LoHud Weekend The Journal News/LoHud.com 15 Grove Street Pleasantville, NY 10570-2103 914-769-9234 Work Phone: 914-696-8267 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenCroke https://twitter.com/livinghereNY FB: https://www.facebook.com/karen.croke.12#!/kcroke1 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/karen-croke/a/1a1/71b Image File: https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/c59.59.732.732/s16... Ed Cummins News Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 21 Harrison Street Croton, NY 10520-2132 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/ed.cummins.54 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ed-cummins/16/413/5a5 Image File: http://www.newrochelletalk.com/files/EdCummins.jpg Nancy Cutler Opinion Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 81 Elysian Avenue Nyack, NY 10960 845-353-4647 Work Phone: 845-578-2403 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancyrockland FB: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.cutler.16 LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/nancy-cutler/10/412/44 Image File: http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/1307085494/nancyhedshottjndc5-5bhwwlg... John Czarnecki Home Delivery Operations Manager The Journal News/LoHud.com 31 Midland Ave Apt White Plains, NY 10606-2824 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-696-8540 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/john-czarnecki/3/a24/755 Image File: Wilfred David Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 32 Undercliff Street Apt 2 Yonkers, NY 10705-1433 914-965-1695 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/will-david/1b/27/809 Image File: Will covers police news in New Rochelle, Scarsdale, Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Mount Vernon and Yonkers. Anjanette Rieger Delgado Interactivity Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 7 Sunset Trail New Fairfield, CT 06812 203-746-6429 Work Phone: 914-694-5072 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/anjdelgado FB: https://www.facebook.com/anjanette.delgado LinkedIN: Image File: http://www.gannett.com/assets/pdf/5Z170359212.JPG Mary Dolan Deputy Managing Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 70 Morningside Drive Croton, NY 10520-2807 914-271-7929 Work Phone: 914-694-5230 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/featuresed FB: LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/mary-dolan/62/645/397 (REMOVED) Image File: http://www.gannett.com/assets/pdf/5Z170361212.JPG Mike Dougherty Sports Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/hoopsmbd FB: LinkedIN: Image File: Hema Easley Clarkstown Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 18 Bianca Boulevard Chester, NY 10918 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/EasleyH FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/hema-easley/23/690/26 Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/heasley.jpg Scott Faubel White Plains News Manager The Journal News/LoHud.com 20 Bursley Place White Plains, NY 10605 914-289-0497 Work Phone: 914-696-8569 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/#!/d.scott.faubel LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/d-scott-faubel/18/4b6/25b Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/sfaubel.jpg D. Scott Faubel is The Journal News/LoHud.com’s assistant local editor for central Westchester. He has been with the organization nearly 30 years, working in many of the communities it covers on the east side of the Hudson River. He grew up in Westchester and Putnam counties and now lives in White Plains. Mauro Ferrotta Single Copy Manager The Journal News/LoHud.com 19 Mayflower Avenue Dover Plains, NY 12522-5610 845-298-9037 Work Phone: 914-694-5233 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash3/c0.5.180.180/s160x160/5408_... LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mauro-ferrotta/1b/499/79b Image File: http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash3/c0.5.180.180/s160x160/5408_... Jorge Fitz-Gibbon Investigations Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 53B Van Cortlandt Avenue Ossining, NY 10562-3308 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-694-5016 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/jfitzgibbon FB: https://www.facebook.com/jorge.fitzgibbon?fref=ts LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/jorge-fitz-gibbon/4/9ab/80a/ Image File:http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/677617775/Picture_1_reasonably_small.png Ed Forbes Digital Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 67 Grandview Drive Mount Kisco, NY 10549 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-696-8488 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/edforbes FB: https://www.facebook.com/ed.forbes LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/edforbes Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1985407680/FORBES_ED_MUG_TWITTER.jpg Ricky Flores Photographer The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: 914-500-8523 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ricky_Flores FB: https://www.facebook.com/Flores.photography LinkedIN: Image File: Elizabeth Ganga Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 29 Vollmer Avenue Norwalk, CT 06851 Home Phone: 203-847-2215 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/eganga FB: https://www.facebook.com/#!/elizabeth.ganga.5, https://www.facebook.com/#!/elizabeth.ganga.5.5 (REMOVED) LinkedIN: Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/elizabethganga.jpg Elizabeth Ganga covers the towns of North Castle and North Salem along with the North Salem and Byram Hills school districts. She has worked for The Journal News/LoHud.com since 2000. Ernie Garcia Small Business/Consumer News Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-696-8290 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/YonkersReporter FB: https://www.facebook.com/#!/ernie.garcia.777158 LinkedIN: Image File:https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/271089_107153612714282_37636... Tessa Garcia Director, Marketing and Client Solutions The Journal News/LoHud.com 4 Echo Lane Warwick, NY 10990-2707 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-694-5188 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tessa-garcia/9/928/291/ Image File: Thane Grauel (Ian Thane Grauel) Local Editor Rockland/Digital Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 29 Vollmer Avenue Norwalk CT 06851 Home Phone: 203-847-2215 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/thaneg (REMOVED) FB: https://www.facebook.com/#!/thaneg LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/thane-grauel/9/35/957 (REMOVED) Image File: https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/2516613099/2oen7uzstpecbyeh... Colin Gustafson Reporter for Yonkers and Mount Vernon The Journal News/LoHud.com 327 Henry Street Apt 1F Brooklyn, NY 11201-6757 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-694-5077 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/GustafsonC FB: https://www.facebook.com/colin.gustafson.9 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/colin-gustafson/54/2b3/195 Image File: https://profile-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ash3/c127.37.466.466/s160x160/64... Colin grew up in Washington, D.C., went to college in St. Paul, Minn., and now lives in Queens. Before joining The Journal News, he worked as an education reporter for Greenwich Time, a daily newspaper in Connecticut. Before that, he was a contributor to the business desk at the New York Sun and an assistant managing editor at the weekly Queens Chronicle. Seth Harrison Photographer The Journal News/LoHud.com 107 Valleyview Rd Irvington, NY 10533 (914) 231-5411 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/seth.harrison.391 LinkedIN: Image File: Seth Harrison has been a staff photographer at The Journal News since 1987. In that time, he has covered 9/11, elections in Israel, national political conventions, several World Series, and all facets of local news. Covering national and international events is exciting, however Harrison gains tremendous satisfaction telling the stories close to home. "The mother who has dedicated her life to helping to find a cure for the rare and fatal disease that afflicts her son, the story of troubled children housed in residential treatment centers, or the scores of young Mormon's who come to this area every year to try to spread their faith, are the types of stories that allow me to step in to the lives of our neighbors and offer a glimpse of lives that, while unfolding right around the corner, are very different from our own." Harrison has a bachelor's degree in photojournalism from Rochester Institute of Technology. A lower Westchester resident, he was born in Brooklyn, and grew up in Yonkers and Hastings-on-Hudson. He is married with three daughters. Janet Hasson Publisher The Journal News/LoHud.com 3 Gate House Lane Mamaroneck, NY 10543 Home Phone: (914) 694-5204 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/janet-hasson/6/316/254 Zillow: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17-Mcbride-Ave-White-Plains-NY-10603/3... Image File: http://www.westchestermagazine.com/images/2011/BLOGS/June/914INC/Blog_Ja... Tim Henderson Data Analyst The Journal News/LoHud.com 111 W Washington Avenue Pearl River, NY 10965-2112 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/timhendo FB: https://www.facebook.com/henderson.tim LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tim-henderson/4/264/429 Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/2797748958/0aa24ccd8e093b25a31ee47b... Lee Higgins Breaking News Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-696-8570 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeeHiggins FB: LinkedIN: Image File: Brian Howard Social Media Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-666-6177 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheBrianHoward FB: https://www.facebook.com/howard.brian#!/HowardBrianJ LinkedIN: linkd.in/UbA6UX Image File: Laura Incalcaterra Reporter for Rockland Government/Politics, Environment, Development and Housing The Journal News/LoHud.com 78 Regina Road Airmont, NY 10952 845-356-9215 Work Phone: 845-578-2486 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraLoHud (REMOVED) FB: LinkedIN: Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/lincalcaterra.jpg Laura Incalcaterra covers the environment, open space and zoning and planning issues for The Journal News. A Boston College graduate, Laura grew up in Rockland, attended East Ramapo schools and has worked for The Journal News since 1993. Laura has written features and covered North Rockland, crime, government and a host of other issues. Liz Johnson Food Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 4A Ross Avenue #A Nyack, NY 10960-4309 845-353-3351 Work Phone: 914-694-5075 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/small_bites FB: https://www.facebook.com/sourcherryfarm LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lizzyj Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1129012341/lizjohnson09_bigger.JPG Theresa Juva-Brown Transportation Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 21302 75th Avenue Apt #4D Oakland Gardens, NY 11364-3348 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-393-0863 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/TJuva FB: https://www.facebook.com/theresa.juvabrown LinkedIN: Image File: http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/2982488616/4c8bab6336fcbd5ee6f04c5286... Chad Jennings LoHud Yankees Beat Writer The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoHudYankees FB: LinkedIN: Image File: Elaine Kirsch Director/Circulation Operations The Journal News/LoHud.com 22 Marget Ann Lane Suffern, NY 10901-3313 845-358-0787 Work Phone: 914-696-8511 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/elaine-kirsch/b/a97/373 Image File: Peter Kramer Theater The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeterKramer FB: LinkedIN: Image File: James Kwasnik Online Director The Journal News/LoHud.com Harrison, NY 10528 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-694-5172 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/schmooze FB: https://www.facebook.com/jameskwasnik LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jameskwasnik Image File: http://m3.licdn.com/mpr/pub/image-TILqHxAbKWWrsOcvmD0IrKIY5ROiFWz6TIEQ0Y... Cynthia R. Lambert Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 17 McBride Ave White Plains, NY 10603 (914) 948-9388 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/croyle1 FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cyndeeroyle?trk=pub-pbmap Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/media/p/1/000/105/184/21649c2.jpg Jane Lerner Reporter for Health and Hospitals The Journal News/LoHud.com 1 Tilda Lane New City, NY 10956 845-634-3512 Work Phone: 914-694-9300 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneLernerNY FB: https://www.facebook.com/jane.lerner1 (REMOVED) LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jane-lerner/10/317/260/ Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/jlerner.jpg Jane Lerner covers the health and hospitals beat for The Journal News in Rockland. She has worked for The Journal News since 1991, first in Westchester, then in Rockland. She has a master's degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, where she completed a concentration in health and science writing. She lives in Rockland with her husband and two children. Steve Lieberman Police and Courts Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 81 Elysian Avenue Nyack, NY 10960 845-353-4647 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoHudLegal FB: https://www.facebook.com/steve.lieberman.7 LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-lieberman/17/796/547 Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/slieberman.jpg Steve Lieberman joined The Journal News as an editor in February 1984 and became a reporter during the spring of 1986. He has covered police, courts and legal issues for more than a decade, after reporting on county, town, village and state governments and general issues. He received more than a dozen state awards for writing and reporting. Born and raised in The Bronx, he has lived in Rockland since 1988. Rich Liebson Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 2 Greenacres Way White Plains, NY 10606-3122 914-686-8940 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/RichLiebson FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rich-liebson/a/1a0/404 Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/rliebson.jpg Rich Liebson grew up on military bases in the U.S. and Germany as the son of an Air Force master sergeant. After serving four years in the U.S. Army he was hired as a part-time reporter in 1983 and promoted to full-time in 1985. He's had a number of beats over the years including education, municipal government and public safety. He's also been a columnist and city editor for central Westchester. Rich lives in White Plains. Betsy Lombardi Universal Desk Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 59 Tamarack Road Rye Brook, NY 10573-2138 914-937-2389 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/betsylombardi (REMOVED) FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/elizabeth-lombardi/39/136/760 Image File: http://www.scrapgirls.com/AboutUs/Bio_BetsyLombardi.jpg Linda Lombroso Features Writer The Journal News/LoHud.com 237 Broadfield Rd New Rochelle, NY 10804-2409 914-654-0527 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaLombroso FB: https://www.facebook.com/lindalombroso LinkedIN: Image File: http://lohudblogs.com/mugs/llombroso.jpg Akiko Matsuda Reporter for Haverstraw and Stony Point The Journal News/LoHud.com 4329 Broadway Apt 5B New York, NY 10033-2404 NEW YORK COUNTY Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoHudAkiko FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/akiko-matsuda/10/54a/13 Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/amatsuda.jpg Akiko Matsuda has been a reporter with The Journal News since August 2005, covering the communities of North Rockland — Haverstraw town and village, Pomona, West Haverstraw, Stony Point. Before that, she covered local governments in upstate New York and Connecticut. A Japanese native, she was a reporter and news anchor for a TV station in Sapporo, covering various beats, including courts, politics and the environment. Cara Matthews Statehouse Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 12 Hamilton Avenue Apt A Norwalk, CT 06854-3510 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/GannettAlbany FB: https://www.facebook.com/cara.matthews.54 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cara-matthews/35/139/336 Image File: https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash4/c0.13.80.80/208440... Sean Mayer Sports and Operations Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 5 Edward Place Monroe, NY 10950 Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-696-8527 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/scoopmayer35 FB: https://www.facebook.com/sean.mayer LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sean-mayer/6/b13/b58 Image: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/2685229598/12c5242e36d86a0613d86367... Caryn McBride REMOVED BY REQUEST -- No Longer Employed by Journal News Gary McGriff The Journal News/LoHud.com 14 Ball Pond Road New Fairfield, CT 06812-4920 203-312-0805 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/gary.mcgriff LinkedIN: Image File: https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/c113.33.414.414/s1... Mike Meaney Morning Breaking News The Journal News/LoHud.com 118 Frank Ave Mamaroneck, NY 10543-2808 914-381-4245 Work Phone: 914-696-8565 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/michael.meaney.125 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmeaney/ Image File: https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash4/c0.54.180.180/s160... Vincent Mercogliano High School Sports Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 475 Wilmot Road New Rochelle, NY 10804-1019 914-637-9367 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/vzmercogliano FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentmercogliano Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1607948970/mecropped3_bigger.jpg Jill Mercadante Multimedia/Marketing Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 222 Sackett Street #2F Brooklyn, NY 11231 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/tumbling_after FB: https://www.facebook.com/jill.mercadante LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jill-mercadante/13/642/5a0 Image File: http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/avatars/tumblingafter_1329768787_60... Kathy Moore (Kathy Moore O'Connor) Local Content Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 11 Woodland Drive Brewster, NY 10509-2523 845-278-0144, 845-279-2666 Work Phone: 914-694-3523 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kathy-moore-o-connor/59/679/160 Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/kmoore.jpg Kathy Moore is the local editor for northern Westchester and Putnam counties. She began working at The Journal News in 1985 and covered towns, schools, Mount Vernon City Hall, Putnam County government and general assignment before becoming a bureau chief and then an editor overseeing the northern reaches of our coverage area. She works with a terrific staff in the paper’s Mount Kisco office whose writing and reporting fuels The Journal News, Lohud.com, the Northern Westchester and Yorktown/Cortlandt Express and their corresponding community blogs. Barbara L Nackman Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 279 Farrington Avenue Tarrytown, NY 10591 (914) 332-5185 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: LinkedIN: Image File: A municipal reporter for The Journal News since 1997, Barbara Livingston Nackman has covered local governments, events and breaking news from many communities. She began her journalism career by writing for bookselling and library publications. She reported on Putnam County communities for 10 years before getting her latest assignment, keeping track of Briarcliff Manor and Somers. Mareesa Nicosia Ramapo Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 104 Gordon Ave Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591-1910 585-402-6535, 607-437-1895 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mareesanicosia FB: http://www.facebook.com/mareesa.nicosia?fref=ts LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mareesa-nicosia/5/a99/18 Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_80_80/p/4/000/169/36f/0528346.jpg Cathey O’Donnell Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: 914-694-3596 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/catheyodonnell FB: https://www.facebook.com/cathey.odonnell.7 LinkedIN: Image File: James O'Rourke Westchester and Rockland County Night Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/NightWriter_TJN FB: LinkedIN: Image File: Herb Pinder Opinion Page Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 66 W 89th St Apt# 2R New York, NY 10024-2045 212-769-1945 Work Phone: 914-694-5031 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/herbpinderNY LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/herb-pinder/15/935/462 Image File: http://m3.licdn.com/mpr/pub/image-0WglTCMcAxljLDuquqGUlnKTF-i6J-tzpBsblk... Leah Rae Reporter for Port Chester, Rye Brook and Rye City The Journal News/LoHud.com 13 N Cottenet St Irvington, NY 10533-1508 914-591-0319 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeahRaeNY FB: https://www.facebook.com/leah.rae.33 LinkedIN: http://www.http://www.linkedin.com/in/leahrae?trk=pub-pbmap Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_200_200/p/2/000/104/03d/26e3243... Leah Rae covers the Port Chester-Rye Brook beat for The Journal News. She’s written about Westchester's immigrant population since joining the paper in 1994, and reported from two immigrant “hometowns” in Ecuador and Guatemala. Leah studied at the University of Toronto and worked at her hometown paper, The Buffalo News, before migrating downstate. She writes the Beyond Borders blog at immigration.lohudblogs.com and contributes to the Sound Shore blog at soundshore.lohudblogs.com. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 306 Quaker Rd Chappaqua, NY 10514 (914) 238-4607 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/SwapnaVenugopal FB: https://www.facebook.com/swapna.venugopal.14 LinkedIN: Image File: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, a staff writer for The Journal News/LoHud.com, covers several communities in Westchester County and writes about everything from local politics to schools to development issues. She joined the paper in October 2006 and expanded her byline to include Ramaswamy -- reportedly the longest byline ever. Previously, Swapna worked as a municipal reporter for the Home News Tribune in New Jersey and interned at the New York Daily News as a general assignment reporter. She earned a master's degree in journalism from New York University, where she was associate features editor of NYU's daily newspaper, The Washington Square News. Ned P. Rauch Reporter for Harrison and Mt. Vernon The Journal News/LoHud.com 922 Lorimer Street Apt 2 Brooklyn, NY 11222-3178 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/NPRauch FB: https://www.facebook.com/ned.rauch LinkedIN: Image File: https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/c90.0.540.540/s160... Phil Reisman Columnist The Journal News/LoHud.com 73 Rossmore Avenue Bronxville, NY 10708 914-337-6522 Work Phone: 914-694-5008 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/philreisman FB: https://www.facebook.com/phil.reisman LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/phil-reisman/6/237/377 Image File: https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/305269697/phil.jpg Michael J Risinit Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 42 Robinson Lane Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 845-454-2278 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikerisinit FB: https://www.facebook.com/michael.risinit/info LinkedIN: Image File: Mike Risinit covers politics, the environment and other issues touching on northern Westchester. He has been a reporter at The Journal News since 1998. Robert F. Rodriguez Visual Editor The Journal News/LoHud.com 420 Riverside Dr, Apt 7A New York, NY 10025-7748 212-222-4566 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1522994678 LinkedIN: Image File: Marcela Rojas Reporter for Somers, Ossining and Peekskill The Journal News/LoHud.com 43 Mitchell Place Apt White Plains, NY 10601-4337 Home Phone: Work Phone: 845-228-2271 Work Email:[email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/MRO3 FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/marcela-rojas/45/416/2ab/ Image File: http://lohudblogs.com/mugs/mrojas.jpg Khurram Saeed Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: [email protected] FB: LinkedIN: Image File: http://www.lohudblogs.com/mugs/ksaeed.jpg Khurram Saeed has been reporting for The Journal News since 2000. He writes about transportation issues in Rockland and has a weekly column called Getting There, which appears Wednesdays. Raised in Chestnut Ridge, Saeed previously worked at a newspaper in Washington and at magazines in Canada. Reach him at [email protected] or 845-578-2412. Heather Salerno Feature Writer The Journal News/LoHud.com 103 Cambridge Ave Garden City, NY 11530-4101 Home Phone: 516-739-9709 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/heather_salerno FB: https://www.facebook.com/heather.salerno.7 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/heathersalerno Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_200_200/p/4/000/158/2d4/2cab4b8... Tania Savayan Photographer The Journal News/LoHud.com 7562 Kessel Street Forest Hills, NY 11375-6846 718-793-5642 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaniaSavayan FB: https://www.facebook.com/tania.savayan LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tania-savayan/3/984/687?_mSplash=1 Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1748955967/398693_10150433665426992... Erik Shilling Courts Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 157 Newell St Fl 3 Brooklyn, NY 11222-3036 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikShilling FB: LinkedIN: Image File: http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/1599921084/profile_reasonably_small.jpg Greg Shillinglaw Reporter for Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant Multimedia Journalist at The Journal News The Journal News/LoHud.com 80 Greenway Drive Irvington, NY 10533-1844 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/gshilly FB: https://www.facebook.com/gshillinglaw?ref=ts&fref=ts LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/greg-shillinglaw/2a/706/6b5/ Image File: http://www.thenewshouse.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/profile-norma... Joseph Spector Statehouse Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 20 Greenock Road Delmar, NY 12054-3510 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/GannettAlbany FB: LinkedIN: Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/2349711046/4otq43a5rnjei3lyr911_big... YS [Removed upon request, no longer works at the Journal News] Digital Editor/Nights The Journal News/LoHud.com Gary Stern Education Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 165 Orchard Street White Plains, NY 10604-1407 914-948-8996 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/faithbeat FB: http://www.facebook.com/gary.stern.5095?fref=ts LinkedIN: Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/303469987/16Gary_Stern_bigger.jpg Alex Taylor Reporter for Orangetown, Pearl River and Colleges The Journal News/LoHud.com Home Address: Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: https://twitter.com/alextailored FB: LinkedIN: Image File: George Troyano Vice President Sales & Marketing The Journal News/LoHud.com 2 Rams Gate Court Medford, NJ 08055-9704 609-953-2745 Work Phone: 914-694-5157 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter:https://twitter.com/GTmedford FB: https://www.facebook.com/george.troyano LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/george-troyano/33/4bb/a84 Image File: http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash3/c0.34.180.180/s160x160/3695... Brian Tumulty DC Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 5589 Cedar Break Drive Centreville, VA 20120-3329 703-830-0926 Work Phone: Work Email:[email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYinDc FB: https://www.facebook.com/brian.tumulty?ref=ts&fref=ts LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/pub/brian-tumulty/4a/879/2b1 Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/899919514/brian_bigger.JPG Ken Valenti Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 2221 Palmer Ave Apt# 2P New Rochelle, NY 10801-3064 914-498-9289 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/lohudgoing, https://twitter.com/NewRoKen FB: https://www.facebook.com/ken.valenti, https://www.facebook.com/ken.valenti.1 LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ken-valenti/a/677/59 Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_200_200/p/3/000/01e/266/3646910... Chris Vaughan Community Web Producer The Journal News/LoHud.com Street Address: Tarrytown, NY Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisLLVaughan FB: http://www.facebook.com/christopher.vaughan2?fref=ts LinkedIN: Image File: http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/1752407565/Picture_5_reasonably_small... Randi Weiner (Randi W. Gormley) Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 843 Mill Plain Road Fairfield, CT 06824 203-254-3285 Work Phone: Work Email: Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/randi.weiner.92 LinkedIN: Image File: http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc6/c0.40.180.180/s160x160/2263... Alex Weisler Reporter for Mount Kisco, New Castle and North Castle The Journal News/LoHud.com 5 Wheatstone Road New City, NY 10956-2515 845-639-0868 Work Phone: 914-666-6482 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexweisler FB: http://www.facebook.com/weisler.alex LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexweisler Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_200_200/p/4/000/177/110/1935719... David McKay Wilson Columnist The Journal News/LoHud.com 104 Topland Rd Mahopac, New York 10541 Home Phone: Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmckay415 FB: https://www.facebook.com/davidmckaywilson LinkedIN: Image File: Dwight R Worley Education Reporter The Journal News/LoHud.com 230-6 139th Avenue Queens, NY 11413 718-527-0832 Work Phone: Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwightworley FB: LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dwightworley Image File: http://lohudblogs.com/mugs/dworley.jpg Dwight R. Worley is an education/urban affairs reporter covering central Westchester schools for The Journal News, The White Plains Express and LoHud.com. He also serves as a database reporter for the publications, using computer-assisted reporting techniques to develop a wide range of stories about diversity, race, immigration and how changing demographics have impacted the Lower Hudson Valley. He joined The Journal News in 1999 as a business reporter. Carrie Yale Visuals Director The Journal News/LoHud.com 10 Meadowbrook Court Apt 1B Brewster, NY 10509-3616 914-948-6312 Work Phone: 914-694-5092 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/carrieyale FB: https://www.facebook.com/carrie.yale.7 LinkedIN: Image File: https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1777110797/me1_bigger.jpg Eileen Zaccagnino** Online Ad Director The Journal News/LoHud.com 6 Birch Road South Salem, NY 10590-2314 914-533-5278 Work Phone: 914-696-8463 Work Email: [email protected] Twitter: FB: https://www.facebook.com/eileen.zaccagnino?fref=ts LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/eileenzaccagnino/ Image File: http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_200_200/p/2/000/1a8/256/15d4520... UPDATE 12/31 2:20 PM I am in receipt of all communications between the Journal News and the Westchester County Clerk including the entire list of "pistol permits" (i.e., license holders) for Westchester County. My next project, once I complete the map, is to run all Journal News employees living in Westchester against the list I just got. UPDATE 1/1 6:30 PM Let me set to rest the speculation that the Journal News exempted their own employees from their map. YS [removed] is a photographer and editor at the Journal News. He resides in [removed]. He is in the Westchester County list provided to the Journal News and he is a dot in the map so we can at least put to rest any conspiracy theories in this regard. [removed] Journal News Hypocrisy Most of the readers of this article are not from the area and may have never heard of the Journal News until this week. Many of speculated on the motives behind their pistol LICENSE map. If you want just a few of very real examples of hypocrisy from the Journal News you can look at the following three exclusive stories than we have run over the past three months that the Journal News did not bother to report at all. New Rochelle Police Confiscate Loaded .9mm Semi-Automatic Carbine from Monroe College Basketball Player, Former Coach of the Year Fired By any measure, this is a major story -- a member of the NJCAA National Championship women's basketball team delivers a savage beating to a teammate. While the victim of the assault is in the hospital she receives a text message from her assailant threatening to kill her, and her mother with a gun she keeps at an apartment on campus. School officials recovered a loaded .9mm Semi-Automatic Carbine. Before the District Attorney could bring charges the player fled the state. The player was kicked off the team, the other player suspended and the coach fired because he knew of the gun and failed to report it to school officials or the police. The Journal News did not cover this story at all. Monroe College is a major advertiser in Westchester County. New Rochelle Suspends Three Following Gun to Head Incident on Bee-Line School Bus Three students leave a school bus an enter a middle school with a gun after terrorizing a 6th grader on the bus by placing her in a headlock, holding the gun to her head and threatening her. The Journal News does not report on this incident. New Rochelle Barnard School Principal Waits Hours to Notify Police of Intruder; Parents Told Man In Building Was Outside In this case, a man was in the building for hours, he was found hiding in a closet in a second floor classroom by a teaching assistant. Even then, the building principal waited 45 minutes to call police and then lied about the entire incident to parents. The Journal News did not cover this story. New Rochelle Board President Says District in "Full Compliance" with School Safety Laws Four days after the Newtown Shooting, the local school board President and Superintendent make false claims that the district is in full compliance with New York State school safety laws. By statute the district must review and update plans for the district and each school in the district once a year. 10 of 11 schools have not been updated since 2001. The 11th was updated in 2006. The Journal News does not even cover the board meeting let along report this. UPDATE: 1/2 9:15 AM: I appeared this morning on the Pat Campbell Show in Tulsa, OK to discuss the latest on the Journal News gun owner map: Pat Campbell Show 1-2-13 UPDATE: 1/2 12:10 PM: My FOIL request to the Westchester County Clerk resulted in my receiving the communications between the clerk's office and Journal News reporter Dwight Worley. It was a jumbled mess of documents which I cut, paste and re-ordered in chronological order so readers can follow the discussion between Deputy Clerk John J. Allen and Worley (link below). Communications Between Westchester County Clerk & Journal News for FOIL Pistol Licenses December 2012 I am requesting the names, complete addresses, the type of permits issued (carry concealed/possess on premises/possess carry during employment), and the type of weapons possessed, including the weapon's manufacturer, type of weapon, caliber, serial number and model, for all permit holders in your database. Also, please provide a complete record layout and data dictionary for your pistol permits database. There is a brief sidebar after Worley appeals the partial denial of the paper's request to County Executive Rob Astorino on December 17th and County Attorney Robert F. Meehan responds for Astorino on December 20th to deny the appeal. The Westchester County Clerk Tim Idoni is a Democrat from New Rochelle (where we operate) and Astorino is a Republican. If you are wondering how divided government works in Westchester read how the Democrats in the County Legislature literally turned out the lights in the chamber when they did not get their way on the 2013 budget. This stands in stark contrast to the decided lack of cooperation in Putnam County, north of Westchester. New York County denies request for names of gun permit holders Authorities in a suburban county north of New York City said on Tuesday they will refuse to release names of local gun permit holders to a newspaper that has been publishing the identities of thousands of license-holding residents. Putnam County Clerk Dennis Sant said he would defy a request for information about pistol permit holders from the White Plains, New York-based Journal News, which has come under criticism for publishing thousands of such identities already. UPDATE 1/2 2:50 PM: I have been advised that the phone listing for Robert Brum in Pomona is incorrect. Please disregard 845-354-0243. That is the number for an older woman who was assigned that number after Robert Brum moved. UPDATE 1/3 8:30 AM: Newspaper threatened with ‘suspicious white powder’ after publishing gun owners’ names The suspicious package turned out to be a non-event but I was surprised to see this... The article mentions Christopher Fountain who put up a lot of detail about the publisher, Janet Hasson and a few other Journal News employees. I am not sure how many, maybe 5 or 6 names. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association President Tom King is quoted saying “I’m sure that the blogger will take down the list as soon as the gun names come down.” Meanwhile, we have now crowd-sourced 73 of 82 (89%) Journal News employees and mapped each one. We are in the process of clearing the list and I expect we will be at 100% shortly. I would tell Mr. King a thing or three: (1) the Journal News intends to EXPAND their map to include Putnam County not take it down; (2) the Journal News was never just seeking names and addresses -- their Freedom of Information Request is for "names, complete addresses, the type of permits issued (carry concealed/possess on premises/possess carry during employment), and the type of weapons possessed, including the weapon's manufacturer, type of weapon, caliber, serial number and model, for all permit holders in your database; (3) (1) I have no intention of taking down my list or map regardless of what the Journal News does or what he says. UPDATE 1/3 1:15 PM: If my actions are going to be disapproved of by anyone I would prefer that it be Jack Shafer: Let’s not go crazy over publishing gun lists Undeterred by the fact that the handgun data was, by state law, a matter of the public record, aggrieved gun owners retaliated. A crowdsourced map of the home addresses of Journal News employees — including their home and work phone numbers when found — went up. The site also listed the names and addresses of the paper’s local and national advertisers, suggesting Journal News readers write letters threatening to boycott their goods and services unless the Journal News took its map down. The New York State & Pistol Association urged a boycott of all Gannett enterprises, asserting that the map had “put in harm’s way tens of thousands of lawful license holders.” [read entire article] I met Jack in 2004 at a conference at Harvard. He wrote the PressBox column for Slate/Washington Post for years and I have emailed him from time to time. Between Jack Shafer and Jim Romensko you get about all you need in terms of media criticism. Jim was, for many years at Poynter. Jack writes today "Exactly how publishing public-record data constitutes privacy invasion is a topic worthy of a Poynter Institute seminar." Ironically, I was part of a Poynter conference on Online Journalism Ethics. I am pretty sure my map would have flunked the ethics test in that room back in 2006. The question then might be if my map flunks then what about the Journal News map? Having been part of this discussion in the past, I can tell you that some of the opinion would be driven by the idea that journalists are like members of a holy order on a divine mission. Not everyone at Poynter would take the side of the Journal News but I suspect they would also be against my map. I can tell you one other thing -- the melodrama that has ensued with the armed guards and the envelopes of talcum powder is the sort of thing that validates the self-image of journalists that what they do is important (and thus justifies the low wages they are paid). UPDATE: 1/9 9:00 AM - I was away this weekend and so not entirely top of this story. I was in Miami for the BCS Championship Game to see my Irish get stomped by Alabama :-(. I am back in New York. On my way to the airport, I received an email from WPIX 11's Erica Pitzi requesting an interview. Many of the questions were to the effect of whether I felt I was to blame for people who were making death threats to Journal News employees or whether I would take my map down after a New York Times article reported on threats against Journal News employees. (My answer? "No"). Having viewed what aired, the piece struck me as fairer than I expected. WPIX ARTICLE/VIDEO: Death threats, reporters’ families targeted over controversial gun-owner map “I don’t think my map is particularly fair to the Journal News employees, many of them have nothing to do with the story, but that’s in the same spirit of the Journal News map which is equally unfair,” Cox told PIX 11 News over the phone from Florida. In The New York Times article, Journal News Publisher Janet Hasson seeks to shift the issue away from Newtown, away from their map of gun owners, away from the entire issue of gun control and convert the issue into a First Amendment issue. "As journalists, we are prepared for criticism," Hasson told The Times. "But in the U.S., journalists should not be threatened." Actually, in the U.S., no one should be threatened. In fact, there are laws against threatening people with bodily harm and the apply to everyone, not just journalists. As I told WPIX, an appropriate response is to boycott or picket or otherwise express disapproval. Physically threatening someone is never the right thing to do. EDITORS NOTE:Speaking of getting paid. We are a small operation and the server costs alone for Talk of the Sound are almost $400 per month. If you would like to help defray that cost consider a contribution ($10, $25, or any amount). You can also support Talk of the Sound by doing your holiday shopping through this link: Amazon.com . We would also like you to Follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook. You can read our other articles here. MATCHING DONATION CHALLENGE -- $1,000 A previous donor to the site has made a very generous offer to match any donations to the site made by Wednesday 1/9 up to a maximum of $1,000. If you were thinking of making a donation to the site now is the time. Rob is doing a great job. I will match any donation until 9 Jan up to a cumulative of $1k. As stated my total matching donation will be $1,000.00. Support Rob so he can continue to support the 2nd amendment: The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess and carry firearms. DAM Click to Donate UPDATE: The Journal News has removed their gun map. Before you ask. "No, we are not taking down our map". Here is the official statement from Janet Hasson: With the passage this week of the NYSAFE gun law, which allows permit holders to request their names and addresses be removed from the public record, we decided to remove the gun permit data from lohud.com at 5 pm today. While the new law does not require us to remove the data, we believe that doing so complies with its spirit. For the past four weeks, there has been vigorous debate over our publication of the permit data, which has been viewed nearly 1.2 million times by readers. One of our core missions as a newspaper is to empower our readers with as much information as possible on the critical issues they face, and guns have certainly become a top issue since the massacre in nearby Newtown, Conn. Sharing as much public information as possible provides our readers with the ability to contribute to the discussion, in any way they wish, on how to make their communities safer. We remain committed to our mission of providing the critical public service of championing free speech and open records. Self-serving claptrap from a woman who thought she could pick a fight at a time and place of her choosing, declare the rules for the fight and call the fight when she had enough. Sorry, Janet. It doesn't work that way. Our map of your employees stays. UPDATE: Just taped a radio interview with Gary Baumgarten of 1010 WINS-NY. Let me know if you hear it air. Teaser: he asked me if this was a victory, my answer "yes!" WINS 1010 has published a story with the audio clip here. UPDATE 1/21: My Washington Examiner Op-Ed is now up: Why I will not be taking down my map of Journal News employees UPDATE 1/23: I was on the Pat Campbell Show this morning, live on KFAQ 1170 Tulsa. Listen here. I also joined Pat, filling in, on the Schnitt Show this afternoon. Listen here. \|\|\|\|\| A week after the Newtown massacre, The Journal News published an interactive Google Map with the names and addresses of gun permit owners in select New York cities. The bold move has escalated into a transparency arms race, after a Connecticut lawyer posted the phone number and addresses of the Journal‘s staff, including a Google Maps satellite Image of the Publisher’s home. “I don’t know whether the Journal’s publisher Janet Hasson is a permit holder herself, but here’s how to find her to ask,” read Christopher Fountain’s blog post. The double irony here is that open data was heralded as a tool of enlightened civic dialog, and has been co-opted for fierce partisanship, bordering on public endangerment. The Journal‘s original publication of the map sparked nationwide outrage and thousands of angry comments. Gun permit holding is public information in New York, and can be acquired through a mere request via the Freedom of Information Act. But, coming on the heels of the Newtown shooting, the publication had a clear provocative intent. “New York residents have the right to own guns with a permit and they also have a right to access public information,” said a defiant Hasson. Given that the Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle used in the school shooting was reportedly legally registered with the killer’s mother, the Google Map sparked a debate about whether gun owners should be labeled like other potential menaces to society, “The implications are mind-boggling,” said Marine Scott F. Williams to The Journal News, “It’s as if gun owners are sex offenders (and) to own a handgun risks exposure as if one is a sex offender. It’s, in my mind, crazy.” Blogger Christopher Fountain took the debate into his own hands, publishing the personal information of The Journals‘ staff. “Hundreds of thousands of readers; Janet, you have a great Christmas Eve,” he wrote, after a popular political outlet, Instapundit, linked to his post. Ironically, the promise of open data was supposed to lead to open-minded discussion. “If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects,” reads the often-cited quote from Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who stands a champion to modern-day nonprofits fighting for greater access to health, legislative, and administrative government data. Open data advocates have struggled to get media attention for their utopian vision of automated government services. This latest use of open data via Google Maps, both to publish gun permit ownership and journalists’ geolocation data, seems to have hit the media sweet spot, as it plays into our debased partisan interests. It appears that transparency lends itself equally to being both a tool of democracy or a partisan weapon.	– The interactive map of gun-owning homes published by Westchester's Journal News inspired more than outrage: Now a Connecticut lawyer has published the home addresses and phone numbers of the Journal News' publisher and 50 employees on his blog, reports Tech Crunch. “I don’t know whether the Journal’s publisher Janet Hasson is a permit holder herself, but here’s how to find her to ask,” writes blogger Christopher Fountain, who added a Google Maps shot of Hasson's house, complete with interior shots via Zillow. Another enterprising blogger even took that data and made another interactive map of his own. "Ironically, the promise of open data was supposed to lead to open-minded discussion," notes Tech Crunch's Gregory Ferenstein, but it "appears that transparency lends itself equally to being both a tool of democracy or a partisan weapon."
NTSB Press Release National Transportation Safety Board Office of Public Affairs NTSB statement on erroneous confirmation of crew names July 12 The National Transportation Safety Board apologizes for inaccurate and offensive names that were mistakenly confirmed as those of the pilots of Asiana flight 214, which crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6. Earlier today, in response to an inquiry from a media outlet, a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft. The NTSB does not release or confirm the names of crewmembers or people involved in transportation accidents to the media. We work hard to ensure that only appropriate factual information regarding an investigation is released and deeply regret today's incident. Appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that such a serious error is not repeated. Office of Public Affairs 490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20594 (202) 314-6100 Kelly Nantel kelly.nantel@ntsb.gov ### The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents, promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families. \|\|\|\|\| Latest Update, July 14: Asiana Airlines, not surprisingly unamused by the whole thing, thinks an on-screen apology may not be sufficient, it said in a statement: "The reputation of the four pilots and of the company had been seriously damaged by this report. The company is reviewing taking legal action against both KTVU-TV and the NTSB." Update: The NTSB has released a statement stating an intern is responsible for confirming the incorrect names. Sounds like someone's summer internship is over. KTVU has also provided further explanation into why they said these names on air: They didn't say them out loud before rattling them off during their live taping and they didn't confirm with the NTSB employee (intern) on their position within the organization. They did, however, call to verify the correct spelling of the names. Update: Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the NTSB, just confirmed to SF Weekly that the NTSB did not release the names of the pilots of flight 214 to KTVU, or any news organization, for that matter. Original Story: Local station KTVU totally screwed up the names of Asiana Flight 214 pilots when announcing them on live television today, and we're a little worried the name "Ho Lee Fuk" might actually go down in history. So just to correct the record: The ill-fated Boeing 777 wasn't actually being steered by Mr. Fuk and his co-pilots Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, and Bang Ding Ow. KTVU rushed to fix the blunder and issued an apology,blaming the NTSB for the fuck-up. The apology didn't do much to stop screenshots of the offensive names from making their rounds through the blogosphere. Oh, look -- here they are: And here's a video of the newscaster announcing the names with complete sincerity -- with "Fuk" pronounced "Fook," lest you suspect the station of impropriety: Note: Asiana actually released the names of two pilots -- the ones allegedly responsible for the botched landing -- on Sunday. Junior pilot Lee Gang-guk had 43 hours of experience flying the Boeing jet; his supervisor Lee Jeong-min tried to take over to abort the crash. Someone call Ron Burgundy, this is a story for him. \|\|\|\|\| On today’s Noon newscast on KTVU, the station claimed it had “just learned the names of the 4 pilots on board” Asiana flight 214 which crashed last Saturday. But the station was given bad information that made it all the way into the newscast. If you read the names it becomes immediately clear this is a joke, which went unnoticed by the newsroom, producers and the anchor. You’ll recall earlier this week, KTVU touted its coverage as being not only first, but “100% accurate.” “Being first on air and on every platform in all aspects of our coverage was a great accomplishment, but being 100% accurate, effectively using our great sources and social media without putting a single piece of erroneous information on our air, is what we are most proud of as a newsroom,” said News Director Lee Rosenthal at the time. Watch: About 15 minutes later the station corrected its mistake, but claimed an NTSB official had confirmed the names. Earlier in the newscast we gave some names of pilots involved in the Asiana Airlines crash. These names were not accurate despite an NTSB official in Washington confirming them late this morning. We apologize for this error. > More: Further apology from KTVU president & GM Tom Raponi: “We sincerely regret the error and took immediate action to apologize, both in the newscast where the mistake occurred, as well as on our website and social media sites. Nothing is more important to us than having the highest level of accuracy and integrity, and we are reviewing our procedures to ensure this type of error does not happen again.” >More: The NTSB has released a statement saying a summer intern “acted outside the scope of his authority” and mistakenly confirmed the fake names for KTVU Friday morning: The National Transportation Safety Board apologizes for inaccurate and offensive names that were mistakenly confirmed as those of the pilots of Asiana flight 214, which crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6. Earlier today, in response to an inquiry from a media outlet, a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft. The NTSB does not release or confirm the names of crewmembers or people involved in transportation accidents to the media. We work hard to ensure that only appropriate factual information regarding an investigation is released and deeply regret today’s incident. Appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that such a serious error is not repeated. > More: An apology on the 6pm news: “We made several mistakes. First of all, we never read the names out loud, phonetically sounding them out.” > More: The AAJA responds: “Those names were not only wrong, but so grossly offensive that it’s hard for us at the Asian American Journalists Association to fathom how those names made it on the broadcast.”	– There's not fact checking, and then there's ... not even using your brain. A newscast on Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU apparently fell for a (racist and offensive) joke, incorrectly reporting that the pilots of the plane that crashed at San Francisco airport were named "Sum Ting Wong," "Ho Lee Fuk," "Bang Ding Ow," and "Wi Tu Lo," SF Weekly reports. The network later apologized, but said an NTSB official in Washington had "confirmed" them. It wasn't exactly an official. Per the NTSB: "Earlier today, in response to an inquiry from a media outlet, a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft." The kicker, as Mediabistro notes, is that KTVU had just been boasting about its "100% accurate" coverage of the disaster earlier this week.
Cops: Connecticut Burglar Gets Tripped Up By Stolen Sweatshirt And Its Vigilant Owner Share Tweet A Connecticut man already facing multiple burglary charges has been arrested on new criminal counts after he was spotted wearing a stolen sweatshirt in a mug shot photo, police report. According to cops, a Glastonbury residence was burglarized in July 2014, but the probe of the crime was suspended after no leads were developed. However, two months ago, the victimized homeowner contacted cops to report seeing a booking photo of Derek Benson, 30, who was arrested late last year in connection with a series of burglaries during which expensive golf equipment was stolen. “In the photo, Benson was wearing the victim’s sweatshirt, which had been stolen during the burglary of his residence,” the Glastonbury Police Department reported. The stolen gray sweatshirt contains the logo for Coco Libre, the “pure organic coconut water.” The victim, a police spokesperson said, works for Coco Libre. Benson is seen in the above mug shot wearing the purloined garment. After being tipped by the homeowner, cops noted, “A subsequent investigation linked Benson to the burglary.” In addition to the sweatshirt, jewelry was stolen during last year’s burglary. Benson was arrested last week on burglary, larceny, and criminal mischief counts. He remains locked up in lieu of $125,000 bond. \|\|\|\|\| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.	– Derek Benson wore a sweatshirt that said "libre" ("freedom") on it for a 2014 mugshot, but he got quite the opposite after a man contacted police in Glastonbury, Conn., to report he had seen the mugshot and that Benson, 30, was wearing the victim's Coco Libre sweatshirt—which had been stolen from his residence in July 2014, the Smoking Gun reports. The victim works for the coconut water company, a police rep says. A "subsequent investigation" led to Benson's Sept. 16 arrest for that home burglary as well, a Glastonbury Police Department press release notes, and Benson was charged with burglary, larceny, criminal trespass, and criminal larceny, Fox Connecticut reports. (This suspected burglar didn't just take stuff with him—he left stuff behind.)
MORE than 1,000 metres of overhead cabling has been stolen in Lincolnshire - leading to a village blackout. The theft took place overnight on Friday on land off the A1133 at Newton-on-Trent and left the village without power for several hours. It is the second recent theft of overhead cabling in Lincolnshire, with a similar incident taking place at Normanby-Le-Wold in August. Officers are warning of the obvious extreme dangers of this type of crime and are appealing for anyone who has any information to call them on 0300 111 0300.	– A rash of power line thefts is dogging Britain. An entire English village lost electricity for several hours on Friday after thieves stole some 3,000 feet of cable—and it’s the second such theft in that county alone since August, This Is Lincolnshire reports. It’s a running problem on train lines, too, notes the Telegraph. Cable robbers have been cutting lines and leaving the sparking ends hanging; today, firefighters had to be called out to address the problem. Rail officials found that more than 650 feet of power line had been cut, causing a fire and shutting down train travel into one of London’s major stations. “Yet again, commuters in the capital have had their journeys disrupted by criminals,” said a railway spokesman. “We need to see tougher sentences in the courts for anyone caught stealing cable and new legislation to help crack down on the minority of scrap metal dealers who knowingly profit from rail users' misery."
Archaeologists have uncovered a mysterious enclosure hidden deep inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The massive cavity stretches for at least 30 metres and lies above the grand gallery, an impressive ascending corridor that connects the Queen’s chamber to the King’s in the heart of the historic monument. It is the first major structure found in the pyramid since the 19th century. It is unclear whether the void is a chamber or a corridor, or whether it played any more than a structural role in the pyramid’s construction – such as relieving weight on the grand gallery below. But measurements show that it has similar dimensions to the grand gallery, which is nearly 50 metres long, eight metres high and more than a metre wide. Scientists discovered the void using sensors that detect particles known as muons, which rain down on Earth when cosmic rays slam into atoms in the upper atmosphere. The muons travel at close to the speed of light and behave much like x-rays when they meet objects. Armed with suitable equipment, researchers can used them to reveal the rough internal structure of pyramids and other ancient monuments. “We know that this big void has the same characteristics as the grand gallery,” said Mehdi Tayoubi at the HIP Institute in Paris, a non-profit organisation that draws on new technology to study and preserve cultural heritage. “It’s really impressive.” Tomb raiders: what treasures could lurk inside Egypt's lost chambers? Read more Also known as Khufu’s Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Cheops, the Great Pyramid was built in the 4th dynasty by the pharaoh Khufu, who reigned from 2509 to 2483 BC. The monument rises 140 metres above the Giza Plateau and has three chambers known from previous explorations: a subterranean one at the base of the pyramid, the Queen’s chamber at the centre, and the King’s chamber above. While a granite sarcophagus sits in the King’s chamber, King Khufu’s mummy is missing, and his queens were buried elsewhere. Whatever riches were once in the chambers were looted long ago. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The ScanPyramids team examining an augmented reality review of the newly-discovered void. Photograph: ScanPyramids mission Egyptologists have scores of theories about how the pyramid was built, but there are no reliable accounts of its construction. Herodotus wrote of stones being drawn from quarries near and far, with some being shipped down the Nile on boats. The mammoth construction project occupied the lives of a hundred thousand men, fuelled in part by radishes, onions and leeks, he noted. To pinpoint the cavity, scientists from Nagoya University in Japan, and KEK, the country’s high energy physics lab, installed muon-detecting photographic plates and electronic muon detectors around the Queen’s chamber. At the same time, researchers from CEA, France’s energy research organisation, trained “muon telescopes” on the pyramid from the outside. All three techniques can tell from which direction incoming muons arrive. When the teams compared their results, all had found a muon hotspot in the same place, indicating the presence of a large cavity in the pyramid. While most of the monument is made of stone that absorbs muons, chambers and cavities let the particles pass through. Great Pyramid tombs unearth 'proof' workers were not slaves Read more Muon analysis allows scientists to look deep inside ancient monuments without drilling holes or causing other damage to the precious structures. But the technique produces low resolution images, making it impossible for the researchers to tell if the newly-found void runs horizontally or parallel to the grand gallery. Nor can they be sure it is a single enclosure rather than a series of smaller cavities close together, they report in Nature. “What we are sure about is that this big void is there, that it is impressive, and was not expected by any kind of theory,” said Tayoubi. To shed more light on the purpose of the cavity, Tayoubi called on specialists in ancient Egyptian architecture to come forward with ideas of what it may be so they can be modelled and checked against the team’s data. The cavity may have relieved weight on the roof of the underlying grand gallery, or be a hitherto unknown corridor in the pyramid. The team has no plans to drill into the cavity to explore inside, but they are developing a tiny flying robot that might one day be sent in, if the Egyptian authorities approve. “It’s a tribute to humankind,” said Tayoubi of the pyramid. “It asks a question about what is our future. If they have been able to do this with the means they had 4,000 or 5,000 years ago and they left this heritage today, what will our own society leave for future generations?” Peter Der Manuelian, professor of Egyptology and director of the Harvard Semitic Museum, said the discovery was “potentially a major contribution to our knowledge about the Great Pyramid.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Researchers using muon detectors discover a void in the Great Pyramid of Giza. Credit: ScanPyramids mission “I’m sure there are imperfections and perhaps small voids or cavities in several locations in the pyramid. What makes this one so interesting is the size, seeming to rival the grand gallery itself in scale,” he said. “The muons can’t tell us about chambers, form, size, or any possible objects, so it’s far too early to speculate. I know most people want to know about hidden chambers, grave goods, and the missing mummy of King Khufu. None of that is on the table at this point. But the fact that this void is so large warrants further non-invasive exploration,” he added. In 2011, Rob Richardson, a researcher at the University of Leeds, sent a small snake-like robot into one of the tunnels of the Great Pyramid and took pictures of hieroglyphs that had not been seen for 4,500 years. “I think people assume that all these mysteries of what’s in our world are known but there are still places like the pyramids where we simply don’t know,” he said. “The pyramids have been there for thousands of years and we still don’t know exactly why they are there, what they were used for, or how they were built.” \|\|\|\|\| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mark Lehner: "A space that the builders left to protect the grand gallery?" The mysteries of the pyramids have deepened with the discovery of what appears to be a giant void within the Khufu, or Cheops, monument in Egypt. It is not known why the cavity exists or indeed if it holds anything of value because it is not obviously accessible. Japanese and French scientists made the announcement after two years of study at the famous pyramid complex. They have been using a technique called muography, which can sense density changes inside large rock structures. The Great Pyramid, or Khufu's Pyramid, is thought to have been constructed during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu between 2509 and 2483 BC. At 140m (460 feet) in height, it is the largest of the Egyptian pyramids located at Giza on the outskirts of Cairo. ScanPyramids has already detected a smaller void on the northern face The new cavity is perhaps 30m long and several metres in height All three muon technologies sense the same feature in the same place Khufu famously contains three large interior chambers and a series of passageways, the most striking of which is the 47m-long, 8m-high Grand Gallery. The newly identified feature is said to sit directly above this and have similar dimensions. "We don't know whether this big void is horizontal or inclined; we don't know if this void is made by one structure or several successive structures," explained Mehdi Tayoubi from the HIP Institute, Paris. "What we are sure about is that this big void is there; that it is impressive; and that it was not expected as far as I know by any sort of theory." Image copyright SCANPYRAMIDS Image caption The newly found void is directly above the Grand Gallery The ScanPyramids team is being very careful not to describe the cavity as a "chamber". Khufu contains compartments that experts believe may have been incorporated by the builders to avoid collapse by relieving some of the stress of the overlying weight of stone. The higher King's Chamber, for example, has five such spaces above it. The renowned American archaeologist Mark Lehner sits on a panel reviewing ScanPyramids' work. He says the muon science is sound but he is not yet convinced the discovery has significance. "It could be a kind of space that the builders left to protect the very narrow roof of the Grand Gallery from the weight of the pyramid," he told the BBC's Science In Action programme. "Right now it's just a big difference; it's an anomaly. But we need more of a focus on it especially in a day and age when we can no longer go blasting our way through the pyramid with gunpowder as [British] Egyptologist Howard Vyse did in the early 1800s." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mehdi Tayoubi: "It's a big void, similar to the Grand Gallery, but what is it?" One of the team leaders, Hany Helal from Cairo University, believes the void is too big to have a pressure-relieving purpose, but concedes the experts will debate this. "What we are doing is trying to understand the internal structure of the pyramids and how this pyramid has been built," he told reporters. "Famous Egyptologists, archaeologists and architects - they have some hypotheses. And what we are doing is giving them data. It is they who have to tell us whether this is expected or not." Much of the uncertainty comes down to the rather imprecise data gained from muography. This non-invasive technique has been developed over the past 50 years to probe the interiors of phenomena as diverse as volcanoes and glaciers. It has even been used to investigate the failed nuclear reactors at Fukushima. Muography makes use of the shower of high-energy particles that rain down on the Earth's surface from space. When super-fast cosmic rays collide with air molecules, they produce a range of "daughter" particles, including muons. These also move close to the speed of light and only weakly interact with matter. So when they reach the surface, they penetrate deeply into rock. But some of the particles will be absorbed and deflected by the atoms in the rock's minerals, and if the muon detectors are placed under a region of interest then a picture of density anomalies can be obtained. Image copyright SCANPYRAMIDS Image caption The muon detectors have to be placed under the region of interest The ScanPyramids team used three different muography technologies and all three agreed on the position and scale of the void. Sébastien Procureur, from CEA-IRFU, University of Paris-Saclay, emphasised that muography only sees large features, and that the team's scans were not just picking up a general porosity inside the pyramid. "With muons you measure an integrated density," he explained. "So, if there are holes everywhere then the integrated density will be the same, more or less, in all directions, because everything will be averaged. But if you see some excess of muons, it means that you have a bigger void. "You don't get that in a Swiss cheese." The question now arises as to how the void should be investigated further. Jean-Baptiste Mouret, from the French national institute for computer science and applied mathematics (Inria), said the team had an idea how to do it, but that the Egyptian authorities would first have to approve it. "Our concept is to drill a very small hole to potentially explore monuments like this. We aim to have a robot that could fit in a 3cm hole. Basically, we're working on flying robots," he said. The muography investigation at Khufu's Pyramid is reported in this week's edition of Nature magazine. Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos \|\|\|\|\| Scientists Say They've Found Hidden Space In Great Pyramid Of Giza Enlarge this image toggle caption ScanPyramids mission ScanPyramids mission The Great Pyramid of Giza has been probed with the tools of modern particle physics by scientists who say they have discovered a huge, secret space hidden within its ancient walls. It is located above a tall, cathedral-like room known as the Grand Gallery, and this newly found space is comparable in size — about 100 feet long, according to a report in the journal Nature. That makes it a major structure within this royal tomb, which was built around 2500 B.C. and is considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Yet until now, despite centuries of study, no one knew this space was there. Enlarge this image toggle caption Amr Nabil/AP Amr Nabil/AP "The romantic interpretation and what everyone wants to hear is that this is a hidden room and the king's body is inside or there's grave goods we didn't know about or we're going to learn more about history ... and none of that is responsible speculation at the moment," cautions Peter Der Manuelian, an Egyptologist at Harvard University who was not part of the research team. "All we know is that we have a void, we have a cavity, and it's huge, which means possibly intentional and certainly worthy of further exploration," Manuelian says, noting that it's not yet clear whether it's a single chamber or more than one. "In that sense it's obviously frustrating," he says. "On the other hand, as an architectural discovery, something we didn't know about the interior of the Great Pyramid, it's absolutely big news." Indeed, the team that made the find reports that it is the first significant internal structure found within the Great Pyramid since the 19th century. Mehdi Tayoubi, with the HIP Institute in Paris, explains that he and his colleagues wanted to investigate the pyramid using the best available non-destructive analytical techniques. They settled on a type of imaging that involves muons, which are tiny particles, like electrons. "What is strange, for me, is to use those very, very small particles for a huge monument like the pyramid," says Tayoubi. Muons are made when cosmic rays from deep space hit the atoms of the upper atmosphere. These particles rain down and lose energy as they pass through materials — like the thick stones of the pyramid — and that makes them slow down and decay. By placing muon detectors in strategic locations, researchers can count the number of muons coming through and create a kind of picture that reveals whether the material above is dense, like stone, or an empty space. Tayoubi explains that his team installed sheets of muon-detecting film in a lower-level room of the pyramid known as the Queen's Chamber. The goal was to test whether they could use muons to accurately discern two well-known rooms located above: the King's Chamber and Grand Gallery. They saw those rooms but, to their surprise, they found an additional large space as well. "The first reaction was a lot of excitement, but then we knew that it would take us a long, long time, that we needed to be very patient in this scientific process," says Tayoubi. Because they didn't want to rely on just one method, they confirmed the find using two other muon-detection techniques. "The good news is the void is there. Now we are sure that there is a void. We know that this void is big," says Tayoubi. "I don't know what it could be. I think it's now time for Egyptologists and specialists in ancient Egypt architecture to collaborate with us, to provide us with some hypotheses." He's interested in whether small robots might somehow enter this space through tiny cracks or holes and provide more information. In the past, before the modern science of archaeology evolved, folks sometimes blasted through walls in the pyramids, says Manuelian. "That's the good thing about the muon project, there's absolutely no damage to the pyramid at all," says Manuelian. "I hope that, in collaboration with the Egyptian antiquities authorities, further exploration will be set in motion. The study of the pyramids has been going on for an awful long time. So any new contribution is always a welcome addition to our knowledge."	– It's not every day that what is essentially nothingness would be major news, but today is that day: Scientists announced in Nature that after two years of study, they've identified a roughly 100-foot-long void in Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza—built around 2500 BC, it's the most ancient of the seven wonders of the ancient world, notes the Guardian. It's the first discovery of a new structure in the monument since the 19th century, and it came by using muography, which can pick up on changes in density within rock. What was found, the BBC reports, isn't being called a "chamber," and it explains why: Also known as Khufu's Pyramid, the structure contains voids that are believed to have been incorporated to bolster the structural integrity of the pyramid. While three muon technologies confirmed its existence, "we don't know whether this big void is horizontal or inclined ... [or] made by one structure or several successive structures," says Mehdi Tayoubi. It sits above the pyramid's "most striking" chamber, the Grand Gallery, a corridor that links the Queen's and King's chambers. An archaeologist who reviewed the work says it's possible the void was intended to "protect the very narrow roof" of the gallery, though others contend that for the cavity to effectively have that function, it would need to be smaller. The Guardian notes the pharaoh Khufu's mummy is missing, but a Harvard Egyptologist tells NPR the idea that the cavity is "a hidden room and the king's body is inside ... none of that is responsible speculation at the moment." The team next hopes to get approval to drill a 1.2-inch hole that a robot could fit into. (The world's largest pyramid was mistaken as a mountain.)
Published on Sep 29, 2016 To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please email licensing@storyful.com Angry guy destroys everything in a French Apple Store with a steel ball. Very calmly till security comes to stop him. To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please email licensing@storyful.com \|\|\|\|\| Hell hath no fury like an Apple fanboy scorned. A French customer Hulked out in an Apple Store in Dijon, smashing everything in sight, one slick item at a time. He employed a small steel ball, the kind usually used in the yard game pétanque. The rampage was captured by others in the store. Un mec détruit un Apple Store avec une boule de pétanque PARTIE 1 pic.twitter.com/XC9i8C9chH — Qυεηтιη  (@Quentin_IOS) September 29, 2016 It appears the incident was sparked by a refund dispute. In between wrecking iPhone, MacBooks, and iPads, he says in French, “Apple is a company that 'violated' European consumers' rights. They refused to reimburse me, I told them: 'Give me my money back'. They said no. So you know what's happening? This is happening!" According to a local news report, the man was apprehended by a security guard and arrested, after causing considerable damage. Here’s a video of his attempt to flee the scene. Fun fact: The French word for Apple is "pomme,” which is the root word for “pummel,” so maybe this guy was just confused. H/T Mashable	– Geez, the French are even sophisticated while performing wanton acts of destruction. The Verge reports a young man was caught on video calmly and methodically wrecking up an Apple Store in France over a refund disagreement. The man used a steel ball—apparently the kind used in a French lawn game—to break at least 10 iPhones and a MacBook Air, one at a time, before being arrested outside the store. “Apple is a company that violated European consumers' rights," the Daily Dot quotes the man as saying in French during his iPhone smashing. "They refused to reimburse me. I told them: 'Give me my money back.' They said no. So you know what's happening? This is happening!"
Oh, baby! Kylie Jenner is pregnant with a baby girl, multiple sources confirm to PEOPLE. A source tells PEOPLE the 20-year-old reality star and business mogul is due in February with her first child with rapper Travis Scott. “They started telling friends a few weeks ago,” says the source. “The family has known for quite some time. She is really excited and so is Travis.” Another source close to the family tells PEOPLE: “It is an unexpected but completely amazing turn of events that she could not be more excited or thrilled about.” “Everyone is overjoyed for her,” says the source. “This is the happiest she’s ever been.” Another insider says Scott, 25, began telling friends about the pregnancy in July. “He was so excited he couldn’t keep it in,” says the insider. “He’s been so affectionate and protective of Kylie since they found out. He can’t wait to be a dad.” The insider adds Jenner was worried people would find out she was pregnant before she was ready to share the news, so she “started posting old photos of herself on social media” that flaunted her flat stomach. “Kylie was really surprised but is so happy,” says the insider. “She wants to be a mom.” Reps did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Bob Levey/Getty Jenner has been dating Scott since earlier this year after splitting from her on-again, off-again boyfriend Tyga in April. “Kylie broke up with Tyga partly because she felt too young to get serious,” says the insider, who adds there are “no plans” currently for Jenner and Travis to wed. “Now she’s having a baby with a guy she just started dating,” adds the source. “People around her are really surprised. It happened really fast, but for Kylie, being with Travis is so different than anyone else. She’s so in love with him. She’s really excited.” Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter. The star’s baby won’t be the only new member joining the famous KarJenner brood: Jenner’s older sister, Kim Kardashian West, is also expecting via surrogate. Kardashian West shares two other children with husband Kanye West, Saint, who is 21 months old, and daughter North, who turned 4 in June. Jenner is also aunt to brother Rob Kardashian‘s daughter Dream, 10 months, and sister Kourtney Kardashian‘s three children: Mason, 7, Penelope, 5, and Reign, 2. FROM COINAGE: The Lavish Lifestyle of the Kardashian Kids Though Jenner and Scott’s relationship is still rather new, her family is definitely on board with the romance: A source told PEOPLE in August that the KarJenner crew “loves Travis.” “Kylie and Travis are doing great,” said the source. “There’s no drama with Travis. He’s a cool guy.” “He treats Kylie with a lot of respect and love,” added the source. “Kylie is very happy.” \|\|\|\|\| Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Kylie Jenner is expecting her first child, a source confirms to Page Six. Her boyfriend is rapper Travis Scott. The 20-year-old makeup mogul and Scott, 25, have reportedly been dating since April, when they were seen holding hands at the Coachella music festival and walking arm in arm at Bentley University in Massachusetts, where Scott performed at the school’s Spring Day concert. A source tells us that she is expecting a baby girl. “She has been looking pregnant for about four months,” says the insider. The pair have already proved their permanent love for each other with ink. They Snapchatted new, matching butterfly tattoos on their ankles in June. In a 2016 clip of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” Kylie says 25 is a good age to have kids, with her father, Caitlyn, stating that 30 is a good age. “I feel like 30 is too late. Every psychic said that I’m only going to have two kids,” she responds. During a Q&A on Snapchat in October, the “Life of Kylie” star says, “I’m getting a lot of questions about kids. How many kids do I want? Do I want kids? And I do want kids, but not now.” A year later, Kylie is about to become a mother and is rumored to be due in February. Reportedly, Scott has been excitedly telling friends, but Jenner’s ex, rapper Tyga, posted and deleted a Snapchat of the news with the caption, “Hell nah that’s my kid,” along with a number of devil emojis. Jenner was dating Tyga — who fathered a child with Blac Chyna — for two years, splitting with him this past April. Sister Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who are parents to daughter North, 4, and son Saint, 21 months, are also reportedly expecting via a surrogate. Their third child is said to be due in late January. Sounds like an excellent plotline for a TV show. Kourtney Kardashian has three children with Scott Disick: Mason, Penelope, and Reign. And brother Rob has reached an agreement for custody of his 10-month-old daughter with Chyna, Dream Kardashian. A request for comment was not immediately returned, although we hear the family is expected to confirm the news. \|\|\|\|\| Kylie Jenner Pregnant Kylie Jenner is Pregnant EXCLUSIVE Kylie Jenner is pregnant and Travis Scott is about to become a dad. We're told 20-year-old Kylie began telling friends earlier this month at the Day N Night Fest in Anaheim, CA. Sources also say 25-year-old Travis Scott, Kylie's boyfriend, has also been telling his friends. We're even told -- although we cannot verify -- that he's told friends they're having a girl. One source says Travis was at a recent event telling people about the pregnancy and how his life was going to change. If they are punking their friends with repeated pregnancy proclamations, it's super weird ... especially in light of the photo (above) which Kylie herself just posted on Snapchat. It's also interesting ... Kylie's been posting old pics of herself on Instagram and current shots from the chest up. Kylie and Travis have been together since April. If you're wondering what Kylie's ex, Tyga, thinks about the fetus news, he posted this on Snapchat and quickly deleted it. What do ya think -- is he bitter or relieved?	– According to multiple gossip outlets including TMZ, Kylie Jenner is pregnant. The 20-year-old sister of Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian is said to be expecting a baby with boyfriend of six months Travis Scott. Both Jenner and Scott, 25, have reportedly been telling friends about the pregnancy, with Scott even said to have claimed it's a girl. TMZ acknowledges the couple could be "punking" their friends, but says it would be "super weird" if so. The gossip site also points out Kylie has been posting photos of herself from the chest up lately, or old photos, but that she recently posted a photo on Snapchat in which she could possibly be showing, per the Cut. A source helpfully tells Page Six that Jenner "has been looking pregnant for about four months." The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star and her rapper boyfriend "started telling friends a few weeks ago. The family has known for quite some time. She is really excited and so is Travis," one source tells People. Another source adds, "It is an unexpected but completely amazing turn of events that she could not be more excited or thrilled about. Everyone is overjoyed for her. This is the happiest she’s ever been." Older sister Kim is also reportedly expecting via surrogate, and that baby is rumored to be due in January.
Siri, how do you say profit in Chinese? One answer Apple's digital assistant might consider giving is: start selling the iPhone 4S in China. And starting on Jan. 13th, Apple will do just that. The company said Wednesday that China will be among 22 countries that soon will get the newest iPhone, one of Apple's hottest-selling yet. The iPhone now accounts for nearly half of Apple's annual revenue, and some analysts believe it earns the company more than 60% of its profits. China is one of the world's largest mobile device markets, with close to a billion cellphone users by some estimates. Apple currently partners with China Unicom, one of the larger carriers with close to 200 million cellular subscribers. Apple said Wednesday it had no current plans to announce a partnership with China Mobile, the country's largest carrier with more than 630 million subscribers (a user base that, somewhat amazingly, is more than twice the size of the U.S. population). But for months now Apple has been rumored to be nailing down a deal with China Mobile, and millions of the carriers' customers are already using the iPhone by modifying the device to work on their network. Will Siri actually be able to speak and understand Mandarin? Eventually, yes. An Apple spokesman said the company plans to add official language support in 2012 — and that will include Chinese. But Siri won't yet be multilingual when the phone hits Chinese stores this month. RELATED: Orangutans go ape for iPads, gorillas not so much Apple design master awarded British knighthood Apple fined in Italy, accused of misleading warranties — David Sarno Photo: A couple look at an iPhone in Beijing in November. Credit: Diego Azubel / EPA \|\|\|\|\| Computerworld - Apple today announced it would start selling the iPhone 4S in mainland China a week from this Friday -- Jan. 13. The iPhone 4S was expected to eventually make it to the People's Republic of China (PRC) -- it debuted in Hong Kong on Nov. 11 -- but some analysts had forecast that Apple would move faster. Two months ago, Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities said he expected the iPhone 4S to reach China before the end of the calendar year. Today, White noted the Chinese iPhone 4S launch, but maintained that his projection of a faster iPhone 4S rollout had come true. "As we expected, this represents the fastest iPhone launch in Apple's history with availability in over 90 countries," White told clients in a short research note today. By comparison, Apple had placed the iPhone 4 in 105 countries by the end of September 2011, more than a year after its introduction. Apple launched the iPhone 4S on Oct. 14. Siri, the voice-activated assistant -- and the most-lauded feature of the iPhone 4S -- won't be able to understand Mandarin when the smartphone launches next week, White said. Apple today stuck to its previous commitment to bring Mandarin comprehension to Siri some time this year. China Unicom, the only Apple-sanctioned carrier on the mainland, will start selling the iPhone 4S on Jan. 13 as well. Talk of other Chinese mobile carriers, including the country's largest, China Mobile, remain just that for now. "We expect China Telecom to be added this year and we believe China Mobile will eventually become part of the Apple ecosystem," White said today. Based on the quick sell-out of the iPhone 4S in Hong Kong -- supplies were exhausted within minutes at its one Apple store on launch day -- White also anticipates a run on the iPhone 4S in the PRC. "We believe the demand for the iPhone 4S in Mainland China to be unprecedented," White said. China has increasingly been a major factor in Apple's massive revenues. In the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2011, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong generated 16% of the company's total income. And China, White reminded clients today, is the largest smartphone market in the world. "The total mobile phone subscriber base in China was 963.7 million in November, and [the] high-end mobile phone market in China is estimated at 100-125 million subscribers or ~$70 billion," said White. Apple has not revealed prices for the iPhone 4S in China, but most experts believe it will carry the same tag as the iPhone 4 did in 2010: 4,999 yuan ($793) for the 16GB model and 5,999 yuan ($952) for the 32GB model. Those prices are sans a long-term carrier contract. The 8GB iPhone 4, which sells for $99 in the U.S. with a two-year contract, goes for 3,880 yuan ($633) in China without a contract. More than 20 other countries -- including Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Senegal -- will also see the iPhone 4S selling on Jan. 13. Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com. See more articles by Gregg Keizer. Read more about Smartphones in Computerworld's Smartphones Topic Center.	– Apple is about to get more than a billion new potential customers for the iPhone 4s—but many of them may find it tricky communicating with Siri just yet. The smartphone will be launched in China and 21 other countries next week, and while its voice-activated virtual assistant currently only speaks English, French, and German, Apple says it plans to add Mandarin later this year, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts, " Apple CEO Tim Cook said, noting that the iPhone 4S will soon be available in more than 90 countries and regions, making it the fastest-ever iPhone rollout. Apple currently partners with the carrier China Unicom, but insiders tell Computer World that it is close to forging a deal with the country's behemoth carrier, China Mobile, which boasts a whopping 630 million subscribers.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with new forecast information. It’s been a tough winter for snow lovers. From Chicago to New England, February was actually hot in many parts of country. Daffodils and flowering trees have been blooming for weeks . So far in 2017, it’s been in the 60s or 70s as often as it’s snowed in New York City. That’s all about to change this week. One of the biggest March snowstorms on record appears poised to strike the East Coast on Monday night, packing strong winds and snow drifts measured in feet. It’s as if Mother Nature decided to make up for lost time and pack an entire season’s worth of winter into a single day. A blizzard warning is now in effect for a large swath of the Northeast from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine, including New York City — meaning white-out conditions and tropical-storm-force winds are likely. A relatively sharp cutoff between snow and slush should keep the biggest snow totals away from Washington, D.C. and Boston, but elsewhere, totals will rack up to 1 or 2 feet. The latest National Weather Service forecasts show a wide section of the Northeast, from Maryland to Maine , on tap for more than a foot of snow. Snowflakes should start Monday evening around Washington, D.C. and reach their peak early morning on Tuesday in New York City before tapering off by Tuesday evening across New England. The storm will be a relatively fast-mover, with most of its energy concentrated into a period of about nine hours of heavy snow and strong winds at each location. Besides heavy snow and strong winds gusting to nearly hurricane-force in parts of Massachusetts, the storm may bring at least moderate coastal flooding to parts of the New Jersey shore. The result will be a snow day for sure on Tuesday with schools and workplaces closed—the National Weather Service is warning that “several roads may become impassable” and those that travel should bring along a “winter survival kit.” NYC schools will be closed; the governor of Connecticut has issued a statewide travel ban. With leaves already out due to the early spring, there’s also a risk of widespread power outages . An experimental winter storm severity index used by the National Weather Service maxes out the scale: While the effects on land may be astounding for at least a short while—words like paralyzing and crippling are being used to describe it—meteorologists are also viewing the storm as eye candy and refer to its weather maps as “ art. ” From a weather nerd-out standpoint, the storm is close to perfection. The primary ingredients—a cold pulse from the Great Lakes and a low-pressure system forming off the Carolinas—will pull in subtropical moisture from a record-warm Gulf Stream right offshore . The storm will rapidly strengthen —in the process becoming a meteorological “bomb ” ( a technical term for rapidly strengthening low-pressure centers)—and travel over the sweet spot to maximize snowfall for New York City and New England. That’s forced meteorologists to add new colors to their weather maps, and marvel at an “ absolute crusher ” that will be “ puking snow .” An objective pattern-matching algorithm has compared this storm to some of the all-time strongest, too, including the Valentine’s Day 2007 blizzard and 1993’s “Storm of the Century.” There’s even a good chance of thundersnow—the meteorological Holy Grail, made infamous by a viral Weather Channel video from 2011 in Chicago. If you’re wondering, “but, it’s March—how is this happening?”—that’s a good question. If the current forecast—which was boosted early Monday morning by the National Weather Service—pans out, the storm will rank as the second-biggest March snowstorm in New York City history (records go back to 1869). Two studies published last year argue that climate change may be making the ingredients for big East Coast snowstorms more likely, and the evidence is starting to mount: Including this storm, eight of the 10 biggest snowstorms in New York City have occurred since 1996. High-resolution weather models continue to insist that most of this storm’s snowfall will come during just a few hours via an intense band with snowfall rates of up to 5 inches per hour—near the upper limit of what is physically possible along the East Coast. \|\|\|\|\| FILE- In this March 10, 2017, file photo, pedestrians walk through wet snow in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The Northeast is bracing for winter's last hurrah — a blizzard expected to sweep the New... (Associated Press) FILE- In this March 10, 2017, file photo, pedestrians walk through wet snow in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The Northeast is bracing for winter's last hurrah — a blizzard expected to sweep the New York region starting Monday, March 13, with possibly of being the season's biggest snowstorm. (AP... (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — A powerful nor'easter could bring blizzard conditions and more than a foot of snow to some parts of the Northeast, proving that winter is not done yet. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard watch from late Monday night through Tuesday evening for New York City and parts of northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut, while winter storm warnings and watches were issued for the remainder of the Northeast. Meteorologists said the storm could dump 12 to 18 inches of snow on New York City with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph. Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel and help keep the roads clear for sanitation crews and first responders. "We're preparing for a significant storm on Tuesday, and New Yorkers should also prepare for snow and dangerous road conditions," de Blasio said. Light snow is expected to begin late Monday night and intensify overnight into early Tuesday morning. The heaviest snowfall is expected Tuesday morning through the afternoon, with snowfall rates of as much as 2 to 4 inches per hour. "This would certainly be the biggest snowstorm of the 2017 winter season in New York City," said Faye Barthold, a weather service meteorologist based on Long Island. Boston also could get 12 to 18 inches, with isolated amounts of up to 2 feet across northeastern Massachusetts. In Philadelphia, crews began treating some area roadways on Sunday. The city could see 6 to 12 inches of snow. The weather service said there is a chance the snow could change over to a wintry mix or rain for a time Tuesday morning, which could limit total snowfall amounts. Farther south, in the nation's capital, where the National Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled to start Wednesday, snow accumulations of 6 to 10 inches are expected. Winter's last hurrah arrives just a week after the region saw temperatures climb in the 60s.	– Residents of the Northeast have known that a storm was on the way for days now, but the forecasts are only getting more dire as the moment approaches. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard watch from late Monday through Tuesday evening for New York City and parts of northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut, while winter storm warnings and watches were issued for the remainder of the Northeast, per the AP. Meteorologists said the storm could dump 12 to 18 inches of snow on New York City and Boston, with Philadelphia is expecting up to a foot. But as NBC News notes, the more dangerous component will be high winds on Tuesday morning, with gusts of 55mph to 70mph in the forecast. "This would certainly be the biggest snowstorm of the 2017 winter season in New York City," says a weather service meteorologist based on Long Island. In fact, it has the potential to be among the worst, if not the worst, March snowstorm in New York City history. Coastal flooding also is a risk along the Jersey shore and elsewhere, as is "thundersnow," explains the Daily Beast. Meanwhile, spring officially arrives on March 20.
Washington state Health Department The reactors on all the plants scrammed, shut off immediately as they were designed to do. Control rods were properly lowered into the uranium-filled pools to stop the nuclear reaction that generates the heat and steam that move huge turbines that generate the power. Enormous, high-volume pumps kicked in to send cooling water through the intricately designed, uranium-235-filled fuel rods, to prevent them from melting. Sponsored Links Radiation is terrifying to most people. And the less you actually know about it, the more frightening it can be.Watching what looked like an endless Hollywood production of carnage in the coastal communities of northeastern Japan as they were inundated by earthquakes and 30-foot-tall, tsunami-driven waves was bad enough. But then the fires of disbelief were stoked anew as panting cable news crews ticked off details of six separate nuclear reactors that had completely or partially melted down or were soon expected to.Older TV viewers might recall being terrified, along with the rest of the world, as they watched the nuclear-disaster-that-could-never-happen at Three Mile Island unit 2 along the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, Pa., in 1979. Or the even more disastrous explosion seven years later at Chernobyl Reactor No. 4 in the Ukraine.These earth-shaking events involved a single reactor, not the six that are now focusing the world's attention on the Fukushima I and Fukushima II nuclear complexes 150 miles north of Tokyo.Nuclear event and emergency-response experts huddled over the weekend in command centers from the White House to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to state governments in California, Oregon and Washington. They watched the latest news unfold half a world away on big screens and shared information on dedicated, confidential government hot lines.They saw Japan's multiple-redundant nuclear safeguards work, at first.All worked according to much-practiced plans. But then, suddenly, a flood of information from the Japanese government described a cascade of almost unbelievable reports.The power running the pumps died. The locomotive-sized diesel backup generators were destroyed by the flooding from the tsunamis. Neutron-absorbing boron and seawater -- a combination so corrosive that it was a death sentence for the reactors -- was pumped in, in a final effort to avoid a nuclear meltdown.Then, like scenes from "The China Syndrome" or from the pages of "The Night We Almost Lost Detroit," an explosion ripped off the outer wall and roof of the building holding the 41-year-old General Electric reactor. Late Sunday night, a second building blew into pieces. In both explosions, the reactors were not yet breached.But several of the reactors were spewing a deadly cocktail of assorted radioisotopes, including iodine-131, cesium-137, xenon and krypton carried aloft with the radioactive steam.Almost instantly, postings on thousands of websites and blogs pontificated on the importance of every shred of information, real or imagined.Some presumed experts talked of curies, rads, becquerels, sieverts, mrems and other terms describing the escaping radiation, using measurement terms that haven't been used in years or had absolutely no relevance to a leaking reactor. Rarely did they explain what these numbers meant.Some postings were criminally absurd and flat-out wrong.One map that went viral showed color-coded plumes of radiation moving eastward across the Pacific and the prediction that radiation levels measuring 3,000 rads would reach the Aleutian Island chain in three days. Levels of 1,500 rads will hit the northern coast of British Columbia within a week and western North American "from Alaska to the Baja tip in 10 days, with radiation levels of 750 rads,'' the posting warned.These numbers, which would kill or sicken quickly, have absolutely no basis in fact at all. And, according to a radiation expert at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they are more typical of the levels that might occur after a nuclear attack.In fact, Japanese nuclear officials have said repeatedly that they're dealing with "a minimal level of radiation that does not harm human health."It is good to sometimes be skeptical of government claims. During Three Mile Island, a hydrogen bubble in the damaged reactor was poised to destroy the unit, yet power company and state and federal officials denied the existence of the destructive bubble for days.Some companies were quick to take advantage of such skepticism about the Japanese reports.The Web was bristling with links from stories on the disaster taking readers to sites selling "Five Person Deluxe Survival Kits," "life-saving" potassium iodide pills, Swiss Army knifes, tools to turn off leaking gas lines and Geiger counters of all sizes. One site promised, "Your order can be overnighted to you before the lethal cloud arrives."These are ads that are automatically placed by computers and are not set there by the writers or editors.Leading the silliness parade were bloggers who were linking to Cold War civil defense ads from the 1950s showing Tommy the Turtle hiding from a nuclear blast and children being taught to "duck and cover" under their school desks.As real facts flowing from Japan fell to a trickle, the vacuum was filled with speculation.For example, meteorologists and their websites argued over the prevailing-wind currents and surface currents from Japan. Some said the winds would quickly carry the radioactive debris to the West Coast in days. Other forecasters, using the same charts, said the wind patterns would widely distribute and dilute any plume of radioactive material before it reached the U.S.Bad information was coming from even trusted sites. The respected Incident and Emergency Center of the International Atomic Energy Agency says it incorrectly reported that four of the damaged reactors were venting.The U.S. government's watchdog of nuclear power plants isn't doing all it can to keep the public calm.At a White House briefing this morning, Gregory Jaczko, the head of the NRC, said power plants in the U.S. are designed to handle all " significant phenomena," including tsunamis, floods and earthquakes. He was asked several times what size quakes U.S. plants are designed to withstand. But each time he flipped the question back to the Japanese crisis, avoiding answering what he was asked.AOL News called the NRC press office and was told that each site is built to a different seismic activity standard. But when we requested a list of the earthquake design limits for each plant under NRC control, that information isn't available, was the official reply.Asked what the range of protective limits was, he said he didn't think that information was available.What makes this information important is that the Japanese plants that are in crisis were designed to withstand a 7.9 quake, not the 8.9 monster that hit them. Government officials in the U.S. were doing their best to downplay the imminent danger on this side of the Pacific.Rumors spread wildly on the availability and shipments of potassium iodide tablets, which is pretty much the only preventive medication to neutralize the effect of radioactive poisoning that targets the thyroid gland and could eventually cause cancer.When AOL News questioned the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security on Saturday, spokesmen said that none of the medication -- also called KI -- has been shipped anywhere because there is "no apparent need." Officials questioned on the West Coast said the same.Oregon and Washington state health officials told AOL News that if it were needed, the radiation-blocking agent could quickly be shipped in from strategic stockpiles maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.An official in California echoed the comments but added that there were already quantities of KI in the state because there are four operating power stations at two sites.The federal agencies said that they "continue to work to assess what is a very serious and fluid situation" but insisted that no one expected any "meaningful effects on the U.S. homeland.''Oregon and Washington say they continue to use continuous-reading Environmental Protection Agency radiation detectors to monitor levels. This is the same EPA system that first detected radiation from the Chernobyl accident at ground level on the West Coast one week after the meltdown in Ukraine.State officials said risks to residents of both states are minimal given the current size of the release from the Japanese reactors and the distance from the West Coast. But they will continue to closely watch the radiation detectors until the Japanese reactors are shut down. \|\|\|\|\| After a once-in-300-years earthquake, the Japanese have been keeping cool amid the chaos, organizing an enormous relief and rescue operation, and generally earning the world's admiration. We wish we could say the same for the reaction in the U.S., where the troubles at Japan's nuclear reactors have produced an overreaction about the risks of modern life and technology. Part of the problem is the lack of media proportion about the disaster itself. The quake and tsunami have killed hundreds, and probably thousands, with tens of billions of dollars in damage. The energy released by the quake off Sendei is equivalent to about 336 megatons of TNT, or 100 more megatons than last year's quake in Chile and thousands of times the yield of the nuclear explosion at Hiroshima. The scale of the tragedy is epic. Yet the bulk of U.S. media coverage has focused on a nuclear accident whose damage has so far been limited and contained to the plant sites. In simple human terms, the natural destruction of Earth and sea have far surpassed any errors committed by man. Editorial Board Member Mary Kissel explains the Japanese response to the quake. Given the incomplete news reports, it is impossible to say how much worse the nuclear damage will be. Unlike the Soviets at Chernobyl, the Japanese have been taking sensible precautions like evacuating people near the plants and handing out iodine pills even if they may never be needed. These precautions increase public worry, but better to take them even if they prove to be unnecessary. We will have plenty of time to dissect events at the reactors and the safety lessons going forward. William Tucker provides some useful context nearby, and one crucial point is that the containment walls seem to have held. These walls are designed to withstand quakes and explosions, and it is good news if they have done so. The crisis seems to have been triggered by the failure of diesel generators that provided electricity to cool the reactors once they were shut down. Mr. Tucker explains that this weakness has been corrected in new nuclear plant designs. We have no special brief for nuclear power over any other energy source. Our view is that it should compete with other sources on a market basis, without subsidies or government loan guarantees. Every energy source has risks and economic externalities, whether they are noise and bird kills (wind), huge land requirements (solar), rig explosions and tanker spills (oil), or mining accidents (coal). But more than other energy sources, nuclear plants have had their costs increased by artificial political obstacles and delay. The U.S. hasn't built a new nuclear plant since 1979, after the Three Mile Island meltdown, even as older nuclear plants continue to provide 20% of the nation's electricity. Enlarge Image Close JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images An aerial photo shows the quake-damaged Fukushima Dai-Ni nuclear power plant. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a couple of years away from completing a reactor at Watts Bar after years of effort. Proposals for 20 new reactors to be built over the next 15 to 20 years are in various stages of review in the multiyear approval process at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with two each in Georgia and South Carolina at the front of the line. But the much-ballyhooed "nuclear renaissance" is a long way off, and it will be longer after events in Japan. Our larger point is less about nuclear power than how we react as a society to inevitable disasters, both natural and man-made. Because a plane crashes, we don't stop flying. Because an oil rig explodes in the Gulf, we don't (or at least we shouldn't) stop drilling for oil. And because the Challenger space shuttle blew up, we didn't stop shuttle flights—though we do seem to have lost much of our national will for further manned space exploration. We should learn from the Japanese nuclear crisis, not let it feed a political panic over nuclear power in general. *** The paradox of material and technological progress is that we seem to become more risk-averse the safer it makes us. The more comfortable we become, the less eager we are to take the risks that are the only route to future progress. The irony is that one reason Japan has survived this catastrophic event as well as it has is its great material development and wealth. Modern civilization is in the daily business of measuring and mitigating risk, but its advance requires that we continue to take risk. It would compound Japan's tragedy if the lesson America learns is that we should pursue the illusory and counterproductive goal of eliminating all risk. \|\|\|\|\| Even while thousands of people are reported dead or missing, whole neighborhoods lie in ruins, and gas and oil fires rage out of control, press coverage of the Japanese earthquake has quickly settled on the troubles at two nuclear reactors as the center of the catastrophe. Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass.), a longtime opponent of nuclear power, has warned of "another Chernobyl" and predicted "the same thing could happen here." In response, he has called for an immediate suspension of licensing procedures for the Westinghouse AP1000, a "Generation III" reactor that has been laboring through design review at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for seven years. Author William Tucker explains why the danger is limited at Japan's nuclear reactors. Before we respond with such panic, though, it would be useful to review exactly what is happening in Japan and what we have to fear from it. The core of a nuclear reactor operates at about 550 degrees Fahrenheit, well below the temperature of a coal furnace and only slightly hotter than a kitchen oven. If anything unusual occurs, the control rods immediately drop, shutting off the nuclear reaction. You can't have a "runaway reactor," nor can a reactor explode like a nuclear bomb. A commercial reactor is to a bomb what Vaseline is to napalm. Although both are made from petroleum jelly, only one of them has potentially explosive material. Once the reactor has shut down, there remains "decay heat" from traces of other radioactive isotopes. This can take more than a week to cool down, and the rods must be continually bathed in cooling waters to keep them from overheating. On all Generation II reactors—the ones currently in operation—the cooling water is circulated by electric pumps. The new Generation III reactors such as the AP1000 have a simplified "passive" cooling system where the water circulates by natural convection with no pumping required. If the pumps are knocked out in a Generation II reactor—as they were at Fukushima Daiichi by the tsunami—the water in the cooling system can overheat and evaporate. The resulting steam increases internal pressure that must be vented. There was a small release of radioactive steam at Three Mile Island in 1979, and there have also been a few releases at Fukushima Daiichi. These produce radiation at about the level of one dental X-ray in the immediate vicinity and quickly dissipate. Editorial Board Member Mary Kissel explains the Japanese response to the quake. If the coolant continues to evaporate, the water level can fall below the level of the fuel rods, exposing them. This will cause a meltdown, meaning the fuel rods melt to the bottom of the steel pressure vessel. Early speculation was that in a case like this the fuel might continue melting right through the steel and perhaps even through the concrete containment structure—the so-called China syndrome, where the fuel would melt all the way to China. But Three Mile Island proved this doesn't happen. The melted fuel rods simply aren't hot enough to melt steel or concrete. The decay heat must still be absorbed, however, and as a last-ditch effort the emergency core cooling system can be activated to flood the entire containment structure with water. This will do considerable damage to the reactor but will prevent any further steam releases. The Japanese have now reportedly done this using seawater in at least two of the troubled reactors. These reactors will never be restarted. None of this amounts to "another Chernobyl." The Chernobyl reactor had two crucial design flaws. First, it used graphite (carbon) instead of water to "moderate" the neutrons, which makes possible the nuclear reaction. The graphite caught fire in April 1986 and burned for four days. Water does not catch fire. Second, Chernobyl had no containment structure. When the graphite caught fire, it spouted a plume of radioactive smoke that spread across the globe. A containment structure would have both smothered the fire and contained the radioactivity. If a meltdown does occur in Japan, it will be a disaster for the Tokyo Electric Power Company but not for the general public. Whatever steam releases occur will have a negligible impact. Researchers have spent 30 years trying to find health effects from the steam releases at Three Mile Island and have come up with nothing. With all the death, devastation and disease now threatening tens of thousands in Japan, it is trivializing and almost obscene to spend so much time worrying about damage to a nuclear reactor. What the Japanese earthquake has proved is that even the oldest containment structures can withstand the impact of one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history. The problem has been with the electrical pumps required to operate the cooling system. It would be tragic if the result of the Japanese accident were to prevent development of Generation III reactors, which eliminate this design flaw. Mr. Tucker is author of "Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey" (Bartleby Press, 2010).	– America is positively freaking out over the state of Japan’s nuclear reactors, with some calling for a halt to the development of new nuclear plants. But that’s a wild overreaction, opines a Wall Street Journal editorial. The media’s done a poor job of putting the tragedy in Japan in proportion: The quake killed hundreds, and released a thousand times more energy than the nuclear explosion at Hiroshima. “In simple human terms, the natural destruction of Earth and sea have far surpassed any errors committed by man.” In a separate piece, William Tucker breaks down the technical workings of the reactors, and concludes that there’s little danger. “None of this amounts to ‘another Chernobyl,’” he says. Chernobyl had massive design flaws that these Generation II reactors don’t; their containment structures have held. “If a meltdown does occur,” he concludes, “it will be a disaster for the Tokyo Electric Power Company, but not for the general public.” For another (paywall-free) dose of realism, click here.
Virginia's outgoing governor has pulled a prank on his successor. The Washington Post reported Sunday that Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam found images of Terry McAuliffe on his bed pillows at the Governor's Mansion. McAuliffe, also a Democrat, emblazoned the pillows with one of his favorite sayings: "Sleep when you're dead." Northam and his wife, first lady Pam Northam, spent their first night in the mansion resting their heads on the 72nd's governor's grinning mug. The Post reports that the newly inaugurated Governor was also treated to several photos of McAuliffe around the residence and an early morning wake up call. "There are pictures of the governor all over the mansion that he left for me," Northam told the Post. "Also, at 3 o'clock this morning, an alarm clock went off, which I have yet to find. I texted him and thanked him, and he said there was more to come. Such pranks are common in Virginia, the only state where the governorship changes hands every four years. During the last changeover, Republican Bob McDonnell had left a huge stuffed bear in the private bathroom for a newly sworn-in McAuliffe. It was a real bear taken from the office of McDonnell's natural resources secretary Doug Domenech. At a chilly ceremony in Richmond surrounded by his family and, further back, a number of former governors, Northam took the oath to become the Old Dominion's 73rd chief executive on Saturday. Northam, a Democrat, veteran and pediatrician who was previously the state's lieutenant governor, beat Republican Ed Gillespie for the seat in November. \|\|\|\|\| Newly inaugurated Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife found pillowcases emblazoned with former governor Terry McAuliffe’s face and a favorite saying on their bed in the governor’s mansion. (Photo by Gov. Ralph Northam/Photo by Gov. Ralph Northam) The peaceful transfer of power in Virginia would not be complete without a prank pulled by the outgoing governor on his successor. So it was that as newly inaugurated Gov. Ralph Northam (D) hit the sack Saturday night after his inauguration, he found something special on his pillowcase — and it was not one of those fancy hotel good-night chocolates. An image of former governor Terry McAuliffe (D) was plastered on his pillowcase, emblazoned with one of the go-go-go ex-governor's favorite sayings: "Sleep when you're dead." And yes, Virginia's 73rd governor spent his first night in the mansion with his head resting on the 72nd's governor's grinning mug. His wife, first lady Pam Northam, let him use her McAuliffe-covered pillow, too, opting for a plain pillowcase for herself. "Let me show you the picture," Northam said, pulling out his cellphone after a brunch hosted by the first lady Sunday at Richmond's Jefferson Hotel. The pillowcases are not the only reminders McAuliffe left behind. Gov.Ralph Northam and his wife, Pam, arrive at the south portico before Northam took the oath of office at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Saturday. (Kevin Morley/AP) "There are pictures of the governor all over the mansion that he left for me," Northam said. "Also, at 3 o'clock this morning, an alarm clock went off, which I have yet to find. I texted him and thanked him, and he said there was more to come." The alarm clock trick is not a new one, but certain pranks are bound to get recycled in the only state where the governorship changes hands every four years. Departing governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) set one to go off at 4 a.m. four years ago, giving McAuliffe a jolt on his first weekend in the Executive Mansion. Another surprise awaited the newly sworn-in McAuliffe when he got to his office: a huge stuffed bear in the private bathroom. It was no teddy bear. It was the real, taxidermied thing, poached from the office of McDonnell's natural resources secretary Doug Domenech. On his way out of the governorship, in 2010, now-Sen. Tim Kaine (D) hid cellphones in the mansion elevator shaft and periodically called them as a trick on McDonnell. It took a few days for McDonnell's team to locate them. And before that, now-Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) left a life-size cutout of himself in the governor's mansion shower for Kaine.	– Playing pranks on your successor is a tradition among Virginia governors. When Mark Warner moved out of the governor's mansion in 2006, for example, he left a life-size cutout of himself in the shower for the recently elected Tim Kaine, the Washington Post reports. Kaine paid that favor forward four years later when he occasionally called cell phones he'd left in the elevator shafts to irk his successor, Robert McDonnell. But outgoing Gov. Terry McAuliffe may have taken the cake Saturday night, greeting new Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife, Pam, with pillowcases on their new bed plastered with McAuliffe's image. And right above the image was one of McAuliffe's favorite lines: "Sleep when you're dead." Northam took his hazing in stride, spending his first night in office with his head rested on the portrait of his predecessor. He also showed a picture he had taken of the pillowcases to reporters at a brunch the next morning. But McAuliffe's mischief didn't stop there, CBS News reports. He also left pictures of himself throughout the governor's mansion. And, according to Northam, an alarm went off at 3am that first night, an alarm Northam has yet to find. "I texted him and thanked him," Northam said, "and he said there was more to come."
