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What would Donald Trump do to fix the Middle East? Listening to his prescriptions, it’s not an easy question to answer.
Trump sought to clarify his worldview with a prepared speech in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday after a week of battles over his claim that President Obama “founded ISIS” and was the “MVP” of the Islamist terror group.
But setting aside the debate over that rhetoric, which he did not repeat in his speech, the national security framework he described was so contradictory and filled with so many obvious falsehoods that it’s virtually impossible to tell what he would do as president.
Trump’s “Obama founded ISIS” catchphrase is inflammatory, but it’s not a literal argument (even though Trump initially insisted it was). Instead he's used the term to stitch together a patchwork of more mainstream criticisms that blame Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former President George W. Bush for creating the current Middle East crisis. “Our current strategy of nation building and regime change is a proven, absolute failure,” Trump said on Monday.
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Under Trump’s telling, Bush committed the initial sin by destabilizing the Middle East with his 2003 invasion of Iraq. This is a version of events more common on the left, but one that exists on the right as well.
Obama then made things worse with a "reckless" withdrawal of troops that created a "vacuum" for groups like ISIS to assert control. This is a frequent complaint from more neoconservative Republicans.
In addition, Trump said, Clinton exacerbated the problem by supporting airstrikes against Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi's "stable" regime, which provided Islamic radicals another weak state to serve as a base. He also argued Clinton and Obama should have supported Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, rather than encouraged him to step down in the face of street protests. These too are relatively ordinary criticisms.
But these arguments, while unremarkable enough on their own, say nothing about Trump's instincts or how he would govern.
That’s because Trump previously supported every single foreign policy decision he now decries.
Despite claiming daily that he opposed the Iraq War from the start, Trump endorsed deposing Saddam Hussein in a 2002 interview and there’s no record of him opposing the war until after it had began. As for exiting the Iraq War, he said repeatedly in 2007 and 2008 that America should withdraw immediately and later recommended the same course for Afghanistan.
Turning to Libya, Trump recorded a video in 2011 demanding the Obama administration remove Gadhafi from power on humanitarian grounds. He went on to lie about his support for the Libya intervention in a Republican debate only to admit to it when confronted with footage of his old statements in a CBS interview. Finally, Trump called Mubarak’s departure “a good thing” at the time before turning against the idea years later.
The result is that the only thing we know about Trump is that he’s good at criticizing decisions by other presidents in hindsight. Unfortunately, this is not a very useful skill for the person tasked with making the decisions in the first place.
“He’s best when he’s making forceful retrospective critiques,” Colin Dueck, a professor at George Mason University who’s researched the history of Republican foreign policy, said when asked to describe Trump’s worldview. “But when you ask him what specifically are you proposing going forward, he doesn’t have a coherent proposal.”
As Colin Powell famously cautioned George W. Bush ahead of the Iraq War, “you break it, you own it.” The consequences of military action — or inaction, in some of these cases — are irreversible.
A 'Blathering Jumble of Nonsense'
Trump’s chameleon-like prescription for Middle East is not consistent with any one school of thought – or with itself. Sometimes he resembles a non-interventionist in the vein of Ron Paul, like when he decried nation building and regime change in his speech on Monday. At other times, he sounds like Genghis Khan, like when he demanded in the very same speech that American troops conquer oil fields in Iraq by force and claim the profits for America. He previously suggested in 2011 that the US claim Libya's oil as well.
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“In the old days when we won a war, to the victor go the spoils,” Trump said on Monday, describing a doctrine that runs directly counter to the international regime America led the world in establishing and currently enforces.
The result of this confusing mix is that Trump has alienated Republican national security minds across a range of policy schools.
John Noonan, who advised Jeb Bush’s campaign on national security, said Obama’s “premature withdrawal from Iraq" was an avoidable mistake that contributed to the rise of ISIS and that Trump was accurate to point it out. But that doesn’t mean Noonan is on board with the GOP nominee — far from it.
“The rest of his foreign policy is an absolutely blathering jumble of nonsense,” he told NBC News. “I can’t in good conscience sign my name to it."
In March, Noonan signed onto a letter with dozens of Republican foreign policy hands disavowing Trump in part because his policies are “wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle."
Daniel Larison, a writer at the American Conservative, has spent years criticizing the Republican Party’s foreign policy for leaning too hard on military operations to advance American interests. But despite Trump’s stated opposition to “nation building” and toppling dictators by force, Larison opposes the nominee as well.
“Trump has relatively few antiwar conservative friends because he is not really reliably antiwar in any meaningful sense,” Larison said. “He favors a much larger military budget, he usually has no strong objections to foreign wars when they begin, and he has little or no interest in diplomatic engagement that might avert conflict.”
Trump’s views on intervention weren’t the only place where things ran off the rails. Adopting a standard GOP talking point, he decried Obama for a mythic “apology tour” on Monday and chided him for not championing feminism and gay rights abroad.
But this is at odds with his stated views as well, which have long been characterized by a deep contempt for any notion of human rights that might impede raw material gains. In addition to celebrating torture and regaling audiences with apocryphal tales of Americans committing war crimes, Trump has regularly argued America’s own leaders should refrain from criticizing dictatorial regimes because America lacks the moral authority to do so.
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“When the world looks at how bad the United States is, and then we go and talk about civil liberties, I don’t think we’re a very good messenger,” Trump said last month when asked about concerns over a crackdown on opposition by Turkish leader Reccep Erdogan.
Pressed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe last year over his praise for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin despite allegations he’s murdered journalists and rivals, Trump responded: “I think our country does plenty of killing also.”
In 2013, Trump also lavished praise on Putin in multiple interviews for writing an op-ed that criticized the very concept of American exceptionalism.
“You use a term like ‘American exceptionalism,’ and frankly, the way our country is being treated right now by Russia and Syria and lots of other places and with all the mistakes we've made over the years, like Iraq and so many others, it's sort of a hard term to use,” Trump said on Fox News, adding that Putin was “extremely diplomatic” for pointing this out.
'America First' a Departure From GOP Philosophy
Outside of the Middle East, Trump’s “America First” foreign policy views are at least somewhat more consistent. He’s long described international relations as a zero-sum gain between strong winners and weak losers in ways that apply to both national security and trade. Trump has consistently called for new tariffs to protect workers from foreign competition and he’s cast a skeptical eye towards alliances like NATO, which he’s threatened to abandon in recent months if member states don’t pay enough for protection.
Dueck compared Trump’s perspective to the original “America First” movement, which resisted foreign entanglements and sought American neutrality in World War II.
“Trump’s actually been saying for decades that he thinks U.S. alliances are more of a burden than an asset, he’s been saying for decades he against free trade deals like NAFTA,” Dueck said. “He’s very volatile and contradictory day to day but he has been actually saying this for years.”
All of this would be a major break from the last seven-plus decades of Republican and Democratic presidents. But at least American voters could fairly say they were warned if he implemented this approach. No one, probably not even Trump himself, knows how what he’d do about the Middle East.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. claim Libya’s oil fields was made in 2011, not during his speech Monday as first reported. ||||| Donald Trump’s speech on Monday about the war on “radical Islamic terrorism” was indifferently delivered and in many ways familiar. But there were some new elements — including an alarming suggestion that the Cold War offers a useful lesson in how to combat Islamic State.
Again Trump said that he had opposed the war in Iraq; again he attacked President Obama for opening the way for (if not “founding”) Islamic State by precipitously withdrawing U.S. forces from that country; again he disdained “nation-building and regime change”; and again he disparaged Hillary Clinton’s work as the country’s chief diplomat, this time adding the grace note that she lacked the “mental and physical stamina” necessary to deal with Islamic State.
Trump also promised to “temporarily suspend immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism” — the latest variation on his notorious proposal last year for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” There are too many immigrants coming in from the Middle East to perform adequate screening, he argued. But even if that’s true, many of the terrorist attacks he cited in Europe and the United States were conducted by people who wouldn’t have been subject to such scrutiny because they held European or American passports.
Requiring assent to a checklist of values would punish thoughts rather than deeds and might encourage newcomers to dissemble about their beliefs.
Trump said he would call for an international conference on halting the spread of radical Islam and described an alliance comprising NATO (which he claimed had decided to focus on terrorism at his suggestion), Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Russia. Never mind that something similar already exists under the imprimatur of the United Nations Security Council, although Russia seems more interested in propping up Syrian President Bashar Assad than in defeating Islamic State.
More interesting — and alarming — was Trump’s description of how he would combat “radical Islamic extremism” at home. Essentially, he would seek to promote liberal values, such as autonomy for women and tolerance for gays and lesbians, by adopting the conservative tactics of the 1950s.
“In the Cold War, we had an ideological screening test,” Trump said. “The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today.” Instead of excluding immigrants with communist views, he suggested, a Trump administration would bar immigrants “who have hostile attitudes toward our country or its principles — or who believe that Sharia law should supplant American law.” (How he would test for such attitudes — and why those who harbored them wouldn’t conceal them — went unexplained.)
And where the House Un-American Activities Committee delved into the alleged disloyalty of Americans during the Cold War, Trump would establish a Commission on Radical Islam that would “expose the networks in our society that support radicalization.” Trump said that “reformist voices in the Muslim community” would be invited to take part — an invitation unlikely to be accepted.
The goal of these initiatives, Trump suggested, would be to promote assimilation of Muslims and spare the United States the sort of alienation that has produced violence in Europe. What he apparently doesn’t recognize is that Muslims are far better assimilated in America than they are in the European countries that have been victimized by Islamist terrorists.
Obviously Americans aren’t immune to the siren call of Islamist extremism; witness the attacks in Boston, San Bernardino and Orlando, all of which Trump mentioned. Screening of potential immigrants and asylum-seekers for possible connections to terrorism is a matter of common sense as well as national security.
But ideological litmus tests for immigrants and a national commission to study “radical Islam” could be catastrophically counterproductive. Requiring assent to a checklist of values would punish thoughts rather than deeds and might encourage newcomers to dissemble about their beliefs. A commission designed to expose radicals could bring back the days of blacklists and guilt by association. These are frightening ideas. It’s no surprise that they have been proposed by Donald Trump.
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook ||||| People familiar with the immigration system say that many of Donald Trump's ideas will be nearly impossible to implement. | AP Photo Why Trump's immigration ideas won't work The Republican nominee's proposals appear nearly impossible to implement — and critics say they could actually fuel the terrorist threat.
Donald Trump on Monday laid out some big plans to change the U.S. immigration system, calling for the suspension of immigration from regions that have "a history of exporting terrorism" and the roll-out of an ideological test to weed out foreigners who may support "radical Islamic terrorism."
The problem, people familiar with the immigration system say, is that many of Trump's ideas will be nearly impossible to implement. And some may wind up actually increasing the terrorist threat.
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The Republican presidential nominee unveiled the proposals during a speech in Ohio on national security. "We should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people. I call it extreme vetting," the real estate mogul said, ad-libbing the "extreme vetting" line. "Those who do not believe in our Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into the country."
Critics argue that Trump's plans are just a way to bar Muslims from the U.S., an idea he suggested months ago but which even some Republicans called an "un-American" religious test. (Trump also wants a ban on Syrian refugees.) Regardless of his true intentions, the basics that Trump proposed Monday left observers struggling to envision how they could ever become a reality.
For instance, some asked, what does Trump mean by "terrorism" and "regions" with "a history of exporting terrorism?" Who counts as an immigrant — people who want to move to the U.S. permanently or the many millions who come as tourists, often without a visa? What counts as "bigotry and hatred?" And how will the ideological test be administered?
Trump's proposals now are "no more specific than saying you’re going to screen out Muslims — it’s less specific than that. In a way he’s made his proposal less narrow and even vaguer than it was before," said David Bier, an immigration analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute. "Vague proposals rarely get implemented in any sort of specific, targeted way."
Trump's team has promised more details in the coming weeks. As they figure them out, they'll face some tough realities.
For one thing, there are few regions in the world not affected at some point by some form of terrorism. In Europe alone, Spain has suffered from attacks by Basque separatists the U.S. labels as terrorists, while Northern Ireland is still troubled by offshoots of the Irish Republican Army. Even if Trump were to focus purely on Islamist-inspired terror, that would still presumably include much of Europe, including France and Britain, most of whose citizens currently enjoy visa-free tourist travel to America.
"Are we calling for restrictions on visas to countries that have some of the best criminal justice and international policing programs?" asked Greg Chen, a top official with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, in reference to Western European states.
Then there's the Middle East, which is deeply scarred by terrorism but includes countries such as Jordan, Egypt and Israel, whose governments are important partners in the fight against Islamist extremists. Trump actually singled out those three countries in his speech, calling them friends "who recognize this ideology of death that must be extinguished." But those countries — not to mention others — may resent seeing their citizens barred by the U.S. That could affect their cooperation on fighting extremists just as the U.S. is making headway in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.
"Freedom of travel, whether regulated by visa or not, to the United States is a critical element of our relationship with these countries. It’s a matter of dignity," said Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Trump also kept using the word "region," but the U.S. immigration and visa policies are largely built around country-to-country relationships, and some countries don't clearly fall into one region or another: Turkey, for example, is a country that straddles Europe and the Middle East.
U.S. immigration policy is incredibly complex and it is often affected by political decisions that seem questionable. For instance, earlier this year, the Obama administration imposed special visa restrictions on foreigners who have traveled in recent years to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. But the administration chose not to include on that list Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, two countries notorious for producing terrorists, because the governments in Riyadh and Islamabad are, technically, allies in the fight against extremism.
The U.S. government has very broad authority when it comes to deciding which foreigners it allows on its soil, and it does occasionally bar people, such as foreign government officials believed to be human rights violators. Historically, the U.S. also has barred people based on their beliefs, including in communism, a Cold War approach Trump alluded to in his speech. Legislative changes have made such ideological bans less likely today, but the rules are not black and white. Some experts assert that even if a Trump administration were to try to bar people based on their religion it may not technically be unconstitutional, even if it would seem to violate the spirit of the First Amendment.
Constitutionality aside, the ideological test proposed by Trump poses challenges on a sheer logistical level, and could cost huge amounts of money to implement. Would the test come in the form of a questionnaire? Interviews with consular officers? The deployment of people to scour immigration applicants' social media accounts?
And what counts as an un-American value?
In his speech, Trump castigated radical Islamists for their hatred of gays, but would he argue that evangelical Christians from South Korea who also denounce homosexuality should be barred from visiting the United States?
"Immigration to the United States would grind to a near halt if millions of people are subject to background checks based on subjective criteria," said Cornell University law professor Stephen Yale-Loehr, who added: "This proposal would also cost billions of dollars to implement. Business people and visitors could not be able to plan quick trips to the United States because they would not know how long an ideological background check would take."
Trump on Monday also slammed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for saying in the past that she wanted to see more Syrian refugees be allowed in the United States, warning that terrorists and criminals are hiding among the refugees (though Clinton has said refugees must be carefully vetted). But refugee advocates warn that Trump's comments only worsen America's reputation in the Middle East, spurring more young people to turn to Islamist extremism.
Hina Shamsi, director of the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said that, despite the change in language, Trump's overall goal appears to still be keeping out Muslims. She believes that would be unconstitutional. “It’s hard to see how these proposals do not pose significant legal, policy and practical hurdles, and rightly so,” she said. ||||| A HEAVILY trailed speech by Donald Trump on counter-terrorism, delivered in Ohio on August 15th, included little that made sense as a plan for keeping America safe, but offered some fresh insights into the self-obsessed, fact-scorning temperament of the businessman who wants to hold the world’s most powerful job.
As his poll numbers slide and the murmuring from his allies grows in volume, Mr Trump increasingly sounds like someone with a political version of Tourette’s Syndrome. Much of the speech could have been given by any of the 16 Republicans that the businessman defeated for the party’s presidential nomination, amounting to a committee-drafted recital of conventional conservative talking points. A subdued Mr Trump, reading from a teleprompter, dutifully accused Barack Obama of staging a blame-America “global apology tour” after taking office in 2009, and—together with his first secretary of state, Hillary Clinton—of destabilising the world by coddling tryants and snubbing allies, while refusing to take seriously the threat from Islamic terrorism.
But every now and then Mr Trump sensed an opportunity to boast about how prescient he had been in his assessment of foreign affairs, even as a private businessman with no seat in the councils of state, and began shouting about some of his favourite ideas, and how clever they were. Rather often this required brutalising the historical record. In his Ohio speech Mr Trump claimed, falsely, to have opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq from the very start, then called Mr Obama “incompetent” for withdrawing troops too fast from Iraq. He scolded the “Obama-Clinton group” for toppling the Qaddafi regime in Libya (though he actually praised that overthrow at the time). Mr Trump simultaneously grumbled that the Obama administration had both betrayed Reaganite ideas about freedom, and naively thought that democracy could ever be brought to such countries as Iraq.
The foreign policy speech had been billed as a chance for Mr Trump to show that he has sober, workable ideas for fighting the Islamic State (IS) terror network. The property developer ploughed through some proposals that ranged from policies already in place, such as drone strikes on terrorist leaders, to ideas that seemed to bore him as he read them out, such as a presidential commission on radical Islam, including moderate Muslims, which would craft new protocols on tackling extremism for use by local police departments. Bowing to off-stage pressure from Republican bigwigs, he backed away from his earlier, unconstitutional talk of banning Muslims from entry to America. Instead, he offered a plan for what he called “extreme, extreme vetting” of immigrants, reviving ideological screening tests last seen during the Cold War, under which consular officials and immigration officers would somehow identify those with “hostile attitudes” towards America and its values; anyone who believes that Sharia law should “supplant American law”; or any arrivals who do not “believe in the constitution or who support bigotry and hatred”; and ensure that visas only go to those “who we expect to flourish in our country.” To that end, once elected president he would ask the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to draw up a list of regions where “adequate screening” is not possible, and he would suspend immigration from dangerous regions with a “history of exporting terrorism.”
He sounded much more excited when his text gave him the chance to engage in personal abuse, accusing Mrs Clinton of wanting to be “America’s Angela Merkel”, claiming that the German chancellor has allowed “massive immigration” bringing “catastrophe” to her country. Mr Trump sounded even happier when peddling conspiracy theories, as when he flatly declared that Mrs Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina” to take on IS “and every other challenge we face.” He sounded happiest of all when he congratulated himself for his idea that America should have seized Iraqi oilfields (while shunning all other forms of nation-building in Iraq), leaving behind American troops to guard this war booty. “I said: ‘keep the oil, keep the oil, keep the oil, don’t let somebody else get it’,” Mr Trump said, adding: “In the old days, when we won a war, to the victor belonged the spoils.”
The audience in Ohio liked some bits of Mr Trump’s speech, as when he promised to dismantle terror networks in America “viciously if necessary”. His supporters were quiet through one of the few passages that amounted to a foreign-policy strategy that Mr Trump could realistically deliver as president, possibly because it was a fresh statement of his desire to forge closer links with the authoritarian government of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin, and “find common ground” in the fight against IS and in Syria policy.
A short while before Mr Trump’s speech, Hillary Clinton, campaigning in the scrappy, blue-collar city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, preemptively mocked her rival for taking so long to reveal his counter-terror plans, saying that his secret is that “he has no plan”. Mrs Clinton was joined in Scranton by the vice-president, Joe Biden, who condemned Mr Trump’s praise for authoritarian leaders, saying that the businessman “would have loved Stalin”, and joked that Mrs Clinton had forgotten more than Mr Trump and his entire foreign policy staff ever knew about geopolitics.
Real Cold War veterans may be forgiven for finding the 2016 election a little odd. The party of Eisenhower and Reagan has nominated a man who calls looting of foreign assets the highest priority for America in war, and who sucks up to Russia. The Democrats are running on their candidate’s national-security credentials. Meanwhile Mr Trump—judged simply as a man standing on a stage—sounds angrier and unhappier every day. This election is not about to grow more inspiring. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says that as president he would end "our current strategy of nation-building and regime change" because they don't work. His dislike for nation-building is shared by many, including none other than the target of his criticism, President Barack Obama.
In fact it was Obama's predecessor, Republican George W. Bush, who committed the U.S. to large-scale nation-building projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama discarded that strategy while trying to keep enough U.S. influence there to prevent those two countries from crumbling. Obama's approach may not have worked, but it's not Bush-like "nation-building."
And while the Republican presidential nominee argued against nation-building in a foreign policy speech Monday, he advocated for something even more grandiose: seizing Iraq's oil wealth in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"I have long said that we should have kept the oil in Iraq," he said in Youngstown, Ohio. "I said, 'Keep the oil. Keep the oil. Keep the oil. Don't let somebody else get it.'" It would have required U.S. troops to protect the oil, he said, but the benefit would have been clear today.
"If we had controlled the oil like I said we should, we could have prevented the rise of ISIS in Iraq, both by cutting off a major source of funding and through the presence of U.S. forces necessary to safeguard the oil and vital infrastructure products necessary for us to have the oil."
Rather than nation-building, this would have been nation-grabbing, making Iraq a de-facto American colony.
In the final months of his administration, Bush negotiated an agreement with the Iraqi government that called for all U.S. troops to leave the country by December 2011. Obama stuck to that schedule, believing that the Iraqis needed to stand on their own while the U.S. turned its attention to other pressing needs at home and abroad, what he called "nation building at home." Obama, supported by his first secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, saw Bush's nation-building effort as a proven failure.
Iraqi politics, however, never overcame sectarian divisions, undermining the Iraqi army and leaving an easy target for IS.
Trump is right that the Islamic State capitalized on the political and security vacuum in Iraq in 2014, but it's not clear that a long-term U.S. military occupation to hold and exploit Iraqi's oil resources would have led to a more stable outcome.
Trump says he would have used money from the sale of Iraqi oil to pay for the care of wounded soldiers and the families of those Americans killed in the war.
"This proposal by its very nature would have left soldiers in place of our assets," he said. "We would have had soldiers there guarding this valuable supply of oil. In the old days, when we won a war, to the victor belonged the spoils."
After major military victories, the 240-year-old United States has tended to pour money and aid back into countries it has fought to help re-establish governments and services. It was, in fact, a kind of nation-building approach. The U.S. still has troops in Germany and Japan, with the permission of those nations, but it never confiscated their natural resources.
In his speech, Trump said that as president he would discard "nation-building." In its place would be what he called a new approach, which he described simply as halting the spread of "radical Islam." He said that if elected he would convene an international conference on the topic and work closely with Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Russia, the NATO alliance and "all others who recognize this ideology of death that must be extinguished."
Trump also called Monday for "extreme" ideological vetting of immigrants seeking admission to the United States, vowing to significantly overhaul the country's screening process and block those who sympathize with extremist groups or don't embrace American values.
"Those who do not believe in our Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into our country," Trump said. "Only those who we expect to flourish in our country — and to embrace a tolerant American society — should be issued visas."
Trump's proposals were the latest version of a policy that began with his unprecedented call to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from entering the country — a religious test that was criticized across party lines as un-American.
___
Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report. | – Donald Trump delivered what one analyst calls a "surprisingly serious" speech on foreign policy and counterterrorism Monday—but serious may not equal coherent. Many analysts were taken aback by the mix of proposals in the speech, which included policies favored by the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, along with ideas dating back to the Cold War and some touches that were pure Trump. A roundup of reactions: Some elements of Trump's speech on the war on "radical Islamic terrorism" were familiar, but what was new was "alarming," according to the Los Angeles Times editorial board. His calls for a Cold War-style "ideological screening test" and a Commission on Radical Islam could be "catastrophically counterproductive," they write—and "would punish thoughts rather than deeds," as well as encourage newcomers to the US to conceal their beliefs. Former Bush administration official Peter Feaver tells the New York Times that he gives Trump credit for the "surprisingly serious" speech, but a striking amount of it "depends on counterterrorism ideas developed by the Bush administration." The "good parts are not new," and "the new parts are not good," he says. Robert Burns at the AP believes there was a lot more Obama than Bush in Trump's disdain for nation-building. Obama ditched Bush's large-scale projects in Iraq and Afghanistan while "trying to keep enough US influence there to prevent those two countries from crumbling," he writes, noting that Trump's argument that the US should have seized Iraq's oil isn't nation-building, it's "nation-grabbing." John Noonan, Jeb Bush's former national security adviser, tells NBC News that Trump is completely correct about Obama's contribution to the rise of ISIS, and not much else. "The rest of his foreign policy is an absolutely blathering jumble of nonsense," he says. "I can't in good conscience sign my name to it." At Politico, Nahal Toosi looks at the "extreme vetting" proposal that has replaced Trump's ban on Muslim immigration and finds numerous problems. She notes that focusing on regions with a "history of exporting terrorism" would include much of Europe, even if only Islamist-inspired terrorism is included. Trump seemed bored by much of his own speech and only seemed excited when congratulating himself on his prescience or accusing Hillary Clinton of "wanting to be 'America's Angela Merkel,'" per the Lexington column at the Economist. The article notes that real Cold War veterans will find this election very strange. "The party of Eisenhower and Reagan has nominated a man who calls looting of foreign assets the highest priority for America in war, and who sucks up to Russia," it says. Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post is equally scathing in his fact-checking of the speech. Kessler debunks claims, including the notion of an Obama "apology tour" in 2009, and notes that Trump was not an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War until well after it began—and that he has apparently forgotten that he "was a fervent advocate of intervening in Libya." |
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iranian soldiers march in formation during the Army Day military parade in Tehran April 18, 2011.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran makes no distinction between U.S. and Israeli interests and will retaliate against both countries if attacked, an Iranian military commander said on Wednesday.
The comments came after the White House denied an Israeli news report that it was negotiating with Tehran to keep out of a future Israel-Iran war and as U.S. President Barack Obama fends off accusations from his election rival that he is too soft on Tehran.
"The Zionist regime separated from America has no meaning, and we must not recognize Israel as separate from America," Ali Fadavi, naval commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
"On this basis, today only the Americans have taken a threatening stance towards the Islamic Republic," Fadavi said. "If the Americans commit the smallest folly they will not leave the region safely."
Iran - which has missiles that could reach Israel and U.S. targets in the region - has conducted military exercises and unveiled upgraded weapons in recent months, aiming to show it can defend itself against any strike against its nuclear sites.
Israel - thought to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons - says the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran would pose a threat to its existence. Tehran denies it is developing weapons and says its nuclear program is peaceful.
With the approach of U.S. elections in November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a tougher stance against Iran - implicitly knocking Obama's emphasis on diplomatic and sanctions pressure to halt Iranian nuclear work.
While Israel would expect U.S. backing if it decided to strike Iran, the top U.S. general has suggested Washington would not be drawn into a conflict.
"I don't want to be complicit if they choose to do it," Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey as saying.
Netanyahu abruptly ended a meeting of Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday, saying someone in the forum had leaked details of its discussions on Iran.
Any decision to go to war against Iran would, by Israeli law, require the approval of the security cabinet. One government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no such decisions had been on the table at Tuesday's meeting.
(Reporting By Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) ||||| An Israeli attack on Iran would delay but probably not stop its nuclear programme, the most senior US military officer has claimed. General Martin Dempsey reinforced Washington's opposition to unilateral Israel military action as he made clear that US military chiefs were equally wary of getting ensnared in Syria.
In common with Nato's supreme commander, US admiral James Stavridis, who wrote about Afghanistan for the Guardian on Thursday, Dempsey put a brave face on the situation there. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff was speaking to journalists in London, where he attended the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games as head of the US delegation.
Distancing himself from any Israeli plan to bomb Iran, Dempsey said such an attack would "clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran's nuclear programme".
He added: "I don't want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it."
Dempsey said he did not know Iran's nuclear intentions, as intelligence did not reveal intentions. What was clear, he said, was that the "international coalition" applying pressure on Iran "could be undone if [Iran] was attacked prematurely". Sanctions against Iran were having an effect, and they should be given a reasonable opportunity to succeed.
On Syria, he said, Washington was collaborating with the country's neighbours, sharing intelligence and helping with military planning. The US was supplying humanitarian aid to Turkey.
But Dempsey warned of the implications of establishing a "humanitarian zone" inside Syria, as suggested by others, including France, have suggested. Syria was not Libya, he said, there was no comparison.
Those who established a humanitarian zone would be obliged to assume responsibility for protecting it, Dempsey said. That would mean not merely establishing a no-fly zone but providing protection against Syrian missiles.
The US, like the UK, was supplying "non-lethal" aid to Syrian rebels. What he described as "any broader activities inside Syria" would have to be discussed and conducted within the Nato framework, Dempsey said. The worst-case scenario would be Syria ending up as a failed state, he said. He was reflecting growing concern in the west and elsewhere, including Russia, about the crisis allowing armed extreme jihadists and al-Qaida sympathisers with the opportunity to increase their influence and expand control across Syria.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban were using young men in "green on blue" attacks – attacks by Afghans in army uniform – as part of a new asymmetric weapon, as improvised explosive devices had been in the past, Dempsey suggested.
A rapid expansion of Afghan security forces from some about 200,000 to more than 300,000 in two years had "exposed vulnerabilities in vetting practices", he said.
Nato had to help develop Afghan forces to ensure Nato troops ended their combat role by the target date of the end of 2014, "and we will", Dempsey said.
Stavridis wrote that "measurable and substantial progress" has been made in Afghanistan in three specific areas. Firstly, Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for terrorists, he said. Secondly, Afghan national forces have improved markedly over the past 18 months, "to the point where they are making significant gains in the fight against the Taliban". As a result, "this has been a particularly difficult summer for the insurgency, which has seen the elimination of two top-level commanders in the past few days alone".
Thirdly, the international community has made specific pledges on long-term partnerships with Afghanistan.
Stavridis said Afghan society was changing for the better every day, but acknowledged that the Nato-led coalition faced formidable challenges over the next few years. "I have no doubt that there will still be difficult days ahead." | – The US and Israel are in it together when it comes to Iran—whether the US likes it or not. Iran said today that it saw no difference between Israel and the United States, and that an attack by either would result in retaliation against both, Reuters reports. " We must not recognize Israel as separate from America ," a Revolutionary Guard commander told Iran's state-run news service. "If the Americans commit the smallest folly they will not leave the region safely." The comments come in the wake of an Israeli media report that the White House was negotiating with Iran to ensure it wasn't sucked into an Iran-Israel war. The White House denied the report, though US military officials have openly talked about their reluctance to back an Israeli attack. "I don't want to be complicit if they choose to do it," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey recently told the Guardian. |
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This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| Dresnok was among a handful of American servicemen to desert after the Korean war and was loyal to Kim Jong-un
The only US soldier known to still be living in North Korea after defecting more than five decades ago died last year, pledging his loyalty to the “great leader Kim Jong-un”, his sons have said.
James Joseph Dresnok was among a handful of American servicemen to desert following the Korean war, crossing the heavily fortified demilitarised zone in 1962.
He went on to appear in North Korean propaganda films and was believed to be the last US defector in the country, the others all having died or been allowed to leave.
North Korea's bold wave of propaganda art - in pictures Read more
In a video interview posted on the state-run Uriminzokkiri website, Ted and James Dresnok, his two sons, confirmed their father had a fatal stroke in November last year.
“Our father was in the arms of the republic and received only the love and care of the party until his passing at age 74,” said Ted Dresnok, the elder of the two.
In the video, Dresnok and his brother wore a Korean People’s army uniform, adorned with a badge depicting the North’s founder Kim Il-sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-il.
Both men were born in North Korea and spoke Korean with a heavy northern accent.
“Our father asked us to render devoted service to our great leader Kim Jong-un,” said Ted Dresnok, who also goes by the Korean name Hong Soon-chol.
Their comments were similar to those of North Koreans, who normally only express officially approved sentiments when speaking for a foreign audience.
It was the brothers’ second appearance on the programme, after they praised the country in an interview in May 2016.
Play Video 1:01 Sons of US defector to North Korea James Dresnok speak out after father's death – video
Addressing the recent tensions between Pyongyang and Washington, Ted Dresnok warned that the “US imperialists” were raising “war hysteria madness” with little knowledge about the North’s military and its people.
If war breaks out, he said, “we will not miss the opportunity and wipe the land of the US from the earth for ever”.
Tensions have been mounting in the region since Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) last month that appeared to bring much of the US within range.
That sparked a volley of threats between Pyongyang and Washington, with the US president, Donald Trump, warning of bringing “fire and fury” on the North while Pyongyang threatened to fire a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam.
“We have our dear supreme commander Kim Jong-un. If he is by our side, our victory is certain,” said James Dresnok, who also goes by his Korean name Hong Chol, in the video posted on Friday.
The late James Dresnok, known as Joe, crossed a minefield at 21 to reach North Korea, after his wife divorced him and he was reportedly about to be court martialled.
He was the subject of a British documentary, Crossing the Line, in 2006 and expressed satisfaction with his life in Pyongyang, whose citizens enjoy better standards of living than those elsewhere in the isolated country.
He also told CBS that he would not leave even if “you put a billion damn dollars of gold on the table”. ||||| Published on Jun 3, 2016
The sons of an American defector to North Korea appear in a video scolding the U.S. and saying American troops should leave South Korea. CNN's Brian Todd reports. ||||| Rating is available when the video has been rented.
This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. | – He might have been the most famous American in North Korea. But now James "Joe" Dresnok, a US soldier who defected after fighting in the Korean War, is dead, reports the Guardian. His two Korean-born sons made the news public in a government video, saying their father had suffered a stroke and died at age 74. Dresnok was one of a few American soldiers to cross into North Korea in 1962, and he went on to star in propaganda films, generally as the evil American. The BBC made a documentary about him in 2006 called Crossing the Line in which he said he had no regrets about his defection. "I wouldn't trade it for nothin,'" the native of Richmond, Va., says in the video. (The film is on YouTube. CBS' 60 Minutes also did a feature on Dresnok, which can be seen here.) The few other Americans who defected are believed to have died or left the country. Dresnok, who crossed a minefield into the North, had faced a court-martial for leaving his base without permission for a night on the town. "I was fed up with my childhood, my marriage, my military life, everything," he said. Sons Ted and James Dresnok, aka Hong Soon-chol and Hong Chol, spoke of their father in the new state video. "Our father was in the arms of the republic and received only the love and care of the party until his passing at age 74," said Ted Dresnok. Though half-American himself, Ted Dresnok showed where his loyalties lie, warning that if war breaks out, "we will not miss the opportunity and wipe the land of the US from the earth for ever." His brother had a similar sentiment, saying: "We have our dear supreme commander Kim Jong Un. If he is by our side, our victory is certain." (You can see the two of them in this video from about a year ago.) |
“The photographs had to be taken by someone who was very close,” Mr. Tredwen said. “All photographs of Adolf Hitler were very much controlled because obviously they did not want photographs coming out that made him look bad. They would not have been made for the general public.”
There were no signatures in the book to suggest ownership, or the identity of the photographer, he said.
He described the bidding as “very competitive,” with telephone bidders from Britain and the United States, as well as interest online from Germany, China, South Africa and other countries.
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Mr. Tredwen, a specialist of more than a dozen years in military history items, said buyers of Nazi memorabilia were generally historians. “I have never in my life met anyone who shared the political views of the Third Reich,” he said. “They are literally only there to collect. World War II was one of the biggest events to affect the world.”
“People are fascinated by how evil the Third Reich were,” he added.
The description of the item online traced its journey from April 1945, when a British Fleet Street photographer, Edward Dean, “obtained” it from a Russian soldier whom he had watched find the album in a drawer in Braun’s bunker bedroom, shortly after the couple committed suicide. The item changed hands several times after Mr. Dean auctioned it.
In one photograph, Hitler salutes as he walks toward the camera down a path at his Berghof headquarters in the Bavarian Alps. His guards are also depicted on duty and in relaxed poses in the images, which date mostly from the early to mid-1930s.
Ownership of items related to Nazi history poses ethical questions. Some art collectors have stepped forward to try to find out whether their art was looted from Jews. A replica of a gate that was believed to have been stolen from the Dachau concentration camp in Germany was recovered last year.
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And an attraction in Berlin that recreates the interior of Hitler’s bunker and opened last year suggests an uncomfortable phenomenon — that Hitler sells.
Memorials dedicated to preserving the historical context of the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were killed, have often called on collectors or people with personal items from survivors to donate the artifacts.
In January, in commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, the memorial director, Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywinski, issued a statement calling for donations.
“We kindly ask the public to hand over any documents, photos, personal letters, diaries, or other materials that are in private hands,” he said.
“I am absolutely convinced that only mutual effort can lead to a fuller understanding of the mechanisms of hatred, and analyses from the perspective of the victims, given the course of events, cannot fully serve the purpose,” he added. “Today, we need new sources for a comprehensive picture of the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust.” ||||| "Eva Braun was the "first lady" of the Third Reich and without question this was with her at the last stages of the war in the Fuhrer Bunker in Berlin in 1945.
"Very few significant artefacts liberated from the Fuhrer Bunker in 1945 exist today in the open market, especially with such concrete provenance dating all the way back to the time of liberation.
"Photographs of Hitler were very carefully controlled to ensure they fitted in to the image the Nazis were trying to project of him.
"So it is rare to come across easy-going photographs of him that wouldn't have got through the censorship, especially during the height of the Second World War.
"The one of him walking down the path outside the Berghof in a kind of a jocular pose giving an almost Charlie Chaplin-type salute is quite striking. | – A photo album featuring candid shots of some of the most evil people ever to walk the Earth has been snapped up for $41,000 by an anonymous buyer at an auction in England. The album, found in the bunker bedroom of Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's mistress, features Hitler and henchmen including Heinrich Himmler and Josef Goebbels in lighter moments, the Telegraph reports. Some of the 73 photos can be seen on the auction site, including one of Hitler relaxing in the Alps. C&T Auctioneers says the photo album was taken in April 1945 from the bunker as a souvenir by British wartime photographer Edward "Dixie" Dean, who sold it to a collector in 1983. Per the auction house, "Very few significant artifacts liberated from the Fuhrer Bunker in 1945 exist today in the open market, especially with such concrete provenance." Auction house owner Matthew Tredwen tells the New York Times that it is clear that the photos were taken by a member of Hitler's inner circle, though the book gives no indication of who that might be. "The photographs had to be taken by someone who was very close," he says. "All photographs of Adolf Hitler were very much controlled" to show him in the best light. These "would not have been made for the general public." Tredwen adds that in his years of dealing in Nazi memorabilia and other military history items, he has never met anybody who actually supports Nazi ideology. "People are fascinated by how evil the Third Reich were," he says. (There is a dispute over whether "Hitler's personal phone" is the real thing.) |
SABATTUS — Controversial Republican candidate Leslie Gibson, who drew fire for insulting several teen survivors of the Florida school shooting, is abandoning his effort to win a state House seat this year.
“I am not walking away with my head hung low. I am walking away with my head held high,” Gibson said Friday.
Gibson said he made the decision after talking with his family, praying and discussing it with friends and colleagues, including Thomas Martin Jr., another Republican contender who entered the 57th District race Thursday.
“It’s the best thing for everybody,” Gibson said.
Gibson has been under fire this week for comments he made online about the teens in Florida who survived a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. He criticized two of them who were leading an effort to increase restrictions on gun sales in the wake of the Feb. 14 killings, calling one a “skinhead lesbian,” and another a “bald-faced liar.”
The 18-year-old student whom Gibson singled out, Emma Gonzalez, is among the students speaking out from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. In the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre there that left 17 of her classmates dead, she emerged as a leader in students’ fight to make assault rifles harder to come by.
“There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat,” Gibson wrote.
Gibson said in another tweet that calling her a survivor, as many have done, is disingenuous because she “was in a completely different part of the school” when students were gunned down.
Gibson apologized in a later tweet, saying, “I would like to extend to you my most sincere apology for how I addressed you. It was wrong and unacceptable. You are doing work that is important to you. I would like to extend my hand in friendship and understanding to you.”
Gibson said that during his career in the military, he took an oath “to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
“Because of this,” he said, “I am very passionate about protecting our constitutional rights from those who seek their elimination. It was not appropriate to single out the Parkland students, but I stand firm in my defense of our constitutional rights.”
David Hogg, the other teen Gibson insulted, tweeted on Wednesday, urging someone to run against Gibson.
“Who wants to run against this hate-loving politician?” asked Hogg, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “I don’t care what party. JUST DO IT.”
Hogg has been an outspoken advocate for taking on the National Rifle Association.
The incident that apparently set off Gibson was an appearance by Hogg on CNN in which the Parkland student lashed out at NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch. He accused her of working with gun manufacturers to control Congress.
“She owns these congressmen. She can get them to do things,” Hogg told the network. “She doesn’t care about these children’s lives,” he said.
Gibson, who retired from the U.S. Navy, for years has used social media to comment on immigration, defend conservative politicians and promote Republican policies. He has a history of retweeting stridently anti-immigrant comments, often from accounts in Maine.
Last month, he explained on Facebook after “the tragedy that occurred in Florida” that there has been “a lot of misinformation, and flat out lies” circulated by “the liberal media and leftist anti-Second Amendment groups.”
As a lifetime member of the NRA, he said, he stands with the group’s efforts “to protect and preserve our Second Amendment rights,” which he said are “under attack.”
“The NRA and its members are being blamed for the Florida tragedy,” Gibson wrote. “Such blame is patently misdirected. The blame rests solely with the person who committed these murders.”
He made his social media accounts private after the uproar over his insults aimed at the teens.
Gibson had been cruising toward an unopposed election in the district, which includes Sabattus and Greene. But his comments stirred both Martin and Democrat Eryn Gilchrist to join the contest.
Gilchrist filed the required paperwork on Thursday to run for the 57th District seat.
She said she never anticipated running for office but felt so “horrified and embarrassed” at the thought of Gibson representing her that she decided to jump in.
“I would really have been happy to partake in representative democracy by voting,” Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist, 28, a Connecticut native who works for a medical device company based in Bowdoin, is a 2013 graduate of Bates College.
Martin said on Thursday he felt compelled to run after he read Gibson’s strident comments about the two Florida students.
Martin, a former state senator from Benton, said it is important to have a candidate who represents real Republican values.
“After those recent unfortunate comments, I couldn’t sit back,” Martin said.
Martin, a 52-year-old contractor, said that people have to realize “that our words and actions have consequences.”
Gibson said he hopes his departure from the race will bring things back to normal.
He said he’s going to try to “get some peace and quiet in our lives” after the turmoil of recent days.
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filed under: ||||| In the past month, the vocal teenage survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, with their ballooning social-media followings and national TV appearances, have emerged as the newest and youngest voices in the push to beef up gun-control laws in the United States.
And critics who have bad-mouthed the teens on the Internet or the airwaves have found their own vitriol turned back on them by people sympathetic to the plight of students who became activists after seeing their classmates and educators slaughtered.
There was the aide to a Florida legislator who was fired after he called the school shooting survivors crisis actors who travel from tragic place to tragic place making impassioned but bogus political pleas to take away gun rights. Then there was Donald Trump Jr., who was blasted after he liked a tweet saying one of the most vocal students had been coached by his FBI agent father to peddle “anti-Trump rhetoric and anti-gun legislation.”
And several naysayers have been castigated for criticizing the teens for smiling on the set of CBS’s morning news show, saying the students were “posing for the photos like they are partying rock stars.”
Claiming some of the students on tv after #Parkland are actors is the work of a disgusting group of idiots with no sense of decency — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 20, 2018
And then there is Leslie Gibson.
A week ago, the Republican was the only declared candidate to represent the 57th District in Maine’s House of Representatives. On Friday, his fortunes vastly changed as he quit the race to represent the towns of Greene and Sabattus, according to the Associated Press.
Leslie Gibson quits state House race after Thomas Martin jumps in for GOP https://t.co/REYsl1GAR0 via @SteveCollinsSJ #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/l4I0zuh8PM — Sun Journal (@sunjournal) March 17, 2018
Gibson had become known outside his little corner of Maine for what many say was his rage-tweet against the vocal survivors of the shooting that killed 17 in Parkland, Fla.
“There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat,” the now-deleted tweet read.
[Broward Sheriff’s Office releases video showing deputy standing outside Parkland school during massacre]
The 17-year-old girl he was referring to is Emma González, who has emerged as one of the most outspoken activists in the Parkland group.
She has, for example, called President Trump’s plan to arm teachers as a first line of defense school shooters “stupid.”
“First of all, Douglas ran out of paper for, like, two weeks in the school year, and now all a sudden they have $400 million to pay for teachers to get trained to arm themselves?” she says. “Really? Really?”
Sometimes, she has led people in “Shame on you!” chants directed at lawmakers.
Gibson’s tweet last week was a response to a report on González’s rocketing number of Twitter followers, the AP reported. But she wasn’t the only Parkland survivor he targeted.
He also criticized David Hogg, another Parkland student who has become a prominent activist following the shooting, calling Hogg “a bald faced liar.”
The reaction was swift. Hogg, who also saw a precipitous increase in his Twitter following, asked whether somebody, anybody, would run against Gibson.
Hey freinds in Maine! Who wants to run against this hate loving politician he's is running UNOPPOSED RUN AGAINST HIM I don't care what party JUST DO IT. https://t.co/vRR7p1ZHKf — David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 14, 2018
The next day, Eryn Gilchrist, a 28-year-old Democrat who also hails from Maine’s 57th District, announced that she would also run for the seat, according to CBS News, because she was “horrified and embarrassed” that Gibson would represent her in the legislature.
And Thomas Martin Jr., a Republican, said he “couldn’t sit back” after reading Gibson’s comments and felt compelled to enter the race, according to the Portland Press Herald.
[‘Can you play dead?’ New details about the chaos and fear that surrounded the Parkland massacre.]
Gibson said he made the decision to quit after meeting with friends, family members and colleagues. Those consultations included what he calls a “very positive conversation” with Martin, the newspaper reported. Dropping out, he said is “the best decision for myself, my family, the Maine GOP and for candidate Tom Martin.”
Just as they have criticized politicians for what they say is inaction on gun control, the students have also gone head-to-head against their critics.
“I just think it’s a testament to the sick immaturity and broken state of our government when these people feel the need to peddle conspiracy theories about people that were in a school shooting where 17 people died, and it just makes me sick,” Hogg told BuzzFeed News. “It’s immature, rude and inhuman for these people to destroy the people trying to prevent the death of the future of America because they won’t,” he said.
Late Friday, he took to Twitter again. This time he was sharing news that Gibson was out of the race.
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This civil servant was tormented for sending Hawaii’s panic-inducing missile alert. Wrong guy. ||||| Now, a 28-year-old woman who was “horrified and embarrassed” by the candidate is running to fill the seat in her first-ever campaign.
A Republican candidate for Maine's House of Representatives dropped out of the race on Friday after facing a storm of backlash for mocking Parkland survivor and activist Emma González as a "skinhead lesbian." Afp Contributor / AFP / Getty Images
Leslie Gibson had previously been the only declared candidate in the race. “There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat,” Gibson had tweeted, according to the Press Herald. In another tweet, Gibson reportedly derided claims that González is a survivor of the shooting because she “was in a completely different part of the school” when the shooter opened fire and killed 17 of her classmates. And, in yet another tweet, Gibson called David Hogg, another Parkland survivor and activist, “a bald faced liar" for his criticism of NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch.
Gibson's attacks on the students were criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike. Bruce Bickford, a Republican in the Maine House of Representatives, posted on Facebook that "this type of behavior is not an example of the Republican Party. I cannot and will not support this person! So Sad!!" Amy Volk, a Republican state senator in Maine, tweeted that Gibson had previously attacked her on social media and that he should not run for office. "Respect and kindness are so important, whether we are working with each other in the #MaineLegislature, interacting with constituents or discussing national issues," Volk said. In a statement to the Press Herald, Phil Bartlett, the chair of the Maine Democratic Party, called on Republican leadership to condemn Gibson. “Regardless of where someone falls along the political spectrum, we should all be able to agree that Les Gibson’s comments are reprehensible and deserving of our denunciation," Bartlett said.
Gibson subsequently apologized to González in a tweet on Monday. “Emma, my name is Les Gibson from Maine," he wrote. "I would like to extend to you my most sincere apology for how I addressed you. It was wrong and unacceptable.” González did not respond.
On Wednesday, Hogg tweeted and asked literally anyone to run against the unopposed candidate. Hey freinds in Maine! Who wants to run against this hate loving politician he's is running UNOPPOSED RUN AGAINST HIM I don't care what party JUST DO IT. https://t.co/vRR7p1ZHKf
And two people took actually Hogg up on the suggestion. The following day, Republican Thomas Martin Jr. and Democrat Eryn Gilchrist filed the paperwork to run for the seat. Martin, a former state senator, told the Press Herald he decided to run because "after those recent unfortunate comments, I couldn’t sit back."
Gilchrist, a 28-year-old who works for a medical device company, said she'd never considered running for office, but was so “horrified and embarrassed” at the idea that Gibson might become her representative that she decided to enter the race. Eryn Gilchrist is stepping up to challenge Les Gibson, who called a Parkland survivor a "skinhead lesbian," because she knows Maine people deserve leaders who show respect and work through differences to make lives better. Go Eryn! #mepolitics https://t.co/rVSdSad7Dd
“I would really have been happy to partake in representative democracy by voting,” Gilchrist said. Gilchrist and Martin could not immediately be reached for comment.
González tweeted about Gilchrist's decision to run, saying that "all I can say is Thank You." Eryn 💕💕💕 all I can say is Thank You https://t.co/DhBR5LN3Ro
On Friday, Gibson dropped out of the race, saying, "It’s the best thing for everybody." “I am not walking away with my head hung low," he told the Press Herald. "I am walking away with my head held high.” He has since deleted his personal Twitter account and set his campaign's Twitter to private. BuzzFeed News was unable to reach Gibson for comment.
After Gibson's announcement, González and Sarah Chadwick, another activist and Parkland student, pulled no punches. It’s what he deserves ☕️ https://t.co/NvXx6fKjYV | – A Maine candidate's attack on an outspoken survivor of the Parkland school shooting angered so many people that he ended up having to drop out of a race in which he had been running unopposed. Leslie Gibson, a Republican who had been running for a state House seat in the 57th district, tweeted that Emma Gonzalez was a "skinhead lesbian" with nothing to say "unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat." In another tweet from his now-deleted account, Gibson rejected Gonzalez's claim to be a survivor of the mass shooting, saying she had been in a "completely different part of the school," BuzzFeed reports. He also called David Hogg, another survivor, a "bald-faced liar," prompting Hogg to ask whether anybody would run against him, the Washington Post reports. After the tweets—which were denounced by several Republican state lawmakers—28-year-old Democrat Eryn Gilchrist announced her candidacy, saying she would be "horrified and embarrassed" to have Gibson represent her. Thomas Martin Jr., a Republican, also announced his candidacy, saying he represented "real Republican values," the Portland Press Herald reports. Gibson, who apologized to Gonzalez earlier in the week for the "wrong and unacceptable" way in which he addressed her, dropped out of the race Friday, saying he had made the decision after speaking to family members, friends, and Martin. "I am not walking away with my head hung low. I am walking away with my head held high," he said. (After the Parkland shooting, Gonzalez called out President Trump and the NRA.) |
Girls walk along a street in Old Havana where a driver steers his classic American car in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. A legislative session on Wednesday will see a historic political transition,... (Associated Press)
Girls walk along a street in Old Havana where a driver steers his classic American car in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. A legislative session on Wednesday will see a historic political transition, in which President Raul Castro plans to step down and hand over the office to a younger successor.... (Associated Press)
Girls walk along a street in Old Havana where a driver steers his classic American car in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. A legislative session on Wednesday will see a historic political transition, in which President Raul Castro plans to step down and hand over the office to a younger successor.... (Associated Press) Girls walk along a street in Old Havana where a driver steers his classic American car in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. A legislative session on Wednesday will see a historic political transition,... (Associated Press)
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba's National Assembly will elect a new president on Wednesday and announce the replacement for Raul Castro the next day, an unusual two-day process that will install someone from outside the Castro family in the country's highest government office for the first time in nearly six decades.
The Cuban National Assembly has generally met and selected the president in one day. Its votes are nearly always anonymous and seen as reflecting the will of the country's top leadership.
Communist Party newspaper Granma says the congress will assemble at 9 a.m. and select leaders of the legislature before voting for the president and other members of the Council of State, the country's highest government body. Granma says state media will broadcast live "the most important moments of the unfolding of this transcendental session."
The secret vote will be counted by the National Electoral Commission and announced Thursday, Granma says.
The new president will take over for the 86-year-old Castro, who is stepping down after two five-year terms. His brother Fidel was prime minister and president from 1959 until he fell ill in 2006. Although Osvaldo Dorticos was president of Cuba during Fidel Castro's time as prime minister, he was considered a figurehead next to the man who led Cuba's revolution, forged its single-party socialist system and ruled by fiat.
First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, 57, has long been seen as the overwhelming favorite to replace Castro, and a series of high-profile appearances on state-run television in recent days have done nothing to change that. Cuba's constitution does, however, allow for any member of the 605-seat legislature to be elected as head of the council of state. ||||| Girls walk along a street in Old Havana where a driver steers his classic American car in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. A legislative session on Wednesday will see a historic political transition,... (Associated Press)
Girls walk along a street in Old Havana where a driver steers his classic American car in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. A legislative session on Wednesday will see a historic political transition, in which President Raul Castro plans to step down and hand over the office to a younger successor.... (Associated Press)
HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban government on Wednesday selected 57-year-old First Vice President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as the sole candidate to succeed President Raul Castro in a transition aimed at ensuring that the country's single-party system outlasts the aging revolutionaries who created it.
The certain approval of Diaz-Canel by members of the unfailingly unanimous National Assembly will install someone from outside the Castro family in the country's highest government office for the first time in nearly six decades.
The 86-year-old Castro will remain head of the Communist Party, designated by the constitution as "the superior guiding force of society and the state." As a result, Castro will remain the most powerful person in Cuba for the time being. His departure from the presidency is nonetheless a symbolically charged moment for a country accustomed to 60 years of absolute rule first by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and, for the last decade, his younger brother.
Facing biological reality but still active and apparently healthy, Raul Castro is stepping down as president in an effort to guarantee that new leaders can maintain the government's grip on power in the face of economic stagnation, an aging population and increasing disenchantment among younger generations.
"I like sticking with the ideas of President Fidel Castro because he did a lot for the people of Cuba, but we need rejuvenation, above all in the economy," said Melissa Mederos, a 21-year-old schoolteacher. "Diaz-Canel needs to work hard on the economy, because people need to live a little better."
Most Cubans know their first vice president as an uncharismatic figure who until recently maintained a public profile so low it was virtually nonexistent. That image changed slightly this year as state media placed an increasing spotlight on Diaz-Canel's public appearances, including remarks to the press last month that included his promise to make Cuba's government more responsive to its people.
"We're building a relationship between the government and the people here," he said then after casting a ballot for members of the National Assembly. "The lives of those who will be elected have to be focused on relating to the people, listening to the people, investigating their problems and encouraging debate."
Diaz-Canel gained prominence in central Villa Clara province as the top Communist Party official, a post equivalent to governor. There, people described him as a hard-working, modest-living technocrat dedicated to improving public services. He became higher education minister in 2009 before moving into the vice presidency.
In a video of a Communist Party meeting that inexplicably leaked to the public last year, Diaz-Canel expressed a series of orthodox positions that included somberly pledging to shutter some independent media and labeling some European embassies as outposts of foreign subversion.
But he has also defended academics and bloggers who became targets of hardliners, leading some to describe him a potential advocate for greater openness in a system intolerant of virtually any criticism or dissent. International observers and Cubans alike will be scrutinizing every move he makes after he officially takes office on Thursday.
Two years after taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, Castro launched a series of reforms that expanded Cuba's private sector to nearly 600,000 people and allowed citizens greater freedom to travel and access to information. He has failed to fix the generally unproductive and highly subsidized state-run businesses that, along with a Soviet-model bureaucracy, employ three of every four Cubans. State salaries average $30 a month, leaving workers struggling to feed their families, and often dependent on corruption or remittances from relatives overseas.
Castro's moves to open the economy have largely been frozen or reversed as soon as they began to generate conspicuous shows of wealth by the new entrepreneurial class in a country officially dedicated to equality among its citizens.
"I don't want to see a capitalist system, hopefully that doesn't come here, but we have to fix the economy," said Roberto Sanchez, a 41-year-old construction worker. "I'd like to have more opportunity, to buy a car, and have a few possessions."
As in Cuba's legislative elections, all of the leaders selected Wednesday were selected by a government-appointed commission. Ballots offer only the option of approval or disapproval and candidates generally receive more than 95 percent of the votes in their favor.
The Candidacy Commission also nominated another six vice presidents of the Council of State, Cuba's highest government body. Only one, 85-year-old Ramiro Valdez, was among the revolutionaries who fought with the Castros in the late 1950s in the eastern Sierra Maestra mountains.
State media went into overdrive Wednesday with a single message: Cuba's system is continuing in the face of change. Commentators on state television and online offered lengthy explanations of why Cuba's single-party politics and socialist economy are superior to multi-party democracy and free markets, and assured Cubans that no fundamental changes were occurring, despite some new faces at the top.
"It falls on our generation to give continuity to the revolutionary process," said assembly member Jorge Luis Torres, a municipal councilman from central Artemisa province who appeared to be in his 40s. "We're a generation born after the revolution, whose responsibility is driving the destiny of the nation."
Castro entered the National Assembly just after 9 a.m. accompanied by a broadly smiling Diaz-Canel. Ceremonies continued through lunchtime and broke until Thursday morning, when the new national leadership is expected to be officially announced on the anniversary of the defeat of U.S.-backed invaders at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.
Fidel Castro was prime minister and president from 1959 until he fell ill in 2006. Although Osvaldo Dorticos was president of Cuba during Fidel Castro's time as prime minister, he was considered a figurehead beside the man who led Cuba's revolution, forged its single-party socialist system and ruled by fiat.
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Associated Press Writer Ben Fox contributed to this report. | – The Cuban government on Wednesday selected 57-year-old First Vice President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez as the sole candidate to succeed President Raul Castro in a transition aimed at ensuring that the country's single-party system outlasts the aging revolutionaries who created it. The certain approval of Diaz-Canel by members of the unfailingly unanimous National Assembly will install someone from outside the Castro family in the country's highest government office for the first time in nearly six decades, the AP reports. In what the AP initially called an "unusual two-day process," Diaz-Canel will officially take office Thursday; the new national leadership will be officially announced that day, the anniversary of the defeat of US-backed invaders at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. What to know: More on the process: The Cuban National Assembly has generally met and selected the president in one day. Its votes are nearly always anonymous and seen as reflecting the will of the country's top leadership. Cuba's constitution allows for any member of the 605-seat legislature to be elected as head of the council of state, but Diaz-Canel had long been seen as the overwhelming favorite. The new president will take over for the 86-year-old Castro, who is stepping down after two five-year terms. The Candidacy Commission also nominated another six vice presidents of the Council of State, Cuba's highest government body. The successor: Diaz-Canel gained prominence in central Villa Clara province as the top Communist Party official, a post equivalent to governor. There, people described him as a hard-working, modest-living technocrat dedicated to improving public services. He became higher education minister in 2009 before moving into the vice presidency. Most Cubans know their first vice president as an uncharismatic figure who until recently maintained a public profile so low it was virtually nonexistent. |
Olympic silver medalist Bryshon Nellum will carry the U.S. flag at Sunday's closing ceremony of the London Olympics.
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United States' Bryshon Nellum runs beside Saudi Arabia's Yousef Ahmed Masrahi during a men's 400-meter heat in the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Saturday, Aug.... (Associated Press)
USA's Bryshon Nellum, Joshua Mance, Tony McQuay and Angelo Taylor celebrate their silver medal in the men's 4x400-meter during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London,... (Associated Press)
Nellum was told by doctors that he might never be an elite athlete again after he was shot in the legs while leaving a restaurant near the campus of Southern California in 2008. Four years later, he's an Olympic medalist.
Nellum was part of the men's 4x400-meter relay team, which finished second to the Bahamas on Friday night. He also competed in the 400-meter dash in London, making the semifinal round.
Nellum says he's "humbled by this incredible privilege."
U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun says Nellum's courage "embodies the Olympic spirit."
Nellum was selected flagbearer by other members of the U.S. Olympic team in London. ||||| With a surge of medals in track and field, the United States has sprinted ahead of China and is poised to finish atop the medals table at the London Olympics _ maybe with the most golds ever collected by the Americans on foreign soil.
United States' Ashton Eaton gestures from the podium after being presented with a gold medal in the men's decathlon during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday,... (Associated Press)
Members of the team from China reacts as they see their score during the synchronized swimming team free routine final at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,... (Associated Press)
United States' Will Claye, silver, Italy's Fabrizio Donato, bronze, and United States' gold medal winner Christian Taylor, from left, celebrate after the men's triple jump final during the athletics in... (Associated Press)
United States' Ashton Eaton listens to the U.S. national anthem after being presented with a gold medal in the men's decathlon during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics,... (Associated Press)
Heading into the final weekend of competition, the U.S. leads both the gold and overall medals races after trailing the Chinese most of the games.
The Americans pulled further ahead Friday. At the end of the day's events, the U.S. led China 94 to 81 in total medals and 41 to 37 in golds.
Bill Mallon, a veteran American medals prognosticator, believes the U.S. will win the overall race by 12 to 15 medals and the gold count by three to five.
Four more golds would equal the highest U.S. total on foreign territory in Olympic history _ 45 at both the 1968 Mexico City Games and the 1924 Paris Games.
The gold haul in London is already the best for the United States since it won 44 in 1996 in Atlanta. Its highest gold count was 83 at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, which were boycotted by the Soviet Union.
The late U.S. charge in London has been spurred by the track and field team, with 26 medals, including eight golds, through Friday.
The Americans picked up four medals Thursday night with 1-2 finishes by Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee in the decathlon and by Christian Taylor and Will Claye in the triple jump. They grabbed two more Friday night _ gold in the women's 4x100-meter relay and silver in the men's 4x400 relay.
Away from the track, wrestler Jordan Burroughs won gold in the men's 74-kilogram freestyle.
The success could validate the projection of 30 medals by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, which had been widely maligned as too ambitious.
With two more relays and a few other chances coming up, the United States could exceed 30 medals _ even after being shut out in the men's 200 and 400 meters, two events where the Americans usually excel.
"A lot of people thought 30 medals was crazy," said Steve Roush, the U.S. Olympic Committee's former chief of sports performance, who served on USA Track & Field's "Project 30" panel.
He added: "It was the big question mark coming in. It turns out we are going to be right there. If there is a surprise, it's just how well the U.S. has done in track and field."
Though closely tracked by Olympic teams, fans and the media, the medals race is an unofficial competition. The International Olympic Committee doesn't even recognize the medal count.
The U.S. Olympic Committee has also been reluctant to talk up the medals chase _ until the end of the games, anyway. It stresses that its job is to enable as many Americans as possible to stand on the podium and represent the country.
"We are fortunate to have had success in both team and individual sports," spokesman Patrick Sandusky said. "The Olympic Games is a competition between athletes, not nations. With that said, we are very proud of our American athletes in London."
China beat the U.S. in gold medals, 51 to 36, on home soil at the 2008 Beijing Games, while the Americans prevailed 110 to 100 overall.
Many thought China would sweep both lists in London. And the Chinese started strong, racking up medals in their traditional sports of badminton, table tennis and diving. But medal chances are drying up in the final days, and China can't compete with the U.S. in track and field.
"China's big challenge is in swimming and track and field," Roush said. "There are so many medals at stake."
This is still China's best gold medal showing outside Beijing, better than the 32 it collected at the 2004 Athens Games. But there is a clear sense of disappointment back home.
The Communist Party's official Guangming Daily newspaper complained of unfair judging. Several papers cited the result in the men's gymnastics rings event, in which Chen Yibing settled for silver behind Brazil's Arthur Zanetti.
"We need to shout out loud: London Olympics, under the Olympic rings, please view all participants equally," the paper said.
In interviews with Chinese newspapers, the country's deputy sports minister, Cai Zhenhua, has also accused judges of discriminating against Chinese athletes.
"We need to solve the problem now or risk more judges adopting a biased view," Cai said.
Britain, meanwhile, is assured of finishing third in gold medals, benefiting from a home-country boost that has produced its best medal performance in more than a century _ 25 golds and 57 overall.
Not since the 1908 London Olympics has Britain racked up medals at this pace. Back then, only 22 nations showed up, compared with 204 today.
Britain, heavily promoting its athletes as Team GB, has excelled particularly in rowing and track cycling, thanks in large part to generous funding from the national lottery and the government-backed U.K. Sport body. U.K. Sport allocated $470 million for sports federations and athletes ahead of the London Games.
"GB cycling is a model of what can be done, and the rowing is phenomenal," Roush said. "It's been a combination of home-field advantage and U.K. Sport support."
Britain's rise has come at the expense of once-powerful Russia, which will finish out of the top three in golds for the first time since before the Soviet Union began competing at the Olympics.
In 1912, the Russian team had no golds and five total. The Soviet Union began competing at the 1952 Helsinki Games. Since then, the Soviet or Russian team has finished in the top three in golds every time _ until now.
The Russians had only 15 golds through Friday, compared with 23 in Beijing. They have won plenty of silver and bronze and are third in the overall count with 62, but that's not good enough for a country that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
"The Russians are rebuilding," Roush said. "The old Soviet system produced such strong talent and coaches, but the coaches and athletes are starting to retire."
Perhaps the biggest surprise has been South Korea. The country of 50 million people _ roughly the population of California, Washington and Oregon put together _ has charged into fourth place with 13 golds, asserting itself as an Asian power.
The South Koreans have invested heavily in Olympic sports, coaches and training and will do even more as they prepare to host the 2018 Winter Games in the city of Pyeongchang.
Japan has performed strongly, with 35 medals, but has failed to turn them into gold, picking up only five.
Australia and Germany have been among the biggest disappointments. The Australians had hoped to finish in the top five in both golds and total medals, but are lagging that pace with only seven and 31. Germany, which had a target of 28 golds and 86 medals, has only 10 golds and 42 total.
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Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.
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Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevewilsonap. ||||| The United States continued its surge up the Olympic medal rankings Friday with a record-breaking victory in the women's 4x100-meter relay.
Ethiopia's Meseret Defar holds up a picture to her face after she won gold in the women's 5000-meter final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday, Aug.... (Associated Press)
FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2004, file photo, Tyler Hamilton holds up his gold medal after the men's road individual time trial of the 2004 Olympic Games in the outskirts of Athens. The IOC is set to formally... (Associated Press)
United States' women's 4 x100-meter relay team members, from left, Carmelita Jeter, Bianca Knight, Tianna Madison and Allyson Felix, celebrate their gold medal win during the athletics in the Olympic... (Associated Press)
Ethiopia's Meseret Defar reacts as she crosses the finish line to win the 5000-meter final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja... (Associated Press)
Jamaica's Usain Bolt celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 200-meter final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt... (Associated Press)
Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba, right, and Ethiopia's Meseret Defar compete in a women's 5000-meter heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012.... (Associated Press)
Turkey's Asli Cakir Alptekin celebrates her gold medal in the women's 1500-meter during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. Bulut won the silver... (Associated Press)
Venezuela's Omart Longart, left, and South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, center, wait for the batons during the men's 4x400-meter relay final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer... (Associated Press)
The crowd cheered wildly as Carmelita Jeter crossed the line as the clock marked 40.82 seconds _ well below East Germany's 41.37 record from 1985. Teammates Tianna Madison, 200-meter champion Allyson Felix and Bianca Knight gave the U.S. a big lead heading into the anchor leg by 100 silver medalist Jeter.
"I was already pointing at the clock, saying 'there it is!'" Jeter said after the race. "There was a cloud hanging over us with people saying 'they cannot do this, they are going to drop the stick,' but we did it."
Heading into the final weekend of the London Games, the U.S. tops both the gold and overall medals races after trailing the Chinese for most of it.
It was yet another remarkable night in the main Olympic stadium as double amputee Oscar Pistorius of South Africa ran his last race of these Olympics in the men's 4x400-meter final. The U.S. just missed that gold, however, which went to the Bahamas. Pistorius _ the first amputee runner in track and field to compete at the Olympics _ received the South African baton in last place and was last crossing the line.
The man known as "Blade Runner" because of his prosthetic carbon fiber blades came close to not running at all Friday after a Kenyan runner on Thursday knocked over South Africa's Ofentse Mogawane on the final bend in the second leg of the race.
But the judges later ruled that the Kenyan runner had cut across Mogawane, causing the collision, and advanced the South African team to the final anyway.
In other track finals, an Olympic record was set as France's Renaud Lavillenie won the pole vault gold medal with a games mark of 5.97 meters.
In the women's 5,000 meters, Meseret Defar beat fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba to win the gold. Defar, the 2004 Olympic champion, overtook Dibaba in the final stretch and took the gold medal in 15 minutes, 4.25 seconds.
Later, Asli Cakir Alptekin of Turkey also crossed the line ahead of her teammate Gamze Bulut to win the gold medal in women's 1,500-meters. European champion Alptekin, who served a two-year suspension for doping after the 2004 world junior championships, won the gold medal in 4 minutes, 10.23 seconds.
Russia's Tatyana Lysenko earned a gold in women's hammer throw.
Away from the track, the Netherlands had a 2-0 win over world champion Argentina to hold on to their women's Olympic field hockey title. In the bronze medal match, Britain won its first women's field hockey medal in 20 years with a 3-1 victory over New Zealand.
Earlier Friday, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page of Australia held off their British rivals to win the men's 470 class, the country's third on the English Channel at Weymouth, ensuring that the Australians will finish with more sailing golds than Britain.
"I suppose I am an old man now," the 40-year-old Page said. "I have been campaigning in 470s for 15 years. To go out like this is incredible."
Sailing is just about the only place where Australia is excelling, particularly over the host country. After surprisingly winning just one gold medal in the swimming pool _ in a women's relay _ the games were an early disappointment for a team hoping to finish in the top five in the gold medal race.
They won't achieve that, but gold medals to 100-meter hurdler Sally Pearson and cyclist Anna Meares, along with the triple gold performance from its sailors in the past five days have taken some of the sting out of what has been an under-par games for Australia.
Most depressingly for Australia, its seven gold medals overall have been dwarfed by the 25 _ and counting _ won by their traditional and often bitter sporting rivals from Britain.
In a later race at Weymouth, Australia's trans-Tasman neighbor New Zealand won gold in the women's 470 class. Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie clinched the Kiwis' second sailing medal and fourth overall.
Maris Strombergs of Latvia won his second straight Olympic gold medal in BMX, taking the lead out of the starting gate and never relinquishing it. Strombergs won the inaugural competition at the Beijing Games, but has struggled with injuries the past of couple years.
Carlos Mario Oquendo Zabala made it a good afternoon for Colombia with his bronze. His teammate Mariana Pajon _ the flag bearer for Colombia in the opening ceremony _ won gold in the women's race earlier in the day.
Squel Stein of Brazil crashed heavily during the semifinals of the race and was carried off the course on a stretcher.
At a murky Serpentine Lake in London's Hyde Park, Ous Mellouli showed his versatility in the water, winning the 10-kilometer open water race less than a week after taking bronze in the 1,500 in the Aquatic Centre pool, the first swimmer to achieve that feat at the same Olympics.
It was the second gold of Mellouli's Olympic career, having won the 1,500 at the 2008 Beijing Games.
He overcame shoulder and elbow injuries before the games, plus a virus two days ago. Now, he's considering retirement.
"Only those close to me know how much I struggled to get here today," Mellouli said. "I don't think there's a better way to go out than this. I can just leave it all behind and have no regrets."
Russia won the synchronized swimming team final, giving the country its fourth consecutive gold medal in the event. China and Spain took the other podium spots, leaving Japan without a medal in synchro swimming for the first time since the sport was added to the Olympics in 1984.
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AP sports writer Dennis Passa contributed to this story. | – One more for the gold, and seemingly nothing can prevent it. This US men's basketball team might not slow down until it's standing at the center of the medals platform again. Kevin Durant scored 19 points, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony added 18 apiece, and the US powered its way back to the gold-medal game by beating Argentina 109-83 today. The Americans play Spain on Sunday in the title game. Also today: The US scored a record-breaking victory in the women's 4x100-meter relay. The crowd cheered wildly as Carmelita Jeter crossed the line as the clock marked 40.82 seconds—well below East Germany's 41.37 record from 1985. Teammates Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, and Bianca Knight gave the US a big lead heading into the anchor leg. Olympic silver medalist Bryshon Nellum was picked to carry the US flag at Sunday's closing ceremony. With a surge of medals in track and field, the United States has sprinted ahead of China and is poised to finish atop the medals table—maybe with the most golds ever collected by the Americans on foreign soil. The US led China 94 to 81 in total medals and 41 to 37 in golds. It needs four more golds to tie the mark. |
Hurricane Sandy is churning off the East Coast and is expected to join up with two other weather systems to create a huge and problematic storm affecting 50 million people. Here's a snapshot of what is happening or expected, state by state.
Viewers react as waves crash against a seawall near homes in Scituate, Mass. Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools... (Associated Press)
After checking to make sure his boat line is secure, Bob Casseday crosses a flooded street just over the bridge along Savannah Road in Lewes., Del., to get back home as Superstorm Sandy hits Delaware... (Associated Press)
The New York City skyline and Hudson River are seen from Hoboken, NJ as Hurricane Sandy approaches on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown... (Associated Press)
Graphic shows the population density of areas projected to get more than two inches of rain from the superstorm (Associated Press)
Waters flood Ocean Ave. in Sea Bright, N.J., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending... (Associated Press)
CAROLINAS
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 14 members of a crew forced to abandon a tall ship off the North Carolina coast, but two other crew members were still missing. The HMS Bounty was originally built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" starring Marlon Brando and has been featured in other films, including one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
CONNECTICUT
The University of Connecticut is closing Tuesday, joining a hundreds of other schools and school systems across the state. The closure includes UConn's law school and the UConn Health Center, though the John Dempsey Hospital will remain open during the storm. Power outages: 381,906.
DELAWARE
Dover Air Force Base has relocated some aircraft in anticipation of the storm, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested that the base be used as a staging area for support and supplies. Some residents of low-lying areas of the base have been ordered to evacuate. Power outages: 32,000.
ILLINOIS
The powerful storm is expected to extend as far as Chicago, where the National Weather Service already has issued high wind warnings and a lakeshore flood warning for Tuesday and Wednesday. Water may pile up on the south shore of Lake Michigan, said Louis Uccellini, director of environmental prediction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
KENTUCKY
Sandy is expected to bring snow to far southeastern Kentucky. A winter storm warning is in effect in Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties through Wednesday morning. Forecasters say snow could accumulate from 4 to 10 inches in high elevations and 1 to 3 inches in lower elevations.
MAINE
Virtually all Maine public schools opened Monday but some were closing early before the heaviest rain and wind from Hurricane Sandy. State officials say the biggest concern is wind, which is expected to cause widespread power outages. The state's utilities say they have crews poised to deal with expected power outages, including some from Canada. Power outages: 50,000.
MARYLAND
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says vehicular travel is banned on city roads beginning at 6 p.m. Monday. The restrictions to do not apply to uniformed personnel, hospital employees or other medical providers. Gov. Martin O'Malley earlier Monday closed the Bay Bridge.
MASSACHUSETTS
Voluntary evacuation recommendations have been issued in Scituate, Lynn, New Bedford and Plum Island. The recommendations are for just certain sections of the communities that could be affected by flooding as a result of Hurricane Sandy. A Red Cross spokeswoman said just a few people stayed at its shelters Sunday night, but she expects more people Monday night and into Tuesday. Power outages: 385,456.
MICHIGAN
Michigan utilities say high winds could cause power outages in the state and they're keeping an eye on the weather to respond to power problems. DTE Energy Co. said gusts of 50 mph Monday evening and Tuesday could affect some it its 2.1 million customers.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Gov. John Lynch has urged all drivers to be off the roads by 3 p.m. as Hurricane Sandy approaches. Lynch declared a state of emergency and directed that non-essential state workers be released from work Monday afternoon. He urged employers to consider releasing workers early. The governor has put 100 New Hampshire Guard soldiers on active duty. At least 13 shelters have been opened. Power outages: 100,000.
NEW JERSEY
All roads into and out of Ocean City are closed due to flooding that has cut off the popular Jersey shore resort community. Hurricane Sandy already had flooded most of Atlantic City, sweeping away an old section of the city's famed boardwalk. Power outages: 664,000.
NEW YORK
A construction crane atop a luxury high-rise collapsed in high winds Monday and dangled precariously midtown Manhattan. Some buildings were being evacuated as a precaution and the streets below were cleared, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. Power outages: 451,967.
OHIO
Residents of low-lying areas and along Lake Erie were told to watch for flooding; utilities are anticipating high winds that could blow down trees and poles. Snow is forecast in some areas. Power outages: 23,000.
PENNSYLVANIA
Officials from the state transit agency and the Pennsylvania Turnpike have instituted speed restrictions over concerns about high winds and ordered certain vehicles, including empty trucks and motorcycles, off some highways. The National Weather Service says southeastern Pennsylvania could get winds reaching 75 mph and rainfall up to 10 inches. An infant was slightly injured when a tree fell on a house in Delaware County on Monday. A man died Sunday in Lancaster County when he fell while trimming a tree. Power outages: 240,000.
RHODE ISLAND
Officials are concerned about wind driving water north up Narragansett Bay, which could create flooding in low-lying areas of the upper bay, including Providence, Warwick and Cranston. Power outages: 110,000.
TENNESSEE
Snow is expected in higher elevations, where a freeze warning has been issued. High winds are expected in many areas.
VERMONT
Gov. Peter Shumlin declared a state of emergency to provide access to National Guard troops in a state still recovering from the devastating effects of the remnants of Hurricane Irene. Culverts and storm drainage basins in some spots have been cleared of debris. Power outages: 14,470.
VIRGINIA
A curfew is in place on Virginia's swamped Chincoteague Island. Officials say the entire 37-square-mile island is underwater, and there is no way off the island because a causeway to the mainland has been closed. The 3,500 islanders who decided to tough out Hurricane Sandy have been told to keep off the streets. Power outages: 9,500.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Taxis that originate in Washington are authorized to add an emergency flat rate of $15 per trip because of Hurricane Sandy, starting Monday. The price is supposed to expire at noon Tuesday, but can be extended if considered necessary. The capital area's transit system shut down rail service for the first time since 2003. Power outages: 5,500.
WEST VIRGINIA
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency Monday for West Virginia, where Sandy is expected to bring high winds and heavy rains and leave behind flooded towns and as much as 3 feet of snow on the state's highest ridge tops. Eastern parts of the state can expect to get up to 6 inches of rain. Fourteen counties are under blizzard warnings.
WISCONSIN:
With waves expected to reach as high as 33 feet Tuesday on Lake Michigan, the Port of Milwaukee is taking steps to protect its docks and boats. The superstorm bearing down on the East Coast Is expected to create dangerous conditions on the Great Lakes. The National Weather Service issued gale and storm warnings for the lakes through Wednesday. ||||| Hurricane Sandy, one of the largest storms ever to hit the East Coast, pummeled Massachusetts on Monday with punishing winds and dangerously high seas, flooding some coastal areas, and cutting power to hundreds of thousands of customers.
Utility companies that service the state at one point reported nearly 380,000 customers without power on Monday. That number had fallen to about 310,000 as of 3:15 a.m. on Tuesday.
The enormous storm, gaining speed as it roared north across the Atlantic, brought steady rain and sustained winds of 35 miles per hour through much of the day, with gusts nearly twice that strong.
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Although Sandy’s landfall was in southern New Jersey, it cut a destructive path nearly a thousand miles wide, causing massive disruptions throughout the Northeast. It was classified as a post-tropical cyclone, rather than a hurricane, by the time it hit the New Jersey coast at around 8 p.m., the weather service reported.
In Massachusetts, heavy winds toppled trees and power lines, closing roads and causing more power outages throughout the day. Heavy surf pounded the coast, forcing evacuations in some low-lying areas in advance of the evening high tide, when storm surges were expected to exceed 6 feet.
“All of our shoreline could be affected,” said Brian Legendre, fire chief in Westport, a coastal town next to Fall River.
Utilities warned that because of the storm’s strength and duration, power outages could last a few days. The high winds would make it too dangerous for some repairs to occur, Governor Deval Patrick said in an evening press conference. Utilities would be working through the night to restore power where they can, he said.
State officials said there were no reports of any serious injuries.
David Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said that troopers were investigating a car crash that claimed the life of a man on Route 128 in Peabody at about 6:25 p.m., and that speed and weather were potential factors.
The powerful late-season storm, which killed nearly 70 people in the Caribbean, brought the Bay State to a near-standstill. As most people hunkered at home, major roads were half-empty, public transit shut down, and schools, malls, and businesses were closed.
Amtrak canceled its service along the Northeast Corridor through Tuesday, and several bus lines canceled service through Tuesday as well. At Logan International Airport, more than 900 flights were canceled on Monday, and several airlines had canceled flights scheduled for Tuesday.
Logan advised travelers to check with their airlines on the status of their flights before coming to the airport on Tuesday.
The MBTA stopped running shortly after 2 p.m. amid mounting reports of downed wires and branches and concerns that flooding would make parts of the system impassible.
“Shutting down public transit is never ideal. But under the circumstances, the safety of our customers and our employees is paramount,” said Richard Davey, the state’s transportation secretary.
The closing was announced at 10 a.m., prompting a rush for the final trains. By noon, South Station was at rush-hour bustle as riders headed home.
Davey said he hoped service would resume Tuesday morning but that crews needed time to survey the damage. By mid-afternoon, at least 15 trees or large branches had fallen on rail lines.
“We hope to run full service for tomorrow morning,’’ he said. “That would be our goal. But it is not guaranteed.’’
An MBTA spokesman said late Monday night that service would resume Tuesday morning. Subways will resume regularly scheduled service, said Joe Pesaturo, except that shuttle buses will replace trains on the D Line between Riverside and Reservoir stations.
Commuter rail service was expected to resume with delays and with the suspension of the Providence/Stoughton Line between Mansfield and Wickford Junction. Pesaturo encouraged commuters to check the authority’s website at MBTA.com for updates.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said schools and city offices would be open Tuesday.
Winds were expected to wane overnight, but a coastal flood warning was in effect until 1 p.m. Tuesday.
As Monday’s high tide approached under a full moon, Legendre warned that the “worst is yet to come.”
Forecasters warned that the state’s southern coast from Westport to Fairhaven might experience severe flooding, potentially more damaging than Hurricane Bob in 1991. Some 1,300 National Guard soldiers were deployed, mostly to the eastern and southern coasts.
As Sandy moved toward the coast, the Category 1 hurricane packed winds up to 90 miles per hour, and forecasters said it could stand as the largest hurricane in New England history. Its air pressure — an indicator of the storm’s power — was the lowest ever recorded in the area.
“The lower the pressure, the more powerful the hurricane,” said Charlie Foley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton.
Wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour were reported in Brookline, Milton, Lawrence, Barnstable, Falmouth, and Fairhaven on Monday afternoon. Winds around 81 miles per hour were reported in Wellfleet just after 2 p.m., and a buoy off Cuttyhunk recorded a gust of 83 miles per hour.
By about 11 p.m. on Monday, the effects of Sandy were beginning to taper off in the state, Weather Service meteorologist Stephanie Dunten said.
The storm was located just south of Lancaster, Pa., as of 2 a.m. on Tuesday, the weather service said.
In Massachusetts, the highest winds were mainly seen across Cape Cod, Dunten said, and wind gusts at Fort Independence, Hyannis Park, and East Falmouth were also in the 70 mile-an-hour range.
Light showers are expected Tuesday with winds gusting up to 20 miles per hour, and a coastal flood warning was still in effect late Monday until conditions could be evaluated after high tide, Dunten said.
The state of emergency declared by Patrick also remained in effect late Monday and will be lifted in the coming days, officials said.
According to the Weather Service, Barnstable, Braintree, and Fairhaven saw heavy coastal flooding on Monday. While the worst of it has passed, minor to moderate coastal flooding is excepted Tuesday morning in areas including Scituate, Revere, and Newburyport, the Weather Service said.
In Waltham, about 25 families were forced to leave their homes when part of the roof was blown from two condominium buildings. One of the roofs was waving back and forth in the wind Monday night, and, at times, hanging about 10 feet over the edge of the building. Scraps of metal and wood littered the ground.
Despite the high winds, officials said the storm had not caused overwhelming damage.
In New Bedford, dozens of people took refuge at emergency shelters. Andrew DiIanni, 38, and Steve Correia, 28, said they have been living under a bridge near the downtown area. They initially tried to ride out the storm with a barrier of tarps. But by noon, the wind became too strong, and they called police for help.
“They were whipped in half, the wind was so strong,” DiIanni said of the tarps.
Just over a hundred people sought shelter in the state.
In Cambridge, a tree fell on the home of Chip and Susan Strang at 60 Fresh Pond Parkway, shattering windows, crushing a fence, and protruding into the house from the roof and front wall.
It’s amazing how it shot in,” Chip Strang said. “I don’t know how it did that.”
Outside 20 Howard St., a tree knocked down power lines and crushed the roof of a parked Nissan.
As the initial bands of rain and wind generated by the hurricane arrived on Cape Cod, life proceeded, albeit at a curtailed pace. And curiosity was at a premium, with storm watchers gathering along the shore.
At Bagels and Beyond in West Yarmouth, customers trickled in, a mix of emergency workers and people liberated from work for the day because of Sandy. Owner Julie Moran was there in the morning — but hoping to close a bit earlier than the normal closing hour of 2 p.m.
Siblings Kris and Katelyn Reddy and friend Lori Bois swung by the bagel shop Monday morning.
“None of us had work today,” said Bois, who cleans houses. “Basically, we’re probably going to go home now and not leave.”
Sandy didn’t scare Jen and Jon Coil, a married couple staying at the hotel, who traveled from Philadelphia to Salem on Sunday.
“What difference does it make if the hurricane hits us in Philadelphia or Salem?” asked Jen, 30, a paralegal, making her first visit to Salem. “I do wish more things were open today. We were looking forward to visiting some museums.”
In Scituate, as midnight — and high tide — approached, the angry sea still churned, though not as ferociously as earlier in the day. The wind was still announcing itself, just not as loudly. And the clouds had begun to part, revealing a full moon. ||||| Hurricane Sandy created numerous closings and cancellations to start the week, but most will be restored beginning Wednesday. Below is a update on some schools, organizations and agencies that had previously closed this week.
For more information on school closings and reopenings, check the school Web sites. The Going Out Guide has information on canceled events here.
You can also find cancellations and delays at http://bit.ly/WaPoClosings.
Are you an official with a school or organization? You can list your cancellation by registering at http://www.cancellations.com/members/.
Government offices:
Federal government — OpenWednesday, but employees can take unscheduled leave if necessary.
D.C. government — Open Wednesday.
Federal courts of appeals for the D.C., second and third circuits — Open Wednesday.
D.C. Courts — OpenWednesday. For information on how cases from Monday and Tuesday will be handled, click here.
Alexandria government facilities and courts — OpenWednesday.
Arlington County government offices, libraries, courts, community centers and nature centers — Open Wednesday.
City of Fairfax government offices and facilities — Open Wednesday. (However, the General Registrar’s Office will be open Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for absentee voting as long as conditions do not become too dangerous.)
Loudoun County government offices and courts — Open Wednesday.
Montgomery County government offices — OpenWednesday.
Prince George's County government offices and courts — Open Wednesday.
Early voting in the District — The eight early voting sites in the District, one in each ward, will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 9 p.m starting Wednesday. Early voting in the District lasts through Saturday.
Early voting in Maryland — Resumes Wednesday.
Early voting in Virginia - Polling places in Accomack County, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, Tazewell County and Wise County are closed, but early voting is open in most of the rest of the state. Absentee voting hours at the Loudoun County Voter Registration Office in Leesburg open 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Calvert County government offices — Open Wednesday.
U.S. District Court for Maryland — Open Wednesday in Greenbelt and Baltimore, with proceedings resuming as scheduled. Jurors are advised to call the court after 5 p.m. for updates.
Schools:
D.C. Public Schools — D.C.’s Jefferson Academy is closed Wednesday due to a power outage. All other schools will open.
D.C. charter schools — Please refer to this full list.
Alexandria City Public Schools — Open Wednesday.
Arlington Public Schools — Open Wednesday.
Fairfax County Public Schools — Langley High School, Holmes Middle School, Sleepy Hollow Elementary School, and Spring Hill Elementary School will be closed Wednesday due to power outages. All other schools will open on time..
Loudoun County Public Schools — Open one hour late on Wednesday.
Prince William County Public Schools — Open Wednesday.
Baltimore City Public Schools — Updates available via Twitter.
Calvert County Public Schools — Open Wednesday.
Howard County Public Schools — All schools but 10 are open Wednesday. See the full list here.
Montgomery County Public Schools — Open Wednesday. Sligo Middle School is still without power. The district will contact parents directly if there is a Wednesday closure for Sligo.
Prince George’s County schools — Excel Academy Charter School is closed due to a power outage. All other schools will open on time.
Colleges and universities
American University — Open Wednesday.
Catholic University — Open Wednesday.
Gallaudet University — Open Wednesday.
Georgetown University, Georgetown medical center and Georgetown law school — Open Wednesday.
George Washington University — Open Wednesday.
Trinity Washington University — OpenWednesday.
University of the District of Columbia — Open Wednesday.
Marymount University — Open Wednesday.
University of Mary Washington —OpenWednesday.
Montgomery College — Open Wednesday.
University of Maryland — Open Wednesday.
Transportation:
Metro rail, buses and MetroAccess — Normal service for Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess to resume Wednesday.
Amtrak — Modified Northeast Regional service available Wednesday between Newark, N.J., and points south, including restoring Virginia service to Lynchburg, Richmond and Newport News.
MARC train service — Full service resumes Wednesday.
VRE train service — Full service resumes Wednesday.
D.C. Taxis — The $15 additional fee on taxi rides has expired.
Greyhound — For updated list, go here.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge — Open.
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration offices and emission inspection stations — Open Wednesday.
Capital Bikeshare — Reopened.
Virginia Regional Transit — will operate full service on Wednesday.
Airports — Many flights canceled coming into and going out of Washington. Check airlines.
Tourist and other public sites:
The U.S. Capitol and the Capitol Visitor Center — Open Wednesday.
Smithsonian — Open Wednesday.
National Zoo — Open Wednesday.
Montgomery Parks – Open Wednesday. ||||| Have you been affected by Hurricane Sandy? If so, share your images and footage with CNN iReport, but please stay safe.
(CNN) -- Though no longer a hurricane, "post-tropical" superstorm Sandy packed a hurricane-sized punch as it slammed into the Jersey Shore on Monday, killing at least 11 people from West Virginia to North Carolina and Connecticut.
Sandy whipped torrents of water over the streets of Atlantic City, stretching for blocks inland and ripping up part of the vacation spot's fabled boardwalk. The storm surge set records in Lower Manhattan, where flooded substations caused a widespread power outage. It swamped beachfronts on both sides of Long Island Sound and delivered hurricane-force winds from Virginia to Cape Cod as it came ashore.
Sandy's wrath also prompted the evacuation of about 200 patients at NYU Langone Medical Center.
"We are having intermittent telephone access issues, and for this reason the receiving hospital will notify the families of their arrival," spokeswoman Lisa Greiner said.
In addition, the basement of New York's Bellevue Hospital Center flooded, and the hospital was running off of emergency backup power. Ian Michaels of the Office of Emergency Management said the main priority is to help secure additional power and obtain additional fuel and pumps for the hospital.
The storm hit near Atlantic City about 8 p.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center reported. It packed 80-mph winds at landfall, down from the 90 mph clocked earlier Monday.
Superstorm Sandy's wrath
"I've been down here for about 16 years, and it's shocking what I'm looking at now. It's unbelievable," said Montgomery Dahm, owner of the Tun Tavern in Atlantic City, which stayed open as Sandy neared the Jersey Shore. "I mean, there's cars that are just completely underwater in some of the places I would never believe that there would be water."
Dahm's family cleared out of Atlantic City before the storm hit, but he says he stayed put to serve emergency personnel. At nightfall Monday, he said the water was lapping at the steps of his restaurant, where a generator was keeping the lights on.
The storm had already knocked down power lines and tree limbs while still 50 miles offshore and washed out a section of the boardwalk on the north end of town, Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford told CNN. He said there were still "too many people" who didn't heed instructions to evacuate, and he urged anyone still in town to "hunker down and try to wait this thing out."
"When Mother Nature sends her wrath your way, we're at her mercy, and so all we can do is stay prayerful and do the best that we can," Langford said.
And in Seaside Heights, about 30 miles north of Atlantic City, Police Chief Thomas Boyd told CNN, "The whole north side of my town is totally under water."
Mass transit grinds to a halt
In New York, lower Manhattan's Battery Park recorded nearly 14-foot tide, smashing a record set by 1960's Hurricane Donna by more than 3 feet. The city had already halted service on its bus and train lines, closing schools and ordering about 400,000 people out of their homes in low-lying areas of Manhattan and elsewhere.
Flooding forced the closure of all three of the major airports in the area, LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty. Water seeped into subway stations in Lower Manhattan and into the tunnel connecting Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, while high winds damaged a crane perched atop a Midtown skyscraper under construction, forcing authorities to evacuate the surrounding area.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters there was an "extraordinary" amount of water in Lower Manhattan, as well as downed trees throughout the city and widespread power outages.
"We knew that this was going to be a very dangerous storm, and the storm has met our expectations," he said. "The worst of the weather has come, and city certainly is feeling the impacts."
The storm was blamed for more than 2.8 million outages across the Northeast. About 350,000 of them were in the New York city area, where utility provider Con Edison reported it had also cut power to customers in parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan to protect underground equipment as the storm waters rose.
But as water crept into its substations, Con Ed said it had lost service to about 250,000 customers in Manhattan -- including most of the island south of 39th Street.
Five things to know about Sandy
At least five people had been killed in storm-related incidents in New York state, including three killed by trees falling on homes in Queens and in the town of New Salem, near Albany, city and state officials said. Falling trees were also blamed for three deaths reported in New Jersey and one in Connecticut, authorities there told CNN.
In West Virginia, a woman was killed in a car accident after the storm dumped 5 inches of snow on the town of Davis, said Amy Shuler Goodwin, a spokeswoman for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's office.
And before hitting land, it overwhelmed the sailing ship HMS Bounty, a replica of the historic British vessel, off North Carolina. Fourteen of the ship's crew of 16 were rescued, but the body of one deckhand was found Monday evening and the ship's captain was still missing Monday night, the Coast Guard said.
Sandy had already claimed at least 67 lives in the Caribbean, including 51 in Haiti.
Sandy's storm surges were boosted by a full moon, which already brings the highest tides of the month. And forecasters said the storm was likely to collide with a cold front and spawn a superstorm that could generate flash floods and snowstorms.
"It could be bad," said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Steven Rattior, "or it could be devastation."
Mass transit shut down across the densely populated Northeast, landmarks stood empty and schools and government offices were closed. The National Grid, which provides power to millions of customers, said 60 million people could be affected before it's over.
On Fire Island, off Long Island, the water rose above promenades and docks on Monday afternoon, homeowner Karen Boss said. Boss stayed on the island with her husband despite a mandatory evacuation order. She said they own several properties and a business there and had weathered previous storms.
"I'm concerned that it might come into the first floor," she said. "If that's the case, I'll just move into another house that's higher up."
Based on pressure readings, it's likely to be the strongest storm to make landfall north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said. The benchmark storm, the 1938 "Long Island Express" Hurricane, contained a low pressure reading of 946 millibars; Sandy had a minimum pressure of 943 millibars. Generally speaking, the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm.
In Sea Bright, New Jersey, Yvette Cafaro scrawled a plea on the plywood that covered her burger restaurant: "Be kind to us Sandy." The seaside area largely dodged last year's Hurricane Irene, but Cafaro was not optimistic that Sea Bright would be spared Sandy.
Keep a hurricane preparation checklist
"Everything that we've been watching on the news looks like this one will really get us," she said. "We're definitely worried about it."
Its arrival, eight days before the U.S. presidential election, forced President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, to alter or cancel several campaign stops. Obama flew back to Washington from Florida, telling reporters at the White House that assets were in place for an effective response to the storm.
"The most important message I have for the public right now is please listen to what your state and local officials are saying," Obama said. "When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate."
And in Ohio, Romney asked supporters to drop off items and cash at his "victory centers" to be donated to victims of the storm.
"There are families in harm's way that will be hurt -- either in their possessions or perhaps in something more severe," Romney said.
Tips from Katrina survivors
By Monday afternoon, 23 states were under a warning or advisory for wind related to Sandy. Thousands of flights had been canceled, and hundreds of roads and highways were expected to flood. And according to a government model, Sandy's wind damage alone could cause more than $7 billion in economic loss.
Sandy was expected to weaken once it moves inland, but the center was expected to move slowly northward, meaning gusty winds and heavy rain would continue through Wednesday.
On the western side of the storm, the mountains of West Virginia expected up to 3 feet of snow and the mountains of southwestern Virginia to the Kentucky state line could see up to 2 feet. Twelve to 18 inches of snow were expected in the mountains near the North Carolina-Tennessee border.
"This is not a typical storm," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett. "Essentially, this is a hurricane wrapped in a 'nor'easter.'"
Sandy grounds thousands of flights worldwide
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen, Dana Ford, Tom Watkins, Josh Levs, Chelsea J. Carter, Greg Botelho, Jason Kessler, Sarah Dillingham, Sean Morris, Ashley Corum, Eden Pontz and George Howell contributed to this report. ||||| Editor's Note: Sandy unleashed powerful winds and torrential rains Monday in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast as it sped toward shore. Subways and bridges were shut down and streets were quiet as gusts howled over a huge region encompassing hundreds of miles. At 7 p.m., the National Hurricane Center stopped classifying Sandy as a hurricane, though it still continued to pack a wallop. Here is the full story.
Are you there? Send your stories and photos to CNN iReport but stay safe.
Here are the latest developments:
[Updated at 11:55 p.m.] Lisa Greiner, spokeswoman with New York York University's Langone Medical Center, offers some more details about why the facility is evacuating about 200 patients:
"Due to the severity of Hurricane Sandy and the higher than expected storm surge, we are in the process of transferring approximately 200 patients within the medical center to nearby facilities. We are having]
intermittent telephone access issues, and for this reason the receiving hospital will notify the families of their arrival. They're on backup power now and have been for the past 2.5 hours approx there's no flooding in the hospital (may be flooding in basement).”
[Update 11:50 p.m.] Sen. Bob Menendez, North Bergen, NJ, was on air a few minutes ago and said the building he lives in had its windows blasted out. "I think it's the worst we have seen here in my lifetime,” he said of the damage in his state.
[Update 11:47 p.m.] Half the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, is flooded, said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. The city of 50,000 has had to evacuate two of its fire stations
[Update 11:45 p.m.] Sandy has claimed its first casualty in Canada. A woman was killed when she was struck by flying debris in Toronto, the city police said on its Twitter feed Monday night.
As reported, A female pedestrian has been killed by flying debris near StClair/Keele. #TOSandy ^tb —
Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) October 30, 2012
The city is also experiencing wind gusts , wet roads and heavy rain. About 6,000 customers are without power, police said.
[Updated at 11:42 p.m.] Brooklyn borough President Marty Markowitz tells CNN that New York firefighters were having difficulty getting to a fire at Coney Island Hospital late Monday because of the flooding.
[Update at 11:37 p.m.] A caravan of ambulances is ferrying patients of New York York University's Langone Medical Center after it lost power, CNN affiliate WABC showed.
[Updated at 11:35 p.m.] Sandy continues to pack 75 mph winds as it moved over land late Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center's 11 p.m. advisory. The center of the storm, which is moving northwest at 18 mph, is 10 miles southwest of Philadelphia.
The Miami-based weather agency warns that hurricane-force gusts, in excess of 74 mph, could be felt overnight from Chincoteague, Virginia, to the Cape Cod community of Chatham, Massachusetts.
[Updated at 11:31 p.m.] A buoy located at the entrance to New York Harbor rose to a record height of 32.5 feet on Monday night, according to the National Weather Service. This breaks the previous record of 26 feet, set during Hurricane Irene in August 2011.
[Updated at 11:29 p.m.] More than 670,000 New Yorkers are without power, Con Edison official John Miksad said late Monday.
[Updated at 11:01 p.m.] New Jersey was hit hard by Sandy, as this video shows:
[Updated at 10:59 p.m.] A male was killed in Hawthorne, New Jersey, when a tree fell on a house around 7:30 p.m., Joseph Speranza, that community's fire chief, said. His death raises the U.S. death toll from the storm at least 11, including three in New Jersey. Sandy killed at least 67 people in the Caribbean as it moved north, 51 of them in Haiti.
[Updated at 10:43 p.m.] The New York mayor's office reports around 10 p.m. that the city's 911 dispatchers are receiving about 10,000 calls per half hour.
[Updated at 10:33 p.m.] A female died of electrical shock around 8 p.m. Sunday in the New York City borough of Queens when she stepped into a puddle, police spokeswoman Kellyann Ort said. [Editor's note: the following update should be corrected to read that that woman was electrocuted and it occurred Monday]
[Updated at 10:29 p.m.] The view, from space, of Sandy's progression:
[Updated at 10:23 p.m.] Two children who were in a pickup that was struck by a tree in Mendham Township, New Jersey - killing a man and a woman inside - were rescued, said Morris County emergency management director Jeffrey Paul. Both children suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, according to Paul.
[Updated at 10:15 p.m.] Water is entering New York's subway system from the East River, but pumps are working to get the water out, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. Asked how much damage Sandy has caused, Ortiz replied, "It's too early to tell."
[Updated at 10:13 p.m.] The New York Police Department's 60th precinct station on West 8th Street in Brooklyn has been evacuated because of the partial collapse of a wall, police said. There's no flooding in the building, and no injuries have been reported, though those working there have been moved to another precinct in the area.
[Updated at 10:02 p.m.] Water levels in Battery Park on the tip of Lower Manhattan rose to 13.88 feet at 9:24 p.m Monday, smashing the record high of 10.02 feet set in 1960 during Hurricane Donna, the National Weather Service reported.
[Updated at 9:58 p.m.] Like LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, Newark Liberty and Teterboro - both in northern New Jersey - have been closed to Sandy-related floodwaters, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reports.
[Updated at 9:52 p.m.] "Almost everything from 39th Street on down" is dark in Manhattan, said Con Edison spokesman Allan Drury on Monday night. The massive power outage - which alone affects 250,000 customers - was caused by flooding in substations, Drury said.
[Updated at 9:48 p.m.] Two people in Morris County, New Jersey, were killed Monday evening when a tree fell on their car, the county's emergency management director, Jeffrey Paul, said in a statement. The accident was in Mendham Township.
[Updated at 9:47 p.m.] A 48-year-old woman was killed Monday in Davis, West Virginia, when her car collided with a cement truck while driving on a road covered with five inches of snow, said Amy Shuler Goodwin, a spokeswoman for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. A 17-year-old who was in the woman's vehicle suffered injuries as well.
[Updated at 9:32 p.m.] Sandy caused flooding Monday night throughout New York City, including here at 34th Street and 1st Avenue:
[Updated at 9:27 p.m.] Five people have been killed in the state of New York - including a man hit by a tree while inside his Queens home - because of Sandy, said Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
[Updated at 9:14 p.m.] John F.Kennedy International Airport has been closed, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.