A paradox of the new music industry: Albums sell less and less well every year, but as a marketing tool they are now more important than ever. A case in point is Lady Gaga, whose new album, “Born This Way” (Interscope), was released on May 23 and sold 1,108,000 copies in the United States in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Some 662,000 of those sales, or about 60 percent, were digital downloads, the most any album has ever sold in a week. The extraordinary success of “Born This Way” — it outsold the next 42 albums on Billboard’s chart combined — are a testimony to Lady Gaga’s appeal and the hard work of her business team, which devised one of the most extensive and savvy marketing campaigns ever mounted in music. Once an artist’s biggest source of income, recorded music now plays second fiddle to touring, endorsements, merchandise sales and an array of other revenue streams once considered ancillary. That’s especially true for an artist like Lady Gaga, who has lined up more branding and promotional deals in the last six months than most artists will in a lifetime. “People lose sight of how an artist becomes successful in 2011,” said Bill Werde, Billboard’s editorial director. “She could have sold 600,000 albums, or a million, or two million. But in terms of revenue that’s going to be a smaller piece of the pie.” If there is any asterisk on her achievement, it’s that about two-thirds of the digital downloads are owed to a 99-cent deal offered by Amazon, which helped sales pass the million mark. The huge discount drew an angry reaction from brick-and-mortar retailers who saw their sales drop in response. Ish Cuebas, vice president for music merchandising of Trans World Entertainment, which operates 460 music and media stores, including F.Y.E., said that his shops sold about half as many copies of “Born This Way” as he had expected. “I don’t think it sends a good message,” Mr. Cuebas said of Amazon’s deal. “I can understand what Amazon did, but I think it devalues music even further. In the customer’s mind it’s worth 99 cents.” But something is still needed to organize the flurry of products, activities and side deals that now constitute an artist’s business, and most often that role is filled by an album, no matter what the cost. The album still establishes an artist’s sound, look and message and provides an anchor around which long promotions can be built, from early singles (and leaks) to concert tours and television appearances. Recognizing this, Interscope and Lady Gaga’s manager, Troy Carter, built their campaign around the release date, which they chose late last year to take advantage of music-related high points on the television calendar, like the Grammy Awards in February (where Lady Gaga played the premiere of her song “Born This Way”) and the finale of “American Idol” last week (where she sang her latest single, “The Edge of Glory”). “We wanted to approach this like we were opening a blockbuster film,” said Steve Berman, vice chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M.; “It became: ‘We’ll put a flag in that date well in advance. We won’t move. And what we’ll do for the next six months is pour gas on that fire every day, really branding the date.’ ” Like any good movie campaign the selling of “Born This Way” began nearly a year in advance and continued as a well-timed drumbeat of promotional appearances, retail tie-ins and media deals that rose to a climax as the release date approached. Lady Gaga announced the title of the album at MTV’s Video Music Awards last September and gave the release date on New Year’s Eve. As the promotions piled up in recent weeks, she became inescapable. If you missed her HBO concert special or “Saturday Night Live” appearance, her GagaVille online game or fashion sale through Gilt Groupe, then perhaps you rode in one of the New York City subway cars decked out top to bottom with “Born This Way” advertising. Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, apparently knows the value of these deals. Mr. Carter said she accompanied him on numerous trips to retailers and to Silicon Valley start-ups eager to attach themselves to the Gaga brand. But the most effective offering may have been the one the Gaga team knew nothing about. On May 23 Amazon put the digital version of the album on sale for 99 cents to draw music fans to Cloud Drive, its entry into the world of so-called cloud music services, which store a user’s songs on remote servers. Amazon paid Interscope’s distributor, Universal, the full wholesale price for the album — between $8 and $9 — and accepted the difference as a loss, according to several people briefed on the sales arrangement, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the details. Billboard reported that Amazon’s two-day sale yielded about 440,000 digital sales; if correct, that would mean that the retailer lost more than $3 million on the promotion. (Amazon declined to comment.) Several other new releases reached high on Billboard’s album chart this week, but none came close to “Born This Way.” Brad Paisley’s new “This Is Country Music” (Arista Nashville) is No. 2 with 153,000 copies sold, and “Glee: The Music, Vol. 6” (Columbia) sold 80,000, reaching No. 4. Adele’s “21” (XL), which has been No. 1 for a total of nine weeks this year, fell two spots to No. 3 with 127,000. Mr. Carter, Lady Gaga’s manager, said the prerelease promotional campaign for “Born This Way” had been in full swing for six months. “If you look at ‘The Fame,’ ” Mr. Carter continued, referring to Lady Gaga’s first album, “it wasn’t marketing ploys that drove the success of that album. It was the quality of the content and Gaga’s willingness to go around the world and play for the fans, do the promotion, do the TV shows, visit the radio stations and the club D.J.’s. There’s a lot more of that than there are marketing ploys.” That means the promotion for “Born This Way” is far from over. “This is where the work begins,” he said. \|\|\|\|\| After all that talk about underperforming singles and creative bankruptcy and overexposure, Lady Gaga did exactly what she was supposed to do with Born This Way, her first album since officially branding herself a superstar: sell a ridiculous number of units. The exact number, 1.1 million in the first week , is startling — but it comes with a caveat. That final tally was greatly boosted by the fact that Amazon, looking to drive people toward their new Cloud Drive music locker service, dropped the price on Born This Way’s digital release to an all-new loss-leader low of 99 cents. Over the two days of the offer, the album was downloaded 440,000 times, roughly two thirds of its overall digital sales count. So how much did Amazon cough up in the process? According to the New York Times, Amazon paid Gaga’s distributor, Universal, full price (between $8 or $9 per album), meaning they lost more than $3 million. That is certainly a ton of money to have kicked into your campaign by an entity that has no actual interest in how well your album sells, and it provides much fodder for anyone wishing to quibble with the validity of the 1.1 million number. But Lady Gaga should still get a lot of the credit: Amazon would have wanted to pull this kind of sales gimmick with someone, and, thanks to the all-permeating pop-culture presence that Gaga has cultivated, she was the top option. Meanwhile, Amazon chalks all those millions up to marketing costs and moves on. Win-win! Still, Taylor Swift — who only mustered a paltry 1.04 million sales for Speak Now’s first week — is probably pretty salted.	– Lady Gaga sold a whopping 1.1 million copies of Born This Way in its first week, but 440,000 of those copies went for just 99 cents on Amazon.com. Amazon, however, did pay Gaga's distributor the full price of $8 to $9 per album—which means, the New York Times calculates, the online retailer lost more than $3 million. Of course, New York magazine points out, a big point of the gimmick was to drum up new users for its Cloud Drive service, so the company can just consider those millions "marketing costs." As for Gaga, the move does provide "much fodder for anyone wishing to quibble with the validity of the 1.1 million number," writes Amos Barshad. Click to see which artist Barshad thinks is "probably pretty salted" right now.
These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. \|\|\|\|\| CTVNews.ca Staff Nearly 30 years after his disappearance, a Kitchener, Ont., man solved his own cold case when he suddenly remembered his identity. Edgar Latulip was 21 years old when he vanished from the southern Ontario city. But this Wednesday, Waterloo Regional Police confirmed he was found roughly 130 kilometres away in St. Catharines, Ont., and is doing well. It was revealed that Latulip had suffered a head injury shortly after arriving in the city years ago and "effectively forgot who he was." But in January of this year, Latulip told a social worker in St. Catharines that he remembered his name, putting the gears in motion for his return home. At the time of his disappearance, police believed Latulip, who has a developmental delay, took a bus and travelled to the Niagara Falls area. Even though they were on the right track, they were unable to find him. Years later, police were tipped off that he may have been spotted in Hamilton, Ont., but they still could not track him down. "It's the only case, that I know of, where we've been able to find someone who has been missing for this period of time," Det. Const. Duane Gingerich, of the Waterloo Regional Police, told CTV Kitchener. Police say a DNA test on Friday confirmed his identity and a reunion with his family is in the works. "I did speak with one of the family members yesterday and today, and … they're obviously very happy about it, and they’re making plans to get together with Edgar and speak with him further," said Gingerich. Latulip's mother, Silvia Wilson, said she is overwhelmed by her son's return, but she hasn’t spoken with him yet. With a report from CTV Kitchener's Allison Tanner	– Almost 30 years after he went missing from a group home in Kitchener, Ontario, at the age of 21, Edgar Latulip remembered something very important last month: his name. Police say the 50-year-old, who has a developmental delay and functions at a child's level, has spent the last 30 years living in St. Catharines, around 80 miles from where he disappeared, CTV reports. From what investigators can piece together, Latulip took a bus to Niagara Falls in September 1986 and ended up in St. Catharines, where he suffered a head injury and "effectively forgot who he was" until this year, when he told a social worker he remembered. Before his disappearance, Latulip had attempted suicide at least once, leading to fears he may have killed himself. Police officer Duane Gingerich, who investigated the disappearance, tells the Guelph Mercury that he's thrilled that Latulip has turned up alive. "I had hopes that he was out there somewhere," he says. "For us as investigators, this is great, this is awesome. It's satisfying because most of these cases don't turn out this way. You expect the worst when a person is missing for that period of time." A DNA test confirmed Latulip's identity and police say a reunion with his mother, who moved to Ottawa years ago, is being arranged. In a 2014 interview, she told the Mercury she was still haunted by the disappearance. "This is always at the back of my mind. Having an answer would mean closure," she said. (A California hospital recently identified the man it had called "Garage 66" for 16 years.)
As an 18-year-old man ran from his New Smyrna Beach house bleeding from four gunshot wounds, his father stepped outside, pointed a handgun and fired one more shot, police said. Eugene Blackwell Sr. shot his son Eugene Blackwell Jr. at 6:34 p.m. on Father’s Day while the two were inside their Edward Street home, New Smyrna Beach Sgt. Eugene Griffith said. The final shot missed the fleeing teen. The younger Blackwell, who just graduated from New Smyrna Beach High where he was a star weightlifter, had just broken up a fight between his father and his mother, Windy Blackwell, Griffith said, and the elder Blackwell was not pleased with the interference. “He shot his son four times,” Griffith said Monday morning. “It escalated after the mother left the house.” The elder Blackwell was arrested early Monday and charged with attempted first-degree murder. He was being held without bail Monday at the Volusia County Branch Jail. Neighbor Richard Tredeaux told investigators that after he heard the initial gunfire coming from the Blackwell house, he saw Blackwell Jr. running from the residence. Tredeaux said he saw Blackwell Sr. emerge from the home and point something at the teenager. He heard another gunshot and then the elder Blackwell yelled out, “Yeah (expletive deleted) how do you like that?” the arrest report states. Griffith said Blackwell Jr. was airlifted to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach in critical condition. He was listed in satisfactory condition on Monday, said Tangela Boyd, hospital spokeswoman. Sgt. Griffith said Blackwell Jr. interrupted his parents when their argument turned physical early Sunday evening. According to the arrest report, Blackwell Sr. grabbed his wife by the neck after he asked her whether she had been talking to a man named “Frank.” Windy Blackwell, 42, told police the family had a pleasant Father’s Day. She told police her husband then went out to visit a friend and that when he returned he started asking her about “Frank.” Windy Blackwell denied talking to anyone named “Frank,” but did tell her husband that she wants a divorce, the report states. She said her husband grabbed her by the throat and that’s when her son intervened, the report shows. Windy Blackwell said her husband has been abusive throughout their 23-year relationship and that he has been abusive with their son, the report states. Court records show Blackwell Sr. has been arrested several times on charges of battery and domestic violence. He was convicted of battery in 1992. There are two other children in the family, but Windy Blackwell said they were not home when the fight erupted. The mother told police that Blackwell Jr. told her to leave the house. After she left reluctantly, Blackwell Sr. turned on his son, Griffith said. When the mother returned to the residence a few minutes later, though, she learned that her son had been shot and that he was being taken to the hospital. She talked to Blackwell Jr. before he was taken away and he told her that he was fine, the report states. Blackwell Sr. had taken off in his Dodge pickup, police said. Another neighbor, Justin Drury, told police that he saw the elder Blackwell speed away in his truck. Drury, who along with Tredeaux, called 9-1-1, followed the suspect until he abandoned his vehicle on Duss Street, a dead-end road, the report states. In his 9-1-1 call, Drury told the dispatcher, “You’re gonna love this — I’m following the suspect.” Blackwell Jr. ended up on Tredeaux’s driveway at the 700 block of Edward Street. Tredeaux said the teen yelled, “He shot me! He shot me! My dad shot me! Call 9-1-1!” as he ran down Edward. Tredeaux, who said he teaches shooting sports at the Boy Scouts camp in Paisley, said he grabbed a chair for the teenager and tried to calm him down as he called 9-1-1. “He was shot all over the body,” Tredeaux told the sheriff’s dispatcher. “He says he can’t breathe.” In the 9-1-1 recording, Tredeaux could be heard repeatedly telling the moaning teenager to “stay calm” and “stay with me.” Drury’s wife, Tami, told police that she also saw the victim running and holding his side. Tredeaux said he was able to help Blackwell Jr. and keep him calm because, “I took emergency preparedness with the Boy Scouts and various police departments in the area.” He said police told him not to discuss the shooting or the case. Griffith said Blackwell Sr. shot his son in the abdomen, the leg, the hip and the arm. Investigators were present when the teen was in surgery and were told by the doctor that one bullet had struck several organs and another bullet was lodged in his hip and was too dangerous to remove. The doctor said Blackwell Jr. was also shot in the right arm, and that was a “through and through shot,” the report states. Blackwell Sr. tried to surrender at the Volusia County Branch Jail later Sunday night, but was taken back to New Smyrna Beach police headquarters. Investigators attempted to interview him just after midnight Monday, but he refused to talk and said he wanted an attorney, the report states. Blackwell Sr. was denied bail by a judge at his first appearance hearing at the jail on Monday afternoon. The younger Blackwell helped the New Smyrna Beach High School weightlifting team win a state title in April in Class 2A by finishing second in the 183-pound division. \|\|\|\|\| Man shot son on Father's Day, New Smyrna Beach police say Eugene Blackwell Sr. held on no bond at Volusia Jail EVAN LAMBERT IN ORANGE COUNTY. THANK YOU. IT'S FATHER'S DAY. FATHER'S DAY. AND HE SHOT HIS SON. YOU'VE GOT IT. YOU GOT THE WHOLE STORY. STRONG WORDS FROM THE GRANDFATHER OF A TEEN THAT POLICE SAY WAS SHOT BY HIS OWN FATHER. THAT FATHER WENT BEFORE A JUDGE THIS AFTERNOON ON ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES AND WAS DENIED BOND. AS AMAKA UBAKA TELLS US IT STARTED AS THE TEEN TRIED TO DEFEND HIS MOTHER FROM HIS FATHER'S ABUSE. Reporter: A TEEN INTERVENED TO SAVE HIS MOM FROM HIS FATHER'S ABUSE BUT POLICE SAY WHILE HE WAS DEFENDING HIS MOM, HIS DAD PICKED UP A GUN AND SHOT HIM MULTIPLE SOMETIMES. EUGENE BLACKWELL, JR. RAN FROM HIT HOUSE DOWN THE STREET, UP HERE TO THIS HOME WHERE HE COLLAPSED RIGHT HERE IN THE GRASS. THE GUY HAS BEEN SHOT. HE'S IN MY DRIVEWAY. Reporter: A NEIGHBOR'S FRANTIC CALL TO 911 AFTER POLICE SAY A TEEN WAS SHOT FOUR TIMES BY HIS OWN FATHER. THE BODY, THE LEG, THE BULLET, EVERYWHERE. THE YOU GO UNLOADED ON HIM. POLICE SAY 45-YEAR-OLD EUGENE BLACKWELL, SR. STARTED ARGUING WITH HIS WIFE WHEN SHE BROUGHT UP A DIVORCE AND THAT'S WHEN SHE SAYS BLACKWELL GRABBED HER BY THE THROAT AND THEIR SON, EUGENE BLACKWELL, JR., INTERVENED. HE TOLD HIS MOTHER TO LEAVE THE HOUSE AND SHORTLY AFTER THAT BLACKWELL SHOT HIS 18-YEAR-OLD SON MULTIPLE TIMES. JUSTIN AVIS HEARD THREE SHOTS. RAPID FIRE, THREE SHOVES BANG, BANG, BANG. ONE RIGHT AFTER ANOTHER. SCARY TO SEE THIS HAPPEN SO CLOSE TO HOME. Reporter: WHILE THE TEEN RAN FOR HOPE BLACKWELL DROVE OFF TO THIS INTERSECTION WITH ANOTHER NEIGHBOR FOLLOWING CLOSE BEHIND. HE WENT DOWN A DEAD END ROAD AND I PARKED AT AN INTERSECTION AND WATCHED THAT DEAD END ROAD. Reporter: THE TRUCK WAS ABANDONED BUT SEVERAL HOURS LATER BLACKWELL TURNED HIMSELF INTO POLICE WHERE HE WAS ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER. AMAZING SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAN HAPPEN ON FATHER'S DAY. ACCORDING TO THE ARREST AFFIDAVIT THERE WAS A HISTORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THROUGHOUT THE 23 YEARS THAT THIS COUPLE WAS TOGETHER. BLACKWELL'S WIFE ALSO SAYS HER HUSBAND PHYSICALLY ABUSED THEIR TEEN SON IN THE PAST. POLICE SAY THEY'RE STILL LOOKING FOR THE GUN THAT WAS USED IN THE SHOOTING BUT THEY DID GO INSIDE THE HOME AND FOUND MORE THAN A NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - A man shot and critically injured his teenage son during a family argument in New Smyrna Beach on Father's Day, according to police. [LISTEN: 911 call released in New Smyrna Beach shooting] New Smyrna Beach police said Eugene Blackwell Sr., 46, shot his 18-year-old son, Eugene Blackwell Jr., four times around 6:15 p.m. Sunday. According to police, Blackwell had been fighting with his wife at their home and choked her when she brought up the possibility of divorce. The wife left the home as Blackwell Jr. intervened, and a short time later, his father shot him, police said. "The guy's been shot," a neighbor told 911. "He's sitting here in my driveway. ... The guy just unloaded on him." Blackwell Jr., who was shot in his chest area, hip, thigh and elbow, was airlifted to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. Police said Blackwell Sr. drove away from the home after the shooting but later turned himself in to authorities. Blackwell Sr. was arrested on charges of battery and attempted first-degree murder. He was being held without bond at the Volusia County Jail. Watch Local 6 News and stay with ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.	– Police say a Florida teen stopped his parents from fighting on Father's Day and was shot four times for his efforts, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. Eugene Blackwell Jr., 18, a star weightlifter, separated his mom from the elder Blackwell, 45, and got her out of the house. Then the father allegedly unloaded on Eugene, shooting him in the chest, elbow, hip, and thigh, reports WKMG. "He was shot all over the body," said a Smyrna Beach neighbor who called 911. "He says he can’t breathe." The neighbor could be heard telling the young man "stay calm" and "stay with me." Meanwhile another neighbor followed the alleged shooter, who had driven off in a Dodge pickup. "You’re gonna love this—I’m following the suspect," the man told 911 before stopping at the mouth of a dead-end street where the father had parked. The suspect later turned himself in and was charged with attempted murder. This morning, Eugene was undergoing surgery for multiple bullet wounds at a hospital in Daytona, the Orlando Sentinel reports. So what started the fight? The mother brought up the idea of a divorce and the elder Blackwell began choking her, police say.
A Gold Coast lifeguard has saved the life of the 10-year-old heir to the Danish throne. Prince Christian of Denmark, the eldest son of Princess Mary and Prince Frederick, was plucked from the surf by lifeguard Nick Malcolm while swimming with his family, 7 News Queensland has reported. The 10-year-old was rescued from the waters of Mermaid Beach on Thursday, after being swept off his feet and out to sea by a strong current. His Australian-born mother had clearly heeded the message of her childhood, luckily for her first-born. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Camera-shy Gold Coast lifeguard Nick Malcolm has declined to comment on his high-profile rescue. Photo: 7 News Queensland She, her husband and her four children were all swimming between the flags at the time. 7 News reported on Sunday that Mr Malcolm paddled his board out to pull the 10-year-old to safety, after spotting him in trouble. Advertisement The lifeguard's supervisor, Stuart Keay, said he saved the youngster's life. "We got him before it got too serious, but he wouldn't have come back in," he said. SHARE Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Link Prince Christian sitting alongside his younger sister, Princess Isabella. Mr Keay said Mr Malcolm had no idea who he had saved until a fellow beachgoer came to tell him. The boy's father, Prince Frederick, personally thanked him for the rescue. Mr Malcolm is originally from Mairangi Bay in New Zealand but is based on the Gold Coast while he trains full-time in surf lifesaving sports and works as a lifeguard. In January 2014, Mr Malcolm helped to save the life of another tourist at the same beach. By the time Mr Malcolm got to the 68-year-old man, he had gone under water, but he managed to flip him over and get him back to shore. The man went into cardiac arrest and Mr Malcolm, along with Mr Keay, spent 30 minutes working on the patient until paramedics arrived. The tourist was taken to hospital but recovered and later met his rescuers to thank them. Danny Morrison, Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club's head of surf sports, said Mr Malcolm was quiet and "pretty laid back", and had carried out a standard rescue when pulling the prince to safety. "What you'll find is what he did happens on a daily basis...," Mr Morrison said. "People are pulled out of rips all the time and nobody says a word. "They just get back on the beach and do it again." The Danish Royal Family has been holidaying on the Gold Coast for the past few days, with Princess Mary and Prince Frederick spotted with their brood at theme park Dreamworld. Tasmanian-born Princess Mary was also spotted shopping with her two girls, princesses Josephine and Isabella, at the Marina Mirage shopping precinct on Saturday. Like this story? Like Brisbane Times on Facebook With stuff.co.nz \|\|\|\|\| A lifeguard in Australia has received the gratitude of the Danish royal family after he rescued Denmark’s 10-year-old Prince Christian, who had been dragged into the surf by a dangerous underwater current at a popular holiday beach. Unaware that he was saving the heir to the Danish throne, Nick Malcolm rushed into the water on Thursday after spotting the boy was in trouble while swimming just offshore at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Mr Malcolm paddled back with the prince and returned him to the care of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and Australian-born Princess Mary. Prince Frederik thanked the lifeguard, who later said “oh, ok” and returned to his patrol. Despite being hailed as a hero and pursued by the international media, Mr Malcolm has refused to comment on the incident. • Second suspected great white shark attack in Ballina Shire in 24 hours Warren Young, the Gold Coast chief lifeguard, said Prince Christian was a “good little swimmer” and did not panic as a strong rip dragged him into deep waters. The boy had been swimming between the flags which ensured he was in a patrolled area. "The rip was pretty strong so he [Mr Malcolm] only had to paddle 10 metres [33 feet],” Mr Young said. “He said 'do you want a lift in?' and the boy jumped on and away they went… He was fine and his parents thanked the lifeguards as they left the beach. It was all really low key. He didn’t know who it was until someone said ‘Oh that was the royal family from Denmark’ and Nick said ‘Oh ok’.” Photo: Alamy Australia’s beaches can have notoriously dangerous currents, or rips, which kill far more people than sharks and have been labelled the nation’s “silent beach killer”. About 20 people die each year due to rips across Australia; in Queensland, 78 people have drowned at beaches in the past decade. Experts said the rip that dragged Prince Christian away from the shore was a “flash rip”, which can occur during wave surges, and that the incident highlighted the need to swim in patrolled areas. • 'Flow slide' causes beach collapse on island in Australia Photo: Rex Features "Prince Christian - he may have been caught in a little pulse, in something called a flash rip," Dr Robert McCarroll, from Sydney University, told ABC News. “It just highlights how important it is for younger swimmers and less confident swimmers swimming in a patrolled area… Even if you do get into trouble like the Prince, you'll get rescued very quickly." The royal family, including Prince Christian and his three younger siblings, have been holidaying in Queensland and will travel to the island state of Tasmania to visit Princess Mary’s family. The 43-year-old Princess, formerly Mary Donaldson, famously became a member of Denmark’s royal family after meeting her husband at a bar during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Mr Malcolm was back patrolling the beach on Monday. "Council hasn't gagged Nick at all if he wants to talk,” Mr Young said. “I guess he's overwhelmed by I guess the attention and you know, I guess that's just the way he is. All the guys are feeling for him because his phone is going off the hook all the time, so I think it is just a bit daunting for him. He's back at work and he's doing what he's good at."	– A lifeguard on Australia's Gold Coast saved a 10-year-old boy from rough waters Thursday, except it wasn't just any 10-year-old boy: It was Denmark's Prince Christian, on vacation with his family, 7 News Australia reports. The young heir to the throne was caught in a riptide at Queensland's Mermaid Beach, and when Nick Malcolm saw the boy struggling, he dove into the ocean, per the Telegraph. Chief lifeguard Warren Young says that Christian, the son of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, was a "good little swimmer" who was hanging out in the lifeguard-monitored area between beach flags and who didn't freak out as he started getting dragged into deeper waters. Malcolm paddled out on his board, pulled the boy up, and brought him back to shore. "We got [the prince] before it got too serious, but he wouldn't have come back in" without Malcolm, another of the lifeguard's supervisors tells 7 News. Prince Frederik, who had been swimming nearby with Princess Mary and Christian's three siblings, personally thanked Malcolm, a native New Zealander, the Times notes. But Malcolm didn't realize at first who was doing the thanking. "He didn't know who it was until someone said, 'Oh, that was the royal family from Denmark,' and Nick said, 'Oh, OK,'" Young tells the Telegraph. This wasn't Malcolm's first beach save, either: In January 2014, he pulled a 68-year-old tourist from the water and helped with lifesaving efforts until medics arrived, the Brisbane Times reports. (A Florida lifeguard was fired for saving a drowning man.)
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni signs an anti-homosexual bill into law at the state house in Entebbe, 36 km (22 miles) southwest of the capital Kampala February 24, 2014. WASHINGTON The United States on Thursday cut aid to Uganda, imposed visa restrictions and canceled a regional military exercise in response to a Ugandan law that imposes harsh penalties on homosexuality. The White House said in a statement the measures were intended to "reinforce our support for human rights of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity." Homosexuality is taboo in most African countries and illegal in 37, including in Uganda where it has been a crime since British rule. Uganda's new law, signed by President Yoweri Museveni in February, imposes jail terms of up to life for "aggravated homosexuality" which includes homosexual sex with a minor or while HIV-positive. Widely condemned by donor countries, the law also criminalizes lesbianism for the first time and makes it a crime to help individuals engage in homosexual acts. Western donors, including the United States, had halted or re-directed about $118 million in aid to the east African nation's economy before Thursday's announcement. The White House said on Thursday the United States would impose visa restrictions on Ugandans it believes have been involved in human rights violations, including gay rights. The United States will halt $2.4 million in funding for a Ugandan community policing program in light of a police raid on a U.S.-funded health program at Makerere University and reports of people detained and abused while in police custody. In addition, Washington will shift some funding for salaries and travel expenses of Ugandan health ministry employees to non-governmental agencies involved in health programs. It will also reallocate $3 million in funding for a planned national public health institute in Uganda to another African country, which it did not name. A National Institutes of Health genomics meeting would be moved from Uganda to South Africa, the White House said. It also canceled plans for a U.S.-sponsored military exercise in Uganda that was meant to include other East African countries. A date had not yet been set for the exercise. Uganda is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in Somalia, where Ugandan troops for the backbone of the African Union force battling al Qaeda-aligned militants. U.S. special forces have also been involved in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the elusive rebel commander seeking to topple the Ugandan government. Kony is believed to be hiding in the jungles of central Africa. In Kampala, a government official asked about the U.S. measures said that Uganda would not alter its decision to toughen laws against homosexuals. "Uganda is a sovereign country and can never bow to anybody or be blackmailed by anybody on a decision it took in its interests, even if it involves threats to cut off all financial assistance," government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said. U.S. President Barack Obama previously told Museveni the law would complicate relations between the two countries. Since then Washington has been reviewing its funding to Uganda, while privately pressing Museveni's government to repeal the law. (Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Cynthia Osterman) \|\|\|\|\| WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is imposing visa bans on Ugandan officials who are involved in corruption and are violating the rights of gay people and others. The Obama administration did not identify the targeted officials. Uganda passed a law in February that strengthened criminal penalties for gay sex and made life sentences possible for those convicted of breaking the law. Human rights groups have reported a surge in rights abuses of gay people since the law took effect. "LGBT rights are human rights and the steps taken today make clear that the United States will take action to defend those rights," U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power said in a statement. "The discriminatory law in Uganda that criminalizes homosexual status should be repealed, as should laws and policies in the more than 76 countries around the world that criminalize homosexuality. We will do everything we can to work with governments and our non-government partners to end anti-gay discrimination around the world." The U.S. already has said it would discontinue or redirect several million dollars in assistance to Uganda. The Pentagon also canceled a training exercise in Uganda. ___ Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. \|\|\|\|\| Story highlights U.S. pulls funding from Uganda's government Move is in response to Uganda's anti-gay law Washington also cancels a planned military exercise Uganda's President signed measure earlier this year Uganda's government institutions will lose U.S. funding as punishment for a law signed earlier this year by President Yoweri Museveni that makes some homosexual acts punishable by life in prison. In addition, the White House said Thursday that Washington will cancel a planned military exercise with Uganda and deny entry to certain Ugandan citizens, including those "involved in serious human rights abuses, including against LGBT individuals." The United States will not end its humanitarian support for Uganda or its cooperation to stamp out the Lord's Resistance Army, led by the elusive Joseph Kony "We will seek to advance these interests even as we continue -- in Uganda and around the world -- to oppose discriminatory practices and champion human rights for all," read the statement by White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. Uganda's anti-homosexuality act, first introduced in 2009, originally included a death penalty clause for some such acts. It was briefly shelved when Britain and other European nations threatened to withdraw aid to Uganda, which relies on millions of dollars from the international community. JUST WATCHED Gay Ugandan speaks out about new law Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Gay Ugandan speaks out about new law 05:56 JUST WATCHED Branson to boycott Uganda over law Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Branson to boycott Uganda over law 03:36 JUST WATCHED Gay Ugandans committing suicide Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Gay Ugandans committing suicide 02:30 Museveni signed the bill into law in February, two months after Uganda's Parliament passed it after replacing a death penalty provision with a proposal of life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality." This includes acts in which one person is infected with HIV, "serial offenders" and sex with minors, according to Amnesty International. The law calls for the imprisonment of those who counsel or reach out to gays and lesbians -- a provision that would ensnare rights groups and others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Museveni's position on the law changed several times before he signed it. At one point, he said he wouldn't sign the bill, describing homosexuals as "sick" people who needed help, not imprisonment. He said he changed his mind after scientists had determined that there is no gene for homosexuality and that it is merely a choice to embrace abnormal behavior.	– Uganda's harsh new anti-gay law—which makes "aggravated homosexuality" punishable by life in prison—is costing the country: The US yesterday cut aid to Uganda over it, and didn't stop there. It slapped visa restrictions on Ugandans believed by the US to have been involved in human rights violations or corruption, the AP reports; a planned National Institutes of Health meeting will be moved from Uganda to South Africa; and a planned military exercise with Uganda has been axed. Among the aid cuts: $2.4 million that was meant to fund a Ugandan community policing program has been halted, and $3 million planned to fund a national public health institute will be reallocated to another unnamed African country. The moves "reinforce our support for human rights of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity," the White House said in a statement, according to Reuters. But a government spokesperson in Uganda was unswayed: "Uganda is a sovereign country and can never bow to anybody or be blackmailed by anybody on a decision it took in its interests, even if it involves threats to cut off all financial assistance," he says. And Uganda has experienced more than threats: Before yesterday's announcement it had already seen $118 million in aid from Western donors pulled. The US will continue its involvement in the hunt for Joseph Kony, CNN notes.
[Full Text]This HRC study examines key factors in people’s decisions to either adopt or give up a vegetarian or vegan diet, and the first set of findings being released compares individuals who currently eat a vegetarian or vegan diet with those who have been vegetarian or vegan in the past but now consume meat. The findings of the study offer some potentially disappointing but illuminating conclusions that could inform advocacy and outreach strategies. Abstract: In the US, the population of current vegetarians/vegans sits at approximately 2%, while approximately 10% of the population are former vegetarians/vegans and about 88% have never been veg. This study, published by HRC, looks closely at that 12% of the population that identifies as either current or former vegetarians/vegans, and tries to better understand what makes people lapse, and in turn, what factors might help keep people veg. The findings presented here offer a lot of possible avenues for new strategic thinking in veg advocacy, and how we might move the vegetarian/vegan diet from the margins more towards the center. Though there is rarely just one reason for people adopting or giving up a veg diet, it is not completely clear if lapses are due more to social pressures (eating a diet that seems unusual or outside the norm), or based on some other difficulty inherent to the diet itself. That being said, the findings do illuminate some things that many lapsed vegetarians/vegans have in common, such as transitioning to the diet too quickly, not being involved socially with other veg folks, and not being able to address certain food cravings. The study also shows that current vegetarians/vegans have a wide range of motivations that keep them veg, which may mean that more diverse messaging and outreach could have a positive impact. This phase of release is part of a larger study of U.S. vegetarians and vegans. You can read more about the key findings, as well as the see the tables and methodologies, in the attached PDFs. \|\|\|\|\| In 1995 I decided to stop eating meat. I could never really quite explain why, I think it was something to do with watching a documentary where they cooked a cat and partly because I had a really crap job working for Wolves Poly and felt my life was slipping away. It definitely wasn't anything to do with any 'vegetarian month'. I did a number of weird things. I experimented with stopping washing my hair (it got greasy), I stopped watching TV after catching Newsnight really stoned and deciding that Jeremy Paxman was fundamentally a comedian so there was little difference between the news and Beadle's About. I also stopped eating meat. First it was just red meat. I said goodbye in a Birmingham Burger King; the sandwich was greasy and unpleasant and I thought 'good riddance'. I found eating only white meat was hard. People didn't know what to cook for me - they'd tell me I was just being awkward. They were right, so there was only one thing for it, cutting out all meat altogether. So I simply stopped putting it in my mouth. It was that simple. I didn't feel any different and what I cooked didn't really change as I was a complete povvo and didn't bother buying much meat anyway. To be honest, I was the world's worst vegetarian. You see - I didn't really like vegetables very much. I'd spent most of my childhood terrified of them - horrid bland mushy things. It's only as an adult I realise that part of the problem is my mother's cooking - she hates using salt and has a tendency to over boil things. Thanks, Mum. So there we are. A vegetarian who hates vegetables and mostly lives on pasta and cheese. Healthy. Fast-forward nearly 15 years and I'm a father of two and increasingly aware of my diet. My wife stopped her vegetarian ways when pregnancy brought cravings for meat. With her help (this makes her sound like my sponsor in Fussy Eaters Anonymous) I'd managed to eat more vegetables - by the time our second child was in the womb she was having spinach cravings and I didn't complain once about having to eat boiled green leaves every day. For six months. So I was doing better with a wider diet but still no drinking from the meaty cup. My four-year-old son has the restricted palate that children often have. He mostly refuses to eat anything that isn't sausages or fruit, so dining out was becoming difficult. There was the small circle of cheesy carbs I'd eat, and the intersection with the circle of sausages that my son wants to eat was - well, if you understand your Venn diagrams you'll know there wasn't much in the middle. It was a trip to Hastings that finally did it. At a fish 'n' chip shop pretty much the only thing on the menu I could eat was a microwaved cheese pasty. I simply couldn't face it and ordered fish. Can't say I particularly enjoyed it. I found the portion of thick white flesh alarmingly large and I didn't want to think about the skin at all. However it did leave me feeling satisfied in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. Every cell in my body screaming "protein - that's what you need." My wife was very impressed with me. She asked me what I wanted to try next and the thing that had been filling my thoughts since deciding to allow meat back into my life was pepperoni pizza. Those little toasted cups of fat that make for a party in the mouth everyone can afford. Although to ponce it up a bit we ate it in Hampstead. Lardy dah. Bacon. Let's talk about bacon. There's no meat more glorious than bacon. You can add it to pasta instead of cheese. You can stick it in a sandwich, er ... instead of cheese. Or even rub it on to attract men (a top tip there ladies). On telling my friends I was eating meat, one looked proud and said, "Welcome back to Man Club." Although my new macho credentials were severely dented by the admission that largely I'd been eating chicken - "Chicken? Why, us men class chicken as a vegetable." I still haven't tried real meat. I can do a spag bog or even a burger but no steaks. I'm still a bit frightened of them. All too fleshy. Many people must have had a similar experience. If you're a lapsed vegetarian (or a resurgent meat eater), what was it that made you fall off the vegetarian wagon? \|\|\|\|\| After decades of a growing appetite for meat, U.S. consumption is finally dropping after hitting "peak meat" a decade ago. But while many people are eating less meat, giving it up totally is much harder. Few people stick with their decision to become vegetarian or vegan. In an attempt to move animal-free diets "from the margins more towards the center," the Humane Research Council just put out the first study to put numbers to the lapsed vegetarian phenomenon. Their main takeaway is essentially what people have said for years: getting people to reduce their meat and dairy intake will be more effective overall than demanding "purity," or complete elimination of animal products from their diet. According to their research, drawn from a representative sample of more than 11,000 adults over age 17 in the U.S., while only 2% of the U.S. population is currently vegetarian or vegan, another 10% used to be. Put another way, they found that only 1 in 5 vegetarians and vegans maintains their diet; a full 84% eventually revert back to eating meat or other animal products. The study also shows how and why many people lapse. Most former vegetarians and vegans (65%) said they first transitioned to their veg diet in just a few days or weeks, while fewer current vegetarians (53%) transitioned that quickly, suggesting that perhaps a slower approach leads to longer-lasting results. They also found that the "window of opportunity is limited," when it comes to getting people to stick to their diets: A third-of people abandoned their animal-free diets in three months or less, and more than half abandoned it within the first year. Reasons for quitting varied, but perhaps intuitively, a lot comes down to relationships. A third of all former vegetarians lived with a non-vegetarians or non-vegan partner when they went back to eating meat. The study also found that current vegetarians were more likely to cite multiple reasons for being vegetarian—such as animal welfare, environmentalism, and personal health—while many former vegetarians (58%) cited health as the main motivator. In other words, from the advocacy group’s perspective, health can be an effective "foot in the door" approach to increasing the number of vegetarians and vegans, but often not enough to keep people animal-free for the long-term. The Humane Research Council also says advocates need to change the culture around being vegetarian or vegan and acknowledge its challenges. More than 60% of former vegetarians/vegans disliked sticking out from the crowd because of their diet, and 58% did not see their diet as part of their identity. Nearly 50% said they found it too difficult to maintain a "pure diet." "The latest findings once again show that a message focused on reduction instead of elimination of animal products may be more effective to create an overall decline in animal product consumption," the report says. "Advocates would be well advised to soften their appeals to avoid suggesting the choice is all or nothing."	– It seems becoming a vegetarian and staying a vegetarian are two very different things. A whopping 84% of vegetarians end up eating meat again, and most people shift back within a single year, according to a new study. Specifically, 53% of vegetarians are meat-eaters again within 12 months, while more than 30% go back to meat within three months, the Huffington Post reports. Of the 11,000 people studied, 2% were vegetarians, 10% former vegetarians, and 88% lifelong meat-eaters. A major reason for lapsing, it seems, was social: Those who returned to being omnivorous didn't have enough support among friends for their vegetarian lifestyles. Earlier research points to health issues from staying meat-free, the Smithsonian reports. Some 35% of respondents to a separate survey of lapsed vegetarians said their own poorer health drove them back to animal flesh, Skeptoid reports. "I will take a dead cow over anemia anytime," says one respondent. And in the Guardian, a lapsed vegetarian writes about the inconvenience of avoiding meat, as well as the feeling of "every cell in my body screaming 'protein—that's what you need.'" Perhaps the writer would agree with the conclusions of the new study, as Co.Exist reports them: "A message focused on reduction instead of elimination of animal products may be more effective to create an overall decline in animal product consumption." (Read about a veggie burger that "bleeds" like meat.)
Google is taking on an unlikely role: wedding planner. Just in time for Valentine's Day, Google has rolled out a dedicated site where consumers can create a wedding website, edit photos and plan their wedding using wedding-specific templates in Google Sites, Google Docs and Picnik. The company announced the move today on its official Google blog. Google teamed up with wedding planner Michelle Rago for the templates, and Rago also provides tips to the soon-to-be-betrothed. To spread the word, Google is also hosting a wedding sweepstakes offering a prize of $25,000 and the chance to get Rago to help plan your wedding. The site is the latest attempt by Google to insinuate itself into consumers' lifestyles. In 2008, Google launched Google Health, which is designed to let users organize, monitor, track and use health information on the site. But there's a thin line between providing helpful information and invading privacy: In 2009, Google Health partnered with CVS to provide patients online access to their prescription drug history via their Google Health accounts, raising issues about Google's access to sensitive personal information. \|\|\|\|\| The creative designs throughout these tools were created in collaboration with renowned wedding planner and destination expert Michelle Rago. Read her tips for planning the perfect wedding, whether on the beaches of Bali or your parents’ backyard. About Michelle Rago. \|\|\|\|\| Education Around the world and back with Google for Education We’re live from BETT in London, sharing international news and updates from Google for Education.	– Google has already enmeshed itself in your email, your mapping needs, your book collection … why not your wedding as well? The search giant announced Google for Weddings yesterday on its official blog. Wedding planners, watch out: The site will allow users to do everything from organizing guests lists and schedules to creating a wedding website to making save-the-date cards. (The templates were actually designed with the help of "renowned" wedding planner Michelle Rago.) Mashable notes this isn’t the first time Google has created such a personal venture: In 2008, it launched Google Health, which let users monitor their health information online. But that hit a controversial snag when Google teamed up with CVS to provide patients with access to their prescription history via Google Health, causing some to wonder if Google had too much access to sensitive information. (Click for more in the modern world of weddings.)
According to the New York Post and People.com, Nicole “Snooki” Pollizzi, is, despite her protestations, pregnant with her first child. “The Jersey Shore star is roughly three months pregnant, and the baby’s father is her boyfriend, Jionni LaValle, according to the paper, which also notes that as recently as Feb. 2, the diminutive reality star went on ABC’s Good Morning America and shot down stories about her being in a family way.” But Snooki isn’t an outlier in her baby mama drama. Pollizi, who recently began filming a reality spin-off of the Jersey Shore with costar and friend Jenni Farley in my hometown of Jersey City, NJ, is experiencing what millions of single American women will go through this year: the weighty iron wrench that a bambino throws into even the best-laid plans for life, career, relationships, you name it. According to recent reporting in the NYTimes, the fastest-growing group of new moms are young, single women. “More than half of births to American women under 30 occur outside marriage,” Sabrina Tavernise writes, “It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal.” Only in Snooki’s case, we get to watch it play out in the tabloids. And in terms of her career, it’s a much bigger, heavier and potentially more destructive wrench. See, the 4’9” star has built her name upon her Jersey Shore antics—skipping work, flashing her panties, getting arrested—most often with the lubrication of liquor. She’s lined her pockets with endorsement deals for energy drinks and diet pills—definite no-no’s for a mommy-to-be. It would be easy to say that Snooki’s troubles—should this baby turn out to be true—are worlds away from those of your run-of-the-mill (read: non reality star) pregnant 24-year-old. But the truth is that her issues are just heightened versions of the same. Will she be able to provide for her child? Likely, although it depends on whether she’s hired a real-deal wealth manager or if she’s squandering her $100K an episode on leopard print and spray tans. Will her career plans survive this unexpected baby-bump in the road? If she can convince producers that her labor should be televised, then maybe. And in the end, will Snooki be a good mother? While the premise of the new series, rumored to be titled “Snooki and JWoww v. The World,” is still unknown, it’s easy to imagine producers thought it would follow suit: on the pair’s first weekend in Jersey City they celebrated Jenni “JWoww” Farley’s 26th birthday at O’Connell’s Bar by renting out a full floor for partying. For her part, Polizzi’s told the press that it won’t be all vodka and club-hopping this season. “We want it to be different than ‘Jersey Shore,’ so it’s not always going to the club, drinking and partying,” she told US Weekly. “It’s the first time I’m going to be on my own for real. You’ve only seen the party side of us.” On her own, or drinking for two? Reps for both Polizzi and 495 Productions, which produces the show in addition to Jersey Shore, did not respond to phonecalls, but given the delayed production schedule, it’s worth speculating that it was Snooki’s big news that slowed things down, not the conflicts over locations that were fed to the press. Were production assistant scrambling for set pieces to hide the bump as it grows over the six weeks of filming? According to the unnamed sources in Wednesday’s Post, Snooki is one step ahead of everyone, plotting to parlay the wrench of an unexpected pregnancy into (yet another) media moment: she’s allegedly brokered a deal to announce her pregnancy on the cover of US Weekly. We’ll just have to wait and see if 495 Productions and their cameras are in on the fun. What do you think? If Snooki told 495 bigwig Sally Ann Salsano that she was in a family way, did Salsano see red—or only dollar signs? \|\|\|\|\| IS THERE A TEST FOR FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME AT THREE MONTHS IN UTERO? Sources tell the New York Post that perpetual party girl is preggers but keeping the news under wraps so she can sell it to a tabloid. Check out What To Expect When Snooki's Expecting: The Fallout On Jersey Shore Jersey Shore's breakout star -- and by that we don't mean herpes -- is currently filming her spinoff series with Jenni "JWoww" Farley in Jersey City. Star reported several weeks ago that Snookums was pregnant, but the diminutive star with the loud persona denied those claims on GMA on Feb. 2. Snooki's obviously ambivalent boyfriend, Jionni LaValle, is speculated to be the father. Snooki has been practically whining during the last few months that she wants to be married, telling Ryan Seacrest in January that LaValle is "the one" and "Oh my god, I can’t wait to have guido babies.” God help that devil spawn. \|\|\|\|\| "FASD" redirects here. For other uses, see FASD (disambiguation) Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy.[1] Problems may include an abnormal appearance, short height, low body weight, small head size, poor coordination, low intelligence, behavior problems, and problems with hearing or seeing.[1][2] Those affected are more likely to have trouble in school, legal problems, participate in high-risk behaviors, and have trouble with alcohol or other drugs.[7] The most severe form of the condition is known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).[1] Other types include partial fetal alcohol syndrome (pFAS), alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) and alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD).[1][8] Some accept only FAS as a diagnosis, seeing the evidence as inconclusive with respect to other types.[9] Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy.[1] Surveys from the United States have found about 10% of pregnant women have drunk alcohol in the last month, and 20% to 30% drank at some point during the pregnancy.[10] About 4.7% of North American women who are pregnant are alcoholics.[11] The risk of problems depends on the amount consumed and the frequency of consumption as well as when during pregnancy the alcohol is consumed.[10] Other risk factors include an older mother, smoking, and poor diet.[12][10] There is no known safe amount or safe time to drink during pregnancy.[1][13] While drinking small amounts of alcohol does not cause abnormalities in the face, it may cause behavioral issues.[11] Alcohol crosses the blood brain barrier and both directly and indirectly affects a developing baby.[14] Diagnosis is based on signs and symptoms in the person.[1] Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are preventable by avoiding alcohol.[4] For this reason, medical authorities recommend no alcohol during pregnancy or while trying to become pregnant.[15][16][17] While the condition is permanent, treatment can improve outcomes.[1][3] Interventions may include parent-child interaction therapy, efforts to modify child behavior, and possibly medications.[5] FASD is estimated to affect between 2% and 5% of people in the United States and Western Europe.[6] FAS is believed to occur in between 0.2 and 9 per 1000 live births in the United States.[6] In South Africa, some populations have rates as high as 9%.[8] The negative effects of alcohol during pregnancy have been described since ancient times.[8] The lifetime cost per child with FAS was $2,000,000 in 2002 in the US.[6] The term fetal alcohol syndrome was first used in 1973.[8] Types [ edit ] FASDs encompass a range of physical and neurodevelopmental problems that can result from prenatal alcohol exposure.[1] The most severe condition is called fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS),[1] which refers to individuals who have a specific set of birth defects and neurodevelopmental disorders characteristic of the diagnosis.[18] Some accept only FAS as a diagnosis, seeing the evidence as inconclusive with respect to other types.[9] Partial fetal alcohol syndrome (pFAS) refers to individuals with a known, or highly suspected, history of prenatal alcohol exposure who have alcohol-related physical and neurodevelopmental deficits that do not meet the full criteria for FAS.[18] The subtypes of pFAS are alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) and alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD).[18] In addition to FAS, pFAS, ARND, and ARBD, any other conditions believed to be related to prenatal alcohol exposure, such as spontaneous abortion and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), are also considered to be on the spectrum of related disorders.[18] It is unclear as of 2017 if identifying a FASD-related conditions benefits the individual.[9] Signs and symptoms [ edit ] Facial characteristics of a child with FAS The key of FASD can vary between individuals exposed to alcohol during pregnancy. While consensus exists for the definition and diagnosis of FAS, minor variations among the systems lead to differences in definitions and diagnostic cut-off criteria for other diagnoses across the FASD continuum. The central nervous system damage criteria particularly lack clear consensus. A working knowledge of the key features is helpful in understanding FASD diagnoses and conditions, and each is reviewed with attention to similarities and differences across the four diagnostic systems. More than 400 problems, however, can occur with FASD.[19] Growth [ edit ] In terms of FASD, growth deficiency is defined as significantly below average height, weight or both due to prenatal alcohol exposure, and can be assessed at any point in the lifespan. Growth measurements must be adjusted for parental height, gestational age (for a premature infant), and other postnatal insults (e.g., poor nutrition), although birth height and weight are the preferred measurements.[20] Deficiencies are documented when height or weight falls at or below the 10th percentile of standardized growth charts appropriate to the population.[21] Criteria for FASD are least specific in the IOM diagnostic system ("low birth weight..., decelerating weight not due to nutrition..., [or] disproportional low weight to height" p. 4 of executive summary),[16] while the CDC and Canadian guidelines use the 10th percentile as a cut-off to determine growth deficiency.[2][22] The "4-Digit Diagnostic Code" allows for mid-range gradations in growth deficiency (between the 3rd and 10th percentiles) and severe growth deficiency at or below the 3rd percentile.[20] Growth deficiency (at severe, moderate, or mild levels) contributes to diagnoses of FAS and pFAS, but not ARND or static encephalopathy. Growth deficiency is ranked as follows by the "4-Digit Diagnostic Code":[20] Severe: Height and weight at or below the 3rd percentile. Moderate: Either height or weight at or below the 3rd percentile, but not both. Mild: Either height or weight or both between the 3rd and 10th percentiles. None: Height and weight both above the 10th percentile. In the initial studies that discovered FAS, growth deficiency was a requirement for inclusion in the studies; thus, all the original people with FAS had growth deficiency as an artifact of sampling characteristics used to establish criteria for the syndrome.[citation needed] That is, growth deficiency is a key feature of FASD because growth deficiency was a criterion for inclusion in the study that defined FAS. This suggests growth deficiency may be less critical for understanding the disabilities of FASD than the neurobehavioral sequelae to the brain damage.[16] Facial features [ edit ] Several characteristic craniofacial abnormalities are often visible in individuals with FAS.[23] The presence of FAS facial features indicates brain damage, although brain damage may also exist in their absence. FAS facial features (and most other visible, but non-diagnostic, deformities) are believed to be caused mainly during the 10th and 20th week of gestation.[24] Refinements in diagnostic criteria since 1975 have yielded three distinctive and diagnostically significant facial features known to result from prenatal alcohol exposure and distinguishes FAS from other disorders with partially overlapping characteristics.[25][26] The three FAS facial features are: A smooth philtrum: The divot or groove between the nose and upper lip flattens with increased prenatal alcohol exposure. Thin vermilion: The upper lip thins with increased prenatal alcohol exposure. Small palpebral fissures: Eye width decreases with increased prenatal alcohol exposure. Measurement of FAS facial features uses criteria developed by the University of Washington. The lip and philtrum are measured by a trained physician with the Lip-Philtrum Guide,[27] a five-point Likert Scale with representative photographs of lip and philtrum combinations ranging from normal (ranked 1) to severe (ranked 5). Palpebral fissure length (PFL) is measured in millimeters with either calipers or a clear ruler and then compared to a PFL growth chart, also developed by the University of Washington.[28] Ranking FAS facial features is complicated because the three separate facial features can be affected independently by prenatal alcohol. A summary of the criteria follows:[20][29] Severe: All three facial features ranked independently as severe (lip ranked at 4 or 5, philtrum ranked at 4 or 5, and PFL two or more standard deviations below average). Moderate: Two facial features ranked as severe and one feature ranked as moderate (lip or philtrum ranked at 3, or PFL between one and two standard deviations below average). philtrum ranked at 3, PFL between one and two standard deviations below average). Mild: A mild ranking of FAS facial features covers a broad range of facial feature combinations: Two facial features ranked severe and one ranked within normal limits, One facial feature ranked severe and two ranked moderate, or One facial feature ranked severe, one ranked moderate and one ranked within normal limits. None: All three facial features ranked within normal limits. Central nervous system [ edit ] Central nervous system (CNS) damage is the primary key feature of any FASD diagnosis. Prenatal alcohol exposure, which is classified as a teratogen, can damage the brain across a continuum of gross to subtle impairments, depending on the amount, timing, and frequency of the exposure as well as genetic predispositions of the fetus and mother.[16][30] While functional abnormalities are the behavioral and cognitive expressions of the FASD disability, CNS damage can be assessed in three areas: structural, neurological, and functional impairments. All four diagnostic systems allow for assessment of CNS damage in these areas, but criteria vary. The IOM system requires structural or neurological impairment for a diagnosis of FAS, but also allows a "complex pattern" of functional anomalies for diagnosing PFAS and ARND.[16] The "4-Digit Diagnostic Code" and CDC guidelines allow for a positive CNS finding in any of the three areas for any FASD diagnosis, but functional anomalies must measure at two standard deviations or worse in three or more functional domains for a diagnosis of FAS, PFAS, and ARND.[20][22] The "4-Digit Diagnostic Code" also allows for an FASD diagnosis when only two functional domains are measured at two standard deviations or worse.[20] The "4-Digit Diagnostic Code" further elaborates the degree of CNS damage according to four ranks: Definite: Structural impairments or neurological impairments for FAS or static encephalopathy. Probable: Significant dysfunction of two standard deviations or worse in three or more functional domains. Possible: Mild to moderate dysfunction of two standard deviations or worse in one or two functional domains or by judgment of the clinical evaluation team that CNS damage cannot be dismissed. by judgment of the clinical evaluation team that CNS damage cannot be dismissed. Unlikely: No evidence of CNS damage. Structural [ edit ] Structural abnormalities of the brain are observable, physical damage to the brain or brain structures caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. Structural impairments may include microcephaly (small head size) of two or more standard deviations below the average, or other abnormalities in brain structure (e.g., agenesis of the corpus callosum, cerebellar hypoplasia).[16] Microcephaly is determined by comparing head circumference (often called occipitofrontal circumference, or OFC) to appropriate OFC growth charts.[21] Other structural impairments must be observed through medical imaging techniques by a trained physician. Because imaging procedures are expensive and relatively inaccessible to most people, diagnosis of FAS is not frequently made via structural impairments, except for microcephaly. Evidence of a CNS structural impairment due to prenatal alcohol exposure will result in a diagnosis of FAS, and neurological and functional impairments are highly likely.[2][16][20][22] During the first trimester of pregnancy, alcohol interferes with the migration and organization of brain cells, which can create structural deformities or deficits within the brain.[31] During the third trimester, damage can be caused to the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory, learning, emotion, and encoding visual and auditory information, all of which can create neurological and functional CNS impairments as well.[32] As of 2002, there were 25 reports of autopsies on infants known to have FAS. The first was in 1973, on an infant who died shortly after birth.[33] The examination revealed extensive brain damage, including microcephaly, migration anomalies, callosal dysgenesis, and a massive neuroglial, leptomeningeal heterotopia covering the left hemisphere.[34] In 1977, Dr. Clarren described a second infant whose mother was a binge drinker. The infant died ten days after birth. The autopsy showed severe hydrocephalus, abnormal neuronal migration, and a small corpus callosum (which connects the two brain hemispheres) and cerebellum.[34] FAS has also been linked to brainstem and cerebellar changes, agenesis of the corpus callosum and anterior commissure, neuronal migration errors, absent olfactory bulbs, meningomyelocele, and porencephaly.[34] Neurological [ edit ] When structural impairments are not observable or do not exist, neurological impairments are assessed. In the context of FASD, neurological impairments are caused by prenatal alcohol exposure which causes general neurological damage to the central nervous system (CNS), the peripheral nervous system, or the autonomic nervous system. A determination of a neurological problem must be made by a trained physician, and must not be due to a postnatal insult, such as a high fever, concussion, traumatic brain injury, etc. All four diagnostic systems show virtual agreement on their criteria for CNS damage at the neurological level, and evidence of a CNS neurological impairment due to prenatal alcohol exposure will result in a diagnosis of FAS or pFAS, and functional impairments are highly likely.[2][16][20][22] Neurological problems are expressed as either hard signs, or diagnosable disorders, such as epilepsy or other seizure disorders, or soft signs. Soft signs are broader, nonspecific neurological impairments, or symptoms, such as impaired fine motor skills, neurosensory hearing loss, poor gait, clumsiness, poor eye-hand coordination. Many soft signs have norm-referenced criteria, while others are determined through clinical judgment. "Clinical judgment" is only as good as the clinician, and soft signs should be assessed by either a pediatric neurologist, a pediatric neuropsychologist, or both. Functional [ edit ] When structural or neurological impairments are not observed, all four diagnostic systems allow CNS damage due to prenatal alcohol exposure to be assessed in terms of functional impairments.[2][16][20][22] Functional impairments are deficits, problems, delays, or abnormalities due to prenatal alcohol exposure (rather than hereditary causes or postnatal insults) in observable and measurable domains related to daily functioning, often referred to as developmental disabilities. There is no consensus on a specific pattern of functional impairments due to prenatal alcohol exposure[16] and only CDC guidelines label developmental delays as such,[22] so criteria (and FASD diagnoses) vary somewhat across diagnostic systems. The four diagnostic systems list various CNS domains that can qualify for functional impairment that can determine an FASD diagnosis: Related signs [ edit ] Other conditions may commonly co-occur with FAS, stemming from prenatal alcohol exposure. However, these conditions are considered alcohol-related birth defects[16] and not diagnostic criteria for FAS. Cause [ edit ] Fetal alcohol syndrome usually occurs when a pregnant woman has more than four standard drinks per day.[36] Milder symptoms have been found with two drinks per day during the early part of pregnancy.[36][37] Among those who are alcoholic about a third of children have FAS.[36] Evidence of harm from less than two drinks per day or 10 drinks per week is not clear.[36][38] While small amounts of alcohol do not cause an abnormal appearance, it may cause behavioral issues.[11] There is conflicting evidence regarding whether drinking by fathers before conception can cause FAS.[36] Mechanism [ edit ] Despite intense research efforts, the exact mechanism for the development of FAS or FASD is unknown. On the contrary, clinical and animal studies have identified a broad spectrum of pathways through which maternal alcohol can negatively affect the outcome of a pregnancy. Clear conclusions with universal validity are difficult to draw, since different ethnic groups show considerable genetic polymorphism for the hepatic enzymes responsible for ethanol detoxification.[39] Genetic examinations have revealed a continuum of long-lasting molecular effects that are not only timing specific but are also dosage specific; with even moderate amounts being able to cause alterations.[40] A human fetus appears to be at triple risk from maternal alcohol consumption:[41][42] The placenta allows free entry of ethanol and toxic metabolites like acetaldehyde into the fetal compartment. The so-called placental barrier is of almost no barrier with respect to ethanol. The developing fetal nervous system appears particularly sensitive to ethanol toxicity. The latter interferes with proliferation, differentiation, neuronal migration, axonic outgrowth, integration, and fine-tuning of the synaptic network. In short, all major processes in the developing central nervous system appear compromised. Fetal tissues are quite different from adult tissues in function and purpose. For example, the main detoxicating organ in adults is the liver, whereas the fetal liver is incapable of detoxifying ethanol, as the ADH and ALDH enzymes have not yet been brought to expression at this early stage. Up to term, fetal tissues do not have significant capacity for the detoxification of ethanol, and the fetus remains exposed to ethanol in the amniotic fluid for periods far longer than the decay time of ethanol in the maternal circulation. The lack of significant quantities of ADH and ALDH means that fetal tissues have much lower quantities of antioxidant enzymes, like SOD, glutathione transferases, and glutathion peroxidases, resulting in antioxidant protection being much less effective.[ citation needed ] Diagnosis [ edit ] Because admission of alcohol use during pregnancy can stigmatize birth mothers, many are reluctant to admit drinking or to provide an accurate report of the quantity they drank. This complicates diagnosis and treatment [22] of the syndrome. As a result, diagnosis of the severity of FASD relies on protocols of observation of the child's physiology and behavior rather than maternal self-reporting. Presently, four FASD diagnostic systems that diagnose FAS and other FASD conditions have been developed in North America: The Institute of Medicine's guidelines for FAS, the first system to standardize diagnoses of individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure; [16] The University of Washington's "The 4-Digit Diagnostic Code", which ranks the four key features of FASD on a Likert scale of one to four and yields 256 descriptive codes that can be categorized into 22 distinct clinical categories, ranging from FAS to no findings; [20] The Centers for Disease Control's "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Guidelines for Referral and Diagnosis", which established consensus on the diagnosis FAS in the U.S. but deferred addressing other FASD conditions; [22] and and Canadian guidelines for FASD diagnoses, which established criteria for diagnosing FASD in Canada and harmonized most differences between the IOM and University of Washington's systems.[2] Each diagnostic system requires that a complete FASD evaluation includes an assessment of the four key features of FASD, described below. A positive finding on all four features is required for a diagnosis of FAS. However, prenatal alcohol exposure and central nervous system damage are the critical elements of the spectrum of FASD, and a positive finding in these two features is sufficient for an FASD diagnosis that is not "full-blown FAS". While the four diagnostic systems essentially agree on criteria for fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), there are still differences when full criteria for FAS are not met. This has resulted in differing and evolving nomenclature for other conditions across the spectrum of FASD, which may account for such a wide variety of terminology. Most individuals with deficits resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure do not express all features of FAS and fall into other FASD conditions.[16] The Canadian guidelines recommend the assessment and descriptive approach of the "4-Digit Diagnostic Code" for each key feature of FASD and the terminology of the IOM in diagnostic categories, excepting ARBD.[2] Thus, other FASD conditions are partial expressions of FAS. However, these other FASD conditions may create disabilities similar to FAS if the key area of central nervous system damage shows clinical deficits in two or more of ten domains of brain functioning. Essentially, even though growth deficiency and/or FAS facial features may be mild or nonexistent in other FASD conditions, yet clinically significant brain damage of the central nervous system is present. In these other FASD conditions, an individual may be at greater risk for adverse outcomes because brain damage is present without associated visual cues of poor growth or the "FAS face" that might ordinarily trigger an FASD evaluation. Such individuals may be misdiagnosed with primary mental health disorders such as ADHD or oppositional defiance disorder without appreciation that brain damage is the underlying cause of these disorders, which requires a different treatment paradigm than typical mental health disorders. While other FASD conditions may not yet be included as an ICD or DSM-IV-TR diagnosis, they nonetheless pose significant impairment in functional behavior because of underlying brain damage. Fetal alcohol syndrome [ edit ] The following criteria must be fully met for an FAS diagnosis:[2][16][20][22] Growth deficiency: Prenatal or postnatal height or weight (or both) at or below the 10th percentile[21] FAS facial features: All three FAS facial features present[28] Central nervous system damage: Clinically significant structural neurological, or functional impairment Prenatal alcohol exposure: Confirmed or Unknown prenatal alcohol exposure Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the first diagnosable condition of FASD that was discovered. FAS is the only expression of FASD that has garnered consensus among experts to become an official ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnosis. To make this diagnosis or determine any FASD condition, a multi-disciplinary evaluation is necessary to assess each of the four key features for assessment. Generally, a trained physician will determine growth deficiency and FAS facial features. While a qualified physician may also assess central nervous system structural abnormalities and/or neurological problems, usually central nervous system damage is determined through psychological, speech-language, and occupational therapy assessments to ascertain clinically significant impairments in three or more of the Ten Brain Domains.[43] Prenatal alcohol exposure risk may be assessed by a qualified physician, psychologist, social worker, or chemical health counselor. These professionals work together as a team to assess and interpret data of each key feature for assessment and develop an integrative, multi-disciplinary report to diagnose FAS (or other FASD conditions) in an individual. Partial FAS [ edit ] Partial FAS (pFAS) was previously known as atypical FAS in the 1997 edition of the "4-Digit Diagnostic Code". People with pFAS have a confirmed history of prenatal alcohol exposure, but may lack growth deficiency or the complete facial stigmata. Central nervous system damage is present at the same level as FAS. These individuals have the same functional disabilities but "look" less like FAS. The following criteria must be fully met for a diagnosis of Partial FAS:[2][16][20] Growth deficiency: Growth or height may range from normal to deficient[21] FAS facial features: Two or three FAS facial features present[28] Central nervous system damage: Clinically significant structural, neurological, or functional impairment in three or more of the Ten Brain Domains[43] Prenatal alcohol exposure: Confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure Fetal alcohol effects [ edit ] Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) is a previous term for alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder and alcohol-related birth defects.[1] It was initially used in research studies to describe humans and animals in whom teratogenic effects were seen after confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure (or unknown exposure for humans), but without obvious physical anomalies.[44] Smith (1981) described FAE as an "extremely important concept" to highlight the debilitating effects of brain damage, regardless of the growth or facial features.[45] This term has fallen out of favor with clinicians because it was often regarded by the public as a less severe disability than FAS, when in fact its effects can be just as detrimental.[46] Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder [ edit ] Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) was initially suggested by the Institute of Medicine to replace the term FAE and focus on central nervous system damage, rather than growth deficiency or FAS facial features. The Canadian guidelines also use this diagnosis and the same criteria. While the "4-Digit Diagnostic Code" includes these criteria for three of its diagnostic categories, it refers to this condition as static encephalopathy. The behavioral effects of ARND are not necessarily unique to alcohol however, so use of the term must be within the context of confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure.[47] ARND may be gaining acceptance over the terms FAE and ARBD to describe FASD conditions with central nervous system abnormalities or behavioral or cognitive abnormalities or both due to prenatal alcohol exposure without regard to growth deficiency or FAS facial features.[47][48] The following criteria must be fully met for a diagnosis of ARND or static encephalopathy:[2][16][20] Growth deficiency: Growth or height may range from normal to minimally deficient[21] FAS facial features: Minimal or no FAS facial features present[28] Central nervous system damage: Clinically significant structural, neurological, or functional impairment in three or more of the Ten Brain Domains[43] Prenatal alcohol exposure: Confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure;0 Alcohol-related birth defects [ edit ] Alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD), formerly known as possible fetal alcohol effect (PFAE),[44] was a term proposed as an alternative to FAE and PFAE[49] The IOM presents ARBD as a list of congenital anomalies that are linked to maternal alcohol use but have no key features of FASD.[16] PFAE and ARBD have fallen out of favor because these anomalies are not necessarily specific to maternal alcohol consumption and are not criteria for diagnosis of FASD.[47] The Canadian guidelines recommend that ARBD should not be used as an umbrella term or diagnostic category for FASD. Exposure [ edit ] Prenatal alcohol exposure is determined by interview of the biological mother or other family members knowledgeable of the mother's alcohol use during the pregnancy (if available), prenatal health records (if available), and review of available birth records, court records (if applicable), chemical dependency treatment records (if applicable), or other reliable sources. Exposure level is assessed as confirmed exposure, unknown exposure, and confirmed absence of exposure by the IOM, CDC and Canadian diagnostic systems. The "4-Digit Diagnostic Code" further distinguishes confirmed exposure as High Risk and Some Risk: High Risk: Confirmed use of alcohol during pregnancy known to be at high blood alcohol levels (100 mg/dL or greater) delivered at least weekly in early pregnancy. Some Risk: Confirmed use of alcohol during pregnancy with use less than High Risk or unknown usage patterns. Unknown Risk: Unknown use of alcohol during pregnancy. No Risk: Confirmed absence of prenatal alcohol exposure. Confirmed exposure [ edit ] Amount, frequency, and timing of prenatal alcohol use can dramatically impact the other three key features of FASD. While consensus exists that alcohol is a teratogen, there is no clear consensus as to what level of exposure is toxic.[16] The CDC guidelines are silent on these elements diagnostically. The IOM and Canadian guidelines explore this further, acknowledging the importance of significant alcohol exposure from regular or heavy episodic alcohol consumption in determining, but offer no standard for diagnosis. Canadian guidelines discuss this lack of clarity and parenthetically point out that "heavy alcohol use" is defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as five or more drinks per episode on five or more days during a 30-day period.[50] "The 4-Digit Diagnostic Code" ranking system distinguishes between levels of prenatal alcohol exposure as high risk and some risk. It operationalizes high risk exposure as a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) greater than 100 mg/dL delivered at least weekly in early pregnancy. This BAC level is typically reached by a 55 kg female drinking six to eight beers in one sitting.[20] Unknown exposure [ edit ] For many adopted or adults and children in foster care, records or other reliable sources may not be available for review. Reporting alcohol use during pregnancy can also be stigmatizing to birth mothers, especially if alcohol use is ongoing.[22] In these cases, all diagnostic systems use an unknown prenatal alcohol exposure designation. A diagnosis of FAS is still possible with an unknown exposure level if other key features of FASD are present at clinical levels. Confirmed absence of exposure [ edit ] Confirmed absence of exposure would apply to planned pregnancies in which no alcohol was used or pregnancies of women who do not use alcohol or report no use during the pregnancy. This designation is relatively rare, as most people presenting for an FASD evaluation are at least suspected to have had a prenatal alcohol exposure due to presence of other key features of FASD.[20][22] Ten brain domains [ edit ] A recent effort to standardize assessment of functional CNS damage has been suggested by an experienced FASD diagnostic team in Minnesota. The proposed framework attempts to harmonize IOM, 4-Digit Diagnostic Code, CDC, and Canadian guidelines for measuring CNS damage vis-à-vis FASD evaluations and diagnosis. The standardized approach is referred to as the Ten Brain Domains and encompasses aspects of all four diagnostic systems' recommendations for assessing CNS damage due to prenatal alcohol exposure. The framework provides clear definitions of brain dysfunction, specifies empirical data needed for accurate diagnosis, and defines intervention considerations that address the complex nature of FASD with the intention to avoid common secondary disabilities.[43] The proposed Ten Brain Domains include:[43] The Fetal Alcohol Diagnostic Program (FADP) uses unpublished Minnesota state criteria of performance at 1.5 or more standard deviations on standardized testing in three or more of the Ten Brain Domains to determine CNS damage. However, the Ten Brain Domains are easily incorporated into any of the four diagnostic systems' CNS damage criteria, as the framework only proposes the domains, rather than the cut-off criteria for FASD.[51] Differential diagnosis [ edit ] The CDC reviewed nine syndromes that have overlapping features with FAS; however, none of these syndromes include all three FAS facial features, and none are the result of prenatal alcohol exposure:[22] Prevention [ edit ] The only certain way to prevent FAS is to avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy.[47][52] In the United States, the Surgeon General recommended in 1981, and again in 2005, that women abstain from alcohol use while pregnant or while planning a pregnancy, the latter to avoid damage even in the earliest stages (even weeks) of a pregnancy, as the woman may not be aware that she has conceived.[15] In the United States, federal legislation has required that warning labels be placed on all alcoholic beverage containers since 1988 under the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act. There is some controversy surrounding the "zero-tolerance" approach taken by many countries when it comes to alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The assertion that moderate drinking causes FAS is said to lack strong evidence and, in fact, the practice of equating a responsible level of drinking with potential harm to the fetus may have negative social, legal, and health impacts.[53] In addition, special care should be taken when considering statistics on this disease, as prevalence and causation is often linked with FASD, which is more common and causes less harm, as opposed to FAS.[54] Treatment [ edit ] There is no cure for FASD, but treatment is possible. Because CNS damage, symptoms, secondary disabilities, and needs vary widely by individual, there is no one treatment type that works for everyone. Medication [ edit ] Psychoactive drugs are frequently tried on those with FASD as many FASD symptoms are mistaken for or overlap with other disorders, most notably ADHD.[55] Behavioral interventions [ edit ] Behavioral interventions are based on the learning theory, which is the basis for many parenting and professional strategies and interventions.[48] Along with ordinary parenting styles, such strategies are frequently used by default for treating those with FAS, as the diagnoses oppositional defiance disorder (ODD), conduct disorder, reactive attachment disorder (RAD) often overlap with FAS (along with ADHD), and these are sometimes thought to benefit from behavioral interventions. Frequently, a person's poor academic achievement results in special education services, which also utilizes principles of learning theory, behavior modification, and outcome-based education. Developmental framework [ edit ] Many books and handouts on FAS recommend a developmental approach, based on developmental psychology, even though most do not specify it as such and provide little theoretical background. Optimal human development generally occurs in identifiable stages (e.g., Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, John Bowlby's attachment framework, and other developmental stage theories). FAS interferes with normal development,[56] which may cause stages to be delayed, skipped, or immaturely developed. Over time, an unaffected child can negotiate the increasing demands of life by progressing through stages of development normally, but not so for a child with FAS.[56] By knowing what developmental stages and tasks children follow, treatment and interventions for FAS can be tailored to helping a person meet developmental tasks and demands successfully.[56] If a person is delayed in the adaptive behavior domain, for instance, then interventions would be recommended to target specific delays through additional education and practice (e.g., practiced instruction on tying shoelaces), giving reminders, or making accommodations (e.g., using slip-on shoes) to support the desired functioning level. This approach is an advance over behavioral interventions, because it takes the person's developmental context into account while developing interventions.[citation needed] Advocacy model [ edit ] The advocacy model takes the point of view that someone is needed to actively mediate between the environment and the person with FAS.[47] Advocacy activities are conducted by an advocate (for example, a family member, friend, or case manager) and fall into three basic categories. An advocate for FAS: (1) interprets FAS and the disabilities that arise from it and explains it to the environment in which the person operates, (2) engenders change or accommodation on behalf of the person, and (3) assists the person in developing and reaching attainable goals.[47] The advocacy model is often recommended, for example, when developing an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for the person's progress at school.[55] An understanding of the developmental framework would presumably inform and enhance the advocacy model, but advocacy also implies interventions at a systems level as well, such as educating schools, social workers, and so forth on best practices for FAS. However, several organizations devoted to FAS also use the advocacy model at a community practice level as well.[57] Public health and policy [ edit ] Treating FAS at the public health and public policy level promotes FAS prevention and diversion of public resources to assist those with FAS.[47] It is related to the advocacy model but promoted at a systems level (rather than with the individual or family), such as developing community education and supports, state or province level prevention efforts (e.g., screening for maternal alcohol use during OB/GYN or prenatal medical care visits), or national awareness programs. Several organizations and state agencies in the U.S. are dedicated to this type of intervention.[57] The US Centers for Disease Control estimates 3 million women in the United States are at risk of having a baby with FASD, and recommended that women of child-bearing age should be on birth control or abstain from drinking alcohol as the safest way to avoid this.[58] Prognosis [ edit ] Primary disabilities [ edit ] The primary disabilities of FAS are the functional difficulties with which the child is born as a result of CNS damage due to prenatal alcohol exposure.[59] Often, primary disabilities are mistaken as behavior problems, but the underlying CNS damage is the originating source of a functional difficulty,[60] rather than a mental health condition, which is considered a secondary disability. The exact mechanisms for functional problems of primary disabilities are not always fully understood, but animal studies have begun to shed light on some correlates between functional problems and brain structures damaged by prenatal alcohol exposure.[47] Representative examples include: Functional difficulties may result from CNS damage in more than one domain, but common functional difficulties by domain include:[47][48][56][60] Note that this is not an exhaustive list of difficulties. Secondary disabilities [ edit ] The secondary disabilities of FAS are those that arise later in life secondary to CNS damage. These disabilities often emerge over time due to a mismatch between the primary disabilities and environmental expectations; secondary disabilities can be ameliorated with early interventions and appropriate supportive services.[59] Six main secondary disabilities were identified in a University of Washington research study of 473 subjects diagnosed with FAS, PFAS (partial fetal alcohol syndrome), and ARND (alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder):[47][59] Mental health problems: Diagnosed with ADHD, Clinical Depression, or other mental illness, experienced by over 90% of the subjects Disrupted school experience: Suspended or expelled from school or dropped out of school, experienced by 60% of the subjects (age 12 and older) Trouble with the law: Charged or convicted with a crime, experienced by 60% of the subjects (age 12 and older) Confinement: For inpatient psychiatric care, inpatient chemical dependency care, or incarcerated for a crime, experienced by about 50% of the subjects (age 12 and older) Inappropriate sexual behavior: Sexual advances, sexual touching, or promiscuity, experienced by about 50% of the subjects (age 12 and older) Alcohol and drug problems: Abuse or dependency, experienced by 35% of the subjects (age 12 and older) Two additional secondary disabilities exist for adults:[47][59] Dependent living: Group home, living with family or friends, or some sort of assisted living, experienced by 80% of the subjects (age 21 and older) Problems with employment: Required ongoing job training or coaching, could not keep a job, unemployed, experienced by 80% of the subjects (age 21 and older) Protective factors and strengths [ edit ] Eight factors were identified in the same study as universal protective factors that reduced the incidence rate of the secondary disabilities:[47][59] Living in a stable and nurturing home for over 73% of life Being diagnosed with FAS before age six Never having experienced violence Remaining in each living situation for at least 2.8 years Experiencing a "good quality home" (meeting 10 or more defined qualities) from age 8 to 12 years old Having been found eligible for developmental disability (DD) services Having basic needs met for at least 13% of life Having a diagnosis of FAS (rather than another FASD condition) Malbin (2002) has identified the following areas of interests and talents as strengths that often stand out for those with FASD and should be utilized, like any strength, in treatment planning:[48] Music, playing instruments, composing, singing, art, spelling, reading, computers, mechanics, woodworking, skilled vocations (welding, electrician, etc.), writing, poetry Participation in non-impact sport or physical fitness activities Epidemiology [ edit ] FASD is estimated to affect between 2% and 5% of people in the United States and Western Europe.[6] FAS is believed to occur in between 0.2 and 9 per 1000 live births in the United States.[6] The lifetime cost of an individual with FAS were estimated to be two million USD in 2002.[6] Drinking any quantity during pregnancy, the risk to give birth to a FAS is about 1,5%, and to a FASD about 15%. Drinking large quantities, defined as 2 standard drinks a day, or 6 standard drinks in a short time, give a 50% risk to a FAS birth.[64] Australia [ edit ] FASD among Australian youth is more common in indigenous Australians.[65] The only states that have registered birth defects in Australian youth are Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.[66] In Australia only 12% of Australian health professionals are aware of the diagnostics and symptoms of FASD.[65] In Western Australia, the rate of births resulting in FASD is 0.02 per 1000 births for non-Indigenous Australians, however among indigenous births the rate is 2.76 per 1000 births.[66] In Victoria, there have been no registered FASD related births for indigenous Australians, but the rate for the general population in Victoria is 0.01-0.03 per 1000 births.[66] There have been no dedicated FASD clinics within Western Australia, but there are also no nationally supported diagnostic criteria anywhere in Australia.[67] Passive surveillance is a prevention technique used within Australia to assist in monitoring and establishing detectable defects during pregnancy and childhood.[66] History [ edit ] From the 1960s to the 1980s, alcohol was commonly used as a tocolytic, a method to stop preterm labor. The method originated with Dr. Fritz Fuchs, the chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Cornell University Medical College.[68][69] Doctors recommended a small amount of alcohol to calm the uterus during contractions in early pregnancy or Braxton Hicks contractions. In later stages of pregnancy, the alcohol was administered intravenously and often in large amounts. "Women experienced similar effects as occur with oral ingestion, including intoxication, nausea and vomiting, and potential alcohol poisoning, followed by hangovers when the alcohol was discontinued."[70] Vomiting put the mother at a high risk for aspiration and was "a brutal procedure for all involved." [68] Because the alcohol was being given intravenously, the doctor could continue giving the treatment to the mother long after she had passed out, resulting in her being more intoxicated than would otherwise be possible. Such heavy intoxication is highly likely to contribute to FASD.[68] Historical references [ edit ] Anecdotal accounts of prohibitions against maternal alcohol use from Biblical, ancient Greek, and ancient Roman sources[71] imply a historical awareness of links between maternal alcohol use and negative child outcomes.[33] For example, in the Bible, Judges 13:4 (addressed to a woman who was going to have a baby) reads: "Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean" (ESV). In 1725 British physicians petitioned the House of Commons on the effects of strong drink when consumed by pregnant women saying that such drinking is “…too often the cause of weak, feeble, and distempered children, who must be, instead of an advantage and strength, a charge to their country.”[72] There are many other such historical references. In Gaelic Scotland, the mother and nurse were not allowed to consume ale during pregnancy and breastfeeding (Martin Martin). Claims that alcohol consumption caused idiocy were part of the Teetotalism's message in the 19th century,[73] but such claims, despite some attempts to offer evidence, were ignored because no mechanism could be advanced.[74] The earliest recorded observation of possible links between maternal alcohol use and fetal damage was made in 1899 by Dr. William Sullivan, a Liverpool prison physician who noted higher rates of stillbirth for 120 alcoholic female prisoners than their sober female relatives; he suggested the causal agent to be alcohol use.[75] This contradicted the predominating belief at the time that heredity caused intellectual disability, poverty, and criminal behavior, which contemporary studies on the subjects usually concluded.[47] A case study by Henry H. Goddard of the Kallikak family—popular in the early 1900s—represents this earlier perspective,[76] though later researchers have suggested that the Kallikaks almost certainly had FAS.[77] General studies and discussions on alcoholism throughout the mid-1900s were typically based on a heredity argument.[78] Prior to fetal alcohol syndrome being specifically identified and named in 1973, only a few studies had noted differences between the children of mothers who used alcohol during pregnancy or breast-feeding and those who did not, and identified alcohol use as a possible contributing factor rather than heredity.[47] Recognition as a syndrome [ edit ] Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was named in 1973 by two dysmorphologists, Drs. Kenneth Lyons Jones and David Weyhe Smith of the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle, United States. They identified a pattern of "craniofacial, limb, and cardiovascular defects associated with prenatal onset growth deficiency and developmental delay" in eight unrelated children of three ethnic groups, all born to mothers who were alcoholics.[79] The pattern of malformations indicated that the damage was prenatal. News of the discovery shocked some, while others were skeptical of the findings.[80] Dr. Paul Lemoine of Nantes, France had already published a study in a French medical journal in 1968 about children with distinctive features whose mothers were alcoholics,[81] and in the U.S., Christy Ulleland and colleagues at the University of Washington Medical School had conducted an 18-month study in 1968–1969 documenting the risk of maternal alcohol consumption among the offspring of 11 alcoholic mothers.[82] The Washington and Nantes findings were confirmed by a research group in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1979.[83] Researchers in France, Sweden, and the United States were struck by how similar these children looked, though they were not related, and how they behaved in the same unfocused and hyperactive manner.[83] Within nine years of the Washington discovery, animal studies, including non-human monkey studies carried out at the University of Washington Primate Center by Dr. Sterling Clarren, had confirmed that alcohol was a teratogen. By 1978, 245 cases of FAS had been reported by medical researchers, and the syndrome began to be described as the most frequent known cause of intellectual disability. While many syndromes are eponymous, i.e. named after the physician first reporting the association of symptoms, Dr. Smith named FAS after the causal agent of the symptoms.[84] He reasoned that doing so would encourage prevention, believing that if people knew maternal alcohol consumption caused the syndrome, then abstinence during pregnancy would follow from patient education and public awareness.[84] At the time, nobody was aware of the full range of possible birth defects from FAS or its rate of prevalence.[84] Over time, as subsequent research and clinical experience suggested that a range of effects (including physical, behavioral, and cognitive) could arise from prenatal alcohol exposure, the term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) was developed to include FAS as well as other conditions resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure.[84] Currently, FAS[16][44][79] is the only expression of prenatal alcohol exposure defined by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and assigned ICD-9 and diagnoses. See also [ edit ] \|\|\|\|\| Snooki Talks Drinking on 'Ellen': 'Why Did I Wake Up in a Garbage Can?' Email This Nicole " Polizzi, who was The reality star-turned-author, whose book, 'A Shore Thing,' hit shelves yesterday, Nicole " Snooki " Polizzi has a well-documented history of having a darn good time, and in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, the 'Jersey Shore's' littlest lush admits that she may occasionally overdo it.Polizzi, who was fined $500 for disorderly conduct in September following an alcohol-fueled beach outing, confesses that episodes of over-imbibing used to happen as often as once a month.The reality star-turned-author, whose book, 'A Shore Thing,' hit shelves yesterday, told DeGeneres , "I want to remember my night and sometimes I just don't." She went on to admit, "I don't want to be a role model." While her hard-partying ways have been the source of great amusement for 'Jersey Shore' viewers, Snooki says that living with reckless abandon is not always as fun as it may seem."It sucks," she says. "You're like, 'What did I do? Why did I wake up in a garbage can?'"	– Let's hope Snooki sorta planned that baby she's reportedly carrying (stop giggling). Because if she didn't, that fetus has to be nearly swimming in booze by now. While Forbes is concerned about what's to become of the diminutive reality star's "brand," others are worried about the drinking habits of the pregnant 24-year-old, who seems to spend very few minutes sober on Jersey Shore. "Is there a test for fetal alcohol syndrome at three months in utero?" wonders crabbygolightly.com. "Quick, word association test," demands studybreaks.com, "because all that comes to mind" for the pregnant "diva of debauchery" is "fetal alcohol syndrome"—a leading cause of mental retardation. The reported pregnancy poses problems for Snooki and JWoww's spin-off, and for Jersey Shore, where the cast spends "approximately 97.2% of their time being absolutely trashed," notes studybreaks. Snooki has some qualms about her hard-partying ways, once telling Ellen DeGeneres: "I want to remember my night, and sometimes I just don't. It sucks. You're like, 'What did I do? Why did I wake up in a garbage can?'"
NAME: Dominique Strauss-Kahn AGE: 62. Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France on April 25, 1949. EDUCATION: Degrees in law, business administration, political studies and statistics. PhD in economics from the University of Paris. FAMILY: Wife, Anne Sinclair, and four children by a previous marriage. CAREER: Managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2007, where he won praise for his handling of the global financial crisis. Strauss-Kahn was an economics professor, corporate lawyer and legislator in France's National Assembly. He served as finance minister from 1997-1999 and helped France prepare to abandon the franc for the euro. He sought the Socialist Party's nomination for the 2007 presidential elections and is a possible candidate in next year's presidential vote. He has been a visiting professor at Stanford University. QUOTE: "While this incident constituted an error in judgment on my part, for which I take full responsibility, I firmly believe that I have not abused my position," Strauss-Kahn wrote in an email to IMF staff after an affair with a subordinate became public in 2008. \|\|\|\|\| NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged on Sunday with trying to rape a New York hotel maid in a scandal that appeared to wreck his hopes of becoming France's next president. The sexual assault charges throw the IMF into a leadership crisis just as it is trying to help ease an escalating euro zone debt crisis, and they turn France's presidential election campaign upside down when polls had made Strauss-Kahn a clear front runner. The charismatic 62-year-old, who led the International Monetary Fund through the 2007-09 global financial meltdown and has been central in galvanizing Europe to tackle its debt woes, for long had the reputation of a womanizer. But the charges he faces are in another realm. A maid, 32, said he emerged naked from the bathroom and sexually assaulted her inside his $3,000-a-night suite at the Sofitel hotel in New York's Times Square on Saturday afternoon. He was there on private business, the IMF said. Strauss-Kahn was expected to go before a state court later on Sunday. His lawyer said he will plead not guilty. Police say he fled the hotel after the alleged assault and a few hours later they pulled him out of his first-class seat on an Air France plane 10 minutes before it was to take off for Paris. He was charged with a criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape, moving him from luxurious hotel suite and a glittering public career to scandal and a bare holding cell in New York's tough Harlem neighborhood in the space of a few hours. The contrast could barely have been more dramatic. At the Sofitel, Strauss-Kahn's suite had a conference room, living room, foyer, spacious marble bathroom and a bedroom with a sumptuous king-sized bed and feather and down duvet. Police say Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity from the charges, which if proven could carry a prison sentence of 15-20 years. They have collected DNA evidence from the hotel suite, The New York Times reported. Strauss-Kahn has hired New York lawyer Benjamin Brafman, a seasoned defense attorney famed for striking deals or winning not-guilty verdicts for pop stars and a football player. The IMF chief's wife, well-known French television personality Anne Sinclair, jumped to her husband's defense. "I do not believe for a single second the accusations leveled against my husband," she said in a statement.. IMF CRISIS, ELECTION 'THUNDERBOLT' The IMF tried to fill its leadership vacuum by naming its No. 2 official, John Lipsky, as acting managing director. But the charges against Strauss-Kahn are a huge embarrassment for an institution that oversees the global economic system and has authorized hundreds of billions of dollars of lending to troubled countries as well as playing a major role in the euro-zone debt crisis. The allegations immediately threw France's presidential race wide open. He had not yet declared his candidacy but Strauss-Kahn was widely expected to run for the Socialist Party and early opinion polls showed him with a big lead over the conservative incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is seeking a second term at the election next April. "The news we received from New York last night struck like a thunderbolt," said Socialist leader Martine Aubry, appealing for party unity. France's government as well as Strauss-Kahn's political allies and rivals called for caution and respect for the presumption of innocence, but his presidential ambitions appeared to be dead in the water unless the case against him quickly unravels and he is shown to be innocent. "All this is completely astounding, immensely troubling and distressing. If the facts prove true ... it's something degrading for all women. It's terrible for the image of France," said Francois Bayrou, a centrist opponent. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said her rival's presidential hopes had been crushed. Christine Boutin, president of the Christian Democrat Party, suggested Strauss-Kahn may have been set up. "I think it's very likely a trap was set for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and he fell into it," she told France's BFM television. "It's a political bomb for domestic politics." French voters are famously tolerant of political leaders' extra-marital affairs but the allegations against Strauss-Kahn are entirely different, and much more serious. If they are proven, Strauss-Kahn's fall from power in a scandal would be one of the most dramatic of any high-profile international figure in decades. Many politicians have fallen after being caught in extra-marital affairs and others have survived them, including former presidents John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton as well as former French President Francois Mitterrand. But rarely have senior figures faced brutal assault charges like those filed against Strauss-Kahn. With Strauss-Kahn in the dock, the IMF also now faces many questions of its own, because his character had been questioned before. In 2008, Strauss-Kahn apologized for "an error of judgment" after an affair with a female IMF economist who was his subordinate. The Fund's board of member countries warned him against further improper conduct, but cleared him of harassment and abuse of power and kept him in his job. It will now face new scrutiny over whether that response was too weak, especially as there have been persistent rumors about Strauss-Kahn making sexual advances to women. PIVOTAL IN EUROPE'S DEBT WOES An economics professor and former French finance minister, Strauss-Kahn took over the IMF in November 2007 for a five-year term, and won praise for helping galvanize leaders to inject billions of dollars into the world economy during the global financial crisis. He introduced sweeping changes to ensure vulnerable countries swamped by the crisis had access to emergency loans, and others to give major emerging market countries such as China, India and Brazil greater voting powers in the IMF. Witty, multi-lingual, a skilled public speaker and sharp back-room negotiator, Strauss-Kahn also weighed into thornier issues by urging China to let its currency rise in a dispute with the United States. A crisis of leadership at the Fund now will especially worry European nations given Strauss-Kahn's pivotal role in brokering bailouts for Iceland, Hungary, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. "The chances are the successor won't be a European, and will want to rebalance the IMF's priorities away from its massive commitment in Europe," said Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of the Bruegel economic think-tank. Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday and join euro zone finance ministers on Monday to discuss the bloc's debt crisis and how to handle Greece, which is struggling to meet the terms of a 110 billion euro European Union/IMF bailout last year. "This might definitely cause some delays in the short term," a Greek official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers moved quickly to cast doubts on the allegations against him. "We must wait until things settle and see if it's true or a provocation," said one of his France-based lawyers, Leon Lef Forster. "We must be especially careful not to get into a media circus and we must wait until things are clear." Brafman, his U.S. lawyer, previously defended pop star Michael Jackson against child molestation charges as well as other celebrities in trouble. The maid who accused Strauss-Kahn told police he attacked her when she went in to clean his suite. "She told detectives he came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to the foyer where she was, pulled her into a bedroom and began to sexually assault her, according to her account," New York police spokesman Paul Browne said. "She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives. He tried to lock her into the hotel room." The woman, who has not been named, was treated in hospital for minor injuries, Browne said. She has worked at the hotel for three years and the property's manager said on Sunday she has been a "completely satisfactory" employee in her work and her behavior. Under New York state law, attempted rape and criminal sexual act both carry a potential sentence of 15-20 years. Unlawful imprisonment carries a potential sentence of three to five years.	– IMF chief/would-be French presidential contender Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested and charged with criminal sexual act, attempted rape, and unlawful imprisonment today following yesterday's alleged attack on a maid in the $3,000-a-night NYC hotel suite Strauss-Kahn had been staying in. An NYPD rep says the 32-year-old maid "told detectives he came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to the foyer where she was, pulled her into a bedroom, and began to sexually assault her." "She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives. He tried to lock her into the hotel room," said the rep. Strauss-Kahn "will plead not guilty," one of his lawyers told Reuters. Strauss-Kahn—who has polled ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy—is finished, says presidential rival Marine Le Pen: "The case and the charges ... mark the end of his campaign and pre-campaign for the presidency and will most likely prompt the IMF to ask him to leave his post." Click to read more about Strauss-Kahn.
20. Zack Snyder Whenever a studio ecutive needs a reboot of something and his sole creative direction is "Make it grittier!" Snyder is the dude they call. He'll totally bro up your Superman by sucking all the joy out of every frame and adding muscles. Big, ripply, 300-style muscles. Oh, did you want Superman to be a shining light of morality in a harsh and cruel world? Screw that candy-ass shit. Superbro is gonna crush some buildings and give zero fucks about collateral damage. Grittiness: unlocked. _Zack Snyder's signature recipe: Take one happy-go-lucky superhero, blast him with a fire hose of muck, then order him to brood or he gets the Kryptonite. _ \|\|\|\|\| Time once again for the list no one wants to be on: GQ's third annual collection of people who've overstayed their turns in the spotlight and used their fame for not a good goddamn thing. The hardest part for us was keeping it to twenty-five. So this year, a bonus wrinkle: an additional mini-list of sorry souls who have been so un-influential for so long that we're retiring their jerseys forever.	– Dennis Rodman certainly thinks he's influential, but GQ disagrees. The basketball star and self-styled North Korea ambassador is the No. 1 entry on the magazine's annual list of the 25 Least Influential People. Rodman "was the first prominent American celebrity invited inside the nation-sized prison that is North Korea, and he did literally the least interesting thing possible with it," writes Drew Magary. The rest of the top (bottom?) 10: Paula Deen: She's proved herself to be exactly like what you probably always thought she was like. Anthony Weiner: All that public humiliation, and he didn't even have any actual, real-life sex. Justin Bieber: He's now officially too old to be peeing in buckets and making light of Anne Frank. Pope Benedict: The new pope is just way better, and nobody misses this guy. Miley Cyrus: She "spent the entire year foam-finger-blasting herself, licking sledgehammers, and basically trying every inane strategy she could think of to rile up America's few remaining pearl clutchers." Aaron Hernandez: Uh, star athletes who came from tough backgrounds are supposed to act like thugs, not actually be thugs. Prince George: The royal baby got a lot of attention, but when you look at him, he's pretty much just a normal baby. Angela Corey: The prosecutor in the George Zimmerman case failed us all. The Smith family: As in Will, Jada, and the kids. "In just a few years, Will Smith has gone from one of America's most beloved stars to one of its most despicable." Click for the complete list.
The Washington State man accused of killing three people at a party on Friday night with an AR-15 read the rifle's instruction manual just moments before opening fire, court records show. Allen Ivanov, 19, told detectives he bought the semi-automatic rifle a week ago for target practice and had even scheduled a safety class for August, according to a probable cause form released Monday. But Ivanov instead brought the gun with him to a party that his ex-girlfriend was attending in Mukilteo, a Seattle suburb, investigators say. Mukilteo shooting suspect Allen Ivanov made a brief first court appearance August 1, in Snohomish County. A judge ordered Ivanov be held without bail and that he have no contact with the victims' families. KING 5 In an interview with detectives, the document reads, Ivanov said he hoped to get back together with the girl, identified as A.B. But after seeing her with another man at the party, he returned to his car, fetched the rifle, read the instructions and loaded its magazine. He then brought it with him to the party, the document says. As Ivanov crept around the outside of the house, a male party goer discovered him, it states. "The male said, 'No, no, no,'" the document says. "Ivanov stated that he was 'scared,' he flipped the [gun's] selector switch to fire and shot the male." The document adds: "He stated that at that point it was too late to turn back, and once had pulled the trigger his adrenaline kicked in." Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Three Fatally Shot at House Party in Seattle Suburb 1:55 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog He found A.B. and shot her twice, killing her, then gunned down another man running toward the party, the document says. From the master bedroom balcony, he fired at two more people in the driveway, then climbed to the roof and discovered that he'd emptied his rifle. "Ivanov stated that once the magazine was empty, he returned to his car and drove away," the document says. Ivanov, who is being held without bail at the Snohomish County Jail, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree aggravated murder. It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer. \|\|\|\|\| Allen Christopher Ivanov told detectives he viewed the AR-15 “as a symbol of power,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. EVERETT — After spotting his ex-girlfriend with another guy through the window of a Mukilteo house where a party was under way, Allen Christopher Ivanov returned to his car Friday night to study the owner’s manual for his new AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, police wrote in court documents. Two hours apparently passed before Ivanov walked back to the home around 12:07 a.m., Saturday, opened fire and killed three young people, including his ex, and wounded a fourth, according to the affidavit of probable cause outlining the police case against the 19-year-old. Like Ivanov, all of the victims were recent graduates of Kamiak High School. On Monday, Snohomish County District Court Judge Anthony Howard affirmed a finding of probable cause to hold Ivanov on investigation of one count of aggravated first-degree-murder domestic violence, two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. On Sunday, a court commissioner had also found probable cause to hold Ivanov on the same allegations. Howard ordered Ivanov — who appeared via video feed from the Snohomish County Jail — to be held without bail. Prosecutors are expected to formally charge Ivanov on Tuesday or Wednesday, Deputy Prosecutor Adam Cornell said. Killed were Ivanov’s ex-girlfriend, Anna Bui, Jake Long and Jordan Ebner, all 19. Will Kramer, 18, was wounded and was in serious condition Monday in the intensive-care unit at Harborview Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said. Also Monday, a vigil was held for Bui at the University of Washington’s Bothell campus, where she and Ivanov were students. Recently returned from a monthlong trip to Europe, Bui was remembered as a “bright light” who was considering a career in medicine. The mass shooting has rocked a tight-knit group of friends who attended Mukilteo’s Kamiak High School. Sultan Akbar, 18, had classes with Ivanov and the victims. He wasn’t at the party where the shootings happened, but showed up at court with three friends Monday to express support for the victims’ families. “I just feel shook up,” Akbar said. “I’m shocked … those guys aren’t here anymore.” He was friends with Ivanov, who he said seemed to have an explosive temper, once threatening to get Akbar kicked out of school after Akbar reported to a teacher that Ivanov had copied his work. “He was always wanting to be in control of the situation” and at times displayed “illogical anger,” Akbar said. Seattle defense attorneys Tim Leary and Zach Wagnild were retained by Ivanov’s parents over the weekend and said the couple are devastated for the victims’ families as well as their own. Ivanov’s mother told them Bui “was essentially like a daughter to them,” Wagnild said. Leary said he was troubled that Ivanov was able to buy an assault-style rifle but was too young to buy a six-pack of beer. He underscored the police contention that Ivanov read the weapon’s instruction manual just before the shooting. “I think it speaks volumes to his youth and inexperience and highlights the lethality of the weapon involved,” Leary said. Mukilteo police say Ivanov told detectives he broke up with Bui two months ago but then decided he wanted her back, according to the affidavit. He told police he began spending time with Bui last week. After his arrest, “Ivanov stated that everything that went on tonight was about a girl,” police wrote in the affidavit. Ivanov became jealous after he said he saw photos of Bui on Snapchat with other young men — evidence “she was getting on with her life without him,” the document says. He told police he realized she was his “dream girl,” “and wanted to get back together,” the affidavit says. Ivanov said he became angry when he heard from others that Bui “was seeing other guys while the two of them were talking and that made him angry,” police wrote. The affidavit says Ivanov claimed he purchased the Ruger AR-15 rifle about a week ago, intent on using it for target practice. He signed up for a firearms-safety class, which was to begin early this month. He told police he viewed “the rifle as a symbol of power,” the affidavit said. On Friday night, Ivanov left work early because he “wasn’t feeling well,” then went to the Cabela’s store in Marysville to buy a second magazine for the rifle because he had been told he would need it for the firearms class, the affidavit says. Ivanov told police he arrived at the party in the 10000 block of 64th Place West at 10 p.m. Friday but parked across the street and watched the house, the affidavit says. He crept up toward the house, looked inside and saw Bui “with another male and got angry,” it says. Ivanov then returned to his car, where he read the owner’s manual for the rifle, loaded the magazine and inserted it into the AR-15, the affidavit says. Around midnight, he crept to the back of the house, hiding “along the west wall near the living room windows,” it says. He was discovered by a male partygoer, who said, “No, no, no,” before Ivanov opened fire, shooting the male, according to the affidavit. Ivanov told police “it was too late to turn back, and once he had pulled the trigger, his adrenaline kicked in.” He entered the house through a side door, found Bui and shot her twice, it says. He continued through the house, then shot another male “running toward the house,” police wrote. Ivanov went upstairs and onto the balcony off the master bedroom and fired at two more males in the driveway, police wrote. “He then went up on the roof and realized his magazine was empty,” so returned to his car and drove away. He was arrested about 90 minutes later on Interstate 5 near Chehalis. As part of the investigation into the killings, a detective spoke by phone with a person described as a “witness from Kentucky,” who said that two or three days earlier, Ivanov had sent him text messages “regarding committing a mass shooting,” the affidavit says. Detectives say Ivanov’s recent social-media posts suggest he “was considering the murders … he later committed.” Vicki Bratvold, whose teenage son hosted the house party where the shootings occurred, texted a Seattle Times reporter Monday, writing “there are no words to express our sorrow.” “We have always tried to make our house a loving, safe, happy place that the kids could always come. Our hearts are broken for the parents of Jake, Anna, and Jordan. We are praying for Will’s recovery,” she wrote. \|\|\|\|\| EVERETT, Wash. -- Allen Ivanov, the 19-year-old accused in the mass shooting in Mukilteo, said that it was about his "dream girl," court documents say. The documents, written by Mukilteo police Detective John Ernst, say Ivanov crept outside the home in the Chennault Beach neighborhood with an AR-15 rifle he had bought a week earlier. The rifle was so new that he had to read its instruction manual to operate it as he sat in his car outside the home where a party was going on. As he was hiding outside the home, a male who was at the party discovered him, Ivanov told police. "No, no," the party goer said. He told police he was scared and opened fire. "He stated at that point that it was too late to turn back, and once he had pulled the trigger his adrenaline kicked in," Ernst wrote. Ivanov went into the house and found his former girlfriend, Anna Bui, and shot her twice, court documents say. He saw a male running toward the house and shot him. He went to a balcony off the master bedroom and shot two more males, court documents say. Ivanov went to the roof, but realized that he was out of ammunition. Ivanov returned to his car. He had another magazine in his car. He had bought it hours earlier after he left his job at the Apple Store at Alderwood Mall. He said he was sick. Ivanov said he was loading the magazine in the call and intended to go back into the party and use the AR-15 rifle more. Instead, he drove away. In addition to Bui, Jordan Ebner, and Jake Long were also killed. All were 19. A fourth shooting victim, identified by friends as Will Kramer, is at Harborview Medical Center. His lawyers expected charges to be Tuesday and say it could be a capital case in which the death penalty could be a punishment option. At a brief court hearing Monday afternoon, he was ordered to be held without bail and to have no contact with the families of the victims. The documents portray a distraught Ivanov who was jealous that Bui had moved on with her life and had begun dating other men. Ivanov, questioned by police after he had been arrested in Chehalis on Saturday morning, told investigators that he had broken up with Bui two months earlier, but realized it had been a mistake. He wanted to resume his relationship with her. She was the first girl he had kissed, he told police. He told police that he bought the rifle the week before for target practice and intended to take gun-safety classes. He told police that he saw the gun "as a symbol of power." "He was a nice guy when I knew him. Nice guy, funny guy. Hyper guy. He got excited, like happy," said Sultan Akbar, a high school friend who last spoke to Ivanov on graduation day in 2015. "On some situations, he did get extremely, profusely angry." "It’s just shocking, shocking that he did it and they’re not here anymore," Akbar added. Police report that someone from Kentucky told officers that Ivanov had sent him text messages about committing a mass shooting. Ivanov's attorneys told KOMO News' Jennifer Sullivan on Monday that Ivanov's family is grief-stricken. He is their only child, and they considered Bui a daughter. Ivanov is "very quiet .. he's having some trouble right now," said one of the lawyers, Zachary Wagnild. “They obviously didn’t see this coming and are grieving along with many others in this community over what happened,” said Tim Leary, who is also representing Ivanov. Ivanov, who is being held for investigation of three counts of first degree murder, including one count of aggravated first degree murder, and a fourth count of attempted murder made his first court appearance by video link Monday from the Snohomish County Jail. Prosecutors asked Ivanov be held without bail, and the judge agreed. Ivanov is also barred from having contact with any victims or their families. On Monday KOMO News obtained a note that Ivanov's former attorney says was written by the suspect and given to him by Ivanov's mother. It contains messages to family and friends, including several that mention "the next life." Prosecutors have until Wednesday to file formal charges and Ivanov's formal arraignment has not yet been scheduled.	– The teenager accused of killing three people at a house party near Seattle bought his AR-15-style rifle so recently he had to study the instruction manual before the rampage, police say. According to court documents, 19-year-old Allen Ivanov has told police that he bought the Ruger firearm just a week ago and carried out the shooting because he was angry that the "dream girl" he split up with two months ago didn't want to get back together with him, NBC News reports. Investigators say Ivanov has told them that on Friday night, he bought another magazine for the gun after leaving his job at an Apple Store early. He drove to the party in the suburb of Mukilteo around 10pm and looked through a window. After spotting his ex with another man, he returned to the car to study the rifle's instructions. Around midnight, he allegedly returned to the party and opened fire. Cops say Ivanov killed his ex-girlfriend, Anna Bui, as well as partygoers Jake Long and Jordan Ebner, all 19 years old. An 18-year-old victim was seriously injured. Ivanov, who fled after the shooting and was arrested more than 100 miles away, is being held without bail on charges including first-degree murder, KOMO reports. Investigators say the teen's recent posts on social media suggest the murders were planned. Tim Leary, a lawyer hired by his parents, tells the Seattle Times it worries him that Ivanov could buy the AR-15 when he is too young to buy beer. The fact that he had to read the manual "speaks volumes to his youth and inexperience and highlights the lethality of the weapon involved," he says. (The family of the AR-15's inventor says he'd be "sickened" by his gun's use.)
Chad Johnson Ripped By Judge for Slapping Lawyer's Ass Chad Johnson -- Ripped By Judge for Slapping Lawyer's Ass EXCLUSIVE -- Chad is currently at jail and is being booked.-- We just got video of the love tap. Check it out.-- Chadin the courtroom and has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail.Chad and his attorney are back in front of the judge ... apologizing ... and desperately trying to convince the judge to accept the original terms of the deal.was just kicked out of a Florida courtroom ... after the former NFL star playfully slapped his male lawyer's ass -- a move that ENRAGED the judge, TMZ has learned.Johnson was in court in Broward County, FL to face the judge for his recent probation violation in his domestic violence case.During the hearing, the judge and Chad's lawyer were about to finalize the terms of Chad's punishment -- terms that were pretty favorable to Chad.But the whole thing fell apart at the last minute, when the judge asked Chad if he was satisfied with his attorney -- and the ex-NFL star reached back and playfully slapped his lawyer's ass.Chad smiled ... the court erupted with laughter .... but the judge wasn't amused.In fact, the judge found the move disrespectful -- and lashed out at Johnson ... asking him if the whole proceeding was a "joke" to him.Johnson replied, "I had no intent to make this a joke, because my life is in shambles right now."The judge -- who lost her patience -- suddenly announced that Chad's deal was OFF ... and kicked him out of the courtroom.Story developing ... \|\|\|\|\| Former NFL star Chad Johnson was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail for a probation violation in a domestic violence case by a judge who angrily rejected a no-jail plea deal after Johnson playfully slapped his attorney on the backside in court. This May 20, 2013 arrest photo made available by the Broward County Sheriff's Office shows former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson. Johnson will serve 30 days in jail after violating probation in a domestic... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2012 file photo, Chad Johnson, center, leaves Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Johnson will serve 30 days in jail after violating probation in a domestic violence... (Associated Press) Johnson, known as Chad Ochocinco for his jersey number in Spanish during his playing days, had reached a deal with prosecutors calling for community service and counseling instead of jail. Broward County Circuit Judge Kathleen McHugh said she would tack on an additional three months' probation because Johnson had failed to meet with his probation officer during three previous months. It was all set until Johnson, when asked by McHugh if he was satisfied with his lawyer Adam Swickle, gave the attorney a light swat on the rear _ as football players routinely do to each other on the field. The courtroom erupted in laughter and at that McHugh said she wouldn't accept the deal. "I don't know that you're taking this whole thing seriously. I just saw you slap your attorney on the backside. Is there something funny about this?" McHugh said, slapping the plea deal document down on her desk. "The whole courtroom was laughing. I'm not going to accept these plea negotiations. This isn't a joke." Johnson, 35, tried to apologize and insisted he meant no disrespect. Johnson was on probation after pleading no contest to head-butting his then-wife, TV reality star Evelyn Lozada, during an altercation last August. She quickly filed for divorce after barely a month of marriage and Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, was immediately released by the Miami Dolphins. He didn't play at all last season. "This is your courtroom. I have no intent to make this a joke. It's not funny," Johnson told the judge "My life is in a shambles right now and I try my best to laugh and keep a smile on my face." But McHugh, who could have given Johnson up to a year in jail, was not moved. "It's not the first time he's behaved that way in my courtroom," she said. Johnson then was handcuffed and hauled away to jail. Swickle declined comment on whether he would seek a reduced sentence. Johnson has been undergoing therapy aimed at helping people involved in domestic violence but has not signed with another NFL team. He said in court Monday he hoped that would change in the upcoming football season, but now faces another setback. "He has suffered. He has lost everything," Swickle told the judge. Johnson, whose best playing days were with the Cincinnati Bengals, caught 766 passes for more than 11,000 yards and 67 touchdowns during his career. He also played for the New England Patriots. Lozada stars on VH-1's"Basketball Wives" TV show. She was previously engaged to ex-NBA star Antoine Walker, who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and other teams, and was a star on the University of Kentucky's 1996 national championship team. _____ Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt	– Former NFL star Chad Johnson was so close to securing a no-jail plea for violating probation on his domestic violence charges he could almost touch it—until he did. Johnson playfully slapped his attorney on the butt in front of the courtroom, prompting the judge to reject the plea and sentence him to 30 days in jail, AP reports. "I don't know that you're taking this whole thing seriously. I just saw you slap your attorney on the backside," said the judge. "The whole courtroom was laughing. I'm not going to accept these plea negotiations. This isn't a joke." Watch video of the whole thing at TMZ.
By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor Follow @BurkeCNN (CNN) - Pope Francis reaffirmed the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage on Wednesday, but suggested in a newspaper interview that it could support some types of civil unions. The Pope reiterated the church's longstanding teaching that "marriage is between a man and a woman." However, he said, "We have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety." States, for instance, justify civil unions as a way to provide economic security to cohabitating couples, the Pope said in a wide-ranging interview published Wednesday in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily. State-sanctioned unions are thus driven by the need to ensure rights like access to health care, Francis added. A number of Catholic bishops have supported civil unions for same-sex couples as an alternative to marriage, including Pope Francis when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 2010, according to reports in National Catholic Reporter and The New York Times. Behind closed doors, pope supported civil unions in Argentina, activist says But Wednesday's comments are "the first time a Pope has indicated even tentative acceptance of civil unions," according to Catholic News Service. Later on Wednesday, a Vatican spokesman sought to clarify the Pope's remarks. "The Pope did not choose to enter into debates about the delicate matter of gay civil unions," said the Rev. Thomas Rosica, a consultant to the Vatican press office. "In his response to the interviewer, he emphasized the natural characteristic of marriage between one man and one woman, and on the other hand, he also spoke about the obligation of the state to fulfill its responsibilities towards its citizens." "We should not try to read more into the Pope’s words than what has been stated in very general terms," Rosica added. Pope Francis, who marks his first year in office on March 13, has sought to set a more tolerant tone for his 1 billion-member church and suggested that a broad range of topics are at least open for discussion. In January, the Pope recalled a little girl in Buenos Aires who told her teacher that she was sad because "my mother's girlfriend doesn't like me." "The situation in which we live now provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand," the Pope told leaders of religious orders, adding that the church "must be careful not to administer a vaccine against faith to them." The Vatican later denied that those comments signaled an opening toward same-sex unions. Last June, Francis famously refused to judge gay priests in comments that ricocheted around the world. He has also said that the church should not "interfere" in the spiritual lives of gays and lesbians. Pope Francis' greatest hits of 2013 Support of same-sex unions of any type is fiercely contested by many Catholic church leaders. In Wednesday's interview, Francis also addressed several other controversial issues, including the Catholic Church's ban on contraception, the role of women and the devastating clergy sexual abuse scandal. On contraception, the Pope praised Pope Paul VI for having the "courage" to "go against the majority" when restating the ban in 1968. But, Francis said, the church must also be "merciful" and "attentive to concrete situations." Contraception and church's ban on divorced Catholics receiving holy communion, will likely be addressed at major meetings of Catholic bishops in Rome in 2014 and 2015. “We must give a response. But to do so, we must reflect much in depth,” the Pope said Wednesday. On the role of women in the church, an issue of particular concern to Catholics in the United States, the Pope hinted that changes could be in the works. "Women must be present in all of the places where decisions are taken," Francis said in the newspaper interview, but the church must consider more than "functional" roles for women. To that end, Catholic leaders are engaged in "deep reflection" on women's role in the church, he said. On the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, a scandal that has rocked the church in the United States, the Pope said the abuse has left "very deep wounds" on victims. In response, the church has done more than other institutions to be open and transparent about sexual abuse by its employees, Francis said. “But the Church is the only one to be attacked." A United Nations panel criticized Catholic leaders last month in a hard-hitting report on clergy sexual abuse. The report said the Vatican "has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators.” The Vatican said it would study the U.N. report. Kick out those who sexually abuse children, U.N. panel tells Vatican On Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who has surprised church-watchers with public appearances after saying he would live a cloistered life in retirement, Francis said he considers his predecessor a "wise grandfather." "The Pope Emeritus is not a statue in a museum," Pope Francis said. Rather, the two men have decided that Benedict should participate in the church's public life rather than live a shuttered life. "I thought about grandparents who with their wisdom, their advice, strengthen families and don't deserve to end up in an old folks home," Francis said. Finally, he may sometimes wear a cape, but don't call Pope Francis a Superman, the popular pontiff said. "To paint the Pope as a sort of Superman, a kind of star, seems offensive to me," Francis told Corriere della Sera. "The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps soundly and has friends like everyone else. A normal person." Earlier this year, graffiti depicting a muscle-bound and flying Francis appeared on walls near Vatican City, but the Pope said Wednesday that he doesn't like the "mythology" surrounding his papacy, which marks its first anniversary on March 13. For instance, Francis debunked the idea that he sneaks out of the Vatican at night to feed the homeless. "It never occurred to me," he said. (CNN's Delia Gallagher assisted in translating Pope Francis' remarks from the Italian.) \|\|\|\|\| VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis finds the hype that is increasingly surrounding him "offensive," according to an interview published Wednesday, even as the Vatican itself is marking the anniversary of his election with commemorative stamps and coins and a DVD with never-before-seen footage of the pope. Francis told Italian daily Corriere della Sera he doesn't appreciate the myth-making that has seen him depicted as a "Superpope" (as an Italian street artist recently painted him) who sneaks out at night to feed the poor (as Italian newspapers have suggested). On Wednesday, he had to contend with a new bout of celebrity as "My Pope" hit Italian newsstands, a weekly gossip magazine devoted entirely to Francis. It is published by Mondadori, which is owned by ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi's media empire. In addition, at his general audience, someone tried to give him a replica of an Oscar statue that said "Oscar Pope" on it. "I don't like ideological interpretations, this type of mythology of Pope Francis," the pope told Corriere. "If I'm not mistaken, Sigmund Freud said that in every idealization there's an aggression. Depicting the pope as a sort of Superman, a star, is offensive to me. "The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly and has friends like everyone else. A normal person." Francis marks his anniversary as pope March 13. For the occasion, the Vatican has issued new coins and stamps. The DVD will feature behind-the-scenes footage of the pope leaving the Sistine Chapel just after he was elected and praying in the nearby Paoline Chapel before he went out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to greet the world with his famous "Buonasera." In the interview, Francis also said he and Pope Benedict XVI had agreed that the emeritus pontiff wouldn't remain hidden away, as Benedict had said he would spend his retirement, but would participate more in the life of the church. That's in keeping with Francis' belief that the elderly have a wealth of wisdom to offer younger generations. "The emeritus pope isn't a statue in a museum. He's an institution," Francis said. "We talked about it and we decided together that it would be better if he sees people, gets out and participates in the life of the church." Benedict recently attended the recent ceremony to formally install 19 new cardinals, the first time he and Francis had appeared together in St. Peter's. He is widely expected to attend the April 27 canonizations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII. "Some might have wanted him to retire away in a Benedictine abbey far from the Vatican," Francis said. "I thought about grandparents who with their wisdom and advice give strength to their families and don't deserve to end up in an old folks' home." ___ Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield \|\|\|\|\| 2014-03-03 Vatican Radio 00:01:53:81 (Vatican Radio) From March 1st, the magnificent gardens surrounding the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo are open to the public. Located south of Rome in the Alban hills, the property includes the extensive Barberini gardens, the remains of a Roman villa and a 62 acre farm, as well as the ancient papal palace. Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look:Listen:A statement from the director of the Vatican Museums says it was Pope Francis himself who decided to make accessible to all the gardens of the Pontifical Villas “where the splendor of art and the glory of nature co-exist in admirable equilibrium.” From Monday through Saturday mornings a one and a half hour guided tour of the gardens, in Italian or English, will be available to individuals or groups through an online booking system.The Barberini Gardens, as they’re known, lie on the site of an ancient Roman villa built by Emperor Domitian, the third and last ruler of the Flavian dynasty. Visitors can still wander through the ruins of the imperial theatre and the crypto-portico, or covered passageway where the emperor and his guests could stroll while escaping from the summer heat.With stunning views over Lake Albano and beyond, to the coastline of the Mediterranean sea, the Villa has been a favourite holiday residence for the popes since the 17century. Under the Lateran Pact of 1929, the Villa became part of the extra-territorial possessions of the Holy See and underwent major restoration work. The pope of that time, Pius XI, oversaw the creation of a model farm which still produces eggs, milk, oil, vegetables and honey for local employees or for sale in the Vatican supermarket. Pope Pius XII, who allowed war refugees sanctuary in the Villa, died there in 1958, as did Pope Paul VI two decades later. Amongst the hidden treasures that visitors can enjoy are the magnolia garden, the path of roses and that of aromatic herbs, the square of holly oaks and the breathtaking Belvedere garden.For further details and bookings, visit the Vatican Museums website at: mv.vatican.va	– As an Argentine cardinal, Jorge Bergoglio backed gay civil unions, and Pope Francis is signaling in an interview that the Catholic Church as a whole could tolerate at least some of them. While maintaining the church's position that "marriage is between a man and a woman," Francis nonetheless conceded that "we have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety." He says civil unions can be a financial help to couples when it comes to matters like "medical care," notes CNN. Other highlights in his interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera, as per the AP: He's been the subject of comic-book-inspired street art and a fan recently offered him an imitation Oscar, but Francis isn't digging the whole Superpope thing. "I don't like ideological interpretations, this type of mythology of Pope Francis. If I'm not mistaken, Sigmund Freud said that in every idealization there's an aggression. Depicting the pope as a sort of Superman, a star, is offensive to me," he noted. "The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly, and has friends like everyone else. A normal person." A new magazine looks unlikely to alter that "superhero" perception. Today sees the launch of Il Mio Papa, or My Pope—"a sort of fanzine," says editor Aldo Vitali. The new magazine will cover the pope's pronouncements, offering a weekly papal centerfold emblazoned with a quote. It will take a look at Francis' personal life, "but of course it can’t be like something you’d do for One Direction," Vitali tells the New York Times. "We aim to be more respectful, more noble." Francis is opening up the gardens of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence, to members of the public, the Telegraph reports. "It was Pope Francis himself" who made the decision," says a Vatican official.
The seed for this crawl was a list of every host in the Wayback Machine This crawl was run at a level 1 (URLs including their embeds, plus the URLs of all outbound links including their embeds) The WARC files associated with this crawl are not currently available to the general public. \|\|\|\|\| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. \|\|\|\|\| FILE - In this Tuesday, April 10, 2001 file photo, pop singer Christina Aguilera accepts her award for favorite female artist of the year from presenter Michael Clarke Duncan at the Seventh Annual Blockbuster... (Associated Press) Michael Clarke Duncan was one big, irresistible jumble of contradictions. His presence was formidable, even intimidating: The former bodyguard had a muscular, 6-foot-4 frame, but it was topped by the brightest of megawatt smiles. His gravelly baritone was well-suited to everything from animated films to action spectacles, but no matter the role, a warmth and a sweetness was always evident underneath. The prolific character actor, whose dozens of movies included an Oscar-nominated performance as a death row inmate in "The Green Mile" and box office hits including "Armageddon," `'Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu Panda," died Monday at age 54. And although he only turned to acting in his 30s, it's clear from the outpouring of prayers and remembrances he received across the Hollywood and sports worlds that his gentle-giant persona made him much-loved during that relatively brief time. Duncan died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a heart attack, said his fianc??e, Omarosa Manigault, in a statement released by publicist Joy Fehily. Duncan "suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered," the statement said. "Manigault is grateful for all of your prayers and asks for privacy at this time. Celebrations of his life, both private and public, will be announced at a later date." Tom Hanks, star of 1999's "The Green Mile" _ the film that earned a then-little-known Duncan a supporting-actor nomination at the Academy Awards _ said he was "terribly saddened at the loss of Big Mike. He was the treasure we all discovered on the set of `The Green Mile.' He was magic. He was a big love of man and his passing leaves us stunned." "I will miss my friend, Michael Clarke Duncan," comedian and talk-show host Steve Harvey said on Twitter. "What an incredible soldier in God's Plan." Other sad and shocked reactions came from a diverse field that included Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner Mark Cuban, actresses Alexa Vega, Niecy Nash and Olivia Munn, and former boxing champion Lennox Lewis. In the spring of 2012, Duncan had appeared in a video for PETA, the animal rights organization, in which he spoke of how much better he felt since becoming a vegetarian three years earlier. "I cleared out my refrigerator, about $5,000 worth of meat," he said. "I'm a lot healthier than I was when I was eating meat." Duncan had a handful of minor roles before "The Green Mile" brought him accolades and fame. The 1999 film, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, starred Hanks as a corrections officer at a penitentiary in the 1930s. Duncan played John Coffey, a convicted murderer with a surprisingly gentle demeanor and extraordinary healing powers. Duncan's performance caught on with critics and moviegoers and he quickly became a favorite in Hollywood, appearing in several films a year. He owed some of his good fortune to Bruce Willis, who recommended Duncan for "The Green Mile" after the two appeared together in "Armageddon." Duncan would work with Willis again in "Breakfast of Champions," `'The Whole Nine Yards" and "Sin City." His industrial-sized build was suited for everything from superhero films ("Daredevil") to comedy ("Talladega Nights," `'School for Scoundrels"). He could have made a career out of his voice work alone, with appearances in several animated and family movies, including, "Kung Fu Panda," `'Racing Stripes" and "Brother Bear." Among Duncan's television credits were "The Apprentice," `'Two and a Half Men," `'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and a new series, "The Finder." Born in Chicago in 1957, Duncan was raised by a single mother whose resistance to his playing football led to his deciding he wanted to become an actor. But when his mother became ill, he dropped out of college, Alcorn State University, and worked as a ditch digger and bouncer to support her. By his mid-20s, he was in Los Angeles, where he looked for acting parts and became a bodyguard for Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and other stars. The murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G., for whom Duncan had been hired to protect before switching assignments, led him to quit his job and pursue acting full-time. Early film and television credits, when he was usually cast as a bodyguard or bouncer, included "Bulworth," `'A Night at the Roxbury" and "The Players Club." ___ AP Writers Steve Loeper and Hillel Italie contributed to this report.	– The heart attack that ultimately killed Michael Clarke Duncan happened in July, the AP reports. The gentle giant of an actor "suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered," reads a statement from Duncan's fiancée, Apprentice-star-turned-minister Omarosa Manigault. Duncan was still being treated at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center when he died yesterday. The AP notes that Duncan became a vegetarian three years ago, and just this spring did a video for PETA saying he was "a lot healthier" since giving up meat. Duncan and Manigault were planning to wed in January, reports TMZ. Wedding preparations had just begun when Duncan went into full cardiac arrest. Though doctors were flown in to help him, he never left the hospital. Tributes to the actor are rolling in from all corners of Hollywood, but one of the most touching comes from Tom Hanks, Duncan's co-star in The Green Mile. "I am terribly saddened at the loss of Big Mike," Hanks tells Entertainment Tonight. "He was the treasure we all discovered on the set of The Green Mile. He was magic. He was a big love of man and his passing leaves us stunned."
Frances Cobain Lends Her Voice to Song 'My Space' or leave a comment of your own See what other readers have to say about this story – When Frances Cobain agreed to be a guest vocalist on pal Amanda Palmer's new concept album, headlines swirled that the 17-year-old daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love was following in her parents' musical footsteps.Not so fast."She's got a great voice," Palmer says. "But she's a really good visual artist. She's really interested in graphic novels."Cobain was intrigued by Palmer and fellow musician Jason Webley's concept for the album, Evelyn Evelyn, which focuses on twin singer-songwriter duo. Palmer was impressed with Cobain for more than her singing."She's really smart, level-headed, motivated, and incredibly funny," says Palmer, who met Cobain for the first time while with her fiancé, graphic novelist Neil Gaiman, of which Cobain is a fan. "She has her own really strong personal work ethic and she wants to find her own voice and make her own art and she's going to do it by playing by her own rules."Cobain's voice was mixed into a chorus with those of "Weird Al" Yankovic, Tegan and Sara and Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. "We wanted to have a list of really random people on it as a joke," explains Palmer. The album dropped Tuesday. \|\|\|\|\| Evelyn Evelyn Evelyn Evelyn 11/8ft Web Exclusive Somewhere deep in the untamed wilds of MySpace, producers Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley discovered Evelyn Evelyn Neville—a pair of conjoined twins sharing three legs, two arms, three lungs, two hearts, and a single liver. Isolated in a hotel in Walla Walla Washington, the girls developed their obsession with The Andrews Sisters and Joy Divison into a series of lovingly executed ukulele covers. Or so the story goes. I hate to point fingers, but certainly one of twins (as Webley himself pointed out in a blog entry) "has a conspicuously deep voice for a 24-year-old girl." Shockingly, the other Evelyn sounds like a missing member of another punk cabaret twosome. Chalk it up to serendipity. Webley and Palmer, conjoined-Martha Stewarts of the theatrically macabre, frame Evelyn and Evelyn's album through a series of spoken word segments, where the sisters recount their picaresque tale of woe—a tale that includes flying chickens, sexual abuse, societal marginalization, circus freaks, conjoined elephants, and social networking. Despite such obviously campy origins, the sisters' music often manages to rise above mere spectacle, their back-story flavoring oddball tracks such as "Chicken Man" and "Elephant Elephant" with surprising gravity, elevating the songs above mere musical curiosity. Of course it doesn't hurt that the girls are fair musicians in their own right. "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn" is a straight-up cabaret gem, and opening track "Evelyn Evelyn" could fit as a bonus cut on 2008's Who Killed Amanda Palmer. The genre-hopping, which the sisters brag about early on, is often jarring—but Palmer and Webley assure their protégées acquit themselves nicely on country-tinged "You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister" and the '80s cheese of "My Space." Much has been made about the host of cameos—including Frances Bean Cobain, Andrew WK, and Tegan and Sara—but negated to the role of chorus it's impossible to pick out individual voices. However, the additional star power isn't needed. Closing the album with a stripped-down version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," Evelyn and Evelyn prove that with or without their friends, they've got personality to spare. (www.evelynevelyn.com) Author rating: 7/10 \|\|\|\|\| As an admirer of both the work of Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley, I've really been looking forward to this project. The premise is a little confusing- Evelyn Evelyn are a fictional set of conjoined twin sisters (Eva and Lyn Neville) played by Palmer and Webley. The record is the story of Eva and Lyn, intermixed with Andrews Sisters style numbers. It is not unlike listening to a Broadway musical soundtrack, with three tracks devoted to the narration of the sisters' tragic life. After a few listens, I found myself immersed in the sad and strange world of the Neville sisters. The tale is compelling and the emotion and expression of the songs draws you in, from the show-tune style "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?" to the folky "You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister," to the power ballad "My Space" (which is indeed about MySpace, which features an impressive guest line up. Webley and Palmer are in top form. The vocals are impressive and poignant. One of my favorite parts of the album is the closing track, a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", one of my favorite songs of all time. Evelyn Evelyn's version is stripped down to just Palmer and Webley trading broken down vocals over soft ukulele accompaniment. If you haven't already gotten the impression, this album is eccentric. It isn't going to be for everyone, like Webley and Palmer's solo work. However, those who give this project the chance and time will appreciate it immensely. Evelyn Evelyn - Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn? Evelyn Evelyn will be released on 11 Records on March 30th.	– Frances Bean Cobain made her musical debut yesterday—albeit in cameo form—with the release of Evelyn Evelyn. “She’s got a great voice,” says Amanda Palmer, who put together the concept album with Jason Webley. The 17-year-old is featured on the track “My Space” along with other “really random people,” Palmer says, including Weird Al Yankovic, Tegan and Sara, and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, People reports. The album has “personality to spare,” writes Laura Studarus on Under the Radar, but as for Cobain, the proliferation of cameos on “My Space” means “it's impossible to pick out individual voices.” A blogger on The Ruckus calls the track a “power ballad” and says the album as a whole is “eccentric.” So will Cobain be following in her parents’ footsteps? Palmer isn’t so sure: “She's a really good visual artist. She's really interested in graphic novels.”
Exclusive: Here's the trailer for Castlevania Season 2. We did not set the bar at "good enough"... We're here to create the greatest videogame adaptation of all time. Who's with us?PS if this receives enough comments, I'll tell you guys if Grant is in it ;) Show less \|\|\|\|\| Hari Kondabolu uudelleentwiittasi Andy Agreed. There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him. If true, this sucks.https://twitter.com/avnindera1/status/1055903558170824704 … \|\|\|\|\| Back in April, The Simpsons attempted to address the growing controversy surrounding the character of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon with the episode, “No Good Read Goes Unpunished,” which was heavily criticized for not so much addressing the issue as basically dismissing it. In response to the controversy, Indian-American producer Adi Shankar announced that he was holding a crowdsourcing contest for fan submissions to come up with a better script to be produced by either Fox or as a fan film. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the episode will ever come to fruition because, in a recent interview with IndieWire, Shankar said that he’s heard from sources that The Simpsons is planning to instead quietly write the character off the show. Shankar blasted the decision as “cowardice” on the show’s part. If you are a show about cultural commentary and you are too afraid to comment on the culture, especially when it’s a component of the culture you had a hand in creating, then you are a show about cowardice. It’s not a step forward, or step backwards, it’s just a massive step sideways. After having read all these wonderful scripts, I feel like sidestepping this issue doesn’t solve it when the whole purpose of art, I would argue, is to bring us together. Twitter predictably also had thoughts about the decision to remove the character. Some blasted PC culture and social justice warriors, while others bemoaned the loss of the character or made jokes. This joke is going to be a lot sadder now that Apu is gone pic.twitter.com/6jzT2GdMva — Delos (@04Sonicfan) October 28, 2018 Is the world a better place now that Apu is gone? pic.twitter.com/oElztQfg2S — JONDERS FPT (@JondersFPT) October 28, 2018 To anyone following the journey, I didn't get the #Apu script comp. I was informed a few days ago, however, that I was a finalist of 30 out of 200 though, and that is something I am very proud of. But a shame still: I would have loved for people to have seen that script. pic.twitter.com/I6VbEBqCXI — Sp00ky Jono (@JonnyJonJon1) October 27, 2018 This is the biggest ‘joke’ The Simpsons team have ever made. A load of complete nonsense. What about those of us Asians who loved Apu? We recognise that many of us are shopkeepers but are aware that not all of us are. The solution is more varied depictions not less. Regressive. https://t.co/DN38kkP0Pq — Adil Ray OBE (@adilray) October 27, 2018 You know what, Apu? I am really gonna miss you. Credit: Julia Taylor pic.twitter.com/AT1SYOmG86 — dank simpsons (@DankSimpsons) October 28, 2018 Wonder who will replace Apu on the Simpsons pic.twitter.com/0NbDKVxTdK — mez (@Mez9696) October 28, 2018 The Problem with Apu documentary filmmaker Hari Kondabolu also weighed in: RIP Apu. RIP My Mentions — Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) October 27, 2018 For what it’s worth, the winning script that Shankar selected was written by Vishaal Buch, an Indian-American family doctor from Bethesda, Maryland, who envisioned Apu going from owning the Kwik-E-Mart to being a thriving businessman. The episode would have focused not just on Apu but would have incorporated “other prominent Indian Americans in hilarious ways to highlight the importance of diversity and individuality through the lens of The Simpsons,” according to Indiewire. It’s unclear whether Apu would have been voiced by Hank Azaria or an Indian-American voice actor, but either way, it sounds like a huge missed opportunity on Fox’s part. Update 7:30am CT, Oct. 29: Executive producer and writer Al Jean has pushed back against reports that The Simpsons is writing Apu out of the show. On Twitter, Jean noted that Shankar isn’t a producer and that “he does not speak for our show.” H/T Indiewire \|\|\|\|\| As "The Simpsons" side-steps the controversy and character altogether, Shankar will produce the contest winning script through his Bootleg Universe site. In April producer Adi Shankar launched a spec script contest for “The Simpsons” to solve what has become known as the show’s “Apu Problem.” The long-running character, a convenience store owner voiced by Hank Azaria, has become a controversial figure because many believe him to be an inaccurate and hurtful portrayal of Indian-Americans. It was Shankar’s intention to crowdsource a script that “in a clever way subverts him, pivots him, writes him out, or evolves him in a way that takes a creation that was the byproduct of a predominately Harvard-educated white male writers’ room and transforms it into a fresh, funny and realistic portrayal of Indians in America.” Shankar’s primary hope was that Fox would produce the script as an episode of “The Simpsons,” but now that he has found what he calls the “perfect script” and announces the winner of his contest, he told IndieWire that he has heard from people who work for the show that “The Simpsons” is eliminating the character. “I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” said Shankar in an interview with IndieWire. “They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy.” Shankar clarified that he got this news from two people who work for “The Simpsons” and a third source who works directly with creator Matt Groening. Reached for comment on Shankar’s allegations, a representative for “The Simpsons” at Fox provided a cryptic response: “Apu appeared in the 10/14/18 episode ‘My Way or the Highway to Heaven.’” In the episode, Apu only appears in a single wide shot (below) that showed dozens of characters gathered around God. Following Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary “The Problem with Apu,” “The Simpsons” poked fun at the controversy in the ironically titled episode “No Good Read Goes Unpunished” that took a jab at the political correctness of the shows’ critics. Then in May, Matt Reiss, the only original writer still at the show, told Vanity Fair that the show dealt with the Apu problem back in 2016 episode, with the episode “Much Apu About Something,” and the character has “barely had a line in the past three seasons.” Shankar believes the decision to yank the Apu character and avoid the controversy is a mistake, especially for a show known for its social satire. “If you are a show about cultural commentary and you are too afraid to comment on the culture, especially when it’s a component of the culture you had a hand in creating, then you are a show about cowardice,” said Shankar. “It’s not a step forward, or step backwards, it’s just a massive step sideways. After having read all these wonderful scripts, I feel like sidestepping this issue doesn’t solve it when the whole purpose of art, I would argue, is to bring us together.” Shankar who viewed his contest as an olive branch to the show, has picked a winning script from hundreds of submissions that he believes will be enjoyed by fans on both sides of the controversy. The Grand Prize winner is Vishaal Buch, a family doctor in Bethesda, Maryland. Courtesy of Coverfly In Buch’s script, Apu goes from a single store owner to a thriving businessman in Springfield. The spec episode doesn’t just focus on Apu, but pulls in other prominent Indian Americans in hilarious ways to highlight the importance of diversity and individuality through the lens of “The Simpsons.” “The contest was never meant to be an attack against anyone, but I think in a lot of ways we weren’t asking for anything too radical than to be viewed in three-dimensions,” said Shankar. “I think the beauty of Vishaal’s script is it did just that. It wasn’t preachy. It wasn’t hammering us over the head. When a lot of people hear ‘The Problem with Apu’ they roll their eyes, ‘there is no problem with Apu, it’s these millennials, they’re out of control.’ I think in a lot of ways those people will really like this episode.” Buch was like a number of the spec script contestants in that he had never written a screenplay before. In fact, Coverfly, the screenplay submissions management software company that administered the contest for Shankar, is helping the doctor this week translate his winning script into proper screenplay formatting. “I think as entertainers we can be myopic in our view and it was really refreshing to read a script that was outside of our bubble, our ecosystem,” said Shankar. “It was clever and authentic.” What Buch, a former US Air Force pilot, lacked in creative writing experience, he made up for with life experiences and a deep love and knowledge of “The Simpsons.” “I was born in Oklahoma, moved to California, and have gone through all the ups and downs that comes with being an Indian-American,” said Buch. “To no one’s surprise I ended up in medicine, but what is different is that I actually practice in the US military. When you think of the US military you don’t necessarily think of an Indian guy, but that is how much the Indian-American has evolved. I grew up a huge fan of ‘The Simpsons,’ so to be able to help tell this story is a testimony to not only my hard work, but the hard work of others like me. It’s been a pleasure to work with Adi and his team, and I am incredibly excited for the journey.“ Shankar noted that the number of doctors who applied to the contest was enormous. He also noted that the guest star most often written into submitted spec scripts, by an extremely wide margin, was Elon Musk. Project Bootleg Shankar is working under the assumption “The Simpsons” will not produce and air Buch’s script, which Shankar is in the process of helping to hone, so he will do it himself through his Bootleg Universe YouTube page. In addition to producing big-budget action films like “Dredd” and “The Grey,” Shankar’s Bootleg Universe has been his outlet to produce short films that reimagine well-known franchises and characters, like James Bond, The Punisher, and most notably a 14-minute short based on the The Power Rangers — directed by Joseph Kahn, starring Katee Sackhoff and James Van Der Beek — which racked up over 11 million views in its first 24 hours online and that many believe Saban Film took its cue from in rebooting the “Power Ranger” franchise. In addition to his work in live-action, Shankar also has roots in the animation world and is the co-showrunner of the animated Netflix series “Castlevania.” Shankar is confident that he is capable of producing an episode of “The Simpsons” that will sound and look like the Fox series. He is also open to inviting “The Simpsons” voice actors, including Hank Azaria, to lend their talents. Below is a video Bootleg made for $3,000 to test how it would emulate the art and style of the show. Shankar also named a second place winner: Tasha Dhanraj, a London-based comedy writer represented by Emily Wraith at Berlin Associates. The producer said he hasn’t 100 percent ruled out producing that script as well, but mostly he wanted to acknowledge Dhanraj’s “incredible talent.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.	– The Simpsons character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, who has been criticized for promoting negative stereotypes about South Asians (and is voiced by white guy Hank Azaria), may be getting cut from the show. "I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether," producer Adi Shankar tells IndieWire, claiming he heard the news from two people who work on the show and a third person who works directly with creator Matt Groening. "They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy." Shankar was talking to IndieWire about Apu because he recently held a spec script contest for an episode dealing with the show's "Apu problem" and had been hoping Fox would agree to produce the script. Reached for comment, a rep for the show told IndieWire simply that "Apu appeared in the 10/14/18 episode 'My Way or the Highway to Heaven.'" IndieWire notes that the only shot Apu appears in during the episode is one in which dozens of characters are gathered around God. Comedian Hari Kondabolu, who made a recent documentary about Apu, responded to the news by tweeting, "There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him. If true, this sucks." The Daily Dot rounds up other critical and mournful responses on Twitter. Shankar, producer of films including Dredd and The Grey and co-showrunner of Castlevania on Netflix, plans to produce the winning script (which sees Apu going from Kwik-E-Mart owner to thriving businessman) himself on his Bootleg Universe YouTube page. (Here's what Azaria thinks should happen with Apu.)
Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more \|\|\|\|\| “They’re very hostile. These are very hostile people. These are very angry people,” President Donald Trump told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity of the media. Interviewing Trump tonight, Hannity said, “The New York Times, CNN, NBC, they’ve used the word ‘liar’ to describe you, as it relates, if you’re talking about crowd size.” “They also colluded against you in a campaign,” Hannity continued. “And my question to you is — “ “They’re very dishonest people,” interrupted Trump, who wasn’t finished with his thought. “The media is very dishonest. I’ve been saying it. I say it openly.” “I said journalism is dead. So we agree,” said the Fox News Channel personality. “Never dead,” Trump disagreed.”But they’re very dishonest people, in many cases,” Trump conceded. “You have some very honest ones. But I get stories that are so false and so dishonest.” “Martin Luther King’s bust?” Hannity mentioned, helpfully. (In a White House pool report about Trump’s first actions after being sworn in, Time magazine journalist Zeke Miller had reported that the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. Miller corrected the report minutes later, explaining the bust had been obscured by a door and a Secret Service agent. White House press secretary Sean Spicer called it “a reminder of the media danger of tweet first, check facts later.”) “That’s a very serious change,” Trump told Hannity tonight. “Because they’re not saying the bust was taken out. What they’re saying is that I’m a racist.” “When it was revealed that it was wrong, it wasn’t even a story. Nobody even knows it.” \|\|\|\|\| President Donald Trump defended his forthcoming executive orders that are expected to suspend the United States’ refugee program and halt the issuing of visas to citizens of certain countries, saying, "We can't take any chances." "Right now, the FBI has over 1,000 [terrorism] investigations going on … and these are people that we let in," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an exclusive cable interview from the White House Thursday. "We don’t need this. Some people have come in with evil intentions. Most haven’t, I guess, but we can’t take chances." A draft executive order, which Trump could sign as early as Saturday, reportedly would halt the United States' broader refugee program for 120 days and prohibit citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen from obtaining U.S. visas for at least 30 days. "We’ve taken in tens of thousands of people. We know nothing about them. They can say they vetted them. They didn’t vet them, they have no papers. How can you vet somebody when you don’t know anything about them and they have no papers?" Trump asked. TRUMP TO ORDER CONSTRUCTION OF US-MEXICO BORDER WALL; EXPECTED TO SUSPEND REFUGEE PROGRAM Trump also defended his executive order to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a key promise of his presidential campaign. "The wall is necessary," Trump said. "That’s not just politics, and yet it is good for the heart of the nation because people want protection and a wall protects. All you’ve got to do is ask Israel." The president also revisited the issue of torture, saying that he believes methods such as waterboarding are effective. However, Trump added that he would follow the advice of Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has argued against the use of such tactics. "Look, I spoke with people who were in this world that we’re talking about," Trump told Hannity. "They said, ‘Absolutely, it works.’ Now, General Mattis said that he doesn’t intend to use it. I’m with him all the way. Do I believe it works? Yes, I do." The president also swiped at the media, which he said was made up of "very hostile people" and "very angry people." WATCH: TRUMP STRATEGIST BANNON TORCHES NY TIMES, MAINSTREAM MEDIA "The media — much of the media, not all of it – is very, very dishonest," Trump said. "Honestly, it’s fake news. It’s fake. They make things up." Trump covered a range of other topics in the interview, including his goal of repealing and replacing ObamaCare, which he called a "horror show” and a “disaster.” “It actually explodes [this year]," Trump said, "and I told [congressional] Republicans. I said, 'Look if you really want to do something, just let it explode, and then [the Democrats will] come begging us to fix it.’ But that’s not the right thing for the public because we have to get it fixed." "I do believe we're going to have a much better plan, we're going to have a cheaper plan, I think it's going to be a lot less expensive,” he added. Trump also disclosed that he had decided on his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court "pretty much in my mind." He had previously said he would announce his choice Feb. 2. The president blasted Democrats threatening to hold up his eventual nominee – and said he would want Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to use the so-called “nuclear option” if they filibuster. “I would. We have obstructionists,” Trump said, complaining about Democrats’ treatment of other nominees, including Attorney General pick Jeff Sessions. The “nuclear option,” if pursued, would allow majority Republicans to seek approval of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee with just a simple majority, as opposed to a 60-vote threshold. The president also said he was examining the case of Navy sailor Kristian Saucier for a possible pardon. Saucier, 29, was sentenced to a year in prison for taking photos of parts of a submarine's nuclear propulsion system. As a candidate, Trump contrasted Saucier's treatment with the FBI's decision not to charge Hillary Clinton for using personal email while secretary of state. PARDON ME: NAVY SAILOR IN JAIL FOR SUBMARINE PHOTOS PLEADS FOR MERCY FROM TRUMP "I think it’s very unfair in light of what’s happened with other people," said Trump, who added that he wouldn't even consider a pardon if not for the outcome of the Clinton investigation. "How can you have somebody else get away with such a tremendous amount and then this person who takes a picture of his desk on an old submarine? Look, if China or Russia wanted information on that submarine, they’ve had it for many years. That I can tell you."	– One night after sitting down for his first one-on-one interview as president with ABC News, Donald Trump granted Sean Hannity the same privilege at the White House Thursday evening, and he offered as many ear-perking nuggets as he had the day before. Still on his radar, per Deadline: the "very hostile" media, which he went on to describe as also being "very angry" and "very dishonest." "I get stories that are so false," he told Hannity, specifically calling out an erroneous report by Time magazine writer Zeke Miller that Trump had removed a Martin Luther King Jr. bust from the Oval Office (Miller later tweeted a correction for his mistake). "It's fake news. … They make things up," he added, per Fox News. Other snippets from the interview: He let fly his feelings about Madonna, who made headlines at the Women's March Saturday for saying she'd thought "an awful lot about blowing up the White House." "Honestly, she's disgusting," Trump told Hannity, adding that what she said was "disgraceful," per the Telegraph. "I think she hurt herself very badly. I think she hurt that whole cause." "Disgrace" is also a word he used to describe a recent tweet about his son, Barron, by now-suspended SNL writer Katie Rich. "I don't mind some humor, but it's terrible," Trump said. "For NBC to attack my 10-year-old son … it's a disgrace. He's a great boy. And it’s not an easy thing for him. Believe me." He had thoughts on President Obama as well, who rode with him in a limo on Inauguration Day. "What amazed me is that I was vicious to him in statements, he was vicious to me in statements, and here we are getting along … riding up Pennsylvania Avenue," he said, adding, "I like him, he likes me … you're going to have to ask him, but I think he likes me." Moving on to official presidential business, he labeled ObamaCare a "horror show" and a "disaster," said he had a Supreme Court justice nominee "pretty much in my mind," and noted that even though Secretary of Defense Mattis doesn't advocate waterboarding, he himself "absolutely" believes it is effective, per Fox. On his long-talked-about wall, Trump said it was "necessary." "People want protection and a wall protects," he said. "All you've got to do is ask Israel." (One possible way to pay for the wall: a 20% tax on Mexican imports.)
Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more \|\|\|\|\| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more \|\|\|\|\| Published on Dec 9, 2017 A local Tennessean Keaton was getting bullied at lunch and at Gibbs Elementary School and has gained popularity to which Tennessee Football players have reached out to go to his school \|\|\|\|\| An emotional video of an east Tennesse middle schooler talking about bullying is going viral. The video was posted by Kimberly Jones on her Facebook page Friday afternoon. A Tennessee woman's video of her son recounting being bullied at middle school has prompted a wave of support from athletes and entertainers. Kimberly Jones said in a Facebook post Friday she had just picked up her son, Keaton, from school because he was too afraid to go to lunch. In the video, Keaton said other students call him ugly, make fun of his nose and tell him he has no friends. The video had 17 million views as of Sunday. On Twitter, Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker invited the Jones family to an upcoming game, while University of Tennessee wide receiver Tyler Byrd said he and several teammates plan to visit Keaton at school. Country music star Kelsea Ballerini and retired race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. also wrote messages of support on Twitter. (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) \|\|\|\|\| A boy teased for being "different" was flooded with comforting messages from dozens of celebrities over the weekend. This comes after he expressed his daily struggles as a victim of bullying in a heart-wrenching video posted online. On Friday, Keaton Jones of Knoxville, Tennessee, described the painful ordeal to his mother Kimberly in a Facebook video, where he breaks down in tears. "They make fun of my nose, they call me ugly," Jones said."I have no friends." You can watch the entire clip below -- it has been viewed at least 21 million times as of Sunday night: For the record, Keaton asked to do this AFTER he had he me pick him up AGAIN because he was afraid to go to lunch. My kids are by no stretch perfect, & at home, he's as all boy as they come, but by all accounts he's good at school. Talk to your kids. I've even had friends of mine tell me they're kids were only nice to him to get him to mess with people. We all know how it feels to want to belong, but only a select few know how it really feels not to belong anywhere. Posted by Kimberly Jones on Friday, December 8, 2017 During lunchtime, the bullying turns from verbal to physical, Jones says. According to his mother, the boy asked her to pick him because he was afraid to eat with his schoolmates. "They pour milk on me and put ham down my clothes, throw bread at me," the boy said. He tries to reason with his bullies, saying, "People that are different don't need to be criticized because it's not their fault." Still, Jones offered advice to victims of bullying and how they can handle it. "If you're being made fun of, don't let it bother you," Jones said. "Stay strong I guess. It's hard. It will probably get better one day." The powerful, emotional video of his experience at school quickly went viral, amassing to more than 21 million views and 400 shares on Facebook since it was published, and it reached even more eyeballs as it spread to other social platforms. On Twitter, hundreds of tweets surfaced with the #StandWithKeaton hashtag. It also grabbed the attention of celebrities across the different industries, who pledged to help Keaton in any way they can. On Instagram, rapper Snoop Dogg reposted the video of Jones while offering words of support. "Say lil Man U gotta friend in me for life hit me on dm so we can chop it up love is the only way to beat hate," he wrote. Say lil Man U gotta friend in me for life hit me on dm so we can chop it up love is the only way to beat hate 👊🏾☝🏾 A post shared by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg) on Dec 10, 2017 at 7:50am PST "Captain America" star Chris Evans was also the among high-profile actors to step up for Jones and even invited him to Los Angeles for the premiere of the next Avengers movie. "Stay strong, Keaton. Don't let them make you turn cold. I promise it gets better," Evans wrote on Twitter. Stay strong, Keaton. Don’t let them make you turn cold. I promise it gets better. While those punks at your school are deciding what kind of people they want to be in this world, how would you and your mom like to come to the Avengers premiere in LA next year? https://t.co/s1QwCQ3toi — Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) December 10, 2017 Another Avengers actor, Mark Ruffalo who plays The Hulk, also tweeted his support saying Jones is "about one of the coolest kids I have ever seen! Can't wait to meet you in person, pal." Keaton, will you’ve my guest at the Premiere of #InfinityWar too? I think you are about one of the coolest kids I have ever seen! Can’t wait to meet you in person, pal. Forget those ignorant kids. One day, very soon, they are going to feel pretty stupid for this. https://t.co/BqJLxu25GN — Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) December 11, 2017 Tyler Bird, a wide receiver for Jones' hometown team, the Tenneesse Volunteers, said the team would show up to his school Tuesday. "We going to the middle school next Tuesday show young Man some love we will also TWITTER LIVE some of it so everyone can show there love and support," he tweeted.	– "They make fun of my nose, they call me ugly," Tennessee middle schooler Keaton Jones says in a heartbreaking anti-bullying video originally uploaded to Facebook Friday. "I have no friends." But after the video was shared more than 430,000 times and viewed more than 20 million times, his friends now include rappers, Hollywood stars, and football players, CBS News reports. Snoop Dogg shared the video, calling Keaton a "friend for life," while Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, invited him to the premiere of Avengers: Infinity Wars. Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker recorded a video supporting Keaton and offered him tickets, and University of Tennessee wide receiver Tyler Byrd said several players plan to visit the boy at school next week, the Washington Post reports. In the video, which mother Kimberly Jones says she recorded after she picked him up because he was afraid to go to lunch, Keaton sobs as he describes how he's bullied both verbally and physically, KWCH reports. "They pour milk on me and put ham down my clothes, throw bread at me," he says, offering advice to other victims of bullying: "Stay strong, I guess. It's hard. It will probably get better one day." In another Facebook post that now seems to be taken down, Kimberly Jones said the response had been overwhelming and she was "humbled by the voice my boy has been given." Keaton's many other supporters included Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, who tweeted: "I wanna be your friend ( but srsly) ur freakin awesome."
64 608 Roosevelt Rd Walkerton , IN 46574 (574) 586-7708 The pizza is as flat as the world we live on. Says the men who wrote the bible. Not good pizza. I came for lunch. The pizza options were boring. Found the pizza to be uncooked I was on my way home from Fort Wayne, and was going through town. I like trying small town restaurants and I like meeting good people. This was a good stop. The pizza was great, the crust, sauce and Pepperoni tasted great. Super friendly staff. I couldn't figure out why so many bad reviews from California and 1st time posters until learning that this place has been under attack from the gay community. I brought those fake reviews to the attention of Yelp and they refuse to clean up this page like they have done for other businesses. Clearly this is unfair to this business. I cannot believe so much hate comes from a community that demands that hate not be directed towards them. I am disappointed that Yelp is biased on how they handled this. I will be back. This place closed up with out any kind of notice to the town. I guess after receiving over 800,00 dollars from people on a go fund me account when they posted they wouldn't serve there food for a gay wedding. They didn't need to work anymore. There pizza was not the best it use to be good but just seemed like they didn't care anymore. Really not sad that they left. We love to stop by here for pizza or ice cream. Everything is reasonably priced and the people working are very nice! We try to stop every time we pass through Walkerton. Unfortunately, it is permanently closed! Sad they had to close because of bigots threatening them, this is America and freedom of religion is still in the constitution, I'm glad believers stepped up and helped just the worst pizza you can imagine can't even imagine why people would want to eat this awful awful pizza sauce tasted like red dry ketchup from expired bottles having sat for years in a broom closet that is never cleaned. just disgusting. not upset it closed kinda happy actually I estimate the food, service and décor of Memories Pizza to be average. I suspect the vast majority of the poor ratings and comments are from people who dislike the fact Memories Pizza refused to cater a gay wedding. It wouldn't surprise me if the gay wedding situation was engineered by social justice warriors to cause trouble for this business. Who caters to a wedding from a pizza joint? Visited Indiana, Horrible pizza. Dough is dry, pizza sauce taste like spoiled ketchup and topping remind me of rotten beef jerky. I would not serve this to my worst enemy. Maybe someone on deathrow is worthy of this as their last meal...if they are truly guilty:) SAVE YOUR COIN Like most of the 1 start reviews, I have never been to this establishment. I did find, however, both the service and food to be excellent. Highly recommended. Good people. The service was lovely and the workers were all very sweet. Their pizza is great and I can't wait to come back to Indiana to maybe visit this place again. You "godless" immoral dogs.... who seek to destroy Christ followers.... Christ,.. the very embodiment of God Almighty, made manifest in the flesh... came to redeem sinners. Was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected! .. for the purpose of correction of your "fallen" - "contrary to God" souls.... God incinerated Sodom and Gomorah for their homosexual ways (the perversion of God's creations)... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ You're all so smart in your own mind... but God's ways are not the fallen man's ways... GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED!... Your doom is coming.. the moment you die... and shortly thereafter YOUR JUDGEMENT by the perfect God administered through His Son Jeshua. My Savior, Jeshua,.. is perfect... And these times, while the devil and all that belong to him, think they are making gains, are in fact digging themselves DEEPER IN THE HOLE OF ETERNAL DAMNATION! May the Living God richly bless that little family for taking their correct stand for God... which is evident as of this writing ($600,000 plus in donations through GO FUND ME)... The Lord holds the universe together with His WORD of TRUTH... He can certainly take care of that family through the rest of His children.. and those who are not yet saved but know right from wrong.... You wicked, evil, homosexuals... you haters of God and His TRUTH. Most all of you are miserable, and continue to feed your lustful fires that you just can't seem to put out... and soon are going to rant and rail against God when society falls under the coming Antichrist.... YOU DOGS!, .. you less than worthless things. You have been seared with reprobate minds.... with no way back. No wonder you act the way you do... Your of your father the devil himself !!!!! You prompt others to do your dirty work.. and would like to see this family's business burned.... HA! Wait until you see what the Living God has in store for you.... a special place reserved in the LAKE OF FIRE with eternal suffering...!!! Ahhh, Yessss.... My Savior is perfect and WILL meet out YOUR proper JUDGEMENT! This place is Americana. A small town mom and pop operation that is very welcoming. Nothing against chains but they can't duplicate what the independents can. The pizza was very tasty. Loved the cheese and crispy crust. I'll be back next chance I get. I was at this really fun pizza place in November when I was visiting family and it did not disappoint. The pizza was very good, but the people who worked there made it a great time out. The cheese garlic bread and our pizza was awesome! Nice, super friendly staff! Fun to look at the throwback memorabilia on the walls & had fun playing games they had out with our kids. Fun night! When I was in the Walkerton, Indiana area I stopped by Memories Pizza. This is before the incident where they were setup by the TV Station in South Bend. All I can say is that the pizza I ordered was very well made and the service was excellent. And to be quite honest that is the only thing I was concerned about. And for the record I am a retired U.S. Marine, former business owner and Christian. The food and service was very good. I thought that was the main purpose of Yelp to let people know about the quality of food and the quality of the service. Traveling for work IN and decided to see what all this fuss was about. Pizza: it was greasy, doughy, and by far the worst I've had-akin to a generic frozen supermarket pizza. We also ordered a chicken Parmesan sandwich. Firstly, it was burned, the chicken left us wondering if there was actually any chicken in between the greasy breading. There are better choices in the area which are serving palatable food. Stay away from here. Nasty! Visiting with friends in the area, they hadn't eaten there and we thought it might be good food. The service was slow, and they weren't that busy. But worst of all was the food. We all were ill afterwards. Stay away is what we say. Came back since I'm in South Bend on business. Weird vibe, pizza was greasy but not as bad as first time but still not good. Oddly enough the best thing here was the bread sticks which is odd as last time the pizza dough was deplorable. Today it was edible, but the pizza was so greasy we tossed most of it. If you only judge this place by the quality of their flagship product (pizza) the only fair rating is one star. I will not be returning here in the future. China House will get my business or Subway if I'm in a rush. \|\|\|\|\| RFRA: Michiana business wouldn't cater a gay wedding Posted: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 10:40 PM EDT Updated: Wednesday, April 1, 2015 7:37 AM EDT Posted:Updated: A small-town pizza shop is saying they agree with Governor Pence and the signing of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The O'Connor family, who owns Memories Pizza, says they have a right to believe in their religion and protect those ideals. “If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,” says Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza. She and her family are standing firm in their beliefs. The O'Connors have owned Memories Pizza in Walkerton for 9 years. It's a small-town business, with small-town ideals. “We are a Christian establishment,” says O'Connor. The O'Connor family prides themselves in owning a business that reflects their religious beliefs. “We're not discriminating against anyone, that's just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything,” says O'Connor. So, when Governor Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, the family was not disappointed. “We definitely agree with the bill,” says O'Connor. When ABC 57 asked O'Connor about the negative backlash the bill has been getting for being a discriminatory piece of legislation, she says that's simply not true. “I do not think it's targeting gays. I don't think it's discrimination,” says O'Connor. “It's supposed to help people that have a religious belief.” O'Connor says because she's a Christian, she and her family don't support a gay marriage and that is their right. Kevin O'Connor, Crystal's father, says he believes the negative backlash the bill and its supporters are getting isn't fair. “That lifestyle is something they choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?” says Kevin O'Connor. The O'Connor family told ABC 57 news that if a gay couple or a couple belonging to another religion came in to the restaurant to eat, they would never deny them service. The O'Connors say they just don't agree with gay marriages and wouldn't cater them if asked to.	– We've heard plenty of public outcry about Gov. Mike Pence signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law last week. So who is cheering the law on? A family-owned pizza joint in Walkerton, Indiana. "If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no," Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza tells ABC 57. The station reports the family says gays are welcome to simply dine there—just not to order a wedding pie. "We are a Christian establishment," says Crystal. "We're not discriminating against anyone, that's just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything." Crystal's dad, Kevin, tells the station he also concurs with the bill. "I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?" he says of potential gay customers trying to get their nuptials catered. ABC 57 reports the reaction has been swift and harsh, noting the pizzeria's Facebook rating has fallen from a 5 to a 1.2; its rating is currently a 1 on Yelp, too, where some of the current posts are definitely NSFW. (Gov. Pence insists the law is being "grossly misconstrued.")
Please enable Javascript to watch this video Update: U.S. District Judge John Ross denied a request by a parent in the Ladue School District for a Temporary Restraining Order that would allow their child to play soccer on the high school Junior Varsity team. ST. LOUIS, MO — The mother of a Ladue High School student took her case to the federal courthouse after her son, called John Doe in legal documents, did not make the varsity soccer team and was not allowed to play on the J.V. team. The woman’s attorney said the issue is age and sex discrimination. Friday morning Ladue school officials said if a junior does not make the varsity team, the boy cannot play again on the junior varsity team. The school said this is to allow lower grade students a chance to develop their skills so that they will be prepared to try out for varsity. The mother of a Ladue junior who did not make the varsity cut does not think that’s fair. She believes her son, who already played on the J.V soccer team, is good enough to play again on the same team. The coach sent the family an email that said their son was on the bubble when it came to picking varsity team members. He wrote the boy has holes in his technical ability and game decision making. The family appealed the coach’s ruling to the superintendent who decided the family’s complaint was unsubstantiated. The mother’s suit claims her son is the victim of age and gender discrimination because she says the rules are different for the girls’ soccer team. In the courtroom testimony from the coach indicated the seven juniors cut from the varsity team were not good enough to play with on the J.V. team. He said the reason he said nice things about John Doe was to build his self-esteem and not punch him in the gut after being cut from the varsity team. The lawyer for John Doe also introduced documents that he said show players performance ratings given by coaches show that John Doe is better than some of the boys who made varsity. Also in courtroom testimony, it was revealed that Ladue does not have a policy keeping juniors from playing J.V. sports. It depends on how many kids go out for a certain sport and how many spots are on the team. The coach said this applied to both girls and boys team. The judge did not decide today if John Doe will be put on the junior varsity team as his mother wants. The judge plans to decide on Monday. The lawyer for John Doe said the boy wanted to take this case to the federal courthouse, that he wants to play soccer. Update: U.S. District Judge John Ross denied a request by a parent in the Ladue School District for a Temporary Restraining Order that would allow their child to play soccer on the high school Junior Varsity team. \|\|\|\|\| Close Get email notifications on Kim Bell daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. Whenever Kim Bell posts new content, you'll get an email delivered to your inbox with a link. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.	– After her 16-year-old son failed to make the varsity soccer team, a disappointed mother went a step or two further than most parents might. She filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the teen is a victim of age and gender discrimination, Fox 2 reports. The family says the rules at Missouri's Ladue High School state that if a junior doesn't make it onto the varsity team, he can't play again on the junior varsity team; that way, students in lower grades can use the JV team to develop the skills they need to try out for varsity. The family wants the boy placed on the JV team, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. They first appealed the coach's decision to district administrators and the superintendent, both of whom sided with the coach; they then complained to the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, but ultimately sued because the office had no power to force the school to place the boy on a team. The boy reportedly wanted to take the case to federal court. The family's lawsuit claims that the girls' soccer team does allow juniors to play on JV, which is where the sex discrimination comes in. "There are many schools across the country that have this policy that you either make varsity as a junior or you're out of the program," says the boy's stepfather, who is also one of the lawyers handling the case. "If someone said 'Cut all the blacks,' that would be illegal. And it's illegal for age too." He adds that per stats and rankings, the boy should have made varsity. But the coach testified in court that the only reason he said positive things about the boy's skills was to build up his self-esteem rather than making him feel worse after he had already failed to make the team, and he also testified that the school doesn't actually have a policy preventing juniors from playing on JV teams. He said it depends how many spots there are on the team and how many kids want to play. The judge is set to decide Monday.
ANCHORAGE – A 101-year-old record was broken in Alaska Thursday — a high of 71 degrees was recorded in southeast Alaska, beating a record set in 1915. The high temperature was recorded in Klawock, located northwest of Ketchikan on Prince of Wales Island. The National Weather Service called it the “warmest official temp in Alaska in March.” The previous record was 69 degrees in Ketchikan. Klawock wasn’t the only spot in the southeast Alaska setting records Thursday. Juneau, Yakutat, Sitka and Ketchikan all set new record high temperatures for March 31, ranging from 65 degrees in Ketchikan to 57 degrees in Yakutat. March 2016 had the warmest monthly average temperature on record for Juneau, Sitka, Klawock, Haines, Petersburg, Skagway and Ketchikan. The high today of 71F at Klawock is, preliminarily, the warmest official temp in Alaska in March. Old record 69F Ketchikan in 1915. #akwx — NWS Alaska Region (@NWSAlaska) April 1, 2016 \|\|\|\|\| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.	– Alaska has experienced some unusual natural phenomena lately—including a burping volcano and a desperate need for snow—and it just took another turn into some more weather-related weirdness. Per the Alaska Dispatch News, the mercury at an airport in Southeast Alaska registered at 71 degrees on Thursday, which University of Alaska Fairbanks climate scientist Brian Brettschneider says set a record high for temps in March, beating out a peak of 69 degrees set in March 1915. "The fact that it's March—it's pretty amazing," a National Weather Service meteorologist in Juneau says. "It's a big deal." What scientists say has brought on this thermometer-busting breach in Klawock, which KTVA notes is northwest of Ketchikan on Prince of Wales Island, is a high-pressure ridge that Brettschneider tells the Dispatch News is "basically [like we] had a June or July air mass move in in March. If we had June or July sun, it would have been 80 degrees, but we didn't." Other towns have similarly recorded record highs, and the warm weather is, as of now, anticipated to continue through May. (Alaska also just had the weirdest murder plot in a while.)
A gunman opened fire at 10:38 Thursday morning, killing 10 people, while wounding 9 others at Umpqua Community College. Three of the wounded are listed in critical condition, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said during a 4:45 p.m. press conference today. The identities of the shooter and the victims were unavailable at press time. Ten were transported to Mercy Medial Center, according to Mercy Chief Medical Officer Jason Gray, and one of those died. Three patients were taken to a Springfield hospital, most for neurological surgery. Four were operated on at Mercy. All those treated at Mercy are expected to survive their injuries. Three remained in the hospital Friday morning. Of those, one was expected to be released today, one was in stable condition and one was in critical condition. As many as 10 victims were dead and the alleged shooter was reportedly killed. [Relief fund established in wake of UCC shooting.] Kortney Moore, 18, from Rogue River, was in her Writing 115 class in Snyder Hall when one shot came through a window. She saw her teacher get shot in the head. The shooter was inside at that point, and he told people to get on the ground. The shooter was asking people to stand up and state their religion and then started firing away, Moore said. Moore was lying there with people who had been shot. There are unconfirmed reports that the shooter had either been shot or had shot himself. An official confirmed that the shooter had been “neutralized.” [The latest from mass shooting at Umpqua Community College.] Brady Winder, 23, of Portland, said he was in the room next door when he heard a loud thud that didn’t sound like a gunshot. He then heard a percussion of gunshots and the students all fled out the front door. They left “like ants, people screaming, “Get out!” Winder said. He saw a girl swim across the creek while fleeing. Hannah Miles was in a class room next door to the shooting in Snyder Hall. Miles said they heard a sound next door that sounded like a yardstick slapping on a chalkboard. Then they heard the noise again. A teacher went to see if everything was all right, at which point it went off repeatedly and someone said everybody get out now. They got out as quickly as possible. They left everything behind. [Gun control debated in wake of tragedy.] According to scanner reports, the suspect was down and multiple ambulances were on scene. Police cleared the science building. The scene was pure chaos. Jared Norman, a nursing student, said he heard shots and then everyone was running. He was locked down in the cafeteria with 50 other students. His voice shook as he described the scene. They didn’t know what was going on, and they were terrified. [Police investigate potential apartment of UCC shooter.] Shortly before noon, UCC Foundation Executive Director Dennis O’Neill said, “We locked our door and I went out to lock up the rest rooms and could hear four shots from the front of campus. We have heard there are casualties but know nothing more at this stage.” An automated phone call went out to parents at Roseburg School District, referencing the shooting and claiming the school was safe. Sometime after noon, students’ cell phones were confiscated, then students were marched out one building at a time, hands up, patted down and lined up to be evacuated on buses. [Tweets and photos from candlelight vigil for UCC victims.] About 200 people were waiting at the Douglas County Fairgrounds for students, who were being ferried there in buses. Red Cross grief counselors were available at the fairgrounds. Camas Valley teacher Christian Bringhurst said his daughter Justine was on UCC campus at time of shooting. She was safely evacuated to the fairgrounds. “It’s awful. The uncertainty of what is going on is tough to deal with. We have a dozen (Camas Valley) kids going to school out there. Trying to find out who is there and make sure everybody is OK. Our hearts going out to the victims,” Bringhurst said. The FBI’s Portland Division is responding to the incident. Agents and specialty personnel are responding from the FBI offices in Medford, Eugene, Salem and Portland. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, issued a statement following the incident. “Today’s shooting in Roseburg is a heartbreaking tragedy, and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Roseburg’s first responders for their work in responding to the event. Once we know more about what happened today, I plan to work with my colleagues in Congress to find ways to prevent tragedies such as these,” DeFazio said. Initial information from breaking news. 10:38 a.m. Police and emergency crews are at Umpqua Community College after a reported gunman has shot upwards of 20 people on campus. Scanner reports indicated the suspect is down. Multiple ambulances are on scene. Early reports indicate at least 15 people are dead. Students are reporting on social media that they are trapped inside classrooms. 11:20 a.m. Police are clearing the science building at this time. 11:28 a.m. Photographer just returned from Mercy Medical Center where he witnessed multiple ambulances bringing in patients. 11:34 a.m. Reporter at UCC describes the scene as “pure chaos.” 11:39 a.m. Jared Norman, a nursing student at UCC, said he heard shots and then everyone was running. He is locked down in the cafeteria with 50 other students right now. They’ve heard there is a shooting, but they don’t know what’s going on. And they’re scared. 11:42 a.m. Automated phone call went out to parents at Roseburg School District, referencing UCC shooting and saying all schools are safe. 11:49 a.m. “We locked our door and I went out to lock up the rest rooms and could hear four shots from the front of campus,” said UCC Foundation Executive Director Dennis O’Neill. “We have heard there are casualties but know nothing more at this stage.” 11:53 a.m. Oregon State Police are reporting via CNN that 10 people are dead and that the alleged shooter is dead. 11:57 a.m. Students and staff are gathered on the front lawn, waiting to be loaded onto a bus. 12:06 p.m. Kathleen Nickel, a spokesperson for Mercy Medical Center, said six patients have been brought to Mercy Medical Center and they are expecting two more. 12:40 p.m. Reporter Aaron Yost said two buses have brought students from UCC to the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Red Cross counselors are on scene to provide grief counseling. 12:57 p.m. Statement from Peter DeFazio on today’s shooting. “Today’s shooting in Roseburg is a heartbreaking tragedy, and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Roseburg’s first responders for their work in responding to the event. Once we know more about what happened today, I plan to work with my colleagues in Congress to find ways to prevent tragedies such as these.” 1 p.m. Christian Bringhurst said his daughter Justine is fine after she was on campus at the time of shooting. “We (Camas Valley) have a dozen kids going to school out there,” Bringhurst said. “Trying to find out who is there and make sure everybody is OK. Our hearts going out to the victims.” 1:05 p.m. KVAL is reporting that the shooter is among the dead. That is unconfirmed. 1:13 p.m. Oregon Attorney General is reporting that 13 people are dead, up to 20 are injured including the shooter. (Check back as we continue to update this story real time.) Here is a Storify of social media related to the shooting: \|\|\|\|\| Umpqua Community College student Kendra Gordon told Neil Cavuto on "Your World" she was in the classroom next door to where today's deadly campus shooting occurred. "I was sitting in class when we had first heard the shot," Gordon said. "And we didn't think it was a gunshot, we thought it was a firecracker. And then we heard another one." "And so, one of the students in my class, she went out and checked it. She got shot twice, one in the arm, and in the stomach. And she came back and told us to lock the door, shut the lights off," Gordon said. "And we sat there for 20 minutes waiting for police to show up. It felt like forever." Gordon said that she waited in her class with 20 to 25 students until they heard police voices outside the room. "I've definitely had better days, that's for sure," Gordon said. "I'm in a lot better position than many of the other families at UCC." Watch more above and stay with Fox News Insider for updates on this tragic story. O'Reilly Calls Out Obama: Stop 'Politicizing' Oregon Shooting Obama Speaks Out on Oregon Shooting: 'This Is Something We Should Politicize'	– Horrific stories are trickling out from inside Thursday's mass shooting at an Oregon community college: Student Kendra Gordon tells Fox News she was in a classroom next to on where the gunman was shooting. "I was sitting in class when we had first heard the shot. And we didn't think it was a gunshot, we thought it was a firecracker. And then we heard another one," she said. "And so, one of the students in my class, she went out and checked it. She got shot twice, one in the arm, and in the stomach. And she came back and told us to lock the door, shut the lights off. And we sat there for 20 minutes waiting for police to show up. It felt like forever." Gordon said she's not sure how the student who was shot is doing now, Reuters reports. Student Kortney Moore says a bullet came through the window of her writing class in Snyder Hall; she saw her teacher shot in the head. The shooter came inside the room and told people to get on the ground, she tells the local News-Review. She says he then asked people to stand up and say their religion before he started firing. Tweets from @KP_KaylaMarie before she protected her Twitter feed: "Omg there’s someone shooting on campus." "Students are running everywhere. Holy God." And then, later: "Hi guys. I’m ok. Physically. We’re being bused off campus." Multiple witnesses tell the local Register-Guard that only one classroom, a writing and speech class in Snyder Hall, was targeted. Click for more on the shooter and President Obama's response.
Okay folks, we’re live at Facebook’s press event for… sure enough, its new mobile App Center, the one that started leaking out earlier today. The company shared most of the details about how the store will work during a May press announcement, but to review: it’ll be one central store for finding any app across web, iOS, Android, mobile web, etc. You’ll get app suggestions based on ratings and what your friends play, similar to previous recommendation features that Facebook has provided over the years. And, paid apps are also part of the deal. We’re following up with further details, but for now, here’s the official announcement. The App Center is launching tonight with more than 600 social apps, including Nike+ GPS, Ubisoft Ghost Recon Commander, Stitcher Radio, Draw Something, and Pinterest. Each person will have a personalized experience in the App Center, with recommendations based on the apps they and their friends use, whether that be games or fashion, food, fitness, travel, or other lifestyle apps. You’ll only see high quality apps in the App Center, based on user ratings and engagement. The App Center is available on mobile via the Facebook apps for iOS and Android, or by accessing Facebook.com on mobile. Stats: \|\|\|\|\| Facebook has launched an app store, similar to that for the Apple iPhone, in a bid to turn the social network into a key entertainment platform online. The network announced its "App Centre" in a blogpost late on Thursday, confirming its first major move into a booming market of gaming, lifestyle and productivity applications. The app store will be available only to US users from Friday, opening to each of Facebook's 901 million users in the coming weeks. It will feature 600 apps, including the popular Draw Something and Pinterest, and new games such as Jetpack Joyride and Ghosts of Mistwood. "The App Centre gives you personalised recommendations, and lets you browse the apps your friends use," said Facebook's Matt Wyndowe in the blogpost. "It only lists high-quality apps, based on feedback from people who use the app." The move is designed to keep Facebook users on the social network for longer, giving them less reason to leave the site for a rival platform. However, the focus on mobile apps is likely to attract criticism from those who see them as harmful to the future of the open web. Facebook has already faced criticism from internet rivals such as Google for its so-called "walled garden" approach to what can and cannot be released on its platform. The app store will be available on Facebook's iOS and Android apps, as well as on the main website. Users can send an app on the website to be downloaded onto their mobile device. Apps have quickly become a part of daily life for smartphone owners across the globe. Ushered in by Apple's iPhone and, later, by Google's Android and other mobile operating systems, an estimated 31bn apps were downloaded to mobile devices last year, according to industry analyst Juniper Research. Although most apps are free to download, the still-nascent medium is delivering significant revenues for hugely popular games such as Angry Birds. Juniper Research predicts that by 2016 mobile apps will generate $52bn of revenues – 75% from smartphones and 25% from tablets. \|\|\|\|\| The social network just unveiled its App Center, and it's accessible on iOS and Android devices, as well as through the Web on Facebook.com. Here's what you can expect to see. (Credit: Facebook) Facebook's App Center has arrived, and it's got more than 600 apps in tow, including big hitters like Pinterest, Draw Something, Nike+, Path, and Ghost Recon. Let's take a look at how it all works. The first thing you should know is that App Center is not a Facebook marketplace akin to Google Play or Apple's App Store. Rather, it's a hub for discovering new and interesting apps based on your Facebook activity and your friends' activity. In fact, whenever App Center recommends a mobile app, it actually links out to Google Play and iTunes so you can easily download it. On the Web, you can access the App Center through a bookmark on the top left of your news feed page. Once you're in, you are greeted, front and center, with recommended apps and friends' apps. Also, along the left is a menu of categories like Games, Entertainment, Music, and News, through which you can browse. App Center recommends apps based on the apps that you are already using. The more apps you use with Facebook log-in, the more attuned it will be to your tastes. The Friends' apps section also shows you recommendations, but these are based on, you guessed it, the apps that your friends are using. Once you find an app you're interested in, you can click through to get all the details. If you'd like, you can also play it right then and there (if it's a Web app) or send an iTunes or Google Play link to your mobile device (for mobile apps). This latter feature is hugely convenient, but when using it, be sure to check what platform the mobile app is available for first. Case in point, I was able to send a Pinterest app link to my Android phone, when in fact, Pinterest is only available on iOS. This caused a Google Play error on my phone. Perhaps a more prominent display of the platform compatibility would help, because as it is now, that information is tucked away at the bottom of the app details page. (Credit: Facebook) Meanwhile, on a mobile device the App Center provides a significantly pared-down experience. In fact, it looks quite different from the desktop App Center, which, to me, was a bit disorienting. The App Center on mobile opens up directly to your Friends' apps, but on the phone it's called "Social Picks." Top Apps is another section that you can explore, which lists the most popular mobile apps for Facebook users. One thing that needs work on the mobile interface is browsing. You can browse through Apps or Games, and that's about it. There are no other categories to help you navigate, like there are on the full desktop version of App Center. Conceptually, App Center seems like a winner to me. I found its recommendations helpful and the Friends' apps list very interesting, to say the least. All that said, I can honestly say that I'll use it. Still, the interface has some kinks to work out, especially on mobile devices. If you can't find App Center yet (it is gradually rolling out to users over the next few weeks), you can go to facebook.com/appcenter on your desktop browser or m.facebook.com/appcenter on your mobile device to try it now.	– The App Center Facebook announced last month is open for business. The phased rollout will ultimately give all its US users access to 600 apps, like Pinterest and Draw Something, reports TechCrunch. Unlike Apple's App Store and Google Play, though, Facebook's App Center is more of a discovery hub, taking users to Apple or Google or elsewhere to download the apps. And, of course, Facebook's App Center puts the emphasis on sharing, recommending apps based on what your friends are using. Some early reaction: "In a sense, it’s a defining moment in the world of apps," writes Mike Isaac at All Things D. "Unlike the Google Play app repository or Apple's App Store, Facebook’s App Center relies in part on social discovery. And it’s in line with Facebook’s overall philosophy: Everything should be social." While noting the App Center should spur Facebook users to spend more time using the social network, "the focus on mobile apps is likely to attract criticism from those who see them as harmful to the future of the open web," notes Josh Halliday for the Guardian. "Conceptually, App Center seems like a winner to me," writes Jaymar Cabebe at CNet. "I found its recommendations helpful and the Friends' apps list very interesting, to say the least. On the other hand, the interface still has some kinks to work out, especially on mobile devices."
Image copyright AFP/ Getty Image caption The nurse, known as Niels H, was jailed for life two years ago A nurse serving a life sentence for murdering two patients in northern Germany is now a suspect in at least 84 other murder cases, police say. The 40-year-old, named only as Niels H under German reporting rules, was convicted of attempted murder in 2006 and murder in 2015. His victims received lethal drug doses at units where he worked. Relatives of patients who died in clinics where he worked had urged police to investigate further. A commission was set up in 2014 to investigate the scale of his crimes, which could make him Germany's worst post-war killer. The medication caused heart failure or the collapse of patients' circulatory systems. Judges said he was motivated by a desire to win approval by resuscitating the patients he had drugged. During his 2015 trial, he admitted applying the drug to about 90 people at an intensive care clinic in the town of Delmenhorst. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Niels H hid behind a folder during his trial Police say the abnormalities stretch back to 2000 at another clinic in Oldenburg. They said staff had a meeting there in 2001 to discuss the strange levels of deaths and resuscitations, but did not report the levels to police, and Niels H was able to move to the Delmenhorst clinic. A special police commission was set up in 2014 to investigate the case. It has been analysing hundreds of medical records and exhumed 134 bodies to test samples for drug residue. The investigations have been made more difficult because many patients had been cremated. "The findings continue to breach any imagination," said Oldenburg police chief Johann Kuhme. "It is simply not possible to say how many people were killed." Mr Kuhme warned the number could still rise further. The new charges are now likely to be filed at the beginning of 2018, he said. \|\|\|\|\| Oldenburg police choef Johann Kuehme speaks about the current investigations into the former nurse Niels Hoegel in Oldenburg, Germany, Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. The nurse who was convicted of killing... (Associated Press) Oldenburg police choef Johann Kuehme speaks about the current investigations into the former nurse Niels Hoegel in Oldenburg, Germany, Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. The nurse who was convicted of killing patients in Germany with overdoses of heart medication is now believed to have killed at least 84 people... (Associated Press) BERLIN (AP) — A male nurse who was convicted of killing patients in Germany with overdoses of heart medication is now believed to have killed at least 86 people — and the true scale of the killings could be even larger, investigators said Monday. Many of the deaths could have been prevented if health authorities had acted more quickly on their suspicions, said Johann Kuehme, police chief in the northwestern city of Oldenburg. Niels Hoegel, now 40, was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders at a hospital in the northwestern town of Delmenhorst. He was sentenced to life in prison. But prosecutors have long said they believe he killed many more people, last year putting the figure at 43 at least. The crimes came to light after Hoegel was convicted of attempted murder in another case. Authorities subsequently investigated hundreds of deaths, exhuming bodies of former patients in Delmenhorst and nearby Oldenburg. Kuehme said Monday that authorities have now unearthed evidence of 84 killings in addition to the ones for which Hoegel was convicted. The number of actual killings is likely higher because some possible victims were cremated, making it impossible to gather evidence, Kuehme added. "Eighty-four killings ... leave us speechless," Kuehme told reporters. "And as if all that were not enough, we must realize that the real dimension of the killings by Niels H. is likely many times worse." The fact that the cases go back many years and people may struggle to remember the exact details of their loved ones' deaths hurts authorities' ability to determine an exact number, Kuehme said. He faulted local health authorities for being slow to act. "If the people responsible at the time, particularly at the Oldenburg clinic but also later in Delmenhorst, hadn't hesitated to alert authorities — for example police, prosecutors —" Hoegel could have been stopped earlier, Kuehme said. Authorities are already pursuing criminal cases against former staff at the two facilities. Hoegel worked at the Oldenburg hospital from 1999 to 2002 and in Delmenhorst from 2003 to 2005. Kuehme said other medical workers at Oldenburg were aware of an elevated number of resuscitations, and initial indications of possible wrongdoing by the nurse in Delmenhorst emerged as early as April 2003. During his trial, Hoegel had said he intentionally brought about cardiac crises in some 90 patients in Delmenhorst because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them. He later told investigators that he also killed patients in Oldenburg. Prosecutors are expected to try Hoegel on at least some of the additional killings but Germany's judicial system does not allow for consecutive sentences, so future convictions won't affect his life term. The identities of the suspected 84 victims haven't been released. There was no immediate comment Monday from any representatives of victims' families.	– He has been convicted of killing two and attempting to murder two more—and he could actually be "Germany's worst post-war killer," reports the BBC. Niels Hoegel, 40, was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for those crimes, but prosecutors voiced their belief that the nurse had killed many more while working at clinics in Oldenburg (from 1999 to 2002) and Delmenhorst (from 2003 to 2005), reports the AP. Now police are giving a sense of just how many more: at least 84. Hoegel said at trial that he wanted to play the hero and drugged his patients so that he could then resuscitate them and win praise. Except a commission established three years ago to determine the breadth of his crimes has found that many patients ended up receiving lethal doses of drugs that brought on heart failure or destroyed the circulatory system. The BBC reports that 134 bodies have been exhumed and tested for traces of the drug, but "it is simply not possible to say how many people were killed," per Oldenburg police chief Johann Kuhme. That's in part because many of his patients were cremated. The AFP quotes chief police investigator Arne Schmidt as describing the death toll as "unique in the history of the German republic." There is "evidence for at least 90 murders," he said at a press conference, "and at least as many [suspected] cases again that can no longer be proven." Kuhme faulted the clinics for having "hesitated to alert authorities," saying the death toll could have been much lower if they had. New charges against Hoegel will likely be filed next year. (This nurse says she would get a "red surge" before killing one of her patients.)
Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE According to the National Weather Service, the average temperature for Death Valley in July was a blistering 107.4 degrees. Video provided by Newsy Newslook A visitor walks along on the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes at Death Valley National Park on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 in Death Valley, Calif. (Photo: Marilyn Chung, The Desert Sun) Hell on Earth: With an average temperature of 107.39 degrees in July, Death Valley set the record for hottest month at a single location in U.S. history. Keep in mind that that number is an average of all the high and low temperatures. The average daily high temperature was an unbearable 119.6 degrees. “It should be noted that this is the hottest average monthly temperature ever measured in the U.S. or, for that matter, anywhere in the Western Hemisphere,” Weather Underground weather historian Christopher Burt told the Capital Weather Gang. It was not a world record, however: Climatologist Brian Brettschneider said the world record warm month was in August 2015, when King Khaled, Saudi Arabia, measured an average temperature of 107.44 degrees. The avg monthly temp for Death Valley in July was 107.4. This breaks the previous record of 107.2 set in 1917. Also the hottest month ever. — NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) August 2, 2017 And nights were no bargain in Death Valley last month: The temperature didn't drop below 89 degrees the entire month of July, the National Weather Service said. Three days, the overnight low temperature was over 100 degrees. July's hottest day was the 7th, when Death Valley hit 127 degrees. It was also 127 on two June days. Death Valley is a national park with no permanent residents except for a few park service staff and rangers. It is the hottest, driest and lowest of all U.S. national parks. Several other cities set record warm months in the West, as did Miami, the weather service said. We broke a record this July--the hottest month ever for Death Valley! 🔥🌡️ https://t.co/vBDMd2q1j7 — Death Valley NP (@DeathValleyNPS) August 2, 2017 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2wq9Wrp \|\|\|\|\| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.	– It's probably been a hot summer where you are, but nothing like this: California's Death Valley registered an average temperature of 107.4 degrees for the month of July, per the National Weather Service. The previous record, set in 1917, was 107.2 degrees. It's not only a record for Death Valley: "It should be noted that this is the hottest average monthly temperature ever measured in the US, or, for that matter, anywhere in the Western Hemisphere," a climatologist tells the Washington Post. If 107.4 doesn't seem insanely high, keep in mind that was the average temperature of both days and nights, notes the Los Angeles Times. During the day, it typically got up to 120 degrees before cooling down to about 95 at night. The hottest day came on July 7, which saw a temperature of 127. Fortunately, few people were affected: As USA Today notes, Death Valley is a national park with no permanent residents save for park rangers.
The names Jesse and Skyler are more popular than ever thanks to the television-watching world's obsession with "Breaking Bad," according to a list of the most popular baby names in 2013 released by website BabyCentre. The name Jesse saw a 13 percent increase in popularity this year, while Skyler saw a striking 70 percent increase. But the names Skinny Pete, Combo and Badger have remained niche, unfortunately. But "Breaking Bad" wasn't the only television show to inspire parents this year, according to the list. The names Brody, Carrie and Dana all went up in popularity in 2013 thanks to "Homeland." \|\|\|\|\| Sophia celebrates her ninth consecutive year as the top choice for girls, while Jackson remains the most popular name for boys for six years running. Oliver and Layla both jumped into the top 10, pushing out Logan and Zoe. The fastest climbers of 2018 include Everly, Isla, Leo, and Carson. Click on a name below to find its popularity over time, common sibling names, and more. Plus, get ideas from this year's list of alternatives to popular baby names, discover the hottest baby-naming trends, and see our predictions for up-and-coming names. Note: To capture true popularity, our exclusive baby names list combines names that sound the same but have multiple spellings (like Sophia and Sofia, or Jackson and Jaxon). Our data comes from more than 742,000 parents who shared their baby's name with us in 2018. \|\|\|\|\| Baby names George, Kanye and Korie part of 2013 popular baby name dynasty Dec. 3, 2013 at 5:49 AM ET TODAY What do ducks, duchesses and directions have in common? They’re all part of the popular crowd, at least when it comes to baby names. Think Korie and Silas, of "Duck Dynasty" fame. Think George, as in the son of Duchess Kate, aka, the future king of England. And think Kanye (yes, seriously), the father of compass-inspired cutie North West. They are among the biggest trends of baby names on the rise in 2013, according to BabyCenter’s annual baby names survey and list of top 100 names of 2013. In the boys category, Jackson moved up to take the top name, ending the 8-year reign of Aiden, while Sophia remained the top name for girls for the fourth year in a row. While the list is not the official Social Security Administration list, it is based on the names of a large sample, the 550,000 babies born this year to moms registered on BabyCenter’s website. Linda Murray, BabyCenter Global editor in chief, says names with personal meaning – such as family names, grandparents and inspiring role models— were behind many of the top baby name trends. On the list of top 10 boys names are: Jackson, Aiden, Liam, Lucas, Noah, Mason, Jayden, Ethan, Jacob and Jack. The list of top 10 girls names is: Sophia, Emma, Olivia, Isabella, Mia, Ava, Lily, Zoe, Emily and Chloe. See the full list of top 100 names on BabyCenter Murray adds that this year, more than half of moms say they found name inspiration in people they know, while celebrity influence was on the decline. But, even though celeb names are less popular, some are still moving up in presence on the list. Of the key characters on the reality show "Duck Dynasty," the name Korie increased by 89 percent and Mia was up 44 percent while Phil, Sadie and Silas were up 32, 23 and 15 percent, respectively. What’s the appeal of this camouflage-loving crew? Moms apparently love their likable personalities and that they are a loving, funny family of real Americans who have made it big, the study found. Of course it’s no surprise that royal baby George has such a powerful influence, but one twist is that the name George — for a girl — is up 37 percent in popularity, while versions Giorgio and Georgia also went up. What was more surprising was that baby North West gave both her parents names a boost, with Kanye going up 38 percent, likely a result of his improved image since he has shown himself to be a family man. The name West is up 22 percent and Kimberly is up 6 percent. In other celebrity upticks, the women of the HBO show "Girls" have all become a hit, with character names Marnie and Shoshanna up 62 and 67 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, series creator Lena Dunham’s name moved up by 26 percent, more than double that of her character name of Hannah. And while the gals from "Girls" are a hit, celebrity bad girls are decidedly not. The study found that some celebs who received negative press in the past year had their name popularity tumble, such as Reese Witherspoon (Reese went down 45 percent), Paula Deen (Paula was down 20 percent), and Lindsay Lohan (Lindsay was down 17 percent). Among the TODAY anchors’ names, Al and Hoda had the most gains in popularity, with Al increasing by 18 percent, and Hoda by 15 percent. Willie had a modest gain of 4 percent. Savannah and Carson both had the biggest drop of 12 percent while the names Matt and Natalie dropped by 11 percent. What about Kathie Lee and Tamron? Well, BabyCenter found no babies with those names in its database. Maybe next year, ladies.	– Think you're soooooo clever naming your baby after a Duck Dynasty star? Think again: Korie and Silas are some of the trendy up-and-comers on BabyCenter's annual baby names survey, along with other pop-culture-inspired names like George (after the royal baby), Kanye (we wish we were joking), and Marnie and Shoshanna (after the Girls characters). Korie's popularity, for example, was up 89% this year, Kanye was up 38%, and George was up 37% ... as a girl's name, NBC News reports. Salon notes that the names Jesse and Skyler were also up in popularity, presumably thanks to Breaking Bad. But none of the above made it into the top 10. For boys: Jackson Aiden Liam Lucas Noah Mason Jayden Ethan Jacob Jack For girls: Sophia Emma Olivia Isabella Mia Ava Lily Zoe Emily Chloe Amusing sidenote: The name Paula went down in popularity by 20%. Thanks, Paula Deen?