At the agency's other New York airport, LaGuardia, water was covering the runway intersection, according to the National Weather Service.
[Updated at 9:08 p.m.] Floodwaters have made their way into several subway stations in Lower Manhattan, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. The transportation agency reported, on its Twitter feed, that "up to 4 feet of seawater is entering subway tunnels under the East River."
[Updated at 9:03 p.m.] One person was killed when a falling tree struck three family members in Mansfield, Connecticut, as they were heading Monday evening to a neighbor's home that still had power, Connecticut State Police said. Two others who suffered non-life threatening injuries were transported to Windham Hospital for treatment.
[Updated at 8:57 p.m.] The Queens Midtown Tunnel is closed to traffic, meaning there are now no vehicles running on any MTA bridge or tunnels, the New York transportation agency announced.
[Updated at 8:52 p.m.] The U.S. Geological Survey has issued a landslide alert, warning that intense rains "may trigger landslides on coastal bluffs, moderate to steep slopes and locally elsewhere on landslide-prone slopes in Maryland, northern Delaware, northeastern Virginia and southern Pennsylvania."
[Updated at 8:42 p.m.] "The Hudson River is flowing in on both sides" of Hoboken, New Jersey, Mayor Dawn Zimmer told CNN. Two fire stations have been evacuated, the North Hudson Sewerage Authority building "is totally flooded," and live wires are down in four locations, she added.
"Many parts of the city now are impassable," Zimmer said.
[Updated at 8:29 p.m.] LaGuardia Airport has been closed until further notice, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced.
[Updated at 8:22 p.m.] More than 2.8 million customers in 11 states and the District of Columbia are without power, utility companies report on their websites.
[Updated at 8:20 p.m.] "High winds" from what was then Hurricane Sandy damaged the crane abutting the One57 skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan around 2:35 p.m., explained Mary Costello, senior vice president for Lend Lease, the property group managing the site. The crane was inspected last Friday, she said.
Click to watch video
[Updated at 8:10 p.m.] Superstorm Sandy officially made landfall Monday evening along the coast of southern New Jersey, the National Hurricane Center reported.
[Update at 8:09 p.m.] A man was killed by a falling tree in Queens, a borough of New York City, fire department spokesman Frank Dwyer said. The 30-year-old man was inside his house when the tree fell on him, said New York police spokesman John Grimpel.
[Update at 8:02 p.m.] At 12.75 feet, water levels in the Battery, on the southern tip of Manhattan, went at least 2.75 feet higher than the previous record - set in 1960, when Hurricane Donna hit - the National Weather Service reports.
[Updated at 7:48 p.m.] Waves from Sandy slam into the seawall in Scituate, Massachusetts, about 30 miles south of Boston:
[Updated at 7:44 p.m.] "The whole north side of" Seaside Heights, New Jersey, "is totally under water" - rising halfway up most front doors - the community's police Chief Thomas Boyd said. A 50-foot piece of boardwalk was ripped up and floated away from the ocean all the way to the bay.
[Updated at 7:23 p.m.] Weather authorities reported a storm surge of 12.4 feet in Kings Point, on Long Island's northwest coast about 10 miles from the New York City borough of Queens. A surge of 7.2 feet was seen in Manhattan's Battery district, with a 7.5 foot-high surge reported in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, according to the National Hurricane Center.
[Updated at 7:13 p.m.] More than 2.2 million customers are without power in 11 states and the District of Columbia, according to data from utility companies.
[Updated at 7:06 p.m.] Even though it has sustained winds of 85 mph, Sandy is no longer considered a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center reported in a 7 p.m. update. The Miami-based agency said it is reclassifying the storm because "Sandy has continued to lose tropical characteristics."
Moving west-northwest at 28 mph, the storm is centered about 30 miles east-northeast of Cape May, New Jersey, and 20 miles south of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
[Updated at 6:59 p.m.] Water from the Atlantic Ocean has gone over the boardwalk and is now flooding the streets of Asbury Park, New Jersey.
About 75 miles south in Atlantic City, Montgomery Dahm said there was flooding next to the convention center and up to the steps of his restaurant, Tun Tavern.
"I've been down here for about 16 years, and it's shocking what I'm looking at now," Dahm told CNN. "It's unbelievable. I mean, there are cars that are just completely underwater in some of the places I would never believe that there would be water."
[Updated at 6:51 p.m.] A wind gust of 94 mph was recorded in Eatons Neck, on the northern coast of Long Island about 35 miles east of New York City, said CNN's Chad Myers.
[Updated at 6:46 p.m.] As they were Monday, Amtrak trains in the Northeast Corridor won't be running again on Tuesday.
[Updated at 6:37 p.m.] About 7,700 flights were canceled around North American on Monday due to the storm, the flight-tracking service FlightStats.com reports. More than 2,800 flights - at least - have been called for Tuesday.
[Updated at 6:26 p.m.] Claudene Christian, one of two missing people from the HMS Bounty, has been found dead, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The ship sank off the North Carolina coast earlier Monday, and 14 crew members were subsequently rescued. The Coast Guard is still looking for 63-year-old Robin Walbridge, the ship's captain.
[Updated at 6:18 p.m.] The water is "five feet high" in parts of Atlantic City, New Jersey, CNN's Ali Velshi reports:
[Updated at 6:13 p.m.] More than 1.5 million customers are without power due to Sandy, about double the amount just a few hours earlier.
[Updated at 6:11 p.m.] Some 6,700 National Guard troops are on active duty in seven states due to the hurricane, the Defense Department said. Another 61,000 troops are available.
[Updated at 6:03 p.m.] New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said evacuations are no longer possible, and that those who stayed behind cannot count on authorities to help them. Rescuers won't be sent out "until daylight tomorrow," he added, citing "all the various hazards."
"I'm very disappointed in the fact that some decided to disregard my instruction, in fact my order, and I'm concerned that it might lead to the loss of life," Christie said.
[Updated at 5:59 p.m.] All buildings on New York's 57th Street, between 6th and 7th avenues, and "all exposed buildings" on 56th Street, between those same two avenues, have been evacuated due to the partial collapse of a crane near a skyscraper under construction, the mayor's office announced.
[Updated at 5:47 p.m.] The 4.55 inches of rain that fell Monday onto Atlantic City, New Jersey, shattered the former record of 2.33 inches, which was set in 1908.
[Updated at 5:37 p.m.] Broadway shows will be canceled Tuesday night, as they were Monday, because of the storm, the Broadway League announced.
[Updated at 5:33 p.m.] All four of New York City's bridges over the East River - the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges - will be closed at 7 p.m., the city's mayor said.
[Updated at 5:25 p.m.] A Monday afternoon snapshot from a NASA weather satellite, courtesy of NOAA, showing Hurricane Sandy churning off the East Coast (see outlines of Delaware and New Jersey to the left of the darkest part of the storm):
[Updated at 5:19 p.m.] The Key Bridge in Baltimore, the 1.6-mile span that crosses the Patapsco River, is closed, Maryland's government announced.
[Updated at 5:06 p.m.] Hurricane Sandy is speeding toward the East Coast, moving west-northwest at 28 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. advisory. The storm is centered about 30 miles east-southeast of Cape May, New Jersey, and 40 miles south of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
[Updated at 5:01 p.m.] More than 3,200 people spent Sunday night in 112 Red Cross shelters in nine states, the Red Cross said. That number is expected to increase significantly as Sandy comes ashore.
[Updated at 4:59 p.m.] All federal government offices in and around Washington will be closed Tuesday - just as they were Monday - due to the hurricane.
[Updated at 4:39 p.m.] A look at the damaged, dangling crane near One57, a skyscraper under construction just a few blocks from New York's Columbus Circle:
Damaged, dangling crane atop (for now) 1 57th Street NYC. http://t.co/SUveAPjW —
Jonathan Wald (@jonathanwald) October 29, 2012
[Updated at 4:31 p.m.] The Red Cross says that Sandy has already forced the cancellation of about 100 blood drives, a number that is expected to rise in the coming days. In a news release, the organization's chief medical officer, Dr. Richard Benjamin, said, "It is critical that those in unaffected areas make an appointment to donate blood as soon as possible."
[Updated at 4:26 p.m.] President Barack Obama receives an update on Sandy in the White House's Situation Room:
Photo: President Obama receives an update on the ongoing response to Hurricane #Sandy in the Situation Room: http://t.co/JEYyEwSJ —
The White House (@whitehouse) October 29, 2012
[Updated at 4:14 p.m.] In just two hours, the number of customers without power because of Hurricane Sandy has more than doubled. More than 765,000 in seven states have no electricity, with New York and New Jersey being the most affected states with more than 220,000 outages each.
[Updated at 4:11 p.m.] It's not just rain and wind causing problems. It is already snowing in parts of the Appalachian Mountains, one effect of the superstorm.West Virginia has declared a state of emergency, while North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue has declared a state of emergency for 24 counties in the western part of her state due to snow.
Blizzard warnings are in effect for some areas, with as much as 30 inches of snow possible in locales above 4,000 feet.
[Updated at 4:03 p.m.] Hurricane Sandy retained its strength Monday afternoon with 90 mph sustained winds, the National Hurricane Center reports in its 4 p.m. advisory. Moving northwest at 28 mph, the storm is centered 110 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and 175 miles south-southeast of New York City.
[Updated at 3:58 p.m.] Gusts in excess of 74 mph - hurricane-force winds - have been reported along the coast of Long Island, New York, according to the National Weather Service.
[Updated at 3:51 p.m.] The partial collapse of a giant crane on New York's West 57th Street, just blocks from Columbus Circle, has prompted the city's Office of Emergency Management to urge all occupants of nearby buildings to evacuate to lower floors immediately.
[Updated 3:43 p.m.] On its Twitter feed, Boston's MBTA shows a tree down near a Green Line stop in Newton. All service on the Boston-area transit service is now suspended, the agency notes.
A look at a tree down on the #MBTA D Line near Waban. All #MBTA service now suspended. http://t.co/XBdizPOw —
MBTA (@mbtaGM) October 29, 2012
[Updated at 3:33 p.m.] The Tappan Zee Bridge, which extends across the Hudson River about 25 miles north of New York City, will close to traffic starting at 4 p.m., Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Twitter.
[Updated at 3:24 p.m.] Newark, New Jersey, is experiencing high winds and flooding, though the city's mayor is warning conditions should only deteriorate. "We have an intensity of water coming into our city that we anticipate getting worse and worse," Mayor Cory Booker told CNN. He expressed fears about what the storm surge around the 8 p.m. high tide will do to New Jersey's most populated city.
[Updated at 3:10 p.m.] Watch raw video of Coast Guard crews rescuing people from the HMS Bounty off the North Carolina coast.
[Updated at 3:00 p.m.] Just blocks from Manhattan’s Columbus Circle, an arm of a giant crane dangles from a skyscraper that is under construction. The crane had been positioned firmly before the effects of Hurricane Sandy began to be felt in New York City.
The West 57th Street building, known as One57, is a high-rise that will feature some of the city's most expensive apartments. New York police and fire crews are on the scene, and part of the street has been closed off as a precaution.
[Updated at 2:48 p.m.] Ocean City, Maryland, experienced "probably the highest storm surge that we've had ... since Hurricane Gloria in 1985," Mayor Rick Meehan said. Sandy has already caused beach erosion and significant flooding. But there have been no reported injuries or calls for help, the mayor said, in part because of an evacuation order.
[Updated at 2:39 p.m. ET] About 2,000 National Guard troops have been placed on active duty in seven states - Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Virginia - because of the hurricane. The number is up from approximately 1,500 who had been activated Sunday night.
[Updated 2:13 p.m. ET] Nearly 300,000 customers are without power in seven states because of Hurricane Sandy, according to figures from power companies. New Jersey tops the states in outages with about 92,000 customers without electricity, followed by New York with 90,000.
[Updated 2:04 p.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy is rapidly accelerating toward the northwest at 28 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 2 p.m. ET advisory. Sandy remains a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph with gusts 110 mph, forecasters said.
[Updated 1:56 p.m. ET] Storm damage in Port Clinton, Ohio:
yfrog.com/j2br0xmj Holiday Inn sign knocked down bc of wind in Port Clinton —
Colleen Wells (@ColleenWTOL) October 29, 2012
[Updated 1:48 p.m. ET] Atlantic City, New Jersey, will be under a curfew Monday night, as Hurricane Sandy approaches landfall, a city official told CNN. "There will be a curfew tonight beginning at 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. for the entire Atlantic City area," Capt. Frank Brennan of the Atlantic City Police Department said.
[Updated 1:39 p.m. ET] The New York Stock Exchange will be closed again Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy, the exchange said.
Track the economic impact of Hurricane Sandy with CNNMoney.com.
[Updated 1:38 p.m. ET] Here's what the winds are doing in Connecticut:
No jumping today kids! -> Trampoline hanging on electrical cables (Milford Connecticut) #Sandy http://t.co/9WDbJ0dT —
Anonymous Press (@AnonymousPress) October 29, 2012
[Updated 1:29 p.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy's devastating windy march up the U.S. East Coast is expected to cause as much as $10 billion in insured losses, according to a disaster modeling firm, CNNMoney reports.
[Updated 1:22 p.m. ET] Sustained tropical storm-force winds of 41 mph are now being reported at Boston's Logan International Airport, the National Weather Service said on Monday afternoon.
[Updated 1:18 p.m. ET] "Jimmy Kimmel Live" has canceled its broadcast on Monday from the Harvey Theater at Brooklyn Academy of Music. In a statement obtained by CNN Entertainment, the show said the call was made "in the interest of the safety of our studio audience."
[Updated 1:15 p.m. ET] President Obama has declared a state of emergency for the state of Delaware due to Hurricane Sandy, according to a release from the White House.
[Updated 1:02 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama called on Americans to heed local storm evacuation orders Monday. Anyone who doesn't follow evacuation orders, he said, is "putting first responders in danger."
[Updated 1:00 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama said Monday he isn't worried about how Hurricane Sandy might affect the election. "I am not worried at this point about the impact on the election. I'm worried about the impact on families. I'm worried about the impact on first responders. I'm worried about the economy and transportation," he told reporters. "The election will take care of itself next week."
[Updated 12:59 p.m. ET] Gas prices are likely to spike in the days after Hurricane Sandy rips through the Northeast, but they should drop back down before too long, CNNMoney reports.
[Updated 12:56 p.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy is a powerful storm that will affect millions of people, President Obama said Monday."We are certain that this is going to be a slow-moving process through a wide swath of the country, and millions of people are going to affected," Obama said, speaking to reporters from the White House after a Situation Room briefing on the storm.
[Updated 12:42 p.m. ET] If your power goes out, don’t try to fix it yourself, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Monday.
“If you do not have power, please do not choose today as the time you decide to tap into your creative juices and jerry-rig a power source. … If it looks stupid, it is stupid,” he said.
By Monday afternoon, more than 35,000 customers had lost power throughout the state.
[Updated 12:28 p.m. ET] As of noon today, water levels are already as high as 5.2 feet above tidal predictions in some areas.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a look at water levels up and down the eastern seaboard.
[Updated 12:24 p.m. ET] There have been more than 8,900 flight cancellations so far as a result of Hurricane Sandy, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.com. Get CNN.com's full travel update.
[Updated 12:23 p.m. ET] About 116,000 consumers in seven states are without power, according to information from power providers' websites.
[Updated 12:19 p.m. ET] Even with rains from Hurricane Sandy, guards are still standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
Editor's Note: A photo of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that was being widely retweeted Monday has been removed from the "This Just In" blog, because it was causing confusion despite a CNN note that the photo was taken last month.
[Updated 12:16 p.m. ET] Ocean City, Maryland, is seeing substantial flooding.
It's gotten VERY ugly in Ocean City. Almost looks like Katrina. Here's a picture of what used to be 94th street http://t.co/L5O6HLlm #Sandy —
DC Maryland Virginia (@DMVFollowers) October 29, 2012
[Updated 12:13 p.m. ET] Both the Obama and Romney campaigns have canceled events through Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy.
Follow coverage at the CNN Political Ticker.
[Updated 12:11 p.m. ET] New York is warning food sellers, gas stations, cab companies and other businesses: No price gouging in Sandy’s wake.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued an open letter saying his office is prepared to go after anyone who breaks the law.
In it, he also praises and thanks all those who are working to supply people with what they need, and he writes, “New Yorkers have always been at their best when facing adversity, and I am confident that we will live up to that standard throughout this hurricane.”
[Updated 12:09 p.m. ET] The pier in Ocean City, Maryland, has been destroyed, according to this Twitter post.
Ocean City Pier has been destroyed. At least 100 feet washed away. http://t.co/fboK9aCh #Sandy —
DC Maryland Virginia (@DMVFollowers) October 29, 2012
[Updated 12:04 p.m. ET] Officials are evacuating several hundred people from west Atlantic City, an area filled with many single-story motels where water levels are "dangerously high," said county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore. "Conditions are deteriorating as we speak," she said. "This storm is unprecedented."
[Updated 12:02 p.m. ET] A replica of the HMS Bounty has sunk at sea, a Coast Guard official told CNN's Ashleigh Banfield. Fourteen people were rescued from that ship and two are still missing at sea, Vice Adm. Robert Parker said on CNN.
[Updated 11:54 a.m. ET] CNN viewers say they are stranded in Brooklyn, New York.
@StartingPtCNN Thank you for your amazing coverage Soledad! Here we are marooned in Red Hook, Brooklyn!! #Sandy http://t.co/VAHFiLXX —
Nick Cope (@greenpainting) October 29, 2012
[Updated 11:52 a.m. ET] New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned that the city is “well within the danger zone” of the storm, and said parts of the city could see significant storm surges between 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Monday night.
[Updated 11:50 a.m. ET] Flooding at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Flooding in front of student dorms at Old Dominion University in Norfolk from #Sandy #HRSandy http://t.co/8ZSUR7sk —
Martin Cornick (@MartinMMC) October 29, 2012
[Updated 11:42 a.m. ET] Atlantic City is under extremely heavy flooding in many areas, police tell CNN.
The tide is starting to go down, but when Hurricane Sandy makes landfall Monday night, officials expect flooding to become far worse, the city police department said.
[Updated 11:41 a.m. ET] More than 35,500 customers of United Illuminating in Bridgeport, Connecticut, will lose power around noon when a power station will be compromised by floodwaters, CNN affiliate WFSB reports.
[Updated 11:32 a.m. ET] President Obama will deliver a statement after his White House Situation Room briefing on Hurricane Sandy at 12:45 p.m. ET, according to a release from the White House.
[Updated 11:28 a.m. ET] The Delaware Emergency Management Agency calls this “a pretty vivid visual example of why you should not be venturing out on the roads in Delaware" durring Hurricane Sandy. Level 2 driving restrictions are in place in the state.
The agency posted the photo on its official Facebook page.
[Updated 11:18 a.m.] The National Weather Service is reporting 24-foot seas off New Jersey.
Interested in checking out wave heights from #Sandy? Check out NDBC. Buoy 44009 (26 nm SE of Cape May)... 24 foot seas! ow.ly/eQLOA —
NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) October 29, 2012
[Updated 11:11 a.m.] Connecticut is banning trucks from highways, Gov. Dan Malloy announced. Highways will also be closed to all vehicles beginning at 1 p.m.
“Wind gusts will soon exceed 50 mph; travel is dangerous,” he said on Twitter.
[Updated 11:10 a.m.] Power officials were reporting nearly 45,000 customers without electricity across 10 states on Monday morning.
[Updated 11:07 a.m.] Hurricane Sandy has begun flooding areas of Norfolk, Virginia. This video was posted on YouTube.
[Updated 10:57 a.m.] See NASA's 3D image of Hurricane Sandy:
What Sandy looks like in 3D. From @NASA. More here nasa.gov/mission_pages/… twitpic.com/b8ilo4 —
Josh Levs (@joshlevscnn) October 29, 2012
[Updated 10:54 a.m.] Airlines have canceled thousands of flights ahead of Hurricane Sandy, and stranded travelers shouldn't expect any relief until the weekend, CNNMoney reports.
[Updated 10:51 a.m.] NASA will be providing live views of Hurricane Sandy from space.
[Time Correction] Live views of Hurricane #Sandy from the #ISS coming up on NASA TV at 12:45PM ET. Watch live: nasa.gov/ntv —
(@NASA) October 29, 2012
[Updated 10:49 a.m.] The impact of Hurricane Sandy will be big enough to lower the country’s gross domestic product, economists tell CNNMoney.
The losses can’t yet be calculated, but will include billions in property damage, lost business, lost stock market trades, and more.
[Update 10:46 a.m. ET] If you're in the storm's path, the Department of Homeland Security wants you to take steps to conserve your cellphone's power.
Conserve cell phone battery by reducing screen brightness & limiting voice calls. Get more tips at ready.gov/get-tech-ready #Sandy —
Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 29, 2012
[Update 10:42 a.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy intensified on Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 90 mph with gusts to 115 mph.
[Update 10:38 a.m. ET] To prepare for the possibility of flooding, New York officials are closing two tunnels into Manhattan and calling for the deployment of 1,000 additional National Guard troops, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
The Holland Tunnel and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel are “prone to flood” and will close at 2 p.m. Monday, Cuomo said.
[Update 10:33 a.m. ET] The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, is prohibiting the use of personal vehicles after 4 p.m. ET, CNN affliate WABC reports. The station also says streets near the Atlantic City boardwalk are beginning to flood and tidal waters are crossing the main oceanfront road in Cape May, New Jersey.
[Update 10:28 a.m. ET] Chase and Citibank are waiving overdraft, ATM and late fees for customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Time.com reports.
[Update 10:15 a.m. ET] All public transportation services in Boston will be suspended at 2 p.m. Monday.
[Update 10:06 a.m. ET] The Connecticut Department of Transportation has ordered the closure of all state highways as of 1 p.m. ET.
[Update 10:02 a.m. ET] Flooding begins in Manhattan:
East River, much more subdued than Hudson today, begins cresting over Pier11, east side of Manhattan #sandy #zonea http://t.co/4Un9aUz3 —
(@Newyorkist) October 29, 2012
[Update 9:57 a.m. ET] Waves are crashing ashore near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn, New York.
Wow. Waves crash in Monday morning near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn. Photo via NYDN #Sandy twitpic.com/b8hws7 —
Lucy Kafanov (@LucyKafanov) October 29, 2012
[Update 9:51 a.m. ET] Power officials now say Hurricane Sandy could affect 60 million people across the eastern U.S., an increase of 10 million from what was forecast on Sunday.
Forecasts now predict #Sandy could affect as many as 60 million people across the Eastern US-up from 50M yesterday. —
National Grid US (@nationalgridus) October 29, 2012
[Update 9:48 a.m. ET] Wind gusts could reach 80 mph this afternoon and into the evening in New York City, the National Weather Service says.
[Update 9:27 a.m. ET] Early flooding in the Philadelphia area:
[Update 9:21 a.m. ET] The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued 14 people from the tall ship HMS Bounty, but two are missing, a Coast Guard official tells CNN. The ship was without propulsion and taking on water off North Carolina.
[Update 9:15 a.m. ET] NASA captured an infrared image of what Sandy looked like overnight as it moved up the East Coast.
[Update 9:07 a.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy has shut down concerts in the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia area, MTV reports.
[Update 9:02 a.m. ET] Flooding has begun in Ventnor City, New Jersey, about 60 miles southeast of Philadelphia.
@LyndaCohen @ACPressSarah definitely nervous about my Mom... Surrey Ave in Ventnor http://t.co/h7OdpSdf —
Audrey Perez (@audreyp77) October 29, 2012
[Update 8:46 a.m. ET] Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy says the high tide at midnight has the potential to cause "unprecedented damage."
It's the one at midnight tonight that we're most worried about -- we're looking at a surge of 7-11 feet above normal high tide —
Governor Dan Malloy (@GovMalloyOffice) October 29, 2012
“The potential loss of life and loss of property in Connecticut, if these numbers are hit, will be extremely high,” he told reporters. “This is the most catastrophic event that we have faced and been able to plan for in any of our lifetimes. And we continue to do anything in our power to be ready.”
[Update 8:39 a.m. ET] The storm is apparently breaking up parts of the Atlantic City boardwalk.
35 foot section of Atlantic City Boardwalk floating down what used to be St. Katherine's place #sandy #acpress http://t.co/MW8Hp3yp —
Jitney Guy (@JitneyGuy) October 29, 2012
[Update 8:32 a.m. ET] Forecasters expect Hurricane Sandy to slow down after the center of the storm makes landfall late Monday or early Tuesday. And Richard Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center, said he’s “really concerned.”
“Because of the combination of that and the large size, this will be a long duration event for many people along the coast and inland, and a lot of life-threatening hazards here,” he said.
Powerful winds, heavy rainfall and flooding are likely.
“This is going to be a big problem for a lot of folks,” he said.
Virginia's Department of Emergency Management is warning of blizzard conditions in two counties until Wednesday.
#Blizzard warning in effect from noon today until 4AM Wed. for Bunchanan & Dickenson counties in VA #VASandy #Sandy ow.ly/eQonA —
(@VDEM) October 29, 2012
[Update 8:23 a.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy is affecting air travelers around the world, including flights from airlines based in the Middle East and Australia.
[Update 8:07 a.m. ET] Officials in New York City are keeping a close eye on how high the seawater is rising, Con Edison spokesman Alfonso Quiroz said.
Since many of the city’s electrical cables are underground, flooding could cause significant damage.
“If the water gets too high, we will preemptively shut down some pieces of equipment…because it is easier for us to make restoration once the water goes down,” Quiroz said.
[Update 8:05 a.m. ET] The Coast Guard says the weather is preventing it from launching a rescue operation for the crew of the 180-foot, three mast tall ship HMS Bounty, which was taking on water and without propulsion in the Atlantic off North Carolina. The 17-person crew is in two lifeboats and wearing cold-water survival suits, the Coast Guard says. See the report from CNN affiliate WTKR.
[Update 7:58 a.m. ET] The National Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. ET update shows no changes in Hurricane Sandy since the 5 a.m. ET update.
"Sandy now moving north-northwestward and accelerating...expected to bring life-threatening storm surge and coastal hurricane winds plus heavy Appalachian snows," the forecast advisory said.
Sandy's maximum sustained winds remain at 85 mph. It is a Category 1 hurricane.
[Update 7:51 a.m. ET] The dangers from this storm extend far from the East Coast. The National Weather Service says wave heights could reach 28 feet in Lake Michigan on Monday night. They could hit 31 feet on Tuesday.
[Update 7:40 a.m. ET] U.S. stock exchanges will be closed Monday as Hurricane Sandy bears down on New York. Read the CNNMoney report here.
[Update 7:34 a.m. ET] Delaware Gov. Jack Markell called on residents to follow the state’s driving restrictions, which went into effect Monday morning as Sandy approached.
“The biggest concerns, the rain and the wind together make driving conditions absolutely miserable so we put in a driving restriction today,” he told CNN.
The restrictions say that only essential personnel can drive as of 5 a.m. Monday.
He also said people could be without power “for some period of time” after the storm and that “those who did not (evacuate), we’re afraid may find themselves cut off.”
[Update 7:22 a.m. ET] The 17-member crew of the tall ship HMS Bounty has abandoned the vessel in the Atlantic Ocean 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, CNN affiliate WTKR reports.
[Update 7:19 a.m. ET] Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker just told CNN's Soledad O'Brien:
"My biggest concern is just people not taking it seriously and not taking the proper precautions. We still have some time for people to get ready... We anticipate there could be many days without power afterward."
[Update 7:13 a.m. ET] President Obama has canceled a campaign event in Orlando on Monday to stay at the White House and monitor federal storm preparations.
"Due to deteriorating weather conditions in the Washington area, the president will not attend today's campaign event in Orlando. The president will return to the White House to monitor the preparations for and early response to Hurricane Sandy," White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.
Read CNN's Candy Crowley on how Hurricane Sandy is affecting the presidential campaign.
[Update 7:04 a.m. ET] Some people have not heeded evacuation orders and are putting emergency responders in rescue situations, Delaware's governor says.
Ntl. Guard, local fire comp. & police are responding to people who didn't evacuate & need to be rescued from flooding. #SandyDE #StormDE —
Gov. Jack Markell (@GovernorMarkell) October 29, 2012
[Update 6:45 a.m. ET] Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley tells CNN's Soledad O'Brien that power crews from as far away as Texas and Mississippi are in his state and prepared to make repairs to its power grid.
[Update 6:25 a.m. ET] Delaware's governor has ordered all drivers other than those providing essential services to stay off the state's roads today, CNN affliate WBOC reports.
[Update 5:59 a.m. ET] MegaBus has canceled numerous services in the Northeast through noon on Tuesday and is offering customers booked on other trips through Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia the chance to reschedule at no charge. Here is the full list of cancellations.
[Update 5:50 a.m. ET] Amtrak has suspended nearly all service on the Eastern Seaboard for Monday, according to its website:
"All Acela Express, Northeast Regional, Keystone and Shuttle services are canceled for trains originating on that date. Also Empire Service, Adirondack, Vermonter, Ethan Allen and Pennsylvanian train services are suspended, along with the overnight Auto Train, Capitol Limited, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto and Silver Meteor trains. Exceptions: The Maple Leaf (Trains 63 & 64), will operate only between Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y., rather than originating and terminating at New York City; the Carolinian (Trains 79 & 80), will operate only between Charlotte and Raleigh rather than originating and terminating in New York City; the Silver Star (Trains 91 & 92) will operate only between Jacksonville, Tampa and Miami, Fla., rather than originating and terminating in New York City. Piedmont service (Trains 73-76) within North Carolina will operate normally."
Further updates on Amtrak service will come after 6 p.m. Monday or as needed, the website said.
[Update 5:36 a.m. ET] As Hurricane Sandy closes in on the Northeast, residents are scrambling to prepare. Amy Mueller Campbell told CNN affiliate WMUR she had to drive almost 30 miles - from Nottingham, New Hampshire, to Manchester, New Hampshire - just to find a five-gallon gasoline container. She'll use it to get fuel to power her home generator.
[Update 5:13 a.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy is playing havoc with international air travel. London's Heathrow Airport says 45 outbound flights to New York, Newark, Baltimore, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia have been canceled. Another 12 inbound flights have been scrubbed.
[Update 5:12 a.m. ET] The National Hurricane Center says "a little strengthening is possible" before Hurricane Sandy makes landfall late Monday or early Tuesday.
[Update 5:05 a.m. ET] Hurricane Sandy strengthened early Monday with winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
[Update 4:49 a.m. ET] Anna Kate Twitty, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, was just on CNN and said the organization has multiple shelters across seven states where evacuees can find "a safe place, a warm meal and emotional support." To find a shelter, go to redcross.org, call 1-800-Red-Cross or download the free Red Cross hurricane app for iphone and android users.
[Update 3:54 a.m. ET] The Coast Guard is responding to a distress call from a ship that is part of the popular culture. The HMS Bounty, a tall ship built for the 1962 movie "Mutiny on the Bounty," is taking on water off the coast of North Carolina - about 160 miles from the center of Hurricane Sandy. The Coast Guard says it has “diminished search and rescue capabilities due to the storm.” Seventeen people are on board.
[Update 1:55 a.m. ET] Various primetime shows that are produced in New York (such as, "30 Rock," "Smash," "Elementary," "Person of Interest") are being shut down Monday, according to Deadline.com, but the opposite appears to be the case with late night shows. Deadline says Letterman, who once taped a show during a blizzard, will go on - as will Jimmy Fallon.
We will be doing a new show tomorrow night no matter what. #LateNight — jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) October 28, 2012
[Update 1:50 a.m. ET] The MTA has posted some incredible photos of a deserted New York on its Flickr feed. Sandbags piled on Broadway. Grand Central Terminal with not a soul in sight. An eerie feel.
[Update 12:50 a.m. ET] The National Hurricane Center says Sandy is about to make its turn toward the north. The forecast map shows the storm hitting the Jersey shore.
[Update 12:35 a.m. ET] 1.2 million: That's the number of college students who will stay home Monday, according to a count by CNN's Chandler Friedman of colleges in the regions likely affected by the storm.
[Update 12:10 a.m. ET] President Barack Obama has approved Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey's request for emergency declarations. Earlier, several other states also requested such declarations, and the president signed them as well. Among them: New York and Massachusetts.
Pres. #Obama's emergency declaration in #CT will allow the state to request federal funding & assistance in advance of #Sandy's impact
— Governor Dan Malloy (@GovMalloyOffice) October 29, 2012
[Update 12:02 a.m. ET] The New York Stock Exchange has announced it will close all markets – not just floor trading operations – on Monday. The stock exchange rarely shuts down for weather-related emergencies: Hurricane Gloria in 1985, and a snowstorm in 1969 mark brought the exchange to a halt.
Read Sunday's updates
Follow CNN's full coverage of the potential "superstorm."
For state-by-state plans, advice on how to prepare, photos, Sandy's already deadly path in the Caribbean, and more, follow CNN.com. ||||| BGE crews, along with help from out-of-state crews, are starting to move out and restore power knocked out by Hurricane Sandy. (Jamie Smith Hopkins/Baltimore Sun)
Power outages hit a plateau early Tuesday morning and began creeping downward, with about 186,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers without electricity at noon, according to the company.
The company said it has restored power to about 114,000 customers since storm operations began at 10 a.m. Sunday.
BGE will assess the damage Tuesday and Wednesday as restoration efforts continue, said spokesman Rob Gould. He said the utility probably wouldn't be able to give an estimate until late Wednesday or Thursday about when all customers would see power restored.
About 2,000 of the 3,000 out-of-state utility workers BGE requested are on hand to help mop up after Sandy, first a hurricane and later a post-tropical "superstorm." BGE expects the remaining 1,000 mutual-assistance workers to filter in Tuesday, spokeswoman Rachael L. Lighty said.
In addition to the out-of-state help, BGE has 2,100 people on storm detail, from lineman to tree contractors to call-center workers, Lighty said. As both winds and rain eased Tuesday morning, linemen were able to tackle problems that required elevated bucket trucks — work that had been suspended Monday afternoon as Sandy's effects worsened.
"Our crews are definitely working around the clock, but the majority of our crews are out during the day today," Lighty said.
"Superstorm" or not, Sandy's wallop in the Baltimore region was muted compared with the June derecho storm and Hurricane Irene in 2011 — at least in terms of power outages. All told, about 300,000 BGE customers lost power starting Sunday, Lighty said, compared with about 750,000 customers during the derecho and Irene each.
As of noon Tuesday, nearly 15 percent of customers in BGE's service area were still waiting for service to return after Sandy knocked down trees and power lines in its path. The largest number of outages were reported in Anne Arundel County (52,000), Baltimore County (49,000) and Harford County (42,000), with 15,000 out in the city, 14,000 out in Howard County and 3,000 out in Carroll County.
The remainder of the outages in BGE's territory were reported in Calvert, Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
Elsewhere in the state, just before noon:
Pepco, which serves Washington and its Maryland suburbs, reported about 17,000 of its customers without power.
Delmarva Power said 26,000 customers were without electricity in the Maryland portion of the Eastern Shore, while Choptank Electric Cooperative reported 9,900 customers without power in that region.
Potomac Edison was reporting about 58,000 customers without power in Western Maryland.
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative had about 2,200 customers without power in its Southern Maryland territory.
BGE asked all customers whose power goes out — even customers with smart meters — to call 877-778-2222 to report the outage.
BGE has established five staging areas for its crews: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport and Six Flags America in Upper Marlboro, Gould said.
At the staging area just outside M&T Bank Stadium, out-of-state workers paired up with BGE employees and headed out early Tuesday to neighborhoods with outages. BGE set up a large tent for workers to eat and drop off laundry. Generators and truck engines combined into an ever-present hum.
Among the out-of-state help was a 114-person team from Commonwealth Edison Co. in Chicago, which like BGE is owned by Exelon Corp. Crews came east with ComEd's mobile command center, leaving around 9 a.m. Saturday and arriving at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
"Our goal is to get Baltimore up and running," said Ty Watson, a ComEd heavy-equipment hauler.
With the wind dying down Tuesday, it should be easier for lineman to get the power back on, said Bob Johnson, ComEd's director of emergency preparedness. | – Superstorm Sandy is battering coastal communities tonight with storm surges, downpours, and high winds, causing power outages and evacuation orders from Vermont to Virginia. No longer officially a hurricane, Sandy is starting to merge with two cold fronts, becoming bigger and messier but slightly weaker, sustaining winds of 85mph, according to CNN. As of this evening, about 2 million were without power along the eastern seaboard, according to the AP and other sources. Some specifics: Facing a direct hit, New Jersey is suffering flooding, high winds, and 434,000 power outages. Part of the Garden State Highway has been closed due to rising waters, and Atlantic City is so flooded that cars are underwater, CNN reports. Part of the city's famed boardwalk has been washed away. Hoboken, meanwhile, is banning all driving after 4pm. New York City is expecting storm surges as high as 11 feet. Thousands of flights have been canceled, and the subway has been shut down. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has requested 1,000 National Guard troops be deployed. About 452,000 are without power, and emergency crews have responded to a construction crane hanging dangerously from a luxury high-rise. The story is similar in Pennsylvania, specifically Philadelphia, which has also shut down its mass transit system, and seen hundreds of flights canceled. Officials say wind could reach 75mph and rainfall 10 inches. National Guardsmen have been told to be ready for deployment. Power outages: 74,000. Flooding is expected to knock out power stations in Connecticut, killing power for 117,400. Several coastal communities in Massachusetts are being urged to voluntarily evacuate, the Boston Globe reports, and in Boston all subway and bus service was shut down at 2pm. Nearly 1,000 crews are out helping more than 300,000 who have lost power. Flooding is expected along the coast with this evening's high tide. Washington, DC closed its rail service for the first time since 2003, and the federal government has closed up shop save for emergency employees, the Washington Post reports. Nearly 5,500 are without power. In Virginia about 9,500 people are without power, and the same could happen to about 1 million more. Chincoteague Island is entirely underwater with 3,500 residents who decided to tough it out. Maryland has seen damage to an iconic ocean pier in Ocean City, and a blizzard warning has been issued for the mountainous western part of the state. About 145,000 are without power, the Baltimore Sun reports. West Virginia has blizzard fears as well, with as many as 14 counties told to prepare for high winds, heavy snows, and flooded towns. Vermont has declared a state of emergency to give it access to National Guard troops. According to the AP, the state still hasn't fully recovered from the damage wrought by Hurricane Irene. About 14,470 have lost power. Rhode Island officials say wind could drive water up Narragansett Bay and flood low-lying areas. About 110,000 are without power. Keep checking back for more. |
Queensland
A Marsden State High School student suspended for throwing a vegemite sandwich at the Prime Minister has confronted her on radio to protest his innocence.
Kyle Thomson phoned in to B105 radio station as Prime Minister Julia Gillard was trying to spruik the bipartisan agreement reached to sign DisabilityCare in Queensland.
‘‘I’d like to say I’m sorry that it’s come to this, all over the news and everything, but I’m innocent and I didn’t throw it,’’ he said.
Anna Thomson and her son Kyle Thomson who says he was wrongfully suspended for throwing sandwich at Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Photo: Nine News
Ms Gillard laughed it off, conceding she ‘‘sort of’’ sympathised but would not be using any parliamentary powers to appeal his three-week suspension.
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‘‘I think Kyle really has to have a chat with the school principal because it’s not my job to be saying anything different to a very good school principal,’’ she said.
‘‘His name is Alan Jones if you can believe it, but he has led that school so it’s now an Australia wide leader in getting kids through to vocational education and training.’’
One of the radio hosts joked the bigger issue was that Kyle was a ‘‘patsy’’ set up by the Australian government and there was a second sandwich thrower in the book depository.
‘‘I think we might all be getting a little bit carried away,’’ Ms Gillard said.
On a day when a bipartisan agreement was reached between Queensland and the Commonwealth to sign up to DisabilityCare, a sandwich dominated headlines after it was thrown while Ms Gillard was visiting the Logan school.
Kyle was suspended just hours after Wednesday’s incident, but said the school needs to "get its facts right".
‘‘Everyone started crowding her and that and someone threw a sandwich and the teacher witnessed I did it,’’ he told Channel Nine.
‘‘... I hit the sandwich out of the kid’s hand because he threw it and there was another one so I hit it out of his hand.’’
Kyle’s mother Anna Thomson backs the teenager’s version of events, saying he hit the sandwich out of another student’s hand to stop them throwing another one.
‘‘I think it’s been thrown out of proportion a lot,’’ she said.
‘‘I mean I’m sure she’s had more than a sandwich thrown at her throughout her life.’’
Ms Thomson called on the school to investigate it further.
‘‘Kyle is no angel, don’t get me wrong, but I think there is a lot more to the circumstances,’’ she said.
‘‘I honestly wonder if he would have been suspended on the first day without all the investigations being done if it wasn’t the Prime Minister.’’
||||| A high school kid in Australia was suspended for two weeks for an attempted assault on Prime Minister Julia Gillard with a Vegemite sandwich. But the kid says he's just a patsy set up to take the fall the second sandwich thrower.
The whole thing started Wednesday when Gillard paid a visit to a Brisbane high school for a routine photo op. But the day became anything but routine as she made her way through the excited crowd of pupils, and her security detail let down its guard just enough to allow the half-eaten lunch to be hurled in her direction.
Here's the video that shocked a nation:
School offiicals immediately named 16-year-old Kyle Thomson as the lone hurler and suspended him for 15 days. But in a shocking turn of events, Thomson denies that he did anything wrong, and in fact claims that he threw himself in front of the real sandwich thrower in order to protect the PM from near-certain breading.
Listen to Kyle explain to an incredulous reporter how he knocked one sandwich out of the real assailant's hand and then reveals another shocking twist ... there was a second sandwich.
Naturally, the conflicting stories got conspiracy theorists roiling online, with Aussies posting their own thoughts, hypotheses, and jokes to the riveting #sandwichgate hashtag.
I refuse to believe @jonathanvswan's interview on #Sandwichgate until we get video from the grassy knoll: bit.ly/13CycTs — David Ramli (@Davidramli) May 9, 2013
so turns out he was prevented a double sandwich throw - Victoria Cross in order?#sandwichgate #hero #auspol media.smh.com.au/national/selec… — Daniel (@dankarney) May 9, 2013
Julia finally gets her legacy We can rest easy Australia, it's over#gillard #sandwichgate #auspol twitter.com/brnfst/status/… — Wot do ya call this? (@brnfst) May 9, 2013
Adding to the intriguing puzzle, some are now claiming the sandwich was not even Vegemite! (Perhaps suggesting a foreign agent?)
It was a chicken sandwich, not vegemite! 15 y/o Kyle will be back at school tomorrow - video showed he didn't throw it at PM #sandwichgate — Alissa Thibault (@AlissaThibault) May 9, 2013
Anti-Gillard sandwich was chicken, not Vegemite; now no longer classified as a deadly biological weapon #Sandwichgate — Baz McAlister (@bazmcalister) May 9, 2013
It's not the first time Gillard or other Australian PMs have been targeted either.
Nine News uncovers a third occasion when a projectile was thrown at the PM see it tonight @9newsbrisbane #sandwichgate — Sophie Walsh (@sophie_walsh9) May 9, 2013
Obviously, there are worse things that can be thrown at you, like shoes. As Gillard's predecessor, John Howard, once found out. And apparently it was an egg toss at then-PM Billy Hughes back in 1917 that led to the formation of Australia's Federal Police force. Gillard, however, took the sandwich assault in stride showing a brave face as she laughed off the incident. Though there are obviously still many unanswered questions that only a special parliamentary commission can uncover. (Like "Is this is all a massive inside joke that Australians are pulling on the rest of us?)
In the end, we think the assessment by Kyle Thomson, of the leader he bravely swore to defend, kind of sums up the whole matter:
"She doesn't have a big nose like everyone's saying. She's small and ... yeah, famous."
Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at dbennett at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Dashiell Bennett | – A story getting big play across Australian media today: On a visit to a high school yesterday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard had a Vegemite sandwich thrown at her by one of the students. The alleged thrower was suspended from school for three weeks, the Brisbane Times reports, but he claims he was actually trying to protect Gillard. "I’m innocent and I didn’t throw it," Kyle Thomson tells B105. "I hit the sandwich out of the kid’s hand because he threw it and there was another one so I hit it out of his hand." Amusingly, his mother chimes in, "Kyle is no angel, don’t get me wrong, but I think there is a lot more to the circumstances." She adds of Gillard, "I mean, I’m sure she’s had more than a sandwich thrown at her throughout her life." Sadly, Gillard said she would not appeal to the school principal to have Thomson's suspension overturned. Social media, not surprisingly, loves "Sandwichgate," the Atlantic Wire reports, and there have been a few "There was a second sandwich!" jokes. Click for more viral moments in Julia Gillard. |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption As the oil and gas industry has expanded in parts of the US, so have the number of earthquakes
Massive injections of wastewater from the oil and gas industry are likely to have triggered a sharp rise in earthquakes in the state of Oklahoma.
Researchers say there has been a forty-fold increase in the rate of quakes in the US state between 2008-13.
The scientists found that the disposal of water in four high-volume wells could be responsible for a swarm of tremors up to 35km away.
Their research has been published in the journal, Science.
Sudden swarm
There has been increasing evidence of links between the process of oil and gas extraction and earthquakes in states like Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Oklahoma in recent years.
If a fault is close to failure, the amount that the pressure is going up at these locations in our model is enough to push them over the edge Dr Katie Keranen, Cornell University
In 2011, a small number of people were injured and 14 houses were destroyed in the town of Prague, Oklahoma by a 5.7 tremor.
Investigators linked it to the injection of wastewater from the oil industry.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) has also reported on the question of seismicity induced by wastewater disposal.
This new research goes further, linking a large swarm of Oklahoma tremors with a number of specific water wells, distantly located.
More than 2,500 earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0 have occurred around the small town of Jones since 2008. This represents about 20% of the total in the central and western US in this period.
Image copyright Cornell Image caption There has been a significant increase in the number of tremors in central Oklahoma since 2008
Researchers have now linked this increase to a near doubling in the volumes of wastewater disposed of in the central Oklahoma region between 2004 and 2008.
Water is never far away in the energy extraction process. It is used not just for hydraulic fracturing, but also to squeeze more oil out of conventional wells.
Large amounts of naturally occurring water are often released with the oil and gas - and this briny liquid needs to be separated from the fuels, using a method called "dewatering".
"There is a high ratio of water to oil," said the study's lead author Dr Katie Keranen from Cornell University.
"It differs for each well. The typical nationwide ratio is five to one. We're seeing much higher ratios, in the hundreds, at the beginning of the well."
According to Dr Bill Ellsworth from the USGS, the high price of oil has driven this water-based approach. But the law says that drinking water has to be protected from the salty flow.
"As part of the business model, you have to be able to dispose of these very large volumes of saline water. You can't treat it; you can't put it into the rivers. So, you have to inject it underground."
Pressure points
Four of the biggest of these wells in Oklahoma have been pumping around 4 million barrels of water a month to a depth of 3.5km beneath the surface.
To determine the impact of this water, the scientists developed a model that could calculate the way the underground wave of pressure from these wells spread out.
By comparing this to seismic data from the Jones cluster, it was concluded that the injection of wastewater is "likely responsible" for the swarm.
"It is possible that pressure looks to have risen in the places where the earthquakes are occurring," said Dr Keranen.
"That pressure increase is what we see in natural triggering. So, if a fault is close to failure, the amount that the pressure is going up at these locations in our model is enough to push them over the edge."
The four wells that are the subject of the study are owned by a company called New Dominion. It insists that it operates its wells (named Sweetheart, Chambers, Flower Power and Deep Throat) safely and within permitted parameters.
"The company notes the author did not consult with New Dominion's geologist and engineers to determine whether her premises are in any way correct," the company said in a statement.
"At best, these incorrect assumptions are irresponsible."
Bigger triggers
The authors say that they are uncertain about the potential for the large-scale disposal of wastewater to trigger events of larger magnitude.
They point to an incident in 2010 when an earthquake ruptured a portion of a 7km long fault. If the entire fault had gone, the authors write, it could have led to a magnitude 6.0 tremor.
"We often see more larger earthquakes when we see a lot of smaller ones," said Dr Keranen.
"But this is new situation with induced seismicity and we still have a lot of questions that we are trying to address."
This view is echoed by Dr Bill Ellsworth from USGS.
"There are thousands of these wells in the US, so only a few appear to be problematic. The difficulties can be avoided but we need to know more about the process so we can give proper guidance to the authorities."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc. ||||| More than 230 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 3.0 have shaken the state of Oklahoma already this year. Before 2008 the state averaged one such quake a year. The surge in seismic activity has left residents and experts alike wondering about the underlying cause.
Past research has shown that processes such as wastewater injection at oil drilling and fracking sites throughout the state could induce a small number of earthquakes but scientists have never been able to specifically link some of the more distant or stronger earthquakes with these sometimes faraway wastewater wells. That is, until now.
A study published today in Science explains how wastewater injection sites—areas where toxic water left over from oil drilling and fracking processes is injected into the ground between impermeable layers of rocks to avoid polluting freshwater—could be driving the sharp increase in the sometimes-disastrous earthquake events. “It really is unprecedented to have this many earthquakes over a broad region like this,” says study co-author Geoffrey Abers of Cornell University. “Most big sequences of earthquakes that we see are either a main shock and a lot of aftershocks or it might be right at the middle of a volcano in a volcanic system or geothermal system. So you might see little swarms but nothing really this distributed and this persistent.”
Abers and his colleagues dug up data on the rates and volumes of liquids associated with the wastewater injection sites. They then modeled the flow of the water and calculated the physical properties of the rocks into which the water was injected. In so doing the team determined that a relatively small number of wastewater injection sites used in oil drilling and fracking in Oklahoma may have the ability after all to induce relatively strong earthquakes a long distance away, throughout the state. “The important thing is that we are seeing earthquakes that are much more widely distributed, much farther from wells and in a lot of different directions,” Abers observes “Some of these earthquakes are as much as 20 miles away from what seems to be the primary wells that are increasing the pressure.”
Scientists have known since the 1960s that wastewater injection, during which millions of barrels of wastewater are forced into a disposal well, can induce earthquakes by increasing the fluid pressures underground. That increasing pressure reduces the frictional strength of faults, Abers explains, allowing them to slip.
Seismologist Austin Holland of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, who was not involved in the study, says there could be a large number of factors playing into the quakes. But like the authors of the new paper, he, too, has found evidence linking the Oklahoma quakes specifically to oil and gas activity. “We certainly do have a contribution from oil and gas, but the question is how much, how extensive is this and how is this occurring,” he says. “This study will certainly help improve our understanding in the scientific discussion of what is occurring in Oklahoma.”
The number of wastewater injection sites also seems to keep increasing, according to Abers, who notes that the permitted rate of wastewater doubled between 2004 and 2008, and has most likely increased since then. He says several earthquakes in Texas over the past few years have been linked to wastewater injection but the scale of these events pales in comparison with what is happening in Oklahoma. There have also been well-documented cases of wastewater injection-driven quakes in Ohio, Utah, Colorado and British Columbia, all within the last year or so.
Holland added that these events demand political and social discussion. “Just how important is it to produce oil and gas in Oklahoma, and are we willing to deal with the issues of these disposal wells in order to produce the oil and gas that we are accustomed to producing?” he asks.
Abers notes that ongoing research on this topic will be needed to better understand the complexity of these processes as they continue into the future. “I think this rate of earthquake increase in the midcontinent is really extraordinary and is continuing, but this isn’t the last word on this in any means,” Abers remarks. “There is clearly something important going on there that we need to keep an eye on and that we need to be trying to understand.” | – Earthquakes in Oklahoma are up more than a hundredfold in recent years, and a new study spies a pretty clear link between the shaking and the fracking that has given the state's economy a huge boost. Researchers took a close look at four specific sites where wastewater from oil and gas extraction was injected into the ground and found that the process could be linked to swarms of quakes in areas up to 20 miles away from the sites, reports the BBC. The four wells examined have been pumping four million barrels of water a month to a depth of around two miles underground. At one site linked to the wells, a small town called Jones, there have been more 2,500 earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0 since 2008—a fifth of the total in the central and western US during that period. "It really is unprecedented to have this many earthquakes over a broad region like this," a study co-author tells Scientific American, explaining that wastewater injection can cause quakes by sending out waves of fluid pressure, causing faults miles away to slip. "Most big sequences of earthquakes that we see are either a main shock and a lot of aftershocks or it might be right at the middle of a volcano in a volcanic system or geothermal system. So you might see little swarms but nothing really this distributed and this persistent," he says. (In Texas, several small towns troubled by quakes are considering banning fracking.) |
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A New Orleans judge on Wednesday sentenced real estate scion Robert Durst to seven years in prison for a federal gun crime and agreed to recommend that he serve his time in California, where he faces a murder charge in a friend’s 2000 death.
The 73-year-old, who entered and left the courtroom in a wheelchair, had pleaded guilty to the gun charge in February.
Speaking in a weak voice, he asked U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt to speed his transfer to California, so he can defend himself in the death of writer Susan Berman.
“I truly, truly want to express my statement that I am not guilty of killing Susan Berman,” said Durst, appearing thin in his loose-fitting orange prison jumpsuit.
Durst has been held in Louisiana since his March 2015 arrest on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a search of his New Orleans hotel room turned up a handgun.
His arrest came one day before the series finale of an HBO documentary entitled, “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” which chronicled several police investigations of the multimillionaire whose family is known for its significant New York real estate holdings.
Engelhardt approved a plea agreement calling for an 85-month prison stint, followed by three years of supervised release. The judge said the deal also resolved several pending charges against Durst in New York, Texas, and Louisiana state court.
The HBO series documented investigations of Durst in connection with the dismemberment killing of a male neighbor in Texas in 2003, for which he was tried and acquitted of murder, and the 1982 disappearance in New York of his wife, Kathleen.
In the series’ final episode, Durst’s voice was captured on a microphone after an interview as he muttered that he had “killed them all.”
Real estate heir Robert Durst appears in a criminal courtroom for his trial on charges of trespassing on property owned by his estranged family, in New York December 10, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
Durst has previous convictions in Texas related to jumping bail and carrying a weapon across state lines in 2004 as he tried to flee the murder prosecution there. Durst served about three years in connection with those charges.
Prosecutors say Durst, who has long been estranged from his family, is worth some $100 million.
Durst could move to California within four to six weeks, his attorney Dick DeGuerin said before Wednesday’s hearing. He was expected to be arraigned on the murder charge in Los Angeles on August 18. ||||| FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2014 file photo, New York City real estate heir Robert Durst leaves a Houston courtroom. New Orleans Federal Judge Kurt Engelhardt on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, approved a plea... (Associated Press)
FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2014 file photo, New York City real estate heir Robert Durst leaves a Houston courtroom. New Orleans Federal Judge Kurt Engelhardt on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, approved a plea agreement for Durst to serve 7 years, 1 month in prison on a weapons charge. Durst still faces a separate... (Associated Press)
FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2014 file photo, New York City real estate heir Robert Durst leaves a Houston courtroom. New Orleans Federal Judge Kurt Engelhardt on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, approved a plea agreement for Durst to serve 7 years, 1 month in prison on a weapons charge. Durst still faces a separate... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2014 file photo, New York City real estate heir Robert Durst leaves a Houston courtroom. New Orleans Federal Judge Kurt Engelhardt on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, approved a plea... (Associated Press)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on the prosecution in Louisiana of property heir Robert Durst (all times local):
10 a.m.
Robert Durst will be heading from Louisiana to California soon to face a murder charge in connection with the death of a friend in 2000.
Attorneys said Durst would be in Los Angeles by mid-August. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon said it is likely Durst would arrive in California well before that.
A federal judge on Wednesday approved a plea agreement for Durst to serve about 7 years on a weapons charge.
The New York property heir has steadfastly insisted that he is innocent in the death of Susan Berman. Prosecutors say Durst killed Berman to keep her from talking to prosecutors about the disappearance of Durst's first wife in 1982.
Durst's wealthy family runs 1 World Trade Center. He was tracked to New Orleans in March 2015 by FBI agents worried that he was about to flee to Cuba.
___
9:15 a.m.
A federal judge in New Orleans has approved a plea agreement for real estate heir Robert Durst to serve 7 years, 1 month in prison on a weapons charge.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt approved the sentence Wednesday. The 72-year-old Durst agreed to the sentence as part of a guilty plea in February.
Durst still faces a separate murder charge in California. He is accused of killing a female friend in 2000 to keep her from talking to prosecutors about the disappearance of Durst's first wife in 1982. Durst has steadfastly maintained his innocence.
___
Real estate heir Robert Durst will soon learn whether a federal judge accepts a 7-year-and-one-month sentence on a weapons charge that's kept him in Louisiana pending a murder trial in California.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt will say Wednesday whether he approves that sentence, which the 72-year-old Durst accepted as part of his guilty plea in February.
He's charged in California with killing his friend Susan Berman in 2000. His attorneys have said repeatedly that Durst is innocent, doesn't know who killed Berman, and wants to prove it.
The most recent such statement was in a motion Monday asking U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt to recommend that Durst serve his time at Terminal Island, California, about 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles, where Durst faces trial in Berman's death. ||||| Frail Robert Durst sentenced on gun charge in New Orleans but headed to low-security federal prison in L.A.
Frail Robert Durst sentenced on gun charge in New Orleans but headed to low-security federal prison in L.A.
Robert Durst, the New York real-estate heir and celebrity murder suspect who twice chose New Orleans as a hideout, moved closer Wednesday to escaping another hot Louisiana summer behind bars.
U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt sentenced the ailing Durst, 73, to an agreed-upon 85-month prison term on a federal gun count resulting from a search of his room last year at the JW Marriott hotel in downtown New Orleans.
A call from the hotel to retrieve his voicemail drew authorities, who were pursuing Durst, the subject of the then-running HBO miniseries “The Jinx,” in the 2000 execution-style slaying of his longtime confidante and spokeswoman, Susan Berman, in Los Angeles.
Engelhardt endorsed a recommendation sought by Durst’s attorneys for him to serve his sentence at a low-security federal prison facility on the Pacific coast while he awaits state prosecution for Berman’s murder.
Durst, appearing frail in orange St. Charles Parish jail scrubs, reurged that request before Engelhardt on Wednesday.
“I’ve been waiting to get to California for a year so I can state my not guilty” plea in Berman’s killing, Durst said. “If there’s anything you can do to speed up that process, I would truly, truly appreciate it. I am not guilty of murdering Susan Berman.”
In a legal filing this week, his attorneys cited Durst’s “advanced age and poor health” in their request for him to be housed at FCI Terminal Island, a federal prison with medical facilities near Los Angeles.
An elaborate deal with federal prosecutors, confected as part of Durst’s guilty plea in February to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, would have him back in California by Aug. 18 for his arraignment in the murder case. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon said Wednesday that it’s likely Durst will leave within a few weeks for California, assuming the federal Bureau of Prisons accepts the judge’s recommendation.
The gun charge stemmed from a search of Durst’s hotel room on March 14, 2015, which turned up a flesh-colored latex mask with salt-and-pepper hair, five ounces of marijuana, more than $100,000 in cash and a loaded Smith and Wesson .38-caliber revolver, authorities said. His attorney said Durst has forfeited those items, including the cash, as part of his plea deal.
Following his guilty plea in February, McMahon said he suspected Durst had been headed to Cuba to try to evade arrest in Berman’s killing.
Engelhardt had held Durst’s guilty plea in abeyance pending a probation report that recommended a sentencing range of just 12 to 18 months on the gun charge. But Engelhardt, in formally accepting the deal Wednesday, noted that it also includes stipulations that authorities in New York won’t prosecute him over financial maneuvering while on the lam, and that prosecutors in Texas and New Orleans won’t pursue further gun counts against him related to his stay in New Orleans.
Dick DeGuerin, Durst’s longtime attorney, said the deal “cleared the decks, at a cost. It’s a serious cost, but he’s not facing any other prosecution except what’s in California. That’s what this is all about. We want to get to California and go to trial.”
DeGuerin, describing Berman as Durst’s “best friend,” again insisted that Durst didn’t kill her and doesn’t know who did. He said Los Angeles prosecutors have not revealed any new evidence in the case but that he’s confident Durst will beat the murder rap.
“He didn’t do it. That’s as confident as you can get,” DeGuerin said outside the federal courthouse Wednesday.
Renewed interest in Durst for Berman’s killing stemmed from the conclusion of the HBO show. In the final episode, Durst made what some observers described as a confession while muttering to himself off-camera, still wired with a microphone on a trip to the bathroom.
“What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,” Durst said.
The show cataloged three presumed killings of which Durst has been suspected: Berman’s slaying 16 years ago; the killing of a Texas neighbor, Morris Black, for which Durst was acquitted, despite dismembering Black and dumping his remains in Galveston Bay; and the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst, in New York in 1982.
Durst was a felon because of guilty pleas in 2004 to interstate transportation and possession of a firearm by a fugitive of justice. He had jumped bail in 2001 after being charged in Black’s killing.
While on the lam, he moved for a time to New Orleans, where he rented an apartment under a woman’s name, court records show. Authorities later found a wig used to support his alias and a money clip that had belonged to Berman.
Follow John Simerman on Twitter, @johnsimerman. | – A New Orleans judge officially approved Robert Durst's February plea deal on a gun charge and sentenced him to seven years in prison on Wednesday, Reuters reports. For more than a year, the real estate heir has languished in a New Orleans prison after being nabbed with a handgun in his hotel room. He was busted for that felony just one day before the series finale of HBO's The Jinx, in which he famously appeared to confess to three murders by saying, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." US District Judge Kurt Engelhardt also agreed that Durst can be transferred to a low-security prison with medical facilities in San Pedro, Calif., where the 73-year-old's attorneys say his "advanced age and poor health" can be better addressed, per the Advocate. In California, Durst will face a murder charge in the 2000 death of friend Susan Berman, the AP reports. (A Texas judge believes Durst once dumped a cat's head on her doorstep.) |
A frantic scramble to influence the Senate’s healthcare legislation intensified on Monday, with House conservatives pressuring their allies in the Senate and Democrats mounting a furious public relations blitz to kill the bill.
The pace of activity is picking up ahead of the informal July 4 deadline set by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenate passes 0B defense bill Overnight Health Care: New GOP ObamaCare repeal bill gains momentum Overnight Finance: CBO to release limited analysis of ObamaCare repeal bill | DOJ investigates Equifax stock sales | House weighs tougher rules for banks dealing with North Korea MORE (R-Ky.) for a vote.
McConnell does not want the ObamaCare debate to eat up more precious legislative time, with nearly half the year gone and congressional Republicans and President Trump still looking for a major legislative victory.
Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Barrasso John Anthony BarrassoDems force 'Medicare for All' on Americans but exempt themselves GOP sees fresh opening with Dems’ single payer embrace Overnight Health Care: CBO predicts 15 percent ObamaCare premium hike | Trump calls Sanders single-payer plan ‘curse on the US’ | Republican seeks score of Sanders’s bill MORE (Wyo.) told reporters that he expects a Senate vote on the bill as soon as next week, underlining the importance of the next two weeks.
McConnell is walking a tightrope in seeking to win over centrists and conservatives for a Senate version of the House-passed American Health Care Act — which is being negotiated entirely behind closed doors.
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Much of the focus has been on winning over moderates in the 52-member conference, a strategy that risks losing conservative Sens.(R-Ky.),(R-Utah) and(R-Texas). McConnell can only afford two defections, with every Senate Democrat expected to be a “no” vote.
In an effort to buck up the conservatives, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) — the largest group of conservatives in the House — warned that the Senate risks seeing its bill die in the House if it drifts too far to the center.
The RSC specifically warned that the bill would lose support in the House if it did not keep four provisions, including the phasing out of extra federal funding for Medicaid in 2020. They also warned McConnell against preserving ObamaCare’s tax increases, removing language defunding Planned Parenthood or barring refundable tax credits from being used to “federally fund abortions.”
In a bid to keep moderate Republicans on board, McConnell has proposed phasing out enhanced federal funding for Medicaid expansion in 2023.
GOP senators have also discussed keeping ObamaCare taxes to help pay for the costs of the bill, and language on Planned Parenthood in the House bill may be struck down by the Senate parliamentarian. The Senate plans to use special budgetary rules to prevent Democrats from filibustering the healthcare bill, but this makes certain provisions vulnerable under other Senate rules.
James Wallner, a former aide to Lee and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who are both playing active roles in the healthcare talks, said the RSC letter shows that conservatives are laying down their markers before it’s too late.
“To the extent that the bulk of the party wants to pass the House-passed bill or a modified version of the House-passed bill, individual members need to take steps to give themselves leverage heading into that kind of high-stakes showdown,” he said.
Senate Democrats are hoping to have an impact, too. They threatened Monday to grind the Senate to a halt to protest Republicans’ decision to craft the bill in private meetings, skipping the regular order of holding hearings and marking it up in public committee sessions.
“If Republicans won’t relent and debate their healthcare bill in the open for the American people to see, then they shouldn’t expect business as usual in the Senate,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerSenate Dems hold floor talk-a-thon against latest ObamaCare repeal bill This week: Senate wrapping up defense bill after amendment fight Cuomo warns Dems against cutting DACA deal with Trump MORE (N.Y.).
Democrats planned to hold a late-night talk-a-thon on the Senate floor Monday night to put the spotlight on the GOP’s secretive tactics — a strategy Democrats used earlier this year to protest some of Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks.
The three conservatives are pressing different issues on healthcare.
Paul has made clear to colleagues that he will not support legislation that creates a new GOP-sponsored entitlement program in the form of refundable tax credits to help low-income people buy private insurance plans.
Lee and Cruz are pressing GOP leaders to allow states to get out of two major regulatory requirements under ObamaCare.
One, known as guaranteed issue, mandates that insurance companies sell insurance plans to people regardless of how sick they are, and another, known as community rating, prohibits insurance companies from pricing those plans to reflect the greater financial risk of insuring people with pre-existing medical conditions.
A GOP source familiar with the negotiations said McConnell has so far refused to promise conservatives to let states opt out of the community rating requirement — which keeps health plans more affordable for sick people but sends premiums soaring — or to exempt states altogether from the regulatory mandate and allow them to opt in.
McConnell, however, is worried that if he effectively guts ObamaCare’s popular prohibition against insurers charging higher prices for sick people, he would lose moderate votes.
Conservatives are stepping up their efforts to mold the bill, as it’s become apparent that Trump is primarily interested in a political victory and is willing to cater to moderates to get one.
At a meeting at the White House last week with prominent centrists such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiSenate Dems hold floor talk-a-thon against latest ObamaCare repeal bill Collins skeptical of new ObamaCare repeal effort How Senate relationships could decide ObamaCare repeal MORE (R-Alaska), Rob Portman Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanWeek ahead in tech: Debate over online sex trafficking bill heats up 'Hillbilly Elegy' author won't run for Senate Brown, Portman urge Trump administration to move quickly on a steel decision MORE (R-Ohio) and Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsSenate Dems hold floor talk-a-thon against latest ObamaCare repeal bill Ryan: Graham-Cassidy 'best, last chance' to repeal ObamaCare Collins skeptical of new ObamaCare repeal effort MORE (R-Maine), Trump criticized the House-passed bill as “mean” and urged Senate Republicans to craft legislation that is “generous, kind [and] with heart.”
“That may be adding additional money into it,” the president said at the start of the meeting.
Moderate Republicans have sought to put their imprint on the legislation by pushing it further to the center.
A group led by Portman wants to extend the phase-out of extra federal funding for the Medicaid expansion to 2027 but would likely accept 2025 as a split-the-difference compromise with McConnell’s proposed end date of 2023.
Murkowski and Collins have also emphasized the importance of preserving funding for Planned Parenthood.
Murkowski wrote in a recent letter to a constituent that she is committed to providing insurance coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, continuing support for Medicaid expansion and preserving funding for Planned Parenthood.
— Jordain Carney and Rachel Roubein contributed. ||||| Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch said he hopes Republicans have "as much time as it takes" to study the proposal. | Getty Senate GOP prepares for Obamacare repeal vote next week Republicans are working behind closed doors — and quickly — to finalize a bill and bring it to the floor.
Senate Republicans are preparing to vote on Obamacare repeal next week, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, potentially leaving rank-and-file lawmakers with no more than a week to review legislation that would affect millions of Americans and one-sixth of the U.S. economy.
Senators are expected to see the text of the bill as soon as the end of this week, those sources said, provided this week's work goes smoothly. The timeline could change based on the response from individual senators toward the proposal at party meetings, but Republicans are increasingly optimistic they can hold a vote next week if this week's lunch talks go well.
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Sen. Bob Corker said Tuesday that he expects legislation to be made public on Thursday and for a vote to take place roughly a week later. The Tennessee Republican told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” he would have preferred "a more open process" but that he would ultimately vote based on the substance of the measure.
"I believed the majority leader when he said he's going to take it up. I expect us to vote on it next week," Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Monday. "It's close. Everybody's been counting [votes] since the beginning. It's been close since the beginning."
Such a timeline would mean Republicans would have about a week to review text of a bill to repeal the 2010 health care law. Burr said he would be comfortable with that timeline: "We’ll debate it for 20 hours."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said he hopes Republicans have "as much time as it takes" to study the proposal. Democrats have slammed Republicans for moving so quickly and without holding public hearings.
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"It's not a light bill," Hatch said. Asked whether they will vote this month, he replied: "We could. But clearly I wonder if we could."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried on Monday evening to get Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to commit to allowing at least 10 hours to review the legislation before it comes to the floor for a vote. McConnell wouldn't commit to such a number.
"We'll have ample opportunity to read and amend the bill," McConnell said.
The timeline could blow up because there is no final deal yet on any of the sticking points and negotiations are still extremely fluid. McConnell can lose just two senators in his 52-member caucus to pass the bill, with Vice President Mike Pence as a tie-breaker.
Democrats have been revving up their opposition to the legislation, organizing hours of speeches on Monday attacking the GOP's secretive process. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) called it "an affront to democracy itself."
Democrats spent Monday drawing a contrast between the passage of Obamacare and its potential repeal, emphasizing that hundreds of Republican amendments were considered and Congress devoted weeks to debate in committee and on the floor before the bill, also known as the Affordable Care Act, was passed.
"We had a month of debate in the United States Senate in 2009 — that seems like a reasonable amount of time" for the GOP bill, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
But Republicans threw the Democrats' own history on health care back at them, arguing that Democrats deployed secretive techniques and the party-line budget reconciliation process to ultimately pass a portion of Obamacare into law.
"I hope they'll have more time than we did on Christmas Eve when [former Sen. Harry] Reid produced his bill," said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Republican leaders believe that entering the July 4th recess with their Obamacare quagmire unsolved could lose votes as well as hurt the GOP politically. But the rushed timeline could put rank-and-file Republicans in a tough spot with little time to deliberate such a consequential vote.
"We're going to need a significant amount of time," to review text, said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). "More than hours." His remarks are the latest from rank-and-file GOP senators who have grumbled publicly about the process even as their leadership has vowed to steam ahead.
Last week, Republicans discussed insurance market stabilization in the short term as well as how to overhaul Medicaid and wind down its expansion. One proposal being floated would phase out the law's Medicaid expansion over three years beginning in 2020 or 2021 and eventually curb the Medicaid growth rate more strictly than the House-passed bill, but that proposal has not yet been agreed on.
This week, Republicans will discuss how far to cut Obamacare's regulatory regime and how much to beef up the House bill's tax credits to help people buy insurance. Conservatives want to gut the regulations as much as possible; there is more consensus on the tax credits but not necessarily how to pay for them.
There is no guarantee the legislation will pass given the party divisions. But McConnell has made clear to associates he prefers not to let the bill linger so the Senate can turn to funding the government, raising the debt ceiling and rewriting the tax code, according to people who speak with him regularly. ||||| WASHINGTON—Senate GOP leaders have set a timeline to vote next week on legislation to repeal large chunks of the Affordable Care Act, even though they don’t yet appear to have secured enough support to pass it.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is intent on keeping pressure on Senate Republicans to move quickly on the bill rolling back and replacing much of the 2010 health law, lawmakers and GOP aides said. The push for a quick vote before the weeklong July 4 recess could backfire, however, as some conservative and... | – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is aiming to hold a vote on the Senate's version of ObamaCare repeal-and-replace legislation next week—despite the fact that many GOP senators haven't seen it yet, let alone said they will support it. Insiders tell the Wall Street Journal that although McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes, he wants to wrap it up before the July 4 recess so the chamber can move on, and he is gambling that the pressure will make it easier for the GOP to reach a consensus. The Journal notes that if the bill fails to pass before the recess, lawmakers returning home could face "pressure from constituents." The bill is being crafted behind closed doors and sources tell Politico that the text should be ready this week, giving lawmakers around a week to review it before the vote. In contrast, the chamber debated the ObamaCare bill for a month in 2009. The Hill reports that McConnell has focused on winning over moderate Republicans, though conservatives in the House say the bill will die there unless the Senate keeps provisions including the phasing out of ObamaCare's extra Medicaid funding by 2020. "It's close," says GOP Sen. Richard Burr. "Everybody's been counting [votes] since the beginning. It's been close since the beginning." Democrats have slammed the GOP for failing to hold hearings, and plan to "embarrass the heck out of Republicans, who are as much in the dark as we are about their own leadership's plans on the bill," says Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Monday that Democrats will delay Senate business unless the GOP allows open debate on the legislation. |
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Back-to-back explosions rattled two churches in a New Mexico town Sunday morning, police said.
No one was injured in either explosion, and damage to each church was "relatively minor," according to a statement from the Las Cruces Police Department.
Aaliyah Doninguez, 11, holds a sign advising parishioners in Las Cruces, New Mexico, that Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church mass was canceled on Sunday. Robin Zielinski / AP
A mailbox was blasted at Calvary Baptist Church in Las Cruces, about 50 miles from the Mexico border, around 8 a.m. local time, the police statement said. Parishioners were gathered inside the church at the time of the explosion, but services had not yet begun, the statement said.
Less than half-hour later, police were called to Holy Cross Catholic Church, about three miles away, where an explosive device had gone off in a trash can near the entrance of the church, according to police. The service at Holy Cross had started, and worshippers were evacuated, police said.
The churches remained closed Sunday afternoon while multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the nearly-simultaneous blasts, according to police.
Holy Cross Catholic Church said activities at their adjoining school would be canceled Monday morning. "Please pray for our community," said a statement from the church.
"Just the fact that they were at churches the same day a half an hour apart or so, that leads us to believe it could be something related," police spokesman Dan Trujillo told the Las Cruces News. Trujillo said police have advised other churches in the area "to be on the lookout for anything suspicious." ||||| No injuries: Devices placed just outside churches in trash can, mail box
While waiting in a staging area, Holy Cross Catholic Church Pastor John Anderson tries to get in touch with other local churches to warn them of the two explosions that occurred Sunday morning and to be vigilant. (Robin Zielinski Sun-News)
See photos from the scene at Holy Cross Catholic Church and Calvary Baptist Church.
LAS CRUCES >> Explosions about a half hour apart shattered the serenity of morning services at two Las Cruces churches Sunday, but caused no injuries and only minor damage, police said.
The explosions happened at Calvary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Locust, shortly after 8 a.m. and Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1327 N. Miranda, about a half hour later. The explosion at Holy Cross took place in a trash can just outside the entrance of the church as services for the 8 a.m. Mass were taking place.
Robin Zielinski — Sun-News Holy Cross Catholic Church pastoral associate Elizabeth Behnke informs parishioners of ride arrangements and that their cars must be left at the church until the parking lot is searched on Sunday.
Monsignor John Anderson had been in the part of the service where communion is passed.
"I was right in the middle of saying the words 'take and eat, this is my body' and there was a Pow! I mean, I knew it had to be more than a gunshot," he said. "It didn't know if it was a shotgun blast, I didn't know what. But it was very loud and I just kept on saying the words."
Ann Marie Sullivan, a college student and lifelong parishioner at Holy Cross, described it. "It sounded like something had fallen off and shattered the glass in the back."
At the end of the Lord's Prayer, the pastor sent a deacon to find out what had happened, and it was reported that a bomb had exploded in a trash can outside the front glass doors, shattering the thick glass.
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"I had just received communion and had gotten back to my chair when the police came up and said we need everyone to leave out the doors calmly," Sullivan said, saying police told parishioners. "We have it under control but we need you to leave the building."
Ten minutes later, and it could have been much worse, Anderson said.
Robin Zielinski — Sun-News Aaliyah Doninguez, 11, stands on North Alameda Boulevard advising parishioners of Holy Cross Catholic Church that Mass is canceled on Sunday.
"I'm just thankful to God nobody was standing by the door, because there's usually always somebody standing there. But because it was the consecration part of the Mass, everybody was kneeling down and facing toward the altar," he said. "Ten minutes later we would have been leaving and standing around that space."
At a press conference Sunday night, Gov. Susana Martinez said that only a "coward" would place an explosive device in a church. She vowed that the person responsible would be caught, and urged people to continue to attend church services.
"Whoever did this will feel the full pressure of the law," she said. "If your intention was to bring fear to those who worship, you have failed."
Robin Zielinski — Sun-News Las Cruces Police Officer Joseph Campa talks to Holy Cross Catholic Church parishioners on Sunday after an explosion occurred at the entrance of the church during Mass.
State Police Chief Pete Kassetas said the acts were certainly intended to terrorize churchgoers, but he could not call it an act of terrorism at this time, or even confirm for certain that the two explosions were related.
The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad, New Mexico State Police, and an NMSU canine unit are all assisting in the investigation, as are federal officials with the FBI, ATF and Department of Homeland Security, Las Cruces Police spokesman Dan Trujillo said.
The earlier explosion at Calvary Baptist Church took place in a mailbox on a wall near the administrative entrance to the church, Trujillo said. Several worshippers were gathering inside the church when the explosion happened, but services had not yet begun.
Jett Loe — Sun-News Las Cruces police block portions of Locust Street in response to an explosion Sunday morning near Calvary Baptist Church.
"It was a real bomb, I saw all the parts," said Cavalry Baptist member Dennis Llewellyn, who said he was outside the church when the explosive went off. Llewellyn said he was a former special forces member with the Marines and recognized bomb parts that included an Eveready battery. He and fellow church member Mike Stewart kept churchgoers arriving for the 8:30 a.m. service from going into the building during the five to 10 minutes it took for police to arrive. Stewart was the one to notice the debris and damaged mailbox, the two men said.
Llewellyn described the explosion as loud, and Stewart, who was inside, said it shook the building. Llewellyn said there were about 30 people inside the building when the explosion occurred.
Kassetas said they were not releasing information on the type of explosive device used while the investigation is ongoing, but said they "were not fireworks"
"These devices were intended, I believe, to do harm and could have done harm to people."
Trujillo said had no information yet as to possible motives, but police assume the two blasts are related.
"Just the fact that they were at churches the same day a half and hour apart or so, that leads us to believe it could be something related," he said.
"Somebody wanted attention, and somebody wanted to be very destructive against the Catholics, I guess," Monsignor John Anderson said. "I don't know how else to read that."
"We'll well have to increase the security and have people in the parking lot all the time and have cameras in that gathering area to see who is there at all times. So, well have to be more vigilant."
Trujillo said police were been contacted by other churches in town asking what they should do.
"We can't tell them what to do, but we can tell them to be on the lookout for anything suspicious," he said. "Don't go poking around in trash cans or mailboxes. If you have any suspicion of anything that's out of the ordinary, please call to police and leave it up to the officers to look it over."
During a rally Sunday night at Pioneer Park, faith leaders from throughout the community called for forgiveness and a stronger sense of community. A message was read from Bishop Oscar Cantú in which he expressed thanks that nobody was hurt, and vowed the church services would continue, but with more prudence.
Sun-News staff members Robin Zielinski, Jett Loe, Lucas Peerman and Sylvia Ulloa contributed to this report. |||||
Aaliyah Doninguez, 11, advises parishioners that Holy Cross Catholic Church mass is canceled in Las Cruces, N.M. (Robin Zielinski/Las Cruces Sun-News via AP)
Three miles and only 20 minutes apart, dual explosions rocked two churches in Las Cruces, N.M., Sunday morning, injuring none but leaving both congregations shaken.
The incidents are being investigated separately, Las Cruces Police Department spokesman Dan Trujillo said, but with an awareness of the “totality of the day’s events.”
“It’s unlikely for us to have two incidents like this on the same day 20 minutes apart and have them not be connected,” he told The Washington Post in a phone interview.
The first explosion, set off by a device planted in a mailbox, went off around 8:20 a.m. just as congregants at Calvary Baptist Church in southern Las Cruces were beginning to gather for the morning’s services. Twenty minutes later a second device exploded inside a trash can outside the Holy Cross Catholic Church just a short drive away, shattering the building’s glass front and startling worshipers in the midst of their morning Mass.
“I was right in the middle of saying the words ‘take and eat, this is my body’ and there was a ‘Pow!’ I mean, I knew it had to be more than a gunshot,” Monsignor John Anderson told the Las Cruces Sun-News. “It didn’t know if it was a shotgun blast, I didn’t know what. But it was very loud and I just kept on saying the words.”
Trujillo described the explosive devices as “dangerous, much more dangerous than just fireworks or firecrackers,” and intended to cause harm. But investigators do not yet have more details about what caused the explosions. Nor are they sure why these two churches in particular were targeted — Trujillo noted that Calvary Baptist is on the same street as at least five other churches, none of which were bombed.
New Mexico State Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating the incidents alongside several local law enforcement agencies. As of late Sunday night they had no information about potential suspects.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) headed to her hometown, a city of about 100,000 just an hour’s drive north of the Mexican border, for a news conference with law enforcement Sunday night.
“Only a coward would place an explosive device in a place of peace and a place of worship,” she told reporters. “… If your intention was to bring fear to those who worship, you have failed. Our faith is too strong and our fellowship is unbreakable.”
Asked if the bombings were an act of terrorism, State Police Chief Pete Kassetas responded that he could only say for sure that the explosions certainly provoked terror.
“But if you’re asking me to put it in a nice, little, neat box to say that I can link this … to any one group or individual, we’re not there yet,” he said.
Later, in response to a different question, he added, “Someone put some time and effort into this, we believe.”
The first explosion, at Calvary Baptist, went off outside an administrative entrance on the opposite side of the church from the door where worshipers were streaming in. About 30 people were already inside the building when they heard a loud noise and felt the building shake.
Church member Dennis Llewellyn, who said he was a former special forces member with the Marines, recognized bomb parts among the debris.
“It was a real bomb, I saw all the parts,” he told the Sun-News.
Services were already underway when the second device went off at Holy Cross Catholic Church 20 minutes later, the sound of splintering glass interrupting communion. The pastor finished the Lord’s Prayer, then sent a deacon to investigate the noise. Minutes later police arrived.
“We have it under control but we need you to leave the building,” they instructed the congregation, college student and lifelong Holy Cross parishioner Ann-Marie Sullivan told the Sun-News.
None of the roughly 200 people inside the building were injured, though the church’s glass front was destroyed. The congregation was saved by the fact that the explosion happened during the communion; normally someone is posted at the building’s entrance, Anderson told the Sun-News, but everyone had come inside for that part of the service. If the bomb had gone off just 10 minutes later, the church members would have been gathering in the building’s entrance and it’s likely several would have been hurt.
He added that the church needs to increase its security, adding patrols to its parking lot and cameras to its front entrance in the wake of the incident.
“Somebody wanted attention, and somebody wanted to be very destructive against the Catholics, I guess,” he told the Sun-News. “I don’t know how else to read that.” | – Police are investigating a pair of blasts that rocked two New Mexico churches where parishioners had gathered yesterday morning, though there were no injuries and damage was "relatively minor," authorities tell NBC News. One explosion came from a mailbox outside an administrative entrance to Calvary Baptist Church in Las Cruces at about 8:20am local time, reports the Washington Post. About 30 people had gathered inside and witnesses say they felt the building shake. Twenty minutes later, the pastor at Holy Cross Catholic Church, three miles away, said he heard a "pow" while passing out communion. "I didn't know if it was a shotgun blast…but it was very loud," he tells the Las Cruces News. The bomb exploded in a trash can outside the church's glass front doors, which shattered. "I'm just thankful to God nobody was standing by the door, because there's usually always somebody standing there," the pastor says. "Ten minutes later we would have been leaving and standing around that space." A churchgoer at Calvary Baptist—which is on the same street as several other churches that weren't targeted—says he recognized bomb parts at the scene, including an Eveready battery. A police rep says only that the two devices "were not fireworks" and "were intended, I believe, to do harm and could have done harm to people." Police add the blasts are considered related and authorities have warned other nearby churches "to be on the lookout for anything suspicious." Both churches remained closed yesterday afternoon, while classes at Holy Cross' adjoining school were canceled today. |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The suspect emerged from the plane and was later detained
A hijacking that diverted a domestic Egyptian flight to Cyprus has ended with all hostages released and the hijacker surrendering.
EgyptAir Flight MS181 was taken over by a passenger claiming to be wearing a suicide explosive belt.
Airline officials later said they had been told by Cypriot authorities that the belt was fake.
The hijacker's motives remain unclear but the Cypriot president said the incident was not terrorism-related.
No-one was injured in the hijacking, Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodulides tweeted.
How the hijacking unfolded
Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption A man believed to be the hijacker leaves the aircraft
Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Cypriot security services were waiting for him
After a morning of tension, the hijacker was seen walking down aircraft steps at Larnaca airport with his hands raised.
Some reports said the Egyptian man - named by Cypriot officials as Seif Eldin Mustafa - wanted to talk to his estranged Cypriot wife who lives on the Mediterranean island, while others said he was seeking the release of female prisoners in Egypt.
Analysis - BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner
Image copyright Reuters
It is only some small comfort that the man who hijacked Egyptair flight MS181 was bluffing. The bulging white "suicide belt" with wires sticking out turned out to be a fake.
It at least means that this time Egypt cannot be accused of letting someone smuggle explosives through airport security and on to an airliner as they did in October at Sharm El Sheikh airport, destroying a Russian passenger jet in mid-air.
But it still triggers a number of worrying questions about aviation security.
How was it that a passenger, described by the Cypriot authorities as "mentally unstable" was able to carry enough materials through Alexandria airport to resemble a bomb?
And what is to stop any future airline passenger, similarly unarmed, from pretending that he or she has a real device strapped to them?
For Egypt's battered tourism industry, that has yet to recover from the October airline bombing, this hijack is a further blow it can ill afford.
The hijacker's surrender came shortly after several people were seen fleeing the aircraft. One - apparently a crew member - escaped by climbing out of the aircraft's cockpit window.
Throughout the morning, people had been seen leaving the aircraft after appearing to have been released.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A man was seen fleeing from a cockpit window shortly before the hijacker surrendered
Local media reports said the hijacker had handed over a four-page letter in Arabic after the plane landed at Larnaca on Tuesday morning, and that later a woman thought to be his wife had arrived at the airport.
Earlier, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades had responded to a reporter's question about whether the hijacker was motivated by romance, by laughing and saying: "Always there is a woman involved."
Egypt airport security
Image copyright AFP/Getty
Video posted by Egypt's Interior Ministry on its Facebook page shows the suspected hijacker passing through airport security in Alexandria.
Egypt says it has taken steps to improve safety after Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 was blown up over Sinai last October:
British consultancy Control Risks to review security at Cairo, Sharm El-Sheikh and Marsa Alam airports
$1bn a year to upgrade airport security
Increased and more thorough checks
Despite this, the BBC's Youssef Taha says checks remain patchy and inconsistent:
Many VIPs refuse to be searched and MPs claim immunity
Airport and airline staff do not usually go through full screening
EgyptAir said the Airbus A320 was carrying 56 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo, along with six crew and a security official. It had initially said 81 passengers were on board.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades: "Always there is a woman involved"
A statement from Egypt's civil aviation ministry said 26 foreign passengers were on board, including eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch citizens, two Belgians, two Greeks, a French national, an Italian and a Syrian.
Larnaca airport, on the south coast of Cyprus, has been closed and scheduled flights diverted elsewhere. ||||| Police officers stand guards by the fence of the airport as a hijacked EgyptAir aircraft is seen after landing at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The EgyptAir plane was hijacked on... (Associated Press)
Police officers stand guards by the fence of the airport as a hijacked EgyptAir aircraft is seen after landing at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The EgyptAir plane was hijacked on Tuesday while flying from the Egyptian Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to the capital, Cairo,... (Associated Press)
LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — An Egyptian man hijacked an EgyptAir plane Tuesday and forced it to land in Cyprus, where most passengers were eventually allowed to get off, though four crew members and three passengers remained on board with the hijacker, Egyptian and Cypriot officials said.
The man's motivation was unclear, but Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was "not something that has to do with terrorism" and a Cyprus government official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the man "seems (to be) in love."
A civil aviation official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to disclose details of ongoing negotiations, said the man gave negotiators the name of a woman who lives in Cyprus and asked to give her an envelope. It's unclear what relationship she and the man have.
Flight MS181 took off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria en route to Cairo with at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, and a seven-member crew.
An official with flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 said the plane showed no immediate signs of distress. The flight between Alexandria and Cairo normally takes about 30 minutes.
There was some confusion about the hijacker's identity. At a news conference in Cairo, Egypt's Civil Aviation minister, Sharif Fathi, refused to identify him.
Earlier, Egyptian government spokesman Hossam al-Queish said the hijacker was Ibrahim Samaha, but an Egyptian woman who identified herself as Samaha's wife said her husband is not the hijacker and was on his way to Cairo so he could fly to the U.S. to attend a conference.
The woman, who identified herself only as Nahla, told the Egyptian private TV network ONTV in a phone interview that her husband had never been to Cyprus and that a photo on Egyptian and regional TV channels that supposedly showed the hijacker was not him. Later, the official Middle East News Agency gave a different name for the hijacker.
Al-Queish, the government spokesman, also told the private CBC TV network that authorities could not confirm that the hijacker had explosives on him. An earlier statement from the Egyptian Aviation Ministry said the man claimed he had a belt with explosives.
The plane landed at the airport in the southern Cypriot city of Larnaca, also on the Mediterranean. A statement from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry statement said the foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian. Three other foreigners could not be identified. Fathi did not give the nationalities of those who remained on the plane.
The incident raises more questions about security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft and the extremist Islamic State group took responsibility.
___
Hendawi reported from Cairo. Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report. | – An EgyptAir plane with about 60 people aboard was hijacked Tuesday while flying from the coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo, and then forced to land in Cyprus, reports the AP. Fortunately, it appears to have ended without violence after hours of negotiations, with all aboard freed and the hijacker arrested. Details were still emerging about his motivation, but Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades previously said it was "not something that has to do with terrorism," reports the AP, and a Cyprus government official said the man "seems (to be) in love." A civil aviation official said the man gave negotiators the name of a woman who lives in Cyprus and asked to give her an envelope. It's unclear what relationship she and the man have, but some reports say she is his estranged wife. Asked whether the hijacking involved romance, the Cyprian president laughed and said, "Always, there is a woman involved." However, much confusion surrounded the incident, with the BBC citing reports that he had asked for the release of female prisoners in Egypt. There was also some confusion about the identity of the hijacker, who reportedly claimed to have explosives on him and had allowed most of the passengers to leave the plane upon landing. At a news conference prior to the arrest, Egypt's Civil Aviation minister refused to identify him. Earlier, an Egyptian government spokesman offered up a name, but an Egyptian woman who identified herself as his wife said her husband is not the hijacker and was on his way to Cairo so he could fly to the US to attend a conference. Flight MS181 took off from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria with at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, and a seven-member crew. |
A young woman is in intensive care after having an allergic reaction to her friend's medication that has caused her body to burn from the inside out."Heartbreaking, just unreal. Just watching your daughter burn in front of you, literally burn in front of you," said Laura Corona, the mother of 19-year-old Yaasmeen Castanada.Covered in bandages, Castanada fights for her life in the burn ward at UC Irvine Medical Center.The Cal State L.A. sophomore suffered a life-threatening allergic reaction called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome."It can be considered a burn from the inside out because of mucosal involvement," said dermatologist Dr. Lawrence Matt.The teen took the medication on Thanksgiving because she had been sick. Less than 24 hours later, she was hospitalized and on a ventilator, her body breaking out in massive blisters as if she had been burned from head to toe.Corona says her daughter took the medication believing it would make her better, completely unaware it would be toxic to her body. She is warning others to be aware of the danger."First of all, don't share medication, don't give someone else your medication, don't offer medication," she said. "Another thing also, go get yourself checked out and your kids checked out, because you don't know what you're allergic to. You don't."The 19 year old, who has a 4-month-old daughter, is studying civil engineering. The family is devastated her life has taken such a dramatic turn.Corona has just one wish for her daughter this Christmas."For her not to suffer. That's all I want," she said.Castanada faces a long road to recovery, including extensive rehab. The family has set up a GoFundMe account. You can donate here: www.gofundme.com/YaasmeenCastanada ||||| Story highlights An allergic reaction to an antibiotic sent Yaasmeen Castanada to a hospital burn unit
"It has just spiraled into a nightmare," her aunt told CNN affiliate KABC
A doctor says the teen's prognosis is good, but she's in critical condition
(CNN) It started with a sore throat on Thanksgiving and an antibiotic from a friend who wanted to help.
Now 19-year-old Yaasmeen Castanada is fighting for her life inside a California hospital's burn unit, suffering from an allergic reaction that's so severe she has large open wounds all over her body.
"It is heartbreaking, every day is a different look. Every day, she's like, shedding away. ... Overnight, it's a whole different person that you're looking at," Martha Hughes, Castanada's aunt, told CNN affiliate KABC.
Doctors diagnosed Castanada with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a rare disease that can be triggered by antibiotics or other medications.
"When she took the medication, she started having a hard time breathing, and she told her mom that her lips were burning, her throat, her eyes, they got so red that she couldn't talk. So she rushed her to the ER, and that's when they diagnosed her with the disease. And from there it has just spiraled to a nightmare," Hughes said.
Now Castanada, the mother of a 4-month-old, is in critical condition at the University of California, Irvine, burn center.
Her prognosis is good, even though the disease has a high mortality rate, according to Dr. Victor Joe, the center's director.
But the situation, Castanada's family says, has been devastating.
"Just unreal, just watching your daughter burn in front of you, literally, burn in front of you," her mother, Laura Corona, told KABC. "Every day, a new blister, a new burn, a new scar. And she's just, 'Mommy, I want to go home.' And I can't take her home. I can't put water on her lips."
Mom: 'Don't share medication'
On a website created to raise funds for Castanada's care, her mother said the harrowing ordeal began soon after her daughter took the medicine.
"A friend offered her an antibiotic pill that she had from a previous illness," Corona wrote. "She was thinking that it would help her. This would be the biggest mistake of her life."
Now, Corona says she's hoping to spread the word so others don't make the same mistake.
"Don't share medication. Don't give someone else your medication. Don't offer medication," she said.
She also advises parents to find out what their children are allergic to -- before it's too late.
Doctor: Reaction causing skin to separate
At first, doctors diagnosed Castanada with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, which refers to a condition where between 10% and 30% of the skin on the body is affected, Joe said. Now she's experiencing Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, the diagnosis when more than 30% of the body is affected. Joe estimates that 65% of Castaneda's skin and mucus membranes have been affected.
The allergic reaction is causing layers of Castaneda's skin to separate, Joe said, creating lesions that grow into large open wounds.
"Patients can experience problems with taste, swallowing, eyesight and sexual functions can be affected. In Yaasmeen's case, we are particularly concerned because her eyes have been affected. This can cause scarring of the corneas, which could lead to permanent blindness," he said. "We are trying to prevent that from happening."
Photos on the fundraising website show Castanada lying in a hospital bed, with openings for her eyes cut from the bandages that cover her.
As part of her treatment for the disease, doctors have wrapped her body in a special dressing, Joe said.
"We have chosen to place a dressing that adheres to the open wound, which allows her skin to heal without having to remove the bandages to wash the wounds," he said.
Mortality for those suffering from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis can be as high as 25% in adults, but tends to be lower with early treatment, according to the Merck Manual.
Though it's uncommon, Joe said his hospital has treated around six cases in the past year, because the burn center has experience treating open wounds.
"This is very sobering. The fact that you can get a life-threatening situation from taking a medication. It can happen, and most people don't think twice about taking pills for things," Joe said. "In fact, most of the time you do have some sort of side reaction to medication, just not this severe."
After recovering from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, patients usually only have minor issues with their skin, such as dryness, Joe said.
"Hopefully new skin will come in," Corona told KABC. "I'm just there watching. All I can tell her is, "Hang on, hang on. It's almost over.'" |||||
This is Yassmeen Castanada's story ... ..
On Thanksgiving Yaasmeen was feeling ill. Common cold, sore throat. A friend offered her an antibiotic pill that her friend had from a previous illness. She was thinking that it would help her, but this would be the biggest mistake of her life. After taking the pill , Yaasmeen started experiencing burning in her throat, eyes and mouth. As the night went by, her eyes became blood shot red and the lining of her lips was already torn off. I rushed her to the ER . The dr's immediately diagnosed her with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Something I've never heard about. Immediately I googled Stevens Johnson's and I began to panic. In my mind I knew this couldn't happen to my baby, but deep down in the pit of my stomach was a terrible, terrible feeling. Within 4 days Yaasmeen's appearance was transformed. I watched my daughter's skin burn, blister, bubble, n peel off and there was nothing I could do about it. The pain and agony she was going through just tore my heart to pieces. She was transferred to UCIrvine's burn unit. On December 5th she has surgery to scrape the top portion of her body. She was wrapped in biobrane. 2days later the bottom portion of her body was scraped. As you can see in the photo, she was wrapped in bandages from hed to toe. My daughter was intubated so she couldn't communicate with me. i made sure i prayed over her daily, I spoke to her daily and reminded her that she had a daughter that loved her very much. Everyday i told her to fight for her life. Yaasmeens blood was infected and she has had 5 blood trasfusions. As we got closer to recovery, she had a set back. She was having a hard time breathing. After multiple exams of her trachea, they noticed her airway was closing so she had an emergency tracheotomy. she had her trach for 6months. There have been times where she had trouble breathing. She had another surgery in april to open her airway because it closed and the steriod injections didn't work. On my birthday June 18th she had surgery to reconstruct her trachea. She was able to sing happy birthday to me as soon as the anesthesia wore off. Best gift ever! Today 6/25 Yaasmeen had her stitches removed. Yay! Her left eye is very damaged, she will need a cornea transplant. Hopefully in 6-8 months when she is healthier we can face that surgery. As for now, she will just work on getting healthier and spending a lot of time with her daughter Khloe and return to CSULA! This whole expierence has taught me to never take my children for granted. I almost lost my daughter to 1 pill! She never smoke or drank, she is a good kid that was on the right path. I just can't understand why this happened the way it did. But we will not dwell in the past, She has goals and a bright future ahead of her. I thank all of you for your love, support and prayers for my daughter. *Please be careful with medications because an allergic reaction can happen to anyone. #prayforyaas
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Definition By Mayo Clinic Staff
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare, serious disorder of your skin and mucous membranes. It's usually a reaction to a medication or an infection. Often, Stevens-Johnson syndrome begins with flu-like symptoms, followed by a painful red or purplish rash that spreads and blisters. Then the top layer of the affected skin dies and sheds.
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a medical emergency that usually requires hospitalization. Treatment focuses on eliminating the underlying cause, controlling symptoms and minimizing complications.
Recovery after Stevens-Johnson syndrome can take weeks to months, depending on the severity of your condition. If it was caused by a medication, you'll need to permanently avoid that drug and others closely related to it.
| – In a case both bizarre and horrifying, a 19-year-old California woman is burning from the inside out. How that's possible: an allergic reaction. Yaasmeen Castanada, a 19-year-old Cal State LA sophomore and mother to a 4-month-old, was battling a sore throat on Thanksgiving, so she took a friend's antibiotic, reports CNN. She rapidly "started having a hard time breathing, and she told her mom that her lips were burning, her throat, her eyes, they got so red that she couldn't talk," says her aunt. Within 24 hours she was hooked up to a ventilator; she's now at the University of California, Irvine, burn center. Her initial diagnosis was known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, an allergic reaction that caused her skin's layers to part, resulting in open wounds. "It can be considered a burn from the inside out," a dermatologist tells ABC7. But as burn center director Dr. Victor Joe tells CNN, that disease refers to a condition that affects up to a third of the skin; roughly two-thirds of Castanada's skin is affected, and her condition is now called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. Though the mortality rate for the diseases can reach as high as 25%, Joe believes she will survive. But he says "we are particularly concerned because her eyes have been affected. This can cause scarring of the corneas, which could lead to permanent blindness." Per a GoFundMe page set up by her family, Castanada has had surgeries since Friday on the top and bottom portions of her body in which skin was scraped to spur new growth. Joe calls the case "sobering" and notes that it's one of about half-a-dozen his unit has seen in the last year. (Last month, a peanut allergy killed a college student.) |
Buy Photo University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono speaks in the Fifth Third Arena during the 197th Spring Commencement Saturday April 30, 2016. (Photo: Madison Schmidt for The Enquirer)Buy Photo
Santa Ono, president of the University of Cincinnati, astonished a fund-raising audience and his 70,000-plus Twitter followers over the weekend by revealing that, in his youth, he twice tried to kill himself. In a week when UC remembers a student who died by suicide in 2014, Ono said he wanted to send the message that depression is treatable, and sufferers can move on with life.
In an interview with The Enquirer after his revelation, Ono, 53, said he recovered from depression and being suicidal, and he wanted to erase the stigma attached to the mental illnesses.
"Someone was there for me to help me work my way through that with medication and also seeing a professional to help me through very dark times in my life," Ono said. "There's light at the end of the tunnel. If you have the proper counseling and support, it's really possible for you to move past that and move back into functioning life."
A university official said Sunday that in the immediate aftermath of UC student Brogan Dulle’s May 2014 death, Ono was instrumental in finding the resources for UC to provide any student with five free sessions of mental health counseling.
“It’s a courageous revelation for him to put it out there,” said Dr. Phil Diller, who oversees the University Health Service in his role as chairman of UC’s department of family and community medicine. “He’s using his office to really communicate this point: that people who are highly successful in their lives have issues with mental health as well. This is a very courageous thing to do.”
College students are particularly vulnerable to depression and suicide, Diller said. The most recent data shows that 174 Ohioans between 15 and 24 died in 2012 by suicide. More than 100,000 college students nationwide attempted suicide in 2012.
Saturday night, Ono attended an Indian Hill fundraiser for a group called 1N5, named for the statistic that one in five people will suffer from mental illness; the group is focused on helping teenagers. At that event, Ono told about 200 people that, when he was 14, he locked himself in his bedroom and tried to overdose on cold medication and beer. He attempted suicide again in his late 20s.
The Indian Hill event raised more than $115,000, according to organizers.
After the event, Ono took to social media. Ono told his more than 70,000 followers on Twitter about his suicide attempts. He later told The Enquirer: "Speaking at the event, I reached a couple hundred people and I felt that if I really wanted to break the silence, the right thing to do was to take advantage of the fact that I communicate with a lot of people over Twitter and social media. I wanted to get that message out to a broader audience."
Diller said Sunday that Ono’s revelation did not surprise him. More than a year ago, Ono met with Diller and other mental health care providers at UC following Dulle’s death. The 21-year-old UC student went missing May 18, 2014, and a massive search ended eight days later when his body was found in the basement of the building next door to Dulle’s apartment. He had hanged himself.
Dulle’s mother, Beth, of Cincinnati, said of Ono’s statement: "It's amazing that he was willing to share that to help other people. It's not easy for people to talk about things like that."
She said Ono has become a great friend of her family since he helped with the search for her son. She said he has supported their efforts to honor her son with the “8 Days of Greatness” campaign, a movement of kindness and generosity.
“He’s an amazing person,” she said. “For him, such a public person, to come out. I think it has to give a lot of people courage to open a dialogue. It’s hard to ask for help.”
Diller said, at the meeting after Dulle’s death with the mental health care providers, Ono confided about his own suicide attempts and struggle with depression. “You could tell that (Dulle’s death) really touched him, and he really wanted to do more. It was, 'what can I do to help?' He was very open about trying to see what he could do to make a difference.”
The result, Diller said, was that Ono was instrumental in arranging for University Health Services to provide more mental health services, a key request of the UC student government. Students now can have the five free counseling sessions. If they need more help, Diller said, they can be referred to other resources, and, “we take all the insurances there.”
Dr. Charles W. Collins, a UC Health physician and executive vice chairman of the UC College of Medicine’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience, saw the Ono statements pop up Saturday night on Facebook.
“I thought, ‘Wow, this is an important revelation,’ because he is at the top of his game as a person and as a great individual, and he admits this, which can be quite helpful to people,” Collins said. “It has a powerful effect because it brings it out of the darkness. So many people have depression and have no one to really discuss it.”
Collins said Ono can counteract the misimpression that people harbor about depression “that it’s a weakness, and to have such a powerful figure who clearly is not weak talk about something that happened to him and something that he clearly overcame, that can help make people seek treatment earlier.”
Ono said he did research into mental illness during his time at Emory University under his mentor, Earl Lewis, now president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. They focused on the high suicide rates among Korean students who felt extreme shame in failure. Since then, Ono said, he's been passionate about suicide prevention.
"Our students really are an inspiration to me," he said. "The millennial students are much more empathetic toward each other. Many of them have seen someone commit suicide. People are much more aware of what's happening, and that's a good thing. It's motivating them to do something about it. That's motivating them to demand adults and leaders within organizations to do something about it."
Ono is the son of a noted mathematician who emigrated from Japan after World War II and held research posts in Princeton, New Jersey, and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Ono, an accomplished cellist as well as a college administrator, became UC president in 2012.
"For the last 25 years, I've been symptom-free," Ono told The Enquirer. "A big part of the balance in my life is that I have a loving family, and they're there for me even though I have a stressful life.” Speaking about his own dark periods "will be an encouragement to other people who are going through difficult times."
When he was younger, Ono said, he would have been "petrified" to tell his story. "Now I'm speaking from a much stronger station in life, and it's important for me and others to speak about this to encourage legislators to support more programs."
Twitter responded warmly to Ono’s revelations. Many people thanked him for speaking out.
"As a staff member at UC, I'm so thankful you said this. Proud of your leadership and vulnerability. Our students need to see this," Alex Fields wrote.
"Honesty like this from a man who has seen so much success and is loved by so many is incredibly inspiring," Mike Hawke wrote.
Resources for mental health services
University of Cincinnati Counseling & Psychological Services: Provides counseling, outreach programs, and related services for UC students and those concerned about their welfare. We help students address and resolve personal issues so that they can make the most of their educational opportunities at the University. www.uc.edu/counseling.html 24-hour consultation and crisis helpline 513-556-0648
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: A 24-hour, toll-free, confidential suicide prevention hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. 1-800-273-8255, www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Crisis Text Line: a not-for-profit organization that provides support to people through text. Text START to 741-741, www.crisistextline.org
Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board: Provides mental health assessments, medication management, crisis intervention and makes connections to mental health professionals. MHAP 24-hour hotline 513-558-8888, www.mentalhealthaccesspoint.org
Lindner Center of HOPE: Provides patient-centered, scientifically-advanced care for individuals suffering from mental illness. 513-536-HOPE, lindnercenterofhope.org
Active Minds: A UC student-run organization focused on decreasing mental health stigma on campus. orgsync.com/login/university-of-cincinnati
Read or Share this story: http://cin.ci/1TvehAc ||||| 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 | – Those who follow the University of Cincinnati's president on Twitter may have been thrown by a tweet he posted over the weekend, as well as by a speech he made at a local event. "My message tonight: There should be no stigma for those with mental illness. I tried to take my own life 2X. We need to support each other," Santa Ono tweeted Saturday night. Earlier that day, Ono had told 200 or so people attending a fundraiser that he attempted to OD on cold meds and beer when he was 14, and that he tried to kill himself once more in his late 20s, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The 53-year-old says his revelations, which came during a week when the university was remembering Brogan Dulle, a student who hanged himself in 2014, were his way of shattering the mental illness stigma and supporting others with similar struggles. "I felt that if I really wanted to break the silence, the right thing to do was to take advantage of the fact that I communicate with a lot of people over Twitter and social media," he says. "I wanted to get that message out to a broader audience." Ono's message was lauded online and by colleagues like Dr. Phil Diller, head of the college's Department of Family and Community Medicine, who says Ono was particularly affected after Dulle's death and helped lobby for resources so the school could offer more mental health services, including five free counseling sessions to which every student is now entitled. Meanwhile, Dulle's mom says Ono has become a family friend. "It's amazing that he was willing to share that to help other people," she says. "It's not easy for people to talk about things like that." Ono says he's now been free of symptoms for 25 years and that although he would've been "petrified" to talk about his struggles during his younger years, "now I'm speaking from a much stronger station in life, and it's important for me and others to speak about this to encourage legislators to support more programs." (The suicide rate has jumped for most Americans.) |
Story highlights They join over 1,500 other players who claim that the NFL hid concussion dangers
The NFL has denied these allegations
"We weren't aware of the long-term ramifications," a former NFL player says
More than 100 former professional football players, including former Atlanta Falcons Jamal Anderson, Chris Doleman, and O.J. Santiago, are adding their names a growing list of players suing the NFL.
They join more than 1,500 other players who claim that the National Football League hid the dangers of concussions from them.
The latest lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta by attorney Mike McGlamry, states that the NFL "repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury."
It goes on to assert that the organization failed "to take reasonable steps necessary to protect players from devastating head injuries. Moreover, the NFL has downplayed and misrepresented the issues and misled players concerning the risks associated with concussions."
Regarding these claims, the NFL has repeatedly stated that player safety is a priority. The NFL has said that "any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit."
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Similar suits against the NFL have already been consolidated for trial in Philadelphia, but a trial date has not been set.
The filing cites recent scientific studies that have found a connection between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease that results in Alzheimer's-like symptoms, including memory loss and mood swings.
CTE results only from repeated blows to the head, and can be diagnosed only after death. According to the lawsuit, 12 cases of CTE have been detected in deceased NFL players.
Former Green Bay Packer Dorsey Levens, who McGlamry also represents, says that when he played in the mid-1990s, he had no idea of the consequences the game could have. He filed suit in December 2011.
At the time of the filing, Levens told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "I wasn't worried at all, you know, because that's the way you play the game of football. We weren't aware of the long-term ramifications of concussions like we are today. So I didn't worry about it when I played." ||||| Posted by Michael David Smith on May 3, 2012, 9:38 AM EST
Boston University’s Center for Traumatic Encephalopathy has studied the brains of many deceased football players and almost always found injuries consistent with repeated blows to the head. Now the Center wants to examine the brain of Junior Seau.
Peter King reports that the researchers in Boston are attempting to obtain Seau’s brain.
The death of Seau, who killed himself with a gunshot to the chest, has reminded many of the death of former NFL player Dave Duerson, who also killed himself with a gunshot to the chest and who left a note asking for his brain to be examined to see whether the depression that plagued him late in life could be linked to brain damage he suffered on the football field. The Boston researchers determined that Duerson did, in fact, show signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma.
One of the rather shocking developments in football over the last couple years has been the way the words “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” have seeped into the lexicon. It’s long been accepted that if you follow football you know that ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament and MCL stands for medial collateral ligament. Knowing that CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy feels different, feels like something we can’t just accept as part of the cost of doing business in the NFL.
If the Boston researchers find that Seau suffered from CTE, and if they believe that CTE precipitated Seau’s suicide, that could be a watershed moment in the way we view the sport, and its effect on those who play it. This is research that should be done, even if it reveals information that makes all of us very uncomfortable about the game we love. | – Did Junior Seau have football-related brain damage? The Boston University Center for Traumatic Encephalopathy wants to look at his brain to find out, Peter King reports on Twitter today. The Center has studied the brains of a number of deceased football players, and almost every time it's found evidence of repeated head trauma, according to Pro Football Talk, which suspects that a Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy diagnosis on Seau would be a "watershed moment." As if to underscore the news, more than 100 ex-NFL players today jumped onto a lawsuit against the NFL alleging that it "repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury," and failed to "take reasonable steps necessary to protect players" from them, CNN reports. A total of more than 1,500 players have now joined on the suit. |
The seasonal decline in gas prices is later than usual. So, while the national average retail price is down to $3.72, that's still a record for gas prices this time of year.
Labor Day: Where does it come from?
A gasoline pump shows a customer has spent $40.00 for just eight gallons of gasoline at a Shell station in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles in this October 2012 file photo. Relief has finally come in the form of gas prices' seasonal slide.
Motorists can relax a little, because the seasonal slide in gas prices has finally begun.
After 11 straight days of decline, the national average retail price of gasoline dipped to $3.72 Friday, down from a summer peak of $3.87.
But this year's decline has been delayed. Thus, Americans are still paying record-high prices for this time of year – and will continue to pay them for some time.
After jumping 9 percent in August, gas prices rose 7 percent in September, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cost of gas has increased for three straight months. The reason?
The summer has been rife with refinery and pipeline complications. Supplies ran thin at the height of road trip season, raising prices and adding to the financial distress felt by many Americans.
For Californians, the summer went out with a bang. Drivers endured record hikes in early October as California eeked past Hawaii as the most expensive state for gasoline.
Prices there have since stabilized, but California lags behind the rest of the country in starting the seasonal slide. The average price of gas was $4.51 in California Friday, 79 cents higher than the national average, according to GasBuddy.com, a group of local websites that track gasoline prices.
"If you're along the West Coast, specifically California, you have my sympathy," wrote Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy.com on Tuesday. "Prices just aren't coming down fast enough – but at least they're coming down and not going up."
Every fall, prices drop as oil producers switch to cheaper winter-blended gasoline and the closing of driving season drives down demand.
Despite the decline, gas is still 27 cents more expensive than it was one year ago. The daily average price had been the highest on record for that particular calendar day for eight straight weeks, according to a report Monday by AAA, a federation of motor clubs that is based in Heathrow, Fla. AAA predicts a further slide in gas prices, coupled with continued daily records through the end of the year.
Still, as Mr. DeHaan points out, there's good news ahead:
"[F]or the abundance of Americans who consume gasoline in their primary vehicles, the time has finally come: The drop in gasoline prices is coming." ||||| Early fall run-up in gasoline prices is fading fast. With inventories rising and demand slowing, wholesale gas prices are plunging. Consumers should see some major price cuts at the pump within weeks.
Teresa Jones watches the pump at a Shell station in Los Angeles in August. (Photo: Grant Hindsley, AP) Story Highlights Rising inventories, lower demand could push prices down 50 cents
Midwest, other regions could see pump prices in $3 range
Economy, Obama could get a lift from plunging gas prices
Autumn gasoline prices are about to drop faster than fall foliage.
As inventories rises and demand wanes, gasoline prices could plunge up to 50 cents a gallon from October's $3.86 peak average over the next few weeks, providing a lift for the economy and possibly becoming a factor in next month's presidential election.
Gasoline, now averaging $3.67 a gallon, is expected to fall to $3.35 or lower by late November. In some regions, prices have already sunk below $3.
"Most of the country is heading appreciably lower the next few weeks,'' says Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service, who notes wholesale prices in some key markets have dropped from as high as $4.35 a gallon to $2.71. Pump prices typically lag big wholesale drops. But Kloza expects retail prices to sink five to 15 cents a gallon over each of the next three weeks.
The drop could provide a boost to consumer spending and influence next month's presidential race, where gas prices have been a hot-button issue for much of the campaign. Several battleground states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are enjoying big price drops.
"Certainly, lower gas prices are helpful in terms of consumer spending by increasing disposable income,'' says Brian Bethune, chief economist at Alpha Economic Foresights. "And if prices come down at a rapid rate in the next three weeks, that would tend to help the incumbent. It may not be logical, but if people see problems with the high cost of food or gas, it's the president who tends to get the blame."
Gas prices have remained stubbornly high well past their traditional Memorial Day weekend peak, due largely to supply shortages and refinery woes on the West Coast and Midwest. But as oil inventories rise and production issues ebb, prices have been easing the past week, a trend likely to accelerate. "This is very much gravity at work,'' Kloza says. "The faster prices soar, the more prone they are to panic sell-offs."
Kloza expects prices to bottom in the $3.30 range. Gasbuddy.com analyst Patrick DeHaan and energy analyst Brian Milne of Telvent DTN see a $3.35 bottom. Barring rising troubles in the Middle East or refinery issues in the U.S., prices could remain in that range through early 2013.
On Friday, gasbuddy.com was tracking some central Ohio stations selling gas for $2.97 a gallon. Gas prices remain stubbornly high in California -- the nation's priciest state averaging $4.51 a gallon -- although some stations are charging more than $5. Energy experts expect prices to bottom in the $4 range. "California is not completely out of the woods yet regarding supplies, and their refineries haven't been able to keep up,'' Milne says.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/R9HuSk | – Expect gas prices to start falling quickly over the next few weeks, reports USA Today. The national average is about $3.72 a gallon—a record high for this time of year—but it's expected to be about $3.35 by late November, thanks to lower demand and rising inventories typical in autumn. It also helps that producers switch to cheaper winter-blend gas right about now, notes the Christian Science Monitor. Nobody will happier than residents of California, although one analyst notes that the Obama campaign is sure to be pleased, too. |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Residents of South Korea watched the speech from the North's leader
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has said a nuclear launch button is "always on my table" and warned the US it will never be able to start a war.
In a televised new year speech, he said the entire US was within range of North Korean nuclear weapons, adding: "This is reality, not a threat."
But he also offered a potential olive branch to South Korea, suggesting he was "open to dialogue".
He said the North may send a team to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
What is President Trump's reaction?
When asked by reporters to respond to Mr Kim's latest threats, US President Donald Trump said, "We'll see, we'll see".
He was speaking at the sidelines of New Year's Eve celebrations at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
North Korea has come under increased criticism and sanctions over the past year because of its nuclear weapons programme and repeated testing of conventional missiles.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption North Korea said in November its latest missile was capable of reaching Washington DC
It claims to have a fully deployable nuclear weapon, though there is still some international scepticism about its true capacity to carry out such an attack.
In his speech, Mr Kim re-emphasised his focus on the weapons programme, but implied the country still has a few stages left to go before achieving its ambitions. North Korea must "mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles and speed up their deployment", he said.
He also said they would not use their weapons unless they felt that peace was threatened.
Thawing relations with the South?
While his language against the US remained tough, Mr Kim did not employ his typically antagonistic tone when speaking about his neighbours in South Korea.
"The year 2018 is a significant year for both the North and the South, with the North marking the 70th anniversary of its birth and the South hosting the Winter Olympics.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Pyongyang's seasonal ice festival includes an ice sculpture of an intercontinental ballistic missile
"We should melt the frozen North-South relations, thus adorning this meaningful year as a year to be specially recorded in the history of the nation," he said.
A spokesperson for the South Korean president said their office had "always stated our willingness to talk with North Korea at anytime and anywhere".
"We hope the two Koreas will sit down and find a solution to lower tensions and establish peace on the Korean peninsula."
Youngshik Daniel Bong, a research fellow at Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies, told the BBC that addressing the South was a marked change from the norm for Mr Kim.
"North Korea usually ignores South Korea, maintaining the position that as a 'nuclear power' it will deal with the US on its own," said Mr Bong. "It appears that by engaging the South, he hopes to create an estrangement between South Korea and the US."
The analyst also said that Mr Kim could be seeking to improve ties to offer some respite from the growing economic pressures from the recent UN sanctions.
Will North Korea now go to the Olympics?
Mr Kim also said he would also consider sending a delegation to the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February - a gesture which South Korea has previously suggested would be welcome.
"North Korea's participation in the Winter Games will be a good opportunity to show unity of the people and we wish the Games will be a success," he said.
"Officials from the two Koreas may urgently meet to discuss the possibility."
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Can sports and diplomacy mix on the ice with the presence of North Korea's figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-Sik?
The president of the PyeongChang Games' organising committee, Lee Hee-beom, told South Korea's news agency Yonhap he was delighted to hear of the potential participation.
"[The committee] enthusiastically welcomes it. It's like a New Year's gift," he said.
The only two North Korean athletes who qualified for the Games are figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-Sik.
Although the North has missed the official deadline to confirm their participation, the skaters could still compete with an invitation by the International Olympic Committee.
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in last month suggested delaying an annual joint military drill with US troops until after the Games. The North usually denounces any such exercises as a rehearsal for war.
Robert Kelly, a political science professor at South Korea's Pusan National University, told the BBC that the Winter Olympics statement was "a smart move from North Korea" as it positioned Mr Kim's regime as moving towards its neighbours while the US was seeking to isolate it. ||||| North Korean leader Kim Jong Un boasted in an annual New Year's Day speech Monday that he had a nuclear button on his desk and that the entire United States was within range of his weapons — but he also vowed not to attack unless threatened.
Kim promised to focus this year on producing nuclear warheads and missiles for operational deployment. But he also struck a conciliatory note, opening the door to dialogue with South Korea and saying he would consider sending a delegation to the Winter Olympics to be held in his southern neighbor in February.
"The United States can never fight a war against me and our state," he said in the nationally televised speech. "It should properly know that the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike and a nuclear button is always on the desk of my office, and this is just a reality, not a threat."
But Kim also said that North Korea was a peace-loving and responsible nuclear power, and would not use its nuclear weapons unless "hostile aggression forces" encroach on its sovereignty or interests.
"This year, we should focus on mass-producing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles for operational deployment," Kim said. "These weapons will be used only if our security is threatened."
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September and launched its most high-tech intercontinental ballistic missile in November, ignoring international condemnation and steadily tightening sanctions.
[Documents shed light on North Korea’s startling gains in sea-based missile technology]
In typically bellicose language, it declared the latest round of United Nations sanctions imposed last month an "act of war," and Kim said his country had achieved the historic feat of "completing" its nuclear forces.
North Korea's nuclear capabilities do not yet match Kim's boasts, experts say, since it is far from clear it could successfully deliver a nuclear weapon on one of its missiles. Yet there is little doubt its capabilities have advanced significantly in the past year.
But Kim, dressed in a Western-style gray suit and tie, also offered a potential olive branch to Seoul, saying it is imperative to lower military tensions on the Korean Peninsula and improve ties with the South.
He said that the path to dialogue was open and that he would consider sending a delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
"North Korea's participation in the Winter Games will be a good opportunity to show unity of the people, and we wish the Games will be a success," he said. "Officials from the two Koreas may urgently meet to discuss the possibility."
South Korea has been trying to reassure the rest of the world that the Olympics will be safe despite the nuclear tensions, and President Moon Jae-in has said North Korea's participation would ensure their safety. He also proposed last month that Seoul and Washington postpone annual joint military drills until after the Olympics, and he generally takes a less-confrontational approach to relations with the North than his predecessor, Park Geun-hye.
John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul, said Kim's message to Seoul was "more promising" than he had anticipated, addressing in a specific and actionable way South Korea's desire to make the Games a success.
"That should give hope to those in the South who are trying to get something going and open a channel at least," he said.
[U.N. imposes new sanctions on North Korea over missile tests]
The idea of improving relations between the two Koreas is one that is frequently spoken about but seldom achieved, and Kim's warmer words could also be seen as an attempt to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington.
While Kim's words were more combative toward the United States, he also refrained from a personal attack on President Trump, after the two men engaged in several rounds of mutual name-calling in 2017, Delury noted.
When asked about North Korea's nuclear claims Sunday night, Trump said only, "We'll see, we'll see."
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said Kim's claims about his country's nuclear capability underscored that there was no viable "military solution" to denuclearizing North Korea and that sanctions alone would not persuade Pyongyang to halt or reverse its nuclear buildup.
"To avoid a nuclear conflict and the full-scale deployment of an operational North Korean strategic deterrent force, U.S. leaders, in concert with South Korea, should redouble efforts to engage North Korea in direct talks and cease any further explicit or implicit threats of military action against the North," he said in an email.
"The upcoming Olympics provide an important opportunity to break the ice and to begin discussions with the North Koreans on mutual steps that reduce the chances of miscalculation and war," he added.
Read more:
Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news | – Kim Jong Un's New Year's Day speech is being widely described as an "olive branch"—despite the fact that he warned the nuclear button is "always on his table" and bragged that the entire US is now within the range of his country's nuclear weapons. "This is reality, not a threat," the North Korean leader said, though he also said he was "open to dialogue" with South Korea and suggested his country might send a delegation to the Winter Olympics being held in the South next month, the BBC reports. He said North Korea will focus on mass-producing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in 2018, but these "weapons will be used only if our security is threatened." "We should melt the frozen North-South relations," Kim said, adding that the "Winter Games will be a good opportunity to show unity of the people, and we wish the Games will be a success." John Delury at Seoul's Yonsei University tells the Washington Post that Kim's words "should give hope to those in the South who are trying to get something going and open a channel at least." He says Kim may be trying to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington, though the fact that the North Korean leader refrained from insulting President Trump may be a good sign. Asked about Kim's "nuclear button" remarks by reporters at the Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party, Trump said "We'll see." |
Geneva (AFP) - Swiss authorities on Saturday said two Syrians had been arrested in Geneva after traces of explosives were found in their car, as police continued to hunt for several suspected jihadists with links to the Islamic State group.
Geneva prosecutor Olivier Jornot told a news conference that the two men had Syrian passports and only "recently arrived" in Switzerland. They spoke Arabic, he added.
They were arrested after police were alerted about "their behaviour".
He sidestepped questions on whether the pair were on visas allowing them to circulate freely through the visa-free Schengen zone.
But Jornot said they were not among the four men being searched as suspected jihadists planning attacks following the Paris carnage on November 13 and whose photographs have been released by the police.
Jornot said the two arrested men said they had recently bought the car they were travelling in and clarified that it only bore traces of explosives and not toxic gases.
View gallery Geneva's attorney general Olivier Jornot speaks during a press conference on December 12, 2015 ( …
He said they were arrested on the day they arrived in Switzerland.
The federal prosecutor's office had said in a statement earlier Saturday that the two men were arrested on suspicion of the "manufacture, concealment and transport of explosives and toxic gases" and of violating Swiss law prohibiting "groups like Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and similar organisations".
Jornot later clarified that "the vehicle was at one point used to transport explosives" but that it did not necessarily mean it was the two suspects who did so.
The arrests come with the city on edge after Swiss authorities on Thursday opened a probe relating to a "terrorist threat in the Geneva region", prompting the region to raise its alert level to three on a five-point scale.
Armed police were deployed at sensitive locations across Geneva, which borders France and is home to the United Nations' European headquarters.
The Le Temps daily on Friday cited an unnamed source close to the case as saying the Swiss had received a tip-off from US intelligence about a jihadist cell in Geneva.
Pictures of four individuals suspected of links to the Islamic State group, which claimed last month's Paris attacks, were published by media across the country.
Authorities in Geneva had said that the search for possible extremists was being conducted "in the context of the investigation following the Paris attacks".
But multiple sources, who requested anonymity, said there did not appear to be a direct link with the coordinated November 13 gun and suicide bombing attacks that left 130 dead in the French capital. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption With Geneva on high alert, the city's airport was evacuated after a suspect package was found
Two people of Syrian origin have been arrested in Geneva on suspicion of making, concealing and transporting explosives, the Swiss attorney general says.
The two are also suspected of violating a law prohibiting groups such as al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State (IS), the statement added.
Geneva's prosecutor said traces of explosive had been found in their car.
Geneva has been on high alert this week amid fears an IS cell was in the area.
Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga said on Friday that a "foreign authority" had provided the information about "a potential IS cell in the Geneva area" but there was no indication that "a concrete attack" was planned.
Image copyright AP Image caption Checks have been increased on the French-Swiss border near Geneva
Image copyright AP Image caption Security was tightened outside France's consulate in Geneva
Geneva's Prosecutor Olivier Jornot told a news conference that the two Syrians had just arrived in the Swiss city and could not speak French when they were arrested on Friday.
They "were stopped by Geneva police... because of the increased vigilance required from the police force," he said. "These people, because of their behaviour and nationality, were subject to more careful checks, and these checks revealed traces of explosives in the car they were using."
He confirmed no evidence of toxic gas was found.
An earlier statement from the prosecutor's office said criminal proceedings had been opened against them under Switzerland's law against the manufacture and transport of explosives and toxic gases.
The tip-off about a terror cell in Geneva had originally come from the United States, Swiss media reported on Friday.
Daily newspaper Le Temps, quoting a source close to the investigation, said US intelligence had identified three jihadist cells in Chicago, Toronto and Geneva.
On Thursday, security was stepped up outside synagogues, the UN building and the French ambassador's home, as well as train stations, the airport and similar places.
The number of police on Geneva's streets has been increased.
UN spokesman Michele Zaccheo said there was "no specific threat to the UN in Geneva or its personnel".
The border with France runs through the outskirts of Geneva.
IS said it carried out the attacks in Paris on 13 November which killed 130 people.
Two men linked to the attacks - Salah Abdeslam and Mohammed Abrini - are still on the run and investigations have been launched in several European countries. | – Two people from Syria were arrested on terror charges Friday in Geneva and traces of explosives were found in their vehicle, AFP reports. The arrests come after Swiss authorities received a tip from US intelligence that indicated an ISIS cell was active in Geneva, according to the BBC. ABC News reports Geneva raised its terror threat level Thursday in response to the tip. According to AFP, the arrested men have been accused of the "manufacture, concealment, and transport of explosives and toxic gases" and of supporting "groups like Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, and similar organizations." The arrests were announced as part of a "terror probe" by Swiss authorities Saturday, AFP reports. Police have been deployed around Geneva as the city remains on alert. In addition to being the UN's European headquarters, many international organizations active in Syria—including the International Organization for Migration and UN High Commissioner for Refugees—are also based in Geneva, according to ABC. The BBC reports the same source who claims US intelligence found an active ISIS cell in Geneva also states two more were identified in Chicago and Toronto. |
U.S. President Barack Obama attends the East Asia Summit at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Obama is in Cambodia on the final leg of his three-country tour of Southeast... (Associated Press)
President Barack Obama's attendance at an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders on Tuesday thrust him right in the eye of the region's most stormy dispute: the long-raging rivalry between China and five neighbors for control of strategic and resource-rich waters in the South China Sea.
The inability to resolve these territorial conflicts has become a major impediment to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as it tackles ambitious dreams like a plan to turn the economically vibrant region of 600 million people into an EU-like community by the end of 2015.
Neither the U.S. nor China is a member of ASEAN, but each has strong supporters in the group. Summit host Cambodia, an ally of China, has tried at this week's summit to shift the focus to economic concerns, but Beijing's territorial disputes with its ASEAN neighbors _ including staunch U.S. ally the Philippines _ have yet again overshadowed discussions.
The disagreement sparked a tense moment Monday when Philippine President Benigno Aquino III challenged Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who had tried to cut off a discussion of the territorial disputes.
Into this heated atmosphere came Obama, who flew to Phnom Penh for Tuesday's expanded East Asia Summit, in which the 10 ASEAN countries were joined by eight other nations, including China and the United States. Behind closed doors, the Chinese and Philippine leaders pressed their territorial claims while others called for restraint. After the summit, the exchange shifted to the chandelier-lit lobby, where diplomats of the two countries reiterated their positions.
Senior Chinese diplomat Fu Ying expressed dismay that the disputes again got the spotlight. "We do not want to bring the disputes to an occasion like this and we do not want to give over-emphasis to the territorial disputes and differences," she said.
Washington has reiterated that it takes no sides in the territorial disputes but would not allow any country to resort to force and block access to the South China Sea, a vital commercial and military gateway to Asia's heartland.
Washington has also called for the early crafting of a "code of conduct" to prevent clashes in the disputed territories, a call backed by Australia and Japan, but it remains unclear if and when China will sit down with rival claimants to draft such a legally binding nonaggression pact.
The potentially oil- and gas-rich South China Sea islands and waters are contested by China, Taiwan and four ASEAN members _ Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The last fighting, involving China and Vietnam, killed more than 70 Vietnamese sailors in 1988, and fears that the conflicts could spark Asia's next war have kept governments on edge.
Vietnam and the Philippines, backed by Washington, have been loudest on the issue, and want China to negotiate with the other claimants as a group. China wants one-on-one negotiations _ which would give it an advantage because of its sheer size and economic clout _ and has warned Washington to stay away from an issue it says should not be "internationalized," a position echoed by Cambodia at the Phnom Penh summit.
There have been several recent standoffs involving boats and other shows of force, particularly between China and the Philippines, which both claim ownership of the Spratly Islands, a spray of tiny South China Sea atolls.
Their latest diplomatic confrontation occurred a few hours before Obama touched down Monday in the Cambodian capital, when Hun Sen announced as he was closing a meeting that all ASEAN leaders had agreed not to discuss the divisive issue in talks between the 10-nation bloc and China.
Alarmed, Aquino raised his hand, stood up and objected to Hun Sen's statement, saying his country, which plans to bring the disputes before a U.N. tribunal, was not party to any such agreement. It was a blunt gesture in the usually servile ambiance of the conservative bloc, an unwieldy collective of rigid, authoritarian regimes and nascent democracies.
After a brief lull, Hun Sen recovered and said Aquino's remarks would be reflected in the record of the meeting. Still, Cambodian and Chinese officials insisted that the agreement stood. Tensions intensified Tuesday when the Philippines was joined by Vietnam and Singapore in objecting to a plan by Cambodia to state in a post-summit statement by the host country that there was indeed such an agreement, Philippine diplomats said.
An objection from the Philippines, or any ASEAN nation, ought to be enough to thrash any agreement because the bloc decides by consensus, meaning just one veto from any member kills any proposal.
"The bottom line is they can talk all they want but if we said we're not with it, there's no consensus, finished," Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters.
The dispute, and Obama's presence here, highlights how ASEAN has become a major battleground for influence in Asia, just like the South China Sea. The U.S. is pushing its "Pacific pivot" to the region following years of engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan. China, the Asian superpower, has acted to protect its home ground.
Southeast Asia is clearly pinned in between, and the lack of consensus among the group over the maritime disputes has pushed much of the bloc's other work to the sidelines.
In July, after a foreign ministers' meeting also hosted by Cambodia, the group failed to publicly issue a traditional after-conference communique _ an embarrassing failure that was a first in ASEAN's 45-year history. Vietnam and the Philippines had insisted that the joint statement simply state that the South China Sea rifts were discussed, but Cambodia adamantly refused, echoing China's line to keep a lid on public discussions of the disputes.
Ernest Bower of the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C., said the imbroglio in July showed that as long as any ASEAN country remains weak and vulnerable to muscling from a major power, the entire group could be compromised.
"ASEAN learned a hard lesson from the event," Bower said, "namely, that they should never again allow a fellow ASEAN member country to feel so isolated, exposed or dependent on any foreign power that the country feels compelled to step beyond ASEAN protocols ... in a way that damages the organization's interests and profile."
___
Associated Press writers Grant Peck and Sopheng Cheang contributed to this report. ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Obama (centre) was part of talks between Asian nations that saw discussion of maritime rows and trade pacts
US President Barack Obama has urged Asian nations to ease tensions over maritime disputes, amid terse exchanges at the end of a summit in Cambodia.
China and the Philippines openly clashed over who owns islands in the South China Sea, as the East Asia summit came to a close in Phnomh Penh.
Mr Obama warned against allowing such disputes to escalate.
Japanese and Australian leaders also attended the meeting, which was part of regional Asean talks.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher, in Phnomh Penh, says it was an acrimonious end to a summit in which South East Asian countries failed to reach consensus among themselves over how to resolve the various territorial disputes with China.
Mr Obama's arrival on Monday at the regional talks between the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and other partner countries came amid fractious debate on the maritime row between China and its Asian neighbours.
The Scarborough Shoal, or Huangyan islands as they are called in China, were at the centre of a stand-off between China and the Philippines earlier this year.
On Tuesday the US president met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao but did not refer to the row in public comments.
The "co-operative and constructive approach" the US and China had taken to ties served both countries, Mr Obama said, but "clear rules of the road" were needed for international trade.
Mr Wen, for his part, said economic co-operation would be enhanced "as a means to tackle the difficulties we have and resolve the difference and disagreements between us".
Asia is one part of the world that still has economic growth, and the American recovery depends on that continuing. The president is trying to establish various free-trade agreements with countries in the region. Asia is also the arena for a struggle between the world's only two super-powers - ideology and power are at stake.
Both sides ignored shouted questions from reporters about the South China Sea, AFP news agency said.
"President Obama's message is there needs to be a reduction of the tensions," deputy National Security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said after the summit.
"There is no reason to risk any potential escalation, particularly when you have two of the world's largest economies - China and Japan - associated with some of those disputes."
China claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea, including areas also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
Tensions have been high with Manila and Hanoi in recent months amid stand-offs and minor clashes around shoals and islands disputed with China.
The last Asean summit in July broke up acrimoniously, without a joint communique, with China facing accusations of using its clout to force host Cambodia to keep the territorial issue off the agenda.
Tensions continued at the latest summit. Cambodia said on Sunday that Asean nations had agreed not to "internationalise" the issue, something Beijing has been pushing for.
But on Monday, the Philippines - which has been boosting ties with the US - said no such accord had been reached and that it had "the inherent right to defend its national interests when deemed necessary".
The Philippines lodged a formal protest against Cambodia, saying that it was trying to contain discussions on the matter.
China said it did not want to bring the disputes to such a forum. "We do not want to give over emphasis to the territorial disputes and differences, and we don't think it's a good idea to spread a sense of tension in this region," Wen Jiabao told the summit, according to Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Ying.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also raised security concerns in a meeting with Mr Obama. Japan is currently embroiled in a separate territorial dispute with Beijing over islands in the East China Sea.
"With the increasing severity of the security environment in East Asia, the importance of the Japan-US alliance is increasing," Mr Noda said.
Trade moves
Discussions at the summit also focused on at least three free trade pacts in the region.
Officials from China, Japan and South Korea met on the sidelines to start talks on the possibility of a free-trade zone, the three countries said in a joint statement.
Asean countries and China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand have also launched negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact, which seeks to strengthen regional trade.
The US also led the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations which currently involve four countries from Asean - Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Mr Obama arrived in Cambodia from Burma, where he spent six hours meeting top leaders.
The first visit to the country by a serving US president, it was seen as a response to reforms initiated by the government of President Thein Sein. | – President Obama is in Cambodia today, meeting with East Asian leaders amid a contentious territorial dispute over the South China Sea. Speaking publicly, neither Obama nor Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao responded to reporters' shouted questions about the tensions, the BBC reports. Instead, Obama referred to a "cooperative and constructive approach" to relations between the US and China, though he cited a need for "clear rules of the road" on trade. But the summit (which joins the 10 ASEAN countries with eight other nations, including China and the US) was expected to focus on the territorial issues. To wit, the AP reports that behind closed doors, the Chinese and Philippine leaders pressed their territorial claims while others called for restraint. Those two countries, along with Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, all have claims to a portion of the South China Sea, while China and Japan disagree over control of islands in the East China Sea. Trade talks between the East Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, were expected to be another focus of the summit. |
People who know nothing else about Cory Booker know that the 44-year-old Newark mayor is going big places.
The next big entry on his résumé will very likely be junior U.S. senator from New Jersey, after Booker easily won Tuesday's Democratic primary for the special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). How easily? Booker took 59 percent in a four-person race against two U.S. congressmen and the speaker of the New Jersey State Assembly.
Booker's opponent in the October election will be Republican Steven Lonegan, a former mayor of Bogota, N.J., who promises to run a vigorous "line-in-the-sand campaign between a conservative and an extreme liberal." That's an odd strategy to employ in New Jersey, which hasn't voted to send a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1972.
But such a campaign will also probably rankle a good number of liberals. Given that Booker will replace a Republican stand-in senator appointed by Gov. Chris Christie, and that Booker will be only the fourth African American elected to the U.S. Senate, "you would expect that progressives would be excited by Booker's candidacy and his eventual rise to the Senate," says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. You would be wrong.
Salon's Alex Pareene wrote perhaps the most widely cited liberal takedown of Booker, but he's hardly alone. The liberal critique of Booker is essentially that he's too chummy with Wall Street bankers and Silicon Valley moguls, is using those connections and his mayoral perch to enrich himself, and tries to hide his elitist and corporatist tendencies by relentlessly and narcissistically promoting himself as a liberal champion of the little guy.
The progressives are basically right, says David Weigel at Slate. "A Booker victory will mean the replacement of a reliable, plodding progressive with a less reliable neoliberal." In fact, Weigel says, "the only progressive argument for Booker" is that he's black and "the long-term interests of a party that depends on huge minority turnout adding to white liberal turnout are served by promoting nonwhite stars."
But not every liberal is so down on Booker. The Newark mayor "might vote like a Goldman Sachs executive and break John McCain's record for appearing on Sunday morning shows," says Martin Longman at Booman Tribune, but in the Senate, he'll get stuff done. If you're a liberal and "he agrees with you on an issue, he's going to be a valuable advocate."
His parents were some of the first black executives at IBM, so Booker wasn't raised in the Hood. He also wasn't sent to any elite prep school. He was a star football player at a well-regarded public high school. He was good enough and smart enough to land a gig at Stanford University, where he became class president. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at Oxford, where he received honors. Then he got a law degree from Yale. Along the way, he found time to do charitable work wherever he went. And then he won a seat on Newark's city council and started butting heads with some seriously corrupt politicians, including the joke of a mayor, Sharpe James.
It's true that spending part of your life studying with kids at Stanford, Yale, and Oxford will color how you view things, but let's not pretend that Cory Booker hasn't been excellent at pretty much everything he's done so far in his life. [Booman Tribune]
And even if many lefty columnists and bloggers still hate Booker, the Newark mayor probably doesn't need to worry. "Their sentiments don't seem to be shared by the voters," says Outside the Beltway's Mataconis. Booker's poll numbers have stayed consistently high despite attacks from his more liberal rivals. Credit Booker's name recognition and carefully curated "aura of celebrity," Mataconis says.
...there's something of a disconnect between these progressive pundits and the voting public. Much like pundits on the right have their ideal candidates, writers such as Pareene do as well, and Booker quite obviously doesn't fit into that definition. Perhaps it's because he hasn't said the magic words on NSA surveillance or some other issue.... Perhaps it's just because there was never really any suspense in this election and they needed something write about. Whatever the reason, the animus toward Booker on the left has been more than a little surprising especially considering that he is going to be a reliable Democratic vote for as long as he's in the Senate. Given that it's New Jersey and Booker is relatively young, could be quite a long time. [Outside the Beltway]
That's why liberals are breaking out the Sturm und Drang now, says Elspeth Reeve at The Atlantic Wire:
The point doesn't seem to be to stop his election to the Senate — that looks impossible — but to make the case for why he shouldn't climb any higher in Democratic politics.... For the Booker un-endorsers, what's at stake in the New Jersey special election is the idea of who the Democratic standard-bearer will be after President Obama. [Atlantic Wire]
Booker, as it turns out, doesn't really seem to disagree with his liberal critics. Raymond Hernandez explains at The New York Times:
As [Booker] campaigned, he portrayed what his opponents saw as a weakness — that he was insufficiently liberal on issues important to Democrats like gun control and unions — as a strength. He argued that his pragmatic brand of politics, favoring practical solutions over ideology, had enabled him to lift the fortunes of Newark, the state's largest city. [New York Times]
Since he didn't have to fend of a strong primary challenge from the left, Booker did what most politicians would do positioning themselves for a general election: He ran as a uniter, not a divider. As we've learned, it takes two to unite, but few big-time politicians have ever been punished for pitching that ideal to the masses. ||||| Today New Jersey Democrats will decide who will be their nominee for the United States Senate. The winner of today's primary election will be the heavy favorite in the general election. If any New Jersey voters are reading, and they have not yet voted, consider this a desperate plea: Don't vote for Cory Booker. He's going to be a very annoying senator.
It's fine if you like Booker. He's personable, charming, really good at Twitter, and he has done lots of stunts designed to make people aware of poverty, or at least to make people aware of Cory Booker's awareness of poverty. He is a Good Liberal on many issues.
But he's also an avatar of the wealthy elite, a camera hog, and a political cipher who has never once proposed anything to address the structural causes of the problems he claims to care so deeply about. He represents the interests of both Wall Street and Silicon Valley, two very prosperous industries full of incredibly arrogant rich men who believe that the world's problems would be solved if arrogant rich men exactly like themselves were given free rein to make as much money as possible by any means necessary. They see, in Booker, a peer -- a smart man with the right qualifications and the correct worldview. Booker and his crowd believe that the charity of the benevolent elite -- people who know they are rich because of their innate skill, their brilliance, their work ethic, everything besides fundamentally inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities for economic advancement -- is the only acceptable and effective means of addressing the needs of the lower orders.
Cory Booker became a millionaire because this is how the economy works for people of his class: Rich people give other rich people money to do nothing, simply because they "deserve" it. He is the worst sort of Democrat, and Democrats should be doing everything in their power to wrest control of the party away from people like him.
But that is why Cory Booker is bad as a phenomenon. What about his fitness for the specific job he is running for? It is, admittedly, probably not the job he was hoping for. Governors get to have more fun. Time's Jay Newton-Small says Booker would miss retail politics and direct constituent interaction once he's a senator:
Senators don’t fix potholes. Never mind flaming buildings–they rarely even kiss babies. Senators spend their days in meetings: with lobbyists, with interest groups, with other senators, with the administration, with fundraisers and with their leadership. They’re inside operators.
OK, but how do we actually think Booker spends most of his time? Fixing potholes personally, or attending meetings with rich, influential and important people? (Like Jeff Zucker's teenage son?)
In many ways, Booker is perfectly suited for the United States Senate. He won't be expected to accomplish anything. He will have so many more opportunities to spend time with even more rich people with elite backgrounds and worldviews similar to his. He will have much more access to television studios and Sunday shows and cable news cameras.
He will, in short, be the worst kind of senator. The kind that has no power and no real desire to exercise power on behalf of the people the senator ostensibly represents, but the kind that always expresses opinions on television about whatever national issues people on television care about that day. He will be on "Morning Joe" and "Meet the Press" constantly. He has even already said that he might consider Rand Paul and Ted Cruz as models for how a freshman senator might make "big marks." Not "big marks" in the sense of any sort of lasting legislative legacy, because Ted Cruz does not care about legislation or policy, but "big marks" in terms of media attention and stunts designed to appeal to a core of supporters who prefer their senators brash and loud. Another one of those senators will not help anything.
It's not like there aren't any other options. Rush Holt would be a fine senator. He's an actual physicist, which is neat. He cares very strongly about global warming, which is probably the single most pressing issue of our era. He will probably not use the Senate seat as a stepping stone to the White House, which means he may actually stick around long enough to gain seniority and someday actually achieve things.
So don't vote for Cory Booker. ||||| By Ed Kilgore
So despite facing two veteran members of Congress and arousing a lot of protests from progressive activists, Newark Mayor Cory Booker won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey by close to 40 points, winning 59% against Frank Pallone’s 19% and Rush Holt’s 17%. He’ll now face Tea Party activist Steve Lonegan (last seen challenging Chris Christie from the right in a 2009 primary) in a special general election on October 16, which is not expected to be close. Booker will, however, have to do it all over again next year, when the term Frank Lautenberg was elected to in 2008 expires.
The bigger issue for a lot of observers is whether Booker has national ambitions. For admirers, he’s the next Barack Obama, a charismatic African-American pol with possible transpartisan appeal. To detractors, he’s an unholy combination of Harold Ford, Jr. and Joe Lieberman, beholden to Wall Street and Silicon Valley. So his first steps in the Senate will be watched closely. | – Cory Booker now looks poised to become Senator Cory Booker in this fall's special election in New Jersey, a feat that would make the high-profile Newark mayor only the fourth black person elected to the Senate. So why are there so many raspberries coming from the left after last night's primary win? Because he "is loathed by some progressives in a way that's only now being noticed," writes David Weigel at Slate. "A Booker victory will mean the replacement of a reliable, plodding progressive with a less reliable neoliberal." Or as Alex Pareene at Salon put it, Booker is "an avatar of the wealthy elite, a camera hog, and a political cipher who has never once proposed anything to address the structural causes of the problems he claims to care so deeply about." He'll follow that same superficial path in the Senate, predicts Pareene. Ed Kilgore at the Washington Monthly sums up the Booker phenomena thusly: "For admirers, he’s the next Barack Obama, a charismatic African-American pol with possible transpartisan appeal. To detractors, he’s an unholy combination of Harold Ford Jr., and Joe Lieberman, beholden to Wall Street and Silicon Valley." The bigger issue for critics, he adds, is whether Booker has White House ambitions. For more on the liberal unease with Booker, see the Week. |
Democrats hailed President Obama's move Thursday to halt deportations for millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.
But the lawmakers were quick to frame the executive actions as merely the first step on a much longer path toward overhauling the immigration system, a move they say only Congress can take.
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"It's bold, it's courageous, it's as good as it can be under the law," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "But that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to have a bill, and some of the provisions will have to take a little time to be implemented," she quickly added. "So there's plenty of time for the Republicans — in fact even two weeks when we come back [in December] — to pass an immigration bill."
A wave of Democrats issued statements Thursday night echoing that message.
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), the incoming head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Obama's action is "a bold step in the right direction" but "not a permanent solution." Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the changes mark "a turning point for the nation" but "are not all-encompassing." And Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), Capitol Hill's most vocal proponent of an immigration overhaul, praised Obama's "courage" but quickly emphasized the need for a more permanent fix.
"We all must recognize that no executive action is a substitute for legislation," he said, "so the fundamental challenge of getting legislation through the Republican-controlled House remains the same."
The Democrats' strategy is clear: As much as they're welcoming Obama's actions with open arms, they also don't want it to become an impediment — political or otherwise — to Congress's efforts to enact a more permanent comprehensive reform law over the next two years.
The Senate had passed such a reform bill in June 2013 with broad bipartisan support, but House Republican leaders refused to consider it. Obama said his announcement this week is simply designed to help keep families together in the face of that congressional inaction, and he urged Congress to take the steps that would make his unilateral moves dispensable.
"The day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary," Obama said during Thursday's speech.
Such statements, however, have done nothing to appease Republicans, who are furious with what they consider an unconstitutional power grab by a president they say has habitually abused his executive power.
Scores of Republicans issued statements Thursday night suggesting that Obama, by his action, just made it harder for lawmakers to reach a deal on broader reforms.
"By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "His ‘my way or the highway’ approach makes it harder to build the trust with the American people that is necessary to get things done on behalf of the country."
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), a former federal prosecutor, said Democrats' argument that past presidents have taken similar actions simply doesn't fly with GOP lawmakers.
"Attempts to undermine the law via executive fiat, regardless of motivation, are dangerous," Gowdy said in a statement. "Whether previous administrations acted outside of constitutional boundaries is not license to do the same."
Democrats, for their part, reject the notion that Obama's actions reduce the odds that Congress can pass legislation. They're quick to note that Boehner and the Republicans had the entirety of the 113th Congress to consider a bill before Obama acted Thursday but declined to do so.
"They are trying to poison the well by saying the president shouldn't do this," Pelosi said.
"But the fact is that I think many of our [Republican] colleagues here understand that we have to do this." ||||| Ahead of President Obama's prime-time address announcing his plans to take executive action on immigration policy, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) released this message saying Obama actions are not "how our democracy works." (YouTube/John Boehner)
Ahead of President Obama's prime-time address announcing his plans to take executive action on immigration policy, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) released this message saying Obama actions are not "how our democracy works." (YouTube/John Boehner)
Just two weeks ago, Republicans handed President Obama a humiliating defeat at the polls, winning full control of Congress. But already, party leaders fear that the conservative uproar over the president’s immigration actions will doom any hopes for a stable period of GOP governance.
The moves announced Thursday night by Obama — which will protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation — have sparked an immediate and widening rebellion among tea party lawmakers that top Republicans are struggling to contain.
Despite expanded powers and some new titles, soon-to-be Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) remain sharply limited in their ability to persuade their most conservative members. The duo has been thrust back into the same cycle of intraparty warfare that has largely defined the GOP during the Obama years and that has hurt the party’s brand among the broader electorate.
“It is the first real challenge for Boehner and McConnell together,” said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), a Boehner ally. “They’d like to wipe the slate clean for when they start up next year, with this situation behind us.”
In his prime-time speech from the East Room of the White House, Obama blamed Republicans for forcing his hand by refusing to approve immigration reform and told them, “Pass a bill.” He also cast the issue in moral terms, quoting Scripture to bolster his case.
During his speech on immigration reform, President Obama called on illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows" and "get right with the law." (AP)
But comprehensive immigration reform is unlikely to pass a Republican-held Congress, because of partisan hostilities in Washington. Still, GOP leaders badly want to show the country that the party can govern constructively, even if it is not clear whether they can keep their raucous conference united.
McConnell and Boehner, for example, want to approve a long-term spending bill at least through the early part of next year — part of an effort to limit theatrical confrontations with Obama and focus on tax reform and other Republican-friendly issues.
But conservatives inside and outside Congress want to use the budget process as a battleground to wage war against Obama and his immigration program. The proposed gambit raises the specter of another government shutdown, akin to the one that damaged Republicans last year.
The debate is also a test of whether the party can contain the controversial and sometimes offensive comments that have often hindered attempts to bolster support for Republicans among Hispanics. After tea party firebrand Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said on Wednesday that protected immigrants would become “illiterate” voters, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) winced.
“Unfortunate, unfair, unnecessary, unwise,” said Graham, who is close to party leaders.
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), a moderate from the Philadelphia exurbs, said the leadership is asking his colleagues to “not play into the president’s hands.”
“The president wants to see an angry and intemperate response, thinking the Republicans will do something that leads to a shutdown,” Dent said. “Don’t take the bait, and don’t have a hysterical reaction. We can be strong, rational and measured.”
Republican leaders are considering several moves they say would be forceful responses to the president while also keeping the government funded. Ideas being floated include filing a lawsuit over Obama’s executive authority, pursuing stand-alone legislation on immigration policy and removing funding for immigration agencies.
Another option — funding the government until the end of the fiscal year and then rescinding parts of immigration-related funding — is favored by the leadership and championed by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.). His office has issued a memo urging members to avoid using government funding as the means of dissent and warning that some immigration agencies would not be affected since they operate on user fees.
“We are considering a variety of options,” McConnell said Thursday in a floor speech. He suggested that his preference would be for Republicans to avoid becoming mired in a fiscal clash during the lame-duck session, shortly before the GOP takes control of the Senate in January.
Many conservative lawmakers, however, are shrugging off pleas from leadership. Furious with the president, they are planning a series of immediate and hard-line actions that could have sweeping consequences. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said Wednesday that Obama’s executive action should be met with a refusal to vote on any more of his nominees, and on Thursday, he compared the action with the ancient Catiline conspiracy, a plot to overthrow the Roman Republic.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), likely the next chairman of the budget committee, has advocated for a series of stopgap spending bills with the intent of pressuring the president to relent. Sessions is the featured speaker at a Heritage Foundation event Friday morning in response to Obama’s moves, a couple of hours after a scheduled Boehner news conference.
And Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) — one of the loudest voices on the right — has hinted at bringing up impeachment measures. “We have constitutional authority to do a string of things. [Impeachment] would be the very last option, but I would not rule it out,” King said Thursday on CNN.
Amid the chatter over strategy, it is the tone of outraged rank-and-file members that most worries GOP elders. Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, they do not want to see Republicans tagged by Democrats as hostile toward Latinos and other minorities.
“It only takes a couple” of comments for an unflattering narrative to build about the Republican response, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “That’s the trouble with having some of these new, young punks around here. They ought to listen to us old geezers.”
In the House, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who has been a prominent backer of comprehensive immigration reform, has been counseling House Republicans about the need to show empathy for undocumented workers as the party rails against the Obama administration, according to GOP aides familiar with his deliberations.
Yet the firestorms have continued to flare, with some Republicans, encouraged by grass-roots activists and conservative media personalities, eschewing the party’s more incremental line and making contentious statements.
Speaking with reporters, Bachmann had said the “social cost” of Obama’s immigration policies would be extensive, with “millions of unskilled, illiterate, foreign nationals coming into the United States who can’t speak the English language.”
When pressed on why she used the term “illiterate,” Bachmann said, “I’m not using a pejorative term against people who are non-American citizens. I’m only repeating what I heard from Hispanic Americans down at the border.”
On Friday, Bachmann and Steve King plan to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border to meet with officials to showcase their opposition to the president and cast themselves as leading Republican voices.
Other Republicans have called for a proactive legislative response beginning early next year, rallying behind a strategy that would take away government funding as the main battleground and turning toward specific policy areas.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a potential presidential candidate, said Republicans must signal that in spite of their disagreements with the president, they are committed to reform. “This country needs to deal with immigration,” he said in an interview. ||||| Immigration Mitch McConnell promises forceful immigration response The GOP leader did not specify what action his Republican Senate will take next year.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised on Thursday morning that Congress will respond forcefully in 2015 to President Barack Obama’s imminent executive action that will defer deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.
In a blistering speech that quoted Obama’s past statements about his limited unilateral powers on the subject of immigration, the GOP leader did not specify what action that his Republican Senate will take next year, whether it be zeroing out funding for government agencies in a spending bill, taking the White House to court or taking a confrontational stance to the president’s nominees, as suggested by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
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But the Kentucky senator vowed there will be a forceful response from Capitol Hill once his newly minted GOP majority takes over next year.
(Also on POLITICO: Obama to shield 5 million from deportation)
“He needs to understand something. If President Obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act,” McConnell said ahead of a long Thanksgiving recess that begins Friday. “We’re considering a variety of options. But make no mistake. When the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act.”
McConnell’s remarks also serve to underscore his and other Republican leaders’ effort to avoid any whiff of the threat of a government shutdown when funding runs dry on Dec. 11. Instead, top Republicans are urging measured responses from their rank-and-file, hoping to avoid impeachment and shutdown talk as they mull how precisely they will respond to Obama’s actions and balance the demands of conservative Republicans agitating for a fiery confrontation.
“My belief is you can’t capitulate, but you need to push back smartly,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “If you overreact, it becomes about us, not about President Obama.”
(Video: President Obama's full immigration address)
And by planning a response to the White House in 2015, McConnell also would accrue significantly more sway over Capitol Hill’s direction. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) still controls the floor until January — and both he and Republican leaders have said that in the current divided Congress they are essentially confined to considering whatever House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) can muscle through his chamber to keep the government funded. ||||| Thousands of immigrant-rights activists, families and elected officials cheered across the country as President Barack Obama announced on television his plan for relief from deportations for about 5 million people.
Miriam Lopez,left, Faby Jacome and Dulce Saavedra console each other as they are brought to tears while watching President Obama's speech on executive action on immigration outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan... (Associated Press)
Ana Patino, right, of Phoenix, kisses the hand of her daughter, Natalie Cruz, 5, as Ana's husband and the girl's father, Rafael Cruz, left, sits with Camila Cruz, during a watch party for President Obama's... (Associated Press)
Near a makeshift memorial for immigrants, Christina Felix joins other immigrant rights supporters gathering at the Arizona Capitol to listen to President Barack Obama announce a new program to protect... (Associated Press)
Isela Segovia hugs her two children Nivia, 7, bottom, and Elian, 6, while watching President Obama's speech as it is televised Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, in Houston. Obama’s sweeping changes to the U.S.... (Associated Press)
Andrea Miller, director of the Oregon immigrant-rights group Causa, talks about the speech given by President Barack Obama outlining plans for relief from deportation for up to 5 million immigrants, in... (Associated Press)
Oregonians watch President Obama's announcement about immigration relief at the Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. Tens of thousands of immigrants who lack... (Associated Press)
From left, Viridiana Carrizales of San Antonio, Texas, Jose Patino, of Phoenix, and his girlfriend Reyna Montoya of Mesa, react during a watch party for President Obama's speech on immigration at the... (Associated Press)
But after the initial burst of emotion Thursday evening at hastily organized watch parties and in living rooms, many said Obama's plan was just the first step in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform. Immigrant families pointed out the plan would only cover about 5 million of the 11 million without legal status, leaving many families and individuals in limbo.
Republicans slammed the president's action as an overreach, while advocates — including Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and California Gov. Jerry Brown — praised Obama's plan.
Not everyone was happy with Obama's action. A couple of protesters held "no amnesty" signs outside a New York union office where advocates of the president's plan watched the speech.
A snapshot of reactions across the country:
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"This will definitely help our family no longer live in fear, fear that we will have to drop everything if our parents are deported. But there is still fear, because this is a temporary, and we need something permanent," said Isaura Pena, 20, of Portland whose father and mother lack legal status.
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"This is a great day for farmworkers. It's been worth the pain and sacrifice," said Jesus Zuniga, 40, who picks tomatoes in California's Central Valley and watched the speech at a union gathering in Fresno.
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"Simply stated, you're the only singular person in this entire country that can advance or adopt meaningful immigration reform. By that very definition then, it is your singular failure alone as to why we do not yet have reform, why America continues to be at risk, and new crimes and new victims are mounting each and every day in every single state," said Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, addressing the president directly in a video posted by his office Wednesday on YouTube. Jones vowed to crusade against illegal immigration after the shooting rampage last month by a Mexican man with a long criminal history who was in the country illegally.
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"They're going to have a chance to be what they want to be and get an education," said Maria Perez, 41, of Fresno, California. She is documented, but she often worries about her nieces, ages 16 and 18, who aren't. With the president's speech, she feels hope that her nieces now can achieve her dreams.
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"I believe that is a good step forward, but again I look at the other side and I believe he is maybe acting too rash. I don't know why he is doing it without the consent of Congress. ... I think that is creating too much dissention in Congress where it is already, and I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing. I think for a lot of people — especially those who are here undocumented — it is great, but at some point we have to draw the line," said community activist Bob Hernandez of Wichita, Kansas.
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"I don't think it helps because it's going to create friction with the new Congress that's Republican. While I think it's probably the wrong thing for him to do, there's a possibility it starts a dialogue and pushes the Republicans to move more quickly," Overstock.com board chairman Jonathan Johnson said at his company's Salt Lake City, Utah, headquarters.
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"I am a mother of DREAMERS (the children who benefited from Obama's Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program.) They are not citizens. It was a great disappointment to hear I won't benefit from it. It's bland. He gave us a little taste but it had no taste," said Rosa Mejia, an undocumented immigrant in El Paso, Texas, who has been living in the US since 1999.
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Abel Rodriguez, of Phoenix, said Obama's proposal could mean that he and his wife would be able to visit their family in Mexico without fear of not being able to return to the U.S. or getting separated from their daughters. "I have not seen my family for 10 years. I have two grandsons that I don't see," Rodriguez said.
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"We have a lot of unemployed Americans right now, and I don't understand why unemployed Americans can't be hired to do the jobs these illegals are doing," said John Wilson, who works in contract management in New York City.
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"This is not a partisan issue. When the bluest of blue states — like Oregon, for example — vote overwhelmingly to prohibit illegal aliens from obtaining drivers licenses, it speaks volumes about the widespread lack of support for President Obama's immigration policies. The American people have spoken, and time and again they have been ignored," said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. | – President Obama unveiled sweeping actions on immigration reform last night, and while the civil unrest Sen. Tom Coburn warned of hasn't materialized, it's safe to say congressional Republicans are deeply unhappy. Obama criticized Republicans for failing to act and dared them to "pass a bill," but the forceful actions GOP congressional leaders have promised in response are not expected to include immigration reform. More: Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised a tough response when the GOP majority takes office next year, but he didn't spell out any specific actions, Politico reports. Obama needs to understand that if he "acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act," McConnell says. "We're considering a variety of options. But make no mistake. When the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act." Possible actions include a lawsuit against the White House or choking off funding to federal agencies. House Speaker John Boehner was among many Republicans who warned that Obama's order will make it tougher to reach compromise on other reforms. "By ignoring the will of the American people, President Obama has cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left," Boehner said in a statement. "His 'my way or the highway' approach makes it harder to build the trust with the American people that is necessary to get things done on behalf of the country." The immigration order not only sets the GOP against Obama, it raises the prospect of yet more intra-GOP conflict, with some conservatives demanding a government shutdown, reports the Washington Post. "The president wants to see an angry and intemperate response, thinking the Republicans will do something that leads to a shutdown," says Rep. Charlie Dent from Pennsylvania. "Don't take the bait, and don't have a hysterical reaction. We can be strong, rational, and measured." Democrats were broadly in support of the move to defer deportation for millions, but many called it just the first step in a process that should be completed by Congress, the Hill reports. The move is "a bold step in the right direction" but "not a permanent solution," says Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez, the new head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Among those affected by the move, there is some joy and relief, but some feel it didn't go far enough and hope for a longer-term solution, the AP finds. "This will definitely help our family no longer live in fear, fear that we will have to drop everything if our parents are deported," says a 20-year-old woman in Portland whose parents lack legal status. "But there is still fear, because this is ... temporary, and we need something permanent." |
Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican behind the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill, says he will not vote for the legislation he helped write and has staked his political future on, unless substantial changes are made before final Senate consideration.
Speaking with radio host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday, Rubio said the Senate should “strengthen the border security parts of this bill so that they’re stronger, so that they don’t give overwhelming discretion to the Department of Homeland Security.” He said he was working with other senators on amendments to do just that.
Then Hewitt asked: “If those amendments don’t pass, will you yourself support the bill that emerged from Judiciary, Senator Rubio?”
Rubio answered, “Well, I think if those amendments don’t pass, then I think we’ve got a bill that isn’t going to become law, and I think we’re wasting our time. So the answer is no.”
More from the Washington Examiner Benghazi bust Incremental advances — nuggets of information — don't make for dramatic hearings.
Rubio’s turning on his own bill would be an extraordinary turn of events. After playing a major role in drafting the legislation, Rubio has been its public face since then, making countless appearances on television, radio, and in print to gather support for the legislation. What has changed that would mean he would not vote for his own bill? If anything, the security measures in the bill were slightly strengthened in the Senate Judiciary Committee; the bill’s original intention to apply new security provisions only to “high-risk” sectors of the U.S.-Mexico border was expanded to apply to all sectors.
So it would be hard to argue that the Judiciary Committee changed the bill in ways that would make it unacceptable to Rubio. But now he says he will vote against the bill approved by the committee, unless major changes are made. It is hard to tell if Rubio really disagrees with the substance of the legislation approved by the committee — he suggested to Hewitt that he would vote against the bill because it wouldn’t pass without the changes, not because he objected to particular passages in the bill — but the result would be that the principal author of comprehensive immigration reform would vote against it in the Senate ||||| HH: I begin with United States Senator Marco Rubio from the great state of Florida. Senator, welcome back, it’s good to speak with you.
MR: Hugh, thanks for having me back.
HH: Earlier today on Fox, you told the audience that there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate for immigration reform. That’s big news. The second news, though, is are you going to offer amendments that you think will gather in enough votes?
MR: Well, let me first say that the news of what I said today on Fox about there not being the 60 votes, actually, Senator Menendez of New Jersey, a Democrat, said the same thing last week. And that’s a fact. And the reason why is because while there’s a group, well, the majority of our colleagues are prepared to do immigration reform, they’re only prepared to do it if we ensure that this illegal immigration problem never happens again. And so there’s a handful of Democrats, and a sizeable number of Republicans that are saying to us we’re prepared to do immigration reform, but we have to make sure there isn’t another wave of illegal immigration. So for those who want immigration reform, the task is very simple. Let’s strengthen the border security parts of this bill so that they’re stronger, so that they don’t give overwhelming discretion to the Department of Homeland Security, and I think if we can do that, then you’re going to be able to get something done. But if you can’t, it’s not going to happen.
HH: And will you be the author of those amendments?
MR: We’re working on it right now. A lot of other…I’ll be involved in it for sure. I think there are other senators that have taken the lead, and I’ll let them kind of come out in the next couple of days with their specific ideas. But we’ve been involved on a daily basis working with them to get to the right point in terms of real measures. And what we’ve heard is people don’t want to just turn it over to the Department of Homeland Security to come up with a plan. They want the plan to be laid out specifically with real measurable, and I think that that’s a good approach. And so we’re working with members now to do that. And we expect to hear from them here in the next couple of days.
HH: If those amendments don’t pass, will you yourself support the bill that emerged from Judiciary, Senator Rubio?
MR: Well, I think if those amendments don’t pass, then I think we’ve got a bill that isn’t going to become law, and I think we’re wasting our time. So the answer is no. If they don’t pass, then we’ve got to keep working to ensure that we get to a bill that can become a law. We’re not interested in passing a Senate bill. We’re interested in passing a law that reforms a broken legal immigration system, that begins to enforce the law, and that deals with the 11 million people who are here illegally. And that’s the goal of this endeavor. And so if those amendments fail, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and keep working until we can figure out one that will pass. But I don’t understand why anyone would be against it, as such, I don’t think there is a good reason to be against strengthening border security for our country.
HH: Now Senator, the timing of this matter is a lot…Senator Schumer said that he wants to be done by July 4 in the Senate. Is that a reasonable timetable? Do you expect that to hold?
MR: Well, that’s three full weeks, and that may be enough, it may not be. We don’t know. I think what I’m hoping, and I’m expecting, and it’s always been a condition of our support, has been an open process and extensive process where all viewpoints are heard, where serious amendments can be offered and debated and discussed. And that’s what we were pleased to see during the Judiciary Committee process, and that’s what we expect to see on the floor. So we might be able to do it in three weeks, it might take a little longer. I don’t think that we should set an arbitrary date in terms of when we want to see it done. I mean, I don’t think we need to unnecessarily delay it, but I think really, what we should be working on is getting it right, not getting it fast.
HH: Now that means the next three weeks are incredibly important. There’s a vacancy. You lost a colleague yesterday, Senator Frank Lautenberg, and I know that every member of the Senate always pauses to say appreciations about him. But Governor Christie has an appointment to make. When it comes to this immigration bill, it might be the most important three weeks of this interim senator’s service in public life. What do you hope Governor Christie looks for, because he’s now in the middle of the immigration debate? He’s going to impact it. What do you want in a new colleague when it comes to this debate?
MR: Well again, I just want someone who, I mean obviously, I’d prefer it be a real conservative who can help us not just on this issue, but a bunch of other issues that we’re facing. And obviously, it’s his decision to make, and we’ll see what he does with an interim appointment. I understand he’s called for an election in October, and I know that New Jersey laws are complicated, but in the interim, I hope we’ll get a strong conservative there that will help us here in Washington on a myriad of other issues that we’re facing. As far as the immigration bill is concerned, you’re right. I mean, this is very simple. It’s pretty straightforward. If we can pass an amendment, if we can pass a measure that ensures that we will never again have a wave of illegal immigration, I believe that we will have immigration reform. And if we do not pass that, if that does not happen, I believe there will not be immigration reform. It’s as straightforward as that.
HH: Now Senator Rubio, I’m in Arizona today, and I’m going to talk to Governor Brewer, in fact, next hour, and in Arizona last week, there was a big story on the border fence, and it works. It works effectively, extraordinarily well. In fact, some people still try and climb over it, and they fall and they get terribly hurt. But most people turn back. And so the fence really works. Will the amendments that you think are coming include mandatory construction of fencing? Will they have the money and the authorization? And how much of it will there be?
MR: Well, as far as how much is we’re getting input from border patrol agents and others who are actually on the ground on a daily basis as to how much and where they should be. But I’ve always believed that fencing is an important component of the plan, and I think that, but what we’re trying to get to, ideally, is an amendment that dictates the number of fences, and also where they’re located, in what sectors and so forth. And that’s what we’re working towards. Now you don’t need fences on every part of the border. There are parts of the border where you’re better off with manpower or something else. But we’re going to take our cues from the people that are on the front lines. We’ve been discussing this extensively with border patrol agents and their union about exactly what we need to be doing, and we continue to work with them. And then hopefully, we’ll have an amendment soon that we can begin to discuss.
HH: Now Senator, I think if it’s a good enough deal, it’s an offer that conservatives cannot refuse. And so if border security is really in this bill, and it’s not discretionary, and we don’t leave it up to Homeland Security, and it says it goes here, here and here, and it gets this high, and here’s the money, and notwithstanding any other bill, all that good stuff, do you expect to win over conservative opponents of the bill based upon strengthened border security provisions?
MR: Well look, I think there are some people that want, that are just opposed to anything that allows someone who has violated our immigration laws to ever become a U.S. citizen, no matter how many conditions you place on it. And I respect that view. I don’t think it’s good for our country to have millions of people here that can never become Americans, but we can have a respectful debate and a disagreement about that. I think there are other members that won’t support it because they want to see the legalization first, I’m sorry, they want to see the enforcement first and then the legalization afterwards. And that was initially how I thought about the issue as well. The problem with that is what do we do in the meantime? So if it takes three years to build all these fences, what do we do with the people that are illegally here for the next three years? Do we get engaged in a game of cat and mouse, where if you catch them, they’re deported, but if you don’t catch them, they get to stay? I think we’re better off as a country figuring out who they are, running them through a background check and making them pay a fine, start making them pay taxes, and getting them incorporated into our economy. And then there are those, the vast majority of whom are prepared to support immigration reform the way we’ve laid it out, but only if we can pass an amendment that ensures that we will never have another wave of illegal immigration again. And that’s where I’m really going to focus my energies, is on trying to get language into this bill that gets us that support.
HH: Now Senator Rubio, if the bill is specific about the fence, and it has a timetable for getting it built, what will be the penalty, as you understand, it’s obviously in draft and it’s still being worked on, and it has to get through the Senate. If it passes, what will be the consequence if that fencing that’s called for doesn’t get built?
MR: Well, the consequence would be that the green card process doesn’t begin. That’s what they call the trigger. And that’s already in the bill now. In essence, it says that if the e-verify is not in place, if the entry/exit system is not in place, then the green card process does not begin. This would go, obviously, and it also says that if these plans are not fully implemented, the plans that the current bill asks the Department of Homeland Security to create, if those plans are not in place, the trigger is not met. Obviously now, if you actually lay out what the plan is, well, then those specific things would have to happen as well. So but the answer to your question is the green card process does not exist. Those folks who are here on a temporary status would have to remain in that temporary status until those things are accomplished.
HH: And so if these additional amendments get passed, they will provide that that path to citizenship, which is, well, 15 or 20 years now, is not going to get, the clock is not going to start on that unless and until these things get done. Am I understanding it correctly?
MR: And that’s actually how the bill’s largely structured now. The only difference is that right now, what it requires is for the plan that the Department of Homeland Security comes up with, for that plan to be fully implemented, or substantially implemented. What we’re going to be doing now is instead of saying the Department of Homeland Security’s plan, it would have to be the plan that Congress mandates in the bill would have to be substantially completed. So we’d actually know what the plan is on the front end, but wouldn’t have to wait for them to produce one and hope that it’s a good one.
HH: Let me put up a flare. The word substantially, to my lawyer’s ears, is a terrible word, because substantially is in the eye of the beholder, and I just don’t trust them. And you know, you’ve run into this. I believe they’d certify substantially completed if you mandated a thousand miles of fence and they built then. They’d say oh, we’re substantially completed. How will people be able to challenge the administration’s interpretation of the law if in fact they are interpreting it as though, as the way that they’ve interpreted so many other laws like the Defense Of Marriage Act, like the immigration laws themselves?
MR: Well, part of that is I think it’s important that the plan is effective, not just that the inputs are there, but that it actually is working. And so that’s why your people are discussing things like 90% apprehension rate, et cetera. The thing about substantially completed is imagine if you built, if you mandates a hundred miles of fence, but the last half mile, you can’t build it for whatever reason, you know, the hurricane hits, or there’s some sort of natural disaster, or you can’t get an easement from the property owner, because you’re involved in an eminent domain taking or what have you, I mean, all sorts of things could happen that impedes that. So you want to see the plan substantially completed. But you also want to see the plan be effective. So that’s why you have these things about the 90% measures, and where that fits in, that’s going to be part of this discussion as well as how that fits into the trigger.
HH: But of course, condemnation is not an issue, right? You can authorize the taking of the property, and notwithstanding the Endangered Species Law or any other law, you can authorize that. Will the bill, I mean, are you going to fly speck this, Senator, make sure it really does provide border security?
MR: I think like I said, it all depends on whether we’re going to be able to prevent another wave of illegal immigration or not. And people are only going to vote for this, you’re only going to get the votes you need to pass this, not to mention the broad bipartisan support to pass this, if your people feel comfortable that what we are voting on is real. So that’s what I’m working on, is to get to a point where people feel confident about it.
HH: Senator Marco Rubio, always a pleasure, thank you, Senator.
End of interview. | – Marco Rubio may have been one of the driving forces behind the Gang of Eight's immigration reform bill, but that doesn't mean he's planning to vote for it. He told radio host Hugh Hewitt yesterday that the parts of the bill related to border security need to be strengthened before the bill heads to final Senate consideration, because he doesn't want the bill to "give overwhelming discretion to the Department of Homeland Security." And if those amendments aren't made, "then I think we’ve got a bill that isn’t going to become law, and I think we’re wasting our time," and he wouldn't support it, Rubio said. The Washington Examiner says such a move would be "an extraordinary turn of events," since Rubio has been the public face of the legislation. Byron York doesn't understand Rubio's change of heart, since the Senate Judiciary Committee actually did strengthen and expand the security measures when it approved the bill. But Rubio could simply be concerned the bill won't pass: He also told Hewitt there aren't 60 votes in the Senate for the bill, and there won't be unless the bill is strengthened, because "the majority of our colleagues are prepared to do immigration reform, [but] they’re only prepared to do it if we ensure that this illegal immigration problem never happens again." |
The man suspected of killing a mother and her oldest daughter in order to kidnap two other young girls has been rushed to the top of the FBI's list of its Top Ten Most Wanted fugitives.
Adam Mayes is believed to be armed and on the run from authorities with two of the girls he allegedly kidnapped on April 27.
"We will hunt down Adam Mayes and rescue those two little girls," said FBI Special Agent Aaron Ford at a press conference today.
Mayes, 35, and his wife, Teresa, 31, are both charged with first degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping. Adam Mayes has also been charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, a federal crime which gave the FBI jurisdiction over the case.
He takes the place on the FBI's infamous wanted list of Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger who was captured last year.
"We keenly and firmly believe that Adam Mayes is out there somewhere with those two young children and it's going to be up to the public to help us bring these children back home and place him in custody where he needs to be," said Sheriff Tommy Wilhite of Union County, Miss., where Mayes lives.
When asked if they had established a motive for the kidnapping, Ford said, "We have no indication now as to motive."
Adam and Teresa Mayes are charged with killing JoAnn Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne, in the Bain's Tennessee home in order to kidnap the two younger girls, according to affidavits filed in the murder charges. Teresa Mayes told police she witnessed Adam kill JoAnn Bain in the garage of the Bain's home, and then kill Adrienne Bain in the home itself.
Adam and Teresa Mayes then took the dead bodies and two young girls to the Mayes' home in Mississippi, where Adam Mayes allegedly buried the two bodies, the documents state.
"Teresa Mayes stated that Adam Mayes intended to take Alexandria Bain and Kyliyah Bain from their home in Hardeman County," the affidavits state. "Both murders were directly part of the kidnapping of Alexandria Bain and Kyliyah Bain."
The bodies of mother and daughter were found ealier this week in the backyard of the home Mayes shares Teresa and his mother and father.
Police believe the two youngest daughters are still in Mayes' custody and may be in extreme danger. The FBI has warned that Mayes may have changed his appearance and the appearances of the two girls since they were last seen.
Police located a trailer that Mayes had rented from Union County, Miss., that contained items belonging to the two girls, the documents state.
Police arrested Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes, Adam's mother, on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping.
Mary Mayes is charged with conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping. Both Mary and Teresa Mayes confessed to police that Teresa helped transport the children and bodies from Mississippi and that they both witnessed Adam Mayes digging the holes in the Mayes' backyard, according to the arrest documents.
Mayes was last seen on April 30, in surveillance video from a grocery market in Guntown, Miss., where he lives. Police have also found a trailer Mayes rented from Guntown that contained personal items belonging to the two young girls.
Teresa Mayes' sister, Bobbi Booth, said her sister knew about the killings, but may have been too scared to call the police, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities are offering a $71,000 reward for information leading to Adam Mayes' whereabouts and arrest, including $6,000 from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, $50,000 from the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, and $15,000 from the Tennessee Governor's office.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is offering a $6,000 reward for information leading to Adam Mayes' whereabouts and arrest, and the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of the missing victims and the arrest of Mayes. ||||| Murder charges were filed Wednesday against the fugitive suspected of killing a Tennessee woman and her teenage daughter and fleeing with her two younger girls.
This combination of two undated photos provided by the Hardeman County, Tenn. Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 shows Mary Francis Mayes, left, mother of Adam Mayes, and Teresa Mayes, Adam Mayes'... (Associated Press)
Six-year-old Eli Downen, left, and 5-year-old Brayden Waller write notes to a kidnapped Tennessee mother and her three daughters before a prayer vigil on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in Bolivar, Tenn. The mother,... (Associated Press)
FILE - This combo image made of undated photos provided by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety shows Jo Ann Bain, left, and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne. The bodies of the two women were... (Associated Press)
Mary Francis Mayes, mother of Adam Mayes, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Hardeman County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Office. Mary Mayes and Teresa Mayes, Adam Mayes' wife, were arrested and charged... (Associated Press)
FBI agents get ready to resume their search for a man accused of abducting a Tennessee mother and her three daughters on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in Guntown, Miss. Authorities on Tuesday said they were searching... (Associated Press)
This undated photo provided by the Hardeman County (Miss.) Sheriff's Department shows Adam Mayes. Warrants for kidnapping are being issued for Mayes, who is considered "armed and extremely dangerous,"... (Associated Press)
Teresa Mayes, wife of Adam Mayes, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Hardeman County, Tenn., Sheriff’s Office. Teresa Mayes and Mary Mayes, mother of Adam Mayes, were arrested and charged Tuesday,... (Associated Press)
Two first-degree murder counts against 35-year-old Adam Mayes, who has been sought for more than a week, were announced Wednesday. His wife, Teresa Mayes, also was charged.
An affidavit filed in Bolivar, Tenn., says Teresa Mayes of Guntown, Miss., told authorities she was there April 27 when Adam Mayes, killed Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne, in a garage at their Whiteville, Tenn., home.
Teresa Mayes told officials the motive was to kidnap Bain's two younger daughters, 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah.
A call seeking comment from Teresa Mayes' attorney wasn't immediately returned.
The wife was charged a day earlier with especially aggravated kidnapping. She said she drove her husband, the girls and the two bodies from southwest Tennessee to Guntown and saw him dig a hole in the yard.
The bodies of Jo Ann and Alexandria Bain were found buried at that property a week later.
An intense manhunt continues for Adam Mayes and the two girls. | – The noose is tightening around Adam Mayes, the man believed to be on the run with two girls he is suspected of kidnapping last month. The FBI today pushed him to the top of its 10 Most Wanted list, reports ABC News, filling in the spot vacated when James "Whitey" Bulger was captured last year. The 35-year-old was also charged with first-degree murder today, as was his wife. The two are charged with killing Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne. According to an affidavit, Teresa Mayes admitted to being present on April 27 when her husband killed the two in a garage at the Bain's Whiteville, Tenn., home. She says the motive was to kidnap Bain's younger daughters, 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah, reports the AP. She confessed to driving her husband, the girls, and the two bodies from Whiteville to their home in Guntown, Miss., where she says she saw him dig a hole in the yard. Mayes was last spotted on April 30, on surveillance footage taken at a convenience store in Guntown. A $71,000 reward is being offered for info leading to his arrest. |
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Language evolves at break neck speed on the internet; what’s cool one minute is lame by the next. Case in point: “LOL” is dying. A Facebook report claims that LOL is now one of the least popular ways to express laughter on the social network. Why? Probably because of mom.
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The waning popularity of LOL correlates with aging demographics. In other words, only old people are using LOL these days, presumably because it was popular in the internet’s early days but is now falling out fashion as emoji becomes the universal language of youths. However, variations of “haha” and “hehe” are still the most popular expressions of laughter.
Poor LOL.
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The Facebook report fails to consider the ironic use of expressions like LOL or even haha, but the data doesn’t lie. Lots of people on Facebook have abandoned LOL, and those who do use LOL are older. Is this because old people like your mom think it’s still cool or can’t figure out how to find the emoji keyboard or maybe it’s because your mom thinks LOL stands for “lots of love?”
There are plenty of ways to explain why LOL has fallen out of fashion—but one thing is for sure: LOLers are getting older as emoji takes over. Rest in peace LOL. Long live 😂.
[Facebook via Gizmodo UK] | – A recent New Yorker essay about online laughter prompted Facebook to crunch data on how people actually express a chuckle in the ether. It's probably not a big surprise to find out that LOL is no longer the phrase of choice, but it might be surprising at just how far the old standby has fallen. In a week's worth of posts in May, just 1.9% of people who expressed laughter did so via LOL. Meanwhile, the undisputed the champion is "haha" (including variations such as "hahaha") at 51.4%, followed by the use of emoji at 33.7%, and "hehe" at 13.3%. Some other takeaways: 15% of people indicated laughter in at least one post or comment Residents of Chicago and New York prefer emoji, while those in San Francisco and Seattle like "haha" More men use "haha" and "hehe," while more women use emoji So what's going on? It's not too complicated. "Only old people are using LOL these days, presumably because it was popular in the internet’s early days but is now falling out fashion as emoji becomes the universal language of youths," observes Adam Clark Estes at Gizmodo. Dig into more charts at Facebook. |
With New Orleans poised to score on its opening possession, Donte Whitner delivered a crushing blow that knocked out running back Pierre Thomas and forced the first of five Saints turnovers.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) hits the ground in front of San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois (95) during the second quarter of an NFL divisional playoff football... (Associated Press)
San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Justin Smith (94) sacks New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) during the third quarter of an NFL divisional playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012,... (Associated Press)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) flips the ball away before hitting the ground in front of San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois (95) during the second quarter of an NFL... (Associated Press)
San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner, right, is called for pass interference while defending New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham during the first quarter of an NFL divisional playoff football... (Associated Press)
San Francisco's hard-hitting, opportunistic defense set the tone in the 49ers' thrilling 36-32 playoff win the same way it has all season.
From Justin Smith and Aldon Smith harassing Drew Brees all day, to Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman shutting down the running game and Dashon Goldson making punishing hits and key plays from the secondary, the defense is the biggest reason for the resurgence in San Francisco that has the 49ers (14-3) back in the NFC championship for the first time since the 1997 season.
They will play the Giants next Sunday at Candlestick Park after New York defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers 37-20 on Sunday. San Francisco beat Eli Manning and the Giants 27-20 at home Nov. 13.
"It's a lot better than traveling to Wisconsin. More importantly, we're playing a team we've already faced," cornerback Carlos Rogers said Sunday. "It's not as hard as preparing for another team we haven't faced yet."
"Home game huh?" Whitner tweeted Sunday once his opponent had been determined.
An offensive show featuring four lead changes defined the final five minutes of the Niners' win Saturday, capped by Alex Smith's 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with 9 seconds remaining. But Whitner got things going in the franchise's first postseason appearance in nine years.
"It let the (Saints) offense know we were going to be physical all day," Whitner said of the hit on Thomas, who left with a head injury and never returned.
Whitner was unfazed by his pass interference penalty moments earlier that briefly sent shaken-up tight end Jimmy Graham to the sideline. Whitner's jarring, legal helmet-to-helmet hit on Thomas was a blow to the Saints' psyche as well as to their depth chart.
The 49ers defense has been so stingy this season they didn't allow a 100-yard runner or a rushing touchdown until the second-to-last game of the year Dec. 24 at Seattle. Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, part of plenty of top-notch defenses himself, has praised these men for not "giving up inches."
"We've got a great defense. We feel like we can stop anyone," Bowman said. "When it's not working for our offense, it's our job to get the ball back for them as many times as we can. That's all it was. If those guys aren't doing well it's our job to pick it up. That's what a team is and I think we have a great one here."
First-year coach Jim Harbaugh brought defensive coordinator Vic Fangio along with him from Stanford when he was hired last January _ and Fangio has developed his unit into one of the NFL's best.
"We like to think that we play defense the right way," Fangio said. "We play physical, we play with our hands. We run to the ball. We don't try and do anything too fancy, although we do have our changeups here and there. We try and play defense the old-fashioned, hard school way."
The Niners had 38 takeaways during the regular season to only 10 turnovers. Their plus-28 turnover differential matched the 2010 Patriots for the second-best mark in NFL history since 1941.
They forced five more Saturday, and only had one turnover themselves.
San Francisco's determined defenders heard all week how difficult it would be to stop Brees and Co., knowing many figured they'd fail.
"We got tired of it throughout the week. They gave us no chance," Goldson said. "They kept talking about the Saints, the Saints, where they stand against us and what they were going to do. We ignored everything and focused on us and what we had to do to come win this game."
Goldson had six interceptions for the NFC West champions during the regular season, then his biggest yet Saturday. That first-quarter pick snapped Brees' NFL-record streak of 226 postseason passes without an interception dating to the NFC championship game against Chicago five years ago.
Tarell Brown had the other interception, while special teams standouts Blake Costanzo and Madieu Williams each forced a fumble.
"Our guys were humming. We were able to pry a couple out and that was big," Fangio said. "The interceptions were big also."
The Niners were No. 1 in the NFL in stopping the run during the season and didn't allow a rushing TD on Saturday after the Saints scored three on the ground in a 45-28 win over the Detroit Lions in the Superdome in last weekend's wild-card round.
The Saints produced a playoff-record 626 yards against the Lions, with Brees throwing for 466 yards while completing 33 of 43 passes.
"I had figured coming into this game they would feel like, `Let's keep everything in front of us, let's not give up big plays and obviously do a good job against the rush and try to put them in third-and-long situations,'" Brees said. "They did, yet again, a great job stopping the run in a lot of cases which we felt like in order to really get chunks, we would have to throw it. Obviously that's a great defense. It's one of the best defenses in the league."
Goldson was re-signed to a one-year contract as a free agent in August to complement newcomers and fellow defensive backs Whitner and Carlos Rogers. Against the Saints, Goldson had a team-leading 11 tackles to go with the first-quarter interception and two passes defensed. Bowman also made 11 tackles, 10 of those solo.
"We got some spectacular stops," Harbaugh said. "On third down, I thought they were outstanding. Five takeaways in the game. I know the special teams contributed to that as well. Very opportunistic today. Got pressure on their quarterback. Made plays on the ball, and made them when they were there to be made. Our guys in the secondary made them. It was a terrific job by our defense, once again. You just love the way they play. You love the way they compete. Love how hard they work on the field."
The 49ers sacked the record-setting Brees three times, including rookie Aldon Smith's pounding for an 11-yard loss on third down in the first quarter. All-Pro defensive tackle Justin Smith brought Brees to the ground for a 9-yard loss in the third quarter and Ahmad Brooks added a fourth-quarter sack on which Brees lost 7 yards.
"We wanted to come out and play our style of football, which is playing physical, being a great tackling team, and playing with good fundamentals which has carried us all year," Fangio said. "We just wanted to play the way we've played all year, particularly starting early in the game."
Whitner definitely did his part.
"I told myself that I was going to hit anything moving today and that I was going to be extremely physical, even if I hit my own guys," he said. "Luckily, I didn't hit too many of my own guys." ||||| If style points and offensive fireworks meant anything, the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't stand a chance of making it to the AFC championship.
Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak reacts to a play during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick... (Associated Press)
Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, left, reacts to his touchdown as center Chris Myers, right, congratulates him during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore... (Associated Press)
Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed intercepts a pass intended for Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan.... (Associated Press)
Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates, left, congratulates running back Arian Foster on his touchdown during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore,... (Associated Press)
Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is stopped by Houston Texans outside linebacker Connor Barwin during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012.... (Associated Press)
Houston Texans running back Arian Foster leaves Baltimore Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb in the background as he carries the ball during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in... (Associated Press)
Houston Texans running back Arian Foster dives into the end zone for a touchdown leaving Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Ray Lewis, center, and free safety Ed Reed, left, in his wake during the first... (Associated Press)
Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed, right, celebrates his interception with teammate outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, left, during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against... (Associated Press)
Playing defense and protecting the football are what they do best, and that formula led to a 20-13 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday, putting Baltimore in the AFC title game against the New England Patriots.
"I always say there is a right way to do things, there is a wrong way to do things and there is just the Ravens' way of doing things," linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "It wasn't pretty but we're not really a pretty team. We got the W and now it's on to the AFC championship."
The Ravens (13-4) had almost as many punts (nine) as first downs (11) and scored only three points over the final 46 minutes. But Baltimore wasn't penalized once, didn't commit a turnover, intercepted rookie quarterback T.J. Yates three times and totaled four takeaways _ two in the first quarter and two over the final eight minutes.
"If we didn't get any of those turnovers it would probably be a different game," Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said.
Baltimore visits New England next Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Feb. 5.
The Patriots lead the series 6-1, but Baltimore's lone win came in the postseason.
"We don't play the game until next week," Suggs said. "I'm going to enjoy tonight."
Veteran defensive stars Ed Reed and Ray Lewis led a unit that yielded only one touchdown and came up with the big play when one was needed. Lewis had a team-high seven tackles and Reed sealed the victory with the Ravens' fourth takeaway, an interception near the goal line in the closing minutes.
"It's winning by any means necessary," Reed said. "That's what it's got to be."
The Ravens finished 9-0 at home, but this one was anything but easy. Baltimore led 17-3 after the first quarter, and interceptions by Lardarius Webb and Reed in the final 7 1/2 minutes helped the advantage stand up.
Reed has eight interceptions in 10 playoff games, few bigger than the last one.
"You can't say enough about him," Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "His big plays always seem to happen when you need one."
One week earlier, in the first playoff game in Texans history, Houston didn't commit a turnover in a 31-10 home rout of Cincinnati. Against Baltimore, the Texans couldn't hold onto the ball and quickly fell behind by two touchdowns.
Arian Foster ran for 132 yards, the first player ever to rush for 100 yards against the Ravens in the postseason. But Yates' three interceptions matched the total he had in six regular season games.
"I can't have the turnovers," Yates said. "If we don't turn the ball over like that, we have a chance to win. And we still had a chance to win. If I'd done a better job of protecting the football, I really think we'd have come out with the win today. We did a good job of moving the ball and we had some big plays, but you can't have that many picks."
Yates was the third starting quarterback used by Houston this season following injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart. The Texans also lost wide receiver Andre Johnson for a spell and finished without sack specialist Mario Williams, who missed the last two-thirds of the season.
And still, the Texans got within a win of reaching the conference title game. After the game, team owner Bob McNair pulled aside coach Gary Kubiak and congratulated him.
"I told him how proud I was. ... To come out and play the way this team has played, I think it's just remarkable," McNair said. "Where would New England have been if (Tom) Brady wasn't playing, and if Wes Welker wasn't playing, and if their best defensive player wasn't playing? Go down the list of any of these teams and ask where they would be _ and they wouldn't be in the playoffs. And this team was in the playoffs."
Down 17-13 at halftime, Houston twice held the Ravens without a first down in the third quarter before driving to the Baltimore 32. From there, Neil Rackers' 50-yard field goal try hit the crossbar and dropped into the end zone.
Baltimore then launched a drive in which seldom-used Lee Evans made a sensational one-handed catch for a 30-yard gain on third-and-5 from the Houston 39. On fourth-and-goal inside the 1, Ray Rice was stuffed by linebacker Tim Dobbins for no gain.
"That's a huge play," Houston defensive end J.J. Watt said. "Those are the type of plays that win playoffs games. Obviously, we wish it had gone the other way, but those are the type of plays that you remember."
The Texans couldn't move the ball, and the Ravens took the ensuing punt at the Houston 49. But three plays netted only 4 yards, and Sam Koch punted for the seventh time.
Minutes later, the Ravens went three and out for the fourth time in five second-half possessions. Fortunately for Baltimore, the defense compensated for the team's inability to add to its early lead.
"You have to do whatever you have to do to win a football game," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.
Webb's second interception came with 7 1/2 minutes left and the Ravens clinging to 17-13 advantage. Baltimore moved 45 yards to get a field goal by Billy Cundiff with 2:52 left.
Houston's Danieal Manning muffled the record crowd of 71,547 by taking the opening kickoff 60 yards to the Baltimore 41. Yates then completed two straight passes, and after the Ravens stuffed Foster on a third-and-1, Rackers kicked a 40-yard field goal.
Baltimore failed to get a first down on its first possession and had to punt. Jacoby Jones inexplicably attempted to field the bouncing ball at the 13-yard line, was immediately hit by Cary Williams and lost the ball, which was recovered by Baltimore rookie Jimmy Smith at the 2.
On third down, Joe Flacco threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kris Wilson _ the tight end's first catch of the season.
After a Houston punt, Flacco completed a 21-yard pass to Anquan Boldin to set up a 48-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead.
Later in the first quarter, Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb stepped in front of Johnson for an interception at the Houston 35. Five plays later, Flacco tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Boldin in the right side of the end zone.
Yates then completed a pair of third-down passes in a 59-yard drive that ended with a field goal.
After Yates misfired on third down from the Baltimore 10, the rookie came off the field he was greeted by coach Gary Kubiak, who put a hand on the back of the quarterback's jersey while chatting.
Yates returned after a Baltimore punt to direct a 12-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Foster, who accounted for 66 yards _ including 54 on the ground.
Yates went 17 for 35 for 184 yards. Johnson had eight catches for 111 yards.
Notes: Baltimore improved to 6-0 against Houston, 2-0 this season. ... It was the Ravens' first home playoff win since 2000. ... Foster ran for 285 yards in the postseason, most by a player in his first two NFL playoff games. ... With the Ravens' home win, it's the first time since the NFL went to current playoff format in 1990 that the first seven games have been won by the home team. | – For Eli Manning and the New York Giants, Lambeau Field has become a familiar launching pad. After beating the Green Bay Packers at home for the second time in four years, they only hope this trip ends the same way—at the Super Bowl. Manning threw three touchdown passes and the Giants shocked the Packers 37-20 in an NFC divisional playoff game today. Manning threw for 330 yards, sending the Giants to San Francisco for the NFC championship game next Sunday night. More from today's football games: The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints in a thrilling 36-32 game today. With New Orleans poised to score on its opening possession, Donte Whitner delivered a crushing blow that knocked out running back Pierre Thomas and forced the first of five Saints turnovers. San Francisco's hard-hitting, opportunistic defense set the tone the same way it has all season, putting the 49ers back in the NFC championship for the first time since the 1997 season. If style points and offensive fireworks meant anything, the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't stand a chance of making it to the AFC championship. Playing defense and protecting the football are what they do best, and that formula led to a 20-13 victory over the Houston Texans today, putting Baltimore in the AFC title game against the New England Patriots next Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Feb. 5. |
A woman is escorted by officers near the Bronx Lebanon Hospital in New York after a gunman opened fire there on Friday, June 30, 2017. The gunman, identified as Dr. Henry Bello who used to work at the... (Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — A doctor who appears to have been the target of a former physician who started shooting at a hospital, killing one person and injuring six, said he has no idea why he would have been singled out.
Dr. Kamran Ahmed told the New York Post he wasn't the only one Dr. Henry Bello had a problem with.
However, "he never argued with me," Ahmed said. "I don't know why he put my name."
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that Bello arrived at Bronx Lebanon Hospital in the Bronx on Friday with an assault rifle, which was bought in upstate New York about a week earlier, hidden under his lab coat and asked for a doctor he blamed for his having to resign, but the doctor wasn't there at the time. The law enforcement official wasn't authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Ahmed, who specializes in the early detection and treatment of dementia, said Bello "had a problem with almost everybody, so I'm not the only one. That's why they fired him, because so many people complained."
Authorities said Bello went to the 16th and 17th floors and started shooting anyway, killing Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, who, like him, was a family medicine doctor. Hospital officials said that Tam normally worked in one of the hospital's satellite clinics and was covering a shift in the main hospital as a favor to someone else.
"It makes you think that anything can happen to anybody," said Tam's neighbor Alena Khaim, who saw Tam's sister outside the home Friday night overcome with grief, shaking and unable to walk. "She was such a sweet girl. You would never think something like that would happen, but it happened."
Before the shooting, Bello sent an email to the Daily News, blaming colleagues he said forced him to resign two years earlier.
"This hospital terminated my road to a licensure to practice medicine," the email said. "First, I was told it was because I always kept to myself. Then it was because of an altercation with a nurse."
Bello's former co-workers described a man who was aggressive, loud and threatening. Bello had warned his former colleagues when he was forced out in 2015 that he would return someday to kill them.
"All the time he was a problem," said Dr. David Lazala, who trained Bello.
When Bello was forced out in 2015, he sent Lazala an email blaming him for the dismissal.
Bello died from a self-inflicted gunshot. The six injured people were hospitalized.
Detectives searched the Bronx home where Bello was most recently living and found the box where the gun came from. They later determined it was bought at a gun shop in Schenectady on June 20.
___
This story has been corrected to show Bello had an assault rifle, not an automatic weapon. ||||| The doctor who dodged death at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in the Bronx — at the hands of an assault weapon-toting, crazed former colleague — was shocked to be singled out by the killer.
“I was surprised,” Kamran Ahmed told The Post. “Why me?”
Ahmed, 48, said he had worked with shooter Henry Bello, 45, but that he wasn’t the only one Bello had a problem with.
“He started working there a couple of months after I was hired,” Ahmed said at his Bath Beach apartment Saturday night.
“He is not only after me, he is after a lot of people. He had a problem with almost everybody, so I’m not the only one. That’s why they fired him, because so many people complained.
“The strange thing was that he was nice with me,” added Ahmed, who specializes in the early detection and treatment of dementia.
“He never argued with me. I don’t know why he put my name.”
Bello was forced to resign from Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in 2015 amid a sexual harassment scandal.
He had vowed to return to the facility to kill Ahmed — even leaving a series of email, text and phone threats — and tried to make good Friday on his chilling pledge.
By luck, Ahmed was not working Friday.
Instead, Bello, dressed in a white medical coat to conceal an AM-15 rifle, spotted Dr. Roger Green on the 16th floor.
“Why didn’t you help me out when I was in trouble?” Bello demanded of Green as he pulled his AM-15 assault rifle from its hiding spot and took aim.
“Gun! Gun! Gun!” Green yelled as he fled, raising the first warnings of an active shooter inside the hospital.
Bello then made his way to the 17th floor, where he randomly killed Dr. Tracy Tam , 32, briefly set fire to the nurse’s station and eventually committed suicide. Along the way, he murdered Tam and shot six others.
Ahmed, a resident in family medicine and a father of three, claimed he only talked professionally with Bello while the two worked together.
“I didn’t see him since he got fired. He was fine with me, but he had many arguments,” he said.
He praised Tam as “excellent. Everybody loved her. She loved to teach us. I feel so sorry about her. She was there to cover one of the attending. She was in outpatient usually. Unfortunately she was the victim.”
A day after the rampage, Ahmed went to a staff meeting with a hospital official, he said.
“Everybody was there and we prayed [and] hugged each other to support each other.”
He plans to see Bello’s other victims tomorrow.
“I heard they are getting better. But one is still critically ill,” Ahmed noted. | – A doctor who appears to have been the target of a former physician who started shooting at a hospital, killing one person and injuring six, says he has no idea why he would have been singled out. Dr. Kamran Ahmed tells the New York Post he wasn't the only one Dr. Henry Bello had a problem with. However, "he never argued with me," Ahmed says. "I don't know why he put my name." A law enforcement official tells the AP that Bello arrived at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in the Bronx on Friday with an assault rifle, which was bought in upstate New York about a week earlier, hidden under his lab coat and asked for a doctor he blamed for his having to resign (presumably Ahmed), but the doctor wasn't there at the time. Authorities say Bello went to the 16th and 17th floors and started shooting anyway, killing Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, who, like him, was a family medicine doctor. Hospital officials say that Tam normally worked in one of the hospital's satellite clinics and was covering a shift in the main hospital as a favor to someone else. Before the shooting, Bello sent an email to the Daily News, blaming colleagues he said forced him to resign two years earlier. "This hospital terminated my road to a licensure to practice medicine," the email said. Bello's former co-workers described a man who was aggressive, loud, and threatening. Bello had warned his former colleagues when he was forced out in 2015 that he would return someday to kill them. Ahmed says Bello "had a problem with almost everybody" and "that's why they fired him, because so many people complained." Bello died from a self-inflicted gunshot. The six injured people were hospitalized. |
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker has died from injuries he suffered in a crash in Florida Thursday night.
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Miami-Dade police Detective Dan Ferrin said Walker was riding a motor bike and was not wearing a helmet when he collided with a Ford Escape shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday at NW 21 Avenue and NW 75 Street in Miami.
Walker, 23, died Friday afternoon.
Police said they do not suspect alcohol or drugs as a factor in the crash, and neither do they believe Walker was racing. The bike that Walker was riding did not have lights, and Walker was wearing dark clothing. Ferrin said Walker was wearing a Ravens jersey.
"We have two sons not too much older than Tray, and we can't imagine how much his family is suffering," said owner Steve Bisciotti. "This is so sad. The right words are hard to find at a time like this. As much as we can comfort Tray's mom and the rest of his family, we will."
Head coach John Harbaugh said Walker had a good and kind heart.
"He was humble and loved everything about being part of the Ravens' team," Harbaugh said. "He loved his teammates, the practice and the preparation, and that showed every day. He was coachable, did his most to improve and worked to become the best. I'll never forget that smile."
Joe Flacco said Walker was full of energy and promise. "This is very hard to wrap my head around, and I am devastated. As a parent, I cannot imagine what his family is going through right now. All of my thoughts are with them. My hope is that we can be a little bit of help by being a second family for them."
Defensive Backs Coach Chris Hewitt: "My heart is heavy as these words come out of my mouth. I pray for Tray's family and his loved ones. In football -- both on the field and in the meeting room -- you preach to your players to play every play as if it were their last. But to think that we are now going lay a player to rest is unbelievable.
"Tray was a young man who had a way about him that he could light up a room with his smile. Once you got to know him, he was one of the funniest guys. Whenever I got angry, he could make me laugh in a tense situation and bring me back to a cooler head. He challenged me as a coach, because he had a thirst for knowledge. And although things didn't always go his way, he was ready for the next battle or challenge that you presented to him.
"He had a vision of what he wanted to be as a player, and after last season he left our building determined that in 2016 he would be a household name in Baltimore. He had so much potential and was on his way to being a great NFL player. He will be missed and will never be forgotten."
S Terrence Brooks: "Tray will truly be missed by all who got to know him. I am taking this news pretty hard, because he was a guy who I took under my wing to help him with any little advice that I had gained from being in the NFL for a short amount of time.