THURSDAY, Aug. 18, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Unsafe use of contact lenses -- such as sleeping with them in place or using the same pair for too long -- is triggering serious eye injuries for many Americans, a new report finds. In fact, eye damage occurred in nearly 20 percent of contact lens-related eye infections reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over 10 years, researchers say. "Improper wear and care of contact lenses can cause eye infections that sometimes lead to serious, long-term damage," Michael Beach, who directs the Healthy Water Program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an agency news release. One eye specialist believes many Americans don't take contact lens hygiene seriously enough. "There is a serious health crisis with contact lens-related eye injuries," said Dr. Mark Fromer, an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Unfortunately, many of the 41 million contact lens users in the United States do not think of a contact lens as a medical device they are placing on the surface of their eye." In the study, CDC researchers analyzed nearly 1,100 cases of eye infections related to use of contact lens that were reported to the FDA between 2005 and 2015. According to the researchers, nearly 1 in 5 patients had either a scarred cornea, required a corneal transplant or had other types of eye damage because of the infection. More than 10 percent of the patients had to go to a hospital ER or urgent care clinic for immediate treatment. "While people who get serious eye infections represent a small percentage of those who wear contacts, they serve as a reminder for all contact lens wearers to take simple steps to prevent infections," said study author Dr. Jennifer Cope. She's a medical epidemiologist in CDC's Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch. Even when lens-related eye infections are minor, they can still be painful and disruptive. For example, patients may have to make daily visits to an eye doctor or use eye drops every hour to treat the infection, Cope's team said. \|\|\|\|\| Contact lens wearers must be vigilant in taking proper care of their lenses in order to prevent infections, the CDC warns in a new report. About 41 million Americans wear contact lenses. While they are a safe and effective alternative to glasses, contact lenses can lead to serious problems if not handled properly. In fact, the CDC reports that nearly one in five lens-related eye infections reported to a federal database involved a patient who experienced eye damage. “Contact lenses are a safe and effective form of vision correction when worn and cared for as recommended,” said Michael Beach, Ph.D., director of CDC’s Healthy Water Program, in a statement. “However, improper wear and care of contact lenses can cause eye infections that sometimes lead to serious, long-term damage.” For the report, researchers reviewed more than 1,000 contact lens-related infections reported to the FDA between 2005 and 2015. The infections included patients who had a scarred cornea, needed a corneal transplant, or otherwise suffered a reduction in vision. More than 10 percent of the incidents involved a visit to an emergency department or urgent care clinic. The researchers point out that even minor damage can be painful and disrupt daily life. For example, many of the reports describe the patients needing to make daily visits to an eye doctor or hourly administration of eye drops to treat the infection. Furthermore, the report found that more than one in four of the reports mentioned easily avoidable behaviors that increase the risk of infection, such as wearing lenses while sleeping and wearing them longer than recommended. Experts urge that proper contact lens care is paramount to maintaining good eye health. “While patients, especially younger patients, are really excited about being fitted with contact lenses, I stress to them that contact lenses are medical devices that have to be properly fitted, evaluated and that they must adhere to proper contact lens care,” said Dr. Andrea Thau of the American Optometric Association (AOA). “If they don’t follow my guidance, they can end up with serious eye problems.” Thau was not involved in the CDC study. The AOA recommends the following tips to safely wear and care for contact lenses. Visit your eye doctor every year. Annual in-person eye examines determine whether or not your prescription changed and evaluate eye and overall health. An optometrist can diagnose eye diseases (such as glaucoma diabetes strokes Buy your contact lenses from a trusted source. Contact lenses and lens care products are medical devices regulated by the FDA, yet some online retailers sell them without prescriptions and sometimes ship contact lenses of the wrong prescription. Poorly fitted contact lenses can cause significant damage to the eye’s function, which could lead to irreversible sight loss. Don’t panic if your lens is “lost” in your eye. Sometimes rubbing your eyes can cause a contact to move around, but it is not possible for it to get lost behind your eye due to a membrane — the conjunctiva — that covers the eye and the inside of the eyelids. If the lens has moved and is not visible, stay calm and instill a few drops of saline solution to moisten the eye, look away from where you feel the lens and lift your eyelid. When you see the lens, use the tip of your finger to remove the lens. If this happens repeatedly, make an appointment with your eye doctor to check the fit of your lenses. Don’t ever share contacts. Sharing contacts means sharing germs and bacteria, which increases the risk of infection and complications. Additionally, friend’s contacts may not be the right size or fit for your eyes leading to serious problems. Never use tap water to clean and rinse lenses. Contact solutions remove mucus, secretions, films or deposits that can build up during use and lead to bacterial growth if not removed properly. Use the disinfecting solution that your doctor prescribed each night to keep contacts clean and safe. When you find yourself at a last-minute overnight stay and don’t have your solution, don’t rely on tap water as it contains bacteria and other microorganisms that have been proven to cause serious eye infections. Keep your lens case clean. After you insert your reusable, disinfected contact lenses, rinse your case with solution, and store it upside down and open to dry fully. Every three months, toss your old case and replace it with a fresh, new one. No matter how tired you are, do not sleep in your contacts. While some lenses are approved for continuous overnight use, sleeping in lenses does increase the risk of an eye infection. If you regularly fall asleep with your lenses in, talk to your optometrist during your next appointment about extended wear contact lenses. \|\|\|\|\| This website is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated. Press Release Embargoed Until: Thursday, August 18, 2016, 1:00 p.m. ET Contact: Eye Wise: Contact Lenses 101 Entire infographic Nearly 1 in 5 contact lens-related eye infections reported to a federal database involved a patient who experienced eye damage, according to a report published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The infections, submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Medical Device Report Database, included patients who had a scarred cornea, needed a corneal transplant, or otherwise suffered a reduction in vision. These contact lens-related eye infections can lead to long-lasting eye damage but are often preventable. “Contact lenses are a safe and effective form of vision correction when worn and cared for as recommended,” said Michael Beach, Ph.D., director of CDC’s Healthy Water Program. “However, improper wear and care of contact lenses can cause eye infections that sometimes lead to serious, long-term damage.” Contact lens manufacturers, eye care providers, and patients can report adverse events related to contact lens use to the FDA, which regulates contact lenses as medical devices. The report reviewed 1,075 contact lens-related infections reported to FDA between 2005 and 2015. More than 10 percent of the reports indicated that the patient went to an emergency department or urgent care clinic for immediate care. Whether eye infections are minor or lead to long-lasting damage, they can be painful and disrupt daily life. For instance, the reports describe patients’ daily visits to an eye doctor or hourly administration of eye drops to treat the infection. The MMWR was released in advance of Contact Lens Health Week, which runs August 22-26 and promotes healthy wear and care practices that can help contact lens wearers reduce their chances of getting an eye infection. Contact lens wearers can help prevent infections by properly using lenses and supplies and following directions on the lens labels. More than 1 out of 4 reports of infections mentioned easily avoidable behaviors that increase the chance of getting an eye infection, such as wearing contact lenses while sleeping and wearing them longer than recommended. “Around 41 million people in the United States wear contact lenses and benefit from the improved vision and comfort they provide,” said Jennifer Cope, M.D., M.P.H., medical epidemiologist in CDC’s Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch. “While people who get serious eye infections represent a small percentage of those who wear contacts, they serve as a reminder for all contact lens wearers to take simple steps to prevent infections.” The findings in this report highlight the need for contact lens wearers to take good care of their lenses to help prevent contact lens-related eye infections. Three recommendations related to commonly reported and risky behaviors: Don’t sleep in contact lenses without discussing with your eye doctor. Sleeping in contact lenses increases the chance of an eye infection by 6 to 8 times. Don’t top off, or add new contact lens solution to old solution that has been sitting in the case. Adding new solution to used solution can lower germ-killing power. Replace your contact lenses as often as recommended by your eye doctor. People who do not replace their lenses as often as recommended have more complications and report more eye problems than those who follow the replacement recommendations. ### U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES	– Sleeping with contacts in or forgetting to swap in a new pair according to schedule may be the unintended result of a harried lifestyle, but it could also lead to long-term eye damage, a new CDC study reports. Researchers looked at 1,075 cases of eye infections reported to an FDA medical device database over a 10-year period ending in 2015, and of those infections, almost 20% of them ended up causing more serious eye injuries, a CDC release reports. Those injuries ranged from scarred corneas and cornea transplants to other forms of vision problems. And of those who reported infections, the issue was bad enough for more than 10% of them to go to the ER or an urgent-care clinic for treatment. Yet most people don't give a second thought to the perfunctory way in which they handle their contacts, a Lenox Hill Hospital ophthalmologist tells WebMD. "Unfortunately, many of the 41 million contact lens users in the United States do not think of a contact lens as a medical device they are placing on the surface of their eye," Dr. Mark Fromer says. In addition to replacing contacts as recommended, users should also follow other recommendations from the American Optometric Association to keep eyes healthy, per CBS News, including not sharing contacts with anyone, not using tap water to clean contacts, and no snoozing with them in, which the CDC says can raise the risk of an eye infection between six to eight times. (And then there are the eyeball-devouring amoebas.)
A bit of a startling moment happened near the end of Monday night's CNN debate when a hypothetical question was posed to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). "What do you tell a guy who is sick, goes into a coma and doesn't have health insurance? Who pays for his coverage? Are you saying society should just let him die?" Wolf Blitzer asked. "Yeah!" several members of the crowd yelled out. Paul interjected to offer an explanation for how this was, more-or-less, the root choice of a free society. He added that communities and non-government institutions can fill the void that the public sector is currently playing. "We never turned anybody away from the hospital," he said of his volunteer work for churches and his career as a doctor. "We have given up on this whole concept that we might take care of ourselves, assume responsibility for ourselves ... that's the reason the cost is so high." \|\|\|\|\| TAMPA, FL -- The morning after a sometimes-rocky appearance in front of a Tea Party debate audience, Gov. Rick Perry said he was "taken aback" by cheers from some crowd members on a hypothetical question of whether a young man who decides not to buy health insurance should be refused care if he develops a life-threatening illness and be left to die. "I was a bit taken aback by that myself," Perry told NBC News and the Miami Herald after appearing at a breakfast fundraiser in Tampa. "We're the party of life. We ought to be coming up with ways to save lives." Perry distinguished from that the issue of "justice," reiterating his strong support and "respect" for the death penalty on a state-by-state basis. "But the Republican party ought to be about life and protecting, particularly, innocent life," he added. Perry also responded to the crowd's negative reaction to his support for allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, saying his campaign has "the right message" on opportunities for children who were brought to the United States illegally "by no fault of their own." "This issue is about education, it's not about immigration," he said. "These kids showed up in our state by no fault of their own, some 2-3 years of age. And they've been in our schools, they've done their work, they've prepared themselves good, they want to be contributing members of society. So it would be I think the wrong message to say somehow or another that you can't go to our colleges, or we've going to punish you because of the sound of your last name." "When people really think about it, I think they'll understand what we did in Texas was the right thing for Texas," he said. Last night's debate also featured shots at Perry from both Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum on the issue of Gardasil, a vaccine that Perry mandated to be given to 12-year-old girls to prevent HPV - a disease linked to cervical cancer. Bachmann said on NBC's TODAY Show this morning that she was approached by a woman after the debate whose daughter had suffered mental retardation as a result of getting the vaccine. Perry dismissed that idea as similar to debunked theories linking vaccinations to autism. "You heard the same arguments about giving our children protections from some of the childhood diseases, and they were, autism was part of that. Now we've subsequently found out that was generated and not true." "I would suggest to you that this issue about Gardasil and making it available was about saving people's lives," he added.	– Count Rick Perry among those "taken aback" at the reaction of some in the crowd during a debate question about health insurance last night. (A handful shouted "Yeah!" and cheered to a hypothetical question about whether someone who forgoes insurance should be allowed to die. See the video here.) Asked about it today, the Texas governor replied, "I was a bit taken aback by that myself," reports NBC News. "We're the party of life. We ought to be coming up with ways to save lives." He made clear, however, to draw a distinction with the death penalty, which he supports as a matter of "justice," he said. "But the Republican party ought to be about life and protecting, particularly, innocent life," he added.
Brain Wars How the Military Is Failing Its Wounded A version of this story was co-produced with NPR and aired on All Things Considered. (Check here for local listings.) In 2007, with roadside bombs exploding across Iraq, Congress moved to improve care for soldiers who had suffered one of the war's signature wounds, traumatic brain injury. Lawmakers passed a measure requiring the military to test soldiers' brain function before they deployed and again when they returned. The test was supposed to ensure that soldiers received proper treatment. Instead, an investigation by ProPublica and NPR has found, the testing program has failed to deliver on its promise, offering soldiers the appearance of help, but not the reality. Racing to satisfy Congress' mandate, the military chose a test that wasn't actually proven to detect TBI: the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric, or ANAM. Four years later, more than a million troops have taken the test at a cost of more than $42 million to taxpayers, yet the military still has no reliable way to catch brain injuries. When such injuries are left undetected, it can delay healing and put soldiers at risk for further mental damage. Based on corporate and government records, confidential documents, scores of interviews and emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, our investigation found: The people who invented ANAM and stood to make money from it were involved in the military's decision to use it, prompting questions about the impartiality of the selection process. No other tests received serious consideration. A report by the Army's top neuropsychologist circulated last year to key members of Congress labeled the selection process "nepotistic." The Pentagon's civilian leadership has ignored years of warnings, public and private, that there was insufficient scientific evidence the ANAM can screen for or diagnose traumatic brain injury. The military's highest-ranking medical official said the test was "fraught with problems." Another high-ranking officer said it could yield misleading results. Compounding flaws in the ANAM's design, the military has not administered the test as recommended and has rarely used its results. The Army has so little confidence in the test that its top medical officer issued an explicit order that soldiers whose scores indicated cognitive problems should not be sent for further medical evaluation. Top Pentagon officials have misrepresented the cost of the test, indicating that because the Army invented the ANAM, the military could use it for free. In fact, because the military licensed its invention to outside contractors, it has paid millions of dollars to use its own technology. The military has not conducted a long-promised head-to-head study to make sure the ANAM is the best available test, delaying it for years. Instead, a series of committees have given lukewarm approval to continue using the ANAM, largely to avoid losing the data gathered so far. Several current and former military medical officials criticized the Defense Department's embrace of a scientifically unproven tool to use on hundreds of thousands of soldiers with TBIs. "The test was not developed for the purposes of identifying the kinds of problems that we see in concussions," said Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a retired brigadier general and former adviser on mental health issues to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. The test was picked "without asking ourselves the questions: what are we trying to achieve here and what are we going to use the screenings for?" Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker acknowledged there have been problems with the testing program and called it a "first step." "The Army recognized all along that it was not an optimal test," Schoomaker said in a written statement to ProPublica and NPR. He added that the Army has tried to improve the ANAM test and is comparing it to alternatives. Many experts in the field say Congress' mandate for testing went beyond what science can provide. There is no computerized test that, on its own, allows doctors to diagnose TBI. Yet studies have indicated the ANAM shows promise when used immediately after a blast, helping doctors determine if soldiers are sharp enough to return to duty. Other studies, as yet unpublished, show the test may also be able to detect certain cognitive problems months after a brain injury. Those most familiar with the ANAM program insist that testing can be of significant value if used properly -- and that this is where the military has gone wrong. "We have failed soldiers," says retired Col. Mary Lopez, who used to manage the Army's testing program. "It is incredibly frustrating because I can see first-hand the soldiers that we've missed, the soldiers that have not been treated, not been identified, [or] misdiagnosed. And then they struggle." A Test to Identify Invisible Wounds On a crisp morning in early September, about 40 uniformed soldiers mill around outside a squat rectangular building on the Fort Lewis-McChord military base near Tacoma, Wash. They are scheduled to ship out to Afghanistan in a matter of weeks and must take the ANAM before they go. Filing into the testing facility, they take seats in front of computers. ANAM proctor Felix Rios, a former first sergeant who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, does a quick Power Point presentation on the test. There will be 20 minutes of questions covering basic math, memory and reaction time. Taking the ANAM is the first step in protecting soldiers from the effects of brain injuries, Rios tells the group. "One of the best ways to tell if something's affecting you is to know how you were before it happened. That's what you do here with ANAM," Rios says. The soldiers leave feeling comforted. "I felt reassured," Lt. Benjamin Lewis Westman said after completing the test. It was good, "knowing that the Army is taking steps to ensure people are taken care of." The military's foray into cognitive testing reflects the types of wounds troops have sustained fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers have suffered an epidemic of concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injuries, in bombings by insurgents. While most troops recovered quickly, some developed long-term cognitive problems. They couldn't think, read, write or remember the way they had. Too often, their injuries were missed on the battlefield and, even after they returned home, eluded more sophisticated scanning technology: Studies showed that up to 40 percent of troops who sustained concussions went undiagnosed. After a 2007 Washington Post series exposed the grim condition of soldiers with brain injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Congress pushed to create a program to screen soldiers for such wounds. It's not surprising that the military, under pressure to act quickly, looked to the ANAM. There's no scientific consensus supporting one computerized neurocognitive test among the half-dozen or so available. ANAM had been developed in-house. Starting in the early 1980s, scientists at Fort Detrick, the military's primary research base, conceived the test as a way to measure pilots' reflexes or to see if a paratrooper could think clearly after a rough landing. The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan spurred researchers to re-envision the test: Could ANAM help doctors assess cognitive damage from concussions? In the summer of 2007, as Congress pressed the military for a testing solution, the ANAM was administered to thousands of soldiers from the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell in Kentucky as part of a pilot program. "We had developed it ...and we owned it," said Lopez, who helped launch the pilot project, of the ANAM. "We pushed it and we ran as fast as possible because we knew we had a huge problem with TBI." The Inside Track Other factors also tilted the selection process in ANAM's favor, sparking a lingering debate over whether the interests of the test's developers trumped those of soldiers. In February 2007, researchers at Fort Detrick paid the publisher of the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology to release a supplemental issue on ANAM, including several articles that endorsed its use in detecting traumatic brain injury. Some of the authors had a financial stake in the test, owning patents or trademarks on it, and others received military contracts and funding to help develop the ANAM, but the details of their interests weren't disclosed. Dr. Robert Kane, the ANAM researcher hired by the military lab to edit the journal issue, said that the journal didn't require such financial disclosures, but "in retrospect, patent information could have been provided." In October 2007, when the military convened a panel of experts to weigh the ANAM's pros and cons, the journal issue was among its primary sources of information, according to internal emails between panel members and senior military medical officials. In addition, several ANAM developers testified at the panel's sole meeting and one even sat on the committee. "It just screams conflict of interest," said Professor Marcia Angell, a former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine who is now a senior lecturer on social medicine at Harvard Medical School. "I mean here you have a situation where the same people are sellers, buyers and evaluators." The ANAM patent and trademark owners interviewed for this article, including Col. Karl Friedl who helped develop the ANAM and was listed as a member of the scientific advisory panel, described their involvement in the deliberations as peripheral and said their financial interest in the test was small and had no bearing on their remarks. "Any inference that the government inventors would make money from DoD's use of the product and would recommend it for financial reasons are completely erroneous," said Kathryn Winter, one of the ANAM researchers who attended the meeting. Winter said she had made less than $5,000 in royalties from ANAM sales so far, though she could receive more in the future. Panel members were hardly blind to the ANAM's flaws. In their report, they noted there was no scientific proof that the test could work in the field and acknowledged that it hadn't been subjected to rigorous peer review. The committee recommended ANAM anyway. "Nobody was enamored of it, but there was a decision made to use it," said former Navy Capt. Morgan Sammons, a psychologist who served as a co-chairman of the panel. In May 2008, S. Ward Casscells, then the senior civilian Pentagon official in charge of health affairs, issued an order to use the ANAM across the military. Competitors who pitched other testing software maintain the playing field was slanted and that soldiers have been ill-served. "It remains unfathomable why the procurement process at the top was maneuvered so that soldiers were denied useful and usable screening tools for the signature injuries of these wars," said Don Comrie, chief executive of PanMedix, Inc., which markets a competitive test. "As a result we still don't know who was exposed to a blast and what, if anything, is wrong with them." Casscells and Schoomaker say the selection process was comprehensive and fair. But some researchers, including retired Lt. Col. Michael Russell, the head of the Army's testing program, say the National Hockey League managed to pick a better test than the Pentagon did. The NHL evaluated five tests, looking for the option that was most accurate, best supported by research, and easiest to use for trainers and players, many of whom were not English speakers. It chose the ImPact, a 20-minute computerized test that requires the athlete to remember and then reconstruct a series of designs and patterns. By the beginning of 2007, every player had taken a baseline test. Several NFL teams also use the ImPact, as does Army Special Forces, which said it based its decision on a review of scientific literature. Russell, the military's leading civilian neuropsychologist, called the ANAM a poor choice. "If they had said, would you like to use something else, I probably would have said, yes, I'd like to use something else," he said. Internal Skeptics Hobble Testing Effort During and after the selection process, the testing program was met with deep skepticism from top military medical officers, internal correspondence obtained by ProPublica and NPR shows. In a series of emails, Col. Charles Hoge, a leading Army psychiatrist, warned senior members of the medical command that the evidence supporting the ANAM, or any tool like it, was flimsy and that using it to screen soldiers for brain injuries could lead to misdiagnoses. "Rolling out ANY diagnostic or clinical test on a population level ... without objective and reliable criteria for how the data will be interpreted and used is malpractice," Hoge wrote in November 2007 to several senior medical officials. Lt. Col. Mike Jaffee -- a neurologist then in charge of the military's premier brain injury center and a member of the panel that recommended the ANAM -- responded that the military didn't have a better option. "There are currently no instruments that have been validated for blast or combat TBI," he wrote. The decision to use the ANAM was based on politics, not science, Jaffee acknowledged to Hoge. "The bottom line is because of the political situation we have been told that studying the situation before acting is not an acceptable option" to the Defense Department, he wrote. "Congress can mandate till the cows come home," Hoge shot back. "The right thing to do is to go back and help Congress to understand what is feasible and achievable." When Casscells issued the order to administer the ANAM to all troops before deployment, the Army's top medical officer pushed back. In a confidential email obtained by ProPublica and NPR, then Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker told Casscells that more than 30 military and civilian neuropsychologists, researchers and other experts had reviewed the ANAM at an Army symposium in June 2008. "All were very cautious about the application of this technology -- it is not FDA-approved for screening for a mild TBI/concussion and has not been evaluated for sensitivity/specificity in this setting," Schoomaker wrote. "Its use in this regard is fraught with problems." Three minutes later, Casscells dashed off a two-sentence reply -- "Thanks for these wise caveats. Your scholarly standards!" -- but his order stood. In a recent interview, Casscells said he and Schoomaker came to an understanding on the ANAM "that half a loaf was better than none." Schoomaker subsequently issued an order mandating the use of the ANAM across the Army, prompting another round of internal protests. In a November 2008 email, one senior adviser sent Schoomaker a Power Point presentation saying that ANAM test results were "misleading" and that using them could jeopardize the credibility of the military medical establishment. Faced with the backlash, Schoomaker modified his order, issuing a follow-up that limited the test's use in critical ways. He decided that soldiers would not have to take the test upon their return to the U.S. from the battlefield, though Congress required post-deployment testing by law. Schoomaker also ordered that soldiers who scored badly -- or "red" in testing lingo -- on their pre-deployment tests would not be referred for follow-up evaluations to see if they had an undiagnosed brain injury. In a written statement to ProPublica and NPR, Schoomaker said soldiers with symptoms were urged to see doctors, but not based on ANAM scores. "For some people 'red' is their normal score," he said of the test. Several neurologists, in and out of the military, said they considered Schoomaker's order to ignore low baseline scores to be unethical. The Navy and Marines, unlike the Army, refer troops for further attention if they score poorly on their pre-deployment ANAM. "It's our obligation as medical providers to our patients to try to figure out if there is something going on that needs to be treated," said Navy Commander Jack Tsao, a neurologist who runs the ANAM program for those branches of the service. Lopez said that by ignoring poor baseline scores, the Army risked sending soldiers with cognitive problems into war. "This is horrible and it goes against our medical ethics and moral responsibilities," she said. "They just lock up these results in a box and never look at them before clearing soldiers to deploy." Flaws in Implementation Despite the many concerns with the ANAM, many experts say the test could have helped detect brain injuries in soldiers if it had been used properly. Instead, the military has implemented the test in ways that have undercut its value, according to interviews and internal emails obtained by ProPublica and NPR. One example: Troops take the ANAM just once before deploying, even though some of the test's developers have found that users should take it several times to produce a more accurate baseline score. Without a reliable baseline, Russell and other specialists said, it's impossible to measure the change in a soldier's cognitive abilities after a blow to the head. In a 2010 report, one military researcher called the testing effort "fundamentally flawed" because of the lack of accurate baselines. More than 1 million soldiers have taken pre-deployment ANAM tests, but medical officials have requested test scores for comparative purposes just 11,000 times since 2008. Doctors face substantial obstacles in accessing the information. There's still no computer network that collects and stores test results or integrates them with the military's overall medical system. A doctor in Afghanistan who wants an injured soldier's pre-deployment score has to call into a hotline where an employee creates a PDF with the test results, manually deletes private information such as Social Security numbers, and emails or faxes back the file. Fewer than 3,000 requests for ANAM test results have been made from the war zones in the last three years, according to recent estimates. Yet more than 90,000 troops suffered traumatic brain injuries during that time, according to the military's official figures. Reports from the field indicate that the test is not being used consistently when soldiers sustain possible concussions. This summer, Robert Parish, a neuropsychologist treating troops in Afghanistan, sent an email to colleagues saying the ANAM was more useful than some thought but remained little-used. "I have corresponded quite a bit with the ANAM staff recently and discovered, quite to my astonishment, I am currently the only one in any combat theater who is actively using the [ANAM] database in evaluations," Parish wrote. "Free" Test Costs a Bundle When the military chose the ANAM, one of its selling points -- at least, in the eyes of some involved in the decision -- was that it was free. "The ANAM, as I understand it, was owned by the Department of Defense. It was developed in conjunction with the Army. So there was no cost to it," said Dr. Paul Hammer, director of the Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center. Lt. Col. Jaffee, who sat on the panel that recommended ANAM, has said in emails and slideshow presentations that ANAM was picked in large part because it was "the only tool available free of charge to DoD." But even though the ANAM was developed by military researchers, the Defense Department no longer owned the test by the time it went looking for a screening tool. This was not unusual: To spur innovation, the agency allows government scientists to license their inventions to outside businesses as long as the military shares in the profits. In February 2006, the lab that employed the ANAM researchers licensed the ANAM to the University of Oklahoma, which would help refine the test at its cognitive research lab. The university then struck a deal with Vista Partners, a contractor based in Colorado, to market the test and handle sales. So far, the university and Vista have sold the ANAM to a handful of civilian hospitals and researchers, but their biggest customer has been the military. The Defense Department pays Vista about $2 million a year in user fees for the ANAM, according to contracting documents and interviews. Oklahoma University gets a 12 percent cut of sales, sending a portion back to the military lab that invented the test. The Defense Department also pays the university $1 million a year for making improvements to the test, Russell said. On top of that, the military has paid Eyak Services, an Alaska-based contractor, $30 million over the last four years to give soldiers the ANAM test. An additional $6.8 million has gone to another contractor, Evolvent, to build an electronic system to collect and distribute test results, though this effort remains incomplete. The program's total price tag tops $42 million, records show. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who helped author the bill to create the program, is disappointed with the way the money has been spent. "This is not adequate," said Pascrell in an interview with ProPublica and NPR. "You're doing harm to these veterans and these wonderful warriors and their families, and we're not going to put up with it. This is not what we paid for." As Problems Emerge, Little Action Military officials openly acknowledged problems with the TBI testing program at two congressional hearings last year. In April, Dr. Charles Rice, the president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, testified to a House Armed Services subcommittee that the ANAM might not accurately reflect soldiers' cognitive abilities. The next day, Schoomaker was even more blunt, telling lawmakers the test was no more accurate than a "coin flip." Following those hearings, Pascrell and two other congressmen requested a comprehensive report on the program. In September, Russell delivered a scathing 537-page report that slammed nearly every aspect of the ANAM program. The report -- which was obtained by ProPublica and NPR, but has never been released publicly -- begins by saying the "program's history is more troubled than commonly understood." Russell went on to lambaste the manner in which the test was chosen: "The selection of ANAM was nepotistic, and the long delay in examining alternative instruments is baffling." In the field, Russell said, the test had failed at "a basic level." It was unreliable and soldiers' scores often reflected factors such as fatigue that were unrelated to TBI. "This is unacceptable if the ANAM is to be considered a TBI test," Russell wrote. There was one bright spot amid Russell's criticism: Though the ANAM could not diagnose TBI, he said, it could help doctors evaluate when soldiers who had suffered concussions were mentally fit to return to duty. Overall, however, Russell concluded that the problems with ANAM were so severe that "it appears that we may be doing our soldiers a disservice with the present baseline program." Pascrell said he was infuriated by Russell's findings. "There is no question in my mind that the Department of Defense violated the very essence of the law that we passed" to require testing, he said. In particular, he said, he was frustrated by the lack of post-deployment testing and the delay in comparing ANAM to other tests. There are few signs that the changes Pascrell wants are imminent. When the military initiated the testing program in 2008, it also created a panel of civilian experts to monitor it and other TBI-related issues. At a meeting in August 2011, the panel discussed whether ANAM should be replaced, expanded, or used routinely post-deployment. Then it endorsed the status quo, partly to preserve the usefulness of data from tests already administered. The committee's recommendations could be "expressed in one sentence, which is 'Continue to do what we're doing with the ANAM, but don't do more at this point,'" said Dr. Kurt Kroenke, the Indiana University professor of medicine who led the discussion. When S. Ward Casscells, the former head of Pentagon official health affairs, ordered the ANAM into use in May 2008, he depicted it as an interim measure and promised the military would launch a comprehensive study comparing it with other brain-injury tests. Emails obtained by ProPublica and NPR show the comparison was supposed to be completed by November 2009, but it remains unfinished. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office said the Defense Department doesn't expect the results until 2015 -- two years after the last troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan. \|\|\|\|\| Military's Brain-Testing Program A Debacle The U.S. military has spent more than $42 million to test every service member's brain to find out who suffered a traumatic brain injury, or TBI, during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica has found that military leaders are refusing to carry out the testing program as Congress ordered. Partly as a result, the program that was supposed to fix things has hardly helped any of the troops. On a recent morning, four dozen soldiers who were about to be deployed to Afghanistan filed into a squat wooden building at Fort Lewis, in Washington state. For the next 20 minutes they would sit at rows of laptop computers clicking through the automated neural psychological assessment metrics computer program known as ANAM. i toggle caption Joaquin Sapien/ProPublica Joaquin Sapien/ProPublica Congress ordered the military four years ago to test all service members for cognitive brain functions at least twice — before they go to war, and again when they return. "One of the best ways to tell if something's affecting you is to know how you were before it happened. That's what you do here with ANAM. You'll take ANAM, and it's going to be your baseline," says Felix Rios, a contractor with the Office of the Surgeon General who helps administer the test. Soldiers like Sgt. Michael Persyn say they're glad they've taken this test. "It at least gives me a feeling that if ... there is something wrong with me, that they'll be able to know about it," he says. "I felt more reassured," says Benjamin Louis Westman, another soldier taking the test. But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica has found that these troops have little reason to feel reassured. From interviews with dozens of medical specialists and an analysis of hundreds of pages of military emails and documents, evidence shows that military officials have made poor decisions about the testing program, preventing it from helping many troops who have brain injuries. "We have failed. We have failed soldiers," says retired Col. Mary Lopez, who used to run the Army's testing program. She still works with soldiers in Germany. "It is incredibly frustrating because I can see firsthand the soldiers that we've missed, the soldiers that have not been treated, not been identified, misdiagnosed. And then they struggle." Problems Before Testing The NPR/ProPublica investigation found that the TBI testing program was plagued with problems before it even began. When members of Congress told the military to test all the troops to see how well their brains work, Congress was giving an order that's difficult to carry out. i toggle caption Becky Lettenberger/NPR Becky Lettenberger/NPR "The field is not caught up with Congress' mandate," says Alex Dromerick, who co-directs the Brain Research Center at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, in Washington, D.C. "Congress wants something that takes many years and a lot of research effort to develop." He also says a doctor with special training is needed to diagnose a TBI. A computer test can show you that someone's brain isn't working well, but there's no test on the market that can show why. "The test to meet Congress' specifications does not exist yet," Dromerick says. However, he and other brain specialists say, a good computer test can help doctors by providing a warning light if someone flunks the test. That could signal someone might be suffering from a brain injury and needs a medical evaluation. Hockey League May Have Better Solution Another problem with the program is that top military officials did not choose a very good test, according to the Pentagon's own medical advisers. They say the National Hockey League, whose players are constantly hitting the glass — and each other — has a better test to help spot brain injuries than does the U.S. military. Key Findings Of This Investigation An investigation by NPR and ProPublica has found that the ANAM testing program used by the military to identify soldiers with traumatic brain injuries has failed to deliver on its promise, offering soldiers the appearance of help, but not the reality. Four years later, more than 1 million troops have taken the test at a cost of more than $42 million to taxpayers, yet the military still has no reliable way to catch brain injuries in soldiers. When such injuries are left undetected, it can delay healing and put soldiers at risk for further mental damage. Based on corporate and government records, confidential documents, scores of interviews, and emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the investigation found: * The people who invented ANAM and stood to make money from it were involved in the military's decision to use it. No other tests received serious consideration. A report by the Army's top neuropsychologist circulated last year labeled the selection process "nepotistic." * The Pentagon's civilian leadership has ignored years of warnings that there was insufficient scientific evidence that the ANAM could screen or diagnose TBI. The military's highest-ranking medical official said the test was "fraught with problems." * Compounding flaws in the ANAM's design, the military has not administered the test as recommended and has rarely used its results. The Army has so little confidence in the test that its top medical officer issued an explicit order that soldiers whose scores indicated cognitive problems should not be sent for further medical evaluation. * Top Pentagon officials have misrepresented the cost of the test, indicating that because the Army invented ANAM, the military could use it for free. In fact, because the military licensed its invention to outside contractors, it has paid millions of dollars to use its own technology. Read more on ProPublica's website > UPDATE: Congressman Slams Military Testing Prorgram ProPublica: Brain Wars Series "We find that the testing program is very useful for our athletes," says Ruben Echemendia, a chief neurologist for the NHL. There are various computer brain tests on the market, just like there are different kits to test blood pressure, so to pick the best one, Echemendia assembled a Concussion Working Group with doctors, players' representatives and others. "All of the research in their tests, all of the peer-reviewed publications that they had, including the reliability and validity data with the tests, and it was fairly clear to us which program we wanted to use in our testing program," he says. ANAM was not that test. Instead, the NHL chose one called ImPact. According to Echemendia, the test can pinpoint problems in thinking, concentrating or reacting in about 30 percent of the players who say, "No problem, I feel fine," after slamming their heads. "Had we not been using these tests we may be returning these players back to play prematurely," he says. But sources in the military say that they didn't do any rigorous comparisons when choosing which test to administer. Instead, Pentagon officials were determined to use ANAM, which was developed by military researchers, despite concerns by their medical advisers. "The scientific advisory panel did not to the best of my recollection at any one time say the ANAM is the choice, is the instrument that should be used," says Morgan Sammons, dean of psychology at Alliant University in California, who was one of those advisers. The advisers warned there weren't many good studies on the test and that it's too sensitive. Test-takers who didn't sleep much or were distracted could get low scores, which might mistakenly lead doctors to treat them for brain injuries. "ANAM will never be a good population screening tool. It just doesn't have the ability to detect a concussion weeks or months out from the event itself," says Michael Russell, a neuropsychologist, who currently runs the Army's ANAM program. "If they had said, 'Would you like to use something else?' I probably would have said, 'Yes, I'd like to use something else.' " Doctors with the Special Forces insisted on using something else. They chose the same test that hockey players use. Ward Casscells, who despite some advisers' concerns made the decision to use ANAM when he was assistant secretary of defense, says he can't remember the details of the debate. "I think we reached an agreement on it that half a loaf was better than none, and we would watch this test closely to see how it could be improved," he says. A Third Problem Despite the test's flaws, studies show ANAM can help spot troops with brain injuries if military officials use it correctly. Top Pentagon officials ordered the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines to give ANAM to all their troops. But this led to a third problem: Many officials refuse — especially in the Army. Consider this scenario: A Marine is about to deploy to Afghanistan and takes the ANAM to get a baseline score. The results are terrible — showing poor reaction time and awful memory. Document On page 11 of this report obtained by NPR and ProPublica, it notes: Baseline ANAM testing will not be used to generate medical referrals. Information Paper: ANAM Program Use Jack Tsao, a Navy commander and neurologist who runs the traumatic brain injury programs for the Navy and Marines, says the answer for those services is easy: "Yes, if there's an abnormality we need to follow it up." He says it's possible that the Marine might just be tired, which could contribute to a low score. But it's also possible the Marine has brain damage from a previous deployment, which nobody has diagnosed. So the Navy issued an order that Marines or sailors who test poorly must be sent to a doctor for a follow-up. "Our obligation as medical providers to our patients who are service members is that we try to figure out if there is something going on, that needs to be treated," Tsao says. "We want to ensure that we are taking care of our service members' health needs." But Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, who runs the Army's medical system, issued a written order in November 2008 that said Army troops who score low on the ANAM test "will not" be referred for a follow-up medical evaluation. i toggle caption Mike Kane for NPR Mike Kane for NPR One top military doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was afraid she would get in trouble if she used her name, calls Schoomaker's policy "unethical." Lopez, who used to run the Army's testing program, says the order hurts the troops. "The ANAM testers themselves will come back and say: 'I have a soldier right in front of me who says, "I was in a blast. I'm still having headaches. My memory is short." And I'm really concerned about this person's performance on this test,' " says Lopez. "And we can't tell the primary care provider." In a written statement, Schoomaker told NPR and ProPublica, "Of course, if the Soldier has any symptoms or problems with their health, they are encouraged to document this and discuss it" with a health care provider. Sources who have worked with Schoomaker told NPR and ProPublica that Schoomaker has banned follow-up evaluations based on ANAM partly because the Army has a shortage of trained medical staff. "Certainly our large medical centers are very well-staffed with good professionals. Where soldiers mobilize is often much more austere environments," acknowleges Russell. "There aren't a lot of professionals ... nearby who could quickly evaluate those people." Sources also said that Schoomaker and other commanders worry that if troops who score low on ANAM are referred for medical evaluations, it could postpone their deployments. 'This Is Not What We Paid For' Since Congress ordered the Pentagon to test all the troops almost four years ago, the military has done half of what Congress asked — it has given the ANAM to 1 million people before they deploy. But the military has tested only a tiny fraction of the troops since they've come home. Roughly 1 million baseline tests are sitting in a file without a follow-up. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., one of the key legislators who persuaded Congress to pass the law that ordered the Pentagon to test the troops, says this is not what Congress asked for. "The Army seems to be fighting us on this. This is not adequate. You're doing harm to these veterans and these wonderful warriors and their families, and we're not going to put up with it," Pascrell says. "This is not what we paid for. I don't believe our troops are being treated correctly." But military officials say they've recently begun an in-depth study to compare ANAM with other kinds of brain tests. They say they plan to select the best one, and use it the way Congress intended. Results are expected in 2015. That's more than two years after most of the troops are scheduled to come home. Continue reading more of this investigation on ProPublica.org. Daniel Zwerdling reported for NPR; Joaquin Sapien and T. Christian Miller reported for ProPublica.	– A military brain-injury testing program has cost $42 million thus far—but hardly any soldiers have benefited from the plan, according to a joint investigation by NPR and ProPublica. Their reports suggest the program has a been a huge waste of money that has fallen way short of its primary mission—diagnosing brain injuries among the troops. “We have failed soldiers,” says a retired colonel who used to run the program. “I can see firsthand the soldiers that we've missed, the soldiers that have not been treated, not been identified, misdiagnosed. And then they struggle.” Congress in 2007 called on the military to test troops’ brain function before and after deployment to help fight the rising number of traumatic brain injuries. One big problem: The test ultimately chosen isn’t the best one available for the job, insiders say. What's more, the people who invented the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric and stood to gain financially from its use were involved in the military's decision to employ it. The Army thinks it's essentially useless at this point, even though soldiers continue to be tested with it. Read ProPublica's full piece here.
An Australian ship scouring the Indian Ocean for missing flight MH370 has detected two further pings consistent with the plane's two black boxes, in a "great lead", bolstering hopes for wreckage discovery. The Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield, towing a US pinger locator, detected two sets of pings, on Tuesday afternoon and then again about five hours later. The signal detected on Tuesday afternoon was held for about five minutes and 32 seconds; followed by a second signal on Tuesday night, which was held for seven minutes. The Australian vessel Ocean Shield is towing a pinger locator in the search for MH370. Photo: AP The development came more than two days after Ocean Shield first detected the month-long search's most promising lead: two acoustic events on Saturday. Advertisement Retired air chief marshal Angus Houston, the head of the search's Joint Agency Co-ordination centre, announced the "promising" development during a press conference in Perth on Wednesday afternoon. It revives hope the missing Malaysia Airlines plane's black box is still transmitting data days after its batteries were due to run dead. Crew on the Ocean Shield deploy the towed pinger locator. Photo: AP Mr Houston said expert data analysis on previously detected signals had found they were not of natural origin, further boosting hopes of a breakthrough. Mr Houston said experts believed the signals were consistent with those of a flight data recorder. He said the first two pings - detected on April 5 at 4.45pm and at 9.27pm Perth time - had been analysed by the Australasian Joint Acoustic Analysis Centre, based at HMAS Albatross in Nowra, on the NSW south coast. "The analysis determined that a very stable, distinct and clear signal was detected at 33.331 kilohertz, and that it consistently pulsed at a 1.106-second interval," Mr Houston said. ''They therefore asses that the transmission was not of natural origin, and was likely sourced from specific electronic equipment. They believe the signals to be consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder.'' He said two latest pings were detected on Tuesday - at 4.27pm and 10.17pm, Perth time. Mr Houston said up to 11 military aircraft, four civil aircraft and up to 14 ships would assist in Wednesday's search, while the Ocean Shield would also conduct a sonar voice search. The search area has been refined to a single zone, about 75,423 square kilometres in size, 2261 kilometres north west of Perth, which was a considerably smaller area than in previous days, he said. ''Based on Ocean Shield's detections, we are now searching a much more concentrated area, based on the drift predications made possible by Ocean Shield's detections,'' Mr Houston said. ''The smaller area has also allowed us to plan much tighter search patterns based entirely on visual search principles. In other words, we have intensified our search in the visual search area. "There's no second chances," he said. "It looks like the signals we picked up recently have been much weaker than the original signals we picked up ... we're either a long away from it or in my view more likely the batteries are starting to fade." Although authorities have previously said the autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin-21 would be dropped to the ocean floor once they received a third ping, they have yet to deploy the asset. "By triangulating this data we will be able to come up with a much smaller search area under water," Mr Houston said. "Time spent on the surface, we're covering six times more area than we would be able to do when we get under water. With the batteries due to fail shortly, we need to get as much positional data as we can." An RAAF aircraft has been diverted to Ocean Shield to drop buoys around the field to lay a "sonar buoy pattern", which will involve underwater and floating components transmitting data back to the aircraft. "That will provide a range of sensors, 1000 feet down, which is 1000 feet closer to the pinger locator on the ocean floor," Commodore Leavy, the operational head of the Australian search, said. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished without a trace during en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8. Despite an extensive and costly international search operation off the West Australian coast, the effort has failed to turn up a single piece of evidence to confirm the plane's final resting place. \|\|\|\|\| Story highlights U.S. official: "We need to maintain respectful optimism and be responsible" Expert says refined search area manageable for underwater vessels Possible discovery of plane's pingers energizes search, but for how much longer? Agency: Up to 15 planes, 14 ships could take part in Wednesday's search In a sea of uncertainty, two bits of good news emerged Wednesday. The Australian ship Ocean Shield picked up fresh signals that officials hope are locator beacons from the data recorders of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The ship had first picked up the underwater pulses Saturday. But then, for the next three days, nothing. On Tuesday, the ship once again reacquired the signals. That's four signals in the same broad area: two on Saturday; two on Tuesday. Just Watched Search area narrows despite no new pings replay More Videos ... Search area narrows despite no new pings 01:16 PLAY VIDEO Just Watched Could the pings be from MH370? replay More Videos ... Could the pings be from MH370? 02:07 PLAY VIDEO Just Watched Hear possible 'ping' detected in search replay More Videos ... Hear possible 'ping' detected in search 00:40 PLAY VIDEO Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A policewoman watches a couple whose son was on board the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on Wednesday, June 11. The jet has been missing since March 8. Hide Caption 1 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, May 27. Data from communications between satellites and missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was released Tuesday, more than two months after relatives of passengers say they requested that it be made public. Hide Caption 2 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – This photo illustration shows a journalist looking on the data communication logs from British satellite operator Inmarsat. Malaysian authorities have published the 47-page document containing hundreds of lines of communication logs between the jetliner and Inmarsat's satellite system. Hide Caption 3 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of Chinese passengers who were on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 listen to part of the audio communications between Flight 370's cockpit and air traffic controllers during a meeting with Malaysian officials Wednesday, April 30, in Beijing. Hide Caption 4 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An autonomous underwater vehicle is brought back aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield after a search mission for the flight Saturday, April 19, in the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 5 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Royal Malaysian Air Force plane takes off from an airbase near Perth, Australia, to help in the search on Thursday, April 17. Hide Caption 6 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on Monday, April 14. Hide Caption 7 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on Sunday, April 13. Hide Caption 8 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – British Royal Navy sailors aboard the vessel HMS Echo take part in the search for the jet on April 13. Hide Caption 9 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Crew members aboard the Echo watch a smaller boat that's part of the British search effort on April 13. Hide Caption 10 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Echo moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 11 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A map provided Saturday, April 12, details efforts to find the missing jet. Hide Caption 12 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Chinese navy personnel head out on a boat to the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success on Wednesday, April 9. Hide Caption 13 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9. Hide Caption 14 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on Tuesday, April 8. Hide Caption 15 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force walks toward a plane that just arrived in Perth on April 8. Hide Caption 16 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris Monday, April 7, in the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 17 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed April 7 off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield. Hide Caption 18 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Capt. Mark Matthews of the U.S. Navy talks to reporters in Perth about the search on April 7. Hide Caption 19 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the search operation points to a map outlining search areas during a news conference April 7 in Perth. Hide Caption 20 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A U.S. Navy airplane takes off from Perth to assist in the search on April 7. Hide Caption 21 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on Friday, April 4. Hide Caption 22 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force monitor data April 4 on board an aircraft during search operations. Hide Caption 23 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a Flight 370 passenger watches television in a Beijing hotel as he awaits new information about the missing plane on Thursday, April 3. Hide Caption 24 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Another relative of a Flight 370 passenger waits for updates in Beijing on Wednesday, April 2. Many families have criticized the Malaysian government's handling of information in the plane's disappearance. Hide Caption 25 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Japanese coast guard points to a flight position data screen while searching for debris from the missing jet on Tuesday, April 1. Hide Caption 26 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Kojiro Tanaka, head of the Japanese coast guard search mission, explains the efforts en route to the search zone April 1. Hide Caption 27 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A woman prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370 on Sunday, March 30, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hide Caption 28 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An underwater search-surveying vehicle sits on the wharf in Perth, ready to be fitted to a ship to aid in the search for the jet. Hide Caption 29 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A girl in Kuala Lumpur writes a note during a ceremony for the missing passengers on March 30. Hide Caption 30 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A teary-eyed woman listens from the back as other relatives of Flight 370 passengers speak to reporters March 30 in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. Dozens of anguished Chinese relatives demanded that Malaysia provide answers to the fate of those on board. Hide Caption 31 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An object floating in the southern Indian Ocean is seen from a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for the missing jet on Saturday, March 29. Ships participating in the search retrieved new debris Saturday, but no objects linked to the missing plane, according to Australian authorities. Hide Caption 32 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Royal New Zealand Air Force member launches a GPS marker buoy over the southern Indian Ocean on March 29. Hide Caption 33 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on Friday, March 28, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Hide Caption 34 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on Thursday, March 27. Hide Caption 35 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27. Hide Caption 36 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27. Hide Caption 37 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Crew members of the Chinese icebreaking ship Xuelong scan the Indian Ocean during a search for the missing jet on Wednesday, March 26. Hide Caption 38 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – People work at a console at the British satellite company Inmarsat on Tuesday, March 25, in London. Hide Caption 39 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The mother of a passenger who was on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 cries at her home in Medan, Indonesia, on March 25. Hide Caption 40 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Australian Defense Minister David Johnston speaks to the media March 25 about the search for the missing jet. Hide Caption 41 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A family member of a missing passenger reacts after hearing the latest news March 25 in Kuala Lumpur. Hide Caption 42 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Angry relatives of those aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 react in Beijing on Monday, March 24, after hearing that the plane went down over the southern Indian Ocean, according to analysis of satellite data. Hide Caption 43 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24. Hide Caption 44 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight March 24 in Kuala Lumpur. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Hide Caption 45 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of the missing passengers hold a candlelight vigil in Beijing on March 24. Hide Caption 46 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force looks out an aircraft during a search for the missing jet March 24. Hide Caption 47 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A woman reads messages for missing passengers at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on March 24. Hide Caption 48 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Flight Lt. Josh Williams of the Royal Australian Air Force operates the controls of an AP-3C Orion on Sunday, March 23, after searching the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 49 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Ground crew members wave to a Japanese Maritime Defense Force patrol plane as it leaves the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang, Malaysia, on Sunday, March 23. The plane was heading to Australia to join a search-and-rescue operation. Hide Caption 50 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday, March 22. Hide Caption 51 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It is a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes are looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. Hide Caption 52 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force looks down at the Norwegian merchant ship Hoegh St. Petersburg, which took part in search operations Friday, March 21. Hide Caption 53 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Royal Australian Air Force's Neville Dawson, left, goes over the search area with Brittany Sharpe aboard an AP-3C Orion some 2,500 kilometers (about 1,500 miles) southwest of Perth, Australia, over the Indian Ocean on March 21. Hide Caption 54 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Thursday, March 20, shows debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could be from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials that they had spotted something raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search. Hide Caption 55 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A closer look at the satellite shot of possible debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Hide Caption 56 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. Hide Caption 57 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A closer look at the satellite shot of possible debris. Hide Caption 58 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's John Young speaks to the media in Canberra, Australia, on March 20 about satellite imagery. Hide Caption 59 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday, March 19. Hide Caption 60 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of missing passengers waits for a news briefing by officials in Beijing on Tuesday, March 18. Hide Caption 61 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. Hide Caption 62 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency joins in a search for the missing plane in the Andaman Sea area around the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra on Monday, March 17. Hide Caption 63 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of missing passengers watch a news program about the missing plane as they await information at a hotel ballroom in Beijing on March 17. Hide Caption 64 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian Transportation Minister Hishamuddin Hussein, center, shows maps of the search area at a hotel next to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 17. Hide Caption 65 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations Sunday, March 16, in the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 66 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Indonesian personnel watch over high seas during a search operation in the Andaman Sea on Saturday, March 15. Hide Caption 67 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A foam plane, which has personalized messages for the missing flight's passengers, is seen at a viewing gallery March 15 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Hide Caption 68 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Malaysian navy makes a call as his ship approaches a Chinese coast guard ship in the South China Sea on March 15. Hide Caption 69 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Indonesian ship heads to the Andaman Sea during a search operation near the tip of Sumatra, Indonesia, on March 15. Hide Caption 70 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Elementary school students pray for the missing passengers during class in Medan, Indonesia, on March 15. Hide Caption 71 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Col. Vu Duc Long of the Vietnam air force fields reporters' questions at an air base in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, after a search operation on Friday, March 14. Hide Caption 72 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on Thursday, March 13. The search area for Flight 370 has grown wider. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, efforts are expanding west into the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 73 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13. Hide Caption 74 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian air force members look for debris on March 13 near Kuala Lumpur. Hide Caption 75 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a missing passenger watches TV at a Beijing hotel as she waits for the latest news March 13. Hide Caption 76 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency scans the horizon in the Strait of Malacca on Wednesday, March 12. Hide Caption 77 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12. Hide Caption 78 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Journalists raise their hands to ask questions during a news conference in Sepang on March 12. Hide Caption 79 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Indonesian air force officers in Medan, Indonesia, examine a map of the Strait of Malacca on March 12. Hide Caption 80 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on Tuesday, March 11. Hide Caption 81 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Iranians Pouri Nourmohammadi, second left, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, far right, were identified by Interpol as the two men who used stolen passports to board the flight. But there's no evidence to suggest either was connected to any terrorist organizations, according to Malaysian investigators. Malaysian police believe Nourmohammadi was trying to emigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport. Hide Caption 82 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An Indonesian navy crew member scans an area of the South China Sea bordering Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand on Monday, March 10. Hide Caption 83 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Vietnam air force Col. Le Huu Hanh is reflected on the navigation control panel of a plane that is part of the search operation over the South China Sea on March 10. Hide Caption 84 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of the missing flight's passengers wait in a Beijing hotel room on March 10. Hide Caption 85 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews before returning to search for the missing plane Sunday, March 9, in the Gulf of Thailand. Hide Caption 86 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the Fo Guang Shan rescue team offer a special prayer March 9 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Hide Caption 87 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A handout picture provided by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency shows personnel checking a radar screen during search-and-rescue operations March 9. Hide Caption 88 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Italian tourist Luigi Maraldi, who reported his passport stolen in August, shows his current passport during a news conference at a police station in Phuket island, Thailand, on March 9. Two passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight were reportedly traveling on stolen passports belonging to Maraldi and an Austrian citizen whose papers were stolen two years ago. Hide Caption 89 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Hugh Dunleavy, commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, speaks to journalists March 9 at a Beijing hotel where relatives and friends of the missing flight's passengers are staying. Hide Caption 90 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Vietnamese air force crew stand in front of a plane at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 9 before heading out to the area between Vietnam and Malaysia where the airliner vanished. Hide Caption 91 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9. Hide Caption 92 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Chinese navy warship Jinggangshan prepares to leave Zhanjiang Port early on March 9 to assist in search-and-rescue operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. The Jinggangshan, an amphibious landing ship, is loaded with lifesaving equipment, underwater detection devices and supplies of oil, water and food. Hide Caption 93 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9. The vessel is carrying 12 divers and will rendezvous with another rescue vessel on its way to the area where contact was lost with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Hide Caption 94 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea. Hide Caption 95 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A family member of missing passengers is mobbed by journalists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday, March 8. Hide Caption 96 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported March 8. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10. Hide Caption 97 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8. Hide Caption 98 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysia Airlines official Joshua Law Kok Hwa, center, speaks to reporters in Beijing on March 8. Hide Caption 99 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8. Hide Caption 100 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Wang Yue, director of marketing of Malaysia Airlines in China, reads a company statement during a news conference at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 8. Hide Caption 101 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8. Hide Caption 102 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A woman asks a staff member at the Beijing airport for more information on the missing flight. Hide Caption 103 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Malaysian man who says he has relatives on board the missing plane talks to journalists at the Beijing airport on March 8. Hide Caption 104 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Passengers walk past a Malaysia Airlines sign on March 8 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Hide Caption 105 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference on March 8 at a hotel in Sepang. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. Hide Caption 106 of 106 EXPAND GALLERY Just Watched What you need to know about a black box replay More Videos ... What you need to know about a black box 01:51 PLAY VIDEO Just Watched Up to 14 planes in search for Flight 370 replay More Videos ... Up to 14 planes in search for Flight 370 02:42 PLAY VIDEO Just Watched Hiding in another plane's shadow? replay More Videos ... Hiding in another plane's shadow? 03:57 PLAY VIDEO "I believe we are searching in the right area but we need to visually identify wreckage before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370," Houston said. The second piece of good news? Authorities analyzed the signals picked up Saturday and determined they were not of natural origin and was likely sourced from specific electronic equipment. "They believe the signals to be consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder," Houston said. Signals getting weaker Wednesday is Day 33 in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which went missing March 8. It was carrying 239 people. Authorities haven't given up trying. Instead, they are pinning their hopes on the so-pings. But time is not on their side. The batteries powering the flight recorders' locator beacons are certified to be working for 30 days. Stored in a plane's tail, they are designed to begin sending off distinct, high-pitched signals as soon as they come in contact with water. "The signals are getting weaker. Which means we're either moving away from the search area or the pinger batteries are dying," Houston said. The first signal, at 4:45 p.m. Perth Time on Saturday, lasted 2 hours 20 minutes. The second, at 9:27 p.m. Saturday, lasted 13 minutes. The third signal was picked up Tuesday at 4:27 p.m. That lasted 5 minutes 32 seconds. The fourth, at 10:17 p.m. Tuesday, was 7 minutes long. "It's certainly encouraging that more signals have been detected," Pentagon spokesman Adm. John Kirby told CNN. "There is still much work to do, however." Four reasons to believe; six reasons to doubt Discovery of possible 'locator beacon' pulses gives hope Wednesday's search includes up to 11 military planes, four civilian aircraft as well as 14 ships -- three of which, Australia's Ocean Shield further north and the British HMS Echo and Chinese Haixun 01 to the south -- will be focusing underwater. All told, everyone involved will be scouring a 29,000-square-mile zone centered about 1,400 miles northwest of Perth, according to Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre. That's large and challenging, but still pales in comparison to the once nearly 3 million miles, at sea and on land, the searchers were scouring for signs of the lost aircraft a few weeks ago. Kevin McEvoy, a New Zealand air force commodore involved in the effort, noted that authorities once "didn't even know which haystack" to look in for the aircraft. "I think we have got a much clearer picture around the areas that we need to concentrate on," McEvoy told CNN's Erin Burnett from Auckland. Authorities greatly shrank that area after analyzing satellite data to determine Flight 370 had set off from Kuala Lumpur toward Beijing, turned around to go back over the Malay Peninsula, then ended up in the southern Indian Ocean. Why? No one really knows. The best chance to answer that question may rest wherever the plane -- and its so-called black boxes, with their trove of information about the plane and its movements -- now resides. Search planes dispatched day after day looking for evidence of the missing airliner -- a floating wing, a seat cushion, anything -- thus far have come up empty. The latest, greatest hopes have come from crews listening underwater for signs of Flight 370. The first such possible breakthrough came last Friday and Saturday, when a Chinese ship detected pulses that may have been from the plane. No more have been heard since. According to McEvoy, "the main focus" centers around the site of Saturday's discovery from Australia's Ocean Shield. It used more advanced detection gear than that aboard the Chinese vessel and was found some 375 miles away, leading Houston to believe they are separate signals. The first signal, detected by a towed pinger locator, persisted for more than two hours; a second went on for about 13 minutes. Tuesday afternoon, it lasted about 5 minutes and 32 seconds. Tuesday night, about seven minutes. Beyond the dwindling battery life, there's all the ocean to contend with: The Ocean Shield signals were in water about 2.6 miles deep, meaning a number of things could literally get in the way of or otherwise disrupt the pulses. Searchers' intent not to roil the waters any further is why air and seaborne traffic in that find area is being limited, and why there is no rush to put in underwater drones to take photos. "The better the Ocean Shield can define the area the easier it will be for the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle to subsequently search for aircraft wreckage," Houston said. Bear in mind with the Air France disaster, it took the underwater vehicle 20 days to get to the wreckage." What happens after the Malaysian plane's pingers die? And it's not as if, if more pulses are detected, they'll lead down in a straight line to the flight recorders. As is, the pings that were heard could have emanated from anywhere within a 5-mile radius, said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Finding more signals could narrow the search area. Without them, authorities could then start the painstaking process of using side-scanning sonar to try to find the aircraft on the ocean's bottom. Meanwhile, the air search continues. As McEvoy explained, this area is "slightly different" than that being probed for pings because it is focused on surface debris, which would have shifted over the past few weeks -- thanks in part to a cyclone packing winds in excess of 160 mph that pushed through two weeks ago. So far, none of the aircraft that have been sent out has found anything. And even if it is narrowed, Wednesday's air search area is still roughly the size of South Carolina. As Wing Cmdr. Andy Scott of New Zealand stated: "It's a large task that's still ahead of us." Next steps in underwater search Pings without wreckage 'befuddling' The absence of wreckage near these detected signals leaves some skeptical, worried that the Chinese and Australian ship's finds could be yet another false lead in an investigation that's been full of them. Acknowledging "a very high-speed vertical impact" could explain the lack of aircraft remnants, CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien said there's reason to be cautious. "It's either the most extraordinary event, or those pings weren't real," O'Brien said. "It's somewhat befuddling." Sarah Bajc, the partner of American passenger Philip Wood, isn't convinced about anything. She told CNN's Erin Burnett she thinks the plane was hijacked. Whether that proves true, one thing she won't believe are the Malaysian officials heading the investigation. "All of us pretty well agree that until there's the bulk of the plane, the bulk of the bodies discovered, and a black box intact, we won't believe that it's final evidence," Bajc said early Wednesday from Beijing. "... I don't think the authorities have given us much confidence of their investigative skills so far." The lack of clarity makes it hard to "grieve properly and ... move on," -- something that she's not yet willing to do. "I want to fight to find him, in whatever form that ends up being," said Bajc, who is coordinating with other passengers' kin to press for answers. "And I think most of the families feel the same way." Until they get answers, women and men like Steve Wang -- whose mother was on the Malaysia Airlines plane -- are clinging to hope while trying to hold themselves together. "We're just going through so many kinds of emotion," said Wang. "... Desperate, sad and helpless -- something like that. Everything." Timeline: Leads in the hunt for Flight 370 weave drama Lucrative China-Malaysia relations not derailed by search for MH370 Wife of passenger: 'I needed to know they were looking for Pauly'	– Australian officials have sounded a fresh note of confidence in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, saying they've reacquired underwater signals following a lapse into silence. Search chief Angus Houston says an Australian navy vessel detected two sets of pings yesterday in the same area that signals were detected over the weekend, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. "I'm now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft, in the not too distant future—but we haven't found it yet, because this is a very challenging business," Houston told reporters. The signals are getting weaker, which could be a sign that searchers are getting further away, or, more likely, a sign that the data recorder batteries are starting to fade, explained Houston. He says they have delayed deploying the autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin-21 to search for wreckage because with time running out, they don't want anything to get in the way of the signals. In another promising development, authorities have analyzed the pings detected over the weekend and confirmed that they came from electronic equipment, with signals consistent with those of flight data recorders, CNN reports.
The winner of the unusually spirited Republican contest was Joseph J. Lhota, a no-nonsense former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He defeated John A. Catsimatidis, a voluble billionaire who ran an often whimsical campaign. Mr. Lhota, who served as deputy mayor to Rudolph W. Giuliani, will carry his tough-minded approach to crime-fighting and city spending into the general election on Nov. 5. A vocal supporter of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s policies, Mr. Lhota called his victory “the first step in continuing a strong future for our city.” By contrast, Mr. de Blasio’s vow to make a clean break from the Bloomberg era struck a chord with Democratic voters worried about jobs and schools. Roughly three in four wanted to move the city in a different direction after 12 years with Mr. Bloomberg, an exit poll found. In the unexpectedly heated race for the unglamorous office of city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, repelled a last-minute comeback attempt by Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor over his use of prostitutes. And in the Democratic primary for public advocate, Letitia James, a City Council member from Brooklyn, will face Senator Daniel L. Squadron of Brooklyn in a runoff election. Photo In the race for mayor, Mr. de Blasio had until a few months ago been a distant fourth in a crowded Democratic field, well behind Christine C. Quinn, the longtime front-runner, who rose to prominence as the speaker of the City Council and a close ally of Mr. Bloomberg. Mr. de Blasio, propelled by an unrelenting critique of the mayor, frustrated Ms. Quinn’s painstakingly cultivated effort to become the first woman and the first openly gay person to lead the city. Mr. Thompson, who nearly unseated Mr. Bloomberg in 2009, struggled this time to win over nonwhite voters who were crucial to his campaign strategy as the only black candidate in the race. Mr. de Blasio, a white Brooklynite who frequently showcased his biracial family, built a broad coalition of support among nearly every category of Democratic primary voters on Tuesday, according to the exit poll by Edison Research. His critique of a city divided between rich and poor — tried in the past by other candidates in New York and nationally with little success — resonated. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “I love his message about the tale of two cities, the big inequality gap,” said Jelani Wheeler, 19, a politics student at St. John’s University in Queens. “We can start correcting many important issues the city is facing, issues often ignored by the Bloomberg administration,” he added. Though Democrats outnumber Republicans in New York by six to one, the city has not elected a Democratic mayor since David N. Dinkins in 1989. But the white voters who helped elect Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Bloomberg are a less potent political force in a city where ethnic and racial minorities now make up a majority of the population. Mr. de Blasio, who worked for Mr. Dinkins, this year inspired Democrats angry about how the economy and police practices affected them personally, as well as those who felt uncomfortable on their behalf. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. He promised to end racial profiling, overhaul the stop-and-frisk practice and replace Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. His critique of the police went further than that of either Ms. Quinn or Mr. Thompson — and he memorably deployed his teenage son, Dante, to make his case in a compelling television advertisement. Addressing widespread concerns about the gap between the city’s rich and poor, Mr. de Blasio also proposed a tax on the wealthy to pay for universal prekindergarten — though his rhetoric made it sometimes seem unclear which was the end and which the means. His tax-the-rich proposal was dismissed by his rivals, who said it would never be approved in Albany. But at times Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson were left in the unwelcome position of sounding like proponents of the status quo, at a moment when voters made clear they were impatient to be led in a different direction. Photo Mr. de Blasio gained support from black voters like Jennifer Ward, 59, of Brownsville, Brooklyn, who on Tuesday helped her 85-year-old mother, in a flowing white dress with black polka-dots, up the steps of the Brownsville Beacon Community Center and into the big gymnasium. “He’s strong and he fights,” said Ms. Ward, a nurse, who was impressed by Mr. de Blasio’s efforts to prevent the closing of local hospitals. “Even if he has to stand alone, he fights for us.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Democrats had been jockeying for position ever since Mr. Bloomberg squeezed out a narrower-than-expected victory over Mr. Thompson four years ago. The presumptive favorite a year ago was Ms. Quinn, given her close ties to Mr. Bloomberg and the business community; in the spring, the race shifted with the entry of Anthony D. Weiner, a former congressman, who briefly led the field before sinking over revelations that he had continued sending sexually explicit online messages even after resigning. Ms. Quinn’s defeat was crushing for a politician whose career as speaker was built on a belief that helping Mr. Bloomberg carry out his agenda would give her a record of accomplishments to run on. Her crucial role in making Mr. Bloomberg’s third term possible antagonized a huge swath of Democratic voters who showed they were unwilling to forgive and forget. Mr. Thompson relied on a campaign strategy built on old-fashioned New York City identity politics and electoral arithmetic. He worked hard to enlist support from establishment political players, while obtaining important municipal union endorsements. The police, the firefighters, the transit workers and, most important, the teachers all lined up behind Mr. Thompson; the teachers’ union alone spent about $2.6 million on his behalf. Pointing to his record as a behind-the-scenes power broker as school board president and as a fiscal steward while city comptroller, Mr. Thompson positioned himself as the adult in the Democratic field, running well to the right of Mr. de Blasio — and even campaigning with former Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, once the state Republican kingpin. In the event of a runoff, Mr. de Blasio would begin with an fund-raising advantage of about $400,000 over Mr. Thompson. Each would be able to spend a maximum of $3.123 million, under a spending limit imposed by the city’s campaign finance program. But on Tuesday night, Mr. de Blasio was celebrating. As guests ate schnitzel with shallots and ginger served on soft pretzel heros, the crowd focused on the now-familiar sight of Dante’s outsized Afro, which Mr. de Blasio’s daughter, Chiara, affectionately caressed. A moment later, when Mr. de Blasio took the stage, he paid his own form of tribute to his son’s hair, telling supporters that Dante had to fend off strangers trying to touch it. “Security was ready to intervene,” he said. \|\|\|\|\| Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who ran an upstart campaign pledging to fight New York City's economic inequality, emerged as the surprising top choice in the Democratic mayoral primary, but could still face weeks _ and another electoral fight _ before becoming his party's nominee. Mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, right, kisses his wife Chirlane McCray after casting his primary vote on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013, at the Park Slope Public Library in Brooklyn, N.Y. New Yorkers head... (Associated Press) Democratic mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner holds his son Jordan as he leaves the voting booth after casting his vote at his polling station during the primary election in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013.... (Associated Press) City Council Speaker and New York City Democratic mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, right, embraces her wife, Kim Catullo, after Catullo voted in the primary election, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013, in New York.... (Associated Press) The swirling, chaotic campaign to replace billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, which featured former congressman Anthony Weiner's latest sexting scandal and at least three lead changes in the polls, was fittingly plunged into uncertainty again after the votes were tallied in Tuesday's primary. With 97 percent of precincts reporting, de Blasio had about 40.2 percent of the total vote, which puts him a whisker above the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid triggering an automatic Oct. 1 runoff. If he cannot maintain that, he will face former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, who has 26 percent, for a potentially grueling three-week, one-on-one showdown, with the winner advancing to face Republican nominee Joe Lhota, the former chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, in the general election on Nov. 5. But it may take a week or more before it is known whether that battle will be fought at all. The campaign will take a pause Wednesday as the city stops to observe the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Later this week, election officials will recount all the ballots cast Tuesday. It will likely take until early next week before they tabulate an additional 30,000 or more votes as absentee ballots arrive by mail and paperwork comes in from voters who had problems at the polls. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the early front-runner who was seeking to become the city's first woman and openly gay mayor, finished third at 16 percent, followed by current city Comptroller John Liu at 7 percent and Weiner at 5 percent. De Blasio, who was flanked by the interracial family he made a centerpiece of his campaign ads, made no mention of the potential runoff in his speech to supporters late Tuesday. "We are better as a city when we make sure that everyone has a shot," de Blasio told the raucous crowd. "We begin tonight." The winner of the mayor's race in November will assume the helm of the nation's largest city which has been led for 12 years by Bloomberg. The election comes at a critical juncture as the city experiences shrinking crime rates yet widening income inequality, and as the nearly completed One World Trade Center building symbolizes a new era after the terrorist attacks of 2001. With de Blasio so close to 40 percent, Democratic leaders may pressure Thompson to drop out of the race in the name of party unity. Exit polling shows that de Blasio would handily defeat Thompson in a runoff, 52 to 34 percent, with 9 percent saying they would stay home. But Thompson made it clear Tuesday he would compete in a potential runoff. "Three more weeks! Three more weeks!" chanted Thompson, the party's 2009 nominee. "This is far from over." De Blasio's rise in the race to succeed Bloomberg was as sudden as it was unexpected. Not even two months ago, he was an afterthought in the campaign but surged in part thanks to an ad blitz that centered on his interracial family, his headline-grabbing arrest while protesting the possible closure of a Brooklyn hospital and the defection of Weiner's former supporters in the wake of another sexting scandal. Weiner was leading in the polls until a gossip website revealed that he used the online handle Carlos Danger to continue to send X-rated messages to women even after he resigned from the House of Representatives in 2011 for similar behavior. The exit polling showed the appeal of de Blasio, the city's elected public advocate, to be broad-based: He was ahead in all five boroughs; was ahead of Quinn, the lone woman in the race, with female voters; and ahead of Thompson, the only African-American candidate, with black voters. The voter interviews were conducted by Edison Media Research for The Associated Press and other news organizations. Lhota, the ex-transit authority chairman and former deputy mayor to Rudolph Giuliani, defeated billionaire grocery magnate John Catsimatidis for the Republican nomination. Both Republican candidates largely pledged to follow Bloomberg's lead, focusing on maintaining the city's record low crime rates. Another scandal-scarred politician, Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as New York's governor in 2008 after paying for sex with prostitutes, tried to run a self-financed campaign for the lesser office of city comptroller. But his distant, television-heavy campaign struggled to connect with voters and he lost to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. Bloomberg, the businessman Republican-turned-independent, is completing his third term. While the city's registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 6 to 1, the Republican Party's recent success in mayoral elections has been largely attributed to a crime epidemic, the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks or other extraordinary circumstances. Nearly three-quarters of Democratic primary voters said the next mayor ought to move away from Bloomberg policies, according to the exit polls. De Blasio, 52, has fashioned himself as the cleanest break from the Bloomberg years, proposing to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund universal pre-kindergarten and change city police practices he says discriminate against minorities. De Blasio, who worked in Bill Clinton's White House and Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate campaign before being elected to the city council and then public advocate, became the front-runner in the race's final weeks. Quinn was the front-runner for much of the year, boasting the biggest campaign war chest and strong establishment backing. But she was dogged by her support to change term limits to let Bloomberg run again in 2009, a decision unpopular with liberals who make up the bulk of Democratic primary voters.	– As expected, Bill de Blasio will easily finish first in New York City's Democratic primary for mayor, reports the AP. What's unclear is whether he will get the necessary 40% to avoid a runoff with the second-place finisher. With 97% of returns in, de Blasio had 40.02%, Bill Thompson 26%, and Christine Quinn 15%. Trailing those three were city comptroller John Liu (7%) and, yes, Anthony Weiner (5%). The eventual Democratic winner will face former MTA chief (and Rudy Giuliani deputy) Joe Lhota in the general election in November. He won the GOP race over billionaire John Catsimatidis. There will be a recount of yesterday's ballots, and some 30,000 votes, including absentee ballots, still need to be counted a first time. A final result may not be known for 10 days and Thompson has made it clear that he won't drop out in the name of party unity: He chanted "Three more weeks!" at his election night event, referring to a time before a potential runoff, which polls show he would lose. Exit polls showed that de Blasio, the city's public advocate, did well with a wide swath of voters from different ethnic groups and locales, reports the New York Times. More so than the other candidates, he advocated a clean break from Michael Bloomberg, making a particular issue of Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk policy. The mayor interjected himself into the campaign when he accused de Blasio of running a "racist" campaign—in part because the candidate featured his Afro-sporting teen son in a TV ad. De Blasio is white, his wife is black, and he would be first city mayor with an interracial family, notes the Times.
(CNN) -- If Marco Lavoie had not been rescued when he was, the Quebec man probably would have perished within 48 hours. He was hypothermic, dehydrated and near starvation in the unforgiving cold of northwestern Quebec when police rescued him Wednesday. Lavoie's survival might be called miraculous, as he had been in the wilderness for more than three months. The 44-year-old is an experienced outdoorsman, but an encounter with a bear changed his luck, Quebec police said At some point during a planned two-month canoe trek in the Lake Matagami area, a bear attacked Lavoie's campsite, eating his food and ruining his equipment, police spokeswoman Christine Coulombe said. The bear did not injure Lavoie but left him without the tools or resources to survive. Police say they have yet to speak with Lavoie to get details. Minnesota hiker falls from cliff to his death near Yosemite waterfall "In these parts, there's a subculture of people who go on these long trips into the middle of nowhere, but sometimes we forgot how dangerous it can be," Gerald Lemoine, mayor of a small town near Matagami, told the Montreal Gazette. The rescued canoeist began his adventure July 16, Coulombe said. It wasn't until three months later, on October 21, that his family called authorities because too long had passed without Lavoie's return. Police conducted searches for eight days, weather permitting, with no luck. Rescuers in a helicopter finally spotted Lavoie on Wednesday, but they could not safely land at that spot, Coulombe said. So officers had to hike in to pick him up and carry him more than a mile to the chopper. Lavoie's condition was such that he was barely able to speak and at first couldn't even drink water, the Gazette reported. Had he spent another day or two in the elements, he would have starved to death, police spokesman Ronald McInnis said. The man had lost half of his body weight, he said. It was Lavoie's German shepherd who scared the bear away on the day of the attack, but the dog did not survive the ordeal, McInnis said. "Up there, in the Canadian shield, there's little plant life to live off, so he would have been slowly, painfully dying when they found him. It's an amazing feat that he was able to keep himself alive this long with almost no equipment," survival instructor Caleb Musgrave told the Gazette. "When you start to go hungry, you get mood swings, your mind breaks, and you cramp up all over your body. Eventually, your body will start cannibalizing itself, eating away at the fat in your organs and then in your muscles. It takes someone who won't give up in the face of that," he added. Woman carries stranded, wounded pit bill down mountain \|\|\|\|\| MONTREAL — Outdoorsman Marco Lavoie, rescued Wednesday after three months in the deep woods near James Bay, made the heartbreaking decision to kill and eat his beloved German shepherd to stay alive. A source close to the amazing story told QMI Agency that Lavoie, 44, sacrificed his dog when he became stranded at the Nottaway River, roughly 800 km northwest of Montreal. A bear had eaten Lavoie's food and destroyed his boat in mid-July, leaving him alone with the dog. A few days after the bear attack, the person who spoke to QMI on condition of anonymity said Lavoie used a rock to kill his dog before eating the pet. By the time provincial police airlifted him out three months later, Lavoie was barely able to speak or eat. He suffered hypothermia and dehydration and had lost about 90 pounds. Survival expert Andre Francois Bourbeau said Lavoie did what he could to live. "He survived because he made good decisions. Eating his dog was one of them," said Bourbeau, author of a survival guide. Bourbeau has researched hundreds of similar stories, some of which include cannibalism. "You have to be desperate, but there's no shame in (eating the dog)," said Bourbeau. "He had to use reason." The survival expert says that after 30 days in the wilderness with no food, Lavoie's body would have gone into shock from starvation. "Hunger squeezes you so much that you would accept food that's not normally possible," said Bourbeau. "You can crave slugs and bugs." Lavoie is an experienced hiker who often spent weeks in the wilderness by himself. But the Nottaway River is considered too dangerous even for the hardiest outdoorsmen. Andre Diamond, a Waswanipi Cree who lives on an island at the mouth of the river, said he warned Lavoie to stay away. "He said it didn't scare him, but it's not a river to travel alone," said Diamond. "Other adventurers have gone there over 20, 30 years and never came back." Sydney Ottereyes, a local Cree who was part of the Lavoie search party, said the river is downright dangerous. "It's a complicated river with lots of rocks," said Ottereyes. "In some places, there's plenty of water while elsewhere there's none. The wind comes and there can be up to three currents in the same place." Lavoie is currently hospitalized in "very serious" condition. \|\|\|\|\| A hiker was rescued after surviving a bear attack and spending three months, exposed to snow and freezing temperatures, in a remote corner of northern Canada, police said. Police located Marco Lavoie, 44, in the wilderness near Waskaganish, Quebec, on Wednesday, 10 days after his family reported him missing and nearly a month after the experienced outdoorsman was expected to return from a two month hiking expedition. Police believe Lavoie survived the bear attack uninjured, sometime in August, when his German shepherd got in between the man and the bear, Sgt. Ronald McInnis, spokesman for the Quebec Provincial Police told ABCNews.com. "The bear ate the man's food and damaged his survival equipment," said McInnis, "But his dog went between the man and the bear and protected him. The man was not injured in the attack." McInnis would not say what became of the dog and would not comment on reports that Lavoie may have eaten the dog to survive. Lavoie suffered "hypothermia, dehydration and starvation," police said, but he is expected to survive his injuries. The hunt for Lavoie was initially hampered by heavy snow and high winds that grounded helicopters on Oct. 21, but on Oct. 30 a chopper crew spotted Lavoie and officers were dropped in the area that was described by McInnis as "wild." Lavoie was too weak to walk, and a QPP officer carried the man on his back for nearly two miles to the helicopter, a trip that due to snow and rugged terrain took three hours, McInnis said. Cops believed the man would have been dead within hours had he not been rescued. He was too weak to eat or drink water and is receiving fluids via IV. Police are waiting for the man to further recover in order to continue their interview and learn exactly why he was unable to escape the wilderness and the measures he took to survive. \|\|\|\|\| The Canadian Press MONTREAL -- A man has been rescued after spending three months in a remote forest during which he survived a bear attack, and wound up emaciated and clinging to life. Police are sharing the improbable story of 44-year-old Marco Lavoie, an experienced hiker who set off on what was supposed to be a two-month excursion on July 16, 2013. Police can't say exactly when that bear attack occurred. But it's believed that in mid-August, halfway through his planned trip, the animal attacked his encampment, ate his food, and destroyed his survival gear. Given all his experience in the deep woods, his loved ones simply assumed when he didn't turn up last month that he'd extended his stay in the Lake Matagami region of northwestern Quebec. But they became increasingly alarmed in recent weeks and called the provincial police on Oct. 21. Police sent out a helicopter to rescue him. The helicopter couldn't land. So two police officers dropped down, and one carried Lavoie back up on his shoulders. They brought him to hospital. Police say he was rescued just in time. "We believe he might have died in a few more hours -- 24 to 48 hours more," said Sgt. Ronald McInnis, a provincial police spokesman. "He's in critical condition. He wasn't even able to drink water when we offered him some. He will be on an IV for several weeks. "He will gradually learn to drink, and then eat, again." The man had lost much of his body weight and was suffering from hypothermia when he was found: "It's already been snowing (up there) for two or three weeks. The nights are cold," McInnis said.	– An incredible story of survival out of northwestern Quebec, where a 44-year-old was rescued as few as 24 hours before officials believe he would have likely died. Marco Lavoie set off on July 16 for what he intended to be a two-month spell in the woods, reports the Canadian Press. The timeline of what happened between that date and Oct. 30 is somewhat mushy: About a month after his departure, a bear attacked his campsite, leaving him without food or gear. Sgt. Ronald McInnis tells ABC News, "His dog went between the man and the bear and protected him." Unconfirmed reports say Lavoie was later forced to eat the German shepherd; McInnis wouldn't comment on that detail other than to say the dog did not survive, reports CNN. But the details that have been confirmed are pretty jarring: Lavoie lost nearly half his body weight and had begun to suffer from hypothermia, having weathered snow and temps below freezing. He was essentially unable to eat, drink, or speak when he was found, having been spotted by helicopter along the Nottaway River on Wednesday, nine days after a missing persons report was filed (as an experienced outdoorsman, Lavoie's family wasn't initially concerned when he didn't return as scheduled). Lavoie is expected to recover after what will likely be weeks spent on an IV, and police are waiting to talk to him about his experience. One survival instructor, talking to the Montreal Gazette, had this to say: "Up there, in the Canadian shield, there's little plant life to live off so he would have been slowly, painfully dying when they found him. It's an amazing feat that he was able to keep himself alive this long with almost no equipment." (Click to read about another tale of survival involving a bear.)
Nancy Reed died Sept. 15 of necrotizing fasciitis, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science, which reported that the dangerous skin condition resulted in complications related to "blunt trauma of an upper extremity." The death is the county's 36th Harvey-related fatality. Reed was a widowed community volunteer who lived in Kingwood, a northern suburb of Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle. At least one rescuer was also infected with the condition during the hurricane and its aftermath, the newspaper said. Former firefighter and medic J.R. Atkins survived his bout with the bacteria, caused by an insect bite while he was assisting flood-ravaged victims in suburban Missouri City. \|\|\|\|\| Kingwood woman confirmed as Harvey death from flesh-eating bacteria Woman infected in flood-ravaged home >>Remembering those we lost during Hurricane Harvey. less Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of “flood-necrotizing fasciitis” complicating blunt trauma of an upper extremity via an accident, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. She is the county’s 36th official Harvey-related death. The Kingwood woman fell in her flooded home and died from flesh-eating bacteria acquired through the injury. Her death was added on Sept. 25 to Harris County’s official list of storm fatalities. Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of “flood-necrotizing fasciitis” complicating blunt trauma of an upper extremity via an accident, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. She is the ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Family Photo: Courtesy Of Family Image 1 of / 60 Caption Close Kingwood woman confirmed as Harvey death from flesh-eating bacteria 1 / 60 Back to Gallery A Kingwood woman who became ill after falling into Harvey floodwaters at home died from flesh-eating bacteria, the Harris County medical examiner's office ruled. Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of flood-related necrotizing fasciitis, an infection that spreads quickly through muscle tissue and can cause organ failure. Reed was the second known case of the bacteria related to the floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey. Rescuer J.R. Atkins, a former firefighter and medic, was contaminated through an insect bite on his arm while helping Missouri City neighbors. He survived. Now Playing: "It's tragic," said Dr. David Persse, director of the city's emergency medical services. "This is one of the things we'd been worrying about once the flooding began, that something like this might occur. My heart goes out to the family." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, necrotizing fasciitis is a serious bacterial skin infection that kills the body's soft tissue, spreads quickly and can be fatal in a short time. Prompt diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics can prevent death. The infection is not considered a reportable disease in Texas, meaning doctors or laboratories who diagnose it are not required to alert health authorities. But they are required to report many of the organisms that cause the disease — streptococcus, E. coli, vibrio vulnificus and certain types of drug-resistant staphylococcus. Strep is the most common cause of flesh-eating bacteria. Vibrio is the most common in salt water. Since 2010, the CDC has documented 700 to 1,100 cases of necrotizing fasciitis annually caused by group A strep, but details were not immediately available how many deaths were caused by the infection. Reed fell at her son's home in Kingwood, breaking and cutting her arm, according to a family friend. After the injury became infected, she was treated at Memorial Hermann Hospital - The Woodlands and then taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital - Texas Medical Center, where she died. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences concluded that the infection complicated the blunt trauma to her arm. Reed is the county's 36th death to be officially linked to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, which contributed to more than 75 deaths statewide. Reed was remembered during a memorial service on Friday at First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood. According to her obituary, Reed was a community volunteer and chief executive of the LivingTributes.com website of online memorials to the deceased. She was widowed with one son, John Reed. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Jan. 4, 1940, she was a former elementary school teacher and worked at The Reed Agency with her husband, Gary, until he died in 1999. She was also president of the Reed Foundation. "Nancy was a kind, caring member of the Kingwood community and gave of her time and many talents generously," her obituary said. She was active in her church, serving on multiple committees, and worked with the Village Learning and Achievement Center and the Upbring Krause Children's Center. Her relatives could not be reached for comment. \|\|\|\|\| EMBED More News Videos J.R. Atkins tells reporter Kevin Quinn about his battle with a rare bout of flesh-eating bacteria after Harvey. EMBED More News Videos Doctors in Houston are working on a vaccine they hope will fight off flesh-eating bacteria. A Missouri City man says he contracted flesh-eating bacteria right in his own neighborhood as he was trying to help his neighbors during Hurricane Harvey.With flood waters still rising and a mandatory evacuation in effect, J.R. Atkins hopped into a kayak to check on elderly neighbors who were staying behind during the emergency."A day or two before, it was going to be at critical mass," Atkins said.Only later did he realize his arm was swelling up."That's not good," he said.What started as a mosquito bite on his arm during the flood landed him in the ER before a stay in intensive care.When he got there, he was quickly diagnosed with flesh-eating bacteria, and it was advancing so rapidly his heart rate was quickly dropping to critical levels."That was when I got concerned," Atkins said.Doctors stabilized Atkins and put him on at least four antibiotics, but he had to endure three surgeries to relieve pressure in his arm and debride the wound.Atkins, a former paramedic, has medical knowledge which led to both calm and concern."Once I got past the 'imminent death,' that wasn't...it wasn't as scary after that," he said.Harris County Public Health officials said this sort of infection is rare, typically only seen in those with compromised immune systems. But they have seen an uptick since the flood in people with skin gastro-intestinal and respiratory infections.Just because the water is gone doesn't mean the threat is completely, says Dr. Umair Shah."I think that's the big misnomer," Dr. Shah said. "People think, 'Oh, I don't have water anymore, I'm not at risk."The bacteria can still be present on anything the floodwaters touched, Shah said.Meantime, researchers with the Houston Methodist Research Institute are studying group A strep infections that can lead to this flesh-eating disease.They've identified a critical target which they hope can help reduce the severity of infections or clear them up more quickly.That development could save countless lives and decrease the amount of suffering for so many who otherwise must deal with this silent disease.One thing public health officials said should be clear: You should throw out anything that can't be disinfected. It's not worth the risk of infection, which apparently can still occur even though the waters are gone.By the way, Atkins says if there is another flood, he would go back out and try to help his neighbors again, even though he knows he could put himself at risk.	– A Texas woman fell into Hurricane Harvey floodwaters at her son's home and ended up dead from flesh-eating bacteria. Nancy Reed, 77, is the second known person to contract flood-related necrotizing fasciitis after Harvey, the Houston Chronicle reports. She died Sept. 15, but the Harris County medical examiner's office just ruled on her cause of death. The quick-spreading infection, which can cause organ failure and death in a short amount of time, also hit rescuer JR Atkins while he was helping his neighbors; he contracted it through an insect bite but survived. "This is one of the things we'd been worrying about once the flooding began, that something like this might occur," says the director of the city's emergency medical services. "It's tragic." When Reed fell, she broke and cut her arm, and the injury got infected, a family friend says. The medical examiner's office concluded the infection caused complications related to "blunt trauma of an upper extremity," the Dallas News reports. A doctor warns KTRK that even after floodwaters recede, the dangerous bacteria can remain on anything floodwaters touched.
Here's one in the eye for Malcolm Gladwell. The New Yorker's big-haired, big-brained and big-mouthed columnist argued in a recent article that 'the revolution will not be Tweeted'. Well now, Gap has gone back on plans to revamp its logo, thanks to pressure from Twitter and Facebook. Oh yeah – social media brought the Wispa back, it got Rage Against the Machine to number one in the music charts and now it's taken on the High Street. And Malcolm thinks social media can't bring social change. Tsk tsk. Oh alright, I don't care about Gap's logo either. If you've missed it – and I wouldn't blame you if you had – Gap said it was changing its logo to a new one that nobody much liked. Faced with complaints, Gap said they wouldn't make the change after all. For all I know, this was a Salad Cream-style publicity stunt. A far more sensible response to Gladwell came yesterday from the founders of Twitter. Ev Williams and Biz Stone dismissed Gladwell's argument, saying that Twitter, like any communication tool, could be used as a complement to activism but could not replace action. Williams said: "Anyone who’s claiming that sending a tweet by itself is activism, that’s ludicrous — but no one’s claiming that, at least no one that’s credible." That's the most important point – and it's the reason why I haven't bothered writing about Gladwell so far – he's arguing against a position that almost nobody has taken. Most people are arguing that, like the telephone or email, services like Twitter can be quick and effective communication tools. Even Gladwell acknowledges that. In a Q&A with New Yorker readers, Gladwell said: "In combination with grass roots work, [Twitter] can be a very useful tool." So what's the problem, then? Once again this sounds like a journalist from traditional media trying to make a new tool fit an old paradigm and complaining when it doesn't. Citizen journalism won't replace professional journalism, tweeting won't replace activism, home cooking won't replace restaurants, dogs won't replace cats. Why is all this so hard to grasp? Gladwell has form in this area, sadly. In 2006 he was demonstrating his inability to grasp blogging. "Without the New York Times," he said, "what would there be for bloggers to blog about." I said at the time he was wrong but at least he was a few years ahead of Andrew Marr. In dismissing Twitter in 2010, Gladwell is right on schedule. Expect his takedown of Foursquare some time in 2012. \|\|\|\|\| (CNN) -- The internet's logo snobs won this one. Gap Inc. on Monday announced it will drop a new version of its logo after thousands of Facebook and Twitter users called for a return to the classic blue box with tall, white letters -- a logo the clothing retailer has used for more than 20 years. The now-defunct new logo featured a white background, black letters and a small blue square in the top right corner. After the company proposed the new logo on its website on October 4, the internet lit up with snotty comments about the new look. "It reminds me of the old Microsoft Free Clip-art galleries," one Facebook user wrote. "I can't believe this is happening." Another wrote: "It totally looks like a powerpoint design!" The company responded with a Facebook post of its own on Monday. "OK. We've heard loud and clear that you don't like the new logo," the company said. "We've learned a lot from the feedback. We only want what's best for the brand and our customers." More than 1,700 people clicked that they "liked" that decision. "Yay! I don't know why it matters, but it does," one Facebook user wrote in response to that post. Another Facebook user wrote: "bit of an embarrassing 180 [degree turn], but at least you had the guts to face up to it, well done." After the logo complaints started rolling in, Gap on October 6 said it would "crowdsource" the design of its brand, meaning it would take alternate suggestions from fans and might decide to use one of them. But on Monday the company said that idea didn't work either. "We've learned a lot in this process," the company said in a press release. "And we are clear that we did not go about this in the right way. We recognize that we missed the opportunity to engage with the online community. This wasn't the right project at the right time for crowdsourcing." A Gap spokeswoman did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment. The back-and-forth has spawned several joke websites. One, called Crap Logo Yourself, lets people create their own icons in the style of the now-dead Gap logo. And two Twitter accounts were born from the snafu. @NewGapLogo has been responding to complaints. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," said an October 7 post on that Twitter feed. Another, @OldGapLogo, had been calling for a return to the old logo. On Tuesday, however, that account posted what appeared to be a final tweet: "Well...looks like my work here is done. Peace. I'm out," it said. Plenty of news sites and blogs took their stabs at the new logo, too. Vanity Fair even wrote an obituary for it: "The new Gap logo is survived by its antagonistic Twitter feed and a dozen 'failed branding strategies' slide shows, in which it will be archived in the annals of history," the magazine wrote. "To heaven, the Helvetica now ascends." This obviously isn't the first time a company has backed off of a branding change. The blog The Stir has a nice roundup of marketing history's biggest blunders, including the New Coke experiment. For more information about why Gap says it changed the logo in the first place, see this article by Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America, on the Huffington Post. "We want our customers to take notice of Gap and see what it stands for today," Hansen wrote on October 7. "We chose this design as it's more contemporary and current. It honors our heritage through the blue box while still taking it forward." Well, at least until they changed it back again.	– Who says social media don't matter? Malcolm Gladwell, the New Yorker's "big-haired, big-brained and big-mouthed columnist," may think Twitter is a silly fad, but the Gap logo case says otherwise, writes Shane Richmond for the Telegraph. The retailer recently abandoned its cheap-looking new logo after an outcry online. "And Malcolm thinks social media can’t bring social change. Tsk tsk," he writes. The iconic American retailer's decision to ditch the ugly logo came after a wave of highly critical—and occasionally hilarious—comments posted to Twitter and Facebook. "It reminds me of the old Microsoft Free Clip-art galleries," wrote one person on Facebook, according to CNN. "It totally looks like a powerpoint design!" wrote another. (Click here to read more on Twitter.)