"We vowed to each other to stick together and push each other as long as we remained on the same team. We both shared similar life experiences growing up in Florida. We sat together every day during meetings. He was like a little brother to me. I especially remember times he would drop by my house, and we would have long talks and laughs just about the NFL and everyday life. I truly felt a brotherly bond with him.
"Tray was a young man with so much life experience. I feel like he was much more of a man just because of where he grew up. Football was his escape. Not many understood that. It hurts my heart that he's not getting the chance to show the world just what type of man and football player he was going to be. I was looking forward to taking that field with him this year, because we both kept up with each other's progress this offseason. I really felt he was going to have a great year.
"But one thing I do know is that Tray will never leave my side. He will be watching over me every step of the way. I see just how precious life is, and I will fully dedicate my season to Tray."
LB C.J. Mosley: "Tray was a guy who constantly kept a smile on his face. He was always laughing and joking in the locker room, and was by far, always the best dressed. He had such great potential and was ready to learn how to be a Raven. My prayers go out to Tray and his family. He will be sorely missed."
CB Jimmy Smith: "This is such a tragedy, and I am praying for Tray's family. He was a tremendous young man with so much potential, and I will miss him. Tray had a hard shell, but once you broke through that, you found a person who was learning how to become a man and was so eager to be a great person and professional. I am heartbroken for his family."
OLB Za'Darius Smith: "This is a really hard day for my Ravens family and me. However, I know it is even harder for the family of Tray. I had the opportunity to be around a guy who was unique and a great person -- on and off the field. He was not only my teammate, but he was my brother. I send my condolences to his family and loved ones. Tray, you will truly be missed."
WR Steve Smith Sr.: "Times like this make you hug your kids tighter. A mother lost her son today, and a family lost their brother, including us, his extended family. Tray had a bright future ahead of him outside of football and was a guy who lit up the room with his personality. I will miss seeing him every day and seeing that bright smile he always wore. I pray that his family can find peace. Rest well, Tray."
Walker was selected by the Ravens in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played in eight games for the Ravens last season, recording one solo tackle from scrimmage, but competed mostly on special teams.
A native of Miami, Walker attended Miami Northwestern High School and then played at Texas Southern.
Upon learning of Walker's accident but before his death, Harbaugh penned a letter to the players, which the Ravens shared on their website.
Here is the text of that letter:
An Open Letter to Our Team
Men,
Right now, this moment is an incredibly difficult time for our Team and our Family. One of our Brothers, Tray Walker, is fighting for his life. I know we are showering him, and covering he and his family, with Prayer and hope.
That was the kind of phone call you never want get as a coach, as a parent, as a brother, as a friend. This shook me and all of us. Like some of you, I haven’t been able to rest since hearing the news late last night.
As I focused about Tray this morning, some thoughts came to mind that I wanted to share. What would I say to my own son, if I had a son, in a situation like this? You guys are that important to me.
This is what I would be saying to you in the team meeting room if we were together today: There is a lot going on out there and you are going to be involved in tough and difficult situations. You are making and will continue to make important choices pretty much every day. That’s okay. That’s our reality. It can even be very good to be put in different circumstances. To make it right, you are going to have to grow up fast. Probably faster than many of your friends and family.
Please remember to…
Lead in your home. Take care of Your Family and Yourself every single day. Think about who you are and where you are going, and what you stand for. Look after one another. Only then can you be your most effective on the job and in every area of your life.
Please consider your actions and choices. There are always consequences. Choose who you allow to advise you. Consider the quality of the council you take. Put yourself in positions to succeed. Turn away from unnecessary and risky behavior. Take care of your physical well-being. Live a healthy lifestyle. Pursue those things that make you better. Rest well. Eat well. Laugh with those who you love and love you. Fulfill your obligations effectively.
Be your own best friend. Do not be an enemy onto yourself. Turn away from trouble and harm. Walk away from foolish behavior. Ignore silly and unwise advice – You’ll know it when you see it.
Get to know those people in your life who manage to walk free from the weight of self-created obstacles. Get close to those who have gone where you want to go, and have accomplished what you want to accomplish. Grow Spiritually. Think about what and who you want to become.
I am asking you to consider what is at stake in your life. Consider what your thoughts, actions and choices mean to those around you. Live your life fully and with purpose. Have fun and share your happiness. Find Your Faith, and allow God to Grow Your Faith.
Let’s look out for one another. Be a great brother and friend. Inquire. Listen. Ask. Investigate. Reach out. Be There. Take a Step. Go For It.
Remember, We are Brothers in Arms. And, again, take care of each other.
John
Refresh wbaltv.com and our app, and watch 11 News for late-breaking updates. ||||| FILE - This Oct. 26, 2015, file photo shows Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker (25) during the second half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz. Walker is in critical condition after being involved... (Associated Press)
FILE - This Oct. 26, 2015, file photo shows Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker (25) during the second half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz. Walker is in critical condition after being involved in motorcycle accident. The Ravens said Thursday, March 17, 2016, that Walker is at Jackson... (Associated Press)
FILE - This Oct. 26, 2015, file photo shows Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker (25) during the second half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz. Walker is in critical condition after being involved in motorcycle accident. The Ravens said Thursday, March 17, 2016, that Walker is at Jackson... (Associated Press) FILE - This Oct. 26, 2015, file photo shows Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker (25) during the second half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz. Walker is in critical condition after being involved... (Associated Press)
MIAMI (AP) — Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker is in critical condition after police say he was involved in a dirt bike crash in Miami.
Miami-Dade Police say Walker was riding a Honda dirt bike with no lights and wearing dark clothing when he collided with a Ford Escape at about 8 p.m. Thursday.
The Ravens say Walker is at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Police are investigating.
Walker was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft. He played in eight games last season, mostly on special teams.
In a statement, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, "This is devastating news. Our prayers and hopes are with Tray and his family tonight."
A native of Miami, Walker attended Miami Northwestern High School before playing in college at Texas Southern.
___
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL | – Baltimore Ravens cornerback Tray Walker is in critical condition after a dirt bike crash in Miami, police say. Miami-Dade police say Walker was riding a Honda dirt bike with no lights and wearing dark clothing when he collided with a Ford Escape at about 8pm Thursday, the AP reports. The Ravens say Walker is at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Police are investigating. In a statement, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, "This is devastating news. Our prayers and hopes are with Tray and his family tonight." WBAL reports that police say alcohol and drugs are not believed to be factors in the crash. |
FLINT (WWJ/AP) – Flint’s lead toxicity problem has now apparently spread to animals.
Officials are reminding people to make sure pets aren’t drinking unfiltered Flint tap water after two area dogs recently tested positive for lead toxicity. It’s the state’s first lead toxicity cases involving dogs in five years.
“Here in Michigan, specifically in Genesse County, we’ve had two cases of high-lead levels reported to us in dogs in the last six months,” State Veterinarian Dr. James Averill told WWJ’s Chrystal Knight. “One was last fall and one was here in January. … One was a stray dog and the other was a family animal.”
Both dogs are still alive, although officials haven’t disclosed whether the dogs were drinking Flint water, how much lead was in their systems or what symptoms they were showing.
“There is no regular testing for lead,” said Averill. “What we do is we rely on the veterinarians who have the boots on the ground that are interacting with their clients and looking at the patients in front of them. When they are concerned or suspect a lead toxicity may be possible, they let us know at that time and then we work with them moving forward from there.”
Averill said the “vast majority” of tests for lead in dogs in the area have been negative amid Flint’s crisis with lead-tainted water.
“Dogs are at a higher risk amongst mammals for finding high lead levels, but it’s not that common. Typically for us when we deal with lead toxicity, we’re usually dealing with cattle. So, really this was a new instance for us,” he said.
To protect your pets, Averill said residents in Genesee County should “do what you are doing for yourself for your pet.”
“So number one, get your water tested to see if you have high lead levels. Two, if necessary, get a filter in place and then water your pets through that filtered water,” he said. “Take the same steps that you would for yourself for your pets.”
Averill said the first sign that your pet might be suffering from lead poisoning is any deviation from their normal behavior.
“I think the key thing is, as pet owners you know what is the normal routine for your pet,” he said. “So what pet owners need to be looking for is the animal having their normal behavior in their normal routine, as they are creatures of habit.”
The next step would be bringing your concerns to a local veterinarian, who can further decode what is going on with your pet.
“The signs and symptoms of lead toxicity are very broad and general, and similar to so many other diseases that a veterinarian needs to work up the case and do things to determine if it’s lead toxicity or if it’s something else,” said Averill. “For example, vomiting can be caused by many things. So it’s really critical that people work with a veterinarian when a pet has gone outside their normal routine.”
Anyone who notices their pets acting strangely is encouraged to take them to a veterinarian.
TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| "I boil and freeze tap water before giving it to my dog," says David Carswell , "it gives me peace of mind," he adds at his home in Flint on Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. (Photo: Romain Blanquart Detroit Free Press)
DETROIT — Two dogs in the Flint area recently tested positive for lead toxicity, according to the state veterinarian.
The dogs with lead toxicity are both cross-breeds, and they're both still alive, said Dr. James Averill, state veterinarian and Animal Industry Division Director for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. One is a pet, and the other was a stray. Their test results were confirmed in October 2015 and January 2016, but state officials declined to release further details about the cases — including whether they live in Flint.
Both were in Genesee County, where high levels of the heavy metal in Flint's tap water system are a major crisis. Officials in Flint continue to advise that people and their pets avoid drinking unfiltered tap water.
"The confidentiality of the owners is like medical information in humans," Averill said.
These were the first two dogs to be confirmed with lead toxicity in the past five years, according to state records. Officials have not disclosed whether they were drinking Flint water, how much lead was in their systems, what symptoms they were showing, their weight or how old they are.
Dr. James Averill, State Veterinarian within MDARD's Animal Industry Division. (Photo: Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development)
"(The state) does provide reportable disease/condition case information down to the county level, but cannot provide the specifics of those individual cases," according to an email from Jennifer Holton, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The email cites the Animal Industry Act of 1988 for keeping information in the cases hidden from the public.
The state is in contact with area veterinarians, and the "vast majority" of tests for lead in dogs has been negative, Averill said. But people who notice their pets acting unusual are encouraged to see their veterinarian.
If a veterinarian determines a dog may have lead toxicity, the lab testing is provided free of charge, he said. And the number of requests has been increasing. But Averill also said that symptoms can vary widely.
"The thing with lead toxicity in animals, their clinical signs, they're so similar to so many other diseases," he said.
Dr. Michael Merrithew, a veterinarian for about 43 years, works at Veterinary House Call Services and Clinic in Grand Blanc, near Flint. He said he's not seen any recent cases he'd attribute to lead, but he's told his staff to watch for symptoms.
Among the possibilities, "mental dullness," possibly arthritis, "probably general malaise first," he said.
Averill said to watch for deviations from routines.
"My dog, when I get up in the morning, the first thing he wants to do is get up and go to the bathroom," he said. "(Pet owners) know their animals. And when they're not their normal selves, tell them to seek veterinary care."
Dr. Lawrence Ehrman, a veterinarian for about 33 years, works at Veterinary Medical Hospital in Flint Township. He also said he doesn't appear to have had any recent patients with lead toxicity, but lead poisoning from water can be more challenging to determine.
"What we're dealing with here is not like an acute poisoning. It's more a chronic sort of thing," he said. "It can cause brain and mental issues, blood issues and even some digestive and kidney issues, though they're much less common."
He said changes in attitude or signs of weakness could be symptoms of lead toxicity.
Averill said it's OK to bathe pets in Flint's tap water, but they should only be drinking filtered or bottled water. Since 2011, all the other cases of lead in animals have involved cattle.
Ehrman said that for people who don't immediately have bottled or filtered water available for their pets, there's an alternative.
"Probably melt some snow," he said. "And it would be safer, if your only other choice is feeding them straight Flint water."
Follow Robert Allen on Twitter: @rallenMI
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1X7hCq4 | – First it was the kids of Flint found to have been tainted by lead, attributed by many to the area's toxic water. Now two dogs who live in the vicinity of the Michigan city have tested positive for lead toxicity—the first two pups to be confirmed with this in state records in five years, the Detroit Free Press reports. "Here in Michigan, specifically in [Genesee] County, we've had two cases of high-lead levels reported to us in dogs in the last six months," state vet Dr. James Averill tells CBS Detroit. "One was last fall and one was here in January." He says that one of the affected dogs was a stray, while the other was a pet. Both dogs are alive, Averill notes, but the state report doesn't specify how high their lead levels were, or what symptoms they had. And indeed, it's challenging to diagnose dogs with lead toxicity, as symptoms such as "mental dullness," arthritis, and lethargy can mimic those of other illnesses, Averill says. Instead, he mentions keeping an eye on variations in a pet's routine to help pinpoint if something's wrong. He does note to CBS, however, that the "vast majority" of lead tests on area dogs have come back negative, and he says they're relying on local veterinarians with "boots on the ground" to look out for suspicious cases. In the meantime, while Averill gives the OK to bathe pets in Flint-area tap water, he says they should be drinking filtered or bottled water or, as a last resort, melted snow. "It would be safer, if your only other choice is feeding them straight Flint water," he notes. (The FBI's now on Flint's case.) |
RUSSELL, Kan. (AP) — A 59-year-old Kansas man was killed when the motorcycle he was driving Friday night collided with a black cow on a blacktopped road.
Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Brant Birney said there were no witnesses when James Zordel hit the cow on a paved rural road about six miles south of Interstate 70 near Russell.
Zordel was driving in the roadway when the accident happened and it is not clear if he was speeding or if the cow suddenly appeared from the side of the road.
"It was dark. He was driving down a blacktop road and he hit a black cow," Birney said, adding that exactly what caused the accident may never be known.
Zordel, who was not wearing a helmet, died at the scene. ||||| A man is dead after running his motorcycle into a black cow late Friday night in Russell County.
Kansas Highway Patrol crash logs show James Zordel, 59, of Russell, was northbound in the 3500 block of 189th street about 6.5 miles south of I-70, when his 1992 Suzuki motorcycle collided with the animal.
Zordel was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was hurt. The KHP reports Zordel was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. | – A 59-year-old Kansas man was killed when the motorcycle he was driving Friday night collided with a black cow on a blacktopped road, reports KAKE. Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Brant Birney said there were no witnesses when James Zordel hit the cow on a paved rural road about six miles south of Interstate 70 near Russell. It's not clear if Zordel was speeding or if the cow suddenly appeared from the side of the road, notes the AP. "It was dark. He was driving down a blacktop road and he hit a black cow," Birney said, adding that exactly what caused the accident may never be known. Zordel, who was not wearing a helmet, died at the scene. |
Casey Anthony's Former Lawyer Jose Baez Threatens to Sue Over Claims He Had Sexual Relationship With Her
A Strong Denial
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A History of Strange Claims
It has been nearly five years since Casey Anthony was acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. Although she has lived a relatively quiet life since being freed from jail, her name still evokes controversy.In an affidavit filed in her bankruptcy case last month, her former private investigator, Dominic Casey, levels some serious accusations about Anthony and her former attorney, Jose Baez.In the 15-page affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Dominic Casey alleges that Anthony had a sexual relationship with her attorney before the case went to trial. He claims that he witnessed "a naked Casey" when he arrived at Baez's office unexpectedly.In the documents, he also alleges that Baez "told me that Casey had murdered Caylee and dumped the body somewhere and, he needed all the help he could get to find the body before anyone else did."In a statement to PEOPLE, Baez disputes all Dominic Casey's allegations. "I unequivocally and categorically deny exchanging sex for my legal services with Ms. Anthony," he writes. "I further unequivocally and categorically deny having any sexual relationship with Ms. Anthony whatsoever.""I have always conducted my practice consistent with the high ethical standards required of members of the Florida Bar," he continues. "My representation of Ms. Anthony was no exception.""Legal action is forthcoming," Baez writes.This isn't the first time that Dominic Casey's claims have raised eyebrows.In a 2011 deposition obtained by PEOPLE, the investigator floats several theories about the Caylee's disappearance and death, and even says that he wasn't entirely sure that the remains found near Anthony's house were the 2-year-old.In his statement, Baez references Dominic Casey's former claims. "This libelous claim is in line with many other outrageous claims and theories that this individual has advanced regarding the Casey Anthony case," the statement says.Dominic Casey did not return PEOPLE's messages for comment. ||||| Five years after Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her daughter, a civil lawsuit connected to the scandal is still grinding through Central Florida bankruptcy court, with new developments this week.
The man who found Caylee Marie Anthony's body in 2008 – Roy Kronk – filed a suit against Anthony in 2011, alleging that she, through her attorneys, falsely accused Kronk of killing the girl.
The new filings in the case feature allegations made by private investigator Dominic Casey about Anthony and Anthony's lawyer, Jose Baez.
Dominic Casey this week alleged that Anthony and her attorneys talked openly of her guilt, and that Baez had sex with her, according to Dominic Casey's affidavit written by the investigator and accepted by the court.
An attorney in Baez' office, responding to questions raised by the Sentinel, said in an email that Baez questioned Dominic Casey's motivations in making the accusations.
"I unequivocally and categorically deny exchanging sex for my legal services with Ms. Anthony," said a statement from Baez's firm.
Dominic Casey has written two books with unsubstantiated claims about the case. Lawyers for Casey Anthony don't want him to provide testimony in the Kronk case, according to documents filed in the case.
Dominic Casey has been deposed by Kronk's attorneys and a transcript of that was filed on the court docket. Casey Anthony's lawyers have filed motions to strike Dominic Casey's deposition. They are also demanding to see records he claims to have.
Kronk's case was delayed when Anthony filed for bankruptcy in 2013, but eventually it was moved over to the bankruptcy court, where Kronk is now arguing that her bankruptcy should not prevent him from recovering damages related to his claim of defamation.
Casey Anthony's attorney Jose Baez talks about Lifetime's "Prosecuting Casey Anthony" movie. Casey Anthony's attorney Jose Baez talks about Lifetime's "Prosecuting Casey Anthony" movie. SEE MORE VIDEOS
pbrinkmann@tribune.com | – The allegations were both graphic and specific and, says Jose Baez, completely untrue. Private investigator Dominic Casey alleged in just-revealed court documents filed earlier this year in connection with a bankruptcy case that, among other things, Casey Anthony offered sex to Baez, her lawyer, in exchange for his legal services. Dominic Casey worked with Anthony's defense team after she was accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2008, and he alleged that after Baez got Anthony out of a September 2008 TV interview she didn't want to do, Baez "said to [Anthony], 'You now owe me 3 blow jobs.'" Dominic Casey also claimed he encountered a "naked" Anthony during an unannounced visit to Baez's office. Baez "unequivocally and categorically deny exchanging sex for my legal services with Ms. Anthony," he says in a statement to People. "I further unequivocally and categorically deny having any sexual relationship with Ms. Anthony whatsoever." Baez referred to but did not detail other "outrageous" claims put forth by the PI; People points to a 2011 deposition in which Dominic Casey suggested Caylee's remains perhaps weren't actually Caylee's as a past "eyebrow-raising" allegation. The Orlando Sentinel notes Dominic Casey has written two books on the case that feature "unsubstantiated claims," and reports that Baez and his team have been trying to have a deposition Dominic Casey gave in the bankruptcy case excluded. Baez also suggests he may sue, writing, "Legal action is forthcoming." |
The USGA is apologizing for Fox Sports’s U.S. Open broadcast yesterday, which featured two men talking about violent sex:
“We deeply regret the inappropriate language and sentiment expressed by a few fans that was unfortunately picked up by a microphone on the course during today’s broadcast,” said spokeswoman Janeen Driscoll in a statement to Sporting News. “We are working closely with our partners at Fox Sports to address this issue.”
That inappropriate language, as best we can tell:
“That’s my ex.” “Yeah, she’s hot.” “That’s when I—I was fucking her so hard and I headbutted her in the head and I smacked that bitch [something]. We went and kinda got in the [muppets?] position and she sat up.”
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We’re sure Fox Sports will respond to this in a timely manner, right? ||||| UPDATE:
The United States Golf Association said it "deeply regrets" rough sex talk that was inadvertently aired to millions of TV viewers during Fox Sports' coverage of the U.S. Open Friday.
"We deeply regret the inappropriate language and sentiment expressed by a few fans that was unfortunately picked up by a microphone on the course during today's broadcast," said spokeswoman Janeen Driscoll in a statement to Sporting News. "We are working closely with our partners at Fox Sports to address this issue."
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What an embarrassment for Fox Sports, the U.S. Open and United States Golf Association.
Fox Sports is profusely apologizing for inadvertently broadcasting rough sex talk between two U.S. Open fans Friday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. The offensive chatter was picked up by one of Fox's 200-plus, omnipresent on-course microphones, then mistakenly broadcast to millions of TV viewers watching FS1's coverage of Round 2 of the 2018 U.S. Open.
"Today, during the live FS1 broadcast of the 2018 U.S. Open, one of the many microphones on the course inadvertently picked up some offensive crowd chatter. We sincerely apologize," Fox Sports spokeswoman Anne Pennington said in a statement to Sporting News.
When SN asked Pennington if the offensive audio came from fans on the course or a radio mixup, Pennington confirmed it came from the gallery.
The conversation, involving an unidentified man bragging about how he violently head-butted his "bitch" ex, was captured by Awful Announcing. (WARNING: The link goes to an article containing extremely graphic and NSFW audio.)
Fox's Joe Buck was discussing Masters winner Patrick Reed when Fox's viewers suddenly heard two new voices discussing sex. After they had finished, Buck came back on the air as if nothing had happened.
To cap Fox's freaky Friday, the audio cut out for eight minutes during its afternoon coverage from the historic course in Southampton, N.Y., on Long Island. To his credit, Buck handled the sound snafu with aplomb, noting: "The reviews are in. We've never sounded better."
During its first four years of USGA coverage, Fox has liberally sprinkled on-course microphones around the greens, tee boxes, fairways and galleries to bring viewers the sights and sounds of a U.S. Open.
But Sporting News warned Thursday that some of the gavones in the loud, proud New York crowd would give Fox more audio than it could handle:
"It's hard to blame Fox for spectators running their yaps. That's more of a USGA issue. Most of us have been stuck in crowds with bozos who think they're hilarious, and crowds at major sporting events have become louder, drunker and more in-your-face over the years. Still, the mics picking up these gavones hurt the broadcast. As a viewer, I found it distracting to hear that stuff on nearly every hole, every shot."
The next question is how the strait-laced, white-shoe crowd at the USGA will react to its premier event being sullied by Fox's X-rated, misogynistic audio.
We'll see this weekend. | – The US Open broadcast on Fox Sports took a strange turn Friday when a microphone inadvertently picked up a guy bragging about rough sex with his "ex," the Sporting News reports. Announcer Joe Buck was setting up a shot by golfer Patrick Reed at around 1:45pm EST when the surprise voices emerged. "Here at one, it's Patrick Reed," said Buck, and a mic picked up a man talking to his male companion, per Awful Announcing. "We were ---ing so hard, and I headbutted her in the head," the man said, among other things, but the other doesn't sound convinced: "Yeah, what actually happened, pal?" The first one protests, "No, straight up..." and his words soon turn indistinct. Buck's voice returned with "second shot," as if all was normal, and the broadcast continued. "From the sound, it seems likely this was a radio conversation that somehow got picked up onto the actual feed, rather than just crowd chatter, but we don’t know for sure," says Awful Announcing. (You can hear the actual exchange at Deadspin.) Now Fox Sports and the United States Golf Association are apologizing for the unexpected interlude. "We deeply regret the inappropriate language and sentiment expressed by a few fans that was unfortunately picked up by a microphone," says a USGA spokeswoman. |
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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 ||||| President Donald Trump said the truth would only come out if lawmakers get access to documents they have been thwarted from obtaining. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Trump responds to new FBI informant reports
President Donald Trump on Saturday appeared to respond to new reports that an FBI informant had reached out to multiple campaign aides during the 2016 presidential campaign.
"If the FBI or DOJ was infiltrating a campaign for the benefit of another campaign, that is a really big deal," the president wrote on Twitter.
Story Continued Below
On Friday night, The New York Times reported that an unnamed FBI informant talked to two campaign advisers who allegedly had suspicious contacts with individuals linked to Russia. The Times did not name the informant but described the person as an "American academic who teaches in Britain" and who made contact with Trump foreign policy advisers George Papadopoulos and Carter Page.
The alleged informant's name has been published by conservative media outlets and circulated widely on Twitter.
Earlier Friday, apparently responding to previous conservative media reports, Trump had tweeted: "Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a 'hot' Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!"
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Trump's Saturday response shifted from alleging an FBI source was "implanted" into the campaign to suggesting the campaign was "infiltrated." He maintained any such FBI action was politically motivated. There's no indication that was the case.
Papadopoulos' April 2016 conversation with an Australian diplomat indicating the Russians had so-called dirt on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton reportedly started the FBI investigation that has led to special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with the Russian government during a Kremlin campaign to meddle in the 2016 election.
Trump added that the truth about the alleged FBI informant could only come out with "the release or review of documents that the House Intelligence Committee (also, Senate Judiciary) is asking for."
Congressional Republicans have engaged in an intense fight with the Justice Department over access to highly sensitive and classified information about the investigation into the Trump campaign, and the identity of the FBI's informant, and have routinely expressed frustration with DOJ's refusals to grant access to the documents.
House Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Friday that if the reports about an informant are true, "that is as wrong as it gets." | – President Trump took another leap into uncharted territory Sunday with a demand for the Justice Department to investigate whether the FBI infiltrated his 2016 campaign. Trump tweeted that he would officially demand Monday that the department "look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!" In what the Washington Post describes as an effort to avoid a bigger showdown, the Justice Department bowed to the pressure late Sunday, saying its inspector general would investigate whether political motivations had tainted the investigation of alleged Russian links to Trump's campaign, which is now being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. "If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action," said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Trump's tweet followed reports that an FBI informant had talked to Trump campaign advisers with alleged links to Russia, which the president called a "really big deal" in a tweet Saturday, Politico reports. Analysts described his demand for an investigation of the investigation as unprecedented. "I can't think of a prior example of a sitting president ordering the Justice Department to conduct an investigation like this one," University of Texas School of Law professor Stephen Vladeck tells the New York Times. "That's little more than a transparent effort to undermine an ongoing investigation." |
A local women’s clinic says it's being forced to change names because people have confused it with a terrorist group.
ISIS Women’s Health Care says it has received dozens of death threats from callers who thought the clinic was associated with the group that is known for torture, suicide bombings and executions.
“This year marks the 10th anniversary for Isis Women’s Health Care, but instead of hoisting celebration banners, we're taking down the namesake that has proudly delivered thousands of babies,” says Dr. Hughan Frederick. “Thankfully, we're not closing our doors, but we are opening a new chapter.”
Frederick originally selected the name ISIS for its tie to the Egyptian goddess of motherhood. Frederick decided that it was time for a name change for the safety of his employees and patients.
“I’m not going to lie, this is hard,” said Frederick. “We’ve spent a decade and thousands of dollars perfecting and building our brand in this community. Now it’s all out the window. But instead of being sad, we want to turn this into something positive and fun. We’ve had to undergo a complete image change from pamphlets, to websites, to business cards.”
ISIS Women’s Health Care employs dozens of people in three offices. They are affiliated with North Fulton Hospital and Emory Johns Creek Hospital. For many years, the ISIS name has become synonymous with “a better birth experience” in the north Metro Atlanta area.
The unveiling of the new company name will be held on March 31 at its 1015 Mansell Road office. ||||| This year marks the 10th anniversary for Isis Women’s Health Care but instead of hoisting celebration banners we are taking down the namesake that proudly delivered thousands of Americans. Thankfully we are not closing our doors but we are opening a new chapter.
“Isis” is the name we carefully selected over ten years ago.
I still remember when Hughan and I were sitting on the floor of our apartment surrounded by ideas, spreadsheets and options. We wanted to build the best practice we could and that included picking a name with meaning. Hughan’s brother was the one to ultimately pitch the winner.
The practice started with one full-time employee in a sub-leased space across from North Fulton Hospital. Even today, Hughan shudders at how nervous he was when he asked her to join him. He says, “For the first time I was going to be responsible for paying for someone’s livelihood.” It was a very small start but it was where Dr. Frederick realized his dream and hung his shingle.
Today, ten years later, the Isis Women’s Health Care organization employs nearly 30 people in three offices. Through the hard work of so many people the name, Isis, has become synonymous with “a better birth experience” in the north Metro Atlanta area. It’s a name that we have all become proud to be associated with.
Until now.
One morning we woke up to news of a beheading by a terrorist organization the media chose to refer to as ISIS. It was tragic. But then it happened again, and again, and this group gained strength. Everyone called them something different; ISIS, ISIL, Islamic State…we weren’t sure what to call them. CNN, Fox News, Donald Trump and countless others seem to have settled on ISIS. That meant bad news for us.
Initially we planned to stay the course. Surely, no one would confuse our ob/gyn practice for a terrorist organization?! We were wrong.
People are mad. People are upset. People are confused. And they have let us know in some very unkind ways.
And just like that, we are being forced to erase a decade’s worth of work. We have taken the first step and removed the name from the building. But what name could possibly be a strong enough replacement?
I’m not going to lie. This is hard. But instead of being sad, we want to turn this into something positive and fun. Isis clients are some of the smartest, most creative and opinionated people in Atlanta.
This time around, we’re going to open up the process to all of you and ask if you have any ideas for a name.
I can’t think of a better way to move into the next decade together with a new name and a better way to practice.
Let the brainstorming begin! | – Over the past decade, "Isis" has "become synonymous with 'a better birth experience,'" Georgia's Isis Women's Health Care writes on its website. That's recently changed, for obvious reasons. "One morning we woke up to news of a beheading by a terrorist organization the media chose to refer to as ISIS," the business states. "That meant bad news for us." Since then, Isis Women's Health Care has received dozens of death threats, WSB-TV reports. "I became concerned for me and my staff," Dr. Hughan Frederick tells WXIA. Finally, one caller made it clear it was time for a name change. "This particular individual identified himself as ex-military and indicated for us not to be surprised if someone were to come and shoot up the building," Isis administrator Randy Haviland says. WSB-TV reports Isis Women's Health Care will announce its new name at the end of the month. But judging by its website, it will now be known as Nile Women's Health Care. That's in keeping with its original Egyptian theme—the business was named for the Egyptian goddess of motherhood. Even before a new name was chosen, Isis removed signage from outside its three Atlanta-area offices to head off further threats. “This year marks the 10th anniversary for Isis Women’s Health Care, but instead of hoisting celebration banners, we are taking down the namesake that has proudly delivered thousands of babies,” the business states. (It's not the only business named Isis in America.) |
It seemed like a stealthy, albeit disgusting, plan.
A Wisconsin man thought he had come up with a way to creep under the skirts of women and take invasive and, perhaps, to him, titillating video, according to police in Madison, Wis. Unlike other “upskirting” instances, in which people have been caught using cellphones to record invasive photos of women, this 32-year-old thought he’d try a different approach: a shoe camera.
It’s unclear what a “shoe camera” entails, but this unidentified man found a camera he could attach to his shoe and purchased it with the intention of taking videos under women’s skirts, according to a Tuesday report from Madison Police Chief Michael Koval.
But before capturing any footage, the man decided to test out the camera at home, Officer David Dexheimer told the Wisconsin State Journal.
Just then, the device’s battery blew up, injuring the man’s foot and derailing his scheme, Koval wrote.
He sought out medical treatment for minor burns, Dexheimer told the Wisconsin State Journal. As it turns out, the explosion hurt not only his foot but also his conscience.
The man opened up about what happened to a clergyman, Dexheimer said. The clergyman suggested that the man turn himself in to the authorities and accompanied him to the police station.
At about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, police officers at a Madison station were contacted by the man, who admitted to his failed upskirting plans. The man was “counseled on his actions,” Koval wrote, but ultimately released because he had not taken any illegal videos.
It appears that the explosion, and the advice from the clergyman, worked out in the man’s favor — for the time being. Authorities are continuing to investigate, Koval said.
Upskirting, in its various forms, is not uncommon. Some reports in places like Washington have even found a spike in upskirting incidents in recent years, as phone cameras and other recording devices have become ubiquitous. Upskirting has been reported in Metro stations, Walmarts and grocery stores across the country.
Upskirting is illegal in many places, including Wisconsin. Under a 2015 Wisconsin law, anyone who uses a device to record “under the outer clothing” of a person without their consent can be found guilty of a felony.
In other places, however, the law has been murkier. In Georgia, for example, a court in 2016 ruled that “upskirting” was legal in public places, such as a Publix grocery store. ||||| Close Get email notifications on Bill Novak | Wisconsin State Journal daily!
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Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ||||| Date of enactment: November 11, 2015
2015 Assembly Bill 8 Date of publication*: November 12, 2015 Date of enactment:Date of publication*:
2015 WISCONSIN ACT 80
An Act to amend 301.45 (1p) (a), 938.355 (4m) (b) and 973.015 (1m) (a) 2.; and to create 942.08 (3) of the statutes; relating to: invading an individual's privacy by viewing under or through clothing and providing a penalty.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
80,1 Section 1 . 301.45 (1p) (a) of the statutes is amended to read: 301.45 (1p) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
301.45 (1p) (a) If a person is covered under sub. (1g) based solely on an order that was entered under s. 938.34 (15m) (am) or 973.048 (1m) in connection with a delinquency adjudication or a conviction for a violation of s. 942.08 (2) (b), (c), or (d) , or (3), the person is not required to comply with the reporting requirements under this section if the delinquency adjudication is expunged under s. 938.355 (4m) (b) or if the conviction is expunged under s. 973.015 (1m) (b).
80,2 Section 2 . 938.355 (4m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read: 938.355 (4m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
938.355 (4m) (b) The court shall expunge the court's record of a juvenile's adjudication if it was the juvenile's first adjudication based on a violation of s. 942.08 (2) (b), (c), or (d) , or (3), and if the court determines that the juvenile has satisfactorily complied with the conditions of his or her dispositional order. Notwithstanding s. 938.396 (2), the court shall notify the department promptly of any expungement under this paragraph.
80,3 Section 3 . 942.08 (3) of the statutes is created to read: 942.08 (3) of the statutes is created to read:
942.08 (3) Whoever knowingly installs or uses any device, instrument, mechanism, or contrivance to intentionally view, broadcast, or record under the outer clothing of an individual that individual's genitals, pubic area, breast, or buttocks, including genitals, pubic area, breasts, or buttocks that are covered by undergarments, or to intentionally view, broadcast, or record a body part of an individual that is not otherwise visible, without that individual's consent, is guilty of a Class I felony.
80,4 Section 4 . 973.015 (1m) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read: 973.015 (1m) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read: ||||| June 27, 2018 10:44 AM
The information contained in my blog is derived from notes provided by MPD Officers-In-Charge (OIC) at the end of their shifts. Most narratives represent early and preliminary information that was gathered by an OIC from those in the field who were actively working cases. The OIC is sharing what they were being told, in the moment. In many instances, facts and circumstances, even the type of crime listed, can change as officers, detectives and investigators continue their work.
From 5:00 a.m. on 06/26/2018 through 5:00 a.m. on 06/27/2018, MPD received 497 calls for service. This number does not include parking complaints or 911 misdials. For purposes of clarification, the following abbreviations are short-hand for race designations: W=White, AA=African American, NA=Native American, H=Hispanic, ME=Middle Eastern, A=Asian, MR=Mixed Race, U=Unknown. MPD shifts are staggered as follows: 1st detail=7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 2nd detail=12 p.m. to 8 p.m., 3rd detail=3 p.m. to 11 p.m., 4th detail=8 p.m. to 4 a.m., 5th detail=11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
To further break down the 497 calls for service for the past 24-hours this is how the calls came in per district: Central (91), East (115), Midtown (54), North (63), South (45), West (73), and Other (56). Other=these are calls for service that either do not have a sector listed or the sector is not in the City. For example, if one of our officers assists another law enforcement agency, their sector is not listed in our districts so therefore it is listed under "other."
1) WEST: Domestic Disturbance – 7:35am. Officers responded to the 6700 block of Schroeder Rd for a report of a disturbance between a mother (44-year-old HF) and son (24-year-old HM). The son reportedly caused a disturbance, which included throwing rocks, prior to leaving the scene. Probable cause was developed for a charge of domestic disorderly conduct. Investigation continuing.
2) EAST: Assist Citizen/Drug Investigation – 8:22am. Officers initially responded to the Kwik Trip at 4825 American Pkwy for a subject (23-year-old WM) who appeared disoriented and was unable to locate his vehicle. Later in the day, officers received a call for found property at Steinhafel's at 5215 High Crossing Blvd. The property included the subject's vehicle, a firearm, and a backpack full of marijuana and prescription medications. Officers were no longer in contact with the subject at the time the property was located. Investigation continuing.
3) EAST: Weapons Offense – 12:57pm. Officers responded to the area of Great Gray Dr and Snowy Owl Dr for a report of a vehicle occupied by subjects who had pointed a firearm out the window. There were no reports of shots fired or property damage. Investigation continuing.
4) EAST: Stolen Auto – 2:34pm. Officers responded to the area of Pinney St and Silas St for a report of a stolen auto. The victim (19-year-old UM) reported he had parked the vehicle on the street the previous night and it is now gone. The vehicle was listed as stolen through the appropriate databases. Investigation continuing.
5) WEST: Information/Sex Offense – 5:24pm. Officers at the West Police District station were contacted by a subject (32-year-old HM) who wanted to turn himself in to police. The subject reported he had purchased a shoe camera that he intended to use to take "upskirt" videos of females, but the camera battery had exploded prior to obtaining any video, injuring the subject's foot. The subject was counseled on his actions and released from the scene as no illicit video had been taken. Investigation continuing.
6) EAST: Stalking Complaint – 7:03pm. Officers contacted a victim (56-year-old WF) who wished to report unwanted social media posts from a suspect (45-year-old AAM). The victim has a current harassment protection order against the suspect following a history of stalking-type behaviors from the suspect. Investigation continuing.
7) EAST: Traffic Crash – 7:28pm. Officers were dispatched to the 200 block of Cottage Grove Rd regarding a rollover traffic crash. The driver of the vehicle (39-year-old WM) was trapped and had to be removed by Madison Fire paramedics. The driver was taken to the hospital and a legal blood draw was completed. Officers cleared from the hospital at 12:02am. Investigation continuing.
8) EAST: Attempted Suicide – 9:38pm. Officers responded to Camden Rd for a report of a subject (48-year-old WM) who had attempted to kill himself by overdosing on prescription medication. The subject was taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Investigation continuing.
9) SOUTH: Information/Sexual Assault – 10:33pm. Officers made contact with a victim (15-year-old WF) at the Juvenile Reception Center who wanted to report that she had been sexually assaulted sometime in the past week. The victim's statement was taken and a forensic nurse exam was completed at the hospital. Investigation continuing.
10) SOUTH: Weapons Offense – 10:34pm. Officers responded to the 1200 block of Gilson St after reports of a suspicious person in possession of a firearm. One witness (36-year-old AAF) reported that a younger AAM knocked on her door and that she witnessed the handle of a handgun in his pocket when she turned on the porch light. The suspect fled when the witness tried to photograph him and officers were unable to locate him. Investigation continuing.
11) CENTRAL: Intoxicated Person/Adult Arrest – 10:46pm. Officers responded to The Ivory Room Piano Bar at 116 W Mifflin St for a report of an intoxicated person. The subject (39-year-old WM) was contacted and placed in protective custody, after which he was taken to the hospital. While at the hospital, the subject became resistive and tried to fight with officers, causing injury to one officer. He was taken to the Dane County Jail on a charge of resisting/obstructing an officer. Investigation continuing.
12) NORTH: Information/Sexual Assault – 11:14pm. Officers contacted a victim (22-year-old WF) at the Dane County Jail who wanted to report a possible sexual assault from earlier in the month. The victim thought she might have been assaulted while staying with an acquaintance on a temporary basis. Investigation continuing.
13) NORTH: Armed Robbery – 11:36pm. Officers responded to the area of Scofield St and N 8th St, near Demetral Park, for a report of an armed robbery. The victim (41-year-old WM) reported that two suspects held him at knifepoint and demanded he give them everything in his pockets. A minor injury was sustained by the victim. See the completed press release for further information and updates. Investigation continuing.
14) NORTH: Armed Robbery – 12:10am. Officers responded to the 1300 block of Ruskin St regarding an armed robbery. The victim (34-year-old UM), a delivery driver, reported that a suspect at this address had given him a counterfeit bill as payment, and when the driver confronted him, two other suspects walked up and displayed the handle of a handgun. The suspects fled the area with an undisclosed amount of cash. See the completed press release for further information and updates. Investigation continuing.
15) CENTRAL: Traffic Crash – 1:24am. Officers responded to the 1900 block of Atwood Ave for a traffic crash. Witnesses reported that the driver (41-year-old WM) had been operating a motorcycle at high speed when he hit a curb and crashed. The driver, who was not wearing a helmet during the crash, was taken to the hospital with significant injuries. Officers obtained a warrant to execute an OWI blood draw at the hospital. Investigation continuing. | – An attempt at "upskirting," an exploding camera, and a guilty conscience led to … no arrest in Wisconsin, but the story is still attracting attention nationwide. The Wisconsin State Journal reports on the unidentified 32-year-old man at the center of it all, showing up Tuesday at a Madison police station to turn himself in for what he'd intended to do: take pictures up women's skirts by using a shoe camera. The Washington Post notes it's not exactly clear what a "shoe camera" is, but the man apparently was able to attach some kind of photographic device to his shoe and was testing it at home when the battery exploded, injuring his foot, Officer David Dexheimer tells the Journal. After getting treatment for the minor burns he received from the mini-blast, the man confessed his unsavory intentions to a clergyman, who encouraged him to turn himself in to police, Dexheimer says. There's a Wisconsin law on the books that outlaws anyone from purposely installing a device to photograph or otherwise record under a person's clothes without that person's consent, but the man in this case caught a lucky break: Per Madison Police Chief Mike Koval's daily "significant calls" blog, "the subject was counseled on his actions and released from the scene as no illicit video had been taken." Koval notes there is an ongoing investigation, however. (In some places, upskirting is legal.) |
An airplane is seen on the tarmac at the United Parcel Service (UPS) Regional Air Hub in Rockford, Illinois, December 9, 2014. Picture taken December 9, 2014.
United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) said on Tuesday it will start applying surcharges for residential packages this year after its costs soared during the recent disappointing holiday season.
UPS also reported that fourth-quarter profit fell from a year ago but forecast earnings within the range of estimates.
UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, warned in late January it would report a fourth-quarter profit below its forecast and market expectations.
The Atlanta-based company had mobilized more workers and equipment for an anticipated surge in holiday packages, but the extra business failed to materialize. The additional costs primarily affected the company's domestic ground package unit.
As a result of the poor quarter, UPS Chief Executive Officer David Abney said on a conference call that the company would apply surcharges for residential packages in particular. The additional charges will be applied over several years as contracts with major customers are renegotiated.
"These pricing strategies will be designed to ensure we are properly compensated for the value we provide," Abney said.
UPS went through a second consecutive challenging peak season. In 2013, the company was caught off-guard by a late rush of online packages that left an estimated 1.3 million parcels undelivered on Christmas Eve.
UPS spent $500 million last year on network improvements and worked closely with retail customers to prevent a repeat of the miscues in late 2013, but the rising popularity of e-commerce made forecasting volumes a moving target.
UPS forecast full-year 2015 earnings in a range of $5.05 to $5.30 per share. Analysts estimated $5.15 a share this year.
UPS reported fourth-quarter net profit of $1.15 billion, down nearly 2 percent from $1.17 billion a year earlier.
Earnings per share came in at $1.25, unchanged from a year earlier and matching the expectations of analysts.
Quarterly revenue rose 6 percent to $15.9 billion from $15 billion a year earlier, including a 7.5 percent increase in revenue from its domestic ground package business.
Operating expenses jumped more than 20 percent to $9.2 billion from $7.65 billion, which caused a more than 60 percent drop in operating profit at the domestic ground package unit.
On a GAAP basis, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 49 cents due to pension-related charges.
In early trading, UPS shares were up 1.2 percent at $101.47.
(Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Jeffrey Benkoe) ||||| United Parcel Service Inc. said Tuesday that its once highly profitable peak season will continue to be a drag on fourth-quarter and full-year earnings even though it plans to boost some prices to try to offset the added expenses of keeping up with increased holiday loads.
The company averaged more than 30 million deliveries a day during the latest holiday season, executives told analysts in their fourth-quarter earnings call. That was about six million more a day than in the same period in 2012 and 75% more than on its average... ||||| UPS Hates Coming To Your House, To Begin Tacking On Surcharges For Residential Delivery
Last week, in advance of its quarterly earnings report, UPS admitted that it over-spent on holiday shipping in 2014 and that it wouldn’t make that mistake again . Today, with those quarterly earnings announced, the company announced how it’s going to make back some of its money — by tacking on surcharges for residential deliveries.
The surcharges aren’t something that you’ll see immediately applied everywhere, but will be rolled out as UPS renegotiates its shipping contracts with its largest customers, reports Reuters.
“These pricing strategies will be designed to ensure we are properly compensated for the value we provide,” explained UPS CEO David Abney.
So why put a surcharge on residential deliveries?
According to UPS, because you’re usually only bringing a single package to a home while many businesses receive multiple parcels each day, these home deliveries cost three times what it costs to make deliveries to businesses.
As companies renegotiate their deals with UPS, expect to see fewer free shipping offers or for e-tailers to increase their minimum orders for free shipping.
You should also expect to see a push toward centralized delivery locations, like the Amazon Locker depots that are set up in retail locations like 7-Eleven stores. These allow shippers to bring multiple parcels to one spot where customers can pick them up at their leisure. Don’t be shocked to see Amazon try to make these more attractive, especially for Prime subscribers, and other companies attempt to replicate this model.
After a dismal 2013, in which weather and consumers’ growing love of e-commerce conspired to leave more than a million parcels undelivered by Christmas day, UPS went all-in for 2014, sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into improvements and hiring around 100,000 seasonal workers. And while it all meant that packages were delivered in time for the holidays, there wasn’t enough business for UPS to ultimately recoup those expenses.
“UPS customers were delighted with the high quality service we delivered during the holiday season,” said Abney in a statement. “However, the financial results were below our expectations.” | – It wasn't a very happy holiday season for UPS—for the second year in a row. In 2013, the company landed in hot water over an unexpected surge in gifts needing delivery, resulting in some 1.3 million packages that weren't delivered by Christmas Eve. This year, things went the opposite direction: The company hired an extra 100,000 seasonal workers, Consumerist notes, but the uptick in business didn't quite pan out as hoped. The result of all this is new costs for consumers. UPS plans a surcharge for residential deliveries, set to take effect over the course of a few years, Reuters reports. "We absolutely will charge our customers more for the extra costs that we had in peak," CEO David Abney tells the Wall Street Journal. Home deliveries can place a special burden on the company, it says, because homes typically get just one package at a time, whereas a business might receive a pile. Customers may end up seeing higher shipping costs at online retailers, as well as more emphasis on pickup locations like Amazon Lockers in retail stores, Consumerist notes. |
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Ozzy Osbourne sounds ready to bite somebody's head off.
The British rock god released a statement saying he was "disgusted" by a Kansas-based church's choice to perform his music on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"I am sickened and disgusted by the use of 'Crazy Train' to promote messages of hate and evil by a 'church,'" said Ozzy, referring to the iconic song off 1980's Blizzard of Ozz.
And lest you think he was peeved about the organist playing Randy Rhoades' riff in the choir loft, read on...
MORE: Twitter War! Kelly Osbourne defends mum from "devil" Dannii Minogue
The church in question is Westboro Baptist Church, a group known less for its choir than for its noisy, anti-gay protests staged at the funerals of U.S. soldiers, regardless of the fallen's sexual orientation.
The small congregation, which chants things like "You're Going to Hell" and other feel-bad sentiments because it somehow associates dead soldiers with homosexuality in general, has garnered more attention now that their activities have turned into a free speech debate.
The father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, whose funeral attracted Westboro protesters, was awarded $5 million after suing the group and its founder Fred Phelps for emotional distress. The church appealed the ruling and the case is now going to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Which is where two of Phelps' adult daughters quoted Ozzy in song, singing, "You're going straight to hell on your crazy train." They looked pretty pleased with themselves for thinking that one up, too.
Maybe something from Ozzy's Diary of a Mad Man would have been more appropriate.
PHOTOS: The Big Picture ||||| 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. ||||| Ozzy Osbourne Furious at Anti-Gay Church
Email This Ozzy Osbourne is bearing down on the infamous Westboro Baptist Church for using his song 'Crazy Train' during protests of gays in the military,
After the small church used his 1980 hit at a demonstration on Thursday at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Prince of Darkness couldn't hold his tongue any longer.
"I'm sickened and disgusted by the use of 'Crazy Train' to promote messages of hate and evil by a 'church,'" Ozzy said in a statement. Ozzy Osbourne is bearing down on the infamous Westboro Baptist Church for using his song 'Crazy Train' during protests of gays in the military, E! Online reports.After the small church used his 1980 hit at a demonstration on Thursday at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Prince of Darkness couldn't hold his tongue any longer."I'm sickened and disgusted by the use of 'Crazy Train' to promote messages of hate and evil by a 'church,'" Ozzy said in a statement.
Crazy, but that's how it goes
Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love
And forget how to hate
The Kansas-based church was in Washington because the Supreme Court is set to review a ruling that awarded $5 million to the family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, whose funeral Westboro protested. The church appealed, and now it's going to the high court.At this week's protests, church members turned Ozzy's song into a hate-mongering chant: "You're going straight to hell on your crazy train."Of course, the song doesn't contain such lyrics . Instead, the metal hit is a plea for tolerance and understanding. The first line: | – Add Ozzy Osbourne to the list of people who are not happy with the Westboro Baptist Church. The group, infamous for staging anti-gay protests at military funerals and chanting things like “You’re going to hell,” played one of Ozzy’s songs on the steps of the US Supreme Court. “I am sickened and disgusted by the use of 'Crazy Train' to promote messages of hate and evil by a 'church,'” Osbourne said in a statement. The group seems to like singing, “You're going straight to hell on your crazy train," E! reports, but PopEater notes that such a line doesn't actually exist in the song—although, ironically, the line "Learn how to love, and forget how to hate" does. Click here for more. Want to see a softer side of Ozzy? Watch him cover a John Lennon song here. |
When President Donald Trump took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Friday morning, he clearly wanted to have some fun.
“You don’t mind if I go off script a little bit?” he asked the rowdy audience in Maryland. His prepared CPAC speech, after all, was “a little boring,” he said.
For more than an hour, Trump held court, largely eschewing a teleprompter filled with prepared remarks on North Korea sanctions and remembrances for Billy Graham and the victims of the Parkland, Fla. shooting, instead choosing to ramble enthusiastically about familiar themes in his typical campaign style. (In fact, new sanctions on North Korea were supposed to be a major part of his CPAC speech, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin scheduled to give a briefing on the news Friday morning. But Trump barely mentioned them, giving them just a brief nod at the tail end of nearly one hour and 15 minutes onstage.)
Early in his CPAC speech, Trump caught a glimpse of himself in a TV monitor and joked, “I try like hell to hide the bald spot,” turning around to show the audience the back of his head. He said his “administration has had the most successful first year in the history of the presidency,” touting the passage of the tax bill, confirmation of a record-number of circuit court judges and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as some primary accomplishments.
And he returned to his election victory in 2016, criticizing the media and saying winning the electoral college is “much tougher” than winning the popular vote. (He did not win the popular vote.) The CPAC crowd started a robust chant of “lock her up!” when Trump mentioned Democrat Hillary Clinton, to which Trump responded that the Clintons have “committed a lot of atrocities.”
In another callback to his time on the campaign trail, Trump read the lyrics to Johnny Rivers’ “The Snake,” a song from the 1960s that tells of a woman taking in an injured snake, who then bites her, chiding her, “You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.” He would often read it at campaign events talking about crimes committed by immigrants.
As Trump pulled the printed lyrics out of his pocket Friday morning, he instructed his audience explicitly, “You have to think of this in terms of immigration.”
During the off-script portion of his hour on the CPAC stage, Trump also tried to motivate the crowd for the November midterm elections – saying that if Democrats win, “they’ll take away your Second Amendment.” He asked the crowd to cheer for whether they’d rather have the Second Amendment right to bear arms or the tax cuts he passed last year, and the applause signaled a win for the Second Amendment. He didn’t mention the shooting in Florida that took the lives of 17 people until later in his CPAC speech, when he temporarily returned to prepared remarks.
Friday morning gave Trump the opportunity to flex his freewheeling campaign rhetoric in front of a supportive live audience. It’s what he seems to enjoy the most about his late-in-life career switch to politics, and it’s what he gets far less of as Commander-in-Chief than he did as an outsider candidate.
He seemed excited to talk about upcoming midterm elections, asking Republicans not to get “complacent” during the midterms. And looking ahead to winning a second term in 2020, Trump said, “Hopefully we’re going to do that very easily.” ||||| Midterm campaign Trump debuts at CPAC The president abandoned his talking points in his speech to conservative activists in favor of reviving greatest-hits lines from his campaign.
President Donald Trump abandoned a scripted speech to conservatives on Friday to launch into a greatest hits roster of lines from his 2016 campaign, marking a return to candidate mode as he begins campaigning for Republicans in the midterm elections.
The speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference was supposed to highlight tax cuts and sanctions targeting North Korea, but veered instead to familiar tropes, including his victory over “crooked” Hillary Clinton and a spirited reading of “The Snake,” an allegorical song that candidate Trump used frequently to illustrate dangers posed by undocumented immigrants.
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It was a departure from the slightly more controlled, presidential Trump — who was back in evidence at the White House later in the day speaking alongside Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull — and a sign that the president plans to lean heavily on what’s worked for him in the past as he tries to boost Republicans in the November elections.
“It’s now his party. It’s now his conservative movement and there are no challengers. This was like a victory speech,” said Ed Rollins, lead strategist for the pro-Trump Great America super PAC. “It was the kickoff to the 2018 campaign — and the 2020.”
Calling his first 365 days “the most successful first year in the history of the presidency”, Trump went off script to rattle through a list of superlative achievements — the “biggest” tax cuts, “heaviest” sanctions and record firearms prosecutions.
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“I think now we’ve proved that I’m a conservative, right?” Trump told the crowd, as he ran over his allotted time. “We have put more great conservative ideas into use than perhaps ever before in American history.”
Trump warned that complacency in November’s elections could lead to Democratic gains in Congress and, in turn, gun control and higher taxes.
His revival of familiar themes — including not just “crooked” Hillary but also the “very, very crooked” media — prompted chants of “USA” and “Lock her up!” from the crowd at the National Harbor convention center just south of Washington.
Republicans, who control the House and Senate, have advanced their agenda sometimes in spite of the president. Going into this year’s midterms, it’s far from certain that Trump, or the party, can translate those accomplishments into congressional gains.
Democrats are defending 25 Senate seats, including 10 in states that supported Trump over Clinton in 2016, compared with Republicans’ eight. Still, Democrats hope to capitalize on Trump’s low approval ratings, scandals and an investigation into Russian campaign meddling to pare or eliminate Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
As Trump basked in CPAC’s friendly glow, a former campaign aide, Rick Gates, was pleading guilty to charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller in a deal that requires Gates to cooperate with Mueller's prosecution of Paul Manafort, Gates' former business partner and Trump’s onetime chairman.
“He made it very clear he’s going to campaign very aggressively in 2018,” Rollins said. “Whether that’s good or bad we’ll find out.”
Trump urged the audience — about 1,000 people — not to get complacent.
“We have a problem: We need more Republicans,” Trump said. “We have to worry — right now, we have a big race coming up in '18. You have to get out. You have to just get that enthusiasm. Keep it going.”
“If they get in, they will repeal your tax cuts, they will put judges in that you wouldn't believe, they'll take away your Second Amendment, which we will never allow to happen,” Trump said.
Excerpts of the speech released before Trump took the stage suggested he would spotlight his administration’s announcement of sanctions on North Korea, advertised as the “LARGEST EVER.” But Trump mentioned the sanctions only as he wound up his remarks, and only, he said, “because people have asked” — without including details.
Trump’s Friday address marked the second consecutive year he spoke at the CPAC summit. With the president’s conservative bona fides now cemented, the venue this year became an important event for rallying his base.
CPAC is organized by American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp, whose wife, Mercedes Schlapp, is a White House adviser for strategic communications.
Trump had a lukewarm welcome at CPAC last year. This year the president owned the crowd, but the gathering prompted furious debate among conservatives for its Trump-friendly list of speakers, which included Sebastian Gorka, a former White House aide and alt-right hero, and Marion Le Pen, the niece of French National Front Party chief Marine Le Pen.
Yesterday, Trump stuck to his conservative message. A week after a deadly school shooting that killed 17 in Parkland, Florida, he gave little ground on gun control. He called for an end to gun-free school zones and said teachers should be armed.
“Well-trained, gun-adept teachers and coaches should be able to carry concealed firearms,” Trump said. “A teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened.”
The president touted his deregulatory agenda and claimed that “Obamacare is just being wiped out” after Congress repealed a requirement that individuals carry health insurance.
The president also paid homage to Billy Graham, the prominent American pastor and longtime presidential adviser who passed away this week at 99.
“We will never forget the historic crowds, the voice, the energy, and the profound faith of a preacher named Billy Graham,” Trump said. ||||| President Trump Donald John TrumpWhite House revises statement saying Iran 'has' secret nuclear weapons program DOJ files charges against 11 suspected 'caravan' members for illegal border crossing Mueller planned to ask Trump about Manafort's campaign outreach to Moscow: report MORE told the Conservative Political Action Committee on Friday that if Democrats come into power, they will “take away your Second Amendment.”
“They'll take away your Second Amendment,” Trump said. “Remember that.”
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Speaking a little more than a week after the shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 dead one day after he offered support for modest gun control proposals, Trump offered some red meat for the conservative crowd and vowed to protect gun rights.
Cheered on by the crowd, Trump told the audience that they must come out in force to beat history and prevent the GOP from losing congressional seats in this fall's midterms to Democrats. The president's party typically loses seats in a midterm election.
"Don't be complacent,” Trump said. “If they get in, they will repeal your tax cuts, they will put judges in that you wouldn't believe, they'll take away your Second Amendment, which we will never allow to happen.”
Trump broke from the script to ask the crowd which one they would prefer to keep: tax cuts or gun rights. The crowd exploded with cheers about protecting their gun rights.
Trump is walking a fine line with conservatives and the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of his biggest backers during his presidential campaign.
The president is advocating for several new policies that put him at odds with the NRA, including expanded background checks, higher age restrictions on gun purchases and banning a device, known as a bump stock, that enables semi-automatic rifles to fire more rapidly.
But the president said he’s been in contact with the NRA and that they’ll get on board with some of his proposals.
“I can speak for all of the senators and congressmen and congresswomen, all the people in this room that are involved in this decision, that we will act, we will do something,” Trump said. “We will act.”
Democrats are eager to achieve broader gun control measures and say Trump’s proposals do not go far enough.
The president is also proposing arming some school officials so they can fight back against active shooters, which many gun control activists oppose.
“Why do we protect our airports and our banks, our government buildings, but not our schools?,” Trump said. “It is time to make our schools a much harder target for attackers. We don't want them in our schools. We don't want them. When we declare our schools to be gun free zones, it just puts our students in far more danger.”
The national debate over gun control has exploded over the last week following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Students across the nation have staged walkouts, participated in town hall events and organized protests to demand action be taken on gun control.
The president met with families of victims and survivors of the shooting at the White House this week and has said the emotional testimony he heard from them has moved him to act.
“There are not enough tears in the world to express our sadness and anguish for her family, and for every family that has lost a precious loved one,” Trump said. “No family should ever save and ever have to go in and suffer the way these families have suffered. They have suffered beyond anything that I have ever witnessed.” | – “You don’t mind if I go off script a little bit?” President Trump asked the audience Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Time reports the president, admitting his prepared remarks were "a little boring," mostly ignored the teleprompter (including a segment on new North Korean sanctions) during his nearly 75-minute speech. For Trump, going off script mostly meant getting back to some of his favorite rally topics: the size of his election victory, having "the most successful first year in the history of the presidency," and "atrocities" committed by the Clintons (complete with chants of "lock her up"). The president warned of the danger and treachery of immigrants, reciting The Snake by Al Wilson. Trump regularly recited lyrics from the 1960s song during his campaign. It culminates with the line, "You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in." Trump also addressed the topic of the moment: guns. "When we declare our schools to be gun-free zones it just puts our students in more danger, far more danger—well-trained gun-adept teachers and coaches should be able to carry concealed firearms," Politico quotes Trump as saying. Repeating his call to arm teachers, he added: “A teacher would have shot the hell out of [the Parkland shooter] before he knew what happened." Trump tried to fire up the audience for the 2018 midterms, warning them not to get complacent and allow Democrats to take control of Congress, the Hill reports. “If they get in, they will repeal your tax cuts, they will put judges in that you wouldn't believe, they'll take away your Second Amendment, which we will never allow to happen.” |
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/ Updated By Tracy Connor
A day after NBC News reported that none of the corroded lead pipes at the core of the Flint water crisis have been removed, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder admitted he has no immediate plans to replace them.
NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk repeatedly pressed the embattled governor Wednesday on how he expects to win the trust of Flint's residents while the pipes that poisoned the water supply are still being used.
"There absolutely is a trust issue," Snyder conceded.
But he said that removing the pipes — which experts have told NBC News is the only permanent solution to the lead problem — isn't on his "short-term" agenda.
"It's a lot of work to take out pipes, to redo all of the infrastructure, that's a whole planning process," Snyder said at a press conference.
Instead, he said, the state is focusing on using phosphates in the water to coat the corroded pipes and keep the lead from leaching out.
Gosk asked him, "If you don't replace those pipes, a lot of people tell us they're simply not going to drink the water no matter how many assurance they're getting. How do you address that right now?"
The governor said the state would be using "third-party expertise" to assess whether the phosphates were working and address public fears.
There are up to 25,000 service lines containing lead that run between water mains and homes in Flint. Starting in April 2014, water from the Flint River corroded the pipes, leaching toxins into the tap water.
Related: What Emergency? Lead Pipes Not Being Removed in Flint
The city is no longer using the river water, but the damaged pipes are still a threat and the entire city is relying on bottled and filtered water for drinking, cooking and even bathing in some cases.
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver told MSNBC on Wednesday morning that pipe replacement is "the first thing" the government needs to address.
"That’s what the citizens of Flint deserve," she said. "Nobody’s going to trust the water if we don’t do that."
But Snyder said the state's not ready for that.
"A lot of work is being done to even understand where the lead service lines even are," he said. ||||| FLINT, Mich. - Flint Mayor Karen Weaver says plans are in the works to replace all of the city's lead pipes.
“All lead pipes need to be replaced," Weaver told reporters Tuesday at a press conference. "We deserve new pipes because we did not deserve what happened."
Weaver said the project will cost an estimated $55 million, and will replace 15,000 lines. Priority will be given to high risk households.
“We’re going to restore safe drinking water one house at a time, one child at a time, until the lead pipes are gone" Weaver said.
Weaver said the funding will be a collaboration of funding between the Michigan legislature and US Congress.
“I’m asking Gov. Snyder and the state to partner with us. We’ll let the investigations determine who is to blame for Flint’s water crisis, but I’m focused on solving it,” Weaver said. “It’s going to take time to get this done, but we’re going to move quickly.”
State officials disconnected Flint from Detroit's water supply in 2014 and began using the Flint River to save money. Regulators failed to ensure the new water was treated properly and lead from pipes leached into the water supply, contributing to a spike in child lead exposure.
WATCH: Flint mayor on lead pipe replacement plan
Copyright 2016 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE The once quiet city of Flint, Michigan is facing a drinking water crisis that is drawing concern from around the nation. Here's what you need to know about how the public health crisis has evolved. VPC
Buy Photo Flint Mayor Karen Weaver (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver on Tuesday outlined an estimated $55-million public works project expected to begin within a month to remove Flint's lead-contaminated pipes from the water distribution system.
First priority will be given to high-risk households with pregnant women and children, Weaver said at a news conference at City Hall.
"In order for Flint residents to once again have confidence and trust in the water coming from their faucets, all lead pipes in the city of Flint need to be replaced," she said. "The success of the Fast Start plan will require coordination between the city, state and federal officials as well as funding from the Michigan Legislature, Congress or both. I'm asking Gov. Snyder and the state to partner on this effort.
"We’ll let the investigations determine who's to blame for Flint's water crisis, but I'm focused on solving it. It's going to take time to get this done, but we’re going to move quickly to get this done."
Last week, Weaver called for the immediate removal of the city's lead-contaminated pipes and announced a plan that included help from Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who has offered technical assistance from the Lansing Board of Water and Light. Lansing has removed about 13,500 lead pipes in the city.
The Fast Start plan will require extensive coordination between city, state and federal officials, Weaver said. She was joined Tuesday by retired National Guard Brig. Gen. Michael McDaniel, who said he thinks the project can be done within a year by 32 crews.
McDaniel — who is assisting in coordinating activities between the city, the Lansing Board of Water and Light, state and federal agencies, and other stakeholders -- said the project could begin within the next month. But McDaniel reiterated the plan is still in its early phases and much of it is based on "assumptions."
"We are trying to balance urgency with precision," McDaniel said. "We have made a number of assumptions in our plan, is what I'm saying, because we had to make those. We do not have all the data we would like to have, but we do know enough based on the assumptions we had to make to go forward."
The preliminary project scope developed by the BWL shows that up to 15,000 lead pipes could be removed in one year "under optimal conditions," Weaver said.
McDaniel noted that while it took the BWL 10 years to remove 13,500 pipes, he thinks they can move quicker in Flint because they've perfected the process. McDaniel and Weaver said Flint crews would also be involved in the project.
"We are in the process of reaching out to the state for their assistance of the data and of the planning itself with funding, as Mayor Weaver also said," McDaniel said. "We are developing a detailed time line. I cannot tell you we will put a shovel in the ground tomorrow, but I will tell you that we will do it very soon. ... When we say replace those lines, we mean the entire line from the main to the meter."
The project would be done in two phases, with the first targeting high-risk households of children under the age of 6, children with elevated blood-lead levels, pregnant women, senior citizens, residential day care facilities, people with compromised immune systems and households where water tests indicate high levels of lead at the tap.
The project will not immediately address schools, businesses and other locations in Flint, according to a document released by the city detailing the plan. The city said most large facilities are served by "high-capacity cast iron water services," and not the typical lines found in residential water services.
"Eliminating lead components from the entire water distribution system and from inside homes and buildings is a longer-term project that will require additional planning and additional resources," the document states. "For institutional entities like schools and businesses, bottled water can continue to provide for their short-term needs."
Buy Photo (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)
McDaniel and Weaver declined to say where exactly in the city the project would begin.
Phase two of the program would ramp up to a "full-scale operation" that would bring in 32 crews and a "robust administration and logistics support team to meet the one-year goal," Weaver said.
McDaniel said the costs in the projected $55-million effort could fluctuate because of the architecture and condition of the water distribution system. The estimated cost per line is $3,670, according to a city document. Of the $55 million, about $1.5 million will go toward administration and logistics, according to the city, which said personnel costs are estimated at $900,000 and operations costs are projected to be $600,000. According to the city, the bulk of the cost — $36 million — will go toward the labor and about $9.7 million will go toward the materials.
According to the city, the Fast Start program will remove and replace the lines at no cost to the homeowner. However, homeowners will be required to sign an agreement that authorizes Flint to remove and replace the portions of the lines on their private property and allow access to the meter inside the home.
Lead lines will be replaced with new copper lines and a water filter will be installed at the kitchen tap for three months as a precaution, city officials said.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 after the city, while under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager, switched its source to the Flint River as a temporary cost-cutting move and the state Department of Environmental Quality failed to require the addition of needed corrosion-control chemicals. As a result, corrosive water caused lead to leach from pipes, joints and fixtures, causing many citizens to receive water with unsafe lead levels. The state has told residents not to drink the water without filtering and says it is treating all Flint children as having been exposed to unsafe levels of lead.
The FBI is now investigating the contamination of Flint’s drinking water amid a growing public outcry. U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, proposed an emergency $1-billion grant to be authorized through the Environmental Protection Agency, and two Democratic U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, proposed up to $400 million in dollar-for-dollar matching funds from the state to do much the same thing.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Jan. 5 that it was assisting the EPA in the investigation and Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman, said federal prosecutors are “working with a multi-agency investigation team on the Flint water contamination matter, including the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, EPA's Office of Inspector General, and EPA's Criminal Investigation Division."
Several lawsuits have been filed in connection with the crisis.
On Monday, the family of a 2-year-old girl whose blood test results showed the toddler suffers from lead poisoning, announced an individual suit against Gov. Rick Snyder, former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley, former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling and several other state and Flint officials.
When asked at the news conference whether she thinks Snyder will support the plan, Weaver said the city can no longer afford to wait.
"We’re putting forward our plan and we cannot wait for that," Weaver said. "We don’t trust that and we deserve new pipes. That’s the only way this community is going to be confident and people will stay here and people will come. I cannot imagine that he would not support this plan. If he doesn’t, shame on him."
Contact Katrease Stafford: 313-223-4759 or kstafford@freepress.com
Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1Xg7zin | – Less than two weeks ago, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said replacing Flint's lead-coated pipes in the city's water distribution system wasn't on his "short-term agenda" and that coating the pipes with phosphates might serve as a stopgap. But it looks like Flint is moving on with or without him: On Tuesday, Mayor Karen Weaver announced a $55 million public works project that will replace all of the city's water pipes, and the process will begin within a month, the Detroit Free Press reports. "All lead pipes need to be replaced," Weaver said at a press conference, per WDIV. "We deserve new pipes because we did not deserve what happened." The mayor and other officials are hoping the project can be completed within a year with a few dozen crews and under "optimal conditions," per Weaver. Around 15,000 lines will be replaced, and "high-risk" households (those with children and pregnant women) will be first on the list. Funding for the project will come from the Michigan Legislature and the US Congress, Weaver said. And other money may show up as well: As the FBI continues to investigate the crisis, high-ranking public officials have asked for funds all the way up to the federal level. US Rep. Candice Miller, for instance, wants the EPA to hand over a $1 billion emergency grant. "We're going to restore safe drinking water one house at a time, one child at a time, until the lead pipes are gone," Weaver said, per WDIV. (A Flint family is suing the city after their 2-year-old tested positive for lead poisoning.) |
We use JavaScript to ensure we can give you the best experience on our website. JavaScript is not supported in your browser. For a better experience, enable JavaScript or redirect to the No JavaScript version of the page. ||||| ROME (AP) — American Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend expect to learn their fate Wednesday when Italy's highest court hears their appeal of their guilty verdicts in the brutal 2007 murder of Knox's British roommate. Several outcomes are possible, including confirmation of the verdicts, a new appeals round, or even a ruling that amounts to an acquittal in the sensational case that has captivated audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2007 file photo, Amanda Knox, left, and Raffaele Sollecito, are seen outside the rented house where 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was found dead in Perugia, Italy.... (Associated Press)
In this July 1, 2014 file photo Raffaele Sollecito speaks during a press conference in Rome. The founder of a heavily visited Wiki site about the prosecutions of U.S. star defendant Amanda Knox and her... (Associated Press)
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2014 file photo Amanda Knox prepares to leave the set following a television interview, in New York. The founder of a heavily visited Wiki site about the prosecutions of U.S. star... (Associated Press)
Here is a look at the case, the possible outcomes and issues that might come into play.
THE CASE:
Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old student from Britain, was found dead Nov. 2, 2007 in the apartment she shared with Knox in the Umbrian city of Perugia where both women were studying. Kercher's throat was slashed and she had been sexually assaulted.
Knox, now 27, and Raffaele Sollecito, who turns 31 on Thursday, were convicted of the murder by a trial court in Perugia in 2009. They were freed in 2011 after a Perugia appellate court overturned the convictions. They found themselves back in an appellate court after the Court of Cassation vacated the acquittals in 2013 in a harsh rebuke of the Perugia chief appellate judge's reasoning.
Last year, an appeals court in Florence convicted the pair, sentencing Knox to 28 ½ years and Sollecito to 25 years. The court ruled that the pair acted in concert with Rudy Hermann Guede, a drifter born in the Ivory Coast who is serving a 16-year sentence for his role in the murder.
Knox, who spent nearly four years in jail during the investigation and after her lower court conviction, remains free in the United States. She has vowed never to return willingly to Italy.
IF THE CONVICTION IS CONFIRMED:
If the high court upholds the Florence convictions, the prosecutor's office in Florence would issue an order to execute the sentences. In the case of Sollecito, who has remained in Italy, police would seek to take him into custody immediately after receiving the order. For Knox, the situation is more complicated. The prosecutor would ask the Justice Ministry to seek her extradition, and the Justice Ministry must decide whether to comply.
Italy and the United States have an extradition treaty, and there is no formal reason for the request not to be made, according to Andrea Scella, a professor of criminal law and process at the University of Udine. However, extradition retains a political element, and the government could decide not to advance a request, accepting any political consequences from the Parliament or voters, he said.
Issues like the severity of the crime and the length of the penalty influence extradition requests. Italy's request could propose having Knox serve the sentence in the United States, as an alternative.
The timing of Italy's request is uncertain, but could unfold over months or longer.
IF THE HIGH COURT ORDERS A NEW TRIAL:
The high court can throw out all or any part of the Florence appeals court guilty verdict and order yet another appeals trial — the third in this case. It is not unprecedented in Italy for a case to be sent back to for multiple appellate rounds. In fact, one case involving the 1972 murder of a police commissioner reached the Court of Cassation nine times before the verdicts were finalized, 28 years after the murder.
No appellate trial date can be set until the reasoning for the court's decision is issued, which would contain very specific directions to the new appeals court on which elements of the case needed to be re-examined. The court has 90 days to issue its reasoning.
IF THE COURT ACQUITS:
The high court can throw out the guilty verdict without ordering a new trial, which is tantamount to acquittal. Such a decision is rare, experts say, and would require the court to give a full reasoning for its decision — also within 90 days.
For Knox and Sollecito, it would be "case closed" for their criminal court proceedings. Knox would be able to travel to Europe and Italy without risk of arrest. Sollecito, whose passport has been seized, would have his freedom to travel restored.
THE ROGUE JUROR'S INTERVIEW:
One of the civilian jurors on the panel that convicted the pair in the Florence appellate case gave an interview last week to the magazine Oggi saying she believed there was not enough evidence "to justify such a severe conviction." The interview, which violates secrecy of the deliberations, appeared to confirm rumors that the guilty finding was not unanimous. However, unanimous decisions are not required and it is unlikely to be mentioned in any of the legal teams' arguments before the high court nor have any bearing on the decision. | – Yet another ruling in the Amanda Knox case is coming from Italy's highest court today. Knox and then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher in 2009, acquitted on appeal in 2011 (at which point Knox returned to the US), had that acquittal overturned in 2013, and were then found guilty again last year. As the New York Times and the AP report, Italy's top court, the Court of Cassation, has a number of options: Confirm the convictions: That would mean Italy would likely attempt to extradite Knox, who has maintained her innocence and vowed not to return to the country willingly, though there is a chance the Justice Ministry would decline to do so. Sollecito, who is still in Italy, would go to prison immediately to serve his sentence. Order new appellate trials for Knox and/or Sollecito: Yes, you read that right: This saga may still not be over. If this court decides to throw out all or part of the appeals court's guilty verdict, it will likely order a third trial. (To give you an idea of how long this could go on, one 1972 murder case went to the Court of Cassation nine times before a final verdict was issued, 28 years later.) Throw out the guilty verdict without ordering new trials: This would amount to an acquittal, leaving Knox free to visit Italy without fear of arrest, but the AP notes that "such a decision is rare." If an extradition request is made for Knox, a professor of international law tells the Times the US will likely grant it, though it would be a "hard" decision. The two countries do have an extradition treaty, and another expert tells the AP there is no formal reason—though there are a number of political ones—for Italy to not bother asking in the first place. (Some have argued the concept of "double jeopardy" could be used to block Knox's extradition, though others have debunked that idea.) It's not clear when the ruling is expected, but the BBC's live updates noted that the hearing was "underway" as of 7am Eastern time. |
As the crude crept closer to Florida, the risky effort to contain the nation's worst oil spill hit a snag Wednesday when a diamond-edged saw became stuck in a thick pipe on a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf.
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the goal was to free the saw and finish the cut later in the day. This is the latest attempt to contain _ not plug _ the gusher. The best chance at stopping the leak is a relief well, which is at least two months from completion.
"I don't think the issue is whether or not we can make the second cut. It's about how fine we can make it, how smooth we can make it," Allen said.
If the cut is not as smooth as engineers would like, they would be forced to put a looser fitting cap on top of the oil spewing out. This cut-and-cap effort could temporarily increase the flow of oil by as much as 20 percent, though Allen said officials wouldn't know whether that had happened until the cut could be completed.
Engineers may have to bring in a second saw awaiting on a boat, but it was not immediately clear how long that could delay the operation. Live video showed oil spewing out of the new cut, and crews were shooting chemicals to try to disperse the crude. The cap could be placed over the spill as early as Wednesday.
The effort underwater was going on as oil drifted close to the Florida Panhandle's white sand beaches for the first time and investors ran from BP's stock for a second day, reacting to the company's weekend failure to plug the leak by shooting mud and cement into the well, known as the top kill.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said in prepared remarks that it was time to roll back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil companies and use the money for clean energy research and development. He said the catastrophic Gulf oil spill shows the country must move toward clean energy, tapping natural gas and nuclear power and eliminating tax breaks for big oil.
The Justice Department also has announced it started criminal and civil probes into the spill, although the department did not name specific targets for prosecution.
Shares in British-based BP PLC were down 3 percent early Wednesday before recovering in London trading, a day after a 13 percent fall. BP has lost $75 billion in market value since the spill started with an April 20 oil rig explosion and analysts expect damage claims to total billions more.
In Florida, oil was about seven miles south of Pensacola Beach, Allen said.
Thunderstorms were making it difficult to track the slick, Escambia County emergency director John Dosh said, and officials hoped the weather would clear so they could get an aerial view.
It was raining and cloudy at the beach off and on. The four pirate flags on top of Peg Leg Pete's Oyster Bar on the beach where flapping eastward, which could send the oil closer to shore. Peg Leg Pete's is a beach institution frequented by boaters who pull up behind the restaurant in a cove off Pensacola Bay.
It was a slow Memorial Day weekend. Hundreds of tourists enjoyed the turquoise waters, but it wasn't as busy as usual.
"We are looking at a Wednesday to Friday shoreline impact, but there is a line of uncertainty that depends on the wave action and the winds," Dosh said.
"Today we are in a monitoring mode."
Emergency crews began scouring the beaches for oil and shoring up miles of boom, though choppy waters from thunderstorms could send the oil over the protective lines. County officials are using the boom to block oil from reaching inland waterways but plan to leave beaches unprotected because they are easier to clean up.
"It's inevitable that we will see it on the beaches," said Keith Wilkins, deputy chief of neighborhood and community services for Escambia County.
The oil has been spreading in the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded six weeks ago, killing 11 workers and eventually sinking. The rig was being operated for BP, the largest oil and gas producer in the Gulf.
Crude has already been reported along barrier islands in Alabama and Mississippi, and it has polluted some 125 miles of Louisiana coastline.
Some 2,000 feet above the Chandeleur islands off the Louisiana coast, vast stretches of sheen meandered through the water, some reflecting pale rainbow colors. Farther away, swaths of oil was in various sizes and thickness _ from pale, barely detectable streams to rust-rimmed blue and purple patches that looked like giant bruises.
"The problem is this oil now is really like a collection of smaller spills," Allen said during flight in a C-144.
Allen, the national incident commander for the spill, said the threat of oil hitting the coast was shifting east and skimmer vessels would be working offshore to intercept as much crude as possible.
Earlier this week, BP officials said they were concentrating cleanup efforts in Louisiana because they did not expect oil to reach other states. The company has set up floating hotels on barges to house cleanup crews closer to the Louisiana shores.
In Venice, La., hundreds of oil response workers were grounded by storms and many local fishermen hired in the so-called vessels of opportunity program were sent home early. Venice is a major staging center for the oil response, with nearly 1,500 workers and dozens of boats in this small town in the marshes.
"Boats were staged and ready to go" in case there was a break in the weather, said BP spokesman Mike Abendoff.
Some work continued, including at a 32-acre site where an "employee village" is being built to eventually house as many as 1,500 workers in trailers. Abendoff hoped to start putting some workers there by early next week.
More federal fishing waters were closed, too, another setback for one of the region's most important industries. More than one-third of federal waters were off-limits for fishing, along with hundreds of square miles of state waters.
___
Bluestein reported from Covington, La. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Pete Yost from Washington, Curt Anderson from Miami, Kevin McGill in Schriever, Melissa Nelson in Pensacola, Fla., Brian Skoloff in Port Fourchon, Mary Foster in Boothville, and Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans also contributed to this report. ||||| I made a hurtful and thoughtless comment on Sunday when I said that "I wanted my life back." When I read that recently, I was appalled. I apologize, especially to the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in this tragic accident. Those words don't represent how I feel about this tragedy, and certainly don't represent the hearts of the people of BP -- many of whom live and work in the Gulf -- who are doing everything they can to make things right. My first priority is doing all we can to restore the lives of the people of the Gulf region and their families -- to restore their lives, not mine. | – British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward has been roundly bashed for his unfortunate "I'd like my life back" comment—lots of fishermen and coastal residents want their lives back, too, not to mention relatives of the 11 men killed in the initial explosion. Today, Hayward apologized, reports the Huffington Post. "I made a hurtful and thoughtless comment," he said. "When I read that recently, I was appalled. I apologize, especially to the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in this tragic accident." His statement continues: "Those words don't represent how I feel about this tragedy, and certainly don't represent the hearts of the people of BP. My first priority is doing all we can to restore the lives of the people of the Gulf region and their families—to restore their lives, not mine." In the meantime, that saw remains stuck, notes AP. |
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 ||||| Chely Wright has married girlfriend Lauren Blitzer just a little over a year after the country music star came out about being a lesbian and revealed just how painful that confession was in the world of country music.
Wright, who has posted wedding photos on Twitter of herself and Blitzer in white gowns, announced to the world in May 2010 that she was a lesbian.
"Country music would rather an artist be a drunk -- they even encourage and endorse that one," Wright said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times' Geoff Boucher shortly after she came out.
"You get good money from Jim Beam to put that emblem on the side of your bus. I was on the Crown Royal tour, and I have to say it was one of my favorite tours. They would rather you were a drug addict than be gay. They will forgive you if you beat your wife, lose your kids to state, get six divorces, make a sex tape, get labeled as a tramp — any and all of it is better than being gay."
After the honeymoon, Wright will see how the latest turn in her personal life has affected her career.
In an interview earlier this year with the blog Autostraddle, Wright said coming out "didn't help my career."
A January article in the Tennessean said that Wright’s sales were down about two-thirds from her last studio album and noted that she had shifted her focus from country music to Americana.
But Saturday was a day of celebration for the 40-year-old singer and Blitzer, 30, an LGBT activist. The couple married at the home of Blitzer’s aunt in Connecticut.
On Sunday, Wright's Twitter account was filled with congratulations from fans:
"Congratulations on your big day tomorrow! Wishing you a long and joyful life together. (@MaddiesCorner)”
"congrats lady!!!! Wishing you and your love so much happiness! (from @AudraEqualityMc)”
A comment she made last year is fitting given this weekend's celebration: "I feel like I'm floating," Wright said after coming out. "It's like my friends who are in the know, which are not many, and my family members who know, which isn't all of them, are lifting me up to get through this."
ALSO:
Chely Wright's 'Lifted Off the Ground'
Chely Wright finds strength to face the music
Chely Wright is engaged to girlfriend Lauren Blitzer
-- Amy Hubbard
Photo: Chely Wright. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times | – She probably didn't make $17.9 million doing it, but country crooner Chely Wright has gotten married to girlfriend Lauren Blitzer a year after coming out on the cover of People magazine. The pair wed yesterday in Connecticut, and Wright's Twitter account was abuzz with photos of the two women in their dresses and congratulations from fans. Wright has said that admitting she was gay "didn't help my career," and the LA Times notes that sales of her most recent album had dropped by two-thirds over its predecessor. |
For years, Google has used its squadron of Street View cars to capture both imagery and 3D geometry for Google Maps and data about Wi-F i networks that it uses in its geolocation-enabled apps. It's been a controversial practice. And on April 27, the company published a blog post to clear up misconceptions about its practices. The tone was very slightly edgy, and the gist was (A) we're not invading anybody's privacy; and (B) other people have been doing this stuff even long than we have.
Except...now Google is saying that its statement that it was only collecting SSID and MAC information from the networks it drove by is incorrect. At the request of the German government, Google examined its system more carefully. And it discovered that for the past three years, Street View cars have been accidentally using a piece of software that can pick up data being transmitted over non-password-protected networks. Since the cars were in constant motion and their network-monitoring equipment changed channels five times a second, the company says it's "typically" only picked up "fragments" of data.
Nevertheless, it's temporarily grounded the cars, has isolated the data in question while it figures out what to do with it, and says it'll hire a third party to examine the software. And it's "profoundly sorry for this error" and will try to learn from it.
None of this is cause for panic -- if anything, Google is guilty of sustained incompetence, not malevolence. Yes, there are scenarios in which the data is used in appalling ways. But the chances of problems arising for any of the individuals whose data was accidentally sniffed are vastly lower than those of the same individuals having their identities stolen by intentional data thieves.
A few other thoughts:
* I'm glad the German government browbeat Google over this.
* Before it discovered it had screwed up, Google insisted it was doing nothing wrong. No company ever admits to invading anyone's privacy. It's always "your privacy is important to us" blah blah blah -- and the proper response is always skepticism.
* PASSWORD PROTECT YOUR WI-FI NETWORK. NOW. ||||| Google’s roaming Street View cameras have been doing more than snap pics of your neighborhood; they’ve also been collecting packets of information sent over private WiFi networks, the company acknowledged Friday.
The company said the collection was “a mistake,” the result of a programming error, and that it has now stopped collecting the data, according to a post on its blog.
But the revelation raises questions about whether the company violated federal wiretapping laws in collecting the information and could draw scrutiny from U.S. regulators.
Last month, regulators with the Data Protection Authority in Germany asked the search giant what information its Street View cameras collected and what it did with that information.
Google disclosed at the time that in addition to taking pictures, its camera system collected certain data about local WiFi networks set up in neighborhoods where the cameras traveled. That data included the SSID (the network’s name) and the MAC address (a unique number given to each WiFi router) and was collected to improve the location-based services it offers consumers.
The company asserted, however, that it did not collect or store “payload data” — that is, web surfing data or the content of e-mails, transmitted over WiFi networks.
The DPA asked to examine the WiFi network data Google collected. The request prompted Google to take a closer look at the data itself, whereby the company discovered that it was indeed collecting snippets of information passing over WiFi networks and therefore its previous statement was incorrect.
The company wrote in an update on Friday that “it’s now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open (i.e. non-password-protected) WiFi networks, even though we never used that data in any Google products.”
The company insisted that the collection was minimal and that its cameras were able to collect “only fragments of payload data,” because the Street View cars are constantly on the move, and someone would need to be using the WiFI network as a Google car passed in order for the data to be collected. The car system also cycles through channels about five times a second, limiting the data it could collect from a single network at any one time.
The problem was attributed to an oversight error. In 2006 “an engineer working on an experimental WiFi project wrote a piece of code that sampled all categories of publicly broadcast WiFi data,” the company wrote. “A year later, when our mobile team started a project to collect basic WiFi network data like SSID information and MAC addresses using Google’s Street View cars, they included that code in their software—although the project leaders did not want, and had no intention of using, payload data.”
Google said that once it discovered the issue, it grounded its Street View cars. It intends to delete the data that’s already been collected and is working with regulators to determine how to dispose of it. In the interest of transparency, the company will also have a third party review its software to verify what data was collected and confirm that it’s been deleted.
The company says it has stopped collecting WiFi data network entirely and will review its internal controls to ensure that a similar programming error doesn’t occur again.
Photo: Byrion/Flickr ||||| When we announced three weeks ago that we had mistakenly included code in our software that collected samples of payload data from WiFi networks, we said we would ask a third party to review the software at issue, how it worked, and what data it gathered. That report, by the security consulting firm
, is now complete and was sent to the interested data protection authorities today. In short, it confirms that Google did indeed collect and store payload data from unencrypted WiFi networks, but not from networks that were encrypted. You can read the report
. We are continuing to work with the relevant authorities to respond to their questions and concerns. | – Google has pronounced itself "profoundly sorry" for the revelation that its roving street-map vehicles have been inadvertently collecting data about websites people visit over unprotected WiFi networks. The company says it's ditching the data and fixing the problem. (See its explanation and apology here.) Some early reaction: "It’s not likely that Google grabbed enough data about many individuals for this to be a major privacy concern," writes Jason Kincaid at TechCrunch. But as it faces increased scrutiny from privacy advocates and governments, "this is certain to haunt Google nonetheless." At Wired, Kim Zetter says it could go beyond bad PR: "The revelation raises questions about whether the company violated federal wiretapping laws in collecting the information and could draw scrutiny from US regulators." Harry McCracken, PC World: "None of this is cause for panic—if anything, Google is guilty of sustained incompetence, not malevolence." |
PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) - Residents on the Big Island of Hawaii were alerted on Thursday to rising levels of toxic gas from lava-oozing fissures, and geologists warned that new areas east of the erupting Kilauea volcano may be at risk of molten rock bursting from the ground.
Hawaii County authorities sent a text message to residents of the southeast corner of the island warning them of a wind change that would bring rising levels of sulfur dioxide gas, which can be fatal if inhaled in large quantities.
“It’s just horrible. You can’t breathe in there,” said evacuated resident Robynn Stagg, 58, who drove through the thick, orange sulfur dioxide haze earlier this week in a failed attempt to check on her home.
Hawaii’s governor has warned that mass evacuations may be required as more fissures open in the ground and spew lava and gas into semi-rural residential areas on the east flank of Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
During an evening meeting with community members, an official with the United States Geological Survey’s Hawaii Volcano Observatory said that while no new fissures have opened during the last 24 hours, there has been “quite a bit” of ground cracking over the last day and that they were releasing steam.
“Because the lava intrusion is still active and earthquakes are still occurring, we still think there’s a decent chance of new eruptive activity at the surface,” Steven Brantley said.
Authorities on Thursday completed the removal of highly flammable chemicals from a nearby geothermal power plant that was in the path of creeping lava.
The latest upheaval at Kilauea began last week after the crater floor of a long-active side vent collapsed suddenly in a cloud of ash, triggering a similar plunge in the molten lake inside the larger crater at the volcano’s summit.
What followed was a flurry of earthquakes as huge volumes of magma — the term for lava beneath the surface — drained back through deep-underground passages that carried the molten rock far downslope. The lava then forced its way back to the surface through large cracks, or fissures, that opened at ground level in a residential area miles (km) away.
(GRAPHIC: Scorched earth - tmsnrt.rs/2IldVyS)
‘BALLISTIC BLOCKS’
Geologists said Kilauea may be entering a new phase of explosive eruptions not seen in nearly a century that could hurl “ballistic blocks” weighing up to 12 tons for half a mile (800 meters), and rain pebble-sized fragments for another mile or two (1.8 to 3.2 km).
Deposits are seen on a road in Puna, Hawaii. Apau Hawaii Tours/via REUTERS
However, the immediate vicinity around the summit, an area controlled by the National Park Service, was to be closed to visitors indefinitely, starting on Thursday night.
Such blasts would likely also eject plumes of volcanic ash that could be carried farther downwind into neighboring communities, creating a nuisance and potential respiratory irritant, but not a life-threatening hazard, officials said.
The Leilani Estates community remains in greatest danger, with 15 volcanic fissures so far having destroyed 36 structures, most of them homes, and forcing the evacuation of about 2,000 residents.
But as the eruption progresses, “other areas of the lower East Rift Zone may also be at risk,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in a bulletin.
“There is the potential for additional outbreaks,” Christina Neal, the chief scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at Kilauea told a news briefing. “There are other communities, other residential neighborhoods that could, depending on the evolution of activity, be in harm’s way.”
Hawaii Governor David Ige has requested federal disaster assistance as he said a mass evacuation of the lower Puna District, where Leilani Estates is located, would be beyond current county and state capabilities.
Hawaii police said they arrested Alexandru Stingu-Dragomir, 29, on suspicion he burgled four houses in Leilani Estates after the mayor declared an emergency the area on last week.
SURFING IN THE VOG
Local meteorologists said the change in prevailing winds could send Kilauea’s volcanic smog, or vog, northwest to Maui and other islands in Hawaii.
Surfers bobbing in the ocean off Kona on the west side of the Big Island complained of the smog that could be seen in a haze over the coast.
“Does that hat protect against vog?” one surfer was heard quipping to another about the floppy sun hat he was wearing.
In Pahoa, the nearest village to Kilauea, some schools remained closed after the area was hit by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Friday, the biggest since 1975.
Lava advances towards a metal barrier in Puna, May 6, 2018. WXCHASING via REUTERS
The closures have added to a sense of disarray and ramped up stress levels, said gallery owner Amedeo Markoff, 49.
“It’s like our version of a snow day — a lava day,” joked Markoff. ||||| In addition to the threat of explosive eruptions at Kilauea’s summit, new vents and the wrath of lava, Hawaii island residents also have acid rain to worry about.
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In addition to the threat of explosive eruptions at Kilauea’s summit, new vents and the wrath of lava, Hawaii island residents also have acid rain to worry about.
Rain forecast mostly for the windward side of Hawaii island today and Friday brings with it the possibility of sulfur dioxide from the volcanic vents mixing and reacting with water, creating acid rain.
Acid rain is rain that has been made acidic by certain pollutants in the air, including sulfur dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
University of Hawaii meteorologist and professor Steven Businger said the rain is not dangerous.
“If you’re wearing clothing, there’s no risk,” he said. “It’s not going to burn your skin … It might irritate your eyes if you look up and get raindrops in your eyes.”
Coqui frogs and geckos, on the other hand, are very sensitive to acid rain, he said, and fish in ponds can suffer from long-term exposure. In addition, acid rain damages vegetation and causes tools, barbed-wire fencing and items that can rust to do so a lot faster.
Light winds may allow volcanic haze to become more widespread on the Big Island through Friday night, but weather forecasters said there did not appear to be enough southeast flow to carry the vog to other islands. By late Friday night or Saturday morning, tradewinds should be back, helping to push the vog out to sea.
The primary pollutants in vog, or volcanic smog, are sulfur dioxide gas and fine particulate matter.
The American Lung Association warned the public that sulfur dioxide can have harmful effects on the lungs and cause respiratory problems. Sulfur dioxide irritates the nose, throat and airways to cause coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath or a tight feeling around the chest — and can trigger asthma attacks.
The effects of sulfur dioxide can be felt very quickly, according to the association, and are especially harmful to children, older adults and people with respiratory conditions.
A two-person team from the Hawaii and Arizona National Guards monitored air quality near fissures in Leilani Estates Wednesday and found no dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide.
Sgt. Milo Kalama of the Hawaii National Guard’s 93rd Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team approached a steaming fissure on Leilani Avenue wearing a black, full-face mask. As his air-monitoring equipment buzzed, Kalama removed his mask and declared the air quality normal.
Kau Hospital and Rural Health Clinic reported an uptick in the number of patients with respiratory illness in the emergency room and clinic.
“They’re having difficulty breathing and respiratory issues. It’s starting in Kau,” said hospital spokeswoman Elena Cabatu. “People please continue to heed civil defense warnings and read up on the precautions they can take. We’re definitely monitoring our supplies very closely and taking inventory of respiratory therapy supplies. We’re making sure we’re stocked so we’re ready to go.”
Hilo Medical Center, however, has not seen an increase in respiratory patients, she said.
The state Health Department has placed sulfur dioxide and particulate monitoring equipment around the eruption site. Once it is up and running, air quality data from the site will become available online.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser writers Dan Nakaso and Kristen Consillio contributed to this report. ||||| Evacuee Jon Warner, left, walks through rain with son Ethan, right, and daughter Iris after picking up some basic necessities at a makeshift donation center Tuesday, May 8, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii. "We've... (Associated Press)
PAHOA, Hawaii (AP) — The Latest on a Hawaii volcano eruption (all times local):
2 p.m.
Hawaii's governor is asking President Donald Trump to declare the state a disaster because of earthquakes and a volcanic eruption on the Big Island.
Gov. David Ige said Thursday the disaster is so severe that direct federal help is needed.
State officials estimate it will cost more than $2.9 million to protect residents over the next 30 days. The costs will skyrocket if there needs to be large-scale air and sea evacuations.
Two subdivisions were ordered to evacuate last week after lava oozed from cracks in the ground, burning down some two dozen homes.
Ige says there's potential for a larger-scale evacuation as more fissures open. He says mass evacuation would be beyond county and state capabilities.
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12:30 p.m.
Officials say they aren't expecting a possible explosive volcano eruption to be life-threatening as long as people stay out of a surrounding Hawaii national park that's preparing to close.
Scientists worry Kilauea volcano could soon send boulders and ash shooting out of its summit crater.
No one lives in the immediate area of the summit. It's within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which plans to close Thursday night.
Hawaii Volcano Observatory scientist Tina Neal says communities a mile or two away may be showered by pea-sized fragments or dusted with nontoxic ash.
Active eruption of lava from fissures some 25 miles (40.2 kilometers) east of the summit has paused. However, earthquakes continue and additional fissure outbreaks are expected.
Authorities ordered two subdivisions in the area to evacuate last week.
Workers have removed flammable pentane from a nearby geothermal plant.
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11 a.m.
Flammable pentane has been moved out of a Hawaii geothermal plant that's near communities where lava has oozed from cracks in the ground.
Plant manager Mike Kaleikini said Thursday that all the fuel was moved off-site to a secure location.
Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe says the pentane was moved to an industrial park some 30 miles (48 kilometers) away from the Puna Geothermal Venture.
The pant sits on the edge of Leilani Estates, one of the areas where nearly 2,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as Kilauea spewed lava. And with new fissures opening closer to the edge of the plant, residents are getting even more worried.
Scientists say active eruption of lava within the Leilani Estates remains paused. However, earthquake activity and ground deformation continue and additional outbreaks in the general area are expected.
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10:15 a.m.
Authorities have accelerated the timeline for moving flammable pentane from a Hawaii geothermal plant that's near communities where lava has oozed from cracks in the ground.
Workers are moving the fuel to an industrial park about 30 miles (48.2 kilometers) away. All 50,000 gallons (189,270 liters) of pentane was expected to be removed by the end of Thursday.
Pentane is a flammable liquid similar to lighter fluid, or butane.
Officials said earlier this week they had planned to move the pentane over the next few weeks but accelerated the effort because of the ongoing lava threat.
The Puna Geothermal Venture is owned by Nevada company Ormat Technologies.
It sits on the edge of Leilani Estates, one of the areas where nearly 2,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as Kilauea continues to spew lava. And with new fissures are opening closer to the edge of the plant, residents are getting even more worried.
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8:20 a.m.
Workers are moving flammable fuel from a geothermal plant that's near a Hawaii community where lava has oozed out of cracks in the ground.
Hawaii County officials say pentane is being moved from Puna Geothermal Venture to an offsite industrial park away from the neighborhoods where lava fissures have emerged.
Scientists say activity from the most recent lava fissure that opened up has paused but dangerous fumes continue to be released.
County officials say as of Thursday 15 fissures have emerged. Some two dozen homes have burned.
There is also concern that Kilauea volcano could soon send boulders and ash shooting out of its summit crater.
Scientists say the explosive eruption could occur even as the volcano continues to splatter and ooze lava out of its eastern flank into a residential area.
Two subdivisions were evacuated last week after lava oozed out of the fissures.
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12 a.m.
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano could soon send boulders and ash shooting out of its summit crater. That kind of explosive eruption was last displayed by the volcano nearly a century ago.
This eruption could occur even the volcano continues to splatter and ooze lava out of its eastern flank into a residential area.
Scientists said Wednesday the risks of an explosive summit eruption will rise in coming weeks as magma drains down the flank of the volcano.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige says a geothermal energy plant near the lava outbreak would remove its storage of a flammable gas called pentane by the end of the day Thursday.
He says it would be "very hazardous" if a volcanic vent were to open under the facility where the fuel is stored.
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This version corrects that the material being moved from the plant is pentane, not pentene, and is in liquid, not gas form. | – The ongoing eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is creating new worries for residents—including the risk of "vog," or volcanic smog. Big Island residents have been warned that a change in the wind is expected to increase the risk of vog, which contains potentially deadly sulfur dioxide gas, Reuters reports. Gov. David Ige has warned that more mass evacuations will be needed as new cracks in the ground send lava and toxic gas into new neighborhoods near the volcano. Ige has asked President Trump to declare a disaster in the state so that federal money can be used in the event of large-scale evacuations by air and sea, the AP reports. Forecasters say Big Island residents are likely to face higher levels of sulfur dioxide Friday, which is especially dangerous for children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. Trade winds are expected to ease conditions by Saturday morning. Amid fears that the volcano, one of the world's most active, could erupt explosively, flammable pentane has been removed from a geothermal plant near two neighborhoods that had to be evacuated because of lava and gas. Kilauea is surrounded by Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which closed Thursday night until further notice. Scientists had warned that if the volcano erupts, park visitors within a mile or so of the crater were at risk of being hit by refrigerator-sized boulders. |
The 2013 election continues to break voter turnout records. Some 3.6 million Israelis have already exercised their right to vote and polling stations are struggling to keep up with the flow of voters.
The Central Elections Committee reported a high voter turnout compared to the same time at the past four election campaigns. The Central Elections Committee said that 63.7% of eligible voters have cast their ballots as of 8 pm, compared with 59.7% in the 2009 elections and 63.2% in 2006. Voting will continue until 10 pm.
Related stories:
The Central Elections Committee, which ran a campaign to encourage voting, was satisfied with the data. It is hoped that the 2013 election will break Israel's voting record.
Polling stations across Israel opened on Tuesday at 7 am. A total of 5,656,705 eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots in 10,132 ballot boxes across Israel.
Line in Tel Aviv polling station (Photo: Yaron Brener)
Voting in Jerusalem (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
A worker at a polling station in Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard remarked, "I worked during the previous elections as well and I can’t recall such a flow of voters, certainly not at this hour. We haven't had a single free moment since this morning."
President Shimon Peres voted at the Charles E. Smith High School for the Arts in Jerusalem. "Today the state is asking citizens to vote for a free, beautiful, democratic country," he said after casting his ballot.
He wished success to all the candidates and called on the public to exercise their right to vote.
One in every four Israelis voted by 12 pm (Photo: EPA)
Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino said that compared to previous elections, there were no unusual disturbances. "It really is a celebration of democracy," he said. Danino noted that police handled a few isolated incidents that did not disrupt voting.
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||||| What space has been devoted to the race has emphasized the lackluster nature of the campaign and its foregone conclusion.
Obama and Netanyahu meeting in NY, Sept. 2011 Photo: Reuters
WASHINGTON – It is possible that the American press would have paid more attention to the Israeli election had it not coincided with the installation of its own executive leadership.
But it is unlikely.