For those occasions when a simple cracker just won't do, there's the Martha Stewart Triscuit. Her flavor — toasted coconut with sea salt — hit grocery store shelves earlier this month, and she told The Huffington Post that she's certain it will become "habit forming." It was a "long and interesting process" creating a cracker, and Stewart said she tried several different combinations before selecting coconut and sea salt. Speaking of salt, she's a huge fan: "I like salt," she said. "My daughter likes salt. We all like salt." Stewart said she's not really a snacker — when she does grab a bite to eat between meals, it's fruit — but believes a well-stocked pantry must have a few different types of crackers. She wouldn't serve her Triscuits alone, but would add crab meat and lime or avocado and hot pepper, and also suggests turning them into an elevated s'more by topping a cracker with melted milk chocolate and a marshmallow. Of course, you have to present them on a gleaming silver tray alongside Waterford goblets and perfectly folded linen napkins, but you already knew that. Catherine Garcia \|\|\|\|\| Of course. Of course Martha Stewart -- model, housekeeping hero and comrade of Snoop Dogg -- has concocted the fanciest cracker flavor in the grocery store. Triscuits have been around since 1901, but Stewart's made them very on trend and so 2015. Her toasted coconut and sea salt-flavored Triscuit hit shelves in early May and will stay there for a limited time. Though Stewart has countless cracker recipes of her own, she told The Huffington Post her partnership with Triscuit was her first experience working with a mass marketed cracker manufacturer. "It was a long and interesting process," she said, and after a lot of trial and error, she settled on coconut and sea salt, a flavor combination she thought would be "habit forming." The 73-year-old lifestyle mogul describes the inventing process pretty plainly: "It was my idea. I like salt and I like coconut. ... I thought that was a flavor of cracker that would be savory and sweet." It certainly is. The cracker tastes like it was cooked in coconut oil and then salted; the sweet flavor isn't overpowering, nor does it have that "hint of sunscreen" taste that many coconut-flavored foods can't seem to shake. Stewart said she likes to watch people try the cracker for the first time because, she said, they almost always go back for seconds. But she herself can defeat the crispy, salty addiction: She says she's not much of a snacker, and when she does feel a hunger pang she eats fruit. Still, she always keeps crackers in the house -- Triscuits, Ritz and Saltines are the three that stock her pantry -- because of the salt factor. "I like salt. My daughter likes salt. We all like salt," she said. Salt it is. While it's totally acceptable to eat Triscuits straight from the box, Stewart has some cracker combos that take the snack up a notch. She said if she were serving the crackers at a party, she'd top them with crab meat and lime or avocado with hot peppers. For a hot hors d'oeuvres, these salty-sweet crunchers pair well with melted cheese, or for the true bourgeoisie, a crab and truffle topping. For dessert, Stewart suggests melting milk chocolate on each square and adding a marshmallow. Now you have Martha Stewart-approved s'mores. What could be more honorable than that? Also on HuffPost: Martha Stewart's Modeling Career Martha Stewart's Modeling Career 1 of 13 Share this slide: MySpace \|\|\|\|\| Photo: Getty Images If anyone puts together a food time capsule for the year 2015, make sure to include the new limited edition summer offering from Triscuit — the Toasted Coconut & Sea Salt flavor created by the one and only Martha Stewart. The project and surrounding P.R. campaign manage to squeeze everything that’s hot right now on, into, and around the 9-oz. box of crackers. Here’s the evidence: 1. Martha. At 73, she’s still the beloved icon that owns the domestic arts category. 2. Toasted coconut and sea salt. Totally on trend in terms of ingredients. Not on trend if you’re a fan of all things local. This only counts as a local treat if you live in one of the top coconut-producing regions, like Indonesia or Sri Lanka. 3. Avocado. The Pharrell of food. It’s everywhere, but we don’t mind. And it collaborates so well with other foods — toast, tomato, crabmeat, eggs. The Triscuit box features a picture of the crackers with some avocado on top as a serving suggestion. Happy, indeed. 4. S’mores. Yahoo Food has predicted that s’mores might be the flavor of the year, given how many s’mores-related edibles we’ve seen to date. The back of the box shows another serving suggestion — a toasted marshmallow with chocolate atop one of the Martha Triscuits. Call it S’mores Deluxe, no campfire required. 5. Pinterest. The Triscuit folks managed to get a link to its Pinterest page on the back of the box, too. If you’re a dedicated Pinhead, you already know Triscuit recipes, from Triscuit pizza to Triscuit Parmesan crusted chicken tenders, are popular on the site. 6. Artisanal food. We’re not talking about the Triscuits, which everyone acknowledges is a mass-produced packaged food. To celebrate the launch of the Martha Triscuits, the company commissioned five “artisanal food producers” to create a special product to be sold on each artisan’s website. The products include: McClure’s Olive Tapenade; The Jam Stand’s Cherry Ginger Jam; Wondermade Marshmallow’s Blackberry Mallow; Olympia Provisions’ Summer Sausage; and Savannah Bee Company’s Winter White Honey with Passion Fruit. 7. Entrepreneurs. Everyone is fascinated by entrepreneurs today. The press release for new flavor notes that Triscuit was originally founded in 1901 by an “enterprising small business owner.” The release neglects to mention the founder, but it could be referring to Henry Perky, the founder of shredded wheat biscuits. All teasing aside, most serious foodies, chefs included, love Triscuits. The reason? The original version has three ingredients — whole grain wheat, vegetable oil, and sea salt — making it one of the more straightforward packaged snack foods around. Even the much-lauded Gabrielle Hamilton of New York’s Prune restaurant famously featured Triscuits as a bar snack, albeit paired with sardines and mustard. She told T Magazine it’s something she could eat “till the end of time.” So how do the Martha Triscuits taste? The Yahoo Food team nibbled on some straight out of the box and was pleasantly surprised. There's a slight tang when the cracker hits your tongue, and the salty/sweet combo plays well with the wheat texture. Now all we need is some avocado. Or marshmallows. Or Martha. We love Martha Stewart here at Yahoo Food. Here’s some coverage you might have missed.	– Weird: Martha Stewart has her own limited-edition flavor of Triscuit crackers out this month. Not so weird: That flavor is "toasted coconut and sea salt." The Huffington Post calls it "the bougiest thing in the cracker aisle," which is about what you'd probably expect from Stewart, but notes that it actually tastes pretty good. Yahoo notes that the ingredients are "totally on trend," and the Week jokes that you're probably required to serve the crackers "on a gleaming silver tray alongside Waterford goblets and perfectly folded linen napkins."
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday night he will no longer support Richard Mourdock, unless the Indiana Senate candidate apologizes for his recent comments on rape. "I think it depends on what he does," McCain told CNN's Anderson Cooper, when asked if he still counts himself among Mourdock's supporters. "If he apologizes and says he misspoke and he was wrong and he asks the people to forgive him, then obviously I’d be the first. ... But, you know, in the years that I’ve been around, I’ve made a few, Anderson, and I’ve asked for people's understanding and forgiveness when I won't -- when I own up to it," he continued. "It’s when you don't own up to it when people will not believe you." McCain's call for an apology comes as Mitt Romney faces mounting pressure from Democrats to withdraw his endorsement of Mourdock and have a TV ad he starred in for the Indiana state treasurer removed from the airwaves. Mourdock ignited controversy Tuesday night for saying in the final Indiana Senate debate that pregnancies resulting from rape are "something God intended." "The only exception I have to have an abortion is in the case of the life of the mother," said Mourdock. "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Romney's campaign confirmed Wednesday that he continues to support Mourdock and has not asked that the ad be pulled. Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul did seek to distance the GOP nominee from the views Mourdock expressed. "Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr. Mourdock’s comments do not reflect Gov. Romney’s views," Saul said in an emailed statement. "We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him." Mourdock declined to apologize during a press conference on Wednesday, saying instead that he regretted his words had been misinterpreted. UPDATE: Oct. 25 -- McCain spokesman Brian Rogers on Thursday clarified McCain's earlier comments that he would withdraw support for Mourdock if he did not apologize, saying that the Arizona senator still supports the Indiana Senate candidate. "Senator McCain was traveling yesterday in Florida and did not have an opportunity to see Mr. Mourdock's full press conference before he taped his CNN interview," Rogers said, referring to the Wednesday conference where Mourdock said he regretted that he had been misinterpreted. "Senator McCain is glad that Mr. Mourdock apologized to the people of Indiana and clarified his previous statement. Senator McCain hopes the people of Indiana will elect Mr. Mourdock to the U.S. Senate." \|\|\|\|\| President Obama on Wednesday criticized Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's controversial comments on rape, saying that the Indiana Republican was wrong when he called pregnancy resulting from rape "something God intended to happen." "I don't know how these guys come up with these ideas," Obama said during a taping of "The Tonight Show" in Burbank, Calif. "Let me make a very simple proposition. Rape is rape. It is a crime." "These various distinctions about rape don't make too much sense to me, don't make any sense to me," he said. (Also on POLITICO: Exclusive interview: Mourdock braces for fallout) Obama also laid out a contrast between his position on women's issues and Mitt Romney's, saying that "Roe vs. Wade is probably hanging in the balance" depending on the outcome of the presidential race and the winner's eventual Supreme Court appointments. Obama added that Mourdock's remarks are evidence of why government shouldn't make decisions on women's health. "This is exactly why you don't want a bunch of politicians, mostly male, making decisions about women's health care decisions. Women are capable of making these decisions in consultation with their partners, with their doctors," he said to loud applause. "And for politicians to want to intrude in this stuff, oftentimes without any information, is a huge problem. And this is obviously part of what's stake at this election." Mourdock's comment, made Tuesday, has mobilized the Obama campaign and Democrats to call on Mitt Romney to distance himself from the Senate candidate. (Also on POLITICO: GOP splits over Mourdock comment) The Romney campaign distanced itself from Mourdock's statement on rape, but still supports the candidate and has not asked him to stop using an ad featuring Romney. "Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr. Mourdock's comments do not reflect Gov. Romney's views. We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him," press secretary Andrea Saul said. But other prominent Republicans are still weighing their options on Mourdock. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said his support for the Indiana Republican “depends on what he does.” “If he apologizes and says he misspoke and he was wrong and asks the people to forgive him, I would be the first" to support him, McCain said on CNN's “Anderson Cooper 360.” Earlier Wednesday, the Obama campaign released a web video juxtaposing clips from Romney's pro-Mourdock ad with Mourdock's remarks on rape. The video ends with message, "Mitt Romney: extremely conservative to this day." Read more about: Richard Mourdock	– President Obama slammed Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's rape comments on the Tonight Show last night. "I don't know how these guys come up with these ideas," Obama said. "Let me make a very simple proposition. Rape is rape. It is a crime." He noted "Roe vs. Wade is probably hanging in the balance" of the election, Politico reports. Mourdock's comments that pregnancies from rape are "something God intended" are "exactly why you don't want a bunch of politicians, mostly male, making decisions about women's health care decisions," Obama said. "Women are capable of making these decisions in consultation with their partners, with their doctors." Meanwhile, asked by Anderson Cooper whether he still supports Mourdock, John McCain said it "depends on what he does," the Huffington Post reports. "If he apologizes and says he misspoke and he was wrong and he asks the people to forgive him, then obviously I’d be the first" to support him. Mourdock has in fact issued an apology. Mitt Romney, for his part, still supports Mourdock, though his campaign says he "disagrees" with the Indiana Republican's comments: "We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him." The campaign says it hasn't called on Mourdock to withdraw ads featuring Romney.
Luis Fonsi, left, and Daddy Yankee perform "Despacito" at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) Luis Fonsi, left, and Daddy Yankee perform "Despacito" at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — Bruno Mars owned the Grammys with his R&B-inspired album "24K Magic," winning all six awards he was nominated for at a show where hip-hop was expected to have a historical night. Jay-Z, the leading nominee with eight, walked away empty handed Sunday — a year after his wife lost album of the year to Adele, causing fans and peers to criticize the Recording Academy for not properly rewarding Beyonce's bold "Lemonade" project. And though Kendrick Lamar won five awards, he lost in the top categories, marking another year where rappers were restricted to wins in the rap categories, instead of earning coveted prizes like album of the year. Mars picked up album of the year for "24K Magic," record of the year for the title track, and song of the year — shared with seven co-writers — for the No. 1 hit, "That's What I Like." Jay-Z and Lamar could have become the first rapper to win song or record of the year, and the third rap-based act to win album of the year. But Mars' win still marked some growth for the Academy: His is one of the few R&B albums to win the top prize. He dedicated his win to songwriters who have made history in R&B music, including Babyface, Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Lamar's wins at Madison Square Garden in New York City included best rap album, best rap song, best rap performance, best rap/sung performance and best music video. He has a career total of 12 Grammys. Lamar also won with his performance: He kicked off the Grammys with a powerful and poignant performance featuring video screens displaying a waving American flag behind him, as background dancers dressed as army soldiers marched and moved behind him. At one point, Lamar's background dancers, dressed in red, were shot down as he rapped lyrics, later coming back to life as fire burst to end the six-minute performance. But the night's top performer was Kesha, who was passionate and striking onstage with the help of powerful women behind her, including the Resistance Revival Chorus, Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and Bebe Rexha. Dressed in white, they won over the audience while singing Kesha's "Praying" and hugged at the song's end as some audience members cried, including Hailee Steinfeld. Kesha , who earned her first pair of Grammy nominations this year, has been in a legal war with former producer and mentor Dr. Luke. Janelle Monae introduced the performance with strong words. "We come in peace but we mean business. To those who would dare try to silence us, we offer two words: Time's Up," Monae said. "It's not just going on in Hollywood. It's not just going on in Washington. It's here in our industry, too." Before the performance, Maren Morris, Eric Church and Brothers Osborne performed an emotional rendition of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" — written after his son died — in honor of the 58 people who died at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas last year. The names of victims were displayed behind them as they performed. The performances were two of the show's serious moments. Dozens of artists and music industry players also sported white roses in support of the Time's Up and #MeToo movements against sexual abuse and harassment. "Black is beautiful, hate is ugly," rapper Logic said onstage after performing the suicide prevention anthem "1-800-273-8255." The performance, with best new artist winner Alessia Cara and Khalid, included a group of suicide attempt and loss survivors selected by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Sting's performance was somewhat political as he sang his 1987 song, "Englishman in New York," which includes the lyrics, "Oh, I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York." Chris Stapleton paid tribute to Tom Petty with Emmylou Harris and also won three awards, including best country album, best country song and best country solo performance. "We always try to make great records ... and I guess this is a testament to that," Stapleton said. Little Big Town, who beautifully sang their Taylor Swift-penned No. 1 hit "Better Man," won best country duo/group performance with the song. Others who shined onstage included Lady Gaga, who won over the audience with a rousing performance of the songs "Joanne" and "Million Reasons"; Sam Smith gave a powerful performance of the song "Pray"; and Pink was a vocal powerhouse while she sang "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken." During the pre-telecast, The Rolling Stones picked up their third career Grammy — for best traditional blues album for "Blue & Lonesome" — while Ed Sheeran won best pop vocal album. Emmy and Golden Globe winner Childish Gambino, who picked up best traditional R&B performance, gave a smooth and sultry performance of "Terrified" in all-white featuring screeching high notes. Gambino was joined by young singer-actor, JD McCrary, who matched his vocals and sings on the original track. The show, hosted by James Corden, also featured some comedy. Hillary Clinton , John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B, and DJ Khaled won over the audience in a skit when reading lines from Michael Wolff's book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House." Corden said the book could compete for the best spoken world album Grammy next year. "That's the one," Corden said in the video after Clinton, a 1997 spoken word Grammy winner, spoke. It earned a rousing applause from the crowd. Dave Chappelle, who was part of Lamar's opening performance, won best comedy album during the televised show. "I am honored to win an award, finally, and I wanted to thank everyone at Netflix, at 'Saturday Night Live,' at 'The Chappelle Show,'" he said. Puppies were passed to the losers of best comedy album, including Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman and Jim Gaffigan. Posthumous Grammys were awarded to actress Carrie Fisher, singer Leonard Cohen and engineer Tom Coyne, who worked on Mars' "24K Magic" album. Double winners included Jason Isbell, Justin Hurwitz and CeCe Winans. ___ Online: http://www.grammy.com ____ For full coverage of awards season, visit: https://apnews.com/tag/AwardsSeason	– Bruno Mars owned the Grammys with his R&B-inspired album "24K Magic," winning all six awards he was nominated for at a show where hip-hop was expected to have a historical night. Jay-Z, the leading nominee with eight, walked away empty handed Sunday—a year after his wife lost album of the year to Adele, causing fans and peers to criticize the Recording Academy for not properly rewarding Beyonce's bold "Lemonade" project. And though Kendrick Lamar won five awards, he lost in the top categories, marking another year where rappers were restricted to wins in the rap categories, instead of earning coveted prizes like album of the year, the AP reports. Among the major winners: Album of the Year. Bruno Mars, 24K Magic. Record of the Year. Bruno Mars, "24K Magic," the album's title track. Song of the Year. Bruno Mars, "That's What I Like," shared with seven co-writers. Best New Artist. Alessia Cara. Best Pop Album. Ed Sheeran, ÷ . Best Rap Album. Kendrick Lamar, Damn. Best Rap Song. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." Best Pop Solo Performance. Ed Sheeran,"Shape of You." Best Country Song. Chris Stapleton, "Broken Halos." Best Rock Song. Foo Fighters, "Run." Best Rock Album. The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding. Best Metal Performance. Mastodon, "Sultan's Curse." Best Music Video. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." Best Dance/Electronic Album. Kraftwerk, 3-D The Catalogue. Check out the Grammys website for the full list of 84 winners.
Story highlights A Chinese ship picked up a signal on Friday and Saturday, authorities say An Australian naval vessel is pursuing a more recent detection in a separate location An official calls the sounds "an important and encouraging lead" but urges caution Up to 10 military planes, two civil aircraft,13 ships will assist in Sunday's search Search teams looking for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are investigating a number of sounds detected by ships in the southern Indian Ocean, authorities said Sunday, but it's not yet clear if any of them are from the missing plane's so-called black box. A British Royal Navy vessel is on its way to an area where a Chinese ship reported picking up electronic signals twice, once on Friday and again on Saturday, said Angus Houston, the head of the Australian agency coordinating search operations. And the Australian naval ship Ocean Shield, which has highly sophisticated equipment, is pursuing "an acoustic noise" that it detected in a different area, Houston said at a news conference. He said the detections were "an important and encouraging lead," but he cautioned that they be treated "carefully" as they haven't been verified as being related to Flight 370. Fevered search Searchers are desperately seeking any clue about the location of the airliner that disappeared nearly a month ago with 239 people on board. Up to 10 military planes, two civil aircraft and 13 ships will assist in Sunday's search for the airline. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) plans to search three separate areas Sunday about 2,000 kilometers (about 1,240 miles) northwest of Perth. That area totals about 216,000 square kilometers (83,000 square miles). Australian planes are being deployed to the area where the Chinese ship, Haixun 01, picked up signals that would be consistent with those emitted by an aircraft's flight recorders, said Houston, the chief coordinator of Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre. A number of white objects were sighted about 56 miles (90 kilometers) away from where the sound was detected, he said. But he stressed that were was so far no confirmation that the signals and objects are related to Flight 370. "In the days, weeks and possibly months ahead, there may be leads such as the one I'm reporting to you this morning on a regular basis," Houston, a retired air chief marshal, said. Handheld hydrophone Video on Chinese state-run CCTV shot Saturday shows crew members from the Haixun 01 boarding a small yellow dinghy and using what appears to be a handheld hydrophone. The three men on board lower the device into the water on a pole. The handheld ping-locating technology used by the Chinese ship is not as versatile as a U.S. Navy towed locator, which goes as deep as 20,000 feet, far from surface noise, according to experts. The U.S. Navy hydrophone -- or underwater microphone, is on board the Australian ship Ocean Shield, which recently joined the search for Flight 370. The state-run Chinese news agency, Xinhua, said a detector deployed by the Haixun 01 patrol ship picked up the signal around 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude. JUST WATCHED Australia leads Flight 370 search Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Australia leads Flight 370 search 01:15 JUST WATCHED Weather conditions and the MH370 search Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Weather conditions and the MH370 search 02:01 That puts it about 1,020 miles (1,640 kilometers) west-northwest of Perth, Australia, between current and previous search zones, and about 220 miles (354 kilometers) south of the closest of the three areas searched Saturday, said Judson Jones, a meteorologist with CNN International. Houston said Sunday that the sounds were detected "in the high probability area." White objects spotted Also found Saturday -- spotted by a Chinese air force search plane -- were white objects floating near the search area. Investigators have failed to link any of the many previous sightings of debris to the missing plane. But the proximity of the two finds raised hopes that this time might be different. The ship first detected a signal Friday but couldn't record it because the signal stopped abruptly, a Shanghai-based Communist Party newspaper said. The signal detected Saturday, the Jiefang Daily said, occurred at 3:57 p.m. Beijing time (3:57 a.m. ET) and lasted about a minute and a half. It was not clear whether the signal had anything to do with the missing plane. A China Central Television correspondent aboard the Haixun-01 (pronounced "high shuen") reported that the 37.5 kHz signal was detected for a minute and a half. Fleeting acoustic Houston confirmed the two separate detections and said they showed "some promise." But the signals picked up by the Chinese searchers were "fleeting acoustic events," he said. "It's not a continuous transmission. If you get close to the device, we should be receiving it for a longer period of time." The signal "is the standard beacon frequency" for the plane's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, said Anish Patel, president of pinger manufacturer Dukane Seacom. "They're identical." The frequency was chosen for use in the recorders "to give that standout quality that does not get interfered with by the background noise that readily occurs in the ocean." Photos: The search for MH370 Photos: The search for MH370 Two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a relative of one of the passengers burns incense in Beijing on March 8, 2016. Flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, as it flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. There were 239 people on board. Hide Caption 1 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On July 29, police carry a piece of debris on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A week later, authorities confirmed that the debris was from the missing flight. Hide Caption 2 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Staff members with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau examine a piece of aircraft debris at their laboratory in Canberra, Australia, on July 20. The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had said it was highly likely to have come from Flight 370. Experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, confirmed that the part was indeed from the missing aircraft. Hide Caption 3 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 In late February, American tourist Blaine Gibson found a piece of plane debris off Mozambique, a discovery that renewed hope of solving the mystery of the missing flight. The piece measured 35 inches by 22 inches. A U.S. official said it was likely the wreckage came from a Boeing 777, which MH370 was. Hide Caption 4 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of the flight's passengers console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on February 12, 2015. Protesters had demanded that the airline withdraw the statement that all 239 people aboard the plane were dead. Hide Caption 5 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A police officer watches a couple cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The couple's son was on the plane. Hide Caption 6 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2014. Data from communications between satellites and the missing flight was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers said they requested it be made public. Hide Caption 7 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14, 2014. Hide Caption 8 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13, 2014. Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The HMS Echo, a vessel with the British Roya; Navy, moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12, 2014. Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9, 2014. Hide Caption 11 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8, 2014. Hide Caption 12 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris in the southern Indian Ocean on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 13 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 14 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4, 2014. Hide Caption 15 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 30, 2014, a woman in Kuala Lumpur prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370. Hide Caption 16 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, 2014, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Hide Caption 17 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 18 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 19 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 20 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24, 2014. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Hide Caption 21 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014. Hide Caption 22 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22, 2014. Hide Caption 23 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, 2014, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It was a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes were looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. Hide Caption 24 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, 2014, showed debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could have been from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search. Hide Caption 25 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. Hide Caption 26 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19, 2014. Hide Caption 27 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 18, 2014, a relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. Hide Caption 28 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations in the Indian Ocean on March 16, 2014. Hide Caption 29 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13, 2014. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, search efforts expanded west into the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 30 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 31 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian air force members look for debris near Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 32 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014. Hide Caption 33 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11, 2014. Hide Caption 34 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported on March 8, 2014. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10, 2014. Hide Caption 35 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews on March 9, 2014, before returning to search for the missing plane in the Gulf of Thailand. Hide Caption 36 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 37 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 38 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 39 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 40 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 41 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 42 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Sepang on March 8, 2014. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. Hide Caption 43 of 43 JUST WATCHED Prime ministers offer no answers Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Prime ministers offer no answers 02:04 JUST WATCHED No guarantees MH370 will ever be found Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH No guarantees MH370 will ever be found 01:35 JUST WATCHED Are we searching in the right area? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Are we searching in the right area? 04:23 But he said he would like to see more evidence. "I'd like to see some additional assets on site quickly -- maybe some sonobuoys," he said, referring to 5-inch-long sonar systems that are dropped from aircraft or ships. And he said he was puzzled that only one signal had been detected, since each of the recorders was equipped with a pinger, which is also called a beacon. No confirmation Other experts cautioned that no confirmation had been made that the signal was linked to the missing plane. "It ought to be easy to rule it in or rule it out, and they ought to go do it," said Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Saturday's leads came as concern was rising that the batteries powering the missing Boeing 777's locator pingers would soon go dead. The plane disappeared on March 8; its batteries were guaranteed to work for 30 days underwater, and are predicted to die slowly over the following days. Monday marks day 30. The batteries on Flight 370's black boxes were due to be replaced in June, the Malaysia Airlines chief executive said Saturday. "We can confirm there is a maintenance program. Batteries are replaced prior to expiration," Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said. Relative reacts The tentative nature of the first report of an acoustic signal was not lost on one Chinese relative of one of those aboard. "There is not confirmation, and we are all waiting patiently," the relative told CNN Producer Judy Kwon in a text message. Still, Malaysia's acting transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, was sanguine: "Another night of hope-praying hard," he tweeted in response to the initial detection. "We've had a lot of red herrings, hyperbole on this whole search," said oceanographer Simon Boxall, a lecturer in ocean and earth science at the University of Southampton. "I'd really like to see this data confirmed." If this proves to be what investigators have been searching for, "then the possibility of recovering the plane -- or at least the black boxes -- goes from being one in a million to almost certain," he said. But, he added, "It could be a false signal." CNN aviation analyst David Soucie was less skeptical. "This is a pinger," the airplane accident investigator said. "I've been doing this a lot of years, and I can't think of anything else it could be." \|\|\|\|\| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall: "If this is the pulse, this becomes a viable search" A Chinese ship searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean has picked up a pulse signal, Chinese media say. They say the signal has a frequency of 37.5kHz - the same as those emitted by the flight recorders. However there is no evidence so far that it is linked to MH370. Dozens of ships and planes have joined the search, with the operation moving into its most intensive phase before batteries on the data recorders fade. On Saturday the Haixun 01 - one of two Chinese ships in the area - picked up the signal at about 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. "It is yet to be established whether it is related to the missing jet," it cautioned. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Richard Westcott reports on the use of a pinger locator to find a black box China's Liberation Daily reported that three people on board had heard the signals, which were not recorded as they came suddenly. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Officials said there was "some hope" the locators would be able to find the black box The head of the Australian agency co-ordinating the search said the reported signals "are consistent with the aircraft black box" but "there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft". The flight is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, although no confirmed debris has been found. Analysis This could be potentially significant, but caution is necessary. There have been many apparently promising leads over the past few weeks that have looked like the search team closing in, only for those leads to turn into nothing. The tantalizing element is the frequency of the signal supposedly picked up. It is consistent with a black box pinger. But we know very little more about the nature of the contact. The Chinese ship is not among those that have been mentioned before as having special equipment to search for the black box pinger, but it is a very modern search-and-rescue vessel. Even with the sophisticated listening devices now being deployed in the search, the size of the search area, the range of the pinger signal, and the depths of water involved all mean it would need a lucky break at this stage to detect a signal. It is still not known why the plane diverted from its planned flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing four weeks ago with 239 people on board. Race against time Two of the ships searching an area of about 217,000 sq km (84,000 sq miles) have underwater locator capabilities. Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield is using a "towed pinger locator" from the US Navy, while HMS Echo, which has similar capabilities, is also searching. They are trying to detect an underwater signal emitted by the data recorders. The battery-powered signal fades after 30 days. The area - about 1,700km (1,000 miles) north-west of Perth - has been picked on the basis of analysis of the satellite data. On Saturday, Malaysia announced it had set up three ministerial committees to help co-ordinate the search, and a new investigation team which would include members from Australia, China, the US, the UK and France.	– Could it be? A Chinese ship searching for Flight 370 has picked up a ping in the southern Indian Ocean, reports CNN and the BBC. Both cite a report in China's Xinhua news agency. The pulse is 37.5 kHz, the frequency for the Malaysian plane's black-box data recorders, says the president of the beacon's manufacturer. All the reports caution that it could turn out to be yet another false hope, however. "This could be a variety of things," says one oceanographer, noting that the frequency is used by lots of instruments. For the record, the Chinese ship detected the signal at 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude, says the state-run Xinhua. "It is yet to be established whether it is related to the missing jet," the report says. The development comes as dozens of ships and planes intensify their sweeps in the search zone, given the finite battery life of the data recorders.
« Well Fargo's Bailout Payback Dilemma \| Main \| Blame Obama for the Job Losses? » JiWire works with between 60% and 70% of all North American passenger airline services and hotel chains." competing For many holiday travelers, an hour-long wait at the airport presents a critical choice: a couple grande white chocolate lattes or $10-a-day WiFi access? (At least, that's my choice.) This year the (er, my) choice is simple. Google announced that it is giving away free WiFi access in 47 airports until mid-January 2010. Lifehacker reports that users can log in for free, bypass a couple invitations to try out Google Chrome, and browse for free through the inevitable snow delays.But wait! Some key cities -- including Chicago, New York and Washington, DC -- aren't on the list . Is there another way to finagle free Internet from the terminal? Yes , says Lifehacker's servicey team. Microsoft Bing is teaming with JiWire to offer free WiFi in nationwide hotels and airports in exchange for one Bing search. Sounds easy! Media Post reports that " JiWire's venues include New York's JFK, Chicago's Midway and O'Hare airports, and Washington Dulles.Imagine. Microsoft and Google,joining hands to bring you free WiFi in terminals across the country. I love it when capitalism gets into the holiday spirit. \|\|\|\|\| Call it an early holiday gift from Google to millions of airline passengers. Google said will be offering free Wi-Fi to travelers across the United States starting Tuesday at 47 airports. Google says the Wi-Fi will be available until January 15, 2010. Google says it will also extend the free Wi-Fi offer to Virgin America flights within the continental United States. For a complete list of participating airports visit Google's dedicated Free Wi-Fi for the Holidays Website. The FAA estimates 100 million people will travel back and forth across the country during the holidays, and those hunkered down in airport terminals due to weather delays will likely appreciate the free Wi-Fi. Google has partnered with airports across the country, as well as Time Warner Cable, Boingo Wireless, Advanced Wireless Group and many others to offer Wi-Fi. Because Google's partners don't have a presence in all U.S. airports Google's free Wi-Fi won't cover everybody traveling this season. Google's move follows a similar free Wi-Fi offer from Yahoo. On Tuesday, Yahoo announced that it would provide free Wi-Fi for an entire year in New York's Times Square. Here is breakdown of how Google's free Wi-Fi offer works: Get Online For Free Airports across the country offering Google's free Wi-Fi include Boston's Logan Airport, Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Las Vegas' McCarran International, Seattle's SeaTac and many others. But there are some notable absences from Google's free Wi-Fi list including major hubs and popular destinations like Chicago O'Hare, LAX in Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Dallas-Fort Worth and all three New York-area airports. On the upside, however, Google says that Seattle and Burbank airports intend to offer free Wi-Fi for an indefinite period as a result of this free Wi-Fi program. Contests and the Spirit of Giving Starting next Monday, you will be able to win prizes by submitting photos of yourself using free in-flight or airport Wi-Fi during the holidays. Google doesn't specify what the prizes are or what constitutes a winning photo, but it looks like you'll be submitting photos to Picasa, Google's online photo storage and sharing service. To get more details about the photo contest, you have to enter your e-mail to Google's Holiday Wi-Fi Photo Contest page. Image Credit: Flickr user mastermaqGoogle is also encouraging free Wi-Fi users to open their hearts and their wallets this year. When you log on to free Wi-Fi from any of the participating hotspots this season, you will be given the option to give back by donating to your choice of three different charities via Google Checkout. Charities include Climate Savers Computing, One Economy Corporation and Engineers Without Borders USA. Google says it will match donations across all the free Wi-Fi hotspots up to $250,000, and the airport that generates the most donations by January 1, 2010 will receive $15,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Check out Google's charity page for more information. The Fine Print Taking a closer look at Google's offer there doesn't seem to be much in the way of sneaky catches--unless you consider a request for donations a catch. Google says you will not need to enter any credit card or other payment information to get the free Wi-Fi, but if you usually buy day passes to Wi-Fi services like Boingo watch out when selecting a network. Among your available wireless networks will be paid hotspots and Google's complimentary Wi-Fi, so make sure you choose the free service and save yourself a few dollars. One other thing Google doesn't address in its announcement is whether its gift of free Wi-Fi will be ad supported or not. You should also know that Google says it "will have access to some aggregate, non-personally identifiable information." This should not come as a surprise to regular Google users, but if you're squeamish about Google and its data practices then free Wi-Fi may not be the gift for you this year. For more information check out Google's free Wi-Fi FAQ page. Connect with Ian Paul on Twitter (@ianpaul).	– There’s a new public option in town: free wireless from Google for the holidays. The search giant has partnered to provide WiFi gratis in 47 airports nationwide from now until the middle of January; the generosity even extends to in-flight access on continental Virgin flights, PC World reports. Google would probably like to spread its beneficence across the entire nation, but its partnership with the likes of Time Warner and Boingo doesn’t allow universal coverage. That’s all well and good, but careful readers note that some pretty important national hubs—New York, DC, Chicago—fall outside Google’s range. Enter Microsoft. The software giant and Google nemesis is also in the free-holiday-wireless business, teaming with JiWire to cover an estimated 70% of airports, according to the Atlantic. All you have to do is perform one Bing search for the goodies. Give a hand to the rivals for turning even snow delays into an ad war.
MasterCard to use selfies for security 2:41 AM ET Wed, 24 Feb 2016 MasterCard customers will soon be able to replace their passwords with a "selfie" and a fingerprints to verify their identity and make payments online. The payment processing company confirmed the decision to introduce biometric checks this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Ann Cairns, head of international markets for MasterCard, told CNBC that biometric checks had been trialled in the U.S. and the Netherlands and will be launching them in the U.K. soon. "I think the whole biometric space is a great way of protecting yourself when you are doing payments," she said. "There are a whole range of biometrics that say 'I'm me, I'm making a payment' and it just makes the whole thing more secure." \|\|\|\|\| Image copyright Mastercard Image caption Users will have to blink while using the Identity Check app's selfie feature Credit card firm Mastercard has confirmed it will accept selfie photos and fingerprints as an alternative to passwords when verifying IDs for online payments. It follows a trial of the software carried out in the US and Netherlands last year. The company told the BBC that 92% of its test subjects preferred the new system to passwords. One expert said that such biometric checks had the potential to cut fraud. However, some security researchers have questioned how easy it might be to spoof the system. Image copyright Mastercard Image caption A notification will tell users when they need to verify their ID after using a shopping website Blink test Mastercard announced the move at the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona. It said the rollout this summer would involve the UK, US, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. It explained that members of the public would have to download an application to their PC, tablet or smartphone to use the system. Image copyright Mastercard Image caption Users will be given the option of using a fingerprint instead of a selfie When they make an online purchase, they will still need to provide their credit card details as normal. But if a further authentication check is required, they will be asked to look at their phone's camera or use its fingerprint sensor rather than be told to type in selected letters from their password, as is the case at the moment. If the user opts for a selfie, they will have to blink into the camera to prove they are not just holding up a photo. Image copyright Mastercard Image caption The device on which the purchase is made confirms the ID check after it is carried out on a phone "Consumers hate passwords," declared Ajay Bhalla, chief of the firm's safety and security division. "We know the most commonly used password is 123456, so they are not secure, and people also use the same passwords for multiple sites. If one site gets hacked all the places that you use the same password get compromised - they are a big pain. "In the modern world everyone has a mobile phone and there is internet connectivity everywhere. So, we should be able to use biometrics [instead] to authenticate ourselves." Compromised checks Mastercard is far from the only firm experimenting with facial scans as authentication tools. China's e-commerce giant Alibaba recently demoed a pay-with-your-face system of its own. And both Microsoft's Windows 10 and Google's Android operating systems already allow users to unlock devices by looking at their cameras. Image copyright Microsoft Image caption Microsoft's Windows Hello software can also use iris scans as a biometric test Security researchers have pointed out that both facial scans and fingerprint sensors can be compromised. Even so, Mastercard insists its other security mechanisms should be able to prevent or at least detect suspicious behaviour. In addition, it says the facial scans and fingerprint data will not be transmitted in a form that could be intercepted, stolen or used by scammers. Battling fraud Smart wallet systems including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay have already introduced consumers to the concept of using their fingerprints to authorise payments. Many Japanese bank ATMs also have a reader that scans the vein patterns beneath customers' fingers to let them withdraw cash. One expert said other biometric tests could soon become the norm. "Having one or more required authentication factors tied to who you are rather than what you know is going to become critical," said Windsor Holden from the tech consultancy Juniper Research. "The problem with online payments has always been that the card doesn't need to be present, hence the credit card companies have charged more for the transactions to cover the costs of fraud. "If they can introduce a mechanism that makes the system more secure than merely asking for a password, then the hope would be that fraud levels decrease and the savings can be passed back onto merchants, and perhaps consumers too." Follow all the BBC's MWC coverage via the "Mobile World Congress 2016" tag in our news app. You can also keep track of our technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones and the rest of the team covering the Barcelona event via a dedicated Twitter list.	– We're all taking selfies all the time anyway, so we might as well put them to good use. The Verge reports MasterCard is rolling out "selfie pay" in 14 countries. If additional authentication is needed after online shoppers enter their credit card info, MasterCard users will be able to look into their phone or tablet's camera instead of entering a password, the BBC explains. "Consumers hate passwords," says Ajay Bhalla, MasterCard's chief of safety and security. He says people use terrible, easily hackable passwords. Biometrics, such as facial recognition and the also-debuting fingerprint authentication, could reduce fraud for online shoppers. MasterCard tested out "selfie pay" in the US and Netherlands and found 92% of test subjects liked it. CNBC reports it could make online shopping easier, as MasterCard found 53% of people forget their password at least once a week, leading a third of online shoppers to just give up on buying anything. The next step for MasterCard is using people's heartbeats to verify their identity. People's hearts create their own signature electric signal, and MaserCard is testing out a bracelet that monitors it continuously and sends that information to nearby devices to authenticate the user. Bhalla calls it "constant authentication." But that's still a ways off. MasterCard's facial recognition and fingerprint authentication will be rolled out this year.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court judge was appointed Monday to take over Ferguson's municipal court and make "needed reforms" after a highly critical U.S. Department of Justice report that was prompted by the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown. The Missouri Supreme Court said it is assigning state appeals Judge Roy L. Richter to hear all of Ferguson's pending and future municipal court cases. The high court said Richter also will have the authority to overhaul court policies to ensure defendants' rights are respected and to "restore the integrity of the system." Ferguson Municipal Judge Ronald J. Brockmeyer resigned Monday, saying through a spokesman that he was stepping down to promote public confidence in the court and help Ferguson "begin its healing process." The Ferguson City Council met in closed session Monday evening, but members left without taking questions and a city spokesman didn't disclose the purpose of the meeting. Ferguson City Manager John Shaw was escorted to his vehicle by a police officer without fielding questions, and Mayor James Knowles III declined comment to The Associated Press afterward except to say that the city on Tuesday would begin seeking Brockmeyer's permanent successor. Richter will take charge of the court on March 16. The Supreme Court said it also is assigning staff from the state court administrator's office to aid Richter in reviewing Ferguson's municipal court practices. "Judge Richter will bring a fresh, disinterested perspective to this court's practices, and he is able and willing to implement needed reforms," Chief Justice Mary Russell said in a written statement. "Extraordinary action is warranted in Ferguson, but the Court also is examining reforms that are needed on a statewide basis," Russell added. The change comes after the Justice Department released a report last week that cited cases of racial profiling and bigotry by police and chided what it described as a profit-driven municipal court system in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb where Brown, 18, was shot by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9. The shooting prompted protests in the St. Louis area and across the nation. A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Justice Department both declined to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson, who resigned from the department. The Justice Department report said Wilson acted in self-defense when he shot Brown. But the Justice Department said Ferguson's police and court systems functioned as a money-making enterprise that heightened tensions among residents. The federal report noted that Ferguson was counting on revenues from fines and fees to generate $3.1 million, or nearly one-quarter of its total $13.3 million budget for the 2015 fiscal year. Although it was rare for the court to sentence people to jail as a penalty for city code violations, the Justice Department report said the city's court almost always imposes monetary penalties and then issues arrest warrants when people fail to pay on time or miss a court date. As a result, relatively minor violations can — and frequently do — lead to arrests and jail time, the report said. The federal report also cited several instances in which Ferguson's municipal judge, court clerk or city prosecutor helped "fix" tickets for colleagues and friends. The report cited the forgiven tickets for Ferguson officials as evidence of "a double standard grounded in racial stereotyping." It said Ferguson officials displayed "a striking lack of personal responsibility among themselves" while some nonetheless asserted to federal investigators that the city's African-American residents lacked "personal responsibility." Attorney Bert Fulk said in a statement announcing Brockmeyer's resignation that Brockmeyer had been "fair and impartial" as a part-time judge and that the court clerk bore the primary responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the court. The city fired court clerk Mary Ann Twitty last week. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon released a written statement Monday praising the "strong and appropriate actions by the Missouri Supreme Court" to overhaul the Ferguson municipal court. Monday's appointment of a new Ferguson judge drew mixed reviews among a dozen onlookers at that night's council meeting. Derrick Robinson, a protest organizer, said the move was "letting us know they're hearing our cry, and I think it's a good step in reconstructing Ferguson." Meldon Moffitt, of St. Louis, countered that it wouldn't make anything better, adding "the only way we can clean up Ferguson is to wipe out the police force, wipe out the courts and wipe out the judges." ___ Follow David A. Lieb at: https://twitter.com/DavidALieb ___ Associated Press writers Jim Suhr and Jim Salter contributed to this report from Ferguson. \|\|\|\|\| In the first session since the Missouri Supreme Court took over Ferguson's municipal court, Judge Roy L. Richter began with a detailed overview of the state's court system, and then announced he was lowering some of the fines.	– The Missouri Supreme Court is helping with the housecleaning in Ferguson: The court says that to "restore public trust and confidence" in the municipal court division, it's taking the "extraordinary action" of reassigning all municipal court cases to a state appeals court judge, reports the New York Times. Ronald Brockmeyer, the Ferguson judge who doubles up as a prosecutor, resigned from both roles yesterday. The 70-year-old tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he doesn't agree with a Justice Dept. report on the biased and "abusive" practices he allegedly played a key role in, including the "creative" use of fines and fees to raise money for the city, "but it's not worth fighting." The top Missouri court says it's assigning Judge Roy L. Richter to hear pending and future cases in Ferguson, and the appeals court judge will also have the power to "restore the integrity of the system" with a revamp of municipal policies, reports the AP. The court says it is also looking at statewide reforms. St. Louis University law professor Brendan Roediger tells the Times that this is the first case he knows of where a state court has taken over an entire municipal docket. "It's a very big deal because it actually is the solution," he says. "It puts the cases in front of full-time professional courts with no conflicts of interest."
"They were like, 'Talk loud because the engine will be roaring,'" Rogen laughed. "'You've got to talk over the engine; there's announcements early on in the flights. You've got to take that into consideration.'" But Rogen didn't just diss that promising-sounding but poorly received film. His self-deprecation also extended to The Green Hornet, which he cowrote with Evan Goldberg and starred in, calling it the "perfect storm of bad s--t happening". "We were making it for America and China at the same time," Goldberg added. "We shouldn't make expensive movies where he can't just do a million dick jokes," Rogen cracked. "That's what we've learned over the years. That's our strength. Play to your strengths."	– Critics did not enjoy Seth Rogen's last movie, Guilt Trip with Barbra Streisand, and it sounds like Rogen didn't, either. "We shot that movie in the format that plays on airplanes only," Rogen said on comedian Doug Benson's podcast last week, according to E!. "They were like, 'Talk loud because the engine will be roaring. You've got to talk over the engine; there's announcements early on in the flights. You've got to take that into consideration.'" He also sort-of dissed the poorly reviewed The Green Hornet, in which he not only starred but also co-wrote. "We were making it for America and China at the same time," and it ended up being the "perfect storm of bad s--- happening," he said. Lesson learned? Rogen says he should stick to movies involving "a million" penis jokes. "That's our strength. Play to your strengths." (Click to read about 10 other actors who have slammed their own projects.)
It was unclear how, exactly, that submission to the United Nations would take place. Christiana Figueres, a former top United Nations climate official, said there was currently no formal mechanism for entities that were not countries to be full parties to the Paris accord. Ms. Figueres, who described the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw as a “vacuous political melodrama,” said the American government was required to continue reporting its emissions to the United Nations because a formal withdrawal would not take place for several years. But Ms. Figueres, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change until last year, said the Bloomberg group’s submission could be included in future reports the United Nations compiled on the progress made by the signatories of the Paris deal. There are 195 countries committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions as part of the 2015 agreement. Still, producing what Mr. Bloomberg described as a “parallel” pledge would indicate that leadership in the fight against climate change in the United States had shifted from the federal government to lower levels of government, academia and industry. \|\|\|\|\| Bloomberg founder and CEO Michael Bloomberg has offered to make up the $15 million in funding that the United Nations stands to lose from U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Under the historic agreement, the U.S. would have been expected to contribute that amount to the operating budget of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the accord’s coordinating agency. “Americans are not walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement,” the billionaire philanthropist and former New York City mayor said on Thursday, according to the Washington Examiner. “Just the opposite — we are forging ahead.” Bloomberg believes that “non-state actors” will be able to achieve the United States’ 2025 emissions reduction target without the federal government’s support. In a draft letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, cited in the New York Times, he wrote: “The bulk of the decisions which drive U.S. climate action in the aggregate are made by cities, states, businesses, and civil society. Collectively, these actors remain committed to the Paris accord.” For more about the Paris Climate Agreement, watch Fortune’s video: Bloomberg joins a growing chorus of business leaders from various industries who have publicly denounced Trump’s withdrawal from the accord. Tesla (tsla) CEO Elon Musk and Disney’s (dis) Bob Iger both left the President’s advisory council in protest, while corporations such as Google (googl) and Shell have criticized the president’s move online.	– "Americans are not walking away from the Paris climate agreement," Fortune quotes Michael Bloomberg as saying. On Friday, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced it would commit $15 million to "support the operations" of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, which coordinates the Paris climate agreement, CNN reports. The $15 million will cover the US' share of the convention's operating budget. The executive secretary of the Framework Convention on Climate Change calls the money "crucial." On Thursday, after announcing the US was withdrawing from the Paris agreement, President Trump said the money the US had pledged to give the UN for climate matters was a "draconian" burden on the country. Bloomberg says he believes the US can hit its 2025 emissions reduction target laid out in the Paris climate agreement without the help of the federal government. "The bulk of the decisions which drive US climate action in the aggregate are made by cities, states, businesses, and civil society," the New York Times quotes Bloomberg as saying in a letter to the UN secretary-general. Bloomberg says the federal government doesn't determine how the US as a whole acts on climate change. "We're going to do everything America would have done if it had stayed committed," the former New York City mayor with an estimated worth of $50 billion says of group that includes mayors, governors, universities, and businesses.
UPDATE: JC Penney has since apologized for the wierd tweets. "Oops...Sorry for the typos. We were #TweetingWithMittens. Wasn't it supposed to be colder? Enjoy the game! #GoTeamUSA" Sounds like a cover up to us. What do you think? JC Penney has become a hot topic on social media after the retailer posted a tweet that made absolutely no sense and seemed to be written by someone typing under the influence. "Who kkmew theis was ghiong tob e a baweball ghamle. #lowsscorinh 5_0" read the tweet posted on Sunday evening. Presumably the post was in connection to the Super Bowl, however, whoever wrote it clearly had no idea what they were tweeting about. There has been no comment from the store's account. JC Penney's 'drunk tweet' has provoked some hilarious comments on the twittesphere. "Umm,@jcpenney, the intern you have doing your tweets is drunk," Tweeted one user. "If you need proof of how underperforming this brand is...RT @jcpenney," tweeted another. "Hacked by Macy's RT @jcpenney" suggested someone else. "Uhh..go home @jcpenney. Your social media person is drunk," tweeted one user. "Maybe @jcpenney's super creative Super Bowl ad strategy is alcohol." The controversy comes just two days after TIME reported that JCPenney was raising its prices in order to slash them again for Valentines Day. s. “They had us up all night changing the prices on everything,” one J.C. Penney jewelry salesperson told the magazine. The outdated retailer has been accused of the tactic known as "price anchoring" for years. "Toughdown Seadawks!! Is sSeattle going toa runaway wit h this??" they just tweeted, with no explanation of the previous comment. Toughdown Seadawks!! Is sSeattle going toa runaway wit h this??? — JCPenney (@jcpenney) February 3, 2014 Who is writing these tweets? #drunktweeting RT @jcpenney: Who kkmew theis was ghiong tob e a baweball ghamle. #lowsscorinh 5_0 — Christine Oliver (@ChristineOliver) February 2, 2014 Umm,@jcpenney, the intern you have doing your tweets is drunk. — Beth Szabo (@PolkaDotFoxTrot) February 2, 2014 \|\|\|\|\| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more	– JCPenney, drunk tweeter? Nah, it turns out the company's retail Twitter account was just pulling our collective leg—and attracting a little attention—by tweeting silly things, AdWeek reports. But it's kinda funny to see how the tweets drew the Doritos and Kia social media teams into taking potshots: JCPenney: Who kkmew theis was ghiong tob e a baweball ghamle. #lowsscorinh 5_0 JCPenney: Toughdown Seadawks!! Is sSeattle going toa runaway wit h this??? Kia: Hey @jcpenney need a designated driver? Doritos: Slow down, @jcpenney. Have some #Doritos . JCPenney: Oops...Sorry for the typos. We were #TweetingWithMittens . Wasn't it supposed to be colder? Enjoy the game! #GoTeamUSA. Yes, it was all to promote mittens. Very clever, JCP. But they're not always so funny: The Twitter stunt comes right after the retailer raised prices just to lower them for Valentine's Day, reports Latin Times. JCPenney has been accused of such "price anchoring" several times over the years.
Citation: Ordonez N, Seidl MF, Waalwijk C, Drenth A, Kilian A, Thomma BPHJ, et al. (2015) Worse Comes to Worst: Bananas and Panama Disease—When Plant and Pathogen Clones Meet. PLoS Pathog 11(11): e1005197. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197 Editor: Donald C. Sheppard, McGill University, CANADA Published: November 19, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Ordonez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited Funding: This research is funded by the Interdisciplinary Research and Education Funds (INREF) of Wageningen University (grant 2012, INREF III http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Research-Results/Projects-and-programmes/INREF/Research-programmes-1.htm) and Dioraphte VSM grant 14.03.01.00. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Bananas: Their Origin and Global Rollout The banana is the most popular fruit in the world and ranks among the top ten food commodities for Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America [1]. Notably, the crop is largely produced by small-holder farmers, with around 85% of the global production destined for local markets and only 15% entering international trade [1]. Bananas evolved in the Indo-Malayan archipelago thousands of years ago. The majority of all edible varieties developed from specific (inter- and intra-) hybridizations of two seeded diploid Musa species (M. acuminata and M. balbisiana) and subsequent selection of diploid and triploid seedless clones [2,3]. Despite rich genetic and phenotypic diversity [4], only a few clones developed, over time, into global commodities—either as dessert bananas, such as the triploid “Cavendish” clones, or as important staple foods such as cooking bananas and plantains [4,5]. Currently, bananas are widely grown in the (sub)tropics and are consumed in nearly all countries around the world, providing crucial nutrition for millions of people. Edible bananas reproduce asexually through rhizomes, but since the early 1970s, tissue culture has enabled mass production of cultivars [6]. This facilitates the rapid rollout of genetically identical plants, which have consumer-preferred traits and outstanding agronomical performance, onto vast acreages around the world. However, the typical vulnerability of monocultures to diseases has taken its toll on banana production over the last century. In 1876, a wilting disease of banana was reported in Australia [7], and in 1890, it was observed in the “Gros Michel” plantation crops of Costa Rica and Panama [8,9]. There it developed major epidemics in the 1900s that are among the worst in agricultural history [10], linking its most prone geographical area to its colloquial name: Panama disease. It was only in 1910 that the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc) was identified as the causal agent in Cuba, from which the name of the forma specialis was derived [10]. Genetic Diversity of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense, the Causal Agent of Panama Disease Foc belongs to the F. oxysporum species complex: a suite of asexual, morphologically similar, pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains affecting a wide variety of crops [11]. Foc likely co-evolved with its host species Musa in its center of origin [12–15]. Traditionally, phenotyping has identified three Foc races (1, 2, and 4) that cause disease in different subsets of banana and plantain cultivars [5,8]. However, Foc race designations are cumbersome and hence other methods unveiling genetic diversity were developed. Vegetative compatibility group (VCG) analyses largely divide Foc into 24 unique VCGs (VCG0120 through VCG0126 and VCG0128 through VCG01224) [5,13,16]. Later, DNA markers revealed the polyphyletic origin of Foc, as some VCGs are taxonomically closer to other F. oxysporum formae speciales than to other Foc VCGs [12,14,17]. Moreover, strains belonging to diverse VCGs infect particular banana cultivars and, hence, were grouped in the same race, suggesting that pathogenicity towards a specific cultivar evolved either convergently [5,12,14] or resulted from horizontal gene transfer among members of the F. oxysporum complex [18]. Overall, Foc lineages show a remarkable dichotomy, referred to as types or clades [12–14,19–22]. High-resolution genotyping-by-sequencing analyses using DArTseq—which generates short sequence reads after a genome-wide complexity reduction through restriction enzyme digestion [23]—validate and extend these findings (Fig 1). Based on genome-wide DArTseq markers, 24 Foc strains (representing all hitherto known VCGs) split into two groups. These largely corroborate the aforementioned clades, except for VCG0123 [13,14,20,22], VCG01210 [19], VCG01212 [20], and VCG01214 [21], which were occasionally reported in opposite clades, and VCGs 01221 to 01224, which were never classified before but now clearly belong to clade 2 (Fig 1). PPT PowerPoint slide PowerPoint slide PNG larger image larger image TIFF original image Download: Fig 1. Genetic diversity of the banana pathogen F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense. Genotyping-by-sequencing analyses of the hitherto identified 24 vegetative compatibility groups (VCG) in F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense resulted in 12,978 DArTseq markers that divide Foc into two distinct clades—clade 1 and clade 2. VCG01216 is considered the same as VCG01213 [13]. The labels for race 1 isolates are based on personal communications with I. Buddenhagen and M. Dita. Although VCG01213 contains all TR4 isolates that cause the current Panama disease epidemic in Cavendish bananas, VCG0120—which has also been considered as race 4 [5]—and VCG0124 [36] have also been recovered from symptomatic Cavendish plants. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197.g001 Unfortunately, it is not well known which VCGs (the so-called Foc race 1 strains) caused the Panama disease epidemic in “Gros Michel” and, hence, their geographical dissemination is still unclear (I. Buddenhagen and M. Dita, personal communications). The current epidemic in Cavendish bananas, however, is caused by VCG01213 [5], colloquially called Tropical Race 4 (TR4). Panama Disease: History Repeats Itself Large railway projects in Central America in the late 1800s facilitated industrial banana production and trade [10], which was entirely based on “Gros Michel” bananas [8]. The unparalleled vulnerability of “Gros Michel” to race 1 strains drove aggressive land-claiming policies in order to continue banana production. However, this did not stop the epidemic as Panama disease was easily entering these new areas through infected planting material. Hence, by the 1960s, the epidemic reached a tipping point with the total collapse of “Gros Michel” [9]. Fortunately, there was a remedy: Cavendish bananas—maintained as interesting specimens in botanical gardens in the United Kingdom and in the United Fruit Company collection in Honduras—were identified as resistant substitutes for “Gros Michel.” A new clone was “born” that, along with the new tissue culture techniques, helped save and globalize banana production [5,8,9]. However, in the late 1960s, Panama disease emerged in Cavendish bananas in Taiwan, but TR4 was only identified as its cause in 1994 [9,24,25]. Surprisingly, this initial outbreak did not awaken the banana industry and awareness levels remained low, despite the lack of any Cavendish replacement that met market demands and the susceptibility of many local banana cultivars to TR4 [5] (see also http://panamadisease.org/en/news/26). Thus, TR4 threatens not only the export trade but also regional food provision and local economies. Tropical Race 4, a Single Pathogen Clone, Threatens Global Banana Production Ever since TR4 destroyed the Cavendish-based banana industry in Taiwan, its trail in Southeast Asia seems unstoppable with incursions and expansions in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, and Yunnan as well as on the island of Hainan. Since the 1990s, TR4 has also wiped out Cavendish plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia; between 1997 and 1999, it significantly reduced the banana industry near Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was first observed in the early 2000s in a newly planted Cavendish banana farm in Davao (on island of Mindanao, Philippines), where it currently threatens the entire banana export trade [26]. Since 2013, incursions outside Southeast Asia were reported in Jordan [27], Pakistan, and Lebanon [28], informally announced in Mozambique and Oman, and just recently noted in the Tully region of Northern Queensland, Australia. By now, TR4 may have affected up to approximately 100,000 hectares, and it is likely that it will disseminate further—either through infected plant material, contaminated soil, tools, or footwear, or due to flooding and inappropriate sanitation measures [5,29]. Clearly, the current expansion of the Panama disease epidemic is particularly destructive due to the massive monoculture of susceptible Cavendish bananas. Foc is a haploid asexual pathogen [8] and is therefore expected to have a predominantly clonal population structure [13,14,19–22]. Comparison of re-sequencing data of TR4 isolates from Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the Philippines—with the publicly available reference genome sequence of Foc TR4 strain II-5 (http://www.broadinstitute.org/)—indeed shows a very low level of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (about 0.01%). This, together with a highly similar set of DArTseq markers, suggests that the temporal and spatial dispersal of TR4 is due to a single clone (Fig 2). This finding underscores the need for global awareness and quarantine campaigns in order to protect banana production from another pandemic that particularly affects vulnerable, small-holder farmers. PPT PowerPoint slide PowerPoint slide PNG larger image larger image TIFF original image Download: Fig 2. Phylogeography of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (TR4). (A) Geographical locations of proclaimed TR4 incursions in Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Different colors indicate if and how the genetic diversity of collected isolates was assessed. (B) Limited genetic diversity between multiple Foc TR4 isolates from distinct geographical locations revealed by hierarchical clustering, based on 4,298 DArTseq markers. Countries of origin for each of the TR4 isolates are indicated by different colors. (C) Phylogenetic analysis of selected Foc TR4 isolates (highlighted in bold in panel B) and related F. oxysporum species, based on whole-genome re-sequencing data. Phylogenetic tree analysis was performed using REALPHY [37], applying the PhyML algorithm for tree constructing (Foc II5 reference genome). The F. oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici and the F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense II5 genomes, as well as Foc race 4 and race 1 genomes, are publicly available at GenBank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/genomes/707). Robustness of the grouping was assessed by 500 bootstrap replicates, and thick branches indicate maximum support. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197.g002 Strategies for Sustainable Panama Disease Management Any disease management eventually fails in a highly susceptible monoculture. Managing Panama disease with its soil-borne nature, long latency period, and persistence once established is, therefore, impossible without drastic strategy changes. Evidently, exclusion is the primary measure to protect banana production, which requires accurate diagnosis based not only on visual inspection, as this overlooks important aspects of its genetic diversity and epidemiology. New molecular-based diagnostics rapidly detect TR4 in (pre)symptomatic plants [30], soil, and water and, hence, can be used for surveillance and containment, which are key to avoiding an encounter of TR4 with Cavendish monocultures. Additionally, a thorough understanding of Foc epidemiology and pathology is urgently required, as this facilitates developing effective methods to destroy infected plants and (biological) soil treatments, thus reducing the inoculum quantity. Furthermore, we showed that high-throughput genome analyses unveil Foc population diversity (Figs 1 and 2), rather than lengthy and cumbersome VCG analyses, which enables resistance deployment strategies. Finally, effective disease management cannot be achieved without adequate disease resistance levels. “Cavendish”-based somaclones [31] do not satisfy local or international industry demands (apart from the epidemiological risks), as this germplasm is, at most, only partially resistant to TR4 [32]. Instead, the substantial genetic diversity for TR4 resistance in (wild) banana germplasm, such as accessions of Musa acuminata ssp. malaccensis [4], can be exploited in breeding programs and/or along with various transformation techniques [33–35] to develop a new generation of banana cultivars in conformity with consumer preferences. Developing new banana cultivars, however, requires major investments in research and development and the recognition of the banana as a global staple and cash crop (rather than an orphan crop) that supports the livelihoods of millions of small-holder farmers. Until new, commercially viable, and resistant banana cultivars reach markets, any potential disease management option needs to be scrutinized, thereby lengthening the commercial lifespan of contemporary banana accessions. The current TR4 epidemic and inherent global attention should be the wake-up call for these much needed strategy changes. Supporting Information S1 Table. Isolate collection at Wageningen University and Research Center used in this study. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197.s001 (XLSX) \|\|\|\|\| Scientists at Wageningen University have demonstrated that the same clone of the Fusarium fungus is infecting Cavendish bananas in several countries dotted across the globe. This shows that this Fusarium clone, also known as Tropical Race 4, is continuing to spread despite the quarantine measures, with disastrous results for banana growers. The results from the research appeared today in the scientific journal PLOS Pathogens. Panama disease is caused by the Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense fungus. One of the Fusarium strains is called 'Tropical Race 4' (TR4) and infects many local banana varieties as well as the widely exported Cavendish banana, which is very susceptible to this strain. The soil-borne fungus enters the banana plant through the root and eventually kills the entire plant. Banana-growing plots infested with the fungus remain contaminated for many years. It is then no longer possible to cultivate bananas on such a plot of land, as new banana plants become infected too. Large areas of banana plantations in countries such as Jordan, Mozambique, China, the Philippines, Pakistan and Australia are no longer suitable for banana farming, as they have become infested with the Panama disease fungus. There are currently no means of combating the disease; only quarantine measures can prevent banana plantations from becoming infested. DNA investigation The researchers at Wageningen UR analysed the DNA of many fungus specimens from eight countries where the fungus has recently been identified, including Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan, in order to trace how Panama disease has come to spread to different locations across the globe. The research highlighted that the strains of the fungus, which were collected are genetically identical. The strains are clones. Gert Kema, banana expert at Wageningen UR, says: 'This research demonstrates that the quarantine measures and information provided around the globe apparently have not had the desired effect.' A tale of two clones Not only the TR4 fungus strain is a clone: all Cavendish bananas also share the same genes. Kema explains: 'The Cavendish banana is very susceptible to TR4. Therefore, the fungus can spread easily due to the worldwide monoculture of Cavendish bananas. That's why we have to intensify awareness campaigns to reach small and large-scale growers in order to help them with developing and implementing quarantine measures preventing the fungus from continued spreading.' The video will load shortly Worldwide approach needed to stop further spreading To stop further spreading, Kema's team is working with a large number of partners in different locations across the globe to develop short-term solutions for Panama disease management. Kema continues: 'We are gaining more and more insight into the scope of the issue. The ability to quickly identify infected banana plants and infested soils is extremely important in this respect. However, eventually we have to come up with long-term solutions, particularly host resistance, which can only be developed in strong multidisciplinary alliances with various partners and industry.' The video will load shortly Explore further: Panama disease detected in banana plantations in Pakistan and Lebanon More information: Nadia Ordonez et al. Worse Comes to Worst: Bananas and Panama Disease—When Plant and Pathogen Clones Meet, PLOS Pathogens (2015). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197	– If you like bananas, it's time to start savoring them while you still can. A deadly fungus that's been killing the plant since the 1960s has jumped continents, moving from where it ravaged crops for decades in Southeast Asia to parts of South Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa—and that's just since 2013, reports Quartz. The so-called "Panama" disease is spreading thanks to a single clone of the Fusarium fungus, also called Tropical Race 4, scientists report in the journal PLOS Pathogens. Worse still, one of the world's most popular bananas, the Cavendish, is particularly susceptible to this strain. The soil-borne fungus travels up the plant's roots, ultimately killing the plant and infesting entire banana plots, which are then contaminated for years. Entire swaths of banana plantations in Australia, China, the Philippines, Jordan, Mozambique, Pakistan, and beyond have been infested in the past two years, putting many farmers and families out of business and cutting them off from a major food source, reports PhysOrg. Right now the only way to fight the disease is through strict quarantine, so researchers are trying to spread the word about effective measures in the hopes of getting a step ahead of the fast-spreading fungus before it hits Latin America, where most of the world's bananas are grown. Once it lands there, notes Quartz, "the days of the iconic yellow fruit are numbered." (Some researchers hope it's possible to genetically modify bananas to resist the fungus.)
WASHINGTON ― The Environmental Protection Agency has frozen its grant programs, according to sources there. EPA staff has been instructed to freeze all its grants ― an extensive program that includes funding for research, redevelopment of former industrial sites, air quality monitoring and education, among other things ― and told not to discuss this order with anyone outside the agency, according to a Hill source with knowledge of the situation. An EPA staffer provided the information to the congressional office anonymously, fearing retaliation. It’s unclear whether the freeze is indefinite or temporary as the agency transitions fully to the Trump administration; the Senate has not yet confirmed Trump’s pick for EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt. It’s also not clear the immediate impact the grant freeze would have on programs across the country, since EPA grants are distributed at varying intervals and frequency. “I will say it’s pretty unusual for us to get these kinds of anonymous contacts from people at the agency, which makes me think it’s unusual,” said the Hill source. A source who works closely with states and territories on EPA grants said they heard from the agency on Tuesday evening that a review of grants would be done by Friday. Neither the Trump transition office nor the central press office at the EPA responded to a request for comment Monday. The Huffington Post received a message that was reportedly sent to staff Monday that seems to cover the current agency guidance on talking to the press in general, not just about the directive on grants. The memo states that the agency is imposing tight controls on external communication, including press releases, blog posts, social media and content on the agency website. I just returned from a briefing for Communication Directors where the following information was provided. These restrictions are effective immediately and will remain in place until further direction is received from the new Administration’s Beach Team. Please review this material and share with all appropriate individuals in your organization. If anyone on your staff receives a press inquiry of any kind, it must be referred to me so I can coordinate with the appropriate individuals in OPA. No press releases will be going out to external audiences. No social media will be going out. A Digital Strategist will be coming on board to oversee social media. Existing, individually controlled, social media accounts may become more centrally controlled. No blog messages. The Beach Team will review the list of upcoming webinars and decide which ones will go forward. Please send me a list of any external speaking engagements that are currently scheduled among any of your staff from today through February. Incoming media requests will be carefully screened. No new content can be placed on any website. Only do clean up where essential. List servers will be reviewed. Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press. I will provide updates to this information as soon as I receive it. (”Beach team” refers to staffers for the new administration working at the various agencies while new leadership is put in place; “OPA” most likely refers to the “Office of Public Affairs.”) There are clearly major changes underway at the EPA as the Trump team takes the helm. Trump appointed Myron Ebell, the director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute and a fierce EPA critic, to oversee the transition work at the agency. Axios reported Monday that the Trump team plans to cut $815 million from the agency’s budget, for programs like states and tribal assistance grants, climate programs and other “environment programs and management.” Pruitt has a long history of battling the agency over environmental regulations as the attorney general of Oklahoma, describing himself as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.” In a report later Monday night, ProPublica confirmed the freeze in an interview and reported it also includes EPA contracts. Ebell told ProPublica the freeze is to “make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen.” “This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but it’s very similar to what others have done,” he said. But a former Obama administration EPA official tells HuffPost that while “it is completely normal for incoming administrations to come in and take stock of what’s happening across an agency,” the Trump administration’s moves so far are “extreme, and very troubling, especially when it comes to both the grant freeze and the public communications.” “When it comes to the grants freeze, this could be especially problematic at the state level. EPA sends a huge amount of its budget to the states, where it is ultimately spent,” said the official. “That’s where you could ultimately see the most negative impacts, especially at times when states are already suffering budget challenges. Time will tell, but this is not a great start when it comes to supporting states or transparency and a commitment to sharing important information with the public.” HuffPost also reported Tuesday that staffers at several other federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, have also been told to shut down external communication for the time being. Do you work in a federal agency? Email us at scoops@huffingtonpost.com and let us know what you’re seeing and hearing. \|\|\|\|\| The headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. (Matt McClain/ The Washington Post) The Trump administration has instructed officials at the Environmental Protection Agency to freeze its grants and contracts, a move that could affect everything from state-led climate research to localized efforts to improve air and water quality to environmental justice projects aimed at helping poor communities. An email went out to employees in the agency’s Office of Acquisition Management within hours of President Trump’s swearing-in on Friday. “New EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately,” read the email, which was shared with The Washington Post. “Until we receive further clarification, which we hope to have soon, please construe this to include task orders and work assignments.” According to its website, each year the EPA awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants and other assistance agreements. For now, it appears, that funding is on hold, casting a cloud of uncertainty over one of the agency’s core functions, as well as over the scientists, state and local officials, universities and Native American tribes that often benefit from the grants. President Trump signed an executive order formally withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, an order establishing a federal hiring freeze and a third order reinstating the "Mexico City policy," on Jan. 23 at the White House. (Reuters) “EPA staff have been reviewing grants and contracts information with the incoming transition team,” an agency spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. “Pursuant to that review, the agency is continuing to award the environmental program grants and state revolving loan fund grants to the states and tribes; and we are working to quickly address issues related to other categories of grants.” The agency said the goal is to complete the grants and contracts review by the close of business Friday. It is unclear whether the move by the incoming administration was related to President Trump’s order Monday that federal agencies halt hiring in all areas on the executive branch except for the military, national security and public safety, which also curbed contracting as a way of compensating for the freeze. “Contracting outside the Government to circumvent the intent of this memorandum shall not be permitted,” the memorandum states. [Trump’s regulatory freeze halts four Obama rules aimed at promoting greater energy efficiency] Administration officials inserted the language in an apparent attempt to curb the growth in federal contracts that arose during previous freezes imposed under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. But the total halt in contracts and grants for a single agency appeared to go beyond that specific provision, which applied solely to contracting activities in response to the halt in hiring. Myron Ebell, who oversaw the EPA transition for the new administration, told ProPublica on Monday that the freezing of grants and contracts was not unprecedented. “They’re trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first,” said Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an industry-backed group that has long sought to slash the authority of the EPA. “This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but it’s very similar to what others have done,” he told the publication. But not in recent history has such a blanket freeze taken place, and one employee told ProPublica he did not recall anything like it in nearly a decade with the agency. The move is likely to increase anxieties inside an already tense agency. Ebell and other transition officials have made little secret about their goal of greatly reducing the EPA’s footprint and regulatory reach. Trump has repeatedly criticized the EPA for what he calls a string of onerous, expensive regulations that are hampering businesses. And his nominee to run the agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has repeatedly sued the EPA over the years, challenging its legal authority to regulate everything from mercury pollution to various wetlands and waterways to carbon emissions from power plants. 1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × A look at President Trump’s first 100 days View Photos The beginning of the president’s term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. Caption The beginning of the president’s term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Read more: Trump names Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general suing EPA on climate change, to head the EPA Meet the man Donald Trump is counting on to scale back the EPA Trump freezes hiring of many federal workers For more, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter here and follow us on Twitter here. \|\|\|\|\| The Trump administration has imposed a freeze on grants and contracts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a move that could affect a significant part of the agency’s budget allocations and even threaten to disrupt core operations ranging from toxic cleanups to water quality testing, according to records and interviews. In one email exchange obtained by ProPublica on Monday, an EPA contracting officer concluded a note to a storm water management employee this way: “Right now we are in a holding pattern. The new EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately. Until we receive further clarification, this includes task orders and work assignments.” Asked about any possible freeze and its implications, EPA officials did not provide an answer. One EPA employee aware of the freeze said he had never seen anything like it in nearly a decade with the agency. Hiring freezes happened, he said, but freezes on grants and contracts seemed extraordinary. The employee said the freeze appeared to be nationwide, and as of Monday night it was not clear for how long it would be in place. The substance of the email exchange was confirmed by one senior EPA employee with over 20 years at the agency. An EPA lawyer also said that earlier communications had described such a freeze. Monday night, Myron Ebell, who ran the EPA transition for the incoming administration, confirmed the basics of the freeze, but said the actions were not unprecedented. “They’re trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first,” said Ebell, who returned over the weekend to his position directing energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market, industry-aligned group that has long fought the EPA’s growth and influence. “This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but it’s very similar to what others have done,” he said. President Trump has nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the EPA. Pruitt has deep ties to the fossil fuel industry, and formed an alliance between the industry and other attorneys general to fight former President Baracks Obama’s climate proposals. He is seen as a hero among conservatives who believe the EPA oversteps its federal authority. Pruitt faced tough questioning and even outright skepticism during his initial confirmation hearing last week. The Washington Examiner published a statement Monday by Tom Carper, the Delaware Democrat and ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, saying, "Following the committee hearing on Scott Pruitt's nomination to head the EPA, serious questions remain about the nominee's record and vision for the agency he seeks to lead." Much about any freeze at the EPA remains unclear, including whether it affects only new grants and contracts, or may also affect the roughly $6.4 billion worth of federal contracts the EPA already has in place. EPA press offices across the country did not immediately respond to calls and emails requesting comment. The EPA routinely contracts out services ranging from hazardous waste handling to drinking water quality testing. More than 600 active contracts with businesses ranging from small minority-owned consulting companies to institutions as big as Colorado State University can be explored here. The environmental agency’s grants are used to support private, state and municipal level environmental testing, remediation and innovation projects. Together those programs can total more in spending than an entire year’s budget for the agency. The EPA awarded roughly $1.4 billion worth of contracts and $9.6 billion in grants in 2013, the latest year for which data was available, according to the government spending website InsideGov.com. The agency’s total budget in 2016 was $8.6 billion. A freeze on payments would appear consistent with other actions taken on Monday, including President Trump signing an executive order instituting a hiring freeze for new federal workers — a centerpiece of the pledge he made in his “Contract with the American Voter” during the presidential campaign. If anyone has more information on recent events at the EPA, please contact us. Abrahm Lustgarten contributed reporting to this story.	– The Environmental Protection Agency is stuck in what insiders call a "holding pattern" after a Trump administration order that freezes all EPA grants and contracts. "New EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately,” an email obtained by the Washington Post states. "Please construe this to include task orders and work assignments," states the email, which was sent on Friday, within hours of Trump's swearing in. The email says the agency hopes to receive more clarification soon on the order, which could affect everything from climate research and education to waste handling and water testing. Trump has nominated longtime EPA critic Scott Pruit to run the agency. Myron Ebell, the prominent climate skeptic who ran the EPA transition for the Trump team, tells ProPublica that the move isn't unusual, though it may be wider than what previous administrations have done. "They're trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first," he says. A source tells the Huffington Post that EPA staffers have been ordered not to discuss the freeze with anybody outside the agency. There also has been a freeze on EPA press releases and social media postings, according to a memo obtained by the HuffPo. (On Monday, Trump brought in a federal hiring freeze.)
In a warren of offices at a former bank building near Madison Square Garden, dozens of journalists are at work on gleaming new electronic equipment, ready to turn their test runs of Al-Jazeera America into the real thing. This undated publicity image released by Al-Jazeera America shows news anchor John Seigenthaler. Seigenthaler will host Al-Jazeera America’s central nightly newscast when the network goes on the air next... (Associated Press) The Qatar-based news organization will finally establish a firm foothold on American television Tuesday after a decade of trying. At 3 p.m. EDT, Al Gore's former Current TV will turn out the lights in more than 45 million TV homes, replaced by the new U.S. affiliate of Al-Jazeera. The network has hired many veterans of U.S. television, including John Seigenthaler, Joie Chen, Antonio Mora and Sheila MacVicar, and is promising a meaty diet of news that it believes will contrast with the opinionated talk that dominates American news networks. "We're breaking in with something that we think is unique and are confident, with our guts and some research, that the American people are looking for," said Kate O'Brian, the former ABC News executive who is now Al-Jazeera America's president. The dozens of flat-screen TVs and occupied desks scattered around marble pillars in AJA's New York office indicate this is no cheap startup. And this is temporary; the network is looking for a larger office in New York but wanted to start quickly after buying out Current in January. Bureaus are also being established in 11 other American cities. Until Al-Jazeera America revealed a prime-time schedule last week, there were few indications of what the network would look like. Scheduled shows include a nightly newscast anchored by Seigenthaler, a newsmagazine hosted by Chen, a news talk show with Mora and a business program starring Ali Velshi. It's still not clear what will be shown in the mornings and whether much of the broadcast day will be devoted to documentary-style programming or live news. With its domestic bureaus, AJA will seek out stories beyond the towers of New York and government buildings in Washington, said Ehab Al Shihabi, the network's interim CEO. Besides those two cities, bureaus are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Detroit, Chicago, Denver, Miami, Seattle, Nashville, Tenn., and New Orleans. "I am here because the promise of doing good work is just exceptional," said David Doss, a veteran of ABC, NBC and CNN who is Al-Jazeera America's senior vice president of news programming. Al-Jazeera is well-established overseas, and the American network will take advantage of its 70 bureaus. But executives have been careful to stress that AJA will be geared toward American tastes. They have a careful line to walk: Al-Jazeera doesn't want to remind Americans of when Bush administration officials questioned its independence in the months after the terrorist attacks, and the years when American cable operators wanted nothing to do it. Tight security is evident at the New York office. A visitor last week needed to go through an airport-style metal detector and be checked by two guards. The American launch has caused some internal dissension. A memo to his bosses from Marwan Bishara, an Al-Jazeera political analyst, suggested that executives have gone too far to ingratiate themselves with a U.S. audience. "How have we moved from the main idea that the strength of (Al-Jazeera) lies in the diversity, plurality and even accents of its journalists to a channel where only Americans work?" Bishara wrote, his memo made public by The Guardian newspaper in England. Bishara said that asking potential viewers in a poll whether they consider Al-Jazeera to be anti-American sends a bad message. Bishara worries that Al-Jazeera will water down its journalism for an American audience, "and nothing could be further from the truth," said Paul Eedle, deputy launch manager. Being bold _ not bland _ is the secret to success, he said. The Al-Jazeera English network, which has disseminated its programming online and over some widely scattered cable systems during the past decade, is generally straightforward in its news coverage, said Philip Seib, a professor of journalism and public policy at the University of Southern California, who has written a book about Al-Jazeera. "That's what's encouraging about Al-Jazeera America," Seib said. A focus on technology and science-oriented programs indicate an effort to reach smart, younger viewers, he said. Dave Marash, a former Al-Jazeera English reporter, said he believes that AJA will be able to produce the solid news reporting it is counting on to distinguish itself from its competition. "Almost all of their hires are respectable people with real careers and real records," Marash said. "Several are flat-out outstanding _ Sheila MacVicar is outstanding. I'm optimistic." AJA will be available in less than half of American homes at its launch. The Time Warner cable system, for example, dropped Current when the sale was announced. AJA is negotiating with Time Warner and carriers like Cablevision that didn't carry Current in the first place, to get in more homes. But people at the network expect a wait-and-see period. Another handicap is the channel's location on cable systems. Current was often given a high-numbered channel that makes it much less likely that viewers would find it by chance; AJA said it is working to improve that. Even with Al-Jazeera rarely available on TV in the U.S., the Al-Jazeera English network had a substantial following online. But that will end; as a condition of being carried on cable systems, Al-Jazeera will no longer be able to send out a live Internet stream of its programming. That seems unwise, Marash said. Essentially, Al-Jazeera will be trading a young and growing audience online _ the distribution form that best represents the industry's future _ for a smaller, older television audience, he said. "None of this makes any sense unless you talk about it in the context of ego," Marash said. AJA has said little about its online plans. Al Shihabi said the company's goal is to get near-universal carriage on television, making the worries about the online audience moot. "We are not coming here to compete," Al Shihabi said. "We are coming here to win." ___ EDITOR'S NOTE _ David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org or on Twitter (at)dbauder. His work can be found at http:bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder. \|\|\|\|\| Network will be broadcast across nearly 50m homes in the US on Tuesday with ambitious effort to provide quality in-depth content In a 24-hour cable news world where sensationalist reporting, warring talking-heads and shrinking staff reign supreme, Al Jazeera America is launching an ambitious effort to provide quality, in-depth content on Tuesday. "There will be less opinion, less yelling and fewer celebrity sightings," the channel's acting chief executive, Ehab al-Shihabi, told reporters on a conference call last week. If the operation fulfills this claim, it will be sitting opposite the popular networks who have made their millions on this formula. Al Jazeera America will be available to nearly half of the country's 100 million television subscribers on Tuesday afternoon when it overtakes Current TV's distribution network, which it acquired in January for $500m. By taking over the station, Al Jazeera America is susceptible to the risks of having a high-numbered channel far from its competitors grouped together in the lower, more accessible, digits. American cable companies have been reluctant to include Al Jazeera in their television packages, because of what some commentators call an "anti-American" bias. Marwan Bishara, one of the network's most prominent journalists, voiced fears that the network will sacrifice its bold approach to assuage these criticisms in an extensive email sent to company executives in June. It also has to let go of Al Jazeera English, currently available to a small amount of US cable subscribers and to stream online until Tuesday. During crises in the Middle East, the channel and online stream are one of the few resources Americans have providing live, extensive coverage of events. During the Arab Spring, the live stream had more than 1.6m views and the network was endorsed by Hillary Clinton, then the US secretary of state, who called its coverage "real news." This service will be missed as events continue to unfold in Egypt, which has seen violent unrest since president Mohammed Morsi was ousted in July. In an era of rapidly declining journalism jobs and dismal news profits, the network has built up an unusually large outfit of 900 employees – 400 of whom are on the news team – an extensive network of freelancers and 12 US bureaus, with the potential for more. This is made possible by the oil-rich Qatar government, which funds the news agency. Al Jazeera representatives have said the American audience is interested in a more substantive 24-hour news network and are promising content that does just that. With only six minutes of commercials per hour – far less than the usual 16 on most US networks – Al Jazeera America will feature documentary films, a hearty online news section and a 16-person investigative reporting team. The latter is particularly unique in a country where the archetype of 24-hour cable news – CNN – recently dissolved its entire investigate team. The beta-version of their news site on Monday featured stories on Egypt, Guantanamo Bay and farm workers in Washington – the final of which has been subject to little media coverage. Al-Shihabi and company representatives have said that the intent of Al Jazeera is to create journalism in the public interest instead of "infotainment." \|\|\|\|\| Would-be competitors at big broadcast news divisions like NBC and established cable news channels like CNN have mostly shrugged at the start-up. A senior television news executive predicted that Al Jazeera America would, at the outset, receive even lower ratings than the channel it is replacing, Current TV . Last month the lame-duck Current had about 24,000 viewers in prime time, according to Nielsen data; Fox News had 1.3 million. Al Jazeera acquired Current TV for $500 million in January to start an American channel, after trying unsuccessfully for years to win cable and satellite carriage for its English-language international news channel. But with carriage comes concessions. Since distributors discourage their partners from giving programming away on the Internet, Al Jazeera will have to block American users from the live streams of its programming that tend to be popular in periods of tumult overseas. Al Jazeera will start in about 48 million of the country’s roughly 100 million homes that subscribe to television. It is in talks with Time Warner Cable , which publicly dropped Current TV upon Al Jazeera’s acquisition. Meanwhile, one of Al Jazeera’s overseas rivals, the British Broadcasting Corporation , continues to press for wider carriage of BBC World News in America. What is unique about Al Jazeera — its seemingly limitless financing from an oil- and gas-rich government — may be its biggest advantage and its most-remarked-upon weakness. Advertisement Continue reading the main story With a staff of 900, including 400 newsroom employees, it is one of the most significant investments in television journalism in modern times. Photo Paul Eedle, an Al Jazeera English executive who is helping to start the channel, would not comment on the total budget, but said hundreds of millions of dollars were being spent. “We’re here because we think our journalistic mission has something to offer America,” he said. Many contend Qatar’s geopolitical aims are a motivator, too. The Al Jazeera name still arouses deep suspicion in some Americans, mostly because of the period immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when Al Jazeera broadcast messages from Osama bin Laden and was demonized by Bush administration officials as anti-American. Al Jazeera America officials rebut questions about whether its brand name will hurt its chances on cable by invoking other foreign brands, like Honda , that are now viewed favorably in the United States. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. For now, some big sponsors appear to be skittish; Al Jazeera declined to name any major advertisers. It has cast its lower commercial load — about six minutes an hour, compared with more than 15 minutes an hour on another news channels — as a perk for viewers. “Not cluttering the news with commercials,” Mr. Al Shihabi said after a studio tour in New York on Thursday. He was swarmed by reporters, evincing widespread interest — at least among journalists — in the premiere of the channel. “I am reminded of three other news organization launches in the U.S. that were transformative,” Bob Meyers, president of the National Press Foundation, wrote in a blog post last week. “One was the launch of CNN on June 1, 1980; the second was the launch of Bloomberg News in 1990; and the third was the launch of Politico in 2007.” He suggested that Al Jazeera America was in the same category, saying, “Could be fun, and even beneficial, to watch.” On Tuesday, the anchors will look vaguely familiar: most have histories at one or more of the major American television networks. Some of them, like John Seigenthaler, had left the business and said they thought they would not take another job in television, until Al Jazeera came along. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “They said: ‘We want to do real news. We want to give it context and perspective and make it balanced and in-depth.’ I thought, ‘Gee, this is a dream come true,’ ” he said. Mr. Seigenthaler (the anchor of the weekend editions of “NBC Nightly News” until 2007) will kick off prime time at 8 p.m. with a straightforward newscast. “America Tonight,” a newsmagazine, will follow at 9 p.m. It will be hosted by Joie Chen (a CBS News correspondent until 2008), and has been billed as Al Jazeera’s flagship program. Antonio Mora (a former “Good Morning America” news anchor who spent the last 10 years at local stations) will take over at 10 p.m. with a talk show called “Consider This.” Al Jazeera’s approach — more time for more serious journalism — is an implicit criticism of the other options for news on television. Mr. Mora said he had sensed far less commercial pressure at Al Jazeera than at local stations where he had worked. “There’s a sense here of the news being a public trust,” he said. None of the anchors said they had felt any slant in coverage plans, pro-Qatar or otherwise, despite accounts from some former Al Jazeera English employees of interference from above. In interviews, the anchors made offhand remarks that it is hard to imagine counterparts at other networks making. For instance, Ms. Chen asked: “How big does our audience need to be? I don’t know. Nobody talks about that here.” She was scheduled to be in South Dakota over the weekend, filing stories from an Indian reservation. “That’s not even a pitch I would have made in my old newsroom,” she said, because of budget limitations. “Here, we never have any debate about resources,” she said. “It’s like this: ‘Is that a good story?’ ‘Yes, it’s a good story.’ ‘Then go tell it.’ ”	– Al Jazeera America launches this afternoon, and while some analysts believe the channel's entry to cable line-ups is a development as important as the launch of CNN or the Fox News Channel, others wonder if the new channel and its formula of serious, in-depth news will ever be able to attract more than a handful of viewers. The channel has decided to focus heavily on US news, and its "seemingly limitless financing" from the Qatari government may be "its biggest strength and its most remarked-upon weakness," writes Brian Stelter at the New York Times. With 900 staff, it is "one of the most significant investments in TV journalism in modern times," he notes. The channel has bureaus in New York City; Washington, DC; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Dallas; Detroit; Chicago; Denver; Miami; Seattle; Nashville; and New Orleans. The channel's chief executive has promised "less opinion, less yelling, and fewer celebrity sightings," reports the Guardian, which notes that its 16-person investigative team sets it apart from peers like CNN, which recently ditched its entire investigative team. Advertisers, however, seem wary, and AJA will start out with just six minutes of commercials per hour. Former Al Jazeera English reporter Dave Marash believe AJA's focus on solid news will help it make its mark. "Almost all of their hires are respectable people with real careers and real records," he tells the AP. "Several are flat-out outstanding—Sheila MacVicar is outstanding. I'm optimistic." Other major hires include John Seigenthaler, Joie Chen, and Antonio Mora. But the new channel faces plenty of hurdles: It will be available in fewer than half of US homes; and like Current TV, which it replaces, cable systems have given it high-numbered channels unlikely to draw in many channel viewers. Some Americans are still suspicious of the Al Jazeera name, as well.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two pilots in a helium-filled balloon on a record-setting journey across the Pacific Ocean entered the final leg of their trip Friday as they traveled along the California coast for an expected landing somewhere in Mexico. In Monday, Jan. 26, 2015 photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25,... (Associated Press) In this photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in their... (Associated Press) In this photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in their... (Associated Press) The pilots made history Thursday, first matching and then surpassing the 5,209-mile (8,383-kilometer) official world distance record for human flight in a gas balloon. Their next milestone is a 1978 duration record of 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds in the air in a traditional gas balloon — a mark that's considered the "holy grail" of ballooning achievements. The Two Eagles team expected to surpass that Friday morning. They hope to land Saturday somewhere on the peninsula of Baja California, where volunteer chase crews were being organized to help with the landing. The balloon team originally planned to cross into North America in Canada but shifted the plans because of changing weather. They are now catching a wind pattern that will take them south toward Mexico. The balloon was about 400 miles northwest of San Francisco when it hit the distance mark. Everyone inside the control room had their smartphones pointed at the screen to document the moment. "There it is! There it is!" shouted team members at the flight's mission control in Albuquerque as a giant screen showed the helium-filled Two Eagles balloon passing the record set by the Double Eagle V in 1981. In a matter of hours, they hit another milestone in similar fashion when they reached the 5,260-mile mark. That's the distance — 1 percent more than the current record — they needed to meet in their quest to establish a record under international aviation rules. The distance still has to be confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, a process that can take weeks. "We're not taking any time to celebrate," said Steve Shope, head of mission control. "We have a lot of work we have to do, and we're just taking this flight one hour at a time." The Two Eagles pilots, Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia, are aiming to set both distance and duration records with their flight from Saga, Japan, which began shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday Japan time. The duration record was set in 1978 when Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight. The pilots had been aiming for Canada until a high-pressure ridge formed off the U.S. West Coast, forcing a sweeping right turn toward Mexico, where they now plan to land on Saturday. The shifting weather patterns resulted in a flurry of decision-making that made for a hard night for the pilots and mission control. Shope said the pilots were in better spirits Thursday after getting some sleep, but he acknowledged that being on oxygen for that many days and the high altitude can take a physical toll. Because weather conditions vary at different altitudes, the pilots traded speed and altitude throughout Thursday so the balloon would track to the south. "It's a pretty sophisticated dance up there," said Ray Bair, a member of the mission control team. The balloon is outfitted with an array of monitors and other instruments that are tracking its course and compiling data to be submitted to the record-keepers. With a massive, helium-filled envelope and a specially-designed carbon fiber-composite capsule, it was designed to stay aloft for up to 10 days, but the loss of gas and ballast has shortened that time by a couple of days. The last task will be a safe landing. Sand dunes along the peninsula were looking like the best option, Bair said. There are more favorable spots immediately along the Mexican coast, but then come the mountains. ___ Online: http://pacificballoon.com/tracking/index.php https://twitter.com/twoeaglesteam \|\|\|\|\| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption No-one has crossed the Pacific Ocean in a gas balloon since 1981, as Alistair Leithead reports Two pilots have surpassed the world distance and duration records with a flight across the Pacific Ocean in a helium balloon. American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev left Japan on Sunday and had aimed to land in Canada or the US. However, weather has forced them to change course towards Mexico where they are due to land sometime on Saturday. To set records the team needed to beat the existing records by 1%. For duration that meant staying aloft for about 138 hours and 45 minutes to beat the existing record set in 1981. For distance that meant a journey of about 5,260 miles (8,465km) to beat the existing record of 5,209 miles set in 1981. The hi-tech "Two Eagles" balloon is made of a strong Kevlar and carbon-fibre composite, but weighs only 220 pounds (100kg). It is fitted with monitors and other instruments that track their course and compile data to be submitted to record-keepers. The specially-designed capsule sits beneath a huge helium-filled envelope and is designed to stay aloft for up to 10 days. The pilots live in a closet-like space with a very low ceiling. Image copyright AP Image caption The Two Eagles balloon is capable of staying aloft for up to 10 days Image copyright Troy Bradley/Two Eagles Image caption The gas balloon took off from Saga, Japan, on 24 January Image copyright Troy Bradley/Two Eagles Image caption The colour-coded cords help the pilots know how much ballast or expendable weight is used during the flight Image copyright Troy Bradley/Two Eagles Image caption The balloon is set to land in Mexico after weather conditions changed the flight plan On Thursday, the Two Eagles team tweeted: "The pilots have just surpassed the distance needed to set a new record. 5,261 miles or 8,467km." "We're not taking any time to celebrate,'' said head of mission control Steve Shope. "We have a lot of work we have to do, and we're just taking this flight one hour at a time." On its website, the team says Two Eagles will not have officially broken the records until documentation is approved by the US National Aeronautic Association followed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale - a process that could take several weeks or months. In 1978, three pilots made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight in 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds, setting the duration record in the process. Americans Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman travelled on the Double Eagle II balloon from Presque Isle, Maine, to Miserey, France, about 60 miles (95km) northwest of Paris. The Double Eagle II gondola is displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. Two Eagles facts The Two Eagles craft is a helium-filled gas balloon. "Roziere Balloons", which use both hot-air and gas, are the only ones that have circled the earth. Depending on weather conditions, the balloon flies between 12,000 to 30,000 feet (9,100m) above the ground The craft is about five feet (150cm) wide, seven feet long, and five feet high, weighing only 220 pounds (100kg). The balloon started its journey carrying about 11,000 pounds of sand for ballast In 1981, the Double Eagle V was the first gas balloon to successfully cross the Pacific Ocean and set the existing distance record. Crew members Mr Abruzzo, Mr Newman, Ron Clark and Rocky Aoki made it from Nagashima, Japan, to Mendocino National Forest in California in 84 hours and 31 minutes. The current team named its craft in honour of the existing record holders. Two Eagles can stay in the air for a maximum of 10 days; it is now day five of the journey. At the moment, it is not clear exactly where the Two Eagles balloon will land. The team had been aiming for Canada but a ride of high-pressure ridge off the US West Coast forced the balloon into a sweeping right turn toward Mexico. A network of balloon enthusiasts has been organised to act as chase crews, but correspondents say it remains unclear if the balloon will be able to land in a place where a ground crew can help them. \|\|\|\|\| ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Two balloonists crossing over the Pacific Ocean from Japan surpassed a distance record on Thursday for gas-filled balloon travel and are heading toward a landing in Mexico's Baja California in two days, officials said. Balloon Pilots Troy Bradley, an American, and Leonid Tiukhtyaev, a Russian, who are collectively dubbed "Two Eagles" had traveled more than 5,260 miles (8,465 km) by Thursday afternoon, according to a tracking website set up for their journey. They have surpassed the distance record of 5,209 miles (8,383 km) for gas balloons set on the only previous manned trans-Pacific flight, in 1981. The pilots are more than 250 miles (400 km) west-northwest of San Francisco, California. When they eclipsed the distance record, a round of applause broke out in the mission control room at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum in New Mexico and people there posed for pictures with the mile counter, said Art Lloyd Jr, a mission support control worker at the site. "We're really excited and just now concentrating on getting them to a nice safe landing," Lloyd said. Meanwhile, the pilots who took off on Saturday from Japan are pursuing a flight duration record of 137 hours aloft set in 1978 by a team crossing the Atlantic. That is expected to happen on Friday morning, Lloyd said. The pilots are on track to land in Baja California, in Mexico, on Saturday, said officials with the Balloon Museum. The balloon, which relies solely on an enclosed chamber of helium gas for lift, is different from hot air balloons and so-called Roziere balloons, which rely on both hot air and lighter-than-air gas. Roziere balloons have by far the greatest range of the three types. Lloyd said the cramped conditions of the capsule has not affected the pilots, who have subsisted on a diet that includes fresh fruit, freeze-dried hikers' meals, beef jerky and the occasional hot meal from a small stove. They are equipped with cold weather gear including sleeping bags and a heater. They had earlier taken a track that would have brought them to southwestern Canada, but because of weather changes, they opted for the path toward Mexico, officials said. Their records must be officially certified by the National Aeronautic Association and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, which can take months, a mission spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Joseph J. Kolb; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)	– Two balloonists who took off from Japan early on Sunday have sailed past the world distance record and are still in the sky. American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev— the "Two Eagles"—passed the old record of 5,261 miles yesterday and are due to pass the balloon duration record of 137 hours aloft, set during the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight in 1978, some time today, reports the BBC. "We're not taking any time to celebrate,'' the head of mission control says. "We have a lot of work we have to do, and we're just taking this flight one hour at a time." A worker at mission control, which is based in a balloon museum in Albuquerque, tells Reuters that the balloonists are doing fine despite cramped conditions in the capsule, where they are equipped with cold-weather gear and are living on freeze-dried hikers' meals. The men had originally planned to land in Canada, but they changed course because of weather conditions and are due to land in Baja California, Mexico, on Saturday. Chase crews are being organized to help the landing, which mission control says will probably be among sand dunes on the peninsula, the AP reports.
Red Riding Hood (2011) The bluenose brigade at the Motion Picture Association of America has stamped “ Red Riding Hood ” with a PG-13 rating for “violence and creature terror, and some sensuality.” Certainly this goofily amusing screen fairy tale includes bloodshed, but it’s generally tamer than its often-gruesome source. The creature terror meanwhile isn’t remotely frightening, though the designated mustache twirler (and scene chewer) Gary Oldman tries to rustle up scares. As to sensuality, Amanda Seyfried as You-Know-Who makes a delectable treat whether heaving her bosom or boogieing down in a bacchanal that’s more Burning Man than Bruegel . At this point in her short movie career Ms. Seyfried hasn’t often been asked to do more than hit her marks and deliver her lines, which she does appealingly in “Red Riding Hood.” What she mostly brings to her movies is otherworldly, unthreatening beauty — she has the saucer eyes and heart-shaped face of an anime pixie — and that elusive gift of cinematic presence. When she’s on camera, she draws all eyes to her, something that the director here, Catherine Hardwicke, grasps. Ms. Hardwicke is an uneven, at times careless filmmaker, but as she showed in movies like “Thirteen” and the first “Twilight,” she is attuned to beauty and has a way with young actors, tapping their energy so it buzzes on screen. From the start Ms. Hardwicke tries to make the case that this isn’t your granny’s favorite fairy tale. The story opens with its heroine, Valerie, as a child (Megan Charpentier), strolling about in trousers (the other girls are in dresses) while in voice-over Ms. Seyfried insists that she tried to be a good girl. But goodness had nothing to do with it, as Mae West once quipped, or so Ms. Hardwicke seems to want us to believe. Before long Valerie has run off with a boy pointedly named Peter (first D J Greenburg, later Shiloh Fernandez with hair gel), and they’re frolicking in the forest and snaring a rabbit. Valerie urges Peter to slay the animal, but he can’t or won’t, and the sequence ends with her holding a knife to the bunny like a natural-born killer. The suggestion that Red Riding Hood might be as much predator as prey isn’t new. She may be the intended victim, but she’s also the one who (after sizing up the wolf in bed) ends triumphant. It’s this blurring between the antagonists as well as the flexibility of the story’s morals and meanings that make it work well for different readers and writers. In the 17th century Charles Perrault turned an oral folk tale into “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge,” and three centuries later Angela Carter gave the story a wicked, feminist spin. Ms. Hardwicke doesn’t acknowledge “The Company of Wolves,” Carter’s brilliant retelling, but it’s probable that she read it or saw Neil Jordan’s dreary 1984 big-screen adaptation. But, my, what sharp teeth Ms. Hardwicke doesn’t have: working from David Leslie Johnson’s screenplay she takes on the story’s grown-up themes of sex and death directly but weakly. This might be because the movie has been pitched at young adults, as evidenced by its pretty leads, electronic soundtrack, contemporary vibe and veneer, and caution. Some of the updating works — a proto-hippie witchy woman, the grandmother (Julie Christie) now rocks the screen in dreadlocks — but at other times the modern touches feel like sloppiness or even pandering. It’s hard to know, for instance, if Ms. Hardwicke, a former production designer, didn’t notice that the clothing looks straight from the costume department, or whether she (or her producers) didn’t want to turn off their presumptive audience with anything, you know, old. The introduction of a religious zealot, Father Solomon (Mr. Oldman), adds some busywork drama and action. Summoned to vanquish the computer-generated wolf (an underfed brother to the ludicrous lupine beasts in the “Twilight” franchise), the padre arrives with an armed multicultural entourage and, in a flamboyant touch, a torture chamber cum Easy-Bake Oven shaped like an elephant. (Unlucky prisoners are slow-roasted inside.) At one point Valerie worries with good reason that Father Solomon might mistake her for a witch. But this nod at historic female troubles doesn’t go anywhere, largely because Valerie spends so much time negotiating between dueling loves, Peter and a wealthier suitor, Henry (Max Irons), while juggling her mother, Suzette (Virginia Madsen, rouged and Maybellined), and father, Cesaire (Billy Burke). When the wolf in one of Carter’s Red Riding Hood stories explains to the girl why he has big teeth — “All the better to eat you with” — she bursts out laughing. “She knew,” Carter writes, “she was nobody’s meat.” Her insouciance is thrilling. Ms. Hardwicke wants to have her feminism and fairy tale, but Carter’s no-prisoners bad attitude is too far out for an entertainment like “Red Riding Hood,” where only the appearance of girl power will finally do. Given this, it’s worth noting that Ms. Hardwicke, who is deeply enamored of aerial photography, sends the camera repeatedly soaring over the landscape where sometimes a woman in a red cloak as vivid as blood walks with a man across the snowy expanse. It’s a striking image suggestive of freedom, though perhaps it’s really just the guy who this little fairy-tale fugitive needs to escape from. “Red Riding Hood” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Wolf violence and make-out sessions. RED RIDING HOOD Opens on Friday nationwide. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke; written by David Leslie Johnson; director of photography, Mandy Walker; edited by Nancy Richardson; music by Brian Reitzell and Alex Heffes; production design by Tom Sanders; costumes by Cindy Evans; produced by Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Leonardo DiCaprio and Julie Yorn; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. WITH: Amanda Seyfried (Valerie), Megan Charpentier (Young Valerie), Gary Oldman (Solomon), Billy Burke (Cesaire), Shiloh Fernandez (Peter), D J Greenburg (Young Peter), Max Irons (Henry), Virginia Madsen (Suzette), Lukas Haas (Father Auguste) and Julie Christie (Grandmother). \|\|\|\|\| Red Riding Hood (PG-13) Ebert: Users: Red Riding Hood BY ROGER EBERT / March 10, 2011 March 10, 2011 Cast & Credits Valerie Amanda Seyfried Father Solomon Gary Oldman Father Auguste Lukas Haas Grandmother Julie Christie Peter Shiloh Fernandez Cesaire Billy Burke Henry Max Irons Suzette Virginia Madsen Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Written by David Johnson. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for violence and creature terror, and some sensuality). Printer-friendly » E-mail this to a friend » Of the classics of world literature crying out to be filmed as a sexual fantasy for teenage girls, surely "Red Riding Hood" is far down on the list. Here's a movie that cross-pollinates the "Twilight" formula with a werewolf and adds a girl who always wears a red hooded cape, although I don't recall her doing any riding. It's easy to imagine a story conference in which they said: Hey! Let's switch the vampires with a werewolf and recycle the theme of a virgin attracted to a handsome but dangerous hunk, only let's get two hunks! What this inspiration fails to account for is that while a young woman might toy with the notion of a vampire boyfriend, she might not want to mate with a wolf. Although she might think it was, like, cool to live in the woods in Oregon, she might not want to live in the Black Forest hundreds of years ago because, like, can you text from there? "Red Riding Hood" has the added inconvenience of being dreadfully serious about a plot so preposterous, it demands to be filmed by Monty Python. All that amused me was a dream sequence where Grandma says, “The better to eat you with.” I'm asking myself, “How can Red Riding Hood dream about dialogue in her own fairy tale when she hasn't even gone over the hill and through the dale to grandmother's house yet?” The movie was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, who made the first "Twilight" film. "Red Riding Hood" opens with computer-generated shots of hundreds of square miles of forests, dotted here and there by grim, stubby castles. Then we meet the narrator, Valerie, who always wears a red cape. She is but a lass when she steals away with Peter, her pre-pubescent boyfriend, so they can trap a bunny rabbit and possibly slit its throat, although the camera moves away from the bunny at the crucial moment to focus upon their faces as the young actors think, “OK, this is where they flash forward, and we are replaced by Amanda Seyfried and Shiloh Fernandez.” They live in a village that is one of the oddest non-places in the history of production design. Because the original fairy tale was by the Brothers Grimm, I suppose there's a chance the village is in Germany, but it exists outside time and space, and seems to have been inspired by little plastic souvenir villages in airport gift shops. You know, populated mit Hansel und Gretel. Valerie (Seyfried) wants to marry Peter (Fernandez), who is a wood chopper, but her parents have betrothed her to a rich kid named Henry (Max Irons). The village since time immemorial has been terrorized by a werewolf, who turns up when the moon is full and must be pacified by a pathetic little piggie left chained to a stump, lest it develop an appetite for villagers. Valerie's sister is found dead, amidst distracting cone-shaped haystacks dotted with purple flowers, which is not the sort of detail you want to be noticing when a young girl has been killed (spoiler!) not eaten by a werewolf. The villagers send off for Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), a famed werewolf fighter, and he arrives with his band of warriors and a very large metal elephant. Solomon, an expert, knows that werewolves are not werewolves all the time, and in between full moons take the form of men. Therefore, one of the villagers must be a werewolf. This has enormous implications for Valerie's possible future love life. But I know my readers. Right now, you aren't thinking about Valerie's romance. You're thinking, Did I just read that Father Solomon arrived with a very large metal elephant? Yes, he did. A very large metal elephant. I thought the same thing. That must have been a hell of a lot of trouble. Even harder than Herzog dragging the boat over the mountain. Showing Father Solomon's men dragging a metal elephant through the woods — there's your movie right there.	– Catherine Hardwicke’s take on Red Riding Hood, the classic story doused in teen angst and good looks, is certainly riding the zeitgeist—but it never really enters the woods, critics say: The film is “gorgeously shot, smartly conceived, cleverly cast, badly executed—the lush medieval beauty here is at best only skin deep,” writes Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times. “Sometimes, it's literate and lofty. More of the time, it's mind-numbingly simplistic and served up on a platter like leftovers.” Imagine the story conference, suggests Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Hey! Let's switch the vampires with a werewolf and recycle the theme of a virgin attracted to a handsome but dangerous hunk, only let's get two hunks!” Plus, it’s “dreadfully serious about a plot so preposterous, it demands to be filmed by Monty Python.” In the New York Times, Manohla Dargis is fairly positive, calling the film a “goofily amusing screen fairy tale.” But when it comes to the darker themes, “what sharp teeth Ms. Hardwicke doesn’t have.”
Story highlights Jan Rooney's will challenge is "totally without merit," actor's lawyer says A lawyer for Jan Rooney says she's filing objections over Mickey Rooney's will A hearing to start the process of probating the will is set for Monday The will left Rooney's estate to a stepson and nothing to his wife or other children Mickey Rooney's widow has filed a challenge against the validity of the will the legendary actor signed just weeks before his death at 93, her lawyer said. The will left Rooney's estate to a stepson and nothing to his wife, Janice, or other children. Attorney Eugene Belous told CNN he would be in Los Angeles County Probate Court on Monday morning to argue that the will contains "a blatant misstatement" about agreements between her, the actor and his conservator. How Mickey Rooney showed America its heart "There is NO provision in either of the two settlement agreements ... that terminates or in any way effects (her) rights as surviving spouse," Belous said. A court filing says Jan Rooney signed an agreement waiving all claims to her husband's estate after the couple separated in June 2012 after 34 years of marriage. JUST WATCHED Actor Mickey Rooney dies at 93 Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Actor Mickey Rooney dies at 93 03:02 Mickey Rooney's court-appointed conservator, who is also named as executor in the will, told CNN on Friday that the challenge of the will "is totally without merit." Since there is not much money to fight over, attorney Michael Augustine said Rooney's widow, who was separated from her husband the last two years of his life, was seeking public attention with the challenge. "She cannot resist her additional five minutes of fame," Augustine said. Although Rooney disinherited his children, his wife and all but one of her children in a will he signed just weeks before his death, court papers suggest there is not much in his estate to fight over. His personal property is valued at just $18,000 despite an unmatched 90-year film career. The will signed by Rooney on March 11, 2014, left the entire estate to stepson Mark Rooney, one of Jan Rooney's sons, who was the actor's caretaker the last two years of his life. He died on April 7. Rooney "intentionally omitted" and disinherited his eight surviving biological children and two other stepchildren from his last marriage, the will said. Rooney had no negative feelings toward his surviving children, but they were all financially better off than he was, Augustine said, adding that Rooney believed that what little he had to leave should go to Mark Rooney and his wife, because they had been taking good care of him in his final two years. A hearing is scheduled for Monday to start the process of probating the actor's will. An attorney for Mickey Rooney's children is also contesting the will, Belous said. Fight over Mickey Rooney's remains averted Augustine said there was no question that Rooney was of sound mind when he signed the will last March. The actor had just finished filming his "Night at the Museum" scenes with Dick Van Dyke, in which he had no trouble learning his lines, he said. An independent lawyer appointed by a judge confirmed that he found Rooney to be "perfectly competent," Augustine said. \|\|\|\|\| Mickey Rooney‘s step-son was his primary caregiver during his dying days, leading the legendary actor to name him as the sole heir to his estate — but Rooney’s eight biological children have taken legal action to contest the will, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned. According to paperwork filed with the Superior Court of the State of California on behalf of Rooney’s eight children children on May 8, the kids allege that his step-son, Mark Aber, took advantage of him during his vulnerable dying days. EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Mickey Rooney’s Eight Biological Children Contest His Will Filed against Michael Augustine, the conservator for Rooney’s estate, the kids claim he helped manipulate the actor in cahoots with Aber. “Decedent’s health was failing and he was of very advanced age; Respondent had come to be the court appointed conservator of the estate and person of Decedent after a long and traumatic period in his life involving elder abuse,” the document reads. “During this period, Respondent acted in concert with Aber, Decedent’s step-son, who occupied a position of trust and confidence as the caretaker of Decedent and who, during this period, lived with Decedent along with Aber’s wife, Charlene Aber, before and up to the time of Decedent’s death… Decedent reposed trust and confidence in Aber.” Lost Footage: Never-Before-Seen Video Of Mickey Rooney Singing Song That Eerily Ends With ‘Till The Day I Die’ During this close relationship, Rooney’s biological children charge Aber was able to control and influence their father to leave his estate to him. “Respondent and Aber were able to and did control and influence the mind and actions of the Decedent to such an extent that Decedent did whatever Respondent and Aber instructed him to do,” the will contest reads. “Taking advantage of this trust and confidence, Respondent and Aber suggested and dictated the contents of the Document, arranged for the execution of the Document, and caused Decedent to execute the Document.” DOCUMENT: Mickey Rooney’s Will — Read It Here As Radar previously reported, even though Rooney, 93, had a paltry $18,000 in his bank account when he died — there stands to be a lot of money made in the actor’s death through residuals and royalties — which his wife Jan and kids want a piece of. “Kimmy Sue especially feels hard done by. She was the only biological child that Mickey was close to, so she’s furious to be cut out for a stepson who’s only been on the scene a few years,” an insider told Radar. “There’s little love lost between the kids and Jan, and her son Chris, but they all agree that it shouldn’t be going to Mark. That’s the last person it should be going to.” You Can Sue For That? The 53 Wackiest Lawsuits Rooney’s children claim in the new court docs that the will was not drafted in “the free and voluntary act” of their father and they’re asking for it to be nulled, and to be awarded legal fees. Stay with Radar as the legal war wages on for Rooney’s estate…	– Mickey Rooney may not have left a celebrity-sized fortune behind, but his estranged widow wants a cut of it anyway. Janice Rooney is challenging the late actor's will, which leaves his entire $18,000 estate to stepson/caretaker Mark Aber, omitting Janice Rooney and other children, CNN reports. Her lawyer will appear in court today to challenge the assertion, made in court documents, that she signed an agreement waiving her right to her husband's estate when the couple separated in 2012. "There is NO provision in either of the two settlement agreements ... that terminates or in any way affects (her) rights as surviving spouse," Janice Rooney's lawyer said. Court-appointed conservator Michael Augustine has dismissed the claim as "totally without merit," accusing Janice Rooney of pursuing it because "she cannot resist her additional five minutes of fame." Mickey Rooney's eight biological children are also contesting the will, Radar reports. In court documents, they claim Augustine conspired with Aber to manipulate the actor.
The change comes as card fraud has more than doubled in the U.S. over the last 15 years while falling in much of the rest of the world where chip-enabled cards have been in place for much of that time. \|\|\|\|\| Advertisement Recently received a new credit card that has a microchip on its front? Wondering about the change? Credit cards with security chips are a part of the new card processing system being adopted by the U.S., whereby the card used by a consumer will have a special microchip that will need to be inserted in a reader rather than swiped at a checkout terminal to close a transaction. The new credit cards look like any old credit card except that they have a tiny metallic chip on the front. The chip-embedded cards deploy EMV microchips, which is short for Europay, MasterCard and Visa. This system is already in use in several parts of Europe. The microchip basically contains a user's payment information, which so far was contained on the magnetic strip. The microchip also gives a novel code which is different for every purchase. The transition to chip-enabled credit cards will make life more difficult for criminals as they are more secure than magnetic strip-only cards. How? Because the microprocessor in the microchips - which is like a mini computer - adds an additional layer of security for each transaction. According to Visa's Stephanie Erickson, Head of Authentication Product Integration, while criminals were able to make counterfeit physical copies of magnetic strip-based cards, the chip-based cards will make the process more difficult. Since the chips contain data relating to a specific purchase, their reproduction is tough. "They can't create a counterfeit card which is two-thirds of the fraud we see in the system," says Erickson. Moreover, Erickson opines that countries which shifted to this technology within two years of the transition, saw the counterfeit reduce by 60 to 70 percent. Some may argue that the unique transaction code generated by the chip every single time the credit card is used may lead to a compromise. However, experts alleviate the fear by assuring that even if the code was gotten hold of by a thief it would be worthless. One, however, would still be required to sign even when deploying a chip-based card. While the new system promises more safety, a downside of the new microchip-based credit cards is that they take longer to process when compared to the older system. If an old swipe transaction took three to five seconds, then this "dip" method takes between five to ten seconds. The increased time for transaction would impact the lines at the checkout and could be a problem especially during high-traffic periods such as Black Friday. On Oct. 1, merchants - not card issuers - will be responsible for fraudulent transactions if they don't upgrade their payment terminals. © 2016 Tech Times, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. \|\|\|\|\| On Thursday, merchants who cannot process chip-enabled cards could become liable for fraudulent transactions at their stores. MasterCard and Visa set the deadline for the new rules, which are part of their agreements with the retailers and banks that use their networks. American Express will shift liability on Oct. 16. Consumers, however, will not be caught in the middle. Federal law requires banks to reimburse consumers for different types of fraud. The only difference is that, come Thursday, banks could go after retailers that have not properly updated their equipment. Not everyone will have chip-enabled cards by the deadline. While most customers at the big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America will receive their cards by the end of the year, some will not get new cards until 2016. Some issuers will also wait until customers’ existing cards are close to expiring. Credit and debit cards without chips will continue to work until they expire, or until consumers activate their new cards. And they will still work at payment terminals that have been updated to accommodate chips. But new machines will prompt users who swipe a chip card to dip it instead. “You should always use the chip device, not the swipe device,” said Ed Mierzwinski, the consumer program director of U.S. PIRG, the federation of state public interest groups.	– Credit card purchases are about to get a little slower and a lot more secure. Consumers have been receiving new cards with fraud-prevention chips and on Thursday, a lot more retailers will be asking customers to put their card in a reader instead of swiping it, reports the Los Angeles Times. Oct. 1 is the day that the credit card industry will start shifting liability for fraudulent transactions to issuers and merchants that haven't adopted the new technology, which is already used in much of the rest of the world and is credited with dramatically reducing fraud by making it harder to duplicate cards. Cards without chips will continue to work until they expire, though experts tell the New York Times that consumers who have the choice should always opt to dip a card in a reader instead of swiping it. The chips in the new cards use a system known as EMV, for creators Europay, MasterCard, and Visa. They contain buyer information and add an extra level of security by creating a new code for every purchase, Tech Times explains. In Europe, consumers need to enter a PIN, but US retailers will only require signatures. Around 70% of cards will have chips by the end of this year, according to the LA Times, though the full switch is expected to take years. Retailers worry that the extra few seconds per purchase will slow down businesses at peak times—and that more fraud will now take place online. "It's like closing the front door but leaving the back door open," a National Retail Federation exec tells the New York Times. "The thieves will figure out that the back door is unlocked."
In a crisis, we say, we can't be sure how we'd react -- whether we'd run or freeze, scream or, as in a nightmare, be unable to make a sound. But four bystanders in Arizona now know that they kept Saturday's shooting rampage at a shopping center from becoming an even more catastrophic event, according to law enforcement officials.As it was, the attack killed six people, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, and wounded 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who authorities say was the target of the attack.But if the gunman had been able to reload his semi-automatic pistol and keep firing, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said Sunday, "there would have been a huge, greater catastrophe."The gunman was thwarted in that effort by four unassuming people who were identified as Bill Badger, Patricia Maisch, Roger Salzgeber and Joseph Zamudio. Not one of them is willing to call himself a hero.Maisch, who looks more storybook grandmother than crime fighter, told reporters that she had not run from the scene of the attack because she feared she would be shot. But when she saw the gunman trying to reload, she made a move to grab the magazine."The two men that secured him were the heroes," Maisch, 61, told CNN. "I just was an assistant in being able to get that magazine or clip."It was the self-described "assistant," however, who created just enough of a distraction to allow two others -- Badger and Salzgeber -- to tackle the shooter. Then Zamudio, who had been inside a nearby Walgreens when the shooting started, helped hold down the assailant.Badger, 74, told WNEP television in Moosic, Pennsylvania: "I asked him when we were holding him down, 'Why in the world would you do something like this?' and he wouldn't answer. He was only 22-years-old. He looked like a young kid to me when I saw him and just why would he do something like this? There's no reason and the concern of mine was to shoot a 9-year-old girl and to shoot innocent people, something has to be wrong."Badger, a retired Army colonel, said he had just done what anyone else would have done. "Once you're in the military, you never retire," he said. "You're always there to help the community and the people who are in danger."Salzgeber was even more reticent, declining to talk to reporters who telephone him and saying the authorities had promised him his name would not be released, according to The Arizona Republic. "I'm totally stressed out about this," said Salzgeber, who was one of the top three signature collectors for Giffords petitions when she was qualifying to run for re-election in 2010. "I'm not interested in talking."Zamudio said the gunman was already on the ground when he reached him. "I laid on him and held him down, and made sure the gun was down," Zamudio said.The gunman, who authorities have identified as 22-year-old Jared Loughner, was armed with a 9-millimeter Glock semi-automatic, which FBI Director Robert Mueller said he had obtained last November. Mueller did not say where Loughner got the gun. CNN reported it was purchased at a store in Tucson.Federal prosecutors filed charges against Loughner Sunday afternoon, including one count of attempting to assassinate a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. Mueller indicated that additional charges may be filed based on the continuing investigation.The criminal complaint said that investigators found a letter from Giffords in a safe at Loughner's house thanking him for attending one of her "Congress on Your Corner" meetings in 2007. The complaint added: "Also recovered in the safe was an enveloped with handwriting on the envelope stating 'I planned ahead,' and 'My assassination' and the name 'Giffords' along with what appears to be Loughner's signature." ( See a copy of the complaint here ).Dupnik, who has received wide attention for his remarks Saturday attacking the amount of "vitriol" in political rhetoric that he said may contribute to violence, repeated that view with obvious emotion on Sunday and also lashed out at laws that let "everybody" carry guns."I think that when the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia about how government operates and to try to inflame the public on a daily basis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has impact on people especially who are unbalanced personalities to begin with."Asked how he felt about Arizona's gun laws, Dupnik said of the state, "I think we're the Tombstone of the United States of America.""I have never been a proponent of letting everybody in this state carry weapons under any circumstances that they want and that's almost where we are," he said. "The legislature at this time is proposing that students and teachers be allowed to have weapons in schools and in college. . . . That's the ridiculous state to where we have become."Dupnik was referring to a bill proposed by state Sen. Karen Johnson that would allow people 21 and older who have a concealed weapons permit to carry a firearm at public colleges and universities, where they are generally not allowed. She said that if a student or teacher was armed, they could act if a gunman tried to open fire on campus as had happened at Northern Illinois University in 2008 The 74-year-old Dupnik is a Democrat who, according to the Washington Post , "is known for his colorful and often bluntly partisan commentary." He has called Arizona's new law cracking down on illegal immigration "racist" and "stupid" and has refused to enforce it. He has also described Tea Party partisans as "bigots."Dupnik's Saturday remarks drew a rebuke from Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, a Republican, who said on CBS' Face the Nation, "I didn't really think that that had any part in a law enforcement briefing last night. It was speculation. And I don't think we should rush to speculate. I thought that the report that we just saw from Tucson seems to have it about right. We really don't know what motivated this young person except to know he was very mentally unstable." \|\|\|\|\| Patricia Maisch looks like a grandmother, but she is being hailed as a hero today for helping to stop alleged Tucson shooter Jared Loughner by wrestling away a fresh magazine of bullets as he tried to reload. Maisch, 61, effectively disarmed the shooter as several men pounced on him and threw him to ground. As they struggled to hold him down, Maisch joined the scrum on the ground, clinging to the gunman's ankles. Maisch and her fellow heroes -- identified as Bill Badger, Roger Sulzgeber and Joseph Zamudio -- stopped the carnage after 20 people were shot, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Six people died. "[I] knew right away it was a gun... I heard a continuation of shots," Maisch told a news conference today. Maisch, who has a crown of snow-white hair, was standing towards the back of the line to greet and snap a photo with Giffords at the "Congress in Your Corner" event at a Safeway grocery store. Speaking to the press today, Maisch recalled how she stopped Loughner as he tried to reload his Glock 9 mm weapon. "I could see him coming. [He] shot the lady next to me," Maisch said. As he was shooting, she said, she was expecting to be hit and she wondered what it would feel like. There was "lots of blood and confusion," she said. She considered trying to run away, she said, but thought that would make her more of a target, so she laid down on the ground. But then something unexpected happened. "Then he was next to me on the ground," she said. "The gentleman knocked him down. "I kneeled over him. He was pulling a magazine [to reload] and I grabbed the magazine and secured that. I think the men got the gun, and I was able to get the magazine," she said. Maisch said Badger and Sulzgeber both sat on the gunman while she held his ankles down. Police said that Zimudie helped by hanging on to Loughner's legs. Sulzgeber was reportedly standing with his wife, third in line to meet with Giffords, while Zimudie was in the nearby Walgreens and came running out once he heard the shooting. "I thought I would be shot. I am thankful for those two brave men," Maisch said. "I am not a hero. The other guys are. I just assisted getting the clip." Badger, a 74-year-old retired army colonel living in Tucson, told Pottsville, Pa.'s Republican-Herald how he helped capture Loughner, and that he was grazed in the back of the head by a bullet. The Heroes of the Tucson Shooting "I heard the shots but I thought they were fireworks at first," Badger told the newspaper. "I wasn't sure they were shots until I actually saw the shooter, and I was sure he was really shooting bullets when I felt the sting on the back of my head." According to Badger, who the Republican-Herald confirmed was treated for an injury at a hospital, he was the first person standing next to a row of chairs leading to Giffords when the first shots rang out. Badger told the paper, "I turned and saw him running down the line of people on the chairs. He ran between me and the store. Someone hit him with a chair and he flinched a little. That's when I grabbed his left arm. Someone grabbed his right arm and we got him to the ground. "The other guy put his knee into the back of his neck and I grabbed him around the throat. We held him until police got there. While we had him on the ground I saw blood running and it wasn't until then I realized it was coming from the back of my head," Badger said. Speaking outside her home this evening, Maisch said that when she noticed that one of the men was bleeding from the head, she ran into the Safeway to get paper towels. "I put a compress on the man's head while he was securing the shooter," she said.	– Talk about a brave 61-year-old: Patricia Maisch is being called a hero after wrenching away the Tucson shooter’s ammunition, preventing him from reloading as she helped press him to the ground, ABC News reports. Maisch was in line to meet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when the shooting began. She threw herself to the ground to dodge the attack, and found Jared Lee Loughner “next to me on the ground” after he was laid low by another bystander. A trio of men—Bill Badger, Roger Sulzgeber, and Joseph Zimudie—had "knocked him down" and sat on him as she held his ankles. "I kneeled over him. He was pulling a magazine and I grabbed the magazine and secured that." "I think the men got the gun, and I was able to get the magazine," preventing him from reloading, Maisch said. Click for more on the four heroes.
The classmate said Evha had almost missed the trip because she did not have suitable clothing and had to borrow some from her school at the last moment. Speaking with her father's permission, the girl said: "Evha came to school but didn't have the right clothes for the trip so she borrowed some. It meant she could go with everyone else. "I saw her at the park but I didn't see what happened. I think it was her last ride before going home. It's really sad. She was really nice." \|\|\|\|\| Story highlights Theme park temporarily closed after 11-year-old girl dies on water ride Similar ride came under scrutiny when four people died at an Australian theme park last year (CNN) An 11-year-old girl on a school trip died after she fell from a water ride at a UK theme park, local police have confirmed. The incident happened at the Splash Canyon ride at Drayton Manor theme park, north of Birmingham, Staffordshire Police said. "It is with great sadness we have to report that a young girl has passed away at Birmingham Children's Hospital following an incident on one of the park's water rides this afternoon," George Bryan, company director of Drayton Manor Park, said in a statement. Bryan added that staff were alerted when the girl fell into the water. "The theme park staff tried to help her and an air ambulance airlifted her to a hospital nearby," he said. The girl, a student at the Jameah Academy in Leicester, was on a school visit to the park when the incident occurred. The school released a statement confirming that the year 6 student had died. Read More \|\|\|\|\| Image copyright Family handout Image caption Evha Jannath fell out of a circular boat on the Splash Canyon attraction An 11-year-old girl who was killed in a fall from a water ride has been named. Evha Jannath fell out of a circular boat on the Splash Canyon attraction during a school trip to Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire on Tuesday. The pupil, from Leicester, was rescued from the water and taken to hospital but pronounced dead a short time later. A statement released by Evha's family said their "world was torn apart" following her death. For the latest on this and other Staffordshire stories They described her as "a beautiful little girl who was full of love and always smiling". "Words cannot describe the pain and loss we feel, we are devastated that we will not see our beautiful little girl again." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Drayton Manor: Latest aerial footage shows empty rides Police said it was an "extremely difficult time" for Evha's relatives and the force was providing support. The theme park remained closed for the day as "a mark of respect". The girl's school, Jameah Girls Academy in Leicester, was also closed. In a statement, the Islamic day school asked that the Year 6 pupil's family and school community be given "time to grieve". Head teacher Erfana Bora said Evha was a "lovely, sweet-natured girl [who] was loved by everyone at the school". "We are trying to make sense of this terrible tragedy. Our thoughts and our prayers are with Evha's family," she added. Image caption Drayton Manor Theme Park was closed for the day as a "mark of respect" Image copyright ThemeParks.ie Image caption Splash Canyon opened in 1993 and features up to 21 boats Prayers have been said for the girl at the Jameah Mosque in Leicester. Staffordshire Police said a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation had begun. The ride, which opened in 1993 and features up to 21 boats each with a capacity of six people, closed following the incident at the park near Tamworth. It offers a "a wild ride" with "fast-flowing rapids" and riders must be at least 0.9m (3ft) tall to board, although those under 1.1m must be accompanied by an adult. On Tuesday, park company director George Bryan, whose grandfather opened the site in the 1950s, said he was "truly shocked and devastated" by the death. 'Really dangerous' West Midlands Ambulance Service said it sent paramedics by land and air to the site. Image caption Tributes have been left at Drayton Manor Park in memory of Evha Jannath A spokesman said crews discovered a girl "with serious injuries who had been rescued from the water by park staff". She was flown to Birmingham Children's Hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ride death girl was 'sweet-natured' Zainab Mohammad said her 16-year-old sister, who was on the same school trip, was devastated. "She came home, she spoke to mum and dad and she just went upstairs. "She was devastated. She didn't want to talk about it. The school is not very big, everybody knows each other. "We don't know what the cause is but what we really want is for the family to be able to grieve. "A family member has been ripped from their family and it's a big loss. Everybody is in utter shock, there are no words." Image caption The girl's school was also shut for the day Image caption Prayers have been said for Evha at the Jameah Mosque in Leicester Vikki Treacy told BBC 5 live her son fell in the water on the same ride in 2013. She said Patrick, who was 10 at the time, "sort of stood up" for a photo and toppled from the boat. The mother, from Rugby, said: "When you are queuing up, the loudspeakers are telling you the safety instructions, like please stay seated. "[But] they're getting excited and giddy, they're not listening to a tannoy are they? "[After he fell] I panicked and a woman... in the spectators' bit, hopped over a fence at the side and dragged him out. "My son was in an area where the public could get to him. It's a dangerous ride. It really is. "I'll never go back to the park. No way. Their aftercare was shocking." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Drayton Manor: Mum watched son fall head-first into water Drayton Manor said it could not comment on the claims while the Splash Canyon investigation was ongoing. A spokesman added: "The health and safety of our visitors is of paramount importance and we'd ask Vikki contacts us direct so that we can address her concerns." Theme park enthusiast Ian Bell, who owns rollercoaster fan group Coasterforce, said rapids rides like Splash Canyon tended not to have seatbelts in case they capsized. "They are fairly buoyant; they rarely capsize. They are very safe," he added. Rides similar to Splash Canyon have been closed at other theme parks. Thorpe Park's Rumba Rapids was closed on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Alton Towers said it would be closing its Congo River Rapids ride as a "precautionary" measure. In a statement the park said: "We are aware of the tragic events at Drayton Manor and our thoughts are with the family and all of those affected. "Safety is our number one priority and, as a precautionary measure, the Congo River Rapids will be closed tomorrow and until such time as more details of the incident become available." Image copyright Vikki Treacy Image caption Vikki Treacy (right) said son Patrick (left) fell in the water on the same ride in 2013 Health and safety lawyer Chris Green told BBC Radio 5 live he had been on the ride with his daughters and had never thought it could be dangerous. He said the HSE would need to establish if the accident was work-related. "They'd be firstly trying to understand from witnesses precisely how this has happened and that will determine whether it's them in conjunction with police, whether that's a report for the coroner or for other proceedings as well." The death at Drayton Manor is thought to be the first at a UK theme park since 2004, when a 16-year-old girl fell from the Hydro ride at Oakwood theme park near Tenby, west Wales. In June 2015, five people were seriously injured in a collision on the Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers, also in Staffordshire. Mr Green said: "The Alton Towers scenario looked more perhaps as if something inevitably looked like it hadn't worked on the day. This one [at Drayton Manor] may be rather different." In October 2016, four people died on a rapids ride at Australia's Dreamworld, on Queensland's Gold Coast.	– Police in Britain are investigating the tragic death of an 11-year-old girl on a water ride at the Drayton Manor theme park. Officials at the park say the girl, who was on a school trip, was fatally injured when she fell from the Splash Canyon ride on Tuesday afternoon, CNN reports. The ride, which is billed as featuring "fast-flowing rapids," has 21 boats with a capacity of six riders each, reports the BBC. Witnesses say Evha Jannath, who was on her last ride of the day, stood up to change seats and fell in after the boat hit a rock. A classmate tells the Telegraph that Evha almost missed the trip after turning up in the wrong clothes, but she was allowed to borrow an acceptable outfit from the school.
Amazon declined to give police any of the information that the Echo logged on its servers, but it did hand over Bates' account details and purchases. Police say they were able to pull data off of the speaker, but it's unclear what info they were able to access. Due to the so-called always on nature of the connected device, the authorities are after any audio the speaker may have picked up that night. Sure, the Echo is activated by certain words, but it's not uncommon for the IoT gadget to be alerted to listen by accident. Police say Bates had several other smart home devices, including a water meter. That piece of tech shows that 140 gallons of water were used between 1AM and 3AM the night Collins was found dead in Bates' hot tub. Investigators allege the water was used to wash away evidence of what happened off of the patio. The examination of the water meter and the request for stored Echo information raises a bigger question about privacy. At a time when we have any number of devices tracking and automating our habits at home, should that information be used against us in criminal cases? Bates' attorney argues that it shouldn't. "You have an expectation of privacy in your home, and I have a big problem that law enforcement can use the technology that advances our quality of life against us," defense attorney Kimberly Weber said. Of course, there's also the question of how reliable information is from smart home devices. Accuracy can be an issue for any number of IoT gadgets. However, an audio recording would seemingly be a solid piece of evidence, if released. Just as we saw with the quest to unlock an iPhone in the San Bernardino case, it will be interesting to see how authorities and the companies who make smart home devices work out the tension between serving customers, maintaining privacy and pursuing justice. Update: An Amazon spokesperson gave Engadget the following statement on the matter: "Amazon will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us. Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course." As a refresher, Echo only captures audio and streams it to the cloud when the device hears the wake word "Alexa." A ring on the top of the device turns blue to give a visual indication that audio is being recorded. Those clips, or "utterances" as the company calls them, are stored in the cloud until a customer deletes them either individually or all at once. When that's done, the "utterances" are permanently deleted. What's more, the microphones on an Echo device can be manually turned off at any time. \|\|\|\|\| Please enable Javascript to watch this video BENTONVILLE (KFSM) -- Bentonville police arrested a suspect Monday (Feb. 22) in connection to a death investigation that began in November 2015. James Andrew Bates, 31, of Bentonville was taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of Victor Parris Collins, 47, of Centerton, according to a probable cause affidavit released by the Benton County prosecutor. The affidavit states the Arkansas State Crime Lab ruled Collins death a homicide by strangulation with a contributing cause of drowning. Bates called 911 at about 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2015 and notified dispatchers Collins was dead in his hot tub on the back patio at his home on SW Elm Manor Avenue, the affidavit states. Bates told officers he had invited Collins and two other friends, Owen McDonald and Sean Henry, to his home the night before to watch a Razorback football game during which they drank beer and took several shots of vodka, according to the affidavit. After Henry left, the suspect, the victim and McDonald decided to get in the hot tub where they continued to drink until about 1 a.m. when Bates went to bed for the night leaving Collins and McDonald in the hot tub, the affidavit states. Bates said he found Collins floating face down in the hot tub when he woke up several hours later, according to the affidavit. After getting consent to search Bates’ home, detectives found Collins floating face up in the hot tub and noticed the water was tinted red and appeared to contain bodily fluids and blood, the affidavit states. They also noticed Collins had a black eye, a cut on his eyelid, his lips were swollen and bruised, and he was bleeding from his mouth and nose, according to the affidavit. Detectives observed the rim of the hot tub and the patio had been sprayed down with water and two hot tub head cushions and three hot tub knobs were lying on the ground nearby, the affidavit states. One of the head cushions appeared to have diluted blood spots on it, according to the affidavit. Investigators also found watered down blood spots on the sides of the hot tub and another large area of blood spatter on the hot tub cover, the affidavit states. The crime lab later determined the blood belonged to Collins, according to the affidavit. Detectives also noticed the hose had been used, which they noted was unusual given the freezing temperatures, the affidavit states. They determined the evidence pointed to a struggle and a cover-up, according to the affidavit. Over the course of the next several days, detectives interviewed Bates and several witnesses and collected more evidence, the affidavit states. Phone records show Bates had texted a woman throughout the evening, then placed several calls to his father, friends, including McDonald, and the Flying Fish restaurant overnight, according to the affidavit. All of the calls were cancelled before they had a chance to go through, the affidavit states. Bates told investigators he didn’t remember making the calls and claimed they had been so-called butt dials, according to the affidavit. Detectives discredited that claim since Bates kept his phone locked by pass code or finger print ID and noted the call times were not consistent with his statement that he had gone to bed at 1 a.m., the affidavit states. During one of their interviews with Bates, investigators took photos of small cuts and scratches on his hands, which Bates claimed were caused by his cats and Crossfit workouts, according to the affidavit. Police then interviewed McDonald who told them Collins was alive when he left Bates’ house and McDonald’s wife confirmed her husband returned home at around 12:30 a.m., the affidavit states. Detectives determined McDonald also got a ride from a concerned neighbor who saw him walking through the neighborhood while intoxicated. Investigators note there was no physical indication that McDonald had been in a struggle with someone. Detectives then went back to Bates’ home and did a more extensive search of his hot tub where they found a broke pair of glasses belonging to Collins, Collins’ wedding ring and a broken shot glass at the bottom of the spa, according to the affidavit. They also took photographs of Bates’ whole body and discovered he had a large bruise, as well as several deep scratches on his abdomen, back and arms, the affidavit states. In December, detectives obtained water and electrical usage data from the Bentonville Utilities Department for the hours Bates said he was in bed the morning Collins died, according to the affidavit. The data showed the residence used 50 gallons of water between 1 to 2 a.m. on Nov. 22 and an additional 90 gallons of water between 2 and 3 a.m. In comparison, the residence only used 10 gallons of water when the men were together earlier that evening. Detectives determined the extra water usage between 1 and 3 a.m. was consistent with the patio being sprayed down, the affidavit states. They also determined that much water usage had never occurred at the residence since October 2013, according to the affidavit. Investigators concluded Bates was the only person with Collins at his home after midnight, the affidavit states. Bates is currently being held at the Benton County Jail without bond. People who said they've known Bates for years told 5NEWS everything in the probable cause affidavit is completely out of character. According to a Go Fund Me page set up for the Collins family, memorial services for Collins were held in Bentonville and in his native Georgia. Jamie Gianfala, a long-time friend of Collins', said he was shocked to hear his friend had been murdered. "For him to die this way, and for it to be a homicide, it really does bother me," Gianfala said. "Because, he was the kind of guy who prevented that kind of stuff." Collins was a former law enforcement officer before moving to Arkansas with his family. The Canton Police Department in Canton, Georgia confirmed Collins was a police officer there from 1998 until 2010. Prior to that he had worked as a deputy at the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office in Georgia. A lieutenant with the Canton Police Department said Collins had had several knee surgeries and moved to Louisiana and then Arkansas after his wife, Kristine, was transferred to those states for her job with Walmart. The Go Fund Me page states Victor and his wife were married for more than 18 years and had five children.	– In November 2015, police found 47-year-old Victor Collins dead in a hot tub on the back patio of 31-year-old James Bates' Arkansas home. More than a year later, Bates is charged with Collins' murder, and Bentonville police think the data from his Amazon Echo could help them solve the case. The device listens for voice commands but is often triggered into "listen" mode by accident and could, thus, have "overheard" something useful, Engadget reports. Authorities have issued a warrant asking Amazon.com to turn over audio and other records from the device in what The Information says "may be the first case of its kind." Bates says he had Collins and two other friends over to watch a football game and drink on the evening of Nov. 21, 2015, 5 News reported in February, when Bates was arrested. Bates says one friend left, but Collins and the other friend got in the hot tub and kept drinking. He says he left them there when he went to bed, and found Collins floating face down in the hot tub the next morning. (The other friend is not a suspect.) Authorities found the hot tub water tinted red and Collins with a black eye, swollen and bruised lips, a cut on his eyelid, and blood coming from his nose and mouth; it was ultimately ruled that Collins died by strangulation, with drowning as a contributing cause. Detectives learned that 140 gallons of water were used between 1am and 3am on the morning Collins died, and a hose was used. They believe the patio was sprayed down in an attempt to wash away evidence; they found hot tub knobs and head cushions lying on the ground and Collins' blood spattered on the hot tub cover, one of the cushions, and the sides of the tub. Bates was found to have bruises and scratches all over his body, and police found Collins' wedding ring and a broken shot glass at the bottom of the tub, as well as a broken pair of Collins' glasses. So far, Amazon has only turned over Bates' account details and purchases, but police say they have been able to get data that was picked up by the Echo's speaker, the Daily Beast reports. Bates' attorney argues that the request for data from Amazon is an invasion of privacy, and an example of law enforcement using "technology that advances our quality of life against us."
These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. \|\|\|\|\| The daily hustle got you down? God's Little People Cat Rescue on the Greek Island of Syros is looking to hire a live-in caretaker. The job comes with free housing and a salary, according to a post on the organization's Facebook page. "PAID JOB OFFER WITH CATS! (this is genuine and NOT a joke — friends, please feel free to verify!)," the posting reads. "A very special position and living circumstance on offer on a little Greek island called Syros (a small paradise no less!)" (Syros is located in the Aegean Sea to the Southeast of Athens, Greece.) \|\|\|\|\| HOME I NEED A HOME ADOPT-A-CAT ADOPT-A-KITTEN CONTACT US FACEBOOK ABOUT FACILITIES SPONSORS VOLUNTEERS MIRACLES CAT TAILS BOOK NEWSLETTERS RESOURCES WELCOME TO RESQCATS ! RESQCATS is a non-profit cat sanctuary located in Santa Barbara, California, dedicated to the rescue, care and adoption of abandoned cats and kittens. It is my not so humble opinion that God outdid Himself when He created cats. They are small enough to sit on your cold feet without cutting into your already questionable circulation. They greet you in the morning by marching up your body to stand firmly on your chest announcing "can opener time." They bring you presents to honor you. They appreciate what you do for them by purring and rubbing against you as you do it. Many of our cats and kittens arrive very frightened and in desperate need of love and socialization. It is important to personally know each cat in order to find the "purrfect" home. Some kitties will do fine in homes with young children while others may not. Sometimes it is better for a shy or traumatized cat to be adopted out with a more outgoing sibling or playmate. And occasionally, a cat prefers to be the only cat in the house! Quite a few calls I receive at RESQCATS are from people who have just lost their beloved furry friend through death. They are sometimes filled with grief and call because they miss having a kitty around to give the unconditional love they are so good at bestowing upon us. Whether the reason for thinking of adopting a cat or kitten is the loss of your own or the desire to give a furry friend a good home, I would love to hear from you. This site explains what RESQCATS is about and how you can help. For a quick peek of our facilities, visit our cats and kittens at the Online RESQCATS Sanctuary. Many of the kittens you see on this site were once or are RESQCATS cats and kittens themselves. Jeffyne Telson President 805-563-9424 email "What matters most is how you see yourself..." Copyright Alan Wnuk	– When Joan and Richard Bowell decided it was time to leave the Greek island of Syros, they first needed to find someone to manage the cat sanctuary they'd established there. God's Little People Cat Rescue, which started with one stray mama cat and her two kittens, expanded to more than 60 cats roaming the Bowells' property as they continued to take in strays. They posted a Facebook ad for a modestly paid job managing the sanctuary—and 40,000 people responded. The ad went viral, spawning headlines about the "dream job" or "purrrfect job," leading the Bowells to explain to would-be caretakers that it would, in fact, often be a difficult job—not only would poop have to be scooped and the like, but "heartbreaking decisions" would need to be made about sick cats. Months later, as the Washington Post reports, the sanctuary's caretaker has been chosen. Jeffyne Telson's husband sent her the ad soon after it was posted in August, the 62-year-old recalls. Telson runs her own cat rescue in Santa Barbara, Calif., only taking in strays; she's adopted out 3,000 cats and kittens over the past 21 years and has kept those who can't be placed at her own small sanctuary. Her application stood out, and the Bowells traveled to California to visit the couple in September. Joan and Jeffyne clicked immediately, and the Bowells offered Telson the job. She'll run the Syros sanctuary for some months, while volunteers run her Santa Barbara rescue, and other finalists for the Syros job will likely then take their own turns managing God's Little People. Meanwhile, the Bowells are looking into expanding the sanctuary, possibly even using it as an international training center for similarly-minded volunteers.
LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee high school student's anti-bullying video has resulted in nearly 600,000 views on YouTube and a suspension for its creator. Lebanon High School student Emily Gipson said school administrators accused her of "trying to incite violence" and gave her a two-day in-school suspension for the video entitled "Welcome to Lebanon High School," posted Jan. 22. In the video, prompted by a classmate's October suicide, she asks students to treat each other better. It's a broad indictment of campus culture, but contains neither profanity nor calls for direct action. "Welcome to Lebanon High School, where smiles are fake and suicide prevention is something to laugh at," she said in the video, criticizing her peers' reaction to the Stop It app the Wilson County school had put out in response to the death. Her ire was not restricted to students, however. Perhaps the harshest words in Gipson's free-verse speech were reserved for school administration. "Posters say 'Smile' and 'Be happy,' but how am I supposed to be happy in a world — no, in a community — where creativity is put down, where the people who make fun of others never get punished because 'There's no proof,' or 'There's nothing we can do about it,' or, my favorite, 'Kids will be kids,'" she says in the video. "So let's summarize: We're expected to come to this emotional prison every day, and we're expected to forgive the bullies because the authorities are sure they didn't mean it. Sometimes I wonder how many kids it takes dying to make a difference." Principal Scott Walters told The Lebanon Democrat he can't discuss the 16-year-old's punishment, but said he took issue with the fact that the free-verse speech was recorded in a classroom without a teacher's permission. Gipson disputed that, saying she had two coaches' permission. Walters also said the video hurt his feelings, and those of teachers, too. He said he's received feedback from parents and students who didn't agree with the video, including a gift from a student who told him he was doing a good job. He also said people could learn from Gipson's viewpoint. "I can appreciate the perspective of the video," Walters said. "Of course, she's 16, and her perspective is going to be different from mine." Kenneth Gipson, her grandfather and guardian, said the principal told him the only reason the teen was punished was because she didn't have permission to take the video on school grounds. "I don't have a problem with that. She violated their policies," he told The Associated Press But Gipson says he's proud of his granddaughter for expressing herself. "I applaud her for taking a stance. She's speaking against something that is obviously an issue in today's society — today's schools especially. I don't have a problem with the videos at all. I wish she hadn't of done the first one the way she did it inside the classroom, but as far as the message goes, I'm all for the message. I think she's done a great job in bringing to light a very sensitive and needed subject." Gipson said her punishment is worth the good she feels the video has produced. Then she posted another spoken-word poem on Youtube, titled "Have I Made a Difference Yet?" urging teenagers like her to speak up. "I never knew that it would get this big, and through it getting this big I've learned a lesson: This is not my school, this is everyone's school, this is a national problem," she said. \|\|\|\|\| (CNN) A high school student who posted an anti-bullying video attacking her school's administration was given a two-day suspension, but the school is saying it had nothing to do with her video's message. Emily Gipson is a student at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Tennessee. On January 22, she posted a YouTube video of her performing a free-verse poem about bullying and suicide at her school. "Welcome to Lebanon High School, where smiles are fake and suicide prevention is something to laugh at," she begins. In the days since it was posted, Gipson's video has racked up more than 700,000 views -- and has caused serious controversy at her high school. Gipson was given a two-day suspension for the video, a punishment some people attributed to her strong words against the school's handling of bullying. Read More \|\|\|\|\| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.	– "We're expected to forgive the bullies because the authorities are sure they didn't mean it," Emily Gipson says in a YouTube video posted Jan. 22. "Sometimes I wonder how many kids it takes dying to make a difference." The 16-year-old sophomore at Tennessee's Lebanon High School made the video after a classmate's apparent suicide, the AP reports. The video went viral—surpassing 800,000 views—and Gipson has been hit with a two-day suspension. In the video, she says her school is an "emotional prison" and a place "where creativity is put down, where the people who make fun of others never get punished because 'There's no proof,' or 'There's nothing we can do about it,' or, my favorite, 'Kids will be kids.'" Principal Scott Walters says his feelings and those of teachers were hurt by the video, but that's not why Gipson was suspended. Gipson says the school administration accused her of "trying to incite violence," but Walters says she was suspended for filming in a classroom after school without the teacher's permission or knowledge, the Tennessean reports. Gipson says she had permission from two coaches, and in a statement quoted by CNN, Wilson County Schools spokesperson Jennifer Johnson confirms that Gipson asked a coach if she could use the classroom only to have the coach later be "mortified by the nature of her message." Johnson adds that it's "patently false" to say Gipson was punished for inciting violence and there's "no evidence whatsoever" that the student who died was bullied, despite the claims of other students. Gipson says she wanted "to be a voice for as many people as possible" and ends the video by imploring others "do not be the bully ... do not be the one that takes their own life."
Meet "Joe" "Joe" is a baby dinosaur, measuring under 6 feet long and a year old when it died. Careful study reveals that "Joe" was a young Parasaurolophus--the iconic tube-crested dinosaur that lived in southern Utah over 75 million years ago. This website is a virtual museum exhibit, highlighting the story of "Joe" and what this fossil tells us about our planet's history. "Joe" is named in honor of Joe Augustyn, a long-time supporter of the museum whose family sponsored the preparation of the fossil skeleton. \|\|\|\|\| Kevin Terris discovered the skeleton of a baby dinosaur named Joe in 2009, when he was a high-school student. It's amazing enough that a 17-year-old high-school student was behind the discovery of the youngest fossil skeleton from a weird-looking breed of boneheaded dinosaur. But it's even more amazing that two professional paleontologists walked right past the bones before the kid spotted them. "It's a little embarrassing to walk by something like that," admitted Andrew Farke, curator of the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools, "but he was just in the right place at the right time, looking in the right direction." Farke and the California museum's director, Don Lofgren, had checked out the territory at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, and passed within several feet of the exposed fossil. A couple of days later, they brought their Webb students through the place for a field trip — and it was 17-year-old Kevin Terris who spotted the first bone. "At first, I was interested in seeing what the initial piece of bone sticking out of the rock was," Terris recalled in a news release. Then he called Farke over to investigate. Together, they picked away at the overlying rock to see what lay beneath. "When we exposed the skull, I was ecstatic," Terris said. An artist's conception shows the baby dinosaur in its environment. That was back in 2009. Today, Terris is an aspiring paleontologist at Montana State University, and his discovery is the subject of a research paper published Tuesday by the journal PeerJ. In that paper, Farke and his colleagues report that the fossil is the "youngest and most complete specimen" representing Parasaurolophus, one of the strangest creatures in the dinosaur menagerie. Crazy crest Parasaurolophus was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived throughout western North America about 75 million years ago. Its most notable feature was a long hollow crest that stuck up from its head. Paleontologists believe the crest served not only as a kind of visual display, like the cockscomb on a rooster, but also as a resonator for deep, booming calls. (Check out this archived news release and audio file to sample the dinosaur's sound.) During the four years that followed the find, researchers carefully excavated Terris' discovery, had it airlifted to the lab, analyzed the fossilized bones and put the skeleton on display at the Alf Museum. It's been nicknamed "Joe" — in honor of the late Joseph Augustyn, a contributor to the museum. The skeleton of the baby Parasauropholus is on display at the Alf Museum. Little Joe would have been about 8 feet (2.5 meters) long in life, compared with a typical length of 33 feet (10 meters) for an adult Parasaurolophus. A sample taken from the fossil's leg bone indicated that Joe was less than a year old when it died. "Dinosaurs have yearly growth rings in their bone tissue, like trees. But we didn't see even one ring," one of the PeerJ study's co-authors, Sarah Werning of Stony Brook University, explained. "That means it grew to a quarter of adult size in less than a year." Woofers and tweeters Joe also had made a good start on its crest — which came as a surprise, because previous studies suggested that related types of dinosaurs didn't start sprouting their ornamentation until they were at least half of their adult size. The researchers suggest that Parasaurolophus youngsters had to start early in order to develop the ornate crest that the grownups had. "If adult Parasaurolophus had 'woofers,' the babies had 'tweeters,'" Farke said in the news release. "The short and small crest of baby 'Joe' shows that it may have had a much higher pitch to its call than did adults. Along with the visual differences, this might have helped animals living in the same area figure out who was the big boss." Webb Schools student Brandon Scolieri looks in on the bones of the baby Parasaurolophus as they're being prepared for a CT scan. Scolieri is one of the authors of a newly published paper on the fossil. The research team had Joe's bones scanned to produce a virtual 3-D representation of the skeleton, which is being made available via the DinosaurJoe website. That way, scientists and the public will get access to Terris' find even if they can't see Joe in person at the Alf Museum in Claremont, Calif. Dinosaur skeletons are bought and sold for millions of dollars, but Farke declined to say how much Joe would be worth on the fossil market. It can't be sold, because it was found on federal property. "We can't actually place a value on it," Farke told NBC News. "Its primary value is scientific." Meanwhile, Terris isn't resting on his dino-finding laurels. The Houston native, who attended The Webb Schools because of its paleontology curriculum, told NBC News he's already working on his next publication. "Paleo is something I've been interested in since I was a kid," he said. More about dinosaurs: In addition to Farke and Werning, the authors of "Ontogeny in the Tube-Crested Dinosaur Parasaurolophus (Hadrosauridae) and Heterochrony in Hadrosaurids" include high-school students Derek Chok, Annisa Herrero and Brandon Scolieri. The fossil was collected under a permit from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Bureau of Land Management. Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding +Alan Boyle to your Google+ circles. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds. \|\|\|\|\| The skeleton of "Joe" is the smallest, most complete and youngest Parasaurolophus ever found. A dinosaur skeleton discovered by an eagle-eyed high-school student turns out to be the smallest, youngest and most complete duck-billed dinosaur of its kind ever found. This Cretaceous-era herbivore, Parasaurolophus, walked the Earth some 75 million years ago. The dinosaurs in this genus are best known for their impressive tube-shaped head crests, which may have been used for display or perhaps to amplify the animals' calls. The little specimen, dubbed "Joe," was so young that its crest was a mere bump on its head. "We now understand a lot more about how Parasaurolophus grew its crest," said Andrew Farke, a paleontologist and curator at Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, Calif. [See Photos of the Baby Dinosaur Discovery] Lucky find The museum is affiliated with The Webb Schools, a private high-school campus outside of Los Angeles. The students at the schools participate in paleontology fieldwork as part of their coursework, which is how student Kevin Terris came to discover "Joe" in 2009. Farke and a group of students were prospecting for fossils in Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, surveying ground Farke had already covered. Terris spotted a little sliver of bone sticking out from under a boulder and alerted Farke, who thought it looked like a piece of dinosaur rib — nice, but not really worth the trouble of excavating. "We were going to try to see if we could get something better," Farke told LiveScience. He walked around the other side of the boulder and picked up what looked like a large cobblestone, turning it over in his hands. A dinosaur skull stared back at him. In light of the skull, Farke thought it wise to go re-check Terris' discovery. A closer look revealed it to be a string of toe bones. "We have the skull on one side of this boulder and the toes on the other side. That means the whole dinosaur skeleton has to be in between," Farke said. "So we got pretty excited." Growing baby The team had to line up permits to excavate on the public land; they returned in 2010 to dig the bones from the ground. Surrounded by an 800-pound (363 kilograms) armor of rock, the bones had to be airlifted out of the rugged backcountry by helicopter. [Video: Airlifting a Baby Dino] The skull of baby "Joe" sports a small bump that would have grown into an impressive tube-liked crest. Credit: Copyright Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology. After 1,300 painstaking hours of cleaning, chiseling and picking, technicians revealed the fossil buried in all that stone. The completeness of the skeleton turned out to be "pretty spectacular," Farke said. The paleontologists realized they had an amazing example of a baby Parasaurolophus on their hands. Even better, they were able to sample the baby's leg bone. As dinosaur bones grow, they develop ring patterns, much like trees. "It didn't have any rings at all," Farke said of "Joe." "So what that shows is that this animal was under a year old when it died." The infant dinosaur was already 6 feet (1.8 meters) long, however, an impressive feat when you consider that duck-billed dinos hatched at about the same size as a human infant. The fact that "Joe" was already sprouting a crest bump so young suggests that Parasaurolophus started growing its crest earlier than other duck-billed dinosaurs. "It finally lets us understand how Parasaurolophus evolved that big crest, just by shifting around events in its development," Farke said. "Joe" will go on display at the Alf museum beginning today (Oct. 22) to coincide with a publication about the discovery in the journal PeerJ. A digital exploration of the skeleton will also be available at dinosaurjoe.com. As for Terris, the student who found the little duck-bill, he's now in college, studying geology, Farke said. Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.	– A California high school student made a find LiveScience calls "amazing": While doing paleontology fieldwork for school in Utah in 2009, Kevin Terris helped to discover an almost complete baby Parasaurolophus skeleton—in fact, the most complete one ever found. Nicknamed "Joe," it also turned out to be the smallest and youngest Parasaurolophus fossil ever found at under a year old and 6 feet long. The herbivore is known for its tube-shaped head crest, and this one was so young the crest is just a bump. "We now understand a lot more about how Parasaurolophus grew its crest," says a paleontologist. Specifically, the fact that the crest was already in existence on such a young dinosaur suggests that Parasaurolophus crests started growing earlier than those of other duck-billed dinosaurs. "It finally lets us understand how Parasaurolophus evolved that big crest, just by shifting around events in its development," the paleontologist says. Why so much time between the discovery and its reporting? The team couldn't even dig up the bones until 2010, because of the need for permits, and it took 1,300 hours of cleaning and chiseling to unearth the fossil—the completeness of which is "pretty spectacular," according to the paleontologist. Fun side note: Terris spotted the first bone after two professional paleontologists walked right by it, which one of them tells NBC News is "a little embarrassing."
Crawls performed by Internet Archive on behalf of the National Library of New Zealand. This data is currently not publicly accessible. \|\|\|\|\| Following Donald Trump's convincing Republican primary win in South Carolina, pundits and political rivals are beginning to shift their view on the billionaire's candidacy from unlikely outsider aberration to very real GOP challenger for the White House. Fittingly, as some begin nervously considering how the U.S. might elect a reality TV star as president, a brilliant parody of Trump's rise has appeared, deftly using the lore of Game of Thrones as the backdrop. Titled "Winter is Trumping," the clever clip by Huw Parkinson uses real Trump footage and speech audio and merges it almost seamlessly with key Game of Thrones scenes. We get to see Trump negotiating with Littlefinger, facing down the queen of dragons, Daenerys Targaryen, and even preparing for battle alongside Tyrion Lannister. And yes, these people thought of everything, we even see Trump defending against invaders from atop The Wall. Sure, comparing Trump to the characters in a world in which the good guys often get decapitated and no one's innocence lasts for long is a bit harsh. But as this video shows, it's hard to deny just how well the would-be president might fit into the ruthless world of The Seven Kingdoms. \|\|\|\|\| David Mack is a deputy director of breaking news for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.	– It's not entirely clear what a country run by Donald Trump might look like. But as Mashable points out, "it's hard to deny just how well the would-be president might fit into the ruthless world of The Seven Kingdoms." See for yourself in a new YouTube video from Huw Parkison of ABC Australia's Insiders program. "Winter is Trumping," spotted by BuzzFeed, drops Trump into scenes from HBO's Game of Thrones where he complains about Pope Francis and smirks at those trapped on the wrong side of The Wall. An unsympathetic Trump also turns away Daenerys Targaryen and her starving Dothraki followers from Qarth, negotiates with Littlefinger, refuses an order from Jon Snow, and promises to "bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding" if he wins the Iron Throne. In King's Landing, at least, that vow leads to the use of wildfire during the Battle of the Blackwater. The video has been viewed more than 415,000 times in just three days. (Trump admits he needs to act more presidential.)
Following comments he made earlier in the day on his radio show, GLAAD has been in dialogue with Carson Daly and his team, who have now provided us with the following statement: "We live in a time where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals find courage every day to overcome adversity, stand up to bullying and find equality. I'm truly saddened that my words today suggested otherwise. I've long been a supporter of gay, lesbian, and transgender rights, and I'm saddened that my comments, however unintentional, offended anyone, specifically members of the LGBT community. The fact that I have hurt anyone is devastating. I'm not that guy. I'm proud to be an ally of the LGBT community and will continue to fight with them." Daly's original comments and tweeted apology can be seen here. While it’s up to the public to judge the sincerity of Daly’s sentiments here, GLAAD looks forward to taking him up on his offer to fight with us for the full equality of LGBT Americans. \|\|\|\|\| Carson Daly Gay People Wouldn't Have Stopped Crazy JetBlue Pilot Carson Daly -- Gay People Wouldn't Have Stopped Crazy JetBlue Pilot does not believe gay people would have been able to restrain the pilot who freaked out on a recentflight ... suggesting gays are simply not brave enough to handle dangerous situations.It all went down on Daly's L.A. radio show this morning ... when he was talking about the flight and said, "Most of the people were on their way to some sort of security conference in Las Vegas ... it was like a bunch of dudes and well trained dudes ... thank god."He laughingly continued, "With my luck, it would be like ... 'this is the flight going to [the gay pride parade] in San Francisco ... I mean, that would be my colleagues."Then, changing his voice to sound like a gay stereotype, Carson said, "Uh, we're headed down to Vegas for the floral convention."Carson has released a statement on Twitter ... saying, "This morning on my radio show I attempted to make fun of myself & offended others by mistake. I sincerely apologize." \|\|\|\|\| Getty Images Carson Daly took to his radio show today to sound off on the JetBlue Airways pilot charged with interfering with a flight crew after sprinting through the cabin of a Las Vegas-bound flight screaming about terrorists and 9/11 -- but his comments may ruffle a few feathers among the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Noting that passengers wrestled Captain Clayton Osbon to the ground prior to an emergency landing, Daly said, "On this particular flight, most of the people were on their way to some sort of security conference in Las Vegas...so it was a bunch of dudes, and well-trained dudes." As TMZ is reporting, Daly then suggested that gays would not brave enough to handle such a dangerous situation: "If that were me...with my luck, it would be like, 'This is the flight going to the [gay] pride parade in San Francisco.'" He then added, "Uh, we're headed down to Vegas for the floral convention." A number of bloggers pointed out that the media personality seems to have forgotten about Mark Bingham, the openly gay man who reportedly joined several passengers in storming the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 after it was hijacked during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Later, Daly tweeted an apology for the remarks: @carsonjdaly Carson Daly This morning on my radio show I attempted to make fun of myself & offended others by mistake. I sincerely apologize. UPDATE: He also apologized in a statement to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD):	– Carson Daly apologized last night for implying that gay people wouldn't have been able to take down the JetBlue pilot who melted down on a recent flight. On his show yesterday morning, Daly noted how lucky it was that many of the passengers on the flight were "well-trained dudes" on their way to a security conference. Unfortunately, he went on: "With my luck, it would be like, 'This is the flight going to [the gay pride parade] in San Francisco. I mean, that would be my colleagues." Then, making his voice sound—as TMZ puts it—"like a gay stereotype," Daly continued, "Uh, we're headed down to Vegas for the floral convention." He later apologized on Twitter, posting, "This morning on my radio show I attempted to make fun of myself & offended others by mistake. I sincerely apologize." He also gave a statement to GLAAD, reiterating that he is "an ally of the LGBT community" and that that community is full of courageous individuals. The Huffington Post notes that Mark Bingham, one of the United 93 passengers who stormed the cockpit on 9/11, was openly gay; Bingham's mother responded to the controversy, telling TMZ in no uncertain terms that her son was a tough rugby player who ran with the bulls in Pamplona. Click to hear Daly's original comments.
(CNN) The sounds recorded on one of the "black boxes" recovered from downed Germanwings Flight 9525 firms up investigators' theory that the co-pilot locked the captain out of the cockpit and then crashed the plane. "For God's sake, open the door!" Capt. Patrick Sondenheimer screamed as he banged on the cockpit door, pleading with the co-pilot. Thirteen minutes later, the plane slammed into the French Alps. The audio from the plane's cockpit voice recorder has not been released, but the German newspaper Bild published Sunday what it claims is a summary of the transcript from the recording. France's accident investigation agency, BEA, told CNN that the agency is "dismayed" by the voice recording leak to Bild. Martine Del Bono, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the leak could not have come from a BEA agent. She said the agency considers the report mere "voyeurism." According to Bild's report, Sondenheimer told co-pilot Andreas Lubitz that he didn't manage to go to the bathroom before takeoff. Lubitz tells him he can go anytime. Lubitz is believed to have locked the pilot of Flight 9525 out of the cockpit before putting the plane on a rapid descent into the mountains, French authorities have said. The flight took off 20 minutes late. After reaching cruising altitude, Sondenheimer asked Lubitz to prepare the landing. Once that's finished, Lubitz again tells the captain he "can go anytime." There is the sound of a seat being pushed backward after which the captain says, "You can take over." At 10:29 a.m., air traffic radar detects that the plane is starting to descend. Three minutes later, air traffic controllers try to contact the plane and receive no answer -- shortly after which an alarm goes off in the cockpit, warning of the "sink rate," Bild reported. Next comes the banging. Sondenheimer begs Lubitz to let him in. Passengers then begin to scream, according to the transcript obtained by Bild. Another three minutes pass. A loud metallic bang is heard at 7,000 meters (almost 23,000 feet). A minute and half later and 2,000 meters (about 6,500 feet) lower to the ground, an alarm says "Terrain -- pull up!" "Open the damn door!" the pilot says. It's 10:38, and the plane is at 4,000 meters (about 13,000 feet). Lubitz's breathing can still be heard on the voice recorder, according to Bild's report. Two minutes later, investigators think they hear the plane's right wing scrape a mountaintop. Screams can be heard one final time. 'Unbelievable' leak Cockpit recordings are some of the most sensitive and closely held parts of aviation crash investigations. They're never officially released, according to CNN aviation reporter Richard Quest. Quest called it "unbelievable" that the black box audio would be leaked in this manner. Communications between air traffic control and a plane's cockpit can be downloaded privately, but that's less common in Europe than it is in the United States. An edited and redacted version of the transcript is usually published in part of a final report on an incident. Although search teams have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder remains missing. That device could reveal crucial details about what happened during the final moments of the flight. What authorities know Jean Pierre Michel, lead investigator for the French inquiry, said on Saturday that investigators are not ruling out any scenario with respect to the crash out at this point. But French authorities have said that Lubitz appeared to have crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 deliberately into the Alps on Tuesday as it flew from Barcelona, Spain, toward Dusseldorf, Germany, with 150 people on board. Much attention has focused on Lubitz's state of mind since then, with suggestions that he may have had mental health issues. Lubitz, 27, passed his annual pilot recertification medical examination in summer 2014, a German aviation source told CNN. An official with Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, said that the exam only tests physical health, not psychological health. JUST WATCHED Police search Germanwings co-pilot's home for clues Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Police search Germanwings co-pilot's home for clues 00:10 The official also said that the company was never given any indication Lubitz was depressed, and that if he went to a doctor on his own, he would have been required to self-report if deemed unfit to fly. A Dusseldorf clinic said he'd gone there twice, most recently on March 10, "concerning a diagnosis." But the University Clinic said it had not treated Lubitz for depression. The speculation about Lubitz' mental state is based on a letter found in a waste bin in his Dusseldorf apartment. The note, which was "slashed," said Lubitz was not able to do his job, city prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Friday. The fact that investigators found "ripped, recent medical leave notes, including for the day of the offense, leads to the preliminary conclusion that the deceased kept his illness secret from his employer and his professional environment," prosecutors said. Germanwings corroborated that assertion, saying it had never received a sick note from Lubitz. Anxiety, burnout and depression A handful of publications, citing unnamed sources, have reported that Lubitz suffered from various psychological maladies. CNN has not been able to confirm these reports. Lubitz suffered from "generalized anxiety disorder," and from severe depression in the past, Le Parisien newspaper reported Sunday, citing sources close to the investigation. In 2010, Lubitz received injections of antipsychotic medication, the paper said. He was also prescribed a medication that influences neurotransmitters, but it's unclear when that happened, according to Le Parisien. The newspaper said investigators found a handful of pills in his apartment in addition to two sick notes, which forbade him from working from March 16 to March 29. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Lubitz suffered from mental illness and kept his diagnosis concealed from his employer. A subsequent report from the Times on Saturday, citing two officials with knowledge of the investigation, said Lubitz sought treatment before the crash for vision problems that might have put his career at risk. However, an official with Lufthansa, said that if Lubitz had vision problems, they would have been discovered during his pilot recertification medical examination. Authorities have not ruled out the vision problems could have been psychosomatic, according to the Times. Citing an unidentified senior investigator, German newspaper Die Welt said that Lubitz suffered from a severe "psychosomatic illness" and that German police seized prescription drugs that treat the condition. Lubitz suffered from a "severe subjective burnout syndrome" and from severe depression, the source told the newspaper. News reports also stated that antidepressants were found during the search of his apartment. Investigators are expected to question his relatives, friends and co-workers as they try to pin down what could have prompted the co-pilot to steer a jetliner full of people into a mountainside. Lubitz had a girlfriend, a teacher at a school in Dusseldorf not far from his apartment, according to German media. 'This is a man whose life is totally broken' Dozens of people attended a remembrance ceremony Saturday for the victims of the crash at a church in a nearby town, Digne-les-Bains, France. Most of the people on the plane were from Germany and Spain. Relatives of the victims and local residents also gathered Saturday afternoon by a simple stone memorial set up near the crash site, in the village of Le Vernet. Flowers have been laid there, in the shadow of the snow-covered peaks of the French Alps. The mayor of one local community said he had seen Lubitz's father on Thursday evening, describing him as "a man in deep distress." "We get the impression that that man is bearing the whole weight of the disaster on his shoulders," Bernard Bartolini, the mayor of Prads-Haute-Bleone, said Saturday. "I can tell that this is a man whose life is totally broken," Bartolini said. "He had so much emotion in him." \|\|\|\|\| MONTABAUR, Germany (AP) — The pastor of the Lutheran church in Andreas Lubitz's hometown said Sunday that the community stands by him and his family, despite the fact that prosecutors blame the 27-year-old co-pilot for causing the plane crash that killed 150 people in southern France. Buses of the French gendarmerie, park and mask the homage ceremony with family members of Japanese victims in the area where the Germanwings jetliner crashed in the French Alps, in Le Vernet, France,... (Associated Press) Pope Francis delivers his blessing at the end of a Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 29, 2015. Pope Francis has walked solemnly through St. Peter's Square in a Palm... (Associated Press) The German, left, and Japanese flags are deployed during an homage ceremony with family members of Japanese victims in front of a stele, a stone slab erected as a monument, set up in memory of the victims... (Associated Press) The German, left, and Japanese flags are deployed during an homage ceremony with family members of Japanese victims in the area where the Germanwings jetliner crashed in the French Alps, in Le Vernet,... (Associated Press) In this still image photo taken from video, people leave the protestant Luther church in the hometown of co-pilot Andeas Lubitz, in Montabaur, Germany, Sunday, March 29, 2015. A church service was held... (Associated Press) In this still image photo taken from video, Priest Michael Dietrich, from the hometown of co-pilot Andeas Lubitz talks during an interview with AP Television, in Montabaur, Germany, Sunday, March 29,... (Associated Press) The town of Montabaur has been rattled by the revelation that Lubitz, who first learned to fly at a nearby glider club, may have intentionally caused Tuesday's crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. "For us, it makes it particularly difficult that the only victim from Montabaur is suspected to have caused this tragedy, this crash — although this has not been finally confirmed, but a lot is indicating that — and we have to face this," pastor Michael Dietrich said. He spoke to The Associated Press after holding a church service Sunday to commemorate the crash victims and support their families. "The co-pilot, the family belong to our community, and we stand by this, and we embrace them and will not hide this, and want to support the family in particular," Dietrich said. He added that there is no direct contact with the family at the moment, but that he believes they are receiving good assistance. French prosecutors haven't questioned the family yet "out of decency and respect for their pain," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said. Authorities are trying to understand what made Lubitz lock his fellow pilot out of the cockpit and ignore his pleas to open the door before slamming the plane into a mountain on what should have been a routine flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf. French officials refused to confirm or deny a partial transcript that German newspaper Bild am Sontag said it had obtained of the cockpit recording. The paper reported Sunday that the pilot left for the toilet shortly before 10:30 a.m. and was heard trying unsuccessfully to get into the cockpit again a few minutes later, then shouting "for God's sake open the door." After several more minutes in which the pilot could be heard trying to break open the door, the plane crashed into the mountainside, according to Bild am Sonntag, which didn't say how it obtained the report. Brice, the Marseille prosecutor said that none of the bodies recovered so far have been identified, denying German media reports that Lubitz's body had been found. Tests on the body of the co-pilot may provide clues on any medical treatment he was receiving. Germany prosecutors said Friday that Lubitz was hiding an illness and sick notes for the day of the crash from his employer. Dietrich, the pastor, said he knew Lubitz as a teenager, when he attended religious education 13 years ago, and his mother, who worked as a part-time organist in the community. "When I worked with her or talked to her, it was very good and very harmonious. We had good conversations," Dietrich said. "I know her and her family. This does not make sense. It is incomprehensible for me, for us, for everyone who knew her and the family." "From what I've heard, there were no obvious signs that there is anything in the background that could lead to this," he added. In Rome, Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for the victims of the plane crash, citing in particular the 16 German students returning from an exchange trip to Spain. Francis offered the prayer after Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square at the start of Holy Week. In Le Vernet, a town near the crash site, families and friends of those killed were still coming to terms with what had happened. "Members of the family shed tears as they went to see the site," said Ippei Yamanaka, co-worker of Japanese passenger Junichi Sato who died in the crash. "It was particularly moving to see Mr. Sato's father asking the leader of the Kempeitai (a Japanese military rescue team), with many tears in his eyes, for them to continue the search operation and for it to finish earlier even by just one day." "His wife says she still she cannot believe what has happened, saying that it almost feels like her husband is away on his business trip and that it still feels like he is going to return soon," Yamanaka said. ___ Frank Jordans in Berlin, Philippe Sotto in Paris and Frances D'Emilio in Rome, contributed to this report. \|\|\|\|\| In an interview published on Sunday, Airbus chairman Tom Enders sharply criticized some television discussions about Tuesday's crash, in which an Airbus 320 came down in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. "What we should critically examine is the mischief that some 'experts' get up to, especially in TV talk shows," Enders told the weekly Bild am Sonntag. "Sometimes people there speculate, fantasize and lie with no basis in fact," he said, describing many of the opinions expressed as "outrageous nonsense" that constituted "mockery of the victims." Referring to reports that the co-pilot of the plane appeared to have deliberately flown Germanwings flight 4U9525 into a rocky mountainside, Enders said it was important not to think that the exception was the rule. "One black sheep does not constitute a herd," he said, adding that the overwhelming majority of pilots were "very reliable" and "excellently" trained. 'Meaningless explanations' Leading figures in the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) have also called for caution with regard to speculation on the causes of the crash. "We will perhaps never know exactly what happened, and we should simply not say anything," Margot Kässmann, the former council chair of the EKD, wrote in an article for the same newspaper. Kässmann says we may never know what happened She said journalists should heed the same advice and "stop giving us explanations that explain nothing." The current EKD council chair, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, also warned in the Sunday edition of the Berlin paper BZ against seeing the co-pilot's actions as being evidence of supernatural evil. "We should not attribute people's acts to some dark powers or other," he said, adding that "no one knows what abysses of the soul led to this iniquitous act." Case still open The mayor of the co-pilot's home town of Montabaur has also called on journalists to exercise restraint toward the man's parents. "Regardless of whether the accusations against the co-pilot are true, we sympathize with his family and ask the media to be considerate," Edmund Schaaf said, alluding to the crowds of reporters that have gathered in the town. German state prosecutors and police spokespeople have said there will be no official statements on the case before Monday, and a chief French investigator, General Jean-Pierre Michel, told French media on Saturday that other hypotheses on the cause of the crash must also be examined. "[We] have no right today to rule out other hypotheses, including mechanical hypotheses, as long as we haven't proved that the plane had no (mechanical) problem," he said. The European Cockpit Association (ECA), which represents European pilots, said on Saturday that leaks of data from the crashed plane's voice recorder to the media - which led to the allegations that the co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane - were a "serious breach of fundamental and globally accepted international accident investigation rules." tj/sms (dpa, Reuters, AFP, epd, dpa) \|\|\|\|\| Rescuers still to find plane’s flight data recorder, leading to growing calls for caution in blaming co-pilot Andreas Lubitz for deliberately downing the aircraft Forensic teams have identified 78 distinct DNA strands from body parts spread across the remote mountainside in the French Alps where Germanwings flight 4U9525 crashed, killing all 150 people on board. Rescuers are still, however, to locate the plane’s second black box — its flight data recorder — six days after the Barcelona to Düsseldorf flight crashed into a rocky ravine at 435 miles (700km) per hour. Between 400 and 600 body parts have been located and are currently being examined. “We haven’t found a single body intact,” said Patrick Touron, the deputy director of the police’s criminal research institute. Identification experts were using dental records, DNA samples from family members, fingerprints, jewellery and bits of ID card to help the process. The black box, which is actually orange and weighs around 10kg, was originally in a protective casing, but only the empty casing has been found. Captain Yves Naffrechoux, a mountain ranger, told Agence France-Presse: “If it has not been completely destroyed or pulverised, the black box will be under the rubble and debris. We must work with caution and a lot of precision. We have to look under every last bit of plane and lift every rock.” An access road was being built to the site to allow all-terrain vehicles to remove some of the larger parts of the plane. Prosecutors in France and Germany have suggested that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, deliberately crashed the plane. They have retrieved a torn-up sicknote from his flat in Düsseldorf, which was dated for the day of the disaster. Lubitz, who is from the small German town of Montabaur, had a history of depression which he hid from his employer and colleagues, they said. The suicide-mass murder theory is based on the cockpit voice recorder retrieved from the crash site near the village of Le Vernet. According to Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper, the captain, Patrick Sondheimer, asked Lubitz to prepare the plane to land in Düsseldorf. Lubitz responded “laconically”. Sondheimer then left the cockpit to go to the toilet, telling his co-pilot: “You can take over.” There was a sound of a seat being pushed back, and the door clicking shut. According to Bild, the plane then went into a steady descent. Minutes later there is a loud knocking and the voice of the captain saying: “For God’s sake open the door.” In the final moments the screams of passengers can be heard. German and European pilots’ associations urged caution last week in stating the cause of the crash until the second black box was discovered and the air accident investigation brought to a conclusion. Jean-Pierre Michel, the head of the French investigation agency, said that some technical details of what precisely happened to the Airbus A320 aircraft were still missing. “At the moment we can’t rule out the hypothesis of a technical fault,” Michel told the French channel BFM TV. The German chief executive of the Airbus Group, Tom Enders, expressed his irritation on Sunday and criticised TV talkshow coverage of the disaster. “There has been speculation without facts, fantasy and lies,” Enders said. Such “outrageous nonsense” mocked the victims, he added. In Montabaur, where Lubitz lived part of the time with his father, mother and younger brother, prayers were said on Sunday for the victims of the crash, and for the co-pilot and his grieving family. Hundreds of worshippers packed into St Peter’s Catholic church on the town’s cobbled main street, on a morning of pouring rain. Many there believed that investigators had been too quick to blame Lubitz for the disaster. Candles and flowers have been left outside the church, and one note read: “We think of all victims of this tragic crash, and their families and friends, in these difficult hours.” The priest expressed sympathy for Lubitz’s parents whom, he said, had found themselves “at the centre of attention”, the families and friends of the victims, and the rescue workers in France. \|\|\|\|\| Andreas Lubitz, 27, was living with the unnamed 26-year-old woman in his Düsseldorf apartment up until the crash last Tuesday, Germany’s Bild newspaper and Der Spiegel magazine reported. She worked as a teacher at an unnamed comprehensive school in the state of North Rhine Westfalia and Bild said she had told her pupils that she was pregnant. Lubitz had also recently ordered two new cars for them. The woman – given the pseudonym, Sabine L, by Bild to protect her identity – visited the crash site last week, discovering on the way there that Lubitz had deliberately crashed the plane, killing himself and 149 others. Sabine was said to have met Lubitz when the two were school students doing holiday jobs at a hamburger restaurant. “Eventually they no longer kept their relationship a secret,” the former manager was quoted as saying. It is thought that Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane because he was deeply depressed and was being treated for vision problems that could have ended his flying career. Some sources suggested he was suffering from a detached retina. The reports came as a transcript of the last voice recordings was revealed yesterday, which reveals that Lubitz urged the pilot to go to the toilet, leaving him alone in the cockpit. Passengers can be heard screaming uncontrollably for minutes before the crash, according to details published by Bild am Sonntag. Over the course of the transcript, Lubitz can be heard telling Captain Patrick Sondheimer that he is ready to take over “any time”. As Capt Sondheimer orders Lubitz to prepare the plane for landing in Düsseldorf, Lubitz appears to give clues about what he is about to do, responding with “hopefully” and “let’s wait and see”. He then tells Capt Sondheimer: “You can go now”. Two minutes later, the Captain says, “you can take over now” and the sound of a cockpit seat sliding backwards is followed by the clicking of the cockpit door. Shortly after, Lubitz puts the aircraft into descent mode. Air traffic controllers can then be heard trying to contact the plane and the automatic “sink rate” alarm starts sounding. Seconds later, there is thudding on the cockpit door. Capt Sondheimer can be heard shouting, “For God’s sake open the door!” Behind him, passengers can be heard screaming. Among the last sounds appear to be attempts by Capt Sondheimer to break down the door with the aircraft’s emergency axe, as he shouts: “Open the goddam door.” But to no avail. Shortly after, the plane’s wing is heard scraping the side of a mountain. French officials have refused to confirm or deny the transcript.	– Investigators carrying out the grim task of recovering wreckage and human remains from the Germanwings crash say they have not found an intact body—or the flight data recorder. To aid the search, an access road is being built to the remote site in the French Alps, where forensic teams have so far recovered DNA belonging to 78 of the 150 people killed, the Guardian reports. Investigators say that so far, only the empty protective casing of the black box has been found. In other developments: Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz is believed to have deliberately crashed the plane, but with the failure to find the flight's second black box, some in the aviation world are saying it is too early to rule out other causes. Airbus chairman Tom Enders slammed TV coverage of the crash in an interview published yesterday, Deutsche Welle reports. "Sometimes people there speculate, fantasize, and lie with no basis in fact," he said, calling some of the reporting "outrageous nonsense" that was a "mockery of the victims." The cockpit voice recorder was recovered soon after the crash, and German newspaper Bild has published what it says is a leaked transcript. Capt. Patrick Sondenheimer (also spelled Sonderheimer or Sondheimer, depending on the source) can be heard pleading for Lubitz to let him back in the cabin, shouting, "Open the goddamn door!" as passengers scream minutes before impact, according to the transcript. A spokeswoman for France's accident investigation agency tells CNN that investigators are "dismayed" by the leak. Over the weekend, there were reports that Lubitz suffered from a psychomatic illness that may have been linked to a vision problem. German newspapers, including Bild, also reported that Lubitz's girlfriend, a teacher, was pregnant and the couple had planned to marry, according to the Independent. In Lubitz's hometown of Montabaur, the local Lutheran pastor tells the AP that despite mounting evidence that Lubitz caused the crash, he was still part of the community and the church is standing by his family. He says Lubitz's mother is a part-time organist for the church and he knew the co-pilot as a teenager. "This does not make sense. It is incomprehensible for me, for us, for everyone who knew her and the family," he says.
Getty Obama poised to give financial aid to federal, state prisoners The move, which could come as soon as this week, would end a 20-year ban on offering Pell grants to state and federal prisoners. More prisoners may soon have access to federal subsidies to pay for college under a new Obama administration initiative, ending a 20-year ban on Pell grants for state and federal prisoners. The move could come as soon as this week. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are scheduled to visit Goucher College’s Prison Education Partnership at the Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup on Friday, to make “an important announcement related to federal aid.” Story Continued Below On Monday, Duncan said that restoring Pell eligibility for those potential students is one way his agency hopes to increase college affordability. “We’ll have more information soon,” Duncan said. His agency could circumvent the federal ban, doing an end-run around Congress, through its experimental sites program, which gives some colleges limited exemptions to federal financial aid rules. “A lot of my friends here in Washington have been talking about the need for debt-free degrees. And they’re right,” Duncan said during a higher education policy speech at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “We want to do even more, developing experimental sites that will make Pell grants available to programs that award credentials based on demonstrated competency, to incarcerated adults seeking an independent, productive life after release, and to adult learners who enroll in short-term certificate programs that provide job-ready training.” For the current academic year, Pell grants are worth up to $5,775. The Obama administration has increased total federal aid available to students by more than $50 billion and increased tax benefits and credits by an additional $12 billion, part of a total of about $150 billion a year in grants and loans for higher education. More than 2 million additional students now receive Pell grants, and the maximum Pell award has increased by more than $1,000. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed support for such a policy, and House Democrats including education committee ranking member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) introduced legislation to reinstate Pell eligibility for federal and state prisoners. (Prisoners in local, municipal or county correctional facilities haven’t been banned from access to Pell.) Prisoners who participate in correctional education programs are 43 percent less likely to return to prison and 13 percent more likely to have a job after finishing their sentence, the bill’s co-sponsors noted. Late last year, the Education Department clarified that students in juvenile justice facilities that aren’t federal or state institutions are eligible for Pell grants. And in recent months, President Barack Obama has called for reform of the criminal justice system. \|\|\|\|\| Prison inmates will soon have access to Pell grants, which assist in tuition and other education-related costs. WSJ reporter Joshua Mitchell discusses the program as well as some of the controversy around it. Photo: Reuters The Obama administration plans to restore federal funding for prison inmates to take college courses, a potentially controversial move that comes amid a broader push to overhaul the criminal justice system. The plan, set to be unveiled Friday by the secretary of education and the attorney general, would allow potentially thousands of inmates in the U.S. to gain access to Pell grants, the main form of federal aid for low-income...	– The Obama administration is planning to restore access to federal college subsidies for a huge number of Americans who have a lot of time on their hands. Congress banned inmates at the state and federal level from receiving Pell grants in 1994, but Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he'll have an "important announcement" to make when he visits a Maryland prison this week, reports Politico. The administration will be able to temporarily lift the ban without going through Congress by treating the restoration of grants as an experiment in reducing re-offending rates, reports the Wall Street Journal, which notes that prisoners received $34 million in Pell grants in 1993. Pell grants are worth up to $5,775 a year, which Rep. Donna Edwards, co-sponsor of a bill to permanently restore the grants to prisoners, notes is a lot less than the $40,000 or so it costs to keep an inmate behind bars for a year. "We haven't really been able to get a handle on recidivism," the Democrat tells the Journal. "We have to present some training and opportunities. These are programs that work." The prison population has doubled in the 20 years since the grants were removed, and the bill's co-sponsors say inmates who take part in education programs are 43% less likely to end up back in prison, Politico notes. (This month, President Obama became the first sitting president to visit a prison.)
Hadiya Pendleton: 4 years before slaying, girl made anti-gang video "Hi, my name is Hadiya. This commercial is informational for you and your future children," she begins. "So many children out there are in gangs and it's your job as students to say no to gangs and yes to a great future." The sixth-grader can barely keep from smiling, self-conscious in front of the camera as she delivers a very serious message. The video then shows shots of a boy slumped in a stairwell, another boy sprawled against a locker, a girl lying on the floor against a wall as a classmate next to Hadiya says, "So many children in the world have died from gang violence. More than 500 children have died from being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Four years after Hadiya Pendleton made that public service video at Carter G. Woodson Elementary School, police are saying the same thing about her. Hadiya had just finished her final exams at King Prep High School, where she was a sophomore, and was hanging out with friends from the school's volleyball team when she was gunned down in a park in the 4400 block of South Oakenwald Avenue. Thursday afternoon, police announced the reward for information leading to an arrest in the shooting had increased to $24,000, up from $11,000 announced Wednesday. Hadiya and the others had sought shelter from a rainstorm under a canopy at the park around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday when a gunman jumped a fence, ran toward them and opened fire, police said. As the teens scattered, Hadiya and two teenage boys were shot. Hadiya was hit in the back and pronounced dead at Comer Children's Hospital less than an hour after the shooting. The wounds suffered by the boys were not life-threatening. Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy stressed that neither Hadiya nor anyone in the group she was with were involved with gangs. But it appears the gunman mistook the students for members of a rival gang, he said. The shooter was last seen fleeing in a white Nissan. “These were good kids by everything that I learned," McCarthy said at a Wednesday news conference, where a reward of $11,000 was announced. "Wrong place at the wrong time.” Hadiya was shot a little more than a week after performing with the King College Prep band in Washington during President Barack Obama's inauguration festivities. The shooting occurred in a park about a mile north of Obama's Kenwood home. The shooting has drawn the attention of both the White House, which is pushing for national gun control, and City Hall as Chicago closes on a violent January. Hadiya was the 42nd homicide victim this year in the city, where killings last year climbed above 500. Hadiya's father, Nathaniel Pendleton, pleaded for someone to step forward and bring the 15-year-old's killer to justice. "She was destined for great things," he said. Hadiya was a majorette with the band at King, one of the city's elite selective-enrollment schools. She dreamed of going to Northwestern University and talked about becoming a pharmacist or a journalist, maybe a lawyer. Police have reported no arrests. \|\|\|\|\| The Rev. Jesse Jackson pledged to march this weekend on behalf of the Windy City teenager who was shot and killed, days after performing at an event for President Barack Obama’s Inauguration. Jackson said the march would feature his Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Rev. Al Sharpton, among others. He added that there are a number of factors that drive gun violence beyond gun laws, which are stringent in Chicago. Text Size - + reset “It’s not just about gun laws; it’s about gun flow and drug flow and job flow,” Jackson said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We know where they’re manufactured. And you cannot stop them. Rahm [Emanuel] is doing a tremendous job, I think, trying to maneuver … But he’s in this box, guns coming in. And when the plants close and the jobs leave, so poverty and drugs and guns and race are factors.” Jackson was responding to a question about why Chicago has already seen more than 40 murders in 2013 despite tough gun restrictions. He noted that guns come into Chicago from outside city limits, where gun laws are more lax. The reverend’s comments come several days after 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed about a mile from Obama’s Chicago home. A week earlier, she had participated in inaugural events with her high school band and came to the president’s Inauguration, news reports said. “It’s a terrible tragedy anytime a young person is struck down,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said at a press briefing on Wednesday. He added, “The president and first lady’s thoughts are with the family.” Jackson said that the coalition of social justice activists plans to march on Saturday to the spot where she was killed.	– Jesse Jackson is organizing a march this weekend in remembrance of Hadiya Pendleton, the Chicago teen who was killed just days after performing with her school band at President Obama's inauguration. Chicago already has some of the nation's strictest gun laws, but Jackson says he's hoping to inspire action on other factors that lead to gang violence. "It's not just about gun laws," he said on MSNBC. "It's about gun flow and drug flow and job flow." Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition will participate in the march, as will Rev. Al Sharpton, Politico reports. Hadiya's shooting is believed to be gang-related, but police say neither the 15-year-old nor anyone she was with had gang ties. Indeed, in sixth grade she even recorded an anti-gang PSA, the Chicago Tribune reports. It's heartbreaking to watch now: "So many children in the world have died from gang violence," another girl in the video tells the camera. "More than 500 children have died from being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) By Radar Staff A dangerous man who claimed he was Miley Cyrus‘ husband and was armed with a pair of scissors was arrested early Saturday morning at the singer‘s Studio City home. RadarOnline.com has confirmed that Jason Luis Rivera was arrested by police at 4:45 am and is being held on $1,000 bail at LAPD Valley Jail. He’s accused of trespassing and burglary. PHOTOS: Miley Goes In-N-Out For Lunch Video obtained by KTLA-TV shows the bald 40-year-old being handcuffed by cops after he was discovered hiding in bushes on the young star’s property. Rivera is heard telling police he is carrying scissors and when he did not immediately comply with their orders,they used a taser gun on him. PHOTOS: Celebs Who Have Done Jail Time He told cops, “I am friends with Miley Cyrus. I am. She’s my wife. Me and Miley have been friends for five years.” The newly engaged singer and actress was not home at the time of the incident but someone in the house dialed 911 when Rivera was spotted. RELATED STORIES: PHOTOS: Stars Who Have Been Stalked PHOTOS: Miley Lets It All Hang Out In Los Angeles Moon Over Miley! Cyrus Lets It All Hang Out In Scandalous Outfit Patti Stanger Talks About Adopting & Miley Cyrus’ Engagement Liam Who? Miley Cyrus Gets Very Cozy With ‘Best Friend’ In Mia \|\|\|\|\| Miley Cyrus Intruder With Weapon ARRESTED At Her Home Miley Cyrus -- Intruder With Weapon ARRESTED At Singer's Home Breaking News dodged a bullet last night -- some guy armed with scissors was ARRESTED at the singer's L.A. home after he jumped her fence and said he wanted to meet her ... according to law enforcement sources.The incident occurred early Saturday morning ... cops responded to a 911 call from Miley's L.A. home, not placed by the singer. When they arrived they arrested a man named Jason Luis Rivera for trespassing.Law enforcement tells us, Rivera jumped the fence surrounding Miley's house and was carrying a pair of scissors when they apprehended him. He told cops at the time he wanted to see the pop star and that's why he was on her property.Miley was not home when the incident occurred.	– Maybe it's her new 'do? Whatever, a man allegedly leaped into Miley Cyrus' yard early yesterday morning wielding a pair of scissors, TMZ reports. Police received a 911 call from inside her LA house—not from Miley—and arrested a man named Jason Luis Rivera for trespassing. The singer herself was not around. Radar reports that Rivera said he was "friends with Miley Cyrus. I am. She's my wife. Me and Miley have been friends for five years." Click for a pic and video of the accused.