The vote in Israel falls one day after United States President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, which has dominated US media coverage over the past week. What space has been devoted to the race in Israel, has emphasized the lackluster nature of the campaign and its foregone conclusion – not exactly stop-the-presses kinds of stories.
In perhaps the clearest sign that the elections have been viewed as less-than-gripping news cycle fodder, a recurrent theme in the relatively few stories that have been published here is what’s not being discussed in the campaign, rather than what is.
Both The New York Times and Washington Post on Monday ran stories, well inside the paper, about the lack of debate on certain topics.
In a Memo from the Middle East titled “An Unusual Election for Its Non-issues,” The Times detailed the lack of details being provided on policies, noting that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hadn’t even produced a formal platform.
The Washington Post summed up its story with the headline: “In Israeli election, Iran issue avoided.”
And if Israeli politicians aren’t tackling big issues with global implications, why would the media an ocean away pay them much heed? Iran, Syria, Al-Qaida remain major concerns in America.
But in contrast to all these actors, who are driving new developments each day, Israel has remained static on these issues during the course of the election, and there is no sense that the elections have provided clues to what course the next government could take on these subjects.
With Obama re-taking his place in the Oval Office and Netanyahu all-but-certain to remain prime minister, even the popular storyline of dysfunction and disagreement between the two leaders only makes for well-trod ground.
Though the discord could well continue – and certainly the tensions over the announcement of construction plans in E-1, put forward by Netanyahu, at least in part to neutralize a political challenge on his right, point in that direction – it is also the case that after four years of sparring, the two wearied men could instead opt for accommodation.
Then the media would have even fewer stories to write on the US-Israel relationship. ||||| TEL AVIV — A weakened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged Wednesday from Israel ’s national election likely to serve a third term, after voters on Tuesday gave a surprising second place to a new centrist party founded by a television celebrity who emphasized kitchen-table issues like class size and apartment prices.
For Mr. Netanyahu, who entered the race an overwhelming favorite with no obvious challenger, the outcome was a humbling rebuke as his ticket lost seats in the new Parliament. Over all, his conservative team came in first, but it was the center, led by the political novice Yair Lapid, 49, that emerged newly invigorated, suggesting that at the very least Israel’s rightward tilt may be stalled.
Mr. Lapid, a telegenic celebrity whose father made a splash with his own short-lived centrist party a decade ago, ran a campaign that resonated with the middle class. His signature issue is a call to integrate the ultra-Orthodox into the army and the work force.
Perhaps as important, he also avoided antagonizing the right, having not emphasized traditional issues of the left, like the peace process. Like a large majority of the Israeli public, he supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but is skeptical of the Palestinian leadership’s willingness to negotiate seriously; he has called for a return to peace talks but has not made it a priority.
Sensing his message of strength was not penetrating, Mr. Netanyahu posted a panicky message on Facebook before the polls closed, saying, “The Likud government is in danger, go vote for us for the sake of the country’s future.” Tuesday ended with Mr. Netanyahu reaching out again — this time to Mr. Lapid, Israel’s newest kingmaker, offering to work with him as part of the “broadest coalition possible.”
Israel’s political hierarchy is only partly determined during an election. The next stage, when factions try to build a majority coalition, decides who will govern, how they will govern and for how long. While Mr. Lapid has signaled a willingness to work with Mr. Netanyahu, the ultimate coalition may bring together parties with such different ideologies and agendas that the result is paralysis.
Still, for the center, it was a time of celebration.
“The citizens of Israel today said no to politics of fear and hatred,” Mr. Lapid told an upscale crowd of supporters who had welcomed him with drums, dancing and popping Champagne corks. “They said no to the possibility that we might splinter off into sectors, and groups and tribes and narrow interest groups. They said no to extremists, and they said no to antidemocratic behavior.”
With 99 percent of the ballots counted by Wednesday morning, the traditional blocs were evenly divided, with 60 Parliament seats for right-wing and religious parties, and 60 for center, left and Arab-dominated factions.
Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud-Beiteinu ticket had 31 seats, followed by 19 for Mr. Lapid’s Yesh Atid and 15 for Labor. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party and the Jewish Home, which is dominated by religious-Zionists and advocates annexing the West Bank, each garnered 11 seats. Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua and the left-wing, pro-peace Meretz each got six, while the three Arab parties totaled 12. Kadima which won the most parliament seats – 28 – in the last election, had 2, having collapsed after briefly joining the Netanyahu coalition last year but failing to fulfill its promises. Votes of soldiers and a few other groups had yet to be counted and could change the balance.
The prime minister called Mr. Lapid shortly after the polls closed at 10 p.m. Tuesday and, according to Israeli television reports, told him that they had great things to do together for the country. In his speech to a rowdy crowd of supporters here Wednesday morning, he said, “I see many partners.”
Mr. Lapid indicated he was open to working with Mr. Netanyahu, saying the only way to face Israel’s challenges was “together.” But he added: “What is good for Israel is not in the possession of the right, and nor is it in the possession of the left. It lies in the possibility of creating here a real and decent center.” | – It's election day in Israel, but there's not a lot of intrigue: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is almost certain to win another term, although his ticket (a joint ticket combining his conservative Likud Party with the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu) could lose as many as 10 of the seats it currently holds in Parliament, perhaps to Jewish Home, a party that is further to the right. Despite the foregone conclusion, YNetNews reports that the country is seeing its highest voter turnout since 1999, and the election could end up breaking voting records in Israel. The New York Times reports that voter participation had previously been dropping steadily, perhaps due to voter fatigue (Israel held five general elections, plus a direct ballot for prime minister, between 1992 and 2009); it was at less than 65% in 2009. This year, the Central Elections Committee ran a rousing voter drive, and President Shimon Peres urged everyone to vote. The Jerusalem Post notes that US media don't seem to care about the Israeli vote, perhaps because it falls on the day after President Obama's second inauguration. Most US coverage has focused on the less-than-exciting nature of the race and the lack of debate in Israel on some topics—for example, Netanyahu's failure to produce a formal platform. |
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the kingdom’s top international businessmen, was released from detention on Saturday, more than two months after he was taken into custody in a sweeping crackdown on corruption.
His release came hours after he told Reuters in an interview at Riyadh’s opulent Ritz-Carlton hotel that he expected to be cleared of any wrongdoing and be freed within days.
A senior Saudi official said Prince Alwaleed was freed after he reached a financial settlement with the attorney general.
“The attorney general has approved this morning the settlement that was reached with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, and the prince returned home at 1100 a.m. (0800 GMT),” the official told Reuters, without giving details of the terms.
The decision to free him, and the release of several other well-known tycoons on Friday, suggested the main part of the corruption probe was winding down after it sent shockwaves through Saudi Arabia’s business and political establishment.
In his first interview since being detained, conducted hours before his release, Prince Alwaleed told Reuters he maintained his innocence of any corruption in talks with the authorities.
He said he expected to keep full control of his global investment firm Kingdom Holding Co 4280.SE without being required to hand assets to the state. He said he had been able to communicate with executives at his business while detained.
Prince Alwaleed, who is in his early 60s, described his confinement as a “misunderstanding” and said he supported reform efforts by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“There are no charges. There are just some discussions between me and the government,” he said.
Prince Alwaleed had been confined at the Ritz-Carlton since early November, along with dozens of other senior officials and businessmen, part of the crown prince’s plan to reform oil superpower Saudi Arabia and consolidate his position.
FOREIGN INVESTOR CONCERNS
When asked if the attorney general was convinced of Prince Alwaleed’s innocence, the senior Saudi official said:
“I will not negate or confirm what he says. Generally this falls back to those who concluded the settlement, and for sure there is no settlement unless there are violations, and they are not concluded without the accused admitting it in writing and promising not to repeat it.”
The source declined to give further details, but confirmed that Prince Alwaleed would remain head of Kingdom Holding.
A Gulf banker who deals with Saudi Arabia said the authorities appeared keen to conclude the probe partly because foreign investors were concerned their assets or local business partners could be targeted in the wide-ranging crackdown.
Prince Alwaleed’s detention was particularly worrying for foreigners because of his international prominence as an investor in top Western companies such as Twitter (TWTR.N) and Citigroup (C.N), and in top hotels including the George V in Paris and the Plaza in New York, the banker said.
“The government is signaling that it wants to move to a new phase now, away from the crackdown and into other economic reforms,” the banker said.
Outside Prince Alwaleed’s Riyadh palace, dozens of cars lined the entrances as a huge Saudi flag flapped above. Guards cracked jokes and drank coffee. His office said the prince was out visiting family, but declined to give any details.
Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal sits for an interview with Reuters in the office of the suite where he has been detained at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia January 27, 2018, REUTERS/Katie Paul
The attorney general said earlier this week that 90 detainees had been released after their were charges dropped, while others traded cash, real estate and other assets for their freedom. The authorities were still holding 95 people, he said. Some are expected to be put on trial.
“NOTHING TO HIDE”
An official Saudi source said on Friday that several prominent businessmen had reached financial settlements with the authorities, including Waleed al-Ibrahim, owner of regional television network MBC, who was released. Terms of his settlement were not revealed.
Saudi authorities have said they expect to raise some $100 billion for the government through such settlements - a huge windfall for the state, which has seen its finances squeezed by low oil prices. Some private analysts think that target will be hard to hit, given how many suspects have seen charges dropped.
Allegations against Prince Alwaleed included money laundering, bribery and extorting officials, a Saudi official told Reuters in November. The prince’s net worth has been estimated by Forbes magazine at $17 billion.
While declaring his innocence in the Reuters interview, the prince appeared greyer and thinner than in his last public appearance, a television interview in October, and had grown a beard while in detention.
“I have nothing to hide at all. I’m so comfortable, I’m so relaxed. I shave here, like at home. My barber comes here. I’m like at home, frankly speaking,” he said, adding he had been able to communicate with family members while in detention.
He granted the 30-minute interview to Reuters, including a tour of his suite, partly to disprove rumors about mistreatment and that he had been moved from the hotel to a prison.
Prince Alwaleed showed off the comforts of his gold-accented private office, dining room and kitchen, which was fully stocked with his preferred vegetarian meals.
In the corner of his office sat tennis shoes, which he said he used regularly for exercise. A television played business news programs, and a mug with an image of his own face on it was perched on the desk.
Slideshow (5 Images)
After being released, Prince Alwaleed said, he would stay in Saudi Arabia and would return to the challenge of juggling his global business interests.
“I will not leave Saudi Arabia, for sure. This is my country.” ||||| DUBAI—Saudi authorities on Saturday released billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, more than two months after he was detained in a widespread purge of the kingdom’s elite.
Saudi officials said Saturday that Prince al-Waleed came to an undisclosed settlement with the government that allows him to remain chairman of his company, Kingdom Holding Co., one of the country’s biggest conglomerates. He is also a major investor around the world, including large stakes in Twitter Inc. and the Four Seasons hotel chain. The status of... | – One of the richest men in the world is once again a free man, but it may have cost him a fortune. Saudi billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal walked out of prison Saturday after being arrested on corruption charges as part of a sweeping roundup in November, reports Reuters. More precisely, he walked out of the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, which has been turned into a prison of sorts for Saudi elite accused of wrongdoing. Prior to his release, Saudi authorities were reportedly seeking a financial settlement of $6 billion—yes, billion—from al-Waleed, though it is unclear what, if any, amount he paid, reports the Wall Street Journal. Neither the prince nor Saudi authorities have provided details about his release, including whether he has been cleared of wrongdoing. The corruption crackdown set in place by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is widely regarded as more of a bid on his part to consolidate power as he institutes wide-ranging reform throughout the country. So far, the government has secured about $100 billion in settlements from those rounded up, though nearly 100 have not paid and face prosecution. |
Provided by FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force Authorities are looking for this man, accused of taking a cab to rob a bank in Centennial.
Provided by FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force Authorities are looking for this man, accused of taking a cab to rob a bank in Centennial.
Provided by FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force Authorities are looking for this man, accused of taking a cab to rob a bank in Centennial.
Provided by FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force Authorities are looking for this man, accused of taking a cab to rob a bank in Centennial.
The FBI wants the public’s help to find a man who took a cab to rob a bank in the Denver Tech Center, robbed the bank, then had the cabbie drive him to Denver International Airport.
“The FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force does not know if he actually boarded a plane,” according to a news release.
Video taken in the cab clearly shows the man’s face, and pictures taken in the Public Service Credit Union shows him wearing what looks like a white dust mask over his lower face.
He got into the cab near the Bellco Theater in downtown Denver and took it to the credit union at 6850 S. Yosemite St., where he showed a small pistol and ordered a teller to give him an undisclosed amount of money before fleeing the bank.
The suspect is a white man in his late 20s to early 30s, approximately 6 feet tall, with a thin to medium build. He wore a black beanie cap, dark gray jacket, black shirt with white letters, dark jeans and dark sunglasses.
Anyone with information can call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867, or text 274637 with the title DMCS, and a message. ||||| DENVER (AP) — Authorities say a man who held up a Denver bank got a cab ride to and from the robbery.
The Denver Post reports (http://dpo.st/1XoG8qd ) the FBI is asking for the public's help to find the suspect. Authorities say the man took a cab to the bank, asked the driver to idle while he went inside, and then had the cabbie drive him to Denver International Airport.
Officials say it's unknown if the suspect actually boarded a plane after going to the airport.
Video from inside the cab clearly shows the man's face, and pictures taken in the Public Service Credit Union show the man wearing what appears to be a white dust mask while inside the bank, where he threatened a teller with a small handgun.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com | – Authorities say a man who held up a Denver bank got a cab ride to and from the robbery. The Denver Post reports the FBI is asking for the public's help to find the suspect. Authorities say the man took a cab to the bank, asked the driver to idle while he went inside, and then had the cabbie drive him to Denver International Airport. Officials say it's unknown if the suspect actually boarded a plane after going to the airport, the AP reports. Video from inside the cab clearly shows the man's face, and pictures taken in the Public Service Credit Union show the man wearing what appears to be a white dust mask while inside the bank, where he threatened a teller with a small handgun. |
Poor, poor Bill Cosby. A man still able to draw crowds to his live shows, where he casually jokes to "Be careful about drinking around me." A man recently feted with an exhibition at The National Museum of African Art. A millionaire many times over. Poor, poor Bill Cosby. It's so hurtful that more than two dozen women have accused him of sexually assaulting them. What a difficult time this must be for him. How fortunate there are other men in the world with the integrity to not "kick him when he's down."
In an illuminating glimpse backstage into the recent "SNL 40" celebration, comic Norm McDonald Wednesday described what it was like to hang out with Paul McCartney and Sarah Palin – and revealed the Eddie Murphy Bill Cosby bit that never was. As McDonald recalled it on Twitter, the original idea was to have Murphy part of the "Celebrity Jeopardy!" sketch. As he explained, writer Steve Higgins had "an idea that would blow the show wide open." He said, "The category would be potent potables, a common one on Jeopardy, but one we somehow had never done. And the idea was that it would be a bar set. And the idea was that Cosby would be mixing a drink in a video that was taped 6 months ago…. The iconic doors would open and on to home base would step Eddie Murphy. The audience would know what to do. Why is Eddie wearing a multi-colored sweater? He steps behind the bar, begins mixing a drink. The audience covers the fact he has not spoken. When he speaks, he is Cosby. Eddie Murphy doing a perfect Cosby impression. The audience does not let him finish. The sketch ends." That was the plan, anyway. Eventually, he says, it was "my job to talk [Murphy] into doing Jeopardy. We talk in his dressing room a good hour. When it's over, I'm convinced he'll do it. He doesn't. He knew the laughs would bring the house down. Eddie Murphy knows what will work on SNL better than any one. Eddie decides the laughs are not worth it. He will not kick a man when he is down." It was a sentiment quickly echoed by Piers Morgan, who assented, "Something very admirable, too, about Eddie Murphy not wanting to kick Bill Cosby when he's down - given their history." ||||| When Eddie Murphy first announced that he would return to Saturday Night Live for the first time in more than 30 years, people started speculating wildly about which classic character he would reprise for the show’s 40th anniversary special. Buckwheat? Gumby? Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood?
So when Murphy finally took the stage last night, following an inspiring and hilarious introduction from Chris Rock, it was more than a little disappointing when he spent less than 60 seconds talking about what the show meant to him without performing any comedy whatsoever.
The reactions from those watching at home were less than thrilled:
Eddie Murphy finally shows up at an SNL reunion, is needy, not funny. — Matt Zoller Seitz (@mattzollerseitz) February 16, 2015
that eddie murphy spot was the norbit of guest spots #snl40 — Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 16, 2015
So…Eddie Murphy.
Unwilling or unable? — Bill Weir (@BillWeirCNN) February 16, 2015
If you're disappointed in Eddie Murphy's cameo on #SNL40, remember that he made Pluto Nash & Norbit. HE DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU THINK! — Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) February 16, 2015
Things got even more awkward when the comedian appeared to have lost his way, speaking to the producers off-camera, saying, “I thought you guys were going to — right there you were going to do the — no?” He got out of it by joking, “OK, let’s do it again,” before the show eventually cut abruptly to commercial.
But while you could chalk up this moment to the magic unpredictability of live TV, NBC apparently wanted to pretend that last hiccup never happened, cutting the clip off before Murphy’s confusion in the versions posted to NBC.com and YouTube Monday morning.
As presented online by SNL, Eddie Murphy’s appearance still wasn’t funny, but it also was not nearly as painfully awkward.
Watch the edited video below, via NBC:
And then watch the unedited clip as it appeared live below, via NBC:
[Photo via screengrab]
— —
>> Follow Matt Wilstein (@TheMattWilstein) on Twitter
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| According to a long series of tweets from comedian and former Saturday Night Live star Norm Macdonald, Eddie Murphy refused to be part of a skit because he did not want to impersonate Bill Cosby. Macdonald claims he wanted Murphy to impersonate Cosby in a “Celebrity Jeopardy” skit. “He knew the laughs would bring the house down. Eddie Murphy knows what will work on SNL better than anyone,” Macdonald wrote. “Eddie decides the laughs are not worth it. He will not kick a man [Cosby] when he is down." Cosby said Thursday: "I am very appreciative of Eddie and I applaud his actions."
This is what the world missed, from 1987’s Raw. | – Norm Macdonald posted a very long series of tweets last night about Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary reunion special, and in it, he explains why Eddie Murphy didn't have a more prominent role on the special. Murphy, who hadn't returned to the SNL studio in more than three decades, only ended up on stage for 70 seconds, and all he did was give thanks for "being remembered for his contribution to the show," People reports. But the writers originally wanted Murphy to play Bill Cosby in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch that would also feature Macdonald as Burt Reynolds. It was Macdonald's job to convince Murphy, and they talked it over for "a good hour," Macdonald tweeted. The idea was a video Daily Double with the category of "potent potables," Macdonald said, in which "Cosby would be mixing a drink in a video that was taped 6 months ago." So what was the problem? Murphy "knew the laughs would bring the house down. Eddie Murphy knows what will work on SNL better than any one," Macdonald tweeted. But "Eddie decides the laughs are not worth it. He will not kick a man when he is down. Eddie Murphy, I realize, is not like the rest of us. Eddie does not need the laughs." According to the Daily Beast, Cosby responded to the Murphy story by saying, "I am very appreciative of Eddie and I applaud his actions." Over at Salon, Mary Elizabeth Williams scoffs at the idea that Cosby is "down," writing, "You don’t want to do a bit, don’t do a bit, but don’t you dare turn it into an 'Aw, shucks, let’s go easy on the guy. Hasn’t he suffered enough?' moment." The skit did go on, with Kenan Thompson as Cosby. As for Murphy, Mediaite reports that his actual appearance on the show was extremely awkward, and NBC edited it to make it appear less so. Watch Celebrity Jeopardy and the edited version of Murphy's appearance in the gallery. |
His fans cheered in support of a potential presidential bid by Charlie Sheen. | Photo by Reuters Close
"I understand this place has some f—king history," he said, referring to the nation's capital as "Awesome-ville" as he sported a Washington Nationals jersey. "I've got some history, too."
Here’s a sampling of Sheen’s political one-liners:
On whom he’d pick as a vice presidential running mate: "At this point: Nick Cage."
On his platform: "If I run for president and f—king win, country music is illegal."
On a potential presidential run: "Is it the craziest f—king idea ever?" "Is there anybody in here that would actually f—king vote for me?"
On how he'd trim federal spending: "I would disband the Fed, like, now. … And send the IRS to prison."
On marijuana laws: "I would legalize pot. Everywhere. Vending machines, all of it. And subsidize everything."
On presidential leadership: "I would inspire people to start making s— again. ... Cars, washing machines, all of it."
On how he'd punish Muammar Qadhafi: "I'd make him marry Brooke and Denise.”
Sheen was referring to Denise Richards, whom he divorced in 2006, and Brooke Mueller, from whom he's estranged. The start time of Sheen's show was delayed an hour thanks to his mandated court appearance at a Los Angeles court Tuesday where Sheen lost custody of his twins with Mueller. "Hope you had a better f—king day than I did," joked Sheen. "Sorry, I'm late."
Sheen wasn't the only head turner at DAR on Tuesday: Tareq and Michaele Salahi were there to take in the show and enjoyed plenty of posing with fans. POLITICO caught up with them before the show to get their take on Sheen. ||||| Correction: Earlier versions of this article misspelled the name of reality-TV personality Tareq Salahi. This version has been corrected.
A couple of thousand people were held hostage by Charlie Sheen’s ego Tuesday night in an auditorium named after the female descendants of the American Revolution, half a mile from the World War II Memorial in the capital of the free world. This prompts an icky existential question: If the abusive ex-star of a CBS sitcom can compel a legion of citizens to pay $104.25 apiece to be doused in cultural bile, is the free world a little too free?
The answer, of course, is no. Mostly no. No, except for the five seconds after Sheen seemed to imply that he believes President Obama wasn’t born in the United States, triggering boisterous applause from the mostly young, near-capacity crowd at the 3,700-seat DAR Constitution Hall. Sheen seemed to toy with the idea of running for president (with Nicolas Cage) and noted that his birth certificate was not “Photoshopped.”
The man has become so unreadable that it was hard to tell whether he was joking or serious. He was, though, noncommittal about running and occasionally circumspect.
“Every day is just one day,” Sheen said at the top of the show. “Tomorrow is not here yet.”
It was the end of a long day for Sheen, who deployed his lawyers to two court hearings in Southern California on Tuesday morning, charioted himself in a black Rolls-Royce to the Van Nuys Airport that afternoon, and blazed across the continent in a private jet to walk onstage 67 minutes late for his show in downtown Washington, the halfway point in his 20-city tour titled “Violent Torpedo of Truth: Defeat Is Not an Option,” a kind of Sherman’s March of the male libido.
Washington as a whole greeted Sheen with a feisty, inebriated bear hug, but there was some wonky thoughtfulness in the crowd.
“I came here to see Charlie Sheen on an extended loop and be both horrified and entertained,” said a 34-year-old lobbyist who declined to give her name because she’s a “professional girl” who “cares about my future.”
“Not often can you see a public figure implode in front of your eyes — usually you can only see that through the media,” said her 40-year-old lobbyist friend, who was also too embarrassed to be identified.
“We perpetuate this image that is fake and a lie, and we put it on television,” railed a TV reporter into her cellphone — presumably to an editor — as she prepared to do a spot from outside the venue before the show started. “That’s how I feel as a journalist.”
Me, too, but here’s the straightest scoop deliverable: The show began with a stream-of-consciousness monologue about Sheen’s hatred of ex-wives and his failure to secure sole custody of his children earlier in the day. It lurched onward to a dry sit-down interview — led by much-booed WBIG (100.3 FM) host Tommy Griffiths — about the first time Sheen met Marlon Brando. The crowd quaked with catcalls whenever Sheen wasn’t talking about doing drugs or manhandling women.
“ENTERTAIN US,” boomed a male voice as Sheen waxed philosophical on the hard living of Dennis Hopper.
“SHUT THE [EXPLETIVE] UP AND SAY SOMETHING WEIRD,” demanded another.
It has been less than two months since Sheen outed himself as a warlock who is capable of ingesting “epic” amounts of cocaine, vanquishing addiction with his superhuman mind, shrugging off his nearly $2 million-an-episode job with Warner Bros. and orating on national television about the vague, seemingly mutable bylaws of nature and space-time (Google “winning” and “tiger blood” and “Adonis DNA” and so on).
In the first week or so of his renaissance (or breakdown, depending on your standards), it seemed as if Sheen was onto something, as if he were imbued with a spiritual clarity reserved for prophets, as if he were pulverizing and remolding the very notion of celebrity.
That notion of celebrity now seems to belong to his audiences — or at least the one at DAR, whose restlessness guided the rhythms of the show and whose outbursts were often more entertaining than the ramblings of Sheen or his better-received guest, stand-up comic Jeff Ross.
“Curiosity about exploitation” was why 33-year-old Arlington salesman Johnny Champane came with three friends at the last minute. “Exploitation of himself. Of us. We bought tickets, didn’t we?”
Since this was Washington, Griffiths asked Sheen how he’d handle Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi (“I’d make him marry [my ex-wives] Brooke and Denise”) and about what he’d defund to balance the budget (disband the Fed and “send the IRS to prison”). The crowd veered between boos and applause so frequently and quickly that one was indistinguishable from another.
“Geez, you guys hate everything,” Sheen said at one point.
Recognizable Washingtonians in attendance included Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the infamous White House gate-crashers and erstwhile reality-TV personalities, who signed autographs in the lobby, where they inadvertently created the event-horizon of a cultural black hole. | – Charlie Sheen may have alienated his "truther" fans, but it looks like he'll be able to replace them with birthers. Politics was on the agenda when Sheen's "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour hit Washington, DC, Tuesday night and the actor got plenty of cheers when he raised the birth certificate issue, reports the Washington Post. "For starters, I was f**king born here, how about that? And I got proof!" Sheen said. "Nothing Photoshopped about my birth certificate." Sheen—observing that a poll shows him beating "that lunatic from Alaska" Sarah Palin—discussed the possibility of a presidential bid, with Nicolas Cage as his running mate, Politico reports. President Sheen would legalize pot, "send the IRS to prison," and deal with Moammar Gadhafi by sending ex-wife Denise Richards and soon-to-be-ex-wife Brooke Mueller to Libya. "If I run for president and win, country music is illegal," Sheen told the crowd. |
(CNN) The man accused of killing eight people after driving a truck onto a New York bike path is a "soldier of the caliphate," the ISIS terror group said without providing evidence to back up its claim.
"One of the Islamic State soldiers in America attacked on Tuesday a number of crusaders on a street in New York City," the group's weekly al-Naba newspaper reported Thursday.
ISIS provided no evidence it had knowledge ahead of Tuesday's attack in Lower Manhattan or was involved in planning. ISIS did not claim direct responsibility, and the article did not give a name for the attacker.
Responding to the claim Friday morning in a series of tweets, President Donald Trump called the New York terrorism suspect a "Degenerate Animal" and said the US military had attacked ISIS "much harder" over the past two days.
"ISIS just claimed the Degenerate Animal who killed, and so badly wounded, the wonderful people on the West Side, was 'their soldier,' " he tweeted.
"Based on that, the Military has hit ISIS 'much harder' over the last two days. They will pay a big price for every attack on us!"
ISIS just claimed the Degenerate Animal who killed, and so badly wounded, the wonderful people on the West Side, was "their soldier." ..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
...Based on that, the Military has hit ISIS "much harder" over the last two days. They will pay a big price for every attack on us! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
He doubled down on those comments while speaking to reporters Friday morning at the White House.
"What we are doing is every time we are attacked from this point forward, and it took place yesterday, we are hitting them 10 times harder," Trump said.
Earlier this week Trump had tweeted that suspect Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov should be executed.
"NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!" the President tweeted Wednesday night.
But it was the first time the terror group had put such a claim in its newspaper before releasing it through its media wing, Amaq News agency, usually the first point of publication for claims of responsibility.
Suspect's link to ISIS
Suspect Saipov has told authorities that watching ISIS videos inspired him to carry out this week's attack and that he closely followed the terror group's playbook, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The 29-year-old Uzbek native was charged with providing material support to ISIS, violence and destruction of motor vehicles, said Joon H. Kim, acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Saipov drove a rented truck down a bike path near the World Trade Center, crashed into a school bus and then jumped out, brandishing imitation firearms, officials said. New York police Officer Ryan Nash shot him in the abdomen, and he was taken into custody. More than a dozen people were also injured in Tuesday's attack.
An artist's sketch shows suspect Sayfullo Saipov making his first court appearance Wednesday.
He didn't enter a plea to the federal terror charges in his first court appearance Wednesday.
Saipov was so devoted to ISIS, he wanted to display the terror group's flag in his hospital room, documents show. He had about 90 videos and 3,800 images on a cell phone featuring ISIS propaganda, including video of a beheading, according to the criminal complaint.
No signs of radicalization
Those who crossed Saipov's path are trying to reconcile the man they met with the image of the one about whom they're now hearing.
Approached in the lobby of her Brooklyn apartment building, the suspect's mother-in-law, Nodira Agzomova, said she was in shock.
"I don't know what happened," she said.
Those who knew Saipov in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and in at least three states where he had lived since coming to the United States in 2010 said they saw no warning signs of radicalization.
"He was happy that he was here, he had a family here, and he was a truck driver and his business was really good," said Makhina Kadirova, a childhood friend.
His neighbors described him as quiet and said his family didn't socialize often.
Concrete barriers on bike path
The Lower Manhattan bike path where the attack took place has reopened, CNN affiliate WPIX reported, as New York started installing concrete barriers to prevent something similar happening.
The work started Thursday as part of a statewide review of shared-use paths, according to the New York State Department of Transportation.
Fifty-seven barriers are being positioned diagonally along the path, leaving enough space for bicycles, but not for larger vehicles, CNN affiliate WABC reported.
I guess that's one way to stop trucks from getting onto the bike path... pic.twitter.com/A8sjq1kXzP — 🚲 Jeff Jenkins 🚲 (@jeffwjenkins) November 2, 2017
However, some local cyclists said they think the barriers are problematic.
"There's no way two bikes can pass each other there and the runners as well," New Yorker James Petty told WABC. "There's going to be accidents."
Similar concrete barriers were placed in Times Square in May after a man drove a car onto a crowded sidewalk there , killing a woman and injuring at least 22 people.
Besides work on the bike path barriers, there are other signs that life's daily routines have resumed for many in the city. ||||| The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for the deadly Halloween day terror attack in New York City in the group's weekly newsletter, al-Naba.
Interested in ISIS? Add ISIS as an interest to stay up to date on the latest ISIS news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest
"On Tuesday, 11 Safar, one of the soldiers of the Islamic State attacked a number of crusaders on a street in New York City, close to the monument for the 9/11 raid, which resulted in killing and wounding more than 60 crusaders, and unto Allah is all praise," the newsletter said in a translation by SITE Intelligence Group, a company that tracks extremist groups.
It's unclear why the group claims 60 people were wounded or killed. The attack, allegedly carried out by Uzbek national Sayfullo Saipov, actually killed eight people and wounded 12 others, according to the NYPD.
The "11 Safar" is a reference to the attack occurring in the second month of the Islamic calendar.
The newsletter calls Saipov "one of the soldiers of the Caliphate" and claims the attack inspired "fear in crusader America."
"The grace of Allah, the operation instilled fear in crusader America, prompting them to increase security measures and intensify actions against immigrants to America," the newsletter stated.
Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
Saipov, NYPD police have said, shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- or "God is Greatest" in Arabic -- after intentionally driving a rented truck onto a bike and pedestrian path in lower Manhattan just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday and running down 20 people. The suspect also left a handwritten note in Arabic at the scene saying ISIS "would endure forever," according to authorities.
"He did this in the name of ISIS, and along with the other items recovered at the scene was some notes that further indicate that," said John Miller, NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism. "He appears to have followed almost exactly to a 'T' the instructions that ISIS has put out in its social media channels before with instructions to their followers on how to carry out such an attack."
Authorities also reported Saipov had ISIS propaganda, including about 90 videos, on his cell phone, which inspired him to carry out the deadly attack.
APTV
The newsletter released Thursday also claims this was "one of the most prominent attacks to target crusaders in America" since Stephen Paddock is alleged to have killed 58 people in the Las Vegas shooting on Oct. 1. The FBI says it has not uncovered any connections between the suspect and any foreign terrorist groups.
"The FBI stated there is no apparent tie to international terrorism," one senior official told ABC News. "Perhaps ISIS is just trying to take credit." ||||| A New York City police officer used deadly force to stop a terror suspect Tuesday but did not kill him, raising possible questions about the final moments of an attack that killed eight people and injured 13.
Officer Ryan Nash, a 28-year-old who has worked for the department since 2012, shot suspect Sayfullo Saipov in the abdomen after Saipov exited his vehicle carrying weapons that turned out to be a pellet gun and a paintball gun. Saipov was wounded, and, as of Wednesday morning, was out of surgery and in custody at an unidentified hospital, according to CNN.
The NYPD patrol guide, which is posted on the department website, instructs officers to “apply no more than the reasonable force necessary to gain control,” and to use de-escalation techniques to avoid excessive force. Officers are trained to use minimal force to stop even potentially deadly assailants, but cops must make split-second decisions that require them to determine who is a deadly threat and who is not. Saipov’s weapons clearly suggested an imminent threat.
Many officers in similar situations have followed the patrol guide and shot, only to find themselves later charged with using excessive force. In the moment, the officer likely is not thinking about the ramifications of using deadly force, but scrutiny after the fact often centers on why and how the cop fired.
The NYPD did not comment for this story, but the head of a national police organization said it is premature to question Nash’s response to the attack, adding he followed his training to focus on “neutralizing the threat.”
“[Police officers] don’t go into it with the idea of thinking about killing somebody,” said Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major City Chiefs Association, which represents sheriffs and chiefs of police in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas (including New York). “They’re thinking about neutralizing the threat.”
Stephens added that most police officers are trained to shoot “center mass” to stop a threat—meaning the chest area—because it increases the likelihood the shot will hit the suspect and stop them. That’s where Saipov was allegedly hit.
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A shot near the chest sometimes kills the suspect, but it’s not always the case.
Publicly, the NYPD is only hailing Nash’s efforts. At a press conference on Tuesday, New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill commended Nash because he “stopped the carnage moments after it began.”
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio thanked the NYPD, “starting with the officer [Nash] who stopped this tragedy from continuing.” | – New York City terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov was allegedly quick to reference ISIS, while the militant group stayed mum. That's changed. Reuters reports the Islamic State claimed responsibility Thursday in its own Al-Naba paper for the attack, saying that the 29-year-old is "one of the caliphate soldiers." Although investigators are still looking into Saipov's background, the criminal complaint against him says he told officials he was glad he'd carried out the attack, gained inspiration for it by viewing ISIS propaganda clips on his phone, and wanted to put up an ISIS flag in his room at Bellevue Hospital, where he's recovering after being shot in the abdomen by NYPD officer Ryan Nash. CNN reports that ISIS didn't use Saipov's name in its claim and offers no evidence to back that claim up, including any showing that ISIS helped plan the attack or even knew about it beforehand. The site notes the wording is similar what it used after the Pulse Orlando shooting and a 2016 attack in Nice, France. CNN adds this is the first time ISIS has posted such a claim first in its newspaper rather than via its Amaq News Agency. Per ABC News, the ISIS statement also mentioned that the attack took place "close to the monument for the 9/11 raid" and, oddly, claimed that "60 crusaders" were killed or injured in the Halloween attack; the official count so far is eight dead, around a dozen wounded. |
Let’s start with the crossbow, because the crossbow is huge. I’m sitting in the passenger seat of a camo-painted ATV, rumbling through the northern Louisiana backwoods with Phil Robertson, founder of the Duck Commander company, patriarch at the heart of A&E’s smash reality hit Duck Dynasty, and my tour guide for the afternoon. There are seat belts in this ATV, but it doesn’t look like they’ve ever been used. Phil is not wearing one. I am not wearing one, because I don’t want Phil to think I’m a pussy. (Too late!) The crossbow—a Barnett model equipped with a steel-tipped four-blade broadhead arrow—is perched on the dash between us. It looks like you could shoot through a goddamn mountain with it.
“That’ll bury up in you and kill you dead,” Phil says.
The bow is cocked and loaded, just in case a deer stumbles in front of us and we need to do a redneck drive-by on the poor bastard, but the safety is on. SAFETY FIRST. Still, Phil warns me, “You don’t want to be bumping that.”
As we drive out into the woods, past a sign that reads parish maintenance ends, Phil is telling me all about the land around us and how the animals are a glorious gift from God and how blowing their heads off is part of His plan for us.
“Look at this,” he says, gesturing to the surrounding wilderness. “The Almighty gave us this. Genesis 9 is where the animals went wild, and God gave them wildness. After the flood, that’s when he made animals wild. Up until that time, everybody was vegetarian. After the flood, he said, ‘I’m giving you everything now. Animals are wild.’”
There’s a fly parked on Phil’s long beard. It’s been there the whole ride, and I desperately want to pluck it out, but I decide against it. Along with the crossbow, there’s a loaded .22-caliber rifle rattling around in the footwell. And yet, much like the 14 million Americans who Nielsen says tune in to Duck Dynasty every week—over 2 million more than the audience for the Breaking Bad finale—I am comfortable here in these woods with Phil and his small cache of deadly weaponry. He is welcoming and gracious. He is a man who preaches the gospel of the outdoors and, to my great envy, practices what he preaches. He spends most of his time out here, daydreaming about what he calls a “pristine earth”: a world where nothing gets in the way of nature or the hunters who lovingly maintain it. No cities. No buildings. No highways.
Oh, and no sinners, too. So here’s where things get a bit uncomfortable. Phil calls himself a Bible-thumper, and holy shit, he thumps that Bible hard enough to ring the bell at a county-fair test of strength. If you watch Duck Dynasty, you can hear plenty of it in the nondenominational supper-table prayer the family recites at the end of every episode, and in the show’s no-cussing, no-blaspheming tone. But there are more things Phil would like to say—“controversial” things, as he puts it to me—that don’t make the cut. (This March, for instance, he told the Christian-oriented Sports Spectrum magazine that he didn’t approve of A&E editing out “in Jesus” from a family prayer scene, even though A&E says that the phrase has been uttered in at least seventeen episodes.)
Out here in these woods, without any cameras around, Phil is free to say what he wants. Maybe a little too free. He’s got lots of thoughts on modern immorality, and there’s no stopping them from rushing out. Like this one:
“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
Perhaps we’ll be needing that seat belt after all.
· · ·
The Duck Dynasty origin story is the mighty river from which all other Robertson-family stories flow. And it is an awesome story, one that improves the more it is told, so here is my stab at it: Phil Robertson grew up bone poor in the northwest corner of this state—a place where Cajun redneck culture and Ozark redneck culture intersect—to a manic-depressive mother and a roughneck father. He was a star quarterback in high school and earned a scholarship to play at Louisiana Tech, but quit after one season because football interfered with duck-hunting season. The guy who took his roster spot at Tech was Terry Bradshaw, because that’s how these kinds of stories go.
Phil On Growing Up in Pre-Civil-Rights-Era Louisiana
“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”
According to Phil’s autobiography—a ghostwritten book he says he has never read—he spent his days after Tech doing odd jobs and his evenings getting drunk, chasing tail, and swallowing diet pills and black mollies, a form of medicinal speed. In his midtwenties, already married with three sons, a piss-drunk Robertson kicked his family out of the house. “I’m sick of you,” he told his wife, Kay. But Robertson soon realized the error of his ways, begged Kay to come back, and turned over his life to Jesus Christ.
In 1972, with Jesus at the wheel, Robertson founded the Duck Commander company, which sold a line of custom-made duck-hunting calls that quickly became popular among avid hunters for their uncanny accuracy in replicating the sound of a real duck. He eventually sold half the company to his son Willie, now 41, and together they made a DVD series about the family’s duck hunts, which led to a show on the Outdoor Channel, which led to Duck Dynasty on A&E, which led to everything blowing right the fuck up.
The show—a reality sitcom showcasing the semiscripted high jinks of Phil, his brother “Uncle Si,” his four sons, Alan, Willie, Jase, and Jep, and the perpetually exasperated but always perfectly accessorized Robertson-family ladies—has become the biggest reality-TV hit in the history of cable television, reportedly earning the family a holy shit–worthy $200,000-an-episode paycheck. It’s a funny, family-friendly show, with “skits that we come up with,” as Phil describes the writing process. They plunder beehives. They blow up beaver dams. And when the Robertson-family ladies go up to a rooftop in a hydraulic lift, you just know that lift will “accidentally” get stuck and strand them.
But the show, whose fifth season premieres on January 15, is just one part of the family’s pop-cultural dominance. In 2013 four books written (kind of!) by Robertson family members made the top ten on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. Another book—penned by Jase Robertson and detailing his Christian rebirth at age 14, his struggle to forgive his father’s past behavior, and his young daughter’s struggle through five facial-reconstruction surgeries to overcome a severe cleft lip and palate—is forthcoming and destined to make it five best-sellers. There’s also a book of devotionals somewhere in there, along with Duck Dynasty–themed birthday cards, bobblehead dolls, camo apparel (pink camo for the ladies), Cajun-spice seasoning, car fresheners, iPhone games (from the press release: “As players successfully complete the challenges, their beards grow to epic proportions and they start to transform from a yuppie into a full-blown redneck!”), and presumably some sort of camou flage home-pregnancy test.
It’s easy to see the appeal. The Robertsons are immensely likable. They’re funny. They look cool. They’re “smarter than they look,” says sportswriter Mark Schlabach, who co-writes the family’s books. And they are remarkably honest both with one another and with the viewing audience: Phil’s old hell-raising, Si’s traumatic stint in Vietnam, the intervention that the family staged for Jep when he was boozing and doing drugs in college (Phil placed him under house arrest for three months)—all of it is out in the open. The more they reveal, the more people feel connected to them.
And then, of course, there is their faith, which plays no small role here. During the family’s initial negotiations about the show with A&E, Jase told me, “the three no-compromises were faith, betrayal of family members, and duck season.” That refusal to betray their faith or one another has been a staple of every media article about the Robertson family. It’s their elevator pitch, and it has made them into ideal Christian icons: beloved for staking out a bit of holy ground within the mostly secular, often downright sinful, pop culture of America.
· · ·
Phil Robertson’s house is located in the sticks about twenty miles outside the city of Monroe (pronounce it mun-roe). It’s a rather small house—the kind of place its owner would proudly call “humble.” The kitchen table is covered with big plastic tubs of cinnamon rolls and mini muffins. There are candy dishes filled to the brim, bricks of softening butter, and packages of jerky made from unknown animals, sent by unnamed fans. (I tried some, and it was awesome.) Just inside the front door, a giant flat-screen TV shows Fox News on mute at all times, and a bunch of big squishy sofas are arranged in a rectangle around it.
Si Robertson is sitting on the couch facing the TV. Jep Robertson, age 35, the youngest son, curls up in a recliner in the corner with a pistol strapped to his waist. He barely speaks, like a countrified Silent Bob. Jase, 44, and Willie share a love seat while Phil lounges barefoot on a camo-patterned recliner in the far corner of the room. Two dogs share the recliner’s footrest with Phil’s heavily callused bare feet. He has severe bunions, so his big toes jut in at forty-five-degree angles. The main TV room is cluttered with mismatched furniture and photos hung haphazardly on the walls. And Phil looks like part of the clutter himself, as if he’d been wedged into that recliner a while back by some absentminded homeowner who didn’t know where else to put him. ||||| (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Jesse Jackson has decided to weigh in on the inflammatory comments that Phil Robertson made to GQ about gays and African Americans.
In an interview with Drew Magary, the "Duck Dynasty" star said the Nazis needed Jesus, that he never saw the mistreatment of African Americans while growing up in Louisiana before the civil rights era and that homosexuality was a sin.
A&E; has already suspended Robertson, but Reverend Jackson, his Rainbow PUSH Coalition and GLAAD are demanding to meet with network execs, along with Cracker Barrel's CEO, to discuss the future of all "Duck Dynasty" memorabilia or content.
Read: Phil Robertson Defends Anti-Gay Comments: 'All I Did Was Quote From The Scriptures'
"These statements uttered by Robertson are more offensive than the bus driver in Montgomery, Alabama, more than 59 years ago," Jackson said in a statement obtained by ABC News.
"At least the bus driver, who ordered Rosa Parks to surrender her seat to a white person, was following state law. Robertson's statements were uttered freely and openly without cover of the law, within a context of what he seemed to believe was 'white privilege.'"
The release, dated Dec. 23, requests a meeting within 72 hours with A&E; and Cracker Barrel execs and urges the network to uphold Robertson's suspension.
Jackson and GLAAD said they believe it's not right for a personality with such a large platform to benefit from such comments.
Related: 'Duck Dynasty' Suspends Phil Robertson
On Sunday, Robertson defended his comments about gays and blacks to a small Bible study group in West Monroe, La.
"I will not give or back off from my path," he reportedly said Sunday.
Robertson added that his GQ comments were quotes from the Bible. "I didn't think much of it at all, but it seems a lot of other people did," he said.
EDITOR'S NOTE: ABC is a part owner of the A&E; Network" | – Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments have been getting the lion's share of attention in recent days, but he also said a few things to GQ about African Americans that, along with those aforementioned comments, aren't sitting so well with Jesse Jackson. In discussing his youth in pre-civil rights era Louisiana, the Duck Dynasty patriarch said, in part: I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. ... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues." In a Dec. 23 statement obtained by ABC News, Jackson addressed Robertson's comments in no uncertain terms. "These statements are more offensive than the bus driver in Montgomery, Alabama, more than 59 years ago. At least the bus driver, who ordered Rosa Parks to surrender her seat to a white person, was following state law. Robertson’s statements were uttered freely and openly without cover of the law, within a context of what he seemed to believe was 'white privilege.'" Jackson, his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and GLAAD in the statement demand a meeting with A&E execs ... along with Cracker Barrel's CEO, to discuss content and merchandising. |
The man who said he was served a deep fried piece of rat instead of chicken at a California KFC is being called a liar by the company, following a DNA test of the meat.
“Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim,” the KFC Rodrigo Coronel told FoxNews.com.
On June 12 , KFC customer Devorise Dixon posted a now-viral photo of a piece of meat on his Facebook page that appeared to be rodent shaped with a long string of fried breading, resembling a tail.
The image immediately drew skepticism from some while shocking others.
KFC immediately responded to the allegations by sending out pictures that showed how the fried chicken is cooked, saying Dixon's original photo clearly showed white meat and couldn't possibly be a rat.
Related Image Expand / Contract KFC sent out images showing how the meat could not have been rat. (KFC)
After initially complaining to the restaurant manager, Dixon reportedly refused to communicate directly to KFC and retained an attorney, who gave the product to the chicken chain on Friday for testing at an independent lab.
Now the results are in and DNA tests confirmed the product was chicken and not a rat as the customer claimed, according to KFC.
“We did an internal investigation and talked to all employees. That statement is false,” Coronel said.
KFC now wants Dixon to “apologize and cease making false claims.” ||||| A California man's claim that he was served a deep-fried "rat" at a KFC restaurant has been debunked with a DNA test of the meat, said the company, which commissioned the independent examination after the photo he posted on social media went viral.
"Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim," the company said in a statement to ABC News today.
"On Friday, the customer's attorney turned over the product in question for testing at an independent lab, and the results officially confirmed what KFC knew all along -- the product was chicken and not a rat as he claimed," the company added.
In a Facebook post, the customer, who identified himself as Devorise Dixon, 25, wrote: "I went to KFC and [bought] a 3 [piece] chicken tender! As I bit into a piece of it noticed it was very hard/touch and rubbery! Which sent this deep chill throughout my body. I looked down at it and saw it was a cooked rat! Made me feel sick!"
The images, posted publicly on Dixon's page, show a breaded object with what could have been mistaken for a tail. The post quickly went viral last week, prompting the popular fast food chain to respond.
KFC told ABC News last week: "Our chicken tenders often vary in size and shape, and we currently have no evidence to support this allegation."
ABC News has reached out to Dixon for comment last week and today through Facebook, but Dixon did not immediately respond.
In the post, Dixon wrote that he spoke to the manager at the KFC outlet who, he said, admitted that Dixon was served a rat -- and even apologized.
The chain noted last week that other photos posted by Dixon "clearly" show "it's a piece of hand-breaded white meat chicken." | – Just as exciting as a Maury paternity test, but slightly more stomach-churning: The DNA test results are in for a KFC meal a California man claimed was a deep-fried rat. And those results show that it's definitely, absolutely, without a doubt nothing other than a fried chicken tender, just as the restaurant chain has insisted from day one, ABC News reports. The company had commissioned a lab test after 25-year-old Devorise Dixon posted a photo earlier this month to his Facebook page that showed a breaded, fried piece of … something that looked disgustingly like a rat had fallen into the batter vat. The photo soon went viral, and Dixon claimed on Facebook that when he went back to the restaurant, a manager admitted it was a rat and apologized. KFC decided to call Dixon's bluff. "Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim," the company said in a statement given to ABC. On June 19, "the customer's attorney turned over the product in question for testing at an independent lab, and the results officially confirmed what KFC knew all along—the product was chicken and not a rat as he claimed." ABC couldn't reach Dixon for comment, but KFC has the obviously simple explanation for the oddly-shaped repast: "Our chicken tenders often vary in size and shape." The company also wants Dixon to say he's sorry and "cease making false claims," per Fox News. (We had a feeling fried rat wasn't part of KFC's $185 million plan to win customers back.) |
After a Chicago cop paid a 14-year-old girl for sex in 2015, the girl told federal investigators intimate, granular details about their encounters — including the exact types of condoms he used: LifeStyles condoms and Trojan Magnum condoms in gold wrappers, court records said.
It may seem like a trivial detail that William Whitley, 61, used one type of condom over another. But an FBI criminal complaint against the 20-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department points to the brands’ relevance. The Trojan Magnum and LifeStyles condoms Whitley used to commit the crime came from outside Illinois, where the crime occurred — meaning his “conduct affected interstate commerce,” the complaint said.
That interstate element (in addition to Whitley’s use of a phone and other factors) made it possible to charge him in federal court, where Whitley pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of sex trafficking a minor, according to court records.
Had Whitley not been charged at the federal level, he may have faced a state sentence less harsh than the mandatory 10-year minimum sentence that federal sex trafficking charges carry, the Chicago Tribune reports — which could explain why prosecutors sought federal charges. Whitley’s plea deal even says that he “acknowledges that Trojan condoms and LifeStyles condoms are manufactured outside the state of Illinois.”
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Just as out-of-state guns can justify federal rather than state charges, so, too, could out-of-state condoms, experts told the newspaper.
“The gun traveling is analagous to the condom traveling,” Juliet Sorensen, a Northwestern University law professor, told the Tribune. “The person who pulled the trigger may not have traveled, but the gun did. This police officer may not have traveled, but an aspect that he used to commit the crime did.”
Whitley will be sentenced on Sept. 4, the Sun-Times reports. He faces at least 10 years in prison, and could face up to life.
Whitley said he didn’t know the girl was only 14 when he had sex with her, according to court records. The teen girl had told Whitley she was 23 during their multiple sexual encounters in 2015. Investigators suggested the braces on the 14-year-old’s teeth could have been a hint about her real age.
Whitley maintained in court that braces “don’t dictate a person’s age,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Whitley invited the 14-year-old girl to have sex with him at his apartment from June to September 2015, court records said. During the encounters, Whitley left his Chicago Police Department uniform hanging from his bedroom door, she said — and he even bragged about being a cop. Whitley also had a loaded firearm stashed under his pillow in bed, court records said.
SHARE COPY LINK Human trafficking is a widespread concern that advocates and law enforcement officials say is on the rise throughout Fresno. Three women tell their stories of horror, survival and healing.
Whitley used his smartphone to take sexually-explicit photos of the girl at his apartment, she told investigators. Authorities found the photos (which Whitley had texted to to the girl) when they searched the girl’s phone. And when investigators searched Whitley’s apartment, they discovered the same type of leopard print bedding that had been visible in the naked pictures, court records said.
The October 2015 search of Whitley’s home also revealed contacts on his phone — “Jasmine,” “Bunny,” “Brittany Aka Mocha” and “Star” — with whom Whitley was discussing prices and meeting times, suggesting he was engaged in prostitution with them, court records said. Investigators also found the kind of Trojan Magnum gold condom wrappers the girl had described.
Beyond the 14-year-old victim, Whitley was also paying a 16-year-old runaway for sex, he admitted in his plea agreement. Whitley had originally met the 16-year-old girl at a party where older men were paying young runaways for sex, the 16-year-old told authorities.
Later, Whitley spotted the girl walking though Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood with a friend, court records said. Whitley pulled up next to them and asked the girl if she wanted to get in the car for a ride with him and “his partner” — which she believed meant he was a police officer, the girl told investigators. The girl got in the car, where Whitley was in the driver’s seat and the “partner” was in the passenger’s seat.
As they were driving, Whitley paid the girl $65 to perform oral sex on him, she told investigators. After that, Whitley became “one of her primary commercial sex customers,” court records said.
When the 16-year-old had been with Whitley for some time, she began giving his phone number out to friends so they could also have sex with Whitley for money, court records said.
Chicago police took away Whitley's police powers in September 2015, the Sun-Times reports. ||||| CPD veteran admits to paying young girls for sex, faces life in prison
William Whitley acknowledged Tuesday he paid young girls for sex.
The longtime veteran of the Chicago Police Department admitted he would order them up before he’d go to work — leaving his uniform hanging on the bedroom door and his gun under his pillow while they were in bed.
But even as he prepared to admit his guilt to a federal judge Tuesday, Whitley insisted that braces on the teeth of one young girl “don’t dictate a person’s age.” He still thought she was older.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall nevertheless accepted Whitley’s guilty plea to one count of sex trafficking of a minor. He now faces a minimum of 10 years in prison but could be looking at a lifetime behind bars. His sentencing is set for Sept. 4.
CPD has previously said Whitley was stripped of his powers in September 2015. He must register within days as a sex offender. Court personnel said his current residence is problematic, but Kendall gave him until Friday to find a new place to live.
A grand jury accused Whitley last year of trafficking four teenage girls for sex, as well as producing child pornography. That followed a 2015 FBI investigation that authorities said led them to Whitley.
When confronted, Whitley acknowledged he saw braces on the teeth of a 14-year-old girl he paid for sex, according to the criminal complaint that led to his arrest. But he said he did not know her age. She apparently told him she was 23.
That same girl was arrested in a September 2015, but she told authorities about her “johns,” including Whitley, according to the complaint. She said she was introduced to him in June 2015 and had sex with him about five times, collecting between $60 and $150 from him each time.
She said he also wore a gold chain with the CPD logo on it. And at times, she said, he bragged about being a cop.
The feds said Whitley was in touch with the girl by phone “hundreds of times” between July 24, 2015 and Sept. 17, 2015. Once, after he began texting the girl, she replied, “Awww ok wassup then.” And he replied, “You already know” and added, “B4 I gotta work.”
The girl also said Whitley took naked photographs of her inside his apartment.
The 14-year-old girl led authorities to a 16-year-old girl who also said she had sex with Whitley for money. She said Whitley pulled up next to her and a friend once in Englewood and asked if they wanted to take a ride with him and “his partner.” They agreed, though the girl said she suspected Whitley might be a cop based on the way he spoke.
The 16-year-old girl said Whitley was in the driver’s seat, and the partner was in the passenger seat. That’s when she said Whitley gave her $65 “in exchange for giving him oral sex.” She said she had oral sex with Whitley five times, each time collecting $60 to $65 from him. ||||| Plenty of crimes have a technical element that allows prosecutors to pursue charges at the federal level, from using a phone to conduct illegal business across state lines to firing a gun manufactured in a different state.
In the case of former Chicago police Officer William Whitley, it wasn’t guns. It was condoms.
Whitley’s use of Trojan and LifeStyles brand condoms when he paid for sex acts with a 14-year-old girl, federal prosecutors say, meant he illegally affected interstate commerce. Because the condoms are made outside Illinois, using them in the act of a potential sex crime contributed to the ability to charge Whitley in U.S. District Court instead of the state level.
Whitley pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count of sex trafficking of a minor. In the plea agreement, prosecutors specifically mention the condom use, stating “Whitley used condoms during the commercial sex acts with Minor A” and he “acknowledges that Trojan condoms and LifeStyles condoms are manufactured outside the state of Illinois.”
There were other aspects of Whitley’s actions that hit the “federal nexus,” including his use of a cellphone to take compromising pictures of two girls and using money to pay them, prosecutors said.
Whitley was a Chicago police officer during 2015 when, he now admits, he paid between $60 to $150 for sex acts with the girl referred to as Minor A. He also admitted to engaging in commercial sex acts with three other teenage girls. He is no longer employed by the department. Whitley’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
The mechanisms that allowed prosecutors to pursue Whitley at the federal level are often used for gun crimes. Invoking condoms as an avenue to interstate commerce is a different twist.
“The gun traveling is analogous to the condom traveling,” said Juliet Sorensen, a Northwestern University law professor and former federal prosecutor. “The person who pulled the trigger may not have traveled, but the gun did. This police officer may not have traveled, but an aspect that he used to commit the crime did.”
Most LifeStyles condoms are manufactured in Thailand and India. Trojan corporate parent Church & Dwight is headquartered is in Ewing, N.J., and some of its varieties are made in Thailand and Japan, according to packaging.
A federal sex trafficking charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a distinction that may have been important to prosecutors, Sorensen said. If Whitley would have been charged with the most serious level of sex crime in state court, a Class X felony, the minimum prison time would have been six years.
The U.S. attorney’s office also may have been making a policy statement about the seriousness of human trafficking when it made its decision to charge Whitley, she said.
The preface to the “Principles of Federal Prosecution” page on the U.S. Department of Justice website offers a detailed explanation on how these decision should be made. The highlight: “A determination to prosecute represents a policy judgment that the fundamental interests of society require the application of federal criminal law to a particular set of circumstances — recognizing both that serious violations of federal law must be prosecuted, and that prosecution entails profound consequences for the accused, crime victims, and their families.”
Joseph Fitzpatrick, the spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, declined to go into the specific reasoning why Whitley was charged federally.
Prosecutors said Whitley violated Title 18, Sections 1591(a)(1) of the United States Code, which addresses sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion. Whitley’s sex acts with Minor A meant he “knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, maintained, patronized, and solicited” a minor, prosecutors said.
Whitley, 61, who worked for more than two decades as a Chicago police officer, paid for sex with underage teen runaways at parties, in his apartment and even in his vehicle while riding around with his partner, federal prosecutors say. Whitley also took graphic photos of many of the girls on top of his leopard-print bedspread and had their numbers stored in his phone under names such as “Bunny,” “Mocha” and “Jasmine.” He was arrested in November 2016.
Minor A, who was 14 at the time of the sex acts, told investigators she initially lied to Whitley and told him she was 23. She wore metal braces on her teeth at the time. Data recovered from the girl’s phone showed Whitley called or texted her hundreds of times.
Whitley told the girl he was a police officer and kept his police uniform hanging up in his apartment on his bedroom door, according to court documents, and also kept a loaded firearm under his pillow on the bed where he engaged in commercial sex acts with the girl.
In the plea agreement, Whitley also acknowledged he paid for sex acts with three other girls during his time as a police officer between 2012 and 2015.
Although Whitley faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, he could receive more. He also will have to register as a sex offender.
On Friday, Whitley, out on bond pending sentencing, was ordered jailed by U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall after he failed to find a place to live that did not violate the terms of the sex offender registry. With Whitley unable to find a place to stay that met the guidelines, and with Friday as his deadline to register, Kendall ordered federal marshals to detain him.
Whitley’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
The Tribune’s Jason Meisner contributed.
poconnell@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @pmocwriter
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Chicago cop pleads guilty to having sex with 14-year-old girl, admits similar conduct with 3 other minors » | – A former cop who paid underage girls for sex is facing a harsher sentence over his brand of condom, the Chicago Tribune reports. William Whitley, 61, pleaded guilty this week in federal court to sex trafficking of a minor and will likely serve 10 years to life. Prosecutors leveled federal charges partly because his condoms—LifeStyles and Trojan Magnums—were manufactured outside of Illinois, meaning he engaged in interstate commerce, the Kansas City Star reports. His use of a cellphone to snap sexually explicit photos of two girls and paying them with money also hit the "federal nexus," prosecutors say. The condom brands were included in the FBI's criminal complaint the way guns often are. "The gun traveling is analogous to the condom traveling," says a law professor and former federal prosecutor. "The person who pulled the trigger may not have traveled, but the gun did. This police officer may not have traveled, but an aspect that he used to commit the crime did." Whitley claimed he didn't know one of the girls was 14 when they had sex over a four-month period in 2015, but investigators suggested that her braces could have tipped him off. He met the other girl, a 16-year-old runaway, at a party where runaways prostituted themselves to older men. She says she gave him oral sex five times for $60 to $65 each. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Whitley, a 20-year veteran of the Chicago PD, will be sentenced in September. |
LONDON — European airlines, which have already lost millions of euros in revenue due to a flying ban over much of Northern and Central Europe that has been extended into Monday, questioned the basis of the ban Sunday after some airlines successfully completed test flights.
Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG were among those flying test flights without passengers, with KLM saying that it had successfully flown 10 flights at normal flying altitudes without any problems and no damage to aircraft. The Dutch carrier said it had sent the results of its tests to the Dutch Transport Ministry and is ... |||||
EU transport ministers are to hold emergency talks by video conference on easing the air travel crisis caused by a volcanic ash cloud in Europe's skies. More than 6.8 million passengers have been affected so far, as the crisis enters its fifth day. Airports and airlines are questioning the need for curbs said to be costing airlines $200m (£130m) a day. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has criticised European governments' response. "We must move away from this blanket closure and find ways to flexibly open air space, step by step," IATA head Giovanni Bisignani told a news briefing in Paris. MAJOR EU AIRPORTS 0800 19/04 Heathrow - closed Frankfurt - closed after reopening on a limited basis for several hours on Sunday Paris Charles de Gaulle - closed Schipol, Amsterdam - closed Rome - limited service Madrid - limited service The enormous shroud of fine mineral dust particles now stretches from the Arctic Circle in the north to the French Mediterranean coast in the south, and from Spain into Russia. Airspace remains closed, or partially closed, in more than 20 countries. Sixty-three thousand flights have been cancelled in the four days since the clampdown began. And the prospect of a return to normal air travel remains far from clear. Speaking ahead of the EU talks, Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said: "We cannot just wait until this ash cloud dissipates." The Spanish Minister for Europe, Diego Lopez Garrido, had said on Sunday that up to half of the flights across Europe could operate on Monday. He was speaking after talks with Eurocontrol, which co-ordinates air traffic control in 38 nations. It had recommended the current flight ban. But Brian Flynn, deputy head of operations for Eurocontrol, told the BBC that while half of the European landmass could be clear of ash cloud, that did not mean half of the flights could go ahead. The flight bans came amid fears that the ash - a mixture of glass, sand and rock particles - can seriously damage aircraft engines. The international airports council, ACI, said a total of 313 airports had been paralysed by the restrictions and the global backlog was affecting more than 6.8 million travellers. In another development, hundreds of thousands of Kenyans working in agriculture, the country's largest export sector, face economic uncertainty because of the flight bans. Refrigerated stores at Nairobi airport and on farms are now completely full, and a huge amount of fresh flowers and vegetables destined for the European market is in danger of perishing, the BBC's East Africa correspondent, Will Ross, reports. The problems have also led to the postponement of next Saturday's Japanese MotoGP. Data assessment The EU transport ministers' video conference, hosted by Spain, is set to consider a proposal that passengers from countries like Britain, who are stranded in the US or Asia, would fly into Spain and then continue their journey by train, boat or coach. ANALYSIS Robert Peston, BBC Business Editor The two biggest British airlines are incurring painful losses. British Airways is losing around £25m ($38m) a day; and Easyjet up to £5m ($7.6m) a day. But they also have substantial borrowing facilities and cash, and can cope with a financial pain so long as it doesn't last too long. Many other airlines across Europe are less fortunate, which is why ministers are telling me that a Europe-wide financial support scheme for the airline industry - funded by taxpayers - is a very live issue. As for the impact on the wider economy, supermarkets say that supplies of imported flowers and exotic fruit and vegetables are beginning to run low. And businesses dependant on air freight are hurting. But the crisis would probably have to endure for many more days yet for the cost to be big enough to upset Europe's economic recovery. Peston: Airlines to ask for help Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings was "advocating for a different approach to the problem", the Dutch transport inspectorate said. This would entail "drawing a distinction between areas with low concentrations and those with high concentrations" of ash when making decisions on air safety. The UK Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, said information from various test flights on Sunday, assessing the impact of the dust on jet engines, would be considered during the conference. Siim Kallas said European authorities were working to find a solution that did not compromise safety. Southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano began erupting for the second time in a month on Wednesday. Iceland's Meteorological Office said tremors from the volcano had grown more intense but the column of ash rising from it had eased to around 5km (3.1 miles). Ash still 'very worrying' Britain has extended a ban on most flights in its airspace until at least 1900 local time on Monday (1800 GMT). Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands are keeping their airspace closed until 1200 GMT on Monday. Spain has re-opened its airspace after a brief closure. Officials there have suggested its airports could be used as an entry platform into Europe. Our business editor, Robert Peston, understands that British Airways fears it may not be allowed to fly normal services until Thursday at the earliest. One measure being discussed by the British government is the possibility of deploying the Royal Navy to collect some of the estimated 150,000 Britons who are stranded abroad. While several airlines carried out test flights and reported planes showing no obvious damage after flying through the ash, a scientific test flight over Britain concluded that the situation could still be dangerous.
I've been stranded in Madrid since Thursday. We've been told we cannot get a flight until 26 April at the earliest.
Christine Blanchard
Volcano ash: Your stories Dr Guy Gratton, who was part of the scientific team, said: "It's still quite a complex mixture of clear air and very worrying but invisible volcanic ash at all sorts of heights." Weather experts say wind patterns mean the cloud is not likely to move far until later in the week. Eurocontrol said there were only 5,000 flights in European airspace on Sunday, against 24,000 normally.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version | – EU leaders are meeting in an emergency session today to discuss continued flight bans in the wake of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. They're meeting by video teleconference because leaders can't fly anywhere. "We cannot just wait until this ash cloud dissipates," said EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas. Increasingly angry airline officials are demanding flight bans be lifted, accusing governments of crisis mismanagement. The International Airline Association blasted the lack of "risk assessment, consultation, management and leadership," AP reports. The decision to close the airspace "was made exclusively as a result of data from a computer simulation in London," an Air Berlin spokesman complained to the Wall Street Journal. Several test flights over the weekend have revealed that engines suffered no harmful effects from the ash. Airport shutdowns have affected some 6.8 million travelers and are costing airlines $200 million a day in lost revenue, reports the BBC. Airspace is closed or partially closed in 20 countries. |
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When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| Members of 'Women of the Wall' group wear prayer shawls and one (C) wearing Tefillin, leather straps and boxes containing sacred parchments, that Orthodox law says only men should don, during a monthly prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013.
A member of 'Women of the Wall' group (2nd R) wears a prayer shawl and Tefillin, leather straps and boxes containing sacred parchments, that Orthodox law says only men should don, during a monthly prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013.
Israeli policemen block ultra-Orthodox Jewish women as members of 'Women of the Wall' group (not pictured) leave the Western Wall after a monthly prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013.
An Israeli policeman (L) holds back ultra-Orthodox Jewish men as they protest against the 'Women of the Wall' group during a monthly prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013.
A member of 'Women of the Wall' group wears a prayer shawl and Tefillin, leather straps and boxes containing sacred parchments, that Orthodox law says only men should don, during a monthly prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013.
An Israeli policewoman (R) holds back ultra-Orthodox Jewish men as they protest against the 'Women of the Wall' group during a monthly prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police held back thousands of ultra-conservative Jews who tried to drive liberal women worshippers from Judaism's sacred Western Wall on Friday, marking a shift in the authorities' handling of a long-running religious schism.
Ultra-Orthodox protesters dressed in traditional dark clothing threw chairs and water at the women, then later stoned their buses. Two policemen were hurt.
Previously police detained members of Women of the Wall, a group challenging the Orthodox monopoly over rites at Jerusalem's Western Wall, for wearing prayer shawls in violation of Orthodox tradition.
This time police arrested five religious protesters instead.
The police response followed a court ruling last month that found that the group was not in violation of the law.
The issue is at the heart of a long struggle between a secular majority and an ultra-Orthodox minority over lifestyle in a country where institutions such as marriage, divorce and burial are controlled by religious authorities.
Dozens of border policemen formed a cordon to keep the protesters at the site - revered as part of the Biblical Jewish Temple compound - from charging at the approximately 100 women and some male supporters as they prayed.
"They're desecrating the site of our holy temple," shouted one of the hundreds of Orthodox women who also came to protest against Women of the Wall.
Yocheved Malachi called it shocking that women would wear prayer shawls or other religious gear, which Orthodox tradition reserves solely for men.
Friday's prayers were the first in weeks in which police avoided any showdown with Women of the Wall, whose members have been detained in the past and charged with disruption for violating Orthodox traditions at a holysite. They are seeking a greater role in prayer ritual.
"I'm seeing signs of progress," one woman worshipper, Lisa Kainan, said about the police presence at the site.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked former cabinet minister and Jewish leader Natan Sharansky to seek a compromise to permit the Women of the Wall to hold prayers without exacerbating tensions with the ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Sharansky has since proposed a formula to widen a separate zone at the Western Wall once designated for egalitarian prayer, a suggestion neither side nor the government has yet embraced.
Also spurring Israel's drive to resolve the dispute is the growing support for the Women of the Wall movement among Jews in the United States, Israel's main ally.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan) ||||| Haredi worshippers clashed with police in Jerusalem's Old City early Friday in the wake of the court authorization for the Women of the Wall to pray at the Jewish holy site.
Thousands of female haredi worshipers arrived at the site, heeding the call of community leaders rabbis Ovadia Yosef and Aharon Leib Shteinman who entreated female Ulpan students to hold a mass prayer at the Western Wall on Friday in an attempt to push aside the Women of Wall prayer set for the same time. However, the rabbis stressed there is no need to act provocatively or violently.
Holy Site Zionist rabbis vs. Women of Wall Kobi Nachshoni Religious Zionism leaders join battle against liberal female worshippers following court ruling allowing them to wear prayer shawl at Western Wall. Yeshiva students prepare to gather at holy site on Friday during women's monthly prayer Zionist rabbis vs. Women of Wall
A mass brawl erupted at the site at around 6:30 am, during which garbage, water, coffee and various objects were flung at dozens of Women of the Wall and police forming a human barrier between the female group and the ultra-Orthodox. Three yeshiva students were detained during the clashes. Two police officers were injured lightly.
Women of the Wall (photo: Gil Yohanan)
The protest comes in response to a Jerusalem District Court ruling last month, whereby the Women of the Wall may conduct their pluralistic customs in the holy site.
Knesset members Miri Regev (Likud ) and Tamar Zandberg (Meretz ) arrived on the scene. Zandberg described the scenes as "tumultuous and exciting," saying those objecting to the female group's right to pray at the site have shown themselves to be seeking antagonism at any cost.
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Isaac Pindar (United Torah Judaism) branded Women of the Wall "the women of provocation." Pindar told Ynet the thousands of haredi women who came this morning to hold a mass prayer nearby were "the true women of the wall."
Police forces at the scene restraining a haredi man (photo: Gil Yohanan)
Reform Movement CEO Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who also arrived at the site, said the leaders of the haredi public "desecrated the sanctity" of the Western Wall by calling on ultra-Orthodox to confront the Women of the Wall.
The Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovich said "these pictures hurt the eye. The Jewish Torah should unify and I ask the Lord above to give everyone the wisdom to overcome the controversy."
He added a compromise regarding the praying sectors at the site was achieved through a Supreme Court ruling over a decade ago, but "a small group nevertheless decided to start the argument all over."
The riot again brings to the fore the issue of religion’s role – and the authority wielded by religious authorities associated with religious practice – in the modern State of Israel . In addition to being portrayed as the epicenter of Jewish prayer, the Western Wall is simultaneously a holy site and a site used for ceremonies such as soldiers’ swearing-in ceremonies and other national activities.
Until now, the site has been run in the manner of an Orthodox synagogue, with a high partition separating men’s and women’s prayer areas. Women coming to attend a bar mitzvah (a coming-of-age ceremony for boys at age 13) have had to climb up on chairs to peek over the partition in order to be part of the festivities.
Women of the Wall's Catherine Leff, 17, whose father is a Conservative rabbi, said the events actually strengthened the group and encouraged the members to sing and pray even louder. She said that at some point the haredim began to spit at the women until police cleared them from the area. According to Leff, the bus which transported the Women of the Wall out of compound was pelted with huge stones, but no one was injured.
Students enrolled in the Reform Movement's pre-military academy were also on hand to support the Women of the Wall. "We arrived from Tel Aviv to show our support," one of them said. "It is also a lesson in democracy, as there is no law that forbids women from praying in this manner."
During the prayer, a woman approached the yeshiva students and yelled out "Israel's chief rabbi will be a woman." She was immediately removed from the area by police.
Yaakov, a 21-year-old haredi, said, "What these women are doing is disgraceful and against the Torah. We will continue to fight them. A woman draped in a tallit (prayer shawl) is ridiculous. Jews do not act this way. I am willing to get arrested. Some things justify a violent reaction." ||||| Israeli soldiers stand still as a siren sounds nationwide during a ceremony marking Memorial Day at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City April 14, 2013.
JERUSALEM |
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Women seeking equal prayer rights at the Western Wall are planning a further challenge to Jewish Orthodox tradition at the site after a court ruling bolstered their cause, an activist said on Sunday.
The Women of the Wall movement hopes to have its members read from a Torah (holy scriptures) scroll at the Jerusalem site, a ritual reserved under Orthodox practice for men only, when it holds its monthly prayer session there on May 10, according to Anat Hoffman, a leader of the group.
The women have already broken with tradition in gatherings at the Western Wall, which is divided into separate men's and women's sections, by wearing prayer shawls that Orthodox law says only men should don.
Israeli police, saying they were enforcing Supreme Court guidelines on keeping the peace and following local customs at the site, have routinely arrested women worshippers from the group during the prayer meetings.
The protests have exposed a rift between Israel's government, which supports Orthodox practice at the Western Wall, and the U.S. Jewish Reform and Conservative movements, in whose synagogues men and women sit together.
In a ruling that Women of the Wall called revolutionary, the Jerusalem District Court said on Thursday that customs change and women should not be arrested for wearing prayer shawls at the site.
Women reading from the Torah at the Western Wall, revered as part of the Biblical Jewish Temple compound, could cause further friction with Orthodox worshippers.
Earlier this month, an envoy appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek a compromise over religious practices at the holy site proposed adding a mixed-gender section for non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism.
Hoffman told Reuters she planned to meet with the envoy, former Israeli cabinet minister Natan Sharansky, on Monday.
"Then we will have a better understanding of what is on the table," she said.
Sharansky has said the plan to convert an old archaeological dig south of the Western Wall into an area where men and women would be allowed to mix and worship freely would not entail structural damage around nearby al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third-holiest site.
The sites came under Israel's control in the 1967 Middle East war when it captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Angus MacSwan) ||||| Protests at the Western Wall in Jerusalem opposing the Women of the Wall prayer group ended on Friday morning with the arrest of three haredi men suspected of disturbing the peace. Two police officers who suffered light injuries during the unrest were treated at the scene. A large number of security forces at the holy site attempted to create a human barrier between the men and women's sections.
Haredi protesters threw water bottles and other objects and shouted insults at the Women of the Wall activists, according to Israel Radio.
The Jerusalem Post
Post
Rabbi Susan Silverman, comedian Sarah Silverman's sister who prays with the Women of the Wall, was at the protest where she said that haredi men spit globs of spit on her three daughters, she told. Silverman also said that the haredim threw coffee at the Women of the Wall activists and that a little girl next to her was hit in the head with something hard.Silverman told thethat the haredi protesters represent "a fundamentalism and a belief in a single and very narrow view of God that I believe is idolatrous."Women of the Wall Spokesperson, Oshrat Ben Shimshon told Israel Radio, "Orthodox rabbis have determined that there is no halachik barrier to women praying with prayer shawls and tefillin and reading from the Torah."Meanwhile, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky said that a sustainable solution is urgent and this morning's clashes at the Western Wall dramatically reinforce Israel's need to allow any Jew, group of Jews or Jewish community to pray at the Western Wall according to their own customs.Sharansky praised police for the appropriate and level-headed action they have taken under extremely complicated circumstances, dealing with clashes and riots, and ensuring respect was given to those engaged in prayer.Several thousand yeshiva students and haredi school girls convened at the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem to protest the monthly prayer service of the Women of the Wall.The protesters shouted at the Women of the Wall activists as they were conducting their first monthly service without restrictions after a court ruling two weeks ago reinterpreted existing laws and allowed them to be able to perform their own customs, such as wearing prayer shawls and tefillin, without fear of being arrested.The idea to send haredi school girls to protest the Women of the Wall was devised by MKs from the United Torah Judaism party earlier this week in consultation with principals of haredi girls schools, on condition the initiative received approval from the leading haredi rabbis.According to a report on haredi website Kikar Hashabbat, spiritual leader of the haredi world Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman gave his blessing to the proposal on Thursday.Many participants in the Women of the Wall services don prayer shawls and perform other customs usually performed by men in Orthodox practice, that has until now been prohibited by state law, and as of late, women have been arrested on a frequent basis for wearing prayer shawls during the WoW services. A court ruling two weeks ago reinterpreted existing laws and the Women of the Wall will on Friday be able to perform their own customs.At a hearing of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women earlier this week, a representative of the Jerusalem Police confirmed that the police would not act against the recent Jerusalem District Court ruling which decided that WoW’s customs did not contravene “local custom,” that has been the basis for outlawing the group’s non- Orthodox customs.United Torah Judaism MK Yisrael Eichler expressed outrage during the committee hearing at what he referred to as the Women of the Wall’s “provocations.” He asked if the police would allow the right of protest and demonstration against the group’s prayer service.The Women of the Wall issued a statement on Thursday celebrating their new found freedoms.“We have the great merit that Israeli women will arrive in their masses tomorrow for the prayer service for the New Month of Sivan. We call on the public which supports us, women and men, to come and pray with us, to liberate the Western Wall and to turn it into to the home of everyone,” the group said. | – Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews showed up to protest a prayer gathering by the "Women of the Wall" at Jerusalem's holy Western Wall today, hurling chairs, water, and garbage at the women and stones at their buses, Reuters reports. In a reversal, police held back and clashed with the protesters and arrested five of them; in the past, they've detained Women of the Wall worshipers instead. The changed police response follows a court ruling that stated women shouldn't be arrested for wearing prayer shawls there; in Orthodox tradition, only men are permitted to wear the shawls. Sarah Silverman's sister, Rev. Susan Silverman, was among the Women of the Wall contingent. "SO proud of my amazing sister @rabbisusan & neice @ purplelettuce95 for their ballsout civil disobedience," the comedian tweeted. "Ur the tits!" There were many women among the Orthodox protesters as well, including a contingent of Haredi school girls, in a move dreamed up by the United Torah Party, the Jerusalem Post reports. Politicians are lining up on each side of the dispute, with some decrying the protesters' aggression and others, like the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, calling the Women of the Wall "the women of provocation," according to Ynetnews. |
Appalachian Trail hiker Geraldine Largay survived for nearly a month after getting lost along the trail in Franklin County in July 2013, and documented her final days in a journal that was among the personal effects found by the Maine Warden Service when it recovered her remains more than two years later.
The journal entries, as well as text messages she tried to send her husband on a cellphone that also was recovered, were among documents released Wednesday by the warden service that paint a picture of a slight misadventure that turned tragic when a massive search-and-rescue effort scoured the vast area in vain.
Excerpts from warden service report
“When you find my body, please call my husband George and my daughter Kerry,” Largay wrote in a journal entry dated Aug. 6. “It will be the greatest kindness for them to know that I am dead and where you found me – no matter how many years from now. Please find it in your heart to mail the contents of this bag to one of them.”
Problems began for Largay, a 66-year-old hiker from Brentwood, Tennessee, when she got lost after leaving the trail for a bathroom break while heading north en route to the Spaulding lean-to on July 22, 2013. At 11 a.m., she used her blue Samsung phone to text her husband: “In somm trouble. Got off trail to go to br. Now lost. Can u call AMC to c if a trail maintainer can help me. Somewhere north of woods road. Xox.”
But the message wouldn’t transmit because there was no cell coverage in the area. She tried sending the text 10 more times over the next hour and a half.
The next day, walking west through the dense and vast woods of northern Franklin County, seeking a higher elevation in the hopes of getting a cellphone signal, she tried texting her husband again at 4:18 p.m.: “Lost since yesterday. Off trail 3 or 4 miles. Call police for what to do pls. Xox.”
She tried sending it again 20 minutes later. Still nothing.
At that point, Largay decided her best chance of survival would be staying put. She set up a tent on a bed of pine needles and sticks, and wrote in a journal every day for at least the next 18 days. A final entry was dated Aug. 18 – 26 days after she set up camp.
The warden service found Largay’s remains and her campsite more than two years later, detailing the search-and-recovery effort in a report on Nov. 12, 2015, that was part of a 1,579-page case file obtained Wednesday by the Morning Sentinel. The warden service’s case file, which was first reported by the Boston Globe, contains hundreds of pages of evidence photographs, witness interviews and tips.
Largay kept the journal and her cellphone in a bag that was recovered by the warden service after a forester came across her tent and skeletal remains and led wardens to the site on Oct. 15, 2015. The warden service had not previously disclosed that a journal had been found there.
Warden service spokesman Cpl. John MacDonald declined to comment Wednesday when asked about the report and its contents.
David Fox, a friend of the Largay family who has previously acted as a spokesman, did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
A SINGLE CLUE TO GO ON
Largay, a through-hiker nicknamed “Inchworm,” started on the 2,184-mile Appalachian Trail in West Virginia in April with a friend, Jane Lee.
Largay’s husband of 42 years, George Largay, told police that the trail, which starts at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine, was on his wife’s “bucket list” and that he had supported the women along the way, meeting them at different locations and taking them to motels to sleep, do their laundry and shower.
Lee had to leave the trail because of a family emergency, and Largay decided to continue on alone. Her husband reported her missing on July 24, 2013, after she failed to show up at a prearranged meeting point on state Route 27 in Wyman Township. That was two days after she was last seen by other hikers early on July 22, at the Poplar Ridge lean-to.
Largay died in her sleeping bag inside a zipped tent, according to a report from the chief medical examiner released in January. She died from a lack of food and water and environmental exposure, the report said.
She was about 2 miles from the Appalachian Trail, on land belonging to the U.S. Navy. The warden service, volunteer groups, police and others looked for Largay over 26 months, and the search is considered one of the most lengthy and expensive in state history.
“Investigation would take time to work through several false leads, false identifications, and locating and finding hikers who had valuable information and continued to hike the trail,” Lt. Kevin Adam of the warden service wrote in his report filed Nov. 12, 2015.
After seven days of intense searching, the effort was suspended on July 30, 2013, though periodic efforts would continue over the coming months.
A photo of Largay taken at the Poplar Ridge lean-to by another hiker was the single clue that investigators had to go on.
“There were many leads over the next 26 months, ranging from persons of interest for possible criminal activity related to Gerry’s disappearance, identity theft involving Gerry’s personal information, geographic information by psychics, sightings in different states, to information suggesting Bigfoot was responsible for her disappearance,” Adam wrote in his report. “All of these leads were investigated with our investigative partners.”
The forester, who was working on a contract for the U.S. Navy, came across Largay’s tent and remains on Oct. 11, 2015.
POOR SENSE OF DIRECTION
Though Largay’s family and friends described her as an experienced hiker, the wardens’ case file indicated she had a poor sense of direction, and when she made a mistake would become easily flustered.
Lee, who described herself as Largay’s best friend, told the wardens about multiple occasions when she had to backtrack on the trail to find her hiking companion. In those cases, Largay had either become lost or had fallen behind, Lee told investigators. Lee also said her friend was scared of the dark and of being alone, and never wanted to bring extra supplies because she had a sore back and wanted to avoid carrying a heavy pack.
Lee, who didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday, told the wardens that she was certain Largay’s husband wasn’t aware of her struggles, and he too told them that “Gerry was probably in over her head.”
On Oct. 18, 2015, Adam and other game wardens met with Largay’s husband and other family members to show them where Largay was found, arriving at the site after hiking through thick softwood trees along the Appalachian Trail, into more open terrain with hardwoods, past old logging roads, down and up steep ridges and over brooks.
“After everyone finished looking around the campsite, the family left a cross where the tent was located along with several family mementos,” Adam wrote. “After clearing the campsite, we headed south.”
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This iframe contains the logic required to handle Ajax powered Gravity Forms. ||||| The haunting note, dated Aug. 6, 2013, was written on a torn-out page from a journal.
“When you find my body, please call my husband George and my daughter Kerry. It will be the greatest kindness for them to know that I am dead and where you found me — no matter how many years from now. Please find it in your heart to mail the contents of this bag to one of them.”
The bag included a cellphone and the journal.
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Geraldine Largay wrote the plaintive message to her family nearly two weeks after she went missing while hiking the Appalachian Trail in Western Maine, according to the official file on her disappearance released Wednesday by the Maine Warden Service.
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It appears that Largay, who was 66 and lived in Tennessee, survived for nearly four weeks after she was reported missing and three weeks after authorities had given up the search, which was one of the largest in Maine Warden Service history.
Rescuers at several times came within 100 yards of her, authorities said. But her body was not found until October 2015.
In the wardens’ file, which totals 1,579 pages, authorities said they believed that Largay went off the trail to use the bathroom and couldn’t find her way back. The site is densely wooded and in an area so remote it’s used by the Navy for survival and evasion training.
The file also says wardens found evidence that Largay attempted to text her husband after becoming lost, but the crucial texts were not delivered because of poor cell reception.
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In a text sent at 11:01 a.m. on July 22, 2013, Largay said, “In somm trouble. Got off trail to go to br. Now lost. Can u call AMC to c if a trail maintainer can help me. Somewhere north of woods road. XOX.”
At 4:18 p.m. on July 23, 2013, after spending her first night lost in the forest, she texted George, “Lost since yesterday. Off trail 3 or 4 miles. Call police for what to do pls. XOX.”
She attempted additional texts. According to the wardens, the last activity on her phone was dated Aug. 6, 2013, the day she wrote the note to her family.
The last entry in her journal is dated Aug. 18, meaning she apparently survived at least 26 days after she disappeared.
The wardens concluded that Largay made her way to higher ground in an attempt to get better cell coverage. She established a campground on a knoll.
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She set up her tent and made use of both her rain gear and an emergency Mylar blanket.
She appeared to have crafted a flag out of a branch and shirt and attempted to start a large fire, according to the newly released file, presumably to reveal her location.
Largay built a latrine area away from her tent and kept wrappers from her dwindling food supply — Clif bars, tuna fish packs, and Gatorade powder — tucked in a large Ziploc bag.
Wardens found a rosary among her possessions. She was just a 10-minute walk from a dirt trail that turns into a road. She died from a lack of food and environmental exposure.
Largay’s family requested privacy Wednesday while they took the time to read the file in depth.
John MacDonald, spokesman for the warden service, said Wednesday that the agency is drafting a statement regarding the release of the file that will be issued at a later date.
He also said no internal review of the warden’s search has been conducted or is planned at this time.
Deb Palman, who established the wardens’ K-9 search unit and currently heads up Maine’s only independent K-9 search firm, says conditions in the area made a successful search all but impossible.
“This is some of the worst country in Maine,” Palman said. “It’s hard to understand how logistically difficult this area was. On any given day, by the time a searcher would get close to where Largay was found, they’d have to turn around to make it back to their vehicles by nightfall.”
The release of the file is the latest chapter in the disappearance that has transfixed the region and the large community of hikers who traverse the Appalachian Trail.
Largay, an experienced hiker whose trail moniker was “Inchworm,” had started hiking the trail in April 2013 with her hiking partner, Jane Lee.
Their plan was to hike from Harpers Ferry, W. Va., to Maine’s Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the trail.
A family emergency forced Lee to leave the trail as the duo crossed into New Hampshire. Largay continued to hike solo. An old back injury prevented her from carrying a full backpack, so her husband would meet her along the way with fresh supplies.
George Largay last saw his wife on the morning of Sunday, July 21.
On that day, Geraldine Largay set out on what was to be a three-day hike beginning near Maine’s Saddleback Mountain and terminating just north of the Sugarloaf Ski Resort.
She was due to meet her husband at a parking lot off Route 27 there.
He arrived at the appointed time but was not able to locate Largay. Thinking that a severe rainstorm the day before might have waylaid her, he spent that night in their vehicle, hoping she would arrive.
The next morning, he hailed a State Police officer driving by and reported her missing.
According to the file, Largay established a campsite atop a knoll located on property owned by the Navy as part of their Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape school located there. She would stay there for the remaining days of her life.
The site, located near a stream, was thoughtful and orderly.
Largay built a platform of logs and pine boughs on which to pitch her tent.
While at the site, she also used a small black composition book as a daily journal. The cover of the journal includes what might have been Largay’s last written words: “George please read. Xoxo.” | – A lost hiker in Maine starved to death after waiting for rescue and then accepting her fate, heartbreaking journal entries have revealed. Geraldine Largay, a 66-year-old from Tennessee, disappeared while hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine on July 22, 2013, and the newly disclosed journal shows that she survived for at least 26 days, the Portland Press Herald reports. "When you find my body, please call my husband George and my daughter Kerry," she wrote in an Aug. 6 journal entry. "It will be the greatest kindness for them to know that I am dead and where you found me—no matter how many years from now." The final entry was dated Aug. 18. Her skeletal remains were discovered in a tent 3,000 feet from the trail more than two years later. Largay, who was trying to complete a "bucket list" hike from West Virginia to the trail's end solo after a friend left for a family emergency, was reported missing by her husband after she failed to make it to a rendezvous point. A huge search and rescue effort followed, but it was suspended after a week. According to a 1,579-page Maine Warden Service report, Largay became lost after leaving the trail to go to the bathroom, the Boston Globe reports. She tried to text her husband at least a dozen times, but she was unable to get a signal even after moving to higher ground. She then set up a campsite on a knoll, where authorities found a handmade flag and evidence she had tried to start a signal fire. On Oct. 18, 2015, a week after a forester found her body, her husband of 42 years and other family members joined wardens in a hike to the site, where they left a cross and family mementos. (Two "lost" hikers in North Carolina were found in a town 30 miles away.) |
"You slide down in your seat and make yourself comfortable. On the screen in front of you, the movie image appears—enormous and overwhelming. If the movie is a good one, you allow yourself to be absorbed in its fantasy, and its dreams become part of your memories"
Roger Ebert wrote those words in 1980 for The Atlantic magazine, a love letter to the medium that became his employer: the movies. After a 46-year tenure as film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, several decades hosting a hugely influential television show, a landmark Pulitzer Prize, and countless thumbs in both directions, Ebert died Thursday at age 70.
He loved the movies, and loved writing about them—and he was damned good at writing about them. His reviews were a unique combination of scholarly, witty, occasionally sarcastic, and masterfully entertaining. His ability to craft an exhilarating rave of a film was equally matched by his stinging zingers. As we remember him, here’s a look back at what one lifelong admirer considers his 10 best reviews. Plus, no retrospective on Ebert’s work would be complete without a roundup of his most biting takedowns.
E.T.—The Extra-Terrestrial
“This movie made my heart glad. It is filled with innocence, hope, and good cheer. It is also wickedly funny and exciting as hell. E.T.—The Extra-Terrestrial is a movie like The Wizard of Oz, that you can grow up with and grow old with, and it won't let you down. It tells a story about friendship and love. Some people are a little baffled when they hear it described: It's about a relationship between a little boy and a creature from outer space that becomes his best friend. That makes it sound like a cross between The Thing and National Velvet. It works as science fiction, it's sometimes as scary as a monster movie, and at the end, when the lights go up, there's not a dry eye in the house.”
—March 22, 2002
Casablanca
“If we identify strongly with the characters in some movies, then it is no mystery that Casablanca is one of the most popular films ever made. It is about a man and a woman who are in love, and who sacrifice love for a higher purpose. This is immensely appealing; the viewer is not only able to imagine winning the love of Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman, but unselfishly renouncing it, as a contribution to the great cause of defeating the Nazis…
Seeing the film over and over again, year after year, I find it never grows over-familiar. It plays like a favorite musical album; the more I know it, the more I like it. The black-and-white cinematography has not aged as color would. The dialogue is so spare and cynical it has not grown old-fashioned. Much of the emotional effect of Casablanca is achieved by indirection; as we leave the theater, we are absolutely convinced that the only thing keeping the world from going crazy is that the problems of three little people do after all amount to more than a hill of beans.”
—September 15, 1996
Toy Story
“Toy Story creates a universe out of a couple of kids’ bedrooms, a gas station, and a stretch of suburban highway. Its heroes are toys, which come to life when nobody is watching. Its conflict is between an old-fashioned cowboy who has always been a little boy's favorite toy, and the new space ranger who may replace him. The villain is the mean kid next door who takes toys apart and puts them back together again in macabre combinations. And the result is a visionary roller-coaster ride of a movie.
Get The Beast In Your Inbox! Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast. Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't). By clicking “Subscribe,” you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Subscribe Thank You! You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason.
For the kids in the audience, a movie like this will work because it tells a fun story, contains a lot of humor, and is exciting to watch. Older viewers may be even more absorbed, because Toy Story, the first feature made entirely by computer, achieves a three-dimensional reality and freedom of movement that is liberating and new. The more you know about how the movie was made, the more you respect it.”
—November 22, 1995
Raging Bull
“Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull is a movie about brute force, anger, and grief. It is also, like several of Scorsese's other movies, about a man's inability to understand a woman except in terms of the only two roles he knows how to assign her: virgin or whore. There is no room inside the mind of the prizefighter in this movie for the notion that a woman might be a friend, a lover, or a partner. She is only, to begin with, an inaccessible sexual fantasy. And then, after he has possessed her, she becomes tarnished by sex. Insecure in his own manhood, the man becomes obsessed by jealousy—and releases his jealousy in violence…
The equation between his prizefighting and his sexuality is inescapable, and we see the trap he's in: LaMotta is the victim of base needs and instincts that, in his case, are not accompanied by the insights and maturity necessary for him to cope with them. The raging bull. The poor sap.”
—January 1, 1980
Platoon
“It was Francois Truffaut who said that it's not possible to make an anti-war movie, because all war movies, with their energy and sense of adventure, end up making combat look like fun. If Truffaut had lived to see Platoon, the best film of 1986, he might have wanted to modify his opinion. Here is a movie that regards combat from ground level, from the infantryman's point of view, and it does not make war look like fun.”
—December 30, 1986
Beauty and the Beast
"Beauty and the Beast slipped around all my roadblocks and penetrated directly into my strongest childhood memories, in which animation looked more real than live-action features. Watching the movie, I found myself caught up in a direct and joyous way. I wasn't reviewing an 'animated film.' I was being told a story, I was hearing terrific music, and I was having fun. The film is as good as any Disney animated feature ever made—as magical as Pinocchio, Snow White, The Little Mermaid. And it's a reminder that animation is the ideal medium for fantasy, because all of its fears and dreams can be made literal."
—November 22, 1991
Titanic
“James Cameron’s 194-minute, $200 million film of the tragic voyage is in the tradition of the great Hollywood epics. It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted, and spellbinding. If its story starts well within the traditional formulas for such pictures, well, you don’t choose the most expensive film ever made as your opportunity to reinvent the wheel. …
Movies like this are not merely difficult to make at all, but almost impossible to make well. The technical difficulties are so daunting that it’s a wonder when the filmmakers are also able to bring the drama and history into proportion. I found myself convinced by both story and saga.”
—December 19, 1997
Hoop Dreams
“A film like Hoop Dreams is what the movies are for. It takes us, shakes us, and makes us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself.
Hoop Dreams is, on one level, a documentary about two black kids named William Gates and Arthur Agee, from Chicago’s inner city, who are gifted basketball players and dream of someday starring in the NBA. On another level, it is about much larger subjects: about ambition, competition, race, and class in our society. About our value structures. And about the daily lives of people like the Agee and Gates families, who are unusually invisible to the mass media, but have a determination and resiliency that is a cause for hope.”
—October 21, 1994
Star Wars
“Every once in a while I have what I think of as an out-of-the-body experience at a movie. When the ESP people use a phrase like that, they're referring to the sensation of the mind actually leaving the body and spiriting itself off to China or Peoria or a galaxy far, far away. When I use the phrase, I simply mean that my imagination has forgotten it is actually present in a movie theater and thinks it's up there on the screen. In a curious sense, the events in the movie seem real, and I seem to be a part of them.
Star Wars works like that. My list of other out-of-the-body films is a short and odd one, ranging from the artistry of Bonnie and Clyde or Cries and Whispers to the slick commercialism of Jaws and the brutal strength of Taxi Driver. On whatever level (sometimes I'm not at all sure) they engage me so immediately and powerfully that I lose my detachment, my analytical reserve. The movie's happening, and it's happening to me.”
—January 1, 1977
Fargo
“Fargo begins with an absolutely dead-on familiarity with small-town life in the frigid winter landscape of Minnesota and North Dakota. Then it rotates its story through satire, comedy, suspense and violence, until it emerges as one of the best films I've ever seen.
To watch it is to experience steadily mounting delight, as you realize the filmmakers have taken enormous risks, gotten away with them and made a movie that is completely original, and as familiar as an old shoe—or a rubbersoled hunting boot from Land's End, more likely.”
—March 8, 1996
Ebert’s Best Burns
"Was there no one connected with this project who read the screenplay, considered the story, evaluated the proposed film and vomited?"
—from Last Rites review, November 19, 1988
"This is an old idea, beautifully expressed by Wordsworth, who said, 'Heaven lies about us in our infancy.' If I could quote the whole poem instead of completing this review, believe me, we'd all be happier. But I press on."
—from Baby Geniuses review, March 12, 1999
“I will one day be thin, but Vincent Gallo will always be the director of The Brown Bunny.”
—from The Brown Bunny review, September 3, 2004
“Watching Mad Dog Time is like waiting for the bus in a city where you're not sure they have a bus line."
—from Mad Dog Time review, November 29, 1996
"Valentine's Day is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it's more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date."
—from Valentine’s Day review, February 10, 2010
"Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo makes a living cleaning fish tanks and occasionally prostituting himself. How much he charges I'm not sure, but the price is worth it if it keeps him off the streets and out of another movie."
—from Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo review, August 12, 2005
"There is a movie called Fargo playing right now. It is a masterpiece. Go see it. If you, under any circumstances, see Little Indian, Big City, I will never let you read one of my reviews again."
—from Little Indian, Big City review, March 22, 1996
"Battlefield Earth is like taking a bus trip with someone who has needed a bath for a long time. It's not merely bad; it's unpleasant in a hostile way."
—from Battlefield Earth review, May 12, 2000
"If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination."
—from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen review, June 23, 2009
"I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."
—from North review, July 22, 1994 ||||| >>> a personal look at the life of one of the best-known film critics of our time. roger ebert is out with a new autobiography and natalie sat down with him recently.
>> good morning to you, matt. roger ebert 's battle with thyroid cancer left him without his jaw and the ability to speak and eat. but he has not lost his voice as america's most beloved and prominent film critic and now blogger. in fact he's busier than ever with a new memoir called "life itself."
>> at that moment i was thinking i don't like it.
>> they were the famed duo that gave us the trademarked, thumb's up or thumb's down at "at the movies."
>> initially, roger ebert and gene siskel were film critics . they were stars, their routine became legendary.
>> we have to review the character on the screen, gene, not your theories about what these guys are like.
>> but it came to a saddened when gene siskel died of cancer in 1999 . three years later, ebert was diagnosed with thyroid and salivary gland cancer. the disease took his lower jaw and his ability to speak, eat and drink.
>> top on my list is " citizen cane ." now he speaks through alex, his computer-generated voice. we sat down to talk about his new memoir, "life itself."
>> you did not know at the time that you had thyroid cancer , that you would never be able to speak again. as you began to realize that, what went through your mind?
>> there was never a time when anyone told me i would never speak again. naturally, i felt awful. but i had to accept reality.
>> a reality that included a new voice. and when ebert blogs, over 100 million people are reading. no surprise, last year, he was awarded a webby for person of the year.
>> the conversations that you have with your readers online, writing your blogs, how much is that like sitting down at the dinner table with you, roger ebert ?
>> with facebook, twitter and the comments on my blog, i feel i'm involved in an actual conversation with me, the social media really are social.
>> but his bluntness online took some heat this summer, after "jackass" star, ryan dunn 's deadly crash. dunn had posted this photo of himself drinking before the accident. ebert tweeted -- friends don't let jackasses drink and drive. he later explained in his blog, i was probably too quick to tweet. but recently told us, the tweet was the truth. for ebert , honesty is the best policy. even when it's about his own appearance.
>> you say the best thing that happened to you was when they showed a full-page photo of what you look like now in "esquire" magazine. why is that?
>> well, this is what i look like, so there's no purpose in hiding it. what you see is what you get.
>> your memories growing up are so descriptive about having root beers and frosty mugs with your father.
>> i find that when i am actually writing, memories appear in my mind.
>> vivid childhood memories , he writes i was born inside the movie of my life. he describes a good life. eating steakburgers at the steak and shake and chuckles candies at the movies. a childhood as american as a normal rockwell painting.
>> i was always extroverted. now i am forced to live more within my mind.
>> a beautiful day .
>> ebert credits his wife of 20 years for encouraging him to keep going. he writes, she was like a wind pushing me back from the grave.
>> chaz is a force of nature . when she decides on something, her determination is awesome. she knew i could still work as a film critic and she was right. she has done a great deal to make that possible.
>> ebert still travels to film festivals , attends at least five screenings a week, and with his wife, chaz, produces " ebert presents at the movies."
>> gene siskel , who you spent 23 years with, you two had a little bit of that love/hate relationship.
>> it's thiler week on " siskel and ebert week at the movies."
>> you said if you had a sitcom it would be called "best enemies." he really was like a brother to you. if he were alive today, what woe say to you now?
>> he would have been wholehearted in my corner through the troubles. although as a way of life we shared a deep understanding of one another. he would also have continued to make jokes about me. well, at least you don't need a bookmark any more to find your chin.
>> well, we saw roger walking in and they said, one of everything to go.
>> you once asked your doctor to put coca-cola through your g-tube. why?
>> i still have cokes once in a while . i like a caffeine.
>> these guys, right? this is eventage.
>> while ebert may be robbed of his ability to eat and drink, he still enjoys some guilty pleasures. two thumbs up. there's a beautiful passage in the book, really talks about how roger looks at life and ha he's been through. can you read that for me?
>> we must try to contribute joy to the world . that is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. we must try. i didn't always know this, and i'm happy i lived long enough to find it out.
>> i feel i'm lucky that i can still do what i love, and be of some use to people. it's a waste of time feeling sorry for yourself. because it doesn't change anything or help anything. you just have to keep on keeping on.
>> and matt, one thing that roger ebert told me is that a lot of people say he's courageous for continuing to do and be busier than ever. but in fact, he says, that's not the case. because he continues to be the same person. he's just doing what he always did. don't call him courageous.
>> a remarkable guy.