A soldier from North Korea who defected to the south has been found with anthrax antibodies in his system, sparking concern at the rogue state's biological weapons capabilities, it has been reported. A South Korean intelligence official told local news network Channel A that the unnamed soldier had been either exposed to or vaccinated for anthrax and had developed immunity to the deadly disease. "Anthrax antibodies have been found in the North Korean soldier who defected this year," the source told the network. The report adds to growing concern that North Korea is developing biological weapons, especially in light of details published in 2015 by the Pyongyang Biological Technology Research Institute suggesting that such weapons are being made. Anthrax can kill within 24 hours unless people have been vaccinated or antibiotics are taken. South Korea's military is expected to have an anthrax vaccine developed by the end of 2019, the country's defence ministry said. There have been reports that Pyongyang is looking to mount anthrax onto intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US. The Japanese newspaper Asahi reported how North Korea is experimenting with heat and pressure equipment to prevent anthrax from dying at high temperatures of over 7,000 degrees generated at the time of an ICBM's re-entry into the atmosphere. Earlier in December, a White House report raised fears that North Korea was developing chemical and biological weapons that could be "delivered by missile." Meanwhile, just before Christmas, North Korea said it is a "pipe dream" for the United States to think it will give up its nuclear weapons, and called the latest UN sanctions to target the country "an act of war" that violates its sovereignty. It followed the hermit nation's launch of their most-advanced missile, the Hwasong-15. \|\|\|\|\| One of the North Korean soldiers who defected across the demilitarized zone was found to have developed antibodies against anthrax, according to a South Korean press report. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI \| License Photo Dec. 26 (UPI) -- One of the North Korean soldiers who defected to the South in 2017 was found to have antibodies in his bloodstream, a sign Pyongyang possesses anthrax, the acute disease caused by bacteria. South Korean authorities did not identify the soldier, who was either exposed to or vaccinated for anthrax, but did confirm he had developed immunity to the deadly disease before he defected, local news network Channel A reported Tuesday. "Anthrax antibodies have been found in the North Korean soldier who defected this year," a South Korean intelligence official told the network on the condition of anonymity. The discovery of the antibodies is causing concern in Seoul. The disease can kill at least 80 percent of those who are exposed to the bacterium in 24 hours, unless antibiotics are taken or vaccination is available. But South Korea's military has yet to secure an anthrax vaccine. Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo has said an anthrax "vaccine is expected to be developed by the end of 2019," but not sooner, for the South Korean military. North Korea has been suspected of developing biological weapons after the regime publicized the works of the Pyongyang Biological Technology Research Institute in 2015, run by the Korean People's Army Unit 810. Pyongyang claimed the facility specializes in pesticide research but analysts have said dual-use equipment on the site suggests biological weapons are being manufactured in North Korea. The news of possible North Korea anthrax development comes at a time when South Korean newsmagazine Sisa Journal is reporting the U.S. military in the South has continued to test live bacteria at local bases. The Joint United States Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition, or JUPITR, is budgeted to receive about $9 million, according to the report. The program, aimed to shape biological detection capabilities, is ongoing, according to Sisa. Concerns spiked in South Korea after Seoul's defense ministry confirmed the U.S. military in South Korea imported samples of anthrax 15 times since 2009, and a shipment in 2015 exposed as many as 22 people.	– Blood tests on at least one of the North Korean soldiers that defected to the South this year have detected something extremely concerning, according to a South Korean TV channel. Channel A, citing an unnamed South Korean military source, says anthrax antibodies were detected in the soldier, suggesting Pyongyang could be ramping up its biological weapon capabilities, UPI reports. According to Channel A, South Korean authorities have confirmed that the soldier is immune to the deadly bacterium, though it's not clear whether his immunity comes from vaccination or exposure. Anthrax can kill within 24 hours if people are not vaccinated, the International Business Times notes, and the South Korean military says its anthrax vaccine will not be ready until the end of 2019. The news adds to concerns about possible biological attacks: The White House released a report last week that said Pyongyang had spent "hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that could threaten our homeland," and Japan's Asahi newspaper recently reported that North Korea has been trying to find ways for anthrax to survive the high temperatures that intercontinental ballistic missiles experience.
For the first time in the Jessica Ridgeway murder case, investigators released the description of man who used a chemical-soaked rag in an unsuccessful attempt to abduct a 22-year-old woman near Ketner Lake on May 28. Police stressed in their announcement on Thursday that they are linking the two cases in "an attempt to uncover any lead" in the Jessica Ridgeway's Oct. 5 abduction and subsequent murder and dismemberment. "Police are trying to determine if there is any connection between the two cases," authorities said in a bulletin to media Thursday afternoon. Ketner Lake Open Space is only about a half-mile from Jessica's home and immediately south of Witt Elementary School, where she was headed that Friday morning, though she never made it. On May 28 the young woman said she was grabbed by a man described as white or light-skinned and between 18 and 30 years old, with brown hair and a medium build. He was about 5 feet, 8 inches tall. The woman had initially jogged past the man, police said, then he grabbed her from behind "trying to put a rag over her mouth. She said the rag had a chemical smell on it. She was able to get away and called 911 from her cell phone." Law enforcement has no description of a vehicle related to that case, police aid. Police have said they had no information connecting Jessica's case to any other previous metro area abduction cases . Advertisement Westminster police also are looking at other attempted abductions in the Denver metro area to see whether those suspects could have been involved in Jessica's kidnapping on Oct. 5 , followed by the discovery of her body 11 miles away in an Arvada open space on Oct. 9. "Several metro area law enforcement jurisdictions are working other cases of attempted abductions and various vehicle or suspect descriptions have been provided," Westminster police stated Thursday. Investigators are asking the public to call if they know of someone whose behavior has been unusual, including failing to show up at family activities or abrupt changes in appearances or habits around Memorial Day or Oct. 5. Anyone with information can call Westminster police at 303-658-4336 or by sending an e-mail to PDamberalert@cityofwestminster.us Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joeybunch \|\|\|\|\| Authorities are looking for someone who may carry or wear this type of cross, may have recently purchased one of these, or is known to have some association with one. Police are also looking for a local business that may sell these specific crosses. Police believe there may be a connection between the Jessica Ridgeway murder and the attempted abduction at Ketner Lake, and urge the public to specifically look for someone with a cross like this that matches the suspect’s description from Ketner Lake.	– A terrifying chemical-rag attack earlier this year may help police find the killer of a 10-year-old Colorado girl, the Denver Post reports. Still investigating the murder of Jessica Ridgeway, police have released a description of a young man with brown hair who allegedly tried to abduct a Denver-area woman on May 28 by putting a rag with a chemical smell over her mouth. The woman was able to escape and call 911 on her cell phone. Police say they have connected the cases "in an attempt to uncover any lead" in Jessica's abduction and murder about two weeks ago. They are also looking through other attempted abductions in the Denver area. In another development, police have found a small wooden cross with three lines etched into it that could be key to Jessica's murder, Huffington Post reports. Police have uploaded images of the cross on their Facebook site in the hope someone who knows about the cross will come forward.
This time last year, Harvey Weinstein was a revered Hollywood producer, Kevin Spacey was the darling of Broadway, and the reputations of trusted household names from Morgan Freeman to Mario Testino gleamed with unimpeachable respectability. Rose McGowan was mostly famous for starring in the cutesy supernatural TV show Charmed. And then, exactly 12 months ago, news broke that the actress was one of eight women whom Weinstein had paid to keep quiet about alleged sexual assaults. Within days, the story was blazing through Hollywood like a wildfire, and the world watched agog as reputation after reputation went up in flames. Before long, hundreds of famous men all over the world had been exposed as sexual predators and abusers, and fired. A fortnight ago, Bill Cosby,… \|\|\|\|\| You are on Twitter Mobile because you are using an old version of Firefox. Learn more here \|\|\|\|\| I never said # MeToo is a lie. Ever. I was talking about Hollywood and Time’s Up, not # MeToo . Ugh. I’m so tired of erroneous sh*tstorms. # MeToo is about survivors and their experiences, that cannot be taken away. \|\|\|\|\| Today marks the anniversary of one of the hardest years of my life. It’s been a year of triggering for so many. I’m proud of us. Onwards. #RoseArmy \|\|\|\|\| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more	– On Wednesday, Rose McGowan commemorated the anniversary of #MeToo, "one of the hardest years of my life" and "a year of triggering for so many." As for the movement itself, an interview in the Sunday Times Magazine over the weekend painted the 45-year-old actress as coming down on it altogether as she called the people now pushing the #MeToo campaign "douchebags" and "losers." "It's all bulls---. It's a lie," she says. "It's a Band-Aid lie to make them feel better. I know these people, I know they're lily-livered, and as long as it looks good on the surface, to them, that's enough." The magazine cited her beef that she isn't asked to attend survivors' events or other campaign promotions, even though she's been one of the most outspoken people in speaking up about sexual misconduct since she revealed she was a victim of Harvey Weinstein. Now, however, McGowan says her words were twisted, and that she wasn't trashing the #MeToo movement itself, per USA Today. "I never said #MeToo is a lie," she tweeted Sunday evening. "Ever. I was talking about Hollywood and Time's Up, not #MeToo. Ugh. I'm so tired of erroneous sh*tstorms. #MeToo is about survivors and their experiences, that cannot be taken away." In two follow-up videos Monday morning, McGowan added, "I'm just here to say that #MeToo is important, it's honest, and it's ... simply our shared experience. That is what #MeToo is. And it's beautiful." Also told with "cold, controlled fury" to the Times, McGowan reveals she spent 20 years strategically "plotting her revenge" against Weinstein—she says she only took on the role on Charmed to become more famous so that when she exposed him it would definitely make headlines. More from her scathing interview here.
The DSM-5 was officially released today. We will be covering it in the weeks to come here on the blog and over at Psych Central Professional in a series of upcoming articles detailing the major changes. In the meantime, here is an overview of the big changes. We sat in on a conference call that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) had in order to introduce the new version of the diagnostic reference manual used primarily by clinicians in the U.S. to diagnose mental disorders. It is called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and is now in its fifth major revision (DSM-5). James Scully, Jr., MD, CEO of the APA, kicked off the call by remarking that the DSM-5 will be a “critical guidebook for clinicians” — a theme echoed by the other speakers on the call. Why has it taken on such a large “role [both] in society as well as medicine?” he asked. Dr. Scully believes it’s because of the prevalence of mental disorders in general, touching most people’s lives (or someone we know). The APA has published three separate drafts of the manual on their website, and in doing so received over 13,000 comments from 2010 – 2012, as well as thousands of emails and letters. Every single comment was read and evaluated. This was an unprecedented scale of openness and transparency never before seen in the revision of a diagnostic manual. “The manual is first and foremost a guidebook for clinicians,” reiterated David Kupfer, M.D., DSM-5 task force chair, who walked us through the major changes detailed below. 1. Three major sections of the DSM-5 I. Introduction and clear information on how to use the DSM. II. Provides information and categorical diagnoses. III. Section III provides self-assessment tools, as well as categories that require more research. 2. Section II – Disorders Organization of chapters is designed to demonstrate how disorders are related to one another. Throughout the entire manual, disorders are framed in age, gender, developmental characteristics. Multi-axial system has been eliminated. “Removes artificial distinctions” between medical and mental disorders. DSM-5 has approximately the same number of conditions as DSM-IV. 3. The Big Changes in Specific Disorders Autism There is now a single condition called autism spectrum disorder, which incorporates 4 previous separate disorders. As the APA states: ASD now encompasses the previous DSM-IV autistic disorder (autism), Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. ASD is characterized by 1) deficits in social communication and social interaction and 2) restricted repetitive behaviors, interests, and activities (RRBs). Because both components are required for diagnosis of ASD, social communication disorder is diagnosed if no RRBs are present. Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder Childhood bipolar disorder has a new name — “intended to address issues of over-diagnosis and over-treatment of bipolar disorder in children.” This can be diagnosed in children up to age 18 years who exhibit persistent irritability and frequent episodes of extreme behavioral dyscontrol (e.g., they are out of control). ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been modified somewhat, especially to emphasize that this disorder can continue into adulthood. The one “big” change (if you can call it that) is that you can be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult if you meet one less symptom than if you are a child. While that weakens the criteria marginally for adults, the criteria are also strengthened at the same time. For instance, the cross-situational requirement has been strengthened to “several” symptoms in each setting (you can’t be diagnosed with ADHD if it only happens in one setting, such as at work). The criteria were also relaxed a bit as the symptoms now have to had appeared before age 12, instead of before age 7. Bereavement Exclusion Removal In the DSM-IV, if you were grieving the loss of a loved one, technically you couldn’t be diagnosed with major depression disorder in the first 2 months of your grief. (I’m not sure where this arbitrary 2 month figure came from, because it certainly reflects no reality or research.). This exclusion was removed in the DSM-5. Here are the reasons they gave: The first is to remove the implication that bereavement typically lasts only 2 months when both physicians and grief counselors recognize that the duration is more commonly 1–2 years. Second, bereavement is recognized as a severe psychosocial stressor that can precipitate a major depressive episode in a vulnerable individual, generally beginning soon after the loss. When major depressive disorder occurs in the context of bereavement, it adds an additional risk for suffering, feelings of worthlessness, suicidal ideation, poorer somatic health, worse interpersonal and work functioning, and an increased risk for persistent complex bereavement disorder, which is now described with explicit criteria in Conditions for Further Study in DSM-5 Section III. Third, bereavement-related major depression is most likely to occur in individuals with past personal and family histories of major depressive episodes. It is genetically influenced and is associated with similar personality characteristics, patterns of comorbidity, and risks of chronicity and/or recurrence as non–bereavement-related major depressive episodes. Finally, the depressive symptoms associated with bereavement-related depression respond to the same psychosocial and medication treatments as non–bereavement-related depression. In the criteria for major depressive disorder, a detailed footnote has replaced the more simplistic DSM-IV exclusion to aid clinicians in making the critical distinction between the symptoms characteristic of bereavement and those of a major depressive episode. PTSD More attention is now paid to behavioral symptoms that accompany PTSD in the DSM-5. It now includes four primary major symptom clusters: Reexperiencing Arousal Avoidance Persistent negative alterations in cognitions and mood “Posttraumatic stress disorder is now developmentally sensitive in that diagnostic thresholds have been lowered for children and adolescents. Furthermore, separate criteria have been added for children age 6 years or younger with this disorder.” Major and Mild Neurocognitive Disorder Major Neurocognitive Disorder now subsumes dementia and the amenstic disorder. But a new disorder, Mild Neurocognitive Disorder, was also added. “There was concern we may have added a disorder that wasn’t ‘important’ enough.” “The impact of the decline was noticeable, but clinicians lacked a diagnosis to give patients,” noted Dr. Kupfer. There were two reasons for this change: “(1) Opportunity for early detection. The earlier the better for patients with these symptoms. (2) It also encourages an early effective treatment plan, ” before dementia sets in. Other New & Notable Disorders Both binge eating disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder and now official, “real” diagnoses in the DSM-5 (they were not prior to this, although still commonly diagnosed by clinicians). Hoarding disorder is also now recognized as a real disorder, separate from OCD, “which reflects persistent difficulty dis-carding or parting with possessions due to a perceived need to save the items and distress associated with discarding them. Hoarding disorder may have unique neurobiological correlates, is associated with significant impairment, and may respond to clinical intervention.” Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, President-Elect of the APA reminded us that the DSM-5 is not a pop-psychology book intended for consumers: “[It is] a guide, an aide to assist clinicians to … help facilitate treatment.” The APA also noted that a large number of sessions — 21 — will be dedicated to the DSM-5 this weekend at the APA’s annual meeting. Commenting on the swirling controversy regarding the DSM-5, that perhaps the diagnostic system isn’t good enough, Dr. Lieberman said, “It can’t create the knowledge, it reflects the current state of our knowledge.” “We can’t keep waiting for such breakthroughs,” (in reference to biomarkers and laboratory tests). “Clinicians and patients need the DSM-5 now. Critics have accused the DSM-5 of lowering diagnostic thresholds across the board, making it far easier for a person to be diagnosed with a mental disorder. Lieberman disagrees, however: “How [the DSM-5] is applied reflects critical practice… it’s not necessarily because of the criteria [themselves]. It’s because of the way the criteria are applied.” Want to learn more about the specific changes in the DSM-5? Stay updated by visiting our DSM-5 Resource Guide. \|\|\|\|\| The creators of the D.S.M. in the 1960s and ’70s “were real heroes at the time,” said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the Broad Institute and a former director at the National Institute of Mental Health. “They chose a model in which all psychiatric illnesses were represented as categories discontinuous with ‘normal.’ But this is totally wrong in a way they couldn’t have imagined. So in fact what they produced was an absolute scientific nightmare. Many people who get one diagnosis get five diagnoses, but they don’t have five diseases — they have one underlying condition.” Dr. Hyman, Dr. Insel and other experts said they hoped that the science of psychiatry would follow the direction of cancer research, which is moving from classifying tumors by where they occur in the body to characterizing them by their genetic and molecular signatures. About two years ago, to spur a move in that direction, Dr. Insel started a federal project called Research Domain Criteria, or RDoC, which he highlighted in a blog post last week. Dr. Insel said in the blog that the National Institute of Mental Health would be “reorienting its research away from D.S.M. categories” because “patients with mental disorders deserve better.” His commentary has created ripples throughout the mental health community. Dr. Insel said in the interview that his motivation was not to disparage the D.S.M. as a clinical tool, but to encourage researchers and especially outside reviewers who screen proposals for financing from his agency to disregard its categories and investigate the biological underpinnings of disorders instead. He said he had heard from scientists whose proposals to study processes common to depression, schizophrenia and psychosis were rejected by grant reviewers because they cut across D.S.M. disease categories. “They didn’t get it,” Dr. Insel said of the reviewers. “What we’re trying to do with RDoC is say actually this is a fresh way to think about it.” He added that he hoped researchers would also participate in projects funded through the Obama administration’s new brain initiative. Dr. Michael First, a psychiatry professor at Columbia who edited the last edition of the manual, said, “RDoC is clearly the way of the future,” although it would take years to get results that could apply to patients. In the meantime, he said, “RDoC can’t do what the D.S.M. does. The D.S.M. is what clinicians use. Patients will always come into offices with symptoms.” For at least a decade, Dr. First and others said, patients will continue to be diagnosed with D.S.M. categories as a guide, and insurance companies will reimburse with such diagnoses in mind. \|\|\|\|\| The controversial revision to psychiatrists' "bible" of diagnostic criteria has finally arrived. The American Psychiatric Association released its fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or dubbed simply as the "DSM-5." The manual's release was coincided with the APA's annual meeting that kicked off May 18 in San Francisco. The first major revision to the manual in almost two decades, the new DSM has been met by controversy since reports of proposed changes started to crop up last March. Revisions to be announced soon to D.S.M. Doctors often utilize the DSM to diagnose mental health disorders in patients that meet a specific set of criteria. Among the major changes that garnered the most controversy was dropping Asperger's syndrome, child disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD), and included them under the blanket diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Revisions were also made to diagnostic criteria for mental health disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder and depressive disorders. For example, in the last version of the manual, the 1994 DSM-IV, there was was an exclusion criterion for a major depressive episode that was applied to people with symptoms of depression lasting less than 2 months following the death of a loved one. The DSM-5 removed this after the APA realized since the last version that grief can last up to two years, and bereavement can be a severe psychological stressor that triggers depression, rather than an exception. Besides worrying some mental health advocates over concerns changes in their diagnosis would affect their abilities to get treatment for state funding, the manual's release also pitted the government's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA), NIMH director Thomas Insel wrote in a statement in early May that the NIMH felt the proposed definitions for psychiatric disorders were too broad and ignore smaller disorders that were lumped in with a larger diagnosis. "The weakness is its lack of validity. Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure. In the rest of medicine, this would be equivalent to creating diagnostic systems based on the nature of chest pain or the quality of fever," he wrote. The government agency said it would use a different classification system, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project, instead for its studies. The NIH and APA released a joint statement on May 13, saying that "patients, families, and insurers can be confident that effective treatments are available and that the DSM is the key resource for delivering the best available care." But, the statement also said, "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has not changed its position on DSM-5." A petition was also started by doctors to protest the new DSM. "Psychiatrist's bible" changes: Doctor talks controversy One vocal critic, Dr. Allen Frances, who co-authored the DSM-IV, told CBS This Morning on Thursday that we are over-treating people in this country who are "basically well" and are "shamefully neglecting" people with mental disorders who are really sick, including one million people in prison with psychiatric disorders. The new manual, he said, is too loose for its diagnoses. He said the average diagnosis is being given by a primary care doctor in a seven minute visit. "People who are basically normal are getting all kinds of medicine that they don't need that makes them worse and it is a terrible drain on the economy," Frances said. "I'm very curious to see what happens because as you know there's kind of this tension between the DSM and some of the new NIMH initiatives," Dr. James Murrough, an assistant professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told CBSNews.com Murrough was not involved in the new DSM, but will be presenting research at the APA meeting this weekend. He said by now, some psychiatrists had hoped the new DSM would contain more information about scientific tests or scans for psychologists or psychiatrists to help aid their diagnoses. But, he added the new version doesn't appear to look very different from the last one. "I think everyone is kind of disappointed that we don't have that yet," he said. More information about the DSM-5 can be found on the APA's website. \|\|\|\|\| Psychiatry tops all other disciplines of medicine in captivating and confusing the public. It captivates because of the storied disturbances in human thought, emotion and behavior that psychiatrists describe. It confuses because, to the natural question, "What exactly are these disturbances?" psychiatrists today just provide a list of diagnoses, as if naming disorders explains them. Ellen Weinstein The most enduring feature of Freudianism was its claim that important facts about a patient's mental life are buried in the "unconscious." Jerome Groopman, in his informative 2007 book "How Doctors Think," confesses that "trying to assess how psychiatrists think was beyond my abilities." If this gifted physician finds psychiatry mystifying, how can we expect ordinary people who are seeking help to form suitable judgments? Things will not improve with the American Psychiatric Association's release this week of the fifth edition of its famed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Like its predecessors, the massive new volume will shape what psychiatrists say and do with their patients. It is thus a perfect moment to consider how the DSM came about in the first place—and why this new edition will do nothing to clear up the public's growing confusion. From about 1940 to 1970, Sigmund Freud's theoretical concepts of mental life and its disorders dominated American psychiatry. The most enduring, problematic feature of Freudianism was its claim that the important facts about our mental life are disguised, buried in the "unconscious," stifled by convention and conformity. Only a Freudian analyst instructed in the supposedly universal conflicts of human sexuality and domestic life (the Oedipal complex, etc.) could decode and disentangle them. By knowing these secrets, the analyst could derive—from the disguises "manifest" in dreams, slips of the tongue, symptoms and behaviors—the "latent" truth provoking the different mental disorders. Freud and his followers played down efforts at gathering such information as a patient's family background, educational and occupational course, intelligence, temperament, habits, medical condition and conscious assumptions. These factors were said to lack psychological depth. In the 1960s, the authority of the Freudians began to wane in America, partly because their ineffectiveness with serious mental disorders became evident and partly because their treatments were costly, in both time and money. At the same time, the field began to make real progress with the discovery of medications, such as lithium, that were effective against specific and severe mental disorders. New psychological treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also emerged and helped patients by addressing their conscious attitudes rather than conjectures about their unconscious minds. Still, among many psychiatrists, the notion persisted that the true causes of mental disorders were unconscious. This belief opened the doors of psychiatry in the 1970s to many wild and conflicting suppositions about mental illnesses. Psychiatrists began acting like Sherlock Holmes, looking for various "dogs that didn't bark" to explain their patients' problems. This brought us fiascoes such as the multiple-personality craze and "repressed memories" of child abuse. Grotesque therapeutic programs—"encounter groups," the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, primal-scream therapy—also found their day, in the name of bringing "the hidden" to consciousness for treatment. Ultimately, the profession could not tolerate the mounting turmoil. In 1980, the APA proposed simply setting aside the chaos of claims about the causes and mechanisms of mental disorders, including those of the Freudians. Were there not aspects of mental illnesses that everyone in the profession could recognize and agree upon? With its third edition (DSM-III), the manual (which had existed since 1952) underwent a transformation. Its editors focused on codifying symptoms that seemed to distinguish one mental disorder from another. If psychiatrists would use these criteria consistently, they suggested, then perhaps researchers would be able to explain and differentiate disorders in terms of psychobiology. This prescription for diagnostic peacemaking radically changed the psychiatric scene. No longer was it an unruly market of claims, counterclaims and "orientations." Psychiatric practices became centered on using the manual to identify disorders, much as a naturalist uses a field guide to identify birds or trees. The treatments derived from these diagnoses had no particular theory behind them. They were efforts, mostly pharmacological and rule-of-thumb, to provide relief from symptoms. Psychiatric thinking about patients and their disorders withered. Today the public complains that psychiatrists seem ready to call every state of mental distress an illness. They see that any restless boy can receive a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, that troubled veterans—whether exposed to combat or not—are routinely said to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and that enormous numbers of discouraged, demoralized people are labeled victims of depression and have medications pressed upon them. The public is not far wrong. A recent nationwide diagnostic census based on DSM claimed that the majority of Americans have or have had a mental disorder. As a result, an appalling number of young adults in schools and colleges are on one form or another of psychiatric medication. The problem, though, is not only that psychiatrists have gone too far in naming mental states—they surely have—but that they have gone on too long with their field-guide checklists. They seem unable to do better. DSM-5 will be more of the same—a way to "know of" disorders without "knowing about" them, to draw a distinction made by William James. With its new manual, the APA might instead have started taking steps toward a system of classification that, as in medicine, organizes disorders according to what we know about their natures and causes. Such knowledge, rather than checklists of symptoms, would then direct treatment and research. Psychiatrists know, for instance, that depression and anxiety can derive from a number of different sources: cerebral diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; alcoholism or drug addiction; experiences of loss, deprivation or trauma; and, more generally, a vulnerable temperament, characterized by introversion, shyness and emotional intensity. Deciding which of these sources, alone or in combination, applies to a particular patient requires hours of evaluation. Prescribing an appropriate treatment involves not checking symptoms but determining who the patient is and what he or she has experienced and done. DSM-5 displays none of this thinking. It remains a field guide organized by symptoms, clustered in categories that can expand without limit. Official, APA-approved psychiatry seems to lack the will to change. It justifies its stagnation not only by reminding its members of the chaos of the 1970s but by claiming that the U.S. health system would not pay psychiatrists if they tried to know their patients the way that they could and should. DSM-5 is a missed opportunity to advance the discipline, instruct the public and encourage financial support for needed psychiatric services. Its editors seem willing to waste another decade before dispersing the mysteries of psychiatry and bringing practitioners and patients together in understanding what they are doing and why. —Dr. McHugh is University Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A version of this article appeared May 18, 2013, on page C3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Manual Run Amok.	– A new edition of the manual doctors use to diagnose mental illness, the DSM, has just been released by the American Psychiatric Association—but it has already been stirring up controversy for months, reports CBS. Most critically, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health has spoken out against DSM-5, saying its definitions are too broad and lack scientific validity, the New York Times reports. "As long as the research community takes the DSM to be a bible, we’ll never make progress," he said. "People think that everything has to match DSM criteria, but you know what? Biology never read that book." Among other changes, the new DSM-5 has encompassed four previously separate disorders under the blanket "autism spectrum disorder." Another change: previously, those grieving for a lost love one couldn't be diagnosed with depression within two months of the death. Now bereavement is actually classed as a trigger. (PsychCentral has a thorough rundown of all the changes.) John Hopkins psychiatry professor Paul McHugh has also criticized the new manual in the Washington Post, saying it encourages doctors to rely on check-lists rather than getting to know their patients. "DSM-5 will be more of the same—a way to 'know of' disorders without 'knowing about' them," he writes.
Skip in Skip x Embed x Share The Nobel committee is giving up trying to contact Bob Dylan about his recent Nobel Prize win. Video provided by Newsy Newslook Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature on Oct. 13. (Photo: ABIR SULTAN, EPA) Bob Dylan fans rejoiced when the singer-songwriter made history, becoming the first musician to win the Nobel Prize for literature last week. But will he accept the honor? Speculation swirled Friday when mention of the Nobel Prize was scrubbed from the musician's website, where the phrase "winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature" had previously been added to the page promoting a book of his lyrics. Now, it's not there. Add to that, NBC News reports the Swedish Academy told local media its board has given up trying to confirm whether he'll even attend a Stockholm banquet honoring him and other Nobel winners in December. Dylan, 75, is known for shying from awards recognition and has yet to publicly acknowledge the prestigious win. When the Nobel Prize was announced, the Swedish Academy said they were honoring Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Dylan's Nobel Prize for literature marks the first time the award has gone to someone who is mainly seen as a musician. He is the first American to win the prize for literature since Toni Morrison in 1993. Dylan, whose songs include Blowin’ in the Wind and The Times They Are A-Changin, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power. The ceremony for Nobel Prize winners takes place on Dec. 10. Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2eZteip \|\|\|\|\| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Erik Ortiz Bob Dylan recently added Nobel Prize laureate to his list of accomplishments — but fans of the famously elusive singer-songwriter wouldn't know it by looking at his official website. BobDylan.com has quietly scrubbed the one mention of him as the "winner of the Nobel Prize in literature" in "the lyrics" section of the site following his surprise win last week. The 11-time Grammy winner — on tour in support of a new album — has made no public mention of the prestigious prize. But the simple online acknowledgement seemed as if he were changing his tune about accepting the honor. PHOTOS: Rock Poet Bob Dylan’s Life in Pictures Despite the increased attention showered on him, the Swedish Academy said it tried unsuccessfully to make contact with his reps. The board said Monday it had given up trying to confirm whether he'll even attend a Stockholm banquet honoring him and other Nobel winners in December. Dylan, 75, is the first songwriter to win the Nobel literature prize. He is known for taking his time to recognize awards.	– Bob Dylan acknowledged his Nobel Prize win—but only momentarily. The musician has been oddly quiet about winning the literature prize, but a fan noticed that his official website added a line to this page that said "Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature." But by Friday morning, the reference had been removed from the site, NBC News reports. Per USA Today, the Nobel board has given up attempting to confirm whether Dylan plans to attend the December ceremony at which he would theoretically accept his award.
Hawaii conservationists are concerned that cat feces from feral colonies are washing into the ocean and imperiling monk seals, one of the world's most endangered marine mammals. Cats are shown eating at a feral cat colony near Honolulu on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016. Conservationists are concerned about the number of feral cats roaming Hawaii because cat feces washing into the ocean can be deadly for endangered Hawaiian monk seals. Hawaii's stray cat population lies at the center of a heated debate between two camps of animal lovers in the Aloha State. On one side are conservationists who are calling to euthanize some of the hundreds of thousands of feral cats whose feces are thought to be spreading a disease that is killing Hawaiian monk seals. These marine mammals are among the most endangered in the world. On the other side of the debate are cat lovers who take issue with killing one animal for the sake of another. "It's a very difficult, emotional issue," said state Sen. Mike Gabbard, chairman of a committee that earlier this year proposed a ban on feeding stray cats on state land. The proposal was abandoned after strong objections. "It struck a nerve in our community," Senator Gabbard said. Hawaii is facing an explosion of stray cats, as they have no predators in the state. By the 2015 estimates of the Hawaiian Humane Society, there are about 300,000 feral cats on the island of Oahu alone. The problem is that the cats carry a common bacterial parasite that, they say, threatens the seals. The same bacteria is thought to have killed California sea otters, and is largely responsible for the extinction of the Hawaiian crow, the ʻalalā, in the wild. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that these toxic cat feces have killed eight Hawaiian monk seals since 2001, five females and three males, who have ingested contaminated water or prey. "While eight seals may not sound like a lot of animals, it actually has pretty large ramifications for an endangered population where there's only about 1,300 seals in existence," said Michelle Barbieri, a veterinary medical officer for NOAA's Hawaiian monk seal research program. Since cats are not native to Hawaii – they were brought in – the NOAA program is pushing for a way to shrink their population, either through adoption or through what a NOAA coordinator describes as "humane euthanization." "As conservationists, what we really have to look at is this is what Hawaii's native ecosystem includes, and cats are unfortunately not part of that," said Angela Amlin, NOAA's acting Hawaiian monk seal recovery coordinator. That doesn’t mean Hawaii should kill cats, say animal welfare advocates. In a response to the state Senate bill, Hawaiian Humane Society President and chief executive Pamela Burns wrote that she opposes a "hierarchy in which the protection of certain animals comes at the suffering of others." She and other animal welfare advocates decry euthanasia for healthy felines. "What we ... don't advocate is the wholesale killing, the extermination, of one species" for another, said Alicia Maluafiti, the board president of animal welfare group Poi Dogs and Popoki. Trapping, neutering, and spaying to help control the cat population are reasonable solutions to the problem, say cat supporters. This report uses material from the Associated Press. \|\|\|\|\| Hoku endured some rough days before he died last spring. Three dogs chased him off one of his resting beaches, and he battled a minor tsunami that left him wedged between a pair of boulders in a lava field far from shore. Observers noticed him looking thin in the few months before fishermen found him dead on a beach near the east Kaua`i town of Kapa`a. In the end, disease took him. Nicknamed “Star” in Hawaiian for the small white spot on his forehead, Hoku was a large, 10-year-old Hawaiian monk seal, an endangered species. Hoku may likely have been the second Hawaiian monk seal to die this year from Toxoplasmosa gondii, a parasite transmitted primarily through cat feces and carried to the ocean in polluted runoff and sewage. The first suspected toxoplasmosis case of the year came in January. While conducting his weekly seal search along the coastline of Moloka`i’s Kalaupapa National Historical Park, marine ecologist Eric Brown discovered a stillborn pup in a tide pool. His mother, apparently in good health, lay nearby. David Schofield, marine mammal response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Islands Regional Office, believes the pup may have been the first Hawaiian monk seal to die from a toxoplasmosis infection transmitted in the womb. With only about 1,100 monk seals left in the wild, the deaths are “very concerning and put toxo as one of our primary concerns” for the species, says Charles Littnan, lead scientist for NOAA’s monk seal research program. The overall population of monk seals is declining at a rate of about 4.5 percent a year. The good news is that in recent years, their numbers have been growing in the main Hawaiian islands. Now resource managers worry that in the midst of so many humans, interactions will likely increase, as will the seals’ chances of encountering diseases and contaminants. No studies have been done in Hawai`i on how and where toxoplasmosis reaches the ocean and there are few efforts to control it. In California, however, researchers have found that it infects sea otters mainly though runoff from urban areas. Flushing cat litter down the toilet is one pathway, since sewage treatment does not always kill the parasite’s hardy eggs, called oocysts. Studies have found that oocysts can live for at least two years in sea water. Over the past ten years, the cat parasite has killed at least four monk seals in the main Hawaiian islands - two from Kaua`i, one from O`ahu, and one from Moloka`i - and perhaps six, experts estimate. Those deaths “should be considered an absolute minimum since there are dead seals we never know about and ones we sample but are unable to determine a cause of death for,” Littnan said. “We are only just beginning to understand the prevalence of the disease in the population and determine ways to mitigate the impact.” Hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century, the Hawaiian monk seal was federally listed as endangered in 1976, after populations plummeted during the 1960s and 1970s, largely due to military disturbance. Today, it is considered the most endangered pinniped in the United States. With a potential peak population of about 3,000 seals, NOAA predicts numbers will drop below 1,000 in the next few years. The population’s core has long been in the remote, largely uninhabited Northwest Hawaiian Islands, but more and more, conditions there are killing them. Low juvenile survival due to starvation is by far the biggest problem facing monk seals. Some researchers speculate that overfishing may have caused a shift in predator dominance that is now making it nearly impossible for young seals to compete for food. But diseased cats also are among the seals’ worst enemies, since their feces flow into the ocean via runoff and sewage. The state Division of Forestry and Wildlife estimates that 300,000 to 400,000 free-ranging cats live on Maui alone. That’s roughly two cats per resident. “Cats are all over the place in Hawai`i,” explains Thierry Work, a wildlife disease specialist with the Geological Survey’s Honolulu field station who studied toxoplasmosis in Hawaiian crows, known as `alala, about a decade ago. “Wherever there are cats, there’s the potential for toxoplasmosis.” Although domestic cats are considered the main source, feral cats in remote areas also transmit the disease. Nearly 40 percent of 67 cats captured from the slopes of Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawai`i, tested positive for toxoplasmosis, according to a 2007 article in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases. In the past decade or so, toxoplasmosis has been regularly found in a wide range of marine mammals, including whales, dolphins and sea lions. In Hawa`i, it also has killed seabirds and endangered Hawaiian crow and geese. Perhaps most famously, southern sea otters in California began dying off in alarming numbers in the 1990s. Toxoplasmosis was found in 52 percent of fresh, beach-cast otter carcasses and 38 percent of live otters sampled along the California coast, according to a 2005 International Journal of Parasitology article. In Hawa`i, it also has killed seabirds and endangered Hawaiian crow and geese.Whether the increased diagnoses indicate improved testing techniques or a rise in disease prevalence is difficult to determine. “Probably both things are at play and it’s going to be awfully hard to tease those out,” says Scott Wright of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center. Sometimes a pathogen is discovered in a species and it’s unclear what it means in terms of the disease moving through a population, he says. “In some cases, circumstances change and the disease takes hold and causes a problem and other times it doesn’t,” he says. For some seals, determining a cause of death is impossible since they are often highly decomposed when discovered. “If we’re not there within 24 to 48 hours, the insides of the seal are soup,” Littnan says. But even when his team confirms the presence of T. gondii, that doesn’t necessarily indicate an infection, let alone a fatal one. So, in addition to hunting for the pathogen, his team looks for signs, such as swelling of the brain, lymph nodes, or lungs, that are typical of toxoplasmosis. Hoku, an up-and-coming dominant male, died of “severe meningoencephalitis caused by a protozoan,” Littnan says. Although toxoplasmosis is suspected, it has not yet been confirmed as the culprit. He notes that only Hoku’s brain was inflamed but not other organs that toxoplasmosis has a predilection for. This suggests that the parasite was “inactive for a long period,” he says, “but some event, such as immune suppression, may have led to activation. At this point, the findings are speculative until all the results come back.” Hoku visited an area known as Salt Ponds four times in the six months before he died. There are well-known, and well-fed, feral cat populations there and at Kalaupapa National Historic Park. But Littnan says seals “move across a pretty large range. It’s hard to trace it back to where they were likely exposed.” Throughout most of Hawai`I, water quality in surface waters ranges from “slightly impaired to severely impaired” by pathogens and pollutants, according to a state assessment. In particular, runoff from densely populated watersheds on Maui and O`ahu likely contains pathogens, according to the state’s polluted runoff control implementation plan. Sewage is also a significant source of pathogens as tropical storms overwhelm aging transmission pipes and inadequate treatment systems. What’s more, injection wells on Maui have created giant wastewater plumes at some popular beaches. Cat feces also contaminate livestock. A study of pig farms on O`ahu found that nearly half of more than 500 pigs tested positive for toxoplasmosis. Most rivers that flow to the ocean traverse through an agricultural site, according to a 2006 EcoHealth article by Littnan and researchers from NOAA and the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. Although the state doesn’t test for toxoplasmosis, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Testing the Waters 2010 report provides some insight into the role runoff plays in pathogen transmission in Hawai`i. Storm water was responsible for 99 percent of beach closures/advisories in 2009. Sewage spills accounted for the remaining one percent. Kaua`i beaches exceeded daily maximum bacterial standards most often. According to the EcoHealth article, nearly 30 million gallons of sewage were spilled between 2000 and 2004. That number was exceeded in a matter of days in 2005, when a broken main caused the city of Honolulu to divert 48 million gallons of raw sewage into Waikiki’s Ala Wai canal. In addition to toxoplasmosis, other pathogens have infected monk seals. A few years ago, Littnan, NOAA contract veterinarian Robert Braun, and Brent Stewart and Pamela Yochem of the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute tested seals for pathogens while trying to assess the disease threat.Their results, published in EcoHealth, suggest that seals encounter a variety of pathogens, including Sarcocystis neurona and Neospora caninum, as well as T. gondii. S. neurona causes equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, which creates lesions on the spinal cord and brain stem. Neosporosis can cause abortions in cattle and neuromuscular degeneration in dogs. Leptospirosis is among the biggest concerns. Suspected in the death of two pups born near a stream mouth on the island of Hawai`I, it is mainly transmitted through contact with surface water contaminated with infected rodent or mongoose urine. Although there is limited data on leptospirosis prevalence in Hawai`i, it’s considered ubiquitous. The reported incidence rate among people in Hawai`i (1.29 cases per 100,000 persons) is about 30 times the national rate, with the highest rates on Kaua`i and Hawai`i islands. In another effort to gauge threats, Hawai`i Pacific University graduate student Jessica Lopez is evaluating 77 industrial chemicals and pesticides found in about 60 monk seals over the past decade. “We don't know anything about what levels can cause an effect in monk seals, whether lethal or sub-lethal, so it will be difficult to speak to whether the levels measured are ‘safe’ or not,” she says. Lopez also plans to evaluate seal movements and locations of sewage outflows and agricultural and industrial complexes to determine high risk areas that may factor into decisions on managing the seals. For Littnan, filling data gaps is his top priority, such as tracking the mother of January’s stillborn pup to see if she has signs of infection. “It would be very interesting to learn more about seals that [test positive for toxoplasmosis] but are not showing any clinical signs,” he said. If the mother tests positive, drugs might be available for treatment. NOAA is partnering with California’s Marine Mammal Center to build a monk seal hospital in Kona. To raise public awareness about toxoplasmosis and cat feces, NOAA has begun talking with the Hawai`i Humane Society, various interest groups and the health department. But given his experience with Hawaiian birds, Work of the U.S. Geological Survey says generating the political will to control cats is “very difficult.” “The `alala is a classic case in point,” Work says. Ten years ago, toxoplasmosis was identified as a threat at a national wildlife refuge in Kona that was created for the birds. Yet today, the cats remain at the refuge, while the `alala have been extirpated from the area. Scientists are concerned about the role the disease may play in the seals’ recovery. Under NOAA’s recovery plan, the population must grow from the current 1,100 to a minimum of 2,900 before it can be downlisted to threatened. In a recent article, NOAA scientists stated that “fishery interactions, direct killing, and disease could rapidly undo the current fragile positive trend” on the main islands. “The greatest need for seals right now is fostering the co-existence of seals and people. That’s the most immediate threat to population growth in the main Hawaiian islands,” Littnan says. Compounding the threat, “toxo and lepto will be there and will probably continue to operate in a background level.”	– The feral cat population has exploded in Hawaii, where they are not native and face no natural predators—and this could spell disaster for the endangered monk seal. That's because cat poop often contains a parasite called Toxoplasmosa gondii, and when sewage and polluted runoff carry the infected feces to the ocean, it can prove lethal, reports Scientific American. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that eight Hawaiian monk seals have succumbed to the disease since 2001, which is a sizable number given that 1,100 are estimated to be alive today in the wild. The same bacteria have also killed California sea otters and helped send the Hawaiian crow into extinction, reports the Christian Science Monitor. But while conservationists call for the "humane euthanization" of some feral cats, animal welfare advocates oppose a "hierarchy in which the protection of certain animals comes at the suffering of others," as the president of the Hawaiian Human Society puts it. Monk seals are considered the most endangered pinniped in the country, and their numbers are expected to dip below 1,000 soon, with starvation among the young the largest known problem. Meanwhile, Hawaii's Division of Forestry and Wildlife estimates that 300,000 feral cats live on Oahu and as many as 400,000 on Maui, which is roughly two cats per human resident. NOAA is working with California’s Marine Mammal Center on a monk seal hospital in Kona to try to care for the sick ones before they die. (Humans have hunted Caribbean monk seals to extinction.)
Trigger warning: child loss We were never supposed to leave our beach vacation early to plan a funeral for our 3-year-old son. And, yet, within the course of one week, we had driven to the beach, returned without him, and held his funeral. Do you know that drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 1-4 and the second leading cause in ages 1-14? Do you know that 69% of children who drown are not expected to be swimming, yet they are found in water? Do you know that a child can drown in less than one minute? Unfortunately, I know these facts all too well. On June 10, 2018, my three year old son, Levi, drowned while on vacation in Fort Morgan, AL. There is a misconception that drowning only happens when you are swimming. But, drowning also happens when you are 200 feet away from a pool, upstairs, eating Cheetos, wearing your neon yellow crab-hunting shirt, when you leave your mom’s side, even though you are usually Velcro-ed to her. Drowning isn’t splashing and yelling. It is silent, and it takes SECONDS. I have always taken water safety seriously. In each of the pictures I have of my son’s final day, he is wearing a life jacket. Flying a kite with his dad? Life jacket. Eating M&M’s in a beach chair? Life jacket. How could I have known that every parent’s worst nightmare would be my reality? It happened so quickly. I don’t know how Levi got away from us as we were cleaning up from dinner, or what lured him to go outside alone. I was the one who found him, face down, in the deep end. Just moments before this horrific discovery, I split a brownie with him. I still had the other half of the brownie in my mouth when I jumped into the pool to grab my son. Mere moments, seconds. We had six physicians on our trip, including my own husband. If Levi could have been saved by desperation, skill, and love, he would still be here. Yet, how did I not fully realize just how quickly a child can drown? They initiated CPR immediately, even intubated him before the ambulance arrived. But Levi could not be saved, even with this immediate response. In the days after we lost Levi, when we were forced to stumble forward without our baby boy, I started researching. I am (was?) on my third journey of parenting a child in the 1-4 age group. Why did I not know that drowning is the leading cause of death? Of course, I knew drowning was a potential danger. We utilized life jackets, swim lessons, supervision while swimming. But why did I not know about the dangers of drowning during NON-SWIMMING times? How did I not know it took less than one minute? Why is my mom-brain filled with internal debates about screen time, organic fruit, and sunscreen free of oxybenzone? I still cut my 9-year-old’s grapes. I buy DHA milk. I worry that the hours of YouTube my kids watch will prevent them from being functioning adults one day. These are the topics that are pushed in my direction, the worries that I have grasped onto as I navigate parenting. Well, the unfortunate irony here is that I had taken the iPhone away from my son not too long before he slipped away from us. I sure wish I had cared a little less about screen time that night. The more I researched, the angrier I became. Oh, and I had to search. Why are discussions about drowning almost an afterthought? Background noise? This is a LEADING cause of death, and it is 100% PREVENTABLE. Yes, there are news stories, but we have become numb to these “don’t forget to watch your kids while swimming” factual articles that are regurgitated each year and the faded “no lifeguard on duty” signs stuck on a wall by a pool. The harsh reality is that Levi’s death rests on me. These are the hardest words I will ever have to admit, but the truth is that I failed my son, failed to keep him safe. Yes, this accident happened in moments. But, the fact that I have to live with for the rest of my life is that losing Levi was preventable. I am not trying to push blame off of my shoulders. But, I sure wish I had known these statistics before June 10. For the last month, I have fueled my grief and anger into action. Based on the research on drowning, I have created a non-profit called Levi’s Legacy. My mission is to eradicate drowning completely. You can read more about my mission (and about designated supervision) at www.levislegacy.com. So, here I am, a grieving mother facing a future I would never have imagined. Lying in bed and sobbing will not bring him back (oh, but if it would). I don’t want this role of water-safety advocate. I want 30 seconds back on June 10. But I am determined to share these facts I so desperately wish I had known. Levi’s message has already spread, but now, it’s time to take the next step, and it is a big one. American Academy of Pediatrics, I am asking for your help. We need you. I say this as someone who is married to a physician and who respects my own pediatrician very much. But, thousands of people have reached out to me over the last month sharing the same comment each time: “I had no idea. Why didn’t I know any of this about drowning?” I am well aware how much a pediatrician has to cover during a well-child visit: build a relationship, answer questions, prepare for milestones, look into the ears of a squirming child. Pediatricians have thousands of topics they must be knowledgable of and share with parents. Therefore, American Academy of Pediatrics, you play a major role in setting priorities and equipping your pediatricians with the resources they need in order to inform parents and help eliminate this preventable tragedy. Parents of young children, especially in the age range of 1-4, should be given a handout that clearly explains the statistics on drowning. On the questionnaire, when I fill out it if my child can hold a crayon, hop on one foot, or sleep through the night, there needs to be a section on water safety. American Academy of Pediatrics, you have the platform and power to reach millions. Please, please join this cause. The AAP has a website for parents (www.healthychildren.org); on July 11, 2018, in the middle of summer, do you know how many times “drowning” was displayed on the homepage? Zero. When I searched “drowning,” I found a list of 17 total items, with articles from 2017 and 2014 being at the top. These articles include information that is so dull that nobody will read it (assuming anyone searches). They include information on how to tell if your child is drowning, such as: “eyes closed / not using legs/ appearing to be climbing an invisible ladder.” Not only is this a waste of words (is a parent seriously going to go through this mental checklist before saving a child?), but it just reinforces to people the incorrect assumption that drowning means splashing and yelling. A 3-year-old can drown in less than one minute: silently and without a struggle. The articles also fail to mention how often (the majority of times) drowning happens when not swimming. I am like any other mom: winging it, doing my best, and depending on parenting guidance from pediatricians and parenting articles. How else am I supposed to know what I am doing? Drowning needs to be addressed with as much concern as newborns sleeping on their backs to sleep, vaccinations, and car seat safety. Drowning is just as deadly and just as preventable. Drowning is a leading cause of death in children, and it needs to be treated as such. Can we please start talking about it? I want to make it clear that hundreds of pediatricians and other medical professionals have reached out to me about Levi’s story. I am encouraged, humbled, and touched by how many of these influential people are already advocating for water safety and want to continue to be part of this solution. Thank you. I hope to get the same response from the American Academy of Pediatrics. I used to be the parent who would read a story like this one and immediately start scanning, looking for a loophole, desperate for the detail that would exempt me from this particular nightmare ever being mine. But, it turns out, tragedy does not play fair. My son is gone. And, yet, we are choosing to live a purposeful life in the midst of this ultimate despair. We have two daughters, Levi’s older sisters, whom he adored, and we cannot let them lose us, too. This pain is unimaginable, but every second is a CHOICE. I am choosing to breathe, choosing to advocate. The pain and darkness threaten to suffocate. But when I choose to turn on the light, I see goodness. People are hearing Levi’s message, questioning why they didn’t know the truth about drowning, taking action. We have a chance to change the future, to save sons and daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Trust me, I never imagined myself in the role of water-safety advocate until I was thrust into it by my grief. Drowning is a leading cause of death and is 100% preventable. We can do better. We can fix this for our children. \|\|\|\|\| Bode Miller‘s wife, Morgan Beck Miller, does not want another parent to know the pain she and her husband are going through after their 19-month-old daughter drowned in a backyard pool accident. The mother of two, 31, shared a photo of her and Miller’s late daughter Emeline Grier in the snow on Tuesday. Beck Miller shared a heartfelt message to other parents, urging them to speak more about preventing drowning than topics like organic foods or how long children stare at a screen. “It’s been 37 days since I’ve held my baby girl. I pray to God no other parent feels this pain. My heart is with you @nicolehughes8 as we walk this journey together,” she wrote in the caption, naming another mother whose child drowned. “And thank you @scarymommy for helping us spread awareness.” “PLEASE READ! Link in bio! Drowning is the NUMBER ONE cause of death in children ages 1-4. We talk about vaccinations, car seats, organic foods, screen time, etc at length…but not the number one risk your children’s’ lives face…a silent killer,” she added. “It takes SECONDS. Please share and help us spread awareness. It’s the first step to preventing these types of tragedies. #drowning#drowningprevention#truthaboutdrowning.” A rep for Miller did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter. In early June, Emeline drowned in a pool in the neighborhood of Coto de Caza, California. The Orange County Fire Department said at the time that paramedics were rushed to the scene and performed CPR before transporting her to a nearby hospital where she was unable to be resuscitated. Miller and Beck Miller married in 2012 and share two children together, including Emeline. Before her death, however, the couple announced they were expecting their third child together on Instagram. Bode, 40, and Morgan are parents to 3-year-old son Nash Skan, and Miller is also a father to two children from previous relationships: son Samuel, 5, and daughter Neesyn, 10. Beck Miller implored parents to read a story written by another parent who lost her son when he drowned on a recent family vacation. Nicole Hughes’ 3-year-old son, Levi, drowned in a pool in Fort Morgan, Alabama, on June 10. In a first-person piece for blog Scary Mommy, Hughes warned that her son silently drowned within seconds. “It happened so quickly. I don’t know how Levi got away from us as we were cleaning up from dinner, or what lured him to go outside alone,” Hughes wrote. “I was the one who found him, face down, in the deep end. Just moments before this horrific discovery, I split a brownie with him. I still had the other half of the brownie in my mouth when I jumped into the pool to grab my son. Mere moments, seconds.” While still struggling to come to terms with what happened, Hughes is doing what she can so it does not happen to another child and created a non-profit called Levi’s Legacy. “Lying in bed and sobbing will not bring him back (oh, but if it would). I don’t want this role of water-safety advocate. I want 30 seconds back on June 10. But I am determined to share these facts I so desperately wish I had known.”	– The wife of Olympic skier Bode Miler has spoken out on the tragic death of 19-month-old daughter Emeline—and says she doesn't want any other mother to experience what she is going through. "It’s been 37 days since I’ve held my baby girl. I pray to God no other parent feels this pain," Morgan Beck Miller wrote in an Instagram post, sharing a picture of Emeline and a link to another grieving mother's story of how her 3-year-old son drowned on a family holiday. Authorities say Emeline drowned in a "very short amount of time" last month after wandering away from her mother and falling in a backyard pool. In her post, Beck Miller, who has a 3-year-old son and is expecting a third child, said parents discuss issues like vaccinations and screen time at length but rarely talk about drowning, People reports. "Drowning is the NUMBER ONE cause of death in children ages 1-4," she wrote. “It takes SECONDS. Please share and help us spread awareness." In an earlier Instagram post, Beck Miller thanked everybody who had supported the family and said money raised in a GoFundMe campaign would go to causes connected to water safety education. "We are inspired to make our baby girls memory go forth and help prevent as many drownings as possible," she wrote. (Earlier this month, a California woman drowned trying to rescue her three children.)
Editor's Note: See our update on what the sun's magnetic flip means for Earth here: Sun's Magnetic Field Flip Won't Doom Earth, Scientists Say The sun is gearing up for a major solar flip, NASA says. In an event that occurs once every 11 years, the magnetic field of the sun will change its polarity in a matter of months, according new observations by NASA-supported observatories. The flipping of the sun's magnetic field marks the peak of the star's 11-year solar cycle and the halfway point in the sun's "solar maximum" — the peak of its solar weather cycle. NASA released a new video describing the sun's magnetic flip on Monday (Aug. 5). "It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," Todd Hoeksema, the director of Stanford University's Wilcox Solar Observatory, said in a statement. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system." As the field shifts, the "current sheet" — a surface that radiates billions of kilometers outward from the sun's equator — becomes very wavy, NASA officials said. Earth orbits the sun, dipping in and out of the waves of the current sheet. The transition from a wave to a dip can create stormy space weather around Earth, NASA officials said. The sun's magnetic field is gearing up to shift, a once in 11 year event, according to NASA officials. Credit: NASA "The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity," Stanford solar physicist Phil Scherrer said in a statement. "This is a regular part of the solar cycle." While the polarity shift can stir up some stormy weather, it also provides extra shielding from dangerous cosmic rays. These high-energy particles, which are accelerated by events like supernova explosions, zip through the universe at nearly the speed of light. They can harm satellites and astronauts in space, and the wrinkled current sheet better protects the planet from these particles. The effects of the rippled sheet can also be felt throughout the solar system, far beyond Pluto and even touching the Voyager probes near the barrier of interstellar space. "The sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up," Scherrer said. "Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of solar max will be underway." The current solar maximum is the weakest in 100 years, experts have said. Usually, at the height of a solar cycle, sunspot activity increases. These dark regions on the sun's surface can give birth to solar flares and ejections, but there have been fewer observed sunspots this year than in the maximums of previous cycles. Follow Miriam Kramer @mirikramer and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com. \|\|\|\|\| Get ready, Earth. The sun's magnetic field is about to do a 180 when the celestial body's electromagnetism flips and changes polarity. According to NASA-supported observations, the complete reversal is expected to take place in the coming months. "It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," Todd Hoeksema, a solar physicist and director of Stanford University's Wilcox Solar Observatory, said in a statement released by the agency. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system." So should we be concerned about the reversal of the sun's magnetic field? History says no. While the field reversal is a big event for the solar system, the change in polarity is rather routine. The magnetic flip takes place at the peak of each solar cycle every 11 years. Nearing the mid-point of the sun's 24th observed solar cycle, the star's south pole will soon follow the north's lead and change its magnetic sign. The change in polarity will have certain effects throughout the heliosphere -- the sun's domain, which extends well beyond Pluto -- but, as NASA notes in its ScienceCasts video, one of the largest effects Earth can expect is some stormy space weather around the planet. Astronauts in orbit may also see some changes in cosmic rays, which could be a potential danger. The 11-year cycle governs the level of solar activity on the sun. This year, during the peak of the cycle when solar activity is the strongest, the flip will be accompanied by increased levels of turbulence, such as sunspots. However, as solar physicists have pointed out, 2013's cycle peak has turned out to be one of the weakest observed in the past century, with relatively minimal activity. Watch NASA's ScienceCasts video below for a thorough explanation of the magnetic field reversal. Clarification: The sun has gone through 24 solar cycles since scientists began recording solar activity.	– Sun feel a little off to you these days? Congratulations on being finely attuned to the inner workings of the solar system. The sun is in the process of reversing its magnetic fields, and the full process should be complete before the year is out, reports Space.com. It may sound like a doomsday plot twist, but the reversal occurs every 11 years at the peak of the sun's solar cycle, explains the Huffington Post. "The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity," says Stanford physicist Phil Scherrer. In fact, "the sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up." The peak of the cycle usually is associated with an increase in sunspots and solar flares, but this year's peak is relatively tame. The flip, then, should occur with most earthlings being none the wiser.
Chelsea Clinton said Thursday that Donald Trump describes a country in which she can’t imagine raising her children. “That actually I found far more upsetting … than anything they said about my mom,” Clinton said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” that aired Thursday. Republicans’ attacks on Hillary Clinton pale in comparison to Trump's insults of women, minorities, Muslims and immigrants, Chelsea Clinton said. She said that she doesn’t worry about the attacks on her mother because years in politics taught Hillary Clinton how to respond. "She’s tough and she can take whatever people say about her," Chelsea Clinton said. \|\|\|\|\| News Chelsea Clinton on her big convention moment, what she hopes Bill will be called share tweet pin email Chelsea Clinton, who just gave birth to her second child last month, said she expects her "heart will burst” when her mother becomes the first woman to accept the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday night. “This election is so important to me, because I'm now a mom. And as proud as I am of my mom, this election to me is fundamentally about my children, about Charlotte and Aidan,” the former first daughter told TODAY’s Matt Lauer in an exclusive interview. “And I couldn't imagine a better president for them. I couldn't imagine a better grandmother for them, either. And so I think just standing there, thinking about my children and looking at my mom, I think it's going to be overwhelming.” RELATED: President Obama heaps praise on Hillary Clinton at DNC Clinton said she will speak from the heart Thursday when she introduces her mother at the Democratic National Convention. The 36-year-old will become the only person to have both parents receive nods for president and hopes to tap into her experience of having parents who have been in the public eye her entire life. Closed Captioning ON OFF apply \| reset x Text Display Background Enhancements font Times New Roman Arial Comic Sans T T T T size color share link Chelsea Clinton: I would consider 'daughters' summit' with Ivanka Trump Play Video - 5:06 Chelsea Clinton: I would consider 'daughters' summit' with Ivanka Trump Play Video - 5:06 “I just hope that people understand even a little more when I'm done than when I started about why I love her so much and admire her so much,” she said. RELATED: Chelsea Clinton welcomes baby No. 2, a boy named Aidan Clinton Mazvinsky The job will be critical, as Hillary Clinton fights high negative ratings, even from some in her own party. Chelsea Clinton acknowledged she needs to overcome a disconnect between the presidential candidate Republicans described last week at their convention and “the person that I know" and hopes to convey in her convention speech. “That's not the person that I know," she said about the negative portrayals of her mom. "That's not the person that I grew up with, that I'm so proud to stand beside and to introduce here in Philadelphia.” RELATED: Donald Trump calls on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails Republican nominee Donald Trump has taken to calling Clinton “Crooked Hillary,” and last week delegates at his party's convention frequently broke into chants of “lock her up.” But Clinton described her mom as a fighter. Closed Captioning ON OFF apply \| reset x Text Display Background Enhancements font Times New Roman Arial Comic Sans T T T T size color share link Obama at DNC: 'Nobody more qualified' than Hillary Clinton to be president Play Video - 3:46 Obama at DNC: 'Nobody more qualified' than Hillary Clinton to be president Play Video - 3:46 “She’s tough and she can take whatever people say about her,” she said. There is one parallel between the conventions: Clinton will introduce her mother, just as Ivanka Trump introduced her father in Cleveland last week. Clinton said she considers Ivanka a friend. “And yet clearly, Ivanka and I have very different views about who we think should be our president, who we think best represents our country,” she said. "I think it's clear that Mr. Trump is running his campaign and saying what he thinks is important in this election,” Clinton said. “I think what we're seeing here in Philadelphia is a very strong contrast to that. And my mother's not engaging in divisive, bigoted rhetoric.” Clinton also was asked a question she said she gets all the time: What would her father, former President Bill Clinton, be called should he return to the White House? "He likes to hearken back to his kind of Irish roots, so I think he'd love to be called 'first laddie'” she said with a laugh. But Clinton doesn’t think that will catch on. “So I'm definitely voting for 'first gentleman,'” she said. \|\|\|\|\| She is not done courting Sanders voters. Demonstrations inside and outside the convention hall this week made clear that Mrs. Clinton had some work to do to persuade at least some die-hard supporters of Mr. Sanders. On Thursday, she seemed to acknowledge as much, quickly addressing them directly with a simple message: I hear you. “Your cause is our cause,” she said, thanking Mr. Sanders for placing issues of economic and social justice “front and center, where they belong.” Total unity has been elusive, and could remain so. As Mrs. Clinton accepted the nomination, some Sanders delegates stood stone-faced, occasionally booing or silently protesting. Democrats will keep talking about Trump’s proposed Muslim ban. Video During the Republican primary race, Mr. Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration appeared to do nothing but help at the polls, even as rivals objected with varying degrees of outrage. Democrats appear convinced they can win the argument among the wider electorate. And they may have found their most potent voice: Khizr Khan, an American Muslim whose son, Humayun S. M. Khan, was killed in Iraq. In a stirring address, his stoicism building to a controlled simmer, Mr. Khan challenged Mr. Trump on behalf of “patriotic American Muslims” everywhere. “You have sacrificed nothing,” Mr. Khan said, his wife standing silently beside him, “and no one.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story For organizers, the choice to showcase Mr. Khan amounted to a pointed dare: Are these people not American enough for you, Mr. Trump? There’s another ‘law and order’ franchise. Photo Mr. Trump has presented himself as something of a one-man anti-crime plan, arguing that he is the lone force standing between the United States and semi-lawless dystopia. Republican leaders have accused Democrats of giving terrorism issues short shrift in Philadelphia. But as Thursday’s slate made clear, Mrs. Clinton’s team believes that Mr. Trump, with his scattershot defense policies and often erratic statements, has supplied an opportunity. For much of the evening, matters of public safety took center stage, with testimony from a retired Marine general — to chants of “U.S.A.!” — a Texas sheriff and the relatives of fallen officers. It was consistent with a theme of the week: No presumed Republican motif — from an emphasis on national defense to conspicuous invocations of faith to warm quotations of Ronald Reagan — is safe from Democratic encroachment in the age of Trump. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. About that glass ceiling … In her presidential runs, Mrs. Clinton has at times struggled with how, and how often, to highlight her gender. No more. First Chelsea Clinton paid tribute to her maternal compassion, saying that Mrs. Clinton’s own mother would be proud. Then Mrs. Clinton, calling herself “my mother’s daughter and my daughter’s mother,” stopped to cheer her nomination as “a milestone in our nation’s march toward a more perfect union.” There is a risk in turning off male voters, with whom she has fared poorly in surveys. Mrs. Clinton argued explicitly that they, too, had a stake in her success, whether or not they recognized it. “When any barrier falls in America,” she said, “it clears the way for everyone.”	– As the Democratic National Convention heads into its final night, viewers may experience a subtle sense of deja vu from last week's RNC event: the presidential nominee being preceded by an intimate speech from a daughter. It's Chelsea Clinton's turn to "sell Mrs. Clinton to the American public," as the New York Times puts it, wondering if the former first daughter's spin will tend toward Hillary's role as a feminism advocate—the theme Thursday night focuses on women's issues—a doting mom, or both. Chelsea Clinton may even touch upon Trump: Per the Los Angeles Times, the younger Clinton told Today Thursday morning that the way she's heard the GOP nominee talk about the US is "far more upsetting … than anything they said about my mom." As for the main event herself, the New York Times notes Hillary Clinton has a tall order before her on the DNC stage Thursday night: to start to win back citizens' trust, make a case why Trump is too "erratic" to be president, and "own her flaws" about everything from her highly publicized email server issues to problems she's dealt with in her personal life. Another challenging task: making a speech that gives a shoutout to President Obama's achievements but lays out new goals of her own so she doesn't seem like a clone.
Hire Us PPP offers the highest quality polling at the most affordable price of any company out there. Contact Tom Jensen at tomj@publicpolicypolling.com or 919-744-6312 to discuss your project. \|\|\|\|\| WASHINGTON -- Some progressive organizations have been making a push in recent days for incoming congressional Republicans to drop their government-sponsored health care on the grounds that keeping the plans would be hypocritical. The incident started after incoming Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) complained loudly during freshmen orientation that his coverage wouldn't start immediately upon taking office. It took a new turn when Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Penn) and Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) both said they would, in fact, forgo the coverage. It escalated even further when White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called out Harris for the "irony," and the municipal workers union AFSCME applied a similar charge to the whole GOP shortly thereafter. "These Republicans want to repeal health reform, putting the insurance companies back in charge and putting affordable coverage out of reach of millions of Americans," said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee. "If they enroll in the taxpayer-funded health care system provided to members of Congress, they deserve to be denounced as hypocrites." There is an apparent double standard with respect to lawmakers trying to reduce health care for American workers while taking a subsidy for health care for themselves. And in a Public Policy Poll released on Tuesday, a full 53 percent of respondents (and 58 percent of Republicans) said that if a congressman is opposed to the president's health care reform law, he or she should decline to participate in government-sponsored health care. But another cudgel sits there on the sidelines waiting to be used by trouble-making Democrats. If the incoming Republican Congress is so concerned about the use of taxpayer funds, it could start by foregoing taxpayer-funded health care. How much money that would save is impossible to pinpoint with great accuracy. But it's possible to make some reliable estimates. According to the Los Angeles Times, "the plan most favored by federal workers is Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers a family for about $1,030 a month." Of that total, "taxpayers kick in $700." So far there are 242 Republicans set to be seated in the incoming House of Representatives (that could only go higher) and 47 Republicans in the Senate. The taxpayer bill for insuring all those members over the course of a single year comes to just over $2.4 million ($700 X 12 months X 289 members). Chump change? Yes, it is. That said, chump change seems to always at the heart of the most provocative political battles. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made a big issue over the fact that $1 million was being appropriated for a Woodstock museum in upstate New York. UPDATE: Pete Sepp, the Executive Vice President of National Taxpayers Union -- one of the ultimate penny-pinching organizations in the D.C. area -- calls opting out of health care a "symbolic and not insignificant" gesture for congressional Republicans. "If lawmakers are looking for ways to say that they feel solidarity with the American people this might be one way to do it," said Sepp. "And, again, if you are looking at dollar amounts that's equivalent or a little more of equivalent to [congressmembers] taking a pay cut of about five percent. And, again, we have heard a lot of pledges to reduce the overall budget of Congress by ten percent. So opting out of health care coverage is one place to start." \|\|\|\|\| One of the country’s largest labor unions has demanded Republican lawmakers skip congressional health insurance because the party voted against the health-care overhaul. The argument: If you don’t support government health care, you shouldn’t enroll in government health care, says the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “These Republicans want to repeal health reform, putting the insurance companies back in charge and putting affordable coverage out of reach of millions of Americans,” AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said in a statement. It’s a bit more complicated than that. The debate over the health overhaul largely centered over how much Washington should get involved in health insurance for those employed in the private sector. Lawmakers, by contrast, take home a salary from the federal government. Most House members get $174,000 a year. “This has nothing to with ObamaCare,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for presumptive House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). “Boehner, like Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, Sen. [Harry] Reid and tens of millions of Americans, receives health coverage through his employer.” Still, the issue has become a rallying cry for liberal activists after GOP Congressman-elect Andy Harris, a doctor from Maryland, complained he would have to wait four weeks until his new insurance took effect. The White House got involved this week when Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Mr. Harris faces a “particularly interesting dilemma.” Incoming GOP Rep. Bobby Schilling of Illinois said during his campaign he wouldn’t take health insurance as a congressman in an effort to save taxpayers money. His son and spokesman, Terry Schilling, said the decision had nothing to do with the health-care law.	– Progressives are issuing a challenge to incoming Republican House members: If they are so dead-set on repealing health care reform, they shouldn't accept the taxpayer-funded congressional health plan. The fracas started when newly elected Rep. Andy Harris made a fuss during an orientation because his coverage didn't begin right away, notes the Huffington Post. If all Congressional Republicans declined, it would save an estimated $2.4 million. "Chump change? Yes, it is," writes Sam Stein at HuffPo. "That said, chump change seems to always at the heart of the most provocative political battles." Others: The issue may be opening for Democrats to "create tension between the newly elected officials and the Tea Partiers who put them there by highlighting the disconnect between the freshmen Republicans' rhetoric and their actions," writes Tom Jensen for Public Policy Polling. Republicans, however, say Democrats are distorting the issue—they want employer-based coverage to be the dominant system, and members of Congress are employed by the government, notes the Wall Street Journal. "Still, the issue has become a rallying cry for liberal activists," writes Danny Yadron.
Sally Jewell, an outdoor-equipment executive and former petroleum engineer and commercial banker, won Senate confirmation to become U.S. Interior secretary in a bipartisan Senate vote. Jewell’s nomination won approval today 87-11. The chief executive officer of outfitter Recreational Equipment Inc., Jewell pledged in her confirmation hearing to balance conflicting demands in using federal land for recreation, conservation, mining and forestry. “She is the right person to oversee the multitude of programs” in the Interior Department, Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said before the vote. “She understands there is an enormous challenge to balance these dual roles of conserving and developing.” In hearings leading up to the vote, Republican senators such as Wyoming’s John Barrasso had questioned her ties to environmental groups that had opposed oil and coal use near national parks or on government lands. While at Kent, Washington-based REI, Jewell has helped lead groups such as the National Parks Conservation Association that pushed the government to curb fossil-fuel mining in or near public lands. Jewell, 57, will replace Ken Salazar at the Interior Department, a sprawling, 70,000-employee agency that manages national parks along with 500 million acres of mineral-rich land. Interior also oversees development of offshore resources. ‘Pay Attention’ Given its large holdings in Alaska and other western states, “when it comes to cabinet positions, this is one we are going to pay attention to,” Republican Lisa Murkowski said on the Senate floor. “We all have instances, where people from the state we represent have to go knock on the door of some federal agency, and they don’t feel like they are being adequately heard.” Murkowski said she was “very impressed with her level of sincerity,” and said she also supported Jewell. Jewell is an accomplished mountain climber, expert skier and longtime bicycle commuter, and was supported for the Interior post by environmental groups such as the Sierra Club. She pledged to resign her post at REI once confirmed by the Senate. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Drajem in Washington at mdrajem@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net \|\|\|\|\| The Senate approved Sally Jewell Sarah (Sally) Margaret JewellOvernight Regulation: Senate panel approves driverless car bill \| House bill to change joint-employer rule advances \| Treasury to withdraw proposed estate tax rule \| Feds delaying Obama methane leak rule Overnight Energy: Dems take on Trump's chemical safety pick GOP chairman probes Zinke’s charter plane use MORE to be the next Interior Secretary on Wednesday, placing her atop an agency at the center of intense political battles over energy throughout President Obama’s tenure. Lawmakers voted 87-11 to approve Jewell to run the department that oversees conservation, recreation, oil-and-gas drilling and other uses on vast swaths of federal land. Eleven Republicans opposed her nomination. ADVERTISEMENT “Sally knows that business and environment both benefit when we are committed to protecting our national parks and national treasures,” Sen.(D-Wash.) said. Jewell, who lives in Seattle, is the head of outdoor gear giant REI, Inc. Before taking the REI job, she spent two decades working in the banking industry and began her career as an engineer for Mobil Oil Corp. (before its merger with Exxon). “Outdoor recreation is now a major economic generator for our country,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenLobbying World Overnight Regulation: House to vote on repealing joint-employer rule \| EPA won't say which areas don't meet Obama smog rule \| Lawmakers urge regulators to reject Perry plan New tax plan will hinder care for older Americans MORE (D-Ore.) said ahead of her vote. “That’s why I’m especially enthused today to recommend Sally Jewell to head the Department of Interior. … You can’t run a multi-billion dollar company like REI without being able to bring people together and anticipating some of the trends that lie ahead.” GOP Sens. Mike Johanns Mike JohannsFarmers, tax incentives can ease the pain of a smaller farm bill Lobbying World To buy a Swiss company, ChemChina must pass through Washington MORE (Neb.), Deb Fischer Debra (Deb) Strobel FischerDissent is democratic: Stop calling McCain, Corker, Flake RINOs GOP senators fear bill will be cast as gift to rich GOP plans tax blitzkrieg MORE (Neb.), John Barrasso John Anthony BarrassoThis week: GOP seeks to advance tax overhaul Dissent is democratic: Stop calling McCain, Corker, Flake RINOs The farm bill presents a chance to lighten the regulatory burden of farmers MORE (Wyo.), Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioOvernight Cybersecurity: What we learned from Carter Page's House Intel testimony \| House to mark up foreign intel reform law \| FBI can't access Texas shooter's phone \| Sessions to testify at hearing amid Russia scrutiny Cornyn: Senate GOP tax plan to be released Thursday This week: GOP seeks to advance tax overhaul MORE (Fla.), Mike Enzi Michael (Mike) Bradley EnziGOP senators ask Trump for meeting on biofuels mandate Senate budget just the latest attack on seniors Week ahead: GOP's next steps on tax reform \| Fed chief speculation heats up \| Senate to vote on disaster relief MORE (Wyo.), David Vitter David VitterYou're fired! Why it's time to ditch the Fed's community banker seat Overnight Energy: Trump set to propose sharp cuts to EPA, energy spending Former La. official tapped as lead offshore drilling regulator MORE (La.), Tim Scott Timothy (Tim) Eugene ScottKey differences between the Senate and House tax plans Strange bedfellows on criminal justice reform could offer Trump a legislative win Senate GOP reveals different approach on tax reform MORE (S.C.), Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeOvernight Health Care: Trump officials to allow work requirements for Medicaid GOP senator: CBO moving the goalposts on ObamaCare mandate Cornyn: Senate GOP tax plan to be released Thursday MORE (Utah), Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMcConnell expects Paul to return to Senate next week Former Hill staff calls for mandatory harassment training Gaming the odds of any GOP tax bill getting signed into law MORE (Ky.), Saxby Chambliss Saxby ChamblissLobbying World Former GOP senator: Let Dems engage on healthcare bill OPINION: Left-wing politics will be the demise of the Democratic Party MORE (Ga.) and Tom Coburn Tom CoburnFormer GOP senator: Trump has a personality disorder Lobbying World -trillion debt puts US fiscal house on very shaky ground MORE (Okla.) voted against Jewell's nomination. Republicans and petroleum industry groups say the Obama administration has placed too many restrictions on oil-and-gas drilling and other commercial development, battles likely to continue under Jewell, who replaces outgoing Secretary Ken Salazar. But Sen. Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiMoore digs in amid mounting GOP criticism Republicans float pushing back Alabama special election Moore defends himself as pressure mounts MORE (R-Alaska), the top Republican on the Senate’s energy committee, said she was hopeful that Jewell would work with all sides in various battles over Interior policy. Murkowski said that the most important role of the Interior Secretary is being a “landlord” since Interior owns a large portion of U.S. land. “I think we recognize as westerners that this is a position that has great meaning to our states, so we pay attention to who is the Secretary of Interior,” Murkowski said. “Really the most prominent role is being a landlord … and we need to trust our landlord.” The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Jewell with a bipartisan 19-3 vote last month. \|\|\|\|\| The Senate has confirmed Sally Jewell, CEO of outdoor retailer Recreational Equipment Inc., as interior secretary. Jewell will oversee more than 500 million acres of national parks and other public lands, and more than 1 billion acres offshore. The lands are used for energy development, mining, recreation and other purposes. The department also provides services to 566 federally recognized Indian tribes. The Senate approved her nomination, 87-11. A lifelong outdoors enthusiast, the 57-year-old Jewell previously worked as a petroleum engineer and banker. She also served on the board of the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group that works to protect and enhance national parks. President Barack Obama's nominated Jewell last month to replace outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who announced his departure in January. Jewell is from Seattle.	– President Obama's choice to be the next interior secretary sailed through her Senate confirmation today by a vote of 87 to 11, reports the Washington Post. Sally Jewell, 57, will replace Ken Salazar as head of the department that overseas 500 million acres of parks and public lands, reports AP. Jewell has an interesting resume, notes Bloomberg and the Hill: She is currently CEO of the huge outdoor gear company REI, though she will resign immediately. Previously, she worked as a petroleum engineer and a commercial banker. “Outdoor recreation is now a major economic generator for our country,” Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon said before the vote. “You can’t run a multi-billion dollar company like REI without being able to bring people together and anticipating some of the trends that lie ahead."
Supporters at left of a tax on large companies such as Amazon and Starbucks that was intended to combat a growing homelessness crisis stand in Seattle City Council Chambers and face off against people... (Associated Press) Supporters at left of a tax on large companies such as Amazon and Starbucks that was intended to combat a growing homelessness crisis stand in Seattle City Council Chambers and face off against people at right supporting the repeal of the tax, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, at City Hall in Seattle. Seattle... (Associated Press) SEATTLE (AP) — A tax on large companies such as Amazon that was meant to fight a growing homelessness crisis got rolled back during a raucous Seattle City Council meeting that exposed divisions over how much companies that have fueled booming economies should help pay to alleviate the downsides of success. A divided crowd chanted, jeered and booed at the meeting, drowning out city leaders as they cast a 7-2 vote Tuesday. People shouted, "Stop the repeal," as others unfurled a large red banner that read, "Tax Amazon." An opposing group held "No tax on jobs" signs. The vote showed Amazon's ability to aggressively push back on government taxes, especially in its affluent hometown where it's the largest employer with more than 45,000 workers and where it has been criticized for contributing to a widening income gap. It remains to be seen whether Seattle's retreat will have a chilling effect on other cities considering taxes on big tech companies to help mitigate the effects of growth. The City Council in Mountain View, California, where Google is based, will vote June 26 on whether to put a similar measure before voters in November. The "Google tax," which has unanimous support from the council, aims to alleviate transportation woes and high housing costs in the Silicon Valley city south of San Francisco. Mountain View Mayor Lenny Siegel said Seattle's about-face hasn't changed his support for the tax, the details of which the council and city administrators have been working on for several months. "It appears that we have a better relationship with our business than Seattle does," Siegel said. He said Google hasn't taken a position on the proposal and that no "groundswell" of opposition has materialized from the Internet search giant and other companies. "That doesn't mean they support it," Siegel said. "Our chamber of commerce has not been excited by it." In Seattle, the tax was proposed as a progressive revenue source aimed at tackling one of the nation's highest homelessness numbers, a problem that hasn't eased even as city spending on the issue grew. Businesses and residents demanded more accountability in how Seattle funds homelessness and housing and said the city should take a regional approach to the problem. Many worried that Amazon and others would leave the city as the companies sharply criticized the tax. Amazon called Tuesday's vote "the right decision for the region's economic prosperity." The company is "deeply committed to being part of the solution to end homelessness in Seattle," Drew Herdener, an Amazon vice president, said in a statement. City leaders underestimated the frustration and anger from residents, businesses and others over not just a tax increase but also a growing sense that homelessness appears to have gotten worse, not better, despite Seattle spending millions to fight it. It poured $68 million into the effort last year and plans to spend more this year. The tax would have raised roughly $48 million annually. But a one-night count in January found more than 12,000 homeless people in the Seattle and surrounding region, a 4 percent increase from the previous year. The region saw 169 homeless deaths last year. Many supporters called the repeal a betrayal and said the tax was a step toward building badly needed affordable housing. They booed council members, imploring them to keep it and fight a coalition of businesses trying to get a referendum overturning the tax on the November ballot. "It's frustrating to see the council be so spineless when the city has so much leverage for businesses to come here despite the tax," said Jake Lindsay, 25, a musician and Lyft driver who supported the tax. Several council members, including three who sponsored the legislation but voted to repeal it, lamented the reversal and conceded they didn't have the resources or time to fight the referendum. Councilwoman Lisa Herbold said it "was truly our best option" and that she repealed it with a heavy heart. She lashed out at business interests for blaming the problems on government inefficiencies. Seattle's so-called head tax would have charged companies about $275 per full-time worker each year for affordable housing and homeless services. It targeted nearly 600 businesses making at least $20 million in gross revenue and would have taken effect next year. Days after it passed, the business-backed No Tax On Jobs campaign began gathering signatures for the ballot and raised more than $280,000 in cash contributions in just weeks. In Silicon Valley, Siegel, the Mountain View mayor, said Google and other companies such as LinkedIn that are based in the California city acknowledge that soaring housing costs and long commutes make it harder to recruit and retain workers. He said city officials estimate the tax would raise about $10 million annually once it's completely phased in after three years. Google is expected to pay half. Siegel said public meetings that touched on the issue were "moderately" attended, and the proposal does not appear to be as contentious in Mountain View as in Seattle. ___ Associated Press reporter Paul Elias in San Francisco contributed to this report. \|\|\|\|\| Seattle Repeals Tax On Big Business After Opposition From Amazon, Starbucks Enlarge this image toggle caption Ted S. Warren/AP Ted S. Warren/AP In a victory for Amazon, the Seattle City Council voted to repeal a tax on the city's biggest businesses Tuesday, a measure designed to fund efforts to combat Seattle's large homeless population. In a meeting punctured with shouting from activists, council members voted 7-2 to repeal the so-called "head tax," which would have raised about $47 million per year to fund affordable housing projects and to help the city's homeless population. It was a sharp reversal from just last month, when the council voted unanimously to pass the tax and the city's mayor signed it into law. Amazon, Starbucks and other companies then funded a campaign against the tax and to put it on a referendum to voters in November. Council member Lisa Herbold said the groups opposing the tax had "unlimited resources" and that her vote to repeal was "counter to my values as a person." However, a campaign from business groups including the Chamber of Commerce had convinced most Seattle residents to oppose the tax and "we don't have the time and we don't have the resources necessary to change enough minds," Herbold said. "This is not a winnable battle at this time," she added. Seattle's government said the tax would only affect about 3 percent of the city's employers — those grossing at least $20 million each year. About 585 employers would have paid about $275 per employee per year, according to the city council. Amazon has about 45,000 employees in Seattle and is the city's largest private employer. It would have paid about $12 million per year. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos was named the world's richest man by Forbes in March, with a worth of $112 billion. The company said the vote "to repeal the tax on job creation is the right decision for the region's economic prosperity." Amazon, Starbucks and investment company Vulcan each paid $25,000 toward the referendum effort, KUOW reports. The No Tax on Jobs campaign raised $350,000. After the session to consider repealing the law was announced a day earlier, Seattle's Chamber of Commerce said it was a "breath of fresh air." The Chamber echoed language from Amazon that it was a "tax on jobs." "From day one, the Seattle Metro Chamber has been clear that a tax on jobs is not the way to address the regional homelessness crisis," President and CEO Marilyn Strickland said in a statement Monday. The law passed in May was itself a watered-down version of the original plan, to tax companies $500 per employee. Amazon temporarily halted construction of a tower in downtown Seattle in opposition. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said she would sign the repeal into law. "Instead of engaging in a prolonged, expensive political fight, the City and I will continue to move forward on building real partnerships that align our strategies from business, advocates, philanthropy," she said in a statement. Council members Teresa Mosqueda and Kshama Sawant both voted against the repeal. Sawant called it a "cowardly betrayal of the needs of working people," saying it was "capitulation and it's a betrayal." Critics of the tax reportedly saw the city's homeless problem growing, despite large amounts of spending by the city already. Seattle spent $68 million on fighting homelessness in 2017, according to The Associated Press. The city council said 8,522 people were counted as "experiencing homelessness" in Seattle in 2017. Including nearby areas, that number went up to 12,000 during a one-night count in January, the AP says, which is up 4 percent from the year before. The wire service says 169 homeless people died in 2017. KUOW reports that the characterization of the tax as "extra money for homelessness ... wasn't necessarily an accurate representation." "It's possible the money wouldn't have been extra: It could have plugged a future hole in the budget instead. Seattle had already been spending money from its construction boom on homelessness. With a depleted general fund projected to sink into the red, the city needed to find money just to stay afloat." "I'm very supportive of the homeless," small business owner Claudia Campanile told the station. "But I am not supportive of the constituency getting taxed with no representation and no clear game plan of what they're going to do with the funds." The mayor seemed to address that concern in her statement Tuesday, saying, "people deserve to know how their money is being spent and what is working. The City has worked towards increased accountability and transparency with taxpayer dollars expected to be spent on the homelessness crisis." Cities across the country are competing to host Amazon's proposed second headquarters. The company says it would create 50,000 jobs and would invest $5 billion in the city it chooses — leading some competing for the headquarters to promise billions in tax breaks for the corporate behemoth. \|\|\|\|\| Seattle council, mayor cave to Amazon, other opposition on head tax for homelessness Supporters and detractors of the "head tax" hold signs in council chambers during a City Council vote to repeal the tax on big businesses, which was voted for unanimously last month, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Council voted 7-2 to repeal the tax. less Supporters and detractors of the "head tax" hold signs in council chambers during a City Council vote to repeal the tax on big businesses, which was voted for unanimously last month, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. ... more Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Seattle council, mayor cave to Amazon, other opposition on head tax for homelessness 1 / 28 Back to Gallery Seattle's city council on Tuesday rolled back its so-called "head tax" on big businesses to fund homeless services, less than a month after it unanimously approved the compromise deal. The tax would have collected about $275 per head on employees at businesses with more than $20 million in annual revenue, raising roughly $48 million a year for housing and other services for the city's booming homeless population. By the latest count, King County was home to more than 12,000 people experiencing homelessness, most of them in Seattle. "We have reached the conclusion that this is not a winnable battle at this time," Councilwoman Lisa Herbold said before the vote. "I am not someone who walks away from what looks like a losing fight, but ... there is so much more to lose between today and November." Pressure from Amazon had already cut the original tax nearly in half, but then the company joined Starbucks and others in backing a campaign to put the tax to a referendum vote this fall. The No Head Tax campaign had raised more than $285,000 through the end of May, according to filings with the city. RELATED: Seattle council approves smaller $48 million head tax for homelessness On Monday, the council and Mayor Jenny Durkan formally caved to the opposition, announcing Tuesday's special meeting and indicating they would largely support repeal. Against the din of protesters chanting in city council chambers, the council struggled to complete its vote on the measure, with Councilwoman Kshama Sawant holding out her vote until the crowd acknowledged the vote was happening behind them. The final tally was seven in favor, with just Sawant and Councilwoman Teresa Mosqueda dissenting. The decision to repeal the tax was blamed on the bottomless coffers of the opposition, a nod to Amazon's stunning wealth, and thus, influence in local politics. "I have been unable to find a way forward that we could out-fund and out-resource the opposition campaign by November," said Councilwoman Lorena Gonzalez ahead of the vote. "Money has funded this campaign that put us in a position where we have to repeal this law." During public comment on Tuesday, which ran 50 minutes before the council considered the measure, many called the moved to repeal with such little notice a "betrayal" and a "backroom deal" that put corporate interests above people. Now Playing: "I wonder about the homeless state of emergency, I wonder if it's just that here we are in the city of Seattle paying lip service to a state of emergency but we're not actually fixing anything," said Matthew Lang, with the Hope Coalition. In a statement from seven members of the council and Durkan on Monday, they argued that the political fight to keep the tax would prove too costly and wouldn't help the homelessness crisis. Instead, they pointed to a need for the city to find a solution everyone could agree on. During comments before the vote Sawant pushed back on the idea that the council would come out ahead in backing down on the issue so soon. "Do council members actually believe that by completely capitulating to big business today, that somehow we'll be in a better position to win this next year?" she asked. Gonzalez ultimately backed the repeal effort, but hedged her support in a statement Monday. "I am deeply troubled and disappointed by the political tactics utilized by a powerful faction of corporations that seem to prioritize corporations over people," she wrote in Monday's statement. Opponents to the tax have argued that the city hasn't properly handled the money it already has for dealing with the homelessness crisis, something that was officially declared a city emergency in November 2015 by then-mayor Ed Murray. Seattle has doubled its spending on homeless services in the last few years, with $63 million earmarked for the crisis in 2018. Countywide, about $195 million was spent in 2017, according to a Seattle Times analysis of funds that included state and federal sources. By comparison, San Francisco, where around 10,000 people are living without stable housing, will spend about $305 million this year on the crisis. Durkan recently said the city would launch a website detailing how it spends its homelessness funding, but the site hasn't appeared yet. Credit rating company Moody's gives Seattle an Aa2 credit rating, the third-highest rating, and found the head tax to be a credit positive move, while it warned of the impact Amazon may have on the local government of its HQ2 city, wherever that will be. Amazon had a big influence over what the head tax that did pass looked like. After the original proposal was released, the e-commerce company halted planning on two tower projects in Seattle pending a vote on the deal. Durkan struck a compromise deal that was just over half the original amount of the tax in response, a deal that Amazon approved enough to resume work on its tower projects. RELATED: Report: Amazon halts planning for new Seattle towers over head tax Neither council members or Mayor Durkan had offered up alternatives to generate the same funding that was expected from the head tax. Senior editor Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, city hall, and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.	– What does defeat sound like? This: "We have reached the conclusion that this is not a winnable battle at this time." That was the pronouncement of Seattle Councilwoman Lisa Herbold Tuesday in advance of what ended up being a 7-2 vote to reverse a new tax the council had unanimously approved only a month prior. The so-called "head tax" would have generated just shy of $50 million annually to put toward homelessness and affordable housing by charging businesses that generate more than $20 million in revenue a year about $275 per employee. That would have hit about 3% of businesses in the city, one of which is Amazon, which would have contributed about 25% of the expected total, reports NPR. The company was vocal in its opposition. And per SeattlePI.com, the "stunning wealth" of Amazon, Starbucks, and the rest of the opposition drove the reversal. As Councilwoman Lorena Gonzalez explains, "I have been unable to find a way forward that we could out-fund and out-resource the opposition campaign by November" (the opposition was campaigning for a referendum on the tax in the fall). "Money has funded this campaign that put us in a position where we have to repeal this law." The AP characterizes city leaders as having "underestimated the frustration" over not just the tax but the fact that while $68 million was spent on homelessness last year, a January count found the homeless population in the Seattle area up 4%, to 12,000, suggesting to some that the city's current resources weren't being used appropriately.
Did Osama bin Laden have a foot fetish? Or was he into cake farts? Maybe the mass-murderer was so used to his many wives that his fantasy was to escape to a world of plain, vanilla monogamous sex. Unfortunately we may never know. Despite a Freedom of Information Act request, those buzzkills over at the CIA have made sure that we won’t be finding out anytime soon what sort of shit the former Al Qaeda leader liked to jerk it to while he hid away in his secret Abbottabad compound. If you don’t have a Google Alerts set for “‘Osama bin Laden’ AND ‘porn,'” then you might not be aware that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper confirmed last month that a collection of pornography had been recovered in the raid on bin Laden’s hideout that resulted in the terrorist leader’s death. Clapper also confirmed that while many of the documents found in the raid would be declassified, bin Laden’s skin mags would remain under wraps. But staffers at BroBible knew enough about pr0n to realize that, just as a fine musical instrument is meant to be played, dirty mags are meant to be shared with the world — shared until their tattered, jizz-ridden pages no longer have any structural integrity and disintegrate like so many tissues in toilet paper commercials. So BroBible’s David Covucci did what any intrepid young reporter would do: He filed a FOIA request. The letter he sent to the CIA is as follows: We at the men’s general interest publication BroBible dot com (one of the nation’s largest websites for men), would like to know what pornographic materials Osama Bin Laden had in his possession at the time of his death. We are adults. We can handle it. We would like to know what kind of porn the world’s most wanted man jerked it to. Does being under the constant threat of capture require extra stimulation? I imagine it would be hard for him to focus on his dick, so I figure he had to watch some really nasty shit. On Thursday afternoon, Covucci received word back from the CIA, but disappointingly the spy agency said they would not be honoring his request: With regard to the pornographic material Osama Bin Laden had in his possession at the time of his death, responsive records, should they exist, would be contained in the operational files. The CIA Information Act, 50 U.S.C 431, as amended, exempts CIA operational files from search, review, publication, and disclosure requirements of the FOIA. To the extent that this material exists, the CIA would be prohibited by 18 USC Section 1461 from mailing obscene matter. As pointed out at the 11-minute mark of the May 22 Slate Political Gabfest, it seems odd that the government wouldn’t want to release the information — as it would be potentially very embarrassing for Al Qaeda. For whatever reason, though, it looks like the CIA is taking the high road. I gotta say, when it comes to picking issues to develop a moral backbone over, the CIA sure knows how to pick ‘em. So rest easy terrorists! We might torture you illegally and leave you with mental and physical scars that will last a lifetime, but your Internet cache is safe with us. [BroBible \| Image: Gawker] \|\|\|\|\| Not long after Osama bin Laden was killed, reports appeared claiming that the Al Qaeda leader—or someone in his compound—had a big pornography collection. But if you were hoping for a glimpse at the stash, or even just confirmation that it exists, the government won't help you: David Covucci, a blogger for the men's Web site BroBible, decided to try a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the CIA on May 26 to get the stash. The agency, in a lightning-fast response dated June 4, said: "With regard to the pornographic material Osama bin Laden had in his possession at the time of his death, responsive records,"—ready?—"should they exist, would be contained in operational files," which are exempt from the FOIA. What's more, CIA information and privacy coordinator Michael Lavergne continued, "To the extent that this material exists, the CIA would be prohibited" by federal law, "from mailing obscene matter." The CIA's full letter to BroBible is here. Oh, well. "To the extent that this material exists," maybe it'll turn up on WikiLeaks. \|\|\|\|\| Osama bin Laden is shown in this April 1998 photo. AP Photo Four years after his death at the hands of U.S. forces, the final chapter of Osama bin Laden’s life continues to raise questions of huge geopolitical import: Was the leader of al-Qaeda plotting terror attacks from his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, at the time of his death? Was he in contact with — or working for — Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency? How did the most wanted man in the world remain undetected in Abbottabad, a garrison town, in the first place? Oh, and also… What kind of porn was the dude into? [The bin Laden library the U.S. government doesn’t want you to see: The porn stash.] No, seriously. Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad contained a “fairly extensive” stash of naughty goods, according to Reuters news agency in 2011. Reuters reported that officials were unsure about the precise location where the material was found or who might have been viewing it. What we do know, courtesy of the news service, is that the stash consisted of “modern electronically recorded video,” which means that the Internet-deprived terrorist was basically resigned to watching pornography on VHS like a teenage boy in 1987. Is there any worse punishment, really? In hopes of uncovering the terrorist leader’s pornographic predilections, a determined bro named David Covucci decided to send the CIA a FOIA request on behalf of the esteemed online periodical of jockish 20-somethings known as BroBible. “I’m a man,” Covucci wrote last month, articulating his insatiable need to uncover the truth. “I can handle knowing what kind of porn Osama bin Laden watched. Ain’t gonna make me like him more, ain’t gonna make me hate him less.” Here’s the request, edited for foul language: Covucci had an uphill battle. “We are not going to release these materials due to the nature of their contents,” Jeffrey Anchukaitis, a spokesman for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, told the Guardian newspaper last month. The Freedom of Information Act, enacted in 1966, essentially allows any U.S. citizen to petition the government for official information. “It’s a pretty powerful tool for journalists and Bros alike,” Covucci wrote, noting that he believes “us dudes” have a “right to know what the world’s most wanted” was watching. “Like… what if it turned out he exclusively watched white, male, American porn stars?,” Covucci added. “Wouldn’t that be anathema to his beliefs? Wouldn’t that be an interesting thing to learn about the man?” As it turns out, we’ll probably never know. In only a week, the CIA responded to Covucci’s request — but declined to play ball. According to the agency’s information and privacy coordinator, Michael Lavergne: “With regard to the pornographic material Osama Bin Laden had in his possession at the time of his death, responsive records, should they exist, would be contained in the operational files. The CIA Information Act, 50 U.S.C 431, as amended, exempts CIA operational files from search, review, publication, and disclosure requirements of the FOIA. To the extent that this material exists, the CIA would be prohibited by 18 USC Section 1461 from mailing obscene matter.” Guys the CIA responded to my FOIA request on behalf of @BroBible pic.twitter.com/3NrXw2mvDC — David Covucci (@DavidCovucci) June 8, 2015 “I will give them credit,” Covucci wrote after receiving the reply. “They did cite a legitimate statute that allows them to avoid FOIA requests regarding operations.” “Oh, well, Bros,” he signed off. “I’m sorry.” Hold your head up, bro. Now you’ve got a cool letter you can frame. MORE READING: Months before U.S. raid, bin Laden considered leaving Pakistan compound Did Osama bin Laden play this terrible video game?	– What kind of porn might be classified? The stuff watched by Osama bin Laden. A blogger at the men's website BroBible filed a, er, colorful Freedom of Information Act request with the CIA to get the details on the "pornographic material" found among bin Laden's stuff. (The request is here, and the language is a little graphic.) David Covucci got his formal answer this week from the spy agency: No dice. “With regard to the pornographic material Osama bin Laden had in his possession at the time of his death, responsive records, should they exist, would be contained in operational files,” and such files are exempt from FOIA requests, says the letter. Even if they weren't in the operational files, it seems that Covucci would have been out of luck: "To the extent that this material exists, the CIA would be prohibited by 18 USC Section 1461 from mailing obscene matter," adds the letter. Intelligence chief James Clapper confirmed the porn's existence last month, notes Death and Taxes, which finds it odd that the agency is keeping it wraps given the potential for embarrassment to al-Qaeda. Maybe it's a job for WikiLeaks, suggests Reason. And as for Covucci, "hold your head up, bro," writes Peter Holley at the Washington Post. "Now you’ve got a cool letter you can frame."
Image copyright Grice family Image caption Shana Grice's body was found in a smoke-filled room A teenager complained about her ex-boyfriend to police several times, but was penalised for wasting their time before he went on to murder her, Lewes Crown Court has been told. Jurors heard Shana Grice contacted the Sussex force over months - but at one stage was given a fixed penalty notice. Miss Grice, 19, was found with her throat slit in her bedroom, which was set alight in Portslade, East Sussex, last August. Michael Lane, 27, denies murder. The prosecution gave a timeline of when police were contacted. Jurors heard Miss Grice told police in February she was being stalked and Mr Lane had hid outside her home, sent unwanted flowers, and left a note on her new boyfriend's car which said "Shana will always cheat on you". Image copyright unknown Image caption Jurors have heard Michael Lane became obsessed with Miss Grice In March, Mr Lane denied a claim he had assaulted the teenager by pulling her hair and trying to grab her phone, and he showed police messages from Miss Grice saying she wanted to be with him, the court was told. 'Heavy breathing' But the court was told Miss Grice was given a fixed penalty notice for failing to disclose she had been in a relationship with him, and for "having caused wasteful employment of police by making a false report", while no further action was taken against Mr Lane. On 9 July, Mr Lane, of Thornhill Rise, Portslade, was cautioned and told to stay away from Miss Grice after he stole a key and let himself into her home to watch her sleep, the court was told. The next day, Miss Grice reported receiving several calls from a withheld number, including one with heavy breathing, but the court heard Miss Grice was told there were no further lines of inquiry and the case would be left on file. On 12 July, Miss Grice told police she had been followed by Mr Lane, but the court heard police treated the incident as "low risk". Image caption Miss Grice's body was found at her home in Chrisdory Road Opening the defence case, Simon Russell Flint QC asked Mr Lane directly whether he murdered Miss Grice and the defendant replied: "No." Mr Lane said he had taken Miss Grice's key and let himself in because he wanted to "find out why we ended so abruptly". He said he was not responsible for letting down Miss Grice's tyres, or making phone calls, but he admitted leaving the note on her boyfriend's car and fitting a tracker device to Miss Grice's car. He also told the court two days before her death, he had sex with Miss Grice at her home before meeting her in a hotel. Image caption Michael Lane is alleged to have stalked the teenager for months before the killing Mr Lane told the court that he had found Miss Grice's body but went into shock and "didn't know what to do". He said it did not cross his mind to dial 999, and he did not touch her to check whether she was still alive. He said he had gone round to find out why she had not left for work but found the front door open and he added: "I saw her slumped against the bed. She wasn't moving. I saw blood on the bed and blood on the floor. "She was in her dressing gown. I thought she was dead. I didn't know what to do." He said he saw no signs of fire and denied torching the room, and he told the court he had bought petrol because he wanted to kill himself because of depression following his grandfather's death. He said he went home, told none of his family about the discovery, and "didn't want to get the blame". Mr Lane said he showered and went to get a lottery ticket checked, but noticed blood on his trainers. After hearing sirens, he hid his trainers and got rid of a T-shirt, he added. Jurors heard he went to the dentist and then went to work before being arrested. Mr Lane admitted in court that he told lies in police interviews. The trial was adjourned until Monday. \|\|\|\|\| 1/50 15 March 2018 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May talks with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard as she is shown the police tent covering the bench in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were discovered on March 4, following an apparent nerve agent attack. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury. AFP/Getty 2/50 14 March 2018 A man prepares to lay flowers outside Gonville and Caius College, at Cambridge University following the death of British physicist, Stephen Hawking, who was a fellow of the University for over 50 years. The flag over the college flew at half-mast as students and academics came to pay tribute after his death. AFP/Getty 3/50 13 March 2018 The crowd looks on during Cheltenham Festival Champion Day. Rex 4/50 12 March 2018 A police officer on duty near a protective tent which covers the bench where a man and woman were apparently poisoned with what was later identified as a nerve agent, in Salisbury. AFP/Getty 5/50 11 March 2018 Protesters against the Turkish war on Syrian Kurds in Afrin block the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly station bringing rail services in and out of the terminal to a halt. PA 6/50 10 March 2018 Royal Air Force Police dog Tornado leaps through a set of hoops on day three of the Crufts dog show at the NEC Arena in Birmingham. Getty 7/50 9 March 2018 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, during a visit to Abertay University in Dundee, prior to his address to delegates at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in the city's Caird Hall. PA 8/50 8 March 2018 Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson sits with Year 1 pupils during a visit to St Leonard's Church of England Primary Academy in Hastings. Reuters 9/50 7 March 2018 Electronic billboards show adverts for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the hashtag ‘#ANewSaudiArabia’ in London. Getty 10/50 6 March 2018 A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi close to The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, which was closed in connection to the ongoing major incident sparked after a man and a woman were found critically ill on a bench at the shopping centre on 4 March. AFP/Getty 11/50 5 March 2018 Gary Oldman, winner of the Best Actor award for 'Darkest Hour,' poses with his award in the press room during the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center. Getty 12/50 4 March 2018 Great Britain's Andrew Pozzi celebrates winning the men's 60m hurdles final as Aries Merritt of United States looks dejected during the IAAF World Indoor Championships at Arena Birmingham. Getty/IAAF 13/50 3 March 2018 People playing with their sledges in Greenwich Park, east London, as the cold weather continues around the country. PA 14/50 2 March 2018 Theresa May delivers a speech about her vision for Brexit at Mansion House. Reuters 15/50 1 March 2018 'The Couple', a sculpture by Sean Henry, braves the snow in Newbiggin-By-The-Sea in Northumberland, as storm Emma, rolling in from the Atlantic, looks poised to meet the Beast from the East's chilly Russian air. PA Wire/PA Images 16/50 28 February 2018 The scene on the M80 Haggs in Glasgow, as the highest level of weather warning has been issued for Scotland and Ireland as forecasters warn of "blizzard-like" conditions. A red alert for Munster and Leinster in the Republic of Ireland and the central belt of Scotland has been put out for heavy snow and strong winds. Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Wicklow and Meath are also covered by a red warning, which was issued early on Wednesday morning. PA 17/50 27 February 2018 Icicles hang from a frozen elephant fountain in Colchester. Freezing weather conditions dubbed the "Beast from the East" has seen snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK. Getty Images 18/50 26 February 2018 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn makes a keynote speech as he sets out Labour's position on Brexit, at the National Transport Design Centre in Coventry. Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit speech confirmed that a Labour Government would negotiate full tariff-free access to EU markets for UK business. Getty 19/50 25 February 2018 Victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles come together to take part in the Time for truth march through Belfast city centre against the stalled efforts in dealing with Northern Ireland's legacy issues. Rex 20/50 24 February 2018 Oxford University Boat Club race in preparation for The Cancer Research UK Boat Race 2018, Oxford University Boat Club race Oxford Brookes University in London, England. Getty 21/50 23 February 2018 Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell leaves Barkingside Magistrates Court after being given a £87,170 fine in Barking, England. Mr Chappell, who was in charge of BHS for a year before it went bust, was found guilty of failing to provide information demanded by The Pensions Regulator. Getty 22/50 22 February 2018 Youths chase after the leather ball during the annual 'Fastern Eve Handba' event in Jedburgh's High Street in the Scottish Borders in Jedburgh, Scotland. The annual event, which started in the 1700's, takes place today and involves two teams, the Uppies (residents from the higher part of Jedburgh) and the Doonies (residents from the lower part of Jedburgh) getting the ball to either the top or bottom of the town. The ball which is made of leather, stuffed with straw and decorated with ribbons is thrown into the crowd to begin the game. Getty 23/50 21 February 2018 An anti-Brexit campaign battle bus drives through Westminster in London, England. The crowd-funded coach is to tour the country making 33 stops two years after the Vote Leave campaign drove a similar bus around the UK with the now famous slogan: 'We send the EU £350 million a week let's fund our NHS instead'. Getty 24/50 20 February 2018 Sarah Clarke is introduced as the new Black Rod to the House of Lords. She is the first female Black Rod in the 650-year history of the role and will be known as the Lady Usher of the Black Rod. PA 25/50 19 February 2018 Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson holds a rhinoceros horn as he visits a Metropolitan Police wildlife crime unit facility in London. The Foreign Secretary's visit was to help him learn more about the work they do internationally to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). AFP/Getty 26/50 18 February 2018 Allison Janney, Daniel Kaluuya and Gary Oldman clutching their BAFTA awards Rex 27/50 17 February 2018 Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal during the Women's Skeleton on day eight of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games Getty 28/50 16 February 2018 Models walk the runway at the Richard Malone show during London Fashion Week Ian Gavan/BFC/Getty 29/50 15 February 2018 Dame Vivienne Westwood walks the runway to model in the #INEOSVTHEPEOPLE catwalk presentation outside fracking giant INEOS’s headquarters in London Getty 30/50 14 February 2018 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivers his speech: Road to Brexit, a United Kingdom, as part of the Government’s road map on Brexit, at the Policy Exchange, London PA 31/50 13 February 2018 England and Durham cricketer Ben Stokes, 26, leaving Bristol Magistrates' Court, where he was told he will face a crown court trial over an altercation outside a nightclub PA 32/50 12 February 2018 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meets with local party supporters and residents in Penicuik, Midlothian, before speaking at a campaign rally at the town's Miners Welfare Hall PA 33/50 9 February 2018 Volunteers create a heart shaped collection of plastic bottles littering the foreshore of the River Thames at Queenhithe Dock in central London, in an event organised by the #OneLess campaign and Thames21 to draw attention to the impact that single-use plastic water bottles are having on the environment. PA 34/50 8 February 2018 Florist Hank Roling poses with a Vanda orchid during a press preview of the Thai Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens, London Getty 35/50 7 February 2018 A staff member poses behind a moon jellyfish tank during the annual stock-take at London Zoo. AP 36/50 6 February 2018 Prime Minister Theresa May joins female Members of both Houses at the Palace of Westminster, to mark the 100th anniversary of the passing of the Representation of the People Act, which gave certain women over the age of 30 a vote and the right to stand for Parliament. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA 37/50 5 February 2018 Lauri Love outside the Royal Courts of Justice after a judge ruled against extraditing him to America in a case where he was accused of hacking thousands of US government computers. AP 38/50 4 February 2018 A statue of suffragette Alice Hawkins being unveiled in Market Square, Leicester. Ms Hawkins, a shoe machinist, was jailed five times while leading the Suffragette campaign in the city in the early 20th Century. PA 39/50 3 February 2018 Demonstrators gather on Gover Street in central London ahead of a march towards Downing Street to protest against underfunding and privatisation of the NHS and demand an end to the winter crisis in the health service. Rex 40/50 2 February 2018 Millicent Fawcett by Annie Swynnerton, newly on display at Tate Britain. Fawcett was a leading figure in the suffragist movement and campaigned relentlessly to get the vote for women in this country. The portrait of her is on display at Tate Britain to mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, which gave women over 30 the right to vote. Rex 41/50 1 February 2018 British Prime Minister Theresa May and husband Philip May visit the Forbidden City in Beijing during her three-day visit to China. Getty 42/50 31 January 2018 A super moon rises behind blocks of flats in north London. Reuters 43/50 30 January 2018 Members of the Jarl Squad dressed in Viking suits after marching through the streets in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa Viking Festival. PA 44/50 29 January 2018 Travis Frain (left) and Dan Hett from the Survivors Against Terror Group talk to students at Manchester Enterprise Academy. Frain survived the Westminster attack in March 2017, while Hett’s brother Martin was one of the 22 who died in the Manchester attack in May 2017. PA 45/50 28 January 2018 Members of the English Civil War Society take part in the King's Army Annual March and Parade, in London, as they commemorate the execution of Charles I. The route follows the route taken by Charles I from St James Palace on the Mall to the place of his death at the Banqueting House in Whitehall. PA 46/50 27 January 2018 Will Grigg celebrates scoring Wigan's second goal from the penalty spot during the Emirates FA Cup, fourth round match against West Ham at the DW Stadium. League One Wigan knocked out the Premier League side 2-0. PA 47/50 26 January 2018 US entrepreneur and co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates and Britain's International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt meet vet Andy Hopker and students Vanya Lalljee and Jennifer Hunt during an event to launch the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security at the University of Edinburgh. AFP/Getty 48/50 25 January 2018 President Donald Trump meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the World Economic Forum in Davos. AP 49/50 24 January 2018 Alun Wyn Jones of Wales, Guilhem Guirado of France, Dylan Hartley of England, Rory Best of Ireland, John Barclay of Scotland and Sergio Parisse of Italy pose with the trophy during the 6 Nations Launch event at the Hilton in London. Getty	– A British teenager accused of wasting police time with a complaint about her ex-boyfriend was murdered by the same man less than six months later, prosecutors say. Shana Grice, 19, was found dead with her throat cut in her Brighton home in August last year, the Independent reports. In March, she had been charged with "having caused wasteful employment of police by making a false report" after she accused 27-year-old Michael Lane of assaulting her but failed to tell officers that they had an on-and-off relationship. A month before that report, she had complained to police that Lane was stalking her and left a note on her new boyfriend's car saying, "Shana will always cheat on you." Lane is now on trial for the murder. The jury was told last week that the month before the killing, he received a caution from police after stealing a key and letting himself into Grice's home to watch her sleep, the BBC reports. A few days later, she told police that Lane was following her, but the incident was classed as "low risk." Prosecutors say Lane was obsessed with Grice and became murderous after she decided to go back to another ex-boyfriend. He denies killing her, though he has admitted fitting a tracking device to her car. He told the court that he found her body after entering Grice's home through the open front door, then fled in panic and went home to shower instead of calling police. (A Tennessee woman found her ex hiding under her bed.)
Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more \|\|\|\|\| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. \|\|\|\|\| Ever get annoyed by people on social media who share 'profound' quotes, or use meaningless, intelligent-sounding soundbites in arguments? A new study has shown that there is a link between these people and low intelligence. It found that those who are receptive to pseudo-profound, intellectual-sounding 'bulls*' are less intelligent, less reflective, and more likely to be believe in conspiracy theories, the paranormal and alternative medicine. PhD candidate Gordon Pennycook and a team of researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, published a study entitled 'On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bulls'. It mentions the word 'bulls' over 200 times. They tested hundreds of people to find the link between being impressed by 'bulls' quotes and low intelligence. Examples of 'bulls' were given, as it is a hard term to define. Essentially, it means grand-sounding statements which mean nothing - many people post such things on Instagram. An example was: "Hidden meaning transforms unparalleled abstract beauty." The paper says: "Although this statement may seem to convey some sort of potentially profound meaning, it is merely a collection of buzzwords put together randomly in a sentence that retains syntactic structure." "Bulls, in contrast to mere nonsense, is something that implies but does not contain adequate meaning or truth." Pennycook used a website that would randomly generate these pseudo-profound sentences from a string of words. This website is active, and serves up wise-sounding aphorisms like "This life is nothing short of an unveiling quantum leap of mythic rejuvenation" and "We are at a crossroads of transformation and desire" at the click of a button. Almost 300 test subjects were asked to rate the profundity of these sentences on a scale of one to five. They were asked to differentiate between philosophy quotes, "bulls", and mundane sentences. Most recognised the mundane as mundane, but rated the made-up quotes on similar levels of profoundity to tweets posted by Deepak Chopra, a writer. OK ? ?? A photo posted by @24january_ on Dec 3, 2015 at 4:56am PST As well as this. he researchers looked into a number of other personality traits, examining how the participants think about themselves and the world around them. The paper said that those who were more receptive to the bulls* statements and who tended to rate them higher were "less reflective, lower in cognitive ability(i.e verbal and fluid intelligence, numeracy,) and are more prone to ontological confusions and conspiratorial ideation." It also said they were more likely to "hold religious and paranormal beliefs, and are more likely to endorse complementary and alternative medicine." As they say, "our findings are consistent with the idea that the tendency to rate vague, meaningless statements as profound is a legitimate psychological phenomenon that is consistently related to at least some variables of theoretical interest."	– This has to rank among the best opening statements ever in a study abstract: "Although bullshit is common in everyday life and has attracted attention from philosophers, its reception (critical or ingenuous) has not, to our knowledge, been subject to empirical investigation." And so researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario set out to study "pseudo-profound bullshit," and who believes it. Reporting in the journal Judgment and Decision Making, the researchers asked subjects to rate quotes that are philosophical, mundane, or simply BS—the latter consisting, in their words, of "seemingly impressive assertions that are presented as true and meaningful but are actually vacuous"—on a profundity scale. The team also tested participants' cognitive and reasoning ability. The researchers found that those who are "more receptive" to BS have lower "verbal and fluid intelligence" and are more likely to believe in the paranormal, conspiracy theories, and alternative medicine. For actual examples of readily propagated BS, Forbes reports PhD candidate Gordon Pennycook and his team turned to the Twitter feed of Deepak Chopra, highlighting tweets such as "Attention and intention are the mechanics of manifestation." The Telegraph reports the researchers also used this website, which composes made-up pseudo-profound statements like this one: "Growth is the richness of life, and of us." The researchers found that participants assigned the website-generated BS and Chopra's tweets similar profoundness ratings. As for who was good at sniffing out BS, Forbes reports it was those who tend to "have an analytic cognitive style and be skeptical about paranormal phenomena." Chopra's response to it all? He tweeted, "I thank the authors for the study. Their # bullshit is getting me more speaking engagements & new book offers." (Read about another unusual study: Scientists have decided there are 4 kinds of drunks.)
AP Photo 2016 Clinton raises $28 million but Sanders’ haul is too close for comfort Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign barely outpaced Bernie Sanders’ in the third quarter of 2015, a surprising development that shows the insurgent candidate’s strength while the former secretary of state struggles. Clinton’s operation raised more than $28 million in the third quarter after a grueling fundraising schedule, compared with about $26 million for the Vermonter — who raised his money largely from online donations, and few in-person fundraising events. Story Continued Below The narrow gap illustrates Sanders’ momentum in the third quarter, as he overtook Clinton in polling in both New Hampshire and Iowa. But Clinton’s overall fundraising machine remains formidable: combined with the $47.5 million she raised in the second quarter, her campaign has brought in roughly $75 million in six months. Sanders, by comparison, raised just $15 million in his first few months. While considerably less than her first haul, Clinton's $28 million figure doesn’t come as a huge surprise to her team. The campaign had expected her numbers to drop during the summer months, while she was dogged by questions about her email practices at the State Department and falling poll numbers in the early-voting states. "We are thrilled and grateful for the support of hundreds of thousands of donors across the country, helping us raise a record $75 million in the first two quarters," said Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook in a statement. The campaign's joint fundraising committee with the Democratic National Committee and state parties brought in over $3 million, the campaign said. But Sanders’ own eye-popping haul — he raised $2.07 million online on Sept 30 alone — gives Democrats reason for pause. Much of the party establishment’s argument against Sanders centers on whether he could stand head to head against a well-funded Republican in the general election. His now-demonstrated fundraising prowess hardly erases such concerns, but it calls the assumption into question. Clinton’s allies also take solace in knowing that she has affiliated super PACs with considerable fundraising power, while Sanders refuses to associate with any such groups. Priorities USA Action, the big-money Clinton group, told POLITICO it had raised $40 million so far in 2015 by mid-August. Sanders’ campaign said on Wednesday that it had passed the one-million contributor mark in the third quarter, while Clinton’s own operation said that 93 percent of her third-quarter donations came in increments of less than $100. The full disclosures for the period that ended Sept. 30 will be released next week, and filings from both contenders will be scrutinized not only for the details about where the money came from but how the campaign then spent it. \|\|\|\|\| Boston (CNN) Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign raised more than $28 million in the third fundraising quarter of 2015, a number only slightly more than the $25 million Bernie Sanders raised. Clinton's third quarter fundraising brings her total haul to $75 million, aides said. And while it is less than the $45 million Clinton's campaign raised in the second quarter, it appears the campaign is likely to reach it's $100 million goal by the end of 2015. Sanders' fundraising is closing in on Clinton, however, despite only ever headlining seven fundraisers as a candidate. Michael Briggs, Sanders' spokesman, said Wednesday night that the campaign has $25 million cash-on-hand after raising $15 million in the second quarter. Clinton and Sanders raised their money in very different ways. Read More \|\|\|\|\| With hours to go before the third quarter campaign finance filing deadline, the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said it reached its goal of one million individual online contributions. He is the first candidate of the 2016 campaign to announce it had reached this number – and he reached it faster than President Barack Obama did in 2008 and 2012. The Sanders campaign has touted its goal of hitting one million donations by tonight’s deadline to spur more individuals to donate.	– Bernie Sanders is raising a lot more money than many people expected, and he's doing it a lot faster. His campaign announced just before the Wednesday filing deadline that it has received more than a million online donations, making him the first 2016 candidate to pass that milestone and the first ever to pass it so early, reports the Wall Street Journal, which notes that the Obama campaigns got there in February 2008 and October 2011. According to the filing, Sanders' fundraising is rapidly catching up with Hillary Clinton's, with the Vermont senator raising $25 million in the third quarter of this year, not far off the $28 million his rival raised during the same period, although her second-quarter numbers were much higher, CNN reports. Most of Clinton's cash in the third quarter came from the 58 fundraising events she headlined that asked donors to pay $2,700, CNN reports, while almost all of Sanders' take came from the online operation, which had an average donation of $24.86. But he has had to spend money to make money: The New York Times estimates that the Sanders campaign has already spent $15 million, mostly on hiring staff and on online fundraising, without spending much on commercials or polling. Politico calls his haul "eye-popping" and notes that it undercuts arguments that Sanders couldn't compete with a well-funded Republican. Clinton, however, has affiliated super PACs on her side and Sanders shuns such groups. (Polls show that Clinton is falling behind in New Hampshire.)
James Howells, an IT worker living in the United Kingdom, knows exactly where his misplaced 7,500 bitcoins are but the city council where he lives won't let him retrieve them. They say it's against the law. According to a report published in The Telegraph, Howells began mining bitcoin on his personal laptop in 2009. In 2013, though, "after I had stopped mining, the laptop I had used was broken into parts and sold on eBay," Howells tells The Telegraph. He kept the drive he used to collect the bitcoins, "so if bitcoin did become valuable one day, I would still have the coins I mined." But, while cleaning his home in 2013, he mistakenly put it into a waste bin at his local landfill site in Newport, South Wales, where it got buried. Now, with bitcoin's value hovering just above $17,000 Wednesday, according to digital-currency website CoinDesk, Howells' 7,500 lost bitcoins are worth more than $127 million. CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index tracks prices from digital currency exchanges Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Coinbase and itBit. More than four years' worth of garbage have poured into the dump since his mistake, which would make any recovery effort a significant undertaking. "A modern landfill is a complex engineering project and digging one up brings up all sorts of environmental issues, such as dangerous gasses and potential landfill fires," Howells says. "It's a big, expensive and risky project." \|\|\|\|\| Newscast/UIG via Getty Images What does it feel like to lose $75,000,000 in bitcoin? James Howells tries not to let it get to him. And strictly speaking, he knows where his coins are — they're under 200,000 tonnes of garbage at a landfill in Newport, South Wales. Back in 2009, Howells set an old laptop to mining bitcoin – back before you needed specialised hardware – eventually totting up 7,500 coins. He later broke up the Dell M1710 into parts to sell on eBay, but kept the hard drive tucked away in a drawer in case bitcoin ever did take off. Four years later, he'd forgotten about his horde, and during a clean out, the hard drive was accidentally binned, presumably landing in Newport landfill. Advertisement At that time, his bitcoin stash was already worth millions. Thanks to the digital currency's value skyrocketing from between $300 and $1,000 in 2013 to more than $10,000 this week, his pile is now worth $75 million. Why isn't he frantically digging through refuse? For that matter, why aren't you? The council won't allow it – it's dangerous and difficult. "I haven’t actually tried to search for the hard drive yet as I haven’t been given permission to look despite having financial backing in place and engaging the local council a number of times," Howells tells me via email. "Digging up a landfill is not as easy as just digging a hole in the ground." It would require diggers, plenty of specialist help, and, Howells says, be the first such excavation that wasn't related to a criminal investigation in the UK – though such an effort has been done in the US to retrieve dumped ET Atari cartridges. Read next Another week, another bitcoin hack, another huge price drop Another week, another bitcoin hack, another huge price drop A spokesperson for Newport City Council said it has been "contacted in the past about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to contain bitcoins". But the costs of digging up the landfill, and storing and treating the waste, would run into the millions and cause a "huge environmental impact on the surrounding area". And there's no guarantee the drive would be found or still work. The landfill contains around 350,000 tonnes of waste, with 50,000 added annually, the spokesperson said. "It is likely that the hardware would have suffered significant galvanic corrosion due to the presence of landfill leachates and gases," they added. Millions in costs, dangerous conditions, no promise of a reward... but what a reward if found. Newport City Council has faced budgetary concerns this year – the head of the council has warned that council tax will increase amid services cuts – and Howells believes bitcoin will eventually be worth so much they will have no choice but to let him search. "And obviously they would get a nice percentage as a gift or donation." If this all makes you want to hop a train to Newport with a shovel in hand, be warned that aside from being dangerous, the landfill is not open to the public and "any potential treasure hunters" would be committing a criminal offence, the council spokesperson noted. And the effort required to search for the drive means you're sure to be noticed. Advertisement Howells still has the public address, so he can check that his coins haven't moved; if you do find the hard drive, note that the data is encrypted, so you'll need his help either way. "If they ever moved I would know," he says. "It's a little like looking at your bank account containing millions of dollars but not being able to spend it." If you doubt his good humour about the whole story, he follows that statement with a "lol". Howells is always aware of the bitcoin price, but not because of his missing treasure. "I have multiple tickers running with prices in different fiat currencies, but that's not because I’m obsessed with the price because of my lost coins," he said. "I’m still active in the bitcoin space and still involved with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies on a day-to-day basis promoting, tweeting, trading, development, research, learning." His interests now lie in Bitcoin Cash, the result of a hard fork in August, and he has plenty more to say about the post-fork discussion and the future of digital currencies than he does the lost coins. If he had access to his digital fortune, he believes he'd have sold up some of it by now anyway, partially to invest in rival currencies. "Who knows for sure... honestly I probably would have sold 30 per cent or 40 per cent at around $1,000 in 2013 to invest in property and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and kept the rest in bitcoin," he says. "I know for sure I would not have sold them all because I believe the bitcoin price will be much higher than $10,000 long term. Even $100,000 is a conservative figure." If that ever happens, his missing bitcoin will be worth $750m – which may well be enough to get Newport Council's attention.	– When covering the story four years ago, Newser's headline read, "$7.5M Bitcoin Fortune Buried in Landfill." That fortune ended up in a Welsh landfill after James Howells threw out a hard drive over that summer while cleaning up his workspace. On it was the cryptographic "private key" he needed to access his 7,500 Bitcoins—which are now worth far, far more. With bitcoin valued at roughly $17,000 as of Wednesday, those 7,500 lost bitcoins are worth more than $127 million, reports CNBC. He tells the Telegraph that he hasn't "sat here crying about it, accidents happen." But that hasn't deterred him from hoping he'll one day get to go searching at the Newport landfill, something the Newport City Council currently won't allow. It would be a novel undertaking: "A landfill has never been excavated in the UK before" for non-criminal reasons, he says, "so we’re in uncharted territory with regards to regulations, local authorities and environmental agencies." And there are plenty of risks, from deadly gases to the possibility of landfill fires, not to mention the cost. But "the higher the value goes, the more chance I have to recover it," he says. Wired spoke with a rep from the city council, and the upshot isn't too optimistic, with the rep citing the huge costs of doing the excavating and storing the waste, plus the "huge environmental impact on the surrounding area"—and after all that, the hard drive might not be found or usable, though Howells has brushed off naysayers who argue the drive would be destroyed by corrosion at this point. (Read about a bitcoin crime.)
HONG KONG — Every June, millions of high school seniors in China sit down for a grueling university entrance exam, knowing they may not get into a top school or any school at all. If their results are disappointing, finding another route to university can take a year or more. Now they may have a faster option. The University of New Hampshire says it will start accepting scores from the Chinese exam, making it the first flagship state school in the United States to evaluate Chinese applicants using the results from that test, known as the gaokao. There are 377,000 Chinese students in the United States, representing more than one third of all international students, according to the federal government. Since they often pay full tuition, they are an important source of revenue for American universities, which have been intensifying their efforts to recruit Chinese students. Erika Mantz, a spokeswoman for the University of New Hampshire, said the gaokao program was meant to attract “outstanding Chinese high school graduates” after they get their test results in late June, months after the deadline has passed under the regular admissions process. Most incoming freshmen would have been admitted by the time Chinese students take the gaokao test. \|\|\|\|\| Image copyright Reuters Image caption Nearly 10 million people took the Gaokao exam in China last week A US university will begin accepting the Chinese university entrance exam known as the Gaokao in an effort to attract more Chinese students. The University of New Hampshire will be the first state university in the US to accept the standardised placement test. China is the largest exporter of students to the US, with 377,000 currently enrolled in US universities, according to government data. An estimated 10 million students took the nine-hour test in China last week. The exam - which takes place over two days in June each year - is taken by nearly every Chinese pupil and plays a crucial role in determining a person's career and future prospects. A 'life-defining' test Howard Zhang, BBC Chinese Service Editor Gaokao literally means High Exam. It refers to the annual National Higher Education Entrance Exam in China, similar in format to the SAT in the United States. Millions of Chinese high school seniors who sit through this highly competitive multi-subject exams each year see it as a life-defining moment. Graduates who make it into top universities often end up in top companies and with good careers. Those who fail to enter university are often condemned to a life with little prospects. Almost 10 million students sat through this year's Gaokao; one out of four won't end up with a university place. The Gaokao predates modern times, having its roots in imperial China. The University of New Hampshire had 781 international undergraduate and graduate students on campus last fall, according to the Union Leader newspaper - double the figure from five years previous. About half of those foreign students - 357 - came from China. As part of the new initiative, the university has launched a recruiting website in Chinese and English. "This initiative is part of UNH's commitment to attracting more and stronger applicants from around the world," said university spokeswoman Erika Mantz. "This new programme will in no way limit access for New Hampshire students," she added. Image copyright Reuters Image caption The students see huge public support during the Gaokao season - here some are being cheered on their way to sit the tests in Anhui In addition to submitting their Gaokao results, students must also take an English test, participate in a video interview and send their high school transcripts before moving forward with the application process. Ms Mantz added that the process was still being finalised, but that Chinese students may still need to take the American SAT or ACT exam. Students who are accepted will be able to begin classes in Durham this January, allowing them to start a semester early. Previously, students from China would have had to wait for a new application period to begin in the autumn, putting them behind the rest of the first-year class. A similar programme at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit college, allows Chinese students to bypass US standardised tests altogether and instead submit just their Gaokao score, grades, and English language interview. Image copyright BBC/ Gaokao Image caption A maths question on the 2014 exam asks: "If A= {}, and B={}, then A I B = ( )" Up to three percent of Chinese students bypass the Gaokao by paying to for an "international track" programme, which prepares them for standardised testing abroad. International enrolment - in which students are required to pay full priced tuition - helps universities bolster revenue. The University of New Hampshire charges $45,000 (£34,000) per academic year for tuition and housing costs. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Chinese students explain why they came to the US - and how college life differs to home Dozens of universities in Europe, Australia, and Canada already accept Gaokao results on applications. The US university's decision comes amid a federal crackdown on Chinese student visas. The Trump administration announced in March that it is considering limiting the visas as part of a broad package of measures against China, which the US accuses of violating American intellectual-property laws. The goal, the White House says, is to reduce "economic theft by non-traditional intelligence collectors". Details have not been officially announced, but students studying high tech manufacturing fields, such as aviation and robotics, are expected to now receive visas with shorter lengths of stay. The Associated Press reported in late May that US consulates have been directed by the Department of State to now only issue Chinese students with one-year - rather than five-year - visas. \|\|\|\|\| Our Innovative Gaokao-based, Early Admission Program For Superlative Chinese Students The University of San Francisco is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for our Admission By Gaokao Examination Program for the Fall 2018 Semester. We started this innovative program to enable Chinese students who score well on the Gaokao taken in June to study in the United States as early as the coming Fall Semester (August 2018). Students will be admitted to USF based on their Gaokao test scores, school record and a one-on-one English interview with USF Professors Via Zoom. There are no other admission requirements. USF President Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J. explained: Many studies have shown that the SAT is not a very good predictor of how well students will do at university. We are aware of the many criticisms that have been made of the Gaokao, but it has the advantage of being what educational experts call a 'criterion-referenced' exam: It tests whether students are able to master a given body of knowledge, as well as their ability to work hard and consistently. USF recognizes this and wants to give excellent Chinese students the opportunity to start their education in the USA, immediately—without spending an extra year preparing for IELTS, TOEFL or SAT tests. Eligible student scores will be established after Gaokao results become available in the third week of June. The interviews will begin July 2 (Monday) and will be held via Zoom. Successful candidates will be able to start their studies in America as soon as August of this year. The admission process will be streamlined so that qualified students will receive formal admission letters within days of their successful personal interviews, enabling them to schedule visa appointments. This will allow them to arrive in time for the beginning of classes on Tuesday, August 21. Unfortunately, space is limited. Interested Gaokao students and parents should contact USF immediately to register for the program. Additional Information INQUIRY/REGISTRATION FORM APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION BY GAOKAO EXAMINATION CERTIFICATION OF FINANCES 旧金山大学高考招生项目 ——为最优秀的中国学生而开设旧金山大学很高兴宣布：我们现已开始接收2018年秋季学期的高考招生项目的申请了。我们创办这个新型招生项目的目的是为那些在六月份高考中取得优异成绩的学生提供一个尽早赴美深造的机会（最早可早至2018年秋季学期，今年8月份开学）。学生录取仅需两项条件：高考成绩、高中成绩和与旧金山大学教授的英文面试。此外无其他录取条件。旧金山大学校长保罗▪ J ▪ 菲茨杰拉德解释道： “多项研究显示SAT成绩并不能很好的预测学生进入大学后表现是否优异。尽管我们也意识到有很多针对中国高考的批评，但是它有一个被教育专家称为“标准参照”的优势：它能测试出学生是否熟练掌握一个特定知识体系，以及他们是否具备刻苦学习并坚持到底的品质。” 正是认识到高考的这一优势，旧金山大学希望能给优秀的中国学生一个尽早赴美留学的机会，而无需再多花一年的时间去准备雅思、托福或者SAT考试。符合我们录取要求的高考分数线将在高考成绩公布以后，大约为六月份的第三周，向公众公布。面试活动将于7月2日开始，通过Zoom进行远程视频面试。被我校成功录取的学生今年8月份即可赴美学习。旧金山大学简化了申请流程，符合录取要求的学生面试后几天内就能拿到正式的入学通知书，这样他们就可以尽早申请签证，并且能在2018年8月21日（周二）开课前顺利抵美。遗憾的是，我们的名额非常有限。因此感兴趣的高考学生和家长应尽快联系我们报名。更多信息，请点击以下链接: 咨询/报名表 (INQUIRY/REGISTRATION FORM) 申请表 (APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION BY GAOKAO EXAMINATION) 财力证明 (CERTIFICATION OF FINANCES) 联系人信息朱靓(Amy Zhu) 旧金山大学北京办公室北京市朝阳区东三环北路甲19号嘉盛中心3708室，100027 联系电话: (010) 8446 4615 传真： (010) 8446 4650 邮箱： azhu3@usfca.edu 为什么选择旧金山大学？ \|\|\|\|\| BEIJING (Reuters) - Lu Mengqi showed up for the first day of China’s annual college entrance exam, known as the “gaokao”, in a black Nike T-shirt featuring the brand’s trademark swoosh logo. In red. Students are checked with metal detectors as they enter the venue for the annual national college entrance examination, or "gaokao", in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China June 7, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer “This is my lucky outfit,” said the 18-year-old. “I bought it specifically for gaokao because Nike is my favorite sports brand and the shirt has a big check on it.” A high score in the exam, the culmination of 12 years in a notoriously stressful education system, is seen as opening the way to a prestigious university and a life of opportunity. Foreign institutions are also getting into the act, with the University of New Hampshire this year wooing students with high exam scores for the first time. Some Western clothing brands recognize the high stakes. Nike is selling 299-yuan ($47) T-shirts emblazoned on the back with the Chinese characters for “full marks” and the prerequisite swoosh on the front. “I know that outfit by Nike, but I haven’t seen it in the shopping mall,” Lu said. “If I had seen it, I would have considered buying it.” Most students were in uniform outside five Beijing schools Reuters visited on Thursday, but many others, particularly male students, wore Nike T-shirts and sneakers. Others favored Champion, owned by HanesBrand Inc, or Supreme, a U.S. brand in which Carlyle Group has invested. Adidas and Hollister, owned by Abercrombie & Fitch, were also in the mix. Red, a color associated with good fortune in China, found favor among both students and parents. An Weiling, 49, a teacher from Beijing Hepingjie No.1 Middle School, said all her colleagues were wearing red T-shirts. Some mothers wore the traditional cheongsam, or qipao. One mother, dressed in pink, said she would wear a different colored outfit for each day of the exam. “As the saying goes, unfurl one’s flag and secure victory,” she said, outside Beijing No. 161 Middle School. “On the second day I’ll wear red, and on the third green.” The government expects 9.75 million students to do the exam this year, the largest number in eight years, most of them “millennium babies” born in 2000, the Chinese year of the dragon.	– Although high school students in the US might view taking the SAT or ACT as an ordeal, those college entrance exams have nothing on China’s gaokao, a grueling two-day, nine-hour test that Chinese students spend years preparing for. This year, an estimated 9.75 million students will take the test, notes Reuters, and less than 1% will do well enough to earn a spot in one of China’s premier universities, reports the New York Times. Now, the University of New Hampshire plans to cull some of that talent. The school has announced that it will accept scores from the Chinese exam on entrance applications, making it the first "flagship" state school in the US to do so. But submitting the gaokao results will not be the only test criteria. Students will also be required to take an English test, participate in a video interview and send their high school transcripts, reports the BBC, and they may still need to take the SAT or ACT exam. If admitted they would pay out-of-state tuition and housing costs of more than $45,000 a year. A few private institutions in the US as well as dozens of universities in Europe, Australia, and Canada already accept gaokao results on applications. The University of San Francisco has an early admissions program that allows June test takers to enroll in the fall semester, based on their grades, gaokao score, and personal interview in English. Not everyone is a fan of the gaokao. Critics say the test emphasizes memorization over creativity, but University of San Francisco president Paul J. Fitzgerald notes that the gaokao can assess a student’s determination to work “hard and consistently.” (She called a Texas standardized test a "big baloney sandwich.")
Apple is expected to announce soon a new subscription plan for newspapers, which hope tablets like the iPad will eventually provide a new source of profit as media companies struggle with declining print circulation and advertising revenue. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. But Roger Fidler, head of digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute in Columbia, Mo., said Apple probably will take a 30 percent cut of all subscriptions sold through the company's online App Store, and as much as 40 percent of the advertising revenue from publications' apps. The Cupertino company has agreed to provide an opt-in function for subscribers to allow Apple to share with publishers their information, which includes vital data that news organizations use to attract advertisers, industry sources say. Publishers "want the data of their customers so they can integrate it into their circulation database so they know who their customers are," said Fidler, who works with many newspapers. While a handful of national papers already offer app subscriptions to iPad users, major metropolitan papers across the country are getting ready to roll out their own publication apps and have been in discussions with Apple. Industry leaders hope tablet devices and subscription-based digital editions can help newspapers stem, if not reverse, losses incurred after they began offering content online for free years ago. "Newspapers are seriously trying to re-create the traditional print model in digital editions for tablets and e-readers," Fidler said. Advertisement Publishers wanted to pay Apple a fee rather than a cut of subscription and advertising revenue and are not happy with Apple's terms, he said. They had hoped to offer app editions as part of subscription bundles that include print versions of the paper. Instead, they must use Apple as an intermediary with subscribers. While the leap into the digital tablet market comes with short-term problems for newspapers, the iPad and future tablets will provide a new digital palette for publications to create sophisticated and lucrative ads, said Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf. "I would say it's a risk, but I would argue it's a short-term risk," Wolf said. "If you can put animation and multimedia into ads, that will greatly enhance reader views. I am certain of that." That could benefit Apple, as well. "Obviously, Steve Jobs sees this as a significant revenue stream for Apple in the future," Fidler said. Apple is expected to dominate the consumer tablet market for at least a couple of years. However, analysts expect high-quality tablets based on Google's Android operating system to eventually challenge Apple's lead. This will give publications more leverage in future negotiations, Fidler added, though Google does not yet offer subscriptions through the Android Market. While newspapers are anxious to get subscriber-based content onto tablets, there is some concern readers could drop print editions for app versions too quickly. "Most publishers don't want to see a rapid migration to apps without a comparable growth in advertisement revenue from tablet editions," Fidler said. "That would be disastrous." Contact John Boudreau at 408-278-3496. \|\|\|\|\| I’ve criticized press coverage of Apple quite a bit. But I have to acknowledge something: The company’s NSA-like secrecy makes it a bear to cover, and readers really want to read about Apple (me, too!). Those factors don’t excuse weak coverage, but they complicate providing good coverage. Today, as an example, we have this San Jose Mercury News story reporting that Apple is about to launch a digital newspaper-subscription service. First, the sourcing is thin and unclear. There’s nothing but the old passive-voice attribution in the lede: Apple is expected to announce soon a new subscription plan for newspapers, which hope tablets like the iPad will eventually provide a new source of profits as media companies struggle with declining print circulation and advertising revenue. And the second paragraph makes us doubt the accuracy of the first, relying as it does on speculation (at least as far as we know) from an outsider. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. But Roger Fidler, head of digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute in Columbia, Mo., said Apple probably will take a 30 percent cut of all subscriptions sold through the company’s online App Store, and as much as 40 percent of the advertising revenue from publications’ apps. Finally, in the third graph we get some sourcing for the actual news: The Cupertino company has agreed to provide an opt-in function for subscribers to allow Apple to share with publishers their information, which includes vital data that news organizations use to attract advertisers, industry sources say. Anonymous sourcing is fine here. It’s either that or nothing. But it’s the only time any of the news angle is sourced in the whole story, and the only piece of news that looks solid. Look at the weasel words in the first two graphs—all at critical places: “is expected to… soon… probably… as much as…” Again, it’s extremely tough to cover this company, but this isn’t good enough. Look at some of the headlines of the blog rewrites on Google News: — Rumor: Apple will announce newspaper subscription plan — Rumor: Apple to announce newspaper subscription service — Rumor Alert! Apple Reaches Newspaper Subscription Deal Those are three of the 165 news results so far. The market is so starved for any nugget of news or “news” about Apple that when a scrap appears, it gets rewritten and repackaged almost immediately by hundreds of online outlets. Pageviews soar. So let’s be honest here, that—rather than the difficulty of reporting around Steve Jobs & Co.—is what causes news organizations to forego their standards when it comes to Apple (although in this case it doesn’t hurt that everybody assumes that Apple is going to do some deal with newspapers anyway). Otherwise they’d rather be scooped than have their work labeled “rumor,” accurately, by a bunch of bloggers who know it when they see it. And if you want my guess (pure speculation—labeled as such!) I’d say newspapers won’t give Steve Jobs 30 percent cut. Far be it from me to overestimate the business prowess and intelligence of newspaper executives, but surely they’re not so dumb as to give him nearly a third of a recurring revenue stream. — Further Reading: The Press in the Reality Distortion Field: Gossip, rumor, rank speculation—all on the table if it’s an Apple product Steve Jobs, Holy Moses. Did you hear the one about the most-anticipated tablet since the Ten Commandments? Yes. Over and over and over… The Dead Go On the Record in The Wall Street Journal: The paper held Apple director’s newsmaking comments until after his death. Advertising for Apple: We’re not even talking about the crush of breathless stories and live blogs that accompany its pronouncements. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Ryan Chittum is a former Wall Street Journal reporter, and deputy editor of The Audit, CJR's business section. If you see notable business journalism, give him a heads-up at rc2538@columbia.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanchittum.	– Apple is working out a deal with newspaper publishers for a digital subscription service on its various i-gadgets, industry sources tell the San Jose Mercury News. Apple, as usual, isn't saying anything, but the Mercury News talks to one industry observer who predicts that Steve Jobs would take a 30% cut from subscriptions, plus 40% from any ads generated by the newspaper apps. And remember this is all speculation, warns the Columbia Journalism Review. Because of Apple's obsession with security, we have to rely on thinly sourced stories like this one to get our fix of company news. "And if you want my guess (pure speculation—labeled as such!) I’d say newspapers won’t give Steve Jobs 30% cut," writes Ryan Chittum. "Far be it from me to overestimate the business prowess and intelligence of newspaper executives, but surely they’re not so dumb as to give him nearly a third of a recurring revenue stream." (For more iPad doings, click here.)
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The chief prosecutor in Oscar Pistorius' murder trial said Thursday the double-amputee athlete's lawyers have floated more than one theory in a dishonest attempt to defend against a murder charge for his killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Barry Roux, front, the lawyer defending Oscar Pistorius, accompanied by his team, arrives at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. On Thursday and Friday, both sides will summarize... (Associated Press) Oscar Pistorius, second from right, accompanied by a relative arrives at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. On Thursday and Friday, both sides will summarize their versions... (Associated Press) Prosecutor Gerrie Nel made the allegation during final arguments in the sensational trial in a Pretoria courthouse, where the fathers of the Olympic runner and Steenkamp, a model and television personality, were in court for the first time since the trial began in early March. They sat at opposite ends of a long bench in the gallery. Nel said a criminal trial was a "blunt instrument for digging up the truth" but that he was confident of his case. He then said defense lawyers had argued that Pistorius acted in self-defense, fearing an intruder was in the house, but also raised the possibility that the once-celebrated athlete was not criminally responsible, accidentally shooting Steenkamp through a closed toilet door because he was "startled." "It's two defenses that you can never reconcile," Nel said. The prosecution has argued that Pistorius intentionally shot Steenkamp before dawn on Feb. 14, 2013 after a quarrel. The defense has previously contended that he fired by mistake, thinking he was about to be attacked by an assailant in the toilet and that Steenkamp was in the bedroom. In addition to the murder charge, Pistorius faces three separate gun-related charges, one of which stems from his alleged firing of a shot in a crowded restaurant called Tashas in Johannesburg, months before he killed Steenkamp. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. On Thursday, some of the state's written arguments as well as transcripts of past testimony appeared on screens in the courtroom. One section questioned Pistorius' defense case: "Is it putative self-defense? Is it an act of sane automatism? Did he have criminal capacity to act? Or was it all an accident as in Tashas Restaurant where he had the gun in his hand and it purportedly discharged itself?" Because South Africa has no trial by jury, Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide with the help of two legal assistants if Pistorius committed murder, is guilty of a negligent killing, or if he made a tragic error and should be acquitted. The runner faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder, and also would be sent to prison for years if guilty of murder without premeditation or culpable homicide. Earlier, Masipa told Nel and chief defense lawyer Barry Roux that they had only until the end of Friday to complete their final arguments in court. "Unless, of course, you want to work on a Saturday and perhaps Sunday, after church," she said, smiling. ___ Imray reported from Stellenbosch, South Africa. \|\|\|\|\| Look back at our rolling coverage as the prosecution presented its closing arguments in the trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp	– The prosecution is laying out its closing arguments in Oscar Pistorius' monthslong murder trial today, with the defense expected to wrap things up tomorrow. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, known as "the pitbull," began by ripping into Pistorius' claims that he acted in self-defense when shooting Reeva Steenkamp—who Pistorius says he thought was an intruder—and that he was "not criminally responsible" for the shooting because he was "startled," the AP reports. "It's two defenses that you can never reconcile," Nel said. Pistorius never once said the shooting was an accident because he "intended to kill," Nel said, per the Guardian. Nel noted that given the lack of imminent attack, Pistorius is still guilty of murder even if he did believe Steenkamp to be an intruder. Nel also drew attention to the contents of Steenkamp’s stomach, which indicate she ate hours after Pistorius said the pair went to bed, and other inconsistencies in the runner's testimony. "All these lies caught him up," Nel said. He also noted the defense never tried to disprove the claim that a neighbor heard a woman's raised voice an hour before the gunshots. As to the defense's claim that Pistorius' screams sound like a woman's, Nel said there is a recording of Pistorius screaming but the defense didn't present it because it doesn't support their version of events. Judge Thokozile Masipa will likely inform the court tomorrow of when her decision can be expected.
TODAY we unveil the diet that lets you have burgers, curries, treats and alcohol, and still lose weight. Stick to the simple plan and lose a stone in six weeks \|\|\|\|\| After announcing her split from husband of 18 days, Barry Herridge, on Monday, Sinead O'Connor isn't doing herself any favors when it comes to staying out of the headlines. The singer came to the door of her Ireland home yesterday to speak to journalists about her short-lived marriage -- only problem is, she forgot to put on clothes! O'Connor answered the door sporting nothing other than her signature tattoos and a towel. O'Connor said "I do" to Herridge in Las Vegas last month, just over two weeks before she put the kabbash on what was her fourth marriage. The crooner took to her website to share the news of the dissolution of their vows. "He is a wonderful man. I love him very much. I'm sorry I'm not a more regular woman. I truly believe though it is painful to admit, we made a mistake rushing into getting married, for altruistic reasons, and weren't aware or prepared for the consequences on my husband's life and the lives of those close to him. He has been terribly unhappy and I have therefore ended the marriage. I think he is too nice to do so. And too nice to trap." This is one marriage that previous 72-day record holder Kim Kardashian has beat -- not to mention quite a few other celebrity scandals and successes that lasted more than 18 days. And is it just us or is Sinead's home still sporting some spooky Halloween decorations? Check out the singer's towel talk below: Check out Sinead and Barry on their wedding day below:	– Sinead O'Connor married on Dec. 8 and announced the end of said marriage to the world 18 days later—so what the heck happened? Well, things may not have gotten off to a great start when she spent their wedding night on a desperate hunt for cannabis, especially considering then-hubby Barry Herridge is a drug counselor. "We ended up in a cab in some place that was quite dangerous," she tells the Sun. "Then I was handed a load of crack. Barry was very frightened—that kind of messed everything up a bit really." "I wasn't scared—but he's a drugs counselor. What was I thinking?" she continues. But apparently she wasn't happy either, adding that the marriage "felt like I was living in a coffin. It was going to be a coffin for both of us and I saw him crushed. The whole reason I ended it was out of respect and love for the man." She says she's now sworn off marriage forever, and adds, "I don't think I will even date anyone." (At one point post-split, O'Connor talked to the media—but forgot to get dressed first. Click to see the pictures of her in a towel, or here to see O'Connor's truck-humping ad, to which Herridge responded.)
Some Yazidis find new shelter in northern Iraq, as U.S airstrikes continue to target Islamic State positions. Meanwhile, Iraq’s president names a new prime minister to replace Nouri al-Maliki. (Reuters) Some Yazidis find new shelter in northern Iraq, as U.S airstrikes continue to target Islamic State positions. Meanwhile, Iraq’s president names a new prime minister to replace Nouri al-Maliki. (Reuters) Iraq’s president on Monday asked a veteran Shiite politician, Haider al-Abadi, to form a new government, setting the stage for a vicious political showdown in a country already struggling to contain an Islamist extremist insurgency. As his already limited political support crumbled, the incumbent prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, dug in for a fight. He argued that the appointment of the 62-year-old Abadi as prime minister-designate was legally invalid. The clash has raised deep concerns at home and abroad about Iraq’s teetering stability. Ominously, Maliki reminded the country in a televised address Monday of his position as head of the armed forces and assured soldiers that the “error” will be rectified. For a second day, blue-and-white armored personnel carriers belonging to security forces that answer directly to Maliki were stationed around the Green Zone. A hulking tank sat at one of the entrances to the secured zone, which houses government buildings. The armed forces remained on high alert, officials said, though Saad Maan, a spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, maintained that the deployment was routine. “We are entering a potential clash,” said an Iraqi official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “On the ground, [there are] tanks and armored vehicles. It’s a very complicated situation with the army.” 1 of 42 Full Screen Autoplay Close Aug. 10, 2014 Aug. 9, 2014 Saturday Aug. 7, 2014 Thursday Aug. 5, 2014 Tuesday Aug. 4, 2014 Monday Aug. 3, 2014 Sunday Skip Ad × Yazidis cross into Iraqi Kurdistan from Syria View Photos After being stranded on the parched Mount Sinjar for almost a week and then walking 12 miles to seek refuge in Syria, some of the persecuted civilians were able to safely return to the Kurdish region of Iraq with the help of Syrian Kurdish forces. Caption After being stranded on the parched Mount Sinjar for almost a week and then walking 12 miles to seek refuge in Syria, some of the persecuted civilians were able to safely return to the Kurdish region of Iraq with the help of Syrian Kurdish forces. Aug. 12, 2014 Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria. Khalid Mohammed/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. In a sign of U.S. concern, President Obama on Monday publicly announced his backing for Abadi, saying that his nomination was “a promising step forward.” Both he and Vice President Biden called Abadi to express their support. Abadi now has 30 days to form a government, and during that time Maliki will remain the caretaker prime minister. The U.S. government has said it will significantly expand aid to Iraq in its battle with al-Qaeda-inspired militants only if it forms a government that embraces the country’s different religious and ethnic groups. “The only lasting solution is for Iraqis to come together and form an inclusive government,” Obama told reporters in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where he is vacationing. In his eight years as premier, Maliki has consolidated power in his office, ruling in an authoritarian style that has chipped away at his support among minority Sunnis, as well as his fellow Shiites. He is widely blamed for fostering an environment that has allowed Sunni extremists from the Islamic State to seize control of huge chunks of Iraqi territory. But in the face of a chorus of calls for him to leave — from the country’s religious authorities, his political rivals and even members of his own bloc — Maliki has stubbornly refused. Pressure to form a new government has mounted amid fears that Islamist extremists will exploit any vacuum. Maliki maintains, however, that since his bloc won the most seats in parliament in national elections this spring, he should be the one leading the next government. Hours after Iraqi President Fouad Massoum asked Abadi to form a government, the enraged outgoing premier made a televised address lambasting the move and declaring that he personified the governing State of Law coalition. “I am Nouri al-Maliki, and I am the head of State of Law, and I am the head of Dawa [party], and no one has the right to deal under our name without my approval,” he said, in a speech that suggested his desperation. But his State of Law coalition has crumbled, with 38 of its 96 parliamentarians signing a letter to the president declaring their support for Abadi. They were among 127 Shiite politicians who supported Abadi’s bid in the 328-seat parliament. Abadi will probably be able to form a majority with support from Kurdish and Sunni factions, analysts said. Indeed, a late-night show of force Sunday — when Maliki announced that he would sue the president rather than acquiesce to the naming of a new prime minister and deployed security forces to strategic points in the capital — appeared to have galvanized efforts to oust him. “It has backfired and was unwise,” said Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd who served as foreign minister in the Maliki government. “We have passed the stage of military coups and taking power by force.” The army indicated Monday that its loyalties do not lie with Maliki. “We are the army of Iraq, not of Maliki,” the armed forces said on its official Twitter account. “We will continue to fulfill our promises, and for our nation we shall be defenders.” But Iraq’s security forces are fragmented and in disarray after a partial collapse of the army in June. Maliki has also built up a support base in Iraq’s militias, most notably the notorious Asaib Ahl al-Haq, whose fighters were out in force for a second night Monday. However, analysts argue that Asaib and others are ultimately loyal to Iran, which has also withdrawn its backing for Maliki. The Obama administration has deployed its top officials to encourage a smooth transition to a government led by Abadi, a seasoned member of Maliki’s party. In a phone call Monday morning with Massoum, Biden commended the Iraqi president for nominating the prime minister and emphasized Obama’s “desire to boost coordination with a new Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces to roll back gains” by the Islamic State, according to a statement. So far, a U.S. air campaign against the insurgents has largely been contained to the country’s mostly Kurdish north. In his speech Sunday night, Maliki accused the United States of supporting a breach in the Iraqi constitution. Maliki on Monday filed a letter with Iraq’s Supreme Court arguing that Abadi’s appointment is null and void. His argument centers on a technicality: that his State of Law bloc, rather than a wider Shiite coalition, should have been allowed to nominate the president and that he is the only one who can speak for it. Human rights organizations have in the past complained that he controls the judiciary. “They stabbed us in the back,” Jumaa al-Adwani, a member of the State of Law coalition who is sticking by Maliki, said Monday, calling the move a coup. Iraqi and U.S. officials hope that a new leader will help bridge the country’s rifts and bring Iraq’s disaffected Sunni minority back into the political process, eroding support for the Sunni extremists. Abadi, a British-educated engineer who hails from the capital, Baghdad, still faces an uphill battle. “He’s a fresh face in a sense,” said Kirk Sowell, a political risk analyst and publisher of the newsletter Inside Iraqi Politics, who also described Abadi as a “gray suit kind of guy.” “But this isn’t a radical change, it’s a modest change.” Abadi, a former communications minister, told state television that his first task as prime minister would be to curb the influence of the Islamic State. Anne Gearan in Sydney, Mustafa Salim in Baghdad and Ahmed Ramadan in Beirut contributed to this report. \|\|\|\|\| BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's new president on Monday snubbed the powerful incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and nominated the deputy parliament speaker to form the new government, raising fears of more infighting in the government as country faces the threat of Sunni militants in the north. U.S. and Kurdish flags flutter in the wind as displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community cross the Syria-Iraq border at Feeshkhabour bridge over the Tigris River at Feeshkhabour border point, in northern... (Associated Press) Iraqi security forces stand guard amid tight security by Iraqi security forces that sealed off roads around a pro-government demonstration supporting Embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq, Monday,... (Associated Press) Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and wave national flags to show support for embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. Al-Maliki is taking... (Associated Press) An Iraqi soldier stands guard amid tight security measures by Iraqi security forces during a pro-government demonstration to show support for embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in Baghdad, Iraq,... (Associated Press) Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp in Derike, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. Kurdish authorities at the border believe some 45,000 Yazidis passed the river crossing in the past... (Associated Press) Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and display placards bearing a picture of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. Al-Maliki is taking... (Associated Press) Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and wave national flags in a show of support for embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. Al-Maliki... (Associated Press) Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp in Derike, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. Kurdish authorities at the border believe some 45,000 Yazidis passed the river crossing in the past... (Associated Press) In a televised address Fouad Massoum gave Haider al-Ibadi 30 days to form a new government and present it to parliament for approval, expressing his hope he would succeed. Al-Ibadi, who pledged to form a government to "protect the Iraqi people," was nominated for the post by the Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition of Shiite parties that al-Maliki's State of Law is part of, but has turned against him. Al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated bloc won the most parliament seats in April elections and the prime minister sees himself as rightfully keeping the post. In a midnight speech, al-Maliki said he was filing a suit against the president for neglecting to name him prime minister by Sunday's deadline and all but demanded he be renominated. Critics say al-Maliki, a Shiite, contributed to the crisis by monopolizing power and pursuing a sectarian agenda that alienated the country's Sunni and Kurdish minorities. Al-Ibadi's nomination came hours after al-Maliki deployed his elite security forces in the streets of Baghdad, partially closed two main streets — popular spots for pro and anti-government rallies — as hundreds of his supporters took to the streets. "We are with you, al-Maliki," they shouted, waving posters of the incumbent premier, singing and dancing. Mohammed al-Ogeili, a lawmaker from al-Maliki's list, rejected the nomination of al-Ibadi arguing that this move "runs against the constitution" because al-Maliki's party is the largest bloc and the National Alliance has no right to present any candidate. "This decision would lead the country to a big problem and the president bears full responsibility for this situation," he told The Associated Press. Also Monday, senior U.S. officials said the Obama administration, which launched airdrops and airstrikes last week to support Kurdish and Iraqi forces battling militants from the Islamic State group, has begun directly providing weapons to the Kurdish peshmerga forces who have started to make gains against the al-Qaida breakaway group.	– The big question in Iraq today: Will Nouri al-Maliki go quietly? As expected, President Fouad Massoum snubbed the two-term prime minister and said he must step down to make way for someone new. Massoum picked deputy parliament speaker Haider al-Ibadi to be the next PM and gave him 30 days to form a government, reports the AP. "Now the Iraqi people are in your hands," said Massoum. The move comes after Maliki addressed the nation at midnight and insisted that he be allowed to remain in office because his is the largest bloc in parliament, reports the New York Times. He even deployed troops in the capital as a show of force. But those actions may have only hurt his cause further, reports the Washington Post. It quotes a Kurdish politician who says the speech triggered a "major defection" today against Maliki within his Shiite coalition. "We have passed the stage of military coups and taking power by force," says Hoshyar Zebari. The US, which has long seen Maliki as too polarizing, has already made clear that it expects Maliki to abide by Massoum's decision and warned against any use of force. (Meanwhile, Iraq is still battling militants from the Islamic State.)
Please enable Javascript to watch this video NEW YORK — In a stunning lawsuit seeking to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for 9/11, the families of 800 victims have filed a lawsuit accusing the Saudis of complicity in the worst terror attacks on American soil. The legal action, filed in federal court in Manhattan, details a scenario of involvement by Saudi officials who are said to have aided some of the hijackers before the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals and three of them had previously worked for the kingdom. The document details how officials from Saudi embassies supported hijackers Salem al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar 18 months before 9/11. The officials allegedly helped them find apartments, learn English and obtain credit cards and cash. The documents state that the officials helped them learn how to blend into the American landscape. The suit also produces evidence that officials in the Saudi embassy in Germany supported lead hijacker Mohamed Atta. It claims that a Saudi official was in the same hotel in Virginia with several hijackers the night before the attacks. Many of the revelations in the lawsuit are culled from findings of an FBI investigation into the terrorist attacks. The suit filed by aviation law firm Kreindler & Kreindler claims some of the hijackers had special markers in their passports, identifying them as al-Qaida sympathizers. The lawsuit asserts that the Saudi royals, who for years had been trying to curry favor with fundamentalists to avoid losing power, were aware that funds from Saudi charities were being funneled to al-Qaida. Aviation attorney Jim Kreindler told PIX11 News: “The charities were alter egos of the Saudi government.” The lawsuit spells out how money was transferred from charities in Saudi Arabia to the terror group. Charities the lawsuit claims fronted for al-Qaida include the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, an organization that was designated by the U.S. as a sponsor of terrorism. Kreindler maintains that there was a direct link between all the charities and Osama bin Laden and that they operated with the full knowledge of Saudi officials. The legal document claims that the Saudis used a variety of means to conceal the money trail to al-Qaida. “The Saudis were so duplicitous,” Kreindler said. “They claim to be allies fighting with U.S. against Iran, while at the same time working with the terrorists. There’s no question they had a hand in the 9/11 attacks.” Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had resisted efforts to hold Saudi Arabia accountable. The kingdom is a key ally against Iran, and its oil interests are important to the United States. Last September, Congress overrode an Obama veto to pass JASTA — Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act — that would allow Americans to take legal action against countries that support terrorism. Kreindler wouldn’t put a dollar figure on the amount of damages being sought by the 800 families of those who died and 1,500 first responders and others who suffered because of the attacks. "This lawsuit is a demonstration of the unwavering commitment of the 9/11 families to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its critical role in the 9/11 attacks," Kreindler said. \|\|\|\|\| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Alex Johnson At least seven lawsuits alleging Saudi government support and funding for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have landed in federal courts in the six months since Congress opened the door to such litigation over the fierce opposition of former President Barack Obama. A suit consolidating some of those actions was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, representing the families and estates of about 800 of the 2,996 people killed in the attacks. It alleges that the Saudi government helped pay for the operation through its alleged funding of al-Qaeda terrorist camps and its logistical support for the group's transport of weapons, people and money around the world. The suit, which doesn't specify damages, alleges that the money and support were channeled through nine Saudi government-supported charities — including the Saudi Red Crescent Authority, part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Few if any of the allegations, many of which mirror accusations in other lawsuits filed since September, appear to be new, but they add details to the assertions of 9/11 victims' families that elements of the Saudi government, one of the United States' closest allies in the Middle East, secretly backed the attacks. For example, the consolidated suit alleges that officials in Saudi embassies helped some of the hijackers find homes and learn English so they could pass unnoticed in the United States. It alleges that Saudi authorities even applied a secret code to the passports of al-Qaeda members to facilitate their international travel and that such codes were discovered on the passports of at least three of the 9/11 terrorists. The lawsuits began rushing into the courts after Sept. 28, when Congress overrode Obama's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, which provided an exemption to the legal principle of sovereign immunity so families could take the Saudi government to court. Firefighters and rescue workers undrape a large U.S. flag near a damaged area of the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2001. Larry Downing / Reuters The Obama administration argued that providing the exemption would set a dangerous precedent, opening the door for other countries and their citizens to haul the United States into court. Most of the actions brought since the veto was overridden are on behalf of families of victims of the attack on the World Trade Center. One was brought by insurance companies seeking to recoup some of their losses. On Friday, a U.S. magistrate judge in Manhattan ordered lawyers for the plaintiffs and for Saudi Arabia to appear in court this Thursday to try to work out a way to coordinate the various cases. A representative for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could not be reached for comment on Monday evening. Country officials in the past have said they cannot comment on pending legislation. \|\|\|\|\| Senate Committee Any Committee Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (70th-116th) Armed Services (79th-116th) Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (70th-116th) Budget (93rd-116th) Commerce, Science, and Transportation (79th-116th) Energy and Natural Resources (70th-116th) Environment and Public Works (79th-116th) Finance (70th-116th) Foreign Relations (70th-116th) Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (70th-116th) Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (70th-116th) Judiciary (70th-116th) Rules and Administration (79th-116th) Small Business and Entrepreneurship (81st-116th) Veterans' Affairs (91st-116th) State or Territory Indicated Any State or Territory Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Nomination Actions Any Nomination Action Placed on calendar as privileged nomination Committee requested information was received Referred to committee Hearings held Ordered reported Reported to Senate Committee discharged Placed on calendar Placed on calendar with footnote Considered by Senate Unanimous consent agreement Cloture motion Cloture invoked/not invoked Rereferred to committee Received message of withdrawal Returned to president Confirmed by Senate \|\|\|\|\| CLOSE The lawsuit, brought in the federal court that covers lower Manhattan, is years in the making. USA TODAY Lucy Smith, 6, and her brother Ryan, 2, of New Jersey look at the name of their uncle, Port Authority Police Officer Chris Amoroso, who was killed in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center during a memorial service for the attacks at Ground Zero. (Photo: Seth Harrison, The Journal News, via USA TODAY NETWORK) A lawsuit filed Monday in federal court on behalf of the families of 850 people who died and another 1,500 who were injured in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S. holds the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia responsible for helping some of the attackers. The suit filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, is being handled by Kreindler & Kreindler in New York City, an aviation law firm that has been working with the families for the last 16 years. The claim seeks unspecified monetary damages. "This lawsuit demonstrates ... the families are never going to give up until we establish that Saudi Arabia is accountable," said lawyer Jim Kreindler. The suit, which will be heard by U.S. District Judge George Daniels, alleges Saudi Arabia supported al-Qaeda in four ways, Kreindler told USA TODAY. Read more: The suit names several Saudi Arabian charities that were "alter egos of the government" that were staffed by the government, that ran terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and "the whole world knows they were dirty," Kreindler said. The charities worked with late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to open offices in Pakistan and Afghanistan and establish the terrorist organization, the suit alleges. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia directly funded al-Qaeda, the lawyer said. Saudi Arabia supported the terrorists by supplying assistance such as passports and worldwide transportation, he said. And finally, the suit identifies Saudi officials who worked with the hijackers in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sarasota, Fla., Washington, D.C., and Virginia in the 18 months leading up to the attacks, Kreindler said. In September, Congress passed a measure allowing countries to be sued in terrorism cases even when the alleged act or acts take place outside of the United States — the Justice Against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) — which enables the suit to go forward. Another lawyer working with the plaintiffs said the families he represents are grateful to Congress and to President Trump, who has backed their efforts. "We just hope President Trump continues," Andrew Maloney said. "I would like to hear some continued expressions of support by the president." Michael Kellogg, a Washington-based lawyer representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, did not respond to a message left at his office Monday evening. CLOSE The White House blasted what it called "rapid onset buyer's remorse" after House and Senate leaders conceded problems with the 9/11 lawsuit bill Congress just enacted into law over President Obama's veto. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., suggested that the House might take up a bill to fix problems with the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, after it comes back from its election recess. USA TODAY Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2ntZttS	– A lawsuit representing the families and estates of about 800 victims of 9/11 has been filed in Manhattan federal court, with the Saudi Arabian government in its sights, WPIX and NBC News report. Of the 19 plane hijackers that day, 15 were Saudi nationals, and three of those reportedly had employment history with the government there. Accusations in the newest consolidated complaint, compiled in large part via an FBI investigation, include embassy officials being instrumental in assimilating some of the 9/11 attackers into the US via English instruction, funding assistance, and help in finding a place to live. Saudi authorities also allegedly offered special passport codes to a handful of the terrorists that smoothed their way into the US. The suit also says Saudi royals turned a blind eye regarding money they donated to certain "charities," which was really being shifted to al-Qaeda. "The Saudis were so duplicitous," aviation attorney Jim Kreindler tells WPIX, noting while Saudi Arabia was putting up a good front as a US ally, it was secretly enabling terrorism. (USA Today notes Kreindler's law firm is handling the new suit, which is seeking unspecified monetary damages.) Per NBC, more than a half-dozen lawsuits against the Saudi government have filtered into federal court since September, when Congress rejected then-President Obama's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which gave families of 9/11 victims a way to circumvent sovereign immunity to sue the Saudis. Obama was against JASTA, saying the tables could be turned so other nations can file suit against the US. Attorneys for families and the Saudis are to appear in court Thursday to hammer out the multi-case logistics. (The Saudis obviously don't like JASTA.)
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "A long life can pass by many milestones - my own is no exception" The Queen has thanked well-wishers at home and overseas for their "touching messages of kindness" as she becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch. Speaking in the Scottish Borders, the 89-year-old monarch said the title was "not one to which I have ever aspired". At 17:30 BST she had reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes - surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. David Cameron said the service the Queen had given was "truly humbling". Dressed in turquoise with her trusty black handbag at her side, the Queen spoke briefly to the gathered crowds earlier. "Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones - my own is no exception - but I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas for your touching messages of great kindness," she said. In the day's main events: The Queen and Prince Philip travelled by steam train from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, where she formally opened the new £294m Scottish Borders Railway They were accompanied by Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who praised the Queen's "dedication, wisdom and exemplary sense of public service" In London, a flotilla of historic vessels, leisure cruisers and passenger boats took part in a procession along the Thames and HMS Belfast sounded a four-gun salute The exact moment the Queen became the longest-reigning sovereign is unknown. Her father, George VI, passed away in the early hours of 6 February 1952, but his time of death is not known. Her Majesty's Milestone Image copyright Buckingham Palace Image caption Newly released official photographs show the Queen with her official red box, containing the day's policy papers, cabinet documents, Foreign Office papers and other letters Business in the Commons was postponed for half an hour so that MPs, led by Mr Cameron, could pay tribute to the Queen. The prime minster said she had been a "rock of stability" in an era when so much had changed, and her reign had been the "golden thread running through three post-war generations". He said it was "typical of the Queen's selfless sense of service" that she thought today should be a normal day. Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman said it was "no exaggeration" to say the Queen was "admired by billions of people all around the world". Ministers are to present the Queen with a bound copy of cabinet papers from the meeting in 1952 when Sir Winston Churchill's government approved the content of her first Queen's Speech. In the House of Lords, leader Baroness Stowell said the Queen had served the country with "unerring grace, dignity and decency", adding: "And long may she continue to do so". Image copyright Reuters Analysis: BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt There have been glowing tributes and much talk about the significance of this moment. No such words were uttered by the subject of all the attention. She undertook a run-of-the-mill engagement on a far from run-of-the-mill day. And in her brief remarks - her lengthy reign hasn't lessened her aversion to making speeches - she displayed some classic British understatement. Overtaking her great-great-grandmother wasn't something she'd ever aspired to, she said. She was simply the beneficiary of a long life. In Scotland - and indeed in other parts of the United Kingdom - that life and her reign have been celebrated very publicly. Privately, later, the Queen will mark the moment she enters the record books. Prince Philip will be with her - her husband of 67 years has been the one constant in a reign of sometimes dizzying change. Image copyright PA Image caption In London, a flotilla of vessels, including Havengore and Gloriana, took part in a procession along the Thames Image copyright PA Image caption Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, the Royal Party were welcomed by a traditional pipe band Image copyright AFP Image caption The Queen and the Duke stopped off at Newtongrange station where she unveiled a plaque Image copyright PA Image caption Children from Busy Bees Nursery turned out to see the Queen in Tweedbank Buckingham Palace has released two official photographs to mark the occasion, taken by Mary McCartney in the Queen's private audience room. This is where she holds weekly audiences with prime ministers of the day, and receives visiting heads of state and government. The Queen is taking her traditional summer break at this time of year at her private Scottish home, Balmoral. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are in Scotland on holiday and are expected to have dinner with the Queen at Balmoral later. Queens of the modern age Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Elizabeth II has reigned for 63 years and seven months, beating Queen Victoria's record Victoria became queen at 18, while Elizabeth was 25 Elizabeth II rides in the same coach as Victoria did for the annual State Opening of Parliament Both queens were shot at by lone gunmen while out riding near Buckingham Palace Elizabeth loves the private royal estate at Balmoral, which was bought by Victoria Victoria ruled over an empire of 400 million people. Elizabeth is head of state for 138 million people Elizabeth and Victoria in numbers Elizabeth II: Britain's Diamond Queen Woman who redefined the monarchy Queen Victoria became queen at the age of 18 and ruled for 63 years, seven months and two days. Queen Elizabeth's reign has included 12 prime ministers, two more than served under Victoria. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Duke of York: "From her perspective it is business as usual" One of those prime ministers, Conservative Sir John Major, rejected any suggestion the Queen had been too passive as head of state: "The monarchy wouldn't be as popular if they were part of politics - they're above and beyond it. "But when the Queen meets her prime minister she has the opportunity to question, to ask, to counsel. Nobody knows and no prime minister is going to tell you exactly what happens at those meetings. So those who say she's been too passive, how can they possibly know?" 'Genuinely exceptional' The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth and sovereign of 15 Commonwealth realms in addition to the UK, and the organisation's Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, sent his congratulations. "As a symbol of continuity during decades of unprecedented change, and by drawing our people together in their rich diversity, Her Majesty has embodied all that is best in the Commonwealth," he said. "With vision and dedication her example has encouraged successive generations of leaders and citizens to embrace the promise of the future." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Graham Smith: "I don't think that keeping a job for life, for life, is something to get excited about" Anti-monarchist group Republic said the Queen's long reign was a reason for reform not celebration. Chief executive Graham Smith said: "It is now time for the country to look to the future and to choose a successor through free and fair elections, someone who can genuinely represent the nation." \|\|\|\|\| On Sept. 23, 1896, Queen Victoria marked a momentous day in her journal: “Today is the day on which I have reigned longer by a day than any English sovereign.” Churches rang their bells and bonfires were lit on the hills of Balmoral, where Victoria was living when she overtook her grandfather, King George III, who had reigned for 59 years, 96 days. In September, her great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, will surpass Victoria as the longest-reigning British monarch in history. Yet, until recently, no one could decide on when exactly Her Majesty would make history. Dates ranging from Sept. 9 to Sept. 11 were posited. The calculations themselves give different results, depending on whether days alone are counted, or years and days, or years, months and days. When Martin Willis, a professor of Victorian literature at the University of Westminster in London put his own extensive calculations online—he went for Sept. 10—he was stunned to realize his post was being read, and commented on, by people around the world. In late November, he got an email out of the blue from Buckingham Palace. They’d seen his work and were emailing to notify him that the Royal Archives had done its own more exhaustive investigation, using the number of days and, yes, hours for both queens. When contacted by Maclean’s, the palace confirmed the information given Willis. Victoria’s reign lasted 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes. Elizabeth II is expected to pass that record on Sept. 9, 2015, at around 5:30 p.m., local time in Britain. As Willis says, “They’ve got first dibs on this. I’m quite willing to accept that.” Like her predecessor, Elizabeth II is expected to be at Balmoral. Victoria didn’t want Empire-wide celebrations to mark the event. The current monarch seems to agree. (As a palace official noted, her reign started with the death of her beloved father, King George VI.) The event is important and unprecedented; just don’t expect a big party.	– Queen Elizabeth II is now the longest-tenured monarch in British history, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Victoria's 23,226 days, 16 hours, and 23 minutes as queen sometime around 5:30pm local time, reports the BBC. The time is approximate because no one is actually sure when regular Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth. There are no gaps between British monarchs, so Elizabeth became queen as soon as her father King George VI died. However, he died in his sleep, and no one is quite sure exactly when he passed, explains Time. Maclean's reports Britain rang church bells and lit bonfires to celebrate Queen Victoria's record-setting reign, but Elizabeth's day is being celebrated in more low-key fashion. "The event is important and unprecedented; just don't expect a big party," Maclean's states. Still, a flotilla of boats on the Thames was marking the occasion, and crowds cheered the queen when she appeared in public.
MINSK, Belarus (AP) — President Alexander Lukashenko was expected to win a fifth term in Sunday's election with ease, but he said anything much less than 80 percent of the vote would be a sign that his support was slipping. An elderly woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in the village of Smilovichi, 48 km (30 miles) east of Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential election... (Associated Press) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with his youngest son Nikolai casts his ballot at a polling station, during the presidential election, in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential... (Associated Press) A Belarusian woman with her son casts a ballot at a polling station during presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) (Associated Press) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with his youngest son Nikolai casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential... (Associated Press) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko smiles at a polling station after voting during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential election was under way Sunday... (Associated Press) Belarusian army soldiers examine a candidates list with a portrait of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a polling station during presidential elections in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015.... (Associated Press) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, bows to observers as he arrives at a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. A presidential election... (Associated Press) The authoritarian leader faced no serious competition in the election, which was boycotted by the opposition. Even before polls opened in the former Soviet republic, the Central Election Commission announced that 36 percent of the 7 million registered voters had cast their ballots during five days of early voting. By 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) on election day, the official turnout was nearly 75 percent, even though many polling stations in the capital and nearby villages were nearly empty. Opposition leaders denounced the early voting as an ideal instrument for falsifying the result. International observers also raised concerns. "It is very unusual for us to find that a country has an election so many days," James Walsh, who heads the delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, told The Associated Press. "Most democracies have a challenge in getting its citizens ... to come out and vote." Walsh said the observers have questions about the security of the ballot boxes, a concern also raised by the opposition. "For five nights, no one was guarding the ballot boxes and the authorities could do anything they liked with them," said Anatoly Lebedko, the leader of the opposition United Civil Party. Lukashenko said it would be a bad sign if he received fewer votes than during the last election in 2010, when he won 79.65 percent. "That would mean that people were beginning to move away and were dissatisfied with some of my policies," the president said after voting in Minsk, the Belarusian capital. "Therefore for me it is very important: If Lukashenko wins, that I retain what was there in the past election." Lukashenko, 61, appeared at the polling station with his 11-year-old son, Nikolai, who was wearing the same suit and tie as his father. An independent institute of socio-economic and political research put Lukashenko's support at about 46 percent in September, while the official state sociology institute tallied his support at 76 percent. Lukashenko faced three nominal rivals in the election: the leaders of two pro-government parties, Sergei Gaidukevich and Nikolai Ulakhovich, and little known opposition activist Tatyana Korotkevich. Prominent opposition figures either were barred from running or decided against trying to get on the ballot for an election they considered a farce. During his 21 years of rule, Lukashenko has cracked down on dissent while cultivating an image of a strong leader capable of guaranteeing order and stability. "Oh, life has become harder, but Lukashenko promises stability and peace," said 68-year-old Tamara Krylovich after voting in Minsk. "Look at what democracy brought in Ukraine — war and poverty." Lukashenko has largely preserved the state-controlled Soviet type of economy, albeit with the help of cheap Russian gas and Western loans. The unreformed economy may be sputtering, but it still puts bread on the tables of pensioners and workers at unprofitable state factories. But Anton Gurevich, a 41-year-old automobile factory worker, said it was time for a change. "I have lived half of my life with Lukashenko, but life has not gotten better," he said. "After all, the leadership should change, there should be changes." Lukashenko said he was prepared to introduce economic reforms if the Belarusian people were prepared for the difficulties they would bring. "If you give me carte blanche for any destruction and any revolutionary transformations, if that is what you want, then for God's sake we will do it," he said. "The issue is not me, the issue is society." Lukashenko had allowed opposition candidates to run in past presidential elections, although none of the votes was recognized in the West as free or fair. In 2010, most of the candidates who opposed him were arrested soon after the polls closed. Police also detained hundreds of opposition supporters while violently dispersing an election night protest that drew tens of thousands onto the street. One of the former candidates, Nikolai Statkevich, spent nearly five years in prison until Lukashenko unexpectedly pardoned him in August along with all five other remaining political prisoners. Their release was seen as an effort to improve relations with the West, which imposed sanctions on Belarus in response to the crackdown on dissent. On Friday, a European Union official said the EU may suspend its sanctions on Belarus. The opposition has called on its supporters to join a protest after polls close on Sunday night. The protest was expected to be relatively small and to be allowed to proceed peacefully. Police didn't interfere with an opposition demonstration on Saturday involving about 1,000 protesters. \|\|\|\|\| There are many dictators around the world who are well-known for their oppressive ruling of countries, such as Kim Jong Un. But there are many others that operate under the radar of the world media. They may not have a direct connection to the West or have a nuclear arsenal at their disposal, but their despotic actions need to be known. So we’ve decided to put together a list of the worst of the worst. Six rulers who have been profiled on OZY and are among the cruelest, most corrupt despots around today. They may hail from countries as different as Eritrea and Laos, but what they share is a shocking disregard for human rights and seemingly unfettered power to persecute their own. You may not recognize the name, but this 77-year-old ruler of Uzbekistan has one of the most abysmal human rights records in the world today. For 24 years running, the Central Asian nation near the Caspian Sea has been terrorized by its own leader, who has killed thousands of unarmed protesters, forced children to work in slavelike conditions and imprisoned thousands for their religious beliefs. Karimov has even executed prisoners without a trial, according to our reporting, including boiling a couple to death. Read more here. Since taking over Gambia in a 1994 coup, President Jammeh — or “His Excellency,” as he prefers to be called — has ruled the country with a lethal mix of fear, repression and murder. He’s been know to fire into crowds of peaceful protesters, has imprisoned people for suspected witchcraft and, at one depressive point, demanded homosexual persons leave the country within 24 hours or face the possibility of being beheaded. Read more here. This 69-year-old has been the president of Eritrea since its 1991 independence, and yet not a single citizen has ever voted for him. And why would they? It’s been 24 years of crushing despotism, where torture is routine, prisons are overstuffed and everyone from the age of 15 to 70 is forced into indefinite military service. Not only that, but Afwerki’s administration has reportedly imprisoned thousands of people based on their political affiliations. Read more here. This guy is far from being a noble individual. Mswati has used his concentrated power in Swaziland, the last absolute monarchy in Africa, to feed his every despotic need. For one, he is reported to force young women to marry him whenever the spirit moves him (or about every two years), because polygamy is, no surprise, legal in Swaziland. He’s also not really interested in democracy or feeding the poor or finding jobs for the 23 percent of the population that is currently unemployed. This despot, who became king at 18, has a total of 15 wives and an indefinite number of luxury cars. He may cut a cartoonish figure, but his corrupt ways are no laughing matter. Read more here. Condoleezza Rice has called him “Europe’s last dictator,” and he’s playing his role to the hilt. President of Belarus for more than two decades, Lukashenko has ruled the former Soviet state with an iron fist that would make the Kremlin proud. He censors the press, sends human rights activists to labor camps and gets rid of political rivals, either by throwing them in jail or, in the case of his former prime minister and head of the opposition, making them disappear. Read more here. The president of Laos may be 79 years old, wear spectacles and have thinning hair, but his mild appearance masks a tyrannical personality. Boasting a record of human rights violations as long as the Mekong River traversing this Southeast Asian country, Sayasone’s government owns all newspapers, TV stations and radio stations, effectively snuffing all free expression. And if anyone manages to rise above these restrictions, they’re bound to be imprisoned or even disappear. Read more here.	– Kim Jong Un is a terrible, murderous despot, but he's not the only Dr. Evil on the block. Ozy runs through some of the equally ruthless dictators who you've likely never heard of: Alexander Lukashenko: The Belarusian president Condi Rice once called "Europe's last dictator" just got a fifth term in an election that was basically uncontested, reports the AP. Among his charms: A penchant for sending his foes to labor camps, or just making them disappear. King Mswati III: Swaziland's ruler presides over Africa's lone remaining absolute monarchy, and uses his power to marry young girls (15 wives to date) while not doing much in the way of actual ruling (unemployment sits at 23%). Isaias Afwerki: The Eritrean president of 24 years is into torture, imprisoning political foes, and indefinite compulsory military service. Yahya Jammeh: Gambia's president seized power in 1994, and has since fired at peaceful crowds of protesters, tossed suspected witches in jail, and once demanded all gay people leave within 24 hours on threat of being beheaded. For the full list, which includes a mild-mannered 79-year-old who enforces state-sanctioned abductions, head over to Ozy.
The news for CNN has been bad for a long time, but it got especially bad in the second quarter of this year. Ratings for the networkâ€™s prime-time shows plunged by 40 percent from a year ago, and the networkâ€™s performance was its worst ever for a second quarter. CNN ties this to bad news â€” or no news really â€” because a year ago several breaking events during the quarter enhanced the networkâ€™s ratings, while this year the three-month period was relatively quiet. And all three cable news networks experienced declines in the second quarter among the viewers who matter to news advertisers, those from the ages of 25 to 54.Â MSNBC was down by 18 percent and Fox News down by 14 percent, while CNNâ€™s decline was more than double those figures. After its worst-ever May, and now a worst-ever quarter, the litany of “worst evers” is growing at CNN, which has yet to find an answer to what to do when news is light. The network still steers clear of the opinion-oriented programs that bring regular streams of viewers to hosts like Bill Oâ€™Reilly and Sean Hannity on Fox and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Another worst ever for CNN was the rating from the Piers Morgan show at 9 p.m, which was down 32 percent from a year ago, to just 137,000 viewers in the 25-54 group. CNN has never before had a 9 p.m. show do that badly for a quarter. The figures for those 25-54 year-old viewers went like this: For its Monday through Friday prime time, CNN averaged 142,000 viewers, down from 236,000 a year ago. MSNBC averaged 227,000, down from 278,000 in 2011. Fox News, while posting its worst quarter in that ad-preferred group since the second quarter of 2008, still led easily with 438,000, down from 508,000 a year ago. In terms of total viewers, the Fox advantage, as always, was much greater. It averaged 2.14 million viewers, about flat with last yearâ€™s 2.15 million. MSNBC averaged 817,000, down 12 percent from 926,000 in 2011. Again CNN had by far the biggest decline, with just 470,000 total viewers, only a little better than half of what MSNBC scored, and only about a fifth as much as the Fox News number. The CNN number was down 35 percent, from 727,000 viewers for the same quarter a year ago. CNN is highlighting some increases so far in June, with Anderson Cooperâ€™s show up 5 percent and Mr. Morganâ€™s show up 9 percent. CNN reacted to the ratings news with an official e-mail comment from the network: â€śAs a news organization our ratings reflect the news environment much more so than the other networks. That said, we always want higher ratings but not at the expense of nonpartisan, quality journalism.â€ť \|\|\|\|\| In April, as Republicans were throwing their weight behind Mitt Romney and the lengthy, combative presidential primary process was drawing to a close, CNN’s senior vice president and Washington bureau chief Sam Feist presented his staff with a “CNN Half-time Election Report.” The four-minute video, shown at the quarterly staff meeting, was a highlight reel of CNN debates, primary night coverage, and interviews interspersed with laudatory reviews. CNN, the video reminded its staff, had hosted more debates than any other network and landed some of the most significant interviews in the election cycle. Text Size - + reset “And It’s Only Halftime…” the video concluded. In fact, the scoreboard, according to many inside and outside the network, doesn’t look nearly as good as the video suggests. CNN, the founder of the cable news genre, is now registering its lowest ratings since the first Gulf War. In the second quarter of 2012, the network attracted fewer viewers than at any time in the past 21 years, it was reported Tuesday. An average of 446,000 people now watch CNN’s primetime programming while a mere 319,000 watch its daytime programming — declines from 2011 that are at least twice as severe as those suffered at Fox News and MSNBC. (Also on POLITICO: Contempt battle explodes on CNN) Primetime programming is described by media insiders and academics as lackluster and stale. Several staffers at the network complain of low morale and an absence of editorial leadership. Earlier this month — in a further sign that all is not well — the network announced that it intended to cancel poorly rated politics show “John King USA.” One former executive said CNN faces an “identity crisis.” While CNN struggles to make 24-hour news compelling, its competitors at Fox News and MSNBC have redefined the industry. They eschewed traditional, straight-forward newsgathering in favor of partisan, personality driven analysis — a model that is increasingly successful in an era of hyperpartisan politics, but one that CNN has resisted even as its ratings continue their slow and steady decline. There is now, according to industry experts, a very real possibility that without a coherent strategy, the only nonpartisan network left on cable could become largely irrelevant to the national conversation. “News has become much more personality driven and much more opinionated since CNN launched 32 years ago, and CNN has had difficulty moving in that direction,” Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media, told POLITICO. “They move in fits and starts, and they don’t do a very good job of it.” \|\|\|\|\| Coming off its least-watched month in primetime in 20 years in May, CNN has taken another big ratings blow: The cable news network has registered to its lowest-rated quarter in primetime since 1991. For this year’s second quarter, CNN hit a low among total viewers and the key adults 25-54 demographic, with all primetime programs posting steep declines. The network averaged 446,000 total viewers and 129,000 in the 25-54 demo in primetime. Compared to last year’s second quarter, that’s down 35% and 41%, respectively. Rival Fox New Channel, meanwhile, with 1.79 million primetime total viewers on average, was down 1% from its 2011 second-quarter numbers. FNC lost 14% in the 25-54, bringing in 355,000 viewers. MSNBC was down 13% in total primetime viewers, with 689,000 on average, and down 17% in the 25-54 with 217,000. The quarter ran March 26-June 22. Individually, CNN shows hemorrhaged viewers heavily compared with last year. Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room, which airs from 4-6 PM ET, was down 42% in 25-54 and 26% in total viewers. His show is expanding to three hours beginning Friday, taking over CNN’s recently cancelled John King U.S.A. At 7 PM, Erin Burnett OutFront, which debuted in October replacing a then-moving John King U.S.A., was down 45% in 25-54 from last year’s second quarter and down 33% in total viewers. Piers Morgan Tonight, which replaced Larry King Live in January 2011, was down 33% in the 25-54 and 29% in total viewers. Pulling double duty, Anderson Cooper took a double hit: Anderson Cooper 360 at 8 PM was down 23% in the 25-54 and 19% in total viewers, and its 10 PM airing was down 48% in the demo and 44% in viewers. The top-rated cable news shows for the second quarter were all FNC shows, with The O’Reilly Factor and Hannity sitting at No. 1 and No. 2. Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here. \|\|\|\|\| CNN continued to struggle during the second quarter of 2012. The network had its lowest-rated quarter in 21 years (since 1991) in primetime, and in 11 years (since 2001) in Total Day. The ratings for Q2 2012: Primetime (Mon-Sun): 446,000 Total Viewers / 129,000 A25-54 446,000 Total Viewers / 129,000 A25-54 Total Day (Mon-Sun): 319,000 Total Viewers / 95,000 A25-54 In Total Day, the network is down -35% in Total Viewers and -45% in the A25-54 demo. In primetime, CNN is down -35% in Total Viewers and -41% in the demographic. It is worth noting that Q2 2011 had several notable news events that boosted cable news ratings, including the death of Osama Bin Laden and the Royal Wedding. “Erin Burnett OutFront” is down -33% in Total Viewers and -45% in the demo since last year, when John King was the 7pmET anchor. “Anderson Cooper 360″ at 8pmET is down -19% in Total Viewers and -23% in the demo compared to last year, when “In the Arena with Eliot Spitzer” aired in the timeslot. “Piers Morgan Tonight” is down -29% and -33%, respectively. There is some good news for CNN in the form of monthly ratings. Compared to May 2012, which marked a 20-year ratings low for the network, CNN has grown +8% in Total Day and +6% in M-F primetime in June. Individual primetime programs have grown among younger viewers: Burnett’s program is up +24%, while Cooper’s is up +5% and Morgan is up +9% for the month.	– CNN's glory days are unquestionably behind it. Want proof? Q2 of 2012 clocked in as its lowest-rated quarter in 21 years. In fairness, Deadline notes that all three cable news networks reported a dip, but when you stack up the numbers, things looks pretty gloomy for the network: It averaged 446,000 total primetime viewers to Fox News' 1.79 million; even MSNBC eked out 689,000. Not even the dashing Anderson Cooper could save the day—his show reeled in 19% fewer viewers. On the heels of the dour numbers, the media weighs in: TVNewser tempers CNN's 35% drop in primetime viewers year over year, pointing out that Q2 of 2011 was a biggie: Osama bin Laden was killed and Kate and Wills tied the knot. (By comparison, Fox News was down 1%; MSNBC, 13%.) And a big part of the network's problem, posits the New York Times, is its avoidance of hyperpartisan analysis, which helps fill in the gaps when there's just not much going on. It "has yet to find an answer to what to do when news is light," writes Bill Carter. Politico goes behind the scenes, talking to staffers and former execs who report that morale is low and cite a lack of editorial leadership. "It’s frustrating to hear our leadership talk about the exemplary journalism we do, then turn on the TV during the day and see CNN doing another story about 'birthers' or 'tips for dining out alone,'" said one staffer, complaining about the lack of strategy. But one senior VP tells Politico that isn't so, saying its "clear" editorial direction rests upon "worldwide newsgathering and reporting a broad range of stories without picking sides." Still, Dylan Byers writes that "Cooper, once known for intrepid reports from disaster zones, now makes his most notable contributions to the following day’s news with a humor segment called 'The RidicuList.'"

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