>> he really is. so vibrant. | – Roger Ebert loved good movies—here's his top 10—but those reviews aren't nearly as fun as the ones for god-awful flicks. Some of the slams getting passed around in the wake of his death today: Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo: "Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks." (After Rob Schneider questioned the credentials of an earlier reviewer.) North: "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained it." Last Rites: "Was there no one connected with this project who read the screenplay, considered the story, evaluated the proposed film and vomited?" Brown Bunny: “I will one day be thin, but Vincent Gallo will always be the director of The Brown Bunny.” Mad Dog: “Watching Mad Dog Time is like waiting for the bus in a city where you're not sure they have a bus line." Little Indian, Big City: "There is a movie called Fargo playing right now. It is a masterpiece. Go see it. If you, under any circumstances, see Little Indian, Big City, I will never let you read one of my reviews again." Baby Geniuses: "This is an old idea, beautifully expressed by Wordsworth, who said, 'Heaven lies about us in our infancy.' If I could quote the whole poem instead of completing this review, believe me, we'd all be happier. But I press on." For more, see Today.com and the Daily Beast. |
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump Donald TrumpTrump attending Women's Open on Saturday in NJ Castro to Trump: Cuba doesn't need 'lessons' from the US Trump golf course may not host Scottish Open due to concern over 'politics' MORE stands atop the 2016 GOP presidential field in the first national poll since he was roundly criticized for his comments about Sen. John McCain’s war record.
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Trump holds 18 percent support among Republicans in a CNN/ORC International Poll released Sunday morning. Jeb Bush follows in second place with 15 percent.
Since a similar poll in late June, Trump’s support has risen 6 percentage points.
“There's a movement going on, this is more than me,” Trump said while discussing the latest poll results Sunday morning on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington I can't say I’m unhappy or anything, I'm just not that surprised.”
The poll also found that most Republican voters want Donald Trump to remain in the GOP presidential race.
Fifty two percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want the outspoken real estate magnate to stay in the race, according to the CNN/ORC poll.
Thirty three percent want him to drop out, however, and 15 percent say he should run as an independent.
Trump told The Hill in an exclusive interview last week that he would consider a third-party run if RNC leaders were unfair to him during the primary process.
Among all respondents, 40 percent expect former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to be the Republican nominee.
Eighteen percent think Trump will be the nominee and 11 percent think Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will emerge as the GOP nominee.
Thirty one percent of Republicans, however, expect Bush to represent the party in 2016. Twenty two percent predicted Trump will be the nominee and 14 percent selected Walker.
The poll of 1,017 adults was conducted between July 22 and 25th, after Trump mocked McCain’s time as a prisoner of war, drawing condemnation from a broad spectrum of Republicans. The poll has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.
--Sarah Ferris contributed to this report, which was updated at 11:41 a.m. ||||| (CNN) In the first national telephone poll since Donald Trump earned rebukes from Republican leaders over his comments about Senator John McCain's military service, the real estate mogul has increased his support among GOP voters and now stands atop the race for the party's nomination.
The new CNN/ORC Poll finds Trump at 18% support among Republicans, with former Florida governor Jeb Bush just behind at 15%, within the poll's margin of error.
They are joined at the top of the pack by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with 10% support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are registered to vote. Trump's backing has climbed 6 points since a late-June poll, while support for Bush and Walker has not changed significantly.
None of the other 14 candidates tested in the new CNN/ORC survey earned double-digit support.
Though Trump currently tops the race for the nomination, his advantage is by no means firm. A majority of Republican voters, 51%, say they see the field as wide open, and that it's too soon to say which candidate they will ultimately get behind. Among that group that see the contest as wide open, Bush has 14% support, while Trump has the backing of 13% and Walker stands at 9%.
Trump does much better among those Republicans who say they've narrowed it down to one or two candidates, 24% of that group backs him, 16% Bush and 12% Walker.
Trump's popularity among Republican voters does not translate to the broader pool of registered voters. When tested in hypothetical general election matchups against top Democrats, he trails both frontrunner Hillary Clinton and upstart Senator Bernie Sanders by wide margins. Bush and Walker run just behind Clinton and about even with Sanders.
Trump's unfavorability rating is sky high. Overall, 59% of all registered voters have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, though that dips to 42% among GOP voters.
None of the other Republicans landing near the top of the field have such a negative image nationwide, though many remain little known.
Clinton is the only candidate who is about as well-known as Trump, and while she is more well-liked than the developer, her favorability rating is net negative among registered voters nationally: 49% have an unfavorable view while 44% have a positive impression.
Still, the poll suggests Republican voters haven't yet had their fill of Trump. A majority (52%) say they'd like to see Trump continue his run for the GOP nomination, including nearly six in 10 conservatives, tea party supporters and white evangelicals. Even among those Republican voters who support someone other than Trump, 42% say they'd like him to remain in the field.
The Republican electorate is more enthusiastic about next year's vote than the Democrats are. The poll finds 46% of Democratic voters say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting for president next year, compared with 55% of Republican voters. But enthusiasm is down in both parties compared with June of 2011, when 61% of Republican registered voters and 55% of Democratic registered voters were that enthusiastic.
In another positive sign for Trump's candidacy, among those Republicans who are enthusiastic about voting next year, Trump holds a larger edge over his competition: 22% say they would back him for their party's nomination, compared with 14% who back Bush and 12% behind Walker.
Overall, about three-quarters of Republicans are satisfied with their choices, more so than in 2011 at this time (about two-thirds were satisfied then), but still, just 23% say they are "very satisfied" with the field.
Meanwhile, an NBC News/Marist poll on Sunday showed Trump leading among New Hampshire GOP primary voters and narrowly trailing Walker in Iowa.
Trump took 21% of the New Hampshire GOP primary vote, with Bush running second at 14%, while in Iowa Trump was at 17% and Walker at 19%, according to the NBC/Marist survey
On the Democratic side, the CNN poll found Clinton remains the clear frontrunner, though Sanders has increased his support slightly since last month's poll. Clinton is backed by 56% of registered Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, while Sanders has inched up to 19% from 15% in June. The rest of the field is about even with where they were before.
The CNN/ORC International Poll was conducted July 22-25 among a random national sample of 1,017 adults, including 898 registered voters. Results for all registered voters have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The registered voter sample included 419 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents as well as 392 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. | – Some media outlets might want to evict Donald Trump from their politics sections, but he appears to be doing pretty well among Americans surveying the political arena. As CNN reports in a new CNN/ORC national poll, Trump is polling at the top of the considerable heap of Republican presidential contenders, at 18%. Jeb Bush comes in second at 15%, Scott Walker at 10%, and no other GOP candidate cracked double digits. Of note: The poll was conducted after Trump started swinging at John McCain's war record, indicating he's emerged unscathed; the new poll puts Trump up 6 points over a similar poll at the end of June. "There's a movement going on," Trump told CNN this morning in response, per the Hill. "People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington ... I'm just not that surprised." Trump is racking up similar numbers in Iowa, per an NBC/Marist poll out today: He's at 17%, though he's trailing Walker's 19% in that state, reports Politico. Bush has 12% there. The story is a little more marked in New Hampshire, where Trump is pulling down 21% to Bush's 14% and Walker's 12%. And Trump's divisiveness shows in his unfavorability ratings: 53% of New Hampshire Republicans view him unfavorably, notes Politico, while that number is 44% in Iowa, and what CNN calls a "sky high" 59% of all registered voters in its poll. |
(CNN) Hillary Clinton is not considering Bernie Sanders as a running mate, a Democrat familiar with the decision tells CNN.
Sanders, who has still not yet officially conceded the Democratic presidential primary to Clinton, was not expecting to be considered as Clinton's vice president and he does not view her decision as a slight, according to a person close to him.
Instead, Sanders remains committed to changing the Democratic Party, and not "becoming her partner."
He would risk being considered a sell-out by loyal supporters if he joined the Clinton ticket, another person close to Sanders said Wednesday, so the news is not unexpected.
The Vermont senator did not bring up the issue in his private meeting with Clinton on Tuesday night that lasted about 90 minutes.
Read 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. | – The Wall Street Journal has revealed a list of potential running mates being vetted by Hillary Clinton, and it doesn't include Bernie Sanders. Possible future vice presidents currently in the early stages of vetting include Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Rep. Xavier Becerra of California, and Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio. A national poll conducted by Bloomberg found Warren leads in popularity among Clinton supporters, 35% of whom wanted to see her as vice president. She was followed by Booker, Castro, and Al Franken. (Newt Gingrich was the most popular VP choice on the GOP side.) While some Sanders supporters had been hoping for a vice presidential nomination for him, Sanders himself wouldn't be interested in the position anyway, according to a source close to him. CNN reports Sanders would rather work to change the Democratic party from the Senate than be seen as a "sell-out" or Clinton's "partner." That may explain the interest in Warren, whose policies are close to those of Sanders and who could possibly bring some of his supporters over to Clinton. Bustle calls her a "shiny apple to Sanders' orange." Sources close to Clinton say the top priority for a running mate is someone who would be ready to step in as president, and that advisers aren't really looking at what a nominee does for Clinton's campaign in terms of demographics and geography. |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption One Syrian refugee who said she was 105 years old told the BBC's Fergal Keane she "just wanted to die"
The number of Syrian refugees who have fled the conflict has reached a million, the UN has said.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of people seeking haven in neighbouring countries had jumped since the beginning of the year.
Half of the refugees were children, the UN said, most of them under 11 and often traumatised by their experiences.
The largest numbers of refugees were seeking shelter in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.
The figure includes registered refugees and newer arrivals awaiting registration.
"Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement, warning that the international humanitarian response capacity was "dangerously stretched".
"This tragedy has to be stopped," he added, warning that the influx of people had also stretched the resources of Syria's neighbours.
The millionth refugee recorded by UNHCR was a 19-year-old mother of two called Bushra.
"Our situation is so bad, everything is so expensive, we can't find any work... The situation is so bad, I live with 20 other people in one room," Bushra told reporters in the Lebanese city of Tripoli.
'Tremendous burden'
Many of those who have fled conflict now live in difficult conditions, with poor sanitation and insufficient resources to cope with the harsh winters.
At the scene Some 2,000 refugees crossed into Jordan from Syria in the past 24 hours. Many were brought to the large tent for new arrivals just inside the Zaatari camp. They could be seen lying sprawled, exhausted and dishevelled, on mats and blankets laid on the floor. "We came because of the shelling and air strikes. They destroyed our houses, they left nothing for us," said an old woman from Homs. "It took us nearly five days to get here walking through fields." A young mother told us how Syrian forces had shot at them as they tried to leave. "We were so afraid we had an accident on the road. We thought we were going to die," she said. By late afternoon, the refugees were registered by the UNHCR and had moved to their own basic shelters. But officials here say the increasing flow of refugees threatens to overwhelm them. "The international community is failing to find a political solution inside Syria and so people are continuing to flee," says Andrew Harper, head of UNHCR in Jordan. "We'll probably have another 100,000 people arrive in the next four or five weeks."
In Lebanon, for example, the influx of almost a third of a million refugees since last February has swollen the country's population by 10%.
Turkey, providing a temporary home for some 184,000 refugees, has spent more than $600m (459m euros; £396m) setting up 17 refugee camps, and is building new ones to meet the increasing need, the UN said.
"These countries should not only be recognised for their unstinting commitment to keeping their borders open for Syrian refugees, they should be massively supported as well," Mr Guterres said.
On Tuesday, Jordan's King Abdullah called on world nations to help his country, Turkey and Lebanon to shoulder "the tremendous burden" of caring for the huge influx of people.
'Catastrophic proportions'
UK charity Oxfam says that only 20% of $1.5bn promised by international donors in January has arrived, "leaving agencies struggling to respond to the urgent needs of refugees".
The rush of refugees has surprised even UN experts, who had originally estimated that the one million figure would not be reached until the end of June 2013.
In effect, more than 400,000 have became refugees since 1 January 2013.
The UN's emergency response plan for Syrian refugees, Oxfam said, currently lacked 75% of the funding required.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Nik Gowing reports as Bushra, 19, registers as the millionth refugee
Jordan's Petra news agency said that a total of 2,257 Syrian refugees had crossed into the country on Tuesday alone.
Some 110,000 of those who have sought shelter in Jordan are living in the desert camp of Zaatari, near its northern border with Syria.
The conflict in Syria began almost two years ago with demonstrations against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
The protests quickly turned violent as opponents of Mr Assad took up arms to try to resist a brutal crackdown by the authorities.
The conflict has left more than 70,000 people dead and two million internally displaced, of a pre-conflict population of 20.7 million.
Also on Wednesday, the Commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Gen Selim Idriss, called for the lifting of the EU arms embargo against Syria, saying it is having a much more negative effect on the opposition than on the Assad regime.
Gen Idriss told the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels that opposition forces desperately needed weapons and ammunition, and that the war would be longer and bloodier if the embargo remained in place.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that the UK was going to provide armoured vehicles and body armour to Syrian opposition forces in a bid to end a crisis that had reached what he called "catastrophic proportions".
His announcement in the House of Commons stopped short of arming the rebels, but he told the BBC on Sunday that the UK would not rule out doing so in future.
In a separate development, Arab League foreign ministers invited the Syrian main opposition to take the country's seat at the league.
The ministers asked the Syrian National Coalition to send its representative to the group's meeting in Doha later this month.
The 22-member league suspended Syria's membership in 2011. ||||| A line of Syrian refugee women, some carrying children, cross into Jordan from southern Syria. The outflow this year has been staggering. © UNHCR/N.Daoud
GENEVA, March 6 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency, citing data received from UNHCR's offices in the Syria region, on Wednesday announced that the number of Syrians either registered as refugees or being assisted as such has reached the 1 million mark.
"With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. "We are doing everything we can to help, but the international humanitarian response capacity is dangerously stretched. This tragedy has to be stopped."
The number of Syrian refugees fleeing their country has increased dramatically since the beginning of the year. More than 400,000 people have become refugees since January 1, 2013. They arrive traumatized, without possessions and having lost members of their families. Around half of the refugees are children, the majority under the age of eleven. Most have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Increasingly, Syrians are also fleeing to North Africa and Europe.
"This number translates into 1 million people who are dependent on the generosity of host countries, the response of humanitarian agencies and the financial support of governments and individuals," said Guterres.
The High Commissioner noted that the impact of this large number of refugees arriving in neighbouring countries is severe. Lebanon's population has increased by as much as 10 per cent. Jordan's energy, water, health and education services are being strained to the limit. Turkey has spent over US$600 million setting up 17 refugee camps, with more under construction. Iraq, juggling its own crisis with more than 1 million Iraqis internally displaced, has received more than 100,000 Syrian refugees in the past year.
"These countries should not only be recognized for their unstinting commitment to keeping their borders open for Syrian refugees, they should be massively supported as well," said Guterres.
Bushra, the 1 millionth Syrian refugee, in Tripoli, Lebanon, with her children. © UNHCR/E.Byun
UNHCR named Bushra, a 19-year-old mother of two, as the symbolic 1 millionth refugee. She was registered in the coastal city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon on Wednesday. She has been living in a dilapidated two-room building in a Tripoli slum since crossing the border just over two weeks ago.
When UNHCR visited her earlier this week, she was holding her son Sleiman in the corner where they sleep at night. Her daughter Hanin, aged three, huddled close to her mother in the room they share with 12 other refugees.
Her flight to Lebanon was a desperate last measure. She moved with her children from the city of Homs, where she lived, and sought safety in several villages to avoid tanks and shelling and gangs of men whom she feared would rape or kill her and her little ones. But soon, she said, the shooting would begin, the shelling would rain down and it would be time to leave.
Before the conflict, she lived with her husband of five years and his family. He was a truck driver and was able to provide for the family. Now he is missing. "We need help," Bushra said. "We hope this will end so we can go back to our house. We need to feel peace and stability. We cannot ask for anything more."
In December, the UN's Regional Response Plan for Syrian Refugees estimated that 1.1 million Syrian refugees would arrive in neighbouring countries by the end of June 2013. UNHCR is in the process of adjusting this plan, in light of the new figures. Currently, the plan is only about 25 per cent funded.
Without a political solution to the conflict, Guterres said, "at a minimum, humanitarian actors should receive the funds needed to save lives and ease suffering."
The Syria crisis will be two years old next week. High Commissioner Guterres will be travelling to the region later this week to visit UNHCR operations in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon.
5134a41f9 | – A million people have now fled Syria to avoid the war raging there—and half of them are children, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported today. "Syria is spiraling towards full-scale disaster," commissioner António Guterres said. "We are doing everything we can to help, but the international humanitarian response capacity is dangerously stretched." The defections have accelerated dramatically this year, with more than 400,000 fleeing since January. The UN hadn't expected to pass the 1 million mark for three more months, the BBC reports. The influx has put a real strain on neighboring countries; Lebanon, for instance, has seen its population swell as much as 10%, while Turkey has spent $600 million on refugee camps. Jordan and Iraq have also been sharing the load. Jordan's king yesterday urged other countries to help carry "the tremendous burden," and Guterres echoed that call. "These countries should not only be recognized for their unstinting commitment to keeping their borders open for Syrian refugees," he said, "they should be massively supported." |
OAKLAND, CA—Speaking over lunch last Friday, a Northern California man named Conal O'Rourke laid out what admittedly sounds like a crazy story: a year-long billing dispute over his home Comcast service that ultimately resulted in Comcast getting O'Rourke fired from his job at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in nearby San Jose earlier this year.
But O’Rourke arrived to last week’s lunch meeting with Ars with an astonishing amount of documentation: he has pages and pages of Comcast invoices. He has a spreadsheet, photos, notes, business cards, and complaint letters. He and his lawyer, Maureen Pettibone Ryan, happily provided digital copies of these materials to Ars, which we have re-published with his permission here.
As a result of his firing, O’Rourke has hired a local attorney and is now threatening to file a lawsuit against Comcast if the company does not agree to his demands, which include "a full retraction and apology, his re-employment with his former employer, and $100,312.50" by October 14.
A rogue $26.25
O’Rourke first moved to California in early 2012 after 20 years of working for Andersen Consulting (later Accenture) in Connecticut, most recently as part of the corporate controllership division. During his career, O'Rourke developed skills in accounting, financial analysis, and auditing—skills that proved useful in his eventual dispute with Comcast.
In February 2013, he moved to a new place in San Jose and signed up for TV and Internet service with Comcast, since the only other competitive service, AT&T’s U-Verse, was not available in his building.
"I was roped into Comcast, and with Comcast, my problems soon began," O'Rourke said.
His first issues began when, after six weeks of service, he had yet to receive a bill.
After eventually receiving his first bill in April 2013, O'Rourke noticed a number of problems. For one thing, his name was misspelled (an issue that never got corrected).
More importantly, O’Rourke noticed that Comcast was charging him for three "additional HD outlets" for an extra fee of $26.25 a month. He also was charged for cable boxes that he says he never activated (he planned on moving two additional TVs later on into his condominium), after allegedly being promised that he wouldn’t be.
Finally, as part of a promotional deal, O'Rourke says he was promised HBO and other premium channels for nine months, but they disappeared after just three.
O’Rourke said he called multiple times to try to get these issues resolved. When they weren’t, he finally walked into his nearest Comcast store in San Jose.
There he met with the assistant store manager, who gave him a business card and provided his personal cellphone number. "He promises me that it will all be addressed and that we're going to look at it," O’Rourke said.
Then the real problems began.
$1,820 in equipment he didn't order
For the next few months, O’Rourke says he was under deadlines at work and could not address issues with Comcast.
By October 2013, O’Rourke said that his Internet speeds suddenly dropped off, becoming "unworkable."
"I had contacted them regarding lack of responsiveness and performance issues; sometimes my service wouldn't be usable and I had to hotspot in with AT&T," he said.
Again he called, and again, Comcast promised to correct his problem—sometimes by sending technicians to his home—but according to O'Rourke, the company never did.
O’Rourke spent part of November and December 2013 traveling overseas, so he was surprised when he returned home to find several boxes at his doorstep containing "12 pieces of equipment" and a December 2013 monthly bill for over $2,000—including $1,820 in equipment that he insists he did not order.
According to the December 2013 invoice, O’Rourke was charged for devices including an "AnyRoom Hub" ($420) and a "Pace Host" ($110). On December 30, 2013, carrying these various boxes back, O'Rourke walked into the same San Jose Comcast store to return the gear and get his issues resolved.
When he took a service ticket at 1:59pm, he discovered that he was Ticket #395 but that the store was only on Ticket #251. Rather than spend his afternoon at the store, O’Rourke came up with a plan.
"They close at 7:00pm, so I thought, I'm going to go at 6:45pm, then somebody will have a fire underneath them to address the problems," he said. "I had had it up to here."
A Comcast employee named Matt Doblias ended up helping O’Rourke, took back the equipment, and cleared the charges. But that still didn’t get to the root of the errors that had now persisted for months. (Ars sent an e-mail to Doblias, which bounced.)
"I provided Matt with the detailed spreadsheet in person, and he asked if I could send it to him, and he would take a look," O’Rourke said. The next day, December 31, he did so, but Doblias "responded that the spreadsheet never came through. I sent it again, then at the end of the day I asked for follow up and never heard back."
O’Rourke got irritated.
"On January 11, 2014, I was frustrated because I felt that I had done everything," he said. "I sent [Doblias] an e-mail that I was hopeful would ignite him to do something. What I did was [show Doblias by e-mail that] I sarcastically wrote a letter [to Comcast Senior Vice President Lawrence Salva], recommending Doblias for the Employee of the Month award. I wrote it up but didn't put it in the mail. I wanted to give [Doblias] an opportunity to fix the problem."
The letter included lines like:
The reason why I have chosen to nominate the San Jose center is simple. Their blatant disregard for the customer has made resolving my issues next to impossible. This behavior has proven to be quite profitable as I, like most customers, just throw their hands up in exasperation. However, now that I am no longer exasperated I intend on following up on my concerns.
But O'Rourke heard nothing, and the billing errors persisted—resulting in Comcast allegedly sending a collections agency after him.
"On February 5, 2014, [Comcast] said my account was two months past due and at that point pushing $300," he said. "I don't order pay-per-view, and I explained [to the collections agency] that that can't be right, and they were insistent, and I walked them through it."
She said, �?What color is your house?!? Tell me the color of your house!’ She went on a tirade and said, �?Just answer the question!’
By this point, O’Rourke had yet to receive an errorless bill, he said, despite having been a customer for nearly a year. The following day, he decided to contact Lawrence Salva , Comcast’s Philadelphia-based controller, who oversees the division of the company that deals with accounting. He spoke at length with Salva’s executive assistant, describing his litany of problems. After the call concluded, the assistant said that she would have another Comcast employee contact O’Rourke directly.
"An hour later I got a second call from an individual who doesn't identify herself [except as Evelyn] but says that she's with Comcast," he said. O’Rourke asked her if she knew why she was calling, to which she responded that it had something to do with missed appointments.
"I laughed, because they missed so many appointments I don't even know which one she's talking about," he said.
When he tried to explain the situation, O'Rourke said that Evelyn began to berate him.
"She said, �?What color is your house?!? Tell me the color of your house!’" O’Rourke remembered. "She went on a tirade and said, �?Just answer the question!’" (O'Rourke lives in a condo complex.)
"I told her that I was angry and said, �?You need to do your homework before you pick up the phone,’" he told Ars. "I told her I was going to call back to Salva's office. That's what I did. And I expressed my concern and said, 'You have sloppy accounting, you don't take anything seriously, and I should go to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.' That's the regulator that makes sure that accounting is done properly. I think that some of my terminology would have indicated that I wasn't a layman. I worked for 20 years in corporate comptrollership. These errors become material after a while."
Unbeknownst to O’Rourke, however, his call set off alarm bells within Comcast.
Listing image by Alyson Hurt ||||| OAKLAND, CA—Speaking over lunch last Friday, a Northern California man named Conal O'Rourke laid out what admittedly sounds like a crazy story: a year-long billing dispute over his home Comcast service that ultimately resulted in Comcast getting O'Rourke fired from his job at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in nearby San Jose earlier this year.
But O’Rourke arrived to last week’s lunch meeting with Ars with an astonishing amount of documentation: he has pages and pages of Comcast invoices. He has a spreadsheet, photos, notes, business cards, and complaint letters. He and his lawyer, Maureen Pettibone Ryan, happily provided digital copies of these materials to Ars, which we have re-published with his permission here.
As a result of his firing, O’Rourke has hired a local attorney and is now threatening to file a lawsuit against Comcast if the company does not agree to his demands, which include "a full retraction and apology, his re-employment with his former employer, and $100,312.50" by October 14.
A rogue $26.25
O’Rourke first moved to California in early 2012 after 20 years of working for Andersen Consulting (later Accenture) in Connecticut, most recently as part of the corporate controllership division. During his career, O'Rourke developed skills in accounting, financial analysis, and auditing—skills that proved useful in his eventual dispute with Comcast.
In February 2013, he moved to a new place in San Jose and signed up for TV and Internet service with Comcast, since the only other competitive service, AT&T’s U-Verse, was not available in his building.
"I was roped into Comcast, and with Comcast, my problems soon began," O'Rourke said.
His first issues began when, after six weeks of service, he had yet to receive a bill.
After eventually receiving his first bill in April 2013, O'Rourke noticed a number of problems. For one thing, his name was misspelled (an issue that never got corrected).
More importantly, O’Rourke noticed that Comcast was charging him for three "additional HD outlets" for an extra fee of $26.25 a month. He also was charged for cable boxes that he says he never activated (he planned on moving two additional TVs later on into his condominium), after allegedly being promised that he wouldn’t be.
Finally, as part of a promotional deal, O'Rourke says he was promised HBO and other premium channels for nine months, but they disappeared after just three.
O’Rourke said he called multiple times to try to get these issues resolved. When they weren’t, he finally walked into his nearest Comcast store in San Jose.
There he met with the assistant store manager, who gave him a business card and provided his personal cellphone number. "He promises me that it will all be addressed and that we're going to look at it," O’Rourke said.
Then the real problems began.
$1,820 in equipment he didn't order
For the next few months, O’Rourke says he was under deadlines at work and could not address issues with Comcast.
By October 2013, O’Rourke said that his Internet speeds suddenly dropped off, becoming "unworkable."
"I had contacted them regarding lack of responsiveness and performance issues; sometimes my service wouldn't be usable and I had to hotspot in with AT&T," he said.
Again he called, and again, Comcast promised to correct his problem—sometimes by sending technicians to his home—but according to O'Rourke, the company never did.
O’Rourke spent part of November and December 2013 traveling overseas, so he was surprised when he returned home to find several boxes at his doorstep containing "12 pieces of equipment" and a December 2013 monthly bill for over $2,000—including $1,820 in equipment that he insists he did not order.
According to the December 2013 invoice, O’Rourke was charged for devices including an "AnyRoom Hub" ($420) and a "Pace Host" ($110). On December 30, 2013, carrying these various boxes back, O'Rourke walked into the same San Jose Comcast store to return the gear and get his issues resolved.
When he took a service ticket at 1:59pm, he discovered that he was Ticket #395 but that the store was only on Ticket #251. Rather than spend his afternoon at the store, O’Rourke came up with a plan.
"They close at 7:00pm, so I thought, I'm going to go at 6:45pm, then somebody will have a fire underneath them to address the problems," he said. "I had had it up to here."
A Comcast employee named Matt Doblias ended up helping O’Rourke, took back the equipment, and cleared the charges. But that still didn’t get to the root of the errors that had now persisted for months. (Ars sent an e-mail to Doblias, which bounced.)
"I provided Matt with the detailed spreadsheet in person, and he asked if I could send it to him, and he would take a look," O’Rourke said. The next day, December 31, he did so, but Doblias "responded that the spreadsheet never came through. I sent it again, then at the end of the day I asked for follow up and never heard back."
O’Rourke got irritated.
"On January 11, 2014, I was frustrated because I felt that I had done everything," he said. "I sent [Doblias] an e-mail that I was hopeful would ignite him to do something. What I did was [show Doblias by e-mail that] I sarcastically wrote a letter [to Comcast Senior Vice President Lawrence Salva], recommending Doblias for the Employee of the Month award. I wrote it up but didn't put it in the mail. I wanted to give [Doblias] an opportunity to fix the problem."
The letter included lines like:
The reason why I have chosen to nominate the San Jose center is simple. Their blatant disregard for the customer has made resolving my issues next to impossible. This behavior has proven to be quite profitable as I, like most customers, just throw their hands up in exasperation. However, now that I am no longer exasperated I intend on following up on my concerns.
But O'Rourke heard nothing, and the billing errors persisted—resulting in Comcast allegedly sending a collections agency after him.
"On February 5, 2014, [Comcast] said my account was two months past due and at that point pushing $300," he said. "I don't order pay-per-view, and I explained [to the collections agency] that that can't be right, and they were insistent, and I walked them through it."
She said, ‘What color is your house?!? Tell me the color of your house!’ She went on a tirade and said, ‘Just answer the question!’
By this point, O’Rourke had yet to receive an errorless bill, he said, despite having been a customer for nearly a year. The following day, he decided to contact Lawrence Salva , Comcast’s Philadelphia-based controller, who oversees the division of the company that deals with accounting. He spoke at length with Salva’s executive assistant, describing his litany of problems. After the call concluded, the assistant said that she would have another Comcast employee contact O’Rourke directly.
"An hour later I got a second call from an individual who doesn't identify herself [except as Evelyn] but says that she's with Comcast," he said. O’Rourke asked her if she knew why she was calling, to which she responded that it had something to do with missed appointments.
"I laughed, because they missed so many appointments I don't even know which one she's talking about," he said.
When he tried to explain the situation, O'Rourke said that Evelyn began to berate him.
"She said, ‘What color is your house?!? Tell me the color of your house!’" O’Rourke remembered. "She went on a tirade and said, ‘Just answer the question!’" (O'Rourke lives in a condo complex.)
"I told her that I was angry and said, ‘You need to do your homework before you pick up the phone,’" he told Ars. "I told her I was going to call back to Salva's office. That's what I did. And I expressed my concern and said, 'You have sloppy accounting, you don't take anything seriously, and I should go to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.' That's the regulator that makes sure that accounting is done properly. I think that some of my terminology would have indicated that I wasn't a layman. I worked for 20 years in corporate comptrollership. These errors become material after a while."
Unbeknownst to O’Rourke, however, his call set off alarm bells within Comcast.
Listing image by Alyson Hurt ||||| 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. | – Even Conal O'Rourke knows his story might sound convoluted. But the California man hopes documentation and an in-person interview provided to Ars Technica will help prove that Comcast had something to do with him losing his job at PriceWaterhouseCoopers after a lengthy battle with the cable company over billing and service issues. O'Rourke has hired a lawyer and has issued an Oct. 14 ultimatum to Comcast—a PWC consulting services client—that requests "a full retraction and apology, his re-employment with his former employer, and $100,312.50." His lengthy timeline begins in 2012, when he says he moved to the Golden State and signed up for Internet and TV with Comcast—and everything started going wrong almost immediately. Among O'Rourke's numerous allegations: late bills; charges for and shipments of equipment he didn't order; not receiving the right promotional items; "unworkable" Internet speed; and not hearing back from Comcast employees when he tried to resolve issues. They never even got his name right on the bill, he adds. But the worst repercussion, according to O'Rourke, was getting fired from his job after he started calling Comcast's controller's office. He says via a letter written by his attorney that he was called in to a PWC partner's office and told that Comcast, a "very valuable" client, "was very angry as a result of Mr. O'Rourke’s complaints, and that Mr. O'Rourke was not to speak with anyone from Comcast." O'Rourke alleges after that meeting that he endured a PWC internal investigation and then was fired on Feb. 18. His attorney's letter says O'Rourke was "shocked, humiliated, and ashamed based on the unjustified loss of his job. He sought counseling and was prescribed medication to address his emotional distress." He now has AT&T service at home, and is threatening to sue Comcast if the company does not comply with his demands. (Follow the entire Ars Technica timeline for further details.) |
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republicans make gains in the House and Senate, one of the potential Republican presidential contenders in 2016 has survived a challenge in Wisconsin.
Gov. Scott Walker was a top target of Democrats, after angering labor groups by enacting a measure reducing the power of public sector unions. He survived a recall attempt two years ago.
Republicans have been steadily advancing toward a Senate majority, while also strengthening their House advantage.
GOP gains in the House include victories over some veteran Democratic lawmakers. Republican Evan Jenkins, a former Democrat, knocked out 19-term lawmaker Nick Rahall in West Virginia. He'd been one of the last white Democrats who had survived despite the GOP stranglehold on the South. And Rick Allen prevailed over another Southern Democrat, five-term Rep. John Barrow of Georgia. ||||| Just One More Thing...
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Close | – Florida Gov. Rick Scott will not hand his job back to former Gov. Charlie Crist. The Republican Scott fended off the challenge from Republican-turned-Democrat Crist tonight in one of the higher-profile races of the 36 gubernatorial contests on the ballot. Elsewhere, Wisconsin's Scott Walker defeated Mary Burke to keep his seat and, as the AP notes, remain a viable presidential candidate for 2016. In Texas, Wendy Davis' rise in state politics hit a major barrier, with state Attorney General Greg Abbott easily defeating the abortion rights advocate, reports the Austin American-Statesman. As one analyst observes, Davis probably could have won the red-state race only if Abbott made a major gaffe, and he didn't oblige. Also: Pennsylvania: Democrat Tom Wolf beat incumbent Republican Tom Corbett. Kansas: Republican incumbent Sam Brownback defeated Democrat Paul Davis, even though Brownback's conservative agenda had some members of his own party backing Davis. Maryland: After a surprise win over Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Republican businessman Larry Hogan will succeed Democrat Martin O'Malley. Massachusetts: Republican Charlie Baker won, defeating Democrat Martha Coakley's bid to become the first woman elected governor in her state. Illinois: Republican businessman Bruce Rauner prevailed in a tight contest to unseat incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn. Georgia: Jimmy Carter's grandson, Jason Carter, failed to unseat Republican Nathan Deal. |
A sniper with Canada's elite special forces in Iraq has shattered the world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in military history at a staggering distance of 3,540 metres.
The Canadian Armed Forces confirmed Thursday that a member of Joint Task Force 2 made the record-breaking shot, killing an Islamic State insurgent during an operation in Iraq within the last month.
"The Canadian Special Operations Command can confirm that a member of Joint Task Force 2 successfully hit a target at 3,540 metres," the forces said in a statement. "For operational security reasons and to preserve the safety of our personnel and our Coalition partners we will not discuss precise details on when and how this incident took place."
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The elite sniper was using a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle while firing from a high-rise during an operation that took place within the last month in Iraq. It took under 10 seconds to hit the target.
"The shot in question actually disrupted a Daesh [Islamic State] attack on Iraqi security forces," said a military source. "Instead of dropping a bomb that could potentially kill civilians in the area, it is a very precise application of force and because it was so far way, the bad guys didn't have a clue what was happening."
The military source said the JTF2 operation fell within the strictures of the government's advise and assist mission.
"As stated multiple times in the past, members of the Canadian Special Operations Task Force do not accompany leading combat elements, but enable the Iraqi security forces who are in a tough combat mission," the statement said. "This takes the form of advice in planning their operations and assistance to defeat Daesh through the use of coalition resources."
The kill was independently verified by video camera and other data, The Globe and Mail has learned.
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"Hard data on this. It isn't an opinion. It isn't an approximation. There is a second location with eyes on with all the right equipment to capture exactly what the shot was," another military source said.
A military insider told The Globe: "This is an incredible feat. It is a world record that might never be equalled."
The world record was previously held by British sniper Craig Harrison, who shot a Taliban gunner with a 338 Lapua Magnum rifle from 2,475 metres away in 2009.
Previously, Canadian Corporal Rob Furlong had set the world record in 2002 at 2,430 metres when he gunned down an Afghan insurgent carrying an RPK machine gun during Operation Anaconda.
Weeks before, Canadian Master Cpl. Arron Perry briefly held the world's best sniper record after he fatally shot an insurgent at 2,310 metres during the same operation. Both soldiers were members of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
JTF2 special forces are primarily tasked with counterterrorism, sniper operations and hostage rescue. Much of the information about this elite organization is classified and not commented on by the government. The unit's snipers and members of Canadian Special Operations Regiment, who are carrying out the main task of training Kurdish forces, have been operating in tough conditions in Iraq.
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The Trudeau government pulled CF-18 fighter jets out of Iraq in 2016 but expanded the military mission, which will see the number of Canadian special forces trainers climb to 207 from 69 in an assist, train and advise mission. Canadian commandos are not supposed to be involved in direct combat, but are authorized to go up to the front lines on training missions with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and to paint targets for coalition air strikes.
For operational security reasons, sources would not reveal the names of the elite Canadian sniper and his partner, nor the location where the action took place.
A sniper and his observer partner are often sent to remote and dangerous locations to hunt down insurgents while having to carry heavy equipment. Once they have located the target, snipers follow the same methodical approach before each shot. Breathe in, out, in, out, find a natural pause and then squeeze the trigger.
Canada has a reputation among Western military forces for the quality of its snipers, despite the small size of the Canadian Armed Forces compared to the United States and Britain.
"Canada has a world-class sniper system. It is not just a sniper. They work in pairs. There is an observer," a military source said. "This is a skill set that only a very few people have."
The skill of the JTF2 sniper in taking down an insurgent at 3,540 metres required math skills, great eyesight, precision of ammunition and firearms, and superb training.
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"It is at the distance where you have to account not just for the ballistics of the round, which change over time and distance, you have to adjust for wind, and the wind would be swirling," said a source with expertise in training Canadian special forces.
"You have to adjust for him firing from a higher location downward and as the round drops you have to account for that. And from that distance you actually have to account for the curvature of the Earth."
U.S. Sergeant Bryan Kremer has the longest confirmed sniper kill shot by a U.S. soldier. He killed an Iraqi insurgent with his Barrett M82A1 rifle at 2,300 metres in 2004. ||||| The distances are mind-boggling: in 2002, Master Cpl. Arron Perry from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry took aim at an Afghan insurgent from a distance of 2,300 metres and hit his target, setting the world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in military history. Not long after, Cpl. Rob Furlong, in the same operation, bested his brother-in-arms with a confirmed kill at 2,430 metres. His record would stand longer, until 2009, when a British sniper, Craig Harrison, made a shot from 2,475 metres.
On June 21, Harrison’s record was shattered by another Canadian, an elite special forces sniper, who, according to the Canadian military, killed an ISIS fighter in Mosul from an incredible 3,540 metres.
Let’s put that in perspective: if you stacked six CN Towers end to end, you would still be more than 200 metres short. The bullet, according to military experts, would have travelled for nearly 10 seconds before hitting its target. The shooter not only would have had to take into consideration wind conditions, but at that distance, also the curvature of the earth.
More astonishing, perhaps, is the fact that over the last 15 years, the active-combat sniping record has been broken four times, and three of those have been by Canadians.
That’s no coincidence, says Furlong, who now runs a marksmanship academy in Edmonton.
“I’ve been saying this forever,” he tells Maclean’s by telephone. “Canadian snipers are the best in the world. The sniper training program has been around for a long time. It’s the foundation, and it’s been retooled from lessons learned in Afghanistan. We’ve built it to be the best.”
This latest record, Furlong adds, has taken sniping “to a different level.” Canadian snipers are considered some of the best in the world in part because they are not simply taught to hit their targets. Like much of the Canadian military, many are trained with skills above their existing rank, in the sniper’s case as Unit Master Snipers, meaning they have the skills to design and run complex operations if the need ever arises. That in itself may not make them better snipers but the gestalt of sniper-training and command-thinking combined could explain their skill.
The practice of equipping soldiers with more than the skills they will need on the battlefield has served the Canadian military well. In Afghanistan, the results were clear. Maclean’s witnessed firsthand how soldiers out on patrol, sometimes for days in enemy territory, operated as closely knit teams. Command decisions were made with input from different ranks, offering multiple perspectives to patrol commanders.
The level of training Canada provides its soldiers, particularly its elite JTF2 commandos, is the driving force behind Canada’s reputation for fielding a highly skilled and intellectually capable military.
“This is a very important point,” says Chris Kilford, a retired Canadian artillery officer and now a fellow at the Queen’s University Centre for International and Defence Policy. “I have been very impressed with the young people in our special forces that I have interacted with overseas. Corporals and master corporals: bright and articulate. I also think that in general our people are often capable of working at a higher level than the rank on their shoulder.”
Furlong agrees, adding that Canadian soldiers are more “cross-trained” than many other soldiers in the world, and Canada’s snipers specifically are given every opportunity to pursue leadership training that refines their mental capabilities, a key component to the psychologically demanding job they do.
Still, there are the naysayers. Warrant Officer Oliver Cromwell, an instructor at the infantry school at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick* who has taught sniper courses, cautions that more information is needed before the 3,450 meter distance is confirmed.
“There is a difference between slant angle range and true range,” he says. “Slant angle range—if the shooter is at an elevated position relative to the target—may appear longer that the true range, sometimes twice the true distance. I don’t want to be a naysayer but those are just the facts.”
Some online message boards have have also questioned the validity of the new record. In one case a contributor to a military discussion suggested the sniper likely fired into a crowd of ISIS fighters and happened to hit one.
But Furlong points out that these types of distances, 3,000 metres and more, are regularly achieved on the shooting range.
“It’s not an impossible distance,” he says. “The difference is between a shooting range and a battlefield. They are two completely different environments. The pressure these guys are under is huge. So to the naysayers I would just say, this can be done.”
As for the men who accomplished it—snipers work in pairs, including a spotter—Furlong says they probably didn’t realize what they had done until later. “When we broke the record, we didn’t know until we got back to base,” he says. “To be honest, I didn’t really care, neither when I broke it or when mine was broken. Records are made to be broken.”
Still, unless there are major advances in equipment, Furlong adds, this one should stand for a long time.
CORRECTION, June 29, 2017: This story originally stated the location of CFB Gagetown. Maclean’s regrets the error. ||||| A Canadian sniper working alongside Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS successfully struck a member of the militant group from a distance of 3,540 metres, Canada's military confirmed Thursday.
The sniper is a member of the elite Joint Task Force 2 special forces unit, but citing operation security the military provided no details about how or when the incident took place.
The Globe and Mail first reported the sniper record Thursday and quoted unnamed military sources who said the kill shot disrupted an ISIS attack on Iraqi security forces.
The shot surpasses the previous record held by a British soldier, who in 2009 shot a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan from a distance of 2,475 metres.
'Force multipliers'
Jody Mitic, a former Canadian sniper who now serves as an Ottawa city councillor, said he had heard rumours of the Canadian's record-breaking feat and describes it as "a hell of a shot."
Mitic said to hit a target at that distance, the sniper team, likely a shooter and spotter, would have to take every possible factor into account, from the temperature of the weapon and ammunition to the curvature of the Earth.
"The shooter and the spotter know exactly what they're doing," Mitic said. But "at the end of the day, long-range shooting, it's your best guess."
"There's so much that goes into this, but at the same time, when you're in that environment, operating in that way, a lot of these things become second nature," Mitic said in an interview with CBC News.
Jody Mitic, a former Canadian Forces sniper and now an Ottawa city councillor, says a long-distance shot must take many factors into consideration, and even then 'It's your best guess.' (CBC)
Mitic, who was badly injured by a land mine in Afghanistan in 2007, expects the sniper team would have been working in the area for a while and would have known the conditions and terrain extremely well. He said teams like this have long been a vital part of Canada's military operations.
"We're called 'force multipliers,'" Mitic said.
"If you have a well-trained, well-equipped group of snipers in an area, that frees up about a hundred other troops to go and do other things."
Canadian sniper history
Canadians have held the record for longest kill shot before.
Former corporal Rob Furlong shot a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2002 from a distance of 2,430 metres. He broke the record set just a few days earlier by another Canadian, former master corporal Aaron Perry, who shot an insurgent from a distance of 2,286 metres.
The history of snipers in the Canadian military goes back much further. Cpl. Francis Pegahmagabow, an Ojibwa member of the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion, was the deadliest sniper of the First World War, with a record of 378 kills. He still stands as one of Canada's most decorated First Nations soldiers.
Cpl. Francis Pegahmagabow, a sniper in the First World War, recorded 378 kills and is Canada's most decorated First Nations soldier. (Marius Barbeau/Canadian Museum of History)
Mark Zuehlke, who has written a dozen books on Canada's military history, said Canadian snipers showed deadly effectiveness in both world wars.
"The best snipers were usually country boys who knew how to hunt," Zuehlke said. "They knew how to handle a gun and handle a gun well."
The Canadian mission in Iraq has been the subject of much debate over whether Canada's troops are involved in a combat mission.
That debate was reignited recently when the Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance revealed Canadian troops were operating inside Mosul.
In a statement confirming the sniper's successful shot, the Canadian Forces insisted its mission in Iraq is still to merely "advise and assist" Iraqi forces.
"This takes the form of advice in planning for their operations and assistance to defeat Daesh [ISIS] through the use of coalition resources," the statement said. ||||| Canadian Sniper Hit A Target More Than 2 Miles Away, Military Confirms
Enlarge this image toggle caption Dan Balilty/AP Dan Balilty/AP
A sniper with Canada's elite special forces is being credited with making a world record shot, after the military confirmed Thursday that he hit a target from nearly 2.2 miles away during a recent operation in Iraq.
Military sources tell Canada's The Globe and Mail newspaper that the sniper killed an ISIS insurgent during an attack on Iraqi security forces.
"The Canadian Special Operations Command can confirm that a member of the Joint Task Force 2 successfully hit a target from 3,540 meters," the force said in an email to NPR. "For operational security reasons and to preserve the safety of our personnel and our Coalition partners, we will not discuss precise details on when and how this incident took place."
The sniper reportedly fired from an elevated position; for the shot to be accurate, many factors — from wind and gravity to the Earth's curvature — would have to be taken into account.
The shot easily surpasses the previous record for the longest confirmed sniper shot of 2,474 meters (1.54 miles), which was set by Britain's Craig Harrison in 2009.
A source in the military tells the Globe and Mail that details of the shot were verified by video camera and other data, relying in part on information from a second location.
"The elite sniper was using a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle while firing from a high-rise during an operation that took place within the last month in Iraq," the paper reports. "It took under 10 seconds to hit the target."
Joint Task Force 2 is a specialized unit that was created in 1993, after the Canadian Armed Forces took over responsibility for federal counterterrorism operations.
The special forces group says its mission is to protect "the Canadian National Interest and combats terrorism at home and abroad."
In Iraq, Canada's Special Operations Task Force says, its role is to share expertise with Iraq's military to help "detect, identify and defeat (ISIS) activities from well behind the Iraqi security force front line in Mosul." | – An amazing, if grisly, feat continues to resonate after a report in Thursday's Globe and Mail of Toronto. The newspaper, quoting military sources, says a Canadian sniper in Iraq killed an ISIS militant from the mind-boggling distance of 3,540 meters, or 2.2 miles. The Canadian military has not confirmed what would be the longest kill shot by a sniper in history, but the story has in the meantime drawn attention to something else: the remarkable prowess of Canadian snipers in general. Some coverage: The training: If confirmed, that means the sniper record has been broken four times in the last 15 years, three of those times by Canadians, notes Maclean's magazine. One reason, it says, is because Canadian snipers "are not simply taught to hit their targets." The training goes beyond their shooting duties, making sure they're able to "design and run complex operations" if necessary. "That in itself may not make them better snipers but the gestalt of sniper-training and command-thinking combined could explain their skill." Long history: The CBC examines the history of Canada's military marksmanship, noting that Cpl. Francis Pegahmagabow of the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion had 378 kills, making him deadliest sniper of World War I. A military historian says the skill carried into WWII. "The best snipers were usually country boys who knew how to hunt." Official statement: The Canadian military has not confirmed the kill, but it did confirm the shot. "A member of the Joint Task Force 2 successfully hit a target from 3,540 meters," it says in an email to NPR, adding that it won't divulge further details for troop safety. Really? The Globe and Mail says the shot was verified by video and data, but that hasn't emerged yet, and some are skeptical. The Washington Post talks to former US snipers who say that even seeing a human target would be difficult from that distance, even with advanced scopes. A theory floated by a former Marine shooter: "A spotter with an advanced optical device was able to verbally walk the sniper onto the target and correct his aim.” Yes: Canadian Cpl. Rob Furlong, who once held the record himself at 2,430 meters, counters the skeptics: “It’s not an impossible distance,” he says. “So to the naysayers I would just say, this can be done.” It's a "hell of a shot," adds former Canadian sniper Jody Mitic, who was written a book called, of course, Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper. A critic: In a post at Stuff.co.nz, John Edens thinks the shot was possible, given high-tech gizmos to account for everything from wind speed to the curvature of the earth. Plus, the gun used, a McMillan TAC-50 rifle, employs a 50-caliber bullet the size of a "large cigar." His beef, though, is with media coverage that he thinks glorifies war. "It's an achievement to a point, but it's not really one humanity should be proud of." |
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. ||||| From the first hours of Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, the propagandists on both sides of the conflict portrayed the struggle in stark, Manichaean language. The totalitarian nature of both regimes made this inevitable. On one side stood Hitler, fascism , the myth of German supremacy; on the other side stood Stalin, communism, and the international proletarian revolution. — Anne Applebaum , New York Review of Books ,
Consider what happened during the crisis of global fascism . At first, even the truth about Hitler was inconvenient. Many in the west hoped the danger would simply go away. — Al Gore , An Inconvenient Truth ,
He collected stories about groups similar to his—Aryans, other Nazis, the KKK. Lately, he'd been flagging many stories from Germany and Eastern Europe, and was quite thrilled with the rise of fascism there. — John Grisham , The Chamber ,
the rise of Fascism in Europe before World War II ||||| 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. ||||| 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 ||||| Many of us will remember 2016 for a few words that will forever echo somewhere in the pits of our brains.
"Trump," for one, but also "bigly," "alt-right," and others we constantly heard during the presidential election season and its aftermath. But Merriam-Webster has a less discussed word on its mind that is apparently also on the minds of many dictionary users: Fascism.
Fascism, as of Nov. 29, was Merriam-Webster's most-looked-up word of the year, which means it's the leading candidate for the dictionary's annual "word of the year."
The folks behind the Merriam-Webster Twitter account are not happy with this, and on Tuesday they tried to get followers behind a campaign to look up other words.
'Fascism' is still our #1 lookup.
# of lookups = how we choose our Word of the Year.
There's still time to look something else up. — Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2016
Merriam-Webster fans could, of course, just look up any word they wanted in hopes that one of their favorites would rise to the top.
However, the team are trying to streamline support to dethrone "fascism."
@MerriamWebster @samanthavicent I've searched "puppies" 523 times in the past 30 minutes. Anything change? — Carter Bryant (@CarterthePower) November 29, 2016
No, "What if everyone committed to looking up 'flummadiddle' twice a day?" is the most desperate-sounding tweet https://t.co/JpyFvSrrgf https://t.co/FsEIN63hnl — Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2016
'Flummadiddle' is now in our top lookups!🙌
Not as many as 'fascism'.
But more than that phrase from Gilmore Girls. https://t.co/3dfrQzVUGp — Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2016
So there we are: Flummadiddle is perhaps your underdog candidate to defeat fascism in 2016. Bet you never thought you'd read a sentence that included those two words.
Flummadiddle, if you're wondering, is defined by Merriam-Webster as "something foolish or worthless." | – Merriam-Webster sent out a tweet this week subtly asking for help from the public in fixing the situation surrounding the lead contender for its "word of the year" honors. "'Fascism' is still our #1 lookup," it informed Twitter. "There's still time to look something else up." Without spelling out why that word has attracted so much attention in 2016, Mashable reports that several words "that will forever echo somewhere in the pits of our brains" have entered the vernacular this year at a brisk pace, including, per the online dictionary, "bigot, resurgence, diatribe, socialism, misogyny, [and] xenophobe." However, "fascism" has vaulted to the fourth-most-searched word in the site's history, per the Washington Post. "Guys, 2016 is so bad it made the dictionary sad," one Twitter user noted. But MW apparently doesn't want to leave 2016 with fond thoughts of "a political philosophy, movement, or regime … that exalts nation and often race above the individual and stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition." And the internet came to the rescue, with people flooding the lookup tool with searches for "puppies," "squirrels" (that was a dog's request), and, finally, a word that could soon overtake "fascism" if people keep up the campaign. "'Flumadiddle' is now in our top lookups. Not as many as 'fascism.' But more than that phrase from Gilmore Girls," the MW account tweeted, referencing the "in omnia paratus" ("ready for all things") term used on the show. (Merriam-Webster made a controversial decision about hot dogs earlier this year.) |
A very smart speech by Speaker Boehner
By Ezra Klein
If you spent the afternoon watching C-SPAN, as I did, you heard applause. A lot of it. Over and over again. And when John Boehner took the podium to be sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives, it swelled back up, and stayed there. No one Republican member of Congress wants to be the first to stop applauding the new speaker.
Luckily, Boehner did it for them. “It’s still just me," he said with a smile.
Traditionally, politicians overpromise in these moments. If you look back to Nancy Pelosi's speech upon becoming speaker in 2007, or Newt Gingrich's speech upon becoming speaker in 1995, you'll see broad, ambitious, ideologically-charged agendas. Gingrich wanted "to find a way to truly replace the current welfare state with an opportunity society." Pelosi sought "a new America that declares our energy independence, promotes domestic sources of renewable energy, and combats climate change."
Boehner promised almost nothing at all. He certainly didn't set himself up as a foil to President Obama, or anoint himself leader of a new conservative moment in American politics. Rather, his speech had two themes: Humility, and comity. He called his chamber "the people's house," and said "we are carrying out their instructions." He spent a lot of time on the "scar tissue" that has built up under "some of the rituals that have come to characterize this institution under majorities Republican and Democratic alike." He promised a new era of openness and minority cooperation in the House. He emphasized his recognition that he held the gavel not because American liked him or his party, but because they were angry at the government and the Democrats who ran it.
It was, I think, as smart a speech as I've seen a politician give -- in part because it was savvy about what it didn't say, which is a rare virtue in Washington. Of course, the speech is the easy part. The rules Boehner is pushing through the House make it vastly easier to increase the deficit through tax cuts, an outcome that won't sit well with Boehner's repeated pledge to hold down the debt. Moreover, Republicans are already having to break their rules to pursue the repeal of health-care reform without paying for it -- a procedural offense in favor of a symbolic vote that, in addition to increasing the deficit, won't exactly usher in a new era of respect and esteem between the two parties.
That's to be expected, perhaps. Many speakers before Boehner have entered the House promising more openness and cooperation and given up on those promises when they began to conflict with more action. And Boehner himself has not always been able to "disagree without being disagreeable." It's when the going gets tough that speakers turn hard.
So we'll see. But thus far, Boehner's political instincts have been quite impressive. The White House may have a more able opponent in him than they thought.
Photo credit: Alex Brandon / AP. ||||| Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) today delivered the following remarks to the opening session of the 112th Congress. A link to the video and the full remarks as prepared are below:
CLICK TO PLAY
“Madam Speaker, thank you for your kind words, and thank you for your service. I’d like to welcome our new colleagues and their families. My own family is here as well: my wife, Debbie, our daughters, Lindsay and Tricia; my brothers and sisters, brothers-and-sisters-in-law, and their children.
“I am honored and humbled to represent a great, hard-working community in Congress. The people of Ohio’s Eighth Congressional District continue to afford me the privilege to serve, for which I am deeply grateful.
“We gather here today at a time of great challenges. Nearly one in ten of our neighbors are looking for work. Health care costs are still rising for families and small businesses. Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy. Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress. No longer can we fall short. No longer can we kick the can down the road. The people voted to end business as usual, and today we begin carrying out their instructions.
“In the Catholic faith, we enter into a season of service by having ashes marked on our foreheads. The ashes remind us that life in all its forms is fragile – our time on this Earth, fleeting. As the ashes are delivered, we hear those humbling words: ‘Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’
“The American people have humbled us. They have refreshed our memories as to just how temporary the privilege to serve is. They have reminded us that everything here is on loan from them. That includes this gavel, which I accept cheerfully and gratefully, knowing I am but its caretaker. After all, this is the people’s House. This is their Congress. It’s about them, not us. What they want is a government that is honest, accountable and responsive to their needs. A government that respects individual liberty, honors our heritage, and bows before the public it serves.
“Let’s start with the rules package the House will consider today. If passed, it will change how this institution operates, with an emphasis on real transparency, greater accountability, and a renewed focus on the Constitution. Our aim will be to give government back to the people. In seeking this goal, we will part with some of the rituals that have come to characterize this institution under majorities Republican and Democratic alike. We will dispense with the conventional wisdom that bigger bills are always better; that fast legislating is good legislating; that allowing additional amendments and open debate makes the legislative process ‘less efficient’ than our forefathers intended.
“These misconceptions have been the basis for the rituals of modern Washington. The American people have not been well served by them. Today, mindful of the lessons of the past, we open a new chapter.
“Legislators and the public will have three days to read bills before they come to a vote. Legislation will be more focused, properly scrutinized, and constitutionally sound. Committees, once bloated, will be smaller, with a renewed mission, including oversight. Old rules that have made it easy to increase spending will be replaced by new reforms that make it easier to cut spending. We will start by cutting Congress’ own budget.
“Above all else, we will welcome the battle of ideas, encourage it, and engage in it – openly, honestly, and respectfully. As the chamber closest to the people, the House works best when it is allowed to work its will. I ask all members of this body to join me in recognizing this common truth.
“To my colleagues in the majority, my message is this: we will honor our Pledge to America, built through a process of listening to the people, and we will stand firm on the Constitutional principles that built our party, and built a nation. We will do these things, however, in a manner that restores and respects the time-honored right of the minority to an honest debate and a fair, open process.
“To my friends in the minority, I offer a commitment. Openness – once a tradition of this institution, but increasingly scarce in recent decades, will be the new standard. There were no open rules in the House in the last Congress. In this one, there will be many. With this restored openness, however, will come a restored responsibility. You will not have the right to willfully disrupt the proceedings of the People's House. But you will always have the right to a robust debate in open process that allows you to represent your constituents. . .to make your case, offer alternatives, and be heard.
“In time, this framework will, I believe, restore the House of Representatives as a place where the people’s will is done. It will also, I hope, help rebuild trust among us and the people we serve, and in so doing, provide a guidepost for those who follow us in the service of our nation.
“To our new members – Democratic and Republican – as you take the oath today, I know you will do so mindful of this shared goal, and the trust placed in you by your constituents. As Speaker, I view part of my job as helping each of you do your job well, regardless of party. My hope is that every new Member – and indeed, every Member – will be comfortable approaching me with matters of the House.
“We will not always get it right. We will not always agree on what is right. A great deal of scar tissue has built up on both sides of the aisle. We cannot ignore that, nor should we. My belief has always been, we can disagree without being disagreeable to each other. That’s why it is critical this institution operate in a manner that permits a free exchange of ideas, and resolves our honest differences through a fair debate and a fair vote. We may have different – sometimes, very different – ideas for how to go about achieving the common good, but it is our shared goal. It is why we serve.
“Let us now move forward humble in our demeanor, steady in our principles, and dedicated to proving worthy of the trust and confidence that has been placed in us. If we brace ourselves to do our duty, and to do what we say we are going to do, there is no telling what together we can accomplish for the good of this great and honorable nation. More than a country, America is an idea, and it is our job to pass on to our posterity the blessings bestowed to us.
“I wish you all the very best. Welcome to the people’s House. Welcome to the 112th Congress.” | – Incoming House speakers have a long tradition of overreaching in their opening speeches, writes Ezra Klein at the Washington Post. John Boehner took the opposite approach today with his themes of "humility and comity," and that's why Klein loved it. Boehner didn't gloat on behalf of himself or his party, and he didn't set himself up as the savior of conservatives or the "foil" to the White House. He even pledged to try to heal the "scar tissue" between the parties with more openness. "It was, I think, as smart a speech as I've seen a politician give—in part because it was savvy about what it didn't say, which is a rare virtue in Washington," writes Klein. Time will tell whether he can follow through, "but thus far, Boehner's political instincts have been quite impressive. The White House may have a more able opponent in him than they thought." Click here to read the full text of Boehner's speech. |
Keystone Virus Makes First Known Jump From Mosquitoes To Humans
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alan Diaz/AP Alan Diaz/AP
Updated at 10:45 a.m. ET Friday
Just in time for the hot, humid, bug-bite-riddled summer: Researchers from the University of Florida have confirmed the first known case of a human infected with the mosquito-borne Keystone virus.
A 16-year-old boy in North Central Florida went to an urgent care clinic after coming down with a fever and a severe rash in August 2016, during the Zika outbreak in Florida and the Caribbean.
Doctors couldn't figure out what made him sick. They tested for Zika and various other pathogens but hit a series of dead ends.
"We couldn't identify what was going on," J. Glenn Morris, director of the university's Emerging Pathogens Institute, told NPR member station WUSF. "We screened this with all the standard approaches and it literally took a year and a half of sort of dogged laboratory work to figure out what this virus was."
Researchers published their findings earlier this month in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The virus was first found in the U.S. in 1964, when researchers isolated it from mosquitoes in Keystone, Fla. Since then, it "has been found in animal populations along coastal regions stretching from Texas to the Chesapeake Bay," according to a statement from University of Florida Health.
But until now, there hasn't been a way to test humans for the Keystone virus, which is carried by the Aedes atlanticus mosquito, a cousin to the Zika-spreading Aedes aegypti.
The virus can cause a rash and mild fever in humans. The teenager did not show signs of encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain — but Keystone is part of a group of viruses "known to cause encephalitis in several species, including humans," said lead study author John Lednicky, a University of Florida research professor in the environmental and global health department of the College of Public Health and Health Professions.
Morris suspects many people might have the Keystone virus.
"Although the virus has never previously been found in humans, the infection may actually be fairly common in North Florida," he said in the statement.
"It's one of these instances where if you don't know to look for something, you don't find it." ||||| A mosquito-borne illness originally found in the Tampa Bay area has been confirmed in a human for the first time, according to University of Florida researchers.
The Keystone virus, named after the northwestern Hillsborough County area where it was initially identified in 1964, has been found in animal populations along coastal regions stretching from Texas to the Chesapeake Bay.
UF researchers have been sequencing the virus since August 2016, when a 16-year-old boy in North Central Florida showed up to a clinic with a rash and fever during the Zika virus epidemic in Florida and the Caribbean. The report was published June 9 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Because of concerns about Zika, laboratory samples were collected from the patient, but studies were negative for Zika or related viruses.
But the researchers found Keystone virus when they did viral cultures from the patient samples. Although the teenager did not report symptoms of encephalitis, lab studies indicate that Keystone virus can infect brain cells, and may pose a risk for brain infections.
Dr. Glenn Morris, director of the university's Emerging Pathogens Institute, said until now, there hasn't been a way to test for the virus.
"We couldn't identify what was going on,” Morris said. “We screened this with all the standard approaches and it literally took a year and a half of sort of dogged laboratory work to figure out what this virus was.”
Morris said biotech companies are already reaching out to the institute to develop commercial tests that can be used in clinics and hospitals.
Keystone is spread by aedes atlanticus, a common Florida mosquito and cousin to the mosquito, aedes aegypti, that spreads Zika.
It’s part of a group of viruses that are known to cause encephalitis - inflammation of the brain - in several species, including humans. Morris said they’re not absolutely certain that Keystone can also cause encephalitis.
Morris said although the virus has never previously been found in humans, the infection may actually be fairly common in North Florida. A 1972 article in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene reported Keystone virus antibodies in 19 to 21 percent of the people tested in the Tampa Bay region.
“There’s a high likelihood that Keystone virus is continuing to circulate in Florida, as it has for at least 50 or 60 years, and as it may well have for hundreds of years,” Morrisa said. “This is one of our native Florida viruses.”
"It's likely there have continued to be a fair number of human infections. In most instances, it would appear to be asymptomatic or cause mild infection, fever and a rash."
Morris emphasized the need for additional research into the prevalence of vector-borne diseases in the United States, and stressed the importance of minimizing the risk of mosquito bites by using mosquito repellent. ||||| The University of Florida Health Science Center - the most comprehensive academic health center in the Southeast - is dedicated to high-quality programs of education, research, patient care and public service.
The UF College of Dentistry is the only public-funded dental school in Florida and is recognized as one of the top U.S. dental schools for the quality of its educational programs, oral health research enterprise and commitment to patient care and service.
The College of Medicine, the largest of six colleges at the University of Florida Health Science Center, opened in 1956 with a mission to increase Florida's supply of highly qualified physicians, provide advanced health-care services to Florida residents and foster discovery in health research.
Founded in 1956, the University of Florida College of Nursing is the premier educational institution for nursing in the state of Florida and is ranked in the top 10 percent of all nursing graduate programs nationwide. The UF College of Nursing continually attracts and retains the highest caliber of nursing students and faculty with a passion for science and caring.
Established in 1923, the College of Pharmacy is the oldest college in the UF Health Science Center. Ranked among the top schools of pharmacy nationally, the college supports research, service and educational programs enhanced with online technologies.
The College of Public Health & Health Professions (PHHP) is dedicated to providing excellent educational programs that prepare graduates to address the multifaceted health needs of populations, communities and individuals.
The UF College of Veterinary Medicine is Florida's only veterinary college and provides many unique educational programs for students and services aimed at helping pets, wildlife and endangered species. We offer a a four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine programs as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Veterinary Medical Sciences.
Co-located with the Shands Jacksonville Hospital, the Jacksonville Health Science Center excels in education, research and patient care that expresses our abiding values of compassion, excellence, professionalism and innovation. Our state-of-the-art medical center serves an urban population of 1 million from north Florida to south Georgia.
The UFCOM-J offers accredited graduate medical education residency and fellowship programs, in addition to non-standard fellowship programs. Clinical rotations in all the major disciplines are provided for UFCOM undergraduate medical students and elective rotations to students from other accredited schools.
The UFHSC-J is a clinical teaching site for the Gainesville-based College of Nursing. Students rotate through the various clinical settings on the campus, and primary care centers and specialty care centers located throughout Jacksonville.
The UF College of Pharmacy-Jacksonville offers a four-year Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) Program completed entirely in Jacksonville. Also offered on campus is an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists-accredited pharmacy residency program at Shands Jacksonville. ||||| 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. | – A coastal virus that can cause a rash and mild fever has officially infected a person for the first time, NPR reports. Scientists say it took 18 months to figure out that a Florida teen who got sick during the Zika outbreak of 2016 actually had the Keystone virus, which is carried by mosquitos. "We couldn't identify what was going on," J. Glenn Morris, head of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida, tells WUSF. "We screened this with all the standard approaches and it literally took a year and a half of sort of dogged laboratory work to figure out what this virus was." There wasn't even a test to detect Keystone virus in humans. The 16-year-old boy had a fever and a bad rash, but not the encephalitis (or brain inflammation) that a group of viruses including Keystone can cause in animals. First seen in America in 1964, Keystone is known to infect "animal populations along coastal regions stretching from Texas to the Chesapeake Bay," per a University of Florida Health statement. Scientists have long suspected there are human cases, but the new study in Clinical Infectious Diseases confirms it. "The infection may actually be fairly common in North Florida," says lead study author John Lednicky. "It's one of these instances where if you don't know to look for something, you don't find it." |
Jeb Bush, who entered Tuesday night’s GOP debate with the most on the line, rose to the occasion and turned in his strongest debate performance to date, but it was Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz who again outshined their rivals.
While Bush's ability to find his footing on the primetime stage should reassure nervous donors, it’s unlikely to fundamentally change his position in the broader field—a B grade, after all, only brings an F up to a D.
Story Continued Below
Rubio and Cruz, now viewed as the two strongest candidates, ceded no ground, exploiting a much softer debate format in Milwaukee and again showcasing their mastery of the facts and ease under the bright lights.
Donald Trump also roared back to his caustic, combative form. But Ben Carson turned in his shakiest performance yet, struggling with a debate that focused more on substantive policy questions and taking up the least amount of speaking time despite his position in the center of the stage.
The two-hour debate, marked by a smattering of sharp exchanges but fewer fireworks than the three previous showdowns, is unlikely to dramatically alter the race as it now stands—and the status quo may hold through the end of the year, with the next GOP debate 35 days away and the month of December effectively a dead zone for campaign fundraising.
Many of the spats that generated heat on stage Tuesday night were familiar ones—illustrative of the broader ideological divisions within the GOP.
The first focused on immigration, with Trump and Cruz on one side opposite John Kasich and Bush, both desperate for air time given their standing behind the current front-runners and eagerly blasting Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants.
"It’s a silly argument. It’s not an adult argument. We all know you can’t pick them up and ship them back across the border,” said Kasich, paving a path for Bush to follow.
Trump responded by taking a dig at the Ohio governor and his state's economic recovery. "You’re lucky in Ohio that you struck oil," he said.
As the tussle escalated and Kasich started talking over him, Trump interjected, saying "I don't have to hear from this man." As Kasich looked to cut in again, Trump suggested he "let Jeb speak."
Bush followed by mockingly thanking Trump for "allowing me to speak at the debate." He also chided Trump for the mass deportation proposal, calling it "impossible."
“It’s not embracing American values, and it would tear communities apart,” Bush said about Trump’s plan. “And even having this conversation sends a powerful signal. They’re doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign when they hear this … the way you win the presidency is you have practical plans.”
Cruz followed with a defense of Trump’s position, asserting “it’s not anti-immigrant,” and landing a repeat of his well-received attack on the media.
“I understand when the mainstream media covers immigration, it often doesn’t see it as an economic issue, but I can tell you for millions of Americans at home watching this, it is a very personal economic issue,” Cruz said. “I would say the politics of it would be very, very, different if a bunch of lawyers or bankers were crossing the Rio Grande — or if a bunch of people with journalism degrees were coming over and driving down the wages in the press.”
Rubio, the author of the failed comprehensive immigration reform package that passed the Senate in 2013 but failed in the House for lack of support from grassroots conservatives, stayed out of the fray.
Rubio did land his own memorable moment when he tangled with Rand Paul, who criticized his proposals to increase military spending.
“I know that Rand is a committed isolationist,” Rubio said, dismissively. “I know that the world is a safer and a better place when the United States is the strongest country in the world.”
"Marco, Marco, how is it conservative to add a trillion-dollar expenditure to the federal government?” Paul shot back. “You cannot be a conservative if you’re going to keep promoting new programs that you’re not going to pay for. I want a strong national defense, but I don’t want us to be bankrupt.”
“You think defending this nation is expensive," Cruz chimed in. "Try not defending it."
Bush, desperate to improve on his disastrous performance in last month’s third GOP debate in Boulder, Colo., steadied himself with his response on immigration after showing some edginess early on.
Bush entered Tuesday night’s fourth GOP debate vowing to stop following the moderators’ rules and dead set on making his voice heard.
But in a major shift from the first three debates that quickly devolved into freewheeling slugfests, the five candidates who got questions before Bush did at the outset of the two-hour debate in Milwaukee were suddenly playing by the rules.
When Kasich, despite ranking behind Bush in the national polling, offered a lengthy answer to his first question and then threatened to interject after Cruz’s opening statement, an antsy Bush jumped in.
"I got about four minutes last debate, I'm gonna get my question,” Bush said.
“I appreciate it, Jeb,” Kasich shot back. “I’m all for you.”
Bush got his footing as the debate progressed, attacking Trump for his assertion that the U.S. cannot be the world's policemen. "Donald is wrong on this. He is absolutely wrong on this," Bush said. "We are not going to be the world’s policemen but we sure as hell better be the world’s leader."
“That’s like a board game. That’s like playing Monopoly or something," said Bush, who seemingly meant to refer to the game Risk, not Monopoly.
Twelve days after his rehearsed attack on Rubio backfired so spectacularly, Bush opted not to attack or engage Rubio at all.
Carson, who now sits atop some national polls, struggled on a foreign policy question about how he would combat ISIS in the Middle East.
“We have to say, how do we make them look like losers? And I think the way to make them look like losers, we have to destroy their caliphate,” Carson said, seemingly arguing for ground forces to remove ISIS from Iraq.
“Take that from them, take that land from them, we could do that fairly easily,” he said.
Carson also addressed the recent scrutiny of a number of his anecdotal biographical claims, again criticizing the media for portraying him unfairly.
“The fact of the matter is, we should vet all candidates,” Carson said early in the debate. “What I do have a problem with is being lied about and putting that out there as truth. I don’t even mind that so much if they do that with everybody … when I look at somebody like Hillary Clinton who sits there and tells her daughter and a government official that no this was a terrorist attack and tells everybody else it was a video, where I come from, they call that a lie.
“I think that’s very different from somebody misinterpreting when I said I was offered a scholarship to West Point,” he continued. “People who know me know that I’m a honest person.”
||||| GOP presidential candidates clashed over immigration, government spending and how to handle Russia's Vladimir Putin during Tuesday night's debate. As the night got heated, the audience got involved: here are the must-watch moments. (Ashleigh Joplin and Rebecca Schatz/Fox Business Network)
The eight top Republican presidential candidates gathered for the fourth debate of the 2016 campaign Tuesday night in Milwaukee. It was a more understated affair than the last GOP debate sponsored by CNBC but still managed to yield some bests and worsts.
Here are my winners and losers from the night that was:
Winners
* Marco Rubio: Rubio's line about welders making more money than philosophy majors will be quoted all over the place in the post-debate analysis. (And, no, it wasn't totally accurate.) Rubio knocked it out of the park when debating military spending and the right role for America in the world with Rand Paul. He got a meatball of a question when asked by the moderators about Hillary Clinton's résumé as compared with his own; he, unsurprisingly, answered it well and easily. Time and time again, he oozed knowledge while appearing entirely relaxed. One nit to pick with Rubio: He can — and did at times Tuesday night — come across as slightly too rehearsed, the student reciting things back to the teacher from memory but without actually understanding what any of it means.
* Ted Cruz: For the second straight debate, the senator from Texas shone under the bright lights. His line about the tax code having more words than the Bible was a good and memorable one. His repeated denunciations of Washington's "crony" culture will leave a lot of Republican heads nodding in agreement. Cruz proved Tuesday night that of the "outsider" candidates, he is the one best equipped to carry their message going forward.
* Ben Carson: In the first three debates, I watched in wonder as Carson's numbers kept moving up after what I perceived to be nearly nonexistent performances. But Carson — from his first answer on Tuesday night — was more energetic (that's a pretty low bar given Carson's past performances) and more dialed in than I had seen him. He was helped by a moderator question on his past exaggerations/inaccuracies regarding his life story that would give the term "softball" a bad name. And by the fact that none of his rivals seemed interested in taking the fight to him on the issue of the inconsistencies of his recounting of the past. Carson was, as usual, very shaky on foreign policy and wasn't much better on regulatory reform. But he did more than enough to keep himself at or near the top of the GOP field.
* Carly Fiorina: Like Cruz and Rubio, Fiorina proved something Tuesday night that we already knew: She's an able debater. She inserted herself into a variety of discussions — foreign policy, taxes — where she left a positive mark. It also helped that the audience in the room in Milwaukee seemed very much on her side. I still think Fiorina, like Rubio, can come across as too rote at times.
* Rand Paul: The senator from Kentucky (finally) found ways to get his voice heard in a debate. The problem for him is that he's almost certainly too far down in polling — and in the money chase — for it to matter much. Still, Paul found a platform to voice his unique views on foreign and fiscal policy, and, at this stage of his candidacy, that amounts to a win.
Losers
* Donald Trump: Trump, as he has in each of the first four debates, stood center stage in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. But for the two-plus hours that the debate ran, Trump felt ancillary to the conversation. When he did get time to speak, he simply repeated his now-familiar lines — we don't win anymore, I have a great company, etc. — and little else. His answers on foreign policy were not good. His random attack on Fiorina — "why does she keep interrupting everybody?" — earned him boos from the crowd (and helped her). Trump just didn't seem all that interested in being there. It likely won't affect his poll numbers, since nothing seems to. But that doesn't change the fact he was off his game.
* John Kasich: The Ohio governor came out with a strategy to install himself right in the center of the debate. To do that, he interrupted, cajoled and pouted his way through it. His positions on immigration and on Wall Street banks won't win him any support from the GOP base (he got booed for his Wall Street answer). But it wasn't really about policy. Kasich seemed peevish, short-tempered and anything but presidential.
* Jeb Bush: Look, the former Florida governor wasn't bad in this debate. In fact, he was far better than the lifeless showing he put in last month. But he wasn't good enough. Jeb's first answer — pledging to repeal all of Obama's executive orders — was forceful and quite good. But as the debate wore on, Bush repeatedly missed chances to jump into conversations — a long back-and-forth involving multiple candidates over taxes jumps to mind — and when he did speak he was somewhat halting and awkward. The Bush people readily acknowledge that debating is not his strong suit. And I readily acknowledge that being a good debater doesn't guarantee victory. But Bush just isn't comfortable on the debate stage — and it shows.
* Anecdotes: Virtually every candidate took a question about broad fiscal policy and turned it into a heartwarming/heart-wrenching tale of "Jim and Aileen Jones from random city in random state." I know candidates and their staffs believe these anecdotes bolster the idea that they are out meeting regular people and not sitting in the halls of Washington — wherever those are — opining on stuff. But the anecdotes come across more often than not as trite and cliched rather than revealing and powerful. Let's just stop doing it! Okay? Good. It's a deal.
* Debate format: The Fox Business moderators went out of their way to make clear that they, unlike the unmentioned but ever-present CNBC moderators, would be sticking to substantive economic issues in the debate. Then they went out of their way to praise themselves for doing so. Fine. But the debate was largely lifeless throughout, and the lack of candidate exchanges — whether because of the rules of the debate or a simple unwillingness to engage — meant that many of the answers offered were straight from oft-repeated talking points. I don't think that serves the voters' interests — at all. ||||| Milwaukee — It was, at last, a debate about policy. If the emergence of Donald Trump and the efforts of previous debate moderators to pit candidates against each other have forestalled the policy arguments that typically characterize Republican primary contests, Fox Business Network’s debate on Tuesday brought them to the fore.
Less than three months before voters go to the polls in January, the candidates clashed on some of the major issues that have divided the Republican party over the past six years: The night’s big moments did not come from one candidate trashing another, but from policy exchanges, first on immigration and then on defense spending. After months of headlines dominated by a real-estate mogul-cum-reality-television star, it was a welcome change of pace.
The event was steady and studious, and the upshot was predictable — an evening that did little to alter the trajectories of individual candidates or the broader narrative of the race. In the course of two hours there were no knockout punches, no major gaffes, no made-for-opposition-research moments. Each of the candidates went silent for a stretch, but none completely disappeared as in previous debates — perhaps because the stage had shrunk to only eight, the smallest primetime grouping to date.
If a single issue can be said to have encapsulated the bitter divisions within the Republican party over the past six years, it is immigration, and the key disagreements between the candidates — over border security, legal immigration, and amnesty — came to the fore during Tuesday’s debate.
RELATED: Ted Cruz Wins the Night
It was Donald Trump, predictably, who started it all. Heaping praise on court rulings that struck down President Obama’s executive action on immigration, he reiterated his intention to build a wall on the Southern border. “We will have a wall, the wall will be built, the wall will be successful,” he said. “And if you don’t think walls work, just ask Israel.”
John Kasich, the prickly Ohio governor standing three podiums away, denounced Trump’s plan as “a silly argument” that “makes no sense,” earning notably louder applause than Trump had.
RELATED: Winners & Losers
Enter Jeb Bush, who rebuked his fellow Republicans for having a conversation about deporting illegal immigrants in the first place. Hillary Clinton’s campaign, he said, was trading “high-fives” over the terrible optics.
The event was steady and studious, and the upshot was predictable — an evening that did little to alter the trajectories of individual candidates.
“That’s the problem with this,” Bush said. “We have to win the presidency. And the way you win the presidency is to have practical plans.” He advocated allowing illegal immigrants to earn legal status after paying fines. “That’s the proper path to making this work,” he said.
The crowd again erupted in applause, seemingly handing the exchange to Bush and Kasich rather than to Trump. Bush was desperately in need of a standout performance after being bulldozed by Marco Rubio at last month’s Colorado debate, and this was perhaps the high point of his evening. As the debate wore on, he seemed to once again disappear for long stretches.
Ted Cruz, ignoring the crowd’s enthusiasm for Bush’s and Kasich’s more moderate immigration stances, then chimed in with the last word on the issue. “If Republicans join Democrats in granting amnesty, we will lose,” he said bluntly. He went on to argue that Republicans could embrace both legal immigration and the rule of law. It wasn’t a hit with the audience in the debate hall, but will play well with Cruz’s grassroots base.
Marco Rubio, whose introduction met with louder applause than any of his rivals’, once again played a starring role Tuesday night. Two weeks after slapping down Bush in a memorable exchange, the Florida senator was involved in another explosive back-and-forth with Rand Paul, the field’s most vocal champion of so-called “non-interventionism.” Rubio is perhaps its most visible proponent of a more muscular foreign policy.
Paul charged that Rubio’s call to increase defense spending is “not very conservative.”
Among Republican primary voters, Rubio knew he was on strong footing, and he pushed back. “I know that Rand is a committed isolationist,” he said, using a term that the Kentucky senator has openly bristled at. Indeed, when Paul laid out his foreign-policy platform a year ago, he declared explicitly that he was “not an isolationist.”
Paul was unfazed. “Marco, Marco, Marco,” he said. “How is it conservative to add a trillion dollars in military expenditures?”
“We can’t even have an economy if we’re not safe,” Rubio replied. “There are radical jihadists in the Middle East beheading people and crucifying Christians. A radical Shia cleric in Iran trying to get a nuclear weapon. The Chinese taking over the South China Sea. Yes, I believe the world is a safer and better place when America is the strongest military power in the world.”
It was the biggest applause line of the night, but Paul would not be deterred. “Marco, I don’t think we are any safer from bankruptcy court. As we go further and further into debt, we are less and less safe. This is the most important thing we’re gonna talk about tonight. Can you be a conservative and be for unlimited military spending?”
Cruz jumped in to position himself between his two colleagues, calling for a “middle ground” in the debate — as he has in the Senate, where he’s said his views fall somewhere between those of Rand Paul and John McCain. But he was clearly closer to McCain’s end of the spectrum on Tuesday — or in this case, to Rubio’s. “You think defending this nation is expensive? Try not defending it. That’s a lot more expensive,” Cruz said, winning thunderous applause.
The debate over defense spending and America’s role in the world has roiled the GOP in the years since Barack Obama was elected in 2008 partly on the basis of his promises to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Paul’s election in 2010 gave non-interventionism a spokesman on the Republican side, and he rose to national prominence in large part by articulating his view that the United States should play a more restrained role in world affairs. Rubio was elected in 2010 too, and he has served as the leading spokesman of the opposing view, that strengthening and maintaining America’s role as a beacon of freedom abroad is essential to security at home.
On Tuesday, millions of Republican primary voters had the chance to see that debate and others play out in real time, and to make up their own minds. The reality that the night seemed not to move the needle in any significant direction was apparent from the tone and body language of campaign officials. No one had anything but praise for the moderators. Everyone took to the spin room looking pleased and relaxed if not especially triumphant or dejected, all of them satisfied with their candidate’s performance but none claiming a game-changing moment. Milwaukee produced no consensus loser in the eyes of the campaigns and media, no brewing speculation of anyone dropping out in the days ahead — just talk of soldiering on and bracing for a long, incremental slog to a nominating season that begins Feb. 1 in Iowa.
— Eliana Johnson is Washington editor of National Review. Tim Alberta is chief political correspondent for National Review. ||||| 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 ||||| “That,” he added, as the crowd erupted into applause, “is not how the real world works.”
On Tuesday night, Mr. Bush, whose chronic struggles on the debate stage have unnerved his supporters and dragged down his standing in the polls, was a feistier and more assertive combatant, demanding more time from moderators, offering flashes of improvised humor and delivering crisper answers than he has in the past.
Whether it will be enough to turn around his flagging campaign is uncertain: Mr. Bush has a well-documented gift for gaffes and his creaky candidacy feels out of sync with the furious mood of the electorate.
But on Tuesday, unlike in earlier debates, he no longer seemed as desperate to be somewhere else.
In fact, he pleaded for more questions.
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When Gov. John Kasich of Ohio tried to horn in on an inquiry directed at Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida cut him off.
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“You’ve already made two comments, John,’’ he said. “It’s my turn.”
Mr. Bush had stood by as rivals talked over him during the last Republican debate, a decision he regretted. But in intensive practice sessions in the weeks since, he had focused on squeezing out every last minute of time on camera.
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“I got about four minutes in the last debate,” he said at one point on Tuesday night. “I’m going to get my question right now.”
Under intense pressure, after apologizing for his poor showings in the past, Mr. Bush hired a debate guru to refine his performance style. The changes were sometimes obvious. His gestures were less jangling. His answers were more concrete. He seemed, at times, more commanding.
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Of course, it was not a total success — and Mr. Bush, the 62-year-old scion of an American political dynasty, did not entirely rid himself of awkward behaviors.
There were clenched smiles, obscure geographical references and hands that reflexively darted into his pockets. And after aggressively demanding that Mr. Kasich yield, Mr. Bush suffered a temporary setback: The Ohio governor talked over him anyway, at least temporarily.
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But in contrast to previous debates, Mr. Bush generated a handful of memorable lines and moments, and seemed less daunted by Mr. Trump, the resident bully in each of the party’s confrontations so far.
At one point, Mr. Bush tartly thanked Mr. Trump for allowing him a chance to participate in a verbal rumpus.
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“Thank you, Donald, for allowing me to speak at the debate,” he said. “That’s really nice of you. Really appreciate that. What a generous man you are.”
He repeatedly mocked Mr. Trump for what he said were pie-in-the-sky policy plans that could not possibly work and would play into Democratic plans to cast Republicans as the enemy of minority voters. After Mr. Trump reiterated his support for deporting 11 million illegal immigrants, Mr. Bush looked exasperated.
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“They’re doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign right now,” he said. “The way you win the presidency is to have practical plans.”
Mr. Bush swallowed his long-held distaste for sound bites and managed to fire off a few of them. Asked which regulations he would cut to improve the economy, Mr. Bush pivoted, turning instead to a claim by Hillary Rodham Clinton that President Obama’s economic record should earn an A grade. He then lobbed a practiced-sounding barb.
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“Really?” Mr. Bush asked. He ticked off a series of grim figures and wondered how Mrs. Clinton could say they were worthy of such a high grade.
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“It may be the best that Hillary Clinton can do,” Mr. Bush said, “but it’s not the best America can do.”
As improved as Mr. Bush seemed, he still lacked the virtuoso skills and camera-ready ease of Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida. Mr. Bush reluctantly hired a debate coach last month, turning to a trusted family image maker, Jon Kraushar, who had polished the speaking skills of Mr. Bush’s father, President George H.W. Bush, who suffered from his own lapses in syntax.
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During sessions held in Miami and Milwaukee, Mr. Kraushar and Mr. Bush’s aides counseled him to talk about real people and aim his fire at Mrs. Clinton, after an attempt to joust with Mr. Rubio badly backfired. And Mr. Bush vowed to embrace a philosophy long practiced by his more agile peers: Answer the question you want, not the one you were asked.
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Moments after the debate, Mr. Bush’s top aides seemed palpably relieved that they would not, at least for a night, have to make excuses for him again.
In a midnight conference call with donors, Sally Bradshaw, a longtime Bush adviser, summed up the sentiment.
“Gosh, what a difference a week makes,” she said. ||||| Jeb Bush, left, speaks as Marco Rubio listens during Republican presidential debate at Milwaukee Theatre. | AP Photo Jeb Bush stops the bleeding His supporters say they were reassured by his performance.
MILWAUKEE — Jeb Bush didn’t try to beat Marco Rubio. He set a lower bar: shooting to best his own panned debate performances. And he succeeded on Tuesday, as top supporters declared a solid, mistake-free night in Milwaukee enough to wrap a “tourniquet” on a campaign that had been bleeding since the last debate two weeks ago.
“There’s always nervous Nellies in every campaign,” said former Sen. Mel Martinez, a Bush supporter spinning for the campaign in Milwaukee. “If they needed it, tonight certainly should have reassured them.”
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“Thank God. He stopped the bleeding tonight,” added Ana Navarro, a Bush friend and adviser. “This can be the start of a turnaround if he builds on this solid performance.”
While Bush avoided any reprises of his failed confrontation with Rubio, he did come out the gate fiery. His first words were trying to get in his first words. “I got about four minutes in the last debate,” he interrupted early on. “I'm going to get my question — right now.”
After the previous debate, Bush’s donors urged him to back away from going on offense against Rubio. Some, most notably prominent Florida bundler Brian Ballard, have gone so far as to switch sides to back Rubio in recent days. The discussion of how to take on the candidate whom Bush’s orbit still believes is the biggest threat to his nomination took on added urgency after a report that Bush’s super PAC is considering a $20 million anti-Rubio campaign.
“There are donors in Florida who want to see peace in the valley, and rightfully so,” said Al Cardenas, a Florida Republican and Bush backer who is also close with Rubio, “and at the same time you’re in the midst of a competitive campaign.”
There were no interactions between the two men on Tuesday night — an indication, Rubio’s advisers argued, that Bush had learned that a battle with the senator was one it couldn’t win.
“The phrase where I come from is ‘There’s no education in the second kick of a mule,’” Terry Sullivan, Rubio’s campaign manager, said after the debate. “I kind of feel like folks figured out that taking on Marco isn’t such a great idea. … I don’t think anyone is itching to take on Marco on the debate stage.”
Bush instead took aim at Hillary Clinton and presented himself as a viable general-election candidate. At one point, he scolded his fellow Republicans when talk turned to deportations. “Even having this conversation sends a powerful signal — they're doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign right now when they hear this,” Bush said.
From Day One of his campaign, Bush has suffered from high expectations — that he would dominate the pursuit of donors, that he would blow away the field, that he would push away others in the field. Few have panned out.
In the two weeks after his disastrous Boulder performance, Bush worked to lower expectations heading into Milwaukee. At numerous campaign stops, in media interviews and on donor calls, Bush went out of his way to say that he’s not a great debater and that he recognizes he needs to improve. It was an intentional effort, aides said, to lower expectations.
Bush’s top aides even got in on the action. On a conference call with New York donors last week, campaign manager Danny Diaz said that Bush had been working with a new debate coach, longtime Republican image guru Jon Kraushar, and that his supporters should expect an improved performance. It was a subtle play to calm nerves, while simultaneously diminishing anticipation that the former Florida governor — never stellar on the debate stage — was headed for a breakout performance.
Those close to Bush say he spent time after the Boulder debacle working on optics — including his posture. In the first three debates, Bush — who hadn't waged a campaign since 2002 and showed signs of rust — tended to slouch. And he brought on Kraushar, a longtime adviser to Fox News honcho Roger Ailes, who specializes in helping his clients forge a connection with TV viewers.
Bush certainly looked more confident as he challenged Trump on his foreign policy. “Donald's wrong on this. He is absolutely wrong on this. We're not going to be the world's policeman, but we sure as heck better be the world's leader.”
Awkward Bush, however, didn’t disappear entirely. “I was in Washington, Iowa, about three months ago talking about how bad Washington, D.C., is. It was — get the — kind of the,” he said, gesturing in hopes that the audience would laugh at his double-Washington wordplay. “Anyway,” he relented as they didn’t.
For all the talk of a Bush campaign crashing out early, he’s planning for the long road ahead — and doing the donor maintenance involved. This week, his top advisers sent out invitations to top donors for a December campaign update in Miami.
“Jeb will show you the Miami he loves and tell you, in his own words, ‘how we are going to win this damn thing!’” read the invitation to donors from Bush finance chief Heather Larrison.
Following the debate, Bush has a breakneck pace. He'll be heading to Iowa for three events on Wednesday, going to Michigan for a quick fundraiser on Thursday and continuing on for two days of events in New Hampshire before flying to Florida for a big cattle call in his home state.
“I don’t know that you fix all the problems with one debate,” said Martinez. “This is an ongoing deal. This is going to be a long race. He’s in it for the long haul. He’s weathered some difficult days. That showed you something about his character, about who he is and what he’s made of.”
Rubio’s team was less circumspect. “We won. Again,” Sullivan declared. “4-0.” ||||| The fourth Republican presidential debate on Tuesday night was a less dramatic, more substantive affair than the previous three clashes of the 2016 cycle. Who shone and who wilted under the lights in Milwaukee?
WINNERS
Sens. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioNauert faces questions about qualifications at UN The Memo: Trump puts isolationism at center stage Trump's military moves accelerate GOP search for next McCain MORE (Fla.) and Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzWhat a year it’s been: A month-by-month look back at 2018's biggest stories O'Rourke rips Trump's border wall in video: 'A symbol of division' Bloomberg ready to spend at least 0M if he runs for White House in 2020 MORE (Texas)
On a night without a single standout moment, the polish and poise of the two senators were valuable assets.
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Rubio is probably the most charismatic figure in this year’s GOP field among those who hold public office. Some of his best moments Tuesday night were on very different topics, including college education and foreign policy.
In the debate’s closing stages, he displayed a light touch when moderator Maria Bartiromo delivered a lengthy and positive summary of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonHillary Clinton says goodbye to 2018: 'A dark time for our country' 2019 forecast: Chaos with a chance of progress What a year it’s been: A month-by-month look back at 2018's biggest stories MORE’s resumé, to the consternation of the Republican crowd. Before going on to answer how someone with his relative lack of experience could compete with Clinton, Rubio merely laughed and said wryly that Bartiromo had asked a "great question."
Cruz had delivered an especially strong performance at the previous debate, in Boulder, Colo., on Oct 28, and he kept the momentum going here. His responses on entitlement reform and the need to avoid bailing out the financial system again were fluent and clear.
Cruz did have an uncharacteristic misstep when, having stated he would get rid of five government agencies, he in fact named only four. Cruz cited the Department of Commerce twice, but his stumble was immeasurably less damaging than then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s infamous “oops” moment, on the same subject, in 2012.
Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulRand Paul's Festivus 'grievances' include comparing Lindsey Graham to Senator Palpatine Santorum: Trump base might not back Syria pullout Coons: Trump handing a ‘great big Christmas gift’ to Russia and Iran with Syria withdrawal MORE (Ky.)
Paul has seemed at best a marginal figure in previous debates, but he came alive in Milwaukee. He hit early on his distrust of the Federal Reserve, an article of faith for the libertarians who backed the presidential bids of his father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
He also went after Rubio on the Floridian’s plans for an increased tax credit and then expanded that critique to attack his proposals to increase military spending as well. That clash had no clear winner, but Paul held his own. His strong performance will hardly transform him into a front-runner, but the improvement from his previous showings was notable nonetheless.
Fox Business Network
The debate hosts were always likely to avoid the fate of CNBC, which drew heavy criticism after the Colorado debate, with moderators accused of asking “gotcha” questions and adopting a generally querulous tone. By contrast, Tuesday’s debate was smoothly run and substantive, with the three moderators being neither spineless nor gratuitously rude. The ratings have yet to be revealed, but Fox Business will surely win critical praise for how it ran the show.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
After Fox Business decided that only eight contenders would be present on the main stage Tuesday, Christie found himself confined to the undercard debate. If that hurt his pride, it didn’t show. The New Jersey governor was clearly the best performer of the four candidates in the earlier clash, the others being Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.). In particular, Christie turned Jindal’s attacks on his conservative credentials to his advantage, positioning himself as a would-be uniter of the party and Jindal as a petty divider.
MIXED
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
This was Bush’s best performance in any of the debates so far. Unfortunately for him, that’s a rather low bar.
He did get two effective lines in early, both of which alluded to Clinton. One mocked her sunny assessment of President Obama’s economic record. The other was his insistence that Clinton’s campaign would be “doing high-fives...right now” after listening to Donald Trump Donald John TrumpTrump: 'No choice' on continuing government shutdown Syrian troop withdraw will take four months: report Kim Jong Un: North Korea may 'seek a new path' if US doesn't negotiate MORE restate his hard line on illegal immigration.
But there were two big problems for Bush. His performance was marginal for much of the debate — 18 minutes passed at the start before he was asked a question, something he pointed out in a display of assertiveness not seen in the previous debates — and there was no outstanding moment that seemed likely to reinvigorate his ailing campaign.
Retired surgeon Ben Carson
Carson’s low-wattage style has both fans and detractors, but he is clearly sticking with it. His best moment in the debate came early on when he wryly deflected a question about the media coverage he has received in recent weeks. But Carson can also come across as meandering. Additionally, he ruled out raising the minimum wage despite having indicated in May that he supported such a move. That could spark yet another controversy in a campaign that, for all its strengths, doesn’t need any more of them.
Businesswoman Carly Fiorina
It was more of the same from the former Hewlett Packard CEO. She is a very effective communicator who wraps many of her policy positions in the same overarching theme: that vested interests control the political system and that she is the person to take them on. But the suspicion lingers that Fiorina had her moment in the sun after the second GOP debate in September. She has faded since then, and there’s no apparent reason to believe she can reverse that trend.
Businessman Donald Trump
This was the mogul’s weakest performance in any of the four debates. No single disaster befell him, but he had a couple of bad moments. One came when he complained about Fiorina interrupting other candidates, in the process reminding people of a previous uproar over his comments about her appearance. The other came when, asked about the threat from Russia, he delivered an answer that was conspicuously lacking in detail. Still, Trump remains far ahead in the polls, alongside Carson, despite endless predictions of his imminent demise. Don’t be surprised if his poll ratings prove durable one more time.
LOSERS
Ohio Gov. John Kasich
Kasich needed a big night and he got one — but in all the wrong ways. Kasich tried to mix it up with several candidates and almost always emerged the loser. Early on, Trump swatted his attacks aside. Much later, he tangled with Cruz on the wisdom of bailing out troubled banks. At one point during that exchange, Kasich appeared to suggest he could decide who should lose their deposits during a bank failure in a financial crisis. Such moments undercut Kasich’s central claim as a pragmatic executive. It was a very bad night for Kasich, and deeper questions are now likely to be asked about the viability of his candidacy. | – Compared to last month's CNBC debate, Tuesday night's GOP debate in Milwaukee was long on policy and short on "gotcha" questions and clashes between candidates and moderators, though analysts say the scorecard isn't that different from last time around, with front-runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson both failing to shine. A look around at the chatter: Winners. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were widely seen as the night's standouts, with Politico describing them as "the two strongest candidates" after "showcasing their mastery of the facts and ease under the bright lights." Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post deems Cruz, after his attacks on DC's "crony culture, to now be the "outsider" candidate most likely to succeed. Honorable mentions. Carly Fiorina and Rand Paul both had praiseworthy moments, with Fiorina once again demonstrating a strong command of the issues and impressive debating skills. Paul managed to get his message on fiscal policy across, and, "at this stage of his candidacy, that amounts to a win," per the Post. Carson's performance was seen as middling, with policy answers lacking in substance, though he did ably deflect a question about the recent controversies over his life story. Jeb Bush. He needed a good night after a dismal performance last month, and opinions are split on whether he delivered. It "was Bush's best performance in any of the debates so far," according to the Hill—but "unfortunately for him, that's a rather low bar." He was more assertive than in previous debates, though it's "uncertain" whether that will be enough to give his campaign much of a boost, notes a New York Times assessment. Still, it adds that "he no longer seemed as desperate to be somewhere else," while a Politico analysis has a "Bush stops the bleeding" headline and theme. Losers. John Kasich was more of a presence in this debate, but it was not a presence many people liked, with the National Review calling him "angry, condescending, and unprincipled" and likening him to "the drunk, obnoxious uncle everyone wishes hadn't accepted the invitation to Thanksgiving dinner." Trump's performance was seen as his weakest yet, and Politico says he "committed perhaps the biggest gaffe of the night" by suggesting wages in America are too high. Fox Business Network. Unlike CNBC's widely criticized debate, Fox's debate was seen as "fair and balanced," with candidates receiving a roughly equal amount of speaking time, ranging from 13 minutes 35 seconds for Cruz to 9 minutes 22 seconds for Carson, according to Politico. "And that @CNBC is how you run a debate," tweeted RNC chairman Reince Priebus. Click for some of the biggest moments and best lines from the debate. |
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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.
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[on why she chose to be an actress] I felt so much when I was fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, I felt everything. I didn't understand [myself], I was so happy yet so angry and sad. That was the point when I realized that I needed to tell stories and make characters come alive and I needed to make people cry, and make people angry, and make people happy, and make them laugh. See more Daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith ||||| 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.
Charlie Matthew Hunnam was born in Newcastle, England on April 10, 1980. At 16 years of age, he made a guest appearances in the popular TV series Byker Grove . He gained fame in Britain thanks to his television role as the love-smitten Nathan Maloney in Queer as Folk . Independent movies, television series and auditions for such blockbusters as Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones followed... See full bio »
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When some films do not pay as well and you have a mortgage to pay and you are on an economy drive eating eggs and beans, and you are offered a million dollar role and you turn it down, as it is not right. I want to be doing this when I am 60 and getting the big paying roles then so I have to pick the parts that are right for the long term rather than take the money now... See more Was going to play the "stoner" in the small independent film Anderson's Cross alongside former Undeclared co star Samm Levine and good friend Jerome Elston Scott , but couldn't because of scheduling conflicts. Director Jerome cut the part out of the script completely saying "No one replaces Charlie Hunnam". See more Charlie See more | – After 50 million different rumors, the Internet has its answer as to who will play Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey on the big screen: Anastasia is none other than Dakota Johnson, the 24-year-old daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, and perhaps previously best known for Fox sitcom Ben & Kate, and minor roles in The Social Network and The Five-Year Engagement. "I am delighted to let you know that the lovely Dakota Johnson has agreed to be our Anastasia in the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey," tweeted author EL James this morning. James later tweet-dropped: "the gorgeous and talented Charlie Hunnam" as the actor who would portray Grey. Click for more Social Network alums working on the project. |
HAYWARD -- A woman was arrested Saturday after allegedly jumping on stage at a music festival and attacking a legendary musician after he dedicated a song to Trayvon Martin, according to police and eyewitnesses.
The woman, who police identified as 43-year-old Dinalynn Andrews Potter of Barstow, apparently yelled, "it's all your fault" before shoving 73-year-old Lester Chambers, his family said Sunday.
"She had a crazed look in her eye," said Kurt Kangas, a friend of Chambers who ran to his aid. "I saw the devil there."
Chambers was performing at the Hayward Russell City Blues Festival downtown when around 5:15 p.m. he dedicated Curtis Mayfield's hit "People Get Ready" to Martin, the 17-year-old shot and killed by George Zimmerman.
A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman on all charges Saturday.
Chambers told the audience if Mayfield were around today, he'd change the lyrics "there's a train a comin'" to "there's a change a comin,'" his wife Lola Chambers told this newspaper Sunday.
"She must have been an acrobat. She did it in one leap. He didn't see her coming," Lola Chambers said.
Eyewitnesses and Hayward police said people on stage subdued Andrews Potter after she allegedly shoved Chambers. Though the police investigation into a motive continues, family members believe the attack was racially motivated and was a result of Chambers' mention of Martin. The family is pressing police to file hate crime charges. Andrews Potter is white, they said. Chambers is black.
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Hayward police took Andrews Potter to the police station, where she was arrested on suspicion of battery. She was cited and released, and could face additional charges in the coming days, according to Hayward police Lt. Ruben Pola.
Chambers, a Petaluma resident, was taken to the hospital but has since been released, and is using a cane to walk. A photo his son posted on Facebook shows a large welt on his backside. His son said Chambers had a "bruised rib muscle and nerve damage and he is sore all over."
Chambers was a member of the 1960s soul group Chambers Brothers and has had a well-publicized fight with record executives over decades of royalty payments he said he has never received.
The Chambers Brothers will be part of the inaugural class inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame later this year, Lola Chambers said.
David DeBolt covers breaking news. Contact him in Richmond at 510-262-2728. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt. ||||| Lester Chambers, a seventy-three year-old musician known for his work as a member of The Chambers Brothers, was assaulted on stage at a blues festival last night after he dedicated a song to Trayvon Martin.
Chambers’ son, Dylan, posted the following on Facebook last night: “Lester was just assaulted on stage at The Russell City Hayward Blues Festival by a crazed woman after dad dedicated People Get Ready to Trayvon Martin. He is on the way to the hospital now.”
Kurt Crowbar Kangas, a musician and friend of Lester’s, later posted in the comments thread:
Lester is fine, just a bit sore and he will feel it tomorrow, the woman who attacked him was white and yelled something like “it’s all your fault” before she hit him, he went down hard but was halfway caught by Barren, thank God, she was subdued by Police and taken away while the para-medics came and took him to a local Hospital where he went thru a series of cat scans, no broken bones, the only injury for now is a 8″ scratch in the kidney area of his back and it’s starting to swell. Thank you for all your well wishes, he will be up and running soon.
Lester apparently dedicated the classic song, “People Get Ready,” by The Impressions to Martin. The woman heard the dedication and attacked him.
His son posted a photo of Lester’s injury to Facebook. He said he had a “bruised rib and nerve damage” and was “sore all over.”
There was a lot of talk, particularly by Zimmerman supporters, about how there would be riots if Zimmerman was acquitted. So far, all that we know happened that was violent was this attack and an attack on peaceful protesters by the Los Angeles police, who fired rubber bullets at them.
Over fourteen months ago, Lester posted an “I Am the 99%” photo. The Occupy movement was still making headlines and a sign he held up read:
I am the former lead singer of a 60′s band. I performed before thousands at Atlanta Pop 2, Miami Pop, Newport Pop, Atlantic Pop. I did not squander my money on drugs or a fancy home. I went from 1967-1994 before I saw my first royalty check. The music giants I recorded with only paid me for 7 of my albums. I have never seen a penny in royalties from my other 10 albums I recorded. Our hit song was licensed to over 100 films, TV and commercials without our permission. One major TV network used our song for a national commercial and my payment was $625 dollars. I am now 72, trying to live on $1200 a month. Sweet Relief, a music charity is taking donations for me. Only the 1% of Artist can afford to sue. I am the 99%.
He told VICE in an interview in May 2012 other musicians were in “the same boat” as him.
“There are so many. And so many different members of different bands. There are a lot of cases where two or three members did well and two or three didn’t. So many, I can’t begin to give you names,” Lester said.
The good news is that Lester has recorded a new album after raising over $69,000 with a Kickstarter project. It is an opportunity for the “internet public” to right a wrong committed by the music industry.
“People Get Ready” is a song that The Chambers Brothers recorded for their album “The Time Has Come” in 1967 (which included a version of the group’s most well-known song, “Time Has Come Today”).
The song reflected the times. Written by the late great musician Curtis Mayfield, “People Get Ready” was written after Martin Luther King Jr. led the March on Washington, and it resonated with those fighting racial injustice and oppression because of the universal gospel message that, if people continued to persist in their struggle, they could prevail.
As the song goes:
People get ready, there’s a train a-comin’ You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’ Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the Lord
It is an incredibly appropriate song to dedicate to Trayvon. There may be no punishment for what George Zimmerman did when he killed Trayvon, but don’t let this be demoralizing. Keep on fighting. Challenge the law that gives self-appointed vigilante neighborhood watchmen the cover to claim self-defense after profiling a young black teenager and escape having to serve serious time in jail.
Here’s Lester Chambers performing “People Get Ready” earlier this year: | – A 73-year-old black soul singer in California got roughed up Saturday by a woman in the audience who rushed the stage after he dedicated a song to Trayvon Martin, say police. Lester Chambers was talking about the George Zimmerman trial and about to play "People Get Ready" when a white woman leaped at him, shouting, "It's your fault," witnesses tell the San Jose Mercury News. Dinalynn Andrews Potter, 43, was arrested on suspicion of battery, and the Chambers family is pushing police to file hate-crime charges, too. "She had a crazed look in her eye," says one of the musician's friends who rushed to help him. Chambers suffered a bruised rib and nerve damage and is "sore all over," according to a Facebook post by his son. "People Get Ready" is a Curtis Mayfield song written after MLK's march on Washington, and Chambers' old group, the Chambers Brothers, recorded a version in 1967, notes Firedog Lake. In his dedication to Trayvon, Chambers had said Mayfield would have written the line "there's a train comin'" as "there's a change comin'" had he penned it today. |
The interview segments on The Colbert Report are usually little more than an excuse for host Stephen Colbert to show off his virtuoso in-character improvisational skills, while the guests play along with varying degrees of success.
On Tuesday night’s Report, however, Colbert met his quick-witted match in Pussy Riot, the punk band whose members were imprisoned, then released, for insulting Russian President Vladmir Putin. Their feat was all the more impressive for the fact that they conducted the interview through a translator, which at first seemed like it might become drag on the interview.
Instead, the responses from Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina were so sharp, funny, and at times poignant, that the presence of the translator only served to hang the viewer on every word. They talked about their imprisonment and release, took shots at Putin, daring him to put them back in jail, and provided alternately hilarious and sobering commentary on the state of Russia’s anti-gay laws. Sometimes, it seems, humor isn’t lost in translation, it is revealed.
Here’s the video of Colbert’s interview with Pussy Riot, in two parts, from Comedy Central:
Part Two:
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| 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. | – Two newly released members of Pussy Riot tell the New York Times that they're kicking around the idea of running for political office in Russia. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, currently visiting the US as part of an international tour, also made clear that they have no intentions of tamping down their outspoken ways. “This is certainly not the time for us to be afraid," says Tolokonnikova. "The situation in Russia has gotten so much worse. And if we couldn’t keep quiet about it then, then we certainly won’t keep quiet about it now." Alyokhina adds that the support they received from around the world made them feel free even while imprisoned. “In light of that, it’s kind of silly to talk about having to go through that a second time as something that would instill fear in us.” The interview is fairly routine stuff, but not-so-routine was their visit to the Colbert Report, where Stephen Colbert "met his quick-witted match," observes Mediaite. Sample response when asked about Vladimir Putin: "We have different ideas about a bright future, and we don't want a shirtless man on a horse leading us" into that future. Watch it here. |
As we reported earlier, LulzSec says that it has bowed out of the limelight for good after fifty days of headline-grabbing hacking of corporate and governmental targets. Along with its final statement, it released a data dump including a wide range of information. We’ve downloaded it, so what’s inside?
We’re not going into details here, simply providing an overview of what LulzSec has released.
AOL: While you may have been secretly hoping for some juicy memos akin to The AOL Way, what we actually have is a text file that begins: “The purpose of this document is to provide the AOL Network Engineering Staff, Management and any other pertinent persons a detailed review, analysis and recommended ‘best practices’ document for the implementation of layer 4 through 7 switching configurations.” – it’s an incredibly technical document.
AT&T: A large .rar archive includes a huge number of internal documents related to AT&T’s LTE rollout. It includes meeting memos, emails, media reports, PDFs, Powerpoint presentations and more.
Battlefield Heroes: This text file appears to be a list of account details for over 550,000 users of social game Battlefield Heroes.
FBI Being Silly: This text file includes the output of a URL on the FBI website. We’ll admit to not knowing the technical significance of why this is ‘silly’ as yet.
Hackforums.net: This appears to be 200,000 user details for Hackforums.net in a .csv file.
Nato-bookshop.org: Similarly, this appears to be 220,000 user logins for a NATO online bookshop (the URL currently redirects to the main NATO site).
Evidence that LulzSec hacked the US Navy website: An image is included showing the phrase “Pablo Escobar AntiSec” inserted multiple times on a list of Navy salary grades.
Office networks of corporations: A text file seemingly listing IP numbers of internal Corporate networks, including Disney, EMI and Universal.
Email login details supposedly for a number of private investigators: Self-explanatory.
User login details for “Random gaming forums”: It’s unclear which forums.
“Silly routers”: A list of IP numbers for routers with passwords set to either ‘root’ or ‘admin’.
So there we go – that’s our first parse through. No doubt any significant information within the dump will be explored in more depth as it is uncovered. ||||| Or stated differently: Have the ill-winds of fate caught the Lulz Boat's sails?
Today, quite unexpectedly, LulzSec Security announced its retirement. "This is our final release, as today marks something meaningful to us. For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could", according to a statement from the hacker group. "Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind -- we hope -- inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love".
My question: "Planned?" Based on other LulzSec communication, the group sounded like it was in this snatch-and-post thing for the long haul -- the Lulz Boat was on a long voyage of piracy and firing its canons at many targets to come. For example, on June 23, with release of documents taken from Arizona Dept. of Public Safety servers, LulzSec writes: "Every week we plan on releasing more classified documents and embarrassing personal details of military and law enforcement in an effort not just to reveal their racist and corrupt nature but to purposefully sabotage their efforts to terrorize communities".
From that statement, I expected an ongoing release of information. Less than a week ago, LulzSec teamed up with hacker group Anonymous for mission AntiSec (Anti-Security), which seeks to expose any government-classified information that can be stolen. From LulzSec's Twitter feed: "Our next step is to categorize and format leaked items we acquire and release them in #AntiSec 'payloads' on our website and The Pirate Bay".
LulzSec called on other hackers to join the cause, later bragging about its allies: "The Lulz Boat is sailing alongside allied ships, gathering and sorting booty for the masses. How are the winds for everyone?" By all appearances, LulzSec had embarked on a long campaign of looting servers and posting the booty.
So was 50 days really the plan all along or have the winds changed? The hacker group surely has made enemies, after hacking the FBI, CIA and US Senate and, more recently, Arizona public safety. The latter data dump revealed names, addresses, cell phone numbers and other personal information of cops. If law enforcement wasn't mobilized before, surely it is now. Ill winds would bring brigadiers on pursuing warships. Has perhaps the Lulz Boat's captain peered through his telescope and spied enemies on the horizon and chosen to take safe harbor?
Maybe I missed some earlier LulzSec communication about a grand 50-day plan. Please correct me if I did. Perhaps today's announcement is just a big gag -- the Lulz Boat sending a decoy to sea, while it sails for new booty and the enemy fleet moves in the wrong direction.
If it's over then today's data dump is the last, unexpectedly, since LulzSec had promised many more, and I can't help wonder if the pirates aren't on the run. LulzSec's full statement:
Friends around the globe, We are Lulz Security, and this is our final release, as today marks something meaningful to us. 50 days ago, we set sail with our humble ship on an uneasy and brutal ocean: the Internet. The hate machine, the love machine, the machine powered by many machines. We are all part of it, helping it grow, and helping it grow on us. For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could. All to selflessly entertain others - vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy. It's what we all crave, even the seemingly lifeless politicians and emotionless, middle-aged self-titled failures. You are not failures. You have not blown away. You can get what you want and you are worth having it, believe in yourself. While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently. Behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people. People with a preference for music, a preference for food; we have varying taste in clothes and television, we are just like you. Even Hitler and Osama Bin Laden had these unique variations and style, and isn't that interesting to know? The mediocre painter turned supervillain liked cats more than we did. Again, behind the mask, behind the insanity and mayhem, we truly believe in the AntiSec movement. We believe in it so strongly that we brought it back, much to the dismay of those looking for more anarchic lulz. We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us. The support we've gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don't stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve. So with those last thoughts, it's time to say bon voyage. Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind - we hope - inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere. Thank you for sailing with us. The breeze is fresh and the sun is setting, so now we head for the horizon. Let it flow... Lulz Security - our crew of six wishes you a happy 2011, and a shout-out to all of our battlefleet members and supporters across the globe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our mayhem: http://lulzsecurity.com/releases/ Our chaos: http://thepiratebay.org/user/LulzSec/ Our final release: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/6495523/50_Days_of_Lulz Please make mirrors of material on the website, because we're not renewing the hosting. Goodbye. <3
So what do you think is going on here? Please answer in comments. | – Just as it looked like LulzSec was gearing up for an extended reign of cyber leaks and hijinks, the notorious hacker squad decided to hang up its modem—but not without one last hurrah, reports Reuters. "Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind—we hope—inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love," the group said in a statement. But with LulzSec coming under increasing pressure from law enforcement around the world, some analysts think that the "50 day cruise" is just bravado to cover a sudden retreat in the face of some pretty serious heat. "I can't help but wonder if the pirates aren't on the run," writes a security analyst at Beta News. Even if LulzSec really is going away, they leave with one with their biggest data dumps yet, featuring tech manuals, passwords, and other data from AOL, AT&T, the FBI, the US Navy, and much more. |
Belgian international airport of Zaventem airport, which is still not operating, is seen behind fences more than a week after the attacks in Brussels metro and the airport, in Zaventem, Belgium, April 1, 2016.
BRUSSELS Brussels Airport will partially reopen for passengers on Sunday, 12 days after suicide bombers destroyed its departure hall and killed 16 people.
There will be far fewer flights than normal at the start and tighter security will be in place, but the airport operator said the aim was to return to full capacity by summer.
The country's main airport has not handled passenger flights since two suspected Islamist militants carried out the suicide attacks. Those bombs and a separate one on a metro train in the city killed 35 people, including three bombers.
"Never will we forget this black day," the airport's chief executive Arnaud Feist told a news conference. "A restart of the operations even only partially as quick as this is a sign of hope.
"As of tomorrow, Sunday, Brussels Airport should be partially operational," he added.
Feist said the airport had planned three flights for the first day, to Faro, Athens and Turin, all operated by Brussels Airlines. The number of flights should increase over time.
The airport is one of the largest in Europe, handling 23.5 million passengers and 489,000 tonnes of freight annually. It links the Belgian capital, headquarter city of the European Union and NATO, with 226 destinations worldwide through 77 different airlines.
With its temporary check-in zone, it will only be able to handle some 800 departing passengers per hour, around 20 percent of previous capacity.
The airport says it aims to return to maximum capacity before the start of summer holidays at the end of June or early July, with some check-in desks restored in the departure hall, followed by a full reopening of that space.
Initially, the airport will only be accessible by car.
Special cameras will be set up to read number plates, there will be random checks of vehicles and the drop-off zone will not be accessible.
Passengers and their baggage will be checked on arrival and there will be increased patrols of armed police and military.
Brussels Airlines, Belgium's largest carrier and 45 percent owned by Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), has estimated the closure of its Brussels hub is costing it 5 million euros ($5.7 million) per day.
The city's association of hotel operators pointed to the closed airport as one of the main reasons for a more than 50 percent drop in overnight stays up to March 28.
(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Jeremy Gaunt) ||||| Brussels Airport plans to resume limited short-haul passenger service on Sunday in a first test for the stringent security arrangements put in place 12 days after terrorists detonated nail bombs in the departures hall.
Only three flights by Brussels Airlines NV are scheduled on April 3, Brussels Airport Chief Executive Officer Arnaud Feist told reporters in Zaventem on Saturday. Checks will begin with random vehicle screenings on the sole access road to the Belgian capital’s airport. Travelers and luggage will be inspected in tents outside the main building and at a second security barrier in the makeshift check-in area, according to police spokesman Peter De Waele.
“The temporary arrangements won’t be able to offer the level of comfort travelers are used to at Brussels Airport,” Feist said. “Our main challenge is to rapidly return to normal capacity. We hope to have maximum capacity available at the start of the summer holidays, at the beginning of July.”
The tighter restrictions, agreed upon by Belgian authorities and police unions after two days of negotiations, may reduce airport capacity to even fewer than 800 people an hour, already a fraction of the regular 5,000 because of damage to the departures hall. Airport access will be restricted to cars and taxis initially, with train or bus service to resume later. The hub’s busiest airlines will continue using alternative airports next week.
Brussels Airlines, the top carrier at Zaventem with a third of passengers, said it will gradually expand offerings from Brussels, including some long-haul flights, starting Monday. Planes and crews used for intercontinental flights were sent to Frankfurt and Zurich to maintain links with the U.S. and a number of African destinations. The limitations will keep part of the airline’s short-haul fleet at regional airports in Liege and Antwerp initially.
Ryanair Holdings Plc, Zaventem’s second-biggest carrier, has shifted all Brussels flights to its Charleroi hub and said Thursday that it will keep all operations there until April 7 at least. TUI AG’s Jetairfly arm said flights will remain at Ostend in the north until April 10 and Thomas Cook Airlines will keep flying from Liege until April 11. | – Twelve days after suicide bombs killed 16 people there, the Brussels Airport will reopen—at least partially—on Sunday, Reuters reports. Brussels Airlines will fly three flights—to Greece, Italy, and Portugal—out of the airport that day. "A restart of the operations, even only partially, as quick as this is a sign of hope," the airport's chief executive says. According to Bloomberg, new security measures will be in place for the reopening. Vehicles approaching the airport will be randomly screened, travelers and baggage will be checked outside the airport, and there will be another security barrier inside the airport. Trains and buses will not be servicing the airport for the time being, and cameras will read the license plates of vehicles arriving there. These measures will drastically reduce the amount of passengers the airport can handle, but officials hope to be back to normal capacity by July. |
On June 5th, Avital* was boarding a 6 AM flight from Las Vegas to New York in a comfy cotton dress, a loose open flannel shirt and a colorful scarf when she was told that her cleavage was "inappropriate." The airline dealt with the incident as it has many, many times in the past (at least when customers contact media outlets to complain): by offering the aggrieved customer an apology and a refund. Why won't Southwest stop kicking people off flights for reasons even the airline will admit are over-the-top?
Although Avital was told she wouldn't be able to fly if she didn't button up her flannel shirt, she bravely bared her breasts all the way onto the plane. "I didn't want to let the representative's Big Feelings about my breasts change the way I intended to board my flight," she explained. "And lo and behold, the plane didn't fall out of the sky...my cleavage did not interfere with the plane's ability to function properly." Imagine that!
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Check out Avital's early morning flying attire; pretty casual, right? (And cute, which is impressive, given that she probably woke up before daybreak.) She wasn't exactly verging into XXX territory with her rope belt and Birkenstock-y sandals. Is it really inappropriate for a self-described large-chested woman to wear a non-constricting sundress on a 100-degree day? More to the point: is it really the airline's responsibility to dictate what is and isn't appropriate apparel? "To add insult to injury, the guy sitting in front of me on the plane was wearing a shirt with an actual Trojan condom embedded behind a clear plastic applique and had no trouble getting on his flight," Avital added. "Slut shaming, pure and simple." We'd have to agree.
Southwest spokesperson Christi McNeill told us that the company offered Avital an apology and a refund "as a gesture of goodwill," but that their Contract of Carriage allows them to refuse to transport a customer whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or patently offensive. "As a Company that promotes a casual and family-focused atmosphere onboard our aircraft and in our airports, we simply ask that our Customers use good judgment and exercise discretion in deference to other Customers who depend on us to provide a comfortable travel experience," she explained after I asked her how customers should dress for Southwest flights so they're not publicly humiliated and/or prohibited from boarding. "Our Flight Crews and Employees are responsible for the safety and comfort of everyone onboard the flight."
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A Brief History of Southwest Humiliation
Southwest Airlines has become synonymous with people getting kicked off flights for ridiculous reasons. Avital is not the first woman to be deemed too slutty-looking to fly; according to Southwest's history, cleavage is not "family-friendly," even though today's median bra size in the US is 36DD. There's Kyla Ebbert, who was escorted off a flight by a Southwest customer service supervisor who called her outfit "inappropriate" back in 2007, even though she looked like any SoCal resident dressed for 106-degree weather, maybe one having a particularly conservative day. A week later, Setara Qassim was forced to wear a blanket by a Southwest flight attendant who thought Setara's top was too low cut. Hey, Southwest: it's difficult — not to mention uncomfortable — to completely cover yourself up if you have larger breasts. What's family-friendly about making your customers feel both emotionally and physically shitty about themselves?
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Then there are the multiple people who Southwest felt were too fat to fly, most notoriously Kevin Smith, who tweeted nearly 200 times to his then 1.6 million followers after being told he was a "safety risk" due to his size. Most recently, Kenlie Tiggerman sued the airline in hopes of pressuring them to enact rules barring flight attendants from determining whether or not an obese passenger has to purchase a second seat. "If you're telling me I have to buy two seats, you should tell me at the point of purchase, not the day I'm flying when I check in at the terminal," she said.
If Southwest is legally forced to change their weight policies, will that stop them from kicking people off their flights who are "too emotional" to fly, too vaguely terrorist-y to fly, or, in the case of The L Word's Leisha Hailey, who was kicked off a flight for kissing her girlfriend, too gay to fly? Lest you think they haven't managed to cover all of their bases, the airline once kicked Greenday's Billie Joe Armstrong off a flight for wearing baggy pants. Maybe Southwest Airlines should really be called "Stepford Airlines." Or maybe they should just stop letting their employees judge what's "family-friendly" based on vague standards that aren't even officially mandated by the company.
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Hey, Southwest: Sorry Won't Cut It Anymore
Southwest eventually apologized and offered refunds to many of the customers in the cases listed above, but that's because they were either celebrities or spoke out about the situation; who knows how often people who are too embarrassed to come forward get kicked off flights for not living up to Southwest employees' morals? Doesn't it send mixed messages to say "sorry" but still reserve the right to boot people who don't promote the "casual and family-focused atmosphere"? Why won't Southwest publish a dress code on their website? I asked those questions multiple times, but just received different variations on this:
Our Employees are extensively trained to use their best judgment and exercise discretion when handling any Customer issues or concerns. Regarding what to wear when flying Southwest — We simply ask that our Customers use also use good judgment and exercise discretion in deference to other Customers who depend on us to provide a comfortable travel experience.
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That's no consolation for Avital, who told us she'll never fly Southwest again but wishes there was a way to make sure other people don't go through the same embarrassing experience. "It seems like only people who raise a big stink get an apology," she said. "What I want to avoid is being subject to individual employee's whims. There's no official channel at Southwest to make sure that doesn't happen." ||||| Woman claims Southwest wouldn't let her board plane because of her cleavage: report Man with condom on his shirt didn't have a problem, female flyer fumes
A woman told the blog Jezebel that a Southwest worker told her she couldn't fly unless she covered up her cleavage.
Southwest Airlines was forced to apologize to a woman who was told she couldn't board her flight because her cleavage was "inappropriate."
Jezebel reports that the woman, Avital — she only gave her first name — was boarding a 6 a.m. flight from Las Vegas to New York on June 5 when a ticket agent remarked that she couldn't fly unless she covered her breasts.
Clad in a comfy cotton dress, a baggy flannel shirt and bright scarf, Avital ignored the warning and marched aboard anyway.
"I didn't want to let the representative's Big Feelings about my breasts change the way I intended to board my flight," she told Jezebel.
"And lo and behold, the plane didn't fall out of the sky... my cleavage did not interfere with the plane's ability to function properly."
Avital slammed the Southwest for "slut shaming," and said a man on her flight had on a provocative piece of clothing, but wasn't hassled.
"The guy sitting in front of me on the plane was wearing a shirt with an actual Trojan condom embedded behind a clear plastic applique and had no trouble getting on his flight," she said.
A Southwest spokesperson told Jezebel that the airline apologized to Avital for the flap and offered her a refund.
Company policy allows agents to turn away passengers they feel are dressed inappropriately, the spokesperson said.
Southwest has a history with rubbing plus-sized passengers the wrong way.
Last month, New Orleans political strategist and weightloss blogger Kenlie Tiggerman sued the airline after she claimed a ticket agent told her to buy a second seat because she was too fat to fit into one. | – Southwest Airlines has apologized and offered to refund a woman who was told she couldn't fly without covering her "inappropriate" cleavage, the New York Daily News reports. The woman—who gives her name as Avital—says she was boarding a flight from Las Vegas to New York earlier this month when the agent said her bosom was far too visible. Wearing a cotton dress, flannel shirt, and scarf, Avital got on board anyway. "I didn't want to let the representative's Big Feelings about my breasts change the way I intended to board my flight," she told Jezebel. "And lo and behold, the plane didn't fall out of the sky... my cleavage did not interfere with the plane's ability to function properly." She also accused the airline of "slut shaming," saying the man sitting in front of her "was wearing a shirt with an actual Trojan condom embedded behind a clear plastic applique," but still boarded no problem. See a pic of Avital's outfit at Jezebel. |
When George Talley’s 1979 Corvette was stolen more than three decades ago in Detroit, he thought it was gone for good.
Apparently not.
Last week, the silver sports car was found in Mississippi. And after hearing Talley’s story on the radio this morning, General Motors, his former employer, offered to pick up the Corvette and deliver it to him.
Michigan State Police Lt. Michael A. Shaw said via e-mail Wednesday afternoon the car was recovered after the Michigan Southwest Commercial Auto Recovery unitwas contacted by the Secretary of State regarding two 1979 Corvettes. The Secretary of State said an individual tried to register the vehicles under the same VIN number.
“SCAR identified the first one in the Holland area back in October,” Shaw said. “The second vehicle recently resurfaced in the state of Mississippi.”
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation officials said the car was located at a residence in Columbia, Miss. “The investigation is ongoing regarding the vehicle’s history and whereabouts during the past three decades,” the MBI said in a statement.
Shaw said SCAR worked with the Mississippi police and the National Insurance Crime Bureau to trace the vehicle back to Talley. The investigation revealed that Talley’s claim was never paid by his insurance and he remains the owner of the car.
Talley said when he received an initial phone call from his insurance company notifying him that the car was found, he thought it was a joke. But when the Michigan State Police called, he couldn’t believe his luck.
“I said, ‘This isn’t no joke. They wouldn’t be joking with me because I don’t think they have time to play with me,’” Talley said. “I was shocked.”
The last time Talley, now 71 and retired in Detroit, saw his beloved car was when it was parked on Jefferson Avenue in July 1981. Then the car disappeared. Talley reported the incident to police, but never thought he’d see his car again.
Talley said he’s a Corvette lover and has owned four different models.
“They looked into it, but didn’t recover it and nothing happened and 33 years passed,” Talley said. “It was a great thing that the MSP and Mississippi State troopers, they did their job and found it.”
■ Related: Stolen Mustang returns home, 20 years later
■ Related: Last Corvette retrieved from museum sinkhole
Talley was told the car still runs, has 47,000 miles on it and is at the Hattiesburg police station. But he was concerned about how he would fetch it.
“I woke up this morning,” Talley said during an interview with Paul W. Smith on WJR Wednesday. “I said, ‘I’ve got to get on the phone and find a trucker or somebody to bring it back’ — or go get it or something.”
Meanwhile, GM’s Executive Vice President Mark Reuss had heard the radio segment and offered to pick up Talley’s car.
“I listened to you this morning,” Reuss said on the show. “We just had to do something.”
Talley, who said he worked at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds, was happy to hear the news.
“I was worried,” he said, referring to how he was going to get the car back.
“Well,” Smith told him. “Nothing to worry about now. The Corvette is on its way safe and sound.”
Talley said GM told him they would notify him within the next few days to let him know when the car will arrive.
“GM is paying for all of that, which is beautiful,” Talley said. ||||| (WXYZ) - When George Talley tells an old story, there’s a good chance he’ll mention his old rides.
"I’ve always liked Corvettes. It was attractive. The ladies like ‘em,” said George.
But so did the thieves, and George learned that the hard way. The last time he saw his ‘79 Corvette, it was parked on Jefferson Avenue 33 years ago.
"I made a police report, and I haven’t seen it since July of 1981,” said George.
George often wondered about the one that got away. That is until recently.
"I was sitting at home last Friday looking at Judge Mathis, and I get a call from AAA telling me you have a Corvette in Mississippi, come and get it. And, uh… I said, ‘what?’”
Authorities say a dubious vin number helped track the Vette three decades later. And the car is still in pretty good shape.
"I’ve heard it was running, it had 47,000 miles on it, and right now, it’s at the police station in Hattiesburg,” said George.
As of Tuesday it’s still up in the air whether George would ship it or bring the car back himself. That all changed Wednesday morning when General Motor's Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain Mark Reuss announced that he was offering to bring the Vette home - at GM's expense.
The offer came during The Paul W. Smith show on News/Talk 760 AM WJR radio.
"It’s a lucky day. When I get that car here in that driveway, we’ll go from there,” said George, before learning of the offer. | – Last time George Talley saw his beloved 1979 Corvette, it was parked on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit in the summer of 1981, reports WXYZ. He'd long ago given up hope of ever getting the stolen car back, but then came a call out of the blue from authorities in Mississippi who found it via a false VIN number. Better yet, it seems to be in decent shape, with only 47,000 miles. Talley, now 71 and still the rightful owner, told the tale on a Detroit radio station today, his only lament being that he had to figure out how to get the car shipped to Michigan. Enter GM exec Mark Reuss, who happened to catch the show, reports the Detroit Free Press. The company is going to pick up the car for its former employee and ship it back free of charge. (A 1957 Chevy stolen 30 years also recently made its way home.) |
The top Homeland Security official accused of cultivating a "frat-house"-style work environment has "voluntarily placed herself on leave" amid an internal review, the department told FoxNews.com late Tuesday evening -- just hours after FoxNews.com contacted the agency about new allegations against her.
The official, Suzanne Barr, is chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Two more ICE employees came forward this week to complain about "lewd" conduct inside the agency, submitting sworn affidavits that depict graphic comments made by two top officials working under DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.
The affidavits were given as part of a discrimination and retaliation suit filed earlier this year by James T. Hayes Jr., the head of the New York office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The two new affidavits described separate incidents in 2009. Both accounts described the actions of Barr, who was also mentioned in Hayes' lawsuit.
ICE Public Affairs Director Brian Hale said in a written statement that the department would respond "directly and strongly" to the lawsuit in court, but noted internal measures were being taken over the claims against Barr.
"ICE has referred these allegations to the DHS Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility for review. Ms. Barr has voluntarily placed herself on leave pending the outcome of this review," ICE Public Affairs Director Brian Hale said in a written statement.
In the newly emerging affidavits, one of the employees claimed that in October 2009, while in a discussion about Halloween plans, the individual witnessed Barr turn to a senior ICE employee and say: "You a sexy" (expletive deleted).
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"She then looked at his crotch and asked, 'How long is it anyway?'" according to the affidavit.
"Several employees laughed nervously," the affidavit said. The names of the workers making the claims have been redacted.
The other account recalled a trip to Colombia in late 2009, attended by ICE Director John Morton, Barr and Ray Parmer, who is ICE special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.
The account said Parmer and Barr were "drinking heavily" at the house of the deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy there. It said Parmer took the BlackBerry of another employee, Peter Vincent, and sent "lewd messages" to Barr.
The affidavit went on to say: "During this party, Suzanne Barr approached me and offered to" perform oral sex.
The two accounts were submitted this week to the defense attorney in the case Hayes filed against Napolitano.
A DHS spokesman had previously described the allegations in the Hayes suit as "unfounded."
Attorney Morris Fischer, who represents Hayes, told FoxNews.com his team is in the process of gathering more evidence.
"People are coming out of the woodwork on this because this is such a serious matter and people want to see this agency's mess cleaned up," he said.
While Napolitano is named as the sole defendant, Hayes' suit focuses on Barr and Dora Schriro, who joined DHS in February 2009, five months after Hayes was promoted to director of ICE Detention and Removal Operations.
Hayes claims Schriro, who was brought on as a special adviser to Napolitano, was not qualified for the job because she lacked law enforcement experience. Hayes maintained Schriro enjoyed a "long-standing relationship" with Napolitano, and soon pushed him aside "because of this relationship (with Napolitano) and because he was not female," the suit says.
Schriro previously led the Arizona and Missouri corrections departments. She has since left DHS and now serves as commissioner for the New York City Department of Correction. ||||| Advertisement Continue reading the main story
A discrimination and retaliation lawsuit has embroiled the upper reaches of the federal government’s immigration enforcement agency, contributing to a sense of turmoil in a bureaucracy that has been suffering major labor conflicts between senior officials and employees.
The lawsuit, filed by a top federal immigration official in New York, alleges that he was shunted out of a high-level position in the agency in favor of a less-qualified woman because he was a man.
The official, James T. Hayes Jr., also accuses the agency’s chief of staff, Suzanne Barr, of “sexually offensive behavior” that contributed to a discriminatory work environment for male employees.
Last week, Ms. Barr stepped down from her post and voluntarily left the agency on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal review of the misconduct allegations, a spokesman said.
The charges by Mr. Hayes have added to a sense of unrest in the agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
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The union that organizes more than 7,000 enforcement agents, the National ICE Council, has been openly critical of the leadership of the agency’s director, John Morton, and resistant to policy changes he has introduced. The head of the union has accused Mr. Morton, who was appointed in 2009, of failing to consult with agents in the field about the effect of the new policies.
Last week the union posted a petition on its Web site asking for public support for ICE officers who are “upholding the law.” As of Tuesday morning it had more than 55,000 signatures.
The discrimination lawsuit, which names Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security secretary, as the sole defendant, was filed in May by Mr. Hayes, special agent in charge of investigations for the agency’s New York office.
In the lawsuit, Mr. Hayes claims he was shoved out of a senior-level management position to make way for a less-qualified woman and then suffered retaliation when he threatened to file a discrimination complaint.
In addition, he accuses Ms. Barr of contributing to a sexualized office culture hostile to men.
Ms. Barr, the lawsuit alleges, “created a frat house-type atmosphere that is targeted to humiliate and intimidate male employees.”
Men make up a majority of the leadership at ICE.
Mr. Hayes’s lawyer, Morris Eli Fischer, said other ICE employees had filed affidavits in support of Mr. Hayes’s lawsuit, also alleging inappropriate behavior by Ms. Barr. Until Mr. Hayes’s lawsuit, however, no employee had filed a sexual harassment complaint against Ms. Barr, said a federal official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record about the case.
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Mr. Hayes first accused the agency of discrimination last year in a formal complaint to its Equal Employment Opportunity office, according to court documents. That complaint, however, did not include any sexual harassment allegations.
Brian Hale, director of public affairs for ICE, said the agency “will respond directly and strongly to this lawsuit in court.” He added that the misconduct allegations were referred to internal affairs investigators at Homeland Security and ICE.
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Federal lawyers filed a motion last week to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that it failed to present sufficient facts to justify the claims.
Mr. Hayes began his federal career in 1995 as a border patrol agent in Texas and quickly ascended the ranks of the federal immigration bureaucracy. In September 2008, he was promoted to head the agency’s detention and removal operations, managing a staff of 8,500 and a budget of about $2.5 billion, according to the lawsuit.
But Mr. Hayes contends that he was soon supplanted in meetings by Dora B. Schriro, who was appointed in February 2009 as a special adviser to Ms. Napolitano for detention and removal operations.
Mr. Hayes contends that he was “being replaced in his duties” in part because “he was not female,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Mr. Hayes claims that Ms. Schriro was unqualified for the job because she lacked federal law enforcement experience. Ms. Schriro had previously served as head of both Missouri’s and Arizona’s correction departments. She left Homeland Security in 2009 and is currently the commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction.
Mr. Hayes sought a transfer to Los Angeles, the lawsuit contends, but his request was denied.
When he threatened to file an internal discrimination complaint, the lawsuit says, the agency opened four misconduct investigations against him and reopened two others “to intimidate him,” the lawsuit says.
He was eventually transferred to New York in late 2009 “at a substantial financial loss,” he claims, and is suing to recover $335,000 in moving costs, unpaid relocation bonuses and lost wages. Mr. Hayes, Ms. Barr nor Ms. Schriro could be reached for comment, though a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement that Ms. Schriro’s appointment at ICE was “based on merit.” | – A federal worker who says he lost out on a plum job because he is a man has filed a discrimination lawsuit naming Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano as the sole defendant. What's more, James T. Hayes also alleges that a high-ranking official in Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office "created a frat house-type atmosphere that is targeted to humiliate and intimidate male employees," reports the New York Times. That official, Suzanne Barr, has gone on paid leave as an investigation into the allegations continues, notes Fox News. They came to light after Hayes says he got passed over in favor of a woman who he says wasn't qualified. He says she got the job because she had a "long-standing relationship" with Napolitano—"and because he was not female," according to the lawsuit. |
“We’re looking at the possibility,“ President Donald Trump said when asked whether he’s planning to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month. | Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images Trump 'looking at' Putin meeting as Bolton plans Moscow trip The president may meet with the ostracized Russian leader amid July visits with European allies wary of Putin.
President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday his interest in a July meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reigniting alarm over Trump’s desire to befriend a Russian leader widely considered a menace to the U.S. and Europe.
“We’re looking at the possibility,” Trump told reporters when asked whether he’s planning to meet with Putin next month.
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In a sign of the seriousness of the planning, however, a White House spokesman also said Thursday that national security adviser John Bolton will visit Moscow next week to prepare for a meeting with Putin. A source familiar with the discussions said Trump will likely sit down with Putin just before or after an annual NATO summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12, and that Bolton would discuss possible meeting sites with Russian officials.
A summer summit with Putin would again bring the U.S. president face-to-face with the man intelligence officials blame for meddling in the 2016 election. The Russian also stands accused of approving the attempted murder with nerve agent of a former Russian spy in Great Britain earlier this year, and backs Syrian leader Bashar Assad, whose forces Trump has twice struck as punishment for their use of chemical weapons.
Russia experts say that Putin would see a meeting with Trump as a chance to shed western sanctions imposed over his aggression in Ukraine and U.S. election interference.
"This is really what Putin sees as the benefit of the 2016 presidential election. He is out of isolation. He is an equal," said Heather Conley, senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"Russia and the United States will be seen as equals at the summit and that is exactly what President Putin desires.”
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But while Trump has imposed economic sanctions on Moscow and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats from the U.S., he continues to seek friendlier ties with Putin, an authoritarian ruler who has undermined western democracies. Earlier this month, Trump called for Russia’s readmission to the G7 group of major economic powers, which expelled Russia after its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Senior administration officials have been quietly preparing for the potential meeting for weeks at the urging of the president, who is eager to have a formal sit-down with his Russian counterpart, according to a second person familiar with the planning. Trump has told aides he’s unconcerned with the optics of the meeting, the person added, despite Washington’s fixation with the federal investigations into alleged collusion between his presidential campaign and the Kremlin.
The timing could be particularly awkward given its proximity to the annual NATO gathering, where maintaining a stiff resolve against Russian aggression will undoubtedly be a key theme. As part of the trip, Trump is also scheduled to pay a July 13 state visit to Britain, where officials remain furious over the attempted murder of the former Russian intelligence agent Sergey Skripal in March. Skripal, once imprisoned by Russia as a British spy, fell into a coma along with his daughter after they came into contact with nerve agent in March at his home in Salisbury, England. U.S. and British officials have concluded that Russia was behind the operation.
Trump has long believed that the U.S. and Russia must establish a more cooperative relationship, however. Trump allies say the president believes the two countries can cooperate on issues like fighting terrorism in the Middle East, although many experts doubt that Moscow can be trusted as a strategic U.S. partner.
“On June 25-27, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will meet with U.S. allies in London and Rome to discuss national security issues, andtravel to Moscow to discuss a potential meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin,” National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said in a tweet following reports in Russian media that Bolton would make the trip to Moscow.
Bolton will be accompanied to Moscow by several White House staffers, including the national security council's director for Russia, Fiona Hill, and the NSC's director for southern Europe, Julia Friedlander.
Speculation about the location of a possible Trump-Putin summit has focused on Vienna, although some Russia-watchers have noted that the final match of the 2018 World Cup soccer tournament will be held on July 15 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium — just two days after Trump is scheduled to stop in Britain.
Trump has pursued a meeting with Putin at least since an April phone call in which the president invited Putin to visit the White House; there are no signs that Trump will host Putin anytime soon.
The two leaders have met before, holding a pair of meetings last summer at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Trump said at the time that he had pressed Putin on Russia’s 2016 election meddling. “I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump said at the time.
Trump startled G7 leaders earlier this month with his call for Russia’s readmission to the group. Among the group’s members, only Italy’s new populist prime minister echoed that call.
After his meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week, Trump explained his thinking on the subject.
“I think it’s better to have Russia in than out. Just like North Korea and everybody else, it’s much better to get along with them than if we don’t,” Trump told reporters.
Conley and other Russia experts say it’s far more complicated. They pointed to Trump’s fraying relationships with steadfast U.S. allies, which further deteriorated when the president reversed course and un-endorsed a joint statement backed by the other members of the G7 following a summit in Canada earlier this month.
“At a time when we are really challenging our allies very forcefully, we are meeting adversaries and potentially offering them concessions,” Conley said. “It’s as if he’s following President Putin’s playbook.”
Annie Karni contributed to this report. ||||| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Austrian capital, Vienna, is under consideration as the site of a potential summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, two sources familiar with the discussions said on Monday.
FILE PHOTO: A combination of file photos showing Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, January 15, 2016 and U.S. President Donald Trump posing for a photo in New York City, U.S., May 17, 2016. REUTERS/Ivan Sekretarev/Pool/Lucas Jackson/File Photos
The meeting could take place in advance of a July 11-12 NATO summit in Brussels that Trump is expected to attend, the sources said. Trump is also expected to visit London for talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the trip.
Trump told reporters on Friday that it was possible that he would meet Putin this summer. During a Group of Seven summit in Quebec earlier this month, Trump suggested that Russia be readmitted to the group. The idea met with opposition from some other leaders at the meeting.
Russia was suspended from the group in 2014 for its annexation of Crimea.
“I think it’s better to have Russia in than to have Russia out, because just like North Korea, just like somebody else, it’s much better if we get along with them than if we don’t,” Trump said on Friday.
Trump, who has said he wants better relations with Russia, last met Putin in November in Vietnam on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit.
Trump’s defense secretary, Jim Mattis, was critical of Russia in a speech last week, saying: “Putin seeks to shatter NATO, he aims to diminish the appeal of the Western democratic model and attempts to undermine America’s moral authority.”
NATO was created after World War Two as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union.
A probe of Russia’s alleged involvement in the 2016 U.S. election has hung over Trump’s presidency. U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia.
Moscow denies meddling in the U.S. election and Trump denies any collusion took place. ||||| WASHINGTON — President Trump hopes to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in the next few weeks even as the American leader increasingly clashes with European allies over how to counter Moscow’s assertive actions in Europe and the Middle East.
Mr. Trump is sending his national security adviser, John R. Bolton, to Moscow next week to discuss a possible meeting. Mr. Trump is already scheduled to attend a NATO summit meeting in Brussels next month, followed by a long-delayed visit to Britain. He could presumably add a stop in another country like Austria to see Mr. Putin.
Mr. Trump has been eager to get together with Mr. Putin for months despite increasing tension in the relationship between Russia and the West. Just two weeks ago, Mr. Trump urged the rest of the Group of 7 major industrial powers to readmit Russia, which was expelled in 2014 after its armed seizure of Crimea from Ukraine. But the other members rejected the idea, deeming it inappropriate.
By meeting with Mr. Putin on his own anyway, Mr. Trump would send a signal to European leaders that he does not intend to be held hostage to their approach to Moscow, adding another rupture to his fights with the United States’ traditional allies over tariffs, security and migration. In recent public comments, he has emphasized the importance of building a friendly relationship with Mr. Putin and minimized the continuing dispute over Ukraine, blaming Russia’s actions on former President Barack Obama. | – President Trump may have another high-profile summit to attend in the near future. National security adviser John Bolton will travel to Moscow next week to discuss a possible meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin, reports Politico. A National Security Council spokesperson tweeted that Bolton will first meet with US allies in London and Rome to talk about national security issues, then head to Russia "to discuss a potential meeting" between the two world leaders. Bolton's trip is June 25-27. A Kremlin spokesman confirmed Bolton's visit, but he wouldn't confirm Russian media reports that Putin and Trump would get together in Vienna in July, reports the New York Times. "When and if we are ready, we will make the announcement," he said. Trump has publicly floated the idea of a meeting this summer, and Putin has said he willing to accommodate "as soon as the American side is ready." Trump will travel to Brussels for a NATO summit July 11-12, and the meeting with Putin could take place before that, perhaps in Vienna, reports Reuters. If the summit does take place, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is fine with that, reports the Times of London. "To meet President Putin is not in any way contradicting NATO policy," he told reporters. |
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When you buy soaps and body washes, do you reach for products labeled “antibacterial” hoping they’ll keep your family safer? Do you think those products will lower your risk of getting sick, spreading germs or being infected?
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there isn’t enough science to show that over-the-counter (OTC) antibacterial soaps are better at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water. To date, the benefits of using antibacterial hand soap haven’t been proven. In addition, the wide use of these products over a long time has raised the question of potential negative effects on your health.
After studying the issue, including reviewing available literature and hosting public meetings, in 2013 the FDA issued a proposed rule requiring safety and efficacy data from manufacturers, consumers, and others if they wanted to continue marketing antibacterial products containing those ingredients, but very little information has been provided. That’s why the FDA is issuing a final rule under which OTC consumer antiseptic wash products (including liquid, foam, gel hand soaps, bar soaps, and body washes) containing the majority of the antibacterial active ingredients—including triclosan and triclocarban—will no longer be able to be marketed.
Why? Because the manufacturers haven’t proven that those ingredients are safe for daily use over a long period of time. Also, manufacturers haven’t shown that these ingredients are any more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illnesses and the spread of certain infections. Some manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products, ahead of the FDA’s final rule.
“Following simple handwashing practices is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many types of infection and illness at home, at school and elsewhere,” says Theresa M. Michele, MD, of the FDA’s Division of Nonprescription Drug Products. “We can’t advise this enough. It’s simple, and it works.”
The FDA’s final rule covers only consumer antibacterial soaps and body washes that are used with water. It does not apply to hand sanitizers or hand wipes. It also does not apply to antibacterial soaps that are used in health care settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes.
What Makes Soap ‘Antibacterial’
Antibacterial soaps (sometimes called antimicrobial or antiseptic soaps) contain certain chemicals not found in plain soaps. Those ingredients are added to many consumer products with the intent of reducing or preventing bacterial infection.
Many liquid soaps labeled antibacterial contain triclosan, an ingredient of concern to many environmental, academic and regulatory groups. Animal studies have shown that triclosan alters the way some hormones work in the body and raises potential concerns for the effects of use in humans. We don’t yet know how triclosan affects humans and more research is needed.
“There’s no data demonstrating that these drugs provide additional protection from diseases and infections. Using these products might give people a false sense of security,” Michele says. “If you use these products because you think they protect you more than soap and water, that’s not correct. If you use them because of how they feel, there are many other products that have similar formulations but won’t expose your family to unnecessary chemicals. And some manufacturers have begun to revise these products to remove these ingredients.”
How do you tell if a product is antibacterial? For OTC drugs, antibacterial products generally have the word “antibacterial” on the label. Also, a Drug Facts label on a soap or body wash is a sign a product contains antibacterial ingredients.
Triclosan and Health Concerns
Triclosan can be found in many places today. It has been added to many consumer products—including clothing, kitchenware, furniture, and toys—to prevent bacterial contamination. Because of that, people’s long-term exposure to triclosan is higher than previously thought, raising concerns about the potential risks associated with the use of this ingredient over a lifetime.
In addition, laboratory studies have raised the possibility that triclosan contributes to making bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Some data shows this resistance may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of medical treatments, such as antibiotics.
The FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been closely collaborating on scientific and regulatory issues related to triclosan. This joint effort will help to ensure government-wide consistency in the regulation of this chemical. The two agencies are reviewing the effects of triclosan from two different perspectives.
The EPA regulates the use of triclosan as a pesticide, and is in the process of updating its assessment of the effects of triclosan when it is used in pesticides. The FDA’s focus is on the effects of triclosan when it is used by consumers on a regular basis in hand soaps and body washes. By sharing information, the two agencies will be better able to measure the exposure and effects of triclosan and how these differing uses of triclosan may affect human health.
The EPA reevaluates each pesticide active ingredient every 15 years. The EPA’s Final Work Plan for the triclosan risk assessment can be found in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0811.
More on the FDA’s Rule
The FDA’s rule doesn’t yet apply to three chemicals (benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride and chloroxylenol). Manufacturers are developing and planning to submit new safety and effectiveness data for these ingredients.
With the exception of those three ingredients that are still under study, all products that use the other 19 active ingredients will need to change their formulas or they will no longer be available to consumers. Manufacturers will have one year to comply with the rule.
This rule doesn’t apply to hand sanitizers. In June 2016, the FDA issued a proposed rule requesting additional scientific data from manufacturers showing that the active ingredients in hand sanitizers are generally recognized as safe and effective to reduce bacteria on skin. To learn about the difference between consumer hand sanitizers and consumer antibacterial soaps, visit our consumer information page.
Consumers, Keep Washing with Plain Soap and Water
So what should consumers do? Wash your hands with plain soap and water. That’s still one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and to prevent spreading germs.
September 2, 2016
back to top | – The FDA last week banned the use of a chemical from soap, but not from the nation’s top-selling toothpaste. Why? The New York Times reports it was because Colgate-Palmolive convinced the FDA that the benefits of triclosan are greater than the risks. Toothpaste containing the chemical "demonstrated to be effective at reducing plaque and gingivitis," an FDA spokeswoman said. The decision came after the agency announced that there was not enough evidence to prove that antibacterial soap containing triclosan was any better "at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water." Worse, long-term use of the soap, the agency said in a statement, "has raised the question of potential negative effects on your health." Scientists have long raised concerns that prolonged exposure to germ-fighters could result in strains of resistant bacteria. The only toothpaste in the US that contains triclosan Colgate Total, the Times reports. Colgate-Palmolive insists that rigorous testing has shown the toothpaste is safe. "The full weight of scientific evidence amassed over 25 years continues to support the safety and efficacy of Colgate Total," spokesman Mike DiPiazza told the paper. But critics questioned the FDA’s logic. "We put soap on our hands, and a small amount gets into our body," said Rolf Halden, an expert at Arizona State University who has studied triclosan. He said that with exposure through the gums "chemicals get rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream." (The feds have also targeted fluoride.) |
More than three dozen Pennsylvania college students spending spring break in Kentucky on a mission trip were safe Friday after becoming lost for hours when a sightseeing mountain hike unexpectedly stretched into the night, officials said Friday.
Rescuers were able to find them _ hungry and cold _ after an hours-long effort in rough terrain and freezing temperatures.
Most of the hikers were seen in the emergency room at Appalachian Regional Hospital in Whitesburg, with one woman admitted and listed in good condition, spokeswoman Dena Sparkman said Friday.
The few who declined to be seen at the hospital "were like, `feed me and we're good,'" Sparkman said.
"I think the best medicine we gave them was chicken soup," Sparkman said.
The group was made up of 37 students and three staff members from La Salle University on an annual mission trip called Project Appalachia, said John Caroulis, spokesman for the Philadelphia school.
Caroulis said the group was helping build houses in Harlan, about a half-hour from Whitesburg, and had gone on a hiking trip that was made every year on the trip.
Rescuers said the group got disoriented when it got dark while they were hiking near Bad Branch Falls, an area on the Bad Branch Nature Preserve.
A search began about 7 p.m. EST Thursday, and it took until 3:30 a.m. Friday to get the entire group off the mountain, said Mayking Volunteer Fire Chief Tony Fugate, who helped.
"It's pretty rough country back in there," Fugate told The Associated Press.
Fugate said the group apparently hiked to a popular spot above the Bad Branch Falls waterfall, but it got dark and they couldn't find the trail back. When they got disoriented, they called 911 from their cellphones and were able to talk rescuers toward them.
They were on a 5-mile trail shaped like a lollipop headed to an area called High Rock, which is known for its breathtaking views, according to Shad Baker, a local resident who created many of the public trails used in the area and helped guide rescuers via cell phone.
"Rescuing 37 people is a monumental undertaking," Baker said. "So the fact that they got them out is really good."
The trail, lined with hemlock trees and rhododendron bushes, takes hikers immediately into the deep woods. A sign at the trail head warns hikers to stay on the trail. A visitor log at the entrance to the trail was signed "La Salle University" for March 8.
Baker said the hikers didn't arrive at High Rock until 5 p.m., it began to get dark, and much of the trail was covered by trees, branches and snow. He said the group would have had to cross three streams to reach the destination, and rescuers said by the time they arrived, many of the hikers said their feet were numb.
"I think once they got up there, there's 37 footprints going every which direction. ... I think they couldn't figure out which way they came from," Baker said.
Baker said to make things more confusing, the trail that would have taken them down the mountain actually goes uphill before it goes downhill.
"It's counterintuitive," he said.
He said the group was not dressed for the weather, with most of them wearing just sneakers, jeans and light jackets as temperatures began dropping into the 20s.
Fugate said only a few of the students had flashlights.
The group had to be walked down the mountain using an alternate route that had fewer obstacles but took more time, Baker said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Ed Ray said temperatures in the Pine Mountain area dipped into the low 20s overnight. He said the high Thursday reached only into the mid-20s.
Caroulis said the group was expected to return to Pennsylvania on Saturday as scheduled.
___
Associated Press writers Rebecca Yonker and Janet Cappiello contributed to this report. ||||| One hiker remained hospitalized Friday morning after 37 Pennsylvania college students and three staff members were rescued Thursday night from Pine Mountain in Letcher County, police said.
The hikers from La Salle University in Philadelphia called for help about 7 p.m. Thursday and were found by 11 p.m., Kentucky State Police trooper Tony Watts said.
The group, which was hiking near Bad Branch Falls at a place called High Rock, stayed together near a campfire and stayed in contact with police and rescue workers by cellphone after that first call, Watts said.
The hikers had to leave the mountain by foot, and that took until 3:45 a.m. Friday, Letcher County Fire and Rescue Ambulance Service Director Gary Rogers said.
All 40 of the hikers were taken to Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital, where one remained Friday, hospital spokeswoman Hollie Phillips said.
The remaining hiker is in stable condition and is expected to be released Saturday, said Dena Sparkman, Community CEO for Whitesburg ARH.
The students were treated for possible hypothermia, dehydration and exhaustion, Sparkman said. One hiker had strained knees, she said.
In addition to medical treatment, she said, hospital staff provided the cold, wet students with chicken noodle soup, dry hospital scrubs and pajama pants.
"The other thing was loaning them cellphones so that they could call their parents. That was an emotional time," Sparkman said.
LaSalle spokesman Jon Caroulis said the person who was hospitalized Friday was there for observation because of a pre-existing condition. Caroulis declined to elaborate. The group was expected to return to Philadelphia on Saturday.
Caroulis said the group, including three non-faculty staff members, was on an alternative spring break trip to Eastern Kentucky that the university has offered for several years.
The students had stayed in Harlan County, where they were volunteering for a non-profit organization, Caroulis said.
The students had hiked during previous trips, but this time, they took the wrong path down the mountain, he said.
Blake Enlow, executive director of a Harlan-based group called Christian Outreach with Appalachian People, said the college group was helping to remodel a home and build another.
"Thankfully, they are all OK, just worn out," Enlow said.
Valarie Honeycutt Spears: (859) 231-3409. Twitter: @vhspears. | – It is not your typical lost-hiker story: For one thing, it was a group of 40 hikers who could not find their way down a remote mountain in Kentucky as night fell and freezing temperatures set in, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. Luckily, they still had phone reception. The group of 37 students and three staffers from La Salle University in Pennsylvania called for help about 7pm yesterday, and rescuers got them off the trail about 3:45am. All were checked out for hypothermia, and only one was admitted to a local hospital. She is expected to be out tomorrow. "It's pretty rough country back in there," one rescuer tells the AP of the Bad Branch Nature Preserve. The main treatment provided by hospital staffers was, yep, chicken soup. "The other thing was loaning them cellphones so that they could call their parents," says a hospital official. "That was an emotional time." The students are in the area to build houses for Project Appalachia. |
Engadget claims that Barnes & Noble is phasing out the 3G Nook. Does that mean a new Nook is coming?
Gone baby gone? (Credit: Barnes & Noble)
We're not sure quite what to make of this rumor, but Engadget is reporting that Barnes & Noble is phasing out the Nook 3G.
Engadget doesn't cite a specific person or anonymous source, but says it, "Received hard evidence from within B&N; that the Nook is being discontinued, with sales to seemingly continue until stock is exhausted." The "outfit" (we assume that means Barnes & Noble) is apparently "encouraging retail partners to not send out any 'bulk requests' for the Nook 3G, as there simply 'will not be sufficient quantities to fulfill those orders.'"
The article then goes on to say that "the company never actually received a huge amount of Nook 3G bulk orders to begin with, so maybe Wi-Fi really is everywhere these days."
As we said, it's a little hard to decipher what this means, but we should point out that Engadget's story about the Nook Color getting an update to Android 2.2 and possibly blowing up if you rooted it (installed custom Android firmware) ended up being just a tad off base. However, this latest story was written by veteran Engadget reporter Darren Murph, so we're taking it more seriously.
One thing worth pointing out is that it would seem odd for Barnes & Noble to discontinue the 3G/Wi-Fi version of the Nook and tell customers they could only get the Wi-Fi-only version. The fact is, Amazon offers both a 3G/Wi-Fi Kindle and Wi-Fi-only Kindle, and Barnes & Noble would most likely continue to offer models that compete with what Amazon's got.
While Barnes & Noble remains heavily focused on marketing the Nook Color, the more likely scenario is for the company to refresh the Nook e-ink line, which launched in November 2009. Whether that ends up being a substantial makeover or just some modest design and parts tweaks is unclear, but some industry insiders say that Barnes & Noble may be losing money on its e-ink readers (which is why it hasn't quite matched Amazon's prices). Therefore it would behoove the company to release a product that was more cost-effective to produce.
In any case, we think that Barnes & Noble will continue to offer some sort of sub-$200 3G-enabled Nook as long as Amazon is offering one. But to be clear, that's just speculation. We have no "hard evidence" to prove some change is coming to the Nook line, and Barnes & Noble doesn't comment on rumors.
Update: A Barnes & Noble rep told us that the Nook 3G sold very well during the holidays and remains on sale both in Barnes & Noble stores and in its retail partners stores. She would not comment on the Nook "roadmap" going forward. ||||| When it comes to eReaders, it looks like customers prefer to have a WiFi-only model. Despite Barnes & Noble's Nook product line showing all-time sales highs (thanks in no small part to the uber-popular Nook Color), the e-ink Nook 3G is apparently about to be discontinued, according to an Engadget tipster. Sales will continue until supply is depleted, but after that, don't expect to see any more of these.
As eReaders only need data connections for downloading books (usually not something you'll do everyday) and syncing, it makes perfect sense that more customers opt for a cheaper WiFi model.
It's been a slice, Nook 3G. [Engadget] | – Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader is quite popular—but apparently, just the WiFi-only version. The bookseller is discontinuing the model with 3G, reports Engadget, and apparently will continue sales only until the current stock runs out. The move makes sense, writes Will Shanklin on AndroidCentral.com: Because e-readers require data connections only when the user is downloading books or syncing, "it makes perfect sense that more customers opt for a cheaper wi-fi model." But CNET cautions that other so-called scoops about the Nook turned out to be false. |
A man who communicated with former Trump campaign adviser Richard Gates has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in special counsel Robert Mueller Robert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE's probe into Russian election interference.
Attorney Alex Van Der Zwaan was charged with making “materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations” to the special counsel’s office and FBI agents, according to a court filing released Tuesday morning.
He entered a guilty plea on Tuesday afternoon.
Van Der Zwaan allegedly lied about his last communications with Gates and then deleted emails requested by the special counsel’s office, according to the indictment.
He allegedly did so as part of his work for a firm hired by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice to prepare a report on the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister of Ukraine.
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The new charges come as Gates is reportedly nearing a plea deal with Mueller that could lead to his testimony against Paul Manafort Paul John ManafortTrump slams NSA for deleting call records, calls it a ‘disgrace’ Manafort's assistant gave FBI access to evidence in storage locker: report Federal judge agrees nonpartisan commission beats special counsel MORE, President Trump Donald John TrumpChelsea Handler issues July 4 apology to world: 'We’re sorry about our president' US pork producers prepare for steep tariffs: 'I don't want to be the patriot who dies at the end of the war' ACLU membership grew from 400,000 to 1.84 million after Trump was elected: report MORE's former campaign chairman.
Gates was Manafort's business partner. Mueller indicted Gates and Manafort together last year, accusing them of working together over the years to launder money, among other crimes.
The pair had worked for lobbying clients overseas, including Viktor Yanukovych, a former president of Ukraine allied with Russia.
Van Der Zwaan is accused of making false statements to the FBI about a report that he helped the Ukraine's Justice Ministry prepare in 2012 on the trial of a Ukrainian politician named Yulia Tymoshenko.
The charges appear to be related to a report produced by the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom that helped the Ukrainian government counter international criticism that the 2011 prosecution and conviction of Tymoshenko had been driven by political aims.
Van Der Zwaan was an associate in Skadden's London office, according to reports. The law firm told CNBC in a statement that it "terminated its employment of Alex van der Zwaan in 2017 and has been cooperating with authorities in connection with this matter."
The New York Times reported last year that the law firm's report was arranged by Manafort as part of his work for Yanukovych.
According to the document released Tuesday, Van Der Zwaan lied when he told investigators that his last communication with Gates was in mid-August 2016, and that his last communication with an individual identified only as “Person A” was in 2014, at which point the two “discussed Person A’s family.”
The document states that Van Der Zwaan actually spoke with Gates and “Person A” regarding a report on the trial and “surreptitiously recorded the calls.” It also says that he deleted or did not produce emails to the special counsel’s office, including a September 2016 correspondence between him and “Person A.”
—Last updated at 4:26 p.m. ||||| President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump disembark Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press)
President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump disembark Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Russia probe (all times local):
9:35 a.m.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors have filed a new charge against a man they say lied to federal investigators in the Russia probe.
A charging document filed in federal court in Washington on Tuesday accuses Alex Van Der Zwaan of one charge of making false statements. The information was filed ahead of a plea hearing scheduled for later Tuesday.
The court filing says that Van Der Zwaan lied to investigators about his interactions with Rick Gates. Gates, a former Trump campaign aide, was indicted last year on charges of conspiracy to launder money and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
Mueller is investigating Russian election interference and links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
___
8:36 a.m.
President Donald Trump is again accusing his predecessor of not doing enough to prevent Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump tweets that's because President Barack Obama "thought Crooked Hillary was going to win and he didn't want to 'rock the boat.'" But Trump says when he won "the whole game changed and the Russian excuse became the narrative of the Dems."
Trump's tweet Tuesday included a quote from Obama saying in October 2016 that "there is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America's elections." Obama was addressing Trump's claims of voter fraud, not Russia's attempt to influence voters on social media.
Obama has defended his response to Russian meddling, saying he had told the Russian president to "cut it out." | – More Robert Mueller moves: Prosecutors have charged an attorney they say lied to federal investigators in the Russia probe, reports the Hill. A document filed in federal court in Washington Tuesday accuses Alex Van Der Zwaan of one charge of making false statements, per the AP. The information was filed ahead of a plea hearing scheduled for later Tuesday. The court filing says Van Der Zwaan lied to investigators about his interactions with Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign aide who was indicted last year on charges of conspiracy to launder money and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Gates is reportedly planning to plead guilty and testify against former campaign chief Paul Manafort. |
ALGIERS French warplanes and U.N. helicopters scoured the north of Mali on Thursday for the wreckage of an Air Algerie flight after it crashed carrying 110 passengers, nearly half of them French, from Burkina Faso to Algiers.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said authorities believed flight AH5017 may have encountered bad weather after the pilot requested to change direction shortly after takeoff due to a storm. However, he said no hypothesis had been excluded.
Officials in Mali and Burkina Faso gave conflicting accounts of locating the crash.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said wreckage of the flight had been spotted in his country's far north, toward the Algerian border between the towns of Aguelhoc and Kidal.
However, General Gilbert Diendere, a member of the crisis unit in Burkina Faso, said his team had found remains in southern Mali, 50 km (30 miles) from the Burkinabe border. Local authorities in the nearby town of Gossi also told Reuters the wreckage had been located here.
In Paris, Fabius said the flight, carrying 51 French nationals, had probably crashed but he said two French Mirage warplanes searching the vast desert area around the northern Malian city of Gao had spotted no wreckage.
"Despite intensive search efforts, no trace of the aircraft has yet been found," Fabius told journalists.
An Algerian official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the flight had crashed but provided no other details.
French President Francois Hollande cancelled a planned visit to overseas territories and said France -- which has some 1,700 troops stationed in Mali -- would use all military means on the ground to locate the aircraft.
"The search will take as long as needed," Hollande told reporters. "Everything must be done to find this plane. We cannot identify the causes of what happened."
The searchers mission is complicated by the vast scale and daunting terrain of Mali. The area where the flight is suspected to have crashed is a sparsely inhabited region of scrubland and desert dunes stretching to the foothills of the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains.
Much of it lies in the hands of Tuareg separatist rebels, who rose up against the government in early 2012, triggering an Islamist revolt that briefly seized control of northern Mali.
The Malian government has only a weak presence in the region and relies on French and U.N. peacekeepers for aircraft and logistical support.
Another plane crash is likely to add to nerves over flying after a Malaysia Airlines plane was downed over Ukraine last week, a TransAsia Airways crashed off Taiwan during a thunderstorm on Wednesday and airlines temporarily cancelled flights into Tel Aviv due to the conflict in Gaza.
FRENCH PASSENGERS Algeria's state news agency APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso, but other officials gave differing accounts of the times of contact.
Swiftair, the private Spanish company that owns the plane, confirmed it had lost contact with the MD-83 operated by Air Algerie, which it said was carrying 110 passengers and six crew.
A spokeswoman for SEPLA, Spain's pilots union, said the six crew were from Spain. She could not give any further details.
It said it took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 GMT and was due to land at 0510 GMT but never reached its destination.
An Algerian aviation official said the last contact Algerian authorities had with the missing Air Algerie aircraft was at 0155 GMT when it was flying over Gao, Mali. Burkina Faso officials said the flight asked the control center in Niamey, Niger, to change route at 0138 GMT because of a storm in the Sahara.
Burkina Faso authorities said the passenger list comprised 27 Burkinabe, 51 French, eight Lebanese, six Algerians, two from Luxembourg, five Canadians, four Germans, one Cameroonian, one Belgian, one Egyptian, one Ukranian, one Swiss, one Nigerian and one Malian.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Abidjan estimated the number of Lebanese citizens on the flight was at least 20. Some of these may have dual nationality.
"We don't know anything yet. We have just heard from the news that the plane went missing," said Amina Daher, whose sister-in-line Randa was traveling on the plane with her three children, returning to Beirut to celebrate the Muslim religious festival of Eid El-Fitr with her family.
RELATIVELY CLEAN RECORD
The MD-83 is part of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 family of twin-engined jets that entered service in 1980. A total of 265 of the MD-83 model were delivered before McDonnell Douglas, by then part of Boeing, halted production in 1999.
"Boeing is aware of the report. We are awaiting additional information," a spokesman for the U.S. planemaker said.
According to the Ascend Fleets database held by British-based Flightglobal, there are 187 MD-83s still in operation, of which 80 percent are being flown in the United States.
The aircraft's two engines are made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies.
Swiftair has a relatively clean safety record, with five accidents since 1977, two of which caused a total of eight deaths, according to the Washington-based Flight Safety Foundation.
Air Algerie's last major accident was in 2003 when one of its planes crashed shortly after take-off from the southern city of Tamanrasset, killing 102 people. In February this year, 77 people died when an Algerian military transport plane crashed into a mountain in eastern Algeria.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey, Daniel Flynn, David Lewis, Mathieu Bonkoungou, Emma Farge, Julien Toyer, Tracy Rucinski, Laila Bassam, Marine Pennetier, John Irish and Tim Hepher; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Alison Williams and Sonya Hepinstall) ||||| 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. | – A flight operated by Air Algerie and carrying 116 people from Burkina Faso to Algeria's capital disappeared from radar early today, and an Algerian aviation official now tells Reuters the plane has crashed, though no further details were given. Air navigation services lost track of the Swiftair MD-83 about 50 minutes after takeoff from Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, at 1:55am GMT (9:55pm Eastern last night), the official Algerian news agency says. That means that Flight 5017 had been missing for hours before the news was made public. Swiftair, a private Spanish airline, confirms it has not been possible to make contact with the plane. Swiftair says the plane carrying 110 passengers and six crew left Burkina Faso for Algiers at 1:17am GMT today, but had not arrived at the scheduled time of 5:10am GMT. But, as Reuters puts it, conflicting information has been given about timing, "adding to confusion about the fate of the flight and where it might be." The plane was over Gao, Mali, when contact was lost, and a diplomat in Mali says there was a powerful sandstorm overnight in the north part of the country, over which the plane would likely have flown. The Burkina Faso transport minister says the flight asked to change course at 1:38am GMT because of a storm, according to Reuters. |
So I bought The 50th Law. Like most non-musical projects involving 50 Cent, his co-authored book of Machiavellian strategy stood a good chance at being mindlessly entertaining, and fuck-- I wouldn't mind being as rich as he is. Surely, I'd learn some sort of hustling tactic that would allow me to make back my $20 and then some. It held up its end of the bargain on the first part, but amidst the surprisingly practical advice and hilariously revisionist history (a staged thrashing of an Interscope office is remembered as a PR coup for Curtis. Kanye West isn't mentioned once in the book), there was little insight to 50's music-making process. The "50th law" essentially lionizes fearlessness and a deep connection with the public, qualities almost entirely absent from his last two albums-- Curtis sounded a hell of a lot like a rap record made by a guy who lives in a Connecticut mansion, while the profoundly bored War Angel LP only served as proof of how the mixtape game he revolutionized had completely passed him by.
But 50's nothing if not calculating, and while Before I Self Destruct might not be designed to reach the pretty impressive first week sales of Curtis, it may be a wiser move making it to appeal to listener who still might be rooting for the guy. In other words, the sort of guy who thought "Blood Hound" and "Back Down" were by far the best tracks from Get Rich or Die Tryin'. It's transparent pandering on the level of "Amusement Park", but the difference is that 50 still can rap convincingly about his financial power moves whereas every bit of sexual pursuit simply bores him to death-- he can't even really make a love song about his guns these days (see "Hold Me Down").
He's still got that voice, and when he wants, it can still intoxicate and overwhelm with sheer menace. "The Invitation" and "Death to My Enemies" snarl with a ferocity that's refreshing in the context of 50's recent output as well as the current hip-pop landscape where meat'n'potatoes gangsta is actually kinda novel. He disarmingly sings along with the Jackson 5 sample that begins "Then Days Went By" before reshaping his "Hate It or Love It" verse into a squalid blaxploitation that makes you think he'd view Precious as a comedy. There's the part where a trip to the South turns into a murder spree and he pistol-whips his drug-addled uncle, but it's his staggering anti-romance that provides the most creepy shock: "she was 20, I was 12/ Nana said she raped me/ I just smiled ear to ear saying 'take it, baby, take it.'"
As good as the ruffneck stuff generally is, he's way more entertaining when he's fucking around with people. On that note, "So Disrespectful" is the most successful track, in that it'll be the one that gets talked about. We can argue about the moral implications of using other people's serious problems as comic fodder, but 50 has no such use for that. He starts off using the Game's claims of sexual molestation against him and just goes from there, railing on anonymous hangers-on and, most comprehensively, former ally Young Buck: "tell momma he done smoked the TV/ I ain't know he fucked with more dope than B.G." * *
A production team including Dr. Dre, Rick Rock, and Polow Da Don ensure that the cold and clinical Aftermath sonic architecture constantly allows Before to reek of amorality and fuck-you money. It's apt since you could make the argument that Before is something of a concept album portraying human relations in purely transactional terms-- it's not called a "social contract" for nothing. There's genuine hurt residing deep within a lot of the tracks here, but nearly every time, it's rendered financially and finds 50 going from playful to extremely bitter as the album goes on. Regarding the dissolution of G-Unit, he jokes "keeping these motherfuckers rich ain't easy," but later, "Strong Enough" becomes one of the angriest tracks he's done in years. On "So Disrespectful", even his absentee father is seen as a drain on his bank account: "I don't even know him/ So now the fuck I owe him?" If there's any line that could serve as Before's thesis statement, it's this song's closer: "Enemies stay enemies/ But friends they change/ Niggas go crazy over money."
But the fun of talking about the record overstates its actual quality. After initially promising a return to form, 50 doesn't have the ability or initiative to hold the listener's interest over the long run. The middle bogs down in post-2001 Aftermath muddle and by the second half, he's back trying to make would-be hits again without the inevitability. It's almost like even he's unsure of his hitmaking abilities, and in a weird way, that sorta softens him. But who really wants that? The eyeball-scorching Terminator cover becomes apt-- its creators wanted to have it seen as humanizing allegory, but the consumer just wants to see a remorseless killing machine in action. ||||| Enlarge By Lionel Deluy, Interscope Records Before I Self Destruct is rapper 50 Cent's first album since 2007's Curtis. Interactive Calendar Interactive Calendar
What's 50 Cent 's value in today's hip-hop market? Returning after a backlash over his pop-rap crossover hits, the once-bulletproof Eminem protégé is banking on the familiar tropes and narratives of '90s gangsta rap to hike interest in his stagnating career. Before I Self Destruct (* * ½ out of four), in stores Monday, isn't likely to renew 50 Cent's currency. Though packed with tough beats, dense production and 50's most ferocious delivery in years, the gloats about shootings, drugs and bloody 'hoods feel about as fresh as a Saw sequel. With the release of 2003's Get Rich or Die Tryin', which sold 1.7 million copies in its first 11 days, 50 Cent joined Eminem and Dr. Dre at rap's summit, solidifying his position with 2005's The Massacre, which moved 1.14 million copies in four days. In 2007, Curtis opened with first-week sales of 691,000, behind chart-topper Kanye West's Graduation with 957,000. In an era of declining CD sales, those numbers showed clout, but 50 Cent, the target of tepid reviews and waning radio attention, clearly was losing ground. The Massacre's lighter, radio-friendly fare, plus 50's mainstream hawking of branded vitamin water, condoms and Power fragrance, had fans doubting his street cred. Enter this fourth solo effort, which comes bundled with a DVD of the same-named movie, which 50 wrote, directed and stars in. The album is a throwback to gangbanger glory days, where kindness is a weakness and body counts are badges of honor. Guns, dope, cash and booty demarcate success. If some of Self Destruct's thug themes sound tired, Fitty doesn't. He comes across as tough and determined to re-establish himself as gangsta rap's kingpin, even if that genre has receded from hip-hop's bling-encrusted hub. Reminding listeners of his first entrepreneurial rise as a crack dealer, he slings boastful, stinging rhymes with a careless brutality, slugging away in 50-Centric rants at enemies, peers, former allies, ex-girlfriends. He's rap's Grinch: a grouchy, resentful loner. While he stumbles on Gangsta's Delight, a meek retooling of Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight, he's sharp on the fierce So Disrespectful, hurling venom at rivals Young Buck and The Game. Amplifying this Scarface paranoia are the darker production textures, courtesy of Dr. Dre, Tha Bizness, Scott Storch and others. While 50's street tales are hardly wholesome, they seldom stoop to the noxiousness of the clumsy soft porn peddled in such comically oafish tunes as Could've Been You with R. Kelly. Fitty's slurry flow fares better against foil Eminem on Psycho, as they merrily one-up each other in a brilliant verbal pas de deux of escalating depravity. It shows what 50 Cent is capable of when he's taking cues from a pro instead of taking shots at a foe. Download: Psycho, Crime Wave, So Disrespectful
Consider: Stretch
Skip: Do You Think About Me, Hold Me Down, Could've Been You Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more | – 50 Cent, once at the forefront of rap music, returns with Before I Self Destruct—but his fourth solo effort isn’t impressing the critics. “Though packed with tough beats, dense production and 50's most ferocious delivery in years, the gloats about shootings, drugs and bloody 'hoods feel about as fresh as a Saw sequel,” writes Edna Gundersen in USA Today. The album “isn't likely to renew 50 Cent's currency.” Fitty’s ferocity is refreshing when you consider “the current hip-pop landscape where meat'n'potatoes gangsta is actually kinda novel,” writes Ian Cohen for Pitchfork, “but the fun of talking about the record overstates its actual quality. After initially promising a return to form, 50 doesn't have the ability or initiative to hold the listener's interest over the long run.” |
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 ||||| Story highlights Pop star flew home to Memphis for early voting
He took a selfie of himself, but ballot selfies are prohibited in Tennessee
(CNN) Kudos to Justin Timberlake for rocking the vote early.
While the pop star lives in California, he flew home to Tennessee to take advantage of early voting in his hometown of Memphis.
Timberlake, who also owns property in Nashville, wasn't wearing a "Suit & Tie," but he still looked pretty adorable in the selfie he posted on Instagram of him about to cast his ballot Monday.
"Hey! You! Yeah, YOU! I just flew from LA to Memphis to #rockthevote !!! No excuses, my good people!," the singer/actor wrote in his post. "There could be early voting in your town too. If not, November 8th! Choose to have a voice!"
Of course, fans freaked out a bit as it's not every day a superstar pops up at your local polling place.
my mom calls me freaaaaaking out Justin timberlake is in front of her in line for voting rn LMAO why didn't I go w her when she asked 😩 — Rachel Ramsbottom (@rachelrams) October 24, 2016
Read More | – Justin Timberlake rocked the vote Monday in Memphis, but he could soon be rocking a prison cell thanks to a Tennessee law that prohibits taking pictures or videos inside polling stations, TMZ reports. According to CNN, the superstar flew to his hometown Monday to vote, taking a selfie in front of the Diebold voting machine in the process. Timberlake posted the photo to Instagram with the caption: "Choose to have a voice! If you don't, then we can't HEAR YOU! Get out and VOTE!" Now he could face 30 days in jail and/or a $50 fine. The local district attorney's office says the incident is "under review." The Tennessee legislature passed the law banning the taking of photos and videos in polling stations in 2015, the Commercial Appeal reports. Timberlake would be the first person prosecuted under the new law. In addition to voting and possibly breaking a law, Timberlake posed for photos outside the polling station at the New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. Local school board candidate Suzanne Jones posted hers to Twitter. "I said, 'I know you’ve done it a lot, but I’d appreciate a picture with you,'" Jones tells the Commercial Appeal. "Someone was going to take it for me. But he said, 'No, I can take it. I do have gorilla arms, since I do this a lot.'" Timberlake lives in Los Angeles and owns property in Nashville but is still registered to vote in Memphis. The local election commission chairman says that's not really a problem. The selfie, on the other hand... |
BEIJING (AP) — China's currency fell further Wednesday following a surprise change in its exchange rate mechanism that rattled global markets and threatens to fan trade tensions with the United States and Europe.
In this Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015 photo, a bank clerk counts Chinese currency notes at a bank outlet in Huaibei in central China's Anhui province. China’s surprise move on Tuesday to devalue its currency... (Associated Press)
In this Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015 photo, a bank clerk counts Chinese currency notes as her colleague attends a customer at a bank outlet in Huaibei in central China's Anhui province. China’s surprise move... (Associated Press)
The central bank said the yuan's 1.9 percent devaluation Tuesday against the U.S. dollar, which was its biggest one-day fall in a decade, was due to changes aimed at making the tightly controlled currency more market-oriented. That raised the prospect of still more declines, which would help struggling Chinese exporters at the expense of foreign competitors and might shore up flagging economic growth.
On Wednesday, the yuan dropped another 1.6 percent. In theory, it could drop 2 percent every day given it can trade 2 percent around a rate that is set based on the previous day's closing value.
Until now, China has set the yuan's value each day based on a basket of currencies that is believed to be dominated by the U.S. dollar. That meant the yuan rose as the dollar jumped over the past year, hurting its exporters and raising the threat of politically dangerous job losses. Exports in July plummeted by an unexpectedly steep 8.3 percent from a year earlier.
The People's Bank of China promised Tuesday to keep the exchange rate "basically stable," but Wednesday's decline prompted suggestions the yuan is likely to fall further.
The yuan is likely to see "continued strong influence" from the central bank, with Tuesday's change "probably marking the start of an engineered depreciation," said Mizuho Bank in a report.
Many economists cautioned against seeing Beijing's move mainly as an effort to benefit its exporters. They note that China's currency, left to market forces alone, would have declined in value in recent months.
The depreciation "will not change the gloomy picture of global demand," said Vincent Chan of Credit Suisse in a report. "The 2 percent devaluation cannot provide any meaningful help, but it caught the market by surprise."
U.S. stocks tumbled Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing down 212 points.
China becomes the third major trader to take actions that lower the value of its currency. Initiatives by Japan and the European Union over the past two years depressed the yen and euro by a wider margin than this week's decline in the yuan.
The yuan, also known as the renminbi, is allowed to fluctuate in a band 2 percent above or below a rate set by the People's Bank of China based on its currency basket.
The bank said that starting Tuesday, the daily target will be based on the yuan's closing the previous day and information from traders about supply and demand for the currency.
The change presented a dilemma for China's trading partners, who have called repeatedly for Beijing to let market forces set its exchange rate but don't want to see the yuan weaken.
It sparked complaints in Washington, where members of Congress have long complained Beijing manipulates its currency to gain a trade advantage.
"For years, China has rigged the rules and played games with its currency," said U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer. "Rather than changing their ways, the Chinese government seems to be doubling down."
The U.S. Treasury Department's response was more measured.
"China has indicated that the changes announced today are another step in its move to a more market-determined exchange rate," a department statement said.
The International Monetary Fund said the change "appears a welcome step" to give market forces a bigger role.
"The exact impact will depend on how the new mechanism is implemented in practice," said an IMF statement. "We believe that China can, and should, aim to achieve an effectively floating exchange rate system within two to three years."
The IMF said the latest change would have no effect on the decision about whether to add the yuan to the dollar, the euro, the yen and the British pound in the basket of currencies used to set the value of the Fund's in-house currency, called Special Drawing Rights. The IMF staff recommended last week that China wait until at least October 2016 to join. The Fund's board is due to consider that recommendation in October.
China's economic growth has slowed to an annual rate of just 7 percent, which is healthy for most countries but far below the previous decade's double-digit pace.
The Federal Reserve is expected to boost the short-term interest rate it controls later this year. A rate hike would likely raise the value of the dollar, which has already jumped about 14 percent in value in the past 12 months against a basket of foreign currencies.
The rising dollar has hurt U.S. exporters by making their goods costlier abroad, and China's devaluation could further complicate the Fed's decision on when to raise rates. By making Chinese goods comparatively cheaper in the United States, a weaker yuan would push already-low U.S. inflation even lower.
The Fed wants to be "reasonably confident" that inflation is returning to its 2 percent target before raising rates. Inflation has risen just 1.3 percent in the past 12 months.
Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase, suggested the dollar's rise poses a concern for some Fed officials, known as doves, who have been reluctant to raise rates. Should the U.S. economy stumble in the coming weeks, "dollar strength would only further embolden the doves at the next meeting" in September, Feroli said.
Still, Feroli said, "we think this a minor stumbling block for a September" rate increase.
USB economist Tao Wang said Beijing would likely move cautiously, but investor expectations of further weakening "could quickly become entrenched" and cause the yuan to "depreciate quite quickly and significantly."
She said that would represent a "sea change in China's exchange rate policy" but would help to support flagging economic growth.
___
Rugaber contributed from Washington. AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman in Washington and AP Writer Teresa Cerojano in Manila contributed to this report. ||||| SHANGHAI China's currency fell to a four-year low on Wednesday, slumping for a second day, after a central bank devaluation on Tuesday, and government sources believe the yuan may be allowed to slide even further to help the country's exporters.
The yuan traded in China hit a low of 6.4510 per U.S. dollar, its lowest since August 2011, and the currency fared worse in international trade, touching 6.59 to the dollar.
The currency has lost 3.5 percent against the U.S. dollar in China in the last two days, and around 4.8 percent in global markets after the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, changed the way it calculates the reference rate around which the yuan is allowed to trade in a two percentage point band.
The PBOC said it would now calculate the daily yuan fix, by taking more notice of market forces, including the closing price in the previous day's trading session.
The devaluation sparked fears of a global "currency war" and accusations that Beijing was unfairly supporting its exporters, but the central bank on Wednesday sought to reassure financial markets that it was not embarking on a steady depreciation.
"Looking at the international and domestic economic situation, currently there is no basis for a sustained depreciation trend for the yuan," the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said.
After the yuan slid further in early in Wednesday trade currency dealers said Chinese state-owned banks were seen selling dollars on behalf of the PBOC to restrain the yuan's fall, and the spot market rate recovered late in the day to close 6.3870, a rate which will influence Thursday's setting.
"Apparently, the central bank does not want the yuan to run out of control," said a trader at a European bank in Shanghai.
However, sources involved in the Chinese policy-making process said powerful voices within government were pushing for the yuan to go still lower, suggesting pressure for an overall devaluation of almost 10 percent.
Tuesday's yuan devaluation followed a run of poor economic data and resulted in the biggest one-day fall since 1994, raising market suspicions that China was embarking on a longer-term depreciation of its exchange rate that would make Chinese exports cheaper.
Data on Chinese factory activity growth and retail sales on Wednesday underlined sluggish growth in the world's second-largest economy, while fiscal expenditures jumped 24.1 percent in July, reflecting Beijing's efforts to stimulate economic activity.
China's Ministry of Commerce acknowledged on Wednesday that the depreciation would have a stimulative effect on exports, as some Chinese steel producers have already cut export prices in response to the lower yuan.
Economic growth in China has slowed markedly this year and will hit a 25-year low even if it meets its official 7.0 percent target. Some economists believe China's economy is already growing only half as fast as official data shows, or even less.
Analysts at BMI Finance Ltd in Hong Kong downgraded their year-end forecasts for the currency to 6.83, down 10 percent from pre-devaluation levels.
The currency's slide puts other Asian economies at a disadvantage also and resulted in Indonesia's rupiah and Malaysia's ringgit hitting 17-year lows on Wednesday. The Australian and New Zealand dollars also fell to six-year lows.
Indonesia's central bank pinned the rupiah's fall directly on the yuan devaluation and said it would step into the foreign exchange and bond markets to curb volatility.
STOCKS FALL AGAIN AFTER YUAN SLIDE
Stocks on major world markets fell again on Wednesday in the wake of the yuan devaluation as exporters to China feared a loss of competitiveness.
An MSCI index of stocks on major world markets lost about 0.5 percent. Companies with notable exposure to China, including German automaker BMW and U.S. luxury goods maker Coach, lost 3.7 percent and 4.4 percent respectively.
Investors sought safety in top-rated government bonds, driving yields on German two-year bonds to a record low and pushing U.S. Treasury yields down, with some analysts saying a long-awaited Federal Reserve interest rate rise may now be delayed.
Trading in money markets showed investors are reducing expectations for a Fed interest rate increase in September due to concerns about global disinflation pressures resulting from China's moves.
"Volatility is picking up and it’s causing turmoil, it’s pushing bond yields lower and it’s casting more doubt on the Fed," said Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer of Palo Alto, California-based Merk Investments.
PLAYING TO THE IMF?
The International Monetary Fund said China's move to make the yuan more responsive to market forces appeared to be a welcome step and that Beijing should aim for an effectively floating exchange rate within two to three years.
Beijing has been lobbying the IMF to include the yuan in its basket of reserve currencies known as Special Drawing Rights, which it uses to lend to sovereign borrowers, which would enable more international use of the yuan.
"Greater exchange rate flexibility is important for China as it strives to give market forces a decisive role in the economy and is rapidly integrating into global financial markets," an IMF spokesperson said.
William Dudley, head of the New York Federal Reserve, also said an adjustment to the yuan was probably appropriate if the Chinese economy was weaker than the authorities had expected.
On a trade-weighted basis, China's yuan has been rising in recent years in part because of its peg to the U.S. dollar. The yuan has gained more than 14 percent over the last year when factoring in inflation, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements, making its exports less competitive.
However, the devaluation was decried by U.S. lawmakers from both parties on Tuesday as a grab for an unfair export advantage and could set the stage for testy talks when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Washington D.C. next month, given acrimony over issues ranging from cybersecurity to Beijing's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
(This story has been refiled to correct paragraph one spelling of devaluation)
(Additional reporting by Samuel Shen in SHANGHAI and Jason Subler in BEIJING; Writing by Will Waterman, Nigel Stephenson and David Gaffen; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Clive McKeef) ||||| Stocks, currencies and commodities fall sharply across region as investors fear a stalling China economy and possible currency war despite Beijing’s assurances
China stunned the world’s financial markets on Wednesday by devaluing its currency for a second consecutive day, triggering fears its economy is in worse shape than investors believed.
The move sent fresh shockwaves through global markets, pushing shares sharply lower and sending commodity prices further into reverse as traders feared the move could also ignite a currency war that would destabilise the world economy.
There were widespread losses on stock exchanges in Asia, and in Europe markets suffered falls of about 1%, with the FTSE 100 in London tumbling almost 2% at one stage before settling at 6571, down 1.4%.
The Chinese authorities have acted after a string of poor economic figures showed that previous efforts to boost exports and growth against the headwind of an overvalued currency had failed.
A drop of 6.6% in car sales in July followed data at the weekend showing an 8% fall in exports and slowing business investment growth in the same month. A survey tracking China’s factory output for July also missed expectations, coming in at 6% year-on-year growth instead of the 6.6% expected.
One financial analyst said the devaluation, which pushed the yuan to a four-year low, heralded a tidal wave of cheap goods from Asia as other south east Asian countries followed suit.
Albert Edwards, analyst at Societe Generale, said the yuan had become overvalued against the dollar in recent years and was unsustainably high relative to other major currencies.
The Chinese currency hit a four-year low on Wednesday after the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s daily midpoint even weaker than in Tuesday’s devaluation.
Market slide as China moves to weaken yuan again - live Read more
Unlike the pound and other major currencies, the yuan’s value is determined each day by the People’s Bank based on movements the previous day. As part of the devaluation, the authorities said they would widen the criteria to include more market information, allowing the currency to rise or fall more rapidly than before.
The central bank sought to reassure financial markets that it was not embarking on a steady depreciation.
“Looking at the international and domestic economic situation, currently there is no basis for a sustained depreciation trend for the yuan,” it said.
A spokesman said the downward movement of the currency was a result of a project to liberalise its management and not a deliberate attempt to drive down its value.
But with the bank having said on Tuesday that that day’s action was a “one-off depreciation”, the rapid two-day drop in the value of the currency of about 4% dealt a blow to investors. They fear a prolonged currency war that could damage world trade should the US and Japan retaliate and drive down the value of the dollar and yen.
Oil prices remained below $50 a barrel, down from more than $110 a barrel last summer when the slowdown in China first became apparent. The prices of key industrial and construction metals – nickel, copper and aluminium – hit six-year lows.
Rajeev De Mello, head of Asian fixed income at Schroders in Singapore, said: “While it is too early to say whether this is the beginning of a sustained devaluation of the yuan, other central banks may be forced to follow suit and that may trigger a fresh round of currency weakening around the emerging world.”
Chinese yuan: everything depends on what happens next Read more
The two devaluations come after a run of poor economic data and have raised suspicions that China is embarking on a longer-term slide in the exchange rate.
A cheaper yuan will help Chinese exports by making them less expensive on overseas markets.
The first move on Tuesday was the biggest one-day fall in the yuan since a massive devaluation in 1994. On Wednesday the yuan fell to 6.43 against the dollar, its weakest point since August 2011. The currency fared worse in offshore trade, touching 6.57.
Why has China devalued its currency now and what impact will it have? Read more
The International Monetary Fund said China’s move to make the yuan more responsive to market forces appeared to be a welcome step and that Beijing should aim to achieve an effectively floating exchange rate within two to three years.
Beijing has been lobbying the IMF to include the yuan in its basket of reserve currencies, known as Special Drawing Rights, which it uses to lend to sovereign borrowers. This would mark a major step in the international use of the Chinese currency.
“Greater exchange rate flexibility is important for China as it strives to give market forces a decisive role in the economy and is rapidly integrating into global financial markets,” an IMF spokesperson said. ||||| Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story
HONG KONG — As President Xi Jinping of China prepares for a state visit to Washington next month to smooth over troubled relations, his government has just turned the spotlight back on a recurring issue: the value of his country’s currency.
The currency, the renminbi, is part of the fabric of the global economy, providing a way for China to further its diplomatic and investment goals. The renminbi is also an important tool for the leadership’s domestic agenda, namely supporting its economy.
China now faces the difficult dilemma of trying to balance its needs at home and abroad.
When China abruptly devalued its currency nearly 2 percent on Tuesday morning, authorities said market forces would play a bigger role in determining the value of the renminbi. After the renminbi fell further during trading on Tuesday, the central bank set the currency another 1.6 percent lower on Wednesday morning.
The United States and others have long called for Beijing to let the currency move more freely, rather than keeping it under such tight control. China’s restrictions on the renminbi have also been a concern of the International Monetary Fund, which is weighing whether to include the renminbi in an elite group of world currencies along with the dollar, the euro and the yen.
But China has another, seemingly contradictory, motive. In devaluing its currency, China is giving priority to its domestic needs. As China’s economy slows, a weaker currency will help buoy the country’s exporters and create jobs at home.
Surging blue-collar wages in China coupled with recent declines in the currencies of rival exporters like South Korea and Taiwan have made it harder for Chinese companies to compete in labor-intensive industries like garment manufacturing and shoe production. Chinese exports fell 8 percent last month compared with a year ago.
“When the renminbi was appreciating, our customers, who are mainly from North America and Europe, had complained about our prices being too high,” said Anna Cho, sales manager of the Shanghai Kaiyuan Pump Industrial Company, a maker of water and sewage pumps. “They will be happy about this new development,” she said, referring to the currency devaluation.
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The coming months will provide a test of whether the leadership is focused more on reforms or on the nation’s economy. While Beijing wants a weak currency, it does not want it to go too low.
On Tuesday, traders bet heavily that the renminbi would continue to fall. If Beijing follows through on its pledge to let the market play a much bigger role, more declines will follow.
“If they really do it, it may be going down and down and down,” said Diana Choyleva, the chief economist at Lombard Street Research, a consulting firm in London.
Devaluing the renminbi weeks before President Xi’s visit to the United States also poses clear political challenges at a time when China is trying to smooth over trans-Pacific disputes.
In recent weeks, China announced a halt to its controversial construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea. It has also had an uncommonly muted response to American accusations of digital espionage.
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The devaluation risks inflaming a seemingly dormant political issue in the United States: whether China manipulates its currency to gain a trade advantage. Critics in Congress have long argued that the renminbi is undervalued and that this dynamic has prompted many companies to move production to China.
“For years, China has rigged the rules and played games with its currency, leaving American workers out to dry. Rather than changing their ways, the Chinese government seems to be doubling down,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York.
Under President George W. Bush and now under President Obama, the Treasury has been cautious about publicly criticizing China on currency policy. Treasury officials have not wanted to incite Chinese defiance, and they have tended to respect China’s contention that its trade surpluses, though huge, have shrunk as a percentage of its growing economy.
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“We will continue to monitor how these changes are implemented and continue to press China on the pace of its reforms, including additional measures to transition to a market-oriented exchange rate and its stated desire to move towards an economy that is more dependent on domestic demand, which is in China and America’s best interests,” a Treasury representative said in a statement on Tuesday. “Any reversal in reforms would be a troubling development.”
China’s action could also factor into the Federal Reserve’s thinking.
The Fed’s leaders have been talking for months about raising interest rates as a way to curb the considerable monetary stimulus they have delivered to the strengthening American economy. But a weakened renminbi — and the possibility that other countries may follow suit — could mean further weakening of American exports and slower economic growth.
“It could lower the odds of a Fed rate hike in the near term,” said Thomas Lam, the chief economist for industrialized economies at RHB Securities Singapore, a unit of a Malaysian financial conglomerate, the RHB Group.
The currency situation puts China in a tricky position.
China has the means to stop any unwanted drop in currency. The country has $3.5 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, which it can use to buy back renminbi globally and push up the value.
But the devaluation also comes at a time when China is pushing for broader acceptance of the renminbi, and the exercise of tight currency controls undermines that effort.
The International Monetary Fund contended for years that the renminbi was undervalued, but it dropped that assertion in May. Still, the I.M.F. in a staff report last week suggested that China would need more time to finish preparations for including the renminbi as a global reserve currency.
The I.M.F., in particular, wants to see more evidence that the renminbi is being used outside China, notably for central bank reserves or bonds. The appetite among overseas central banks and bond investors for renminbi-denominated assets has gradually increased.
But part of the demand has been a speculative bet that the renminbi will continue to rise against the dollar. Even small, occasional hints in the last 18 months that the renminbi might weaken have tended to erode such players’ enthusiasm. So Tuesday’s devaluation could damage China’s bid to bolster international use of its currency.
The I.M.F. on Tuesday said that China’s new plan for determining the value of the renminbi “appears a welcome step as it should allow market forces to have a greater role.” But “the exact impact will depend on how the new mechanism is implemented in practice.”
Senator Schumer warned that the devaluation might lower the chances that the renminbi will be recognized by the I.M.F. as a leading currency, as part of the fund’s so-called special drawing rights.
“Unless and until China stops artificially devaluing their currency,” he said, “the renminbi should be barred from consideration as a global reserve currency by the I.M.F.” | – In a move that some analysts fear could be the start of a "global currency war," China's yuan dropped again today, dragging other Asian currencies down with it. Today's drop against the dollar was the second biggest since 1994, exceeded only by yesterday's, and the rapid fall has led some to believe that the country is trying to boost exports and create jobs at the expense of rivals like South Korea, Reuters notes. It's not clear how long the drop will continue: China has described the devaluation as a "one-off," and the New York Times notes that with $3.5 trillion in foreign currency reserves, China certainly has the ability to prevent any unwanted falls in the yuan. A change in the tightly controlled exchange-rate mechanism means the yuan could continue to drop 2% a day, the AP reports. The IMF has welcomed the move as a way to give market forces more control of a currency that China wants to play a bigger role globally, but US lawmakers are skeptical. "For years, China has rigged the rules and played games with its currency," says Sen. Chuck Schumer, per the AP. "Rather than changing their ways, the Chinese government seems to be doubling down." Today's drop in the yuan led to sharp falls in world markets, which analysts believe were caused by fears that China's economy is in worse shape than previously thought, the Guardian reports. |
AP: The Spanish ObamaCare website is just about as awful as the English version
posted at 5:01 pm on January 12, 2014 by Erika Johnsen
What was initially supposed to be what Spanish-speaking Americans were assured was a trifling delay of merely three weeks soon became a delay of more than two months, and the Spanish-language version of HealthCare.Gov didn’t end up opening for business until December 6th — less than a few weeks before the deadline to obtain January-1st coverage. Much like the debut of the English version of HealthCare.Gov, however, Spanish speakers have been encountering their own slew of functionality problems in the very belatedly available opportunity to signup online, via the AP:
And the translations were so clunky and full of grammatical mistakes that critics say they must have been computer-generated — the name of the site itself can literally be read “for the caution of health.” “When you get into the details of the plans, it’s not all written in Spanish. It’s written in Spanglish, so we end up having to translate it for them,” said Adrian Madriz, a health care navigator who helps with enrollment in Miami. … In New Mexico, the state with the nation’s highest percentage of Latino residents and where more than 20 percent of the state’s population goes without health insurance, fewer than 1,000 people total signed up for coverage in October and November. … “In my opinion, the website doesn’t work,” said Grettl Diaz, a 37-year-old Miami gas station cashier who is originally from Cuba. Diaz said she tried to sign up at home using CuidadoDeSalud.gov. After she couldn’t get the website to accept a scanned document, she called the government’s Spanish hotline seeking help. However, she was repeatedly told to call back because the site was down. She got through days later and waited over an hour for an operator before she was ultimately disconnected.
And I would imagine that all of the technical medical and financial lingo it takes to describe health insurance plans makes the computer-generated translations all the more difficult to navigate. Obama administration have been quick to point out, much like they were in the glitch-riddled rollout of the English version, that there have been paper and phone options available to Spanish speakers all the while, but there’s just no getting around the fact that yet another one of their grandiose ObamaCare promises — in this case, to concentrate major resources in the effort to provide easy access to a group with among the highest uninsured rates in the nation — has fallen tremendously, incompetently flat.
Related Posts: ||||| ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Mirroring problems with the federal health care website, people around the nation attempting to navigate the Spanish version have discovered their own set of difficulties.
In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014 photo, Yolanda Madrid of Miami, left, talks with navigator Daniela Campos, right, while signing up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, in Miami. Mirroring... (Associated Press)
The site, CuidadoDeSalud.gov, launched more than two months late.
A Web page with Spanish instructions linked users to an English form.
And the translations were so clunky and full of grammatical mistakes that critics say they must have been computer-generated — the name of the site itself can literally be read "for the caution of health."
"When you get into the details of the plans, it's not all written in Spanish. It's written in Spanglish, so we end up having to translate it for them," said Adrian Madriz, a health care navigator who helps with enrollment in Miami.
The issues with the site underscore the halting efforts across the nation to get Spanish-speakers enrolled under the federal health care law. Critics say that as a result of various problems, including those related to the website, many people whom the law was designed to help have been left out of the first wave of coverage.
Federal officials say they have been working to make the site better and plan further improvements soon. Also, administrators say they welcome feedback and try to fix typos or other errors quickly.
"We launched consumer-friendly Spanish online enrollment tools on CuidadoDeSalud.gov in December which represents one more way for Latinos to enroll in Marketplace plans," said Health and Human Services Department spokesman Richard Olague in an email to The Associated Press. "Since the soft-launch, we continue to work closely with key stakeholders to get feedback in order to improve the experience for those consumers that use the website."
Still, efforts to enroll Spanish-speakers have fallen short in several states with large Hispanic populations, and critics say the translated version of HealthCare.gov could have helped boost those numbers.
In California, officials have acknowledged the need for improvements, saying fewer than 5,500 people signed up for health care in Spanish in October and November, the most recent period for which records are available. About 4.3 million California residents speak only Spanish, according to census data. It's not clear how many of these residents are without health insurance, but observers say few groups are more vulnerable.
"Spanish speakers are typically the ones who need to sign up for health insurance," said Veronica Plaza, a professor who teaches medical Spanish at the University of New Mexico. "They are the ones who could use the support."
In New Mexico, the state with the nation's highest percentage of Latino residents and where more than 20 percent of the state's population goes without health insurance, fewer than 1,000 people total signed up for coverage in October and November.
In Florida, federal health officials have not said how many of the state's nearly 18,000 enrollees for October and November were Latino, but that group accounts for about one-third of the roughly 3.5 million uninsured people in the state. About 1.2 million people in the state speak only Spanish.
Across the U.S., about 12 percent of the 317 million people in the country speak only Spanish, but federal officials have said less than 4 percent of calls to a national hotline were Spanish-only as of last month.
Many blame at least some of the enrollment problems on the trouble-plagued site.
"In my opinion, the website doesn't work," said Grettl Diaz, a 37-year-old Miami gas station cashier who is originally from Cuba.
Diaz said she tried to sign up at home using CuidadoDeSalud.gov. After she couldn't get the website to accept a scanned document, she called the government's Spanish hotline seeking help. However, she was repeatedly told to call back because the site was down. She got through days later and waited over an hour for an operator before she was ultimately disconnected.
"I'm very frustrated," she said through a translator this month. "I've spent at least one week on the phone, and I couldn't get it done."
Diaz, who speaks very little English, finally went to a counselor for help and is now waiting for an email from health officials saying she can proceed with her application.
Diaz hasn't had insurance since moving to Florida two years ago. She will likely qualify for a tax subsidy to help pay her monthly premiums and has said she wants insurance mostly for peace of mind.
"Now, I am healthy," she said. "But I don't know what will happen tomorrow."
Such stories have frustrated Latino advocates, especially since the problems with the site come after an unprecedented collaboration between competing Spanish-language media outlets and Latino businesses, urging members of their communities to sign up for health care on Oct. 1. But advocates say despite promises from federal officials, the Spanish-language site was not up until Dec. 6.
"In many states, groups were cooperating and ready to go," said Patricia Perez, a partner of the VPE Public Relations, a Pasadena, Calif.-based firm that focuses on U.S. Latinos. "It was a missed opportunity."
Univision Communications Inc., which runs the largest Spanish-language media network, has been airing daily public service announcements about the health care overhaul. It hosted and aired a live town hall meeting out of Los Angeles last month to discuss the law, and another such event has been planned for February.
The network frequently airs segments about the Affordable Care Act on its weekend health shows, and it produced a documentary exploring obstacles Latinos face signing up for health insurance, network spokesman Jose Zamora said.
The film, featuring a 19-year-old Mexican-American whose father suffered three heart attacks with no insurance aired Dec. 1 — five days before CuidadoDeSalud.gov went live.
Since the site has been active, users have reported disappointment and frustration in both the functionality and language.
For example, links comparing insurance plans took users to the English version of the options. That glitch was fixed last week after The Associated Press contacted Health and Human Services to ask about the problem.
As for the language, Plaza, the New Mexico professor, said a recent examination by her research students concluded that the translations were done "by a computer-generated process" and came across as awkward.
"There are problems with the verbs and word order that make sentences hard to understand," said Plaza, who helped develop an audio version to help residents in New Mexico sign up.
"Sometimes," she added, "it's just the terms they use."
The website translates "premium" into "prima," but that Spanish word is more commonly used to mean a female cousin, Plaza said. A more accurate translation, she said, would be "cuotas," ''couta mensual" or "costo annual."
According to Health and Human Services, the website was translated with the same methods and team used to translate content into Spanish for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
But health care workers in Miami also have reported technical problems that don't exist on the English version of HealthCare.gov.
Nini Hadwen, a health care navigator, said she also prefers to use the English website even when she's enrolling Spanish-language applicants. CuidadoDeSalud.gov "doesn't navigate as smoothly from page to page," she said. "It takes longer."
Also, navigators say Spanish-language applicants must provide income and immigration documentation. Frequently, applicants are required to scan and fax supplemental documents, which can also be challenging, as Diaz's case shows.
However, Jane Delgado, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health in Washington, D.C., defends the site, saying Friday that delays were merely "part of the process" and that she was confident federal officials would get it running better soon.
"Insurance is way complicated. It's not like paying for a cellphone," she said. "Technology is only part of the answer."
Overall, Delgado said Spanish-speaking Latinos will benefit from the federal overhaul in the long-term because the population is less likely to be insured compared with other groups.
Still, Gabriel Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico, said the problems hurt the credibility of federal officials and reinforce the belief held by some that authorities are indifferent to the plight of Latinos.
Sanchez said, "They will look at this, and think, 'Man, they really don't care about us.'"
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Kennedy and Associated Press writer Laura Wides-Munoz contributed to this report from Miami.
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Follow Russell Contreras at http://twitter.com/russcontreras . ||||| Health care Many Spanish speakers left behind in first wave of Obamacare Dec. 26, 2013 at 2:18 PM ET
In Silicon Valley, the executives and engineers who’ve helped build the Apple, Google and Facebook empires earn high salaries and enjoy a slew of perks, including stellar health benefits.
The clients of the Ravenswood Family Health Center, a community clinic in East Palo Alto just two miles away from Facebook’s sprawling headquarters, live in a very different Silicon Valley.
They’re the gardeners, nannies, factory workers and service staff who keep Silicon Valley homes and offices humming, the lawns manicured and the families comfortable.
They are also, in many ways, a microcosm of the population the Affordable Care Act was meant to help.
Many earn between $5 and $15 an hour, don’t own or use computers and are more comfortable speaking Spanish than English. Sixty-five percent of East Palo Alto’s population is Latino, a group seen as crucial to the success of the health law. Many lack health insurance and pose a lower financial risk because they are typically younger and healthier than others.
Kaiser Health News
Yet California, with the greatest number of Latinos in the country, is far behind in reaching this population. And across the nation, the picture appears even worse.
Those who primarily speak Spanish are largely being left out of the first wave of coverage under Obamacare. Many missed this week’s deadline for enrollment in plans beginning Jan. 1. People who want to be covered for any part of 2014 must sign up by March 31.
In part, the lag in sign-ups among Spanish speakers reflects a digital − and a cultural − divide. Many are hesitant about handing over personal information to strangers over the Internet, advocates say. This group tends to be less educated, and have lower incomes and less access to technology than fluent English-speakers.
When Elizabeth Gonzalez, 31, started getting migraines her doctor prescribed medicine that cost $300. She had health insurance provided through a San Mateo County program for low-income adults, but the medicine wasn’t covered and she couldn’t afford it.
“I guess I don’t need it,” she remembers thinking. Then she started wondering whether the new health law might offer a better plan.
Gonzalez, a part-time library aide, started hunting for resources to help her decipher the Affordable Care Act. Though a Los Angeles native, she was raised in Morelia, Mexico and preferred to have the law explained to her in Spanish.
California’s health insurance marketplace, Covered California, has had a functioning Spanish-language website since Oct. 1 – which puts it ahead of most of the rest of the country. But Gonzalez couldn’t access the site from home because she doesn’t have Internet service or a smartphone.
“With my budget, I don’t have access to that,” she said in Spanish. “I have to limit myself to the primordial.”
Instead, she relied on staff at the county’s human services office, two floors up from the library where she works, to guide her.
Staff members there told her she needed to fill out an application and to wait for up to a month to hear whether she was eligible for Medi-Cal − California’s insurance program for the poor. Discouraged, she made repeated telephone calls to the hotline for Covered California.
“There’s no one picking up, probably because there’s not enough people,” she said. “We need more information in poor communities and places to help you fill out forms so you know you’re doing it correctly. There’s not enough [information] in Spanish.”
According to the latest data released by the state, less than 5 percent of California’s roughly 110,000 signups in October and November were completed in Spanish.
Statewide, Spanish-speaking operators at Covered California call centers, as well as navigators who can walk people through enrollment, are in short supply. The section on the Spanish version of Covered California for requesting help with enrollment still links to an English website.
In other parts of the country, Spanish speakers are worse off.
In the 36 states that rely on the federally run insurance exchanges, including Texas and Florida, Latinos until recently couldn’t enroll online in Spanish. CuidadoDeSalud.gov − the Spanish-friendly version of the federal marketplace − wasn’t fully working until Dec. 6, more than two months after its English counterpart, HealthCare.gov, launched on Oct. 1.
Officials decided to hold off opening enrollment on CuidadoDeSalud.gov until they addressed the technical glitches plaguing the English version. Even now, the Spanish website is rife with grammatical errors.
Federal officials note they have bilingual call centers, but Spanish-only calls to the federal exchange’s call centers barely totaled 180,000, or the equivalent of 3.5 percent of all calls, as of Dec. 10.
Unlike English speakers, Latinos who speak Spanish still don’t have the option to window-shop for plans before creating an account. The section in which customers can consult plans before signing up with a username and password is still non-existent in Spanish.
With many Latinos missing the deadline to be enrolled for coverage in the new marketplaces on Jan. 1, community organizers have shifted their attention to March 31, when the enrollment period for 2014 officially closes. Consumers who don’t enroll by this date will face a penalty. Medi-Cal enrollment will remain open, however.
“Most of our community is going to be focused on that March 31 deadline, and that’s where the big push will be,” Jane Delgado, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, an advocacy group based in Washington D.C., said earlier this month. “I’m less concerned about getting everybody enrolled quickly than about getting people enrolled in plans that fit their needs. I have no doubt people will enroll. They just need better information and local navigators they can trust.”
Adding to their worries, Latinos living in households with undocumented relatives often fear that signing up for a government run program will lead to unwanted scrutiny and even deportations. Others are wary of getting cheated or having their personal information hacked online.
Mindful of the mistrust, Ravenswood has been careful to develop a bond with its patients.
The clinic has eight certified enrollment counselors to help clients determine what kind of insurance they need and can afford.
“The majority of people coming in are people who we have to help 100 percent. We’re both translating and explaining everything, even when they do speak English,” said Ravenswood CEO Luisa Buada. “In general, everyone really, really wants someone to hold their hand through the whole process.”
Maria Garcia, 51, is among the roughly 200 people Ravenswood has screened or enrolled since October 1. Garcia, whose husband supports the family with his manufacturing job, went for help in part because she was concerned about fraud.
“Latinos − we don’t trust easily,” she said. “We wanted to be sure this wasn’t a scam.”
Garcia doesn’t speak English and though she has a computer at home, “I haven’t learned to use it,” she said. She generally relies on her children to search the Web for her and to translate the information she needs.
This time, the staff at Ravenswood helped her. Starting in January, she’ll be paying $36 a month for coverage for her and her husband thanks to a government subsidy.
After her discouraging experiences with the county office and the various hotlines, Gonzalez ended up at Ravenswood as well. It was just across the street from the library. Staffers quickly told her she qualified for Medi-Cal. Her migraine medication will now be covered.
“I was happy,” she said.
Ravenswood’s counselors are booked solid through the end of January. Buada and her staff have set up six enclosed booths, each with a small table, a chair, a Lenovo computer and a wrap-around black-and-white curtain, so that people who don’t have a computer or Internet access at home can feel comfortable coming in.
“We are very good with cellphones or email, but to use that website, you actually have to have access to a computer. That’s a problem,” said the National Alliance for Hispanic Health’s Jane Delgado.
Even with the possibility of federal subsidies, some Latinos can’t afford coverage and will remain uninsured.
The median income for an East Palo Alto household is roughly $50,000, compared to a median income in the county of nearly $90,000. (On average, East Palo Alto households consist of four people compared to three countywide.) Often, 75 percent to 80 percent of a poor family’s income is spent on housing.
“We’ve had a lot of people come in interested,” Buada says. But when they see how much it’s going to cost, “they say, ‘I can’t pay for this,’ and leave.”
Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communications organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. ||||| Archive-It Partner 1067: The Political TV Ad Archive, a project of the Internet Archive, collects political TV ads and social media sites in key 2016 primary election states, unlocking the metadata underneath and highlighting quality journalism to provide journalists, civic organizations, academics, and the general public with reliable information on who is trying to influence them & how. | – Welcome to ObamaCare's website woes, part two: the Spanish version. Americans who visit CuidadoDeSalud.gov to enroll for ObamaCare say it's slow, has links to English-speaking pages, and poor translations—like using "prima" for "premium" even though the Spanish word is commonly used for "female cousin," the AP reports. "When you get into the details of the plans, it's not all written in Spanish," says a health care navigator who helps people enroll in Miami. "It's written in Spanglish, so we end up having to translate it for them." So attempts to enroll Spanish-speakers seem to be flailing so far (the exact numbers aren't in) and critics are pouncing; Hot Air calls it yet another "grandiose" ObamaCare promise that falls "tremendously, incompetently flat." But the Obama administration notes that Spanish speakers have been able to use phone and paper options to enroll. And that may suit some Hispanics better, according to an NBC News report on health care among low-wage, Spanish-speaking workers near Silicon Valley. Many of them say they have no Internet connection and wouldn't feel comfortable handing over personal information online. |
Indian man held for selling baby grandson on Facebook
NEW DELHI — Police in northern India said Wednesday they had arrested a 47-year-old man for selling his newborn grandson to a local businessman in a deal that was struck on Facebook.
Feroz Khan, a resident of Ludhiana city in the northern state of Punjab 300 kilometres (200 miles) from New Delhi, had allegedly kidnapped his grandson shortly after he was born earlier this month.
Khan sought help from two temporary employees at a local hospital where his daughter gave birth, who contacted the buyer on Facebook and arranged the deal for 45,000 rupees ($830).
"All three people who conspired to sell the child have been arrested and we will be interrogating the businessman who paid the money to buy the baby," Satish Malhotra, a senior police officer in Ludhiana, told AFP.
Police have rescued the baby and returned him to his mother, Noori Khan, a divorcee, who had lodged the complaint against her father.
The three accused have been charged with kidnapping and they will be produced before a court on Wednesday. If proven guilty, they could be jailed for seven years.
In 2011, the country's federal police admitted in court that there were 815 gangs comprising more than 5,000 members involved in the kidnapping of children for prostitution and begging across India.
Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| An Indian newborn was allegedly sold for 800,000 rupees ($ 14,750) over Facebook, leading police to uncover a suspected child-trafficking racket, news reports said today.
The boy, born in a hospital in Ludhiana in the northern state of Punjab, was sold twice before the deal on the social networking site, broadcaster NDTV reported quoting police.
The infant’s grandfather allegedly first snatched the child from his own daughter, telling her he had been stillborn, to sell him to a nurse for 45,000 rupees, the report said.
The nurse, in turn, reportedly sold the baby for 300,000 rupees to a hospital lab assistant.
The infant was then allegedly put up for sale on Facebook by the lab assistant, and a businessman from New Delhi is accused of offering 800,000 rupees for him after seeing photographs.
The police raided the businessman’s house on Tuesday and recovered the child. They also arrested five people including the grandfather and another man accused of facilitating the deals, the report said.
The case was the “tip of a iceberg” of a child-trafficking scandal and more details were expected as the alleged middle-man was being questioned, police said.
Tens of thousands of children in India are thought to be trafficked every year, some for adoption but also many for bonded labour, begging or sexual exploitation.
It was the first reported case in India of child trafficking over a social networking site, the report said.
(This article was published on April 24, 2013) | – A man in India has been arrested for trying to sell his newborn grandson online. Feroz Khan, 47, is alleged to have kidnapped the baby shortly after his birth in Ludhiana, reports the AFP, telling his daughter the infant was stillborn. He reportedly sold the baby for $830 to a nurse, who sold him to a hospital lab assistant for about $5,500, who in turn sold him to a New Delhi businessman for almost $15,000, the Hindu Business Line reports. Police recovered the baby from the businessman's home. Five people have been arrested over the deals, and the baby was returned to his mother. |
WASHINGTON –- In an interview with The Huffington Post, Sen. Rand Paul stoutly defended an aide who, as a radio shock jock in South Carolina, praised John Wilkes Booth, heaped scorn on Abraham Lincoln and wore a ski mask emblazoned with the stars and bars of the Confederate Battle Flag.
Paul (R-Ky.) stressed that he opposed such views, many of which have been recanted by the Senate aide, Jack Hunter, who co-wrote Paul's first book in 2010 and who is now his social media adviser in Washington.
“I'm not a fan of secession,” Paul said. “I think the things he said about John Wilkes Booth are absolutely stupid. I think Lincoln was one of our greatest presidents. Do I think Lincoln was wrong is taking away the freedom of the press and the right of habeas corpus? Yeah.
“There were great people who were for emancipation. Lincoln came to his greatness. One Republican congressman described it as ‘on borrowed plumage.’ I love the description, because there were some great fighters [for emancipation] and Lincoln had to be pushed. But I'm not an enemy of Lincoln, like some who think he was an awful person.”
Paul said that Hunter had never acted in a discriminatory way, and that his earlier work in South Carolina was a form of youthful political showmanship.
“People are calling him a white supremacist,” Paul told me in his Senate office. “If I thought he was a white supremacist, he would be fired immediately. If I thought he would treat anybody on the color of their skin different than others, I’d fire him immediately.
“All I can say is, we have a zero tolerance policy for anybody who displays discriminatory behavior or belief in discriminating against people based on the color of their skin, their religion, their sexual orientation, anything like that,” Paul told me. “We won't tolerate any of that, and I've seen no evidence of that.
“Are we at a point where nobody can have had a youth or said anything untoward?” the senator asked rhetorically.
Hunter is 39 years old. He was a well-known figure in South Carolina for years before he caught Paul’s eye with some well-circulated YouTube videos.
Say this about Paul: He doesn’t run from a fight, especially if it means defying a Washington Beltway consensus.
The 50-year-old freshman senator, a tea party libertarian hungering to climb his way through the GOP to the White House, wins passionate fans for questioning the rise of the Security State at home and the drone wars abroad.
But he wins equally passionate critics for some of his statements on race and civil rights, which foes see as a throwback to the days when resistance to federal power was tantamount to defending the Old South.
The consistent thread is his irritation at other people -– especially those in the federal government or media –- telling him what he should do, say or think.
And he is not about to distance himself from a writer who long called himself the “Southern Avenger.”
Paul insisted that he had only known “vaguely” about Hunter’s work. But even if he had known all of the details, Paul said, he would not have shied away from hiring Hunter because he is a talented conservative writer.
“Let me put it this way,” Paul said. ”I’m aware of some of your columns, but not all of them. And some of them I find very unfair, calling me a conspiracy nut, things like that. But I chose to talk to you today. So that means we have a relationship now. But it doesn't mean that I agree with all of your past writings.
“It's the same way any time you meet somebody who's got a large body of work,” Paul continued. "So if I hired you to work in my campaign, there would be some things I agreed with, and some things I disagreed with.
“I think it's hard. The thing is, I grapple with this. What am I supposed to do? I'm going to have a lot of people working for me. They've all got writings and opinions."
Hunter, he said, "is incredibly talented."
Behind the flashy and provocative rhetoric, Paul said, Hunter often made thought-provoking arguments. “Look and listen to the actual words and not to the headlines, people,” Paul told me.
What about the ski mask? I asked.
“It was a shock radio job. He was doing wet T-shirt contests. But can a guy not have a youth and stuff? People try to say I smoked pot one time, and I wasn't fit for office.”
Paul clearly thinks that he is.
And, by the way, he told me, he was headed to Nevada this weekend -- Nevada being a key early-nominating state in what would be a 2016 GOP nominating race.
Before he gets there, Paul will have to deal with myriad nettlesome issues that come from his family’s political roots in the libertarian, states’ rights and nativist soil deep in some reaches of American politics.
A major theme of Paul’s short career has been the tension between the grassroots tea party enthusiasm and libertarian online donors he inherits from his father -– perennial presidential candidate and former Texas Rep. Ron Paul -– and Rand’s own strategic plan to be seen as a mainstream-able GOP figure.
The two imperatives seemed to have collided in the person of Jack Hunter this week, and Paul stood by his friend. He could hardly do otherwise. Hunter is too close to him, for one, to be easily jettisoned. But more important for Paul, firing him would have been allowing other people to tell him what to do. ||||| The man who for years called himself the “Southern Avenger” says he now seeks to avenge his own honor.
Jack Hunter, the aide to Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul who has been under fire for comments critical of Abraham Lincoln and sympathetic to the Confederacy, has left the senator’s office to resume his career as a political pundit.
Hunter told The Daily Caller News Foundation that he wanted to avoid being a distraction for Paul and to clear his own name, which he argues is now unfairly associated with racism.
A senior Paul aide confirmed Hunter’s departure.
“I’ve long been a conservative, and years ago, a much more politically incorrect (and campy) one,” Hunter said in an email. “But there’s a significant difference between being politically incorrect and racist. I’ve also become far more libertarian over the years, a philosophy that encourages a more tolerant worldview, through the lens of which I now look back on some of my older comments with embarrassment.”
Hunter, who has contributed opinion pieces to The Daily Caller, is a personal friend of the author.
The Washington Free Beacon originally reported that Hunter toasted the birthday of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, lamented the United States’ shrinking white majority and compared honoring the Founding Fathers while admiring Lincoln to “praising Jesus and worshiping Satan simultaneously.”
The story set off a firestorm of controversy across the political spectrum. Hunter was most recently criticized by his former editor at the Charleston City Paper for asking him to remove posts and for being the “most common kind of racist, the one that doesn’t realize that he is one.”
Chris Haire, the Charleston alt-weekly’s managing editor, also described Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Pat Buchanan as racists. Asked why he published Hunter — a paid columnist — if he believed him to be a racist, Haire tweeted in response, “To reveal the mindset of the SCGOP and the Neoconfederate fringe.”
Paul described Hunter’s comments as “absolutely stupid” but defended his “incredibly talented” social media director in an interview with The Huffington Post.
“People are calling him a white supremacist,” Paul said. “If I thought he was a white supremacist, he would be fired immediately.”
Others have defended Hunter as well, saying that while he may have been attracted to peculiarly Southern forms of conservatism and occasionally naive about racial issues, he is not the figure some critics have portrayed.
“In all my dealings with Jack Hunter, I have found him to be most impressive, most professional and a committed conservative,” South Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Sanford told TheDCNF. “I think a lot of this has less to do with Jack Hunter than Rand Paul and 2016.”
Former Charleston City Paper music editor Ballard Lesemann knew Hunter back when he was still wearing a pro-wrestling-style mask emblazoned with the Confederate flag. He told TheDCNF that Hunter was already assuming a less kitschy and provocative persona back then.
“By the time Jack started working with local AM news/talk station 1250 WTMA, he’d already ditched the mask and the schtick side of the Southern Avenger character, and he began to develop a more serious, thoughtful, in-depth approach and delivery,” Lesemann said.
While the two of them “bonded more over conversations about Iron Maiden, Rush, and the Who than about political candidates and partisan politics,” Lesemann was familiar with Hunter’s political work.
“As a left-leaning independent who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, 2004 and 2008, you can imagine how my own political views could clash with those of Jack Hunter’s,” he said. “But in all of our conversations, interviews, and late-night tavern chats, we never fought or argued.”
Marcus Amaker edited Hunter’s entertainment writings for the Charleston Post and Courier. He described Hunter as “a good guy” and “professional freelancer.”
“I never had any issues with Jack,” Amaker told TheDCNF. “Honestly, I haven’t paid much attention to the controversy. Anything that seeks to divide people isn’t on my radar and doesn’t get my energy.”
Prior to working for Rand Paul, Hunter was the official campaign blogger for Ron Paul during the 2012 GOP primaries. In that capacity, he frequently worked to marginalize extremists within the movement, ridiculing conspiracy theorists and defending the idea of working within the mainstream Republican Party.
Now the controversy over Hunter’s past writings and radio broadcasts is widely seen as a drag on libertarian-leaning Republicans’ mainstream political ambitions and a reminder of the elder Paul’s newsletters.
While the former Texas congressman denied writing or even reading the racist content in the newsletters that appeared under his name, questions persisted about their authorship.
Hunter isn’t denying writing the columns in question, but he does say the coverage doesn’t represent the full body of his writing.
“The stories made me angry, as well as many who’ve followed my work, because the cherry-picked distortions weren’t even remotely the real me,” he said. “It was enraging to watch neoconservatives, liberals and even some actual racists speculate about what I believe, based on what they were eager to portray me as believing. Not surprisingly, their speculations almost always suited their own political purposes.”
“Still, the moment I became a distraction for Sen. Paul, I knew it was time to leave. My purpose has always been to help, not hinder,” Hunter added. Now as he once ditched the mask, he will also discard the Southern Avenger name.
“I also wanted the ability to defend myself in my own voice, not as a member of anyone’s staff or even as the ‘Southern Avenger’ character, which has now been so mischaracterized that I will permanently retire that moniker,” Hunter said.
In addition to any fallout for Rand Paul’s political future, the controversy raises philosophical questions for conservatives and libertarians.
“Nothing in American history has done more harm to the limited government cause than the association of state sovereignty arguments with defenses of slavery,” wrote Philip Klein in the Washington Examiner. “Confederates who employed limited government arguments to argue for preserving a brutal and inhumane practice shouldn’t be deemed friends of limited government.”
Hunter maintains he is now freer to join these debates.
“I look forward to returning to just being a pundit and fighting these battles on my own,” he said. “The neoconservatives, who first ran and promoted this story, would much rather argue about the Civil War than the Iraq War.”
“From their standpoint, and given current trends within the Republican Party,” Hunter concluded, “I can’t say I blame them.”
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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. | – The Southern Avenger rides alone once more. Jack Hunter has left Rand Paul's employ amidst a firestorm of controversy about his past as a Confederate flag-wearing secessionist shock jock and columnist. Hunter first broke the news to his friend W. James Antle III at the Daily Caller. "I've long been a conservative, and years ago, a much more politically incorrect (and campy) one," Hunter said. "But there's a significant difference between being politically incorrect and racist." He intends to return to punditry. Paul had previously stuck by Hunter. "I think the things he said about John Wilkes Booth are absolutely stupid," he told the Huffington Post two weeks ago. But "if I thought he was a white supremacist, he would be fired immediately." Instead it seems he's been fired slowly. Paul today said he and Hunter had come to a "mutual decision" that he should leave. "I think everybody occasionally has people that work for them who sometimes have a background that damages what you’re trying to do," Paul explained, according to CN|2. |
Russian special forces rappelled onto a disabled oil tanker taken over by Somali pirates, freeing 23 Russian sailors and arresting the pirates during a dawn raid Thursday, the commander of the EU Naval Force said.
The raid against the Liberian-flagged ship Moscow University came 24 hours after pirates had taken the ship over and the crew locked itself in a safe room. The vessel is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil worth about $50 million.
The special forces had been aboard the Russian anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, which rushed to the scene after Wednesday's attack. The special forces boarded a helicopter and rappelled down to the Moscow University, Rear Adm. Jan Thornqvist, force commander of the EU Naval Force, told The Associated Press.
Shots were fired during the raid but no one was injured, Thornqvist said.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Alexei Kuznetsov said the pirates are being held aboard the tanker. Russian news agencies reported the death of one pirate during the raid, but Kuznetsov told AP that information was still being looked into.
The crew of the Moscow University had previously told officials they believed the pirates were trying to enter the engine room, Thornqvist said. The ship had been disabled and was not moving. Safe rooms, where crews seek shelter, are typically stocked with food, water and communications equipment and have reinforced doors that can only be opened from the inside.
The ship's owner, Novoship, said in a statement that the decision to free the ship was made knowing "that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates and that the lives and health of the sailors was not threatened by anything."
Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force, called the rescue "an excellent operation all around." He said the EU Naval Force had been working at a tactical level with the Russians, and that EU Naval Force personnel talked to the Russian crew by VHF radio. He said the EU had offered support to the Russians.
The attack occurred about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of the Somali coast. The ship was not registered with the Maritime Security Center, said Harbour. The ship's route was from the Red Sea to China, the ship's owner said.
Novoship is a subsidiary of Sovcomflot, which is owned by the Russian government.
The fact that Russian special forces stormed the Moscow University shortly after it was taken over is in line with a trend by international military forces who are more aggressively combating piracy.
In February, Danish special forces prevented the hijacking of a ship after pirates had boarded it. Special forces from the Danish Absalon boarded the Ariella while the crew locked themselves in a secure room.
EU Naval Force ships are disrupting pirate groups and destroying their ships at a much higher rate than in previous years. U.S. warships have fired back on pirates and destroyed their boats in several skirmishes in the last several weeks.
Pirates currently hold more than 300 hostages taken from ships attacked off East Africa in the last several months. Eleven suspected Somali pirates were indicted in U.S. federal court late last month, but the international community has had problems formulating an accepted policy to try and jail pirate suspects.
Along with the increased pressure by international navies against pirates has come some criticism.
On Wednesday, a French prosecutor said a French rescuer was responsible for killing the skipper of a sailboat hijacked by Somali pirates during a rescue operation.
Chief prosecutor Hever Pavy in the western French city of Rennes said investigators found a French military bullet had killed Florent Lemacon in April 2009 when a special intervention team came to rescue his yacht, the Tanit, off the Somali coast.
Four other hostages were saved after a week on the hijacked ship. Three suspected pirates who survived the rescue operation are on trial in France.
___
Associated Press reporters Jason Straziuso in Nairobi, Kenya and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report. ||||| MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian forces freed a hijacked Russian oil tanker in a helicopter-backed operation on Thursday, rescuing its crew and, according to one report, killing a Somali pirate.
Pirates on Wednesday hijacked the MV Moscow University in the Gulf of Aden with its 23-member crew and a cargo of crude oil worth $52 million.
The European Union’s naval force said the Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov had sent in a helicopter that returned fire after being shot at by pirates.
“Eventually the pirates surrendered and a boarding team from the Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived on board the tanker, captured all the pirates and freed the crew. All the crew are safe and well,” and EU naval statement said.
However the state-run RIA news agency, citing an unnamed Russian navy official, said the Russians had killed one pirate and captured 10.
A spokesman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Igor Lyakin-Frolov, confirmed that some pirates had been captured, but said it was unclear if there were casualties among them.
“The captured pirates will most likely be handed over to the authorities of countries in the region,” he told Reuters.
The tanker would most likely continue on its planned voyage to China, he said.
Somali pirates are still able to seize ships despite the presence of an international fleet of warships in the busy shipping lanes linking Europe with Asia. Shipowners and insurers have paid out tens of millions of dollars in ransoms.
The successful rescue operation will please the Kremlin, which has been seeking to revive Russia’s naval muscle despite limited resources.
Russia has been sending warships to patrol and protect Russian crews and cargoes off the Horn of Africa since the hijacking of the Ukrainian-owned cargo ship MV Faina in 2008 and the death of its Russian captain. The Faina was carrying a cargo of 33 tanks.
Two Russian fishing vessels were hijacked in the early 2000s off Somalia, though Wednesday’s attack was the first on a large Russian-owned merchant vessel, said Andrew Mwangura, who runs the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Program.
A spokeswoman for the tanker’s owner, Novorossiysk Shipping Company, said the crew survived the 20-hour siege by hiding in a safe room that was inaccessible to the hijackers.
Some oil tankers are sailing around southern Africa and further east into the Indian Ocean away from Somalia’s coastline to avoid the Gulf of Aden and pirates who are striking deeper out at sea, shipping experts say. | – Russian commandos rappelled from helicopters to storm a hijacked oil tanker off the coast of Somalia at dawn today, freeing the ship's crew of 23 Russians and capturing the pirates. One pirate was killed in the operation, but there were no other injuries aboard the SS Moscow University, the AP reports. The ship's owner says the decision to strike was made with the knowledge that the crew had locked themselves in a safe room and were not at risk. A Kremlin spokesman praised the "excellent job" done by both the crew and the commandos, noting that the crew had been well prepared for an emergency. A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry told Reuters that the captured pirates will be probably be handed over to regional authorities. |
— Police were summoned to a Rock Hill school last week when a student became so disorderly that it took three teachers and an administrator to restrain him, according to a police report.
Several students became upset after an Oakdale Elementary teacher took away their iPads because they were too loud while using the tablets, the report states. A 9-year-old boy became so upset he crawled under a desk, then flipped over a chair. He then went to another part of the classroom and flipped several more chairs, according to the report.
The teacher took the boy into the hallway, where he repeatedly stomped on the teacher’s foot. Two other teachers and an administrator helped to restrain the boy, who would not calm down for some time.
When officers arrived, the student had managed to calm himself down. He was released to his mother.
Two other students became disorderly during the incident, the report states, but they were able to be separated and calmed. ||||| OCTOBER 3--Cops were called to a South Carolina school after a nine-year-old boy went on a rampage after a teacher took away an iPad he was using in class, according to police.
The young suspect became enraged last week after a 26-year-old teacher at Oakdale Elementary School in Rock Hill confiscated iPads being used by several students who were being loud and unruly.
Deprived of his Apple tablet, the child crawled under a desk, then emerged to begin flipping over chairs in the classroom. After being ushered into a hallway by the teacher, the 5’ 2”, 125-pound boy “began to stomp on her feet repeatedly.”
The child, whose name is redacted from the police report, had to subsequently be restrained by two other teachers and an assistant principal. The boy’s stomping left his teacher with a “bruised and swollen” left foot, according to a Rock Hill Police Department incident report.
After officers arrived at the school, the boy--who was not arrested for his iPad outburst--was released into his mother’s custody.
Two fellow students “were disorderly” during the September 26 iPad incident and had to be separated by school administrators, though they “were able to be calmed.” (2 pages) | – Lots of schools are using iPads and other gizmos in the classroom, but now a few downsides are surfacing. Widespread hacking might be expected, but teacher assault by a 9-year-old? The Smoking Gun reports that police in Rock Hill, South Carolina, were summoned when a boy erupted into a rage after his 26-year-old female teacher confiscated his iPad in class. After he started to flip chairs, the teacher escorted him into the hallway, where he proceeded to repeatedly stomp her foot, leaving it bruised and swollen. It took four adults to restrain the youth, notes the State. Police released him into the custody of his mother instead of arresting him. |
SINGAPORE: The 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim has significant brain injury , infection in lungs and abdomen and she is currently struggling against all odds at Mount Elizabeth Hospital where her condition continues to be "extremely critical", the hospital said on Thursday."Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury," said Dr Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer, Mount Elizabeth Hospital.In a statement, Dr Loh said, "The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life."Briefing reporters here on girl's condition, Loh said, "As at 28 December, 11am (8:30 IST) the patient continues to remain in an extremely critical condition."The girl, who was gang-raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus on December 16, was brought here in an air ambulance yesterday and admitted to the intensive care unit.She had undergone three surgeries at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where she remained on ventilator support during most part of the treatment. Doctors removed major part of her intestines which had become gangrenous."A multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilise her condition over the next few days," Dr Loh said."The High Commission of India has been fully supportive in helping the hospital and her family, and ensuring that the best care is made available," he added.The security was tightened at the hospital, favoured by well-heeled patients, with each visitor screened before being allowed into the ICU.In Delhi, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi stressed that no time should be lost in bringing the perpetrators of such barbarous act to justice.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured that those found guilty of lapses in the aftermath of the incident will not be spared."We are committed to bringing the guilty to justice as soon as possible," Singh said, adding that best possible medical care was being provided to the victim.The victim's father, who flew in with her, said he was reassured that the best is being done for his daughter.The girl's family members do not speak English and rely on interpreters to communicate with hospital staff, the Strait Times newspaper reported.The High Commission of India has assigned a liaison officer with the family. ||||| The victim of a gang-rape in New Delhi fought for her life at a Singapore hospital Friday as officials in the Indian state of Punjab fired and suspended police officers accused of ignoring the rape of another woman, who then committed suicide.
Indian authorities have been accused of belittling rape victims and refusing to file cases against their attackers, further deterring victims _ already under societal pressure to keep the assaults quiet _ from reporting the crimes.
However, the gang-rape of the 23-year-old student on a moving bus in the capital two weeks ago has brought new focus on police and community attitudes toward woman in India. Demonstrators in New Delhi have demanded stronger protections for women and stronger punishment for rapists.
Authorities in Punjab took action Thursday when an 18-year-old woman killed herself by drinking poison a month after she told police she was gang-raped.
State authorities suspended one police officer and fired two others on accusations they delayed investigating and taking action in the case. The three accused in the rape were only arrested Thursday night, a month after the crime was reported.
"This is a very sensitive crime, I have taken it very seriously," said Paramjit Singh Gill, a top police officer in the city of Patiala.
The Press Trust of India reported that the woman was raped Nov. 13 and reported the attack to police Nov. 27. But police harassed the girl, asked her embarrassing questions and took no action against the accused, PTI reported, citing police sources.
Authorities in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh also suspended a police officer on accusations he refused to register a rape complaint from a woman who said she had been attacked by a driver.
Meanwhile, doctors in Singapore said the New Delhi gang-rape victim remained in extremely critical condition, had suffered a heart attack, a lung and abdominal infection and `'significant" brain injury.
`'The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life," said Mount Elizabeth Hospital chief executive Dr. Kelvin Loh.
Police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, which left the victim with severe internal injuries.
`'We wish she recovers and comes back to us and that no time is lost in bringing the perpetrators of such a barbaric act to justice," said Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress Party.
Other politicians have come under fire for comments insulting the protesters and diminishing the crime.
On Friday, Abhijit Mukherjee, a national lawmaker and the son of India's president, apologized for calling the protesters `'highly dented and painted" women, who go from discos to demonstrations.
`'I tender my unconditional apology to all the people whose sentiments got hurt," he told NDTV news.
___
Follow Ravi Nessman at twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ravinessman | – The New Delhi woman whose rape set off huge protests is now "fighting for her life" in a Singapore hospital, its chief executive says. "In addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury." She has already been through three surgeries in India, the Times of India notes. Meanwhile, another woman who reported a gang rape has committed suicide, the AP reports. Two officers have now been fired and one suspended in that case; insiders say that instead of responding to the case, police harassed the 18-year-old after she reported it on Nov. 27. The three suspects in the attack weren't arrested until last night. Another police officer has been suspended in a third rape case after he reportedly refused to register the allegations against a driver. |
"These claims are absolutely false," Zamir Kabulov, head of the Russian foreign ministry's department responsible for Afghanistan and the Kremlin's special envoy in the country, told RIA Novosti state news agency.
"These fabrications are designed, as we have repeatedly underlined, to justify the failure of the US military and politicians in the Afghan campaign. There is no other explanation," AFP quoted Kabulov as saying.
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, US General Curtis Scaparrotti, who also heads the US military's European Command, told lawmakers in Washington on Thursday that he had witnessed Russia's influence grow in many regions, including in Afghanistan.
In a statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Scaparrotti said Moscow was "perhaps" supplying the Taliban.
In February, General John Nicholson, the US commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, testified that Russia is encouraging the Taliban and providing them with diplomatic cover in a bid to undermine US influence and defeat NATO.
Kabulov in 2015 said that Russia was exchanging information with the Taliban and saw shared interest with them when it comes to fighting the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terror group.
Russia considers the Taliban a terrorist group and it is banned in the country, along with the Daesh.
Taliban fighters on Thursday captured Afghanistan's strategic district of Sangin, where US and British forces suffered heavy casualties until it was handed over to Afghan personnel. ||||| Top US general in Europe says Russia might be supplying the Taliban
Commander of the U.S. European Command Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti testifies during a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday, March 23, 2017. In answer to questioning about Russian support for insurgents and terror groups, Scaparrotti said Russia and the Taliban are growing increasingly close, suggesting that the Kremlin might even be supplying the Taliban.
The top U.S. general in Europe told lawmakers Thursday that Russia and the Taliban are growing increasingly close, suggesting that the Kremlin might even be supplying the insurgent group.
Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who is also the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, did not elaborate to the Senate Armed Services Committee on what type of equipment the Taliban might have received or when.
Any type of material support, however, would be a significant escalation of Russia's involvement with the Taliban; it has said in the past that it maintains only limited communication with the group.
"I've seen the influence of Russia of late, increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban," Scaparrotti said.
Much to the chagrin of U.S. officials and military officers, Russia has justified its communications with the Taliban by saying the insurgent group is fighting the Islamic State in Afghanistan, not the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
Army Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, has decried Russia's contact with the Taliban, saying that it has given cover to a group that has worked for years to undermine the United States and the government in Kabul. Russia fought its own bloody war of attrition in Afghanistan in the 1980s, pulling out after suffering heavy losses from U.S.-supplied insurgents.
"This public legitimacy that Russia lends to the Taliban is not based on fact," Nicholson told reporters in December.
On Thursday, the district center of Sangin in Afghanistan's restive south province of Helmand was overrun by the Taliban after months of heavy fighting with Afghan forces backed by U.S. air support. In recent months, the Taliban has steadily increased control over large swaths of the country, prompting Nicholson to suggest that thousands more troops are needed to help better train the Afghan military and reverse the "stalemate" in the country. His assessment was subsequently echoed by Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command.
Currently, about 5,000 NATO troops are in the country, in addition to the 8,400-strong American presence. U.S. forces primarily support the Afghans through training and airstrikes while small contingents of Special Operations forces continue to conduct counterterrorism missions against the network of terrorist groups still located in the country.
||||| Russia may be influencing and supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan, the top U.S. general in Europe said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday.
Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who also serves as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told Senators that Russia’s role in Afghanistan seemed to be growing, according to Reuters.
"I've seen the influence of Russia of late — increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban," Gen. Scaparrotti said.
Afghan National Army commandos in Helmand province on Oct. 9, 2016. NOOR MOHAMMAD / AFP - Getty Images
The news comes in the wake of the Taliban’s reported capture of the hotly contested town of Sangin in Afghanistan on Thursday, the location of a number of U.S. and British fatalities inside the deadly Helmand Province.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi shared a statement on Thursday that claimed the Taliban had captured Sangin’s district center, according to the Associated Press.
But that claim has been refuted by coalition forces.
American Army Capt. William K. Salvin, spokesman for NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, pushed back, alleging that Afghan forces still controlled the town but had simply moved its district center.
“This move to a new district center had been planned for some time,” Salvin said, noting that U.S. Forces assisted with the move and helped destroy buildings and inoperable vehicles to leave nothing usable behind.
“The only thing they left to the Taliban is rubble and dirt,” he added.
Related: ISIS Claims Kabul Hospital Attack But Taliban Remains Main Threat
The American military and NATO forces handed over control of Sangin to the Afghan military in 2013. Nineteen members of the American military have died maintaining the region since 2006, according to Operation Enduring Freedom statistics, and British forces lost more than a hundred soldiers in the town alone.
Russia, meanwhile, has largely been absent in the country since the Soviet Union fought a disastrous war there in the 1980s. But their renewed interest in the region, Scaparrotti said, seems to be growing.
Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month and told Senators that Russia was overtly attempting to legitimize the Taliban via a false narrative that they were fighting ISIS.
He added that he had received reports that Russia was also providing “support to the Taliban.”
The general called this “surprising” as “the Taliban have evolved over the years into a narco-insurgency and one that engages in extensive criminal activity, narcotics, kidnapping, illegal mining and other forms of criminal activity to fund their operations.”
Nicholson also noted that Russia had met with the Taliban in Moscow to discuss the future of Afghanistan, but hadn’t extended an invitation to the Afghan government.
Nicholson previously said the Afghan and U.S. forces “are in a stalemate” and requested “a few thousand” more soldiers to help train, advise and assist the local military. ||||| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. general in Europe said on Thursday that he had seen Russian influence on Afghan Taliban insurgents growing and raised the possibility that Moscow was helping supply the militants, whose reach is expanding in southern Afghanistan.
Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti speaks during a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
“I’ve seen the influence of Russia of late - increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban,” Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who is also NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
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He did not elaborate on what kinds of supplies might be headed to the Taliban or how direct Russia’s role might be.
Moscow has been critical of the United States over its handling of the war in Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union fought a bloody and disastrous war of its own in the 1980s.
But Russian officials have denied they provide aid to the insurgents, who are contesting large swaths of territory and inflicting heavy casualties, and say their limited contacts are aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table.
According to U.S. estimates, government forces control less than 60 percent of Afghanistan, with almost half the country either contested or under control of the insurgents, who are seeking to reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.
Underlying the insurgents’ growing strength, Taliban fighters have captured the strategic district of Sangin in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, officials said on Thursday.
The top U.S. commander in the country, General John Nicholson, said last month that Afghanistan was in a “stalemate” and that thousands more international troops would be needed to boost the existing NATO-led training and advisory mission.
Scaparrotti said the stakes were high. More than 1,800 American troops have been killed in fighting since the war began in 2001.
“NATO and the United States, in my view, must win in Afghanistan,” he said.
Taliban officials have told Reuters that the group has had significant contacts with Moscow since at least 2007, adding that Russian involvement did not extend beyond “moral and political support.” | – There's been lots in the news about Russia lately, and a high-ranking US Army general just added to the mix—this time regarding the country's involvement with the Taliban. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the supreme allied commander of Europe for NATO, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that he's noticed an uptick in Russian influence on the insurgent group in Afghanistan, and he raised the possibility that Moscow is giving the group supplies, reports Reuters. Russia and the Taliban deflected any insinuation that their relationship has ventured into equipment provisions, with Taliban officials telling Reuters that Russia has offered only "moral and political support." As for Russia's take on a possible supply chain: "Absolutely false," a Russian Foreign Ministry rep told RIA Novosti, via the Tasnim Iranian news agency. As Stars and Stripes notes, Russia has tried to evade full-on criticism for its Taliban rapport by claiming the militants are going after ISIS, not Afghani forces. However, Army Gen. John Nicholson, in charge of US forces in Afghanistan, has said he rejects the "public legitimacy" that Russia tries to impart on the Taliban. NBC News reports that Scaparrotti's theory comes just hours after reports that the Taliban had taken hold Thursday of the district center of the "hotly contested town" of Sangin, although that hasn't been confirmed. Scaparrotti didn't offer any elaboration on what provisions he thinks may have been offered by the Russians, or when this supposed handover may have taken place. |
The seed for Wide00014 was:
- Slash pages from every domain on the web:
-- a ranking of all URLs that have more than one incoming inter-domain link (rank was determined by number of incoming links using Wide00012 inter domain links)
-- up to a maximum of 100 most highly ranked URLs per domain
- Top ranked pages (up to a max of 100) from every linked-to domain using the Wide00012 inter-domain navigational link graph ||||| People.com:
Jennifer Aniston and her boyfriend Justin Theroux have taken the plunge – the pair have officially moved in together, a source tells People.
"They decided to rent a house together while they keep searching for the perfect [one] to buy," says the source.
Read the whole story: People.com | – The celebrity hero club just got a new member: The Scottish Sun reports that Brad Pitt saved a woman from being trampled by zombies on Wednesday. Seriously. The rescue happened on the set of World War Z, during a scene in which some 700 extras jammed themselves into Glasgow's George Square and then started to flee the approaching zombies. One extra fell amid the chaos and risked being pounded by the crowd. Cue Brad. "Brad came to the rescue of a woman who slipped," says an insider. "I don't think she could believe it when Brad picked her up. He didn't have time to speak to her as it was mid-shoot. But she said afterwards how grateful she was, despite having a badly-grazed knee." (Ex Jennifer Aniston is also making big news this weekend.) |
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis speaks at a press conference at the end of the NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, (Photo: Julien Warnand, EPA Images)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced late Friday that it will delay until at least 2018 rolling out its policy for acceptance of transgender troops into the ranks.
The move by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis comes just hours before a July 1 deadline, set in the Obama administration, for the military to recruit transgender enlisted troops and to accept new officers.
"Secretary Mattis today approved a recommendation by the services to defer accessing transgender applicants into the military until Jan. 1, 2018," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement. "The services will review their accession plans and provide input on the impact to the readiness and lethality of our forces."
In May, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work had ordered the armed services to advise him of their plans to meet the deadline, or advise him of concerns about how accepting new transgender troops could affect the military's readiness to fight. The Army and Marine Corps both sought delays.
Transgender troops already in the ranks can continue to serve, under the policy developed last year by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Mattis has made clear that the military's readiness to fight is his top priority.
READ MORE:
But the lack of a policy to accept new transgender troops already has caused problems. In May, the Air Force and Army were unable to commission transgender cadets from their prestigious military academies because the military lacks an acceptance policy for new transgender troops.
Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, which studies issues of sexuality in the military, said it would force troops to lie about their identity, as did the former policy that prohibited gay and lesbian troops from serving openly.
“Secretary Mattis' decision to prolong the enlistment ban will have the effect of requiring applicants to lie in order to join the military, as was the case under ‘Don’t Ask, don’t tell,’ Belkin said. “That makes no sense because, as predicted by all of the research, transgender military service has been a success. “
The Rand Corp. found in 2016, in a study commissioned by the Pentagon, that accepting transgender troops would have a negligible impact on military readiness.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2tzxNav ||||| Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved the recommendation from the services that lifting the ban be delayed. | AP Photo Pentagon delays lifting of transgender troop ban
The Pentagon announced Friday night that it will delay allowing openly transgender troops to join the military until Jan. 1, 2018.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved the recommendation from the services that lifting the ban be delayed to allow them time to review the impact on “the readiness and lethality of our forces,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.
Story Continued Below
The six-month delay will only impact new transgender recruits, not the estimated 15,500 already serving. It follows reports last week that the service leaders requested the delay.
Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter made the decision to allow transgender troops to serve openly on June 30, 2016, with an implementation deadline of July 1, 2017.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., said allowing transgender troops to serve openly is “ill-conceived and contrary to our goals of increasing troop readiness.”
“This delay is indicative of a policy that was rushed and never clearly thought out and I am pleased that Secretary Mattis has decided to delay the accession policy,” she said in a statement.
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Hartzler introduced and then withdrew an amendment to the House’s defense authorization bill in committee this week that would repeal the policy that allows transgender troops to serve openly. While she withdrew the amendment, she said she may bring it up again during debate in the full House in July.
The move faced immediate blowback from gay-rights advocates. The American Military Partners Association called it “disappointing” that qualified transgender people can’t be open about their identity when enlisting or commissioning.
“It has been unequivocally proven that allowing qualified transgender people to serve openly strengthens our military and creates a more inclusive and diverse force. The issue has been thoroughly studied and moving forward with this new recruitment policy is imperative in order for the military to be able to recruit the best talent our nation has to offer,” the association’s president Ashley Broadway-Mack said in a statement.
OutServe-Service Members Legal Defense Network also issued a statement, saying that they still expect the ban on transgender service to be lifted at the end of the six-month delay.
“We reiterate that the services are prepared for transgender individuals and assert that delays beyond January 2018 will have a negative impact on military readiness---that we cannot tolerate,” the group said in a statement.
| – The military isn't quite ready to recruit transgender troops. A new policy allowing the Pentagon to do so was supposed to begin on July 1, but defense chief Jim Mattis said Friday night that it would be delayed six months, reports USA Today. A Pentagon statement said Mattis had approved a request by the military's branches to postpone the change in policy so they'd have more time to assess its impact on the "readiness and lethality of our forces." An estimated 15,500 transgender troops are currently serving, per Politico, and Mattis' decision does not affect them. Critics of the move said it would force transgender recruits to lie if they want to join the military, just as Don't Ask, Don't Tell had forced gay recruits to hide their sexual identity. But Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., applauded the move, asserting that the idea of transgender recruitment is “ill-conceived and contrary to our goals of increasing troop readiness.” |
The most isolated tribe in the world?
In the days after the cataclysmic tsunami of 2004, as the full scale of the destruction and horror wreaked upon the islands of the Indian Ocean became apparent, the fate of the tribal peoples of the Andaman Islands remained a mystery.
It seemed inconceivable, above all, that the Sentinelese islanders could have survived, living as they did on a remote island directly in the tsunami’s path.
Yet when a helicopter flew low over the island, a Sentinelese man rushed out on to the beach, aiming his arrow at the pilot in a gesture that clearly said, ‘We don’t want you here’. Alone of the tens of millions of people affected by the disaster, the Sentinelese needed no help from anyone.
Perhaps no people on Earth remain more genuinely isolated than the Sentinelese. They are thought to be directly descended from the first human populations to emerge from Africa, and have probably lived in the Andaman Islands for up to 60,000 years. The fact that their language is so different even from other Andaman islanders suggests that they have had little contact with other people for thousands of years.
This does not mean, however, that they live just as they did 60,000 years ago. Commonly described, for instance, as belonging to the ‘Stone Age’, they do in fact make tools and weapons from metal, which they recover from ships wrecked on the island’s reefs.
Like so many isolated tribal people with a fearsome reputation, the Sentinelese are often inaccurately described as ‘savage’ or ‘backward’. Their hostility to outsiders, though, is easily understandable, for the outside world has brought them little but violence and contempt.
In 1879, for example, an elderly couple and some children were taken by force and brought to the islands’ main town, Port Blair. The colonial officer in charge of the kidnapping wrote that the entire group, ‘sickened rapidly, and the old man and his wife died, so the four children were sent back to their home with quantities of presents.’ Despite being responsible for the deaths of at least two people, and quite possibly starting an epidemic amongst the islanders, the same officer expressed no remorse, but merely remarked on the Sentinelese’s ‘peculiarly idiotic expression of countenance, and manner of behaving.’
How far this is from the truth can be easily judged from a video of the Sentinelese on the island’s beach taken during an Indian government ‘contact’ expedition in the 1990s.
The islanders are clearly extremely healthy, alert and thriving, in marked contrast to the two Andaman tribes who have ‘benefited’ from Western civilization, the Onge and the Great Andamanese, whose numbers have crashed and who are now largely dependent on state handouts just to survive.
Pressure from Survival and other organisations has led the Indian government to alter its policy towards the Sentinelese, from attempting to make contact, to recognising that similar policies have proved disastrous for other Andaman tribes, and accepting that they have the right to decide for themselves how they wish to live. Underpinning this shift is the simple acknowledgment that the people themselves are best placed to decide what is in their own interests. ||||| The Sentinelese, thought to number between 50 and 200, have rebuffed all contact with the modern world, firing a shower of arrows at anyone who comes within range.
They are believed to be the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world to remain isolated and appear to have survived the 2004 Asian tsunami.
The two men killed, Sunder Raj, 48, and Pandit Tiwari, 52, were fishing illegally for mud crabs off North Sentinel Island, a speck of land in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago.
Fellow fishermen said they dropped anchor for the night on Jan 25 but fell into a deep sleep, probably helped by large amounts of alcohol.
During the night their anchor, a rock tied to a rope, failed to hold their open-topped boat against the currents and they drifted towards the island.
"As day broke, fellow fishermen say they tried to shout at the men and warn them they were in danger," said Samir Acharya, the head of the Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology, an environmental organisation.
"However they did not respond - they were probably drunk - and the boat drifted into the shallows where they were attacked and killed."
After the fishermen's families raised the alarm, the Indian coastguard tried to recover the bodies using a helicopter but was met by the customary hail of arrows.
Photographs shot from the helicopter show the near-naked tribesmen rushing to fire. But the downdraught from its rotors exposed the two fisherman buried in shallow graves and not roasted and eaten, as local rumour suggested.
Mr Acharya said the erroneous belief in the tribe's cannibalism grew from the practice of another tribe, the Onge, who would cut up and burn their dead to avoid them returning as evil spirits.
"People saw the flesh cooking on the fire and thought they must be cannibals but this incident clearly contradicts that belief," he said.
Attempts to recover the bodies of the two men have been suspended, although the Andaman Islands police chief, Dharmendra Kumar, said an operation might be mounted later.
"Right now, there will be casualties on both sides," he said from Port Blair. "The tribesmen are out in large numbers. We shall let things cool down and once these tribals move to the island's other end we will sneak in and bring back the bodies."
Environmental groups urged the authorities to leave the bodies and respect the three-mile exclusion zone thrown around the island.
In the 1980s and early 1990s many Sentinelese were killed in skirmishes with armed salvage operators who visited the island after a shipwreck. Since then the tribesmen have remained virtually undisturbed.
DNA analysis of another tribe, the Jarawa, whose members made first contact with the outside world in 1997, suggest that the tribesmen migrated from Africa around 60,000 years ago.
However, the experience of the Jarawa since their emergence - sexual exploitation, alcoholism and a measles epidemic - has encouraged efforts to protect the Sentinelese from a similar fate. ||||| 'I'm privileged to have this contact with the tribesmen,' said Mr Pandit, a director of the Anthropological Survey of India. 'Before, it was worse. They shot arrows when we tried to land.'
The Sentinelese, as the islanders are known, live on North Sentinel, one of a chain of islands in the Bay of Bengal. Their skin is ash-black and their faces moon- shaped with negroid features.
They can husk coconuts with their teeth, and use fire, which they hide and guard jealously because they do not know how to make it. With long bows and arrows tipped with iron salvaged from shipwrecks, they are superb marksmen. Farming is unknown to them. They survive on fish and turtles, and hunt wild pig and the huge monitor lizards that abound on their island, an area of a mere 30 square miles.
Sentinelese songs contain just two notes, and they can only count up to two, above which they call everything else many. Their only form of art is body painting, which consists of wavy smears of white or ochre.
More than 100 of the Sentinelese live in palm-built lean-tos around the island, yet they have no community structure, no chiefs and no witchdoctors. Their way of life is comparable to that of humans 15,000 years ago; it is possible that they have not evolved any further because they simply have not been required to do so.
It took Indian anthropologists 24 years to befriend the islanders with gifts of coconut and iron chunks. But now that they have succeeded, Mr Pandit and his team are hesitant about how - or whether - these tribesmen should be 'civilised'.
'Permanent isolation isn't practical,' he said. 'They're surrounded by 200,000 people living in these islands. But the government has to make sure they're not harmed, and that they don't die from imported diseases.'
The Sentinelese are not the only aboriginals left in Andaman, a chain of 361 islands stretching between India and Burma. Other aboriginals are hidden in the jungles, such as the Andamanese, the Onge and the Jarawa. But the Sentinelese have resisted contact the longest.
When the British set up penal colonies in the Andaman Islands in the 1850s, the tribal population was estimated at about 5,000. The aboriginals resented the foreign intruders and fought back with their puny weapons. The British responded by slaughtering many of them, and today, fewer than 400 aboriginals are left.
For many centuries, sailors viewed the Andaman Islands with dread: tales drifted back of shipwrecked survivors being eaten by cannibals. Mr Pandit claims, however, that the Andaman islanders never dined on their victims. They do, however, like to hang the jawbone of a favourite relative around their necks.
Despite the many arrows shot at him, Mr Pandit insists the reputation of the Sentinelese for hostility is unfair. 'They're cautious, that's all. They want to defend themselves against outsiders.'
The islanders cannot be oblivious to the forms of civilisation that surround them; freighters pass by on the horizon and planes across their skies. They make occasional forays in dugout canoes to hunt turtles or fish, but they don't seem to sail far out of sight of North Sentinel.
Their aggressive isolation seems self-imposed. 'I'd give my right arm to know what they're thinking,' said Mr Pandit, 'but we just haven't learned enough about them yet.'
When the first anthropological expedition reached the island in 1967, the Sentinelese hid in the jungle. When teams returned in 1970 and again in 1973, the scientists were greeted with a hail of arrows. Then in 1974, the anthropologists tried a different tack: they brought gifts of coconuts, pots and pans, and a live pig, and left them on the beach.
But the Sentinelese were not so easily bought. Warriors with bows, arrows and spears lined the shore, posturing in defiance, and Mr Pandit recounted in a report: 'Sometimes they would turn their backs to us and sit on their haunches as if to defecate. This was meant to insult us and to say we were not welcome.'
Unruffled, the anthropologists kept dropping gifts on the island, and the Sentinelese progressively grew less hostile and more playful. They love coconuts, which do not grow on North Sentinel.
Finally, on 4 January 1991, Mr Pandit and his colleagues were met on the beach by a party of 28 men, women and children, for once unarmed. 'They may not have chiefs, but a decision had obviously been taken by the Sentinelese to be friendly towards us,' Mr Pandit said. 'We still don't know how or why.'
Now, the anthropologists have learned to remove most of their clothes, watches and spectacles before visiting the Sentinelese and the Jarawa, another isolated tribe. 'I've lost half a dozen pairs of glasses,' lamented Mr Pandit, who has been stripped naked by the islanders on several occasions. 'Clothing doesn't make much sense to them,' he said. 'They're curious about what we're trying to hide underneath.'
The anthropologists now practise the traditional Sentinelese greeting, which is to sit in a friend's lap and slap your right buttock vigorously.
A debate is raging among scientists and Indian officials about how the Sentinelese should be treated. Some want them drawn into civilisation as rapidly as possible. But other Andaman tribes have been cruelly exploited: their women have been inveigled into brothels as exotica, the men coaxed away by opium and alcohol to trade in the edible birds' nests that the Chinese consider to be a delicacy.
So far, the Indian government has banned all visitors to the island and forest areas where the aboriginals live. 'We can't leave them forever,' said Mr Pandit.
'But the government must ensure that, when they do come into contact with the outside world, the Sentinelese won't be uprooted or hurt. The question is: how?'
(Photograph omitted) | – Sometimes paradise is better off lost: Off the coast of India in the Bay of Bengal, a Manhattan-size island called North Sentinel Island boasts a deep green canopy of trees, stretches of sandy beaches, coral reef barriers—and a population that's decidedly hostile to outsiders, who aren't likely to live long. As Wackulus explains, the isolated indigenous tribe, one of the last of its kind on Earth, almost always attacks visitors. A little digging uncovered this story: After a night of drinking in 2006, two fishermen drifted too close to the island and were killed by the Sentinelese, who've lived there for 60,000 years. A helicopter sent to recover their bodies was halted by tribesmen's arrows, the Telegraph reported at the time; the air generated by the copter's rotors revealed their bodies in shallow graves. One of the earliest known encounters a century earlier ended when a convict who'd escaped from the neighboring Andaman Islands ended up on the island with his throat slit, the New York Times reported in 2012. In 1967, the Sentinelese—a Stone Age people but for the metal-tipped arrows carved from wrecked ships—hid from an Indian government expedition, during which a marker was placed on the island, declaring it part of India. Indian anthropologist TN Pandit's visits in the late 1980s and early 1990s proved more exciting. He left gifts of coconuts, knives, cloth, mirrors, and once a live pig. The native hunter-gatherers—believed to number between 50 and 400—killed the pig and buried it in the sand, but only insulted Pandit's group. "They would turn their backs to us and sit on their haunches as if to defecate," he told the Independent. India has since established a 3-mile exclusion zone around the island to protect both outsiders and the natives from disease. Survival International argues it's all for the best as the natives are "extremely healthy, alert, and thriving." They have fire and are believed to dine on fish, fruits, tubers, wild pigs, lizards, and honey. (This video reportedly shows the first contact with an isolated tribe.) |
20-second video of N1TV’s Petra László tripping over man carrying child in his arms – and kicking young girl and boy – goes viral and horrifies country
A camera operator for a Hungarian nationalist television channel closely linked to the country’s far-right Jobbik party has been filmed kicking two refugee children and tripping up a man at the border hotspot of Rőszke on Tuesday.
Petra László of N1TV was filming a group of refugees running away from police officers, when a man carrying a child in his arms ran in front of her. László stuck her leg out in front of the man, causing him to fall on the child he was carrying. He turned back and remonstrated with László, who continued filming.
A 20-second video of the scene was posted on Twitter by Stephan Richter, a reporter for the German television channel RTL and soon went viral, leading to the creation of a Facebook group “The Petra László Wall of Shame”.
Hungary’s leading news website Index had also caught László kicking a young girl and boy.
N1TV said László had been dismissed due to “unacceptable behaviour”. The channel’s editor in chief Szabolcs Kisberk said in a statement posted on the station’s website: “The camerawoman’s employment has today been terminated with immediate effect, the case is now closed for us.”
As well as speeches made by the Jobbik leader Gábor Vona, the channel’s website also contains articles with such headlines as “migrants have swarmed all over the shops” and “Guantanamo = Hungary?”
Hundreds of angry comments appeared on the Facebook group set up to condemn László’s actions on Tuesday evening.
Opposition parties Együtt-PM and the Democratic Coalition have said that they will initiate charges of violence against a member of the community, which is punishable by up to five years in prison, against László.
||||| A Hungarian camerawoman with the country's N1 TV station is seen tripping a man holding a child. The scene was captured at the Roeszke camp as refugees tried to escape from the police. The woman has since been fired. (Stephan Richter/Twitter)
When dozens of refugees tried to escape police officers at a Hungarian camp on Tuesday, one camerawoman decided to get involved. While she was filming a father, holding a child in his arms, she tripped both of them.
The scene at the camp, which you can watch in the video embedded on top of this post, was captured by a German correspondent. According to Hungarian news site 444.hu, the camerawoman worked for Hungarian broadcaster N1 and has since been fired.
On its Web site, the TV station posted a statement that read: "Today, a N1TV colleague behaved unacceptably at the Roeszke reception center. The cameraman's employment was terminated with immediate effect." The statement was signed by N1TV editor Szabolcs Kisber. On its Web site, the channel describes itself as being "fact-based" and "free of opinion."
According to an NBC News crew that was at the scene, hundreds of refugees were able to escape the camp, which is near the Hungarian-Serbian border, on Tuesday because of overcrowding. Tensions had risen for days, with many refugees trying to continue their journey to Germany and Austria but being stopped by local police.
Meanwhile, Twitter users condemned the camerawoman's behavior and demanded an apology from the TV station. Some said the incident was evidence that most Hungarian journalists and media outlets are in line with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has taken a tough stance toward the influx of refugees.
15 seconds in: N1TV photog trips a refugee running w/ child in arms. Guess Hungary knows where their media stand. https://t.co/qjyajvKL12 — Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) September 8, 2015
Reactions ranged from outrage to unbelief: British Iranian journalist Sanam Shantyaei called the scene "horrific," for instance, and others demanded that N1 should lay her off. Some users quickly pointed out that the camerawoman had been recorded tripping another fleeing refugee child.
What a shame! Camerawoman for #Hungary N1TV trips refugees as they run from police. She was later fired. @akhbar pic.twitter.com/v7fBDz3PKV — Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) September 8, 2015
Hungarian news site 444.hu also featured the scene, as recorded from the perspective of the camerawoman itself. The video ends shortly before the two fleeing refugees fall to the ground.
A Reuters photographer captured the scene in a chilling sequence, below:
A man runs with a child before being tripped by a TV camerawoman and falling as he tries to escape from a collection point in Roszke village, Hungary, on Sept. 8. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)
A man carrying a child falls after being tripped by a TV camerawoman while trying to escape from a collection point in Roszke village, Hungary, on Sept. 8. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)
A man carrying a child falls after being tripped by a TV camerawoman while trying to escape from a collection point in Roszke village, Hungary, on Sept. 8. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)
A man falls over a child after being tripped by a TV camerawoman as he tries to escape from a collection point in Roszke village, Hungary, on Sept. 8. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)
Read more:
As tragedies shock Europe, a bigger refugee crisis looms in the Middle East
The Arab world’s wealthiest nations are doing next to nothing for Syria’s refugees
Read The Post’s coverage on the global surge in migration | – A journalist working for a far-right TV station is out of a job after she was unable to resist her urge to become part of the story she was covering. The Hungarian camerawoman was filmed kicking and tripping refugees as they tried to get past police at an overcrowded camp in southern Hungary near the border with Serbia yesterday, the New York Times reports. A German journalist filmed Petra Laszlo of N1TV as she tripped a man carrying a young child, causing him to fall on the boy, the Guardian reports. Laszlo was also filmed kicking two children as they made their way past the police line. N1TV, which has close links to the far-right Jobbik party, says she has been let go for "unacceptable behavior." The Washington Post reports that many commentators describe her shocking behavior as more evidence that the Hungarian media is strongly biased in favor of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has stepped up the construction of a border fence and says the influx of people needs to be blocked to "keep Europe Christian." |
There’s no doubt the public outcry over the News of the World’s illegal hacking of mobile phones and payments to police officials is serious. Rupert Murdoch doesn’t close profitable newspapers willingly. (Heck, he doesn’t even like to close massively unprofitable papers.) But is it so serious that a top News Corp. executive — perhaps even Murdoch himself — could end up being convicted on criminal charges?
Andreas Whittam Smith thinks so. He cites the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000, the law used to imprison News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who teamed up to invade the voicemail accounts of various celebrities. Smith notes that the law, as worded, has remarkably broad scope:
Where an offence under any provision of this Act… is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
“If you have presided over an organisation that has conducted criminal activities, either you gave the orders, or you gave permission, or you connived, but if you did none of these things, then you were neglectful,” writes Smith. “That is the trap, that is the box in which the directors of News International will find themselves.”
I ran this reading by Jonathan P. Armstrong, a partner at the law firm Duane Morris who specializes in corporate law with a concentration in technology and compliance. “My view is that might be a stretch,” he says. That’s because the application of the “attributable to any neglect” clause isn’t quite as broad as it sounds. “That sort of clause exists because it’s lifted out of health and safety legislation,” he says. “Say you had an airplane and you never changed the tires. I don’t think, in the U.K., something like failure to have a policy preventing hacking — that wouldn’t be a big enough neglect to get by a jury.”
Where the neglect cause could conceivably apply is to Rebekah Brooks, News International’s CEO. Brooks has denied having any knowledge of the illegal hacking, but she was editor of the NotW at the time it published stories that cited voice mail messages obtained that way, and it was Brooks who first hired the private investigator who hacked the voicemail of murdered teenager Milly Dowler. In Brooks’s case, therefore, it’s possible to argue that the only way she wouldn’t have known about the hacking was by making it clear she didn’t want to know. “The quaint old English saying for that we have is ‘Nelsonian ignorance,’” says Armstrong. The phrase refers to Lord Nelson, the famed admiral who was blind in one eye.
Already, police are reportedly planning to arrest Andy Coulson, who succeeded Brooks as editor, either on similar grounds or because they have evidence that he did, in fact, condone the hacking.
But don’t expect the arrests to rise to the very top of the News Corp. food chain — to Rupert Murdoch, or even to his son, James — unless evidence tying them directly to the illegal hacks comes to light. “The reality is cases that are that much of a stretch normally don’t run in the U.K.,” says Armstrong. “We don’t have the same system you have in the U.S. of an attorney general who might see a lot of merit, politically, in seeing this go ahead. Generally speaking, prosecutions will only run where the prosecutors are convinced they’ll be able to persuade the jury beyond all reasonable doubt that the guy had his hands all over this.” ||||| The 168-year-old News of the World, the widest-read paper in the English-speaking world, has acknowledged that it hired “investigators” who hacked into the phone accounts of politicians, celebrities and ordinary Britons in an attempt to develop stories. The targets of the paper’s hacking apparently included the families of British troops killed in Afghanistan, victims of the 2005 London transit bombings and a 13-year-old missing girl who was later found dead.
Murdoch, 80, has weathered criticism and crises before, most notably the near-bankruptcy of News Corp. in 1990. But the phone-hacking scandal is easily the most dire public-relations debacle of the Australian-turned-American’s storied business career.
Public outrage over the phone tapping has led to rare condemnation of Murdoch in the British Parliament and even from Prime Minister David Cameron, who has enjoyed Murdoch’s political support. Because of his outsize role in the U.K. media, Murdoch has been among the most powerful and influential forces in British politics for many years.
Although there is no evidence that Murdoch was aware of the News of the World’s illegal behavior, the scandal has shaken his dominant role in the British media establishment and has tarnished his stewardship of an empire that includes such U.S. properties as the Fox TV network, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and the 20th Century Fox movie studio.
The scandal has also threatened to derail News Corp.’s bid to gain control of British Sky Broadcasting, the largest pay TV provider in the United Kingdom. News Corp. owns 39 percent of the satellite company and is trying to gobble up the balance in a deal worth about $12 billion. Regulatory approval of its bid is pending, and the outcome could be an indicator of public sentiment toward the newspaper’s behavior.
Some observers suggested Thursday that the scandal could affect who succeeds Murdoch at the top of his company, which he built into a colossus after inheriting two small Australian papers from his father 58 years ago. Murdoch’s heir apparent, son James, oversees the company’s British newspaper division and announced the tabloid’s demise in its London newsroom.
Many here are calling for the dismissal of Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World editor who is chief executive of its immediate parent company, News International. Brooks was editor of the paper in 2002 when a private detective working on its behalf allegedly hacked into the voice-mail of slain teenager Milly Dowling and erased one of the messages. But both Rupert and James Murdoch have remained loyal to Brooks. “I am satisfied that Rebekah — her leadership and her standard of ethics and her standard of conduct — is very good,” the younger Murdoch told BBC News in an interview. ||||| I am going to describe how action should be swiftly taken to curb Rupert Murdoch and his newspapers now that supposition and dark suspicion have become proven fact. News International, a large and powerful media organisation, Mr Murdoch's company, systematically invades people's privacy through phone hacking, corrupts the police by making large payments to individual officers, and compromises fair trials as a result of publishing reports that are likely to prejudice juries.
It operates without restraint and has no sense of right or wrong. It doesn't yet represent the same threat to British society as the Italian mafia does to Italy. But there are sufficient similarities to tell us that if we don't act now, worse will follow. For unchecked, News International's illegal practices would grow ever more far reaching, more police officers would be suborned, more trials ruined. And more politicians would be bent to Mr Murdoch's will. For, just as Italian politicians have courted the mafia, so British politicians have fawned over News International executives and editors. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, even brought a former editor into Downing Street who, it is now alleged, authorised the payments of bribes to the police. Well meaning though large advertisers may be in withdrawing their business from the News of the World, that won't curb Mr Murdoch. And although I have willingly signed up to the campaign that calls for a public inquiry ( hackinginquiry.org/), that would only be a staging post. In fact, the mechanisms to bring the directors of News International to book already exist. They are part of the law of the land.
The most important step is to make use of the powers contained in what is known as The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. It was under Section 1 of this Act that the News of the World phone hackers were convicted and imprisoned. So far as the directors and executives of News International in their personal capacities are concerned, the crucial passage in the legislation comes towards the end of the Act. It is Section 79.
Forgive me for now penetrating deeply into the thickets of the law, but eventually, in the growing scandal of the News of the World's behaviour, everything will turn on Section 79. I hope charges will be brought under this section. It is entitled the "Criminal liability of directors etc". (I like the "etc"). It states that "Where an offence under any provision of this Act... is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly."
To see how Section 79 might work, start with the smaller fry, say Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International. In a letter to staff published earlier this week, Ms Brooks, following the revelations that her reporters had hacked into the mobile phone of the murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, when she was editor of the News of the World, attempted to exculpate herself. "We were all appalled and shocked when we heard about these allegations yesterday... At the moment we only know what we have read... I hope that you all realise it is inconceivable that I knew or worse, sanctioned these appalling allegations." In other words, Ms Brooks is claiming that she was unaware of the criminal invasion of privacy that had the effect of vainly raising the hopes of the parents that their daughter was still alive and that at the same impeded the police operation.
But go back to the Act. To avoid criminal proceedings, having not initiated or consented to the Dowler phone hacking won't do as a defence because there are other tests. Let us go to these. Connived? That would require an examination of how Ms Brooks habitually conducted herself as editor. "Connived", for instance, might be warmly congratulating reporters who produced stories that could only have been acquired illegally. But perhaps there was no connivance. Even so, Ms Brooks would not be home safe and dry. "Where an offence is... attributable to any neglect", states the Act.
This is the catch-all section of the Act. If you have presided over an organisation that has conducted criminal activities, either you gave the orders, or you gave permission, or you connived, but if you did none of these things, then you were neglectful. That is the trap, that is the box in which the directors of News International will find themselves. It is also the bit that Ms Brooks would find hard to understand. For, as she indicated earlier this week, she isn't going to resign."I am aware of the speculation about my position. Therefore it is important you all know that as chief executive, I am determined to lead the company to ensure we do the right thing and resolve these serious issues." This comes straight out of the dishonorable, cowardly, defensive, mind-your-back school of management that says that if I didn't know, I cannot be blamed. It doesn't recognise neglect. Instead it substitutes the self-serving, conceited thesis that "only I, who was at the helm during the disaster, can steer us to safety".
But what about Mr Murdoch? Would he be touched by Section 79? Only a lawyer could give an authoritative opinion. But I note these words in the Act. It bears on a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or "any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity" (my italics).
Whether Mr Murdoch falls under this rubric would be for a court to decide. But I have no doubt that Mr Murdoch does act as if he were a director or a manager. For although technically News International is part of a public company, for all intents and purposes it is conducted as if it were a court with Mr Murdoch as its sovereign. One reason why Ms Brooks isn't resigning is that she is a courtier. Courtiers don't resign. They stay or go at the monarch's pleasure. And while it may be difficult for company lawyers to understand a monarchical organisation, judges should do so – for they are, after all, "Her Majesty's Judges".
Rupert Murdoch has owned the News of the World for nearly 42 years. When he arrived in England as an unknown Australian newspaper proprietor to bid for the News of the World in 1969 in opposition to Robert Maxwell, I went to meet him at Heathrow Airport and travelled into town with him. I was a young financial journalist. When we got to the Savoy Hotel, he went up to reception to sign in. As soon as he was given his room number, he demanded that he be given a different room. I asked him why. You see, he said, I fear that my room will have been bugged.
Even then phone hacking and electronic eavesdropping obsessed him. Now they will be his undoing and Section 79 could be his final reckoning.
a.whittamsmith@independent.co.uk | – Rupert Murdoch, who yesterday shut down the 168-year-old News of the World, faces the worst PR crisis of his six-decade career, reports the Washington Post. So far, the scandal is threatening to derail Murdoch's $12 billion bid for British Sky Broadcasting. It could even force Murdoch to testify before the British Parliament under oath. But as bad as things are, could Murdoch himself end up in jail? One analyst, writing in the Independent, thinks so. Andreas Whittam Smith explains that phone hackers were convicted under Britain's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and he points readers to Section 79 of the act, which states that when a corporate body commits "an offense under any provision of this act ... with the consent or connivance of ... a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer, he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offense and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly." Perhaps Murdoch is a stretch, but observers think Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International and former editor at News of the World, could be in danger of criminal charges. Just like this former editor. |
Is sexual addiction the real deal?
Nicole Prause
Controversy exists over what some mental health experts call "hypersexuality," or sexual "addiction." Namely, is it a mental disorder at all, or something else? It failed to make the cut in the recently updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, considered the bible for diagnosing mental disorders. Yet sex addiction has been blamed for ruining relationships, lives and careers.
Now, for the first time, UCLA researchers have measured how the brain behaves in so-called hypersexual people who have problems regulating their viewing of sexual images. The study found that the brain response of these individuals to sexual images was not related in any way to the severity of their hypersexuality but was instead tied only to their level of sexual desire.
In other words, hypersexuality did not appear to explain brain differences in sexual response any more than simply having a high libido, said senior author Nicole Prause, a researcher in the department of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.
"Potentially, this is an important finding," Prause said. "It is the first time scientists have studied the brain responses specifically of people who identify as having hypersexual problems."
The study appears in the current online edition of the journal Socioaffective Neuroscience and Psychology.
A diagnosis of hypersexuality or sexual addiction is typically associated with people who have sexual urges that feel out of control, who engage frequently in sexual behavior, who have suffered consequences such as divorce or economic ruin as a result of their behaviors, and who have a poor ability to reduce those behaviors.
But, said Prause and her colleagues, such symptoms are not necessarily representative of an addiction — in fact, non-pathological, high sexual desire could also explain this cluster of problems.
One way to tease out the difference is to measure the brain's response to sexual-image stimuli in individuals who acknowledge having sexual problems. If they indeed suffer from hypersexuality, or sexual addiction, their brain response to visual sexual stimuli could be expected be higher, in much the same way that the brains of cocaine addicts have been shown to react to images of the drug in other studies.
The study involved 52 volunteers: 39 men and 13 women, ranging in age from 18 to 39, who reported having problems controlling their viewing of sexual images. They first filled out four questionnaires covering various topics, including sexual behaviors, sexual desire, sexual compulsions, and the possible negative cognitive and behavioral outcomes of sexual behavior. Participants had scores comparable to individuals seeking help for hypersexual problems.
While viewing the images, the volunteers were monitored using electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive technique that measures brain waves, the electrical activity generated by neurons when they communicate with each other. Specifically, the researchers measured event-related potentials, brain responses that are the direct result of a specific cognitive event.
"The volunteers were shown a set of photographs that were carefully chosen to evoke pleasant or unpleasant feelings," Prause said. "The pictures included images of dismembered bodies, people preparing food, people skiing — and, of course, sex. Some of the sexual images were romantic images, while others showed explicit intercourse between one man and one woman."
The researchers were most interested in the response of the brain about 300 milliseconds after each picture appeared, commonly called the "P300" response. This basic measure has been used in hundreds of neuroscience studies internationally, including studies of addiction and impulsivity, Prause said. The P300 response is higher when a person notices something new or especially interesting to them.
The researchers expected that P300 responses to the sexual images would correspond to a person's sexual desire level, as shown in previous studies. But they further predicted that P300 responses would relate to measures of hypersexuality. That is, in those whose problem regulating their viewing of sexual images could be characterized as an "addiction," the P300 reaction to sexual images could be expected to spike.
Instead, the researchers found that the P300 response was not related to hypersexual measurements at all; there were no spikes or decreases tied to the severity of participants' hypersexuality. So while there has been much speculation about the effect of sexual addiction or hypersexuality in the brain, the study provided no evidence to support any difference, Prause said.
"The brain's response to sexual pictures was not predicted by any of the three questionnaire measures of hypersexuality," she said. "Brain response was only related to the measure of sexual desire. In other words, hypersexuality does not appear to explain brain responses to sexual images any more than just having a high libido."
But debate continues over whether sex addiction is indeed an addiction. A study published in 2012 by Prause's colleague Rory Reid, a UCLA assistant professor of psychiatry, supported the reliability of the proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for hypersexual disorder. However, Prause notes, that study was not focused on the validity of sex addiction or impulsivity, and did not use any biophysiological data in the analysis.
"If our study can be replicated," she said, "these findings would represent a major challenge to existing theories of a sex 'addiction.' "
Other authors on the study included Dr. Timothy Fong, associate professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and director of the UCLA Impulse Control Disorders Clinic; Vaughn R. Steele of the University of New Mexico; and Cameron Staley of Idaho State University. Funding was provided by an Idaho State University Graduate Student Committee grant (Staley).
The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for faculty who are experts in the origins and treatment of disorders of complex human behavior. The department is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders. ||||| Photos by Andy Lyons/Getty Images, Andrew Kelly/Reuters, Vincent Kessler/Reuters, and Caroline McCredie/Getty Images
Does sex addiction really exist? A new study published in last week’s journal of Socioaffective Neuroscience and Psychology suggests that maybe it doesn’t—bad news for celebrities like Tiger Woods and Russell Brand who have made it trendy in recent years to claim a clinical addiction to sex as an explanation for sexual misbehavior.
The study (which, amazingly, is the first of its kind) measured how the brains of people who struggle with sexually compulsive behavior respond to sexual images. If sex can be addictive in the clinical sense, scientists theorized, then the neural response of sex addicts to pornography should mimic the neural responses of drug or alcohol addicts to their drugs of choice. Instead, researchers found that hypersexual brains don’t react in the same way as other addicts’ brains—in fact, the neural responses to pornography only varied based on levels of sexual libido, rather than on measures of sexual compulsivity. People with higher libidos had more active brain reactions to the sexual images than people with lower libidos, but that was the only correlation. Degrees of sexual compulsivity did not predict brain response at all. If the results of this first study can be replicated, it would represent a major challenge to the notion that sex and pornography can be literally addictive.
“This is controversial territory because it represents a substantial shift in the way we view mental illness,” Dr. Nicole Prause, an assistant research scientist in the department of psychiatry at UCLA and one of the investigators involved with the study, told me. “Most people describe high-frequency sexual problems as an ‘addiction’—that’s how the public and even many clinicians talk about it. But this data challenges the addiction model and forces us to reconsider how we think and talk about these problems.”
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For the study, researchers recruited 52 people (39 men and 13 women) who reported having difficulties controlling their use of pornography and used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure their brain responses to various images. Some images were sexual in nature, such as kissing, nudity, and penetrative sex, while others were designed to be neutral or even unpleasant, such as pictures of skiers and dismembered bodies. Researchers analyzed brain response to the pictures in the first 300 milliseconds after the images appeared, commonly called a “P300.” Hundreds of neuroscience studies have relied on P300 measurements to analyze the brain’s response to various stimuli; for example, Prause said, several studies of substance addicts found increased P300 responses to images of their drugs of choice as compared to neutral images.
“We expected the brain response to sexual stimuli to be consistent with other drugs of addiction, or even other behavioral addiction studies,” said Prause. “But we just don’t see that at all. We weren’t able to find evidence for any relationship between the measures of high-frequency sexual problems and the brain response to sexual images.”
In a 2010 Psychology Today blog post, Dr. Michael Bader provocatively argued that “the addiction made me do it” is merely an excuse for people who want to avoid the difficult psychological thought and introspection required to address the real issues behind sexually compulsive behavior. Now this study has reignited the ongoing debate about whether sex and other so-called behavioral addictions—also known as process addictions, such as shopping and tanning—should be considered pathological alongside substance addictions such as nicotine, alcohol, and drugs. The third edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, released in 1987, included the term “sex addiction” under the category “Sexual Disorder—Not Otherwise Specified,” but that term was removed in subsequent editions. Hypersexual disorder was considered for inclusion in the recently released DSM-5 but was removed by the final draft.
So here’s where we stand: Despite the familiarity of sex addiction in pop culture, hypersexual disorder is not an officially categorized diagnosis—and studies like this suggest that won’t change anytime soon. Nevertheless, mental health professionals around the world have reported patients who come to them seeking help with sexually compulsive behavior. So a problem does exist, and people who want treatment and support deserve access to it. But the debate about sex addiction underlines important questions about how psychiatrists should categorize the difference between a clinical mental illness that can be demonstrated in a lab, such as substance addiction, and other forms of mental distress, which deserve equal care and compassion but don’t necessarily indicate a medical mental illness. If we turn every single quirk of human sexuality into a “disease,” after all, then we’re all screwed.
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“We don't have a lot of information about what constitutes normative sexual behavior, so how can we conclusively determine what is deviant?” said Dr. Rory Reid, a neuropsychologist at UCLA and the principal investigator for the DSM-5 field trial on hypersexual disorder. “I don’t think there is enough evidence to conclude that patterns of hypersexual behavior constitute a bona fide disorder in the scientific realm, but we also don’t have enough evidence to dismiss that possibility. It certainly warrants further research and discussion.”
Dr. Eli Coleman, who directs the program in human sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School, argues that any study that looks at compulsive sexual behavior from a traditional addiction model may be missing the mark.
“One of the big problems with the term ‘sex addiction’ is that it immediately assumes that you can apply the same kinds of research methodologies and treatments that you would use for substance addiction,” said Coleman. “There are no sex receptors in the brain to develop tolerance and dependence, as there are with alcohol and drug addiction.” Hypersexuals don’t experience seizures or other physical symptoms of withdrawal when they abstain, for example, like alcohol and drug addicts do. Coleman suggests that for many people, hypersexual behavior seems to be a problem of impulse control or compulsive drive rather than a neural addiction. But, he added, even that explanation is probably too simplistic: Some people use sexual behavior to modulate mood states, and in others hypersexuality looks almost like attention deficit disorder. “It’s really very complex,” said Coleman. “And there has not been enough research to fully examine all of the underlying mechanisms.”
Previous investigations into sex addiction have only measured the brains of sexual compulsives at rest (that is, without exposure to sexual imagery) or relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires, which are likely to be influenced by social ideas about what constitutes “normal” degrees of sexual behavior or desire. This new study is the first time that scientists have measured the active responses of hypersexual brains to sexual stimuli, which seems closer to the mark if scientists want to prove or dispel the clinical case for sex addiction.
“The field is very strange, because experimental work is very rare in this area. Many people report feeling out of control sexually, but when we actually look for evidence of that in a lab, we can’t find it,” said Prause. “That’s why I’m aghast that we’re not doing more research in this area. Questionnaires are valuable, but we need to do more work to determine if what people are reporting is actually true.”
Prause points out why there haven’t been funds directed toward scientific research that might challenge the existence of sex addiction: If something is a disease, there is money to be made from treating it. (One Christian organization, for example, charges $1,275 for a three-day seminar called “Every Man’s Battle” that claims to treat men who “find themselves pulled into the use of pornography” or who “seek out sexual gratification through compulsive masturbation.”) | – The term "sex addiction" might get tossed around a lot these days as a way to explain some not-so-classy behavior of the Anthony Weiner-Tiger Woods variety, but is it really an addiction on par with drugs or alcohol? The first study to explore brain responses in people who describe themselves as hypersexual suggests otherwise, reports UCLA. Researchers there showed the subjects—39 men and 13 women—sexual images, and discovered that their brains didn't respond in the same way that, say, a cocaine addict would respond to images of cocaine. “Most people describe high-frequency sexual problems as an ‘addiction’—that’s how the public and even many clinicians talk about it," one of the researchers tells Slate. "But this data challenges the addiction model and forces us to reconsider how we think and talk about these problems.” The subjects have higher libidos, or sexual desire, but not necessarily a clinical medical problem. They still need help, but if further studies verify this first one, then the type of help they'll get will be affected. All of which might be OK, writes Jillian Keenan at Slate. "If we turn every single quirk of human sexuality into a 'disease,' after all, then we’re all screwed." The study is in the journal Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology. |
Story highlights A man in England is infected with a form of the bacteria that is completely resistant to the first line of treatment
Gonorrhea has been a growing concern as the bacteria adapt
(CNN) Public Health England is investigating the case of a UK man infected with a multidrug-resistant form of gonorrhea.
The man attended sexual health services this year and was found to be infected with a form of the bacteria that is completely resistant to the first line of treatment used against it.
First-line treatment for gonorrhea is a combination of two antibiotics (azithromycin and ceftriaxone), and this is the first global report of an infection with high-level resistance to both drugs, according to Public Health England.
The man caught the sexually transmitted infection in Southeast Asia one month before his symptoms began, the case report states.
His infection is "is very resistant to the recommended first-line treatment," said Dr. Gwenda Hughes, consultant scientist and head of the sexually transmitted infection section at Public Health England. "This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics."
Read More ||||| Image copyright Getty Images
A man in the UK has caught the world's "worst-ever" case of super-gonorrhoea.
He had a regular partner in the UK, but picked up the superbug after a sexual encounter with a woman in South East Asia.
Public Health England says it is the first time the infection cannot be cured with first choice antibiotics.
Health officials are now tracing any other sexual partners of the man, who has not been identified, in an attempt to contain the infection's spread.
He picked up the infection earlier in the year.
The main antibiotic treatment - a combination of azithromycin and ceftriaxone - has failed to treat the disease.
Dr Gwenda Hughes, from Public Health England, said: "This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics."
Discussions with the World Health Organization and the European Centres for Disease Control agree this is a world first.
What is gonorrhoea?
Image copyright CAVALLINI JAMES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The disease is caused by the bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
The infection is spread by unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex.
Of those infected, about one in 10 heterosexual men and more than three-quarters of women, and gay men, have no easily recognisable symptoms.
But symptoms can include a thick green or yellow discharge from sexual organs, pain when urinating and bleeding between periods.
Untreated infection can lead to infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and can be passed on to a child during pregnancy.
Analysis of the man's infection suggests one last antibiotic could work. He is currently being treated and doctors will see if it has been successful next month.
So far no other cases - including in the British partner - have been discovered, but the investigation is still under way.
Dr Hughes added: "We are following up this case to ensure that the infection was effectively treated with other options and the risk of any onward transmission is minimised."
Doctors have long been warning this could happen.
In 2015, there was an outbreak of azithromycin-resistant gonorrhoea centred on Leeds.
The fear is the bug could eventually become untreatable by any antibiotic.
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Dr Olwen Williams, the president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV said: "The emergence of this new strain of highly resistant gonorrhoea is of huge concern and is a significant development.
"We are concerned that the problem will worsen due to the dramatic cuts that have been delivered to the public health budget.
"Worryingly this has left sexual health services at 'tipping point', with clinic closures coming at the worst possible time."
Follow James on Twitter. ||||| This article is over 9 months old
Public Health England say case is first global report of strand resilient to main antibiotic care
A man in the UK has contracted a super-strength strand of gonorrhoea believed to be the first case globally to resist the main antibiotic treatment.
Calls to rein in antibiotic use after study shows 65% increase worldwide Read more
Public Health England (PHE) said the patient had a regular female partner in the UK, but contracted the infection from a sexual encounter with a woman in south-east Asia. He visited a health clinic for treatment in early 2018.
Attempts to get rid of the sexually transmitted infection with the recommended treatment – a combination of antibiotics azithromycin and ceftriaxone – have failed.
“We are investigating a case who has gonorrhoea which was acquired abroad and is very resistant to the recommended first line treatment,” Dr Gwenda Hughes, the head of PHE’s STI section said.
“This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics.”
An analysis of the case for PHE notes it is the “first global report” of the infection resisting both antibiotics.
Gonorrhoea can lead to infertility if left untreated and is known to cause symptoms including unusual discharge from the sexual organ and inflammation.
Fears of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea spreading in the UK has prompted health officials to trace the man’s sexual partners to try to contain the spread.
The man’s UK partner tested negative for the infection, the PHE report said.
Dr Hughes added: “PHE actively monitors, and acts on, the spread of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhoea and potential treatment failures, and has introduced enhanced surveillance to identify and manage resistant strains of infection promptly to help reduce further spread.” | – Learning you have gonorrhea is bad; learning officials consider your case of gonorrhea the "worst ever" is something else entirely. The Press Association reports a man in the UK was diagnosed earlier this year with what is believed to be the first strain of gonorrhea to be resistant to the main antibiotic treatment. Public Health England says the man contracted this super-gonorrhea during a sexual encounter with a woman in Southeast Asia. His symptoms appeared about a month later, according to CNN. As is usual with gonorrhea, doctors attempted to treat it with the antibiotics azithromycin and ceftriaxone. Unusually, the antibiotics didn't work. "This is the first time a case has displayed such high-level resistance to both of these drugs and to most other commonly used antibiotics," Dr. Gwenda Hughes with PHE says. The World Health Organization and the European Centres for Disease Control agree that it's a global first, the BBC reports. The man's antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea is a major concern for experts, who fear the STD becoming untreatable. "The bacteria that cause gonorrhea are particularly smart," Teodora Wi at WHO said last year. "Every time we use a new class of antibiotics to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist them." Health officials are going back through the man's sexual history to keep the gonorrhea from spreading. So far no other cases have appeared, including in the man's regular female partner in the UK. Doctors are trying a final antibiotic on the man and will know if it worked next month. |
An unknown visitor arrives at a gated house in Woodland Hills on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Homicide detectives are investigating the death of Fabio Sementilli, an internationally known hairdresser and beauty company executive found beaten and stabbed outside his Los Angeles home. Police say paramedics found Sementilli bleeding profusely Monday afternoon at the gated house in the upscale Woodland Hills neighborhood. The 49-year-old suffered multiple stab wounds and died at the scene. AP Photo/Richard Vogel
WOODLAND HILLS >> Homicide detectives are investigating the stabbing death of a hairdresser in his Woodland Hills home and the disappearance of his 2008 black Porsche 911 Carrera, authorities said Tuesday.
Paramedics were sent to the home in the 5000 block of Queen Victoria Road shortly after 5 p.m. Monday for a medical emergency call regarding “hemorrhaging,” the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
Canadian-born Fabio Sementilli, 49, died at the scene.
“The paramedics observed a male in the outdoor patio of the residence with injuries to his face and a significant amount of blood,” a police statement said.
Paramedics contacted Topanga Division officers, according to police.
“When the officers arrived they found the victim ... suffering from multiple stab wounds,” police said.
Homicide detectives determined that Sementilli suffered several stab wounds to his neck and upper torso, police said.
Detectives found that the victim’s car was missing from his home. It was described as a black 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera with paper license plates.
Detective Steve Castro of LAPD’s Operations-Valley Bureau Homicide Unit did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.
The upscale neighborhood where Sementilli lived was quiet by midmorning Tuesday.
Sementilli’s house and patio are partially concealed by lush shrubbery, and the home is secured by an automatic gate.
Craig Smith, 68, has lived next door for 10 years and was home when Sementilli’s body was discovered by his wife and daughters.
“I heard the screaming,” Smith said Tuesday morning. “I heard them upset on the deck. I thought he had fallen and hurt his head.”
He hurried up the sloping street to see what was wrong and got as far as the garage when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics turned him away.
“From what I hear it was horrible,” Smith, a retired U.S. Postal Service inspector, said of the crime scene.
But he thinks police will get some help from area residents in their investigation.
“There are cameras all over the neighborhood,” Smith explained.
One of those security systems is on Michael and Leslie Geyer’s home across the street at Oakdale Avenue, and it captures video of anyone entering or leaving the neighborhood.
“We had detectives in the house going through the video. There was definitely a timeline from the cameras. There is definitely information on the tape that will help them,” said Michael Geyer, 55.
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He burned CDs for the detectives, who were in the home until about 4 a.m.
Geyer reviewed the video but declined to discuss what it showed because of the police investigation.
He put the system in because crime has been increasing.
Sementilli was an established hairdresser who served as vice president of education for Wella.
The company said in an email that over the past 25 years Sementilli had become an industry leader “recognized as an exceptional stylist, educator and visionary.”
“We are devastated by this tragedy. Fabio was an icon in the hairdressing industry, a pillar of his team at Wella and our dear friend. He will be very sorely missed,” the company said in a statement.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family,”
Sementilli was a decorated competition hair stylist before joining Wella in 2007 as creative director in Canada. He was named creative director for North America Professional in 2010 and vice president of education in 2013.
Coty Inc. acquired Wella in October of 2016.
Sementilli’s Twitter page had dozens of posts from friends and colleagues mourning his death and celebrating his life.
Meanwhile, back in the neighborhood where he died, some residents stopped to see why TV news vans were parked on the street.
Bruce Goodman and his wife Tracey were walking their three dogs Tuesday and noticed all of the media.
They’ve lived in the neighborhood for 21 years and have joined a local Facebook group that often discusses crime in the neighborhood and surrounding area.
“It’s not as quiet as it used to be. We’re not sure if it (crime) is increasing or us being more aware of it because of being in the Facebook group. But there have been a lot of car break-ins,” said Bruce Goodman.
Sementilli’s murder, and the violent manner in which it happened, is unnerving, said Bruce Goodman, 59, who works as a freelance colorist in the motion picture industry.
“It’s a little unsettling when it happens this close to home,” he said
City News Service contributed to this report. ||||| It is with great sadness MODERN SALON reports the passing of Coty Professional Beauty Vice President of Education Fabio Sementilli, who died suddenly and tragically Monday evening January 23, 2017, at his Woodland Hills home. His death leaves a devastated family in Los Angeles and Toronto and thousands of bereft professional brothers and sisters all over the world. Arrests have been made.
A champion competitor, the Canadian-born Semintelli has used his success to give back. He was the heart behind Wella’s Hairdressers at Heart program and, as reported in MODERN in 2012, “Humor, gratitude and paying it forward guide Fabio Sementilli’s approach to life and work.”
Sementilli, who was 49 years old at the time of his death, mentored tens of thousands of hairdressers with a hands-on approach either on a one-to-one basis or on a grander scale. Among his mentors was his sister Mirella Rota Sementilli, who he once told MODERN was "the best hairdresser in the world."
Sementilli was continuously available to share advice and direction to the thousands of salon professionals he touched on a daily basis. He was always there with a thought or quote to just simplify matters. His favorite quote was his own: “Being a leader is not about age; instead, it’s all about attitude toward others.”
Some of our favorite Sementilli quotes that we've gathered over the years:
ON HAPPINESS: “To be truly happy, you must be ready to give 100% and expect nothing in return.”
ON LEADERSHIP: "Leadership is not about a title. It's about attitude…the right attitude."
ON ATTITUDE: "You must have a positive attitude. Surround yourself with people who add to your life who are positive and have a great attitude.”
ON INTEGRITY: “You need to make sure you have integrity. Make sure it’s with your clients, friends and co-workers.
ON MENTORSHIP: “There are so many great hairdressers out there, and the best way to be successful is to give it away and pass on to the next generation.”
ON VISION: “It's more than just having an idea. It's not enough. It's taking that vision and making it come to life...following through."
PAYING IT FORWARD: "The next level of greatness is about being a human. We are all in the same business - we must pay it forward."
There are very few details available at this point, but we will continue to update this report. We ask you to share your thoughts and memories of Fabio Sementilli. He was a special person in our industry.
In this video interview, Sementilli shares his thoughts on attitude and integrity with Maggie Mulhern:
MODERN offered Sementilli the opportunity to interview HIS hero, sister Mirella Rota Sementilli:
Sementilli and Maggie Mulhern at the Jeremy Scott show during NYFW: ||||| WOODLAND HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Was it a random or targeted attack? Los Angles police detectives Tuesday were trying to find out as they investigated the stabbing death of a renowned hairstylist in his Woodland Hills estate.
Fabio Sementilli, 49, was found dead around 5 p.m. Monday on the back patio of his home in the 5000 block of Queen Victoria Road.
The victim’s wife and daughter discovered his body. He had been stabbed several times in the face, neck and upper body, police said.
They believed two men broke into Sementilli’s home and drove off in his black 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera with paper plates.
Sementilli was Vice President of Education for Wella, a major German hair-care company.
He was affectionately called “big daddy” and passionate about mentoring others in the hair styling industry.
Wella Education posted on Facebook: “Our hearts are broken. He will be sorely missed.”
At the victim’s home, friends and family came and left but were too shocked and sad to say much.
If anyone knows what an impact Sementilli made on the hairstyling industry, it’s certainly Eden Sassoon, the daughter of another industry icon Vidal Sassoon and star of Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.
“A man that truly cared. Excuse my French, he gave a (expletive). It made a difference,” said Sassoon, who called Sementilli a mentor and friend.
“To lose your father, your husband, your son to a crime like that, my heart truly just goes out to them. I don’t know. I can’t imagine,” Sassoon said as she got choked up. “It’s a huge loss for them, a huge loss. I don’t know when and if in their lifetime those shoes can be filled. He really stood out. When you say his name, you smile.”
It seems Sementilli will be remembered just as he had wanted.
In a 2015 Youtube video, he said: “I want to be remembered for the relationships I’ve built and how maybe I’ve made people feel.”
Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the LAPD’s Homicide Bureau at (818) 374-1925. ||||| A local news crew reports from a house in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Homicide detectives are investigating the death of Fabio Sementilli, an internationally known... (Associated Press)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police on Tuesday were investigating the killing of internationally known hairdresser and beauty company executive Fabio Sementilli, who was found beaten and stabbed at a Los Angeles home.
Detectives did not immediately provide a possible motive. They said his black 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera was missing from the home.
Paramedics found the 49-year-old Sementilli on Monday on the patio of a gated house in the upscale Woodland Hills neighborhood. He was bleeding profusely and died at the scene.
The Canadian-born Sementilli worked for decades as a trendsetting hair stylist and served as vice president of education for beauty products giant Coty Inc.
The company said in a statement that he was an icon in the industry.
Sementilli had established himself as a "mentor and positive role model to so many," said Alison Alhamed, editor in chief of the journal Modern Salon.
"He could barely walk a few feet on a trade show floor without someone stopping him to take a selfie with him and share how much he impacted their career," Alhamed said.
On Friday, Sementilli posted a photograph on Facebook of his 1987 hairstylist certification and reminisced about how his 30-year career was aided by a strong work ethic and support from colleagues.
"I'm optimistic, I'm driven and I don't accept the habit of negativity around me," he wrote. | – One of the most renowned hairstylists in Los Angeles was murdered on Monday by intruders who made their getaway in his Porsche, police say. Fabio Sementilli was stabbed several times and was found on his home's patio by his wife and daughter, CBS Los Angeles reports. Paramedics were called but the 49-year-old was bleeding profusely and died at the scene. Police say the Canadian-born hairstylist's 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera was missing from the scene and they believe it was stolen by two men who broke into the upscale Woodland Hills home and attacked Sementilli. Police aren't sure whether the murder was random or a targeted attack, the AP reports. Sementilli gained international recognition during his 30 years as a hairstylist and also served as an exec at companies including Wella, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. He was "recognized as an exceptional stylist, educator, and visionary," Wella said in a statement that describes him as "an icon in the hairdressing industry." A post at Modern Salon says he was a VP of education for cosmetics company Coty, adding that he "mentored tens of thousands of hairdressers with a hands-on approach either on a one-to-one basis or on a grander scale." (This man was murdered just two months after President Obama commuted his sentence.) |
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